196 



GHASEL 



GHAZNI 



and the Beas, from Endrisa to the junction with 

 the Chenab, when it becomes known as the Panjnad. 

 The distance between the two points of confluence 

 is about 300 miles. 



l, or GHAZEL, a favourite form of lyrical 

 poetry among the Turks and Persians, which may 

 be either erotic and bacchanalian, or allegorical and 

 mystical. 



< li a ts, or GHAUTS ( in English, ' gates, passes, or 

 landing-stairs ' ), EASTERN and WESTERN, two con- 

 verging ranges of mountains, which run parallel 

 with the east and west coasts of southern India, 

 and meet at an angle near Cape Comorin. ( 1 ) The 

 Eastern Ghats commence in the vicinity of Balasor, 

 a little north of the Mahanadi, and run through 

 Madras, with an average height of 1500 feet, for the 

 most part at a distance of from 50 to 150 miles from 

 the coast. They are nowhere a watershed on any 

 considerable scale, being penetrated and crossed 

 by nearly all the drainage of the interior. ( 2 ) The 

 Western Ghats stretch from the valley of the 

 Tapti, in about the same latitude as Balasor, to 

 their junction with the kindred ridge, and on to 

 Cape Cornorin itself. Though they are generally 

 far more continuous and distinct than the Eastern 

 Ghats, yet they are sharply divided by the gap of 

 Palghat the northern section measuring 800 miles 

 in length, and the southern 200. Their general 

 elevation varies from about 3000 feet to upwards 

 of 7000 ; the peak of Dodabetta, in the Nilgiri 

 hills, is 8760 feet above sea-level. The opposite 

 faces of these mountains differ very remarkably 

 from each other. Landward, there is a gradual 

 slope to the tableland of the Deccan ; seaward, 

 almost perpendicular precipices, speaking gener- 

 ally, sink at once nearly to the level of the sea, 

 with only a comparatively narrow strip between 

 them and the snore. This peculiarity, along 

 with the heavy rainfall brought by the south-west 

 monsoon, causes, more particularly towards the 

 south, that singular feature of the country which 

 is known as the ' backwaters ' ( see COCHIN ). The 

 Western Ghats are a watershed, for not a single 

 stream of any magnitude finds its way through 

 them. Their vast primeval forests display some 

 of the most magnificent scenery in India, and 

 supply abundance of the finest timber. In the 

 south there is a railway from Beypur to Madras, 

 finding a comparatively easy access to the interior 

 by the Palghat valley. In the north, near Bombay, 

 two railways scale the precipitous face of the 

 Western Ghats. Of these the line up the tremend- 

 ous ravine of the Bhor Ghat, 40 miles SE. of Bom- 

 bay, is regarded as one of the greatest engineering 

 feats ever accomplished in India. The railway 

 rises by a lift of 15| miles to a height of 1831 feet, 

 twisting round the mountains on narrow ledges 

 that are often half embankment, or that rest on 

 high vaulted arches, and passing through tunnels 

 that aggregate 2535 yards. Besides 8 viaducts 

 there are 18 bridges and 58 culverts, and the aver- 

 age gradient is 1 in 48. 



The name GHATS is also applied to the flights 

 of steps, whether intended as landing-places or as 

 bathing-stairs, which line 'the river-banks in towns 

 and places of pilgrimage in northern and central 

 India. Most great rivers, and especially the 

 Ganges, possess many ghats ; but they are also 

 built on the margins of lakes, as at Pushkar and 

 Sagar, or even of tanks. The uniformity of the 

 long lines of steps is often broken by shrines or 

 temples, built either close to the water's edge or 

 at the top ; and on these steps are concentrated 

 the pastimes of the idler, the duties of the devout, 

 and much of the necessary intercourse of business. 

