Author: Iona Nelson

      Ibn Fadlan’s purpose for going on this trip was to get to Bulghar. He arrives in Bulghar after a lofty journey. He doesn’t state how long it takes him to get to Bulghar from Baghdad, but it was seventy days from Jutijaniya and a year and a half round trip. The final push, to where the King he needs to meet resides, was a day and a night’s journey. When they arrived, they were greeted by the four kings under the king of the Saqaliba, as well as their brothers and sons. Fadlan’s group was given tents to sleep in. He gives far less detail about the condition of these tents than he did in Jurijaniya. However, he does state that they arrived in May, so it was warmer then it was when he was in Jurijaniya, despite being more northern. Fadlan describes their wait for everyone to assemble to read the letter that the Calif had sent. Fadlan spends quite a lot of time describing the formalities of their stay. He describes the reading of the letter, the gifts he received, the dinner they sat through, and the King’s adoption of a Muslim name. He also describes their discussion of the money. After he gets through the practicalities of his job, he continues to mention their improper religious rituals. He then describes their customs as well as the things he witnesses (such as the northern lights). He spends quite a lot of time mentioning food and animals. He mentions Islam a few more times towards the end of the section, and then he goes into all of the legends of the area.

            It’s interesting how he organizes this section of his writing. He intertwines their legends, customs, and their improper religious customs or Islamic conversion. This section seems to encapsulate his purpose for writing. He gets down to his business that he must accomplish. He describes this early on as it is the priority for traveling. This makes sense because he was sent on this journey to deliver money to help build a mosque. This would have been a priority to the Calif who was reading this. He would have wanted to be informed about the details that transpired between Fadlan and the King. Then Fadlan goes on to describe the customs that come with judgment. For example, he states that they “use fish oil, so that everything they make with it smells bad” (35). Between describing their culture, he goes into Islamic practices. This seems like it is included to please the Calif. He spends significantly more time describing the customs; this is seemingly where his interest lies. His judgment and religious mentions obviously show aspects of his culture. However, where I think the most interesting tell about his beliefs lies in the descriptions of their legends. He describes the Gog and Magog, which is not a belief that was only held by the Turks. The description of their physical differences is very interesting. Fadlan is reporting the story that he heard from the King. This story upholds the belief that the people who are outside the known world of the Muslims are bad and different. Fadlan displays this bias in his descriptions of culture, contradicting himself with the reporting of this legend. His ideas about the people he met as he traveled more North were created by this idea of the unknown and hellish people. He believes this tale he hears from the King, which shows the same biases he previously held about the Turks he is currently with. This shows how, not only in Islamic culture but in the early Middle Ages, legends, beliefs, and biases are spread. This section shows a larger way that information was spread in the Middle Ages, rather than just a close-up into Fadlan’s cultural beliefs.

Ibn Fadlan’s last stopping place, described before he arrived in Bulghar, was Jurjanya. He and his caravan stayed here for quite some time due to the weather. They were trapped in this “country,” as he describes it. Jurjanya is near the Jayhun River, which he needed to pass in order to reach Bulghar. Upon his arrival in Jurjanya, the Jayhun river froze, which wasn’t necessarily what precluded them from continuing as “ horses, mules, donkeys, and carts slid over the ice” (8). It was the sheer cold that prevented them from continuing. They initially intended to stay here for a few days, but ended up staying for a little over three months. They had to have arrived in late November, as he states they leave in the middle of February, (this also lines up with the months the river would have been frozen). He also details the practicalities of his departure from Jurjanya: “ We bought Turkish camels and had boats made out of camel skin… We laid in three months’ supply of bread, millet, and dried and salted meat”(9). Fadlan describes the people as hospitable; a man invites him into his home to warm up by the fire, and he describes this custom as “it is a rule among them that beggars do not wait at the door but come into the house and sit for an hour by the fire to warm up”(8). Fadlan gives details about where he slept (more details than usual). He was provided a house to stay in. This house was “inside, which was another, inside which was a Turkish felt tent” (9). He also gives great detail of his clothing that he wore while attempting to stay warm. He said he was “wrapped in clothes and fur” while inside his house to keep warm (9). He also has an entire section describing the clothes they wore in Jurjanya.

