History

The first settlements in the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan date back to Palaeolithic period (about 100,000 years ago). In the 8th - 9th centuries, the tribes of ancient Bulgars, ancestors of the modern Tatars, began to populate the Volga region . The first state - the Volga-Kama Bulgaria - was set up at the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th centuries which was the first feudal state in the north-eastern Europe. In 922, Islam was established as a state religion (see Historical Memory of the Tatar Ethnic Group by Flura ZIYATDINOVA and Islam's Northern Mecca by Jamil MUHAMETSHIN). The Bulgar mosques and medreces (Muslim clerical schools) spread knowledge and culture in the neighbouring regions.

In the 13th century, the territory of the Volga-Kama Bulgaria was annexed to the Empire of Chenghiz-Khan and then became a part of powerful Zolotaya Orda (Golden Hord) State. The collapse of the Golden Hord in the thirties-forties of the 14th century resulted in formation of a number of new states including the Kazan Khanate. Kazan became the capital of the newly formed state. The Kazan Khanate ceased its existence in October 1552, after two-month siege when troops of Ivan 4 (the Terrible), numbering 150,000 people, conquered Kazan.

Kazan further became one of the important industrial and cultural centers of Russia. In 1708, the territory of today's Tatarstan was part of the huge Kazan province with initial borders reaching Kostroma in the north, Ural in the east, the river Terek in the south, Murom and Penza in the west. Kazan kept the status of a capital of the province for more than 200 years..

A path-breaking step on the way to restoration of statehood of the Tatar people was the declaration of the Tatars Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1920.


The end of this century brought new possibilities for development of statehood of Tatarstan. On 30th August, 1990, the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Republic was adopted and signed. In line with the people's will, the referendum held in March of 1992 and the new Constitution of the Republic of Tatarstan adopted on November 6, 1992 established a new state status of the Republic.

February 15, 1994 the Treaty between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tatarstan "On Demarcation of the Objects of Management and Mutual Delegation of Powers Between the Bodies of State Power of the Russian Federation and Bodies of State Power of the Republic of Tatarstan" was signed; alongside with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and the Constitution of the Republic of Tatarstan it served as a legal basis of formation of a widely-known Russian-Tatarstan model of interrelations.

The Treaty on Delimitation of Jurisdictional Subjects and Powers between Bodies of Public Authority of the Russian Federation and Bodies of Public Authority of the Republic of Tatarstan, ‘a successor’ of the 1994 Treaty, was signed on June 26, 2007. The 2007 Treaty consolidated the existing status of the republic, recognizing the Constitution of Tatarstan as a basis of the statehood of the republic; the Treaty provides for the requirement for nominees to fill the position of President of Tatarstan to speak two state languages, re-confirms the level of international relations of the republic and necessity to work with compatriots.