Meerts, P.

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

I I A S  N e w s l e t t e r  |  # 3 4  |  J u l y  2 0 0 4 1 5> Research & ReportsAssessingKhazariaThe Khazars enter history in the fifth century AD. Inthe thirteenth, they disappear. Why are these semi-nomads, who reigned from the Caucasus and theUrals to the Caspian and the Dnieper of interest tostudents of Eurasian history? Research >Central AsiaBy Paul  MeertsF irst, because the Khazars, along with the Franks and theByzantines, served as a dam against the tide of Islam,then threatening Europe from three sides. Second, becausethe Khazarian Empire had a very particular dual structure ofgovernment. Third, the Khazars had an enduring influenceon their neighbours, and as allies of the Greeks, contributedto the perpetuation of Eastern Rome. Last but not least, reli-gion draws our attention. Though many Khazars were Mus-lim or Christian, the leading clans, as well as the royal fam-ily, adopted the Mosaic laws. Independent KhazariaWith the disintegration of the Western Turkish Empire inthe seventh century AD, the Khazars were freed from theyoke of their Turkic brethren. Henceforth Khazar externalrelations were with neighbouring tribes, the Bulgars andMagyars who became their vassals, Byzantines, Arabs, Rus-sians and to a lesser extent, Ostrogoths and Vikings. The Khazars influenced world history through the Bulgars,Seljuks and Magyars. They split the Bulgars into two con-federations, one which moved West and conquered present-day Bulgaria, the so-called proto-Bulgarians. Arpad, leadinghis people to present-day Hungary, was a Khazar-nominat-ed Khan. Seljuk who took his Turks to present-day Turkey,was the son of Timuryalik, an officer in the service of theKhazars (Legg 1970: 164, 178, 184). Until the ninth century Khazaria was an ally of Byzantium.Apart from incidents in the Crimea during the time of Jus-tinian II, the relationship between Byzantines and Khazarswere friendly. In the seventh century the Khazars sent40,000 men to support the Byzantines against the Persians.In the eighth century a Khazar princess became Empress inConstantinople and her son, the emperor Leo, came to becalled ‘the Khazar’. In the tenth century the emperor (Kha-gan) of Khazaria was held in higher esteem than the Pope ofRome and the successor of Charlemagne, evidenced in theletters of the Byzantine chancellery to their foes and allies(Dunlop 1954: ix). The beginning of the endBy the tenth century Khazar relations with the Byzantineshad soured. The reasons for this are unclear. It might havehad to do with the waning power of the Arab Empire, andthus a reduced need for Byzantium to have the Khazars asallies. It could also be that the conversion of the ruling eliteof Khazaria to the Jewish faith annoyed Constantinople.  Arab-Khazar relations were more hostile. Although manymore Khazars were Muslim than Christian, the history ofKhazaria is riddled by wars with Arab invaders. Arab forcesmade deep incursions into Khazar territory, conquering theCaucasus, destroying the former Khazar capitals of Balanjarand Samandar and threatening the capital Khazaran-Itil (Atil)on the lower stretches of the Volga. With the rise of the Kievan-Rus state in Ukraine a newenemy arose at the end of the tenth century. Initially, theKhazars worked together with Russian forces in fightingMuslims around the Caspian. But as Russian strength grew,Khazar power dwindled. In 965 Russian forces under Svy-atoslav destroyed the stone fortress of Sarkel; two years laterthey razed the capital city, Itil. The downfall of the KhazarEmpire came in 1016 as a consequence of combined Byzan-tinian and Kievan actions. (Gilbert 1993: 25, Legg 1970: 195). Destroying Khazaria was a tragic miscalculation on thepart of both the Russians and the Greeks. The weakening ofKhazaria strengthened the Pecheneg and Oghuz tribes, whobecame formidable enemies of both Kiev and Constantino-ple. As the Russians were weak, the downfall of Khazariamust have had internal reasons. Possible explanations maybe found in the nature of Khazaria’s political, economic andreligious life.  Power dispersedKhazaria’s political system might provide the key to under-standing Khazaria’s downfall. Like other Turkic peoples, theKhazars had a system of tribal and clan rule. Of the manytribes that made-up the empire, one or two were dominant.Within these tribes, leading clans existed, and within the clanwere leading families; the royal family came from the leadingclan. This did not mean, however, that the royal family heldde-facto power in the country. Real power was wielded by theBeg, comparable to the great-vizir, shogun, or hofmeijer. The real power struggle was over the post of the Beg. Lead-ing generals normally held the reigns of power and were notalways from the ‘correct’ families. The Beg took the real deci-sions, was in charge of the treasury, led the army and wasassisted by generals and local rulers. This was the ‘republi-can’ element in the state of Khazaria. But the Khaganremained the formal head of state; in a ceremonial sense theBeg was his underling, though the Khagan was excludedfrom decisions of state. At times the division of powerbetween the formal and