Description of the Rus ibn Fadlan. Ibn Fadlan and his manuscript on the adoption of Islam in the Volga Bulgaria. The appearance of the Russians

Ibn Fadlan and his journey to the Volga Bulgaria

In medieval Arabic literature there is a wonderful work - "Note" by Ahmed ibn Fadlan ( full name Ahmed ibn Fadlan ibn al-Abbas ibn Rashid ibn Hammad).

On June 21, 921, the embassy of Caliph al-Muqtadir (908-932) set out from Baghdad on a long journey. It kept its way to the north, to the Volga Bulgaria, which occupied the lands of present-day Tatarstan. The ruler of this Turkic state, wishing to free himself from the power of the Khazar Khaganate, sought help from the Baghdad caliph. In return, he expressed his readiness to recognize Islam as the state religion and asked the caliph to send Muslim mentors and builders to build mosques and a military fortress in his country. And, of course, the Bulgar Khan wanted to receive money from his new overlord - silver dirhams and dinars, the magical brilliance of which at that time enchanted merchants, warriors and sovereigns in a vast area from the Baltic to India.

The caliph, in turn, expected to receive from the alliance with the Bulgar Khan the glory of a zealot of the faith and great trade privileges. Al-Muktadir ordered to take money for the Khan of the Volga Bulgaria - 4000 dinars from his vassal, the ruler of Khorezm, but he, upon the arrival of the ambassadors, refused to give the required amount.

The huge embassy caravan numbered almost 5 thousand people and more than 3 thousand horses and camels. It was headed by the court eunuch Susan ar-Rassi. The interpreters were the Turk Takin and the Slav, whose name Ibn Fadlan conveys as Faris or Barys (probably Boris). Ibn Fadlan described his diplomatic role in the following words: “And I was chosen to read the letter to him (the Bulgar Khan) and convey what was presented to him”; in addition, he had to watch over his companions. This meant that the actual responsibility for the conduct of business and the final outcome of the enterprise fell precisely on his shoulders.

The embassy had to overcome more than four thousand kilometers. It was equipped with everything necessary for such a long journey, including large bags of camel skin for crossing people and things across rivers.

The caliph's ambassadors did not move at random, but followed the trade route, along which for more than a century, Arab and Persian merchants got to the trading markets of the lower and middle Volga, where they acquired precious northern furs, clothes made of flax and cheap slaves, valued in the East. This route ran through the cities Northern Irana Ray and Nishapur to Bukhara, from there back to the Amu Darya, then down this river to the capital of Khorezm, Kyas; further to Dzhurdzhania (Old Urgench, on the territory of present-day Uzbekistan) and, finally, north to the banks of the Volga.

At the end of March 922, the Baghdad ambassadors arrived in the country of the Oghuz Turks, who then roamed in the regions Western Kazakhstan. The Oguzes were famous as an extremely warlike and wild people, and many participants in the embassy were afraid to go further.

Ibn Fadlan saw among the Oguzes those who owned ten thousand horses and one hundred thousand heads of sheep. But they also had poor people who begged for a loaf of bread on the road.

Among the Oguz nobility, the head of the army, Atrak, had the greatest influence. Ibn Fadlan brought him rich gifts. Atrak cordially received the embassy, ​​but to the proposal to convert to Islam, he cautiously said that he would give an answer when the ambassadors would go back. Meanwhile, the Oguz elders were not thinking about accepting Islam at all, but about how to deal with the ambassadors: either cut each of them in half, or rob them cleanly, or give them to the Khazars in exchange for captured Oguzes. But still, hospitality eventually prevailed, and Ibn Fadlan and his companions got the opportunity to continue on their way. Thus, in the country of the Oghuz, the embassy suffered a complete failure and was glad that they could safely get out of there.

Having passed through the border region of the hostile Bashkirs (in the Southern Urals), the envoys of the Caliph in May 922 reached the Volga Bulgaria.

Vahid R. Arrival of Ibn Fadlan to the Bulgars

At the head of this multinational state, whose social elite consisted of the Turkic-Bulgars, stood Khan Almush-eltabar, a man "very fat and pot-bellied", according to the description of Ibn Fadlan. He sat on a throne covered with Byzantine brocade, and in his presence everyone, including his relatives, was required to take off their hats and take a respectful pose. The subject population paid him taxes: a sable skin from each house, obligatory offerings from each wedding feast, a tenth of the imported goods and part of the military booty.

When no more than a day's journey remained before the headquarters of the Bulgar Khan, the embassy was met by four princes subject to Almush-eltabar, as well as his brothers and sons. The ruler of the Bulgars himself went to meet the ambassadors at a distance of two farsakhs (12 kilometers) from his headquarters. In the next three or four days, the princes of his land, leaders and residents of the country gathered at the headquarters of Almush-eltabar from different parts of Bulgaria to listen to the reading of the letter of the ruler of the faithful in public.

At the solemn audience given to the envoys of the Caliph, the Bulgar Khan officially recognized Islam as the state religion. However, three days later he summoned Ibn Fadlan to him and demanded the 4,000 dinars promised by the caliph for the construction of a fortress. But, as we know, he did not have this money, and without it, the lord of the Bulgars did not want to talk about any close alliance with the caliph.

The results of the embassy were disappointing. The Oguzes did not accept Islam, the Bulgar Khan, having not received money to build a fortress, lost faith in the help of the caliph and preferred close ties with the Muslim states of Central Asia to an alliance with Baghdad.

But road impressions were more than enough. Ibn Fadlan described in detail everything that he had seen with his own eyes since his departure from Baghdad. His messages concern many peoples and states of Central Asia and the Volga region, which have long disappeared from the face of the earth.

News about the Russians

For historians Ancient Russia Of particular value is the fact that in the Volga Bulgaria Ibn Fadlan observed Rus merchants who arrived there. This inquisitive and observant person literally stared into them with his eyes, thanks to which we have a number of precious information about the lifestyle of our distant ancestors, their beliefs, funeral rites, and appearance.

Ibn Fadlan's first impression was admiring surprise. “I saw the Rus,” he writes, “when they arrived on their trading business and settled down on the banks of the Atil River (Volga. - S. Ts.). And I haven't seen people since more perfect bodies than they are. They are like palm trees, ruddy, red. They do not wear jackets or caftans*, but one of their number wears a kisu, with which he covers one of his sides, with one of his arms coming out of it. And with each of them there is an ax, a sword and a knife. Their swords are flat, grooved, Frankish. And from the edge of their (Rus. - S. Ts.) nails and up to the neck they are covered with images (tattoo. - S. Ts.) of trees and the like.

* Further, we will see that the deceased noble Rus will be dressed in a jacket, caftan, trousers and a fur hat. Probably, the Rus, whom Ibn Fadlan saw, arrived in the Middle Dnieper region relatively recently and have not yet fully assimilated local customs.

However, upon entering the dwelling of the Rus, the clean Arab could not contain his disgust. These people are “the dirtiest of Allah’s creatures,” he exclaims, for they “do not cleanse themselves of feces or urine, and do not bathe from sexual impurity and do not wash their hands after eating ...” Living together in one wooden house for ten to twenty man, they copulate with their wives or slaves in front of each other and are not at all embarrassed and do not leave their occupation if at that moment a foreign merchant looks into their house. True, they wash not after, but before eating - but how! “And it is obligatory for them to wash their faces and their heads every day with the dirtiest water that exists, and the most impure, namely, that the girl comes every day in the morning, carrying a large tub of water, and brings it to her master. So he washes both his hands and his face and all his hair in it. And he washes them and combs them out with a comb into the tub. Then he blows his nose and spits into it and leaves nothing of the dirt, but does it all in this water. And when he finishes everything he needs, the girl carries the tub to the one who sits next to him, and this one does just like his friend does. And she does not stop carrying it from one to another, until she goes around everyone in the house, and each of them blows his nose and spits and washes his face and his hair in this tub.

