2. Slavs and their enemies, Rus 2 Russia
In the neighborhood of the Kiev power in Eastern Europe was born a powerful state - the Khazar Khaganate. Its history is worthy of attention.
In the Lower Volga.
The Khazars themselves were one of the most remarkable nations of that time. Initially their settlements were concentrated in the lower reaches of the Terek River and on the western shores of the Caspian Sea. At that time, the water level of the Caspian Sea was minus -36, in other words, 8 meters lower than today. Therefore, the territory of the Volga delta was very large, reaching the Buzachi peninsula, an extension of Mangyshlak. It was a real Caspian Netherlands, abundant in fish, and fertile fields.
The Khazars were a Caucasian tribe that lived in the territory of modern Dagestan. The author had occasion to find their skeletons in the lower reaches of the Volga; they seemed to belong to teenagers. The skeleton is about 1.6 m long, and the bones themselves are small and fragile. A similar anthropological type was preserved in the Terek Cossacks. Traces of the Khazars' habitation near the Caspian Sea are now hidden by the advancing sea, and only Dagestan grapes, brought by the Khazars from the Caucasus to the Volga delta, remain as evidence of their migration.
The enemies of the Caspian Khazars were steppe Burtasians and Bulgars. Both of them were subdued by the Turks in the 6th century. In the dynastic struggle of the victors, some Turks relied on the Bulgars, others on the Khazars. The Khazars and their allies won. The steppe Bulgars fled to the Middle Volga, where they founded the city of Great Bulgars. Another part of the Bulgarian horde, led by khan Asparuh left for the Danube, where, mingling with the South Slavic tribes, gave rise to a new people - the Bulgarians. But now we are interested in the Khazars.
The Khazars had no state power. Now from the language of this tribe survived a word that served as the name of the fortress - Sarkel, which means "white house”. Turkic, Finno-Ugric and Slavic languages do not know anything similar to this name.
В. M. Vasnetsov. Fight of the Scythians and the Slavs
Map of the Khazar Khaganate in the X century.
In the VII-VIII centuries, the Khazars were subjected to the onslaught of the Arabs advancing through the Caucasus. In this war they were helped by the Turks, a very brave and warlike people. They were the first in Central Asia to master a powerful cavalry weapon - the sabre. And for good reason. The Turks waged frequent wars with China, where the Tang dynasty ruled.
Tang Dynasty (618-907) ruled China with talent and success. Rice under the Tang rulers was cheaper than ever before. The Chinese actively communicated with their "West": the Turks, Sogdians, Tibetans and even Arabs. The Tang dynasty dreamed of a vast Asian empire that would include not only the Central Plains (present-day China), but also the steppes of Mongolia, the forests of Manchuria and the oases of Sogdiana. The Tang struggle for imperial power over Asia began with a victory over the Turks in the mid 7th century.
A representative of the defeated Turkic dynasty fled to the Khazars. The native Khazars took him in and ... made him their khan. Khan-turk suited them very well. He wandered with his camp in the lower reaches of the Volga, between present-day Volgograd and Astrakhan, in the spring he migrated to Terek, spent the summer between Terek, Kuban and Don, and with the onset of cold weather he returned to the Volga. The Khazars did not have to support their khan. He did not demand taxes from them, being fed by his own nomadic economy. Khan and military nobility who came with him, satisfied with the gifts of their subjects, did not impose the system of extortions and were not engaged in trade.
The Turkic khans and beks, leading the Khazars, who by that time had become quite non-military, organized their defense against the Arabs. They were advancing from Azerbaijan through Derbent to Terek and the Volga. The Turks - a nation of warriors - defended the Khazars from their enemies and together with them formed a small state in the Caspian Sea. This Turkic-Khazar state experienced the introduction of a different people with different traditions and culture.
Aliens from the south
When we study the history of different peoples, we are constantly confronted with a recurring phenomenon of great importance - population migrations. Migrations vary greatly. It happens that a people move into a foreign territory and adapts to it well. This is how the Slavs spread from the upper Vistula (Poland) to the shores of the Baltic, Adriatic and Aegean Seas. They succeeded in settling everywhere: they were young, strong and very active. Other peoples, who moved to areas with unusual climate and natural conditions, disappeared. They either became extinct or mingled with the local population. This is how the historical fate of the Van Dal, the Sveves and the Goths ended in Southern France, Spain and North Africa.