            Fadlan heavily focuses on the weather and how these people survive the cold. He touches a bit on the customs of these people, yet those customs are still related to the weather. He describes the clothes that the “local people with whom we were on friendly terms” wore; they warned Fadlan about the importance of keeping warm (9). They wore “a tunic and over that a caftan, on top a cloak of sheepskin, and over that a felt outer garment, with a head covering…plain trousers, and another padded pair, socks. Horse hide boots… other boots” (9-10). This is the most description we get of anything from this culture… their clothes. In this section, Fadlan uses very specific and vibrant language to describe the weather. He is sure to get his point across about how cold it is.

            In other locations, Fadlan typically passes judgment on the people he is interacting with. These judgments typically reflect the culture that he comes from. In Jurijanya, his observations reflect a different aspect of his Islamic culture. He is very focused on the cold and describes the cold as “ a gate to the cold of hell” (8). Hell in Islam is imagined as cold and icy rather than hot and burning. They also believe the farther towards the poles they go, the stranger the people who inhabit these places are. Using this view of the world, it is clear why he was so focused on the cold: he may have believed he was on the cusp of hell. His reactions and focus on the weather also show the climate he is used to. He has never before experienced such weather in Baghdad. Instead of telling stories that show cultural practices, he tells stories of people who have died of the cold. He also recounts personal experiences with the cold, such as “returning to the house, I looked at my beard. It was a block of ice,” and “I saw the earth split and great crevasses form from the intense cold” (9). Remembering that he is writing his stories for the Calif can help discern why he focuses so much on the cold. He is trying to convey to people who have never experienced this cold before what it is like. This description of the cold sheds light on the climate and geographical “culture” he comes from.

One of the more detailed locations Ibn Fadlan stops at is Bukhara. This is about halfway through His journey. He traveled to Bukhara by camel and stayed for a total of twenty-eight days. He stays here for one of the longest periods of time compared to all the other places he stops on his voyage to Bulghar. His total trip was a year and a half long, so it’s fairly significant that he stayed for almost a month in Bukhara. Fadlan doesn’t give many details about some of the practicalities of his stay. We know that the Amir of Bukhara provided him and his caravan with lodging. The details of this lodging are nonexistent. He also states that the Amir provided a person to “attend to our needs and provide us with everything we might want”(5). He also doesn’t state much about the weather or the terrain of Bukhara.

Fadlan focuses a lot on the conversations and people he meets in Bukhara. He gives a lot of details about who is in power he is speaking and meeting with. He also gives a lot of information about specific places (towns, I’m assuming) in Bukhara that these people are from. They originally met Jahani, the Amir who leads them to Nasir ibn Ahmad. Ahmad discusses with Fadlan their journey and their interaction with the Commander of the Faithful. Ahmad also reads their letter that is asking that he allow the transfer of money to Ahmad ibn Musa. This shows that this stop wasn’t just a random place they rested, but a place of business that was planned for. He also focuses on the coinage and the conversion rates of their money.

These two main focuses remind the reader that this trip isn’t just for exploring. Fadlan’s goals weren’t to necessarily discover and document these places he was randomly visiting. He describes culture and mentions places in passing in smaller sections of his writing. The larger sections of his accounts are clearly linked to his job and the reason he was sent on this trip. We know he works for the Calif and his goal is to go to Bulghar to convert and teach these people (about Islam), as well as provide funds for a building in Bulghar. We observe his cultural bias in various sections. These biases show the conversion and teaching part of his journey. However, in Bukhara, he is describing how the money aspect comes into play. This isn’t necessarily quite interesting for the reader or dense in cultural observations, yet it was probably very relevant to the Calif whom this was written. This section sort of acts like a receipt for the Calif to gain an understanding of what occurred with the money. Fadlan tells the Calif that the person who was supposed to give the money to ibn Musa tricked and imprisoned him. They were unable to get the money as Ibn Musa was nowhere to be found. This is an important detail for Fadlan to write to show the Calif the reason they had issues with the money later on in Bulghar (so he couldn’t be blamed).

His brief explanation of the money also serves the purpose of describing the money aspect of this trip. This section on the coinage is very brief and explains their different types of currency as well as their conversion rates with Fadlan’s known currency, the danaq. Whenever Fadlan details a place, he talks about their culture and customs. To me, this short description of their money is subsidizing his need for a description. It feels like he threw this in to give an account of the location as well as explain to the Calif how the money was working.

