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The Alans: Neighbours of the Khazars in the Caucasus

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The Alans: Neighbours of the Khazars in the Caucasus THE ALANS: NEIGHBOURS OF THE KHAZARS IN THE CAUCASUS Irina A. Arzhantseva The Alans invariably occupy a key position in the complex, turbulent and sometimes obscure relations between the Khazars and their numer- ous neighbours, not to mention many of the Khazar’s political ventures. As the Alans held, geographically, a strategically important position in the North Caucasus (fig. 1), which was the major cross-roads of Eur- asian trading and military routes, they were, from the moment that they united into a coherent political group, constantly drawn into the orbit of the complicated relationships of the super-powers, whose interests clashed in the North Caucasus. In the sixth-seventh centuries these powers were Iran and Byzantium, who fought for control over the caravan routes that ran across the North Caucasus through territory occupied by the Alans. From the middle of the seventh century the Alans found themselves in the sphere of interest of a new political entity, the Khazar Khaganate (Gadlo, 1979, pp. 74–78, Kuznetsov, 1992, pp. 154, 155). By the middle of the eighth century, the Alans were now virtually under Khazar rule (Artamonov, 1962, с. 360; Kokovtsov, 1932, с. 101–102) and they go almost unmentioned in Byz- antine sources of the eighth and ninth centuries (Kuznetsov, 1992, с. 155; Kulakovskyi, 1899, с. 49, 50). It is difficult to state with any clarity what sort of subordination the Alans endured from the Khazars. The Alans were the force by virtue of which the Khazars emerged victorious from the difficult struggle for overall control in the North Caucasus. “The Alan union, even after this, remained intact as a coherent political entity with its ruler, even though its actual role was ambiguous and sometimes inconstant . the Alans always appear to be a separately defined politi- cal entity who are at times allies of the Khazars and at times closer to Byzantium or, very rarely indeed, to the Caliphate” (Novosel’tsev, 1990, p. 105). Written sources indicate that, quite apart from help as allies and mili- tary support, the Alans paid tribute to the Khazars (Kokovtsov, 1932, с. 101–102, 105). Some experts, however, point out, and rightly so, that 60 irina a. arzhantseva the Alans’ core territory was unlikely to have formed a part of the Kha- zar state itself. We find more convincing the arguments put forward by those Caucasologists, such as Kuznetsov and Zeteishvili (Zeteishvili, 1976, с. 85, Kuznetsov, 1992, с. 155), who hold the view that the eastern Alans inhabiting the area around the Darial pass were most dependent on the Khazars, while the western Alans inhabiting the upper Kuban valley retained a greater measure of independence and were tradition- ally more pro-Byzantine in their policies (fig. 1). We archaeologists however focus our attention on the microzone which is situated in the region bordering on Khazaria but which gravi- tated towards Western Alania. This is the south-west border of the Kha- zar Khaganate. It is a region which has at all times had extraordinary attractions for a number of different tribes and which is rich in archaeo- logical monuments stretching over a number of periods. This region is today that of Caucasian Mineral Waters, or, geographically, the Kislo- vodsk basin (fig. 2). It is very likely that in the seventh to ninth centuries this region did not form an immediate part of the Khazar Khaganate (Kuznetsov, 1992, с. 153, Mamaev, 1974). Yet it was here that a very intensive infiltration of Turkic elements took place into an Alan zone in the early mediaeval period (Abaev, 1949, с. 257). These Turkic elements were very likely Kuban Bulgars who were subject to the Khazars (Kova- levskaya, 1984, с. 172). If we are to understand properly the nature of the tributaries and sov- ereign relationships involved, we must do so not only by interpreting the subjective and unreliable data to be found in written sources. We have to have a good idea of the structure and organisation of life among the Alans at this period. For the last few years our team, in conjunction with a group of soil- scientists and geologists, has been tackling the problem of the histori- cal and palaeo-landscape conditions for the emergence and evolution of Alan settlements, their structure, typology and chronology. We are also concerned with questions of the formation and evolution of soils of ter- raced slopes and ancient settlements, with a consequent construction of a regional spatial and temporal model for the development of climate, of soils and ancient systems of agriculture and communications (Arzhantseva, Turova, Bronnikova, Zazovskaya, 2001, рр. 115–124). Our work was directed at the following goals: 1) a proper archaeological investigation of the monuments; 2) the creation of large-scale topographical plans of the key-monuments; 3) landscape and soil research; 4) engineering and geological research on the monuments and the adjacent territory..
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