Page 24 - Gulf Precis (VI)_Neat

2 Part I.
three centuries longer in eighteen decondauts of the House of Abbas, -who dwelt
in Egypt with titular pomp, but no real power, in the capital of the Mamoluko
rulers, like the descendants of the Great Mogul in British India. They gave
their names to the edicts of the Mamoluko Sultans when required ; and wo havo
seen in the case of tho Ottoman Bnjnzct I, that Mahometan princes in othor
countries still regard tho Egyptian Caliph as the fountain of honour, and sought
from him the stamp and sanction of sovereignty. Whon Selim conquorod
Egypt, ho found there Mohammed, tho twelfth Caliph of tho family of Abbas,
and ho induced him solomnly to transfer the Caliphate to the Ottoman Sultan
and his successors. At the same time Selim took possession of tho visible
insignia of that high oflice, which the Abbassides had retained,—tho sacred
standard, the sword, and the mantle of tho Prophet.
In a preoeding chapter of this volume, attontion has boon drawn to tho
importance of the Turkish Sultan being at once tho spiritual and the tomporal
chief of his Maliomotan subjects, —of his being both Pope and Emperor. It
will readily ho imagined how much tho Sultan’s authority must have been
augmented by his acquiring the sacred position of Caliph, Vicar of the Prophet
of Ood, Commander of the Faithful^ and Supreme Imam of Islamism. It gives
the Turkish Sultan dignity and authority (and may possibly give him practical
influence), not only over his own Mahometan subjects, hut over all who profes9
the creed of Islam, whatever ho their race, and wliatovcr he their couutry,—
except the Persians, and others who hold tho Shiite tenets. But the great
majority of Mahometans are Sunnite ; and in the eyes of all Sannites the
sacred rights of the primitive Caliphs aro vested in tho IIouso of Othrnan and
Sultan Abdul Mejdid is the supromo chief of the Mahometan world.”
3. Soliman I (1529-15C6) led his armies against tho Persians in several
campaigns (lo33, j534, 1535, 154S, 1553 and 155 ), as a result of which there
werd added to the Ottoman Empire large territories in Armenia, Mesopotamia,
and the strong cities of Erivan, Van, Mosul, aud above all of Baghdad.
4i. War broke out between Turkey and Persia soon after the accession of
Murad or Amurath III (157*1-1605) at Constantinople; and Georgia (which
had been io alliance with Persia) and Azerbijan were conquered by tho
Turks. A peace was concluded in 1590 between the two powers, by which
the Ottomans obtained Georgia, the city of Tabriz and the adjacent parts of
Azerbijan, Scliirivan, Luristan and Sckerliezol.
5. In 169-1 hostilities broke out again between Turkey and Persia. In
1599 a feudatory Chief of Asia Minor, named Abdul Hamid, aided by the
Governor of Baghdad organized a revolt agaiust the Porto and defeated
the Ottoman forces in several engagements. In 1601 Shall Abbas tho Persian
monarch, taking advantage of these disorders made war upon Turkey and
began rapidly to recover tho provinces which had been lost recently. During
the reign of Ottoman II (1618—22) a treaty was agreed to between Turkey
and Persia, by which all the territories conquered since the days of Selim II
(successor of Soliman I) were restored to the Shall. Soon after this Shah
Abbas again declared war against Turkey and captured Baghdad and
Basrah in 1622, at a time when the Ottoman' rulers had reached the lowest
depths of degradation.
6. Sultan Murad IV (1623-1640) revived the former grandeur of the
Ottoman Empire, and during the confusion that reigned in Persia after the
death of Shall Abbas in 1628, the Ottoman Sultan succeeded on setting back
the Persian advance. Murad IV marched into his Asiatic provinces in 1636
yrith the avowed object of expelling the Persian heretics from the cilies within
the ancient limits of the Ottoman Empire which they still occupied. He
conquered the city and district of Erivan. In 1638 ho undertook a second
campaign to re-conquer Baghdad, which had been in Persian occupation for
some fifteen years and had been repeatedly besieged in vain by Turkish armies.
After a long and gallant resistance on the part of the besieged, tho city was
• A■ to tho terms of this treaty see Consultation, taken by StOUTl by the lui’ks. 1 eaC6
26th October i8u.Kos.GC-56 (printed). was thereupon (in 3639) concluded
between Persia and Turkey which delimitated the frontiers of Azarhaigon and