Khazars - who is this? Khazars, Pechenegs and Polovtsians

As the saying goes, "Oleg the Prophet is being gathered to revenge the unreasonable Khazars." Were they really inferior to the Slavs? What do we even know about this people?

Let's get answers to these questions together.

The mystery of the disappeared people

Thanks to the references in the written sources of the period of Kievan Rus, we know that Prince Sviatoslav destroyed the main cities of the Khazar Khaganate.

Sarkel, Semender and Itil were destroyed, and the state of the state was undermined. After the 12th century, nothing is said about them at all. The latest information shows that they were captured and conquered by the Mongols.

Until the same time - from the 7th century - Khazaria is spoken of in Arabic, Persian, Christian sources. Its kings have a huge influence on the territories of the North Caucasus and the Caspian steppes in the Volga estuary region. Many neighbors paid tribute to the Khazars.

Until now, this people is shrouded in mystery, and many information does not converge. Researchers struggle through the national specifics of eyewitness accounts.

The Arabs have one measure of distance and time, the Turks have completely different, add here the Byzantine, Jewish, Slavic and Khazar concepts. The names of cities are often given in one paragraph in an Islamic manner, in another - in Hebrew or Turkic. That is, it is entirely possible that there were more or less cities, since it was not possible to completely compare the ethnonyms. As well as discover the remains of all major settlements.

Judging by the correspondence, it turns out the utter confusion and nonsense. In the descriptions of the king of the city - huge, for 500 kilometers, and provinces are tiny. Perhaps again, this is a feature of the nomadic measure of distances. The Khazars, the Pechenegs, the Polovtsians regarded as the days the way, and distinguished the length of the road in the mountains and on the plain.
How did it really happen? Let's understand gradually.

Hypotheses about the origin

In the middle of the 7th century, on the expanses of plain Dagestan, in the Eastern Ciscaucasia, there appeared an unknown, but very strong people - the Khazars. Who is it?

They call themselves the "Kazakhs". The word, according to most researchers, comes from the common Türkic root "kaz", which denotes the process of "nomadic". That is, they can simply call themselves nomads.

Other theories concern Persian ("Khazar" - "thousand"), Latin (Caesar) and Turkic ("enslave") languages. Actually, for certain it is not known, therefore we add this question to the list of open.

The origin of the people is also under the cover of secrecy. Today, the majority considers it all the same Turkic. What are the tribes that claim to be the progenitors?

According to the first theory - they are heirs of the tribe of Akatsir, one part of the once great empire of the Huns.

The second option is that they are considered immigrants from Khorasan.
These hypotheses have little evidence.

But the next two are quite strong and are confirmed by some facts. The only question is which sources are more accurate.

So, the third theory relates the Khazars to the descendants of the Uighurs. The Chinese in their chronicles refer to them as the "people of the ko-sa". In the course of the collapse of the Hun Empire, using the weakening of the avar, part of the Oguzes went westward. The self-names of the groups are translated as "10 tribes", "30 tribes", "white tribes", and so on.

Were there Khazars among them? Who can confirm this? It is believed that this people was among them.

In the process of resettlement, they find themselves in the Northern Caspian and Kuban. Later, with increasing influence, settle in the Crimea and near the mouth of the Volga.

Crimean peninsula for a very long time in medieval sources was called only "Guzaria". In addition, even in Kiev there was a detachment of mercenaries from this country. About this fact can be judged, thanks to the preserved toponym "Kozary's tract".

Political system

Initially, the nomadic people in the process of settling gained more and more influence and subordinated new tribes. Established hierarchy, adopted in the Turkic empires.
At the head of the state there was a "kagan", in Jewish mentions - "melekh", in Arabic - "malik" or "caliph". He was the protector of God on earth and united spiritual and secular functions. In fact, this title gave the opportunity to rule, but not to rule. Something similar to the current situation of the British Queen.

When climbing the throne, the Khazars had an interesting tradition. In the room with the supreme council of the tribes, the new kagan was strangled with a silk cord, half to death. Further asked how many years he intended to rule. By the end, by the way, he was killed.

If the challenger was cunning and called a large number, he was still dealt with after the king was forty years old.

The "earthly" power was possessed by the bey. In our understanding, this is the executive branch of government. At his disposal was the army, officials. In fact, he controlled the Khaganate.

