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Siege of Kazan (1487)

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The siege of Kazan[a] took place between 18 May and 9 July 1487, during a succession dispute for the Khanate of Kazan's throne. Troops from the Principality of Moscow intended to capture its capital Kazan in order to restore the reign of Möxämmädämin, an ally of Moscow. After a quick march and several victorious skirmishes, they successfully besieged the city and forced its garrison to surrender. The campaign is considered a turning point in the history of the Russo-Kazan Wars, because it led the khanate to dependence on Russia, actual control lasted until 1496, after which the wars resumed and the city was finally conquered in 1552.

Siege of Kazan (1487)
Part of the Russo-Kazan Wars
and the Kazan succession crises

The capture of Kazan on 9 July 1487. Depiction from the Illustrated Chronicle (1567).
Date18 May – 9 July 1487
Location
Kazan, Khanate of Kazan
(present-day Russia)
55°47′47″N 49°06′32″E / 55.79639°N 49.10889°E / 55.79639; 49.10889
Result Muscovite victory
Territorial
changes		 The Khanate of Kazan became a vassal of Muscovy
Belligerents
 Principality of Moscow		 Khanate of Kazan
Commanders and leaders
Daniil Kholmsky
Ivan III of Russia
Möxämmädämin of Kazan		 Ilham Ghali Surrendered

Background

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Leading conflicts

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Prince Ukhtomsky pursues the defeated Tatars, 1469 painting by Andrei Ryabushkin

In the 1430s, the Khanate of Kazan emerged on the mid-Volga, breaking away from the Golden Horde, and roughly comprising the area of former Volga Bulgaria.[1] The Russo-Kazan conflicts began in 1437, when the skirmish at Belyov took place, the outcome of which is being discussed among historians.[b] Kazan Khan Ulugh Muhammad could not let the Muscovite attack on him stand, so two years later he launched an operation against Moscow. During the 10-days siege, he plundered the surroundings and the city of Kolomna, but did not take Moscow itself and withdrew.[4] After a 6-year truce, fighting resumed again when the new ruler of Kazan Mäxmüd took Nizhny Novgorod. Vasily II gathered an army and defeated the Tatars near Murom, but subsequently suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Suzdal (1445), and was captured.[5]

Crises in the Khanate

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Möxämmädämin of Kazan, The deposed ruler of Kazan
 
Ivan III of Russia, the Grand Duke of Moscow who tried to support Möxämmädämin on the throne and staged an intervention in Kazan

A succession crisis erupted in Kazan due to the death of khan Mäxmüd (Mahmutek) in 1466 or 1467, as both his brother Qasim and his son Ibrahim wished to succeed him.[6] Mäxmüd's widow travelled to Muscovy, where she married her deceased husband's brother Qasim in accordance with Muslim tradition.[6] Ivan III staged a campaign near Kazan, but the city was not stormed; the defenders only surrendered after the city's water supply was cut off. Around the same time, the Russians won a major victory in the battle of Zvenichiv Bor [ru]. The 1467–1469 war ended in Muscovy's favour.[7][8] Nevertheless, Ivan didn't succeed in placing his candidate Qasim on the Kazan throne.[6] The main reason for new war was another succession crisis in Kazan. For several years, Khan Ilham and Möxämmädämin succeeded each other, but the former soon won the victory. His policy was directed against Russia and was based on an alliance with Great Horde. Concerned by these circumstances, Moscow urgently mobilized forces and started a war.[9]

Siege

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Preparation

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For the war, the Russians gathered significant forces,[10] they were distributed by titular regiment [ru] as follows:[11]

Russian army Army Commander Advanced regiment Right-hand regiment Left-hand regiment Cavalry
Generals Daniil Kholmsky Semyon Ryapolovsky [ru] Alexander Obelensky Semyon Yaroslavsky Fyodor Khripun

Formally, Ivan Vasilyevich was the commander, but he did not take part directly.[12]

Military operations

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The Muscovite army moved out on 11 April[13] (or 12 April, according to other sources)[14] from Nizhny Novgorod. The ship's corps was moving along with the ground at an average daily speed of 30 kilometers.[13] In parallel, the Tatars decided to immediately stop the Russian offensive, preventing a siege. On the river Sviyaga a general battle took place, the details of which are unknown, but the Russians remained victorious.[15] On 18 May, Muscovite approached the outskirts of the city.[16] The Ali-Gaza corps of Kazan was initially successful in obstructing the Muscovite siege preparations; its raids inflicted heavy losses on the Russians, but nevertheless, the corps was defeated.[17]

