Barmakids - Disgrace and Fall

Disgrace and Fall

In 803, the family lost favor in the eyes of Harun al-Rashīd, and many of its members were imprisoned.

According to Rit Nosotro, Harun al-Rashīd found his chief pleasure in the society of his sister Abbasa and Jafar bin Yahya, and, in order that these two might be with him continuously without breach of the restrictions on women, he persuaded them to contract a purely formal marriage. The condition, however, was that the two can meet only in his presence, so that they may not produce an heir. This not being observed, and Harun learning that Abbasa had borne a son, he caused Ja'far suddenly to be arrested and beheaded, and the rest of the family except Muḥammad, Yahya's brother, to be imprisoned and deprived of their property.

However, al-Tabari and Ibn Khaldūn mentioned other reasons ensuring that their decline was gradual and not sudden. Their hypotheses are:

• The Barmakids' extravagance in spending to the extent that they overshadowed Hārun al-Rashid. It has been said that Jafar ibn Yahya built a mansion that cost twenty million dirhams and that his father, Yahya ibn Khalid, had gold tiles on the wall of his mansion. Hārun became upset one trip around Baghdad, and, whenever he passed an impressive house or mansion, they told him it belonged to the Barmakids.
• al-Fadl ibn al-Rabi, an Abbasid loyal civil servant very close to Hārun and a rival of the Barmakids, convinced Hārūn to assign spies to watch them, and that is how he found out about Yahya Ibn Abdullah al-Talibi's incident.
• The Barmakid Army: Although technically this army was under the Abbasids, in reality, the soldiers gave allegiance to al-Fadl Ibn Yahya al-Barmaki, Ja'far's brother; it numbered 50,000 soldiers. During their last days, al-Fadl ordered 20 thousand of them to come to Baghdad and claimed to create a legion under the name of the Karnabiya Legion. This made Harun very wary of their intentions.
• The Governor of Khurasan at the time, Ali ibn Isa ibn Mahan, sent a letter to Harun reporting about the unrest in his province and blaming Musa ibn Yahya, another brother of Ja'far, for it.
• The Yahya ibn Abdullah al-Talibi incident: In AH 176, Yahya ibn Abdullah went to Daylam in Persia and called for rule by himself in place of Hārūn. Many people followed him, and he became strong enough to cause unrest for the Abbasids. Hārūn managed to capture him and ordered that he be confined to house arrest at al-Fadl's house in Baghdad. However, al-Fadl, rather than making sure he would not escape, gave him money and a ride and let him leave Baghdad. The Abbasids considered that to be high treason.