XXXII Международный конгресс ИИСАА. 26–28 апреля 2023 г.

78 XXXII Международный Конгресс по источниковедению и историографии стран Азии и Африки Секция II If they want, they transport their goods from the land of Franks by theWestern sea and disembark at Antioch and go by land three travel-days [ marhala ] to al-Jabia. Afterwards they embark on the Euphrates to Baghdad. Then they sail the Tigris to al-Ubulla, and from al-Ubulla to Oman, Sind, Hind, and China; all these lands are interconnected to each other. (2) As for the route of al-Rus merchants — who are a kind/variety [ djins ] of the Slavs, — they transport the skins of castor, skins of black fox, and swords from the far extremity of (the land of) Slavs [ Saqaliba ] to the Sea of Rum, and the ruler [ sāhib ] of Rum takes the tithe from them. If they go through Tanīs , the River of the Slavs, they came by/through Khamlīdj , the city of the Khazars, and their ruler [ sāhib ] takes the tithe from them. Then they go by the Sea of Jurjan, and disembark on any shore they wish, while the diameter of this Sea is 500 farsakhs . Sometimes they transport their goods from Jurjan on the camel backs to Baghdad, while the Slav slave-servants [ al-khadam ] interpret for them; and they call themselves Christians and pay djizya . (1b) As for their journey by land , any of themwho departs from al-Andalus or Firanja crosses to al-Sus al-Aksa (WesternMorocco) and goes toTangier, then to Kairouan, then to Egypt, then to Ramla, then toDamascus, then to al-Kufa, then to Baghdad, then to al-Basra, then to Ahvaz, then to Fars, then to Kerman, then to Sind, then to Hind, then to China. Sometimes, also, they take the route behind Rumiya to the country of the Slavs, then to Khamlidj, the city of the Khazars. Then by the Sea of Jurjan, then to Balkh and Mawarrannahr (Transoxania), then to Wurt [=Yurt] of Toghuzghuz, then to China. However familiar the picture of this trade may seem now, all that we know is in a way a result of the previous scholars’ elaboration on Ibn Khurdadhbeh’s account. His sketch is surprisingly comprehensive; it lists all major trade routes of the time, helping us to glue together all assorted and disparate information received from various sources. The next comparably comprehensive cross-section of the Middle Eastern trade we have only for the late 12–13th CC., when aMuslim corporation of the Kārimī merchants based in Egypt established its trading network (the real one, mentioned in numerous sources; in fact, it was a model for backwards moulding of the Radhaniyya corporation), which can be traced in much detail, thus a fuller picture of the contemporaneous trade can be produced. Besides clarifying some aspects of the trade routes and nomenclature of commodities, the current paper concentrates on the West and East European terminuses of this trade. An analysis of the evidence of other Arabic as well as European and archaeological sources helps to corroborate and contextualize Ibn Khordadhbeh’s information, as well as identify the provenance of the above accounts. Another important question concerns the exact date of them, since the book of Ibn Khurdadhbeh seems to have two recensions — ca. 231/846 and 272/885. Hence, the above information may belong to the second quarter (and even earlier) or to the last quarter of the IX C., which makes a big difference. The paper argues that the Radhaniyya account, originated in the South France — Barcelona region and likely acquired by the author in Maghreb, belongs to the first recension, thus presenting a picture of the European trade in the first half of the IX C. The Rus account was, most likely, received by Ibn Khordadhbeh in Baghdad and belongs to the second recension of the book.