668–960 c. 700s–800s c. 800s–900s
151-585: Khazar rule Lawristan (Khazar vassal) Weche (Khazar vassal) Surviving Destroyed or barely existing Circassia ( / s ɜːr ˈ k æ ʃ ə / sir-KASH-ə ), also known as Zichia , was a country and a historical region in Eastern Europe . It spanned the western coastal portions of the North Caucasus , along the northeastern shore of the Black Sea . Circassia
302-792: A battle near the Msimta River, 30 Circassian lords were defeated by Inal and his supporters. Ten of them were executed, while the remaining twenty lords took an oath of allegiance and joined the forces of Inal's new state. Inal, who ruled Western Circassia, established the Kabarda region in Eastern Circassia in 1434 and drove the Crimean Tatar tribes in the Circassian lands to the north of the Kuban River in 1438, and as
453-603: A clan. In terms of caste or class, some evidence suggests that there was a distinction, whether racial or social is unclear, between "White Khazars" (ak-Khazars) and "Black Khazars" (qara-Khazars). The 10th-century Muslim geographer al-Iṣṭakhrī claimed that the White Khazars were strikingly handsome with reddish hair, white skin, and blue eyes, while the Black Khazars were swarthy, verging on deep black as if they were "some kind of Indian ". Many Turkic nations had
604-729: A dynastic crisis between Taspar's chosen heir, the Apa Qağan , and the ruler appointed by the tribal high council, Āshǐnà Shètú (阿史那摄图), the Ishbara Qağan . By the first decades of the 7th century, the Ashina yabgu Tong managed to stabilise the Western division, but upon his death, after providing crucial military assistance to Byzantium in routing the Sasanian army in the Persian heartland,
755-707: A few of them managed to flee north. Despite their success, the Arabs had not yet defeated the Khazar army, and they retreated south of the Caucasus. In 724, the Arab general al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah al-Hakami inflicted a crushing defeat on the Khazars in a long battle between the rivers Cyrus and Araxes , then moved on to capture Tiflis , bringing Caucasian Iberia under Muslim suzerainty. The Khazars struck back in 726, led by
906-486: A grape or raisin remained in the land, and not even alms for the poor were available. An attempt to rebuild may have been undertaken, since Ibn Hawqal and al-Muqaddasi refer to it after that date, but by Al-Biruni 's time (1048) it was in ruins. Although Poliak argued that the Khazar kingdom did not wholly succumb to Sviatoslav's campaign, but lingered on until 1224, when the Mongols invaded Rus' , by most accounts,
1057-573: A hypothetical *Qasar reflecting a Turkic root qaz- ("to ramble, to roam") being an hypothetical retracted variant of Common Turkic kez- ; however, András Róna-Tas objected that * qaz- is a ghost word . In the fragmentary Tes and Terkhin inscriptions of the Uyğur empire (744–840) the form Qasar is attested, although uncertainty remains whether this represents a personal or tribal name, gradually other hypotheses emerged. Louis Bazin derived it from Turkic qas- ("tyrannize, oppress, terrorize") on
1208-428: A joint Rus'-Byzantine attack on Khazaria in 1016, which defeated its ruler Georgius Tzul . The name suggests Christian affiliations. The account concludes by saying, that after Tzul's defeat, the Khazar ruler of "upper Media", Senaccherib, had to sue for peace and submission. In 1024 Mstislav of Chernigov (one of Vladimir's sons) marched against his brother Yaroslav with an army that included "Khazars and Kassogians" in
1359-532: A key role in the Khazar leadership, may reflect an Eastern Iranian or Tokharian word ( Khotanese Saka âşşeina-āššsena "blue"): Middle Persian axšaêna ("dark-coloured"): Tokharian A âśna ("blue", "dark"). The distinction appears to have survived the collapse of the Khazarian empire. Later Russian chronicles, commenting on the role of the Khazars in the magyarisation of Hungary, refer to them as "White Oghurs " and Magyars as " Black Oghurs ". Studies of
1510-598: A king appointed by the Roman Emperor , but that they had since become independent. The Notitiae Episcopatuum of the Patriarchate of Constantinople mention an autocephalous archbishopric of Zichia from the 7th century on, associated with Tamatarcha or the Cimmerian Bosporus. At the time of Constantine VII, Byzantine dealings with the area were carried out by the inhabitants of Cherson . In
1661-547: A levy of one sable skin, squirrel pelt, sword, dirham per hearth or ploughshare, or hides, wax, honey and livestock, depending on the zone. Trade disputes were handled by a commercial tribunal in Atil consisting of seven judges, two for each of the monotheistic inhabitants (Jews, Muslims, Christians) and one for the pagans. Byzantine diplomatic policy towards the steppe peoples generally consisted of encouraging them to fight among themselves. The Pechenegs provided great assistance to
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#17327802712731812-471: A parliament was formed as the highest legislative body of Circassia. Being a political resistance council and the legislature of Circassia, the parliament was established in the capital of Sochi ( Adyghe : Шъачэ , romanized: Ş̂açə ) on June 13, 1860 and Qerandiqo Berzeg was elected as the head of the parliament and the nation. Legally and internationally, the Treaty of Belgrade 1739 provided for
1963-437: A prince named Barjik , launching a major invasion of Albania and Azerbaijan; by 729, the Arabs had lost control of northeastern Transcaucasia and were thrust again into the defensive. In 730, Barjik invaded Iranian Azerbaijan and defeated Arab forces at Ardabil , killing the general al-Djarrah al-Hakami and briefly occupying the town. Barjik was defeated and killed the next year at Mosul , where he directed Khazar forces from
2114-506: A repulsed attempt to restore a kind of "Khazarian"-type dominion over Kiev. Ibn al-Athir 's mention of a "raid of Faḍlūn the Kurd against the Khazars" in 1030 CE, in which 10,000 of his men were vanquished by the latter, has been taken as a reference to such a Khazar remnant, but Barthold identified this Faḍlūn as Faḍl ibn Muḥammad and the "Khazars" as either Georgians or Abkhazians . A Kievian prince named Oleg, grandson of Jaroslav
2265-534: A result of Armenian, Greek and Byzantine influence, Christianity spread throughout the Caucasus between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD. During that period the Circassians (referred to at the time as Kassogs ) began to accept Christianity as a national religion, but did not abandon all elements of their indigenous religious beliefs. Circassians established many states, but could not achieve political unity. From around 400 AD wave after wave of invaders began to invade
2416-568: A result of his effective expansions, he was ruling all of the Circassian land. The capital of this new Circassian state founded by Inal became the city of Shanjir, built in the Taman region where he was born and raised. Although the exact location of the city of Shanjir is unknown, the most supported theory is that it is the Krasnaya Batareya district, which fits the descriptions of the city made by Klarapoth and Pallas. Although he united
2567-648: A retinue of some 4,000 attendants, dwelt, and Itil proper to the East, inhabited by Jews, Christians, Muslims and slaves and by craftsmen and foreign merchants. The Khazar Khaghanate played a key role in the trade between Europe and the Muslim world in the early middle ages. People taken captive during the viking raids in Europe, such as Ireland, could be transported to Hedeby or Brännö in Scandinavia and from there via
2718-458: A self-sufficient domestic Saltovo economy, a combination of traditional pastoralism – allowing sheep and cattle to be exported – extensive agriculture, abundant use of the Volga's rich fishing stocks, together with craft manufacture, with diversification in lucrative returns from taxing international trade given its pivotal control of major trade routes. The Khazar slave trade constituted one of
2869-473: A similar (political, not racial) division between a "white" ruling warrior caste and a "black" class of commoners; the consensus among mainstream scholars is that Istakhri was confused by the names given to the two groups. However, Khazars are generally described by early Arab sources as having a white complexion, blue eyes, and reddish hair. The ethnonym in the Tang Chinese annals, Ashina, often accorded
