| The Khazars |
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Steven Lowe
The Khazars were a strange anomaly in the mediaeval world, a Turkic race who professed the Jewish faith. They began as nomads, and it is possible they were related to the Uighurs. The Persian writer Tabari mentions them in the reigns of Quibad and Anurshirwan (531-579); Azerbaijan is described as neighbouring “the country of the Khazars.” The first definite mention as a separate race is in the late 6th century in the reign of Byzantine Emperor Maurice. It is thought they had been vassals of the West Turks and gained their independence as the power of their overlords declined. Fig. 1 (MAP TO COME) Khazar civilisation and its contribution is aptly summed up by Dimitri Obolensky, Professor of Russian and Baltic History, Oxford, in his book “The Byzantine Commonwealth”.
The Khazars, a Turkic people, had emerged in the steppes to the north of the Caucasus towards the end of the sixth century [CE]. During the following few decades they were associated with, and probably subject to, the empire of the Central Asian Turks. By the middle of the seventh century, now fully independent and a considerable military power, they began their westward expansion which brought under their sway the steppe lands between the Volga and the Dnieper, as well as the southern fringe of the forest belt of Central Russia as far as the upper Oka.
During its heyday in the eighth and ninth centuries their kingdom, whose capital was Itil’ in the estuary of the Volga, comprised a variegated population of Turks, Caucasian tribes, Jews, Arabs, Slavs and Finno-Ugrians, and grew rich from the international trade which the caravan road from Central Asia to the Black Sea and the water route down the Volga and across the Caspian brought to its principal cities. The main contribution of the Khazars to world history was their success in holding the line of the Caucasus against the northward onslaught of the Arabs. For a hundred years the issue was in suspense, each power repeatedly crossing the mountains to invade the other’s territory without, however, succeeding in holding it for long. The supreme trials of strength came in 737, when the Arabs marched up the Volga, destroyed the Khazar army, but were compelled to retreat south to the Caucasus. Five years earlier Charles Martel had, by his victory at Poitiers, halted the Arab thrust against Western Christendom on the line of the Pyrenees. The achievement of the Khazars in holding the Caucasus was of comparable importance. Had they failed in this task, there is little doubt that the armies of Islam would have appeared on the Don, the Dnieper, and the lower Danube (Obolensky p.172)
The Khazars, migrating from the lower Volga, effectively moved into the power vacuum left by the decline of the Old Great Bulgar state, and in fact contributed to its downfall. The Byzantine Empire, seeing the way the wind was blowing, withdrew support from the Bulgars and transferred it to the Khazars; as early as 627 Emperor Heraklios entered into an alliance with them. This state of affairs lasted for two hundred years, until the Khazars in their turn fell to fresh invasions by the Pechenegs and the Viking Rus of Kiev.
Fig. 2: Scratched designs from the bone facing of a Khazar saddle 7th-8th century, from the Shilovskiy gravefield, Samara region.
