The Siege of Kazan 1552
The conquest of Kazan and Astrakhan by Muscovy can be seen as the birth of a Russian Empire. It had profound consequences for the steppe region and beyond, allowing Russian expansion eastwards, eventually as far as the Pacific.
Monthly Archives: May 2018
Siege of Kazan 1552, Part 2
Early reign of Ivan the Terrible
Under his rule, Moscow resumes its bid for control of neighbouring Kazan, which is already weakened by decades of instability
Siege of Kazan 1552, Part 1
Muscovy and her Asiatic neighbours 1400s-early 1500s
The story of the complex relationship between the Russians and their southern and eastern neighbours in 1400s-early 1500’s. Those neighbours were the successor states of the once mighty Mongol-Tatar empire known as the Golden Horde; the khanates of Kazan, Crimea, Siberia, the Great Horde and Nogay Horde. These relationships were at least as important to Muscovy as those with her western neighbours. Pictured: QolSharif Mosque in the city of Kazan, Russia