Syuyumbike - the legendary queen of the Kazan Khanate

There are rulers in the history of our country, whose names are shrouded in mystery. Kazan Suyumbike belongs to them. There are many legends about her.

As one of them narrates, the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible, having learned about the fabulous beauty of the Kazan ruler, decided to marry her and sent matchmakers. But the proud Syuyumbike rejected the courtship of Ivan Vasilyevich. Then, Ivan angrily led the troops to the walls of the city and said: if she does not give consent, then he will destroy Kazan.

Syuyumbike, pitying the residents, replied that she agreed, but only on one condition: if the Tsar of Moscow made a difficult present for their wedding, she would build a tower in a week. Artisans urgently set to work. Every day a new tier was built. As a result, they managed to build a tower. The wedding feast began, Moscow guests walked and had fun, residents of the Khanate were sad. They did not want to let Syuyumbike go. While the festivities continued, she climbed to the very top tier of the tower. Realizing that she was unable to live in a foreign land, Syuyumbike rushed down.

That is the legend. The true story of the Kazan ruler is less romantic and more dramatic.

Syuyumbike was born in 1516 in the family of the Nogai Biy Yusuf and was a descendant of the creator of the Nogai Horde Edigey. At the age of 12, she was married to a minor Kazan khan, Jan Ali. It was a political marriage agreed upon with Moscow. The pro-Moscow Kazan government of Prince Bulat Shirina tried to draw the Nogai Horde closer to itself in this way. But this union did not bring happiness to the young. Khan neglected his beautiful wife. They did not have children, Syuyumbike complained to her father about her difficult share. Yusuf, judging by diplomatic correspondence, demanded to take measures and resolve this situation. In addition, Jan-Ali turned out to be a weak ruler and displeased not only his wife, but also the Kazan government. The plot has ripened. He was led by the regent Kovgorshat and Prince Bulat Shirin.

There was no one to rule in Kazan and they invited the khan from the Crimean dynasty Safa-Girey. Syuyumbike again married the new Khan. In his harem, she became the fifth wife. But this did not stop her from playing an important role at court and exerting political influence. Together they lived for 14 years. Syuyumbike gave birth to the son of Utyamysh-Girey.

But not everything went smoothly. In 1546, due to popular unrest, Safa-Girey retired to the Nogai Horde to his father-in-law. After his death, Syuyumbike was left to rule alone with her young son. She ruled from 1549 to 1551.

In Kazan, at the court of the Khan, there were two groups. One pro-Moscow, the other against Moscow. Syuyumbike entered the second. She was preparing to know that sooner or later a military clash with the troops of Ivan the Terrible could not be avoided. The Murza acted in their own way: they gave the queen together with her son and treasury to the Moscow sovereign in 1551.

There is a mention of this event in the Patriarchal Chronicle: Kazan asked that "the sovereign did not order to capture them." He directed all his anger at Syuyumbike with her son. So it was possible to postpone the clash with Ivan the Terrible for a while. But then the siege of Kazan still occurred.

Syuyumbike was captured by the "honorary". A year and a half later, Ivan presented it to the Kasimov Khan, Shah Ali. She lived there not so long and, as they say, soon dried out from longing.

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