HARUN AL RASHID

Harun al Rashid was born in Rey, then part of Jibal in the Abbasid Caliphate, in present-day Tehran Province, Iran.

He was the son of al-Mahdi, the third Abbasid caliph (ruled 775 – 786).

Harun al Rashid Arabian Nights

The most celebrated of all Mohammedan caliphs was Harun-al-Rashid, which means, in English, Aaron the Just.

Harun is the hero of several of the stories of the “Arabian Nights,” a famous book.

Harun al Rashid Biography

When Harun was only eighteen years old he showed such courage and skill as a soldier.

His father allowed him to lead an army against the enemies of the Mohammedans; and he won many great victories.

He afterwards commanded an army of ninety-five thousand Arabs and Persians, his father sent him to invade the Eastern Roman Empire.

Empress Irene ruled Eastern Roman Empire(Byzantine).

After defeating Irene’s famous general, Nicetas, Harun marched his army to Scutari, on the Asiatic coast, opposite Constantinople.

He encamped on the heights, in full view of the Roman capital.

The Empress saw that the city would certainly by taken by the Moslems.

She therefore sent ambassadors to Harun to arrange terms; but he sternly refused to agree to anything except immediate surrender.

Then one of the ambassadors said,

“The Empress has heard much of your ability as a general. Though you are her enemy, she admires you as a soldier.”

These flattering words were pleasing to Harun. He walked to and fro in front of his tent and then spoke again to the ambassadors.

“Tell the Empress,” he said, “that I will spare Constantinople if she will pay me seventy thousand pieces of gold as a yearly tribute.

If the tribute is regularly paid Constantinople shall not be harmed by any Muslim force.”

The Empress had to agree to these terms. She paid the first year’s tribute; ++and soon the great Muslim army set out on its homeward march.

Harun al Rashid Accomplishments

When Harun was not quite twenty-one years old he became caliph.

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.

Harun built a palace in Bagdad, far grander and more beautiful than that of any caliph before him.

Here he established his court and lived in great splendor, attended by hundreds of courtiers and slaves.

He was very anxious that his people should be treated justly by the officers of the government; and he was determined to find out whether any had reason to complain.

Harun-al-Rashid gave great encouragement to learning.

He was a scholar and poet himself and whenever he heard of learned men in his own kingdom, or in neighboring countries, he invited them to his court and treated them with respect.

The name of Harun, therefore, became known throughout the world.

It is said that a correspondence took place between him and Charlemagne and that, as you have learned, Harun sent the great emperor a present of a clock and an elephant.

Khalifa Haroon Rasheed

So he sometimes disguised himself at night and went about through the streets and bazaars, listening to the talk of those whom he met and asking them questions.

In this way he learned whether the people were contented and happy, or not.

In those times Bagdad in the east and the Mohammedan cities of Spain in the west were famed for their schools and learned men.

Arabian teachers first introduced into Western Europe both algebra and the figures which we use in arithmetic.

It is for this reason that we call these figures the “Arabic numerals.”

Nicephorus, the Byzantine Emperor

The Empress Irene sent tribute of gold regularly for many years to Harun.

People of Bagdad always received tribute at Bagdad with great ceremony.

The day on which it arrived was made a holiday.

The Roman soldiers who came with it entered the gates in procession. Muslim troops also took part in the parade.

When the gold had been delivered at the palace, the Roman soldiers were hospitably entertained.

In 802, Nicephorus usurped the throne of the Eastern Empire.

He sent ambassadors with a letter to Harun to tell him that the tribute would no longer be paid. The letter contained these words:

“The weak and faint-hearted Irene submitted to pay you tribute. She ought to have made you pay tribute to her. Return to me all that she paid you; else the matter must be settled by the sword.”

As soon as Harun had read these words the ambassadors threw a bundle of swords at his feet.

The caliph smiled, and drawing his own sword, he cut the Roman swords in two with one stroke without injuring the blade, or even turning the edge of his weapon.

Then he dictated a letter to Nicephorus, in which he said:

“Harun-al-Rashid, Commander of the Faithful to Nicephorus, the Roman dog: I have read thy letter. Thou shalt not hear, thou shalt see my reply.”

War with Byzantine

Harun was as good as his word.

He started that day with a large army to punish the emperor.

As soon as he reached Roman territory he ravaged the country and took possession of everything valuable that he found.

He laid siege to Heraclea, a city on the shores of the Black Sea, and in a week forced it to surrender. Then he sacked the place.

Nicephorus was now forced to agree to pay the tribute.

Scarcely, however, had the caliph reached his palace in Bagdad when the emperor again refused to pay.

Harun, consequently, advanced into the Roman province of Phrygia, in Asia Minor, with an army of 15,000 men.

Nicepherus marched against him with 125,000 men. In the battle, Harun’s soldier wounded the emperor, and killed 40,000 of his men.

After this defeat Nicephorus again promised payment of the tribute, but again failed to keep his promise.

Last days of Harun al Rashid

Harun now vowed that he would kill the emperor if he should ever lay hands upon him.

Soon he got ready to march once more into the Roman provinces a revolt broke out in one of the cities of his own kingdom.

While on his way to suppress it the great caliph died of an illness which had long given him trouble.