Farda Asadov | ADA University (original) (raw)
Papers by Farda Asadov
Journal of Islamic Studies, 2002
Orientalistica
The publication is a commented translation from Arabic into Russian of an extract from the book b... more The publication is a commented translation from Arabic into Russian of an extract from the book by Hilal al-Sabi (Abū'l-Ḥusayn Hilāl b. Muḥassin b. Ibrahīm al- Ṣābi 969–1056 AD) “Kitāb al-Wuzarā’ ” (The Book of Wazirs. The extract comprises an account about the circumstances and conditions of a lease agreement between the wazir of the Caliph al- Mu‘tadid billah (r. 892–902 AD) and a certain Muhammad at-Tai concerning the fertile lands of Central and Southern Iraq. The translation is introduced by a preface, which outlines the political and economic situation in the caliphate in the year of the accession of the caliph al-Mu‘tadid to the throne and explains the reasons for the emergence of the tax-farming deals during the rule of the Abbasid caliphs. The extract also provides the description of the circumstances of the agreement as well as provides the actual text of the document. Altogether they describe the relations between the government officials and the tax-farming dealers i...
Orientaistica, 2021
The Historical Continuum of Jerusalem: the Inseparability of Time and Space, Past and Present, Hi... more The Historical Continuum of Jerusalem: the Inseparability of Time and Space, Past and Present, History and Politics.
Over the long centuries and nowadays the historical concept and political status of Jerusalem remain the most acute problem of relations between the peoples and states of the Middle East, Arabs and Jews, Israel and the Arab Palestinian state. The poignancy of the problem, the arguments of the opposing sides, are mainly rooted in conflicting interpretations of the history of Jerusalem and its holy places.
The article presents a view of the history of Jerusalem as a process that began before the formation of the historical consciousness of the Arabs and Jews, but used to continuously influence its shaping during the struggle for the city between powerful political forces standing behind the claims of various congregations. The article examines the written evidence of the shrines of Jerusalem that existed before the construction of the First Temple; selected archaeological data are used for additional verification of written sources. Recent proposals for a solution to the political status of Jerusalem are placed in the context of ideas about its cultural and historical significance.
Particular attention is paid to the importance of Jerusalem in the history of the formation of religious doctrine and ritualism in Islam; a distinctive opinion is substantiated by the author concerning the reasons of the initial orientation of the Muslim prayer ritual towards Jerusalem; the existence of perceptions of the shrines of Jerusalem as sacred objects, recognized in the religious and ritual traditions of the Semitic peoples - the ancestors of Jews and Arabs, - is established.
On the ground of research findings the inseparability of history, culture, spatial limits and political status of the city of Jerusalem as an organic whole and a system is argued, the breach of the balance of which is claimed to inevitably destroy the integrity of the characteristics of Jerusalem in the history of the region, various peoples and all of humanity.
The search for a solution to the Jerusalem problem is seen as interaction and the development of a model that recognizes and balances three factors of influence: ideas about the importance of Jerusalem in the national historical narrative of Arabs and Jews; the concept that asserted the consideration of the beginning of the cultural history of Jerusalem as a common Middle Eastern religious center; and the range of various political solutions proposed for the settlement of the problems of disputed territories in international relations with the assumption of feasibility of fundamentally new models of solution.
Key words: Jerusalem, space and time in antiquity and the Middle Ages, Semitic mythology, the First Temple, qibla, the political status of Jerusalem.
Tarix və mədəniyyət. Faktlar və dəyərlər. Akademik Nailə Vəlixanlının yubileyinə həsr olunmuş məqalələr toplusu / Məsul redaktor F.R.Cabbarov. Bakı: “Nurlar” Nəşriyyat-Poliqrafi ya Mərkəzi, 2020. – 656 s., 2020
Economic aspects of the transition from a tribal militia to a professional army in the Arab Calip... more Economic aspects of the transition from a tribal militia to a professional army in the Arab Caliphate (VII - IX centuries)
The article deals with the evidence of Arab sources on military reforms in Arab caliphate and transition from tribal organization to the system of paid regular army composed of ethnically various warriors. The economic aspects of the transition, availability of financial resources, gradual transition to the system of military land beneficiaries are specifically addressed in the paper.
