Moscow-Kazan Wars

The Russo-Kazan Wars was a series of wars fought between the Khanate of Kazan and Muscovite Russia from 1438, until Kazan was finally captured by Ivan the Terrible and absorbed into Russia in 1552.

Before it separated from the Golden Horde the Kazan region was part of Volga Bulgaria (c630-c1240) and then the Bulgar Ulus of the Golden Horde (c1240-1438). They adopted Islam in 921, 67 years before Russia became Christian. The boundary between Muscovy and Kazan was near Nizhny Novgorod, about half way between the two cities. The land east of Nizhny Novgorod was fairly difficult. When the Tatars attacked they would first hit Nizhny Novgorod and then move on Murom, Ryazan and other places, only twice approaching Moscow. When the Russians attacked they would usually send two armies, one down the Volga and one overland. As Muscovy grew stronger fighting shifted eastward. Before 1552 the Russians made no attempt to conquer Kazan and contented themselves with maintaining a pro-Russian khan. A pro-Russian khan meant peace and an anti-Russian khan meant independence and war. Kazan never established a stable dynasty. Pro-Russian khans often came from the Qasim Khanate while anti-Russian khans were brought in from Crimea and other khanates. There were usually pro- and anti-Russian factions, but they seem to have been temporary and unstable.

In 1438, a year after the khanate's foundation, the very first khan of Kazan, Olug Moxammat, advanced on Moscow with a large army. Vasily II of Moscow fled from his capital across the Volga River, but the Tatars refused to pursue the campaign and turned back to Kazan after devastating Kolomna and the locality.

The campaign of 1445 was disastrous for Muscovy and had major repercussions in Russian politics. Hostilities broke out when Khan Maxmut took the strategic fortress of Nizhny Novgorod and invaded Muscovy. Vasily II mustered an army and defeated the Tatars near Murom and Gorokhovets. Thinking the war over, he disbanded his forces and returned to Moscow in triumph, only to learn that the Tatars had besieged Nizhny Novgorod again.

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