Sediton2

III

Sedition, Nomadism,

And Dhimmitude

Iraq – Mesopotamia (Early Ninth Century)

When Tahir [b. al-Husayn] (officer in the caliph al-Ma?mun?s army) learned at
Callinicum, that Ibrahim (Ibrahim, son of al-Mahdi, reigned at Baghdad 817-19,
while the two sons of Harun al-Rashid, al-Amin 809-13 and al-Ma?mun 813-33
quarrelled over his empire) was reigning, he won the support of the rebels,
some by gifts, others by giving them authority over the lands. At Harran, he
settled Ibrahim, the Qurayshite [of the tribe of Quraysh], who gave the
pagans permission to make public sacrifices. In Edessa, he settled Abd
al-Ala, who crushed the Edessenians with taxes. When he coveted one of
their villages, he multiplied the charges on that village until they were forced
to sell it and he took it for next to nothing. He took it into his head to drive
the Edessenians from the town and to settle the people of his tribe, the
Sulaymanites, there. A large crowd having gathered as a result of this and
having gone to find him in order to complain of what they had to suffer on
account of those who lodged in their houses, in the town and in the villages,
he answered them; "What have you Christians got to complain of! Since the
time of the Romans [Byzantines], you devoured this land, and our ancestors
wandered in the arid desert, grazing camels or sheep in the cold or the heat,
which withered or burned; and now that we have taken this land from the
Romans by our swords, why do you make difficulties about surrendering it to
us and being strangers there? Get up and leave my presence; bear your lot.
Pay the tribute and remain at peace." And the Edessenians went away in
sorrow. [?]

When the rebels saw that Tahir was leaving them in peace, they thought
that he was afraid, and they then carried out greater pillage, not only of
Christians but even of Taiyaye. Then the Taiyaye rose up against the
depredators and drove them out. Nasr and Abbas [leaders of the rebels]
joined together and marched against Uthman [ruler in Syria] at Hira. The
latter gathered a large number <of men> and they were not able to attack
him. Then Uthman went to Tahir to urge him to make war on the rebels or to
give him an army with which he would go out to meet them. But Tahir kept
him in suspense and informed Nasr and Abbas of his [Uthman?s] intentions.
Tahir delayed bringing peace to these regions for fear of receiving the order
to leave for Egypt. When Uthman understood the matter, he wrote to
al-Ma?mun about Tahir, saying that he had become an accomplice of the
rebels. His messenger was seized. When Uthman knew that his letters had
been seized, and that his enmity towards Tahir and also toward Nasr and
Abbas had become evident, he himself gathered rebels and began to steal
and pillage. [3:35-36]

The Troubles Continue

Then [in 821] the rebels became more powerful. Nasr purchased the market
town of Beit Balas [Balis] (village on the banks of the Euphrates in the province of
Aleppo), gathered his army and went down towards the river which is near
Callinicum and which is called Hani (Eastern part of the Euphrates). Isa came
out with the peasants. Nasr killed all of them and seized the villages,
pillaged them and took prisoners there. When al-Ma?mun learned of this he
was disturbed. He sent Sabib, a valiant soldier, with seven thousand picked
men, to meet Nasr. Nasr, learning of this, was seized with fear and sent
ambassadors and letters to king Ma?mun. He gave proof of his allegiance
and the king answered: "If it is sincerely so, come and tread my carpet and I
will honour you". But he sent his excuses to the king. The Sabib prepared
for battle. Nasr divided his army into three corps and did not allow the
Persians [the caliphal army] to bring in provisions. When they were
enfeebled by hunger, they joined battle. Many men succumbed on both
sides. The Taiyaye turned tail and the Persians set to pillaging the
peasants, eating, drinking, rejoicing and mocking those who were inside the
walls. While the Persians were in transports of arrogance, Nasr came back
against them and the Persians, seized with terror, were cut to pieces. Sabib,
seeing that they could do nothing against the Arabs, wanted to go to Antioch
and bring back the gold taken from Egypt in Harun?s day (the caliph Harun
al-Rashid 785-809). They advanced in secret during the night; but Nasr had
knowledge of it and got there before them; after having killed about three
thousand of them, he shouted to them from the rear: "Throw down your arms
and go away wherever you want". These unfortunate men threw down their
arms, and then they took all of them. After that, they set about pursuing
Sabib and overtook him. Seeing this, the Persians were gripped by fear.
Nasr shouted out, saying: "I will give a horse and a thousand dinars to
anyone who comes over to my side". Several people having passed over,
Sabib took flight with a small number <of men> and went to Baghdad in the
shame that he deserved, because he did not prevent his troops mistreating
the unfortunates. Nasr and his Arab troops seized Persians, and also killed
the turncoats who had changed sides and those who had thrown down their
arms.

When Nasr came back from the war against Sabib, he heard talk of the
Yemenites who were in Mabbug (Mambj, former Hierapolis in Syria), and who
had invaded and pillaged the villages situated on the river Sugra; the
Taiyaye call this river Sajur. They hid in an ambush and when each man
went out to work, Nasr and his troop fell on them and set to killing the
women and everyone they met. As many fellahs and poor people went up to
the monastery of Borim, Nasr set fire to it and some of them were burnt:
others threw themselves down and were dashed to pieces as they fell: their
heads were cut off by the sword. A host of poor people died in this way.
After they had cut off all the heads, they brought them to Sarug [near
Edessa]. [?]

At this period (under the caliphate of al-Ma?mun), the emir Ibrahim of Harran,
taking the air on his large cupola, saw new houses and he questioned the
cup-bearers who were with him: "Whom do these new white houses belong
to?" The men, who were pagans (Pagans, in this context of the chronicler, mean
Muslims), said to him: "These are the churches of the Christians who built
them in your time; and because of this, many Muslims are shocked because
of you, because you allowed them to build what was not built in the time of
the Romans; and they say that you received a gift." He immediately flew into
a rage and ordered the destruction of the new churches; and before
sundown he had the sanctuary of our Catholic church at Harran destroyed,
and that of the Mother of God, which was at Qubbe (near Edessa), and part
of the temple of Mar Georgius, and other temples among those of the
Chalcedonians, Jews and Nestorians. Then all the faiths began to entreat
God to have pity on them, and in the night, God changed the emir?s state of
mind: he showed repentance; in the morning, he summoned the Christians
and told them to rebuild what had been destroyed. And in a few days, they
rebuilt everything that had been destroyed. [3:46-48]

In the same year [835], the Muslims of Harran stirred up war against the
Christians. An edict appeared and on the Sunday morning of the
Resurrection, they destroyed the temple of Mar Georgius of Qubbe and
<that> of Mar Ahudemmeh on the pretext that they were newly built. Thus,
that curse which says: "I [The Lord] will turn your feasts into mourning etc."
[Amos 8:10] was fulfilled upon the people of Harran. [3:86]

At this period, the son of Abu Ishaq [al-Mu?tasim], king of the Taiyaye, a
young man called Abu Daoud, was the enemy of the Christians. He
arranged for his father to forbid the cross to be seen outside churches, to
play the semantra, raise voices in prayer or at burials, on the road, and to
allow wine to be seen in any town or on the roads. Thenceforth, the men
became the victims of prefects, who hardened or lightened this edict as
much as they wished and in proportion to what they received. [?]

