Khanate of Astrakhan in the context of "Volga Delta"

Ivan IV Vasilyevich (Russian: Иван IV Васильевич; 25 August [O.S. 15 August] 1530 – 28 March [O.S. 18 March] 1584), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible, was Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia from 1547 until his death in 1584. Ivan's reign was characterised by Russia's transformation from a medieval state to a fledgling empire, but at an immense cost to its people and long-term economy.

Ivan IV was the eldest son of Vasili III by his second wife Elena Glinskaya, and a grandson of Ivan III. He succeeded his father after his death, when he was three years old. A group of reformers united around the young Ivan, crowning him as tsar in 1547 at the age of 16. In the early years of his reign, Ivan ruled with the group of reformers known as the Chosen Council and established the Zemsky Sobor, a new assembly convened by the tsar. He also revised the legal code and introduced reforms, including elements of local self-government, as well as establishing the first Russian standing army, the streltsy. Ivan conquered the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan, bringing the entire length of the Volga river under Russian control.

The Great Horde (اولوغ اوردا, Uluğ Orda) was the rump state of the Golden Horde that existed from the mid-15th century to 1502. It was centered at the core of the former Golden Horde at Sarai on the lower Volga.

Both the Khanate of Astrakhan and the Khanate of Crimea broke away from the Great Horde throughout its existence, and were hostile to the Great Horde. According to later Russian tradition, the retreat of the forces of the Great Horde at the Great Stand on the Ugra River opposed by Ivan III of Russia marked the end of the "Tatar yoke" over Russia.