SYZRAR  , a

town of Russia, in the government of Simbirsk, 156 m . E. of the town of Penza, and a short distance from the Volga . Pop . (1882), 24,500; (1900), 33,046 . Syzran originated in a fort, erected in 1683, to protect the district from the Tatars and Circassians . Most of its inhabitants are engaged in gardening and tillage . In the large villages of the surrounding district various petty trades are carried on . The town has long been in repute for its tanneries and its manufactures of leather . Several flour-mills and other factories have recently sprung up . Much grain is exported; timber is brought from the upper Volga, and manufactured wares from Nizhniy Novgorod .