Ibn Khaldun

North African historian, jurist and statesman who served several dynasties across the Maghreb and al-Andalus before settling in Cairo as a Maliki judge. The Muqaddimah, the introduction to his universal history, proposed a science of human society and a critical method for judging historical reports.

Key ideas

• Asabiyya (group solidarity) as the engine of dynastic rise and decline
• A science of human social organisation ('ilm al-'umran)
• Testing historical reports against what is possible in society
• Labour as the source of value and the economics of taxation

Major works

• The Muqaddimah (completed 1377, revised later)
• Kitab al-'Ibar (universal history)
• Al-Ta'rif (autobiography)

In the conversation

• Discussion Ibn Khaldun on taxation: a fourteenth-century Laffer curve? Javier Morales · 3 replies
• Reading group Reading group: The Muqaddimah, the introduction on historians’ errors Youssef Benali · 4 replies
• Question Did Ibn Khaldun invent sociology, or is that a modern compliment? Youssef Benali · 3 replies
• Discussion Ibn Khaldun’s asabiyya and the rise and fall of states Youssef Benali · 4 replies