What is the Khazar Khaganate definition. What was the Khazar Khaganate? and the Jews have synagogues"
In the 7th - 10th centuries, the state of the nomadic Khazar Turks occupied the vast territories of modern post-Soviet republics from Central Asia and the North Caucasus in the east to modern Ukraine and Crimea in the southwest. The Khazar Khaganate, like most other huge empires, resembled a colossus with feet of clay. A motley conglomeration of various peoples lived on its territory: Savirs, Bulgars, Huns, Turkuts, Ugrians, Khazars, Slavs, Arabs, Jews and many others who spoke different languages and professed different religions. At a certain stage in the development of statehood (we cannot confidently say exactly when - perhaps in 740, and possibly later, at the end of the 8th - beginning of the 9th century or, according to other assumptions, c. 860), the ruling elite of Khazaria declares Judaism the state religion of the kaganate. However, other faiths were also practiced on the territory of the kaganate: Islam, Christianity and shamanism.
The collapse of the Khazar state and the development of scientific interest in it in the 19th century
In 965-968, the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav inflicted the strongest defeat on Khazaria. After that, the state of the Khazars, they themselves and even their name almost completely disappear from the political map of medieval Europe. An exciting story about the disappearance of a huge powerful empire, the destruction of its cities and settlements and the almost complete dissolution of the Khazars among the peoples of neighboring states, became the subject of heated debate and discussion, starting, probably, with the Jewish writer and poet of the XII century Yehuda Halevi and ending with orientalists, theologians, historians , nationalists and ideological leaders of modern and contemporary times.
According to H. Fren (1823), the history of medieval Russia was so closely connected with the Khazars that the latter became an important object of study in pre-revolutionary Russia. A classic example of the growing interest in the Khazar theme in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century is the well-known poem by Alexander Pushkin, in which the prophetic Oleg is going to "take revenge on the unreasonable Khazars." This phrase will later become known to every Soviet schoolchild. In addition to the "Song of the Prophetic Oleg", the poet will turn to the Khazar theme again - in the poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila", one of the heroes of which is the rival of the knight Ruslan, "full of passionate thoughts, the young Khazar Khan Ratmir."
Among Russian historians at that time, there were two main trends in the interpretation of the history of the Khazars. Conservative historians (Tatishchev, Karamzin, Nechvolodov) considered the exemption from paying tribute to the Khazars and the successful campaign of Prince Svyatoslav as decisive events in the process of the formation of the ancient Russian state and the Russian people. These researchers spoke about the Khazar yoke, about the confrontation between the forest and the steppe, and represented the Khazars as dangerous enemies of Kievan Rus. Liberal historians, on the contrary, wrote about the positive side of relations between Khazaria and Russia, about their symbiosis.
Khazaria in science and politics of the twentieth century
In the 80s of the XX century, on the wave of interest in the fiction book "Khazar Dictionary" - a rather talented digression into the medieval Khazar theme, written by the famous Serbian writer Milorad Pavic, the attention of the general public to the Khazars and Khazar history became even stronger.
Theories about the descendants of the Khazars
It is paradoxical, but true: a purely scientific problem - the history of the medieval Khazar state - has become a serious topic in the political games of European nationalists of the XX-XXI centuries. Some of them tried (and are trying) to use the history of the Khazars to legitimize their political demands, others declare themselves the “only” and “real” descendants of the Khazars, others are trying to rewrite the medieval history of the Russian, Ukrainian and Jewish peoples using the “Khazar myth”.
Especially often the subject of various kinds of pseudo-historical speculations is the question of where the Khazars who disappeared in the 10th-11th centuries actually disappeared and who, accordingly, are the heirs of their culture and statehood. This question has given rise to a huge number of absolutely pseudo-academic and, at times, completely absurd theories masquerading as historical research. For example, based on the phonetic similarity between the words Cossack / Cossack and Khazar / Khazar, the ideologists of the Ukrainian Cossacks of the 18th century declared their origin from the Khazars. So, in 1710, the Cossack chieftain Iosif Kirilenko wrote in a letter to the hetman that the Moscow tsars had never been the natural rulers of the "Cossack people" since the reign of the "Cossack kagans". [S-BLOCK]
The Jew Arthur Koestler considered the Khazars "the thirteenth tribe of Israel", from which all Ashkenazi (i.e. European) Jewry descended. Lev Gumilyov believed that the descendants of the Khazars were Slavs - wanderers and Don Cossacks. The romantic Karaite nationalist Abraham Firkovich created a Karaite version of the conversion of the Khazars to Judaism, thereby seeking to show the superiority of the Karaites over the Rabanite Jews. Another Karaite, Seraya Shapshal, went even further and began to assert that the Karaites are the direct - and only - descendants of the Khazars. However, the Karaites are by no means the only ethnic group that declared their Khazar origin. The second most significant contender for the Khazar heritage is, perhaps, the modern Crimean Jews-Krymchaks. Like the Karaites, they renounce their Jewish origin and claim to be descendants of the Khazars.
However, among European Jews there were also applicants for the “Khazar inheritance”! In the 20s-30s. 20th century Polish-Jewish historians, along with Karaites, begin to study the history of the Khazars, in particular the history of the founding of Jewish settlements on the territory of Poland. Some of them (primarily M. Gumplovich and I. Schipper) concluded that the Khazars played an important role in the formation of European Jewry and, moreover, that the Khazar Jewish proselytes could constitute a significant proportion of the medieval Jews of Poland and Eastern Europe. [S-BLOCK]
Recently, the book “When and how you became Jews” by Tel Aviv University professor and historian Shlomo Sand has made a big noise. An Israeli scholar argues that a nation like the Jews simply does not exist, and the claims of Jews about their origin from the Middle East are just a myth to justify the existence of the State of Israel. European Jews, according to them, are the descendants of the Khazar Turks.
Some researchers and nationalists wrote about the Khazar origin of the Mountain Jews of the Caucasus, Slavic Judaists-Subbotniks and Kazakhs.
So who are the actual descendants of the Khazars?
In our opinion, this question cannot be answered unambiguously. As M. I. Artamonov noted, “the search for the descendants of the Khazars remains unsuccessful” mainly due to the fact that the Khazars were assimilated by the nomadic Cumans (Cumans) in the 11th-13th centuries. Thus, hardly any modern people can really claim descent from the Khazars. The unprecedented variety of selfish use of Khazar history, carried out at different times by representatives of various political movements and ethnic groups, multiplied by a tangled tangle of Turkic-Jewish historical and religious motives, makes the Khazar theme a unique example of the ideological distortion of medieval history.
Will the 21st century bring new patterns of using Khazar history for political and ideological purposes? There is no doubt that changes in the highest ideological spheres can also affect the interpretation of the Khazar myth, and who knows, maybe in the near future, researchers with some amazement will discover new “heirs” of Pushkin’s unreasonable Khazars.
The Khazar state (650-969) was a major medieval power. It was formed by a union of tribes in the southeast of Europe. The Khazar Khaganate was considered the most dangerous Jewish power in history. He controlled the territory of the Middle and Lower Volga regions, the North Caucasus, the Azov region, the current northwestern part of Kazakhstan, the northern region of Crimea, as well as all of Eastern Europe to the Dnieper.
Khazar Khaganate. Story
This tribal union emerged from the Western Turkic union. Initially, the core of the Khazar state was located in the northern region of present-day Dagestan. Subsequently, it moved (under pressure from the Arabs) to the lower reaches of the Volga. The political dominance of the Khazars extended at one time to some
It should be noted that the origin of the people themselves is not fully understood. It is believed that after the adoption of Judaism, the Khazars perceived themselves as descendants of Kozar, who was the son of Togarmeh. According to the Bible, the latter was the son of Japhet.
According to some historians, the Khazar Khaganate has some connection with the lost Israelite tribes. At the same time, most researchers tend to believe that the nationality still has Turkic roots.
The rise of the Khazar people is associated with the development with the rulers of which the first (presumably) had In 552, a huge empire was formed by the Altai Turks. Soon it was divided into two parts.
