ssed without a
campaign. Twice he made a serious effort to conquer Constantinople, in
669 when he besieged it for three months, and in 674. On the second
occasion his fleet occupied Cyzicus, which it held till shortly after
his death in 680, when a treaty was signed. In Africa also the extension
of Mahommedan power was pursued energetically. In 670 took place the
famous march of 'Okba ('Oqba) b. Nafi' and the foundation of Kairawan,
where the great mosque still bears his name. Our information about these
events, though very full, is untrustworthy, while of the events in Asia
Minor the accounts are scarce and short. The Arabic historians are still
absorbed by the events in Irak and Khorasan.

The talented prefect of Kufa, Moghira b. Sho'ba, eventually broke down
the resistance of Ziyad, who came to Damascus to render an account of
his administration, which the caliph ratified. Moawiya seems also to
have acknowledged him as the son of Abu Sofian, and thus as his brother;
in 664 this recognition was openly declared.[13] In the next year Ziyad
was appointed governor of Basra and the eastern provinces belonging to
it. As the austere champion of the precepts of Islam, he soon restored
order in the whole district. Outwardly, this was the case in Kufa also.
A rising of Kharijites in the year 663 had ended in the death of their
chief. But the Shi'ites were dissatisfied and even dared to give public
utterance to their hostility. Moghira contented himself with a warning.
He was already aged and had no mind to enter on a conflict. He died
about the year 670, and his province also was entrusted to Ziyad, who
appointed 'Amr b. Horaith as his vicegerent. At a Friday service in the
great mosque 'Amr was insulted and pelted with pebbles. Ziyad then came
himself, arrested the leader of the Shi'ites, and sent fourteen rebels
to Damascus, among them several men of consideration. Seven of them who
refused to pledge themselves to obedience were put to death; the
Shi'ites considered them as martyrs and accused Moawiya of committing a
great crime. But in Kufa peace was restored, and this not by military
force, but by the headmen of the tribes. We must not forget that Kufa
and Basra were military colonies, and that each tribe had its own
quarter of the city. A wholesome diversion was provided by the serious
resumption of the policy of eastern expansion, which had been
interrupted by the civil war. For this purpose Irak had to furnish the
larges