Islam in the Baltic: Europe's Early Muslim Community

by Harry Norris

Arriving in Europe in the 14th century, the Qipchaq Tatars are the longest-surviving Muslim people in Europe. They form the historical core of the Muslim community in the Baltic States, Belarus, and Poland where Muslims are few in number compared with those in other parts of the European Union and in Russia.

In the first historical study of this important community, Harry Norris investigates the earliest contacts between the Baltic peoples and the world of Islam. He examines the trade routes of the Vikings and the early Slavs and Balts who had commercial relations with Arab merchants, trading in amber, furs, Middle Eastern silks, and other luxury goods. Norris surveys the Qipchaq Tatars' history, their Muslim faith, their culture, their literature, and their life as indigenous Europeans in New Europe today. He draws contrasts and similarities between other Muslim communities in Europe, including the diverse immigrant Muslim groups in the Nordic countries that border the Baltic Finland, Sweden, and Denmark.

This book is of importance to those studying the rich cultural heritage of minority groups of European Muslims and their position in Europe today, as well as those interested in the study of migration.

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Sanja Dejanovic · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting that in the two texts this author puts forth on the presence of Ottomans in the Balkans, nowhere is there mention of their colonization during this 500 year period, which tells me that this author's writing is severely screwed, unreliable, and ideologically unsound. To somehow miss colonization in your understanding and analysis is to perform a major oversight for the purposes of furthering one's fiction--read authors of Balkan origin if you want to have a better understanding.