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fpunJul ihor claims on ihtii- liaviiip; fiippoitcJ 1<im, wlicn 

 lie was cx|Kllt.J Iiis native city, anil in tiidr haviiig ciiahlcd 

 h m to prcva'l a;;ain!l liis enemies, when he ami his follow- 

 cs were in 3 !bt« of petfccution. At length one of the 

 Anfirs propoftd to coiiiproniift this aiifertnce by lequeiling 

 tl.at each of ihe contending parties might be a'.lowtd to 

 cl.ufe a khallf. The propofal, however, was not cordially 

 ii^provid by the Moh.j-.iin ; and Abubcker recommended 

 two ptrfons Omar Eb:i Al Khattab and Abu Obeidah, to 

 fhtir c'lolw, and piopofel tliatthey fliould recogni/e theone 

 cf thJetwo pcilons who obtiincd tlie fnffra^'eo of both 

 BjilieJ. Omar, however, termirn.ted the difpiite by fwear- 

 T'K fea'.'.y to Ab'.:btker, and his example was followed by 

 all the modema that were piefent : npon which, Abubcker 

 wus fainted khallf by both the Mjhnjerin and the Anfars, 

 and acknowledged as rijjhtfnl fuccctfur of Mahomet. Abu- 

 bcker, having been thus tKaed by the MufTnlmans, would 

 sffimie no othu" title but that of KmiUfuh njj'oul Alluh, that 

 13, vicar of the prophet, or mefrcnjcr of God. But Omar, 

 who fucceeded Abubcker, reprefented to the Mahometan 

 chiefs, that if he took the quality of vicar, or fucccfTor of 

 Abubcker. the vicar or fucceff.M- of the prophet, the ap- 

 p.-llalion of vicar would, in courfe of time, be repeated and 

 mnltiplitd without end ; and, accordingly, at the motion 

 ol Mogairah, Omar alfumcd the title of Em\r al Mou- 

 mtnin, that is, lord or prince of the believers ; which appel- 

 lation has been accepted a::d borne by all the legitimate 

 caliphs or fucceflors of Mnhomet, from that time; though 

 they iliU n-taincd the title of caliph, without any othtr ad- 

 dition. 



After the tleftion of Abubcker, AH Ebn Abu Takb, 

 who, by hereditary right, ouijht to have fucceeded Ma- 

 homet, expred'td his dillatisfaftion at t!:e choice ; but find- 

 ing that the people in general were pnpoiTcfled in his fa- 

 vour, he acquiefccd and (ippofed his rcli.;;nation ot the go- 

 vernment. The Schiitcs, however, maintain, thnt the fu- 

 premc authority, botli in fpiritual and temporal concerns, 

 rightfully belonged to the defcendarits of Ali, and they do 

 not acknowledge the three firll fuccefforb of Mahomet, viz. 

 Abubeker, O.T.ar, and Othman, as legitimate. The go 

 vtrnnicnt of Abubckir commenced in the year of the he- 

 giia 1 1, A. D. 6j2 ; and terminated A. D. 654 ; when he 

 was fuccitdid in the regal and pontifica! dignity by Oirar. 

 This caliph, before his deceafe, appointed 6 perfons to de- 

 liberate concerni:;g the election of a fucceffor ; all of whom 

 had been intimately acquainted ivith Mahomet, and were 

 ftylcd, by way of eminence, his " Companions." After 

 his death they affembled for the choice of a new caliph : 

 ar.d Abdidrahm.au renounced his pretenfions on condition of 

 being allowed to nomnate one of the 5 remaining compa- 

 nions as emperor of the faithful. To this propofal all agreed 

 except Ali, who thought himfelf injured, becaufe he was not 

 the immediate fjccefior of the prophet ; and Othman was 

 dccbred caliph, in the 24th year of the hegira, A.D. 644. 

 Upon the death of Othman, Ali was unaiiimouHy clefted 

 to fuccetd him, in the 35th year of the hegira, A. D. 655. 

 The feat of government during the 3 preceding caliphates 

 bad remained fixed at Medina from the death of Mahomet ; 

 but Ali removed it to Cufa. Ali was fucceeded in the ca- 

 liphate b" his fon Hafan in the 40th year of the hegira, A. 