3020-593: A six-pointed star identical to the Star of David . The Khazar state was not the only Jewish state to rise between the fall of the Second Temple (67–70 CE) and the establishment of Israel (1948). A state in Yemen also adopted Judaism in the 4th century, lasting until the rise of Islam. The Khazar kingdom is said to have stimulated messianic aspirations for a return to Israel as early as Judah Halevi . In
3171-414: A throne mounted with al-Djarrah's severed head . In 737, Marwan Ibn Muhammad entered Khazar territory under the guise of seeking a truce. He then launched a surprise attack in which The Qaghan fled north and the Khazars surrendered. The Arabs did not have enough resources to influence the affairs of Transcaucasia. The Qağan was forced to accept terms involving his conversion to Islam, and subject himself to
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#17327802712733322-614: Is also used as the collective name of various Circassian states that were established within historical Circassian territory, such as Zichia . Legally and internationally, the Treaty of Belgrade , which was signed between Austria and the Ottoman Empire in 1739, provided for the recognition of the independence of Eastern Circassia . Both the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire recognized it under witness from
3473-646: Is confirmed by foreign sources. In the eyes of foreign observers, the Grand Prince was considered the king of the Circassians. However, the individual tribes were greatly autonomous and the title was mostly symbolic. In 1237, the Dominican monks Richard and Julian, as part of the Hungarian embassy, visited Circassia and the main city of this country Matrega, located on the Taman Peninsula. In Matrega,
3624-587: Is often associated with a Khazarian foundation. The construction of the Sarkel fortress , with technical assistance from Khazaria's Byzantine ally at the time, together with the minting of an autonomous Khazar coinage around the 830s, may have been a defensive measure against emerging threats from Varangians to the north and from the Magyars on the eastern steppe. By 860, the Rus' had penetrated as far as Kiev and, via
3775-472: Is that they are all warriors. Circassia developed the so-called "Culture of War". Honorable combat was a big part of this culture, during hostilities, it was considered strictly unacceptable to set fire to homes or crops, especially bread, even from enemies. It was considered inadmissible to leave the bodies of dead comrades on the battlefield. It was considered a great disgrace in Circassia to fall alive into
3926-451: Is the same or similar in many world languages that cite these languages. Circassians themselves don't use the term "Circassia", and refer to their country as Адыгэ Хэку (Adıgə Xəku) or Адыгей (Adıgey). Another historical name for the country was Zichia ( Zyx or the Zygii) , who were described by the ancient Greek intellectual Strabo as a nation to the north of Colchis . Circassia
4077-654: The Alans , whose leader had converted to Christianity and entered into an alliance with Byzantium, which, under Leo VI the Wise , encouraged them to fight against the Khazars. By the 880s, Khazar control of the Middle Dnieper from Kiev, where they collected tribute from Eastern Slavic tribes, began to wane as Oleg of Novgorod wrested control of the city from the Varangian warlords Askold and Dir , and embarked on what
4228-525: The Dnieper , Constantinople . Alliances often shifted. Byzantium, threatened by Varangian Rus' raiders, would assist Khazaria, and Khazaria at times allowed the northerners to pass through their territory in exchange for a portion of the booty. From the beginning of the 10th century, the Khazars found themselves fighting on multiple fronts as nomadic incursions were exacerbated by uprisings by former clients and invasions from former allies. The pax Khazarica
4379-632: The Kuban River ), and had a city called Nikopsis . According to a legend about a visit of the Apostle Andrew there, it lay between Abasgia ( Abkhazia ) and the Cimmerian Bosporus ( Strait of Kerch ). In historical sources, the area first appears in the 6th century, when the Byzantine historian Procopius of Caesarea ( Wars , VIII.4.2) records that the people of the Zechoi used to have
4530-629: The North Caucasian Huns and other Turkic peoples . The polyethnic populace of the Khazar Khaganate appears to have been a multiconfessional mosaic of pagan , Tengrist, Jewish , Christian, and Muslim worshippers. Some of the Khazars (namely, the Kabars ) joined the ancient Hungarians in the 9th century. The ruling elite of the Khazars was said by Judah Halevi and Abraham ibn Daud to have converted to Rabbinic Judaism in
4681-456: The Samanid slave trade . The ruling elite wintered in the city and spent from spring to late autumn in their fields. A large irrigated greenbelt, drawing on channels from the Volga river, lay outside the capital, where meadows and vineyards extended for some 20 farsakhs (c. 60 miles). While customs duties were imposed on traders, and tribute and tithes were exacted from 25 to 30 tribes, with
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4832-509: The Slavs , Merja and the Chud ' to unite to protect common interests against Khazarian exactions of tribute. It is often argued that a Rus' Khaganate modelled on the Khazarian state had formed to the east and that the Varangian chieftain of the coalition appropriated the title of qağan ( khagan ) as early as the 830s: the title survived to denote the princes of Kievan Rus' , whose capital, Kiev ,
4983-642: The Third Perso-Turkic War . A joint Byzantine-Tűrk operation breached the Caspian gates and sacked Derbent in 627. Together they then besieged Tiflis , where the Byzantines may have deployed an early variety of traction trebuchets ( ἑλέπόλεις ) to breach the walls. After the campaign, Tong Yabghu is reported, perhaps with some exaggeration, to have left some 40,000 troops behind with Heraclius. Although occasionally identified with Khazars,
5134-680: The Tiele (Tiělè) confederation , are attested quite early, having been driven West by the Sabirs , who in turn fled the Asian Avars , and began to flow into the Volga – Caspian – Pontic zone from as early as the 4th century CE and are recorded by Priscus to reside in the Western Eurasian steppe lands as early as 463. They appear to stem from Mongolia and South Siberia in the aftermath of
5285-648: The United Kingdom recognized Circassia. However, during the Russian-Circassian War , the Russian Empire did not recognize Circassia as an independent region, and treated it as Russian land under rebel occupation, despite having no control or ownership over the region. Russian generals referred to the Circassians not by their ethnic name, but as "mountaineers", "bandits", and "mountain scum". The Circassian Parliament launched large-scale foreign policy activities. First of all, an official memorandum
5436-601: The Volga trade route to Russia, where slaves and furs were sold to Muslim merchants in exchange for Arab silver dirham and silk , which have been found in Birka , Wollin and Dublin ; during the 8th- and 9th-century this trade route between Europe and the Abbasid Caliphate passed via the Khazar Kaghanate, until it was supplanted in the 10th-century by the route of Volga Bulgaria , Khwarazm , and
5587-491: The Āshǐnà ( 阿史那 ) clan of the Western Turkic Khaganate , although Constantine Zuckerman regards Ashina and their pivotal role in the formation of the Khazars with scepticism. Golden notes that Chinese and Arabic reports are almost identical, making the connection a strong one, and conjectures that their leader may have been Yǐpíshèkuì ( 乙毗射匱 ), who lost power or was killed around 651. Moving west,
5738-419: The 11th century, the Byzantines may have established control over the region, as attested by the seal of a Michael, " archon of Zichia, Khazaria , and Gothia ", but this is disputed among modern scholars. In the 12th century, Emperor Manuel I Komnenos ( r. 1143–1180 ) used the title "emperor of Zichia, Khazaria, and Gothia", but it is unclear to which extent this claim corresponded to reality. In
