iii. The command to fast begins with the words, "O ye who believe!

There is prescribed for you the fast, as it was prescribed for those before you." The expression "those before you" has been taken to refer to the Jews, who fasted on the day of atonement, but more probably refers to the long fast of thirty-six days observed by the Eastern Christians. In the passage of the Koran referred to (ii. 179-181) Moslems are required to fast during the month of Ramadhan, "wherein the Koran was revealed," but if one is on a journey or sick he may fast "another number of days," and if he is able to fast and does not, "he may redeem it by feeding a poor man," but "if ye fast, it is better for you." This fast was probably instituted in the second year at Medina. At that time the corrected lunar year was in use and Ramadhan, the ninth month, was always in the winter. A few years later Mahomet decreed the use of the uncorrected lunar year, which remains the standard of time for the Moslem world, so that the month of fasting now occurs at all seasons of the year in turn. The fast is severe, and means entire abstinence from food and drink from sunrise to sunset each day of the month. The fast is associated with the statement that in this month God sent down the Koran from the seventh heaven to Gabriel in the lowest that it might be revealed to the Prophet.

Alms.

iv. Alms are of two kinds: (1) the legal and determined (_zakat_), and (2) voluntary (_sadaqat_). The former were given in cattle, grain, fruit, merchandise and money once a year after a year's possession. For cattle a somewhat elaborate scale is adopted. Of grain and fruit a tenth is given if watered by rain, a twentieth if the result of irrigation. Of the value of merchandise and of money a fortieth is prescribed. In the early days of Islam the alms were collected by officials and used for the building of mosques and similar religious purposes. At the present time the carrying of these prescriptions is left to the conscience of the believers, who pay the alms to any needy fellow-Moslem. A good example of a _sadaqa_ is found in a gift to an unbeliever (see C. M. Doughty, _Arabia deserta_, i. 446, ii. 278, Cambridge, 1888).

Pilgrimage.

v. The fifth religious duty of the Moslem is the pilgrimage (_hajj_) to Mecca, which should be performed once by every Moslem "if he is able," that is if he can provide or obtain the means to support himself on pilgrimage and his family during his absence, and if he is physically capable. The pilgrimage is made at one time of the (Moslem) year, namely, from the 7th to the 10th of the month Dhu'l-Hijja. For the arrangements for the journey from various countries to Mecca see CARAVAN. When the pilgrim arrives within five or six miles of the holy city he puts off his ordinary dress after ablution and prayer, and puts on the two seamless wrappers which form the dress of the pilgrim (the _ihram_), who goes without head-covering or boots or shoes. He must not shave at all, or trim the nails or anoint the head during the ceremonial period. The chief parts of the ceremonial are the visit to the sacred mosque (_masjid ul-haram_), the kissing of the black stone, the compassing of the Ka`ba (the _Tawaf_) seven times, three times running, four times slowly, the visit to the Maqam Ibrahim, the ascent of Mount Safa and running from it to Mount Marwa seven times, the run to Mount `Arafat, hearing a sermon, and going to Muzdalifa, where he stays the night, the throwing of stones at the three pillars in Mina on the great feast day, and the offering of sacrifice there (for the localities see MECCA). After the accomplishment of these ceremonies the ordinary dress is resumed, the pilgrimage is finished, but the pilgrim usually remains another three days in Mecca, then visits Medina to pay his respects to the tomb of Mahomet. Beside the _hajj_ (great pilgrimage) Islam also recognizes the merit of the _`umra_ (or lesser pilgrimage), i.e. a religious visit to Mecca at any time accompanied by most of the ceremonies of the _hajj_.

The ceremonies of the _hajj_ have been described by several European travellers who have witnessed them, such as J. L. Burckhardt in 1814, Sir Richard Burton in 1853 (see bibliography to MECCA). A concise account of them is given in T. P. Hughes, _Notes on Muhammadanism_ (3rd ed., London, 1894). Details in vol. i. of Bukhari's traditions (Houdas and Marcais's French translation, i. 493-567).

_The Development of Islam._--The battle of Siffin (657) between `Ali and Moawiya was the occasion of the first breach in the unity of Islam, and the results remain to this day. The occasion was in the first case political, but politics were at that time too intimately connected with religion to be considered apart from it. After the battle (see CALIPHATE) `Ali was practically compelled to submit his claims to arbitration, whereupon a number of his supporters broke away from him, saying that there should have been no appeal save to the Book of God. These men were for the most part country Arabs, and, inspired by the free spirit of the desert, were democratic, claiming that the caliph should be elected by the whole community from any family (and not from the Koreish alone), and that the caliph might be deposed for sin. A few extremists were republicans and would do without a caliph altogether. The whole party was known as the Kharijites (Kharijiyya or Khawarij). The Moslems who disagreed with them were regarded by them as renegades and were to be put to death. They were soon divided into extremists and moderates. The former put to death the children of unbelievers and refused to hold intercourse in daily life with unbelievers. The moderates, who came to be known as Ibadites (from their leader `Abdallah ibn `Ibad), would allow the children of unbelievers to grow up, and would then deal with them according to their choice. In ordinary life they would mix with all men, but marriage with other Moslems outside their own ranks was forbidden. These still remain in Oman, parts of Algeria and East Africa.

Another party, consisting mainly of city Arabs infected with Persian ideas as to the divinity of the ruler, clung to `Ali with inconvenient affection. They regarded `Ali and his descendants as the only legitimate caliphs, and came to be known as Shi`ites (q.v.). They remain to-day the largest part of Islam outside orthodoxy. During the Omayyad caliphate (661-750) there were three centres of religious thought and influence; students and teachers often passed from one to the other, thus making universal the teachings which in their origin were due to local circumstances. These centres were Damascus (the seat of the caliphate), Medina and the East (Irak, &c.). In Damascus the court was worldly and indifferent to the interests of Islam. The early Omayyads were distinguished for their striving after dominion (_mulk_). Instead of attempting to propagate Islam, they tolerated other religions and favoured Christians who were distinguished as poets (e.g. Akhtal) or officials (John of Damascus), or men likely to be of use to them in any way. The doctrines of Christianity began to influence even serious Moslems and to affect their way of stating Moslem belief. John of Damascus (d. before 767), the Greek theologian, and his pupil, Theodorus Abucara (d. 826), have written controversial works on Islam, from which it seems probable that disputations on subjects pertaining to religion were held between Christians and Moslems. Two schools of heretical Moslem sects arose under these influences--that of the Murjiites and that of the Qadarites. The Murjiites ("postponers") were so called because they postponed the judgment of human actions until the Day of Judgment. In politics they accepted the Omayyads as _de facto_ rulers, since they were Moslems, and left the judgment of their actions to God. As theologians they taught that religion consists in belief (_iman_) in the unity of God and in his apostle, and in that alone, consequently no one who held this faith would perish eternally, though he had been a sinner. This was opposed to the Kharijite doctrine that the unrepentant sinner would perish eternally, even though he had professed Islam.

The Qadarites were concerned with the doctrine of predestination and free-will. So long as Moslems were fighting the battles of Islam they naturally paid most attention to those revelations which laid stress on the absolute determination of a man's destiny by God. They fought with great bravery because they believed that God had foreordained their death or life and they could not escape His will. In the quieter realm of town and court life and in their disputations with Christians they were called upon to reconcile this belief with the appeals made in the Koran to man's own self-determination to good, to courage, &c. Mahomet was not a systematic theologian and had done nothing to help them. The Qadarites declared that man had power over his own actions. But the teaching of predestination had gained too great a hold on Moslems to be thus displaced. The teaching of the Qadarites was held to be heresy, and one of its first professors, Ma`bad ul-Juhani, was put to death in 699.[3] During this period Medina was the home of tradition. Those who had been in closest relation with the Prophet dwelt there. The very people of the city derived a certain splendour and authority from the fact that Mahomet had lived and was buried there. Free thought in religion had little chance of arising, less of expressing itself, in the holy city. But the Koran was diligently studied, traditions were collected (and invented) though not yet written in books, and innovation (_bid`a_) was resolutely avoided. At the same time it really did contribute a new element to religious practice, for the custom (_ijma`_, see above) of Medina gained a certain authority even in Syria and the East.

