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.
Year 737 (DCCXXXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 737 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming.
Tarkhan is an ancient Central Asian title used by various Turkic, Hungarian, Mongolic, and even Iranian peoples. Its use was common among the successors of the Mongol Empire and Turkic Khaganate.
Barjik was a Khazar prince who flourished in the early 8th century. He is described by al-Tabari as "the son of the Khagan"; his exact status and position is unknown though he may have been the Bek.
Hazer Tarkhan was a general who led a Khazar army of 40,000 men in the failed defense of Atil in 737 CE. He was ambushed and killed by Kawthar, the lieutenant of Marwan ibn Muhammad. Following his death the Khazars sued for peace.
Khagan Bek is the title used by the bek (generalissimo) of the Khazars.
A Khazar general active in the Khazar-Arab Wars of the early 8th century. It is unclear whether "Alp Tarkhan" is a name or a title. The Old Turkic word Alp means hero, and was an element in such names as Alp Arslan, but could also be used as a title for a victorious general. Similarly, Tarkhan or "warlord" could be used as both a personal name and a military rank.
Abu Uqba al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah al-Hakami was an Arab nobleman and general of the Hakami tribe. During the course of the early 8th century, he was at various times governor of Basra, Sistan and Khurasan, Armenia and Adharbayjan. A legendary warrior already during his lifetime, he is best known for his campaigns against the Khazars on the Caucasus front, culminating in his death in the Battle of Marj Ardabil in 730.
The Battle of Marj Ardabil or the Battle of Ardabil was fought on the plains surrounding the city of Ardabil in northwestern Iran in AD 730. A Khazar army led by Barjik, the son of the Khazar khagan, invaded the Umayyad provinces of Jibal and Iranian Azerbaijan in retaliation for Caliphate attacks on Khazaria during the course of the decades-long Khazar-Arab War of the early 8th century.
Hanukkah Khagan was a Khazar Khagan who reigned during the mid to late ninth century CE. Hanukkah was the brother of Obadiah and succeeded his great-nephew Manasseh I to the throne. No contemporary records from his reign survive; however, he is known from the Khazar Correspondence between Hisdai ibn Shaprut and the Khazar king Joseph. Historical authenticity and accuracy of the only document mentioning his name has been questioned.
Chorpan Tarkhan is recorded by Moses of Kalankatuyk as a Khazar general, who conquered Armenia in April 630 CE. He was most likely an officer in the army of the Western Gokturks led by Böri Shad in the wake of Ziebel's victory in the Third Persian-Turkic War. Chorpan Tarkhan ambushed and killed a 10,000-strong Persian cavalry force sent by Shahrbaraz to contain the invasion.
The Battle of Bajarwan took place during the Second Arab–Khazar War, between the armies of the Khazar Khaganate, led by the khagan's son Barjik, and the Umayyad Caliphate, whose commanding general was Sa'id ibn Amr al-Harashi.
The Battle of Balanjar took place during the First Khazar-Arab War between the armies of the Khazar Khaganate and the Caliphate, whose commanding general was Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rabiah.
The Arab–Khazar wars were a series of conflicts fought between the Khazar Khaganate and successive Arab caliphates in the Caucasus region from c. 642 to 799 CE. Smaller native principalities were also involved in the conflict as vassals of the two empires. Historians usually distinguish two major periods of conflict, the First Arab–Khazar War and Second Arab–Khazar War ; the wars also involved sporadic raids and isolated clashes from the mid-seventh century to the end of the eighth century.
Böri Shad was a Turkic prince or general who fought the Persians south of the Caucasus during the Third Perso-Turkic War. In this war the Western Turkic Khaganate was allied with Byzantium against Persia during the last great Byzantine-Persian war before the Arab conquests.
The Perso-Turkic war of 627–629 was the third and final conflict between the Sasanian Empire and the Western Turkic Khaganate. Unlike the previous two wars, it was not fought in Central Asia, but in Transcaucasia. Hostilities were initiated in 627 AD by Tong Yabghu Qaghan of the Western Göktürks and Emperor Heraclius of the Byzantine Empire. Opposing them were the Sassanid Persians, allied with the Avars. The war was fought against the background of the last Byzantine-Sassanid War and served as a prelude to the dramatic events that changed the balance of powers in the Middle East for centuries to come.
Alania was a medieval kingdom of the Iranian Alans (Proto-Ossetians) that flourished between the 9th–13th centuries in the Northern Caucasus, roughly in the location of latter-day Circassia, Chechnya, Ingushetia, and modern North Ossetia–Alania. With its capital at Maghas, the location of which is still disputed, it became independent from the Khazars in the late 9th century. It was Christianized by a Byzantine missionary soon after, in the early 10th century.
Yazid ibn Asid ibn Zafir al-Sulami or Yazid ibn Usayd ibn Zafir al-Sulami was an Arab general and governor in the service of the early Abbasid Caliphate. He was active mostly in the Caliphate's northwestern frontier region, serving as governor of Arminiya and the Jazira and fighting against the Byzantine Empire and the Khazars.
