Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 21, ROT-Siam

243
S A M-
Samara, purchased from the crown or from the Bashkirs at nomi¬
nal prices—very often a few copecks per acre—are in the hands of
no more than 1704 persons. The aggregate taxes exacted from
the peasants amounting to 5,782,870 roubles (1879), that is to say,
from 8 to 10 roubles per male, they are, when account is taken of
the advances received during scarcity, reduced to absolute destitu¬
tion whenever the crops are short, so as to be compelled to sell
their last horse and cow. In 1880 the arrears reached 7,000,000
roubles, to which must be added about 8,000,000 roubles of advances,
and in 1882, out of the 1,196,646 roubles proposed to be levied by the
zemstvos, 376,643 remained in arrears. The general impoverish¬
ment may be judged from the death-rate, which for several years
has ranged from 46 to 48 per thousand. In 1879 61,488 families
were compelled to abandon their homes and disperse throughout
Russia in search of employment; while 100,000 families were left
wholly destitute of cattle in 1880. Notwithstanding an increase
of population by nearly one-third during the last twenty years the
numbers of sheep and cattle decreased by about one-half from 1863
to 1882.
The manufactures of Samara are unimportant, the aggregate
production (chiefly from tanneries, flour-mills, tallow-melting
houses, and distilleries) in 1882 reaching only 7,671,000 roubles
(£767,100). Petty trades, especially the weaving of woollen cloth,
are making progress in the south. The culture of oil-yielding
plants is developed in several districts, as is also that of tobacco
(10;690 acres, yielding 101,980 cwts., in 1884). Trade is very
active—corn, tallow, potash, salt, and some woollen cloth being
exported; the imports of raw cotton from Central Asia by the
Orenburg railway to be forwarded to the interior of Russia are
increasing. The aggregate value of merchandise shipped on the
Yolga and its tributaries within the government reached 27,025,000
roubles in 1882 ; while 9,100,000 cwts. of merchandise were carried
in both directions on the Orenburg railway. The chief loading places
are Samara, Stavropol, Bafakova, and Pokrovsk on the Yolga, Staro-
Mainsk on the Maina, and Ekaterininsk on the Bezentchuk.
The government is divided into seven districts, the chief towns of
which, with population as estimated in 1879, are—Samara (63,400
inhabitants), Bugulma (13,000), Bugurustan (18,000), Buzutuk
(10,500), Nikolaevsk (9,900), Novo-Uzen (9700), and Stavropol
(4265). Serghievsk (1000) also has municipal institutions ; its
mineral waters are becoming more and more frequented. Pokrov¬
skaya Stoboda (20,000), Ekaterinenstadt, Giushitza, and Alexan-
droff Gay, each with more than 5000 inhabitants, the loading place
of Balakova (2500), and several others, although still but villages,
have more importance than most of the above towns.
The territory now occupied by Samara was until last century the
abode of nomads. The Bulgarians who occupied it until the 13th
century were followed by Mongols of the Golden Horde. The
Russians penetrated thus far in the 16th century, after the defeat
of the principalities of Kazak and Astrakhan. To secure com¬
munication between these two cities, the fort of Samara was
erected in 1586, as well as Saratoff, Tsaritsyn, and the first line of
Russian forts, which extended from Byetyi Yar to the neighbour¬
hood of Menzelinsk near the Kama. A few settlers began to
gather under its protection. In 1670 it was taken by the insur¬
gent leader Stenka Razin, whose name is still remembered in
the province. In 1732 the line of forts was removed a little
farther east, so as to include Krasnyi Yar and parts of what is now
the district of Bugurustan. The Russian colonists also’ advanced
eastwards as the forts were pushed forwards and increased in
number. The southern part of the territory, however, remained
still exposed to the raids of the nomads. In 1762 Catherine II.
invited foreigners, especially Germans, and Nonconformists who
had left Russia, to settle within the newly-annexed territory.
Emigrants from various parts of Germany responded to the call,
as also did the Raskolniks, whose communities on the Irghiz soon
became the centre of a formidable insurrection of the peasantry
which broke out in 1775 under Pugatcheff and was supported by
the Kalmucks and the Bashkirs. After the insurrection, in 1787,
a new line of forts from Uzen to the Yolga and the Urals was
erected to protect the southern part of the territory. At the end
of the 18th century Samara became an important centre for trade.
