The harem of the commander of the faithful was abuzz with rumours about the new girl to be inducted into the ranks of the concubines. Every few weeks either a slave girl was bought for her special qualities by the caliph, or sent to him as a gift, and, ordinarily, the news of a new inductee joining the harem would have passed without comment. But one of the old eunuchs claimed to have recognised the concubine Aksarsha in the slave market as the wily Arab sorceress he had met during his spy missions in Byzantine more than two decades ago. The eunuch swore that it was Askarsha he had seen but it was difficult to credit his account as the concubine was barely 17. However, it was enough to start rumours in the harem.

The keeper of the harem who had vetted Askarsha, after satisfying himself on her history from the slave dealer and various other sources, was furious. The rumours called into question not only his judgment but also his loyalty to the caliph. In the end his decision prevailed. Askarsha joined the caliph’s harem and the eunuch was dispatched with a military expedition to Khurasan where he was killed in a night raid.

The rumours about Askarsha died out after a few months. There was nothing special about her except her beauty, but then there were many in the harem more beautiful than she. As always, initially the caliph showed her favour, then moved on to other women.

On a Thursday evening, nine months after the caliph had first had congress with Askarsha, she closeted herself with the women who attended to births in the harem. The augurs had announced that Askarsha was heavy with a male child, the news of which had sent a wave of jealousy in the harem as female concubines who had given birth to sons had often risen to power. The caliph’s mother, the Yemenite beauty al-Khayzuran, had herself been a slave girl.

As the muezzin was giving the call to Fajr prayers, and Askarsha was in labour, the caliph’s palace guards heard soft thumping noises and upon peering into the darkness made out a small object. It came closer as they watched and before they could draw their swords or shoot their bows, a black rabbit tore past them and through their cordon, and disappeared into the palace. The palace guards broke out laughing, then wondered whether they would get reprimanded by the keeper of the palace grounds for the rabbit fouling the premises.

The boy Askarsha gave birth to was stillborn. As she was informed of the news she raised herself up on her bed and asked them to bring her the wild black buck rabbit that had wandered into the room and was crouching in a corner watching them with his blood-red eyes. The rabbit did not shy away when he was picked up and given to Askarsha. She cried and laughed hysterically in turns, as she held and kissed him like a baby. The midwives left her side to let her reconcile herself to her grief.

A week later when Harun al-Rasheed visited Askarsha to condole with her, the rabbit who had been given the name Abul Miskeen by Askarsha was sitting in her lap. The caliph had been briefed about Abul Miskeen’s presence in Askarsha’s quarters, the circumstances in which he had got there, and Askarsha’s almost unnatural fondness for him.

But Askarsha announcing to him that Abul Miskeen would one day be the caliph of Baghdad caught Harun al-Rashid entirely by surprise.

The manner in which Askarsha had spoken the words also riled him just then, as Khurasan was again in ferment, and the news from the Byzantine borders was not auspicious either. Askarsha did not rise as Harun al-Rasheed left her side, never to return. She kept sitting in her seat, stroking Abul-Miskeen softly, and reciting into the rabbit’s ears the war poetry of her tribe. She never again asked about the caliph, as other concubines fallen out of favour were wont to do.

From the account of the Muhammad bin Musa bin Isa Kamaluddin al-Damiri we learn that in 802 in return for Charlemagne’s gifts of Andalusian horses, Frisian cloaks and African hunting dogs, the Caliph of Baghdad sent the King of the Franks an embassy bearing the gifts of silks, brass candelabra, perfume, balsam, ivory chessmen, and a large tent with many-coloured curtains. But al-Damiri forgets to note that Harun al-Rasheed had not been in Baghdad during this time.

By the year 796, Harun al-Rasheed had decided to move his court to the middle Euphrates, at Ar Raqqah. He would spend 12 years there. Only one visit to Baghdad is recorded during this time when he went there to confirm some news, and hastily returned as it turned out to be a plot by his enemies to entrap him.

Historians have often wondered about Harun al-Rasheed’s decision to move from Baghdad to Ar Raqah, and tried to attribute reasons for the move. Some believed that it was expedient because of Ar Raqah’s proximity to the Byzantine border. Others believe that an efficient administration was only possible with efficient intelligence gathering, and communication lines to both Baghdad and Damascus were excellent in this region. Any rebellions in Syria and other adjoining regions could also be better controlled from Ar Raqah.

Then which caliph of Baghdad had sent the gifts to Charlemagne?

A clearer picture emerges from the bits of history scattered in different sources.

Al-Tabari mentions in his history of the Abbasids that a black rabbit named Abul Miskeen was known for a period as the “Caliph of Baghdad”. He also writes that the rabbit was titled ‘the Tyrant’ for terrorising the livestock and people of Baghdad.

Another bit is found in the account of the scholar Adi bin Artah who accompanied Harun al-Rasheed to Makkah in 795CE when the commander of the faithful went to perform Hajj. There Harun al-Rasheed prayed for the death of his enemies. Adi bin Artah who had heard the caliph loudly invoking heavenly destruction on his enemies, reports that one Abul Miskeen was the first name called out by Harun al-Rasheed.

The physician Suhail al-Saib in his book on unexplained phenomena in medicine reports a strange case a man in the late eighth century Baghdad. He mentions just the name Harun al-Rasheed without identifying the status of the man, who was said to be under a magic spell which was invoked by a sorceress. The sorcerers consulted by Haroun al-Rasheed told him that he was being turned into a woman through a staged spell, and once the spell was fully wrought, he would become a buck rabbit’s bride. After great trouble and much expense a counter-spell was found by a Babylonian magician. It stipulated that in order to counteract the spell Harun al-Rasheed must move out of the jurisdiction of the land of Baghdad. One he was out of its precincts, the effects of the spell were removed from the Caliph’s person.

Musharraf Ali Farooqi is an author and translator. He can be reached at www.mafarooqi.com