[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_,
i. 219), which tells how Maid Marian sought Robin in the forest
disguised as a page, and fought with him for an hour before she
recognized him by his voice. S. G. was perhaps acquainted with the two
plays, written in 1598, of _The Downfall and The Death of Robert Earl of
Huntingdon_, by Anthony Munday and Harry Chettle. In _The Downfall_
Matilda Fitz Walter escapes from the persecution of King John by
following her lover to Sherwood Forest, where they took the names of
Robin Hood and Maid Marian, and lived apart until they could be legally
united. Perhaps this tale has some connexion with the romance of the
outlaw Fulk Fitz Warin. Matilda or Mahaud, widow of Theobald Walter,
escaped from John's solicitations by marrying the outlawed Fulk and
following him to the forest. There were in semi-historical legends three
Matildas pursued by King John, of whom particulars are given by H. L. D.
Ward in his _Catalogue of Romances_ (i. 502). Their several histories
were fused by the Elizabethan dramatists, and associated with the Maid
Marian of the morris dance, who up to that time had probably only a
vague connexion with Robin Hood.
MAIDSTONE, a market town and municipal and parliamentary borough, and
the county town of Kent, England, 41 m. E.S.E. of London by the South
Eastern & Chatham railway. Pop. (1901), 33,516; area, 4008 acres. It
lies principally on the eastern bank of the river Medway, the modern
part spreading over the western slopes of a picturesque valley, which is
intersected and environed by orchards and hop gardens, this being the
richest agricultural district of Kent. The hop grounds form the
so-called middle growth of Kent, and the town has the principal grain
market in the county. Archbishop Boniface in 1260 established a hospital
here (Newark hospital) for poor pilgrims, the chapel of which, with
modern additions, is now St Peter's Church. The parish church of St
Mary, which had existed from Norman times, was demolished in 1395 by
Archbishop Courtenay, who erected on the site the present church of All
Saints. This fine Perpendicular building contains, besides many
excellent monuments, the richly carved sedilia and the twenty-eight oak
seats used by the collegiate priests. Courtenay also founded a college
of secular canons, the ruins of which are an interesting specimen of
14th-century architecture. From the reign of John until the Reformation
the archbishops had a residence here, at which Stafford and Courtenay
died. This Perpendicular building, with its Elizabethan east front, was
acquired by the corporation as a memorial of Queen Victoria's Jubilee in
1887, and houses the school of science and art. The rectory, with the
manor, passed into lay hands at the Reformation; and, having been a
perpetual curacy for three hundred and twenty years, the living became a
vicarage in 1866. The grammar school was founded in 1549, and endowed
with the estates of the local Corpus Christi fraternity, then dissolved;
the hall in which the gild assembled remains, but the school is
established in modern buildings on a new site. There are oil-mills,
rope, sacking and twine factories, and cement, lime, and brick works.
There is a considerable carrying trade on the Medway. A museum, with
public library, was opened in 1858, in an interesting building of the
early part of the 16th century. This is the headquarters of the Kent
Archaeological Society, founded by the Rev. L. B. Larking in 1858. In
1890 an art gallery was added. The West Kent and General hospital, the
county ophthalmic hospital, county gaol and barracks may be mentioned
among other institutions. From Saxon times down to 1830 condemned
malefactors were executed, and all the great county meetings were held,
on Penenden Heath, a common situated about a mile north-east of the
town, and enclosed by the corporation as a public recreation ground. The
parliamentary borough of Maidstone returns one member. The town is
governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors.
