10th century

Ibn Fadlan 4: Communal Hygiene and the Viking Funeral

Frank Dicksee - The Funeral of a Viking

Frank Dicksee - The Funeral of a Viking

In the conclusion the Ahmad ibn Fadlan series, ibn Fadlan encounters the Rusiyyah, recounts the famous Viking funeral, and is disgusted by a communal wash basin. I also talk about the text itself.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

Sources:

  • Ahmad ibn Fadlan. Mission to the Volga, translated by James E. Montgomery. New York University Press, 2017.

  • Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North, translated and with an introduction by Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone. Penguin, 2012.

  • Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, edited by Josef W. Meri. Routledge, 2005.

  • Bukharaev, Ravil. Islam in Russia: The Four Seasons. Routledge, 2014.

  • Frye, R.N. and Blake, R.P. "Notes on the Risala of Ibn Fadlan," in The Turks in the Early Islamic World, edited by C. Edmund Bosworth. Routledge, 2017.

  • Hansen, Valerie. The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World and Globalization Began. Simon and Schuster, 2020.

  • Korpela, Jukka Jari. Slaves from the North: Finns and Karelians in the East European Slave Trade, 900 - 1600. BRILL, 2018.

  • Kratchkovsky, I.Y. Among Arabic Manuscripts: Memories of Libraries and Men. BRILL, 2016.

  • Mako, Gerald. The Islamization of the Volga Bulghars: A Question Reconsidered. Harrassowitz Verlag, 2011.

  • Montgomery, James E. "Ibn Fadlan’s ‘Mission to the Volga’: An Extraordinary Narrative by a Not-so-extraordinary Writer," an interview with ArabLit. 

  • Peacock, A.C.S. The Great Seljuk Empire. Edinburgh University Press, 2015.

  • Romano, John F. Medieval Travel and Travelers: A Reader. University of Toronto Press, 2020.

  • Vernadsky, George. Kievan Russia. Yale University Press, 1973.

  • Wladyslaw, Duczko. Viking Rus: Studies on the Presence of Scandinavians in Eastern Europe. BRILL, 2004. 

  • Wilson, Joe. Black Banner and White Nights: The 10th-Century Travel Account of Ibn Fadlan. James Madison University, 2014.

Ibn Fadlan 3: Bulgar Discomforts & Jinn Warfare

Gog and Magog (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Français 24364, fol. 60v)

Gog and Magog (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Français 24364, fol. 60v)

Our 10th century traveller, Ahmad ibn Fadlan, settles in among the Bulgars, develops a distaste for their fish-oil based food, and is terrified by events in the sky.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

Sources:

  • Ahmad ibn Fadlan. Mission to the Volga, translated by James E. Montgomery. New York University Press, 2017.

  • Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North, translated and with an introduction by Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone. Penguin, 2012.

  • Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, edited by Josef W. Meri. Routledge, 2005.

  • Bukharaev, Ravil. Islam in Russia: The Four Seasons. Routledge, 2014.

  • Hansen, Valerie. The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World and Globalization Began. Simon and Schuster, 2020.

  • Korpela, Jukka Jari. Slaves from the North: Finns and Karelians in the East European Slave Trade, 900 - 1600. BRILL, 2018.

  • Mako, Gerald. The Islamization of the Volga Bulghars: A Question Reconsidered. Harrassowitz Verlag, 2011.

  • Romano, John F. Medieval Travel and Travelers: A Reader. University of Toronto Press, 2020.

  • Vernadsky, George. Kievan Russia. Yale University Press, 1973.

  • Wilson, Joe. Black Banner and White Nights: The 10th-Century Travel Account of Ibn Fadlan. James Madison University, 2014.

Ibn Fadlan 2: A Letter from the Caliph

The envoys of Byzantine Emperor Michael II are received by Omurtag the Bulgar ruler - Wikicommons

The envoys of Byzantine Emperor Michael II are received by Omurtag the Bulgar ruler - Wikicommons

Ahmad ibn Fadlan carries on to his cash-poor appointment with the Volga Bulgars. There's talk of funerals, cultural differences, and threats of death. 10th century diplomacy could be hard.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

Sources:

  • Ahmad ibn Fadlan. Mission to the Volga, translated by James E. Montgomery. New York University Press, 2017.

  • Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North, translated and with an introduction by Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone. Penguin, 2012.

  • Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, edited by Josef W. Meri. Routledge, 2005.

  • Bukharaev, Ravil. Islam in Russia: The Four Seasons. Routledge, 2014.

  • Curta, Florin. Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1250. Cambridge University Press, 2006.

  • Hansen, Valerie. The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the World and Globalization Began. Simon and Schuster, 2020.

  • Le Strange, Guy. The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate: Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia from the Moslem Conquest to the Time of Timur. Cosimo Classics, 2010.

  • Romano, John F. Medieval Travel and Travelers: A Reader. University of Toronto Press, 2020.

  • Vernadsky, George. Kievan Russia. Yale University Press, 1973.

Ibn Fadlan 1: From Baghdad with Very Cold Beards

Baghdad between 150 and 300 AH (767 and 912 AD) Wikimedia

Baghdad between 150 and 300 AH (767 and 912 AD) Wikimedia

Ahmad ibn Fadlan travels from early 10th century Baghdad on a diplomatic mission to the Volga Bulgars. There is a Viking funeral in his future, along with unfamiliar cultures and extremely cold weather. It's not The 13th Warrior, which it loosely inspired, but it is a good story.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

Sources:

  • Ahmad ibn Fadlan. Mission to the Volga, translated by James E. Montgomery. New York University Press, 2017.

  • Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North, translated and with an introduction by Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone. Penguin, 2012.

  • Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, edited by Josef W. Meri. Routledge, 2005.

  • Bukharaev, Ravil. Islam in Russia: The Four Seasons. Routledge, 2014.

  • Le Strange, Guy. The Lands of the Eastern Caliphate: Mesopotamia, Persia, and Central Asia from the Moslem Conquest to the Time of Timur. Cosimo Classics, 2010.

  • Romano, John F. Medieval Travel and Travelers: A Reader. University of Toronto Press, 2020.

The Book of the Wonders of India

Detail from the “Catalan Atlas.” Source: gallica.bnf.fr

Detail from the “Catalan Atlas.” Source: gallica.bnf.fr

Today's topic is the Kitāb ʻajāyib Al-Hind, or the Book of the Wonders of India, a 10th-century collection of wonders covering east Africa all the way to what might have been Japan. It's something of a sequel to the Abu Zayd episode. I mentioned there that the compiler avoided including the fanciful fables of the sea that sailors were so fond of spreading. This text, on the other hand, is full of them.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, and Paypal is here.

Sources:

  • The Book of the Marvels of India, translated by Peter Quennell. George Routledge And Sons, 1928.

  • Freeman-Grenville, G.S.P. "Some Thoughts on Buzurg ibn Shahriyar al-Ramhormuzi: 'The Book of the Wonders of India.'" Paideuma, vol. 28, 1982, pp. 63–70.

  • Manteghi, Haila. Alexander the Great in the Persian Tradition: History, Myth and Legend in Medieval Iran. I.B Tauris, 2018.

  • Ogden, Jack. Diamonds: An Early History of the King of Gems. Yale University Press, 2018.

  • Prioreschi, Plinio. A History of Medicine: Medieval Medicine. Horatius Press, 1996.

Abu Zayd and the Ways East

Al-Idrisi Map of the World

The Accounts of China and India, covering the trade between the Persian Gulf and points east in the 9th and 10th centuries, and the writings of Abu Zayd al-Sirafi. There are cultural customs, trading routes, and the calamitous events of the late 9th-century that shattered that trade and the Tang Dynasty.

If you like what you hear and want to chip in to support the podcast, my Patreon is here, my Ko-fi is here, Paypal is here, and Redbubble is here.

Sources:

  • Accounts of China and India, translated by Tim Mackintosh-Smith. New York University Press, 2017.

  • Howard, Michael C. Transnationalism in Ancient and Medieval Societies: The Role of Cross-Border Trade and Travel. McFarland, 2014.

  • Krahl, Regina. Shipwrecked: Tang Treasures and Monsoon Winds. Smithsonian Institution, 2010.

  • Park, Hyunhee. Mapping the Chinese and Islamic Worlds: Cross-Cultural Exchange in Pre-Modern Asia. Cambridge University Press, 2012.

  • Schafer, Edward H. The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T'ang Exotics. Pickle Partners Publishing, 2016.