KhAZARS, ov, pl. T. n. "persons of the southern nationality". All the bazaars were bought by the Khazars. name an ancient people who lived in the 7th-10th centuries. from the Volga to the Caucasus ... Dictionary of Russian Argo
Modern Encyclopedia
The Turkic-speaking people who appeared in Vost. Europe after the Hun invasion (4th century) and nomadic in the Western Caspian steppe. Formed the Khazar Khaganate ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
KHAZARS, ar, unit arin, a, husband. An ancient people who formed in the 710 centuries. a state stretching from the lower Volga to the Caucasus and the Northern Black Sea region. | female Khazarka, i. | adj. Khazar, oh, oh. Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu.… … Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov
KhAZARS, a Turkic-speaking people who appeared in Eastern Europe after the Hun invasion (4th century) and roamed the Western Caspian steppe. They formed the Khazar Khaganate. Source: Encyclopedia Fatherland ... Russian history
Khazars- KHAZARS, a Turkic-speaking people who moved from the Trans-Urals to Eastern Europe after the Hun invasion (4th century) and wandered in the Western Caspian steppe. They formed the state of the Khazar Khaganate, after the defeat of which by Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
A nomadic Turkic tribe that first appeared in the territory north of the Caucasus in the early 4th century. In the 7th century The Khazars conquered the Azov Bulgarians. By the 9th c. they created a strong, prosperous state, stretching from the Crimea to the middle reaches of the Volga, and on ... ... Collier Encyclopedia
Zar; pl. A Turkic-speaking people who appeared in Eastern Europe in the 4th century BC. after the Hun invasion and wandered in the Western Caspian steppe (from the middle of the 7th century it formed the Khazar Khaganate). * How the prophetic Oleg is now going to take revenge on the unreasonable Khazars ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Khazars- KHAZARS, ar, mn (ed Khazarin, a, m). An ancient Turkic-speaking people that appeared in Vost. Europe after the Hun invasion in the 4th century, wandering in the Western Caspian steppe, living along the Terek River and in the Volga delta (from the middle of the 7th century formed the Khazar ... ... Explanatory dictionary of Russian nouns
A nomadic Turkic-speaking people who appeared in Eastern Europe after the Hun invasion (4th century). In the 60s. 6th c. Kh. were subjugated by the Turkic Khaganate (See Turkic Khaganate). From the middle of the 7th century, they created the Khazar Khaganate. After his fall... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
Books
- Khazars (2017 ed.), Oleg Ivik, Vladimir Klyuchnikov. The Khazars are one of the most mysterious peoples of the early Middle Ages. Among scientists there are disputes even about who to call this word. The Khazars did not leave shards that would allow them ...
The history of the Khazar Khaganate, the largest and strongest state in Eastern Europe in the 8th-9th centuries, still raises many questions. The Kaganate was a polyconfessional state in which Jewish, Muslim, pagan and Christian communities existed on an equal footing. Perhaps this was also due to the multi-ethnic composition of Khazaria, whose population was a motley mixture of different ethnic groups. Ugrians, Turks, Iranian-speaking Alans - they were both the conquerors of these territories and the vanquished. These and other questions are answered by the book of the orientalist Novoseltsev "The Khazar Khaganate".
The publishing house "Lomonosov" published a book by the famous orientalist Anatoly Novoseltsev "Khazar Khaganate". Novoseltsev (1933-1995) is known as the largest domestic orientalist, including one of the best researchers of the Khazars.
In the book "The Khazar Khaganate" he considers the versions of the origin of this ethnic group, the structure of their state and how it influenced the history of Eastern Europe.
Novoseltsev, in particular, cites the opinions of foreign and domestic historians and archaeologists. For example, the historian Grushevsky noted the role of Khazaria (until the 10th century) as a barrier to Europe from new nomadic Asian hordes, rightly considering the Khazar state in the 8th-9th centuries the strongest state in Eastern Europe. And the American historian Dunlop believed that the Khazar state existed until the 13th century (although its defeat by the Rus at the end of the 10th century greatly weakened and fragmented the Khaganate).
The idea of the Hungarian historian Bart that Khazaria was a trading state (and not nomadic or semi-nomadic) is interesting. His observation is noteworthy that almost all the settlements of the kaganate were located in river basins. This, by the way, is a common feature for Eastern Europe of that time, including Rus'.
