upon their rights, and would seek every opportunity of revenge. In the invasion of the Persian territory by the Arabs, on the death of Hormuz, the king of Hamyar, tobbaa Hassan, the son of Assaad, raised a numerous army, and proceeded into Irak, where he was meditating still greater conquests, having made preparations, according to the Arabian writers, to follow the footsteps of his ancestors into China. His followers, however, opposed his design, unwilling to be carried so far from their families and possessions, and prevailed upon his brother Amrou to murder the tobbaa, which he effected whilst Hassan was sleeping in his tent. The army thereupon returned to Hamyar, and Amrou ascended the throne.[1]
The latter days of the life of Amrou were troubled by a guilty conscience, and sleep became a stranger to his eyelids. On his return with the army to Hamyar, he endeavoured to atone for the murder of his brother, by the punishment of the chiefs who had urged him to it; but the people conspired against him and put him to death,[2] and gave the crown to his younger brother Abd Alâl. Abd Alâl is said to have embraced the Christian faith, but from political motives, never to have openly professed it.[3]
