Harun al-Rashid

766–809

Fifth abbasid khalifah

Sources

Zenith of Power . Harun al-Rashid was the fifth Abbasid khalifah (reigned 786–809) during whose rule the khilafah reached its zenith of wealth and power and also began to experience the symptoms and stirrings of provincial autonomy. The khilafah reached “the golden age” as Baghdad had become the wealthiest city in the world. Born in February 766, he was tutored in the arts of politics and culture by Yahya al-Barmaki. The khilafah was in good hands when Harun came to power (with al-Rashid as his title) and appointed Yahya the Barmakid as his Vizir (chief minister). Even though the territories were well administered and Baghdad was well respected, the far western provinces began to disengage from the center, especially Andalusia under the rule of the so-called Umayyads of Spain. This development invited correspondence and exchanges of gifts and ambassadors between Harun and Charlemagne to forge a strategy against their common enemies, the Umayyads and the Byzantines.

Cultural Achievements . During his reign Baghdad became a major cosmopolitan center attracting poets, literati, musicians, singers and other entertainers, physicians, and translators. Harun’s court attracted various cultural figures, such as the poet Abu Nuwwas and the musician Ziryab. It is said that Ziryab perfected the Oud, the pear-shaped wooden instrument with six double strings, at the court of Harun. (The Oud was later adapted to western music to become the lute.) The stories found in the Arabian Nights or The 1001 Nights, although composed and recorded centuries later, were loosely based on this vibrant period of Abbasid history.

Female Influence . Women seemed to have had a great deal of influence on Harun’s court as well as the culture of the day. Harun’s mother al-Khayzuran was instrumental in ensuring his succession to power. Harun’s wife Zubayda became well known for her own public activities and public-works projects, such as the construction of a fresh water aqueduct to supply Makkah from twenty-five miles away. Also, she had rest stops constructed along the pilgrimage route from Basrah to Makkah. This road became known as Darb Zubayda (Zubayda’s road) in the Middle Ages.

Protocol of Makkah. In the first years of the ninth century trouble began to appear between the provinces and Baghdad. The major issues in this conflict were the amount of provincial taxation to be forwarded to the capital city and the role of local elite in the administration of the provinces. It seems that Harun was the first khalifah to grant a hereditary governorship in the provinces when he allowed Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab and his descendants to rule the province of Ifriqiya (Tunis). To remedy the rapidly deteriorating situation, Harun proposed to divide the far-flung territories of the khilafah among his sons (similar to the solution reached among Charlemagne’s grandsons). The division, largely between al-Amin and al-Ma’mun, was recorded and solemnized by oaths in the shadow of the Ka’bah. The document, known as the Protocol of Makkah, was entrusted to the inner sanctum of the Ka’bah. Yet, this division eventually led to civil war between the two brothers and ushered in a period of instability that would lead to continued provincial autonomy. Harun al-Rashid died on 24 March 809 in eastern Iran while on his way to Merv, the provincial capital of the eastern-most province of Khurasan.

Sources

Andre Clot, Harun al-Rashid and The World of the Thousand and One Nights, translated by John Howe (London: Saqi, 1989).

Tayeb El-Hibri, Reinterpreting Islamic Historiography: Harun al-Rashid and the Narrative of the ‘Abbasid Caliphate (Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999).

Al-Tabari, The Early “Abbasid Empire, 2 volumes, translated by John Alden Williams (Cambridge &c New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988,1989).