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The Book of John Mandeville: Mt. Sinai

November 13, 2025 / Adam Hall / 0 Comments

In The Book of Marvels and Travels, Sir John Mandeville describes Mt. Sinai and its surrounding area in detail. Eager to court an audience of would be pilgrims, he reports on the popular pilgrimage destination of St. Catherine’s monastery on the mountain. He gives a short description of the monastery itself and its inhabitants, and quickly moves on to relating fantastic stories about the place. For instance, Mandeville says that the monks’ supply of oil for their lamps and food comes from birds miraculously bringing olive branches to the remote monastery. This, he says, shows how holy the place is and that if birds make pilgrimage there in honor of St. Catherine, so too must humans. Mandeville also claims that each monk has a lamp which both foretells their own death as well as choosing the next abbot when one dies. The bones of St Catherine too are miraculous. Apparently they exude a substance similar to oil or balm, but blacker. Mandeville assures his readers that many more relics are on display. All these stories emphasize the holiness of St. Catherine’s monastery, showing how miracles abound in its vicinity because of the many relics stored there. The point of this emphasis is to promote pilgrimage. Religious travelers were on the look out for any holy site to pay homage, and Mt. Sinai and its monastery seem to be prime locations. Mandeville, surely working from earlier descriptions of the place, reinforces the holy reputation of this location for his readers who were looking to fill their itineraries.

Another theme in Mandeville’s description of Mt. Sinai is its Biblical history, and connection to Moses in particular. Of primary importance is the location of the Burning Bush which the prophet saw and could still be seen in the monastery of St. Catherine, but there are many more. At its gate is the spring Moses made with his staff, and even the route Mandeville describes from Egypt is purportedly the same one which Moses and the Israelites took. Walking in these footsteps surely deepened a pilgrim’s faith and increased the spiritual desires which prompted their travels. Interestingly, Mandeville says that in this region travelers must know Latin before the local language, showing that to him this is Christian territory not Muslim. Its famous monastery serves as an outpost of Christendom and Europe by extension (never mind the actual ethnic composition of the monks). Mt. Sinai itself has many sites relating to Moses. Moses’ Chapel stands where the prophet hid when he saw God, the rocks of which still bear his outline. Nearby is the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments, and where he fasted for forty days and forty nights. Mandeville wants his audience to think of Moses’ stories when reading about Sinai. Again this can be explained by his audience. For people traveling so far and risking so much, a trip to Mt. Sinai allowed them to see all these important sites from the Bible in a relatively concentrated area. Following in the footsteps of Moses, an important Biblical character, shows great piety, and being in the presence of such holy sites only deepened such piety.

The Travels of Ibn Battutah: Khwarizm

November 13, 2025 / Camryn Dailey / 0 Comments

Ibn Battutah details his travels to Turkestan and Afghanistan quite extensively, particularly his journey to and experience in the town of Khwarizm. It is here that we get more detail than usual about the experience of traveling itself, as Battutah mentions the hardships and happenings on the way from al-Sara. It illuminates just how brutal traveling could be, even for the most seasoned travelers. First, he goes through the toll it takes on the animals they are traveling with. He talked about the animals “reach[ing] the limit of the journey” (137) and having to frequently stop to rest their animals or switch them out and find different ones. What surprised me most was that they would not just rest them, but sell and abandon them completely, basing the price off of their exhaustion level. It’s interesting that they seem not to form any attachment to the animals they travel with, and I wonder if it was hard to travel with animals you have no attachment to or that don’t trust and react to you.

Battutah then goes on to describe his own hardships and the physical and mental tolls of traveling. He says they traveled on “forced” marches for thirty full days, stopping “only for two hours each day,” just long enough to make and eat a meal (137). All those on the journey slept (rather uncomfortably, I would assume) in the wagons while they were on the move. Although, of course, for someone of the same class as Battutah, they were allowed the slave girls in their wagon. I do wonder if the comfortability and ‘furnishings’ of each wagon was determined by class. Would it be a grander and more comfortable wagon for a successful merchant like Battutah than someone of peasant class? I can only assume that Battutah’s wagon had to be relatively large in order to fit him and three slaves with him. By the way that Battutah describes Khwarizm once he reaches it, I wonder if travel ever felt useless or not worth it for what they saw on their sights. While Battutah describes the city as large and grand with fine bazaars, he also says it was uncomfortably crowded, and then just to travel to the bazaar and back was extremely strenuous – more energy than I can imagine him willing to exert after traveling for so long.

