Who are the Khazars by nationality? Excerpt characterizing the Khazars

A secret report leaked to the press reveals the true origins of the Jews, their plans to colonize Crimea, and more.

Rapid developments

Those who follow the Middle East know two things: always expect the unexpected, and don't underestimate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has more political lives than the proverbial cat.

More recently, news has emerged that Syrian rebels are planning to give the Golan Heights to Israel in exchange for creating a no-fly zone against the Assad regime. Israel took an even bolder step, deciding to at least temporarily relocate its settlers from communities outside the settlement blocs to Ukraine. Ukraine arranged this based on a historical connection and in exchange for badly needed military cooperation against Russia. This surprising turn of events has an even more surprising origin: genetics, a field in which Israeli scientists have long excelled.

Warlike Turkic people and mystery

It is well known that in the 8th and 9th centuries, the Khazars, a warlike Turkic people, converted to Judaism and ruled a large area of ​​what later became southern Russia and Ukraine. What happened to these people after Russia destroyed their empire around the eleventh century remained a mystery. Many believed that the Khazars became the ancestors of the Ashkenazi Jews.

Khazar Empire, from the map of M. Schnitzler “The Empire of Charlemagne and the Empire of the Arabs”, (Strasbourg, 1857)

In attempts to deny historical Jewish claims to the land of Israel, Arabs have long invoked Khazar theory. During the UN debate on the division of Palestine, Chaim Weizmann sarcastically remarked: This is very strange. All my life I was a Jew, I felt like a Jew, and now I found out that I am a Khazarian. Prime Minister Golda Meir put it more simply: Khazars, shmazars. There are no Khazar people. I didn’t know a single Khazarian in Kyiv. Or to Milwaukee. Show me the Khazars you are talking about.

Warlike people: Khazar battle axe, ca. 7-9 centuries

With his 1976 book The Thirteenth Tribe, former Hungarian communist and scholar Arthur Koestler brought the Khazar theory to a wider audience, hoping that challenging the popular racial narrative of Jews would end anti-Semitism. It is clear that this hope did not come true. Recently, the liberal Israeli historian Shlomo Sand's book The Invention of the Jewish People took Koestler's thesis in an unexpected direction, arguing that because the Jews were a religious community, descended from converts, they were not a nation and did not need their own state. However, scientists rejected the Khazar hypothesis due to the lack of genetic evidence. Until recently. In 2012, Israeli researcher Eran Elhaik published the results of a study claiming to prove that Khazar genes are the single largest element in the Ashkenazi genetic pool. Sand declared himself vindicated, and progressive newspapers such as Haaretz and The Forward trumpeted the findings.

It seems Israel has finally admitted defeat. A group of top scientists from leading research institutions and museums recently provided the government with a secret report admitting that European Jews are in fact Khazars. (Whether this will result in yet another proposal to revise the text of HaTikvah remains to be seen.) On the face of it, this news is very bad, given the Prime Minister's relentless insistence on the need for Palestine to recognize Israel as a "Jewish state" and end peace negotiations. But the Prime Minister was underestimated at his own peril. One of his assistants joked that when life hands you an etrog, you might as well build a hut.

In an unofficial report, he explained: At first we thought that recognizing ourselves as Khazars was one way to get around Abbas's demand that no Jew could remain in a Palestinian state. Perhaps we were grasping at straws. But when he refused to admit it, it forced us to look for more creative solutions. God's message was an invitation to the Jews to return from Ukraine. Moving all the settlers to Israel in a short time would be difficult for logistical and economic reasons. We certainly don't need another expulsion of settlers from Gaza.

Speaking off the record, a senior intelligence source said: “We are not saying that all Ashkenazi Jews will return to Ukraine. Obviously this is not practical. The press, as usual, is exaggerating and trying to sensationalize it; that’s why we need military censorship.”

Khazaria 2.0?

All Jews who wish to return will be accepted back even without citizen status, especially if they take part in the promised large-scale Israeli military cooperation, which includes soldiers, equipment, and the construction of new bases. If the first resettlement is successful, the rest of the West Bank settlers will also be invited to move to Ukraine. After Ukraine, activated by such support, regains control over its entire territory, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea will again become an autonomous Jewish entity. The small-scale successor to the medieval Khazar Empire (as the peninsula was once known) would be called Khazerai in Yiddish.

Khazar Empire, map of Europe during the era of Charlemagne. Compiled by: Karl von Spruner, historical and geographical manual atlas (Gotha, 1854)

“As you know,” the intelligence official continued, “the Prime Minister has said more than once: we are a proud and ancient people, whose history in this territory goes back four thousand years. The same applies to the Khazars: they just returned to Europe and not so long ago. But look at the map: the Khazars did not have to live “within the borders of Auschwitz.”

No "Auschwitz borders": most of the Khazar Empire (in pink on the right) is clearly visible in this map of Europe circa 800 by Monin (Paris, 1841). The designated Khazar Empire can be compared to the empire of Charlemagne (pink on the left).

