The Tatars, formerly also spelled 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 Tatar 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 (Mongol state), and it came to an end when it was conquered by the Tsardom of Russia.
Bolghar was intermittently the capital of Volga Bulgaria from the 10th to the 13th centuries, along with Bilyar and Nur-Suvar. It was situated on the bank of the Volga River, about 30 km downstream from its confluence with the Kama River and some 130 km from modern Kazan in what is now Spassky District. West of it lies a small modern town, since 1991 known as Bolgar. The UNESCO World Heritage Committee inscribed Bolgar Historical and Archaeological Complex to the World Heritage List in 2014.
The Great Stand on the Ugra River or the Standing on the Ugra River, also known as the Battle of the Ugra, was a standoff in 1480 on the banks of the Ugra River between the forces of Akhmat Khan of the Great Horde, and Grand Prince Ivan III of the Grand Duchy of Moscow.
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 Census); 35,816 (2002 Census); 37,521 (1989 Soviet census); 17,000 (1910).
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 until his death in 1469. He was the son of the 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 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.
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 Principality of Moscow or Grand Duchy of Moscow, also known simply as Muscovy, was a principality of the Late Middle Ages centered on Moscow. It eventually evolved into the Tsardom of Russia in the early modern period. The princes of Moscow were descendants of the first prince Daniel, referred to in modern historiography as the Daniilovichi, a branch of the Rurikids.
The Temnikov Principality or Tümen Principality, also known as Murunza or the Bekhanid Principality of Tümen was a Mishar and Moksha principality in Eastern Mishar Yurt. The state was closely allied with the Grand Duchy of Moscow.
Mordvin Tatars was a term used to refer to medieval nobility of Volga Tatar, Volga Finnic, and Burtas descent serving Grand Duchy of Moscow.
The Meshchera were a Finno-Ugric tribe in the Volga region between the Oka River and the Klyazma river, today called the Meshchera Lowlands, who assimilated with the neighbouring tribes around the 16th century.
