Between East and West: The Rus' in Arabic Sources
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Far too often are the Vikings of the West given all the spotlight. Well known are the stories of the Raid on Lindisfarne, the Siege of Paris, and the Danelaw. Less known are the Viking exploits in the east, despite them being much more dynamic, colorful, but perhaps also because they are so complicated. The Vikings of the east were primarily traders, but of a violent sort, and of a complex, multicultural background. They were Scandinavians, Slavs, and Finns, who together adapted a shared and wholly different identity inspired by the Turkic nomads of the Steppe. They served the Khazar Khaganate as warriors and merchants, and were often understood by Muslims visitors as a type of Turk. To the Muslims, they were the Rus.
Sources:
Ibn Fadlan and the land of darkness - Paul Lunde and Caroline Stone
Svear i Österviking - Holger Arbman
The Early Slavs - Pavel Markovich Dolukhanov
The Primary Chronicle - Anonymous
The Rus in Arabic Sources - Thorir Jonsson Hraundal
The Varangians - Sverrir Jakobsson
Viking Rus - Wladyslaw Duzcko
#vikings #history #rus #russia #ukraine
This is why my wife hates my funeral plans…
you dont want a slave tortured and sacrificed in your honour? damn... weirdo....
@@dasarath5779”uhh throw literal dirt over my body and mark it with a rock so that my enemies have a target to piss on”
@@mueezadam8438 so trve! idk why my og comment is gone btw
Another Baltic empire vid let's fucking gooooo
The idea of a Scandinavian Vikings khanate is so cool.
The Baltic peoples also traded in amber. There was actually an Amber Road, roughly a series of north-south routes through Europe.
I have a video on it
Thanks for the wonderful content 🙏 but let me point at a little Correction based on Ibn Fadlan resalah manuscript, which I have a copy in my hands that I can read from he says: they were "Blonde (hair) and Reddish (skin)".. Just an opinion: to my understanding and research the Arabs meant by the Rus is what we consider today as Vikings whether those who attacked Andalusia (Al Yaaqobi) in the west or those in the East all were Rus to the Arabs, like all European were Saqāliba even the Franks, the German and the Rus were Saqāliba. the Arabs didn't know the term Slavs they knew other distinctive ethnic groups like Wisu maybe they are the Finno-Baltic Vesps and other further West or to the North from Wisu the people Yura (probably from meaning the people of the Sea in baltic language). Can you please point out to me who said in the Arabic sources that the Rus were Turks?
Should be noted that the word Fadlan used was not the arabic word for "tattood", but that they were marked/painted.
i find topics like this so interesting! keep it up!
Learn some real history and not modern cliché bs.
That was a pretty intense funeral ritual.
super fcked up
He was probably lying about some of it.
@@some1350 he was probably not even he. like that monk, Nestor, maybe had contributors to that mystery history
@@some1350 he wasnt ive read the same passage and it was verbatim
@@aleccope1320 I don't mean the guy making the video, I mean the arab man watching the funeral.
Another excellent video! I appreciate the Rus warrior illustration that you made for this video.
No Wojaks, literally unwatchable… But actually this was a good video, nice work.
Amazing video as always
In museums in nordics countries there are countless arabic silver coins, there was trade but not raids with the Arabs.
RUSSIAN The name of the Slavs, Greeks and Arabs for the Swedish Vikings who founded Gardarike or Russia. The word ruser comes from rodhr, leidang fleet (especially such a fleet from Roden, i.e. Roslagen), and contains a syndetic s (cf. words such as "councillor", "Council"). The Finns called the Russians ruotsi. It is likely that the Russians established themselves on the Russian Baltic Sea coast already before Rurik's time, probably in the first half of the 8th century. Ruser chieftains besides Rurik were until the year 882 AD. Askvold and Dir in Kiev as well as in the 9th century Rogvolod in Polotsk near Dyna. After them, Gardarike's three provinces were built: Novgorod, Polotsk and Kiev. The name ruser still lived on into the 11th century.