There is evidence of a Roman settlement at Maidstone. The name Maidstone
(Medwegestun, Meddestane, Maydestan), probably meaning Medway Town, is
presumably of Saxon origin. At the time of the Domesday Survey it
belonged to the archbishop of Canterbury, and from the reign of John the
archbishops had a residence there. Its position in the centre of Kent
gave it an early importance; the shire-moot was held on Penenden Heath
in the 11th century, and Maidstone was an assize town in the reign of
Edward I. In 1537 Cranmer exchanged the manor of Maidstone with the
king, and it was granted by Edward VI. to Sir Thomas Wyatt. Edward also
incorporated the town by the title of the mayor, jurats and commonalty;
it had formerly been governed by a portreve and 12 "brethren." This
charter was forfeited through Wyatt's rebellion; a second charter was
granted by Elizabeth in 1559 and confirmed by subsequent sovereigns. A
new charter constituting a governing body of a mayor, 12 jurats and 40
common councilmen was given at the petition of the inhabitants by George
II. in 1747, and remained the governing charter until 1835. Four fairs
were granted by the charter of 1559; these are now held on the 13th of
February, the 12th of May, the 20th of June and the 17th of October. A
Thursday market was granted by Henry III. to Archbishop Boniface, and a
market every second Tuesday in the month by charter of George II. A corn
market on Tuesday and a cattle market on Thursday are still held. The
manufacture of linen and woollen goods was introduced by Walloons, who
settled here in 1567. This was succeeded by paper-making, now the chief
industry of the town. The cultivation of hops has been carried on since
the 17th century.
Maidstone has been associated with various incidents of general history.
Wat Tyler broke into the prison, liberated John Ball the rebel preacher,
and committed various depredations. Several of the leading inhabitants
joined Jack Cade's rising. The rising of the Kentish Royalists in 1648
collapsed at Maidstone, where on the 1st of June Fairfax, after five
hours' obstinate fighting, captured the town at midnight.
See _Victoria County History, Kent_; I. M. Russell, _History of
Maidstone_ (1881).
MAIHAR, a native state of Central India, in the Baghelkhand agency.
Area, 407 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 63,702; estimated revenue, £4700. The
state, which is watered by the Tons river, consists mainly of alluvial
soil covering sandstone, and is fertile except in the hilly district of
the south. A large area is under forest, the produce of which provides a
small export trade. The chief, whose title is raja, claims descent from
the Kachwaha Rajput clan. The state suffered severely from famine in
1896-1897. The town of Maihar (pop. 6802) is on the East Indian railway,
97 m. N. of Jubbulpore. Extensive ruins of shrines and other buildings
in its neighbourhood indicate a former much greater extent of the place.
MAIL. (1) (Through Fr. _maille_, from Lat. _macula_, a spot or hole, the
mesh of a net), properly a metal ring or link which, joined closely with
other links, formed the fabric of body and other armour in the middle
ages, till it was superseded by plate-armour. The word "mail," properly
applied to this form of chain-armour, is also used of armour generally,
whether plate or chain, and is also transferred to the horny defensive
coverings of animals, such as the tortoise, crab, &c. (see ARMS AND
ARMOUR). (2) (O. Eng. _mál_, speech; probably the same as O. Saxon
_mahal_, assembly; in meaning connected with O. Norse _mále_,
stipulation), a Scots law term meaning rent, tax. "Mails and duties" are
the rents, whether in kind or money, of an estate. In English the word
only survives in "blackmail" (q.v.). (3) (Through O. Fr. _male_, mod.
_malle_, a Teutonic word surviving in Dutch _maal_), properly a bag,
especially one used in travelling; this word, which appears in Chaucer,
is now applied chiefly to the despatch and delivery of postal matter. In
this sense "mail" is properly the bag in which such matter is conveyed,
and hence is applied to the contents of the mail, postal matter
collectively, and to the train, carts, or other means used in the
despatch and delivery of the same. In general usage "mail" is confined
to the "foreign" as opposed to the "inland" despatch of letters, &c.,
and to which the word "post" is chiefly applied; in official language,
the word refers to the inland despatch. The word appears also in
"mail-coach," a coach used for conveying the mails, and in "mail-cart,"
a cart similarly employed. This word is also applied to a light low
vehicle propelled or drawn by hand, suitable for young children. The
"mail phaeton" is a type of phaeton with high seat for two persons and
drawn by a pair of horses.
MAILLY, LOUISE JULIE, COMTESSE DE (1710-1751), mistress of Louis XV. of
France, was the daughter of Louis, marquis de Nesle. She was the eldest
of three sisters who succeeded one another as favourites of the king. In
1726 she married her cousin, Louis Alexandre de Mailly. Although Louis
XV. had paid her attentions from 1732, she did not become titular
mistress until 1738. She did not use her position either to enrich
herself or to interfere in politics. She was supplanted by her sister,
the duchess of Châteauroux, and obliged to leave court in 1742.
