The introduction to Ibn Khaldun's history of the Arabs and Berbers, finished in 1377 during a retreat from political life at Qalat Ibn Salama. It set out a cyclical theory of the rise and fall of dynasties driven by asabiyyah, group solidarity that runs strong among tribal or frontier groups and weakens as a dynasty settles into wealth and comfort, exposing it to conquest by a more cohesive rival. Widely credited as a founding text of historiography and sociology.
Facts
Key ProvisionSets out Ibn Khaldun's theory that dynasties rise on the strength of asabiyya, the group solidarity binding a tribal or military elite, and decline as settled luxury erodes that same solidarity across roughly three or four generations, a cyclical account of political power he applied to the historiography of North African and Islamic dynasties. 1 Classification
Document TypePolitical Philosophy or Theoretical Work 1 Original Language Connections
Drafted By
Ibn Khaldun finished the Muqaddimah in 1377 during a retreat from political life, setting out his theory of asabiyyah and the cyclical rise and fall of dynasties.
Source Ibn Khaldun (Britannica)
Sources
1. Ibn Khaldun (Britannica)
Encyclopaedia BritannicaDocument type, descriptionQuote, Document type, description
The introduction to Ibn Khaldun's history of the Arabs and Berbers, finished in 1377 during a retreat from political life at Qalat Ibn Salama.
2. Muqaddimah (Wikipedia)
Wikidata: Muqaddimah
Wikidata Q12244661, class allow-list match, case-insensitive label variant (w-bbfill-smallsix2-0926/resolve_ci.ps1)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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