Khazaria And International Trade In Eastern Europe 165
tenth century, Kiev also had a Jewish community. It is presumed that it also
included population of Khazar origin.68 In A. Nazarenko’s opinion, the Jews
that mostly dealt with slave trade played a leading role along the road that con-
nected Western Europe with Khazaria. These Jews were the Radhanites that
Ibn Khordadbeh described in the late ninth century. The use of the route dur-
ing the tenth century is evidenced by the correspondence between Hasdai ibn
Shaprut and the Khazar ruler Joseph.69
According to L. Gumilev, the Radhanites monopolized the land trade
between China and Europe. The Jewish community of Khazaria also depended
on international trade. In L. Gumilev’s opinion, the Radhanites and the Vikings
had common commercial interests in Western Europe (especially with regard
to the Viking plunders which provided slaves); such common interests can
also be traced in Eastern Europe in the form of the interaction between the
Varangians and the Khazars. The Jewish communities were connected in a
huge commercial organization that formed a unified whole along the roads
from Europe to China.70 Thus, in L. Gumilev’s opinion, the Khazar Khaganate
was a state that served Jewish trade.
As has already been noted, the account regarding the Radhanites belongs to
Ibn Khordadbeh and refers to the ninth century. It reveals that they came from
Spain and France, that one of their centers was situated in North Africa and
that one of their routes sometimes ran across Khazaria, before continuing on
towards Middle Asia.71 With the help of the coins, minted in Africa, T. Kalinina
attempts to determine the route of the Radhanites and the time period
during which they traded in Eastern Europe. The largest amount of African
coins came to Eastern Europe between the late eighth century and the first
quarter of the ninth century. They reached as far as the Baltic coast but were
68 Golb and Pritsak 1997, 36 and 53–58.
69 Nazarenko 1994, 26–27. Nazarenko 2001, 101–108 presumes that the Magyar invasion from
the end of the ninth century created problems for this trade route and it was moved fur-
ther north. The scholar believes this to be one of the reasons for the growth of Prague as
an economic and political center.
70 Gumilev 1997, 153–155.
71 Nazarenko 1994, 26–27; Kalinina 1986, 79 and 2000, 111–113. According to Gil 1974, the
Radhanites did not reach France or Germany in the west, but Italy, where the region of
Firanja, mentioned by Ibn Khordadbeh, was situated. He believes that the center of the
Radhanites was in Iraq and their name derives from a local toponym. They did not consti-
tute an organized group. The only thing common between them was their place of origin.
On the Radhanites, see also Stepanov 2006, 532–534; Simeonova 2006, 137.