Precursor to Russian Eastward Expansion

Timeline

1. 1552–1554Kazan · KazanIn 1552 Ivan IV conquered the Khanate of Kazan, removing the greatest obstacle to Muscovite eastward expansion. Russian troops and merchants then advanced along the Volga–Kama toward the Urals and began encountering the forces of the Siberian Khanate.
2. 1555–1560Perm–Vychegda · PermIn the later 1550s the Stroganov family received a tsarist charter to build wooden forts in Perm, Vychegda, and the Kama basin and to organize Cossacks and hunters deep east of the Urals for furs. The extension of trade routes and fort chains provided logistics and manpower for Yermak's later expedition.