The history of Kazan can be divided into two periods: before 1552 and after. At the beginning of the reign of John IV Vasilyevich, nicknamed by the people as Terrible, the city was captured by the troops of the Moscow Tsar. Soon the Kazan Khanate became part of the lands belonging to the Russian crown. What happened in the city before this event? How did ordinary citizens of Kazan live?
Volga Bulgaria
The official date of the foundation of Kazan is considered to be 1005, when an independent state existed on the Middle Volga and in the basin of the Kama River - Volga Bulgaria. Initially, the city was a border fortress, which was supposed to protect the lands of this country from raids from the north.
During the excavations organized on the territory of the Kazan Kremlin, a coin was found, minted around 929-930 in the Czech Republic. Proceeding from this, archaeologists decided that only visiting European merchants who had visited Kazan no later than the beginning of the 11th century could pay with such foreign currency in the city on the Volga.
Volga Bulgaria was a progressive state for its time. The inhabitants of the country professed several religions; Orthodox churches stood next to the mosques. In addition to the Bulgars themselves, many representatives of other Turkic-speaking and Finno-Ugric tribes, Armenian and Russian merchants and artisans settled here.
Actively trading with all neighbors, the inhabitants of the Volga Bulgaria developed economic ties with the countries of the far abroad. Caravans from India, China and Persia came here. And traders from Western Europe bought silk, spices, products of masters of pottery and leatherwork at local bazaars.
The inhabitants of the Volga Bulgaria were mainly engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. They built stone houses, mosques and temples, erected fortresses. Local blacksmiths and weavers, seamstresses and jewelers, shoemakers were widely known not only in their own country, but also abroad.
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Mongol invasion
True, life in the Volga region was not always peaceful. Until the middle of the 10th century, the Volga Bulgaria was forced to pay tribute to the Khazar Kaganate, a powerful state located in the south of modern Russia.
Then the squads of the Kiev princes began to raid the lands of the Bulgars. However, already in 1006, an agreement on trade cooperation was concluded between Ancient Rus and Volga Bulgaria, which did not interfere with mutual military skirmishes, which took place with varying success in the 11th-12th centuries.
Volga Bulgaria was a powerful state with a strong and professional army, it even withstood the attack of Genghis Khan, giving the Mongols a worthy rebuff. However, the forces were still not equal, and in 1236 these lands were conquered by the troops of Khan Batu.
Although the Horde domination put an end to such a state as the Volga Bulgaria, forcing the inhabitants of these places to pay tribute to the invaders, in the XIII-XIV centuries Kazan gradually grew, developed and built. Over time, the center of the political, cultural and economic life of this province of the Golden Horde moved to this city, which began to play an increasingly important role in the state due to its favorable geographical position - at the crossroads of trade routes from Asia to Europe.
So, in 1391, in one of the Novgorod monuments of ancient Russian writing, which is called the "Rogozhsky Chronicler", Kazan was mentioned as the capital of one of the sultanates - administrative-territorial units of these lands, along with such cities as Bolgar, Kermenchuk and Djuketau.
Under the rule of the Golden Horde, the inhabitants of the Middle Volga and the Kama region gradually forgot the old name of their country. They increasingly began to call themselves Kazan ("Kazanly").
Kazan Khanate
Torn apart by civil strife, the Golden Horde eventually lost its former power, disintegrating into a number of separate states. In 1438 Kazan with his troops was captured by Khan Ulu-Muhammad (Ulug-Muhammad), who was one of the many descendants of Genghis Khan. By that time, the city had firmly established itself in the status of the capital of the lands of the former Volga Bulgaria.
The state based on this territory received the name - Kazan Khanate. The Horde became the ruling elite in it. The multicultural diversity and religious tolerance characteristic of the Volga Bulgaria were completely forgotten. Sunni Islam was proclaimed the official religion. Here they began to actively build mosques, open madrasahs.
In the second half of the 15th century, the Kazan Khanate captured significant territories: from the Ural ridge in the east to the Sura river basin in the west. The southern border of the state reached the Samara lands, and the northern border reached Vyatka and Perm. The Kazan troops forced many neighboring peoples to pay tribute to them: Cheremis, Bashkirs, Votyaks, Chuvash. The total population under the protectorate of the khanate reached 400-450 thousand people.
Kazan was a rich trading city. The favorable location allowed local merchants to receive large profits from the flow of goods transported along the Volga. The influx of investment has led to the development of monumental architecture and other arts such as stone carving, decorative ceramics, and jewelry making.
In the khanate, a writing based on the Arabic alphabet, adopted here since the times of the Volga Bulgaria, was widespread. And although the education was mainly religious - pupils of various madrasahs learned to read from the Surahs of the Koran - their own poets and writers appeared in these parts. However, they combined creativity with educational and spiritual activities. The most famous in the country and abroad were acquired by: Muhamedyar, Muhammad-Amin, Emmi-Kamal, Maksudi, Garif-bey and the famous Kul Sharif.
The inhabitants of the Kazan Khanate were farmers. Using wooden plows with metal plowshares, they cultivated cereals and vegetables. Pottery and leatherworking, beekeeping, fishing and hunting, as well as trade were also developed here.
Slaves were also represented in the markets of Kazan. Mostly men from neighboring nations, captured during military clashes. Also, many compatriots were sold to the Tatars by Russian robbers. These, for the most part, supplied girls and women.
Then a series of military conflicts with neighbors led to the capture of the Kazan Khanate by the troops of Ivan the Terrible.
Orynganym Tanatarova