Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/134

Rh 116 11 Y A K Y C quarters of corn and 972,000 quarters of potatoes. The area under cultivation and the crops themselves are increasing, as also is the export of corn. But even here, in one of the wealthiest govern- ments of Russia, the situation of the peasants is far from satis- factory. Cattle-breeding is rapidly falling off on account of want of pasture lands, but hay, which is "abundant, especially on the rich meadow lands of the Oka, is exported. In 1882 there were 283,500 horses, 262,200 cattle, and 839,600 sheep, the figures having been 446,000, 297,000, and 847,000 respectively in 1858. In the northern part of the government various industries are carried on, such as boatbuilding, the preparation of pitch and tar, the manufacture of wooden vessels, sledges, &c. Various other petty trades, such as weaving, lace-making, and boot-making, are . ciiniiiiied with agriculture. Manufactures also have lately begun to make progress, and in 1882 their aggregate production reached 13,000,000 roubles (cotton and flax-spinning mills, glass-works and metal-ware works, and distilleries, the last-named producing to the value of 1,850,000 roubles). Trade, especially in corn and other agricultural produce and in merchandise manufactured in the villages, is very active. The railway from Ryazan to Moscow is one of the most important in Russia, from the amount of goods carried from the south-east Steppe governments. The Oka is another artery of traffic, the aggregate amount shipped to or sent from its ports within Ryazafl reaching 8,634,000 cwts. in 1880. The government is divided into twelve districts, the chief towns of which, with their populations in 1883, are subjoined : Ryazan (30,325 inhabitants), Dankoff (2475), Egorievsk (6055), Kasimoff (15,260), Mikhailoff (2720), Pronsk (1740), Ranenburg (4500), Ryazhsk (4265), Sapojok (2670), Skopin (10,260), Spassk (4320), and Zaraisk (5870). Ranenburg, Skopin, and Zaraisk are important markets for corn and hemp. Several villages, such as Mui-aovnya, Dyedinovo (6600) and Lovtsy (loading places on the Oka), and Ukolovo (market for corn), have more commerce and industry than the district towns. Large villages are numerous, about sixty having each from 2500 to 7000 inhabitants. The Slavonians oegan to colonize the region of Ryazafi as early as the 9th century, penetrating thither both from the north-west (Great Russians) and from the Dnieper (Little Russians). As early as the 10th century the principality of Murom and Ryazafi is mentioned in the chronicles. During the following centuries this principality increased both in extent and in wealth and included parts of what are now the governments of Kaluga and Moscow. Owing to the fertility of the soil, its Russian popula- tion rapidly increased, while the Finnish stems which formerly inhabited it migrated farther east, or became merged among the Slavonians. A dozen towns, all fortified and commercial, are mentioned as belonging to the principality towards the end of the 12th century. The Mongolian invasion stopped all this develop- ment. The horsemen of Batu burned and destroyed several towns in 1237, and killed many people, desolating the country. The principality, however, still continued to exist ; its great princes strongly opposed the annexation plans of Moscow, making alliance with the Mongols and with Lithuania, but they succumbed, and, the last of them, Ivan, having been imprisoned in Moscow, his principality was definitively annexed in 1517. RYAZAN, capital of the above government, lies 119 miles to the south-east of Moscow, on the elevated right bank of the Trubej, a mile above its junction with the Oka. A wide prairie dotted with large villages, being the bottom of a former lake, spreads out from the base of the crag on which Ryazan stands, and has the aspect of an immense lake when it is inundated in the spring. Except one or two streets, the town is badly built, chiefly of wood, and ill-paved. It has often suffered from fire, and has few remains of former days. The large church of Uspensk dates from 1770. Those of Arkhangelsk and Kresto- vozdvijensk have preserved, however, their old archi- tecture, though obliterated to some extent by subsequent repairs, as also the archiepiscopal palace, formerly the "terem" of the great princes. The industries are un- developed, and the trade has less importance than might be expected from the position of the town in so rich a region. It is, however, an important railway centre, no less than 15,000,000 cwts., chiefly of corn, being brought