the de-facto power centre wasblurred. The absence of a political focal point may be the firstreason for the downfall of Khazaria; there was a de-facto dou-ble kingship in the Khazar realm. Economic dependencyKhazaria’s economy, unlike the steppe empires where cat-tle breeding was the dominant source of income, dependedon trade and agriculture. Cattle, rice, fish and wheat were themost important products. The country was situated at a cross-roads on the silk-route. The Khazars’ tolerance attracted manytraders, among them Greeks, Arabs and Jews. Besides thetrade with Byzantium, the Caspian offered numerous possi-bilities for exchange with Persians and Arabs. This orientaltrade was supported by raw materials found in the Caucasus,such as gold and silver. The slave trade was also important.Russians brought slaves from the North to the slave-marketin Itil, who where then shipped to the Muslim lands in theSouth. Russians, Bulgars and Burtas brought in furs and fish.Tributes paid by vassal tribes and the Caliph added to theKhazar treasury, as did transiting merchants who paid tenpercent of the value of their goods to tax collectors. But on the whole, the country’s economic base was weakand dependent on external sources. As the Khazars hadstrong neighbours, control of these external sources wasproblematic. Even though Khazaria was more sedentary thanother steppe empires, in the long run it could not match theinstitutionalised state formations that surrounded it. It wasmuch more difficult to accumulate margins than in the citiesof the Baghdad and Byzantine Empires. Internal weaknessand external economic dependency may be a second factorleading up to the fall of the Khazar state. The odd man outThe third factor undermining the power of Khazaria was itsreligion. The Khazar Khagan Bulan accepted the Jewish faithin the second half of the ninth century; his successor Obadi-ah established synagogues and Judaic schools. The reason forthe conversion to Judaism might well have been political. Con-version to Islam would have brought Khazaria under its arch-enemy, the Caliph. Conversion to Christianity would havemade the country too dependent on Constantinople, which,though Khazaria’s main ally, could never be fully trusted. Judaism was an elegant third way out. But this choice alsomeant isolation and the danger of being crushed betweentwo powerful monotheist faiths, one from the South and onefrom the West. And so it happened. There was no brother-power to call to in the end. Religious tolerance strengthenedKhazaria as the absence of religious repression created loy-alty to the Khagan, and attracted an influx of Jewish, Muslimand Christian traders. On the other hand Khazaria lacked aclear religious identity and zeal; this can be seen as a factorweakening chances for survival. As we see in history, religioncan be a powerful binding factor. Khazaria was an enigma in world history. The KhazarEmpire governed a crucial region on the Eurasian crossroadsfor over three hundred years, with social and state structuresnot readily found elsewhere. The conversion to Judaism oftheir leaders and tribes might not be unique in history, butremains a fascinating event that has stirred the imaginationsof many. Like many other horse riders, their state withered away,leaving traces that can be seen today. Without the KhazarEmpire, present-day Bulgaria and Hungary might not existin their present forms; this may be true for Turkey andUkraine as well. Even after a millennium we find wordspointing to Khazaria, such as the name of the largest inlandsea on earth (Khazar Sea in Farsi, Turkish and Arabic). Or ‘... the survival in popular memory (in Ukraine) of the longstruggle in the past with the Judaic Khazars’ (Subtelny 1990:52). But indeed, the only visible trace of Khazaria on the worldmap is the name of that gigantic inland sea, the Caspian, anupcoming focal point of world politics. <References:- Dunlop, D.M. (1954) The History of the Jewish Khazars. New Jersey:Princeton University Press - Gilbert, M. (1993) Atlas of Jewish History. London: J.M. Dent, OrionPublishing Group- Legg, S. (1970) The Heartland. London: Martin Secker & Warburg- Subtelny, O. (1990) ‘Ukraine’ A History. Toronto: University ofToronto PressPaul Meerts is Deputy Director of Clingendael, the NetherlandsInstitute of International Relations.pmeerts@clingendael.nlKhazar Empirec. AD 650‘the only visible trace of Khazaria on the world mapis the name of that gigantic inland sea, the Caspian,an upcoming focal point of world politics’‘Khazaria was an enigma in world history.The Khazar Empire governed a crucial region on theEurasian crossroads for over three hundred years,with social and state structures not readily found elsewhere’Colin McEvedy (1961) The Peguin Atlas of Medieval History. England: Penguin Books Can the rise and fall of the Khazar Empire explain the Jewish presence in Central and East-ern Europe? Research on the subject began in the nineteenth century; in 1999 Jerusalemhosted the first symposium on Khazaria, bringing together Israeli, American and Russianscholars. Interested readers are referred to www.khazaria.com.

Assessing Khazaria

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