Ibn al-Tiqtaqi
- Died
- 709 AH
- Born in
- -
Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Tabataba, known as Ibn al-Tiqtaqi (c. 660–709 AH / 1262–1309 CE), was an Iraqi historian and Alid nobleman best known for his treatise on statecraft and dynastic history, al-Fakhri fi al-Adab al-Sultaniyya wa-al-Duwal al-Islamiyya (The Fakhri on Princely Virtues and Islamic Dynasties) .
Lineage and Early Life
His full lineage is Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Tabataba al-Alawi al-Hasani, also recorded under the honorifics Safi al-Din and Fakhr al-Din . He was born around 660 AH (1262 CE) into a prominent Sharifi family tracing its descent to the early Alid leader Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Tabataba . His father, Taj al-Din Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Ramadan, served as the chief syndic (naqib al-nuqaba') of the Alids across al-Hilla, al-Najaf, and Karbala, accumulating extensive estates and wealth . During the reign of the Ilkhanid sultan Abaqa Khan, the director of the chancery (sahib al-diwan) executed his father and confiscated the family's assets when Ibn al-Tiqtaqi was twenty years old; another account records that he succeeded to his father's syndic office over the Alids in 672 AH .
Career and Travel
Ibn al-Tiqtaqi grew up in Mosul and married a Persian woman from Khurasan . In 696 AH (1296–1297 CE), he traveled to Maragha in Azerbaijan before returning to Mosul, where he settled . In Mosul in 701 AH (1301–1302 CE), he completed al-Fakhri fi al-Adab al-Sultaniyya wa-al-Duwal al-Islamiyya, presenting it to the city's governor, Fakhr al-Din 'Isa ibn Ibrahim, after whom the treatise was named .
Scholarly Approach and Standing
Ibn al-Tiqtaqi organized al-Fakhri into two parts: the first examines the general principles of governance, princely etiquette, statecraft, and the conduct of courtiers, while the second chronicles the political history of the Rashidun Caliphate, the Umayyad dynasty, and the Abbasid dynasty, alongside brief treatments of contemporary and competing polities such as the Fatimids . Although he professed objective neutrality in his preface despite his Shi'i Alid lineage, commentators have noted his deference to Mongol authority and pronounced praise for their empire .
Death
Ibn al-Tiqtaqi died in 709 AH (1309 CE), reportedly in Mosul .
Answer updated
List of Works
al-Fakhri fi al-Adab al-Sultaniyya wa al-Duwal al-Islamiyya (The Fakhri on Princely Virtues and Islamic Dynasties) is a treatise on Islamic statecraft and dynastic history completed in Mosul in 701 AH (1301–1302 CE). The work is organized into two major parts: the first examines the general etiquette of rulers, governance, and the conduct of kings and courtiers, while the second chronicles the history of the Rashidun Caliphate, the Umayyad dynasty, and the Abbasid dynasty, alongside other dynasties that arose during the Abbasid period.