Arabic Universal Historiography in the Post-Formative Period ( c . 1100–1600)

Abstract

This chapter surveys practice of universal historiography in Arabic during the Middle Period (c.1100-1600 CE). While still often seen as a period of stagnation compared to a ‘Golden Age’ of Islam in earlier centuries, this late medieval period saw large-scale intellectual production, not in the least of works of history. Historians composed several works adhering to established forms of universal chronography while also developing new forms of it, notably the obituary chronicle in which the long-standing traditions of chronography and prosopography were brought together. A second major dynamic concerns the continued entanglement of universal historiography and encyclopedic practices, with an especially notable increase in the size of works. The scholarly and literary dynamics informing these transformations are examined. The chapter focuses predominantly on late medieval Egypt and Syria, an area that saw exceptional cultural efflorescence at this time and where many of the known works of historiography were composed. Attention is also given to the writing of universal chronicles in Arabic by non-Muslims, especially Christians, and the ways in which these chronicles would also inform the further development of historiography by Muslim authors.