Grand Vizier Ja'far: Difference between revisions

'''Ja'far ibn Yahya al-Barmaki''', Grand Vizier of Caliph [[Arabian Nights Days|Harun al-Rashid]], 767-803 AD. He sponsored the academy which translated Greek works (including [[Aristotle]]) into Arabic, and convinced the Caliph to open the first paper mill in Baghdad (Chinese prisoners from the Battle of Talas in 751 had taught the Caliphate papermaking). He was beheaded in 803, allegedly for an affair with the Caliph's sister Abbasa—but probably because the Caliph feared that his family, the Barmakids, were becoming too influential. (His family was executed along with him, supporting the latter theory.)