The rest of his account follows quite a similar formula to those we see in other cities. He begins, of course, with an account of the Amir of Khwarizm. He first does something that he does quite frequently, which is to tell what the name of the Amir means. He seems to often associate name meanings greatly with the qualities and honorability of people. We see this in another place in his interactions with the black man who helped him in times of trouble. He trusted him more when he learned what his name meant and its connection to an old Shaikh he had spoken with. Battutah also seems to equate honorability with the home and its embellishments, for he talks little about actual interactions with the Amir, and spends most of his time detailing the spread of food and decoration of his house.

We also see here an insight to the treatment of women in Khwarzim that is different from Battutah’s own. When a heavily dressed woman accompanied by servants passes him, he makes no motion to pay attention to her when she greets him, offering confusion instead. When he learns she is a khatun, a woman of great importance, he feels highly embarrassed. This makes it clear however that women do not hold any roles of that same status in his homeland. Finally, Battutah rounds off the account of the trip by detailing the array of melons, always of course noting their similarities to those kinds of fruits back home, possibly as a way for readers to conceptualize such topics in their own minds.

Margery Kempe Bristol-Santiago

November 13, 2025 / Tristan Deliana / 0 Comments

Margery finds herself without funds to be able to make another voyage for her pilgramage to Santiago in Spain as she had given all her money away to others during her journey. She eventually prays to God to help her in her time of need which then many people begin to give her money. Some gave money in request she pray for them in Santiago. This sort of prayer which is intercessory prayer is an important part of the Catholic faith and is the same time of request Catholics make to the Virgin Mary and saints, requesting they pray for them in heaven to God. People, like Margey’s friend, give her money for her voyage as they have a genuine belief that Margery’s intercessory prayer in a holy site like Santiago has a genuine benefit to the spiritual well being of their soul.

Eventually Margery obtains enough funds to beging her journey to Bristol, from which she would then travel to Santiago. She has heard that the rode from King’s Lynn to Bristol is filled with thieves that could rob her, but she is assured by God she will be safe. Eventually she arrives in Bristol where she again greets the man with the hunchback who traveled with her to Rome, where she pays him back for his help just as she had promised back in Rome.

Margery ends up waiting 6 weeks in Bristol for a ship because the king had requisitioned all of them. It seems the harbor in Bristol is a common location for routine ships between Santiago, or at least Spain, and England, hence why Margery already knows about it. It also seems to be the major port in the area, since all other ports have no ships available to the point many pilgrims end up preferring to return to Bristol to wait for a ship to Santiago.

While in Bristol she continues to recieve communion and attend mass, where her weeping is again ridiculed by others around her, in return she prays to God for Him to forgive them. She again weeps for God during the procession in the town, and whilst again some were annoyed, others were astonished by her and end up inviting her to eat and drink with them, as well as to talk about God. Again as before, some of those people pay her to pray for them in Santiago.

Eventually a ship from Britanny arrives in Bristol but she is prevented from boarding due to a rich man who refuses her entry due to his dislike for her. She is eventually summonded by the Bishop of Worcester who does not reprimand her as many others have done but instead praises her and even asks her to pray for him as well. This is most suprising since many times people were angry with her display of piety, maybe because many expected women to be silent in public regarding to religious matters, but the Bishop himself respects her and asks for her prayers. He gives her gold, an escort, and blessings for her journey, and eventually she boards a ship for Santiago.

According to Margery the weather and wind were preferable for sailing and the journey finished in 7 days, so I would assume 6-7 days would be the usual time it takes for a ship to go from Bristol to Santiago.

When she arrives in Santiago, she finds that many who were cruel to her in Bristol were kinder to her now. In Santiago she prays, eventually returning to Bristol with her companions.

