Ibn Fadlan and his travelling companions went to the city of Bukhara during their journey. In this section, Fadlan focuses mostly on the people he encounters there. He meets with people in high esteem, such as the Amir and his secretary. The secretary, Jayhani, set up Ibn Fadlan and his people with a place to stay and a servant to attend to their needs. Fadlan then describes the ruler of this place and their meeting. The ruler, Nasr ibn Ahmad, is described as “a beardless youth” (Fadlan 5), so he was a young king. The purpose of their meeting, at least for Ibn Fadlan, was to ask for the amir’s help in ensuring their safe journey. Ibn Fadlan reads him a letter from his own ruler, which commanded the young amir to do three things: “transfer [the revenues of] Arthakhushmithan from al-Fadi ibn Musa…to Ahmad ibn Musa al-Khwarazmi” (Fadlan 5), send a letter to the governor of Khwarazm to let them pass through without any trouble, and lastly, “send a letter to the Gate of the Turk” (Fadlan 5), again, asking him to let them pass without any difficulty. This stop on Ibn Fadlan’s journey was to make sure that the rest of his trip went smoothly. He also writes about the coinage of this city, known as ghitrifi dirhams. These coins were “made of copper, brass and bronze” (Fadlan 6) and he denotes the conversion rate of their coins to the dirhams he is accustomed to. He writes that this currency is used for the dowries of women and for selling slaves and property. 

Ibn Fadlan traveled to Bukhara with his group, presumably, on camelback. He discusses in the section prior to this one how he travels on camels. He also mentions the various cities he stopped through on the way to Bukhara. He crossed a desert to get to Amul before reaching Bukhara. Due to their mode of transportation, meaning the camels, they needed to stop intermittently during their travels to let the camels rest. Fadlan also encountered some dangerous people along the way, like “Ibn Qarin the agent of Da’i” (Fadlan 4), where the group needed to hide in the caravan and run away. This person was a political adversary. Ibn Fadlan and his group stayed in Bukhara for 28 days. They left due to the impending winter and headed to Kharasm by boat. They were housed by Jayhani on the orders of the amir. 

The purpose of Ibn Fadlan writing about his time spent in Bukhara is to share his experience with his caliph, who sent him on this journey. He purposefully describes his interactions with the people of political power in Bukhara, such as Nasr ibn Ahmad, the amir, and his secretary. He also makes sure to include that he read the letter the caliph assigned Ibn Fadlan to read. He makes it very clear that he completed his task and relayed the required information to the ruler of Bukhara. Also, he includes how both he and the amir talk about the caliph when he is not there: “‘How did you leave our master, the Commander of the Faithful? May God prolong his life and his good health…’ ‘We left him in good health,’ we replied” (Fadlan 5). He intentionally inserts these well-wishes because the caliph will read them after the journey and think fondly of Ibn Fadlan, his group, and this ruler who treated him with respect even in his absence. The overall purpose of Ibn Fadlan’s trip to Bukhara was for political reasons. He needed the ruler of Bukhara’s help in making his journey seamless and to relay the caliph’s orders.