There was another form of migration: a group of merchants or a band of conquerors set up a colony in a foreign territory. This is how the English colonized India. They made money there without becoming Hindus, and then returned to England. And the French did not turn into Negroes in their African colonies. After working and serving in Africa, they returned to Paris.
For the Khazars, the colonizers were the Persian and Byzantine branches of the Jewish people.
In Iran, the Jews appeared in the second century after the defeat by the Romans in the Jewish wars. The Persians readily accepted the Jews since they were enemies of Rome, and settled them in a number of cities. Thus, Jewish colonies were formed in the cities of Isfahan and Shiraz, as well as in Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The numbers on the map indicate:
1 - England
2 - Volga Bulgaria
3 - Khazar Khaganate
4 - Byzantine Empire
5 - Khorezm
6 - Cordoba Caliphate
7 - Armenia
The borders of the states are given at the beginning of the 11th century. It’s the political panorama of the tenth and eleventh centuries.
But in the fifth century in Persia there were dramatic events for both the Persians and the newcomers. Under Shah Kavad, his vizier Mazdak led a movement, which is called Mazdakite after his name. Mazdak was a shrewd politician and, during another famine in the country, he came up with a simple program to deal with the crisis, as follows. There is good and evil in the world. Good is Reason, and evil is irrationality, instinctive. It seems unreasonable that the rich and the poor should exist together, when some have harems, and lots of good horses, and expensive weapons, and spend their time feasting and hunting, while others go hungry. So, it is just to execute those who have many possessions, and to give their wealth and harems to the poor.
Jews of the time of the patriarchs.
Mazdak began to implement this program, but the poor were many, and all the goods of the rich were not enough. So only Mazdak's supporters, the Mazdakites, got what they wanted. The Persians would have given their lives for their lands, their arms and horses, but they felt sorry for their wives. They expressed their discontent - in return, executions followed. The Shah himself was arrested by the Mazdakites. But he fled to the steppe-Eftalites and returned with their army. His son Khusrov, the vigorous Khusraw, mobilized the Sakis from the steppes. All whom were dissatisfied with the Mazdakites rose up; many of the children of the executed men. In 529 Khosrov took over and hanged Mazdak and massacred his followers. They were buried alive in the ground vertically and upside down.
You would think, what does this have to do with the Jews? It has everything to do with the Jews. The Jews took an active part in these events. Some were supporters of Shah Khosrow, others were Mazda Whites. After Khosrov's victory, the surviving Mazdakites, Persians and Jews, fled to Azerbaijan. The Jews who escaped settled north of Derbent in the broad plain between the Terek and the Sulak. Meanwhile, Jews who had resisted the Mazdakites and had fled Iran during the period of Mazdak's triumph settled in Byzantium. They were welcomed by the Greeks, albeit with very little enthusiasm. Thus, were born the two branches of the Jews as already mentioned.
The Jews, who found themselves in the Caucasus, had completely forgotten both their ancient literacy and the traditions and rituals of Judaism. Having forgotten everything, they retained the memory only of the prohibition against working on the Sabbath day. They herded cattle, cultivated the land, and made friends with the Khazars, their northern neighbors. One of the chiefs named Bulan (Türkic for "moose") restored Judaism among his tribesmen. In 730 he took the name Sabriel and invited Jewish teachers of religious law.
Ornaments found in the Kama burial grounds
Meanwhile, Byzantium was engaged in a desperate struggle with the Arabs. The Jews, who found salvation in Byzantium, should have helped the Byzantines. But they were helping in a strange way. In a secret agreement with the Arabs, the Jews would open the gates of the towns at night and let the Arab soldiers in. They slaughtered the men and sold the women and children as slaves. The Jews, buying up the slaves cheaply, resold them for a profit. This could not please the Greeks. But deciding not to make new enemies, they were limited to the fact that offered the Jews to leave. Thus, a second group of Jews, the Byzantine Jews, appeared in the land of the Khazars.
The country north of the Terek liked the settlers. Meadows covered with green grass were beautiful pastures. There were sturgeon and sterlet in the tributaries of the Volga. Trade routes passed through here. The neighboring tribes were not unkind and non-aggressive. Using their literacy, the Jews began to learn and develop occupations that were not typical of the local population: diplomacy, commerce and education were in their hands.
