Tehran – Iranian translator and scholar Mohammad Ali Mobahed’s Persian translation of Hungarian author and journalist Arthur Korser’s 1976 book, The Khazar Empire and Its Heritage, was republished 30 years after its first release.
The book, published by Kharazmi Publications in Tehran, was rendered in Persian by Movahed in 1982 based on the English version.
In the introduction, Movahed writes: “The name “Khazar” evokes the story of a destined person living in the Caspian Sea, part of the present Soviet Union. Fascinated by the Byzantine Empire (Rome), the cities of Alana, Armenia and Azerbaijan arrive as Hadan, in the heart of Iran, resists a surprising attack, and the King of Sassanid arrives. Judaism. ”
“The Thirteen Tribe” is a highly controversial and widely discredited book that introduces the Kazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi’s Jewish origins. Kosler’s central argument is that most Ashkenazi Jews do not descend from ancient Israelis or Jews in the Biblical era, but from the Turkish Kazars who, according to his paper, transformed masses into Judaism in the 8th century. He further argued that after their conversion, Cazar moved westward in the 12th and 13th centuries, and that the empire had collapsed and shaped the Jewish community in the area.
Koestler’s hypothesis is based on a limited set of historical resources of works by scholars such as Douglas Morton Dunlop, Raphael Patai, and Abraham Polak, among others. His main aim was to challenge the racial and biological concepts of Jewish identity that promotes anti-Semitism. Kosler believed that if he could demonstrate that Ashkenazi Jews were primarily Turkish and derived from the non-Semitic Kazar, then the racial basis of anti-Semitism could undermine and eradicate one of its main ideological justifications. He wanted to transform the story from racial genetics to cultural and historical identities, promoting a more comprehensive understanding of Jewish origins.
However, the academic community has largely rejected Korsler’s claims. Critics argue that his research is superficial and heavily dependent on speculative interpretations. Many historians and geneticists argue that Khosler’s sources, such as Dunlop’s “The History of the Jewish Cazaar,” are at best tentative and do not provide conclusive evidence of the Kazaar origins of Ashkenazi Jews. Genetic studies conducted in recent decades have overwhelmingly shown that Ashkenazi Jews share a common ancestor with other Jewish populations and are genetically associated with Middle Eastern groups, challenging the heart of Korser’s hypothesis. Leading scholars like Peter Golden and Moses Schulvas have dismissed Casar theory as lacking solid evidence and containing drastic and unsupported claims.
Koestler’s motivation is thought to be rooted in his desire to fight anti-Semitism. Biographical writer Michael Scamel reports that Korsler told French biologist Pierre Debrey Litzen. His goal is to demonstrate that racial anti-Semitism loses its foundation if Ashkenazi Jews descend from Kazar rather than from the Biblical Israelites. Some scholars suggest that Casetor was interested in reconciliating Jewish history, motivated by his interest with a broader cultural narrative that minimized racial distinctions.
Despite that initial caution, the book’s claims face widespread criticism. Many historians, geneticists and scholars have dismissed it as pseudo-history. Nevertheless, Casar’s hypothesis found receptive audiences among specific groups outside of mainstream academia. In particular, some anti-Zionists and anti-Semitic factions use the theory to deny Jewish historical claims against Israel. Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, have argued that their claims on Israeli biblical land are invalid when Ashkenazi Jews are primarily Kazars. Extremist groups such as followers of neo-Nazi and Christian identity accept and promote Kazaar theory, viewing it as evidence that undermines Jewish legitimacy.
Jeffrey Kaplan points out that organizations promoting white nationalism and conspiracy theory used Korser’s work to enhance the narrative. The neo-Nazi magazine The Thunderbolt is called “The Thirteenth Tribe” and “The Political Bombshell of the Century,” and this theory continues to spread among extremist circles.
sab/