[1] The ancient Greeks called a map _Pinax_, The Romans _Tabula
geographica_. _Mappa mundi_ was the medieval Latin for a map of the
world which the ancients called _Tabula totius orbis descriptionem
continens_.
[2] Close, "The Ideal Topographical Map," _Geog. Journal_, vol. xxv.
(1905).
[3] K. Peucker, _Schattenplastik und Farbenplastik_ (Vienna, 1898);
_Geograph. Zeitschrift_ (1902 and 1908).
[4] Professor Henrici, _Report on Planimeters_ (64th meeting of the
British Association, Oxford, 1894); J. Tennant, "The Planimeter"
(_Engineering_, xlv. 1903).
[5] H. Wagner's _Lehrbuch_ (Hanover, 1908, pp. 241-252) refers to
numerous authorities who deal fully with the whole question of
measurement.
[6] Kienzl of Leoben in 1891 had invented a similar apparatus which
he called a Relief Pantograph (_Zeitschrift_, Vienna Geog. Soc.
1891).
[7] M. Fiorini, _Erd- und Himmelsgloben, frei bearbeitet von S.
Günther_ (Leipzig, 1895).
[8] _Jahrb. des polytechn. Instituts in Wien_, vol. xv.
[9] Compare the maps of EUROPE, ASIA, &c., in this work.
[10] The great majority of the maps in this work are made by this
process.
[11] Lepsius, _Urkundenbuch_, Pl. XXII.
[12] These Colchians certainly were not Egyptians. The maps referred
to may have been Assyrian.
[13] We are indebted to Strabo for nearly all we know about Greek
cartographers anterior to Ptolemy, for none of their maps has been
preserved.
[14] The gnomon was known to the Chinese in the 5th century B.C., and
reached the Greeks (Anaximander) through Babylon. Pytheas, as far as
known, was the first to utilize it for the determination of a
latitude.
[15] If, with W. Dörpfeld, we assume an Attic stadium of 200 steps
(500 ft.) to be equal to 164 metres, a degree of 700 stad. would be
equal to 114,800 metres, its actual length according to modern
measurement being 110,808 metres.
[16] _Climata_ based on the length of the longest day were introduced
by Hippocrates (_c._ 400 B.C.). _Zones_ similar to those already
drawn out for the celestial sphere were first introduced by the
Pythagoreans. Parmenides of Elea (544-430 B.C.) distinguishes five of
these zones, viz. a torrid zone, between the tropics of summer and
winter, which was uninhabitable on account of heat; two frigid zones,
uninhabitable on account of cold, and two intermediate temperate
zones.
[17] Celestial globes were made much earlier than terrestrial ones.
In the museum of Naples there is a celestial globe, 2 metres in
diameter, supported upon the shoulders of an Atlas, which E. Heis,
judging by the constellations engraved upon it (_Atlas coelestis
novus_, Bonn, 1872) judges to date from the 4th century B.C. It may
even be the work of Eudoxus (d. 386 B.C.) the famous astronomer.
Aratus of Soli in Cilicia, in his poetical _Prognostics of Stars and
the World_, refers to a globe in his possession. Archimedes, the
famous mathematician, had a celestial globe of glass, in the centre
of which was a small terrestrial globe. Hero of Alexandria (284-221
B.C.), the ingenious inventor of "Hero's Fountain," is believed to
have possessed a similar apparatus. The celestial globe of Hipparchus
still existed in the Alexandrian library in the time of Ptolemy, who
himself refers to globes in his _Almagest_, as also in the
_Geography_. Leontius, who wrote a book on the manufacture of globes
(first published at Basel in 1539), is identified by Fiorini with a
bishop of Neapolis (Cyprus) of the time of Constantine III.
(642-668).
[18] The oldest MS. of Ptolemy's _Geography_ is found in the Vatopedi
monastery of Mt Athos. It dates from the 12th or 13th century and was
published by Victor Langlois in 1867. For the latest edition we are
indebted to the late Carl Müller (Paris, 1883-1906) to whom we are
likewise indebted for an edition of the _Geographi graeci minores_
(1855-1861).
[19] Facsimiles of it have been published by Desjardins(1869-1871),
by K. Miller (1886), who ascribes it to Castorius, A.D. 366, and by
others.
[20] R. Gough, _British Topography_ (London 1768). His "Histories"
are published in _Rerum brit. scriptores_ XL. and LVII. 1866-1869.
[21] M. Bittner, _Die topogr. Capital des ind. Seespiegels_ (Vienna,
1897).
[22] E. G. Ravenstein, _Martin Behaim, his Life and his Globe_
(London, 1908). On the original only equator, ecliptics, tropics,
polar circles and one meridian 80° to the west of Lisbon are laid
down.
[23] See fig. 23, Catalan Map of the World (1375).
[24] J. G. Kohl published facsimiles of the American section of the
maps (Weimar, 1860).
[25] Facsimiles of the maps of 1507 and 1517 were published by J.
Fischer and F. M. von Wieser (Innsbruck, 1903).
[26] See "The Survey in British Africa": the _Annual Report_ of the
Colonial Survey Commission.
[27] A. Germain, _Traité des Projections_ (Paris, 1865).
[28] T. Craig, _A Treatise on Projections_ (U.S. Coast and Geodetic
Survey, Washington, 1882).
[29] This error is much less than that which may be expected from
contraction and expansion of the paper upon which the projection is
drawn or printed.
MAPLE, SIR JOHN BLUNDELL, BART. (1845-1903), English business magnate,
was born on the 1st of March 1845. His father, John Maple (d. 1900), had
a small furniture shop in Tottenham Court Road, London, and his business
began to develop about the time that his son entered it. The practical
management soon devolved on the younger Maple, under whom it attained
colossal dimensions. The firm became a limited liability company, with a
capital of two millions, in 1890, with Mr Maple as chairman. He entered
parliament as Conservative member for Dulwich in 1887, was knighted in
1892, and was made a baronet in 1897. He was the owner of a large stud
of race-horses, and from 1885 onwards won many important races,
appearing at first under the name of "Mr Childwick." His public
benefactions included a hospital and a recreation ground to the city of
St Albans, near which his residence, Childwickbury, was situated, and
the rebuilding, at a cost of more than £150,000, of University College
Hospital, London. He died on the 24th of November 1903. His only
surviving daughter married in 1896 Baron von Eckhardstein, of the German
Embassy.
MAPLE, in botany. The maple (O.E. _mapel-tréow, mapulder_) and sycamore
trees are species of _Acer_, of the order _Acerineae_. The genus
includes about sixty species, natives of Europe, North America and Asia,
especially the Himalayas, China and Japan. Maples are for the most part
trees with opposite, long-stalked, palmately lobed leaves. The flowers
are in fascicles, appearing before the leaves as in the Norway maple, or
in racemes or panicles appearing with, or later than, the leaves as in
sycamore. Some of the flowers are often imperfect, the stamens or pistil
being more or less aborted. The fruit is a two-winged "samara." The
genus was represented in the Tertiary flora of Europe, when it extended
into the polar regions; nineteen species have been recorded from the
Miocene strata of Oeningen in Switzerland. The common maple, _A.
campestre_, is the only species indigenous to Great Britain. This and
the sycamore were described by Gerard in 1597 (_Herball_, p. 1299), the
latter being "a stranger to England." Many species have been introduced,
especially from Japan, for ornamental purposes. The following are more
especially worthy of notice.
_Acer campestre_, the common maple, is common in hedgerows, but less
often seen as a tree, when it is seldom more than 20 ft. high, though
in sheltered situations 30 ft. or more is attained. The leaves are
generally less than 2 in. across, and the five main lobes are blunter
than in the sycamore. The clusters of green flowers terminate the
young shoots and are erect; the two wings of the fruit spread almost
horizontally, and are smaller than in the sycamore. It occurs in
northern Europe, the Caucasus, and northern Asia. The wood is
excellent fuel, and makes the best charcoal. It is compact, of a fine
grain, sometimes beautifully veined, and takes a high polish. Hence it
has been celebrated from antiquity for tables, &c. The wood of the
roots is frequently knotted, and valuable for small objects of cabinet
work. The young shoots, being flexible and tough, are employed in
France as whips.
_A. pseudo-platanus_, the sycamore or great maple, is a handsome tree
of quick growth, with a smooth bark. The leaves are large, with finely
acute and serrated lobes, affording abundant shade. The flowers are
borne in long pendulous racemes, and the two wings of the fruit are
ascending. It lives from 140 to 200 years. It is found wild chiefly in
wooded mountainous situations in central Europe. The wood when young
is white, but old heartwood is yellow or brownish. Like the common
maple it is hard and takes a high polish. It is much prized by
wheelwrights, cabinet-makers, sculptors, &c., on the Continent; while
knotted roots are used for inlaying. Sugar has been obtained from the
sap of this as from other species, the most being one ounce from a
quart of sap. The latter has also been made into wine in the Highlands
of Scotland. It withstands the sea and mountain breezes better than
most other timber trees, and is often planted near farm-houses and
cottages in exposed localities for the sake of its dense foliage. Its
wood is valued in turnery for cups, bowls and pattern blocks. It
produces abundance of seeds, and is easily raised, but it requires
good and tolerably dry soil; it will not thrive on stiff clays nor on
dry sands or chalks. There are many varieties, the variegated and
cut-leaved being the most noticeable. The lobed shape of its leaf and
its dense foliage caused it to be confused with the true
sycamore--_Ficus sycamorus_--of scripture.
_A. platanoides_, the Norway maple, is met with from Norway to Italy,
Greece, and central and south Russia. It was introduced into Britain
in 1683. It is a lofty tree (from 40 to 70 ft.), resembling the
sycamore, but with yellow flowers, appearing before the leaves, and
more spreading wings to the fruit. There are several varieties. The
wood is used for the same purposes as that of the sycamore. Sugar has
been made from the sap in Norway and Sweden.
Many varieties of _A. palmatum_, generally known as _polymorphum_,
with variously laciniated and more or less coloured foliage, have been
introduced from Japan as ornamental shrubs. The branches and corolla
are purple, the fruit woolly. The foliage of the typical form is
bright green with very pointed lobes. It occurs in the central
mountains of Nippon and near Nagasaki. Beautiful varieties have been
introduced under the varietal names, _ampelopsifolium_,
_atropurpureum_, _dissectum_, &c. They are remarkable for the coppery
purple tint that pervades the leaves and young growths of some of the
varieties. Other Japanese species are _A. japonicum_, the varieties of
which are among the most handsome of small deciduous shrubs; _A.
rufinerve_, with the habit of the sycamore; _A. distylum_, bearing
leaves without lobes; _A. diabolicum_, with large plane-like leaves;
and _A. carpinifolium_, with foliage resembling that of the hornbeam.
