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THE KHAZAR KINGDOM'S CONVERSION TO JUDAISMAuthor(s): OMELJAN PRITSAKSource: Harvard Ukrainian Studies, Vol. 2, No. 3 (September 1978), pp. 261-281Published by: Harvard Ukrainian Research InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41035790Accessed: 05-07-2015 21:19 UTC
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8/19/2019 Pritsak (Omeljan)_The Khazar Kingdom's Conversion to Judaism (Harvard Ukrainian Studies 2_3, 1978, 261-281)
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THE KHAZAR
KINGDOM'S
CONVERSION
TO
JUDAISM*
OMELJAN
PRITSAK
I
The Khazar
Kingdom
was ruled
by
the
A-shih-na
ynasty
f
Western
Turks
Türküts),
who,
after
osing
bothTurkestans o the
Chinese,
ook
over
the
territory
f the former
k-Katzirs
AicorcÇipoi
Khazars)
in
southeastern
urope.1
Pong
She-hu
yabyu),
ruler rom
18 to
630,
ac-
quired
he
high
itle f
Sadin
621
2
his on
established henewrealm n
the
630s and 640s.
Gradually,
he Western urkicnewcomers
eplaced
he
Bulgars-Onoghurs
Bulyar,Onoyur)
n Eastern
Europe.
Other
Western
urkic
harismaticribeswho
oined
nthe
newventure
were he
Bard
<
Warãí
~
Warãz),
the
Kãbar,
and
the
Aba.
The most
important
olewas
playedby
he
Barâ(>
Balâ-ãn>
Bolâ-ãn»
Bolãn),3
whichwas the
eading
brother-in-law
ribe." ts members
ntermarried
with he
ruling
ynasty,
nd
its chiefheld the
high
itle
f
beg
n
Turkic,
ixSëô
in
Iranian.
During
the first
eriod
of
Turkic-Khazarian
istory,
whichwas
marked
y
n
abortive
truggle
ith
heArabsfor
hegemony
n
the
Caucasus,
the hiefwas
usually military
ommanderwho
graduallyattained hestatusof a
majordomo.
The
Turkic-Khazar
ax,
whichwas
closely
onnectedwith he
Western
*
This
paper
s
based
on a lecture
elivered
t
the oni HanedaMemorial all of he
University
f
Kyoto
n 16
September
978,
nd at the
Toyo
Bunko,
osponsored
y
the
Tõhõ
Gakkai,
Tokyo,
n
22
September
978.
1
I
deal
with he
Ak-Katzir/
hazar
roblem
nvolumes
to
6 of
my
tudy
he
Origin
of
Rus
,
n
preparation.
2
T'ong
She-hu,
who
was visited
y
he
amous
uddhist
ilgrim
üan-tsang
n
630
(see
Hui-li,
The
Life f
Hsuan-tsang,
rans,
y
Li
Yung-hsi
Peking,
959]
p.
43)
con-
cluded n alliancewith heByzantinemperor eraclius6 10-41) gainsthe assanid
emperor
hosraw
I Parvez
591-628)
n627.
The
Byzantine
ources
all him
ießr|A.
(see
Edouard
Chavannes,
ocuments
ur es Tou-KiueOccidentaux
Si.
Petersburg,
1900],pp.
228,
252-53).
Concerning
ießTiÄ.
lso see
Gyula
Moravcsik,
yzantino-
turcica,
nd
ed.,
vol.
2
(Berlin, 958),pp.
130-31.
3
The
Warãfl
art
nd others re discussed
nvolumes to
6
of
The
Origin
f
Rus
.
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262
OMELJAN
RITSAK
Turkic ulinglan,hadthreemajorprovinces. he firstrovince, hwalis
(<
Khwali-Äs),4
n
the Lower
Volga,
was
therealm
f
the
rading
ast-
ern
Iranians;
its twin
city
Arno
/At
l,
also called
Sãriyéin/
hamlïkh
(PVL:
Xvalisy),5
was ruled
by
a
governor
with he title f
tarkhan
Äs
tarkhan).6
fter
he
atastrophe
fA.H.
104/
.D.
722-723,7
he
apital
of
the Turkic
Khazars
was
transferredo the
twin-city.8
he
western
ity,
Ãmol
or
Sãriyéin,
ecame
thecenter
f
rites nd
government,
hile he
eastern
ity,
Ãtil
or
Khamlïkh,
ecame
the
commercial istrict.
The second
province,
emender/
abir,9
ay
n theNorthern
aucasus.
Itsruler,whobelonged o theBaròclan,residedn the own fSemender
on the
Terek River.Until
22-723,
Semender
ad
been
the
apital
ofthe
Turkic-Khazar
ealm.
Sãrkel,
he hird
rovince,
as situated ear
he ower
Don,
inthe rea
where
he
Volga
makes bend.
The
province
was a
shipping
rossroads,
for
goods
were
portaged
cross
thenarrow eck
f
and
that
eparates
he
two
great
ivers
here.
n
about 834
the
Byzantine ngineer
etronas,
ur-
named
Camaterus,
uilt
stone
ity,
lso
named
Sãrkel,
n the
province
at
the
request
f the Khazar
government.10
he
city
was the eat of the
Khazars' maincustomsoffice, eaded byan officialwhomtheArabs
called
"lord of
the Khazars"
sãhib
al-
Khazar)."
4
For
the
etymology,
ee
Norman
Golb
and
Omeljan
Pritsak,
Khazarian
Hebrew
Documents
of
the
Tenth
Century
Cornell
University
ress,
in
press).
5
The
names
of the
twin-city
re discussed
in Golb
and
Pritsak,
Khazarian Hebrew
Documents.
6
Astarkhãn
(A.s.t.r.khãn
al-Khwâhzmï)
appears
in the Annals
of
at-Tabari
(Ta'rìkh,
ed.
by
M.
J. de
Goeje,
ser. 3
[Leiden, 1879-80], p.
328)
as the
Turkic
Khazar
commander of
a
major
attack
against
Transcaucasia
in 762-764. The Armenian
historianLevond (8thc.) called himRaz-t'arkhan nhis"Historyof Armenia" con-
tinuation
of Sebëos
to A.D.
788),
ed.
by
K. Ezeanc'
(St.
Petersburg,
900),
p.
132;
cf.
al-Ya'qübi,
Historiae,
ed.
by
M. J. de
Goeje,
vol.
2
(Leiden,
1883),
p.
446:
Rã
's
Tarkhãn,
where
Raz/Rã's
goes
back
to
*avrs-
~
*arsya-
cf.
E. G.
Pulleyblank,
Asia
Major,
vol. 9
[London,
1954], p.
220).
Cf.
also
Douglas
M
Dunlop,
The
History
f
the
Jewish Khazars
(Princeton,
1954),
p.
180,
fn.
3;
V.
Minorsky
n
Oriens
Leiden),
11
(1958):
127, 136;
and
Károly Czeglédy,
"Khazars Raid
in Transcaucasia
in
762-764
A.D.,"
Acta Orientalia
Hunzaricae (Budapest) ,
11
(1960):
83-86.
7
Concerning
these events
see
Dunlop,
History
of
the Jewish
Khazars,
pp.
62-66.
8
In A.H.
1
19/A.D.
737
the
capital
was
already
the
city
of
al-Baidã'(-
Sãriydin);
see
Ibn
al-Athïr,
Chronicon,
ed.
by
Carolus
Johannes Torn
berg,
vol.
4
(Leiden,
1870),
p.
234.
9
The
Semender Sabir
tribes re discussed
in
volumes
4
to
6
of
The
Origin
of
Rus'.
There the cityof Semender is identifiedwithmodernKizljar on the Terek River
(Northern
Caucasia).
10
Constantinus
Porphyrogenitus,
e administrando
mperio,
d.
by Gyula
Morav-
csik
Budapest,
1949)
p.
42
(text)
=
p.
43
(Eng.
trans.,
by
R.
J.H.
Jenkins)
cf. lso
p.
64
(text)
=
p.
65
(Eng.
trans.).