Whereas public affairs, that is to say empires, went badly in these years, our
Church was left in peace because the faithful and all the people were
overwhelmed by the problems of the tax and tributes of the governors, amid
the wars and struggles of the kings.

But whereas the faithful were enjoying tranquility because there were no
troubles and dissensions among the leaders of the Church, the demon
provoked persecution at Sarug, through the intermediary of a pagan
[Muslim] who was seized with satanic zeal. He went to and fro discovering
those who had returned to Christianity after having apostatised, in order to
force them to become Muslims again. Several were seized and suffered
torture courageously. [3:96-97]

At this period [ca. 841], the tribe of the Rabi?aye (a normal tribe originating from
Bahrain), made up of murderers and brigands, had as their leader a man
called Malik, of their own race. He dragged off and incarcerated in the town
of Balad [on the Tigris, near Mosul] most of the thieves that were among
them. After a time, they broke their bonds and took flight. Seeing this, the
people of Balad seized three of them and put them to death. The families of
those who had been killed, to the number of five hundred, came together,
ravaged the land of the Arabaye, and set fire to the villages. When the sons
of Hasan, the leader of Rai?aye, heard this news, they went out to pillage
because their villages had been taken by the king [the caliph al-Mu?tasim] in
compensation for a debt of three million zuz which their father, Hasan, still
owed on the levy of the poll tax. They laid waste the region of Nisibin,
Siggar, the Tur Abdin (Jabal al-Tur, plateau along the Tigris, near Diyarbakir) and
Qardu (Former Beit Zabday, in the region called Jazira ibn Umar). Then the king
sent help to Malik, who left in pursuit of the rebels: the mountains and
valleys were filled with the corpses of the Rabi?aye. [3:106-7]

Later, in the year 1153 [842], there was in Palestine a man named Tamim,
called Abu Harb (for details on Abu Harb Tamim, called al-Mubarqa? ?the veild?, see
Moshe Gil, A History of Palestine. 634-1099 ?Cambridge, 1992?, 295), who
proclaimed himself king. Thirty thousand starving and destitute [men] joined
him. His face was covered with a veil. He appeared to be zealous for the law
of the Prophet, and concerned for the oppressed: he did not impose tribute
of more than four zuz. Many rejoiced. But did not preserve with these rules
and began to pillage and kill. He went up to Jerusalem: the Taiyaye, the
Christians and Jews took flight. He made his way into mosques and
churches and after having pillaged everything, he wanted to burn down the
Church of the Resurrection and the others. The patriarch sent him much
gold. Raja [b. Ayyub] was sent against him with eight thousand men.

When they reached Callinicum, news came that Abu Ishaq [al-Mu?tasim] was
dead. The majority <of men> prepared for pillage; but God had pity [on
them], and the news arrived that Harun (caliph Harun al Wathiq 842-47) was
reigning, the rebels were contained and the disturbance ceased. Meanwhile,
Bar Baihas, from Damascus, assembled five thousand men and began to
pillage and slaughter. Raja caught up with him and killed four thousand of
his men, and the rest dispersed. [3:103]

Abbasid and Fatimid Empires

After Wathek, Mutawakkil his brother <ruled> fourteen years and nine
months, he began to reign in the year two hundred and thirty-one of the
Arabs <A.D. 845> (Al-Mutawakkil actually reigned from 847 to 861). This Khalifah
was a hater of the Christians, and he afflicted them <by ordering> them to
bind pukire <i.e., bandlets> of wool round their heads; and none of them
was to appear outside <his house> without a belt and girdle. And if any man
among them had a slave, he was to sew two strips of cloth of different
colours on his tunic from the front and from behind. And the new churches
were to be pulled down. And if they should happen to have a spacious
church, even though it was ancient, one part of it was to be made into a
Masjid <Mosque>. And they were not to lift up crosses during their feasts of
Hosanna. In a similar manner he laid these same commands, and many
others which were like unto them, upon the Jews also. [1:141]

And in the year three hundred and ninety-two of the Arabs <A.D. 1001> the
Arabs rose in a tumult against the Christians in Baghdad, and they looted
their houses. And they also put forth their hands against the churches to
destroy them. And having set on fire that church of the Jacobites which is by
the side of the place where flour was ground, it fell down on a very large
number of Arabs, men, and women, and children, and it suffocated them and
burned to death those who set it on fire; and the onlookers became terror
stricken. [1:183]

And at this time Hakim [996-1021], the Khalifah of Egypt <read Baghdad>
(Baghdad as in the original translated English text. Al-Hakim was the Fatimid caliph of
Egypt and Syria) commanded and the Temple of the Resurrection which is in
Jerusalem was dug up from its roots <or, foundations>, and all its furniture
was looted. And he laid waste also thousands of churches which were in his
dominions. And he commanded the heralds to proclaim, "Every Christian
who entereth the Faith of the Arabs shall be honoured, and he who entereth
not shall be disgraced, and he shall hang on his neck a cross from above
<upside down? >. And the Jews shall place on their necks the figure of a
calf?s head, since they made <a calf> in the wilderness and worshipped it.
And they shall not wear rings on the fingers of the right hand, neither shall
they ride on horses, but on mules and asses, with common saddles and
stirrups of wood. And the man who will not accept this humiliation, let him
take everything that he hath and go to the country of the Rhomaye."

And when this Edict went forth very many people departed, but a few denied
the Faith of the Christians. And those who neither departed nor denied their
Faith hung crosses of gold and of silver on their necks, and they made for
themselves saddles of rich coloured stuffs. When Hakim heard this he was
wroth, and he commanded, saying, "Every Christian who does not hang on
his neck a cross of wood weighing four litres [sic], according to the measure
of Baghdad, shall be killed. And also the Jew who does not hang on his
neck a plaque <? > with the figure of the claw of chicken <on it>, which
weighs six pounds, shall be killed. And when they go into the baths they
shall tie little bells on their necks, so that they may be distinguished from the
Arabs." [1:184]

Bar Herbraeus

Baghdad (1100)

A description by Obadyah the Norman proselyte (Johannes), born in
Oppido, southern Italy, a priest converted to Judaism (1102).

The servant installed Obadyah, the Proselyte, in a house used by the Jews
for prayers, and food was brought to him. Afterwards, Isaac, the head of the
Academy, arranged that Johannes [Obadya] should join the orphaned boys
in order to be taught the law of Moses and the words of the prophets in the
divine characters and the tongue of the Hebrews.