The Travels of Ibn Battutah: The Maldives

November 12, 2025 / Joshua Crilly / 0 Comments

Leaving India, Ibn Battutah travels through the Maldives archipelago on his way farther east, stopping at various islands on the way. He focuses on the ecology somewhat, especially the tropical trees that produce coconuts, which Ibn Battutah seems to really enjoy. Most of his recollection of these islands however, revolves around the culture of their inhabitants being very primitive to the travelers. This is evident by how he retells the story he heard of the islanders converting to Islam because a Muslim banished an evil spirit that terrorized their villages. The story, whether told to him or not, is somewhat painting the islanders in a negative light, despite them now being Muslim they are shown to be stupid and helpless. It bears resemblance to white savior narratives, as the man that fixed all of their problems did so by instilling his own religion and way of life upon the islanders. Further criticism of their way of life comes from Ibn Battutah’s reaction to learning the sultan is a woman here, with the first thing he says about the government being that “It is a strange thing about these islands that their ruler is a woman” (236). Though not everything he says about this female ruler is negative, the overall fixation on her gender and how she governs is telling compared to his description of many of the other sultans. Any sultan that is misusing his power or being a poor ruler gets similar focus, but this woman does not appear to be weak or inadequate, suggesting the focus on her comes from a more sexist prerogative from Ibn Battutah. Given his opinion on the women of the Maldives in general being scrutinizing to say the least, this is not surprising.

The purpose of recording his travels through the Maldives once again is likely to serve as a cautionary tale towards practicing Muslims. Having much of this section dedicated to how women behave in their culture and are admitted more freedoms, it feels as though Ibn Battutah is showing a displeasing perspective on purpose. His reason for leaving the Maldives reinforces this priority of his own beliefs, as he is criticized by the locals for a punishment he gives being too harsh. “I gave orders that both of them should be beaten because of their intimacy, and then set the woman at liberty and imprisoned the slave…I sent for the slave and had him beaten with bamboo rods…and paraded round the island with a rope round his neck” (239-240). Ibn Battutah takes this act of adultery as a very serious offense to Islam, but the locals disagree with the severity of the crime and subsequent punishment. “When they went to the vizier and told him of this he was much agitated and fell into a violent rage, assembled the ministers and army commanders and sent for me” (240). This incident causes him to relinquish his position and leave as soon as he possibly can, being offended that they would question him for this, especially given that those being punished are a black slave and a woman. Ibn Battutah clearly sees himself as right in this scenario, which is evident by how he describes the events from his perspective.

I think Ibn Battutah’s trip through the Maldives, though it is somewhat short, exemplifies his biased recollection of events. I doubt he is lying about what happens while he stays in the archipelago, his religious beliefs show that he values specific societal norms and demonizes any divergence from his way of life. It is fascinating to read how he reacts to women in power and more free expressions of sexuality, though at this point in the book it hardly counts as surprising.

The Travels of Marco Polo: Hormuz (Andrew Conte Post #5)

November 12, 2025 / Andrew Conte / 0 Comments

The perception of race in Marco Polo’s Medieval travels is a complex and needless to say, very misguided. In particular, I wish to discuss race in Japan and how it corelated with cartography.

To begin, Marco Polo’s “adventure” through Japan simply did not happen. The account of the land is horrifically inaccurate and there is no proof other than his own word that he traveled there. The way in which Polo describes Japan is comparable to a fictional land of horror like one from the popular anime series “Attack on Titan (AoT)”. The people of Japan are similar to the titan creatures, an exaggerated, misshapen, gigantic mutation of humans. These titans live exclusively on an excluded island and eat the regular inhabitants. Similarly, Polo describes most “tribes” of the Japanese as deformed cannibals who are unidentifiable between male and female (again just like the titans in Aot).

I believe that Marco Polo bases his descriptions of the Japanese off of the medieval Mappamudies that would have been circulating throughout Italy in his life time. Most people except for those wealthy enough to travel would never have any exposure to other cultures/races and would only hear about them through stories (like in the bible) or ancient myths like Gog and Magog. In these stories warped adaptations of other races would be put to paper on maps. So even though Marco Polo never went to Japan he still made those claims based on the knowledge he was working with.

Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: The Land of the Turks

November 12, 2025 / Avery Butcher / 0 Comments

Towards the end of the book, Ibn Fadlan describes his long journey from Jurjaniya through the “land of the Turks” to get to his final destination: the king of the Saqaliba. He describes the journey as flat and “desert-like”, but he says that it was still freezing, as it had been in Jurjaniya (Fadlan 11). He and his caravan started this journey in March 922, and they arrived at the end of their journey in May 922, so it took seventy days to travel.