11
See
the
emendations to Ibn
Khurdãçjbeh,
Kitab
al-masalik
wa'1-mamãlik,
d.
by
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THE KHAZAR KINGDOM'S CONVERSION TO
JUDAISM
263
The pax also included ributaryereditaryealmsgoverned y kings
with he Turkictitle
l-tebir.
here seem to have
been seven
uch terri-
tories:
(1)
Khotzir12
<
Akkatzir)
-
realm of the
Khazars
proper,
who,
once their
eading
role in
Eastern
Europe
ended,
found
refuge
n the
Crimean
Peninsula,
s
had
theGothsbefore
hem. heirruler
was
called
khat'ir-litber
y
an Armenian ource
Levond)
in
connectionwith
vents
of
764.13 ts
capital
was
Phullai,14
iteof
present-day
lanerskoe,
ocated
on the coast between
ugdaea
and Theodosia.15
(2) Hun16 realm f heformermastersf he teppe,whohad settled
in
the basin of theSulak
River,
o the north f
Derbend. ts
capital
was
called
Varaban
in the Armenian
ources
nd
Balangar
n
the
slamic.17
(3)
Onoyur™
realm
along
the
banks of the
Lower
Kuma
River.
Archeologists
ave
identified
ts
capital
with
he
site of
Madiary.19
(4)
"Turkoi"
Byzantine esignation
or
he
people
who
would be-
come
Hungarians20;
n theninth
entury hey
were
ettling
n
thebasinof
the
Sivers'kyj
onee'
(Lebedia)
2X
M. J.Goeje, BibliothecaGeographorumArabicorumhereafter GA), vol. 6 (Leiden,
1889),
p.
154,
that
give
n "An
Arabic Text on the
Trade Route
of the
Corporation
of
ar-Rüs
"
Folia Orientalia
Cracow),
12
(1970):
254-57.
12
The name
ò
XoiCr^pov/ó XoxÇípcov
ppears
in
the
project
of
the
Gothic arch-
bishopric
from
the last
quarter
of the
eighth century;
ee C.
de
Boor,
"Nachträge
zu den Notitiae
episcopatuum," Zeitschriftür Kirchengeschichte
2
1891):
531,
533-
34.
On the connectionbetween
XoxÇip-and
AicócÇip,
ee K.
Czeglédy,
Bemerkungen
zur Geschichteder
Chazaren,"
Acta
Orientalia
Hungaricae
13
1961):
244. More
data
about
XoiÇip-
and Khazar are
given
in
volumes 4
to 6 of
The
Origin of
Rus
.
13
<
*khat'ir
ilt(e)ber,
Levond,
ed.
by
K.
Ezeanc'
p.
132. Cf. K.
Czeglédy
in
Acta
Orientalia
Hungaricae
11
(1960):
84-85.
14
The seat of the
bishopric
ó
XoiÇípcov
was
also
in
Phullai;
see
A. A.
Vasilev,
The
Goths in the Crimea Cambridge,Mass., 1936), pp. 97-98.
15
V. V.
Kropotkin,
Iz istorii
rednevekovogo
Kryma,"
Sovetskaja
arxeologija
28
( 1958)
2
1 -
1 . Cf.
Jonathan
hepard
in
Byzantine
tudies
University
f
Pittsburgh)
1,
no.
1
(1974):
24-25.
16
This
was also thename of the
bishopric:
Ouvvcov.
ee
de
Boor,
"Nachträge
u den
Notitiae
episcopatuum," p.
531.
17
Joseph
Markwart was
first o
recognize
that the
Balangar
of
the
Arabic sources
corresponded
o the
Varaë'an
of the
Armenian
ources,
n his
Osteuropäische
und ost-
asiatische
Streif
üge
Leipzig,
1
03)
,
p.
1
. The
subject
s
discussed n
volumes
4
to
6
of
The
Origin
of
Rus'
the
identification f the
city
of
Varao'an with
Tarqu
(Tarkhu),
near Petrovsk
now Maxaé-kala) . is also given there.
18
This was
also
the
name of the
bishopric Ovoyoúpcov;
ee
de
Boor,
"Nachträge
zu
den Notitiae
episcopatuum," p.
531.
19 See N. A. Karaulov in Sbornik materialov
dlja
opisanija
mestnostej
piemen
Kavkaza,
vol.
38
(Tiflis, 1908), pp.
20-21.
20
All
data from
he
Byzantine
ources are
collected
n
Moravcsik,
Byzantinoturcica
2: 321-22.
Cf.
also O.
Pritsak,
"Yowár und
Kdßap
Käwar,"
Ural-AltaischeJahr-
bücher
36
(1965):
383.
21
The
explanation
for this
localization of
Lebedia
is
given
in
Omeljan
Pritsak,
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264 OMELJAN RITSAK
(5) Volga- ulgar the realm's apital,Bulgãr Bulyar),was located
on the
Volga.22
(6) Volga-Sovãr
therealm's
apital,
ovar,
was
also on the
Volga.23
(7)
Furtas
(<
*furt-ãs
r
'River-As')24
realm
along
the
middle
Volga
whose
nhabitants he slamic
sourcescall
Bur(ãs.25
As in all
steppe empires,
ommerce
was the economic base of
the
Khazar
realm. Therefore
he
Khazars
maintained
ood
relationswith
economic
enters,
nd tried
o control
neighboring
ity-states
henever
possible,
by
either
peaceable
or
military
means.
The
sources
mention
three ypes f Khazar ruleover he ity-states.hefirstypewasthrough
an
elected
primate,
eferred
o
as "father f the
city,"26
n
Khazarian
babaguq.21
uch
rule xisted
n two
mportant
rimean
ities:
Cherson/
Korsun'
ca.
705-710
to
840)28
nd
Phanagoria.29
he
second
type
of
administration
as
through
n
appointedprimate,
whom the
Khazars
called
baliyöi,
r "fishermen."30nder uch rulewere
Bosporus,
n the
"From
the Säbirs
to
the
Hungarians,"
in
Hungaro-Turcica:
Studies in
Honour
of
Julius
Németh
Budapest,
1976),
pp.
17-30.
22
The
most detailed
account
on the
Islam of the
Volga-Bulgars
is
found
in the
Risale of Ibn Fadlãn, which relateshis ourneyofA.D.922: A. Zeki ValidiTogan, Ibn
Fadians
Reisebericht
Leipzig,
1939);
A.
P.
Kovalevskii
Kovalivs'kyj),
Kniga
Ax-
meda
Ibn Fadlana
o
egoputeSestvii
na
Volgu
v
921-922
gg.
Xarkiv,
1956)
Cf.
also
V.
Minorsky,
Ijudüd
al-
Alam
(London,
1937),
pp.
460-61;
Minorsky,
Marvazi on
China,
the Turks
and
India
(London,
1945),
pp.
109-122.
23
On the
Sovars
see ¿eki
Validi
logan,
ibn
tartans
Reisebericht,
pp.
2UJ
ZW.
24
More data
on this
etymology
re
given
n volumes
4
to 6 of
The
Origin
of
Rus.
25
Tadeusz
Lewicki,
"Ze
studiów
nad zródtami
arabskimi.
Czçsc
III.
I.
Siedziby
i
pochodzenie
Burtasow,"
Slavia
Antiqua
(Poznan),
12
(1965):
1-14.
26
The
title was
apparently
of
colonial
Crimean Greek
origin;
see
Constantinus
Porphyrogenitus,
De administrando
imperio,
ed.
by Gy.
Moravcsik,
p.
184
(Eng.
trans.,
p.
185):
Méxpi
yàp
0eo
8/19/2019 Pritsak (Omeljan)_The Khazar Kingdom's Conversion to Judaism (Harvard Ukrainian Studies 2_3, 1978, 261-281)
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THE KHAZAR KINGDOM'S CONVERSION TO
JUDAISM
265
Kerch trait,31ndthe ity n theTaman Peninsula alledTamatarchan
the
Byzantine
ources,
JewishSamkarö
S.m.k.rJ
al-Yahüd)32
n the
Islamic
ources,
nd T'mutorokan'
n theRus'
Primary
hronicle.33
he
third
ype
of
administration
as
by
a Khazar
governor
alled
tudun.34
During
the Khazars'
rule over the
Crimean Gothic
realm
especially
A.D. 786 to ca.
810),
the Gothic
capital
of
Doros was so
governed.35
In
addition
to the
provinces
nd
tributory
ealms,
he
Khazar
pax
included
everal
ributoryeoples.
