Harun al-Rashid
Early life

Hārūn was born in Rey, then part of Jibal in the Abbasid Caliphate, in present-day Tehran Province, Iran. He was the son of al-Mahdi, the third Abbasid caliph (r. 775–786), and his wife al-Khayzuran, who was a woman of strong and independent personality who greatly and determinedly influenced affairs of state in the reigns of her husband and sons. Growing up Harun studied history, geography, rhetoric, music, poetry, and economics. However, most of his time was dedicated to mastering hadith and the Quran. In addition, he underwent advanced physical education as a future mujahid, and as a result, he practiced swordplay, archery, and learned the art of war. His birth date is debated, with various sources giving dates from 763 to 766.

Before becoming a caliph, in 780 and again in 782, Hārūn had already nominally led campaigns against the caliphate's traditional enemy, the Eastern Roman Empire, ruled by Empress Irene. The latter expedition was a huge undertaking, and even reached the Asian suburbs of Constantinople. According to the Muslim chronicler Al-Tabari, the Byzantines lost tens of thousands of soldiers, and Harun employed 20,000 mules to carry the riches back. Upon his return to the Abbasid realm, the cost of a sword fell to one dirham and the price of a horse to a single gold Byzantine dinar.

Harun's raids against the Byzantines elevated his political image and once he returned, he was given the laqab "al-Rashid", meaning "the Rightly-Guided One". He was promoted to crown prince and given the responsibility of governing the empire's western territories, from Syria to Azerbaijan.

Upon the death of his father in 785, Harun's brother al-Hadi became caliph. However, al-Hadi's reign was brief: a year and two months. Al-Hadi clashed with their mother over her great influence in court. Al-Hadi prevented her from acting in any of the country's affairs as she had been accustomed to at the end of his father's reign and the beginning of his reign. The princes, public and officials and the needy began to ask her permission to come to her door so that she could intercede for them, sometimes they would even stand in front of her howdah and make requests on such matters and to fulfill what they wanted from Al-Hadi through her words. Al-Khayzuran tried to take him on his father's path in commanding and forbidding, and advised him on what to do and avoid. However, Al-Hadi gradually became fed up with her interference and orders. He also saw her inclination towards his brother Al-Rashid during his attempts to depose him. The historian al-Tabari notes varying accounts of al-Hadi's death, e.g. an abdominal ulcer or assassination prompted by his own mother.
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