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Video: "To take revenge on the unreasonable Khazars": Where did the most mysterious people of Ancient Russia come from and where did they disappear
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Pushkin's lines "How the prophetic Oleg is now going to take revenge on the unreasonable Khazars …" at school, perhaps, everyone taught. Few know why and how long the Russian princes fought with the Khazars. Although the very image of the sworn enemy of Russia was firmly entrenched in the Khazars - as well as many legends about their Jewish origin, the "Khazar yoke" over the Russian lands and the modern heirs of the disappeared people.
The main rival of Ancient Russia
They still argue about the origin of the Khazars. Alas, no direct written evidence of this has survived. Most likely, they were Turks - modern Turks, Kazakhs, Yakuts and other peoples emerged from this group. Having settled on the territory of the North Caucasus, the Volga region and the Don, the nomadic tribes united in the 7th century into the Khazar Kaganate, headed by the ruler, the Kagan. A similar title "khan" is familiar to us thanks to the Mongol khans and meant the same supreme leader of the nomads.
The Khazar Kaganate increased its power and became the only state in the south of Eastern Europe - from the Caucasus to modern Kazan, from Kiev to the borders of present-day Kazakhstan. Even the Caspian Sea was called the Khazar Sea. Among the subjugated peoples were the ancient Slavs. But in those days, state power was limited to collecting tribute, and there was no "yoke" in Russia at that time. A few centuries later, the Mongols will arrange a real yoke - they will begin to go on military campaigns and issue "labels for reign".
Moreover, the Slavic tribes - like many others - gladly paid tribute to the ruler themselves, so that he would protect them from enemies. However, when the Rurik dynasty was established in Kiev, the power changed - now the Slavs had their own ruler. Thus began the struggle for a sphere of influence. Prince Oleg the Prophet "took revenge on the unreasonable Khazars": he came to the northerners, Radimichs and other tribes and forced them to pay tribute to him, and not to the Khazar kagan.
The Khazar issue was finally resolved by Prince Svyatoslav. In 965, he went on a military campaign to the capital of Khazaria, Sarkel, and defeated it. Other neighbors began to attack the kaganate, the peoples got out of his control, and he disintegrated. Vladimir the Holy even imposed a tribute on the Khazars.
The authority of the once powerful state led to the fact that sometimes Russian princes also began to be called "kagans". There was no Khazar influence in this - they had to be content with the role of the defeated people. After the 10th century, information about them became more and more rare, until they completely disappeared.
Khazars and Jews
According to legend, the Russian prince Vladimir, before adopting Christianity, pondered which religion should be chosen instead of paganism, and arranged a dispute. Representatives from Christians, Muslims and Jews came to him, proving that it was their faith that was worthy of conversion. Long before Vladimir, the Khazars went through the same choice, with the difference that they chose Judaism.
The Khazar kagans preferred to be pagans, but the local commander - or, as he was called, the "king" - by the name of Bulan decided to increase his influence by adopting a new faith, opposing himself to the kagan. True, he also did not want to submit to Christian Byzantium or the Muslim Arab Caliphate. Perhaps that is why the choice fell on the Jewish religion.
After the Khazaria adopted Judaism, Jewish refugees rushed into the country, because they did not have their own state. The influx of Jews was insignificant - the main population remained pagans, and the Jewish communities kept quite apart. Only abroad could they act as a united front: we, for example, do not know what nationality the Khazar Jews were, who tried to persuade Prince Vladimir to accept their faith.
Heirs and legacy
The disappearance of the Khazars from the map of Europe arouses natural curiosity: should they have some descendants left? One Khazar myth claims that these descendants are Ashkenazi Jews. This was the name of the Jews who lived in medieval Europe. According to supporters of their Khazar origin, after the defeat of the Khaganate, the Khazars migrated to Europe and formed the basis of the future Jewish community in Germany, Poland and neighboring countries.
The theory has not been confirmed. Ashkenazi Jews speak Yiddish, which is based on German dialects, as well as Hebrew and Slavic borrowings. The Khazar language was of Turkic origin - the modern Chuvash language is closest to it, but not Yiddish. If the Khazars came to the Ashkenazi, they were in the minority and were absorbed and dissolved by the latter.
Another original idea was the version that the Zaporozhye Cossacks were the descendants of the Khazars. This myth became widespread among the entourage of Hetman Mazepa, who betrayed his oath to Peter the Great. The motives for such a theory are clear: the Little Russian Cossacks wanted to distance themselves from their common origin with the Russians and emphasize their "steppe liberty."
In reality, the Khazars had no successors. They dissolved among the peoples of Eastern Europe, including among the Jews - the same Ashkenazim, as well as the Karaites, Krymchaks and Mountain Jews.
Nevertheless, the lost people continue to live in the memory of people. Why don't the Khazars leave behind descendants - for example, in the form of the Jewish community in Africa? Or, say, hide mysterious treasures that fictional characters will look for? These plots are now and then reflected in fiction. And any historical novel about Ancient Rus is rarely complete without mentioning the Khazars. The Khazars left no heirs - but left a legacy in the form of secrets and mysteries.
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