The “Internal” Ethnic Communities in Khazaria 243

with the fact that he was succeeded by his son Seljuk, likens his role to that of
the beks in Khazaria, which was well documented in Eastern sources.
Historians generally regard the names of Seljuk’s sons as evidence of
the Khazar influence in the Oghuz state, but do not necessarily associate it
with the service of Oghuz men at the Khazar court.82 Thus, “inhabitants of
the Empire of the Yabghu were under the cultural influence of the Khazar
Empire”.83 Of special significance is the preserved notion regarding the close
relations between the Oghuz and the Khazars. These relations were the result
of the constant contacts between the population around the Volga and the
Caspian Sea, as well as Middle Asia during the times of the Khazar Khaganate.
Accounts about military conflicts between the Oghuz and the Khazars, which
are often cited, do not deny the existence of a cultural exchange between the
inhabitants of the areas along the lower reaches of the Volga and the Syr Darya
Rivers, all of whom belonged to a common geographical and cultural region.

...

The construction of fortresses in Khazaria was dictated by state policy and was
en expression of its ideology. Therefore, the nationality of the workers who
built the various fortresses was of no significance. Attempts to attribute all the
constructed structures in Khazaria to Byzantine builders do not clarify their
origins or traditions. Such a perspective artificially shifts the cultural centers
that were of importance for Khazaria (such as the Caucasus and Middle Asia),
thus distorting the image of the Khazar Khaganate itself. This problem greatly
resembles existing scientific disputes on the traditions of fortress and palace
construction in Danube Bulgaria.84
On the basis of Constantine Porphyrogenitus’ account of the Byzantine par-
ticipation in the construction of Sarkel, G. Afanas’ev assumes that all Khazar
fortresses of the fourth type (both along the Don and in the Caucasus) are built
by Byzantine workers. He regards as additional evidence the use of brick and
stone in the constructions, as well as the square ground-plan of the fortresses.
Thus, the overall appearance of the fortress construction in Khazaria is associ-
ated with the Late Antiquity and Early Byzantine traditions.85 However, the

82 Dunlop 1967, 260–261; Artamonov 1962, 420.
83 Pritsak 1981b, no. 19, 282.
84 See Filov 1993 (originally 1924); Mavrodinov 1959; Vaklinov 1977; Chobanov 2006 and 2008;
Rashev 2008; Boiadzhiev 2008.
85 Afanas’ev 1993, 134–140 and 2001, 47–51; this theory is absent from the earlier works of
G. Afanas’ev. For instance, in 1984 he simply names various European and Middle Asian