Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 22.djvu/93

 S I M S I M 77 greater number (about two-thirds) are Great Russians, the remainder being Mordvinians (13 per cent.), Tchuvashes (9 '3 per cent.), and Tartars (8 '3 per cent. ), with about 1000 Jews. The Mordvinians are chiefly settled in the north-west, in Ardatoff and Alatyr (40 and 26 per cent, of population), and on the Volga in Senghilei ; the Tchuvashes make about one-third of the population of the districts of Buinsk and Kurmysh, contiguous to Kazan ; the Tartars con- stitute about 35 per cent, in Buiusk and 18 per cent, in Senghilei. Only the Tartars (about 100, 000) are Mohammedans, the remainder being Greek-Orthodox or Dissenters. As in other Volga govern- ments, the villages in Simbirsk are mostly large, many of them having from 3000 to 5000 inhabitants. Agriculture, favoured by a fertile soil, is the chief occupation, grain being exported or manufactured into spirit. Linseed and hempseed are cultivated for exportation, as also kitchen-garden produce and some fruit. Bee-keeping is a favourite and remunerative occupation with Mordviniaus, and fishing (sturgeon) is carried on in the Volga and the Sura. The timber-trade in the north and the shipbuilding on the Sura are considerable sources of wealth ; wooden sledges and wheels are made and exported, as well as bags of lime-tree bast, the last-named industry giving occupation to whole villages. Other petty trades, also carried on in conjunction with agriculture, are the manufacture of felts and felt hats, linen stuffs (especially among the Mordvinians), cottons, boots, and small metal wares. A character- istic feature of Simbirsk is the trade in wooden vessels, which are exported to Vyatka, Perm, Orenburg, Samara, and the Don, and there exchanged for cat, squirrel, and hare skins. Flour-mills are numerous. Watered by the Volga and Sura, and moreover traversed in its southern portion by the railway connecting Orenburg and Samara with Penza and Ryazan, by Batraki and Syzran, the govern- ment has an active trade. Its exports, however, are much below those of Samara and Saratoff. Batraki and Syzran are important centres of traffic, the aggregate amount of merchandise entered and cleared by rail and boat being respectively 2,435,000 and 2,000,000 cwts. (timber not included). The chief ports of lading on the Sura are Alatyr, Promzino-Gorodische, and Berezniki, each with exports valued at about 750,000 roubles. Corn, linseed, woollen stuils, timber, potash, and wooden wares are the principal articles of trade. Simbirsk is very backward a*t regards education. There were in 1882 only 462 schools (17,795 boys and 2663 girls) and 8 secondary schools (497 male and 516 female pupils). The government is divided into eight districts, the chief towns of which, with their populations in 1880, are Simbirsk (36,600), Alatyr (15,000), Ardatoff (4740), Buinsk (4130), Karsuli (3740), Kurmysh (1930), Senghilei (3500), and Syzran (24,500). Kotyakoif (580) and Tagai (2400) have municipal institutions. The above- mentioned ports of lading are more important than most of the towns. The first Russian settlers made their appearance in the Simbirsk region in the 14th century, but did not extend east of the Sura. Not till two centuries later did they cross the Sura and the district begin to be peopled by refugees from Moscow. The Zheguleff Mountains in the south still continuing to be a place of refuge for the criminal and the persecuted, Simbirsk was founded in 1648, and a palisaded earthen Avail was built, running south-west of the new town, with small forts extending to the Sura. The region thus protected was soon settled, and, as the Russian villages advanced further south, Syzran was founded, and a second line of small forts, extending also towards the Sura, was erected. The colonizers settled rapidly, and the aboriginal Mordvinians soon adopted many of their customs, so as to lose their ethnographical individuality, especially within the last fifty years. Simbirsk received the name of an old Tartar settlement, Sinbir, situated 9 miles south of the present town, on the opposite bank of the Volga. SIMBIRSK, capital of the above government, is situ- ated 576 miles east-south-east of Moscow, between the Volga and the Sviyaga, here separated by an isthmus only 2 miles broad. The central part of Simbirsk the Crown (Vyenets), containing the cathedral and the best houses is built on a hill 560 feet above the Volga, whence there is a beautiful view over the low left bank of the