Person · 4523–4569 AM · 763 CE — 809 CE
Harun al-Rashid هارون الرشيد
Abbasid caliph: the golden age of Baghdad—and of the geonim
He reigned from 786 to 809. In his time Baghdad with its House of Wisdom was the largest city in the world outside China, and his court is remembered through the Thousand and One Nights. He also received Charlemagne's embassy, led by Isaac the Jew. And in his reign begins what would become a standing feature of dhimmi status in Islamic law: distinguishing marks in dress are introduced in Abbasid times, long before Latin Europe imposes them.
His birth year diverges: 763 or 766.
On the timeline
4349 · 589 CEThe Beginning of the Geonic Era4562 · 802 CEIsaac the Jew and the elephant: Charlemagne's embassy
Sources
Scholarship
- Britannica, “Hārūn al-Rashīd”; Encyclopedia.com — the reign 786–809; birth 763 or 766
Basis: documents and evidence.