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Ahmad ibn
Patronymic

A patronym or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor....
 Fadlan ibn al-Abbas ibn Rašid ibn Hammad was a 10th century Arab
Arab

An Arab is a person who Identity as such on linguistic or cultural grounds. The plural form, Arabs , refers to the Ethnocultural group at large....
 Muslim
Muslim

:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits "....
 writer
Arabic literature

Arabic literature is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by writers of the Arabic language. It does not usually include works written using the Arabic alphabet but not in the Arabic language such as Persian literature and Urdu literature....
 and traveler who wrote an account of his travels as a member of an embassy of the Abbasid
Abbasid

The Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic Caliphates of the Islamic Empire. The Caliphate is one of the high points of Islam, and at the time Muslim civilization, together with that of Byzantium, China and India, was the most developed part of the world....
 Caliph
Caliph

The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah....
 of Baghdad
Baghdad

Baghdad is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous. With a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq, and the second largest city in the Arab World....
 to the king of the Volga Bulgars, the Kitab ila Malik al-Saqaliba (???? ??? ??? ????????).

a long time, only an incomplete version of the account was known, as transmitted in the geographical dictionary of Yaqut (under the headings Atil
Volga River

The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, Discharge , and Drainage basin. It flows through the western part of Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia....
, Bashgird, Bulghar, Khazar, Khwarizm, Rus), published in 1823 by Fraehn.






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Ahmad ibn
Patronymic

A patronym or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor....
 Fadlan ibn al-Abbas ibn Rašid ibn Hammad was a 10th century Arab
Arab

An Arab is a person who Identity as such on linguistic or cultural grounds. The plural form, Arabs , refers to the Ethnocultural group at large....
 Muslim
Muslim

:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits "....
 writer
Arabic literature

Arabic literature is the writing produced, both prose and poetry, by writers of the Arabic language. It does not usually include works written using the Arabic alphabet but not in the Arabic language such as Persian literature and Urdu literature....
 and traveler who wrote an account of his travels as a member of an embassy of the Abbasid
Abbasid

The Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic Caliphates of the Islamic Empire. The Caliphate is one of the high points of Islam, and at the time Muslim civilization, together with that of Byzantium, China and India, was the most developed part of the world....
 Caliph
Caliph

The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah....
 of Baghdad
Baghdad

Baghdad is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous. With a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq, and the second largest city in the Arab World....
 to the king of the Volga Bulgars, the Kitab ila Malik al-Saqaliba (???? ??? ??? ????????).

Manuscript tradition

For a long time, only an incomplete version of the account was known, as transmitted in the geographical dictionary of Yaqut (under the headings Atil
Volga River

The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, Discharge , and Drainage basin. It flows through the western part of Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia....
, Bashgird, Bulghar, Khazar, Khwarizm, Rus), published in 1823 by Fraehn. Only in 1923 was a manuscript discovered by the Turkic scholar of Bashkir
Bashkir

Bashkir may refer to more than one article:*the Bashkirs, an ethnic group in Russia*Bashkir language, a Turkic languages spoken by the Bashkirs...
 origin Zeki Validi Togan in the Astane Quds Museum, Mashhad
Mashhad

Mashhad is the List of largest cities and second largest cities by country city in Iran and one of the Holiest sites in Islam in the Shia world....
, Iran
Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
/Persia. The manuscript MS 5229 dates from the 13th century (7th cent. Hijra
Hijri year

The Hijra , or withdrawal, is the emigration of Muhammad and his followers to the city of Medina in 622, and marks the start of the Hijri year of the Islamic calendar....
) and consists of 420 pages (210 folia). Besides other geographical treatises, it contains a fuller version of Ibn Fadlan's text (pp. 390-420). Additional passages not preserved in MS 5229 are quoted in the work of the 16th century Persian geographer
Geographer

A geographer is a scientist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's physical natural environment and human habitat .Though geographers are historically known as people who make maps, map making is actually the field of study of cartography, a subset of geography....
 Amin Razi
Amin Razi

was a 16th century Persian Empire geographer and author of an encyclopedia called Haft iqlim .See also*List of Iranian scientists...
 called Haft Iqlim "Seven Clime
Clime

The seven climes was a notion of dividing the Earth into zones in Classical Antiquity.The lists of klimata found in early geographers vary in their extension, but by convention, they numbered seven, counted from south to north....
s".

