Harun al-Rashid (17 March 763-24 March 809) was the Caliph of the Abbasid Caliphate from 786 to 809, succeeding al-Hadi and preceding al-Amin. Harun al-Rashid's surname means "the Just", and he presided over a flourishing empire that served as a patron of eastern arts; Arabian Nights was composed under his rule, and he sent a mechanical clock to the Frankish emperor Charlemagne as a gift. None of his sons could fill his shoes when he passed, and the Fourth Fitna began on his death.
Biography[]
Harun al-Rashid in his garden
Harun al-Rashid was born in 763, the son of al-Mahdi. Harun al-Rashid succeeded Caliph al-Hadi upon his death in 786, and he moved his court from Baghdad to al-Raqqah in Syria. Harun al-Rashid became a friend of Charlemagne, the Emperor of the Frankish Empire, and sent him an elephant named Abul-Abbas, a colossal tent with multi-colored curtains, and a mechanical clock as gifts. The caliph Harun al-Rashid is also mentioned in the legendary Arabian Nights collection of stories, which he edited, composing one of the most famous and enduring works of eastern literature. Arabian Nights and the mechanical clock were just two examples of the great revolution of the arts that took place under Harun al-Rashid's reign; he was intellectually, militarily, and politically successful during his reign, and there were 900,000,000 dirhams in the state treasury during his prosperous reign. It was also under his reign that Baghdad began to be a center of Islam, becoming a center of knowledge, culture, and trade as the Silk Road thrived and Islamic sciences and arts began to spread. Harun al-Rashid died in 809 and was succeeded by al-Amin, and the division of the empire that followed his death led to the Fourth Fitna, yet another civil war.