_A. saccharinum_, a North American species, the sugar, rock, or
bird's-eye maple, was introduced in 1735. It sometimes attains to 70
or even over 100 ft., more commonly 50 to 60 ft. It is remarkable for
the whiteness of the bark. The wood is white, but acquires a rosy
tinge after exposure to light. The grain is fine and close, and when
polished has a silky lustre. The timber is used instead of oak where
the latter is scarce, and is employed for axle-trees and spokes, as
well as for Windsor chairs, &c. It exhibits two accidental forms in
the arrangement of the fibres, an undulated one like those of the
curled maple (_A. rubrum_), and one of spots, which gives the name
bird's-eye to the wood of this species. Like the curled maple, it is
used for inlaying mahogany. It is much prized for bedsteads,
writing-desks, shoe-lasts, &c. The wood forms excellent fuel and
charcoal, while the ashes are rich in alkaline principles, furnishing
a large proportion of the potash exported from Boston and New York.
Sugar is principally extracted from this species, the sap being boiled
and the syrup when reduced to a proper consistence runs into moulds to
form cakes. Trees growing in low and moist situations afford the most
sap but least sugar. A cold north-west wind, with frosty nights and
sunny days in alternation, tends to incite the flow, which is more
abundant during the day than the night. A thawing night is said to
promote the flow, and it ceases during a south-west wind and at the
approach of a storm; and so sensitive are the trees to aspect and
climatic variations that the flow of sap on the south and east side
has been noticed to be earlier than on the north and west side of the
same tree. The average quantity of sap per tree is from 12 to 24
gallons in a season.
_A. rubrum_, the red-flowering or scarlet maple, is a middle-sized
tree, and was introduced in 1656. The bright scarlet or dull red
flowers appear before the leaves in March and April. The wood, like
that of other species, is applicable to many purposes--as for the
seats of Windsor chairs, turnery, &c. The grain in very old trees is
sometimes undulated, which suggested the name of curled maple, and
gives beautiful effects of light and shade on polished surfaces. The
most constant use of curled maple is for the stocks of fowling-pieces
and rifles, as it affords toughness and strength combined with
lightness and elegance. The inner bark is dusky red. On boiling, it
yields a purple colour which with sulphate of iron affords a black
dye. The wood is inferior to that of the preceding species in strength
and as fuel. Sugar was made from the sap by the French Canadians, but
the production is only half as great as that from the sugar maple. In
Britain it is cultivated as an ornamental tree, as being conspicuous
for its flowers in spring, and for its red fruit and foliage in
autumn.
_A. macrophyllum_, a north-western American species, is a valuable
timber tree.
For a good account of the North American species see C. S. Sargent's
_Silva of North America_, vol. ii. See also under SUGAR.
MAPU, ABRAHAM (1808-1867), Hebrew novelist. His works are chiefly
historical romances in Hebrew. His most famous books were _The Love of
Zion_ and the _Transgression of Samaria_. Besides their intrinsic
merits, these novels stand high among the works which produced the
romantic movement in modern Hebrew literature. Mapu's plots were
somewhat sensational, incident being more prominent than
characterization. But underlying all was a criticism of contemporary
life. His novels made a deep impression and became instantly popular.
Mapu's Hebrew style is simple and classical. An English translation of
the _Love of Zion_ bears the title _Amnon, Prince and Peasant_, by F.
Jaffe (1887). Mapu's stories have been often translated into other
languages.
See N. Slouschz, _The Renascence of Hebrew Literature_ (1909), ch. v.
(I. A.)
MAQQARI, or Makkari [Abu-l-'Abbas Ahmad ibn Mahommed ul-Maqqari] (c.
1591-1632), Arabian historian, was born at Tlemcen in Algeria and
studied at Fez and Marrakesh, where he remained engaged in literary work
until he made the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1618. In the following year he
settled in Cairo. In 1620 he visited Jerusalem and Damascus, and during
the next six years made the pilgrimage five times. In 1628 he was again
in Damascus, where he gave a course of lectures on Bukhari's collection
of _Traditions_, spoke much of the glories of Moslem Spain, and received
the impulse to write his work on this subject later. In the same year he
returned to Cairo, where he spent a year in writing his history. He was
just making preparations to settle definitely in Damascus when he died
in 1632.
His great work, _The Breath of Perfume from the Branch of Green
Andalusia and Memorials of its Vizier Lisan ud-Din ibn ul-Khat[-i]b_,
consists of two parts. The first is a compilation from many authors on
the description and history of Moslem Spain; it was published by
Wright, Krehl, Dozy and Dugat as _Analectes sur l'histoire et la
littérature des Arabes d'Espagne_ (Leiden, 1855-1861), and in an
abridged English translation by P. de Gayangos (London, 1840-1843).
The whole work has been published at Bulaq (1863) and Cairo (1885).
For other works of Maqqari see C. Brockelmann's _Gesch. der arabischen
Litteratur_ (Berlin, 1902), ii. 297. (G. W. T.)
MAQRIZI, or MAKRIZI [Taqi ud-Din Ahmad ibn 'Ali] (1364-1442), Arabian
historian, known as al-Maqrizi because of his ancestral connexion with
Maqriz, a suburb of Baalbek, was born at Cairo and spent most of his
life in Egypt, where he was trained in the Hanifite school of law,
though later he became a Shafi'ite with an inclination to Zahirite
views. In 1385 he made the pilgrimage. For some time he was secretary in
a government office, and in 1399 became inspector of markets for Cairo
and northern Egypt. This post he soon gave up to become preacher at the
mosque of 'Amr, president of the mosque ul-Hakim, and a lecturer on
tradition. In 1408 he went to Damascus to become inspector of the
Qalanisiyya and lecturer. Later he retired into private life at Cairo.
In 1430 he made the pilgrimage with his family and travelled for some
five years. His learning was great, his observation accurate and his
judgment good, but his books are largely compilations, and he does not
always acknowledge the sources to which he is indebted. Most of his
works are concerned with Egypt. The most important is the _Mawa'iz
wal-I'tibar fi dhikr ul-Hitat wal-Aihar_ (2 vols., Bulaq, 1854),
translated into French by U. Bouriant as _Description topographique et
historique de l'Égypte_ (Paris, 1895-1900; cf. A. R. Guest, "A List of
Writers, Books and other Authorities mentioned by El Maqrizi in his
_Khitat_," in _Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society_, 1902, pp.
103-125). Of his _History of the Fatimites_ an extract was published by
J. G. L. Kosegarten in his _Chrestomathia_ (Leipzig, 1828), pp. 115-123;
the _History of the Ayyubit and Mameluke Rulers_ has been translated
into French by E. Quatremère (2 vols., Paris, 1837-1845). Maqrizi began
a large work called the _Muqaffa_, a cyclopaedia of Egyptian biography
in alphabetic order. It was intended to be in 80 volumes, but only 16
were written. Three autograph volumes exist in MS. in Leiden, and one in
Paris.
Among smaller works published are the _Mahommedan Coinage_ (ed. O. G.
Tychsen, Rostock, 1797; French translation by S. de Sacy, Paris,
1797); _Arab Weights and Measures_ (ed. Tychsen, Rostock, 1800); the
_Arabian Tribes that migrated to Egypt_ (ed. F. Wüstenfeld, Göttingen,
1847); the _Account of Hadhramaut_ (ed. P. B. Noskowyj, Bonn, 1866);
the _Strife between the Bani Umayya and the Bani Hashim_ (ed G. Vos,
Leiden, 1888), and the _Moslems in Abyssinia_ (ed. F. T. Rink, Leiden,
1790). For Maqrizi's life see the quotations from contemporary
biographies in S. de Sacy's _Chrestomathie arabe_ (2nd ed., Paris,
1826), ii. 112 seq., and for other works still in MS. C. Brockelmann,
_Gesch. der arabischen Litteratur_ (Berlin, 1902), ii. 38-41.
(G. W. T.)
MAR, EARLDOM OF. Mar, one of the ancient divisions or provinces of
Scotland, comprised the larger portion of Aberdeenshire, extending from
north of the Don southward to the Mounth. Like other such districts, it
was in Celtic times under the rule of a _mormaer_. In the 12th century
his place was taken by an earl, but no definite succession of earls
appears till the 13th century, nor is any connexion established between
them and the _mormaers_. From the middle of the 13th century the earls
were recognized as among "the seven earls of Scotland" and held a great
position. Earl Gratney (fl. c. 1300) married a sister of (King) Robert
Bruce, who brought him the lordship of Garioch and castle of Kildrummy,
which she held against the earl of Athole, an ally of the English
(1335). Their son Donald was made regent in July 1332, but was
disastrously defeated and slain at Dupplin next month. His daughter and
eventual heir, Margaret, brought the earldom to her husband, William,
earl of Douglas, and on the accession of her daughter Isabél a troublous
time followed.
While she was living as a widow at her castle of Kildrummy, it was
stormed by Alexander Stewart, a bastard, who forced her to execute a
charter (August 12, 1404) settling the reversion to the earldom on
himself and his heirs. This act she revoked by a charter of the 19th of
September 1404, which cannot now be found; but on marrying him, on the
9th of December 1404, she granted him the earldom for life, the king
confirming this on the 21st of June 1405. After her death in 1408 the
earl played a great part, commanding the royal forces at the battle of
Harlaw, when the Lord of the Isles was defeated in 1411, and afterwards
acting as warden of the Marches. In 1426 he resigned the earldom to the
Crown, the king granting it by a fresh creation to him and certain
heirs, with reversion to the Crown. On the earl's death in 1435 the
earldom was claimed by Robert, Lord Erskine, as heir of Gratney, earl of
Mar, through a daughter; but the Crown claimed as reversionary under the
creation of 1426. A long struggle followed, till in 1457 James II.
obtained from a justiciary court at Aberdeen a recognition of the
Crown's right to the earldom and its lands, and shortly after bestowed
them on his son John as earl of Mar and Garioch. He died unmarried in
1479, and in 1483 his elder brother Alexander duke of Albany received
the earldom, but was soon forfeited. James III. created his son John
earl of Mar and Garioch in 1486, and after his death unmarried in 1503,
James IV. alienated to Lord Elphinstone (1507-1510) many of the Mar
lands, including Kildrummy. The title was not revived till 1562, when
James Stewart, earl of Murray, held it for a few months.
In 1565 John, Lord Erskine, succeeded in getting returned heir to the
earldom, and shortly after (June 23, 1565) Queen Margaret restored the
charter to him and his heirs "all and hail the said earldom of Mar." As
earl he took part against the queen in 1567, and in 1571 was made regent
of Scotland, which post he retained till his death (1572). His son, earl
John (c. 1558-1634), played a great part in the history of the family.
His great achievement was the recovery of the Mar estates, alienated by
the Crown during the long period that his family had been out of
possession, including Kildrummy, the "head" of the earldom. It was in
his time that the precedence of the earldom (see below) was settled.
John, the next earl (c. 1585-1654) was a Royalist, as was his son John
(d. 1668), much to the injury of the family fortune, which was further
impaired by the attachment of the family, after the Revolution, to the
Stuarts. His son Charles (1650-1689) was arrested by the government just
before his death (1689), and the next earl, John (1675-1732), a
prominent Jacobite (see below), was attainted, the earldom remaining
under forfeiture for 108 years; by the Old Pretender he was created duke
of Mar.
