Tower Syuyumbike located on the territory of the Kazan Kremlin complex and is one of the main attractions of Kazan. Its popularity is explained by its interesting history and legends, as well as the fact that it is falling. Interesting facts about the history of the creation of the Syuyumbike tower in Kazan.

Syuyumbike Tower (Kazan): history of creation

Historians still argue about the time of its construction and we are not talking about the exact date, but about the historical era. According to one version, it was built during the heyday of the Kazan Khanate, in the 12th - 15th centuries, when it was a lookout and was called the Kazan Minaret.

If you follow this version, then it is the only surviving monument of Tatar architecture of those times in Kazan.

There is also an opinion that it was built after the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible, who gave the order to build the structure in seven days. It was because of the haste that the foundation was made shallow, which explains the continued tilt.
The results of recent excavations show that construction took place in the 17th century. At the same time, some facts indicate its construction in the 11th – 15th centuries. Therefore, some scientists have suggested that a wooden tower was originally built on this site, and later it was rebuilt into a stone one. In the place where the old foundation is missing, the structure tilts.

Most historians are still of the opinion that Tower Syuyumbike was built in the 17th century.

Syuyumbike Tower: architecture

The height of the structure is 58 meters, and the slope is almost two meters. And although it leaned less than the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, it is two meters taller than it. In contrast, the foundation Syuyumbike was not strengthened until the deviation from the vertical was 1.5 meters.

Syuyumbike Tower (Kazan) has seven tiers:

• The first is the widest; it is a passage tier with an arch in the middle.
• The second tier has, like the first, a quadrangular shape, but is smaller in height and width.
• The third tier is built similarly to the second, but has small windows.
• The fourth and fifth tiers are octagonal.
• The sixth and seventh tiers are a watchtower.

At the top of the structure there is a green spire with a crescent.

Syuyumbike Tower: legend

The name Syuyumbike is compound - Syuyum in Old Tatar means beloved, and Bike means mistress. The name Syuyumbike is translated as “beloved queen” of the Kazan people in the 16th century. Indeed, Syuyumbike was a beauty and a noble, educated woman, the widow of a khan who was killed in the struggle for the throne.

There are several legends about the name:
The most popular legend “Syuyumbike Tower” says that Tsar Ivan the Terrible, after the capture of Kazan, wanted Queen Syuyumbike to marry him. If she refused, the tsar could punish the entire Tatar people. To save her people from troubles, the queen accepted Ivan the Terrible's proposal, but put forward the condition that a seven-tier tower would be built in seven days. When her wish was fulfilled, she climbed up and threw herself on the ground. Since then, the tower has been named after her.

In February we were on a business trip in the Ryazan region. Night found us on the highway near the town of Kasimov, which looked like a rich village with a large number of wooden one- and two-story houses.

Tatarskaya street in Ryazan province. These houses were masterpieces of wooden architecture. The white platbands on the windows were especially beautiful, airy and openwork, with fabulous patterns. The second pleasant surprise was that this street was called Tatarskaya. All around cleanliness and order! It seemed to us that we were in unique Tatar villages of the Baltasinsky, Arsky or Sabinsky districts. But the closer we got to the center of Kasimov, the more the city changed. Ancient stone residential and historical buildings, mosques and Orthodox churches...

It was felt that the local authorities managed to preserve the old and historical buildings as much as possible. (In Kazan they would take such care of historical monuments, we sighed.) It was as if we had returned several centuries ago. A story closely connected with Kazan. And despite being tired from the road, we hurried to the local museum of ethnography of the Kasimov Tatars, located in the former Khan’s mosque.

Historical reference. After the conquest of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible in 1552, the last ruler of the Kazan Khanate, Queen Syuyumbike, was exiled to the city of Kasimov, where she died a few years later.

An excursion into centuries. Before us appeared a magnificent view of the minaret tower made of hewn white stones, almost like in our Bolgar. Tatyana Pronina, head of the museum of ethnography, warmly welcomed us and told us with great interest about the city.

