The commotion in that quarter caused by the rebellion of Aswad, the ‘Veiled Prophet,’ had hardly subsided, when the death of Mahomet threw the land into a worse confusion. Mecca and Tâyif, after the first excitement, remained tolerably secure under their governors, the youthful Attâb[76] and Othmân ibn al Aás. But in the _Tihâma_ (coast washed by the Red Sea), as well as in the interior, misrule and violence were rife. A party of marauders from amongst the Beni Khozâa and other lawless Bedouins round about the Holy City, ready as ever for plunder and rapine, were dispersed with great slaughter by the levies of Attâb. Order was maintained by a body of 500 men quartered within the sacred limits, and by small pickets throughout the districts of Mecca and Tâyif. But between them and Yemen there was nothing save turmoil and alarm. Troops of bandit horse, remnants of the false prophet’s army, hovered about the country to the south and west of Najrân. They were headed by Amr ibn Mádekerib, a poet of note and a chief of great local influence, before whom Khâlid ibn Saîd, the governor of Najrân, fled for his life. On one occasion, however, Khâlid, with but a small following, surprised Amr and spoiled him of his horse and the sword _Samsât_, inherited from Himyar kings and famous in Arab song.[77] The whole coast was in a ferment, and the loyal adherents of Islam were fain to flee for shelter to fastnesses in the mountains. Bands of the Beni Azd, occupying the uplands, approached the sacred territory in threatening attitude, but were dispersed by the governor of Tâyif. The whole Tihâma was overrun by swarming bands of the Akk and Ashár tribes, who closed the roads and barred communications with the south. Tâhir, who had been placed by Mahomet over these tribes, was now commissioned with a force to rally the faithful remnant on the spot, and to clear the country of the robbers infesting it. This he did so effectually that the roads became again impassable, but now simply from the offensive multitude of carcases strewn upon them.[78]