▁  ▁A zer ba ij an is ▁and ▁t ats ▁compose ▁the ▁eth nic ▁back g hr ound ▁of ▁Kh izi . ▁There ▁are ▁pre con ception s ▁about ▁the ▁et ym ology ▁of ▁the ▁word ▁" x ı z ı " ▁which ▁was ▁previously ▁used ▁to ▁represent ▁a ▁small ▁village . ▁Many ▁exper ts ▁assume ▁that ▁this ▁name ▁is ▁from ▁the ▁S ass an id ▁Empire . ▁In ▁the ▁early ▁Middle ▁A ges ▁( III - VI ▁centuries ), ▁the ▁Iran ian ▁tribes ▁were ▁transferred ▁here ▁to ▁spread ▁the ▁Z oro ast rian ism , ▁the ▁official ▁religion ▁of ▁the ▁Empire , ▁in ▁northern ▁territ ories ▁of ▁the ▁emp ire , ▁to ▁combat ▁Christian ity ▁and ▁protect ▁the ▁northern ▁borders ▁from ▁Hun , ▁Pe ach ▁and ▁Kh azar ▁tribes . ▁This ▁process ▁further ▁strength ened ▁after ▁the ▁Sh ir v ans h ah s ▁were ▁defeated ▁by ▁the ▁Saf av ids . ▁The ▁tribes ▁who ▁moved ▁here ▁were ▁mainly ▁from ▁Kh uz istan . ▁The ▁name ▁was ▁gradually ▁transformed ▁into ▁the ▁form ▁of ▁Kh izi ▁in ▁our ▁time . ▁ ▁According ▁to ▁another ▁version , ▁the ▁to pon ym ▁Kh izi ▁is ▁derived ▁from ▁the ▁word ▁" K h azar ". ▁From ▁history ▁it ▁is ▁known ▁that ▁for ▁several ▁centuries ▁the ▁Kh az ars ▁domin ated ▁the ▁territ ories ▁of ▁the ▁C asp ian , ▁Black ▁and ▁Balt ic ▁se as . ▁As ▁the ▁ 8 th ▁century ▁Arab ▁historian ▁I bn ▁F ad lan ▁writes , ▁the ▁Muslim ▁part ▁of ▁the