13 CALIPHS OF BAGDAD. 



Hashemiah, a city founded by his brother on the 

 site or in the vicinity of Anbar ; but an insurrection 

 compelled him to resort to the erection of a new- 

 capital — and in the 145th year of the Hejira the 

 foundation of Bagdad was laid. The aid of astrol- 

 ogy was called in to ascertain a propitious season 

 for commencement ; and in a short time rose the 

 City of Peace, a splendid metropolis, on the banks 

 of the Tigris, which continued the seat of imperial 

 luxury for nearly five centuries. The rural scenery 

 was beautiful ; the spacious river had a width of 250 

 yards, and a depth, when the waters were at the 

 highest, of forty-six feet. The neighbourhood was 

 rich in gardens and villages ; and some idea of its 

 ancient population may be formed, when we learn 

 that 800,000 men and 60,000 women could attend the 

 funeral of Hanbal, their popular saint. Yet all this 

 magnificence seemed but ill adapted to the temper 

 of Almansor, whose extraordinary penury obtained 

 for him the nickname of Abu Daicanek, or Father 

 Halfpenny. After his w ars and buildings, he left 

 behind him 600,000,000 drachms and 24,000,000 

 •dinars of gold (about 24.850,000/. sterling) — a trea- 

 sure which the vices or the munificence of his chil- 

 dren scattered in a few years. In a single pilgrim- 

 age to Mecca, ]Mahadi expended 6,000,000 dinars 

 (2,775,000/.), and distributed 150,000 dresses to the 

 poor. 



Haroun al Raschid (Aaron the Just), whose name 

 Eastern romance has made so familiar to European 

 ears, yielded to none of his predecessors in the fame 

 and splendour of his reign. He was eminentl}^ libe- 

 ral and humane ; and excelled as a warrior, a states- 

 man, and a scholar. He conversed familiarly with 

 all classes of his subjects ; and from these adven- 

 tures sprang numerous anecdotes, which historians 

 have been careful to preserve. To obviate the jeal- 

 ousies and collisions likely to arise from the nomina- 

 tion of a successor, he had proposed an equal division 