According
o
King
Joseph's eply
the
long
version),
hey
were hree lavic
groups
the
Ventië(
W.n.n.t.y.t.),
theSever S.w.w.r.), said bythePrimary hronicle o be descendants
ofthe
Poljane
and
Derevljane,
nd
the
Slovene
$.
.
w.y.
w.n.)
and three
Fennic
groups
the
Ar,
the
Ves'(>
Isü),
and the
Ceremis.*6
The Khazars'most
mportant
rade outes
assedthrough
he
basins
f
the
Don and
Volga,
along
the hores
f
heAzov
Sea,
and across he erri-
tories etween heBlack
Sea,
the
Caspian
Sea,
and the
Aral
Lake. Some-
time
fter
he fall
of
the
Avars,
n
the
mid-ninth
entury,
hen
Regens-
burg
Ratisbona)
became
the
capital
of the
eastern
Carolingian
tate,
transcontinentalrade route
developed
from
Regensburg
o
Itil,
with
transit enters t newly oundedViennaand Kiev.37
The Khazar
government
maintained
standing
rmy
of
12,000
men.
The recruitswere Eastern Iranians
of
the Muslim
religion mainly
Khwãrizmians)
alled
Ãrsiya.
Their
commander eld
the
rank
of minis-
ter
vezier)
n
the Khazar
government.38
31
Theophanes,
Chronographia, p.
373,
1.
8-9:
èvTeiXáuevoç naTtcrcÇuv,
òv èie
Kpoocimou
eukoö èiceîae
õvra,
Kai
BaXyíiÇiv,
tòv
dpxovxa Boarcópou,
fva,
öiav
ôr|Xío6fj
òxoíç,
àvéXcoaiv Iouanviavóv
"He
[i.e.,
the
Khazar
emperor]
ommanded
Papatzys, who was his representativehere i.e., in Phanagoria], and Balgitzis,the
governor
f
Bosporus,
to
kill
Justinian
II,
685-95,
705-71
1],
when a
message
would
come
to them."
32
P.
Kokovcov,
A.
Zajçczkowski,
and
V.
Minorsky
correctly
dentified he
wVia
BWLSSY
of
the MS "Schechter"
fol.
2a,
11.
0-21)
with the
title
baliyâi (Pavel
K.
Kokovcov,
Evrejsko-xazarskaja perepiska
v
x
veke
Leningrad,
1932),
pp.
118-19,
fn.
6;
A.
Zajaczkowski,
Ze studiów nad
zagadnieniem
chazarskim
Cracow,
1947),
p.
36;
Minorsky
n
WZKM,
56: 131-32.
33
About
Tmutorokan',
see M. I.
Artamonov,
Istorija
xazar
(Leningrad,
1962),
pp.
439-45.
34
The
(Khazaro-)
Bulgarian
form of that title was
trun
< tuôún);
cf. A. A.
Saxmatov,
"Zametka
ob
jazyke
voliskix
bolgar,"
Sbornik
Muzeja
antropologia
ètno-
grafli Petrograd), 5 (1918): 398-400. Cf. B. F. Manz in this ssue, p. 288.35
See
Vasiliev,
Goths in
the
Crimea,
p.
106. Cf. also fn. 28.
36
"p-nVx
mo rwn wx
ion«
imo laVa ooma omowhVk
King
Joseph'sreply
the
ong
version)],"
ed.
P. K.
Kokovcov,
p.
31,
1.
11-12.
37
Fritz
Röng,
Die
Europäische
Stadt und
die
Kultur
des
Bürgertums
m Mittelalter
(Göttingen,
1964),
p.
17.
38
See Golb and
Pritsak,
Khazarian
Hebrew Documents.
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266 OMELJAN
PRITSAK
The religioustolerancetypicalofall nomadic empires s known to have
existed
in the Khazar state.
During
the firsthalf of
the tenth
entury,
he
Muslim traveler and
prolific
writer
l-Mas'ûdï confirmed ts
practice
as
follows:
The
predominating
lement
n this
ountry
Khazaria]
are the
Muslims,
ecause
they
form he
royal rmy.They
are known
n
this
country
s
Ãrsiyah
nd
are
immigrants
rom he
neighborhood
f Khwãrizm. . .
They
also have
Muslim
judges
qudãt).
The custom
n
theKhazar
apital
s
to have even
udges.
Of
these,
two re
for he
Muslims,
wo
for heKhazars
udging ccording
o the
Torah,
wo
for
hose
among
them
who
are
Christians
udging ccording
o
the
Gospel,
and
one for heSaqãliba, Rüs and other agans udging ccording opagan aw, .e.,
on
theoretical
rinciples:
hen serious ase is
brought p,
ofwhich
hey
ave
no
knowledge, hey
ome before
he
Muslim
udges
and
plead
there,
beying
what
the aw of
Islam
lays
down.
.
.
...
If the Muslims
nd
Christians here re
agreed,
he
King
annot
ope
with
them. .
.39
In 737
the
emperor
(qayan)
converted to
Islam,40
which had
already
been
accepted
in
several
quarters
of the Khazar
pax
(for
instance,
among
the
Volga Bulgars)
sometime
at the
beginning
of the tenth
entury.41
n
heir-apparentto the Khazar throne who professedthe Islamic religion s
mentioned as late
as the middle of the
tenth
entury.42
n
787,
the
Seventh
Ecumenical
Council
in Nicaea
(Niceanum
II)
proposed
the creation of a
Gothic
metropolitanate
s an archdiocese which would embrace the seven
bishoprics
of the Khazar state.43
he document
referring
o this
proposal,
the so-called
De Boor's "Notitia
episcopatuum,"
is
valuable in that t
ists
the seven
component
parts
of Khazaria.44
II.
1.
From the time their state
took
form,
he
Khazars
played
a crucial
role in
the Eurasian
political
community.
As the Turks
did
before
them,
the
39
Les Prairies
'or,
d.
Ch.
Pellat,
ol.
1
Beirut,
966),
p.
213,
1.
,
and
p.
214,
1.
13;
Eng.
trans,
n
Dunlop,
History
f
theJewish
hazars,
p.
206-207.
40
The circumstancesre discussed
n
Dunlop,
History
f
theJewish
hazars,
p.
83-84.
4' See fn.22.
42
Al-Istakhri,
ia
regnorum,
d.
by
M. J.de
Goeje,
BGA,
vol.
1
Leiden,
870),
.
224;
Eng.
trans,
n
Dunlop,
History
f
the
Jewish
hazars,
p.
97-98.
43
Vasihev,
Goths n the
Crimea,
.
97.
44
See de
Boor,
"Nachträge
u
den
Notitiae
piscopatuum,**p.
531,
533-34.Cf.
Vasiliev,
Goths n the
Crimea,
p.
97-101.
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THE KHAZAR
KINGDOM'S CONVERSION TO JUDAISM
267
Khazars usually llied with heByzantine mperor gainsttheArabs,
although hey
ften oveted
he
Byzantine
climes"on
the Crimea.The
first undred
years
of their
history
as
essentially
fierce
truggle
ith
theArabs for
Azerbaidjan
nd
for ontrol
f the
traderoutes
eading
o
Iran.
Contacts etween
yzantium
nd
theKhazar tate
must avebeenwell
established,
or the Khazar and
Byzantine
ynasties
ntermarried.us-
tinian
II
(ruled
685-711)
married
Theodora,
a sister of the
Khazar
emperor,
n
698. Constantine
V
(741-775)
married he
Khazar
princess
Tzitzak,baptized rene, n 733; their on becameEmperorLeo IV the
Khazar
775-780).
Some
Byzantine
piritual
eaders
nd
prolific
riters
were
lso of Khazar
origin,
or
nstance,
hotius,
patriarch
f
Constan-
tinople
(858-867, 877-886).
Despite
these direct
ties,
no
Byzantine
author,
not
even
the historian
Theophanes
(d.
818)
or the
learned
emperor
onstantine
II
Porhyrogenitus
913-959),
made
any
mention
of
the conversion f the Khazar
Kingdom
o Judaism.
The
first
Muslimwriters
o mention
hat he
Khazarruler
rofessed
he
Jewish
aith ate
to the
arly
enth
entury
Ibn
Rüste,
a.
912,
nd
Ibn
al-Faqlh,who wrote fter 03.
2.
