Episode 52: Power struggle

Now that we’ve covered Haroon al Rashid’s foreign wars, we can get started with the messy conflicts which took place within the umma, and within his administration itself. The caliphate’s distant west slowly broke away during his reign, but his armies faced off and defeated various challengers across the rest of his lands. The Abbasid state was still powerful and quite capable of fending for itself, but a close look at how it responded to these threats reveals a more daunting problem within the administration: an intense competition between the factions closest to the caliph that was raging unchecked.

Glossary

• Al Khayzuran: the caliph’s mother pretty much ran the state until she passed away during al Rashid’s third year in charge. She had always gotten along well with the Baramika, and her preference for Yahya and his sons kept al Hadi’s advisors away from court. She was such an influential presence there that her death brought with it a political shift away from the Baramika.
• Yahya al Barmaki: al Rashid’s father-figure and lifelong mentor. The caliph delegated all power to him at the outset of his reign and he worked closely with al Khayzuran at first, then used his experience to serve al Rashid as his supreme wazir or advisor.
• Fadl ibn Yahya al Barmaki: Yahya’s eldest son was the closest in age to Haroon al Rashid as the two were born in the same week. The caliph entrusted various responsibilities to Fadl, from taxation, to wars, to governance, and out of his siblings Fadl proved to be the most like his father. Yahya and al Rashid both depended on Fadl a great deal, and his input was highly valued at court. He was the man al Rashid put in charge of Daylam and Khurasan when he wanted their problems fixed.
• Ja’far ibn Yahya al Barmaki: three years younger than Fadl and the caliph, Ja’far was the Barmaki whom al Rashid loved the most. The two were close companions, and Ja’far often represented the caliph in critical and personal affairs he could not attend. Like Haroon, Ja’far didn’t mind consuming alcohol, so he became the caliph’s drinking buddy and the two were practically inseparable. Ja’far was immensely influential at court, and rarely went on assignment as al Rashid liked having him around. He dealt with Syria that one time, and managed Egypt’s revenue for a few years.
• Musa ibn Yahya al Barmaki: Musa was about five years younger than his older brothers, and was not as prominent in al Rashid’s caliphate as they were. Some narrations say he was good at commanding troops, and he served the caliph in this capacity for a while. He was the one al Rashid sent to Syria after Musa ibn Isa failed to contain its tribal conflict.
• Ali ibn Isa ibn Mahan: mentor to the fallen caliph al Hadi, Ibn Mahan was the one most implicated in the plot to remove Haroon from power. Despite this the caliph forgave him, probably because of Ibn Mahan’s importance to the abna’. After all he’d been powerful for so long (not just as al Hadi’s mentor, but before that as the leader of the royal guards, and the leader of the abna’) that he must have had supporters everywhere. I don’t know if he was absolutely indispensable to the caliph, but we do get that impression from the treatment he received despite his many failures. He was finally dismissed and disgraced after making a mess of things in Khurasan. 
• Fadl ibn Rabi’: al Hadi’s hajib was one of the biggest critics of the Baramika in the caliphate, a title he probably contested with Ali ibn Isa ibn Maha,, the leader of the abna’. The two had attached themselves as close as possible to al Hadi and tried their hardest to get rid of their competition by urging the caliph to remove his brother using any means necessary. It is beyond puzzling that al Rashid allowed Fadl to return to official power after al Khayzuran’s funeral, and then made him his personal hajib some years later, but it’s something we’ll get into more next time.
• Idris ibn Abdallah: as the son of Abdallah al Tamil, Idris had ancestors from both grandchildren of the prophet. While Shi’a ideology will later coalesce around the determination that one had to be a direct male descendant of al Hussain to claim Hashemite legitimacy, this lineage had enormous social potency at the time. It was clearly sufficient for the Berber tribes which unites around Idris and formed the first independent Hashemite dynasty in Morocco.
