Mission to the Volga

by Ahmad Ibn Fadlan

  Khljh (§§67, 69) the name in the text for the three lakes where the embassy first meets the Bulghār king.

  The lakes are identified by Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 218, n. 564) as the modern “Chistoe Ozero,” “Kuryshevskoe Ozero,” and “Atmanskoe Ozero.” He believes that the word is akin to Chuvash khel(-le), meaning “winter.” According to Togan (Reisebericht, 38–39, n. 1, and 68) it is “Ḫalǧah,” and he identifies it as the lakes of the village of Tri Ozera (Russian, “three lakes”) some five or six kilometers from the Volga, just south of Bulghār, named Poganoe, Lebiad, and Troshchanoye. Canard (Voyage, 66) transcribes it as “Khallaja/Khelletché” and McKeithen (Risālah, 112, n. 339) as “Khallajah.”

  Khurasan (§§4–6, 47) a historical region of Persia and Turkestan. In Ibn Faḍlān’s time its borders were marked approximately in the west by the towns of al-Dāmghān and Jurjān and in the northeast by the river Jayḥūn.

  See Le Strange, Lands, 382–432; Bosworth, “Khurasan.”

  Khuwār al-Rayy (§4) a town east of Rayy, on the Khurasan road.

  See Le Strange, Lands, 367.

  Khwārazm (§§3, 5, 8–9, 24, 26, 71; Yāqūt §§3.3–3.4, 5.1–5.11) a region north of Khurasan, extending as far as the southern shore of the Caspian Sea, Khwārazm is used in the text also as the name of the region’s capital, Kāth, the residence of the khwārazm-shāh.

  See Le Strange, Lands, 446–59; Bosworth, “Kāth”; Bosworth, “Khwārazm.”

  khwārazm-shāh (§8) the ancient Iranian title of the rulers of Khwārazm. The Khwārazm-Shāh dynasty ruled the area, remaining in power until the Mongol invasion. In Ibn Faḍlān’s time the person holding this title was Muḥammad ibn ʿIrāq, who governed in the name of the Samanid emir.

  See Bosworth, “Khwārazm-Shāhs.”

  Kījlū (§36) the eighth river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Bajanāk territory.

  Togan (Reisebericht, 34, n. 8) identifies it as the Kundurcha, pointing out the existence of a nearby village named Kijläw, on the lesser Cheremshan (see Kovalevskiĭ, Kniga, 192, n. 319). It is “Konjulû,” according to Canard (Voyage, 49: see also 107, n. 138), and “Kunjulū,” according to McKeithen (Risālah, 79, n. 217) and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 23, 226, n. 46). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) identifies it as the modern “Kundurcha”; on Róna-Tas’s map (Hungarians and Europe, 223), it is the Kundurcha.

  Knāl (§36) the sixth river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Bajanāk territory.

  Togan (Reisebericht, 34, n. 6) and Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 192, n. 317) read “Kināl” and identify it as the modern river Kinel. It is “Kinâl” according to Canard (Voyage, 49: see also 107, n. 138) and “Kināl,” according to al-Dahhān (Risālah, 107, n. 6); McKeithen (Risālah, 78, n. 215), and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 23, 226, n. 46). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) gives it as the modern “Kenel”; on Róna-Tas’s map (Hungarians and Europe, 223) it is the Kinel.

  kūdharkīn (§§24, 26, 29) the title given to any Ghuzziyyah noble who acts as deputy (khalīfah in the text) of the king of the Ghuzziyyah. There is no agreement on the meaning or etymology of the term. Togan (Reisebericht, 141) traces it to the Turkic phrase kül erkin.

  See Canard, Voyage, 104, n. 100; McKeithen, Risālah, 62, n. 150; Lunde and Stone, Ibn Fadlān, 225, n. 38; Golden, Introduction, 209.

  Kundur Khāqān (Yāqūt §4.4) the title given to the deputy of the khāqān bih among the Khazars.

  Transcribed as “kundur khāqān” by Canard (Voyage, 85, 127, n. 342) and as “kundar” by McKeithen (Risālah, 154–55, n. 546) and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 55, 229, n. 88).

