Jafar ibn Yahya Barmaki, Jafar al-Barmaki ( fa, جعفر بن یحیی برمکی, ar, جعفر بن يحيى, Jafar bin yaḥyā) (767–803) also called Aba-Fadl, was a
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...
of the
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
caliph
A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
Harun al-Rashid
Abu Ja'far Harun ibn Muhammad al-Mahdi ( ar
, أبو جعفر هارون ابن محمد المهدي) or Harun ibn al-Mahdi (; or 766 – 24 March 809), famously known as Harun al-Rashid ( ar, هَارُون الرَشِيد, translit=Hārūn ...
, succeeding his father (
Yahya ibn Khalid
Yahya ibn Khalid ( ar, يحيى بن خالد, Yahyā ibn Khālid; died ) was the most prominent member of the Barmakid family, serving as provincial governor and all-powerful long-time vizier to Caliph Harun al-Rashid before his abrupt fall in 80 ...
) in that position. He was a member of the influential
Barmakid
The Barmakids ( fa, برمکیان ''Barmakiyân''; ar, البرامكة ''al-Barāmikah''Harold Bailey, 1943. "Iranica" BSOAS 11: p. 2. India - Department of Archaeology, and V. S. Mirashi (ed.), ''Inscriptions of the Kalachuri-Chedi Era'' vol ...
family, formerly
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
leaders of the
Nava Vihara monastery. Along with the rest of the Barmakids, he was executed in 803 at the orders of Harun al-Rashid.
He had a reputation as a patron of
the sciences
''The Sciences'' was a magazine published from 1961 to 2001 by the New York Academy of Sciences. Each issue contained articles that discussed science issues with cultural relevance, illustrated with fine art and an occasional cartoon. The perio ...
, and did much to introduce
Indian science into
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
. He was credited with convincing the caliph to open a
paper mill in Baghdad, the secret of
papermaking having been obtained from
Tang Chinese prisoners at the
Battle of Talas (in present-day
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...
) in 751.
In fiction
Jafar also appears (under the name of Giafar in most translations) along with Harun al-Rashid in several ''
Arabian Nights'' tales, often acting as a protagonist. In "
The Three Apples The Three Apples ( ar, التفاحات الثلاثة), or The Tale of the Murdered Woman ( ar, حكاية الصبية المقتولة, Hikayat as-Sabiyya al-Maqtula), is a story contained in the ''One Thousand and One Nights'' collection (also k ...
" for example, Jafar is tasked with solving a murder, whereas in "
The Tale of Attaf
''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...
", Jafar is more of an adventurer.
More recent media inspired by the ''Arabian Nights'' has portrayed Jafar as both a villain and a sorcerer:
* In the 1940 version of ''
The Thief of Bagdad'',
Conrad Veidt plays the grand vizier Jaffar, a sorcerer who overthrows the king and tries to seduce the princess.
* In the film ''
The Golden Blade
''The Golden Blade'' is a 1953 American adventure film directed by Nathan Juran and starring Rock Hudson as Harun Al-Rashid and Piper Laurie as Princess Khairuzan. It is set in ancient Bagdad and borrows from the Arabic fairy tales of ''One Thousa ...
'' (1952), Harun al-Rashid (
Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. A prominent heartthrob in the Golde ...
) battles Jafar (
George Macready), vizier to the caliph of Baghdad who tries to usurp the throne.
*In the book ''
The Grand Vizier of the Night'' (1981) by Catherine Hermary-Vieille, he is the Caliph Harun al-Rashid's lover.
* In 1989 the video game ''
Prince of Persia'' featured a scheming magician named Jaffar who seized power from the Sultan and tried to force the Princess to marry him. In the later ''Prince of Persia'' games, an unnamed 'Vizier' is the main
villain
A villain (also known as a " black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character ...
and is based on the Jaffar character from the original game.
* In 1992 the Disney film ''
Aladdin'' featured an evil vizier and sorcerer called
Jafar, who is a
composite character
In a work of media adapted from a real or fictional narrative, a composite character is a character based on more than one individual from the story.
Use in film
*Several characters in the movie '' 21''.
*The character Henry Hurt in the docudra ...
of an (unnamed) vizier and an evil magician from the original ''
Aladdin'' tale.
* In the Japanese manga of ''
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic'', Jafar is a young general working under Sinbad, the king of Sindria.
Family tree
See also
*
Islamic Golden Age
The Islamic Golden Age was a period of cultural, economic, and scientific flourishing in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 14th century. This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign ...
*
Islamic literature
Islamic literature is literature written by Muslim people, influenced by an Islamic cultural perspective, or literature that portrays Islam. It can be written in any language and portray any country or region. It includes many literary forms incl ...
References
External links
How Greek Science passed to the Arabs with some references to Jafar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jafar Ibn Yahya
767 births
803 deaths
One Thousand and One Nights characters
Barmakids
9th-century executions by the Abbasid Caliphate
8th-century Iranian people
9th-century Iranian people
8th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate
9th-century people from the Abbasid Caliphate
Viziers of the Abbasid Caliphate