| |
The Eastern Slavic tribes did not remain
immobile either. In the 7th century they started moving and expanding almost in
every direction and gradually spread over the Russian plains. Their main thrust
was toward the south. As the result of this they considerably increased their
pre-eminence with the non-Slavic tribes around them, but it was of a short
duration. In the beginning of the 8th century the Khazars, another tribe of
Turkish origin, who until then populated the western shores of the Caspian Sea,
started advancing northward, and conquered first the fertile lands around the
Volga River and established their new capital Itil on the spot where later the
Tatars built Astrakhan. From here the Khazars undertook several military
expeditions and conquered a number of Slavic tribes. Thus one after an other
came under Khazar suzerainty Viatichi, who lived in the area of the present
Moscow, Radimichi, on both sides of the river Sozh, Poliane, people from the
plains who lived in the Kiev area, Drevliane, people from the woods who lived
to the north-west of the Poliane and Severiane (people from the North), were
scattered around lake Ilmen. The Krivichi who lived up north in the area where
the rivers Volga, Dvina and Pripet begin their streams with Smolensk at the
center, the Slovene, a collective name of unspecified Slavic tribes were
scattered around the lake Ilmen and were mixed with the Novgorodians who
remained free because of their remoteness and the Khazars did not bother to go
beyond the Oka river where deep forests once again served as the best
protection from invaders. The others had to pay tribute to the Khazars who were
noted for the absence of cruelty in their relations with subordinate peoples
and for their great interest in promoting trade. Indeed, the Khazars were very
business-minded people, mainly serving as trade intermediaries between European
and Middle Eastern traders. In the beginning of the ninth century their capital
Itil became one of the most important trade centers of Eastern Europe. The
presence of many Jews in the Khazar state explains their commercial efficiency.
As the result of a strong Jewish influences, several Khazar rulers; Khans and
Beys found it profitable to embrace Judaism, while most of the simple people
remained Muslim and Christian. Military incursions by the barbaric tribes of
Patzinacs became more frequent during the 9th century and they considerably
weakened the Khazar state. When Eastern Slavs joined the Patzinacs and both
increased their attacks in the 10th century, the Khazar rule in the area simply
collapsed.
M.S. Grushevskii states that the Khazars solidified their settlements on
the shores of the Black Sea and the Azov Sea in the first half of the VIIth
century; that in the first half of the VIIIth century they made their way up
into the Dnieper river region; and that at the beginning of the IXth century
their position begins to weaken. He states that in the same manner as other
tribes and peoples, that the druzhina element came about as a result of the
attacks by other tribes and the necessity to defend themselves. He quotes the
Ipatyev chronicle that the Polyani at some point "Where fighting with the
Drevliane and won," that the Khazars subjugated them and made them pay
tribute; this last event took place it is believed, approximately around the
middle of the VIIIth century.
The period of the turn of the 9th century was one of forming alliances
with strategically important neighbors. From the Pavic book page 75-76...
"In 733 A.D. (By modern calculations), and in the said large Khazar year,
Emperor Leo III the Isaurian, an iconoclast, married his son Constantine to
Irene, the daughter of the Khazar Kagan. his marriage later produced the Greek
Emperor Leo IV the Khazar (reigned 775-780 A.D.). It was at this time that
Emperor Leo III was asked to send to the Khazar court a legation to interpret
the Christian faith," including building fortresses to aid those allies in
repulsing enemy incursions. Case in point: ... During the reign of the Greek
Emperor Theophilus (reigned 829-842 A.D.), the Russian Normans and Magyars
menaced the Crimea, the Greek Empire, and the Khazar state. At the request of
the Khazar Kagan Joseph, Greek engineers built the Sarkel fortress being
erected at the mouth of the Don. "The Byzantine emperor sent the
well-known minister of the chancellery (protoscyrite), Petron Camatir (Petrona
Camaretus) with a number of stone-masons. On the return trip he stopped in
Khersones and back in Constantinople he advised the emperor to not trust the
Khersones self-chosen ruler and to replace it with a Thema. The first prefect
(strategon) was Petron Kamatir. The Taurid was freed from the rule of the
Khazars, joined the ranks of the Thema under the name of the Goth Klimat.
(The definition of this term as it pertains to the region of the Taurid on
which were built fortresses belonging at first to Byzantium and later turned
over to the Khazars). The first mention of the Klimat is by the chronicler
Theophanes regarding the exile of the Roman Pope Marin to "Kherson and the
Klimat," in 655 and then concerning the events pertaining to the exile of
Justinian II in 695; he fled to the Khazars in 705 and after regaining the
throne mounted a punitive campaign against the alleged mutiny of the
Khersonites, Bosphorites and Klimates. It is in Theophanes' work that the
Khazars were requested by the inhabitants of fortresses to help repulse the
marauding invaders.
