Khanate of Kazan

The Khanate of Kazan (Kazan xanlıgı; Kazanskoye khanstvo) was a medieval Tatar Turkic state that occupied the territory of 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 (Kipchak Khanate), and it came to an end when it was conquered by the Tsardom of Russia. The territory of the khanate comprised the Muslim Bulgar-populated lands of the Bolğar, Cükätäw, Kazan, and Qaşan duchies and other regions that originally belonged to Volga Bulgaria. The Volga, Kama and Vyatka were the main rivers of the khanate, as well as the major trade ways. The majority of the population were Kazan Tatars. Their self-identity was not restricted to Tatars; many identified themselves simply as Muslims or as "the people of Kazan". Islam was the state religion. The local feudal nobility consisted of ethnic Bulgars, but the court and bodyguard of the Kazan khans were composed of steppe Tatar (Kipchaks, and later of Nogais) that lived in Kazan. According to the Ginghizide tradition, the local Turkic tribes were also called Tatars by the steppe nobility and, later, by the Russian elite. Part of the higher nobility hailed from the Golden Horde. It included members of four leading noble families: Arghin, Barin, Qipchaq, and Shirin. Peoples subject to the khan included the Chuvash, Mari, Mordva, Mishar Tatars, Udmurt, and Bashkir. The Permians and some of the Komi tribes were also incorporated into the Khanate. The Mishars had arrived during the period of the Golden Horde and gradually assimilated the resident Finnic Mordvins and Burtas. Their territory was governed by former steppe Tatars. Some Mishar duchies were never controlled from Kazan and instead gravitated towards the Qasim Khanate or Muscovite Russia. Most of the khanate territory was covered by forests, and only the southern part adjoined the steppe.