One of the sections of Novoseltsev's book deals with the issue of the ethnic origin of the Khazars. As you know, the kaganate was a polyconfessional state in which Judaic, Muslim, pagan and Christian communities existed on an equal footing. Perhaps this was also due to the multi-ethnic composition of Khazaria, whose population was a motley mixture of different ethnic groups. With the permission of the Lomonosov publishing house, we publish an excerpt from the book by Anatoly Novoseltsev, which tells about the ethnic composition of Khazaria.
“Since the 4th century, along with the tribes of the Hunnic Union, a stream of Finno-Ugric and proto-Turkic tribes poured into Eastern Europe from Siberia and more remote regions (Altai, Mongolia). They found in the steppe regions of Eastern Europe a predominantly Iranian (Sarmatian) population, with whom they entered into ethnic contacts. Throughout the IV-IX centuries in this part of Europe there was a mixture, mutual influence of three ethnic groups: Iranian, Ugric and Turkic. In the end, the latter prevailed, but it happened rather late.
The nomads of the Hunnic association first of all occupied lands suitable for cattle breeding. However, their predecessors - Alan, Roksolan, etc. - they could not, and did not want to completely drive them out of these lands and for some time wandered along with them or next to them. In the Eastern Ciscaucasia there were just such lands suitable for cattle breeding, and the nomads of the Hunnic association rushed here immediately after the defeat of their main enemies - the Alans. The Alans suffered great losses in this struggle, but survived in the North Caucasus, though mainly in its central part, and their closest relatives, the Massagets-Maskuts, in the coastal strip of modern Dagestan and neighboring regions of present-day Azerbaijan. It was here, obviously, that an intensive synthesis of local Iranians (and possibly Caucasians) took place with newcomers, who in this area were called Huns for quite a long time, perhaps because the Hunnic element was very influential among them.
However, it was not the Huns who played the main role in the ethnogenesis of the Khazars, but first of all the tribe of the Savirs - those same Savirs (Sabirs), whose name, according to al-Mas'udi, the Turks called the Khazars.
For the first time Sabirs-Savirs appear in sources for Eastern Europe in connection with the events of 516/517, when, having passed the Caspian gates, they invaded Armenia and further into Asia Minor. Modern researchers unanimously consider them to be from Western Siberia.
It is possible with great reason to believe that the Finno-Ugric tribes of the south of Siberia were called Savirs, and, perhaps, the very name Siberia goes back to them. It seems that this was a significant tribal association of the south of Western Siberia. However, the advance of the Turkic hordes from the east pressed the Savirs and forced them to leave their ancestral territory in groups. So the Savirs, together with the Huns or later, under the pressure of some enemies, crossed into Eastern Europe and, once in the North Caucasus, came into contact with the multi-ethnic local population. They were part of various tribal associations and sometimes led them.
In the period from approximately the second decade to the 70s of the 6th century, Byzantine authors especially often mention the Savirs in this area, primarily Procopius of Caesarea, as well as Agathius. As a rule, the Savirs were in alliance with Byzantium and fought against Iran, and this is evidence that they lived near the famous fortifications of Chokly-Chora (Derbent), which, just in the first half of the 6th century, were re-fortified and took on a form that has survived to our days. days.
And then the Savirs somehow immediately disappear from almost all sources about the North Caucasus, although the memory of them was preserved in the Khazar traditions set forth by Tsar Joseph. At the same time, in the "Armenian Geography" Savirs are present among the tribes of Asian Sarmatia east of the Khons (Huns), Chungars and Mends (?) to the Tald River, which separates the Asian Sarmatians from the country of the Apakhtarks. This news is contained in the section "Ashkharatsuytsa", which gives the impression of a complex combination of sources from different times. There is a lot of obscurity here, including the ethnonyms "Chungars" and "Mend"; it is not easy to identify the Tald River (perhaps it is Tobol). But the word “Apakhtark” can be explained from the Middle Persian language as “northern”, and therefore it is possible to assume that this part of the text goes back to non-surviving versions of the Sasanian geography, which the author of “Ashkharatsuyts” undoubtedly enjoyed. And then this news is related to the VI century. True, the continuation of this text again looks strange, because it says that these apakhtark (plural) are Turkestans, their king (“tagovar”) is a khakan, and a khatun is the wife of a khakan. This part is clearly artificially "fastened" to the previous one and could appear in connection with the Turkic Khaganate, whose inhabitants were "northern" residents in relation to Iran.