Fig. 3: More designs from the Shilovskiy saddle
THE FIRST ARAB-KHAZAR WAR
By the year 21 AH (641 AD) Arabs reached the southern Caucasus as part of first Islamic expansion – northward after conquering Persia & Holy Land. The Khazars were newly arrived north of the Caucasus; they were consolidating their state, and were still expanding and vigorous. In 22AH (642 AD), the Arabs were invited by the Persian commandant at Darband to help against the “barbarians” to the north. An Arab army under ‘Abd-al-Rahman occupied the fortress town of Bab and advanced northward, raiding deep into Khazar territory and attacking the capital, Balanjar. They met little resistance from the Khazars, who, apparently thrown into confusion, shut themselves in their fortifications. ‘Abd-al-Rahman continued his raids in the years following, and in 32/652 returned in force, but this time resistance was much stronger. One Arab army was destroyed, and Balanjar, though besieged, fought back strongly, inflicting heavy casualties on the Arabs. ‘Abd-al-Rahman was killed in a large battle outside the city walls, and the Muslims fled. No serious attempts were made on Khazar territory for a considerable period, but the Khazars moved their capital further from the border. THE SECOND ARAB-KHAZAR WAR In 65AH (685AD), at a time of lax Arab control, the Khazars in their turn, attacked southward, overrunning Georgia and Armenia. Having laid waste to the region, they returned north. It appears they had control of Bab in the following decade, as Arab chroniclers record its capture from them. In 99AH (717AD), the Khazars invaded Azerbaijan, but were heavily defeated by an army sent by the Caliph under Hatim ibn-al-Numan. In 103 (721-22 AD) they attacked the Alans, and the second Arab-Khazar war began in earnest. A great battle took place at Marj al-Hijarah in Amenia, resulting in overwhelming victory for the Khazars, who now began to advance south into Muslim-held territory in Armenia. Hearing of an army sent to oppose them under Jarrah ibn-Abdullah al-Hakami, the Khazars withdrew north of the mountains, but Jarrah countered by invading Khazar territory, capturing Bab by a ruse. He defeated an army under “Barjik, son of the Khaqan” sent to oppose him, and continued into Khazar territory, capturing Hamzin and Targhu, and finally conquering Balanjar after a fierce battle. Jarrah pressed north, but withdrew south of the Caucasus after receiving a message warning of a large enemy force approaching. Between 106 and 111 AH (724 - 729 AD), Arab armies raided into Khazar territory, but achieved little.
Fig. 3: An engraved representation of Khazar horsemen; the dots possibly represent mail, while the other horseman may be wearing either lamellar or perhaps "banded" armour.
In 112 AH (730 AD), the Khazars under Barjik passed through the pass of Dariel and besieged Waratham in the south of Azerbaijan. Jarrah engaged them but was unable to lift the siege. In a three day battle against overwhelmingly superior forces on the plain of Marj Ardabil, Jarrah’s army was wiped out, and Jarrah himself was killed and his head taken, The Khazars overran Azerbaijan. An Arab army under Said ibn Amir al Harash was sent out to retrieve the situation. By chance they came upon the Khaqan in a small village, drunk and separated from his army, and killed him. Said’s army recaptured Khalat and raised the siege of Waratham. Near Bajarwan, the Arabs were able to attack a large contingent of the Khazar army asleep in their encampment and destroy them. In the final battle of the campaign, near a river at Baglaqan, Barjik, son of the Khaqan had Jarrah’s head on a spear over his wagon of state. The Khazars were comprehensively defeated. There are two versions of what happened to Barjik – one claims that he was unhorsed but saved by being surrounded by his guards. The other that he was killed and his head sent to the Khalif. In 113 (731 AD) Fresh forces of Khazars assembled north of the Caucasus and occupied Bab. The local rulers were giving trouble, as well. The Arab general Maslamah advanced northward, leaving the small Khazar garrison in Bab unconquered, and attacked and looted Balanjar and Samadas(?). He was forced to withdraw in haste at the approach of an enormous Khazar army, leaving his tents in place and campfires burning to deceive the enemy. After a forced march of two days back to Bab, he was forced to face the Khazars in a battle which lasted all day. The new Khaqan (his name is not recorded) was attacked and wounded by an Arab officer in his tented waggon, but escaped. Encouraged by this, a general Muslim charge took the field. Bab fell in a single day after Maslamah poisoned its water supply. In 114 (732) a major Muslim advance into Khazaria was thwarted by exceedingly heavy rain (to the degree that the cavalry had to cut off their horses’ tails because they were so weighed down with mud) achieved little.  ;
Fig. 4: Scratched designs from the bone facing of a Khazar saddle 7th-9th century, from the Verhniy Chiryurt gravefield, Dagestan region.
