HARUN  AL-RASHID (763 or 766-809), i.e . " Harun the Orthodox," the fifth of the `Abbasid caliphs of

Bagdad, and the second son of the third caliph Mandi . His full name was Harun ibn Muhammad ibn `Abdallah ibn Muhammad ibn `Ali ibn `Abdallah ibn `Abbas . He was born at Rai (Rhagae) on the 20th of March A.D . 763, according to some accounts, and according to others on the 15th of February A.D . 766 . Harun al-Rashid was twenty-two years old when he ascended the throne . His father Mandi just before his death conceived the idea of superseding his elder son Musa (afterwards known as Hach, the fourth caliph) by Harun . But on Mandi's death Harun gave way to his brother . For the campaigns in which he took part prior to his accession see CALIPHATE, section C, The Abbasids, §§ 3 and 4 . Rashid owed his succession to the throne to the prudence and sagacity of Yahya b . Khalid the Barmecide, his secretary, whom on his accession he appointed his lieutenant and grand vizier (see BARHECIDES) .

Under his guidance the

empire flourished on the whole, in spite of several revolts in the provinces by members of the old Alid family . Successful wars were waged with the rulers of Byzantium and the Khazars . In 803, however, Harun became suspicious of the Barmecides, whom with only a single exception he caused to be executed . Henceforward the chief power was exercised by Fadl b . Rabi', who had been chamberlain not only under Harlin himself but under his predecessors, Mansur, Madhi and HadI . In the later years of Harun's reign troubles arose in the eastern parts of the empire . These troubles assumed proportions so serious that Harlin himself decided to go to Khorasan . He died, however, at Tus in March 809 . The reign of Harun (see CALIPHATE, section C, § 5) was one of the most brilliant in the annals of the caliphate, in spite of losses in north-west Africa and Transoxiana . His fame spread to the West, and Charlemagne and he exchanged gifts and compliments as masters respectively of the West and the East . No caliph ever gathered round him so great a number of learned men, poets, jurists, grammarians, cadis and scribes, to say nothing of the wits and musicians who enjoyed his patronage . Harun himself was a scholar and poet, and was well versed in history, tradition and poetry .

He possessed

taste and discernment, and his dignified demeanour is extolled by the historians . In religion he was extremely strict; he prostrated himself a hundred times daily, and nine or ten times made the pilgrimage to Mecca . At the same time he cannot be regarded as a great administrator . He seems to have left everything to his viziers Yahya and Fadl, to the former of whom especially was due the prosperous condition of the empire . Harun is best known to Western readers as the hero of many of the stories in the Arabian Nights; and in Arabic literature he is the central figure of numberless anecdotes and humorous stories . Of his incognito walks through Bagdad, however, the authentic histories say nothing . His Arabic biographers are unanimous in describing him as noble and generous, but there is little doubt that he was in fact a man of little force of character, suspicious, untrustworthy and on occasions cruel . See the Arabic histories of Ibn al-Athir and Ibn Khaldun . Among modern works see Sir W . Muir, The Caliphate (London, 1891) ; R . D . Osborn, Islam under the Khalifs of Bagdad (London, 1878) ; Gustav Weil, Geschichte der Chalifen (Mannheim and Stuttgart, 1846-1862); G. le Strange, Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate (Oxford, 1900) ; A .

Muller, Der Islam, vol. i . (Berlin, 1885) ; E . H . Palmer, The Caliph Haroun Alraschid (London, 188o) ; J . B . Bury's edition of Gibbon's Decline and Fall (London, 1898), vol. vi. pp . - 34 foil .