5889-744: The 8th century, but the scope of the conversion to Judaism within the Khazar Khanate remains uncertain. Where the Khazars dispersed after the fall of the Khanate is subject to many conjectures. Proposals have been made regarding the possibility of a Khazar factor in the ethnogenesis of numerous peoples, such as the Hazaras , Hungarians , the Kazakhs , the Cossacks of the Don region and Ukraine ,
6040-739: The 940s emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus was speculating in De Administrando Imperio about ways in which the Khazars could be isolated and attacked. The Byzantines during the same period began to attempt alliances with the Pechenegs and the Rus', with varying degrees of success. A further factor undermining the Khazar Qağanate was a shift in Islamic routes at this time, as Muslims in Khwarazmia forged trade links with
6191-707: The Abbasid Revolution and the fall of the Umayyad dynasty in 750. In 758, the Abbasid Caliph al-Mansur attempted to strengthen diplomatic ties with the Khazars, ordering Yazid ibn Usayd al-Sulami , one of his nobles and the military governor of Armenia , to take a royal Khazar bride. Yazid married a daughter of Khazar Khagan Baghatur , but she died inexplicably, possibly during childbirth. Her attendants returned home, convinced that some members of another Arab faction had poisoned her, and her father
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6342-900: The Abkhaz claim, Inal died in North Abkhazia. Although most sources cite this theory, researches and searches in the region have shown that Inal's tomb is not here. According to Russian explorer and archaeologist Evgeniy Dimitrievich Felitsin, Inal's tomb is not in Abkhazia. In a map published in 1882, Felitsin has shown great importance to Inal, and placed his grave in the Ispravnaya region in Karachay-Cherkessia, not in Abkhazia. He added that there are ancient sculptures, mounds, tombs, churches, castles and ramparts in this area, which would be an ideal tomb for someone like Inal. At
6493-411: The Arabs refrained from repeating an attack on the Khazars until the early 8th century. The Khazars launched a few raids into Transcaucasian principalities under Muslim dominion, including a large-scale raid in 683–685 during the Second Muslim Civil War that rendered much booty and many prisoners. There is evidence from the account of al-Tabari that the Khazars formed a united front with the remnants of
6644-431: The Arabs under Hasan ibn al-Nu'man . The conflict escalated in 722 with an invasion by 30,000 Khazars into Armenia inflicting a crushing defeat. Caliph Yazid II responded, sending 25,000 Arab troops north, swiftly driving the Khazars back across the Caucasus, recovering Derbent, and advancing on Balanjar. The Arabs broke through the Khazar defence and stormed the city; most of its inhabitants were killed or enslaved, but
6795-409: The Byzantines in the 9th century in exchange for regular payments. Byzantium also sought alliances with the Göktürks against common enemies: in the early 7th century, one such alliance was brokered with the Western Tűrks against the Persian Sasanians in the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 . The Byzantines called Khazaria Tourkía , and by the 9th century referred to the Khazars as "Turks". During
6946-471: The Caliphate, while it also conformed to a general Eurasian trend to embrace a world religion . Whatever the impact of Marwan's campaigns was, warfare between the Khazars and the Arabs ceased for more than two decades after 737. Arab raids continued to occur until 741, but their control of the region was limited because maintaining a large garrison at Derbent further depleted their already overstretched army. A third Muslim civil war soon broke out, leading to
7097-401: The Caucasian Kassogians/ Circassians and then back to Kiev. Sarkel fell in 965, with the capital city of Atil following, c. 968 or 969. In the Russian chronicle, the vanquishing of the Khazar traditions is associated with Vladimir's conversion in 986. According to the Primary Chronicle , in 986 Khazar Jews were present at Vladimir 's disputation to decide on the prospective religion of
7248-502: The Circassian origin of the Sindo-Meot tribes refutes the claim that the Circassians are of Turkic ethnic origin. Miyequap (Maikop) civilization was established in 3000 BC. Circassians were known by many different names in ancient times. "Kerket" and "Sucha" are examples. In 1200 BC, Circassians fought alongside the Hittites against the Egyptians . The Sindica Kingdom was founded in 800 BC. During this period, Greeks (Greeks) and Sindi-Meotay tribes lived in Circassia. Under
7399-532: The Circassian state. According to popular belief, Inal is the ancestor of Kabardian , Besleney , Chemguy and Hatuqwai princes. Inal, who during the 1400s owned land in the Taman peninsula, established an army consisting mostly of the Khegayk tribe and declared that his goal was to unite the Circassians, which were divided into many states at that time, under a single state, and after declaring his own princedom, conquered all of Circassia one by one. Circassian nobles and princes tried to prevent Inal's rise, but in
7550-399: The Circassians and most of the Alans. The Circassians, who lost most of their lands during the ensuing Golden Horde attacks, had to retreat to the back of the Kuban River. In 1395 Circassians fought violent wars against Tamerlane , Tamerlane plundered Circassia. Inal is called the "Prince of Princes" by Circassians and Abkhazians , because he united all Circassian tribes and established
7701-723: The Circassians, Inal still wanted to include the cousin people, the Abkhaz, in his state. Abkhaz dynasties Chachba and Achba announced that they would side with Inal in a possible war. Inal, who won the war in Abkhazia, officially conquered Northern Abkhazia and the Abkhaz people recognized the rule of Inal, and Inal finalized his rule in Abkhazia. One of the stars on the flag of Abkhazia represents Inal. Inal divided his lands between his sons and grandchildren in 1453 and died in 1458. Following this, Circassian tribal principalities were established. Some of these are Chemguy founded by Temruk, Besleney founded by Beslan, Kabardia founded by Qabard, and Shapsug founded by Zanoko. According to
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#17327802712737852-407: The Crimea (650–c. 950), and even extended their influence into the Byzantine peninsula of Cherson until it was wrested back in the 10th century. Khazar and Farghânian (Φάργανοι) mercenaries constituted part of the imperial Byzantine Hetaireia bodyguard after its formation in 840, a position that could openly be purchased by a payment of seven pounds of gold. During the 7th and 8th centuries,
8003-440: The Crimean Khan and the Ottoman Sultan again to Kabardia under the leadership of the Crimean khan Kaplan-Girey to conquer the Circassians and ordered him collect the tribute. The Ottomans expected an easy victory against the Kabardinians, but the Circassians won because of the strategy set up by the Kazaniko Jabagh. The Crimean army was completely destroyed overnight. The Crimean Khan Kaplan-Giray barely managed to save his life, and
8154-485: The Göktürk identification is more probable since the Khazars only emerged from that group after the fragmentation of the former sometime after 630. Some scholars argued that Sasanian Persia never recovered from the devastating defeat wrought by this invasion. Once the Khazars emerged as a power, the Byzantines also began to form alliances with them, dynastic and military. In 695, the last Heraclian emperor , Justinian II , nicknamed "the slit-nosed" (ὁ ῥινότμητος) after he
8305-434: The Göktürks in Transoxiana. The Second Arab-Khazar War began with a series of raids across the Caucasus in the early 8th century. The Umayyads tightened their grip on Armenia in 705 after suppressing a large-scale rebellion. In 713 or 714, the Umayyad general Maslamah conquered Derbent and drove deeper into Khazar territory. The Khazars launched raids in response into Albania and Iranian Azerbaijan but were driven back by
8456-431: The Hebrew script, and it is likely that, although speaking a Turkic language, the Khazar chancellery under Judaism probably corresponded in Hebrew . Determining the origins and nature of the Khazars is closely bound with theories of their languages , but analysis of their languages' origins is difficult, since no indigenous records in the Khazar language survive, and the state was polyglot and polyethnic . Whereas
