Arsiyah (other forms of the word include - ''Lariçiyeh'', ''al-Larisiya'') was the name used for a group of

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

mercenaries in the service of the Khazar

Khagan Khagan or Qaghan (Mongolian:; or ''Khagan''; otk, 𐰴𐰍𐰣 ), or , tr, Kağan or ; ug, قاغان, Qaghan, Mongolian Script: ; or ; fa, خاقان ''Khāqān'', alternatively spelled Kağan, Kagan, Khaghan, Kaghan, Khakan, Khakhan ...

ate. Whether the Arsiyah were a single tribe or composed of

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

from a number of different tribes is unclear. Also unclear is their origin; many historians regard them as deriving from Khwarazm, but some scholars point to the fact that "As" is the Turkic term for Alans and believe that the Arsiyah were Alanic in origin. Other scholars derive the name from Iranian ''Auruša'' (white). According to Arabic text with French translation ''"Les Prairies d'or"'' translated by

Barbier de Meynard Charles Adrien Casimir Barbier de Meynard (6 February 1826 – 31 March 1908), born at sea on a ship from Constantinople to Marseille, was a nineteenth-century French historian and orientalist. Biography His studies focused on the early history ...

and Pavet de Courteille. This word reads correctly from Arabic as - ''lariçiyeh''. Which, according to the ''"Book of the Huns"'' by Alexandre Vincent, is translated from the Khazar language - ''guards''.Vincent 2016, ''«Book of the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was part ...

»'' - Part I, Chapter ''"The

Khazarian The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...

language"'' p. 26, 27. From to Muslim sources, the lariçiyeh formed the core of the Khazar army and were extremely influential in Khazar politics, but these assertions may be designed to exaggerate the importance of the Muslim community in Khazaria. The lariçiyeh did often act independently of their government. Part of the treaty binding them to Khazar service guaranteed that they would not be used to fight other Muslims. In 913, the lariçiyeh ambushed a Varangian fleet that had been granted passage to the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

by the Khazar government, wiping out thousands of

Rus Rus or RUS may refer to: People and places * Rus (surname), a Romanian-language surname * East Slavic historical territories and peoples (). See Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia ** Rus' people, the people of Rus' ** Rus' territories *** Kievan ...

warriors.

Notes

References

Peter B. Golden Peter Benjamin Golden (born 1941) is an American historian who is Professor Emeritus of History, Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University. He has written many books and articles on Turkic peoples, Turkic and Central Asian Studies, ...

. "The Conversion of the Khazars to Judaism." ''The World of the Khazars: New Perspectives''. Leiden:

Brill Brill may refer to: Places * Brielle (sometimes "Den Briel"), a town in the western Netherlands * Brill, Buckinghamshire, a village in England * Brill, Cornwall, a small village to the west of Constantine, Cornwall, UK * Brill, Wisconsin, an un ...

, 2007. * Kevin Alan Brook. ''The Jews of Khazaria.'' 2nd ed. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2006. *

Douglas M. Dunlop Douglas Morton Dunlop (1909–1987) was a renowned British oriental studies, orientalist and scholar of Islamic and Eurasian history. Early life and education Born in England, Dunlop studied at Bonn and Oxford under the historian Paul E. Kahle, Pa ...

. ''The History of the Jewish Khazars''. Princeton, N.J.:

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

Press, 1954. * Alexandre Vincent. ''«Book of the Huns»'' - Part I.

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

- , 2016. * Norman Golb and Omeljan Pritsak. ''Khazarian Hebrew Documents of the Tenth Century''. Ithaca:

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

Press, 1982. {{Khazaria Khazar military history Mercenary units and formations of the Middle Ages

See also

Notes

References