At the beginning of the ninth century, the Jewish population of Khazaria added political power to its economic and intellectual power. The wise Obadiah, whose ancient documents say that "he feared God and loved the law," performed a coup d'etat and seized power. He drove the Turks out of the country, who were the military class of Khazaria. In doing so, Obadiah relied on mercenary units - Pechenegs and Oguzes. Khazar Turks long fought with the invaders, but were defeated and partly died, partly retreated to Hungary.
Map of Arabia, Iran and Central Asia in the VI-VII centuries.
It would seem that there should have been a mixture of Khazars and Jews. But it was not to be. According to the old Jewish wisdom, "no one can detect the mark of a bird in the air, a snake on a rock and a man inside a woman," so all the children of Jewish women were considered Jews, no matter who their father was. The Khazars, like all the Eurasian peoples, defined kinship by the father. These different traditions prevented the mixing of the two peoples (ethnic groups), and the difference between the two peoples was reinforced by the fact that Jewish and Khazar children were educated differently. A rabbi teacher would not accept a child to school if he was not Jewish, i.e. if his mother was a Khazar or a Pechenega. And the father taught such a child himself, but, of course, worse than what was taught in cheder (school). Thus, two different stereotypes (ways) of behavior were established. This difference determined the different destinies of the two peoples: Jews and Khazars.
Byzantine costumes of the 11th century.
A - St. John Chrysostom in the vestment of a bishop
B, & D - Emperor Nicephorus Votaniatus, who ascended to the throne in 1078, wearing royal vestment
C - The Archangel Michael in the costume of the nobles of his time
All the figures are taken from Montfaucon (Montfaucon etc. Bibliothec. Coisliniana, Paris. 1715).
Power and Money
The Jews, unlike the Khazars, were actively involved in the system of international trade by the ninth century. The caravans going from China to the West belonged mainly to Jews. And trade with China in the eighth and ninth centuries was the most lucrative occupation. The Tang dynasty, eager to replenish the emptying treasury due to the maintenance of a large army, allowed the export of silk. Jewish caravans were going to China for silk. The road went through the steppes of the Uighurs and further across the Semirechye, past Lake Balkhash, to the Aral Sea, to the city of Urgench. The transition across the Ustyurt Plateau was very difficult. Then the caravans crossed the Yaik River and reached the Volga. Here the tired travelers had rest, plentiful food and entertainment. Wonderful Volga fish and fruit, milk and wine, musicians and beauties delighted the caravan drivers. And the Jewish traders running the economy of the Volga accumulated treasures, silk and slaves. Then the caravans would go on to Western Europe: Bavaria, Languedoc, Provence, and across the Pyrenees, ending their long journey at the Muslim sultans of Cordoba and Andalusia.
Merchants, not only Jewish, but also Sogdian, founded settlements in China. One such settlement was in northwest China in the city of Chang'an, another in southeast China in the city of Canton.
The whole burden of imperial China's economic policy fell on the shoulders of the peasants, because the government officials collected silk from them (as a tax). The result was a peasant revolt led by Huang Chao (874-901). He took advantage of popular discontent and the fact that the imperial government was weakened by another military setback. The revolt was directed against the encroachment of foreigners. The Tang government was accused of allowing and supporting trade with foreigners. The rebels took Canton, where the entire incoming foreign population was slaughtered.
They then marched all the way across the country to Chang'an and even occupied this city with a mixed population. But the townspeople, protecting their wives and children, managed to drive the rebels out. Meanwhile, the Tang government called for help from two tribes: the Tibetans and the Shato Turks. The Chateau chief, One-Eyed Dragon, with four thousand of his horsemen and a similar detachment of Tibetans cut down the two-hundred-thousand rebel army? Huang Chao died, only those who managed to escape got away from the sword: the Shato took no prisoners. The government won, but China's economy was undermined by the rebellion. Many peasants were killed. There was nothing to export, for there was no one to produce silk or tend mulberry trees. China dropped out of world trade.
Greek coins
Map of the Caspian Sea. Engraving of the late 18th century.