  See Togan, Reisebericht, 260; Minorsky, Ḥudūd al-ʿālam, 323–24; Golden, Khazar Studies, 1:200–202; Golden, Introduction, 240.

  Kūyabah (Yāqūt §4.3) Arabic name for the Rus’ settlement of Kiev.

  Līlī ibn Nuʿmān (§4) a Daylamī general who served the Caspian Zaydīs al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Uṭrūsh and al-Ḥasan ibn Qāsim. The latter appointed him to the governorship of Jurjān. In early 309/921, just before the departure of the embassy, he had occupied al-Dāmghān and Nishapur but was captured and killed by the Samanid field marshal Ḥammawayh Kūsā in Rabiʿ al-Awwal, 309/July–August, 921, as the embassy was moving through Khurasan.

  See Togan, Reisebericht, 5–6, n. 8; Canard, Voyage, 97, n. 21; McKeithen, Risālah, 32, n. 34.

  Lesser Yināl see Yināl.

  Mann (Yāqūt §5.9) a unit of weight common in Central Asia and Persia.

  See Rebstock, “Islamic Weights and Measures,” 2261.

  Marw (§§4, 6, 31, 33) a town on Ibn Faḍlān’s route between Sarakhs and Qushmahān, which was the source of some of the textiles presented by the embassy to local potentates.

  See Le Strange, Lands, 397–403; Yakubovskii [Bosworth], “Marw al-Shāhidjān.”

  Muḥammad (§66) an alternate version of Ibn Faḍlān’s given name Aḥmad. The Prophet Muḥammad was also known as Aḥmad (see Q Ṣaff 61:6).

  Muḥammad ibn ʿIrāq see khwārazm-shāh.

  Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān (§1; Yāqūt §§2.1, 3.1, 5.1, 6.1) the redoubtable secretary of the Army Bureau, who defeated the Qarmaṭians in Syria in 291/903, wrested Egypt from Ṭulunid control in 292/905, and had been trying to maintain order in the eastern empire. He died in the caliphal campaign against Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī, who had seized control of Rayy upon the assassination of the Abbasid governor, ʿAlī ibn Wahsudhān. His death would have meant that Ibn Faḍlān was without a principal patron, though Ibn Faḍlān seems also to have secured the patronage of the caliph in Baghdad. It was possible for a person to enjoy the patronage of more than one patron at the same time, though perhaps Ibn Faḍlān was a member of the caliph’s household and functioned under the patronage of Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān.

  See McKeithen, Risālah, 24, n. 2; Bonner, “The Waning of Empire,” 339; Brett, “Egypt,” 562–63.

  Muqtadir, al- (§§1–3, 44; Yāqūt §§1.1, 1.3, 2.1, 3.1–3.2, 3.5, 4.1, 5.1, 6.1) the ruling caliph (r. 295–320/908–32) when Ibn Faḍlān’s embassy made its journey. His full name was Abū l-Faḍl Jaʿfar ibn Aḥmad al-Muʿtaḍid, and his regnal title al-Muqtadir bi-llāh, “Mighty in God.”

  See van Berkel et al., Crisis and Continuity at the Abbasid Court.

  musayyabī dinar (§§14, 31) the musayyabī was a coin of uncertain value said to have been minted in Transoxania by al-Musayyab, governor of Khurasan, especially common among Turkic peoples in northern Khwārazm. It is odd that they are described in the text as dinars, which were gold coins. Frye (Ibn Fadlan’s Journey, 88–90) wonders whether Ibn Faḍlān is confusing “real dinars or rare gold coins” with Khwarazmian coins and suggests that Ibn Faḍlān means “equivalents in value of so many musayyabi dirhams.”

  See Togan, Reisebericht, 111–13; Canard, Voyage, 102, n. 70; Frye, Notes on the Early Coinage, 29–31; Bosworth, “al-Ghiṭrīf b. ʿAṭāʾ.”

  Nadhīr al-Ḥaramī (§§3, 31, 41; Yāqūt §3.2) a powerful eunuch at al-Muqtadir’s court. He presents the Bulghār king’s letter to the caliph and organizes the finances of the mission. He is the mawlā (patron) of the caliph’s envoy, Sawsan al-Rassī, and provides the mission with letters to Atrak, son of al-Qaṭaghān, the Ghuzziyyah military commander, and to the Bulghār king.

