An amazing phenomenon in Russian history - the Kasimov Khanate - existed from 1446 to 1681, i.e. more than 230 years, most of it on the actual territory of Russia. All the more remarkable is his story.
At the head of the Kasimov kingdom was a khan ("king") or a sultan ("prince"). He could only be a Muslim. The Tatar population of the Khanate professed Islam. Taxes (tributes and quitrents) were received from the population of the khanate into the khan's treasury. Their collection was carried out by special officials (darugs). The income and expenses of the khanate were controlled by a nobleman who held the position of treasurer. The Kasimov Tatars carried out military service as part of the Russian troops. Led by their khans, they actively participated in almost all major wars waged by the Moscow state at the end of the 15th century. and in the XVI-XVII centuries. The Kasimov khans always depended on the unifying and strengthening Russian state; not all of them were significant figures, but some managed to skillfully maneuver between the interests of the large neighboring states of Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, taking advantage of the special strategic position and political place of the appanage kingdom - the Kasimov Khanate.
We all have a little Tatar blood flowing in us. Some have a little more, some have a little less. Apparently I got hit a little too. She manifests herself in different ways. The desire for a nomadic lifestyle, changing places, and periodically strongly pulls one back to one’s homeland. Bashkiria and Tatarstan are a bit far away, you won’t be able to travel there on weekends. What to do?
Alga follow me, I will show the Khanate closer!
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It turns out, well, it turns out for me, you probably knew all this for a long time, literally right next door, in the Ryazan province, there was a real Tatar Khanate.02 -
The Kazan, Crimean, Astrakhan khanates were separate states with their own laws, rulers and, in general, were directly related to the Golden Horde. The Kasimov kingdom was essentially never independent and always depended on the Moscow principality.03 -
The story with the Tatars is old and long. Skipping all the events before 1445, let us remember the battle of the Moscow Principality with the Kazan Tatars near Suzdal. Yes, this is the one with a bunch of churches and traffic jams from tourist buses. Then the Tatars won and even took Vasily II the Dark prisoner. A few months later, Vasily was released home for a huge ransom.04 -
But he was released not just like that, but accompanied by a Tatar detachment led by Kasim Khan, the son of the then Kazan Khan Ulu-Muhammad. The official version of the presence of this detachment was to monitor compliance with the agreement of the rulers on the division of lands. Nizhny Novgorod remained under the Tatars, Suzdal, Murom, Vladimir under the Moscow princes. Somehow it so happened that Kasim remained in the service of the Russians until the end of his days.05 -
In 1446, he received Zvenigorod as an inheritance, and in 1452 he moved to Gorodets Meshchersky, which became the capital of the future Kasimov kingdom. He died in 1469, for the next seventeen years his son Daniyar ruled the kingdom, and after his death the Kazan dynasty gave way to the Crimean one.06 -
Ivan III (about whom we can talk a lot and for a long time) granted the principality to the disgraced Crimean Khan Nur-Devlet. His elder brother at that time was the khan of Bakhchisarai and in 1502 occupied the Sarai of the Greater Horde Tatars in Astrakhan; we will return to this fact later. Nur-Devlet’s two sons also later became local rulers, but not for long. By the way, both took part in campaigns against the Kazan Khanate on the side of the Russian troops.07 -
So, the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray in 1502 took the capital of the Astrakhan Khanate and, of course, expelled the khans from there. The son of the local ruler, Sheikh-Auliyar, fled to the Russian State and ten years later received the Kasimov kingdom to rule, becoming the founder of the Great Horde dynasty of rulers.08 -
In 1516, he dies and the throne passes to his son Shah Ali Khan. The life of this man was contradictory and eventful and it is worth telling about him separately.So, at the age of eleven, he inherits the Kasimov kingdom, and three years later he leaves the Kasimov kingdom to his brother Jan-Ali and accepts the invitation to take the Kazan throne. Shah-Ali was initially a Moscow protégé, and Russian ambassador Fyodor Karpov and governor Vasily Podzhogin came to Kazan with him. Both actively interfered in the politics of the Khanate, which caused displeasure with the new khan and led to a quick overthrow in the spring of 1521. The young khan returned to Russia, took part in the Russian-Kazan War and was close to Grand Duke Vasily III. He was given the possession of Kashir and Serpukhov, but after a conspiracy emerged with Kazan, where his brother Jan-Ali took the throne, in 1533 Shah-Ali was exiled to Belozersk and spent three years there in captivity.
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This was the time of the beginning of the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Then he was only five years old and his mother Elena Glinskaya ruled the country. It was she who pardoned the khan and returned the Kasimov kingdom to him. By that time, his brother had managed to marry the daughter of the Nogai biy, Syuyumbika, but could not hold on to her or the throne and was overthrown from the Kazan throne. Shah Ali took part in several campaigns against the then Kazan government, and in 1546 he even briefly regained the throne. His next husband, Syuyumbike Safa-Girey, drove him away.10 -
However, he also did not remain in power for long, and after his overthrow, Syuyumbike was transferred to Ivan the Terrible along with part of the treasury. He, without hesitation, sent her to live in Kasimov and gave her in marriage to Shah Ali. And at that time he himself rebuilt Sviyazhsk and took Kazan, putting an end to the Kazan Khanate. If you remember, the Kremlin was rebuilt by Ivan in the center of Kazan. Even then there was a tower in it, which a hundred years later was called the Syuyumbike Tower. In principle, there is its sister in Moscow - the Kazansky railway station tower.11 -
But let's return to Kasimov. Soon after marrying the femme fatale, Shah Ali thought about the frailty of existence and built a two-room mausoleum for himself. One room for yourself and your wife, and the second for visitors. But I was in no hurry to take advantage of the new living space. At the age of fifty-two, he led the campaign of Russian troops against Livonia, ravaged the lands there and returned victorious. Later he took part in the campaign against Polotsk and guarded the Russian border in the Velikiye Luki region. He died in April 1566 and was buried in his own mausoleum, he is in the photograph.12 -
There are two versions regarding the construction of the famous Kasimov mosque. According to one, it was built under Shah Ali almost simultaneously with the mausoleum; according to another, the initiator of construction was the first local khan, Kasim. In any case, only the minaret has survived from the original version of the building. Local legend says that Peter the Great, while sailing along the Oka in 1702, mistook a mosque on the shore for a church and crossed himself at it. Some brave soul pointed out his mistake and Peter ordered the mosque to be demolished. By that time, Islam in Kasimov had noticeably given way and given way to Orthodoxy. For some reason, the minaret was left, perhaps as a watchtower. And the main building of the mosque was restored only 66 years later with the permission of Catherine II.13 -
The next khan of the Kasimov principality was no less charismatic than the previous one. A descendant of Genghis Khan, the grandson of Akhmat Khan, who ruled the Great Horde, the hero of the Livonian campaigns, Sain-Bulat Khan, who became Simeon Bekbulatovich in baptism. He repeatedly took part in military campaigns, including those against Oreshek and Kolyvan. The first wife was Marya from the Kutuzov family, and after baptism, at the insistence of Ivan the Terrible (and he knew how to convince people), he married Princess Anastasia Cherkasskaya. The princess was some kind of relative of Sophia Paleolog, the grandmother of Ivan IV, i.e. was of royal blood.This fact allowed Ivan the Terrible to make his famous castling.
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Here we need to recall a little the historical events that preceded this cunning move. Ivan the Terrible conquered the Kazan and Astrakhan Khanates, which did not please the Muslim world, and Ivan’s main opponent was the grandson of Mengli Giray (I mentioned him) Devlet Giray. He was a talented military leader who caused a lot of trouble for the Russian state. In the spring of 1571, with the support of the Ottoman Empire and the consent of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, he made a campaign against Russian lands, which ended in the destruction of many areas and the burning of Moscow. Grozny fled to Rostov. Devlet retreated, taking 150 thousand prisoners, and put forward a demand to give up Astrakhan and Kazan. Ivan the Terrible did not agree and a year later the Battle of Molodi took place. On the Pakhra River, a huge 120,000-strong army of the Crimean Horde and Turks was defeated by a 25,000-strong Russian army under the command of princes Mikhail Ivanovich Vorotynsky and Dmitry Ivanovich Khvorostinin. Nobody expected this. Dovlet lost not only his army (hardly more than ten thousand returned home), but also his sons. This campaign was the last major military event. Around the same time, the oprichnina was liquidated (moreover, its top was physically liquidated) and at the same time the tsar got rid of any competition and his immediate circle. Even the hero of the Battle of Pakhra, Mikhail Vorotynsky, was accused of witchcraft and burned. The clergy, who at one time helped fight Metropolitan Philip, also suffered. Dissatisfaction with the king was brewing both at the top and at the bottom. Ivan the Terrible abdicated the throne and installed Simeon Bekbulatovich as king, and he himself allegedly removed himself from governing the state. In reality this was, of course, not the case. The new king took away charters from churches and monasteries for lands that they had used for several hundred years. Naturally, at the numerous requests of the clergy and the church, John took power from the baptized khan and returned the throne to himself. Of course, he gave the opportunity to redeem the letters in a new way. Thus, replenishing their treasury and significantly shaking the power of the clergy. Well, Simeon, retaining the title of Grand Duke, took possession of Tver, where he went to live out his life. Why did Ivan the Terrible put Simeon in his place and why him? Historians still cannot answer these questions.After the death of Ivan the Terrible, Boris Godunov saw Simeon as a real competitor and demanded that his subjects “don’t want to see Tsar Simeon Bekbulatovich and his children and anyone else in the Moscow kingdom...” Tver was taken away, the children had already died by that time, Simeon lived in the Tver village of Kushalino. Later, he took monastic vows at the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery and became Elder Stefan, visited Solovki, returned back to Kirillov where he died at the beginning of 1616.
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By that time, in the Kasimov principality, his nephew Mustafa-Ali and Uraz-Mukhammed, a representative of the Kazakh branch of the descendants of Urus-Khai, had managed to correct him. Uraz-Muhammad was a prominent military figure in the Russian state, participated in the Russian-Swedish war and campaigns against the Crimean Tatars. But in 1608, together with his friend Pyotr Urusov and people, he took the side of False Dmitry II Tushinsky Thief, and on April 1, 1610, Kasimov was already taken by the troops of Vasily Shuisky. Urus-Hai was killed that same summer personally by False Dmitry, who was told by someone that the khan was preparing an assassination attempt on him. Only Urusov told False Dmitry to his face that he was wrong and committed the murder of an innocent person. Peter was sent to prison for six weeks, but they could not convince him of his friend’s innocence. In December of the same year, Pyotr Urusov personally hacked to death False Dmitry while walking. And the khan’s body was found and buried in the old Kasimov cemetery. It seems that you can still find the tombstone.16 -
We are gradually approaching the end of the history of the Kasimov principality. The last dynasty of rulers was the Siberian one. Arslan Khan was the grandson of the famous enemy of Ermak, the Siberian Khan Kuchum. At that time, the general baptism of the Tatars had already begun, and the main power passed to the governor. The king heard complaints that Arslan was “busurmanizing” his subjects, but these were trifles and no one paid much attention.17 -
His successor in 1623 was his son Seyid-Burkhan, who ruled for 53 years without any incidents, almost his entire life. By that time, the Kasimov Tsar, as he was called, had his own courtyard in Moscow on Kulishki (this is modern Kitay-Gorod). At the end of 1653, Tsarevich Seid-Burkhan was baptized under the name of Vasily Arslanovich, but remained the ruler of the Khanate, which contradicts all the rules. Naturally, this fact did not cause delight among the local Tatars, but it was very convenient for Moscow.18 -
Shortly before his baptism, the future Vasily built a mausoleum-tekie for his relative Afghan-Muhammad. The initiator of the construction was Afghan's wife, who died shortly after the completion of construction and was buried there.19 -
They were built by Ryazan craftsmen, so despite the “oriental” appearance, brickwork is typical for Russian buildings.20 -
For a long time the mausoleum was closed, but at the moment it stands wide open.24 -
After the death of Vasily Arslanovich, power passed to his mother Fatima Sultan, wife of Arslan Khan, for two years. There is not much to say about her reign. According to contemporaries, she was distinguished by her love of power and its manifestations. She died in 1681, either from old age or was strangled. To the right of the Afghan-Muhammad mausoleum you can still see the remains of the foundation. These are traces from the mausoleum of Arslan Khan and Fatima Sultan.t25 -
With the death of Fatima, the Khanate also ended. Peter the Great liquidated the unit and Kasimov began to be governed on a general basis, becoming a district town a hundred years later.That's the whole history of the local khanate. Although no. In 1722, another khan appeared in Kasimov, this time definitely the last. During the Persian campaign, Peter the Great was accompanied by the jester Balakirev and, looking at Kasimov sailing overboard, jokingly asked the tsar for the right to be called Khan Kasimovsky. The tsar was also not a fool to joke and gave his consent. The title was formal, but after the death of Peter, Catherine issued a decree and Balakirev received the right to own the former estates of the Kasimov kings, the rank of lieutenant of the Life Guards and the title of “Tsar of Kasimov.” He is buried right there, behind the altar of the Church of the Epiphany.
The “Tatar island” on the banks of the Oka left a noticeable mark in history - this is Kasimovo!
The Kasimov kingdom or Kasimov khanate (Tat. Kasym khanlygy, Qasím xanlığı, قاسم خانليغى) is a feudal state that existed in 1452-1681 in the western part of Meshchera (now the territory of the Ryazan region). .
In historiography, there are currently several points of view on this problem: some researchers consider the Kasimov Khanate to be a fragment of the Golden Horde, similar in status to the Kazan, Astrakhan and Crimean khanates, which fell into vassal dependence on the Russian state; others consider the Kasimov kingdom as an appanage principality allocated by the great Moscow princes to the Tatar “kings” and “princes” who transferred to Russian service; a number of researchers question the very fact of the real existence of the state, considering Kasimov the place of residence of the Chingizids, who were granted the title of “king” or “prince”, and who received income (feeding) from the city.
The founder of the dynasty of Kasimov khans was the son of the Kazan khan Ulug-Muhammad Kasim.
entrance to the burial (tekiya) of Shah Ali Khan 
Territory
As a result of the collapse of the Golden Horde, a number of independent states were formed in Meshchera, among which was the Kasimov Khanate. In 1445, Kasim, the son of the first Kazan Khan Ulu-Mukhamet, established himself in Meshchera (the former Narovchatsky ulus).
Initially, the territory was limited to the city of “Meshchersky” (later known as “Kasimov”). But later it formally included some Mishar belyaks (beyliks), who retained their independence (Kadom, Temnikov, Shatsk, Enkai, etc.).
From the 16th century, the territory of the Khanate began to decrease, which was associated with a long period of actions by the Russian state to liquidate the Kasimov kingdom. In the south and east it bordered with other Mishar state entities.
Ethnic composition
Ethnically, the Kasimov kingdom consisted mainly of three parts:
Kasimov Tatars
Mishar Tatars
Mordva
Privileged classes
The most privileged classes in the Kasimov Khanate were the nobility and the clergy, among which are:
Khan (Sultan)
Karachai (viziers)
Beks and Murzas (princes)
In addition, the privileged class included Atalyks (respected and revered people), Imildashi (children of princes), Kazys (judges), Cossacks (military class).
The lowest level was occupied by palace employees (falconer, equerry, etc.)
The clergy was one of the most influential classes and consisted of: mullahs (priests), hafiz (Koran experts), and Danishmends (teachers). All clergy were headed by seids. It is noteworthy that the seid led a special military formation - the “Seyid Regiment”.
inside the burial 
Taxable class
The system of taxation and office, in Kasimovsky, as in other khanates, was very developed. The bulk of the tax-paying population consisted of traders, artisans, small landowners and peasants. There was rent in products and labor.
