KHAZAR KAGANATE, KHAZARIA- a state that existed in the 7th-10th centuries. in the North Caucasus, between the Volga and Don rivers.

It developed in the territory inhabited by Turkic Caspian nomadic tribes, who in the 6th century. invaded the Eastern Ciscaucasia. Perhaps the name "Khazars" goes back to the Turkic basis "kaz" - to nomad.

At first, the Khazars roamed in the Eastern Ciscaucasia, from the Caspian Sea to Derbent, and in the 7th century. entrenched in the Lower Volga and part of the Crimean Peninsula, were dependent on the Turkic Khaganate, which by the 7th century. weakened. In the 1st quarter VII century An independent Khazar state emerged.

In the 660s. The Khazars, in alliance with the North Caucasian Alans, defeated Great Bulgaria and formed the Kaganate. Under the authority of the supreme ruler - the kagan - there were many tribes, and the title itself was equated to the imperial one. The Khazar Khaganate was an influential force in Eastern Europe, and therefore there is a lot of written evidence about it in Arabic, Persian and Byzantine literature. The Khazars are also mentioned in Russian chronicles. Important information about6 the history of the Khazar Kaganate contains information dating back to the 10th century. letter from the Khazar king Joseph to the head of the Spanish Jewish community, Hasdai ibn Shafrut.

The Khazars made constant raids on the lands of the Arab Caliphate in Transcaucasia. Already from the 20s. VII century Periodic invasions of the Khazars and allied tribes of the Caucasian Alans into the Derbent region began. In 737, the Arab commander Merwan ibn Muhammad took the capital of Khazaria - Semender, and the Kagan, saving his life, swore an oath to convert to Islam, but did not keep his word. As the Khazar legend says, after Jewish merchants arrived in Khazaria from Khorezm and Byzantium, a certain Khazar prince Bulan converted to Judaism.

His example was followed by part of the Khazars who lived on the territory of modern Dagestan.

The Khazar Khaganate was inhabited by nomadic tribes. The territory of Khazaria proper is the Western Caspian steppes between the rivers. Sulak in Northern Dagestan and the Lower Volga. Here, archaeologists have found burial mounds of Khazar warriors. Academician B.A. Rybakov suggested that the Khazar Kaganate was a small state in the lower reaches of the Volga, and gained its fame thanks to a very advantageous position on the Volga-Baltic trade route. His point of view is based on the testimony of Arab travelers, who reported that the Khazars did not produce anything themselves and lived off goods brought from neighboring countries.

Most scientists believe that the Khazar Kaganate was a huge state, under whose rule for more than two centuries was half of Eastern Europe, including many Slavic tribes, and connect it with the area of ​​the Saltovo-Mayak archaeological culture. The Khazar king Joseph called the Sarkel fortress on the Lower Don the western border of his state. In addition to her, the Khazar cities are known. Balanjar and Semender, who were located at pp. Terek and Sulak, and Atil (Itil) at the mouth of the Volga, but these cities have not been found by archaeologists.

The main occupation of the population of Khazaria is cattle breeding. The system of social organization was called "eternal el", its center was the horde - the headquarters of the kagan, who "kept the el", i.e. headed the union of tribes and clans. The highest class was made up of the Tarkhans - the clan aristocracy; the noblest among them were considered to be those from the Kagan family. The hired guards guarding the rulers of Khazaria consisted of 30 thousand Muslims and “Russians”.

Initially, the state was ruled by a kagan, but gradually the situation changed. The “deputy” of the kagan, the shad, who commanded the army and was in charge of collecting taxes, became a co-ruler with the title of kagan-bek. To the beginning 9th century the power of the kagan became nominal, and he himself was considered a sacred person. He was appointed kagan-bek from representatives of a noble family. The Kagan candidate was strangled with a silk rope and, when he began to choke, they were asked how many years he wanted to rule. If the kagan died before the time he named, it was considered normal, otherwise he was killed. Only the Kagan Bey had the right to see the Kagan. If there was a famine or epidemic in the country, the kagan was killed, as it was believed that he had lost his magical power.

The 9th century was the heyday of Khazaria. In con. VIII - beginning 9th century a descendant of Prince Bulan, Obadiah, having become the head of the Kaganate, carried out a religious reform and declared Judaism the state religion. Despite the opposition, Obadiah managed to unite part of the Khazar nobility around himself. Thus, Khazaria became the only state of the Middle Ages where, at least, its head and the highest nobility professed Judaism. The Khazars, with the help of the nomadic tribes of the Hungarians allied to them, were able to briefly subjugate

Khazar Khaganate. Ideology (religion)

In a special book about Khazaria, it would be advisable to give a section on the culture of the Khazars. However, a number of reasons do not allow this to be done. Firstly, the extreme scarcity of written sources, Secondly, the uncertainty of archaeological data, where material on the Khazars themselves hardly emerges.

