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TSAR—TSCHAÏKOVSKY
  

and this name in the slightly altered form of Dembea was in use until towards the close of the 19th century. By many Abyssinians the lake is called Tana, but the correct Amharic form is Tsana.

See Nile and Abyssinia, and the authorities there cited. The British Blue Book, Egypt, No. 2, 1904, contains a special report (with maps) upon Lake Tsana by Mr C. Dupuis, of the Egyptian Irrigation Service. In the Boll. soc. geog. italiana for December 1908 Captain A. M. Tancredi gives the results (also with maps) of an Italian expedition to the lake.  (W. E. G.; F. R. C.) 


TSAR, or Czar, the title commonly given both abroad and in Russia itself to the sovereign of Russia, whose official style is, however, “Emperor and Autocrat” (Imperator i Samovlastityel). In its origin the word tsar seems to have connoted the same as imperator, being identical with the German Kaiser in its derivation from the Latin Caesar. In the old Slavonic Scriptures the Greek βασιλεύς is always translated tsar, and this title was also given to the Roman Emperor. The old Russian title for a sovereign was knyaz, prince, or veliky knyaz, grand prince. The title tsar was first adopted by the Slavonic peoples settled in the Balkan peninsula, who were in close touch with the Eastern emperor; thus it was used by the medieval Bulgarian kings. It penetrated into Russia as a result of the growing intercourse between old Muscovy and Constantinople, notably of the marriage alliances contracted by Russian princes with the dynasty of Basil the Macedonian; and it was assumed by the Muscovite princes who revolted from the yoke of the Mongols. The other tsars were gradually ousted by those of Moscow, and the modern Russian emperors inherit their title of tsar from Ivan III. (1462–1505), or perhaps rather from his grandson Ivan IV. (1533–1584) who was solemnly crowned tsar in 1547.

Throughout, however, the title tsar was used, as it still is in popular parlance, indifferently of both emperors and kings, being regarded as the equivalent of the Slavonic krol or kral (Russ. korol, Magyar, király), a king, which had been adopted from the name of Charlemagne (Germ. Karl, Lat. Carolus Magnus). This use being equivocal, Peter the Great, at the peace of Nystad (November 2, 1721), assumed the style of imperator, an exotic word intended to symbolize his imperial dignity as the equal of the western emperor. This new style was not, however, recognized by the powers until the time of Catherine II., and then only on the express understanding that this recognition did not imply any precedence or superiority of the Russian emperor over other sovereigns. Henceforth, whatever popular usage might be, the title tsar was treated officially as the equivalent of that of king. Thus the Russian emperor is tsar (king) of Poland and of several other parts of his dominions. Thus, too, the prince of Bulgaria, on assuming the royal style, took the title of tsar of Bulgaria.

The title “White Tsar,” applied to the Russian emperor and commonly quoted as though it had a poetic or mystic meaning, is a translation of a Mongol word meaning “independent” (cf. the feudal “blanch tenure,” i.e. a tenure free from all obligation of personal service).

The wife of the tsar is tsaritsa. In former times the title tsarevich (king’s son) was borne by every son of a tsar; but the word has now fallen out of use. The heir to the throne is known as the tsesarevich or cesarevich (q.v.), i.e. son of Caesar, the other Imperial princes bearing the old Russian title of veliky knyaz (grand duke; q.v.).

TSARITSYN, a town of Russia, in the government of Saratov, situated on the right bank of the Volga, where it suddenly turns towards the south-east, 40 m. distant from the Don. Pop. (1900), 67,650. Tsaritsyn is the terminus of a railway which begins at Riga and, running south-eastwards, intersects all the main lines which radiate from Moscow to the south. It is also connected by rail with Kalach on the Don, where merchandise from the Sea of Azov is disembarked. Corn from middle Russia for Astrakhan is transferred from the railway to boats at Tsaritsyn; timber and wooden wares from the upper Volga are unloaded here and sent by rail to Kalach; and fish, salt and fruits sent from Astrakhan by boat up the Volga are here unloaded and despatched by rail to the interior of Russia. The town has grown rapidly since the completion of the railway system, and has a large trade in petroleum from Baku. Tsaritsyn is also the centre of the trade in the mustard of Sarepta, Dubovka and the neighbourhood. The fisheries are important. The buildings of the town include a public library, and the church of St John (end of 16th century), a fine specimen of the architecture of its period. Here are iron, machinery and brick works, tanneries, distilleries, and factories for jam, mustard and mead. Market gardening is an important industry.

