The Complete History
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The Complete History - (Arabic: الكامل في التاريخ) is a classic Islamic history book written by Ali ibn al-Athir. Composed in ca. 1231, it is one of the most important Islamic historical works.
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[edit] The Rus
Ibn Athir's depiction of the Rūs is not primarily ethnological, and not dealing with particular customs or detailed geography. Rather, he accounts for the military significance of the Rūs as a people who raided the Caspian region and, importantly, who served the Byzantine Empire as mercenaries. Several references to the Rūs in the Kāmil are connected with Byzantine military operations. The strategic significance of the Varangians was recognized by the Arabs as early as the time of al-Muqaddasī (ca. 945–1000), who had described the Rūs as "two kinds of Byzantines" (jinsān min ar-Rūmī).
The first reference in the Kāmil to the Rūs are two entries for the year 943 referring to a raid of the Rūs in the Caucasus. The second entry concerns Rūs participation in the battle of Manzikert of 1071.
[edit] The Crusades
A large portion of the history deals with the era of the crusades; this portion has been translated by D.S. Richards in three volumes, dealing with the arrival of the crusaders up to the time of Zengi, the period of Nur ad-Din and Saladin, and the rise of the Mamluks and the advent of the Mongols.
[edit] The Seljuks
D.S. Richards also translated a large portion of the text dealing with the history of the Seljuk Turks.
