There has been a long-standing fascination with Ibn Fadlan and his account of his journey into “The Land of Darkness.” From Hollywood adaptations like The 13th Warrior to the breadth of academic work of the nineteenth-century Russian historian Christian Frahn, Ibn Fadlan remains an enigmatic figure. Ibn Fadlan’s record of his journey and account with the Rus shows us a unique glimpse into the lives of Vikings during the tenth century. Fadlan’s record is one that sticks out in the tapestry of what we have come to know and understand about the raiding and trading of Viking peoples in Western Europe, it and shows us how the Eastern and Asian worlds collide.
Ibn Fadlan’s record remained buried and long-forgotten until centuries after his journey, when an Arab geographer by the name of Yaqut would by chance unearth Fadlan’s work. On a scholarly journey, looking for information to compile into his master lexicon, Yaqut found himself deep in the libraries of Merv and Jurjaniya. Scouring the collection, he found Fadlan’s Rissala. Yaqut, having been captivated by Fadlan’s storytelling and equally sensing its importance, decided to include Fadlan’s report as a part of his Muʿjam al-buldan, or “Lexicon of Countries”, an expansive geographical work or dictionary. How fortunate that Yaqut found Ibn Fadlan’s lost record centuries later, but perhaps it was more than just a coincidence–perhaps it was fate. After all, he found the Rissala centuries later in the same city that Ibn Fadlan had visited himself in his own journey, prior.
It is even more fateful, when we consider that Jurjaniya was sacked by the Mongols the following year. It is thanks to Yaqut that we have Ibn Fadlan’s record, and it is he we can thank that it did not meet a disastrous and fiery demise, lost from us forever. Ibn Fadlan’s Rissala became an academic treasure trove for more than just Yaqut. Russian scholar Christian Martin Frahn would be just as enamored with Fadlan’s work, studying it extensivelyand even teaching about it when he served as a professor. However, the essence of Fadlan’s Rissala would not be uncovered until a man named Ahmed Zeki Validi Togan would take hold of it.
Now, Validi certainly had a more tumultuous journey finding Fadlan than those before him. Validi was a revolutionary and political exile from Tartaristan. In his flight to escape the Bolsheviks, he found himself in Mashhad, Iran, by 1923. In the library of Imam Reza, Validi discovered a magnificent manuscript made up of several recorded travel logs, including Fadlan’s. This manuscript would come to be known as the Mashhad manuscript, and Validi’s translations and notes on Ibn Fadlan’s Rissala, joined together with Yaqut’s, have provided us with the fuller picture of Ibn Fadlan’s travels that we rely on today. The Mashhad manuscript is, unfortunately, unavailable beyond my own means, but in many ways, Ibn Fadlan’s elusive writing resembles the man himself. Who was Ibn Fadlan, and why was he sent there in the first place?
Similar to the incomplete nature of Ibn Fadlan’s Rissala, the picture we have of its author is just as incomplete. There is little to no mention of Ibn Fadlan predating his excursion, which lasted about a year. Even the date of his birth is disputed over an approximate twenty-year difference, but what we do know is when his grand journey began. In the year 921 AD, Ahmad ibn Fadlan al-Abbas ibn Rashid ibn Hammad, or better known simply as Ibn Fadlan, set off on a great excursion at the behest of Muhammad ibn Sulayman, who was an envoy to the caliph of the Abbasid empire, Muqtadir. Now, Muqtadir’s reign was one lacking in political stability. His grasp on power was thanks to outside intervention, and the officials in his court fell prey to greed and corruption.
Like any ruler, Muqtadir most likely wanted to keep his grasp on power, however unsteady it was. Sending envoys to foreign leaders who were interested in a political or religious alliance would only strengthen Muqtadir, and by extension, the caliphate’s power.
Ibn Fadlan’s writing of his journey to the far reaches of the north into the land of the Rus is written in concise and short sections, commenting not just on the geographical aspects of his journey but simultaneously and freely giving insight into the diasporic Rus cultures, beliefs, customs, practices, and even physical appearances.
While Ibn Fadlan writes about these matters matter-of-factly, he is not shy to express his own beliefs and judgments about these people as well. Ibn Fadlan’s writings most likely served as observations for an ultimate culminating report for the caliph, as Ibn Fadlan, while serving officially as an emissary, also acted unofficially, like a katib, or a specialized scribe and orator in the Arab world. A katib historically practiced khutbah, an oratory tradition of Islam which eventually evolved into secular Arab writing and poetry. In Ibn Fadlan’s time, the role of katib was a role bestowed by the Caliph’s court, and it was the role in which Fadlan found himself. This role also included reading aloud correspondence, as we see multiple times in interactions between Ibn Fadlan and various elite members of the Khazars, Bulghars, and Rus with whom he meets along the way. In the introduction section of Fadlan’s record, he even states, “I was given the responsibility for reading the letter to the king, making over to him the gifts that had been sent him, and supervising the teachers and jurists.”
