The Khazar Kaganate in the 10th century was a fairly strong state that influenced world politics. An interesting fact is that such "canonical" sources as the Tale of Bygone Years, rather sparingly report on the powerful neighbor of Russia. Although, according to other sources, the wars with the Khazars were the main occupation of the first princes of the Varangian dynasty, who began the struggle to liberate the Slavic tribal unions in the South from the Khazar yoke.
In Kiev, the events associated with the defeat of Adalbert's mission ("I'm coming to you!" Prince Svyatoslav with his retinue defeated Christian missionaries, effectively removing mother Olga from power, and firmly took the reins of government into his own hands. The short but eventful reign of the warrior prince begins. Kiev during this period was filled with a druzhina spirit, which was actively supported by the prince. Next to him stood the white-haired governors Sveneld, Asmud and others who had gone through the crucible of the war with Byzantium and the eastern campaigns. The squad was replenished with young warriors. Voi from tribal unions, "hunters" arrived in Kiev. The city was filled with rumors of new campaigns. The question was - where will the young knight send his regiments?
Svyatoslav decided to complete the work of his ancestors and crush the parasitic state of the Khazars, which lived off trade duties, holding in his hands all the exits from Eastern Europe to the east and southeast. The Khazars took huge duties from merchant caravans, and at the opportunity they simply robbed Russian merchants. The Slavic lands were also under the rule of the Khazars, which paid tribute to the Khazars. The Khazar elite also replenished their wealth through the slave trade. Thousands of Slavs were sold to eastern countries. In addition, there is an assumption that Svyatoslav wanted to avenge the death of the Prophetic Oleg. According to one version, it was the Khazar "snake" (a symbol of betrayal) that caused the death of Prince Oleg. In the period 912/914, the Russian army went on a campaign to Transcaucasia and Persia, on the way back it was ambushed and in a long bloody battle the Khazars almost completely exterminated it (the Caspian campaign of the Rus in 912). Even if Oleg did not fall in this battle, the blood of Russian soldiers cried out for revenge, like thousands of other Rus who died in battles with the Khazars or captured and sold into slavery. The Rus then lived on the principle of blood for blood, responding to blow with blow.
Tribute to the glades to the Khazars, miniature of the Radziwill Chronicle, 15th century.
In the spring of 964, the roads were barely dry, the Russian army set out on a campaign. The squads went not in the usual way along the Dnieper, in boats, but on horseback and on foot to the east. Later, the chronicler will note: "And the idea of the Oka River and the Volga, and climbed Vyatichi, and the speech of the Vyatichi:" To whom do you give tribute? " They also decided (said): "We give Kozarom on the schlyag from the ral (plow)." In this short phrase, a whole page of Russian history is hidden - the era of the liberation of the East Slavic lands from the Khazar yoke and their unification into a single Russian state. The Khazar Kaganate was a traditional enemy of Russia, a stubborn, cunning and cruel enemy. Wherever possible, the Khazars opposed Russia, closed the road to the East, creating a powerful anti-Russian alliance in the Volga Bulgaria, Burtases, some tribes of the Volga region and the North Caucasus. The Khazars were not happy with the fact that a powerful Varangian dynasty appeared in Russia, which began the hard work of uniting the East Slavic lands into a single whole and seriously reduced the influence of Khazaria on the Russian lands. Now the Vyatichi, a strong tribal union that occupied lands in the Desna, Upper and Middle Oka, tributaries of the Oka, on the Don (in Arab sources, the country of Vantit), stopped paying tribute to the Khazars and became part of the Russian state.
