the ‘inside’ other 101
‘marriage diplomacy’ indeed, the khagans aimed at establishing obe-
dience or, at least, their interests in Georgia, Alania, and among the
Volga Bulgars.^55 The Arab diplomat Ibn Fadlan who made a journey
to Volga Bulgaria in 922 A.D. wrote that the Khazar khagan had 25
wives and each of them was a daughter of some ruler who was a neigh-
bor of the khagan or his rival; and, volens nolens, such women were
taken by the khagan.^56 Such marriages which in fact were a type of
hostage-taking had been a common practice in the Early Middle Ages;
so the Khazars behaved themselves ‘appropriately’. Alexander Tortika
has recently put forward the hypothesis that this Khazar practice had
its roots in the Turkic–T’ang relations.^57 In my opinion, such an idea
needs further and thorough study because there is no sufficient evi-
dence to support it. It is absolutely clear that the Khazars were not
allowed to behave that same way in their relation with the Byzantines
or Arabs. Toward them the khagans had different, not oppressive
methods in such a specific sphere as the ‘marriage diplomacy’ was.^58
Through this kind of marriage, too, the sedentary civilizations again
aimed at emphasizing the inequality that existed between them and
the (semi-)nomads. Thus they confirmed and reinforced the ‘senior–
junior’ subordination for they usually gave the nomads’ rulers prin-
cesses of a lower aristocratic rank. At the same time they received from
khagans of the steppe their sisters or daughters of the highest possible
rank.
However, a special attention should be paid to three marriages of
Uighur khagans to princesses who were daughters of Chinese emper-
ors. All these marriages took place in the period between 758 and 821
A.D. They obviously do not fit the above-mentioned framework and
status quo and, therefore, deserve to be studied separately. All three
marriages break up the old scheme of ‘seniors–juniors’ and apparently
are a clear sign of the T’ang dynasty’s weakness at that time. T’ang
emperors had to abandon the old practice and traditions. Therefore
they sent three times to the Uighur capital Ordubaliq (Karabalghasun)
(^55) Noonan 1992, 127; Tortika 2004, 3.
(^56) Ibn Fadlan 1992, 76. Also see, Stepanov 2003c, 226–227.
(^57) Tortika 2004, 3 f.
(^58) Around 760 (or 762?) A.D. the Arab governor of Armenia took as his spouse
a Khazar noble woman. On the opposite ‘pole’ is the sister of the Georgian prince
Juansher, who, in the end of the eighth century, preferred poison instead of marriage
with the Khazar khagan—for this see, Noonan 1992, 126; Golden 1992, 238 f.