Reports on Dagestan in the Arabic Historical Work: Tarikh ar-rusul wa al-muluk of at-Tabari

Abstract

This paper provides information on the 6th–8th centuries Dagestan history on the basis of translation, commentary and comparative analysis of excerpts from the Arabic historical work Tarikh ar-rusul wa al-muluk (History of the Prophets and Kings) of at-Tabari which contains data related to the history of the peoples of North Caucasus. In his multi-volume work Abu Ja’far at-Tabari (d.922) gives in detail a world history: describing events from the creation of world and covering through it the history of ancient civilizations known to Muslims. For the most part of the book at-Tabari relates the events in annual reports within the hijra space up to 302/915. The historical work of at-Tabari served as a source for the most of his successors who authored works on universal history in Muslim historiography. At-Tabari’s reports significantly add to his predecessors’ data on the relationships between the Caliphate and polities in the Eastern Caucasus, particularly, the important parts dedicated to Qabq (Caucasus), including al-Bab (Darband), from the time of its conquest (in 40s of the 7th century). Moreover, I compared reports on Dagestan from at-Tabari’s Tarikh ar-rusul and al-Balathuri’s Futuh albudan in order to find out whether the origin of the material is the same for both authors. As a result, only two passages were found that overlap. It should be noted that at-Tabari, in contrast to al-Balathuri, relates the story and events taken in Caliphate in chronological order without attempting to reconcile conflicting messages. The results of this research can further source study in writing the medieval history of Eastern Caucasus.