8607-430: The Kabars, started a series of raids from the Etelköz into the Carpathian Basin, mostly against the Eastern Frankish Empire (Germany) and Great Moravia , but also against the Lower Pannonian principality and Bulgaria . Then they together ended up at the outer slopes of Carpathians, and settled there. By the 9th century, groups of Varangian Rus' , developing a powerful warrior-merchant system, began probing south down
8758-412: The Khazar Qağanate, and raided down to the Caspian sea . The Schechter Letter relates the story of a campaign against Khazaria by HLGW (recently identified as Oleg of Chernigov) around 941 in which Oleg was defeated by the Khazar general Pesakh . The Khazar alliance with the Byzantine empire began to collapse in the early 10th century. Byzantine and Khazar forces may have clashed in the Crimea, and by
8909-489: The Khazar government included dignitaries referred to by ibn Fadlan as Jawyshyghr and Kündür , but their responsibilities are unknown. It has been estimated that 25 to 28 distinct ethnic groups made up the population of the Khazar Qağanate, aside from the ethnic elite. The ruling elite seems to have been constituted out of nine tribes/clans, themselves ethnically heterogeneous, spread over perhaps nine provinces or principalities, each of which would have been allocated to
9060-420: The Khazar state, the Adyghe people were integrated around the end of the 1st millennium AD into the Kingdom of Alania . Between the 10th and 13th centuries Georgia had influence on the Adyghe Circassian peoples. In 1382, Circassian mamluks took the Mamluk throne, the Burji dynasty took over and the Mamluks became a Circassian state. The Mongols, who started invading the Caucasus in 1223, destroyed some of
9211-668: The Khazars after his brother Roman was killed by their allies, the Polovtsi /Cumans. After one more conflict with these Polovtsi in 1106, the Khazars fade from history. By the 13th century they survived in Russian folklore only as "Jewish heroes" in the "land of the Jews". ( zemlya Jidovskaya ). By the end of the 12th century, Petachiah of Ratisbon reported travelling through what he called "Khazaria", and had little to remark on other than describing its minim (sectaries) living amidst desolation in perpetual mourning. The reference seems to be to Karaites. The Franciscan missionary William of Rubruck likewise found only impoverished pastures in
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#17327802712739362-401: The Khazars and the Abbasids were ultimately broken by a series of raids which occurred in 799, the raids occurred after another marriage alliance failed. Around 830, a rebellion broke out in the Khazar khaganate. As a result, three Kabar tribes of the Khazars (probably the majority of ethnic Khazars) joined the Hungarians and moved through Levedia to what the Hungarians call the Etelköz ,
9513-403: The Khazars dominated the vast area extending from the Volga-Don steppes to the eastern Crimea and the northern Caucasus . Khazaria long served as a buffer state between the Byzantine Empire , the nomads of the northern steppes, and the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates, having previously served as the Byzantine Empire's proxy against the Sasanian Empire . The alliance was dissolved around
9664-484: The Khazars fought a series of wars against the Umayyad Caliphate and its Abbasid successor. The First Arab-Khazar War began during the first phase of Muslim expansion . By 640, Muslim forces had reached Armenia; in 642 they launched their first raid across the Caucasus under Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rabiah . In 652 Arab forces advanced on the Khazar capital, Balanjar , but were defeated , suffering heavy losses; according to Persian historians such as al-Tabari , both sides in
9815-411: The Kievan Rus'. Whether these were Jews who had settled in Kiev or emissaries from some Jewish Khazar remnant state is unclear. Conversion to one of the faiths of the people of Scripture was a precondition to any peace treaty with the Arabs, whose Bulgar envoys had arrived in Kiev after 985. A visitor to Atil wrote soon after the sacking of the city that its vineyards and garden had been razed, that not
9966-531: The Muslim Kumyks , the Turkic-speaking Krymchaks and their Crimean neighbours the Crimean Karaites , the Moldavian Csángós , the Mountain Jews , and even some Subbotniks (based on their Ukrainian and Cossack origin). The late 19th century saw the emergence of a theory that the core of today's Ashkenazi Jews are descended from a hypothetical Khazarian Jewish diaspora that migrated westward from modern-day Russia and Ukraine into modern-day France and Germany. Linguistic and genetic studies have not supported
10117-411: The Nǔshībì subconfederation, also consisting of five tribes. The Duōlù challenged the Avars in the Kuban River - Sea of Azov area while the Khazar Qağanate consolidated further westwards, led apparently by an Ashina dynasty. With a resounding victory over the tribes in 657, engineered by General Sū Dìngfāng (蘇定方) , Chinese overlordship was imposed to their East after a final mop-up operation in 659, but
10268-425: The Persian traveller Ahmad ibn Rustah , probably followed the old Tūrkic religion. The ruling stratum, like that of the later Činggisids within the Golden Horde , was a relatively small group that differed ethnically and linguistically from its subject peoples, meaning the Alano-As and Oğuric Turkic tribes, who were numerically superior within Khazaria. The Khazar Qağans, while taking wives and concubines from
10419-519: The Roman pontiff thanked the ruler for his diligence in introducing the Catholic faith among his subjects. Verzacht's power status was so high that following his example some other Circassian princes adopted Catholicism. Circassia traditionally consisted of more than a dozen principalities. Some of these principalities were divided into large feudal estates, characterized by the stability of political status. Within these territories there were numerous feudal possessions of princes (pshi). The Circassian state
10570-414: The Rus' in 911, a Varangian foray, with Khazar connivance, through Arab lands led to a request to the Khazar throne by the Khwârazmian Islamic guard for permission to retaliate against the large Rus' contingent on its return. The purpose was to revenge the violence the Rus' razzias had inflicted on their fellow Muslim believers. The Rus' force was thoroughly routed and massacred. The Khazar rulers closed
10721-430: The Rus'-Oghuz campaigns left Khazaria devastated, with perhaps many Khazarian Jews in flight, and leaving behind at best a minor rump state . It left little trace, except for some placenames, and much of its population was undoubtedly absorbed in successor hordes. Al-Muqaddasi , writing ca.985, mentions Khazar beyond the Caspian sea as a district of "woe and squalor", with honey, many sheep and Jews. Kedrenos mentions
10872-556: The Russians Empire in 1864. Between 1427 and 1453, Inal the Great conquered all Circassian principalities and declared himself the Grand Prince of Circassia. Following his death, Circassia was divided again. The influential principalities of Circassia regularly met to elect a Grand Prince (Пщышхо) among them, with the only condition being that the prince can trace descent from Inal the Great . The existence of such an institute
11023-712: The Sindica Kingdom was established, but it is known that the Sindis had a state and trade relations with the Greeks before the establishment of the Greek colonies on the Black Sea coast. It is also known that the kingdom of Sindica was a busy trading state where artists and merchants were accommodated. Circassians could not establish a union for a long time after this state. The most detailed description of medieval Circassia
11174-597: The Terek River. The Russian military tried to impose authority by building a series of forts, but these forts in turn became the new targets of raids and indeed sometimes the highlanders actually captured and held the forts. Under Yermolov, the Russian military began using a strategy of disproportionate retribution for raids . Russian troops retaliated by destroying villages where resistance fighters were thought to hide, as well as employing assassinations, kidnappings and