By the second half of the 6th century, the Turks extended their power to the Caspian-Black Sea steppes. During the Iranian-Byzantine war (602-628), the first evidence of the existence of the Khazars appeared. Then they were the main part of the army.
In 626, the Khazars invaded the territory of modern Azerbaijan. Having plundered Caucasian Alania and united with the Byzantines, they stormed Tbilisi.
By the end of the 7th century, most of the Crimea, the North Caucasus and the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov were under the control of the Khazars. There is no exact information about how far their power extended east of the Volga. However, there is no doubt that the Khazar Khaganate, spreading its influence, stopped the flow of nomads who followed to Europe from Asia. This, in turn, created favorable conditions for the development of settled Slavic peoples and Western European countries.
The Khazar Khaganate controlled the territory where quite a lot of Jewish communities lived. Around 740, Bulan (one of the princes) converted to Judaism. Apparently, this contributed to the strengthening of his clan. At the same time, the ruling pagan dynasty of the Khazars began to lose authority.
A descendant of Prince Bulan - Obadiah - at the beginning of the ninth century, took the second post in the empire, concentrating real power in his hands. Since then, a system of dual government has been formed. Nominally, the main representatives of the royal family remained in the country, however, in reality, the beks of the Bulanid family carried out the reign on their behalf.
After the establishment of a new administrative order, the Khazar Khaganate began to develop international transit trade, reorienting itself from conquest campaigns.
In the 9th century, in connection with a new wave, new nomadic tribes began to cross the Volga.
The Old Russian state became a new enemy of the Khazars. The Varangian squads, who came to Eastern Europe, began to successfully challenge the power over the Slavs. Thus, the Radimichi in 885, the northerners in 884 and the glade in 864 were freed from the Khazar domination.
In the period from the end of the 9th to the first half of the 10th century, Khazaria weakened, but continued to be a very influential empire. To a greater extent, this was made possible thanks to skillful diplomacy and a well-trained army.
In the death of the Khazar Khaganate, the decisive role belongs to the Old Russian state. Svyatoslav in 964 freed the Vyatichi (the last dependent tribe). The following year, the prince defeated the Khazar army. A few years later (in 968-969) the prince defeated Semender and Itil (the capitals of the Khazar Empire in different periods). This moment is considered the official end of independent Khazaria.
Since the 6th century A.D. e. appear in Syriac, Armenian, Byzantine, Latin and Chinese manuscripts the first information about a previously unknown people who settled in the territory of the Lower Volga region and the eastern part of the North Caucasus. And in subsequent centuries there are many references to them in Arabic and Persian sources. The Arabs in their annals called them - "Alkhazar", the Armenians called them - "Khazirk", in the "Initial Russian Chronicle" they are called - "Kozar", in the Jewish medieval writing they appeared under the name "Kuzar", "Kuzarim". In modern Russian, this people is called - "Khazars".
Byzantine writers of those times ranked the Khazars among the Turkic peoples. Many Arab writers also believed, although there were those among them who attributed the Khazars to Georgians or Armenians; and in one Armenian source they were associated with the Chinese; and in the Georgian chronicle - with the Scythians; there were also cases when they were considered a people similar to the Slavs. In fact, the name "Khazars" covered many tribes of various origins, numerous nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples, the remnants of the Huns who passed through the southern Russian steppes - and Turkic elements prevailed there.
The cradle of the Khazars was the Caspian steppes of the Northern Ciscaucasia, that is, the territory of modern Dagestan. The Khazars were a warlike people, back in the 6th century - as part of other Turkic tribes - they went on campaigns in Transcaucasia and temporarily captured Georgia and Armenia, and the Persian Shah even built a giant wall with many defensive towers to protect against them.
The Khazar Khaganate was formed in the middle of the 7th century AD, and its capital was first the city of Semender on the territory of present-day Dagestan, and then Itil - on the Lower Volga. In the seventh century, the Khazars pushed back to the west, to the Danube, the Bulgarians and captured the Azov steppes. Northern Black Sea region and part of the steppe Crimea. This is how a federation of different tribes arose, which was headed by the Khazar (Turkic) clan, and all the tribes and peoples that were part of it enjoyed sufficient freedom, to the extent that they could independently go on campaigns, conclude their own agreements and adopt the religion that they desired.
The Khazar Khaganate had two supreme rulers. One of them is the main king, a kagan, who always belonged to the same family of noble origin, and the Arab geographer Istakhri described the custom of his election: “When they want to appoint someone as kagan, they bring him in and begin to strangle him with a silk cord. When he is close to giving up his spirit, they say to him: “How long do you want to reign?” He answers: “So many and so many years ...” This custom was associated with faith in the divine power of the kagan: he himself semi-forgetfulness determined the period of stay in his body of this divine power.If a misfortune fell upon the country - drought, ruin, defeat in the war, then this kagan was killed, because the divine power dried up in him, and instead of him they chose a new kagan, whom they began to worship But the actual power in the country belonged to another king - kagan-bek.
The Khazars came into contact with the Slavic tribes: Polans, Northerners, Vyatichi and Radimichi at different times saw the Khazars and paid tribute to them. They waged long wars with the Arab caliphate, and played an important role in the history of the Eastern European peoples, shielding them from the Arabs and withstanding the attacks of the previously invincible Arab armies. Khazaria also helped Byzantium, because it pulled back the Arab forces, which otherwise would have threatened the Byzantine Empire. By the 8th century, the Khazar state had become the most powerful political and military force in Eastern Europe, and Kievan Rus could subsequently arise and develop behind this protective fence.
The Khazars were at first pagans, one of the many pagan peoples of Eastern Europe, they made sacrifices to fire and water, worshiped the moon, trees, the most revered deity Tengri Khan. In the first half of the 8th century AD. part of the Khazars of the Northern Ciscaucasia, led by their ruler named Bulan (Sabriel), adopted Judaism. Jews expelled from Sasanian Iran lived in those places, and from them, most likely, the Jewish religion came to the Khazars.
The legend tells that an angel appeared in a dream to the Khazar ruler Bulan and said: “Oh, Bulan! The Lord sent me to you to say: I heard your prayer and your prayer. Here I I bless you and multiply you, I will continue your kingdom until the end of time and deliver all your enemies into your hand. "The angel promised Bulan power and glory if he accepts the Jewish religion, and after that Bulan went on a campaign to the Caucasus and really won several impressive victories there From many sources it is known that in 730-731 AD the Khazars won major victories in Caucasian Albania (present-day Azerbaijan), - Bulan's adoption of Judaism is timed to these years.But before he did this, the emperor of Byzantium and the ruler of Muslims They sent him rich gifts and sent scholars to persuade him to their religions. Bulan arranged a dispute in which a Christian, a Muslim and a Jew took part, but did not make any decision. And then he asked the Christian priest: "What do you think, which religion is better - Israelis or Ismailis?" To this the priest replied: "The faith of the Israelites is better than the faith of the Ismailis." Then Bulan asked the Muslim Qadi: "What do you think, what faith ra is better - Christian or Israeli?" Qadi replied: "Israeli is better." And then Bulan said: "If so, then you yourself admitted that the religion of the Israelites is the best, and therefore I choose the faith of Israel, which was the faith of Abraham. May Almighty God help me!"
This whole story about Bulan became known to us from a letter from the Khazar Khagan Yosef to a Spanish Jew from Cordoba named Hasdai ibn Shaprut.
