The History of Arabia

sult the more recent surveys of Chesney, Head, and Owen.

In the earlier chapters of the work, which refer to the dark and legendary times prior to the Mohammedan era, the author has endeavoured to give as clear and succinct an account of the primitive inhabitants, government, customs, and ancient commerce of the country, as the peculiar nature of his materials would admit. All historians and chronologists who have studied this obscure era have found themselves so bewildered with fable and tradition, or involved in such inextricable confusion from the want of authentic records, that they have been compelled either to rest satisfied with probable conjecture, or to abandon the subject in despair. That the author has succeeded in verifying doubts or reconciling anachronisms which perplexed the ablest Arabian antiquaries-Pococke, Reiske, and De Sacy--it would be presumption in him to assert. He has employed every means in his power, however, to discover the truth. For this purpose the oriental writers, Abulfeda, Tabiri, Masoudi, Hamza, Nuvairi, Abulfarage, and others who record the transactions of these remote ages, have been carefully perused; nor have those incidental notices and allusions been overlooked which occur in the pages of the Greek and Roman classics.

The life and religion of Mohammed form a curious and important episode in Arabian history; as giving rise to one of the most wonderful revolutions that the world has ever beheld. In treating of these, it has been the object of the present writer

to give a fair representation of both, without being swayed by any of those prejudices and apprehensions which have led some authors to speak of the character of that remarkable personage, and the institutions of which he was the founder, in a tone of such uncharitable rancour as to bring into suspicion the veracity of their statements. While shunning the bitter invectives of one class of biographers, he has avoided the panegyrical strain of others, who have endowed the apostle of the Koran with all the miraculous qualities which Eastern credulity has gravely ascribed to him. Having no hypothesis to support, and considering it his province rather to narrate events than to speculate upon them, he has confined himself to a simple record of facts; leaving his readers in general to draw their own conclusions.

The conquests of the Arabs, under the once formidable name of Saracens, while promulgating the Koran at the point of the sword,--the vast dominions which they acquired, and their surprising progress in the cultivation of learning,--are themes which have occupied innumerable pens. To have entered into a full detail of these splendid transactions, or described at length the various dynasties which were planted in the ample regions that lie between the shores of the Atlantic and the frontiers of China, would have been an unwarrantable departure from the plan of the present volumes, by encroaching on the history of countries unconnected with Arabia. In following the march of the victorious Moslem from Spain and Morocco to the

wilds of Tartary, the author has endeavoured to imitate the speed of the conquerors; and, in tracing the progress of Mohammedan grandeur, as it shifted from its original seat at Medina to richer lands, and until it crumbled down into a number of independent principalities, he has dwelt no longer on these foreign topics than seemed necessary to preserve the chain of narrative unbroken. In this department of his work he has been enabled, from the valuable labours of Major Price, to rectify some errors, as well as to illustrate some points more fully than has been done by Ockley and Marigny, or even by the Arabian annalists Abulfeda and Elmacin.

When the vanquished nations in Asia, Africa, and Europe, after passing in succession across the scene of action, shook off the yoke of the caliphs, the stream of events which had overspread nearly half the globe necessarily contracts itself within the natural bounds of Arabia. In describing the government, character, manners, and institutions of the present inhabitants, the author need hardly repeat how much he is indebted to the enterprising travellers already mentioned, as well as to others whose names are introduced in the course of the work. This part of the history he considers peculiarly interesting; because, while elucidating the customs and domestic habits of a singular race of people, it developes a state of society with which Europeans have hitherto been very imperfectly acquainted.

The Map which accompanies the work, and the description of the different political divisions of

Arabia in the second chapter, will be found much more full and accurate than any that have yet been laid before the British public. Besides the routes of the pilgrim caravans as laid down by Burckhardt, and the Itinerary of' Captain Sadlier, who crossed the desert from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, much topographical information respecting the interior has been obtained from the expedition of Mohammed Ali against the Wahabees. The Chart of Nejed, which was constructed to illustrate the campaigns of the Egyptian army, and the treatise of Jomard on the Central Geography of Arabia, appended to Mengin's History, have brought to light much that was entirely new, and corrected various errors with regard to the true position of several places, as well as in the statistics of certain provinces, which our geographers had either left totally blank, or strown with towns and villages on no better authority than the reports of the natives. These improvements and discoveries have been carefully transferred to the prefixed Map; and their value will readily be appreciated when compared with the common geographical delineations of the Arabian deserts.

The chapter on Natural History, it may be proper to remark, is merely intended as a popular view of the subject. To the merit of a scientific treatise it does not aspire; the purpose of the author being chiefly to illustrate the manners and customs of the people, while describing the physical structure and natural productions of the country.

EDINBURGH, July, 1833.

CONTENTS

THE FIRST VOLUME.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY VIEW OF ARABIAN HISTORY

Arabia-Peculiarities in its History and Manners-Interesting

Aspect of the Country-Its Connexion with many Scenes and

Events in Holy Writ-Distinguished as the Birthplace of Mo-

hammed-Rapid and extensive Conquests of the Saracens-

Instability and Downfall of their Empire-Their singular

Passion for Learning--Munificent Endowment of Schools-

Causes why their History has been little studied in Europe-