Ibn Rushd, Abu l-Walid Muhammad 367conquest and were prominent in the political and intel-
lectual life of the city. Shortly before the Christian
RECONQUEST, they left and settled in Tunis, where Ibn
Khaldun studied the traditional religious sciences,
including LAW, and the rational sciences. He also was
trained for a career in government.
In 1352 the HAFSIDruler of Tunis gave Ibn Khaldun a
minor position in the chancery, but he soon moved to
FEZ. Between 1354 and 1362, Ibn Khaldun pursued there
his scholarly interests and was actively involved in the
political life at the Marinid court. Implicated in a plot
against the ruler, he was imprisoned in 1357 for 22
months. Under a later ruler he again held high positions
but soon became discouraged by court intrigues.
Prevented by the Marinid court from joining a rival
court at Tlemcen, Ibn Khaldun returned to GRANADA,
where he received a royal welcome from Muhammad V
(r. 1354–59, 1362–91). In 1364 Muhammad V sent Ibn
Khaldun to Seville on a mission to Peter I (r. 1350–69),
king of CASTILE. Ibn Khaldun declined an offer by Peter
to have his ancestors’ possessions returned if he entered
royal service. Ibn Khaldun’s intimacy with Muhammad V,
whom he tried to direct toward his ideal of philosopher
king, aroused the suspicion of the king’s Nicier or chief
official, and Ibn Khaldun had to leave Granada in 1365.
Ibn Khaldun accepted an invitation from the Hafsid
ruler of Bougie and became a minister in his regime.
When the ruler was defeated and killed by a cousin a year
later, Ibn Khaldun entered the service of that cousin but
soon had to leave because of court intrigue. Thoroughly
disappointed with court politics, he then tried to spend
most of his time on research and teaching.
WRITING AND PATRONAGESoon afterward Ibn Khaldun retreated to a castle in
central Algeria, where he spent three years in seclusion.
He intended to write a history of contemporary AL-
MAGHRIBbut started with his Muqaddimah(Introduction
to history), whose introduction set forth his ideas about
history. This grew into a general theory of history, or in
his words a science of civilization. He now wanted to
write a universal history based on this new science. In
1379 he returned to Tunis with the permission of the new
Hafsid ruler to consult books and archives. Under the
ruler’s patronage he wrote the history of the al-Maghrib
and began his history of Islam. His influence with the
ruler and popularity among students provoked jealousy,
and he again had to leave in 1382 for EGYPTunder the
pretext of a pilgrimage to MECCA.
The last two decades of his life Ibn Khaldun lived in
CAIRO, the capital of the MAMLUKEmpire, enjoying the
patronage of the sultans Barquq (r. 1382–89, 1390–99)
and Faraj (r. 1399–1405). He was appointed chief judge,
though only for six brief terms. Most of his time was
devoted to teaching and research. He completed his his-
tory and made a pilgrimage to MECCAand two trips to
DAMASCUS, the second occasioned by a campaign of Faraj
against TAMERLANEin 1400. There Tamerlane invited Ibn
Khaldun to visit his camp. Their discussions, as reported
in his autobiography, were mostly about political condi-
tions in Egypt and al-Maghrib. Ibn Khaldun died on
March 17, 1406.LEGACY OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY
Ibn Khaldun’s fame has rested on the Muqaddimah.There
he explained a general theory of civilization and the con-
ditions for development. He intended it as a guide for
understanding and writing history. He believed that the
permanent conflict between the Bedouin and a highly
developed urban society was always crucial in history.
Civilization was an urban phenomenon fostered by local
intellectuals protected and united under strong dynastic
rule. The division of labor that resulted from such secu-
rity and cooperation made possible, beyond the elemen-
tary necessities of life, the production of luxuries and the
development of science. Indulgence in luxuries, however,
led to a cultural degeneration and loss of group solidarity,
which destroyed the state and with it civilization. So
another, less civilized group, its solidarity unspoiled,
inherited the earlier civilization. Ibn Khaldun’s history of
the al-Maghrib, written with the insight of a participant,
gave a perceptive description of the rise and fall of dynas-
ties and the role of tribal BERBERSand ARABS. The other
parts of his universal history generally lacked the insight
and value of his work on North Africa. His autobiogra-
phy, the most detailed one in medieval Muslim literature,
offered a perceptive description of his experience and life
until 1405.
Further reading:Ibn Khaldun, The Muqaddimah: An
Introduction to History, 3 vols., 2d ed., ed. and trans.
Franz Rosenthal (1958; reprint, Princeton, N.J.: Prince-
ton University Press, 1967); Fuad Baali, Society, State, and
Urbanism: Ibn Khaldun’s Sociological Thought (Albany:
State University of New York Press, 1988); Michael Brett,
Ibn Khaldun and the Medieval Maghrib(Aldershot: Ash-
gate Variorum, 1999); Walter Joseph Fischel, Ibn Khaldun
in Egypt: His Public Functions and His Historical Research,
1382–1406, A Study in Islamic Historiography(Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1967); Nathaniel Schmidt,
Ibn Khaldun, Historian, Sociologist, and Philosopher
(Lahore: Universal Books, 1978).Ibn Rushd, Abu l-Walid Muhammad (Averroës, the
Commentator on Aristotle) (1126–1198)physician, jurist,
philosopher, commentator on the works of Aristotle
Ibn-Rushd or Averroës was born in 1126 at CÓRDOBAand
became a student of THEOLOGY, mathematics, MEDICINE,
jurisprudence, and PHILOSOPHY. He traveled widely and
died in MOROCCO. His writings greatly influenced Chris-
tian theologians, especially Thomas AQUINAS, who read
translations of his writings. At the age of 27, Ibn Rushd