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Yahya ibn Khalid
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Yahya ibn Khalid
Yahya ibn Khalid (Arabic: يحيى بن خالد, romanized: Yahyā ibn Khālid; died 806 CE) was the most prominent member of the Barmakid family, serving as provincial governor and all-powerful long-time vizier to Caliph Harun al-Rashid before his abrupt fall in 803.
Yahya was the son of Khalid ibn Barmak, the first member of the family to achieve prominence in the Abbasid court, serving as de facto chief minister to the first Abbasid caliph, al-Saffah (r. 749–754), and then in a number of provincial governorships in Fars, Tabaristan, and Mosul under al-Mansur (r. 754–775). Yahya gained his first experience in administration as his father's aide.
When his father was governor of Tabaristan in northern Iran (766/67–772), Yahya was appointed as his representative in Rayy, where the Caliph's son and heir, the future al-Mahdi (r. 775–785), was serving as viceroy for the eastern caliphate. While there, the two men became close, to the point that when al-Mahdi's younger son, the future Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809) was born, he was nursed by Yahya's wife, Zubayda bint Munir, while al-Mahdi's wife, al-Khayzuran, nursed Yahya's young son al-Fadl, who had been born a few days earlier. This unique, and apparently accidental, relationship created strong bonds between them that proved crucial for the future fate of the Barmakids; by Arab custom, ties of fosterage were equivalent to blood kinship.
Already in 775, Yahya was himself appointed governor of Adharbayjan. When his father entered his second governorship of Fars under al-Mahdi (r. 775–785), Yahya once again accompanied him as his assistant.
In 778, he was named as the tutor and secretary to Harun, replacing Aban ibn Sadaka, and enhancing their relationship: Yahya became a sort of father figure to the young prince, while in turn Yahya and his family attached their fortunes to Harun. When Harun was sent, as his first independent command, to lead an expedition against the Byzantine Empire in 780, Yahya accompanied him. Yahya was placed in charge of the army's supplies, while he and the chamberlain al-Rabi ibn Yunus (who would become a political ally of Yahya) functioned as advisors to Harun on all military decisions. The expedition was a modest success, resulting in the capture of the fortress of Samalu, further strengthening Yahya's position. When Harun was proclaimed second heir (after his older brother, al-Hadi) and given charge of the provinces of Adharbayjan and Arminiya, Yahya administered these on his behalf.
When al-Mahdi died suddenly while hunting in July 785, Yahya was instrumental in ensuring a smooth succession and avoiding a riot of the troops, who were likely to use the opportunity to extract several years' of payment from the exchequer. Yahya and Queen al-Khayzuran kept the death secret, dismissed the troops with a gift of 200 dirhams, buried al-Mahdi, and sent for al-Hadi, who was then at Juzjan, to come to Baghdad and take over the throne. After the truth became known, the troops rioted and secured a payment of two years' worth of their salaries, but the immediate crisis had been averted.
After al-Hadi's accession, Yahya was confirmed in his position, but soon became involved in the struggle for the succession. Al-Hadi, now caliph, wanted to remove his brother from the succession and appoint his own son, Ja'far, instead. Harun himself appeared to be ready to acquiesce to this demotion, but this threatened Yahya's own position, which was dependent on Harun's status as heir-apparent. Consequently, along with al-Rabi ibn Yunus and the influential and powerful queen-mother al-Khayzuran, he tried to uphold Harun's position. At this time, Queen al-Khayzuran was the most powerful person in the caliphate, and al-Hadi hated this immense authority of his mother. Unlike al-Khayzuran, who did not hide her hostility to her older son, Yahya tried to mediate between the two brothers, urging Harun to a firmer defence of his rights, and al-Hadi to a more conciliatory stance. The rivalry between the two brothers was also the expression of a wider conflict, between a military faction, favoured by al-Hadi, and a courtly/bureaucratic faction, that rallied behind the Barmakids and al-Rabi ibn Yunus, with Harun as their candidate. The former clung to the traditional prerogatives of the troops that had brought the Abbasids to power, especially in the role of military leaders as provincial governors, while the newly emerging class of civil administrators (the kuttāb) and palace officials desired both a greater share of power as well as a centralization of authority in the central government and its civil departments.
In the end, in September 786, matters came to a head: Yahya was imprisoned and was about to be executed, but on the same night, al-Hadi was found dead. The exact cause of al-Hadi's death is unknown, but several sources imply that al-Khayzuran was responsible, by having one of her slave-girls suffocate the caliph in his sleep. On the same night, al-Hadi's young son was arrested and forced to renounce his rights to the succession, and the new regime installed. According to one version reported by al-Tabari, Harun freed Yahya once he was seated on the throne, while according to another, Yahya hurried to wake his sleeping protégé with the words, "Arise, O Commander of the Faithful".
