Turkic-khazar raids on the South Caucasus in the VI–VIII centuries

Abstract

This article is dedicated to the raids of the Turks and Khazars in the South Caucasus in the 6th-8th centuries. The novelty of this study is the actualization of attention on the regional aspect of wars of the Turks and Khazars with Persians and Arabs. The military campaigns of the Turks and Khazars in the South Caucasus are analyzed. The information of al-Tabari and Ibn al-Asir about the raids of the Khazars to the South Caucasus to the Turks are not reliable. The raids in the V-middle of the VI centuries. carried out the Sabirs and the Ogurian tribes of the Bulgars. The first Turkic raid in the region was the raid by the Black Sea lands in Egrisi in 576 AD. The raids of 589 and 626 years were due to the allied duty of the khagan of the Turks to the Emperor. The campaign of 628 was already an initiative of the Turkic people and the Yabgu-kagan wanted to make the Caucasian Albania dependent on itself. The first Khazar raid took place in 684 and affected the entire South Caucasus region. The Khazar kagan set the goal of capturing prey, and not subordination of the region. The same goals were for the Khazar raids of the 20-iess and 30-ies of VIII century directed against the Arabs in Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Khazar campaigns made it possible to alleviate the pressure of the Arabs on the Byzantine Empire. Khazars in the VIII century. far from always been the attacking side. The Arab campaigns against the Khazars were much more than Khazarian on the South Caucasus controlled by the Arabs. Successful actions were the defeat of the Arab army of Jarrah and the capture of Ardabil in 729–730. The raids of the Khazars in 762 on Georgia and 764 years on Armenia and Azerbaijan were unprovoked. The alliance with Byzantium at that time did not have such significance as before.