Slaves (chura) were used to a limited extent and consisted mainly of Russian and Mordovian people. In the 16th century, there was a slave market in the city of Kasimov.
Economy
A significant role in the economy of the Kasimov kingdom was played by: agriculture, beekeeping, fur hunting, and fishing. The Khanate produced wine, leather goods, wax, and mined salt and gold. There were developed handicrafts and handicrafts. The Khan's class of artisans and architects was present.
Due to the fact that the bulk of the population was sedentary (Kasimov Tatars and Mishar Tatars), the Khanate had only stall breeding.
Religion
Until the 16th century, the most influential religion in the kingdom was Islam.
Beginning in the 70s of the 16th century, the Christianization of the Kasimov princes began (in 1573 Sein-Bulat was baptized and was named Simeon; around 1683 - Seid-Burkhan under the name Vasily).
Strengthening Christianization that began in the 16th-17th centuries. became one of the reasons for the resettlement from the Kasimov Khanate.
The last Muslim ruler of the Kasimov Khanate (aka the last) was Fatima Sultan.
As we will emphasize on the pages of our website, in the future the Kasimov kingdom - this pseudo-state (with khans from the Tatar nobility appointed by Moscow) - will always be an ally of the Moscow state, including in the fight against Kazan (except perhaps for the period 1445-1467. ). BUT! After many decades, those who were finishing the chronicles found the beginning of the history of the Kasimov kingdom to be blurry, it did not want to fit in with the rest... For your great merits and great friendship with the Grand Duke, live next to us, even if you are hated foreigners (by the way, the Great Horde still existed, the “offender” of Ulu-Mukhamed, Khan Kichi-Mukhamed, ruled there, whose nominal power was still recognized by Vasily II) - then everything was smooth! Of course not,
“... the formation of this inheritance cannot be viewed as a voluntary measure of the Russian government...” (M.G. Khudyakov, ibid., p. 27).
So, let’s correct ourselves: Kasim did not “flee” to Gorodets from his own brother, and Vasily did not “accept” him, but simply - Kasim, after they defeated Shemyaka, with the consent of Vasily, went to Meshchera to get what he had under a specific Treaty, and not a “gift from the prince’s shoulder” as a sign of some kind of gratitude...
DESCRIPTION OF THE KINGDOM OF KASIM
The Kasimov kingdom is an appanage principality created by the Moscow princes for the Tatar khans who came into their service. The Kasimov kingdom occupied the territory along the Oka River, including Gorodets Meshchersky and the adjacent area (northeast of the modern Ryazan region), inhabited by Russians, Mordovians, Meshchera, and partly Tatars. First granted by Vasily II the Dark around 1450-56. Kasim, son of the Golden Horde Khan Ulu-Mukhammed, brother of the Kazan Khan Mahmutek and relative of the Crimean Khan...
When a fierce struggle for power unfolded in the Kazan Khanate and Khan Ulu-Mukhamed, expelled from the Golden Horde, was killed by his son Mahmutek, who also killed his brother, a contender for the khan’s throne, his younger brothers, princes Kasim and Yakub, fled with a small cavalry detachment to the Moscow Grand Duke, promising to serve him faithfully and honestly, they won a number of victories over his enemies. Then Grand Duke Vasily II the Dark gave Gorodets Meshchersky as an inheritance to Tsarevich Kasim in 1452... After the name of Kasim Khan, Gorodets Meshchersky in 1471 began to be called Kasimov. Tsars and princes were appointed at the discretion of the Moscow sovereigns of the Tatar nobility, who accepted Russian citizenship. The owners of the Kasimov kingdom, connected by family ties with the Crimean and Kazan khans, played an important role in the complex diplomatic game of the Moscow government, and sometimes in direct armed struggle with Kazan and Crimea.
Some of them left a noticeable mark on the political life of the Russian state. Kasim Khan in 1449 defeated the army of the Golden Horde Khan Seid-Akhmed on the Pakhra River, and in 1450 - the squad of Dmitry Shemyaka, who claimed the Moscow throne. The Kasimov kingdom, which was directly dependent on the Grand Duke of Moscow, and played its role in the struggle for liberation from the Horde yoke and strengthening the Russian state...
In the time of troubles (1610), the Kasimov king Uraz-Mukhamed with his court and servants was in the camp of False Dmitry II. But, convinced that he was a Polish protege and another impostor, he formed a conspiracy against him. False Dmitry, having learned about this, lured Uraz-Mukhamed to hunt and killed him there. Soon, the courtier of the Kasimov Tsar Urusov killed False Dmitry II... Tsar Shigaley (Shah-Ali) was repeatedly a Russian protege on the Kazan throne, constantly participated in Russian campaigns against Kazan. Simeon Bekbulatovich (Sain-Bulat) was proclaimed “Tsar and Grand Duke of Rus'” by Ivan the Terrible.
With the annexation of the Kazan Khanate, the strategic importance of the Kasimov kingdom fell. Moscow governors practically began to be in charge of affairs, and the tsars switched to the position of service landowners. The basis of the economy of the Kasimov kingdom was agriculture and stalled animal husbandry. Crafts were developed, especially those related to the processing of wool, leather, metals, and stone. There was a lively trade in bread, honey, wax, and handicrafts. The Kasimov kingdom (Khanate) in its heyday included the lands of the following counties: Kasimovsky, Kadomsky, Elatomsky, Shatsky, Temnikovsky (according to modern borders, this is the east of the Ryazan region, including the lands of the former Tambov province, as well as the north-west of Mordovia, capturing extreme southwest of the Nizhny Novgorod region). During its existence, the borders of the Kasimov kingdom changed repeatedly and within fairly wide limits. Until 1486 in the Kasimov kingdom. ruled by the Kazan dynasty (descendants of the Kazan khan Ulu-Muhammad), in 1486-1512. - representatives of the Crimean dynasty, in 1512-73. - relatives of the Astrakhan khans (under them, the Kasimov Khanate lost the remnants of its independence and turned into an appanage principality). Later, at the head of the Kasimov kingdom were representatives of the families of Kazakh and Siberian khans. In 1681, the Kasimov kingdom was liquidated.
KASIM KHANS
KASIM-KHAN, KAISYM, KASIM-TREGUB (year of birth unknown - died around 1467 / or 1469? /) - ruler of the Kasimov kingdom (in the years between 1450-1456 and until 1469), son of the Golden Horde Khan Ulu- Muhammad, brother of the Kazan Khan Makhmutek, hostile to Moscow. It was first mentioned in Russian chronicles in 1447, when Kasim Khan and his brother Yakub left for the Cherkassy land due to their persecution by Makhmutek and met near Yelnya with the prince of Borovsk Vasily Yaroslavich. Kasim Khan went into the service of the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily III Vasilyevich in 1446. In 1449-50. actively supported Vasily III against Prince Dmitry Shemyakin, who laid claim to the Moscow throne. In 1449, Kasim Khan defeated the army of the Golden Horde Khan Seid-Ahmed on Pakhra. Around 1450-56 Vasily III gave Kasim Khan the inheritance of Gorodets-Meshchersky with the territory of the surrounding area, which was called the Kasimov kingdom. The agreement of 1483 between princes Ivan Vasilyevich of Moscow and Ivan Vasilyevich of Ryazan states that some taxes were collected from the Ryazan land in favor of Kasim Khan and his son Daniyar.
KASIM KHANS (KINGS)
Qasim Khan
(1446 or 1447 - 1469)
KASIM KHAN - the first ruler of the Kasimov kingdom (after 1446 and possibly before 1469), the son of the Golden Horde khan Ulu-Mukhammed, the brother of the Kazan khan Mahmutek.
Indeed, Kasim was first mentioned in Russian chronicles in 1447. Although, of course, he, already an adult, participated in all the memorable events of 1438-1445: in the Battle of Belevsky, the wandering of his father’s army in the Meshchera lands, wintering in old Nizhny Novgorod, attack on Murom, in the Battle of Suzdal. The latter dramatically changed, as we know, his own fate and the fate of the Meshchera town.
After the death of Ulu-Mukhamed in Kurmysh, apparently, his sons had different tasks: Mahmut went to Kazan, Kasim and Yakub had to implement one of the points of the Agreement between Ulu-Mukhamed and the Moscow Grand Duke Vasily II, who was released by him for a huge ransom - namely : establishment of a protectorate over Meshchersky Gorodets.
Vasily II’s cousin, Dmitry Shemyaka, who by that time had seized real power in Moscow, of course, had no desire to pay the monstrous ransom. So, of course, all the sons of Ulu-Muhamed were interested in his removal and the accession of Basil II, who signed the aforementioned Treaty. And they nevertheless returned the Grand Duke, already blinded, to the throne, and there were too many opponents of Shemyaka in Moscow itself. So count up: who won how much!..
Yes, in 1449 Kasim Khan defeated the army of the Golden Horde khan Seid-Ahmed on Pakhra. Although this is a completely natural fulfillment of allied obligations between the Kazan Khan Mahmutek and Vasily II.
It is possible that the gradual formation of the Khanate on the Oka lasted for 5-10 years (besides, it seems that the numerous Meshchera-Tatar Murzas were not happy with such centralization).
So in the creation of this kind of buffer state at the junction of the Moscow, Ryazan, Nizhny Novgorod principalities and the Kazan Khanate, the Kasimov Kingdom, which claims to be the heir to the Horde, the role of Kasim Khan himself is very large.
After the death of Kasim Khan (around 1469), Gorodets Meshchersky began to be called Kasimov.
Kasim was the unconditional and legal heir to the Kazan throne. But for 22 years, having lived “temporarily” in Meshchersky Gorodets as an appanage prince-khan, he had already become closer to Moscow than to Kazan, for Moscow grew stronger under Ivan III. Although, in general, relations between Kazan and Moscow until 1466 were calm. After the death of Mahmutek Khan around 1465, for some time the khan in Kazan was his son Khalil, who died in 1467. Why the Kazan people then elected a new khan - the second son of Mahmutek - Ibrahim, one can only guess, perhaps Kasim, who lived for a long time within Russia , became a stranger to them, although many Murzas nominated Kasim as a candidate. Kasim had to speak out against his nephew. Since he did not have enough of his own strength, he decided to turn to Grand Duke Ivan III Vasilyevich for help. The Moscow government, which pursued a much more aggressive policy than under Vasily the Dark, contributed troops. Although Kasimov’s united army was thrown back, and the pretender himself soon died, nevertheless, Moscow correctly saw in Kasimov’s kingdom a “trump card” in the political game and subsequently skillfully used it.
This is how the fate of Kasim’s brainchild, the khanate of the same name, and in the future a pseudo-state on the territory of Russia, changed.
Kasim Khan built a mosque in Gorodets, which for a long time remained the only one in Meshchera. The townspeople defended it from destruction during the time of Peter I.
Yakub Khan
(1469-1471)
There is almost no information about the reign of Kasim’s younger brother, Yakub, who by that time was clearly an elderly man. It is only known that he previously served as a military commander at the court of the Grand Duke, and where he lived at that time requires clarification. It is possible that in Moscow. By the way, the Turks who were with the Russian army were called serving Tatars or Cossacks (Cossacks).
It seems that during the formation of the Kasimov Khanate in 1446-1450. he was supposed to be on the Oka in his brother’s estate.
Daniyar
(1471-1486)
The son of Qasim Khan ascended the Kasimov throne in 1471 and ruled for 15 years. He was spotted with his squad back in 1468 in Kolomna as part of the Russian troops during an attack against Akhmad (see lit., ch. I, p. 34).
The agreement of 1483 between princes Ivan Vasilyevich of Moscow and Ivan Vasilyevich of Ryazan states that some taxes were collected from the Ryazan land in favor of Kasim Khan and his son Daniyar. (Although, as we know, Qasim died no later than 1469)
The spiritual will of Andrei the Lesser (brother of John III, Andrei died in 1481) states that he received 30,000 rubles from the Grand Duke. for payments to the Hordes, to Kazan and Tsarevich Daniyar... (lit., ch. I, p. 101).
Apparently, Daniyar had no heirs left after the death of his son / The German doctor Anton, having killed the Prince of Tatar, Daniyarov’s son, with drugs, was stabbed to death... (lit., ch. I, p. 121) - perhaps the son’s name was Karakucha or Kara- Khoja, the year of his death is presumably 1486/ and the line of Kasimov khans along the line of Tokhtamysh was cut short. Although not all authors confirm that Karakucha is the son of Daniyar (see below)...
You can learn a little about Daniyar in historical and artistic prose, such as, for example, from the book “Kasimov: There were legends” (author - Ph.D. I. Gracheva). For example, that Daniyar participated in the Novgorod “operations”.<внецитатные фрагменты — в угловых кавычках>
Writer I. I. Lazhechnikov in the novel "Basurman" told about the fate<вышеупомянутого>"German Anton", who came to Rus' in 1483 and became the court physician of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan the Third. According to chronicle sources, the Russian ruler greatly favored the foreign doctor and showed him all sorts of favors. But he valued even more the services of Kasim Khan Daniyar’s son and his associates. They distinguished themselves in the fight against the rebellious Novgorodians who tried to resist Ivan’s power. Having learned that one of Daniyar’s close associates, Kara-Khoja, was seriously ill, Ivan carefully sent his skilled doctor to him<возможно, это был сын Данияра>. Unfortunately, all Anton’s efforts were in vain. The patient died. Rumors, transmitted by the chronicle, spread among the Tatars that the “Nemchin” deliberately killed Kara-Khoja because he ridiculed the European traditions of medicine. The angry Ivan betrayed Anton's head to the son of the deceased. He tormented the unlucky doctor for a long time, but still decided to let him go for a decent ransom. However, the stern Moscow ruler demanded revenge for the death of the Tatar warrior devoted to him. Anton was taken out onto the ice of the Moscow River and publicly executed under the bridge...
Nur-Davlet
(Nor-Dowlat),
(1486 /?/ - 1491)
N.M. Karamzin repeatedly mentions Nordoulat, the elder brother of the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey and the son of Hadji-Girey, in connection with military-political events. Together with their brother Aidar, they at one time voluntarily came to Russia (via Lithuania), but could no longer freely leave from there (see lit., Chapter III, p. 102). Nordoulat was invited by both the Khan of the Golden Horde, Murtaza, and the Crimean Khan and his brother Mengli-Girey (lit., Chapter III, p. 115).
The Crimean ruler repeatedly asked Ivan III to return his brother, fearing that he “would not want a kingdom” over him. Ivan III, well aware of all the advantages of having in his service a contender for the Crimean throne (it was not at all necessary to really try to seat him on it; the very fact of such a constant threat forced Mengli-Girey to adjust his actions with the line of the Moscow sovereign), did not let go of Nur-Girey. Daulet from Russia throughout his life...
The Crimean prince, after the memorable “standing on the Ugra” and the flight of Akhmad, together with Prince Vasily Nozdrevaty, attacked “Yurt Batyev (probably Saray)” and almost destroyed the city. (lit., chapter III, p. 99).
There is information about one of Nur-Davlet’s probable sons, Azubek, who settled in Lithuania. From the letter of Mengli-Girey to the King of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Sigismund I (circa 1507) it is clear that the Crimean ambassador Mamysh-ulan, returning from Lithuania, informed the khan that...
... “our son’s brother, Dovlesh Soltanov’s son Ozubek Soltan, why was his queen’s tribute taken away and given to one Muscovite.” The khan asked the king “this Ozubek soltan our brother... to honor him”... Source: Velyaminov-Zernov V.V. Research about the Kasimov kings and princes. St. Petersburg, 1863. part 1., pp. 98-148.
And return his estate to him. Judging by this document, the prince was Mengli-Girey’s nephew. His father could have been Mengli-Girey’s brother and rival Nur-Daulet, who briefly took refuge in Lithuania in 1478 and then “left” for Moscow...