Alloa and other Erskine estates of the attainted earl were repurchased
for the family, and descended to John Francis Erskine (1741-1825), his
heir-male, who was also his heir of line through his daughter. To him,
in his eighty-third year, as grandson and lineal representative of the
attainted earl, the earldom was restored by act of parliament in 1824.
His grandson, who succeeded him in 1828, inherited the earldom of Kellie
(1619) and other Erskine dignities by decision of 1835. At his death in
1866, his earldom of Mar was the subject of rival claims, and the right
to the succession was not determined till 1875. His estates passed to
his cousin and heir-male, who succeeded to his earldom of Kellie and
claimed "the honour and dignity of earl of Mar." But the latter was also
claimed by a Mr Goodeve, whose father had married the late earl's eldest
sister, and who assumed the title. It was not suggested that the late
earl had more than one earldom of Mar, but Lord Kellie claimed it as
descendible to heirs-male under a creation by Queen Mary, and Mr Goodeve
as descendible to heirs of line under an earlier creation. The House of
Lords decided (Feb. 25, 1875) that Lord Kellie was entitled to the
earldom as having been created by Queen Mary in 1565, with a limitation
which must be presumed to be to heirs-male of the body. This decision
gave great dissatisfaction, but was described as "final, right or wrong,
and not to be questioned" by Lord Selborne and the lord chancellor in
1877, and Lord Kellie was thenceforth recognized as holding the earldom
on the Union Roll, the only one known, though Mr Goodeve continued to
assume the title. The Lords' decision could not be reversed, but in
1885, after much agitation, a means was found of evading it in practice
by the "Earldom of Mar Restitution Act." By "an equivocation on the
facts of the case," it was recited that "doubts may exist whether the
said ancient honour, dignity, and title of peerage of earl of Mar ...
was or was not ... by any lawful means surrendered or merged in the
Crown" before 1565, and that the House of Lords had decided that Queen
Mary's known charter of 1565 applied only to lands and "did not operate
or extend to restore" the peerage dignity, and enacted that "John
Francis Erskine Goodeve Erskine" (which last name the claimant had
added) should be "restored to" the ancient earldom. His previous
assumption of the title was thus rejected as invalid, but from the
passing of the act two earldoms of Mar were in existence, that of Lord
Kellie being confirmed and allowed the precedence of 1565, while the
restored earldom was allowed that of the dignity on the Union Roll, the
only one known till then. This precedence had been assigned to it by the
Decreet of Ranking (1606), and assigns to it an origin in 1404 (or, as
some say, 1395). It is frequently, but absurdly, stated to have been
"created before 1014," and wrongly spoken of as the Premier Scottish
Earldom (see EARL). A barony of Garioch is also wrongly said to be
annexed to it, but the title is used by the earl's eldest son in default
of any other.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--_Minutes of Evidence_, 1875 and 1885; Riddell's
_Peerage and Consistorial Law_; Skene, _Celtic Scotland_; Lord
Crawford's _Earldom of Mar in Sunshine and Shade_; articles by G.
Burnett (Lyon), Sir H. Barkly, Cornelius Hallen, W. A. Lindsay and J.
H. Round in _Genealogist_ (N.S.), vols. 3, 4, 9; Lord Redesdale's _The
Earldom of Mar, a Letter to the Lord Clerk Register_ (reply to Lord
Crawford) (1883); J. H. Round's "Are there two Earls of Mar?" in
Foster's _Collectanea genealogica_, and "The later Earldom of Mar" in
Walford's _Antiquarian Magazine_, vol. ii.; also his _Studies in
Peerage and Family History_. (J. H. R.)
MAR, JOHN ERSKINE, 1ST OR 6TH EARL OF (d. 1572), regent of Scotland, was
a son of John, 5th Lord Erskine (d. 1552), who was guardian of King
James V., and afterwards of Mary Queen of Scots. The younger John, who
succeeded his father as 6th Lord Erskine in 1552, joined the religious
reformers, but he was never very ardent in the cause, although he
subscribed the letter asking Knox to return to Scotland in 1557. The
custody of Edinburgh Castle was in his hands, and during the struggle
between the regent, Mary of Lorraine, and the lords of the Congregation
he appears to have acted consistently in the interests of peace. When
Mary Stuart returned to Scotland in 1561 Lord Erskine was a member of
her council, he favoured her marriage with Lord Darnley, and his wife,
Annabella Murray, called by Knox a "verray Jesabell," was a frequent
companion of the queen. In 1565 Erskine was granted the earldom of Mar
(see above). As guardian of James, afterwards King James VI., he
prevented the young prince from falling into the hands of Bothwell, and
when the Scottish nobles rose against Mary and Both well, Mar was one of
their leaders; he took part in the government of Scotland during Mary's
imprisonment at Lochleven, and also after her subsequent abdication. In
September 1571 he was chosen regent of Scotland, but he was overshadowed
and perhaps slighted by the earl of Morton, and he died at Stirling on
the 29th of October 1572.
MAR, JOHN ERSKINE, 2ND OR 7TH EARL OF (c. 1558-1634), Scottish
politician, was the only son of the preceding. Together with King James
VI. he was educated by George Buchanan. After attaining his majority he
was nominally the guardian of the young king, who was about seven years
his junior, and who lived with him at Stirling; but he was in reality a
puppet in the hands of the regent, the earl of Morton; and he lost power
and position when Morton was imprisoned. He was concerned in the seizure
of James VI. in 1582 (a plot known as the raid of Ruthven); but when
James escaped from his new custodians the earl fled into the west of
Scotland. Then leaving his hiding-place Mar seized Stirling Castle,
whereupon James marched against him, and he took refuge in England.
Queen Elizabeth interceded for him, but in vain, and after some futile
communications between the governments of England and Scotland Mar and
his friends gathered an army, entered the presence of the king at
Stirling, and were soon in supreme authority (1585). Mar was restored to
his lands and titles. Henceforward he stood high in the royal favour; he
became governor of Edinburgh Castle and was made tutor to James's son,
Prince Henry, and for his second wife he married Mary, daughter of Esmé
Stewart, duke of Lennox. In 1601 the earl was sent as envoy to London;
here Elizabeth assured him that James should be her successor, and his
mission was conducted with tact and prudence. Having joined the English
privy council Mar was created Lord Cardross in 1610; he was a member of
the Court of High Commission and was lord high treasurer of Scotland
from 1615 to 1630. He died at Stirling on the 14th of December 1634.
John (c. 1585-1654), his only son by his first wife, succeeded to his
earldom; by his second wife he had five sons, among them being James (d.
1640), earl of Buchan; Henry (d. 1628), whose son David (d. 1671)
succeeded to the barony of Cardross; and Charles, the ancestor of the
earls of Rosslyn.
MAR, JOHN ERSKINE, 6TH OR 11TH EARL OF (1675-1732), Scottish Jacobite,
was the eldest son of Charles, the 5th earl (1650-1689), from whom he
inherited estates which were heavily loaded with debt. He was associated
with the party favourable to the English government; he was one of the
commissioners for the Union, and was made a Scottish secretary of state,
becoming after the Union of 1707 a representative peer for Scotland,
keeper of the signet and a privy councillor. In 1713 Mar was made an
English secretary of state by the Tories, but he seems to have been
equally ready to side with the Whigs, and in 1714 he assured the new
king, George I., of his loyalty. However, like the other Tories, he was
deprived of his office, and in August 1715 he went in disguise to
Scotland and placed himself at the head of the adherents of James
Edward, the Old Pretender. Meeting many Highland chieftains at Aboyne he
avowed an earnest desire for the independence of Scotland, and at
Braemar on the 6th of September 1715 he proclaimed James VIII. king of
Scotland, England, France and Ireland. Gradually the forces under his
command were augmented, but as a general he was a complete failure.
Precious time was wasted at Perth, a feigned attack on Stirling was
resultless, and he could give little assistance to the English
Jacobites. At Sheriffmuir, where a battle was fought in November 1715,
Mar's forces largely outnumbered those of his opponent, Archibald
Campbell, afterwards 3rd duke of Argyll; but no bravery could atone for
the signal incompetence displayed by the earl, and the fight was
virtually a decisive defeat for the Jacobites. Mar then met James Edward
at Fetteresso; the cause however was lost, and the prince and the earl
fled to France. Mar sought to interest foreign powers in the cause of
the Stuarts; but in the course of time he became thoroughly distrusted
by the Jacobites. In 1721 he accepted a pension of £3500 a year from
George I., and in the following year his name was freely mentioned in
connexion with the trial of Bishop Atterbury, whom it was asserted that
Mar had betrayed. This charge may perhaps be summarized as not proven.
At the best his conduct was highly imprudent, and in 1724 he left the
Pretender's service. His later years were spent in Paris and at
Aix-la-Chapelle, where he died in May 1732.
Mar, who was known as "bobbing John," married for his second wife,
Frances (d. 1761), daughter of the 1st duke of Kingston, and was thus a
brother-in-law of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. He had been attainted in
1716, and his only son, Thomas, Lord Erskine, died childless in March
1766.
Mar's brother, JAMES ERSKINE (1679-1754), was educated as a lawyer and
became lord justice clerk of the Court of Session and Lord Grange in
1710. He took no part in the rising of 1715, although there is little
doubt that at times he was in communication with the Jacobites; but was
rather known for his piety and for his sympathy with the Presbyterians.
He is more famous, however, owing to the story of his wife's
disappearance. This lady, Rachel Chicely, was a woman of disordered
intellect; probably with reason she suspected her husband of infidelity,
and after some years of unhappiness Grange arranged a plan for her
seizure. In January 1732 she was conveyed with great secrecy from
Edinburgh to the island of Hesker, thence to St Kilda, where she
remained for about ten years, thence she was taken to Assynt in
Sutherland, and finally to Skye. To complete the idea that she was dead
her funeral was publicly celebrated, but she survived until May 1745.
Meanwhile in 1734 Grange had resigned his judgeship and had become an
English member of parliament; here he was a bitter opponent of Sir
Robert Walpole. He died in London on the 20th of January 1754.
See the _Journal of the Earl of Mar_ (1716); R. Patten, _History of
the late Rebellion_ (1717); and A. Lang, _History of Scotland_, vol.
iv. (1907).
MARA, GERTRUD ELISABETH (1749-1833), German singer, was born at Cassel,
the daughter of a poor musician named Schmeling. From him she learnt the
violin, and while still a child her playing at the fair at Frankfort was
so remarkable that money was collected to provide for her. She was
helped by influential friends, and studied under Hillel at Leipzig for
five years, proving to be endowed with a wonderful soprano voice. She
began to sing in public in 1771, and was soon recognized as the greatest
singer that Germany had produced. She was permanently engaged for the
Prussian Court, but her marriage to a debauched violinist named Mara
created difficulties, and in 1780 she was released. After singing at
Vienna, Munich and elsewhere, she appeared in Paris in 1782, where her
rivalry with the singer Todi developed into a regular faction. In 1784
she went to London, and continued to appear there with great success,
with visits at intervals to Italy and to Paris till 1802, when for some
years she retired to Russia. She visited England again in 1819, but then
abandoned the stage. She went to Livonia, and died on the 20th of
January 1833 at Revel.
