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Статья
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The spread of Islam was the consequence of the grand scale conquests of the Arabs in the age of Orthodox Caliphs and later under the Umayyads extending to China in the East and Andalusia in the West in the 7th–8th centuries [Kennedy, 2007]. The new wave of Islamization directed toward the peoples of Central Asia, Eastern Europe and India [Golden, 1990, p. 343–370]. New states were formed in Eastern Europe in the 10th century and three world-religions competed to convert these states to their own religion. The Khazars adopted Judaism earlier [Golden, 2007, p. 123–162], but Islam and Christianity became involved in religious conversions. The Volga Bulghars embraced Islam in the beginning of the 10th century [Zimonyi, 1994, p. 235–240; Mako, 2011, p. 199–223; Izmailov, 2016, p. 68–92], whereas the Kievan Rus converted to Christianity from Constantinople by the end of the 10th century [Franklin, Shepard, 1996, p. 151–169].
The long-distance trade played an important role in nomadic empire-building and in the adoption of a world religion by the steppe peoples. In Eastern Europe the Jewish merchants had basic influence in the Khazar court and they must have influenced the adoption of the Mosaic faith among the Khazars.
Similarly, the Rus centre moved from the north to Kiev in the 10th century which lies on the trade route connecting Byzantium with Scandinavia and its result was the adaptation of Christianity from Constantinople.
There was a turning point in the 9th– 10th centuries in the history of trade-network of Afro-Eurasia. The former two hubs of the Silk Road (2nd c. BC – 2nd c. AD and 6th c. – 8th c.) connected the East with the West, whereas the 9th –10th centuries the characteristic trade-routes directed from South to North [Christian, 2000, p. 18–20; Vassière, 2014, p. 102–106]. The change of the trade routes brought Eastern Europe to completely new situation. The Khazar Kaghanate became a commercial empire in the 9th century and two other new state-formations appeared in the 10th century: the Kievan Rus and Volga Bulgharia partly due to this prosperous trade. The two strategic trade routes: the Volga and caravan route from Khwarazm via Kazak steppe to the Volga-Kama estuary met in the Volga Bulgharia [Noonan, 1985, p. 179–204].
After the Ommayad-Khazar wars in the first half of the 8th century, the Abbasids established trade relations with the Khazars, because of which was a flourishing trade through the Caucasus and along the Volga starting form c. 800. The Khazar Kaghanate became a commercial empire and played an intermediary role in trade between the Islamic world and north-eastern Europe and Scandinavia. The furs, slaves, honey, wax, and amber came from the North and the Muslim merchants paid for them silver dirhams [Kovalev, 2011, p. 43–155].
The dirham-hoards in Western Eurasia between c. 700 and c. 1100 were catalogized by Noonan and Kovalev. More than 80% of the 1656 dirham-hoards including almost half a million (486,956) dirhams of Afro-Eurasia were found in north-eastern Europe. During the first phase, i.e. the 9th century 20% of the dirhams arrived Eastern Europe via the Caucasus – the Volga-Don waterways from the mints of central Islamic lands. 80% of the dirhams can be dated to the 10th century and they were stuck in the territory of the Samanids [Kovalev, Kaelin, 2007, p. 1–21]. The first silver crises appeared at the end of the 9th century. The Pecheneg westward migration brought a turning point in the history of Eastern Europa in the 890s. The great power position of the Khazars was shattered due to the loss of the territory west of Don, and at the same time the trade route along the lower Volga was temporarily closed. By 914, these coins could be supplied from the Samanid Empire via the southern coast of the Caspian Sea to the Volga route. However, the Samanids lost their Caspian provinces in 914, so then the main trade route to Eastern Europe passed through Khwarazm and the present Kazak steppe to the Volga-Kama region which Ibn Faḍlān followed during his journey to the king of the Volga Bulghars. The Volga-Kama region became the strategic center of trade route network connecting Eastern Europa with Transoxania. The Samanids facilitated the conversion of the Volga Bulghars not only with the aim of securing their trade relations with Eastern Europe but from political motivation [Noonan, 2000, p. 140–218].
The land of the Volga Bulghars was a trade center between the Islamic world and Eastern Europe in the 10th–13th centuries [Valeev, 2011].
