Episode 54: Legacy issues

Due to his father al Mahdi’s arrangement, Haroon al Rashid endured a traumatic year during which his brother tried to have him removed from the line of succession. Having barely survived the experience, he put a great deal of thought and effort into the matter of his own succession in order to avoid inflicting the same dangers upon his own heirs and the umma at large. This careful planning unfortunately yielded devastating results, something which ironically only further improved the caliph’s gilded reputation.

Glossary

• Zubayda: al Rashid’s cousin and favorite wife. Her real name was Umatul Aziz; Zubayda (buttercup) was a pet name given to her by her grandfather al Mansur. Like the caliph’s mother al Khayzuran, she ranks among the influential women of the Abbasid era. On top of her frequent interventions in favor of her only son al Amin, she ran some business ventures and devoted great amounts of time and money to charity, particularly the maintenance of the pilgrimage roads. 
• Al Amin: the caliph’s second-born son was selected as his primary heir due to his purely Abbasid lineage. His real name was Mohammad, and most sources make it sound like he was unfit for office on account of being extremely indulgent and spoilt. 
• Al Ma’mun: the caliph’s eldest son was born to a Persian concubine of al Rashid’s, sometimes referred to as Marajil. He was placed second in line about 7 years after his brother was given the succession. His real name was Abdallah, and he is roundly praised in our sources for having all the virtues one could look for in an enlightened ruler.
• Al Mu’tamin: we know even less about this third heir because he never became caliph. His real name was al Qasim, and he spent most of his days patrolling his father’s favorite frontier, the one between the umma and the Byzantines.
• Fadl ibn Rabi’: the caliph’s hajib and eternal enemy of the Baramika. His opposition to their house earned him Zubayda as an ally, and he quickly endeared himself to al Amin, no doubt hoping to hold onto his influential position in the aftermath of al Rashid’s passing. 
• Ali ibn Isa ibn Mahan: this leader of the abna’ was another tireless opponent of the Baramika. Like Fadl ibn Rabi’, he also grew close to Zubayda and al Amin, but they could not save him from jail after al Rashid lost patience with his mismanagement of Khurasan.
• Ja’far ibn Yahya al Barmaki: al Rashid’s closest friend, he was made al Ma’mun’s mentor after the 12 year old was named as second in line. That didn’t last very long as was killed shortly after the public succession ceremony in Mecca four years later.