According to the Prime Minister, no one will tell Jews where they can or cannot live in the historical territory of their existence as a sovereign people. He is willing to make painful sacrifices for the sake of peace, even if it means giving up part of our biblical homeland of Judea and Samaria. But then we should expect that we will exercise our historical rights elsewhere. We decided that this would happen on the shores of the Black Sea, where we have been an indigenous people for more than two thousand years. Even the great historian Semyon Dubnov, who rejected Zionism, said that we have the right to colonize Crimea. It's in all the history books. You can search

Old-new land?

Black Sea. The presence of the Khazars in Crimea and coastal regions is shown. Compiled by: Rigobert Bonnet, territory of the Roman Empire. Eastern part (Paris, 1780). In the upper left corner are Ukraine and Kyiv. Right: The Caspian Sea, designated, as was customary, as the Khazar Sea.

According to a respected State Department Arabist, in hindsight this could have been predicted: the largely unnoticed report that Russia had stopped Israeli smuggling of Khazar artifacts, the decision of Spain and Portugal to grant citizenship to the descendants of exiled Jews, and evidence that former Defense Forces Israel led rebel groups supporting the Ukrainian government. And now there also remains a possibility that the missing Malaysian plane was sent to Central Asia.

An experienced Middle Eastern journalist said: It's problematic, but in a perverse way brilliant. In one fell swoop, Bibi managed to confuse both friends and enemies. He put the ball back in the Palestinian court and weakened the American pressure without actually making any real concessions. Meanwhile, by allying with the Syrian rebels and Ukraine, as well as with Georgia and Azerbaijan, he compensated for the loss of the alliance with Turkey and began to put pressure on Assad and Iran. And the new gas deal between Cyprus and Israel supports Ukraine and weakens the economic leverage of Russia and the Gulf oil countries. Simply brilliant.

World reaction

• The members of the YESHA Settler Council were taken by surprise. Always wary of Netanyahu, whom they see as a slippery character rather than a reliable ideological ally, they declined to comment until they had fully assessed the situation.

Most of the hasty comments were predictable:

• Right-wing anti-Semitic groups have pounced on the story as justification for their conspiracy theories, claiming it is the culmination of a centuries-old Jewish plot to avenge the Khazars' defeat in battle with the Russians in the Middle Ages, a repeat of Israel's support for Georgia in 2008. One of the group members said: “Jews have memories as long as their noses.”
• Fatah's spokesman in Ramallah said the proposal made some progress, but it did not come close to satisfying Palestinian demands. Holding a drawing of a Khazar warrior from an archaeological artifact, he explained: There is a continuum of conquest and brutality. It's very simple, genetics doesn't lie. We see the results today: the Zionist regime and the brutal occupying forces are descended from militant barbarians. The Palestinians are descended from peaceful herders, in fact, from the ancient Israelites, whom you falsely claim as your ancestors. By the way, it is not even true that your ancestors had a temple in Jerusalem.

Then: Khazar barbarian. A warrior with a prisoner, image from an archaeological site.

Now: Israeli border police with Palestinian protester.

• The unofficial intelligence site DAFTKAfile, known for its reliability, admitted: We are blushing with shame. We were caught off guard and thought the story about returning to Spain and Portugal was true. Obviously, this was a perfectly planned and clever maneuver to divert attention from the impending revolution in Ukraine. Well played, Mossad.
• Prolific blogger Richard Sliverstein, whose knowledge of Jewish culture and uncanny ability to ferret out military secrets regularly amazes even his critics, made the following comment: Frankly, I'm surprised my Mossad sources didn't pass this story on to me first. But I didn't have time to write an essay on the Kabbalistic significance of sesame, the main ingredient in hummus, so I didn't check my email. Do I feel justified? Yes, but this is not complete satisfaction. I have been saying for years that the Jews were descended from the Mongol-Tatar Khazars, but this did not affect the propaganda defense of these Zionist Hasbaroid fools.
• An official from a leading human rights organization said: Evacuation of illegal settlements must be part of any peace agreement, but forcing settlers to leave Palestine first and then resettling them in Ukraine could be a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. We will see what the ICC International Court of Arbitration has to say about this. And if they believe that in Ukraine they can be even more aggressive than in the West Bank, then something else awaits them.
• Ultra-ultra-Orthodox spokesman Menuhem Yontef welcomed the news: We have rejected the Zionist state, which is illegal until the coming of the Messiah. We don't care where we live as long as we can study the Torah and fully observe its commandments. However, we refuse to serve in the army, both there and here. And we also want subsidies. This is God's will.
• A tearful spokeswoman for Episcopal Peace Activists said: We welcome this consistency as a matter of principle. If only all Jews thought like Menuchem Yontef - I call them "Menuhem Yontef Jews", anti-Semitism would disappear and members of all three Abrahamic religions would live here peacefully together again, as they did before the advent of Zionism. The people-state is a relic of the nineteenth century that has led to untold suffering. The main urgent task for restoring peace on Earth is the immediate creation of a free and sovereign Palestine.
• The eminent scholar and theorist Judith Bantler argues: It may seem paradoxical that there are differences and “discontinuities” at the heart of ethnic relations. But to know this, you first need to think about what these concepts mean. It can be argued that the distinctive feature of Khazar identity is that it is interrupted by difference, that the attitude towards the goyim determines not only their diasporic position, but also one of their most basic ethnic relations. While such a statement may well be true (in the sense that it refers to a series of true statements), it retains difference as a predicate of the primary subject. Attitude towards difference becomes one of the predicates of “being a Khazarian.” It is quite another thing to understand this very attitude as considering the idea of ​​the “Khazars” as a static entity, one that is adequately described as a subject... projects of coexistence can only begin with the eradication of political Zionism.
• The leader of the anti-Israel BDS organization, Ali Abubinomial, puts it more simply. Pounding his fists on the table, he seethes with anger: “So that means Israel and Khazaria? Is this what the Zionists mean by a “two-state solution”?! Think for yourself! Has no one read my book?
• Students for Justice in Palestine called an emergency meeting to establish contact with the Pecheneg Liberation Organization, saying that the Pechenegs should not pay for European anti-Semitism. New solidarity group Students for Pechenegs in Ukraine Pechenegs in Ukraine) proclaimed as its motto: “From the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, we will find the one who needs to be freed!”
• In turn, peace activist and former East Jerusalem administrator Myron Benvenuti responded indifferently: I have nothing to worry about: I am a Sephardi and my family has lived here for centuries. In any case, even if I had to go somewhere else, it would be Spain, not Ukraine: more sun, less shooting.

