Al-Amin
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Harun al-Rashid had decided the succession to his sons during a pilgrimage to Mecca. Al-Amin, would receive the Caliphate and al-Ma'mun would become governor of Khurasan in eastern Iran and would furthermore be granted almost complete autonomy. On al-Amin's death, according to Haroun's decision, al-Mamun would become Caliph (and his sons after him).
Shortly after Haroun died in 809 and al-Amin was declared caliph, al-Amin announced that his son would inherit rather than al-Ma'mun, provoking the fourth civil war. Enmities amongst the brothers were further inflamed by their different mothers, as well as meddlesome ministers. It has been speculated that the brothers would have been able to cope with the status quo, had the families supporting either of them wished there to be a compromise. Both factions knew that if their champions descendants did not continue to reign, their families would lose prestige.
Al-Ma'mun, whose mother was Persian, received major support from Iran, and as governor, the military center of Khurasan. Playing himself as a champion of Persian liberties, the Iranian plateau united behind him. His faithful general, Tahir bin Husain (d. 822) led his armies into Iraq.
Al-Amin appealed to his mother, Zubaida, to arbitrate the succession and champion his cause as Aisha had done two centuries before. Zubaida refused to do so, and al-Amin retired in despair to Baghdad. In 813, Tahir took Baghdad, and al-Amin was beheaded.
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