Hārūn al-Rashīd summary

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Hārūn al-Rashīd , (born March 763 or February 766, Rayy, Iran—died March 24, 809, Ṭūs, Iran), Fifth caliph of the ʿAbbāsid dynasty. Neither a great ruler nor a prepossessing character, Hārūn ruled (786–809) at a time when Islamic society reached its zenith in terms of wealth, learning, and power. He is best remembered, however, as a central character in The Thousand and One Nights, where he is portrayed as the epitome of the learned and just ruler. In his early years he was strongly influenced by his mother and by his tutor Yaḥyā of the Barmakid line of viziers. He succeeded his brother after the latter’s untimely death and ruled over a realm that was torn increasingly by strife, as regional leaders sought autonomy. On his death, his sons al-Maʾmun and al-Amīn fell into open civil war.

Caliphate Summary

Caliphate, the political-religious state comprising the Muslim community and the lands and peoples under its dominion in the centuries following the death (632 ce) of the Prophet Muhammad. Ruled by a caliph (Arabic khalīfah, “successor”), who held temporal and sometimes a degree of spiritual

government Summary

Government, the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated. Most of the key words commonly used to describe governments—words such as monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy—are of Greek or Roman origin. They have been current for more than 2,000 years and have not