Islam in Poland - Beginnings

Beginnings

Poland had little prolonged contact with Islam until the 14th century with the advent of the first Tatar settlers. Although Muslims were involved in earlier Mongol invasions in the 13th century, these had a purely military character and there are no traces of settlement or conversion of any parts of the Polish population.

On the other hand, the first accounts of the Polish state of Mieszko I were written by a Hispano-Arabic merchant and diplomat of the Caliphate of Córdoba Ibrahim ibn Jakub and later published in an Arabic chronicle of Al-Bakri. Other Muslim merchants arrived in Polish lands at that time, as can be seen by a large number of Arab coins found in numerous archaeological sites throughout modern Poland.

In the 14th century, the first Tatar tribes settled in the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Skilled warriors and great mercenaries, their settlement was promoted by the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, among them Gediminas, Algirdas and Kęstutis. The Tatars who settled in Lithuania, Ruthenia and modern-day eastern Poland were allowed to preserve their Sunni religion in exchange for military service. The initial settlements were mostly temporary and most of the Tatars returned to their native lands after their service expired. However, in the late 14th century Grand Duke Vytautas (named by the Tatars Wattad, that is defender of Muslims) and his brother King Władysław Jagiełło started to settle Tatars in the Polish-Lithuanian-Teutonic borderlands. The Lipka Tatars, as they are known, migrated from the lands of the Golden Horde and in large part served in the Polish-Lithuanian military. The largest of such groups to arrive to the area was a tribe of Tokhtamysh, who in 1397 rebelled against his former protector Tamerlane and sought asylum in the Grand Duchy. The Tatars under his command were all granted szlachta (nobility) status, a tradition that was preserved until the end of the Commonwealth in the 18th century. Light Tatar cavalry, used both as skirmishers and reconnaissance troops took part in many of the battles against the foreign armies in the 15th century and afterwards, including the battle of Grunwald in which the Tatars fought commanded by their leader, Jalal ad-Din khan.