The upper class was the Khazar aristocracy - the Tarkhans, on a step below was to know the enslaved peoples - the elteberas.

The provinces were governed by the governors - tuduns, whose duties included tax collections, duties and the preservation of order in the entrusted territory.

Economy

A typical eastern medieval state, with all the traditions and lifestyle. The only difference is that it passed from the nomadic to the sedentary.

The basis of the economy was cattle breeding, according to the ancient traditions of the ancestors. But it is added to the cultivation of vineyards and the production of alcoholic beverages, the cultivation of cereals and melons.

With the advent of cities, crafts develop. Jewelers, blacksmiths, potters, tanners and other masters form the basis for domestic commodity turnover.

Know and the ruling elite, as well as the army, lived at the expense of looting and tribute from subjugated neighbors.

In addition, a significant income item was duties and taxes on goods that were transported through the territory of the Kaganate. In view of the fact that the history of the Khazars is inextricably linked with the crossroads "east-west", they simply could not take advantage of the opportunities.

In the hands of the Khaganate there was a way from China to Europe, under the control of the state there was shipping along the Volga and the northern part of the Caspian Sea. Derbent became a wall separating the two warring religions - Orthodoxy and Islam. What gave an unprecedented opportunity for the emergence of intermediary trade.

Some call this behavior "parasitic", others insist on the only possible and logical way of existence and prosperity in the realities of that situation.

In addition, Khazaria has become the largest staging post in the slave trade. Captivated northerners excellently sold out by the Persians and Arabs. Girls are like concubines for harems and servants, men are like warriors, farm workers and other hard work.

Also, the state minted its own coin in the 10th and 11th centuries. Although it was an imitation of Arab money, but the remarkable moment is that the inscription "Mohammed the Prophet", on the Khazar coins, was named "Moses".

Culture and religion

The researchers obtain basic information about the people from original written sources. With nomadic tribes, such as Khazars, Pechenegs, Polovtsi, things are more complicated. There is simply no established order of any documents.
And scattered inscriptions of religious or domestic character do not carry a great semantic load. Of these, only a fraction of the information is obtained.

How much do we learn about the culture of the tribe from the inscription on the pot "made by Joseph"? Here it will only be understood that pottery and some linguistic traditions were common, for example, the names belong to different peoples. Although this is not entirely true. This vessel could simply be bought and brought, for example, from the same Byzantine or Khorezm.

In fact, only one is known. "Unreasonable Khazars" included several nationalities and tribes who spoke Slavic, Arabic, Turkic and Jewish dialects. The state elite communicated and conducted documentation in Hebrew, and ordinary people used runic letters, which leads to the hypothesis of its Turkic roots.

Modern researchers believe that the closest to the Khazar language of the currently existing is the Chuvash language.

Religions in the state were also different. However, to the era of the decline of the Kaganate, Judaism became increasingly predominant and predominant. The history of the Khazars is thoroughly connected with it. In the 10-11th centuries, "peaceful cohabitation of faiths" came to an end.

Even riots broke out among the Jewish and Muslim neighborhoods of large cities. But in this case, the followers of the Prophet Muhammad were killed.

On the state of things in the lower reaches of society, we can hardly judge with the lack of any sources, except for a few brief mentions. But about this further.

Khazar documents

Stunning sources about the state of affairs in the state, its history and structure came to us, thanks to one Spanish Jew. Kordovsky court, named Hasdai ibn Shafrut, wrote a letter to the Khazar king with a request to tell about the Kaganate.

Such an act was caused by his surprise. Being a Jew himself, highly educated, he knew about the distraction of his fellow tribesmen. And here the merchants coming from the east tell us about the existence of a centralized, powerful and highly developed state dominated by Judaism.

Since Khasdai's duties included diplomacy, he acted as ambassador and turned to the kagan for truthful information.

He still received the answer. And he wrote (rather dictated) himself personally "Melech Joseph, the son of Aaron," the kagan of the Khazar empire.

In the letter, he reports a lot of interesting information. The greeting says that his ancestors had diplomatic relations with the Umayyads. Further he tells about the history and the way of the state.

According to him, the ancestor of the Khazars is the biblical Japhet, the son of Noah. Also, the king tells the legend of the adoption of Judaism in the role of state religion. According to her, it was decided to replace paganism, which the Khazars used to profess. Who could do this in the best way? Of course the priests. A Christian, a Muslim and a Jew were invited. The latter was the most eloquent and out-argued the rest.

