Isker

Qashliq, Isker, or Sibir (Siberian Tatar: Искәр) was a medieval (14th–16th century) Siberian Tatar fortress, in the 16th century the capital of the Khanate of Sibir, located on the right bank of the Irtysh River at its confluence with the Sibirka rivulet, some 17 km from the modern city of Tobolsk. The fortress is first mentioned in Russian sources of the 14th century.

The period of the most development was in the first half of the 16th century. In 1582, the troops of Cossack ataman Yermak seized and ruined Qashliq. The ruined city was retaken by the Siberian Tatars in 1584 only to be lost forever in 1586. The nearby city of Tobolsk was founded in 1587.

Sources differ on the exact location of the fortress. Most give the distance upriver from Tobolsk as 17 or 18 km, or versts, or ten to eleven miles, but others give 23 km. Sources of the early 19th century claim that the ruins of the fortress could still be made out with difficulty. The modern village of Sibiryak (поселок Сибиряк) is located close to the site.

Text adapted from “Qashliq” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Isker ranks #581 of 7,044 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #27 of the 128 mapped in Russia. Founded c. 1550, it is older than 37% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 687 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. See how Russia compares in the castle statistics.

View on the interactive castle map →

Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