Editing Tatarstan (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Tatarstan}}
{{More citations needed section|date=February 2011}}
{{History of Tatarstan}}

=== Middle Ages ===
{{further|Turco-Mongols|Great Tartary}}The earliest known organised state within the boundaries of Tatarstan was [[Volga Bulgaria]] (c.&nbsp;700–1238). The [[Volga Bulgars]] had an advanced mercantile state with trade contacts throughout Inner [[Eurasia]], the [[Middle East]], and the [[Baltic region|Baltic]], which maintained its independence despite pressure by such nations as the [[Khazars]], the [[Kievan Rus]], and the [[Cuman]]-[[Kipchaks]]. [[Islam]] was introduced by missionaries from [[Baghdad]] around the time of [[Ibn Fadlan]]'s journey in 922.

[[File:Bolgar archeological works.jpeg|thumb|Archaeological works at [[Bolgar, Spassky District, Republic of Tatarstan|Bolgar]]]]

Volga Bulgaria finally fell to the armies of the [[Mongol]] prince [[Batu Khan]] in the late 1230s (see [[Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria]]). The inhabitants, a large amount of them killed and the rest mixing with the [[Golden Horde]]'s [[Kipchaks]], became known as the [[Volga Tatars]]. In the 1430s, the region again became independent as the base of the [[Khanate of Kazan]], a capital having been established in [[Kazan]], {{Convert|170|km||abbr=on}} up the Volga from the ruined capital of the Bulgars.

The Khanate of Kazan [[Russo-Kazan Wars|was conquered]] by the troops of Tsar [[Ivan the Terrible]] in the 1550s, with Kazan being taken in 1552. A large number of Tatars were [[Forced conversion|forcibly converted]] to Christianity and were culturally [[Russification|Russified]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=DERRICK |first1=MATTHEW A. |title=TERRITORY AND THE CHANGING SHAPE OF TATAR ISLAM IN TSARIST AND SOVIET RUSSIA {{!}} MATTHEW A. DERRICK {{!}} IJORS International Journal of Russian Studies |website=www.ijors.net |url=https://www.ijors.net/issue2_1_2013/articles/derrick.html}}</ref> Cathedrals were built in Kazan; by 1593 all mosques in the area were destroyed. The Russian government forbade the construction of mosques, a prohibition that was not lifted until the 18th century by [[Catherine the Great]]. The first mosque to be rebuilt under Catherine's auspices was constructed in 1766–1770.

=== 19th century ===
[[File:Black chamber.jpg|thumb|left|An ancient mosque in Bolgar]]

In the 19th century, Tatarstan became a centre of [[Jadidism]], an Islamic movement that preached tolerance of other religions. Under the influence of local Jadidist theologians, the Bulgars were renowned for their friendly relations with other peoples of the Russian Empire. However, after the [[October Revolution]], religion was largely outlawed and all theologians were repressed.

=== 20th century ===
{{further|Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic|Idel-Ural State}}
During the [[Russian Civil War|Civil War]] of 1918–1920 Tatar nationalists attempted to establish an independent republic (the [[Idel-Ural State]], ''Idel'' being the name of the [[Volga]] in Tatar) along with the neighbouring [[Bashkirs]]. Initially supported by the [[Bolsheviks]], the state existed up until March 1918, when high-ranking members of its parliament were arrested by the Bolsheviks (who had turned on the state and denounced it as bourgeois) before the official declaration of its constitution. The Soviets later set up the [[Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]], which was established on 27&nbsp;May 1920.<ref name="Established" /> The boundaries of the republic did not include a majority of the Volga Tatars. The [[Tatar Union of the Godless]] were persecuted in [[Joseph Stalin]]'s 1928 [[purge]]s.

[[File:Левое крыло Белой мечети.jpg|thumb|The left wing of the White Mosque]]
A [[1921–1922 Famine in Tatarstan|famine]] occurred in the [[Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic]] in 1921–1922 as a result of the policy of [[war communism]]. The famine deaths of between 500,000 and 2 million [[Volga Tatars|Tatars]] in the Tatar ASSR and in the [[Volga-Ural region]] in 1921–1922 was catastrophic as half of the [[Volga Tatar]] population in the [[USSR]] died.<ref name="zqvRo" />

Starting in the 1960s, schools opened in Tatarstan that taught Russian as an official [[second language]], as it was necessary in order to individually advance in the broader Soviet society. By the 1980s, few schools still taught the [[Tatar language]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Suleymanova |first=Dilyara |url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/2373856 |title=Pedagogies of culture: schooling and identity in post-Soviet Tatarstan, Russia |date=2020 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-3-030-27245-6 |series=Anthropological Studies of Education Ser |location=Cham |language=English}}</ref>

=== Present day ===
[[File:Dmitry Medvedev in Tatarstan, June 2011-9.jpeg|thumb|Then-Russian President [[Dmitry Medvedev]] in Tatarstan, June 2011]]
On 30&nbsp;August 1990, Tatarstan declared its sovereignty with the ''Declaration on the State Sovereignty of the Tatar Soviet Socialist Republic''<ref name="dofsovereignty" /> and in 1992 Tatarstan held [[1992 Tatarstani sovereignty referendum|a referendum]] on the new constitution,<ref name="tatarconstitution" /> promoted by Tatarstan's President [[Mintimer Shaimiev|Shaymiyev]] and supervised by [[Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe|Helsinki Commission]] staff. Parliament opposition revolved around the Russian faction [[Narodovlastie]] (People's Power).<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=United States. Congress. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. |url=https://mcgill.on.worldcat.org/oclc/25909369 |title=Report on the Tatarstan referendum on soverignty [sic]: March 21, 1992, Kazan and Pestretsy |date=1992 |publisher=The Commission |location=Washington, D.C. |language=English}}</ref> Some 62% of those who took part voted in favour of the constitution, with ethnic Tatars supporting it much more than Russians.<ref name=":8" /> In the new constitution, Tatarstan is defined as a Sovereign State. However, the referendum and constitution were declared unconstitutional by the [[Constitutional Court of Russia|Russian Constitutional Court]].<ref name="rAcdz" /> Articles 1 and 3 of the Constitution as introduced in 2002<ref name="tatarconstitution" /> define Tatarstan as a part of the Russian Federation, removing the "sovereignty" term.

On 15&nbsp;February 1994, the Treaty ''On Delimitation of Jurisdictional Subjects and Mutual Delegation of Authority between the State Bodies of the Russian Federation and the State Bodies of the Republic of Tatarstan''<ref name="yCTpN" /> and Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan (''On Delimitation of Authority in the Sphere of Foreign Economic Relations'') were signed. The power-sharing agreement was renewed on 11&nbsp;July 2007, though with much of the power delegated to Tatarstan reduced.<ref name="NdHNN" />

On 20&nbsp;December 2008, in response to Russia recognising [[Abkhazia]] and [[South Ossetia]], the [[Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People]] organisation declared Tatarstan independent and asked for [[United Nations]] recognition.<ref name="DAoGA" /> However, this declaration was ignored both by the [[United Nations]] and the [[Russian government]]. On 24&nbsp;July 2017, the autonomy agreement signed in 1994 between Moscow and Kazan expired, making Tatarstan the last republic of Russia to lose its special status.<ref name="tmF0x" />