Ibn Fadlan discusses many different things throughout his travels through the land of the Turks, and they are mostly blunt descriptions and opinions about the people and their customs. He speaks about their “filth and immodesty” on multiple occasions, citing the fact that “[t]heir women do not veil themselves” and they saw a woman’s private parts, which was extremely shocking (Fadlan 12). He is accustomed to women veiling themselves before men, so it was surprising enough that they were not veiled. But when he met a stranger’s wife and saw all of her, he was completely taken aback. This is very different than what happens in Baghdad.

He also mentions their custom of wearing clothes until they fall apart: “I saw the tunic he was wearing under the brocade. It was so filthy it was in rags, for it is their custom never to take off a piece of clothing until it falls to pieces” (Fadlan 20). He seems insulted by these customs, and he finds himself sticking his nose up at them. He believes that these practices are unsophisticated and borderline barbaric, which he does not try to hide in his writings. In a particularly disdainful passage, Fadlan refers to the Bashgirds (a Turkish people) as “the worst of the Turks, the dirtiest and ready to kill” (Fadlan 23). He claims that these people cut off heads for no reason and carry them around like a prize, and eat bugs from off their clothes.

Based on Ibn Fadlan’s fascination and descriptions of the Turkish people, and his main focus on the negatives and disparities of their ways compared to his own, one could say that Ibn Fadlan believes himself and the place that he comes from to be of a higher class. His writings come off in a sort of snobbish way due to the constant insulting of the Turks and their customs. Now, he does not exclusively insult these people. In some instances, he simply describes, like when he comes across a group that worships snakes and cranes. As a man who is on an expedition for a more religious pursuit on behalf of his caliph, it would be fair to assume he would not approve of the worship of anything other than God, but he does not contest or mock in this circumstance; he only observes and reports. This leads me to believe that he does not care so much about Islam, but more about the customs and the behavior of the people he comes across. He comes from a city, presumably of wealth and sophistication, so it is shocking to him to meet people who do not share the same level he is accustomed to. He makes sure to report these oddities that he comes across for his caliph, possibly, to agree with him and confirm his distaste for these people; or maybe he notes these instances out of pure curiosity and bewilderment. He has traveled all this way, so far from his home city, and he wants to make it known all that he has seen. The crazier the better for stories like these, and Ibn Fadlan goes to great lengths to communicate the extremities he encounters on his journey through the land of the Turks.

Ibn Fadlan: Bulghar

November 12, 2025 / Iona Nelson / 0 Comments

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.

The Book of Margery Kempe: Venice (The Second Time)

November 12, 2025 / Elisa Germanis / 0 Comments

Margery travels from Jerusalem back to Venice by ship. Though she does not mention the length of their journey, she notes that many of her companions were very ill. Margery does not describe the conditions of the ship or other travel difficulties that might have inflicted this illness, though she does bring this situation back to her relationship with God, saying that he assured her no one would die if they were on the same ship as her. By sharing this message from God, Margery frames herself as a favorite or someone special in the eyes of God. Upon arriving in Venice, Margery’s companions abandon her, saying “they would not go with her for a hundred pounds” (111). This comment from her fellow pilgrims expresses the frustration and tiredness Margery’s travel companions felt after traveling with her for so long.

Margery states that God tells her that he will make sure she arrives in Rome and then England safely if she wears white clothes. Margery responds “’If you are the spirit of God that speaks in my soul, and I may prove you to be a true spirit through counsel of the church, I shall obey your will; and if you bring me to Rome in safety, I shall wear white clothes, even though all the world should wonder at me, for your love” (112). This response is interesting because Margery’s phrasing “If you are the spirit of God” implies that she is not fully sure that God is speaking to her at this moment. As a woman with many children, Margery wearing white clothes (indicative of virginity and purity) would have been seen as blasphemous. Therefore, Margery’s insistence that the voice of God told her to wear white could have been perceived as her actually being spoken to by the voice of the devil. By setting up this condition where she must arrive safely in Rome before wearing white, Margery will be able to provide proof that it is God speaking to her upon her safe arrival (and then will be justified for wearing white).

