Itil (city)

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Itil or Ätil ('Great River') was the historic capital of the Khazar Empire from the middle of the 8th century to the end of the 10th century. The name is derived from the Turkish name of the river Volga .

Itil was located in the Volga Delta on the northeastern shore of the Caspian Sea . After the defeat of the Khazars in the second Khazarian-Arab war, it became the capital of the empire. In Arabic sources from the 9th century the city appears under the name Chamlidsch, the name Itil / Ätil appears in the 10th century. In its heyday, the city was an important trading center and consisted of three districts separated by the Volga. The western part was the administrative center of the city, including the court and the army garrison. The eastern part was built later and represented the commercial center of Itils. There were public baths and shops here. Between them was the island in which the palaces of the Khazarian Chagan and the Beks stood. This island was connected to the others by a pontoon bridge. After Arab sources one half of the city was Ätil called the others are Chasaran.

Ätil / Itil was a multi-religious and polyethnic city where Jews, Christians, Muslims, shamanists and pagans lived, including many traders from other countries. All religious groups had their own places of worship and the city court was manned according to religious proportionality, so that all religions were represented and each accused had the right to have his case heard by a judge of his own religion.

In 968 or 969, the Kiev ruler Svyatoslav I conquered and destroyed the city, and the city's Khazars fled to the island of Bab al-Abwab in the mouth of the Volga, off Itil. Ibn Hauqal and al-Muqaddasi still mention the city after 969, which indicates a possible reconstruction. Al-Biruni, on the other hand, reported around 1030 that the city was in ruins. A year later, however, the Arab traveler Abu Hamid described Khazars in the city of Saqsin, neighboring Itil, on the Volga Delta. Possibly, however, it was already a question of their Petschenegian, (ogh) Usian or Cumanian successors.

Archaeological remains of Itil have never been found. It has been speculated that this is due to a possible rise in sea levels. Today the Russian city of Astrakhan is located near the historical city .