The second Arab-Khazar war was brought to a conclusion in 119 (737 AD). Marwan, the Arab commander, began negotiations with the Khazar ambassador, but simultaneously infiltrated his troops into Khazar territory. Two major armies crossed the Caucasus through separate passes, and converged on Samandar. The Khaqan, caught unawares, fled his capital, but left a large screening force to shadow the enemy on the other side of the Volga River. However, the Arabs crossed the river by stealth and attacked the sleeping Khazar camp. Victory was swift and complete. Left with no army to oppose the Arabs, the Khaqan asked for terms. He was told he had two choices – conversion or the sword. He chose the former. Surprisingly, Marwan left his conquest incomplete. Apparently satisfied with appointing the Khaqan as governor of a new, Khazarian, province of the Arab Empire, he withdrew his army and went home. A dynastic war at home prevented any further expeditions for the next few years, and the Khaqan soon reneged on his conversion. The opportunity never came again. RELATIONS WITH BYZANTIUM 
Fig. 5: Justinian II Rhinometus, from the Basilica of Agios Demetrios, Thessaloniki
In 705 Emperor Justinian II Rhinometus (cut-nose) who had been deposed and mutilated, fled to Khazaria, where the Khaqan took him in and allowed Justinian to marry his sister. who took the name Theodora in commemoration of the Empress of the first Justinian. But Byzantium put pressure on the Khaqan, and Justinian escaped assassination only because Theodora warned him of her brother’s plans. He fled to Bulgaria, where Khan Tervel helped him regain his throne. However, Justinian’s reprisals against the Crimea and the savagery of his rule turned the Byzantine population against him. When the army he sent to ravage Cherson changed sides and returned to overthrow the Emperor in 711, Justinian’s support vanished and he was murdered. The cities of the Crimea came under Khazar rule, where they remained for some time. The struggle between Byzantium and the Khazars for the South Crimean coast came to an end soon afterwards. The Byzantines re-established their authority over Cherson. The Khazars, on the other hand, retained control over the northern and central areas of the peninsula. (ibid. p.171)
In 733 the Khaqan’s daughter married the son of Emperor Leo III, the future Constantine V, and is reported to have introduced her national dress, the tzitzakion, into the Byzantine court. (ibid. p.173). THE CONVERSION TO JUDAISM According to letters dating to about 980 AD Hasday ibn-Shaprut, a Spanish Jew, heard of the existence of a Jewish nation in the East, and wrote to the Khazars. He received a warm reply from “Joseph, the King of Khazaria”, describing his realm. The letters certainly exist; whether they are genuine is another question. But they describe a nation where a pagan Turkic race had converted to Judiasm after comparing its benefits with those of Christianity and Islam, where Jews were safe from persecution, where they were not exiles in the realms of others.
The Khazars, like most steppe races, began as shamanists. In the mid 8th century CE, Christianity, Islam and Judaism all vied to become the state religion of Khazaria. A charming story of the conversion appears in a letter supposedly written by the Khazar Khaqan, Joseph, to Hisdai ibn Shaprut, a Jewish physician in Muslim Spain.
“. . . a certain king arose whose name was Bulan. The kings of the Byzantines and the Arabs who had heard of him sent their ambassadors . . .with the object of converting him to their own religion. But the king . . sent for a learned Israelite
The king said to the Christian priest: What do you think? Of the religion of the Jews and the Muslims which is to be preferred?” The priest answered: “The religion of the Israelites is better than that of the Muslims.”
The king next asked the Muslim scholar: “What do you say? Is the religion of the Israelites or that of the Muslims better?” The Muslim scholar answered: “The religion of the Israelites is preferable.”
Upon this the king answered: “You both have admitted with your own mouths that the religion of the Israelites is better. Wherefore, trusting in the mercies of God, I choose the religion of Israel.”
(Potok, p.263)
Although the story is apocryphal, it gives an insight into the pressures which presaged the final decision to adopt Judaism; probably as much political as religious, it enabled the Khazars not to be drawn into the orbit of either of their powerful neighbours, the Christian Byzantines or the Muslim Arabs. Khazaria adopted a policy of religious tolerance, probably well aware of the importance of the Byzantine alliance. (Obolensky. p.138, 150) In the mid eighth century many monks fleeing the iconoclast persecutions of the empire migrated to the Crimea, and Christian missionaries were sent to the Khazars well into the ninth century. It appears from contemporary accounts, particularly from Arab sources, that the conversion to Judaism was largely confined to the ruling class – the Khaqan and his immediate côterie. They showed a level of religious toleration unusual in a mediaeval society – there seems to have been no effort at forcible conversion. The Khazar population included many Christians, Muslims, and pagans in their ranks, and the major cities contained churches and mosques.
