Mission to the Volga / by Aḥmad ibn Faḍlān ; translated by James E. Montgomery ; foreword by Tim Severin ; volume editor, Shawkat M. Toorawa.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ibn Faḍlān, Aḥmad, active 922, author.

Severin, Timothy, author of foreword.

Contributor:

Montgomery, James E. (James Edward), 1962- translator.

Toorawa, Shawkat M., editor.

Series:

Library of Arabic literature

Library of Arabic Literature

Standardized Title:

Kitāb ilá malik al-Ṣaqālibah. English

Language:

Arabic

English

Subjects (All):

Bulgars (Turkic people).

History.

Tatarstan (Russia)--Description and travel.

Tatarstan (Russia).

Bulgars (Turkic people)--Russia (Federation)--Volga River Region--History.

Ibn Faḍlān, Aḥmad, active 922--Travel--Asia, Central.

Ibn Faḍlān, Aḥmad.

Volga River Region (Russia)--History.

Volga River Region (Russia).

Russia (Federation)--Volga River Region.

Physical Description:

xxxix, 138 pages ; 21 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, [2017]

Summary:

Mission to the Volga is the oldest surviving instance of sustained first-person travel narrative in Arabic-a pioneering text of peerless historical and literary value. In its pages, we move north on a tenth-century diplomatic mission from Baghdad to the upper reaches of the Volga River in what is now central Russia. In this colorful documentary, Ahmad Ibn Fadlan relates his experiences as part of an embassy sent by Caliph al-Muqtadir to deliver political and religious instruction to the recently-converted King of the Volga Bulghars. Although we know very little about his life and background, Ibn Fadlan records the marvels he witnesses during eleven months of grueling travel, including an aurora borealis and the white nights of the North. He offers a unique description of the Viking society he encounters on the banks of the Volga, including their customs, clothing, body painting, and a striking ship funeral. Together, these anecdotes illuminate a world in flux during the heyday of the Abbasid Empire, narrated by its observant beholder with curiosity and zeal. Book jacket.

Contents:

Mission to the Volga 1

Baghdad 3

Bukhara 4

Khwarazm 6

Al-Jurjaniyyah 7

The Ghuzziyyah 10

The Bajanak 17

The Bashghird 17

The Bulghars 18

The Rusiyyah 32

The Khazars 39

Yaqut's Quotations from The Book of Ibn Fadlan 41

Ibn Fadlan's Logbook: An Imagined Reconstruction 63.

Notes:

Translated from the Arabic.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781479899890

1479899895

OCLC:

957696543