List of Muslim historians

The following is a list of Muslim historians writing in the Islamic historiographical tradition, which developed from hadith literature in the time of the first caliphs.

Chronological list

Historians of the Formative Period

The First Century BH 50 to AH 50 / CE 570–618

The Companions of the Prophet and the early Tabi'in (first generation) who left written works (some no longer extant, but are cited verbatim elsewhere.)

Suhar Al-Abdi [ar] 25 BH (594 CE) - 60 AH (679/680 CE)
Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn al-As 27 BH (595 CE) - 65 AH (684/685 CE) - Al-Sahifah al-Sadiqah
Urwah ibn Zubayr 23 AH (643/644 CE) - 94 AH (712/713 CE)
Sa'id ibn Jubayr 23 AH (643/644 CE) - 95 AH (713/714 CE)

Mujahid ibn Jabr 21 AH (641/642 CE) - 104 AH (722/723 CE)
Aban bin Uthman bin Affan 20 AH (640/641 CE) - 105 AH (723/724 CE)
Wahb ibn Munabbih 34 AH (654/655 CE) - 114 AH (732/733 CE)
Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri 49 AH (669/670 CE) - 124 AH (741/742 CE)

The First Century - AH 50 to AH100 / CE 618–718

Latter Tabi'in and early Tabi' al-Tabi'in

Musa ibn ʿUqba 55 AH (674/675 CE) - 141 AH (758/759 CE)
Hisham ibn Urwah 61 AH (680/681 CE) - 146 AH (763/764 CE)
Muhammad ibn as-Sā'ib al-Kalbī 55 AH (674/675 CE) - 146 AH (763/764 CE)
Awana ibn al-Hakam d. 147 AH (764/765 CE)
Ibn Ishaq 80 AH (699/700 CE) - 151 AH (768/769 CE) Sirah Rasul Allah (The Life of the Apostle of God)
Al-Sharqi bin Al-Qatmi [ar] 80 AH (699/700 CE) - 155 AH (771/772 CE)
Abu Ma'shar al-Sindi al-Madani 80 AH (699/700 CE) - 170 AH (786/787 CE)
Abi Mikhnaf d. 170 AH (786/787 CE) Maqtal al-Husayn
Isa ibn Yazid ibn Da'b al-Laythi [ar] d. 171 AH (787/788 CE)
Ibn Lahi'a 96 AH (714/715 CE) - 174 AH (790/791 CE)
Malik ibn Anas 93 AH (711/712 CE) - 179 AH (795/796 CE) - Founder of the Maliki Madhab
Sayf ibn Umar 90 AH (708/709 CE) - 180 AH (796/797 CE)

Historians of the Classical Period

The Second Century AH 100-200 / CE 718–815

Latter Tabi' al-Tabi'in Historians - Era contemporaneous with Umayyad decline and Abbasid Rise.

Abu Ismail al-Azdi [ar] 110 AH (728/729 CE) - 170 AH (786/787 CE)
Abu Ishaq al-Fazari d. 188 AH (803/804 CE)
Ibn Zabala [ar] d. 199 AH (814/815 CE)
Hisham ibn al-Kalbi 110 AH (728/729 CE) - 204 AH (819/820 CE)
Al-Waqidi 130 AH (747/748 CE) - 207 AH (822/823 CE) Kitab al-Tarikh wa'l-Maghazi (Book of History and Battles).
Al-Haytham ibn 'Adi d. 207 AH (822/823 CE)
Abd al-Razzaq al-San'ani 126 AH (743/744 CE) - 211 AH (826/827 CE)
Nasr ibn Muzahim [ar] 130 AH (747/748 CE) - 212 AH (827/828 CE)
Al-Asmaʿi 123 AH (740/741 CE) - 216 AH (831/832 CE)
Ibn Hisham d. 218 AH (833/834 CE)
Ibn Bakkar [ar] 129 AH (746/747 CE) - 222 AH (836/837 CE)
Ibn Sa'd 168 AH (784/785 CE) - 230 AH (844/845 CE)