In the East, on the other hand, there was more mental activity, and the religious teachers who came from Medina had to be prepared to meet with many questions. The wits of the Moslems were sharpened by daily contact with Christians, Buddhists, Manichaeans and Zoroastrians. Hasan ul-Basri (q.v.), who has been claimed as one of the first mystics, also as one of the first systematic theologians of Islam, was remarkable alike for his personal piety and his orthodoxy. Yet it was among his pupils that the great rationalist movement originated. Its founder was Wasil ibn `Ata, who separated himself (whence his followers were called Motazilites, strictly Mu`tazilites, "Separatists") from his teacher and founded a school which became numerous and influential. The Mu`tazilites objected to the attributes of God being considered in any way as entities beside God; they explained away the anthropomorphisms used in speaking of the deity; they regarded the Koran as created and as a product of Mahomet writing under the divine influence. Briefly, they asserted the supremacy of reason (_`aql_) as distinct from faith received by tradition (_naql_). They also called themselves "the people of justice and unity" (_Ahl ul-`adl wat-tauhid_). Such a faith as this naturally found favour rather with the thinking classes than with the uneducated multitude, and so went through many vicissitudes. At the time of its appearance and until the reign of Ma`mun its adherents were persecuted as heretics. After discussions among the theologians Ma`mun took the decided step of proclaiming that the Koran was created, and that a belief in this dogma was necessary. Other Mu`tazilite doctrines were proclaimed later. Mu`tazilites were appointed to official posts, and an inquisition (_mihna_) was appointed to enforce belief in their doctrines. This movement was strongly opposed by the orthodox and especially by Ahmad ibn Hanbal (q.v.). By him the founding of theology on reason was rejected, and he suffered persecution for his faith (see W. N. Patton, _Ahmed ibn Hanbal and the Mihna_, Leiden, 1897). Mu`tazilism retained its sway until 849, when the caliph Motawakkil again declared the Koran uncreate and restored orthodoxy. It was during the early years of the Abbasid rule that the four legal schools of Abu Hanifa (d. 767), Malik ibn Anas (d. 795), ash-Shafi'i (d. 819) and Ibn Hanbal (d. 855) came into existence (see MAHOMMEDAN LAW). As the bases of religion and law were the same, so the methods applied in the treatment of the one affected the other. Abu Hanifa depended little on tradition, but referred back to the Koran, making use of individual opinion (_ra`y_) as controlled by analogy (_qiyas_) with a written ordinance. Malik Ibn Anas supplemented the Koran and Sunna by customary law founded largely on the custom (_ijma`_) of Medina, and by what he conceived to be for the public good (_istislah_). Shafi`i recognized tradition as equal to the Koran, and even as being able to supersede its ordinances, while he also recognized the universal custom (_ijma`_) of the Moslem world as divine and binding. His four bases of religion--Koran, sunna, qiyas and ijma`--have been generally accepted in Islam (see above). Ibn Hanbal's position has been already mentioned. All these four schools are reckoned orthodox, and all orthodox Moslems belong to one or another of them. Another teacher of this time, who founded a school which did not succeed in being recognized as orthodox, was Da`ud uz-Zahiri. Trained as a Shafi`ite, he became too strict for this school, rejected analogy, restricted _ijma`_ to the agreement or custom of the companions of Mahomet, and accepted the whole of the Koran and tradition in the most literal and external sense. His followers were called Zahirites (i.e. externalists). After Ash`ari's time these principles were applied to theology by Ibn Hazm (q.v.) see I. Goldziher, _Die Zahiriten, ihr Lehrsystem und ihre Geschichte_ (Leipzig, 1884).

Before turning to the reform of Ash`ari and the introduction into orthodox theology of scholastic philosophy it is necessary to notice another phase of religious life which became the common property of orthodox and heretics. This was the introduction of asceticism in religions practice and of mysticism in religious thought. Sufi`ism (q.v.), which combined these two, is rightly not counted among the sects of Islam. Asceticism seems to have won a certain amount of approval from Mahomet himself, who much respected the Christian monks. The attention paid in early Islam to the joys and punishments of the future life led to self-denial and simple living in this world. An Arabian writer, speaking of the simplicity of manners of the first four caliphs, says that their affairs were conducted with more consideration of the future life than of this world. Many Moslems went even farther than these caliphs, and gave up all concern as far as possible with the affairs of this world and lived in poverty, in wanderings or in retirement (see DERVISH). For the historical development of this movement, with its accompanying mysticism, see SUFI`ISM. Ash`ari (d. before 942) was for forty years a Mu`tazilite, then became orthodox (see ASH`ARI), and at once applied rational methods for the support and interpretation of the orthodox faith. Before him, reason had not been allowed any scope in orthodox theology. He was not the first to use it; some teachers (as al-Junaid) had employed it in teaching, but only in secret and for the few. The methods of scholastic philosophy were now introduced into Moslem theology. The chief characteristic of his religious teaching was the adoption of the _via media_ between materialistic grossness and the ideas of pure speculative philosophy. Thus he taught, as to the attributes of God, that they exist, but are not to be compared with human attributes; as to His visibility, that He can be seen but without the limitations of human sight. As to the great question of free will, he denied man's power but asserted his responsibility. So he passed in review the doctrines of God, faith, the Koran, sin, intercession, &c., and for the first time in the history of Islam produced a systematic theology. The teaching of Ash`ari was taken up and propagated by the Buyids soon after his death, and was developed and perfected by Abu Bekr ul-Baqilani, the Cadi (d. 1012), but up to the middle of the 5th century of Islam (c. A.D. 1058) was suspected elsewhere and confounded with Mu`tazilism. The Ash`arite al-Juwaini (known as Imam ul-Haramain) was persecuted under Toghrul Beg (c. 1053) and exiled, but was restored under Alp Arslan by the vizier Nizam ul-Mulk, who founded an Ash`arite college (the Nizamiyya). In the West, Ibn Hazm (q.v.) fiercely opposed the system, but Ghazali established its orthodoxy in the East, and it spread from Persia to Syria and Egypt under the Ayyubites and Mamelukes and thence to the Almohades in Africa under Ibn Tumart (1130). It remains the predominating influence to the present day, its only serious rival being the theological system of al-Mataridi, a Hanifite (d. 945), whose creed as represented in that of an-Nasafi is still used largely by the Turks. Since the 12th century no great theological movement has been made in Islam. The quiet of religious life has twice been broken, once by Wahhabism (q.v.) in Arabia, once by Babism (q.v.) in Persia.

THE SECTS

According to an early tradition Mahomet said that Islam would be divided into seventy-three parties (sects),[4] of which seventy-two would perish and one would be saved. The orthodox Arabian writers on heretical sects of Islam feel compelled by this tradition to make up their number to seventy-two, and, as different writers adopt different divisions or are familiar with different parties, the names of sects amount to some hundreds. Each writer, however, adopts certain main classes under which he attempts to group the others. Abu Muti` Makhul at the beginning of the 10th century in his "Refutation" (MS. in Bodleian Library) has six such chief classes: Harurites (i.e. Kharijites), Rafidites (i.e. Shi`ites), Qadarites, Jabarites, Jahmites and Murjiites. Ibn Hazm (q.v.) adopts four classes: Mu`tazilites (Motazilites), Murjiites, Shi`ites and Kharijites. Shahrastani (q.v.) complains of the want of system in earlier writers, and suggests as bases of classification the position of parties with regard to the doctrines as to (1) the divine attributes, (2) predestination and free-will (3) promises and threats, faith and error, (4) revelation, reason, the imamate. In one part of his preface he gives as the chief parties the Qadarites, Sifatites, Kharijites and Shi`ites, proposing to divide these classes according to leaders who agreed with the main doctrines of their class but differed in some points. In another place he mentions four opposite pairs of sects: (1) the Qadarites with their doctrine of free-will, and the Jabarites, who are necessitarians; (2) the Sifatites, who maintain the eternal nature of the attributes of God, and the Mu`tazilites, who deny it; (3) the Murjiites, who postpone judgment of actions until the Last Day, and the Wa`idites, who condemn in this life; (4) the Kharijites, who consider the caliphate a human institution, and the Shi`ites, who deify their ruler. In his detailed treatment of the sects Shahrastani arranged them under the headings: Mu`tazilites, Jabarites, Sifatites, Kharijites, Murjiites and Shi`ites. About the same time as Shahrastani two other Arabian writers wrote on the sects--Tahir ul-Isfaraini (d. 1078), whose MS. is in the Berlin library, and `Abd ul-Qadir ul-Jilani (1078-1166) in his _Kitab ul-Ghaniyya li-Talibi Tariq il-Haqqi_ (Cairo, 1871). Both adopt as main classes Rafidites (or Shi`ites), Qadarites (or Mu`tazilites), Kharijites, Murjiites, Najjarites, Dirarites, Jahmites, Mushabbiha, to which Tahir adds Bakrites, Karramites, and a class including those sects which are not reckoned as Moslem though they have sprung from Islam. Jilani adds to the eight the Kilabites.

