Other
Events of Haroon's Regime
We have reached 187 A.H. in
recording conditions and important events of Haroon Rasheed's regime. After the
incident of the Barmuk family, Haroon Rasheed sent his son Motamin to the
province of Awasim, Motamin invaded Rome and sent Abbas bin Jafar bin Ash'ath
to lay siege to the fort of Sanan. The Romans failed to put up any resistance
and by returning 320 Muslim prisoners made a settlement with the Muslims.
During the same period, the Romans deposed their queen and made a commander
Nagfoor their king. Mention has already been made that the Romans, out of fear
of the French king Charlemagne after his capture of Italy made peace with
Haroon Rasheed. The first thing Nagfoor did after assuming power was to make an
agreement with the French King and after settling the matter of jurisdiction
with him wrote a letter to Haroon Rasheed:
The Queen, because of her natural
weakness and too much pressure, came to terms with you and continued to pay you
the Jizya. This was from her foolishness. Now you must repay all the taxes you
have collected from us and promise to give payment as a fine or we will punish
you with our swords.
When this letter was received and
read by Haroon Rasheed, he flew, into such a rage that the officials and
ministers around him had no courage to remain sitting there and left the court
silently. Haroon wrote on the back of the same letter:
In the name of Allah who is most
Beneficent and Merciful. From Amir al-Muminin Haroon Rasheed to the Roman dog.
You, the son of unbelief, I read your letter. You will see its reply with your
own eyes. You need not read it. That is all.
He wrote the above reply and sent
back the letter. The same day he left Baghdad with the army for the Roman
territories, arriving there he besieged its capital Herculah. Nagfoor was at a
loss and finding himself powerless to resist, begged him to be excused and
promised to pay him the Jizya. Having defeated and humiliated him Haroon
returned after exacting a promise from him to pay more Jizya than before. He
had hardly reached the city of Riqqah when Nagfoor violated the peace treaty
and prepared to rebel. He was sure that due to winter the Muslim soldiers would
not dare to launch an attack on them. However, as soon as Haroon heard this
news he left Riqqah, entered Roman territory and conquered and destroyed many
forts. He continued to capture Roman territory until he confronted Nagfoor, who
pleaded for forgiveness again. Haroon collected the full amount of tax and
brought most parts of the territory under his control.
The same year, 187 A.H. Ibrahim bin
Adham died. (Ibrahim Adham was a prince from Balkh who gave up his worldly
power and wealth to become an ascetic.) In 188 A.H., the Roman King Nagfoor
gave indications that he was going to rebel again. Ibrahim bin Jibrail from
Safsaf invaded Rome. The Roman Emperor himself came out to fight. However, he
could not stand the pressure, was decisively defeated and left 40,000 Roman
soldiers dead while he escaped. The Islamic army returned victorious.
In 189 A.H., Caliph Haroon Rasheed
went to Rayy and made adjustments in the administration by deposing and
appointing new administrators in the provinces west of Khorasan. He consoled
and encouraged Marzaban Delam by sending him a certificate of pardon and
safety. The elders and rulers of the border regions visited him and assured him
of their loyalty. He made Abdul Malik bin Malik the ruler of Tabristan, Rayy,
Qumas, and Hamadan. The same year another exchange of prisoners between the
Romans and the Muslims took place. The same year Imam Muhammad bin Hasan
Shibani, Abu Hanifa's disciple died at Al-Zambuwith near Rayy and the same day
Kisai Nahvi also died. Both had been in the company of Haroon Rasheed. He
joined the burial service and when he returned from the graveyard, he said,
"We have buried both Fiqah and Nahw today."