![Research paper thumbnail of Асадов, Ф.М. "Сведения Арабских Авторов Ибн Хордадбеха И Ал-Масуди о Транскаспийских торговых операциях хазар и русов в IХ- X вв. [In Russian]. // Azərbaycan Elmlər Akademiyasının Z.M.Bünyadov adına Şərqşünaslıq İnstitutu "Elmi Araşdırmalar" X (2011): ss. 315-21.](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/65970013/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Evidence of Arab geographers Ibn Khordadbeh and al-Masudi about Transcaspian trade operations in IX-X centuries, 2011
The article deals with controversial evidence of Arab sources about trade routes operated by Khaz... more The article deals with controversial evidence of Arab sources about trade routes operated by Khazar merchants and Jewish tradesmen named “rahdaniyya’. Insightful analysis of the evidence enables to conclude that throughout IX century the trade routes traversed the Caspian Sea and were maintained due to close commercial relationship between “rus” and Khazars. Obscure internal policy shifts in Khazaria might have resulted in increasing hostility between trading partners, and consequently military inroads of “rus’ into the heartland of Muslim territories in the lands of contemporary Azerbaijan and South Caspian littoral lands of Iran.
Acta Via Serica, Vol. 4, No 1, pp. 1-24, 2019
The Khazar state survived the bloody wars with the Arab Caliphate of the 7th-8th centuries CE, b... more The Khazar state survived the bloody wars with the Arab Caliphate of the 7th-8th centuries CE, but had to withdraw from Caucasian Albania, the present territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. A trade partnership was established between former rival powers in the region that allows to call the period after the end of the Arab-Khazar wars up to the time of the collapse of the Khazar state in the middle of the 10th century an era of Arab-Khazar partnership and domination on the Silk Road. This article highlights the impact made by geopolitical shifts of the time upon international trade tracks and particularly on the development of trade facilities, infrastructure, and local production in Azerbaijan, which became a major transit country of goods from the north to markets in the Muslim Near East.
Review of a book on evolution of the Qazaqliq social practice and institution in Eurasian steeps ... more Review of a book on evolution of the Qazaqliq social practice and institution in Eurasian steeps and the formation of Qazaq (Kazakh) people.(In English)
Review of a book on evolution of the Qazaqliq social practice and institution in Eurasian steeps ... more Review of a book on evolution of the Qazaqliq social practice and institution in Eurasian steeps and the formation of Qazaq (Kazakh) people.(In Russian)
Translated title: "Turkic population of Caucasian Albania in Sassanian period (5th-7th centuries ... more Translated title: "Turkic population of Caucasian Albania in Sassanian period (5th-7th centuries CE)"
The article deals with the evidence of earliest emergence of Eurasian nomads in the South Caucasus and their penetration to this region. Data of written sources are reviewed to prove the appearance of Turks in the region before traditionally accepted date of 370 CE at the time of the first coming of Huns to the region. Various information from written historical monuments is scrutinized to highlight the place of Turkic nomads in the ethno-political structure of Caucasian Albania. Origins and locations of some important place names in Caucasian Albania are clarified.
Several theories about the ancestry of the Khazars and the origins of the Khazar state have been... more Several theories about the ancestry of the Khazars and the origins of the Khazar state have been suggested to date. None of them provides a comprehensive solution for the controversial data of the written sources on the early history of the Khazars. This article investigates a possible link between the title of Kagan-Bek of the Dep¬uty Kagan of the Khazars and a similar title Ellac/Ilek of the Akatsir-Huns. This study of the title argues for statehood and political culture connections between the earliest Turkic tribes of Western Eurasia and the Khazars and Turks of Central Asia.
The article highlights the controversy in the Soviet historiography of the Khazars of the second ... more The article highlights the controversy in the Soviet historiography of the Khazars of the second half of the 20th century about the duration of political domination of the Khazars in the South Caucasus. It is pointed out that the solution of the problem is coupled with the establishment of reliability of local Caucasian sources' sources of early Khazar campaigns in the Sasanian period. Additional arguments are provided from Arab sources about the links of the Khazars with the Turks in the Southern Caspian region and in the Caucasus during the reign of Shakhinshahs Firuz, Kawad and Khosrov Anushirwan.
