A purported Khazar ruler of the late tenth century CE who ruled over a Khazar successor-state in the Taman region. David is mentioned in a single document dated AM 4746 (985/986 CE) which contains a reference to "our lord David, Prince of the Khazars, who lives in Taman."[1] The document in question is of uncertain authenticity, as it passed through the hands of Abraham Firkovich, who on occasion forged documents and inscriptions.[2][3][4][5] Dan Shapira expressed certainty that the document is a forgery by Firkovich[6] and his viewpoint was adopted by other scholars who cited him including Michael Toch[1] and Kevin Brook.[7]
David's capital may have been in or near Tmutorakan; though rule by the Kievan Rus is reported in Russian sources before 985, it is conceivable that the Khazars reasserted control over the town or that David ruled as a client. The first independent Russian prince of Tmutorakan is Mstislav, whose rule began in 988. The later Khazar ruler Georgius Tzul ruled from Kerch; it is uncertain whether his kingdom was the same polity that had earlier been under the rule of David of Taman.[citation needed]
Notes
1 2 Toch, Michael (2013). The Economic History of European Jews: Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages. Brill. p.162. ISBN9789004235397.
↑ Shapira, Dan D. Y. (2003). Avraham Firkowicz in Istanbul (1830-1832): Paving the Way for Turkic Nationalism. Çorum, Turkey: Karam Yayinlari. pp.62–63. ISBN975-6467-03-7.
↑ Fedorchuk, Artem (2007). "New Findings Relating to Hebrew Epigraphic Sources from the Crimea, with an Appendix on the Readings in King Joseph's Letter". The World of the Khazars: New Perspectives - Selected Papers from the Jerusalem 1999 International Khazar Colloquium. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers. pp.109, 111–112. ISBN978-9004160422.
↑ Brook, Kevin Alan (2018). The Jews of Khazaria (3rded.). Rowman & Littlefield. pp.215–216, 306. ISBN9781538103425.
↑ Kizilov, Mikhail (2008). The Karaites of Galicia: An Ethnoreligious Minority Among the Ashkenazim, the Turks, and the Slavs, 1772-1945. Brill. p.22. ISBN978-90-04-16602-8.
↑ Shapira, Dan D. Y. (2006). "Remarks on Avraham Firkowicz and the Hebrew Mejelis 'Document'". Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 59 (2): 131. doi:10.1556/AOrient.59.2006.2.1.
↑ Brook, Kevin Alan (2018). The Jews of Khazaria (3rded.). Rowman & Littlefield. p.292. ISBN9781538103425.
Dan D. Y. Shapira, "Remarks on Avraham Firkowicz and the Hebrew Mejelis 'Document'." Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae vol. 59, no. 2 (2006): pp. 131–180, doi:10.1556/AOrient.59.2006.2.1
Dan D. Y. Shapira, "Khazars and Karaites, Again." Karadeniz Araştırmaları no. 13 (Spring 2007): pp. 43–64.
The Khazars were a nomadic Turkic people that, in the late 6th-century CE, established a major commercial empire covering the southeastern section of modern European Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, and Kazakhstan. They created what for its duration was the most powerful polity to emerge from the break-up of the Western Turkic Khaganate. Astride a major artery of commerce between Eastern Europe and Southwestern Asia, Khazaria became one of the foremost trading empires of the early medieval world, commanding the western marches of the Silk Road and playing a key commercial role as a crossroad between China, the Middle East and Kievan Rus'. For some three centuries the Khazars dominated the vast area extending from the Volga-Don steppes to the eastern Crimea and the northern Caucasus.
Atil, also Itil, was the capital of the Khazar Khaganate from the mid-8th century to the late 10th century. Known to have been situated on the Silk Road, in the vicinity of the Caspian Sea, its precise location has long been unknown.
Samandar was a city in Khazaria, on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, in what is now Daghestan. At some later date, it may have been moved inland to some areas near the present-day village of Shelkovskaya in the modern Chechen Republic.
Balanjar was a medieval city located in the North Caucasus region, between the cities of Derbent and Samandar, probably on the lower Sulak River. It flourished between the seventh and tenth centuries. The legendary founder of Balanjar, according to the Persian and Kurdish chroniclers Ibn al-Faqih and Abu al-Fida, was named Balanjar ibn Yafith.
The Karaim language, also known by its Hebrew name Lashon Kedar is a Turkic language belonging to the Kipchak group, with Hebrew influences, similarly to Yiddish or Judaeo-Spanish. It is spoken by only a few dozen Crimean Karaites in Lithuania, Poland, Crimea, and Galicia in Ukraine. The three main dialects are those of Crimea, Trakai-Vilnius and Lutsk-Halych, all of which are critically endangered. The Lithuanian dialect of Karaim is spoken mainly in the town of Trakai by a small community living there since the 14th century.
Tmutarakan was a medieval principality of Kievan Rus' and trading town that controlled the Cimmerian Bosporus, the passage from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov, between the late 10th and 11th centuries. Its site was the ancient Greek colony of Hermonassa founded in the mid 6th century BCE, by Mytilene (Lesbos), situated on the Taman peninsula, in present-day Krasnodar Krai, Russia, roughly opposite Kerch. The Khazar fortress of Tamantarkhan was built on the site in the 7th century, and became known as Tmutarakan when it came under the control of Kievan Rus'.