In 1491, another brother of Mengli-Girey, Iztemir, and his nephew Devlesh also arrived in Lithuania. It is likely that Azubek could also be the son of the latter (“brother” the khan calls in the message not only Azubek’s father, but also himself, therefore, this indicates a close relationship without defining it precisely). Azubek-Soltan was mentioned around 1524 among the Crimean princes who notified Sigismund I about the accession of Saadet-Girey.
Nur-Davlet did not sit on the Kasimov throne for long, and, probably, at that time he was no longer young.
Satylgan
(Saltagan)
(1491-1508)
The young prince, the son of Nordoulat, is mentioned in connection with the campaign of Russian troops in 1491 against the Horde kings Seid-Akhmet and Shig-Akhmet (sons of the last significant Horde khan Akhmat, killed by the Siberian prince Ibak).
"...On the banks of the Donets there were the commanders Ioannov, Tsarevich Saltagan, son of the Nordoulats... John III instructed Andrei the Great (brother) to send an auxiliary squad to help Saltagan, but he did not send..." (see lit., ch. III, p.128).
Sheikh Auliyar
(1512-1516)
Sheikh-Auliyar was the brother of the last significant Horde khan Akhmat. At the end of the natural collapse of the Great Horde, he and his other brother Isup already occupied the “positions” of the princes of Astrakhan. N.M. Karamzin colorfully describes those years when Akhmat’s son, Shig-Akhmet, seeking protection from his former ally, Lithuania, ended up in captivity in Kyiv. And, when the sons of Akhmatov cursed the treachery of Lithuania, the princes of Astrakhan, Isup and Shigavliyar, boasted of the mercy of the Grand Duke, having entered into his service... (see lit., ch. VI, p. 193-194).
Indeed, in 1502, after the fall of Sarai under the blows of Mengli-Girey, the sons and nephews of Khan Ahmad fled to Russia and received volosts and cities under their control. In the same year, Sheikh-Auliyar already owned Surozhik (north of Zvenigorod) and participated in the Lithuanian campaign. While still in Sarai, Sheikh-Auliyar married Princess Shagi-Saltan, daughter of Prince Ibrahim of Nogai. In 1502, their son Shah Ali was born.
Around 1512, after the death of the Kasimov sovereign prince Dzhan-Ay, Sheikh-Auliyar was appointed sovereign of the Kasimov inheritance. In 1516, they had another son, Jan-Ali. In the same year, Sheikh-Auliyar died, and the Kasimov inheritance passed to his son Shah-Ali. When his father died, the prince was only 11 years old. (see lit., pp. 76-77, but the author, apparently, made an inaccuracy: 14 years).
Sheikh-Auliyar took part in the Russian-Lithuanian war of 1507-1508, and with the Kasimov Tatars - in the campaign of Vasily III near Smolensk in December 1512, joining the Russian troops in Mozhaisk.
By appointing Sheikh-Auliyar to the Kasimov throne, Moscow could inevitably come into conflict with the still ally Tauride Tsar (Crimean Khan Mingli-Girey), because Sheikh-Auliyar came from the Timur-Kutlu clan (see below for the genealogy of the clan). This break will come later, with the elevation of the son of Sheikh-Auliyar - another Kasimov king, Shah Ali - to the Kazan throne.
Shah Ali (Shigalei)
(1516-1519,
1532-1540,
1543-?,
1546-1567).
One of the significant characters in Russian-Tatar history of the 16th centuries. — there is much more information about Shigaley than all the Kasimov kings combined.
Shah-Ali was the nephew of the last Golden Horde khan Akhmat (the worst enemy of the Crimean khan Mengli-Girey) and came from the Timur-Kutlu clan, which was at enmity with the clan of Tokhtamysh (whose grandson, by the way, was the first Kazan khan Ulu-Mukhamed).
So, Shigaley (or Shig-Aley, Alei, as he was called in Russia) grew up and was brought up among Russians, and could not be an enemy of Moscow. As mentioned above, when his father died, the prince was only 14 years old.
In 1516, when the Kazan Tsar Magmet-Amen, who had long been a faithful guide to Moscow’s plans, but once changed, became seriously ill, he sent messengers to Moscow to ask the Grand Duke to declare Abdul-Letif (captured back in 1502) Ruler of Kazan. and imprisoned in Beloozero - then still a young but active Khan of Kazan). However, Abdul-Letif died suddenly in the prime of his life, at the age of 40, on November 19, 1517. By the way, M. Khudyakov considers his death not accidental, because after Magmet-Amen, Abdul-Letif and the Russified descendants of Khudaygul and Melik-Tagir, the descendants of Tokhtamysh remained only the Crimean Khan and his half-brother (in December 1518 Magmet-Amen also died in Kazan).
But Grand Duke Vasily did not follow the lead of Mengli-Girey, who demanded that his son Saip-Girey be elevated to the Kazan throne, unexpectedly choosing the 16-year-old Kasimov prince Shah-Ali. The union of Russia and Crimea has collapsed...
However, Shigaley did not have to remain on the throne for long; the Crimean prince Saip-Girey took Kazan in 1521, overthrew and captured Shigaley, declared himself his patron, but (!?) released him to Moscow.
The exiled Tsar Shigaley settled in Moscow because... His younger brother Jan-Ali ruled in Kasimov. He lived at the Moscow court for 9.5 years. In 1523, Shigaley participated in the founding of the small fortress of Vasil-gorod (present-day Vasilsursk) on a piece of land seized from the Kazan people on the right bank of the Sura. In December 1530, in view of the expected coup in Kazan, Shah Ali was sent to Nizhny, so that from there, at the first opportunity, he could go to Kazan and take the khan’s throne. However, the coup of May 1531 delivered the throne not to him, but to Jan-Ali. (see lit., pp. 85, 106).
In the summer of 1546, he actually managed to hold on to the Kazan throne for 1 month, after which he again lost it to Safa-Girey. N. Karamzin repeats the well-known “fable” of Russian chroniclers that in March 1549 Khan Safa-Girey, allegedly being drunk, stumbled and died. Although Safa was 42 years old, there could have been other reasons for her quick death. After Safa-Girey’s adult son, Bulyuk-Girey, was not released from Crimea by Sahib-Girey, Safa’s 2-year-old son, Utyamysh-Girey, was elected khan in Kazan under the regent Kovgorshad.
This is where the period of Shigaley’s active participation in Russian-Kazan relations began (1550-1552) until the capture of Kazan.
Twice more he would solemnly enter the Khan’s palace, and in his last “reign” he would abdicate the throne, ending the more than 100-year history of one of the fragments of the Golden Horde - the Kazan Khanate. He will spend the rest of his life in his native Kasimov, going from time to time for military service with the Tsar of All Rus'.
There is numerous information about the human qualities of Shigaley. He is said to have had a keen mind and military ability.
Jan-Ali (Enalei)
(1519 - 1531 or 1532)
Jan-Ali was appointed nominal owner of Kasimov at the age of 3, and at the age of 15 he had to move with his squad to Kazan, and again to the khan’s chambers. This happened after Russian troops approached Kazan in 1530, forced Khan Safa-Girey (nephew of Saip-Girey, who in those years had already crossed Constantinople to the Crimean throne, and he left Kazan back in 1523 to the young 13 -year-old Safa-Girey) retreat to Arsk, and then to his father-in-law in Nogaev ulus.
Despite the efforts of pro-Moscow-minded Kazan nobles, Moscow failed to return Shigaley to the Kazan throne; the Kazan people “begged” Yenaley Kasimovsky.
According to M. Khudyakov (see lit., p. 109), Jan-Ali was elevated to the Kazan throne on June 29, 1531. After 2 years, Jan-Ali married the daughter of Nogai Murza Yusuf - Princess Syuyun-Bika. Soon Yusuf himself incited the Kazan people to overthrow Jan-Ali, dissatisfied with his attitude towards his daughter. Actual power in Kazan belonged to the regent princess Kovgorshad, sister of Magmet-Amen, and she apparently organized the murder of the young khan (September 25, 1534). Safa-Girey returned to the throne and married the widow of the murdered man.
All this happened with the inaction of the weak Russian government of regent Elena Glinskaya, Empress under the young Ivan IV (see lit., pp. 94, 95) after the death of Vasily in December 1533. Moscow even forgot to make a diplomatic protest (see lit., p. 109).
The Kasimov Khanate in the period from June 1532 to the beginning of 1537 remained without a khan. However, a khanate without a khan is nonsense. In fact, the Russian leadership did not need the Kasimov kingdom, but the title of Kasimov Khan (Sultan) in order to nominate him to the Kazan throne. The issue of succession to the throne in Kazan, as in other eastern states, was not strictly defined, so any Muslim ruler, in principle, could count on it. That is why the title of Kasimov sovereign was needed. /end quote/
As we have already noted, “interregnums” (as, for example, back in 1610-14) actually took place in the history of the Khanate.
But here, too, Shah Ali’s “magic wand” came in handy (except for 1516-1519, he was still listed as khan in 1532-1540, and then “reigned” for several years after 1543, and of course, lived as khan in Kasimov from 1546 until his death in 1567).
The further fate of the Kazan khans.
After the fall of the Kazan Khanate, three Kazan khans from different dynasties remained alive - Shah-Ali, Utyamysh and Yadigar.
After leaving the throne on March 6, 1552, Shah Ali left for Sviyazhsk. He intended to spend the spring here, but the Russian government summoned him to Moscow and invited him to participate in meetings of the boyar duma when discussing the plan for the upcoming campaign. From Moscow, the khan was sent to Kasimov by river route, on ships - “the king (Shah-Ali) had a great body and could not quickly ride a horse: the king is extremely intelligent, but not brave in his battles, and not pliable to his squad.” . In the campaign of 1552, Shah Ali commanded Kasimov's army. When crossing the Volga, he received orders to occupy Gostinny Island; during the siege, he was on the most important front, together with the Bolshoi and Peredovy regiments, from the Arsk field, but the Kasimov Tatars, by order of the headquarters, were not led to attack and were sent to rear to protect the convoy and headquarters and in case of pursuit of a foray from Kazan along the Arsk and Chuvash roads. Khan participated in all military councils during the siege. With the general jubilation of the Russians after the capture of the city, Shah-Ali also brought congratulations to the tsar, but in rather restrained expressions - he briefly said: “Be healthy, sovereign, having defeated the adversaries, and on your estate in Kazan forever!,” to which Ivan graciously replied that the khan himself knows how many times troops were sent against Kazan, the bitterness of the Kazan people is also known, and now God has created his righteous judgment - he showed his mercy to the Russians, and avenged the Kazan people for Christian blood.
At the end of the campaign, Shah-Ali returned to Kasimov, to manage his inheritance. In February 1552, the Russian government promised him, for the voluntary surrender of Kazan to the governor, “whatever the sovereign wants, the sovereign will grant it.” Although at that time the khan did not voluntarily surrender Kazan, but only left the throne, but in May 1552 the Russian government rewarded him with everything he asked for. He asked “many people sat down in Meshchera” and permission to take Queen Syuyun-Bike as his wife.
The project to marry Suyun-Bike to Shah-Ali arose from the Russian government back in 1550 and then again in February 1552, about which it notified her father, Prince Yusuf. In May 1552, Prince Yusuf asked to hand over Syuyun-Bike and Utyamysh to him, but the Russian government replied: “And we favor the queen for Yusuf the prince and for you all, but we want to give her for the king Shigaley so that you will rejoice about it.” . In June, Ivan IV wrote to Murza Izmail: “You sent Yusuf’s daughter Syuyunbek the queen to us to ask us to let her go to you. And we wanted to let her go to you. And the king of Shigaley beat us with his forehead that Syuyunbek-yurt (destiny) was his , that Enalei was the king of his brother, and according to your law it would be better to follow him. And we remembered your friendship for us. Syuyun-bek did not want to keep the queen of Polonyanka. I did the queen a good honor for you, and gave her for his brother Shigaley the king, and Otemish Kirey the king gave her food to feed. And you, hearing our kindness to you, would rejoice." The Russian government even wrote to Syuyun-Bike’s father and brother that Syuyun-Bike of her own free will married Shah-Ali.
This marriage was, of course, not voluntary and was determined entirely by political calculations: the Russian government wanted to eliminate Syuyun-Bike and her son from the Kazan throne by uniting these representatives of the Crimean dynasty with the loyal Kasimov Khan. Shah-Ali himself hardly loved Syuyun-Bike, since after her deposition, in 1551, when a similar project arose, he “didn’t want to keep her,” and Syuyun-Bike was sent along with her son to Russia. Prince Yusuf heard alarming rumors that Shah-Ali, on the orders of Ivan IV, tortured Syuyun-Bike to death, cut off her nose, etc., and on this issue a whole correspondence arose between the Russian and Nogai governments. The Russian government decided to send Nogai ambassadors to Kasimov, where they would personally verify the safety of Syun-Bik. Ivan IV wrote to Shah-Ali: “Ismail Mirza and Kasai Mirza and Yunus Mirza wrote to us - they told de Yunus the prince that, as if, our brother, at our word, Syuyunbek executed the queen, cut off her nose and, in a great outrage, killed her before death. And for this reason, de Yusuf the prince is angry with us, he does not send ambassadors and guests to us. And our Cossacks Bakhteyar Baimakov and his comrades also told us that they told Yusuf the prince that his daughter was executed. And the leader of Syyundyuk Tulusupov Karamysh Mustoapov told us, that Syuyunbek the queen's mother herself told him that her daughter had been executed. And today we released the Nogai ambassadors to Nogai, and Yunus-Mirzin the man Zien-Aley, and Ali-Mirzin the man Bakhty-Gildey, ordered me to come to you. And how Yunus- Mirzin Zien-Aley and Bakhty-Gildey will come to you, and you would order him to be with you, and even with the queen, if Syuyunbek would order them to be with her, so that they could see her, and if you would let them go from Gorodok with the Nogai ambassadors together . And if Syuyunbek would be nice for the queen to send letters from herself to her father and mother to notify about her health and ask about their health, and you would tell her to send letters, which is nice to be, and a wake, which is nice,” but at the same time Russian the government demanded copies of Suyun-Bike's letters to her parents, as well as Shah-Ali's letters to his father-in-law, if the khan wished to write to him.
mausoleum (tekiya) of Shah Ali Khan 
Shah Ali was Khan Kasimovsky until the end of his days. In July 1553, he was summoned to Kolomna due to an expected attack by the Crimean Tatars. From the autumn of 1553 to the end of 1557, he lived continuously in Kasimov, and at the end of that year, at the beginning of the Livonian War, Shah-Ali was drafted into the army and sent to the front. “Our troops entered Livonia in January 1558, caused terrible devastation in it, approached Dorpat, defeated the Germans several times, were not far from Revel and Riga, and finally, burdened with booty and stained with blood, in February they returned to the Russian border.” . German contemporaries - Gening in the "Liftlendische Churleddische Chronica" and Bredenbach in the "Livonica historiae compendiosa series", as well as their followers Hiarn, Kelch and others, attributed to Shah Ali all the cruelties committed by the Russians during the conquest of Livonia. A more correct view was expressed by B. Russov in “Chronica der Provintz Lyfflandt”, in which he talks about the devastation caused in Livonia by the Russian army under the command of Shah Ali, but does not directly accuse him and does not give examples of his cruelty. The Riga burgomaster Franz Nienstedt in the "Liflandishe Chronik" even praised Shah Ali and called him a reasonable man: "Dieser war ein ansehnlicher, grosser Mann von Persohn, und auch verstandig und bescheiden" ("he was a significant, important person, as well as a reasonable and moderate"). In the summer of 1558, Shah Ali was summoned to Moscow, and here he was given an honorable reception as a hero of a victorious war, and then he returned to Kasimov.
