Cities of Khazaria. Kromos Estatium
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The khazar cities here include not only those cities that were built by the khazar architects, but also those that were built before the arrival of the khazars, were used by the khazars for their needs and tasks for a long time.
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Samandar of khazar **
One of the largest cities in Khazaria. The city by its name is drawn to the city of Semender.
The city was the capital of all Khazaria in the first third of the 8th century, when Jarrah took Balanjar. At least in 737, before Mervan's campaign in the North Caucasus, Samandar remained the main city of the khazars. But even after the end of the arab campaigns against the Khazar Khaganate, Samandar remained an important trading city for the khazars and the entire North Caucasus.
The name of this city among the khazars meant the White house, an Important Palace. Names of settlements of this type have been popular in Khazaria and among the turks since the 8th century. White Horde, White king, Ak-padishah.
In the turkic languages, the word «sam» meant not only white, but also nobility, the highest quality. On the contrary, the word «kara» in the khazars meant a black bone, a subordinate position.
In arabic sources, this city is mentioned under the name al-Bayda, which also means White Palace.
The name of the city is also derived from the fact that the housing of citizens was collected from glinobit, straw smeared with clay with the addition of adhesive organic matter, and the second root «dar» means the house of the king or the city. To become the capital, it is not enough to be in the cross roads and be the commercial center of the country. It is necessary that there should be a Royal tent or a Kagan's Palace in the city.
After the conquest of Syria by the Arab Caliphate in 640, Patrick Armaniacus gathered many troops against the arab Muslims. His army also joined the troops of the alans, abhazs and samandars from the khazars, as reported by al-Balazuri in his book «Conquest». By that time, Syria had already submitted to the arabs.
According to the explanation of the historian and chronicler M. Agha, the karaites considered Samandar the capital of Khazaria in the period from the middle of the 7th century to the end of the 8th century. The karaites located this city on the banks of the Terek river. They also derive the name of this city from the word saman, meaning straw, and from the word sam, meaning millet. All this together means an glinobit city, a city with dwellings made of mud huts made of unfired bricks made of clay soil with an admixture of straw and millet.
Chechen historians prove that the first capital of Khazaria appeared in the 7th century on the territory of present-day Chechnya, where there is a Shelkovskor settlement, suitable for the main parameters to be called the capital of Khazaria. They refer to the statements of Lev Gumilyov, who conducted excavations there.
In the 8th century, after the khazars advanced along the coast of the Caspian sea to the Caucasus range, the Khazarian Kings moved Samandar closer to the coast of what is now Makhachkala, naming the new city Semender.
However, even after these important events in the history of Khazaria, Samandar retains its economic and partly political significance. This city was noted by an ancient chronicler for its beautiful gardens and vineyards.
Samandar was the second largest city in terms of trade and economic significance, which the turks also knew as Saryshin, and the arabs as al-Bayda. But perhaps they were already referring to Semender on the Caspian coast.
In 969, according to Ibn Haukal and Novoseltsev, the Russian army expelled all citizens from this city, destroying their craft and fortress.
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