Most “average Israelis,” who feel that Netanyahu is not doing enough for peace but also doubt the sincerity of the Palestinians, are skeptical and despairing. One woman said sadly: We all want agreement, but we just don't know how to achieve it. All we see now is Hazerai.

Update from the article's editor: Recent news, including Vladimir Putin's recognition of Crimea as a "sovereign and independent state" and estimates that the resettlement of Israeli settlers under any peace agreement would cost ten billion dollars, confirms the details of this article.

The Khazars are one of the nomadic, warlike tribes that lived in ancient times on the territory of modern southern Russia.

Gradually, the Khazars captured vast territories from the Black Sea to the Lower Volga region and turned into a strong state - the Khazar Kaganate.

It acquired its greatest power around the 7th-10th centuries AD. The capital of the state was the city of Itil at the mouth of the Volga, not far from the present city of Astrakhan.

What do we know about the Khazars

All that we know about the Khazars today are just hypotheses of scientists from different countries. They rely on a few written and archaeological sources. These are mainly Western European and Arabic documents and chronicles.

The etymology of the word “Khazars” itself does not have an unambiguous interpretation. According to some information, the Khazars were a nomadic Turkic-speaking people, or a union of Turkic tribes, headed by a ruler - the Khagan.

But as the Khazar Kaganate expanded, it began to include numerous nationalities. They all spoke different languages ​​and had different beliefs. Islam, Christianity, Judaism, paganism - all these religions flourished here.

According to fragmentary information, it is assumed that the Kagan himself and his heirs converted to Judaism around the 8th century. Be that as it may, the Khazar Kaganate became famous for its religious tolerance.

Some sources report cases when residents adhered to three religions at the same time. Gradually, the Khazars created a prosperous state.

They fought a lot, were skilled diplomats, and successfully conducted international trade. And yet, in the 10th century, Khazaria fell into decline. The Old Russian state played a decisive role in this.

First, the Novgorod prince Svyatoslav Igorevich defeated the Khazar army in 965. Later, Prince Vladimir again goes on a campaign against Khazaria and imposes tribute on it. Further information about the state becomes fragmentary and gradually disappears.

Brief chronicle of the Khazars

• 626g. - The Turkic-Khazar army captures Derbent.
• 650g. - Khazars gain independence.
• 700g. - first mention in Western European literature.
• VIII century - Arab-Khazar wars. The capital is in the city of Itil.
• 859 - Khazars take tribute from Slavic tribes.
• 861 — Constantine (St. Cyril) baptizes the Khazars.
• 965 - defeat of the Khazar army by Svyatoslav.
• XIII century - The Khazars are conquered by the Mongols.

The short but vivid history of Khazaria disturbs the minds of scientists and writers, remaining largely a mystery. It is no coincidence that the classic of European literature Milorad Pavic simply called one of his bizarre works “The Khazar Dictionary.”

Photo: Prince Arpad's crossing of the Carpathians. The cyclorama was written for the 1000th anniversary of the conquest of Hungary by the Magyars.

Perhaps they would not have been interested in them with such passion if it had not been for the assumption that the Khazars were the ancestors of modern Jews. Many scientists agree that they are the ancestors of this people. This opinion is significantly supported by the latest archaeological data, which allows us to reliably say that the famous exodus of Jews from Egypt did not happen. There are people, but their origins are not fully understood.

