Ghilzais and other tribes

Area (estimated), 279,000 square miles. Population (estimated), 4,000,000, including the Afghans proper, Pathans, Hindkis, Hazaras, Kataghans, Afghan Turkestan. A region between the Oxus and the Hindu-Kush Mountains, subject to the Ameer of Kabul: a vague term. Afghan wars. British wars with Afghanistan in 1838-42 and 1878-80. See Afghanistan. Afghan (af'gan). 1. One of an Iranian race forming a large part (about 3,000,000) of the inhabitants of Afghanistan. The native name is Pushtanah (pl.).-2. One of the languages of the Aryan family, spoken by the Afghans or an adherent of Pompey. He was consul 60 son of the Turaman king Pesheng and a descendant of Tur, the son of Feridun. The obligation to blood-revenge for the death of Eraj, who had been killed by Tur and his brother Salm, was the ground of the long struggle between Iran and Turan. A great part of the Shahnamah is taken up with the account of the wars waged by Afrasiab with Iranian sovereigns until he at last escapes from Hom, who had bound him, into the lake of Urumiah. As Afrasiab is induced to raise his head above the waters, he is caught with a la o by Hom, who gives him over to Kaikhosrav, who beheads him. Afrasiab is the Franrasyan of the Avesta. Africa (af'ri-kä). [F. Afrique , G. Afrika , Sp. It. Pg. Africa , L. Africa (whence Gr. Αφρική , the prop. Gr. term being Λιβίη , Libya), prop. adj. (sc. terra ), from Afer (pl. Afri ), an inhabitant of Africa, orig. with reference to the country of the Cart hag in i ans, from whom the term was received.] 1. A continent of the eastern hemisphere, next to Asia the largest grand division of the world, bounded by the Mediterranean on the north (which separates it from Europe), the Isthmus of Suez (which connects it with Asia), the Red Sea (which separates it from Asia), and the Indian Ocean on the east, the Southern Ocean on the south, and the Atlantic on the west. It extends from lat. 37° 20 N. to lat. 34° 50' S., and from long. 17° 31' W. to long. 51° 22′ E. Its principal political divisions are Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, Tripoli, Barca, Fezzan, Egypt, the Mahdi's dominions (in the eastern Sudan), Aby in i a, the Italian po e ions, British East Africa, German East Africa, British protectorates in the interior, the Portuguese po es sions on the east and west coasts, British South Africa (Cape Colony, Natal, etc.), the Orange Free State, the Republic, the German po e ions in west Africa (Kamerun, Togo-land, Damar a land, etc.), the Kongo Free State, the French Kongo, the British po e ions in west Africa (Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, etc.), the French sphere of influence in western Africa (including the west various native states in the Sudan (Bambarra, Gando, Sokoto, Bornu, Adamawa, Wadai, etc.). The more dis Sahara), Senegal, Liberia, the Spanish coast, and tinctive physiographic features of the continent are to be found in the Atlas Mountains, the Sahara, the great equatorial forests, the lake region (Albert Nyanza, Victoria Nyanza, Tanganyika, etc.), and in the south-central plateau. Principal rivers: Nile, Kongo, Niger, and Zambesi (with the Victoria Falls, the "African Niagara"). Africa has at least one active volcano, the Mfumbiro; highest elevation of the land, the glacier-covered volcanic Kilimanjaro. Its inhabitants are chiefly of the negro race, with Kafirs, Hottentots, Copts, Arabs, Moors, Berbers, and some Europe ans. The prevailing religions are Mohammedanism, various forms of paganism, the Coptic Church, and the Aby in i an Church. The name "Dark Continent" has been given to it as the least-known of the earth's grand divisions. Its northern portions were early seats of civilization, and part of the Roman Empire; but much of its interior is still unexplored. It was circumnavigated by the Phenic i ans as early as the 7th century B. C. Coast-line exploration was undertaken by the Portuguese in the middle of the 15th century, and the Cape of Good Hope was doubled by Da Gama (1497). Explorations (interior) have been made since the last part of the 18th century by Bruce, Mungo Park, Hornemann, Burckhardt, Denham, Clapper ton, Lander, Oudney, Rebmann, Barth, Richardson, Overweg, Vogel, Living stone, Burton, Speke, Grant, Baker, Stanley, Schweinfurth, Mauch, Nachtigal, De Brazza, Holub, Wi mann, Serpa Pinto, Cameron, Rohlfs, Lenz, Du Chaillu, Emin Pasha, and others. Recent events are the founding of the Kongo Free State, and the partitioning among various powers (Great Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Spain, etc.) of immense districts especially in the interior and along the eastern and western coasts: this so-called "scramble for