In his book the Kazan ethnographer Dämir Is’haqov examines Tatar ethnic history in the 15th and 16th centuries, a time which he considers to be a key transitional period in Tatar ethnic history. The A. argues that it was in this period, when the Tatar population as a whole came under the rule of the unified Russian state that a unified Tatar identity emerged. The A. employs a broad range of sources, including both Russian archival documents and Turkic genealogical materials. The work is divided into two sections. The first section examines the administrative structure of the Kazan khanate and the « ethno-estate » (ètno-soslovnaja) structure in the Kazan khanate and under Russian rule through the 17th century. Here Is’haqov examines the feudal groupings in the Kazan khanate and their transformation under Russian rule into estates. In the second part of the work the A. examines periferal groups, outside of the central lands of the Kazan khanate. Specifically, these include the Mishars of the « Meščera Jurt » and Turkic communities of the trans-Kama region and Perm’ province. The A. argues that by the 17th century these disparate communities had begun to « crystallize » into the « Volga Tatar » ethnic group (ètnos), resulting in the transformation from the older estate-oriented identities.