That is why, in the last two decades, the study of the Khazars has begun with redoubled zeal. It is generally accepted that the first reliable report about the Khazars dates back to approximately 550 AD, when they began to actively manifest themselves in the international arena of those years. Let's try to trace their path.

photo: Map of the Khazar Khaganate around 820 AD.

Where did the name “Khazars” come from? The meaning of the word (judging by Dahl’s dictionary) “khazit” can be understood as “to be rude, to swear.” Some sources claim that “khaz” is an arrogant, rude person. However, “khaz” could also mean a luxurious, high-quality and expensive product. Remember the word “ugly”, which actually contains a modified suffix “khaz”, but denotes some kind of scanty, unsightly thing. On the contrary, the word “window dressing” is used when a phenomenon or object appears exaggeratedly lush or luxurious.

In addition, the same Dahl claims that the word “go away” is equivalent to the words “walk, loiter.” So how then should we interpret the term “Khazars”? The meaning of a word cannot be known unless one tries to understand the etymology. If we break this word into three component parts, that is, into “ha”, “z” and “ar”, then we will certainly be very close to the meaning that our ancestors put into this term. If we translate it as “following Ar (Yarila),” then it turns out that the word “Khazars” can be interpreted as “coming from the East.”

So who were the Khazars by origin? It is reliably known that they were a classic nomadic people of Turkic origin. Initially they lived in the territory located between the Black and Caspian seas. Historical documents indicate that after the invasion of the Huns, the Khazars appeared in Eastern Europe. But the combination “appeared after the Huns” is very vague, and the authors of respectable scientific treatises maintain a truly partisan silence on this matter.

It is quite possible that the Huns and Turkic-speaking peoples who settled in those places suddenly began to be called Khazars, but other options are also not excluded. So this period in their history is perhaps the most mysterious.

photo: P. Geige. "The Huns fight the Alans."

By the way, who are the Huns themselves? They are also a nomadic people who formed in the 2nd-4th centuries. in the Urals. Their ancestors were the same Turkic-speaking peoples (the Xiongnu people), who arrived there by the second century from Central Asia. In addition, the local Ugrians and Sarmatians made their contribution to the emergence of a new people. The Xiongnu themselves have a rather curious origin, since they are the ancestors of Caucasian immigrants from Northern China, who left there about a thousand years before the beginning of our era.

But research by Chinese archaeologists suggests that if the Xiongnu reached the Urals, it was in the form of disparate multi-ethnic groups, which along the way turned into a classic nomadic people. The fact is that in Northern China this nation disappeared catastrophically quickly, unable to withstand competition with strong tribes. Thus, the Huns were clearly formed mainly by the Ugrians. This is a generalized name for those Mansi and Khanty who lived in this territory at that time. Most likely, these peoples became isolated in the third millennium BC.

Initially, the Ugrians lived in the forest-steppes of Western Siberia, in some places reaching the Irtysh. The Sarmatians also did not make too much of a contribution to the formation of the Khazar people.

Around the sixth century AD, the Khazars were conquered by the mighty Turkic Khaganate. Oddly enough, the researchers did not find any mention of interethnic fusion, although such a phenomenon could well have occurred.

Historical paradox: despite all its power, the Kaganate itself existed for a ridiculously short time by historical standards - from 552 to 745 AD. e. The Turks themselves appeared as a result of the fact that in 460 one of the Hunnic tribes (and again we return to them), which was called Ashina, was conquered by the Juran people. There is no reliable information at all preserved about Ashinas. By a strange coincidence, it was at the same time that most of the Xiongnu were destroyed by the Rourans. After this, the Ashin people were forcibly resettled to Altai.

It was in this area that a strong nomadic people appeared, who are known to us as the “Turks”. The general name of these tribes comes from the Russian word “tyurya,” which our ancestors used to call the simplest food: crumbled bread or crackers with kvass and onions (or variations). Simply put, by that time the Turks consisted only of Ugrians and Sarmatian tribes, diluted with semi-mythical Ashins.

In 545, these people defeated the Uyghur troops, and in 551 they took revenge on the Rourans for their eviction. In the history of those years, the leader Bumyn was especially noted, who during his lifetime proclaimed himself kagan. This title was accepted only among the Jews. Already in 555, all local peoples came under Turkic rule. The “supreme headquarters” of the Kaganate was moved to the upper reaches of the Orkhon River, where almost all the Khazars settled. This people was actively developing and accumulating military power.

Already in the middle of the sixth century AD, almost all the peoples of Northern China became dependent on the kagan. Soon the Turks entered into a military alliance with Byzantium, after which they jointly began a war with Iran for control of the Great Silk Road. Already in 571, the border of the Kaganate passed along the Amu Darya. Just five years later the Turks managed to take the Bosporus (Kerch), and in 581 Chersonesus was completely blocked.

