Barbary being thus again reduced under the power of the Romans, its history falls to be taken notice of under that of Rome. In the khalifat of Omar, this country was reduced by the Saracens, as we have already related under the article Arabia. It continued subject to the khalifs of Arabia and Bagdad till the reign of Harun Al Rashid, who having appointed Ibrahim Ebu Aglab governor of the western parts of his empire, that prefect took the opportunity, first of affluming greater powers to himself than had been granted by the khalif, and then erecting a principality altogether independent of the khalifs. The race of Aglab continued to enjoy their new principality peaceably till the year of the Hegira 297 or 298, Barbary, during which time they made several descents on the island of Sicily, and conquered part of it. About this time, however, one Obeiddallah rebelled against the house of Aglab, and assumed the title of khalif of Kairwan (the ancient Cyrene, and residence of the Aglabite princes). To give the greater weight to his pretensions he also took the surname of Al Mohdi, or Al Mahedi, the director. According to some, also, he pretended to be descended in a right line from Ali Ebn Abu Taleb, and Fatema the daughter of Mahomet; for which reason, say they, the Arabs called him and his descendants Fatemites. He likewise encouraged himself and his followers by a traditional prophecy of Mahomet, that at the end of 100 years the sun should rise out of the west. Having at length driven the Agla-Driven out bites into Egypt, where they became known by the by Al Moh name of Magrebians, he extended his dominions in Fatemite Africa and Sicily, making Kairwan the place of his khalif residence.

In the 300th year of the Hegira, Habbafah, one His general of Al Mohdi's generals, overthrew the khalif Al Mok-Habbafah tader's forces in the neighbourhood of Barca, and invaded Egypt. After which he re-made himself master of that city. In the 302nd year of the Hegira, however, Habbafah returned, possessed himself of Alexandria a second time, defeated a body of the khalif's forces, and killed 7000 of them upon the spot. What further progress he made at that time we are not certainly told; but in the 307th year of the Hegira, Abul As does al-Kafem, son to the Fatemite khalif Al Mohdi, again to his son entered Egypt with an army of 100,000 men. At first Abul Kahe met with extraordinary success, and over-ran a considerable part of that fine country. He made himself master of Alexandria, Al Tayum, Al Baknasa, and the isle of Al Ashmaryin, penetrating even to Al Jizah, where the khalif's army under the command of Munus, was posted in order to oppose him. In this country he found means to maintain himself till the 308th year of the Hegira. This year, however, he was entirely defeated by Munus, who made himself master of all his stores of baggage, as well as of the plunder he had acquired; and this blow obliged him to fly to Kairwan with the shattered remains of his army, where he remained without making any further attempt on Egypt.

Al Mohdi, reigned 24 years; and was succeeded by his son Abul Kafem abovementioned, who then took the surname of Al Kayem Mohdi. During his reign we read of nothing remarkable, except the revolt of one Yezid Ebn Condat, a man of mean extraction, but who, having been raised to the dignity of chancellor, found means to raise such a strong party, that the khalif was obliged to shut himself up in the castle of Mohedia. Yezid, being then at the head of a powerful army, soon reduced the capital of Kairwan, the cities of Al Rakkada and Tunis, and several other fortresses. He was no less successful in defeating a considerable number of troops which Al Kayem had raised and sent against him; after which he closely besieged the khalif himself in the castle where he had shut himself up. The siege continued seven months; during which time the place was reduced to such straits, that the khalif must either have surrendered it or been starved, when death put an end to his anxiety in the 12th year of his reign, and 334th of the Hegira.

Al Kayem was succeeded by his son Ithmael, who immediately took upon himself the title of Al Manfur. This khalif thought proper to conceal the death of his father till he had made the preparations necessary for reducing the rebels. In this he was so successful, that he obliged Yezid to raise the siege of Mohedia the same year; and in the following gave him two great overthrows, obliging him to shut himself up in the forts of Kothama, or Cutama, where he besieged him in his turn. Yezid defended the place a long time with desperate bravery; but finding the garrison at last obliged to capitulate, he made shift to escape privately. Al Manfur immediately dispatched a body of forces in pursuit of him; who overtook, and brought him back in fetters; but not till after a vigorous defence, in which Yezid received several dangerous wounds, of which he died in prison. After his death, Al Manfur caused his body to be flayed, and his skin stuffed and exposed to public view. Of Al Manfur's exploits in Sicily an account is given under that article. Nothing farther remarkable happened in his African dominions; and he died after a reign of seven years and 16 days, in the 341st of the Hegira.

Al Manfur was succeeded by his son Abu Zammin Moad, who assumed the surname of Al Moez Ledinillah. He proved a very warlike prince, and maintained a bloody contest with Abdalrahman, khalif of Andalusia; for a particular account of which see the article Spain. In the 347th year of the Hegira, beginning March 25th, 958, Al Moez sent a powerful army to the western extremity of Africa, under the command of Abul Hafan Jawhar, one of his slaves, whom he had advanced to the dignity of Vizir. Jawhar first advanced to a city called Tabart, which he besieged for some time ineffectually. From thence he marched to Fez, and made the proper dispositions for attacking that city. But finding that Ahmed Ebn Beer, the Emir of the place, was resolved to defend it to the last, he thought proper to abandon the enterprise. However, having traversed all the tract between that capital and the Atlantic ocean, he again sat down before Fez, and took it by storm the following year.

But the greatest achievement performed by this khalif was his conquest of Egypt, and the removal of the khalifat to that country. This conquest, though long projected, he did not attempt till the year of the Hegira 358. Having then made all necessary preparations for it, he committed the care of that expedition to a faithful and experienced general called Giafar, or Jaa-

far; but in the meantime, this enterprise did not divert Al Moez from the care of his other conquests, particularly those of Sicily and Sardinia; to the last of which he failed in the year of the Hegira 361, continuing a whole year in it, and leaving the care of his African dominions to an experienced officer named Yufef Ben Zeriri. He failed thence the following year for Tripoli in Barbary, where he had not stayed long before he received the agreeable news that his general had made himself master of Alexandria. He lost no time, but immediately embarked for it, leaving the government of his old African dominions in the hands of his trusty servant Yufef abovementioned, and arriving safely at that port was received with all the demonstrations of joy. Here he began to lay the foundations of his new Egyptian dynasty, which was to put a final end to the old one of Kairwan after it had continued that country about 65 years.

Al Moez preserved all his old dominions of Kairwan or Africa Proper. But the ambition or avarice of the governors whom he appointed suffered them to run quickly to a shameful decay; particularly the new and opulent metropolis of Mohedia, on which immense sums had been lavished, as well as labour and care, so as to render it not only one of the richest and stateliest, but one of the strongest cities in the world; so that we may truly say, the wealth and splendour of this once famed, though short-lived state, took their final leave of it with the departure of the khalif Al Moez, seeing the whole maritime tract from the Egyptian confines to the Straits of Gibraltar hath since become the nest of the most odious piratical crew that can be imagined.

Under the article Algiers we have given a short account of the erection of a new kingdom in Barbary by Texefien; which, however, is there no farther continued than is necessary for the proper understanding the history of that country. A general history might here be given of the whole country of Barbary; but as that would necessarily occasion repetitions under the articles Morocco, Tripoli, Tunis, &c. we must refer to those articles for the historical part, as well as for an account of the climate, inhabitants, &c.