Raschid owed his own succession to the throne entirely to the prudence and sagacity of Yahya ’bn Khâlid ibn Barmek, his secretary, whom, on his accession, he appointed his lieutenant and grand vizier. Yahya, upon whom the whole responsibility of the government really devolved, performed his duties with the most consummate ability and judgment. He fortified the frontiers, and repaired all the deficiencies in the administration of the empire. He filled the treasury, made the provinces flourishing and prosperous by encouraging trade and securing the public safety, and in a word brought the caliphate up to the highest pitch of prosperity and glory. He personally superintended and organized the whole system of government. As a minister he was eloquent, wise, accomplished, and prudent, and he was moreover an able administrator, ruling with a firm hand and proving himself able to cope with any emergency that-might arise. His generosity was munificent in the extreme and gained for him universal encomiums. With a most affable demeanour and great moderation he combined an imposing dignity that commanded universal respect.

In 182 A.H. (798 a.d.) Al Raschid proclaimed his son 'Abdallah as his heir apparent after El Amin, his eldest son, whom he had appointed his successor when only five years old, and gave him the post of viceroy of Khorassan. It was on this occasion that he gave 'Abdallah the name of El Mamιin and confided him to the care of Jaafer, son of Yahya. The historians speak of this act of Raschid’s with natural surprise, for he had seen the results of similar policy on the part of his father and of his grandfather, as well as what his brother Hadi had done in his own case.

Yahya, ths prime minister, and Jaafer, his son, enjoyed so fully the confidence of Haroun al Raschid that they rapidly rose to wealth and power. The great popularity and influence of the Barmek or Barmecide family, however, at length aroused the caliph’s jealousy, and to make matters worse he heard that Jaafer had secretly married his sister. No sooner had he been made acquainted with the facts than he caused his sister to be put to death, ordered Mesrùr, his slave and executioner, to bring him Jaafer’s head, and next murdered his two inoffending young nephews.

After the fall of the Barmek family the office of prime minister was exercised by Fadhl ibn Rabi' who had been chamberlain to Haroun himself, and to his predecessors Mensur, Mehdi, and Hàdi. He held the office of vizier until the death of Haroun al Raschid himself, which occurred at Tus, the birthplace of the celebrated Persian epic poet Firdousi. Al Raschid had set out for Khorassan to put down the insurrection of Raff ibn Leith ibn Nasr ibn Sayyar, who had revolted against his authority, made himself master of Samarcand, and killed the governor of that province. The rising had assumed such alarming proportions that Al Raschid determined to march in person against the rebels. He had not, however, got further than Tus when he was surprised by death in 193 a.h. (808-9 a.d.).

The reign of Al Raschid was one of the most brilliant in the annals of the caliphate, and the limits of the empire were then more widely extended than at any other period. The greater part of the Eastern world submitted to his laws, and paid tribute into his treasury; Egypt itself was only a province under his sway, and its ruler an officer appointed by himself. No caliph ever gathered round him so great a number of learned men, poets, jurists, grammarians, cadis, and scribes, to say nothing of the wits and musicians who enjoyed his patronage. Haroun himself was an accomplished scholar and an excellent poet. He was well versed in history, tradition, and poetry, which he could always quote on appropriate occasions. He possessed exquisite taste and unerring discernment, and his dignified demeanour made him an object of profound respect to high and low.

Haroun al Raschid is best known to Western readers as the hero of many of the stories in the Arabian Nights·, and in Arabic literature he is the central figure of numberless anecdotes and humorous stories. Of his incognito walks through Baghdad, however, the authentic histories say nothing; and the account of his relations with Charlemagne, of which European historians speak, does not rest on a trustworthy basis. His reign is chiefly remarkable for the fact that a family belonging to the pure Persian aristocracy held for so long the reins of power under a caliph whose boast was that he was the only one who came of unmixed Hashimi blood, that of the family from which the prophet of El Islam sprung.

The principal authorities for the history of this period are—ti e Arabic histories of Ibn El Athir, Ibn Khaldùn, and the Tarikh El Khamis; while the best European works to consult on the subject are Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire·, Osborn’s Islam τιndcr the Caliphs of Bagdad·, and Weil’s Geschichte der Chalifen.