History
In the 1530s Astrakhan cooperated with the Crimean Khanate and the Nogay Horde in a campaign against Russia. Later, Astrakhan was involved in conflicts against its erstwhile Tatar allies. In 1552 Tsar Ivan IV of Russia, better known as Ivan the Terrible, captured Kazan; shortly thereafter a pro-Muscovite party took power in Astrakhan.
Ivan dispatched soldiers to Astrakhan, establishing Darwish Khan as a vassal ruler of the Astrakhan Khanate in 1554. Pro-muscovite nobles and Nogay tribesmen supported Russian forces occupying Astrakhan. After the threat of Crimean raid against Astrakhan had subsided, Darwish Khan conspired with the Crimean Khanate to drive the Russians out of the region. Ivan IV sent Russian Strelets and Cossack armies, who conquered and annexed the region in 1556. Xacitarxan was besieged, burned; the khanate was adsorbed by Russians and abolished. Darwish Khan escaped to the castle of Azov. After the fall of khanate, Tatars were attacked by Kalmyks, that displaced Nogai nomads.
Many Nogay were transplanted in Kazakhstan and Daghestan. However, approximately 70,000 Astrakhan Tatars still live in Astrakhan Oblast.
The capital of the khanate was Xacitarxan (or Khadjitarkhan), located about 12 km from modern Astrakhan.
Merchants and subjects of Mughal rule are known to have traded in Astrakhan.
Read more about this topic: Astrakhan Khanate
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