629 The holy cross is returned to Heraclius. The general Shahrbaraz is supported in a claim to the throne by Heraclius. He takes Ctesiphon.
630 Murder of Ardashir, followed by that of Shahrbaraz. Boran or Puran, a daughter of Chosroes II, takes the throne. She makes a treaty with Heraclius.
631 Boran succeeded by Peroz (Peroses) II, who rules but a short time; then Azarmidokht, sister of Boran, takes the throne. Hormuz V, grandson of Chosroes II, maintains a rule over a portion of the country for a short time.
632 Azarmidokht dethroned by Rustem, hereditary marshal of Khorasan. Ferrukhzadh reigns a short time in Ctesiphon.
632 or 633 Yezdegerd III, grandson of Chosroes II, is put forward by some of the nobles and crowned. Ferrukhzadh is slain and Yezdegerd acknowledged as sole king. He declines to accept the Mohammedan religion at invitation of Abu Bekr, and the Moslems invade Persia.
636 Persian defeat by the Moslems at Cadesia, or Kadisiya.
640 or 642 The “Victory of Victories” by the Arabs over the Persians at Nehavend. The last great Persian army is shattered. The nobles gradually yield to the Arab chiefs. Yezdegerd is driven from place to place, continually shorn of more and more power until he is murdered in 651, and Persia becomes part of the Mohammedan dominions. THE ARABS
THE PRE-MOHAMMEDAN ERA
Before the Mohammedan conquests, Arabia is divided into a number of local monarchies. In these we recognise two distinct origins.
(1) Those ruled by a race of southern origin—the genuine or Kahtanee Arabs. Their monarchies form a rim around the wild and desert centre of the peninsula.
(2) The centre of Arabia is occupied by nomadic races—the Mustareb Arabs, of northern origin, descendants of a mythical Adnan.
THE KAHTANEE KINGDOMS (ca. 380 B.C.-634 A.D.)
The kingdom of Yemen is the most important and powerful of these. It occupies a portion of the ancient Arabia Felix. Descendants of Kahtan and Himyar—names of African origin—its monarchs rule over the whole of southern Arabia from about 380 B.C., with but few interruptions. The capital is first at Mareb and then at Sana. The northern kingdoms are more or less tributary. The Persians, Greeks, and Macedonians make no attempts upon Arabia, if we except the frontier skirmishes of Antigonus and Ptolemy. Rome had an eye to its conquest. Pompey, the first to attempt it, is foiled, and it was not until
B.C.
25 when Ælius Gallus, the prefect of Egypt, undertakes an expedition at the command of Augustus. His army is unable to support the hardships of the desert, and the following year the Arabs drive the remnant out. Later attempts under Trajan and Severus do not succeed beyond the frontier, and Bosrah and Petra mark the extreme limits of Roman dominion.
A.D.
100 Probable date of the great flood of Arem or Mareb, which leads to the foundation of other Arab kingdoms.
529 The Abyssinians, under Aryat, invade Yemen, to avenge the Christians persecuted by Dhu-Nowas the king. Dhu-Nowas is killed, and the Abyssinians rule the kingdom until
605 when Saif, with the assistance of Chosroes the Great, restores the Kahtanee dynasty, but it becomes dependent on Persia.
634 Mohammedan conquest of Yemen.
THE KINGDOM OF HIRA (195-610 A.D.)
Next in importance to Yemen. It is situated in Irak. Founded about 195 A.D. by Malik, it is more or less under allegiance to the Persians, but exercises considerable control over the Mustareb Arabs.
529 Mundhir III, king of Hira, who has been driven from the throne by Kavadh I of Persia, because he is too powerful, invades Syria, cruelly ravaging the country as far as Antioch. He kills Harith, whom Kavadh has set over his kingdom, and is finally himself killed, in 554, by a Roman vassal.
610 Chosroes II puts an end to the kingdom of Hira.
THE KINGDOM OF GHASSAN (300-636 A.D.)
Founded about 300 by Thalaba, the first to take the name of king. His successors rule until 636, when Djabala VI surrenders to the Mohammedans.
THE KINGDOM OF KINDEH
A small kingdom, of Yemenite origin, which detaches itself from Irak in the fifth century A.D. and maintains its existence for about 160 years, when it is absorbed by the Mustarebs.
THE MUSTAREB KINGDOMS
The northern tribes inhabiting central Arabia, or Arabia Petræa, become consolidated into five kingdoms:
Rabiah, in the east centre of the peninsula.
Kais, or Kais-Ailan, in the north.
Hawazin, in the north.
Tamin, in the middle.
They are, from the time of their foundation, more or less tributary to Yemen until
500 They make themselves independent, under the leadership of Kolaib, who now tries to unite his people in a single confederacy, but the plan is frustrated by his assassination. The tribes now lead a warlike, disorganised existence, encroaching slowly upon the Kahtanee kingdoms. During this period the tribe of Koreish becomes prominent. Tradition assigns their origin to Ishmael, and they have become the guardians of the sacred Kaaba. This gives them pre-eminence over all other Arabian clans, and at the beginning of the seventh century A.D. the tribe of Koreish and its Mustareb allies is the most powerful confederacy in Arabia, the Kahtanee kingdoms having become more or less vassals of the Persian and Byzantine empires.
THE KINGDOM OF NABATÆA
The Nabatæans are a famous people of ancient Arabia. Secure knowledge of their history goes back only to 312 B.C., when Antigonus failed to take their fortress of Petra. They are described by Diodorus as a pastoral and trading people, preserving their liberty in the arid country of Arabia Petræa. At the fall of the Seleucids they extend their territory over the fertile country east of the Jordan. They occupy the Hauran. Pompey reduces them to vassalage, and in 105 A.D. Trajan takes Petra and breaks up the Nabatæan nation.
MOHAMMED AND HIS SUCCESSORS (570-661 A.D.)
ca. 570 Birth of Mohammed, of a noble Koreish family, at Mecca.
605-610 Years of meditation, during which the principles of Mohammedanism are developed.
610 Year of the “call,” Mohammed begins to make converts. Opposition to his doctrines increases among the Meccans until
622 he flees with a body of followers to Medina. The Hegira. Beginning of the Mohammedan era.
623 The first mosque built. Mohammed becomes a warrior.
624 First battle for the faith with the Meccans at Bedr. Victory of Mohammed.
625 Battle of Ohod, and victory of the Meccans.
627 War of the Fosse. The Koreish make terms with Mohammed.
628 War against the Jews of Khaibar.
629 War against the Greek subjects in Arabia.
630 Mohammed moves against Mecca. He conquers it. War with the Hawazin. Rapid spread of Islam.
632 Death of Mohammed. He leaves the entire peninsula, with the exception of a few tribes, under one sceptre and one creed. His father-in-law, Abu Bekr, is chosen caliph, or representative. An army under Khalid sets out against the Byzantine Empire. Abu Bekr reduces a revolt in Nejd and Yemen, and defends Medina.
633 Khalid, on the lower Euphrates, is called to Syria.
634 Khalid captures Bosrah and overruns the Hauran. Death of Abu Bekr. Omar succeeds.
635 Capture of Damascus.
636 Emesa, Heliopolis, Chalcis, Berœa, and Edessa added to the Mohammedan empire. Battle of the Hieromax (Yermuk). Heraclius abandons Syria to the Moslems.
637 Battle of Cadesia, or Kadisiya, and victory over the Persians. Omar captures Jerusalem, and follows it up by taking Aleppo and Antioch.
638 Mesopotamia is conquered by the Mohammedans, also Tarsus and Diar-Bekr.