Qaratis, also known as Umm Harun ( ar, أم هارون) or Umm al-Wathiq () was the of the eighth Abbasid caliph
al-Mu'tasim
Abū Isḥāq Muḥammad ibn Hārūn al-Rashīd ( ar, أبو إسحاق محمد بن هارون الرشيد; October 796 – 5 January 842), better known by his regnal name al-Muʿtaṣim biʾllāh (, ), was the eighth Abbasid caliph, ruling ...
, and mother of his successor,
al-Wathiq
Abū Jaʿfar Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ( ar, أبو جعفر هارون بن محمد المعتصم; 17 April 812 – 10 August 847), better known by his regnal name al-Wāthiq bi’llāh (, ), was an Abbasid caliph who reigned from 842 until 84 ...
.
Life
Qaratis was a
Byzantine Greek woman.
She entered the
caliphal harem probably in 811. She was raised in the Abbasid household before being given as a concubine to the young Abbasid prince Abu Ishaq Muhammad ibn Harun. It is unknown if she was converted to Islam before or after entering harem. Qaratis was slightly younger than Abu Ishaq Muhammad.
Qaratis gave birth to two sons, Abu Ja'far Harun (the future al-Wathiq) and Muhammad. Abu Ja'far Harun was born on 17 April 812 (various sources give slightly earlier or later dates in 811–813), on the road to
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
.
The elder son of Qaratis was nominated heir by al-Mu'tasim. After the death of al-Mu'tasim on 5 January 842, her son ascended smoothly to the throne without any opposition by his brothers. Qaratis also became the head of the Abbasid household. Shortly after al-Wathiq's succession, Qaratis decided to go to
Hajj.
Qaratis accompanied al-Wathiq's half-brother Ja'far (the future caliph
al-Mutawakkil) on the Hajj in 842, but she died on the way at
al-Hirah, on 16 August 842 (A.H. 227). She was buried in
Kufa
Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf a ...
.
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Qaratis
842 deaths
9th-century women from the Abbasid Caliphate
Concubines of the Abbasid caliphs
Year of birth unknown
Converts to Islam from Christianity
Mothers of Abbasid caliphs
9th-century Byzantine women