The Ideology Of The Ninth And Tenth Centuries 43
the Turks. Among the descendants of Abraham’s sons are also the Kyrgyz and
the Sogdians. In this context, it should be borne in mind that in his letter to
Hasdai ibn Shaprut, Joseph stresses that Bulan chose the Judaic religion as the
faith of Abraham.107
The Arabo-Persian authors usually include the Khazars among the descen-
dants of Japheth without specifically mentioning Togarmah or his other sons.
Al-Yaqubi (the ninth century) gives a more precise account, providing two
genealogies of the Khazars. According to the first one, they are descendants
of the son of Japheth Meshech, who is considered the primogenitor of the
Turks. The other genealogy presents the Khazars (along with the Bulgars, Alans
and the Armenians) as descendants of the son of Japheth, Togarmah (!—the
third descendant in line), and geographically links them with the peoples from
the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea Region.108 The presentation of Togarmah
as a son of Japheth is consistent with Joseph’s Reply and shows the possibil-
ity that the Khazar ruler was not directly following the Jewish tradition. This
raises the question of whether the Khazar ruler was not conveying a genealogy
that was much closer to Muslim beliefs. Such a connection could possibly be
sought also with regard to the mention of Abraham in the letter to Hasdai ibn
Shaprut. The common trait that unifies Al-Yaqubi’s account and The Book of
Joseph (if it is to be regarded as an example of Jewish genealogical views in the
Early Middle Ages) lies in the geographical areas, which the Khazars are said
to come from. V. Petrukhin believes that Joseph’s Reply and The Book of Joseph
follow different traditions because of the inconsistency in the mentioned
peoples. In other words, the two sources are independent from each other.109
In immediate vicinity to Khazaria, the Georgian and Armenian genealogical
tradition identifies Togarmah as the primogenitor of the Caucasian peoples. His
descendants include the Armenians, Georgians, the Caucasian Albanians and
the peoples of Dagestan.110 In the second half of the twelfth century, the Jewish
traveler Petahia of Regensburg crossed the land of the Khazars (the Crimean
Peninsula) and continued on to the land of Togarmah—Transcaucasia and in
particular Georgia.111 I think it is quite possible that the notion of Togarmah
107 Tolsov 1948b, 288; Dunlop 1967, 13–14; Poliak 2001, 99.
108 Kalinina 2005a, 101–102 and 2005b, 251; Dunlop 1967, 12.
109 Petrukhin 1995a, 36 with n. 2.
110 Novosel’tsev 1990, 76. According to Movses Kalankatvatsi, the following peoples
descended from the sons of Gomer ( Japheth’s son): the Sarmatians from Ashkenaz, the
Sauromatians from Riphath and the Armenians from Torgom (Movses Kalankatvatsi.
Istoria Strany Aluank 1.2, in Smbatian 1984).
111 Artamonov 1962, 446.