The following list is not a complete list of names of sects but is founded on that of Shahrastani.[5]

_Aftahites._--Shi`ites of the Imamite class, who ascribe the imamate to `Abdallah ul-Aftahi, the son of Sadiq.

_Ajarida._--Kharijites, followers of Ibn `Ajarrad, who agreed for the most part with the Najadat (below), considered grave sins as equivalent to unbelief, but remained friendly with those who professed Islam but did not fight for it. They rejected _sura_ 7 as a fable. Shahrastani enumerates seven divisions of this sect.

_Akhnasites._--A section of the Tha`aliba not so strict in treatment of those who fear to fight for Islam.

_Ash`arites._--Followers of Ash`ari (q.v.) who are counted by Shahrastani among the Sifatites.

_Atrafites._--A division of the `Ajarida who agree with the Hamzites except that they excuse the lower classes for inaction when they are ignorant of the law.

_Azraqites._--Kharijites who followed al-Azraq in the days of Ibn Zubair. They held `Ali to be an unbeliever; those who did not fight were unbelievers; the children of unbelievers were to be put to death and went to hell. Sin is unbelief.

_Bahshamites._--Mu`tazilites akin to the Jubba`ites.

_Baihasites._--Kharijites, followers of Abu Baihas ul-Haitham, who was put to death by the caliph Walid. They asserted the necessity of knowledge for religion.

_Baqirites._--Shi`ites who followed Abu Ja`far ul-Baqir, the fifth imam, and looked for his return.

_Batinites._--Isma`ilites, so called because they believe that every external has an internal (_batin_), and every passage in the Koran has an allegoric meaning.

_Bishrites._--Mu`tazilites, followers of Bishr ibn Mu`tamir, one of the most learned men of his party. His teaching was philosophical and was distinguished by his doctrine of "origination" (_tawallud_).

_Bunanites._--Kaisanites, followers of Bunan ibn Sim`an un-Nahdi, who claimed that the imamate passed from Abu Hashim to himself and that he had also acquired the divine element of `Ali.

_Butrites._--Zaidites, followers of Kathir un-Nawa ul-Abtar, who agreed with the Suleimanites (Sulaimanites) except that he suspended judgment as to whether Othman was a believer or not.

_Dirarites._--Jabarites who empty God of his attributes, and assert that man has a sixth sense by which he will see God on the day of resurrection. The actions of man are "created" and acquired by him. A caliph need not be chosen from the Koreish.

_Ghaliites_ (Ghula) are the extreme Shi`ites (q.v.) in ascribing deity to the imams. Their heresies are said to be four in number: (1) Making God resemble man, (2) ascribing change of mind to God, (3) looking for the return of the imam, (4) metempsychosis. They are divided by Shahrastani into ten classes.

_Ghassanites._--Murjiites, followers of Ghassan ibn ul-Kufi, who say that faith consists of knowledge of God, his apostle, and the Koran in general not in detail, and that faith increases but is not diminished.

_Habities_ = Hayitites (below).

_Hadathites_ (Hudabites) are Mu`tazilites, followers of Fadl ibn ul-Hadathi, who agreed with the Hayitites (below).

_Hafsites._--Ibadites, followers of Hafs ibn abi-l-Miqdam, who distinguished between idolatry (_shirk_) and unbelief (_kufr_).

_Hamzites._--`Ajarida, followers of Hamza ibn Adrak in Sijistan. They agree with the Maimunites, but condemn the children of unbelievers to hell.

_Harithites._--Ibadites who differ from others in holding the Mu`tazilite doctrine of free-will.

_Harurites._--A name given to the first Kharijites, who rebelled against `Ali, and met in Harura near Kufa.

_Hashimites._--Shi`ites who supported Abu Hashim, son of Mahommed ibn ul-Hanafiyya, although they held that his father had gone astray.

_Hashwiites._--A party who asserted the eternity even of the letters of the Koran. They are not mentioned as a separate sect by Shahrastani; cf. van Vloten, "_Les Hachwia et Nabita_," in the _Acts of the 11th Oriental Congress_ (Paris, 1899), pt. iii., pp. 99 sqq.

_Hayitites._--Mu`tazilites who agreed with the Nazzamites, but added three heresies of their own: (1) the divinity of the Messiah, (2) metempsychosis, (3) the interpretation of all references to the vision of God as referring to the "first Reason" or "creative Reason."

_Hishamites._--A name given to two sects: (1) Mu`tazilites, strong in their assertion of man's free-will, even opposing the statement of the Koran. (2) Shi`ites of the extreme kind, who attributed to God a body with quantities (measurements) and qualities.

_Hudabites._--See Hadathites.

_Hudhailites_ (Hodhailites).--Mu`tazilites, followers of Abu-l Hudhail Hamdan, who was a leading teacher of his party and developed the philosophical side of its teaching. Ten of his main doctrines are given by Shahrastani.

_Ibadites._--Kharijites of moderate tendencies (see above).

_Ilbaites._--Ghaliites who put `Ali above Mahomet and blamed the latter because he called men to himself instead of to `Ali.

_Imamites._--One of the chief divisions of the Shi`ites (q.v.).

_Ishaqites._--Ghaliites agreeing with the Nusairites except that they incline to speak of the imams' participation in the prophetic office rather than of their divinity.

_Isma`ilites._--This name is applied to all who consider Isma`il ibn Ja`far the last imam, some believing that he did not die but will return, others, that at his death his son Mahommed became imam (see ASSASSINS); it is also used as equivalent to the Batinites.

_Ithna`asharites._--Imamites who accept the twelve imams (see SHI`ITES).

_Jabarites._--Those who deny all actions and power to act to man and ascribe all to God (see above).

_Ja`farites._--Imamites who carry the imamate no farther than Ja`far us-Sadiq.

_Jahizites._--Mu`tazilites, followers of the celebrated writer Jahiz (q.v.), who indulged in philosophical speculations, believed in the eternity of matter, and was regarded as a naturalist (_taba`i_) rather than a theist (_allahi_).

_Jahmites._--Jabarites, followers of Jahm ibn Safwan, who was put to death at Merv toward the close of the Omayyad period. He was extreme in his denial of the attributes of God.

_Jarudites._--Zaidites who held that Mahomet designated `Ali as imam, not by name but by his attributes, and that the Moslem sinned by not taking sufficient trouble to recognize these attributes.

_Jubba`ites._--Mu`tazilites who followed the philosophical teaching of Abu `Ali Mahommed ul-Jubba`i of Basra.

_Kaisanites._--A main class of the Shi`ites (q.v.).

_Kamilites._--Ghaliites, followers of Abu Kamil, who condemned the companions (_Ansar_) because they did not do allegiance to `Ali, and `Ali because he surrendered his claims.

_Karramites._--Sifatites, followers of Ibn Karram, who went so far as to ascribe a body to God, and assimilated his nature to human nature.

_Kayyalites._--Ghaliites, followers of Ahmad ibn Kayyal, who, after supporting a propaganda for an Aliite, claimed to be the imam himself on the ground of his power over the spheres.

_Khalafites._--`Ajarida of Kerman and Multan, who believed that God wills good and evil, but condemned the children of unbelievers to hell.

_Kharijites._--One of the earliest sects of Islam (see above).

_Kharimites._--`Ajarida, agreeing mostly with the Shu`aibites and teaching that the relation of God to a man depends on what he professes at the end of his life.

_Khattabites._--Ghaliites, followers of Abu-l Khattab, who was put to death by Ibn Musa at Kufa. He was a violent supporter of Ja`far us-Sadiq, who however disowned him.

_Khayyatites._--Mu`tazilites, followers of Abu-l Hosain ul-Khayyat, a teacher in Bagdad, part of whose philosophical teaching was that the non-existent is a thing.

_Ma`badites._--Tha`labites who differed from the Akhnasites on the question of the marriage of believing women and from Tha`lab on the question of taking alms from slaves.