The catastrophe that befell the caravan route from China to Spain - "the silk road", of course, affected the Khazaria. But vigorous Khazar merchants led by the ruler, whose title was "bek", or "malik", found a way out. Their troops moved north. The Khazar warriors, ascending the Volga River, defeated and subjugated the Kama (Volga) Bulgars. Even to the north stretched the boundless lands, which in the Norwegian sagas were called Biarmiya, and in the Russian chronicles - Great Perm. It was here that the traders, the Arahdonites (or Radonites, which means "those who know the road"), organized their trading settlements, trading stations.
The forests of Biarmiya gave precious furs of sables, martens, ermines. Not only that, but the Rahdonites organized a trade in children. Caravans with furs for the Arab nobility, with slaves and slave women for the harems of the Muslim overlords. The sultans and emirs of the Baghdad Caliphate valued slave warriors ("sakaliba") more highly than independent nomadic mercenary bands.
This activity of Khazaria compensated it for the reduction of trade with China. But there was another trouble. In the IX century the Caliphate of Baghdad began to collapse. Its center, Baghdad, like a spider, sucked the juices from the vast areas under its control, giving nothing in return. Spain, then Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia broke away. Egypt, Central Asia and Eastern Iran broke away. Finally, the region of Daleem broke away, about which I must speak in more detail.
Between the southern shore of the Caspian Sea and the Iranian plateau rises the El-Burz Mountain Range, which is a rugged, high mountain range. Three very ancient peoples lived on this narrow coastal strip. Their lands were called Deyl (in the southwest), Tabaristan (in the south), and to the east was Gurgan, "the land of the wolf" (from the Persian word gurg meaning "wolf"). The inhabitants of these places were extremely bellicose. They did not practice Islam, however, which prevented them from subduing their Muslim neighbors, who resisted the "infidels" fiercely. The ruler of Deylem and his people converted to Islam in the form of Shi'ism. (4) This did not oblige the Deylemite leader, who did not understand the religious nuances, but considered himself heir to the ancient Persian kings and even took the title of Shahinshah, the king of kings. After that, the warriors of Deylem conquered the part of Azerbaijan to Derbent in the north and western Persia in the south. In 945 they conquered Baghdad. Thus, the convenient and easy way from the Volga to Baghdad along the Caspian coast was crossed: the Deylemites did not let anyone through.
Ruins of Bulgar on the Volga: the tower of the Small Minaret
(4) Shiism is one of the two main branches of Islam. The Shiites are the followers of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed, and his direct descendants - the Alids.
Archaeological finds on the territory of ancient Kiev: three Kiev hryvnas of silver; Varangian helmet (small on the left, shishak); large silver earring and a circle with a bird from the same earring; silver earring; gold rings; gold cufflinks; large braided gold bracelet; silver bracelet with legend. Engraving from the book "Review of Kiev in relation to the antiquities" I. Funduklei
The Jewish government of Khazaria, which overthrew the Turkic military nobility, used the services of troops from Gurgan, (Muslims on the south-east of the caspian). We have already said that the Gurghans were militant and very brave. In addition, they fought on behalf of the merchants of Khazaria for a very high fee. After serving, or rather, having served their time, the survivors returned home rich. Khazar rulers were true merchants: they bought victories and only victories. If the warriors were defeated, which sometimes happened, they were executed (by the barrier troops). Fearless Gurghans won victories for the Khazar Jews over the Oguzes on the river Yaik, over the Bulgars on the Kama, over the Burtas on the river Sakmara, over the Savirs (Sabirs) on the Don. But these victorious Gurghans refused to fight against their co-religionists - Muslim Deylemites. And then Khazar Jews, a resourceful people, invited the ancient Russians to fight against the Muslims.
Russ was hired on the same terms as the Gurghans: high pay and compulsory victories. Russ has mastered the ship business and navigation still on Baltic. The hired army of Rus went on the Volga, built ships on the Caspian Sea and then made sea raids on the territory of Persia. In the first campaign they completely plundered the island of Abeskun. Russ encountered Deylemites during the second campaign in 913. Daylamites have repulsed an attack, and Russ lost, not to come back empty-handed, attacked the Muslim city of Gandzha in southern Azerbaijan. Then the Khazar ruler allowed his guards, the Gurghans, to avenge their co-religionists Gandzha. For some days the tired Russ army resisted, but was then broken by Moslems. Few escaped, but were later exterminated running north on the Volga by nomadic Burtas. Thus, the campaign of 913 ended in death for the total Russian army.
