From a riverside fortress to the Republic of Tatarstan
About a thousand years ago, a timber fortress stood on a hill above the Kazanka. Kazan grew up here on a trade route linking the Baltic with the East. Archaeologists date its beginnings to around the turn of the 11th century. The founder’s name is unknown, but we do know who lived here: people of Volga Bulgaria, a state that officially adopted Islam in 922. Its merchants sold furs, honey and wax and brought home silk, spices and silver.
In 1236 a Mongol army conquered Volga Bulgaria, and its lands later became part of the Golden Horde. As the Horde broke apart, the Khanate of Kazan emerged in the Middle Volga region. Its foundation is associated with Khan Ulugh Muhammad and his dynasty. Historians propose two dates, 1438 and 1445. By then Kazan had stood on its hill for centuries. It was now the capital of an independent state.
In 1552, after a seven-week siege, Ivan IV’s army took Kazan by storm. The Tsardom of Muscovy conquered the khanate, although armed resistance continued in the region for several years. The Tatar population was assigned land by Lake Kaban. This was the beginning of the Old Tatar Quarter, where you walk on day two. In 1920 the Tatar Autonomous Republic was established within the Russian Soviet republic, with Kazan as its capital. Its present name, the Republic of Tatarstan, was adopted in 1992. Today it is a republic within the Russian Federation.