Because of this, I will focus on one issue - the ideology (religion) of the Khazars. I deliberately pose it this way, and not in the traditional way of studying the adoption of Judaism by the Khazars, since (as I will try to show) the latter question is important, but is only part of a larger problem.

The Khazars, like the ethnic components that comprised them (Turks, Ugrians, Iranians), were originally pagans, or, as Muslim writers called them, “ahl al-ausan” (lodi, idolaters, idolaters). Movses Kalankatvatsi talks about Khazar paganism in some detail, referring to the Albanian bishop Israel. Israel, as a Christian clergyman, describes pagan rituals with indignation and, perhaps, sometimes distorts them, wanting to show the “hons” as savages and, as he writes, “loyal to Satan.” Thus, describing the funeral rites, the bishop notes that the “khons” beat drums over the corpses, inflicted wounds on their faces, arms, and legs; naked men fought with swords at the grave, competed in horse riding, and then indulged in debauchery.

The customs described by Israel resemble some of the customs of the ancient Scythians, described by Herodotus, and seem to prove continuity between the ancient Iranian nomads and the Khazars of the 7th century.

This is further confirmed by Israel’s information about the deities worshiped by the “hons.” 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 known analogy for it (maybe from the Iranian name for 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 it with Batraz of the Nart epic, but the versions of this epic known to us may not have preserved the original Iranian name.

Israel talks more at length about another Khazar deity, who bore a double name - Tangri Khan and Ashandiat. Movses Kalankatvatsi directly connects the second with the Persians (“parsikk”). According to Israel's description, this deity was represented 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, Turkmen, Yakuts, Chuvash, etc.), although now it seems that his name is not originally Turkic. But Kalankatvatsi himself, having mentioned Tangri Khan only once, then constantly calls him by the name of the Iranian equivalent of Aspandiat; Presumably, this option was more common.

Commenting on this passage from Kalankatvatsi, Sh. Smbatyan writes that it is unknown whether the ancient Persians had a cult of the god Aspandiat, and believes that “Kalankatvatsi could have been misled by the root “asp” in the name Aspandiat, which he identified with Pahlevi and Zend.” aspa" - "horse". Then Smbatyan brings up the fact of horse sacrifice among the Sarmatians and refers to the commentary of N. Adonts (who, in turn, used the book of J. Marquart) about the hero of the Iranian epic Spandiat, the son of Vistasp, and his possible connection with Spandarat, whose name is found in the Nakharars family Kamsarakov. 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 connect the Khazar Aspandiat with the ancient Persian or, especially, the Armenian gods. In ancient Armenian there was a deity S(n)andaramet, which J. Dumezil defines as earth and compares with the Iranian Spenta Armaiti.

Meanwhile, the name Spandiatus is ancient Iranian; it is found in Ctesias in the form Sfendadat. This was the name, according to this author, of the magician who proclaimed himself the son of Cambyses.

Let us remember the name of the hero of the Iranian epic Spentodat (Spentadata, Ispandata). In the Iranian epic set forth in the Shahnama, 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 campaign to Bab-e Sud, i.e. Derbent, and this suggests his connections with the Caucasus. Spentodat-Isfendiyar is a hero of the pan-Iranian epic and could well have existed 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 (Massaget-Alan) 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, gods of 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 cult of the horse leads to the nomadic steppes, 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 Khazar paganism was a complex amalgam of cults of different content and origin.

In conditions of contacts with countries where monotheistic religions (Christianity, Islam) dominated, already in the 7th century. the question arose about accepting any of these faiths, since they were more consistent 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 murder of Ishkhan of Caucasian Albania Juansher, the nobility of this country elected the nephew of the murdered Varaz-Trdat as ruler. The “Grand 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.

The already mentioned Bishop Israzl went to 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 unlikely to be the case, since Israel immediately headed the embassy to the north after returning from Armenia. Most likely, the alliance of Albania and Armenia in the early 80s was directed against the Caliphate, where at that time the unrest ceased, and the Umayyads, having crushed their opponents, began the second wave of Muslim conquests in the north and northwest.

It is not surprising that Israel's embassy was greeted with great honor by Alp-Ilutver, who, apparently, was the governor of the Khakan of the Khazars. The consequence of Israel's embassy was the adoption of Christianity by Alp-Ilutver and his entourage. Movses Kalankatvatsi's story about this is compiled in the traditional style of Christian legends with signs and wonders. However, the main thing - the baptism of Alp-Ilutver - is beyond doubt. Pagan temples were destroyed and sacred trees were cut down. According to Kalankatvatsi, the Payrapet throne was established in the city of Varachan, that is, an independent church was founded headed by the Payrapet Catholicos. Alp-Ilutver's return embassy 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 returning to Albania they asked to give them the Catholicos of Israel. Varaz-Trdat and Catholicos Eliazar initially resisted, but when the Khazar ambassadors stated that they did not want another Vardapet, Bishop Israel himself expressed a desire to go to the “khons”.