As far as
we
know,
the
contemporary
enters
f
Judaism n
Palestine,
Iraq,
and
Constantinople
ailed
o
record
r take note
of he
Khazar
con-
version.Even
in
the first
alfof thetenth
entury,
oth
Rabbanite
nd
Karaite
ourcesmention
he Khazars
only
matter-of-factly,
ithout
ny
religious
eferencer
designation.
Sa'adyah Gaon (b. Joseph;b. 882,d. 942), who,althoughbornand
raised
n
Egypt,
became
the
greatest
cholar of the
gaonic
period
and
leader
of
Babylonian ewry,
entioned
heKhazars
on
several ccasions.
For
instance,
e
explained
Hiram,
king
f
Tyre"
s
being
not
a
proper
name,
but a
title,
like
caliph
for
he
ruler
fthe
Arabs
nd
khaghan
or
the
king
of the Khazars."45
Also,
in
commenting
n
a biblical verse
(Exodus
19:9),
Sa'adyah
mentioned certainKhazar
custom which
required
man
executing
oyal
rders
notto tellhis
king
melekh)
t
was
carried ut until
he
received
nother.46n
yet
nother
nstance,
he
gaon
45
Abraham
Elija
Harkavy,
"onron
lai
*?y
ica
two an
Rab
Sa'adyah
Gaon
on
the
Khazars]
"
Semitic
tudies
n
Memory f
Alexander
ohut
Berlin,
97)
pp.
244^5.
Cf.
Dunlop,
History f
the
Jewish
hazars,
p.
220-21.
46
Harkavy,
Rab
Sa'adyah
Gaon,
pp.
244^7.
Ct.
Dunlop,
History
f
the
Jewish
Khazars,
.
221.
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268
OMELJAN PRITSAK
mentioned certain saac b. Abraham as having eft raq to settle n
Khazaria.47
Sa'adyah's contemporary,
he Karaite
historian
nd
jurist
Jacob
al-
Qirqisanï
of
raq
(d.
ca.
940),
in
elaborating
n Genesis
:27
in his
Kitäb
ar-riyãd
wa
l-hadâïq Book
of
gardens
nd
parks]
had this o
say
about
the Khazars:
The
majority
f
ommentators
nterpret
his
un
o
mean ivelinessnd
beauty.
n
their
pinion,
t means hatGod had beautified
apheth
o the xtent hat
numberfhis
descendants
ill nter
nto
he
Jewish
aith. . .
Now,
ome
ther
[commentators]reof theopinionhat his erse lludes o theKhazarswho
accepted
udaism.
owever,
thers old hat hePersians re here ntended.
These onverted
oJudaism
n he ime
f
Mordecai,
sther
ndAhasuerusven
as it
s
written
Esther
:17].
"And
many mong
he
eople
f
he andbecame
Jews."48
In the
tenth and
eleventh enturiesKaraite writers
isdained the
Khazars
as bastards
mamzêr).
For
instance,
passage
ascribed
to
Yepheth
b.
Ali of Basrah
(fl.
950-980)
explains
the
term
mamzër
s
"Khazars
who became Jews-in-exile."49
his
usage
reflectshe
fact hat
the Karaites
distinguished harply
between wo kinds of
converts o
Judaism: hose whoconverted eforeNebuchadnezzar Ps conquestof
Jerusalem
587
B.C.)
were
egarded
s
full-fledged,
onorablemembers f
the
ongregation;
hose
who converted fter
he
Jews
ad been
dispersed,
however,
ere
fdoubtful
tatus,
t best.The atter
ategory,
f
o-called
bastards,
had
in the
past
included
Amonites,
Moabites,
and others.50
Although popular
Hebrewhistorical orkwrittenn
taly
nthe
mid-
tenth
entury,
he so-called
Sëpher
Josippon,
mentions he
Khazars,
t
fails
to
note their
dherence
o
Judaism.51
n
the nineteenth
entury,
47
Harkavy,
"Rab
Sa'adyah
Gaon,"
p.
245. Cf.
Dunlop, History
of
the Jewish
Khazars. d.
221.
48
Maximilian
Landau edited
the
passage
in
question
in "onron mra o 'roíanmoyo
[The present-day
tatus of
the Khazar
problem],"
lion
(Jerusalem),
8
(1943):
96.
A
translation
was
published
by
Zvi
Ankori,
Karaites in
Byzantium:
The
Formative
Years,
970-1100
(New
York
and
Jerusalem,
1959),
pp.
67-68.
49
See
A.
Harkavy,
"Karäische
Deutung
des
Wortes
-itöö,"
Monatsschrift ür
Geschichte
und
Wissenschaft
es
Judentums
Krotoschin),
31
(1882):
171;
Harkavy,
uRab
Sa'adayah
Gaon,"
pp.
246-47;
Ankori,
Karaites
in
Byzantium,
pp.
71-74.
However,
Yepheth's
commentary
n
the
Book
of Jeremiah
Jer.
50:
21,
25),
has a
messianic
passage
which mentions
he
"King
of
srael";
the
simultaneousreference
o
Bãb
al-Abwãb
(Derbend)
suggests
that
it is the
udaized king
of
the Khazars who
is
beingreferredo. The commentarywas publishedbyA. Harkavy,"Rus*i russkiev
srednevekovoj
evrejskoj
literature,"
Vosxod
(St.
Petersburg),
2
(1882):
239-51;
cf.
Ankori,
Karaites in
Bvzantium.
dd. 77-78.
50
Ankori,
Karaites in
Byzantium,
pp.
72-73.
51
A.
Harkavy,
ed.,
"Skazanija
evrejskix
pisatelej
o Xazarax
i
xazarskom
carstve,"
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THE KHAZAR KINGDOM'S CONVERSION TO JUDAISM
269
Karaite scholars,especiallyAbraham Firkoviõ b. 1785,d. 1874),52
created
myth
bout
the Karaite
origin
f the
Khazars
-
a far
ry
rom
the ttitude f Karaites
f he
enth nd eleventh
enturies,
ho
would,
no
doubt,
have decried
ny
such
ancestry.
3.
Modern Rabbinical
scholarship
ontinues o
idealize the
Khazars and
their onversion.53
his
stance
s
due
largely
o
Judah Halevi
(b.
1075,
d.
1
141),
who
was first o viewthe Khazar conversion
s a
central vent
inJewishhistory.
Halevi,
undoubtedly
he foremostJewish
poet
and thinker f the
Middle
Ages,
was born
and
raised
n
Andalusian
Toledo
(or Tudela)
while he
ity
was stillMuslim
but
had a vitalJewish
eligious
ommunity
and intellectualife.
After
happy
Wanderjahre,
he
young
Jewreturned
to now
Christian oledo
during
he
reconquista,
when
one
Jewish om-
munity
fter notherwas
being destroyed.
His
"Kitãb
al-hugga
wa'd-
dalïl
fi
nasr
d-dïn
d-dalîl"
Book
of
argument
nd
proof
n
defense f
the
despised
faith],
knownmore
ommonly
s the
Kuzari,"
was written
in Arabic
ca.
1120-40),
in the
style
fa Platonic
dialogue.54
hework
Trudy
Vostoânogo
otdelenija
St.
Petersburg),
17
(1874):
298,
300
(text),
301
(Russ.
trans.):
naiKi
"pan
roi
'pTioi
Kram
iiVai
oup*Vin|rxDi
ma
qho mnswo wv on
noinn
•uVai
"uüik
k
^ük KinVmn
m
iv o'rin
m ornou?
y
mrm
moan
poxa
o^in hVk a
.f
Vȟi
.•»am
KijHH
Wim
inan bv tmn
^rrtoi
Togarma [comprises]
ten
tribes,
which are the
Khozar,
Pasinakh,
AHqanüs
(
=
Uludi),
Bülgar,
Ragbínã
(?),
Türqí,
*Khüz
[Bwz;
=
Oyuz],
Zikhüs,
'Ongan,
and Tilmas.
They
all
live in the
north,
nd
their
ands are
named after
hem.
They
live
along
the
river
Hitl,
that
s
Mf/[Volga],
but the
Dngari,
Bülgar
and
Pùsinakh[5/c]live
long
the
great
river alled
Danübi
[Danube]."
Cf. the
Arabic
translation
of
Josippon:
"Togarma [comprises]
ten
tribes.