See E. and J. de Goncourt, _La Duchesse de Châteauroux et ses soeurs_
(1879); Toussaint, _Anecdotes curieuses de ... Louis XV._ (2 vols.,
1905); J. B. H. R. Capefigue, _Mesdemoiselles de Nesle et la jeunesse
de Louis XV._ (1864).
MAIMANA, a town and khanate of Afghan Turkestan. The town is situated
100 m. S.W. of Balkh, and only some 25 m. from the frontier of Russian
Turkestan. It is about two-thirds the size of Herat, square built and
surrounded by a ruined wall and moat. The khanate was for long in
dispute between Bokhara and Kabul, but in 1868 Abdur Rahman laid siege
to the town, and it was compelled to come to terms. Its political status
as an Afghan province was definitely fixed by the Russo-Afghan boundary
commission of 1885. The inhabitants are chiefly Uzbegs.
MAIMAND, a town in the province of Fars, Persia, a few miles east of
Firuzabad and about 70 m. from Shiraz. It has a population of about
5000, almost wholly occupied with the manufacture and sale of
rose-water, which is largely exported to many parts of Persia as well as
to Arabia, India and Java. The district also produces great quantities
of almonds. The rose gardens cover several square miles. In 1349 a
great part of Maimand and of three little villages belonging to it
became _wakf_ (pious endowment) of the shrine at Shiraz of Mïr Ahmed,
surnamed Shah Chiragh, a son of Musa Kazim, the seventh imam of the
Shiahs, and the remainder of the Maimand grounds was given to the shrine
by Mir Habbib Ullah Sharifi and by Shah Ismail in 1504; the
administration of the Maimand property as well as the guardianship of
the shrine is still with the descendants of Mir Habbib Ullah.
MAIMBOURG, LOUIS (1610-1686), French Jesuit and historian, was born at
Nancy. He entered the Society of Jesus at the age of sixteen, and after
studying at Rome became a classical master in the Jesuit college at
Rouen. He afterwards devoted himself to preaching, but with only
moderate success. After having taken some part in minor controversies he
threw himself with energy into the dispute which had arisen as to the
Gallican liberties; for his _Traité historique sur les prérogatives de
l'Église de Rome_ (1682) he was by command of Innocent XI. expelled from
the Society, but rewarded by Louis XIV. with a residence at the abbey of
St Victor, Paris, and a pension. He died on the 13th of August 1686. His
numerous works include histories of Arianism, the iconoclastic
controversy, the Greek schism, Lutheranism, Calvinism, and of the
pontificates of Leo I. and Gregory I.; they are mere compilations,
written indeed in a very lively and attractive style, but inaccurate and
untrustworthy.
_The History of Arianism_ was published in English (1728-1729) by
William Webster, with an appendix on the English writers in the
Socinian and Arian controversies.
MAIMING, mutilation, a physical injury which involves the loss of, or
incapacity to use, a bodily member. The verb "to maim," in M. E.
_maynhe_, _mahayme_, _mayme_, &c. was adopted from O. Fr. _mahaignier_:
cf. It. _magagnars_, Med. Lat. _mahemiare_, _mahennare_, &c. (see Du
Cange, _Gloss._, _s.v._ "Mahamium"). Maiming or mutilation is and has
been practised by many races with various ethnical and religious
significances, and was a customary form of punishment on the principle
of an "eye for an eye" (see MUTILATION). In law "maiming" is a criminal
offence; the old law term for a special case of maiming of persons was
"mayhem" (q.v.), an Anglo-French variant form of the word. Maiming of
animals by others than their owners is a particular form of the offences
generally grouped as "malicious damage." For the purpose of the law as
to this offence animals are divided into cattle, which includes horses,
pigs and asses, and other animals which are either subjects of larceny
at common law or are usually kept in confinement or for domestic
purposes. The punishment for maiming of cattle is three to fourteen
years' penal servitude. Malicious injury to other animals is a
misdemeanour punishable on summary conviction. For a second offence the
penalty is imprisonment with hard labour for over twelve months.
