The Tatars, formerly also spelt Tartars, is an umbrella term for different Turkic ethnic groups bearing the name "Tatar" across Eastern Europe and Asia. Initially, the ethnonym Tatar possibly referred to the Tatar confederation. That confederation was eventually incorporated into the Mongol Empire when Genghis Khan unified the various steppe tribes. Historically, the term Tatars was applied to anyone originating from the vast Northern and Central Asian landmass then known as Tartary, a term which was also conflated with the Mongol Empire itself. More recently, however, the term has come to refer more narrowly to related ethnic groups who refer to themselves as Tatars or who speak languages that are commonly referred to as Tatar.
The Khanate of Kazan was a medieval Tatar Turkic state that occupied the territory of the former Volga Bulgaria between 1438 and 1552. The khanate covered contemporary Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia, Mordovia, and parts of Udmurtia and Bashkortostan; its capital was the city of Kazan. It was one of the successor states of the Golden Horde, and it came to an end when it was conquered by the Tsardom of Russia.
The Khanate of Astrakhan was a Tatar rump state of the Golden Horde. The khanate existed in the 15th and 16th centuries in the area adjacent to the mouth of the Volga river, around the modern city of Astrakhan. Its khans claimed patrilineal descent from Toqa Temür, the thirteenth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan.
Dzhan-Ali was ruler of the Khanate of Qasim in 1519–1532 and then Khanate of Kazan in 1532–1535. He was the son of Qasim khan Sheikh Auliyar (Şäyexäwliyär) and younger brother of Qasim khan Shah-Ali (Şahğali).
Shah-Ali was a khan of the Qasim Khanate and the Khanate of Kazan. He ruled the Qasim Khanate for much of his life and three times tried to rule the Khanate of Kazan, which was independent until its conquest by Muscovy in 1552. He also ruled the town of Kasimov as a vassal of the Russians. He was the son of the Qasim Khan Sheikh Auliyar and grandson of Bakhtiar Sultan, a brother of Ahmed Khan bin Küchük. One of his wives was the unfortunate Söyembikä of Kazan. He died childless in 1567 and was succeeded by Sain Bulat. He is described as physically repulsive and too fat to be a soldier, but a man of sound judgement. Shah-Ali was a direct descendant of Jochi Khan, the eldest son of Genghis Khan.
Kasimov is a town in Ryazan Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Oka River. Population: 33,491 (2010 Russian census); 35,816 (2002 Census); 37,521 (1989 Soviet census); 17,000 (1910).
Ghabdellatif or Abdullatif was the Khan of the Kazan Khanate from 1496 to 1502.
The Nogai Horde was a confederation founded by the Nogais that occupied the Pontic–Caspian steppe from about 1500 until they were pushed west by the Kalmyks and south by the Russians in the 17th century. The Mongol tribe called the Manghuds constituted a core of the Nogai Horde.
Mäxmüd Khan ; in Russian chronicles Махмутек (Makhmutek); died 1466) was the Khan of the Khanate of Kazan from 1445 to 1466.
Qasím Khan was the first khan of the Tatar Qasim Khanate, from 1452 to his death in 1469. He was the son of Kazan khan Oluğ Möxämmäd.
Mishar Yurt was a semi-autonomous principality of the Golden Horde at the border of Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and Ryazan duchies.
The Great Horde was a 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.
The Volga Tatars or simply Tatars are a Kipchak-Bulgar Turkic ethnic group native to the Volga-Ural region of Eastern European Russia. They are subdivided into various subgroups. Volga Tatars are the second-largest ethnic group in Russia after ethnic Russians. Most of them live in the republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. Their native language is Tatar, a language of the Turkic language family. The predominant religion is Sunni Islam, followed by Orthodox Christianity.
The Russo-Kazan Wars was a series of wars fought between the Grand Principality of Moscow and the Khanate of Kazan from 1437, until Kazan was finally conquered by the Tsardom of Russia under Ivan the Terrible in 1552.
The Battle of Suzdal or the Battle of the Kamenka River was fought on 7 July 1445, between Russians under Vasily II and Tatar troops of Oluğ Möxämmäd, who invaded the principality of Nizhny Novgorod. The Russians were defeated by troops of beg Mäxmüd, who became Mäxmüd of Kazan after the battle. Vasily was taken prisoner and was set free only after the enormous ransom was paid. He also promised restitution of the lands of Mishar Yurt, that were bought from Tokhtamysh in 1343. Qasim Khanate was founded there to become a buffer state and the vassal of Muscovy later.
The Volga Finns are a historical group of peoples living in the vicinity of the Volga, who speak Uralic languages. Their modern representatives are the Mari people, the Erzya and the Moksha Mordvins, as well as speakers of the extinct Merya, Muromian and Meshchera languages.
Ulugh Muhammad or Muhammad Khan was a medieval Tatar statesman, Gengisid, Khan of the Golden Horde, ruler of Crimea (1437), and the founder of the Khanate of Kazan, which he ruled from 1438–1445. He was the son of the oglan Ichkile Hassan and the cousin of Tokhtamysh. He received the nickname "Ulugh", meaning older or large, in contrast to Küchük Muhammad, meaning younger or small.
Mordvin Tatars was a term used to refer to medieval nobility of Volga Tatar, Volga Finnic, and Burtas descent serving Grand Duchy of Moscow.
