Ar-Rashid (1109–1138)

Ar-Rashid (1109 – 6 June 1138) (Arabic: الراشد‎‎) was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 1135 to 1136.

Like his father, al-Mustarshid, ar-Rashid made another failed attempt at independence from Seljuq Turks. To avenge his father's death, he insulted the Sultan Mas'ud's envoy who came to demand a heavy largess, incited the mob to plunder his palace, and then, supported by Zengi, who was equally hostile to sultan because of the murder of Dubeis, set up a rival sultan. Mas'ud hastened to the rebellious capital and laid siege to it. Baghdad, well defended by the river and its canals, resisted the attack; but in the end the caliph and Zengi, hopeless of success, escaped to Mosul. The sultan's power restored, a council was held, the caliph deposed, and his uncle, son of Al-Muqtafi, appointed as the new caliph.

Ar-Rashid fled to Isfahan, where he was killed by Hashshashins in 1138.

References

• This text is adapted from William Muir's 1924 book The Caliphate: Its Rise, Decline, and Fall, which is in the public domain.