Debunking the Myth: The Khazar Huns and Their Diverse Faiths

Source of screenshot: https://x.com/williamtjzhuo/status/1934253791618195896?t=925JsYJmr5Sut6iTH4U82Q&s=19

Authored by @greywarden100

The recent X post by @williamtjzhuo asserting that the Western Huns converted en masse to Judaism in the Khazar Khaganate era, abandoning their official animistic Tengrism, oversimplifies a nuanced historical reality. My blog aims to refute this claim with a careful examination of historical evidence and scholarly consensus.

The Khazar Khaganate, flourishing between the 7th and 10th centuries in the region encompassing parts of modern day Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan, was a multi-ethnic confederation rather than a homogenous state. The suggestion that the Western Huns, a subgroup within this federation, uniformly adopted Judaism under King Bulan’s influence lacks substantiation. Primary sources, such as the 10th-century account by the Muslim traveler Ibn Fadlan, describe the Khazars as a diverse people with a ruling elite that adopted Judaism, while the broader population adhered to a variety of beliefs, including Tengrism, a shamanistic religion common among Turkic and Mongolic peoples. Archaeological evidence from burial sites, such as those excavated near the Volga River, reveals a continuity of Tengrist practices horse sacrifices and offerings to natural elements, indicating that Judaism did not supplant existing traditions.

The post’s assertion that choosing Islam under King Bulan would have made the Khazars a Muslim empire, or that Tengrism was distinctly "Mongolian," further misrepresents the situation. The Khazar adoption of Judaism, likely formalized in the 8th or 9th century as noted in the Kievan Rus' chronicle The Tale of Bygone Years, was a strategic move to maintain neutrality between the Christian Byzantine Empire and the Muslim Caliphate. This is supported by the Letter of King Joseph, a 10th-century document attributed to a Khazar ruler, which describes the conversion as a deliberate policy of the elite, not a mass religious transformation. The majority of the Khazar populace, including Hunnic tribes, continued practicing Tengrism and other local cults, as evidenced by the absence of widespread Jewish religious artifacts in the region.

The accompanying map and text exaggerate the Khazar kingdom’s religious uniformity. Excavations of aristocratic tumuli, documented in studies by Soviet archaeologist Mikhail Artamonov, show a persistence of warrior burial rites consistent with Tengrist beliefs, suggesting that any shift to Judaism was limited to the ruling class. Additional archaeological findings from the North Caucasus and Black Sea coast, as well as the Donbass region, reinforce this view, indicating a multi-confessional mosaic of pagan, Tengrist, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim worshippers across the Khazar domain. Theophanes, a Byzantine historian, also notes the Khazars’ engagement with multiple faiths, highlighting their role as a buffer state rather than a religiously unified empire.

Moreover, the account of Constantine Porphyrogenitus in De Administrando Imperio describes the Khazars’ political structure as a dual kingship, with the khagan as a sacral figure and the beg wielding practical power, a system that allowed for religious diversity rather than imposition. Movses Dasxuranci’s History of the Caucasian Albanians further corroborates this, detailing the Khazars’ interactions with neighboring Christian and Muslim states without evidence of a forced religious shift among the Huns. These sources challenge the notion of a complete religious transformation tied to King Bulan’s choice.

Genetically, the Khazar Hypothesis is debunked. Behar et al. (2010) demonstrate Ashkenazi Jews have 50-70% Levantine ancestry, with early Western Asian male founders mixing with local European women for three generations before endogamy, as supported by population genetics models. Khazar converts integrated into communities like Mountain Jews and Crimean Karaites (Golden, P.B., 2007, Khazar Studies), not forming Ashkenazi origins.

In conclusion, the claim of a wholesale conversion of the Western Huns to Judaism, leaving behind Tengrism, is not supported by historical records. The Khazar Khaganate’s religious landscape was diverse, with Judaism serving as a political tool for the elite rather than a unifying faith.

Furthermore, the claim of a Turkic Jewish origin is a myth, unsupported by historical records or genetics. This refutation addresses the repeated lies, offering a factual narrative.

References:

• Ibn Fadlan, Risala (10th century)
• The Tale of Bygone Years (12th century)
• Letter of King Joseph (10th century)
• Artamonov, Mikhail, History of the Khazars (1962)
• Theophanes, Chronicle (early 9th century)
• Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Administrando Imperio (10th century)
• Movses Dasxuranci, History of the Caucasian Albanians (7th century)