Let's return to the Khazars. What do they have to do with it? The fact is that historians have a lot of evidence that by that time the Turkic Kaganate already had a Khazar “branch”. But who and for what reason gave such liberties to the conquered people? The Turks certainly did not welcome such democracy, and there is no logical justification for the creation of the Khazar Kaganate. However, there is one more or less clear explanation...

The fact is that there were only 100 years left before the collapse of the Turkic state. Internal problems grew, and there were difficulties in maintaining borders. Perhaps the subordinate ethnic group was so loyal to the Turks that they allowed them to create their own Khazar state in exchange for guarantees of their loyalty in the future.

But here too there are many contradictions. The fact is that contemporaries spoke of the Khazars only as nomads who could be a formidable force at the time of raids, but there was no meaningful interaction between them. On the pages of almost all the works of their contemporaries we see that the Khazars’ way of life and activities were typical of nomads: cattle breeding, constant raids on enemies, internal strife.

Yes, they had a capital, there was a kagan. But he was only “first among equals,” and he simply did not have the strength to order representatives of large clans. It is doubtful that the Turks could have concluded such an important agreement with them. Still, the Khazars are a rather specific people, like all nomads.

photo: Tribute of the Slavs to the Khazars, miniature in the Radzivilov Chronicle, 15th century

Be that as it may, in the 7th-8th centuries AD they were already able to conquer Kyiv and Crimea. Many historians claim that in those days the Slavic tribes began to pay them tribute. But the Khazars themselves did not have anything that would in any way resemble a strong central Khazar state. How could they collect this very tribute if, in principle, they did not have a more or less developed administrative system?

In the end, they were very, very far from the level of the Golden Horde. Most likely, “tribute” meant those episodes when residents of besieged cities preferred to pay off the next raid of nomads. And the very way of life and occupation of the Khazars did not contribute to the establishment of serious power over other peoples: the Kaganate was extremely heterogeneous, and therefore the ruler spent more time maintaining this loose structure within the framework of at least relative order.

The Khazar people were then led by the Khakan and his “deputy” Beg. The capital of the Kaganate was the Khazar city of Valangiar (Astrakhan), and then Sarkel (it was completely destroyed in 1300). It is known that in those days they conducted active trade with India. In 965, the Khazar troops were defeated by the troops of Prince Svyatoslav. In 1016 they were defeated by the combined forces of Russians and Greeks, commanded by Mstislav of Tmutarakan.

Many historical sources report that the Khazars converted to Judaism in the eighth century. But let's return to the beginning of the article. Prominent Israeli scholars report that the process of merging Jews and Khazars occurred only in 1005. But how then did Bumyn accept Judaism 500 years earlier? In this regard, historians have a lot of questions. Here are the most common ones:

• Who among the Turks and Khazars could profess Judaism in those years, if there were no Jews there yet?


• How can you even practice Judaism, but not be a Jew? All the sacred books of the Israelis say that this cannot happen!


• Finally, who were the missionaries of Judaism 500 years before the Jews came?

Unfortunately, there are no clear answers to all these questions yet. Most likely there is some confusion here. If this is so, there is nothing surprising in this: from those times there are so few documents left that inspire complete confidence that historians have to be content mainly with chronicles. But they certainly do not reflect the whole essence of what was happening, since they were repeatedly rewritten to please the ruling officials.

So even now we cannot say with absolute certainty who the Khazars were by origin, since everything is not so simple with their religion. If they did not profess Judaism, then there were no Jews among their ancestors.

photo: slave trade, Khazaria

In Soviet historical monographs one can find the theory that the Khazar Khaganate fell due to a banal lack of living space, which disappeared under the waters of the flooded Caspian Sea. The author of this assumption is L.N. Gumilyov. He suggested that in the 7th-8th centuries large Khazar settlements were simply washed away due to soil transgression. However, Gumilyov always put forward very bold hypotheses

Historians of non-Israeli origin make a very interesting assumption. They believe that the collapse of the Kaganate was caused by the adoption of Judaism, which occurred during the time of the ruler Obadiah. Presumably, this kagan began his missionary activity somewhere at the turn of the 9th-10th centuries. Mentions of his activities can be found in the Life of John of Goths.

The Arab scholar Masudi wrote that after the Kagan adopted Judaism, Jews from all over the world began to flock to his kingdom. Jews quickly populated large blocks of almost all Khazar cities, and there were especially many of them in Crimea, and the Khazar capital (Valangiar) was experiencing a real “boom” of migration. A lot of people settled in Itil. According to contemporaries, “the Jews laid siege to the throne of Obadiah.” They indicate that the Kagan gave the Jews many privileges and allowed them to settle in any cities. The Kagan contributed to the construction of synagogues and theological schools, warmly greeted Jewish sages, generously giving them money.

The Jews were educated, well versed in trade... but their faith turned out to be destructive for the Kaganate. We have already said that the Khazar state was not distinguished by a particularly developed administrative structure. The adoption of Judaism by the supreme nobility turned away most of their subjects, who already treated the supreme power without any reverence. For most Khazars, the key was the opinion of the elders, and they did not have much love for the Jews.