_Maimunites._--`Ajarida, followers of Maimun ibn Khalid, who believed that God wills good only and that man determines his actions.

_Majhulites._--Tha`labites, agreeing generally with the Kharimites, but teaching that he who knows some names and attributes of God and is ignorant of some knows God.

_Ma`lumites._--Tha`labites agreeing generally with the Kharimites but alleging that a believer must know all the names and attributes of God.

_Mansurites._--Ghaliites, followers of Abu Mansur ul-`Ijli, who at first supported al-Baqir, but, rejected by him, claimed the imamate for himself. He was crucified by the caliph Hisham ibn `Abd ul-Malik (Abdalmalik).

_Mu`ammarites._[6]--Mu`tazilites who strongly denied the predestination of God, and affirmed that God created bodies only, and that the accidents spring naturally from them.

_Mufaddalites._[6]--The same as the Musaites (q.v.).

_Mughirites._[6]--Ghaliites, followers of Mughira ibn Sa`id ul-`Ijli, who claimed the imamate and prophetic office and held extremely gross views of God.

_Muhakkima_[6] (the first).--Another name for the Harurites (above).

_Mukarramites._[6]--Tha`labites who taught that sin consists in ignorance of God.

_Mukhtarites._[6]--Kaisanites, followers of al-Mukhtar ibn `Ubaid, who held to Mahommed ibn ul-Hanafiyya but was disowned by him. He allowed the possibility of change of mind on the part of God.

_Murjiites._--Those who postponed judgment of actions until the Day of Judgment. See above.

_Musaites._--Imamites who held to the imamate of Musa ibn Ja`far, who was imprisoned by Harun al-Rashid and poisoned.

_Mushabbiha._[6]--Sifatites who compared God's actions with human actions. They said that the Koran was eternal with all its letters, accents and written signs.

_Mu`tazilites._[6]--The rationalists of Islam. See above, cf. also H. Steiner, _Die Mu`taziliten oder die Freidenker im Islam_ (Leipzig, 1865).

_Muzdarites._[6]--Mu`tazilites, followers of al-Muzdar, a pupil of Bishr (cf. Bishrites) whose teaching he developed further. He taught that God has power to do evil, but, if he acted thus, would be an evil God; also that man can produce the equal of the Koran.

_Najadat_ (also known as _`Adhirites_).--Kharijites, who followed Najda ibn `Amir of Yemama as he went to join the Azraqites but withdrew from these, being more orthodox than they. He held that fear of fighting was not sin.

_Nawisites_ take their name from a person or a place. They are Ja`farites who believe in Sadiq as the mahdi.

_Nazzamites._--Mu`tazilites, followers of Ibrahim ibn Sayyar un-Nazzam, who was an extremist in his teaching of man's free-will and other philosophical doctrines.

_Nu`manites._[6]--Ghaliites agreeing in some points with Hishamites, but holding that God is a light in the form of a man, yet not a body.

_Nusairites._[6]--Ghaliites who agree with the Ishaqites except that they lay more stress on the incorporation of the deity.

_Qadarites._--The upholders of free-will (see above).

_Qata`ites._--Musaites who regard the rank of the imams as closed with the death of Musa.

_Rafidites._--A term used by some writers to denote the Shi`ites as a whole; by others given to a class of the Shi`ites who forsook Zaid ibn `Ali because he forbade them to abuse the Companions.

_Rashidites._--Tha`labites, followers of Rashid ut-Tusi, sometimes called `Ushrites ("tithers") because they differed from others on the question of tithing the produce of land watered by rivers and canals.

_Rizamites._--Kaisanites of Khorasan at the time of Abu Muslim, to whom they ascribed the imamate and the Spirit of God. They also believed in metempsychosis.

_Saba`ites._--Ghaliites, who followed `Abdallah ibn Saba (see SHI`ITES).

_Salihites._--(a) Zaidites, followers of al-Hasan ibn Salih, who agreed with the teachings of the Butrites (above); (b) Murjiites, followers of Salih ibn Amr, who united with the doctrines of their own party those of the Qadarites.

_Saltites._--`Ajarida who had nothing to do with the children of believers until they had grown up and professed Islam.

_Shaibanites._--Tha`labites, followers of Shaiban ibn Salama, who was killed in the time of Abu Muslim (Moslem). They arose chiefly in Jorjan and Armenia and agreed in doctrine with the Jahmites.

_Shamitites._--Ja`farites, followers of Yahya ibn Abu Shamit.

_Shi`ites._--See separate article.

_Shu`aibites._--`Ajarida who said that God creates the actions of men, and men appropriate them.

_Sifatites_ are those who ascribe eternity to all the attributes of God, whether they denote essence or action, or are of the class called descriptive attributes.

_Sifrites_, the same as Ziyadites (below).

_Sulaimanites_ (Suleimanites).--Zaidites, followers of Suleiman ibn Jarir, who held that the appointment to the imamate was a matter of consultation and that the imamates of Abu Bekr and Omar were legal although `Ali had a better claim.

_Tha`labites._--A party of the Kharijites, followers of Tha`lab ibn Amir, who agreed with the `Ajarida except that he was friendly with children until they actually denied the faith. He also took alms from slaves when they were rich, and gave alms to poor slaves.

_Thaubanites._--Murjiites who said that faith consists in the knowledge and confession of God and His apostle, and what the intellect is not capable of doing. What the intellect can do (or leave) is not of faith.

_Thumamites._--Mu`tazilites, followers of Thumama ibn Ashras in the days of Mamun, who taught that all non-Moslems would become dust on the day of resurrection.

_Tumanites._--Murjiites who taught that faith depends on obedience rather to the principles than to the commands of Islam.

_`Ubaidites._--Murjiites who believed that anything but idolatry might be forgiven, and that if a man died professing the unity of God his sins would not hurt him.

_Wa`idites._--Those who, opposed to the Murjiites, pronounced judgment in this life; they are not counted as a separate sect by Shahrastani (see above).

_Wasilites._--A name given to those who followed Wasil ibn `Ata, the founder of Mu`tazilitism, who denied the attributes of God, asserted the power of man over his own actions, taught the existence of a middle place between heaven and hell, and despised the parties of Othman and `Ali alike.

_Yazidites._--Ibadites who said that they followed the religion of the Sabians in the Koran, and believed that God would send an apostle from the Persians.

_Yunusites._--Murjiites who taught that faith consists in knowledge of God, subjection to Him, abandonment of pride before Him, and love in the heart. Obedience apart from knowledge is not of faith.

_Zaidites._--The moderate Shi`ites (see SHI`ITES).

_Ziyadites._--Kharijites, followers of Ziyad ibn ul-Asfar, who did not regard those who abstained from fighting for Islam as unbelievers, and did not kill the children of idolaters or condemn them to hell.

AUTHORITIES.--For the philosophy and theology of Ash`ari see M. A. F. Mehren, _Exposé de la réforme de l'Islamisme par Abou-`l Hasan Ali el-Ash`ari_ (Leiden, 1878); W. Spitta, _Zur Geschichte Abu-l Hasan al-Ash`aris_ (Leipzig, 1876); M. Schreiner, _Zur Geschichte des Ash`aritenthums_ (Leiden, 1891); D. B. Macdonald, _Development of Muslim Theology, Jurisprudence and Constitutional Theory_ (London, 1903). The last work contains translations of the creeds of Ash`ari and Nasafi (Mataridite). A further bibliography of works on the faith and outlook of Islam will be found in D. B. Macdonald's _Muslim Theology_.

The text of the Koran has been edited by G. Flügel, Leipzig, various dates; and by G. M. Redslob, Paris, 1868 and 1880. There are also hundreds of Eastern editions. Concordances have been published by G. Flügel, Leipzig, 1842 (several times reprinted), also in Egypt, Palestine and India. A dictionary and glossary were published by J. Penrice, London, 1873. English translations have been made by G. Sale, London, 1734 (the fullest edition is that with notes by E. M. Wherry, 4 vols., London, 1882-1886); by J. M. Rodwell with notes, London, 1861 and 1876; and by E. H. Palmer in vols, vi. and ix. of the "Sacred Books of the East," Oxford, 1880-1882. Among the best or best-known Arabic commentaries are those of Tabari (q.v.), Zamakhshari (q.v.), Baidhawi (q.v.), the Jalalain (see SUYUTI), and such later ones as the Mafatih ul-Ghaib of ar-Razi (d. 1210). The composition and theology of the Koran are treated in the works of Nöldeke and Grimme referred to above.

