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ABDALLATIF
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ABDALLATIF , or ABD-UL-LATIF (1162–1231), a celebrated physician and traveller, and one of the most voluminous writers of the See also:East, was See also:born at See also:Bagdad in 1162. An interesting memoir of Abdallatif, written by himself, has been preserved with additions by See also:Ibn-See also:Abu-Osaiba (Ibn abi Usaibia), a contemporary. From that See also:work we learn that the higher See also:education of the youth of Bagdad consisted principally in a See also:minute and careful study of the rules and principles of See also:grammar, and in their committing to memory the whole of the See also:Koran, a See also:treatise or two on See also:philology and See also:jurisprudence, and the choicest Arabian See also:poetry. After attaining to See also:great proficiency in that See also:kind of learning, Abdallatif applied himself to natural See also:philosophy and See also:medicine. To enjoy the society of the learned, he went first to See also:Mosul (1189), and afterwards to See also:Damascus. With letters of recommendation , from See also:Saladin's See also:vizier, he visited See also:Egypt, where the wish he had See also:long cherished to converse with See also:Maimonides, " the See also:Eagle of the Doctors," was gratified. He afterwards formed one of the circle of learned men whom Saladin gathered around him at See also:Jerusalem. He taught medicine and philosophy at See also:Cairo and at Damascus for a number of years, and afterwards, for a shorter See also:period, at See also:Aleppo. His love of travel led him in his old See also:age to visit different parts of See also:Armenia and See also:Asia See also:Minor, and he was setting out on a See also:pilgrimage to See also:Mecca when he died at Bagdad in 1231. Abdallatif was undoubtedly a See also:man of great knowledge and of an inquisitive and penetrating mind. Of the numerous works—mostly on medicine—which Osaiba ascribes to him, one only, his graphic and detailed See also:Account of Egypt (in two parts), appears to be known in See also:Europe. The See also:manuscript, discovered by See also:Edward See also:Pococke the Orientalist, and preserved in the Bodleian Library, contains a vivid description of a See also:famine caused, during the author's See also:residence in Egypt, by the See also:Nile failing to overflow its See also:banks. It was translated into Latin by See also:Professor See also: In 755 he was in hiding near See also:Ceuta, and thence he sent an See also:agent over to Spain to ask for the support of other clients of the family, descendants of the conquerors of Spain, who were numerous in the See also:province of See also:Elvira, the See also:modern See also:Granada. The See also:country was in a See also:state of confusion under the weak See also:rule of the See also:amir Yusef, a See also:mere puppet in the hands of a See also:faction, and was torn by tribal dissensions among the See also:Arabs and by See also:race conflicts between. the Arabs and See also:Berbers. It offered Abd-ar-rahman the opportunity he had failed to find in Africa. On the invitation of his partisans he landed at Almunecar, to the east of See also:Malaga, in See also:September 755. For a time he was compelled to submit to be guided by his supporters, who were aware of the risks of their venture. Yusef opened negotiations, and offered to give Abdar-rahman one of his daughters in See also:marriage and a See also: The long reign of Abd-arrahman I. was spent in a struggle to reduce his anarchical Arab and Berber subjects to See also:order. They had never meant to give themselves a See also:master, and they chafed under his See also:hand, which See also:grew continually heavier. The details of these conflicts belong to the general See also:history of Spain. It is, however, See also:part of the See also:personal history of Abd-ar-rahman that when in 763 he was compelled to fight at the very See also:gate of his See also:capital with rebels acting on behalf of the Abbasids, and had won a See also:signal victory, he cut off the heads of the leaders, filled them with See also:salt and camphor and sent them as a See also:defiance to the eastern See also:caliph. His last years were spent amid a See also:succession of See also:palace conspiracies, repressed with See also:cruelty. Abd-ar-rahman grew embittered andferocious. He was a See also:fine example of an See also:oriental founder of a dynasty, and did his work so well that the 0mayyads lasted in Spain for two centuries and a See also:half. ABD-AR-RAHMAN II. (822–852) was one of the weaker of the Spanish Omayyads. He was a prince with a See also:taste for See also:music and literature, whose reign was a time of confusion. It is chiefly memorable for having included the See also:story of the " Martyrs of Cordova," one of the most remarkable passages in the religious history of the See also:middle ages. ABD-AR-RAHMAN III. (912–961) was the greatest and the most successful of the princes of his dynasty in Spain (for the. general history of his reign see SPAIN, History). , He ascended the See also:throne when he was barely twenty-two and reigned for half a See also:century. His life was so completely identified with the See also:government of the state that he offers less material for See also:biography than his ancestor Abd-ar-rahman I. Yet it supplies some passages which show the real See also:character of an oriental dynasty even at its best. Abd-ar-rahman III. was the See also:grandson of his predecessor, Abdallah, one of the weakest and worst of the Spanish Omayyads. His See also:father, Mahommed, was murdered by a brother Motarrif by order of Abdallah. The old See also:sultan was so far influenced by humanity and remorse that he treated his grandson kindly. Abd-ar-rahman III. came to the throne when