MARABOUT (the French form of the Arab. _murabit_, "one who pickets his
horse on a hostile frontier"; cf. Portug. _marabute_; Span. _morabito_),
in Mahommedan religion a hermit or devotee. The word is derived from
_ribat_, a fortified frontier station. To such stations pious men betook
them to win religious merit in war against the infidel; their leisure
was spent in devotion, and the habits of the convent superseded those of
the camp (see M'G. De Slane in _Jour. As._, 1842, i. 168; Dozy, _Suppl._
i. 502). Thus _ribat_ came to mean a religious house or hospice
(_zawiya_). The great sphere of the marabouts is North Africa. There it
was that the community formed by Yahya b. Ibrahim and the doctor
Abdullah developed into the conquering empire of the Murabits, or, as
Christian writers call them, the ALMORAVIDES (q.v.), and there still,
among the Berbers, the marabouts enjoy extraordinary influence, being
esteemed as living saints and mediators. They are liberally supported by
alms, direct all popular assemblies, and have a decisive voice in
intertribal quarrels and all matters of consequence. On their death
their sanctity is transferred to their tombs (also called marabouts),
where chapels are erected and gifts and prayers offered. The marabouts
took a prominent part in the resistance offered to the French by the
Algerian Moslems; and they have been similarly active in
politico-religious movements in Tunisia and Tripoli.
See L. Rinn, _Marabouts et Khouan_ (Algiers, 1884); and the article
DERVISH.
MARACAIBO, a large lake of western Venezuela, extending southward from
the Gulf of Venezuela, into which it opens through a long neck, or
strait, obstructed at its mouth by islands and bars, and having a large
drainage basin bounded on the W. by the Eastern Cordillera, on the S.E.
by the Cordillera de Merida, and on the E. by a low range of mountains
extending N. by W. from Trujillo to the coast. The lake is roughly
quadrangular in shape, and extends from the 9th to the 11th parallel of
S. lat. and from the 71st to the 72nd meridian. It opens into the Gulf
through 13 channels, the depth on the bar in the main channel ranging
from 7 ft. at low water to 12 ft. at high water. Inside the bar the
depth is about 30 ft., and the lake is navigable for vessels of large
size. It receives the waters of many rivers, principally on its west and
south sides, the largest of which are the Catatumbo and Zulia,
Escalante, Chanudo, Ceniza, Sant'Ana, Negro, Apan and Palmar. The first
three have navigable channels for river steamers. There are a number of
small lakes near Lake Maracaibo's southern and western margins, the
largest of which is the Laguna de Zulia. The heavy rainfall on the
eastern slopes of the Eastern Cordillera, which is said to exceed 86 in.
per annum, is responsible for the great volume of water discharged into
the lake. The average annual precipitation over the whole basin is said
to be 70 in. In the upper half of the lake the water is sweet, but below
that, where the tidal influence is stronger, it becomes brackish. The
only port of consequence on the lake is Maracaibo, but there are small
ports at its upper end which are in direct communication with the inland
cities of Trujillo, Merida and San Cristobal. The Catatumbo River, which
enters from the west near the north end of the lake, and its principal
tributary, the Zulia, are navigable as far as Villamizar, in Colombia,
and afford an excellent transportation route for the coffee and other
products of Santander.
MARACAIBO (sometimes MARACAYBO), a city and seaport of Venezuela and
capital of the state of Zulia (formerly Maracaibo), on the west shore of
the broad channel or neck which connects Lake Maracaibo with the Gulf of
Venezuela, or Maracaibo, about 25 m. from the mouth of the channel
opening into the latter. Pop. (1889), 34,284; (1905), 49,817; there is a
considerable German element in the vicinity. The best residential
suburb, Haticos, extends along the lake shore toward the south. The city
is provided with tramways, telephone service and electric lighting, but
the water supply and drainage are inferior. The most important buildings
are the executive's residence, the legislative chambers, the municipal
hall, the Baralt theatre, the prison, the market, a hospital and six
churches. The city also has a school of arts, a public library, and a
public garden. In colonial times Maracaibo had a famous Jesuits' college
(now gone) and was one of the educational centres of Spanish America;
the city now has a national college and a nautical school. The
industries include shipbuilding, and the manufacture of saddlery and
other leather products, bricks and tile, rum, beer, chocolate and
coco-nut oil. Maracaibo is chiefly known, however, as one of the
principal commercial centres and shipping ports on the northern coast of
South America. The bar at the entrance to Maracaibo channel does not
admit vessels drawing more than 12 ft., but there is a depth of 30 ft.
inside and near the city. Steam communication is maintained on the
Catatumbo and Zulia rivers to Villamizar, and on the Escalante to Santa
Cruz. The principal exports from Maracaibo are coffee, hides and skins,
cabinet and dye-woods, cocoa, and mangrove bark, to which may be added
dividivi, sugar, copaiba, gamela and hemp straw for paper-making, and
fruits. In 1906, 26% of the coffee exports was of Colombian origin.
Maracaibo was founded in 1571 by Alonso Pacheco, who gave it the name
Nueva Zamora. Up to 1668 the entrepôt for the inland settlements was a
station named Gibraltar at the head of the lake, but the destruction of
that station by pirates in that year transferred this valuable trade to
Maracaibo. The city did not figure actively in the War of Independence
until 1821 (Jan. 28), when the province declared its independence and
sought an alliance with Colombia. This brought to an end the armistice
between Bolívar and Morillo, and thenceforward the city experienced all
the changing fortunes of war until its final capture by the
revolutionists in 1823.
MARAGHA, a town of Persia in the province of Azerbaijan, on the Safi
River, in 37° 23´ N., 46° 16´ E., 80 m. from Tabriz. Pop. about 16,000.
It is pleasantly situated in a narrow valley running nearly north and
south at the eastern extremity of a well-cultivated plain opening
towards Lake Urmia, which lies 18 m. to the west. The town is
encompassed by a high wall ruined in many places, and has four gates.
Two stone bridges in good condition, said to have been constructed
during the reign of Hulaku Khan (1256-1265), and since then several
times repaired, lead over the Safi River on the western side of the
town. The place is surrounded by extensive vineyards and orchards, all
well watered by canals led from the river, and producing great
quantities of fruit for exportation to Russia. On a hill west of the
town are the remains of a famous observatory (_rasad_) constructed under
the direction of the great astronomer Nasr-ud-din of Tus. The hills west
of the town consist of horizontal strata of sandstone covered with
irregular pieces of basalt and the top of the hill on which the
observatory stood was made level by taking away the basalt. The
building, which no doubt served as a citadel as well, enclosed a space
of 380 yds. by 150, and the foundations of the walls were 4½ to 5 ft. in
thickness. The marble, which is known throughout Persia as Maragha
marble, is a travertine obtained at the village of Dashkesen (Turkish
for "stone-breakers") about 30 m. north-west from Maragha. It is
deposited from water, which bubbles up from a number of springs in the
form of horizontal layers, which at first are thin crusts and can easily
be broken, but gradually solidify and harden into blocks with a
thickness of 7 to 8 in. It is a singularly beautiful substance, being of
pink, greenish, or milk-white colour, streaked with reddish,
copper-coloured veins. An analysis of the marble gave the following
result: calcium carbonate, 90.93; magnesium, .75; iron, 1.37; manganese,
4.34; calcium sulphate, 2.30; calcium phosphate, .24 (R. T. Günther,
_Geog. Journ._ xiv. 517).
MARANHÃO, or MARANHAM (Span. _Marañon_, the name given to the upper
Amazon), a northern state of Brazil, bounded N. by the Atlantic, E. and
S.E. by Piauhy, S.W. and W. by Goyaz and Pará. Area, 177,569 sq. m.;
pop. (1890), 430,854; (1900), 499,308. The coastal zone and the
north-west corner of the state belong to the Amazon valley region, being
a heavily forested plain traversed by numerous rivers. The eastern and
southern parts, however, belong to the lower terraces of the great
Brazilian plateau, broken by eroded river-courses between which are high
open plains. There are no true mountain ranges in Maranhão, those
indicated on the maps being only plateau escarpments marking either its
northern margin or the outlines of river valleys. The climate is hot,
and the year is divided into a wet and dry season, extreme humidity
being characteristic of the former. The heat, however, is greatly
modified on the coast by the south-east trade winds, and the climate is
generally considered healthy, though beri-beri and eruptive diseases are
common on the coast. The coast itself is broken and dangerous, there
being many small indentations, which are usually masked by islands or
shoals. The largest of these are the Bay of Tury-assú, facing which is
the island of São João, and several others of small size, and the
contiguous bays of São Marcos and São José, between which is the large
island of Maranhão. The rivers of the state all flow northward to the
Atlantic and a majority of them have navigable channels. The Parnahyba
forms the eastern boundary of Maranhão, but it has one large tributary,
the Balsas, entirely within the state. A part of the western boundary is
formed by the Tocantins, and another part by the Gurupy, which separates
the state from Pará. The principal rivers of the state are the
Maracassumé and Tury-assú, the Mearim and its larger tributaries (the
Pindaré, Grajahú, Flôres and Corda) which discharge into the Bay of São
Marcos, and the Itapicurú and Monim which discharge into the Bay of São
José. Like the Amazon, the Mearim has a _pororoca_ or bore in its lower
channel, which greatly interferes with navigation. There are a number of
small lakes in the state, some of which are, apparently, merely
reservoirs for the annual floods of the rainy season.
The principal industries of Maranhão are agricultural, the river valleys
and coastal zone being highly fertile and being devoted to the
cultivation of sugar-cane, cotton, rice, coffee, tobacco, mandioca and a
great variety of fruits. The southern highlands, however, are devoted to
stock-raising, which was once an important industry. Troublesome
insects, vampire bats, and the failure to introduce new blood into the
degenerated herds, are responsible for its decline. Agriculture has also
greatly declined, the state producing for export only a comparatively
small quantity of cotton, rice, sugar and _aguardiente_. Besides São
Luiz, the capital of the state, the principal towns, with the population
of their municipal districts in 1890, are: Caxias (19,443), Alcantara
(4730), Carolina (7266), Grajahú (11,704), Tury-assú (8983) and Viana
(9965).
The coast of Maranhão was first discovered by Pinzon in 1500, but it was
included in the Portuguese grant of captaincies in 1534. The first
European settlement, however, was made by a French trading expedition
under Jacques Riffault, of Dieppe, in 1594, who lost two of his three
vessels in the vicinity of the island of Maranhão, and left a part of
his men on that island when he returned home. Subsequently Daniel de la
Rivardière was sent to report on the place, and was then commissioned by
the French crown to found a colony on the island; this was done in 1612.
