During the 9th century, the Volga Bulgars, a Turkic people settled in the middle Volga region, formed, despite their original nomadic lifestyle, a political and military entity ruled by a sovereign known as the khagan. In the 10th century, the Bulgarian elite converted to Islam, acquiring such international diplomatic and commercial importance that they received a visit from a delegation of the Abbasid sultan al-Muqtadir (922). This visit was part of the complex relations that the Bulgarians maintained at the time with the Khazars, initially their rulers to whom they owed tribute, but who later, thanks to the rise of the Bulgarians, became rivals from whom they sought to distinguish themselves. It is in this context that we must view the Islamisation of the Bulgarian khagan: in search of allies in the Muslim world, he asked the Abbasids to help him build a mosque and a fortress that would serve precisely against the Khazars. Baghdad responded positively and sent an embassy to the Volga lands.

This delegation was led by Ahmad ibn Faḍlān, a traveller from Baghdad, who accurately documented the expedition in an extremely captivating account.

Ahmad's journey began in Baghdad on 21 June 921 and continued northwards towards the great steppes of Central Asia, across frozen deserts and great rivers, encountering a wide variety of peoples. He first headed for the region of Khorasan, the city of Bukhara (in present-day Uzbekistan) and the great Amu Darya River, then on to the rich Corasmia, land of astute merchants, where Ahmad spent the winter. In March 922, Ahmad joined a caravan and resumed his journey through the frozen lands between the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea, crossing seven rivers and encountering nomadic peoples such as the Oğuz Turks, the Pechenegs and the Bashkirs. In May, nearly a year after his departure, Ahmad arrived in the land of the Bulgars, where he met their ruler Almış iltäbär.

In his account, Ahmad indulges in comments and reflections on the places and peoples he encountered during his journey. For example, he criticises the elements of revenge and ransom present in Oğuz society, the tendency of Turkish peoples to shave their beards but not their moustaches, the veneration of phallic idols among the Bashkirs, the filthiness of the Rus', and many other things.