The Embassy

Ibn Fadlan was sent from Baghdad
Baghdad

Baghdad is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous. With a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq, and the second largest city in the Arab World....
 in 921 to serve as the secretary to an ambassador from the Abbasid
Abbasid

The Abbasid Caliphate was the third of the Islamic Caliphates of the Islamic Empire. The Caliphate is one of the high points of Islam, and at the time Muslim civilization, together with that of Byzantium, China and India, was the most developed part of the world....
 Caliph
Caliph

The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah....
 al-Muqtadir
Al-Muqtadir

Al-Muqtadir was the Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad from 908 to 932.After the previous Caliph, al-Muktafi, was confined for several months to his sick-bed, intrigue was made for some time as to his successor....
 to the iltäbär (vassal-king under the Khazars
Khazars

The Khazars were a semi-nomadic Turkic people who dominated the Pontic steppe and the North Caucasus from the 7th to the 10th century CE. The name 'Khazar' seems to be tied to a Turkic languages verb form meaning "wandering"....
) of the Volga Bulgaria
Volga Bulgaria

Volga Bulgaria or Volga-Kama Bolghar, is an historic Bulgarian state that existed between the seventh and thirteenth centuries around the confluence of the Volga River and Kama River rivers in what is now Russia....
, Almis
Almis

Almis ilt?b?r was the first Muslim ruler of Volga Bulgaria.Almas was a son of Silki . He was a ruler of one of Bulgarian duchies, probably, Bolghar Duchy....
.

The embassy's objective was to have the king of the Bolgar
Bolghar

Bolghar was the capital of Volga Bulgaria from the 8th to the 15th centuries. It was situated on the bank of the Volga River, about 30 km downstream from its confluence with the Kama River and some 130 km from modern Kazan....
s pay homage to Caliph al-Muqtadir and, in return, to give the king money to pay for the construction of a fortress. Although they reached Bolgar
Bolghar

Bolghar was the capital of Volga Bulgaria from the 8th to the 15th centuries. It was situated on the bank of the Volga River, about 30 km downstream from its confluence with the Kama River and some 130 km from modern Kazan....
, the mission failed because they were unable to collect the money intended for the king. Annoyed at not receiving the promised sum, the king refused to switch from the Maliki
Maliki

The Maliki madhhab is one of the four madhab of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the third-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 15% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa and West Africa....
 rite to the Hanafi
Hanafi

The Hanafi school is the oldest of the four schools of law or jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. The Hanafi madhhab is named after its founder, Abu Hanifa an-Nu?man ibn Thabit , and his legal views were preserved primarily by his two most important disciples, Abu Yusuf and Muhammad al-Shaybani....
 rite of Baghdad.

The embassy left Baghdad on June 21 921
921

Events...
 (11 Safar
Islamic calendar

The Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar or Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar used to date events in many predominantly Muslim countries, and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic holy days and festivals....
 309). It reached the Bulghars after much hardship on May 12 922
922

Events...
 (12 Muharram
Islamic calendar

The Islamic calendar or Muslim calendar or Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar used to date events in many predominantly Muslim countries, and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic holy days and festivals....
 310). (This day is an official religious holiday in modern Tatarstan
Tatarstan

Republic of Tatarstan is a federal subjects of Russia of the Russian Federation . Its size is 68,000 km? with a population of 3,800,000. Its capital is Kazan....
.) The journey took Ibn Fadlan from Baghdad to Bukhara
Bukhara

Bukhara , also spelled as Bukhoro and Bokhara, from the Soghdian ?uxarak , is the Capital of the Bukhara Province of Uzbekistan. The nation's fifth-largest city, it has a population of 237,900 ....
 and Khwarizm (south of the Aral Sea
Aral Sea

