416 EXTENT OF THE gi^r > OT I M EMPIRE. 



hand he set fire to the pile, which ^J« ^"^'J ^«"- 

 sumed to ashes ; and we are assured that 50,000 

 meskals of gold and silver were produced from the 

 melted nails which had been used m the workman- 

 ship of the images. No unbehever was to be al- 

 lowed to remain within the gates longer than a ring 

 of wet clay should preserve its moisture on his 

 finder ■ for if it became dry before they quitted the 

 Xce every individual seen in arms, whether Turk 

 or Tartar, vvas to suffer death without inercy Dur- 

 fna a few years the citizens secretly cherished the 

 idSlatrv of their ancestors : but the zeal and assiduity 

 of their governor speedily effected their conversion 

 (A D 7-28) ; and the Scythian shepherds at length 

 abandoned the doctrines of Zoroaster and the fire- 

 worship of the Magians or Ghebers, for the faith of 



*^This7e'mote city, however little it may now seem 

 to claim the attention of civilized Europe, eiijoyed 

 at the time of its subjugation a comparative splen- 

 dour It was famous as the great resting-place ot 

 the caravans from China to Western Asia and Eu- 

 gene —a source from which it could not fail to draw 

 immense wealth. Silks and other luxuries were 

 derived from the industry of the East, long before 

 their manufacture was known by the Greeks or Ro- 

 mans ; the principal route of the transit trade being 

 across the Great Desert to Cashgar and Samarcand, 

 and thence through Persia to Syria. 



The first appearance of the star of Islam in Hin- 

 dostan was about the forty-fourth year of the He- 

 iira, when the province of Cabul had been reduced 

 to subjection. Thirty years afterward, on the trib- 

 utary impost being withheld, ObeidaUah, the governor 

 of Seistan, received orders from Hejaje to invade 

 that country, and not to return till he had either 

 subdued or totally destroyed the whole province. 

 But he was deposed from the command and Abdur- 

 rahaman appointed to replace him, who with 40,000 