In 190 A.H., Haroon Rasheed made his
son Mamoon his deputy at Riqqah, handed over to him all the affairs of the
government and invaded Rome with 135,000 soldiers following Nagfoor's violation
of the peace treaty. He surrounded the fort and after thirty days, he conquered
it and captured and killed the Romans. Then he sent Dawood bin Isa bin Musa
with 70,000 soldiers to capture other Roman forts. This army shook up the
entire Roman Empire. During the same period Sharjeel bin Maan bin Zaidah
captured Saqaliah, Dalbashah and other forts. Yazid bin Mukhlid and Abdullah
bin Malik conquered the forts of Qauniyah and Mukhallad respectively. Humaid
bin Mayuf, the Admiral, repaired the Syrian and Egyptian fleet and invaded
Cyprus, defeated the inhabitants and took the entire island as spoils of war
and brought 17,000 men as captives. Then Haroon encircled Tawwanah. In short,
the Muslims made up their mind to create an upheaval in the Roman Empire, put
an end to and settle the frequent battles once and for all. Nagfoor felt
helpless he accepted to pay the taxes and sent a sum of 50,000 Asharfis to Haroon
on behalf of himself and on behalf of his son and the bishops. He sent an
appeal to Haroon requesting him to return a certain woman from among the
captives of Herculah for she was betrothed to his son. The caliph granted his
request and sent back the said woman. Taking pity upon Nagfoor for his
entreaties and humility, he returned his country to him in exchange for 300,000
Asharfis and the normal taxes. Immediately after his return, the Romans
revolted again. The same year 190 A.H. Khalid bin Yazid bin Hatim was made
Governor of Mousil and Harsimah bin Ayun was entrusted with the task of
constructing the fort of Tartoos. 3,000 soldiers of Khorasan and 1,000 soldiers
of Masisah and Antakya were busy constructing the fort of Tartoos. It was
completed in 192 A.H. The same year Kharmiyah in Azerbaijan revolted. Abdullah
bin Malik with 10,000 soldiers was sent to punish him. He defeated the rebels
and killed the captives and put an end to the mischief. The same year on 3
Muharram 190 A.H. Yahya Barmuk died in Riqqah in captivity. He was 71. His
funeral service was led by his son Fadal bin Yahya.
In 191 A.H., Haroon Rasheed made
Muhammad bin Fadal bin Sulaiman the governor of Mousil. The Governorship of
Makkah was given to Fadal bin Abbas.
Rebellion
in Khorasan
It has already been mentioned that
when Ali bin Isa was appointed governor of Khorasan, the Barmuks incited Wahab
bin Abdullah and Hamza bin Atrak to revolt. Wahab was killed but Hamza survived
and escaped and he continued to plunder in the area. Ali bin Isa, the Amir of
Khorasan, deputed Yahya bin Ash'ath the Administrator of Samarkand and
Mawaraunnehr. There was a famous chief in the army of Mawaraunnehr named Rafe
bin Laith bin Nasr bin Sayyar who was linked with the organization of the
Barmuk family. He hated Caliph Haroon and Ali bin Isa. Yahya bin Ash'ath
married a certain woman and Rafe bin Laith became involved with her and she
wanted to be divorced from Yahya but he would not divorce her. Rafe suggested a
way out saying, "Announce that you have become an atheist and present two
witnesses. Your marriage with him will automatically be terminated. Embrace
Islam after that and then I shall marry you." She acted upon his advice
and by this trickery married Rafe. It was a technique to annul the marriage,
this was probably the first time this legal trick was used. Yahya bin Ash'ath
sent a detailed report about all these events to Haroon Rasheed. He wrote to
Ali bin Isa the governor of Khorasan, to separate the woman from Rafe, and
exercise the Islamic law concerning his case, mount him on a donkey and display
him in Khorasan. So, in compliance he was separated from her and sent to jail
in Samarkand. One day he escaped from the jail and went to Ali bin Isa, the
governor, in Balkh. Ali bin Isa wanted to execute him but his son made a
recommendation for him and Ali bin Isa ordered him to be sent to Yahya bin
Ash'ath in Samarkand. Rafe arrived there and killed the administrator and
occupied Samarkand.
At this news Ali bin Isa sent his
son Isa bin Ali to Samarkand. Isa bin Ali was killed in the fighting. Then Ali
bin Isa, taking his army, left Balkh and came to Merv before Rafe could capture
it. This occurred in 191 A.H. Caliph Haroon Rasheed heard about Rafe's crimes,
deposed Ali bin Isa from the governorship of Khorasan and deputed Harsimah bin
Ayun in his place. The fact was that all the chiefs of the Khorasan army and
the members of the Barmuk's group had joined Rafe. Harsimah bin Ayun arrived in
Samarkand and besieged Rafe. Rafe's defense continued for a long time.
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