KHAZAR ARMY (VII-X C.)

The Khazars are a nomadic people of Turkic origin who first appear in sources in the 6th century AD. The territories inhabited by the Khazars or controlled by them stretched in the years 650-850 in the area of today's Ukraine, southern Russia and the Caucasian countries. However, the area between the Black and Caspian Seas is most often considered their original seat. In the early Middle Ages, a fairly intense state-building process was taking place in the territory of the Khazars, and at the beginning of the 9th century, the Khazarian Kaganate its rulers aimed at a far-reaching centralization of power. However, in the mid-ninth century and in the tenth century, numerous internal conflicts broke out, which led to the collapse of this country at the end of the tenth century. In the history of the Khazarian state, the very long conflict with the Arabs in the Caucasus, which lasted almost the entire eighth century and ended only in 798, deserves special attention. For this reason, the Kaganate came closer to the Byzantine Empire politically, which resulted, among other things, in dynastic marriages. In the course of conflicts, like other peoples of the Great Steppe, they focused primarily on cavalry, which gave them high mobility on the battlefield and during the march. The endurance of Khazarian warriors to the hardships of the march and bad weather was often emphasized. The mobilization potential of the Kaganate is difficult to estimate. For example, in the Battle of Bajarwan in 730 or 731, the Khazars raised an army of 8 to 12 thousand. people, mostly cavalry.