Siege of Bilär 1236
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1236 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Medieval (500–1499) | derived from year |
| Location | Russia | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 54.9853, 50.3977 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Bilär was a battle for the capital city of Volga Bulgaria, between the Volga Bulgars and the Mongols. It took place in the autumn of 1236 and lasted 45 days. It ended with the destruction of Bilär and the massacre of its population, estimated at several dozen thousand.
After the Battle of Samara Bend, the Bolghars renovated Bilär's fortifications. The third 11-kilometre-long wall of stone and wood encircled the city. However, after the Mongols besieged the city, it withstood the siege only for 45 days.
By the materials uncovered by archaeological excavations, the city was burnt after falling, and the unburied remains of its population were found all over Bilär. The excavations prove the Kazan Tatar legends and the Russian chronicles, which wrote that the Mongols:
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Bilär (revision 1374524519), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Kazan (1774) 1774 · 118 km
- Siege of Kazan 1552 · 121 km
- Battle of the Kondurcha River 1391 · 171 km
Other battles of the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus'
- Siege of Kolomna 1236
- Siege of Ryazan 1237
- Battle of the Sit River 1238
- Siege of Kozelsk 1238
- Siege of Vladimir 1238
- Siege of Kiev (1240) 1240
- Battle of Kulikovo 1380
All 8 battles of the Mongol invasion of Kievan Rus' →
Browse more: battles in Russia · Europe · Medieval battles