(Malicious Damage Act 1861.) Maiming of animals by their owner falls
under the Cruelty to Animals Acts.
MAIMON, SALOMON (1754-1800), German philosopher, was born of Jewish
parentage in Polish Lithuania, and died at Nieder-Siegersdorf on the
22nd of November 1800. He married at the age of twelve, and studied
medicine in Berlin. In 1770 he severed his connexion with his orthodox
co-religionists by his critical commentary on the _Moreh Nebuhim_ of
Maimonides, and devoted himself to the study of philosophy on the lines
of Wolff and Moses Mendelssohn. After many vicissitudes he found a
peaceful residence in the house of Count Kalkreuth at Nieder-Siegersdorf
in 1790. During the ensuing ten years he published the works which have
made his reputation as a critical philosopher. Hitherto his life had
been a long struggle against difficulties of all kinds. From his
autobiography, it is clear that his keen critical faculty was developed
in great measure by the slender means of culture at his disposal. It was
not till 1788 that he made the acquaintance of the Kantian philosophy,
which was to form the basis of his lifework, and as early as 1790 he
published the _Versuch über die Transcendentalphilosophie_, in which he
formulates his objections to the system. He seizes upon the fundamental
incompatibility of a consciousness which can apprehend, and yet is
separated from, the "thing-in-itself." That which is object of thought
cannot be outside consciousness; just as in mathematics [root](-1) is an
unreal quantity, so "things-in-themselves" are _ex hypothesi_ outside
consciousness, i.e. are unthinkable. The Kantian paradox he explains as
the result of an attempt to explain the origin of the "given" in
consciousness. The _form_ of things is admittedly subjective; the mind
endeavours to explain the _material_ of the given in the same terms, an
attempt which is not only impossible but involves a denial of the
elementary laws of thought. Knowledge of the given is, therefore,
essentially incomplete. Complete or perfect knowledge is confined to the
domain of pure thought, to logic and mathematics. Thus the problem of
the "thing-in-itself" is dismissed from the inquiry, and philosophy is
limited to the sphere of pure thought. The Kantian categories are,
indeed, demonstrable and true, but their application to the given is
meaningless and unthinkable. By this critical scepticism Maimon takes up
a position intermediate between Kant and Hume. Hume's attitude to the
empirical is entirely supported by Maimon. The casual concept, as given
by experience, expresses not a necessary objective order of things, but
an ordered scheme of perception; it is subjective and cannot be
postulated as a concrete law apart from consciousness. The main argument
of the _Transcendentalphilosophie_ not only drew from Kant, who saw it
in MS., the remark that Maimon alone of his all critics had mastered the
true meaning of his philosophy, but also directed the path of most
subsequent criticism.
Maimon's chief works, in addition to the above quoted, are _Philos.
Wörterbuch_ (1791); _Streifereien im Gebiete der Philos._(1793); _Über
die Progresse der Philos._ (1793); _Die Kategorien des Aristoteles mit
Anmerkungen erläutert_ (1794); _Versuch einer neuen Logik_ (1794 and
1798); _Kritische Untersuchungen über den menschl. Geist_ (1797). See
_S. Maimons Lebensgeschichte von ihm selbst beschrieben_ (1792, ed. K.
P. Moritz; Eng. trans. by J. C. Murray, 1888); Wolff, _Maimoniana_
(1813); Witte, _S. Maimon_ (1876).
MAIMONIDES, the common name of RABBI MOSES BEN MAIMON (1135-1204), also
known from the initials of these last words as RAMBAM, Jewish
philosopher. His life falls into three epochs, which may be typified by
the towns in which they were passed, viz. Cordova, Fez and Cairo. He was
born in Cordova on the 20th of March 1135, the eve of Passover; he had a
brother, David, and one sister. His early years were spent in his native
town, which had then just passed the zenith of its glory. The Arab
rulers had fostered the development of science, art, medicine,
philosophy, literature and learning. All these influences played their
part in the education of Maimonides, whose father, besides training him
in all branches of Hebrew and Jewish scholarship, implanted in the youth
a sound knowledge of these secular studies as well. In 1148 Cordova was
taken from the last Fatimite caliph by the victorious Almohades, who had
spread over Spain from N. Africa. These militant revivalists strove to
re-establish Islam in what they considered its primitive simplicity.
