Some scholars have proposed that two tribes mentioned by the Gothic writer Jordanes in his "Getica" among the peoples in the realm of Gothic king Ermanaric in the fourth century CE can be equated with the Mari people. However, the identification of the "Imniscaris" (or "Sremniscans") with "Cheremis", and "Merens" with "Mari" is controversial. The first safely attested mention of the Mari people comes from Khazar sources from the 10th century, where they appear by the exonym "tsarmis" (= "Cheremis"). At that time, the Mari settlement area was along the Volga. In the 13th century, the Mari fell under the influence sphere of the Golden Horde, and in 1443 became subjects of the Kazan khanate. During this time, the Maris experienced some cultural convergence with the ruling Tatars and the Volga Bulgars, which is also seen in Turkic lexical and grammatical influence on the Mari language. In 1552, the Mari territory was incorporated into Russia with the Russian conquest of Kazan under Ivan the Terrible. While some Maris (mostly Hill Maris) assisted the Russian conquest, the majority of the Maris fought back in the so-called "Cheremis Wars". By the end of the 16th century, resistance was finally quelled, leaving a heavy toll on the Mari population. As a result of the ensuing influx of Russian settlers, and to escape forced Christianization (starting from 1700), Maris started to settle further east in present-day Bashkortostan. In the following centuries under tsarist Russia, the Maris were able to retain their ethnic and cultural identity, reinforced by repeated waves of returning to their traditional pre-Christian religion.