Abū Zayd ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad ibn Khaldūn al-Ḥaḍramī
- May 27, 1332 (Tunis) – March 19, 1406 (Cairo)
- quite the intinerary throughout his life: Tunis, Grenada, Algeria, Egypt, Damascus, Mecca
- a jack of all trades: judge, teacher, diplomat, author...
Throughout his work, Ibn Khaldun is both:
- deeply religious and religious dogmas are not to be probed by logic
- at the same time logic as the base of all historical examination and sociological analysis
The Introduction
A glimpse of the different kinds of errors to which historians are liable. Why these errors occurr.
Foreword
'For on the surface history is no more than information about political events, dynasties and occurences or the remote past, elegantly presented and spiced with proverbs.'
Good History:
- good speculative mind and thoroughness
- the use of common sense/ logic can root out a great many errors
- numerous sources and much varied knowledge
Bad History:
- using and copying facts without probe and reflection
- information transmitted in an unsound manner
- 'silly and fictitious information'
- succumb to the sensation of sensationalism
- history influenced by selfish interests and rivalries
- misunderstanding the purpose of history recording
'The inner meaning of history, on the other hand, involves speculation and an attempt to get at the truth, subtle explanation of the causes and origins of existing things, and deep knowledge of the how and why of events.'
The Muqaddimah
- an ealy version of universal history
- not only a work of history but of philosophy of history, ethnography, sociology, demography and economics
- explanation as to why empires rise and fall at the centre of his analysis
- to this end: detailed examination of human nature and culture in all its complexity (cause and effect relations)
CHANGE as a concept must be understood correctly
'In the work, I commented on civilization, on urbanization, and on the essential characteristics of human social organization, in a way that explains to the reader how and why things are as they are, and shows him how the men who constituted a dynasty first came upon the historical scene.'
It can be regarded as the earliest attempt made by any historian to discover a pattern in the changes that occur in man's political and social organization. Rational in its approach, analytical in its method, encyclopaedic in detail, it represents an almost complete departure from traditional historiography, discarding conventional concepts and cliches and seeking, beyond the mere chronicle of events, an explanation—and hence a philosophy of history.
(Dawood, 1969)
The Grandfather of Economics
- division of labour
- supply and demand
- Labour Theory of Value
- theory of taxation
The Rise and Fall of Dynasties
- nomadic versus sedentary people
-> badawa
-> hadara
- the concept of asabiyyah
Thank you for your attention!
Any questions?
Discussion:
Is asabiyyah the motor of history?
How applicable or adaptable is his cyclical model of the rise and fall of empires to modern times?
Ibn Khaldun - The Muqaddimah
6th January 2016 --- Christina Prothmann & LisaMilke