212 CHAPTER 4

According to Iu. Kobishchanov, Joseph’s account could be regarded as evi-
dence that a system, similar to the so-called poliudie, existed in Khazaria.183
“With the poliudie, the bearer of the early-state’s authority (ruler-priest, sacred
king) or his deputy (heir to the throne, a close relative, vicegerent, ambassa-
dor, etc.) traveled by a traditional route through his subordinate communes,
principalities and border lands, implementing his privileges and performing
his basic functions”.184
The poliudie provided taxes from the natural surplus, collected in the main
residence or one of the several residences of the ruler. Often, the ruler would be
accompanied on his rounds by merchants, who exchanged goods with the vari-
ous regions of the state.185 Thus, the main economic functions of the poliudie
were: “the support of the ruler and his family, his retinue and guards, the deliv-
ery of goods to the capital or the main cities and, lastly, the supply of goods like
gold, slaves, etc. through the distant trade routes”.186 The poliudie also helped
the ruler in maintaining his personal relationships with the members of his
entourage and the population of the areas he passed through. At the same time
the ruler reinforced his authority in the border regions and “accepted signs of
loyalty, while restraining any disobedience and repelling enemy attacks”.187

...

The term “nomadic economy” distorts the understanding of Khazaria’s eco-
nomic development between the eighth and the tenth centuries. In her last
works S. Pletneva accepts as fact “the general sedentariness of the khaganate’s
population and the mostly agricultural character of its economy, though sea-
sonal nomadism and pastoral stock-breeding continued to be practiced in vari-
ous areas”.188 According to her, the idea of the nomadism of the Khazars and
their subjects is a myth that has been overcome long ago.189 Already in 1976
she wrote that “the economy of the khaganate was based on a mix of stock-
breeding and agriculture, widely developed crafts, a thriving domestic trade,
where exports and imports essentially played the same role, and lastly, the

183 Kobishchanov 1999, 220–223. The existence of such a system in Khazaria is also accepted
by Pletneva 2002, 117, as well as by Flerov 2007, 66 and Stepanov 2002b, 29.
184 Kobishchanov 1999, 3.
185 Kobishchanov 1999, 237–238.
186 Kobishchanov 1999, 240.
187 Kobishchanov 1999, 241–245.
188 Pletneva 1999, 207.
189 Pletneva 2005, 22.