Preface xi
occupied by archaeologists. This is why the first Russian monograph on the
Khazar Khaganate, although being based on written records, was written by
an archaeologist, M. Artamonov.7 In the decades that followed, several more
significant and influential archaeological monographs were published—that
of S. Pletneva, M. Magomedov, V. Mikheev, I. Baranov, V. Flerov, V. Flerova,
G. Afanas’ev, A. Tortika, among others.8 L. Gumilev’s monograph on Khazaria is
also based on his own archaeological research.9 Notable exceptions in this list
are the works of the orientalists B. Zakhoder and A. Novosel’tsev.10 A number
of articles by V. Petrukhin should also be mentioned here, even though this
historian does not have a specific monograph on Khazaria.
Western historiography is dominated by studies, in which the analysis is
conducted almost entirely on the basis of written records. This is especially
true for the first monograph on the Khazar Khaganate written by D. Dunlop
and the book by P. Golden, completed a few decades later.12 The same goes
for the monograph of O. Pritsak and N. Golb, which is also a study of a written
record.13 An exception are the works of T. Noonan, which are based mostly on
data from numismatics and archaeological research,14 including his remark-
able study of the Khazar economy, where the material data has been analyzed
along with written records.
As was already mentioned, the same scientific facts are often used as the
basis for diverse and mutually exclusive theories. The ever-growing archaeolog-
ical evidence contributes to the increasingly diverse and multifaceted analysis
of the Khazar history and culture. Many interesting ideas and conclusions have
been expressed in a number of articles published in recent decades. It is quite
impossible to name them all here. A few scientists should however be named,
including V. Aksenov, N. Foniakova, J. Howard-Johnston, T. Kalinina, R. Kovalev,
V. Koloda, K. Krasil’nikov, V. Maiko, D. Shapira, Ts. Stepanov, C. Zuckerman.
7 Artamonov 1962.
8 Pletneva 1967, 1976, 1989, 1996, and 1999; Magomedov 1983 and 1994; Mikheev 1985;
Baranov 1990; Flerov 1993 and 1996b; Flerova 1997 and 2001a; Afanas’ev 1993; Tortika 2006a.
9 Gumilev 2003.
10 Zakhoder 1962; Novosel’tsev 1990.
11 See for instance Petrukhin 1995b, 2000b, 2001 and 2005.
12 Dunlop 1967; Golden 1980.
13 Golb and Pritsak 1997.
14 See for instance Noonan 1980, 294–311; Noonan 1987, 243–258; Noonan 2001, 76–102;
Noonan 2007, 207–244. See also the articles of R. Kovalev.
15 Noonan 1995–1997, 253–318.