Ibrahim ibn Yaqub’s Account of His Travel to Slavic Countries as Transmitted by Al-Bakri by Mustafa Switat

Ibrahim ibn Yaqub’s Account of His Travel to Slavic Countries as Transmitted by Al-Bakri by Mustafa Switat

This is a critical edition of Ibrāhīm ibn Yaʿqūb's account of his trip to Slavic countries at the end of the 10^th century. It presents a translation (from Arabic) and interpretation of Ibrāhīm ibn Yaʿqūb's account with philological commentary, a reconstruction of the biographical identity of Ibrahim Ibn Jacob of Tortosa and an identification of the date of his trip. Pieces of information given by Ibrāhīm ibn Yaʿqūb (or added by Al-Bakri from other sources) contain a number of facts regarding the social, economic, and political development of the entire Slavic world in the early middle ages.

Tadeusz Jan Kowalski (1889-1948) was a professor at the Jagiellonian University, and a member of the Polish Academy of Learning. He was a Polish Orientalist (Turkologist, Arabist and specialist in Iranian studies). His academic work includes studies on Middle Eastern Muslim culture and languages.