According to her, Kasimov is one of the ancient Russian cities. Founded in 1152 by Prince Yuri Dolgoruky of Suzdal as a stronghold for protecting the southeastern borders of his principality. The city got its name from the Finno-Ugric Meshchera tribe living here - Gorodets-Meshchersky. At the end of the 14th century, the city was destroyed by the Mongol-Tatars and rebuilt further along the Oka River. Where he is now. In the mid-15th century, the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily granted the city to the Kazan prince Kasim, the son of Khan Ulug-Muhammad. This is how the appanage Kasimov Khanate was formed. It was directly dependent on the Grand Duke and extended 200 miles around Gorodets-Meshchersky.

After the death of Kasim, his son Daniyar named the city in honor of his father - the City of Kasim (later simply Kasimov). The Kasimov Khanate was almost no different from other Tatar khanates. It was headed by a khan (king) or sultan (prince). But he could only be a Muslim. The Tatar nobility (beks, murzas) formed the ruler’s entourage. Khan had an army, mainly from Tatars. The religion of the Tatar population of the Kasimov Khanate was Islam. The head of the Muslim clergy was elected from among the Seites, considered the descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. Subordinate to the Seit was a regiment of serving Tatars. In the city, the inheritance of the Kasimov kings was Stary Posad and Tatarskaya Sloboda. The latter was a wooden fortress with a stone courtyard of the ruler, a mosque, a minaret, courtyards of courtiers, artisans, and serving murzas.

At the same time, there was a Russian town here, ruled by a governor. The Kasimov Khanate existed for 229 years. Over the years, 14 rulers have sat on his throne. Some of them left a noticeable mark on the history of the Russian state. For example, the fall of Kazan is associated with the name of Shah Ali Khan (1505 - 1567), who came from the family of the Sarai khan Timur-Kutlug. He took part in Ivan the Terrible's campaign against Kazan. At that time, the residents of Kazan proposed a political compromise. As a ruler, a protege of Moscow, they agreed to accept Kasimov's Khan Shah Ali. But on the condition that he marries their queen Syuyumbika. But this was not part of the plans of the queen herself, who sought to preserve the Kazan throne for her little son Utyamysh-Girey.

The story of the rebellious queen. The guide reminded us of the queen's story. In 1535, Syuyumbike, the daughter of the Nogai Murza Yusuf, became the wife of Shah-Ali's younger brother Jan-Ali in Kazan, who, by agreement with the townspeople, ruled their city.

In fact, the Kazan queen’s name was Syuyun, and Syuyumbike was “beloved mistress” - the people nicknamed her because she tried to understand all the hardships of life. And, if possible, weaken them,” said Tatyana Alekseevna. - Syuyun grew up in the Nogai steppe in open space and freedom. But in those years, it became fashionable for the Kazan khans to look for wives in the steppes of noble Murzas and beks. So she ended up in Kazan and became the wife of the local khan. However, soon the nobles killed her husband Jan-Ali at night in his bedroom. And the Kazan throne was occupied by the Crimean Khan Safa-Girey.

As historians suggest, all this happened not without the knowledge and participation of the queen. After all, then she became Safa-Girey’s beloved wife and gave birth to his long-awaited heir. And after the death of the khan she became the sovereign ruler of Kazan. However, Syuyumbike did not rule for long, only two years. She was regent with her three-year-old son Utyamish. She managed to carry out some reforms, for example, freeing peasants, small artisans and traders from suffocating taxes.

According to legend, Syuyumbike tried to get rid of her unwanted groom Shah-Ali. During preparations for the wedding celebrations, according to custom, she sent gifts to the groom: food she had prepared herself and clothes embroidered with silk. But Shah Ali was careful. He first offered the queen's treat to the dog, and ordered him to put luxurious clothes on the slave sentenced to death. The dog and the slave immediately died in terrible agony in front of the master: both food and clothing were saturated with potent poison. After this, at the request of Moscow, the Kazan people handed over the obstinate queen to the Russian governors against her will. “And the queen wanted to kill herself, but she could not, for her guardian was tightly guarding her.”

After Ivan the Terrible took Kazan in 1552, Syuyumbike’s fate was decided (she didn’t jump from any tower!). At this time she lived at the royal palace in Moscow. She stubbornly refused to accept Christianity and hoped for the help of her father Yusuf, who negotiated with the king, asking him to return his daughter. However, Ivan the Terrible ordered Shah Ali to marry the rebellious queen. He took her to the city of Kasimov, although “he did not love her, despite her beauty, and she lived locked with him, in a separate and dim room, as if in a dungeon, and he did not agree to sleep with her...” The king left her young son at court, giving him the name Alexander. He ordered to teach the Russian language and Russian customs. But at the age of 17, the prince, who grew up an orphan, died.