Successful trade among the Rus depended on the location of the gods. Immediately after their boats moored at the Volga pier, each merchant went to make a sacrifice. The sanctuary of the Rus was located in the open air. It was a piece of land dotted with stuck-in carved "woods", the upper part of which roughly depicted the likeness of a human face. These idols stuck out of the ground in strict order of command: in the first row - the smallest, in the second - higher, in the third - even higher, etc. Approaching them, the Russian listed all the goods he brought, after which he left his gifts - bread, meat, onions, milk and some intoxicating drink - and said something like this: “Oh, my lord, I wish you to grant me a merchant with numerous dinars and dirhams, and that he buys from me as I wish, and would not contradict me in what I say. If, nevertheless, the buyer was not found, the offerings were repeated again and again, accompanied by more and more humiliated requests. When the goods quickly dispersed, the Rus thanked his gods by slaughtering a certain number of sheep and cattle, scattering the best pieces of meat in front of wooden idols, and hanging the heads of sacrificial animals on the pieces of wood themselves.

However, trading failures were extremely rare. The wives of the Rus flaunted precious monists, and this is what Ibn Fadlan managed to find out about the origin of these jewelry: he sends his wife one monisto, and if he owns twenty thousand, then he sends her two monistos, and in this way every ten thousand that are added to him are added in the form of a monist to his wife, so that there is a lot of money around the neck of one of them. monist."

In general, without exception, the customs and customs of the Rus bore the stamp of barbaric simplicity. The sick person was left to his fate: “And if one of them falls ill, then they clog a hut for him aside from themselves and throw him in it, and put a certain amount of bread and water with him, and do not approach him and do not speak with him, but they visit him every three days, especially if he is poor or a slave. If he recovers and gets up, he returns to them, and if he dies, they burn him. If he was a slave, they leave him in his position, so that he is eaten by dogs and birds of prey. The criminals were expected to have a quick and simple reprisal: “And if they catch a thief or a robber, then they lead him to a thick tree, tie a strong rope around his neck and hang him on it forever until he breaks into pieces from the winds and rains.”

Ibn-Fadlan admits that he was extremely anxious to see with his own eyes the burial of a noble Rus, because he was told extraordinary things about this rite. He was lucky: after a while, news reached him "of the death of one distinguished husband from among them." Ibn Fadlan hurried to the funeral. It was a long, multi-day ceremony. First, the deceased was placed for ten days in a chamber dug underground, covered with flooring; the ship belonging to him was pulled ashore and hoisted onto a large wooden platform. The property of the deceased was divided into three parts: one remained with his family, the other two were used for tailoring expensive funeral clothes - “harem pants and leggings, and boots, and jackets, and a brocade caftan with gold buttons”, and “brocade hats, sable", - as well as the preparation of an incredible amount of strong drink.

But the most important thing for the family of the deceased was to find among his many slaves and concubines one who would agree to die with her master. The decision was made by the girls voluntarily; however, it was no longer possible to take back the fatal obligation - this would not have been allowed by the relatives of the deceased. In this case, no complications arose - the girl was quickly found and her behavior remained impeccable until the very end: she "drank and sang every day, having fun, rejoicing in the future." The two maids assigned to her courted the doomed woman in every possible way, to the extent that "they sometimes washed her feet with their own hands."

When the day of burial came, a bench was brought to the ship in the morning, which was covered with "quilted mattresses and Byzantine brocade and pillows made of Byzantine brocade." An old woman stood up next to the bench; Ibn Fadlan writes that she is "called the angel of death" because she "kills girls". This woman seemed to him "a fat and gloomy witch." After that, the deceased was taken out of the cellar, changed clothes, transferred to the ship and placed in a sitting position in a specially arranged tent or cabin. Fragrant plants, food, weapons, meat from slaughtered horses, cows, dogs, roosters and chickens were scattered around him. At this time, the girl doomed to death went to the houses of relatives and friends of the deceased, who in turn combined with her as a sign of love and respect for her master. In the afternoon, she was led to a structure prepared in advance - two pillars with a crossbar. Three times with the help of men, she climbed onto the upper crossbar and, sitting there, said something. Ibn Fadlan turned to the interpreter for clarification, and he said: “She said for the first time when she was raised, - here I see my father and my mother, - and she said for the second time, - here are all my dead relatives sitting, - and she said for the third time, “I see my master sitting in the garden, and the garden is beautiful, green, and men and youths are with him, and now he is calling me, so lead me to him.” Thus, the strange building turned out to be a gate to the other world, and the girl looked into it three times.

On the deck of the ship, the girl was given two goblets to drink to make her drunk. Then the old woman led her into the tent. The men who stood around the ship began to knock on the shields with wooden sticks so that the sound of her cry would not be heard, otherwise "other girls would get excited and would stop looking for death with their masters." Six assistants of the “witch” grabbed the victim by the arms and legs, threw a noose around the girl’s neck and began to choke, while the “witch” herself plunged a dagger with a wide blade into her ribs several times. When it was all over, the closest relative of the dead man - completely naked, but, contrary to expectations, covering not the genital parts with his hand, but the anus - with a torch in his hand, approached the ship backwards and lit a tan. “In less than an hour, the ship and firewood, and the girl, and the master turned into ashes, then into the smallest ashes. Then they built something similar to a round hill in the place of this ship, which they pulled out of the river, and hoisted a large piece of white poplar in the middle of it, wrote on it the name of the deceased husband and the name of the king of the Rus, and left. The burial ceremony ended with rampant drunkenness.

Semiradsky G. The funeral of Rus

Scientific conscientiousness requires at this point to give the floor to the Normanists, since they are still sure that the merchants of "ar-Rus" are Vikings. Let's listen, for example, as I. G. Konovalova comments on Ibn-Fadlan: “It has been established that the rituals described by Ibn-Fadlan and the appearance of the Rus betray Scandinavians in them ...” [ Ancient Russia in the light of foreign sources. M., 2000, p. 215]*.

* I refer to this edition in particular because it is recommended by the Russian Ministry of Education as a textbook for students of higher educational institutions. Meanwhile, the collection was entirely given over to the scientists of the Norman school. Other points of view are simply not allowed there - this can be seen at least from the above quote.
In passing, I note that the Norman view of the Rus of Ibn Fadlan has already received a screen incarnation - in the film "The 13th Warrior" (1999), where the Arab envoy plays Antonio Banderas. The beginning of this film is a screen adaptation of Ibn Fadlan's passage about his visit to the house of the Rus, who, of course, every one of them turn out to be Nordic "blonde beasts". Soon, probably, we will hear how Prince Svyatoslav speaks Swedish in some historical action movie.

Well, just the same, and "give out"! What is actually installed?
Let's start with the look. No source associates Vikings with red light. But the Russians - repeatedly. For example, in Iskandername, Nizami Ganjavi says:

Red-faced Russians sparkled. They
So sparkled, as magicians sparkle with lights.

The Bishop of Cremona Liudprand noted that the soldiers of Prince Igor "the Greeks call Russ by their appearance"; in this case, the German writer meant Greek word"rosios" - "red, red." Examples can be continued.

Further. If we take for granted the Slavic origin of the merchants "ar-rus", then Ibn Fadlan had every right to compare the Rus with palm trees, since according to anthropological data, the "glade" significantly exceeded the growth of the Eastern Slavs (the shortest of them were the Krivichi - about 157 cm, Drevlyans and Radimichi, as a rule, "outgrew" the mark of 165 cm) [Vernadsky G. V. Ancient Russia. Tver; Moscow, 2000, p. 333].

Thus, the funeral rite remains. Does he really "issue" in the dead Rus "Scandinavian"? In fact, archaeologists have established only the fact that on the entire European coast from Finland to southern France there are traces of burning in the boat. Of course, this is quite enough for the Normanists. Vikings! After all, after the works of Bayer, Schlözer and their followers in Europe, one cannot take a step without stepping on a Viking's grave. But let's see what relation these burials have to the Scandinavian funeral rites.