LATER HISTORY About 833 the Byzantine Emperor Theophilos sent engineers to help the Khaqan build a fortess at Sarkel on the Don River to fend off attacks from his neighbours. Byzantine Cherson and Khazar Sarkel formed the axis of a defensive strategy valuable to both civilizations. However, the Byzantines in their usual dextrous manipulation of the powers in the region, maintained relations with the Alans to offset the risk of Khazar attacks on their possessions in the Crimea. The mid tenth century Book of Ceremonies of Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenetos describes the Khazar Khaqan as ranking second only to the Caliph of Baghdad among non-Christian rulers. (ibid. p.173). However, in the same century an influx of Pechenegs forced the Khazars to relinquish territory in the southern Russian steppes. Under pressure from Alans and Rus in the north and Pechenegs in the south, they steadily lost territory. Meantime, the Byzantines began forming alliances with the Pechenegs and Rus at Khazar expense. The end of the Khazar empire came when Sviatoslav of Kiev conquered Sarkel in 965, followed by Itil’ two years later. Crimea, except for the region around Cherson, fell to Rus domination. Very little survives of the Khazars and their civilization, and surviving artifacts are few. Perhaps future archaeological investigations will provide more information on this vanished culture. WAR-GEAR AND TACTICS The Khazars in their ascendacy were an effective and powerful force. In the seventh and eighth centuries AD they were able to fight on equal terms against the Arabs, perhaps the most powerful and warlike culture of the time. Surviving pictorial and archaeological evidence suggests that they were equipped much the same as other races of their region. Weapons The Khazars seem to have been predominantly a cavalry force - what part infantry played in the Khazar armies is uncertain, though the central group in Fig. 2 shows heavily armoured footsoldiers. Troops were armed with the lance and the composite recurve bow, as well as the steppe-style sabre. This is borne out in both the pictorial and archaeological record (see examples here and here). Small axe-heads have also been recovered, perhaps for use from horseback. Archers are shown shooting from horseback and also from a seated position – either in fixed fortifications, or perhaps from natural cover. Spears, usually with the two-tailed banners typical of the steppe races, are portrayed used from horseback and also on foot, apparently two-handed without shields. The Khazars had strong fortifications, at least some of which were of stone, and the fortress at Sarkel (built with Byzantine aid) was apparently of brick. Armour Both mail and armoured boots of construction similar to a brigandine (scales sandwiched between two layers of leather) have been recovered in archaeological sites, and pictorial evidence depicts mail, scale and lamellar, and another curious armour apparently made of horizontal bands. (The only illustration of this armour is vague and open to many interpretations. Several reconstructions have been suggested, but none is conclusive). Conical helmets are shown worn by heavily armoured troops, and most appear to be of spangenhelm construction, often with aventails, and some with a top-spike. Several helmets have been found, mostly spangenhelms with four plates rivetted directly to each other, rather than to a framework. Some have top-spikes – one seeming to be designed to hold a plume or pennon – see here, and at least one - perhaps two - have nasals.
Fig. 6: A Khazar helmet found in Russia. Though damaged, it is yet complete enough to show the construction and style of the helmet
Archers are shown both heavily and lightly armoured, and some perhaps completely without armour. There seems to be some evidence of shields, (see here and here), but many warriors are shown fighting without them. COSTUME There is little evidence of Khazar costume, though the fabrics recovered are often rich and magnificent. It could be assumed that it was similar to that of the surrounding cultures – with frogged jackets, trousers and boots - but this is pure speculation. The mention of the tzitzakion as an item of Khazar dress in Byzantine records is unfortunately too vague to set much store by. SOCIAL STRUCTURE ECONOMY AND TRADE
An impressive display of Khazar art and artefacts appeared in the Archaeology Museum in Moscow, part of a special "Treasures of Kuban" exhibition at http://www.khazaria.com/khazar-history.html
References:
Dunlop, D.M. The History of the Jewish Khazars Princeton University Press, Princeton 1954
Obolensky, D. The Byzantine Commonwealth Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London 1971
Potok, C. Wanderings: Chaim Potok’s History of the Jews, Hutchinson, Australia
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