Ibn Bibi was a

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

historiographer and the author of the primary source for the history of the

Seljuq Sultanate of Rum The Sultanate of Rum was a culturally Turco-Persian Sunni Muslim state, established over conquered Byzantine territories and peoples (Rum) of Anatolia by the Seljuk Turks following their entry into Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. T ...

during the 13th century. He served as head of the chancellery of the Sultanate in

Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

and reported on contemporary events. His best known book is ''

Selçukname ''Selçukname'' is an informal term used for any of a number of medieval chronicles about Seljuk history written by different authors, mostly in Persian. It is also used for the 15th century Ottoman chronicle '' Tevârih-i Âl-i Selçuk'' (''His ...

''.

Family

Ibn Bibi’s father, a native of

Gorgan Gorgan (; ) is a city in the Central District (Gorgan County), Central District of Gorgan County, Golestan province, Golestan province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It lies approximately to the nor ...

, lived for a time at the court of the Jalal al-Din Kwarezmshah and later worked at the Seljuq chancellery. His mother, Bi Bi Monajemeh Nishaburi, was a famous astrologer from

Nishapur Nishapur or Neyshabur (, also ) is a city in the Central District (Nishapur County), Central District of Nishapur County, Razavi Khorasan province, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Ni ...

invited to Konya by

Kayqubad I 'Alā' ad-Dīn Kay-qubād ibn-e Kay-xusraw (; , 1190–1237), also known as Kayqubad I, was the Seljuq Turkish Sultan of Rûm who reigned from 1220 to 1237. He expanded the borders of the sultanate at the expense of his neighbors, particula ...

. The family was part of an exodus of Persian intellectuals from

Mongol Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...

-dominated

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

el-Evâmirü'l-Alâiyye fi'l-umûri'l-Alâiyye

Ibn Bibi’s memoir is written in

and covers the period between 1192 and 1280.H. Crane, ''Notes on Saldjūq Architectural Patronage in Thirteenth Century Anatolia'', Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, Vol. 36, No. 1, 1993:2. A single manuscript, produced for

Kaykhusraw III Kaykhusraw III (, ) or Ghiyāth ad-Dīn Kaykhusraw bin Qilij Arslān (; – 1284) was between two and six years old when in 1265 he was named Seljuq Sultan of Rûm. He was the son of Kilij Arslan IV, the weak representative of the Seljuq line w ...

, survives in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

(Aya Sofya 2985). An abridged Persian version called ''Mukhtaṣar'' was produced during the author's lifetime in 1284-85. An

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

adaptation, sometimes called the ''Seljukname'', is included in the ''Oğuzname'' of the early 15th century court historian Yazicioğlu Ali. Several manuscripts of the latter survive in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

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St Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. H.W. Duda supplies the definitive text with a German translation in his ''Die Seltschukengeschichte des Ibn Bībī'' (Copenhagen 1959). ''A facsimile of Aya Sofya 2985'' with an introduction by A.S. Erzi is published as '' El-Evāmirü'l-'Alā'iyye fī'l-Umuri'l-'Ala'iyye,'' Türk Tarih Kurumu Publications I, Serial No: 4a (Ankara, 1957).

References

Sources

*H.W. Duda, “Ibn Bībī” ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'', ed. by P. Bearman, et al. (Brill 2007). *Andrew S. Ehrenkreutz, “Ibn Bībī” ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'' (Oxford University Press 1991), v. 2, p. 973. Historians from the Sultanate of Rum 13th-century Iranian historians People from Nishapur 13th-century Persian-language writers People from Gorgan {{iran-writer-stub