They laid great stress on the unity of God, and tolerated neither schism
within the faith nor dissent without. The position of the orthodox
Spanish Jews became intolerable, and Maimon, after ten years of
hardships, wanderings and escapes, decided to take his family out of the
country. He settled in Fez. The years which Maimonides spent there
(1160-1165) were memorable for his friendship with Abdul Arab Ibn
Muisha--a Moslem poet and theologian--and for the commencement of his
literary activity. His energies were diverted towards stimulating the
religious feelings of his brethren and combating assimilation. In
consequence he became alarmed for his own safety, and in 1165 left for
Egypt, where he settled after a passing visit to the Holy Land. Cordova
taught him the humanities; Fez humanity. Cairo, besides giving him
prominence at court and in the Jewish community, was the centre of the
almost world-wide influence which he exercised over Jewry by his
monumental writings and dominant personality. By 1177 Maimonides was the
recognized chief of the Cairene congregation and consulted on important
matters by communities far and wide. Here he was joined by his most
famous disciple, Joseph Aknin. But his early life in Egypt was fraught
with deep sorrow. His father died soon after their arrival, and
Maimonides himself suffered severely from prostration and sickness. His
brother David, jointly with whom he carried on a trade in gems, was
shipwrecked in the Indian Ocean. With him perished the entire fortune of
the family. Forced to earn a livelihood, Maimonides turned to medicine.
The fame of his skill eventually brought him the appointment of body
physician to Saladin, to whom, it is said, he was so attached that when
Richard I. wrote from Ascalon, offering him a similar post at the
English court, Maimonides refused. He married the sister of Ibn al Mali,
one of the royal secretaries. In 1186, his son Abraham was born. His
remaining years were spent in ceaseless activity and in controversy,
which he sought to avoid. He died amidst universal sorrow and
veneration.
The works of Maimonides fall into three periods: (a) To the Spanish
period belong his commentary on the whole Talmud (not fully carried
out), a treatise on the calendar (_Maamar ha-ibbur_), a treatise on
logic (_Milloth Higgayon_), and his commentary on the _Mishnah_ (this
was called _Siraj_ or _Maor_, i.e. "Light": begun 1158, completed
1168 in Egypt). (b) While he was in Fez, he wrote an essay on the
Sanctification of the Name of God (_Maamar Kiddush Hashem_, _Iggereth
Hashemad_). (c) The works written in Egypt were: Letter to the
Yemenites (_Iggereth Teman_ or _Pethah Tiqvah_); _Responsa_ on
questions of law; Biblical and Rabbinical Code (_Misnheh Torah_ or
_Yad Hahazaka_, completed 1180); _Sepher hamitzvoth_, an abbreviated
handbook of the preceding; and his great philosophical work _Moreh
Nebuhim_ or "the guide of the perplexed" (1190). To these must be
added certain portions of the _Mishnah_ commentary, such as the "Eight
Chapters," the discussion on reward and punishment and immortality,
the Jewish Creed, which have acquired fame as independent works.
The influence of Moses ben Maimon is incalculable. "From Moses unto
Moses there arose not one like Moses," is the verdict of posterity.
Maimonides was the great exponent of reason in faith and toleration in
theology. One of the main services to European thought of the "Guide"
was its independent criticism of some of Aristotle's principles. His
codification of the Talmud was equally appreciated in the study of the
scholar and in practical life. Christian Europe owed much to Maimonides.
Not only did his "Guide" influence scholasticism in general, but it was
from his Code that the Church derived its medieval knowledge of the
Synagogue.
A complete bibliography will be found in _Maimonides_, by David Yellin
and Israel Abrahams (London, 1903); the final chapter of that work
gives a summary of the influence of Maimonides on Christian
philosophers such as Aquinas, and Jewish such as Spinoza. The "Guide"
has been translated into English by M. Friedlander (1881-1885; new
ed., 1905). See also _Jewish Encyclopedia_, articles _s.v._, and the
volumes edited by Guttmann, _Moses ben Maimon_ (Leipzig, 1908, &c.).
(H. Le.)
