This list includes the names of Khazar cities known from written sources. Of these, only Sarkel and, possibly, the city at the mouth of the Volga (known by various names) were founded by the Khazars; the rest arose in the preceding epoch.
Each toponym is provided with an explanation including an indication of its linguistic affiliation, suggested etymology, time of mention, and a list of the main synchronous sources where it appears. The name is given in the most common English variant. The same city (or part of it) could be called differently at different times and in different languages. The correlation of names and their attribution to archaeological sites are subjects of discussion.
Lists of Khazar cities are already contained in the Arab-Persian geographical literature contemporary to the Khazars. The oldest is found in Ibn Khordadbeh (mid-9th century). The longest list, numbering 11 names, is found in the anonymous work Hudud al-'Alam. Far from all names are amenable to decipherment.
In the course of modern archaeological research, numerous proto-urban centers have been discovered on the territory of Khazaria. However, among the cities of written sources, only Sarkel (Left-bank Tsimlyansk settlement) and Samkerts (Taman settlement) have a generally accepted localization.
NameLanguageEtymologyTime of existenceSourcesAl-BaydaArabic "white fortress" 8th century Al-Kufi, Ibn Khordadbeh, Ibn al-FaqihAtil Turkic "River", after the name of the river (Volga) 10th century Arab geographers of the classical school: Al-Istakhri, Ibn Hawqal, al-Muqaddasi; Ibn Fadlan, al-Masudi, Letter of Joseph (without name), List of bishoprics of the Metropolitanate of DorosBalanjarPersian"long ravine"6th — 9th centuriesal-Tabari, al-Baladhuri, Ibn Khordadbeh, Ibn al-Faqih, al-MasudiKhamlij Turkic "Khan's city" 9th century Ibn Khordadbeh, Ibn RustaKhazaran Persian "city of Khazars" 10th century Arab geographers of the classical school, Schechter LetterSamkerts (Byz. Tamatarha, Old Rus. Tmutarakan) Turkic? (Tamatarha — "city of the tarkhan Taman") 9th — 10th centuries Ibn al-Faqih, Letter of Joseph, Schechter LetterSarkel (Old Rus. Belaya Vezha) Turkic "white house" 834/837 — 965 Constantine Porphyrogenitus, Letter of Joseph, Primary Chronicle, "Journey of Pimen to Tsargrad"Saryshin Turkic "white... (island, city?)" 9th century Ibn RustaSemenderPersian"white city" or "extreme door" 6th — 10th centuries al-Baladhuri, Al-Kufi, Ibn Khordadbeh, Al-Istakhri, Ibn Hawqal, al-Masudi, Letter of JosephArmenian?7th centuryMovses Kaghankatvatsi, Armenian Geography
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