It is quite possible that it was the Turkic Khaganate that was responsible for the death of the Savir Union. Probably, the resettlement of a part of the Savirs in Transcaucasia is connected with this event, about which the Byzantine historian of the VI century Menander Protector speaks. These, obviously, are the very “Sabartoyaspaloi” about whose departure to Persia Konstantin Porphyrogenitus writes, although he mistakenly connects their resettlement with the events of the 9th century (the war between the “Turks” and the Pechenegs).
The fact that Constantine Porphyrogenitus is mistaken is not difficult to prove. Ibn al-Fakih, who wrote at the beginning of the 10th century, mentions Savir as as-Sawardiya. Al-Mas'udi places siyavurdiyya along the Kura River below Tiflis, indicating that they are a branch of the Armenians. The Armenian historian of the first half of the 10th century, Iovannes Draskhanakertsi, places sevordik (plural, singular - sevordi) near the city of Ganja. If the Sevardians were Armenianized in the first half of the 10th century, as V.F. Minorsky believes, then this could not have happened during the life of two or three generations, so their resettlement in Transcaucasia took place long before the 9th century, most likely in the 6th-7th centuries .
The collapse of the Savir Union was, apparently, a notable event in the history of Eastern Europe at that time, and only the limitedness of our sources does not allow us to determine its extent. After that, the Savirs, in addition to Transcaucasia, appear under the name Savar in the Middle Volga region, where the Volga Bulgaria arose.
But some part of the Savirs remained in the Eastern Ciscaucasia, when a stream of Turkic tribes poured in here. Among them could be the Turkic tribe Xhosa, known from Chinese sources. Researchers associate the ethnonym "Khazars" with him, although other options can be assumed. Perhaps it was this Turkic tribe that then, during the second half of the 6th century and later, assimilated the remnants of the Savirs in Ciscaucasia, as well as some other local tribes, as a result of which the Khazar ethnos was formed.
Among these assimilated tribes there was undoubtedly a part (northern) of the Muskuts, as well as some other tribes, in particular the Basils (Barsilii), Balanjar, etc. Balanjar are mentioned in Primorsky Dagestan in Arabic sources, and for the beginning of the tenth century - in the Middle Volga region (in the form of baranjars). The city of Balanjar is associated with this ethnonym, which is obviously identical to Varachan. As for the basils, it is worth dwelling on them separately, although it is possible that basils and balanjar are one and the same.
(Khazar coin)
The Basils are mentioned several times by Movses Khorenatsi in sections of his history related to the semi-legendary presentation of the activities of the ancient Armenian kings (Valarshak, Khosrov and Trdat III), and once they act together with the Khazars, which is, of course, unrealistic for the II-III centuries. This information does not lend itself to precise commentary, it only indicates that in Armenia in the 5th-6th centuries the Basil tribe was known. In "Ashkharatsuyts" a strong people of basils ("amranaibaslatsazgn") is placed on the river Atil, obviously, in its lower reaches.
But remember that Michael the Syrian calls Barsilia the country of the Alans. From this it can be assumed that initially the Barsilii (Basils) were an Alanian (Iranian) tribe, which was then Turkified and merged with the Khazars in the Eastern Ciscaucasia, and with the Bulgars in the Western Ciscaucasia. The latter is confirmed by the information of Ibn Ruste and Gardizi about the Bulgar tribe (in the text of Ibn Rust "sinf" - "kind, category", in Gardizi "gorukh" - "group") barsula (in Gardizi - darsula). In total, these authors have three groups (kinds) of Bulgars: Barsula, Esgal (Askal) and Blkar, that is, Bulgars proper. If we compare this with the division of the Volga Bulgars by Ibn Fadlan, then we will find a curious thing. Ibn Fadlan, apart from the Bulgars proper, names the Askal tribe, but does not mention the Barsilians. On the other hand, he has the genus al-baranjar, and this, perhaps, confirms the identity of the Turkicized basils (barsils) and balanjars.
Sources give rather contradictory information about the ethnicity of the Khazars. Often they are ranked among the Turks, but the very use of the ethnonym "Turks" was not always definite until the 11th century. Of course, in Central Asia, and even in the caliphate of the 9th-10th centuries, the Turks were well known, from which the guard of the caliphs was formed. But it is one thing to know “one’s own” Turks, and another thing to understand the diversity of ethnic groups that literally walked in the vast steppe spaces of Eurasia. Among these hordes, the Turks in the 9th-10th centuries undoubtedly prevailed, absorbing not only the remnants of the Iranians, but also the Ugrians. The latter were part of the political associations in which the Turks played the main role, and when the same Ugric peoples broke away from them, the name of the Turks could remain with them for some time, as was the case with the Hungarians in the first half of the 10th century.
