Руси vs кармати: новий погляд на події в Барда’а в 40-х роках X століття

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the Rus’ military campaign against Bardha’a, a major political center in Azerbaijan in the era of the Abbasid Caliphate. This was the military action of the Rus’ in the Caspian region, which found the most complete consecration in the written sources of the East. In the context of political events, the arrival of Rus’ in Azerbaijan should be attributed to August 944, and the departure from there at the turn of summer–autumn 945. The likely participants of the campaign were contingents from the army of Prince Igor of Kyiv, who in 944 went on a campaign against Byzantium, which ended in peace negotiations. The campaign against Bardha’a took place with the support of Khazaria. Rus’ arrived in Azerbaijan by ship, so their most likely route is: the Black Sea – the Kerch Strait – the Sea of Azov – the Don – portage to Sarkel – the Volga – the Caspian Sea – the Kura. The version about the land route through the North Caucasus is not valid, and through the lands of the Byzantine vassals of Abkhazia, Kakheti, and Hereti is not confirmed by source information. The Rus’ campaign against the Bardha’a became possible in the context of a serious crisis that the Caliphate was experiencing. One of the manifestations of the crisis was the growing popularity of opposition religious trends. Ismailism occupied a special place among such trends, including in the form of Qarmatian teaching. The Emir Marzuban, an opponent of the Rus in Bardha’a, considered himself as belonging to this teaching. Countering the Ismaili was one of the main tasks of the policy of the Sunni ruling elites of the Samanid, Khwarazm, Shirvan, and Derbent States. In the middle of the 10th century, it was these Islamic policies that had stable ties with the Khazars. This circumstance explains the neutrality of the Muslim community of Khazaria in providing the squadron of Rus’ with the opportunity to enter the Caspian Sea and attack the possessions of Marzuban.