Returning to Kasimov, Shah-Ali began to live his former calm life. He stayed in Gorodok almost continuously until the beginning of 1562. In 1562, he was again drafted into the army and sent to the Polish front, to Smolensk. “Upon arrival in Smolensk, the khan had to send the army that arrived with him... to fight Lithuania, but he himself was ordered to remain in the city. At the end of 1562, Shah Ali participated in the campaign undertaken by Ivan IV himself and culminated in the capture of Polotsk; probably , together with the tsar he returned to Russia, in 1564 he was stationed in Vyazma, from Vyazma he was moved to Velikiye Luki, where he spent the winter of 1564-65. Soon after, he was demobilized, probably due to ill health. Upon returning to Kasimov, he He did not live long and died on April 20, 1567.
Shah Ali died childless. At one time, his niece lived with him, the Kazan princess - the daughter of Jan-Ali, whom he took into his house and raised as a daughter. In 1550-52. She was wooed by the Nogai Murza Ishmael for his son, but this wedding did not take place, since the Russian government did not allow the Kazan princess to be extradited abroad. In May 1552, the princess was married to the Astrakhan prince Khaibulla, who went to serve in Russia and received control of the city of Yuryev.
In addition to his daughter Jan-Ali, Shah-Ali raised two more close relatives (but not daughters) Khan-Sultan and Magi-Sultan. “The first of them died as a maiden in 1558, at 27 years of age; the other survived Shah-Ali and was still unmarried at the time of his death.”
Soon after the death of Shah Ali, the Russian government offered the Crimean Khan Daulet to marry his son or grandson to Magi-Sultan and take the city of Kasimov as a dowry. From the era of Shah Ali, his tomb (tekie, mausoleum) with tombstones and the minaret of the Khan Mosque have been preserved in Kasimov. The monument at the grave of Shah Ali was erected by his adopted daughter Magi-Sultan.
The last Kazan khans
Khan Utyamysh, born in 1546 and proclaimed khan two years old, was deposed in 1551 and sent along with his mother, Queen Syuyun-Bike, to Russia. The next year, Syuyun-Bike was married to Shah-Ali, and the Russian government wrote to her father, Prince Yusuf: “Her son Utemesh Kirei the king was given to her to feed... And Utemesh Kirey the king grows up, and then we want him in a yurt arrange", i.e. give him inheritance, but after the capture of Kazan, the 7-year-old child was separated from his mother. On January 8, 1555, he was baptized in the Chudov Monastery with the name of Alexander, “and the noble tsar granted Tsar Alexander Safakireevich, ordered him to live in his royal house, and ordered him to teach him to read and write, since he was still young, so that he would become accustomed to the fear of God and learn Christian law." At the end of 1553, Ivan IV informed Prince Yusuf that “we are keeping his grandson in his son’s place.” Despite this, Utyamysh-Adexander did not live long and died at the age of twenty in Moscow on June 11, 1566, at the age of 20. He was buried with members of the royal family in the Archangel Cathedral in the Kremlin.
Khan Yadigar, captured on October 2, 1552, was taken under escort to Moscow. In January 1553 he was asked to be baptized, for which he was offered freedom and an honorable position. On February 26, 1555, Khan Yadigar solemnly accepted baptism, for which he had to plunge into an ice hole on the Moscow River at the Tainitsky Gate; at baptism he was given the name Simeon, - “and the Tsar and Grand Duke favored Tsar Simeon, gave him a court in the city (Kremlin) and made Ivan Petrovich Zabolotsky and all the officials in his place as a boyar according to the rank of the state, and did not do it like that, how they hold captives, like the king and the king’s son according to his property.”
Khan Yadigar-Simeon died in Moscow on August 26, 1565 and was buried in the Annunciation Church of the Chudov Monastery. Yadigar had a brother - Tsarevich Kazy-Bulat, an implacable enemy of the Russians. He maintained friendship with the Gireys and lived at one time in the Crimea. The last khan of Astrakhan, Dervish-Ali, in 1555 summoned him from Crimea and appointed him as his successor. After the Russian occupation of Astrakhan, Dervish-Ali emigrated to Azov and Arabia (he spent the rest of his life in Mecca), and Kazy-Bulat went to the Nogai principality. In 1558, the Russian government invited Kazy-Bulat to voluntarily move to Russia, but he did not agree to this. Thus, all three former Kazan khans who came to Russia died one after the other during the years 1565-1567. Of these, only one Shah-Ali, a zealous supporter of Russian power, managed to end his days as a Muslim in his native Kasimov. As for the other two, the government of Metropolitan Macarius could not deny itself the pleasure of forcing them to accept Christianity. Upon death, the baptized khans were buried in the Kremlin churches - such was the combination of formal honor with mockery of fate, in the spirit of that fanatical age.
KASIMOV TATARS
The Kasimov Tatars were formed on the basis of the assimilation of the pre-Kasimov Turkic-speaking layer, which lived in the region in the 1100s (this is confirmed by historians D. Iskhakov, F. Sharifullina, A. Khalikov), with the Mordovian tribes that converted to Islam (Moksha and Erzya) and Tatar tribes who came from the Siberian, Astrakhan, and Crimean khanates. The descendants of these tribes (the current Mishar Tatars) live on the territory of the Sasovsky, Kadomsky, Ermeshinsky districts of the Ryazan region and the Nizhny Novgorod region.
The main catalyst for the formation of an ethnic group, of course, is the period of formation of the independent Tatar (Kasimov) Khanate (mid-15th century) within Rus'. The founder of the Khanate was Tsarevich Kasim (Kasym), the son of the first Kazan khan Ulu-Muhammad. The prince with a large group of troops, with his supporters from among Kazan artisans, traders, clergy and murzas (princes), fled to the Russian Tsar Vasily the Dark and settled in the territory that later became known as the city of Kasimov.
Thus, the roots of the Kasimov Tatars are a multi-tribal, healthy ethnic basis, which ensured the long and long-term existence of the group, and it would be incorrect to consider the Kazanians the core of the Kasimov Tatars. Nevertheless, the connection with Kazan was felt in everything. The disgraced elite of the Kazan Khanate, having come to Kasimov, established certain relations with the abandoned country, for example, the largest clans (Shirins, Rams, Jalairs) remained in both Kazan and Kasimov.
The Kasimov Khanate, as an administrative entity, was necessary for the military defense of the Russian state on the southeastern borders and for more than 200 years it perfectly defended Rus'. However, after the conquest of the Kazan (1552), Astrakhan (1557) and Siberian (1580s) khanates, the Khanate on the Oka exhausted the functions of the border zone, the defender of Russian borders. The lands of the Tatars remained, but since the reign of Khan Arslan (1620s), the independence of the enclave was practically limited. And if under Khan Shah-Ali (XV century) the troops of the Kasimov Tatars participated in all the wars waged by Russia, and Khan Sain-Bulat (baptized Simion) commanded the Russian army in the Livonian War, then by the 17th century there was a process of transformation of the former Kasimov Tatars warriors into peaceful traders and artisans. In 1681, after the death of the elderly khansha Fatima Sultan, the Kasimov Khanate finally ceased to exist.
Peter I attributes the Kasimov Tatars to the hardest work of harvesting ship timber. As a result of a series of decrees in the first half of the 18th century, aimed at abolishing serf land tenure among Muslims, part of the nobility converted to Christianity, among whom were such famous people as I. Michurin, I. Kuprin and others. In other regions and provinces, the Turgenevs, Yusupovs, Chaadaevs, Karamzins, Beklemishes and others. But the bulk of the Kasimov Tatars remained faithful to Islam, and of those who converted to Christianity, many returned to Islam again.
The period of national revival among the Tatars of the Ryazan and Tambov provinces (namely, the Kasimov Khanate was once located on their territory) began in the second half of the 19th century. Local Tatar lands become one of the centers of Tatar spiritual culture. Madrasahs appeared, supported by the money of merchants and philanthropists. The Kasimov madrasah was founded by a wealthy merchant and philanthropist Khairulla Kastrov. Famous experts on Islam taught here - Khasan Shamsutdinov (died in 1893) and the poet Zakir Khadi (1883-1933). Girls were also trained (teachers Sogdiya Bulatova, Farkhanas Bashirova, teacher Khadiya Ishimbayeva, etc.). On the basis of the madrasah in 1898. The Tatar theater "Chulpan" was organized, in which Saida and Nadzhia Devishev, Khadiya and Tavkhida Ishimbaev, Saida Vergazova, the Gubaidullin brothers, Ravza Kastrova and in general the majority of young people from Tatar families worked with great joy for a long time.
There was a madrasah that trained imams and teachers. Madrasah graduate Ibrahim Urmanov graduated from the Islamic University in Cairo and knew the Holy Quran by heart.
In addition to large madrassas, in every village there were mektebs (schools) where literacy was taught - in Tsaritsyno, Muntovo, Tolstikovo, Baishevo, Podlipki, Koverskoye, Bogdanovo, Verki, Azeevo, Bastanovo, Tarhan, Aleshino. Among the local Tatars there was a very high percentage of Muslim clergy.
The Kasimov Tatars began to engage in commercial activities back in the 18th century, creating an intensive connection with the trading world of China, Mongolia, Central Asia and Kazakhstan. The trading campaigns of the Seyid-Shakulovs, Ishimbayevs, and Kastrovs established sales of their products (fur) abroad. For a wider organization of trade, it was necessary to move to large cities. Thus, the Kasimov Tatars settled in Moscow in the 17th-18th centuries and occupied one of the leading places in their area of \u200b\u200btrade and production. The largest Tatar merchants in Moscow were the Kasimov families of the Kashaevs, Castrovs, Taneyevs, Vergazovs, Ishimbayevs, Seid-Shakulovs, Devishevs, Karamyshevs, Yanbukhtins, Akmaevs, Burnashevs, Shirinskys, Urmanovs, Baikovs, Bakhtiozins, Baibekovs and others. In addition to the fur trade, they developed the hotel industry -restaurant production, in particular Kh. Baybekov owned the “Small Hermitage” restaurant, a hotel of the same name at the Nikitsky Gate.
In St. Petersburg, the restaurant of the Astoria Hotel was served by the Murataevs, restaurants and buffets at railway stations were often created by the Kasimov Tatars, in particular, the Bayrashev family owned a network of restaurants and buffets in Pushkin, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kasimov and other stations. From this family came the first Tatar woman with a higher musical education, People's Artist of Tatarstan, professor of the Kazan Conservatory Zukhra Gareevna Bayrasheva.
Most of the Kasimov Tatars were engaged in charity and philanthropy.
The Kasimov Muslim Charitable Society opened its activities in 1898. "with the aim of delivering funds to improve the morality and material condition of poor Muslims in the city of Kasimov and its environs."
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SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:
Team Nomads
Velyaminov-Zernov V.V. Research on the Kasimov kings and princes. - 2nd ed. - St. Petersburg: In type. Imp. Academy of Sciences.
http://misharlar.ru
http://tatar-history.narod.ru/etno.htm
Grigoriev V.V. [Review of:] Velyaminov-Zernov V.V. Research on the Kasimov kings and princes. Part 1. St. Petersburg, 1863 // Day. - No. 29.
Shishkin N.I. Simeon Bekbulatovich, Tsar Kasimovsky // Russian antiquity. - 1888. - No. 6. - P. 587.
2nd ed., rev. and additional - Ryazan: Typo-Lithography by N. D. Malashkin, 1891.
Reprints: Ryazan, 1999; Ryazan, 2001.
Gagin I. S. Brief complexity about the Kasimov Tatar kings and monuments existing from their times (published by M. Creighton) // Proceedings of the Ryazan Scientific Archival Commission for 1901. - T. XVII. — Vol. 3. - Ryazan, 1902.
Privalova N.I. Auctions in the city of Kasimov in the middle of the 17th century. // Historical notes. - T. 21. - M., 1947.
Kasimov’s kingdom // Soviet historical encyclopedia. - T. VII. - M., 1965. - P. 86.
Iskhakov D. M. On the issue of the ethno-social structure of the Tatar khanates (using the example of the Kazan and Kasimov Khanates). - Kazan, 1995.
Iskhakov D. M. From medieval Tatars to Tatars of modern times. - Kazan, 1998.
Rakhimzyanov B.R. Crimean dynasty in the Kasimov kingdom // Point of view: Collection of articles. research articles. — Vol. 3. - Kazan, 2000. - P. 69-89.
Rakhimzyanov B.R. Kasimov’s kingdom in the Time of Troubles. // Point of view: Collection of research articles. - Kazan, 2000. - pp. 73-78.
Belyakov A.V. Kasimov after the Time of Troubles (according to RGADA documents) // Ryazan Vivliofika. — Vol. 2. - Ryazan, 2001.
Iskhakov D. M. On the internal division of the Kasimov Tatars and its origins // East-West: Dialogue of Eurasian cultures. Vol. 2. - Kazan, 2001. - P. 289-298.
Rakhimzyanov B. R. Kasimov’s kingdom: socio-political development (1445-1552): abstract. dis... cand. ist. Sci. - Kazan, 2001.
Muhammedyarov Sh. F. Meshchersky yurt (Kasimov Khanate) // Essays on the history of the spread of Islamic civilization. — T. II. - M., 2002.
Belyakov A.V. Kasimovsky Tsar Araslan Aleyevich and the Orthodox population of his inheritance // Turkological collection: 2002. - M., 2003. - P. 189-199.
This inheritance was granted by Grand Duke Vasily II the Dark to Tsarevich Kasim. Throughout its existence, the Khanate was a loyal vassal of the Moscow state.
Dynasty of Kazan Ulu-Muhammad, 1452-1486.
According to some sources, the Kazan king Ulu-Muhammad either in the fall of 1445 or at the beginning of 1446 was killed by his son Mahmutek, who ascended the throne. After this, Makhmutek’s younger brothers Kasim and Yakub fled to the “Cherkasy land”, and from there in the fall of 1446 they came to Moscow. Kasim served in the army for several years, after which the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily II granted him the Meshchersky town as his inheritance. This is how a new Tatar possession arose, known in history as the Kasimov kingdom.
Kasim (Kasim) 1452-1469
Daniar (Daniyar) 1469-1486
Dynasty of the Crimean Gireys, 1486 - until 1512.
Hyp al-Dawla 1486 - ca. 1491
Satylgan approx. 1491-to 1508
Janai before 1508-before 1512
Dynasty of the Astrakhan Khan's house, until 1512-1600.
Sheikh Auliar before 1512-before 1516
Shah-Achi 1516-1519
Jan-Ali 1519-1532
Shah Ali (secondary) 1532-1567
Sait-Bulat (Simeon) 1567-1573
Mustafa Ali (Mikhail) 1573-1600
Dynasty of the Siberian Khan's House (Shibanids), 1600-1718.
Uraz-Muhammad (killed by order of False Dmitry II) 1600-1610
Alp Arslan 1614-1627
Sayyid-Burkhan (Vasily) 1627-1679
Fatima Sultan 1679-ca. 1681
Liquidation of the estate.
Vasily mind. 1718
After the death of the last Kasimovsky Tsarevich Vasily in 1718, his relatives were ordered to be titled princes.
Book materials used: Sychev N.V. Book of Dynasties. M., 2008. p. 682-683.
