History of cities as rijal source (First four centuries-Hijri)

The biography of cities which are written in the middle of the Hijri third century are among the most important sources referred to concerning the period in which they were written. Due to the authors having a more extensive knowledge in comparison with other residents of the cities in which they reside, it has made it possible for providing a far more detailed information accumulated regarding other residents and visitors of the cities. It is possible to say that the authors giving a broader and minimal declaration of rijal criticism compared to other rijal books shows that the sole purpose of these authors were to only merely record the autobiographies rather than giving detailed information of their authority. This study will provide general information of those authors and the statements that they have used to express rijal criticism with comparison to other rijal books.