Far East Kingdoms

Khans of Kazan (Tartars)
AD 1437 - 1552

Mongol Tribes All Modern States Central Asia China Korea

The Mongols appear to have been born out of an amalgam of native Turkic and Tungusic groups in north-eastern Central Asia and East Asia. The famous Mongol foundation epic, the Secret History of the Mongols, states that the Mongols reached the steppe from over the 'Tengis' - the sea or lake - twenty-two generations before the birth of 'Chingiz Khan' in AD 1162.

This famous figure, Chingiz Khan, was the first of the 'Great Khans' of the Mongol empire. His death in 1227 created the basis for the empire's later sub-division, something which increasing internal feuding would ensure. In 1246, Batu Khan converted his territories into a khanate which became known as the Blue Horde. His brothers did the same to form the White Horde and the Shaibanids. In 1378 the weakened blue and white hordes were reunited as a single Golden Horde.

The Tartar Kazan khanate was a splinter state of the disintegrating horde, occupying territory of the former Volga Bulgars. It was neighboured by the Astrakhan khanate to its south-west, along the Volga shoreline on both banks and hugging the north-western coast of the Caspian Sea. It was responsible for setting up the Qasim khanate between itself and Moscow. Records for it are sparse as most were destroyed during the early seventeenth century period of political turmoil in Czarate Russia.

The khanate's rulers were credited with being directly descended from Urus Khan of the White Horde (1374-1376). The khanate's founder, Ulugh Muhammad, had for many years contended against various opponents for control of the disintegrating Golden Horde. He seized power in 1419, but was captured and imprisoned in 1422 and held for two years by his rival, Dawlat Berdi.

In 1430, still fighting Dawlat for control of the horde, he attacked (Mongol) Crimea, but was defeated. A further attempt at gaining power saw him successfully reclaim control over the Golden Horde in 1427, but again he was continually challenged by rivals. In 1437 he lost control for the final time and headed east to capture Kazan, where he formed his own independent khanate out of Golden Horde territory. His khanate was essentially a revised and reduced version of former Volga Bulgar controls.

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information from the John De Cleene Archive, from The Mongol Empire: Genghis Khan: His Triumph and his Legacy, Peter Brent (Book Club Associates, 1976), from The Mongols: A Very Short Introduction, Morris Rossabi (Oxford University Press, 2012), from Josafa Barbaro & Ambrogio Contarini: Travels to Tana and Persia, Henry E J Stanley (Ed, Hakluyt Society Series No 49, 1873), from An Introduction to the History of the Turkic Peoples, Peter B Golden (1992), from the Encyclopaedia Britannica: Or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature, Enlarged and Improved, Volume 3, from The Encyclopaedia of Islam (New Edition), C E Bosworth, E van Donzel, B Lewis, & Ch Pellat (Eds), from Crimean Tatars, H B Paksoy, and from External Links: Encyclopaedia.com, and World of Royalty, and Origins of the Volga Tatars, and Tatar.net (dead link).)

1437 - 1445

Former khan of the Golden Horde. Founder of the khanate.

1439 - 1445

Moscow is besieged in 1439 by Ulugh Muhammad of the newly-founded Kazan khanate. The already-weakened Grand Prince Vasily II is forced to flee the city and rule in exile.

Moscow fought a series of wars against the then-dominant Grand Duchy of Lithuania & Ruthenia (the latter being western Rus) during the fifteenth century, but Moscow's eventual victory would present it with new threats, such as the Tartars of the powerful Crimean khanate (click or tap on image to view full sized)

By 1445 he has gathered together his forces so that he is able to fight Ulugh Muhammad in person. However, his army is defeated at the Battle of Suzdal and he is taken prisoner. Governance of Moscow passes to the opportunist rival, Dmitry Shemyaka, but Ulugh Muhammad is assassinated, possibly by his son.

1445 - 1462

Son. Created Qasim khanate.

1448 - 1452

Mahmud attacks Moscow in order to preserve the beneficial treaty conditions which were concluded after the Battle of Suzdal. He soon also formalises the creation of the Qasim khanate (by 1452). This is governed by his relatives, with the intention of it providing a buffer state between the territory of Moscow and Kazan.

1462 - 1467

Son. Explosive temperament but built well. Died.

1467 - 1479

Brother. Intermarried with Nogais. Died.

1467

Following years of Kazan raiding into Moscow's territory and humiliating Muscovite payments of tribute, Grand Duke Ivan III begins a series of campaigns against his enemy. He soon expands his conflicts to include a truculent Novgorod.