In general, the writers of that time clearly saw the fluidity of the steppe population and its continuity. For example, Menander Protector wrote that the Turks were formerly called Saks. In this statement of his, as in the stubborn naming of the North Caucasian nomads by the Armenian sources as the Huns or the Arab sources of the Khazars in the 8th century as Turks, one must see not only a tribute to historical tradition, but also an awareness of the fact that the Huns or Turks who previously lived in the North Caucasus did not disappear, but merged with the same Khazars and therefore could be identified with them. During the period when the Turks became the dominant ethnic element in the steppes from Altai to the Don (9th-10th centuries), Muslim authors often included Finno-Ugric peoples, and sometimes even Slavs, among them.
(Reconstruction of the capital of Khazaria - the city of Itil)
But some Arab writers of the 9th-10th centuries still separated the Khazars from the Turks. The Khazar language, as proven by linguists, is Turkic, but together with Bulgar it belonged to a separate group, quite different from other Turkic languages, the most common in the 9th-10th centuries (Oguz, Kimak, Kypchak, etc.), well known in the Muslim world . This, obviously, explains the seemingly strange fact that Muslim authors give contradictory data about the Khazar language. In the 11th century, when Mahmud of Kashgar compiled his famous Dictionary of the Turkic Language, the Khazar language was already disappearing, and the scientist did not record its vocabulary. But Mahmud uses the language of the Bulgars in his lexicon, and this is a solid proof of belonging to the Turkic family and the Khazar language, the closest relative of the Bulgar language. Differences between them, of course, existed, but with our current level of knowledge, they are elusive.
The people who once lived in present-day Southern Russia. Their origin is not known with certainty. Konstantin Porphyrogenitus considers them Turks and translates the Khazar name of the city of Sarkel - white hotel. Bayer and Lerberg also take them for Turks, but the word Sarkel is translated differently: the first is a white city, the second is a yellow city. The author of an article in "Beytr ä ge zur Kenntniss Russlands" (I, 410) recognizes them as Hungarians; Fren refers them to the Finnish tribe; Klaprot and Budygin consider them Voguls, the Arab writer Ibn-el-Efir - Georgians, the geographer Shemeud-din-Dimeshki - Armenians, etc.
There is an interesting letter from the Jew Hisdai (see Art. Jews), the treasurer of an Arab sovereign in Spain, to the Khazar Khagan and the answer of the Khagan: the Khagan considers Kh. to be the descendants of Forgoma, from whom the Georgians and Armenians originate. The authenticity of this letter, however, is doubtful. Reliable information about the Khazars begins no earlier than the 2nd century A.D., when they occupied the lands north of the Caucasus Mountains.
Then they begin a struggle with Armenia, for the most part victorious, and stretches until the 4th century. With the invasion of the Huns, the Khazars are hidden from the eyes of history until the VI century. At this time, they occupy a large space: in the east they border on the nomadic tribes of the Turkic tribe, in the north - with the Finns, in the west - with the Bulgarians; in the south, their possessions reach the Araks. Freed from the Huns, the Khazars begin to intensify and threaten the neighboring peoples: in the VI century. The Persian king Kabad built a large rampart in the north of Shirvan, and his son Khozroy built a wall to protect against the 10th century. The Khazars occupied the territory of the Bulgarians, taking advantage of the strife among them after the death of King Krovat. Since this century, X.'s relations with Byzantium begin.
The Khazar tribes posed a great danger to the latter: Byzantium had to give them gifts and even become related to them, against which Konstantin Porphyrogenitus takes up arms, advising to fight the Khazars with the help of other barbarians - Alans and Guzes. Emperor Heraclius managed to win over the Khazars in his fight against the Persians. Nestor calls the Khazars white Ugrians.
The Khazar tribes on the Tauride Peninsula, in the former possessions of the Bulgarians, found refuge with Justinian II, who married the sister of the Khazar Khagan. In 638, Caliph Omar conquered Persia and destroyed the neighboring lands. H.'s attempt to oppose the aggressive movement of the Arabs ended in failure: their capital Selinder was taken; only the defeat of the Arabs on the banks of the Bolangira River saved the country of the Khazars from complete devastation. In the 8th century Kh. waged an 80-year war with the caliphate, but had to (although their attacks on the lands of the caliphate were later encountered) asked the Arabs in 737 for peace, which was given to them under the condition of accepting Islam.
