Taqi al-Din al-Maqrizi

Taqi al-Din al-Maqrizi (1364–1442) was the leading Egyptian historian of the Mamluk age, born in Cairo of Damascene origin and a direct student of Ibn Khaldun. After serving as a secretary, he became inspector of markets for Cairo and northern Egypt in 1399 and took a lectureship in Damascus in 1408.

In 1430 he went on pilgrimage with his family and travelled for some five years, afterwards devoting himself to historical and biographical works, particularly on the Fatimid era and earlier Egyptian history.