Here the information about further events among the Khazars ends. Bishop Israel is mentioned again, but in connection with Albanian affairs, so the end of the so colorfully described conversion of the “Prince of the Hones” 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. One can only guess what caused it. It seems that Alp-Ilutver’s adoption of Christianity was met with hostility by the main part of the Khazar nobility; perhaps Alp-Ilutver did this, trying to create an independent possession for himself within 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 doesn't appear. Consequently, we can assume that his attempt to establish Christianity among the “hons” ended in failure.

Subsequently, until the 30s of the 8th century, there is no news of attempts to change the religion of the Khazars. Obviously this was not necessary. Pagan Khazaria successfully (in whole or in part) waged wars that enriched the Khazar nobility with booty, and the old pagan gods, from the point of view of this nobility, fulfilled their role perfectly.

In 737, Mervai ibn Muhammad took the Khazar capital, after which the Khakan fled to the north. The Arabs persecuted him and he eventually sued for peace, promising to convert to Islam. Al-Kufi, in his colorful story, replete with details, claims that the Khazar ruler and with him “many people from among his relatives and fellow tribesmen” converted to Islam. There is, however, every reason to doubt this. In Islam, even during 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 written revelations (Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism). And although the practical attitude towards these religions changed, in general they remained in the position of protected ones. Pagan cults were not like that.

The Khazars were pagans, and the conqueror Merwan, in accordance with Muslim practice, offered them conversion to Islam. Probably, under those conditions, the Khakan was forced to agree to this, but it is unlikely that he carried it out. Two sources report about the Khakan's promise to become a Muslim (al-Belazuri and al-Kufi). Neither al-Yaqubi, 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 made more use of all kinds of oral traditions than any other early Arab writer, and he has the most dialogues, which indicate the apocryphal nature of his material. About the adoption of Islam by the Khazars in the 8th century. Nor does such an erudite as al-Mas’udi mention it. 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 is to this time (approximately 50-70s of the 9th century) that a message dates back, an early version of which is found in Ibn Ruste. According to the latter, in Khazaria, Judaism was professed by the “highest head” (i.e., Khakan), the Shad, as well as the leaders (“Kovvad”) and the 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 9th 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 historiographical tradition, the ancestor of which can be considered King Joseph, who launched 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 thanks to the involvement of Arabic sources. During the period after Buxtorf's publications (1660) and up to the present time, a huge and contradictory historiography has grown up, which is inappropriate to analyze here. It is more important to identify several 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 elite of Khazaria and, secondly, the initiators of this act.

The answer to the second question has already been essentially given above. The initiator was the Shad, who then became the 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 King Joseph, who refers to the Khazar books (“sfarim”), known to “all the old men of our land” (“l-kol ziknei artsanu”). 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, ordering him to convert to the true, i.e., Jewish, faith. Just in case, however, Bulan arranged a kind of dispute between a Muslim qadi and a 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 long 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 one in the manuscript, but opinions differed. After the story of Bulan’s miraculous conversion, Joseph adds several phrases about the activities of King Obadiah, who “strengthened the faith according to law and rule,” that is, he is believed to have converted to rabbinic Judaism. Obadya appears as the son of Bulan's sons, that is, as his descendant. And then the subsequent kings of Khazaria are listed, numbering 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 is no parallel data. In addition to Joseph, the Cambridge document mentions his father Aaron and grandfather Benjamin. 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. Involving the Cambridge document does not help either.

It contains a slightly different version of the story 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 or order. This option for converting 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, according to this version, appeared later as a judge (“shofet”) from among the Khazars themselves. At the same time, the “big head” turned into a king, etc. There are no dates here.

Such a vague idea of ​​the date of Judaization of the Khazars quite naturally prompted later Jewish scribes who dealt with the problem of the Khazars to specifically address this issue. The Jewish scholar Yehuda na-Levi, writing around 1140, citing some chronicle books, believed that the Khazar king accepted Judaism 400 years before him, i.e., around 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 instructions 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. - rabbinic.

The news of al-Mas'udi is especially valuable to us. Unfortunately, he discussed this problem in detail in his unsurvived works, and in Muruj al-Dhahab, apparently, gave only a brief summary. The latter boils down to the fact that the Khazar king accepted the Jewish faith during the reign of Harun al-Rashid, and during the time of the Byzantine emperor Roman Lekapin (919-944), who carried out persecution of the Jews, the latter fled to Khazaria. B. N. Zakhoder concluded from this that we can talk about two periods of Judaization of Khazaria: during the time of Harun ar-Rashid and during the life of al-Mas’udi himself, a contemporary of Roman Lekapin.