Unsuccessful wars in the south were rewarded to some extent with successes in the north: around 894, the Khazars, in alliance with the Guzes, defeated the Pechenegs and Hungarians who lived north of the Tauride Peninsula; even earlier, they subjugated the Dnieper Slavs and took from them "white from the smoke."
Thus, in the ninth century their possessions stretched from the northern part of the Caucasus to the lands of the northerners and Radimichi, that is, to the banks of the Desna, Seim, Sula and Sozh rivers. In the X century. their possessions were still expanded, but death was already close. The Russian state grew stronger and gathered together the scattered Slavic tribes. Already Oleg faced the Khazar Khaganate, subjugating some Khazar tributaries. In 966 (or 969) Svyatoslav Igorevich moved to Khozaria and won a complete victory in a decisive battle. Khazaria fell. The remnant of the Khazar people for some time still held out between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains, but then mixed with their neighbors.
In the Russian chronicles, the last indication of Khazar was preserved under 1079, but the name Khozaryan is found in the XIV and even XV centuries. when listing various servants of the Moscow princes. The Khazars, like the Bulgarians, were a semi-sedentary people. In winter, according to the description of Ibn Dast, they lived in cities, and with the onset of spring they moved to the steppes. Their main city after the defeat of Selinder was Itil, which stood near the place where Astrakhan is now. The population of Khazaria was diverse and diverse. The head of state himself, the kagan, accepted Judaism in the 18th century, according to Fotslan and Massudi, together with his governor and the "porphyry-born" boyars; the rest of the population professed part Judaism, part Islam, part Christianity; there were also pagans.
There is a tradition (see "Acta Sanctorum", II, 12-15), accepted by Bestuzhev-Ryumin, that X. asked Emperor Michael for a preacher and that the latter sent St. Kirill. The Khazars had a very original character of government and court. Arab writers of the 10th century. they say that although the main power belonged to the kagan, it was not he who ruled, but his deputy infantry (beg?); kagan, in all likelihood, had only religious significance. When the new governor came to the kagan, the latter threw a silk noose around his neck and asked the half-suffocated "infantry" how many years he thought to rule. If he did not die by the time appointed by him, then he was put to death.
The kagan lived completely closed in his palace, with 25 wives and 60 concubines, surrounded by a court of "porphyry" and significant guards. He was shown to the people every 4 months. Access to it was open to "infantry" and some other dignitaries. After the death of the kagan, they tried to hide the place of his burial. The army of the Khazars was numerous and consisted of a permanent detachment and a militia. The "infantry" commanded over him. For the court, the Khazars had 9 (according to Ibn Fotslan) or 7 (according to Gaukal and Massudi) husbands: two judged according to Jewish law, two - according to Mohammedan, two - according to the Gospel, one was appointed for Slavs, Russ and other pagans. Trade in the Khazar Khaganate was transit: they received goods from Rus' and Bulgaria and sent them across the Caspian Sea; expensive goods came to them from Greece, from the southern shores of the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus. The storage place for goods was Khazeran - one of the parts of Itil. State revenues were made up of tolls, tithes from goods brought in by land and water, and taxes sent in kind. The Khazars did not have their own coins.
Literature. Fren, "Veteres memoriae Chazarorum" ("Mem. de l" Acad. Sciences", VIII, 1822); Thunmann, "Unters. über die Geschichte der ostl. Europ. Vö lker" (translated by Pogodin, Vestn. Evropy, 1823); Evers, "Krit. Vorarbeiten" (translated by Pogodin, "Northern arch.", 1838); Khvolson, "News about the Khazars, Burtases, Magyars, Slavs and Russians - Ibn-Dasta" (St. Petersburg, 1869); Sum, "Ist. once. about the Khazars" ("Read. in" General. ist. ", year 2, book 3); V. V. Grigoriev, "Review of the political history of Khazaria" ("Son of the Father" and "Northern archive", 1835, 17); "On the form of government in X." ("J. M. N. Pr.", 3 books); D. Yazykov, "Experience in the history of the Khazars" ("Proceedings of the Russian Academy of Sciences", I); B. A. Dorn, "News about the Khazaria east. ist. Tabori" ("Zh. M. N. Pr.", 1844, book 7); "Historical Collection" by Valuev and "Readings in the General History", year 2, 6 (letter from Khisdai and the response of the kagan in translations by K. Kossovich and Hartenstein). For more detailed instructions, see D. Yazykov.
The ancient and medieval history of mankind keeps many mysteries. Even with the current level of technology, there are still gaps in the study of most issues.
