Abstract:

The word "K̲h̲iṭaṭ", which was the name given to a tribe or a community of tribes in newly established cities after the first Muslim conquests, later became a name of the works written for the promotion of buildings and structures in these cities and their neighbourhoods. Whereas the first known book, K̲h̲iṭaṭ, was written by al-Haytham Ibn ‘Adī, it became an area where Egyptian authors came to the fore beginning with Ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam. Al-Maqrīzī was the author of al- Khiṭaṭi’l- Maqrīzī, whose name was identified with the genre and brought the tradition of Egyptian K̲h̲iṭaṭ writing to its peak. To understand the importance of the K̲h̲iṭaṭ type of writing, it is sufficient to look at the purpose of writing Al-Maqrīzī 's work. Al-Maqrīzī wrote his Khitat to describe the level of civilization that Cairo reached when it was the political and cultural centre of the Islamic world. In short, it aimed to tell the level of civilization reached by Islamic cities, to bring together the state of the people and scattered information about that city, and to know the source works about that city. In this study, the historical value of Khitatu'l- al-Basra, written by Salih Ahmad al-Ali as a continuation of this tradition, has been tried to be revealed. The importance of Khitat al-Basra stems from the fact that it evaluates the data in classical sources together with the findings of modern studies. In this respect, Khitatu'l- al-Basra stands out as an exemplary work written in modern times as a continuation of the traditional writing of the Khitatu'l. The sources of this work are divided into two as classical sources and modern sources. The author of the work, Salih Ahmad al-Ali, is one of the famous historians of the Arab-Islamic World and had chosen the historiography of culture and civilization as his primary field of study. In addition to his teacher Gibb, his family's dealing with commerce might play a role in his concentration on social and economic life and urban historiography.

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