El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-05-28
"HOLY WAR" BANNER.
THE EMBLEM OF MASSAOR 4
CHERISHED BY THE SULTAN.
Now the Question is, Will it be Unfurl-
eli? Used by al the Caliphs for
Nearly 300 years.

N-oA y L wv NNSAS'
London, May u -Mahomet says it
! the picturesque language OF the Koran
| The sword is the KEY of heaven anC
hell: a drop Of bloOl shedin the cause
of God, night spent in arms, is O.
more avail than two months of fasting
aud prayer. Whose ever falls in battle
his sins are forgiven: at the day O
| Judgment his wounds shall be respien
dent as vermiliOn and odOriferous d:
musk: and the loss of bis limbs shall
be supplied by the wings OF angels ana
| cheru bim."
| And again, "In the shadow OF the
crossing scimiters there is paradise
| He petitions: 90 lord of all creatur-
es, O Allah, Destroy the infidel5 and
| polythei<tS. thine enemies, the enemies
of the religion. O Allah. Make their
children orphans and defile their
abodes and caus their feet to slip; and
give them and their families, and their
households, aud their women, and their
children, and their relatives by mar
riage, and their brothers, and their
friends, and their possessions, and
their race, and their wealth, and their
lands as booty to the Moslems, . Lord
of all creatures.'
Treasured in jeweled repository in
the Chamber of Nob'e Garments" in
the most secret quarters of the old SER
aglio is small green banner. Forty
silken coverings surround 1t. me
ieweled box is sunk in the center OF
the flooring of the great apartment,
only portions of its Ornamented top be-
ing visible. Armed men guard II, not
the ordinary soldiers in the employ of
the sultan, but men whose lives have
been dedicated to Mahomet. That
banner has been guarded by men OF
Il Tow, r1rv int
centuries, night and day, year in and
year out.
OF all the great riches of Abdul
Hamid, this ancient banner is the most
valued. Its power is mightier than
the command of the mightie5t poten-
tate ia the world. Once removed from
its coverings and placed at the head OF
the imperial army it would draw sold
ierS from every quarter OF the word
where there are followers OF Mahomet-
Almost in a moment an army of i've, or
ten, or fifteen millions of men from
Asia, Africa and Europe would rise up,
each human atom in the whole mass
willing to die and anxious for the OPP
portunity to prove his faith in the
green banner. Small wonder, then,
that Abdul Hand shall cherish it as
his richest possession.
. Recent reports from Constantinople
is brewing and that the sacred edict
proclaimipg it is in preparation. Per-
haps before this reaches the eyes OF
readers on the other side of the Allan
tic the edict will be announced and the
green banner unfurled. Should that
calamity happen the world viii be
treated to a spectacle unsurpassed IN
barbarism even by the wars OF the
crusades. It will be the final effort OF
r 70 Chr; EDrOIla
The green banner has been injured
several times in the past dozen CEN
turtles, and with each loo5ening of the
wild fury of its followers death reaped
a rich harvest. In the Turco Russian
war Abdul Hamid twice threatened to
announce holy war, but was prevent
ed hy Great Britain'S counter threat OF
hurting combined Europe at the Otto
man empire and obliterating it. IRE
pressure is doubtless being
brought at this moment upon the sui
tan blythe represen tatives OF the powers
to restrain him. Whether policy is
stronger than religious fanatclsm re-
mains to be seen.
In the Turko-Greek war OF Is u a
Holy War" was preached in the mos
ques against the Greeks, the sllken
banner was brought forth, and for the
next few years Europe had al oppor-
tuuity to view the power of this en-
blem of massacre and bloodshed |
of helpless men were put to
the sword, women and children carried |
off into slavery and villages and cities
burned. MahOmet's doctrine was obey |
ed literally.
In 1913 a holy war was instigated
against the HISTORIAN, or Chalean
of Kurdestan, and in a few |
months 10,0 900 men were mastered and |
three times that number Of wOmen and |
children carried of as prizes by the |
blood crazed Turks. Bedr Khan Bey, |
chief of the Moslem Kurds of that re-
and made a conspicuous place for him
self in the history of the vilest mon
sters in the world.
In one village the people of Ashita.
took refuge on t. lofty platform rock, |
where they defended themselves |
against thousands of assailants. After |
three days OF lighting. when they |
were face to face with starvation, a |
capitulatiOn was arranged. Bedr |
Khan swearing On the Koran to spare
their lives if they would give up their
arms.
The villagers agreed but when their
arms had been delivered the Kurds |
5warmed up the rock ana the massacre |
began. The place soon became so
slippery from the constant splitting of |
blood thai Bedr K han ordered that the |
others be thrown into the river Zab, |
flowing hundreds of feet below. Not |
even the youngest child was spared in |
this slaughter, the young and the cd |
meeting the same fate.
In 1870 the green banner was again |
uufured against the Christians of
Mount Lebanon, in Syria. This only |
a few days, when the allied |
powers of Europe put stop TO it, but |
even in that time the slaughter done |
was frightful. Summarized, the re-
suits We're: 1000 Christians massa-
cred 100000 sufferers by the war, 20 |
600 de5Olate widows ana orphans, 5000 |
Christian habitations destroyed by the
torch, 1000 Christians persisted of des- |
titution and wounds. and $4,000, 900 |
worth of Christian property destroyed. |
This was the last time the green ban
rer was unfurled.
The green banner formed one of the
curtains of the ed on which Mahomet
died. His chief wife, Ayestla, remov-
ed it from the bed, and giving it to mis-
successor, Omar, the first of the Cal
II l. - IL,