Khazar
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Who were the Khazars?
The Khazars were a Turkic-speaking group who formed a large commercial empire in southeastern modern Russia around the late 6th century CE. They were initially part of the western Turkic empire, located in the northern Caucasus region. By the 7th century, the Khazars became independent, but faced wars with the Arabs, which eventually led them to shift their empire northward, with their capital at Itil.
At their peak in the second half of the 8th century, the Khazar empire stretched from the Volga and Caspian Sea to the Dnieper River, controlling various groups and profiting from trade. The Khazar state differed from other Turkic empires, with a secluded ruler and a more sedentary lifestyle. The Khazar Khagans had close ties to the Byzantine emperors. By the 10th century, weakened by external pressures, their power was crushed by Svyatoslav of Kiev.
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Where did the Khazars live?
The Khazars, a Turkic-speaking group, established a commercial empire in the late 6th century CE, covering the southeastern part of modern European Russia. They were initially located in the northern Caucasus region and were part of the western Turkic empire.
By the second half of the 8th century, the Khazar empire reached its peak, extending along the northern shore of the Black Sea, from the lower Volga and the Caspian Sea in the east to the Dnieper River in the west. After 737, the Khazars established their capital at Itil, near the Volga River's mouth, and accepted the Caucasus Mountains as their southern boundary.
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What is known about the Khazars' culture and society?
The Khazar Khaganate was a Turkic empire that thrived from the 7th to 10th centuries in modern-day southeastern Russia. Khazar society was unique among Turkic empires of central Eurasia.
Khazars had a sedentary lifestyle, constructing towns and fortresses, farming, and cultivating gardens and vineyards. Trade and tribute were major sources of income. The Khazar state was led by a secluded, semi-religious supreme ruler called a Khagan, and tribal chieftains called begs.
Though Turkic, the Khazars had close ties with the Byzantine Empire, as evidenced by Khazar wives of Byzantine emperors Justinian II and Constantine V. They controlled trade routes linking the Far East, Byzantium, the Arab world, and Northern Slavic lands, gaining wealth from duties on goods.
In the 8th century, the Khazars purportedly adopted Judaism; however, the extent and historicity of this conversion are doubted due to textual problems and a lack of archeological evidence.
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How did the Khazars rule their territory?
The Khazar state was unlike other Turkic empires of central Eurasia. It was led by a secluded, semi-religious supreme ruler called a khagan, who possessed limited power, and by tribal chieftains, each known as a beg. The Khazars appear to have been more inclined toward a settled lifestyle, constructing towns and fortresses, cultivating land, and establishing gardens and vineyards.
Trade and tribute collection were significant sources of income. The Khazars controlled and collected tribute from various peoples, including the Alani, Magyars, Goths, and Greek colonies on the Crimean Peninsula. The Volga Bulgars and numerous Slavic tribes also recognized Khazar overlordship. The main source of revenue for the empire stemmed from commerce and Khazar control of east-west and north-south trade routes.
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Why is the Khazar conversion to Judaism significant?
The Khazar conversion to Judaism in the 8th century is significant for several reasons:
- Historical narrative Judah ha-Levi, a Hebrew poet from Spain, based his narrative on the historical conversion to Judaism of the Khazars (c. 740), a Turkic-speaking people in central Eurasia.
- Diplomatic Importance The correspondence between \u1e24isdai ibn Shaprut, a Jewish vizier in Moorish Spain, and King Joseph of the Khazars highlights the Khazars' conversion to Judaism and is considered historically important.
- Religious identity The conversion narrative is part of a dialogue where a Khazar king seeks to find the correct way to please God, eventually converting to Judaism after consulting with a Jewish scholar.
- Limited evidence There is a lack of archeological or physical evidence indicating a mass conversion, which has brought into question the extent and historicity of this conversion.
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What led to the decline and disappearance of the Khazar people?
The decline and eventual disappearance of the Khazar people was caused by multiple factors. By the 10th century, the Khazar empire faced growing threats from the Pechenegs to the north and west and from the Russians around Kiev.
