al-Qazwīnī on the Characters of Ethnic Groups in His Āṯār al-bilād

It seems to be a natural phenomenon that every society seeks to describe its neighbours and grab the differences that identify these neighbours and set them apart from itself. The alleged characters of ethnic groups, both Muslim and otherwise, has been a recurrent, constant topic in mediaeval Arabic geographical writing and belles-lettres alike. The tableau of various ethnic groups’ characters that emerges from the descriptions of Arabic geographical science and adab works has remained remarkably unaltered throughout the centuries. The article presents al-Qazwīnī’s characterisation of four groups: Nabateans, Berbers, Africans, and Turks.