Harun al-Rashid, the legendary caliph portrayed in The Thousand and One Nights, reigned for a quarter of a century, his empire spreading over south-west Asia and into north Africa.

Known in the West as a cultural patron and as the ruler who sent exotic gifts to Charlemagne, Harun was also a soldier who waged war against the Byzantine empire, and a politician who often dealt ruthlessly with the religious and social revolts which threatened his far-flung kingdom. When the powerful Barmakid family became so rich and influential as to become a state within a state, he exterminated them almost to a man.

By protecting and favouring intellectuals, Harun made Baghdad the greatest city in the world, and a brilliant centre of culture and learning. During his reign the Abbasid capital witnessed unprecedented economic development, while merchants and navigators carried the caliph's renown to the farthest corners of the known world.

A symbol of the fabled Orient, Harun al-Rashid, the caliph portrayed in The Thousand and One Nights, is seen living grandly in his palace in Baghdad, surrounded by his wives, concubines, musicians and learned men, but is not merely a legendary figure. He was the son of a Yemenite slave who cleared his path to power, very probably by poisoning the reigning caliph, her elder son. Harun reigned for a quarter of a century, and was the most famous caliph of the Abbasid dynasty.

Through Arab chronicles, the author corrects our vision of 'Harun the Good', and gives a remarkable account of his development as a ruler of an empire that was shaken by religious and social insurrections.



Andre Clot, a historian and journalist, has spent many years in the Muslim lands of the Near and Middle East. He is also the author of Suleiman the Magnificent.

268 pages; 165 x 235 mm



Contents
1. The Horsemen of Allah
2. Youth and Splendour of the Well-Guided One
3. First Shadows on the State of Grace
4. The Difficult Years
5. Harun and the Outside World
6. Death in Khorasan
7. Baghdad
8. The Economic Miracle
9. A Thirst for Knowledge
10. From the Well-Guided to the Magnificent


Notes
Appendices
I. Messianic Movements
II. Samarra
III. Hunting with the Caliph


IV. Harun al-Rashid and Charlemagne
V. The Table in Harun al-Rashid's Century Chronology, AD 570-1543
Index