Traders, not raiders. Ahmed Ibn Fadlan and his meeting with the Rus people
A study of the Islamic Perspective in the risala, written by Ahmed Ibn Fadlan in 921-922.
We know the Vikings as barbarous, angry and dangerous men with beards, who had raid several areas in the Medieval times. Various media, as tv-series, books, movies, has taken over this image of the people who have lived in Scandinavia in the Viking age, a constructed naming for a blooming time period in which a trading network was established. This image is only based on Western sources, like written accounts from English, Frankish or Irish monks. Sources from Arabic authors hypothesized another image of these so-called Viking men. However, these sources are rarely examined, until recently.
Ahmed ibn Fadlan ibn al-‘Abbas ibn Rashid ibn Hammad
A great example of an Arabic source is the well-known travel account of Ahmed Ibn Fadlan, the so-called Risala (رسالة). There is little known about this Arabic traveler, except for the fact that he worked at the caliphal embassy of caliph Al-Muqtadir (908-932). This embassy made a journey along the river Volga, to the kingdom of the Bulgars, in the year 921. The leader of the Bulgars, Almış, was converted to the Islam, and therefore the purpose of this journey was to dispatch to King Almış those who could instruct him on religion and teach him the divinely revealed laws of Islam, and who could build him a mosque. The embassy left Baghdad on June 21, 921, and arrived in the capital of the Bulghars on May 11, 922.[1] Zeki Validi Togan (1890-1970) discovered the manuscript of this travel account in the city of Meshmed, Iran, in 1923. It was located in the museum of Astane Quds.[2]
The travel account of Ibn Fadlan has largely been prized for the provided information, for it functions as an eyewitness account of the various peoples and regions, which he had come across during this journey. The veracity of his account is extolled, mainly because there are no other sources with which we can compare his work.[3] Even though Ibn Fadlan writes about various interesting ethnicities, the part about the Rus people has the most attention in academic debate and historical research. Rus is how they presumably called the Vikings, a people who lived in the area of Scandinavia during the Middle Ages. Besides the fact that this part is the earliest source of detailed information revolving around the Rus, a debate was started about the identification of this Rus people. This debate is called the “normanist controversy” between normanists, who favored identification with the Scandinavians, and the anti-normanists, who were determinded to see in the birth of Russia as exclusively Slavic.[4] The great amount of attention that was given to of this part of the Risala functioned as a source of inspiration. For example the book of Michael Crichton Eaters of the dead: The manuscript of Ibn Fadlan, relating his experiences with the northmen in AD 922 (1976).[5] This book was turned into a film in 1999, called the 13th warrior, directed by John McTiernan.
The trailer of the 13th warrior (1999), directed by John McTiernan and Antonio Banderas playing the lead role
The trading network between the Scandinavians and the Arabs
In the ninth and tenth century, a trading network between Scandinavian and Arab societies was established, and it was mainly based on the trade of dirhams, Arabic coins. This trading network is largely based on adaptation, and mutual trust. The Volga River functioned as a hub, a central place with many ties, in the long-distance trading network between the Scandinavians and the Arabs. Because of this blooming trade period, Arabs were stimulated to travel, but they were also stimulated to travel by several sura’s in the Quran, and passages in the Hadith.[6] They saw the world as the creation of Allah, a creation that they wanted to discover completely.
In total, there were approximately thirty Arabic travel accounts, which provided information about the Rus people. These Arabic sources were ethnographic, and revolved around cultures and their interaction with others.[7] Although the Arabic sources give a different image of these people who had lived in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages, they do have a process of ‘othering,’ which is a process of defining ‘the other,’ which contributes to the creation of their own identity.
In total, there were approximately thirty Arabic travel accounts, which provided information about the Rus people. These Arabic sources were ethnographic, and revolved around cultures and their interaction with others.[7] Although the Arabic sources give a different image of these people who had lived in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages, they do have a process of ‘othering,’ which is a process of defining ‘the other,’ which contributes to the creation of their own identity.
The Islamic perspective in the Risala of Ibn Fadlan
This ‘othering’ is also shown in the travel account of Ahmed Ibn Fadlan. One of the reasons why there is no clearness about the identification of the Rus is because of the Islamic perspective, which is present in the whole account of the Rus. The Islamic perspective is, among others, present in his description of the hygiene of the Rus people, their public sexual intercourse, and the use of alcohol. This perspective is mainly present in the description of the burial ritual of a Rus chieftain. Even though the Walhalla is a complex phenomenon, it looks like Fadlan had applied an Islamic idea of heaven on this phenomenon. In his discussion with a Rus about burial and cremation, a process of ‘othering’ is seen:
“One of the Rusiyyah stood beside me and I heard him speaking to my interpreter. I quizzed him about what he had said, and he replied, “He said, ‘You Arabs are a foolish lot!’” So I said, “Why is that?” and he replied, “Because you purposely take those who are dearest to you and whom you hold in highest esteem and throw them under the earth, where they are eaten by the earth, by vermin and by worms, whereas we burn them in the fire there and then, so that they enter Paradise immediately.” Then he laughed loud and long”.[8]
Conclusion
Although the source of Ibn Fadlan contained a process of ‘othering,’ there is no superior behavior against these Rus people. This ‘other’ culture does not get to be judged, and there is no conflict, no clash of cultures. The reason for this behavior with each other is the relationship, which was based on trade. The western world did not or barely trade with the Vikings, mainly because the Vikings raided several English, Frankish and Irish areas. The trading network shaped the Arabic image of the Scandinavians, where there was no negative ‘othering’ or conflict; traders, not raiders.
