others. They also presented the statement issued by ʿUthmân ibn-'Affân for the reduction of the number of robes. To this they added, "And now we have still more decreased, and become weaker." He then reduced the number by another 200 robes, thus reducing the original number by four hundred.
Al-Ḥajjâj restores the number. When al-Ḥajjâj ibn-Yŭsuf was made governor of al-ʿIrâḳ and ibn-al-Ash'ath revolted against him, the former charged the non-Arab landlords and the people of Najrân with siding with the latter, and, therefore, he raised the number to 1,800 robes, and ordered that the robes be of the kind adorned with figures.
ʿUmar ibn-ʿAbd-al-ʿAzîz reduces the number. When ʿUmar ibn-ʿAbd-al-ʿAzîz came to power, they complained to him that they were in danger of extinction, that they were decreasing in number, that the continuous raids of the Arabs overburdened them with heavy taxes for revictualling them, and that they suffered from the unjust treatment of al-Ḥajjâj. By ʿUmar's orders their census was taken, and it was found that they were reduced to one-tenth of their original number, upon which ʿUmar said, "I consider that the terms of this capitulation impose a tax on their heads and not on their lands. The poll-tax of the dead and the Moslems, however, is annulled." He therefore held them responsible for 200 robes of the value of 8,000 dirhams.
Yûsuf ibn-ʿUmar restores the original tax. In the time of al-Walîd ibn-Yazîd, when Yûsuf ibn-ʿUmar was made governor of al-ʿIrâḳ, he [Yûsuf], moved with partisanship to al-Ḥajjâj, charged them the original tax.
Abu-l-ʿAbbâs reduces the number of robes. When abu-l-ʿAbbâs was proclaimed caliph, they met him on the way as he appeared in al-Kûfah and strewed myrtle branches on the road and threw some on him as he was going home from
