Harun al-Rashid (redirected from Harun ar-Rashid)

Harun al-Rashid (härn är-räshēd`) [Arab.,=Aaron the Upright], c.764–809, 5th and most famous Abbasid caliph (786–809). He succeeded his brother Musa al-Hadi, fourth caliph, a year after the death of his father, Mahdi, the third caliph. In his youth he had been very successful as a general in invasions of Asia Minor; on one of these he reached the Bosporus. Harun's empire included all SW Asia and the northern part of Africa, but by the end of his caliphate much of Africa had withdrawn from all but nominal obedience. He had diplomatic relations with China and with Charlemagne. The most famous incident of his career was the fall of the Barmakids, a Persian family that had become very powerful under Mahdi. Yahya, a Barmakid, had aided Harun 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; the reasons for this are not known, but it was probably a result of an extended intrigue by the Arab group at court. Harun was repeatedly faced with insurrections in his empire. These grew more frequent after the fall of the Barmakids, who were adroit statesmen. After this Harun's prime minister was Fazl ibn-Rabi. Harun was a munificent patron of letters and of arts, and under him Baghdad was at its apogee. He became a great figure to the Arabs, who tell about him in many of the stories of the Thousand and One Nights.

Bibliography

See F. W. Buckler, Harunu'l-Rashid and Charles the Great (1931); H. St. John B. Philby, Harun al Rashid (1933).

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Harun al-Rashid

(born March 763 or February 766, Rayy, Iran—died March 24, 809, Tus, Iran) Fifth caliph of the 'Abbasid dynasty. Neither a great ruler nor a prepossessing character, Harun ruled (786–809) at a time when Islamic society reached its zenith in terms of wealth, learning, and power. He is best remembered, however, as a central character in The Thousand and One Nights, where he is portrayed as the epitome of the learned and just ruler. In his early years he was strongly influenced by his mother and by his tutor Yahya of the Barmakid line of viziers. He succeeded his brother after the latter's untimely death and ruled over a realm that was torn increasingly by strife, as regional leaders sought autonomy. On his death, his sons al-Ma'mun and al-Amin fell into open civil war.

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Harun al-Rashid

?763--809 ad, Abbasid caliph of Islam (786--809), whose court at Baghdad was idealized in the Arabian Nights