On the eschatology of Islam see M. Wolff, _Muhammedanische Eschatologie_ (Leipzig, 1872); and on the doctrine of revelation. Otto Pautz, _Muhammeds Lehre von der Offenbarung_ (Leipzig, 1898). (G. W. T.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See also KORAN.

[2] Underlined = with interpolations.

[3] For the doctrines of these two sects see Shahrastani's _Book of Sects_, and for the Qadarites, A. de Vlieger's _Kitab ul-Qadr, matériaux pour servir à l'étude de la doctrine de la prédestination dans la théologie musulmane_ (Leiden, 1903).

[4] For the origin and significance of this number see M. Steinschneider, "Die kanonische Zahl der muhammedanischen Secten und die Symbolik der Zahl, 70-73," _in Zeitschr. d. deutschen morgenl. Gesellschaft_, iv., 145-170 (1850); and I. Goldziher, "Le Denombrement des sectes mohamétanes" in _Revue de l'hist. des religions_, xxvi. 129-137 (1892).

[5] The names are given throughout in the anglicized form on the analogy of Shi`ites, which is recognized in common usage. The strict termination according to the scheme of transliteration adopted in this work is _iyya_, or _iya_, e.g. Hishamiyya for Hishamites. For information regarding the important sects see separate articles and the preceding portion of this article.

[6] All these names are alternatively spelt Mo- instead of Mu-.

MAHONY, FRANCIS SYLVESTER (1804-1866), known as "Father Prout," Irish priest and author, son of a woollen manufacturer, was born in Cork in 1804. His classical education was chiefly obtained at a Jesuit college at Amiens, and after studying in Paris he entered the Jesuit college at Rome and was admitted into the Society of Jesus. He served in Switzerland and at Clongoweswood, Ireland, where he was prefect of studies and subsequently master of rhetoric. Here he was involved in scandals that led to his resignation. On going to Italy he was told at Florence that he was expelled from the Society. He succeeded, however, in obtaining priest's orders at Rome in 1832, and returned to Ireland, but subsequently went to London, officiating for some time in the chapel of the Bavarian Legation. While there he fell in with William Maginn, and about 1834 began to contribute his celebrated "Prout Papers" to _Fraser's Magazine_. These consist of episodes in the life of the parish priest "Father Prout," and dialogues after the model of "Christopher North," varied by translations of well-known English songs into Latin, Greek, French and Italian verse, which he humorously represents as being the true originals from which the English authors had merely plagiarized them. Mahony's translations have been universally admired for the extraordinary command which they display of the various languages into which his renderings are made, and for their spirit and freedom both of thought and expression. His original verse tends chiefly to show that with all his sarcastic and cynical wit his genius had also its tender, serious and sentimental side. His "Bells of Shandon" has always been greatly admired. In 1846 Mahony became correspondent at Rome to the _Daily News_, and his letters from that capital gave very vivid pictures of the first years of the reign of Pius IX. The last twelve or fifteen years of his life were spent in Paris, whence he supplied the _Globe_ with a series of piquant letters on the incidents of the day. He died in Paris on the 18th of May 1866.

The _Reliques of Father Prout_ were collected from _Fraser's Magazine_ and published in two volumes in 1836; _The Final Reliques of Father Prout_, chiefly extracted from the _Daily News_ and the _Globe_, were edited by Blanchard Jerrold in 1876, and an edition of his works, edited by Charles Kent, was published in 1881.

MAHOUT (Hind. _mahawat_), an elephant-driver. The mahout sits on the elephant's neck and directs him by voice and by the use of a goad called _ankus_.

MAHRATTAS, a people of India, inhabiting the district known by the ancient name of Maharashtra (Sans. "great kingdom or region"). This large tract, extending from the Arabian Sea on the west to the Satpura mountains in the north, comprises a good part of western and central India, including the modern provinces of the Konkan, Khandesh, Berar, the British Deccan, part of Nagpur, and about half the nizam's Deccan.

The etymology of the word Mahratta (_Maratha_) is uncertain. The name does not indicate a social caste, or a religious sect; it is not even tribal. Strictly, it is confined to the upper class from whom Sivaji's generals were mostly drawn, and who sometimes claim a Rajput origin. In a wider sense it may be extended to include all who inhabit Maharashtra and speak Mahratti as their mother-tongue. In 1901 the total number of speakers of Mahratti in all India exceeded 18 millions.

The Mahrattas have always been a separate nation or people, and still regard themselves as such, though nowadays they are almost all under British or Mahommedan jurisdiction; that is, they belong either to British India or to the nizam's dominions. There are indeed still three large native states nominally Mahratta: that of Sindhia near the borders of Hindustan in the north, that of Holkar in Malwa in the heart of the Indian continent, and that of the gaekwar in Gujarat on the western coast. But in these states the prince, his relatives and some of his ministers or officials only are Mahrattas; the mass of the people belong to other sections of the Hindu race. These states then are not to be included in the Mahratta nation, though they have a share in Mahratta history.

In general terms the Mahrattas, in the wider sense, may be described under two main heads: first the Brahmans, and secondly the low-caste men. The Mahratta Brahmans possess, in an intense degree, the qualities of that famous caste, physical, intellectual and moral. They have generally the lofty brow, the regular features, the spare upright figure, and the calm aspect which might be expected in a race maintained in great purity yet upon a broad basis. In modern times they have proved themselves the most able and ambitious of all the Brahmans in the Indian Empire. They are notably divided into two sections: the Konkanast, coming from the Konkan or littoral tract on the west coast below the Western Ghat mountains; and the Deshast, coming from the uplands or Deccan, on the east of the mountains. Though there have been many distinguished Deshasts, yet the most remarkable of all have been Konkanasts. For instance, the peshwas, or heads of the Mahratta confederation which at one time dominated nearly all India, were Konkanast Brahmans. The birthplaces of these persons are still known, and to this day there are sequestered villages, nestling near the western base of the Ghats, which are pointed to as being the ancestral homes of men who two centuries ago had political control over half India.

Apart from the Brahmans, the Mahrattas may be generally designated as Sudras, the humblest of the four great castes into which the Hindu race is theoretically divided. But the upper classes claim to be Kshattriyas or Rajputs. They probably are aborigines fundamentally, with a mixture of what are now called the Scythian tribes, which at a very early time overran India. The ordinary Mahrattas, who form the backbone of the nation, have plain features, an uncouth manner, short stature, a small but wiry frame. Though not powerful physically as compared with the northern races of the Punjab and Oudh, they have much activity and an unsurpassed endurance. Born and bred in or near the Western Ghat mountains and the numerous tributary ranges, they have all the qualities of mountaineers. In recent times they enter military service less and less, betaking themselves mainly to cultivation and to the carrying business connected with agriculture. As husbandmen they are not remarkable; but as graziers, as cartmen, as labourers, they are excellent. As artisans they have seldom signalized themselves, save as armourers and clothweavers.

In the Konkan there are some superior proprietors termed Khots. With this and perhaps some other exceptions, there are not in the Mahratta country many large landlords, nor many of the superior tenure-holders whose position relatively to that of the peasantry has caused much discussion in other parts of India. There are indeed many Mahratta chiefs still resident in the country, members of the aristocracy which formerly enjoyed much wealth and power. They are sometimes in the position of landlords, but often they are the assignees of the land revenue, which they are entitled under special grants to collect for themselves instead of for government, paying merely a small sum to Government by way of quit-rent. Under them the cultivators are by British arrangements placed in the position of peasant proprietors. The village community has always existed as the social unit in the Mahratta territories, though with less cohesion among its members than in the village communities of Hindustan and the Punjab. The ancient offices pertaining to the village, as those of the headmen (_patel_), the village accountant, &c., are in working order throughout the Mahratta country.

The Mahratta peasantry possess manly fortitude under suffering and misfortune. Though patient and good-tempered in the main, they have a latent warmth of temper, and if oppressed beyond a certain limit they would fiercely turn upon their tormentors. As a rule they are orderly and law-abiding, but traditions of plunder have been handed down to them from early times, and many of them retain the predatory instincts of their forefathers. The neighbourhood of dense forests, steep hill-sides, and fastnesses hard of access offers extraordinary facilities to plunderers for screening themselves and their booty. Thus gang robbery is apt to break out, gains head with rapidity, and is suppressed with difficulty. In times of peace it is kept under, but during war, or whenever the bands of civil order are loosened, it becomes a cause of anxiety and a source of danger. The women have frankness and strength of character; they work hard in the fields, and as a rule evince domestic virtue.