For more than a century, Russia, step by step, ousted the Khazar Kaganate from the Slavic territory. In addition, the Khazar Kaganate was weakened by the civil war, when the Jews seized power, drowning their rivals in blood. The Crimean Goths came under the rule of Byzantium. The Pechenegs began to occupy the steppes between the Volga and Don. Guzes appeared on the eastern borders. Volga Bulgaria began to show more independence. Now the Vyatichi refused to pay. But in the middle of the 10th century, Khazaria was still a serious enemy and the main enemy of the growing Russian state. The Khazar Kaganate posed a serious military threat to Russia. Archaeologists have discovered a whole system of stone fortresses on the right bank of the Don, Northern Donets and Oskol. One white-stone stronghold was located from another at a distance of 10-20 kilometers. Cemeteries were found near the walls; mercenary soldiers were buried in them. Fortresses were located on the right, western and northwestern banks of the rivers. Byzantine engineers played an important role in the construction of these fortresses. So, Sarkel (Belaya Vezha) on the banks of the Don was erected by Byzantine engineers led by Petrona Kamatir. “Since there were no stones suitable for building a fortress on the spot, he built ovens and burned bricks in them, he made a fortress out of them, making lime from small river shells,” wrote Konstantin Porphyrogenitus in his work “On the Administration of the Empire”. Sarkel became the main Khazar fortress on the northwestern border of the country. It housed a permanent garrison of 300 soldiers.
If fortresses were to solve defensive tasks, they should have been located on the eastern bank, making an additional, natural defensive line out of the river. On the right bank, these were outposts, in fact, pushed forward to the enemy coast, necessary as bridgeheads for attack, cover for the crossing of troops and their withdrawal. Of these, small detachments made plundering raids. Slavic lands approached this line of Khazar fortresses. The Arab geographer Al-Idrisi reported that the Khazar vassals regularly raided the Slavs in order to steal people for sale into slavery. These were not just spontaneous raids, but long-term, purposeful and regular robbery ("sucking blood") by the parasite state. As noted above, in the last period of the Khazaria's existence, the Jews, representing the Rakhdonite caste (Radhonites or Radanites), seized power in it. These were the merchants who controlled trade between the Islamic East and Christian Europe along the Silk Road and other trade routes, a huge permanent trading network that stretched from China and India to Western Europe. People were one of their main "goods". It was a caste of people who made enormous wealth out of grief, suffering and death of thousands and thousands of people. The Rakhdonites controlled Khazaria, and were also one of the main "pushers" (the second was Rome) of the military-political process, known as the "onslaught on the East." In Europe, knights and mercenaries killed the Slavic civilization in the lands of modern Germany and Austria. Slavic men for the most part died in battles, and Jewish merchants drove children and young women to the markets of the Middle East. From the east, well-armed detachments of mercenaries from Khazaria played the same role.
Russian epics have preserved the memory of the Khazar attacks, so the epic "Fyodor Tyarynin" reports:
There was a side from the east
It was from the king of the Jews, From his power of the Jew
A kalena arrow flew in.
Many Slavic unions of tribes and tribes paid tribute to the Khazars for a long time. Glade, according to the Tale of Bygone Years, paid tribute with swords. Considering what the sword meant for the warrior of the northern peoples, and the complexity of its production, the high cost, it was a heavy tribute. But even harder and more terrible paid tribute to other lands - northerners, Vyatichi and Radimichi. They not only paid tribute in silver (shelyag is a Khazar coin, the word comes from the word shekel, according to another version - from the European “shilling”), but according to the information of the Laurentian and Ipatiev Chronicles, they took from the “smoke” (household, family) “by white veveritsa ". Historians have long argued what this means and agreed on the "squirrel". However, back in the 15th century in the Moscow principality (formerly the land of the Vyatichi), the fine for a bruise was 15 (!) Squirrel skins. Thus, the Russians took 15 squirrel skins from the Russians, and not from the family, the community, but from one person, not as a tax, but just a fine for a minor offense (fight). Everything becomes clear if we compare the data with another chronicle. The Radziwill Chronicle reports that the Khazars took: "for a white girl from the smoke." And next to it, on the miniature, so that there is no mistake, they do not take it for a mistake, a group of girls and an elder are depicted bowing to the Khazar. This is fully consistent with the data that are known about the Khazar Kaganate. In Khazaria, a clan of slave traders ruled, alien to the norms of morality and measuring everything in gold. Perhaps it is this shameful and disgusting phenomenon that will become the basis for fairy tales and stories about the "miracle-yuda filthy", "snake" who demanded red maidens. In a somewhat later historical period, the Crimean Khanate, which lived by robbing and selling people into slavery, will be the same parasitic state. By the time of the reign of Svyatoslav, people almost did not pay this tribute, the military successes of the former princes affected. However, the Khazars continued to take people in full for sale into slavery during their military raids.
