Khanate of Kazan: Map & History
The Khanate of Kazan, also called the Kazan Khanate, was a Tatar state on the Middle Volga, in the territory of the former Volga Bulgaria, from the mid-15th century until 1552.
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The Khanate of Kazan, also called the Kazan Khanate, was a Tatar state on the Middle Volga, in the territory of the former Volga Bulgaria, from the mid-15th century until 1552. It covered present-day Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia, Mordovia, and parts of Udmurtia and Bashkortostan; its capital was Kazan.
Modern Countries Once Part of Khanate of Kazan
At its mapped extent, Khanate of Kazan covered territory in 1 present-day country. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
States and Provinces
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Khanate of Kazan's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Khanate of Kazan in Depth
History
The former territories of Volga Bulgaria (Kazan Ulus or Kazan Duchy) may have regained a degree of independence within the disintegrating Golden Horde by the turn of the 15th century. Historians disagree about when the khanate was founded. One view dates it from 1437 or 1438, when Ulugh Muhammad, a former khan of the Golden Horde, took power in Kazan with the support of the local nobility. According to the Great Russian Encyclopedia, most sources support a second view, which dates the khanate from autumn 1445, when his son Maxmud began to rule in Kazan; Ulugh Muhammad's presence in Kazan is not confirmed. The History of the Tatars concludes that none of the versions of the founding is confirmed by even two independent sources.
Administration and military
The khanate was divided into large districts, the daruğas. Sources differ on their number. The 2008 Great Russian Encyclopedia lists five: Alat, Arça, Gäreç (Galich), Cöri, and Nuğay, the last created in the 1540s–1550s. The Tatar encyclopedia gives four at first, with the Nogai daruğa added later, and the Chuvash encyclopedia gives six or seven, each governed by an emir. Some feudal lords asserted independence from Kazan at times, but such attempts were suppressed.
The army was made up of levies from the daruğas and towns, the personal troops of the khan and the nobility, and allied troops. Estimates of its size differ: the Tatar encyclopedia gives 30,000 to 50,000 men, and the Chuvash encyclopedia gives up to 60,000.
Culture
Khudyakov described the khanate as formed from two elements: an older Bulgar base, with its population and culture, and a Tatar element that brought the state organization. Cultural elements of the Golden Horde were also present among the nobility.
Literacy among the Tatars was fairly widespread, because every village with a mosque also had a school. Inscriptions on surviving household objects and gravestones give evidence of literacy. There was a large madrasa and library at the cathedral mosque in Kazan, and many madrasas had manuscript libraries. Kazan became a center of science and theology.
Although Islamic influence predominated, lay literature also developed. Known Old Tatar poets and writers include Möxämmädyar, Qolşärif, Möxämmädämin, and Ğärifbäk.
Geography and population
The territory of the khanate comprised the Muslim Bulgar-populated lands of the Bolğar, Cükätäw, Kazan, and Qaşan duchies and other regions that originally belonged to Volga Bulgaria. The Volga, Kama, and Vyatka were the main rivers of the khanate, as well as the major trade routes. The size of the Tatar population is disputed. The Chuvash encyclopedia describes the Tatars as a minority that formed the ruling class, and gives the tribute-paying Chuvash, about 200,000 people, as the largest group.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Khanate of Kazan (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Khanate of Kazan: Key Facts
| Official languages | Old Tatar, Khorezmian Turkic, Tatar |
|---|---|
| Form of government | khanate |
| Founded | 1438 |
| Dissolved | 1552 |
Succeeded by
- Kazan Kingdom
Facts from Wikidata Q186537 (CC0).
Khanate of Kazan Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Khanate of Kazan appears, with the other states of the time.
Khanate of Kazan Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 172,519 km² in 1549 CE.
Khanate of Kazan: Frequently Asked Questions
When did the Khanate of Kazan exist?
The Khanate of Kazan is dated to 1440 CE – 1551 CE, in the High & Late Middle Ages era.
What was the capital of the Khanate of Kazan?
The capital of the Khanate of Kazan was Kazan.
How large was the Khanate of Kazan at its peak?
At its peak in 1549 the Khanate of Kazan covered about 172,519 km².
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