According to archaeological data, in Scandinavia, like the Slavs, cremation was practiced in the early Iron Age. In the era of late antiquity, cremation was gradually replaced by the rite of burial, and in the 6th-8th centuries. (the so-called "Vendel period") burials according to the rite of burning among the nobility disappear completely. This period is characterized by a magnificent burial of leaders in a boat, accompanied by animal sacrifice. But the Viking Age (IX-XI centuries) again brings innovation. The rite of burial of kings in the boat is preserved mainly in the heart of "Viking" Sweden - in Uppland, and on the coast of the country the rite of burning in the boat is spreading. Even Normanists do not deny that the very geography of such burials testifies in favor of cultural influences from outside *. At the same time, it is extremely curious that no “Wendel” burials in the boat outside Sweden were found at all during the Viking Age.

* For example, G. S. Lebedev suggests that the rite of burning in a boat was brought to Sweden from the Aland Islands [Lebedev G. S. The Viking Age in Northern Europe. L., 1985].

Who could influence the Swedes, bewitching them with a fiery performance? Saxo Grammatik, speaking of the war of the Danish king Froton III with the Rus (“Ruten”), mentions that after one battle, this leader of the Danes gave the order to burn the bodies of the killed “Ruten” leaders “on fires erected in their own ships”. Similarly, the Danes buried their own fallen "kings and dukes". Saxo does not specify which side this rite belonged to - Danish or Ruthenian. But this episode allows us to establish that burning in the boat first appeared among the peoples of the southern coast of the Baltic - the Rus or the Danes, or perhaps both at the same time.

Truly amazing is the Normanist interpretation of other details of the burial rite described by Ibn Fadlan. Here is what they write, for example, in their joint work of two modern English scientists: on the ship. His truly invaluable description has come down to us, otherwise we could only guess about many details ”[Pennik N., Prudence D. History of Pagan Europe. SPb., 2000, p. 246].

The words of the authors themselves look no less priceless evidence of the scientific methods of Normanism. For, as it turns out, the funeral rite described by Ibn Fadlan became "Scandinavian" only because the Ibn Fadlan Russ were enrolled in the Vikings in advance.

There are simply no Scandinavian parallels to the “many details” of the rite of burning in a boat, otherwise there would be nothing to “guess” about them. For example, archaeologists note that “in most barrows dating from the Viking Age, mostly men are buried, but women’s graves have also been found in Scandinavia, very richly cleaned” [ibid, 254]. However, there are no joint male and female burials in Scandinavia. And in the Slavic Pomerania they are, for example, in Prutsk. The ritual killing of a horse and a dog is known both among the Scandinavians and the Slavs, but at a later time roosters were slaughtered for magical purposes mainly in Ukraine. There is nothing in Scandinavian archeology and mythology that resembles three pillars, which are the entrance to the afterlife. But among the Balts, three silver gates led to the kingdom of the dead, to the domain of the god Divs. Balto-Slavic cultural ties are well known, which cannot be said about the Scandinavian influence on Baltic mythology.

The examples given are enough to show that the rite of burning in a boat does not contain anything specifically Scandinavian. In addition, rites are an acquired and changeable business: today they are one, tomorrow they are different. Does Ibn Fadlan have more significant signs of the ethnicity of Rus merchants? - But not without it. So, Ibn Fadlan says that from every 10,000 dirhams, the wife of a Russian merchant was supposed to have a monisto. Let's agree that several thousand Arab coins found in Sweden do not give reason to consider these happy women, hung with dirham monists, Swedish - half of one such decoration would hardly be enough. Meanwhile, in the Kiev necropolis there are women with such monists, and they are dressed in Slavic dress.

By the way, about fashion. Who will show me a Scandinavian grave, where the deceased would be dressed in a Khazar jacket, caftan, trousers and boots?

However, if the reader is already tired of archeology, then we can talk about intangible things - about language. Ibn Fadlan's translators on his journey along the Volga were the Turks Takin and the "Slav" Faris. Ibn Fadlan does not name the one with whom he spoke with the Russians. Reader, guess who it could be? (In general, from the writings of the Normanists one can conclude that a good half of the ancient Slavs graduated from the Scandinavian department of the Institute of Foreign Languages.)

But the most important sign for the ethnic characteristics of the Rus of Ibn Fadlan is not a funeral rite, not a cut of clothes, not even a language. In the end, both and the third are subject to change, to foreign cultural influences. The social relations of peoples retain their originality for the longest time. And about this side of the life of the Rus, Ibn Fadlan left us a very interesting testimony. If you look closely at the trading team of Russian merchants, you can see that its composition is rather complex. It highlights the head (“an outstanding husband”) and several categories of household members, whom Ibn Fadlan unites with the term “people of the house”. The latter include blood relatives, personally free servants (including vigilantes) and slaves. V Western Europe This type of society has been known since the 8th century. For example, in Scandinavia it was called "yard" (hus). However, Scandinavian trading groups (felag) in the Viking Age were never created on the basis of blood ties. It was not so in Russia, where back in the 13th century. trade unions of relatives met. And our chronicles are well acquainted with the “houses” of Ibn Fadlan: for example, the “house” of Simon the Varangian, who arrived at the service of the Kiev prince with 3,000 of his nobles and household members, and the “house” of 1,700 people of the Kiev boyar Rodion Nestorovich, who transferred to the Moscow service . It appears that the Russian merchants of Ibn Fadlan come from the Slavic, and not the Scandinavian world.

What do we see in the end? Before our eyes, the Norman "house" for the ibn Fadlan Russ collapsed with a roar, due to the fact that it was built on the sand. The quicksand of the Norman theory.

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Ahmed Ibn Fadlan's "Note" is an extremely important source on the history of Eastern Europe in the 10th century. Its author visited the Volga Bulgaria as part of the embassy of the Abbasid caliph al-Muktadir (908-932)
There he met the Ruses and described them in detail.

“I saw the Rus when they arrived on their trading business and settled (landed) on the Atil River. And I did not see (people) with more perfect bodies than them. They are like palm trees, ruddy, red. They do not wear jackets or khaftans, but one of their number wears a kisu, with which he covers one of his sides, and one of his hands comes out of it. With each of them (there is) an ax, and a sword, and a knife, and he (never) parted with what we (now) mentioned. Their swords are flat, grooved, Frankish. And from the edge of the nail (nails) of one of them (Rus) to his neck (there is) a collection of trees and images (things, people?) and the like. And as for each woman of their number, then on her chest is attached a ring either of iron, or of silver, or (of) copper, or (of) gold, in accordance with the (monetary) resources of her husband and with their number. And each ring has a box with a knife also attached to the chest.

They are the most filthy of the creatures of Allah - (they) do not cleanse themselves of stool or urine, and do not wash from sexual impurity and do not wash their hands after eating, but they are like wandering donkeys. They come from their own country and land their ships on Atila, which is a big river, and build on its banks. big houses of wood, and ten and (or) twenty (less and (or) more) gather (them) in one (such) house, and each (of them) has a bench on which he sits, and girls (sit) with them - Delight for merchants. And now one (of them) is combined with his girlfriend, and his friend looks at him. Sometimes many of them join together in such a position one against the other, and a merchant enters to buy a girl from one of them, and (thus) finds him combined with her, and he (Rus) does not leave her, or ( satisfies part of his need.
And it is obligatory for them to wash their faces and their heads every day with the dirtiest water that exists, and the most impure, namely, that the girl comes every day in the morning, carrying a large tub of water, and offers it to her master. So he washes both his hands and his face and all his hair in it. And he washes them and combs them with a comb into the tub. Then he blows his nose and spits into it and does not leave anything of the mud, but (all this) does into this water. And when he finishes what he needs, the girl carries the tub to the one who (sits) next to him, and (this one) does like his friend does. And she does not cease to carry it from one to another, until she goes around with it all those in (this) house, and each of them blows his nose and spits and washes his face and his hair in it.
And as soon as their ships arrive at this pier, each of them goes out and (carries) with him bread, meat, onions, milk and nabid, until he comes to a high stuck piece of wood, which (has) a face similar to the face of a man, and around it (a piece of wood) small images, and behind these images (stand) tall pieces of wood stuck into the ground. So, he comes to a large image and worships it, then (he) says to him: “Oh, my lord, I came from a distant country and with me girls so-and-so heads and sables so-and-so skins "until he tells (does not mention) everything that (he) brought with him from (among) his goods -" and I came to you with this gift "; - then (he) leaves what (was) with him in front of this piece of wood, - "and now, I wish you to grant me a merchant with numerous dinars and dirhams, and that (he) buys from me as I wish , and would not contradict me in what I say.

