Ghilzais and other tribes

Area (estimated), 215,400 square miles. Population (estimated), 4,000,000, including the Afghans proper, Pathans, Hindkis, Hazaras, Kataghans, etc. 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 Pushtânah (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 the Shahnamah is taken up with the account of the wars long struggle between Iran and Turan. A great part of 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 with 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. Ἀφρική, the prop. Gr. term being Λιβύη , 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 e ions on the east and west coasts, British South Africa (Cape Colony, Natal, the Orange River Colony, the Trans(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 western Sahara), Senegal, Liberia, the Spanish coast, and 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 Ki- to 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, Ova-in West Africa, between Benguella and Walfisch Bay, A- or Akua- from Loanda to the Lunda country, Eshi (Exi-), 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- , Urm-, Mo-, M-; seldom Ki- , Tshi- , Ka- , Mushi- , Mukua. People: Ba- , Wa- , Oυα- , A- , Μα- , Ama- ; seldom I., Tu, Eshior Bashi , Akua-. Language: Ki- , Tshi- , Shi , Si , Se- ; seldom U- , Lu- , Di- . Land: Bu- , U-; sel dom Le-. Examples: Man. Ganda: M-ganda, Luba: Mu-luba, Gogo: Mu-gogo, Gwamba: Mo-gwamba, Suto: Mo-suto, People. Language. Land. Ba-ganda, Lu-ganda, Bu-ganda. Ba-luba, Ki-luba, U-luba. Wa-gogo, Ki-gogo, U-gogo. Ma-gwamba, Shi-gwamba. Ba-suto, Se-suto, Le-suto. Mbangala: Ki-mbangala, I-mbangala, U-mbangala. Mbundu: O-tshi-mbundu, Ovi-mbundu, U-mbundu. Lange: Mushi-lange, Bashi-lange, Kishi-lange. Ngola: Mukua-ngola, Akua-ngola, Di-ngola. African languages. Our knowledge of African languages is not sufficient to warrant a final, or a generally acceptable, cla ification. Specialists contra dict each other as soon as they begin to cla ify. The English-speaking public still holds to the temporary cla ification of Dr. R. N. Cust in his "Modern Languages of Africa," which is simply that of Fr. Müller in his "Grundri der Sprachwi enschaft." German Africanists show, of late, a preference for that of Dr. Lepsius in the intro duction to his "Grammar of Nuba." "Somewhat modified, this will probably be that of the future. Our cla i fication tries to combine the nomenclature of Dr. Cust, generally followed in English books, with the facts, which give more support to the system of Lepsius. The main question is about the relation of Bantu and Negro. I. Purely African languages. (1) Negro languages: (a) Bantu languages (pure). (b) Nigritic or Sudan-negro languages (mixed). (c) Nuba-Fulah or Pul languages (mixed). (2) Hottentot, Bushmen, or Batua languages: (a) Hottentot languages, in South Africa. Bushner languages, (c) Pygmy languages, in central Africa. (3) Hamitic languages: (a) Egyptian. (6) Libyan or Berber languages. (c) Ethiopian or Kushitic languages. II. Extra-African languages. 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 turn 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 ruins 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). To 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.