The Kazan Dragon

SOME FOLKS SAY that a "Zilant" is not really a dragon, but a winged snake-like creature closely related to dragons. For the residents of the Tatarstan region in Russia, the Zilant on their flag is known as the "Kazan Dragon."

There was once a young wife living in the city of Old Kazan in what is now present day Tatarstan. Every day she had to fetch water from the Kazanka River. One day she had the opportunity to meet the local khan. She complained to him that the city was poorly situated and it would be much better for everyone to move the city to Zilantaw Hill on the banks of the Kazanka River; better for him because the hill provided a more defensible position, and better for the residents who could draw their water from the nearby river more easily. The khan agreed with her and ordered the entire city moved.

However, Zilantaw Hill was infested with snakes; little snakes, big snakes, snakes as big and stout as logs, thousands of snakes that tormented the villagers and infested their homes. The most fearsome of all, the leader of the snakes, was the wicked zilant who terrorized the residents of the new village, eating their livestock, pets, and even small children.

The khan sent for his wisest wizard to ask what was to be done. The wizard told the khan to gather a large pile of straw and wood just outside the city. The next spring, the snakes came out of their winter burrows and slithered into the straw pile, which was warm against the crisp air of the early Russian spring. Then, at the signal from the wizard, a knight-errant came out from the village and set fire to the straw and wood pile, burning the snakes. It is said that, even in their deaths, the snakes were still a plague to the villagers as their burning stink overpowered many people and horses.

But the zilant escaped the fire. In one version of the tale, the zilant flees to the nearby Quaban Lakes where he lives in an underwater kingdom beneath the lake and from there, from time to time, wreaks vengeance on the citizens of the town. In another version of the story, the zilant confronts the knight who set the fire. In a great battle, both are slain; the zilant cuts the knight into six pieces before succumbing to the poison on the knight's pike.

We do know that the zilant wound up on the flag of Kazan. It's not clear why folks would put their nemesis on their flag. Nevertheless, Kazan is the sixth largest city in Russia and the capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan with a population of over a million people.

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