Two versions of his letter Yosef to Hasdai ibn Shaprut have survived to this day: a short and lengthy version of his first letter. It was written in Hebrew, and it is possible that it was not written by the kagan himself, but by one of his close associates - the Jews. Yosef reported that his people come from the clan of Togarma. Togarma was the son of Japhet and the grandson of Noah. Togarma had ten sons, and one of them was called Khazar. It was from him that the Khazars went. At first, Yosef reported, the Khazars were few in number, “they waged war with peoples who were more numerous and stronger than them, but with the help of God they drove them away and occupied the whole country ... After that, generations passed until one king appeared to them, the name who was Bulan. He was a wise and God-fearing man, who trusted God with all his heart. He eliminated fortune-tellers and idolaters from the country and sought protection and patronage from God." After Bulan, who converted to Judaism, King Yosef listed all the Khazar Jewish Kagans, and all of them have Jewish names: Obadiah, Khizkiyahu, Menashe, Hanukkah, Yitzhak, Zvulun, again Menashe, Nissim, Menachem, Benyamin, Aaron, and finally the author of the letter - Yosef. He wrote about his country that in it “no one hears the voice of the oppressor, there is no enemy and there are no bad accidents ... The country is fertile and fat, consists of fields, vineyards and orchards. All of them are irrigated from rivers. We have a lot of all kinds fruit trees. With the help of the Almighty, I live in peace."
Yosef was the last ruler of the powerful Khazar Khaganate, and when he sent his letter to distant Spain - no later than 961 AD, he did not yet know that the days of his kingdom were already numbered.
At the end of the VIII - beginning of the IX century AD. The Khazar Khagan Ovadia made Judaism the state religion. This could not have happened by chance, from scratch: there must have already been a sufficient number of Jews in Khazaria, in today's language - a kind of "critical mass" close to the court of the ruler, who influenced the adoption of such a decision.
Even under Bulan, who was the first to accept Judaism, many Jews moved to the Eastern Ciscaucasia, fleeing the persecution of Muslims. Under Ovadia, as noted by the Arab historian Masudi, "many Jews moved to the Khazars from all Muslim cities and from Rum (Byzantium), because the king of Rum persecuted the Jews in his empire in order to seduce them into Christianity." Jews settled entire quarters of the Khazar cities, especially in the Crimea. Many of them also settled in the capital of Khazaria - Itil. Kagan Yosef wrote about those times: Obadiah "corrected the kingdom and strengthened the faith according to the law and the rule. He built houses of assembly and houses of teaching and gathered many wise men of Israel, gave them a lot of silver and gold, and they explained to him twenty-four books of the Holy Scriptures, the Mishna , Talmud and the whole order of prayers".
This reform of Ovadias apparently did not go smoothly. The Khazar aristocracy in the outlying provinces rebelled against the central government. She had Christians and Muslims on her side; the rebels called on the help of the Magyars from beyond the Volga, and Ovadia hired nomadic Guzes.
Judaism continued to be the state religion, and the Jews lived in peace on the territory of the Khazar Khaganate. All historians of those times noted the religious tolerance of the Khazar Jewish rulers. Jews, Christians, Muslims and pagans lived peacefully under their rule.
There were attempts to make Christianity the state religion of Khazaria. For this purpose, he went there in 860 AD. the famous Cyril - the creator of Slavic writing. He took part in a dispute with a Muslim and a Jew, and although it is written in his "Life" that he won the dispute, the kagan still did not change religion, and Cyril returned with nothing. Upon learning that the Muslims in their lands had destroyed the synagogue, the Khazar Khagan even ordered the destruction of the minaret of the main mosque in Itil and the execution of the muezzins. At the same time, he said: "If I, really, were not afraid that in the countries of Islam there would not be a single undestroyed synagogue, I would definitely destroy the mosque."
After the adoption of Judaism, Khazaria developed the most hostile relations with Byzantium. First, Byzantium set the Alans against the Khazars, then the Pechenegs, then the Kiev prince Svyatoslav, who defeated the Khazars.
Khazaria warrior
Today, historians explain the reasons for the fall of the Khazar Khaganate in different ways. Some believe that this state has weakened as a result of constant wars with its surrounding enemies. Others claim that the adoption of Judaism by the Khazars - a peaceful religion - contributed to a decrease in the fighting spirit of nomadic warlike tribes. There are historians today who explain this by the fact that the Jews, with their religion, turned the Khazars from a "nation of warriors" into a "nation of merchants." The Russian chronicle reports that the Kievan prince Svyatoslav took the Khazar capital Itil, took Semender on the Caspian Sea, took the Khazar city of Sarkel on the Don - later known as Belaya Vezha - and returned to Kyiv. After that, for several more years in a row, the Guz tribes freely plundered the defenseless land.
The Khazars soon returned to their destroyed capital, Itil, restored it, but, as Arab historians note, not Jews, but Muslims already lived there. At the end of the tenth century, the son of Svyatoslav Vladimir again went to the Khazars, took possession of the country and imposed tribute on them. And again the cities of Khazaria were destroyed, the capital turned into ruins; only the Khazar possessions in the Crimea and on the shores of the Sea of Azov survived. In 1016 A.D. Greeks and Slavs destroyed the last Khazar fortifications in the Crimea and captured their kagan George Tsulu, who was already a Christian.
Karaites in Crimea - according to one version, the descendants of the Khazar tribes
Some researchers now believe that the Khazar Khaganate did not completely disintegrate at the end of the tenth century, but continued to exist as an independent, small state until the invasion of the Mongols. In any case, in the eleventh century, the Khazars are still mentioned in Russian chronicles as participants in a conspiracy against Prince Oleg Tmutarakansky, but this is the last mention of them in European sources. And only in the descriptions of Jewish travelers of subsequent centuries, the Crimean peninsula was still called Khazaria for a long time.
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Khazar Khaganate. Ideology (religion)
In a special book on Khazaria, it would be advisable to give a section on the culture of the Khazars. However, a number of reasons prevent this from being done. Firstly, the extreme scarcity of written sources. Secondly, the uncertainty of archeological data, where the material on the Khazars themselves almost does not emerge.
Because of this, I will focus on one issue - the ideology (religion) of the Khazars. I deliberately put it in this way, and not in the traditional plan of studying the adoption of Judaism by the Khazars, since (and this I will try to show) the last question is important, but is only part of a larger problem.
The Khazars, as well as the ethnic components included in their composition (Turks, Ugrians, Iranians), were originally pagans, or, as Muslim writers called them, "akhl al-Ausan" (Lodi worshipers of idols, idolaters). Movses Kalankatvatsi talks about Khazar paganism in some detail, referring to the Albanian bishop Israel. Israel, as a Christian clergyman, indignantly describes pagan rites and, perhaps, sometimes distorts them, wanting to show the "Khons" as savages and, as he writes, "devoted to Satan." So, describing the funeral rites, the bishop notes that the "khons" beat drums over the corpses, inflicted wounds on their faces, arms, legs; naked men fought with swords at the grave, competed in horseback riding, and then indulged in debauchery.
The customs described by Israel resemble some of the mores of the ancient Scythians, characterized by Herodotus, and seem to prove the continuity between the ancient Iranian nomads and the Khazars of the 7th century.
This is even more confirmed by Israel's information about the deities worshiped by the Khons. Among these, Kuar, the god of lightning, appears in the foreground. The name of this deity is Iranian, although it is not easy to find a well-known analogy for him (maybe from the Iranian name of the sun?). Herodotus and Ammchan Marcellinus mention the deity of the Scythians and Alans, whom these authors call Ares or Mars. The Iranian name of this deity is unknown. Scientists compare him with Batraz of the Nart epic, but the variants of this epic known to us could not have preserved the original Iranian name.
More extensively, Israel talks about another Khazar deity who had a double name - Tangri Khan and Ashhandiat. The second Movses Kalankatvatsi directly connects with the Persians ("parsikk"). According to the description of Israel, this deity was presented in the form of a huge ugly giant, to whom horses were sacrificed in the sacred groves described by the bishop. The double name of this deity is very curious. Tangri is a well-known Turkic tribal deity, variants of which are found among all Turkic tribes and peoples (Turks, Azerbaijanis, Turkmens, Yakuts, Chuvashs, etc.), although now it seems that it turns out that his name is not originally Turkic. But Kalankatvatsi himself, mentioning Tangri Khan only once, then all the time calls him by the name of the Iranian equivalent of Aspandiat; presumably this variant was more common.
