New Discoveries of Tatar Gravestones of the 15th–16th Centuries: their classification and specific features

Abstract

The article presents new findings of Tatar tombstones from the period of the Kazan Khanate, discovered during epigraphic expeditions in the regions of Trans-Kama area in 2019 and 2022, as well as identified through archaeological research in Kazan over the last decade. A total of eleven stones of varying preservation, dated to the 15th–16th centuries, are presented. The paper includes the deciphering of the epitaph texts with translations into Russian, as well as the physical parameters and geocoordinates of the monuments. Preliminary analysis indicates that during the specified period, the traditions of manufacturing and installing burial monuments, characteristic of the Volga Bulgaria era, continued, thereby maintaining continuity. Certain details and pattern elements suggest that in the territory of the Kazan Khanate during the specified period, a distinct, independent school of stone-carving art had emerged.

Keywords

• archaeology
• epigraphic monuments
• epitaph art
• burial traditions of tatars
• kazan epigraphic school (1480–1552)
• kazan khanate (15th–16th centuries)