"دليل الخليج. مجلد I. القسم التاريخي. الجزء II. ج. ج. لوريمر. ١٩١٥" [‎٢‎٣‎٥‎٣] (١٢٦٢/٨٧٠)

2353
at his capital Kufah, but also Mu 'awiyah at Damascus and 'Umr-foh 'All by
org ibn-al-^s at Cairo,—all of whom they regarded as disturbers o£ the an ^
peace of Islam. ^Umr escaped entirely unhurt; Mu^awiyah was wounded
but recovered; and the plot succeeded only in the case of ■'AH, whom
; Abdur Kahman-bin-Muljam cut down with a swoi v d in the great mosque
at Kufali. ''Ali^s wound, which was on the forepart of his head, was not
severe; but the sword with which it was inflicted had been poisoned,
and he expired a day or two after, at the age of 63.
; Ali left three sons, named Hasan, Husain and Muhassin. Of these Khalifate of
Hasan was elected by his fathers subjects to be their ruler; but he Hasan and
shrunk from a conflict with the superior forces of Mu'awiyah, who had hi^ ^hdioa-
not ceased to encroach on ■'Iraq; and by a treaty with the 'Omaiyid he ^ *
obtained, in consideration of his renouncing his claims to the Khalifate,
an amnesty for all his relations and a handsome pension for himself.
Under this arrangement Mu'awiyah took possession of Kufah in the
summer of 661. Hasan retired to Madinah, where he died eight or
nine years later, poisoned by his wife, it was said, at the instigation of
the ; Omaiyids.
Mir'awiyah remained in undisputed possessidn of the nominal Hngain's in-
Klialifate until his death in 680 ; but his son and successor Yazid had vasion of
immediately to cope with a movement headed by Husain, the second ^ rac l' 680 A.
son of ; Ali, encouraged by "'Abdullah, an ambitious son of Zubair,
whose devotion to his cause does not appear to have been altogether
sincere. Husain, not without hesitation, accepted an invitation from the
inhabitants of ''Iraq to become their ruler and sent his cousin Muslim-
bin- ; Aqil to prepare the way for him. Yazid, to meet the danger,
transferred the energetic ■'Obaid Ullah, son of his own uncle Ziyad,
from the government of Basrah to that of Kufah; and the capture and
execution of Muslim quickly followed. Meanwhile Husain had advanced
from Makkah to the borders of /Iraq; here he was met on the 1st of
Muharram by a troop of horse under one Hurr, who had orders to
conduct him to Kufah but did not do so ; and on the 8rd of Muharram
a body of 4,000 troops^ despatched by ■'Obaid Ullah from Kufah,
established themselves between the Euphrates and Husain's camp at
Karbala, cutting him off from the river. Negotiations ensued, which
lasted until the 9th; but no settlement could be reached, for ^Obaid
Ullah insisted on the unconditional surrender of Husain and his party,
and to this Husain would not agree. On the morning of Saturday the
10th of Muharram 61 A. H., corresponding to the 10th of October 680
A. D., Hurr, the leader first sent against Husain, deserted to his side;
and soon afterwards fighting, chiefly in the form of single combats,
began in front of Husain^s camp, which he had caused to be entrenched
during the night. The attacking force was commanded by Shimr. The
battle was prolonged into the afternoon; but in the end numbers pro
filed, and Husain was slaughtered with his entire armed following of
more than 70 persons*; among the slain were Husain s half-brotnei"
Abbas and Husain's son AH Akbar. The head of Husain was sent to
* The number of the Shubada or martyrs is given as 72, but tbe^ writer has not
able to ascertain whether the chiefs (Husain, etc.) are included in this number.
m