Before these events [in 1091], the Caliph of Baghdad, of the name of
al-Muqtadi [1075-94], had given power to his vizier, Abu Shuja, to introduce
a change of policy in regard to the Jews of Baghdad and he had tried
several times to destroy them. But the God of Israel had thwarted his
intention <and> on this occasion also He hid them from his wrath. He <Abu
Shuja> imposed that each male Jew should wear a yellow badge on his
headgear. This was one distinctive sign on the head and the other was on
the neck – a peace of lead of the weight <size? > of a silver dinar <?>
hanging round the neck of every Jew and inscribed with the word dhimmi to
signify that the Jew had to pay poll-tax. Jews also had to wear girdles round
their waists. Abu Shuja further imposed two signs upon Jewish women.
They had to wear a black and a red shoe, and each woman had to have a
small brass bell on her neck or shoe, which would tinkle and thus announce
the separation of Jewish from Gentile [Muslim] women. He assigned cruel
Muslim men to spy upon Jewish women, in order to oppress them with all
kinds of curses, humiliation and spite. The Gentile population used to mock
at the Jews, and the mob and their children used to beat up the Jews in all
the streets of Baghdad.

The law of the poll-tax, collected yearly by the Caliph?s official from the
Jews, was as follows: Every Jew belonging to the wealthy class had to pay
four and a half dinars in gold; a Jew of the middle class two and a half; and
a Jew of the poorest a dinar and a half. When a Jew died, who had not paid
up the poll-tax to the full and was in debt for a small or large amount, the
Gentiles did not permit burial until the debt of the poll-tax was paid. If the
deceased left nothing of value, the Gentiles demanded that other Jews
should, with their own money, meet the debt owed by the deceased in
poll-tax; otherwise <they threatened>, they would burn the body. [p. 37]

Obadyah

North Africa and Andalusia

The Qadi, Ahmad b. Talib [ninth century], compelled the dhimmis to wear
upon their shoulder a patch of white cloth <riqa> that bore the image of an
ape <for the Jew> and a pig <for the Christians>, and to nail onto their
doors a board bearing the sign of a monkey [Koran 5:65]. [p. 142]

al-Maliki

In Tunisia, the discontented masses rallied to Abu Yazid, the Berber
Kharijite, against the Shi?ite governors. Abu Yazin entered Qairuan in
944.

The Berbers broke into the town, where they gave vent to slaughter and
excesses; <only> a few inhabitants offered any resistance at the outer
edges of the town. Abu Yazid then sent a corps of troops to Qairuan,
commanded by one of his men, Ayyub Zawili who consigned it to pillage and
massacre and committed monstrosities when he came there at the end of
Safar (Safar: second month of the Muslim year). [pp. 328-29]

Abu Yazid stayed in Maysur?s (General defeated by Abu Yazid) tents for two
months and eight days, sending out columns in all directions, which brought
back booty. One of them was led against Susa, which was taken by the
sword: men were slaughtered, the women enslaved and the town burned.
The invaders split the women?s genital parts and disembowled them, so that
soon there was no longer one cultivated field or one roof left standing in
Ifriqiyya; the inhabitants, bare-footed and without clothing, took refuge in
Qairuan, and those who did not become slaves died of hunger and thirst. [p.
330]

[Abu Yazid] advanced towards Mahdiya and established his camp fifteen
miles from there. He launched columns in the direction of that town, which
pillaged and slaughtered everyone, so that the whole population took refuge
within it. [p. 331]

Ibn al-Athir, Annales

Seville (ca. 1100)

A Muslim must not act as masseur to a Jew or Christian; he must not clear
their rubbish nor clean their latrines. In fact, the Jew and the Christian are
more suited for such work, which are degrading tasks. A Muslim must not
act <as a guide or stableman> for an animal owned by a Jew or Christian;
he must not act as their donkey-driver or hold the stirrups for them. If it be
noticed that a Muslim contravenes these prohibitions, he shall be rebuked.
[p. 108]

A Jew must not slaughter an animal for a Muslim. The Jews may be
authorised to open their own special butcher shops. [p. 110]

It is forbidden to sell a coat that once belonged to a leper, to a Jew or
Christian, unless the buyer is informed of its origin; likewise if this garment
once belonged to a debauched person. [p. 112]

No tax-officer or policeman, Jew or Christian may be allowed to wear the
dress of an aristocrat, nor of a jurist, nor of a wealthy individual; on the
contrary they must be detested and avoided. It is forbidden to accost them
with the greeting "Peace upon you!" <as-salam alayka! >. In effect, "Satan
has gained the mastery over them, and caused them to forget God?s
Remembrance. Those are Satan?s party; why, Satan?s party, surely they are
the losers!" <Koran 58:20>. A distinctive sign must be imposed upon them in
order that they may be recognised and this will be for them a form of
disgrace. [p. 114]

The sound of bells must be prohibited in Muslim territories and reserved
only for the lands of the infidels. [p. 123]

It is forbidden to sell to Jews and Christians scientific books unless they
treat of their particular law; actually they translate scientific books and
attribute them to their coreligionists and to their bishops, whereas they are
really the work of Muslims! It would be preferable not to let Jewish or
Christian physicians establish themselves, so as to heal Muslims. Since they
are incapable of noble sentiments toward Muslims, let them treat their fellow
infidels; knowing their feelings, how is it possible to entrust the lives of
Muslims to them? [p. 128]

Ibn Abdun

Under the Almohades (1130-1269)

Towards the end of his reign, Abu Yusuf (Abu Yusuf Ya?qub al-Mansur 1184-98,
Almohad ruler of Spain and North Africa) ordered the Jewish inhabitants of the
Maghreb to make themselves conspicuous among the rest of the population
by assuming a special attire consisting of dark blue garments, the sleeves of
which were so wide as to reach to their feet and – instead of a turban – a
cap, which hung over the ears and whose form was so ugly as to be easily
mistaken for a pack-saddle. This apparel became the costume of all the
Jews of the Maghreb and remained obligatory until the end of the prince?s
reign and the beginning of that of his son Abu Abd Allah [1224-27]. The
latter made a concession only after appeals of all kinds had been made by
the Jews, who had entreated all those whom they thought might be helpful
to intercede on their behalf. Abu Abd Allah obliged them to wear yellow
garments and turbans, the very costume they still wear in the present year
621 [1224]. Abu Yusuf?s misgivings as to the sincerity of their conversion to
Islam prompted him to take this measure and impose upon them a specific
dress. "If I were sure", said he, "that they had really become Muslims, I
would let them assimilate through marriage and other means; but if I was
sure that they had remained infidels, I would have the men killed, enslave
their children and would confiscate their belongings for the benefit of the
believers". [pp. 264-65]

Al-Marrakushi

Mesopotamia – Iraq (Twelfth to Thirteenth Century)

