The Possibilities for a Neo-Khaldunian Historical Sociology

Abstract

The study of the rise & decline of states, of dynastic succession & the role of religion in the Muslim east & west (al-maghrib & al-mashriq) has yet to benefit from a systematic application of the theory of `Abd al-Rahman Ibn Khaldun (732-808 AH/1332-1406 AD). The chief reason for this is that Ibn Khaldun has always been at the margins of the modern social sciences &, at most, regarded as a precursor of modern sociology, but not a sociologist in his own right. Consequently, his work on history & his elaboration of the science of society (`ilm al-`umran), deemed by him as a prerequisite for the study of history, had rarely been seriously considered as a basis for a modern Khaldunian sociology. The purpose of this paper is to raise certain problems in the study of state formation in parts of the Muslim world & elsewhere as distinctly Khaldunian problems that can be approached by applying a framework that integrates Ibn Khaldun's theory of state formation with modern concepts in sociology. I propose to do this by selecting a number of historical cases of state formation. There have been many historical & sociological studies of state formation in the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, the Indian sub-continent & China, areas where a Khaldunian model has potential applicability & which may provide the empirical ground on which to develop a general neo-Khaldunian sociology. Yet, the Khaldunian approach has generally been ignored. In this study an attempt is made to present Ibn Khaldun's sociology as an exemplar for a sociology of the South by discussing selective applications of his theory to regions & periods outside of his own.