Al-Mas'udi's text does not provide any basis for such a conclusion. It is this text that is our only credible evidence of the date of the adoption of Judaism by the Khazar king. The question of dating Yehuda na-Levi is complicated not only because it is a late author. It is impossible to abstract from the fact that he said “about 400 years ago,” so on this basis it is hardly correct to give an exact date of about 740. Obviously, those “chronicle books” to which he refers did not contain an exact date, and this allows us to extend the conclusion of the 12th century author. about an event that occurred about 400 years before, for the entire 8th century, and then it becomes possible to date it to the time of Harun ar-Rashid, who ascended the throne in 786. Obviously, i-al-Mas did not know a more exact date 'udi, who lived one and a half hundred years after that. We cannot date it more precisely.

What were the reasons for the adoption of Judaism by the elite of 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 strong relics of the tribal system, and on the other, with the emerging feudal decentralization, urgently required 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 ones.

Taking approximately the last quarter of the 8th century as the date for the Judaization of the Khazar nobility, let us 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 a wide variety of relations - Byzantium and the Arab Caliphate. Christianity was widespread among the subjects of Khazaria - the inhabitants of Crimea. This faith was professed by most of the inhabitants of Transcaucasia - Armenia, Georgia, Caucasian Albania. It would seem that the adoption of Christianity by the Khazars 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 8th 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 Khakan's daughter, 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. This was a strong blow to Byzantium, and it took fifty years for good relations to be restored between it and Khazaria. In such conditions, there could hardly be any talk of accepting Christianity, especially since the Christian countries of Transcaucasia in the second half of the 8th century. were subjected to Khazar invasions at least twice.

The conditions for the adoption of Islam were equally unfavorable. The Caliphate remained the main enemy of the Khazars, although the great Arab-Khazar wars in the second half of the 8th century. did not have.

But the circumstances were favorable for the adoption of the Jewish religion. In the conditions of Europe, which fell into decline after the barbarian invasions, Jewish communities and Jewish trading capital not only retained their strength and influence, but also practically monopolized European trade. Special patronage was given to Jewish Carolingian merchants, who, when in need of money, always turned to Jewish moneylenders. Obviously, the same importance of the Jewish merchants in European trade explains their patronage from the Spanish Umayyads. In the 9th century. It was the Jewish merchants who controlled the transit trade between Europe and Asia. These were enterprising traders who spoke different languages ​​(Arabic, Persian, Greek, Frankish, Spanish-Roman, Slavic). One of their routes ran through the Czech Republic, Hungary, Rus' and Volga Bulgaria and the Volga region in general into the Khazar Kaganate.

Naturally, in parallel with trade trips, Jewish colonies arose in different regions of Eastern Europe. Their appearance was also prompted by periodic persecution of Jewish communities in the Byzantine Empire, as a result of which Jews emigrated to 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 to Khazaria arrived in three ways: from Baghdad, i.e., obviously, from Arab Iraq, where the second most important Jewish colony had long existed, 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 equally vehemently denied it, loses its main meaning, although Artamonov’s criticism had grounds in the 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 Jewish colonies cannot be discounted either. It is no coincidence that in this regard, Tsar Joseph paid special attention to the geography of Crimea.

According to Joseph, 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 (Obadiah, Chanukah, Isaac, 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 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 medieval Jewish circles. A recently published document in Hebrew originating from the community ("kahal") of Kyiv (Kiyuv), dating from the 10th century, lists several names that show that this community was more religious than ethnic. Along with such traditionally Jewish names as Abraham, Isaac, Shmuel, etc., we find there the names Kibr, Mns, etc. The Turkologist O. Pritzak, who studied them, proposed interesting, although not indisputable, interpretations of them, in particular and on the basis Chuvash language - a descendant of the language of the Volga Bulgars, closest to the Khazar.

The most important question that needs to be answered is who confessed in Khazaria in the 9th-10th centuries. Judaism: is it the whole people or some part of it? In modern literature there is a certain tendency to exaggerate the role of Judaism in Khazaria and even in Rus'. Meanwhile, sources for the 10th century. give a completely clear answer. As we have already seen, Jews (ethnic) and part of the Khazars who converted to Judaism lived in Khazaria. Both of them, however, differ in their sources, although not entirely clearly. 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 comes in last place. Al-Istakhri and Ibn Haukal even directly point out that the followers of the Jewish faith are the fewest, and the most in Khazaria are Muslims and Christians. 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 professed by the king, the Khakan, the king’s entourage and his family (“jineh”). In the 10th century the king and the Khakan had to be Jews by religion, although one specific case, which is narrated by al-Istakhri, indicates that there were Muslims among the Khazar nobility.