MAIN (Lat. _Moenus_), a river of Germany, and the most important
right-bank tributary of the Rhine. It has two sources, the Weisse Main
(White Main), which rises in the Fichtelgebirge on the east side of the
Ochsenkopf, and the Rote Main (Red Main), which, rising on the eastern
slope of the Frankish Jura, flows past Bayreuth. They unite 3 m. below
Kulmbach, 920 ft. above the sea. Hence the river, already of
considerable size, pursues a north-westerly direction, skirting the
spurs of the Frankish Jura in a pleasant valley. At Lichtenfels the
river takes a south-westerly course, which it retains until entering the
fertile basin of Bamberg. Here it receives from the south-east the
waters of its chief tributary, the Regnitz, and enters upon its middle
course. Its direction is now again north-west, and meandering through
pleasant vales and pastures it passes Hassfurt and reaches Schweinfurt.
Its course is now almost due south to Ochsenfurt, when it again proceeds
north-west. Continuing in this direction amid vine-clad hills, it washes
the walls of the university city of Würzburg, and thence, dividing the
forest-clad ranges of the Spessart and the Odenwald, reaches Gemünden.
Here it is joined from the right by the Frankish Saale and, turning
abruptly south, receives at Wertheim the beautiful Tauber. Feudal
castles and medieval towns now crown its banks, notably, Freudenberg and
Miltenberg. From the latter it proceeds due north to Aschaffenburg,
whence passing Frankfort it pours its yellow waters into the green
waters of the Rhine just above Mainz. The Main has a total length of 310
m. and drains a basin of approximately 11,000 sq. m. It is navigable
from the confluence of the Regnitz, 240 m. from its mouth, for barges
and other small craft, and through the Ludwig Canal is connected with
the Danube.
See Ulrici, _Das Maingebiet in seiner natürlichen Beschaffenheit_
(Kassel, 1885); E. Faber, _Zur Hydrographie des Maingebiets_ (Munich,
1895), and Lill, _Mainthal, Main und Mainschiffahrt_ (Berlin, 1904).
MAIN (from the Aryan root which appears in "may" and "might," and Lat.
_magnus_, great), a word meaning properly power or strength, especially
physical. This use chiefly survives in the expression "with might and
main." The word is more common as a substantival elliptical use of the
adjective, which usually has the sense of principal or chief in size,
strength, importance, &c. Thus "the main," the high open sea, is for
"main sea," cf. "mainland," the principal part of a territory excluding
islands and sometimes far-projecting peninsulas. The expression "the
Spanish main" properly meant that part of the main land of the N.E.
coast of South America stretching from the Orinoco to the Isthmus of
Panama, and the former Spanish possessions in Central America bordering
on the Caribbean Sea, but it is often loosely used, especially in
connexion with the buccaneers, of the Caribbean Sea itself. The term
"main" is also thus used of a principal pipe or cable for conducting
gas, water, electricity, &c. The elliptical use does not appear,
however, in such expressions as main road, line, stream. Another use of
the word "main" has a somewhat obscure history. It appears as a term in
the game of hazard, and also in cock-fighting. In the last it is used
for a match, and for the cocks engaged in a match. In hazard it is the
number called by the "caster" before the dice are thrown; this may be
any number from five to nine inclusive. The usual derivation is from the
French _main_, a hand, but according to the _New English Dictionary_
there is no evidence for this, and the more probable explanation is that
it is an adaptation of "main" meaning principal or chief. From this use
of the word in hazard the expression "main chance" is derived. "Main," a
shortened form of domain or demesne, only now survives in Scotland,
usually in the plural "mains" for a home farm.
