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

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

In conclusion, I have attempted to demonstrate that a careful analysis of the many hoards of Islamic dirhams deposited in European Russia and the Baltic during the ninth century provides considerable information about the trade of this era. The main findings can be summarized as follows: l.The Islamic-Russian-Scandinavian trade began in the late eighth century as the consequence of the détente established between the c

Abbasid caliphate and the Khazars. 2. This commerce was organized and operated by Rus or Viking merchants who regularly travelled between the Baltic and Baghdad during the ninth century. 3. The Rus merchants used three main routes in their trips to the south: a) by the Dnepr to the Byzantine and Khazar centers in the Black Sea; b) by the VolgaDon portage to Itil, the Caspian, and Baghdad; and, c) by the Volga to Itil, the Caspian, an Baghdad. / 4. Most of the dirhams imported into European Russia from the Near East were consumed there. But, a large part (ca. 40%) were re-exported to the Baltic. The dirhams which reached the Baltic were the product of trade, not Viking raids. 5. The center of the ninth-century trade between Russia and the Baltic was Old Ladoga which already in the mid-eighth century arose as an emporium for Baltic merchants in northwestern Russia. 6. The Slavic lands along the southern Baltic coasts (modern north Germany and northern Poland) played a major role in the Baltic trade with European Russia, especially in the first half of the ninth century. 7. The ninth-century Scandinavian trade with European Russia primarily concerned Sweden. Finland, Denmark, and Norway had little or no role in this commerce. 8. Dirham imports into European Russia from the Near East as well as Russian exports of dirhams to the Baltic experienced considerable fluctuations in the ninth century. Some of fluctuations were caused by developments within the Islamic lands (changes in mint production) while other fluctuations were the result of disturbances along the trade routes leading north from the Islamic world (nomadic movements in the south Russian steppe). 9. The intensity of the Scandinavian-Russian-Islamic commerce thus varied considerably during the ninth century. It was an ever-changing and dynamic trade that constantly had to new circumstances. 10. The analysis of the numismatic data enables us to resolve, if only partially, many of the key questions raised by our common Arabic written source. It is to be hoped that continued study of the ninth-century dirham hoards will further enlighten us about the great trade which linked the Near East, European Russia, and the Baltic during the early Viking Age. P. S. My reference to the absence of ninth-century dirham hoards from the Finnish mainland and Norway refers to large hoards of at least 50 dirhams. There are small dirham hoards of the ninth-century as well as single finds and grave finds with eighth and ninth century dirhams in both Finland and Norway. 61