The mystery of the gravestone.

Look out the window,” Tatyana Alekseevna asked, pointing to the tomb of Shah Ali, which was located southwest of the mosque where we were.

In the distance, among the trees, covered with snow, a small tomb building (tekie) was visible in modern times. The tomb was a stone structure in the shape of a small rectangle. Above the door that leads to the tomb is a stone plaque with an inscription in Arabic. Researcher Velyaminov-Zernov, who studied the inscriptions on the remains of the tombstones of the mausoleum in the 19th century, established that Shah-Ali himself, his beloved wife Bulak-Shad and six relatives were buried there. The ninth gravestone turned out to be nameless... Maybe it accidentally ended up in the mausoleum?

The guide was silent for several minutes. And then she continued mysteriously in tense silence:

There is a legend that the khan, having buried Syuyumbike, who could not withstand her home confinement, did not order her name to be written on the tombstone so that it would be completely erased from the memory of descendants...

By the way. There are different versions about where and when Syuyumbike died. Professor Urmancheev systematized them and came to the conclusion that the most likely date of the queen’s death was 1557. The prisoner was then 38 years old. And perhaps she is really buried in the Shah-Ali mausoleum in Kasimov under an unnamed stone.

We listened to our guide's story with excitement and looked at each other. So this is the burial place of our legendary queen? And although her name is not on that plate, the people of Kazan and the residents of the republic remember and will remember their Syuyumbike. That's the main thing!..

We left the ancient city of Kasimov with sadness and hope to visit here again. The final resting place of the legendary Kazan queen disappeared in the snowy darkness.

Ahead of us lay a difficult road home and to the tower of our rebellious Syuyumbike.

Just the facts. The population of Kasimov is 33,494 people. About a thousand of them are Tatars. The language of the Kasimov Tatars is audibly different from the dialect of the Kazan Tatars - it has experienced a certain influence of the Western (Mishar) dialect. There are several enterprises in Kasimov: the Prioksky Non-Ferrous Metals Plant, which processes up to 30 tons of gold and 117 tons of silver per year, a clothing factory, a lumber mill, a brick factory, a refrigerator factory, and a mechanical plant. Tourism is developed in the city, mainly due to bus routes from Moscow, which is 262 km away. There is a lot to see in the city - cathedrals, churches, mosques, museums and the new Russian Samovar Museum, where more than 400 rare exhibits are collected.

Rais Minnullin

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Syuyumbike(leg. Suyimbiyke, Tat. Soembikә, Turkic Soenbikә) - ruler of the Kazan Khanate, wife of the Kazan khans Jan-Ali (-), Safa-Girey and Shah-Ali, daughter of the Nogai biy Yusuf and great-great-great-granddaughter of the founder of the Nogai Horde dynasty Edigei.

Biography

Syuyumbike's first husband, Jan-Ali, was placed on the throne at a young age by an agreed decision of the pro-Moscow government led by Prince Bulat Shirin and Moscow Prince Vasily III. During the Khan's childhood, the administration was carried out by Princess Kovgorshat. She also arranged the marriage of Jan-Ali with Syuyumbike (she was only 12 years old at that time), which was timed to coincide with the Khan’s coming of age and the transfer of power to him. The marriage was agreed upon with Moscow, and Moscow agreed very quickly, since through this marriage it hoped to bring the Nogai biy Yusuf closer and create a certain counterbalance to the overthrown khan from the Crimean dynasty Safa-Girey, who was with his father-in-law, the powerful Nogai Mirza Mamai. The marriage was unsuccessful, the khan neglected his wife, they had no children. Syuyumbike complained to her father and asked to take her away. Yusuf proposed to remove the khan and demanded the return of his daughter. All these events became the subject of diplomatic correspondence.

Jan-Ali did not suit not only his wife, but also the Kazan government, which, apparently, also did not satisfy the pressure from Moscow and interference in the internal affairs of the Khanate. In 1535, with the participation of Bulat Shirin and Princess Kovgorshat, a coup was carried out, Jan-Ali was killed, and Safa-Girey was re-invited to the throne. Syuyumbike became his fifth wife. After the death of Safa-Girey, she ruled the Kazan Khanate in -1551 as regent due to the minority of her son.

