Ahmad ibn Fadlan
The earliest source to give a geographical description of Bashkir territory, Mahmud al-Kashgari's "Divanu Lugat’it Turk" (1072–1074), includes a map with a charted region called "Fiyafi Bashqyrt" (the Bashkir steppes). Despite a lack of much geographic detail, the sketch map does indicate that the Bashkirs inhabited a territory bordering on the Caspian Sea and the Volga valley in the west, the Ural Mountains in the north-west, and the Irtysh valley in the east, thus giving a rough outline of the area. Even earlier, in the 10th century, Ahmad ibn Fadlan mentions "the country "al-Bashgird"" in his itinerary and enumerates the rivers he had to cross during his trip.