A struggle for power began in the Kaganate. Civil strife arose; part of the Khazars united with the Turks and Hungarians who lived on Pecheneg land. They entered into mutually beneficial military and political alliances. Contemporaries nicknamed them “cabars.” In particular, Konstantin Porfirorodny often wrote about this.

It is not surprising that in the flames of the civil war both Obadiah himself and both of his heirs: Hezekiah and Manasseh were burned. Chanukah, who was Obadiah’s brother, took power over the bloodless state. By that time, Crimea, where many “provincials” lived who condemned rapprochement with Judea, came under the protectorate of Byzantium. At this time, hordes of Pechenegs were already advancing on the lands of the Khazars, who were absolutely uninterested in political and religious strife.

You must understand that without knowing all these twists and turns, you will not be able to understand who the Khazars were by origin. In the last years of the existence of the Kaganate, its ethnic composition became surprisingly variegated. If you carefully read the article, then you yourself probably realized that the Khazars were never a particularly integral ethnic group. The prevailing peoples and religions changed in the Kaganate with incredible speed.

To make sure you are completely convinced of this, let us give examples from the life of the late Kaganate. So, in 730, Kagan Bulan converted to Judaism. In 737, just seven years later, the Khazars already professed Islam. From 740 to 775 they became devout Christians under the patronage of the Byzantine emperor Constantine Copronymus. From 786 to 809 - Islam again. This time with the blessing of the Baghdad caliph Harun al-Rashid. From 799 to 809, the well-known Kagan Obadiah again actively promoted “Judaism to the masses.”

Ethnographers believe that in less than 100 years, the Khazars were so assimilated with peoples who professed Christianity and Islam that practically nothing remained of their original ethnic group. The final defeat of the Khazar Kaganate (more precisely, its self-destruction) once again convincingly proved that in order to form a truly powerful state, a strong central government is needed, which, among other things, knows how to take into account the desires of all its subjects.

photo: Svyatoslav, destroyer of the Khazars (Lebedev, Klavdiy Vasilievich).

Just a year after the last adoption of Judaism, the slow agony of the state began: from 810 to 820 it was tormented by the uprisings of the cabars already known to us; From 822 to 836 there were constant Hungarian invasions. From 829 to 842, the Byzantine emperor Theophilus ruled, who brought final discord into the way of life of the Khazar Khaganate. In 965, Svyatoslav crushed the Khazar troops, after which Kagan Bulan III proclaimed Judaism as the state religion for the third time. How did the complete defeat of the Khazar Kaganate occur?

By the end of the tenth century, all this ethnic and religious leapfrog ended with the Khazars finally being assimilated with the Muslims. Thus, the former Turkic tribes, who were able to create a fairly significant state entity, completely lost their independence and their own lands.

All of the above indicates that Khazaria could well exist in reality. In addition, the Kaganate could indeed be the historical homeland of the Jews. Theologians believe that the origins of Judaism (as well as Christianity and Islam) in this case were shamanism, widespread among nomadic tribes. This, by the way, is very strongly reflected in Christianity: we do not know the name of God, but we assume that he is Everything, and His Grace is everywhere. Thus, the Turkic tribes played an extremely important role in the development of modern civilization, for they gave monotheism to humanity.