“I was given the responsibility for reading the letter to the king, making over to him the gifts that had been sent him, and supervising the teachers and jurists.”
He repeats later that he was tasked with delivering letters to the king and his family, in addition to medicine that he requested, and suggesting again the political machinations of the caliphate to make allies near and far, Ibn Fadlan refers to the leader of the Volga Bulghars, Almish ibn (Shilki) Yiltawar as a client of his caliph. Almish, as suggested by this epithet “ibn,” had, upon agreeing to be in alliance with the caliphate, also converted to Islam. This allyship wasn’t just beneficial for the caliphate but for the king Almish as well. Around this time, the Bulghars of the Volga were in conflict with the neighboring Khazars, just on the other side of the steppes, who were Jewish.
Freshly converted, King Almish and his people were at a poli-religious crossroads with the Khazars. At the very least, King Almish himself made it apparent that he did not wish to submit to the authoritative pressure from the Khazars. He did so by making a series of requests. First, that the caliph send them someone to instruct him and his people in the ways of Islam. Second, that he be given the means to build a mosque, and lastly, that he be given the means to build a fortress/defenses against those he deemed a threat (i.e., the Khazars). Supporting the Bulgars against the Khazars would obviously benefit King Almish and solidify their alliance, but interestingly enough, the caliphate had had its own feuds with the Khazars.
Beginning in the 700s during the Umayyad caliphate, they clashed with the Khazars, invading each other’s territories and capturing and converting each other over the course of several years until internal political change shifted their dynamic. In the decade that followed, the Khazars would reshape their own khaqanate, and the Umayyad empire would see itself eclipsed by the Abbasid caliphate. With that, peace between the Khazars and the caliphate was made. A rich history ran deep between the Khazars, Bulghars, and the Caliphate, and in many ways, foreshadows their continued involvement with one another. This practice of enslavement and religious conversion was still a common practice even after the conflict between the Khazars and Muslims.
Those who became enslaved and converted became integrated within each other’s societies, especially those who were captured during the conflict under the Umayyad caliphate and sold into slavery, as well as migratory groups. We see this practice repeated during the Abbasid caliphate as well. Even the men in Ibn Fadlan’s party contained men who were formerly slaves, like Tikin the Turk and Bars the Saqlab; this shows us that the people of the Volga and those in the far east were and continue to be connected by the same thread. This thread was also woven around trade. Trade connections between the Caliphate, Bulgars, and Khazars were brimming with beautiful furs, gold, and silver. The groundwork for such a rich trade network was laid by Swedish traders who had come to these lands in the previous seventh and eighth centuries. Great archaeological discoveries have shown us this, primarily by the fact that the vast majority of Caliphate silver in Europe was uncovered in Sweden.
Silver production was at an all-time high during Ibn Fadlan’s time, and more archaeological finds of coins show that silver had surely found its way into the heart of the Volga, especially among the Bulghars and other nomadic people, too.
The Khazars played an equally important role in the distribution of silver coins, too. Their own signature coin, the “Moses” coin, began minting in the 8th century, showing not just the influence of Judaism on the Khazars, but also Arabic influence, as they were using caliphate silver to mint their coins. Silver production was at an all-time high during Ibn Fadlan’s time, and more archaeological finds of coins show that silver had surely found its way into the heart of the Volga, especially among the Bulghars and other nomadic people, too. King Almish had, by this time, begun minting dirhams himself. Silver coins also happen to be the subject of Almish’s quarrel with Ibn Fadlan and his companions, later on.
Ultimately, though not much is known historically about Ibn Fadlan himself, we are able to paint an excellent picture of his situation as well as the purpose for this journey and the importance of maintaining these diplomatic relationships. In the following sections of this profile, I will explore his journey further through examination of his personal entries and those he meets along the way.
Sources and Further Reading
Aḥmad Ibn Faḍlān, and Muḥammad Ibn ʻabd Al-Raḥīm Ibn Abī Al-Rabīʻ. 2012. Ibn Fadlān and the Land of Darkness : Arab Travellers in the Far North. Translated by Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone. London: Penguin Books.
Britannica Editors. 1998. “Khutbah | Meaning, Sermon, & Islam.” Encyclopedia Britannica. July 20, 1998. https://www.britannica.com/topic/khutbah#ref90392.
Treadwell, Luke, and Jonathan Shepherd. n.d. 2023. Muslims on the Volga in the Viking Age. London: I.B. Tauris.
Esposito, John L. 2011. “Why is Arabic So Important in Islam”. In What Everyone Needs to Know about Islam. Pages 10-11. New York: Oxford University Press. (In reference to the importance of language and the history of oral recitation).