This study offers a new perspective on Mahammad Ben Mohamed Seghir Ben Youssef al-Baji (1697-1771) and his book Al-Mashra' al-Mullki fi Sultanat Awlad Ali Turki. It does this by investigating his mechanisms in the production of the historical text and the writing of history in the context of his knowledge of other texts, the use of Arab Islamic culture, and his understanding of middle-class culture, that have accumulatively led to an exceptional and singular work. Whatever the overlap and interplay between history and biography in Mashra' al-Mulki, the information it provides on social actors shows Seghir ben Youssef's desire to continue the work of his predecessors and to provide new information on the lived reality, economic conditions, and the local community in Béja according to an innovative, and at times novel, method of history and biography writing.