He had cleverly positioned himself
to be the tutor of Mahdi. He survived Mahdi's accession to the throne and
Mansoor's death. This added more to his honor and status. He died during
Mahdi's regime, in 163 A.H., at the age of 77. The second half of his life was
spent in watching the birth and death of caliphates and he had himself worked
as a dominant figure in ruining caliphates and founding new ones. At the time
of his death, his son Yahya was 54 or 50 and he had also seen all these games
and disturbances soon after he came of age.
He had inherited from his father all
thoughts, wishes, precautions and had heard with reverence and sadness the
stories of the ruin of his ancestors, the honor of his family and the Iranian
empire. He regarded himself as the representative and religious leader of his
nation. He knew it fully that a slight error on his part might put an end to
the respect and influence he commanded in the Islamic caliphate and bring him
down to total destruction. On the other side, he and his father were fully
conversant with the internal and family affairs of the caliph. The constant
participation in the Caliph's court had kept his heart from being overawed and
shattered by the awe of authority.
Khalid Barmuk's deepest plot was
this that in 161 A.H. he advised Mahdi to make Yahya the tutor to Haroon
Rasheed. As Mahdi himself had remained under his tutelage, he thought it
natural to give his son to Khalid's son to be coached and trained. Even before
that when Haroon Rasheed was born of Khaizrân at Rayy, Khalid was with Mahdi
there.
It was Khalid again who was instrumental
in making Haroon Rasheed his foster grandson, Yahya's son Fadal, foster
brothers by letting him suck Yahya's wife's milk and Fadal suck Khaizrân's
milk. If all these wise steps of Khalid are studied deeply it becomes apparent
that he was able to protect his family very intelligently and beautifully for
he wanted to achieve a grand feat, that is, to avenge Abu Muslim's murder and
bring the ruling power back to the Iranians.
Yahya bin Khalid had educated and
trained Haroon. He had impressed Haroon so much that even after being caliph he
used to address him as "Respected father" and was shy of talking
informally in his presence. Caliph Hadi's caliphate was not in consonance with
the plans of the Barmuk family and Yahya had limited influence on Hadi. Yahya
thought out such a diabolical plan that Hadi's own mother Khaizrân turned
against him. Their mother wishing to save.
Haroon's life along with Yahya did
away with Hadi by joining together and Hadi was only able to rule for a little
more than a year. Yahya's bid for having Haroon accede to the throne was
naturally a bid in his own interest. As expected soon after being caliph,
Haroon made Yahya his Prime Minister and in charge of all the expeditions.
Yahya was not a fool to keep Haroon's mother Khaizrân displeased. He began to
do everything in consultation with her and always consulted her on every issue.
After a short time, she died and Yahya no longer had to perform even that
formality. He worked with so much concentration, sincerity and efficiency in
the affairs of the caliphate and expeditions that his love and respect in
Haroon's heart kept growing. He took great care and precaution not to make
Haroon feel constrained in any way in the expression of his free mind and
fulfillment of his heart's desire. It appeared that Yahya's only duty was to
try his best to see Haroon's wish and intention fulfilled and that was all.
The greatest strategic move he made
was that he appointed and assigned quite imperceptibly his relatives, brothers,
nephews and like-minded Iranians to responsible posts in the important states
of the provinces and appointed many of them to be leaders of the army. He had
managed to make his sons Fadal and Jafar brothers to Haroon Rasheed and Haroon
called them his brothers and loved them very much. Haroon had put his sons
under the guardianship and protection of Fadal and Jafar and when Yahya grew
old in 174 A.H. he made his son Fadal his assistant in the ministry of
expeditions.
When Yahya bin Abdullah rebelled in
176 A.H. at Delam, it was Fadal bin Yahya who settled it and had landed estates
given to him. Haroon entrusted Yahya bin Abdullah to Jafar bin Yahya to keep
him under his custody. Haroon had also made Fadal the governor of Khorasan,
Tabristan, Rayy and Hamdân in 178 A.H. He had made Fadal the tutor to his son
Ameen. During his governorship of Khorasan Yahya prepared a strong and
well-armed Iranian army of 500,000 men. After a year, Haroon recalled him from
there and appointed him Prime Minister. Yahya was always consulted in all
important matters, that is, he continued to partake in all expeditions of the
government.
Yahya's second son Jafar had been
Haroon Rasheed's chief companion and a very close friend. He always accompanied
him at home and on journeys. He was very sweet-tempered and methodical. In 176
A.H., he was entrusted with the governorship of Egypt in addition to his being
the inspector of Police of the royal palaces. Jafar sent Imran bin Mehrân to
govern Egypt on his behalf and he lived in the service of Haroon. When
rebellions broke out in Damascus and Syria, it was Jafar who went and put them
down. Then Haroon made him the governor of Khorasan. Hardly a month had passed
when he was made governor and city Magistrate of Baghdad itself.
Jafar entrusted this task to Harsimah
bin Ayun and he himself continued to be Haroon's companion. Haroon Rasheed sent
for Yahya bin Khalid and said to him, "Please tell Fadal to hand over the
portfolios of the prime minister to Jafar because I feel shy to tell Fadal to
hand over the job of prime minister to Jafar." So, Yahya, their father,
conveyed Haroon's intention to Fadal and thus Jafar became Prime Minister. This
shows how much hold this family had on Haroon.
During the period of his ministry
Jafar bin Yahya dominated over all the posts and departments of the government
so much that he came to be regarded as the real owner and ruler of the
government. All the police and palaces of Baghdad were under him. It was he who
had brought and appointed the administrators of the states, governors of the
provinces and the commanders of the armies. He was the master and
superintendent of the treasury to such an extent that when Haroon required
money he used to ask Jafar for it. Yahya bin Khalid had other sons too who were
officers in the army. He and his sons took great advantage of their authority
and influence seamlessly and intelligently.
That is, they spent government money
lavishly and generously on gifts and rewards besides giving big revenues from
estates and setting salaries. Consequently, his generosity made him as popular
as Hatim. (This is in reference to Hatim Tai who is considered the proverbial
example of generosity in Arabic culture. Editor) There was no one who was not
an admirer and supporter of the Barmuk family. They earned large amounts of
money and spent the same lavishly in purchasing their reputation and fame until
not only in Khorasan and Iraq but also in Syria, Egypt, Arabia, Yemen and
far-off countries the people eulogized their generosity and gifts in their
odes.
The honor, popularity and power of
the Barmuk dynasty had touched the zenith. Except for the fact that they had no
accession to the throne of caliphate, they had all the rest at their disposal.
But in spite of all this, they could not do anything against the intention of
Haroon Rasheed. Haroon Rasheed and his supporters had no chance to question
their power and grandeur. However, if hidden under this handling of power was
an evil design or rebellion, then there would be no enemy greater and more
formidable for them than Haroon Rasheed.
In the beginning of 187 A.H., it was
suddenly witnessed that Haroon Rasheed meted out to the dynasty of Barmuk the
treatment which is generally meted out to enemies. So we must observe and try
to find out whether the Barmuk family had really starting hatching a conspiracy
against his caliphate or not and whether Haroon Rasheed came to know about it
or not. If the Barmuk family had really an evil intention against Haroon
Rasheed and the Abbasid caliphate then however he treated them in the end was
absolutely right and lawful. But if the Barmuk family was the same both
internally and externally and they were sincerely loyal to him, then none can
be a worse judge and tyrant than Haroon. For those who are accustomed to probe
superficially, the ruin of the Barmuks may be insoluble and they have covered
this knotty problem with the babblings of the inebriated and propped it up to
look like a reality.
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