Vadas Ferenc (szerk.): A Wosinszky Mór Múzeum Évkönyve 15. (Szekszárd, 1990)

Handelsbeziehungen - Thomas S. Noonan: Scandinavian-Russian-Islamic trade in the ninth century

were in circulation before being deposited. Part of the dirhams deposited each decade in Russia and the Baltic were, in fact, imported to these areas at some earlier time. Similarly, some dirhams remained in circulation here long after the exports of dirhams to the north had ceased. The dates of hoard deposits are thus an imperfect indicator of imports during any given time. Nevertheless, since we lack written evidence concerning dirham exports from the Near East to Russia and the Baltic during the Viking Age, the number of dirhams deposited each decade remains our best indicator of changing import levels. Fluctuations in the volume of dirhams imported into eastern and northern Europe were also caused by changes in mint production within the Near East. An examination of 40 dirham hoards deposited between 750 and 850 in the Near East, the Caucasus, European Russia, and the Baltic illustrated the significant variations in 'Abbasid mint production during this century (NOONAN 1986b, 113-175. Total dirham production changed greatly over the course of time as did the output of particular mints. As a result, the quantity of dirhams available for the „northern" trade was never constant. In general, comparatiyly large numbers of dirhams were struck until the early ninth century when c

Abbasid mint output experience a prolonged declien. During the period from ca. 820 on, the „northern" trade of the Near East was financed through the use of increasinly older dirhams struck before ca. 820. This dependence on older dirhams did not end till the 850s and 860s when significant quantities of new dirhams were once again produced in the Near East. The great changes in the output of Islamic mints must have had a major impact on ninth-century Islamic-Russian-Scandinavian trade especially as new dirhams became inreasingly scarce between 820 and 850. In a trade so dependent upon silver exports to the north, the volume of dirham production was a major factor. Ninth-century Islamic commerce with eastern and northern Europe was also affected by disturbances along its trade routes. An analysis of Russian and Swedish dirham hoards revealed a marked decline in the number of new dirhams in those hoards deposited between c. 880 and ca. 900. At the same time, evidence exists that dirham production in the Near East remained fairly active during the last quarter of the ninth century. The decline in the number of new dirhams reaching European Russia and the Baltic at this time was apparently caused by problems along the trade routes rather than a decline in mint production within the Near East. These difficulties reduced the flow of dirhams to the north. I have suggested that these disturbances may have been connected with the activities of the Pechenegs in the south Russian steppe during the last quarter of the ninth century "(NOONAN 1985a, 41-50; NOONAN 1985b, 179-204). The dirham hoards deposited in western Eurasia thus constitute a very valuable and unique source of evidence on the fluctuations in the volume of dirham exports from the Near East to northern and eastern Europe during the ninth century. Changes in the quantity of dirhams going north from Iran and Iraq presumably reflect changes in the intensity of the „northern" trade. Regrettably, the dirham hoards deposited in European Russia and the Baltic are very imperfect indicators of these changes. But, despite their limitations, they provide our best insight into the dynamic nature of the Islamic-Russian-Scandinavian trade of the ninth century. This was a trade with many ups and downs. 60