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Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology & the Ancient World
Brown University
Box 1837 / 60 George Street
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: (401) 863-3188
Fax: (401) 863-9423
[email protected]
The Barmakid family, converts to Islam during the Umayyad period, was one of the most important in the 'Abbasid period. They helped to install Harun al-Rashid as caliph and consequently gained great power in his administration. With this power they greatly altered the landscape by centralizing political and fiscal functions in Baghdad, but this proved difficult when they lacked military support. Nevertheless, this process of centralization would prove to be a lasting legacy. To some extent prefiguring the Mu'tazili party, they were not Shi'ites but rather advocated to "reconcile all the members of the Family of the Prophet" (Kennedy, 141). After enjoying nearly a decade of power in the administration of the caliph, they famously fell for reasons that probably related to succession. Their legacy as creators of a centralized administration would influence later bureaucrats and administrations.
Posted at Apr 10/2009 01:22PM:
ian: the pre-figure the kinds of relationships between elites (and the vizirate class) and the political legitimacy of the caliph.