My mother's parents were from Sweden. Morfar told me stories about our ancestors. "Rus" meant "red beards" and "rowers". Swedish Vikings went East through the Baltic into the river systems. "Belarus" and "Russia" became places they settled in. They continued their travels. They got to the Black Sea and the Middle East.
🤔 the red haired are Thracian (origin) Sythian,, well known world wide as Mercenaries .. .. From the region (originally) close to Istanbul.
It just meant "rowers". The Finnish name for us Swedes (Routsi) has the same origin.
@@SacredDreamer Red hair comes from both Northwestern Europe and Asia.
@@Based_StuhlingerWhere in Asia?
@@WILD__THINGS Central asia I believe, that's where the gene originated from.
So would that be the Wends?
Such a fascinating topic. The mightiest Slav nation and were it's princes Germanic? Were Catherine the Great and Paul III the status quo
It's probably fair to say the Rus were an amalgamation of all the people present in the area. Different cultures blending into eachother over decades and centuries, Skandinavians, Balts, Cumans and Tatars
Swedes
Scythians
The Scythians were long gone before the Rus came
@@bestestindaworld There were no Swedes that time.
@@asmirann3636 yes there were you ignorant fool, they were called Geats before being called Swedes.
An interesting video once more. Cheers!
Started nodding off which I rarely do with these videos until I realized you hypnotized me with Jeremy Soule.
very well done. ive commented similliar stuff on your other videos but as an estonian im fascinated by the evidence for finnic participation in rus' culture and state. do you have any good sources on this topic?
Rus in Eritrean Tigrinya means Rice 🍚
I have always asked for a viking funeral, but please leave the animals and the slave girl out of it unless you want me to haunt you. Besides that, sounds absolutely perfect.😅😊
Considering the practices of the vikingfuneral which is only common in scandinavia and asatro, Its pretty safe to say that the rus wasnt turkish. Turks never worshipped Oden.
got interested about the picture at 3:00. Would love to know the source for further looking into
does reverse image search bring anything up? looks vageuly slavic. im guessing also not a historically attested tapestry
In a historical video it's incorrect to use paintings of Hyperborea by Vsevolod Ivanov (19:25, 19:44), they are pure fantasy. Still a great video though
bro its just a way of communicating the ideas hes talking about. It's not a museum display or anything it doesn't have to be a hundred percent accurate, not that that's even a thing that can exist considering how little we actually know.
Ackshually it's completely 1:1 with reality
Looks like someone wasn’t allowed in.
The primacy of 'fantasy' over the so-called reality (no such thing, consult the contemporary science) was the cardinal point of the ancient Viking mystical doctrine.
One thing needs to be stressed, Ibn Khordadbeh's account of the "Slavic origin" of the Rus' isn't that important because of the date of the said account, but because he specifies their affiliation based on ethnic origin, whereas Ibn Fadlan specifies their affiliation based on shared profession (he denotes the Bulgars as "Rus" too because of war profiteering and human trafficking), not to mention that his "description" of the "Varangian's leader's ship burial" is an irrefutable proof that the man/men in question weren't Rus/Rurikids because not a single Rurikid, both pagan and Christian, was laid to rest in a ship burial.
nice documentary
6:56 we've all been there right guys??
👑 👑 👑
So wait, did Scandinavian Odinists kill a slave girl at a Noble's funeral, or was that just the Rus?
current archeological evidence doesnt neccessarily prove the slave girl sacrifice among the scandinavians. it was def practices by the rus considering the literary evidence
@@dasarath5779Ya but the literary evidence is unreliable. Ibn Battu traveled in the 1300’s that would be way later then the Viking era. Plus authors of the time added much to make a good story. Kinda like Marco Polo.
Waaaait wait wait. I’ve watched this channel and the pirate channel for ages, I’ve just realised… are you the same guy??
