Harun al-Rashid

The Wikipedia article on Harun al-Rashid would be considered a good source. It did not show any favorable partiality towards this person, meaning there was no evident sign of a liking for him. As a result, this piece had an objective viewpoint, especially because it included both the good and the bad of his caliphate. For example, the article incorporated that the time of his reign was actually one of turmoil and rebellion. Also, it explained how he led to the division of the Abbasid empire by appointing it to both of his sons while giving each one the means to overtake the other. Due to al-Rashid's decision, a civil war started after he died. Some of the positives of his rule were that Baghdad thrived, becoming one of the most splendid cities of its time, and that the large amount tribute received went to architecture and an extravagant court life. This can be looked at as a quality source as well because along with the information provided, the article also offers reasonable explanations and analysis to parts that are unclear. For instance, this document describes that the tale about the romantic story regarding Ja'far and the decline of the Barmakids is most likely untrue. As a result of this, the article includes a more acceptable approach to this fall based on legitimate accounts from scholars around at this period. More specifically, one possible reason was that the behavior of the Barmakids caused al-Rashid to feel disrespected. The use of scholars' works who were living at this time or who have studied al-Rashid and thus, provided intellectual accounts also results in the increased validity of this source. The explanation for the Barmakids' fall as well as many other ideas, such as the exchange of presents between al-Rashid and Charlemagne, have support from the writings of scholars. However, there was one real setback in this article, but should not have any effect on its quality. Some pieces of information are out of order, making the seemingly chronological sequence of the article confusing. The part about his death and the division between the sons afterwards was not placed directly at the end where it would have made more sense. Also, his campaign against the Byzantines should have been incorporated before the tidbit on the Barmakids and the control of the administration.

Based on this reading, the main question that comes to mind is how capable of a governmental leader was this man. It seems that he never truly had control over his administration or he always looked for help in difficult situations. The article points out that the Barmakids controlled the admistration, but does not include an indication of al-Rashid trying to stop this. As a result, it would appear that with this control and a lack to hinder it that entering al-Rashid's court without permission and making decisions without his content would be alright for the Barmakids to do. In a sense, al-Rashid is allowing them to keep their control over the administration. Therefore, without establishing himself as being higher than the Barmakids, they felt it was sensible to continue their actions. He also punished the man he appointed governor of Khorasan after a revolt broke out when the governor tried to impose al-Rashid's central government on its inhabitants. The idea of punishment was initiated as well with the Barmakids. This shows his lack of a proper ruling system, since he resorted to punishment immediately to fix problems. He also went to his mentor when giving complete executive powers for the administration. He did not seek who was best qualified but just a person he knew, and this was definitely dangerous considering the amount of power he gave and what happened before when others had control in his government. By doing this, he again shows his weakness. The Wikipedia article helps in answering some questions, but the lack of his political authority in the piece presents the need for more information. In order to search for this in Google, one would write Harun al-Rashid political influence in the search engine. To refine the search, one could access "more" on the Google toolbar, hit "even more" at the bottom , and then scroll to "specialized search" and press "scholar". This would provide definite accurate information.

Harun al-Rashid's link to fantasies and tales explains the reason for his prevalence in pop culture. The article clearly identifies this by stating how the Thousand-and-One Nights stories turned al-Rashid into a legend rather than a historical figure. This also gives a reasonable explanation for his fame and notoriety. His accomplishments are not as substantial as other leaders in the past, but the numerous tales about his court made him famous. The article adds to this by including some of the stories and how significant they were. One such tale was about a clock that he sent to Charlemagne which appeared to play tricks. Another indication of his being a part of pop culture, which is included in the article, is that music and art boomed during his time. Therefore, it opens his reign to more cultural activity than others before.