84 VI

the Rus' and the onrushing Polovtsy;^''^ and at times (cf. 1080) mutual
raiding took place.i" By the 12th century, the Torki were lumped to-
gether with the Berendci, K-Oui and other Turkic nomads as the C'ernye
Khbuki, vassals of the Rus' princes, settled primarily on the southern
borders (facing the Pontic steppes) of the Kievan realm. The last notice
on the T o r k i in the Lavrent'evskaia ktopiY is for the year 1171 where, T H E Q U E S T I O N O F T H E R U S '

together with the Berendei (another Turkic tribe in Rus' service), they Q A G A N A T E *
aided the Rus' princes of Kiev in a campaign against the Polovtsy.i'*^ The
Torki had their own city, Torcesk, first noted sub anno 1093 when i t was
besieged by the Polovtsy (Qumans).^-"' The Torki were, undoubtedly,
absorbed by the larger Quman groupings in the course of the 13th cen-
tury. It is also presumed that numbers of them stayed in Rus' service and The source material necessary for a detailed study of Qazar-Rus'rela-
were thus assimilated by the Slavs. tions, one that would be free of speculation and conjecture, still eludes
us. Nonetheless, there are some areas of inquiry on which our sparse
sources do shed some light, the pale reflections of which allow us to
Abbreviations (for periodical literature) glimpse the contours of the fugitive past. Marquart, in his panoramic
Slreifzilge,^ focused on the ninth century as one of crucial importance
AKGyVG Abhancllunssn der Kunlglichen Gcsetlschaft der yVlssenschaft
for the formation of the peoples of Eastern Europe as a whole and the
Gdttiiigen, philologisch-historische Klasse
Rus' in particular. It is to the question of the Rus' Qaganate of the ninth
BOH Bibttoteca OrlentaUs Hungurica
century, a problem intimately associated with the dawn of Rus' history,
JA Journal Asiallque
KCsA
and one of vital importance to the larger mosaic of Qazar-Rus' rela-
Koras! CsoinU'Archivum
MSFOu MClvoires de la Socldtd Flnno-Ougrlenne
tions, that this paper is addressed.
PSRL Polnoe sobranle russkix letoptsel Before we can examine the rather fragmentary data we possess regard-
SE Sovetskaia einografiia ing the Rus' Qaganate, we should first outline the general contours of
UAJb Ural-Altalsche Jahrbilcher the problem. This, above all, necessitates a quick sketch of Qazar history
ZDMG Zeitschrlft der Deutschen Morgenldndischen Gesellschaft and some brief indication of what we know of the overall nature of the
Qazar-Rus' relationship.

1. The Qazar Qaganate was an offshoot and successor state of the

See, PSRL I , pp. 162-163, 221, 227; V . V . Kargalov, VnesnepoUticeskle faktory
razvlliia feodal'rial Rusi (Moskva, 1967), pp. 32-34; S.A. Pletneva, Pecenegi, Torki i
Polovrsy v iuSnorussklx steplax, Materlaly I Issledovanlla po arxeologii SSSR 62
(1958) — Trudy volgo-donskoi arxeologiceskoi ckspedilsti I , pp. 216-220; Moravcsik,
Dyzaniiuoturcica I , pp. 90-94.
PSRL [, p. 204.
lis PSRL [, pp. 362-363. See Pletneva, PeCenegi, Torki i Polovtsy, pp. 218-225.
Pletneva, Pecenegi, Torki 1 Polovtsy, p. 218; "Tortsiiskyi grad".
Western Tiirk Qaganate founded by the Yabgu Qagan, tStemi, brother
of the supreme Qagan, Bumm of the ASina clan of the Tiirk. It came
into existence in the decade following the creation of the TUrk state in
552.2 Included in the western periphery, the marchlands on Byzanlimn,
the Avar Qaganate of Pannonia, the Caucasus (and via the latter,
Sasaind Iran), in the Pontic steppe zone and its extensions into the
Volga and North Caucasus, were the embr>'oes of the future Qazar and
* An abbreviated version of this paper was presented at the International Slavic Con-
ference held in Banff, Canada in September, 1974.
1 J . Marquart, Osteuropdische und asiasialische Sireifzuge, Leipzig, 1903.
^ E . Chavannes, Documents sur les T'tlii-Klue fl'iires) Occldenlaux. SPh., 1900, reprint
Paris, n.d., pp. 221 fL; K . Czegledy, Nomdd nepek vdndorldsa Napkelellol Napnyugallg.
Budapest, 1969, pp. 9S ff.; A.KoIUutz, W.Mlyakawa,Geschichte und Kullur eines vdlker-
ivanderungszedlichen Narnadenvolkes. Klagenfurt, 1970, i, pp. 134-137; L . N . Gumilev,
Drevnie Tiurki. Moskva, 1967, pp. 34-41,

78
Bulgar states. With the waning of Tiirk power over this vast nomadic
imperium in the late sixth through mid-seventh century, and in the
course of wars with China and amidst much internal strife (between both
the western and eastern halves of the Tiirk realm as well as within each
half), the tribes and tribal unions on the western periphery began to
move, or were propelled, towards independent status. Thus, In the
period ca. 630-650, there came into existence two successor states of the
TUrk in the Western Eurasian'steppelands: the Qazar Qaganate, headed,
it would appear, by a scion of the Asina, the ruling charismatic clan of
the Tiirk Empire, and the Bulgar tribal confederation ("Magna Bul-
garia", naXaid BouXyapia) founded by Qubrat (or his uncle 'Opyai>&^)
of the Dulo clan (the latter was one of the ruling clans of the On Oq or
Western Tiirk tribal union). Elements of these Bulgars also claimed Attllld
affinities and these, indeed, may have existed; for some of the constituent
tribes of the Bulgar {- Turkic "mixed ones") union derived from the Altaic
elements of Attlla's horde which, after 454, returned to the Pontic and
North Caucasian steppes.^
The two successor states were natural rivals and very probably heirs,
as well, to the ongoing struggle between the Nu-shih-pi and Dulo, the
two factions of the Western Ttirk/On Oq. A contest for hegemony in
Western Eurasia was Inevitable. The Qazar victory, briefly described In
the letter of the tenth century Qazar ruler, Joseph, resulted In the migra-
tion, in the 670s, of elements of the Bulgar union (composed of five
tribal units) to Moesia, under Asperux and the founding there of Danu-
blan Bulgaria. Other Bulgar groupings remained In the Eastern Pontic-
Maeotis steppe zone, while yet others had, apparently, been filtering to
the North, up the Volga, giving rise to Volga Bulgaria. These latter two
Bulgar units were Qazar vassals; the Volga state headed by an U-teber,
an old Tiirk title, borne by subject rulers and used elsewhere In the
Qazar Qaganate*
•J On the formation of the Qazar stale, see M.I. Ariamonov, islorUa Xazar. Leningrad.
1962, chaps. 2-10 and P.B. Golden, Khazar Studies An hislorico-philologka! inquiry into
the origins of the Khazars in the series Bibliotheca Oriertalis HunKarica, XXV Budapest,
1980. For an excellent sketch of the history of the Western Eurasian steppes up to and
including the Qazar period, see Gy. Ncmcth. A honfoglald r»agyarsag kialakul^sa, Bu-
dapest, 1930, csp. chaps. 2-3. On the etymology of the name Bulbar, see Nemeth, op. cit..
pp. 95-98. On the Aitilid affiliations claimed by the Bulbars, see O. Pritsak, Die Bul^a-
rischc Fiirsienliste umldie Sprache der Proiobulgiiren.W\it!'ha(icn, 1955, pp. 35-38, and 6^.
The Qazar version of these wars is found in Joseph's letter (in P.K. Kokovtsov,
Evreisko-.xaiarskaia perepiska v X \'cke. Leningrad. 1932, p. ^2)\seeaho the discussion in
Artamonov, 1st. Xazar. p. 170. The basic sources for Magna Bulgaria are: Nicephorus Pat-
riarcha, Brcviariurri, ed. J. Bekker, Bonn, 1837. pp. 3S-39; Theophanes, Chronograplm,
ed. C. de Boor, Leipzig, 1883, reprint: Hildesheim, 1963, i,pp. 356-358. Useful discussions
of these and other problems may be found in N.A. Mmd.v\n,Bolgary \ pp. 61-67, and 79.
THE RUS' Q A G A N A T E 79
The seat of Qazar power was the North Caucasus and Volga delta
where the Qaganal capitals were located. Ultimately, Qazar over-
lordship extended as far West as K.iev^ (when this occured Is not clear)
and in the East to the trans-Volgan Xwarizmlan steppes.
From 642 to 737, the Qazars who, since the TUrk period of their
history, had, on the whole, maintained an alliance with Byzantium
against the Sasflnids and, after 650, the Arabs who supplanted them,
warred constantly with the Caliphate for control over the strategically
important Caucasus. Although the Qazars were defeated by the great
:Umayyad general Marwan, in 737, and the Qagan was compelled to
embrace Islam briefly, the Arabs were unable to destroy the Qazar slate.
Thus, the environs of the much-contested town Bab at-Abwab (Dar-
band) became the dividing line between the two empires.
The general silence of our sources for the period following 737 has led
many to conclude that warfare was now replaced by peaceful, commer-
cial interchange, the so-called "Pax Chazarica" which, it has been
argued, allowed for the consolidation of the Eastern Slavs into a state.^
The Qazars were, undoubtedly. Instrumental in blunting and containing
the advances of the Pedenegs and Oguz for some time. Indeed, Qazaria
had become Byzantium's first line of defence against nomadic incur-
sions from Central Eurasia.'' Qazar warfare against the Arabs, however,
1902; V.F. Gening. A.X. Xalikov, Ronnie Bolgary na Voigc. Moskva, 1964; A.P. Smirnov,
"Zeleznyi vek fiuvaSskogo povolJia", Materialy i /ssledovaniia pu Ar.xeologii SSSR, No.
95 (1961), pp. 135-136.