Muhammad bin Aa'idh Al-Qurayshi [ar] 150 AH (767/768 CE) - 233 AH (847/848 CE)
Muṣʻab ibn ʻAbd Allāh Zubayrī [ar] 156 AH (772/773 CE) - 236 AH (850/851 CE)
Wathima ibn Musa d. 237 AH (851/852 CE)
Khalifa ibn Khayyat 160 AH (776/777 CE) - 240 AH (854/855 CE)
Ali ibn al-Madini 161 AH (777/778 CE) - 234 AH (848/849 CE)
Al-Abbas bin Hisham Al-Kalbi [ar] 165 AH (781/782 CE) - 240 AH (854/855 CE)
Muhammad ibn Habib al-Baghdadi d. 245 AH (859/860 CE)
Al-Jahiz 159 AH (775/776 CE) - 255 AH (868/869 CE)
Ibn Habib 180 AH (796/797 CE) - 238 AH (852/853 CE)

Muhammad al-Bukhari 194 AH (809/810 CE) - 256 AH (869/870 CE) Sahih al-Bukhari, The Great History
Al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār 172 AH (788/789 CE) - 256 AH (869/870 CE)
Ibn Abd al-Hakam 187 AH (802/803 CE) - 257 AH (870/871 CE) Futuh Misr wa'l-Maghrib wa akhbaruha

The Third Century AH 200-300 / CE 815–913

Omar ibn Shabba d. 262 AH (875/876 CE)
Ibn Majah 209 AH (824/825 CE) - 273 AH (886/887 CE)
Abu Dawud 202 AH (817/818 CE) - 275 AH (888/889 CE)
Ibn Qutaybah 213 AH (828/829 CE) - 276 AH (889/890 CE) Uyun al-akhbar, Al-Imama wa al-Siyasa^[1]
Al-Baladhuri 204 AH (819/820 CE) - 279 AH (892/893 CE)
Al-Dinawari 212 AH (827/828 CE) - 282 AH (895/896 CE) Akbar al-tiwal
Ibrahim Al-Thaqafi d. 283 AH (896/897 CE)
al-Tirmidhi 209 AH (824/825 CE) - 279 AH (892/893 CE)
Al-Fakihi 215 AH (830/831 CE) - 279 AH (892/893 CE)
Umara ibn Wathima d. 289 AH (901/902 CE)
Aslam ibn Sahl ibn Aslam d. 292 AH (904/905 CE)
Ya'qubi d. 284 AH (897/898 CE) or 298 AH (910/911 CE) Tarikh al-Yaqubi
Al-Nasa'i 214 AH (829/830 CE) - 303 AH (915/916 CE)
Ibn Fadlan d. after 309 AH (921/922 CE)
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari 224 AH (838/839 CE) - 310 AH (922/923 CE) History of the Prophets and Kings
Ibn A'tham d. 314 AH (926/927 CE) al-Futuh
Ibn Wahshiyya d. 318 AH (930/931 CE)
Abu Ahmed Al-Jaloudi d. 332 AH (943/944 CE)
Abu al-Arab al-Tamimi 251 AH (865/866 CE) - 333 AH (944/945 CE)

Sinan ibn Thabit d. 331 AH (942/943 CE)
Abū Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hamdānī 280 AH (893/894 CE) - 336 AH (947/948 CE)
Abu Bakr bin Yahya al-Suli d. 336 AH (947/948 CE)
Abu Saeed ibn al-A'rabi [ar] 245 AH (859/860 CE) - 340 AH (951/952 CE)
Ali al-Masudi 283 AH (896/897 CE) - 346 AH (957/958 CE) The Meadows of Gold
Muhammad ibn Yusuf al-Kindi 283 AH (896/897 CE) - 350 AH (961/962 CE)
Ibn Shaban al-Amari [ar] 270 AH (883/884 CE) - 355 AH (965/966 CE)
Abu al-Faraj al-Isfahani 284 AH (897/898 CE) - 356 AH (966/967 CE)

The Fourth Century AH 300-400 / CE 913–1010

Al-Mutahhar ibn Tahir al-Maqdisi [ar] d. 355 AH (965/966 CE)
Qadi al-Nu'man - (Fatimid) d. 363 AH (973/974 CE)
Ibn al-Qūṭiyya (Anadalusian) d. 367 AH (977/978 CE) Ta'rikh iftitah al-Andalus
Abu Suleiman Al-Rubii [ar] d. 379 AH (989/990 CE)
al-Saghani d. 379 AH (989/990 CE) one of the earliest historians of science
Al-Muqaddasi 336 AH (947/948 CE) - 380 AH (990/991 CE) - Aḥsan al-taqāsīm has a detailed description on his birthplace in Palestine and the Levant
Ibn an-Nadīm 320 AH (932/933 CE) - 385 AH (995/996 CE)
al-Daraqutni 306 AH (918/919 CE) - 385 AH (995/996 CE)

