The Horde's Jewish Khazars: Mongol Alliance with a Lost Kingdom

Long before the Mongols swept across the steppe, the Khazar Khaganate ruled the Pontic-Caspian steppe as a powerful, semi-nomadic empire whose elite converted to Judaism. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the forgotten links between the Khazars and the Golden Horde. They trace how Khazar fortresses like Sarkel, the trading emporium of Itil, and the Khazar legacy of religious tolerance and tribute systems influenced the Jochid ulus. The episode examines the Khazar-Jewish merchant network that connected the Silk Road to Kiev and Constantinople, and how the Mongol invasion likely scattered Khazar communities into the ranks of the Horde's administrators and soldiers. It also tackles the controversy around the 'Khazar thesis' — the idea that Ashkenazi Jews descend from Khazars — and why most historians now reject it. Along the way, listeners meet King Bulan, the Khazar ruler who chose Judaism, and learn about the surprising continuity of Khazar place names and archaeological sites in the North Caucasus and lower Volga region. A deep dive into a lost steppe civilization whose shadow loomed over the Horde. #Khazars #GoldenHorde #MongolEmpire #Judaism #Sarkel #Itil #SilkRoad #SteppeHistory #KhazarKhaganate #KingBulan #PonticCaspianSteppe #AshkenaziJews #KhazarThesis #MedievalHistory #CentralAsia #ByzantineEmpire #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo