*Includes pictures
*Includes a bibliography for further reading
A history of the Tatar peoples covers a huge expanse of territory, time, and the rise and fall of many Tatar communities. As such, they played a role in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East over several centuries, and from Genghis Khan to Ivan the Terrible and Josef Stalin, some of history's most infamous tyrants have played a key role in this story. Crucially, the history of the Tatars is one that seems to take place at the fringes of the great empires.
Geographically the Tatars descend from several parts of Asia, particularly Central Asia, but the Crimean region has been the nexus of several great power rivalries and numerous conflicts. Yet the Crimean Tatars endured through many of these, aligning themselves with a number of larger powers and developing a reputation as fearsome warriors. Today the Tatars are mainly linked with and live in the Volga region of the Russian Federation. Indeed, Tatarstan is a republic in modern Russia. The "Volga Tatars" are perhaps the best known of the peoples known as Tatars and today number about 5 million people. Yet, other Tatars and those descending from Tatars also live in modern Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Turkey and many other countries in Europe and former Soviet republics. What, then, defines a Tatar? Historically, Tatars have been considered ethnically Turkic and related to Central (and North) Asian peoples. In practice, this meant the Turkic and Mongol peoples that were predominantly nomadic or semi-nomadic. Tatars, for the most part, converted to Islam and their lands, once settled, were punctuated by mosques and Islamic religious practices. Perhaps the best example of Tatar culture that survives today is in the Kazan region of Tatarstan around the Volga River, for instance the Kul-Sharif mosque in Kazan.
As the centuries progressed, the Tatars came to represent an important group within Russia and its surrounding countries, as not only members of those societies but also sitting slightly outside the establishment. One example would be Ukraine, where the Crimean Tatars were important players in the politics and trade of the region, but who were essentially independent until the Russian Empire came to dominate the Crimean Peninsula. The Tatars represented a unique fusion of Central Asian culture, style and practices and in many ways represent the crossroads between east and west. However, for centuries they also represented the marauding hord