Kul Sharif or Qol Şärif ( Volga Türki and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

: قل شریف; ; ; died 1552) was an

Old Tatar language The Old Tatar language was a literary language used by some ethnic groups of the Idel-Ural region (Tatars and Bashkirs) from the Middle Ages until the early 20th century. Old Tatar is a member of the Kipchak languages, Kipchak (or Northwestern ...

-poet, statesman, university professor and

imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

of the

Khanate of Kazan The Khanate of Kazan was a Tatar state that occupied the territory of the former Volga Bulgaria between 1438 and 1552. The khanate covered contemporary Tatarstan, Mari El, Chuvashia, Mordovia, and parts of Udmurtia and Bashkortostan; ...

. He participated in some diplomatic missions on behalf of Kazan khans to the

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721. ...

and there carried out negotiations for the khanate's independence. In 1550 he concluded a deal with Moscow for mutual assistance and understand with each side sending an ambassador, a treaty which was soon after broken. In 1552 he was one of leaders of

Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

's defense against the Russian troops of Ivan the Terrible. He also participated in the negotiations with Russian representatives in

Sviyazhsk Sviyazhsk (; ) is a rural locality (a '' selo'') in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, located at the confluence of the Volga and Sviyaga Rivers. It is often referred to as an island since the 1955 construction of the Kuybyshev Reservoir downstr ...

(''Zöyä''). After the

Siege of Kazan The siege of Kazan or Fall of Kazan in 1552 was the final battle of the Russo-Kazan Wars and led to the fall of the Khanate of Kazan. Conflict continued after the fall of Kazan, however, as rebel governments formed in Çalım and Mişätamaq ...

started, he organized a group of students and defended the Khan Palace. He was killed during the battle. Later, four of his poems were included in "The Book of Baqırğan". Qolşärif's literary legacy was published in "İ küñel, bu dönyadır (O soil, may be this world...)", a collection of verses (

, 1997). It is believed that the authorship of the

dastan Dastan () is an ornate form of oral history, an epic, from Central Asia, Iran, Turkey and Azerbaijan. A dastan is generally centered on one individual who protects his tribe or his people from an outside invader or enemy, although only occasion ...

"Qíssai Xöbbi xuca" also belongs to him. It was published in 1889.

References

History of Tatarstan Islam in Russia Tatar poets Khanate of Kazan 1552 deaths Year of birth unknown {{Russia-poet-stub

See also

References