In 1551, she was given by the Murzas to the Russian Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, along with his son Utyamysh-Girey and the Kazan treasury. The Patriarchal Chronicle says about this that they (the Kazan people) sent:

to beat Shigaley (Shah Ali) and the governors with his forehead, so that the sovereign would grant him his anger, but would not order them to be captured, but would give them king Shigaley (Shah Ali) for the kingdom, and the sovereign would take the king Utemysh-Girey to himself and with the matter Syuyunbika-queen

A year and a half later, against her will, she was given in marriage to the Kasimov ruler Shah Ali. Utyamysh-Girey was left to be raised by Tsar Ivan the Terrible. In recent years she lived in Kasimov, where she died. The grave is unknown.

Children

Memory

Also, one of the main avenues in Naberezhnye Chelny is named after Syuyumbike.

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Notes

Literature

• V.V. Trepavlov. History of the Nogai Horde. Moscow. Publishing company "Oriental Literature", RAS

Excerpt characterizing Syuyumbike

The old prince said that if he was sick, it was only because of Princess Marya; that she deliberately torments and irritates him; that she spoils little Prince Nikolai with self-indulgence and stupid speeches. The old prince knew very well that he was torturing his daughter, that her life was very hard, but he also knew that he could not help but torment her and that she deserved it. “Why doesn’t Prince Andrei, who sees this, tell me anything about his sister? - thought the old prince. - What does he think, that I’m a villain or an old fool, I moved away from my daughter for no reason and brought the French woman closer to me? He doesn’t understand, and therefore we need to explain to him, we need him to listen,” thought the old prince. And he began to explain the reasons why he could not stand his daughter’s stupid character.
“If you ask me,” said Prince Andrey, without looking at his father (he condemned his father for the first time in his life), “I didn’t want to talk; but if you ask me, then I will tell you frankly my opinion about all this. If there are misunderstandings and discord between you and Masha, then I can’t blame her at all - I know how much she loves and respects you. If you ask me,” continued Prince Andrei, getting irritated, because he was always ready for irritation lately, “then I can say one thing: if there are misunderstandings, then the reason for them is an insignificant woman, who should not have been her sister’s friend.” .
At first the old man looked at his son with fixed eyes and unnaturally revealed with a smile a new tooth deficiency, which Prince Andrei could not get used to.
-What kind of girlfriend, darling? A? I've already spoken! A?
“Father, I didn’t want to be a judge,” said Prince Andrei in a bilious and harsh tone, “but you called me, and I said and will always say that Princess Marya is not to blame, but it’s the fault... this Frenchwoman is to blame...”
“And he awarded!.. he awarded!” the old man said in a quiet voice and, as it seemed to Prince Andrei, with embarrassment, but then suddenly he jumped up and shouted: “Get out, get out!” May your spirit not be here!..

Prince Andrey wanted to leave immediately, but Princess Marya begged him to stay another day. On this day, Prince Andrei did not see his father, who did not go out and did not allow anyone to see him except M lle Bourienne and Tikhon, and asked several times whether his son had left. The next day, before leaving, Prince Andrei went to see his son's half. A healthy, curly-haired boy sat on his lap. Prince Andrei began to tell him the tale of Bluebeard, but, without finishing it, he became lost in thought. He was not thinking about this pretty boy son while he was holding him on his lap, but was thinking about himself. He searched in horror and found in himself neither remorse for having irritated his father, nor regret that he (in a quarrel for the first time in his life) was leaving him. The most important thing for him was that he was looking for and did not find that former tenderness for his son, which he hoped to arouse in himself by caressing the boy and sitting him on his lap.
“Well, tell me,” said the son. Prince Andrei, without answering him, took him down from the pillars and left the room.
As soon as Prince Andrei left his daily activities, especially as soon as he entered into the previous conditions of life in which he had been even when he was happy, the melancholy of life gripped him with the same force, and he hurried to quickly get away from these memories and find something to do quickly.
– Are you going decisively, Andre? - his sister told him.
“Thank God I can go,” said Prince Andrey, “I’m very sorry that you can’t.”
- Why are you saying this! - said Princess Marya. - Why are you saying this now, when you are going to this terrible war and he is so old! M lle Bourienne said that he asked about you... - As soon as she began to talk about this, her lips trembled and tears began to fall. Prince Andrei turned away from her and began to walk around the room.
- Oh my god! My God! - he said. – And just think about what and who – what insignificance can be the cause of people’s misfortune! - he said with anger, which frightened Princess Marya.
She realized that, speaking about the people whom he called nonentities, he meant not only m lle Bourienne, who made him misfortune, but also the person who ruined his happiness.
“Andre, I ask one thing, I beg you,” she said, touching his elbow and looking at him with shining eyes through tears. – I understand you (Princess Marya lowered her eyes). Don't think that it was people who caused the grief. People are his instrument. “She looked a little higher than Prince Andrei’s head with that confident, familiar look with which they look at a familiar place in a portrait. - The grief was sent to them, not people. People are his tools, they are not to blame. If it seems to you that someone is to blame for you, forget it and forgive. We have no right to punish. And you will understand the happiness of forgiving.

