Shalkar Lake

The 10th-century Arab Muslim traveller Ahmad ibn Fadlan is believed to have produced one of the earliest written accounts of the lake, when he stopped for a day at a Pecheneg camp situated “at the edge of a body of water resembling a sea, for it was not flowing,” and noted how they were poor compared to the “Ghuzz” (Oghuz), who possessed “10,000 horses and 100,000 head of sheep”.

Afterwards, they crossed the “Jayikh” (Ural River), where one of his leather boats flipped over, carrying away many of his men and drowning some of his horses and camels. After several more river crossings, they made it to the land of the “Bashghirds” (Bashkirs), located somewhere in the vicinity of the “Kunjulu” (Kondurcha River) in Russia’s Samara Oblast.

Ibn Fadlan’s description of the Bashkirs probably wins the award for the most bizarre practices we’ve come across while researching and writing this guidebook. According to him, they ate lice and fleas, and carried wood carved in the shape of a phallus, which they’d kiss and bow to before embarking on a journey or meeting an enemy.

Once ibn Fadlan and his team reached the Volga Bulgar’s capital, Bolghar, which is now part of Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan, he encountered Viking traders (Varangians). His first impression of them was positive, describing them as “… perfect physical specimens, tall as date palms, blonde and ruddy…” However, his sentiment soured the more time he spent with them, and later on considered them the “filthiest of God’s creatures” and like “wild asses” after witnessing their less-than-favourable bathing and sexual habits.

Under the orders of Al-Muqtadir, ruler of the Abassid Caliphate (r. 908–932), ibn Fadlan travelled to Russia to educate the recently converted Volga Bulgars on Islamic law. Departing Baghdad, Iraq, in June 921, he and his group followed caravan routes to Gorgan, Iran. From there, he headed east to Bukhara, then north-west to the Aral Sea and the Ustyurt, and across the steppes and plateaus of western Kazakhstan to reach Russia. The 4,000km+ journey took 11 months.