They
are the al-
Khazar, al-Baganãq, al-As-Alãn, al-Bulèar . . . Khyabar, Ungar,Talmis Theyall
live
in the northern
ection,
nd their
places
are
named
after
hem.Some of them
ive
along
the river
A
til. But
the
al-Bulgar,
l-Baganãq
and
Ungar
live
between hè
moun-
tains
of
Danübin,
i.e.,
Duna
[Danube]."
Harkavy, "Skazanija evrejskix
pisatelej,"
pp.
333-34.
52
Concerning
A. S.
Firkovié,
see
Ananiasz
Zajaczkowski,
Karaims in Poland:
History, anguage,
Folklore,
Science
(Warsaw,
The
Hague,
and
Paris,
1961),
pp.
84-
88.
See also
Ankori,
Karaites
in
Byzantium,
pp.
58-65.
53
See
BernardD.
Weinryb,
The
Beginnings
f
East-European Jewry
n
Legend
and
Historiography,*'
n
Studies
and
Essays
in Honor
of
Abraham
A.
Neuman
(Leiden,
1962),
pp.
445-502.
54
The work
was translated
nto Hebrew
n
themiddle
of thetwelfth
entury y
Judah
b. Tibbon underthe title Sëpherha-hokhahahwe-ha reayah e-hagganatha-dat ha-
bezuyah";
this
translation
nd
the
original
text
re
commonly
known
as
"Sêpher
ha-
Khuzari"
or the "Kuzari."
A
critical edition
of the Arabic
original
based
on the
Unicum
Codex
Bodleiana
Hebraica,
no.
284)
and
of Ibn Tibbon's translation
based
on
the Codex
Parisiensis,
no.
677)
was
published
by Hartwig
Hirschfeld,
Das Buch
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270
OMELJAN PRITSAK
was notonly Jewish esponse o thechallenge fAristotelianhiloso-
phy,
but
also an
original
nd,
some scholars
ay,
valid
conceptualization
of Judaism
which
rgued
for ts
religious uperiority. riting uring
he
revival
f
Jewish
Messianism nd
apocalyptic
hopes,
Halevi
made
the
proselytic
hazar
king
he entral ero
of his
dialogue,
nd thus
levated
the Khazar conversion
rom
marginal
appening
n Jewish
istory
o a
major
event.
The
following
wo
passages
in the
"Kuzari" are relevant o
our dis-
cussion:
(1)1 was asked to statewhat rgumentsndreplies couldbring obearagainst
the attacks
of
philosophers
nd
followers
f
other
religions,
nd also
against
[Jewish]
ectarians
who attacked
he restof
Israel.
This
reminded
me of
some-
thing
had
once heard
oncerning
he
rguments
f Rabbi who
sojourned
with
the
king
f
the
Khazars.
The
latter,
s
we
knowfrom
istorical
ecords,
ecame
convert
o
Judaism
bout
four
hundred
ears
go.
To him ame
a
dream,
nd
it
appeared
as
if an
angel
addressedhim
saying: Thy
way
of
thinking
s
indeed
pleasing
o the
Creator,
ut not
thyway
of
acting."
Yet he was so
zealous
n
the
performance
f heKhazar
religion,
hathe
devoted
himself ith
perfect
eart o
the
ervice f
the
temple
nd sacrifices.
otwithstanding
his
devotion,
he
ngel
cameagainatnightndrepeated: Thywayof hinkingspleasing oGod,butnot
thy
way
of
acting."
This
caused
him to
ponder
over
the
differenteliefs nd
religions
nd
finally
he]
became
convert o Judaism
ogether
ith
many
ther
Khazars.55
(2)
After his
the
Khazari,
as it is related
n the
history
f the
Khazars,
was
anxious
to
reveal
o hisvezier
n themountains f Warsãn
jxoti)
he ecret f his
dream nd
its
repetition,
n which
he was
urged
o
seek
the
God-pleasing
eed.
The
king
nd
his vezier ravelled
o
the
deserted
mountains n
the
eashore,
nd
arrived
ne
night
t thecave
in which
ome Jewsused
to
celebrate he
Sabbath.
They
disclosed
heir
dentity
o
them,
mbraced heir
eligion,
ere
ircumcised
n
the
cave,
and thenreturned
o their
ountry,
ager
o learn he
Jewish aw.
They
kepttheir onversion ecret,however, ntilthey ound n opportunityf dis-
closing
he
fact
gradually
o a
few
f
their
pecial
friends.When henumber
ad
increased,
hey
made
the affair
ublic,
nd induced
he rest f the
Khazars
to
embrace
heJewish aith.
hey
ent
o various ountries or
cholars nd
books,
and
studied heTorah. Their
hronicleslso tell
f heir
rosperity,
ow
they
eat
al-
Chazan
des
Abû-l-ifasan
e ud Hallewi m
Arabischen
Urtext owie
n der
Hebräischen
bersetzung
es
Jehuda bn Tibbon
Leipzig,
887).
Hirschfeldrans-
lated
the
Kuzari" ntoGerman
s
Das
Buch l-Chazarî:Aus dem
Arabischen es
Abu'l-liasan
JehudaHallewi
Breslau, 885).
The first
dition f
the
English
rans-
lation yHirschfeldaspublishedn 1905. he most ecentdition, ith n ntroduc-
tion
by Henry lonimsky,ppeared
n
1964:
JudahHalevi
-
The
Kuzari
Kitab
l
Khazari):
An
Argument
or
theFaith
of
srael
Sew
York,
1964).
55
Edited
y
H.
Hirschfeld,
.
3
Hebrew
rans.;
he
Arabic
riginal
f he
age
s
ost)
=
p.
35
(Eng.
trans,
y
H.
Hirschfeld,
964).
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THE KHAZAR
KINGDOM'S CONVERSION
TO
JUDAISM 271
their oes, onquered heirands, ecured reat reasures;ut heirrmywelled o
hundreds
f
thousands,
ow
they
oved
their
aith,
nd
fostered
uch ove for he
Holy
House
that
hey
rected
Tabernacle
nthe
hape
ofthat uilt
y
Moses
56
III.
1.
Why
did
theKhazars'conversion
o
Judaism
o
unmentioned ot
only
n
contemporary
ewish
iterature,
ut also
in
the
Byzantine
nd
Muslim
literatures,
hichwerethenmore
highly eveloped
nd have been well
preserved?
he silence
s
especially
uzzling
because the
Byzantine
nd
Muslim tateshad
strong
ontacts,
whether
riendly
r
hostile,
with he
Khazar
realm,
hen
anking
ith
he
Frank,
Byzantine,
nd Muslim
Arab
as
a
great
power,
nd
they
must have been
interested
n
the Khazars'
activities.
et us
look into this
trange
ack
of interestn
an event hat
would
seem to be
of
contemporarymportance.
2.
St.
Constantine,
ater
postle
of the
Slavs,
undertook
mission
o the
court
f the Khazar
emperor
ometime
n
the mid-ninth
entury.
here,
as
late s
860,
he
gave disputation
n
religion
nd
practiced
aptism,
ut
said
nothing
bout
the
xclusiveness
f
the
Jewish
eligion
n
Khazaria.57
The earliest
mentionof the
Khazars'
conversion
o
Judaismwas
by
Druthmar f
Aquitaine,
Frankish
Benedictinemonk
at the
Corvey
monastery
n
Westphalia.
he
reference
ccurs n
Druthmar's ommen-
tary
n Matthew
4:14,
written
n 864. It
reads:
At thepresent imewe knowof no nation gens) ntheworldwhere hristians o
not ive.For
in the
ands
of
Gog
and
Magog
who are a
Hunnish ace
gentes)
nd
call themselves azari
there s one
tribe,
verybelligerent
ne
-
Alexander
enclosed hem
nd
they scaped
-
and all of them
profess
he
Jewish aith. he
Bulgars,
however,
who
are
of
the
same
race,
recently
ecame
Christians.58
56
Edited
y
H.
Hirschfeld,
.
67
Arabic
ext)
p.
68
Hebrew
rans.)
p.
82
Eng.
trans.,
y
H.
Hirschfeld).
57
Concerning
t.
Constantine's
ission,
ee Francis
Dvornik,
yzantine
issions
among
he lavs:
SS.
