-Caveat Lector-
From
http://www.khazaria.com/khazar-history.html
}}}>Begin
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF KHAZARIA
by Kevin Alan Brook, Copyright (C) 1996
Latest revision: July 2000.
"Of all the astonishing experiences of the widely dispersed Jewish
people
none was more extraordinary than that concerning the Khazars."
- Nathan Ausubel, in Pictorial History of the Jewish People (1953)
"The Khazar people were an unusual phenomenon for Medieval times.
Surrounded by savage and nomadic tribes, they had all the advantages
of the developed countries: structured government, vast and
prosperous trading, and a permanent army. At the time, when great
fanatism and deep ignorance contested their dominion over Western
Europe, the Khazar state was famous for its justice and tolerance.
People persecuted for their faiths flocked into Khazaria from
everywhere. As a glistening star it shone brightly on the gloomy
horizon of Europe, and faded away without leaving any traces of
existence."
- V. V. Grigoriev (1835; from the 1876 book Rossii i Aziya, in the
essay "O dvoystvennosti verkhovnoy vlasti u khazarov", on page 66)
"Though the Jews were everywhere a subject people, and in much of the
world persecuted as well, Khazaria was the one place in the medieval
world where the Jews actually were their own masters.... To the
oppressed Jews of
the world, the Khazars were a source of pride and hope, for their existence seemed to
prove that God had not completely abandoned His people."
- Raymond Scheindlin, in The Chronicles of the Jewish People (1996)
The history of Khazaria presents us with a fascinating example of how Jewish life
flourished in the Middle Ages. In a time when Jews were persecuted thruout Christian
Europe, the kingdom of Khazaria was a beacon of hope.
Jews were able to flourish in Khazaria because of the tolerance of the Khazar rulers,
who invited Byzantine and Persian Jewish refugees to settle in their country. Due to
the influence of these refugees, the Khazars found
the Jewish religion to be appealing and adopted Judaism in large numbers.
Most of the available information about the Khazars comes from Arabic, Hebrew,
Armenian, Byzantine, and Slavic sources, most of which are reliable. There is also a
large quantity of archaeological evidence concerning the
Khazars which illuminates multiple aspects of the Khazarian economy (arts and crafts,
trade, agriculture, fishing, etc.) as well as burial practices.
Origins. The Khazars were a Turkic1 people who originated in Central Asia. The early
Turkic tribes were quite diverse, although it is believed that reddish hair was
predominant among them prior to the Mongol conquests. In
the beginning, the Khazars believed in Tengri shamanism, spoke a Turkic language, and
were nomadic. Later, the Khazars adopted Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, learned
Hebrew and Slavic, and became settled in cities and
towns thruout the north Caucasus and Ukraine. The Khazars had a great history of
ethnic independence extending approximately 800 years from the 5th to the 13th century.
The earliest history of the Khazars in southern Russia, prior to the middle of the 6th
century, is hidden in obscurity. From about 550 to 630, the Khazars were part of the
Western Turkish Empire, ruled by the Celestial Bl
ue Turks (Kök Turks). When the Western Turkish Empire was broken up as a result of
civil wars in the middle of the 7th century, the Khazars successfully asserted their
independence. Yet, the Kök kaganate under which they
had lived provided the Khazars with their system of government. For example, the
Khazars followed the same guidelines as the Kök Turks regarding the succession of
kings.
Political power. At its maximum extent, the independent country of Khazaria included
the geographic regions of southern Russia, northern Caucasus, eastern Ukraine, Crimea,
western Kazakstan, and northwestern Uzbekistan. O
ther Turkic groups such as the Sabirs and Bulgars came under Khazar jurisdiction
during the 7th century. The Khazars forced some of the Bulgars (led by Asparukh) to
move to modern-day Bulgaria, while other Bulgars fled to
the upper Volga River region where the independent state of Volga Bulgharia was
founded. The Khazars had their greatest power over other tribes in the 9th century,
controlling eastern Slavs, Magyars, Pechenegs, Burtas, N
orth Caucasian Huns, and other tribes and demanding tribute from them. Because of
their jurisdiction over the area, the Caspian Sea was named the "Khazar Sea", and even
today the Azeri, Turkish, Persian, and Arabic langua
ges designate the Caspian by this term (in Turkish, "Hazar Denizi"; in Arabic,
"Bahr-ul-Khazar"; in Persian, "Daryaye Khazar").
