Surozh, Sea of

(also Sea of Sudak), a former name for the Sea of Azov, sometimes used for the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea together. The name of the sea was derived from the city of Sudak (Sugdeia, Soldaia; Old Russian form, Surozh) and was used in its Arabic form, Bahr Sudak, by Muslim geographers of the 14th and 15th centuries. The Sea of Surozh was first mentioned in Russian historical sources in chronicles for the year 1319.