Constantine-Cyril
nd Methodius
New
Brunswick,.J.,
970),
pp.
49-72;
F.
Dvornik,
es
légendes
e Constantin
t de
Méthode,
ues
de
Byzance
(Prague, 933),pp.148-21 About hemission f heGeorgianaintAbo d. 786), ee
Paul
Peeters,
Les Khazars ans a
passion
e S. KbodtTxüis"Analecta ollandiana
(Brussels),
2
(1934):
21-56.
58
"Nescimus
am
gentem
ubcáelo
n
qua
Christiani
on
habeantur. amet
n
Gog
et
Magog,
uae
sunt
entes
unorum,
uae
ab
eisGazari
vocantur,
am
una
gens
uae
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272
OMELJAN RITSAK
Because Druthmar's estimonys unchallenged, ecan assume that he
Khazarconversion
musthave occurred efore 64
A.D.,
he
date
whenhis
observations
werewritten.
3.
Apart
from
Halevi's
"Kuzari,"
there re three ther
non-contemporary
accountsof the
Khazar conversion.
hey
are best
characterizeds
epic
narratives.
wo havecomedown
o
us n
Hebrew,
nd
the
hird n
Arabic.
The two
Hebrew tories
musthave beenwritten
y
he
beginning
f he
twelfthentury, ecause Jehudahb. Barzillaial-Bargeloni an-Nasi),
rabbi of Barcelona
ca. 1090
to
1
105,
refers
o
them n
his
"Sëpher
ha-
'ittlm,"
work
dealing
with the Sabbath
and festivals
n the
Jewish
calendar.59
One
of the
Hebrew stories
ppears
in
the
so-called Khazar
corres-
pondence
hat
comprises
he etter f
IJasdai
b.
Shaprut
b.
ca.
915,
d.
970)
to
theKhazars'
King
Joseph
nd
two
versions f
Joseph's eply.
he
authenticity
f the
correspondence,
hich ontinues o be
controversial,
is irrelevant
ere,
because
the conversion
tory
s
taken
as an
epic
narrative, ot an official ontemporaryccount.According o thefirst,
short
version
f
KingJoseph'sreply,
he conversion
ccurred hus:60
(
1
An
ngel ppeared
ohim
n
dreamnd aid:
Oh,
Bol[õ]ãn
I
TheLord ent
me
otell
ou:
heard
our rayer
nd
your
etition.
nd
o,
shall less
ou
nd
multiply
ou,
xtend
our ingdom
othe nd f
ges
ndhand ll
your
nemies
over o
you.
Now
rise
nd
pray
othe ord."
He did
hus,
nd he
ngel
ppeared
to
him second
ime,
aying:
I
saw
your
ehaviornd
pproved
our
ctions.
fortiorrat x hisquasAlexanderonduxerat,ircumcisast, tomnem udaismumobservât.
ulgara
uoque,
qui
et
ipsi
ex
ipsisgentibus
unt,
ottidie
aptisantur,"
Maxima
bibliotheca
eterum
atrum
ugdun.
Leiden),
15
1677):
158
=
J.
P.
Migne,
Patrologiae
ursus
omplet
s,
Series
Latina,
vol. 106
Paris,
1864),
ol.
1456.
59
Kokovcov,
vrejsko-xazarskaja
erepiska, p.
127-28
Russ.
trans.,
p.
128-31).
60
Insofar
s this
tory
s
concerned,
here
re no real
differencesetween
he
wo
versions.
61
Bolán
scholars
ormally
se
the ncorrect
pelling
ulan)
s
a tribal
esignation
(eponym),
ather
han
proper
ame.
The form ith
(Bo/ãn)
s Turkicwhereas he
formwith â
(Bo/
8/19/2019 Pritsak (Omeljan)_The Khazar Kingdom's Conversion to Judaism (Harvard Ukrainian Studies 2_3, 1978, 261-281)
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THE KHAZAR KINGDOM'S
CONVERSION TO JUDAISM
273
know hatyouwillfollowmewithyourwholeheart. want ogiveyouthe om-
mandments,
he aw
and
the
rules; nd,
if
you
observe
my
ommandments,
aws
and
rules,
shall bless
you
and
multiply
ou."
He answered nd said to the
ngel:
"My
master,
ou
know he ntentions
f
my
heart
nd
you
have
nquired
nto
my
innermost
elf,
nd
you
know that
have
placed myhope
only
n
you.
But the
people,
overwhom
reign,
re unbelievers.do notknow
whether r not
hey
will
believeme.
If
have
found avor
n
your
yes
nd
your
mercy
as come
down on
me,
appear
to
so-and-so,
heir
hief
prince i.e.,
qayari],
nd
he
will
help
me in
this ask."
The
All-Holy
may
he be
blessed
granted
is
request
nd
appeared
to that
prince
n a dream.
Whenhe awoke
in
the
morning,
e went
nd told
the
king
bout t.
Then the
king
ssembled
ll his
princes,
is
laves,
nd all his
peopleand toldthem ll this.
hey
ndorsedt, nd
accepted the
new]
faith,
hus
oming
under
he
protection
f Shekhina
"the
presence
f
God"].
And the
ngel again
appeared
to
him
nd said:
"The heavens nd the heavens f the
heavens
annot
contain
me,
but
you
should
still]
build
a
synagogue
n
my
name."
He
answered,
saying:
Lord of
the
world,
am
very
shamed
that have no silver
nd
gold
to
erect t
properly,
s
I
would
ike." He
[the ngel]
answeredhim: Have
strength
and be
manly
ake all
your
rmieswith
ou
nd
go
inthe
direction f
Dar-i
Alan
[the
Darial
Pass]
and
Ard[ab]il located
in
Azerbaidjan]
I shall
place
in their
hearts ear nd
terror efore
ou
and hand
them ver nto
your
hands.
prepared
two storehouses
or
you;
one
of silver nd one of
gold.
I
shall be with
you
and
I
shallprotect ou everywhere]wherever ou go. You shall ake that] ooty i.e.,
goods]
return
ith
uccess,
nd build
synagogue,
n
my
name."
He
believed im
and did
as he had been commanded.He
fought,
aid a curse
on the
town and
returned
afely.
Then]
he blessed
the
acquired]
goods
and from
hemcon-
structed:
ents,
n
ark,
candlestick, table,
sacrificial
ltar,
nd
priestly
acred
vessels.Until he
present
ay,
these
have
remainedwhole
and in
my
keeping.62
(2)
After hishis fame
preadwidely.
he
King
of
Edom
[Byzantium]
nd
the
King
of
the shmaelites
Muslims]
had
heard of him
and
they
ent o
himtheir
envoys
with
reat
iches nd
many
resents,
s well s someof
heirwisemenwith
the
plan
to convert
him
to their wn
religion.
But
the
king
was
wise,
entfor
learned sraelite, earched,nquired nd investigatedarefully.henhebrought
the
ages together
o that
hey
might
rgue
bout their
espective
eligions.
ach
of them
efuted,
owever,
he
rguments
f his
opponent,
o that
hey
ould not
agree.
When he
king
aw thishe said to them:
Go
home,
n
the
hird
ay
I
shall
send for
you
and
you
willcome to me." On the
second
day
the
king
entfor he
[Christian] riest
nd said to him: I know hat
he
King
of
Edom is
greater
han
the
other
kings,
nd
thathis faith s
respectable. already
have
iking
s
to
your
religion.
ut am
asking
you
to tell he ruth:f ne takes
he sraelite
eligion
nd
the
religion
f the
shmaelites,
hich f them s
better?The
priest
nswered
im
and said:
"May
our
Lord
the
King
ive
ong
Know he
ruth,
hat here s n
ll the
worldno
religion esembling
he sraelite
eligion,
ince he
All-Holy,
less
him,
chose sraelfrom ll thenations "Theking nswered im: Nowyouhavetold
62
Kokovcov,
vrejsko-xazarskaja
erepiska,
.
21,
1.
,
and
p.
22,
1.
Russ.
trans.,
pp.
75-77).
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274
OMELJAN PRITSAK
me.Truly, now hat will howyoumy espect.The seconddaytheking ent or
al-Qãdi
of the
shmaelites,
sked
him nd said: "Tell
me the
truth:what s the
difference
etween
he
religion
f srael nd the
religion
f
Edom,
which
eligion
is
better?
