Khazaria And International Trade In Eastern Europe 157
along the Volga became independent in 950 at the latest, when its rulers began
to mint their own dirhams.32 Thus, “the decline in Khazaria was accompanied
by the emergence of the Volga Bulgar markets as the chief port of entry for
dirham imports into Eastern and Northern Europe”.33
J. Shepard interprets the appearance of silver coins in Volga Bulgaria as a
sign of the increased economic capabilities of its ruler.34 He does not believe
that the Khazars remained isolated from the Eastern trade. The road along the
Volga from Bolgar to Itil continued to be in use, and the Bulgars “had a choice
of routes to the Moslem countries”.35
A. Novosel’tsev doubts that Volga Bulgaria liberated itself from the Khazar
influence after Ibn Fadlan’s visit. Commercial interests required unity among
the peoples along the Volga with priority going to the ones that controlled the
mouth of the river. According to him, Volga Bulgaria became independent after
Prince Sviatoslav’s campaigns from the mid-960s.36
The fact that the Bulgars along the Volga began to issue their own coins in
the early tenth century is quite unusual, given that no other Bulgar community
minted its own coins in the Early Middle Ages (including Danube Bulgaria in
its legitimate kingly period after 927). Neither did the Bulgars from the Don
region or the area around the Severski Donets, whose lands were part of the
dirham trade routes. However, does coin minting really indicate the indepen-
dence of the Volga Bulgaria rulers from the Khazars? In the Samanid state, the
various centers minted coins, but this did not make them independent from
Samanid rule. When the Volga Bulgars inscribed the name of the Samanid
ruler on their coins during the first half of the tenth century, were they recog-
nizing his authority?
The adoption of Islam was among the reasons for the Volga Bulgars to start
minting coins. In the Islamic world, coin minting was not so much a mani-
festation of independence (at least in theory, everyone was a subject of the
Caliph, just as the population of the Khazar Khaganate was subject to the
khagan), as a sign of economic prosperity and a form of prestige. Given that
32 Noonan 1999, 504–505; Noonan 1992, 250; Noonan 1994, 219–220.
33 Noonan 1994, 220; see also Noonan 2007, 207–244. According to Noonan 2007,234–237,
the road through Khazaria was second in importance for the transport of dirhams, follow-
ing the road that connected Khwarezm with Volga Bulgaria. The role of the Khazars in the
trade during the tenth century was rather insignificant, since 90% of it passed through
Volga Bulgaria.
34 Shepard and Franklin 2000, 100.
35 Shepard and Franklin 2000, 102.
36 Novosel’tsev 1990, 199; Davletshin 1990, 83 is of a similar opinion.