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Harun al-Rashid was the fifth Abbasid caliph who reigned from 786 to 809. He is known for his patronage of culture and learning, his wars with Byzantium, and his role in the One Thousand and One Nights stories.
- Overview
- Family and early life
- ʿAbbāsid wealth under Hārūn
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Hārūn al-Rashīd (born February 766/March 763, Rayy, Iran—died March 24, 809, Ṭūs) fifth caliph of the ʿAbbāsid dynasty (786–809), who ruled Islam at the zenith of its empire with a luxury in Baghdad memorialized in The Thousand and One Nights (The Arabian Nights Entertainment).
Hārūn al-Rashīd was the son of al-Mahdī, the third ʿAbbāsid caliph (ruled 775–785), and al-Khayzurān, 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. The elder prince, al-Hādī, was four when Hārūn was born. The princes were brought up in the court at Baghdad and educated in the Qurʾān (the holy book of Islam), poetry, music, anecdotes about the Prophet Muhammad, early Islamic history, and current legal practice. Hārūn had as tutor Yaḥyā the Barmakid, a loyal supporter of his mother. In 780 and 782 Hārūn was nominal leader of expeditions against the Byzantine Empire, though the military decisions were doubtless made by the experienced generals accompanying him. The expedition of 782 reached the Bosporus, opposite Constantinople, and peace was concluded on terms favourable to the Muslims. For this success Hārūn received the honorific title of al-Rashīd, “the one following the right path,” and was named second in succession to the throne and appointed governor of Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, with his tutor Yaḥyā acting as actual administrator. These moves were presumably engineered by al-Khayzurān and Yaḥyā. The two are even said to have induced al-Mahdī to make Hārūn his immediate successor, but al-Mahdī died in August 785 without officially changing the succession. Al-Hādī became caliph and Hārūn acquiesced. When al-Hādī died mysteriously in September 786, rumour suggested that al-Khayzurān was behind the death, because he had resisted her domination.
Hārūn al-Rashīd thus became caliph on Sept. 14, 786, succeeding to the rule of an empire reaching from the western Mediterranean to India. He made Yaḥyā the Barmakid his vizier, or chief minister. With Yaḥyā were associated his sons al-Faḍl and Jaʿfar, for the vizier at this period was not only an initiator of policy but also had attached to himself a corps of administrators to carry out his decisions. Al-Khayzurān had a considerable influence over the government until her death in 789. Thereafter until 803 the Barmakids largely controlled the empire, but the caliph was not wholly dependent on them, since certain offices of state were held by other men.
The fabulous descriptions of Hārūn and his court in The Thousand and One Nights are idealized and romanticized, yet they had a considerable basis in fact. Untold wealth had flowed into the new capital of Baghdad since its foundation in 762. The leading men, and still more their wives, vied in conspicuous consumption, and in Hārūn’s reign this reach...
Learn about the life and achievements of Hārūn al-Rashīd, the fifth ʿAbbāsid caliph who ruled Islam at its peak. Explore his family, military campaigns, viziers, wealth, and cultural influence in The Thousand and One Nights.
- William Montgomery Watt
Learn about Harun al Rashid, the fourth Abbasid caliph who ruled an empire spanning from China to Byzantium. Discover how he fostered a golden age of Islamic civilization by translating and adapting global ideas in science, philosophy, art and culture.
Learn about the life and reign of Harun al-Rashid, the fifth and most famous Abbasid Caliph, who ruled from 786 to 809 C.E. Discover his achievements, controversies, and legacy in Islamic history and culture.
May 17, 2018 · Harun al-Rashid was the fifth Abbasid caliph who ruled from 786 to 809. He expanded the empire, fought the Byzantines, and faced internal revolts and succession conflicts.
Dec 15, 2003 · A biography of the fifth ʿAbbasid caliph (r. 170-93/786-809), who ruled over a turbulent empire and fought several wars against Byzantium. Learn about his reign, his family, his capital transfer, and his relations with the Barmakids and the Kharijites.
This chapter examines the historical and literary sources on the caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd, who is often associated with a golden age of medieval Islamic civilization. It explores the challenges of separating myth from fact in the portrait of the caliph and his reign.