The Kasimov “kingdom” is a specific possession of the Tatar khans as part of the Russian state with its center in the city of Kasimov. It arose in the middle of the 15th century and existed for more than 200 years. It was ruled by Tatar “kings” or princes (khans), appointed by the Russian government. The first khan was Kasim-Tregub , to whom the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily II the Dark, for the military services rendered to him by the Kazan prince, gave the town of Gorodets Meshchersky and the volost to his inheritance, forming the so-called. this “kingdom” was in contrast to the then emerging Kazan Khanate, which was quickly gaining strength and threatening the southeastern border of the Moscow state. The artificially created Kasimov “kingdom” with an ethnically heterogeneous local population, in which the newcomer Tatars constituted a small minority, did not have any political independence. All affairs of the “kingdom” were actually managed by governors appointed from the Ambassadorial Prikaz. The Kasimov khans received salaries from the Moscow government and from the Ryazan princes; the local Mordovian and Meshchera population paid them yasak. Moreover, the khans owned land on the basis of customary local law. The Kasimov prince also received a cash rent from the lake farmers, a natural honey rent from the beekeepers, tavern and customs fees (except for the fees for the city of Kasimov, which went to the central treasury). In 1681, the Kasimov “kingdom” was annexed to the palace volosts.
Materials used from the book: Boguslavsky V.V., Burminov V.V. Rus' of the Rurikovichs. Illustrated Historical Dictionary.
Appanage principality on the Oka in the 2nd half. XV - XVII centuries. Allotted by the Moscow princes to the Tatar “kings” and “princes” who transferred to Russian service, abolished in 1681.
The center of the Kasimov kingdom is the city of Kasimov (in the modern Ryazan region on the Oka River), founded in 1152 under the name Gorodets-Meshchersky, since 1474 - Kasimov.
The first owner of these lands was Kasim Khan (1469+), the son of the Kazan Khan Ulu-Muhammad, who went into the service of the Moscow Grand Duke
Vasily II Vasilyevich the Dark
in 1446.
At Ivan IV Vasilievich the Terrible The Kasimov king was Simeon Bekbulatovich (1616+), a baptized Tatar, who, by a strange whim of Ivan the Terrible, became the “Grand Duke of All Rus'” in 1575 and was the nominal ruler of the Russian state (see below).
Having executed many boyars, the Chudov archimandrite, the archpriest and many other people of every rank, Ivan the Terrible installed Simeon Bekbulatovich as tsar in Moscow and crowned him with the royal crown, and he himself called himself Ivan of Moscow, left the city and began to live on Petrovka; He gave all his royal rank to Simeon, and he himself rode simply, like a boyar, in shafts, and every time Simeon arrived, he sat down with the boyars far from the king’s seat. Ivan the Terrible ordered all letters and petitions to be written to Simeon.
Some explain this by Ivan the Terrible’s desire to humiliate the zemshchina and especially the boyars he hated; others suggest that he wanted, hiding behind the name of Simeon, to give full rein to his unbridled cruelty; finally, still others see this act as a pathological phenomenon. Two years later, Simeon was exiled from Moscow and given control of Tver and Torzhok.
At Boris Godunov Simeon Bekbulatovich was subjected to disgrace and even blinded, was returned from exile to the reign, became a monk and died in old age.
Kasimov
KASIMOV, a city in the Ryazan region. Located in the eastern part of the Meshchera Lowland, the pier is on the left bank of the Oka, at the confluence of the river. Babenki. Population 38 thousand people, Founded in 1152 by a prince Yuri Dolgoruky. Until 1471 it was called Gorodets-Meshchersky; renamed Kasimov after leading. book Moscow Vasily II the Dark gave it to the Tatar Khan Kasim, who fled from the Golden Horde and was accepted into Russian service in 1446. From ser. XV century until 1681 the center of the Kasimov kingdom - an appanage principality on the Oka.
TATAR KHAN ON THE MOSCOW THRONE
R.G. Skrynnikov
Chapter from the book "Ivan the Terrible" Publishing house "Nauka" Moscow, 1975
Three years have passed, and the memory of the oprichnina has somewhat faded. The subjects began to forget about the king’s extravagant undertaking. But there was a smell of new oprichnina in the air when in 1575 Grozny abdicated the crown for the second time and placed the serving Tatar khan Simeon Bekbulatovich on the throne. The Tatar moved into the royal mansion, and the “great sovereign” moved to the Arbat. Now he traveled around Moscow “just like the boyars,” settled in the Kremlin palace at a distance from the “Grand Duke,” who sat on a magnificent throne, and humbly listened to his decrees.
The abdication of Ivan the Terrible was preceded by a long chain of events. The most dramatic of them took place behind the scenes. Sources remain silent on this matter, and only the synod of disgraced people lifts the edge of the veil. In the synodikon you can find the following entry: “Remember, Lord, Prince Boris Tulupov, Prince Volodimer, Prince Andrei, Prince Nikitou Tulupov, Mikhailou Pleshcheev, Vasily Umnoy, Alexei, Fyodor Starovo, Orinou Mansurov... Yakov Mansurov.” It was not by chance that the compiler of the synodik united these people on one page of the memorial book. It can be established that they all served in the oprichnina, and then moved to the “yard” of Grozny (after the dissolution of the oprichnina, the so-called courtyard replaced the oprichnina security corps). Only particularly trusted persons worked in the "yard" service. Their number did not exceed several hundred. The people named above occupied some special position at the new court. A year before Simeon's coronation, the Tsar celebrated his wedding with Anna Vasilchikova. There were only a few guests: a select few. But here’s what’s interesting: at the wedding, all those who soon found themselves among the disgraced were having a fun feast. No one suspected how short the path from the wedding table to the scaffold would be for them. Shortly before the wedding, Grozny visited the Torture Court and asked the boyar slaves who were being burned on fire: “Which of our boyars are cheating on us?” And he himself began to suggest names: “Vasily the Clever, Prince Boris Tulupov, Mstislavsky?..” The Tsar began with his closest advisers, who stood next to him right there in the Torture Court. He was joking, but his words chilled the blood of the boyars.
The synodics are written not just by high-ranking court officials. Familiarity with their biographies convinces us that these are the leaders of the first post-oprichnik government. It included Prince Boris Tulupov, who made a dizzying career. At first - a modest squire, carrying the royal samopal, and a year or two later - a member of the nearby royal council, carrying out matters of national importance. Vasily Umnoy is recorded next to Tulupov in the synod. This one was Skuratov's successor. He continued the search for boyar treason, begun by Malyuta, with such zeal that he was immediately granted a “yard” boyar status. All his numerous relatives, the Kolychevs, followed Smart into the “yard.”
We know nothing, or know very little, about the feuds that split the top of the “court” shortly before Simeon appeared on the scene. One thing is obvious. As a result of the split, power passed to extreme elements who insisted on a return to oprichnina methods of governance. The first symptoms of the conflict within the “yard” leadership can be discerned in the heated local disputes between the Kolychevs, on the one hand, and the Godunovs and Saburovs, on the other. Boyar F.I. Umnoy hopelessly lost his lawsuit with boyar B.Yu. Saburov and was handed over to him "with his head." His brother, boyar V.I. Umnoy, had difficulty defending himself from the parochial claims of the bed-rider D.I. Godunov.
After the execution of B.D. Tulupov, his old estate was given to him for “dishonor” Boris Godunov . We will never know what kind of insult Godunov suffered from the favorite, but the offender paid the bill in full by getting impaled. It would not be amiss to recall that the property of the disgraced was usually divided between the treasury and the informer. Boris tried to get rid of his ill-gotten property. As soon as Ivan the Terrible died, he transferred the Tulupov estate to the monastery with the order to forever remember the two brothers Vasily and Fyodor Smart, Prince Boris Tulupov and his mother Anna. Fyodor the Smart ended his life in a monastery, and Anna Tulupova, according to eyewitnesses, was given a painful execution on the day of her son’s death. Being involved in the disgrace of all the named persons, Boris ordered to remember them all on August 2, apparently on the day of the execution described by the synodik.
So, the tsar sent the leaders of the first post-oprichnik government to the scaffold on August 2, 1575. The executions served as an impetus for the investigation of the second Novgorod “treasonous” case. The machine of terror once set in motion could not stop. Many members of the "court" were arrested. Among them was Grozny’s personal physician Elisey Bomeley. The “fierce sorcerer” Elisha left a bad memory of himself among the people. He provided the tsar with services of the dirtiest nature, preparing poisons for courtiers who had fallen out of favor, and poisoned some of them, for example Grigory Gryazny, with his own hands. Bomeley became the first royal astrologer. He informed the king about the unfavorable position of the stars and predicted all sorts of troubles for him, and then “opened” the ways of salvation. Grozny completely trusted his adviser. In the end, the astrologer became entangled in the web of his own intrigues and decided to flee Russia. Having taken a travel document in the name of his servant, Bomeley went to the border, having previously sewn all his gold into the lining of his dress. But in Pskov the suspicious foreigner was captured and brought in chains to Moscow. Ivan the Terrible was amazed at his pet’s betrayal and ordered him to be roasted on a huge spit. Under torture, Bomeley slandered the Novgorod Archbishop Leonid and many noble persons. Contrary to the legend, the “magician” and “sorcerer” taught the tsar to kill the boyars not out of ill will, but out of weakness, due to the fact that he could not endure the torture.
The Englishman Horsey, who saw how the half-dead doctor was taken from the Torture Yard to prison, told interesting details about the last days of the adventurer. According to him, the tsar instructed his son Ivan and his associates, who were suspected of conspiring with the life physician, to interrogate Bomeley. With the help of these courtiers, Bomel hoped to get out of trouble. When the “sorcerer” saw that his friends had betrayed him, he spoke and showed much more than what the king wanted to know. Among the people slandered by him was the prominent courtier P. M. Yuryev, the heir’s second cousin. His name is recorded in the synod. As can be established, Novgorod Archbishop Leonid “reposed” in disgrace with the sovereign on October 20, 1575, and four days later the executioner beheaded Zakharyin-Yuryev. None of this was a coincidence.
New bloody executions in Moscow were associated with the Novgorod case, the main character of which was Archbishop Leonid. The archbishop belonged to that circle of clergy who maintained close friendship, first with the oprichnina, and then with the court. Using the full confidence of the tsar, he took the Novgorod throne after the oprichnina’s defeat of Novgorod. Leonid subordinated the local church to the purposes of the oprichnina administration, which at that time was headed by Alexey Staroy. (It is likely that Staroy was executed on the eve of Leonid’s trial not just by chance.) According to contemporaries, the fate of the Novgorod archbishop was shared by two other high-ranking clergy. Their names are recorded in the short synod of disgraced sovereigns in the same list with Leonid: “Archbishop Leonid, Archimandrite Euthymius, Archimandrite Joseph Simonovsky.” Euthymius headed the Kremlin Miracle Monastery. The chronicles mention that he died along with Leonidas. These individuals were indeed closely related to each other. During the years of the oprichnina, Levky, the famous henchman of the tsar, who brought upon himself the curses of Kurbsky, sat in the Chudov Monastery. Leukos handed over the miter to Leonidas, who made Euthymius his successor. This entire circle of people has tainted themselves by collaborating with the oprichnina. Archimandrite Simonov Monastery also belonged to him. The named monastery received a special honor: it was included in the oprichnina.
The obedient clergy turned a blind eye to the tsar's multiple marriages and other sins against church rules. But the cordial agreement came to an end when Grozny announced a complete ban on land donations in favor of large monasteries. The Tsar did not hide the fact that he was irritated by yesterday's favorites. The monks of the Simonov and Chudov monasteries, the tsar wrote two years before the executions, are monks only by their clothes, but they do everything in a worldly way, then they see everything. The archimandrites set a bad example for their brothers. They reported to the Tsar that Simonov’s archimandrite, “not even intending to be an archimandrite, took communion of the demon patrichel, but said it while unconscious.” The monks could count on leniency if it was just a matter of indecency. But other charges were brought against them. The Tsar was angry with his pilgrims for “chasing” the boyars, slyly justifying themselves by saying that without the boyars’ donations their monasteries would become impoverished. In the old days, Grozny wrote, “the holy people did not chase after the boyars,” but now the monks know and make friends with the seditious boyars. Was it not for their friendship with the executed courtyard boyars that Leonid and the archimandrites suffered?
The death of Leonidas gave rise to many legends. Some interpreted that the king tore off the ruler’s clothes (“san”) and “stitched him with a bear (sewn him in a bear skin) and hunted him down with dogs.” According to another version, Leonid was “strangled” in the square in front of the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin. But the most knowledgeable author, the Englishman Horsey, claims that the court sentenced Leonid to death, and the king pardoned him and replaced the death penalty with eternal imprisonment. The bishop was put in a cellar on bread and water, and he soon died. At the trial, Horsey notes, Leonid was accused of practicing witchcraft and keeping witches in Novgorod. After the trial, the witches were burned. Can Horsey's story be trusted? Is there any fiction here? A small detail leaves no doubt about this. We have; referring to the memorial record of the synodik: “Remember, Lord, there are 15 wives in Novgorod, and the wise men say.” Before us are the very sorceresses of Leonidas that Horsey spoke about.
The court condemned Leonid as a heretic and state criminal. The archbishop allegedly maintained treasonous ties with the Polish and Swedish kings. The accusations were so false that only frightened people could believe them. The tsar feared objections from influential church circles and resorted to blackmail. In the inventory of the royal archive one can find an indication of a detective case “about the Moscow Metropolitan Anthony and about the Krutitsy Bishop Tarasius in 7083 and 7084.” The most remarkable thing is the date of the search. The year 7083 expired on August 31, and the year 7084 began on September 1, 1575. Consequently, the tsar blackmailed the metropolitan at the very time when preparations for the trial of Leonidas were in full swing.
Some historians saw in the abdication of Ivan the Terrible and the transfer of the throne to Khan Simeon as a game or a whim, the meaning of which was unclear and the political significance was negligible. The above facts show that Ivan the Terrible's abdication was associated with a serious internal crisis. The second Novgorod case compromised many high-ranking officials from among the boyars and princes of the church. The fear of general betrayal haunted the king like a nightmare. He longed for reprisals against the conspirators, but no longer had reliable military force. "Dvor" did not live up to the expectations placed on it. The main leaders of the “court” were accused of high treason - and ended their lives on the chopping block.
The main difficulty faced by Ivan the Terrible and his entourage, however, was something else. The abolition of the oprichnina annulled the unlimited powers with which the decree on the oprichnina vested the tsar. No one could stop Grozny from executing his close people from the “court”. He achieved the condemnation of some influential church hierarchs who were not popular in the zemshchina because of their complicity with the oprichnina. But the tsar did not dare to raise his hand against the powerful zemstvo vassals, without the consent of the Boyar Duma and the church leadership. The oprichnina thunderstorm weakened, but did not crush, the boyar aristocracy. Tsar Ivan still had to coordinate his actions with the opinion of the nobility. It was risky to completely ignore the Boyar Duma, especially at the moment when it was discovered that the tsar’s security corps - his “court” - was not reliable enough. Apparently, the tsar and his entourage racked their brains for a long time over how to revive the oprichnina regime without the consent of the Duma and at the same time maintain the appearance of legality in the Russian state, until a penchant for jokes and hoaxes suggested the tsar the necessary solution. A new face appeared on the scene - Grand Duke Simeon. The tragedy unexpectedly turned into a farce.
Little is known about the personality of Sain Bulat Bekbulatovich. He played a role for which a weak and ordinary person was best suited. Ivan the Terrible did whatever he wanted with the Khan's henchman. First he put him in the “kingdom” of Kasimov, then he was removed from the Muslim appanage principality, baptized, renamed Simeon and married to the widowed daughter of Prince Mstislavsky. The serving Tatar khan, yesterday's Basurman, did not enjoy influence in the boyar and church environment. But Ivan the Terrible was impressed by Simeon’s royal origins, and even more so by his complete obedience, and he placed him at the head of the Zemstvo Duma. And yet, the khan’s henchman did not have sufficient authority to single-handedly decide matters on behalf of the Boyar Duma. To overcome this difficulty, Grozny announced his abdication of the throne in favor of Simeon and proclaimed the head of the Boyar Duma "Grand Duke of All Rus'." Then, without much hassle, he received consent from his protege to introduce a state of emergency in the country. With the transition to the “destiny” of Prince Ivan of Moscow (as Grozny now called himself), there was no longer any need to turn to the Duma. He put his decrees in the form of petitions addressed to the Grand Duke.
