Hārūn was the son of
al-Mahdi, the third 'Abbasid
caliph (ruled
775–785), and
al-Khayzuran, a former slave girl from
Yemen and a woman of strong personality who greatly influenced affairs of state in the reigns of her husband and sons.
Hārūn was strongly influenced by the will of his mother in the governance of the empire until her death in
789. His
vizier (chief minister)
Yahya the Barmakid, his sons, and other
Barmakids generally controlled the administration.
Although the poet, thinking of some of the stories of the Arabian Nights, could speak of "the good Haroun Alraschid, " the scholar R. A. Nicholson thought he was rather "a perfidious and irascible tyrant, whose fitful amiability and real taste for music and letters hardly entitle him to be described either as a great monarch or a good man."
The Barmakids were a
Persian family that had become very powerful under al-Mahdi. Yahya had aided Hārūn in obtaining the caliphate, and he and his sons were in high favor until
798, when the caliph threw them in prison and confiscated their land.
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari(v. 30 p. 201f) dates this in 803 and lists various accounts for the cause: Yahya's entering the Caliph's presence without permission, Yahya's opposition to Muhammad ibn al Layth who later gained Harun's favour, Jafar's release of Yahya ibn Abdallah ibn Hasan whom Harun had imprisoned, Barmaki ostentatious wealth and the alleged romantic relationship between Jafar and Harun's sister Abbasa.
Yahya's son,
Ja'far, was the companion of Hārūn, who loved to have his own sister Abbasa and Jafar with him
http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/BAI_BAR/BARMECIDES.html at times of recreation. But Muslim etiquette forbade their common presence; and, to allow this, Hārūn had the marriage ceremony performed between them, on the understanding that it was purely nominal. But the ban was too weak for Abbasa (some versions of the story have it that she entered Jafar's bedroom in the darkness, masquerading as one of his slave girls). A child given secret birth was sent by her to
Mecca but a maid, quarreling with her mistress, made known the scandal. Hārūn, while on a pilgrimage in Mecca, heard the story and ascertained that the tale was probably true.
This romantic story is highly doubted by ibn Khaldun and most modern scholars. See the translator's note on page 215 of at Tabari v. 30.
On his return shortly after, he had Jafar executed, whose body was despatched to Bagdad, and there, divided in two, impaled on either side of the bridge. It stayed there for three years, when Harun, happening to pass through Bagdad from the East, gave command for the remains to be taken down and burned. On the death of Jafar, his father and brother were both cast into prison.
The aforementioned story is likely nothing more. The real reason for the fall of the Barmakids is far more likely due to the fact that Barmakids were behaving in a manner that Harun found disrespectful (such as entering his court unannounced) and were making decisions of the state without consulting him first.
Hārūn became caliph when he was in his early twenties. On the day of accession, his son
al-Ma'mun was born, and
al-Amin some little time later: the latter was the son of
Zubaida, a granddaughter of
al-Mansur (founder of the city of Baghdad); so he took precedence over the former, whose mother was a Persian slave-girl. He began his reign by appointing very able ministers, who carried on the work of the government so well that they greatly improved the condition of the people.
It was under Hārūn ar-Rashīd that Baghdad flourished into the most splendid city of its period. Tribute was paid by many rulers to the caliph, and these funds were used on
architecture, the
arts and a luxurious life at court.
In 796 the Caliph Hārūn ar-Rashīd decided to move his court and the government to
Ar Raqqah at the middle
Euphrates. Here he spent 12 years, most of his reign. Only once he returned to Baghdad for a short visit. Several reasons might have influenced the decision to move to al-Raqqa. It was close to the Byzantine border. The communication lines via the Euphrates to Baghdad and via the Balikh river to the north and via
Palmyra to Damascus were excellent. The agriculture was flourishing to support the new Imperial center. And from Raqqa any rebellion in Syria and the middle Euphrates area could be controlled.
Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani pictures in his anthology of poems the splendid life in his court. In ar-Raqqah the Barmekids managed the fate of the empire, and there both heirs, al-Amin and al-Ma'mun grew up.