On the il-leber of the North Caucasian Huns, see Movses Dasxtiranci: Movsisi
Kalarjkatuacwoy Atuanic PaUnui'iwn As.xarhi. ed. M.Emiii, Moskva, 1860, reprint Tiflis,
1512, pp. 281-189, 291, 293, 295. and 297 = The History of the Caucasian Albanians by
Movses Dasxuranci, trans. C.J.F. Dowseit, Oxford, 1961, pp. 150, 160, and 164-168 (Alp
ilit'uer = Alp il-t'eber). For the il-iebcr of the Volga Bulbars, see Ibn Fadlan: Kniga
Axmeda ibn Fadlana o ego putesesvii na Volgu v 921-922 gg.. facs. ed., trans. A.P. Kova-
levskii, Xar'kov, 1956, p. 344. See also the comments of K. C7.egledy,"Egj' bolgar torSk
yiltavar ni^Itisdgnev", Magyar Nyelv 40 (1944), pp. 182-186 ( / ' > ^ . ).
Lewond {Patnuit'iwn Uwondcay rneci vardapeti Hayoc, ed. I. Ezeanc, SPb., 1907, p.
132) mentions a Raz Tar.xan of the "horde" of Xal'ir-lit'ber C*Qa5ir il-teber) who ZQVK-
sponds to the Tarxan mentioned in al-Ya*qflbi (Ta'rix, ed. by Th. Houtsnia,
Leiden, 1883, ii, p. 446) and is probably to be identified with As TarxCm al-XwHriztni
noted in aJ-Xabari (Ta'rtx a{'Tabari. ed. M. Ibrahim, Cairo, 1386/1966, viii, p. 7) who led
Qazar forces against the Arabs in the Caucasus in the 760"s. He was, evidently, a general of
Qa3ir. the il-teber of As forces under Qazar hegemony. Thus, there were at least three iV-
tebt-rlik buduns (tribal confederations headed by an il-teber) that were vassals of the Qazar
Qagans.
s Kiev may have also indergonc a period of Avar rule, see 1. Boba, Nomads, Northinen
and Slavs. The Hague-Wiesbaden, 1967. pp. 14, and 47.
<< Idem. pp. 14, 39 ff.
' P.B. Golden, "The Migrations of the Oguz", Archivum Ottomanicum 4 (1972),
 80
continued, altliougti on a reduced scale {cf. the major raids in the 760s
and 790s«).
The ninth century witnessed the creation of those circumstances which
ultimately brought Qazar power to an end. The uncontrollable move-
ments of Oguz tribes East of the Volga led to migrations of the Pecienegs
which, in turn, set off a migration of Ugrlans (elements of the future
Hungarians) from the BaSklr-Volga-Oka lands to the Pontic steppe zone
and caused the building of the fortress Sarkel, in 838, by the Qazars and
Byzantines, in Pontic Bulbar territory. The Qagan and Emperor were
equally anxious about these developments. During this crucial period of
Instability, the Rus' made their appearance and set in motion that con-
catenation of events that led to the founding of the Klevan state and
/^\\&\v hegemony over the Eastern Slavic tribes, some of whom had been
/ within the Qazar orbll. Inexorably, this led to the dramatic denouement
of 965 (Sviatoslav's campaign) and the subsequent collapse of Qazaria.^
2. The bulk of the notices in the Islamic sources relevant to our theme
relate to the ninth or early tenth century (not infrequently they are
jumbled together In the geographical and historical compilations that
have come down to us). These accounts shed little light on political
events (except for the Rus' Caspian raids), but do contain data on other
aspects of Qazar - Rus'relations.Thus, al-Mas'udi, writing in the 940s,
notes that Rus and Saqaliba (Arabic plural of Saqlab < Greek
Zh-Kafios "Slav") serve in the Qazar army and are the servants of the
Qazar king. One of the seven "judges" In the Qazar administration at-
tended to the legal matters of the RQs, Saqaliba and other pa^ifis.'"
Lack of other data precludes the possibility of deducing from^thls the
extent of Rus' and "Saqaliba" participation In the Qazar state." Indeed,
the significance of the word Saqaliba is not entirely clear. It is most
often translated as "Slavs" and, at limes, it does refer specifically to the
Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe. But, at other times, it is used by the
Arabs to designate all the "ruddy, fair-skinned peoples of Northern
Europe," e. Slavs, Finnic peoples, Scandinavians etc. {cf. Its usage In
Ibn Fadlan).
On tlie raids in 762-764, see, K.. Czegledy, "Kliazar Raids in Transcaucasia in A . D .
762-764", Ada Orienialia Hiingarica 11 (i960), pp. 75-88; A.N. Kurat, "Muliammod bin
Asam ai-Kflfi'nin 'Kitab ai-Futflh'ti", Ankara Oniversilesi, Dil ve Tari/i-Cografya Fakilliesi
Dergisi 7 (1949), pp. 272-273 and Lewond, al-Ya'qOb: and at-Tabarf cited in note 4 above.
Another major raid took place in 798-799, see D. M. Dunlop, The History of the Jewish
Khazars, Princeton, 1954, pp. 183 ff. for a comprehensive discussion.
Golden, "The Migrations of the Oguz", AO 4 (1972), pp. 57-67, and 73-79.
1" Al-Mas'Qdi. AlurHJ adh-Dhahab wa Ma'-adin al-Jawhar, ed. C. Pellat, Beirut; 1966,
i. p. 214; al-I^taxri, Kitab Masalik al-Mamalik, ed. M..1. de Goeje, Leiden, 1870, p. 221.
II Boba, Nomads. Northmen and Slavs, pp. 59 ff, is opposed to the view that sizable
numbers of Rus' and Saqaliba served in the Qazar army.
THE RUS' QAGANATh; 81
The Qazar-Rus' war of 965 was prefaced by a series of Rus' raids via
the Volga into the Caspian Islamic lands. These raids are recorded only
in Islamic sources and one Armenian account.'^ Curiously, there is not a
word about them m,i\\Q.-PovesC Vremiannyx let (which may indicate that
these raids were not carried out by Rus' elements associated with Kiev).
The Povest', which, with regard to its notices on Qazar-Rus'relations, is
remarkable only in Its laconic brevity and infrequency, devotes three
sentences to the dramatic events of 9 6 5 . M o r e o v e r , we are not even
sure of all the clfainalispersonae. There are indications, in some Muslim
sources, that Sviatoslav did not act alone, but rather In alliance with the
Oguz, Just as Vladimir, his son, was to do two decades later in opera-
tions against the Volga Bulgars.''* Similarly, It Is unclear from the
accounts whether Sviatoslav took only Sarkel (Bela Ve?.a) or both
Sarkel and AtiL'^
3. The sources for the Rus' Qaganate are, for the most part, well-
known and need not be cited in e.xtenso here. The earliest notice, indeed
one of the premier notices In Rus' history, is the oft-quoted passage in
the Annales Beriiniani, sub anno 839, regarding the embassy from the
Chacanus (var. Chaganus) of a peoples called Rhos which had come to
Constantinople to establish relations with the Empire and then, appar-
ently unable to return via the land route by which It had come (the way
being blocked by hostile tribes), was detoured to the Court of the
Western Emperor, Lewis the Pious, at Tngelhelm. There, to the horror of
the Franks, it was discovered that the Rhos ambassadors were Swedes.""
Only two Rus' sources mention a Rus' Qagan: the Slovo o zakone i
1^ For the raids, see B. Dorn, Kaspii, SPb., 1875. A revision of the dating for the early
tenth century raids has been suggested by S. Aliuv ("O datirovke nabega rusov, upom-
ianutyx ibn isfandiarom i Amoli" Vostoinye istoinikipo istorii narodov iugo-vostoSnoi i
tsentral'tioi evropy, ed. A.S. Tveritinova, Moskva, 1969, ii, pp. 316-321). On the impor-
tant raid of 943-944 in which the Rus' attempted to settle in Bardha'a, see Ibn Miskawaih,
The Eclipse of the ^Abbcisid Caliphate (= Tajiintb al-'Umain), ed. H. F. Amedroz, Oxford,
1920, ii, pp. 62-67; al-Maqdisi, Kitab al-Bad' wa't-Tawarix. ed. C. Huart, Paris 1899-1919,
iv, pp. 66-67 and the account of Movses Dasxuranpi, trans. Dowsett, p. 224.
Polnoe Sobranie Russkix Letopisei, Leningrad, 1926, i. p. 65. On the Oguz involve-
ment, see Ibn Miskawaih, ed. Amedroz, ii, p. 209; Ibn al-Athir, Al-Ka/nilfi'l-Ta'rix. ed.
C. J. Tornberg. Beirut, 1965-1966 reprint, viii, p. 565.
We cannot determine whether the overall lack of information on Qazar-Rus'relations
in the Povest' vremiannyx let is the result of ignorance, deliberate omission (in keeping,
perhaps, with certain ideological guidelines — for a discussion of some of the ideological-
political currents in the letopist. see B.A. Rybakov, Drevniaia Rus', skazaniia, byliny leto-
pisi. Moskva, 1964, esp. pp. 159 if., and 219 ff.) or the fact that, indeed, there was little to
report. PSRL. i, p. 84.
1^ B. N. Zaxoder, Kaspliskii svod svedenii o voslaindi evrope, Moskva, 1962-1967, i,
pp. 192-193.
I * Annales de Saint-Bertin. eds. F. Grat, J. Vielliard, S. Clement, Paris, 1964, p. 30. See
the remarks of A.V. Riasanovsky, "The Embassy of 838 Revisited: Some Comments in
 82
blagodati (dated to ca. 1040-1050) o f l l a r i o n and the much-debated
Slovo o polku Igoreve (the question o f its dating and authorship are still
unresolved). The former makes three references to " k a g a n i , na^T.
V l a d i m i r t " and t w o references to " k a g a n i . na§-b Georgii ( l a r o s l a v ) " . "
The latter speaks o f (he "kogan'(ia)" Sviatosiav, laroslav and Oleg,
a l t h o u g h the reference Is obscure.'*'
Finally, we have the Islamic sources, a l l apparently deriving f r o m one
c o m m o n chain o f t r a d i t i o n : Ibn Rusta (ca. 903-913) "They (the RQs)
have a k i n g called ^J~> C J U J I S ( X a q a n Rus)".!^ The Hudi/dal~'Ahm
(composed i n 982): " T h e i r k i n g is called Rfls Khaqan".2o G a r d i z i (ca.
1050) mentions this Riis Xuqan jXOqdn-l Rm'^^ as does also the
a n o n y m o u s Persian collection, the Mujmal al-Tavdnx (composed
1126).2^ T h i s notice is p r o b a b l y based on the now lost account of a l -
J a r m i and a l - J a y h a n i . " I t is also generally agreed that the notice is to be
a t t r i b u t e d to the n i n t h century.
cunneclion with a 'Nonnanisl' somce on Early Russian History", Jahrbilcher fiir
die Geschic/ile Oswurnpus fO i (1962) pp. 1-12.
