In the early spring of 861 a Byzantine mission under Constantine, who became known as Cyril, came to the Khazar capital on the lower Volga.[1] Its stated purpose was a religious debate at the court of the khagan. That was without doubt part of the assignment.[1] The Rus had attacked Constantinople in June 860, so they were probably a further subject of the talks.[1] The mission was one of several diplomatic journeys of Constantine and his brother Methodius.[2]

Origin of the mission

The khagan sent envoys to the emperor Michael III about 860 and asked for someone who could explain Christianity.[3] The patriarch Photios advised the emperor to send Constantine.[3] Constantine went by way of Cherson, then by the Don–Volga route to Atil and down the Caspian coast until he met the khagan, possibly at Samandar.[4]

The life of Constantine

The main account is the Old Church Slavonic life of Constantine, which is a work of hagiography. Some scholars hold that it was written in defence of the Slavonic liturgy. The debate before a ruler is also a set form of Byzantine literature, so the life may not give the debate as it happened.[5]

In chapter 8 the Khazar envoys tell the emperor that from the beginning they have known one God above all and prayed to him facing east. They say that the Jews urge them to take up their faith and ways, and that the Saracens press them too, with offers of peace and gifts. They ask for a learned man, and promise to accept the emperor’s faith if he beats the Jews and Saracens.[6] In chapter 9 the khagan proposes a toast in the name of the one God who made all creation. He tells Constantine that the Khazars say the same, but that they differ in this: Constantine glorifies the Trinity, while the Khazars, having been given Scriptures, glorify the one God. Jews stand around Constantine in the debate.[6] Chapter 10 reports the debate with the Jews about the law and the covenant. The Jews say that every Jew knows how it will be, but that the time of the Anointed One has not yet come.[6]

At the end of chapter 11 Constantine says that whoever heeds him may be baptised in the name of the Trinity. The Khazars answer that they are not their own enemies. Gradually, whoever can may be baptised of his own will. Those among them who bow to the west, pray as Jews or keep the Saracen faith will soon be put to death by them.[6] About two hundred people are baptised at that time.[6] The khagan writes a letter to the emperor, and Constantine asks for prisoners as his reward.[6] About two hundred captives are given to him.[6]

Assessment

The life does not show Khazars who are Jewish. It shows a khagan who receives Jews as debaters and hears envoys complain of pressure from Jews and Muslims. For C. Zuckerman and J. Shepard, this is why the conversion to Judaism must have come after 861.[7] Others answer that the Jews at the court were a decisive force. They hold that the silence of the lives about a Jewish Khazar court seems to be of little weight, and that the life gives no direct sign that the conversion had already taken place.[8] Turkic Atlas takes up the wider question under the conversion of the Khazars.

Afterwards

Constantine and Methodius went on to Central Europe. Constantine died in 869.[2] By 885 the Rus had united the Eastern Slavic tribes, and their expansion brought them into conflict with the Khazars.[9] The fall of the khaganate came about a century later.

References

  1. ^ a b c Sinor 1990, p. 267
  2. ^ a b Golden 1992, p. 252
  3. ^ a b Dunlop 1954, p. 194
  4. ^ Dunlop 1954, p. 194–195
  5. ^ Olsson 2013
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Kantor 1983, p. 42–63
  7. ^ Zuckerman 1995; Shepard 1998
  8. ^ Dunlop 1954, p. 195–196
  9. ^ Sinor 1990, p. 268

Literature

  • Denis Sinor (ed.), The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia (1990)
  • Peter B. Golden, An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples (1992)
  • Douglas M. Dunlop, The History of the Jewish Khazars (1954)
  • M. Kantor, Medieval Slavic Lives of Saints and Princes (Vita Constantini, Kap. 8–11, S. 42–63) (1983)
  • J. T. Olsson, Coup d'État, Coronation and Conversion: Some Reflections on the Adoption of Judaism by the Khazar Khaganate (2013)
  • Constantin Zuckerman, On the Date of the Khazars’ Conversion to Judaism and the Chronology of the Kings of the Rus Oleg and Igor (1995)
  • J. Shepard, The Khazars' Formal Adoption of Judaism and Byzantium's Northern Policy (1998)

Related

What links here3

States
Khazar Khaganate
Battles & Events
Conversion of the Khazars to Judaism
Institutions and Titles
Envoys and Embassies

Cite this article

Yavuz, Emre-E. “Mission of Constantine to the Khazars (860–861).” Turkic Atlas, revised 8 November 2026. https://turkicatlas.org/events/mission-of-constantine-to-the-khazars/

Last revised: 8 November 2026