Immediately after the death of the Novgorod Archbishop Leonid, Ivan IV submitted his first petition to Simeon with a request that he “show mercy, free the little people to sort out the boyars and nobles and the children of the boyars and courtyard little people, some you would free to send away, and others you would free to accept.” The petition placed the “Grand Duke” in a clearly unequal position with the “appanage prince”. Ivanets of Moscow could accept any of the subjects of the “Grand Duke” Simeon into the “station”, but Simeon was categorically forbidden to accept service people from the “station”. The newly organized "specific" army was exactly like the old oprichnina guard. The nobles taken into the “appanage” lost their estates in the zemshchina and received in return lands on the territory of the “appanage” principality. The newly-minted “appanage” prince passed over in silence the question of the delimitation of the grand-ducal and “appanage” possessions, leaving it entirely to his own discretion. Ivanets Moskovsky deliberately composed his petition in such terms as to convince his subjects that this was not about a new division of the state into zemshchina and oprichnina, but only about another reorganization of the “court” and “an enumeration of little people.”
On the eve of the first oprichnina, the tsar left the capital before announcing his abdication. On the eve of the second oprichnina, Grozny did not want to leave Moscow and took the tsar’s crown and other regalia into the “appanage” treasury. Explaining his unusual act to the English envoy, Ivan said, among other things: “Look also: the seven crowns are still in our possession with the scepter and the rest of the royal decorations.” It is possible to establish with what regalia the dethroned great sovereign appeared before the Englishman. Decrees from the "destiny" were drawn up on behalf of "the sovereign, Prince Ivan Vasilyevich of Moscow, Pskov and Rostov." To these three ancient princely crowns, Ivanets added the crowns of the two appanage principalities of Dmitrov and Staritsky, as well as the crowns of Rzhev and Zubtsov.
It took the Moscow prince about a month to carve out “specific” possessions and form a new oprichnina guard in them. The Pskov land, destroyed during the oprichnina years, and Rostov with the district fell into the “destiny”. These territories were never part of the oprichnina department, and from this we can conclude that the Prince of Moscow did not want to let into the “destiny” the small serving men who were stationed in the former oprichnina districts and who once made up the oprichnina corps. The administration of the “destiny” was carried out by the “specific” Duma, headed by the Nagimi, Godunovs and Belskys. The Tsar's old bed servant, Dmitry Godunov, worked in the field of political investigation: The Bed Order investigated conspiracies against the Tsar's person. The merits of Dmitry Godunov were appreciated, and he received the rank of boyar, which was not due to his artistry. His nephew Boris entered the "appanage" Duma with the rank of clerk, and Boris's brother-in-law Bogdan Belsky became a gunsmith. Afanasy Nagoy rendered important services to the Tsar while serving as ambassador to Crimea. He exposed the imaginary betrayal of the boyars in favor of the Crimean Khan and thereby secured his career. Under the influence of Afanasy Nagoy, the tsar introduced his brother Fedets into the “appanage” Duma, granting him the rank of okolnik, and later married his niece Maria Nagoy. The resulting triumvirate - Nagiye, Belsky, Godunov - retained influence at the court of Grozny until the last days of his life. The public executions, carried out a month after Ivan the Terrible's abdication, made a painful impression on his contemporaries. Chroniclers described them in detail. But even a cursory acquaintance with the chronicle notes reveals a diversity of sources.
To establish reliable facts, one should again turn to the Synodik of the disgraced Tsar Ivan. The following persons are recorded in it: “Prince Peter Kurakin, Jonah Buturlin with his son and daughter, Dmitry Buturlin, Nikitou Borisov, Vasily Borisov, Druzhinou Volodymerov, Prince Danil Drutskoy, Joseph Ilyin, archpriest, clerks, three people, just five peasants.”
Who were these people, the victims of the second oprichnina? The boyar Prince Peter Kurakin survived the years of the first oprichnina only by pure chance. His brother, boyar Ivan, was then imprisoned in a monastery. He himself ended up in exile in Kazan and stayed there for ten years. He was returned to Moscow only to be elevated to the scaffold.
Boyar Ivan Buturlin, okolnichy Dmitry Buturlin and okolnichy Borisov were people of a different fate. They entered the oprichnina Duma when the oprichnina was in decline. After its complete liquidation, they threw off the black oprichnina robe and moved to the Zemstvo Duma. The life path of other disgraced people from the synod was similar.
Prince Danila Drutsky, the most prominent clerks Druzhina Volodymerov and Osip Ilyin made a career in the oprichnina, and then moved to the zemshchina and headed the orders there. In the same company with all these former guardsmen was the archpriest of the Archangel Cathedral in the Kremlin, Ivan. They put him in the water, simply put, they drowned him in the river.
Sources allow us to establish that the tsar executed his former guardsmen at the end of November 1575. The given date serves as the last link in a long chain of facts. So, in August, Grozny dealt with the leaders of the “court”, in September-October he investigated the Novgorod treason, at the end of October he abdicated the throne, within a month he created a new oprichnina - the “destiny”, and finally gave the order for the execution of the most prominent zemstvo boyars.
Contemporaries silently report that the cause of the new opals was discord in the royal family. In an elaborate and intricate style, the Moscow chronicler narrates that the tsar “began to think about the desire for the kingdom against his son, Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich.” The heir, apparently, was suspected of intending to overthrow his father and take the throne. To put an obstacle to his son, Ivan the Terrible named Simeon to the great reign. Then the boyars close to the heir allegedly said: “It is inappropriate, sir, for you to install a tribesman in the state past your children.” In rage, the king ordered the execution of these “opponents.” It is difficult to judge how reliable the given chronicle story is. One can only guess that Bomeley’s case compromised the boyars who belonged to the heir’s inner circle, and the tsar decided to get rid of them. He apparently considered boyar Ivan Buturlin to be the main conspirator. Together with the disgraced man, the executioner beheaded his son and daughter. The king spared family members of other disgraced people.
After the first serious quarrel with his son Ivan, the tsar declared in the presence of boyars, clergy and foreign ambassadors that he intended to deprive his son of his rights to the throne and make Prince Magnus of Denmark heir. Five years later, he carried out this threat, but transferred the crown not to Magnus, but to Simeon. The royal family was torn apart by family bitterness. By his actions, the tyrant father seemed to be saying to his adult son: “I will execute your brothers and associates, and I will give the throne not to you, but to a foreigner.” Historical songs have preserved a vague legend that Tsarevich Ivan was saved from death thanks to the intercession of his beloved uncle, boyar Nikita Yuryev. Whether this is so is impossible to say. It is only known that during the investigation of the case of conspiracy in favor of the heir, Grozny ordered Nikita Yuryev to be robbed. The tsar did not deprive other leaders of the zemshchina of attention. Severed boyar heads rolled through their yards. But no matter how swaggering Ivan was, no matter how much he taught the heir with a stick, he never thought about putting him on trial. Moreover, having renounced the king's rank, he took his son into his “inheritance” and declared him his co-ruler. All orders from the “destiny” came on behalf of two princes of Moscow: Ivan Vasilyevich and Ivan Ivanovich.
On the third day after the public execution in the Kremlin, Ivan IV summoned the English envoy, informed him about Simeon’s reign and added that “the reason for this was the criminal and malicious actions of our subjects, who murmur and resist us for demanding loyal obedience and are committing treason against our person.” ". The meaning of the explanations was extremely clear. Ivan of Moscow executed the boyars for refusing to faithfully obey him. Fearing that the ambassador might not take his abdication seriously, Ivan IV declared that he “transferred the dignity into the hands of a stranger who was in no way related to him, his land, or his throne. The explanation with the ambassador involuntarily revealed the whole truth. The serving Tatar was called upon only for this reason.” was to play the main role in the started masquerade, which had absolutely no rights to the Russian throne. The Terrible deliberately resurrected the ghost of the hated Tatar regime, in which the khan controlled the grand-ducal power, and the Moscow prince's henchman brought him petitions. Apparently, Ivan IV prudently tried to make his successor a bogeyman in the eyes of his subjects, so as not to give him the opportunity to establish himself on the throne. The ceremony of transferring power to Simeon was of an ambiguous nature. According to the chronicle, the king put him on the throne “of his own will.” The same circumstance was noted by foreign observers. As Gorsey wrote, the king handed the crown to Simeon and crowned him without the consent of the Boyar Duma.The abolition of the oath ceremony to the new sovereign in the Duma gave the act of coronation legal force. The uncertainty of Simeon's position was aggravated by the fact that he took the royal throne, but received only the title of grand duke instead of the royal one.
In the third month of Simeon's reign, the king told the English ambassador that he could again take the rank whenever he pleases, and would act as God instructs him, because Simeon had not yet been confirmed by the wedding ceremony and was not appointed accordingly. popular election, but only. by his permission. But even after this statement, Grozny was in no hurry to end the masquerade. The Tatar Khan stayed on the Moscow throne for about a year. The king believed that he might need the services of the obedient Simeon in the future, and therefore, instead of destroying his opponent, he “dismissed” him with honor. Having left Moscow, Simeon moved to the “great reign” in Tver.
Under the guise of “destiny,” the tsar resurrected the oprichnina order in the country. But this time the persecution affected a small number of people. The pogroms were not repeated. “Appanage politics” served as a kind of afterword to oprichnina politics. The Tsar completed the defeat of the boyar circle that ruled the oprichnina at the end of its existence. Simeon's "reign" did not have a serious impact on the internal state of the country.
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FROM ANCIENT Rus' TO THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE
In the summer of 6953 from the creation of the world (1445), a series of grave disasters befell Rus'. The twentieth year continued, now dying down, now flaring up again, a bloody strife between the princes of the Moscow house. The second son of Dmitry Donskoy, Prince Yuri of Zvenigorod, after the death of his elder brother Vasily I, refused to recognize the rights of his nephew Vasily Vasilyevich to the grand-ducal throne. The uncle managed to expel his nephew from the capital city twice - in 1433 and 1434, but, having reached the throne for the second time, Prince Yuri Dmitrievich died. The struggle for the great reign was continued by his sons - Vasily Kosoy and Dmitry Shemyaka. In 1436, Vasily Kosoy was captured by his cousin, Grand Duke Vasily II Vasilyevich, and he ordered the unlucky rival to be blinded. Prince Dmitry Shemyaka became quiet for a while, concluded a peace treaty with Vasily II, but harbored a grudge.
At a time when the Russian princes were deciding on the issue of seniority in campaigns and battles, strife raged in the Horde. The grandson of the famous Tokhtamysh, Khan Ulu-Mukhammed, was expelled by his rivals from the capital of the Golden Horde, Sarai. For a short time he managed to settle in Crimea, but Ulu-Muhammad fled from there too, having been defeated by Khan Seyid-Ahmed. In 1437, the fugitive approached the southern borders of Rus' and settled down for the winter near the city of Belev. Vasily II sent a significant army against him, which was defeated by a small detachment of Tatars. Having defeated the Russian army, the khan left Belev, moved to the Volga and settled on the territory of Volga Bulgaria, which had fallen into decline. After the Mongol conquest, Bulgaria became part of the Golden Horde. In the XIV century. On its lands there were clashes between warring Golden Horde khans, cities fell into decay, villages were ruined. The crushing campaigns of Russian troops (1374, 1376, 1432, etc.) also caused great damage to Bulgaria. Ulu-Muhammad occupied the northern part of the country, which was least affected by the devastation, and chose the city of Kazan (Kazan) as the capital of his ulus, which also had a second name - Bulgar al-Jadid, i.e. New Bulgar, emphasizing its continuity in political and trade relations with Bulgar, the capital of Volga Bulgaria. Having established himself on the Volga, Ulu-Muhammad began to fight the Russian land, trying to force the Grand Duke to pay tribute to him, and not to the Sarai khan Kichik-Muhammad. In 1439, the khan occupied Nizhny Novgorod and besieged Moscow, and on the way back he burned Kolomna. In 1444, Ulu-Mukhammed again took Nizhny, spent the winter there and sent an army against Murom, which was repulsed by the Russian army. The Tatars left Nizhny, but the following year the sons of Ulu-Muhammad Mahmud (Mamutyak) and Yakub again took Nizhny and moved towards Suzdal.
Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich stood at the head of the troops and moved against the Tatars. On July 7, 1445, in the battle of the Spaso-Evfimiev Monastery, the Russians suffered a crushing defeat, and Vasily II himself was wounded and captured. A state close to panic reigned in Moscow - for the first time since Batu’s invasion, the Grand Duke was captured by the infidels. Dmitry Shemyaka tried to take advantage of the current situation, but did not have time: Vasily II promised the Tatars to pay a huge ransom for himself and was released from captivity. The Grand Duke returned to Moscow, accompanied by 500 Kazan princes. The Tatars received “feeding”, i.e. in management with the right to collect taxes in Russian cities and volosts. To pay off the khan, Vasily II imposed new taxes on the population. Among the princes, boyars and common people, discontent was brewing with the Grand Duke, who had established the dominance of the Tatars. Dmitry Shemyaka did not waste time. Having concluded an alliance with princes Ivan Mozhaisky and Boris Tverskoy, Shemyaka captured Vasily II in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. On the night of February 13-14, 1446, the former Grand Duke was blinded and soon exiled to Uglich. It would seem that Dmitry Shemyaka has firmly established himself on the Moscow throne.
Kazan was unhappy with this turn of events. On April 17, 1446, the Tatars attacked Uglich and moved further to the north of Rus'. The younger sons of Ulu-Muhammad Kasim (Kasim) and Yakub went to help Vasily II. In Yelnya, on the Lithuanian border, they met the detachment of Prince Vasily Yaroslavich Borovsky, who was also coming from Lithuania to the rescue of Vasily II. The Borovsky prince, as well as several prominent boyars of Vasily II, did not want to serve Dmitry Shemyaka and fled abroad. In Lithuania, supporters of the Grand Duke united and marched to Uglich. The meeting between the two detachments began with a shootout, but then everything became clear. The Tatars expressed a desire to fight for Vasily II “for his former goods and for his bread, since there was a lot of good before us.” Meanwhile, Dmitry Shemyaka was forced to release Vasily II from captivity, and soon his supporters united around the blind prince. The army moved towards Moscow, Shemyaka fled, and Vasily II took the throne.
There is no doubt that the Tatars, remembering the “good” they received from the Grand Duke, had in mind the Russian cities and volosts given to them “for feeding.” This practice was not new for the Grand Dukes of Moscow. Noble people from neighboring states and principalities received cities and volosts as inheritance and food from the Grand Duke. The Grand Duke of Moscow Semyon the Proud gave Volok Lamsky as an inheritance to his father-in-law, Prince Fyodor Svyatoslavich of Smolensk. In 1406, the Lithuanian prince Alexander Nelyub went to Rus' and received Pereslavl from Vasily I. In 1408, another Lithuanian prince Svidrigailo Olgerdovich received Vladimir, Pereslavl, Yuryev and other cities. However, S. M. Solovyov noted that the massive grants of estates and administrative positions to the Tatars were an unprecedented event, which caused general indignation. The restoration of Vasily II to the throne led to the return of the Tatars to Rus' (in the message of the Russian hierarchs to Dmitry Shemyaka dated December 29, 1447, it is said that as soon as Shemyaka “handles... everything purely according to the kiss of the cross” with Vasily II, that “Tatars will leave the earth” will send"), but probably the volume of awards was no longer the same. Kasim and Yakub remained in Rus'. In 1446, Kasim and his Tatars stood on the Russian-Lithuanian border, and by 1449 he received the city of Zvenigorod, which previously belonged to Yuri Zvenigorod and his sons, as an inheritance. In 1449, Kasim marched from Zvenigorod to the Pakhra River against the Tatars of Khan Seyid-Akhmed and defeated them. Even earlier, he took part in the campaign against Shemyaka to Kostroma. Yakub and Kasim took part in the campaign against Shemyaka in 1450, and Yakub in 1452 went with Grand Duke Ivan against the allies of Shemyaka Kakshars - residents of the Ustyug volost along the river. Kokshenge. Between 1452 and 1456 Instead of Zvenigorod, Kasim received as his inheritance the city of Gorodets Meshchersky, located on the left bank of the Oka River, 156 kilometers northeast of Ryazan. This was the beginning of the Kasimov Khanate.
