we know that in the last ten years of the Khilafah era, his favorite city was Raqqa, in Syria, near the northwestern border with the Khilafah’s Byzantine Empire, north of Baghdad.
Archaeologists have now discovered not only palaces but also factories in Raqqa. The idea of factories in the eighth century is certainly exciting. But we do not know how much of a hand Haroon al-Rashid himself was in promoting the industry there.
The fact is that what we know about Haroon al-Rashid from the stories is different from what we know from the books of medieval history, and perhaps the discoveries of modern archeology tell us something new.
If you read a medieval document, Haroon al-Rashid, in most of his adult life, appears to be a weak man who left the Khilafah in his hands, under the influence of his mother and wife Zubeida, whose government was largely governed by bureaucracy. Was under the influence of the Barmakid family.
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