Part 17

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

_Shi`ites._--See separate article.

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

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

_Sifrites_, the same as Ziyadites (below).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See also KORAN.

[2] Underlined = with interpolations.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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