And if one of them falls ill, they build a hut for him aside from them and throw him in it, and put some bread and water with him, and do not approach him and do not talk to him, but visit him every three days, especially if he is poor or a slave. If he recovers and gets up, he returns to them, and if he dies, they burn him. If he was a slave, they leave him in his position, so that he is eaten by dogs and birds of prey. And if they catch a thief or a robber, then they lead him to a thick tree, tie a strong rope around his neck and hang him on it forever until he breaks into pieces from the winds and rains.

He (Ibn-Fadlan) said: so, we set off from the country of these (people) and crossed the Jaramsan River, then the Uran River, then the Uram River, then the Ba (b) a (n) Aj River, then the Vati, then across the Banasna River, then across the Javashin River. The distance from (one) river to the (other) river we have mentioned is two days, or three or four, less than this or more.

(From Yakut): "Bulgar is a city of the Kipchaks, remote in the north, (a city) with severe cold, (so) the snow almost does not leave its land in summer and winter, and its inhabitants rarely see dry land. Their buildings are only made of wood "namely, they plant a log on top of a log and knock them together with thorns, also made of wood, very strong. Fruits and bread do not grow well in their land. Between Itil, the city of the Khazars, and Bulgar, the road along the steppe is about a month, but they rise to it along the river Itil is about two months, and when descending (along the river) about twenty days.And from Bulgar to the nearest border of Byzantium about ten crossings, and from it to Kuyaba, the city of the Rus, twenty days, and from Bulgar to Bashjird twenty-five crossings. and the population of Bulgar had already accepted Islam in the days of (reign) of al-Muktadir-bi-llah and sent an ambassador to Baghdad, notifying al-Muktadir about this and asking him to send someone who would teach them prayers and laws (Sharia). However, I have not (yet) found out the reasons for their adoption of Islam.(From Yakut)

When we were from the king of the Kipchaks, to whom we were heading, at a distance of a day and a night of travel, he sent four kings under his authority (literally under his hand), his companions and his children, to meet us, and they met us (carrying) with them bread, meat and millet, and went with us. When we were at a (distance) of two farsahs from him, he met us himself, and when he saw us, he dismounted and fell on his face, bowing with thanksgiving to Allah, the great, mighty. He had dirhams in his sleeve, and he scattered them on us. He erected domes for us and settled in them. Our arrival there was on Sunday, when twelve nights (of the month) of Muharram of the year three hundred and ten had passed. (May 12, 922 - Translator's Note) , and there was a distance from al-Jurjaniya to his country of seventy days. So we stayed Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in the tents that had been pitched for us until he gathered the kings, leaders, and people of his country to hear the reading of the letter. When Thursday came and they gathered, we unfurled the two banners that were with us, saddled the horse with the saddle delivered to us, dressed him (the king) in black and put on him a turban. Then I took out the Caliph's letter and said to him: "It is not proper for us to sit while this letter is being read." And he got to his feet - he himself and (also) present noble persons from the inhabitants of his state, and he is a very fat and pot-bellied man. Then I began, read the beginning of the letter, and when I reached that place: "I invoke peace on you and verily I will glorify Allah for you, besides whom there is no other god," I said: "Answer with a wish of peace to the ruler of the faithful." And he answered and answered all together. The translator continuously translated for us (i.e. our reading) word for word. When we finished, they proclaimed "Great is Allah!" a cry that shook the earth. Then I read the letter of the vizier Hamid ibn-al-"Abbas, while he (the king) was standing. Then I ordered him to sit down and while reading the letter of Nadir al-Khurami, he sat. When I finished, his companions scattered on him (of the king) numerous dirhems. Then I took out gifts (consisting) of incense, clothes, pearls for his wife, and I continually laid on him and on her one thing after another until we were done with it. Then I clothed his wife in a (honorable) robe in the presence of people, while she sat next to him - such is their law and custom. When I dressed her in a robe, the women scattered dirhams on her, and we retired.

When some time had passed, he sent for us, and we went in to him when he was in his tent. The kings were on the right side, he ordered us to sit on his left side, while his children sat in front of him, and he alone on the throne, covered with Byzantine brocade. He ordered the table to be served. It was served with only grilled meat on it. And so he began - he took a knife and cut off a piece and ate it, and the second, and the third, then cut out a piece and handed it to the ambassador Susan, and when he received it, it was brought to him small table and placed before him. And such is the rule that no one extends his hand to food until the king hands him a piece. And as soon as he receives it, the table is already brought to him. Then he handed (meat) to me and a table was brought to me, then he handed it to the fourth king, and a table was brought to him, then he handed it to his children, and tables were brought to them, and we each ate from our own table, without being companions at the table with anyone to others, and no one except him took anything from his table, and when he finished eating, each of them took what was left on our table to his dwelling. When we had eaten, he (the king) ordered a drink of honey, which they call as-sujuv, (which he uses) day and night, and drank the goblet, then stood up to his full height and said: “This is my joy about my master, Commander of the Faithful, may Allah prolong his days." And as he got up, the four kings and his children got up, and we also got up when he did this three times. Then we moved away from him.

Before my arrival, the khutba was already proclaimed for him on his minbar: "Oh, Allah! Save King Baltavar, King of Bulgar." And I said to him: “In truth, the king, this is Allah, and on the minbar no one is called by this name except him, the great and mighty. in the east and west they proclaimed: "O Allah! save your servant and your governor (caliph) Jah "far imam al-Muqtadir-bi-llah, the ruler of the faithful", and in the same way (did) his fathers (ancestors) caliphs before him. And the Prophet, may Allah bless him and save him, said: "Do not praise me without measure, as the Christians praise Jesus the son of Mary, because rightly I am the servant of Allah and his messenger." He said to me: "How is it fitting that the khutba be proclaimed for me?" I said, "Your name and your father's name." He said: "But my father was an infidel, and I do not want to mention his name on the minbar, and I also (was an infidel), and I do not want my name to be pronounced as it was when I was called as an infidel. But , however, what is the name of my master, Commander of the Faithful?" I said: "Ja" far. He said: "Is it appropriate that I be called by his name?" I said: "Yes." He said: "(So), I already gave myself the name Ja" far, and the name of the father to his “Abdallah, so give an order about this to the khatib.” I did (this), and he (khatib) began to proclaim the khutba for him (the king): “O Allah! save your servant Ja"far ibn-"Abdallah, the ruler (emir) of Bulgar, the client of the ruler of the faithful."

When three days had passed after reading the letter (caliph) and presenting gifts, he sent to me. Information about four thousand dinars reached him and what was the Christian's trick to delay them. About them (dinars) there was a message in the letter. So, when I went in to him, he ordered me to sit down, and I sat down, and he threw me a letter from the Commander of the Faithful and said: "Who brought this letter?" I said "I am". Then he threw me a letter from the vizier and said: "And this too?" I said "I am". He said, "And the money mentioned in both of them, what has been done with it?" I said: "It was difficult to collect them, the time was tight, we were afraid to miss (the opportunity) to come (here), so we left (them) to follow us." Then he said: “Indeed, you all came together, and what my master spent on you, he spent to deliver this money so that I could build a fortress on them that would protect me from the Jews who enslaved me, as for a gift, then my boy could deliver it well. I said: "That's true, but only right, and we tried." Then he said to the interpreter: "Tell him - I do not know those people, but I really know you alone, and this is because these people are not Arabs, and if the ustad knew, may Allah help him, that they would deliver what you deliver, he would not send you to keep (it) for me and (to) read the letter to me and listen to my answer I will not demand a single dirham from anyone but you, so give the money and this is the best for you". So, I left his face frightened, dejected. And the man (this) had (such) appearance and majesty, he was thick and wide, so that it was as if he spoke from a (large) jug. So I went out from him and gathered my companions and told them what had happened between him and me. And (I) said to them: "I warned you against this."

