Tsaritsyn
Although the city may have originated in 1555, documented evidence of "Tsaritsyn" located at the confluence of the Tsaritsa and Volga Rivers dates only from 1589. The fortress Sary Su (a local Tatar language name meaning: yellow water/river), was established to defend the unstable southern border of the country. It soon became the nucleus of a trading settlement. Cossack rebels captured it twice: underStepan Razin in the rebellion of 1670 and underYemelyan Pugachev in 1774. Tsaritsyn became an important river port and commercial center in the 19th century.
The original name of the city, Tsaritsyn, first appears in the record of the English explorer Barry in 1579, though he did not refer to the city, but to the island on the Volga. The origin of the name is usually traced back to the Turkic "Sary-Su" (yellow water) or "Sary-Sin" (yellow island). A royal charter records the date of the official founding of the city on July 2, 1589, by naming the fortress of Tsaritsyn. The fortress was located slightly above the mouth of the Tsaritsa River on the right bank.
In 1607 the fortress garrison rebelled against the tsar's troops for six months. In 1608 the city had its first stone church, St. John the Baptist.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the garrison consisted of 350-400 people.
In 1670 troops of Stepan Razin captured the fortress; they left after a month. In 1708 the insurgent Cossack Kondraty Bulavin held the fortress. In 1717, Bulavin (who died in July 1708) was sacked by the Crimean Tatars and Kuban. Later, in 1774, Yemelyan Pugachev unsuccessfully attempted to storm the city.
In 1691, Tsaritsyn established customs. In 1708, Tsaritsyn was assigned to Kazan Governorate; in 1719, to Astrakhan Governorate; According to the census in 1720, the city's population was 408 people. In 1773, the city became the provincial and district town. From 1779, it belonged to Saratov Viceroyalty. In 1780, the city was
