Bahâeddîn İbn Şeddâd

Bahâeddîn İbn Şeddâd (d. 1234) is a Medieval Islamic historian and statesman who witnessed the Ayyubid period and authored the biography of Sultan Selâhaddîn. Ibn Shaddad, introduced in sources as a pious, virtuous, and generous person, died in Halep on 14 Safer 632 (November 8, 1234) (Vol. 1, p. 168).

Ibn Shaddad 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. For the primary sources that must be consulted to determine the dynamics of Ayyubid history, including its political and social aspects, are Arabic chronicles and biographical works, a large part of which were authored during the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods (Vol. 1, p. 202).

Ibn Shaddad'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 (Vol. 1, p. 168).

The author used two different types of sources in terms of the work's methodology: the part up to the year 584/1188, when he entered Selâhaddîn's service, is based on the narrations of some individuals he trusted, while the part after this date was written 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 section pertaining to after 1188 is considered reliable because it is based on direct testimony (Vol. 1, p. 168).

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