After that, a slow and systematic siege began, sorties from the city were fought off and demoralisation began in the city among the garrison and residents. On 9 July, Kazan surrendered.[17][18][16][19][10] The khan Ilham, his children and wife were captured, and the khanate became dependenton Russia.[20] The whole capital rejoiced at the arrival of such a noble prisoner, subsequently the Tatars were kept prisoners in the Moscow Kremlin.[21] This time, Ivan III achieved a complete victory over his enemy on the first attempt, creating a single state and skillfully managing its resources, he snatched the initiative from Kazan's hands, as well as the success was affected by the fact that two Russian armies successfully interacted with each other and fought off active Tatar raids.[22]

Outcome

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With the restoration of Möxämmädämin to the throne, the vassalage of Khanate of Kazan to Muscovy was resumed, lasting until 1496. In Tatar historiography, this time came to be known as the quiet decade.[20] Ivan III widely celebrated the victory: parades and bells were played in Moscow to mark the occasion. Ivan considered the capture of khan Ilham Ghali of Kazan retributione for the capture of his father 42 years ago.[10] At the end of the war, Ivan also assumed the title of Lord of Volga Bulgaria.[23]

Notes

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  1. ^ Russian: Осада Казани, romanized: Osada Kazani
  2. ^ Gumilev (1992) regarded it as a Russian victory,[2] while Zimin (1991) concluded it was a Tatar victory.[3]

Reference

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  1. ^ Martin 2007, p. 225.
  2. ^ Gumilev 2023, p. 304.
  3. ^ Zimin 1991, p. 82.
  4. ^ Pchelov 2003, p. 257.
  5. ^ Martin 2006, p. 164.
  6. ^ a b c Martin 2007, p. 352.
  7. ^ Gumilev 2023, p. 310.
  8. ^ Alexeev 2009, p. 96.
  9. ^ Khudyakov 2012, pp. 50–51.
  10. ^ a b c Karamzin 2023, p. 500.
  11. ^ Alexeev 2009, pp. 286.
  12. ^ Russian Military Historical Society 2014, p. 4.
  13. ^ a b Alexeev 2009, p. 290.
  14. ^ Borisov 2006, p. 409.
  15. ^ Wolkov 2016, p. 37.
  16. ^ a b Alexeev 2009, p. 291.
  17. ^ a b Khudyakov 2012, p. 51.
  18. ^ Wolkov 2016, p. 38.
  19. ^ Borisov 2006, p. 410.
  20. ^ a b Khudyakov 2012, p. 52.
  21. ^ Borisov 2006, p. 411.
  22. ^ Alexeev 2009, pp. 292–293.
  23. ^ Alisheiv 1995, p. 42.

Bibliography

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  • Alexeev, Yuri (2009). Походы русских войск при Иване III [Campaigns of Russian troops under Ivan III] (in Russian). St. Petersburg University Press. ISBN 978-5-288-04840-1.
  • Alisheiv, Salaam (1995). Казань и Москва: межгосударственные отношения в XV—XVI вв. [Kazan and Moscow: interstate relations in the XV—XVI centuries] (in Russian). Kazan: Tatar book edition. ISBN 5-298-00564-0.
  • Borisov, Nikolai (2006). Иван III [Ivan III] (in Russian). Серия: Жизнь замечательных людей. Moscow: Молодая гвардия. ISBN 5-235-02950-X.
  • Gumilev, Lev (2023) [1992]. От Руси к России [From Rus' to Russia]. Эксклюзивная классика (revised ed.). Moscow: AST. ISBN 978-5-17-153845-3.
  • Karamzin, Nikolay (2023). История государства Российского [History of the Russian State] (in Russian). Moscow: Russian imperial library press. ISBN 978-5-699-25867-3.
  • Khudyakov, Michail (2012) [1991]. Очерк истории Казанского ханства [An essay on the history of the Kazan Khanate] (in Russian). Yekaterinburg: Инсан. ISBN 978-5-85840-253-4.
  • Martin, Janet (2006). "The emergence of Moscow (1359–1462)". In Perrie, Maureen (ed.). The Cambridge History of Russia. Volume 1. From Early Rus' to 1689. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-139-05410-2. OCLC 828740214.
  • Martin, Janet (2007). Medieval Russia: 980–1584. Second Edition. E-book. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-36800-4.
  • Pchelov, Evgeniy (2003). Монархи России [The Monarchs of Russia] (in Russian). Moscow: Олма-Пресс.
  • Raffensperger, Christian; Ostrowski, Donald (2023). The Ruling Families of Rus. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-78914-715-5.
  • Russian Military Historical Society (2014). "Ivan III". Цари-Полководцы [Tsars-generals] (in Russian). Komsomolskaya Pravda. ISBN 978-5-87107-869-3.
  • Wolkov, Vladimir (2016). Под стягом Москвы [Under Moscow banner] (in Russian). Прометей.
  • Zimin, Aleksandr (1991). Витязь на распутье. Феодальная война в России XV в. [The Knight at the Crossroads. The feudal war in Russia of the 15th century]. Moscow: Мысль. ISBN 5-244-00518-9.
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