Abul-Abbas

This article is about the historic elephant. For the Qur'anic figure of the same name, see Khidr. For the chessman known as Charlemagne's elephant, see Elephant of Yusuf al-Bahili.

Abul-Abbas
6th-century mosaic of an elephant from the Great Palace of Constantinople
SpeciesAsian elephant
SexMale
Bornc. 770s or 780s[a]
Abbasid Caliphate (possibly)
Died810 (aged around 20–30)
likely near Münster or Wesel, Germany

Abul-Abbas (c. 770s or 780s – 810) was an Asian elephant brought back to the Carolingian emperor Charlemagne by his diplomat Isaac the Jew. The gift was from the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid and symbolizes the beginning of Abbasid–Carolingian relations. The elephant's name and events from his life are recorded in the Carolingian Annales regni Francorum,[1][2][b] and he is mentioned in Einhard's Vita Karoli Magni.[3][c] However, no references to the gift or to interactions with Charlemagne have been found in Abbasid records.[5]


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  1. ^ Annales regni francorum Anno 801 (Kurze 1895, p. 116, Monumenta Germaniae Historica edition)
  2. ^ Scholz 1970, pp. 81–2 (Eng. tr. of ARB = Royal Frankish Annals)
  3. ^ Einhard (tr. Thorpe 1969, p. 70)
  4. ^ Thorpe 1969, p. 184 (endnotes)
  5. ^ Sherman, Dennis; Salisbury, Joyce (6 December 2007). The West in the World, Volume I: To 1715. Vol. 1 (3 ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-07-331669-7. OCLC 177823124.