But the queen nevertheless began to show an increasingly strong interest in Orthodoxy. Matvey and Lukan taught her to read Church Slavonic and gave her books.

This is a painting by a modern artist.

She was especially impressed by the legends about the Holy Mother of God, so even during the life of her husband, Syuyumbeki erected a chapel in her honor. Matvey, who was also an icon painter, painted the image of the Mother of God on an oak board, and Syuyumbike ordered that her halo be gilded.

Volga Bulgaria bordered on the eastern part of Rus', the capital of which is now Moscow. There, since 1533, Prince Ivan was in power, who wanted to expand his possessions. In June 1552, he attacked Volga Bulgaria with his troops, captured villages around the capital and devastated the country. A month later he reached Kazan and besieged it.

The Bulgarians lived a peaceful life and their army was small - no more than 5-6 thousand people, and the army of Prince Ivan was 60 thousand. But he was able to conquer Kazan only after a month-long siege, after which he gave it up for plunder and destruction. The library and buildings of the Kazan Kremlin were burned to the ground. Prince Ivan's loot included 16 ships filled with gold, precious stones, carpets, and tapestries. A golden crown with 10 diamonds, a mother-of-pearl throne with gilding, and a scepter with five huge rubies were also captured.

Prince Ivan sat on this throne, placed a crown on his head, took the scepter in his left hand, crossed himself with his right hand and declared himself the king of All Rus' and Bulgaria. One of his close associates advised him to take the name Grozny, which belonged to the glorious Bulgarian Khan Krum. He agreed with the proposal.

Queen Syuyumbike became his captive. Tsar Ivan was fascinated by her beauty and wanted her to become his wife.

Another painting by a contemporary artist.

And this is a sculptural image.

Syuyumbike agreed on one condition: that a 30-meter tower would be built on the spot where her husband was buried.”

Translator's third note: Russian Wikipedia (can you trust it?) writes that she and her son were betrayed by the Murzas, who handed her over to Tsar Ivan the Terrible. But Tsar Ivan the Terrible conquered not the Kazan kingdom, as we are accustomed to believe, but the Bulgarian kingdom.

And the Bulgarian text continues the story further: “The kind of tower that the queen wanted could only be built by Bulgarian builders. Tsar Ivan gathered the most experienced builders of the conquered kingdom, promising them half a kilogram of gold and 5 kg of silver if they erected a tower in 2 months.

The tower was ready in a month and a half, and Tsar Ivan the Terrible brought Syuyumbike into it.

But when they reached the very top of the tower, the queen rushed down from there. So she remained faithful to her husband and people: she died, but did not become a slave. Ivan the Terrible, very angry, ordered the tower to be burned to the ground, but when it was set on fire, a rain cloud appeared in the sky and extinguished the flames. Lightning flew, and one of them almost struck the king himself. Ivan the Terrible accepted this as a sign from God and left Kazan, but before that he determined the place where a chapel in honor of Syuyumbike, which he called Lyuba, was to be built, as well as a large temple, in the dungeon of which she was to be buried.”

Translator's fourth note: The story that was created in Russia says that a year and a half after the capture, Syuyumbike was married to the Kasimov Khan, in whose city she died.

