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Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness Arab Travellers In IBN FADLĀN Ibn Fadlān and the Land of Darkness Arab Travellers in the Far North Translated with an Introduction by PAUL LUNDE and CAROLINE STONE PENGUIN BOOKS Contents List of Maps Chronology Introduction Note on the Texts Maps IBN FADLĀN AND THE LAND OF DARKNESS Part I The Book of Ahmad ibn Fadlān 921–922 Part II The Travels of Abū Hāmid al-Andalusī al-Gharnātī 1130–1155 Part III Passages from Other Geographers, Historians and Travellers 1. Qudāma ibn Ja‘far on Alexander in China 928–932 2. Ibn Khurradādhbih on Sallām the Interpreter and Alexander’s Wall 844 3. Ibn Hayyān on the Viking attack on Seville 844 4. Zuhrī on Viking ships c. 1160 5. Ibn Khurradādhbih on the routes of the Rādhānīya and the Rūs c. 830 6. Ibn al-Faqīh on the Rādhānīya 903 7. Ibn Khurradādhbih on exports from the western Mediterranean 885 8. Ibn Rusta on the Khazars 903–913 9. Ibn Rusta on the Burtās 903–913 10. Ibn Rusta on the Bulkārs 903–913 11. Ibn Rusta on the Magyars 903–913 12. Ibn Rusta on the Saqāliba 903–913 13. Ibn Rusta on the Rūs 903–913 14. Mas‘ūdī on the Iron Gates 943 15. Mas‘ūdī on the Khazar capital 943 16. Mas‘ūdī on the Khazars 943 17. Mas‘ūdī on the khāqān of the Khazars 943 18. Mas‘ūdī on the Bulghārs 943 19. Mas‘ūdī on the Land of the Midnight Sun 943 20. Mas‘ūdī on the Saqāliba 943 21. Mas‘ūdī on the Rūs 943 22. Mas‘ūdī on a Viking raid on the Caspian c. 913 23. Miskawayh on the Rūs raid on Bardha‘a 943 24. Istakhrī on the Khazars and their neighbours c. 951 25. Mas‘ūdī on the fur trade 956 26. Ibrāhīm ibn Ya‘qūb on northern Europe 965 27. Muqaddasī on exports from Bulghār 985–990 28. Muqaddasī on the land of the Khazars 985–990 29. Ibn Hawqal on the trade in eunuchs 988 30. Ibn Hawqal on the fur trade and the Rūs attack on Itil and Bulghār 965 31. Ibn Hawqal on Khwārazm and its trade 988 32. Ibn Hawqal on the Rūs destruction of Itil 965 33. Bīrūnī on dog sleds, skates and silent barter c. 1030 34. The ‘Enclosed Nations’ of the far north 1118 35. Marwazī on the Rūs c. 1130 36. Marwazī on Bulghār and the far north c. 1130 37. Marwazī on the Saqāliba c. 1130 38. Yāqūt on Hungary 1228 39. Qazwīnī on Gog and Magog 1275 40. Marco Polo on dog sleds and the Land of Darkness 1293 41. Ibn Battūta on travel in the Land of Darkness 1332 42. Ibn Battūta on a winter journey to New Sarai 1332 43. Ibn Fadl Allāh al-‘Umarī on Siberia and Alexander’s Tower 1342–1349 Appendix 1 The Khazars, c. 650–c. 965 Appendix 2 The Rūs Appendix 3 The Sāmānids Appendix 4 The fur trade Glossary Bibliography Notes List of Maps I. The Journey of Ibn Fadlān, 921–922 II. The Travels of Abū Hāmid al-Andalusī al-Gharnātī, 1117–1162 III. The Routes of the Rādhānīya Merchants, c. 830 IV. The Trade Routes of the Rūs, 10th century V. The Trade in Saqāliba Slaves, 10th century VI. The Flow of Silver to the West, 9th–10th centuries VII. The Political Divisions of Eurasia, 923 IBN FADLĀN AND THE LAND OF DARKNESS IBN FADLĀN’s account of his journey from Baghdad to the camp of the Bulghār khan, on the Volga River, in 921 is unique in Arabic literature. Sent as an emissary of the Abbasid caliph Muqtadir, his mission was to deliver a message and gifts from the caliph to the recently converted khan, who sought religious instruction for his people and wished to forge an alliance with the Abbasids to protect himself against his powerful Jewish overlords, the Khazars. The Bulghār encampment was far beyond the frontiers of the Islamic heartlands, and Ibn Fadlān faithfully recounts the customs, dress and religious beliefs of the peoples through whose territory he passed, all of whom were still pagan. In Bulghār he encountered Viking traders who were pioneering trade routes along the Russian rivers. He witnessed and meticulously describes a Viking ship burial, the only such description we have. Nothing is known of Ibn Fadlān from other sources. ABŪ HĀMID was born in al-Andalus in 1080. In 1106, he travelled to North Africa, where he spent more than ten years, before sailing for Alexandria in 1117. En route, he passed the island of Sicily and observed Mount Etna in full eruption. Later years saw him travelling to Cairo, Damascus, Baghdad and Iran, before settling for two decades in the great trading city of Saqsīn. In 1150, Abū Hāmid went to Hungary, where he developed close ties with the king, Geza II, and was employed to recruit Pečeneg Muslims into the cavalry. He was allowed to depart from Hungary only on condition that he leave his son hostage to his return. In 1153, he returned to Saqsīn, before