This section doesn’t necessarily say much about the culture of Fadlan; however, it shows his career and serves as a reminder of the purpose of this trip. This section is really for the Calif to understand what occurred so that Fadlan doesn’t take the blame for the lack of funds in Bulghar. The only aspect that he details regarding the culture is their money. Which, in a previous blog post, I stated, is because this is foreign to him and to the people reading this. However, as mentioned above, this also serves as a guide for the Calid to understand the conversation of money for Bukhara because a money transfer was supposed to occur here.

Link to map 

Map color Key:

Red=Major locations that have been detailed in depth/own sections:

Baghdad: Where he begins,

Bakhara: Where he stops and gives a first look into another culture

Khwarazm(Kath): Where he gives his second account of Culture

Bulghar: His end location, where he spends a great amount of time discussing their culture and conversion.

Blue=Locations that are mentioned with some detail (about their journey, not these places’ cultures):

Rayy: We learn that they waited for Ahmad ibn (they were in the wrong location)

Jit: They got stuck due to the snow and had to stay for two days so their camels could walk through the snow

Yellow=Locations that are mentioned in passing with no additional information:

Nishapur: The only information is that they made it here with the concealed caravan, but no additional trip info is given (no time, no weather, etc.)

Sarakhs: Absolutely no information is given

Nahrawan: We only know they stayed one day

Simnan: Once again, no information is given

Ibn Fadlan, on his trip to Bulghar, stops in Khwarazm, where he makes many comments on these people’s customs and culture. Fadlan started his journey in Baghdad, setting out for Bulghar. His total trip length to get to and from Bulghar was about a year and a half. According to the provided map, it was a little over 900 miles to get to Khwarazm from Baghdad. We know it took at least forty-one days to reach Khwarazm, but it most likely took longer (as Fadlan only gives information about how long he stayed in each place, not the travel time). Fadlan doesn’t state exactly how long he stayed in Khwarazm, but we know it was at least three days. In his journey to Khwarazm, we know he was accompanied by a “caravan”; the exact number of people he traveled with is not known. He states they took a boat to Khwarazm; they hired a boat to go up the river, which I assume means someone else was steering the boat. He states that it was so cold they had to break up the trip into multiple days. We don’t know how long this boat ride lasted, but he stated it was “200 farsakhs” from where they rented the boat (6).

            Khwarazm is one of the only places in his travels where we get a glimpse of his lodging situation. Fadlan states that when they arrived in Khwarazm, they went to find the “ruler of the town.” (7) The ruler allowed them to stay in a house in the town. “He admitted us to his presence and lodged us in a house” (7). He describes no other aspect of the house he stays in. We know the weather was very cold on the boat trip to Khwarazm; however, he states that the cold lasted until Khwarazm. Fadlan doesn’t give any other information about the weather there. However, the statement about the cold ending at Khwarazm shows it had to be warmer than on the river.

            In Khwarazm, Fadlan heavily focuses on the coinage and the language of the people; Basically, neglecting any other information about this place. He tells the names of their money: Ki’ab, Dawamat, and Tazja’s. He compares their money directly to his own currency. He states that their Tazja is equivalent to the Dirham. He also reports on the weight of the Tazja, which is four and a half Danaqs; a Danaq was a unit of mass and a kind of currency. When discussing the language, he only passes judgment on the way they speak, rather than giving details about their language. They say that their language sounds like “ the cries of starlings.” (8) This is the only statement he makes regarding their language.

            As stated in the last post, Fadlan was working for the Calif in a position where he was attempting to convert the people he came in contact with. His audience is the calif who is of the opinion that all these people are bad and different. In this, we see Fadlan pass judgment on the people he encounters. His descriptions of language are quite rude throughout his accounts. He also compares all of their currency in terms he is familiar with. This makes sense as the frame of reference that his audience has is less broad than Fadlan’s. The best way to convey his discoveries is in terms his audience understands. The last thing Fadlan tells us about the Khwarazm people is their disbelief in the “ legitimacy of the commander of the faithful.” (8) In other places, he spends a lot of time discussing their religious practices and beliefs. In Khwarazm, however, he spends one sentence describing their beliefs. To me, this shows that he throws in that information for the sake of the Calif, rather than including it because he is personally perturbed. In Khwarazm, Fadlan is fairly nice about their culture and customs. The farther north he gets, the more judgmental he becomes, which makes sense as that is consistent with the Islamic view of the world at this time. In Khwarazm, he isn’t that judgmental, presumably because it is more southern.