Al-Khayzuran
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Al-Khayzuran bint Atta (Arabic: ; ca. ?–789) , wife of the Abbasid CaliphAl-Mahdi and mother of both Caliphs Al-Hadi and the most famous Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid. She is from Jorash in Yemen.
She was kidnapped from her home by a bedouin who then sold her in a slave market near Mecca to the caliph Al-Mahdi during his pilgrimage. Later the caliph fell in love with her and married her. Al-Khayzuran was a woman of strong personality. She was able to persuade her husband to appoint her sons as the next caliphs among his sons from other wives. At the court, she was an ally of the Barmakids.
She greatly influenced both her sons and the affairs of the empire to the extent that her son Al-Hadi tried to kill her by poisoning her. She is suspected of involvement in his death.
Al-Khayzuran and her strong personality is believed by many literary historians to be a key influence of Scheherazade, the main character in Arabian Nights, which Harun al-Rashid contributed to greatly.
References
- Ibn Kathir, Al Bidayah wa al-Nihayah
- Al-Thahbi, Sirat Alam al-nubala
- Al-Zarkali, Al-Alam
- Ahmad khalil Juma, Nesaa min al-tarikh
- Zaynab husayan, Majaam Alam ak-nesaa
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