Сул и Чола – два топонима из разных историографических традиций. Среди ис-следователей средневеко... more Сул и Чола – два топонима из разных историографических традиций. Среди ис-следователей средневековой истории Кавказской Албании и ее взаимоотношений с кочевниками практически нет разногласий по поводу того, что эти термины являются Sasanian fortifications in the NorthEastern borderland of the Caucasian Albania with nomadic peoples have been known in historical records written in Armenian language under the name of Chola pass, Chola gates, and Chola fortress. There is an agreement among scholars that the Armenian Chola used to be transliterated in early Arab sources as Sul. The present article argues for the identity of Sul in the Caucasus with the geographic and ethnic name Sul reported by early Arab historical works and geographers concerning the SouthEastern Caspian littoral province Gorgan (Jurjan). Scrupulous analysis of data from Arab sources and finds of archaeological excavations of Derbent fortifications enable to assert strengthening of Sul fortress as a part of the Derbent defense system construction under Khosrow I Anushirvan (531–579) as well as resettlement of a group of Turkic nobility from Gorgan to the newly constructed fortress to safeguard the Sasanian borders in the Caucasus. Сасанидские укрепления на северо-восточной границе Кавказской Албании с кочевни-ками известны по армяноязычным источникам под названием прохода, врат и крепости Чола. Принято считать, что арабские авторы передавали этот термин в своих географи-ческих и исторических произведениях в форме Сул. В предлагаемом исследовании устанав-ливается связь между топонимом Сул на Кавказе и созвучными географическими и этниче-скими терминами, встречающимися в сведениях арабских авторов о южно-прикаспийской области Джурджан (Горган). Анализ текстов ранних арабских историков и географов, а также материалы археологии средневековых дербентских фортификаций позволяют сде-лать вывод об укреплении крепости Сул в процессе возведения дербентского оборонитель-ного комплекса при Хосрове I Ануширване (531–579) и о заселении крепости выходцами из тюркского населения Южно-Прикаспийской области Джурджан с целью охраны сасанид-ской границы на Кавказе.
Sasanian fortifications in the North-Eastern borderland of the Caucasian Albania with nomadic peoples have been known in historical records written in Armenian language under the name of Chola pass, Chola gates, and Chola fortress. There is an agreement among scholars that the Armenian Chola used to be transliterated in early Arab sources as Sul. The present article argues for the identity of Sul in the Caucasus with the geographic and ethnic name Sul reported by early Arab historical works and geographers concerning the South-Eastern Caspian littoral province Gorgan (Jurjan). Scrupulous analysis of data from Arab sources and finds of archaeological excavations of Derbent fortifications enable to assert strengthening of Sul fortress as a part of the Derbent defense system construction under Khosrow I Anushirvan (531–579) as well as resettlement of a group of Turkic nobility from Gorgan to the newly constructed fortress to safeguard the Sasanian borders in the Caucasus
The article studies the new situation in international long distance trade after the emergence of... more The article studies the new situation in international long distance trade after the emergence of new superpower - Arab Caliphate - in Eurasian overland tracks of the Great Silk Road. The stages of Arab advancement along trade routes and outcomes of their contestation with the strong tribal confederations of Turkic nomads in Central Asia and the Caucasus are highlighted. A special focus is made upon the relationship of Arabs with Khazar Turks who have endured severe clashes with strongest army of the time in the region. Khazar kingdom survived and even expanded its control over the tracks of international trade in the western part of Eurasia. The research describes the way how trade partnership between Arabs and Turks was shaped in the aftermath of military clashes. Existing scholarly views on the role of Khazar in Silk Road are reviewed and unattended evidence of Arab sources are involved to support concluding points that Khazar state managed to consolidate various actors for maintenance of international trade such as so called Rus warriors and merchants in the west of Volga, nomadic tribes in Eurasian steppes, and Jewish trading gild named ar-rahdaniyya in Arab sources. It is asserted that Khazar state since the second half of IX-th century through its decline in mid Xth century not only served as transit space for goods of exporting countries but also exported goods of its own crafts and natural resources.
The article digests outcomes of the study by Sergey G. Klyashtorny of origins of Khazar Turks in ... more The article digests outcomes of the study by Sergey G. Klyashtorny of origins of Khazar Turks in t’ieh-le confederation of Turkic tribes, reported in Chinese sources under such title since the beginning of VI century C.E. The arguments in support of the hypothesis are discussed in the context of doubts and counter-arguments of latest academic discourse of the matter. Evidence of Arab sources about the meaning of the name (nisba) al-Khazari are contemplated within the discussion of the subject. Data of Arab sources and reports by Byzantine and Armenian authors are juxtaposed to highlight earliest relations of Khazars with Barsils. New arguments in favor of Prof Klyashtorny’s hypothesis are suggested
The article is an overview of the evidence of Arab sources on defense walls’ construction in Cent... more The article is an overview of the evidence of Arab sources on defense walls’ construction in Central Asia in the late Sassanid and early Muslim era. Data of written sources reflecting the evolution of the public mind of sedentary population concerning Turkic nomads in Central Asia are synchronized with evidence on construction of borderland fortifications and milestones of their gradual abandonment.
