Irbis (Khazar)

The Pontic steppe, c. 650, showing the early territory of the Khazars and their neighbors.

Irbis is the name given by a number of Russian sources for the first khagan to rule over a unified Khazar Khaganate in the middle of the seventh century. Irbis is described as a scion of the Göktürk royal house, the Ashina, and specifically as a son or near kinsman of Tong Yabghu Khagan (Ziebel), a khagan of the Western Göktürks. Whether Irbis ever existed is open to debate, as is the issue of whether he can be identified with one of the many Göktürk rulers of the same name.

References

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