agreeable to the "successor of the Prophet " (on whom be peace). So Harun bethought him that he would like to see a regular match between his sister and the Wazir Ja'far. He accordingly had them married, with a proviso inserted for state reasons, that they should not cohabit without his consent, for as yet he had no heir of his own to succeed him.' Thenceforward 'Abbasiya and Ja'far frequently played with alternate success in the presence of the Caliph; and we must confess the truth, still more frequently in his absence. The youthful lovers-I should like to know, who can blame thementirely forgot or overlooked the clause about cohabitation, and the consequence was the disgrace and ultimately the death of Ja'far.

Al Amin, the first of Harun's sons, who succeeded him in A.D. 809, was devotedly fond of Chess. It is related of him, that when the city of Bagdad was besieged and on the point of being captured by the forces of his brother, Al Mamun, who disputed with him Harun's throne, he was intently occupied in a game of Chess with his friend Kuthar. In the meantime, a messenger entered in great haste, and said, “O Commander of the Faithful, this is not the time for play; pray arise, and attend to matters of more serious importance.' this, Al Amin coolly replied, "Have patience, my friend, I see that in a few moves I can give checkmate to Kuthar."2

To

The simple English reader will here wonder why 'Abbasiya and Ja'far could not play their game-at least, their Chess game-like any Christian lady and gentleman, without having first gone through the marriage ceremony. The reason is, that a Musalman female of the least respectability is not allowed to converse with any of the male sex except her husband and her nearest blood relations, such as her father, brothers, and sons.

2 Historia Saracenica Arabice et Latine, fol. 1625; Lugduni Batavorum, page 129. Operâ ac studio, Thomas Erpenii.-The learned translator Erpenius, one of the first Arabic scholars of his day, falls into a ludicrous blunder

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It is further related of Amin, that he issued orders through all the provinces of the Empire, inviting to his court all such persons as were expert Chess players. To these he allowed pensions, and passed the happiest hours of his life, either in contending with them over the board, or in witnessing their contests with one another.

Al Māmūn, the second son of Harun, who succeeded his brother Amin A.D. 813, was distinguished for the patronage he bestowed on Chess, as well as on all the elegant arts that refine and embellish life. "He is generally regarded as the most magnificent of all the 'Abbaside Caliphs. At his nuptials, we are told that a thousand pearls of the largest size were showered on the head of his bride; and gifts of lands and houses, scattered in lottery tickets among the populace, announced to the astonished recipients the capricious profusion of the royal bounty. Before drawing his feet from the stirrups he gave away 2,400,000 gold dinārs (£1,110,000 of our money), being four-fifths of the revenue of a whole province. In the encouragement of literature he was the Mæcenas of the East. Learned men from all parts of the world were invited to resort to the court of Bagdad, where their talents were duly appreciated, and they themselves received the most distinguished tokens of imperial favour; and in return, these happy scholars laboured to the utmost of their power in extolling the glory of their generous patron, and in gratifying his taste by collecting and presenting to him the most rare and curious productions of Oriental genius.

owing to his entire ignorance of Chess. He is puzzled by the simple term Shāh-māt, or "checkmate." It happens that there is an Arabic word Shah which signifies a sheep"-hence the learned Professor translates Shahmāt" "a dead sheep,"-and the same sentence thus. "I see a dead sheep against Kuthar." I wonder whether the Dutch savant attached any meaning at all to this out-of-the-way expression? Probably he considered it to be some sly and recondite joke of the Caliph's.

Al Mamun, though very fond of Chess, was not a firstrate player. He used to say, "It is wonderful that I, who rule the world from the Indus in the East, to Andalus in the West, should be unable to manage the thirty-two chessmen included within a square space of two cubits' by two." There is an anecdote of him, recorded in the British Museum Persian MSS. which admirably shews his good sense. "He was one day playing with one of his courtiers who appeared to be moving negligently on purpose to let the Caliph win. Al Mamun perceived it, and in great wrath upset the board and men, saying to his opponent-- You want to treat me as a child, and to practice on my understanding.' He then addressed the lookers-on, saying, "Bear witness to the vow which I here make, that I will never again play Chess with this person.'

