220 CHAPTER 4
A similar depopulation also occurred on the territory of Danube Bulgaria, in
Dobrudzha. Furthermore, it remained sparsely populated until the sixteenth
century.225 Without belittling the significance of the invasions, G. Atanasov
presumes that climate changes that occurred during the tenth century caused
droughts, which drove farmers away from Dobrudzha and the Ludogorie region
towards areas with lower temperatures and year-round flowing rivers. “After
the droughts and the withdrawal of farmers in the mid-eleventh century, it is
only logical that the subsequent demographic vacuum in Dobrudzha and the
Ludogorie area was filled up by nomadic stockbreeders—first the Pechenegs,
followed by the Uz and Cumans and later by the Tatars and the Yuruks”.226
While it remains unclear whether climate changes had an impact on this
matter or not, it should nevertheless be noted that between the sixth and the
tenth centuries, the irrigation agriculture, metallurgy and handicrafts of a pop-
ulation with a semi-nomadic and semi-sedentary economy in the Altai region
grew markedly. During this period, the economy of the population there was
much more sedentary than in later centuries.227
Between the tenth and the twelfth centuries, a significant reduction in the
number of settlements (four to five times) and a similarly radical increase in
the area and economic territories of the other settlements occurred in the
North Caucasus. The role of agriculture in maintaining the transhumance in
the mountain and foothill regions grew in importance. Nomadic pastoralism
also became more significant in the steppe region.228
When analyzing the climatic impact on the development of the Khazar
economy, it must be borne in mind that the changes that occurred did not
happen suddenly or even in the scope of a decade. As the population of the
Khazar Khaganate combined extremely diverse economic practices, dictated
by the natural conditions in various areas, the changes in the climate likely
led to similarly diverse possibilities for the development of the economy. For
the time being, climate changes cannot be regarded as the main reason for the
decline of Khazaria after the mid-tenth century, although the available scien-
tific data on this topic does give sufficient grounds for more thorough research
in this area.
225 Atanasov 2001, 191–202.
226 Atanasov 2001, 196.
227 Markov 1976, 42.
228 Kovalevskaia 1981b, 224 and 228. According to Arzhantseva 2007b, 66–67, the abandon-
ment of many Alanian settlements could have been caused by a change in the composi-
tion of the soil due to earthquakes.