The Aral Sea is a landlocked endorheic basin in Central Asia; it lies between Kazakhstan in the north and Karakalpakstan, an autonomous region of Uzbekistan, in the south....
). Although promised safe passage by the Oghuz
Oghuz Turks

The Oghuz were a group of loosely linked nomadic Turkic peoples. In the ninth century the Oghuz Turks from the Aral steppes drove the Pechenegs of the Emba region and the Ural River toward the west....
 warlord, or Kudarkin
Kudarkin

Kudarkin was the title of a high-ranking official among the Oghuz Turks. The title is reported by ibn Fadlan, who passed through Oghuz territory in the early 920s CE....
, they were waylaid by Oghuz bandits but luckily were able to bribe their attackers. They spent the winter in Gorgan
Gorgan

Gorgan is the capital of the Golestan Province, Iran. It is approximately 400 km from Tehran. It had an estimated population of 241,177 in 2005....
, Iran
Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
 before travelling north across the Ural River
Ural River

The Ural , known as Yaik before 1775, is a river flowing through Russia and Kazakhstan. It arises in the southern Ural Mountains and ends at the Caspian Sea....
 until they reached the towns of the Bulghars at the three lakes of the Volga
Volga River

The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, Discharge , and Drainage basin. It flows through the western part of Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia....
 north of the Samara bend
Samara bend

The Samara bend is a large, backwards-C-shaped bend in the middle Volga River at the confluence of the Samara River . It is situated in Samara Oblast, Volga Federal District of Russia....
.

After arriving in Bolgar
Bolghar

Bolghar was the capital of Volga Bulgaria from the 8th to the 15th centuries. It was situated on the bank of the Volga River, about 30 km downstream from its confluence with the Kama River and some 130 km from modern Kazan....
, Ahmad ibn Fadlan made a trip to Wisu
Wisu

Wisu is the name of the Kama River region in the works of medieval Arab travellers such as Ahmad ibn Fadlan and Al-Gharnati. They mention that the area paid tribute to Volga Bulgaria....
 and recorded his observations of trade between the Volga Bolgars and local Finnic tribes.

The Rus

A substantial part of Ibn Fadlan's account is dedicated to the description of a people he called the Rus ??? or Rusiyyah. Most scholars identify them with the Rus'
Rus' (people)

Rus? are the historic population of the medieval Rus' Khaganate and Kievan Rus' whose name survives in the cognates Russians, Rusyns, and Ruthenians, and who are viewed by the modern Belarusians, Russians, and Ukrainians as the predecessors of their own peoples....
 or Varangians
Varangians

The Varangians or Varyags , sometimes referred to as Variagians, were Vikings, Norsemen, who went eastwards and southwards through what is now Russia, Belarus and Ukraine mainly in the 9th and 10th centuries....
, which would make Ibn Fadlan's account one of the earliest portrayals of Vikings.

The Rus appear as traders that set up shop on the river banks nearby the Bolgar camp. They are described as having bodies, tall as palm-trees, with blond hair and ruddy skin. They are tattoo
Tattoo

A tattoo is a permanent marking made by inserting ink into the layers of skin to change the pigment for decorative or other reasons. Tattoos on humans are a type of decorative body modification, while tattoos on animals are most commonly used for identification or branding....
ed from "fingernails to neck" with dark blue or dark green "tree patterns" and other "figures" and that all men are armed with an axe and a long knife.