• Idris ibn Idris: Idris I’s son and successor was born two months after his father’s death, and a regent ruled for the first 12 years of his life, and continued to assist him afterwards. I left it vague in the episode, but I think his father’s death was at the hands of the Berbers. I don’t put such an act beyond al Rashid morally, I just don’t think the caliph was capable of assassinating the Hashemite that far from his domain. Idris I’s death did not slow down the Idrisid dynasty one bit, and I suppose I kind of hold their success against them in this instance.
• Yazid al Muhallabi: Yazid ruled Ifriqiya for over 15 years, ever since al Mansur had sent him to retake it from the kharijites back in the day. His successors were all Muhallabites because the clan’s local connections became vital for anyone hoping to maintain order in the region. His son didn’t do a good job, but al Rashid eventually put him in charge of Sindh and he flourished there, eventually becoming the caliphate’s longest serving governor on record. 
• Harthama ibn A’yan: this leader of the abna’ was a real lifesaver during al Rashid’s reign. He governed different parts of Syria for spells of time, but more importantly he pacified Egypt and Ifriqiya when they got out of line, and was rewarded with the position of head of the royal guard. He also replaced Ibn Mahan after the latter failed at stopping Rafi’ ibn Layth’s rebellion in Khurasan, and went on to play an important role in the caliphate after Haroon’s death.
• Ibrahim ibn Aghlab: son of Aghlab al Tamimi, one of the men who tried and failed to tame Ifriqiya for al Mansur before he sent that massive army under Yazid al Muhallabi. Ibrahim is famous for destroying the walls of Qairawan to stop would-be mutineers from using the fortified town as a base of operations. His plan worked, and the energetic commander focused on maintaining his province, turning his attention to dynasty building only towards the end of his life, when he was certain that no one could succeed him better than his own son.
• Walid ibn Tareef al Shaybani: the fearsome kharijite whose rebellion swept Jazira and parts of Armenia in 794. There have been so many kharijite uprisings that it’s hard for me to make one stand out, but Walid’s movement really freaked al Rashid out. His defeat was celebrated by many poets at his court, and Walid’s sister, even penned a few beautiful lines lamenting his loss and eulogizing him that made it into our sources.
• Yazid al Shaybani: the Shaybani tribe of Jazira was too large to be united, but Yazid was the leader of the parts of it that were loyal to the caliphate. He led the tribe and other forces into battle for the caliph, and was possibly the very last truly militarily-relevant Arab tribal leader. He and his uncle Ma’n ibn Za’ida al Shaybani before him laid such a strong foundation for the clan, that Yazid’s descendants will continue to wield power in Jazira for centuries, and one day even found a dynasty that goes beyond the scope of our history.
• Yahya ibn Abdallah: Idris’ brother was another Hashemite who could claim direct descent from the prophet, something which ever failed to attract eager supporters across the caliphate. He chose Daylam as a refuge and his cause was quickly adopted by the locals. Some say the caliph then worried that Yahya would make a bid for the throne but that sounds crazy far-fetched to me. Whatever it was, al Rashid must have been scared because you know he’s not pulling any punches when he sends Fadl ibn Yahya al Barmaki to deal with something. Yahya the Hashemite was promised safety, granted it for a spell, then imprisoned and tortured.
• Rafi’ ibn Layth ibn Nasr ibn Sayyar: this grandson of Nasr ibn Sayyar led a rebellion against Abbasid authority in Khurasan. It goes to show that his grandfather’s name was associated with the welfare of its population rather than his service to the reviled Umayyads. His movement outlived al Rashid, but not by much.
• Khuzayma ibn Khazim: another of the caliph’s triumphant leaders from the abna’, he was the eldest son of the legendary general Khazim ibn Khuzayma. His house was so well regarded that his brothers also served as commanders, but he was the most prominent of the lot. He doesn’t come up much in this episode (he helped in a couple wars, especially that last one led by Harthama against Rafi’s movement) but he’ll be important in episodes down the line.