Commenting on this place from Kalankatvatsi, Sh. Smbatyan writes that it is not known whether the ancient Persians had a cult of the god Aspandiat, and believes that "Kalankatvatsi could mislead the root" asp "in the name Aspandiat", which he identified with Pahllev and Zend " aspa" - "horse". Then Smbatyan will add the fact of horse sacrifice among the Sarmatians and refers to the commentary of N. Adonts (who, in turn, used the book of J. Markvart) about the hero of the Iranian epic Spandiat, the son of Vistasp, and his possible connection with Spandarat, whose name occurs in the Nakharar family Kamsarakanov. N. Adonts, in addition, suggested that in Persia the cavalry was in the hands of the Spandiata clan.
Let's try to understand this issue. First of all, it is hardly legitimate to associate the Khazar Aspandiat with the ancient Persian or, moreover, the Armenian gods. In ancient Armenian, there was a deity S(p)andaramet, which J. Dumezil defines as the earth and compares with the Iranian Spenta Armaiti.
Meanwhile, the name Spandiath is ancient Iranian, it is found in Ctesias in the form of Spendadat. This was the name, according to this author, of the magician who claimed to be the son of Cambyses.
Let us recall the name of the hero of the Iranian epic Spentodat (Spentadat, Spandata). In the Iranian epic, set forth in the Shahnameh, Spentodat appears in the New Persian form of this name Isfendiyar; The last cycle of the epic part of the poem is dedicated to the exploits of this hero, his struggle with Arjasp, and then Rustam.
According to at-Tabari, Isfendiyar made a trip to Bab-e Sud, that is, Derbent, and this suggests his connections with the Caucasus. Spentodat-Isfendiyar is the hero of the all-Iranian epic and could well exist among the Sarmatian tribes. At the same time, in the form of Aspandiat, as well as in the cult of this god among the Khazars, there is undoubtedly another foundation associated with the Iranian "aspa" - "horse". It was probably a Sarmatian (Massageto-Alanian) deity, reflecting the cult of the horse, so important among the nomads. In this environment, the ancient Iranian cult of the hero Spendodat could also be associated with him.
In addition to Kuar and Tangri-Khan-Aspandiat, Bishop Israel notes among the "Khons" the worship of fire, water, the moon, the gods of the roads, etc. With special care, he emphasizes the presence of polygamy, as well as other forms of marriage - two brothers take one wife, children take their father's wives, etc. Perhaps this is evidence of unequal marriage customs that existed among different tribes.
If the horse cult leads to steppe nomads, then the worship of sacred trees is evidence of other influences, possibly dating back to the Finno-Ugric tribes that became part of the Khazars. The same Israel describes a huge oak tree, to which horses were sacrificed, whose heads and skins were hung on its branches.
Thus, there is reason to conclude that the Khazar paganism was a complex amalgam of cults of different content and origin.
In terms of contacts with countries dominated by monotheistic religions (Christianity, Islam), already in the 7th century. the question arose of adopting any of these faiths, since they were more in line with both the general conditions of the era and the interests of the early class Khazar state.
The first attempt to adopt a monotheistic religion by the Khazars dates back to the 80s of the 7th century. After the assassination of the Ishkhan of Caucasian Albania, Juanshera elected the ruler of the nephew of the murdered Varaz-Trdat as the ruler of this country. The "Great Prince of the Khons" Alp-Ilutver invaded Albania, but the Catholicos of Albania Eliazar, sent by Varaz-Trdat to Alp-Ilutver, managed to convince the ruler of the Khazars that the new Albanian prince was not involved in the murder of his uncle.
Bishop Israzl, already mentioned, visited the Armenian Catholicos Sahak and Ishkhan Grigor Mamikonyan. Officially, the purpose of the mission was to participate in the transfer of the remains of Grigory Lusavorich from Western Armenia to Valarshapat, but in reality it was about an alliance with Armenia. Against who? A. N. Ter-Ghevondyan believes that he is against the Khazars, but this is hardly the case, since Israel immediately after returning from Armenia headed the embassy to the north. Most likely, the union of Albania and Armenia in the early 80s was directed against the Caliphate, where the unrest stopped at that time, and the Umayyads, who broke their opponents, began the second wave of Muslim conquests in the north and northwest.
It is not surprising that Israel's embassy was met with great honor by Alp-Ilutver, who, apparently, was the governor of the Khazar Khakan. The consequence of Israel's embassy was the adoption of Christianity by Alp-Ilutver and his entourage. The story of Movses Kalankatvatsi about this is compiled in the traditional style of Christian traditions with signs and wonders. However, the main thing - the baptism of Alp-Ilutver - is beyond doubt. Pagan temples were destroyed, sacred trees were cut down. According to Kalankatvatsi, the Pairapet throne was approved in the city of Varachan, i.e., an independent church was founded, headed by the Pairapet Catholicos. The reciprocal embassy of Alp-Ilutver was addressed not only to the Albanian Ishkhan and Catholicos, but also to the Catholicos and Ishkhan of Armenia. The ambassadors of Alp-Ilutver went there, and upon their return to Albania they asked to give them the Catholicos of Israel. Varaz-Trdat and Catholicos Eliazar at first opposed, but when the Khazar ambassadors declared that they did not want another vardapet, Bishop Israel himself expressed a desire to go to the Khons.
Here information about further events among the Khazars ends. Bishop Israel is mentioned once again, but in connection with Albanian affairs, so the end of the so colorfully described conversion of the "prince of the Khons" to Christianity is unclear. According to other sources, it is known that two years later there was a crushing invasion of the Khazars in Transcaucasia, during which the Ishkhan of Armenia Grigor Mamikonyan died. What caused it - one can only speculate. It seems that the adoption of Christianity by Alp-Ilutver was hostilely received by the main part of the Khazar nobility; perhaps Alp-Ilutver went for it, trying to create an independent possession within the boundaries of Primorsky Dagestan, and was defeated in the fight against the Khakan of the Khazars. There is no news about him after the events of 682, and as a participant in the campaign of 684-685. he does not appear. Therefore, it can be assumed that his attempt to establish Christianity among the Khons ended in failure.
In the subsequent time, up to the 30s of the 8th century, there is no news of attempts to change the religion of the Khazars. Obviously, this was not necessary. The pagan Khazaria waged successfully (in whole or in part) wars that enriched the Khazar nobility with booty, and the old pagan gods, from the point of view of this nobility, performed their role perfectly.
In 737, Mervai ibn Mohammed took the Khazar capital, after which the khakan fled to the north. The Arabs pursued him, and in the end he sued for peace, promising to convert to Islam. Al-Kufi, in his colorful, detailed story, claims that the ruler of the Khazars and with him "many people from among his relatives and tribesmen" converted to Islam. There is, however, every reason to doubt this. In Islam, even in the period of its expansion beyond the Arabian Peninsula, a specific attitude towards other religions was developed. After some hesitation, the caliphs and their entourage, recognizing Islam as the only true faith, agreed to a certain tolerance towards religions that have recorded revelations (Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism). And although the practical attitude towards these religions changed, on the whole they remained in the position of being protected. Pagan cults were not.
The Khazars were pagans, and the winner of Mervan, in accordance with Muslim practice, offered them a conversion to Islam. Probably, the khakan was forced to agree to this under those conditions, but it is unlikely that he complied with it. The khaqan's promise to become a Muslim is reported by two sources (al-Belazuri and al-Kufi). Neither al-Yakubi, nor at-Tabari, nor Ibn al-Athir mention this. And here the silence of Ibn al-Athir, a late author, but very accurate in his information, is especially noteworthy. Ibn al-Athir knew the work of al-Kufi and used it, but he omitted the story about the adoption of Islam by the Khazars, and this is not accidental. Al-Kufi, more than any other early Arabic writer, used all sorts of oral traditions, he has the most dialogues that indicate the apocryphal nature of his material. On the adoption of Islam by the Khazars in the VIII century. does not mention such an erudite as al-Mas'udi. In addition, it must be borne in mind that there were no Muslims in Khazaria at that time, there were few of them even in Transcaucasia and Central Asia, and the khakan could hardly accept a religion that no one professed in his state.
