The meaning of the phraseological unit Kazan orphan and its history. Why is an orphan always from Kazan? (Origin of famous expressions)

Expression"Orphan of Kazan"Today it is quite common, but it is used rather as a kind mockery. A similar phraseological unit is used for those people who always whine and complain about their lives, pretend to be helpless, deprived and offended. These people try to put pressure on their interlocutor with their complaints, they try to call sympathy, for some own, most likely selfish purpose.

Let's figure out where this phrase first appeared " Orphan of Kazan". If there are no questions with the word "orphan", then the word "Kazan" is puzzling. Why exactly "Kazan" and not, for example, "Tula", "Voronezh" or "Vladivostok"?
It turns out that all the answers are hidden in the history of the Russian Empire. A long time ago, back in 16 century, when the autocrat Ivan 4 ruled in Russia, the city of Kazan belonged to the Kazan Khanate. This rich city was ruled by special people who were called Murza.
When Ivan groznyj decided to deal with this small khanate at his side and sent an army there, then the khanate was finished once and for all.
However, the Murzas remained, who were accustomed to eat deliciously and sleep sweetly. they went to the capital and begged for all sorts of benefits and other preferences for themselves, while constantly complaining about their poor life, their bitter fate, the fact that their children were starving. Thus, they tried to arouse pity from the king and many of them succeeded.
The people quickly noticed all these begging and humiliation and gave these murazs an apt nickname " Orphan of Kazan".

Approximately one hundred years after the events described in 17 century, when Aleksey Mikhailovich ruled on the throne of the Russian state, most high-ranking Tatars changed their faith. It must be admitted that they changed not because they realized it, but because they were quite generously rewarded for changing their faith. Researchers of Russian history find many examples when these crafty and cunning murzas, rubbing themselves into trust, were rewarded with horses, velvet, satin, fur coats, goblets, pearls, and so on. Such concern for an alien tribe is easily explained. Moreover, such a policy made it possible to make the majority of noble Tatars loyal to the new government.

However, unlike democratic Western countries, which would cut all Tatars to the root, the policy of the Russian state towards small peoples, which allows them to have their own faith and their own language, is much more beneficial. That is why " Orphans of Kazan"which at first glance should be completely exterminated, now live in Russian Federation and do not experience any harassment.

In the section on the question Where did the expression "Kazan orphan" come from? given by the author Undersalt the best answer is Orphan of Kazan - this expression was born in the 16th century. After the conquest of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible, Kazan murzas (princes) had to pretend to be poor and unfortunate in order to get encouragement and awards from the new owner. From that time on, the one who comes down with profit for himself, the people mockingly calls the Kazan orphan.
In the 17th century, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich generously rewarded those Tatars who decided to change their faith. There are many examples in historical documents when ordinary rogues and beggars received royal awards, gifts in the form of salaries, sable coats, silver ladles, goblets, pearls, velvet, satin, horses.
"Kazan orphans" at all times were favored by the royal court. Excessive concern for a foreign tribe, which caused so much trouble to the Russian people, at first glance seems unjustified. But on the other hand, such a policy pulled the representatives of the Tatar nobility under the shadow of the Russian throne.

Answer from 22 answers[guru]

Hey! Here is a selection of topics with answers to your question: Where did the expression "Kazan orphan" come from?

Answer from Yeolon[guru]
She lived as an orphan in Kazan. Nobody loved her. So the expression has spread like a meme.


Answer from Alexander Fedorchuk[expert]
Since the 90s, when groups in Kazan were shooting at each other


Answer from tales[guru]
The field of the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible


Answer from I-beam[master]
In October 1552, the army of Ivan the Terrible took the city of Kazan, the capital of the Tatar Kazan Khanate. A considerable territory of the Khanate came under the rule of Moscow. In order to keep the Tatar population in obedience, the Russian authorities tried to win over the Tatar nobility, princes - murzas. The princes, for the most part, were quite willing to meet the new government, trying to maintain their position and wealth. Many of them converted to Christianity, received gifts from the tsar and traveled to Moscow to join the royal retinue there. Our people began to mockingly call these princes and princes "Kazan orphans" - at the court they became shy, tried to get as many awards and "salaries" as possible.
"Orphan of Kazan" - a person pretending to be unhappy in order to arouse the sympathy of compassionate people; in this sense, we still use the old nickname as a saying.


