SYZRAK, a district town of Russia, in the government of Simbirsk, lies 90 miles to the south of Simbirsk, a few miles from the Volga. It originated in a fort, erected in 1683, to protect the district from Tatars and Circassians. Most of its inhabitants (24,500 in 1882) are engaged in gardening and tillage. In the large villages of the surrounding district, one of the richest in Simbirsk, various petty trades are carried on. Syzraii has long been in repute for its tanneries and manufactures of leather (£20,000 annually)... Several flour-mills and other manufactures have recently sprung up. The town is connected by rail with Penza and Morshansk in the west, and with Orenburg in the east, and much grain is exported; timber is brought from the upper Volga, and manufactured wares from Nijni-Novgorod. In 1882 the goods shipped from Syzraii and Batraki (a port on the Volga) were valued at £153,540. In the same year the grain and other wares sent by rail exceeded one million cwts. Syzraii is a badly built town, most of the houses being of wood.