In that year [1148], the emir Qara [Ar]slan, ruler of Hesna of Ziad [Harput],
seeing that the Turks were invading on all sides and seizing the lands of the
Franks (after the loss of Edessa, the massacre of its inhabitants 1144-1146 and the
failure of the second Crusade 1147-49), which the Lord had abandoned,
because they themselves had abandoned Him, sent his troops to seize
Babula, on the banks of the Euphrates. The inhabitants of the land of
Gargar (region in upper Mesopotamia, in the bend of the Euphrates) were gripped
with fear and took flight to seek safety in the mountain of Mar Bar Sauma
[near Melitene]. The whole area around the convent (the word "convent" and
"monastery" are used indiscriminately) was filled with men and women with their
children and baggage. Many monks, zealous for the faith, grumbled and
complained; however, as there were in the convent monks and serfs who
were relatives of these refugees, they were not able to drive them out. That
is why, when the Turks invaded the land of Gargar and saw the villages
deserted and learned that the inhabitants were in the mountain of Mar Bar
Sauma, they turned their steps towards the mountain. On Sunday 15 of Ab
<August>, the Turks <laid ambushes> on three sides, and in the morning
they suddenly rushed in and seized flocks and oxen. Three men were killed
on the serfs? side and two on the Turks? side. Then the Turks sent word
that: "We honour this saint; we give him offerings, and we have not come to
ill-treat this convent. We have come because of those people who have
come here from the land of Gargar; if you now surrender them to us, we will
give you back everything we have taken; we will not sent the people whom
we have taken prisoners into captivity, but safely back to their villages".
Then the people of the convent formed two parties; one said: "These people
must be surrendered"; the other shouted: "We will not surrender them"; and
they were on the point of resorting to battle and the sword, if one of the
God-fearing old men had not calmed them by his wisdom. He took with him
a few people from both parties, went out to seek the Turks and said to them:
"If truly as you say, you do not want to lead these people into slavery, let a
few on the notables among you come with us; we will go to Hesna of Ziad,
to the emir, and there this pact will be confirmed?. Then the Turks made it
apparent that they were using a ruse to lead the people into slavery. And
when this was found out, all the inhabitants of the convent were unanimous
in shouting: "We will not surrender a single person, even if all of us have to
die!" Then, the Turks burned down everything that was outside: houses and
presses, and also the fence round the vineyards. They took sheep, oxen
and prisoners, and went away. The monks <went. To Hesna of Ziad.
Thanks to the intervention of a few loyal notables of the place, they were
presented to the emir and, thanks to the help of the prayers of saint, God
inspired the heart of the emir Qara Arslan with generosity (probably with a gift
of money); he returned everything: men, oxen and sheep. This was a great
joy to everyone in all these land, and praise of God and the saint filled every
mouths. [3:290-90]

At this period [1152], an Armenian priest called Joseph, a native of the land
of Hazanit [Hanzith], built a church in the village of Bargahis, and decorated
it. He made it a resplendent white on the outside. One day when the emir
Qara Arslan had gone out to divert himself, as kings are wont to do, he saw
this glittering church and was annoyed by it. Some Turks who detested this
priest stirred up the emir?s anger; apart from the many accusations they
made against him, they added, with diabolical inspiration: "Wherever a new
church is built, the prince of the place dies". Then on his orders, this church
was mercilessly razed to its foundations, and that slandered priest was shut
up in prison. The Christians living in Hesna of Ziad (modern Harput) joined
together to intercede on his behalf; but at the very moment, before they
could go into his presence, the emir ordered that he be crucified, on the day
of the festival of the Cross, in the month of Elul <14 September>.

From that moment and for this reason, an edict appeared forbidding the
building of new churches or the restoration of old in all the lands of
Mesopotamia. This caused great sorrow to all Christians until the period
following the death of that emir. From the time of his son, Christians from all
states joined together, offered him a great deal of gold and obtained
permission to restore any old church in need of repair. A similar edict
brought great consolation to Christians in every place. [3:307-8]

In the year 1482 [1169], in the month of Ab <August>, the [Zangid] atabeg
Qutb ad-Din, prince of Mosul and all Assyria died.

Then his brother, Nur ad-Din of Aleppo [1146-1174], assembled his troops,
and went down without delay. He seized Nisibin without a battle; and the
jurisconsults rejoiced because he held them in high esteem. He diligently
observed [the injunctions] on not drinking wine and not letting the times for
prayer pass. The Muslims called him "prophet". That is because he was
harsh on the Christians and good to the Taiyaye. He ordered the destruction
of all new constructions existing within churches and convents; and they
began to demolish a large wall which had been built in the church of Mar
James of Nisibin, which the Nestorians had occupied since the time of the
heretic Bar Sauma. They pillaged the treasure which was there and about a
thousand books. They did the same in many places.

He established as "guardian of the laws" one of his intimate friends, an
enemy of the Christians, a jurisconsult called Bar Azrun and he sent [him] on
a tour to destroy meticulously any new construction said to have been done
within the churches in the time of his father and brother, "so that God have
mercy on them!". This scoundrel left as he had been instructed. Wherever
he was given gifts as bribes, he swore that the building was old; but where
this veil was not placed over his eyes, he demolished and destroyed, until
Nur ad-Din heard of the matter and dismissed him. [3:339-40]

He [Nur ad-Din] multiplied the tributes of the Christians, he raised the poll
tax, introduced the law that they had to be girdled with a belt and not let the
hair grow on their head, in order that they would be recognised and held up
to ridicule by the Taiyaye. He likewise decreed that Jews had to wear a
piece of red fabric on their shoulders to make them recognisable. [3:342]

From the year 1496 [1185-86] the devastation carried out by the Turkoman
people began, and for eight years they massacred and were massacred and
were massacred in Armenia, Assyria, Mesopotamia, Syria and Cappadocia.

The reason for the start of this devastation, occurred in this way:

The great people of the Turkomans, who live in tents, come down to spend
the winter in the desert situated to the south of Syria where snow does not
fall, where it does not freeze and where pasturage is to be found. In spring
they return to the northern region where they find pasturage for their cattle.
During their descent and ascent the roads are filled with their throngs of
livestock. The Kurds, accustomed to pillage, stole their sheep, goats,
camels, oxen everywhere and sometimes even killed their men. Then, the
Turkomans began to gather together at the time of their journey to watch
over their convoys. But in the land of Sabaktan on the borders of Mardin,
they encountered some two hundred Kurds who were lying in ambush in
order to steal. The Turkomans seized all of them and slaughtered them.
Then there was open hostility between them. The Kurds gathered together
to the number of some ten thousand and the Turkomans assembled a
greater number. They joined battle and some ten thousand men on both
sides were killed.

Then their hatred and anger grew. The Kurds assembled in the region of
Nisibin, of Tur Abdin, to the number of some thirty thousand. The
Turkomans gathered in the region of Habora [of the river Khabur]. When
battle was joined, the Kurds were conquered and their dead fell from the
banks of the river Habora up to Nisibin itself.

After that, there were two battles between the Turkomans and Kurds in the
region of Mosul. The war continued and the Kurds were beaten in many
places: they took flight before the Turkomans, and escaped to the
mountains close to the frontiers of Cilicia, to place their children and
baggage in safety on the borders of the Armenians. The Turkomans came to
attack them there and caused them all, men, women and children, to die by
the sword; they took their riches, and the race of the Kurds disappeared
from all Syria and Mesopotamia. As the Turkomans went to and fro in bands
on the plains and in the mountains, wherever they found Kurds, they
slaughtered them without mercy or cause.

