| Their value as gifts was established as early as 802 when the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid sent an elephant to Charlemagne. |
| In orthodox writings the title caliph generally means deputy or successor to the Prophet Muhammad. |
| Najaf's founding as a city dates back to 791, when the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid supposedly passed through during a hunt. |
| He came to Egypt in 1168 as an assistant to his uncle, who was a general and then became the vizier of the last Fatimid caliph. |
| In AD 656, after the assassination of Uthman, the third caliph, Ali ascended to the caliphate. |
| I went immediately to wait upon the caliph, and gave him an account of my embassy. |
