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Last Updated: October 26, 2025
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The sequel is The Maternal Genetic Lineages of Ashkenazic Jews (October 2022)
30-Year Site Anniversary
A new candidate for Atil's location has emerged! It's Semibugry, a large Khazar-era city that was discovered
in 2019 by researchers from Astrakhan, including Damir Solovyov.
They continued to dig in the summers of 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.
I added what we know so far about Semibugry's remains to my Atil page.
My comment on proposals for Jewish ethnic categories for the 2030 U.S. Census
I wrote Geni's descriptions for the Jewish haplogroups K1a1b1a, K1a9, N1b1b1, T2b25, U5a1f1a
The new French book Les khazars : VIIe-XIe siècles by Iaroslav Lebedynsky, released in July 2025, is full of interesting facts, ideas, and illustrations
Medieval Kingdom of Khazaria, 652-969
Over a thousand years ago, the far east of Europe was ruled by Jewish
kings who presided over numerous tribes, including their own tribe: the
Turkic Khazars. After their conversion, the Khazar people used Jewish
personal names, spoke and wrote in Hebrew,
were circumcised, had synagogues and rabbis, studied the Torah and Talmud,
and observed Hanukkah, Pesach, and the Sabbath.
The Khazars were an advanced
civilization with one of the most tolerant societies of the medieval
period. It hosted merchants from all over Asia and Europe. On these
pages it is hoped that you may learn more about this fascinating culture.
-
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF KHAZARIA
-
Essays summarizing the history of the Khazars, their principal
cities, their culture, and their conversion to Judaism in the
9th century.
- An
Introduction to the History of Khazaria
- Current Issues
in Khazar Studies
- Los
Khazares: un experimento europeo de construcción de un estado
Judío - in Spanish
- Histoire
des Khazars: la nation juive de Russie et d'Ukraine - in French
- Znakomstvo s
Istoriey Xazarii - in Russian
- Hazar
Türkleri tarihine giriş - in Turkish
Shilovka Archer
-
ILLUSTRATIONS AND PHOTOGRAPHS OF KHAZAR ARTIFACTS
-
The first gallery includes images of Turkic runes, Turkic tribe symbols,
a Khazar metal disc with an engraving of a shamanistic 6-pointed star,
Khazar-Saltovo amulets, depictions of an epic motif, Khazarian battle
and hunting scenes, Khazar silver belts, a pot with images of
a menorah and a cross, and a map of Khazaria.
The second link presents the display on 8th-9th century Khazar
objects (including arms and armor) from the northwestern Caucasus
from the March-September 2003 exhibit "Horse and Rider" at the
State Historical Museum in Moscow.
- Khazaria
Image Gallery
- Horse and Rider:
Khazaria Exhibit
-
THE KHAZAR CAPITAL CITY OF ATIL
-
Atil was the third capital city of Khazaria until it was conquered in 969.
Archaeologists may have located the remains of Atil.
- The Khazar Capital City
of Atil
-
THE KHAZAR FORTRESS OF SARKEL
-
Sarkel's fortress was one of Khazaria's most important, serving both
as a defensive structure and a trading caravan stopover. Includes
images of the layout of the fortress, a bronze warrior figurine,
pottery, jewelry, bricks, and other objects.
- The Khazar Fortress
of Sarkel
-
AN EXPLORATION OF KHAZARIAN SHAMANISM
-
The original religion of the Khazars was Tengri Shamanism.
- An Exploration
of Khazarian Shamanism
-
MEDIEVAL QUOTES ABOUT KHAZAR JUDAISM
-
Judaism was practiced widely among Khazars, as these authentic
quotes from medieval chroniclers demonstrate.
- Medieval
Quotes About Khazar Judaism
-
DESCENDANTS OF THE KHAZARS IN EUROPE
-
What happened to the Khazars after the fall of their kingdom?
This remains one of the most controversial questions in Khazar
studies. Some new answers emerged from new discoveries.
The first essay summarizes evidence and opinions surrounding the issue.
The second essay
explains how we know that Eastern European Jews descend from
non-Khazar Jews. The third page gathers available evidence on
genetics and shows that Ashkenazic Jews have substantial roots in the
Middle East
as well as some ancestry from Italy,
Southern China, North Africa, and the Slavic lands.
The fourth page queries whether Jews who live in the
Caucasus today descend from Khazar converts.
- Are Russian
Jews Descended from the Khazars?
- Are Russian
Jews Descended from the German and Bohemian Jews?
- Jewish
Genetics: Abstracts and Summaries including East/Northeast Asian Admixture in Ashkenazic Jews
- Are Mountain
Jews Descended from the Khazars?
- Contested Origins of Eastern European Jewry: Clues from History, Linguistics, and Onomastics by Alexander Beider in the Summer 2017 issue of Avotaynu includes discussions of theories of Khazarian and Slavic contributions to Ashkenazic populations.
-
KHAZARIAN NAMES
-
A list of personal names that the Khazars used in their own country,
including Turkic, Hebrew, and Slavic names.
