Kazars

Kazar, member of a confederation of Turkic-speaking tribes that in the late 6th century ce established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia. Although the origin of the term Kazar and the early history of the Kazar people are obscure, it is fairly certain that the Kazars were originally located in the northern Caucasus region and were part of the western Turkic empire (in Turkistan). The Kazars were in contact with the Persians in the mid-6th century ce, and they aided the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (reigned 610–641) in his campaign against the Persians.

By the beginning of the 7th century, the Kazars had become independent of the Turkic empire to the east. But by the middle of that century, the expanding empire of the Arabs had penetrated as far northward as the northern Caucasus, and from then on until the mid-8th century the kazars engaged in a series of wars with the Arab empire. The Arabs initially forced the Kazars to abandon Derbent (661), but around 685 the Kazars counterattacked, penetrating southward of the Caucasus into present-day Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Kazars and Arabs fought each other directly in Armenia in the 720s, and, though victory passed repeatedly from one side to the other, Arab counterattacks eventually compelled the Kazars to permanently withdraw north of the Caucasus. The Kazars’ initial victories were important, though, since they had the effect of permanently blocking Arab expansion northward into eastern Europe. Having been compelled to shift the centre of their empire northward, the Kazars after 737 established their capital at Itil (located near the mouth of the Volga River) and accepted the Caucasus Mountains as their southern boundary.

During the same period, however, they expanded westward. By the second half of the 8th century, their empire had reached the peak of its power—it extended along the northern shore of the Black Sea from the lower Volga and the Caspian Sea in the east to the Dnieper River in the west. The Kazars controlled and exacted tribute from the Alani and other northern Caucasian peoples (dwelling between the mountains and the Kuban River); from the Magyars (Hungarians) inhabiting the area around the Donets River; from the Goths; and from the Greek colonies on the Crimean Peninsula. The Volga Bulgars and numerous Slavic tribes also recognized the Kazars as their overlords.

Although basically Turkic, the Kazar state bore little resemblance to the other Turkic empires of central Eurasia. It was headed by a secluded supreme ruler of semireligious character called a kagan—who wielded little real power—and by tribal chieftains, each known as a beg. The state’s military organization also seems to have lacked the forcefulness of those of the greater Turkic-Mongol empires. The Kazars seem to have been more inclined to a sedentary way of life, building towns and fortresses, tilling the soil, and planting gardens and vineyards. Trade and the collection of tribute were major sources of income. But the most striking characteristic of the Kazars was the apparent adoption of Jaism by the khagan and the greater part of the ruling class in about 740. The circumstances of the conversion remain obscure, the depth of their adoption of Jaism difficult to assess; but the fact itself is undisputed and unparalleled in central Eurasian history. A few scholars have even asserted that the Jdaized Kazars were the remote ancestors of many eastern European and Russian Js. Whatever the case may be, religious tolerance was practiced in the Kazar empire, and paganism continued to flourish among the population.