Harun al-Rashid

About Harun al-Rashid

Harun al-Rashid was the fifth Abbasid Caliph, reigning from 786 to 809 CE, and is widely regarded as the most influential figure of his era in the Islamic world. His reign coincided with the Islamic Golden Age, a period marked by significant intellectual, cultural, and scientific flourishing centered in the capital, Baghdad. He is perhaps best known in popular culture for his association with the One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights), which immortalized his court as a center of opulence and enlightened governance, cementing his historical importance at an HPI Rank of #836.

In the modern digital sphere, Harun al-Rashid garners approximately 292K Wikipedia views in 2025, placing his online attention nearly in line with his historical importance, indicated by an Attention Gap ratio of $\sim 1x$. This level of attention contrasts sharply with certain contemporaries; for example, he receives substantially less attention than the similarly ranked politician Barbara Bush (880K views), though he eclipses the much more historically important figure Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (#92 importance, 74K views).

While his attention is stable relative to his historical standing, the recent data suggests a minor erosion of interest, as his 2025 annualized view count dropped by 8.7% year-over-year, and his short-term momentum fell by 17% between Q1 and Q3.