During the early years, they did not ill-treat Christians. But the Turkomans
soon started to slaughter Christians. As well for two reasons; first, because
when the Kurds fled, they hid their possessions in the villages of the
Christians, and this was known to the Turkomans; secondly, because the
Turkomans ill-treated all the peoples in Greater Armenia when they were
carried away by the enthusiasm of pillage and slaughter, the princes not
preventing them from so doing. After having killed the Kurds, they took the
Armenians captive; they led twenty-six thousand men away and sold them
as slaves; they burned the villages and they set fire to the great convent of
Garabed, after having killed all the monks who were there and having
pillaged its books and everything it contained.

At the same period, they took with brute force the fortress of Tell ?Arab which
is in the land of Sabaktan (on the borders of Mardin), and they enslaved and
sold the whole population.

At the same period, they killed a hundred and seventy men at Tell Besmeh
(west of Mardin, on the road from Edessa); and likewise in many other places <?
>. Then, the princes, seeing their lands ravaged and their villages
depopulated, began to wage war on the Turkomans each in their own
region. In all Cappadocia and in the land of Melitene there were battles and
massacres.

At the same period, the Turkomans invaded the land of Claudia (region of the
upper Euphrates) and the prince resisted them in battle; some two hundred
young people from the village <of Amrun> and the rest of the country were
killed in battle.

Words cannot describe all the massacres which took place during these
eight years; because from a small spark, was born that great fire which
consumed myriads of peoples. Later, the storm died down. [3:400-402]

Michael the Syrian

After the defeat of the Mongols by the Mamluks in Syria (December
1260-61), Malik Salhi, governor of Mosul during the Mongol conquest,
joined with the Egyptians. When he was denounced, he took flight.
Some of his slaves, who had fled with him, returned to Mosul.

And when these men <who had come back> went into Mawsil, they started
a great persecution of the Christians, and they looted their houses and killed
everyone who did not become a Muslim. And many elders and deacons, and
gentlefolk, and common folk denied their Faith, <all> except a few of the
house of Suwayad, that is Wadhkoki, and Nafis the goldsmith. And as for
the country outside Nineveh (opposite Mosul, on the eastern banks of the Tigris
For the incident, see Fiery, Mosoul chretienne, 47), immediately Malik Salih fled,
the Kurds came down, and they made a great slaughter among the
Christians, and they took the nunnery of the Sisters which is in Beth Kudida,
and they killed therein many of the people who from all over the country
were hidden therein. And those accursed men also went up to the
Monastery of Mar Mattai (the monastery of Mar Mattai on the Jabal Maklub, a
mountain near Nineveh, was a Jacobite spiritual centre), and thousands of
horsemen and men on foot assembled there, and they made war on the
monks for a period of four months. And they set scaling ladders in position,
and they wanted to ascend the wall, but the monks prevailed and burnt their
scaling ladders. Then the Kurds hewed a mass of stone from the mountain
which is above the monastery and rolled it <down> upon it. And that great
mass of stone split in two, and one part made a breach in the wall, and it
remained fast in the breach like a gem in a ring which cannot be moved. And
the other part made a hole in the wall and passed through it, and the Kurds
rushed to enter in thereby. And the monks, and the natives of the country
who were refugees there, resisted fiercely, and they fought with stones and
arrows and did not let them come in; and they built up immediately the
breach with stones and lime. And during these fights one of the eyes of Abu
Nasr the archimandrite was knocked out, and a few men were struck by
arrows, but they became well again. And the monks being weary of the
fighting, they demanded peace of the Kurds, and they undertook to give
them all the hangings, and curtains, and equipment of the church, and also
to collect gold, and silver, and chains <jewellery>. Now because they heard
a report of the coming of the Tatars [the Mongols], the Kurds inclined swiftly
towards peace; and they took a very large amount of property from the
monastery, the total value of which amounted to one thousand gold dinars,
and departed.

And at that time certain people from the village of Beth Sahraye, and others
of the natives of Nineveh, who had been shut up in the Monastery of
Habhshushyatha, removed themselves from that place, and they went and
crossed the river Zabha [upper Zab] to go to Arbil. And Kutlu Bag, the Amir,
met them, and giving them as a reason that they were coming from the side
of the enemy, he killed them all, men and women alike. [1:441]

Bar Hebraeus

Obligations of the Dhimmis, According to Abu Abdallah b. Yahya Ibn
Fadlan: Letter to the Caliph Nasir al-Din Allah (1180-1225)

Umar Ibn al-Khattab wrote to the governors of the provinces instructing them
to oblige the dhimmis to shave their hair, to wear lead and iron seals around
their necks, not to sit astride their saddles, to wear at the waist special belts
that differentiated them from the Muslims.

And so it was at the time of the caliphs, but the last to have rigorously
imposed these obligations was the Caliph al-Muqtadi bi-Amrallah [908-32],
who forced them to observe the laws that had been current in the time of
al-Mutawakkil.

He ordered them to hang bells about their necks and to put wooden effigies
on their doors in order to distinguish them from Muslim houses. Their homes
were not to be of the same height as those of Muslims. He obliged the Jews
to wear a badge and a yellow turban, whereas Jewish women were to wear
yellow veils and different coloured shoes, one white and the other black.
They also had to wear iron necklaces around their necks when they entered
the bathhouses. As for the Christians, they had to wear black or grey
garments, a special belt around the waist, and a cross on their breast. They
were not allowed to have a horse as a mount, but only a mule, or an ass
without a pack or a saddle, which they were not allowed to ride astride, but
on one side only. Although all this has been abandoned, no increase of tax
has been enacted, whereas in most [Muslim] countries they are still forced
to wear [distinctive] badges and are admitted to none but the most
humiliating employments. Thus, for example, in Bukhara and Samarkand the
dhimmis clean out the lavatories and sewers and carry away the rubbish
and refuse. In the province of Aleppo, which is the closest to us, they are still
bound to wear the badge. What is more, according to Islamic law, when the
poll tax [jizya] is to be paid, the person who delivers the sum must be
standing and he who receives it must be seated. The former places it in the
other?s hand so that the Muslim receives it in the palm of his hand, the
Muslim?s hand being above and that of the dhimmi below. The latter then
stretches forth his beard and the Muslim strikes him on the cheek with the
words: "Pay the dues of Allah, O enemy of Allah, O infidel". But today, it
even happens that some of them no longer come in person before the
officials, but sent their messengers in their stead.

As for the Sabeans, who are outright idolators, who live in the province of
al-Wasit [Iraq], they are not dhimmis, although they were so in the past.
When the Caliph al-Qahir Billah [932-34] inquired of Abu Sa?ad al-Istakkhari
the Shafi?i concerning their status, he declared their blood licit and refused
their poll tax. When they had wind of this, they bribed him with 50,000 dinars
and he left them alone. Consequently today they do not even pay the poll
tax and nought is demanded of them even though they be under Muslim
domination.

