{"id":38931,"date":"2016-09-04T10:32:42","date_gmt":"2016-09-04T08:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/site\/?p=38931"},"modified":"2016-09-29T14:37:23","modified_gmt":"2016-09-29T12:37:23","slug":"%d9%85%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%86%d8%a8%d8%a7-%d8%a5%d8%b1%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%a7-%d9%85%d8%b5%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d9%84%d9%88%d8%a9-171-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/%d9%85%d9%82%d8%a7%d9%84-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a3%d9%86%d8%a8%d8%a7-%d8%a5%d8%b1%d9%85%d9%8a%d8%a7-%d9%85%d8%b5%d8%b1-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%ad%d9%84%d9%88%d8%a9-171-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%a8\/","title":{"rendered":"Abba Jeremiah\u2019s Article \u2013 Beautiful Egypt 171 \u2013 \u00abThe Barmakids\u00bb September 4, 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0In the previous article, we dealt with Harun al-Rashid who is one of history\u2019s most famous rulers in the East and the West, internal and external turmoil during his tenure, his care for his subjects, and his bequest to his three sons. We also started tackling the Barmakid dynasty that was quite renowned during Al-Rashid\u2019s tenure.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0When al-Rashid took over, he appointed Yahya bin Khalid, the Barmakid chief minister. Unto him, he entrusted the affairs of the state out of great confidence in him. Yahya had five sons, namely, Al-Fadl, Ja\u2019far, Mussa, Khalid, and Mohammed. During al-Rashid\u2019s tenure, they were all appointed in renowned posts.Al-Fadl was al-Rashid\u2019s half-brother. When al-Amin was born, al-Rashid entrusted his mentorship to al-Fadl. We also mentioned beforehand that al-Rashid sent al-Fadl to Khorasan when a rebellion broke out there, and the latter overcame it. Likewise, al-Fadl made lots of conquests, after which he returned to Baghdad to help his father with the ministry.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0His brother Ja\u2019far was well-mannered, and al-Rashid did like him. When he succeeded in overcoming a rebellion in the Levant, Al-Rashid appointed him proconsul of Egypt, yet kept him close and entrusted to him the mentorship of Al-Ma\u2019mun, his son.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Later, Yahya retired, giving up office to Al-Fadl, his eldest son. However, Al-Rashid asked Yahya to make al-Fadl give up office to Ja\u2019far. So, Yahya wrote, \u201cThe Prince of believers-May God raise his worth-decreed that you move the ring from your right to your left.\u201d Al-Fadl replied, \u201cI heard what the Prince of believers ordered my brother to do. It is one and the same. Whatever is his is mine: I shall always look to him, even though I am sent away from a post or excluded from a privilege.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Thus, Ja\u2019far took over his father\u2019s post. He worked for the welfare of the State, regulating its affairs and budget. He appointed men who he called \u201cmen of justice\u201d. Their job was to monitor buying and selling. He also reorganized Baghdad police. He was so successful that al-Rashid became more confident in him. Thus, he assigned him to repay the injustices, a sovereign\u2019s post originally. As such, the Barmakids\u2019 renown increased. They became of great wealth and authority. Historians maintain that the Barmakid dynasty \u201cwas known for its generosity and charity, which made people love it. The people had unprecedented affection for the Barmakids, which ignited envy in the hearts of many Arab princes, especially the Rabi\u2019s and the Shaybanis. They united and implanted schisms between al-Rashid and the Barmakids, which made al-Rashid furious at the Barmakids. So, he arrested them and confiscated their wealth!\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Al-Rashid had Ja\u2019far arrested and put to death. On the self-same night, he had Yahya bin Khalid, his siblings and followers arrested and put in jail. Moreover, he sent to proconsuls, ordering them to confiscate the wealth and property of the Barmakids throughout the State. Historians are not unanimous regarding the reasons of this sedition. Al-Tabari writes, \u201cThere is no fixed opinion regarding the reason why Al-Rashid got angry with Ja\u2019far and put him to death.\u201d Among the reasons of the Barmakids\u2019 downfall are: \u201cHarun al-Rashid got terribly angry with Ja\u2019far when al-Fadl bin al-Rabi\u2019 told him that the former set Yahya the Alawite free without his permission, after which he started doubting the Barmakids\u2019 loyalty and thinking that they preferred the Alawites\u2019 welfare to his.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Some historians ascribe this sedition to sheer envy and boredom. One writes, \u201cI swear to God that they did nothing to provoke al-Rashid to commit such atrocities. Yet, he got bored\u2026\u201d Others assert that the Barmakids\u2019 renown, wealth, and authority made the caliph worry about his position and that of his successors, which made him seize any opportunity to get rid of them.