The next two decades of the history of Khazaria were filled with petty conflicts with the Slavs and the Kiev principality that had already arisen. Khazar stronghold on the west was built back in 834 on the banks of the Volga, the fortress Sarkel.
In 939 there was an event of great importance. Russian leader - Prince Igor - seized the Khazar city of Samkerz (now Taman) located on the shore of the Kerch Strait. Khazar ruler responded to the blow: a Muslim guard under the command of a Jew, "venerable Pesakh", moved on Russ. Pesach liberated Samkerz, crossed the Kerch Strait and marched on the southern coast of Crimea (940), exterminating the Christian population. Only those who had taken refuge in the impregnable Chersonese escaped. Having crossed Perekop, Pesach came to Kiev and imposed a tribute on the Russian princedom. At that time, Russ also gave the Khazars their swords, which is told in "The Tale of Bygone Years".
The Battle of the Sea. Miniature from a Byzantine manuscript. X c.
"The Tale of the Khazar Tribute" emphasizes the difference in the armament of the Russians, Slavs and Asiatic peoples. The heavy sword is the usual weapon of Scandinavian and Slavic warriors. Asians have long preferred the light saber. From the age of six they learned to cut "with a pull on itself", and in the hands of an adult, a saber was more terrible than the sword.
But back to the Russians and Khazars. In 943 Khazars again sent an army of Rus - already their tributaries - to the Caspian Sea for war with Deylemites. Russ has grasped the lower reaches of the Kura a fortress Berdaa. More terrible than swords and arrows of the Deilemites, there appeared a flash of dysentery in the Russ camp. They made their way to their ships and sailed away. But, apparently, no one returned to Russia, as in the Russian annals there is not a word about this campaign.
Thus, thanks to the extensive trade in slaves, furs and silk, the Khazar Khaganate, whose population consisted of native aborigines and alien Jews, in the ninth-tenth centuries became one of the richest countries of Eurasia at that time.
Slavic-Russians and Byzantium
The Russo-Slavic state that was formed, with its center in Kiev, quickly strengthened and immediately began to expand to the shores of the Black Sea. In this movement, the Slavo-Russians encountered such a formidable foe in Byzantium. It was at the end of the ninth and beginning of the tenth century.
Speaking about the relations between Kiev and Byzantium in the 10th century, it is necessary to note the following circumstances.
First, in the 10th century the landscape and climatic conditions for the peoples of Eurasia and, in particular, for the inhabitants of the Northern Black Sea coast changed greatly. The next century drought occurred due to which a part of Badjanaks migrated from Central Asia to the lower reaches of the Dnieper. In search of allies the Badjanaks made contacts with Byzantium and became its trusty friends, while the enemies of the Badjanaks and Byzantium - the Magyars - became allies of the Slavs and Rus and supported them as they could.
Secondly, events of wars of Slavs-Russ with Byzantium are transferred in the Byzantium chronicles and Russian annals with very strong distortions. Instead of the truthful statement of events we have legends, which were composed by chroniclers to please the "heads", depending on a political situation.
“Historical mythology" is particularly characteristic of Russian chronicles - the famous per Reflection of these moods is, for example, the fact of transfer by Nestorom the date of a campaign of Russ under Askold's direction to Tsargrad for 47 years (from 860 to 907) and attributing the campaign to Oleg. So, feats of ancient Russ in war with Byzantium have appeared the perfect Viking conning. Moreover, if one reads attentively Nestor's narration one can notice that from 882 till the 885 year, Oleg gained victories over all Slavic tribes, including over Khazars, who paid a tribute.
However, Nestor wrote not a single word, neither about the reaction of the Khazars to Oleg's victories, nor about the Khazars themselves, and the chronicle pause in the story of the Khazar case lasts no less than 80 years. Obviously, the chronicler deliberately omits some events, but about what - we can only guess.
Byzantine costumes of the 11th century.
K, & F - Emperor Nicephorus Votaniatus with his wife in royal attire
G, & H - Noble courtiers from the time of Emperor Nicephorus Votaniatus. All the figures taken from Montfaucon (Montfaucon etc. Bibliothec. Coisliniana, Paris. 1715)
Women's adornments of the 10th-13th centuries.