It might also be noted here that in the «7I letter of King Louis the German to the
Byzantine Emperor Basil I, the rulers of the Avars. Qazars, Biilgars and Norimanni bear
the title Qa^an. The Norimanni her« undoubtedly refer to the Slavo-Scandinavians of
Rus'; see. Monumenta Germaniae Hisiorica. Scriptores. iii, p. 523; P. Smirnov, Volz'kyi
sliax i slarodavni rusy (Kyi'v, 1928), p. 135.
I' On the dating of the Slovo o zakone i blagodati, see. Des Metropoliien Ilarion
Lobrede auf Vladimir den Heillgen und Glaubcnsbekermtnis. ed. L . Mliller, Wiesbaden,
1962, pp. 29-32. For references to the kagan. see Milller's edition, pp. 37, 100. 103, 129,
and 143. On the complicated problem of the authorship and dating of the Igor Tale see B.
A. Rybakov's "Shvo o polku Igoreve" i ego sovremenniki. Moskva, 1971, and his
Russkie letopistsy i avtor "Shva o polku Igoreve", Moskva, 1972, which attempt a
resolution of this question.
Slovo o polku Igoreve, eds, V. F . Riiga, S. 1. Sambinago, Moskva, 1959, p. 26.
In addition, we should record ihc graffito in the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kiev which
reads: "O Lord, save our kagan" (Spasi, Gospodi. kagana naSego). see S. A. Vysotskyi,
"Drevnerusskio graffiti Sofii Kievskoi", Numizmalika i Epigraftka 3, pp. 157-158. Sec also
V.P. SuSarin, Sovremennaia burzuaznaia istoriografiia drevnei rusi, Moskva, 1964 pp.
16i ff.
1'Ibn Rusta, Kiiab al-A'l3q an-Naftsa, ed. M. J . de Goeje, Leiden, 1892, p. 145,
HudCid al-'Alam^. trans., commentary V . F . Minorsky, London, 1937, reprint, with
additions, 1970. p.- 159.
=1 Gardizi, excerpts in V.V. BartoI'd "Ott^iit o poezdke v sredniulu aziiu s naucinoi tsei'iu
1893-1894 gg.'*, Zapiski Imperutorskoi Akademii Nuuk, ser. VIII, t. i. No. 4, (IS97), pp.
100-101.
" Miijaml at'Tavi'irix, Teheran, 1939, p. 421: ^j^^jj U-^LJ. .ti^u Cf. Ihe inte-
resting version of this theme in Muhammad -al-AulTs Jav&mi al-Hikdydi where it is noted
that the Rfls ruler has the title ^'-'J-(BulCnIhmir. i.e. Vladimir): 'JJ'J (ihe Rfls ruler)
•'J- For a full discussion of the notice, see V.V. BartoI'd, "Novoe musul'manskoe
izvcslie o russkix" in his SoSineniia. ii 1, Moskva, 1963, pp. 803-809.
Cf. the discussions of al-Jarmi, al-Jiiyhfint and al-Bal.KJ; Marquart, SlreifzClge, pp.
X X V I I ff., and 202-204; Zaxoder, Kaspiiskii svod. i, pp. 46 ff.; Dunlop, Hisi. Jewish
T H E RUS' Q A G A N A T E 83
C u r i o u s l y , a "RQs Xaqan" is not found i n the KUdb a}-Masdlik wa'l-
Mamdlik o f I b n X u r d a d h b i h (perhaps i n t w o redactions: 846-847, 885-
8862^), w h o was the Sdhih al-Barid wa'l-Axbnr. the " M a s t e r o f the Post
and I n f o r m a t i o n " , o f the province o f al-Jibal (= M e d i a ) , i.e. one o f the
most i m p o r t a n t intelligence officials o f the A b b a s i d Caliphate (his father
had been governor o f T a b a r i s t a n on the Caspian coast, an area v i t a l l y
concerned w i t h affairs i n the Caucasus and Volga delta). I n the section o f
his w o r k entitled " T i t l e s o f the Ruler.s ( K i n g s ) o f the E a r t h " ( ^ui_ii
i ^ ^ i i i ) , he notes that the rulers o f the T U r k , T i b e t and the Qazars bear the
title Qagan. while the i m p o r t a n t T u r k i c t r i b a l confederation, the Qar-
luqs ( w h o had ASina affiliations) t o o k the lesser title YabgujJobgu
( < i _ ; _ 3 - i ^ ) . F i n a l l y , he comments that the " K i n g o f Saqaliba" is called
j{-L3i.e.Kniaz'.'^^ I b n X u r d a d h b i h Is not, however, i g n o r a n t of t h e R u s ,
for he knows them as very i m p o r t a n t merchants and traces their route
f r o m Eastern Europe t o Bagdad.Hence, the absence o f the Rus' i n this
listing must be e.xplained. The notice itself should p r o b a b l y be dated to
the years preceding 840; for it was o n l y after the fall o f the Uygur
Qaganate, i u 840, that the Qarluqs began to put f o r w a r d their claim (o
the n o m a d i c Qaganate, / . e . i m p e r i u m i n the steppes (.see below).
The o r i g i n o f the Qaganal title amoirgst the Rus' has been explained
variously: as a " b o r r o w i n g " f r o m the Qazars (Novosel'tsev^^), "as a sur-
v i v a l o f the former d o m i n a t i o n o f the Khazars" (VasIliev^O, as a decla-
r a t i o n of Independence f r o m the Qazars (Vernadsky, Artamonov^s) etc.
These explanations are incorrect because they fail to understand the
context in w h i c h the Qaganal title could appear. Qagan is the w e l l -
k n o w n A l t a i c title denoting " E m p e r o r " , the equivalent o f the Byzantine
l3aoLK6vs , w i t h all that that implied w i t h regard to claims o f universal
Khazars. pp. 107-108; Minorsky,Hudiid-, pp. 15 ff.; A.P. Novobertsev,"Vo3lo6iyeisioi-
niki o vostoenyx slavianax i RusiVI-lX vv."in A.P.Novoscl'tsev.V.T. PaSuto c? Drev-
neriisskae gosudarstvo i ego mezdunarodnoe znaHeriie, Moskva, 1965, pp. 372 ff.; S. Alavi,
Arab Geography in ihe Ninth and Tenlh Cenniries. Aligarh, 1965, pp. 30-31.
^•1 Thus, T . Lewicki, Zrodla arabskie do dziejdw slo\vianszczyzny.\^xoc\ii\w-Krakavi-
Warszawa, 1956-1969, i. pp. 55-56. For an opposing view (only one redaction), see
Marquart, SireifzUge. pp. 390-391; P.G. Bulgakov, "Kniga putet i gosudarstv Ibn Xbrdad-
bcxa". Palestinskii Sbornik 66 iii (1958), pp. 127-136. See also the general discussion in
D.M. Dunlop, Arab CiviliziiHon to A.D. 1500. New York, 1971. pp. 150-151. 163 ff.
Ibn Xurdadhbih, Kitab Masdlik wa'l-Mamdlik. ed. M.J. de Goeje, Leiden, 1889, pp.
16-17. For a resume of the biographical data on Ibn Xurdfldhbih, see Lewicki, Zrddla
arabskie. i. pp, 49-50.
Novosel'tscv, "Vostotinye istoeniki..." Drevneruss. p. 407.
^' A . A . Vasiliev, The Russian Attack on Constantinople in 860. Cambridge, Mass,.
1946, p. 11.
" G. Vernadsky, The Origins of Russia. Oxford. (959, p. 195; Arlanionov, /.i7. Xiiznr,
p. 369.
 84
rule. The o r i g i n o f the tlt!e is obscure. I t was not used by the H s i u n g - n u ,
the earliest nomadic empire in Central and Eastern Eurasia. I t was, h o w -
ever, k n o w n to their successors, the Hsien-pi and Juan-juan,^' prede-
cessors o f the T i i r k as overlords o f the nomadic impen'um.
In the T i i r k inscriptions o f the O r x o n , the title was accorded to the
rulers o f China (Tabgad Qagan). T i b e t {Tiipiit Qagan) and to the sub-
ordinate (and frequently rebellious) TUrges and Q i r g i z chieftains. I n
a d d i t i o n , the ruler o f the T o q u z Oguz, whose r u l i n g cian was the " i n -
l a w " clan o f the ASina, was recognized as a Baz Qagan ("vassal
Qagan").30 I t is unclear whether this title pointed to the special kinship
ties o f the t w o clans. O n occasion, the title was granted to other, subor-
dinate chieftains o f subject t r i b a l confederations. The supreme Qaga-
nate, however, resided only i n the house o f ASina. W i t h i n the supreme
Qaganate itself, (he Qagan o f the Eastern p o r t i o n o f (he realm was
recognized as the senior, while the Western Qagan bore the slightly
lesser title o f Yabgu Qagan.^^ A c c o r d i n g to an early n i n t h century
Chinese source, the Tung lien (composed ca. 801), there were Qagans
lower in rank t h a n the Yabgu Qagan w i t h i n the A s i n a . Paramount
amoungst these were the ab Qagans ("house Qagans") w h o , apparently
lived a secluded life in the palace and d i d n o t participate In the rule o f
the state. A m o n g s t the Western T i i r k there appears to have been a
greater p r o l i f e r a t i o n o f "lesser" Qagans ( o f the ASina line) not neces-
sarily associated w i t h a purely ceremonial function.
The person o f the Qagan was regarded as h o l y and the office bore cer-
tain religio-shamanic aspects. This belief was incorporated into a n u m -
ber o f ceremonies such as the r i t u a l strangling o f the T i i r k Qagan at his
Investiture (a cu.stom preserved by the Qazars^^), the association o'f the
Q a | a n w i t h ceremonies f o r d i v i n i n g the future and the view o f the
Qagan as a symbolic good luck c h a r m for the welfare o f the state. A l -
F . Laszlo. A kagdn csaj^dfa" K6rd.%i Csonia - Archivum ^ (1940), pp. 1-4; G.
Docrfer, THrkhclic uiul Mougolhdic FJcmciUt; itii Neupcrshchcn, Wiesbaden, J 965, ii. p.
