In the first half of the 15th century, the Crimean Khanate waged fierce wars with Moscow Rus. Forty campaigns were carried out by the Kazan khans to the Russian lands, mainly to Nizhny Novgorod, Kostroma, Galich, Vladimir, Murom, Vyatka. Ivan the Terrible made efforts to peacefully resolve conflicts with the Kazan Khanate. But he did not succeed. The Russian tsar was forced to solve the problem by force in order to eliminate the mortal threat to the state.
In total, Ivan the Terrible made three campaigns against Kazan. Two of them were unsuccessful. The third campaign of the troops of Ivan IV in 1552 to Kazan ended with the capture of the city. A 150,000-strong army took part in the campaign, 150 cannons supported the assault on the Kazan stronghold. Ivan the Terrible, in defeated Kazan, left his governors - princes Alexander Gorbaty-Shuisky and Vasily Serebryany. With the capture of Kazan, Ivan IV solved a more important task - he took control of the Astrakhan Khanate, and also opened the way for the Russians to the lower Volga and to the Caspian.
There is a beautiful legend about the origin of the city of Kazan on the shore of Lake Kaban. Khan Kananbek, leaving the city of Bulgar, fled from the soldiers of the formidable Timur. Khan's troops came to the shore of the most beautiful lake. Kananbek washed his wounds in the waters of the lake and they instantly healed. Khan ordered to build his new palace on this place. Subsequently, subjects settled around the palace. And the lake got its name because a huge number of wild boars roamed along the shore of the lake.
It should be noted that Lake Kaban is not a separate reservoir, but a whole system consisting of three lakes. The lakes are connected by straits and channels. The system is about 10 km long and about 350 meters wide. The lakes turned out to be surprisingly beautiful: there were many fish in the waters, numerous birds nested on the banks and wild boars roamed …
Until now, one of the main mysteries of the history associated with Lake Kaban is the disappearance of the huge treasury of the Kazan Khan during the capture of Kazan by the Russian army. According to legend, all the treasures from the treasury of the Kazan Khan are located at the bottom of Lake Kaban. Old man Asimov told about the treasure, who introduced himself as a descendant of a man who was especially close to the khan. Legends about the treasures were passed down from generation to generation of the Azimov family. The old man said that while the troops of Ivan the Terrible were storming the walls of Kazan, by order of the khan, the treasury was secretly taken out and flooded in the northern part of Lake Kaban. In addition, the methods of raising the treasure from the waters of the lake were carefully thought out in advance and the landmarks of its location under water were fixed. During the siege, and then the storming of the city, all the people who knew the secret of the treasure either fled or died. Ivan the Terrible did not receive the Kazan Khan's treasury, only a few sacks filled with copper coins were found.
The secret keeper Azimov claimed that the khan's treasure consisted of three parts: the first - silver and gold ingots, the second - silver and gold coins of various denominations, the third - precious stones, jewelry, valuable weapons and expensive gifts. It is possible that the total weight of the treasures reaches several tons.
At the beginning of the 20th century, one of the American companies offered the Kazan City Duma to carry out gratuitous work to clean up Lake Kaban from silt, but set one condition - everything that would be found as a result of the work belongs to the company. The authorities refused. And there were many similar proposals, but they were also rejected.
Nevertheless, there were finds on Lake Kaban. Once from the bottom of the reservoir, picking up with a hook, they raised a heavy barrel. But, unfortunately, having emerged from the water, he fell off the mount and again went under the water. The search engines literally "plowed" this area, but the mysterious barrel was never found.
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The question arises. Today, at the current level of technology development, the search for the khan's treasure should not be a big problem? As obstacles to the search, experts call the large area of water bodies, considerable depth, as well as the presence of two-meter silt at the bottom.
During the existence of the Soviet Union, three attempts were made to find the treasure in Lake Kaban. Well-trained scuba divers took part in the search. But the research ended with no result.
It can be assumed that there is no treasure at the bottom of the lake. But then, what is this mysterious barrel at the bottom of the reservoir? Although in this case it can also be assumed that the barrel is not associated with the treasure, but is a kind of cargo that is completely unrelated to the treasure.
The version that the khan's treasury is hidden in the city itself is evidenced by the fact that before the capture of the city by the army of Ivan the Terrible, the Kazan defenders twice repulsed an attack on the city (two previous campaigns). Therefore, the citizens of Kazan were confident in the inaccessibility of their fortress. In this case, there was no point in drowning the khan's treasures. Kazan was defended by 15 thousand trained soldiers and 20 thousand militia from the townspeople. Behind the high and solid city walls, there were autonomous water sources, the city had an impressive supply of food. Consequently, the treasury was practically safe.
During the capture of the city, the Russians undermined and blew up the city wall. It was then that the question arose about preserving the treasury. To sink, in such a situation, the treasure was quite risky, since it was necessary to go beyond the protective walls of the city. In this critical situation, there was only one way out - to hide the treasure on the territory of the Kazan Kremlin. As with all fortresses, the Kazan Kremlin had many underground passages, including connected tunnels leading to numerous karst cavities …
In the 20th century, Lake Kaban suffered damage. The lake has become incredibly dirty. Algae multiply immoderately, consuming huge amounts of oxygen, thereby increasing the level of hydrogen sulfide. The lake has lost its ability to cleanse itself. Combines and large factories were opened near the reservoir, which are still functioning today. The situation is so critical that if measures are not taken in the near future to preserve the ecology of the system of lakes, they may simply disappear, and with them the mystery of the flooded treasures of the Kazan Khanate will perish.