Note 48 — Chapter VIII · RONCESVALLES.

The Koreish is the most influential tribe of the Arabs. Their prominence is due to the fact that, early in the 5th century, they obtained and became the masters and guardians of the Kaabeh, in Mecca, which was a sacred shrine long before the days of Mohammed. Having once obtained the temple keys, they have succeeded in holding them against every effort to capture them. “Their possession of the temple-keys not only gave the tribe of Koreysh a semi-religious pre-eminence over all the other clans of Arabia, but also placed at their disposal the treasures of gold, silver, jewels, and other offerings accumulated by the pagan piety of ages in the temple of Mecca.”—Encyc. Brit.

The Abbasides, who were descended from Mohammed’s uncle Abbas, became a powerful tribe and were caliphs of Bagdad for five centuries, from 750 to 1258.