Ibn Faradi (Anadalusian) 351 AH (962/963 CE) - 403 AH (1012/1013 CE)
al-Musabbihi (Fatimid) 366 AH (976/977 CE) - 420 AH (1029/1030 CE), Akhbar Misr^[2]
Ibn Miskawayh 320 AH (932/933 CE) - 421 AH (1030/1031 CE)
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Jabbar al-Utbi d. 427 AH (1035/1036 CE)
al-Bīrūnī 362 AH (972/973 CE) - 440 AH (1048/1049 CE) Kitab fi Tahqiq ma li'l-Hind (Researches on India), The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries
Hilal ibn al-Muhassin al-Sabi' 359 AH (969/970 CE) - 448 AH (1056/1057 CE)
al-Khatib al-Baghdadi 392 AH (1001/1002 CE) - 463 AH (1070/1071 CE) Tarikh Baghdad (a biographical dictionary of major Baghdadi figures)
Abolfazl Beyhaqi d. 470 AH (1077/1078 CE) Tarikh-e Mas'oudi (also known as Tarikh-e Beyhaqi).^[1]

Historians by Region

Arabian Peninsula, Mesopotamia and Persia

Abu'l-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi (d. 1201)
Yaqut al-Hamawi (1179–1229) author of Mu'jam al-Buldan ("The Dictionary of Countries")
Ibn al-Athir (1160–1231) al-Kamil fi'l-Tarikh
Muhammad bin Ali Rawandi (c.1204) Rahat al-sudur, (a history of the Great Seljuq Empire and its break-up into minor beys)
Zahiriddin Nasr Muhammad Aufi (d. 1242)
Sibt ibn al-Jawzi (d. 1256)
Hamdollah Mostowfi (d. 1281)
Ibn Bibi (d. after 1281)
Ata-Malik Juvayni (1283)
Ibn al-Tiqtaqa (d. after 1302)
Ibn al-Fuwati (d. 1323)
Wassaf (d. 1323)
Rashid-al-Din Hamadani (d. 1398) Jami al-Tawarikh
Sharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi (d. 1454)
Mirkhond (d. 1498) Rauzât-us-safâ

Egypt, Palestine and Syria

Ẓāhir al-Dīn Nīshāpūrī around 1175
Ibn al-Qalanisi (d. 1160)
Ibn Asakir (d. 1176)
Usamah ibn Munqidh (d. 1188)
Imad al-Din al-Isfahani (d. 1201)
Ibrahim ibn Wasif Shah (d. 1202)
Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi (d. 1231)
Baha al-Din ibn Shaddad (d. 1235) al-Nawādir al-Sultaniyya wa'l-Maḥāsin al-Yūsufiyya (The Rare and Excellent History of Saladin)
Sibt ibn al-Jawzi (d. 1256) Mir'at al-zaman (Mirror of the Time)
Ibn al-Adim (d. 1262)
Abu Shama (AH 599–665/CE 1203–68) full name Abū Shāma Shihāb al-Dīn al-Maqdisī^[3]
Ibn Khallikan (d. 1282)
Ibn Abd al-Zahir (d. 1293)
Abu'l-Fida (d. 1331)
al-Nuwayri (d. 1332)
al-Mizzi (d. 1341)
al-Dhahabi (d. 1348) Tarikh al-Islam al-kabir
Ibn Kathir (d. 1373) al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya (The Beginning and the End)
Ibn al-Furat (d. 1405)
al-Maqrizi (d. 1442) al-Suluk li-ma'firat duwwal al-muluk (Mamluk history of Egypt)
Ibn Hajr al-Asqalani (d. 1449)
al-Ayni (d. 1451)
Ibn Taghribirdi (d. 1470) Nujum al-zahira fi muluk Misr wa'l-Qahira (History of Egypt)
al-Sakhawi (d. 1497)
al-Suyuti (d. 1505) History of the Caliphs
Mujir al-Din al-'Ulaymi (d.1522)

