Detail of a miniature illustrating an anecdote in which the power and influence of Jaʻfar ibn Yahya (crowned figure) is pointed out. Folio from a manuscript of Nigaristan, Iran, probably Shiraz, dated 1573-74
Jaʽfar ibn Yahya Barmaki or Jafar al-Barmaki (Persian: جعفر بن یحیی برمکی, Arabic: جعفر بن يحيى, Jaʽfar bin yaḥyā) (767–803), also called Aba-Fadl, was a Persianvizier of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, succeeding his father (Yahya ibn Khalid) in that position. He was a member of the influential Barmakid family, formerly Buddhist leaders of the Nava Vihara monastery. He was executed in 803 at the orders of Harun al-Rashid.
Jaʽfar also appears (under the name of Giafar in most translations) along with Harun al-Rashid in several Arabian Nights tales, often acting as a protagonist. In "The Three Apples" for example, Jaʽfar is tasked with solving a murder, whereas in "The Tale of Attaf", Jaʽfar is more of an adventurer.
More recent media inspired by the Arabian Nights has portrayed Jaʽfar as both a villain and a sorcerer:
In the 1940 version of The Thief of Bagdad, Conrad Veidt plays the grand vizier Jaffar, a sorcerer who overthrows the king and tries to seduce the princess.[2]
In the book The Grand Vizier of the Night (1981) by Catherine Hermary-Vieille, he is the Caliph Harun al-Rashid's lover.
In 1989 the video game Prince of Persia featured a scheming magician named Jaffar who seized power from the Sultan and tried to force the Princess to marry him. In the later Prince of Persia games, an unnamed 'Vizier' is the main villain and is based on the Jaffar character from the original game.
In 1992 the Disney film Aladdin featured an evil vizier and sorcerer called Jafar, who is a composite character of an (unnamed) vizier and an evil magician from the original Aladdin tale.
In the Japanese manga of Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Jaʽfar is a young general working under Sinbad, the king of Sindria.
^van Bladel, Kevin (2011). "The Bactrian Background of the Barmakids". In A. Akasoy, C. Burnett and R. Yoeli-Tlalim (ed.). Islam and Tibet: Interactions along the Musk Routes. London: Ashgate. pp. 43–88.
^Rovin, Jeff (1987). The Encyclopedia of Supervillains. New York: Facts on File. pp. 168–169. ISBN0-8160-1356-X.