Combines two exceptional exemplars of Arabic travel writing, penned in the same era but chronicling wildly divergent experiences. This book offers a description of the Viking Rus, including their customs, clothing, tattoos, and a striking account of a ship funeral.
Abu Zayd al-Sirafi (Author)
Abu Zayd al-Sirafi was a seafarer who moved from the Persian port-city of Siraf to Basra in 303 H/915-916 AD. He wrote the second half of Accounts of China and India, supplementing an earlier section written by an unknown mariner and merchant fifty years earlier.
Ahmad Ibn Fadlan (Author)
Ahmad Ibn Fadlan was a member of a diplomatic mission sent by the Abbasid caliph al-Muqtadir in 309-310 H/921-922 AD to the king of the Volga Bulghars. His is the only existing record of that mission.
