A Critical Review of Hisham Al-Kalbi's Narrations in Tabari's History

The founders of Islamic historiography are the very narrators and Akhbaris (traditionalists) who lived in of the second and third centuries, an exhaustive list of whom has been drawn up by Ibn-e-Nadim. Hisham has a special status among them because his narrations cover an extended period of history from the Fall of Adam to the Abbasid period and there is no need to go into detail about it because it takes time. The present paper uses a descriptive-analytical method to examine the significance of and approach to Hisham’s narrations by referring to them in Tabari's history. Among the questions discussed by this study is in which cases Tabar replies on the factors behind Tabari's reliance on them, Hisham’s narrations, and the features of Hisham’s narrations, that is, his historiography that was a source of interest to Tabari. The present research shows that the vastness of Hisham al-Kalbi’s historical knowledge, along with his moderation, impartiality and objectivity have led Tabari to verify the authority of his narrations. Therefore, Tabari quotes extensively from Hisham in different periods.