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The Greatest Historian
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Poll Question: Which one:
Poll Choice Votes Poll Statistics
1 [10.00%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
0 [0.00%]
1 [10.00%]
7 [70.00%]
0 [0.00%]
1 [10.00%]
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Cyrus Shahmiri View Drop Down
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Posts: 6240 		  Quote Cyrus Shahmiri Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: The Greatest Historian
    Posted: 21-May-2007 at 13:26
It is really difficult to say who is the greatest historian, maybe it is better to ask who is the most influential historian of the Islamic world?
 
I voted for Rashid ad-Din.


Edited by Cyrus Shahmiri - 21-May-2007 at 13:31
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azimuth View Drop Down
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Posts: 2979 		  Quote azimuth Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21-May-2007 at 15:06
hmmm
 
there are many others not mentioned in the list,
 
ibn Khaldoon was into philosophy more than history,
 
from the list above it would be either Tabari or Yaquobi
 
i voted Tabari
 
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Zagros View Drop Down
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Posts: 8792 		  Quote Zagros Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21-May-2007 at 15:49
I voted Ibn e Khaldun.
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azimuth View Drop Down
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Posts: 2979 		  Quote azimuth Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21-May-2007 at 17:14
Originally posted by Zagros

I voted Ibn e Khaldun.
 
 
because of his pro-persian statments? LOL
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Suren View Drop Down
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Posts: 1673 		  Quote Suren Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21-May-2007 at 18:59
Originally posted by azimuth

Originally posted by Zagros

I voted Ibn e Khaldun.
 
 
because of his pro-persian statments? LOL
 
Ibn e KhaldunWink
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Cyrus Shahmiri View Drop Down
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Posts: 6240 		  Quote Cyrus Shahmiri Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22-May-2007 at 10:03

lol! LOL

You know Ibn Khaldun, the founder of modern sociology and philosophy of history, classifies regimes in three main categories:

1. Normal government or Dictatorship (rule by the use of force)
2. Religious government or Shari'a government
3. Persian government or Rational government (rule based on respect for human rights and justice)
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Posts: 1943 		  Quote Reginmund Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22-May-2007 at 11:01
That's quite ironic, considering the present condition of Iran.
 
Anyway, I go with Ibn Khaldun, the only one on the list that I've read. I was kind of hoping to spot Ibn Munqidh of Shayzar, but I guess he doesn't file as a historian as much as a contemporary commentator.
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Posts: 2 		  Quote elvain Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23-May-2007 at 02:24
I've only read Ibn Khaldoun so I am not able to compare him with other historians.

But his thoughts were far ahead contemporary "historical science" so I believe he deserves my vote Big%20smile
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Posts: 1943 		  Quote Reginmund Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23-May-2007 at 05:56
I thought some quotes from Ibn Khaldun might be interesting (okay, I've taken these from wiki, even though there are better sources to this out there).
 
Of the Arabs:
 
Arabs dominate only of the plains, because they are, by their savage nature, people of pillage and corruption. They pillage everything that they can take without fighting or taking risks, then flee to their refuge in the wilderness, and do not stand and do battle unless in self-defense. So when they encounter any difficulty or obstacle, they leave it alone and look for easier prey. And tribes well-fortified against them on the slopes of the hills escape their corruption and destruction, because they prefer not to climb hills, nor expend effort, nor take risks.
 
He's no great admirer of the Arabs, concerning the Persians however:
 
It is a remarkable fact that, with few exceptions, most Muslim scholars both in the religious and intellectual sciences have been non-Arabs . Thus the founders of grammar were Sibawaih and, after him, al-Farisi and az-Zajjaj. All of whom were of Persian descent. They were brought up in the Arabic language and acquired knowledge of it through their upbringing and through contact with Arabs. They invented the rules [of grammar] and made it into a discipline for later generations. Most of the hadith scholars, who preserved traditions of the Prophet for the Muslims also were Persians, or Persian in language and breeding because the discipline was widely cultivated in Iraq and regions beyond. Furthermore, all the great jurists were Persians, as is well-known. The same applies to speculative theologians and to most of the Qu'ran commentators. Only the Persians engaged in the task of preserving knowledge and writing systematic scholarly works. Thus the truth of the statement of the Prophet becomes apparent, If learning were suspended at the highest parts of heaven the Persians would attain it. ... The intellectual sciences were also the preserve of the Persians, left alone by the Arabs, who did not cultivate them. They were cultivated by Arabicized Persians, as was the case with all the crafts, as we stated at the beginning. This situation continued in the cities as long as the Persians and Persian countries, Iraq, Khurasan and Transoxiana, retained their sedentary culture.
 
The Negroes of Africa, who were widely used as slaves in the period, get little more than a justification of their lot:
 
The only people who accept slavery are the Negroes, owing to their low degree of humanity and proximity to the animal stage. Other persons who accept the status of slave do so as a means of attaining high rank, or power, or wealth, as is the case with the Mameluke Turks in the East and with those Franks and Galicians who enter the service of the state [in Spain].
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Posts: 5697 		  Quote Omar al Hashim Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23-May-2007 at 06:57
I'll go for Mas'udi. Because he is the only one I've read a significant amount from.
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TheDiplomat View Drop Down
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Posts: 1988 		  Quote TheDiplomat Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11-Jun-2007 at 04:16

It is hard to name a greatest historian, since history is up to imaginaion of its inventer.

I think it would be more suitable to name the topic '' The Most famous historian'', which explains well why Ibn Haldun got the most votes as well as I voted for him ;)
ARDA:The best Turkish diplomat ever!

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azimuth View Drop Down
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Posts: 2979 		  Quote azimuth Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15-Jun-2007 at 06:34
many of those anti-arab statements some articles claims that Ibn Khaldoun mentioned are misunderstood, for example when he talks about Arabs he usually means Bedouins who are wondering in the desert not all Arabs which also have Bedouins who are settled in an area with rules and respected traditions.

BTW Ibn Khaldoun is an Arab.
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Reginmund View Drop Down
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Posts: 1943 		  Quote Reginmund Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16-Jun-2007 at 16:39
Ah yes, azimuth, you are right. What Ibn Khaldun says should make it clear though that he's in fact speaking of Bedouins and not sedentary Arabs of merchant or peasant stock.

Ibn Khaldun was most likely an Arab, yes, from a prestigious Andalusian Arab family which emigrated to Tunisia, where Ibn Khaldun was born. Ibn Khaldun himself traced his ancestry back to Yemen.
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The_Turks View Drop Down
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Posts: 28 		  Quote The_Turks Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16-Aug-2007 at 06:42
I voted for Ibni Haldun
PROUD TO BE TURKMEN...

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