The Khazars and the Turks in the Ākām al-Marjān

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The Khazars and the Turks in the Akam al-Marjan By V. MINORSKY N 1929 Professor Angela Codazzi published a careful edition, with an Italian translation, of a geographical compendium by Ishaq ibn al-Husayn entitled Kitab akam al-marjan fT dhikr al-mad&'in al-mashhiira fT kull makdn.1 According to Professor Nallino's suggestion the author may be identical with one of the sources mentioned by Idrisi (" Ishaq ibn al-HIusayn al-munajjim ") and by Ibn-Khaldin (" Ishaq ibn al-Hasan (?) al-Khazinl"). As regards the date of the text, the editor takes as its terminus a quo 262/875 and as its terminus ad quem 454/1062. Most probably he belongs to the eleventh century. Several indications suggest that the author was a native of the westernmost part of the Islamic world (Spain ?). He seems to have used (directly or indirectly ?) Khuwarizmi's rifacimento of Ptolemy and Ya'q-ibi's Kitab al-buldan. Some single points of likeness have been discovered by the editor in I. Khurdadhbih (a legend on Alexandria and another on the Seven Sleepers) 2 and in Ibn-Rusta (San'a, Saba', Misr, and the Khazar lands). Very judiciously Professor Codazzi (p. 461, note 5) points out some confusion in our author, who, under al-Khazar, quotes a feature 3 which in Ibn-Rusta belongs to the Burdas (Burtas), and we shall see that such cases are much more numerous in our text! On the whole, the compendium, though not very original, gives some curious facts regarding the towns of the Islamic countries. It shows a marked predilection for historical data relating to their conquest, local risings, etc. Quite isolated are the two last paragraphs, on the Khazars and the Turks, where the description becomes very vague and some puzzling and misunderstood forms of names occur. These two passages will form the subject of the present article with a view to explaining the facts quoted, and ascertaining the sources from which they were borrowed by the author. 1 Rendiconti della R. Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Classe di scienze morali, Novembre-Dicembre, 1929, pp. 373-463. 2 Under several towns our author quotes the amount of taxes paid by them. I. Kh., 35, quotes the taxes only for Khorasan [and 'Iraq]. Our author seems to have rounded off I. Kh.'s sums, e.g. Bokhair, 1,189,200 dirhams > 1,000,000; Nishipiir 4,108,900 > 5,000,000; Gurgin 10,176,800 > 10,000,000. But some of the sums are apparently false : for the insignificant Sarakhs 1,000,000 (instead of I. Kh.'s 307,440) and for the enormous Khorsdin 10,000,000 (instead of 44,846,000). 3 Freedom of the women. This content downloaded from 71.172.230.205 on Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:35:23 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
*) 142 V. MINORSKY- The quotations below reproduce the text as it stands in the unique MS. belonging to the Ambrosiana of Milan. Asterisks mark some of Professor Codazzi's emendations of obvious character. My own corrections will be found in my translation. S (sic. V.M.) LIV. . THE LANDS OF THE KHAZAR AND *SARIGHSHIN. Ibn-Rusta 1. " These are vast and ex- p. 147,. " You travel from altensive lands on the confines of Khazar [i.e. from the capital of *al-SarIr. the Khazar] to (the Sarir) 12 days." 2. " Their supreme king pro- p. 13912. [The Khazars]: fesses Judaism. "their supreme chief professes the religion of the Jews." This content downloaded from 71.172.230.205 on Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:35:23 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
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The Khazars and the Turks in the Ākām al-Marjān

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