- Khazarian
Names
-
EXCAVATION REPORTS FROM CHASTIYE KURGANY AND GOLDEN HILLS
-
Excavation reports with photographs of Khazarian graves and objects.
- Khazar
Burial Mounds at Chastiye Kurgany
- Khazar-Era
Fortress of Golden Hills (Zolotiye Gorki)
-
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF KHAZAR STUDIES
-
The largest database of references of books and articles about
Khazarian history, including works in English, French, German, Hebrew,
Hungarian, Russian, Swedish, and other languages.
- Bibliography of
Khazar Studies (1901-Present)
-
KHAZAR FICTION
-
A guide to conventionally-published novels, short stories, and
poems about Khazaria.
- Fictional
Literature about the Khazars
-
THE KUZARI AND ITS AUTHOR
-
Yehudah ha-Levi was one of the greatest Spanish Jewish poets. He
was born circa 1080 in Toledo, Spain, while it was under Islamic rule.
He was a prolific writer of both Arabic and Hebrew poetry.
From 1120 to 1140, ha-Levi wrote the famous 5-chapter book known as
The Kuzari, which bases its storyline upon the Khazars' conversion to
Judaism.
- The Kuzari's
References to the Khazar Conversion to Judaism
- The
Poetry and Prose of Yehudah ha-Levi
-
RUSSIAN-LANGUAGE HISTORIES OF KHAZARIA
-
This is a wonderfully illustrated guide to the history of
the Khazars, compiled by staff at Rostov State University. The only
unfortunate thing in the site is that Khazar Judaism is wrongly accused
of causing strife and a civil war.
- Khazarskiy
Kaganat
-
THE KHAZAR CORRESPONDENCE
-
The Jews of Spain were introduced to facts about the Khazar kingdom
largely through the efforts of Hasdai ibn Shaprut, vizier and
physician to the Spanish caliphs, who wrote a letter to King Joseph of
the Khazars.
- Excerpts
from the Letters of Hasdai ibn Shaprut and King Joseph
-
THE GENETICS OF THE PEOPLES OF KHAZARIA
-
Tatiana Tatarinova, Tatiana Faleeva, Gennady Afanasiev, and their
colleagues have studied the DNA of the Khazars and their subjects
and published their results. Take a look at our summary.
- The
Genetics of the Medieval Khazars
-
HISTORY OF THE PROTO-BULGARIANS
-
This book, translated from Bulgarian into English, chronicles the
history and archaeology of the Khazars, Bulgars, North Caucasian
Huns, and Alans. There are sections discussing the Khazar cities
Sarkel and Balanjar. Includes maps, photographs, footnotes, quotes
from historical sources.
- History
of the Proto-Bulgarians North and West of the Black Sea
-
OTHER ESSAYS ABOUT THE KHAZARS
-
Selected essays about Khazar history in English and Russian.
- Khazars, by
Roman K. Kovalev (from Encyclopedia of Russian History)
- Khazaria, by
Peter B. Golden (from The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern
Europe)
- Khazars, by
Dan Shapira (from Encyclopaedia Iranica Online)
- So, Who
Were the Khazars? by Dan Shapira (Tablet, January 29, 2021)
- The
Story of the Medieval European Jewish State – The Khazar Khaganate, by
David Matsievich (History is Now Magazine, July 28, 2021)
- Khazaria
(586-1083 AD), by Dennis Leventhal
- The Khazars, by
Peter Wolfe and Jeff Zolitor
- The Khazars, by
Steven Lowe
- The
Khazar Kingdom: A Jewish Empire in the Middle Ages, by Rivka
Shpak-Lissak
- Khazar
Khaganate, by Tristan Dugdale-Pointon (from Military History
Encyclopedia on the Web)
- The
Most Prosperous Ancient Nation You've Never Heard Of, by Lawrence W. Reed (Foundation for
Economic Education, July 18, 2020)
(Spanish translation)
- Khazari: Il
popolo dimenticato che difese l'Europa, by Lawrence M.F. Sudbury
- Der
erste Judenstaat Europas
- Xazarskiy
kostyum VII-X vv., by Aleksey (Kutluk) Tselikovskiy -
about Khazarian and North Caucasian costumes
- "Russkie
xazary", with Svetlana Pletnyova and Vladimir Petrukhin
- Khazary, by Svetlana
A. Pletnyova
- Khazary, by "Oleg Ivik" (the collective pseudonym of Olga Kolobova and Valeriy Ivanov) and Vladimir Klyutchnikov
-
"Xazary.
Xazarskii kaganat. Prinyatie iudaizma. Rastsvet i gibel' Xazarii."