Thus, the widespread spread of the Jewish religion among the population of Khazaria even in the 10th century. there is no need to talk. The bulk of them professed Islam, Christianity or various pagan cults. The king and his entourage, who converted to Judaism, became increasingly alienated from their subjects. Strengthening in the 10th century. the influence of some of the latter who professed Islam, and especially the Al-larisiya guard, 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 impact the adoption of Judaism by the Khazar elite had on the Khazar culture. This influence cannot be denied, although it should not be exaggerated. The fact that the Hebrew language and writing were widespread in Khazaria is proven by the correspondence of Hasdai ibn Shafrut and King Joseph. But the extent of this spread remains questionable. The famous scholar al-Nadim (late 10th century) noted that the Khazars used Hebrew writing. The later Persian writer Fakhr ad-din Mubarak Shah (early 13th century) connected the Khazar script with the Russian and Rumian (i.e., Greek) alphabets. Based on this, V.V. Bartold suggested that the Khazars use the Greek alphabet for their own language and associated this with the well-known activities of the Slavic enlightener Cyril-Constantine. It is advisable to pay attention to al-Mas'udi's message about Muslim schools in Atila, where teaching could only be conducted in Arabic. And since some of the Khazars professed Islam, this indicates the well-known prevalence of Arab culture. Some modern scientists consider it possible to talk about the influence of Persian culture on the Khazars.

In short, the diversity of religious cults led to the spread of different cultural influences, none of which, apparently, finally prevailed in Khazaria. The absence of a unified culture, literary language and writing indicates the weak consolidation of Khazaria in cultural terms.

In the Early Middle Ages in Eastern Europe, next to Kievan Rus, there was such a powerful state as the Khazar Khaganate. The Khazars themselves were originally a Caucasian tribe living in the territory of modern Dagestan. Then these people migrated and settled along the shores of the Caspian Sea and in the lower reaches of the Terek. At that time, the level of the Caspian Sea was 8 meters lower than today. Therefore, the Volga delta was extremely large and reached the Buzachi Peninsula. All these lands abounded in fish and grapes brought by the Khazars from the Caucasus.

The enemies of the Caspian Khazars were the Burtases and Bulgars. In the 6th century, both of them were subjugated by the Turks. Then the victors began to have dynastic feuds. Some Turks relied on the Bulgars, others on the Khazars. The Khazars and their allies were victorious. The Bulgars fled to the Middle Volga, where they founded the city of Great Bulgar. The other part of the Bulgar horde, led by Khan Asparukh, went to the Danube. There she mixed with the local Slavic tribes and laid the foundation for the Bulgarian people.

In the 7th-8th centuries, the Khazars were attacked by the Arabs. The Turks helped them in this war. These people were very brave and warlike. It was the Turks who were the first to master such a horseman's weapon as a saber. In the middle of the 7th century, the Turkic dynasty was defeated by the Chinese Tang dynasty (618-907). The representative of the broken dynasty fled to the Khazars. They accepted him and made him their khan, since the Turkic khan suited them.

He wandered with his headquarters in the lower reaches of the Volga, migrated to the Terek in the spring, spent the summer between the Terek, Kuban and Don, and with the arrival of winter returned to the Volga. There was no need to support such a khan. He did not demand taxes, but supported himself by his own nomadic farming. It was the Turkic khans, having become the leaders of the Khazars, who organized their defense from the Arabs. They advanced from Azerbaijan through Derbent to the Terek and Volga. But their invasion was repulsed. After this, a joint Turkic-Khazar state was formed in the Caspian region.

Khazars and Jewish people

The history of various peoples is notable for population migration. However, migrations vary greatly. It happens that people move to someone else's territory and completely adapt to it. This happened with the Slavs. From the upper reaches of the Vistula they spread to the Baltic, Adriatic and Aegean seas. At the same time, they managed to settle everywhere. But the Vandals, Suevi and Goths mixed with the local population and disappeared.

At all times, there was another migration: a group of merchants or conquerors created their own small colony on foreign territory. This includes the British who colonized India and the French who created African colonies. The former did not become Hindus, and the latter did not become blacks. After working and serving away from home, they returned back. For the Khazars, the Jewish people, or more precisely, their Persian and Byzantine branches, became the colonizers.

The Persians and Byzantines pushed the Jews out of their lands, and they found refuge north of the Terek. Trade routes passed here, and the Khazars who lived in these places did not show aggressiveness towards the refugees. Those, using their literacy, began to master and develop occupations that were unusual for the local population. Trade, diplomacy, and education were in their hands.

