Editing Harun al-Rashid (section)

==Caliphate==
[[File:Abbasid Provinces ca 788.png|thumb|right|upright=1.2|Map of the [[Abbasid Caliphate]] and its provinces, {{circa|788}}]]
On the night of al-Hadi's death, [[al-Khayzuran]] quickly released [[Yahya ibn Khalid]] from prison and ordered him to pay the army's wages, send the letters to the governors to pledge allegiance to al-Rashīd, and prepare him as caliph. They summoned the commanders of the army, [[Harthama ibn A'yan]] and [[Khuzayma ibn Khazim]], and asked them to swear allegiance to Harun as caliph. Khuzayma reportedly gathered and armed 5,000 of his own followers, dragged the Ja'far ibn al-Hādī from his bed and forced him to publicly renounce his claims in favour of Hārūn. Hārūn became caliph in 786 when he was in his early twenties. At the time, he was tall, good looking, and slim but strongly built, with wavy hair and olive skin.{{sfn|Bobrick|2012|p=37}} 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 [[Zubaidah bint Ja`far|Zubaida]], a granddaughter of [[al-Mansur]] (founder of the city of Baghdad); so he took precedence over the former, whose mother was a Persian. Upon his accession, Harun led [[Friday prayer]]s in Baghdad's [[Great Mosque of al-Mansur|Great Mosque]] and then sat publicly as officials and the layman alike lined up to swear allegiance and declare their happiness at his ascent to [[Amir al-Mu'minin]].{{sfn|Bobrick|2012|p=36}} 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.<ref>New Arabian nights' entertainments, Volume 3.</ref>

Under Hārūn al-Rashīd's rule, Baghdad flourished into the most splendid city of its period. Tribute paid by many rulers to the caliph funded [[Abbasid architecture|architecture]], the [[arts]] and court luxuries.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

In 796, Hārūn moved the entire court to [[Raqqa]] on the middle [[Euphrates]], where he spent 12 years, most of his reign. He appointed the [[Hanafi]] jurist [[Muhammad al-Shaybani]] as [[qadi]] (judge), but dismissed him in 803. He visited Baghdad only once. Several reasons may have influenced the decision to move to Raqqa: its closeness to the Byzantine border, its excellent communication lines via the Euphrates to Baghdad and via the Balikh river to the north and via [[Palmyra]] to Damascus, rich agricultural land, and the strategic advantage over any rebellion which might arise in Syria and the middle Euphrates area. [[Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani]], in his anthology of poems, depicts the splendid life in his court. In Raqqa the Barmakids managed the fate of the empire, and both heirs, al-Amin and al-Ma'mun, grew up there. At some point the royal court relocated again to [[Ray, Iran|Al-Rayy]], the capital city of [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]], where the famous philologist and leader of the [[Grammarians of Kufa|Kufan school]], [[Al-Kisa'i]], accompanied the caliph with his entourage. When al-Kisa'i became ill while in Al-Rayy, it is said that Harun visited him daily. It seems al-Shaybani and al-Kisa'i both died there on the same day in 804.

For the administration of the whole empire, he fell back on his mentor and longtime associate Yahya bin Khalid bin Barmak. Rashid appointed him as his [[Vizier (Abbasid Caliphate)|vizier]] with full executive powers, and, for seventeen years, Yahya and his sons served Rashid faithfully in whatever assignment he entrusted to them.<ref>Masʻūdī, Paul Lunde, Caroline Stone, ''The meadows of gold: the Abbasids'' p. 62.</ref>

Harun made pilgrimages to Mecca by [[camel]] ({{convert|1,750|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on|disp=or}} from Baghdad) several times, e.g., 793, 795, 797, 802 and last in 803. Tabari concludes his account of Harun's reign with these words: "It has been said that when Harun ar-Rashid died, there were nine hundred million odd (dirhams) in the state treasury."{{sfn|Bobrick|2012|p=42}}

According to Shia belief, Harun imprisoned and poisoned Musa ibn Ja'far, the 7th Imam, in Baghdad.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

Under al-Rashid, each city had its own law enforcement, which besides keeping order was supposed to examine the public markets in order to ensure, for instance, that proper scales and measures were used; enforce the payment of debts; and clamp down on illegal activities such as gambling, usury, and sales of alcohol.{{sfn|Bobrick|2012|p=46}}

Harun was a great patron of art and learning, and is best known for the unsurpassed splendor of his court and lifestyle. Some of the stories, perhaps the earliest, of "The Thousand and One Nights" were inspired by the glittering Baghdad court. The character King Shahryar (whose wife, Scheherazade, tells the tales) may have been based on Harun himself.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harun al-Rashid, the Abbasid Caliph Who Inspired the 'Arabian Nights' |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/harun-al-rashid-1788986 |access-date=28 June 2022 |website=ThoughtCo |language=en}}</ref>