I quote some of the Muslim sources concerning the significance of this trade. Ibn Faḍlān travelled to the Bulghars on the main caravan route from Khwarazm through the steppes to the Volga-Kama. In the territory of the Oghuz he reported: “On the following day, we met a Turk. He was an ugly man, wretched looking, small and stunted in appearance, really ignoble. We had just been caught by a violent cloudburst. ‘Stop!’ he cried. The whole caravan halted. It was made up of some 3,000 horses and 5,000 men” [Montgomary, 2014, p. 206–207; Lunde, Stone, 2011, p. 17]. It shows the volume of trade on land route. There were an influential commercial group among the Volga Bulghars as Ibn Faḍlān noted: “There are many merchants among them who go to the lands of the Turks and bring back sheep, and to a land called Wisu, from which they bring the skins of sable and black foxes” [Montgomary, 2014, p. 232–233; Lunde, Stone, 2011, p. 39].
Al-Masʿūdī twenty year after Ibn Faḍlān’s journey remarked on this commercial route: “Caravans continually pass back and forth between the Bulghars and Khwarazm, which is a dependency of the kingdom of Khurasan. Because the route passes through the encampments of other Turkish nomads, they are constrained to place themselves under their protection” [Lunde, Stone, 2011, p. 137; Minorsky, 1958, p. 149; al-Masʿūdī, vol. II, p. 216].
As for the variety of the commercial goods al-Muqaddasī noted: “From Khwarazm: sable [ sammur ] grey squirrel [ sinjāb ] ermine [ *qāqūn ] mink \fanak] fox marten [ dallah ] beaver [*khazbūst] spotted hare [-kharkūsh] goatskins [ *bazbūst ] wax arrows birch wood [tūz] tall fur caps [ qalānīs ] isinglas [gharā samak, fish glue] fish teeth [probably walrus and narwhal tusks] castoreum oil [ "khazmīyān ] amber tanned horse hides [*kīmakht] honey hazelnuts falcons [ayuz ] swords armour maple wood [? khalanj ] Saqalib slaves sheep cattle. All these come from Bulghar, and they also bring grapes and much oil” [Muqaddasī, BGA III, p. 324–325; Lunde, Stone, 2011, p. 169–170].
To demonstrate the importance of trade I reconstructed a network of river-system called Etil in the Muslim maps of Ibn Ḥawqal, al-Kāshgharī and al-Idrīsī. Its center is the territory of the Volga Bulghars and it connected Central Asia, Siberia, North-Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, eastern part of the Islamic world and Byzantium. This network was complemented by land routes. The Volga Bulghar territory was really a strategic point in this trade network where the Volga, Kama and Belaya joined together.
The Arabic versions of the name are Atil and Athil. It reflects the Turkic Etil ~ Ätil which appears as 'black Etil' in early Byzantine source corresponding the usage of the Chagatay, Kazan Tatar, Bashkir and Chuvash composition meaning the river Volga. The 'white Etil' means the rivers of the lower Kama and Belaja in Bashkir, Tatar and Chuvash. In addition, there is another opposition in Tatar: big Idil 'Volga' and small Idil 'Kama-Belaya'. The Etil river network was clearly described among the languages the Turkic peoples: the Volga from the confluence of the Volga and Kama downward was called Etil, upward from there toward northwest, the Volga was known as 'black or large Etil', however the north-eastern branch, the river Kama-Belaya was designated as 'white or small Etil' [Podosinov, 1999, p. 46; Ligeti, 1986, p. 479; Zimonyi, 2020, p. 363–373].
As a starting point, the data from the Balkhī-tradition are taken into consideration. Al-Balkhī and his followers, al-Iṣṭakhrī and Ibn Ḥawqal made commentary to the maps. Kalinina studied the hydronyms of the Volga in this tradition and other contemporary Muslim sources [Dzhakson et al., 2007, p. 135–157]. I cut the relevant parts of the world map of Ibn Ḥawqal (fig. 1)
In the center of the fragment is a circle, which is the Caspian Sea. The Etil flows into it. The Lower Etil (the Volga) is a border between the Khazars and Oghuz, then it is divided into three branches. The eastern branch starts from the western edge of the Kirghiz and Kharkukh and it is a border between the Oghuz and Kimeks. The norther branch takes its origin form the Canal of Constantinople which connected the Mediterranean Sea with the Ocean surrounding the Earth. The Bulghars and Rus’ are on its right bank. The western branch is the border between the Bulghars and Rus and between the Burtas and Basjirt.