The French were expelled by the Portuguese in 1615, and the Dutch held
the island from 1641 to 1644. In 1621 Ceará, Maranhão and Pará were
united and called the "Estado do Maranhão," which was made independent
of the southern captaincies. Ceará was subsequently detached, but the
"state" of Maranhão remained independent until 1774, when it again
became subject to the colonial administration of Brazil. Maranhão did
not join in the declaration of independence of 1822, but in the
following year the Portuguese were driven out by Admiral Lord Cochrane
and the province became a part of the new empire of Brazil.
MARANO (accursed or banned), a term applied to Jewish Christians in
Spain. Converted to Roman Catholicism under compulsion, these "New
Christians" often continued to observe Jewish rites in their homes, as
the Inquisition records attest. It was in fact largely due to the
Maranos that the Spanish Inquisition was founded. The Maranos made rapid
strides in prosperity, and "accumulated honours, wealth and popular
hatred" (Lea, _History of the Spanish Inquisition_, i. 125). This was
one of the causes that led to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in
1492. Maranos emigrated to various countries, but many remained in the
Peninsula. Subsequently distinguished individuals left home for more
tolerant lands. The Jewish community in London was refounded by Maranos
in the first half of the 17th century. Hamburg commerce, too, owed much
to the enterprise of Portuguese Maranos. In Amsterdam many Maranos found
asylum; Spinoza was descended from such a family. There are still
remnants of Marano families in Portugal.
See Lea, _loc. cit._ and elsewhere; see index s.v. "New Christian";
Graetz, _History of the Jews_, Eng. trans. see index s.v. "Marranos";
M. Kayserling, in _Jewish Encyclopedia_, viii. 318 seq.; and for the
present day _Jewish Quarterly Review_, xv. 251 seq. (I. A.)
MARASH (anc. _Germanicia-Marasion_), the chief town of a sanjak of the
same name in the Aleppo vilayet, altitude 2600 ft. situated E. of the
Jihan river, at the foot of Mt Taurus. The sanjak lies almost wholly in
Mt Taurus, and includes the Armenian town of Zeitun. Marash is
prosperous, and has a large trade in Kurd carpets and embroideries. The
climate is good, except in summer. Of the population (50,000) about half
are Turkish-speaking Armenians. There are a college, church and schools
belonging to the American mission, a native Protestant church and a
Jesuit establishment. The site, which lies near the mouths of the three
main passes over the eastern Taurus--viz. those descending from Geuksun
(Cocysus), Albistan-Yarpuz (Arabissus), and Malatia (Melitene)--is shown
to have had early importance, not only by the occurrence of _Marasi_ in
Assyrian inscriptions, but by the discovery of several "Hittite"
monuments on the spot. These, said to have been unearthed, for the most
part, near the Kirk Geuz spring above the modern town, are now in
Constantinople and America, and include an inscribed lion, once built
into the wall of the citadel known in the middle ages as al-Marwani, and
several _stelae_. No more is known of the place until it appears as
Germanicia-Caesarea, striking imperial coins with the head of L. Verus
(middle of 2nd cent. A.D.). The identification of Marash with Germanicia
has been disputed, but successfully defended by Sir W. M. Ramsay; and it
is borne out by the Armenian name _Kermanig_, which has been given to
the place since at least the 12th century. Before the Roman period
Marash doubtless shared the fortunes of the Seleucid kingdom of
Commagene. _Germanicia-Marasion_ played a great part in Byzantine border
warfare: Heraclius was there in A.D. 640; but before 700 it had passed
into Saracen hands and been rebuilt by the caliph Moawiya. During the
8th and 9th centuries, when the direct pass from Cocysus came into
military use, Marasion (the older name had returned into general use)
was often the Byzantine objective and was more than once retaken; but
after 770, when Mansur incorporated it in "Palestine" it remained
definitely in Moslem power and was refortified by Harun-al-Rashid. It
was seized by the crusaders after their march across Mt Taurus, A.D.
1097, became an important town of Lesser Armenia and was taken by the
Seljuks in 1147. In the 16th century it was added to the Osmanli Empire
by Selim I. Marash passed with the rest of Syria into Egyptian hands in
1832, and in 1839 received fugitives from the defeat of Nizib, among
whom was Moltke. Ibrahim Pasha was encamped near it when directed by his
father, at the bidding of the powers, to stay his further advance. Since
its reversion to Ottoman power (1840) the history of Marash has been
varied only by Armenian troubles, largely connected with the fortunes of
Zeitun, for the reduction of which place it has more than once been used
as a base. There was less disturbance there in 1895-1896 than in other
north Syrian towns. (D. G. H.)
MARAT, JEAN PAUL (1743-1793), French revolutionary leader, eldest child
of Jean Paul Marat, a native of Cagliari in Sardinia, and Louise Cabrol
of Geneva, was born at Boudry, in the principality of Neuchâtel, on the
24th of May 1743. His father was a designer, who had abandoned his
country and his religion, and married a Swiss Protestant. On his
mother's death in 1759 Marat set out on his travels, and spent two years
at Bordeaux in the study of medicine, whence he moved to Paris, where he
made use of his knowledge of his two favourite sciences, optics and
electricity, to subdue an obstinate disease of the eyes. After some
years in Paris he went to Holland, and then on to London, where he
practised his profession. In 1773 he made his first appearance as an
author with a _Philosophical Essay on Man_. The book shows a wonderful
knowledge of English, French, German, Italian and Spanish philosophers,
and directly attacks Helvetius, who had in his _De l'esprit_ declared a
knowledge of science unnecessary for a philosopher. Marat declares that
physiology alone can solve the problems of the connexion between soul
and body, and proposes the existence of a nervous fluid as the true
solution. In 1774 he published _The Chains of Slavery_, which was
intended to influence constituencies to return popular members, and
reject the king's friends. Its author declared later that it procured
him an honorary membership of the patriotic societies of Carlisle,
Berwick and Newcastle. He remained devoted to his profession, and in
1775 published in London a little _Essay on Gleets_, and in Amsterdam a
French translation of the first two volumes of his _Essay on Man_. In
this year he visited Edinburgh, and on the recommendation of certain
Edinburgh physicians was made an M. D. of St Andrews. On his return to
London he published an _Enquiry into the Nature, Cause, and Cure of a
Singular Disease of the Eyes_, with a dedication to the Royal Society.
In the same year there appeared the third volume of the French edition
of the _Essay on Man_, which reached Ferney, and exasperated Voltaire,
by its onslaught on Helvetius, into a sharp attack which only made the
young author more conspicuous. His fame as a clever doctor was now
great, and on the 24th of June 1777, the comte d'Artois, afterwards
Charles X. of France, made him by brevet physician to his guards with
2000 livres a year and allowances.
Marat was soon in great request as a court doctor among the aristocracy;
and even Brissot, in his _Mémoires_, admits his influence in the
scientific world of Paris. The next years were much occupied with
scientific work, especially the study of heat, light and electricity, on
which he presented memoirs to the Académie des Sciences, but the
academicians were horrified at his temerity in differing from Newton,
and, though acknowledging his industry, would not receive him among
them. His experiments greatly interested Benjamin Franklin, who used to
visit him and Goethe always regarded his rejection by the academy as a
glaring instance of scientific despotism. In 1780 he had published at
Neuchâtel a _Plan de législation criminelle_, founded on the principles
of Beccaria. In April 1786 he resigned his court appointment. The
results of his leisure were in 1787 a new translation of Newton's
_Optics_, and in 1788 his _Mémoires académiques, ou nouvelles
découvertes sur la lumière_.
His scientific life was now over, his political life was to begin; in
the notoriety of that political life his great scientific and
philosophical knowledge was to be forgotten, the high position he had
given up denied, and he himself scoffed at as an ignorant charlatan, who
had sold quack medicines about the streets of Paris, and been glad to
earn a few sous in the stables of the comte d'Artois. In 1788 the
notables had met, and advised the assembling of the states-general. The
elections were the cause of a flood of pamphlets, of which one,
_Offrande à la patrie_, was by Marat, and, though now forgotten, dwelt
on much the same points as the famous brochure of the Abbé Siéyès:
_Qu'est-ce que le tiers état?_ When the states-general met, Marat's
interest was as great as ever, and in June 1789 he published a
supplement to his _Offrande_, followed in July by _La constitution_, in
which he embodies his idea of a constitution for France, and in
September by his _Tableau des vices de la constitution d'Angleterre_,
which he presented to the Assembly. The latter alone deserves remark.
The Assembly was at this time full of anglomaniacs, who desired to
establish in France a constitution similar to that of England. Marat had
seen that England was at this time being ruled by an oligarchy using the
forms of liberty, which, while pretending to represent the country, was
really being gradually mastered by the royal power. His heart was now
all in politics; and he decided to start a paper. At first appeared a
single number of the _Moniteur patriote_, followed on the 12th of
September by the first number of the _Publiciste parisien_, which on the
16th of September took the title of _L'Ami du peuple_ and which he
edited, with some interruptions, until the 21st of September 1792.
The life of Marat now becomes part of the history of the French
Revolution. From the beginning to the end he stood alone. He was never
attached to any party; the tone of his mind was to suspect whoever was
in power. About his paper, the incarnation of himself, the first thing
to be said is that the man always meant what he said; no poverty, no
misery or persecution, could keep him quiet; he was perpetually crying,
"Nous sommes trahis." Whoever suspected any one had only to denounce him
to the _Ami du peuple_, and the denounced was never let alone till he
was proved innocent or guilty. Marat began by attacking the most
powerful bodies in Paris--the Constituent Assembly, the ministers, the
corps municipal, and the court of the Châtelet. Denounced and arrested,
he was imprisoned from the 8th of October to the 5th of November 1789. A
second time, owing to his violent campaign against Lafayette, he
narrowly escaped arrest and had to flee to London (Jan. 1790). There he
wrote his _Dénonciation contre Necker_, and in May dared to return to
Paris and continue the _Ami du peuple_. He was embittered by
persecution, and continued his vehement attacks against all in power,
and at last, after the day of the Champs du Mars (July 17, 1790),
against the king himself. All this time he was in hiding in cellars and
sewers, where he was attacked by a horrible skin disease, tended only by
the woman Simonne Evrard, who remained true to him. The end of the
Constituent Assembly he heard of with joy and with bright hopes for the
future, soon dashed by the behaviour of the Legislative Assembly. When
almost despairing, in December 1791, he fled once more to London, where
he wrote his _Ecole du citoyen_. In April 1792, summoned again by the
Cordeliers' Club, he returned to Paris, and published No. 627 of the
_Ami_. The war was now the question, and Marat saw clearly that it was
to serve the purposes of the Royalists and the Girondins, who thought of
themselves alone. Again denounced, Marat had to remain in hiding until
the 10th of August. The early days of the war being unsuccessful, the
proclamation of the duke of Brunswick excited all hearts; who could go
to save France on the frontiers and leave Paris in the hands of his
enemies? Marat, like Danton, foresaw the massacres of September. After
the events of the 10th of August he took his seat at the commune, and
demanded a tribunal to try the Royalists in prison. No tribunal was
formed, and the massacres in the prisons were the inevitable result. In
the elections to the Convention, Marat was elected seventh out of the
twenty-four deputies for Paris, and for the first time took his seat in
an assembly of the nation. At the declaration of the republic, he closed
his _Ami du peuple_, and commenced, on the 25th, a new paper, the
_Journal de la république française_, which was to contain his
sentiments as its predecessor had done, and to be always on the watch.
