Politics · Literature · AD 766–AD 809
Born: 19 February AD 766 · Died: 24 March AD 809 · Age at death: 43
Harun al-Rashid died aged 43. He was born on 19 February AD 766 and died on 24 March AD 809.
Abbasid Caliph who presided over the Islamic Golden Age
Did you know?He is a central character in many of the stories found in the famous collection of Middle Eastern folk tales, One Thousand and One Nights.
Harun al-Rashid ruled the Abbasid Caliphate at a high point of wealth and culture. Baghdad grew into one of the world's great cities, with scholars, poets and traders from many lands. Later storytellers turned him into the wandering caliph of the Arabian Nights, a legend more than a portrait. The real Harun was a capable but sometimes harsh ruler. His sudden fall-out with his Barmakid ministers shocked his court. His division of the empire between his sons led to civil war.
Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ar-Rashīd, or simply Hārūn ibn al-Mahdī (c. 763 or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as The Hārūn al-Rashīd, was the fifth of the Abbasid caliphs, reigning from September 786 until his death in March 809. His reign is traditionally regarded to be the beginning of the Islamic Golden Age.
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Profile
Abbasid caliph, born 766
Harun al-Rashid was born in Ray on 19 February 766.
He was Abbasid caliph from 786 to 809.
His court in Baghdad was a centre of learning and trade.
He appears in stories of One Thousand and One Nights.
Career highlights
Did you know?He sent an elephant named Abul-Abbas to Charlemagne.
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