Kasim Khan

Year of birth unknown; died circa 1469. The first khan (“tsar”) of the Kasimov Kingdom. Son of Khan Ulu Muhammad of the Golden Horde and brother of Khan Mahmudek of Kazan, who was feuding with Muscovy.

In 1446, Kasim Khan entered the service of Vasilii II Vasil’evich Temnyi, grand prince of Muscovy, and supported him against Prince Dmitrii Shemiaka in 1449 and 1450. In 1449, Kasim Khan defeated the troops of Khan Said Ahmad of the Golden Horde on the Pakhra River. Around 1450–56, Vasilii II gave Gorodets-Meshcherskii to Kasim Khan as an appanage. In 1467, Kasim Khan undertook an unsuccessful campaign against Kazan.