Abu Al-Mahasin Yussuf ibn Taghri Bardi was born in 812 AH, corresponding to 1409 AD. He had five brothers and four sisters, but only one of the nine, Hagar, was his full sister. His father was a prince in the Mamluk state that ruled Egypt and also ruled over Palestine and Syria for some periods. Prince Taghri Bardi was, in the Mamluk hierarchy, of Greek origin and a follower of Sultan Al-Thahir Barqooq. He was the governor of Damascus for a third term when he died in 815, i.e. only three years after the birth of our scholar whom we are introducing today.
The Mamluk state witnessed great rivalries between princes and aspirants to the highest posts. Princes and families rose and fell at high speed. In the case of our scholar, when his father died, Sultan Farag confiscated all the property of Prince Taghri Bardi after his death, despite the fact that Farag himself was married to Taghri Bardi’s own daughter Fatimah. Hence the young Yussuf had to be brought up in his sister’s home. She was married during her father’s life to Justice Nasr Al-Deen ibn Al-Adeem, who was the chief Hanafi judge.
After his death in 819 AH, she married Abd Al-Rahman Al-Bulqeeni, who was the chief Shafie judge (d. 824). Thus, Ibn Taghri Bardi, lived under two highly eminent scholars from the time when he was only three years old, until he reached 12 years. This was to be of great influence on him, making him eventually a distinguished scholar in his own right. As he was a child of great promise, particularly in the intellectual and literary fields, he benefited a great deal from being raised up under the care of two scholars and he continued to read under numerous scholars, moving in their circles.
Despite the fact that his father’s estate was confiscated at one stage, he and his brothers and sisters were able to regain much of his property in Egypt, and he enjoyed a life of affluence. Moreover, he was able to maintain his contacts with the Mamluk palace and had good relations with many of the princes and even some of the sultans who ruled Egypt. In the days of Sultan Jaqmaq (824-857), he was a regular attendant of the weekly meeting the sultan held with top scholars in which many issues of public interest were raised.
As a scholar, Ibn Taghri Bardi distinguished himself as a historian. Indeed, his interest in history was apparent even in childhood. He then attended the circle of Al-Maqreezi (d. 845), the most eminent historian of his age. He also studied under another famous historian, Al-Ayni (d. 855). After their death, Ibn Taghri Bardi was acknowledged as the main historian, which speaks much for his scholarship since historical studied were very much in vogue in the ninth and tenth centuries of the Islamic calendar. This interest in history was started by none other than Ibn Khaldoon (d. 808) who was the main figure advocating a comprehensive, analytical study of history.
Ibn Taghri Bardi shares with the main historians of his age three important characteristics. The first is their local interest, which meant that the historian would concentrate mainly on the history of the area or the province or the state in which he lived. In Egypt, this local interest started early, but it developed in the Mamluk period to attach greater interest to the history of the rest of the Islamic world. Hence we find in the history of Ibn Taghri Bardi two clear lines, local Egyptian and general Islamic. Thus, he speaks in great detail about every important event in Egypt, and about each of its sultans, then records in brief whatever events took place during his time. In the second part he devotes his interest to the events taking place in the Muslim world at large. He may also document some of the major events in non-Muslim countries or states.
The second characteristic is the chronological arrangement of history, which was a method started by Al-Tabari. This is a method that have some negative aspects, mainly the lack of sufficient analysis of historical events. However, Ibn Taghri Bardi shares with the historians of his age some attempts at a comprehensive look at historical events.
Ibn Taghri Bardi’s particular importance as a historian is not in his records of past history, when he relies on earlier historians and copies much of what they have recorded. His importance is in his coverage of the Mamluk period up to 872 AH. Here he is on firm grounds, deriving his material from original sources, making use of his personal knowledge of the Mamluks and what takes place in their circles. He discusses and analyzes reports, sifting what is reliable from what is mere hearsay. His inside knowledge of the Mamluk courts and palaces, sultans, princes and officers enabled him to give us a detailed account of life in the military ruling class, its internal struggle for power, as well as its social life. This is highly valuable as a detailed history of a state and a ruling class that did not actually belong to the countries they were ruling. Thus we find in front of us a detailed picture, based on inside knowledge, recording the life of a class that is completely separate in their interests and concerns from the public.
Four years before his death, Ibn Taghri Bardi built his own burial place, where he placed, as an endowment, his own library with all his books in all disciplines, whether written in his own period or earlier. He appointed a librarian and made an endowment to pay for his salary for generations to come. Most probably the library included all the books he had written. However, time has destroyed this burial place and its library beyond trace. Nor do we have all Ibn Taghri Bardi’s books from other sources. But what we have constitutes a great wealth of historical knowledge.
Three of his books are of particular importance. The first is Al-Minhal Al-Safi which is a book of biographies of around 3000 distinguished scholars, princes and sultans in Egypt and Syria during the two Mamluk states, as well as their contemporaries of distinguished figures in the East and the West, including many who were non-Muslims. Ibn Taghri Bardi then summarized this book in one volume called Al-Daleel Al-Shafi, which remains in manuscript form, but the original book, Al-Minhal Al-Safi has been edited and published.
Al-Nujoom Al-Zahirah fi Mulook Misr Wal-Qahirah, is the most important of Ibn Taghri Bardi’s books, as it records the history of Egypt from year 20 to 872 AH (i.e. up to two years before his death). The value of this book was recognized very early. Indeed Sultan Saleem who conquered Egypt ordered that it should be translated in full into Turkish. Parts of it were also translated into Latin and other European languages. It is published in 16 volumes. Although the author has summarized this book, this shorter version has been lost.
Ibn Taghri Bardi intended his third book Hawadith Al-Duhoor to be a complement to Al-Maqreezi’s book Al-Sulook, documenting events from the point where Al-Maqreezi stopped, i.e. 845 AH, up to the end of Ibn Taghri Bardi’s life in 872. This book has been published several times in Cairo and Beirut.
Ibn Taghri Bardi wrote several other books of different sizes, some extending into several volumes. But most of these are in manuscript form. Some have been lost completely or in part. Ibn Taghri Bardi died in 874 AH, corresponding to 1469 AD. May God have mercy on him.