The author traces the ups and downs of the struggle between the largest powers of the 9th-10th ce... more The author traces the ups and downs of the struggle between the largest powers of the 9th-10th centuries for control over the main arteries of the Great Silk Road in Eurasia and its echoes in the future of the Eurasian
countries and peoples.
The publication addresses a long disputed evidence in Khazar Correspondence about ancient land of... more The publication addresses a long disputed evidence in Khazar Correspondence about ancient land of Khazars. Additional data from Arab sources are called to prove the historical links of the land of Khazars in northern coast of the Caspian Sea with southern littoral province of Jurjan (Hircania).
The article elaborates the evidence pieces about Ismail as-Samani's campaigns against Turks in Ar... more The article elaborates the evidence pieces about Ismail as-Samani's campaigns against Turks in Arab Sources. The evidence of Mashad manuscript of Kitab Akhbar al-Buldan seemed to justify a possible occurrence of a third campaign, which other sources did not refer to. However a deeper insight and analysis of the text enabled to suggest a hypothesis that the third campaign should have been a fabricated story to demonstrate the religious consistency and piety of Ismail as well as the strength of Islamic religion against pagan beliefs of the Turks of Central Asia.
The article deals with the evidence of Arab sources about relationship between Khazar Khaqanate a... more The article deals with the evidence of Arab sources about relationship between Khazar Khaqanate and Jurjan province in the South-East Caspian. The fabulous story in Arab sources about interconnections between so called Khorasani Turks and Khazars is scrutinized to justify the eraly trade and political ties between Jurjan and Khazaria.
A few evidence pieces in Arab sources placed in broader context of Archaeological finds and repo... more A few evidence pieces in Arab sources placed in broader context of Archaeological finds and reports about "rus" people’s early invasions in the region justified a possibility of sailing in the Caspian by Scandinavians and their trade relations with Khazars in the first half of IX-th century.
Journal of Islamic Studies, 2002
Orientalistica
The publication is a commented translation from Arabic into Russian of an extract from the book b... more The publication is a commented translation from Arabic into Russian of an extract from the book by Hilal al-Sabi (Abū'l-Ḥusayn Hilāl b. Muḥassin b. Ibrahīm al- Ṣābi 969–1056 AD) “Kitāb al-Wuzarā’ ” (The Book of Wazirs. The extract comprises an account about the circumstances and conditions of a lease agreement between the wazir of the Caliph al- Mu‘tadid billah (r. 892–902 AD) and a certain Muhammad at-Tai concerning the fertile lands of Central and Southern Iraq. The translation is introduced by a preface, which outlines the political and economic situation in the caliphate in the year of the accession of the caliph al-Mu‘tadid to the throne and explains the reasons for the emergence of the tax-farming deals during the rule of the Abbasid caliphs. The extract also provides the description of the circumstances of the agreement as well as provides the actual text of the document. Altogether they describe the relations between the government officials and the tax-farming dealers i...
Orientaistica, 2021
The Historical Continuum of Jerusalem: the Inseparability of Time and Space, Past and Present, Hi... more The Historical Continuum of Jerusalem: the Inseparability of Time and Space, Past and Present, History and Politics.
Over the long centuries and nowadays the historical concept and political status of Jerusalem remain the most acute problem of relations between the peoples and states of the Middle East, Arabs and Jews, Israel and the Arab Palestinian state. The poignancy of the problem, the arguments of the opposing sides, are mainly rooted in conflicting interpretations of the history of Jerusalem and its holy places.
The article presents a view of the history of Jerusalem as a process that began before the formation of the historical consciousness of the Arabs and Jews, but used to continuously influence its shaping during the struggle for the city between powerful political forces standing behind the claims of various congregations. The article examines the written evidence of the shrines of Jerusalem that existed before the construction of the First Temple; selected archaeological data are used for additional verification of written sources. Recent proposals for a solution to the political status of Jerusalem are placed in the context of ideas about its cultural and historical significance.