Ivan III of Moscow tears up the Mongol demand for tribute in front of his own court and the Mongol messengers, ending once and for all Mongol dominance over the Rus

1479 - 1484

Removed from power, but returned in 1485.

1484 - 1485

Son of Ibrahim. Placed in office by Moscow. Removed.

1485 - 1487

Re-secured control and restored. Captured & imprisoned.

1487

Grand Duke Ivan III of Moscow occupies Kazan in July 1487. He restores his puppet leader, Muhammad Amin (sometimes recorded as Möxämmädämin). Ilham Ghalî dies soon after he is exiled. From this point onwards the khanate is largely, but not exclusively, a protectorate of Moscow, with Russian merchants able to trade freely throughout its territory.

1487 - 1495

Restored, again by the hand of Moscow.

1495 - 1496

Siberian khan of the same name? Took Kazan by force.

1496 - 1502

Son of Ibrahim. Restored Kazan controls.

1502 - 1518

Restored for a second time.

1508 - 1510

The Shaibanids carry out a number of raids into the khanate from their empire in Transoxiana, but their ruler, Mohammed Shaibani, is killed on one of them in 1510. This brings to an end the prominence of his short-lived empire.

The Mongol empire created by Chingiz Khan gradually broke up over the course of three hundred years until, by around AD 1500, it had fragmented into several more-or-less stable khanates which each vied with the others for power and influence, while having to fend off the growing power of the Ottoman empire to the south and Moscow Sate (Muscovy) to the north - in the end it was an unwinnable fight (click or tap on map to view full sized)

1516

Muhammad Amin has broken away from Muscovite control but is now required, in 1516, to reconfirm Muscovy's right to invest the khan. That power will only increase over time (albeit with interruptions). Their next appointment, Shah Alî, is soon driven off by a rival khan.

1519 - 1521

Khan of Qasimov. Driven off by Crimean khan.

1521

Shah Alî of the Qasim khanate is driven out by Sahib Giray I of the Crimean khanate due to his friendly relations with Moscow. Kazan's territory is incorporated back into that of Crimea under the rule of Khan Muhammad Giray, brother of Safa Giray and father of Sahib Giray.

1521 - 1524

Returned quickly to restore his control.

1524 - 1531

Son of Mengli Giray (Crimea). Asserted Kazan independence.

1531 - 1533

Khan of Qasimov. Assassinated.

1532

Aq Köbek is responsible for deposing and killing Khan Qasim II of Astrakhan, and ending his long reign (Qasim's son, Yadigar Muhammad briefly rules as the last khan of the Kazan in 1552). However, during his own time as khan Aq Köbek apparently puts in place a treaty or agreement which, for the time being, guarantees the independence of Astrakhan from the Crimean khanate and the Nogais.

Nogais, also known as mangyts - people of the Nogai Horde - referred to their state as the Mangyt Yurt, with the earliest references being found in Turkish, Russian, and Western European sources

1533 - 1546

Moscow's pick. Restored to command the khanate.

1545 - 1546

Pressures within the khanate have featured a pro-Moscow element of the nobility wanting closer ties with the north, while the pro-Crimean element prefers better links with their neighbour to the south, and their more traditional potential ally. Safa Giray is briefly removed from power during an uprising which concludes in 1546.

1546

Son of Muhammad Giray I of Crimea. Khan there in 1532.

1546

Restored as khan for a second time, with Nogai help.

1549 - 1551

Son, possibly with his mother as regent.

1551 - 1552

Restored again. Opposed Moscow but forced to flee.

1552

Shah Alî attempts to defy Moscow, but has to flee in February 1552 when Moscow's army arrives. The Cheremis formally submit to Moscow later in the same year, after Yadigar Muhammad seizes control in a brief attempt at providing Moscow with some opposition.

Tartars of the Crimean khanate fight Cossacks from the Ukrainian steppe, a scene which would be repeated many times over the course of the khanate's three hundred year-plus existence

1552

Son of Khan Qasim II of Astrakhan. Imprisoned.

1552

The khans of Kazan are conquered by the Russians under Ivan 'the Terrible'. He lays siege to their main fortress for two months before the walls are destroyed. Most of the surviving defenders are slaughtered.

Yadigar Muhammad is imprisoned but the slaughter spreads to the civilian populace, with a reported 110,000 or so being killed. Neighbouring territories such as Udmurtia surrender without a fight, and many Tartars are forcibly relocated so that Russian nobles can take over their lands. Some armed resistance continues until 1556, but the Nogais unwittingly aid Moscow by slaughtering many of the rebels.

The short-lived Kazan khanate was conquered by the resurgent Rus under the leadership of Ivan IV just over a century after Ulugh Muhammad had founded it