According to the second version (not from the letter), the test for the priests consisted in deciphering unknown scrolls, which by "lucky chance" turned out to be Torah.
Then the kagan narrates about the geography of his country, its main cities and the life of the people. They spend spring and summer in the nomad camp, and in the cold season return to the settlements.

The letter ends with a boastful retort about the position of the Khazar Khaganate in the role of the main deterrent, which saves Muslims from the invasion of the northern barbarians. Rus and Khazars, it turns out, were highly at odds in the 10th century, which led to the death of the Caspian state.

Where did the whole people go?

And yet, the Russian princes, such as Svyatoslav, Oleg the Prophet, could not destroy all the people at the root. The Khazars had to stay and assimilate with the invaders or neighbors.

In addition, the army of mercenaries of the Kaganate was also not small, as the state is compelled to preserve peace in all the occupied territories and to resist the Arabs with the Slavs.

To date, the most believable version is recognized as follows. By its disappearance, the empire is obliged to confluence of several circumstances.

First, the rise in the level of the Caspian Sea. More than half the country was at the bottom of the pond. Pastures and vineyards, dwellings and other things simply ceased to exist.

Thus, driven by a natural catastrophe, people began to flee and move north and west, where they faced confrontation with neighbors. So the princes of Kiev had the opportunity to "revenge the unreasonable Khazars." The reason was a long time ago - people's slavery, duties on the Volga trade route.

The third reason, which served as a control shot, was confusion in the conquered tribes. They felt the weakness of the position of the oppressors and rebelled. Gradually the provinces lost one after another.

As a sum of all these factors, the weakened state fell as a result of the Rusich's campaign, which destroyed three major cities, including the capital. The Prince was called Svyatoslav. The Khazars could not counterpose to the northern pressure worthy opponents. Mercenaries do not always fight to the end. My life is more expensive.

The most plausible version of who is the surviving descendant is as follows. During the assimilation, the Khazars merged with the Kalmyks, and today they are part of this people.

Mentions in the literature

In view of the small amount of preserved information, the works on the Khazars are divided into several groups.

The first is historical documents or religious polemics.
The second is an artistic fiction on the motive of searching for the disappeared country.
The third is pseudo-historical works.

The main actors are the kagan (often as a separate character), the king or bek Joseph, Shafrut, Svyatoslav and Oleg.

The main theme is the legend of the adoption of Judaism and the relationship between such peoples as the Slavs and Khazars.

War with the Arabs

In total, historians singled out two armed conflicts in the 7-8 centuries. The first war lasted about ten years, the second - more than twenty-five.

The confrontation was a Kaganate with three caliphates, which in the course of historical development succeeded each other.

In 642, the first conflict was provoked by the Arabs. They invaded the Caucasus through the territory of the Khazar Khaganate. Since this period, several images on the vessels have been preserved. Thanks to them, we can understand what the Khazars were. Appearance, weapons, armor.

After ten years of unsystematic skirmishes and local conflicts, the Muslims decided on a massive attack, during which they suffered a devastating defeat at Belenger.

The second war was more long and prepared. It began in the first decades of the eighth century, and lasted until 737. During this military conflict, the Khazar troops reached the walls of Mosul. But in response, the Arab forces seized the Semender and the stake of the kagan.

Similar clashes continued up to the 9th century. After this, the peace was concluded in view of strengthening the positions of Christian states. The border passed beyond the wall of Derbent, which was Khazar. All the south belonged to the Arabs.

Rus and Khazars

The Kiev prince Svyatoslav was defeated by the Khazars. Who will deny this? However, the fact reflects only the final of relations. What happened during the couple of centuries that preceded the conquest?

Slavs in the annals are mentioned by separate tribes (Radimichi, Vyatichi and others), who were subordinate to the Khazar Khaganate, until they were seized by Prophetic Oleg.

It is said that he overlaid them with a lighter tribute with the only condition that they will not pay the Khazars now. Such a turn of events undoubtedly caused a corresponding reaction of the empire. But there is no mention of war in any source. We can only guess about it by the fact that the world and the Rus were concluded, the Khazars and Pechenegs went on joint campaigns.

That's such an interesting and difficult fate was in this people.