11325-566: The Western Turkic Qağanate dissolved under pressure from the encroaching Tang dynasty armies and split into two competing federations, each consisting of five tribes, collectively known as the "Ten Arrows" ( On Oq ). Both briefly challenged Tang hegemony in eastern Turkestan. To the West, two new nomadic states arose in the meantime, Old Great Bulgaria under Kubrat , the Duōlù clan leader, and
11476-668: The basis of its phonetic similarity to the Uyğur tribal name, Qasar. Róna-Tas connects qasar with Kesar , the Pahlavi transcription of the Roman title Caesar . D. M. Dunlop tried to link the Chinese term for "Khazars" to one of the tribal names of the Uyğur, or Toquz Oğuz , namely the Qasar ( Ch. 葛薩 Gésà ). The objections are that Uyğur 葛薩 Gésà / Qasar was not a tribal name but rather
11627-553: The battle used catapults against the opposing troops. A number of Russian sources give the name of a Khazar khagan from this period as Irbis and describe him as a scion of the Göktürk royal house, the Ashina. Whether Irbis ever existed is open to debate, as is whether he can be identified with one of the many Göktürk rulers of the same name. Due to the outbreak of the First Muslim Civil War and other priorities,
11778-405: The bek sent out a body of troops, they would not retreat under any circumstances. If they were defeated, every one who returned was killed. Settlements were governed by administrative officials known as tuduns . In some cases, such as the Byzantine settlements in southern Crimea , a tudun would be appointed for a town nominally within another polity's sphere of influence . Other officials in
11929-399: The capital, Atil , thus ending Khazaria's independence. Determining the origins and nature of the Khazars is closely bound with theories of their languages . Still, it is a matter of intricate difficulty since no indigenous records in the Khazar language survived, and the state was polyglot and polyethnic . The native religion of the Khazars is thought to have been Tengrism like that of
12080-399: The charismatic sovereign's burial place was hidden from view, with a palatial structure ("Paradise") constructed and then hidden under rerouted river water to avoid disturbance by evil spirits and later generations. Such a royal burial ground ( qoruq ) is typical of inner Asian peoples. Both the îšâ and the xâqân converted to Judaism sometime in the 8th century, while the rest, according to
12231-542: The collapse of Khazar power in attributing its eclipse to the enfeebling effects of "false" religion. The decline was contemporary to that suffered by the Transoxiana Sāmānid empire to the east, both events paving the way for the rise of the Great Seljuq Empire , whose founding traditions mention Khazar connections. Whatever successor entity survived, it could no longer function as a bulwark against
12382-602: The confederation reached the land of the Akatziroi , who had been important allies of Byzantium in fighting off Attila 's army. An embryonic state of Khazaria began to form sometime after 630, when it emerged from the breakdown of the larger Göktürk Khaganate . Göktürk armies had penetrated the Volga by 549, ejecting the Avars, who were then forced to flee to the sanctuary of the Hungarian plain . The Ashina clan appeared on
12533-632: The distinctive kaftan or riding habit of the nomadic Khazars, the tzitzakion (τζιτζάκιον), and this was adopted as a solemn element of imperial dress. The orderly hierarchical system of succession by "scales" ( lestvichnaia sistema :лествичная система) to the Grand Principate of Kiev was arguably modelled on Khazar institutions, via the example of the Rus' Khaganate . The proto-Hungarian Pontic tribe, while perhaps threatening Khazaria as early as 839 (Sarkel), practiced their institutional model, such as
12684-611: The dual rule of a ceremonial kende-kündü and a gyula administering practical and military administration, as tributaries of the Khazars. A dissident group of Khazars, the Qabars , joined the Hungarians in their migration westwards as they moved into Pannonia . Elements within the Hungarian population can be viewed as perpetuating Khazar traditions as a successor state. Byzantine sources refer to Hungary as Western Tourkia in contrast to Khazaria, Eastern Tourkia. The gyula line produced
12835-531: The east. Historically, Circassia covered the southern half of today's Krasnodar Krai , the Republic of Adygea , Karachay-Cherkessia , Kabardino-Balkaria , and parts of North Ossetia–Alania and Stavropol Krai , bounded by the Kuban River on the north which separated it from the Russian Empire . On the Black Sea coast, the climate is warm and humid, while being moderate in the lowlands and cooler in
12986-507: The embassy received a good reception from the Grand Prince. In the 14th and 15th centuries Italian documents concerning the relationship between the consul of Kafa and Circassia clearly indicate the absolutely special status of the ruler of Circassia. This status allowed the senior prince of Circassia to correspond with the Pope. The letter of Pope John XXII , addressed to the Grand Prince of Zichia (Circassia) Verzacht, dates back to 1333, in which
13137-588: The end of the 15th century, a detailed description of Circassia and of its inhabitants was made by Genovese traveller and ethnographer Giorgio Interiano . In 1708, Circassians paid a great tribute to the Ottoman sultan in order to prevent Tatar raids, but the sultan did not fulfill the obligation and the Tatars raided all the way to the center of Circassia, robbing everything they could. For this reason, Kabardian Circassians announced that they would never pay tribute to
13288-467: The execution of whole families. Because the resistance was relying on sympathetic villages for food, the Russian military also systematically destroyed crops and livestock and killed Circassian civilians. Circassians responded by creating a tribal federation encompassing all tribes of the area. In 1840 Karl Friedrich Neumann estimated the Circassian casualties at around one and a half million. Some sources state that hundreds of thousands of others died during
13439-490: The exodus. Several historians use the phrase "Circassian massacres" for the consequences of Russian actions in the region. Khazar Empire ( Tokhara Yabghus , Turk Shahis ) The Khazars ( / ˈ x ɑː z ɑːr z / ) were a nomadic Turkic people that, in the late 6th century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia , southern Ukraine , Crimea , and Kazakhstan . They created what, for its duration,
13590-568: The fall of the Hunnic / Xiōngnú nomadic polities. A variegated tribal federation led by these Turks, probably comprising a complex assortment of Iranian , proto-Mongolic , Uralic , and Palaeo-Siberian clans, vanquished the Rouran Khaganate of the hegemonic central Asian Avars in 552 and swept westwards, taking in their train other steppe nomads and peoples from Sogdiana . The ruling family of this confederation may have hailed from
13741-425: The former managed and commanded the military, while the greater king's role was primarily sacral, less concerned with daily affairs. The greater king was recruited from the Khazar house of notables ( ahl bait ma'rûfīn ) and, in an initiation ritual, was nearly strangled until he declared the number of years he wished to reign, on the expiration of which he would be killed by the nobles . The deputy ruler would enter
13892-712: The formidable Göktürk Qağanate after its disintegration. According to Omeljan Pritsak , the language of the Onoğur-Bulğar federation was to become the lingua franca of Khazaria as it developed into what Lev Gumilev called a "steppe Atlantis" ( stepnaja Atlantida / Степная Атлантида). Historians have often referred to this period of Khazar domination as the Pax Khazarica since the state became an international trading hub permitting Western Eurasian merchants safe transit across it to pursue their business without interference. The high status soon to be accorded this empire to
14043-516: The fortress of Amadiya north of Mosul . His project was opposed by the rabbinical authorities and he was poisoned in his sleep. One theory maintains that the Star of David, until then a decorative motif or magical emblem, began to assume its national value in late Jewish tradition from its earlier symbolic use by Menachem. Zichia Surviving Destroyed or barely existing Zichia ( / ˈ z ɪ k i ə / ; Adyghe : Адзыгъуэй )
