Muqaddimah (Introduction to History)

Timeline

1. 1375–1377Qal'at Ibn Salama · AlgeriaAfter leaving North African court politics, Ibn Khaldun moved with his family to the Qal'at Ibn Salama fortress in the central Maghreb. There he began writing the universal history Kitab al-'Ibar, and in its opening introduction systematically discussed historical method, dynastic cycles, and the city–nomad relationship, forming what later circulated independently as the Muqaddimah.
2. 1377Qal'at Ibn Salama · AlgeriaAround November 1377, the first draft of the introduction was completed. The text proposed a new science with 'umran (civilization/social structure) as its object, and used 'asabiyya (group solidarity) to explain the rise, luxury, and collapse of regimes, providing a standard for judging historical events throughout the work's later volumes.
3. 1378–1382Tunis · TunisiaTo use the city's libraries to continue writing on the Arabs, Berbers, and pre-Islamic history, Ibn Khaldun returned in 1378 to his birthplace Tunis, completed several volumes of the Kitab al-'Ibar at the Hafsid court, and presented a transcription to Sultan Abu al-Abbas. The introduction thereby entered circulation among court and scholarly circles.
4. 1382Cairo · EgyptIn 1382 Ibn Khaldun went to Egypt, taught in Cairo, and served as chief Maliki judge, continuing to revise the Muqaddimah. Transcriptions from the author's lifetime bear his autograph additions. In modern times the work has been read as a pioneering text of historiographical theory, political sociology, and economics, with influence extending beyond the Islamic world.