24 



CALIPHS OF BAGDAD. 



banks of the Tigris. Corruption and venality per- 

 vaded every department of the state ; the office of 

 Cadi of Bagdad, first exposed to sale in the reign 

 of Almoti, was purchased for 200,000 drachms 

 (4583, 6s. 8d.) ; and we learn from Abulfeda, that 

 all the chief offices of government were disposed of in 

 a similar manner. The administration was some- 

 times put into the hands of women belonging to 

 the court ; and among the secretaries and council- 

 lors of Moktader was a damsel named Yamek, who 

 was so thoroughly versed in the weightier points 

 of legislation, that the judges in the determination 

 of criminal causes, as well as the doctors of the law 

 in their most important decisions, were frequently 

 obliged to have recourse to her for assistance. Re- 

 ligious differences gave rise to bitter and incessant 

 animosities. In every profession which allowed 

 room for two persons, the one was generally a vo- 

 tary, and the other a persecutor, of the sect of Ali. 

 The rigid disciples of the famous Hanbal carried 

 their phrensy so far as to invade the privileges and 

 the pleasures of domestic life. Entering the houses 

 of the citizens, they spilled the wine wherever they 

 found it, beat the musicians, and broke their instru- 

 ments to pieces ; nor could they be reduced to sub- 

 mission except by the publication of a severe edict. 

 This state of corruption and licentiousness was oc- 

 casionally checked by a firm and determined hand ; 

 and some of the last of the Abbassidan princes acted 

 with an energy that would have done credit to the 

 brightest days of the caliphate. The policy of Alka- 

 yem and Moktadi led them to strengthen their inte- 

 rests by powerful matrimonial alliances. The latter 

 espoused the daughter of Malek Shah, who was re- 



