Kazani

The Kazani are the Kazan branch of the Volga Tatars, Sunni Muslim Turks of the middle Volga formed from the settled population of Volga Bulgaria and the Kipchak Tatars of the Golden Horde. In the fourteenth century their lands belonged to the Horde.

After the Horde fragmented, Ulugh Muhammad seized power in Kazan around 1438 and founded the Khanate of Kazan, whose nobles called themselves the people of Kazan. The khanate was torn between pro-Moscow and pro-Crimean factions, and was effectively a Muscovite protectorate from 1487 to 1521.

Ivan the Terrible stormed Kazan in 1552 after a siege of forty days, ending its independence. Resistance continued until 1557, followed by resettlement away from the rivers and forced baptism. The Kazani kept Hanafi Islam, mosques and Kipchak tongue, and the fair of Kazan remained the chief market of the Volga trade.