The “Internal” Ethnic Communities in Khazaria 251
the Emirate of Bukhara during the Late Middle Ages and in later times as well.121
Such a practice could well have existed also in Danube Bulgaria.122
The possibility of a system like the poliudie existing in Khazaria could give
answers to many questions regarding the unity of the khaganate’s community,
which consisted of various ethnic groups and which populated areas with dif-
ferent economies. The Khazar Khaganate (its “inner” territory) could be seen
in the form of a square, surrounded by fortresses built by the state authori-
ties. Various settlements, such as Sarkel or Samkerts, had the rank of royal resi-
dences. It is therefore probably no coincidence that their garrisons were made
up of Oghuz. The annual rounds of the Khazar ruler united the various regions
of the state. Thus, in practice, but also in view of the sacral person of the kha-
gan, these rounds ensured the prosperity and peace of the whole land.
5.3 The Bulgars, Alans and Khazars of Khazaria
The available information on the ethnic groups in the Khazar Khaganate refers
mainly to the relations and connections between the Bulgars and the Alans.
They differ mostly in their burial rites. Up till now, there has not been a rite that
scholars could unanimously identify with the Khazars. Perhaps closest to defin-
ing the burial rites of the Khazars (or the Khazar nobility) is M. Magomedov. He
opposes the assertion that all catacomb burials in the North Caucasus (and in
Eastern Europe as well) belong to the Alans and identifies a specific Khazar
type that originated from the catacomb burials in Middle Asia.123 It is interest-
ing to note that burials similar to the Khazar catacomb ones were conducted in
the Sulak Valley (in Dagestan) from as early as the fourth-fifth centuries. At that
time, catacomb, pit and mound necropoles, distinguished by specific features,
began to appear in the area of contact between the local population and the
nomad newcomers in the various regions of the North Caucasus.124 Ia. Fedorov
and G. Fedorov assume that these earlier catacombs in Dagestan belonged to
121 Kobishchanov 1995, 190.
122 Stanilov 1984 105; Stepanov 2002b, 29; also cf. the view of Kradin 2001a, 212–214 that the
governance system of the Hunnu Empire corresponded to the annual cycle of Nature.
From time to time, special rites and rituals were performed to ensure the balance and
stability between the world of the humans and that of the gods. Major feast days such as
the winter and spring ones and the welcoming of the new year were celebrated in various
centers.
123 Magomedov 1994, 33–34 and 91–97.
124 Abramova, Krasil’nikov, and Piatykh 2004, 61–62.