Ibn Kathir Sources and Dependants
Sources
His history of the caliphate makes use, among other sources, of al-Tabari, Ibn 'Asakir, Ibn al-Djawzi, Ibn al-Athir, Sibt Ibn al-Djawzi, Kutb al-Din al-Yunini, al-Dhahabi, etc. The Biddya ends with a chronicle of the history of Damascus, which owes much to the Ta'rikh of al-Birzali (d, 739/1338-9) and his Mu'djam.
Dependants
The popularity of the Biddya is proved by the great number of historical works for which it, in its turn, was the basis, including those of Ibn Hidjdji (d. 816/1413), Ibn Katfi Shuhba (d. 851/1348) and especially Ibn Hadjar al-'Askalani (d. 852/1449), who wrote a continuation not only of Ibn Kathir but of two of the latter's great teachers, al-Mizzi and al-Dhahabi. Al-'Ayni (d. 855/1451) was also indebted to the Biddya.