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Balanjar (Baranjar, Belenjer, Belendzher) was a medieval city located in the North Caucasus
North Caucasus

The North Caucasus, also Ciscaucasus, Ciscaucasia or Forecaucasia, is the northern part of the Caucasus region between Europe and Asia....
 region, between the cities of Derbent
Derbent

Derbent is a types of settlements in Russia in the Dagestan, Russia, close to the Azerbaijani border. It is the southernmost city in Russia, and it is the second most important city of Dagestan....
 and Samandar
Samandar (city)

Samandar was a city in Khazaria on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, south of the city of Atil, Khazaria, in the North Caucasus. The exact location of the city is unknown, but most likely, it was situated on the Terek river near the present-day city of Kizlyar, which, like Samandar, is noted for its vineyards....
, probably on the lower Sulak River
Sulak River

The Sulak is a river in Dagestan, Russia. It starts at the confluence of the Avar Koisu and the Andi Koisu rivers. It bed comes throw the Main Sulak Canyon , Akhetl, Chirkei gorges and the Minor Sulak Canyon....
. It flourished from the seventh to the tenth centuries CE. The legendary founder of Balanjar, according to the Arab
Arab

An Arab is a person who Identity as such on linguistic or cultural grounds. The plural form, Arabs , refers to the Ethnocultural group at large....
 chroniclers Ibn al-Faqih
Ibn al-Faqih

Ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadhani was a 10th century Persian Empire historian and geographer, famous for his Mukhtasar Kitab al-Buldan ....
 and Abu al-Fida
Abu al-Fida

Abu al-Fida or Abul Fida Ismail Hamvi was a Kurdish people historian, geographer, and local sultan. The crater Abulfeda on the Moon, is named after him....
, was named Balanjar ibn Japheth.

In the 630s CE Balanjar was a capital of the Baranjar state
Baranjars

Baranjars were a confederation of Turkic peoples tribes who flourished in the early Middle Ages. They are first mentioned in Arab chronicles of the 7th century....
.






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Balanjar (Baranjar, Belenjer, Belendzher) was a medieval city located in the North Caucasus
North Caucasus

The North Caucasus, also Ciscaucasus, Ciscaucasia or Forecaucasia, is the northern part of the Caucasus region between Europe and Asia....
 region, between the cities of Derbent
Derbent

Derbent is a types of settlements in Russia in the Dagestan, Russia, close to the Azerbaijani border. It is the southernmost city in Russia, and it is the second most important city of Dagestan....
 and Samandar
Samandar (city)

Samandar was a city in Khazaria on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, south of the city of Atil, Khazaria, in the North Caucasus. The exact location of the city is unknown, but most likely, it was situated on the Terek river near the present-day city of Kizlyar, which, like Samandar, is noted for its vineyards....
, probably on the lower Sulak River
Sulak River

The Sulak is a river in Dagestan, Russia. It starts at the confluence of the Avar Koisu and the Andi Koisu rivers. It bed comes throw the Main Sulak Canyon , Akhetl, Chirkei gorges and the Minor Sulak Canyon....
. It flourished from the seventh to the tenth centuries CE. The legendary founder of Balanjar, according to the Arab
Arab

An Arab is a person who Identity as such on linguistic or cultural grounds. The plural form, Arabs , refers to the Ethnocultural group at large....
 chroniclers Ibn al-Faqih
Ibn al-Faqih

Ibn al-Faqih al-Hamadhani was a 10th century Persian Empire historian and geographer, famous for his Mukhtasar Kitab al-Buldan ....
 and Abu al-Fida
Abu al-Fida

Abu al-Fida or Abul Fida Ismail Hamvi was a Kurdish people historian, geographer, and local sultan. The crater Abulfeda on the Moon, is named after him....
, was named Balanjar ibn Japheth.

In the 630s CE Balanjar was a capital of the Baranjar state
Baranjars

Baranjars were a confederation of Turkic peoples tribes who flourished in the early Middle Ages. They are first mentioned in Arab chronicles of the 7th century....
. Some scholars speculate that the name derives from the Turkic root "Bala" or "Great", and the clan-name "Endzhar". With the rest of the Baranjar domains the city became part of the Khazar Khaganate around 650; until the early 720s, Balanjar served as the capital of Khazaria. During the first Arab
Arab

An Arab is a person who Identity as such on linguistic or cultural grounds. The plural form, Arabs , refers to the Ethnocultural group at large....
-Khazar war in the 650's, a Muslim
Muslim

:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits "....
 army under Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rabiah
Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rabiah

Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rabiah was the Arab general of the early Caliphate. He may have been the brother of Salman ibn Rabiah, the military governor of Armenia under Caliph Umar I....
 was defeated outside the town (see Battle of Balanjar
Battle of Balanjar

Battle of Balanjar may refer to several battles in or near Balanjar:*Battle of Balanjar , the culminating battle of the First Khazar-Arab War...
).

Around 722 or 723, Umayyad soldiers under al-Djarrah ibn Abdullah
Al-Djarrah ibn Abdullah

Abu `Uqbah al-Djarrah ibn `Abdullah al-Hakami was an Arab nobleman of the Hakami tribe. During the course of the early 700s he was at various times governor of Seistan, Khurasan, Armenia, and Arran ....
 crossed the Caucasus Mountains and attacked Balanjar. The inhabitants of Balanjar tried to defend their town by fastening 3,000 wagon
Wagon

A wagon or dray is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle. Wagons were formerly pulled by animals such as horse, mule or ox. Today farm wagons are pulled by tractors and trucks....
s together and circling them around the key fortress on high terrain, but were defeated in the attack. The Arabs massacred much of the town's population; survivors fled to other towns, including Samandar
Samandar (city)

Samandar was a city in Khazaria on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, south of the city of Atil, Khazaria, in the North Caucasus. The exact location of the city is unknown, but most likely, it was situated on the Terek river near the present-day city of Kizlyar, which, like Samandar, is noted for its vineyards....
. The victorious Arab army stole much booty
Booty

Booty may refer to:* A nautical term for treasure* American slang for buttocks...
 and the soldiers received large sums of money.

The city was rebuilt after the war, but the capital of Khazaria was thereafter moved to Samandar and later to Atil
Atil

*For the small town and municipality in the Mexico state of Sonora see Atil, SonoraAtil, also spelled Itil , was the capital of Khazaria from the middle of the 8th century until the end of the 10th century....
. Nevertheless, Balanjar continued to be a city of great importance within the Khaganate. After the fall of Khazaria Balanjar lost much of its importance and declined steadily until it vanished from the record around 1100.

The exact location of Balanjar has not yet been established precisely. Soviet
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 archeologist Mikhail Artamonov
Mikhail Artamonov

Mikhail Illarionovich Artamonov Artamonov's scientific career was centered on the Leningrad University, where he was a professor since 1935 and the head of the chair of archeology since 1949....
 initially placed Balanjar on the site of the modern Daghestani city of Buynaksk
Buynaksk

Buynaksk , known as Temir-Khan-Shura before 1922, is a town in Dagestan, Russia, located at the foothills of the Greater Caucasus on the Shura-Ozen River, some 40 km south-west of Makhachkala....
, but when later the ruins of a town to the south of Makhachkala
Makhachkala

Makhachkala is a types of inhabited localities in Russia in Russia, the capital of the Dagestan. It is located on the western shore of the Caspian Sea, at ....
 were found, he idenitified them as being those of Balanjar.