Khazaria.
Pogrom of Khazaria
In the spring of 965, Svyatoslav's regiments will move to Khazaria. The prince spent the winter in the lands of the Vyatichi, convincing their elders of the need to submit to Kiev. The Vyatichi soldiers joined Svyatoslav's army. They were skilled forest warriors and scouts. Russian commanders loved to ask unexpected and daring riddles to their adversaries. Even experienced and wise in lying Greeks, who had a well-developed intelligence, became stumped during the lightning-fast and unexpected attacks of Russian squads on Constantinople. Svyatoslav also chose an unusual path. He decided to strike at the capital of the kaganate not from the west, but from the north. The Khazars, on the other hand, usually waited for the arrival of the Rus by water from the Don and the Sea of Azov.
The Russian army headed along the old trade route leading to the banks of the Volga, to the city of Bulgar - the capital of the Volga Bulgars. From Kiev, Russian trade caravans went to the area of modern Voronezh, then through the forest-steppe lands to the Penza region and south of Tambov, then through the Mordovian lands to the right bank of the Volga. On this path, Svyatoslav subdued the Vyatichi and moved on. He struck at the permanent allies of the Khazars - Bulgars and Burtases. Svyatoslav defeated the allies of Khazaria, depriving the kagan of part of the military contingents. The Burtases were defeated and scattered, the cities of the Volga Bulgars were captured, their capital was devastated. The enemy did not expect an attack from the north, so the resistance was small. Burtases and Bulgars preferred to flee and wait out the thunderstorm.
The Rus went down the Volga and entered the possession of the Khazar Kaganate. The infantry moved in boats, and the Russian and allied Pechenezh cavalry along the coast. The Khazars, having learned about the approach of Svyatoslav's regiments, prepared themselves in battle. Somewhere in the lower reaches of the Volga, near the capital of the Kaganate - Itil, a decisive battle took place. Khazar king Joseph managed to gather a large army. The tsar (bek) was the head of the government with real power, and the kagan retained only sacred functions under the Jews. The Khazars came forward to meet the Russian troops.
The Khazars adopted Arab tactics, and in the battle they lined up in four battle lines. The first line - skirmishers, consisted of horse archers, "black Khazars", mainly from poor families. Among the Arabs, the first line was called "Morning of the Dog's Bark". These warriors were not constrained by heavy weapons, the basis of their weapons were bows and light throwing javelins. They started the battle first, showering the enemy with throwing shells, trying to upset his ranks, forcing him to a premature and poorly organized attack. The second line, propping up the horse archers, consisted of heavy cavalry. These were the "White Khazars" - the squads of the Khazar nomadic nobility. The warriors were well armed - iron breastplates, leather armor and chain mail, helmets, shields, long spears, swords, sabers, clubs, axes. This was the elite cavalry, striking at the disorganized ranks of the enemy, breaking his formation. The Arabs called the second line "Aid Day".
If the second line did not achieve complete success, and the enemy continued to resist, the third line entered the battle. The heavy cavalry parted to the sides and another line was attacking (or took the enemy's blow) - "Evening of Shock". It consisted of numerous infantry, including the capital's militia. The main armament of the infantry was spears and shields. The infantrymen, to repel the attack of the enemy, built a protective wall, covering themselves with shields and bristling with spears. The first row was kneeling. The spear shafts rested against the ground and the points were directed towards the enemy. It was difficult to overcome such a wall without serious losses. While the third line was fighting, the Khazar cavalry could regroup and strike again at the enemy stuck in the infantry.
In case of emergency, the fourth line could join the battle - in Arabic "the Sign of the Prophet" (the Khazars called it "the Sun of the Khagan"). It was a select guard of thousands of mercenary warriors. The line was made up of horse, clad in iron, professional Muslim mercenaries. This line was led into battle personally by the king. The appearance of the Russian army at the walls of Itil puzzled the Khazar elite, before that the Slavs limited themselves to border sorties. Therefore, Tsar Joseph carried out a complete mobilization of all combat-ready inhabitants of Itil. The arsenals of the capital were enough to arm everyone. The Khazar army significantly outnumbered Svyatoslav's men.