Sources and Images
[1] James E. Montgomery, “Mission to the Volga: Ahmed Ibn Fadlan in Two Arabic travel books ed. Phillip F. Kennedy en Shawkat M. Toorawa. (New York/London: New York University Press, 2014): 167.
[2] The manuscript in its whole can be found in the central library of Astan Quds Razavi in Mashad, Iran. Inventory number: MS 5529.
[3] James E. Montgomery, “Ibn Fadlan: Muslim Traveler” in Literature of Travel and Exploration: An encyclopedia, volume 2 G to P. ed. Jennifer Speake (New York/London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2003): 578-580.
[4] P. Saskol’Skij. “Recent developments in the normanist controversy” in Varangian problems: Scando-Slavica supplementum 1 ed. Knud Hanestad, Knud Jordal, Ole Klindt-Jensen, Knud Rahbek Schmidt en Carl Stief. (Kopenhagen: Munksgaard, 1970): 21-38.
[5] Michael Crichton, Eaters of the dead: The manuscript of Ibn Fadlan, relating his experiences with the northmen in AD 922 (New York: Harpertorch, 1976).
[6] Franz Rosenthal, “The Stranger in Medieval Islam” Arabica 44 (1997): 54
[7} Haundel, Thort Jonsson. “New perspectives on Eastern Vikings/Rus in Arabic sources” Viking and Medieval Scandinavia 10 (2014): 65-97.
[8] James E. Montgomery. “Ibn Fadlan and the Russiyah” Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies 3 (Cambridge, 2000), 20.
Header : http://www.alrahalah.com/2010/09/ahmad-ibn-fadlan/
Image 1 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Fadlan#/media/File:Ibn_Fadhlan_manuscript.jpg
Image 2 : http://www.ancient-origins.net/history/10th-century-chronicle-violent-orgiastic-funeral-viking-chieftain-002865
Image 3 : http://www.baldwin.co.uk/coins/abbasid-al-muqtadir-donative-silver-dirham-313h.html?usrc=1
[2] The manuscript in its whole can be found in the central library of Astan Quds Razavi in Mashad, Iran. Inventory number: MS 5529.
[3] James E. Montgomery, “Ibn Fadlan: Muslim Traveler” in Literature of Travel and Exploration: An encyclopedia, volume 2 G to P. ed. Jennifer Speake (New York/London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 2003): 578-580.
[4] P. Saskol’Skij. “Recent developments in the normanist controversy” in Varangian problems: Scando-Slavica supplementum 1 ed. Knud Hanestad, Knud Jordal, Ole Klindt-Jensen, Knud Rahbek Schmidt en Carl Stief. (Kopenhagen: Munksgaard, 1970): 21-38.
[5] Michael Crichton, Eaters of the dead: The manuscript of Ibn Fadlan, relating his experiences with the northmen in AD 922 (New York: Harpertorch, 1976).
[6] Franz Rosenthal, “The Stranger in Medieval Islam” Arabica 44 (1997): 54
[7} Haundel, Thort Jonsson. “New perspectives on Eastern Vikings/Rus in Arabic sources” Viking and Medieval Scandinavia 10 (2014): 65-97.
[8] James E. Montgomery. “Ibn Fadlan and the Russiyah” Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies 3 (Cambridge, 2000), 20.
Header : http://www.alrahalah.com/2010/09/ahmad-ibn-fadlan/
Image 1 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Fadlan#/media/File:Ibn_Fadhlan_manuscript.jpg
Image 2 : http://www.ancient-origins.net/history/10th-century-chronicle-violent-orgiastic-funeral-viking-chieftain-002865
Image 3 : http://www.baldwin.co.uk/coins/abbasid-al-muqtadir-donative-silver-dirham-313h.html?usrc=1
Further Reading
Brink Stefan and Neil Price. The Viking World. London/New York: Routledge, 2008.
Frye, Richard N. Ibn Fadlan’s journey to Russia: A tenth-century traveler from Baghdad to the Volga river. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2005.
Haundel, Thort Jonsson. “New perspectives on Eastern Vikings/Rus in Arabic sources” Viking and Medieval Scandinavia 10 (2014): 65-97.
Montgomery, James E. “Ibn Fadlan and the Russiyah” Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studis 3 (Cambridge, 2000), 1-25.
Montgomery, James E. “Mission to the Volga: Ahmed Ibn Fadlan in Two Arabic travel books ed. Phillip F. Kennedy en Shawkat M. Toorawa. New York/London: New York: University Press, 2014: 190-260.
Tibi, Amin. “The Vikings in Arabic sources” Islamic studies 35 nr. 2 (zomer 1996): 211-217.
Frye, Richard N. Ibn Fadlan’s journey to Russia: A tenth-century traveler from Baghdad to the Volga river. Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 2005.
Haundel, Thort Jonsson. “New perspectives on Eastern Vikings/Rus in Arabic sources” Viking and Medieval Scandinavia 10 (2014): 65-97.
Montgomery, James E. “Ibn Fadlan and the Russiyah” Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studis 3 (Cambridge, 2000), 1-25.
Montgomery, James E. “Mission to the Volga: Ahmed Ibn Fadlan in Two Arabic travel books ed. Phillip F. Kennedy en Shawkat M. Toorawa. New York/London: New York: University Press, 2014: 190-260.
Tibi, Amin. “The Vikings in Arabic sources” Islamic studies 35 nr. 2 (zomer 1996): 211-217.
Thanks for reading. - I.v.O