Who were the Khazars? This is one of those problems with no exact answer. We know little about them, but even if we collect all the existing references to this people, even more questions arise.
Let's get to know this interesting people better.
Who are the Khazars
This tribe - the Khazars - was first mentioned in Chinese sources as part of the population of the great empire of the Huns. Researchers give several hypotheses regarding the origin of the ethnonym and the ancestral home of the Khazars.
Let's deal with the name first. The root "goats" in many languages of Central Asia means a number of words associated with nomadism. This version seems to be the most plausible, because the rest look like this. In Farsi, “Khazar” means “thousand”, the Romans called the emperor Caesar, and the Turks understand this word as oppression.
They try to determine the ancestral home from the earliest records in which the Khazars are mentioned. Where did their ancestors live, who were the closest neighbors? There are still no clear answers.
There are three equivalent theories. The first considers them the ancestors of the Uyghurs, the second - the Hunnic tribe of the Akatsirs, and the third is inclined to the version that the Khazars are the descendants of the tribal union of the Ogurs and Savirs.
Like it or not, it is difficult to answer. Only one thing is clear. The origin of the Khazars and the beginning of their expansion to the west is connected with the land they called Barsilia.
Mention in written sources
If we analyze the information from the notes of contemporaries, we also get confusion.
On the one hand, existing sources say that it was a powerful empire. On the other hand, the fragmentary information contained in the notes of travelers cannot illustrate anything at all.
The most complete source that reflects the state of affairs in the country is the correspondence of the kagan with the Spanish dignitary Hasdai ibn Shaprut. They communicated in writing on the subject of Judaism. The Spaniard was a diplomat who became interested in the Jewish empire, which, according to the merchants, existed near the Caspian Sea.
Three letters contain a legend about where the ancient Khazars came from - brief information about the cities, the political, social and economic state of affairs.
Other sources, such as Russian chronicles, Arabic, Persian and other references, basically describe only the causes, course and results of local military conflicts on the borders.
Geography of Khazaria
Kagan Joseph in his letter tells where the Khazars came from, where these tribes lived, what they did. Let's take a closer look at its description.
So, the empire spread in the period of its greatest prosperity from the Southern Bug to the Aral Sea and from the Caucasus Mountains to the Volga in the region of the latitude of the city of Murom.
Numerous tribes lived in this area. In the forest and forest-steppe regions, the sedentary way of farming was widespread, in the steppe - nomadic. In addition, there were a lot of vineyards near the Caspian Sea.
The largest cities mentioned by the kagan in his letter were as follows. The capital - Itil, was located in the lower reaches of the Volga. Sarkel (Russians called it Belaya Vezha) was located on the Don, and Semender and Belenjer - on the coast of the Caspian Sea.
The rise of the Khaganate begins after the death of the Turkic Empire, in the middle of the seventh century AD. By this time, the ancestors of the Khazars lived in the region of modern Derbent, in the flat Dagestan. From here comes the expansion to the north, west and south.
After the capture of the Crimea, the Khazars settled in this territory. She was identified with this ethnonym for a very long time. Even in the sixteenth century, the Genoese referred to the peninsula as "Gazaria".
Thus, the Khazars are an association of Turkic tribes who were able to create the most durable nomadic state in history.
Beliefs in the Khaganate
Due to the fact that the empire was at the crossroads of trade routes, cultures and religions, it became like a medieval Babylon.
Since the main population of the kaganate were Turkic peoples, the majority worshiped Tengri Khan. This belief is still preserved in Central Asia.
The nobility of the kaganate adopted Judaism, so it is still believed that the Khazars are Jews. However, this is not entirely true, because only a very small stratum of the population professed this religion.
Christians and Muslims were also represented in the state. As a result of unsuccessful campaigns against the Arab caliphs in the last decades of the existence of the kaganate, Islam gains greater freedom in the empire.
But why do they stubbornly believe that the Khazars are Jews? The most likely reason is the legend described by Joseph in a letter. He tells Hasdai that when choosing the state religion, an Orthodox and a rabbi were invited. The latter managed to outguess everyone and convince the kagan and his retinue that he was right.
Wars with neighbors
Campaigns against the Khazars are most fully described in Russian chronicles and Arabic military records. The caliphate fought for influence in the Caucasus, and the Slavs, on the one hand, opposed the southern slave traders who plundered the villages, on the other hand, they strengthened their eastern borders.
The first prince who fought with the Khazar Khaganate was He was able to recapture some lands and forced them to pay tribute to himself, and not to the Khazars.