And the Bulgarian version of the story continues: “In 1561, one Bulgarian boy, in the ruins of a city that had not yet been restored, discovered an icon of the Holy Mother of God, painted by the priest Matvey. Despite the fact that he was a Muslim, he took her to a Christian temple. The bishop cleaned it and on the back of the icon found the date of manufacture - 1541. When the icon was placed on the altar, the crown of the Mother of God glowed with a dazzling light.

The boy who brought the icon to the temple was deaf and mute, but from that time on he began to speak and hear. The icon was declared miraculous and, by order of the Patriarch of All Rus', it was transferred to Moscow. When the Poles attacked Rus' in the 17th century, Russian soldiers carried it to Arkhangelovden (the day of St. Michael the Archangel - November 8) so that the icon would intercede for the capital. The Poles were expelled.

The icon was placed in St. Basil's Cathedral. In 1941, Hitler attacked the Soviet Union and almost reached Moscow. Stalin, who, although he had once been a seminarian, considered himself an atheist. But in December 1941, he ordered the icon of the Kazan Holy Mother of God to be delivered to the front on an armored train. The priests, guarded by special units, carried it around the trenches so that all the officers and soldiers could touch it. Three days later, Soviet troops launched a counterattack and pushed the Germans back 100-120 km from Moscow.

After the victory, Stalin forgot about this incident. The war-ravaged Soviet Union needed funds for restoration. By order of Stalin, the icon was sold to the Vatican for $50 million. She was placed in the Sistine Chapel, but she did not attract much attention.

John Paul II, becoming the first Slavic pope, saw her and took her to his chambers. According to the recollections of the pope's personal secretary, when he was wounded in 1981, the holy father ordered him to be brought to the icon every day and prayed for hours in front of it for his recovery. After recovery, he announced that he owed his health to this icon. After his death in 2004, the Russian oligarch Svechovsky made a deal with the Vatican to transfer the icon to Russia for the sum of 200 thousand dollars. It was installed in the Arkhangelsk Monastery on the outskirts of Pechorsk. But Kazan tycoon Anatoly, who was of Bulgarian origin, paid 300 thousand dollars to buy it from the monastery.

Thus, in 2005, the icon returned to where it was created: it is located in the Kazan Church of the Holy Mother of God, not far from the Syuyumbike tower, from which the last queen of Volga Bulgaria threw herself. Now this territory is called Tatarstan, but most of the people living there consider themselves Bulgarians.”

One of the symbols of Kazan is the Syuyumbike tower, which is located in the Kremlin. She is named after Hanbike, a real character in the ancient history of our region.

The name is associated with the hanbike Syuyumbike, a real character in the ancient history of our region. Much has been written about Syuyumbik. There are materials about it on our website. You can read fragments of the novel about Syuyumbik by Kazan writer Olga Ivanova.

We bring to your attention the publication of our regular freelance author, the famous Kazan local historian Renat Bikbulatov. We found portraits of Syuyumbike on the Internet.

Khanbike Syuyumbike

Syuyumbike, daughter of the ruler of the Great Nogai Horde Yusuf, a descendant of the famous Idegei, was born around 1516. In 1533, she was married to the 17-year-old Kazan Khan Jan-Ali. At that time, the actual rulers in the Kazan Khanate were Karachi Bey Bulat Shirin and Queen Gauharshad (Kovgorshad). In the first year of marriage, it became clear that there was neither agreement nor love between the newlyweds.

In 1535, Jan-Ali was deposed by Kazan feudal lords led by Bulat Shirin and exiled to the city of Iske-Kazan, where he died that same year. What awaited the remaining widow of Syuyumbike? Historian Mikhail Khudyakov wrote: “After the death of the khan-husbands, their widows were taken as wives by the brothers and successors of the latter. We know that the Khans had to experience many personal tragedies.”

Portrait of Rushan Shamsutdinov

But fate was kind to Syuyumbike. The Kazan throne in 1535 was occupied by Khan Safa-Girey, who, having married the khan’s widow, received the “khan’s hearth” as a dowry. Judging by the surviving information, Syuyumbike loved him very much. As the unknown author of the “Kazan chronicler” writes, Syuyumbike was not only a wife for Safa-Girey, but also a comrade-in-arms and like-minded person. The Crimean historian of the 17th century, Mustafa al-Jenabi, wrote that “Safa-Girey was one of the greatest and most powerful sovereigns... in his time the state prospered and, under the protection of his victorious weapons, his possessions flourished.”