A little more than a hundred years have passed, and Muslim sources record Judaism as the state religion of Khazaria. It was to this time (approximately the 50-70s of the IX century) that the message belongs, an early version of which we find in Ibn Ruste. According to the latter, in Khazaria Judaism was practiced by the “highest head” (i.e., hakan), shad, as well as leaders (“kovvad”) and nobility (“uzama”), while the rest of the people adhered to a faith similar to the religion of the Turks. Thus, in the second half of the IX century. the nobility of Khazaria professed the Jewish religion, while the people continued to adhere to the old pagan cults.
The question of Judaism among the Khazars has an old historiographic tradition, the founder of which can be considered Tsar Joseph, who released his version of this event around the world. Later, it was supplemented by Jewish scribes of the 10th-12th centuries, and only in modern times was it shaken by the involvement of Arabic sources. In the period after Buxtorf's publications (1660) and up to our time, an enormous and contradictory historiography has grown up, which it is inappropriate to analyze here. It is more important to single out a few questions and try to answer them based on sources and taking into account the main literature. This is, firstly, the time of the adoption of Judaism by the top of the Khazars and, secondly, the initiators of this act.
The answer to the second question has already been essentially given above. The initiator is a shad, who later became a bak - the king of Khazaria, pushing the khakan into the background, but forcing him to accept the Jewish faith.
The first question is more difficult to answer. Here we have at our disposal, first of all, the version of Tsar Joseph, who refers to the Khazar books ("sfarim"), known to "all the old people of our land" ("l-kol zikney artzanu"). Probably, in Khazaria there really were some books (in Hebrew?) Designed to consolidate and substantiate the legends canonized at the direction of the Khazar kings. The essence of these legends is that the Khazar king Bulan received a divine revelation instructing him to convert to the true, i.e. Jewish, faith. Just in case, however, Bulan arranged a kind of dispute between the Muslim qadi and the Christian priest. Each of them blasphemed the faith of the other, but both of them allegedly agreed that "the faith of Israel is the best faith and all of it is the truth."
The date of this event is missing in the short version of Joseph's letter, but in the lengthy version it is indicated that it happened 340 years before Joseph. Many immediately considered it a later addition to the text, others began to argue that this date replaced another, reliable date in the manuscript, which one - opinions differed. Joseph, after the story of the miraculous conversion of Bulan, adds a few phrases about the activities of King Obadiah, who "strengthened the faith according to law and rule," i.e., it is believed, he converted to rabbinic Judaism. Obadya appears as the son of the sons of Bulan, that is, as his descendant. And then the subsequent kings of Khazaria are listed in number 11-12, starting with the son of Obadiah Hezekiah and ending with the author of the letter, Joseph. It is difficult to judge the reliability of this list, since there are no parallel data. In addition to Joseph, his father Aaron and grandfather Benjamin are mentioned in the Cambridge Document. The main thing for us is not this list, but the date of the adoption of Judaism, which cannot be established on the basis of Joseph's letter. The use of the Cambridge Document does not help either.
It contains a slightly different version of the history of the conversion of the Khazars to Judaism. This act is attributed to a certain Jew who allegedly saved the Khazars, who were in a state of anarchy, without a king and order. This version of the conversion of the Khazars is even more vague and contradictory. An unknown author connects the adoption of Judaism with this anonymous Jew, who became the "big head" of the Khazars, while the khakan appeared, according to this version, later as a judge ("shofet") from among the Khazars themselves. In parallel, the "big head" turned into a king, etc. There are no dates here.
Such a vague notion of the date of Judaization of the Khazars quite naturally prompted later Jewish scribes dealing with the problem of the Khazars to specifically address this issue. The Jewish scholar Yehuda na Levi, who wrote around 1140, referring to some chronicle books, believed that the Khazar king converted to Judaism 400 years before him, i.e., about 740. This date was accepted and tried to be substantiated by D. Dunlop, who in his monograph paid special attention to the problem of Judaism among the Khazars. However, taking into account the indication of al-Mas'udi about the adoption of Judaism by the Khazars during the time of Harun al-Rashid (786-809), D. Dunlop formulated the final conclusion as follows: in 740, the Khazars adopted a modified Judaism, and around 800 - rabbinical.
The news of al-Mas'udi is especially valuable for us. Unfortunately, he dealt with this problem in detail in his non-surviving writings, and in "Murudj al-dhahab", apparently, he gave only a brief summary. The latter boils down to the fact that the Khazar king adopted the Jewish faith in the reign of Harun al-Rashid, and during the time of the Byzantine emperor Roman Lekapin (919-944), who persecuted the Jews, the latter fled to Khazaria. B. N. Zakhoder concluded from this that one can speak of two periods of Judaization of Khazaria: during the time of Harun ar-Rashid and during the lifetime of al-Mas'udi himself, a contemporary of Roman Lakapin.
The text of al-Mas'udi does not provide any basis for such a conclusion. It is this text that is our only reliable evidence of the date of the adoption of Judaism by the Khazar king. The issue of dating Yehuda on Levi is complicated not only because he is a late author. It is impossible to abstract from the fact that he said "about 400 years ago", so that on this basis it is hardly correct to give the exact date around 740. Obviously, those "annalistic books" to which he refers did not contain the exact date, and this allows us to extend the conclusion of the author of the XII century. about an event that occurred about 400 years before him, for the entire VIII century, and then it becomes possible to date it to the time of Harun ar-Rashid, who ascended the throne in 786. I did not know the exact date, obviously, i-al-Mas 'udi, who lived a hundred and fifty years after that. We can't give a precise date either.
What were the reasons for the adoption of Judaism by the top of the Khazaria?
The adoption of one or another monotheistic religion is a natural phenomenon in any feudalizing society, where the struggle of the central government, on the one hand, with the strong relics of the tribal system, and on the other hand, with the emerging feudal decentralization urgently demanded the replacement of polytheism with monotheism, sanctifying the power of one sovereign. But the form of monotheism could be different, and this depended on many factors, including foreign policy factors.
Taking as the date of the Judaization of the Khazar nobility approximately the last quarter of the 8th century, let's see what reasons led to this event. The Khazar shad, who initiated it, had a choice among three monotheistic religions: Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Of these, the first two were the state religions of the two largest powers of that time, with which Khazaria had the most diverse relations - Byzantium and the Arab Caliphate. Christianity was widespread among the subjects of Khazaria - the inhabitants of the Crimea. This faith was professed by most of the inhabitants of Transcaucasia - Armenia, Georgia, Caucasian Albania. It would seem that it was the adoption of Christianity by the Khazars that was to be expected, especially since an attempt of this kind had already taken place in the 7th century. And yet there were reasons that did not contribute to this. If in the first half of the VIII century. Byzantium was an ally of Khazaria against the Arabs, but in the second half of this century the situation changed. The Khazars intervened in Transcaucasian affairs and helped the Abkhaz prince Leon, whose father was married to the daughter of a khakan, become independent from the empire. This happened in the 80s of the 8th century. Moreover, Leon II of Abkhazia (758-798) annexed Egrisi, that is, a significant part of Western Georgia, to his possessions. It was a strong blow to Byzantium, and in order for good relations to be restored between it and Khazaria, it took fifty years. Under such conditions, the adoption of Christianity could hardly be discussed, especially since the Christian countries of Transcaucasia in the second half of the 8th century. at least twice subjected to Khazar invasions.
Equally unfavorable were the conditions for the adoption of Islam. The caliphate remained the main opponent of the Khazars, although the great Arab-Khazar wars in the second half of the 8th century. did not have.