The Russian troops were marching in the usual "wall". In the front ranks, the most well-armed and protected warriors of Svyatoslav - the elite of the Russian army. The leading "warriors" were protected by metal armor and chain mail, which even covered the shins of the warriors with shields. They were armed with spears and axes. The rest of the infantry followed row after row. Cavalry - the princely squad and the Pechenegs covered the flanks.
The Khazar king ordered to give a signal to attack. The Khazar lines, one after another, crashed against the Russian "wall". The Khazars could not do anything with the soldiers of Svyatoslav. The Russian army continued to advance, overthrowing the enemy troops over and over again. The Rus boldly went into battle, stabbing the enemy with spears, swords and axes. The field was strewn with the corpses of the Khazars. In the end, the Khazars could not stand it and fled. Some researchers believe that in this battle, the kagan fell, who left the walls of the capital to cheer the soldiers with his sacred figure. Tsar Joseph with the remaining guards went to a breakthrough and was able to break out of the encirclement, at the cost of the death of most of the detachment. There was no one to defend Itil. The remaining troops fled.
Russian squads entered the empty Khazar capital. The townspeople fled to the steppe or took refuge on the numerous islands of the Volga estuary. The fate of Itil can be understood from one fact - archaeologists have not yet found traces of him. The sacred revenge took place. It seemed that it was possible to move to Russia - the main goal was achieved. The Khazar Kaganate suffered a terrible defeat, his army was destroyed, its remnants were scattered, the capital was wiped off the face of the earth. The kaganate received a mortal wound. But the campaign was continued. The reptile had to be finished off. Svyatoslav led his squads along the Caspian coast to the south, to the old capital of Khazaria - Semender. It was a large city on the territory of the Caspian Dagestan. Semender was ruled by its own king, who had his own army and fortresses. It was an autonomous region. The Semendersk army was defeated and scattered over the surrounding mountains. King Salifan (of the Arab family) and the nobility fled. Semender was taken without a fight. Svyatoslav did not go further south.
From Semender, Svyatoslav's army marched through the lands of the Kasogs and Alans. Svyatoslav's regiments of the Alansko-Kasogi army were also scattered. Another major clash with the Khazars took place at the Semikar fortress, built to protect the land route to the mouth of the Don. The garrison refused to surrender at the mercy of the victor. The fortress was taken by storm. The movement of the troops was swift. While some regiments were resting, others moved forward, conducted reconnaissance, cleared the way, knocked down enemy barriers, captured herds of horses. Svyatoslav led his troops to the coast of the Surozh (Azov) Sea. There were two large centers of the Khazar state - Tamatarha (Tmutarakan) and Kerchev. There were no serious battles here. Local residents also suffered from the power of the Khazars, and when the Russian army approached, an uprising broke out in Tmutarakan. The Khazar governor abandoned the citadel and, together with the garrison, crossed the strait on ships and fled to the Crimea, to Kerchev. However, the Khazars could not protect Kerchev (Korchev) either. And here the inhabitants revolted, helping to take the city.
Prince Svyatoslav in Tmutarakan and Korchev showed not only the fearlessness and high fighting qualities of his army, but also its discipline and justice. The inhabitants of the coastal trading cities were not enemies of the Rus, and the cities were not ravaged or burned. The cities became part of Russia. Thus, reaching the shores of the Sea of Azov, Svyatoslav defeated most of the Khazaria. Only fragments remained of the kaganate, which were left to be "devoured" by the Pechenegs.
There is only one "tough nut to crack" in Khazaria - Sarkel. It was one of the most powerful fortresses of the kaganate. Leaving aside a detachment of warriors and grateful residents in Tmutarakan, Svyatoslav moved on. Soon another Russian region will appear here - the Tmutarakan principality. Sarkel had six powerful towers visible from afar. The fortress stood on a promontory, which was washed on three sides by the waters of the Don. On the fourth side, a deep ditch was dug, filled with water. At the distance of the arrow's flight from the walls, on the land side, a second ditch was dug. Sarkel was considered unapproachable. In the fortress there was not only a garrison, but also Tsar Joseph took refuge with the remnants of the troops. In Belaya Vezha there were large warehouses with food supplies, which made it possible to withstand a long siege. The king of Khazaria hoped to wait out a military thunderstorm in this powerful fortress and begin to restore what was destroyed.
