Ibn Fadlan - Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North

Arab Travellers in the Far North

Translated with an Introduction by
PAUL LUNDE and CAROLINE STONE

PENGUIN BOOKS

IBN FADLN AND THE LAND OF DARKNESS

IBN FADLN s account of his journey from Baghdad to the camp of the Bulghr 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 Bulghr encampment was far beyond the frontiers of the Islamic heartlands, and Ibn Fadln faithfully recounts the customs, dress and religious beliefs of the peoples through whose territory he passed, all of whom were still pagan. In Bulghr 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 Fadln from other sources.

AB HMID 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 Saqsn. In 1150, Ab Hmid went to Hungary, where he developed close ties with the king, Geza II, and was employed to recruit Peeneg 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 Saqsn, 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-Murib an bad ajib 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 Masds Meadows of Gold, published by Penguin.

Year One of the Islamic calendar. First Muslim community founded by the Prophet Muhammad in Medina.

Death of the Prophet Muhammad. Beginning of Arab conquests.

Approximate date for formation of Khazar khqnate.

Umayyad dynasty takes power.

Islamic conquest of Visigothic Spain. Arab armies reach the Indus.

Khazars invade Muslim territory with army of 30,000, take Ardabil and Bardhaa, and raid as far west as Mosul and Diyarbakr.

Muslims defeated at Battle of Poitiers by Charles Martel. iek, daughter of the Khazar khqn, married to Constantine V. Their son is Leo IV (reigned 775780), known as Leo the Khazar. The last Umayyad caliph, Marwn, leads an army of 40,000 into Khazar territory, but is driven back by torrential rains.

Marwn leads an army of 150,000 against the Khazars. The khqn flees to the territory of the Finno-Ugric Burts, but is captured and converted to Islam; 20,000 Slavs living in Khazar territory are deported. No permanent Muslim occupation results.

The Uighur khqnate established.

The Umayyad dynasty is overthrown by the Abbasids. Around this date the Azov Bulghrs, fleeing their former Khazar masters, settle at the Samara bend of the Volga. Approximate date of the foundation of Staraia Ladoga.

Muslim merchants domiciled in Canton revolt.

The Abbasids found a new capital, Baghdad.

Approximate date of the foundation of the Danish Viking trading city of Hedeby.

786809 Hrn al-Rashd is caliph.

Vikings raid Lindisfarne; the traditional date for the beginning of the Viking Age.

The last Khazar attack on Muslim territory. The Abbasid dynasty and the Khazars finally make peace.

Approximate date that the Khazar Turkish ruling elite convert to Judaism. Hrn al-Rashd 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.

The Smnid dynasty creates a huge domain in Transoxania. Their capital is Bukhr, and the rich silver mine of Panshr in Afghanistan is in their territory. They hold power until 1005, trading throughout Central Asia.

Tamm ibn Bahr visits Balsghn in what is now Mongolia. His account is preserved by Ibn al-Faqh.

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.

Hami, the capital of the Uighur khqnate, sacked by the Kirghiz Turks.

The Abbasid caliph Wthiq sends Sallm the Interpreter to Alexanders Wall, near Hami on the Chinese border.

Vikings attack Lisbon and Seville. Sallm returns from his mission.

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.

Cyril and Methodius evangelize the Balkan Bulgars.

The Bulgarian ruler Boris forced by Byzantines to convert to Christianity.

871899 Alfred the Great becomes king of England.

Muslim, Jewish, Christian and Mazdaean merchants massacred in Canton.

Ibn Khurraddhbih completes the final version of his Book of Roads and Kingdoms.

Danelaw established in England.

Death of the historian and geographer Yaqb, author of The Book of Countries.

Around this date Almish, king of the Bulghrs, converts to Islam.

Trade agreement between Rs of Kiev and Byzantines.

908932 Muqtadir is caliph.

Vikings settle in Normandy.

Second trade agreement between Rs of Kiev and Byzantines.

Vikings raid the Caspian.

Nasr ibn Ahmad becomes ruler of the Smnid dynasty; dies 943.

Ahmad ibn Fadln sent by the caliph Muqtadir to Almish ibn (Shilk) Yiltawr, king of the Bulghrs.

Approximate date of birth of Mieszko I, duke of Polons, who reigned from c. 960 until his death in 992. He is the first historically attested ruler of Poland, and is mentioned by Ibrhm ibn Yaqb.