The peasantry preserve a grave and quiet demeanour, but they have their humble ideas of gaiety, and hold their gatherings on occasions of births or marriages. They frequently beguile their toil with carols. They like the gossiping and bartering at the rural markets and in the larger fairs, which are sometimes held in strikingly picturesque localities. They are superstitious, and worship with hearty veneration any being or thing whose destructive agency they fear. They even speak of the tiger with honorific titles. They are Hindus, but their Hinduism is held to be of a non-Aryan type. They are sincerely devout in religion, and feel an awe regarding "the holy Brahmans," holding the life and the person of a Brahman sacred, even though he be a criminal of the deepest dye. They of course regard the cow as equally sacred. There are two principal sects among modern Hindus--those who follow Vishnu, and those who follow Siva. The Mahrattas generally follow Siva and his wife, a dread goddess known under many names. The Mahratta war-cry, "Har, Har, Mahadeo," referred to Siva. All classes high and low are fond of the religious festivals, the principal of which, the Dasahra, occurs in October, when the first harvest of the year has been secured and the second crops sown. This has always been held with the utmost pomp and magnificence at every centre of Mahratta wealth and power. The people frequently assemble in bowers and arbours constructed of leafy boughs to hear kathas recited. These recitations are partly religious, partly also romantic and quasi-historical. After them national resolves of just resistance or of aggressive ambition have often been formed.

Apart from the Mahratta Brahmans, as already mentioned, the Mahratta nobles and princes are not generally fine-looking men. There is general truth in what was once said by a high authority to the effect that, while there will be something dignified in the humblest Rajput, there will be something mean in the highest Mahratta. Bluff good-nature, a certain jocoseness, a humour pungent and ready, though somewhat coarse, a hot or even violent disposition, are characteristics of Mahratta chieftains. They usually show little aptitude for business or for sedentary pursuits; but, on the other hand, they are born equestrians and sportsmen. Mahratta ladies and princesses have often taken a prominent part, for good or evil, in public affairs and dynastic intrigues.

Though they have produced some poetry, the Mahrattas have never done much for literature. Nor have they been distinguished in industrial art. Their architecture in wood, however, was excellent; and the teak forests of their country afforded the finest timber for building and for carving. They had also much skill in the construction of works for the supply of drinking water on a large scale and for irrigation.

The range of the Western Ghats enabled the Mahrattas to rise against their Mahommedan conquerors, to reassert their Hindu nationality against the whole power of the Mogul Empire, and to establish in its place an empire of their own. It is often stated that in India British conquest or annexation succeeded Mahommedan rule; and to a considerable extent this was the case. But, on the other hand, the principal power, the widest sovereignty, which the British overthrew in India was that of the Mahrattas.

During the earlier Moslem invasions in 1100 and in subsequent years, the Mahrattas do not seem to have made much resistance. They submitted to several Mahommedan kings under the changing circumstances of those times. It was against the Mahommedan king of Bijapur in the Deccan that Sivaji, the hero of Mahratta history, first rebelled in 1657. Sivaji and his fighting officers were Mahrattas of humble caste, but his ministers were Brahmans. When the Mogul Empire absorbed the Bijapur kingdom he defied the emperor. He imparted a self-reliant enthusiasm to his countrymen, formed them into an army, and organized them as a political community; his mountaineer infantry, though limited in numbers, proved desperately courageous; his cavalry was daring and ubiquitous. The Moslems, having once overcome the Hindus in almost all parts of India, had not for centuries met with any noteworthy uprising. Sivaji, however, planned their expulsion, and before the end of his restless life made much progress in the execution of that design. The new state which he founded was maintained under various vicissitudes after his death. Mahratta resistance, once aroused by him, was never extinguished, and the imperial resources were worn out by ceaseless though vain efforts to quell it. The great Mogul emperor's impoverished and enfeebled successor was fain to recognize the Mahratta state by a formal instrument. The Mahratta king, a descendant of Sivaji, had become a _roi fainéant_, and the arrangement was negotiated by his Brahman minister, whose official designation was the peshwa. The office of peshwa then became hereditary in the minister's family, and grew in importance as the Mahratta kingdom rose, while the king sunk into the condition of a puppet. Thus the Mahratta power was consolidated throughout nearly the whole of Maharashtra under the Brahman peshwa as virtual sovereign, with his capital at Poona, while the titular Mahratta raja or king had his court at the neighbouring city of Satara. Despite his political importance, however, the raja was still venerated as the descendant of Sivaji.

Then several chiefs carved out principalities of their own from among the ruins of the Mogul Empire. Thus Raghoji Bhonsla established himself in the tracts lying underneath the southern base of the Satpura range (namely, Nagpur and Berar), overran Orissa and entered Bengal. Damaji Gaekwar descended from the Western Ghats upon the alluvial plains of Gujarat around Baroda; Tukoji Holkar subdued the uplands of Malwa beyond the Vindhya range on the north bank of the Nerbudda; and Mahadji Sindhia obtained possession of large tracts immediately south of Agra and Delhi, marched into Hindustan and became virtually the master of the Mogul emperor himself (see GWALIOR). Sivaji's own father had founded a dominion at Tanjore in the extreme south, which, however, never had relations with the central power at Poona. The same may be said of the state of Kolhapur, allotted to a younger branch of Sivaji's family.

But these principalities, though independent respecting internal administration, and making war or peace with their neighbours according to opportunity, owned allegiance to the peshwa at Poona as the head of the Mahratta race. On state occasions heads of principalities would visit Poona by way of acknowledging the superior position of the peshwa. On the other hand, the peshwa was careful to obtain the sanction of his nominal sovereign at Satara to every important act of state. Thus a confederation was formed of which the Brahman peshwa or head was at Poona, governing the adjacent territories, while the members, belonging to the lower castes, were scattered throughout the continent of India. Such was the Mahratta Empire which supplanted the Mogul Empire. The Mahratta power grew and prospered till it embraced all western and most of central India. Its culminating point was reached about 1750, or about a century after Sivaji first rebelled against his Mahommedan sovereign.

Its armies drew soldiers from all parts of India. The infantry was not of good quality; but its cavalry was really an enormous force, numbering fully a hundred thousand in all. The horsemen were splendidly audacious in riding for long distances into the heart of a hostile country, without support, striking some terrific blows, and then returning rapidly beyond reach of pursuit. They could truly boast of having watered their horses in every Indian river from the Cauvery to the Indus. If attacked, however, in a competent manner, they would not stand; and afterwards, in conflict with the British, whole masses of them behaved in a dastardly manner. As their ambition grew the chiefs began to organize their troops after the system learnt from the English and French. In this way several Frenchmen--Benoit de Boigne, Perron and others--rose in the Mahratta service to a position dangerous to the British. But the new system was unsuited to the Mahratta genius; it hampered the meteoric movements of the cavalry, which was obliged to manoeuvre in combination with the new artillery and the disciplined battalions. Mahratta elders hence uttered predictions of military disaster which were in the end more than fulfilled.

The rapid and amazing success of the Mahratta confederation rendered it the largest Hindu power that ever existed in India. But it lacked the elements of true greatness. It was founded by plundering expeditions, and its subsequent existence was tainted by the baseness of this predatory origin. With the exception of the peshwas, its chiefs were little more than free-booting warriors, for the most part rude, violent and unlettered. Their custom was to offer their neighbours or victims the alternative of paying _chouth_, that is, one-fourth of the revenue, or being plundered and ravaged. Thus the Mahratta _chouth_ came to have an ominous significance in Indian history. Desultory efforts were made to establish a civil government, but in the main there was no administration formed on statesmanlike principles. The peshwas, on the other hand, as Brahmans, were men of the highest education then possible in India. But they were absorbed by the direction of military and political combinations, and by intrigues for the preservation of their own power; and, even allowing for all this, they failed to evince the civil capacity which might have been anticipated. While several displayed commanding abilities, and some possessed many virtues, one alone attempted to conduct an administration in an enlightened manner, and he died prematurely.