(Chapter 2) and "Xazary i
slavyane. Evrey i Kievskaya Rus'. Nashestvie mongolov." (Chapter
3) in Ocherki
vremen i sobytii, by Feliks S. Kandel'
- Iudeo-xazarskoye
tsarstvo v drevnyaya Rus', by Grigorii Vinogradov
- Khozars'kyy
Kahanat, by O. V. Komar (from Entsyklopediya istoriyi Ukrayiny)
- Khazariya, by Menashe Goldelman in
World ORT's Elektronnaya Yevreyskaya Entsiklopediya, originally in volume 9 of Kratkaya Yevreyskaya Entsiklopediya in 1999
- K
Istorii Yevreyskikh Obshchin Severnogo Kavkaza, by E. A. Rabaev
- Novye
materialy k probleme izucheniya slavyano-xazarskix otnosheniy (po
pamyatnikam Severskogo Dontsa), by V. V. Koloda - about apparent
coexistence and synchretism between certain groups of Khazars and Slavs
- Issledovaniya
v Verxnem Saltove v 1996 godu, by V. V. Koloda - discusses
Khazarian/Saltovo burials, one of which contained a well-conserved
felt boot
- Krupneyshey
punkt (gorod) Khazarii, by A. V. Kryganov - discusses the more
than 30 Khazarian cities, some of which (particularly Atil) have not yet
been located
- Vooruzhenie
i voennoe delo Khazarskogo kaganata, by A. V. Komar and Oleg Sukhobokov
- Rannie
khazary v Severnom Prichernomorye (Postanovka problemy), by A. V.
Komar
- Xazary,
Xazarskiy kaganat - includes Mikhael Gorelik's illustration of
Khazar kagan's palace in Atil
- Rusi
i Bizantiya, by Igor Godovich Semyonov
- 600 Lyet Vmeste i
50 Lyet Lzhi, by Semyon Charny , in Lekhaim, March
2003
- V Storonu
Khazarii, by Denis Sobolev , in Zhurnal "22" No. 103, pp.
114 ff. - brief history of Khazars
- Vozvrashchenie
v Khazariyu, by Denis Sobolev , in Zhurnal "22" No. 108, pp.
162 ff. - about controversy of descendants of Khazars and origins of
Russian Jews
- Tsarskie
imenovaniya v drevnerusskom tezauruse problemi interpretatsii, by Dmitrii
Kudryavtsev
- Hazāru kaganāts, by
Artis Buks (from Nacionālā enciklopēdija) - in Latvian
- The
founding family of Kyivan-Rus': Sviatoslav the Conqueror, Part I, by
Ingert Kuzych
"The Khazars originated from the distant East... In the seventh and eighth centuries, this new empire halted Arab expansionism,
established contact with Byzantium, and became a decisive force between the Caspian Sea and the River Don up to the middle
of the tenth century. Land cultivation, animal husbandry and handicrafts flourished in the empire. Merchants traded not only
with Byzantium, but also with the Arab-Persian world and the distant East. The kagans did not prohibit the activities of Christian
and Moslem missionaries. Both religions maintained places or worship and schools on Khazar land. Out of political considerations,
however, the kagans and their retinues embraced a third great monotheist religion, Judaism."
-
The Magyars: The Birth of a European Nation
by György Balázs, page 8.
"The khaganate of the Khazars was of the upmost strategic importance for the
Byzantines for several reasons. First of all, it controlled the routes to the
southern Caucasus, thus playing a central role in the geopolitics of the area.
... Secondly, the Byzantine possessions in Crimea... were bordered by the
Khazars, who represented a major piece in the puzzle of nations who competed
for domination of the region. ... Finally, the Khazar Empire lay at a crossing
of trading routes linking the Russian steppes with Central Asia..."
- The Emperor Theophilos and the East, 829-842
by Juan Signes Codoñer, "Section V: The Khazar Flank", page 335.
Current Publications for Sale
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THE JEWS OF KHAZARIA
by Kevin Alan Brook
This book discusses all major issues surrounding the Khazar Empire,
including diplomacy, trade, culture, military affairs, Khazarian Judaism,
and migrations. The book draws from major primary and secondary sources,
and includes a concise timeline and glossary towards the end. This was
the first English-language book on the Khazars to contain a substantial
amount of archaeological data. The third edition was the first book on
the Khazars to contain genetic data from Khazaria.
THE KHAZARS
by Mikhail Zhirohov and David Nicolle
An illustrated guide to Khazar history, focusing on military affairs including Khazaria's wars with Arabs and the Rus', their weapons such as spears, battleaxes, and swords, their helmets and armor, and their fortifications made from stone and timber.
THE KUZARI: IN DEFENSE
OF THE DESPISED FAITH
translated and annotated by Rabbi N. Daniel Korobkin
In this classic philosophical work by Yehuda HaLevi, a Jewish sage
explains the principles of Judaism to an inquisitive Khazar king. As a
special bonus, the historical communications exchanged between Khazar King
Joseph and the Spanish Jewish diplomat Hasdai ibn Shaprut are included in
this volume.
More books
about Khazars
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Copyright ©1995-2025 Kevin Alan Brook, Vladimir Klyutchnikov, Todd Morrison, Christian Settipani, Eugene Wiglin, Leon Kull, Adam J. Levin, and Barry R. Long. All Rights Reserved.
[ICON]Comments and suggestions are invited. You
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