Ahmad Nazmi

COMMERCIAL RELATIONS BETWEEN ARABS-AND

(9th—11th centuries)

Wydawnictwo Akademickie DIALOG X Warszawa 1998 Contents

Preface 9 Survey of sources 14 Geographical sources 14 Travellers 38 History and chronicles 43 Other sources 45 Chapter one: The world of commerce 47 Islamic component in the realm of trade 47 Commercial world of the Mediterranean 54 Economic competition between the two powers—contradiction between two policies 60 The Khazar—Arab conflict 65 Chapter two: knowledge of the Slavs (as-Saqaliba) 74 The term "Saqaliba"—its meaning and etymology 74 The question of the Saqaliba in Muslim Spain 77 Geographical location of the Saqaliba (Saqlaba) 80 Peoples affiliated withor related to the Slavs 89 1. The Rus/ Ar-Rusiya 89 2. The Bulgar 101 Chapter three: The middlemen of trade 114 1. Jewish merchants 114 The Jewish communities 114 Radanites 121 The Khazar merchants ( 129 2. The Rus merchants 139 3. The Bulgar merchants 151 Geographical location of the town of Bulgar 158 4. Muslim merchants 164 Chapter four: Commercial exchange and trading commodities 183 1. Slave trade 183 System of in the Muslim society 183 The origin of the slaves in the 184 Slave hunters 186 Mediators and brokers 189 Muslim slave markets 191 2. Fur trade 198 3. Other commodities 203 Chapter five: Trade routes 211 Northern routes 212 Axial routes 217 Samkirs 218 Tmutarkan (Matarha ) 220 Sarkel " '. 221 Chapter six: The monetary question 225 The monetary question in the caliphate 225 Sources of precious metals 229 The monetary question in European region 235 Conclusion 243 Annexes 253 Revenues of he caliphate at the beginning of the ninth century AD according to the list of Al-Gahsiyarl 253 Dates of the principal authors and sources 256 Fig. no. 1: The seven climes according to Al-Blrun! and Yaqut 258 Fig. no. 2: The seven climes according to Yaqut 259 Fig. no. 3: The Globe (Kurat al-ard) according to Kitdb Ihwdn as-Safd' wa-hulldn al-wafd' 260 Fig. no. 4: The seven climes according to Sams ad-Din ad-Dimasql . 261 Fig. no.5: The World Map according to Yaqut 262 » Map no. 1: Peoples of Eastern 263 Map no. 2: Main commercial centres in . 10th-llth centuries » 264 Map no. 3: Trade routes between the caliphate and Eastern Europe . 265 Bibliography 266 Index 284