Atil

Atil, also spelled Itil (literally meaning "Big River"), was the capital of Khazaria from the middle of the 8th century until the end of the 10th century. The word is also a Turkic name for the Volga River.

Atil was located along the Volga delta at the northwestern corner of the Caspian Sea. Following the defeat of the Khazars in the Second Khazar-Arab war, Atil became the capital of Khazaria. The city is referred to as Khamlij in 9th century Arab sources, and the name Atil appears in the 10th century. At its height, the city was a major center of trade, and consisted of three parts separated by the Volga. The western part contained the administrative center of the city, with a court house and a large military garrison. The eastern part of the city was built later and acted as the commercial center of the Atil, and had many public baths and shops. Between them was an island on which stood the palaces of the Khazar khagan and Bek. The island was connected to one of the other parts of the city by a pontoon bridge. According to Arab sources, one half of the city was referred to as Atil, while the other was named Khazaran.

Atil was a multi-ethnic and religious city, inhabited by Jews, Christians, Shamanists, and pagans, many of them traders from foreign countries. All of the religious groups had their own places of worship in the city, and there were 7 judges appointed to settle disputes (two Christian, Jewish and Muslim judges and a single judge for all of the Pagans).

Svyatoslav I of Kiev sacked Atil in 968 or 969 CE. Ibn Hawqal and al-Muqaddasi refer to Atil after 969, indicating that it may have been rebuilt. Al-Biruni (mid-1000s) reported that Atil was again in ruins, and did not mention the later city of Saqsin which was built nearby, so it is possible that this new Atil was only destroyed in the middle of the eleventh century.

The archeological remains of Atil have never been found. It is hypothesized that they were washed away by the rising level of the Caspian Sea.