May the will of the sultan be done!

Ibn al-Fuwati

In the days of the Sultan al-Malik as-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub [1240-49], a
Moslem went into the Suq al-Tujjar in Cairo. He had with him a title-deed to
some money owing to him by a soldier. The document was all finished, and
needed only the necessary signatures of the witnesses. The man came
across two Christians. They were clothed in bodices and in garments that
had wide sleeves, just as Moslems of the noble class are dressed. The
Moslem really thought that they were nobles. He spread the document out
before them and they signed it – their very act being a jeer at the Moslems.
This fact was brought to the attention of the Sultan al-Malik al-Salih; and he
gave orders that those Christians should receive a beating that they should
be forced to wear girdles and to put on the distinctive mark that they were
not Moslems; that they should be prevented from making themselves look
like Moslems, and that they should take the proper low and humble station
to which Allah had degraded them. [pp. 439-40]

Ghazi b. al-Wasiti

Religious Celebrations

And in the days of the <Lenten> Fast [1271] the Ishmaelite [Assassins]
rushed out upon Ala Ad-Din, the Master of the Diwan, when he was riding in
Baghdad, and they stabbed him with knives, but did not injure him <fatally>.
And they were seized, and their members were cut off. And the Arabs
spread the report that they were Christians, and that they had been sent by
the Catholicus. And the holy men, and the monks, and the chief men who
were in Baghdad were seized and shut up in prison; and Kutlu Bag, the Amir
of Arbil, seized and shut up the Catholicus and his holy men in prison. And
they were in great tribulation during the whole of the Fast, until God helped
<them>, and a Pukdana came from the Camp, and they were released. And
from that time the Catholicus went and dwelt in the city of Eshnu, in
Adhorbijan. [1:449]

And in those days [1274] when the Christians of the city of Arbil wished to
celebrate the Festival of Hosanna <Palm Sunday>, and knowing that the
Arabs were making ready to obstruct them, they sent and summoned to their
help certain Tatars who were Christians and who were near them. And
when they came they placed crosses on the heads of their spears, and the
Metropolitan of the Nestorians, together with all his people, sallied forth with
those Tatars riding in front of them. And when they approached the front of
the fortress, the companies of Arabs grouped themselves together, and they
were carrying stones and they stoned the Tatars and the Christians, and
their companies were scattered and each of the Christians fled to one side;
and after this they remained for some days without daring to go forth. And
this also afflicted the Christians in every place. [1:451]

Anarchy and Banditry

And on the first day of the week, on the twenty-ninth day of the month of
Tammuz <July> [1285], a Syrian horde of mounted robbers, Kurds, Turks,
and desert Arabs, about six hundred strong, burst upon the country of Arbil,
and they looted and killed many men who were Christians from the village of
Amkabad [Ainkawa, nearArbil], and from Surhagan and other villages. And
Baha Ad-Din, the Kurd, sallied out from Arbil to meet them in battle, and he
was broken before them and fled and went into the city. And those accursed
robbers carried off great spoil, women and maidens, and many cattle, and
departed. And in those days other marauding bands came to the country of
Tur Abdin (between Mardin and Mosul in the Jazira, a Jacobite centre), and they
made a great slaughter in the village of keshlath, and in Beth Man?im and
the villages thereof, and in Sbirina, and they carried away very much spoil
from the country of Beth Rishe and departed.

And in the year fifteen hundred and ninety-seven <of the Greeks-A.D. 1286>
(a note, in the translation and by the editor, indicates that Bar Hebraues died at that
date and that the chronicle was continued by someone else), on the seventeenth
day of the month of Haziran <June>, about four thousand mounted robbers
and brigands, Kurds, Turkmans, and Arabs, gathered together, and some
men say that three hundred chosen horsemen from the Egyptian slaves
[Mamluks] were joined to them. And they directed their gaze on the country
of Mawsil. And having spoiled the villages which were on their road, they
burst upon the city at dawn on the second day <of the week>, on the
twenty-second day of the third month of the Arabs, of the year six hundred
and eighty-five <A.D. 1285> (note the difference between the Greek and Arabic
dates). Then king [sultan] Mas?ud and the other horsemen who were found in
the city mounted and rode out [of the town] to engage them in battle. And
when they saw how great was their number, and that they themselves had
no force equal to theirs, they turned back and went into the city. And they
crossed the Tigris and went and ascended to the Monastery of Mar Mattai,
and they remained there for a few days. Then when the accursed
marauders had entered the city, the Arabs who were natives thereof met
them with abundant supplies of food and cool waters. And they rejoiced in
them with a great joy, and they exulted, pretending that they were prepared
to do harm to and spoil and kill the Christians only.

And those Christians who were in the neighbourhood of the church of the
Tagritanaye <Tagritanians> took their wives, and their sons, and their
daughters, together with all their cattle, and they went and took refuge in the
mansion of the uncle of the Prophet, who was called Nakib Al-Alawahin [?]
that peradventure the marauders might pay respect to that building, and that
there they might be saved from the slaughter and spoliation of the city.

Then the remainder of the Christians who had no place whereto to flee, and
could not take refuge in the mansion of the Nakiba, remained terrified, and
trembling, and weeping and wailing over themselves, and over their evil fate,
though in reality it was through those who had gone there <i.e. to the
mansion of the Nakiba> that the evil fate came. As soon as ever the
marauders had gone in they began asking about the Christians. Then the
Arabs who were natives of the city cried out with one mouth <or, voice>,
"Behold all the Christians are in the mansion of the Nakiba". Then they all
became strong, and all the marauders went there. And they placed ladders
in position and went up them and captured the mansion, and they looted
and robbed the whole of the people who were therein. And one of the
Christians who were there was wounded by an arrow and died. And they put
to the torture not only the Christians but the Arabs also, and they made a
mock of their women, and sons, and daughters in the mosques before their
eyes.

And when they had made an end there they went to the quarter of the Jews,
and they looted their houses and plundered all their community. And as for
the Christians who had remained in their houses, and had not gone
elsewhere, no man injured them, and they did not even see the marauders
with their eyes. But certain Christian merchants, and many Arabs, who were
coming to the city, and had alighted at the inns <khans>, which were
outside the city, where none of the marauders came, because of their fear,
suffered the loss of a large quantity of their goods. And they brought their
loads into the city and deposited them in the market-place of the bazaars,
and inasmuch as all the food and provisions of the citizens was there, they
thought that they would never be neglected by <those who kept> guard over
such a place as this. Therefore they struggled and wrestled with each other
that they might bring in their treasures. And the natives of the city also were
carrying possessions out from their houses, and were bringing gold, and
silver, and bales of cloth, and apparel of various kinds to that place. And so
after <all these things> had been gathered together, the marauders came,
and they smashed the gates of the market-place easily, and they went in
and took everything which they found there.

