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 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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2/22

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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3/22

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




4/22

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,




5/22

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


6/22


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.




7/22

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.




8/22

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.




9/22

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,"




10/22

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

V»üi

.•»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




11/22

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).




12/22

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




13/22

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/


14/22

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).




15/22

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.




16/22

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.




17/22

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.




18/22


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.




19/22

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