A short historical Account of the Crimea, from the earliest ages and during the Russian occupation - Tapa blanda

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1855 Excerpt: ...conquered and dispersed the Huns in various directions, one branch took possession of the country to the south of the Caspian Sea, along the banks of the Volga. This branch, called Cozar or Chazar, whose original name had been Cusa (a name still given by the Turks to sparsely bearded men with red hair), made Astrachan their capital city. In A;D. 627, their king was invited by the Emperor Heraclius to meet him at Tiflis; and being much honoured and flattered by him, was at last induced to send into Azerbijan an army of 40,000 men to operate against the King of Persia, with whom Heraclius was then at war. They penetrated into Persia by the pass of Gibbon, in describing the Huns, says that they were almost destitute of beard. Derbend under their general, Zibel, and then advanced with Heraclius to attack Khosroes, the Persian King. Heraclius had promised his daughter in marriage to Zibel, whose death in the following year freed him from the necessity of entering into so unwise an alliance. The Chazars some short time afterwards established themselves in the Chersonesus, extending their dominions into the provinces of the Ukraine and the southern part of Russia; and in A.d. 680, having vanquished the Huns who then occupied the country lying between the Caspian and the Sea of Asoff, they took possession of their territory, which extended from the Don to the river Kuban. The date of the first irruption of the Chazars is not precisely known; but in the time of Jornandes, the Gothic historian, they were already settled in Bulgaria and Lithuania. From the year 527, the Emperor Justinian became the patron and protector of the inhabitants of the Chersonesus and of the Bosporus; and during his long reign they remained secure from the aggressions of the northern barbaria...