Re: Christenen in Khazaria : Paulicianen
Geiserik
[edit] Turkic shamanism
Originally, the Khazars practiced traditional Turkic shamanism, focused
on the sky god Tengri, but were heavily influenced by Confucian ideas
imported from China, notably that of the Mandate of Heaven. The Ashina
clan were considered to be the chosen of Tengri and the kaghan was the
incarnation of the favor the sky-god bestowed on the Turks. A kaghan
who failed had clearly lost the god's favor and was typically ritually
executed. Historians have sometimes wondered, only half in jest, if the
Khazar tendency to occasionally execute their rulers on religious
grounds led those rulers to seek out other religions.
The Khazars worshipped a number of deities subordinate to Tengri,
including the fertility goddess Umay, Kuara, a thunder god, and Erlik,
the god of death.
[edit] Conversion to Judaism and relations with world Jewry
Jewish communities had existed in the Greek cities of the Black Sea
coast since late classical times. Cherson, Sudak, Kerch and other
Crimean cities possessed Jewish communities, as did Gorgippa, and
Samkarsh / Tmutarakan was said to have had a Jewish majority as early
as the 670s. The original Jewish settlers were joined by waves of
immigration fleeing persecution in the Byzantine Empire, Sassanid
Persia (particularly during the Mazdak revolts),[2] and later within
the Islamic world. Jewish merchants such as the Radhanites regularly
traded in Khazar territory, and may have wielded significant economic
and political influence. Though their origins and history are somewhat
unclear, the Mountain Jews also lived in or near Khazar territory and
may have been allied with or subject to Khazar overlordship; it is
conceivable that they too played a role in the conversion.
Map of the world, c. 820 CE, showing the Khazar Empire in larger
geopolitical context.At some point in the last decades of the 8th
century or the early 9th century, the Khazar royalty and nobility
converted to Judaism, and part of the general population followed. The
extent of the conversion is debated. Ibn al-Faqih reported in the 10th
century that "all the Khazars are Jews." Notwithstanding this
statement, most scholars believed that only the upper classes converted
to Judaism; there is some support for this in contemporary Muslim
texts. However, recent archeological excavations have uncovered
widespread shifts in burial practices. Around the mid 800s burials in
Khazaria began to take on a decidedly Jewish flavor. Grave goods
disappeared almost altogether. Judging by interment evidence, by 950
Judaism had become widespread among all classes of Khazar society.
Essays in the Kuzari, written by Yehuda Halevi, details a moral
liturgical reason for the conversion which some consider a moral tale.
Some researchers have suggested part of the reason for this mass
conversion was political expediency to maintain a degree of neutrality:
the Khazar empire was between growing populations, Muslims to the east
and Christians to the west. Both religions recognized Judaism as a
forebear and worthy of some respect. The exact date of the conversion
is hotly contested. It may have occurred as early as 740 or as late as
the mid 800s. Recently-discovered numismatic evidence suggests that
Judaism was the established state religion by c. 830, and though St.
Cyril (who visited Khazaria in 861) did not identify the Khazars as
Jews, the khagan of that period, Zachariah, had a biblical Hebrew name.
Some medieval sources give the name of the rabbi who oversaw the
conversion of the Khazars as Isaac Sangari or Yitzhak ha-Sangari.
The first Jewish Khazar king was named Bulan which means "elk", though
some sources give him the Hebrew name Sabriel. A later king, Obadiah,
strengthened Judaism, inviting rabbis into the kingdom and building
synagogues. Jewish figures such as Saadia Gaon made positive references
to the Khazars, and they are excoriated in contemporary Karaite
writings as "bastards"; it is therefore unlikely that they adopted
Karaism as some (such as Avraham Firkovich) have proposed.
The Khazars enjoyed close relations with the Jews of the Levant and
Persia. The Persian Jews, for example, hoped that the Khazars might
succeed in conquering the Caliphate.[3] The high esteem in which the
Khazars were held among the Jews of the Orient may be seen in the
application to them, in an Arabic commentary on Isaiah ascribed by some
to Saadia Gaon, and by others to Benjamin Nahawandi, of Isaiah 48:14:
"The Lord hath loved him." "This," says the commentary, "refers to the
Khazars, who will go and destroy Babel" (i.e., Babylonia), a name used
to designate the country of the Arabs.[4] From the Khazar
Correspondence it is apparent that two Spanish Jews, Judah ben Meir ben
Nathan and Joseph Gagris, had succeeded in settling in the land of the
Khazars. Saadia, who had a fair knowledge of the kingdom of the
Khazars, mentions a certain Isaac ben Abraham who had removed from Sura
to Khazaria.[5]
Likewise, the Khazar rulers viewed themselves as the protectors of
international Jewry, and corresponded with foreign Jewish leaders (the
letters exchanged between the Khazar ruler Joseph and the Spanish rabbi
Hasdai ibn Shaprut have been preserved). They were known to retaliate
against Muslim or Christian interests in Khazaria for persecution of
Jews abroad. Ibn Fadlan relates that around 920 the Khazar ruler
received information that Muslims had destroyed a synagogue in the land
of Babung, in Iran; he gave orders that the minaret of the mosque in
his capital should be broken off, and the muezzin executed. He further
declared that he would have destroyed all the mosques in the country
had he not been afraid that the Muslims would in turn destroy all the
synagogues in their lands.
[edit] Other religions
Besides Judaism, other religions probably practiced in areas ruled by
the Khazars include Greek Orthodox, Nestorian, and Monophysite
Christianity, Zoroastrianism as well as Norse, Finnic, and Slavic
cults. Religious toleration was maintained for the kingdom's three
hundred plus years. The "apostle of the Slavs", Saint Cyril, is said to
have attempted the conversion of Khazars without enduring results. Many
Khazars reportedly were converts to Christianity and Islam. (See
"Judiciary", below.)
De rol van de Paulicianen wordt in wikipedia onderbelicht.Men mag niet
vergeten, dat zij als Sabathisten dichter bij de Joden stonden
Ze waren de enige christelijke stroming in de Kaukasus. Ook de Bulgaren
waren massaal tot bogomils bekeerd.
Sommigen stellen, dat van de twee christenen in de rechtbank er zeker 1
Pauliciaan was.