origin of Russian word "kabak"

[Richard Sylvester]

Does anyone know if the etymology of "kabak" is a
question that has been definitively settled, or is
it still a matter of conjecture?

The only source at hand that I have looked at is
the Russian translation of Vasmer (1967), vol 2, p 148.
There's too much information there for me, at least,
to know if a conclusion can be drawn.

What I want to know is, is the word Tatar in origin,
or not?

Historians evidently accept the Tatar origin, and suggest
that Ivan Grozny may have taken both the word and the
institution itself (of a licensed tavern) from the Tatars
during the siege of Kazan. This from two interesting
books by R.E.H. Smith and David Christian on "Bread
and salt" and "Living Water" (by Christian alone). They
also quote Richard Pipes as saying that the Russians
'learned from the Tatars the art of distillation' in the 16th
century, adding, however, that Pipes gives no source for this.
There are other historical sources, too, such as a book by I.G.
Pryzhov called "Istoriia kabakov v Rossii v sviazi s istoriei
russkogo naroda", Moscow, 1868, which I have not seen.

I'd be interested to know what Slavic linguists think the
origin of 'kabak' is.

The question arises in connection with one of Tchaikovsky's
songs which contains the phrase "tsarev kabak". By the way,
this phrase is still current. In May on a short-term IREX in
Moscow I saw bottles of vodka for sale called "Tsarev Kabak".

Thanks in advance for any help.

Dick Sylvester
Colgate University
rsylvester at center.colgate.edu