Khalid ibn Barmak

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Khalid ibn Barmak
Sassanid-style silver half-dirham minted during Khalid's governorship of Tabaristan, 770/71
Born
Unknown

709
Balkh
Died781/82
NationalityUmayyad Caliphate (until c. 742)
Abbasid Caliphate (after c. 742)
Occupation(s)Soldier and administrator
Years activec. 742–781/82

Khalid ibn Barmak (709

foster-brother of the future caliph Harun al-Rashid, while Yahya became the prince's tutor. Khalid died in 781/2, shortly after returning from an expedition against the Byzantine Empire
.

Origin

The Barmakid family hailed from

Sassanid dynasty, are later fabrications invented during the family's zenith.[3]

Tokharistan was attacked by the Muslims during their eastern expansion as early as about 663/4,

Banu Khuza'a tribe,[4] while his two brothers received the names Sulayman and al-Hasan.[3] He probably had another brother, Abu Ubayd Mu'awiya, who is mentioned as living in Baghdad in later years.[4]

During his stay in the Umayyad court, Khalid is known to have befriended the caliph's son, Maslama ibn Hisham, a notable military commander.[2]

Career under the Abbasids

Abbasid Revolution

Their stay at the Umayyad court was not long, and both Barmak and Khalid soon returned to Khurasan. At some point, Barmak went to

Hashimiyya movement in Khurasan.[5][2]

Khalid had joined the Hashimiyya by 742, and, as one of the few non-Arabs, was appointed one of the twenty nuẓarāʾ, the second tier of the inner leadership.

Shi'a sympathizers, leading troops in the field,[2] and being entrusted by the Abbasid commander Qahtaba ibn Shabib al-Ta'i with distributing the plunder to his army.[3] According to the 10th-century historian al-Jahshiyari, Khalid was placed in charge of redistributing the land tax (kharaj) of Khurasan by Abu Muslim, and did so with such fairness that he earned the gratitude of the Khurasanis.[6]

Under al-Saffah

Balami's Tarikhnama

After the establishment of the Abbasid Caliphate, Khalid won the favour of Caliph al-Saffah (r. 749–754).[5] Khalid was soon placed in charge of the fiscal departments of the land tax (diwan al-kharaj) and of the army (diwan al-jund), posts that he kept for the duration of al-Saffah's caliphate.[3][6] In short order, he reportedly assumed the supervision of all fiscal departments, thus becoming a kind of chief minister;[3][5] although often given the title of 'vizier' in historical sources,[7] he never actually held it.[3] He is credited with introducing the practice of keeping records in codices, rather than loose sheets as was the custom until then.[5][6]

Khalid apparently benefited from a substantial education, and some previous administrative experience, although the origin of the latter is unknown; he may have acquired it at the Umayyad court, or alongside his father at Balkh.[2] His eloquence was such that al-Saffah initially mistook him for an Arab.[5] His relationship with the caliph was very close: his daughter Umm Yahya was suckled by al-Saffah's wife, while in turn his own wife was made the foster-mother to al-Saffah's daughter, Raytah.[3][4][5]

Under al-Mansur

Khalid remained head of the land tax department for at least a year into the reign of

Fars, which he headed for about two years.[3] His tenure there was successful, restoring order by expelling rebellious Kurds from the province, and governing with wisdom and generosity.[5] According to a well-known, but likely fabricated, story, he persuaded the caliph to not destroy the Sassanid-era palace of Taq Kasra at Ctesiphon, arguing that its ruined state was a testament to the superiority of Islam.[3][8][9] In 764/65, he was involved in the intrigues that resulted in Isa ibn Musa's renunciation of succession to the caliphate.[3]

Map of the Abbasid Caliphate and its provinces in the late 8th century

Khalid then spent about seven years as governor of

Bavandid ruler Sharwin I.[11] Around the same time, Khalid's grandson, al-Fadl ibn Yahya, was made foster-brother of one of the sons of Caliph al-Mahdi (r. 775–785), the future Harun al-Rashid (r. 786–809).[3]

In 775, shortly before al-Mansur died, Khalid fell out of favour for some unknown reason, and was obliged to pay a heavy fine of three million dirhams, within a short notice. He was saved only by his network of friends at court, who were visited by his son, Yahya ibn Khalid, and surreptitiously forwarded him the necessary sums.[3][12] But following Kurdish uprisings in Mosul, Khalid was pardoned and appointed governor of the city.[3] His restoration to favour probably was also the result of the rapidly rising fortunes of Yahya, who was by then one of the chief figures of the Abbasid government.[13]

Under al-Mahdi

When al-Mahdi came to the throne, Khalid was appointed again to govern Fars,[14] where he distinguished himself for redistributing the land tax and abolishing an onerous tax on orchards.[6] At the same time, he was given the area of Shammasiya in East Baghdad as his fief. There the Barmakids built their palaces, and Khalid's name survived for centuries in the 'Market of Khalid the Barmakid'.[5][15]

Around 778, Yahya was appointed as tutor to the prince Harun.[16] In 780, Khalid and his son Yahya distinguished themselves at the siege of the Byzantine fortress Samalu, an expedition which was led by Harun under the auspices of Yahya.[16] He died shortly after, in 781/82, at about 75 years of age.[16][5]

Of his sons, Yahya became an all-powerful vizier under Harun al-Rashid, while Muhammad became Harun al-Rashid's chamberlain and served as a provincial governor. Likewise, Yahya's sons enjoyed high offices, until the abrupt, and still poorly understood, fall of the family in 803.[5][17][18]

Family tree

References

  1. ^ Bosworth 1994, p. 271.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j van Bladel 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Barthold & Sourdel 1960, p. 1033.
  4. ^ a b c Crone 1980, p. 176.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Abbas 1988.
  6. ^ a b c d Mottahedeh 1975, p. 69.
  7. ^ Le Strange 1922, p. 38.
  8. ^ Kennedy 2006, p. 39.
  9. ^ Le Strange 1922, pp. 38–39.
  10. ^ a b Malek 2017, p. 106.
  11. ^ a b Madelung 1975, p. 202.
  12. ^ Kennedy 2006, pp. 39–40.
  13. ^ Kennedy 2006, p. 41.
  14. ^ Barthold & Sourdel 1960, pp. 1033–1034.
  15. ^ Le Strange 1922, pp. 200–201.
  16. ^ a b c Barthold & Sourdel 1960, p. 1034.
  17. ^ Crone 1980, pp. 176–177.
  18. ^ Barthold & Sourdel 1960, pp. 1034–1035.

Sources

Further reading
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