A fort was erected here in the 16th century to prevent the incursions of the free Cossacks and runaway serfs who gathered on the lower Volga, as also the raids of the Kalmucks and Circassians. In 1606 Tsaritsyn took part in the rising in favour of the false Demetrius, and Stenka Razin took the town in 1670. The Kalmucks and Circassians of the Kubañ attacked it repeatedly in the 17th century, so that it had to be fortified by a strong earthen and palisades wall, traces of which are still visible.

TSARSKOYE SELO, a town of north Russia, in the government of St Petersburg, and an imperial residence, 15 m. by rail south of the capital. Pop. (1885), 15,000; (1897), 22,353. The town stands on the Duderhof Hills and consists (1) of the town proper, surrounded by villages and a German colony, which are summer resorts for the inhabitants of St Petersburg; and (2) of the imperial parks and palaces. The former is built on a regular plan, and its houses nearly all stand in gardens. The cathedral of St Catherine is a miniature copy of that at Constantinople. The imperial parks and gardens cover 1680 acres; the chief of them is the “old” garden, containing the “old palace,” built (1724) by Rastrelli and gorgeously decorated with mother-of-pearl, marbles, amber, lapis lazuli, silver and gold; the gallery of Cameron adorned with fine statues and entrance gates; numerous pavilions and kiosks; and a bronze statue (1900) of the poet Pushkin. A second palace, the Alexander, was built by Catherine II. in 1792, and has in its park an historical museum and an arsenal.

When Peter the Great took possession of the mouth of the Neva, a Finnish village, Saari-mois, stood on the site now occupied by the town, and its Russified name Sarskaya was changed into Tsarskoye when Peter presented it to his wife Catherine. It was especially embellished by the tsaritsa Elizabeth. Under Catherine II., a town, Sophia, was built close by, but its inhabitants were transferred to Tsarskoye Selo under Alexander I. The railway connecting the town with St Petersburg was the first (1838) to be constructed in Russia.

TSCHAÏKOVSKY, PETER ILICH (1840–1893), Russian composer, born at Votkinsk, in the province of Vyatka, on the 7th of May 1840, was the son of a mining engineer, who shortly after the boy’s birth removed to St Petersburg to assume the duties of director of the Technological Institute there. While studying in the school of jurisprudence, and later, while holding office in the ministry of justice, Tschaïkovsky picked up a smattering of musical knowledge sufficient to qualify him as an adept amateur performer. But the seriousness of his musical aspiration led him to enter the newly founded Conservatorium of St Petersburg under Zaremba, and he was induced by Anton Rubinstein, its principal, to take up music as a profession. He therefore resigned his post in the ministry of justice. On quitting the Conservatorium he was awarded a silver medal for his thesis, a cantata on Schiller’s “Ode to Joy.” In 1866 Tschaïkovsky became practically the first chief of the recently founded Moscow Conservatorium, since Serov, whom he succeeded, never took up his appointment. In Moscow Tschaïkovsky met Ostrovskiy, who wrote for him his first operatic libretto, The Vojevoda. After the Russian Musical Society had rejected a concert overture written at Rubinstein’s suggestion, Tschaïkovsky in 1866 was much occupied on his Winter Day Dreams, a symphonic poem, which proved a failure in St Petersburg but a success at Moscow. In 1867 he made an unsuccessful début as conductor. Failure still dogged his steps, for in January 1869 his Vojevoda disappeared off the boards after ten performances, and subsequently Tschaïkovsky destroyed the score. The Romeo and Juliet overture has been much altered since its production by the Russian Musical Society in 1870, in which year the composer once more attempted unsuccessfully an operatic production,