14194-528: The full support of public organizations, so the Circassian Committee of Istanbul and London supported Circassia. Thus, if not de jure, then de facto Circassia acquired the features of a subject of international law. In the 16th century, the English traveler Edmund Spencer, who traveled to the shores of the Caucasus, quotes a Circassian saying about the Ottoman sultan: Circassian blood flows in
14345-674: The hands of the enemy, so Russian officers who later fought in Circassia noted that it was very rare to succeed in capturing Circassians, as they would go as far as suicide. Johann von Blaramberg noted: When they see that they are surrounded, they give their lives dearly, never surrendering. The Russian army, after invading Circassia and ethnically cleansing the Circassians in the Circassian genocide , adopted some parts of Circassian military uniforms - from weapons ( Shashka and Circassian sabers, daggers, Circassian saddles, Circassian horses) to uniforms (Cherkeska, burqa, papaha). Known rulers of
14496-422: The highlands. Most of Circassia is frost free for more than half the year. There are steppe meadows in the plains, beech and oak forests in the foothills, and pine forests and alpine meadows in the mountains. Sochi is considered by many Circassians as their traditional capital city. According to Circassians, the 2014 Winter Olympic village is built in an area of mass graves of Circassians after their defeat by
14647-460: The institute of grand prince was mostly symbolic. In 1807, Shuwpagwe Qalawebateqo self-proclaimed himself as the leader of the Circassian confederation, and divided Circassia into 12 major regions. In 1827, Ismail Berzeg officially declared the military confederation of the Circassian tribes and by 1839 united a significant part of Circassia under his control. In 1839, the Circassians declared Bighuqal ( Anapa ) as their new capital and Hawduqo Mansur
14798-533: The kings of medieval Hungary through descent from Árpád , while the Qabars retained their traditions longer, and were known as "black Hungarians" ( fekete magyarság ). Some archaeological evidence from Čelarevo suggests the Qabars practised Judaism since warrior graves with Jewish symbols were found there, including menorahs , shofars , etrogs , lulavs , candlesnuffers, ash collectors, inscriptions in Hebrew, and
14949-731: The lands of the Adyghe people , who were also known as the Kasogi (or Kassogs) at the time. They were conquered first by the Bulgars (who originated on the Central Asian steppes ). Outsiders sometimes confused the Adyghe people with the similarly named Utigurs (a branch of the Bulgars), and both peoples were sometimes conflated under misnomers such as " Utige ". Following the dissolution of
15100-652: The language of the royal house and its core tribes, in all likelihood remained the language of the ruling elite in the same way that Mongol continued to be used by the rulers of the Golden Horde, alongside of the Qipčaq Turkic speech spoken by the bulk of the Turkic tribesmen that constituted the military force of this part of the Činggisid empire. Similarity, Oğuric, like Qipčaq Turkic in the Jočid realm, functioned as one of
15251-530: The languages of government. One method for tracing their origins consists in the analysis of the possible etymologies behind the ethnonym "Khazar". The tribes that were to comprise the Khazar empire were not an ethnic union, but a congeries of steppe nomads and peoples who came to be subordinated, and subscribed to a core Turkic leadership. Many Turkic groups, such as the Oğuric peoples , including Šarağurs , Oğurs, Onoğurs , and Bulğars who earlier formed part of
15402-524: The lower Volga area where Ital once lay. Giovanni da Pian del Carpine , the papal legate to the court of the Mongol Khan Guyuk at that time, mentioned an otherwise unattested Jewish tribe, the Brutakhi , perhaps in the Volga region. Although connections are made to the Khazars, the link is based merely on a common attribution of Judaism. The 10th century Zoroastrian Dênkart registered
15553-436: The modern-day Russian Federation . The words Circassia and Circassian ( / s ər ˈ k æ s i ə n z / sər- KASS -ee-ənz ) are exonyms , Latinized from the word Cherkess , which is of debated origin. One view is that its root stems from Turkic languages, and that the term means "head choppers" or "warrior killers" accounting for the successful battle practices of the Circassians. There are those who argue that
15704-424: The name Irene. Constantine and Irene had a son, the future Leo IV (775–780) , who thereafter bore the sobriquet, "the Khazar". Leo died in mysterious circumstances after his Athenian wife bore him a son, Constantine VI , who on his majority co-ruled with his mother, the dowager. He proved unpopular, and his death ended the dynastic link of the Khazars to the Byzantine throne. By the 8th century, Khazars dominated
15855-524: The north is attested by Ibn al-Balḫî 's Fârsnâma (c. 1100), which relates that the Sasanian Shah, Ḫusraw 1, Anûsîrvân , placed three thrones by his own, one for the King of China, a second for the King of Byzantium, and a third for the king of the Khazars. Although anachronistic in retrodating the Khazars to this period, the legend, in placing the Khazar qağan on a throne with equal status to kings of
16006-787: The northern end of the Kuban River , but were eventually pushed back to the south of the Kuban after suffering losses to military raids conducted by the Mongol Empire , the Golden Horde , and the Crimean Khanate . Their reduced borders then stretched from the Taman Peninsula to North Ossetia . Circassian lords subjugated and vassalized the neighbouring Karachays and Balkars and the Ossetians . The term Circassia
16157-606: The other great powers of the time. The Congress of Vienna also stipulated the recognition of the independence of Circassia. In 1837, Circassian leaders sent letters to a number of European states requesting diplomatic recognition. Following this, the United Kingdom recognized Circassia. However, following the outbreak of the Russo-Circassian War, the Russian Empire did not recognize Circassia as an independent nation and instead treated it as Russian land under rebel occupation , despite having no control or ownership over
16308-419: The other two superpowers, bears witness to the reputation won by the Khazars from early times. Khazaria developed a dual kingship governance structure, typical among Turkic nomads, consisting of a shad/bäk and a qağan . The emergence of this system may be deeply entwined with the conversion to Judaism. According to Arabic sources, the lesser king was called îšâ and the greater king Khazar xâqân ;
16459-506: The passage down the Volga to the Rus', sparking a war. In the early 960s, Khazar ruler Joseph wrote to Hasdai ibn Shaprut about the deterioration of Khazar relations with the Rus': "I protect the mouth of the river (Itil-Volga) and prevent the Rus arriving in their ships from setting off by sea against the Ishmaelites and (equally) all (their) enemies from setting off by land to Bab ." The Rus' warlords launched several wars against
16610-540: The period leading up to and after the siege of Constantinople in 626, Heraclius sought help via emissaries, and eventually personally, from a Göktürk chieftain of the Western Turkic Khaganate, Tong Yabghu Qağan , in Tiflis , plying him with gifts and the promise of marriage to his daughter, Epiphania . Tong Yabghu responded by sending a large force to ravage the Persian empire, marking the start of
16761-642: The permanent standing army indicate that it numbered as many as one hundred thousand. They controlled and exacted tribute from 25 to 30 different nations and tribes inhabiting the vast territories between the Caucasus, the Aral Sea, the Ural Mountains, and the Ukrainian steppes. Khazar armies were led by the Qağan Bek (pronounced as Kagan Bek) and commanded by subordinate officers known as tarkhans . When
16912-464: The physical remains, such as skulls at Sarkel , have revealed individuals belonging to the Slavic, other European, and a few Mongolian types. The import and export of foreign wares, and the revenues derived from taxing their transit, was a hallmark of the Khazar economy, although it is said also to have produced isinglass . Distinctively among the nomadic steppe polities, the Khazar Qağanate developed