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Yahya ibn Khalid
Yahya ibn Khalid (Arabic: يحيى بن خالد, romanized: Yahyā ibn Khālid; died 806 CE) was the most prominent member of the Barmakid family, serving as provincial governor and all-powerful long-time vizier to Caliph Harun al-Rashid before his abrupt fall in 803.
Yahya was the son of Khalid ibn Barmak, the first member of the family to achieve prominence in the Abbasid court, serving as de facto chief minister to the first Abbasid caliph, al-Saffah (r. 749–754), and then in a number of provincial governorships in Fars, Tabaristan, and Mosul under al-Mansur (r. 754–775). Yahya gained his first experience in administration as his father's aide.
When his father was governor of Tabaristan in northern Iran (766/67–772), Yahya was appointed as his representative in Rayy, where the Caliph's son and heir, the future al-Mahdi (r. 775–785), was serving as viceroy for the eastern caliphate. While there, the two men became close, to the point that when al-Mahdi's younger son, the future Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809) was born, he was nursed by Yahya's wife, Zubayda bint Munir, while al-Mahdi's wife, al-Khayzuran, nursed Yahya's young son al-Fadl, who had been born a few days earlier. This unique, and apparently accidental, relationship created strong bonds between them that proved crucial for the future fate of the Barmakids; by Arab custom, ties of fosterage were equivalent to blood kinship.
Already in 775, Yahya was himself appointed governor of Adharbayjan. When his father entered his second governorship of Fars under al-Mahdi (r. 775–785), Yahya once again accompanied him as his assistant.
In 778, he was named as the tutor and secretary to Harun, replacing Aban ibn Sadaka, and enhancing their relationship: Yahya became a sort of father figure to the young prince, while in turn Yahya and his family attached their fortunes to Harun. When Harun was sent, as his first independent command, to lead an expedition against the Byzantine Empire in 780, Yahya accompanied him. Yahya was placed in charge of the army's supplies, while he and the chamberlain al-Rabi ibn Yunus (who would become a political ally of Yahya) functioned as advisors to Harun on all military decisions. The expedition was a modest success, resulting in the capture of the fortress of Samalu, further strengthening Yahya's position. When Harun was proclaimed second heir (after his older brother, al-Hadi) and given charge of the provinces of Adharbayjan and Arminiya, Yahya administered these on his behalf.
When al-Mahdi died suddenly while hunting in July 785, Yahya was instrumental in ensuring a smooth succession and avoiding a riot of the troops, who were likely to use the opportunity to extract several years' of payment from the exchequer. Yahya and Queen al-Khayzuran kept the death secret, dismissed the troops with a gift of 200 dirhams, buried al-Mahdi, and sent for al-Hadi, who was then at Juzjan, to come to Baghdad and take over the throne. After the truth became known, the troops rioted and secured a payment of two years' worth of their salaries, but the immediate crisis had been averted.
After al-Hadi's accession, Yahya was confirmed in his position, but soon became involved in the struggle for the succession. Al-Hadi, now caliph, wanted to remove his brother from the succession and appoint his own son, Ja'far, instead. Harun himself appeared to be ready to acquiesce to this demotion, but this threatened Yahya's own position, which was dependent on Harun's status as heir-apparent. Consequently, along with al-Rabi ibn Yunus and the influential and powerful queen-mother al-Khayzuran, he tried to uphold Harun's position. At this time, Queen al-Khayzuran was the most powerful person in the caliphate, and al-Hadi hated this immense authority of his mother. Unlike al-Khayzuran, who did not hide her hostility to her older son, Yahya tried to mediate between the two brothers, urging Harun to a firmer defence of his rights, and al-Hadi to a more conciliatory stance. The rivalry between the two brothers was also the expression of a wider conflict, between a military faction, favoured by al-Hadi, and a courtly/bureaucratic faction, that rallied behind the Barmakids and al-Rabi ibn Yunus, with Harun as their candidate. The former clung to the traditional prerogatives of the troops that had brought the Abbasids to power, especially in the role of military leaders as provincial governors, while the newly emerging class of civil administrators (the kuttāb) and palace officials desired both a greater share of power as well as a centralization of authority in the central government and its civil departments.
In the end, in September 786, matters came to a head: Yahya was imprisoned and was about to be executed, but on the same night, al-Hadi was found dead. The exact cause of al-Hadi's death is unknown, but several sources imply that al-Khayzuran was responsible, by having one of her slave-girls suffocate the caliph in his sleep. On the same night, al-Hadi's young son was arrested and forced to renounce his rights to the succession, and the new regime installed. According to one version reported by al-Tabari, Harun freed Yahya once he was seated on the throne, while according to another, Yahya hurried to wake his sleeping protégé with the words, "Arise, O Commander of the Faithful".
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