370; KoUautz, Miyakawa, Gcschichie und Kultur, \\. p. 7.
•JO The two most recent editions of the Orxon inscriptions can be found in; T . Tekin, A
Grammar of Orkhon Turkic. tJralic and Altaic Series, 69, BIoomington-The Hague, 1968,
and G. Aidarov, lazyk orxonskix pamialnikov drevneiiurkskoi pis'rnennosll Vlll veka.
Alma-ata, 1971. Examples of this ti.sage can be seen in the Kill Tegin inscriptions: Tah-
gad Qagan. Tu'pul Qagan. Qirgiz Qagan (Aidarov, lazyk, pp. 303-304; Tekin, Grammar,
p. 237); Haz Qagan (Aidarov, lazyk. p. 293; Tekin, Grammar, p. 233); --'Tdrgei Qagan
(Aidarov, lazyk. p. 294; Tekin, Grammar, p. 234).
^' Marquart, SireifzUge. p. 394 n. 2; Guniiliiv, Drevnie Tiurki. p. 53; Chnvannes, Docu-
ments, p. 256.
Liu Mau 'I'sai, Die Chincsischvn Niichrlchlen zur Geschichie der Osl'-THrken (Tii-
Kiie). Wiesbaden, 1958, ii, p. 499; KoUautz, Miyakawa. Geschichie und Kuliur, ii, p. 7.
" Liu MauTsai,D;<? Chinesischen Nachrichien. i. p. 8; al-lstaxri, ed. de Goeje, p. 224.
THE RUS'QAGANATE 85
Mas^fldi notes, w i t h regard to the Qazar Qagan, that n a t i o n a l mis-
fortunes and calamities c o u l d lead to demands f o r the Qagan's death.
S h o u l d this be necessary, the execution w:is carried out w i t h o u t shed-
ding b l o o d , by strangulation w h b a silk c o r d . The Qagan, as is clearly
evidenced by the formulae i n the O r x o n inscriptions, ruled, as in neigh-
b o r i n g China, by the mandate of* Heaven {cf.. Tengriteg lengride
bolnuS Tiirk bilge Qagan... tengri yarliqaduqin iiHUn ozi'im qiitum
bar i'lciin Qagan oiurtum: "Heaven-like, heaven-born, wise (charis-
matic) T i i r k Qagan... because heaven ordained, because I myself
possessed heavenly good fortune, 1 became Qagan"35). B y virtue o f this,
the Qagan was the f o u n t o f all law and the creator o f the p o l i t y . I n
Western Eurasia, as we learn from Islamic authors, the Qazar Qaga-
nate, as w h h the T i i r k , also rested in one clan. Indeed, this clan was p r o -
bably o f Asina o r i g i n .
I n Eurasia, these governmental t r a d i t i o n s , many o f w h i c h go back to
the H s i u n g - n u , persevered even after the collapse of the T i i r k E m p i r e In
the East, i n 7 4 1 . T h u s , their successors, the Uygurs (744-840) w h o
derived f r o m the T o q u z Oguz, maintained these traditions under a new
charismatic clan, the Yaglaqar. The Qarluqs, w h o had been the allies o f
the Uygurs i n the destruction o f the Eastern T i i r k state, became masterk\
o f the Western T i i r k lands I n 766, w h i t h e r they had fled f r o m the Uygurs
w h o wanted uncontested c o n t r o l o f the East. A l t h o u g h lords o f the
region, the Q a r l u q rulers, as we k n o w f r o m M u s l i m authors, continued
to style themselves Yabgus. I t was o n l y w i t h the destruction o f the
U y g u r E m p i r e by the Qirgtz In 840 that the Qarluqs believed that the
Qaganal mantle had legitimately passed to them. T h i s Qaganate, noted
by al-Mas<^Qdi, later became the Q a r a x a n i d state (992-12n).38
" T h e text of al-Mas'fldi's 'Aja'ih ad-Dunyti is given in R. ^e^en, El-Cahlz, lliidfel
ordusunun menkibeleri ve Turkler'ln fazUeileri, Ankara, 1967, pp. 32-33; See also al-
Mas'ildi, Muruj. ed. Peilal, i, pp. 214-215.
3i Aidarov. lazyk. pp. 286, and 288 (Kill Tegin).
3b Jdem p. 289; (Kill Tegin) Tiirk budunmg ilin lOriisiin una birmis in birmis.
" Al-Istaxri, ed.de Goeje, p. 2 2 4 : O ^ J ^ -ifti o-* ill ' i ^ L J L i U i ; - U ^ ij
The iludud- (p. 162) notes that the ruler of the Qazars "is one of the descendants of the
Ansa" ( " i ^ T ^ * As na = * L I ^ T ashul In the 1970 edition of the l^udiW (p.
L X I X , text p. L X X ) , Minorsky concluded that t ^ T was a garbling of L ^ l / j i ^ i e t c f r o m
the common source of Ibn R u s t a G a r d i z i . This would appear, however, to combine the
Qaganal line with the Beg Yilik - J ISad line, a conjecture which runs counter to our
other sources. In this regard, the circuinslantial evidence adduced by Artatnonov (Isi.
Xazar. pp. 170 ff.) indicating how the Qaganate may have been brought to the Qazar tribal
union by the Qagan of the Nti-shih-pi faction of the On Oq (Western Tllrk) is particularly
cogent.
^8 See the articles by O. Prilsak, "Von den Karluk zu den Qarachaniden", Zeitschrifl
der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellsehafi tOI (1951) and "Untergang des Reiches des
Oguzischen Yabgu", Fuad Kapriitu Armagani, eds. O. Turan, H . Eren, Lstanbul, 1953;
 H6
Clearly, then, notions o f legitimacy and translath imperii were deeply
embedded i n the consciousness o f the T u r k i c , nomadic w o r l d ; as m u c h
so as in the successor states o f the R o m a n Empire. A c l a i m to the
Qaganal title had t o rest o n descent from or intimate connection w i t h
the charismatic, r u l i n g M'lna clan or some other recognized charismatic
clan. Alongside the biological tie, the favor o f heaven had to m a n i -
fest itself In conquests, the possession o f sacred forests, mountains and
rivers. In the nomadic w o r l d , unless one met these criteria, one could not
c l a i m or even aspire to the Qaganal d i g n i t y .
As was noted earlier, in the Western Eurasian nomadic w o r l d , only
the Avars, Qazars and Bulbars had met these criteria. I n Qazarla, the
Qaganate u l t i m a t e l y evolved, it w o u l d appear, along the lines o f the Hb
Qagan, a l t h o u g h h o w and when is stili obscure. We k n o w f r o m M u s l i m
authors ( I b n Rusta, I b n F a d i a n , a l - l s t a x r i , I b n H a w q a l , al-Mas=fldland
Gardizi) as well as f r o m Constantinus Porphyrogenitus, that the Qazar
Qagan, by the n i n t h century, had become the creature o f the palace and
"harem", while the actual governance o f the state was In the hands o f a '
" k i n g " ( l i L L o ) w h o bore the titles o f Qagan Beg/Beg(a^ La L i - i i L
- r r e V ) . * ^'^'^ v a r i a n t o f flik "prince") or Isdd ( J L ^ I ) , the
latter a title o f I r a n i a n o r i g i n long in use amongst the T U r k . I b n F a d l a n
cites a number o f deputy r u l e r s . " We might also note here t h a t ' t h e
P r o t o - H i i n g a r i a n t r i b a l u n i o n , which had close connections w i t h the
Qazars, and before t h e m w i t h the Onogur-Bulgars, also employed a
variant o f this system; but as subject peoples used the lesser thies
kende/kiindii {cf. Qazar 0 ' - ^ ' - = ' ^ - ^ ) and gyida.'^^
Golden, "The Migrations of the Oguz" AO 4 (1912), pp. 48-51, and 58-59. The notice on
the Qaganate residing amongst the Qarluqs is found in al-Mas^adi. Miru/, ed. Pellat i a
155.
On the TTt'x, see Constantinus Porphyrogenitus, De Administrando Imperio, ed. Gy.
Moravcsik, trans. R. Jenkins in the Corpus Fonthim Historiae Byzanlinae, i, Washing-
ton, D . C . , 1967, p. 182; Theophanes Continuatus, Hisiorla. ed. J . Bekker, Bonn, 1838, p.
122. The notices on the dJ_, and * ^ are: al-lstaxri, ed. De Goeje, p. 220; Ibn Hawqal^
KUdb Sural al-Ard, ed. J . H . Kramers,Leipzig-Leiden,i938^ ii, p. 390; Vaqflt, Mu'-jam a!-
Butddn, ed. F. von Wtistenfeld, Leipzig, 1866-1873. ii, pp. 437-438. see also the latter for
the C J ^ U . (XaqdnB /jjwhichcomes from the lost portion of Ibn FadlSn's Rihla quoted
extensively by Vaqflt. For a discussion of thcviU ^ question, .wt'P.B. Golden, "The
Qazaro-HungarianTitle - Personal-NamevOI^-W^.x", Archivum Eurasiae Medii Aevi 1
(1975), Sources for the ISdd are: Ibn Rusta, etl. de Goeje, p. 139 and Gardizi {see text
e.xcerpts in Gy. Pauler, S. Szildgyi, eds. trans,, A magyar hanfoglalds kutfSi. Budapest
1900, pp. 152-153).
^0 Ibn Rusla. ed. de Goeje. p. 142; Gardizi (in Pauler, Sziligyi, p. 167); al-Bakri
(A. Kunik, V. Rozen, IzvestUa al-Bekri i drugix aviarov o Rusi i slavianax in the Zapi-iki
Impenuorskoi Akademii Nauk 32 (1879). p.45). See also Nemeth, HMK. pp. 295-296 and
K. Czegl6dy, "A magyarsag D61-0roszorszigban" in A magyarsdg dsidrtenele. ed. L .
Ligeti, Budapest, 1943. p. 1 i8.The ketuie/kHndil may have been the representative of the
Qazai- Qagan amongst the Hungarians fie^ J . Dtiir,Pogdny magyarsdg kereszieny masvar-
siig. Budapest, 1938, pp. 47-48).