Good neighborly relations were restored between the Kazan Khanate and the Russian government. In 1546, the khan was expelled from Kazan as a result of a popular uprising, but returned soon with the help of Crimean and Nogai troops. In March 1549, Khan Safa-Girey died as a result of an accident. Then he was only 42 years old, he was in the prime of strength and health.

Portrait of Iskander Rafikov

Syuyumbike mourned the death of her beloved husband for a long time. The only consolation for her was their two-year-old son Utyamysh-Girey. In the same 1549, the son of Queen Syuyumbike, little Utyamysh, was proclaimed khan. The queen was declared regent.

During the life of Safa-Girey, many Crimean Tatars were attracted to Kazan, even the Khan’s guard consisted of Crimean Tatars. Therefore, the government under Syuyumbik was formed in the same composition - from the Crimean Tatars, headed by Oglan Kuchak (Koshchak) - the head of the guard under Khan Safa-Girey. “The husband is very dignified and ferocious,” this is what the Russian Chronicler writes about this military leader.

The fact that the government was military in nature was fully justified by the danger that threatened the state. The Kazan people had reason to expect an attack from the Russians, and at this moment the revival of the military power of the Kazan Khanate was especially necessary.

Portrait of Niyaz Khaziakhmetov

Syuyumbike found herself at the head of the Kazan Khanate at the most difficult moment in its history: the young Moscow prince Ivan IV was determined to put an end to the obstinate Kazan Khanate. On his side was the influential “Moscow party” of the Tatar feudal lords. Even in the last year of his life and a year after the death of Khan Safa-Girey, the Russians tried to attack the Kazan Khanate, but both of these campaigns ended in failure.

The government of Syuyumbike and Oglan Kuchak quietly ruled the country for a year. The crisis came in 1551. The Russian government, taught by the failure of the last two campaigns, chose a new strategy: by occupying the waterways, the Russians paralyzed the entire life of the country.

Portrait of an unnamed author

Kazan found itself under siege. Trade exchange ceased, the supply of products was disrupted, and Volga trade was destroyed. In Kazan, the number of people dissatisfied with the government of Oglan Kuchak has increased. There was unrest, and a coup could be expected any day now. Oglan Kuchak and the entire Crimean garrison fled from the city and were soon destroyed.

A provisional government was created in the city, which on August 11, 1551 handed over Khan Utyamysh and Queen Syuyumbike to the Russians. The departure of Syuyumbike and his son from the capital of the Khanate to Moscow was sad. The provisional government of Kazan, taking this step, understood that this was a guarantee of peace between the two states. In Moscow, Syuyumbike lived in the royal chambers and was favored by the Russian queen. But it was captivity.

At this time, the Russian government came up with a plan to marry Syuyumbike to Shah Ali, the Kasimov Khan, about which the Nogai ruler Yusuf was informed: “We want to give her to the king of Shigaley so that you will rejoice about it.”

Portrait of Ilyas Faizullin

The following year, Syuyumbike was married to Shah-Ali, and spent the rest of her life in the city of Kasimov. It was a marriage of political convenience: a kind of removal of Syuyumbike from the Kazan throne. This problem has been solved. At this time, Moscow also wrote to her father, Prince Yusuf: “They gave her the king’s son Utyamysh Kirei to feed her. And Utyamysh Kirei, the king, grows up, and then we want to arrange him in a yurt,” i.e. give him an inheritance.

But after Syuyumbike married Shah-Ali, her young child was separated from her mother. On January 8, 1553, he was baptized in the Pudov Monastery with the name Alexander - “and the blessed Tsar granted Tsar Alexander Safakireevich, commanded him to teach him to read and write, even though he was still young, so that he would become accustomed to the fear of God and learn the Christian law.

Portrait of Kamil Mullashev

At the end of 1553, Ivan IV informed Prince Yusuf that “his grandson is keeping his son’s place.” Shah Ali is a very expressive figure in Tatar history. Contemporaries describe him very colorfully. The “Russian Chronicler” depicts him this way: “This Sheyal had a terrible and vile face and body, had long ears hanging on his shoulders, a woman’s face, thick and arrogant, a belly, short legs, long steps, a bestial seat.” And the ambassador of the Roman Emperor, Baron Sigismund da Herberstein, who only saw him once, described the khan’s appearance in unflattering words: “The great hatred of his subjects was increased by the ugliness and weakness of his body, for he was a man with a protruding belly, with a sparse beard, with a face almost feminine."