river. Adjoining is the trading part of Simbirsk, while farther down on the slope, towards the Volga, are scattered the store-houses, the shops for the sale of stoneware and other merchandise brought by the steamers and boats, and the poorest suburbs of the city; these last also occupy the western slope towards the Sviyaga. There are three suburbs on the left bank of the Volga, communication with them being maintained in summer by steamers. A great fire having destroyed nearly all the town in 1864, it has been again built on a new plan, still mostly of wood. The cathedral of St Nicholas dates from 1712. The new one, that of the Trinity, was erected by the nobility in com- memoration of 1812. The old church of St Nicholas on the Karamzin Square is architecturally pleasing. A public garden has been laid out on the top of the Vyenets Hill and another in the outskirts of the city, while no fewer than three hundred private gardens, where fruits are grown for exportation, are scattered throughout the town. The historian Karamzin (born in 1766 in the vicinity of Sim- birsk) has a monument here, and a public library bearing his name contains about 15,000 volumes. Gardening and fishing occupy many of the inhabitants. The trade is brisk, corn being the principal item, while next come potash, wool, fruits, wooden wares, and manufactured pro- duce. The Simbirsk fair, having a turnover of some 6 million roubles, still maintains its importance. The popu- lation (24,600 in 1867) was 36,600 in 1880. SIMEON (Hyp^), second son of Jacob by Leah (Gen. xxix. 33). The tribe of Simeon, like that of Levi, was broken up at a very early period, under circumstances of which we have some indication in Gen. xxxiv. and xlix. (see ISRAEL, vol. xiii. p. 400 sq., and LEVITES). In Judges i. the Simeonites appear as sharing the conquests of Judah in the extreme south of Canaan, but there is no mention of them in this region in 1 Sam. xxx., and the tribe is not named at all in the blessing of Moses. It reappears, however, in 1 Chron. iv. 24-43 (cf. xii. 25), and is reckoned to the kingdom of Ephraim (2 Chron. xv. 9 ; xxxiv. 6). The Arabian wars of Simeon spoken of in 1 Chron. iv. have been connected by Hitzig and others with a supposed Israelite kingdom of Massa, which they find in Prov. xxxi. 1, translating "Lemuel, king of Massa," and comparing Gen. xxv. 14 and Isa. xxi. 11 sq., where, however, it is quite gratuitous to suppose an embassy to the prophet from Israelites in Arabia. The whole speculation and the further development of Dozy (The Israelites in Mecca) is fanciful ; cf. Wellhausen, Prolegomena, Eng. tr., pp. 212 sq. The heroine of the book of Judith is made to be of the tribe of Simeon, but this book is quite unhistorical. SIMEON OP DURHAM. See SYMEON. SIMEON STYLITES. See MONACHISM, vol. xvi. p. 701. SIMFEROPOL, the capital of the Russian government of Taurida, is situated in the south-western part of the Crimea, on the Salghir (which frequently becomes dry), 900 miles from Moscow. Occupying an admirable site on the northern slopes of the Tchatyr-dagh, it has on the eastern side many beautiful gardens, and is divided into two parts, the European, well built in stone, and the Tartar, which consists of narrow and filthy streets peopled by Tartars and Jews. Although it has grown somewhat since the railway brought it into connexion with the rest of the empire, it still remains a mere administrative centre, without either manufacturing or commercial importance. The population was 16,550 in 1866 and 29,030 in 1881. In the neighbourhood stood the small fortress Napoli, erected by Skilur, the ruler of Taurida, some hundred years before the Christian era, which existed until the end of the 3d century. Afterwards the Tartars had here their settlement Ak-metchet, which was in the 17th century the residence of the chief military commander of the khan, and had the name of Sultan-serai. In 1736 it was taken and burnt by the Russians, and in 1784, after the conquest of Crimea by the Russians, it received its present name and became the capital of Taurida. SIMLA, a small district in the lieutenant-governorship of the Punjab, India, situated among the hills of the lower Himalayan system in 31 6' N. lat. and 77 11' E. long. It consists of several detached plots of territory, together com- prising an area of only 18 square miles. The mountains of Simla and the surrounding native states compose the southern outliers of the great central chain of the eastern Himalayas. They descend in a gradual series from the