The Khazar Economy: Economic Integration or Disintegration? 175
were equally well-developed in Khazaria. The diversity of the Khazar economy
was its strength, which ensured the existence of the khaganate for a period of
roughly three centuries—an impressive amount of time for a nomadic state.20
The revenues of the Khazar state were sufficient and it was not dependant on
international trade.
Such a vivid contrast in conclusions is due not only to the written sources,
which are inconclusive, but also to the different notions of the scholars regard-
ing the nature of the nomadic state and, respectively, its economy. Theories on
the sedentarization processes among the nomads are also directly related to
this topic. Under what circumstances did they occur and towards what kind
of development did they lead? What was the nature of a nomadic society that
had been through a period of large-scale sedentarization? To what extent were
the sedentarization processes irreversible and what were the conditions they
depended on? To what degree did stock-breeding and agriculture interact in
such a society and, finally, what definition should be given to the Khazar state,
if its agricultural sector had become equally relevant or even predominant in
its economy? There are several approaches in exploring the answers to such
questions.
4.1 Theoretical Basis of the Models and Development of the Nomadic
Economy
A typical approach of Soviet archaeology is the evolutionary one, according to
which nomads go through several stages of development before settling down
permanently. In the case of the Khazar Khaganate, this approach is best articu-
lated by S. Pletneva.21 The first stage of nomadism is the camp or year-round
nomadism when the whole population migrates together with its herds in
search for suitable pastures. This stage includes large-scale migrations, usually
in the form of invasions, in search of new territories, suitable for inhabitation.22
The second stage has two varieties: a semi-nomadic and a semi-sedentary one.
The first one is defined as similar to camp nomadism, while the second one
“in its essence represents an almost entirely sedentary lifestyle”.23 During this
stage the territory used for pasture decreases, and the pastures themselves are
20 Noonan 1995–1997, 293–296; see also Noonan’s criticism of the theory D. Dunlop in
Noonan 2007, 207–208.
21 Pletneva 1967 and 1982.
22 Pletneva 1982, 14–15.
23 Pletneva 1982, 36.