Al-Iṣṭakhrī described the river Etil: “As to the river Atil, from what I have heard, it emerges from the vicinity of the Hirẖīz and flows between the Kīmākīya and the Ġuzzīya, being the boundary between the two. Then it proceeds west behind Bulġār, and turns back in its course eastwards till it passes by the Rūs. Then it goes past Bulġār, then Burṭās, and turns back in its course till it falls into the sea of the Khazars. It is said that more than seventy streams branch from this river. The main body of its flows by al-Hazar till it falls into the sea” [Dunlop, 1954, p. 95; al-Iṣṭaẖrī, BGA I, p. 222; Ibn Ḥawqal, BGA II, p. 393; Ibn Hauqal, 1964, p. 383]. The map and the description are vague, as the latter did not distinct the northern from the western branches. The river branches represent also commercial routes along rivers. The eastern branch must relate to the Kama-Belaja route to the East, whereas the northern branch can be identified with either the upper Volga or Kama. The western branch may refer to the Volga or the river Oka.
The descriptions on the eastern section of the Etil in the Balkhī-tradition puts its emergence in the vicinity of the Khirgiz and it is the border between the Oghuz and Kimek. The Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam may shed more light on the eastern section of the river. There is chapter on the rivers and mountains in this Persian geographical work: “Another river is the Etil which rises in the same mountains north of the Irtish; it is a mighty and wide river flowing through the Kīmāk country, down to the village Jūbīn; then it flows westwards along the frontier between the Ghūz and the Kīmāk until it has passed Bulghār; then it turns southward, flowing between the Turk Pechenegs and the Burṭās, traverses the town of Atil belonging to the Khazar, and flows into the Khazar Sea” [Minorsky, 1937, p. 75].
The river Irtish is regarded as a branch of the Etil in the Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam: “Another river is the Irtish which rises in the same mountain. It is a large water, black yet drinkable and fresh. It flows between the Ghūz and the Kīmāk until it reaches the village Jūbīn in the Kīmāk country, then it empties itself into the river Etil” [Minorsky, 1937, p. 75].
The Etil and Irtish are mentioned together in chapter of the Kimeks: “East of this country lives a race of Khirkhiz; south of it are the rivers Artush and Atil; west of it, some of the Khifchākh and some of the Northern Uninhabited Lands” [Minorsky, 1937, p. 99].
There is an unidentified river in front of the description of Etil: “Another river is the RAS ( ?), flowing up in the North, in the country of the Ghūz. It is a large river of which (the waters) are black and bad-smelling; it rises from the mountain which is on the frontier between the Kimāk and the Khirkhiz, traverses the Ghūz country and falls into the Khazar sea” [Minorsky, 1937, p. 75]. Minorsky identified it with Asus in the description of Kimek in the work of Gardīzī and the latter is identified with either the Ishim left affluent of the Irtish or Ilek, a southern tributary of the river Ural [Minorsky, 1937, p. 215; Martinez, 1982, p. 122; Göckenjan, Zimonyi, 2001, p. 110]. Another interpretation can be the Etil as the name Ra by Ptolemaios survived in the Islamic tradition represented by al-Khwārizmī [Dzhakson et al., 2007, p. 135–137].
There is a reference to a mountain in the accounts of Etil and Irtish where they both rise. Its description is among the chapter about the mountains: “Another mountain lies in the northern parts, between the frontier of the Kīmāk and the beginning of the Khirkhīz. It starts from the frontier of Kīmāk and stretches eastwards to the frontier of the Khirkhīz. Then it follows a northern direction till where the inhabited part of the world finishes in the north. In the northern region this mountain is called by the Kīmāk, K.NDĀV.R-BĀGHĪ (Kundāvar, Kandā'ur-taghi)” [Minorsky, 1937, p. 66]. Minorsky remarked that this mountain can be identified with the Altai Mountains from geographical point of view and as it lay between the lands of the Kimäk and the Kirgiz and the Irtish rises in it. As for the Kundāwar taghı Minorsky accepted that it might be the Ulu Tau [Minorsky, 1939, p. 202]. The village Jūbīn is mentioned as a settlement in the Kimäk chapter under the name dih-Chūbīn, which is a Persian expression meaning ‘village built of wood’. It is “on the bank of a river. In summer numerous people (gather) in it.” [Minorsky, 1937, p. 310].
The geographical work of al-Masʿūdī mentioned the Irtish flowing into the Caspian Sea: “The Black Artīsh and white Artīsh are among the big and famous streams flowing into this (Khazar) sea. They are two big rivers, each of which exceed the Tigris and Euphrates. There is ten days between their estuaries. The winter and summer quarters of the Kīmākiyya and the Ghuzziyya from the Turks are on them” [al-Masudi, BGA VIII, p. 62; Dzhakson et al., 2007, p. 170–171].
