History of Tatarstan

The territory of Tatarstan, a republic of the Russian Federation, was inhabited by different groups during the prehistoric period. The state of Volga Bulgaria grew during the Middle Ages and for a time was subject to the Khazars. The Volga Bulgars became Muslim and incorporated various Turkic peoples to form the modern Volga Tatar ethnic group.

The region came under the domination of the Khanate of Kazan in the 15th century. The khanate was conquered by Ivan the Terrible in 1552 and abolished in 1708. This period was marked by settlement of the area by Russians and attempts at conversion to Orthodox Christianity, provoking a number of rebellions among the Tatars and neighbouring groups. In the late 18th and 19th centuries industry developed, economic conditions improved and Tatars achieved more equal status with Russians. However, Tatar national consciousness was growing, and upon the October Revolution of 1917, national institutions were established and independence declared as the Idel-Ural State. After several years of civil war the Soviet government suppressed independence and established the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union.

Under Soviet rule there was a famine followed by progressive decline of the Tatar language, culture and religion both Christian and Muslim. The discovery of large petroleum deposits helped to promote further major growth in industry. Around the time of the fall of the USSR in 1991 there were again moves for independence, but in 1994 the region, under the name of Tatarstan, became a constituent republic of the Russian Federation. In 2008 a national assembly, the Milli Mejlis, declared Tatarstan independent, but this status has not been recognised by the United Nations or the Russian government.