Takmilat Tarikh al-Tabari
- Author died
- 521 AH
- Editions
- Catholic Press
Takmilat Tarikh al-Tabari (Arabic: تكملة تاريخ الطبري, lit. 'The Continuation of al-Tabari's History') is an annalistic chronicle composed by the Baghdad-based historian Abu al-Hasan Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Hamadhani (also known as al-Maqdisi; 463–521 AH / 1071–1127 CE) . Written as an explicit sequel (dhayl) to the universal chronicle Tarikh al-Rusul wa-al-Muluk by Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (d. 310 AH / 923 CE), the work records political, military, and administrative events of the Islamic world across the fourth century AH .
Background and Scope
Al-Hamadhani belonged to a scholarly family of Hamadhan origin established in Baghdad, where his father was known as an expert in the laws of inheritance (fara'id) and bore the appellation al-Maqdisi . Renowned for his expertise in dynastic histories and state chronicles, al-Hamadhani was praised by Ibn al-Najjar, who commented that the craft of historiography concluded with him in his era .
In the opening prologue, the author dedicates the work to the Abbasid caliph al-Mustazhir bi-Allah (r. 487–512 AH / 1094–1118 CE), emphasizing the utility of historical knowledge for rulers as an admonition and a reminder of past virtues and state crises . The composition was designed to continue al-Tabari's history down to 487 AH (1094 CE), but only its first major portion has survived .
Contents and Chronology
The text resumes where al-Tabari's chronicle left off during the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir bi-Allah . It follows a year-by-year annalistic structure, detailing:
- The political shifts and civil strife of the central Abbasid caliphate in Iraq.
- The rise and internal conflicts of the Buyid dynasty, including the reigns of Mu'izz al-Dawla, Izz al-Dawla Bakhtiyar, and Adud al-Dawla .
- Provincial developments across Fars, Kirman, Khurasan, Tabaristan, and Syria .
The surviving first volume concludes with the events of 367–368 AH (977–978 CE), focusing on Adud al-Dawla's entry into Baghdad, his triumph over Izz al-Dawla Bakhtiyar, and the formal investiture and titles bestowed upon him by the caliph al-Ta'i' li-Amr Allah .
Manuscript Tradition and Editions
The surviving text of the chronicle is preserved in a seventeenth-century manuscript in the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris (MS Arabe 1469) . It was edited and published in installments by Albert Kana'an in the journal al-Mashriq between 1955 and 1958, before being issued as a standalone volume in Beirut in 1959 . Modern editions of al-Tabari's Tarikh regularly incorporate al-Hamadhani's Takmila among the supplementary volumes and continuations published alongside the main text .
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