FEATURES OF THE ARAB-KHAZAR RELATIONS IN THE “HISTORY OF TABARI”

Abstract

The issue of studying and comparative analysis of the historical materials of Tabari’s chronicle has long been discussed in literature, because it also contains valuable information on the fate of the peoples and state formations of the Muslim East. Researchers agree that the introduction of the prose material of this book into academic circulation could shed light on many aspects of the consistent development and formation of dynasties in the ancient times. However, the narrative tradition of Arabic literature did not allow presenting the material about a particular historical or cultural object in the context of the chronicle. Based on this, in the pre-Islamic part of the Tabari chronicle an important discussion topic is the definition of borders, history, ethnic and religious composition, state structure, diplomatic relations, location of cities and other issues concerning the Khazars. Written monuments are considered a valuable source for determining the zone of distribution of the Khazars and Khazaria, although the boundaries were constantly changing following the changes in the balance of power between the Khazars and neighboring states. In the first centuries the struggle of two empires — Byzantium and Sasanian Iran for dominance in the Middle East — began to increasingly influence the establishment of borders. Later, the Arab Caliphate joined in this struggle against Khazaria to establish control in the Transcaucasia and the Black Sea region. The Tabari chronicle preserved a huge amount of narrative material about the role of the Khazars in the development of the past centuries’ events. Plans of the Abbasid caliphs in the 8–9th centuries undergone major changes due to the resistance of the Khazars. Further clarification of the role of the Khazars and Khazaria is possible only based on a critical analysis of Tabari’s information in comparison with the materials of late medieval authors.