Particular attention is paid to the importance of Jerusalem in the history of the formation of religious doctrine and ritualism in Islam; a distinctive opinion is substantiated by the author concerning the reasons of the initial orientation of the Muslim prayer ritual towards Jerusalem; the existence of perceptions of the shrines of Jerusalem as sacred objects, recognized in the religious and ritual traditions of the Semitic peoples - the ancestors of Jews and Arabs, - is established.
On the ground of research findings the inseparability of history, culture, spatial limits and political status of the city of Jerusalem as an organic whole and a system is argued, the breach of the balance of which is claimed to inevitably destroy the integrity of the characteristics of Jerusalem in the history of the region, various peoples and all of humanity.
The search for a solution to the Jerusalem problem is seen as interaction and the development of a model that recognizes and balances three factors of influence: ideas about the importance of Jerusalem in the national historical narrative of Arabs and Jews; the concept that asserted the consideration of the beginning of the cultural history of Jerusalem as a common Middle Eastern religious center; and the range of various political solutions proposed for the settlement of the problems of disputed territories in international relations with the assumption of feasibility of fundamentally new models of solution.
Key words: Jerusalem, space and time in antiquity and the Middle Ages, Semitic mythology, the First Temple, qibla, the political status of Jerusalem.
Tarix və mədəniyyət. Faktlar və dəyərlər. Akademik Nailə Vəlixanlının yubileyinə həsr olunmuş məqalələr toplusu / Məsul redaktor F.R.Cabbarov. Bakı: “Nurlar” Nəşriyyat-Poliqrafi ya Mərkəzi, 2020. – 656 s., 2020
Economic aspects of the transition from a tribal militia to a professional army in the Arab Calip... more Economic aspects of the transition from a tribal militia to a professional army in the Arab Caliphate (VII - IX centuries)
The article deals with the evidence of Arab sources on military reforms in Arab caliphate and transition from tribal organization to the system of paid regular army composed of ethnically various warriors. The economic aspects of the transition, availability of financial resources, gradual transition to the system of military land beneficiaries are specifically addressed in the paper.
Evidence of Arab geographers Ibn Khordadbeh and al-Masudi about Transcaspian trade operations in IX-X centuries, 2011
The article deals with controversial evidence of Arab sources about trade routes operated by Khaz... more The article deals with controversial evidence of Arab sources about trade routes operated by Khazar merchants and Jewish tradesmen named “rahdaniyya’. Insightful analysis of the evidence enables to conclude that throughout IX century the trade routes traversed the Caspian Sea and were maintained due to close commercial relationship between “rus” and Khazars. Obscure internal policy shifts in Khazaria might have resulted in increasing hostility between trading partners, and consequently military inroads of “rus’ into the heartland of Muslim territories in the lands of contemporary Azerbaijan and South Caspian littoral lands of Iran.
Acta Via Serica, Vol. 4, No 1, pp. 1-24, 2019
The Khazar state survived the bloody wars with the Arab Caliphate of the 7th-8th centuries CE, b... more The Khazar state survived the bloody wars with the Arab Caliphate of the 7th-8th centuries CE, but had to withdraw from Caucasian Albania, the present territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. A trade partnership was established between former rival powers in the region that allows to call the period after the end of the Arab-Khazar wars up to the time of the collapse of the Khazar state in the middle of the 10th century an era of Arab-Khazar partnership and domination on the Silk Road. This article highlights the impact made by geopolitical shifts of the time upon international trade tracks and particularly on the development of trade facilities, infrastructure, and local production in Azerbaijan, which became a major transit country of goods from the north to markets in the Muslim Near East.
Review of a book on evolution of the Qazaqliq social practice and institution in Eurasian steeps ... more Review of a book on evolution of the Qazaqliq social practice and institution in Eurasian steeps and the formation of Qazaq (Kazakh) people.(In English)
Review of a book on evolution of the Qazaqliq social practice and institution in Eurasian steeps ... more Review of a book on evolution of the Qazaqliq social practice and institution in Eurasian steeps and the formation of Qazaq (Kazakh) people.(In Russian)
Translated title: "Turkic population of Caucasian Albania in Sassanian period (5th-7th centuries ... more Translated title: "Turkic population of Caucasian Albania in Sassanian period (5th-7th centuries CE)"
The article deals with the evidence of earliest emergence of Eurasian nomads in the South Caucasus and their penetration to this region. Data of written sources are reviewed to prove the appearance of Turks in the region before traditionally accepted date of 370 CE at the time of the first coming of Huns to the region. Various information from written historical monuments is scrutinized to highlight the place of Turkic nomads in the ethno-political structure of Caucasian Albania. Origins and locations of some important place names in Caucasian Albania are clarified.
