Ibn Khaldun

The Causes Of The Rise And Expansion Of The Ottoman Empire

Quintus Curtius History , , ,

Among the most remarkable events of the late medieval period was the rise and growth of the Ottoman state in Anatolia and beyond.  George Finlay, in his seven-volume history of Greece, called the Ottoman Empire “one of the most singular creations of human genius.”  In the empire’s early centuries, at least, we cannot disagree with this verdict.  How was it that a tiny, obscure tribe of Asiatic migrants came to conquer the proud and ancient domains of the Byzantine Greeks with such rapidity? 

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The Rise And Fall Of Empires: Ibn Khaldun’s Theory Of Social Development

Quintus Curtius History, Thought , , ,

khaldun2

The most remarkable figure in medieval historiography was Abd al-Rahman Ibn Khaldun; his name in Arabic is أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي‎, but this is mercifully shortened to us simply as Ibn Khaldun.  He was an urbane and well-traveled figure, whose life experiences taught him intimate lessons on both rulers and ruled.  He was born in Tunis, North Africa, in 1332 and received the best education of his day; his absorption of knowledge was made easier, he tells us, by his zealous devotion to travel and study.

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