Qaratis
Umm walad of the Abbasid caliph
Period812 – 842
Died16 August 842
al-Hirah, Abbasid Caliphate
Burial
Kufa
Spouseal-Mu'tasim
ChildrenHarun al-Wathiq
Names
Qaratis Umm Harun al-Wathiq
ReligionIslam

Qaratis, also known as Umm Harun (Arabic: أم هارون) or Umm al-Wathiq (أم الواثق) was the umm walad of the eighth Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim, and mother of his successor, al-Wathiq.

Life

Qaratis was a Byzantine Greek woman.[1][2] 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.[3][4]

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.[5]

References

  1. ^ Clot, André (2014) [1986]. "5. Harun and the Outside World". Harun al-Rashid: and the World of the Thousand and One Nights. Saqi Books. ISBN 978-0-86356-558-8. Many caliphs had mothers of Greek origin: Qaratis, mother of Harun al-Rashid's grandson Watiq; ...
  2. ^ Al-Masudi (2010) [1989]. "The Caliphate of Wathiq". Meadows Of Gold. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-14530-8. Wathiq, whose name was Harun ibn Muhammad ibn Harun al-Wathiq, was known as Abu Ja'far. Her mother was a Greek slave named Qaratis.
  3. ^ Turner 2013, p. 219.
  4. ^ Kraemer 1989, pp. 52–53.
  5. ^ Kraemer 1989, p. 4.

Sources

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