  See Canard, Voyage, 95, n. 7, and McKeithen, Risālah, 26, n. 9, for references in Arabic sources.

  Nahrawān (§4) the first town east of Baghdad reached by the mission after their departure.

  See Le Strange, Lands, 61.

  Naṣr ibn Aḥmad (§5) Naṣr (r. 301–31/914–23) became the Samanid emir of Khurasan as an eight-year-old boy. When Ibn Faḍlān visited him in 309/921 he would have been only fifteen or sixteen years old.

  See Bosworth, “Naṣr b. Aḥmad b. Ismāʿīl.”

  Nishapur (§4) a town in Khurasan under Samanid control at the time of the mission.

  See Le Str
ange, Lands, 382; Honigmann [Bosworth], “Nīshāpūr.”

  pakand see bakand

  Qaṭaghān, al- see Atrak, son of al-Qaṭaghān.

  Qirmīsīn (§4) a town, modern Kermanshah, on Ibn Faḍlān’s route between Ḥulwān and Hamadhān.

  See Le Strange, Lands, 400.

  Qushmahān (§4) a town on the edge of the Karakum desert, on Ibn Faḍlān’s route between Marw and Baykand.

  raṭl (§11; Yāqūt §5.8) a common, variable measure of weight.

  See Ashtor, “Maḳāyil”; Hinz, Islamische Masse, 27–33.

  Rayy (§4) an important town on the Khurasan road, between Hamadhān and Khuwār al-Rayy. At the time of the mission, it had been, for many years, the focus of the struggle for regional domination between the caliphate in Baghdad and the Samanids. Its ruins lie in the southern suburbs of present-day Tehran.

  See Le Strange, Lands, 214–18; Minorsky, “Al-Rayy.”

  ruknī dinar (Yāqut §5.9) a gold coin of wide circulation in Khurasan and Central Asia.

  Rūsiyyah (§§1, 72, 74–89; Yāqūt §§4.2–4.3, 6.1–6.10) also known in Arabic as al-Rūs, one of the marvels witnessed by Ibn Faḍlān while in the custody of the king of the Bulghārs, a mysterious group of traders and raiders that continues to fascinate more than a millennium after Ibn Faḍlān encountered them. Their identity in Arabic writings has long been debated, not least with regard to the homonymous state (known as Rus’) that emerged during the fourth/tenth century. In Ibn Faḍlān’s account, the Rūs are traders who set up camp on the bank of the Itil (Volga) and thus in or near Bulghār lands, and we are given a unique eyewitness description of their community.

  Samanids a Persian dynasty, rulers of Transoxania and then of Khurasan (204–395/819–1005). At the time of the mission, the Samanid ruler, Naṣr ibn Aḥmad, acknowledged the suzerainty of the caliph and went by the title of “emir.”

  See Bosworth, “Sāmānids.”

  samarqandī dirham (§7) a specific type of coin said by Ibn Faḍlān to be made of yellow brass and to equal six dānaqs.

  See also Frye, Notes on the Coinage, 29–31.

  Ṣaqālibah (§§1, 2, 3, 8, 39, 66, 72; Yāqūt §§1.1, 2.1, 3.3-3.4, 4.1, 4.5, 5.1, 6.1) a name used in Arab-Islamic geographical and historical works, from the third/ninth century on, for certain northern peoples whose ethnic identity is not readily ascertainable. It may refer occasionally to Slavic peoples but seems generally to have a less specific connotation. At Yāqūt §4.5 it seems to denote the Finno-Ugrian peoples who live in the territories neighboring the Khazar realm. Throughout Ibn Faḍlān’s account, the ruler of the Bulghārs is called the “king of the Ṣaqālibah” (§§1, 2, 3, 8, 39, 66, 72; Yāqūt §§2.1, 3.2, 3.4, 4.1, 5.1, 6.1).

  Sarakhs (§§4, 6) a town on Ibn Faḍlān’s route between Nishapur and Marw.

