Ja'far bin Yahya Barmaki (Arabic: جعفر بن يحيى, ja`far ben yaḥyā) (767-803) was the son of a Persian Vizier (Yahya ibn Khalid) of the Arab Abbasid Caliph, Harun al-Rashid, from whom he inherited that position. He was a member of the influential Barmakids family. He was beheaded in 803 for allegedly having an affair with Harun al-Rashid's sister Abbasa. He had a reputation as a patron of the sciences, and did much to introduce Greek science into Baghdad, attracting scholars from the nearby Academy of Gundishapur to help translate Greek works into Arabic. He was also credited with convincing the caliph to open a paper mill in Baghdad, secret of papermaking had been obtained from Chinese prisoners at the Battle of Talas, in present day Kazakhstan in 751. Ja'far also appears (under the name of Giafar in most translations) along with Harun al-Rashid in several Arabian Nights tales. The Disney adaptation of Aladdin features an evil vizier and sorcerer called Jafar, who is a combination of the (unnamed) vizier and the evil magician from the original Aladdin tale. The name "Jaffar" was also used three years before in the video game Prince of Persia. Like the Aladdin version, he too is a scheming villain and magician who seizes power from the Sultan and tries to force the Princess to marry him. In the later games, an unnamed 'Vizier' is the main villain and is clearly based on the original Jaffar stereotype.
External links
- How Greek Science passed to the Arabs, with some references to Jafar
