2023, vol. 11, no. 2. Akhmetgalin F.A.

2023, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 429-442

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2023-11-2.429-442

EDN: https://elibrary.ru/PADQJE

   THE HISTORY OF THE KHAN’S CAPITAL OF KASIMOV
BEFORE THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY (BASED ON MATERIALS
FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH)

F.A. Akhmetgalin
Institute of Archaeology named after A.Kh. Khalikov
of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences
Kazan, Russian Federation
ach_farid@mail.ru

Abstract: Research objectives: The aim of the study is to analyze the history of the city of Kasimov, show its development, and explore the issues of chronology and localization of individual urban areas.
Research materials: Archaeological research data, written and cartographic sources, previously published works on this issue.
Results and scientific novelty: This article deals with the history of the medieval city of Kasimov. This was the capital of the Kasimov Khanate from the middle of the 15th to the end of the 17th centuries. The study is based on the results of archaeological excavations and extensive historical data. It provides a detailed analysis of the development of a medieval city from the pre-Mongolian center on the Volga-Oka trade route to the capital of the Kasimov Khanate. The author highlighted the areas that arose at different times. The Kasimov archaeological complex is historically associated with the pre-Mongol period in the city’s history. At the end of the 13th century, the city was moved to the area of the Old Posad. In historical sources, it was called Gorodets Meshchersky (13th – the first half of the 16th centuries). Kasimov of the Khan’s time (middle of the 15th – middle of the 16th century) was located in the same place. In historical sources, it was known as Tsarevichev Gorodok. Settlement in the area of Tatarskaya Gora and Tatarskaya Sloboda began later than the middle of the 16th century. The Khan’s mosque bilding was also built at the same time. The territory of the modern city center with the Kasimov Kremlin was being developed at the end of the 16th – beginning of the 17th century. The author has traced the continuity of the development of medieval settlements from the Kasimov archaeological complex (the ancient settlement of Zemlyanoy Strug, the settlement of Dorofeevo Pole of the 9th – 13th centuries) to the Gorodets Meshchersky (13th – the first half of the 15th century) and to the capital of the Kasimov Khanate and the modern city. The article establishes the time of formation of the historical core of the medieval city and the stages of development of territories on the basis of archaeological research.

Keywords: history, archeology, Kasimov city, Kasimov Khanate, Kasimov Tatars, Middle Ages, ancient settlement, settlement, burial ground

For citation: Akhmetgalin F.A. The history of the khan’s capital of Kasimov before the seventeenth century (based on materials from archaeological research). Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2023, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 429–442.  DOI: 10.22378/2313-6197.2023-11-2.429-442 (In Russian)

Financial Support: Since 2014, the study has been implemented within the framework of the State Program of the Republic of Tatarstan “Preserving the National Identity of the Tatar People”.

Acknowledgments: The map of the archaeological research of the Kasimov city was created by Ovechkina L.V., junior researcher of the Department of Information Technologies of the Institute of Archeology named after A.Kh. Khalikov of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences.

