The Correlation of Language and Behavior; Whether Language Affects Behavior or The Behavior Affects the Language

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Harun al-Rashid

(Harun ar-Rashid ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ibn al-Mansur al-'Abbasi)

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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").