Kazan (Kazan) orphan Razg. Iron. A person who, wanting to pity someone, pretends to be unhappy, offended, helpless. - There is nothing to sing Lazarus! Flenushka interrupted him. - How to eat a real Kazan orphan! No, dear friend, you will not pity me!(Melnikov-Pechersky. In the forests). - Initially: about the Tatar mirzas (princes), who, after the conquest of the Kazan kingdom by Ivan the Terrible, tried to receive all kinds of indulgences from the Russian tsars, complaining about their bitter fate. Lit.: Dictionary Russian language / Edited by prof. D. N. Ushakova. - M., 1940. - T. 4. - S. 192.

Phraseological dictionary of Russian literary language. - M.: Astrel, AST. A. I. Fedorov. 2008 .

See what the "Kazan (Kazan) orphan" is in other dictionaries:

    Kazan (Kazan) orphan- Razg. A person who pretends to be unhappy, offended, helpless, etc., in order to arouse the sympathy of compassionate people. FSRYA, 425; BMS 1998, 524–525; FM 2002, 432; Mokienko 1986, 33 ...

    an orphan- s; pl. orphans and (colloquial) orphans; m. and w. 1. A child, a teenager who has lost one or both parents. Early became an orphan. She grew up as an orphan. I have neither father nor mother, I am with. Round (round) with. (without father and mother). // About a lonely person, ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

    AN ORPHAN- Kazan (Kazan) orphan. Razg. A person who pretends to be unhappy, offended, helpless, etc., in order to arouse the sympathy of compassionate people. FSRYA, 425; BMS 1998, 524–525; FM 2002, 432; Mokienko 1986, 33. To live as a Kazan orphan. Sib. Be… … Big dictionary of Russian sayings

    an orphan- s, pl. orphans, m. and f. 1. A child, a teenager who has lost one or both parents. Only I, the poor, on my feet became an orphan was left without a mother. I. Nikitin, For what kind of guilt and misfortune. [Upmanis:] You are an orphan. You have no father or mother. You would die with... Small Academic Dictionary

    AN ORPHAN- ORphan, orphans, pl. orphans (orphans of the region), male. and wives. A child or minor whose father and mother or one of whose parents have died. Round orphan (see round). Stay orphaned. ❖ Kazan or Kazan orphan (colloquial ironic) person, ... ... Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

    an orphan- Kazan or Kazan orphan (colloquial iron.) A person pretending to be unhappy, trying to pity someone. their imaginary hardships [from the former Tatar mirzas from Kazan, who, after its conquest, enjoyed the favors of the Moscow tsars]. Not … Phraseological dictionary of the Russian language

    Kazan- oh, oh. Pertaining to Kazan, located in it. Kazan orphan ... Dictionary of many expressions

    Kazan- oh, oh. adj. to Kazan. ◊ Kazan (Kazan) orphan about a person pretending to be unhappy in order to pity someone. There is no point in singing Lazarus! .. Flenushka interrupted him. How there is a real Kazan orphan! .. No, my dear friend, I’m not ... ... Small Academic Dictionary

    complain about life- ▲ complain in (direction), a person's life complain about fate. ooh sigh. nagging. whine. whining. whine. whimper. whine. dissolve nurses. cry. cry [cry. owls / nesov] in a vest to whom (colloquial). sing lazarus. | sprinkle your head... Ideographic Dictionary of the Russian Language

    KAZAN- male, Tatar. (why the name of the city) boiler, esp. a large, smeared or mortgaged boiler; distilling boilers are called cauldrons, also flat, copper boilers in wax slaughterhouses, etc. Kazanok, Kazan, cauldron. Kazan bukhma kaz, dumplings. Kazan kabav ... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

Do you know, my dear readers, the meaning of the idiom "Kazan orphan"? You must have heard this expression! Or maybe they themselves used it in speech, addressing someone with irony?