Hārūn gave great encouragement to learning,
poetry and
music. He was a
scholar and
poet himself and whenever he heard of learned men in his own kingdom, or in neighboring countries, he invited them to his court and treated them with respect. The name of Hārūn, therefore, became known throughout the world. At Tabari (v. 30 p. 313) refers to the physician Mankah coming from India to treat Harun. Harun had diplomatic relations with
China and with
Charlemagne.
Both Einhard and Nokter the Stammerer refer to envoys travelling between Harun's and Charlemagne's courts, amicable discussions concerning Christian access to the Holy Land and the exchange of gifts. Notker (p. 147) mentions Charlemagne sent Harun Spanish horses, colourful Frisian cloaks and impressive hunting dogs. Harun sent gifts in return. In
802 Harun sent Charlemagne a present consisting of
silks, brass candelabra, perfume, slaves, balsam, ivory chessmen, a colossal tent with many-colored curtains, an
elephant named
Abul-Abbas, and a water clock that marked the hours by dropping bronze balls into a bowl, as mechanical
knights — one for each hour — emerged from little doors which shut behind them. The presents were unprecedented in Western Europe and may have influenced
Carolingian art.
The following text is paraphrased from and parts copied directly from
Famous Men of the Middle Ages By
John H. Haaren, LL.D.
In military matters, Hārūn was an excellent soldier and showed this ability at a young age when his father was still caliph. He later commanded an army of 95,000
Arabs and
Persians sent by his father to invade the
Byzantine Empire, formerly the Eastern Roman Empire, which was then ruled by the
Empress Irene. After defeating Irene's famous general,
Nicetas, Harun marched his army to Chrysopolis (now
Üsküdar in
Turkey) on the
Asiatic coast, opposite
Constantinople. He encamped on the heights in full view of the Byzantine capital.
The Empress saw that the city would certainly be taken by the Muslims. She therefore sent ambassadors to Harun to arrange terms; but he sternly refused to agree to anything except immediate surrender. It is reported that then one of the ambassadors said,
:The Empress has heard much of your ability as a general. Though you are her enemy, she admires you as a soldier.
These flattering words were pleasing to Hārūn. He walked to and fro in front of his tent and then spoke again to the ambassadors.
:Tell the Empress that I will spare Constantinople if she will pay me seventy thousand pieces of
gold as a yearly tribute. If the tribute is regularly paid Constantinople shall not be harmed by any Muslim force.
The Empress agreed to these terms. She paid the first year's tribute; and soon the great Muslim army set out on its homeward march. The tribute of gold that the Empress Irene agreed to pay Hārūn was sent regularly for many years. It was always received at Baghdad with great ceremony. The day on which it arrived was made a holiday. The Byzantine soldiers who came with it entered the gates in procession. Muslim troops also took part in the parade. When the gold had been delivered at the palace, the Byzantine soldiers were hospitably entertained, and were escorted to the main gate of the city when they set out on their journey back to Constantinople.
Harun sent and led other expeditions against the Byzantines, a notable one in 806 in which he commanded an army 135,000 men and forced the Byzantine Empire to pay him 50,000 gold pieces immediately and 30,000 gold pieces annually. In A.H. 181 (797-798) he took a fortress called "The Willows" beyond the Cilician Gates. In A.H. 190 (806-807) he captured Heraklia.
At Tabari describes Harun as devout, charitable, munificent, patron of poets and averse to religious disputes. His justice is extolled. In A.H. 189 (804-805) during his stay in Rayy he investigated complaints against his Khurasani governor, Ali ibn Isa. On that occasion the governor satisfied him. In A.H. 191 (806-807) further complaints against Ali ibn Isa resulted in the dispatch of a new governor, Harthamah, who arrested Isa, his sons and agents and returned Isa's excessive acquisitions to those wronged.
Harun led the pilgrimage several times, e.g. A.H. 177 (793-794), A.H. 179 (795-796), A.H. 181 (797-798), A.H. 186 (802) and last in A.H. 188 (803-804).
At Tabari concludes his account of Harun's reign with these words: "It has been said that when Harun al-Rashid died, there were nine hundred million odd (dirhams) in the state treasury." v. 30 p. 335.