At the beginning of the 9th century, the Jewish population of the Khazar Kaganate added political power to its intellectual and economic power. The wise Obadiah took over the actual power in the state. He drove out the Turks, who made up the military class. At the same time, he relied on mercenary detachments of Guz and Pechenegs. The Khazar Turks resisted, but were defeated and retreated to Hungary.

In the 9th century, the Baghdad Caliphate began to collapse. Its main city, Baghdad, sucked all the juice out of its subject areas and gave nothing in return. As a result, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia broke away. Egypt, Eastern Iran, and Central Asia separated, and the Deylem region off the southern coast of the Caspian Sea became isolated. This area was inhabited by extremely warlike people, and they professed Islam in the form of Shiism.

Khazar Khaganate on the map

They captured part of Azerbaijan up to Derbent, the western regions of Persia and conquered Baghdad. Thus, the convenient route from the Volga along the shores of the Caspian Sea to Baghdad came under the control of the Dailemites. And they didn’t let anyone through.

As a result of this, the Jewish government of the Khazar Khaganate found itself in a difficult situation, since trade routes to the south were cut off. Before this, the Jews recruited soldiers from Gurgan and paid them high wages. But the Kurgan people refused to fight against the Dailemite Muslims, since they were fellow believers. And then the Khazar Kaganate was forced to hire the Rus on the same conditions.

The Rus encountered the Dailemites in 913 and were defeated by the Muslims. In an unsuccessful campaign, the entire Russian squad was killed, and after that Khazaria was occupied for two decades with minor conflicts with the Slavs and the emerging Principality of Kyiv.

In 939, a very important historical event occurred. The Russian prince Igor captured the city of Samkerts (Taman), belonging to the Khazars and located on the shore of the Kerch Strait. In response to this, in 940, the Khazar army under the command of the Jew Pesach moved against the Rus. He liberated Samkerts, crossed the Kerch Strait with his army and marched along the southern coast of Crimea. Then Passover crossed Perekop, reached Kyiv and imposed tribute on the Russian principality. All these events are described in The Tale of Bygone Years.

In 943, the Khazars again sent the Rus as tributaries to the Caspian Sea for a war with the Dailemites. The Russian squad captured the Berdaa fortress in the lower reaches of the Kura River. But after this victory, dysentery began among the Russian soldiers. It turned out to be more terrible than the enemy sabers. The Russians hastily boarded the boats and sailed away from the inhospitable shores. But no one returned to their homeland.

For Kievan Rus, the Khazar Kaganate became an extremely serious problem, which in its significance surpassed the war with Byzantium. As a result of this, in the summer of 964, the young Kiev prince Svyatoslav began a campaign against the Khazars. He did not lead his squad from Kyiv to the Volga across the steppes. The Russians climbed the Dnieper to the upper reaches and dragged the boats to the Oka. Along the Oka and Volga, Svyatoslav reached the capital of Khazaria, the city of Itil.

Itil was located on a large island 18 km wide. It was formed by two Volga channels: the Volga itself from the west and Akhtuba from the east. In those days, the Akhtuba River was as deep as the Volga. The city had a stone synagogue, a king's palace, and large wooden houses. There was a stone mosque because Muslims were treated politely.

Warriors of Svyatoslav against the Khazars

Svyatoslav's squad surrounded the city, but many Khazars had previously fled to the Volga delta and hid in a labyrinth of channels. But the Jewish population of Itil remained outside the city walls. It went out to fight the Russians and was completely defeated.

After this, Svyatoslav moved to the Terek and surrounded the second most important city in the Kaganate, Semender. Its inhabitants did not resist for long. They surrendered to the mercy of the victors. The Rus took horses, oxen, and carts from the population and moved home across the Don. On the way, they stormed the Sarkel fortress and destroyed it.

As a result of the campaign of 964-965, Svyatoslav excluded the Volga, the middle reaches of the Terek and part of the Middle Don from the zone of influence of the Khazars. But the main achievement of the campaign was that Kievan Rus regained its independence and stopped paying tribute to the Khazar Kaganate.

Decline of the Khazar Khaganate

In the 80s of the 10th century, many Khazars converted to Islam and received help from Khorezm. The Kagan and his court returned to Itil again, but in 985, the Kiev prince Vladimir organized a new campaign against Khazaria and imposed tribute on it. In the 11th century, the Khazars completely lost their political influence in the region. They were unable to resist the Cumans and began to leave their ancestral lands.

In the 12th century, the city of Saksin appeared instead of Itil. Muslim Khazars lived in it, but there were few of them. But the Jewish Khazars migrated to Europe, where they dissolved among other Jews. Nomads began to dominate the former lands of the Kaganate. These territories were united into a single whole only during the time of the Golden Horde.

Alexey Starikov

Archaeologists have discovered in the Astrakhan region the capital of the ancient Khazar Khaganate - the city of Itil, which existed from the eighth to the 14th centuries, one of the leaders of the expedition, candidate of historical sciences Dmitry Vasiliev, said in a telephone interview with RIA Novosti.

