Chazars were a people of the Finnic stock known in the 7th century on the shores of the Caspian; in the 9th century their kingdom occupied the south-east of Russia from the Caspian and the Volga to the Dnieper. Their capital was long at Astrakhan, called by them Balandshar. They were singularly tolerant of all religions, Jewish, Christian, and Moslem; and a large part of the nation formally adopted the Jewish faith from Jews who fled from the persecutions of the
Emperor Leo. Cyril converted many to Christianity in the 9th century. The power of the Chazars was ultimately broken in the 12th century by the Byzantine emperors and the Russians.