Let's find out together with you the origin of this phrase. After all, sometimes it happens that you know the meaning and meaning, you understand its definition and what it means. But it would be interesting to know what is the exact historical origin of the expression "Kazan orphan", where it came from.

If with the first word of this catchphrase everything is more or less clear, then the second one is somehow not very good. Why is the orphan Kazan, and not Moscow or, for example, Krasnodar? Are there some special orphans in Kazan, or what? 😆

Questions, questions ... And there are answers to them too, and even a few. And they are all connected with the history of the Russian state, with Russian rulers.

The first version is the most common and plausible. As a result of only the fifth attempt, Ivan-4 managed to take the city of Kazan, the capital of the Kazan Khanate. Even from the defeat, the defeated Tatar princes - the Murzas - decided to extract more benefits for themselves.

Having already once received material gifts from the king for their humility and obedience, some of them regularly sought royal audiences. Exposing yourself very unhappy and impoverished, while complaining about your hard life which was of course not true, they were begging for extra favors.

Some openly flattered the king, and some voluntarily converted to Christianity, as this was encouraged by rich gifts and high positions. It was precisely such hypocritical “poor people” and such complainers that the people called Kazan Orphans in mockery.

From there it went: those who call themselves poor, destitute, constantly complain about their hard lot in the hope of getting some benefit for themselves, but, in fact, they are not, they are called an orphan, and even from Kazan.

Most often, this expression is used with sarcasm.

Version number 2. How they profited from someone else's misfortune

There is another way to explain this, in general, common phraseological unit. Here, too, Ivan-4 could not do without. After the Russian Tsar nevertheless managed to destroy the Kazan Khanate and capture its capital, he showed everyone his temper. Not in vain, nevertheless, Terrible was called formidable.

A few days after Kazan began to belong to the Russians, by order of the tsar, an old arba, a cart, was rolled out to the central square of the city. The entire male population of the city was forced to pass by this cart.

The condition was this: the one who was taller than the wheel of this wagon, which means that he was already an adult who could well participate in the battle against the Russian troops and defend the city, was immediately executed, beheaded. The city was drowning in blood. Only women, old people and children without fathers, orphans survived.

And then the king punished them so that they would go and tell everywhere about the fall of the khanate. And so the children walked in groups of several people, telling everyone about who they were and where they came from, begging for alms. This is how the expression came about. Seeing the poor, hungry children, people said: "This is an orphan of Kazan." Naturally, they took pity on the children, helped them, gave them food and clothes.

But over time, people began to speculate on this and, together with, indeed, Kazan orphans, everyone went and begged for alms - both Kazan and non-Kazan, while telling fictional "compassionate" stories.

The people found out about this, and the attitude changed. After that, with a mockery, they began to say: “There is an orphan of Kazan coming,” which means a deceiver, a rogue. Does it remind you of our days in some way? The world has changed little over the centuries... 😀

Version number 3. Not a Kazan orphan, but the Russian Empress!

There is another version, something like a historical anecdote. Another crowned person is already participating here: Ekaterina-2. If you tell briefly, you get such a story of the origin of this, in general, common phraseological unit.

The empress, who arrived in Kazan, was greeted with numerous gifts and honors. To which she allegedly said: “You meet me with such pomp, as if I myself had nothing. As if I were an orphan from Kazan.

By the way, the memory of this visit to the royal person has been preserved in Kazan for many centuries. Until now, the museums of the city have many items in memory of this event.

One of these historical exhibits is the carriage of Empress Catherine II. The original is kept in the museum, but a life-size copy is now available to anyone. It is located on the famous Bauman pedestrian street in Kazan, where everyone can feel like a king or queen by taking a picture while sitting in the "royal" seat.

These are the options for what the expression means and why they say “Kazan orphan” so. But to choose - what to believe and what not - it's up to you.

