Theodore Dolgolyadsky

Theodore Dolgolyadsky, in the world Fyodor Melik-⁠Tagirovich, was a Tatar prince in the service of the grand prince of Moscow Vasily III, the youngest son of Melik-⁠Tagir and a nephew of Khan Ilham of Kazan. He is glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Theodore Dolgolyadsky. Our sources give no date of canonization, no day of commemoration and no year of his death, but only his life as an official and military commander.

Theodore's father was taken prisoner in 1487 by Russian troops, when the coup was carried out at Kazan that put the Russian nominee, Muhammad Amin, in power. Melik-⁠Tagir lived in exile at Kargolom, near Beloozero. He was not imprisoned, had a court of his own and served the Russian tsar. But around 1490 Melik-⁠Tagir and his brother Ilham died in unclear circumstances.

The two sons of Melik-⁠Tagir were not forgotten; they were raised under the tsar's care and baptized with the names Vasily and Theodore. Both showed themselves to be notable commanders.

Theodore is first mentioned in 1513, when he was under his uncle Peter Ibrahimovich and was left to defend Moscow during Vasily III's campaign against Smolensk. In 1516 he commanded the Great Regiment at Velikiye Luki, probably only formally. In 1531 he was governor at Novgorod. In 1534 he was second commander at Borovsk. In 1535 he went with the Great Regiment to Bryansk against the Lithuanians. In 1537 he commanded the Great Regiment at Kolomna, to defend the region against the raids of the Tatars.