But for the adoption of the Jewish religion, the circumstances were favorable. In the conditions of Europe, which fell into decline after the barbarian invasions, Jewish communities and Jewish commercial capital not only retained their strength and influence, but also practically monopolized European trade. Jewish merchants of the Carolingians were especially patronized, and in need of money they always turned to Jewish usurers. Obviously, the same importance of the Jewish merchants in European trade explains the patronage of him by the Spanish Umayyads. In the ninth century it was the Jewish merchants who held in their hands the transit trade between Europe and Asia. They were enterprising traders who spoke different languages (Arabic, Persian, Greek, "Frankish", Spanish-Romance, Slavic). One of their routes ran through the Czech Republic, Hungary, Russia and the Volga Bulgaria and the Volga region in general to the Khazar Khaganate.
Naturally, in parallel with trade trips, Jewish colonies arose in different parts of Eastern Europe. Their appearance was also triggered by the periodic persecution of Jewish communities in the Byzantine Empire, as a result of which the Jews emigrated to the Khazaria. There, according to al-Mas'udi, there were especially favorable conditions for merchants and artisans.
Judging by Jewish sources, the bulk of Jewish emigrants arrived in Khazaria in three ways: from Baghdad, i.e., obviously, from Arab Iraq, where the second most important Jewish colony existed for a long time, from Khorasan, i.e. from the eastern regions of the Caliphate, including Central Asia, and from Byzantium. In the latter case, undoubtedly, the Crimean possessions of the empire were also meant. In this regard, the dispute between S.P. Tolstov, who defended the “Khorezmian version” of the main center of Jewish emigration to Khazaria, and M.I. Artamonov, who just as ardently denied it, loses its main meaning, although Artamonov’s criticism had grounds in details. At the same time, Artamonov, in principle, correctly emphasized the role of the old Jewish communities of Dagestan in the spread of Judaism among the Khazars.
The Crimean colonies of Jews cannot be discounted either. It is no coincidence that in connection with this, the special attention of Tsar Joseph to the geography of the Crimea.
According to Josephus, the Khazar king, who converted to Judaism, bore the Turkic name Bulan ("elk, deer"); all the other kings he mentioned bore traditional Jewish (biblical) names (Obadia, Hanukkah, Yitzhak, Zabulon, Moshe, Menachem, Benjamin, Aaron, Joseph). It is possible that they, like the Russian princes of the 11th-12th centuries, who bore a pagan and a Christian name, had two names - Turkic and Jewish. The Cambridge Document mentions a certain Pesach, whose name does not go back to the Bible, but is known in the Jewish medieval environment. A recently published document in Hebrew originating from the community ("kahal") of Kyiv (Kiyuv), dated to the 10th century, lists several names that show that this community was more religious than ethnic. Along with such traditional Jewish names as Abraham, Yitzhak, Shmuel, etc., we find there the names Kibr, Mns, etc. Chuvash language - a descendant of the language of the Volga Bulgars, the closest to the Khazar.
The most important question that should be answered is who professed in Khazaria in the 9th-10th centuries. Judaism: is it the whole nation or some part of it? In modern literature there is a certain tendency to exaggerate the role of Judaism in Khazaria and even in Russia. Meanwhile, sources for the tenth century. give a very clear answer. As we have already seen, Jews (ethnic) and part of the Khazars who converted to Judaism lived in Khazaria. And those and others, however, sources, albeit not quite clearly, but differ. At the same time, it is known that the Khazars themselves professed Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and pagan cults, and it is significant that when listing these religions, Judaism is in last place. Al-Istakhri and Ibn Haukal even directly indicate that the followers of the Jewish faith are the least, and most of all Muslims and Christians in Khazaria. According to al-Mas'udi, the majority of the inhabitants of "al-balad" (it is not clear whether we are talking about Khazaria or its capital, it seems to me that it is about the country) are Muslims.
The same sources say that Judaism was practiced by the king, khakan, the king's entourage and his clan ("jine"). In the tenth century the king and the khakan had to be Jews by religion, although one specific case, which al-Istakhri narrates, indicates that there were Muslims among the Khazar nobility.
Thus, about the wide dissemination of the Jewish religion among the population of Khazaria, even in the tenth century. do not have to speak. Its main mass professed Islam, Christianity or various pagan cults. The king and his entourage, who converted to Judaism, were increasingly moving away from their subjects. Strengthening in the tenth century. the influence of some of the latter who professed Islam, and especially the guards of al-larisiya, put the kings in an even more difficult position. As a result, the central government increasingly lost its power and influence.
It remains to be seen what effect the adoption of Judaism by the Khazar elite had on the culture of the Khazars. This influence cannot be denied, although it should not be exaggerated. The fact that the Hebrew language and writing was widespread in Khazaria is proved by the correspondence between Hasdai ibn Shafrut and King Joseph. But the extent of this spread is questionable. The famous scholar al-Nadim (end of the 10th century) noted that the Khazars used the Hebrew script. The later Persian writer Fakhr al-Din Mubarak Shah (beginning of the 13th century) connected the Khazar writing with the Russian and Rumian (i.e. Greek) alphabets. V. V. Bartold, on the basis of this, suggested that the Khazars use the Greek alphabet for their own language and connected this with the well-known activity of the Slavic educator Cyril-Konstantin. It is appropriate to pay attention to the message of al-Mas'udi about Muslim schools in Atil, where teaching could be conducted only in Arabic. And since part of the Khazars professed Islam, this indicates the well-known prevalence of Arab culture. Some modern scholars consider it possible to talk about the influence of Persian culture on the Khazars.
In a word, the diversity of religious cults led to the spread of various cultural influences, none of which, apparently, finally prevailed in Khazaria. The absence of a single culture, literary language and writing speaks of the weak consolidation of Khazaria in cultural terms.
Khazar Khaganate. The borders of the kaganate. 3.
Based on the works of G.V. Vernadsky and other historians of the 19th-21st centuries.
The structure of the Khazar state corresponds to the traditional pattern of the nomadic empires of Eurasia. Khazars originally
1053 years ago, in the summer of 965, the great Russian prince Svyatoslav Igorevich defeated the Khazar army and took the capital of the Khazar Khaganate - Itil.
The Khazar Khaganate posed a serious military threat to Russia. Archaeologists have discovered a whole system of stone fortresses on the right bank of the Don, Northern Donets and Oskol. One white-stone stronghold was located at a distance of 10-20 kilometers from the other. Outposts were located on the right, western and northwestern banks of the rivers. Byzantine engineers played an important role in the construction of these fortresses. So, Sarkel (Belaya Vezha) on the banks of the Don was erected by Byzantine engineers, led by Petrona Kamatir. Yes, and the fortifications of Itil were made by the Roman Byzantines. The Khazar state played an important role in the military-political strategy of Constantinople, holding back Russia. Sarkel was the main fortress of the Khazars on the northwestern border of the state. It housed a permanent garrison of several hundred soldiers. Fortresses solved not only defensive tasks, but also offensive, predatory ones. In fact, these were outposts pushed forward, since they were located on the right (western) bank, and not on the left (eastern), which would have strengthened their defensive significance. These bridgeheads were used as cover for organizing attacks and retreat of the Khazar troops. Of these, small Khazar detachments carried out predatory raids.
were a horde of horsemen who managed to politically control neighboring agricultural tribes.
The history of the Western Turkic Khaganate from 630 to 651 was a continuous civil war between the Dulu and Nushibi confederations. Nushibi had the advantage, since they relied on the rich cities of Central Asia and on an alliance with China, but the militant nomads of Dulu invited the East Turkic prince Yuygu-shad to help with a retinue seasoned in battles, and this balanced the forces. The war was so fierce that neither side had the opportunity to engage in the subjugation of the fallen outskirts of the Turkut Khaganate. This circumstance allowed Kubrat to preserve the independence of the newborn Bulgarian Khanate.
While Bulgarians led by Dulo dynasty, remained supporters of the Dulu Turks, Khazars remained loyal to Nushibi and until 651 they had no reason to break with the kaganate. In accordance with this, the Khazars could not but be opponents of their western neighbors, the Bulgarians. But during this time, the Tang empire grew so strong that it occupied the eastern possessions of the kaganate. This caused such indignation among the Nushibis themselves that Khan Ibi-Shegui, who pursued a pro-Chinese policy, was overthrown, and the leader of the Dulu Helu Shabolo Khan tribes seized power.
