Kasimovskoe Khanstvo (1445-1552 Gg.). Ocherki Istorii

Bulat Rakhimzianov. Kasimovskoe khanstvo (1445-1552gg.). Ocherki istorii. Kazan': Tatar, kn. izd-vo, 2009. 207 pp. Illustrations. Bibliography. Cloth.This study is timely-a first on its subject, after almost one and a half centuries since Vladimir Vel'iaminov-Zernov's monumental examination of the Kasimov khanate. Bulat Rakhimzianov uses whole categories of Russian sources that were not accessible to his predecessor, in particular materials on economic and social life as well as diplomatic sources little studied before with regard to Kasimov. He builds on general investigations of the Tatars within Russia and discusses studies in Western languages.Despite the subject's lengthy dormant state, the Kasimov khanate is a very rewarding object of scrutiny, for it provides an important case study of the pre-history of the Muscovite multi-ethnic empire. Rakhimzianov offers a new interpretation of these early stages. Earlier investigators highlighted the functionality of the Kasimov khanate, which allowed Moscow to influence the internal politics of khanates in Kazan', Astrakhan', and Sibir' and finally to absorb them, citing the tranquil life and unimpeded religious practice of Tatars within Russia, particularly in Kasimov, to counter claims by Muslim co-religionists. Vel'iaminov-Zernov and his many followers took it for granted that Moscow founded such an asset all by itself, to attract Tatar emigres and shield the settled area around Moscow. However, Rakhimzianov's investigation of Kasimov's origins demonstrates that there could be no voluntary action on the part of Moscow, as Vasilii II the Blind was the prisoner of Ulug-Mukhammed, the father of the first sultan, Kasim. Vasilii was subsequently released, for a huge ransom which raised the stakes in the following internal Muscovite war. In the 1920s, M. G. Khudiakov connected this ransom to the foundation of Kasimov, but his grasp of the sources was superficial, assuming that the khan of Kazan' and Vasilii II signed a peace treaty. This notion lacks any foundation and contradicts Vasilii's oath of allegiance to the former Khan of the Golden or Great Horde, Ulug Mukhammed, who by the time of the battle of Suzdal' and the peace treaty of 1445 had been toppled and exiled, but regrouped in Kazan' in order to regain his former throne. Therefore, there could be no formal written peace treaty since it would have required two independent sides. It is Rakhimzianov's conviction that beyond the well-documented ransom in money, an oral agreement between the khan and his prisoner was the basis for the foundation of Kasimov. This claim is based on circumstantial evidence the strength of which determines its status.Rakhimzianov's findings embed the story of the foundation of Kasimov much more concisely than earlier interpretations did. …