Conclusion 279
All those things are of significance for the economy of Khazaria. But all the
other features: the ideology, titulature, religious beliefs, forms of governance
and subjugation of the conquered lands continued to be inextricably bound
to the “nomadic” world. Moreover, they were such despite the Judaization of
the Khazar nobility during the ninth century. In this sense, the steppe peoples
were guided by traditional centers that were part of their culture and world-
view, and did not experience a significant influence from states that belonged
to a different culture and professed different values. This is why the steppe
empires were not the periphery of some civilizational center in the south. It is
not by accident that according to Ts. Stepanov, “The Bulgarian society (during
the seventh to ninth centuries—Author’s note)—and in this sense it is no dif-
ferent than any other similar society—is a unique system, i.e. a “universe” that
spins, so to say, around its own center. This means that it is structured around
something internal, not external, and inherent to the system itself ”.46
In fact, with regard to the Khazars (and in a certain sense also the Bulgars)
we are able to observe the process of the state’s establishment somewhere from
the middle. The characteristics of Danube Bulgaria and the Khazar Khaganate’s
development are not determined by the various forms of the nomadic econ-
omy or by ethnic differences. They incorporate the two states into the steppe
world and to the world bordering it and are typical for many Iranian-speaking
or Turkic-speaking communities. This is why economic criteria in the typology
of the steppe states, as well as the forms of subordination or the level of sed-
entarization do not reveal the true nature of the state with regard to Eurasian
Steppe traditions. It could be argued that the steppe state’s roots lie in ancient
Turan and in the imperial structures that developed on its territory (such as
Kangju). It would not be an exaggeration to say that the sense of community
and the ties between the various parts of this area were already present during
the studied period.
Many agricultural states and societies that were part of steppe empires or
of their periphery (for example in Middle Asia and the Caucasus or on the
Balkans, etc.) constitute a cultural community. To some extent, Iran was also
a part of it, conquered as it was several times by tribes whose origins could be
sought in the steppe world (the Parthians, for instance, but also the Aryans). Not
coincidentally, the influence of Iran was extremely strong among communities
of different origins that inhabited the steppe zone at different times. For the
period and region that are the subject of our present study, such an influence
46 Stepanov 1999a, 125. This is why the models sought and used by the Bulgars in Danube
Bulgaria (during its pagan period) can be found in Middle Asia and not so much in
Byzantium. See also Stepanov 2000, 19–33 and 1998, 247.