Several theories about the ancestry of the Khazars and the origins of the Khazar state have been... more Several theories about the ancestry of the Khazars and the origins of the Khazar state have been suggested to date. None of them provides a comprehensive solution for the controversial data of the written sources on the early history of the Khazars. This article investigates a possible link between the title of Kagan-Bek of the Dep¬uty Kagan of the Khazars and a similar title Ellac/Ilek of the Akatsir-Huns. This study of the title argues for statehood and political culture connections between the earliest Turkic tribes of Western Eurasia and the Khazars and Turks of Central Asia.
The article highlights the controversy in the Soviet historiography of the Khazars of the second ... more The article highlights the controversy in the Soviet historiography of the Khazars of the second half of the 20th century about the duration of political domination of the Khazars in the South Caucasus. It is pointed out that the solution of the problem is coupled with the establishment of reliability of local Caucasian sources' sources of early Khazar campaigns in the Sasanian period. Additional arguments are provided from Arab sources about the links of the Khazars with the Turks in the Southern Caspian region and in the Caucasus during the reign of Shakhinshahs Firuz, Kawad and Khosrov Anushirwan.
Сул и Чола – два топонима из разных историографических традиций. Среди ис-следователей средневеко... more Сул и Чола – два топонима из разных историографических традиций. Среди ис-следователей средневековой истории Кавказской Албании и ее взаимоотношений с кочевниками практически нет разногласий по поводу того, что эти термины являются Sasanian fortifications in the NorthEastern borderland of the Caucasian Albania with nomadic peoples have been known in historical records written in Armenian language under the name of Chola pass, Chola gates, and Chola fortress. There is an agreement among scholars that the Armenian Chola used to be transliterated in early Arab sources as Sul. The present article argues for the identity of Sul in the Caucasus with the geographic and ethnic name Sul reported by early Arab historical works and geographers concerning the SouthEastern Caspian littoral province Gorgan (Jurjan). Scrupulous analysis of data from Arab sources and finds of archaeological excavations of Derbent fortifications enable to assert strengthening of Sul fortress as a part of the Derbent defense system construction under Khosrow I Anushirvan (531–579) as well as resettlement of a group of Turkic nobility from Gorgan to the newly constructed fortress to safeguard the Sasanian borders in the Caucasus. Сасанидские укрепления на северо-восточной границе Кавказской Албании с кочевни-ками известны по армяноязычным источникам под названием прохода, врат и крепости Чола. Принято считать, что арабские авторы передавали этот термин в своих географи-ческих и исторических произведениях в форме Сул. В предлагаемом исследовании устанав-ливается связь между топонимом Сул на Кавказе и созвучными географическими и этниче-скими терминами, встречающимися в сведениях арабских авторов о южно-прикаспийской области Джурджан (Горган). Анализ текстов ранних арабских историков и географов, а также материалы археологии средневековых дербентских фортификаций позволяют сде-лать вывод об укреплении крепости Сул в процессе возведения дербентского оборонитель-ного комплекса при Хосрове I Ануширване (531–579) и о заселении крепости выходцами из тюркского населения Южно-Прикаспийской области Джурджан с целью охраны сасанид-ской границы на Кавказе.
