Bahâeddîn İbn Şeddâd

Bahâeddîn İbn Şeddâd (d. 1234) was a Medieval Islamic historian and statesman who witnessed the Eyyûbî period and authored the biography of Sultan Selâhaddîn. Introduced in sources as a devout, virtuous, and generous person, İbn Şeddâd passed away in Halep on 14 Safer 632 (8 November 1234) (Volume 1, p. 168).

Sources of the Selâhaddîn Period

İbn Şeddâd is among the historians contemporary with Selâhaddîn. Along with İbnü'l-Esîr, İmâdüddîn el-İsfahânî, Kâdî el-Fâzıl, and İbn Ebî Tayyi', his works are among the primary sources concerning the Selâhaddîn period. This is because the fundamental sources that must be consulted to determine the dynamics of Eyyûbî history, including its political and social aspects, are Arabic chronicles and biographical works, a large portion of which were compiled during the Eyyûbî and Memlük periods (Volume 1, p. 202).

Main Work

İbn Şeddâd's most important work that has survived to the present day is the monograph titled en-Nevâdirü's-Sultâniyye ve'l-Mehâsinü'l-Yûsufiyye, which covers the biography of Sultan Selâhaddîn. The work consists of two sections on Selâhaddîn's birth, youth, virtues, habits, wars, and conquests (Volume 1, p. 168).

In terms of the work's methodology, the author used two different types of sources: the part up to 584/1188, when he entered Selâhaddîn's service, is based on the narrations of certain individuals he trusted, while the part after this date is based on his own observations and testimonies. For this reason, although the pre-1188 part of the work, based on secondary reports, contains some chronological and thematic errors, the post-1188 section is considered reliable because it is based on direct testimony (Volume 1, p. 168).

Source Evaluation

It is emphasized that the information provided by İbn Şeddâd should not be evaluated in isolation within the historiography of the period, but rather in conjunction with other contemporary historians. In particular, the criticism of İbnü'l-Esîr, considered one of the reliable historians of the Middle Ages, due to his failure to cite the sources he used and his biased perspective which led him to distort some historical events, necessitates a comparative examination of the information he conveyed with that provided by authors such as İmâdüddîn el-İsfahânî and İbn Şeddâd (Volume 1, p. 166).