İbn Haldûn

İbn Haldûn (1 Ramazan 732 / 27 Mayıs 1332 – 26 Ramazan 808 / 17 Mart 1406), a renowned historian and thinker born in Tunus and deceased in Kahire. He holds a place among the sources of Kürt history from the Antikçağ and İslami periods.

Education and Life

İbn Haldûn, who received his initial education from his father, later studied under many scholars from Kuzey Afrika, acquiring knowledge in various fields such as Arap dili ve edebiyatı, hadis, fıkıh, fıkıh usûlü, kelâm, mantık, felsefe, and matematik. He spent the first twenty years of his life in Tunus, twenty-six years in Cezayir, Fas, and Endülüs, four years again in Tunus, and the last twenty-four years in Kahire (Cilt 1, s. 126).

Scholarly and Political Persona

Having received a good education, İbn Haldûn showed interest in scholarly and intellectual life from a young age, and also played an important role as a politician in the administration of the Merînî, Hafsî, and Abdülvâdî dynasties. He frequently traveled among tribes, becoming intimately familiar with bedevî tribal life (Cilt 1, s. 126).

Influence on Later Historians

İbn Haldûn's influence is also seen on his contemporary historians. Makrîzî, a leading scholar of the period, met with İbn Haldûn multiple times after İbn Haldûn arrived in Mısır in 784/1382, and was significantly influenced by him (Cilt 1, s. 196).