According to Wikipedia, Ahmad ibn Rustah was a tenth-century Muslim Persian explorer and geographer born in Rosta, Isfahan in the Abbasid Caliphate. He wrote a geographical compendium known as the Kitāb al-A‘lāq al-Nafīsa (‘Book of Precious Records’). His information on the non-Islamic peoples of Europe and Inner Asia makes him a useful source for these regions. He was even aware of the existence of the British Isles and of the Heptarchy of Anglo-Saxon England. He traveled with the Rus’ and compiled books depicting his own travels, as well as second-hand knowledge of the Khazars, Magyars, Slavs, Bulgars, and other peoples. He wrote of a 10th-century city of the Rus’: “As for the Rus, they live on an island … that takes three days to walk round and is covered with thick undergrowth and forests; … They harry the Slavs, using ships to reach them; they carry them off as slaves and … sell them. They have no fields but simply live on what they get from the Slav’s lands … When a son is born, the father will go up to the newborn baby, sword in hand; throwing it down, he says, ‘I shall not leave you with any property: You have only what you can provide with this weapon...
They carry clean clothes and the men adorn themselves with bracelets and gold. They treat their slaves well and also they carry exquisite clothes, because they put great effort in trade. They have many towns. They have a most friendly attitude towards foreigners and strangers who seek refuge...
Strangers who take refuge with them or visit them receive a warm welcome, and no one is allowed to harm them or treat them unjustly. A stranger who has a complaint or who has suffered an injustice is certain to find protectors and defenders. They use ‘Sulaymān’ swords. If an enemy makes war against them, they all attack together, and never break ranks. They form a single fist against the enemy, until they overcome them.“
These ‘Solomon’ swords apparently took their name from the Salmān district of Khurāsān.
Details about Sulaymani swords >
But why did the Rus, unlike the Vikings who preferred Frankish swords, choose to use the Near Eastern swords? Were the Rus the Vikings? “Gardariki, Ukraine” e-book takes another perspective on the Rus’ origin. The Arabic sources the author discovered recently seem to add more weight to that perspective.
Al-Masudi about the dwelling area of the Rus at the beginning of the 10th century >