In the Assembly Marat had no party; he would always suspect and oppose
the powerful, refuse power for himself. After the battle of Valmy,
Dumouriez was the greatest man in France; he could almost have restored
the monarchy; yet Marat did not fear to denounce him in placards as a
traitor.
His unpopularity in the Assembly was extreme, yet he insisted on
speaking on the question of the king's trial, declared it unfair to
accuse Louis for anything anterior to his acceptance of _the_
constitution, and though implacable towards the king, as the one man who
must die for the people's good, he would not allow Malesherbes, the
king's counsel, to be attacked in his paper, and speaks of him as a
"sage et respectable vieillard." The king dead, the months from January
to May 1793 were spent in an unrelenting struggle between Marat and the
Girondins. Marat despised the ruling party because they had suffered
nothing for the republic, because they talked too much of their feelings
and their antique virtue, because they had for their own virtues plunged
the country into war; while the Girondins hated Marat as representative
of that rough red republicanism which would not yield itself to a Roman
republic, with themselves for tribunes, orators and generals. The
Girondins conquered at first in the Convention, and ordered that Marat
should be tried before the Revolutionary Tribunal. But their victory
ruined them, for on the 24th of April Marat was acquitted, and returned
to the Convention with the people at his back. The fall of the Girondins
on the 31st of May was a triumph for Marat. But it was his last. The
skin disease he had contracted in the subterranean haunts was rapidly
closing his life; he could only ease his pain by sitting in a warm bath,
where he wrote his journal, and accused the Girondins, who were trying
to raise France against Paris. Sitting thus on the 13th of July he heard
in the evening a young woman begging to be admitted to see him, saying
that she brought news from Caen, where the escaped Girondins were trying
to rouse Normandy. He ordered her to be admitted, asked her the names of
the deputies then at Caen, and, after writing their names, said, "They
shall be soon guillotined," when the young girl, whose name was
Charlotte Corday (q.v.), stabbed him to the heart.
His death caused a great commotion at Paris. The Convention attended his
funeral, and placed his bust in the hall where it held its sessions.
Louis David painted "Marat Assassinated," and a veritable cult was
rendered to the Friend of the People, whose ashes were transferred to
the Panthéon with great pomp on the 21st of September 1794--to be cast
out again in virtue of the decree of the 8th of February 1795.
Marat's name was long an object of execration on account of his
insistence on the death penalty. He stands in history as a bloodthirsty
monster, yet in judging him one must remember the persecutions he
endured and the terrible disease from which he suffered.
Besides the works mentioned above, Marat wrote: _Recherches physiques
sur l'électricité, &c._ (1782); _Recherches sur l'électricité
médicale_ (1783); _Notions élémentaires d'optique_ (1764); _Lettres de
l'observateur Bon Sens à M. de M. ... sur la fatale catastrophe des
infortunés Pilatre de Rozier et Romain, les aéronautes et
l'aérostation_ (1785); _Observations de M. l'amateur Avec à M. l'abbé
Sans ... &c._, (1785); _Éloge de Montesquieu_ (1785), published 1883
by M. de Bresetz; _Les Charlatans modernes, ou lettres sur le
charlatanisme académique_ (1791); _Les Aventures du comte Potowski_
(published in 1847 by Paul Lacroix, the "bibliophile Jacob"); _Lettres
polonaises_ (unpublished). Marat's works were published by A.
Vermorel, _Oeuvres de J. P. Marat, l'ami du peuple, recueillies et
annotées_ (1869). Two of his tracts, (1) _On Gleets_, (2) _A Disease
of the Eyes_, were reprinted, ed. J. B. Bailey, in 1891.
See A. Vermorel, _Jean Paul Marat_ (1880); François Chévremont,
_Marat: esprit politique, accomp. de sa vie_ (2 vols., 1880); Auguste
Cabanès, _Marat inconnu_ (1891); A. Bougeait, _Marat, l'ami du peuple_
(2 vols., 1865); M. Tourneux, _Bibliographie de l'histoire de Paris
pendant la révolution française_ (vol. ii., 1894; vol. iv., 1906), and
E. B. Bax, J. P. Marat (1900). _The Correspondance de Marat_ has been
edited with notes by C. Villay (1908). (R. A.*)
MARATHI (properly _Marathi_),[1] the name of an important Indo-Aryan
language spoken in western and central India. In 1901 the number of
speakers was 18,237,899, or about the same as the population of Spain.
Marathi occupies an irregular triangular area of approximately 100,000
sq.m., having its apex about the district of Balaghat in the Central
Provinces, and for its base the western coast of the peninsula from
Daman on the Gulf of Cambay in the north to Karwar on the open Arabian
Sea in the south. It covers parts of two provinces of British
India--Bombay and the Central Provinces (including Berar)--with numerous
settlers in Central India and Madras, and is also the principal language
of Portuguese India and of the north-western portion of His Highness the
Nizam's dominions. The standard form of speech is that of Poona in
Bombay, and, in its various dialects it covers the larger part of that
province, in which it is the vernacular of more than eight and a half
millions of people.
As explained in the article INDO-ARYAN LANGUAGES, there were in ancient
times two main groups of these forms of speech--one, the language of the
Midland, spoken in the country near the Gangetic Doab, and the other,
the languages of the so-called "Outer Band," containing the Midland on
three sides, west, east and south. The country to the south of the
Midland, in which members of this Outer group of languages were formerly
spoken, included the modern Rajputana and Gujarat, and extended to the
basin of the river Nerbudda, being bounded on the south by the Vindhya
hills. In the course of time the population of the Midland expanded, and
gradually occupied this tract, reaching the sea in Gujarat. The language
of the Outer Band was thus forced farther afield. Its speakers crossed
the Vindhyas and settled in the central plateau of the Deccan and on the
Konkan coast. Here they came into contact with speakers of the Dravidian
languages of southern India. As happened elsewhere in India, they
retained their own Aryan tongue, and gradually through the influence of
their superior civilization imposed it upon the aborigines, so that all
the inhabitants of this tract became the ancestors of the speakers of
modern Marathi.
In Rajputana and Gujarat the language (see GUJARAT) is to a certain
extent mixed. Near the original Midland there are few traces of the
Outer language, but as we go farther and farther away from that centre
we find, as might be expected, the influence of the Midland language
becoming weaker and weaker, and traces of the Outer language becoming
more and more evident, until in Gujarati we recognize several important
survivals of the old language once spoken by the earlier Aryan
inhabitants.
_Dialects._--Besides the standard form of speech, there is only one real
dialect of Marathi, viz. Konkani (Konkani), spoken in the country near
Goa. There are also several local varieties, and we may conveniently
distinguish between the Marathi of the Deccan, that of the Central
Provinces (including Berar), and that of the northern and central
Konkan. In the southern part of the district of Ratnagiri this latter
Konkani variety of Marathi gradually merges into the true Konkani
dialect through a number of intermediate forms of speech. There are also
several broken jargones, based upon Marathi, employed by aboriginal
tribes surviving in the hill country.
_Relations with other Indo-Aryan Languages._--Marathi has to its north,
in order from west to east, Gujarati, Rajasthani, Western Hindi and
Eastern Hindi. To its east and south it has the Dravidian languages,
Gondi, Telugu and Kanarese. Elsewhere in India Aryan languages gradually
fade away into each other, so that it is impossible to fix any definite
boundary line between them. But this is not the case with Marathi. It
does not merge into any of the cognate neighbouring forms of speech, but
possesses a distinct linguistic frontier. A native writer[2] says: "The
Gujarati language agrees very closely with the languages of the
countries lying to the north of it, because the Gujarati people came
from the north. If a native of Delhi, Ajmere, Marwar, Mewar, Jaipur,
&c., comes into Gujarat, the Gujarati people find no difficulty in
understanding his language. But it is very wonderful that when people
from countries bordering Gujarat on the south, as the Konkan,
Maharashtra, &c. (i.e. people speaking Marathi) come to Gujarat, the
Gujarati people do not in the least comprehend what they say." This
isolated character of Marathi is partly due to the barrier of the
Vindhya range which lies to its north, and partly to the fact that none
of the northern languages belongs now to the Outer Band, but are in more
or less close relationship to the language of the Midland. There was no
common ground either physical or linguistic, upon which the colliding
forms of speech could meet on equal terms. Eastern Hindi is more closely
related to Marathi than the others, and in its case, in its bordering
dialects, we do find a few traces of the influence of Marathi--traces
which are part of the essence of the language, and not mere borrowed
waifs floating on the top of a sea of alien speech and not absorbed by
it.
_Written Character._--Marathi books are generally printed in the
well-known Nagari character (see SANSKRIT), and this is also used to a
great extent in private transactions and correspondence. In the Maratha
country it is known as the _Balbodh_ ("teachable to children," i.e.
"easy") character. A cursive form of Nagari called _Modi_, or "twisted,"
is also employed as a handwriting. It is said to have been invented in
the 17th century by Balaji Avaji, the secretary of the celebrated
Sivaji. Its chief merit is that each word can be written as a whole
without lifting the pen from the paper, a feat which is impossible in
the case of Nagari.[3]
_Origin of the Language._--The word "Marathi" signifies (the language)
of the Maratha country. It is the modern form of the Sanskrit
_Maharastri_, just as "Maratha" represents the old _Maha-rastra_, or
Great Kingdom. _Maharastri_ was the name given by Sanskrit writers to
the particular form of Prakrit spoken in Maharastra, the great Aryan
kingdom extending southwards from the Vindhya range to the Kistna,
broadly corresponding to the southern part of the Bombay Presidency and
to the state of Hyderabad. As pointed out in the article PRAKRIT this
Maharastri early obtained literary pre-eminence in India, and became the
form of Prakrit employed as the language not only of lyric poetry but
also of the formal epic (_kavya_). Dramatic works were composed in it,
and it was the vehicle of the non-canonical scriptures of the Jaina
religion. The oldest work in the language of which we have any knowledge
is the _Sattasai_, or Seven Centuries of verses, compiled at
Pratisthana, on the Godavari, the capital of King Hala, at some time
between the 3rd and 7th centuries A.D. Pratisthana is the modern Paithan
in the Aurangabad district of Hyderabad, and that city was for long
famous as a centre of literary composition. In later times the political
centre of gravity was changed to Poona, the language of which district
is now accepted as the standard of the best Marathi.
_General Character of the Language._--In the following account of the
main features of Marathi, the reader is presumed to be familiar with the
leading facts stated in the articles INDO-ARYAN LANGUAGES and PRAKRIT.
