Harun al-Rashid was born in the city of Al-Rai in Khorasan Province in 776 ad, and the city was one of the major Islamic cities at that time, and he moved with his father caliph Al-Mahdi and his family to Baghdad when he was not yet over four years old, where he received a high level of education, and the Abbasid caliphs were very interested in the education of very young princes, so Rashid learned Fiqh, Sharia and law, along with philosophy, poetry, music and chivalry, and this indicates the high civilized level of the Abbasid state, unlike its Umayyad predecessor, whose successors were interested in the education of princes he read the Quran and chivalry only, and by order of the Caliph Mahdi Yahya Al-Barmaki became the guardian of Harun.
At the age of thirteen, Yahya Al-Barmaki became a personal assistant to the young prince, who began receiving assignments from his father as the leader of military campaigns against the Byzantines and the administration of the western provinces, which gave Yahya wide powers accompanied by efficiency in administration, which was increasing his status more and more with Rashid.
Caliph Al-Mahdi left a will before his death, which is that his son Musa al-Hadi will take over the reins of government after him, and after Musa Harun al-Rashid will take over.
But when the Mahdi died and Musa al-Hadi took over the caliphate, he wanted to break his father's will and make the caliphate after him for his son.
And here "Al-Khyzoran bint Attaa" The mother of Moses and Aaron intervened and refused for "Musa al-Hadi" to violate the will of his father Al-Mahdi.
"Musa Hadi" thought of getting rid of his mother But soon "Al-Khyzoran" realized it and turned the magic on the magician and she got rid of her son so she put poison in the food for Musa and he died.
And the succession was assumed by Harun al-Rashid in accordance with the will of Caliph Al-Mahdi.
"Harun al-Rashid" did not know what happened between his brother "Musa Al-Hadi" and his mother "Al-Khyzoran".
The Beginning Of The Reign Of Harun Al-Rashid
Harun al-Rashid received the caliphate on the same day that his brother Al-Hadi died, September 14, 786 ad, he was then 22 years old, and with his allegiance, the Islamic caliphate reached its apogee and its important status, and a prosperous era began in the history of the Abbasid state, where literature, art, various sciences flourished, security was established throughout the country, and the power of the State appeared, and it became feared by enemies and covetous. Rashid continued his succession for 23 years, two months and 18 days, until he died at the age of 45.
The political situation during the period of Harun al-Rashid was not stable, as there were some internal and external conflicts, which Harun al-Rashid tried to quell or resolve during the period of his caliphate, including.
The kharijite revolt: "Al-Walid Ibn Tarif al-Shari" led the Kharijites coming from the north of the island across the Tigris Reaching Iraq To rebel against the caliphate, but Harun al-Rashid confronted them, killed their leader, and separated them.
Al-daylam revolution: "Yahya bin Abdullah Al-Alawi" led the AL-daylam revolution, and the Caliph Harun confronted it with leniency, but they did not respond to him, he responded to them with violence until he eliminated them.
Khorasan revolution: the people of Khorasan revolted against the governor of the region "Ibn Mahan" Because of his injustice, and stealing their money, so the Caliph learned about him and ordered his dismissal.
The dispute between the Qaysi and the Yemeni: two tribes residing in the Levant a dispute had flared up between them but the Caliph realized the importance of maintaining stability and strength in the Levant to protect it from the attacks of the Romans, so he ended the dispute between them.
The Franks: the Caliph sought to find a relationship of affection and respect with the king of the Franks Charlemagne and sent him a gift watch, and this watch has a story that we will tell in another article.
The rum Wars: The Caliph fought many wars against the Romans Where one of these wars happened almost every year And in order to achieve victory in these Wars The Caliph sought to strengthen the Muslim fleet Establish a shipbuilding House And secure loopholes through which the Romans could attack the state And after many battles The Muslims conquered some islands And the Romans had to ask for a truce and reconciliation So the then Queen of Rome "Irini" signed a reconciliation In exchange for paying tribute to the Muslims This truce lasted until a king called "Naqfur" took over the empire Where the reconciliation was violated And the caliph Harun al-Rashid threatened war So Harun went out to "Heraclea" (a city near Constantinople) But the He promised to return to reconciliation The Caliph left him And after a while "Naqfur" returned to break the covenant So the Caliph fought him Killed 40 thousand of his army And won over them.
Al-Barameka The Beginning Of The End
Al-barameka family was close to the Caliph "Harun al-Rashid" Harun grew up around "Yahya ibn Khalid ibn Al-baramki" Who enjoyed nobility High morals And who was considered his father So he appointed him minister after assuming the caliphate And Al-Baramka family helped Harun in his reign and "Ja'far" son of Yahya Al-baramki was a friend of "Harun al-Rashid" since childhood and they were inseparable.
Al-baramakah miscalculated in matters that made Caliph Harun al-Rashid apprehensive about them after he granted them such broad powers and trusted them too much and the excesses of the baramakah varied, extended to politics, Money, Security, And finally reached Justice, which is the basis of the Ruling.
It came to the point that Jafar Al-baramki beheaded Abdullah the martyr Ibn al-aftas, whom Al-Rashid had imprisoned with him and ordered to honor and improve him, Jafar al-baramki presented his head on a plate in front of Al-Rashid.
They participated in the struggle over the mandate of the covenant, which was not resolved by Al-Rashid, Harun al-Rashid's wife Zubaida believes that her son Muhammad Al-Amin is the most worthy of the mandate, he is the eldest and he is from Hashemite parents.
As for Al-baramka, they wanted Al-Mamun because his mother was Persian, and when the order of Al-Rashid settled on the assumption of his son Al-Amin, the baramka kept insisting on him for 7 years until a decision was issued: (appointing Al-Mamun as crown prince after Al-Amin, in addition to granting him the mandate of the Levant under Al-Amin, so the caliphate was divided.
As for Al-Fadl, Ja'far's brother and the commander of Harun al-Rashid's army took a soldier from the ajams and named them Al-abbasiyya, and they numbered 50 thousand men, and made their loyalty to him personally, and came to visit Al-Rashid at the head of 20 thousand of them.
But Al-Rashid was neither stupid nor crazy, but he was leaving the baramka because they raised him at a young age and they were the owners who favored him in his education and training on horsemanship and many others.
It was not rational after all that we have mentioned, especially what al-Fadl Ibn Yahya Al-Barmaki did, but he beheaded Ja'far Ibn Yahya and crucified his body on a bridge in Baghdad. Almost a thousand members of the Barmaki family were killed and Yahya Barmaki was imprisoned with "al-Fadl and Musa" his sons, and they all died in prison during the reign of Harun al-Rashid.
But most historians have confirmed that Harun al-Rashid remained remorseful all his life for what he did with the baramka.
The death of Al-Rashid
Harun al-Rashid came out of Baghdad with his army heading to Khorasan; to eliminate the revolt of "Rafi Ibn al-Layth" and that was in the year 808 ad, and appointed his son "Muhammad Al-Amin" to take over the affairs of the caliphate in Baghdad, but his son "Abdullah Al-Ma'mun" accompanied him to Khorasan, and Rashid suffered from pain in his stomach; so he was tightening a silk belt on his stomach to relieve the pain, and when he reached the "tus" area in Khorasan, his abdominal pain intensified and prevented him from leaving his bed, and continued on that until he died on March 24 in 809 ad, his son "Mohammed Al-Amin" took the Pledge of allegiance to the Abbasid Caliphate after him.