In addition to their role in indirectly bringing about the creation of the modern
Balkan nation of Bulgaria, the Khazars played an even more significant role in
European affairs. By acting as a buffer state between the Is
lamic world and the Christian world, Khazaria prevented Islam from significantly
spreading north of the Caucasus Mountains. This was accomplished thru a series of wars
known as the Arab-Khazar Wars, which took place in th
e late 7th and early 8th centuries. The wars established the Caucasus and the city of
Derbent as the boundary between the Khazars and the Arabs.
Cities. The first Khazar capital was Balanjar, which is identified with the
archaeological site Verkhneye Chir-Yurt. During the 720s, the Khazars transferred
their capital to Samandar, a coastal town in the north Caucasu
s noted for its beautiful gardens and vineyards. In 750, the capital was moved to the
city of Itil (Atil) on the edge of the Volga River. In fact, the name "Itil" also
designated the Volga River in the medieval age. Itil
would remain the Khazar capital for at least another 200 years. Itil, the
administrative center of the Khazar kingdom, was located adjacent to Khazaran, a major
trading center. In the early 10th century, Khazaran-Itil's p
opulation was composed mostly of Muslims and Jews, but a few Christians lived there
also. The capital city had many mosques. The king's palace was located on an island
nearby, which was surrounded by a brick wall. The Kha
zars stayed in their capital during the winter, but they lived in the surrounding
steppe in the spring and summer to cultivate their crops.
The great capital city of modern Ukraine, Kiev, was founded by Khazars. Kiev is a
Turkic place name (Küi = riverbank + ev = settlement). A community of Jewish Khazars
lived in Kiev. Other towns of the Khazars, which also
had important Jewish communities, included Cherson, Kerch, Feodosia, Tmutorokan
(Phanagoria), Olbia, and Sarkel. The local governors of these cities and districts
were usually Jewish. A major brick fortress was built in 8
34 in Sarkel, along the Don River. It was a cooperative Byzantine-Khazar venture, and
Petronas Kamateros, a Greek, served as chief engineer during the construction.
Civilization and trade. The staple foods for the Khazars were rice and fish. Barley,
wheat, melons, hemp, and cucumbers were also harvested in Khazaria. There were many
orchards and fertile regions around the Volga River,
which the Khazars depended upon due to the infrequency of rain. The Khazars hunted
foxes, rabbits, and beavers to supply the large demand for furs.
Khazaria was an important trade route connecting Asia and Europe. For example, the
"Silk Road" was an important link between China, Central Asia, and Europe. Among the
things traded along the Khazar trade routes were silk
s, furs, candlewax, honey, jewelry, silverware, coins, and spices. Jewish Radhanite
traders of Persia passed thru Itil on their way to western Europe, China, and other
locations. The Iranian Sogdians also made use of the
Silk Road trade, and their language and runic letters became popular among the Turks.
Khazars traded with the people of Khwarizm (northwest Uzbekistan) and Volga Bulgharia
and also with port cities in Azerbaijan and Persi
a.
The Khazars' dual-monarchy was a Turkic system under which the kagan was the supreme
king and the bek was the civilian army leader. The kagans were part of the Turkic
Asena ruling family that had provided kagans for other
Central Asian nations in the early medieval period. The Khazar kagans had relations
with the rulers of the Byzantines, Abkhazians, Hungarians, and Armenians. To some
extent, the Khazarian kings influenced the religion of
the Khazar people, but they tolerated those who had different religions than their
own, so that even when these kings adopted Judaism they still let Greek Christians,
pagan Slavs, and Muslim Iranians live in their domain
s. In the capital city, the Khazars established a supreme court composed of 7 members,
and every religion was represented on this judicial panel (according to one
contemporary Arab chronicle, the Khazars were judged accor
ding to the Torah, while the other tribes were judged according to other laws).