THIZ RUS" Q A G A N A T E 87
A t this j u n c t u r e , we may note I b n Fadlan's report that the Rus' " k i n g "
(he nowhere mentions a Qagan w h i c h may w e l l indicate that the office
no longer existed In his time, the 920s, although certain customs, as we
shall see, were preserved), surrounded by his b o d y g u a r d o f 400 men
(perhaps the Scandinavian bird: cf Rus' grid'),s\is on a huge bejeweled
throne attended by 40 maidens. His feet never t o u c h the g r o u n d (nn
i n d i c a t i o n o f his sanctity); a l l his needs are attended to on his throtie.
When he wishes to ride out, a horse is b r o u g h t directly to the throne.
M o r e o v e r , he has, after the manner o f Qazar Qagans, a xalifa ("deputy")
w h o commands the a r m y and represents h i m before the people. I f I b n
F a d l a n is not w i l d l y embellishing on an account o f the kniaz' w i t h his
druzina (and we have no reason to suspect this, f o r his is a straightfor-
w a r d , sober account), we may see here an obvious reference to the
sacred, ceremonial ruler on the Qazar model.'"
4. Given the Qaganal system and its various expressions i n Western
Eurasia, h o w are we to place the " R u s ' Q a g a n a t e " w i t h i n it? Firstly, i t
cannot be dismissed as a fabrication f o r the reports are t o o extensive.
Secondly, we cannot a d m i t the possibility o f " b o r r o w i n g " , f o r the Rus',
given the usages o f the t i m e , c o u l d no more " b o r r o w " this title t h a n they
could the title PaaiXevs. S i m i l a r l y , i t is d o u b t f u l , In the extreme, that
the assumption o f this title was part o f a " l i b e r a t i o n struggle" against
Qazar rule. B o r r o w i n g or a d o p t i n g the Qaganal title w i t h o u t having met
the c o m m o n l y recognized criteria that gave legitimacy to the bearer o f
this title, w o u l d have been considered u s u r p a t i o n ( w h i c h could be legit-
imized only by the t h o r o u g h destruction o f the previous Qaganal
l i n e / c h a r i s m a t i c clan) and as such w o u l d have encountered only deri-
sion. The Rus', as a rising c o m m e r c i a l and political force, w o u l d hardly
have wished to be objects o f ridicule.
••I Kovalevskii, Kniga A.xmeda ibn Fadlana. p. 313; Z.V. Togan, /bn Fadlan's Reise-
hericht in the Abhandlungen fiir die Kunde des Morgenlandes. xxiv /3, Leipzig. 1939,
Arab text, p. 43, commentary, p. 253. Togan, in his commentary, makes this connection.
Smyser ( i l . M . Smyser, "Ibn Fadlan's Account of the Rfls with Some Allusions to
Beowulf, Franciplegius, Medieval and Linguistic Studies in Honor of Francis Peabody
Magoun. Jr., New York, 1965, pp. 102 ff.) in his analysis of this passage frocn the per-
spective of Germano-Scandinavian usages, concludes that the Rfls kingship, as described
by Ibn Fadlan.iioes not display "much that is basically Germanic". The circumstance that
the ruler is surrounded by his "hearth companions" he views as a Germanic touch (the
fumitatus or itird). but Ihe number 400 and other elements are "oriental". Other practices
noted in the account show a mixture of Germanic and "oriental" pallerns. Thus, on the
one hand, we have the ceremonial ship-burning funeral (clearly Viking, known, however,
only to the Eastern. Swedish Vikings) and on the other hand, the sacrifice by impalement,
of cattle and sheep (a well-known Turkic custom). Clearly, then, the Rfls of Ibn Fadlan are
a mixed,culturally eclectic groujjing.Given the chronology (the account is from Ihe early
tenth century), it does not seem likely that Ibn Fadlan is talking about the Rus' of Kiev
(Oleg and Igor').
 88
I n the light o f the above considerations, we are obliged to conclude
that there must have been some other, real basis f o r the appearance o f a
Rus' Qagan. Given the criteria o f steppe t r a d i t i o n s , the Rus' could have
become associated w i t h the Qaganal d i g n i t y only t h r o u g h the Qazar
Qagan w h o had the power to elevate subject rulers to this d i g n i t y . This
was, perhaps, the result o f a biological connection, i.e. a m a t r i m o n i a l
alliance. T h i s practice was k n o w n to the O r x o n T U r k state. Thus, i n the
K i l l T e g i n Inscription, we learn o f an A z chieftain. Bars Beg, who was
made a Qagan by the supreme ruler, Bilge Qagan. Bars Beg was mar-
ried to Bilge Qagan's" younger sister."*^ A n o t h e r possibility Is that the
Rus' Qagan may have been a Baz Qagan ("vassal Qagan"), the head o f
his o w n p o l i t i c a l o r g a n i z a t i o n , but n o w incorporated Into the larger
Qazar confederacy. A g a i n we have precedents i n the history o f the
Qaganate i n Eurasia. The nomads frequently brought entire buduns o f
sedentary, especially commerce (and d i p l o m a c y ) -oriented peoples i n t o
Iheir slate structure and gave them i m p o r t a n t positions. The T i i r k
Qagans made extensive use o f the I r a n i a n So^dians, an i m p o r t a n t
commercial people o f Central Asia, as their ambassadors to B y z a n t i u m .
The Sogdians were recognized as a budun and their leaders were given
T U r k titles {cf., Ogul Tarqan).*^ Neither o f the forms o f affiliation cited
above excludes the other; indeed, b o t h m a y have been present. A d m i t -
tedly, this Is conjecture, but what we k n o w o f steppe usages o f that
period allows for no other i n t e r p r e t a t i o n .
There were many other vassal peoples o f the Qazar Qagan, led by
rulers bearing less exalted titles. W h y , then, a Rus' Qagan and not an il-
leber or tarqanl T w o possibilities exist. One is simply the dynastic
connection. T h e other may have something to do w i t h the importance,
strategically and m i l i t a r i l y , o f the Rus' to Qazar interests at this time.
A g a i n , neither precludes the other.
W i t h regard to the first possibility, the Mujmal ai-Tavdnx'dnecdoi-
aliy notes that "Rfls and Xazar were from one mother and father".'*'' As
••^ Ttm text (Kill '['egiri inscription, Aidarov, hizyk, p. 294; Telcin, Graiinnar. p. 234)
reads: "/l2 budumg itip.. yaraiip... Bars Beg erii Qagan at biinta biz biriiniiz, singUm
qoiicuyig birn'miz...": "(We) organized and gave shape to the Az peopie/trihal union... it
was Bars Beg. To him we gave the Qaganal title and our younger sister, the princess (in
marriage)..."
-•J On the role of Maniax, the Sogdian ambassador of the Tiirk to Byzantium, see
Chavannes, Documents, pp. 233 ff. On Sogdian leaders with Turkic titles, see S . G .
KliaStornyi, Drevnvliurkskie runideskic pamiatniki kak istodnik po istorii srednei azii,
Moskva, 1964, pp. 126 ff. On Sogdian social structure and titulature, see O.I. Smirnova,
Oierki iz islorii Sogda, Moskva, 1970, chap. 1,
"Mujmal at-Tavdrfx, p. 101: — ^ • ^ J J ' BartoI'd, "Qieiil o p o e z d k e . . . " . A ' , ser. V I I I , t. i (1899), pp. lOO-IOI; Fauler, Szildgyi,
'•'j' J-Vj j - " ^ j j - J •J'JJ '•>j^ —-'jj u '
It might be added here that a Turko-Viking tic is implicit in the reference in the Islendi-
nagabuc to Yngve Tyrkia canungr "Vngve the King of the Turks"' {see Heinz-Jachim Graf,
T H E RUS" Q A G A N A T E 89
the rest o f this account Is simply a r e w o r k i n g i n t o story f o r m of the data
o f I b n Rusla and others, this reference, after the fashion o f the genre,
may well allude to some kind of biological ci-nnection. The Rus', o f
course, were n o t a T u r k i c people (despite the assertion o f a l - Q a z w i n i
(hat "the Rfls are a large people o f the Turks"***). Nonetheless, one o f
the Rus' dynasties or r u l i n g groupings may well have had Qazar blood (this
might also account f o r a!-Qazwini's statement).
In order to discuss the second possibility, we should first review the
rest o f the data contained In the Islamic accounts o f the Rus' Qaganate.
One o f the major themes o f these notices is the reference to the cir-
cumstance t h a t t h e R u s ' live on an "island" ( J x = - J ' ) i n a "little lake"
( ^ K ^ ^ cf, I b n Rusta, a l - M a q d i s i , G a r d i z i and later authors'*^).
M i r x w a n d relates the story that " X a z a r " gave "ROs" an i s l a n d . T h e
island is described, In the sources, as being cither three, t h i r t y or three
hundred days' j o u r n e y In size. I t is covered w i t h forests and swamps and
possesses, on the w h o l e , an unhealthy climale. F r o m this Island, which
contained a number o f fortified settlements, the Rus' sail f o r t h o n their
ships to raid and capture the Saqaliba, w h o m they sell i n t o slavery at
Bulgiir and Xazaran. This, and the lucrative fur trade i n w h i c h they f i -
gured as middlemen, appear to be their only pursuits. A g r i c u l t u r e was not
practised by them; rather they t o o k w h a t they needed f r o m the Saqaliba.
The account further notes that they are not g o o d horsemen and hence
make a l l their raids by boat. Finally, we are t o l d that their "medicine
m e n " ( - i i " K i -volxvy'/) have the power to pass j u d g e m e n t o n their k i n g
( fs-^LLc ^j^aS=^ ). They also make human sacrflces to their god.
A m o n g s t the Rfls are a group o f Saqaliba w h o serve them.''^
6. W h o or what were these Rus"? It has become clear f r o m recent re-
search that the Rus' o f the n i n t h century should n o t be viewed as an
eihnos or tribe. I b n X u r d a d h b i h ' s oft-quoted c o m m e n t that the ROs are
a " o ' ^ o f the Saqaliba" is misunderstood, may indeed, be trans-
"Vngve Tyrkia Conungr (Yngvi der Tllrken Konig)", 7,eki Vetedi Togan'a Annagan, Istan-
bul, I950-I955, pp. 30-32). As in the Mujmal, we have here a pate reflection in epic garb of
a Viking/ Rus' association with the Turkic world. Given the title, "King of Ttlrkiya", this,
in all likelihood, refers to the Qazar-Rus' Qagan.
