Zubaydah

Zubaydah, wife of the caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd, celebrated for her public works, is said to have ordered the construction of the qanāt, a tunneled conduit that took water to Mecca. The threat of insurrection by Legitimist pretenders of the ʿAlīd branch of the Hashemite house—who…

…ce under the patronage of Zubaydah, the wife of the Abbasid ruler Hārūn al-Rashīd. Similar disasters followed in 858, 1041, 1721, 1780, and 1927. Nonetheless it became a significant hub along the Silk Road and was described by Marco Polo in his travels. Tabriz was made the capital of the…

His wife Zubaydah, herself a member of the Abbasid family, would have at her table only vessels of gold and silver studded with gems. Hārūn’s palace was an enormous institution, with numerous eunuchs, concubines, singing girls, and male and female servants. He himself was a connoisseur of…