Well, if you are going to Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, then you will definitely not regret the days spent here. will not leave anyone indifferent. There are a great many of them, and they can satisfy any interests of the tourist. Those places where I managed to visit are marked on this map.

Or maybe you have other information: where did this expression come from, what events preceded its occurrence. Write about it in your comments. I will be very happy and grateful.

The meaning of the phraseological unit "Kazan orphan" and its history What does the expression "Kazan orphan" mean, most likely, everyone knows, because in speech we very often use this phraseological unit. But what is the story, and why is the orphan from Kazan - we will try to find an answer to this question. The Russian language is rich in phraseological units. For example, a person who tries to arouse pity for himself, shows himself unfairly offended and destitute, is often called the "Kazan orphan." The meaning of phraseologism is very simple and understandable. It carries both pity and a share of mockery, irony over those who are trying to seem pathetic. Very often, a person who constantly complains about his failures, but is to blame for them himself, is also called the "Kazan orphan". Now this phrase is so firmly entrenched in our speech that sometimes we don’t think about the original meaning of this epithet - “Kazan orphan”. Meanwhile, the meaning and origin of phraseologism are very interesting and are rooted in the distant past. A bit of history We all remember the numerous conquests of Ivan the Terrible. "Kazan took, Astrakhan took, Rhubarb took" - the famous catchphrase from a comedy movie. The meaning of the phraseological unit "Kazan orphan" and its history just refer to the valiant time of the capture of Kazan. The soldiers of Ivan the Terrible tried to capture the Kazan Khanate three times, but the attempts were unsuccessful. There was no order and coherence in the army. And so Ivan the Terrible came up with a cunning move, which consisted in the siege of the city and the gradual narrowing of the "ring", as a result of which the city was left without sources of food and assistance. The idea was a success, and Kazan was taken even faster than the most experienced warriors expected. The Crimean Khan did not have time to help either, which also played into the hands of the Russian Tsar. How did Ivan the Terrible deal with the captive Kazan princes? Tried to make them allies. He left them all their possessions, generously endowed them, put them in public service with a good salary - all so that there were loyal subjects in the Kazan Khanate. The origin of the phrase "Kazan orphan" Here we come to the most important thing: the meaning of the phraseological unit "Kazan orphan" was precisely formed during the capture of Kazan. So they began to call those same Kazan khans, showered with all sorts of favors, but all the time complaining about their bitter fate and begging for more and more benefits for themselves. In petitions to the tsar, they often called themselves "orphans." Russian boyars, seeing one of these unfortunate khans, said with a grin: "Here is an orphan of Kazan!" The expression quickly spread, penetrated into all corners of a large country and through a short time acquired a figurative meaning - exactly the one in which we use this phrase to this day. Another version There is another point of view explaining the phrase "Kazan orphan". The meaning of phraseology goes back to the same historical era - the capture of the Kazan Khanate by Ivan the Terrible. The fact is that after the conquest of Kazan, many families were completely killed, and in some only small children survived. They were ordered to be given up for education to peasants, boyars and even nobles in various cities and villages of Russia. Such children began to be called Kazan orphans. But the use of the phrase in this sense had no ironic meaning. Rather, it was sympathetic: the phrase was used in relation to a child left without parents and given to the care of strangers, in a culture alien to him. Phraseologism in our days Although many years have passed since those distant events, the phraseological unit "Kazan orphan" is firmly entrenched in speech and is actively used to this day. It can be heard in everyday communication, seen on the pages of works fiction. Let not everyone think about the historical meaning of the expression, but use it quite often. The meaning of the phraseological unit "Kazan orphan" is played up in the touching New Year's film by Vladimir Mashkov, but the meaning is invested in it, rather, sympathetic than mocking. A film about a Russian girl, a teacher, trying to find her father, who did not even know about her birth. Three men immediately responded to her letter, each of whom could be the one she was looking for. This is how a girl, until recently considered an orphan, found three wonderful fathers at once!