Reports of the Slavs from Muslim Lands Part IV – Masudi’s Account

Masudi, born in Baghdad became a world traveler and an author of a history book (under the rather confusing name of “The Meadows of Gold” (or, more fully, “The Meadows of Gold and Mines of Precious Gems”).  He wrote it between 941-956 (first edition in 943) in Egypt where he chose to settle.  Masudi died in 957 – eight years before Ibrahim Ibn-Ya’qub arrived at Otto I’s court in Magdeburg.  Although the below discusses some religious practices of the [seemingly, East] Slavs, we leave a wider discussion of the topic for later.  Finally, we include the Paul Lunde translation of the same separately at the back.

From Masudi

(c 943)

“The Saqaliba are descended from Madhay, the son of Japheth, the son of Noah and all the Saqaliba peoples derive their origins and trace their genealogies back to him, or at least this is the opinion of most of those who have devoted themselves to the question.  The Saqaliba dwell in the North, whence they have spread westwards.”

[this seems to suggest that at least some Slavs moved West from East; on the other hand, below Masudi seems to have his East-West confused as he suggests the Rus and Slavs extend eastwards from the Khazar Khaganate]

“The Saqaliba are divided into several different peoples who war among themselves and have kings.  Some of them belong to the Christian faith, being of the Jacobite sect, while the others are pagans and have no scripture and know nothing of divine law.”

[Jacobite, presumably meaning the Syrian Church]

“Among the different peoples who make up this pagan race, there is one that in ancient times held sovereign power.  Their king was called Majik and they themselves were known as Walitaba [Veleti].  In the past, all the Saqaliba recognized their superiority, because it was from among them that they chose the paramount ruler, and all the other chieftains considered themselves his vassals.”

[although this may seem far-fetched, if we take into account that M-dzh-k is a reconstruction, one might ask whether this could be a form of M-sh-c or M-sh-k, i.e., Mieszko – this would not be impossible though highly unlikely as in the 940s Mieszko I was very young and likely not even yet a chieftain and we also do not have evidence of earlier Mieszkos in the same area (though we also have no earlier evidence at all of that area); for a discussion of the same topic in Ibrahim‘s account (he uses the name Makha) see here]

“Among the Saqaliba peoples of the second rank should be mentioned in the following order: the Istrana, whose king in our own times is called Basqlabij; then the Dulaba, whose present king is called Wanjslaf.  Next are the Namjin, whose king is called Gharand; among all the Saqaliba these are the bravest and the best horsemen.  After, come the Manabin, whose king is called Ratimir; the Sarbin, a Saqaliba people much feared for reasons that it would take too long to explain and whose deeds would need much too detailed an account.  They have no particular religious affiliation.  Then there is the people called the Murawa and another known as the Kharwatin, and yet another called the Sasin, then the Khashanin and the Baranijabin.  The names of some of their kings which we have given are in fact dynastic titles.  The Sarbin, whom we have just mentioned, have the custom of burning themselves alive when a king or chieftain dies.  They also immolate his horses.  These people have customs similar to those of the Indians.”

[Tribes’ names mentioned above require some explanation:

– Istrana – difficult to do anything with this one; the Ister was the Danube, of course; maybe these were a tribe from the Dniester region such as the Tivercians; but the Venethi enthusiasts should also note that Istrana is a town in the Venetian country of Italy;

– Dulaba – the Dulaba were presumably the Dulebians mentioned in the PVL as being abused by the Avars and then dwelling “along the Bug where the Volhynians now are”;

– Namjin – the name might suggest Germans (Nemcy) especially given the name of the leader – Gharand (or maybe Goran?); this should not be that surprising since Masudi also lists the Sasin – possibly Saxons and the Turks (Hungarians) as Slavs; some have speculated that the reference is to Bavarians; it is interesting that these may be rendered in the Slavic suggesting a Slavic source;

– Manabin – other translations include mayin and maghanin – nonetheless, we can only throw our hands up in the air and say whaaaa?;

– Sarbin – ok, easy – Serbs of one type or another;

– Murawa – presumably the Moravians;

– Kharwatin – presumably the Croatians/Croats;

– Sasin – German Saxons or Cesi (Czechs)?;

– Khashanin – Kashubs? Those who live near Koszalin?;

– Baranijabin – we give up – other than to say that the town of Baranovichi is in Western Belarus] 

“Earlier in this work, we briefly mentioned this while discussing the Caucasus/the town Qabh [?] and the Khazars, we remarked that in the land of the Khazars there are, as well as the Khazars themselves, a Saqaliba and a Rus population and that these last [last or last two?] also immolate themselves.  These Saqaliba and other related peoples extent to the East rather than to the West.”

“The foremost of the Saqaliba kings is Aldayr, whose domains include great cities and much cultivated land, vast troops and countless armies.  Muslim merchants make their way to his capital with all kinds of merchandise.”

[Aldayr – Askold & Dir?; or is it really aldair as in aeldar as in chieftain? Or al-Ta’ir, the flying one or the flying eagle (see the Star Aquila)? Or, perhaps it is Aldir?]