The Russian army approached the fortress from land - cavalry, and along the river on boats - infantry. The siege began. In this battle, the Russians showed the ability to storm well-defended fortifications. The ditches were covered with earth and everything that was suitable for this business. When the Russian warriors moved to storm, their arrows (Russian complex bows were a terrible weapon) showered the walls with a hail of arrows. The fortress was taken on a spear with the help of assault ladders and a battering ram. The last fierce battle took place in the tower of the citadel, where the Khazar king with guards tried to fight off. There was no mercy, all the Khazars were massacred. This battle showed that Svyatoslav's soldiers would not be stopped by serious fortresses. Prince Svyatoslav Igorevich returned to Kiev with glory and rich booty.
Outcomes
It was a brilliant victory. The ghoul state, which had been drinking the blood of neighbors and tributaries for a century and a half, collapsed in a year. Svyatoslav made a military campaign, unprecedented for that era, about 6 thousand kilometers long.kilometers. During it hostile Bulgars and Burtases were defeated, the Khazar Empire experienced a terrible pogrom and disappeared from the political map of the world. Svyatoslav and his army showed brilliant fighting qualities. Svyatoslav used combined tactics, using infantry, heavy Russian and allied, light Pechenezh cavalry. He moved swiftly, often putting the infantry on ships when the cavalry was on land. The Russian army defeated more than one strong enemy army, captured several serious fortresses.
As Academician B. A. Rybakov wrote: “The campaigns of Svyatoslav 965-968. represent, as it were, a single saber strike that drew a wide semicircle on the map of Europe from the Middle Volga region to the Caspian Sea and further along the North Caucasus and the Black Sea region to the Balkan lands of Byzantium. The Volga Bulgaria was defeated, Khazaria was completely defeated, Byzantium was weakened and intimidated … The castles that blocked the trade routes of the Rus were brought down. " The Russian state was given the opportunity to begin extensive trade with the East. Russia created outposts in Tmutarakan and Belaya Vezha. “In all these actions, we see the hand of a commander and statesman who is interested in raising Rus and strengthening its international position. A series of campaigns by Svyatoslav Igorevich was wisely conceived and brilliantly executed."
Russian sources are silent about what steps Svyatoslav took to manage the conquered region. This gave rise to some researchers to accuse Prince Svyatoslav of excessive belligerence, waste of forces and resources on campaigns unnecessary for Russia. But the knowledgeable Arab geographer and traveler Ibn Haukal reveals the nature of the relationship between the Russians and the local population. Burtases, Bulgars and Khazars, defeated and scattered by the Rus, soon returned to their lands. “They,” says the Arab author, “hoped, asked that an agreement be concluded with them, and they would be submissive to them (Rus) for the fact that (Rus) rendered him (Shirvanshah) a blessing for them (refugees)”. The point is that many Khazars, fleeing from the invasion, fled to the possession of the Shirvanshah to Derbent, and then, after some kind of benefit of the Russians towards the refugees, they were able to return to their lands through the Shirvanshah. This message is very important. It shows that having cut out the Khazar political, military and commercial elite (part fled), completely destroying the military component of the kaganate, wiping out all its military strongholds from the face of the earth, in general, having carried out an operation to "pacify" the enemy, the Russians were not at all going to cause trouble for ordinary people … The civilian population was invited to return to their old places. Perhaps Svyatoslav even gave guarantees to the Shirvanshah that no harm would be caused to the refugees. Everyone knew that the pagan Rus observed the holy word. The regions of the Volga, Don, Azov, parts of the North Caucasus passed under Russian protection. Small Russian detachments were left in a number of outposts.
Svyatoslav received complete dominance in Eastern Europe. The Volga and North Caucasian allies of Khazaria received an illustrative military lesson. They were worried in the Byzantine Empire, closely watching the exploits of the Russian prince. The balance of power in the region changed dramatically in favor of Russia.
Aerial photography of the Sarkel fortress, 1951.
