The Logic of Tribute versus the Logic of Commerce

Ninth-century dirham networks generally encompassed the Russian interior and the Baltic Sea area. During the tenth century, however, a remarkable extension of commerce took place into the eastern parts of the Central European interior (Eastern, Central and Southern Poland, Hungary, and Bohemia). Arab sources, archaeological evidence, and numerous hoards with coins and fragmented silver emphasize the importance and intensity of social and economic contacts. Up to now almost 400,000 dirhams are known from several hundred hoards found in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Sweden, Poland, Denmark, the Baltic countries, Germany, and even the British Isles – most of them amassed during the tenth century. ¹ The estimated amount of Arab silver may have fluctuated between about 125 and 250 million coins – most of them struck during the first half of the tenth century. ² This context raises several questions: under what circumstances did such large quantities of dirhams reach the interior of East Central Europe? What historical processes led the Arab silver to be redistributed in these areas? And, why and by whom were these dirhams transferred and used: by merchants and craftsmen or by chieftains and their warriors? In other words, did the commercial or tributary logic stand behind the redistribution and circulation of silver? Or was there an intersection of these practices?