Ancient communities of Jews existed in the Crimean Peninsula, a fact proven by much
archaeological evidence. It is significant that the Crimea came under the control of
the Khazars. The Crimean Jewish communities were lat
er supplemented by refugee Jews fleeing the Mazdaq rebellion in Persia, the
persecutions of Byzantine emperors Leo III and Romanus I Lecapenus, and for a variety
of other reasons. Jews came to Khazaria from modern-day Uzb
ekistan, Armenia, Hungary, Syria, Turkey, Iraq, and many other places, as documented
by al-Masudi, the Schechter Letter, Saadiah Gaon, and other accounts. The Arabic
writer Dimashqi wrote that these refugee Jews offered t
heir religion to the Khazar Turks and that the Khazars "found it better than their own
and accepted it". The Jewish Radhanite traders may have also influenced the
conversion. Adopting Judaism was perhaps also a symbol of
political independence for Khazaria, holding the balance of power between Muslim
Caliphate and the Christian Byzantine Empire.
Under the leadership of kings Bulan and Obadiah, the standard rabbinical form of the
Jewish religion spread among the Khazars. Saint Cyril came to Khazaria in 860 in a
Byzantine attempt to convert the Khazars to Christian
ity, but he was unsuccessful, because by that time the Khazars had already adopted a
basic level of Judaism. He did, however, convince many of the Slavs to adopt
Christianity. King Bulan adopted Judaism in 861, after hold
ing a debate between representatives of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths. The
Khazar nobility and many of the common people also became Jews. King Obadiah later
established synagogues and Jewish schools in Khazari
a. Mishnah, Talmud, and Torah thus became important to Khazars. By the 10th century,
the Khazars wrote using Hebrew-Aramaic letters. The major Khazar Jewish documents from
that period are in Hebrew. Ukrainian professor Om
eljan Pritsak estimated that there were as many as 30,000 Jews in Khazaria by the 10th
century. In 1999, Russian archaeologists publicized new evidence from the Don river
valley demonstrating that Jewish communities were
well-established in the kingdom.
In general, the Khazars may be described as a productive and
tolerant people, in contact with much of the rest of the world and
providing goods and services at home and abroad. Many artifacts from
the Khazars, exhibiting their artistic and industrial talents, have
survived to the present day.
Decline and fall. During the 10th century, the East Slavs were united
under Scandinavian overlordship. A new nation, Kievan Rus, was formed
by Prince Oleg. Just as the Khazars had left their mark on other
peoples, so too did they influence the Rus. The Rus and the
Hungarians both adopted the dual-kingship system of the Khazars. The
Rus princes even borrowed the title kagan. Archaeologists recovered a
variety of Khazar or Khazar-style objects (including clothing and
pottery) from Viking gravesites in Chernigov, Gnezdovo, Kiev, and
even Birka (Sweden). The residents of Kievan Rus patterned their
legal procedures after the Khazars. In addition, some Khazar words
became part of the old East Slavic language: for example, bogatyr
("brave knight") apparently derives from the Khazar word baghatur.
The Rus inherited most of the former Khazar lands in the late 10th
century and early 11th century. One of the most devastating defeats
came in 965, when Rus Prince Svyatoslav conquered the Khazar fortress
of Sarkel. It is believed that he conquered Itil two years later,
after which he campaigned in the Balkans. Despite the loss of their
nation, the Khazar people did not disappear. Some of them migrated
westward into Hungary, Romania, and Poland, mixing with other Jewish
communities.
Notes.
1. Many medieval writers attested to the Khazars' Turkic
origins including Theophanes, al-Masudi, Rabbi Yehudah ben Barzillai,
Martinus Oppaviensis, and the anonymous authors of the Georgian
Chronicle and Chinese chronicle T'ang-shu. The Arabic writer al-
Masudi in Kitab at-Tanbih wrote: "...the Khazars... are a tribe of
the Turks." (cited in Peter Golden, Khazar Studies, pp. 57-58). T'ang-
shu reads: "K'o-sa [Khazars]... belong to the stock of the Turks."