Khazars (Hebrew כוזרים‎ (kuzarim), Arabic خزر‎‎ (Khazar), Greek Χαζαροι (Khazar), Old Russian Kozare, Latin Gazari, Cosri) are a Turkic-speaking nomadic people. Became known in the Eastern Ciscaucasia (plain Dagestan) soon after the Hun invasion. It was formed as a result of the interaction of three ethnic components: the local Iranian-speaking population, as well as alien Ugric and Turkic tribes. The Khazar language is extinct. The Black Sea and, less commonly, the Azov Sea were called Khazar (at that time the Khazars’ positions in Crimea were very strong). The Caspian Sea is also called the Khazars in Middle Eastern languages ​​- see Khazar Sea. On land, the name "Khazar" was retained for the longest time by the Crimea (in Byzantine and Italian sources until the 16th century). According to some researchers (B.N. Zakhoder), the Khazar ethnic group had a dualistic basis, uniting two main tribes - white and black Khazars (Kalis-Khazars and Kara-Khazars). Moreover, the white Khazars were tall, light-eyed and fair-haired, while the black Khazars were short and dark-haired. Supporters of a different point of view (M.I. Artamonov, A.P. Novoseltsev) consider this division not ethnic, but social and point to a more complex organization. In close connection with the Khazar tribal union were the Barsils, Savirs, Balanjars, etc. Later they were partially assimilated. The closest to the Khazars were the Barsils, together with whom they were often mentioned in the initial period of history, and the country of Bersilia appears in the sources as the starting point from which the Khazar expansion in Europe began. The Khazars are descendants of the Hun tribe Akatsir, known in Europe since the 5th century (A.V. Gadlo, O. Pritsak). The Khazars are of Uyghur origin, from the Central Asian Kho-sa people mentioned in Chinese sources. (D. Dunlop) (see main article Uyghur theory of the origin of the Khazars). The Khazars are descendants of the Hephthalites who migrated to the Caucasus from Khorasan (Eastern Iran) (D. Ludwig). The Khazars descend from a tribal union formed by the Ogurs, Savirs and, at the final stage, the Altai Turks. (P. Golden, M. I. Artamonov, A. P. Novoseltsev). Until the 7th century, the Khazars occupied a subordinate position in successive nomadic empires. In the 560s ended up as part of the Turkic Kaganate, after the collapse of the latter in the middle of the 7th century they created their own state - the Khazar Kaganate (650-969), which became one of the most durable nomadic associations in this region. Initially living in the area north of Derbent within modern lowland Dagestan, the Khazars began to settle in controlled regions: in the Crimea, on the Don and especially in the Lower Volga region, where the capital of the state was moved in the 8th century. Several groups of Khazars, as a result of long wars against Iran and the Arab Caliphate, were forcibly resettled in Transcaucasia. Later, many high-ranking ghulams of the Abbasid Caliphate were of Khazar origin. It is also known about the existence of a Khazar garrison in Constantinople and a Khazar-Jewish community in Kyiv (the Kozary tract exists in Kyiv to this day). In the first half of the 9th century, three Khazar families, called Kavars, left the country due to political strife and joined the Hungarians, with whom they came to Pannonia and were subsequently assimilated. After the fall of the Khazar Khaganate in the second half of the 10th century, the Khazars disappeared into the Polovtsian environment. Some of the ethnic Khazars who professed Judaism, in all likelihood, joined the Central European Jewish communities. Some representatives of the Turkic-speaking communities - Karaites and Krymchaks, as well as Iranian-speaking Mountain Jews, consider themselves descendants of the Khazars. The Khazar roots may be from the Kumyks. A new enemy appeared among the Khazars with the formation of Kievan Rus. The question of the so-called Russian Kaganate, which was first mentioned in sources under the year 839, is not clear enough. The title of Kagan was later borne by the princes of Kyiv, and its use in the 9th century is usually regarded as a claim to equality with the Khazars. Be that as it may, the Varangian squads that penetrated into Eastern Europe began to successfully challenge the hegemony of the Khazars over the Slavic tribes. The Polans (864), Northerners (884) and Radimichi (885) were freed from the Khazars. Responding to the challenges that arose, the Khazars, with the help of Byzantium, built a series of fortresses on the northeastern borders. OK. In 834, the Kagan and the Bek turned to Emperor Theophilus with a request for help in the construction of the Sarkel fortress. The fortress was located on the left bank of the Don and became the main stronghold of the Khazars in the region. In addition to Sarkel, as archaeological data indicate, a network of similar fortifications was created along the tributaries of the Don. In con. IX - 1st half. X centuries The Khazar Khaganate weakened, but still continued to remain an influential state thanks to a trained army and skillful diplomacy. The rulers pursued a policy of maneuvering between three major forces: Byzantium (which had lost interest in allied relations), nomads and Russia. In con. 9th century During the reign of King Benjamin, a coalition organized by Byzantium, consisting of the Pechenegs, Black Bulgars and several other nomadic tribes, came out against Khazaria. The Khazars defeated it with the support of the Alans. Under the next king, Aaron, Byzantium managed to destroy the Khazar-Alan alliance, and now the Khazars defeated the Alans with the help of one of the nomadic leaders. The Alanian king was captured, but received with honor. He gave his daughter to Aaron's son Joseph.

Neighboring peoples wrote a lot about the Khazars, but they themselves left virtually no information about themselves. Just as suddenly the Khazars appeared on the historical stage, just as suddenly they left it.

God knows where

The Khazars were first reported in the 5th century by the Armenian historian Moses Khorensky, who wrote that “crowds of Khazars and Basils, having united, crossed the Kura and scattered on this side.” The mention of the Kura River apparently indicates that the Khazars came to Transcaucasia from the territory of Iran. The Arab chronicler Yaqubi confirms this, noting that “the Khazars again took possession of everything that the Persians had taken from them, and held it in their hands until the Romans drove them out and installed a king over the four Armenians.”
Until the 7th century, the Khazars behaved rather modestly, being part of various nomadic empires - longest of all the Turkic Khaganate. But by the middle of the century they grew stronger and bolder so much that they created their own state - the Khazar Khaganate, which was destined to exist for more than three centuries.

