Arakani

Cities of Khazaria. Kromos Estatium
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     The khazar cities here include not only those cities that were built by the khazar architects, but also those that were built before the arrival of the khazars, were used by the khazars for their needs and tasks for a long time.
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Arakani **
     This is how the jews called their quarter and their community in the city of Irhan. Some chroniclers called the city itself Arakani. The existence of a city in the city is reported by various sources, mostly arabic, and there is also information about this city in works called the History of Irhan and Derbent-Nama, both of which, apparently, have a single source that has not reached our days.
     There was a jewish community of the same name in Arakani. The community was engaged in trade and slightly expensive crafts. All residents of the city paid taxes on their homes and farms. Only the karaite and jewish community of Arakani paid for all its members.
     The founder of this community is considered by the karaites to be a certain woman, a Khazarian by birth, whose name was Shontai. Several families of the jewish religion came to the city with her, after the arabs drove the khazars out of Ancient Albania in the late 7th century after the birth of Christ.
     In 716, at the very beginning of the raging series of the arab-khazar war, the army of the Caliphate under the leadership of the commander Abumuslim enters the Kumyk platform through Derbent. The arabs held sway over the Irhan region during the summer and fall of this year, and went on a winter vacation to Transcaucasia. During his stay here they drew many tengrian to Islam.
     However, the jews refused to islamize, some of them were killed, but most of them hid in a gorge outside the city, where the arab horses could not squeeze through. Among the ruins of the city to this day you can find the remains of a jewish synagogue, built at the end of the 7th century.
     As it should be, after the war, an ancient Talmud was found in the wall of this house, which became a relic of local jews. This Talmud can only be read by Talmudists trained to read such books, and without touching its pages with their hands.
     In addition to the Talmud, other ancient books that were brought here after the persecution of the jews from Byzantium came to the present-day jews from the distant past of Arakan.
     Arakan jews, after their expulsion by the arabs, settled throughout the Country, many of them united with the avars, as some of the dagestan natives will not fail to proudly tell that they are the ancestors of these arakans.
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