The Khazar Khaganate or Khazaria is a medieval state created in 650-969 by the nomadic people - the Khazars. The capital of the Khazar Kaganate was the city of Itil.

Khazaria emerged from the Western Turkic Khaganate and controlled the territory of the Ciscaucasia, Lower and Middle Volga regions, modern northwestern Kazakhstan, the Azov region, the eastern part of Crimea, as well as the steppes and forest-steppes of Eastern Europe up to the Dnieper.

Initially, Khazaria was a typical nomadic khanate. The head of the state was the kagan (ruler). Formally, he had full military and administrative power. The Kagan was the head of a pagan cult and was endowed with supernatural abilities in the eyes of his subjects. His power was considered to be established by heaven.

The central part of the country was the Lower Volga region. The Khazars themselves lived here. The migrations of the Kagan and the Khazar nobility passed through this territory. Most of the territory was governed without administrative intervention. Subordinate peoples: Alans, Bulgarians, Burtases, Hungarians, Slavs, etc. retained their own socio-political structure. They had their own rulers, who were obliged to collect and send tribute to Khazaria.

The population of the Kaganate was divided into “white” (free) and “black” (tax-paying) Khazars. The top of the “whites” was formed by the clan aristocracy (owners of large herds). There was a complex hierarchy within it, since the Khazars did not destroy the nobility of the conquered tribes, but included them through a system of vassal relations into the ruling elite.

The basis of economic activity of the ordinary population was nomadic cattle breeding. For the ruling elite, the main source of enrichment was initially military booty obtained by plundering neighboring countries. It is interesting that, according to a yard of evidence, the Khazars did not kill the artisans of the conquered countries.

Gradually, the Khazars reoriented towards non-military sources of income. This became possible as a result of the rise in international trade in the 2nd half of the 8th - early 9th centuries. Control over important transit routes led to the fact that in the 9th-10th centuries the main source of income for Khazaria began to be trade duties. The capital of Khazaria - Itil - turned into the largest trading point. At the same time, the Khazars themselves retained their traditional nomadic way of life and did not engage in international trade.

The Old Russian state played a decisive role in ending the existence of Khazaria. In 964, Prince Svyatoslav liberated the last Slavic tribe of the Vyatichi, dependent on the Khazars, and in 965 defeated the Khazar army led by the Kagan and captured the Sarkel fortress. Then, in 965 or, according to other sources, in 968-969, the Rus (the people who gave their name and formed the social elite of the first state of the Eastern Slavs - Rus'), acting in alliance with the Oguzes (one of the three Turkic peoples of Central Asia, formed by 9th century in the steppes of modern Kazakhstan), they defeated Itil. This moment is considered the end of the independent Khazar state.

Archeology took up the Khazars in the 1920-1930s. Actually, Khazar finds are extremely rare: archaeologists, as a rule, are guided by the shape and typology of ceramic vessels. Since the Kaganate included both nomads and sedentary peoples, objects from these dissimilar cultures coexist in Khazar settlements. The list of Khazar antiquities, which scientists unambiguously attribute to the Khazars, is limited to several dozen items. Among the Khazar finds, the most “famous” are a ritual ladle with scenes of a mythical battle depicted on it, several reliquaries with equally rich fairy-tale-mythological images, a brick from the Sarkel fortress with a plan of a labyrinth sanctuary, a stone slab with a runic inscription on it and several more similar ones , but only shorter and fragmentary inscriptions on the bull’s skull and fragments of pottery.

Research in Soviet and post-Soviet times made it possible to discover a large number of proto-urban centers and fortifications. To date, only two Khazar cities have been reliably identified - Sarkel and Samkerts. The ruins of Sarkel are identified with the left bank Tsimlyansk settlement (territory of the Volgograd and Rostov regions). Today, the Tsimlyansk settlement is inaccessible for research - it was flooded during the construction of the Tsimlyansk reservoir in the first half of the 1950s. The ruins of the city of Samkerts are considered to be the Taman settlement (Taman station, Krasnodar region).

The identification of the Khazar cities of Belenjer and Semender is controversial. The Tarki settlement near Makhachkala claims to be Semender, but perhaps, according to archaeologists, this city was located in a different place. Another Caspian city of the Khazars, Belenger, according to scientists, may have stood on the site known as the Verkhnechiryurt settlement. It was flooded during the construction of the Sulak hydroelectric power station (Dagestan).

The key scientific problem in studying the history of the Khazar Kaganate is the spread of Judaism in Khazaria. Archaeologists are trying to find material evidence of the existence of Judaism in Khazaria and assess the extent to which it affected Khazar society.