To him, the muezzin, calling to prayer, proclaimed the iqamah twice. And I said to him (the king): "It is right that your lord, the commander of the faithful, in his house proclaims the iqama once." Then he said to the muezzin: "Accept what he tells you and do not contradict him." Thus, the muezzin prayed according to this instruction for several days, while he (the king) asked me about money and argued with me about it, and I made him despair about this and defended myself with evidence of this. When he was driven to despair about this, he ordered the muezzin to proclaim the iqamah twice, and he (the muezzin) did so. And he (the king) wanted to bring him to a dispute with me in this way. So when I heard him doubling the iqamah, I rebuked him and yelled at him. The king found out about this, ordered me to come and ordered my companions to come. When we had gathered, he said to the interpreter: "Tell him - that is, me - what do you say about the two muezzins, of which one proclaimed (iqamah) once, and the other twice, then each of them both prayed with the people, - Is prayer permissible (legal) or not? I said, "Prayer is permissible." He said: "Is it with the disagreement (of the Mujtehids) on this issue or with (their) common opinion (bil-ijma)?" I said, "By all accounts." He said: "Tell him: what can you say about a man who gave money to people, (intended) for the poor, besieged, enslaved people, and they deceived him?" I said, "This is unacceptable and these are bad people." He said, "With disagreement or by consensus?" I said, "By all accounts." Then he said to the translator: "Tell him: do you know that if the caliph - may Allah prolong his days! - sent an army to me, would he defeat me?" I said "No". He said: "And the Emir of Khorasan?" I said "No". He said: "Is this not due to the remoteness of the distance and the large number of tribes of infidels between us?" I said yes. He said: “Tell him: so, by Allah, indeed I am in my distant place of residence, in which you see me, but really I am afraid of my master, the commander of the faithful, and it is I who am afraid that something will reach him about me. such as he deems disgusting, so that he will curse me and I will perish in my (remote) place, while he will remain in his state and distant countries will stretch between me and him. bread and wore his clothes and saw him, you deceived him regarding the size of the package with which he sent you to me, to the people of the poor (people), deceived the Muslims, (but) I do not accept (help) from you in the matter of my faith, until such a (man) comes to me who is true to me in what he says. And if a person of this kind comes to me, then I will accept from him. ”So he clamped our mouths, we did not say anything in response and moved away from him.

He (Ibn-Fadlan) said: after this conversation, he (the king) preferred me, brought me closer, removed my companions and called me Abu-Bekr as-Saduk.

I saw so many amazing things in his country that I will not re-read them because of their multitude, such as, for example, that on the first (same) night that we spent the night in his country, I saw before sunset, at the usual hour , as the celestial horizon turned very red, and heard a strong noise and loud grumbling in the atmosphere. Then I lifted my head and behold, there was a cloud like fire, not far from me, and behold this grumbling and noises from it, and behold, the likeness of people and horses in it, and behold, in distant figures that looked like people, spears and swords in it, which seemed to me completely clear, then only apparent. And behold, another piece similar to these (figures), in which I also saw men, horses and weapons, and this piece began to attack that piece, as a squadron attacks another squadron. We were afraid of this and began to ask and pray, and they (the inhabitants) laugh at us and are surprised at what we are doing. He (Ibn Fadlan) said: and we looked at the detachment attacking the detachment, and both of them mixed together for a while, then both separated and thus this business continued for some part of the night. Then they disappeared. We asked the king about this and he said that his ancestors said that these (riders) belong to the believing and unbelieving jinn, and they fight every evening, and that this has not stopped since they lived, every night.

He (Ibn-Fadlan) said: (once) I and a tailor from the people of Baghdad, who was with the king, who came to this region, entered my tent to talk among themselves. So, we have talked so long that a person will not read even less than half of one seventh (of the Qur'an). At the same time, we were waiting for the night adhan. But after the adhan, they left the tent, and the dawn had already begun. Then I said to the muezzin: "Which adhan did you proclaim?" He said: "Azan of dawn". I said: "And the night (azan) is the last one?" He said, "We read his prayer along with the prayer at sunset." I said: "And the night?" He said, "As you can see. There were even shorter ones than this one, but only it began to increase in length." He said that he had not slept for a month now, being afraid not to miss the morning prayer, and this is because a person puts the pot on fire at sunset, then he reads the morning prayer and for him (the pot) the time does not come to boil .

He (Ibn Fadlan) said: I saw that their day is very long, it is during some part of the year that it is long and the night is short, then the night is long and the day is short. So when the second night came, I sat outside the tent and watched the sky and saw in it only a small number of stars - I think about fifteen stars; this is due to the small darkness, so that in it (night) a person recognizes a person from a greater (distance) than the distance of an arrow shot. He (Ibn Fadlan) said: I saw that the month does not reach the middle of the sky, but appears at its edges for a short time, then dawn appears and the month disappears.

The king told me that beyond his country, at a distance of three months' journey, there are people (people) who are called Visu. They have less than an hour at night. He said: I saw that in this country at the time of the rising of the sun everything that is in it turns red - the earth and the mountains and everything that a person looks at, and the sun rises like a cloud in size, and such redness continues until (the sun) will not reach the meridian. The inhabitants of this settlement informed me that indeed, when it is winter, the night becomes as long as the (summer) day, and the day becomes as short as the night, so that if one of our people really goes out to a place called Atil , - and between us and him the distance of the path is less than a farsakh, - at the time of the appearance of the morning dawn, then he will reach it only at the time of the full onset of night, when all the stars appear, so that they cover (all) the sky. And we don't leave the cities while the night is long and the day is short.

I saw that they consider the howling of dogs very beneficial for themselves and rejoice in it and predict a year of abundance, blessing and prosperity. I saw that they had such a multitude of snakes that a dozen or more of them had wound up on a tree branch to the right. They do not kill them, and they (serpents) do not harm them, so, really, once I saw in one place a long tree, the length of which was more than a hundred cubits. It has already fallen, and now I see that its trunk is extremely huge. I stopped looking at it, and then it moved, and it frightened me. I looked at him attentively and behold, (I see) on him a snake similar to him in thickness and length. When she saw me, she climbed down from it (the tree) and hid between the trees. I returned frightened. So, I told (about this) the king and those who were at his reception. They did not attach any importance to this, and he (the king) said: "Do not worry, because she will not harm you."

(Once) we stopped together with the king at one stop. And I and my companions entered - Takin, Susan and Baris - and with us a man from the retinue (companions) of the king in (a certain place) between the trees, and behold, he showed us a bush, small, green, as thin as a spindle , but with a longer edge. At the top of the fork, it carries one leaf, wide, spread over the ground, on which plants are spread, as it were, and among them (leaves) berries. Whoever eats them has no doubt that this is a pomegranate fruit. So we ate them and found that it (delivers) great pleasure, so we did not stop looking for them and eating them.

I have seen apples of a very green color and with even more acid, like wine vinegar, which girls eat and get fat from them. I have not seen anything in their country in greater numbers than hazel trees. Indeed, I saw forests (such) from them that each forest had forty farsakhs (in length) with a similar (width).

I saw a tree with them, I don’t know what it is, extremely tall; its trunk is devoid of leaves, and its tops are like the tops of a palm tree, and it has branches. And he (Ibn-Fadlan) said: however, they (branches) are connected, passing to the place of its trunk known to them (inhabitants). They (the inhabitants) drill it and put a vessel under it, into which flows from this hole a liquid (water) more pleasant than honey. If a person drinks a lot of it, then it will intoxicate him, as it intoxicates wine, and more.

Their food (is) millet and horse meat, but also wheat and barley (they have) in large quantities, and everyone who sows something takes it for himself, and the king has no right to this (these crops), for except that they pay him every year from every house a sable skin. If he orders the squad (make) a raid on any of the countries, and she (the squad) robs, then he has a share with them (the squad). Anyone who arranges a wedding for himself or convenes a banquet, it is necessary to make an offering (of products) to the king in dependence; from the size of the feast, and then (already) he will bring out (for guests) honey nabid and bad wheat, because their land is black, smelly, and they have no places (rooms) in which they put their food, so they tear up wells in the ground and put food in them. In this way, only a few days pass, as it deteriorates (changes) and smells, and it cannot be used.