  See Le Strange, Lands, 395–96; Bosworth, “Sarakhs.”

  Sāwah (§4) a caravan town (modern Saveh) on Ibn Faḍlān’s route between Hamadhān and Rayy.

  See Le Strange, Lands, 210–12; Minorsky [Bosworth] “Sāwa.”

  Sawsan al-Rassī (§§3, 42, 52; Yāqūt §§3.2, 3.4) eunuch and freedman, under the patronage of Nadhīr al-Ḥaramī; the most important member of the embassy, the envoy of the caliph.

  Togan (Reisebericht, 3–4, n. 6) identifies him as Sawsan al-Jaṣṣāṣī. The name al-Jaṣṣāṣī indicates that he was a member of the household of Ibn al-Jaṣṣāṣ al-Jawharī. It was Sawsan al-Jaṣṣāṣī who betrayed Ibn al-Muʿtazz (d. 289/902), the caliph who ruled for a day, to al-Muqtadir’s men.

  Simnān (§4) a town (modern Semnan) some two hundred kilometers east of present-day Tehran, on Ibn Faḍlān’s route between Khuwār al-Rayy and al-Dāmghān; at the time of the mission it was under Zaydī control.

  See Le Strange, Lands, 366; Bosworth, “Simnān.”

  Sind (§61) the region around the lower course of the Indus river.

  See Haig [Bosworth], “Sind.”

  Smwr (§36) the fifth river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Bajanāk territory.

  Togan (Reisebericht, 34, n. 5) and Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 192, n. 316) identify it as the modern Samara, one of the major tributaries of the lower Volga. It is “Samûr,” according to Canard (Voyage, 49: see also 107, n. 138), “Samūr,” according to al-Dahhān (Risālah, 107, n. 5), McKeithen (Risālah, 78, n. 214), and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 23, 226, n. 46). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) has “Samara”; on Róna-Tas’s map (Hungarians and Europe, 223), it is the Samara.

  Sūḥ (§36) the seventh river crossed by the caravan, on portable, collapsible camel-skin rafts, after its departure from Bajanāk territory.

  Togan (Reisebericht, 34, n. 7) reads “Sūkh” and Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 192, n. 318) “Sūḥ.” Both identify it as the modern Sok (or Soq, Suk). According to Canard, it is “Sûkh,” (Voyage, 49,) and “Sâkh/Sokh” (Voyage, 107, n. 138). It is “Sūkh,” according to al-Dahhān (Risālah, 107, n. 7), McKeithen (Risālah, 79, n. 216), and Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 23, 226, n. 46). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) identifies it as the modern “Sok”; on Róna-Tas’s map (Hungarians and Europe, 223), it is the Sok.

  Sujū, al- (§43; Yāqūt §3.4) apparently a honey drink—perhaps a kind of mead—drunk by the Bulghār king. The word is a transcription of süčü: Togan, Reisebericht, 44, n. 2; Róna-Tas, Hungarians and Europe, 226. There is disagreement about whether the drink is intoxicating or not: Canard, Voyage, 109, n. 156; al-Dahhān, Risālah, 116, n. 6; McKeithen, Risālah, 87, n. 254. Note, however, that Ibn Faḍlān does not say that he consumed this honey drink but that the king did. It is Yāqūt’s quotation of the passage that adds the phrase wa-sharabnā, “and we drank too.”

  Ṣuʿlūk (§4) Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī Ṣuʿlūk, a Daylamī, the Samanid governor of Rayy from 289–304 to 912–16; brother of Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī and, at the time of the mission, the Abbasid governor of Rayy.

  See Canard, Voyage, 96–97, n. 20; McKeithen, Risālah, 31, n. 28.

  Suwāz (§69) name of a Bulghār clan whose members refuse to travel with the king, thus declaring their rejection of his conversion to Islam.

  There is consensus that the swān of the Mashhad manuscript is a copyist’s corruption of “Suwāz” (according to Kovalevskiĭ, Kniga, 222, n. 596, they were the ancestors of the Chuvash). The integration of the Suwāz into the Bulghārs was represented by the later settlement known as Suwār.

