Ruled
as the 5th Abbasid Caliph (r. 785 – 809), Harun al-Rashid ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi
(763/766 – 809) presided over an explosive era of great achievements for the
Islamic civilization, but his reign also began the decline of the Abbasid Caliphate.
Caliph al-Mahdi’s Son
Born
in the city of Rayy in 763 or 766, Harun al-Rashid was the son of the 3rd Abbasid Caliph al-Mahdi (r. 775 – 785) and his wife al-Khayzuran, a freed
Yemeni slave who had a strong and ambitious personality. His mother
demonstrated great influence and charisma that paved way to Harun’s rise in his
father’s eyes. During his teenage years, he officially led 2 campaigns against
the Byzantines that brought them to the coast of the Bospurus, even though most
of this military success came from the skills and brilliance of his generals.
The attack on the Byzantines led to the signing of a favorable peace agreement
where the Abbasids received tribute payments.
For
his successful military expeditions, he became the governor of several rich
provinces. This included Ifriqiya (Northern Africa), Egypt, Syria, Armenia, and
Azerbaijan. His governorship proved to be successful, much to the credit of his
tutor Yahya al-Barmaki who actually administered the government on his behalf.
In
785, his father Caliph al-Mahdi passed away. Harun’s mother al-Khayzuran failed
to make changes in the succession in favor of Harun before the late Caliph
passed away. As a result, his older brother from another mother, Musa al-Hadi,
came to power. Off course, the new Caliph mistrust Harun. But luckily, the new
Caliph only ruled for less than a year before passing away. Some speculated
al-Khayzuran poisoned the deceased Caliph, but she did forced the Al-Hadi’s son
to renounce the Caliphate in favor of Harun. Alas, at his 20’s, Harun ascended
as the Caliph of the Abbasid Empire.
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| The Abbasid Caliphate |
Harun’s Caliphate
Much
of Harun al-Rashid’s reign was influenced by his mother al-Khayzuran, who
remained a powerful figure until her death in 789, and his tutor Yahya
al-Barmaki and his family the Barmakides. Yahya al-Barmaki took the powerful
position of Vizier and his clan took over much of the civil apparatus managing
it efficiently and contributing to the prosperity of Harun’s reign.
Besides
effective administration, economic activities remained robust. Trade continued
to flourish as the Silk Road bustled with traders travelling from the wealth of
Tang China to markets of Europe and Africa. Within the Middle East itself,
textile, paper, metal among others grew in value and became part of goods
traded along the rich route.
The
wealth coming from trade financed the explosive progress in the arts and
sciences. A golden age of Islamic Civilization dawned. Harun himself showed
great enthusiasm towards scholars and artist. He patronize literature resulting
to great works from artist like Abu Nawas. The Arabian Nights displayed the
literary brilliance of the Islamic Golden Age. Despite showing Harun as a
ruthless leader, it exemplified the wealth and opulence of the Abbasid court. Harun’s
support for intellectuals also led to research and discourse that gave rise to
new schools of thought like Abu Hanifa’s legal school that helped in the
administration of justice within the Caliphate.
On
the subject of patronage, Harun’s wife Zubayda also shared his husband’s
enthusiasm for innovation. One of her charitable projects included the
construction of a water system for pilgrims conducting the Hajj or the
pilgrimage to the city of Mecca. This benefited many Muslims as well as Harun
during his 10 Hajj that he did during his lifetime.
Harun’s
reign also showed great achievements in diplomacy. He formed a great bond with
the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. Both rulers opposed the Umayyad led Emirate
of Cordoba in Spain. Harun agreed also to secure the welfare of Christian
pilgrims to Jerusalem upon the request of the Holy Roman Emperor. He also sent
tokens of friendship to the European leader which included an elephant and
water clock.
In
religion, Harun leaned towards the Sunni as Alids of the Shia sect who rebelled
and condemned the Abbasids as usurpers. Despite being descendants of the uncle
of the Prophet Mohammed, the Abbasids only claim to power was that the
declaration of a descendant of Ali to the Abbasids his claim to the Caliphate
and they belonged to the same clan, the Hashemite, as the Prophet. Thus, their
claim fit more of a Sunni rather than Shias who believed that the Caliph should
be a descendant of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the 4th Caliph.
Militarily,
the Abbasids made few advancements under Harun al-Rashid. Much of the military
actions worth mentioning included naval attacks on the islands of Cyprus (805)
and Rhodes (807). Foreign wars remained few because much of the military mobilized
to secure the internal affairs of the Empire.
Several
revolts sprang out under Harun. Syria revolted in 796. Egypt did the same
twice, first in 788 and another in 794-795. Northwest Africa did plenty, in
786, 794-795, and another in 797. Yemen also had a long revolt that raged from
795 – 804.
Besides
rebellion, Harun also saw the rise of regional lords. It meant regional rulers
having full control over their territory but remained nominally under the
dominion of the Abbasid Caliphate. Local rulers achieve this as long as they
paid tribute to Baghdad. The case of Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab who took over Ifriqiyah (North Africa) in 800 became one of the earliest to rise in power.
Alongside
rebellions, Harun’s caliphate took the soured when he turned against his
longtime allies, the Barmakids. Yahya al-Barmaki served as his vizier and his
son Ja’far Barmaki even became Harun’s closest confidant. According to legend,
Harun allowed his sister Abbasah to marry Ja’far under the condition the
marriage should not be consummated. They failed, Abbasah became pregnant and in
response Harun had his friend executed in 803. However, many believed the real
reason laid in jealousy. Harun coveted and feared the wealth and the influence
of the Barmakids. He had his former teacher Yahya al-Barmaki arrested and his
sons killed or imprisoned until dead. Their wealth went to the coffers of the
Abbasids.
The
Barmakids’ fall, however, also signaled the rising factionalism within the
Caliphate court. The Barmakids led a faction of Persians in the court opposed
to the Arabs led by the new Vizier al-Fadl ibn al-Rabi, an ally of Harun’s Arab
wife Zubaydah. The Barmakids seemed to be a fatality of court intrigue.
Division
within the court, however, spilled over the succession. The fallen Barmakids
supported Prince al-Mamum, son of a former Persian slave girl and tutored by a
Barmakid scion. On the other hand, Prince al-Amin was the son of Zubaydah and
tutored by Vizier al-Fadl ibn al-Rabi. Harun knew the divide in the court and
among his sons. In his deathbed in 809, he attempted to prevent civil war and
internal strife by willing to divide the Empire between his 2 sons.
His
hope of peace, however, went in vain. After his death, Al-Amin ruled as Caliph
but soon faced opposition from his brother Al-Mamun. The sibling rivalry led to
a full scale civil war called 4th Fitna. The Fitna fragmented the Empire and
factionalism plagued the Caliphate ever since, ultimately weakening it and
started its decline.
See also:
Bibliography:
General Reference:
Atassi, A. Nazir.”Harun al-Rashid.” In Encyclopedia of
Islam. Edited by Juan E. Campo. New York, New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2009.
Gunther, Sebastian. “Rashid, Harun al.” In Encyclopedia
of Islam and the Muslim World. Edited by Richard C. Martin et. al. New York, New York: Macmillan Reference, 2004.
Website:
Watt, William Montgomery. “Harun al-Rashid.” In
Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed February 11, 2017. URL: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harun-al-Rashid
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