Ibn Bibi

Ibn Bibi was a Persian¹ historiographer and the author of the primary source for the history of the Seljuq Sultanate of Rum during the 13th century.² He served as head of the chancellery of the Sultanate in Konya and reported on contemporary events. His best known book is Selçukname.

Family

Ibn Bibi’s father, a native of Gorgan, 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 invited to Konya by Kayqubad I. The family was part of an exodus of Persian intellectuals from Mongol-dominated Iran.

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

Ibn Bibi’s memoir is written in Persian and covers the period between 1192 and 1280.³ A single manuscript, produced for Kaykhusraw III, survives in Istanbul (Aya Sofya 2985). An abridged Persian version called Mukhtaṣar was produced during the author's lifetime in 1284-85. An Ottoman Turkish 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, Berlin, Istanbul, Leiden, St Petersburg, , and .