1 74 CHAPTER 4
and the Sula.15 Slavic settlements were also situated among the Saltovo ones
in the Kharkov area.16
In most cases, the theories on the development of the nomadic state play
a significant role in the assessment of the Khazar economy. D. Dunlop and
P. Golden see the economy of Khazaria as a typically nomadic one, with under-
developed agricultural and handicraft sectors and a strong dependence on
international trade.17 Their conclusions are based solely on written sources
and chiefly on the accounts of Eastern writers. It should however be borne in
mind that they are far from exhaustive and refer mainly to the eastern lands
of Khazaria—the areas around Itil and Samandar. The information about the
economy of the western Khazar lands comes mostly from archaeological data.
The Eastern authors do talk about developed agricultural areas in Khazaria,
but since Al-Istakhri explicitly states that Khazaria did not produce anything
except isinglass, it is generally presumed that the agricultural and handicraft
products were not enough to ensure the self-sufficient existence of the Khazar
economy.18 At the same time, D. Dunlop assumes that if the Khazars had more
natural resources and an inclination for manufacturing activities, they could
have managed to “win back by diplomacy or reconquer piecemeal the revolted
peoples and gradually to reestabilish their political and commercial system in
their former territory. These conditions were, however, lacking”.19 But was such
a possibility truly improbable?
Through written and archaeological data, T. Noonan reaches quite a con-
trary conclusion. According to him, stock-breeding, agriculture and handicrafts
15 Vinnikov 1995, 131; see also Berezovets 1965 and 1973; Sukhobokov, Voznesenskaia, and
Priimak 1989; Sukhobokov 2004; Romashov 2002–2003, 161.
16 Pletneva 1989, 7.
17 Dunlop 1967, 224, 228, and 231–234; Golden 1980, 106 and 111. Golden 1980, 106 also notes
accounts of a developed agriculture and urban life in Khazaria. Besides the revenues from
trade, sources also mention other resources for the upkeep of the army. For instance,
according to a comment from Derbent-Name, the Khazar armies in the Caucasus
region supported themselves from gold and silver mines (Dunlop 1967, 227); see also
the text of Derbent–Name in Orazaev 1993, 19. The development of silver mines in the
Caucasus between the eighth and the ninth centuries has been verified archaeologically
(Kovalevskaia 1981, 85).
18 Dunlop 1967, 228–232. Already in 1962, Zakhoder 1962, 141–142 regarded the Khazar soci-
ety as sedentary or semi-sedentary, basing his assumptions on the information from writ-
ten sources. Nomadism developed in various regions of the steppe zone, which were not
intersected by major river routes, although a tendency towards sedentary agriculture,
combined with hunting and fishing, was evident even there.
19 Dunlop 1967, 234.