Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North (Penguin Classics) Book

In 922 AD an Arab envoy from Baghdad named Ibn Fadlan encountered a party of Viking traders on the upper reaches of the Volga River. In his subsequent report on his mission he gave a meticulous and astonishingly objective description of Viking customs dress table manners religion and sexual practices as well as the only eyewitness account ever written of a Viking ship cremation. Between the ninth and fourteenth centuries Arab travellers such as Ibn Fadlan journeyed widely and frequently into the far north crossing territories that now include Russia Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Their fascinating accounts describe how the numerous tribes and people they encountered traded furs paid tribute and waged wars. This accessible new translation offers an illuminating insight into the world of the Arab geographers and the medieval lands of the far north.

Between the ninth and fourteenth centuries Arab travellers such as Ibn Fadlan journeyed widely and frequently into the far north crossing territories that now include Russia Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. This title offers an illuminating insight into the world of the Arab geographers and the medieval lands of the far north.