 D. (iCo ; but after a reign of about fix months, he abdi- 

 cated the government, and was fucceeded in the 41 11 year 

 of the hegira, A. D. 661, by Moawiyah I. the firll caliph 

 of the houfe of Ommiyah ; who transferred the feat of go- 

 vctnmtnt to Damafcus in Syria. The race of Ommiades 

 tcrininated with Uerwaa II. in the 137th year of the he- 



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gira, A. D. 7^4; and was fucceeded by the AbafTideS. The 

 tird caliph of tliis family was Abul Abbas al Salfah, who 

 afcended the throne of the MoflL-ms in the I3id year of the 

 heirira, A. D. 749, and who removed the feat of govern- 

 ment firll to Cufa, then to Anbar, a city on the confines of 

 Chaldsa and Arabia, and lall of all to Hafchcmiyah a city 

 built by himfelf near the Euphrates, not far from Anbar, 

 and fo denominated in honour of Hafchem, uncle of Maho- 

 met, and one of his anceftors ; and from this ciicumftance 

 the Abalfides obtained the appellation of Hafchemites. 

 A-bul Abbas was fucceeded by his brother Abu Jaafar al 

 Manfar, who was proclaimed caliph in the imperial city of 

 Anbar, then the capital of the Modem empire, in the i.-jSth 

 year of the hegira, A. D. 7,54. Hr budt the city of Bag- 

 dad, which afterwards became the ciiftomary refidence of 

 the Abafiide caliphs, his fiiceefrors. This race terminated 

 with Al Moftafem B'llah, who was put to death by the 

 Tartars, in the year of the hegiia 656, A. D. 12^8, whei> 

 they captured the city of Baudad. 



At the end of the firft century of the hegira, about A. D. 

 718, the caliphs were the molt potent and abfolute mo- 

 narchs of the globe. Their prerogative was not circum- 

 fcribcd, either in right or in faft, by the power of the 

 nobles, the freedom of the commons, the privileges of the 

 church, the votes of a fenate, or the memory of a free con- 

 (litufion. The regal zv.d facerdotal charafters were united 

 in thefe Ciiccefibis of Mahomet ; and the Koran was the rule 

 of their aflions. They were the fupreme j'ldges and inter- 

 preters of that bock held to be divine. They reigned by 

 the right of conqueft over the nations of the eaft, to whom 

 the name of liberty was unknown, aiid who were accuftom- 

 ed to applaud in tlieir tyrants the afts of violence and fe* 

 verity that were exercifed at their own expencc. Under 

 the lail of the Ommiades, tlie Arabian- empire extended 

 200 days' journey from eaft to weft, from the confines of 

 Tartary and India to the Ihores of the Atlantic Ocean. 

 And if we retrench the fleeve of the robe, as the l<)"g and 

 narrow province of Africa was ftyled by their writers, the 

 folid and compaft dominion from Fargana to Aden, from 

 Tarfus to Surat, will fpread on every fide to the nieafurc 

 of 4 or 1^ months of the march of a caravan. Under the 

 reign of the Ommiades, the ftudies of the Modems were 

 confined to the interpretation of the Koran, and the elo- 

 quence and poetry of their native tongue. But the caliphs 

 of the race of Abaflldes, after their civil and domeftic wars, 

 encouraged literature and fcience. See Alihamon and 

 Almansor. 



After the period of the deftrudlion of the cah'phate by 

 the capture of Bagdad, there were perfons who claimed 

 the caliphate, under a pretence of belonging to the family 

 of the Abaffides, and to whom the fultans of Egypt paid 

 great refpeft at Cairo, as the true fuccedbrs of Maho- 

 met ; but this honour was merely titular, and the rights 

 they claimed were only acknowledged in the province of 

 rehgion ; and though they bore the title of caliphs, they 

 were neverthelefs fubjefts, and dependents of the Sultans, 

 In the year of the hegira 361, A. D 971, a kind of cali- 

 phate was ereftcd by the Fatimites in Africa and Egyptj 

 and lafted till Saladin fuppreffed it by order of Noureddin, 

 fultan of Syria. There was alfo a caliphate in Africa and 

 Spain, which commenced under the reign of Jofef. Hifto- 

 rians alfo fpeak of a caliphate in Yemen or Arabia Felix, 

 eftabli;hed by fome princes of the race of the A'uubites, 

 or Jobites. The emperors of Morocco aflume the title of 

 " grand cherifs" and pretend to be the true caliphs, or fuc- 

 ceffors of Mahomet, though under another name. Since 



tha 