Portrait of Iskander Rafikov

The same words are confirmed by the Crimean historian of the 17th century Mustafa al-Jennabi about Shah Ali: “He was a cruel, tough and bloodthirsty man.” Shah-Ali himself hardly loved Syuyumbike. Her father Yusuf heard alarming rumors about her living in Kasimov: that Shah-Ali, on the orders of Ivan IV, tortured Syuyumbike to death, cut off her nose, etc. On this issue, a whole correspondence arose between the Russian government and Yusuf. Ivan IV wrote to Shah-Ali: “... as if you Syuyumbik had executed the queen, cut off her nose and, for a great reproach, killed her to death.”

The Russian government decided to send Nogai ambassadors to Kasimov, where they would personally verify the safety of Syuyumbike. But, as you know, there is no smoke without fire. Until her last days, the former Kazan queen experienced a huge internal drama - separated from her son, she lived alone, unable to communicate with her family.

As historian Mikhail Pinegin wrote in his book “Kazan in its Past and Present,” “People’s rumor created from her a poetic image of a charming woman in a brilliant royal setting, who experienced a lot of suffering and grief in her life.”

Portrait of Syuyumbike and her son Utyamysh. Artist I. Akzhigitov

History has not preserved the exact date of Syuyumbike’s death. The Tatar Encyclopedic Dictionary says that she died after 1554. Historian Riza Fakhretdin wrote that Syuyumbike died in 1667 at the age of 38. But it is known for sure that her son Utyamysh-Alexander did not live long and died in Moscow in 1556, at the age of 20.

The epitaph over his grave in the Archangel Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin reads: “In the summer of June 7074 (1566), on the 11th day... the Tsar of Kazan introduced himself, and in baptism Alexander Safa Gireevich, the son of the Tsar of Kazan.”

Tower Syuyumbike

Within the walls of the Kazan Kremlin there is a majestic tower named Syuyumbike. Many legends are associated with the Syuyumbike tower.

There is a legend that it was built on the burial site of Muslim saints, where local residents went to worship, and that here, not far from the Khan’s palace, there was the grave of Safa-Girey (the latest archaeological excavations have confirmed that there are royal tombs here, now a stone has been installed there with information about the burial here are the royal remains), who died in 1549, over which Syuyumbike erected a mausoleum or funeral mosque.

A legend passed down from generation to generation has been preserved, telling about Syuyumbike’s crying over her husband’s resting place and how she said goodbye to the residents of the city, who solemnly escorted her and the young Khan Utyamysh to Moscow.

Folk tales depict Syuyumbike as an indescribable beauty, having heard about which, Ivan IV sent envoys to her with an offer to become the queen of Moscow. Syuyumbike’s refusal, according to this legend, was the reason for the Russian campaign against Kazan. When the Russians besieged the city, the proud princess agreed to marry the formidable king on the condition that within a week his builders would be able to erect a seven-tiered tower higher than all the minarets of Kazan. The princess's demand was fulfilled on time.

Syuyumbike committed suicide by throwing herself from the tower, making sure that the city was surrounded and there was no salvation.

But we know that this legend has no historical basis: Syuyumbike left the city a year before the start of the decisive assault on the city. And yet, as the encyclopedia indicates, the Syuyumbike tower itself was built by Russian architects after the capture of Kazan, presumably in the second half of the 17th - early 18th centuries.

In the city of Kasimov, the stone mausoleum of Shah-Ali (died in 1567) has been preserved, which contained tombs and gravestones with Tatar ornaments and Arabic inscriptions carved on them. An unnamed tombstone was discovered in the tomb there. Perhaps the ashes of the last Kazan queen rest under it.

Syuyumbike is a unique figure in the Tatar national consciousness. She has been compared in literature to world-famous women: the Scottish Queen Mary Stuart, the English Queen Elizabeth I and the last queen of Egypt, Cleopatra.

Several centuries have passed, but people's interest in it does not fade away, the people remember their legendary Syuyumbike, and today it remains a symbol of purity and fidelity mourned by the people. And it will always be like this.

Read in "Kazan Stories":

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