Some Persian families and personalities reached a prominent position in the era of the Abbasid state, with the support of the caliphs. From those families are the Barmakids. Their dramatic end was at the hands of Caliph Harun al-Rashid. The main problem of the Barmakids and the Persians who were influential in the Abbasid state was their attempt to support their Shu’ubi tendency by passing it on with their authority granted thereto by the Abbasid caliphs. Naturally, this tendency was supported by Persian historical legends, including that Barmak, the grandfather of the Barmakids, had converted to Islam, while the majority of historians confirm the opposite. However, the opposite direction was supported by his descendants who were influential in the Abbasid state.

One of the key matters that prompted Harun al-Rashid to overthrow the Barmakids was the personal relationship between Al-Rashid and Ja’far ibn Yahya Al-Barmaki, as well as the romantic look of Al-Barmaki to Al-Abbasa, Al-Rashid’s sister. However, there is another important reason, which may be the strongest and most prominent among all the reasons that historians dealt with about the Barmakid disaster, which is the Barmakids’ connection with the “Alawites”, who turned into enemies of the Abbasids for their ambition to the caliphate. Thar connection was due to the influential power that the Barmakids reached in the Abbasid caliph, so that some believed that the Abbasid state was run by two heads: the Abbasid caliph and a person from the Barmakids. This is what prompted Al-Rashid to reject that perception and its continuation.

Among the reasons that were discussed about the Baramkids’ disaster issue is the economic factor that historians consider to be one of the key reasons. In the beginnings of the Abbasid state, when the Abbasid call succeeded and the Abbasid caliphs came to power, they lacked administrative experience and did not have any supporters in administration and governance. The Abbasids refused to use the Arab element in administration, given the loyalty of the majority of Arabs to the Umayyad state. Here, the Persian role appeared in administration and governance, which culminated in the rise of the Barmakids.

Because Khaled Al-Barmaki took over the reins of administration after Abu Salama Al-Khalal crisis, he became a supervisor of land tax affairs and recording the proceeds therefrom in special records, in addition to other critical tasks; the most important of which is the management of the financial affairs of the Abbasid army. However, Khaled Al-Barmaki created an evil procedure that was followed by the Barmakids after him, which is not separating between state funds and their own money. Here the signs of sudden wealth appeared on Khaled Al-Barmaki, which was evident in the amount of subsidies and gifts he granted to some people.

Barmakids’ outrageous wealth outraged several Arabs, so they complained to the Caliph, Abi Ja’far Al-Mansur, who obliged Khalid to pay a large fine as a penalty for the embezzlement of state funds. However, the Barmakids were soon able to overcome this crisis and returned to administration and governance, especially with the rise of Yahya ibn Khalid al-Barmaki and his sons, al-Fadl and Ja’far. The increasing administrative influence of the Barmakids led to an unpalatable increase in their wealth and they had the upper hand in the financial affairs of the Abbasid state. Ahmed Amin summarizes this financial authority they had even over the affairs of the caliph’s palace himself, saying: “They put their hands on all the state’s funds, to the extent of their free disposal of anything, while Harun al-Rashid, and his palace, had to back to them whenever they wanted to take any action”.