MAINA (or MANI) and MAINOTES, a district and people of the Peloponnesus,
the modern Morea. Maina is the country occupied by the mountain range of
Taygetus from Sparta to Cape Matapan, the ancient Taenarum. It is now
divided between the modern districts Oetylos and Gythion. Before the
organization of the present kingdom of Greece, Maina was subdivided into
[Greek: Exô Manê], Outer Maina, from the frontier of Kalamata, on the
Gulf of Messenia, to Vitylo (Oetylos) and inland to the summit of
Taygetus; [Greek: Katô Manê], Lower Maina, from Vitylo to Cape Matapan;
and [Greek: Mesa Manê], or Inner Maina, on the east, and on the Gulf of
Laconia as far as the plain of Elos. It contained over a hundred
villages. The country is mountainous and inaccessible, a formation to
which it owes its historical importance. The Mainotes claim to descend
from the Spartans, and probably represent the Eleuthero, or free,
Laconians who were delivered by Rome from the power of Sparta, as is
suggested by the traces of ancient Greek in their dialect and by their
physical type. Their country being a natural fortress, they were able to
defend themselves against the Byzantine emperors, the barbarians who
broke into the empire, the Latin princes of Achaea of the house of
Villehardouin, and the Turks. As their country is also poor and
maritime, they were early tempted to take to piratical adventure. Gibbon
says that "in the time of Constantine Porphyrogenitus they had acquired
the name of Mainotes, under which they dishonour the claim of liberty by
the inhuman pillage of all that is shipwrecked on their rocky shore."
Their neighbours gave their country the name of "Kakaboulia"--the land
of wicked counsels. The passes of their mountains were elaborately
fortified and their villages were full of fortified towers (_pyrgoi_)
from which they formed their own favourite epithet, Maina
Polypyrgos--many-towered Maina. On the western side it also contains the
remains of feudal keeps, erected by William II. de Villehardouin
(1245-1278) and other Latin princes of Achaea. The Mainotes did not
become Christians till the 9th century. From the 15th till the 17th
century they recognized a family which claimed to belong to the Comneni
of Trebizond as head chiefs. But the real power was in the hands of the
chiefs of the different families and villages, who formed a turbulent
and martial aristocracy. Enduring and ferocious feuds were common among
them. In the course of the 18th century the family of Mavromicheli
(Black Michael), which belonged to lower Maina, established a general
headship over the Mainotes after much strife and many murders. When
Russia endeavoured to promote a rising against the Turks in the Morea in
1770 the Mainotes acted with her, and the strength of their country
enabled them to escape the vengeance of the Turks when the Christians
were cynically deserted by the Russians. In 1777 their practical
independence was recognized by the sultan's officers. During the Greek
war of independence the Mainotes were chiefly led by Petros (Petro Bey)
Mavromicheli, known to his countrymen as the king of Maina, who
undoubtedly cherished the hope of establishing a principality for
himself. The freedom of Greece, for which he had fought in his own way,
proved the ruin of his ambition. He found the new order less compatible
with his schemes than the Turkish dominion. Petro Bey was imprisoned by
the Greek president Capodistrias (see CAPO D'ISTRIA, COUNT.), who was in
revenge murdered by the Mavromichelis. The family were finally content
to become courtiers and officials in the reign of King Otto I. In the
19th century Maina was but little affected by civilization, except in so
far as the efficiency of modern navies debarred the Mainotes from their
old resource of piracy.
See W. Martin Leake, _Travels in the Morea_ (1830); M. E. Yemeniz, "La
Maina," in _Revue des deux mondes_ (March 1, 1865); and Philipson,
"Zur Ethnographie des Peloponnes," in _Petermanns Mittheilungen_, vol.
36 (Gotha).
MAINE, ANNE LOUISE BÉNÉDICTE DE BOURBON, DUCHESSE DU (1676-1753),
daughter of Henri Jules de Bourbon, prince de Condé and Anne of Bavaria,
was born on the 8th of November 1676. On the 19th of March 1692 she
married Louis Auguste de Bourbon, duc du Maine, son of Louis XIV. and
Mme de Montespan. The duchesse du Maine held a little court at Sceaux,
where she gave brilliant entertainments and immersed herself in
political intrigues. Displeased with the action of the regent Orleans in
degrading the illegitimate children of Louis XIV. from their precedence
above the peers of France, she induced her husband to join in the
Cellamare conspiracy for the transference of the regency to the king of
Spain. The plot, however, was discovered, and she was imprisoned in
1719. The following year she returned to Sceaux, where she resumed her
salon and gathered round her a brilliant company of wits and poets. She
died in Paris on the 23rd of January 1753.
See Général de Piépape, _La Duchesse du Maine_ (1910).