Margery then meets an Irish man of around fifty years old with an old broken back (named Richard). She recalls her confessor telling her that when all her companions abandon her, God will provide a broken-backed man to escort her. Margery tells Richard to guide her to Rome, and he responds with “No, ma’am” and a list of fears: they have no weapons, they could be robed, and Margery could be taken away from him and raped. Richard’s concerns emphasize the dangers of travel during this time, and the heightened risk (of being raped) that Margery faces due to being a woman. Margery responds that God will look after them and she will give him two nobles. He agrees, suggesting that either Margery’s connection to God or the promise of two nobles (or both) are very convincing.

Once they set off, Margery describes coming across two Grey Friars and a woman “that came with them from Jerusalem” (113). As Margery previously describes being abandoned and alone, it is likely that this trio sailed on the same ship as her to Venice, and they were then separated up until this point. Margery describes the woman as having an ass which bears a chest containing an image of the lord. Margery writes that she travels with this trio while Richard returns to his occupation (begging), but he returns every morning and evening. The logistics of this situation are very confusing and Margery does not care to elaborate (does Richard only beg once they have stopped at a city?– otherwise, it would be unlikely he could stay caught up with the group).

Margery describes that though she does not speak the same language as the trio, they provide her with food, drink, and lodgings, and therefore she prays for them. This language barrier suggests that Margery is able to form connections with people, regardless of linguistic and cultural differences, through a shared dedication to religion. Margery writes that when the group arrives at fine cities, they place the image of the lord in the laps of respectable wives. Margery is moved to tears by the wives’ devotion. She writes that “When these good women saw this creature weeping… so astonishingly and so powerfully… they arranged a good soft bed and laid her upon it, and comforted her” (114). Here, Margery (as usual), depicts her weeping (and therefore the strength of her faith in God) as unique and incredible. This kind treatment of Margery, despite her language barrier with these women, once more demonstrates her ability to make connections with people through shared devoutness. However, it is also possible that because of the language barrier, these women did not understand Margery’s tears, and were simply concerned for her well-being.

Ultimately, Margery’s focus on herself, her relationship with God, and how other people perceive her suggest that she is attempting to record her own (or something like a) hagiography. She consistently depicts herself as having a more powerful connection to God than those around her, and further describes suffering for God. Interestingly, in this section Margery also demonstrates that while her devotion to God is often insufferable to those spending long periods of time with her, this connection to God can also convince people to help her and provide for her on her journey (regardless of language/cultural barriers).

Felix Fabri: Jaffa Port (The beginning of the Holy Land)

November 12, 2025 / gillie / 0 Comments

After many weeks aboard the ship across the Mediterranean, Felix Fabri and his fellow travellers finally made it to The Holy Land. Travel by sea was difficult and not luxurious, despite Fabri’s well funded adventure, and he welcomed the land with great enthusiasm. Landing on the shore of Jaffa Port is an ecstatic experience “we cast ourselves down upon our faces and kissed the sacred earth with great devotion. By merely touching the holy land we received plenary indulgences for the remission of sins” for Fabri (Fabri ch. 4). Despite the joy of arriving in the Holy Land, Fabri continues to notice and document geographic features. He is not so overcome by the divine to forget the terrain – he describes different rock formations and the edge of the sea. He also categorizes the people as “Saracens, Moors” who are guarding the gates and recording the pilgrims (Fabri ch.4). Felix Fabri continues to be fascinated by language: “my name of Felix causes I know not what difficulty in their language, for both in my former pilgrimage and in this one I was obliged to repeat my name to them several times, and even then they could neither pronounce it or write it without putting some outlandish diphthong before it, and gurgling its syllables in their throats” an observation that further illuminates his idea of German superiority (Fabri ch. 4). Although he is typically focused on language as a means to prove superiority, in this case he uses it to show cultural differences exemplified through language.

