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People: Al-Khayzuran
Location: Vlorë Vlore Albania

Al-Khayzuran

wife of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mahdi and mother of both Caliphs Al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid
Years: 746 - 789

Al-Khayzuran bint Atta (died 789) is the wife of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mahdi and mother of both Caliphs Al-Hadi and Harun al-Rashid, the most famous of the Abbasids.

She is from Jorash, Yemen.

She was kidnapped from her home by a Bedouin who then sold her in a slave market near Mecca to Al-Mahdi during his pilgrimage.

Later the caliph fell in love with her and married her.

Al-Khayzuran is a woman of strong personality, and persuades her husband to appoint her sons as the next caliphs over his sons by his other wives.

At the court, she is an ally of the Barmakids.

She greatly influences both her sons and the affairs of the empire to the extent that her son Al-Hadi tries to kill her by poisoning her.

She is suspected of involvement in his death.