Editing Khazars (section)

==== Royal Diarchy with sacral Qağanate ====
Khazaria developed a [[Diarchy|dual kingship]] governance structure,{{efn|group=note|Several scholars connect it to Judaization, with [[Artamonov]] linking its introduction to Obadiyah's reforms and the imposition of full Rabbinical Judaism and [[Pritsak]] to the same period (799–833), arguing that the [[Bey|Beg]], a majordomo from the Iranian *''Barč/Warâ Bolčan'' clan, identified with Obadiyah, compelled the Qağanal clan to convert, an event which putatively caused the Qabar revolt. Golden comments: "There is nothing but conjecture to connect it with the reforms of Obadiyah, the further evolution of Khazar Judaism or the [[Kabar|Qabars]]&nbsp;... The fact is we do not know when, precisely, the Khazar system of dual kingship emerged. It could not have come ''ex nihilo''. It was not present in the early stages of Khazar history. Given the Old Türk traditions of the Khazar state&nbsp;... and the overall institutional conservation of steppe society, one must exercise great caution here. Clear evidence for it is relatively late (the latter part of the ninth century perhaps and more probably the tenth century)- although it was probably present by the first third of the ninth century. Iranian influences via the [[Ors]] guard of the Qağans may have also been a factor" {{harv|Golden|2007b|pp=155–156}}}} typical among Turkic nomads, consisting of a ''shad/bäk'' and a ''qağan''.{{sfn|Noonan|1999|p=500}} The emergence of this system may be deeply entwined with the conversion to Judaism.{{sfn|Olsson|2013|p=496}} According to Arabic sources, the lesser king was called ''[[Khagan Bek|îšâ]]'' and the greater king ''Khazar [[Khagan|xâqân]]''; the former managed and commanded the military, while the greater king's role was primarily sacral, less concerned with daily affairs. The greater king was recruited from the Khazar house of notables (''ahl bait ma'rûfīn'') and, in an initiation ritual, was nearly strangled until he declared the number of years he wished to reign, on the expiration of which he would be [[ritual killing|killed by the nobles]].{{efn|group=note|There was a maximum limit on the number of years of a king's reign, according to [[Ibn Fadlan]]; if a Qağan had reigned for at least forty years, his courtiers and subjects felt his ability to reason would become impaired by old age. They would then kill the Qağan {{harv|Dunlop|1954|pp=97, 112}}.}}{{sfn|Noonan|2001|p=77}}{{sfn|Golden|2006|pp=81–82}}{{efn|group=note|Petrukhin notes that Ibn Fadlan's description of a Rus' prince (''malik'') and his lieutenant (''[[khalifa]]'') mirrored the Khazarian diarchy, but the comparison was flawed, as there was no sacral kingship among the Rus' {{harv|Petrukhin|2007|pp=256–257}}.}} The deputy ruler would enter the presence of the reclusive greater king only with great ceremony, approaching him barefoot to prostrate himself in the dust and then light a piece of wood as a purifying fire, while waiting humbly and calmly to be summoned.{{sfn|Golden|2007b|pp=133–134}} Particularly elaborate rituals accompanied a [[royal burial]]. At one period, travellers had to dismount, bow before the ruler's tomb, and then walk away on foot.{{sfn|Shingiray|2012|p=212}} Subsequently, the charismatic sovereign's burial place was hidden from view, with a palatial structure ("Paradise") constructed and then [[buried treasure|hidden]] under rerouted river water to avoid disturbance by evil spirits and later generations. Such a royal burial ground (''[[qoruq (burial)|qoruq]]'') is typical of inner Asian peoples.{{sfn|DeWeese|1994|p=181}} Both the îšâ and the xâqân converted to Judaism sometime in the 8th century, while the rest, according to the Persian traveller [[Ahmad ibn Rustah]], probably followed the old Tūrkic religion.{{sfn|Golden|2006|pp=79–81}}{{efn|group=note|"the rest of the Khazars profess a religion similar to that of the Turks." {{harv|Golden|2007b|pp=130–131}}}}