Izz ad-Dīn ibn al-Athīr (1160–1233) was a 13th century historian born in Cizre in Eastern Anatolia. His al-Kāmil fī-t-Ta'rīkh, composed in ca. 1231, is one of the most important Arabic historical works.

The Rus

Ibn Athir\s depiction of the Rūs is not primarily ethnological, and not dealing with particular customs or detailed geography. Rather, he accounts for the military significance of the Rūs as a people who raided the Caspian region and, importantly, who served the Byzantine Empire as mercenaries. Several references to the Rūs in the Kāmil are connected with Byzantine military operations. The strategic significance of the Varangians was recognized by the Arabs as early as the time of al-Muqaddasī (ca. 945–1000), who had described the Rūs as "jinns of the Byzantines" (jinsān min ar-Rūmī).

The first reference in the Kāmil to the Rūs are two entries for the year 943 referring to a raid of the Rūs in the Caucasus. The second entry concerns Rūs participation in the battle of Manzikert of 1071.

See also

• Ibn Fadlan
• Ibn Rustah
• Varangian
• Rus' (people)

External links

• Ibn al-Athīr's Accounts of the Rūs: A Commentary and Translation by William E. Watson from Canadian/American Slavic Studies