\u201d The evidence that supports this is recounted as follows: \u201cOne day, Ibrahim bin al-Mahdi visited Ja\u2019far the Barmakid in his palace. Ja\u2019far asked him if there was anything wrong about the palace. Ibrahim answered, \u2018The worst thing about this is that you spent (almost) twenty million dirhams on it, which makes me worry lest the caliph betray you!\u2019 Ja\u2019far answered, \u2018I will say: This is but a token of caliph\u2019s generosity toward me. He had bestowed me with lots of graces. He had actually accumulated them like a mountain. I shall say: O\u2019 people! Behold the caliph\u2019s graces. People hide these graces, but I declare them.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Some historians linked the Barmakids\u2019 origin and Zoroastrian creed to al-Rashid\u2019s fierceness with them. They asserted that the Barmakids tried to retrieve the Zoroastrian creed and brought fire to the Kaaba that it might be worshipped there. Yet, there is nothing to support this claim.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Some Arab historians claimed (the claim was copied by Western historians) that Al-Abbassa bint al-Mahdi, al-Rashid\u2019s sister married Ja\u2019far (this was kept a secret to everybody save Al-Rashid), got pregnant and gave birth to a child who she sent to Mecca. When al-Rashid got to know of this, he put Ja\u2019far to death.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Ibn Khaldun maintains, \u201cThe Barmakids\u2019 tyranny brought about their downfall. They seized taxes and accumulated the money for themselves. When al-Rashid asked for a small sum of money, they hardly sent him any. Thus, they overwhelmed al-Rashid and shared power with him. He was helpless before them. They became quite influential, occupied the State\u2019s offices and posts, and monopolized them, either with their affiliates or beneficiaries: they became ministers, scribes, commanders, judges and so on. Henceforth, loyalty was attributed to them. Everybody looked to them for advantages. They were showered with kings\u2019 and princes\u2019 gifts and jewels. Taxes were paid to them to win them over. They showered their allies with presents and gifts. So much so, that their page and friends became frustrated, and their relatives envious. They treated the subjects badly, which ignited envy so much that members of the family envied one another. It is said that Qahtaba family, Ja\u2019far\u2019s maternal uncles, conspired against the Barmakids.\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Yahya remained in prison until his death in 190 Hijri (805 A.D.) Three years later, al-Fadl, his son died. When al-Ma\u2019mun became caliph, he gave the living Barmakids\u2019 back their property and assigned them high posts. The Barmakids were quite prominent in science and literature. Yahya bin Khalid was one of eminent men of letters. He was pretty eloquent. So was Ja\u2019far bin Yahya, that Ibn Khaldun said, \u201cJa\u2019far bin Yahya was a great storyteller who entertained al-Rashid with his multitudinous stories. Critics competed to analyze these stories and find out their aesthetic features. He wrote so many stories that each was sold for one dinar.\u201d Moreover, translation flourished in the Abbasid period, thanks to the Barmakids who were keen on translating olden sciences from Latin, Greek, Persian, and Indian into Arabic.<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0In his \u201cThe History of Arabic Literature in the First Abbasid Period\u201d, Prof. Dr. Shawqy Dayf asserts, \u201cYahya bin Khalid asked the patriarch of Alexandria to translate an agriculture book from Latin into Arabic, and the latter did.\u201d Moreover, the Barmakids cared for medicine. So, they established the first hospital, giving it their name. They brought physicians from India to Baghdad. They were highly adept in architecture. Al-Tabari tells us the following story\u2026 Stories never end in Beautiful Egypt\u2026<\/span><\/h2>\n

General Bishop<\/span><\/h2>\n

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center<\/span><\/h2>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0In the previous article, we dealt with Harun al-Rashid who is one of history\u2019s most famous rulers in the East and the West, internal and external turmoil during his tenure, his care for his subjects, and his bequest to his three sons. We also started tackling the Barmakid dynasty that was quite renowned during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19638,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[6388,6391,6382,6389,6390,240,6284,14114,682,642],"class_list":["post-38931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-abba-jeremiah","tag-almasry-alyoum","tag-article","tag-beautiful-egypt","tag-the-barmakids","tag---2","tag-6284","tag-14114","tag-682","tag-642"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38931"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38931"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39506,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38931\/revisions\/39506"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/copticocc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}