And they have neither (olive) oil, nor sesame oil, nor fat at all, and indeed they use instead of these fats fish fat, and everything that they use with it (this fat) is strongly smelling. They make a flour drink from barley, which girls and boys drink in small sips, and sometimes they boil barley with meat, and the gentlemen eat the meat and feed the girls with barley. But only when it is early morning does she eat (part of) the meat.

They all wear hats. So, when the king rides, he rides alone, without a youth, and there is no one with him, and when he passes through the bazaar, then no one remains sitting, but takes off his hat from his head and puts it under his armpit, when he passes past them, they again put their hats on their heads. And in the same way, everyone who enters the king, small and large, including his children and brothers, as soon as they are in front of him, immediately take off their hats and put them under their armpits. Then they make a sign with their heads in his direction and sit down, then they stand until he orders them to sit down, and everyone who sits in front of him, rightly sits on his knees, and does not take out his hat and does not show it until he leaves from him (the king), and then he puts it on. All of them (live) in yurts, with the only difference that the king's yurt is very large, accommodating a thousand souls, mostly covered with Armenian carpets. He (the king) has a throne in the middle of it, covered with Byzantine brocade. Of their customs (rules), one is that if a son (any) person (husband) has a child, then his grandfather takes him (to himself), before his father, and he (grandfather) says: I have for him greater than his father's right in his share, until he becomes a (adult) husband; if a man (husband) dies of them, then his brother will inherit him before his son. So I instructed the king that this was not permitted, and instructed him what were the (right) rights of inheritance until he understood them.

I saw a lot of thunderstorms in their country, and if a thunderstorm hits a house, then they do not approach it and leave it as it is, and everything that is in it (is) - a person and property and everything else, until destroy its time - and they say: this is a house on whose inhabitants lies anger.

And if (one) person (husband) from among them kills (another) person (husband) intentionally, they will execute him for him (for the murdered), and if they kill him by accident, then they make for him a chest of wood (material) hadanga ( white poplar), put it inside it, hammer it (with nails) over it, and put three cakes and a cup of water with it. They put for him three pieces of wood like drawbars (from a plow), hang him between them, and say: "We hang him between heaven and earth, (where) the (action) of rain and sun will overtake him," perhaps Allah will have mercy over him.” And he remains suspended until time wears him out and the winds blow him away.

And if they see a person who has mobility and knowledge of things, they say: "This one has the right to serve our master." So they take him, put a rope around his neck, and hang him on a tree until he runs out. Indeed, the king's interpreter told me that a certain Sindian stopped in this country and remained with the king for a long time, serving him. And he was smart and understanding. And so, one company of them (residents) wanted to go along their passages. And so, this Sindian asked the permission of the king to go with them. He (the king) forbade him to do so. And he (the Sindian) insisted (on this) before him until he allowed him. So he went with them in the ship. And so, they saw that he was mobile, quick-witted. So they agreed among themselves and said: "This (man) is excellent for serving our master, so let us go with him to him." They followed on their way past the forest, and so they led him (the Sindian) into it (into the forest), put a rope around his neck, tied him to the top of a tall tree, left him, and passed (further).

And if they are on the road, and one of them wants to urinate and urinates, having a weapon on him, then they rob him, take his clothes and everything that is with him, and this is their custom (rule). And whoever lays down his weapon and puts it aside, and (then) urinates, then they do not hinder him.

Men and women go down into the river and bathe together naked, do not close themselves off from each other and do not commit adultery in any way and (for this) there is no possibility. And whoever of them has committed adultery, whoever he may be, four plowshares are hammered in for him, both his hands and both his legs are tied to them, and they cut (him) with an ax from his head to his both thighs. And in the same way they do with the woman too. Then each piece of him and her is hung on a tree. I did not stop trying to make women close off from men, but I could not fix it. And they kill the thief just as they kill the adulterer.

In their forests there is a lot of honey in the dwellings of bees, which they (the inhabitants) know and go to collect it, and sometimes they (the inhabitants) are attacked by people from among their enemies, so they kill them. They have many merchants who go to the land of the Turks, and bring sheep, and to the country called Visu, and bring sables and black foxes.

We saw among them the households of one "house" in the amount of five thousand souls of women and men, all of whom had already converted to Islam, who are known under the name of al-Baranjar. A wooden mosque was built for them so that they could pray in it. They cannot read, so the crowd does (repeating) the way (in which way) they pray (others). Indeed, somehow, under my leadership, one person (husband) named Talut converted to Islam. So I called him "Abdallah", he said: "I want you to call me by your (proper) name Muhammad", and I did it. And his wife and his mother and his children converted to Islam and all of them became call Muhammad. I taught him (pronunciation): "Praise be to Allah" and "Say: he is one Allah", and his joy from these two suras was greater than his joy if he became the king of the Kipchaks. When we arrived at the king, we found it resting on the so-called Khalja, and these are three lakes, of which two are large and one is small. But only among all of them (lakes) there is not one whose bottom could be reached. Between this place and between their huge river, flowing into the country of the Khazars, called the river Atil, (distance) is about farsakh, and on this river (is) a place of the market, which happens at all times, and many useful goods are sold on it.

Takin (even before) told me that in the country of the king there is (one) a man (husband) of an extremely huge physique. So when I arrived in this country, I asked the king about him. He said: “Yes, he was earlier in our country and died. He was not from the inhabitants of this country and also (in general) not from among the people. His story is such that several merchants went to the river Atil, as they (usually ) come out. And this river rose, and its water overflowed its banks. I did not have time to come to my senses on the same day, as a crowd of merchants had already arrived to me, who said: "O king, (some) man (husband) followed the water ) (such that) if he is from a people close to us, then we cannot stay (live) in these settlements, and (there remains) nothing else but to move. "So, I rode along with them until I arrived at river, and behold, I am near this man, and behold (I see) that in him, (measuring) with my elbow, twelve cubits, and now his head (in size) is the largest cauldron that ever happens, and his nose is larger quarters, and both eyes are huge, and fingers each more than a quarter. His appearance frightened me and I was seized by the same fear as those people. And we began to talk with him, but (he) did not tell us ( nothing), but only looked at us. I moved him to my place of residence and wrote to the people of Vis - and they are three months away from us - asking them about him. They wrote to me, informing me that this man (husband) is from (among) Yajuj and Majuj, and they are three months from us, between us and them is the sea, on the shore of which they really (are), and they, like cattle, copulate with each other. Allah, mighty and great, brings out fish for them every day from the sea, and, behold, each of them comes and with him (there is) a knife, and cuts off for himself from it as much as is enough for him and enough for his family. If he takes more than (the amount) that satisfies them, then his stomach will ache, and also his family's stomach will ache, and sometimes he dies and they all die. When they take from her (the fish) what they need, she turns and goes into the sea. So they live it every day. And between us and them is the sea (which is with them) on the one hand, and the mountains surrounding them on the other sides, and the barrier (wall) also fit between them and the gate (singular) from which they usually went out . And when Allah, mighty and great, wants to bring them into inhabited lands, then he will open a barrier for them and dry up the sea, and the fish will stop for them.

He (Ibn-Fadlan) said: then I asked him (the king) about this man (husband), and he said: "He lived (he) with me for some time. So, it used to be that a boy would not look at him without die, and the pregnant woman (will not look) without throwing out her fetus. And it happened, if he took possession of a person, he squeezed him with both of his hands until he killed him. When I saw this, I hung him on a high tree, until he is dead. If you want to see his bones and his head, then I will go with you so that you can look at them." I said: "By Allah, I really want this." So he rode with me to a big forest with huge trees. And now it has decomposed on a tree ........ and his head is under it (a tree), and I saw that his (man's) head is like a large tub, his ribs are like the largest dry fruit branches of palm trees, and such are the bones his lower legs and both of his ulna bones. I was amazed at him and left.