In 965, Svyatoslav, the ruler of Kiev, launched a campaign against the Khazars, crushing their power. Although the Khazars continued to be mentioned in historical documents as late as the 12th century, their political role in the lands north of the Black Sea had greatly diminished by 1030.
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Khazar, member of a confederation of Turkic-speaking tribes that in the late 6th century ce established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia. Although the origin of the term Khazar and the early history of the Khazar people are obscure, it is fairly certain that the Khazars were originally located in the northern Caucasus region and were part of the western Turkic empire (in Turkistan). The Khazars were in contact with the Persians in the mid-6th century ce, and they aided the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (reigned 610–641) in his campaign against the Persians.
By the beginning of the 7th century, the Khazars had become independent of the Turkic empire to the east. But by the middle of that century, the expanding empire of the Arabs had penetrated as far northward as the northern Caucasus, and from then on until the mid-8th century the Khazars engaged in a series of wars with the Arab empire. The Arabs initially forced the Khazars to abandon Derbent (661), but around 685 the Khazars counterattacked, penetrating southward of the Caucasus into present-day Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Khazars and Arabs fought each other directly in Armenia in the 720s, and, though victory passed repeatedly from one side to the other, Arab counterattacks eventually compelled the Khazars to permanently withdraw north of the Caucasus. The Khazars’ initial victories were important, though, since they had the effect of permanently blocking Arab expansion northward into eastern Europe. Having been compelled to shift the centre of their empire northward, the Khazars after 737 established their capital at Itil (located near the mouth of the Volga River) and accepted the Caucasus Mountains as their southern boundary.
During the same period, however, they expanded westward. By the second half of the 8th century, their empire had reached the peak of its power—it extended along the northern shore of the Black Sea from the lower Volga and the Caspian Sea in the east to the Dnieper River in the west. The Khazars controlled and exacted tribute from the Alani and other northern Caucasian peoples (dwelling between the mountains and the Kuban River); from the Magyars (Hungarians) inhabiting the area around the Donets River; from the Goths; and from the Greek colonies on the Crimean Peninsula. The Volga Bulgars and numerous Slavic tribes also recognized the Khazars as their overlords.
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Although basically Turkic, the Khazar state bore little resemblance to the other Turkic empires of central Eurasia. It was headed by a secluded supreme ruler of semireligious character called a khagan—who wielded little real power—and by tribal chieftains, each known as a beg. The state’s military organization also seems to have lacked the forcefulness of those of the greater Turkic-Mongol empires. The Khazars seem to have been more inclined to a sedentary way of life, building towns and fortresses, tilling the soil, and planting gardens and vineyards. Trade and the collection of tribute were major sources of income. Textual witnesses dating from the 9th and 10th centuries claim the Khazars adopted Judaism in the 8th century. These texts are not without problems, however, and lack of archaeological or other physical evidence indicating a mass conversion has called both the extent and historicity of this conversion into doubt.
The prominence and influence of the Khazar state were reflected in its close relations with the Byzantine emperors: Justinian II (704) and Constantine V (732) each had a Khazar wife. The main source of revenue for the empire stemmed from commerce and particularly from Khazar control of the east-west trade route that linked the Far East with Byzantium and the north-south route linking the Arab empire with northern Slavic lands. Income that was derived from duties on goods passing through Khazar territory, in addition to tribute paid by subordinate tribes, maintained the wealth and the strength of the empire throughout the 9th century. But by the 10th century the empire, faced with the growing might of the Pechenegs to their north and west and of the Russians around Kiev, suffered a decline. When Svyatoslav, the ruler of Kiev, launched a campaign against the Khazars (965), Khazar power was crushed. Although the Khazars continued to be mentioned in historical documents as late as the 12th century, by 1030 their political role in the lands north of the Black Sea had greatly diminished. Despite the relatively high level of Khazar civilization and the wealth of data about the Khazars that is preserved in Byzantine and Arab sources, not a single line of the Khazar language has survived.