RURIK, who is considered to have been the founder of the Russian monarchy, was, according to most authors, a " Varangian" of Scandinavian origin, who was invited by the Slaves of Novgorod to come and rule over them; according to others, he was the chief of a tribe of None colonists which was located near the gulf of Finland, and, after a long contest, succeeded in subduing the northern Slaves and sonic neighboring tribes of Finns; while Kostomarof attempts to prove that lie was a Lithuanian. That he was either a Scandinavian or of Scandinavian origin, there seems to be very little doubt, and it is as generally maintained that, accompanied by his brothers, Sindf (Sincous) and Truvor, he, at the head of a small army, Look possession of the country to the s. of the gulf of Finland, lakes Ladoga, Onega, and Beloe in 801 or 862, and laid the foundation of a monarchy. His brothers afterward settled, the one at Bielo ozero, mid the other at Izborsk; but dying without issue, 1-heir principalities were united to Novgorod by Rurik. Novgorod was made the seat of government in 864 or 865, and the various insurrections of his Slavic subjects were quenched in blood, Vadim, their leader, whose valor is celebrated by the ancient chroniclers, perishing by Ruffles own hand. To secure himself and I is descendants in their newly-acquired territory, Rurik invited various colonies of Varangians to settle in the country, and after reigning ably from this time, he died in 879. During his reign some of the Varangians attempted a land expedition against Constantinople, but renouncing the scheme, -settled on the banks of the Dnieper, and founded the little state of Kiev. The family of Rurik
reigned in Russia till the death, in 1598, of Feodor, son of Ivan the terrible, when, after a brief intestine contest, it was succeeded by the nearly allied house of Romanoff (q.v.). Many noble families of Russia, such as Odojefski, Obolenski, Dolgorouki, Lfot, Belosselski-Beloserski, and Gagarin, are legitimately descended in the male line from Ralik; and the princes of Romodanofski-Lady-shenski are legitimate descendants in the female line.—See prof. Thomsen's lectures on this subject (1878).
RIM, a genus of cervidic, or subgenus of cerrus (see DEER), containing a number of species of deer, natives of the forests of the East Indies, which may be described as stags with round antlers, a snag projecting in front just above the base of each, and the top forked, but the antlers not otherwise branched. They are generally of large size, and among them are some of the finest kinds of Asiatic deer. The GREAT RusA. (R. hippektphus) is supposed by some to be the hippelaphus of Aristotle; but his descrip tion is not complete enough to identify the species. It is a native of Java, Sumatra, etc., and is about the size of a large stag, with brown rough hair, the neck with a long mane. The SAMBUR or SAMBOO (R. Aristotelts) of India is a similarly large and power ful animal, and no Indian deer is more sought after by European sportsmen. It also is supposed by some to be the hippelaplins of Aristotle. The color is sooty brown, and the male has a mane. It is solitary in its habits, and delights in low forests where water abounds. The axis (q.v.) is very nearly allied to this genus.