The Barmakids (Persian: برمکیانBarmakiyân; Arabic: البرامكةal-Barāmikah[1]), also spelled Barmecides, were an influential Iranian[2][3] family from Balkh, where they were originally hereditary Buddhist leaders (in the Nawbahar monastery),[a][5] and subsequently came to great political power under the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad. Khalid, the son of Barmak became the chief minister (vizier) of Al Saffah, the first Caliph of the Abbasid dynasty. His son Yahya aided Harun al-Rashid in capturing the throne and rose to power as the most powerful man in the Caliphate.
The Barmakids were remarkable for their majesty, splendor and hospitality. They are mentioned in some stories of the One Thousand and One Nights.
^Harold Bailey, 1943. "Iranica" BSOAS 11: p. 2. India - Department of Archaeology, and V. S. Mirashi (ed.), Inscriptions of the Kalachuri-Chedi Era vol. 4 of Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum, 1955, pp. clxx, 612, 614, 616.
^Barthold & Sourdel 1960, p. 1033.
^Yarshater, Ehsan; Melville, Charles (2012-01-30). Persian Historiography: History of Persian Literature A. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9780857721402.
^van Bladel 2011, pp. 43–88.
^Alai Ibn Anjab Ibn Al-Saaai; Shawkat M. Toorawa; Julia Bray; Ibn al-Sai (15 May 2015). Consorts of the Caliphs: Women and the Court of Baghdad. NYU Press. pp. 162–. ISBN 978-1-4798-5098-3.
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of the Barmakids may derive from the Sanskrit word प्रमुख Pramukha, meaning “leader,” although the theory is subject of debate. The Barmakids are also...
assemblies the Barmakids held were notable for the freedom with which unusual opin- ions were voiced". The major weakness of the Barmakids' position was...
al-Faḍl and Ja'far (767–803) both occupied high offices under Harun. Many Barmakids were patrons of the sciences, which greatly helped the propagation of...
against Tang expansion during the Battle of Talas. The noble Iranian family Barmakids, who were instrumental in building Baghdad, introduced the world's first...
onward into China. Nava Vihara's hereditary administrators, the Persian Barmakids, converted from Buddhism to Islam after the monastery's conquest and became...
historical examples where the noble classes financed scientific pursuits. Many Barmakids were patrons of the sciences, which greatly helped the propagation of...
the construction of the city. It was built under the guidance of the Barmakids. Mansur believed that Baghdad was the perfect city to be the capital of...
prison. In 802, the Barmakid Ja'far ibn Yahya helped him escape, but he was captured; the event led to the execution of the Barmakids, once Harun's closest...
administrator", who, under the Arabized name of Barmak, came to be known as the Barmakids). The Umayyad Caliphate captured Balkh in 663 from the Kabul Shahis who...
(709–781/82; Arabic: خالد بن برمك) was the first prominent member of the Barmakids, an important Buddhist family from Balkh, which converted to Islam and...
also represented as an associate of the Bactrian vizier family of the Barmakids, whereas Ibn al-Nadīm reports that some claimed Jabir to have been especially...
Ibrahim sent him to entertain the powerful Barmakids with some of Ibrahim's newest compositions. The Barmakids were so enthusiastic about his performance...
military people settled there. There were also noble Iranian families Barmakids (from Balkh) and the Sulids (from Gurgan). The descendants of these Iranians...
survived by converting to Islam. They would later come to be known as the Barmakids of Baghdad. An ancient Jewish community existed in Balkh as recorded by...
Rabī’ al-Thānī, 608), into a respectable family that claimed descent from Barmakids, an Iranian dynasty of Balkhi origin. His primary studies took him from...
rulers, but there were the exceptions of important elite families such as Barmakids and Nizams who established their own minor courts, enabling them to encourage...
fundamentalism in Iran Islamization Islamic conquest of Persia History of Iran Barmakids Anti-Persianism by Arabs Islamic Cultural Revolution Spread of Islam Muslim...
Abbasid capital. The Abbasids established the position of vizier like Barmakids in their administration, which was the equivalent of a "vice-caliph",...
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