238 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



Part of the Aral- Caspian depression was peopled with traders, 

 who acted as the intermediate merchants between the Russians 

 and the Arabs, the latter supplying linen, silk, and cotton 

 manufactures, in exchange for fura, honey, and wax from the 

 north. The route taken by tho traders extended from Khorassan 

 to the mouth of the Volga, diverging thence northward to Kazan, 

 and westward to tho Don. 



Gold and slaves were obtained from the region of the Niger, 

 as also were wild beasts, upon the taming of which tho Arabs 

 exercised all their skill. 



Political relations were formed between the Arabs and the 

 Chinese. Three caravan routes connected Bagdad with Canton. 

 Two of these routes were by way of Mongolia, the towns of Inde- 

 pendent Tartary being the principal dep6ts ; the third passed 

 through Bactria, by way of Balkh and Khoten, both important 

 trading towns. Khoten also received the name of Kin-sa-tan-na, 

 or " Bosom of the Earth." Its manufactures were numerous, tho 

 sciences and arts were assiduously cultivated, and the neighbour- 

 hood was strikingly beautiful. 



A caravan trade extended from Khorassan, through Aff ghanistan 

 and Bactria, to India, passing four large towns in its route, 

 Nisapur, Meru, Herat, and Balkh. JVTeru produced textile fabrics, 

 and was the centre of the silk trade. Herat manufactured car- 

 pets and sword-blades, and saffron and asafoetida were exten- 

 sively cultivated. In the midst was a magnificent mosque, while 

 at the foot and at the summit of a hill respectively stood a 

 Christian church, and a temple to the sun for the use of the 

 fire- worshippers. Balkh, from its antiquity, was called the 

 mother of cities. Precious stones were found abundantly in 

 its vicinity. One of its caravan routes led to Moultan. 



CHAPTER XVI. COMMERCE OP THE ARABS (continued). 



THE AEABS IN EUROPE AND AFRICA. MARITIME 

 COMMERCE. 



SPAIN fell under the Saracen yoke, A.D. 712, at a period when 

 the conquerors were quite as barbarous as the Visigoths whom 

 they supplanted, and much fiercer. The mandates of religion, 

 and tho natural aptitude of the Arab for civilisation, brought 

 about a rapid advancement. Part of the peninsula was con- 

 quered by arms, and other parts were acquired by treaty. The 

 Saracens, as lords of the soil, claimed the sole ownership of every 

 conquered district ; but where treaties were entered into, they 

 allowed the original inhabitants to retain the rights of property. 

 Natives, however, were jealously excluded from military service. 

 An Eastern army was distributed over the principal Iberian 

 provinces. Cordova maintained tho legion of the caliphs ; 

 Seville was occupied by the troops of Emissa; Algesiras and 

 Medina-Sidonia by soldiers from Palestine ; Granada by a 

 thousand horsemen chosen from the highest Arab families. The 

 Moors invaded France, and advanced as far as Tours, near 

 which they were defeated, with terrible slaughter, by Charles 

 Martel, A.D. 720. Yet the Pyrenees proved an obstacle which tho 

 Arabs could never permanently surmount. The hardy mountain 

 races would not submit to foreign rule, but, during the four 

 centuries of Moorish domination, waged an offensive as well as 

 defensive warfare against the Saracens, and at length, as will 

 be seen hereafter, completely turned the balance against them. 

 During the fifteenth century, the Moors were finally driven 

 from Spain. The history of these centuries is the counterpart 

 of that of the great Eastern monarchies. Wisdom and bravery 

 produced in one age fruit which folly and effeminacy forfeited 

 in the next. Under the hand of industry, tho land became 

 one large garden ; even the most sterile parts were fertilised by 

 means of canals and aqueducts, and commerce aided the growth 

 of wealth. In less than half a century, the ruthless invaders 

 had become a polished people. The Emirs of Spain at first 

 owed allegiance to the Caliph of Damascus. When the Damas- 

 cene dynasty was changed, Abderrahman, a fugitive from the 

 ancient royal house, arrived in Spain, where he became the 

 sovereign of an independent Moorish kingdom. The wealth 

 which had been paid as tribute to Damascus now remained 

 in Spain, and contributed a further impulse to progress. 

