Tarikh Mukhtasar al-Duwal

Tarikh Mukhtasar al-Duwal (Abridged History of the Dynasties) is a universal history written in Arabic by the Syriac Christian polymath and prelate Ibn al-Ibri (Bar Hebraeus, 623–685 AH / 1226–1286 CE) Mujam al-Muallifin+1. The chronicle spans from the creation of the world down to the author's own time in the late 13th century CE (c. 1284 CE) Iktifa al-Qanu bima huwa …+1.

Composition and Context

According to the author's brother, Barsawma, Ibn al-Ibri relocated to Maragha due to unrest around Nineveh Tarikh Mukhtasar al-Duwal. In Maragha, where he enjoyed considerable prestige among both elites and commoners, several Arab notables requested that he adapt into Arabic the larger Syriac universal chronicle that he had previously authored Tarikh Mukhtasar al-Duwal. Ibn al-Ibri complied and completed the Arabic work—apart from a few concluding pages—in approximately one month toward the end of his life Tarikh Mukhtasar al-Duwal. Although based partly on his Syriac chronicle, he composed the text in an elegant Arabic prose style and enriched it with extensive information absent from the Syriac original, particularly concerning the Islamic and Mongol dynasties, as well as notices on scholars, philosophers, and physicians Tarikh Mukhtasar al-Duwal.

Structure and Method

In his introduction, Ibn al-Ibri states that his objective was to summarize the affairs of rulers and sages—both their virtues and vices—as cautionary and didactic lessons, drawing upon works composed in Syriac, Arabic, and other languages Tarikh Mukhtasar al-Duwal. He arranged the entire chronicle chronologically around ten successive dynasties (duwal):

1. The Saints and Prophets, beginning with Adam Tarikh Mukhtasar al-Duwal+1.
2. The Judges of the Children of Israel Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi….
3. The Kings of the Children of Israel Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi….
4. The Chaldean Kings Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi….
5. The Magian (Persian) Kings Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi….
6. The Pagan Greek Kings Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi….
7. The Frankish Kings Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi….
8. The Christianized Greek (Byzantine/Roman) Kings Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi….
9. The Muslim Arab Rulers and Caliphs Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi…+1.
10. The Mongol Kings Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi…+1.

Alongside political and dynastic history, the work provides biographical details regarding medical figures, philosophers, astronomers, and scientific translation movements across these successive eras Tarikh Mukhtasar al-Duwal+1.

Publication History and Translations

Tarikh Mukhtasar al-Duwal was among the earliest Arabic historical texts edited and printed in Western scholarship:

• Pococke's Editions (1650, 1663): In 1650, the English orientalist Edward Pococke published excerpts from the text on pre-Islamic and early Arab history with a Latin translation and extensive commentary under the title Specimen Historiae Arabum (Luma' min Akhbar al-Arab) Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi…+1. Pococke later published the complete Arabic text accompanied by his Latin translation at Oxford in 1663 in two parts Tarikh Mukhtasar al-Duwal+1.
• German Translation (1783): The work was translated into German by G. L. Bauer in 1783 Tarikh Mukhtasar al-Duwal.
• Salhani's Critical Edition (1890): The Jesuit scholar Antun Salhani prepared a new edition printed at the Catholic Press in Beirut in 1890 Mujam al-Matbuat al-Arabi…+1. Salhani collated Pococke's edition with manuscripts preserved at the India Office Library in London, the Bodleian Library at Oxford, the British Museum, and the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, appending analytical indices and concordance tables for the Hijri and Gregorian calendars Tarikh Mukhtasar al-Duwal+1.