REFERENCES

  1. Akhmetgalin F.A. Archaeological Studies of the Kasimov Khanate Capital. Archaeology of the Eurasian Steppes. 2022, no. 5, pp. 305–314. https://doi.org/10.24852/2587-6112.2022.5.305.314 (In Russian)
  2. Akhmetgalin F.A., Khaziev A.I., Gribov N.N. Ceramics of the Old Posad of the City of Kasimov (based on research materials of 2009–2018). Archaeology of the Eurasian Steppes. 2022, no. 4, pp. 44–53. https://doi.org/10.24852/2587-6112.2022.4.44.53 (In Russian)
  3. Akhmetgalin F.A., Sitdikov A.G. Historical topography of the khan’s capital town of Kasimov. The Volga River Region Archaeology = Povolzhskaya Arkheologiya. 2020, no. 2 (32), pp. 130–145. https://doi.org/10.24852/pa2020.2.32.130.145 (In Russian)
  4. Belyakov A.V. Kasimov Voivodes of XVI century. The Second Yakhontov Rea­dings. Ryazan, 2003, pp. 101–107. (In Russian)
  5. Belyakov A.V. The town of Kasimov in 15th–17th centuries as a sacral center of the Chinggisids in Russia. The Upper Don Region. Tula, 2004, pp. 153–161. (In Russian)
  6. Belyakov A.V. Kasimov kingdom in the system of Russian territories 16th–17th centuries. Book for Russian Studies. XIII. Muscovy: Peculiarities of its Development. Budapest, 2003, pp. 55–62. (In Russian)
  7. Vel’yaminov-Zernov V.V. A study on the Kasimov tsars and tsareviches. Part 1. St. Petersburg: Publishing house. Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1863. 558 p. (In Russian)
  8. Vel’yaminov-Zernov V.V. A study on the Kasimov tsars and tsareviches. Part 2. St. Petersburg: Publishing house. Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1864. 500 p. (In Russian)
  9. Vel’yaminov-Zernov V.V. Study of the Khasimov kings and princes. Part 3. St. Petersburg: Publishing house. Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1866. 510 p. (In Russian)
  10. Gagin I.S. On the Tatar kings of Kasimov and the monuments from their times. Proceedings of the Ryazan Scientific Archival Commission. 1901, vol. XVI, Iss. 3. / Ed. by S.D. Yakhontov. Ryazan, 1902, pp. 266–279. (In Russian)
  11. Dubov I. Protogorods and the relocation of centers of North-Eastern Russia in the 10th–13th centuries. International relations, trade routes and cities of the Middle Volga region in the 9th–13th centuries. Materials of the International symposium. Kazan, September 8–10, 1998. Kazan: Master Line Publ., 1999, pp. 256–270. (In Russian)
  12. Iskhakov D.M. Chapter 5: Ethnographic groups of the Volga-Ural Tatars: the experience of a system analysis. Ethnographic groups in the sub-ethnos of Kasimov Tatars. Ethno-territorial groups of the Tatars of the Volga and Urals region and the issues of their formation. Historical and Ethnographic Atlas of the Tatar People. Kazan: Printing house Publ., 2002, pp. 110–131. (In Russian)
  13. Mansurov A.A., Bader O.N. Archaeological map of the vicinities of Kasimov. Archaeology of the Ryazan land. Мoscow, 1974, pp. 253–323. (In Russian)
  14. Kuchkin A.V. Treaty charters of Moscow princes of the 14th century. Treaties on foreign policy. Мoscow, 2003. 367 p. (In Russian)
  15. Olearius A. Description of journey to Moskovia and through Moskovia to Persia and back. St. Petersburg, 1906. 638 p. (In Russian)
  16. Pallas P.S. Travel in various provinces of the Russian Empire. St. Petersburg: Imperial Academy of Sciences Publ., 1773. Part I. 786 p. (In Russian)
  17. Census book of Kasimov for 1646 (7154). Proceedings of Ryazan Academic Archival Commission. 1891, vol. VI. 1. / Ed. by S.D. Yakhontov. Ryazan, 1892, pp. 5–10. (In Russian)
  18. Rakhimzyanov B.R. The Kasimov Khanate (1445–1552). Essays on history. Kazan: Tatar Book Publ., 2009. 207 p. (In Russian)
  19. Philippov D.Yu. Kasimov Khan’s Palace: Fate after the Kingdom. Antiquities of the Poch’e region. Collection of scientific works to the 60-th anniversary of V.V. Sudakov / Edited by A.O. Nikitin. Ryazan: RIKO, 2016, pp. 251–263. (In Russian)
  20. Chelyapov V.P. In search of Meshchersky Gorodets. Materials and research on Ryazan local history, vol. 4. Ryazan, 2003, pp. 11–31. (In Russian)

About the author: Farid A. Akhmetgalin – Research Fellow, Institute of Archaeology named after A.Kh. Khalikov of the Tatarstan Academy of Sciences (30, Butlerov Str., Kazan 420012, Russian Federation). E-mail: ach_farid@mail.ru

Received  March 30, 2023   Accepted for publication  May 22, 2023
Published Online June 29, 2023