Harun al-Rashid was the fifth Abbasid caliph, acclaimed in 170 AH at twenty-one. He is remembered for the frontier wars with Byzantium, for pilgrimage and campaigning, and people called his days 'the days of the bride' for their splendor; he died at Tus in 193 AH after twenty-three years and six months.
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Harun al-Rashid
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Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Rashid, fifth Abbasid caliph. Al-Baladhuri records him raiding the Romans as commander of the summer expedition on his father's behalf in 163 AH, besieging Samalu until its people settled for safe conduct; in 171 AH he forestalled the Romans by building up Tarsus under Harthama ibn A'yan and Faraj ibn Sulaym, and in 180 AH ordered 'Ayn Zarba built, naming the border cities 'the Guards'. He was acclaimed caliph in 170 AH at twenty-one years and two months on al-Mas'udi's account; he died at Tus in the village of Sanabadh in 193 AH, his rule lasting twenty-three years and six months, his last Hajj in 188 AH. Al-Suyuti says he prayed a hundred rak'as and gave a thousand dirhams daily; people named his days 'the days of the bride' in al-Mas'udi; and al-Khurasani makes him the first Abbasid caliph to play polo and chess.
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