The book includes the only three surviving works of medieval Arabic literature specifically dedicated to the Turks. The introduction examines the evolution of Arab ideas about the Turks from the time of first contacts until the emergence of the Seljuk power in the mid-11th century. The book is intended for historians dealing with the issues of the Arab Caliphate and the early history of the Turks, as well as a wide range of readers interested in the history of the peoples of the Muslim East in the Middle Ages.

CONTENTS: Introduction1. The first ideas of the Arabs about the Turks 32. The Turkic guard of the Abbasids 83. The evolution of ideas about the Turks in early medieval Arabic literature 21I. Translations of the Chapters “On the Turks” and “On Some Cities of the Turks and Their Outlandish Features” of the Mashhad manuscript of Ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadani’s book “News about Countries” 43II. Abu Uthman Amr b. Bahr al-Jahiz "Message of al-Fathu b. Khakan about the merits of the Turks and the rest of the Caliph’s army” 56III. Abu al-Ala Ibn Hassul “The Book on the superiority of the Turks over other warriors and on the virtues of the high Sultan’s Presence, may Allah preserve his highest and lifelong royal greatness and may his state preserve” 103 Notes 119 List of abbreviations 177 Cited literature 178 Index of names 185 Index of geographical and ethnic names 196< /p>