The city of Gorodets Meshchersky was founded by Prince Yuri Dolgoruky in 1152. The Meshchersky region, wooded and swampy in the 12th century, was inhabited by the Finno-Ugric tribe Meshchera. By the 15th century the local population was heavily Slavicized, but still retained its linguistic and cultural identity. As mentioned above, Kasim received Gorodets in 1452–56. This date was established by the author of the major work “Research on the Kasimov Kings and Princes,” orientalist Vladimir Vladimirovich Velyaminov-Zernov (1830–1904). The historian of the Kazan Khanate M. G. Khudyakov (1894–1936) believed that the establishment of Kasim in Gorodets and the emergence of the Kasimov Khanate were the terms of the agreement between Vasily II and Ulu-Mukhammed in 1445. In the Kasimov Khanate M. G. Khudyakov saw “the first attempt of the khans Tatars to enter into direct control on Russian soil as appanage princes.” It is difficult to agree with this statement. Firstly, there are testimonies from sources that M. G. Khudyakov missed, indicating that Kasim did not rule in Gorodets until 1452. Secondly, the activities of Yakub, Kasim and his son Danyar, i.e. the first owners of Kasimov, indicate that they carried out military service with the Grand Duke of Moscow, and did not simply rule part of the Russian land.
The most important period in the history of the Kasimov Khanate is the period from 1467 to 1552, when the Moscow princes actively relied on the Kasimovs in the fight against the Kazan Khanate and in attempts to establish their protectorate over Kazan. Did Vasily II foresee that Gorodets would become a support in the confrontation with Kazan? Undoubtedly, the Grand Duke took into account the outlying position of Gorodets and established Kasim there for military-strategic reasons. Whether Vasily II pursued political goals is unclear. We do not know the conditions under which Vasily II “planted” Kasim in Gorodets; It is only clear that the Kasimov Khanate initially existed under the vassalage of Moscow, although the relationship between the Grand Duke and the “princes” was peculiar. In “Tsarevich Town”, i.e. in Kasimov, along with the Horde, Crimea, Kazan and Astrakhan, a “way out” was paid - a tribute distributed among all Russian princes. This was first mentioned in the spiritual (testament) of Ivan III (1504). This circumstance prompted M. G. Khudyakov to argue that the Kasimov Khanate was the result of the forced penetration of the Tatars into Rus'. Two significant objections can be raised here. Firstly, the spiritual of Ivan III speaks of the “exit” not only to Kasimov, but also of the “exit” “to other Tsars and Tsarevichs, which my son Vasily will have in the land.” As will be seen later, under Vasily III, the number of Tatar princes who went to Russian service increases, almost all of them receive Russian cities as appanages, but this, on the contrary, indicates the weakness of the Tatar khanates, and not the strengthening of their power over Russia. Secondly, the payment of the Horde “exit” was stopped by Ivan III in 1476, since then only “wake” payments were paid to the Great Horde and Crimea, the amount of which was much smaller. Meanwhile, this formula was preserved in the spiritual of Ivan III, compiled around 1504. Most likely, the payment of “exit” to the Tatar rulers, even to the vassals of the Moscow sovereign, was a tradition dating back to the time of Moscow’s real dependence on the Horde, which in the 15th–16th centuries. no one was going to break it. Until 1547, there was a certain originality in the combination of the title of the Moscow and Kasimov sovereigns. The first was called the Grand Duke; the second - prince or king. The title of tsar in the minds of the Russian people of the Middle Ages was higher than the grand duke. Byzantine emperors and Horde khans were called “kings” (which extended to their descendants - the Kasimov khans). Russian diplomacy of the 16th century. withstood a stubborn struggle with the Polish for recognition of Ivan IV's royal title. Nevertheless, the great princes (before Ivan IV assumed the royal title in 1547) were calm about the fact that the “Tsar of Gorodets” was under their power, and did not try to rename the Kasimov khans princes. Another significant feature of Kasimov’s position was his subordination to the Ambassadorial Prikaz. Voivodes and other persons who carried out activities in the second half of the 16th - first half of the 17th centuries. (i.e. already in the period preceding the decline of the Khanate) supervision of the Kasimov khans was appointed from the Ambassadorial Prikaz.
Already under Vasily II's successor, Ivan III, Kasim was destined to act as a conductor of Russian policy towards Kazan. In 1467, the Kazan princes called Kasim to the throne instead of Khan Ibrahim (Kasim's cousin). With an impressive Russian army, Qasim moved towards Kazan, but was met by Ibrahim’s army on the Volga and retreated. Shortly after this, Qasim died.
After the death of Kasim, the throne in Gorodets was taken by his son Danyar (a more correct spelling is Danial). It is known that upon ascending the throne, Danyar took a shert (oath) to Ivan III, the conditions of which undoubtedly included: obligations not to maintain relations with the enemies of the Grand Duke and to faithfully perform military service. Tsarevich Danyar, in addition to the “exit” from Moscow, received tribute in the Ryazan land, duties and yasak (tax in kind) from Muslims, Mordovians and Meshchers who lived in the Kasimov region. The capital of the Khanate was first called Kasimov in sources in 1471. Along with this, the name Gorodets or Tsarevich town was often used; the Tatars also called Kasimov Khankirman, which means the Royal City.
In 1471 and 1477 Tsarevich Danyar with the Kasimov Tatars took part in Ivan III’s campaigns against Novgorod. In 1471, in the Battle of Shelon, the Tatars lost 40 people and were granted permission by Ivan III, but at the same time they were forbidden to take prisoners. This is understandable - the Novgorodians were Orthodox. In 1472, during the raid of Khan Akhmat, Prince Danyar stood in Kolomna, from where he returned to his inheritance. In 1486 he died, and the throne passed to Khan Nurdovlat (Nurdaulet).
Nurdovlat was the son of the first Crimean Khan Hadji Giray. In 1466 and 1474–75. he occupied the throne in Bakhchisarai, but was expelled by his brother Mengli-Girey. We do not know whether the Kasim family was extinguished, or whether Ivan III was guided by some political considerations when appointing Nurdovlat to Kasimov. In any case, the fact that until the last decades in the history of the Khanate not a single dynasty remained on the Kasimov throne, and the khans changed at the will of the Russian sovereign, once again shows Kasimov’s vassal position in relation to Moscow. Nurdovlat ruled in Kasimov unnoticed, without showing himself in any way, and after his death in 1491, his son Satylgan became khan. Satylgan ruled until 1508. In 1505 he was sent to Murom in case of repelling the Kazan Khan Muhammad-Emin, and in 1506 he took part in an unsuccessful campaign against Kazan. On these campaigns he was accompanied by his brother Janai, who occupied Kasimov around 1508.
In the last quarter of the XV - first quarter of the XVI centuries. Russia managed to achieve great success in the fight against the Kazan Khanate. In the 80s In Kazan, a party of supporters of an alliance with Russia was created and strengthened, with the help of which Ivan III managed to establish a kind of protectorate over the Khanate. In 1487, Khan Mohammed-Emin, the son of Ibrahim, was elevated to the throne by the force of Russian weapons. Expelled from Kazan by the Siberian prince Mamuk in 1495, Muhammad-Emin fled to Russia. Soon Mamuk was deposed, and a Russian protege, Muhammad-Emin’s brother Abdul-Latif, re-established himself in Kazan. He seemed insufficiently faithful to the Russian government, and in 1502 he was replaced by Muhammad-Emin. But Muhammad-Emin started a war with Russia and in 1506 completely defeated a large Russian army that came to Kazan under the command of Prince Dmitry Zhilka, brother of Vasily III. However, a year later peace was concluded, which lasted until the death of Muhammad Emin in 1518.
One of the results of the active eastern policy of Ivan III and Vasily III was that, along with the Kasimov Khan, other Tatar khans and sultans (kings and princes) appeared in Russia and received appanages. During his stay in Russia, Muhammad-Emin sat on an appanage in Kashira; Abdul Latif in 1493–1497 ruled in Zvenigorod, and in 1508–1517. in Yuryev, and then in Kashira. In 1505, their brother Kudaikul, captured in 1487 and imprisoned for a long time, was baptized with the name Peter, and the following year married the sister of Vasily III. Tsarevich Peter Ibreimovich owned an estate consisting of Klin, Gorodets (on the Volga), and several villages near Moscow. His position in the official hierarchy was unusually high due to his origin and relationship with the Grand Duke. In 1508, Tsarevich Sheikh-Auliyar, the nephew of the last powerful khan of the Great Horde, Akhmat, sat in Surozhik. In 1512, Sheikh-Auliyar received the Kasimov throne.
Thus, in the first quarter of the 16th century. in Russia a new aristocratic layer is being formed within the ruling class - serving Tatar kings and princes; and a new category in the composition of the noble local army - the service Tatars, who made up the “court” and army of the kings and princes. Throughout the 16th century. Tatar kings and princes with their troops were indispensable participants in almost all campaigns and other military operations of the Russian army. But, despite this, the Kasimov Khanate, among other appanages of the Tatar princes, occupied the first in importance and a very special place. During the period of Russia’s active offensive against the Kazan Khanate - 40–50s. XVI century The Kasimov king and the Kasimov Tatars played a significant role in the conquest of Kazan. In the history of the Kasimov Khanate, this period is associated with the name of Khan Shah-Ali, whom the Russians called Shigaley.
Shah Ali (1505–1567) was the son of Prince Sheikh-Auliyar and the grandnephew of Khan Akhmat. In 1516, after the death of his father, he received Kasimov as an inheritance. In 1518, after the death of Muhammad-Emin, the Kazan people “sent a blow to the sovereign Grand Duke Vasily Ivanovich, so that he would grant them a sovereign.” Vasily III sent Shah-Ali to Kazan, who had nothing to do with the extinct dynasty of Ulu-Muhammad.
Sources unanimously testify that the young Kazan Khan (he was 13 years old) had a repulsive appearance. According to the Russian chronicler, he had “a terrible and vile face and body, with long ears hanging on his shoulders, a woman’s face, a thick and arrogant belly, short legs, long feet, a bestial seat... This is what they, the Tatars, purposely elected a king to their reproach and ridicule." A similar description is given by the Austrian ambassador S. Herberstein: “he had a huge belly, a sparse beard and an effeminate face (two long black strands hung from his ears).” Shah Ali did not last long in Kazan. In 1521 he was expelled and fled to Russia, but retained the title of Tsar. His brother Jan-Ali (Yanaley) then ruled in Kasimov, and Shah-Ali, apparently, had no inheritance at all for some time. In 1523 and 1524 Shah Ali took part in the campaigns against Kazan. In 1532, the people of Kazan, facing the threat of the Moscow army, asked to give them Jan-Ali as khan, which was fulfilled. But Shah-Ali did not receive Kasimov this time either, but received Kashira and Serpukhov as his inheritance. In 1533, there was a sharp change in the fate of Shah Ali - he was accused of negotiating with Kazan, arrested and exiled to Beloozero, where he stayed until 1535.
In 1535, Jan-Ali was killed in Kazan, and the throne was taken by the enemy of Moscow, Safa-Girey from the dynasty of the Crimean khans. To counteract Safa-Girey, Shah-Ali was released from captivity and received an audience with young Ivan IV and his mother Elena Glinskaya. After Shah-Ali, his wife Fatima Sultan was introduced and, meeting her, five-year-old Ivan IV “said to the queen “Tabug Salam” (i.e. in Tatar: hello!) and karashal with her (greeted her).” When Shah Ali received Kasimov is unknown, at least until 1540. In 1537/38, 1540 and 1541. he took part in campaigns to Vladimir and Murom to repel a possible attack by the Kazan Khan. In 1546, after the death of Safa-Girey, Shah-Ali again reigned in Kazan, but three months later he fled straight to Kasimov.
Since 1546, Shah-Ali participated in campaigns against Kazan every year. In 1551, he supervised the construction of Sviyazhsk, thanks to which the blockade of Kazan was achieved. The Kazan people were forced to hand over their young khan Utyamysh-Girey, the son of Safa-Girey, and ask Shah-Ali to become khan. Together with Shah Ali, 300 Kasimov princes, Murzas and Tatars and 200 Russian archers arrived in Kazan. Finding himself on the throne for the third time, Shah Ali found himself in a difficult situation. The Russian government demanded from the khan that he “strengthen Kazan firmly for the sovereign, and for himself, like Kasimov’s town, so that under him and after him it would not move, and the blood on both sides would cease forever...” To preserve the Kazan Khanate under the Russians protectorate, the government of Ivan IV was guided by a real example of such a formation - the Kasimov Khanate. On the other hand, in order to somehow achieve the loyalty of the Kazan people, Shah-Ali had to defend their interests. Finding himself between a rock and a hard place, Shah Ali could do nothing to improve his situation. In March 1552, at the request of the Russian government, Shah Ali abdicated the throne and left Kazan.
The last days of the Kazan Khanate have arrived. After Shah Ali's departure, another coup took place in Kazan. The Kazan people closed the gates to the Russian governor, who was heading to the fortress to liquidate the Khanate and establish voivodeship, and invited the Astrakhan prince Yadigar-Muhammad (Ediger) to the throne. Shah-Ali and the Kasimov Tatars took part in Ivan IV’s campaign against Kazan in 1552, which ended with the fall of the Khanate.
Ivan IV and the Russian commanders trusted Shah-Ali and the Kasimovites, but during the decisive assault on Kazan, which ended in a terrible massacre, the tsar and his Tatars were assigned to the army located around the city in order to prevent the besieged from escaping, and did not participate in the assault itself . But during the ceremonial entry of Ivan IV into Kazan, Shah-Ali rode behind the Russian Tsar, and before that he congratulated him on his victory. With the fall of Kazan, there was no longer a need for the existence of khans who were “at hand” of the Grand Duke of Moscow, but the Kasimov Khanate continued to exist, and more than half a century remained before its decline.
Ivan the Terrible very soon needed the Kasimov Tatars on a new front - in the Livonian War (1558–1583). Shah Ali was an active participant in the Livonian War. In 1557–58 he led a regiment on a campaign against Livonia and caused great devastation in that country. In 1561 he was sent to Smolensk, and in 1564 he was stationed in Vyazma. The Kasimov Tatars and the “Tsar’s Shigaleev Court” participated without their sovereign in pacifying the revolts in the Kazan land in 1553, 1554; in campaigns against the Swedes in 1555, 1556; in 1556 they were stationed in Serpukhov. European writers write with horror about the cruelty and inhumanity of Shah Ali and the Tatars. As far as captured Europeans are concerned, these reports are not far from the truth. By a special decree, Ivan IV prohibited the sale of prisoners to Germany and Poland, and they were sent, according to foreign writers, to Tartary, Persia, Turkey and India. The slave trade has long been well established in the Kazan Khanate. One must assume that the wave of Livonian captives did not escape Kasimov either.
