Vikings / Famous Vikings / Ahmad ibn Fadlan
Ahmad ibn Fadlan
Abbasid envoy; eyewitness of the Rus'
HistoricalChroniclersOutside the Norse branches
- Lived
- fl. 921–922
- Role
- Abbasid envoy; eyewitness of the Rus'
Ibn Fadlan was secretary to an embassy sent by the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir from Baghdad in June 921 to the king of the Volga Bulgars, which arrived in May 922 after crossing Iran, Khwarazm and the steppe. His report describes the Turkic peoples on the way and, on the Volga, a group of Rus' traders: tall, tattooed, armed with axe, sword and knife, and by his standards filthy. His eyewitness account of a chieftain's ship cremation, including the sacrifice of a slave woman, is unique.
Known for
- Embassy from Baghdad to the Volga Bulgars, 921–922
- Eyewitness description of Rus' merchants
- Only eyewitness account of a ship cremation
In the story
Ibn Fadlan: Baghdad to the Volga
In June 921 the caliph al-Muqtadir sent an embassy from Baghdad to the newly Muslim king of the Volga…
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On the timeline
Events that name Ahmad ibn Fadlan
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Picture: ميدالية ابن فضلان, SupremeHusky · CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.