122 chapter two
of the Byzantine Empire and not among Bulgars themselves.^144 These
persecutions obviously were stopped in the late 830s; after 864 A.D. the
Bulgars were baptized.^145 In this respect I. Venedikov correctly states
that the koloburs in Bulgaria “were not mentioned in any inscription
from the times of Krum”. Their appearance in Omurtag’s, Malamir’s
and Persian’s reigning years make him guess that “there was heated
religious tension in Bulgaria in the time of Enravota’s dethronement
and decapitation from the last years of Omurtag reign to the early
years of Persian”.^146 Thus a question appears whether the role of the
“koloburs” was not strengthened as a consequence of the increase of
Christian inhabitants of Bulgaria in the beginning of the ninth century
and whether because of this they changed into a strong and central-
ized institution closely linked to the court. Having in mind the whole
process of centralization and ‘modernization’ of Bulgaria in this period
such a hypothesis has a certain logic.
The Khazars, however, were not afraid of their inside-religious-
‘Others’ and even, according to al-Masʿûdî, allowed their professional
army of 7 000 (or 10 000?) men, the so-called “al-arsiya/*Orsiya”, to
be formed by Muslims coming from Khwarezm, who only refused
to fight against fellows Muslims.^147 This paid army of 7 000 men
had its own vizier, of course a Muslim, and the right to follow their
own faith. Numerous Muslim merchants living within the borders
of the khaganate possessed the same right.^148 But when Judaism was
adopted as state religion by the Khazars, all the khagans had to be
Judaists by faith. Al-Isṭaxrî notes that members of the ruling clan were ̣
denied the right to inherit the throne for having converted to Islam.^149
(^144) For this see the “Synaxar” of the Church of Constantinople in, Kodov 1969, 141.
Cf. the opinion of Nikolova 1995, 188–192, that in this period there was no “negative
attitude and ideological opposition towards Christianity” from the Bulgar elite and
also, that the killed Christians were indeed rebels against the Bulgar central authority,
i.e. the persecutions were not a result of “fanaticism of faith, of a conscious search for
challenge, of a policy of hostility towards Christianity”. 145
The literature on the question regarding Bulgars’ baptizing is very rich. For
instance see, Giuzelev 1969; Giuzelev 1999, 169–195; Bakalov 2003, 225–235; Sim-
eonova 1998.
(^146) Venedikov 1995, 221–222.
(^147) Zakhoder 1962, 154–155; Golden 2004, 292–293. For “al-arsiya” also see, Bube-
nok and Radivilov 2004, 5–18. 148
Zakhoder 1962, 155–159.
(^149) al-Isṭaxrî 1870, 224—quoted after Golden 1992, 242. Also see, Novosel’tsev 1990, ̣
153, who is quoting al-Isṭaxrî and Ibn Ḥ ̣awqal and underlines that the main part of
the khaganate’s population in ninth–tenth^ century followed Islam and Christianity. It