On the Ethnonym Khazar

Abstract The early or proto-history of the Khazars is still far from being thoroughly investigated, in regard to the world wide popularity of the Khazar studies. There are still many vague points to be discovered, despite the great attempts especially for the last hundred years of modern Khazar studies. We may differentiate between the terms Khazar and Khazarian , the former referring to the ethnie in the core of the process making Khazaria, and thus to the proto stage, and the latter to the well-known imperial formation in Eastern Europe. The scattered but rich sources of Khazarian history are not, on the other hand, very helpful in Khazar history. The debates on the meaning of the ethnonym Khazar are also a part of the proto-history. We are bound, for the early parts of the history, with the eastern, i.e., Chinese and Turkic sources. Previously the Chinese sources were effectively used in that regard, and with the publication of the readings of the two Uyghur inscriptions Tes and Terkhin from the 750s some fifty years ago opened a new chapter for the early history of the Khazars and the etymology of their name. This paper suggests a new frame for the early history of the Khazars in Asia and Europe and slightly revises the etymology of what we may call the French school, supposing that the Khazars came from South Siberia to the Caucasus in the wave of the Suvar union, after being defeated by the Uyghurs during an internal strife likely instigated by the Türks and their overlords Juan-juans.