. The sword of Islam. theOmaiyads with the utmost cruelty. The better tosecure their destruction, the new Khalif caused it tobe understood that an amnesty would be granted toall members of the dispossessed dynasty who wereprepared to submit; and as a further inducement, itwas given out that their property would be restoredto them should they prove tractable. Seduced bythese promises, no less than ninety members of theOmaiyad family tendered their allegiance, where-upon, under pretence of holding out the hand offriendship and goodwill, Abdullah invited them to abanquet. In the midst of the fest
. The sword of Islam. theOmaiyads with the utmost cruelty. The better tosecure their destruction, the new Khalif caused it tobe understood that an amnesty would be granted toall members of the dispossessed dynasty who wereprepared to submit; and as a further inducement, itwas given out that their property would be restoredto them should they prove tractable. Seduced bythese promises, no less than ninety members of theOmaiyad family tendered their allegiance, where-upon, under pretence of holding out the hand offriendship and goodwill, Abdullah invited them to abanquet. In the midst of the festivities, a body ofexecutioners rushed into the hall and slew theunarmed guests. The cruelties of the Khalif, how-ever, raised a host of enemies throughout the empire,and his entire reign till his death (9th June, 754)was passed in quelling insurrection and consolidatinghis power. The next Khalif was Abu Jafar, who on hisaccession assumed the name of Al Mansur, TheVictorious. He signalised the commencement of his. A Nook in Algiers. [7o/oeej). 130. 755] OMAIYADS AT CORDOVA 131 reign by the inhuman act of putting to death hisgeneral, Abu Muslim, and throwing his body intothe Tigris. This famous warrior, who had justgained a decisive victory (28th Nov., 754) over alarge body of rebels, under the leadership of Abdullahbin Ah, the uncle of the deceased Khalif, was the realfounder of the Abbaside dynasty, at a cost, it is said,of more than half a million of lives. Such was hisreward. Soon after these events a series of rebellionsin Africa rendered the hold of Mansiu* on hispossessions in that region so precarious, that fromthis time onwards the Abbasides retained but anominal sway over the Western regions of theEmpire. These misfortunes, however, were dwarfed intoinsignificance by the loss of sovereign rights in happened thus. For a long while the countryhad been distracted by internal dissensions, conse-quent upon the inability of the Abbaside Khalifs tocontr
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