“After this, on the borders of this Saqaliba king, comes the king of al-afragh [Prague?], who has a gold mine, towns, extensive well-cultivated lands, numerous soldiers and a large population.  He is at war with the Byzantines, the Franks, the Bazkard [Bashkirs but here are meant the Hungarians seeing as that (Urals) is where they (or rather the ruling class) likely came from] and other nations besides the hostilities among them are continuous.  Neighboring this king is the king of the Turks.  These people are the handsomest, the most numerous and the most warlike of all.  The  Saqaliba comprise many different peoples and are very far-flung, but this work is not the place for a detailed description and classification of them.”

“I began by mentioning the king whose suzerainty has been recognized by all the other rulers since ancient times, that is to say Majik, king of the Walitaba, who are the original, pure-blooded Saqaliba, the most highly honored, and take precedence over all the other branches of the race.      Later, dissent having established itself among these peoples, their original organization was destroyed and the various families formed isolated groups, each choosing a king, as we have said above.  An account of all these events would take too long, all the more so, since I have already related them in a general way and with great detail in my earlier works, the Historical Annals and the Intermediate History.”

***

This is the Paul Lunde translation of the same: Chapter 9 (The Slavs):

“The Slavs are descended from Madhay, the son of Japhet, the son of Noah, and all the Slavic peoples derive their origins and trace their genealogies back to him, or at least this is the opinion of most of those who have devoted themselves to the question.  They dwell in the north, whence they have spread westwards.”

“The Slavs are divided into several different peoples who war among themselves and hav kings.  Some of them belong to the Christian faith, being of the Jacobite set, while the others are pagans and have no scripture and know nothing of divine law.”

“Among the different peoples who make up this pagan race, there is one that in ancient times held sovereign power.  Their koing was called Majik, and they themselves were known as Walitaba [Wiltzes?].  In the toast, all the Slavs recognized their superiority, because it was from among them that they chose the paramount ruiler, and all the other chieftains considered themselves his vassals.”

“Among the Slavic peoples of the second rank should be mentioned in the following order: the Istrana, whose king in our own times is called Basqlabij [Vaclav?]; then the Dulaba [western Dulabians?], whose present king is called Wanjslaf.  Next are the Namjin [‘Niemczyn, ‘Germans’] whose king is called Gharand [Conrad]; among all the Slavs these are the bravest and the best horsemen.  After, come the Manabin, whose king is called Ratimir; the Sarbin [the Serbs], a Slavic people much feared for reasons that it would take too long to explain and whose deeds would need much too detailed an account.  They have no particular religious affiliation.”

“Then there is the people called the Murawa [the Moravians] and another known as the Kharwatin [the Croats], and yet another called the Sasin [either the Saxons or the Czech ‘Cacin’], then the Khashanin and the Baranijabin.  The names of some of their kings which we have given are in fact dynastic titles.”

“The Sarbin, whom we hav just mentioned, have the custom of burning themselves alive when a king or chieftain dies.  They also immolate his horses.  These people have customs similar to those of the Indians.”

“In the land of the Khazars there are, as well as the Khazars themselves, a Slav and a Rus population and that these last also burn themselves.  These Slav and other related peoples extend to the east rather than to the west.”

“The foremost of the Slav kings is the ruler of Aldayr, whose domain include great cities and much cultivated land, vast troops and countless armies.  Muslim merchants make their way to his capital with all kinds of merchandise.”

“After this, on the borders of this Slavic king, comes the king of al-Afragh [Prague], who has a gold mine, towns, extensive well-cultivated lands, umerous soldiers and a large population.  He is at war with the Byzantines, the Franks, the Bazkard [the Magyars] and other nations besides; the hostilities among them are continuous.”

“Neighbouring this Slavic king is the king of the Turks.  These people are the handsomest, the most numerous and the most warlike of all.  The Slavs comprise many many different peoples and are very far-flung, but this work is not the place for a detailed description and classification of them.”

“I began by mentioning the king whose suzerainty has been recognized by all the other rulers since ancient times, that is to say Majik, king of the Walitaba, who are the original, pure-blooded Slavs, the most highly honoured and take precedence over all the other branches of the race.”

“Later, dissent having established itself among these peoples, their original organization was destroyed and the various families formed isolated groups, each choosing a king, as we have said before.  An account of all these events would take too long, all the more so since I have already related them in a general way and with great detail in my earlier works, the Historical Annals and the Intermediate History.”

***

And here are some other references from the main Lunde/Stone translation from  their main edition on the Abbasids:

[volume VII: 323-324 of Les Prairies d’or by Barbier de Meynard and Pavet de Courteille, Paris 1861-77; s 3015]

“Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Mu’tasim was poclaimed Caliph the day Mun-tasir died, that is, Sunday, the 5th of Rabi’ II 248 ah [862 AD]. He was known as Abu al-Abbas. His mother was a slave of Slavic origin, named Mukhariq.”  

[volume VIII: 147-150 of Les Prairies d’or by Barbier de Meynard and Pavet de Courteille, Paris 1861-77; s 3288]

“I have spoken in my Historical Annals of the eunuchs from the Sudan, the Slavic countries, Byzantium and China – for the Chinese, like the Byzantines, will castrate several of their children. I have discussed, in the same work, the contradictions in character of eunuchs which result from the removal of this member and what nature causes to occur in them when that happens, as has often been confirmed and described.”

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