Ibn Khaldûn's Words Ring True 600 Years Later.

History Is Good for You!

"History is a discipline widely cultivated among the nations and races. It is eagerly sought after. The men in the street, the ordinary people, aspire to know it. Kings and leaders vie for it."
— Ibn Khaldûn (1377)

By Ron Fritze
August 20, 2007

Ibn Khaldûn (1332-1406) wrote those words over six hundred years ago in a world very different from the one we live in today. Despite the changes wrought by centuries, the great scholar's ideas about history remain true today.

While Ibn Khaldûn was a child and a teenager, the Black Death swept through Eurasia during the 1340s, devastating the populations of Christian Europe and the Islamic Middle East. His family was among the elite of Muslim Spain, but was forced to flee to North Africa after the fall of Seville to the Christian armies of Castile in 1248.

The Khaldûns found haven in a region of North Africa that now consists of the countries of Tunis, Algeria, and Morocco (the Maghrib), and entered into the service of the Hafsid rulers of Tunis. They quickly discovered that the political stability of the region was in a state of disintegration.

Astute Judgments about Human Affairs.

In 1350 the young Ibn Khaldûn decided to align his allegiance to the Marinid Sultans of Fez. He served in their diplomatic service with distinction, but conditions in the Maghrib were so unstable that no one could thrive or even be secure. These conditions did, however, teach Ibn Khaldûn how to make astute judgments about human affairs.

He left government service, and from 1375-1378 lived a private life while writing his great work, the Muqaddimah (Introduction).

In 1382 he relocated to Cairo where his fame as a scholar was known. The Mamluk Sultan insisted that he stay there and serve as a judge and a professor. Ibn Khaldûn also continued to do diplomatic work, and in 1400 even met with the notoriously ruthless conqueror Tamerlane.

Just as it did in the 1300s, history remains of great interest to many people living throughout the world and in all levels of society — although a look at the blank and bored faces of students in a large survey section of a freshman history class at most universities might seem to belie that observation.

A Fundamental Part of Education.

Historians can at the least take grim comfort in the fact that those same young faces are looking with equal boredom at the biology, mathematics, sociology, and literature teachers. Fortunately, the passage of time will teach most of them that education is important and that history is a fundamental part of the education of any intelligent person.

This website, which revolves around a cyber space we call Planet Clio, is about History with a capital H. Clio is the ancient Greek muse of history. Once long ago she inspired historians to write good history, and I believe she does the same today if the historian is listening.

The fact of the matter is that history is good for us as human beings. It teaches us who we are.

A nation, a society, or a group of people with common interests or heritage each has their own history. History is to a group what memory is to an individual. A person without a memory is an amnesiac. Amnesia is a bewildering state for a person to experience. A society that forgets its history is equally crippled. Either it will not know itself, or it will be victimized by false histories or myths. Myths helped to lead Nazi Germany to perdition.

Enjoyable, Rewarding, and Fun.

So, we can see that history is important — fundamentally important to each of us. History is also enjoyable, rewarding, and fun. The History Channel is very popular among viewers. Mystery novels with historical settings have come to form a significant sub-genre in the field of popular fiction. Movies with historical settings are continually being made or remade. History books frequently appear on the bestseller lists, far more than books from other subject areas taught in universities.

Hopefully the readers who arrive at this website will find something of personal value. Perhaps they will discover a story or two to satisfy an educational goal. They might discover pointers to the kind of history that is good and interesting. They could find a better sense of history's importance. And I hope each visitor who stays awhile will have some fun and enjoyment.

History has something for everyone, as long as they are curious and willing to learn. From the first historical narrative penned by Herodotus to the legion of excellent texts being published today, history has displayed a richness of diversity in the truest sense of the term. The diversity found in good history stands in stark contrast to the sterile flavor of diversity that has become an empty buzzword in the wasteland of core curriculums and general education programs in modern America's typical university. It's a fact that is more often suppressed than utilized when decisions about required courses are being made.

But, as Ibn Khaldûn so accurately described it:

"It should be known that history is a discipline that has a great number of approaches. Its useful aspects are many. Its goal is distinguished."