Ibn Fadlan describes the Rus as having perfect bodies, with high cheekbones in the face. In contrast to their physical beauty, he describes the hygiene of the Rusiyyah as disgusting (while also noting with some astonishment that they comb their hair every day) and considers them vulgar and unsophisticated. In that, his impressions contradict those of the Persian traveler Ibn Rustah. He also describes in great detail the funeral of one of their chieftains
Viking funeral

The Norsemen often Cremation their dead in ship burials, known from archaeology, sagas, Old Norse poetry, and notably from #Ibn Fadlan's account. The Norse funerals that took place on land have permitted archaeologists to study the varying funeral traditions of Viking age Scandinavians....
 (a ship burial
Ship burial

A ship burial or boat grave is a burial in which a ship or boat is used either as a container for the dead and the grave goods, or as a part of the grave goods itself....
 involving human sacrifice
Human sacrifice

Human sacrifice is the act of killing human beings as part of a religious ritual . Its typology closely parallels the various practices of ritual slaughter of animals and of religious sacrifice in general....
). Some scholars believe that it took place in the modern Balymer complex
Balymer complex

The Balymer complex is an archaeological complex near the village of Balymer, Spassky District, Tatarstan, Russia. It covers an area of 4 km?. It was first explored in 1870 by A....
.

Fiction

Elements of Ibn Fadlan's account are used in the novel Eaters of the Dead
Eaters of the Dead

Eaters of the Dead: The Manuscript of Ibn Fadlan Relating His Experiences with the Northmen in A.D. 922 is a 1976 novel by Michael Crichton....
 by Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton

John Michael Crichton, Doctor of Medicine , was an United States author, film producer, film director, and physician, best known for his work in the science fiction, medical fiction, and techno-thriller genres....
 (filmed as The 13th Warrior
The 13th Warrior

The 13th Warrior is a 1999 action film based on the novel Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park of Jurassic Park . It is directed by John McTiernan, director of Die Hard, and an uncredited Crichton, and starring Antonio Banderas as Ahmad ibn Fadlan and Vladimir Kulich as Buliwyf ....
 with Antonio Banderas
Antonio Banderas

'Jos? Antonio Dom?nguez Banderas' , better known as 'Antonio Banderas', is a Spanish people film actor and singer. He began his acting career at age 19 with a series of films by director Pedro Almod?var and then starred in high-profile Hollywood films including Assassins , Evita , Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicl...
 as Ibn Fadlan), in which the Arab ambassador is taken even further north and is involved in adventures inspired by the Old English
Old English language

Old English is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century....
 epic Beowulf
Beowulf

Beowulf is an Old English language heroic Epic poetry of unknown authorship, dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between the 8th to the early 11th century, and relates events described as having occurred in what is now Denmark and Sweden....
. Indeed Crichton designed "Eaters of the Dead" as being a fictional version of the historic events which created the basis of the epic "Beowulf".

A major Arabic TV series, The Roof of the World or Saqf al-Alam
Saqf al-Alam

Saqf al-Alam was a Syrian television series that aired during the Ramadan season of 2007. The series tells the story of the Arab traveler Ahmad ibn Fadlan played by Qais al-Sheikh Najib, with reflections and references to modern issues arising between the west and the east, mainly terrorism and the clash of civilizations....
, , was produced in 2007 charting Ibn Fadlan's journey from a contemporary perspective. The 30 one-hour episodes tackle the relations between Islam and Europe at two moments: the time of Ibn Fadlan and the present. The motivation for the series was the 2005 Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy

The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after twelve editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Denmark newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005....
 in Denmark
Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries....
.

See also

  • List of Arab scientists and scholars
    List of Arab scientists and scholars

    This is a list of scientists and scholars from the Arab World and Islamic Spain that lived from Ancient history up until the beginning of the Modern era, consisting primarily of scholars during the Middle Ages....
  • List of Islamic scholars
  • Nabidh
    Nabidh

    Nabidh is a drink traditionally made from fruits such as raisins/grapes or dates. Nabidh may be non intoxicating, mildy intoxicating, or possibly heavily intoxicating depending on the level of fermentation....


External links


  • , containing "Ibn Fadlan and the Rusiyyah", by James E. Montgomery, with an annotated translation of the part of the account pertaining to the Rus.
  • (in Bulgarian)


Further reading

  • Gordon, Stewart. When Asia was the World: Traveling Merchants, Scholars, Warriors, and Monks who created the "Riches of the East" Da Capo Press, Perseus Books, 2008. ISBN 0-306-81556-7.