THE SCENE: The Khazars (a semi-nomadic Turkic people) combined religious and political offices, as is demonstrated by the passage below, where a religious authority was appointed and then explicitly acted as a check upon the king.
THE TEXT: As for their political system and government, their most powerful man is called the Khaqan Khazar. He is more exalted than the king of the Khazars, yet it is the king of the Khazars who appoints him. When they want to appoint this khaqan, they take this man and strangle him with a piece of silk until he is on the point of death. Then they ask him, “How long to you wish to reign?” He replies, “Such and such a number of years.” If he dies before the time expires, fine; if not, he is executed when he reaches the designated year.
The khaqanate can only be held by a member of a well-known clan. The khaqan has no power to command or forbid. Nevertheless, he is held in great respect and anyone who comes into his presences must make a full prostration. No one but an elite group, such as the king and those of his standing, can approach him. The king only enters his presences on special occasions; when he does, he rolls in the dust, prostrating himself, then stands a distance until given permission to approach.
When [the khaqan] dies and is buried, everyone who passes his tomb dismounts and prostrates himself. A man remounts only when some distance from his tomb.
Their obedience to their king reaches such a pitch that when one of their important men is condemned to death, the king does not have him publicly executed. He orders him to kill himself and he goes to his dwelling and kills himself.
– Books of Roads and Kingdoms, Istakhri, 10th Century AD