Currently, there is a divergence of opinions in world historiography. Russian and Ukrainian experts believe that only the royal family and some of the higher nobility converted to Judaism. In turn, Western and, in particular, Israeli historians insist on the widespread existence of this religion among all Khazars, as well as on its penetration among the peoples subordinate to the Khazars.

On the territory of Taman, tombstones depicting Jewish symbols were found, indicating that Jews were present in this region until the 5th century. Archaeologists do not exclude the possibility of discovering traces of Khazar Judaism as a result of large-scale excavations in the Lower Don and Lower Volga basin.

In September 2008, archaeologists from a joint expedition of the Astrakhan State University and the Institute of Ethnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences announced that they had found the capital of the Khazar Khaganate - the city of Itil. According to scientists, Itil is a Samosdel settlement in the Astrakhan region (Samosdelka village, 40 km from Astrakhan).

Work on the site has been carried out since 2000. The cultural layer is about three and a half meters. Archaeologists were able to establish the outlines of a brick fortress-citadel, identify residential areas, “yurt-shaped” dwellings characteristic of the Khazar times, and specific ceramics. The lower layers of the ancient settlement date back to the 8th-9th centuries, that is, Khazar times. A layer of a large fire was also found, which possibly corresponds to the time of the destruction of Itil by the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav Igorevich (960s). The total area of ​​the proposed Khazar capital is large: about two square kilometers. 50-60 thousand people could live in such a settlement at the same time. By medieval standards, this is a very large city.

According to scientists, Itil ceased to exist not after the fall of the Kaganate, but later - around the 14th century, when it was flooded by the Volga: traces of the pre-Mongol and Golden Horde stages in the life of the city are recorded archaeologically.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

For the majority of the Russian population, knowledge about the Khazars is limited to lines from A. S. Pushkin’s poem “The Song of the Prophetic Oleg”, which says: “How the Prophetic Oleg is now going to take revenge on the foolish Khazars...” and yet the “Khazar Khaganate” was considered one one of the first serious external enemies of Ancient Rus'. Contemporaries of the Khazars were the nomadic tribes of the Cumans and Pechenegs, who also raided Rus'.

The meaning of the word Khazars: nomadic ancient Turkic people, formed in the 7-10 centuries.

The formation of the “Khazar Khaganate” supposedly occurred in 650. One of the heirs of the last kagan from the Nushibi group, belonging to the Western Turkic kaganate, found shelter in Khazaria and founded his own kaganate - the Khazar. After the collapse of the Western Khaganate in 958, the "Khazar Khaganate" became the sole heir to the lands in Southeastern Europe. The Khazars, in addition to conquering lands, were actively engaged in cattle breeding and resale of slaves.

The original religion of the “Khazar Kaganate” was paganism, traditional at that time. Subsequently, supporters of Christian, Muslim, Jewish and pagan religions lived there quite peacefully, but not for long. The Khazars converted to Judaism. The adoption of Judaism as the main religion by the Khazars was most likely influenced by the establishment of trade relations.

The “Khazar Kaganate” conquered and subjugated foreign lands, collecting tribute. Among them were some East Slavic tribes: Vyatichi, Radimichi, Northerners, Polyans, burdened with tribute before the liberation of Ancient Russia. Also, from the middle of the 8th century, Volga Bulgaria was also in the power of the “Khazar Kaganate”.

Ancient Rus' for a long time waged an active struggle against the Khazars. However, the decisive event in this long struggle was the campaign of Prince Svyatoslav in 964 against the “Khazar Kaganate”. The Pechenegs and Guzes became his allies. Having reached the capital of the “Khazar Kaganate” - Itil (Atil), Prince Svyatoslav and his allies crushed the Khazar army led by the Kagan, along the way capturing the second most important Khazar city - Semender and the Sarkel fortress.

After the collapse of the “Khazar Kaganate”, the Russians ruled in the lower reaches of the Volga until the 980s. Residents of the capital of Khazaria and their leader at this time found shelter on the islands of the Caspian Sea. After the Rus left, the Khazar ruler was offered help from Khorezm (a region of Central Asia) and he returned to his native lands. In exchange for help, most of the Khazars had to convert to Islam, and then their king. In 985, Prince Vladimir made a new campaign against the Khazars and imposed tribute on them.

In the middle of the 11th century, the Volga Khazaria finally disintegrated after the invasion of new nomads - the Polovtsians. In 1024, the Khazar people fought on the side of Mstislav - the son of Prince Vladimir, during their battle with their brother Prince Yaroslav. The last news about the Khazars was in 1079 and 1083, during the military operations of Prince Oleg the Prophet, who was subsequently captured by them and given to Byzantium.

Soon, power in the Volga region passed to the Volga Bulgaria, and power in the Caucasus went to Alania. A unified government on these lands was again formed only as part of