The Ideology Of The Ninth And Tenth Centuries 41
the fact that a tribe bearing the name Khazar was part of the Uyghur state.99 It
is yet unclear how to interpret the account from the same inscription about
Kadir Khazar and Bedi Barsil, who died as glorified Oghuz probably during
the second half of the sixth century. According to S. Kliashtornyi, it shows the
close relations between the Khazars and the Barsils and the Oghur-Oghuz
tribal union.100
According to one interesting account, Alexander the Great met the Khazars
somewhere between Merv and Herat. In D. Dunlop’s opinion, this statement
“would be very important as evidence of the extension of Khazar activity far
east of the Caspian at some time”, but since many of the Alexander stories are
so remote from fact it cannot lead to some clear conclusions.101
1.2 The Community of Togarmah
In his letter to Hasdai ibn Shaprut the Khazar ruler Joseph explains that he
is a descendant of Khazar, the seventh son of Togarmah, who in turn is a son
of Japheth. Overall, ten sons of Togarmah are named, of whom only Avar,
Bulgar, Sawir and probably Oghuz can be deciphered. Presumably, the name
of the first son, Agior/Avior, stands for the name Iber, i.e. the forefather of the
Caucasian Iberians. It can also be read as Ugor. While assumptions have been
made regarding the other names as well, their interpretations remain quite
vague.102
The genealogical approach that traces the origin of a ruler or people from
one of the sons of Noah (Shem, Ham and Japheth) is typical for the histori-
ography of Jews, Christians and Muslims. It reflects the geographical distri-
bution of the various peoples across the Earth: Noah bequeathed Africa to
Ham, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran and Iraq to Shem and to Japheth he gave the
territories, located north and east of Shem’s lands. The idea of a cultural and
ethnic differentiation becomes prominent in the same genealogical lines at
the time when their descendants are named. Thus, Togarmah and his descen-
dants should signify a certain community in the territorial or cultural sense.
Actually, Togarmah was not the son of Japheth, but of his son, Gomer. In the
Bible (the Old Testament) Togarmah is mentioned only four times. Of special
interest is the account from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 27:14, 38:6)
99 Kliashtornyi 1980, 87–90 and 95; Róna-Tas 2005, 112–113.
100 Kliashtornyi 2005, 261–264.
101 Dunlop 1967, 14–15.
102 See Kokovtsov 1932; Pletneva 1976, 7; Magomedov 1994, 10.