There were at the same time powers existing in India to keep the Mahrattas in check, and some parts of India were excepted from their depredations. The English power was rising at Calcutta, Madras and Bombay. The nascent Sikh power prevented Mahratta incursions from being permanently successful in the Punjab. As the Mogul Empire broke up, some separate Mahommedan powers rose upon its ruins. The nizam of the Deccan established himself at Hyderabad, comparatively near the headquarters of the peshwa. Hyder Ali was proclaimed sultan of Mysore in the south. Ahmed Shah Abdali burst upon India from Afghanistan. The Mahrattas bravely encountered him at Panipat near Delhi in 1761, and were decisively defeated. The defeat, however, did not essentially shake the Mahratta confederation. It was collision with the English that broke that wonderful fabric to pieces.

The first collision with the English occurred in 1775, arising from a disputed succession to the peshwaship. The English government at Bombay supported one of the claimants, and the affair became critical for the English as well as for the Mahrattas. It was at this conjuncture that Warren Hastings displayed his political genius and rendered signal service to his country, by succouring from Bengal the defeated Bombay army and negotiating a peace (in 1782) that restored the _status quo_.

The next collision happened in 1803. The peshwa had fallen into grave difficulties with some of the principal members of the Mahratta confederation. He therefore placed himself under British protection, and this led to the great Mahratta War, in which the Marquis Wellesley displayed those talents for military and political combination which rendered him illustrious. It was during the campaigns which ensued that General Arthur Wellesley defeated Sindhia and the Bhonsla raja at Assaye, and General Lake won the victories of Farrukhabad, Dig and Laswari over Sindhia and Holkar. The three confederates, Sindhia, Holkar and the Bhonsla, concluded peace with the British government, after making large sacrifices of territory in favour of the victor, and submitting to British control politically. It was during these events that the British won the province of Orissa, the old Hindustan afterwards part of the North-Western Provinces, and a part of the western coast in Gujarat.

The third collision came to pass between 1816 and 1818, through the conduct, not only of the confederates, but also of the peshwa (Baji Bao) himself. During the previous war the peshwa had been the protégé and ally of the British; and since the war he had fallen more completely than before under British protection--British political officers and British troops being stationed at his capital. He apparently felt encouraged by circumstances to rebel. Holkar and the Bhonsla committed hostile acts. The predatory Pindaris offered a formidable resistance to the British troops. So the peshwa ventured to take part in the combination against the British power, which even yet the Mahrattas did not despair of overthrowing. After long-protracted menaces, he attacked the British at Kirkee, but failed utterly, and fled a ruined man. Ultimately he surrendered to Sir John Malcolm, and was sent as a state pensioner to Bithur, near Cawnpore. The British, however, released the raja of Satara from the captivity in which he had been kept during the peshwa's time, and reinstated him on the throne, with a limited territory. Owing to these events the British government became possessed of the Konkan and of the greater part of the Deccan.

It remains to mention briefly the fortunes of each remaining member of the once imperial confederation. The principality of Satara was held to have lapsed in 1848 by the death of the raja without lineal heirs, and was annexed by the British government. The Bhonsla raja of Nagpur died without lineal heirs in 1853, and his territory was likewise annexed. The house of Holkar remained faithful to its engagements with the British government, and its position as a feudatory of the empire was maintained. In Sindhia's territory, by reason of internal feuds, the British had to undertake measures which were successfully terminated after the battles of Maharajpur and Panniar in 1843. But on the whole the house of Sindhia remained faithful. Sindhia himself was actively loyal during the Mutiny. The gaekwar gradually fell under British control towards the close of the 18th century, and his house never engaged in hostilities with the British government. The ex-peshwa lived to old age at Bithur, and died in 1857. His adopted son grew up to be the Nana Sahib, of infamous memory, who took a leading part in the Mutiny.

See J. Grant Duff, _History of the Mahrattas_ (3 vols., 1826); T. D. Broughton, _Letters written in a Mahratta Camp_ (1813); M. G. Ranade, _Rise of the Maratha Power_ (Bombay, 1900). (R. T.; J. S. Co.)

MAHSEER, or MAHASEER (_Barbus mosal_), a kind of barbel, abundant in the rivers of India, especially in pools of the upper and more rapid streams where they issue from the mountainous part of the country. It is one of the largest species of the Cyprinid family, attaining to a length of 3 to 5 ft., and sometimes exceeding a weight of 70 lb. Its body is well-proportioned, rather elongate, and somewhat like that of the European barbel, but covered with very large scales, of which there are only twenty-five or twenty-seven placed along the lateral line; the dorsal fin is armed with a long and strong spine, and the mouth provided with four slender and short barbels. The lips are sometimes produced into fleshy lobes. To the fisherman in India the mahseer affords the same kind of sport as the salmon in the British Isles, and it rivals that fish as regards size, strength and activity. Its flesh is likewise much esteemed.

MAI, ANGELO (1782-1854), Italian cardinal and philologist, was born of humble parents at Schilpario in the province of Bergamo, Lombardy, on the 7th of March 1782. In 1799 he entered the Society of Jesus, and in 1804 he became a teacher of classics in the college of Naples. After completing his studies at the Collegium Romanum, he lived for some time at Orvieto, where he was engaged in teaching and palaeographical studies. The political events of 1808 necessitated his withdrawal from Rome (to which he had meanwhile returned) to Milan, where in 1813 he was made custodian of the Ambrosian library. He now threw himself with characteristic energy and zeal into the task of examining the numerous MSS. committed to his charge, and in the course of the next six years was able to restore to the world a considerable number of long-lost works. Having withdrawn from the Society of Jesus, he was invited to Rome in 1819 as chief keeper of the Vatican library. In 1833 he was transferred to the office of secretary of the congregation of the Propaganda; on the 12th of February 1838 he was raised to the dignity of cardinal. He died at Castelgandolfo, near Albano, on the 8th of September 1854.

It is on his skill as a reader of palimpsests that Mai's fame chiefly rests. To the period of his residence at Milan belong: Fragments of Cicero's _Pro Scauro, Pro Tullio, Pro Flacco, In Clodium et Curionem, De aere alieno Milonis, De rege_ (_Alexandrino_ (1814); _M. Corn. Frontonis opera inedita, cum epistolis item ineditis, Antonini Pii, Marci Aurelii, Lucii Veri et Appiani_ (1815; new ed., 1823, with more than 100 additional letters found in the Vatican library); portions of eight speeches of Quintus Aurelius Symmachus; fragments of Plautus; the oration of Isaeus _De hereditate Cleonymi_; the last nine books of the _Antiquities_ of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and a number of other works. _M. Tullii Ciceronis de republica quae supersunt_ appeared at Rome in 1822; _Scriptorum veterum nova collectio, e vaticanis codicibus edita_ in 1825-1838; _Classici scriptores e vaticanis codicibus editi_ in 1828-1838; _Spicilegium romanum_ in 1839-1844; and _Patrum nova bibliotheca_ in 1845-1853. His edition of the celebrated _Codex vaticanus_, completed in 1838, but not published (ostensibly on the ground of inaccuracies) till four years after his death (1858), is the least satisfactory of his labours and was superseded by the edition of Vercellone and Cozza (1868), which itself leaves much to be desired. Although Mai was not as successful in textual criticism as in the decipherment of manuscripts, he will always be remembered as a laborious and persevering pioneer, by whose efforts many ancient writings have been rescued from oblivion.

See B. Prina, _Biografia del cardinale Angelo Mai_ (Bergamo, 1882), a scientific work, which gives a full and, at the same time, a just appreciation of his work; Cozza-Luzi, _Epistolario del card. Angelo Mai_ (Bergamo, 1883); life by G. Poletto (Siena, 1887).

MAIA, in Greek mythology, the eldest of the Pleiades, the seven daughters of Atlas and the Oceanid Pleïone. She and her sisters, born on Mt Cyllene in Arcadia, are sometimes called mountain goddesses. In a cave of Cyllene Maia became by Zeus the mother of the god Hermes. The story is told in the _Hymn to Hermes_ attributed to Homer. She was identified by the Romans with Maia Majesta, an old Italian goddess of spring, to whom a sacrifice was offered on the 1st of May by the priest of Vulcan.

