no known records of the khazar language survive. the state was polyglot (spoke multiple languages) and polyethnic. the ruling elite probably spoke an eastern dialect of shaz turkic. the ordinary people may have spoken lir turkic, such as oğuric, bulğaric, chuvash, and hunnish. the persian historian al-iṣṭakhrī said that the khazar language was different from any other known language.