Kazan

Kazan, a government of Russia, having Nijni-Novgorod on the W., Viatka on the N., and Simbirsk on the S. It has an area of more than 24,000 square miles, and an increasing population. Forest covers about a third of the soil, but from the rest rye and wheat are raised. 2. Kazan, the capital, stands on the left bank of the Volga, 430 miles directly E. of Moscow. Some 30 miles N.W. of its site stood the old capital of a Mongol kingdom which was conquered by the Russians in 1552. Of this date are its cathedral and monastery. Kazan is important both commercially and as an educational centre, and the growth of its population of recent years has been rapid. The export trade to Asia Minor and Central Asia is carried on by the Tatars. Leather, soap, gunpowder, and candles are made here. The university, Kazan's chief glory, was founded by Alexander I., and has a fine library and observatory and upwards of 1,000 students. The city is the see of a Greek archbishop, and contains an image of the Virgin which works miracles, and a sacred tower called the Sumbek.