Ibn Khaldün (AD 1331–1406)

Ibn Khaldün al Hadrami was a great Arab historian and philosopher of history and social sciences. Compared in the West to Thucydides and Machiavelli, he developed a theory of world history embedded in sociology, social psychology, demography, and cultural ecology. He was also active in politics and the practice and teaching of law.

We know of his life from contemporary records and from his autobiography Kitab al-ta'rif bi-Ibn Khaldum wa rihlatuhu gharban was sharqan (Information About Ibn Khaldün and His Travels West and East). He was born in Tunis to an upper-class family that fled Andalusia after the fall of Seville to the Reconquista and had served the Hafsid dynasty, but he withdrew from politics into mysticism. Both his parents died in the plague epidemic in 1349. In adult life, Ibn Khaldün sometimes withdrew from competition for prestigious appointments to pursue contemplative religious or scholarly life. The unstable North African politics is reflected in his political alliances with rulers and courtiers, shifting loyalties, and occasional imprisonments. About 1352, he moved from Tunis to Fez and served the Marinid Sultan Abu Inan Faris. Changes of fortune after the latter's death in 1358 made him seek success in [Page 1521]Granada, but he was driven out by intrigue and returned to North Africa. After moving from the Hafsid court at Bougie to Tlemcen and again to Fez, Ibn Khaldün sought refuge with the Berbers in Qal'at Ibn Salama (1375–1378). That is where he wrote the Muqaddima, or Introduction (often translated “Prolegomena”) to his world history. He then returned to Tunis and continued writing, now in the service of Abu ‘l-Abbas, the former ruler of Tlemcen who had conquered Tunis. His loyalty under suspicion, he left in 1382 under the pretext of performing the hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca.

After reaching Alexandria, he went to Cairo, where the Mamluk sultan Barquq soon appointed him a grand Qadi (supreme judge) of the Maliki school of religious law, common in North Africa. This was the start of a new period and a new career for Ibn Khaldün. He resigned the judge-ship or was dismissed five times, received teaching appointments and diplomatic missions, and continued research to amplify his oeuvre, Kitab al-Ibar. The full title translates as “The Explanation and Records of the Early History and Political Events Concerning the Arabs, Persians (non-Arabs), and Berbers, and the Supreme Rulers Who Were Contemporary With Them.” The Introduction and First Book became known independently as the Muqaddima in Ibn Khaldün's lifetime. Books 2 through 5 are a history of the Arabs, Persians, Jews, Greeks, Romans, and Berbers. Book 6 deals with the theory of knowledge and the relationship between science and civilization as an outcome of social organization. There is no full translation of the complete work. The Muqaddima is available in the three-volume English translation by Franz Rosenthal and in an abridged paperback edition.

In 1401, Ibn Khaldün was recruited by the new Sultan Faraj to accompany him to Damascus, then besieged by Timur (Tamerlane). From the walls of the city, he was lowered to meet Timur and spent several weeks in his camp, where he was invited to speak of history, the Abbasid caliphs, the Maghrib, and Ibn Khaldün's personal and family history. He also negotiated release for himself and his escort, but Damascus was surrendered and sacked. Back in Egypt, Ibn Khaldün twice regained the Maliki judgeship and died in Cairo while in office.

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