the country was exhausted by more than a See also:generation of tribal conflict among the Arabs, and of strife between them and the Mahommedans of native Spanish descent. Spaniards who were openly or secretly Christians had acted with the renegades. These elements, which formed the bulk of the See also:population, were not averse from supporting a strong ruler who would protect them against the Arab See also:aristocracy. These restless nobles were the. most serious of Abd-ar-rahman's enemies. Next to them came the See also:Fatimites of Egypt and northern Africa, who claimed the caliphate, and who aimed at extending their rule over the Mahommedan See also:world, at least in the west. Abd-ar-rahman subdued the nobles by means of a See also:mercenary army, which included Christians. He repelled the Fatimites, partly by sup-porting their enemies in Africa, and partly by claiming the caliphate for himself. His ancestors in Spain had been content with the See also:title of sultan. The caliphate was thought only to belong to the prince who ruled over the sacred cities of Mecca and See also:Medina. But the force of this tradition had been so far weakened that Abd-ar-rahman could proclaim himself caliph on the. 16th of See also:January 929, and the See also:assumption of the title gave him increased See also:prestige with his subjects, both in Spain and Africa. His worst enemies were always his See also:fellow Mahommedans. After he was defeated by the Christians at Alhandega in 939 through the See also:treason of the Arab nobles in his army (see SPAIN, History) he never again took the See also: 
A very large proportion of the surplus must have been wasted on the palace-See also:town of Zahra, built three See also:miles to the See also:north of Cordova, and named after a favourite concubine. Ten thousand workmen are said to have been employed for twenty-five years on this wonder, of which no trace now remains. The great See also:monument of See also:early Arabic See also:architecture in Spain, the See also:mosque of Cordova, was built by his predecessors; not by him. It is said that his harem included six thousand See also:women. Abd-ar-rahman was tolerant, but it is highly probable that he was very indifferent in See also:religion, and it is certain that he was a thorough See also:despot. One of the most See also:authentic sayings attributed to him is his See also:criticism of See also:Otto I. of See also:Germany, recorded by Otto's See also:ambassador, Johann, See also: Mostadir (1023-1024). Both were the mere puppets of factions, who deserted them at once. Abd-ar-rahman IV. was murdered in the See also:year in which he was proclaimed, at Guadiz, when fleeing from a See also:battle in which he had been deserted by his supporters. Abd-ar-rahman V. was proclaimed caliph in See also:December 1023 at Cordova, and murdered in January 1024 by a See also:mob of unemployed workmen, headed by one of his own See also:cousins.
The history of the Omayyads in Spain is the subject of the Histoire See also:des Musulmans d'Espagne, by R. See also:Dozy (See also:Leiden, 1861). (D. H.)
ABD-EL-AZIZ IV. (1880- ), sultan of See also:Morocco, son of Sultan Mulai el See also:Hasan III. by a Circassian wife. He was fourteen years of age on his father's See also:death in 1894. By the See also:wise See also:action of Si Ahmad See also:bin Musa, the See also: On his death in 'goo the regency ended, and Abd-el-Aziz took the reins of government into his own hands, with an Arab from the See also:south, El Menebhi, for his chief adviser. Urged by his Circassian See also:mother, the sultan sought See also:advice and counsel from Europe and endeavoured to See also:act up to it. But disinterested advice was difficult to obtain, and in spite of the unquestionable See also:desire of the young ruler to do the best for the country, See also:wild extravagance both in action and See also:expenditure resulted, leaving the sultan with depleted See also:exchequer and the confidence of his See also:people impaired. His intimacy with foreigners and his See also:imitation of their ways were sufficient to rouse fanaticism and create dissatisfaction. His See also:attempt to reorganize the finances by the systematic See also:levy of taxes was hailed with delight, but the government was not strong enough to carry the See also:measures through, and the See also:money which should have been used to pay the taxes was employed to See also:purchase firearms. Thus the benign intentions of Mulai Abdel-Aziz were interpreted as weakness, and .Europeans were accused of having spoiled the sultan and of being desirous of spoiling the country. When See also:British See also:engineers were employed to survey the route for a railway between See also:Mequinez and See also:Fez, this was reported as indicating an See also:absolute See also:sale of the country. The fanaticism of the people was aroused, and a revolt See also:broke out near the Algerian frontier. Such was the See also:condition of things when the See also:news of the Anglo-French Agreement of 1904 came as a See also:blow to Abd-el-Aziz, who had relied on See also:England for support and See also:protection against the inroads of See also:France. On the advice of Germany he proposed the See also:assembly of an See also:international See also:conference at See also:Algeciras in i906 to consult upon methods of reform, the sultan's desire being to ensure a condition of affairs which would leave foreigners with no excuse for interference in the See also:control of the country, and would promote its welfare, which Abd-el-Aziz had earnestly desired from his accession to See also:power. The sultan gave his adherence to the Act of the Algeciras Conference, but the state of anarachy into which Morocco See also:fell during the latter half of 1906 and the beginning of 1907 showed that the young ruler lacked strength sufficient