Al Mu'tasim, the third of Harun's sons, succeeded his brother Al Mamun in A.D. 833. He was a distinguished Chess-player. Two of his problems have been handed down to us; one which we have already presented to the reader in our eighth chapter, and the other which occurred to him in actual play, is given in the Asiatic Society's MS. fol. 146, but unfortunately the side of the diagram next to the Caliph is effaced, so that we cannot say where his King was placed or what additional piece or pieces he may have had on the horizontal file nearest him.

Al Mu'tasim has been designated by historians the

The lineal measures of all nations were originally derived from the members of the human body, thus a hand, a foot, a cubit, &c., will be found in every language, though in no two languages are the terms identical. The ancient cubit in particular was an exceedingly vague measure, varying from thirteen to eighteen of our inches, according as it was assumed either from the elbow to the wrist, or from the elbow to the top of the middle finger, both of which lengths apply to the Arabic words dhira' employed in the original of the above passage.

Octonary Caliph," owing to the following remarkable coincidences of the number eight applicable to his life and reign. He was the eighth in descent from 'Abbas the founder of the dynasty. His reign was distinguished by eight important victories. Eight sons of sovereign princes were enrolled in his service. He possessed eight thousand male and eight thousand female slaves. He was proprietor of eighty thousand horses. He had eight sons and eight daughters. He left in his coffers eight millions of golden dinārs, and eighteen millions of silver dirhems. He lived to the age of eight and forty years. He reigned eight lunar years, eight months, and eight days. Lastly, his Chess-board, which constituted the delight of his leisure hours, contained eight times eight squares; the pieces on either side were eight in number, so were the Pawns.

The 'Abbaside Caliphate had attained its utmost splendour under Harun; his three sons Al Amin, Al Māmūn, and Al Mu'tasim; and his grandson, Al Wathik (vulgarly called Vathek). This last, the son and successor of Al Mu'tasim, reigned from 842 to 847, was a liberal patron of learned men, and a cherisher of the arts and sciences. He is said to have so mildly and justly ruled his people, that not a single beggar was to be met with throughout his wide domains during his whole reign. The 'Abbaside dynasty continued to flourish at Bagdad, though with diminished splendour, for four centuries after the death of Al Wathik; and it would require from us a bulky volume to enumerate the names of eminent Chess players, and the copious allusions to the game found in the Arabian writers1 of that

1 Mr. Bland in his Essay justly observes-" A history of celebrated Eastern Chess players would form an interesting chapter of biography, and a desirable complement to a treatise on the literature of Chess. Abundant materials are

period. Many of these have been recorded by Hyde, to whose very learned but very ill digested work, De Ludis Orientalibus, we refer our readers.

In the Christian year 1171, the renowned Salah-udDin, better known to us as Saladin, founded the Ayubite dynasty in Egypt and Syria, having thrown off his allegiance to the Caliphs of Bagdad, whose Wazir or viceroy he had previously been. At his court we find that the game of Chess was held in high repute, and judging from one circumstance we conclude that he was himself a player. The fine old Arabic manuscript in the British Museum, as we have already stated, is dedicated either to Saladin himself, or to his successor, most probably the former, for he was the only distinguished man of the dynasty which lasted no longer than for the brief period of eighty years.

In the seventh century of our æra, the Arabs, or as they are better known in the west, the Saracens, swept like a whirlwind along the north of Africa, (taking note of Naples and Sicily in their way), as far as Fez. Early in the eighth century they crossed the Straits of Gibraltar, and established themselves in the sunny plains and shady groves of Andalus. In the course of time the court of Cordova equalled, if not surpassed, in splendour and magnificence its gorgeous rival in Bagdad. The Ommiade Caliphs of Spain were most generous patrons of the arts and sciences, and under their liberal and enlightened sway Arabian learning shone with a

supplied by the names which occur in anecdotes relating to the game." In this I heartily agree with Mr. Bland, and I may add that no one is better qualified for the task than himself; but it is a department which I refrain from entering on, my endeavours being limited to the History of the origin the theory, and the practice of the game. The few notices of individuals which I insert, are intended more or less to serve as so many isolated landmarks pointing out the progress of the game westwards from the banks of the Ganges to the shores of the Atlantic.