Al-Qãdi
answered
im nd said: "The
religion
f srael s
better,
nd t
is
all
the truth. . ."
On the hird
ay
he
theking]
alled all of hem
ogether
nd said to them
n
the
presence
f
ll
his
princes
nd slaves nd
his
people:
"I wish hat
you
make
for
me
the
hoice,
which
eligion
s the
best
nd
thetruest."
hey
began
o
dispute
with
one
another
without
rriving
o
any
result
ntil
he
king
sked the
priest:
If one
compares
he sraelite
eligion
with hatof
the
shmaelites,
which
s
to
be
pre-
ferred?"
he
priest
nswered
nd said:
"The
religion
f the sraelites s better."
Nowhe
[the king]
sked
al-Qãdi
and said:"Ifone
compares
he sraelite
eligion
with
hat ftheEdom
which
s to be
preferred?"
l-Qãdi
answered im nd said:
"The
religion
f the sraelites
s better."
Upon
this
the
king
aid,
"Both
of
you
admitted
with
your
own
lips
thatthe
religion
f
the sraelites
s the
best nd
truest. herefore
have hosen he
religion
of
the
sraelites,
hat
s,
the
religion
f
Abraham He can
give
mewithoutabor
silver nd
gold
which
you
had
promised
me. Now
go,
all of
you,
n
peace
to
your
land."
From
hat ime
n
the
Almighty
od
helped
him nd
strengthened
im.He and
his
slaves
circumcised
hemselves
nd
he
sentfor nd
brought
wise menof
srael
who interpretedhe Torah forhim nd arranged hepreceptsnorder. . ,63
(3)
After
hose
days
there rose
from
he sons of
his
[Boloan's]
sons a
king,
'Obadiah
by
name. He
was an
upright
nd
ust
man.
He
reorganized
he
kingdom
and
established
he
Israelite]
eligion
roperly
nd
correctly.
e built
ynagogues
and
schools,
brought
n
many
sraelite
ages,
honored hem
with ilver
nd
gold,
and
they xplained
o him he
Twenty-four
ooks
the
Bible],
Mishnah,
almud,
and
theorder f
prayers
established
y]
theKhazzans.
He was a manwho
feared
God and
loved
the aw and
the commandments.
After
imhis
on Hezekiah
became
king,
nd after
im,
is on
Manasseh
M
The main
elements
that
emerge
from the
story
are these:
(1) The convert was an officerelevated to the rank of king but not
emperor.
(2)
There
were two
stages
in the conversion.
(3)
The
first,
r
Bol[é]ãn,
stage
was connected
with
he Khazar
victory
over
the Arabs
and
their dvance
as
far s
Ardabil
in
Azerbaidjan,
which,
according
to Arab
sources,
took
place
in A.H.
112/
A.D. 730-731.65
This
chronology agrees
with Halevi's
statement
n the
"Kuzari,"
written
a.
63
Kokovcov,
vrejsko-xazarskaja
erepiska,
.
22,
11.
-23,
15
Russ.
trans.,
p.
77-80).64
Kokovcov,
vrejsko-xazarskaja
erepiska,
.
23,
1.
18,
nd
p.
24,
1.
Russ.
rans.,
p.
80).
65
For
sources nd
details,
ee
Dunlop,
History f
the
Jewish
hazars,
p.
68-77,
148.
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THE KHAZAR KINGDOM'S CONVERSION TO JUDAISM
275
1130-1 40, hat heKhazarkingbecame convert about fourhundred
years ago."
But
this was a
private
conversion of the
majordomo
(=
Bol[õ]ãn),
which,
ossibly,
was
precededby
the
kind f
religious
is-
pute
thatoccurred efore
ther
oyal
onversions
cf.
theconversion o
Christianity
f PrinceVolodimer
f Rus' in
988).
66
4.
The
other f thetwo
Hebrew tories bout the
conversion
urvived
n a
Geniza
fragment
hich
s
now
n
Cambridge, ngland.
The
fragment
as
recently
een
analyzed by
Norman
Golb,
whosetranslation fthe rele-
vant
passage
reads as
follows:67
Armenia,
nd
[our]
fathers
led
before hem
for
hey
were
n[ab]le
to bear he
yoke
of
idol-worshippers.
The
people
of
Khazari]a
received hem. For
the
pe[ople]
of Khazaria
were t
first ithout
orah,
while
their
eighbor
rmenia]
remained
without orah and
writing. hey
ntermarried ith he
nhabitants
f
the
and,
ntermingled
ith he
gent]iles,
earned
heir
ractices,
nd would
con-
tinually
o
out
with
hem o
w[ar]; [and] they
ecameone
people.
However,
hey
were confirmed
nly
n the
covenant
f
circumcision;
nly
a
portfion
f them
were]observing
he Sabbath. There
was
[at
the
time]
no
king
n
the
land
of
Khazaria;
but ratherwhoeverwould chievevictoriesnwarwould
they ppoint
over hemselvess
general
f the
rmy. Thus
was
it]
until
heJews nce went
ut
with hem o
do
battle s was their
wont.On that
ay
a certain
ew
revailed
with
his
sword nd
put
to
flight
he enemies ome
against
Khazaria.
So
the
men of
Khazar
appointed
him over them s chief fficer f the
rmy
ccording
o their
ancient ustom.
They
remained
n this tate
of affairs or
manydays,
until he
Lord took
mercy
nd stirred
he heart f thechief fficer
o
repent;
orhis
wife,
whose
name
was
Serah,
nfluenced im nd
taught
im o
his]
benefit;
nd
he
too
agreed,
ince
he was
circumcised.
Moreover,
he father f the
young
woman,
man
righteous
n that
generation,
howed him
the
way
of
life.
Now ithappened hatwhen hekings fMacedón = Byzantines]nd thekings
of Arabia heard
hese
hings, hey
ecame
very ngry,
nd sent
messengers
o the
officers f Khazaria
[with]
words
of scorn
against
srael: "How
is
it
that
you
return
o the faithof the
Jews,
who
are
subjugated
under
the
power
of
all
nations?
They
aid
things
hich re notfor
s to
relate,
nd
nfluencedhehearts
of the officers
dversely.
hen the
great
fficer,
he
Jew, aid,
"Why
hould
we
multiply
ords?
et there ome
here]
ome
sages
of
srael,
ome
ages
of
Greece,
and some
sages
of
Arabia;
nd
et hem
ell,
ach one of
hem,
efore s
and before
you,
thedeed of
his]
Lord
[from eginning
o]
end."
They
did
so;
[M]ace[do]n
sent
ome
of
ts
ages,
nd
also]
the
kings
f
Arabia;
nd the
ages
of
sraelvolun-
66 Ca. between .D. 99 nd809.See also A.N.
Poliak,
onron rrinn
The
doption
of
Judaism
y
the
Khazars],"
Zion
6
(1941^2):
106-112,
60-80.
67
A critical
pparatus
nd
commentaryy
Professor olb
will e
published
ith he
translation
n
our
oint
Khazarian
Hebrew
Documents.
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276
OMELJAN PRITSAK
teered o come inaccordwith herequest f]theofficersfKhazaria. Now the
Greeks
began
to
give estimony
bout
Him[?]
f
irst, nd]
the
Jews nd the
Arabs
began
to
rebut
him
sic].
Afterwards
began
the
Ara]bs,
and
the
Jews
nd
the
Greeksrebutted
hem.And
afterwards
egan
the
sages
of
Isra]el
from he six
days
of
creation ntil
he
day
when
hechildren
f
sraelcame
up
[from] gypt
and
they
ame to an inhabitedand.
The
Greeks nd theArabs
borewitness
o the
truth nd
declared
them
right;
ut there
lso
occurred
disagreement
etween
them.The officers f Khazaria
said,
"There
s a cave in the
valley
of
TYZWL;
bring
orth o
us
the books which re
there
nd
expound
them
before s."
They
did
so.
They
went nto
he
midst
f
the ave:
behold,
ooksofthe
Torah of Moses
were
here,
nd
the
ages
of srael
xplained
hem
ccording
o the
previous
words
which
hey
had
spoken.