The river eastern section of the Etil network can be identified with the Irtysh without a doubt based on the historical and geographical context. The Irtysh rises in the Altai mountains then flows north-west in the Kazak steppe and goes into the river Ob. Its western tributaries are the Ishim, Tobol and Konda. The western tributaries of the Tobol and the Konda rise in the Ural Mountains and there are several portages between them and the eastern tributaries of the Kama and Belaya which can be connect the waterways with the Volga.
Maḥmūd al-Kāshġarī completed his famous work on Turkic languages in 1074, and there is a map in his work. The river Etil (wādī Atil) is a complex system in the map. Its eastern branch starts from a lake which is not named next to the desert of the Basmils. There are several rivers flow in this lake. The river Ila from the south, the river Ärtiš and river Yamār from eastern direction. The Etil flows westward and after crossing two mountains turns to the south. There are at least three other main northern branches starting from the mountains joining the main river from western direction. There is a western attribuent which flows parallel with the main course into the Sea. The eastern branch can refer to the Irtysh-Ob-Beleya-Kama water network, whereas the norther branches to the Kama, Vyatka an upper Volga, and the southern western attribuent must have been identical with the Lower Don.
Maḥmūd al-Kāshġarī remarked in the text of his book: “Ätil is the name of a river in the land of the Kipchaks, it flows in the Sea of Bulghār, with attribuent to (the land of the) Rūs” [Kâšγarî, 1982, p. 112; Golden, 2015, p. 521; Kaplony, 2008, p. 210]. The land of the Kipchaks meant the South Russian and Kazak steppe. The designation of the Bulghār Sea reflects the Islamic tradition which reflects that the Volga Bulghar merchants controlled the commerce in it. In other Muslim sources the designation the Khazar Sea is used which is the Caspian Sea. The attribuent of the river Etil reaching the land of the Rūs is vague, but the map shows that it reaches the sea. So, the identification with the lower Don seems evident in spite of the fact that Black Sea is not a separate item in the map.
Al-Kāshġarī mentioned: “river Ärtish, in Steppes of Yemäk, flows in a lake.” [Kâšγarî, 1982, p. 129]. As the Etil takes its origin from the same lake according to the map, it reflects a water system including the Ärtish, and Etil, similar to the map of Ibn Ḥawqal. It is corroborated by description of al-Kāshġarī on the Turkic dialects: “The most correct Turkic is that of the Yaghma and Tukhshi and the peoples on rivers Ila, Ärtish, Yamār, Ätil as far as Land of Uyghur” [Kâšγarî, 1982, p. 50; Golden, 2015, p. 508] (fig. 2)
The city of Bulghār lies north-east to the Caspian Sea in the map, and al-Kāshġarī stated: “Bulghār is the name of a well-known city of the Turks” [Pritsak, 1959, p. 103; Golden, 2015, p. 518]. The other city, Suwār which is between the river Etil and its attribuent. Al-Kāshġarī identified al-Kāshġarī it with Sakhsîn: “Sakhsîn is a city near Bulğâr, it is [also called] Suwār” [Kâšγarî, 1982, p. 330; Pritsak, 1959, p. 103; Golden, 2015, p. 535]. Suwar and Saqsin two different cities. Suwar was a significant city of the Volga Bulghars which can be identified with the ruins 4 km to the west from the village of Kuznechikha (Tatarstan) where silver dirhams were minted in the middle of the 10th century. The location of Saqsin is debated, but it must have lied on the lower Volga not far from the Caspian Sea. The identification with former Khazar capital or later Saray Berke seems to be probable. Abū-Ḥāmid al-Ġarnaṭī lived several years in Saksin from 1131 and he mentioned that there was Suwar colony in the town which can have been the reason of the misunderstanding [Büchner, Golden, 1995, p. 895–898].
