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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Urtseki in Dagestan **
Also Varachan, and Suwar-Jidan.
Ancient city Urtseki was located in a picturesque valley among the woods. This city is quite confidently identified with the Urtsek settlement near the villages of Dzhanga and Ulubiy, located in a foothill valley near the sea coast in Dagestan. This area is now inhabited mainly by kumyks.
The first settlers on the site of the future city appeared here in the 7th century before Christ. These were the cimmerian tribes, which were soon replaced by the scythians and sauromatians, moving towards Asia Minor.
At the beginning of the 5th century after the birth of Christ, the first defensive structures appeared here, which were built by the persian shahs in order to protect their possessions from the nomads of the north.
In this line of defense there were several fortifications, where at times there were military garrisons. Of these the most significant become over time city Urtseki, where the garrison were on duty constantly. Under him, people of various crafts gradually began to settle, who were able to work on weapons, repair the fortress, and people of agriculture.
The city and fortress were most developed during the khazars presence here, starting from the end of the 7th century. Since the beginning of the 8th century, the city has provided security for the southern borders of the Khaganate in a military confrontation with the Arab Caliphate.
The city covered an area of 40 hectares. A fortress with a Citadel and powerful defensive structures was built inside the city. The fortress was part of a single defense system, which was secured by a double wall up to 15 kilometers long, extending through Kyati, Djanga and Shamshagar. A roadway was laid along the entire line. The entrance to the fortress Urtseki was defended by two towers with walls up to a width of 3 meters.
The walls of the fortress were erected from torn limestone with a small undercut using the dry shell brickwork technique. Inside the shell, a boot was filled in with a loam with a tamp.
Heavy throwing weapons were used in the defense of the fortress, which were spat out with large rounded stones.
The Citadel towered over the fortress and the city. It was a square shape and had an area of 1 hectare. This part of the fortress was surrounded on all sides by defensive walls with towers. One of the towers, the largest and tallest, was used for housing, as well as for viewing the surrounding area.
There were farmlands outside the city, which were also protected by a double wall. Not far away, on the seaside side, a watchtower was built on the top of the Sherya-besh mountain, which was repeatedly destroyed, but then re-erected.
Local researchers put forward several versions of the city's identity and its names. According to one of these versions, this city is identified with the city of Varachan, often mentioned in various Chronicles.
According to another version, the settlement is well identified with the chronicled city of Suvar-Jidan.
In addition to serving the military garrisons in the city, the working population was engaged in trade. One of the trade, political and military roads on the Caspian route passed through the city. Trade caravans came here, where their merchants sold some of their goods at the local bazaar. Greek, bukharian, and persian ceramics were found on the site.
10 years after the end of the arab-khazar war, in the middle of the 8th century, the garrison of the fortress was removed as unnecessary. The artisan population, based on its christian faith, dispersed around the area, and the city ceased to exist. There are several villages nearby that continue to exist as villages, and their population keeps in memory the military glory of their great-grandfathers, who defended this land from invaders, although and albeit at the cost of a change of religion.
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