Typology of Historical Works of Ibn Ḥabīb Baḡdādī (245 AH)

Abstract

Typology of historical works of Ibn Ḥabīb Baḡdādī (245 AH) Abstract Over 37 works have been attributed to muḥammad ibn Ḥabīb Baḡdādī, the prolific scholar and historian of the third century AH, from which only 11 are available today. Among the 11 works, eight works are historical and three are literary. This article aims to provide a new typology of Ibn Habib's historical writings and, moreover, to reveal innovations by comparing these works with the writings of his masters, predecessors and contemporaries. After analyzing the contents of the available historical works and comparison with the works of masters and their contemporaries, they can be categorized into two major types: multiplegraphy and Monography (tribegraphy, mothergraphy, and nomengraphy). al-muḥabbar is a multiplegraphy that is a combination of different types of historiography under 175 titles has various content in sīra, biographies of ṣahāba, genealogy, women status, history of the Caliphs, manāqib and maṭālib figures and information on Arab customs; but al-munammaq fī aḳbār-i qurays and ummahāt-u al-nabī is an instance of monography which can also be termed as »tribegraphy« and » Mothergraphy «. Other works of ibn ḥabīb such as asmāᵓu al-muḡtālīn min al-asrāf fī al-ǰāhilīya wa al-islām, asmāᵓu man qutila min alssuᶜarāᵓ and muktalif-u al-qabāᵓil wa muᵓtalifuhā which are among Ibn ḥabīb's innovations and are of the monograph type, can be categorized as nomengraphy