Georgius Tzul was a Khazar warlord against whom the Byzantine Empire and Mstislav of Tmutarakan launched a joint expedition in 1016.
Bulan was a Khazar king who led the conversion of the Khazars to Judaism. His name means "elk" or "hart" in Old Turkic. The date of his reign is unknown, as the date of the conversion is hotly disputed, though it is certain that Bulan reigned some time between the mid-8th and the mid-9th centuries. Nor is it settled whether Bulan was the Bek or the Khagan of the Khazars.
The Krymchaks are Jewish ethno-religious communities of Crimea derived from Turkic-speaking adherents of Rabbinic Judaism. They have historically lived in close proximity to the Crimean Karaites, who follow Karaite Judaism.
Abraham (Avraham) ben Samuel Firkovich was a famous Karaite writer and archaeologist, collector of ancient manuscripts, and a Karaite Hakham. He was born in Lutsk, Volhynia, then lived in Lithuania, and finally settled in Çufut Qale, Crimea, where he also died. Gabriel Firkovich of Troki was his son-in-law.
The Crimean Karaites or Krymkaraylar, also known as Karaims and Qarays, are an ethnicity of Turkic-speaking adherents of Karaite Judaism in Central and Eastern Europe, especially in the territory of the old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Crimea. "Karaim" is a Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish and Lithuanian name for the community.
Obadiah was the name of a Khazar ruler of the late eighth or early ninth century. He is described as coming from among "the sons of the sons" of Bulan, but whether this should be taken literally to mean that he was Bulan's grandson, or figuratively to imply a more remote descent, is unclear. King Joseph's Reply claimed that Obadiah strengthened Rabbinic Judaism and Hebrew proficiency in Khazaria by building synagogues and schools and inviting Jewish sages to the country. In Sefer ha-Ittim, Judah ben Barzillai's list of Khazar Jewish kings lacked Obadiah's name, and several scholars have concluded from this that Obadiah was a fictional character. He was succeeded by his son Hezekiah.
In the Schechter Letter, Serach is married to the Khazar ruler Sabriel. A Jew, she encourages her husband and other Khazars to convert to Judaism and establish it as the official religion of Khazaria. Serach is not mentioned in the Khazar Correspondence or the Kuzari.
Hezekiah ben Obadiah was a hypothetical ruler of the Khazars, probably in the mid ninth century CE. He was the son of Obadiah, the descendant of Bulan who brought rabbinical scholars to and built yeshivot in Khazaria. Nothing is known about Hezekiah's reign and the historical authenticity and accuracy of the only document mentioning his name has been questioned. As with other Bulanid rulers, it is unclear whether Hezekiah was Khagan or Khagan Bek of the Khazars, although the latter is more likely.
Menasseh ben Hezekiah was a hypothetical Turkic ruler of the Khazars mentioned in the Khazar Correspondence. He probably reigned in the mid to late ninth century CE. He was the son of Hezekiah, the son of Obadiah. Little is known about his reign. Historical authenticity and accuracy of the only document mentioning his name has been questioned. As with other Bulanid rulers, it is unclear whether he was Khagan or Khagan Bek of the Khazars, although the latter is more likely.
The Mandgelis Document or Mandgelis Letter was a letter in Hebrew dated AM 4746 (985–986). It refers to "our lord David, the Khazar prince" who lived in Taman. The letter said that this David was visited by envoys from Kievan Rus to ask about religious matters. This consultation may have been connected to the conversion of Vladimir I of Kiev which took place during roughly the same time period. Taman was a principality of Kievan Rus around 988, so this successor state may have been conquered altogether. The authenticity of this letter has however been questioned by such scholars as D. M. Dunlop, as it passed through the hands of Abraham Firkovich, who is known to have forged documents and inscriptions on occasion.
Eliakim Carmoly was a French scholar. He was born at Soultz-Haut-Rhin, then in the French department of Haut-Rhin. His real name was Goschel David Behr ; the name Carmoly, borne by his family in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, was adopted by him when quite young. He studied Hebrew and Talmud at Colmar; and, because both French and German were spoken in his native town, he became proficient in those languages.
Ishad was an Old Turkic word used to designate the highest-ranking Göktürk generals. It is also used in some Arabic sources to describe the Khagan Bek of the Khazars. Brook, citing Golden, proposes that Ishad is a variant of Shad, a Turkic title of Iranian origin.
Isaac Chelo, in Hebrew יצחק חילו, was a rabbi of the 14th century. His place of residence is unclear. Carmoly wrote "Laresa du royaume d'Aragon", which Scholem interpreted as an erroneous spelling of Lerida. However, Shapira took it to mean Larissa in Thessaly. Chelo is famous for an itinerary of the Holy Land first published in 1847. However, the document is now commonly considered a 19th-century forgery.
Mikhail Kizilov. He works on the history of Crimea in the Late Middle Ages and Modern Times and on Jews, Khazars and Karaism in Eastern Europe, especially in Crimea, Poland, Ukraine and Lithuania.
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