Al-Maqrizi

Timeline

1. 1364–1385Cairo · EgyptBorn in Cairo into a family closely connected with the Mamluk court. From childhood he received training in Islamic classics and historiography and later served as an imam of a mosque, accumulating observations of Egyptian society and politics.
2. 1385–1430Cairo · EgyptHe held posts including imam of the Shiraq Mosque while writing numerous historical and geographical works. His major work, the Book of Roads and Kingdoms, records Mamluk political history in annalistic form, and he also wrote a Gazetteer of Cairo (al-Khitat) detailing the city's geography and social structure.
3. 1430–1442Cairo · EgyptIn his late years he continued to revise his histories and died in Cairo in 1442. His works became core sources for later study of Mamluk Egypt, the impact of the Black Death, and the urban history of Cairo.