As soon as the southern part of the territory became quiet, great
numbers of Great and Little Russians began to settle there—the
latter by order of Government for the transport of salt obtained
in the salt lakes. In the first half of the present century the region
was rapidly colonized. In 1847-50 the Government introduced
about 120 Polish families ; in 1857-59 Mennonites from Dantzic
also founded settlements ; and in 1859 a few Circassians were
brought hither by Government; while an influx of Great Russian
peasants continued and still goes on. The territory of Samara
remained long under Kazan, or Astrakhan, or Simbirsk and Oren¬
burg. The separate government dates from 1851. (P. A. K.)
SAMARA, capital of the above government, is situated
on the slopes of the left bank of the Volga, 743 miles to
the south-east of Moscow, at the mouth of the Samara
-SAM
and opposite the hills of Zheguleff. It is one of the most
important towns of the lower Volga for its trade, and its
importance cannot fail to increase as the railway to Central
Asia advances eastwards. Its population rose from 34,500
in 1869 to 63,400 in 1879. Samara is built mostly of
wood, and large spaces remain vacant on both sides of
its broad unpaved streets. Its few public buildings are
insignificant. A number of the inhabitants support them¬
selves by agriculture and gardening, for which they rent
large areas in the vicinity of the town. The remainder
are engaged at the harbour, one of the most important on
the Volga. Three fairs are held annually, with aggregate
returns exceeding 2,000,000 roubles. Samara is becoming
more and more a resort for consumptives on account of its
koumiss establishments (see vol. xvi. pp. 305-6).
SAMARANG. See Java, vol. xiii. p. 606.
SAMARCAND. See Samarkand.
SAMARIA (Heb. Shdmerdn; LXX. ^a/^dpeia,
except in 1 Kings xvi. 241), the capital of Northern Israel
from the time of Omri to the fall of the kingdom, which
was consummated in the long siege of the royal city by
Shalmaneser (2 Kings xvii. 5) and its capture by his
successor Sargon (c. 721 B.c.). The choice of Samaria as
his capital by the warlike and energetic prince to whom
the kingdom of Ephraim mainly owed its greatness is easily
understood. It stands in the very centre of Palestine and
of the country of the dominating tribe of Joseph, and, built
on a steep and almost isolated hill, with a long and
spacious plateau for its summit, was naturally a position of
much strength, commanding two of the most important
roads—the great north and south road which passes
immediately under the eastern wall, and the road from
Shechem to the maritime plain which runs a little to the
west of Omri’s capital. The hill of Samaria is separated
from the surrounding mountains (Amos iii. 9) by a rich
and well-watered plain, from which it rises in successive
terraces of fertile soil to a height of 400 or 500 feet.
Only on the east a narrow saddle, some 200 feet beneath
the plateau, runs across the plain towards the mountains;
it is at this point that the traveller coming from Shechem
now ascends the hill to the village of Sebastiya (now
pronounced Sebastiya), which occupies only the extreme
east of a terrace beneath the hill top, behind the crusading
church of John the Baptist, which is the first thing that
draws the eye as one approaches the town. The hill-top,
the longer axis of which runs westward from the village,
rises 1450 feet above the sea, and commands a superb view
towards the Mediterranean, the mountains of Shechem, and
Mount Hermon. The situation as a whole is far more
beautiful than that of Jerusalem, though not so grand
and wild. The line of the ancient walls has not been
determined, the chief visible ruins being of the time of
Herod; but, if they followed the natural lines of defence,
the city may have been almost a mile in length from east
to west.
The foundation of the new capital was speedily followed by the
wars with Damascus, in which repeated ineffectual sieges by the
Syrians proved the value of the stronghold; and even the
Assyrians, as has been mentioned, reduced the place with difficulty.
During part of the struggle with Damascus the kings of Israel often
resided at Jezreel, which was nearer the seat of war; but Omri’s
city never lost its pre-eminence. While it stood, Samaria and not
Jerusalem was the centre of Hebrew life, and the prophets
sometimes speak of it as also the centre of corrupt Jehovah-
worship and idolatry (Hos. viii. 5, Mic. i. 5, Isa. x. 10). The
1 The first 6 in Shdmerdn can hardly represent the old pronunciation.
In 1 Kings xvi. 24, the name of the city is derived from that of Shemer,
from whom Omri bought the site, and here LXX. seems to have origin¬
ally had ’Za/Aepciv or 'S.e/xepaiv (Cod. Vat. Sae/U^paw), afterwards
corrected to 'Zop.opchv (as in Lagarde’s edition of Lucian’s text) from
the Hebrew tradition (compare Field’s Hexapla on the passage).
The Assyrian monuments have Samirina.