"Zakariya b.M.b. MahmQd al-Qazwini, Alhdr al-Bildd. Beirut, 1969, p. 586:
aj_^i ^ ^1 (the RQs) f . Al-Qazwini, in this assertion, is following an older Islamic
geographicD-historical tradition found in the Chester Beatty manuscript of al-ljtaxri, in
ad-Dimaiqi, Abfl'1-Fida and al-ldrisi [see F. Kmielowir/., "Arthaniya-Art3", Folia Orien-
lalia 14 (1973). pp. 242, and 254).
Ibn Kusia, ed. de Goeje, p. 145; al-Maqdisi, ed. Huart, iv, p. 66; Gardizi (in
A///A', p. I8J); jffj^ ahw Zaxoder, KaspHskd svod, ii, p. SO,
Mirxwand, Rau^ai-as-Safel, cited in Zaxoder, Kaspiiskii svod, ii, p. SO.
« Ibn Rusta, ed. de Goeje, pp. 145-146,
 90
latcd as " t r i b e " (as is usally done), but it also denotes "type, kind"''^ as i n
the G r a e c o - L a t i n yevos /genus ( f r o m w h i c h it was b o r r o w e d i n t o
A r a b i c ) . F-Icnce, " i - J L_3_-.oJ i o-^ o - - ^ may just as properly be trans-
lated as "a t y p e / k i n d / g r o u p i n g f r o m a m o n g the ruddy, fair-skinned peo-
ple o f the N o r t h " . T h e m u l t i - e t h n i c nature o f the Rus' was clear to a l -
M a s ' u d i w h o notes, in his Muruj adh-Dhahab, that:
var.: -i^u^jij^jji •ki.\^j,jAA\_a^
^ ^ ^ 1 o-ii - i ^ L ^ i ^ o^^-^^. o j ^ i ' i
"The Rfls (consist) o f numerous peoples composed o f diverse kinds.
A m o n g s t t h e m are a k i n d called al-Lfldh'ana (al-Lfldhgana?) and they
are the most numerous. T h e y frequently visit, for the purpose of trade,
the land o f Spain, Rome and Constantinople".
Rus' (whatever its ultimate origins) was a technical t e r m d e n o t i n g
"trader, merchant-mercenary" of Saqaliba stock, i.e. Scandinavian,
F i n n i c or Slavic ( o r most p r o b a b l y a c o n g l o m e r a t i o n o f a l l three) w h o
plied the V o l g a - O k a and later the Dnepr trade routes.*'The term Rus',
by v i r t u e o f p o l i t i c a l circumstances, became an e t h n o n y m , i n m u c h the
same way as d i d Its cousins vikingr ("pirate, raider" < Viking "Piracy")
and Vaeringi {p\. Vaeringjar, BapAfH , ^ a p a y y o i , d U ^ j < O l d Norse
Kfl'/w"pledge, o a t h , guarantee" = " M e n o f the pledge"*^).
••^ Novosel'tscv, "Vostofinye istoCniki.,.", Drev/JtTWJi. gos., p. 3K4.
Al- Mas'Odi, Muruj. ed. Pellat, i. p. 218. Tlie Liul'dnal Ludhgana have yet to be
satisfactorily identified. See the discussion in Marquart, SireifzUge, pp. 342 ff. V . F .
Minorsky, in his A History of Sharviin and Darband, Cambridge, 1958, p. 150 suggested
the ejnendation of to u ^ ^ f i (*al-Ormilna=Norlhnieji).
J . Brensted, The Vikings, trans. K. Skov, Baltimore, 1965, pp. 267-269; Boba,
Nomads, Northmen and Slavs, p. 108; Ibn Xurdiidhbih, ed. de Goeje, p. 154.
52 Marquart, Streifzuge, p. 346; G. Jones, A History of the F//ri>;gi',Oxford- New Vork-
Toronto, 1968, pp. 76 n. 1, 211, and 246-247; Bronsled, The Vikings, p. 267. On the
S«<,p•Q'^"!in Byzantine service, see V.G. Vasilevskii, Variago-russkaia i variago-angliiskaia
druzina v Kunxiantinopole XI i XIl vv. in his Trudy, SPb., 1908, i. On the Arabic use of
THE RUS'QAGANATE 91
The commercial nature o f the Rus' organization Is clearly seen f r o m
the context o f I b n X u r d a d h b i h ' s notice on the " R o u t e o f the Rfls M e r -
chants" inserted between his notices on the sea and land routes o f the
RadhSniya, a Jewish merchant company. I b n X u r d a d b i h evidently
viewed the Rus' as an essentially similar insiitulion.^^ W e do. not k n o w
whether the Rus' organization was as well-organized and homogeneous'
as the Radhaniya ( p r o b a b l y this was not the case). The Scandinavian
element, w i t h its extensive cotumercial contacts, may have fulfilled some
k i n d of overseeing, c o o r d i n a t i n g f u n c t i o n .
The Rus' were established In a number o f centers (this appears to have
continued even after the take-over o f Kiev, f o r the notices f r o m the a l -
B a l x i ' - ^ a l - I s t a x r i ' ^ I b n H a w q a l t r a d i t i o n speak o f three separate and
independent Rus' k i n g d o m s : Kuyaba ( K i e v ) , SI wiya ( N o v g o r o d ) and
Arlhdniya. Other centers were also, undoubtedly, i n existence*''). T o
w h i c h center are we to ascribe the Qaganate*? Some clues are p r o v i d e d
by the reference to its location on an Island. T h i s is, perhaps, a realistic
t o u c h , in keeping w i t h V i k i n g practices elsewhere. The Vikings used
islands as places o f refuge and bases f o r launching attacks. B i r k a , the
most famous Swedish mercantile center f o r the East-West trade, was
located o n the island o f B j o r k o in Lake M a l a r . I n 842, after a raid on
Nantes, the Vikings wintered at the monastery o f N o i r m o u t i e r , located
on an island (which also happened to be the center o f the salt trade f o r
Western Europe, as well as an i m p o r t a n t center for the wine trade).
After the famous V i k i n g raid of ca. A . H . 229/843-844 on Seville
(Isbiliya), the Vikings settled on the Isia M e n o r at the m o u t h o f the
G u a d a l q u i v i r . A d - D i m i s q i notes that the Rus' have islands i n the "Sea o f
the \<ixm^jj (yViiranklWarang),v.'h.[c\\s relatively rare, see YaqQt, Mu'jam, ed. von
Wiisienfcid, i. p.34, and the commenis of Minorsky {Hudud\. 181-182, 422, and 432).
" In this regard, see the interesting comments of O. Prilsak, "An Arabic Text on the
Trade Route of the Corporation of ar-RQs in the Second Half of the Ninth Century",
Follu Orlenlalia 12 (1970), pp. 241-259. Pntsak suggests, quite plausibly, ttiat the Rfls re-
placed the Radhaniya in Eastern Europe (p. 243). He further suggests that the interpola-
tion of the RCIs notice in Ihe middle of the description of the Riidhiiniya routes was not the
work of Ibn Xurdadhbih but rather was part of the continual up-dating of documents of
tite Caliphal chancellery dealing with commerce. Some (still anonymous) official, noting
the similarity of routes, apparently made a marginal note on the ROs in the document
dealing with the Radh9niya. Subsequently, other officials (among them Ibn XurdSdhbih,
who drew on these documents for his work), routinely incoporated this note into the main
body of the text {see pp. 243-244). For the various uses of Ihe term Saqlab, Saqaliba, see
pp. 248-250.
s-i Al-lstaxri, ed. de Goeje, pp. 225-226; Ibn yawqaF, ed. Kramers, ti, p. 397. Rus'
sources may have preserved the tradition of other centers, ef, the knialeslva of Rogvolod
at Polotsk and Tur in Turov {PSRL. i, p. 75). Cf. the comments of Kliut^evskii (V.O. K.Iiu-
ievskii. Kurs russkoi Islorii. Moskva, 1956, i, pp. 138-139) and Tixomirov (M.N. Tixo-
mirov, Drevnerusskie goroda. Moskva, 1956, pp. 15, 305-306, and 364) who downplays the
"foreign" element.
 92 T H E RUS" Q A G A N A T E 93

MayQtis" (Macotis, Azov) which they Inhabit** (this notice probably p o t a m i a " . * ' ' A l - l s t a x r i ' ^ I b n H a w q a l place the RQs "between Bulgar and
refers to the tenth c e n t u r y ) . the Saqaliba, o n the river A t i l " {i.e. the V o l g a ).*^ G i v e n the commer-
N u m e r o u s suggestions have been put f o r w a r d regarding the location cial interests o f the Rus' and their j o u r n e y s to Bulgar, Xazaran and Bag-
of the "island o f the Rus": Aldeigjuborg, N o v g o r o d , "Scandinavia", dad (via the V o l g a - C a s p i a n r o u t e ) , this w o u l d be the logical l o c a t i o n f o r a
Kiev, T m u t o r o k a n ' — the Taman Peninsula and the "North-east of major settlement.
