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Ibn Khaldun: The Historian Who Explained History
North African scholar and statesman, born in Tunis on 27 May 1332
Ibn Khaldun was born in Tunis on 27 May 1332 into a family of scholars and officials with roots in Muslim Spain. The Black Death killed his parents and many teachers when he was a teenager.
He served several North African and Andalusian rulers as a secretary, diplomat and adviser, often falling in and out of favour. In a period of retreat in what is now Algeria, he wrote the Muqaddimah, an introduction to his history of the world.
The Muqaddimah analyses society, economics and the cycles of power with remarkable originality. He later became a senior judge in Cairo, and his work is studied today by historians, sociologists and economists.
Career highlights
- 1332Born in Tunis: into a scholarly family
- 1348Black Death: loses his parents to the plague
- 1352Enters government service: working for North African rulers
- 1364Diplomatic mission: to the king of Castile in Seville
- 1377Writes the Muqaddimah: while living at Qal'at Ibn Salama
- 1384Judge in Cairo: appointed to a senior judicial post
- 1401Meets Timur: outside besieged Damascus
- 1406Dies in Cairo: aged 73
Did you know?His family traced their origins to Seville in Muslim Spain, and he visited the city as an envoy two centuries after his ancestors had left it.