More interesting information about the son of Olga and Igor. He, being a skilled warrior and a wise commander, took advantage of the weakness of the empire and dealt it a crushing blow.
The troops gathered by him went down the Volga and took Itil. Further, Sarkel on the Don and Semender on the Caspian coast were captured. This sudden and powerful expansion destroyed the once mighty empire.
After that, Svyatoslav began to gain a foothold in this territory. Vezha was built on the site of Sarkel, the Vyatichi, a tribe that bordered Russia on one side and Khazaria, on the other, were subject to tribute.
An interesting fact is that, despite all the apparent strife and wars, a detachment of Khazar mercenaries stood in Kyiv for a long time. The Tale of Bygone Years mentions the Kozary tract in the capital of Rus'. It was located near the confluence of the Pochaina into the Dnieper River.
Where did the whole people go?
Conquests, of course, affect the population, but it is noteworthy that after the defeat of the main cities of the kaganate by the Slavs, information about this people disappears. They are no longer mentioned in a single word, in any annals.
The researchers consider the following to be the most plausible solution to this issue. Being a Turkic-speaking ethnic group, the Khazars were able to assimilate with their neighbors in the territory of the Caspian Sea.
Today, scientists believe that the bulk dissolved in this region, some remained in the Crimea, and most of the noble Khazars moved to Central Europe. There they were able to unite with the Jewish communities living on the territory of modern Poland, Hungary, Western Ukraine.
Thus, some families with Jewish roots and ancestors in these lands may, to some extent, call themselves "descendants of the Khazars."
Footprints in archeology
Archaeologists unequivocally say that the Khazars are the Saltov-Mayak culture. It was singled out by Gauthier in 1927. Since that time, active excavations and research have been carried out.
The culture got its name as a result of the similarity of finds at two sites.
The first is a hill fort in Verkhny Saltov, Kharkov region, and the second is the Mayatsk hill fort in the Voronezh region.
In principle, the finds are correlated with the Alans ethnic group, who lived in this territory from the eighth to the tenth centuries. However, the roots of this people are in the North Caucasus, so it is associated directly with the Khazar Khaganate.
Researchers divide the finds into two types of burials. The forest variant is Alanian, and the steppe variant is Bulgar, which also includes the Khazars.
Possible descendants
The descendants of the Khazars are another white spot in the study of the people. The difficulty lies in the fact that it is almost impossible to trace the continuity.
The Saltovo-Mayak culture as such accurately reflects the life of the Alans and Bulgars. The Khazars are listed there conditionally, since there are very few of their monuments. In fact, they are random. Written sources "fall silent" after the campaign of Svyatoslav. Therefore, one has to rely on the joint hypotheses of archaeologists, linguists and ethnographers.
To date, the most likely descendants of the Khazars are the Kumyks. This is a Turkic-speaking This also includes partially Karaites, Krymchaks and Judaized mountain tribes of the Caucasus.
Dry residue
Thus, in this article we talked about the fate of such an interesting people as the Khazars. This is not just another ethnic group, but, in fact, a mysterious blank spot in the medieval history of the Caspian lands.
They are mentioned in many sources of Russians, Armenians, Arabs, Byzantines. The Kagan is in correspondence with the Caliphate of Cordoba. Everyone understands the power and strength of this empire...
And suddenly - the lightning campaign of Prince Svyatoslav and the death of this state.
It turns out that an entire empire can not only disappear within a short period, but sink into oblivion, leaving descendants only guesses.
Who are the Khazars? Please give a detailed answer. and got the best answer
Answer from DedAl[guru]
The Khazars are a people who once lived in present-day Southern Russia. Their origin is not known with certainty.
Konstantin Porphyrogenitus considers them Turks and translates the Khazar name of the city of Sarkel - white hotel. Bayer and Lerberg also take them for Turks, but the word Sarkel is translated differently: the first is a white city, the second is a yellow city.
There is an interesting letter from the Jew Hisdai (see Art. Jews), the treasurer of an Arab sovereign in Spain, to the Khazar Khagan and the answer of the Khagan: the Khagan considers Kh. to be the descendants of Forgoma, from whom the Georgians and Armenians originate.
