Harthama ibn A'yan

Harthama ibn A'yan (; died June 816) was a Khurasan-born general and governor of the early Abbasid Caliphate, serving under the caliphs al-Hadi, Harun al-Rashid and al-Ma'mun. He played an important role in the victory of al-Ma'mun in the Abbasid civil war, but was executed at his orders when he protested against the power of the Sahlid family that dominated his court.

Biography A native of Balkh, Harthama was a of the Banu Dabba tribe. He first appears during the reign of the second Abbasid Caliph, al-Mansur (reigned 754–775), as one of the supporters of the Abbasid prince and heir-apparent Isa ibn Musa. Isa was forced to renounce his claim on the throne in favour of al-Mansur's son, al-Mahdi , who had Harthama brought to Baghdad in chains and kept him under arrest throughout his reign.

Under al-Mahdi's son and successor al-Hadi , however, he was released and rose to prominence as one of the Caliph's closest advisors. At one point he is said to have recommended that the Caliph should execute his younger brother and heir-apparent, the future caliph Harun al-Rashid to open the path for the succession of al-Hadi's own sons, but this plan was foiled through the intervention of the Caliph's mother, al-Khayzuran. Nevertheless, when al-Hadi died it was Harthama himself who released Harun from prison.

Harthama was in Samarkand when al-Rashid died at Tus in March 809, and remained in the east after.

Harthama remained in Iraq after that, and played a leading role in defeating the pro-Alid revolt of Abu'l-Saraya in 815. Soon after he was appointed as governor of Arabia and Syria, but instead of taking up his post Harthama went east with the intention of appraising al-Ma'mun, who had remained in Merv, of the real situation in Iraq, and especially the resentment caused by the government's domination by a group of Khurasanis around al-Ma'mun's vizier, al-Fadl ibn Sahl. Al-Fadl and his supporters were however able to turn al-Ma'mun against Harthama, who was imprisoned and executed in June 816. In response to the news of his execution, Harthama's son Hatim, the governor of Arminiya, led a rebellion that was however cut short by his own death.