 Writers give the annual revenues of Abderrahman at 10,000 

 ounces of gold, 10,000 Ibs. of silver, 10.000 mules, 1,000 suits of 

 armour, 1,000 helmets, and 1,000 lances. Abderrahman III. 

 enjoyed still greater revenues. His reign was the zenith of 

 Moorish prosperity. Without bearing heavily upon his subjects, 



he collected the annual amount of five and a half millions 

 sterling. His grand vizier on one occasion made him an 

 offering which shows the profusion of Moorish wealth. It 

 consisted of 400 Ibs. of pure gold, 420,000 deniers in silver bars, 

 400 Ibs. of aloe-wood, 500 ozs. of amber, 300 ozs. of camphor, 30 

 pieces of embroidered cloth of gold, 10 marten skin mantles, 100 

 fur mantles of other kinds, 4 dozen horse cloths of gold and 

 silk, 4,000 Ibs. of wrought Spanish silk, 30 Persian carpets, 

 800 sets of steel harness, 1,000 shields, 100,000 arrows, 115 

 Arab steeds, and 20 mules with costly coverings. 



Genius and learning followed in the train of prosperity, and 

 set their seal upon the manners and customs of the age. Oriental 

 fancy revelled in the harmony of gold and colour, as seen in tho 

 fretwork tracery of the courts of the Alhambra. Mosques and 

 palaces were numerous in every province ; their grandeur and 

 beauty, as exhibited even in their ruins, are objects of wonder to 

 the modern traveller. At Cordova the mosque built by the first 

 king Abderrahman was 600 feet long by 250 feet wide. Tho 

 roof was supported by marble columns, 1,093 in number, dividing 

 the central space into twenty-nine compartments. Between 7,000 

 and 8,000 lamps, consuming daily 20,000 pounds of oil, illumi- 

 nated this splendid edifice. The Palace of Zehra was even a still 

 greater triumph of architecture. It occupied twenty-five years in 

 building, and cost three and a quarter millions sterling. A whole 

 town was afterwards built out of its remains. Cordova, the 

 Moorish capital, was celebrated for its silversmiths' and filigree 

 work, as well as for Cordovan leather. There were in this city 

 600 mosques and nearly 1,000 baths ; and its industry employed 

 200,000 families, each occupying a separate dwolling-house. There 

 were 16,000 looms for silk- weaving, and 130,000 weavers in Seville 

 alone. 400,000 inhabitants are reported to have quitted the city 

 when the Moors surrendered it. The villages along tho course 

 of the Guadalquivir were scarcely a quarter of a league apart. 

 Industry in every form was vigorously pursued. No degradation 

 was felt to attach to labour. It was not considered servile, 

 as with the Greeks and Eomans. The Arabs, as conquerors, 

 were far more lenient towards those whom they subdued than 

 were the victors of older times, and they have the credit of 

 always maintaining treaties inviolate. Old silver mines, thought 

 to be exhausted, were made to yield afresh by skilful working ; 

 and the Spanish mines from this time furnished tho chief 

 supplies of precious metals till tho discovery of America. Rubies 

 were sought in Beja and Malaga, and coral and pearl fisheries 

 were prosecuted on the coast. In the weaving and dyeing of 

 silk and wool, and in metal-work especially, the Moors attained 

 great eminence. Other produce of their labour and skill was 

 exported to Constantinople, in the form of raw silk, oil, sugar, 

 quicksilver, bar-iron, dye-stuffs, amber, loadstone, antimony, 

 rock-crystal, sulphur, and myrrh. 



The productions of the country were so abundant and various 

 that the exports exceeded the imports, and the exchange or 

 balance of trade was always in favour of the Moors. But long 

 continued success inspired them with false confidence ; they 

 grew vain, and lost the fervour of religious zeal. Absorbed in 

 pleasure, or covetous of power, they disregarded the intrepid 

 mountaineers who had never been subdued, and who were destined 

 at last to win back the peninsula from its enervated invaders. 



TERMS USED IN COMMERCE. VIII. 



PROCURATION. The representative power derived under the 

 authority of another, either by letter or power of attorney. 



PRODUCE. The raw productions of a country ; a term more 

 frequently applied to those of foreign growth, such as tea, 

 cotton, sugar, spices, drugs, and dyes. 



PRO FORMA. Two Latin words, signifying for the sake of 

 form. It is customary for merchants and others to make up 

 pro /ormd invoices and account sales previous to entering into 

 an adventure, in order that they may form correct opinions as 

 to its probable result. These accounts are made up in the exact 

 form that they would assume if the transaction were carried 

 out, so that no item of charge on purchase or sale may be 

 lost sight of the selling prices being, of course, estimated 

 according to the expectations of the parties. 



PROMISSORY NOTE. A written promise by one person to 

 pay another a specified sum of money at a stated period. It is 

 subject to the same laws, and may be transferred by indorse- 

 ment in the same way aa a bill of exchange. 