The third map is from the geographical work of al-Idrīsī (1100–ca. 1165) compiled in 1154. He divided the Earth into seven climates from South to North and a climate consists of ten zones from West to East following the work of Ptolemy. The work included a world map and seventy maps. He used the work of al-Jayhānī and Ibn Ḥawqal by the description of Eastern Europe [Krachkovsky, 1957, p. 281–299; Oman, 1986, p. 1032–1035]. Konovalova published the parts of the text concerning Eastern Europe with Russian translation and comments [Konovalova, 2006] and she studied the relevant hydronyms [Dzhakson et al., 2007, p. 173–206]. The fragment of the relevant part was cut from the reconstructed world map (fig. 3)
Al-Idrīsī described the river Etil in several parts of his book. The 7th part of the climate 5 contains information about the river:
“Al-Ḥawqalī reported in his book that this sea (Caspian) is also separate, there is no connection with other seas existing on the Earth directly and no mixing with other seas, except the river Rūs known as Äthil which flows into it. This river comes out from the land of the Türks and it flows from eastern direction until it reaches Bulghār. It splits into to tributaries one of them flows into the sea of al-Bāb wa-l-Abwāb (Caspian) which we described earlier, the other flows in western direction until it reaches the sea of Bonṭus (Black Sea). The author of the Book of Marvels reported that this sea is connected with the sea of Pontus via underground channel. There is ca. six hundred miles uninterrupted land between them. There's nothing but fish in this sea. The merchants travel on it with their goods from the land of the Muslims to the land of the Khazars, which is among Al-Rān, al-Jīl, Ṭabaristān and Jurjān. The inhabitants of Äthil (town) travel on it to Jurjān and to the other coastal countries, then they return to Äthil and they go by light boats on the river Äthil. They go up the river until they reach al-Bulghāriyya. Then they come down on the upper tributary until they arrive at the sea of Pontus” [al-Idrīsī, 1970–1978, V:7, p. 831–832; Konovalova, 2006, p. 76–77, 109–110].
“The eastern branch of the river Äthil originates from the territory of Basjirt. It flows between al-Bajanakiyya and Bughāriyya, it is the border between them. It flows toward west until it reaches the area behind Bulghār. Then it turns again to eastern direction crossing al-Rūs, then Bulghār, then Burṭās, then al-Khazar until it flows into the sea of the Khazars. …. there is a branch coming from this river which moves toward western direction until it flows into the sea of Pontus, as we have already mentioned” [al-Idrīsī, 1970–1978, V:7, p. 834–835; Konovalova, 2006, p. 78–79, 111].
The 6th part of climate VI also has data on Etil: “[The town Mātrīqa] it is on the bank of a big river which is called Saqīr. It is a branch coming from the river Äthil to the town. The main branch [of the river Äthil] passes the town Äthil which is on the shore of the sea of Ṭabaristān” [al-Idrīsī, 1970–1978, VI:6, p. 916; Konovalova, 2006, p. 91, 119].
“Al-Khazar is the name of country, its capital is Äthil. Äthil is the name of river, which flows from al-Rūs and Bulghār to it (capital) and flows into the sea of the Khazars. The origin of this river is in the eastern side from the land of ruins crossing the Stinking Land in western direction until it comes the area behind Bulghār. Then it turns again to eastern direction crossing al-Rūs, then Bulghār, then Burṭās, until it reaches the land of the Khazars and flows into the sea” [al-Idrīsī, 1970–1978, VI:6, p. 919; Konovalova, 2006, p. 95, 121].
There is another description of the Etil in the 8th part of climate 6:
“As for the rest three rivers, the river Äthil originate from them, they come out from this mountain, which is called Asqāsqā. Then every river flows toward western direction, after a few days they merge and become one river. Then it flows until it reaches the land of Bulghār. Then it turns again to eastern direction reaching in the vicinity of the land of al-Rūsiyya. It is split into two branches there, one of them reaches the town Maṭrakhā and flows into the sea between the town and the town al-Rūsiyya. But as for the other branch, it comes down from the land of Bulghār turning toward south-eastern direction until it reaches the land of the Khazars and flows into the sea of Khazars by [the town] Äthil” [al-Idrīsī, VI:8, p. 929; Konovalova, 2006, p. 100, 124].
The 7th part of climate VII has new datum on the northern branch of the Etil:
“Māstara and Qāstara are from the towns of Inner Basjirt. They two small towns, few merchants visit them. No one go to them, because they kill those strangers who puts their feet on their territory and country. These two towns are on the bank of a river which flows into the Äthil” [al-Idrīsī, V II:7, p. 960; Konovalova, 2006, p. 107, 128].
