The Hudud al-Alam, a Persian geography of 982, describes the Turkic peoples country by country.[1] For most of them it says what their wealth consisted of, and the answer is a short list of animals.[2] The notices on the Turkic peoples in the Hudud, Gardizi and Marvazi closely coincide, and they are taken to rest on the lost work of the Samanid minister Jayhani.[3] The three therefore count as one witness on these peoples and not as three.

The notices

The Toghuzghuz exported many things from their country, among them musk, furs and yaks. Their other commodities were sheep, cows and horses.[4] The people of one place in their land, Kh.mūd, owned sheep and lived in tents and felt huts on meadows and grazing grounds.[5]

The wealth of the Yaghma lay in horses and sheep.[5] The Kirghiz owned sheep, cows and horses, besides what the Hudud calls Kirghiz merchandise.[6] The Hudud adds that they were hunters and owners of tents and felt huts.[6]

Some of the Khallukh were hunters, some farmers and some herdsmen.[7] Their wealth lay in sheep, horses and various furs.[7] The Chigil owned cows, sheep and horses, and they lived in tents and felt huts.[8] The Tukhs owned horses, sheep, furs, tents and felt huts.[8]

The Kimek lived in felt huts. Their commodities were sable-martens and sheep.[8] In summer their food was milk, and in winter it was preserved meat.[9] The Ghuz owned horses, cows and sheep. They also owned arms, and a little game.[10]

The pattern of the lists

Sheep appear in the notice of every people. Horses appear in all of them except the notice of the Kimek, who are credited with sable-martens and sheep.[2] Cows appear for the Toghuzghuz, the Kirghiz, the Chigil and the Ghuz.[2] None of the notices names camels.

The lists give no numbers. They do not say how many animals a family owned or what a flock was worth. Ibn Fadlan gives numbers for the Oghuz in 922.[11] They are treated in Oghuz herds.

The Kimek in Marvazi

Marvazi, who wrote in the early twelfth century, describes the Kimek more fully. They had cattle and sheep in plenty, but no camels, because a camel would not live more than a year in their country.[12] In summer they lived on the milk of mares and in winter on dried meat.[12] The snow was deep enough to cover a spear shaft. When it fell so heavily, the Kimek drove their animals into the country of the Ghuz, provided that there was peace between the two peoples.[12] The Hudud says the same of the winter journey, and the movement is treated in Seasonal pastures.[10]

Tents and felt huts

The Hudud names felt huts for seven of the eight peoples, for the Toghuzghuz and the Khallukh only at single places. Only the Yaghma are without them.[13] The felt of which the huts were made is treated in Felt.

References

  1. ^ Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam; Minorsky 1937
  2. ^ a b c Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam; Minorsky 1937, p. 94–100
  3. ^ Minorsky 1942, p. 9,262–263; Minorsky 1955, p. 9,262–263
  4. ^ Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam; Minorsky 1937, p. 94
  5. ^ a b Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam; Minorsky 1937, p. 95
  6. ^ a b Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam; Minorsky 1937, p. 96
  7. ^ a b Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam; Minorsky 1937, p. 97
  8. ^ a b c Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam; Minorsky 1937, p. 99
  9. ^ Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam; Minorsky 1937, p. 99–100
  10. ^ a b Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam; Minorsky 1937, p. 100
  11. ^ Ibn Fadlan; Canard 1958, p. 83
  12. ^ a b c Marvazī (Ṭabāʾiʿ al-ḥayawān); Minorsky 1942, p. 32
  13. ^ Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam; Minorsky 1937, p. 95–100

Sources

Literature

  • V. Minorsky, Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam, "The Regions of the World": A Persian Geography 372 A.H. – 982 A.D., translated and explained, with the preface by V. V. Barthold (1937)
  • V. Minorsky, Sharaf al-Zamān Ṭāhir Marvazī on China, the Turks and India (1942)
  • V. Minorsky, Addenda to the Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam (1955)
  • M. Canard, La relation du voyage d'Ibn Fadlān chez les Bulgares de la Volga (1958)

Related

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “Livestock in the Hudud al-Alam.” Turkic Atlas, revised 7 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/institutions/livestock-in-the-hudud-al-alam/

Last revised: 7 November 2026