In the Prakrit stage of the Indo-Aryan languages we can divide the
Prakrits into two well-defined groups, an Inner, Sauraseni and its
connected dialects on the one hand, and an Outer, Maharastri,
Ardhamagadhi, and Magadhi with their connected dialects on the other.
These two groups differed in their phonetic laws, in their systems of
declension and conjugation, in vocabulary, and in general character.[4]
In regard to the last point reference may be made to the frequent use of
meaningless suffixes, such as -_alla_, -_illa_, -_ulla_, &c., which can
be added, almost _ad libitum_ to any noun, adjective or particle in
Maharastri and Ardhamagadhi, but which are hardly ever met in Sauraseni.
These give rise to numerous secondary forms of words, used, it might be
said, in a spirit of playfulness, which give a distinct flavour to the
whole language. Similarly the late Mr Beames (_Comparative Grammar_, i.
103) well describes Marathi as possessing "a very decided individuality,
a type quite its own, arising from its comparative isolation for so
many centuries." Elsewhere (p. 38) he uses language which would easily
well apply to Maharastri Prakrit when he says, "Marathi is one of those
languages which we may call playful--it delights in all sorts of
jingling formations, and has struck out a larger quantity of secondary
and tertiary words, diminutives, and the like, than any of the cognate
tongues," and again (p. 52):--
"In Marathi we see the results of the Pandit's file applied to a form
of speech originally possessed of much natural wildness and licence.
The hedgerows have been pruned and the wild briars and roses trained
into order. It is a copious and beautiful language, second only to
Hindi. It has three genders, and the same elaborate preparation of the
base as Sindhi, and, owing to the great corruption which has taken
place in its terminations, the difficulty of determining the gender of
nouns is as great in Marathi as in German. In fact, if we were to
institute a parallel in this respect, we might appropriately describe
Hindi as the English, Marathi as the German of the Indian group--Hindi
having cast aside whatever could possibly be dispensed with, Marathi
having retained whatever has been spared by the action of time. To an
Englishman Hindi commends itself by its absence of form, and the
positional structure of its sentences resulting therefrom; to our
High-German cousins the Marathi, with its fuller array of genders,
terminations, and inflexions, would probably seem the completer and
finer language."
In the article PRAKRIT it is explained that the literary Prakrits were
not the direct parents of the modern Indo-Aryan vernaculars. Each
Prakrit had first to pass through an intermediate stage--that of the
Apabhramsa--before it took the form current at the present day. While we
know a good deal about Maharastri and very little about Sauraseni
Prakrit, the case is reversed in regard to their respective Apabhramsas.
The Saurasena Apabhramsa is the only one concerning which we have
definite information. Although it would be quite possible to reason from
analogy, and thus to obtain what would be the corresponding forms of
Maharastra Apabhramsa, we should often be travelling upon insecure
ground, and it is therefore advisable to compare Marathi, not with the
Apabhramsa from which it is immediately derived, but with its
grandmother, Maharastri Prakrit. We shall adopt this course, so far as
possible, in the following pages.
_Vocabulary._--In the article INDO-ARYAN LANGUAGES it is explained
that, allowing for phonetic development, the vocabulary of Sauraseni
Prakrit was the same as that of Sanskrit, but that the farther we go
from the Midland, the more examples we meet of a new class of words,
the so-called _desyas_, descendants of the old Primary Prakrits spoken
outside the Midland, and strange to Sanskrit. Maharastri Prakrit, the
most independent of the Outer languages, was distinguished by the
large proportion of these _desyas_ found in its vocabulary, and the
same is consequently the case in Marathi. The Brahmins of the Maratha
country have always had a great reputation for learning, and their
efforts to create a literary language out of their vernacular took, as
in other parts of India, the direction of borrowing _tatsamas_ from
Sanskrit, to lend what they considered to be dignity to their
sentences. But the richness of the language in _desya_ words has often
rendered such borrowing unnecessary, and has saved Marathi, although
the proportion of _tatsamas_ to _tadbhavas_[5] in the language is more
than sufficiently high, from the fate of the Pandit-ridden literary
Bengali, in which 80 to 90% of the vocabulary is pure Sanskrit. There
is indeed a tradition of stylistic chastity in the Maratha country
from the earliest times, and even Sanskrit writers contrasted the
simple elegance of the Deccan (or _Vaidarbhi_) style with the flowery
complexity of eastern India.
The proportion of Persian and, through Persian, of Arabic words in the
Marathi vocabulary is comparatively low, when compared with, say,
Hindostani. The reason is, firstly, the predominance in the literary
world of these learned Brahmins, and, secondly, the fact that the
Maratha country was not conquered by the Mussulmans till a fairly late
period, nor was it so thoroughly occupied by them as were Sind, the
Punjab, and the Gangetic valley.
_Phonetics._[6]--In the standard dialect the vowels are the same as in
Sanskrit, but _r_ and _l_ only appear in words borrowed directly from
that language (_tatsamas_). Final short vowels (_a_, _i_ and _u_) have
all disappeared in prose pronunciation, except in a few local
dialects, and final _i_ and _u_ are not even written. On the other
hand, in the Nagari character, the non-pronunciation of a final _a_ is
not indicated. After an accented syllable a medial _a_ is pronounced
very lightly, even when the accent is not the main accent of the word.
Thus, if we indicate the main accent by ', and subsidiary accents
(equivalent to the Hebrew _methegh_) by `, then the word _kárawat_, a
saw, is pronounced _kár^awat_; and _kàlakálane_, to be agitated, is
pronounced _kàl^akál^an_e. In Konkani the vowel _a_ assumes the sound
of o in "hot," a sound which is also heard in the language of Bengal.
In dialectic speech _e_ is often interchangeable with short or long
_a_, so that the standard _sangit^al_e, it was said, may appear as
_sangit^ala_ or _sangit^ala_. The vowels _e_ and _o_ are apparently
always long in the standard dialect, thus following Sanskrit; but in
Konkani there is a short and a long form of each vowel. Very probably,
although the distinction is not observed in writing, and has not been
noticed by native scholars, these vowels are also pronounced short in
the standard dialect under the circumstances to be now described. When
a long _a_, _i_ or _u_ precedes an accented syllable it is usually
shortened. In the case of _a_ the shortening is not indicated by the
spelling, but the written long _a_ is pronounced short like the _a_ in
the Italian _ballo_. Thus, the dative of _pik_, a ripe crop, is
_pikas_, and that of _hat_, a hand, is _hatas_, pronounced _hatas_.
Almost the only compound consonants which survived in the Prakrit
stage were double letters, and in M. these are usually simplified, the
preceding vowel being lengthened in compensation. Thus, the Prakrit
_kanno_ becomes _kan_, an ear; Pr. _bhikkha_ becomes _bhik_, alms; and
Pr. _putto_ becomes _put_, a son. In the Pisaca (see INDO-ARYAN
LANGUAGES) and other languages of north-western India it is not usual
to lengthen the vowel in compensation, and the same tendency is
observable in Konkani, which, it may be remarked, appears to contain
many relics of the old Prakrit (Saurastri) spoken in the Gujarat
country before the invasion from the Midland. Thus, in Konkani, we
have _put_ as well as _put_, while the word corresponding to the Pr.
_ekko_, one, is _ek_ as well as the standard _ek_.
On the whole, the consonantal system is much the same as in other
Indian languages. Nasalization of long vowels is very common,
especially in Konkani. In this article it is indicated by the sign ~
placed over the affected vowel. The palatals are pronounced as in Skr.
in words borrowed from that language or from Hindostani, and also in
Marathi _tadbhavas_ before _i_, _i_, _e_ or _y_. Thus, _cand_
(_tatsama_), fierce; _jama_ (Hindostani), collected; _cikhal_ (M.
_tadbhava_), mud. In other cases they are pronounced _ts_, _tsh_,
_dz_, _dzh_ respectively. Thus _tsakar_ (for _cakar_), a servant;
_dzane_ (for _jane_), to go. There are two _s_-sounds in the standard
dialect which are very similarly distinguished. _S_, pronounced like
an English _sh_, is used before _i_, _i_, _e_ or _y_; and _s_, as in
English "sin," elsewhere. Thus, _simphi_, a caste-name; _sil_, a
stone; _set_, a field; _syam_, dark blue; but _sap_, a snake; _sumar_
(Persian _shumar_), an estimate; _stri_, a woman. In the dialects _s_
is practically the only sibilant used, and that is changed by the
vulgar speakers of Konkani to _h_ (again as in north-western India).
Aspirated letters show a tendency to lose their aspiration, especially
in Konkani. Thus, _bhik_ (for _bhikh_), alms, quoted above; _hat_ (Pr.
_hattho_), a hand. In Konkani we have words such as _boin_, a sister,
against standard _bhain_; _ger_, standard _ghari_, in a house; _ami_,
standard _amhi_, we. Here again we have agreement with north-western
India. Generally speaking Marathi closely follows Maharastra when that
differs from the Prakrits of other parts of India. Thus we have Skr.
_vrajati_, Maharastri _vaccai_ (instead of _vajjai_), he goes; Konkani
_votsu_, to go; Sauraseni _genhiduim_, Maharastri _ghettum_, to take;
Marathi _ghet^ale_, taken. There is similarly both in Marathi and
Maharastri a laxness in distinguishing between cerebral and dental
letters (which again reminds us of north-western India). Thus, Skr.
_dasati_, Maharastri _dasai_, he bites; M. _das^ane_ to bite; Skr.
_dahati_, Maharastri _dahai_, he burns; M. _dadz^ane_, to be hot; Skr.
_gardabhas_; Sauraseni _gaddaho_; Hindostani _gadha_; but Maharastri
_gaddaho_; M. _gadhav_, an ass; and so many others. In Maharastri
every _n_ becomes _n_, but in Jaina MSS. when the _n_ was initial or
doubled it remained unchanged. A similar rule is followed regarding
_l_ and the cerebral _l_ common in Vedic Sanskrit, in MSS. coming from
southern India, and, according to the grammarians, also in the Pisaca
dialects of the north-west. In M. a Pr. double _nn_ or _ll_ is
simplified, according to the usual rule, to _n_ or _l_ respectively,
with lengthening of the preceding vowel in compensation. Both _n_ and
_l_ are of frequent occurrence in M., but only as medial letters, and
then only when they represent _n_ or _l_ in the Pr. stage. When the
letter is initial or represents a double _nn_ or _ll_ of Pr. it is
always _n_ or _l_ respectively, thus offering a striking testimony to
the accuracy of the Jaina and southern MSS. Thus, ordinary Maharastri
_na_, but Jaina Maharastri _na_, M. na, not; Maharastri (both kinds)
_ghano_, M. _ghan_, dense; Maharastri _sonnaam_, Jaina _sonnaam_, M.
