(Harun
ar-Rashid ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ibn al-Mansur al-'Abbasi)
Harun al-Rashid was the son of the third Abbasid caliph
al-Mahdi. His mother al-Khayzuran had been a slave girl from Yemen and had
become an influential personality in Abbasid politics.
Before the age of 20 Harun was already appointed the formal
leader of military expeditions against the Byzantine empire. In 782 he received
the title ar-Rashid ("the one who is on the right path") for his
participation and was appointed governor of Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Armenia and
Azerbaijan.
When al-Mahdi died in 785 Harun's elder brother al-Hadi
became caliph, against the wishes of Harun's mother. Al-Hadi died in the
following year under mysterious circumstances, and Harun became caliph on 14
September 786.
Harun relied much on others during his reign. His mother
al-Khayzuran kept a large influence until her death in 789, and his vizier
(chief minister) Yahya the Barmakid (an Iranian family of priests), his sons
and the Barmakids generally controlled the administration. Revolts in various
parts of the empire were quelled militarily, but Tunisia was given to Ibrahim
ibn al-Aghlab for a regular annual tribute payment.
Other parts of the empire were given to independent
governors under similar conditions. This brought much income to the capital
Baghdad, and the core of the empire in the Middle East prospered. Textile and
metal industries flourished, paper mills developed, and trade expanded.
Harun al-Rashid diverted much of the flow of wealth into his
own court. Luxury consumption had always been conspicuous at the court of the
caliphs, but under Harun it took on a new dimension. Harun's wife Zubaydah used
only tableware of silver and gold studded with gems. Music, poetry and other
court entertainment supported numerous singing girls and artists.
After 15 years of his reign Harun decided to rid himself of
the Barmakid family, who until then had organized the flow of money from the
provinces to Harun's court. On 29 January 803 he ordered the execution of his
vizier Ja'far, imprisonment of all other Barmakids and confiscation of their
possessions. Reports give various reasons for this decision. One version
alleges that Ja'far fell in love with Harun's sister, who bore him a child.
Historians ascribe his death to a developing conflict between Persian civil
servants (including the Barmakids) and Arabian religious scholars.
Harun tried to resolve the issue by giving Iraq and the
western provinces to al-Hamin, his son from Zubaydah, and the eastern provinces
to his son al-Ma'mun, the son of a Persian slave girl. The result was a war
between al-Hamin and al-Ma'mun after Harun's death. The conflict was not
resolved until 850.
Harun fell ill during a military expedition against another
revolt in Iran and died a few months later. On a political level the empire did
not gain from his rule. On a cultural level his support of poetry and the arts
brought much splendour to Baghdad, and historians sometimes praise him as a
"magnificent patron of literature and the arts." This is correct in
the sense that as a feudal ruler Harun spent lavishly on cultural entertainment
and declared himself a connoisseur of music, although he preferred cock and dog
fights to concerts.
Harun's reign as caliph lives on in the tales of The
Thousand and One Nights (also known as "The Arabian Nights").
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