=== Advisors ===

[[File:Dirham of Harun al-Rashid, Madinat al-Salam, 170AH.jpg|thumb|left|A silver [[dirham]] minted in Madinat al-Salam (Baghdad) in 170 [[Anno Hegirae|AH]] (786 CE). At the reverse, the inner marginal inscription says: "By order of the slave of God, Harun, [[Amir al-Mu'minin|Commander of the Faithful]]"]]

Hārūn was influenced by the will of his powerful mother in the governance of the empire until her death in 789; When he became caliph, Harun allowed her (Khayzuran) a free hand and, at times, restrained his own desires out of deference to her expressed wishes, and Khayzuran acted as an overseer of affairs, and Yahya deferred to her and acted on her advice. His [[vizier]] (chief minister) [[Yahya ibn Khalid]], Yahya's sons (especially [[Ja'far ibn Yahya]]), and other [[Barmakids]] generally controlled the administration. The position of [[Persians]] in the Abbasid caliphal court reached its peak during al-Rashid's reign.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Persian Presence in the Islamic World|first1=Richard G.|last1=Hovannisian|first2=Georges|last2=Sabagh|year=1998|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521591850}}</ref>

The Barmakids were an [[Iranian peoples|Iranian]] family (from [[Balkh]]) that dated back to the [[Khalid ibn Barmak|Barmak]], a hereditary [[Buddhist]] priest of [[Nava Vihara]], who converted after the Islamic conquest of Balkh and became very powerful under al-Mahdi. Yahya had helped Hārūn to obtain the caliphate, and he and his sons were in high favor until 798, when the caliph threw them in prison and confiscated their land. [[Al-Tabari]] dates this event to 803 and lists various reasons for it: Yahya's entering the Caliph's presence without permission; Yahya's opposition to Muhammad ibn al Layth, who later gained Harun's favour; and Ja'far's release of Yahya ibn Abdallah ibn Hasan, whom Harun had imprisoned.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

The fall of the Barmakids is far more likely due to their behaving in a manner that Harun found disrespectful (such as entering his court unannounced) and making decisions in matters of state without first consulting him.{{citation needed|date=August 2017}} [[Al-Fadl ibn al-Rabi]] succeeded Yahya the Barmakid as Harun's chief minister.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

=== Diplomacy ===

[[File:Harun al-Rashid receives envoys from Charlemagne.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|right|Harun al-Rashid at left receiving a delegation sent by [[Charlemagne]] to his court in Baghdad.<br>1864 painting by Julius Köckert.]]

Both [[Einhard]] and [[Notker the Stammerer]] refer to envoys traveling between the courts of Harun and [[Charlemagne]], king of the [[Franks]], and entering friendly discussions about Christian access to holy sites and gift exchanges. Notker mentions Charlemagne sent Harun Spanish horses, colorful [[Frisian Kingdom|Frisian]] cloaks and impressive hunting dogs. In 802 Harun sent Charlemagne a present consisting of [[silk]]s, [[brass]] [[candelabra]], [[perfume]], [[Balsam of Mecca|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 [[knight]]s – 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.<ref>Lodovico Antonio Muratori, Giuseppe Catalani (1742), [https://books.google.com/books?id=pNVCAQAAMAAJ ''Annali d'Italia: Dall'anno 601 dell'era volare fino all'anno 840''], Monaco, p. 465. Muratori describes only some of these gifts.</ref> This exchange of embassies was due to the fact that Harun was interested, like Charlemagne, in subduing the [[Umayyad dynasty|Umayyad]] [[Emirate of Córdoba|emirs of Córdoba]]. Also, the common enmity against the Byzantines was what brought Harun closer to the contemporary Charlemagne.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

