This page relates to Itil , capital of the Khazars. For Information Technology Library Infrastructure, to see ITIL .

Itil or İtil was the capital of the Khazarie between the 8th century and the 10th century. The city was located, close to the modern city of Astrakhan, on the delta of the the Volga when the latter throws in the Caspian Sea. The Volga river is called besides İtil in Turkish Langues, which means large river.

After the defeat of the Khazars in the Second war arabo-khazare, Itil becomes the capital of Khazarie. The Khazar empire not having left written sources, one knows his name by Arab sources which call it Khamlij at the 9th century and Itil with Xe.

With its apogee, the city was an important shopping mall and was divided into three districts: on western bank of the Volga, between the two courses of the Volga in the delta and on the bank east of the Volga. The western part of the city sheltered the administrative center of the city, the court and an imposing military garrison. The part, is built later on was used as shopping mall of the city, with many shops and public baths. The palates of the Khagan and the Khagan Bek trônaient on an island located between the two legs of the Volga. The island was connected to one of the two other parts of the city by a bridge. According to certain Arab sources, the western part of the city bore the name of Itil whereas the part is that of Khazaran.

Itil was a city where cohabited of many confessions: the khagan was Jewish like the large majority of Khazars, but there were also Christian , pagan chamanists and . The commercial importance of the city attracted merchants of various nationalities. All the confessions took place their of worship and seven judges were named to solve the quarrels between the inhabitants (two Christians, two Jews, two Moslems and pagan).

Sviatoslav Ier destroys Itil in 968 or 969. Ibn Hawqal and Al-Muqaddasi mentions Itil after 969 what seems to indicate that the city would have been rebuilt. Al-Biruni (at the beginning of the Years 1000) reports that Itil was still ruins some and does not speak about the town of Saqsin which will be built later on in the area. It is possible that the Itil news was destroyed in the middle of 11th century.

No archaeological research could find the remainders of Itil. One of the assumptions being that the rise of the Caspian Sea destroyed the remainders of the city.