2025, vol. 13, no. 4. Okhotnikova S.V.

2025, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 928-938

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2025-13-4.928-938

EDN: https://elibrary.ru/PKPHYG

   CHUVASH HISTORICAL LEGENDS AS A SOURCE
FOR THE KAZAN KHANATE HISTORY: TO THE PROBLEM STATEMENT

S.V. Okhotnikova
Chuvash State Institute of Humanities
Cheboksary, Russian Federation
svetlana-goncharova7@rambler.ru

Abstract. Objective: The aim of the study is to analyze the informativeness of Chuvash historical traditions for the reconstruction of the general picture of the historical past of the Kazan Khanate and the Chuvash region within it.
Research materials: The article is based on the study of both published and unpublished historical traditions (sources) stored in the funds of the scientific archive of the Chuvash State Institute of Humanities.
Results and scientific novelty: The author traced the main historical plots of the Kazan Khanate period, covering which of the traditions can significantly supplement and expand the source base of the researcher. The conducted research has shown that Chuvash legends are an important source for reconstructing the domestic and foreign policy of the Kazan Khanate, but their use requires cross-checking with written and archaeological data, as well as taking into account such genre features of folklore as hyperbolization and symbolism. The analysis of legends requires a critical approach, but they allow us to look at the events of the era through the prism of the collective memory of the Chuvash people, who were within the orbit of the Khanate’s influence, while maintaining elements of autonomy and cultural identity. The events of the Kazan Khanate in legends are often mixed with earlier (Volga Bulgaria) or later (the period of the Russian state) eras. Most of the legends were recorded in the 18th–19th centuries which could have resulted in distortion of the original plots under the influence of Russian culture and Orthodoxy.

Keywords: historical legends, Kazan Khanate, Chuvash region, Chuvashes, Tatars, historical source

For citation: Okhotnikova S.V. Chuvash historical legends as a source for the Kazan Khanate history: to the problem statement. Zolotoordynskoe obozrenie=Golden Horde Review. 2025, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 928–938. https://doi.org/10.22378/2313-6197.2025-13-4.928-938 (In Russian)

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Svetlana V. Okhotnikova – Cand. Sci. (History), Research Fellow of the Chuvash State Institute of Humanities (29, building 1, Moskovsky Ave., Cheboksary 428015, Russian Federation); ORCID: 0009-0005-9824-8008. E-mail: svetlana-goncharova7@rambler.ru

Received  13.03.2025
Revised  24.11.2025
Accepted  01.12.2025