his knowledge in geography and many other sciences. Attached, however, as he was to study, he appears to have for some time led a military life, and in his youth followed his father in many of his expeditions, particularly in the wars against the Tartars and French in Syria. He speaks in his writings of other expeditions in which he bore a part before he arrived at the throne. His works are: 1. A system of Universal Geography, under the title of "Tekwym el Boldaan," or Geographical Canons, which ends at the year 1321. It consists of preliminary matter, a general view of land, water, rivers, mountains, &c. twenty-four tables of longitude and latitude, with marginal notes descriptive of the countries, and twentyfour chapters describing the principal towns. There are manuscripts of this work in the Imperial Library at Paris, in the Vatican, and in the Bodleian. That in the library of the university of Leyden was written under the inspection of the author, with some notes, supposed to be by his own hand. 2. "An Universal History," from the creation of the world to the birth of Mahomet, which forms about fifty or sixty pages. Various portions of these two works have been translated; as, 1. "Chorasmiæ et Mawaralnahræ;" i. e. "Regionum extra fluvium Oxum descriptio, Arab. et Lat. ex interpret. Joan. Grævii*," London, 1650, 4to. reprinted by Dr. Hudson, in his Collection of the lesser Geographers, Oxford, 1698-1712, 4 vols. 8vo. with a description of Arabia by Abulfeda, Arab. et Lat. and the same, translated into French, was added, by Ant. de la Roque, to his "Voyage en Palestine," Paris, 1717, 12mo. 3. "Caput primum Geographiæ ex Arabico in Latinum translat. promulgari jussit L. A. Muratorius, in Antiq. Italicis medii ævi," Dissert. 54, p. 941, 942. 4. "Tabula Syriæ, Arab. et Lat. cum notis Koehleri, et animadversionibus Jo. Jac. Reiskii," Lips. 1766, 4to. 5. "Annales Moslemici, Arab. et Lat. à Jo. Jac. Reiskio," Lips. 1754, 4to. 6. "Abulfedæ Annales Moslemici,

*Mr. Greaves consulted five different manuscripts: the first, that which Erpenius had transcribed from the copy in the Palatine library; the second, the copy afterwards in the Vatican; two other manuscripts in Dr. Pococke's possession; and a fifth that had been purchased in Constantinople. Ramusius first praised this work of Abulfeda, and pointed out the

uses of it; Castaldus corrected the longitudes and latitudes by it; Ortelius mentions it often in his Thesaurus Geographicus; and Erpenius would have published it, had he not been prevented by death. Schickard first extracted several remarks, and inserted them in his "Tarich Persicum;" but the principal labour and credit of the work fell to Mr. Greaves. Gen, Diet,

Arah. et Lat, opera et studiis J. J. Reiske, sumptibus atque auspiciis P. F. Suhmii, nunc primum edidit J. G. Ch. Adler," Copenhagen, 1789-1794, 5 vols. 4to.. 7. “Descriptio Egypti, Arab. et Lat. ed. Jo. Dav. Michaelis," Gottingen, 1776, 4to. 8. "Africa, Arab. cum notis; excudi curavit I. G. Eickhorn," Gottingen, 1790, 8vo. Eickhorn's notes and additions are in the 4th vol. of the "Bibliotheque Theologique Universelle," with M. Rinck's additions and corrections. 9. "Tabulæ quædam Geographica et alia ejusdem argumenti specimina, Arabicè," by Fred. Theoph. Rinck, Lips. 1791, 8vo. 10. "Geographia Latina facta ex Arabico, à Jo. Jac. Reiskio," 11. "Abulfede descriptio regionum Nigritarum," printed at the end of Rinck's edition of Macrizi's "Historia regum Islamiticorum in Abyssinia," Leyden, 1790, 4to. 12. "Tabula septima ex Abulfed Geographia, Mesopotamiam exhibens, Arabicè, cura E. F. C. Rosenmuller, notas adspersit H. E. G. Paulus," 1791; inserted in the "Nouveau Repertoire de la Litterature Orientale," vol. 3. 13. " Abulfede Arabiæ descriptio," with a Commentary by Chr. Rommel, Gottingen, 1801, 4to. In 1728, Gagnier published the prospectus of a translation of Abulfeda's Geography, and had made some progress in the printing of it, when he died. This occasioned the mistake of some Bibliographers, who speak of this translation as having been published at London in 1732, fol. Gagnier, however, published, 14. "De Vita et rebus gestis Mohammedis liber, Arab. et Lat. cum notis," Oxford, 1725, fol. 15. "Auctarium ad vitam Saladini, extractum ex Abulfedæ Historia universali, cum versione Lat. Alb. Scultens:" this appears at the end of Bohadinus's Life of Saladine, Leiden, 1732, or 1755, fol. 16. "Climats Alhend et Alsend," translated into Latin from Abulfeda, may be found in Thevenot's Voyages, Paris, 1696, 2 vols. fol. And, 17. In Muratori's Italian Historians, is the History of the Saracens. 18. The last publication we shall notice, is, some extracts respecting the history of Africa and Sicily, under the empire of the Arabs, by Gregorio, in his collections for a history of Sicily, 1790. It remains yet to be mentioned, that a manuscript of Abulfeda's Universal History is in the library of St. Germain-des-Pres, and another in the French imperial library. Several chapters of the first part of the Universal History, which had never been published, are printed, Arab. et Lat. in the new edition of

Pococke's "Specimen Historie Arabum," by Professor White, of Oxford, 1806.'