al-Andalus and the Maghreb

Ibn Hazm (d. 1063)
Yusuf ibn abd al-Barr (d. 1071)
Ibn Hayyan (d. 1075)
al-Udri (d. 1085)
Abū 'Ubayd 'Abd Allāh al-Bakrī (d. 1094)
Qadi Iyad (d. 1149)
Mohammed al-Baydhaq (d. 1164)
Ibn Rushd (d. 1198)
Abdelwahid al-Marrakushi
al-Qurtubi (d. 1273)
Abdelaziz al-Malzuzi (d. 1298)
Ibn Idhari (d. 1312)
Ibn Battuta (d. 1369))
Ibn al-Khatib (d. 1374)
Ibn Abi Zar (d. ca. 1320) Rawd al-Qirtas
Ismail ibn al-Ahmar (d. 1406)
Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406) al-Muqaddimah and al-I'bar

India

Minhaj-i-Siraj (d. after 1260)
Amir Khusro (d. 1325)
Ziauddin Barani (d. 1357)
Akbar Shah Khan Najibabadi (1875–1938)
Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman Medieval Indian medical historian
Sayyid Shamsullah Qadri (24 November 1885 – 22 October 1953)
Muhammad Asadullah Al-Ghalib (15 January 1948)

Early modern historians

Turkish: Ottoman Empire

Aşıkpaşazade (d. 1481)
Tursun Beg (d. after 1488)^[4]
İdris-i Bitlisi (d. 1520)
Ibn Kemal (d. 1534)
Matrakçı Nasuh (d. 1564)
Hoca Sadeddin Efendi (d. 1599)
Mustafa Âlî (d. 1600)
Mustafa Selaniki (d. 1600)
Katip Çelebi (d. 1647)
İbrahim Peçevi (d. 1650)
Evliya Çelebi (d. after 1682)
Mustafa Naima (1655–1716) Ta'rīkh-i Na'īmā
Silahdar Findiklili Mehmed Aga (d. 1723)
Ahmed Resmî Efendi (d. 1783)
Ahmet Cevdet Pasha (d. 1895)

Arabic: Ottoman Empire and Morocco

Ibn Iyas (d. after November 1522)
Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari (d. 1632)
Mohammed al-Ifrani (d. 1747)
Mohammed al-Qadiri (d. 1773)
Khalil al-Muradi (d. 1791)
Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti (d. 1825) Aja'ib al-athar fi'l-tarajim wa'l-akhbar
Ahmad ibn Khalid al-Nasiri (d. 1897)

Persian: Safavid Empire and Mughal India

Muhammad Khwandamir (d. 1534)
Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak (d. 1602) Akbarnama
Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni (d. 1615)
Firishta (d. 1620)
Iskandar Beg Munshi (d. 1632)
Nizamuddin Ahmad (d. 1621)
Inayat Allah Kamboh (d. 1671)
Muhammad Saleh Kamboh (d. c. 1675)
Abul Fazl Mamuri (c. 1700)
Mirza Mehdi Khan Astarabadi (d. c. 1760)

Historians of the modern period

Notes

1 2 (Robinson hasn't mentioned his name.)
↑ Bianquis, "Al-Musabbihi", Encyclopaedia of Islam, Leiden: Brill, 1960-2004.
↑ Antrim, Zayde G. "Abū Shāma Shihāb al-Dīn al-Maqdisī". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.). Brill Online. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_22839. ISSN 1873-9830. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
↑ "Tursun Beg." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Leiden: Brill, 1960-2004.

References

Robinson, Chase F. (2003), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-62936-5. XIV and XV ("Chase F. Robinson" in "Islamic Historiography" has mentioned the chronological list of Islamic historians.)
Babinger, Franz. Geschichtsschreiber der Osmanen. Leipzig: O. Harrassowitz, 1927.
Encyclopaedia of Islam. Leiden: Brill, 1960-2004.

[Robinson-1] 1 2 (Robinson hasn't mentioned his name.)

[2] Bianquis, "Al-Musabbihi", Encyclopaedia of Islam, Leiden: Brill, 1960-2004.

[3] Antrim, Zayde G. "Abū Shāma Shihāb al-Dīn al-Maqdisī". In Fleet, Kate; Krämer, Gudrun; Matringe, Denis; Nawas, John; Rowson, Everett (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (3rd ed.). Brill Online. doi:10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_22839. ISSN 1873-9830. Retrieved 23 April 2018.

[4] "Tursun Beg." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Leiden: Brill, 1960-2004.

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