In the Arabian tales "A Thousand and One Nights" the ruler of Baghdad, Harun al-Rashid, is described as a wise and just ruler, patron of the arts. In fairy tales, disguised as a merchant, accompanied by his vizier Jafar Barmakid, he wanders the night streets of Baghdad to find out the troubles and aspirations of the common people.
Harun al-Rashid had a real historical prototype - the Baghdad caliph Harun al-Rashid. Perhaps the fabulous Harun and the real Harun were united by only one thing. Both of them loved to wander incognito through the night Baghdad, accompanied by a friend and vizier Jafar Barmakid. Only the real sultan executed his real friend Jafar, so the reality is much harsher than fairy tales.
Harun al-Rashid was born in 766 in the ancient city of Rey, located southwest of Tehran. He was the son of the third caliph from the Abbasid dynasty - al-Mahdi. Harun's grandfather al-Mansur was the actual founder and creator of a huge empire that went down in history as the Abbasid Caliphate.
This empire stretched from the Atlantic to the borders of China and from the Caucasus to India in Asia and Sudan in Africa. Ap-Mansur also founded the city of Baghdad, which by the time of the birth of Harun ar-Rashid had already turned into the largest and most magnificent city in the East. In Baghdad, there were about 20 thousand mosques and places of worship, 10 thousand baths and about 2.5 million inhabitants.
The air in Baghdad was cooled with felt, which was stretched and then moistened with water, which, evaporating, saved from the heat of the day. About half of the entire area of Baghdad was occupied by markets, which made this city the center of eastern trade.
But the main decoration of Baghdad was the caliph palace, which seemed fabulous. It contained ponds of mercury and tin, trees skillfully made of precious metals, on which mechanical birds chirped. Around the ponds stood palm trees, the trunks of which were lined with carved teak wood, fastened with gilded metal hoops, right down to the crown.
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Although Harun's childhood was spent in the Caliph palace amid the luxury and servility of the eunuchs and freedmen who surrounded him, it cannot be said that he grew up effeminate and lazy. On the contrary, he grew up to be devout, educated, and strong.
Harun was an excellent sword-wielder, an accurate archer, and was firmly in the saddle. From childhood, he was looked after by advisers from the noble Persian family of the Barmakids. His mentor was a representative of this clan Yahya ibn Khalid, and the young Jafar Barmakid became his best friend.
At the age of 16, his father appointed Harun to command military campaigns against Byzantium. It is clear that due to his youth, he only formally headed military expeditions. In fact, they were led by his experienced advisers, but nevertheless the son of the Caliph proved himself worthy in these campaigns. Moreover, in the second of them, under his command, the Arabs first reached the Bosphorus.
It is curious that the young Harun became a military leader thanks to his mother al-Khaizuran, a once Yemeni slave, whom the Caliph first granted freedom, and then married her in 775.
Al-Khaizuran was not al-Mahdi's only wife. All the wives intrigued against each other, trying to promote their children closer to the Caliph. So al-Khaizuran persuaded the caliph to entrust the military leadership to their 16-year-old son, believing that this would have a favorable effect on his future career.
And she was not mistaken. After returning from the campaign, Harun was appointed ruler of Ifrikiya (modern Tunisia), Syria, Armenia and Azerbaijan. In the line to the Caliph throne, he was second after Musa, his older brother.
After the death of al-Mahdi, Musa became caliph under the name of al-Hadi. He imprisoned rival Harun and forced him to take an oath that he would renounce any claim to the throne.
But his mother al-Khaizuran and mentor Yahya ibn Khalid did not take such an oath. They say that it was they who eliminated al-Hadi, who, under mysterious circumstances, passed into another world in 786 (there is a version that he was strangled in a dream), after which they elevated Harun to the throne.
Harun al-Rashid went down in history as a brilliant politician, patron of sciences and arts, a brilliant commander and a fearless warrior. However, all this is not entirely true. Although Harun became the caliph, in fact the caliphate was ruled by others - those who brought him to power. His mentor, Yahya ibn Khalid, remained in power for a long time and only al-Khaizuran, who played a leading role in the political life of the Caliphate, gave an account of her actions.
Caliph Harun al-Rashid receives the ambassadors of Charlemagne / Julius Köckert, 1864
Only after the death of his mother, three years after accession to the throne, Harun began to take the reins of government into his own hands, gradually removing the Barmakids from government. And then he decided to get rid of them altogether. On January 29, 803, on the orders of Harun, his friend, Jafar Barmakid, was killed. And the former teacher Yahya and many members of his family were thrown into prison.
It is said that Jafar was not only a friend but also a lover of Harun. And there is such a legend about his death: once the caliph and his vizier feasted merrily together, and after the feast Harun ordered the eunuch to bring him the head of Jafar. When the eunuch with a sword in his hands appeared before the vizier and announced that by the order of the caliph he was sentenced to death, Jafar began to beg for mercy.
Tribute to Caliph Haroun al-Rashid Charlemagne / Jacob Jordaens, 1663
He convinced that the order was given by the caliph under the influence of wine, and in the morning he would sleep out and execute the eunuch for its execution. The eunuch hesitated and went with the vizier to the caliph. Harun, seeing them, threateningly said to the eunuch: "I asked you not to bring Jafar, but to bring his head." And the servant immediately cut off the vizier's head.
The reign of Harun al-Rashid is called the "golden time" of the Abbasid Caliphate. But most likely, Arab merchants brought the world fame of the wise and just ruler Harun. What flourished under him was trade. Its merchants traded in a vast area from China to East Africa. They told all over the world about their great caliph and his wealth.
Harun was a good military leader. He successfully fought against Byzantium and created a fleet in his caliphate, which raided the islands of Cyprus and Rhodes. He also patronized the arts, but mainly the arts associated with religious activities. Unlike the fabulous Harun, the real Harun was tight-fisted. He did not give gifts to the poor, on the contrary, in order to maintain the luxury of his court, the caliph was merciless in collecting taxes.
Harun was a devout, but by no means a kind ruler. Upon accession to the throne, he proclaimed a general amnesty. But he left in captivity the so-called zindiks - those who departed from the traditional Muslim religion.
In relation to the gentiles, he often showed cruelty, and also introduced a number of restrictions for them. For example, they were not supposed to wear the same shoes as those of the faithful. The zindiks were supposed to ride donkeys, not horses. And in 806, the caliph ordered the destruction of all Christian churches in the reconquered and bordering territories with Byzantium.
The not always deliberate decisions of the Caliph and the forcible implantation of Islam in the subject territories also affected the calmness in the Abbasid empire. The most dangerous were the performances of representatives of one of the Islamic currents - the Kharijites in the provinces of North Africa, Northern Mesopotamia and in Sijistan.
Every now and then, uprisings broke out against the Abbasid rule in Central Asia, Egypt, Syria and Tunisia. The Caliph himself often had to lead an army to suppress riots. During a military campaign to suppress the uprising of Rafi ibn Leys in Central Asia, he was overtaken by death in 809. Already leaving for another world, the caliph whispered: "O Immortal, forgive the mortal."
Harun al-Rashid had three sons: Muhammad Al-Amin, which means "Reliable", Abdallah Al-Mamun - "Worthy of trust", Muhammad al-Mutasim - "Confident". He established for his sons the order of succession to the throne. But after his death, they disobeyed their father's covenant and started a strife, which first led to a civil war in the country, and then to the collapse of the Abbasid Caliphate.
Oleg Loginov