In the second half of the 16th century. There were no significant changes in the position of the Kasimov Khanate. Shah-Ali's successor was the great-grandson of Khan Akhmat, Tsarevich Sain-Bulat. His name was first mentioned in 1570 during diplomatic negotiations between Russian and Turkish representatives. Then the Russian ambassador said: “My sovereign is not at all an enemy of the Muslim faith. His servant, Tsar Sain-Bulat rules in Kasimov, Tsarevich Kaibula in Yuryev, Ibak in Surozhik, the Nogai princes in Romanov: they all freely and solemnly glorify Mohammed in mosques...” These words contain an indication of another aspect of the question of the fate of the Kasimov Khanate after the fall of Kazan - international. The Kasimov Khanate played an important role in Russian-Crimean, Russian-Nogai, Russian-Turkish and even Russian-Kazakh relations in the second half of the 16th century. The Russian government needed a vassal Muslim state both as an object of grant to possible claimants expelled from their thrones, and as evidence of a loyal attitude to Islam and the absence of infringement on the rights of Russian Muslim subjects. In 1573, Sain-Bulat was baptized with the name Simeon Bekbulatovich, and immediately lost the Kasimov throne. True, a higher calling awaited Simeon Bekbulatovich - in 1575/76, by the will of Grozny, he occupied the Moscow throne, and then received Tver as an inheritance. During the Time of Troubles, he became a dynastic rival first of Godunov, then of False Dmitry I and Vasily Shuisky, was blinded by poison, and then forcibly tonsured a monk and sent to the Solovetsky Monastery. Simeon Bekbulatovich died as a very old man in 1616.
We know very little about the internal state and structure of the Kasimov Khanate. Kasimov Khan was appointed from representatives of Muslim (mainly Tatar) dynasties who left, fled or were captured in Russia and pledged to serve the Moscow sovereign. All Kasimov khans, natives of Kazan, Crimea, Astrakhan, Kazakhstan and Siberia, were descendants of Genghis Khan, representatives of the senior line of the Jochids, i.e. khans of the Golden Horde. When taking office, the khan brought wool. The oath of Abdul-Latif, given by him in 1508 upon receiving Yuryev’s inheritance, has reached us. The main duties of the khan included: faithfully serving the Grand Duke; not to enter into relations with the enemies of the Grand Duke; do not accept Tatars serving the Grand Duke; in turn, Vasily III undertook not to accept Tatars serving Abdul Latif, with the exception of representatives of the four noble families - Shirin, Baryn, Argyn and Kipchak; Abdul-Latif's Tatars, passing through Russian lands, do not rob or offend Christians; The khan is obliged to extradite criminals, and execute those caught in the act. Apparently, the obligations of the Kasimov owners were very close to these.
In Kasimov, the ceremony of elevation to the rank of khan was held solemnly. In the mosque, the khan was lifted on a golden felt. This ritual, dating back to the Mongol custom, was preserved in Kazan, Crimea, the Nogai Horde and the Central Asian khanates. After this, a holiday was celebrated for three days, and the khan distributed awards and favors. It was already said above that Kasimov Khan received a “exit” from the Grand Duke of Moscow and tribute from the Ryazan land. The last time the “exit” was mentioned was in the agreement between Prince Vladimir Staritsky and Ivan the Terrible in 1553, but whether it was actually paid or is just a legal formula is unknown. In addition, the khan collected tribute, duties and yasak from the Tatars, Meshchers and Mordovians who lived in the territory under his control. The Mishars, Bessermyans and Nogais lived in the Kasimov Khanate. Russian population until the first quarter of the 17th century. in judicial terms, it was subordinate to the khans (with the exception of serious criminal offenses - “robbery and red-handed theft”); The khan also received court fees. The Yamskaya settlement, which arose in Kasimov in the middle of the 16th century, was exempted from all taxes and state duties by decree of Ivan IV. The territory of the Khanate is difficult to determine. It is known that she changed. In 1552, Shah-Ali received, in addition to the existing lands, villages on Meshchera. The Russian chronicler, reporting on the grant of the Kasimov throne to Khan Uraz-Muhammad in 1600, says that Boris Godunov gave the khan “Kasimov with all the volosts and income.”
Among the Kasimov Tatars, military service people predominated. They owned estates in Kasimovsky, Elatomsky, Kadomsky districts and Meshchera. Muslim landowners controlled villages with an Orthodox population. According to their social composition, the Kasimovites were divided into princes, murzas and simple Tatars, who in sources are often called Cossacks (Cossack - Turkic: free man, vagabond). Kasimov Khan was surrounded by representatives of the most noble Tatar families. In Kazan, Crimea and Kasimov they were called Karachis. These clans, according to the agreement between Abdul-Letif and Vasily III, had the right to transfer from the khan to the service of the Grand Duke. Almost all of them are known in the Kasimov Khanate: Argyn, Kipchak, Jalair, Mangyt, Shirin. Separate branches of these genera entered the 15th–17th centuries. into the Russian aristocracy. So, the descendants of the Shirins were the princes Meshchersky and Shirinsky-Shikhmatov, and the descendants of the Mangyts were the princes Urusov and Yusupov. Among the courtiers, ranks are mentioned that meet at the courts of the Kazan and Crimean khans - atalyks (educators of the khan’s sons) and imildashis (foster brothers, peers and close associates of the khan’s house).
It is more difficult to determine the position of the seids. Seyids are the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad from his daughter Fatima and the Prophet Ali. In the Muslim world they enjoy special respect. In addition, in Kazan and Crimea the head of the local clergy was called seid. In Kasimov, the head of the clergy was also called seid. At the end of the XVI–XVII centuries. this position was retained in the Shakulov family. At the same time, the Seids are repeatedly mentioned in documents as commanders of individual detachments of the Kasimov Tatars. In 1573, Prince Ivan Seitov Gorodetsky was included in the special “court” of Ivan the Terrible and received a high salary of 200 rubles. In 1587, “Koshkei Seit” led the Kasimovites on one of the campaigns. During the Time of Troubles, the governor, Prince Tretyak Seitov, was active. These seids, apparently, are descendants of Caliph Ali, who occupied a high position in Kasimov.
In addition to the seids who headed the Kasimov clergy, mullahs, danishmends (mentors in Muslim schools - madrassas) and hafiz (sages who know the Koran by heart) are known in Kasimov. Nothing is known about Tatar merchants and artisans as a significant social stratum in Kasimov.
Concluding the review of the internal state of the Khanate, we should also note the important importance of Kasimov as a point on the route of embassies and trade caravans going from the lower Volga to Moscow and back. Astrakhan and Nogai ambassadors stayed in Kasimov, and the Kasimov owner announced their arrival in Moscow. Tatar and Nogai merchants drove herds of thousands of horses through Kasimov.
Sain-Bulat did not rule in Kasimov for long. His accession to the throne was marked by one remarkable event. Having “planted” Sain-Bulat in Kasimov, Ivan the Terrible gave him the title of tsar, while previously the Kasimov owners, who did not occupy thrones in other states, were called only princes. Of all the Kasimov khans before Sain-Bulat, only Nurdovlat, who ruled in the Crimea, and Shah-Ali, who sat in Kazan, were called kings in Russian documents.
In 1600, Boris Godunov granted Kasimov to Prince Uraz-Muhammad. Uraz-Muhammad came to Russia in the late 80s. XVI century He was a descendant of the founder of the Kazakh Khanate, Janibek, and the nephew of one of the most prominent Kazakh khans of the 16th century. Tawakkula. Before receiving Kasimov, Uraz-Mukhammed, along with other serving princes (Mametkul of Siberia, Mikhail Kaibulich, etc.), participated in campaigns of the Russian army and court ceremonies.
At the beginning of the 17th century. A civil war broke out in Russia, which was known by contemporaries as the Time of Troubles. The turbulent events of the civil war also captured Kasimov.
In 1606–1607 Kasimov, like other cities in the South of Russia, sided with I.I. Bolotnikov, who marched under the banner of the miraculously escaped “Tsar Dmitry” against Tsar Vasily Shuisky. In 1608, Uraz-Muhammad recognized False Dmitry II as the true sovereign and moved to his camp in Tushino. Letters from Tsar Kasimov to one of the main figures of the Tushino movement, Hetman Ya.-P., have been preserved. Sapega. In one of them, Uraz-Mukhammed asked the hetman for “protective” letters from the Tushin residents for his estates in Uglitsky, Vladimir and Yaroslavl districts. After the flight of False Dmitry II from Tushin to Kaluga, Uraz-Muhammad spent a short time in the camp of King Sigismund III near Smolensk. On behalf of the king, he unsuccessfully tried to persuade the Smolensk garrison to surrender. Soon the khan left Sigismund III and moved to Kaluga, where he was greeted with honor.
The Kasimov Tatars actively participated in the movement that spread in 1608–1609. most of the Volga region. The Tatars, Mordovians, Mari and other peoples of the Volga region besieged Nizhny Novgorod and attacked other cities. Boyar F.I. Sheremetev, moving to the rescue of Moscow, defeated the rebel detachments in the Volga region and besieged Kasimov. The city held firm, the boyar took Kasimov by storm, “and beat many of the thieves’ people, and took others alive; and those who were tortured in prison for Tsar Vasily, he freed them all.”
At this time, Uraz-Muhammad was at the court of False Dmitry II in Kaluga. Russian and foreign sources similarly report the death of Uraz-Muhammad. The Khan's son, who was also in Kaluga, reported to False Dmitry II that his father wanted to cheat on him. The impostor decided to execute the khan, lured him into a hunt, killed him along with two of his associates, and threw his body into the river. According to the epitaph, this happened on November 22, 1610. False Dmitry II himself briefly survived Uraz-Muhammad. The Nogai prince Peter Urusov decided to take revenge on the impostor for the death of Tsar Kasimov and on December 11 killed False Dmitry II while hunting.
In 1614, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich placed Khan Araslan Aleyevich (Alp-Arslan) on the Kasimov throne. The new khan was the son of the Siberian prince Ali and the grandson of Kuchum. In 1598, during the defeat of Khan Kuchum by governor Voeikov, Araslan was captured and brought to Moscow. In 1612, he was a governor in the Second Militia, and until 1613 he was at the head of a detachment of Tatars in Vologda. During the reign of Araslan, the Moscow government began an offensive against the khan's power. A charter issued in 1621 to Araslan on the collection of duties shows that disputes and claims between the princes, Murzas and Tatars of the “Tsar’s Court” were already dealt with by the sovereign’s clerks.
At the end of the 10s. XVII century The Kasimov Tatars were active in campaigns and wars against the Poles, Lithuanians, Cossacks and “Russian thieves” who were robbing various regions of the state. In the 20s The Kasimovites carried out “Ukrainian” service every year, that is, they were in the troops stationed on the borders in case of the possible arrival of the Crimean Tatars. In 1633–34 Kasimov Tatars took part in the unsuccessful Smolensk campaign of boyar M.B. Shein.
In 1627, after the death of Araslan, his son Tsarevich Seid-Burkhan ascended the throne. At this time he was still a child, and the Russian government took advantage of this to further weaken the khan's power. Kasimov's inventory, compiled in the same 1627, shows that in the city itself almost all income belonged to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. The sovereign received income from taverns, customs huts and fishing grounds. During Seyid-Burkhan’s early childhood, strict supervision was established to ensure that he did not have any communication with foreign ambassadors and merchants passing through Kasimov. The German traveler A. Olearius, who visited Russia in 1634 as part of the Schleswig-Holstein embassy, writes that the ambassadors sent Seid-Burkhan as a gift a pound of tobacco and a bottle of French vodka, which the prince liked very much, and he thanked him, but apologized for not may receive them in his palace, fearing the displeasure of the governor. Olearius reports that the Russians persuaded the prince to accept baptism, promising him the hand of the royal daughter, to which those close to him replied that Seid-Burkhan was still too young to talk about it. The decline in the importance of the Kasimov Khanate was reflected in the title of its owner - Seyid-Burkhan, unlike his father, was called not a king, but a prince.
In 1653, Seid-Burkhan converted to Orthodoxy with the name Vasily Araslanovich. It is difficult to say how voluntary this step was. The vizier of the Crimean Khan, in a letter to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, reproached him for the fact that the Russians “forcibly baptized the Sultan of Khankirman ...”
We saw that Kasimov's Khan Sain-Bulat, after accepting Orthodoxy in 1573, was deprived of the throne. Tsarevich Vasily Araslanovich remained to rule in Kasimov. This indicates that the need for a vassal Muslim state for Russia has disappeared. Soon after the baptism of the prince, an active offensive against Kasimov’s Muslims began. Landowners who converted from Islam to Orthodoxy received significant benefits at the expense of others who retained their former faith. Ryazan Archbishop Misail showed particular activity in the baptism of Tatars, Mordovians and Meshchers, who was ultimately killed by Mordovians and Tatars in Shatsky district when he tried to baptize a Mordovian village. Since the end of the 20s. In Kasimov, extensive church construction began, in particular, a convent appeared - the Kazan nunnery.
The insignificant role of the last Kasimov prince was also noted by his contemporaries. Clerk G.K. Kotoshikhin, who fled to Sweden and wrote a description of the Russian state there, wrote: “Yes, in the royal rank, the Siberian princes, Kasimov, were baptized into the Orthodox faith. They are superior in honor to the boyars: but they do not sit in the Duma and do not sit... And their service is like this: as on holidays the king goes to the church, and they lead him arm in arm, and every day they come before the king to worship.” These words quite correctly describe the position of the last Kasimov khans. Both Araslan and Vasily mostly participated in palace ceremonies, rather than in campaigns. Tsarevich Vasily Araslanovich was on campaigns only twice: in the Riga campaign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1656 and in the Chigirin campaign of the Russian army in 1678. Soon after this, Tsarevich Vasily Araslanovich died.
The Kasimov Khanate existed for several more years under the control of Fatima Sultan, the elderly mother of Tsarevich Vasily, the widow of King Araslan. The Russian government, not wanting to offend the queen, gave her the opportunity to live out her days on the Kasimov throne, although her control was already nominal. After the death of Fatim Sultan, which occurred around 1681, the Khanate was abolished, and Kasimov was “assigned” to the sovereign, that is, he came under his direct control. Even earlier, in the middle of the 17th century, Kasimov was transferred from the jurisdiction of the Ambassadorial Prikaz to the Prikaz of the Kazan Palace, which governed the Volga region and adjacent territories, Astrakhan and Siberia.
Thus ended the history of the Kasimov Khanate, which lasted more than two centuries. The family of the Kasimovsky princes, descendants of Vasily Araslanovich, died out in the first half of the 18th century. Modern Kasimov is the regional center of the Ryazan region. Nowadays, architectural monuments remind us of the past - a minaret built in the 15th century. Khan Kasim; mausoleum of Shah Ali; mausoleum of Avgan-Muhammad Sultan (1649), expelled from the Khiva Khanate and found shelter in Russia; mosque built in the 19th century. on the site of the old one, dismantled under Peter I.
The Kasimov Tatars also retained their identity. More than a thousand people live in Kasimov and Kasimovsky district. In the XVIII–XIX centuries. The Kasimov Tatars had to experience severe pressure from the state, which sought to liquidate their land ownership and baptize them into Orthodoxy. Many noble families were baptized and retained their estates. The bulk of the serving Tatars were transferred to the category of single-dvorets, and then assigned to the hardest work in the Admiralty. At this time, many Kasimov Tatars left their homeland and moved to the Urals and Siberia. In 1719, the Kasimov Tatars numbered 5,797 people, and at the beginning of the 20th century. – 4413 people. Nevertheless, the Kasimov Tatars still live on the land of their ancestors, realizing their difference not only from Russians, but also from other Tatars.
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