Rus' ".*<' The earliest Scandinavian merchant settlements were far In the

Without examining each o f these possibihties (this has been done N o r t h : A l d e i g j u b o r g (Staraia L a d o g a ) , i n F i n n i c t e r r i t o r y . F r o m here

before), let us rather analyze the scanty data of the sources. The routes led to b o t h the V o l g a and D n e p r , aUhough it is clear that In the

description o f a s w a m p y , forested island ( i n either the literal or figu- early p e r i o d the f o r m e r was m u c h m o r e i m p o r t a n t t h a n the latter.*^

rative sense, A r a b a u t h o r s use the term a a l - J a z i r a ' w i t h refer- The Volga route was In use f r o m at least the eighth century and un-

ence to large areas s u r r o u n d e d by bodies o f water, cf.. Al-Jazira d o u b t e d l y earlier. T h e O k a was the c o n n e c t i n g l i n k w i t h the Volga and,

" M e s o p o t a m i a " ) p o i n t s to the N o r t h , perhaps the Volga-Oka"meso- not surprisingly, approximately one third of the dirhams found In
Eastern Europe are in the Oka basin. The Soviet archaeologist,
M o n g a l t , has suggested that the listing o f subject peoples In the letter
" Al-Va'qflb!, KilSb cil-Buhlan. cd. M.J. de Goeje, Leiden, 1892, p. 354, identifies the
o f the Qazar ruler, Joseph, is really a m e r c h a n t i t i n e r a r y o f the Volga-
Northmen raiders of Seville with the Rfls, cf.. discussion in Vasiliev, First Russian Attack.
pp. 3 ff.; Lewicki, innlla arabskie. \. pp. 27!)-27L See also Brondsted, The Vikings, pp. 38- Oka-Kiev-Novgorod route: pu-ni('flt3r/a5J T A V I I (Bulgar) "INID

39; Jones, History of ihe Vikings, pp. 211-217 for these and other examples. Ad-DimiSqi, Suvdr),^X>^>^\{ (Arxsu) \>'>r\~\)L (S rmxs=Ceremls) n''naJT (Vanan-
Kitdb Nitxbat ad-OiihrJi •AJcVili a!-Barr wa'I-Bahr. ed. F. Mehren, Sl'b., 1866, p. 262. //7=Viatiei) TllD (s vur - Severiane) 11 • ' i ' ? ^ SI viun = Slaviane o f
Brondsted. The Vikings, pp. 66-69 suggests that two permanent Scandinavian Novgorod.)^"
Khaghanates (were) set up at "Novgorod and Kiev!"; Riasanovsky. "The Embassy of
838..." JGO 10 (1962), pp. 5 ff.; G. Vernadsky, Ancient Russia. New Haven. 1943, pp. 278- T h e r e ' a r e n u m e r o u s gorodisca a l o n g the banks o f the O k a , i n c l u d -
286; idem. Origins, pp. 174-226; Novosel'tsev, "Vosloiinye istoaniki...",/>('i7;i-i(m.,ijav., pp. ing an i m p o r t a n t one significantly called the " K a z a r s k o e gorodl2(!e".
403-404; I'. Smirnov, Voh'kyi ,<liax i slarodavni rusy. Kyiv, 1928, chaps. 5-6; Vasiliev, The origins o f these gorodiSda are to be sought i n pre-Qazar times and
Firsl Russian Aliack. pp. 66-69, 173-175, and 177-182; V.V. Mavrodin, Ocerki islorii
well-beyond. Nonetheless, they were in use up through the Qazar
SSSR. Drevnerusskoe gosudarstvo. Moskva. 1956, pp. 84-S6; V.A, MoSin, "Nadalo Rusi".
Byzanlinoslavica 4 (1931), pp. 293-296. period. Many of them follow the pattern o f the "white- fortresses"
It should be noted lliat Ihe Old Norse name of Novgorod, l/olmgardr. means "Island- {Sarkels) k n o w n to be p a r t o f the Qazar defense system in the south
garth" (Jones. History of the Vikings, p. 248). BartoI'd ("Arabskie izvesliia o russax", (they were b u i l t o n capes, j u t t i n g out i n t o waterways, s u r r o u n d e d by
Socineiiiiti. ]\, Moskva. 1963. pp. 822-824) favors the identincalion of the Rus' island moats and walls). P. Smirnov has put forward the suggestion t h a t
with Novgorod. This view is shared by Minorsky ("//liToo' of Sharvan and Darband. p.
they were p a r t o f the fortification system o f the Rus' Qaganate.^i
109). There are several difficulties with this formulation, although it is appealing philo-
logically. First of all. the Rus' Qaganate must have existed in an area closer to Qazar
control. There is no evidence that Novgorod was ever under Qazar domination and its geo- "Smirnov, Volz'kyi sliax. pp. 119-123.
graphical location makes that possibility even more remote. Secondly, native Novgoro- Al-lstaxri, ed. de Goeje. p. 10; Ibn HawqaP. ed. Kramers, i. p. 15.
dian sources have preserved no record of a Rus' Qaganate. Given Novgorod's "nation- " Broiidsted, The Vikings, pp. 64-65; Jones, History of the Vikings, pp. 250-253.
alism", frequent conflicts with Kiev (and later Moscow), etc., all of which gave rise to an Mongait (A. L . Mongait, Riazanskaiu zemlia. Moskva, 1961, p. 96) completely downplays
historical literature with trends divergent from those of Kiev (and Moscow); it is hard to the importance of Scandinavians in the Volga-Oka zone. He also insists {op. cit.. p. 87) on
believe that the Novgorodians would have ignored such powerful, polcmico-jdeological the greater antiquity and importance of the Volga route. V.V. Kropotkin ("Torgovye sviazi
material as this. Volzskoi Bolgarii v X v. po numizmali&skim dannym". Drevnie slaviane i ix sosedi.ed. iu.
As for the Tmutorokan' principality (the name is clearly Turkic, torokan' being the V, Kuxarenko, Moskva, 1970, p. 149) has demonstrated that the commercial tics of the
Eastern Slavic treatment of tarqan. a well-known Turkic title), its origins and history con- Dnepr, Bug and Dnestr with Qazaria and Volga Bulgaria began not earlier than the tenth
stitute one of the thorniest questions in Rus' history. For a partial bibliography of the century. The link between the two zones was provided by the Oka route which nourished
question, see Gy. Moravcsik, Byzaniinonircica^, (Berlin, 1958), ij. p. 297. II is clear, how- for a brief time. The main Rus'-Volga Bulgaria route, according to Kropotkin, was the
ever, that Tmutorokan', which was readily accessible by sea from Constantinople, could Volga- Kliaz'ma.
not have been the point of origin of the 838 embassy; oliierwise there would have been no Kokovisov. Evreisko-xiizarskaia perepiska, p. 31 (Hebrew text), pp. 98-100 (trans,
need for the detour to Ingclheim. In al-Mas'fldi's time {ca. 940"s), the Rus" were, however, commentary); Mongait, Riazanskaia zemlia. pp. 87-95.
a considerable presence in the Pontus which he even calls the ^jj-i- (Rahr ar-Rfls) (•i Smirnov, Volz'kyi Sliax, p. 126; Mongait, Riazanskaia zemlia. pp. 31, and 78 (for a
"Sea of the Rfls" because "no one other than they travels it. They are sellled along some of description of the gorodmi). Cf.S.A. Pletneva, Ot kodevii k gorodam, Moskva. 1967, pp.
the coasts" (al-Mas'fldi, A/i/riy, ed. I'ellat, i, p. 216). 25-50.for a discussion of the "White fortresses" in the Pontic zone.
 94
7. A . L . M o n g a i t has Identified the Rus' o f the Volga-Oka w i t h the
" t h i r d Rus' center", A r t h a n i y a ^ - (around w h i c h a considerable liter-
ature has developed). He sees in ArthSntya a ViatiCI t r i b a l center. The
latter, it may be recalled, remained tributaries o f the Qazars u n t i l Svia-
toslav's 965 campaign and f o r m a l l y submitted to the Klevan ruler only
in 9 6 6 . "
A l t h o u g h we cannot slate w i t h assurance, as M o n g a i t does, that the
V i a t i i i are the inhabitants o f A r t h a n i y a , i t is clear t h a t A r t h a n i y a is to
be located o n or near the Volga. T h i s is evidenced by the fact that
Arabo-Jewish documents f r o m the Mediterranean, an area very m u c h
interested i n the trade w i t h the " N o r t h e r n Lands" (especially fur,
amber, castoreum^'*) refer t o the V o l g a as Aiiha and furs Imported
from that region were termed arthi.^^
In our view, the A r a b i c ' i ^ i - i ^ l (which has been interpreted
varlously^^), may w e l l mask a f o r m *Ruthdmya (Initial rujro in foreign
words in A r a b i c Is often treated this way, r/C, A r a b i c a " ^ L - « ^ l Annd-
nus for the Byzantine Greek Paijiauos). Thus, could be
• R u t h a n t y a / R o t h a n i y a . i.e. Ruthenia, the Rus'.
Unfortunately, we cannot determine w i t h certainty whether
A r t h a n i y a ( w h i c h Is described i n a l - l s t a x r i I b n H a w q a l as having Its
o w n k i n g , and was noted f o r its inhospitality — a topos f o r the
N o r t h e r n , p r e d o m i n a n t l y F i n n i c regions) is to be identified w i t h the
Rus' Qaganate. Geographical considerations and the fact that o f the
three major R u s ' c e n t e r s mentioned i n the A r a b i c accounts, it alone
does not figure In subsequent R i u r l k l d , Kievan history ( i n d i c a t i n g , per-
" For a brief review of the literature and current theories regarding this iiroblcm, see
W. Swoboda. "Arfl-Arisa-Al-Artanija", Folia Orienialia 1] (1969), pp. 291-296.
" PSRL. i. p. 65; Mongait, Riazanskaia zemlia. pp. 104-108; Novosel'tscv, "Vostoi-
nye istoCniki...", Drevneruss. gos.. pp. 417-419.
f"" See T . Lewicki, "ficrivaitis arabes du I X ' au X V I ' sifecle traitant de I'ambre jaune de
la Balticjue et de son importation en pays arabes". Folia Orenlalia 4 (1962-1963) and his
"Studia nad zridtami arabskimi", Slavia Anilqtia 12 (1965).
" S.D. Goitein, tellers of medieval Jewish Traders. Princeton, 1973, p. 69.
C/.the interesting hypothesis of O.Pritsak,"TheName of the Third Kind of Rus'and
of their city". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (April, 1967), pp. 2-9, where he suggests
that Arthaniya = *Aryan ( V U / i = * 'i^u.^ ) , a Finnic tribe in the Viatka region.
F . Kmietowicz, who identifies Arthaniya with Staraia Ladoga, suggests several other
possibilities. He views Arthaniya as deriving from either some Scandinavian form based on
Ausir {"... le terme employi dans les sources scandinaves pour diSsigner la totaiite des
regions septentrionales de I'Europe orientale") or Finno-Ugric on >*artu = Scandinavian
borg = Aldeigjuborg {"Ic nom scandinave d'unc ville forte, capitale du territoire que nous
identifions avec Artaniya-Arta, c.-a-d. le nom de Staraya Ladoga, etait, entre autres: Alde-
gyuborg", sec Kmietowic/,, "Artaniya-Arta", Folia Orientalla 14 (1973), pp. 258-260).
Smirnov i^Volz kyi Sliax, pp. 175-178,194 ff.) places the three Rus' centers of al-Islaxri-.
Ibn Hawqal on the Volga, which is unacceptable.
T H E RUS' Q A G A N A T E 95
haps, that some disaster ended its existence —- this has a bearing o n the
Rus' Qaganate, see below), points, however, i n this d i r e c t i o n .
