fwo_943983 - ABASSIDS - HARUN AL-RASHID Dirhem c. 786-809

ABASSIDS - HARUN AL-RASHID

(09/14/786 - 03/26/809)

HarOun-al Rashid was born in 766, son of al-Mahdi. He became the fifth Abbasid caliph, succeeding his brother in 786. He fought against the Byzantines and his armies reached Ankara and Empress Irene, wife of Michael VI, had to pay tribute. The war resumed in 806 with Nicephorus I who was defeated and again paid the tribute. The caliph died in Tabaristan in 809. He remains famous in the West for the relations he maintained with Charlemagne and for Baghdad which he enriched and developed, promoting the spread of the myth of the "Thousand and One Nights".