The Volga Tatars is the first Western-language study to investigate the history of the Volga Tatars—the earliest non-Christian and non-Slavic people to be incorporated into the Russian state—from the tenth through the twentieth centuries. The rare scholar to access sources in the Tatar language, Azade-Ayşe Rorlich examines the shaping and evolution of Tatar identity, tracing the people's origins and conquest by the Russians, tsarist attempts to obliterate Tatar culture, and the growth of Tatar nationalism. At once a study of history, culture, religion, and politics, the book presents a solid frame of reference for one of Russia's Islamic peoples both before and after the Russian Revolution and illustrates the relevance of the Tatar past to modern events and concerns.