When the Byzantine empress [[Irene (empress)|Irene]] was deposed in 802, [[Nikephoros I]] became emperor and refused to pay tribute to Harun, saying that Irene should have been receiving the tribute the whole time. News of this angered Harun, who wrote a message on the back of the Byzantine emperor's letter and said, "In the name of God the most merciful, From [[Amir al-Mu'minin]] Harun ar-Rashid, commander of the faithful, to Nikephoros, dog of the Romans. Thou shalt not hear, thou shalt behold my reply". After [[Abbasid invasion of Asia Minor (806)|campaigns in Asia Minor]], Nikephoros was forced to conclude a treaty, with humiliating terms.<ref>Tarikh ath-Thabari 4/668–669.</ref><ref>Ibn Kathir, Al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya v 13 p. 650.</ref> According to Dr Ahmad Mukhtar al-Abadi, it is due to the particularly fierce second retribution campaign against Nikephoros, that the Byzantine practically ceased any attempt to incite any conflict against the Abbasid again until the rule of [[Al-Ma'mun]].<ref name="Ahmad Mukhtar al Abadi">{{cite book |last1=Mukhtar al-Abadi |first1=Ahmad |title=In Abbasid and Andalusian History |year= 2019 |publisher=Ain University Library |url=https://ebook.univeyes.com/28050/pdf-%d9%81%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%aa%d8%a7%d8%b1%d9%8a%d8%ae-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%b3%d9%8a-%d9%88%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%86%d8%af%d9%84%d8%b3%d9%8a-%d9%84%d8%a3%d8%ad%d9%85%d8%af-%d9%85%d8%ae%d8%aa%d8%a7%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b9%d8%a8%d8%a7%d8%af%d9%8a |access-date=28 September 2021}}</ref><ref name="Tabari, bosworth version, SUNY press">{{cite book |last1=C.E |first1=Bosworth |title=The History of al-Tabari Vol. 30: The 'Abbasid Caliphate in Equilibrium: The Caliphates of Musa al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid A.D. 785–809/A.H. 169–193 |date=1989 |publisher=SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany: State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-88706-564-4 |page=365 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wqf1gwM9O58C |access-date=28 September 2021}}</ref>

An alliance was established with the Chinese [[Tang dynasty]] by Ar-Rashid after he sent embassies to China.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QivwtVwq8ykC|title=The Chinese Machiavelli: 3000 years of Chinese statecraft|author=Dennis Bloodworth, Ching Ping Bloodworth|year=2004|publisher=Transaction Publishers|page=214|isbn=0-7658-0568-5|access-date=28 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=drPQaUGOJQIC&q=harun+raschid+less+obtrusive&pg=PA138|title=Confucianism and its rivals|author=Herbert Allen Giles |year=1926 |publisher=Forgotten Books |isbn=1-60680-248-8 |page=139}}</ref> He was called "A-lun" in the Chinese [[Old Book of Tang|Tang Annals]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_ObcNAAAAIAAJ|title=Islam in China: a neglected problem|author=Marshall Broomhall|access-date=14 December 2011 |year=1910 |publisher=Morgan & Scott, ltd. |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_ObcNAAAAIAAJ/page/n46 25], 26}}</ref> The alliance was aimed against the [[Tibetan Empire|Tibetans]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=W4mCH1oCKTkC&dq=Luciano+Petech+Harun+Tibetans&pg=PA15 Bajpai 2002], p. 15.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Tn5oVOER2ogC Bajpai 1981], p. 55.</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aBcdAAAAMAAJ |title=Nomadic Empires: From Mongolia to the Danube|first=Gérard|last=Chaliand|year=1970|publisher=Transaction Publishers|access-date=1 September 2018|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>Luciano Petech, ''A Study of the Chronicles of Ladakh'' (Calcutta, 1939), pp. 73–73.</ref><ref>Luciano Petech, ''A Study of the Chronicles of Ladakh'' (Calcutta, 1939), pp. 55–85.</ref>

When diplomats and messengers visited Harun in his palace, he was screened behind a curtain. No visitor or petitioner could speak first, interrupt, or oppose the caliph. They were expected to give their undivided attention to the caliph and calculate their responses with great care.{{sfn|Bobrick|2012|p=40}}

=== Rebellions ===
[[File:Ar-Rashid AV dinar 171AH Harun amir yevlem.jpg|thumb|200px|Dinar of Harun 171 AH (AD 787–88), the early years of his reign]]
Because of the ''Thousand and One Nights'' tales, Harun al-Rashid turned into a legendary figure obscuring his true historic personality. In fact, his reign initiated the political disintegration of the Abbasid caliphate. [[al-Sham|Syria]] was inhabited by tribes with Umayyad sympathies and remained the bitter enemy of the Abbasids, while Egypt witnessed uprisings against Abbasids due to maladministration and arbitrary taxation. The Umayyads had been established in Spain in 755, the [[Idrisids]] in Morocco in 788, and the ''Aghlabids'' in Ifriqiya (modern Tunisia) in 800. Besides, unrest flared up in Yemen, and the Kharijites rose in rebellion in Daylam, Kerman, Fars and Sistan. Revolts also broke out in [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]], and al-Rashid waged many campaigns against the Byzantines.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

Al-Rashid appointed [[Ali ibn Isa ibn Mahan|Ali bin Isa bin Mahan]] as the governor of Khorasan, who tried to bring to heel the princes and chieftains of the region, and to reimpose the full authority of the central government on them. This new policy met with fierce resistance and provoked numerous uprisings in the region.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}