P. S m i r n o v , i n his Interesting study o f the Volga route and the
ancient Rus', expressed the view that the Rus' Qaganate appeared only
briefly perhaps a r o u n d 830, and was destroyed, w i t h i n a short time, by
the m i g r a t i n g P r o t o - H u n g a r i a n s . " T h i s Is derived f r o m the legends o f
the migrations o f the Hungarians as recorded by the Anonymous Nota-
rius of K i n g Bela (Gy. Gorffy suggests that he was a certain Magisier
Peter, the Notariusoi Bela 111, reg. 1 172-1196, w h o wrote ca. I200^»).
A c c o r d i n g to the Notariiis, the seven chieftains o f the P r o t o - H u n -
garians left their ancient homeland o f Scithia or Dentumoger f o r the
West. They passed t h r o u g h deserta loca {i.e. steppes), crossed the Volga
(fluvium Etyl) and reached the "land o f Ruscia w h i c h is called Susu-
dal". They, then, went o n to " K y e u " and f r o m there u l t i m a t e l y to
Panonla.^'^ A l t h o u g h a number o f movements, i n this account, are tele-
scoped Into one and Dentumoger (DentHmogyer) Is rather to be identi-
fied w i t h the P r o t o - H u n g a r i a n sojourn o n the D o n , after the move-
ment o f their t r i b a l u n i o n from BaSkiria,'" the basic outlines o f the
migrations o f the Hungarians have been accurately captured. The p o i n t
of origin of the m i g r a t i o n was In the lands to the East o f Volga B u l -
garia, i.e. present-day Basklrla in the U r a l steppes. I n the course o f
"Smirnov, Volz'kyi Sliax, pp. 132-145.
«Gy. Gytirffy, ed., ^ magyarok elddeirol es a honfoglaldsral, Budapest, 1958, p. 95.
MThe text can be found in Pauler, Szilagyi, MHK, pp. 401-402:
"Anno dominice incarnationis dccclxxxiiii, sicut in annalibus continctur cronicis,
septem principales persone qui hetumoger vocantur, egressi sunt de terra Scithia versus
occidecUem, inter quos Almus dux filius Ugck de generc Magog regis, vir bone memorie,
dominus et consiliarius eorum, una cum uxore sua et filio suo Arpad, et duobus filiis
ilulec aviinculi siii, scilicet Zuard et Cadusa, nccnon cum multitudine magna popiiloruni
non numerata federalorum de eadem regione egressus est. Venientes autem dies pliirimos
per deserta loca, et fluvium Etyl super lulbou sedenies ritu paganismo transnalaverunt, et
nunquam viam civitatis vel habitaculi invenerunt. Ncc labores hominum comederunl, ut
mos era! eorum, sed carnibus et piscibus vescebanlur. donee in Rusciam, que Susudal
vocatur, venurunt. Et iuvenes eorum fere cotlidie eranl in venatione. Llnde a die illo usque
ad presens Hungarii sunt pre ceteris gentibus mcliores in venatu. Et sic Almus dux cum
omnibus suis venientes terram intraverunt Ruscie, que vocatur Susudal.
De Rutenia
Po.siquam autem ad paries Rutenorimi pcrvenerunt. sine aliqua contraditione usque ad
civitatem Kyeu transierunt, et dum per civitatem Kyeu transissent,fluvium,Deneper trans-
navigaiido, voluerimt regnum Rutenorum sibi subiugare..."
For a discussion of the geography of the route depicted here, see Gy. Gyorffy, Kronikuink
cs a magyar dstdrtenet, Budapest, 1948, pp. 57-59.
''"Sec Gy. Nemeth, "A Baskir ftildi inagyar 6shaz;\r61", itlet es Tudomdny 13 (1966), p.
599, cf the mention, .by Ibn al-Faqih, of the"Turk"(= Proto-Hungarian) city of Dana (=
Don), Lewicki, Zrodta arabskie, ii 1, p. 42 (Arabic text of Ibn al-Faqih) and p. 126
(commentary). See also, in this regard, Lewicki's article, "Tiirkische Stadl Diina nach
eincm Reriehl des Arabischen Gcographen Ibn al-Faqih", Folia Orlenlalia 13 (1971).

their passage t h r o u g h the Volga lands ( o n , t h e Western bank) the
P r o t o - H u n g a r i a n t r i b a l u n i o n penetrated the northeastern lands o f
what was later the Rus' state, the terra Ruscie (Suzdal', lying o f f the
Volga, is specifically mentioned) and then went to the S o u t h .
The 838 Rhos embassy to Constantinople was an aid-seeking mis-
sion. I t may be recalled that at this time the Qazars were, w i t h Byzan-
tine aid, constructing Sarkel, a major fort o n the D o n , against the o n -
coming P r o t o - H u n g a r i a n s . ' " T h i s was part o f a j o i n t B y z a n t i n e . Qazar
effort to c o n t a i n the P r o t o - H u n g a r i a n t r i b a l u n i o n and protect the
Crimea and the "Climates", Byzantium's intelligence center for her
N o r t h e r n neighbors. A Rus' embassy to Constantinople, given the close
Qazar-Byzantine cooperation at this time, could o n l y have been car-
ried out w i t h Qazar consent. W h i l e we cannot determine whether the
embassy o f 838 was, indeed, prompted by the H u n g a r i a n pressure
(Prudentius, o u r source, w r o t e after the event o n the basis of what was
remembered in the West o f the Rus' visit to Ingelheim), certainly the
circumstance that the Rus' were prevented f r o m r e t u r n i n g to their
home by an overland route because o f the movements o f a nomadic
people, w o u l d p o i n t strongly to the P r o t o - H u n g a r i a n s .
The key to the p r o b l e m may He here. W e k n o w that Qazaria and
Byzantium were deeply concerned w i t h the P r o t o - H u n g a r i a n m i g r a -
tion (Sarkel and the elevation o f Cherson and the "Climates" to themal
status are eloquent testimony to that) w h i c h posed a threat not only to
Qazaria, but to the security o f the entire N o r t h e r n f r o n t i e r o f Byzan-
t i u m . Thus, we may pose the question: given the little we k n o w o f the
chronology o f the Rus' Qaganate (our sources a l l p o i n t to the early
n i n t h century; It Is no longer mentioned In the tenth century data), did
the Rus' Qaganate, a vassal state o f the Qazar Qaganate, come i n t o
being as part o f a larger Qazar (and ultimately Byzantine) defense net-
w o r k against the movements o f the P r o t o - H u n g a r i a n s f r o m t h e B a § k i r -
V o l g a - O k a - M e s f i e r a region? Certainly, the situation m i g h t well have
dictated cooperation between the rulers o f A t d and the V o l g a - O k a
Rus'. The importance o f this close cooperation was underscored
t h r o u g h the granting o f the Qaganal title to the Rus' ruler and was,
perhaps, further enhanced by m a t r i m o n i a l ties. I n this way, the Qazar
Qagan hoped to achieve an intimate identification o f Qazar-Volga Rus'
Interests. The apparent short life o f the Qaganate may be explained by
the fact that, w i t h i n a few years, yet another, new set o f circumstances
came about. The Proto-Hungarians, whose m i g r a t i o n had been caused
by the Pefienegs (who were also enemies o f the Qazars, the latter using
the Oguz to apply pressure on them), soon came to terms w i t h the
Qazars. They were Incorporated Into the Qazar state ( m u t u a l hostility
' I GoIdL-n, "The Migration.^ of the Oguz", AO 4 (1972), p p . 61-67.
THE RUS'QAGANATE 97
towards the Pecenegs aided this). Indeed, the A r p a d dynasty came to
power under the Qazar aegis. The alliance, however, was uneasy. Qazar
power was ebbing and dissident Qazar elements, constituting t h e m -
selves under the name Qatar ("rebels"), j o i n e d the H u n g a r i a n t r i b a l
u n i o n in the course o f the n i n t h century.'^ By the late n i n t h century, the
H u n g a r i a n t r i b a l u n i o n was pushed i n t o P a n n o n i a " and w i t h It the
reason for the use o f the Rus' as an I m p o r t a n t counter-balance to the
Hungarians was gone. Indeed, the Rus' V o l g a - O k a center (perhaps
A r t h a n i y a ) may well have been submerged earlier by the H u n g a r i a n
movement.
* * *
A l t h o u g h it is d o u b t f u l that the Rus' Qaganate survived the n i n t h
century, the m e m o r y o f It lingered o n . Whether I l a r i o n and the author
o f the Slovo o polku Igoreve were addressing themselves to the dynas-
tic descendants o f Rus' Qagans or s i m p l y evoking a m e m o r y and re-
w o r k i n g i t f o r their o w n literary and p o l i t i c a l purposes is unclear. The
complete absence o f any reference to the Rus' Qagans In the R i u r l k l d ,
Kiev and Novgorod-centered letopisi w o u l d appear to favor the latter
supposition.
I n s u m m a t i o n , the Rus' Qaganate appeared under the Qazar aus-
pices as a vassal Qaganate o f the Qagans o f A t i l , perhaps connected by
m a t r i m o n i a l ties. M o r e I m p o r t a n t l y , the political circumstances that
gave b i r t h to i t , i.e. the threat posed by the migrations o f the P r o t o -
H u n g a r i a n t r i b a l u n i o n , either destroyed It In the course o f their m i g r a -
t i o n or created a new p o l i t i c a l situation (the P r o t o - H u n g a r i a n - Q a z a r
alliance) In w h i c h Qazar reliance on the Rus' ( p r o b a b l y a basically
unstable relationship as the Rus' Caspian raids indicate), faded Into the
background or vanished entirely. T h i s w o u l d explain the "disappear-
ance" o f the Rus' Qaganate. The relationship o f the Rus' Qagans i f any,
to the R i u r l k i d s o f Kiev has yet to be established.
Iu general, . w the articles by K. C/.cgledy("A magyarsdg Dfil-Oroszorszdghan") and
J , Deer ("A honfoglalo magyarsag") in A Magyarsdg ostdrtenete, ed. Ligeti. On the
Qabars, see Nemeth, HMK, pp. 233 ff. The basic source is Constantinus Porphyrogenitus,
DAI. ed. Moravcsik. Jenkins, chaps. 38-40.
•'^Constantinus Porphyrogenitus, DAI. ed. Moravcsik, Jenkins, pp. 170 ff.