They Fitted Out A Fleet Of 1,700 Barks, Which Soon Rode
Triumphant In The Mediterranean.
Cyprus, Rhodes, and the Cyclades, were
subdued, and Constantinople itself was attacked, but without effect.
The conquest of Egypt, however, was of the most importance to the Arabian
commerce, and therefore more especially demands our notice. - "In their
annals of conquest," as Gibbon remarks, "the siege of Alexandria is perhaps
the most arduous and important enterprize. The first trading city in the
world was abundantly replenished with the means of subsistence and
defence." But the Saracens were bold and skilful; the Greeks timid and
unwarlike; and Alexandria fell into the possession of the disciples of
Mahomet. As soon as the conquest of Egypt was completed, its administration
was settled, and conducted on the most wise and liberal principles. In the
management of the revenue, taxes were raised, not by the simple but
oppressive mode of capitation, but on every branch from the clear profits
of agriculture and commerce. A third part of these taxes was set apart,
with the most religious exactness, to the annual repairs of the dykes and
canals. At first, the corn which used to supply Constantinople was sent to
Medina from Memphis by camels; but Omrou, the conqueror of Egypt, soon
renewed the maritime communication "which had been attempted or achieved by
the Pharaohs, the Ptolemies, or the Caesars; and a canal, at least eighty
miles in length, was opened from the Nile to the Red Sea. This inland
navigation, which would have joined the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean,
was soon, however, discontinued, as useless and dangerous;" and about the
year 775, A.D., it was stopped up at the end next the Red Sea.
The conquest of Africa, though not nearly so advantageous to the commerce
of the Arabians, was yet of some importance to them in this point of view:
it gradually extended from the Nile to the Atlantic Ocean. Tripoly was the
first maritime and commercial city which their arms reduced: Bugia and
Tangier were next reduced. Cairoan was formed as a station for a caravan; a
city, which, in its present decay, still holds the second rank in the
kingdom of Tunis. Carthage was next attacked and reduced; but an attempt
was made by forces sent from Constantinople, joined by the ships and
soldiers of Sicily, and a powerful reinforcement of Goths from Spain, to
retake it. The Arabian conquerors had drawn a strong chain across the
harbour; this the confederate fleet broke: the Arabians for a time were
compelled to retreat; but they soon returned, defeated their enemies, burnt
Carthage, and soon afterwards completed the conquest of this part of
Africa.
The beginning of the eighth century is remarkable for their invasion of
Spain, and for their second fruitless attack on Constantinople; during the
latter, their fleet, which is said to have consisted of 1800 vessels, was
totally destroyed by the Greek fire. With regard to their conquest of
Spain, it was so rapid, that in a few months the whole of that great
peninsula, which for two centuries withstood the power of the Roman
republic at its greatest height, was reduced, except the mountainous
districts of Asturia and Biscay, Here also the Arabians displayed the same
attention to science by which they were distinguished in Asia: ten years
after the conquest, a map of the province was made, exhibiting the seas,
rivers, harbours, and cities, accompanied with a description of them, and
of the inhabitants, the climate, soil, and mineral productions. "In the
space of two centuries, the gifts of nature were improved by the
agriculture, the manufactures, and the commerce of an industrious people."
The first of the Ommiades who reigned in Spain, levied on the Christians of
that country, 10,000 ounces of gold, 10,000 pounds of silver, 10,000
houses, &c. "The most powerful of his successors derived from the same
kingdom the annual tribute of about six millions sterling. His royal seat
of Cordova contained 600 mosques, 900 baths, and 200,000 houses: he gave
laws to 80 cities of the first order, and to 300 of the second and third:
and 12,000 villages and hamlets were situated on the banks of the
Guadalquivir."
The religious prejudices, as well as the interests of the Arabians, led
them to exclude the Christians from every channel through which they had
received the produce of India. That they were precluded from all commercial
intercourse with Egypt, is evident, from a fact noticed by Macpherson, in
his Annals of Commerce. Before Egypt was conquered by the Arabians,
writings of importance in Europe were executed on the Egyptian papyrus; but
after that period, at least till the beginning of the ninth century, they
are upon parchment. - This, as Macpherson observes, amounts almost to a
proof, that the trade with Egypt, the only country producing papyrus, was
interrupted.
In consequence of the supply of silks, spices, and other oriental luxuries
which Constantinople derived from the fair at Jerusalem, (still allowed by
the Arabians to be annually held,) not being sufficient for the demand of
that dissipated capital, and their price in consequence having very much
increased, some merchants were tempted to travel across Asia, beyond the
northern boundary of the Arabian power, and to import, by means of
caravans, the goods of China and India.
Towards the beginning of the ninth century, as we have already remarked,
the commercial relations of the Arabians and the Christians of Europe
commenced, and Alexandria was no longer closed to the latter. The merchants
of Lyons, Marseilles, and other maritime towns in the south of France, in
consequence of the friendship and treaties subsisting between Charlemagne
and the Caliph Haroun Al Rasched, traded with their ships twice a year to
Alexandria; from this city they brought the produce of Arabia and India to
the Rhone, and by means of it, and a land carriage to the Moselle and the
Rhine, France and Germany were supplied with the luxuries of the east.
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