Reliable information about the Khazars begins no earlier than the 2nd century after the birth of Christ, when they occupied the lands north of the Caucasus Mountains. Then they begin a struggle with Armenia, for the most part victorious, and stretches until the 4th century. With the invasion of the Huns, the Khazars are hidden from the eyes of history until the VI century. At this time, they occupy a large space: in the east they border on the nomadic tribes of the Turkic tribe, in the north - with the Finns, in the west - with the Bulgarians; in the south, their possessions reach the Araks. Freed from the Huns, the Khazars begin to intensify and threaten the neighboring peoples: in the VI century. The Persian king Kabad built a large rampart in the north of Shirvan, and his son Khozroy built a wall to protect against the 10th century. The Khazars occupied the territory of the Bulgarians, taking advantage of the strife among them after the death of King Krovat. Since this century, X.'s relations with Byzantium begin.
The Khazar tribes posed a great danger to the latter: Byzantium had to give them gifts and even become related to them, against which Konstantin Porphyrogenitus takes up arms, advising to fight the Khazars with the help of other barbarians - Alans and Guzes. Emperor Heraclius managed to win over the Khazars in his fight against the Persians.
Nestor calls the Khazars white Ugrians. The Khazar tribes on the Tauride Peninsula, in the former possessions of the Bulgarians, found refuge with Justinian II, who married the sister of the Khazar Khagan. In 638, Caliph Omar conquered Persia and destroyed the neighboring lands. H.'s attempt to oppose the aggressive movement of the Arabs ended in failure: their capital Selinder was taken; only the defeat of the Arabs on the banks of the Bolangira River saved the country of the Khazars from complete devastation. In the 8th century Kh. waged an 80-year war with the caliphate, but had to (although their attacks on the lands of the caliphate were later encountered) asked the Arabs in 737 for peace, which was given to them under the condition of accepting Islam. Unsuccessful wars in the south were rewarded to some extent with successes in the north: around 894, the Khazars, in alliance with the Guzes, defeated the Pechenegs and Hungarians who lived north of the Tauride Peninsula; even earlier, they subjugated the Dnieper Slavs and took from them "white from the smoke."
The Russian state grew stronger and gathered together the scattered Slavic tribes. Already Oleg faced the Khazar Khaganate, subjugating some Khazar tributaries. In 966 (or 969) Svyatoslav Igorevich moved to Khozaria and won a complete victory in a decisive battle. Khazaria fell. The remnant of the Khazar people for some time still held out between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains, but then mixed with their neighbors. In the Russian chronicles, the last indication of Khazar was preserved under 1079, but the name Khozaryan is found in the XIV and even XV centuries. when listing various servants of the Moscow princes. The Khazars, like the Bulgarians, were a semi-sedentary people. In winter, according to the description of Ibn Dast, they lived in cities, and with the onset of spring they moved to the steppes. Their main city after the defeat of Selinder was Itil, which stood near the place where Astrakhan is now. The population of Khazaria was diverse and diverse. The head of state himself, the kagan, accepted Judaism in the 18th century, according to Fotslan and Massudi, together with his governor and the "porphyry-born" boyars; the rest of the population professed part Judaism, part Islam, part Christianity; there were also pagans.
More like read http://www.bibliotekar.ru/hazary/
History of the Khazar Khaganate
http://www.russiancity. en/ybooks/y1.htm
Answer from Yodor Bulanov[guru]
The Khazars are a Turkic-speaking nomadic people. Became known in the Eastern Ciscaucasia (plain Dagestan) shortly after the Hun invasion. It was formed as a result of the interaction of three ethnic components: the local Iranian-speaking population, as well as the alien Ugric and Turkic tribes.
More details can be found in
Answer from Mikhail Basmanov[expert]
The Khazars are the inhabitants of the Khazar Khaganate. The Jews were in power in it, and the people were Slavic-Aryans.
Answer from Indars Loschilov[guru]
- The ethnonym "Khazars" (Semitic Kazar / Kuazar, Turkic Geser) means "Caesar", which the imperial cattle breeders of Judea called themselves under Nero, who fled after his fall somewhere to the east ... So - the Khazars / Caesars - were called later, free nomad shepherds who wore red clothes in defiance of the basileus (porphyry-bearers) of the Second Rome; Greek Rousios (red) gave the term "Rous" (Rus) in the Russian chronicles, because the "water" (Rus, Trita-Odin worshipers)) wore red cloaks due to the tradition of the Khazars. The Varangians, however, are called Rus in the annals of Danes (Danes) by the similarity of the meanings of the words "dana" (stream, river) and "rusa" (flow, river) ... And you need to know that the morpheme "rus", as well as the morpheme "ros" is a polyseme that has more meanings! With respect to the seekers of truth, Indaro. 03/20/2017.
