Khazars - what kind of people? Ancient and modern Khazars. Descendants of the Khazars

The ancient and medieval history of mankind has many mysteries. Even with the current level of technology in the study of most of the issues still have white spots.

Who were the Khazars? This is one such task without an exact answer. We know little about them, but even if we collect all the existing references to this people, then there are even more questions.

Let's get to know this interesting people.

Who are the Khazars?

This tribe - Khazars - was first mentioned in Chinese sources as part of the population of the great Hun Empire. Researchers give several hypotheses about the origin of the ethnonym and the ancestral homeland of the Khazars.

Let's first deal with the name. The root of "goats" in many languages of Central Asia means a number of words related to nomadism. This version seems to be the most believable, because the others look like this. In Farsi, "Khazar" means "a thousand," the Romans called the emperor Caesar, and the Turks understand this oppression as oppression.

The ancestral home is trying to determine by the earliest records in which the Khazars are mentioned. Where did their ancestors live, who were the nearest neighbors? There are no unequivocal answers so far.

There are three equivalent theories. The first considers them as the ancestors of the Uighurs, the second is the Hunnic tribe of Akatsir, and the third is inclined to the version that the Khazars are descendants of the tribal union of ogurs and savirs.

So it or not, difficult to answer. Clearly, only one thing. The origin of the Khazars and the beginning of their expansion to the west is connected with the land, which they called Barsilia.

Mention in written sources

If you analyze information from the notes of contemporaries, too, there is confusion.

On the one hand, existing sources say that the Khazar Khaganate was a powerful empire. On the other hand, those fragmentary information contained in the travelers' notes can not illustrate anything at all.

The most complete source, which 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 theme of Judaism. The Spaniard was a diplomat who was interested in the Jewish empire, which, according to merchants, existed near the Caspian Sea.

Three letters contain a legend about where the ancient Khazars came from - brief information about the cities, political, social and economic situation.
Other sources, such as the Russian chronicles, Arabic, Persian and other references, mainly describe only the causes, the course and the results of local military conflicts on the borders.

Geography of Khazaria

Kagan Joseph in his letter tells where the Khazars originated, where these tribes lived, what they did. Let's study its description in more detail.

So, the empire spread during the period of 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 on this territory. In the forest and forest-steppe regions there was a settled mode of farming, in the steppe - nomadic. In addition, near the Caspian Sea, there were a lot of vineyards.

The largest cities that the Kagan mentions in his letter were as follows. The capital, Itil, was in the lower reaches of the Volga. Sarkel (Rusichi called it Belaya Vezha) was located on the Don, and Semender and Belenger - on the coast of the Caspian Sea.

The rise of the Kaganate begins after the death of the Türkic empire, in the middle of the seventh century AD. By this time, the ancestors of the Khazars lived in the area of modern Derbent, in the plain of Dagestan. Hence the expansion to the north, west and south.

After the seizure 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 mentioned the peninsula as "Gazariya".

Thus, the Khazars are a union of Turkic tribes that could create the most durable state of nomads in the whole history.

Beliefs in the Kaganate

In view of the fact that the empire was at the crossroads of trade routes, cultures and religions, it became a likeness of medieval Babylon.

Since the main population of the Khaganate were the Turkic peoples, the majority worshiped Tengri-khan. This faith is still preserved in Central Asia.

To know the Kaganate took Judaism, therefore it is still believed that the Khazars are Jews. However, this is not entirely true, because this religion was confessed only by a very small stratum of the population.

Also, Christians and Muslims were represented in the state. Due to unsuccessful campaigns against the Arab caliphs in the last decades of the existence of the Kaganate, Islam receives greater freedom in the empire.

But why persistently believe that the Khazars are Jews? The most probable cause is the legend described by Joseph in the letter. He tells Hasdaiah that when choosing a state religion, Orthodox and Catholic priests and a rabbi were invited. The latter managed to argue all and persuade the Kagan with his entourage in his righteousness.

Wars with neighbors

Hikes for the Khazars are most fully described in the Russian chronicles and the Arab 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 - strengthened their eastern borders.

The first prince, who fought against the Khazar Khaganate, was Prophetic Oleg. He was able to repel some lands and forced them to pay tribute to themselves, not the Khazars.

More interesting information about the campaigns of Svyatoslav, son of Olga and Igor. He, being a skilful warrior and wise military leader, took advantage of the weakness of the empire and dealt a crushing blow to her.

The troops gathered by him descended the Volga and took Itil. Later, Sarkel on the Don and Semender on the Caspian coast were captured. This sudden and powerful expansion destroyed the once powerful empire.

After that, Svyatoslav began to consolidate on this territory. The White Tower fortress was built in the place of Sarkel, the tribe of Vyatichi, a tribe bordering on the one side with Rus, and on the other side with Khazaria, was imposed.

An interesting fact is that for all seeming quarrels and wars in Kiev for a long time there was a detachment of Khazar mercenaries. The "Tale of Bygone Years" mentions the tract of Kozar in the capital of Russia. It was near the confluence of Pochaina in the Dnieper River.

Where did the whole people go?

Conquests, of course, affect the population, but it is noteworthy that after the Slavs destroyed the main cities of the Khaganate, information about this people is lost. They are no longer mentioned in a single word, in any chronicle.

The most plausible solution to this issue is the following. Being a Turkic-speaking ethnos, the Khazars were able to assimilate with their neighbors on the territory of the Caspian Sea.

Today, scientists believe that the bulk disappeared in this region, some remained in the Crimea, and most of the notable Khazars moved to Central Europe. There they were able to unite with Jewish communities living in the territory of modern Poland, Hungary, Western Ukraine.

Thus, some families with Jewish roots and ancestors in these lands can to some extent call themselves "descendants of the Khazars."

Footprints in Archeology

Archaeologists unequivocally say that the Khazars are a Saltovo-Mayak culture. In 1927 Gautier singled it out. Since that time, active excavations and research have been carried out.
The name of the culture was obtained as a result of the similarity of findings on two monuments.

The first is a hillfort in the Upper Saltov of the Kharkov region, and the second is the Mayak fortified settlement in the Voronezh region.

In principle, the findings are correlated with the ethnic Alan who lived in this territory from the eighth to the tenth centuries. However, the roots of this people are in the North Caucasus, so he communicates directly with the Khazar Khaganate.

Researchers divide finds on two types of burials. The forest variant is Alansky, and the steppe is Bulgar, to which the Khazar are also included.

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 continuity.

Saltovo-Mayak culture as such accurately reflects the way of life of the Alans and Bulgars. Khazars there are listed conditionally, since it is their monuments are very few. In fact, they are random. Written sources "fall silent" after the campaign of Svyatoslav. Therefore, we must rely on the joint hypotheses of archaeologists, linguists and ethnographers.

To date, the most likely descendants of the Khazars are Kumyks. This is the Turkic-speaking people of the North Caucasus. The Karaites, Krymchaks and Judaized mountain tribes of the Caucasus also belong here.

Dry residue

Thus, in this article we told about the fate of such an interesting people as the Khazars. It is not just another ethnic group, but, in fact, a mysterious white spot in the medieval history of the Caspian lands.

They are mentioned in many sources of Russians, Armenians, Arabs, Byzantines. Kagan is in correspondence with the Cordoba Caliphate. 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 the whole empire can not simply disappear for a short period, but sink into oblivion, leaving only descendants to the descendants.