Sasanian fortifications in the North-Eastern borderland of the Caucasian Albania with nomadic peoples have been known in historical records written in Armenian language under the name of Chola pass, Chola gates, and Chola fortress. There is an agreement among scholars that the Armenian Chola used to be transliterated in early Arab sources as Sul. The present article argues for the identity of Sul in the Caucasus with the geographic and ethnic name Sul reported by early Arab historical works and geographers concerning the South-Eastern Caspian littoral province Gorgan (Jurjan). Scrupulous analysis of data from Arab sources and finds of archaeological excavations of Derbent fortifications enable to assert strengthening of Sul fortress as a part of the Derbent defense system construction under Khosrow I Anushirvan (531–579) as well as resettlement of a group of Turkic nobility from Gorgan to the newly constructed fortress to safeguard the Sasanian borders in the Caucasus
The article studies the new situation in international long distance trade after the emergence of... more The article studies the new situation in international long distance trade after the emergence of new superpower - Arab Caliphate - in Eurasian overland tracks of the Great Silk Road. The stages of Arab advancement along trade routes and outcomes of their contestation with the strong tribal confederations of Turkic nomads in Central Asia and the Caucasus are highlighted. A special focus is made upon the relationship of Arabs with Khazar Turks who have endured severe clashes with strongest army of the time in the region. Khazar kingdom survived and even expanded its control over the tracks of international trade in the western part of Eurasia. The research describes the way how trade partnership between Arabs and Turks was shaped in the aftermath of military clashes. Existing scholarly views on the role of Khazar in Silk Road are reviewed and unattended evidence of Arab sources are involved to support concluding points that Khazar state managed to consolidate various actors for maintenance of international trade such as so called Rus warriors and merchants in the west of Volga, nomadic tribes in Eurasian steppes, and Jewish trading gild named ar-rahdaniyya in Arab sources. It is asserted that Khazar state since the second half of IX-th century through its decline in mid Xth century not only served as transit space for goods of exporting countries but also exported goods of its own crafts and natural resources.
The article digests outcomes of the study by Sergey G. Klyashtorny of origins of Khazar Turks in ... more The article digests outcomes of the study by Sergey G. Klyashtorny of origins of Khazar Turks in t’ieh-le confederation of Turkic tribes, reported in Chinese sources under such title since the beginning of VI century C.E. The arguments in support of the hypothesis are discussed in the context of doubts and counter-arguments of latest academic discourse of the matter. Evidence of Arab sources about the meaning of the name (nisba) al-Khazari are contemplated within the discussion of the subject. Data of Arab sources and reports by Byzantine and Armenian authors are juxtaposed to highlight earliest relations of Khazars with Barsils. New arguments in favor of Prof Klyashtorny’s hypothesis are suggested
The article is an overview of the evidence of Arab sources on defense walls’ construction in Cent... more The article is an overview of the evidence of Arab sources on defense walls’ construction in Central Asia in the late Sassanid and early Muslim era. Data of written sources reflecting the evolution of the public mind of sedentary population concerning Turkic nomads in Central Asia are synchronized with evidence on construction of borderland fortifications and milestones of their gradual abandonment.
The author traces the ups and downs of the struggle between the largest powers of the 9th-10th ce... more The author traces the ups and downs of the struggle between the largest powers of the 9th-10th centuries for control over the main arteries of the Great Silk Road in Eurasia and its echoes in the future of the Eurasian
countries and peoples.
The publication addresses a long disputed evidence in Khazar Correspondence about ancient land of... more The publication addresses a long disputed evidence in Khazar Correspondence about ancient land of Khazars. Additional data from Arab sources are called to prove the historical links of the land of Khazars in northern coast of the Caspian Sea with southern littoral province of Jurjan (Hircania).
The article elaborates the evidence pieces about Ismail as-Samani's campaigns against Turks in Ar... more The article elaborates the evidence pieces about Ismail as-Samani's campaigns against Turks in Arab Sources. The evidence of Mashad manuscript of Kitab Akhbar al-Buldan seemed to justify a possible occurrence of a third campaign, which other sources did not refer to. However a deeper insight and analysis of the text enabled to suggest a hypothesis that the third campaign should have been a fabricated story to demonstrate the religious consistency and piety of Ismail as well as the strength of Islamic religion against pagan beliefs of the Turks of Central Asia.
The article deals with the evidence of Arab sources about relationship between Khazar Khaqanate a... more The article deals with the evidence of Arab sources about relationship between Khazar Khaqanate and Jurjan province in the South-East Caspian. The fabulous story in Arab sources about interconnections between so called Khorasani Turks and Khazars is scrutinized to justify the eraly trade and political ties between Jurjan and Khazaria.
A few evidence pieces in Arab sources placed in broader context of Archaeological finds and repo... more A few evidence pieces in Arab sources placed in broader context of Archaeological finds and reports about "rus" people’s early invasions in the region justified a possibility of sailing in the Caspian by Scandinavians and their trade relations with Khazars in the first half of IX-th century.
The article presents a concept of contact or buffer zone between the world of Eurasian nomads and... more The article presents a concept of contact or buffer zone between the world of Eurasian nomads and sedentary population in the Caucasus as experienced in Caucasian Albania.