He (Ibn-Fadlan) said: and the king moved from the water, named Khalja, to the river, called Javashir, and remained near it for two months. Then he wanted (again) to move and sent an order to the people called Shroud to go with him. They refused him, and they divided into two groups: one group with a certain clan, over which it was as if there was a king (man) named Virag (?). The king (Bulgar) sent to them and said: “Verily, Allah, mighty and great, has already favored me by giving me Islam and the supreme power of the ruler of the faithful, so I am his slave, and I entrusted this matter (?) .... who (? ) will contradict me, then I will meet him with a sword." Another group was with a king from a certain tribe, who was called King Askal. He (Askal) was in obedience to him (King of Bulgar), but only he (Askal) had not yet accepted Islam. So, when he (King of Bulgar) sent this message to them, they were afraid of his intentions and went all together with him (King Askal) to the Javashir River. And this is a river with a small width, its width is five cubits, and its water (reaches) to the navel, and in places to the collarbone, and for the most part it (depth) is the height of a man. There are trees around it, and many of these trees are hadangi (white poplars) and others, and not far from it is a wide steppe, about which they say that there (is) an animal smaller than a camel in size, but taller than a bull. Its head is the head of a lamb, and its tail is the tail of a bull, its body is the body of a mule, its hooves are like the hooves of a bull. It has one thick round horn in the middle of its head; as it rises (closer to the tip) it becomes thinner and thinner until it becomes like the tip of a spear. And of these (horns), another has a length of five cubits to three cubits, according to the greater or lesser size (of the animal). It feeds (lit.: grazes on) the leaves of trees, which have excellent greenery. When it sees the rider, it goes towards him, and if there was a trotter under him (the rider), then he (the trotter) seeks salvation from him in an enhanced flight, and if it catches up with him (the rider), then it grabs him with his horn from the back his horse, then throws him up in the air and meets him with his horn, and does not stop (doing) in this way until he kills him. And it does nothing to the horse in any way or way. And they (the inhabitants) are looking for him in the steppe and forests until they kill him. This (happens) in such a way that (they) climb the tall trees between which it (the animal) is. For this, several archers with poisoned arrows are gathered, and when it is between them, they shoot at it until they wound it and kill it. Indeed, I saw the king have three large bowls, similar to the Yemeni (shells) "jazz", which (bowls) he told me that they were made from the base of the horn of this animal.

And some (some) of the inhabitants of (this) country report that this (animal) is a rhinoceros.

He (Ibn-Fadlan) said: I did not see (not a single) person from them who would be red (from the disease), but most of them are sick, and die from this (this disease). Most of them have colic, and indeed even their infants have it.

And when a Muslim dies with them, and (or) when (dies) some Khorezmian woman, then they wash him with the washing of Muslims (i.e., according to the rite of Muslims), then they take him on a wagon that drags (him) little by little ( together) with the banner until they arrive with it at the place where they will bury it. And when he arrives there, they take him from the wagon and lay him on the ground, then draw a line around him and set him aside, then dig his grave inside this line, make a side cave for him and bury him.

And in the same way they (the inhabitants) do with their dead. Women do not weep over the dead, but their (inhabitants) men weep over them. (They) come on the day he died. Thus they stop at the door of his tent and make noise (shout) with the most vile cry they can cry, and the wildest. These are (people) free. When their weeping is over, the slaves come, (carrying) woven skins with them, and continuously weep and beat their sides and backs of their bodies with these sables, until (traces) of beating with a whip form on their bodies. They (the inhabitants) are to set up a banner on the door of his tent, they bring his weapons and lay them around his grave and do not stop crying for two years. When two years are over, they take down the banner and cut off (a part of) from their hair, and the relatives of the dead convene a called feast, through which it is made known about the end of their sorrow, and if he had a wife, then she marries. It (this happens), if he was one of the (among) leaders, as for the common people, then they do with their dead (only) some of this (rite).

On the king of the Kipchaks (lies) the tribute that he pays to the king of the Khazars, from each house in his state - the skin of a sable. And when a ship arrives from the country (city) of the Khazars to the country (city) of the Kipchaks, the king rides out and counts what is in it (has), and takes a tenth of it all. And when the Russians or others from other tribes arrive with slaves, then the king rightly chooses one head for himself from every ten heads. The son of the king of the Kipchaks (is) a hostage of the king of the Khazars. Even earlier, the news of the beauty of the daughter of the king of the Kipchaks reached the king of the Khazars. So, he (the king of the Khazars) sent to woo her, and he (the king of the Kipchaks) brought arguments against him and refused him. Then he sent (an expedition) and took her by force, although he is a Jew, and she is a Muslim. So she died while (being) with him. Then he sent, demanding a second time. And so, as soon as it came to the king of the Kipchaks, he hurried and married her (the second daughter) for the sake of the king Askal, (a person) from among those under his (king) power, since he (the king of the Kipchaks) was afraid that he (the king of the Khazars) will take her from him by force, as he did with her sister. And so, indeed, the king of the Kipchaks called (the secretary) to write to the sultan (caliph) and ask him to build a fortress for him, since he was afraid of the king of the Khazars.

He (Ibn Fadlan) said: Once I asked him and said to him: "Your state is vast and your (monetary) resources are abundant and your income is plentiful, so why did you ask the Sultan to build a fortress with his unlimited funds?" Then he said to me: "I saw that the (power) of Islam is ahead of (others) and that their (monetary) funds are taken by everyone who controls them, and that's why I asked for it. If, indeed, I wanted to build a fortress at my own expense, with silver or gold, then there is no difficulty for me in this. And really, I only wanted to receive a blessing from the money of the ruler of the faithful, and asked him about it. "

Very few written sources of the 10th century have survived to this day, in which the current Samara Territory is affected to one degree or another. Of course, in this series, the main place is occupied by the notes of Ahmed ibn Fadlan, the secretary of the embassy of the Baghdad caliph, who, on his way to Volga Bulgaria, passed through the territory of the Middle Volga region in 921-922 (Fig. 1).

"Revenge the unreasonable Khazars"

Archaeological data show that the first states on the territory of the modern Samara region arose in the second half of the 7th century. This process was preceded by dramatic events in the steppes of the Sea of ​​\u200b\u200bAzov, where warlike nomadic tribes accumulated strength, united in the Khazar Khaganate. And soon, under the blows of the Khazars, Great Bulgaria collapsed, which at that time stretched along the entire North Caucasus, to the coast of the Black and Seas of Azov(Fig. 2).

The fate of individual Bulgarian tribes subsequently developed differently. Some of them moved to the Balkans, where these newcomers joined the Danube Bulgaria, others remained in the same place, under the rule of the Khazars. But the third group of tribes, which did not submit to the conquerors, went to the territory of the Middle Volga region, where they began to be called Bulgars.

Mixing with the locals, they almost completely switched to a settled way of life. Soon, separate Bulgar principalities appeared in the interfluve of the Volga and Kama, which, however, still experienced strong pressure from the Khazar Khaganate, which imposed tribute on the people, the size of which increased from year to year.

Looking ahead, it should be said that the Bulgars were able to free themselves from the yoke of the Khazars only thanks to the Slavic intervention. At the beginning of the 10th century, Prince Oleg of Kiev managed to “take revenge on the unreasonable Khazars” more than once, but they were finally defeated only by the army of Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich, who in 964-965 undertook a campaign against this robber state. Having suffered a crushing defeat from Russian weapons, the Khazar Khaganate soon disintegrated into a number of small tribal formations and quickly disappeared from the map of Eastern Europe.

Only after that, the Volga Bulgaria got the opportunity to develop rapidly. In its best years, it extended in the north - to the Kama, in the south - to the Samara River and the Samarskaya Luka, in the west - to the Sura and Oka, and in the east - to the Belaya River. Thus, during the X-XIII centuries, the entire northern half of our region was part of this early feudal state (Fig. 3, 4).

But before that, Volga Bulgaria was torn apart by internecine skirmishes between its separate tribal clans. And only King Almas, who came to power in 921, set as his main goal the unification of disparate principalities into single state. Soon the ruler realized that he was unlikely to be able to do this without the support of an authoritative religion. But since in those days the Bulgars were still pagans, Almas sent his ambassador to Baghdad. He asked the caliph to assist in the introduction of Islam in the Volga Bulgaria, as the most widespread and authoritative religion among the Turkic-speaking peoples.