_sone_, gold; Maharastri _kalo_, time, southern MSS. of the same
_kalo_, M. _kal_, time; Maharastri _callai_, M. _tsale_, he goes or
used to go. In some of the local dialects, following the Vedic
practice, we find _l_ where _d_ is employed elsewhere, as in (Berar)
_ghola_ for _ghoda_, a horse; and there are instances of this change
occurring even in Maharastri; e.g. Skr. _tadagam_, Maharastri
_talaam_, M. _tale_, a pond.
The Skr. compound consonant _jñ_ is pronounced _dny_ in the standard
dialect, but _gy_ in the Konkan. Thus, Skr. _jñanam_ becomes _dnyan_
or _gyan_ according to locality.
_Declension._--Marathi and Gujarati are the only Indo-Aryan languages
which have retained the three genders, masculine, feminine and neuter,
of Sanskrit and Prakrit. In rural dialects of Western Hindi and of
Rajasthani sporadic instances of the neuter gender have survived, but
elsewhere the only example occurs in the interrogative pronoun. In
Marathi the neuter denotes not only inanimate things but also animate
beings when both sexes are included, or when the sex is left
undecided. Thus, _ghode_, neut., a horse, without regard to sex. In
the Konkan the neuter gender is further employed to denote females
below the age of puberty, as in _cedu_, a girl. Numerous masculine and
feminine words, however, denote inanimate objects. The rules for
distinguishing the gender of such nouns are as complicated as in
German, and must be learned from the grammars. For the most part, but
not always, words follow the genders of their Skr. originals, and the
abrasion of terminations in the modern language renders it impossible
to lay down any complete set of rules on the subject. We may, however,
say that strong bases (see below) in _a_--and these do not include
_tatsamas_--are masculine, and that the corresponding feminine and
neuter words end in _i_ and _e_ respectively. Thus, _mul^aga_, a son;
_mul^agi_, a daughter; _mul^age_, a child of so and so. As a further
guide we may say that sex is usually distinguished by the use of the
masculine and feminine genders, and that large and powerful inanimate
objects are generally masculine, while small, delicate things are
generally feminine. In the case of some animals (as in our "horse" and
"mare") sex is distinguished by the use of different words; e.g.
_bokad_, he-goat, and _seli_, a nanny-goat.
The nominative form of a _tadbhava_ word is derived from the
nominative form in Sanskrit and Prakrit, but _tatsama_ words are
generally borrowed in the form of the Sanskrit crude base. Thus, Skr.
crude base _malin_, nom. sing, _mali_; Pr. nom. _malio_ (_malio_); M.
_mali_ (_tadbhava_), a gardener; Skr. base _mati_-; nom. _matis_; M.
_mati_ (_tatsama_). Some _tatsamas_ are, however, borrowed in the
nominative form, as in Skr. _dhanin_, nom. _dhani_; M. _dhani_, a rich
man. In Prakrit the nominative singular of many masculine _tatsamas_
ended in _o_. In the Apabhramsa stage this _o_ was weakened to _u_,
and in modern Marathi, under the general rule, this final short _u_
was dropped, the noun thus reverting as stated above to the form of
the Sanskrit crude base. But in old Marathi, the short u was still
retained. Thus, the Sanskrit _isvaras_, lord, became, as a Prakrit
_tatsama_, _isvaro_, which in Apabhramsa took the form _isvaru_. The
old Marathi form was also _isvaru_, but in modern Marathi we have
_isvar_. _Tadbhavas_ derived from Sanskrit bases in _a_ are treated
very similarly, the termination being dropped in the modern language.
Thus, Skr. nom. masc. _karnas_, Pr. _kanno_, M. _kan_; Skr. nom. sing.
fem. _khatva_, Pr. _khatta_, M. _khat_, a bed; Skr. nom. sing. neut.
_grham_, Pr. _gharam_, M. _ghar_, a house. Sometimes the Skr. nom.
sing. fem. of these nouns ends in _i_, but this makes no difference,
as in Skr. and Pr. _culli_, M. _cul_, a fireplace. There is one
important set of exceptions to this rule. In the article PRAKRIT
attention is drawn to the frequent use of pleonastic suffixes,
especially of -(a)_ka_- (masc. and neut.), -(i)_ka_(fem.). This could
in Sanskrit be added to any noun, whatever the termination of the base
might be. In Prakrit the _k_ of this suffix, being medial, was elided,
so that we get forms like Skr. nom. sing. masc. _ghota-kas_, Pr.
ghoda-o, M. ghoda, a horse; Skr. nom. sing. fem. ghoti-ka, Pr.
_ghodi-a_, M. _ghodi_, a mare; Skr. _ghota-kam_, Pr. _ghoda-(y)am_, M.
_ghode_, a horse (without distinction of sex). Such modern forms made
with this pleonastic suffix, and ending in _a_, _i_ or _e_ are called
"strong forms," while all those made without it are called "weak
forms." As a rule the fact that a noun is in a weak or a strong form
does not affect its meaning, but sometimes the use of a masculine
strong form indicates clumsiness or hugeness. Thus _bhakar_ (weak
form) means "bread," while _bhak^ara_ (strong form) means "a huge loaf
of bread." The other pleonastic suffixes mentioned under PRAKRIT are
also employed in Marathi, but usually with specific senses. Thus the
suffix -_illa_- generally forms adjectives, while -_da-ka_- (in M.
-_da_, fem. -_di_, neut. -_de_) implies contempt.
The synthetic declension of Sanskrit and Prakrit has been preserved in
Marathi more completely than in any other Indo-Aryan language. While
Maharastri Prakrit, like all others, passed through the Apabhramsa
stage in the course of its development, the conservative character of
the language retained even in that stage some of the old pure
Maharastri forms. In the article PRAKRIT we have seen how there
gradually arose a laxity in distinguishing the cases. In Maharastri
the Sanskrit dative fell into almost entire disuse, the genitive being
used in its place, while in Apabhramsa the case terminations become
worn down to -_hu_, -_ho_, -_hi_, -_hi_ and -_ha_, of which -_hi_ and
-_hi_ were employed for several cases, both singular and plural. There
was also a marked tendency for these terminations to become confused,
so that in the earliest stages of most of the modern Indo-Aryan
vernaculars we find -_hi_ freely employed for any oblique case of the
singular, and -_hi_ for any oblique case of the plural. Another
feature of Prakrit was the simplification of the complicated
declensional system of Sanskrit by assimilating it in all cases to the
declension of _a_-bases, corresponding to the first and second
declensions in Latin.
In the formation of the plural the Prakrit declensions are very
closely followed by Marathi. We shall confine our remarks to
_a_-bases, which may be either weak or strong forms, and of which the
feminine ends sometimes in _a_, and sometimes in _i_. In Prakrit the
nom. plur. of these nouns ends masc. _a_, fem. _ao_, _io_, neut.
_aim_. We thus get the following:--
+--------------+-------------------------+------------------------------------------------------+-------------------------+
| | Masculine. | Feminine. | Neuter. |
| +------------+------------+------------+------------+---------------+------------+------------+------------+
| | Nom. Sing. | Nom. Plur. | Nom. Sing. | Nom. Plur. | Nom. Sing. | Nom. Plur. | Nom. Sing. | Nom. Plur. |
+--------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+---------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Weak form. | | | | | | | | |
| Prakrit | kanno, | kanna | khatta, | khattao | culli, | cullio | gharam, | gharaim |
| | an ear. | | a bed. | | a fireplace.| | a house. | |
| Marathi | kan | kan | khat | khata | cul | culi | ghar | ghare |
| Strong form. | | | | | | | | |
| Prakrit | ghodao, | ghodaya | ghodia, | ghodiao | -- | -- | *ghodayam, | *ghodayaim |
| | a horse. | | a mare. | | | | a horse. | |
| Marathi | ghoda | ghode | ghodi | ghodya | -- | -- | ghode | ghodi |
+--------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+---------------+------------+------------+------------+
Several of the old synthetic cases have survived in Marathi,
especially in the antique form of the language preserved in poetry.
Most of them have fallen into disuse in the modern prose language. We
may note the following, some of which have preserved the Maharastri
forms, while others are directly derived from the Apabhramsa stage of
the language. We content ourselves with giving some of the synthetic
cases of one noun, a weak neuter a-base, ghar, a house.
+------------------+--------------------+-------------------+----------------+
| | Maharastri Prakrit.| Apabhramsa. | Marathi. |
| +--------------------+-------------------+----------------+
|Sing. | | | |
| Nominative | gharam | gharu | ghar |
| Dative | gharassa (genitive)| gharaho (genitive)| gharas (dative)|
| Locative | ghare | gharahi (-hi) | ghari, ghara |
| General oblique | gharassa (genitive)| gharaho (genitive)| gharas, ghara |
|Plur. | | | |
| Nominative | gharaim | gharai | ghare |
| Locative | gharesu | gharahi (-hi) | ghari |
| General oblique | gharana (genitive) | gharaha (genitive)| ghara |
+------------------+--------------------+-------------------+----------------+
As already stated, in Prakrit the genitive is employed instead of the
dative, and thus forms the basis of the Marathi dative singular. The
genitive plural is not used as a dative plural in Marathi, but it is
the basis of the plural general oblique case. The Marathi singular
general oblique case is really the same as the Marathi dative
singular, but in the standard form of speech when so used the final
_s_ is dropped, _gharas_, as a general oblique case, being only found
in dialects. This general oblique case is the result of the confusion
of the various oblique cases originally distinguished in Sanskrit and
in literary Prakrit. In Apabhramsa the genitive began to usurp the
function of all the other cases. It is obvious that if it were
regularly employed in so indeterminate a sense, it would give rise to
great confusion. Hence when it was intended to show clearly what
particular case was meant, it became usual to add, to this
indeterminate genitive, defining particles corresponding to the
English "of," "to," "from," "by," &c., which, as in all Indo-Aryan
languages they follow the main word, are called "postpositions."
Before dealing with these, it will be convenient to give the modern
Marathi synthetic declension of the commoner forms of nouns. The only
synthetic case which is now employed in prose is the dative, and this
can always be formed from the general oblique case by adding an s to
the end of the word. It is therefore not given in the following table.
+-----------+---------------------------+----------------------------+-------------------------+
| | Masculine. | Feminine. | Neuter. |
+-----------+------+--------+-----------+-------+-----------+--------+-------+--------+--------+
| Meaning. | Ear. | Horse. | Gardener. | Bed. | Fireplace.| Mare. | House.| Horse. | Pearl. |
+-----------+------+--------+-----------+-------+-----------+--------+-------+--------+--------+
|Sing. | | | | | | | | | |
| Nom. | kan | ghoda | mali | khat | cul | ghodi | ghar | ghode | moti |
| Gen. obl.| kana | ghodya | malya | khate | culi | ghodi | ghara | ghodya | motya |
|Plur. | | | | | | | | | |
| Nom. | kan | ghode | mali | khata | culi | ghodya | ghare | ghodi | motye |
| Gen. obl.| kana | ghodya | malya | khata | culi | ghodya | ghara | ghodya | motya |
+-----------+------+--------+-----------+-------+-----------+--------+-------+--------+--------+