Ghost State

The Byzantine and Arab chronicles describe in all colors the greatness of Itil, the beauty of Semender and the power of Belenjer. True, one gets the feeling that the chroniclers only reflected the rumors circulating about the Khazar Kaganate. Thus, the anonymous author, as if retelling a legend, answers the Byzantine dignitary that there is a country called “al-Khazar”, which is separated from Constantinople by 15 days of travel, “but between them and us there are many nations, and their king’s name is Joseph.”
Attempts by archaeologists to establish what the mysterious “Khazaria” was began to be actively undertaken in the 20-30s of the 20th century. But everything was unsuccessful. It turned out to be easiest to discover the Khazar fortress of Sarkel (White Vezha), since its location was known relatively accurately. Professor Mikhail Artamonov managed to excavate Sarkel, but he could not find traces of the Khazars. “The archaeological culture of the Khazars itself remains unknown,” the professor sadly stated and suggested continuing the search in the lower reaches of the Volga.

Russian Atlantis

Continuing Artamonov’s research, Lev Gumilev conducts his search for “Khazaria” on the unflooded islands of the Volga delta, but the list of finds attributed to the Khazar culture is small. Moreover, he was never able to find the legendary Itil.
Then Gumilyov changes his strategy and conducts underwater reconnaissance near part of the Derbent wall, which goes into the Caspian Sea. What he discovered amazes him: where the sea now splashes, people lived and needed drinking water! Even the medieval Italian geographer Marina Sanuto noted that “The Caspian Sea is rising year after year, and many good cities are already flooded.”
Gumilev concludes that the Khazar state should be sought under the thickness of sea water and sediments of the Volga delta. However, the attack came not only from the sea: a drought was approaching “Khazaria” from land, which completed what had been started by the Caspian.

Scattering

What nature failed to do, the Russian-Varangian squads accomplished, finally destroying the once powerful Khazar Khaganate and scattering its multinational composition around the world. Some of the refugees after Svyatoslav’s victorious campaign in 964 were met in Georgia by the Arab traveler Ibn Haukal.
Modern researcher Stepan Golovin notes a very wide geography of settlement of the Khazars. In his opinion, “the Khazars of the delta mixed with the Mongols, and the Jews partly hid in the mountains of Dagestan, and partly moved back to Persia. Christian Alans survived in the mountains of Ossetia, and Turkic Khazars Christians moved to the Don in search of co-religionists.”
Some studies show that the Christian Khazars, having merged with their Don co-religionists, subsequently began to be called “wanderers”, and later Cossacks. However, more credible are the conclusions according to which the bulk of the Khazars became part of the Volga Bulgaria.
The 10th-century Arab geographer Istakhri claims that “the language of the Bulgars is similar to the language of the Khazars.” These close ethnic groups are united by the fact that they were the first to create their own states on the ruins of the Turkic Kaganate, which were headed by Turkic dynasties. But fate decreed that first the Khazars subjugated the Bulgars to their influence, and then they themselves joined the new state.

Unexpected descendants

At the moment, there are many versions about the descendant peoples of the Khazars. According to some, these are Eastern European Jews, others call Crimean Karaites. But the difficulty is that we do not know what the Khazar language was: the few runic inscriptions have still not been deciphered.

Writer Arthur Koestler supports the idea that Khazar Jews, having migrated to eastern Europe after the fall of the Khaganate, became the core of the global Jewish diaspora. In his opinion, this confirms the fact that the descendants of the “Thirteenth Tribe” (as the writer called the Khazar Jews), being not of Semitic origin, ethnically and culturally have little in common with modern Jews of Israel.

Publicist Alexander Polyukh, in an attempt to identify the Khazar descendants, followed a completely unusual path. It is based on scientific findings, according to which the blood group corresponds to the way of life of the people and determines the ethnic group. Thus, Russians and Belarusians, like most Europeans, in his opinion, more than 90% have blood group I (O), and ethnic Ukrainians are 40% carriers of group III (B).
Polyukh writes that group III (B) serves as a sign of peoples who led a nomadic lifestyle (where he includes the Khazars), for whom it approaches 100% of the population.

Further, the writer supports his conclusions with new archaeological finds of Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Valentin Yanin, who confirms that Kiev at the time of its capture by the Novgorodians (IX century) was not a Slavic city, as evidenced by the “birch bark letters”.
Also, according to Polyukh, the conquest of Kyiv and the defeat of the Khazars, carried out by Oleg, suspiciously coincide in terms of timing. Here he makes a sensational conclusion: Kyiv is the possible capital of the Khazar Kaganate, and ethnic Ukrainians are the direct descendants of the Khazars.

Latest finds

However, sensational conclusions may be premature. In the early 2000s, 40 kilometers south of Astrakhan, Russian archaeologists discovered “Khazar traces” during excavations in the medieval city of Saksin. A series of radiocarbon analyzes date the cultural layer to the 9th century - the heyday of the Khazar Khaganate. As soon as the settlement was outlined, its area was determined - two square kilometers. What large city besides Itil did the Khazars build in the Volga delta?
It’s certainly too early to rush to conclusions, however, already now the pillars of Khazarology M. Artamonov and G. Fedorov-Davydov are almost sure that the capital of the Khazar Kaganate has been found. As for the Khazars, most likely they simply disappeared into the ethnoculture of neighboring peoples without leaving behind direct descendants.