Let's try to start with the firmly established facts. And we know the following. Byzantium had to fight a coalition of Magyars and Slavs-Russes. The first who took advantage of the Greeks' stiffness were the Arab pirates. Most of all, the severity of the situation affected Byzantine possessions in the eastern Mediterranean. Arab-Berber pirates from Spain seized the island of Crete and slaughtered the entire Christian population there. Syrian and Egyptian Arabs seized the islands of the Aegean Sea: Lemnos, Rhodes, Naxos and others. Finally, in 904, the great Arab corsair Leo of Tripolitano managed to attack Thessalonica and sack the surroundings of the Empire's second largest city. This pirate even attempted to attack Constantinople, but, lacking sufficient strength, turned for help to the no lesser brigands, the Rus-Dromites.
The nickname "dromits" (from Greek "dromos" - run) testified to the swiftness of the raids of this Dnieper freemen. The first attack of Russ on Constantinople had taken place in 860. Then Greeks have met the enemy by an icon of Virgin Hodegetria; city walls appeared impregnable. Russ has withdrawn from capital and had preferred to conclude the world favorable for them. Thus, was laid the beginning of the Slavic-Russ wars with Byzantium, which lasted till the end of X century.
And now at the call of Leo of Tripolitania from the lower reaches of the Dnieper, Dniester and Southern Bug the Dromitian rooks (boats) reached out again. Their fleet gathered at the shores of the Bosporus, where Russ was met by a Greek squadron of Navarh John Radin. Most of the Russian ships were burned by "Greek fire". (We still do not know the chemical composition of this terrible Byzantine weapon. We can only guess that it was based on oil that cannot be extinguished by water.) Only one detachment was saved, led away by its leader Helgi and hidden at the mouth of the Dnieper. After such a success, the Greeks easily repulsed the attack of the Arabs of Leo of Tripolitania.
Let's try to imagine, what it was possible to make on a place Russ-Dromitas. The campaign to Constantinople has come to the end with terrible defeat, the most part of the companions were lost in flames of "Greek fire". Those that landed on the coast got captured and have been transformed to slaves, about any extraction or escape was also not a question. The sharp enmity between Russ and Byzantium was aggravated. It was obvious, that to be at war with the powerful opponent without support is impossible, and Russ began to search for allies. They turned out to be the Khazars.
Н. K. Roerich. Overseas Guests. 1902 г.
The Judean government of Khazaria was hostile to Christian Byzantium. The Khazars, as we already know, used Russian troops in the Caspian campaigns and, of course, in the wars against the Greeks. A great campaign against the Greeks was made in 941. And again, the Byzantine fleet burned with "Greek fire" the rooks of the Slavs and Ruses. But the Khazar government was happy with such an outcome: after all, the Byzantine forces on the Black Sea were constrained by this fight. And because in Asia Minor Greeks had to fight with Moslems, Khazar Khaganate was hegemon in Eastern Europe. Khazaria was able to tax the Slavs, Mordva, Merya and the Kama Bulgars. The latter counted on the help of Muslims, and part of the Bulgars converted to Islam (922). But the disintegrating Caliphate, a Mohammedan stronghold, could not even help itself, much less help its distant co-religionists.
The Triumph of Svyatoslav unsuccessfully resisted the Khazaria at the beginning of the X century and Kiev. We remember that the attempt of the Russes to seize Samkerts and to establish themselves on the shores of the Sea of Azov caused a retaliatory campaign of the half-handed Pesach and put Kiev in the position of tributary of the Ithilian merchants - the Aradonites (Rhadonites). During the collection of tribute for the Khazars in the Drevlyan land, Igor, the prince of Kiev and the husband of Olga (944), was killed. Resistance to the Khazars, rather than war with Byzantium, was becoming the main problem for Kiev. And so, Kiev's Princess Olga, who ruled under her minor son Svyatoslav, sought a strong ally in the Greeks: she went to Constantinople, where she was secretly baptized and chose as her godfather the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus.
Here again we encounter apparent chronological confusion between Nestor and other chroniclers. According to the Novgorod Ist Chronicle, Olga was born in 893 and visited Constantinople in 955. She must have been at that time already 62 years old, and Nestor assures us, that Constantine was so charmed with Olga, that he wanted to marry her. In our opinion, Olga's trip to Byzantium and her baptism took place about 10 years earlier - in 946.
