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Brooks, Kevin Alan, The Jews of Khazaria, Jason Aronson Inc. (New Jersey: 1999)

The book aims to capture the history of Khazaria, a Jewish state near the Caspian sea that reigned between the 7th to 11th centuries, starting as a small tribe and growing in size and in power. The book is primarily based on archival and linguistic discoveries. The author starts in 650 AD when migration patterns westward and wars with the Muslim forces from the south brought to the fore of history the Khazar empire. Khazaria was located roughly between of present day Hungary from its east and Persia in its west. The Khazars, originally nomads known for their fierce fighting tradition, defended their region and became a loose state about mid 6thcentury.

The Khazar state was unique in its dual sovereign system: a Kagan, a king, with ceremonial power and not much contact with the citizens, and a bek, a general or executive director that managed the day to day business of the country. Supposedly, this form of government originated in the Khazar state and was then emulated by the two dozen subordinated states that "paid tributes" to the Khazar Kagan.

The Khazar state saw its first influx of Jewish "immigrants" in 723 in a wave that continued to the early 10th century (944 AD). In 860, the Khazar Kagan adopted monotheism instead of shamanism, and was hospitable to Muslim and Jewish scholars. In 861 king Bulan converted to Judaism and by extension, his entire kaganite became Jewish. It is important to know, however, that Khazaria was a multi-cultural state and tolerated Islam and Christianity to a great degree. Itil (Atil) was known to have a Muslim quarter that boasted mosques and many wealthy Muslim families resided there.

King Obadia, successor to king Bulan became a promoter of the Jewish state circa 870. Although the accounts about his pro-Jewish activities are not clear, some tribes branched off the Khazar empire and migrated west and north, most notably the Kabar tribes.

For about a century, Khazaria grew powerful in the region, expanding east to present day Hungary, west to present day Russia and north to present day Bulgaria. Khazaria kept peaceful ties with the Byzantine Empire to the South. In that period there was some correspondence between Khazaria's Kagan and Jewish scholars worldwide. Most known are the correspondence between Ibn Hasdai of Spain and king Joseph in 954. In his letter, king Joseph recalls much of the Khaz