Died 803 AD, Baghdad, Iraq Grandparent Khalid ibn Barmak | Parents Yahya ibn Khalid | |
Similar Harun al‑Rashid, Shah Shujah Durrani, Timur Shah Durrani, Ron Clements, Jonathan Freeman | ||
Ja'far ibn Yahya Barmaki, Jafar al-Barmaki (Persian: جعفر بن یحیی برمکی, Arabic: جعفر بن يحيى, ja`far bin yaḥyā) (767–803) was the son of a Persian vizier (Yahya ibn Khalid) of the Arab Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid and from whom he inherited that position. He was a member of the influential Barmakid family, formerly Buddhist leaders of the Nava Vihara monastery. He was beheaded in 803 for allegedly having had an affair with Harun al-Rashid's sister Abbasa, although historical sources remain unclear about the real cause of Ja'far's death and the fall of the Barmakids.
He had a reputation as a patron of the sciences, and did much to introduce Indian science into Baghdad. 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) in 751.
In fiction
Ja'far 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" for example, Ja'far is like a detective who must solve a murder mystery and find the culprit behind the murder, whereas in "The Tale of Attaf", Ja'far is more of an adventurer. In Glenn Pierce's novel The Tyrant of Bagdad, Ja'far's story is told through a fictional account of Charlemagne's ambassador's travel to meet with Harun al-Rashid.
However, more recent media inspired by the Arabian Nights has portrayed Ja'far as both a villain and a sorcerer: