Aaron ben Nisi was a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
ruler of the
Khazars
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 ...
mentioned in the
Khazar Correspondence
The Khazar Correspondence is a set of documents, which are alleged to date from the 950s or 960s, and to be letters between Hasdai ibn Shaprut, foreign secretary to the Caliph of Cordoba, and Joseph Khagan of the Khazars. The Correspondence is ...
. He reigned around the year 900 AD. He was the son of
Nisi ben Menasseh {{unref, date=November 2011
Nisi ben Menasseh or Nisi ben Moses was a Jewish Turkic ruler of the Khazars mentioned in the Khazar Correspondence. He probably reigned in the mid to late 9th century CE. Little is known about his reign. As with other B ...
. Little is known about his life or reign. As with other
Bulanid
The Bulanids were the ruling dynasty of the Khazar Khaganate during the 9th century and 10th century CE.
The dynasty is named after Bulan, who may or may not have been its founder. In other sources (see Schechter Letter), the founder of the dyna ...
rulers, it is unclear whether Aaron was
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 ...
or
Khagan Bek ''Khagan Bek'' is the title used by the bek (generalissimo) of the Khazars.
History
Khazar kingship was divided between the Khagan and the Bek or Khagan Bek. Contemporary Arab historians related that the Khagan was purely a spiritual ruler or figu ...
of the Khazars, although the latter is more likely.
He was succeeded by either
Menahem
Menahem or Menachem (, from a Hebrew word meaning "the consoler" or "comforter"; akk, 𒈪𒉌𒄭𒅎𒈨 ''Meniḫîmme'' 'me-ni-ḫi-im-me'' Greek: ''Manaem'' in the Septuagint, ''Manaen'' in Aquila; la, Manahem; full name: he, מְנַ ...
or
Benjamin
Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...
.
Sources
*
Kevin Alan Brook
Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ).
The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...
. ''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 Press, 1954.
*
Norman Golb
Norman Golb (15 January 1928 – 29 December 2020) was the Ludwig Rosenberger Professor in Jewish History and Civilization at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
Golb was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, on 15 January 1 ...
and
Omeljan Pritsak
Omeljan Yosypovych Pritsak ( uk, Омелян Йосипович Пріцак; 7 April 1919, Luka, Sambir County, West Ukrainian People's Republic – 29 May 2006, Boston) was the first Mykhailo Hrushevsky Professor of Ukrainian History at Harvar ...
, ''Khazarian Hebrew Documents of the Tenth Century.'' Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press, 1982.
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Khazar rulers
Jewish monarchs
9th-century rulers in Europe
10th-century Jews
Jewish royalty
9th-century Jews