History is not just a list of kings and battles. It is the study of how human communities are built, what makes them thrive, and why they eventually collapse. Ibn Khaldun proposed this scientific view of history over 600 years ago, making him the founder of what we now call sociology.
Quote by Ibn Khaldun: “History is the record of human society and its transformations.”
History is the record of human society and its transformations.
Insight
Historical Context
Ibn Khaldun wrote the Muqaddimah in 1377 while in seclusion in a remote fortress in what is now Algeria, having withdrawn from a turbulent political career. The Islamic world was fracturing under the pressure of multiple competing sultanates, and the Black Death had recently devastated populations across North Africa and the Middle East.
About the Author
Tunisian historian and sociologist born in 1332 in Tunis, widely regarded as a founder of the modern disciplines of historiography, sociology, and economics. His Muqaddimah introduced a theory of social cohesion and historical cycles that remains influential today.
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