MAIDA, a town of Calabria, Italy, in the province of Catanzaro, from which it is 30 m. W.S.W. direct, and 12 m. N.N.E. of Pizzo by rail (the station is 8 m. W. of the town). Pop. (1901), 5190. The town gives its name to the plain of Maida, where in 1806 British troops under Sir John Stuart defeated the French under Regnier. The names Maida Hill and Maida Vale in London are derived from this battle.

MAIDAN, an Indian term for any open plain. The Maidan is the name of the park in Calcutta, surrounding Fort William, where society people drive in the afternoon. The name is also applied to one of the valleys in the Afridi country of Tirah, and to the plateau portion of the state of Mysore.

MAIDEN, or MAID, a young unmarried girl. "Maid" is a shortened form of "maiden," O. Eng. _maegden_, which represents a diminutive of a Teutonic word meaning "young person," of either sex. An old English word "may," meaning a kinsman or kinswoman, and also a virgin or girl, represents the original. In early usage "maiden" as meaning "virgin" is frequently applied to the male sex, thus, in Malory's _Morte d'Arthur_, Sir Percyvale is called a "parfyte clene megden." Apart from the direct applications of the word to the unmarried state, such as "maiden name," "maiden lady," &c., the word is used adjectivally, implying the preservation of the first state of an object, or indicating a first effort of any kind. Probably a "maiden" fortress is one which has never fallen, though the _New English Dictionary_ suggests that the various "maiden castles" in England, usually ancient earthworks, may have been so called from being so strong that they could be defended by maidens, and points out that Edinburgh Castle, called "maiden-castle" by William Drummond of Hawthornden (_Speech for Edinburgh to the King_), is styled _Castrum puellarum_, the "castle of the maidens," in Geoffrey of Monmouth. A "maiden" assize, circuit or session is one at which there are no prisoners for trial; a "maiden over" or "maiden" in cricket is an over from which no runs are scored. A "maiden speech" is the first speech made by a member of parliament in the house. In the _Annual Register_ for 1794 (quoted in _N.E.D._) the expression, with reference to Canning's first speech, is said to be "according to the technical language of the house." "Maiden" is applied to several objects, to a movable framework or horse for drying and airing of linen, to a washerwoman's "dolly" or wooden beater, to the "kirnbaby" formed of the last sheaf of corn reaped which formerly figured in the Scottish harvest homes, and to the beheading instrument, known as the "Scottish maiden" (see below). "Maid," apart from its primary sense of an unmarried woman, is chiefly used for a domestic female servant, usually with a qualifying word prefixed, such as "housemaid," "parlour-maid," &c.

The title of "MAID OF HONOUR" is given to an unmarried lady attached to the personal suite of a queen. The custom of sending young girls of noble or good birth to the court of a prince or feudal superior, for the purpose, primarily, of education, goes back to early feudal times, and is parallel with the sending of boys to act as pages and squires to the feudal castles. The regular establishment of maids of honour (_filles d'honneur_) appears first in the royal court of France. This has usually been attributed to Anne of Brittany, wife of Charles VIII.; she had a group of unmarried girls of high rank at her court as part of her household, in whom she took a lively and parental interest, educating them and bestowing a dowry upon them on their marriage. A slightly earlier instance, however, has been found. When the young Margaret of Austria came to France on her espousal to Charles VIII., broken by his marriage to Anne of Brittany, there were in her train several _filles d'honneur_, whose names appear in the _Comptes d'argenterie de la reine Marguerite d'Autriche_, from 1484-1485 and 1488-1489 (_Archives de l'empire K. K. 80 and 81_ quoted by A. Jal, _Dictionnaire critique de biographie et d'histoire_). It is from the days of Francis I. that the _chroniques scandaleuses_ begin which circle round the maids of honour of the French court. The maids of Catherine de Medici, celebrated as the "flying squadron," _l'escadron volant_, are familiar from the pages of Pierre de l'Estoile (1574-1611) and Brantôme. Among those whose beauty Catherine used in her political intrigues, the most famous were Isabelle de Limeuil, Mlle de Montmorency-Fosseux, known as _la belle Fosseuse_, and Charlotte de Baune. The _filles d'honneur_, as an institution, were suppressed in the reign of Louis XIV., at the instigation of Mme de Montespan--who had been one of them--and their place was taken by the _dames de palais_. In the English court, this custom of attaching "maids of honour" to the queen's person was no doubt adopted from France. At the present day a queen regnant has eight maids of honour, a queen consort four. They take precedence next after the daughters of barons, and where they have not by right or courtesy a title of their own, they are styled "Honourable."

THE SCOTTISH MAIDEN was an instrument of capital punishment formerly in use in Scotland. It is said to have been invented by the earl of Morton, who is also said to have been its first victim. This, however, could not have been the case, as the maiden was first used at the execution of the inferior agents in the assassination of Rizzio (1561) and Morton was not beheaded till 1581. The maiden was practically an early form of guillotine. A loaded blade or axe moving in grooves was fixed in a frame about ten feet high. The axe was raised to the full height of the frame and then released, severing the victim's head from his body. At least 120, suffered death by the maiden, including the regent Morton, Sir John Gordon of Haddo, President Spottiswood, the marquis and earl of Argyll. In 1710 it ceased to be used; it is now preserved in the museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, in Edinburgh.

MAIDENHAIR, in botany, the common name for a fern, _Adiantum Capillus-Veneris_, characterized by the spreading hairlike branches of the frond, the ultimate pinnules of which are ½ to 1 in. long with a rounded crenate outer edge and repeatedly forked veins; the sori (or masses of spore-capsules) are in the crenatures of the pinnules, and are protected by a kidney-shaped involucre. The plant is widely distributed in temperate and tropical regions, and is occasionally found in the western counties of England, the Isle of Man, and west Ireland, growing on damp rocks or walls especially near the sea. The genus _Adiantum_ is a large one containing many handsome species both tropical and temperate, well known in greenhouse and hothouse cultivation.

MAIDENHAIR-TREE is a popular name for _Ginkgo biloba_, a remarkable and handsome gymnospermous tree, the fan-shaped leaves of which with their forked veins recall those of the maidenhair (see GYMNOSPERMS).

MAIDENHEAD, a market town and municipal borough in the Wokingham parliamentary division of Berkshire, England; 24½ m. W. of London by the Great Western railway. Pop. (1901), 12,980. Area, 2125 acres. It is pleasantly situated on and above the west (right) bank of the Thames, and is much in favour as a residential town and a resort of boating parties. Though of high antiquity it is wholly modern in appearance, and a large number of handsome houses have been built in its vicinity. A beautiful timbered house of the 15th century, however, survives in Ockwells, a short distance south of the town. The stone bridge carrying the London road over the Thames dates from 1772; but the crossing is of ancient importance. Maidenhead has trade in malt and grain. The borough is under a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors.

The history of Maidenhead (Maydenhutt, Maydenhith) is bound up with that of the ancient bridge. It is not mentioned in Domesday. Edward I. (1297) gave a grant of pontage in aid of the bridge, which was almost broken down; similar grants to the "bailiffs and good men of Maydenhithe" were made by succeeding sovereigns. In 1451 Henry VI. incorporated the gild of the Brethren and Sisters of Maydenhith to provide certain necessaries for the celebration of Mass and to keep the bridge in order: the gild, dissolved at the Reformation, was revived by Elizabeth, who, however, later (1581) substituted for it a corporation consisting of a warden, bridgemaster, burgesses and commonalty: the governing charter until the 19th century was that of James I. (1685) incorporating the town under the title of the mayor, bridgemaster and burgesses. In 1400 Thomas Holand, earl of Kent, held the bridge in the interests of the deposed Richard II., but was eventually forced to retire. In 1643 a meeting took place in the town between Charles I. and three of his children. In the 18th century a considerable trade was done in carrying malt, meal and timber in barges to London: at that time three fairs were held which have now practically disappeared. The Wednesday market is held under a charter of Elizabeth (1582).

MAID MARIAN, a personage incorporated in the English legend of Robin Hood. There is no evidence that she had originally any connexion with the Robin Hood cycle. She seems to have been an essential feature of the morris dance, and in the may-game was paired sometimes with Robin-Hood, but oftener with Friar Tuck. The well-known pastoral play of Adam de la Hale, _Jeu de Robin et Marion_, and the many French songs on the subject, account for the association of the names. In the ballads on Robin Hood her name is twice casually mentioned, but there is a late ballad, by a certain S. G. (F. J. Child, _English and Scottish Ballads_,