62 CHAPTER 1
them and the ruling khagans. This brings the tarkhans from the inscription of
Mojilian Khagan closer to the Turkic shads.
Still, if the Judaization of Khazaria was related to the distribution of power
and if the Khazar system previously resembled the Turkic one, could the emer-
gence of a vicegerent with the title of bek mark the separation of the secular
from the spiritual power, since the two could not be in the hands of one family,
according to Judaic notions? There is, however, no evidence to back the exis-
tence of such a system in Khazaria and the steppe tradition, which is linked to
the Iranian one, does not exclude the distribution of functions among the vari-
ous families (as was the case in Bulgaria).190 The origin of the shad title (Ishad/
Ikhshid) stems from Sogd and is typical for the local rulers.191
The word tarkhan is of Scytho-Sarmatian origin and in ancient times it prob-
ably meant “judge, interpreter”. Later, it was used in steppe states for privileged
people that were exempt from taxes. In Bulgaria the tarkhans were of higher
rank and held various administrative positions.192 Based on the etymology
of the word tarkhan, “judge”, Ts. Stepanov assumes that in ancient times the
tarkhan “was a senior in the assembly who judged and gave final verdicts on dis-
putes and other special cases”.193 This correspondence to the bek in Khazaria is
interesting. According to Al-Istakhri, the king (bek) had seven judges (different
for the different religions) and validated their decisions.194 In the steppe world,
the tarkhans usually did not stem from the ruling dynasty and were not called
kings. This way, the problem regarding the tarkhans in Khazaria resembles
that of the beks. There is, however, one significant exception. The Arab scholar
Al-Yaqubi (who worked in 891–892) called the ruler of Khorasan (Sogd) “king
(malik) Tarkhan”. His residence was in Balkh.195 According to Ibn Khordadbeh
(the ninth century), the ruler of Samarkand also bore the title of tarkhan. He
also noted the lower status of this title among the Turks (it did not belong to
rulers). Again Al-Yaqubi called the ruler of Samarkand “Ikhshid” (i.e. shad).196
Most likely, the titles of tarkhan and shad were used interchangeably in Middle
Asia in the ninth and tenth centuries.
190 See for instance Stepanov 2002a, 6–12.
191 Golden 2007b, 133 with n. 57; Frye and Litvinsky 1996, 467.
192 Stepanov 1999a, 89–90; Novosel’tsev 1990, 117.
193 Stepanov 1999a, 90.
194 Dunlop 1967, 93; Novosel’tsev 1990, 221.
195 Novosel’tsev 1990, 118.
196 See the text by Ibn Khordadbeh in Velihanova 1986, 69 (on the work of Al-Yaqubi, see
Velihanova 1986, 69 with n. 382).