from the south-east and sent on to Moscow, while nearly 3,390,000 cwts. of various manufactured and grocery wares are con- veyed in the opposite direction. The loading place on the Oka also has some importance. The population, 30,325 in 1883, is increasing but slowly. The capital of Ryazan principality was Ryazafi now Old Ryazan, a village close to Spassk, also on the Oka. It is mentioned in annals as early as 1097, but continued to be the chief town of the principality only until the 14th century. In the llth century one of the Kieff princes probably Yaroslaff Svyatoslavitch in 1095 founded, on the banks of a small lake, a fort which received the name of Pereyaslaff-Ryazanskiy. In 1294 (or in 1335) the bishop of Murom, compelled to leave his own town and probably following the usual policy of that epoch, that of selecting a JK-W town with no municipal traditions, as the nucleus of a new state, settled in Pereyaslaff-Ryazanskiy, and thus gave new importance to this formerly insignificant settlement. The great princes of Ryazan followed his example and by-and-by completely abandoned the old republican town of Ryazan, transferring also its name to Pereyaslaff-Ryazanskiy. In 1300 a congress of Russian princes was held there, and in the following year the town was taken by the Moscow prince. It continued, however, to be the residence of the Ryazafi princes until 1517. In 1365 and 1377 it was plundered and burned by Tartars, but in the two following centuries (in 1460, 1513, 1521, and 1564) it was strong enough to repel them. Earthen walls with towers were erected after 1301 ; and in the 17th century a "kreml" still stood on the high crag above the Trubej. Ryazan became chief town of the Ryazafi lieutenancy in 1778. RYBINSK, or RulBiNSK, though but a district town of the government of Yaroslavl, with a permanent population (1883) of only 18,900, is, as being virtually the port of St Petersburg on the Volga, one of the most important towns of the northern part of Central Russia. It lies 54 miles to the north-west of Yaroslavl, and is connected by rail (186 miles) with Bologoye, on the line between St Petersburg and Moscow. It derives its importance from its situation on the Volga, opposite the mouth of the Sheksna, one of those tributaries which, flowing from the north-west, have since the dawn of Russian history connected the Volga with the regions around Lake Ladoga. Russians settled there as early as the 12th century, or perhaps earlier; subsequently it seems to have become a mere fishing station under Moscow, with perhaps some shipbuilding. It became a considerable centre for traffic when the Vyshnevolotsk, Tikhvinsk, and Mariinsk canal systems, connecting St Petersburg with the Volga, were opened. The cargoes of the larger boats from the lower Volga, consisting mainly of corn and flour, as also of salt, spirits, potash, and tallow, are here trans- ferred to smaller boats capable of accomplishing the navigation to St Petersburg, and vice versa. The amount of goods thus transhipped is estimated at 16,000,000 cwts., -worth 32,800,000 roubles. Since the opening of the line to Bologoye, a large proportion of this merchandise is sent to St Petersburg by rail (9,293,000 cwts. in 1880). The total number of boats visiting Rybinsk annually is estimated at 5000 to 7000, their aggregate cargoes amounting to nearly 20,000,000 cwts. (about 40,000,000 roubles). Upwards of 100,000 labourers (male and female) assemble at Rybinsk during the navigation, and the num- ber of vessels is so great as to cover the Volga and the Sheksna like a bridge. Besides the business of tranship- ment, Rybinsk has an active trade in corn, hemp, <kc., from the neighbouring districts. The town is but poorly built, and its sanitary condition leaves very much to be desired, especially in summer. RYCAUT, or RICATTT, Sra PAUL (d. 1700), traveller and diplomatist, was the tenth son of Sir Peter Ricaut, a Royalist who on account of his support of King Charles had to pay a composition of 1500. The son was admitted a scholar of Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1647, and took his B.A. degree in 1650. After travelling in Europe and in various parts of Asia and Africa, he in 1661 accom- panied as secretary the earl of Winchelsea, ambassador extraordinary to Turkey. During a residence there of eight years he wrote The Present State of the Ottoman Empire, in three books ; containing the, Maxims of the Turkish Politic, their Religion and Military Discipline (1670; 4th ed., 1686; Fr. transl. by Briot, 1670; and another with notes by Bespier, 1677). In 1663 he pub-