Despite his previous pilgrimage, Fabri seems shocked at some of the rites and rituals of the Holy Land. He comments on the squalor “our abode was abominably defiled and befouled with filth, nor was there any place to sit down save upon filth” but uses this test to further prove his obedience and belief (Fabri ch.4). The “place of abominations” is just one more test Fabri must face to prove his faith through the pilgrimage (Fabri ch.4). Unlike other stops on his pilgrimage, Fabri is very interested in the various cultures of The Holy Land and the behaviors of the people. He separates Saracens from others and relays details of their trading goods, markets, and resources, aspects he was previously less interested in. Felix Fabri details customs around food “they cooked eggs in a frying-pan with oil, and some of them brought loaves of bread, some cool water, some fruit, some salads, and some hot cakes made of eggs” a cultural aspect previously forgone in much of his narrative (Fabri ch.4). This newfound fascination could be because he is now so far away from his native German culture and lifestyle, so all differences are exacerbated. Alternatively, it could be Fabri’s desire to present a factual and detailed description of his time in Jerusalem as expressed in the beginning of The Wanderings. Regardless, Fabri presents a more well-rounded depiction of not only the people, but also the culture to really craft a sense of his time in the Holy Land, or as I’ve detailed, Jaffa Port.

Felix Fabri’s narrative describing his second pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Jerusalem provides an incredibly detailed understanding of travel methods, geography, German Christianity and ideas of piety, as well as emerging ideas of German supremacy. The Dominican monk presents his travels as absolutely factual and grounds his experience in various religious sites and accurate travel descriptions. He continuously affirms the importance of Christianity and presents it through a German hegemonic lens, separating his native culture first from Italians, and later from the inhabitants of the Holy Land. While there is much to say about Fabri’s extensive narrative, he stands out as narrator because of his unique motivation, previous experience, and fascination with language.

Ibn Fadlan: Kwārazm

November 11, 2025 / Violet Torres / 0 Comments

After Ibn Fadlan and his companions leave Bukhārā, they make their way to Kwārazm. To arrive here, they “hired” a boat and traveled by river (6). This means they did not need to bring their own boats like they do once they are past the Land of the Turks. They began their travel due to the approach of winter, and the distance between Bukhārā and Kwārazm is “200 farsakhs” (6). Ibn Fadlan writes that the weather was extremely cold making it difficult to travel. They would have to stop on the shore, only traveling for a certain amount of time each day, due to the freezing temperatures. Once they arrive in Kwārazm, Ibn Fadlan stays in the house of the leader. After a few days, Ibn Fadlan and others are given an audience with the leader who does not believe their journey is genuine (believing the Caliph is being misled). After some time, Ibn Fadlan and his fellow travelers are able to convince the leader of Kwārazm to let them leave. To get to their next stop, Jurjāniya, they must also travel by river for “50 farsakhs” (7).

One of the things Ibn Fadlan takes note of in this area is the money. He records how much the coins weigh and the names for them. He claims their dirhams are faulty, and he states the dirhams are “adulterated with lead or bronze” (7). Additionally, Ibn Fadlan observes the language of the people of Kwārazm and neighboring villages. He claims their language sounds like “the cries of starlings” or “the croaking of frogs,” while simultaneously calling the people “barbarous” (7-8). At the end of the section, Ibn Fadlan mentions that the people in a village nearby “deny the legitimacy of the Commander of the Faithful (…) at the end of every prayer” (8).

While Ibn Fadlan does not focus on the culture or customs of the people in Kwārazm, what he does focus on, coinage and language, reveals a possible purpose for recording this area. A lot of what Ibn Fadlan discusses in this section is likely a report for the Caliph. A change in coinage can affect people traveling through the caliphate. If they are using faulty, not to standard money (or what Ibn Fadlan views as faulty), that can be a potential political issue that the Caliph needs to know about if more travelers are sent to the area (especially if they need to make purchases). Or if they are worried about potential scams regarding travelers or tax collection and tribute. Also, the people around Kwārazm supposedly denying the power of the commander of the faithful can be concerning for the Caliph’s power. Lastly, Ibn Fadlan’s focus on language likely stems from cultural differences. Hearing a new language is likely jarring. It also means he cannot communicate as effectively in this region (needing a translator). Most people are going to be biased toward their own language. However, the adjectives he uses to describe their language is likely rooted in bigotry. These cultural differences likely cast a shadow on his perceptions of the people in Kwārazm.

Ibn Fadlān. Ibn Fadlān and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travelers in the Far North. Translated by Paul Lunde, Penguin Classic, 2012.

Mapping the Global Middle Ages