List of Khazar cities


This list includes the names of Khazar cities known from written sources. Of these, only Sarkel and, possibly, the city at the mouth of the Volga were founded by the Khazars; the rest arose in the preceding epoch.
Each toponym is provided with an explanation including an indication of its linguistic affiliation, suggested etymology, time of mention, and a list of the main synchronous sources where it appears. The name is given in the most common English variant. The same city could be called differently at different times and in different languages. The correlation of names and their attribution to archaeological sites are subjects of discussion.
Lists of Khazar cities are already contained in the Arab-Persian geographical literature contemporary to the Khazars. The oldest is found in Ibn Khordadbeh. The longest list, numbering 11 names, is found in the anonymous work Hudud al-'Alam. Far from all names are amenable to decipherment.
In the course of modern archaeological research, numerous proto-urban centers have been discovered on the territory of Khazaria. However, among the cities of written sources, only Sarkel and Samkerts have a generally accepted localization.
NameLanguageEtymologyTime of existenceSources
Al-BaydaArabic"white fortress"8th centuryAl-Kufi, Ibn Khordadbeh, Ibn al-Faqih
AtilTurkic"River", after the name of the river 10th centuryArab geographers of the classical school: Al-Istakhri, Ibn Hawqal, al-Muqaddasi; Ibn Fadlan, al-Masudi, Letter of Joseph, List of bishoprics of the Metropolitanate of Doros
BalanjarPersian"long ravine"6th9th centuriesal-Tabari, al-Baladhuri, Ibn Khordadbeh, Ibn al-Faqih, al-Masudi
KhamlijTurkic"Khan's city"9th centuryIbn Khordadbeh, Ibn Rusta
KhazaranPersian"city of Khazars"10th centuryArab geographers of the classical school, Schechter Letter
Samkerts Turkic? 9th — 10th centuriesIbn al-Faqih, Letter of Joseph, Schechter Letter
Sarkel Turkic"white house"834/837965Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Letter of Joseph, Primary Chronicle, "Journey of Pimen to Tsargrad"
SaryshinTurkic"white... "9th centuryIbn Rusta
SemenderPersian"white city" or "extreme door"6th — 10th centuriesal-Baladhuri, Al-Kufi, Ibn Khordadbeh, Al-Istakhri, Ibn Hawqal, al-Masudi, Letter of Joseph
Armenian?7th centuryMovses Kaghankatvatsi, Armenian Geography