Kazan

Kazan (kəzän`, –zăn`, Rus. kəzä`nyə), city (1989 est. pop. 1,094,000), capital of Tatarstan, E European Russia, on the Volga. It is a major historic, cultural, industrial, and commercial center. Manufactures include chemicals, explosives, electrical equipment, building materials, consumer goods, and furs. Kazan's port and shipyards on the Volga make it an important water transport center. A settlement near the city's present-day site was founded by the Eastern Bulgars c.1000 A.D. Kazan later became the capital of a powerful, independent Tatar khanate (1445), which emerged from the empire of the Golden Horde. The khanate was conquered and the city sacked in 1552 by Ivan IV. It became the capital of the Volga region in 1708 and was an outpost (18th cent.) of Russian colonization in the east. It was burned by Pugachev in 1774 and was rebuilt during the reign of Catherine II. Little remains of the Muslim period except the Suyumbeka tower in the impressive 16th-century kremlin. Tolstoy and Lenin studied at the Univ. of Kazan (founded 1804). The city also has a branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, an ancient cathedral, several monasteries and mosques, and the Russian Islamic Univ. (founded 1998). The name is sometimes spelled Kasan.

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Kazan

City (pop., 2006 est.: 1,112,673), capital of the Tatarstan republic, western Russia. Located at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka rivers, it was founded in the 13th century by Mongols of the Golden Horde; it became the capital of an independent khanate in the 15th century. In 1552 Ivan IV (the Terrible) captured Kazan and subjugated the khanate. The city was burned in a revolt (1773–74), but after its reconstruction it grew in importance as a trading centre, and by the beginning of the 20th century it had become one of the chief manufacturing cities of Russia.

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Kazan¹

Elia , real name Elia Kazanjoglous 1909--2003, US stage and film director and writer, born in Turkey. His films include Gentleman's Agreement (1947) and On the Waterfront (1954) for both of which he won Oscars, and East of Eden (1955).

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Kazan²

a city in W Russia, capital of the Tatar Autonomous Republic on the River Volga: capital of an independent khanate in the 15th century; university (1804); a major industrial centre. Pop.: 1 108 000 (2005 est.)