Abstract
Ibn Faḍlān's account of the caliphal embassy from Baghdad to the King of the Volga Bulghārs in the early fourth/tenth century is one of our principal, textual sources for the history, ethnogenesis and polity formation of a number of tribes and peoples who populated Inner Asia. Of especial significance is his description of a people whom he calls the Rūsiyyah. Attempts to identify this people have been the stuff of controversy for almost two centuries and have largely focused on how this description can be made to contribute to the Normanist Controversy (the principal, but by no means the only, controversy concerns the extent of Viking involvement in the creation of Russia). This article provides a fresh, annotated translation of Ibn Faḍlān's passage and considers a multiplicity of identities for the Rūsiyyah.
Highlights
Ibn Fa−dl¢an's account of the caliphal embassy from Baghdad to the King of the Volga Bulgh¢ars in the early fourth/tenth century is one of our principal, textual sources for the history, ethnogenesis and polity formation of a number of tribes and peoples who populated Inner Asia
Attempts to identify this people have been the stuff of controversy for almost two centuries and have largely focused on how this description can be made to contribute to the Normanist Controversy
In the case of the people known as the R¢usiyyah, for example, two modern commentators have surveyed Ibn Fa−dl¢an’s Kit¢ab, or a portion of it, and have all too hastily identified the R¢us, variously, as the Vikings1 and the Russians,2 a scholarly commonplace among those involved
Summary
Ibn Fa−dl¢an's account of the caliphal embassy from Baghdad to the King of the Volga Bulgh¢ars in the early fourth/tenth century is one of our principal, textual sources for the history, ethnogenesis and polity formation of a number of tribes and peoples who populated Inner Asia.
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