Evening star., 1911-08-13
THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN.
XIII -AFRICANS VERSUS AFRICANS.
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

From beyond the Atlas mountains in
Africa came a great stream of blood for
fusion with that of the Celtiberian. His
pano-Roman. Arab and Syrian strains,
that were found in the greater part of the
peninsula when the Cordova khalifate
came to an end and Arabian Spain disin-
tegrated SO that petty kings were almost
numerous as were Indian sachems
when Columbus discovered America.
The warning of toy Kingdoms and Of
cities. each Of which was a royal resi-
dence and the stronghold of a pedatory
monarch. with picturesque array OF cut
and-thrust retaners at his back, offered
the African swarm an opportunity for an
invasion with piliase as Its major aim.
The Mosems in Spain had illustrated the
modern cynical axiom that where there is
much pie there is little piety. They had
feasted upon the fatness of the land and
were grown effete. The stern creed that
had been the dynamics of the Moslem in
vaSion under Musa and Tarik had re-
laxed it's hold. The more pious Africans
preached a crusade and inundated Spain
to advance the true doctrines of Moham-
med where they had become hardly more
than tradition.
In the far-away deserts Of Morocco
there arose to prominence and power a
Berber chieftain. Yusuf Ibn Tashefin. The
brown barbarians Of the desert. fired to
religious zeal by an evangelist who
preached before their tents, and moved
by the nomad's irgrained love Of loot.
docked to the banner of Yusuf until his
army numbered 1900 or 100000 sinewy
fighting men. unsurpassed in horseman-
ship, frugal in their habits and fitted for
| long marches and brilliant cavalry
dashes 'Al-morabith" these fanatics
called themselves. The term meant ''men
devoted to God" Half monks half war
riors, and wholly thieves. they made the
call of heaven their warrant for mass
ing to invade Spain and teach the de-
generate Moslems the true faith. Yusuf,
the desert Napoleon. formed the undisci-
plined horde from the far oases of the
Sahara into a compact, well trained
force, and marshaled it for conquest.
AS serene in their belief that they were
appointed by Allah to redeem the un-
righteous as were
Serene IN Belief the Christian cru
er ,r saders who fought
OF holy MISSION. the Moslems in the
Holy Land to rescue the holy sepulcher.
and as piratical as Capt Kidd these re-
formers wearing the "shadowed livery
of the FURNISHED SUM-" followed a leader
whose personality made him one Of the
romantic figures OF the age.
born, but lowered with a natural
gift for organization and autocratic lead
ershp. tall and straight. 1.-THE, black-eyed,
aquiline in features. valiant in battle,
austere in his habits, affable in manner,
Yusuf regarded himself and was regard
ed as true knight, the peer of any hero
of history or legend whose exploits made
England ring with praise in the age of
chivalry. Like Musa, who crossed the
Strait of Gibraltar three centuries before,
Yusuf found his golden opportunity in a
clash between two parties in Spain This
time the clash was not between king
ard an affronted chieftain, but between
two monarchs. Alfonso VI, a Christian
king, and Al Mu'tamed, the Mohammedan
King OF Seville. The Moslem monarch
was SO enraged by request of Alfonso
for the payment of tribute long overdue
that he picked up an inkstand and threw
1t at the messenger, with such force that
it imbedded itself in his skull, and caused
Ibis brains to fall down his throat as
an Arabian chronicler puts it. He then
ordered the bill collector crucified, head
downward. as an insult to a Christian
potentate. Yusuf and his horde of Al
| moravides, as they were subsequently
called in Europe. were invited into Spain
by the Moslem king when Alfonso was
| marching against him.
Before long Yusuf had routed Alfonso
anu Hdu possessed HiIHSell Ol SdlelCid,
Badajos and Cordova, put the King OF
Granada in irons and exiled him for not
becoming his active ally, and besieged
in his capital the Moslem monarch who
had invited him to Spain. When Yusuf
died. at the age of a hundred years, he
had maintained the supremacy of the AL
moravdes in Spain for forty years, and
had impressed himself upon world his
tory as a great conqueror.
No less picturesque was 1.-The second
tn !, nm
lighter in Moslem seat of learning in
Cordova, constituted himself "El Mahdi''
and led fresh horde of Africans from
the. realms of Ali Ibn Yusuf, Emperor
of Morocco, into Spain. The invasion
occurred when the Christians were fight
ing in the Holy Land the first of the
crusades-the one which resulted in the
elevation of Christian king, Godfrey de
Bouillon. to the throne of Jerusalem.
The title ..El Mahdf' is a favorite one
among Mohammedan fanatics 1t was
against the NAH
Title Is Favorite dists," led by a
.'Mahdi," that the
Aon6 1on"sAo'' English were fight
ing in the Sudan when Gen. Gordon was
trapped in beleaguered Khartum. where
Lord Kitchener subsequently won fame
and his title. The "Mahdi'' is a guide,
| in spiritual sense. or a savior. Abu
| Abdillah, living in a hermit's hut in a
cemetery in Morocco, preached crusade
against the irreligious Almoravides Of
nootb short 10 onohitiOp of