Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/428

406 THE DECLINE AND FALL Foun;lation of Bassora. [A.D. 633J Sac'i of Mridayn. A.D. 637, March fusion of precious gems.- After this victory, the wealthy pro- vince of Irak - or Assyria submitted to the caHph, and his conquests were firmly established by the speedy foundation of Bassora,-^ a place which ever commands the trade and naviga- tion of the Persians. At the distance of fourscore miles from the Gulf, the Euphrates and Tigris unite in a broad and direct current, which is aptly styled the river of the Arabs. In the midway, between the junction and the mouth of these famous streams, the new settlement was planted on the western bank ; the first colony was composed of eight hundred Moslems ; but the influence of the situation soon reared a flourishing and populous capital. The air, though excessively hot, is pure and healthy ; the meadows are filled with palm-trees and cattle ; and one of the adjacent valleys has been celebrated among the four paradises or gardens of Asia. Under the first caliphs, the jurisdiction of this Arabian colony extended over the southern provinces of Persia ; the city has been sanctified by the tombs of the companions and martyrs ; and the vessels of Europe still fi'equent the port of Bassora, as a convenient station and passage of the Indian trade. After the defeat of Cadesia, a country intersected by rivers and canals might have opposed an insuperable barrier to the victorious cavalry ; and the walls of Ctesiphon or Madajn, which had resisted the battering-rams of the Romans, would not have yielded to the darts of the Saracens. But the flying Persians were overcontie by the belief that the last day of their religion and empire was at hand ; the strongest posts were abandoned by treachery or cowardice ; and the king, with a part of his family and treasures, escaped to Holwan at the foot of the Median hills. In the third month after the battle,-^ Said, the lieutenant of ^ D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 297, [347 and] 348. [We read in Arabic sources that the standard was made of panthers' skins. What is the authority for the blacksmith's apron ? See Rawlinson, Seventh Oriental Monarchy, p. 554.] ^ [The whole pro-ince of conquered Persia (with Kufa as capital) was called Irak, and was afterwards divided into two parts — Arabian Irak and Persian Irak. At present, the name Irak is confined to a very small district near Kom.] ^ The reader may satisfy himself on the subject of Bassora, by consulting the following writers: Geograph. Nubiens. p. 121 ; D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, p. 192 ; D'Anville, I'Euphrate et le Tigre, p. 130, 133, 145 ; Raynal, Hist. Philo- sophique des deux Indes, tom. ii. p. 92-100 ; Voyages di Pietro della 'alle, tom. iv. p. 370-391 ; De Tavernier, tom. i. p. 240-247 ; De Th^venot, tom. ii. p. 545- 584 ; D'Otter, tom. ii. p. 45-78 ; De Niebuhr, tom. ii. p. 172-199. [The modern Basra is some miles to the north-east of the old site.] 28 [Madain probably fell more than a year after the battle of Cadesia, accord- ng to Tabari's chronology. Cp, Muir, of. cit. p. 178 sqq.']