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Vladimir Petrukhin
Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Slavic Studies, Moscow, Russian Federation;
vladimir.petrukhin@gmail.com
Sarkel and
Annales Bertiniani
: Khazarian beginning of the Russian History?
The Russians (
Rhos
) were mentioned for the first time in the Carolingian Annales Bertiniani
s.a. 839 when they appeared with the Byzantine embassy sent by emperor Theophilus to Louis
the Pious residence in Ingelheim on Rheine. The Embassy attended people (Rhos), who arrived to
Constantinople “for the sake of friendship”, but could not return to their land the same way because
this way blocked the fierce barbarians. Theophilus begged Louis to miss friendly “divergences” over
the Empire of the Franks, but Louis was supposed to investigate their origin. These people admitted
that they are “from the tribe of
Sueones
”(Swedes). The Franks tried to oppose the onslaught of
Viking and Louis suspected aliens are not “friends”, but spies: he ordered to arrest them. These
people of Rhos declared that their ruler was
chacanus
, and this declaration gave birth to modern
discussion: if these Russians obeyed to the Khazarian khagan/chacan or they had their own ruler in
the mysterious “Russian khaganate”.
In the recent historiography, despite the apparent “normanist” nature of Annales Bertiniani
(detecting the Scandinavian origin of initial
Rus
’), dominated the “antinormanist” idea of the
first diplomatic initiative and the original Russian State, with the ruler claimed the Khazar title
“Khagan”. Kiev was supposed to be the capital of this State; in subsequent versions, taking into
account the absence of any evidence of Kiev before the second half of the 9
th
century, the capital of
the “Russian (Rhos) Khaganate” was placed on Novgorod Hillfort (according to C. Zuckerman) or
in Ladoga, where the Scandinavian antiquities are dated even from the 8
th
century. Ladoga seems to
be preferable in such constructions in attempts to synchronize the archaeological data with 839
Embassy, but borders the “Russian Khaganate” remains unclear, and its “capital” Ladoga was the
small settlement in the first half of the 9
th
century.
It is essential that in the same years (around 840) the Khazarian khagan and his commander
-in-chief
bag
sent his embassy to Theophilus asking for assistance in building of Sarkel fortress on
Don river (according to Constantine Porphyrogenitus DAI 42). Don was the main trade route for
Khazaria, as well as for the Russians (old
Rus
’) who had Scandinavian (Swedish) origin: the oriental
coins reached the Northern Europe from the beginning of the 9
th
century. One of the early hoards
(around 800) was found in the so called Right Bank (Tsimlyansk) fortress: Sarkel situated on the
opposite left bank of Don. A Khazarian imitation of dirham and a coin with Scandinavian graffiti
characterize the cultural contacts of the owner of the hoard.
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A tile of the Byzantine type was also found in the excavations of Right Bank fortress. It is
essential that the material Right-bank (Tsimlyansk) hillfort include shingles, that indicates the
Byzantine construction traditions. The impact of the Byzantine construction equipment found not
only in Right bank fortress, but in the Khazarian Semikarakory hillfort in the lower Don basin
(Kalinina, Flyorov, Petrukhin 2014:109 ff.). Strengthening of the “domen” of the Khazarian Khagan
was connected with the complication of Khazar-Hungarian relations: apparently, the Hungarians
were threatening international waterways on their way to the Central Europe; the Hungarians
could be mentioned as “a fierce people” by the
Rhos
ambassadors (cf. Golden 1982. P. 96-97).
Initial Slavonic name
Rus’
(Annales Bertiniani followed the Greek vocalization -
Rhos
; cf.
Shepard 1995:43) reflected the Scandinavian name meant the “retinue of rowers”: it was not tribal,
but the “route” name: these Russians could not call themselves the
Vikings
, as they did in the Baltic
sea
, because they could not use their
long ships
on the East-European rivers, they need rowing boats.
On the Rhine, at Louis the Pious court, they used this “route” name, which led to suspicions of
Emperor, who realized that they were the Normans/Vikings.
Jonathan Shepard published in 1995 Byzantine finds from Northern Europe which could be
connected with 839 embassy of Rhos: coins of Theophilus and the Byzantine seal from the same
time found in the most prominent sites of the Viking age – Hedeby, Birka and early Novgorod
Hillfort (Городище). One could add now the numerous finds (11 coins of Theophilus) originate
from Gnёzdovo in Smolensk (Upper Dnieper), but the cultural layers from the 830-ies are unknown
in these Russian sites, the mentioned objects could not be straightly connected with the people from
the time of Theophilus embassy.
However, archaeology demonstrates the diversity and cultural contacts in the Baltic: in the
Baltic “gate” Rus’– Ladoga and other trading settlements in Eastern Europe the finds from middle
Sweden – region of Birka are the most numerous, but the “imports” of the Danish or Danish-Frisian
origin are known also. The Byzantine seal from Haithabu mentioned by Jonathan Shephard has the
special interest for our theme: this seal of
patrikios
Theodosius, dating back to the time from 820 to
860, testify to the activity of the Byzantine diplomacy in the Baltic Sea at a time when Byzantium
fought with the Arabs in the Western Mediterranean (Shepard recalls in that connection and on the
Russian attack on Seville in 844: it is remarkable that al-Ya’kuby used the
river
name
ar-Rus
for the
raiders attacked Seville from the river). The ambassadors of the “people of Rhos” could be members
of this diplomatic mission, and find of this seal could indicate on their route to the Baltic – from
Ingelheim to Haithabu. Another seal of Theodosius was recently found in the cultural layer of the
town of Ribe – the Viking port, located on the border of Denmark and Friesland (Feveile 2010. S.
9). This find reinforces the hypothesis of the Byzantine diplomatic activity in the Baltic Sea, but
cannot be considered a direct reflection of the Embassy route 839. Anyway, the Normans and the
Khazars found themselves in the interests of the Byzantine Empire in 30-40 years of the 9
th
century,
and facilitator in the pursuit of these transcontinental interests was the initial
Rus’
.
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