making the pilgrimage to Mecca. Settling in Baghdad in 1155, he composed the first of the works by which he is best known today, al-Mu’rib ‘an ba‘d ‘ajā’ib al-maghrib (Exposition of Some of the Wonders of the West). He left for Aleppo in 1165, and five years later made the last journey of his remarkable life, to Damascus. He died there is 1170 at the age of ninety. PAUL LUNDE spent his early years in Saudi Arabia and studied Arabic at the University of California in Berkeley and later at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He has travelled widely in the Middle East and spent many years researching Arabic geographical literature in the Vatican Library in Rome. He is now based in Cambridge, concentrating on the maritime history of the Indian Ocean. CAROLINE STONE was educated at Cambridge and Kyoto University, Japan. After living many years in Rome, she currently divides her time between Seville and Cambridge, where she is editing and translating a series of travel accounts – Travellers in the Wider Levant – for the Civilizations in Contact Project, funded by the Golden Web Foundation. Her publications include books on North African embroideries and Manila shawls, and she worked with Paul Lunde on a selection from Mas‘ūdī’s Meadows of Gold, published by Penguin. For Gabriella and Béla Bollobás Chronology 622 Year One of the Islamic calendar. First Muslim community founded by the Prophet Muhammad in Medina. 632 Death of the Prophet Muhammad. Beginning of Arab conquests. 650 Approximate date for formation of Khazar khāqānate. 661 Umayyad dynasty takes power. 711 Islamic conquest of Visigothic Spain. Arab armies reach the Indus. 730 Khazars invade Muslim territory with army of 30,000, take Ardabil and Bardha‘a, and raid as far west as Mosul and Diyarbakr. 732 Muslims defeated at Battle of Poitiers by Charles Martel. Čiček, daughter of the Khazar khāqān, married to Constantine V. Their son is Leo IV (reigned 775–780), known as ‘Leo the Khazar’. The last Umayyad caliph, Marwān, leads an army of 40,000 into Khazar territory, but is driven back by torrential rains. 737 Marwān leads an army of 150,000 against the Khazars. The khāqān flees to the territory of the Finno-Ugric Burtās, but is captured and converted to Islam; 20,000 Slavs living in Khazar territory are deported. No permanent Muslim occupation results. 745 The Uighur khāqānate established. 750 The Umayyad dynasty is overthrown by the Abbasids. Around this date the Azov Bulghārs, fleeing their former Khazar masters, settle at the Samara bend of the Volga. Approximate date of the foundation of Staraia Ladoga. 758 Muslim merchants domiciled in Canton revolt. 763 The Abbasids found a new capital, Baghdad. 770 Approximate date of the foundation of the Danish Viking trading city of Hedeby. 786–809 Hārūn al-Rashīd is caliph. 793 Vikings raid Lindisfarne; the traditional date for the beginning of the Viking Age. 798 The last Khazar attack on Muslim territory. The Abbasid dynasty and the Khazars finally make peace. 800 Approximate date that the Khazar Turkish ruling elite convert to Judaism. Hārūn al-Rashīd sends the gift of an elephant to Charlemagne, who becomes Holy Roman Emperor this year. The elephant is delivered by the Aghlabid ruler of North Africa to the port of Pisa. 819 The Sāmānid dynasty creates a huge domain in Transoxania. Their capital is Bukhārā, and the rich silver mine of Panshīr in Afghanistan is in their territory. They hold power until 1005, trading throughout Central Asia. 821 Tamīm ibn Bahrī visits Balāsghūn in what is now Mongolia. His account is preserved by Ibn al-Faqīh. 838 Swedish Vikings, called Rhos, pass through the Carolingian capitol of Ingelheim on the Rhine on their return from Constantinople. Khazars issue the unique ‘Moses’ coin. 840 Hami, the capital of the Uighur khāqānate, sacked by the Kirghiz Turks. 842 The Abbasid caliph Wāthiq sends Sallām the Interpreter to ‘Alexander’s Wall’, near Hami on the Chinese border. 844 Vikings attack Lisbon and Seville. Sallām returns from his mission. 860 Vikings attack Constantinople. Cyril and Methodius attempt to convert the Khazars to Christianity and preach at the Khazar capital. Approximate date of the foundation of Riurikovo Gorodishche by Swedish adventurer named Riurik; later grows into Novgorod. 861 Cyril and Methodius evangelize the Balkan Bulgars. 865 The Bulgarian ruler Boris forced by Byzantines to convert to Christianity. 871–899 Alfred the Great becomes king of England. 879 Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Mazdaean merchants massacred in Canton.
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