MISSION TO THE VOLGA
LIBRARY OF ARABIC LITERATURE
EDITORIAL BOARD
GENERAL EDITOR
Philip F. Kennedy, New York University
EXECUTIVE EDITORS
James E. Montgomery, University of Cambridge
Shawkat M. Toorawa, Yale University
EDITORS
Sean Anthony, The Ohio State University
Julia Bray, University of Oxford
Michael Cooperson, University of California, Los Angeles
Joseph E. Lowry, University of Pennsylvania
Maurice Pomerantz, New York University Abu Dhabi
Tahera Qutbuddin, University of Chicago
Devin J. Stewart, Emory University
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Chip Rossetti
DIGITAL PRODUCTION MANAGER
Stuart Brown
ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR
Gemma Juan-Simó
FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM COORDINATOR
Amani Al-Zoubi
LETTER FROM THE GENERAL EDITOR
The Library of Arabic Literature series offers Arabic editions and English translations of significant works of Arabic literature, with an emphasis on the seventh to nineteenth centuries. The Library of Arabic Literature thus includes texts from the pre-Islamic era to the cusp of the modern period, and encompasses a wide range of genres, including poetry, poetics, fiction, religion, philosophy, law, science, history, and historiography.
Books in the series are edited and translated by internationally recognized scholars and are published in parallel-text format with Arabic and English on facing pages, and are also made available as English-only paperbacks.
The Library encourages scholars to produce authoritative, though not necessarily critical, Arabic editions, accompanied by modern, lucid English translations. Its ultimate goal is to introduce the rich, largely untapped Arabic literary heritage to both a general audience of readers as well as to scholars and students.
The Library of Arabic Literature is supported by a grant from the New York University Abu Dhabi Institute and is published by NYU Press.
Philip F. Kennedy
General Editor, Library of Arabic Literature
ABOUT THIS PAPERBACK
This paperback edition differs in a few respects from its dual-language hard-cover predecessor. Because of the compact trim size the pagination has changed, but paragraph numbering has been retained to facilitate cross-referencing with the hardcover. Material that referred to the Arabic edition has been updated to reflect the English-only format, and other material has been corrected and updated where appropriate. For information about the Arabic edition on which this English translation is based and about how the LAL Arabic text was established, readers are referred to the hardcover.
MISSION TO THE VOLGA
BY
AḤMAD IBN FAḌLĀN
TRANSLATED BY
JAMES E. MONTGOMERY
FOREWORD BY
TIM SEVERIN
VOLUME EDITOR
SHAWKAT M. TOORAWA
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NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESSNew York |
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York
Copyright © 2017 by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ibn Fadlan, Ahmad, active 922 author. | Montgomery, James E. (James Edward), 1962– translator. | Toorawa, Shawkat M. editor. | Severin, Timothy author of foreword.
Title: Mission to the Volga / by Ahmad ibn Fadlan ; translated by James E. Montgomery ; foreword by Tim Severin ; volume editor, Shawkat M. Toorawa.
Other titles: Kitab al-Rihlah ila malik al-Saqalibah. English
Description: New York : New York University Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016038305 | ISBN 9781479899890 (pb : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781479826698 (e-book) | ISBN 9781479829750 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Tatarstan (Russia)—Description and travel. | Bulgars (Turkic people)—Russia (Federation)—Volga River Region—History. | Ibn Fadlan, Ahmad, active 922—Travel—Asia, Central. | Volga River Region (Russia)—History.
Classification: LCC DK511.T17 I2313 2017 | DDC 914.7/45042—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016038305
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Series design and composition by Nicole Hayward
Typeset in Adobe Text
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Josh, for the journey
CONTENTS
Letter from the General Editor
Map: Ibn Faḍlānʼs Route to the Volga
The Bajanāk
The Bāshghird