Now many young men from among the natives of the city were standing by
the gate of the market-place, and when the marauders, who were heavily
laden with plunder, were going out, they snatched it from them and fled. And
others took their horses which they had left at the gate of the market-place
and fled. And thus during the whole of that day, from morning until evening,
they went round about through the bazaars of the city and carried off
horses, and mules, and asses, and oxen, without number. And they took
prisoners the slaves and handmaidens, nearly five hundred souls, and the
greater number of them were Arabs and Jews; there were a few Christians,
but only those who were found from the mansion of the Nakiba. [1:475-77]

And in this year also [A.D. 1289] about two thousand horsemen of the
robber bands of Syria gathered together, and they came and crossed the
frontier of Sinjar (on the river Tharthar) and Beth Arbaye, and they neither
plundered nor looted until they arrived in the neighbourhood of Pishabhur, a
village on the banks of the river Tigris, where they halted there for the night.
And they rose up during the night and crossed the river, and they directed
their gaze on Wastaw, a large village of the Nestorians, and they burst upon
it at the early dawn of the first day of the week, on the fourteenth day of the
month of Ab <August>. Now the villagers thinking that they were merely a
few marauders sallied out to engage them. And when they saw how many
they were, they went back into the village, and some of them took refuge in
the church and were saved, and some of them scattered themselves about
in the gardens and vineyards. And those accursed men spread themselves
over the seven hamlets which were round about it and then they wrought
great destruction. And they killed nearly five hundred men, and they took
prisoners nearly one thousand persons, women, and sons, and daughters,
and they took treasures, and sheep and cattle without number. And they
went back the same day by the way they had come, and they travelled
quietly and without fear until they arrived at the river Habura, over which
was a fragile <or, narrow> bridge, and there they were impeded by the
weight of the loot and the great number of the prisoners which they with
difficulty were carrying away. And thus news <of them> reached the Amir of
the Mongols who was in Mawsil, and the Mongols without delay made
themselves ready and stood up and mounted their horses and pursued
them. And they went on and found them, and the greater number of them
had crossed the bridge, and were journeying on laden with loot. And those
who had not yet crossed the bridge the Mongols killed. And they recovered
of the spoils three hundred prisoners, women, and sons, and daughters, and
they brought them and handed them over to their owners [parents].

And moreover, in this summer the marauders of Syria, about two thousand
mounted men, sallied out and went to the countries of Melitene and of
Hesna. And Kharbanda, the captain of the host who was there, heard <of
it>, and he collected his troops and they made ready and went and engaged
them in battle, and they [Kharbanda and his men] were broken before them.
And a large number of those who were with him were killed, and certain of
his friends, and his kinsfolk, and the sons of his brothers, and unknown
number of persons, were made prisoners. And only he and the forty persons
who had fled escaped, and they came and went into the new mansion,
which he had built in the country of Hesna [Harput], in the place which is
called in the Aramean language "Hesona". And whilst sitting, and grieving
and pondering how they could save those of them who had been made
prisoners in the war, they all agreed that the war which had taken place in
this country had happened because of the Christians and that it was
therefore right to take the money from them and to buy <i.e. ransom> those
who had been made prisoners because of them. Then they began to assess
every city and country for a certain amount of gold according to the ability of
the place <to pay>. [1:483-84]

Destitution of the Jewish Vizier, Sa?d ad-Dawla (1292)

And behold, from this time <onwards> [A.D. 1290] the King of Kings
[Arghon, 1284-9] recognised, and it was proved to him fully, the falseness
and impudence of the Arabs, and that everything they did they did with
deceit <or, treachery>, and the accepting of persons <i.e. hypocrisy>. And
straightway he commanded that Sa?d ad-Dawlah, the Jew, who was
governor in Baghdad, should be the chief of the scribes, that is to say, Sahib
Diwan, in all the dominion of his kingdom; and that governors should never,
never appoint the Arab to be a scribe, but only the Christian and the Jew.
And thus the hatred and ill-will of the Arabs <towards the Christians> grew
stronger. Now since that Jew was governor, the administration of the
revenue and taxation of the city was committed to him. And the King of Kings
sent his brother <to be> governor of Baghdad in his place. And he sent his
other brother, together with Taj ad-din, the son of Mukhatas, the
Director-General, to Mawsil, and to Mardin, and all Diar Bakr. [1:484-85]

And in the month of Tammuz <July> of this year a certain monk, who was an
Armenian and a just man, one of those who used to go round about through
the countries admonishing <the people> and proclaiming repentance, and
reformation, and the confession of sins, arrived at the Citadel of Zaid
[Zaydan?], and he remained there about a month of days. And his
discourses pleased the Christians who were there very very much, and
some young men were attracted by him, and they began to assemble about
him in the night-time, and they ate, and drank, and conversed about the
histories of the holy men and the crowning of the martyrs. And when the
power of his utterances became reported to the Arabs, certain of them were
smitten with envy, and they went on the night of Friday and took a dead dog
and hung it up over the door of the Great Mosque. And when the day broke
and the Arabs gathered together to pray, they saw that dead dog, and they
burned with wrath. And they all with one mouth said, "This deed is the work
of the Armenian monk and of those who gather together about him". And
they drew their swords and daggers, and they went and seized the wretched
monk, and a few of the natives of the city who were with him. For when the
people had knowledge of the trick <of the dog>, they fled and all of them hid
themselves from before the wrath of <the Arabs>. Then those wicked men
took the monk and departed to the Monastery of Ba?uth and they went into
the cells of the monks and carried away all their possessions. And they
killed that poor monk there together with two or three natives of the city, and
they returned to the city. And they also entered the houses of the believing
Christians and they looted everything which they found in their houses, and
they inflicted beatings and tortures on many honourable men. And the city
remained for about a month of days without buying and without selling <i.e.
trade was paralysed>. [1:487-88]

The behaviour of the Arabs hath <long> been made manifest in the world,
and up to the present day no Jew hath ever been raised to a position of
exalted honour among them; and except as a tanner, or a dyer, or a tailor
<the Arab> doth not appear among the Jews. But truly the honourable ones
and the fortunate among them <exalt> the art of healing and the art of the
scribe; but in situations in which others will not demean themselves to work,
they will work. And at this time when the Mongols were ruling over these
western countries, they did not honour every one who was worthy of
honour, and they did not make those who had descended from the loins of
kings to rule over the cities and villages which were in subjection to them.
With the Mongols there is neither slave nor free man; neither believer nor
pagan; neither Christian nor Jew; but they regard all men as belonging to
one and the same stock. [?]

Therefore this Jew triumphed in every way, and attained the greatest glory
and honour possible in the time of Arghon, the King of Kings, and he alone
brought all political matters to a successful issue, and much else besides.
To the nobles of the Camp he paid no heed, and he reduced the taking and
giving of their hands, and he treated with contempt the principal Amirs and
the directors of general affairs. The man who could confer a favour <or,
benefit>, or who could do harm, was never seen at the Gate of the Kingdom,
unless perchance <he was> a Jew. And through this state of affairs many of
the Jews who were on the fringes of the world gathered together to him, and
they all with one mouth said, "Verily, by means of this man the Lord hath
raised on high the horn of redemption <or, deliverance>, and the hope of
glory for the sons of the Hebrews in their last days".