The further fate of Ibi-Shegui Khan is unknown. Where did his followers go? The Kaganate belonged to the Dulus, in Tokharistan there was Yugu-Shad, who retreated there, the enemy of Ibi-Sheguy, Iran was closed by the advancing Arabs. Maybe he took refuge with the Khazars who remained loyal to Nushibi, where he laid the foundation for an independent Khazar dynasty of Khagans from the Ashina clan?
The fact that things could really happen this way is evidenced by the mention in Hudud al-alama that the Khazar dynasty of khagans belonged to the Ashina clan. "Since in the events of the thirties of the 7th century, neither Moho-shad nor his son Buli -shad did not hold out in Khazaria, it must be assumed that one of the members of the Turkic ruling house later reappeared in Khazaria and laid the foundation for a dynasty of Khagans of the same origin. the founder of their dynasty was the kagan, who could have been the successor of Ibi-Shegui-khan, who was overthrown from the Turkic throne, but found refuge with the Khazars, and was previously associated with the Nushibian tribes and their henchmen. the history of the independent Khazar Khaganate must be conducted from 651.
Their dominance however, it was much softer in relation to the subject peoples than domination of Avars and even Bulgars. InterestKhazars to trade added peculiar features to the very nature of their dominion. Having occupied the territory of the North Caucasus, the Azov region and the lower Volga basin, the Khazar state was strategically located so that
to control the crossing points of the most important trade routes of western Eurasia. The protection of these routes was the main goal of the kagan's policy, and he was rewarded collection of customs duties from caravans and ships that traveled north and south, west and east. We already called the Khazars originally a nomadic people, but this statement needs some clarification. They were a mixture of Turks, North Caucasian "Huns" and some native "Japhetic" tribes of the North Caucasian area Trade and crafts played an important role in these territories long before the arrival of the Turks, and urban-type settlements have existed there since time immemorial.
Despite the payment of tribute and Khazar raids, the southern region of the Eastern Slavs received benefit from Khazar rule: for tributaries, the Khazars kept their trade routes open, connecting the Khazar Khaganate with Europe and Asia. Tributary Slavs joined international trade, their economic and social development went faster.
Khazar warrior
From the beginning of the ninth century Eastern Slavs began to encounter Turkic nomadic peoples breaking through in the Black Sea region through the Khazar possessions - the Pechenegs, Bulgarians (Bulgars). One of the three Bulgarian tribal unions settled on the Middle Volga and founded its own state - Volga Bulgaria. Around 900, warlike nomads of the Finno-Ugric family of peoples, the Magyars (Hungarians), came from Asia through the Southern Dnieper to the Danube. The Slavs called them Ihugrs.
Slavs and Varangians. Judging by the archaeological excavations, in the IX century. in the course of trading operations, Arab silver coins (dirhams) began to arrive in the lands of the Eastern Slavs. Silver money attracted the Varangians to the East Slavic world. These northern Germans, the inhabitants of Scandinavia, in Western Europe were called the Normans (“northern people”), the Vikings.
On high-speed boats, the Varangians came to the north of the East European Plain to the lands of the Ilmen Slovenes, Krivichi and Finno-Ugric tribes. They settled in Staraya Ladoga, located on the Volkhov not far from its confluence with Lake Ladoga. As a result of the Varangian campaign of 859, the Krivichi, Ilmen Slovenes and Chud were subject to tribute. Obviously, in the first half of the ninth century. the Varangians explored river routes and portages through which it was possible to get from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea (the path "from the Varangians to the Greeks") and the Caspian (Great Volga Route). Varangian settlements appeared in the area of modern Smolensk, Rostov, Yaroslavl.
Varangian warrior
Of course turkish horde, which invaded the North Caucasus in the second half of the sixth century, was made up of nomads, but by the time of the rise of the Khazar state, a century later some of these nomads were already nakoms with customs more sedentary life. While Khazars most of the time spent in the steppes, almost every the Khazar nobleman had gardens, vineyards and fields, where his serfs worked and which he liked to visit.
The development of the ancient Russian state in the 9th - first half of the 10th century cannot be correctly understood without taking into account the long-term external contacts of the ancient Russian state with the Khazar Khaganate, the peoples of the North Caucasus, Transcaucasia, and Iran.
In the 9th century, the Russian state had few friends and many enemies. It so happened historically that the most dangerous enemies were necessarily its powerful neighbors. Unfortunately, the close neighbors of the Old Russian state were the cunning and greedy Jews-Khazars, predatory Vikings and treacherous Greeks who saw in the young Slavic state an object of their enrichment, as well as the main and very dangerous rival, a mortal enemy in the struggle for hegemony in this region.
The relationship of the Russian state with the circle of non-Slavic peoples subject to it had a significant impact on its foreign policy. For the first time, the state took strict control over the ancient trade routes within the country and from it to other, sometimes very remote lands in Europe, Asia and even Africa. Through various trade agreements and treaties with leading states, Russia sought to strengthen its international trade rights and create stable alliances aimed primarily at protecting the security of both Russia itself and the non-Slavic peoples subject to it.
It is not easy to outline the exact boundaries of the Khazar state, especially since a distinction must be made
between the Khazar lands proper and the lands of the tribes subordinate to the Khazar dominion, but enjoying some autonomy. Main the core of the Khazar state included the North Caucasian territory and triangular ledge to the north between the lower Don
The Don in the lower reaches is a quiet, calm river - with a wide floodplain, replete with branches, and asymmetric valley structure, characteristic of most lowland rivers, with three floodplain terraces. The width of the channel in the summer low water is 150-550 m. From the village of Melekhovskaya to the mouth of the Seversky Donets, along the right bank of the Don, there is a mountain-forest landscape formed by the spurs of the Donetsk Ridge. Steep slopes, merging with the river strip of the sandy beach, expose the components of the bedrock coast - limestone and loam. Dotted with bizarre breaks, cut by ravines and gullies, these slopes give the landscape an unusual look.
and lower Volga. For a time, the Khazars also controlled the steppes and deserts. east of the Volga to the Yaika River.
Volga - river in the European part of Russia. A small part of the delta Volga, outside the main channel rivers located in Kazakhstan. Volga is one of the largest rivers on Earth and the longest in Europe. adjacent to Volga part of the territory of Russia is called the Volga region. Length rivers is...
688. In this way the eastern border of the Khazar state ran along the Caspian coast from the mouth of the Yaik to
Derbent Strait, or the so-called Derbent Gates, which were guarded by a powerful Khazar garrison.
The name "Derbent" in Persian means "narrow gate". One of the oldest existing cities in the world stands on the site of a fortress erected back in 438 by the Persians. Throughout the centuries-old history of the city, the main task of its fortifications was to protect the strategically important passage connecting the two parts of the Eurasian space.
The southern border of the state ran approximately along Main Caucasian Range.
Darial Gorge in in the middle of the Caucasian ridge guarded Asami (Alans), who were subjects of the Khazars.
Darial gorge - gorge the Terek River at the intersection of the Lateral Range of the Greater Caucasus, east of Mount Kazbek, on the border of Russia (the historical territory of the Ingush transferred by Russia to North Ossetia) and Georgia - between the village (and the checkpoint of the same name) Upper Lars ...
« Darial Gorge, painting by R. G. Sudkovsky, 1884 State Russian Museum
| Darial Gorge Osset. Arvykom, დარიალის ხეობა |
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| Darial Gorge, 2006 | |
| 42°44′36″ N. sh. 44°37′27″ E d. HGIO | |
| Countries | Georgia Russia |
| mountain system | Caucasus |
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Black Sea coast from the mouth of the Kuban
before Kerch Strait can be taken for section of the western border of the Khazar state.
