House Rabban

House Rabban was a House Minor which resided on the planet Lankiveil, where they exerted appreciable influence on planetary politics.

Association with House Harkonnen
Though long associated with House Harkonnen, House Rabban was commonly seen by their superior as a lesser, distasteful ally of little value. This feeling was particularly strong with Baron Vladimir Harkonnen.

However, it is likely the Baron's opinion was tainted by the connection his hated half-brother Abulurd made with House Rabban. After Abulurd had been given control of Arrakis, and had proved a failure at managing the troublesome fief, he was sent in disgrace to Lankiveil. After his fall from power Abulurd petitioned the Landsraad to give him control of the planet, and allow him to take the surname of his wife, Emmi Rabban.

Fate of House Rabban
Though the exact fate of House Rabban remained unclear, it is likely they did not survive the Ascension of House Atreides to the Golden Lion Throne. The last de facto ruler of House Rabban, at least of any note, was Glossu "the Beast" Rabban, the son of Abulurd who disclaimed and later murdered his father.

Behind the Scenes
Frank Herbert did not explicitly mention Rabban as an actual house. He did, however, make reference to it as a "distaff name", and made reference to Rabban-Lankiveil as a subdistrict governorship.

Rabban ربان is contemporary Arabic for a ship's pilot.

Appearances

 * Dune: House Atreides