The siege of Kazan or Fall of Kazan in 1552 was the final battle of the Russo-Kazan Wars and led to the fall of the Khanate of Kazan. Conflict continued after the fall of Kazan, however, as rebel governments formed in Çalım and Mişätamaq, and a new khan was invited from the Nogais. This guerrilla war lingered until 1556.
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👉 Siege of Kazan in the context of Volga Tatars
The Volga Tatars or simply Tatars (Tatar: татарлар, romanized: tatarlar; Russian: татары, romanized: tatary) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the Volga-Ural region of western Russia, and contains multiple subgroups. Tatars are the second-largest ethnic group in Russia after ethnic Russians. They are primarily found in Tatarstan, where they make up 53.6% of the population. Their native language is Tatar, and are primarily followers of Sunni Islam.
"Tatar" as an ethnonym has a very long and complicated history, and in the past was often used as an umbrella term for different Turkic and Mongolic tribes. Nowadays it mostly refers exclusively to Volga Tatars (known simply as "Tatars"; Tatarlar), who became its "ultimate bearers" after the founding of Tatar ASSR (1920–1990; now Tatarstan). The ethnogenesis of Volga-Ural Tatars is still debated, but their history is usually connected to the Kipchak-Tatars of Golden Horde (1242–1502), and also to its predecessor, Volga Bulgaria (900s–1200s), whose adoption of Islam is celebrated yearly in Tatarstan. After the collapse of the Golden Horde, ancestors of modern Tatars formed the Khanate of Kazan (1438–1552), which lost its independence to Russia after the Siege of Kazan in 1552.
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Siege of Kazan in the context of Kazan
Kazan is the largest city and capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering an area of 425.3 square kilometres (164.2 square miles), with a population of over 1.3 million residents, and up to nearly 2 million residents in the greater metropolitan area. Kazan is the fifth-largest city in Russia, being the most populous city on the Volga and within the Volga Federal District.
Historically, Kazan was the capital of the Khanate of Kazan, and was conquered by Ivan the Terrible in the 16th century, at which point the city became a part of the Tsardom of Russia. The city was seized (and largely destroyed) during Pugachev's Rebellion (1773–1775), but was later rebuilt during the reign of Catherine the Great. In the following centuries, Kazan grew to become a major industrial, cultural and religious centre of Russia. In 1920, after the Russian SFSR became a part of the Soviet Union, Kazan became the capital of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Tatar ASSR). Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Kazan remained the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan.
Siege of Kazan in the context of St. Basil's Cathedral
The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed (Russian: Собор Василия Блаженного, romanized: Sobor Vasiliya Blazhennogo), known in English as Saint Basil's Cathedral, is an Orthodox church in Red Square of Moscow, and is one of the most popular cultural symbols of Russia. The building, now a museum, is officially known as the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat, or Pokrovsky Cathedral. It was built from 1555 to 1561 on orders from Ivan the Terrible and commemorates the capture of Kazan and Astrakhan. It was completed, with its colours, in 1683.
The original building, known as Trinity Church and later Trinity Cathedral, contained eight chapels arranged around a ninth, central chapel dedicated to the Intercession; a tenth chapel was erected in 1588 over the grave of the venerated local saint Vasily (Basil). In the 16th and 17th centuries, it was perceived as the earthly symbol of the Heavenly City. Like all churches in Byzantine Christianity, the church was popularly known as the "Jerusalem" and served as an allegory of the Jerusalem Temple in the annual Palm Sunday parade attended by the Patriarch of Moscow and the Tsar.
Siege of Kazan in the context of Russo-Kazan Wars
The Russo-Kazan Wars were a series of short, intermittent wars fought between the Grand Principality of Moscow and the Khanate of Kazan between 1437 and 1556. Most of these were wars of succession in Kazan, in which Muscovy intervened on behalf of the dynastic interests of its main ally, the Crimean Khanate. For most of the period, neither side sought to conquer the other, until Ivan the Terrible decided to annex Kazan upon the successful 1552 siege, which was followed by a rebellion lasting until 1556.
Siege of Kazan in the context of Kazan Rebellion of 1552–56
The Kazan rebellion or Tatar Rebellion (1552–1556) was an uprising against Tsardom of Russia. It aimed to restore the Kazan Khanate, which the Russians had conquered in October 1552.
The rebel armies mostly consisted of Tatars, Chuvash, Cheremises, Mordvins, and Udmurts. Some Nogais were also involved in the war. Independent rebel governments formed among the Chalem and in Mishatamaq. The khan of the Nogai Horde, Ğäli Äkräm, was invited to head the renewed khanate because Mameshbirde, leader of the rebellion, was not a descendant of Genghis Khan. Russian troops under Andrey Kurbsky and Alexander Gorbatyi-Shuisky opposed the "rebels".