Ibn Fadlan
Ahmad ibn-al-'Abbas ibn Rashid ibn-Hammad ibn-Fadlan (Ahmad ibn al Abbas ibn Rashid ibn Hammad ibn Fadlan ) was a scholar of Arabic origin Embassy Ibn Fadlan was sent from Baghdad in 921 as secretary to an ambassador of the Caliph Abbasid Al-Muqtadir Almis to the king of the Volga Bulgars. The purpose of the embassy was to get the king of the Bulgarians a tribute to the Caliph, in exchange for which he received money for the construction of a fortress. Part of Baghdad on 12 June 921 , the embassy went through Bukhara , Khwarizm (south of the Aral Sea ), Jurjaniya (where they spent the winter), north of the Ural Mountains before arriving, after many difficulties, among Bulgarians to the three lakes of the Volga north of Samara on May 12 922. This mission was a failure because they failed to collect money for the king who, incensed at not receiving the promised sum for the financing of fortifications against the Khazars , refused to move from ritual Hanafi rite at Shafii of Baghdad. After arriving in Bolgar , Ibn Fadlan went to Wisu where he recorded his observations on trade between the Volga Bulgars and the local Finnish tribes. Ibn Fadlan devotes a significant portion of his narrative to the description of a people he calls the () or identified by most scholars as the Rus' or Varangian , which would make his story a Early portrait of the Vikings. The Rus are presented as traders into trading on the shores near the Bulgarian camp. They are described as tattooed from neck to feet with motifs of trees and other figures. He notes with astonishment that they painted their hair every day, He also describes in great detail the funeral of one of their chieftains including a human sacrifice. This contradicts the impression of the Persian traveler Ibn Rustah. The Rus'
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