(cited in Peter Golden, Khazar Studies, p. 58). In his Chronographia,
Theophanes wrote: "During his [Byzantine emperor Heraclius] stay
there [in Lazica], he invited the eastern Turks, who are called
Chazars, to become his allies." (cited in Theophanes, The Chronicle
of Theophanes Confessor, translated by Cyril Mango and Roger Scott,
1997, p. 446). The claim that the Khazars were Scythians is
completely without merit.
Suggestions for further research. Here are some useful published
introductory materials on the Khazars. Some are available from retail
bookstores, while others are only available through libraries.
"The Jews of Khazaria" by Kevin Alan Brook (1999). 360 pages. 11
chapters, plus glossary, timeline, bibliography, maps, notes. For
more information about this title, including the table of contents,
click here.
"Khazarian Hebrew Documents of the Tenth Century" by Norman Golb and
Omeljan Pritsak (1982). Russian translation: "Khazarsko-evreiskie
dokumenty X veka" by Golb and Pritsak, with new section by Vladimir
Ia. Petrukhin (1997).
"The History of the Jewish Khazars" by Douglas M. Dunlop (1954, 1967)
"The Thirteenth Tribe: The Khazar Empire and Its Heritage" by Arthur
Koestler (1976)
"Khazar Studies: An Historico-Philological Inquiry into the Origins
of the Khazars" by Peter B. Golden (1980)
Journal article "Khazaria and Judaism" by Peter B. Golden, in
Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi, volume 3, 1983, pages 128 to 156.
"The Kuzari: In Defense of the Despised Faith" by Yehudah HaLevi,
translated by N. Daniel Korobkin (1998)
The Emergence of Rus 750-1200 by Jonathan Shepard and Simon Franklin
A History of Russia, Central Asia, and Mongolia - Volume 1: Inner
Eurasia from Prehistory to the Mongol Empire, by David Christian
Please email [EMAIL PROTECTED] to express your
interest in being added to the Khazaria Info Center contact list, so
that you will be notified when other publications are available, and
also about other news in the field of Khazar studies. Back issues are
still available, covering subjects like Khazar shamanism, new
evidence for the existence of organized Jewish communities in
Khazaria, and the mysterious names on the Kievan Letter. Another way
to sign up for the automated subscription service is to write an e-
mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit KHAZARIA-
ANNOUNCE Information Page. When children under age 13 attempt to
register with Yahoo Groups, a parent or guardian authorizes the
creation of that account, also known as a Yahoo Family Account. This
allows Yahoo Groups to obtain verifiable consent from a parent or
guardian before any registration information is obtained from a child
known to be under 13iyearsiold. However, (1) Khazaria-Announce is not
a discussion list or message board because it is a read-only
newsletter, (2) Khazaria-Announce caters to an adult audience.
Subscribe to khazar-fiction
if you are interested in reading, writing, publishing, or
distributing historical fiction novels and short stories about the
Khazar Khaganate
>>>Hot linques<<<
The Khazar Fortress of Sarkel
Khazaria Image Gallery
A Comprehensive Bibliography of Works about the Khazars in Multiple
Languages 1901- Present
Medieval Quotes About Khazar Judaism
The Kuzari's References to the Khazar Conversion to Judaism
Current Issues in Khazar Studies
The Khazars: A European Experiment in Jewish Statecraft
A Timeline of Khazarology since 1990
Are Russian Jews Descended from the Khazars?
This page in French
Return to THE KHAZARIA INFO CENTER Main Page
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
End<{{{
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material
is distributed without charge or profit to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information
for non-profit research and educational purposes only.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking
new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe
simply because it has been handed down for many generations. Do not
believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do
not believe in anything simply because it is written in Holy Scriptures. Do not
believe in anything merely on the authority of Teachers, elders or wise men.
Believe only after careful observation and analysis, when you find that it
agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all.
Then accept it and live up to it."
The Buddha on Belief, from the Kalama Sutta
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled
one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller,
German Writer (1759-1805)
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that
prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless
of frontiers."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will
teach you to keep your mouth shut."
--- Ernest Hemingway
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
