l force in Arabia as
elsewhere. On the death of 'Ali his house was represented by his two
sons Hasan and Hosain (Husain). Hasan soon made peace with Moawiya. On
the accession of Yazid, Hosain refused homage and raised an army, but
was slain at Kerbela (680). 'Abdallah ibn Zobair (of the house of
Hashim) immediately stepped forward in Mecca as the avenger of 'Ali's
family and the champion of religion. The two sacred cities supported
him. Medina was besieged and sacked by the troops of Yazid (682) and
Mecca was besieged the following year. The siege was raised in the third
month on the news of the death of Yazid, but not before the Ka'ba had
been destroyed. 'Abdallah remained in Mecca recognized as caliph in
Arabia, and soon after in Egypt and even a part of Syria. He defeated
the troops of Merwan I., but could not win the support of the
Kharijites. In 691 Abdalmalik ('Abdul-Malik) determined to crush his
rival and sent his general Hajjaj against Mecca. The siege was begun in
March 692, and in October the city was taken and 'Abdallah slain.
Abdalmalik was now supreme in Arabia and throughout the Moslem world.
During the remaining years of the Omayyad dynasty (i.e. until 750)
little is heard of Arabia in history. The conquests of Islam in Spain on
the one side and India on the other had little or no effect on it. It
was merely a province.

_The 'Abbasids._--The accession of Abul 'Abbas (of the house of Hashim)
and the transference of the capital of the caliphate from Damascus to
Kufa, then Anbar and soon after (in 760) to Bagdad meant still further
degradation to Arabia and Arabs. From the beginning the 'Abbasids
depended for help on Persians and Turks, and the chief offices of state
were frequently filled with foreigners. In one thing only the Arabs
conquered to the end; that was in their language. The study of Arabic
was taken up by lexicographers, grammarians and poets (mostly of foreign
origin) with a zeal rarely shown elsewhere. The old Arabian war spirit
was dying. Although the Arabians, as a rule, were in favour of the
Omayyad family, they could not affect the succession of the 'Abbasids.
They returned more and more to their old inter-tribal disputes. They
formed now not only a mere branch of the empire of the caliphate, but a
branch deriving little life from and giving less to the main stock. In
762 there was a rebellion in favour of a descendant of 'Ali, but it was
put down with great severity by the army of the c