KASAN, one of the eastern provinces of the Russian empire, which extends beyond the boundaries assigned to Europe by many geographical authorities. It has obtained the name of a kingdom. It was formerly inhabited by a people of the Finnish race, a branch of which, called the Viarmers, in the most prosperous time of the western Roman empire, had founded a great commercial city at Perm, which flourished till about the year 1236, when this country was conquered by Ghengis Khan. His successors were driven out by some southern Tartars, who, constantly carrying on hostile operations with the Russians, under four different khans, denominated by the names of their respective capitals, Kasan, Astrakan, Kaptschak, and Krim. Unfavourable events induced the khans of Kasan and of Astrakan to make submission, at the end of the fifteenth century, to the Czar Iwan Basilij II.; and the Russians from that period obtained great influence in the choice of khans over the other two districts. Peace was constantly interrupted between the Tartars and the Russians; and at length the Czar Iwan Basilij II. conquered, in 1552, the city of Kasan, and in 1554 the city of Astrakan, and the other two were taken possession of by the Russians. The semblance of the Tartar rule was preserved under khans nominated by the czars till 1714, when Peter the Great erected his own government in the city of Kasan, and subjected to it the wayvodeships of Simbirsk, Wiatka, Perm, and Pensa. These now form what is called the kingdom of Kasan; but each of the six has its separate government under a stadtholder. The whole extent is given, by authority, at 251,140 square miles, and the population as 5,867,000 persons.