Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,994
Ivan IV takes Kazan…!
The slowly growing Russian Empire has a powerful, dangerous neighbor:
The Khanate of Kazan on its south-east border.
The Kazan Empire emerged from the collapsed "Golden Horde" in 1437.
For centuries, the Kazan Tatars raided Russian settlements to capture slaves, which they sold to the Ottoman Empire.
Two Russian Tsars, Ivan III. ...
…and Wassilij II.
... waged protracted and costly wars against the Khanate of Kazan, none of which brought any relief. The cavalry troops of Kazan had always been strategically and tactically superior to the clumsy foot soldiers of the Muscovites.
The young Tsar Ivan IV, not yet "the Terrible", (forensic facial reconstruction according to Prof. Gerasimov)...
... finally got tired of the eternal raids of the Tatars, decides to get down to business and directly attack the capital of the khanate, Kazan on the Volga!
On June 16, 1552, Ivan led a large Russian force (over 150,000 men) from Moscow to Kazan via Kolomna.
This picture from an old chronicle shows Ivan with his troops crossing the Volga...:
The siege of Kazan begins on August 30...:
Ivan gets completely unexpected help from the Don Cossacks under their ataman Susarov Fedorov....:
The Cossacks and the Muscovites are actually deadly enemies because they consider the Tsar (rightly so, as will be shown later!) to be a threat to their freedom.
But even on the Don one suffers from the constant raids of the Tatars - and the Cossacks only act according to the motto "The enemy of my enemy is my friend!".
The Russians have thoroughly prepared for the siege, using battering rams, mobile towers, mines and 150 cannons.
The city's water supply is being cut off and the walls are being shot down. The 33,000 warriors of Kazan commanded by their Khan Yadigar Mohammed...
...hold up at first.
Finally, on October 2, 1552, the Russians began their final assault!
The city is literally overrun...:
Khan Yadiger Mohammed and his family are taken prisoners...:
The Kazaners have to capitulate and recognize the young Tsar Ivan IV as the new overlord...:
But Ivan IV wouldn't be Ivan IV if things had ended now:
After the surrender almost the entire population of Kazan is killed by the Russians!
The fall of Kazan is central to the subsequent annexation of the entire middle Volga region and opens the way to Siberia for the Russians. The Bashkirs will recognize Ivan IV's suzerainty two years later.
The captive Khan Yadigar Mohammed will save his life the following year by being baptized and taking the name Simeon.
He is assigned to exile in the Russian city of Zvenigorod, where he will die in 1565...
The tsar celebrated his victory over Kazan by building several cathedrals with oriental elements, including this one at Moscow.
Almost everyone knows it, it is one of the most photographed motifs in the world, but hardly anyone knows the reason for its creation:
Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow next to Red Square...:
The colored spiers are meant to symbolize the turbans of the Kazan leaders.
Kazan becomes part of the Russian Empire and Tsar Ivan can now add the name "Welikij Knjas Kasanskij" ("Grand Duke of Kazan") to his collection of titles...
The slowly growing Russian Empire has a powerful, dangerous neighbor:
The Khanate of Kazan on its south-east border.


The Kazan Empire emerged from the collapsed "Golden Horde" in 1437.
For centuries, the Kazan Tatars raided Russian settlements to capture slaves, which they sold to the Ottoman Empire.
Two Russian Tsars, Ivan III. ...

…and Wassilij II.

... waged protracted and costly wars against the Khanate of Kazan, none of which brought any relief. The cavalry troops of Kazan had always been strategically and tactically superior to the clumsy foot soldiers of the Muscovites.
The young Tsar Ivan IV, not yet "the Terrible", (forensic facial reconstruction according to Prof. Gerasimov)...

... finally got tired of the eternal raids of the Tatars, decides to get down to business and directly attack the capital of the khanate, Kazan on the Volga!
On June 16, 1552, Ivan led a large Russian force (over 150,000 men) from Moscow to Kazan via Kolomna.

This picture from an old chronicle shows Ivan with his troops crossing the Volga...:

The siege of Kazan begins on August 30...:



Ivan gets completely unexpected help from the Don Cossacks under their ataman Susarov Fedorov....:

The Cossacks and the Muscovites are actually deadly enemies because they consider the Tsar (rightly so, as will be shown later!) to be a threat to their freedom.
But even on the Don one suffers from the constant raids of the Tatars - and the Cossacks only act according to the motto "The enemy of my enemy is my friend!".
The Russians have thoroughly prepared for the siege, using battering rams, mobile towers, mines and 150 cannons.

The city's water supply is being cut off and the walls are being shot down. The 33,000 warriors of Kazan commanded by their Khan Yadigar Mohammed...

...hold up at first.
Finally, on October 2, 1552, the Russians began their final assault!

The city is literally overrun...:

Khan Yadiger Mohammed and his family are taken prisoners...:

The Kazaners have to capitulate and recognize the young Tsar Ivan IV as the new overlord...:


But Ivan IV wouldn't be Ivan IV if things had ended now:
After the surrender almost the entire population of Kazan is killed by the Russians!

The fall of Kazan is central to the subsequent annexation of the entire middle Volga region and opens the way to Siberia for the Russians. The Bashkirs will recognize Ivan IV's suzerainty two years later.
The captive Khan Yadigar Mohammed will save his life the following year by being baptized and taking the name Simeon.
He is assigned to exile in the Russian city of Zvenigorod, where he will die in 1565...
The tsar celebrated his victory over Kazan by building several cathedrals with oriental elements, including this one at Moscow.
Almost everyone knows it, it is one of the most photographed motifs in the world, but hardly anyone knows the reason for its creation:
Saint Basil's Cathedral in Moscow next to Red Square...:

The colored spiers are meant to symbolize the turbans of the Kazan leaders.
Kazan becomes part of the Russian Empire and Tsar Ivan can now add the name "Welikij Knjas Kasanskij" ("Grand Duke of Kazan") to his collection of titles...