ABULGASI (BAYATUR), khan of the Tartars, worthy of a place in this Dictionary, as well on account of his literary talents as from the circumstance of his being the only Tartar historian with whom the nations of Europe are acquainted. He was born in the city of Urgens, capital of the country of Kharasm, in the year of the hegira 1014, answering to the year 1605 of the Christian era. He was the fourth, in order of birth, of seven brothers, and descended in a direct line, both on his father's and his mother's side, though by different branches, from Zingis khan. His youth was marked by misfortunes, which contributed not a little to form his character, and to fit him for the government of his states when he came to the sovereignty of the country of Kharasm, which happened in the year of the hegira 1054. He reigned 20 years; and, by his conduct and courage, rendered himself formidable to all his neighbours. A short time before his death, he resigned the throne to his son Anuscha Mohammed Bayatur khan, in order to devote the remainder of his life to the service of God. It was in his retreat that he wrote the famous "Genealogical History of the Tartars;" but, being attacked by the mortal disease that put an end to his life in the year 1074 of the hegira, corresponding to 1663 of our ara, before he could complete it, when dying he charged his son and successor to give it the finishing hand, which he did accordingly two years afterwards. As a specimen of the style and manner of this historian, the reader will not be displeased to see the preface to that work, which, in English, is as follows; "There is but one God; and before him none other did ever exist, as after him no other will be. He formed seven heavens, seven worlds, and eighteen creations. By him, Mohammed, the friend of God, was sent, in quality of his prophet, to all mankind. It is under his auspices that I, Abulgasi Bayatur khan, have taken in hand to write this book. My father, Arep Mohammed khan, de scended in a direct line from Zingis khan, and was, before me, sovereign prince of the country of Kharasm. shall treat in this book of the house of Zingis khan, and

I

1 Dict. Hist. 1810; an article contributed by M. Malte-Brun, But see also Gen. Dict. the corrected article.Saxii Onomast. G

VOL. I.

of its origin; of the places where it was established, of the kingdoms and provinces it conquered, and to what it arrived at last. It is true that, before me, many writers, both Turks and Persians, have employed their pens on this subject; and I have in my own possession 18 books of these several authors, some of which are tolerably well composed. But, perceiving that there was much to correct in many places of these books, and, in other places, a number of things to be added, I thought it necessary to have a more accurate history: and, especially as our countries are very barren in learned writers, I find myself obliged to undertake this work myself; and, notwithstanding that, before me, no khan has thought proper to take this trouble upon him, the reader will do me the justice to be persuaded that it is not from a principle of vanity that I set up for an author, but that it is necessity alone that prompts me to meddle in this matter: that, if I were desirous of glorying in any thing, it could, at most, be only in that conduct and wisdom which I hold as the gift of God, and not from myself. For, on one hand, I understand the art of war as well as any prince in the world, knowing how to give battle equally well with few troops as with numerous armies, and to range both my cavalry and my infantry to the best advantage. On the other hand, I have a particular talent at writing books in all sorts of languages, and I know not whether any one could easily be found of greater ability than myself in this species of literature, except, indeed, in the cities of Persia and India; but, in all the neighbouring provinces of which we have any knowledge, I may venture to flatter myself that there is nobody that surpasses me either in the art of war or in the science of good writing; and as to the countries that are unknown to me, I care nothing about them. Since the flight of our holy prophet, till the day that I began to write this book, there have elapsed 1074 years [1663 of the Christian æra]. I call it A Genealogical History of the Tartars; and I have divided it into nine parts, in conformity with other writers, who universally hold this number in particular regard."

The original manuscript of this history was purchased by some Swedish officers, who happened to be prisoners in Siberia, from a merchant, and had it translated into the Russian language.. Count Strahlenberg translated it

into German; and a French translation was published at Leyden, 1726, 12mo. Martiniere has copied it almost entirely in his Geographical Dictionary.'

ABU-NOWAS, or ABOU-NAVAS, an Arabian poet of the first class, was born in the city of Bassora, in the year 762, and died in 810. He left his native country in order to go to settle at Cufa; but did not continue long there, as the caliph Haroun Al Raschid would have him near his person at Bagdad, and gave him an apartment in his palace with Abou-Massaab and Rekashi, two other excellent poets. His principal works have been collected into a body, called by the Arabians a Diwan, or volume, by various persons; for which reason there is a great difference in the copies of this author."

ABUNDANCE (JOHN), a name assumed by a French poetical writer of the 16th century, who likewise sometimes called himself Maistre Tyburce. He resided at the town of Papetourte, whence he published or dated most of his productions, and called himself clerk or royal notary of Pont-St.-Esprit. He died, according to some biographers, in 1540 or 1544; and, according to others, in 1550. He wrote: 1. "Moralité, mystere, et figure de la Passion de N. S. Jesus Christ," Lyons, printed by Benoit Rigaut, 8vo, without date, and now so rare that only one copy is known to exist, which is in the imperial library of Paris, and formerly belonged to that of La Valliere. 2. "La Joyeulx Mystere des trois Roys," MS. in the same library. 3. "Farce nouvelle tres bonne et tres joyeuse de la Cornette," MS. 4. "Le Gouvert d'Humanité, moralité a personnaiges," printed at Lyons. 5. "Le Monde qui tourne le dos a chascun, et Plusieurs qui n'a point de conscience," printed also at Lyons. According to the prac tice of the writers of his age, he assumed a device, which was fin sans fin. The titles and dates of his other works are given in the Bibliotheque of De Verdier, and consist of short poems, ballads, rondeaus, songs, &c.3

ABU TEMAM, or HABIB EBN AWS AL-HARETH EBN KAIS, an Arabian poet of great eminence in his time, was born in the 190th year of the hegira, or A. D. 805, at Jasem, a little town between Damascus and Tiberias. was educated in Egypt, and died at Mawsel, in the year

Moreri.

Biographie Universelle, 1811.

2 Moreri.-D'Herbelot.

He