Then Israel with he
people
of Khazaria
repented
om-
pletely.
he
Jews
egan
to come from
aghdad
nd from
Khorasan nd from he
land
of Greece nd
strengthened
hemenof
the
and,
nd
[the
atter]
eld
fast o
thecovenant
fthe Father
f Multitude."
he
men f
the
and
appointed
ver
them ne of
the
ages
as
udge.
They
all
him n
the
anguage
f
Khazar[ia]
KGN.
Therefore,
he itle f the
udges
who rose
fter imhas
been
KGN until
his
ay.
They
hanged
hename
of the
great
fficerf
Khazaria to
Sabriel,
nd made him
king
over them.
The
importance
f the
Geniza
fragment
ies
in
the
fact that
t is
an
indigenously
ewish
ccount,
rather
han a
proselyticne, of the con-
version
nd
religious isputation.
Nonetheless,
he
ccounts
given
n
the
fragment
nd
in
King
Joseph's eply enerally gree,
nd
bothrefer o a
first
tage
n the
Judaization
ftheKhazar
kings.
n
the
Jewish
ccounts,
however,
he
"Bol[õ]ãn"
of
King
Joseph's
reply
s
styled
s "Sabriel."68
5.
Al-Mas'üdi,
author
of a world
history
written
n
Arabic ca.
943,
devoted
the seventeenth
hapter
of
his
"Meadows of
go'á" (Murüg
ad-Dahab)
to
a descriptionof the Caucasian peoples. There he singled out the Khazar
state:
The
inhabitants f
this
Khazarian]
capital
are
Muslims,
Christians, ews,
nd
pagans.
The
Jews
re:
the
king
al-malik),
his
entourage,
nd
theKhazars
of his
tribe
¿ins)
The
king
ccepted
Judaism
uring
he
Caliphate
f
Härün]
r-Rasìd
[786-814].
A
number f Jews
oined
himfrom ther
Muslim ountries
nd
from
the
Byzantine
mpire.
This
was because
the
mperor,
ho
n our
time, .e.,
a.h.
332/
.D.
943,
s
called
Armanüs
Romanus
I
Lecapenus,
20-944]
converted
he
Jews f his
country
o
Christianity y
force
. . and a
large
numberof
the Jews fled fromRüm
[Byzantium]o theKhazarcountry This snottheplacefor iving report f
68
Cf.
Dunlop,History
f
the
Jewish
hazars,
.
158.
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THE KHAZAR KINGDOM'S CONVERSION TO
JUDAISM 277
the doptionofJudaism ytheKhazarking orwe have poken f t nourearlier
works.69
Unfortunately,
he earlier
works that
al-Mas'Odï
refers
o
were
ost. How-
ever,
an Arabic
geographer
of a later
period,
ad-DimiSqi
(fi.
A.H.
727/
A.D.
1327),
made
this reference to
the
conversion: "Ibn
al-Athïr
[his-
torian,
d.
1232]
tells
how in the
days
of
Harun
[ar-Ra§ïd]
the
emperor
forced the
Jews
to
emigrate.
They
came
to the
Khazar
country,
where
they
found
an
intelligent
but
untutored
race,
and
offered hem their
religion.
The inhabitants
of
Khazaria]
found
it better han their
wn
and
accepted
it."70 The eminent German Orientalist,Joseph Markwart (b. 1869, d.
1930),
searched
the
History
of Ibn
al-Athïr
in
vain for
the
passage
here
indicated.
He
came
to the conclusion that
t was the
work of
al-Mas'udï,
not
Ibn
al-Athïr,
which
ad-Dimi§qï
had meant.71
In
a
geographical
work
writtenca. A.H.
487/
A.D.
1094,
the
Muslim
Spaniard
al-Bakrï included
an account
which some
scholars
believe
to
be
a
partial reproduction
of
Mas'üdi's
lost
story.
The
passage
reads:
The reasonfor he onversion
f the
king
al-malik
of
he
Khazars,
who
had
pre-
viously
een
a
heathen,
o Judaism
was
as follows.
He had
adopted Christianity.
Thenherecognizedhewrongnessf hisbeliefndbegantospeakwith ne ofhis
governors
bout
the oncernwith
which
he
was filled. he
other aid to him: Oh
King,
he
People
of the Book
(ahi
al-kitãb)
form hree
lasses. nvite hem nd
inquire
f
them,
hen ollowwhichever
s n
possession
f
the ruth.
So
he sent o
theChristians
or
bishop.
Now
there
was withhim
Jew,
killed
n
debate,
who
disputed
with
he
bishop,
asking
him:
"What
do
you say
about
Moses,
son
of
Amram,
nd
theTorah which
was revealed
o him?"The
other
eplied:
Moses
is
a
prophet,
nd
the
Torah
s true."
hen aid theJew o the
king:
He
has
admitted
the ruth f
my
reed.
Ask himnow what
he believes." o
the
king
sked
him
nd
he
replied:
I
say
that
he
Messiah,
Jesus
he on of
Mary,
s
the
Word,
nd that
he
has made
known he
mysteries
n
the
name
of
God. "Then the
Jew aid to the
kingoftheKhazars: He confesses doctrinewhich knownot,whilehe dmitswhat
set forth." ut
the
bishop
was not
strong
n
bringing
roofs.
o he
invited
he
Muslims
nd
they
enthim learned nd
intelligent
an who
understood
ispu-
tation.
But theJewhired omeone
gainst
himwho
poisoned
him
on the
way,
o
thathe
died.
And the Jew
was able to win the
king
forhis
religion.72
This account
of
the
religious disputation
is
quite
similar
to
that
given
n
69
Murüga4-Dahab,
d.
by
Ch.
Pellat,
ol.
1,
p.
212,
1.
-
p.
213,
1.
1
=
Eng.
rans,
n
Minorsky,
istory
f
Sharvãn
nd
Darband,
p.
146.
70
Cosmographie,
d.
by
A.
F.
Mehren
St.
Petersburg,
866),
p.
263
=
Eng.
rans,
n
Dun op, History ftheJewish hazars, p.89-90.
71
Markwart,
steuropäische
nd
ostasiatische
treif
üge,
p.
3.
72
Edited
by
BaronV.
Rosen n A. Kunik nd
BaronV.
Rosen,
zvestija
l-Bekri
drugix
vtorov
Rusi
slavjanax
St.
Petersburg,
878),
p.
44,
11.
-13;
Eng.
trans,
n
Dunlop,
History
f
theJewish
hazars,
.
90.
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278 OMELJAN
RITSAK
KingJoseph's eply,nd itsaysthat heKhazar onvertwaskingmalik
melekh),
rather
han
emperor
qayan),
as do
the
two Hebrew
epic
narratives.
6.
Both l-Mas'udï and
ad-DimiSqï
datedthe onversion f he
Khazar
king
to the
reign
f the
Abbasid
caliph
Harun ar-RaSïd
A.H.
170-178/
.D.
786-809).
This seems to be inconsistent ith he Jewish
radition
re-
served
n the
"Kuzari,"
which
dated
the conversion o more han
half
century
arlier, a. 730-740.Thecontradictions
readily
esolved, ow-
ever,
f one considers hat
the Muslim historians
most
probably
nder-
stood
theKhazar onversion o
have
occurred
with ts
econd
tage
i.e.,
when heKhazar
king
Obadiah
accepted
he
Jewish
eligion
ublicly
nd
introduced
he
orresponding
egal
reforms
rather hanwith he
first
i.e.,
whenGeneral
Bol[õ]ãn
converted
rivately.
his
differing
iewwas
all
the
more
ikely
ecause in
737,
at about
the
time f theconversion's
first
tage,
he
upreme
Khazar
ruler,
he
mperor
qayan),
converted
o
Islam.73
That the
mperor
emainedhe
upreme
uler nd
military
ommander
of
theKhazar
realmuntil
99
s
confirmed
y
thedata of thehistorianl-
Ya'qubï
(d. 892).
By
833,
however,
he
emperor
was
already haring
is
power
with he
beg
=
melekh
According
o Constantine II
Porphyro-
genitus
ca.
948),
Khazar
envoys
werenow
being
ent o
Byzantium
ot
by
he
mperor
lone,
but
ointly,
y
both he
mperor
nd
the
beg
ó
yàp
Xayávoç
. . Kai ó
nè%
XaÇapíaç).74
SiriceHarun r-RaSïd
died
n
8