Therefore, when they were boasting proudly of their exaltation, and
occupied with their power, suddenly Arghon, the King of Kings, perceived
<i.e. was attacked by> paralysis, and he was grievously afflicted with the
disease for a month of days. And the wretched Jew was perplexed by his
illness, and with great care he endeavoured in every way possible to heal
him. Then the Amirs and the nobles of the Camp who despised the Jew
utterly, having lost all hope of <saving> the life of Arghon, <behaved> as if
the Jew himself, through the evil of his machinations, was the cause of the
sickness of Arghon. And they began to roar at the wretched man like lions,
until Arghon ended his life on the fourth day of the week, at the end of the
Latter Kanon <January> of they year <A.D. 1291>. Then God stirred up His
wrath against the Jews who were in every place. This Sa?d al-Dawlah, the
Sahib Diwan, they killed there. And with great care <the Amirs and nobles>
sent ambassadors into all the countries which were under the dominion of
the Mongols, and they seized his brethren and his kinsfolk, and they bound
them with chains, and they plundered their stores of food, and they took
their sons, and their daughters, and their slaves, and their handmaidens,
and their flocks and herds, and all their possessions. And he who was killed
by them was killed, and those who were left <alive> returned to their original
stations. The man who yesterday was an officer, and could bind and set
free, and was arrayed in royal apparel, was to-day swathed in sackcloth,
and had dirty discoloured hands as if he was a dyer and not a scribe, and a
beggar going round from door to door and not an officer. The trials and
wrath which were stirred up against the Jews at this time neither tongue can
utter nor the pen write down.

Then in Babil <Baghdad>, when <the report of> the murder of this Jew was
heard, the Arabs armed themselves and went to the quarter of the Jews,
because the Jews were all living together in one quarter in Babil. And when
they wanted to go in and plunder them, the Jews rose up against them in
great strength, and they fought against the Arabs, and killed and were killed;
and they did not leave alive <any Jews> to rule over them. "Now", said they,
"when this Jew became great and exalted, he commanded that a palace
should be built for him in Tabriz, and he buried many pots filled with gold
and silver in the walls thereof." Now this <fact> only became known at that
moment, for it was only when <the Mongols> were torturing them <i.e. the
Jews>, they showed them the places where the pots were, and so they dug
<in the walls> and brought them out. Now the whole period during which the
Jew was Director and Governor was two years, more or less. And he was
killed and his name <i.e. fame> perished, and because of him the Jews
throughout the [Muslim] world were hated and ill-treated. [1:490-91]

After the Conversion of the Mongols to Islam (1295)

And he [Nawruz] (a Muslim officer who persuaded his master the II-Khan Ghazan
?1295-1304? to convert to Islam, and initiate a wave of persecutions against Buddhists,
Christians, and Jews) issued a command that the churches, and the houses of
images, and the synagogues of the Jews should be destroyed, and that the
priests <of the images> [Buddhists] and the chief priests should be treated
with ignominy, and that tribute and taxes should be imposed upon them. And
no Christian was to be seen <in the streets> unless he had a girdle round
his loins, and no Jew was to be seen <in the streets> unless he had a mark
on his head.

And in those days [October 1296], the foreign peoples (this term ?foreign
peoples? to designate the Muslims is also found in Greek, Armenian, and Syriac
authors. The reason is that Islam at this period was perceived as a religion brought by
foreign, generally nomadic, populations) stretched out their hands to Tabriz, and
they destroyed all the churches which were there, and there was great
sorrow among the Christians in all the world. The persecutions, and
disgrace, and mockings, and ignominy which the Christians suffered at this
time, especially in Baghdad, words cannot describe. Behold, according to
what people say, "No Christian dared to appear in the streets <or, market>,
but the women went out and came in and bought and sold, because they
could not be distinguished from the Arab women, and could not be identified
as Christians, though those who were recognised as Christians were
disgraced, and slapped, and beaten and mocked. And behold, all the
Christians who were in these regions were tortured with punishment of this
kind; I would not say abandoned by God. And whilst they were being driven
hither and thither, and were being worn out by tempestuous storms, the
enemies of righteousness were jeering at them, and saying to them, "Where
is your God? Let us see if you have a helper or one who can redeem and
deliver <you>." Now this persecution had not dominion over our people
alone, but also over the Jews, and it was twice as fierce, many times over,
on the priests who were worshippers of idols [Buddhists]. And this after the
honour to which they had been promoted by the Mongol kings, and which
was so great that one-half of the money which was gathered together in the
treasury of the kingdom had been given to them, and it had been expended
<? > on the work of images of gold and silver. And a very large number of
the pagan priests, because of the way in which they were persecuted,
became Muslims.

And subsequently there went forth a command from the king of kings
[Ghazan] and the Yarlike <i.e. Edicts> were written to all the countries, and
Mongol messengers were sent to every country and town to destroy the
churches and to loot the monasteries. And wheresoever the messengers
went and found Christians who rose up before them to render them service,
and to give them gifts, they were less severe and were more lenient. For
they were far more anxious to collect money than to destroy the churches,
according to what happened in the city of Arbela. For when the officers
arrived there they remained twenty days, and they expected that some one
of the Christians would approach <them> and undertake <to bring> a
certain amount of gold, and would manifest towards them open-handedness
in return for sparing the churches which were there so that they might not be
damaged; but no man approached <them>. And the Metropolitan himself
who was there could not support the weight <i.e. burden> of his churches,
and no other man took upon himself the care of the churches, but every man
looked carefully after the management of his own individual house.
Therefore there was given straightway an opportunity to the pagans, and
they laid <their> hands on the three splendid churches which were there,
and they destroyed them utterly, down to the very foundations. [?]

Now when <the Ninevites> (inhabitants of Nineveh, opposite Mosul) heard of
the calamity which had taken place there, they were terrified and were
exceedingly afraid. And when the nobles and the officers <of the Mongols>
passed over into the region of Mawsil, certain men who loved works
<connected with> the holy churches, and who made themselves responsible
for the troubles <which assailed them>, approached them, and undertook
<to give> much gold. And because they did not possess any of the mammon
of the world, they laid <their> hands on the equipment and furnishing of the
churches, and they did not leave untaken a cross, or an eikin [icon?], or a
censer, or a Book of the Gospels which was mounted <or, inlaid> with gold.
And when this was not sufficient, they made the believers who were in the
towns and villages subscribe a certain amount of money. And they collected
nearly fifteen thousand dinars, and they weighed them <i.e. paid> against
the destruction of the churches, and the tribute of the Christians. And by the
help of God not one church was damaged. [1:506-8]

Bar Hebraeus