Africa" began about 1884. (See Spheres of Influence.) The length of Africa is 4,970 miles, its breadth about 4,700 miles, its area (estimated, Petermann), 11,508,793 square miles, and its population (estimated, Petermann's), 163,953,000. [African names. In most purely African languages the names of tribes, languages, and countries, as first heard and written by travelers, colonists, authors, and cartographers, appear not in their naked form, but adorned with prefixes or suffixes, which distinguish the name of one member of the tribe from many, the tribe from the language, and the country from both tribe and language. Strictly speaking, the only correct way would be to use the prefixes and suffixes as the natives do. This, however, is impo ible, because the languages are not yet suffi Africa ciently known, and because a specialist alone could master the great variety of prefixes and suffixes. Therefore Dr. Lepsius and Dr. R. N. Cust, and many after them, prefer to use the stem of the word, as it may be ascertained, and add to it, respectively, "man," "men," "tribe," "language," "country." Thus, Ganda man (instead of M-ganda), Ganda tribe or people (instead of Ba - ganda ), Ganda language (instead of Lu - ganda ), and Ganda - land (instead of Bu - ganda ). Uganda , as generally written, is the Suahili form of Bu - ganda . In this dictionary the tribe and the dialect will generally be found under one name, the word-stem. In the case of suffixes, which are used in a few Nigritic and in the Hottentot and Hamitic languages, there is no difficulty; for the initial syllables are not affected, and can be readily found in the dictionary. Thus in Mandi - ngo , of the Nigritic branch, the stem is Mandi or Mande , and -ngo is a suffix. In the Hottentot name Nama - qua , the suffix- qua signifies people or tribe; and it is better to say Nama tribe or people . The greatest difficulty is met with in the Bantu languages, where every noun has a prefix for the singular and another for the plural. The following rules will be found useful: In a general way, and in cases of doubt, the prefix Mu- may be considered to signify 'person' (man, woman, or child), Ba- or Wa- to signify people, U- to signify country, and Kito signify language. Thus, Mu - gogo , a Gogo man; Wa - gogo , Gogo people; U - gogo , Gogo-land; Ki - gogo , Gogo language. Generally speaking, too, the plural prefix Ama- (for tribe) is used among the Kafirs in South Africa, Ovain West Africa, between Benguella and Walfisch Bay, A- or Akua- from Loanda to the Lunda country, Eshi(Eri), Bashi , and Bena- from the Kongo district of An gola due east to Nyangwe, Ba- in the Kongo basin and central Africa generally, Wa- in East Africa. The prefixes of most frequent occurrence, in proper names, are: Man: Mu- , Um-, Mo- , M-; seldom Ki- , Tshi-, Ka-, Mushi-, Mukua. People: Ba , Wa- , Ova- , A- , Ma- , Ama- ; seldom I-, Tu-, Eshior Bashi , Akua- . Language: Ki- , Tshi- , Shi, Si, Se- ; seldom U- , Lu- , Di- . Land: Bu- , U-; sel dom Le- . Land. Bu-ganda. U-luba Examples: Man. People. Language. Ganda: M-ganda, Ba-ganda, Lu-ganda, Laba: Mu-lob a, Ba-luba, Ki-luba, IMG:content-0029.png:[blocks in formation] North Africa-the only Africa known to the ancients had seen many rulers come and go since the Arabs under Okba first overran its plains and valleys. Dynasty had succeeded dynasty; the Arab governors under the Khalifs of Damascus and Baghdad had made room for the Houses of Idris (A. D. 788) and Aghlab (800); these in turu had given way to the Fatimi Khalifs (909); and when these schismatics removed their seat of power from their newly founded capital of Mahdiya to their final metropolis of Cairo (968), their western empire speedily split up into the several princedoms of the Zeyris of Tunis, the Beni Hammad of Tilimsan, and other minor governments. At the close of the eleventh century, the Murabits or Almoravides, a Berber dynasty, imposed their authority over the greater part of North Africa and Spain, but gave place in the middle of the twelfth to the Muwahhids or Almohades, whose rule extended from the Atlantic to Tunis, and endured for over a hundred years. On the of their vast empire three separate and long-lived dynasties sprang up: the Beni-Hafs in Tunis (1228-1534), the Beni Ziyan in Central Maghrib (1235-1400), and the Beni Merin in Morocco (1200-1550). ΤTo complete the chronology it may be added that these were succeeded in the sixteenth century by the Corsair Pashas (afterwards Deys) of Algiers, the Turkish Pashas or Beys of Tunis, and the Sherifs or Emperors of Morocco. The last still continue to reign; but the Deys of Algiers have given place to the French, and the Bey of Tunis is under French tutelage.