Ibn Khaldun writes the Muqaddima

1377

Sequestered in a remote Algerian fortress for four years, the Tunisian-born jurist composed the introduction to a universal history of Berbers and Arabs. It analyzed the cyclical rise and fall of dynasties through tribal solidarity, luxury's enervations, and the inevitable decay of settled civilization by its own comforts. Modern historiography would later recognize him as one of its founders.