Evans, Nick (2023) Ibn Fadlan and the Khazars: The hidden centre. In: Shepard, J. and Treadwell, L. (eds.) Muslims on the Volga in the Viking Age: In the Footsteps of Ibn Fadlan. Library of Medieval Studies. London, UK: I.B. Tauris, pp. 133-148. ISBN 9781784539337.
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Abstract
The empire of the Khazars occupies a curious place in Ibn Fadlan’s narrative of his visit to the Volga. The Khazars were at the forefront of the minds of Ibn Fadlan and most of the people whom he encountered, and yet they are strangely elusive. The mission was ostensibly a response to an appeal to the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir (908–32) from the Bulgar ruler Almish ibn Shilki (Almış elteber), who had requested assistance against the Khazars. The envoy sent by the Bulgars, Abdullah ibn Bashtu al-Khazari, was evidently of Khazar origin himself. Once past Khwarazm, they encountered Ghuzz (Oghuz) tribesmen: one of them was convinced that the Abbasids were plotting with the Khazars; another planned to use the caliphal envoys as ransom for Ghuzz captives held by the Khazars. On arrival in the land of the Bulgars, they were told by Almish of his fear of the ruler of the Khazars. However, modern readers have had difficulty pinning down what Ibn Fadlan’s mission was designed to achieve, and where the Khazars fitted into the strategic calculations of those close to the Abbasid caliph in the 920s....
Metadata
| Item Type: | Book Section |
|---|---|
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Historical Studies |
| Depositing User: | Nick Evans |
| Date Deposited: | 10 Dec 2024 08:29 |
| Last Modified: | 10 Dec 2024 09:34 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/54227 |
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