Ibn Haldun’s family moved to Tunisia from Andalusia, Spain. He developed a sort of proto-sociology.
Ibn Haldun, one of the most influential Arabian thinkers died on this day in 1406, aged 73. He was born in Tunisia in 1332, making him a contemporary of Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch), Giovanni Boccaccio, Donatello, and Filippo Brunelleschi. His family had settled in Tunisia after the Christian reconquista (re-conquest) of the area around Seville in Spanish Andalusia.
Ibn Haldun was one of the first historians who wrote about the philosophy of history. He described the history of the Arabs and their neighboring nations, taking into account the influence of climate, geography, morals, and spirituality on the development of human communities. Ibn Haldun is thus considered to be a sort of proto-sociologist.
He spent most of his later life in Cairo, where he also died. Today his image is found on Tunisian 10 dinar bills.
