The article offers a new interpretation of the term "sakaliba", which Ahmad ibn Fadlan, an Arab traveler of the first half of the tenth century, uses in his report in relation to the population of the Middle Volga region. It is most likely that this term was used in this region during this period as a demonym, i.e. denoting the inhabitants of a certain territory, regardless of their genealogy, the peculiarities of material and spiritual culture. The genesis of the demonym is associated with the ethnos of Imenkov archaeological culture carriers of the IV-VII centuries, similar to reliably Slavic cultures; since the VIII century. it is replaced by Turkic and Finno-Ugric cultures. The path from ethnonym to demonym could be assimilation processes. Volga Bulgaria appeared not earlier than the end of the IX-beginning of the X century. as an association of ethnopolitical groups of various origins under the leadership of the leader of the Bulgars. In the 920s, Almush, the ruler of the Bulgars, and after him Ibn Fadlan designated by the term "sakaliba" all ethnopolitical associations subject to Almush in the aggregate. In the course of consolidating the power of the Bulgar leaders, the demonym "sakaliba" is replaced by the term "Bulgars" in the works of Ibn Ruste, Mas'udi, Istakhri, Ibn Haukal, etc. Keywords: Volga Bulgaria, Eastern Europe, Ibn Fadlan, cultural identity, medieval Arab geography, medieval Muslim travelers. In the medieval geographical literature, there are data that do not fit into modern scientific ideas (and therefore they are often considered erroneous), but they are sometimes "put into circulation" by travelers who have visited the regions in question, and therefore the question of why the author mentioned them in particular deserves special attention. This fully applies to the term sakaliba in Ibn Fadlan's account of the embassy to Volga Bulgaria. The oddities of the use of the word sakaliba in this source have long been noted. As a rule, if we are not t ... Read more