When meeting Jafar and in the course
of their talk, Haroon Rasheed asked Jafar about Yahya bin Abdullah. Jafar told
him that he was still under house arrest. Haroon Rasheed asked him whether he
could say that under oath. This made Jafar extremely nervous and he realized
that the secret was out. He steadied and said, "Yahya bin Abdullah has
been living under my care for a long time and I did not apprehend any danger
from him. So I did not see any harm in releasing him." This was the most
critical point for Haroon Rasheed. If he had shown his displeasure at that
moment, the Barmuks would have never come under his control and would then have
made use of all those resources, which they had made available both materially
and morally.
Confrontation with the Barmuks was
no easy job for Haroon Rasheed and probably they would not have given him
breathing time and would not have let him make a sign indicative of distress,
because 25 persons among Yahya bin Khalid's sons and grandsons were men of
letters and sword who remained present at his palace in different posts on the
grounds. They had under their possession the keys to the administration and
provisions for all territories. All the military commanders were appointed by
them and they were all loyal to them. All the administrative officers and high
officials were their appointees.
The Scholars, Legal Experts and
spiritual leaders were not out of their control because they served them much
and obliged them. All the poets were their admirers. They were popular with
their subjects by virtue of their generosity and so from the west to the east
they had become liked by the people at large. They had made such large scale
and fool proof preparations that several Haroon Rasheed would not have
succeeded. But Haroon Rasheed steadied himself and after hearing about Yahya
bin Abdullah's release from Jafar said carelessly, "I simply asked you
about him by the way. That you have let him go is very good. I was myself about
to ask you to release him right now."
It is easy to imagine that the
release of a person like Yahya bin Abdullah was in reality a shock to Haroon
Rasheed. The Alawiites' revolt did not give the Abbasids any rest throughout
their reign and Yahya bin Abdullah was not an ordinary man whose freedom from
captivity could be insignificant to Haroon Rasheed. Anyway, Haroon Rasheed
succeeded on this occasion and concealed his feelings. At that same time,
another incident took place. On the occasion of some feast, the officials of
the government and Iranian chiefs were present.
Somebody said, "How
intelligently Abu Muslim transferred the rule from one dynasty to
another." Jafar said, "It was not a praiseworthy piece of work
because he did it by killing 600,000 people. It would have been more admirable
if it was done quietly." There was someone at the party who heard and
narrated the incident to Haroon Rasheed who was sure that Jafar was the man who
wanted to do it himself. Then in order to put the Barmuks off their guard he
started drafting the documents for distributing the powers of succession and
territory among his sons. This was the kind of work that was not expected to be
taken up by a caliph who was aware of a serious conspiracy against him.
This was the greatest allusion and
trap that Haroon Rasheed led the Barmuks into. He could neither spend much time
in the affairs nor could he put the Barmuks off their guard for long. So, in
186 A.H. he came back to Rayy, took bay'at for Motamin's succession, prepared
the deed of distribution and had the treaty written and duly signed by Ameen
and Mamoon. Then he went for Hajj, gave alms to the needy, came to Madinah,
gave away rewards and alms and returned. He then arrived at Ambar and suddenly
on the last night of Muharram, he killed Jafar, put his father and brother into
captivity and did not give anyone a chance to move against him.
Haroon Rasheed reached Ambâr and one
night he sent for his Hajib Masroor and said to him, "Take a reliable body
of Sarhangis and go to Jafar's tent, call him to the door and cut off his head
and come back." Masroor was horrified to hear it. But Haroon Rasheed said
to him silently, "This order of mine must be complied with without any
delay." Masroor left at once, went to Jafar's tent and came back with his
head. That same night Caliph Haroon Rasheed put Jafar's father and brothers
into jail and at once issued an order that Jafar's, Fadal's and Yahya's
property wherever it was must be confiscated. Then all the members of the
Barmuk dynasty were arrested and sent to jail, and all their appointees were
removed from all responsible posts in the government.
Thus, Haroon Rasheed in a single
night succeeded in warding off the danger of the Barmuks and heaved a sigh of
relief. He achieved this feat in such a manner that no one had time to create
any opposition. He very much relied on Yahya bin Khalid's brother Mohammad bin
Khalid Barmuk's loyalty and it is possible that he might have revealed some
secrets to Haroon Rasheed. He was not arrested. On the other hand a respectable
member of Haroon Rasheed's family Abdul Malik bin Saleh bin Ali bin Abdullah
bin Abbas who was his grandfather, entered into the conspiracy with the Barmuks
because he was promised to be made caliph.
After taking the Barmuks captive,
Haroon Rasheed held Abdul Malik bin Saleh captive. Abdul Malik bin Saleh's son
Abdur Rahman stood witness against his father and Abdul Malik remained in
captivity. Mamoon set him free during his regime. Ibrahim bin Uthman bin Naheek
was also an accomplice in the conspiracy and was put to death. Yahya Barmuk and
Fadal Barmuk died in captivity in 190 A.H. and 193 A.H. respectively.
As the Barmukis gave money to the
people thoughtlessly and patronized the poets, the people in general who were
unaware of the reality, felt shocked and they declared Haroon Rasheed a tyrant.
The poets wrote elegies, the storytellers narrated their generosity and
qualities with exaggeration. Haroon Rasheed did not make any discussion about
the conspiracy public and issued strict orders against the Barmuks. During his
regime, the public in general never found out the real cause of the removal of
the Barmuks.
Had the public come to know about
the betrayal and conspiracy of the Barmuks, Haroon Rasheed and the government
of the Abbasids would have lost their hold and it would have given rise to new
conspiracies. It was his foresight that he did not make any public statement
about them and by so doing kept the people terror stricken, overawed and
puzzled and this was most suited to keeping the rule of the Abbasids intact. If
the common people were allowed to air their views about the fall of the
Barmuks, their supporters and admirers who were present everywhere in great
numbers might have opened their mouths and the wind of opposition might have
started blowing against the Abbasids. In this particular case, no other
strategy was more suitable than the one he adopted.
The Barmuks claimed to be the lovers
of the Prophet's family and supporters of the descendants of Abi Talib. The
Alwiites took their ruin as a personal loss and even today, the partisans of
Ali and partisans of Husain are found mourning over their death and
destruction. Their love for knowledge and patronage of the scholars is narrated
exaggeratedly and colorfully although that Zoroastrian family did not do any
extraordinary or significant service to Islam and the Muslims. The cause of
their death and destruction is quite evident and there is no room for doubt, in
order to save his sultanate Haroon Rasheed killed the Barmuks as a king who
destroys his enemies to safeguard his kingdom. He held also grand father a
captive with Barmeeks. There is no need to mix speculative and nonsensical
theories with a matter that is clear.
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