n dismembering the
empire that their valour had created.

The disastrous effects of the baneful spirit that had thus insidiously
supplanted the original principles of union, moderation, and prudence, by
which, as a nation, the Moslems had been {46} actuated, were first
manifested in the assassination of the Caliph Othman.

Ali, the friend, companion, and adopted son of the Prophet, whose
courage, achievements, and relationship to Mohammed, as the husband of
his only daughter, had rendered him so dear to the Mussulmans, was
announced as the successor of Othman.

But Moavias, the governor of Syria, refused to recognise the authority of
Ali, and, under the guidance of the sagacious Amrou, the conqueror of
Egypt, caused himself to be proclaimed Caliph of Damascus. Upon this,
the Arabians divided: those of Medina sustaining Ali, and those of Syria
Moavias. The first took the name of _Alides_, the others styled
themselves _Ommiades_, deriving their denomination from the grandfather
of Moavias. Such was the origin of the famous schism which still
separates the Turks and Persians.

Though Ali succeeded in vanquishing Moavias in the field, he did not
avail himself judiciously of the advantage afforded him by his victory.
He was soon after assassinated,[1] and the spirit and courage of his
party vanished with the {47} occurrence of that event. The sons of Ali
made efforts to reanimate the ardour of his partisans, but in vain.

Thus, in the midst of broils, revolts, and civil wars, the Ommiades still
remained in possession of the Caliphate of Damascus.[2] It was during the
reign of one of these princes, Valid the First, that the Arabian
conquests extended in the East to the banks of the Ganges, and in the
West to the shores of the Atlantic. The Ommiades, however, were for the
most part feeble, but they were sustained by able commanders, and the
{48} ancient valour of the Moslem soldiers was not yet degenerated.

After the Ommiades had maintained their empire for the space of
ninety-three years, Mervan II.,[3] the last caliph of the race, was
deprived of his throne and his life[4] through the instrumentality of
Abdalla, a chief of the tribe of the Abbassides, who were, like the
Ommiades, near relatives of Mohammed.

Aboul-Abbas, the nephew of Abdalla, supplanted the former caliph. With
him commenced the dynasty of the Abbassides, so celebrated in the East
for their love of science and their connexion with the names of