Söyembikä of Kazan

Söyembikä (also spelled Söyenbikä, Sujumbike, pronounced [sœˌjœmbiˈkæ]; Cyrillic: Сөембикә) (1516 – after 1554) was a Tatar ruler, xanbikä. She served as regent of Kazan during the minority of her son from 1549 until 1551.

She was the daughter of Nogay nobleman Yosıf bäk and the wife of Kazan khans Canğäli (1533–35), Safagäräy (1536–49) and Şahğäli (after 1553). In 1549, she became regent during the minority of her son, Kazan khan Ütämeşgäräy.

In 1551, after the first partial conquest of the Khanate of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible she was forcibly moved to Moscow with her son and later married to Şahğäli, Russia-imposed khan of Qasim and Kazan Tatars.

She is the national hero of Tatarstan. Her name is associated first of all with Söyembikä Tower, that Ivan the Terrible wanted to marry her, so she agreed that if he built her a tower made with seven tiers (one for each day of the week) then she would marry him. Ivan the Terrible supposedly finished the tower within the week so Söyembikä went up to the top of the tower and after looking out at her beautiful home of Kazan she became so overwhelmed with emotion for her people that she couldn't bear to marry the tsar and jumped off.

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