The Byzantine Policy towards the Islamic Presence in Kipchaks till the Mid 8th C.A.H / 14th C.AD
Abstract
The borders are among the most important sites that countries have been interested in throughout time because they form the borders between them. As soon as Muslims had a presence in the lands of the Kipchaks to the north and south, the Byzantine Empire took upon itself to adopt certain policies towards that presence, as it saw it as a threat to its northern and northeastern borders. It took care of the peoples and countries of those regions and tried to get close to them by all means and methods, to win them over to its side against the Islamic presence in the lands of the Kipchaks. Those methods were represented in trying to spread Christianity among them and unify the doctrine as much as possible, similar to the Church of Constantinople, and establishing fortifications, stirring up unrest, supporting rebellions, and forming military alliances with the countries of the north and south of the Kipchaks in order to destabilize the Islamic presence in the Kipchaks, in addition to the gifts, donations, privileges, and titles that it granted to the princes of those countries for the same purpose. The Byzantine Empire tried through that policy to push the Islamic presence and remove its threat from its northern and northeastern borders, especially After the Muslims penetrated in their conquests to the south of the Kipchak, and extended to the north of the Kipchak through peaceful means represented by the call to Islam and migration from the regions of Transoxiana (Central Asia) to the Atl River (Volga) basin, and the Mongols entered the north and south of the Kipchak and embraced the Islamic religion, and through this policy it was able to maintain its influence and political presence and delay the Islamic tide towards Anatolia and Constantinople