Division of Saracenic Empire
For a short time the vast dominion which the Saracens had conquered held together, and a single caliph was obeyed in Spain and in India. But soon disputes arose as to the right of succession to the caliphate: wars and secessions took place, and in A.D. 755 the Saracenic [407] empire was divided,—one caliph reigning in Spain and another in Bagdad.
In the East, the most distinguished of the Saracenic rulers was Haroun-al-Raschid (Aaron the Just), who became caliph in A.D. 786, and was a contemporary of Charlemagne. In the Arabian Nights we find a vivid picture of the city he ruled and the life he led. After the death of Haroun, the Eastern dominion of the Saracens was rent by civil strife; one province after another broke off from the caliphate, till in the eleventh and twelfth centuries it fell a prey to the Turks.