Editing Ahmad ibn Fadlan (section)

==Biography==
[[File: Ibn Fadhlan manuscript.jpg|thumb|240px|Ibn Fadlan manuscript page (in Arabic)<ref>Kovalevskii, A. P., ''Kniga Akhmeda Ibn-Fadlana o ego Puteschestvii na Volgu 921-922 gg'' (Kharkov, 1956), p. 345.</ref>]]

===Background===
Ahmad ibn Fadlan was described as an [[Arabs|Arab]] in contemporaneous sources.{{sfn|Frye|2005|page=8}}{{sfn|Lunde|Stone|2011|page=xiii}} However, the ''[[Encyclopedia of Islam]]'' and [[Richard N. Frye]] add that nothing can be said with certainty about his origin, his ethnicity, his education, or even the dates of his birth and death.{{sfn|Zadeh|2017}}{{sfn|Frye|2005|page=8}}

Primary source documents and historical texts show that Ahmad Ibn Fadlan was a ''[[Fiqh|faqih]]'', an expert in [[Islam]]ic jurisprudence and faith, in the court of the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Abbasid]] [[Caliph]] [[al-Muqtadir]].{{sfn|Gabriel|1999|p=36-42}} It appears certain from his writing that prior to his departure on his historic mission, he had already been serving for some time in the court of al-Muqtadir. Other than the fact that he was both a traveler and a [[theologian]] in service of the Abbasid Caliphate, little is known about Ahmad Ibn Fadlan prior to 921 and his self-reported travels.

===The embassy===
[[File:Ahmad Ibn Fadlan Route 1.jpg|thumb|Ahmad ibn Fadlan's route from Baghdad to Bukhara]]
[[File:Ahmad Ibn Fadlan Route 2.jpg|thumb|Ahmad ibn Fadlan's theorized route from Bukhara to Bulghar]]
Ibn Fadlan was sent from [[Baghdad]] in 921 to serve as the secretary to an ambassador from the [[Abbasid]] [[Caliph]] [[al-Muqtadir]] to the [[iltäbär]] (vassal-king under the [[Khazars]]) of [[Volga Bulgaria]], [[Almış]].

On 21 June 921 (11 ''safar'' AH 309), a diplomatic party led by Susan al-Rassi, a [[eunuch]] in the caliph's court, left Baghdad.{{sfn|Knight|2001|p=81-82}} Primarily, the purpose of their mission was to explain [[Sharia|Islamic law]] to the recently converted Bulgar peoples living on the eastern bank of the Volga River in what is now [[Russia]]. Additionally, the embassy was sent in response to a request by the king of the Volga Bulgars to help them against their enemies, the [[Khazars]].{{sfn|Hermes|2012|pages=80–84}} Ibn Fadlan served as the group's religious advisor and lead counselor for Islamic religious doctrine and law.{{sfn|Knight|2001|p=32-34}}

Ahmad Ibn Fadlan and the diplomatic party utilized established caravan routes toward [[Bukhara]], now part of [[Uzbekistan]], but instead of following that route all the way to the east, they turned northward in what is now northeastern Iran. Leaving the city of [[Gurgan]] near the [[Caspian Sea]], they crossed lands belonging to a variety of Turkic peoples, notably the [[Khazar Khaganate]], [[Oghuz Turks]] on the east coast of the Caspian, the [[Pechenegs]] on the [[Ural River]] and the [[Bashkirs]] in what is now central Russia, but the largest portion of his account is dedicated to the [[Rus' people|Rus]], i.e. the [[Varangians|Varangians (Vikings)]]{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}} on the [[Volga trade route]]. All told, the delegation covered some 4000 kilometers (2500&nbsp;mi).{{sfn|Knight|2001|p=81-82}}

Ibn Fadlan's envoy reached the Volga Bulgar capital on 12 May 922 (12 ''muharram'' AH 310). 
When they arrived, Ibn Fadlan read aloud a letter from the caliph to the Bulgar [[Khan (title)|Khan]] and presented him with gifts from the caliphate. At the meeting with the Bulgar ruler, Ibn Fadlan delivered the caliph's letter, but was criticized for not bringing with him the promised money from the caliph to build a fortress as defense against enemies of the Bulgars.<ref>{{harvnb|Frye|2005}}{{page needed|date=December 2016}}, {{harvnb|Hermes|2012|pp=80–98}}</ref>