17063-403: The presence of the reclusive greater king only with great ceremony, approaching him barefoot to prostrate himself in the dust and then light a piece of wood as a purifying fire, while waiting humbly and calmly to be summoned. Particularly elaborate rituals accompanied a royal burial . At one period, travellers had to dismount, bow before the ruler's tomb, and then walk away on foot. Subsequently,
17214-502: The pressure east and south of nomad expansions. By 1043, Kimeks and Qipchaqs , thrusting westwards, pressured the Oğuz , who in turn pushed the Pechenegs west towards Byzantium's Balkan provinces. Khazaria nonetheless left its mark on the rising states and some of their traditions and institutions. Much earlier, Tzitzak , the Khazar wife of Leo III , introduced into the Byzantine court
17365-404: The recently converted Volga Bulgarian Muslims, a move which may have caused a drastic drop, perhaps up to 80%, in the revenue base of Khazaria, and consequently, a crisis in its ability to pay for its defence. Sviatoslav I finally succeeded in destroying Khazar imperial power in the 960s, in a circular sweep that overwhelmed Khazar fortresses like Sarkel and Tamatarkha , and reached as far as
17516-437: The recognition of the independence of Eastern Circassia ( Kabarda ), where both the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire recognized it, and the great powers at the time witnessed the treaty. The Congress of Vienna held in the period between 1814 and 1815 also stipulated the recognition of the independence of Circassia. In 1837, Circassian leaders sent letters to European countries requesting legal recognition. Following this,
17667-534: The region include: Turkish nationalist groups and proponents of modern day Pan-Turkism have claimed that the Circassians are of Turkic origin, but no scientific evidence has been published to support this claim and it has been strongly denied by ethnic Circassians, impartial research, linguists and historians around the world. The Circassian language does not share notable similarities to the Turkish language except for borrowed words. According to various historians,
17818-531: The region. Russian generals often referred to the Circassians as "mountaineers", "bandits", and "mountain scum" rather than by their ethnonym. The Russian conquest of Circassia created the Circassian diaspora ; the overwhelming majority of Circassians today live outside of their ancestral homeland, mostly in Turkey and other parts of the Middle East . Only about 14% of the global Circassian population lives in
17969-478: The roof of this state, Sindi-Meotians in the region became the ancestors of the Circassian people. The Greek poet Hipponax, who lived in the 5th century BC, and Herodotus later mentioned the Sindis. Strabo also mentions the Capitol of Sindia, located near the Black Sea coast. Information on Sindica has been learned from Greek documents and archaeological finds, and there is not much detail. It is not known exactly when
18120-431: The royal or ruling elite probably spoke an eastern variety of Shaz Turkic , the subject tribes appear to have spoken varieties of Lir Turkic , such as Oğuric , a language variously identified with Bulğaric , Chuvash , and Hunnish . The latter based upon the assertion of the Persian historian Istakhri the Khazar language was different from any other known tongue. Alano-As was also widely spoken. Eastern Common Turkic,
18271-627: The ruins of this nomadic empire as it broke up under pressure from the Tang dynasty armies to the east sometime between 630 and 650. After their conquest of the lower Volga region to the East and an area westwards between the Danube and the Dniepr , and their subjugation of the Onoğur - Bulğar union, sometime around 670, a properly constituted Khazar Qağanate emerges, becoming the westernmost successor state of
18422-553: The rule of the Caliphate, but the accommodation was short-lived because a combination of internal instability among the Umayyads and Byzantine support undid the agreement within three years, and the Khazars re-asserted their independence. The suggestion that the Khazars adopted Judaism as early as 740 is based on the idea that, in part, it was, a re-assertion of their independence from the rule of both regional powers, Byzantium and
18573-520: The scene by 552, when they overthrew the Rourans and established the Göktürk Qağanate , whose self designation was Tür(ü)k . By 568, these Göktürks were probing for an alliance with Byzantium to attack Persia . An internecine war broke out between the senior eastern Göktürks and the junior West Turkic Khaganate some decades later, when on the death of Taspar Qağan , a succession dispute led to
18724-544: The subject populations, were protected by a Khwârazmian guard corps, or comitatus , called the Ursiyya . But unlike many other local polities, they hired soldiers (mercenaries) (the junûd murtazîqa in al-Mas'ûdî ). At the peak of their empire, the Khazars ran a centralised fiscal administration, with a standing army of some 7–12,000 men, which could, at need, be multiplied two or three times that number by inducting reserves from their nobles' retinues. Other figures for
18875-531: The surname of the chief of the 思结 Sijie tribe ( Sogdian : Sikari ) of the Toquz Oğuz (Ch. 九姓 jĭu xìng ), and that in Middle Chinese the ethnonym "Khazars" was always prefaced with Tūjué , then still reserved for Göktürks and their splinter groups, ( Tūjué Kěsà bù :突厥可薩部; Tūjué Hésà :突厥曷薩) and "Khazar's" first syllable is transcribed with different characters (可 and 曷) than 葛, which is used to render
19026-426: The syllable Qa- in the Uyğur word Qasar . While it is far from given that the Khazars are not signifying a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual cluster of peoples and clans, some more nomadic, some less, it doesn't exclude that some clans, or splintergroups, or even rulers has identified with the name(s) of the Khazars, in the variety of ways it has been expressed. After their conversion it is reported that they adopted
19177-412: The term comes from Mongolian Jerkes , meaning "one who blocks a path". Some believe it comes from the ancient Greek name of the region, Siraces . According to another view, its origin is Persian . In languages spoken geographically close to the Caucasus, the native people originally had other names for the Circassia, but with Russian influence, the name has been settled as Cherkessia/Circassia . It
19328-647: The territory between the Carpathians and the Dnieper River . The Hungarians faced their first attack by the Pechenegs around 854, though other sources state that an attack by Pechenegs was the reason for their departure to Etelköz. The new neighbours of the Hungarians were the Varangians and the eastern Slavs . From 862 onwards, the Hungarians (already referred to as the Ungri ) along with their allies,
19479-495: The theory of a Khazar connection to Ashkenazi Jewry . The theory still finds occasional support, but most scholars view it with considerable scepticism. The theory is sometimes associated with antisemitism and anti-Zionism . In Oghuz Turkic languages , the Caspian Sea is still named the " Khazar Sea ", an enduring legacy of the medieval Khazar state. Gyula Németh , following Zoltán Gombocz , derived Khazar from
19630-437: The throne. The Khazarian spouse thereupon changed her name to Theodora . Busir was offered a bribe by the Byzantine usurper, Tiberius III , to kill Justinian. Warned by Theodora, Justinian escaped, murdering two Khazar officials in the process. He fled to Bulgaria, whose Khan Tervel helped him regain the throne. Upon his reinstalment, and despite Busir's treachery during his exile, he sent for Theodora; Busir complied, and she
19781-495: The time of the Egyptian vizier Al-Afdal Shahanshah (d. 1121), one Solomon ben Duji, often identified as a Khazarian Jew, attempted to advocate for a messianic effort for the liberation of, and return of all Jews to, Palestine. He wrote to many Jewish communities to enlist support. He eventually moved to Kurdistan where his son Menachem some decades later assumed the title of Messiah and, raising an army for this purpose, took