So in 921, an Islamic mission set off from Baghdad to the Middle Volga, in which the caliph ordered to include Ahmed ibn Fadlan, an Arab scientist, one of the most enlightened people in the Middle East of that time. His full name is Ahmed ibn Fadlan ibn al-Abbas ibn Rashid ibn Hammad. It is also known about him that he was a senior scribe-official under the Baghdad commander Muhammad ibn Suleiman, who conquered Egypt in 904-905 on the orders of the caliph. We now know about that campaign precisely thanks to the notes of ibn Fadlan, who accompanied the Arab army throughout the entire military campaign.

"Crossed the Samur River"

But the most notable work of the Baghdad scholar is now considered his treatise called "Risale" (translated into Russian - "Notes"). This book is a detailed account of the two-year journey of the Baghdad embassy through Central Asia and modern Kazakhstan to the capital of the Volga state - the city of Bulgar. "Risale" is now considered one of the most important literary monuments of the entire medieval history of the East, since it describes in detail the life, way of life, customs and the system of internal government in the states of Central Asia, the Volga region and the Volga-Kama region.

As ibn Fadlan points out in his manuscript, the embassy left Baghdad on June 21, 921. His path lay first in Bukhara, and then down the Amu Darya to the Khorezm kingdom. Here the ambassadors stopped for the winter, and further north they proceeded in March 922. From the same notes it follows that from that time ibn Fadlan became the actual leader of the entire mission.

Around March 20, the embassy arrived in the country of the Oghuz (or "Guzz"), which was located on the territory of what is now Western Kazakhstan. The local tribes met the proposal of the Baghdadians to adopt Islam with great hostility, and it almost came to an armed clash. Fleeing from the Oguzes, the Arabs in early May 922 crossed the Yaik River (now the Urals) and proceeded from it in a northwestern direction. Soon their caravan deepened into the boundless steppes of the Trans-Volga region.

Since during his journey Ibn Fadlan tried not to miss anything interesting, his detailed notes now help us to trace the entire path of the embassy. And the text of his book testifies that Ibn-Fadlan became the discoverer of a number of geographical objects of the present Samara region.

Baghdad ambassadors passed through the territory of the current Samara region during the peak of the spring flood, when many steppe rivers overflowed their banks. It is not surprising that in the notes of Ibn Fadlan great attention is paid to these water barriers. He left the following notes about the rivers of the current Samara Trans-Volga region: “Then we ... made a stop at the Dzhaykh River, and this is the largest river that we saw ... Then we ... crossed the Dzhakha River, then after it across the Irkhiz River, then through the Bachag, then across the Samur River, then across the Kinal, then across the Sukh River, then across the Kunjulu River, and after that they ended up in the country where they were striving.”

For notes from the tenth century, this is quite accurate and detailed description geographical objects. In fact, if we go from south to north through the steppes of the Trans-Volga region across the territory of our region, then we will cross the same rivers - at Ibn Fadlan even their names are consonant with modern ones. Compare: Dzhaykh - Yaik (Ural), Dzhakh - Chagan (tributary of the Urals), Irkhiz - Irgiz, Bachag - Mocha (Chapaevka), Samur - Samara, Kinal - Kinel, Sukh - Sok, Kunjulyu - Kondurcha. It is worth repeating here that the embassy crossed the Irkhiz River, which now flows through the territory of the Samara region, in May 922.

Perhaps, if Ibn-Fadlan from Baghdad to Bulgar did not follow land on horseback, but sailed on a sailboat along the Volga, then both the Zhiguli Mountains and the Samara Luka would have been noted in his description. However, the Volga bend remained aloof from his path.

End of Volga Bulgaria

The state of Bulgars in the book of ibn Fadlan is designated as the "Country of the Slavs". About Tsar Almas (Almush), the traveler left us the following record: “He sat on a throne covered with Byzantine brocade. In his presence, everyone, small and large, including his sons and brothers, were required to take off their hats and take a respectful pose ... Only princes can stand close to the king, and four of them were constantly at his fingertips. The king receives a tribute - a sable skin from each house, obligatory offerings from each wedding feast, a tenth of the goods brought to his country and the same amount from the booty of each military detachment, even if he did not personally participate in his campaign.

As head of the embassy, ​​Ibn Fadlan gave Almas gifts from Baghdad, the most valuable of which were rich oriental clothes, two green banners embroidered with gold, and a purebred Arabian horse. Then he read a letter from the caliph, after which, as the text says, “the whole embassy exclaimed in unison “Great Allah!”, And with such a loud cry that the earth trembled from it.” The Bulgar king accepted gifts and a letter and informed all those present that henceforth Bulgaria would recognize Islam as its state religion and become part of the Muslim world (Fig. 5).

However, three days after this ceremony, Almas summoned ibn Fadlan to him and demanded from him 4,000 dinars for the construction of a fortress, which the caliph supposedly had to send him. The head of the embassy did not have this money, but he swore an oath to the king upon his return to immediately resolve this issue with the caliph. Due to this inconsistency, the end of the visit of the Baghdad embassy to Bulgar turned out to be crumpled.

The exact time of the departure of the Arabs from the Volga shores cannot be established now, since the text of his story about the end of his visit to the Bulgar turned out to be lost. From the surviving part, you can learn that in the spring of 923 the entire embassy returned to Baghdad. But whether Almas subsequently received those same 4,000 dinars remains unknown.

We now know about the further historical fate of the Volga Bulgaria mainly from the reports of Russian chroniclers. In 1236-1237, this state was wiped off the face of the earth by hordes of Mongol-Tatar conquerors, led by Batu Khan, who came from the East. In those places where until quite recently flourishing Bulgarian cities stood, the nomads left only smoking ruins and the corpses of their defenders. The power of the khans of the Golden Horde came to the Volga region for more than three centuries.

Commemorative medal

Samara artist and medalist Vyacheslav Agafonov in last years worked on a series of commemorative signs dedicated to the ancient history of our region. To date, he has already issued commemorative medals about such famous travelers who left us descriptions of the Samara region, such as Ahmed Ibn Fadlan, Adam Olearius and Fedot Kotov. The work on perpetuating the memory of the last of the named characters was completed by the medalist quite recently. Now history lovers will be able to see the image of this medal (Fig. 6-8).

Since no portraits of Ahmed ibn Fadlan have survived to this day, - said Vyacheslav Agafonov, - I took as a basis the general stylized image of an Arab nobleman of the 10th century in clothes and a headdress characteristic of that time. In my drawing, ibn Fadlan, holding his horse by the bridle, examines the Samara country that appeared before him with the eyes of a scientist, and seems to be evaluating what words about it should be left for posterity in his notes.

I would like to hope that the commemorative medals I made will remain in the collections of Samara collectors. For other Samarans, they will certainly raise interest in the past of our region, and in general interest in historical science.

Valery EROFEEV.

Bibliography

Kovalevsky A.P. Ahmed ibn Fadlan's book about his journey to the Volga in 921-922. Articles, translations and comments. M., Science. 1956.

Kovalevsky A.P. On the degree of reliability of Ibn Fadlan. - Historical notes, 1950, T. 35. S. 265-293.

Kovalevsky A.P. Embassy of the Baghdad caliph to the king of the Volga Bulgars in 921-922 - Historical notes. 1951. T. 37. S. 214.

Kovalevsky A.P. Chuvash and Bulgars according to Ahmed ibn Fadlan. - Scientific notes of the Research Institute of Language, Literature and History under the Council of Ministers of the Chuvash ASSR. Issue. IX. Cheboksary, 1954. 46 p.

Kovalevsky A.P. Chuvash and Bulgars according to Ahmed ibn Fadlan. Cheboksary, 1965.

Newly discovered text of Ibn Fadlan. - Bulletin of ancient history. 1938. No. 1. S. 57-71.

Journey of Ibn Fadlan to the Volga. M.-L., Science. 1939 (trans. and comm.).

Journey of Ahmed Ibn Fadlan to the Itil River. Kazan. 1992.

Salakhetdinova M.A. Journey of Ibn Fadlan and one Muslim rite among the Volga Bulgars. - Countries and peoples of the East. Issue. XXVIII. Geography. Ethnography. Story. Culture. St. Petersburg: Center "Petersburg Oriental Studies", 1994. - S. 173-178.