  See Togan, Reisebericht, 203–10; Canard, Voyage, 116–17, n. 238; McKeithen, Risālah, 118, n. 369; Zimonyi, Origins, 42–45; Golden, Introduction, 255.

  Ṭāgh (§§11, 17; Yāqūt §5.8) Togan (Reisebericht, 13) suggests that this is a tree of the amaranth genus Haloxylon, known by the Russian name saxaul. The saxaul ranges in size from a large shrub to a small tree, usually 2–8 meters tall. The wood is heavy and coarse and the bark spongy. The saxaul grows throughout the Middle East and Central Asia and is very hardy and drought-resistant. In addition to providing fuel for heating, the thick bark stores moisture, which may be squeezed out for drinking, making it an important source of water in arid regions.

  See Kovalevskiĭ, Kniga, 173, n. 119.

  Ṭāhir ibn ʿAlī (§4) Togan (Reisebericht, 6, n. 4) speculates that this may be Ṭāhir ibn ʿAlī al-Wazīr, who was in the service of Caliph al-Muktafī (r. 289–95/902–8).

  Takīn al-Turkī (§§3, 8, 13, 16, 52, 68) a member of the caliphal embassy, presumably a “slave-soldier” of Turkic origin, who was very knowledgeable about the Turkic steppe peoples and the Volga Bulghārs. The local potentate of Khwārazm recognizes him as a prominent figure in the iron trade, which, in fourth/tenth-century terms, would also have implied that he worked as a weapons dealer.

  Tekin (or tegin) was a title designating close familial relationship to a khāqān, usually a son or a brother, and was frequently used as a proper noun. The name is variously transcribed as “Takīn,” by Togan (Reisebericht, 4, n. 1), “Tekin” or “Tegin,” by Kovalevski
ĭ (Kniga, 164, n. 33), “Tekîn,” by Canard (Voyage, 28, 96, n. 11), “Tekīn,” by McKeithen (Risālah, 28, n. 16), and “Tikīn,” by Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 4, 223, n. 11).

  See Golden, Khazar Studies, 1:186–87.

  Ṭanbūr (§83; Yāqūt §6.7) a long-necked stringed instrument from Central Asia.

  Ṭarkhān (§33) the title of the most important member of the delegation of senior Ghuzziyyah figures convened by Atrak in order to consult about whether to permit the embassy to continue on its way.

  Togan (Reisebericht, 30, n. 3) notes that this is a well-known Turkic title, especially among the Khazars. McKeithen (Risālah, 71, n. 187) states that “Ṭarkhān” is “a very ancient title indicating nobility … among Turks and Mongols.”

  See Golden, Khazar Studies, 1:210–13; Golden, Introduction, 209.

  ṭāzijah (§9; Yāqūt §5.4) a coin used in Khwārazm.

  See Togan, Reisebericht, 113–14; Canard, Voyage, 99, n. 48; Frye, Notes on the Early Coinage, 16–23; Frye, Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 88–90 (on the coins of Khwārazm).

  Turk/Turks (§§1, 5, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 23, 24, 26–30, 32, 37, 65; Yāqūt §§2.2, 4.3) a generic name for all the Turkic-speaking peoples of Central Asia with whom the Muslims came into contact. In the translation, I use “Turkic” for the language the Turks speak, and “Turkish” for their camels and yurts. I presume that by “Turkish camels” Ibn Faḍlān intends Bactrians.

  Ūrm (§38) the third river crossed by the caravan after its departure from Bāshghird territory.

  See Togan (Reisebericht, 37, n. 3). Kovalevskiĭ (Kniga, 194) suggests it is the modern river Urm. Today, there is a village with the name Urm where Volga Bulghar inscriptions have been found. It is omitted by Canard in his translation and note: Voyage, 51, 108, n. 145. It is “Ūram,” according to al-Dahhān (Risālah, 110, n. 3) and McKeithen (Risālah, 81, n. 228), and “Uram/Urem,” according to Lunde and Stone (Ibn Fadlān, 24, 226, n. 49). Frye (Ibn Fadlān’s Journey, 97) identifies it as the modern “Urem”; it is not drawn on Róna-Tas’s map (Hungarians and Europe, 223).