They were scandinavians You read the greeks that went there Wrote the same
I'm kinda glad we don't do that anymore... Ships are expensive nowadays
Small funeral boats would be an awesome business and also great for the environment. 😊 If done correctly, the sunken half burned boats would sink in an area helping form a habitat for fish like the many tribes of the American northwest.
Yeah, we could only afford a replica viking miniboat for my friend's funeral. Deperted from Riga and went trough the delta of Daugava to scatter the ashes in Baltic sea as he wanted. At night, so burned only the flames, not the boat. Magic and not too sad.
well back in the day we did not have to pay for wood you just kinda cut down a tree and make your own boat ...
I know that music 😉
So If Ibn Battuta traveled in the 1300’s wouldn’t that be way after the hight of the Viking era. Like 300 years late for that story?
It's Ibn Fadhlan. Ibn Battouta didn't travel to nothern europe.
The Vikings were also known as Sea Kings in the Black Sea, I forgot the spelling from the source, but translates to circa Sea Kings. irc
Vikings actually got to spain via river from rus to med
The russ sound like modern day crust punk train hoppers 😆. My old punk train hopping friends had similar customs when it cames to sex,hygiene and travel.
Yeah big on the “sexual” customs for train kids. A lot of rape
Is there anywhere the Vikings didn't go?
Mars probably
Where the fuck they came in India,southeast Asia,Africa lol
They were taking from all over
You say Finns at the start. But you have no sources indicating that ethno or finno culture was apart of this at large. Individual anacdotes does not count as Finno made 0 impact ethnically. Explain yourself please.
no
Skyrim for the Nords!
If the Rus were proximate to Kiev, from before the Norse had expeditioned that far East, could they have possibly been of Pecheneg origin?
According to mytrueancestory most East Slavs today get 2-3 Viking ancestors. 0 Turkic. Unless they have close Turkic family members.
Rus is 100% Nordic and Slav only. History tends to repeat itself since Nordics and Slavs sit on the same branch of indo-european.
Evolution of Scythian and Amazon. Gog and Magog ? Is Turk a tongue or lifestyle. Anyhow I've come to accept the fact my relatives and neighbours became turks . To the Varangian mixed salad of mankind , your legacy lives on and as for me , Kyrie Eleison Me and thank you for everything. Blessings to all and sundry for the year ahead
A Viking we will go is an act not a ethnicity 🍻
Why hang on a word, they where childs of the baltic sea no genic
Interesting. A complex multicultural multiethnic culture is more difficult to understand than other ones.
They sold a lot of slaves to the Arabs. Maybe some of my Irish ancestors
why are you living in an arab country ...if not yours where not sell not your direct familly anyway
@@funnygaming2672 I`m not i live in Australia mate. I would never choose to live in a arab country. That`s my point some Irish were slaved there by vikings
@@waynemcauliffe-fv5yfIreland has endured so much, very stalwart peoples
@@mueezadam8438 True mate. Tough people
!!!!!!!!!!!
The aliance was with the huns of east
through out these last 2000 years we know from all the history books who the "merchants" are.
for you who didn't get it yet, The Rus' is not "russia" (Muscovy )
Russian state is 500 years old but Rus are literally among ancestors of the Russians tho. Rus history is Russian history.
@@CA-jz9bmrus history is a part of Russian history yes but Russian history is not a part of Rus except there interactions.
@@longhairdontcare122 literally ancestors of Russians are Rus. What are you talking about? We even have tons TONS of genetic evidence of it on mytruenacestry (site that compares modern dna to ancient) for example
Triggered reaction....no doubt
Strange hohol cope
Baltic Empire The name Rus and Russian come from the name of the deutsche province of Preußen.The Britons “COULD NOT” pronounce the name Preußen and therefore began to call the province Prussia.in order to know the past you don’t need to be a genius, it’s enough to be a decent person.stop falsifying the past
What the hell, Prussia is baltic not germanic
@@Diversus100 Sleep well and don't get a hangover
False
Pot stirring still