 The ghats of Benares (q.v.), Hardwar, Panharpur, 

 and of Maheswai, on the Nerbudda, are noteworthy 



either for their number or beauty ; while Cawnpore, 

 Sadullapur, the ruined city of Gaur, and other 

 places possess noted ' burning ghats ' for purposes 

 of cremation. See also Fergusson's Handbook of 

 Architecture. 



Ghazali, ABU MOHAMMED AL-, known in the 

 West as ALGAZEL, a Moslem theologian who, in 

 the llth century, struck a serious blow at the 

 scholastic philosophy of the Arabians. Born at 

 Tus in Khorasan in 1058, he studied in his 

 natal city and at Nishapur, being especially nur- 

 tured on the principles of Sufism (q.v.). When 

 thirty-three years old he was appointed by the 

 grand-vizier of Bagdad to a chair of philosophy 

 in the university of that city. But four years later 

 he set off for Mecca ; then spent ten years lecturing 

 at Damascus ; and finally went on to Jerusalem 

 and Alexandria, where also he taught with signal 

 success. In the end, however, he returned to Tus, 

 where he founded ft Sufic college and dedicated the 

 remainder of his life, until 1111, the year of his 

 death, to religious and philosophic contemplation. 

 The most notable of nis numerous works are 

 Opinions of the Philosophers and Tendencies of the 

 Philosophers, this latter virtually an introduction 

 to the more famous Destruction of the Philosophers, 

 in which he challenges the methods and conclusions 

 of the current scholasticism of Arabian philosophy. 

 He also wrote a commentary on the ninety-nine 

 names of God, several ethical treatises, and various 

 other works on religion and philosophy. Several 

 of his works have never yet been published. 



Ghaziabad, a town and important railway 

 junction in Meerut district, North-west Provinces 

 of India, 28 miles SW. of Meerut, with barracks, 

 and a considerable trade in grain, hides, and 

 leather. Pop. 10,059. 



Ghazipur, a city of India, capital of a district 

 of the same name in the North-west Provinces, 

 stands on the left bank of the Ganges, 44 miles 

 NE. of Benares. The city, which stretches along 

 the Ganges for about 2 miles, contains the ruins of 

 the Palace of Forty Pillars, and a marble statue 

 by Flaxman to Lord Cornwallis, who died here in 

 1805. Ghazipur is the headquarters of the Govern- 

 ment Opium Department for the North-west Pro- 

 vinces, all the opium from these provinces being 

 manufactured here, and there is some trade in 

 sugar, tobacco, rose-water, and coarse long-cloth. 

 Pop. (1891) 44,970. The district, of which Ghazi- 

 pur is the administrative headquarters, has an area 

 of 1473 sq. m., and a pop. of (1891) 1,077,909. 



Gliaznl (also spelt Ghizni and Ghuznee), a 

 fortified town of Afghanistan, stands below a spur 

 of a range of hills, at an elevation of 7729 feet, 

 84 miles SW. of Kabul, on the road to Kandahar 

 and at the head of the Gomal route to India. It 

 is a place of considerable commercial import- 

 ance. The climate is cold, snow often lying for 

 three months in the year. Nevertheless, wheat, 

 barley, and madder are grown in the vicinity. Its 

 population is estimated at about 10,000. From the 

 10th to the 12th century Ghazni was the capital of 

 the empire of the Ghaznevids ( see below ) ; it then 

 fell into the hands of the sultan of Ghur, and 

 enjoyed a second period of splendour. Having 

 shortly afterwards been captured by the Mongols, 

 it rapidly fell into decay. It remained, however, 

 subject to the descendants of Baber, the Mongol 

 rulers of Delhi and Agra, down to 1738, when it 

 was taken by Nadir Shah of Persia, and at his 

 death was incorporated in the kingdom of Afghani- 

 stan. During the 19th century it figured in the 

 British wars against the Afghans, having been 

 stormed by Lord Keane in 1839, and again in 1842 

 by the Afghans, but retaken the same year by 

 General Nutt. In the neighbourhood of Ghazni 