The strength of the Khazars wilted under the onslaught of the Russian
sabers. The fortress built by Kamatir was soon turned into rubble. The capital
of the Khazar state Itil -- the eastern city with the palace of the Kagan
surrounded by banners of the tents blowing in the wind, the synagogues, mosques
and bazaars --were living their last days.
From the Thirteenth Tribe, p.85... "In 833, or thereabouts,
the Khazar Kagan and Bek sent an embassy to the East Roman Emperor Theophilus,
asking for skilled architects and craftsmen to build them a fortress on the
lower reaches of the Don. The Emperor responded with alacrity. He sent a fleet
across the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov up the mouth of the Don to the
strategic spot where the fortress was to be built. Hus came Sarkel into being,
the famous fortress and priceless archaeological site, virtually the only one
that yielded clues to Khazar history - until it was submerged in the Tsimlyansk
reservoir, adjoining the Volga -Don canal. Constantine Porphyrogenitus, who
related the episode in some detail, says that since no stones were available in
the region, Sarkel was built of bricks, burnt in specially constructed kilns.
He does not mention the curious fact (discovered by Soviet archaeologists while
the site was still accessible) that the builders also used marble columns of
Byzantine origin, dating from the 6th century, and probably salvaged from some
Byzantine ruin; a nice example of Imperial thrift."Quoted from a Hungarian
author - Bartha.
The "Khazar city" - Sarkel (The White Tent) situated in the
central course of the river Don. However in the sixties of the 10th century
after the campaigns of Svyatoslav on the Khazars, Sarkel became a Russian
fortress.
The Scythian, Sarmathian and Khazar states were not only the crossroads of
trade, but also of culture and religion. The nearby pagan Slavic tribes found
it profitable to learn something about all three. Whatever the truth may be, we
may consider it reasonably certain that the heritage the Slavs received from
these three peoples was adequate to initiate their social economic and cultural
transformations. As the result of this heritage, the Slavic primitive
patriarchal family started losing its importance as the main social unit, and
was gradually replaced by the larger commune- a new form of social unit that
was destined later to become so typical and primordial in Russia and to play
such an important rule in their social development. There is a certain curious
sensibility for the animals that is characteristic of the Scythians and the
Slavs, and particularly of the Russians. In their art even the fiercest animals
are often presented almost as pets. The lions and panthers that we see on the
items left by the Scythians are not frightening.
Both peoples show great preference for golden ware and bright colors. The
Scythians first showed the Slavs how to use money. The plough was a novelty for
the Slavs, but once they learned about it, it helped them to move away from the
primitive methods of agriculture. The foreign trade experience of the Scythians
and the Khazars was of great value to the unsophisticated Slavs. When they
established their state, the Slavs found themselves on the main trade routes
and their prosperity largely depended on how successfully they could become as
trade partners. The lessons they received from the Khazars helped them to
extend their commercial relations. Some Slav traders penetrated deep into the
Middle East. At the same time oriental merchants became more interested in
their new partners and some of them in turn ventured far up north in search of
more and new products. Bread, furs, honey, fish, salt were the main articles
that the Slavs exchanged for olive oil, ceramics, spices, textiles and jewelry.
Slaves were another item that oriental traders avidly sought north of the Black
Sea. The best price was offered for the Slavs, described as tall, with very
fair complections and physically strong. It is strange to see how little the
slavery bothered the human conscience, and was allowed to prosper for so many.
Though there are no clear indications that cultural relations existed
between the Scythians and the Slavs, the fact is that both peoples lived on the
same territory. Unless proven incorrect there is no reason for Russians not to
claim the Scythian art treasures as their cultural heritage. There is still an
abundance of buried art objects in Southern Russia that wait for archaeologists
to uncover then and bring more light on their origin and history. But even
without that most of Russian peasant art and handicrafts, which practically had
not changed from pagan times, retained various Scythian and Sarmathian
ornamental motifs. The art of combining realism and abstraction is
characteristic of both Scythian and of Russian folk art; they often delineate
the same features in their decorations, and this is visible in pottery,
jewelry, toys, armor decoration, embroidery, utensil decoration as well as in
wood and stone carvings.
*******
For more information on the Khazars please visit our other section on
Crimea.Crimea - our main listing page
that describes our many sections on Crimea and read the article on Khazars from
Encyclopedia BritannicaKhazars .
|
|