Returning to the firm ground of established facts, we are convinced of the reality of Svyatoslav's campaign against the Khazars. The young prince, who was an energetic military leader, began it in the summer of 964. Svyatoslav did not dare to go from Kiev to the Volga directly across the steppes. It was very dangerous, because the tribe of Northerners, who lived on this road between Chernigov and Kursk, was a supporter of the Khazars. The Russes went up the Dnieper to its upper reaches and dragged the rooks to the Oka. Along the Oka and Volga Svyatoslav and reached the capital of Khazaria - Ithil.
Pechenegs and Oguzes were Svyatoslav's allies in the campaign of 964-965. The Badjanaks, supporters of Byzantium and natural enemies of the Khazars, came to the aid of Svyatoslav from the west. Their route, most likely, lay near the present-day village of Kalachinskaya, where the Don comes close to the Volga. The Oguzes came from the river Yaik, crossing the expanses of the Caspian Sea covered with barchans. The allies met safely at Ithil.
Prince Svyatoslav. Engraving 1805.
Н. K. Roerich. Watch
The capital of Khazaria was situated on a huge island (19 kilometers wide), which was formed by two Volga channels: the Volga itself (from the west) and the Akhtuba (from the east). The Akhtuba in those days was as full-flowing a river as the Volga itself. The city had a stone synagogue and the palace of the king, as well as rich wooden houses of the rakhdonites (traders). There was also a stone mosque, for the Muslim traders there, were treated courteously.
Svyatoslav's warriors cut off all routes from Ithil. But its inhabitants probably knew about the approach of the Russians, and most of the Khazar natives fled to the delta of the Volga. The Volga Delta was a natural fortress: in the maze of channels only a local resident could make out. In summer, the incredible clouds of mosquitoes, appearing with the sunset, would defeat any army. In winter the ice would freeze the Volga River and the delta would become inaccessible to ships. The delta islands were covered with Baer knolls - huge hills four stories high. These hillocks and gave shelter to the real Khazars.
The Jewish population was in a different situation. It made no sense for Jewish merchants and their relatives to explore the Volga River channels: they created their monopoly of foreign trade and usury in order to live in the comfort of an artificial landscape - a city. The Jews were alien to the indigenous population, the Khazars, whom they exploited. Naturally, the Khazars disliked their rulers, to put it mildly, and were not going to save them.
Е. A. Lancere. Prince Svyatoslav on his way to Tsargrad
Н. K. Roerich. The opening credits to the article by V.K. Trutovsky
There was nowhere for the Jews to flee in the besieged city, so they came out to fight with Sviatoslav and were defeated. The survivors fled by the "black" lands to the Terek River and hid in Dagestan. ("Black" lands north of the Terek were called "black" because the snowy winters in this area made it easy for strong winds to bring up dust with the snow, resulting in "black" blizzards.)
Svyatoslav also came to the Terek. There stood the second big city of the Khazar Jews - Semender. In the town and its surroundings there were four thousand vineyards. (Today this area between the villages of Chervlennaya and Grebenskaya; it is described by Leo Tolstoy in his story "The Cossacks"). Semender had a four-cornered citadel, but it did not save the city. Svyatoslav crushed Semender and, taking horses, oxen, and carts from the population, moved across the Don to Russia. On the way home, he took another Khazar fortress - Sarkel, located near the present village of Tsimlyanskaya. Sarkel was built by the Byzantines during their short friendship with the Khazars, and was created by a Greek architect Petrona. In Sarkel Svyatoslav met a garrison consisting of mercenary nomads. The prince gained the victory, destroyed the fortress and renamed the city Belaya Vezha. Natives of the Chernigov land later settled there. The capture of Sarkel ended Svyatoslav's victorious campaign against Khazaria.
As a result of the campaign of 964-965 Svyatoslav included in the sphere of his influence all the Jewish community on the Volga, the middle course of Terek and part of the Middle Don. But not all military and political tasks were solved. In the Kuban, northern Crimea, and Tmutarakan, the Jewish population under the name of the Khazars still held their dominant positions and retained their financial influence. However, the main achievement of the campaign was undoubtedly that Kievan Rus' regained its independence.
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