Comparing the map with the relevant passages the three branches of the river originate from the mountains called Asqāsqā whereas in other two cases its origin is from the Land of the Turks, a general term for Turkic speaking peoples in Central Asia or the territory of the Basjirt which lies east of the Volga Bulgharia. As for the Asqāsqā mountains may have been identified with the mountains Asfaṭāfā in the work of al-Khwārizmī which was taken from Ptolemaios ̕who called it as ̕Ασκατάκα. Another possibility is mountain Asqāsiyā in climate VII by al-Khwārizmī which is Ασπίσια by Ptolemaios. Al-Khwārizmī mentioned that three rivers come from the mountain Asqāsiyā and they become one river called the Long River which might be the Syr Darya, but by another tradition by Suhrab the river is called Khazar which can be identified with the Ātil [Konovalova, 2006, p. 254]. The mountain Asqāsqā is coming for a literary tradition and perhaps connected with the ethnonym of the Scythians. Rybakov identified it with the Ural Mountain and the three rivers are the upper Belaja, Ufa, and Aj [Konovalova, 2006, p. 255]. However, this mountain must lie in Central Asia. The mountain is in the territory of the Stinking Land.
After the merging of the rivers, it flows western direction toward Basjirt. There are two anonymous rivers coming from north which unite with the Etil. Both rivers originate from the mountain Āyānī. There is no comment on it in the text of al-Idrīsī. Konovalova argues that al-Idrīsī himself added the two rivers in his map. The mountain can be identified with the mountain Alān by al-Khwārizmī taken from Ptolemaios. The Vjatka and Bjelaja and Kama have been taken in consideration with the identifications of these rivers [Konovalova, 2006, p. 255–257]. In that case the mountain Āyānī denoted the Ural Mountain. As for the eastern branch it can be identical with the water system Irtysh, Ob and Tobol, whereas the western branch is the Kama turning northern direction by the estuary of the Belaja. The two towns on its bank called Māstara and Qāstara which Konovalova connected with the Bashkir tribal names: Mišer and Kese [Konovalova, 2006, p. 273–274].
Then the Etil flows westward reaching the land of the Volga Bulghars where it turns toward south shortly afterwards the main river branch continues his way south and the tributary flows toward south-west. The mainstream crosses the land of the Bulghars then that of the Burṭās and finally Khazaria and flows into the Caspian Sea known under the names: the sea of al-Bāb wa-l-Abwāb, the sea of the Khazars, the sea of Ṭabaristān. The Volga Bulghar towns, Bulghār and Ṣuwār then the town Burṭās are on the bank of the main river. Finally, the double towns Äthil in the estuary, which was the capital of Khazaria.
The tributary is called Saqīr/ū, its etymology is uncertain. Sakir might have related to Seherij or Seterij, the Arabic transcription used for the Kuban River in local languages. This river can be identified either the Kuban or the lower Don. The former is corroborated by the town Mātrīqa i.e., Tmutarakan on the eastern bank of the Kerch Strait which is the Arabic transcription of its Greek or Latin names [Konovalova, 2006, p. 134]. At the same time the false identification of the Etil with the river Rūs (Don) by al-Idrīsī may refer to the Don although it is another river on the map which flows into the sea west of the river, Sakir. Konovalova concluded that the place of estuary of the Sakir refers to the river Kuban, whereas the position of its stream on the map and its description as a tributary of the Etil can be only the lower Don from the Volga-Don portage to its estuary to the Azov Sea [Konovalova, 2006, p. 221–224].
The maps and descriptions of Ibn Ḥawqal, al-Kāshġarī and al-Idrīsī reflect a waterway commercial network called Etil originating from Central Asia via Siberia to the Volga-Kama region, a northern way on the Kama and perhaps the Vyatka, a northeastern network including the Oka, Unzha and upper Volga. Coming from its central region i.e., the territory of Volga Bulghars, the lower Volga reached the Caspian Sea whereas via the Volga-Don portage it followed the lower Don until its estuary to the Azov Sea. The absence of the north-western branch of this water network (the upper Volga) in the map of al-Idrīsī can be attributed to the fact that this section was controlled by the newly strengthening Vladimir-Suzdal Principality by the middle of the 12th century.
ABBREVIATIONS / СОКРАЩЕНИЯ
BGA, I–VIII, 1870–1894 – Bibliotheca Geographorum Arabicorum. Ed. M.J. de Goeje. Lugduni Batavorum, 1870–1894.
EI2 – Encyclopædia of Islam. 2nd Edition. Ed. by P.J. Bearman , Th. Bianquis , C.E. Bosworth , E. van Donzel , W.P. Heinrichs et al. 12 vols. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960–2005.
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