Work

Muqaddimah

Ibn Khaldun·1377·Arabic

About this text

Originally the lengthy introduction to a universal history, it became an independent founding work of historiography, sociology, and economics: built around asabiyya, the theory that group solidarity builds dynasties and its erosion by luxury eventually destroys them.

Dynasties have a natural life span like individuals... it seldom happens that a dynasty extends over more than three generations of forty years each.

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