Events

Medieval Nomads and the Process of Islamization in the North Caspian Steppe Region

Research Seminar
Irina Shingiray

11/06/2026 12:00 - 14:00
Incipit, Sala 008

Islam spread into the North Caspian Steppe Region by the tenth century CE. And the first early medieval urban sites are reported to have emerged there by the same time. Although the process of Islamization in this region is still poorly understood, conventional explanations for the rise of Islam in this region treat this historical process as an urban phenomenon. Such suppositions are mainly based on available medieval textual sources and compilations, the authors of which never visited the North Caspian territories in person. In contrast to these sources, available archaeological evidence suggests that the spread of Islam in this region was more likely a product of extensive nomadic networks which expanded far beyond any permanent settlements.

In this presentation, I will briefly discuss the historical conditions of the Islamization process in this region. And I will highlight the important role of archaeological evidence in our understanding of the Islamization process in those northern frontier lands of the Islamic world. I will focus on archaeological evidence derived from non-urban and urban contexts and explore extant and potential interactions and intersections between nomadic non-urban and city populations in the Lower Volga Region of the Caspian Steppe. The paper will explore variations in Islamic practices of these communities based on their diverse cultural preferences and connections. I will also discuss how the Islamization process in that region took place in several waves following the migrations of new people into the region.

Irina Shingiray is a historical and anthropological archaeologist, who specializes in medieval Eurasian nomadism, nomadic empires, and their relations with the sedentary world. She received her PhD at Boston University (USA) and held a research appointment in the ERC project “Nomadic Empires” at the Faculty of History, University of Oxford (2015-2019). Currently she continues her interdisciplinary research as an associate member at the Faculty of History, while she is also an affiliate at the Oxford Nizamy Ganjavi Centre for the Study of the History, Languages, and Cultures of Azerbaijan, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Her particular focus is on the early medieval Khazar Empire and on the Islamization of the nomadic people of the Western Eurasian Steppe. Her main archaeological expertise is landscape and burial archaeology.