19932-587: The two confederations of Bulğars and Khazars fought for supremacy on the western steppeland, and with the ascendency of the latter, the former either succumbed to Khazar rule or, as under Asparukh , Kubrat's son, shifted even further west across the Danube to lay the foundations of the First Bulgarian Empire in the Balkans ( c. 679 ). The Qağanate of the Khazars thus took shape out of
20083-620: The two great furnishers of slaves to the Muslim market to slavery in the Abbasid Caliphate (the other being the Iranian Sâmânid amîrs ), supplying it with captured Slavs and tribesmen from the Eurasian northlands. It profited from the latter which enabled it to maintain a standing army of Khwarezm Muslim troops. The capital Atil reflected the division: Kharazān on the western bank where the king and his Khazar elite, with
20234-407: The veins of the Sultan. His mother, his harem are Circassian; his slaves are Circassians, his ministers and generals are Circassians. He is the head of our faith and also of our race. Circassia for centuries lived under the threat of external invasions, so the whole way of life of the Circassians was militarized. The governor of Astrakhan wrote to Peter I: One thing I can praise about the Circassians
20385-422: The waterways controlled by the Khazars and their protectorate, the Volga Bulgarians , partially in pursuit of the Arab silver that flowed north for hoarding through the Khazarian-Volga Bulgarian trading zones, partially to trade in furs and ironwork. Northern mercantile fleets passing Atil were tithed, as they were at Byzantine Cherson . Their presence may have prompted the formation of a Rus' state by convincing
20536-406: The year 900 when Byzantium began encouraging the Alans to attack Khazaria. This move aimed to weaken Khazaria's control over Crimea and the Caucasus, for the Empire sought an entente with the rising power of the Kievan Rus’ in the north—a region they hoped to convert to Eastern Christianity . Between 965 and 969, Sviatoslav I of Kiev, the ruler of Kievan Rus', along with his allies, conquered
20687-436: Was a federal state consisting of four levels of government: Village council (чылэ хасэ, made up of village elders and nobles), district council (made up of representatives from 7 neighboring village councils), regional council (шъолъыр хасэ, made up from neighboring district councils), people's council (лъэпкъ зэфэс, where every council had a representative). A central government emerged during the mid to late 1800s. Prior to that,
20838-447: Was caught in a pincer movement between steppe Pechenegs and the strengthening of an emergent Rus' power to the north, both undermining Khazaria's tributary empire. According to the Schechter Text , the Khazar ruler King Benjamin (ca.880–890) fought a battle against the allied forces of five lands whose moves were perhaps encouraged by Byzantium. Although Benjamin was victorious, his son Aaron II faced another invasion, this time led by
20989-446: Was conquered by the Russian Empire during the Russo-Circassian War (1763–1864), after which approximately 99.5-99.8% of the Circassian people were either exiled or massacred in the Circassian genocide . In the medieval era, Circassia was nominally ruled by an elected Grand Prince, but individual principalities and tribes were autonomous. In the 18th–19th centuries, a central government began to form . The Circassians also dominated
21140-420: Was crowned as Augusta, suggesting that both prized the alliance. Decades later, Leo III (ruled 717–741) made a similar alliance to co-ordinate strategy against a common enemy, the Muslim Arabs . He sent an embassy to the Khazar qağan Bihar and married his son, the future Constantine V (ruled 741–775), to Bihar's daughter, a princess referred to as Tzitzak , in 732. On converting to Christianity, she took
21291-418: Was declared the new leader of the Circassian Confederation. He kept this title until his death. In 1848, Muhammad Amin was the leader of Circassia. After learning that a warriorly scholar has arrived, thousands of families moved to the Abdzakh region to accept his rule. Seferbiy Zaneqo assumed power after Amin's departure, but died the next year. In June 1860, at a congress of representatives of Circassians,
21442-409: Was drafted addressed to Tsar Alexander II. The text of the memorandum was presented to the tsar by the leaders of the Parliament during the latter's visit to Circassia in September 1861. The Parliament also accepted an appeal to the Ottoman and European governments. Special envoys were sent to Istanbul and London to seek diplomatic and military support. The activities of the Circassian government received
21593-406: Was enraged. The Khazar general Ras Tarkhan invaded regions which were located south of the Caucasus in 762–764, devastating Albania, Armenia, and Iberia, and capturing Tiflis. Thereafter, relations between the Khazars and the Abbasids became increasingly cordial, because the foreign policies of the Abbasids were generally less expansionist than the foreign policies of the Umayyads, relations between
21744-407: Was humiliated, all the way to his shoes taken, leaving his brother, son, field tools, tents and personal belongings. In 1714, Peter I established a plan to occupy the Caucasus. Although he was unable to implement this plan, he laid the political and ideological foundation for the occupation to take place. Catherine II started putting this plan into action. The Russian army was deployed on the banks of
21895-425: Was located north of Western Asia , near the northeastern Black Sea coast. Before the Russian conquest of the Caucasus (1763–1864), it covered the entire fertile plateau and the steppe of the northwestern region of the Caucasus , with an estimated population of 1 million. Circassia's historical great range extended from the Taman Peninsula in the west, to the town of Mozdok in today's North Ossetia–Alania in
22046-416: Was made by Johannes de Galonifontibus in 1404. From his writing it follows that at the turn of the XIV and XV centuries, Circassia expanded its borders to the north to the mouth of the Don , and he notes that “the city and port of Tana is located in the same country in Upper Circassia, on the Don River, which separates Europe from Asia". Feudalism began to emerge in Circassians by the 4th century. As
22197-425: Was mutilated and deposed, was exiled to Cherson in the Crimea , where a Khazar governor ( tudun ) presided. He escaped into Khazar territory in 704 or 705 and was given asylum by qağan Busir Glavan (Ἰβουζῆρος Γλιαβάνος), who gave him his sister in marriage, perhaps in response to an offer by Justinian, who may have thought a dynastic marriage would seal by kinship a powerful tribal support for his attempts to regain
22348-418: Was reportedly kidnapped by "Khazars" in 1079 and shipped off to Constantinople , although most scholars believe that this is a reference to the Cumans - Kipchaks or other steppe peoples then dominant in the Pontic region. Upon his conquest of Tmutarakan in the 1080s Oleg Sviatoslavich, son of a prince of Chernigov, gave himself the title " Archon of Khazaria". In 1083 Oleg is said to have exacted revenge on
22499-471: Was the most powerful polity to emerge from the break-up of the Western Turkic Khaganate . Astride a major artery of commerce between Eastern Europe and Southwestern Asia , Khazaria became one of the foremost trading empires of the early medieval world, commanding the western marches of the Silk Road and playing a key commercial role as a crossroad between China , the Middle East , and Kievan Rus' . For some three centuries ( c. 650 –965),
22650-405: Was the predecessor of Circassia and a medieval kingdom on the northeastern shore of the Black Sea , inhabited by Circassians . The exact borders of the kingdom are unknown. According to the 10th-century Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos ( r. 913–959 ), it lay south of Tamatarcha ( Tmutorokan ), separated from it by the river Oukrouch (possibly to be identified with
22801-406: Was to prove to be the foundation of a Rus' empire. The Khazars had initially allowed the Rus' to use the trade route along the Volga River, and raid southwards. See Caspian expeditions of the Rus' . According to Al-Mas'udi , the qağan is said to have given his assent on the condition that the Rus' give him half of the booty. In 913, however, two years after Byzantium concluded a peace treaty with
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