WARS OF THE CALIPHS. 379 



reigning family, the partisans of the house of Abbas 

 had turned their eyes and their wishes towards the 

 iUustrious line of Hashem, in preference to the Fa- 

 timites, who were passed by as rash or pusillani- 

 mous. ' Mohammed, the grandson of Abbas, in his 

 obscure residence in Syria, had long fostered the 

 secret hopes, and received the homage of his friends. 

 At his death, the rights and honours of his fanuly 

 had been transferred to his son Ibrahmi ; and when 

 the revolt of Kerman gave them an opportunity of 

 openly disclosing their views, a body of warriors 

 o-athered round his person, and the two black stand- 

 ards, called the Night and the Cloud, were unfurled. 

 Under these allegorical emblems, Abu Moslem pro- 

 claimed his master the rightful emperor and imam 

 of the faithful. Party colours have always been 

 used as badges of distinction among contendmg fac- 

 tions. The Moslems adopted this expedient in the 

 approaching war of succession ; green was the 

 symbol of the Fatimites ; white of the Ommiades ; 

 while black was adopted by the followers of Abbas. 

 Cities and provinces hoisted the respective flags; 

 and from the Indus to the Euphrates the Eastern 

 world was convulsed between the struggles of the 

 black and the white armies. Even the service of 

 the mosque was divided between the rival sove- 

 reigns ; some reciting their prayers in the name of 

 Merwan, others in that of Ibrahim. In Korasm, the 

 interests of the Ommiades had been bravely main- 

 tained by the governor, Nasr Sayar ; but a series of 

 disasters and defeats at length convinced him that 

 he was no longer capable of contending with the 

 invincible Abu Moslem. Ibrahim was unfortunately 

 waylaid in a pilgrimage to Mecca, seized, and carried 

 to the presence of the caliph, who forthwith ordered 

 him to be suffocated by enclosing his head in a bag 

 of quicklime. His two younger brothers, Saffah and 

 Almansor, happily eluded the search of the tyrant, 

 and escaped to Cufa, where the former was saluted 