to make his will respected by his turbulent subjects. In May 1907 the See also:southern tribes invited Mulai Hafid, an See also:elder brother of Abd-el-Aziz, and See also:viceroy at See also:Marrakesh, to become sultan, and in the following See also:August Hafid was proclaimed See also:sovereign there with all the usual formalities. In the meantime the See also:murder of 'Europeans at See also:Casablanca had led to the occupation of that See also:port by France. In September Abd-el-Aziz arrived at See also:Rabat from Fez and endeavoured to secure the support of the See also:European See also:powers against his brother. From France he accepted the See also:grand See also:cordon of the See also:Legion of See also:Honour, and was later enabled to negotiate a See also:loan. His leaning to Christians aroused further opposition to his rule, and in January 1908 he was declared deposed by the See also:ulema of Fez, who offered the throne to Hafid. After months of inactivity Abd-el-Aziz made an effort to re-See also:store his authority, and quitting Rabat in See also:July he marched on Marrakesh. His force, largely owing to treachery, was completely overthrown (August 19th) when near that See also:city, and Abd-el-Aziz fled to Settat within the French lines • round Casablanca. In See also:November he came to terms with his brother, and thereafter took up his residence in See also:Tangier as a pensioner of the new sultan. He declared himself more than reconciled to the loss of the throne, and as looking forward to a quiet, peaceful life. (See MOROCCO, History.) ABD-EL-KADER (c. 1807-1883), amir of See also:Mascara, the great opponent of the See also:conquest of See also:Algeria by France, was born near Mascara in 1807 or 1808. His family were sherifs or descend-ants of See also:Mahomet, and his father, See also:Mahi-ed-Din, was celebrated throughout North Africa for his piety and charity. Abd-el-Kader received the best education attainable by a Mussulman of princely See also:rank, especially in See also:theology and philosophy, in See also:horsemanship and in other manly exercises. While still a youth he was taken by his father on the pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina and to the See also:tomb of Sidi Abd-el-Kader El Jalili at Bagdad—events which stimulated his natural tendency to religious See also:enthusiasm. While in Egypt in 1827, Abd-el-Kader is stated to have been impressed, by the reforms then being carried out by Mehemet See also:Ali, with the value of European See also:civilization, and the knowledge he then gained affected his career. Mahi-ed-Din and his son returned to Mascara shortly before the French occupation of See also:Algiers (July 1830) destroyed the government of the See also:Dey. Coming forward as the See also:champion of See also:Islam against the infidels, Abd-el-Kader was proclaimed amir at Mascara in 1832. He prosecuted the war against France vigorously and in a short time had rallied to his See also:standard all the tribes of western Algeria. The story of his fifteen years' struggle against the French is given under ALGERIA. To the beginning of 1842 the contest went in favour of the amir; thereafter he found in See also:Marshal Bugeaud an opponent who proved, in the end, his master. Throughout this period Abd-el-Kader showed himself a born See also:leader of men, a great soldier, a capable See also:administrator, a per-suasive orator, a chivalrous opponent. His fervent faith in the doctrines of Islam was unquestioned, and his ultimate failure was due in considerable measure to the refusal of the See also:Kabyles, Berber See also:mountain tribes whose Mahommedanism is somewhat loosely held, to make common cause with the Arabs against the French. On the 21st of December 1847, the amir gave himself up to General See also:Lamoriciere at Sidi Brahim. On the 23rd, his submission was formally made to the duc d'See also:Aumale, then See also:governor of Algeria. In violation of the promise that he would be allowed to go to See also:Alexandria or St See also:Jean d'See also:Acre, on the faith of which he surrendered, Abd-el-Kader and his family were detained in France, first at See also:Toulon, then at See also:Pau, being in November 1848 transferred to the See also:chateau of See also:Amboise. There Abd-el-Kader remained until See also:October 1852, when he was re-leased by See also:Napoleon III. on taking an See also:oath never again to disturb Algeria. The amir then took up his residence in See also:Brusa, removing in 1855 to Damascus. In July 186o, when the Moslems of that city, taking See also:advantage of disturbances among the See also:Druses of See also:Lebanon, attacked the See also:Christian See also:quarter and killed over 3000 persons, Abd-el-Kader helped to repress the outbreak and saved large See also:numbers of Christians. For this action the French government, which granted the amir a See also:pension of £4000, bestowed on him the grand See also:cross of the Legion of Honour. In 1865, he visited See also:Paris and See also:London, and was again in Paris at the exposition of 1867. In 1871, when the Algerians again See also:rose in revolt, Abd-el-Kader wrote to them counselling submission to France. After his surrender in 1847 he devoted himself anew to theology and philosophy, and composed a philosophical treatise, of which a French See also:translation was published in 1858 under the title of Rappel a l'intelligent. Avis d l'indiiffrent. He also wrote a See also:book on the Arab horse. He died at Damascus on the 26th of May 1883. See Commdt. J. Pichon, Abd el Kader, 1807-1883 (Paris [1899].); Alex. Bellemare, Abd-el-Kader: sa See also:vie politique et militaire (Paris, 1863) ; See also:Col. C. H. See also:Churchill, The Life of Abdel Kader (London, 1867). Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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