d died almost simultaneously with the dismissal of
Khalid. Hisham then separated Khorasan from Irak and chose as governor
of the former Nasr b. Sayyar, a valiant soldier who had grown grey in
war, and who, besides all his other capacities, was an excellent poet.
Nasr instituted a system of taxation, which, if it had been introduced
earlier, would perhaps have saved the Arabic domination. It was that
which later on was generally adopted, viz. that all possessors of
conquered lands (i.e. nearly the whole empire except Arabia), whether
Moslems or not, should pay a fixed tax, the latter in addition to pay a
poll-tax, from which they were relieved on conversion to Islam. During
the reign of Hisham, Nasr made a successful expedition against Harith
and the Turks. The propaganda of the Shi'a by the Abbasids was
continued in these years with great zeal.

In India several provinces which had been converted to Islam under the
Caliphate of Omar II. declared themselves independent, because the
promise of equal rights for all Moslems was not kept under the reign of
his successors. This led to the evacuation of the eastern part of India
(called Hind by the Arabs, Sind being the name of the western part), and
to the founding of the strong cities of Mahfuza and Mansura for the
purpose of controlling the land.

In the north and north-west of the empire there were no internal
disorders, but the Moslems had hard work to maintain themselves against
the Alans and the Khazars. In the year 112 (A.D. 730) they suffered a
severe defeat, in which the general Jarrah perished. But the illustrious
Maslama b. Abdalmalik, and Merwan b. Mahommed (afterwards caliph),
governor of Armenia and Azerbaijan (Adherbaijan), succeeded in repelling
the Khazars, imposing peace on the petty princes of the eastern
Caucasus, and consolidating the Arab power in that quarter. The war
against the Byzantines was continued with energy during the whole of
Hisham's reign. Moawiya, the son of Hisham, whose descendants reigned
later in Spain, was in command till 118 (A.D. 736), when he met his
death accidentally in Asia Minor by a fall from his horse. After his
death, Suleiman, another son of the caliph, had the supreme command.
Both were eager and valiant warriors. But the hero of all the battles
was Abdallah b. Hosain, surnamed al-Battal (the brave). He has been the
subject of many romantic tales. Tabari tells how he took the emperor
Constantine prisoner in the year 114 (A