City of Bosporus (Pantikapey. Kerch) occupied the Khazar garrison. The Sea of Azov formed a natural northwestern border. Thus, we can make sure that the territories inhabited as North Caucasian aces, and Azov Aso-Slavs (Antes) were in composition of the Khazar state. It follows that Iranians and Slavonic aces (Antes), more likely, played an important role, insofar as aces, probably, were the mostdeveloped people in this political area. Some lightcan be shed on the culture of the Ases of this period due to the study of archaeological materials, such as, for example, findsin the North Caucasus, one side, and around the Don and Donets, with another. It is known from literary sources that in the Khazar army there was an Aso-Slavic contingent. North Caucasian aces guarded Daryal passage for the Khazars. The troops of Ases and Aso-Slavs were also used in other places. In this regard, the name of the city of Astrakhan in the Volga delta is characteristic., which must be derived from "as-tarkhan" ("commander
squad of aces"). An interesting evidence of the influence of the Slavs on Khazar life is the use of the Slavic word "law" by the Khazars. Along with peoples and tribes, directly dependent on the Khazars, there were others which, recognizing the dominance of the kagan, retained their autonomy. Those were Magyars - allies of the Khazars, according to Constantine Porphyrogenitus,
over three centuries. Some Finnish tribes in the region of the Oka and the middle Volga were also associated with the Khazar state at one time or another. Ibn Rusta, for example, notes that Burtases (Mordva) were under the suzerainty of the khagan. Later
Burtases become subjects of the Volga Bulgars. These the latter, however, have been under
Volga Bulgars
the power of the Khazars. This question not clear, and the only evidence is an questionable "Letter of the Khazar king Joseph". Among the cities of the Khazar Empire, the following four should be mentioned: Hamlidj (or Hamlich) and Itil,
both on the bottomVolga;
Samandar off the Caspian coast of the North Caucasus (identified either with Makhachkala, or with Kizlyar), and
Balanjar in Dagestan, located halfway between Samandar and Darial Gorge. As for hamlija, then his exact location not established. In my opinion, he must have been at the Volga end of the Volga-Don portage near modern Stalingrad (Tsaritsyn). Itil was somewhere in the Volga delta, near Astrakhan. As regards the latter, we may assume that Astrakhan was a military fortress protecting Itil. As the name suggests, its garrison was a detachment of aces. It should be noted that Astrakhan not mentioned among Khazar cities listed Arabic authors. Another important Khazar stronghold was Tmutarakan on the Black Sea in delta of Kuban. She was somewhere next to Malorosa;
Tmutarakan- one of the oldest cities of the Taman Peninsula, was located on the territory of the present village of Taman, Krasnodar Territory. This name was worn when it was part of Kievan Rus. In ancient times, it was called. In the Turkic-Khazar period - Tumen-Tarkhan, Tumantarkhan. In Byzantium ...
perhaps it was another name for Malorosa. Name Tmutarakan, should be comes from the Altaic words "tma"(cf. Persian "fog") - a military detachment of ten thousand people - and "tarkhan" (leader). Presumably during the Turkic invasion of the North Caucasus in the sixth century" commander of the Turkic detachment ("tma-tarkhan")
set up his headquarters in the Taman delta, hence the name of the city. The Greeks Hellenized the name, changing it to Τνματαρχα or Tamatarha, the latter probably from "Tagmatarch". Because in Greek "tagmatarches" means "commander of the regiment", the name retained its original meaning even in its Hellenized form. Tamatarha is mentioned in Byzantine sources starting from the eighth century. Of course, the city itself was founded earlier, and, as we have just seen, its name could be associated with the appearance of the Turks in the sixth century. By the way, Russian Turkologist V.D. Smirnov in the same way connects with the advancement of the Turks the name of the city of Kerch (Pantikapey) on the opposite side of the Cimmerian Bosporus. According to Smirnov, the name "Kerch" should come from the Turkic word "karshi" ("on the other side"), since for the Turks, approaching from the mainland region of the North Caucasus, this city lay on the other side of the strait.
Sometimes, trying to express their contempt for the outback or a distant place, people say that this is Tmutarakan. But not many people know what it is and where this place is located. It turns out Tmutarakan, or as they say Tmutarakan, is one of the oldest cities on the Taman Peninsula, which is located on the territory of the modern village of Taman, Temryuksky District, Krasnodar Territory. In the VI century BC. the city was founded by the Greeks from the island of Lesvos and was named Hermonassa. It had a developed structure and two-story stone houses, which speaks of the wealth of the inhabitants. AT VI century the city was conquered by the Turkic Khaganate and since then received new name - Tamatarha, which is happening from the Turkic title tarkhan and the word tumen, denoting troops among the nomads, fell under the influence of the Khazar Khaganate. After the defeat of the Khazar Khaganate in 965 (or, according to other sources, in 968-969) by the Kiev prince Svyatoslav Igorevich, the city came under the rule of Kievan Rus. Tmutarakan (Tmutorokan, Tmutorokon, Tmutorokan, Kiev Russ in the first half of the 10th century
Tmutorotan, Torokan) - the capital of the ancient Russian Tmutarakan principality (2nd half of X - XI). At this time, it is known as a large trading city with a good harbor. Through Tmutarakan, economic and political ties were maintained between the Russian principalities, the peoples of the North Caucasus and Byzantium. Zikhs, Greeks, Alans, Khazars, Slavs and Armenians continued to live in the city. There is no information about the time of the conquest of Tmutarakan by Kievan Rus in the sources. It is believed that it happened during the eastern campaign of Svyatoslav in the 960s, or as a result of the Korsun campaign of Vladimir in 988. Previously, this territory was part of the Khazar Khaganate, and before that it was the core of the Bosporan kingdom. In 988/1010-1036, the principality was in the possession of Mstislav Vladimirovich (died in 1036). In 1022, Mstislav conquered the Kasogs, killing their prince Rededya in a duel. In the city of Tmutarakan, Mstislav founded the Church of the Virgin, later, with the establishment of the Tmutarakan diocese, which became episcopal. In 1024, the Battle of Listven took place, which consolidated the authority of the Tmutarakan principality. In 1030 Mstislav Vladimirovich made a campaign against Shirvan. AT 1032 in alliance with the Sarirs and Alans - the second campaign against Shirvan. In 1033, in alliance with the Alans - the third, unsuccessful. Since 1054 Tmutarakan Principality was part of the possession of the Chernigov prince Svyatoslav Yaroslavich. In the 2nd half of the XI century. in
the principality was ruled by his sons Gleb, Roman and Oleg Svyatoslavich. In the later period, it was repeatedly captured by other princes. In the XI century, the Polovtsian nomads cut off Tmutarakan from Russia. In 1083, with the help of the Byzantine fleet, Oleg Svyatoslavich, the last chronicled Tmutarakan prince, reigned in Tmutarakan. He, under the name of Michael, appears as the Byzantine archon of Matarkha, Zikhia and all of Khazaria. The last time Tmutarakan was mentioned in Russian chronicles was in 1094. Later, the principality was under the sovereignty of Byzantium. According to missionaries, the population and rulers professed Christianity. According to Pletneva S.A., in the XII century. Polovtsian domination was established in Tmutarakan. According to another version, Kasogian princes ruled there, connected with the Russians by dynastic ties. In the XIII-XV centuries, the city was a colony of Genoa, at the same time it was ruled by the Adyghe princes. In 1419, the dynastic marriage of the noble Genoese Vincenzo de Gisolfi and the daughter of the Adyghe prince Berozokh, Bikha-khanum, is mentioned. The ruler of the city was the son from this marriage Zacharias de Gisolfi. However, in 1475 the Turks captured Matrega and annexed it to their possessions. Nevertheless, Zechariah's diplomatic activity helped him retain his post as head of the city. The Turkish fortress Khunkala was built to the east of the city, on the ruins of a Genoese fortress, the city itself was called Taman (XVI - late XVIII). The city returned to Russia only a few centuries later. As a result of the Russian-Turkish war, Taman was ceded to the Russian Empire. In 1792 Zaporizhian Cossacks moved to the Taman Peninsula.
On the site of the former Turkish fortress Taman, they founded their first settlement - the village of Taman.