TURKISH CHRONOLOGY. 



TURKISH LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE. 438 



wild plant* soon spread over the surface which has been cut In this 

 way the mate spot may be made to give a fresh supply of turfs every 

 even years. This is only dune where the soil is absolutely barren, and 

 where its cultivation is not thought of ; for at last ev 

 good earth is carried oft the praises disappear entirely, ax 

 the common heath* can find food for their vegetation. 



The surface of good postures, especially of commons, is often pared 

 for the purpose of forming an artificial turf for ornament or for the 

 purposes of pasture. In the first COM those spot* are chosen where 

 the grass is of the finest and closest pile. The surface is pared a* thin 

 as can conveniently be done, so that the sward shall not break. A 

 proper spot baring been chosen, it is divided by the spade, or some 

 sharp instrument like a knife stuck across a long handle, into strips 

 about a foot wide; and a very sharp flat instrument with a bent 

 handle, so as to work horizontally, is thrust on inch, or a little more, 

 below the surface, paring off the strip which has been marked. As 

 the workman who cuts the sod advances, another rolls it up before 

 him, until it is of a proper size to be carried off. A cut is then made 

 across the strip, and another roll is begun. Thus a large space may be 

 completely bared, or parallel strips may be cut out, leaving some of 

 the turf uncut between them. In this case the long of the herbige 

 will be soonest repaired by the spreading of the grasses from the strips 

 which are left. When an ornamental lawn is to be formed by laying 

 down the turf, the ground is levelled, or laid in any desired form. 

 It i . well rolled and beaten, to make it firm, and, if tin- weather be dry, 

 it is well watered before the turf is applied. As lawns require frequeut 

 mowing, a close, slow-growing turf is a great advantage : it should 

 therefore be taken, if possible, from a poor thin soil The turf which 

 lies immediately over the chalk is best adapted to this purpose. If 

 the ground to be covered is of a rich quality, it is best to remove the 

 soil and lay some of the poorer subsoil bare, to place the turf on. A 

 rich moist soil would make the grass grow too rank, and require con- 

 stant mowing and rolling to keep it down. Brickbats and rubbish are 

 often spread over the ground, where a lawn is to be formed by turfing 

 it over : these not only form a poorer soil, but also keep it drier by 

 their porosity. It need not be observed, that where turfing ia resorted 

 to, to cover bare places in meadows or pasture, the reverse of all this 

 should be done, and manure spread over the places where the turf is 

 to be laid, so that the roots may be invigorated, and a rich pile of grass 

 may spring up. 



When there are banks and inequalities in pastures, it is often useful 

 to pare off all the turf, rolling it up, from the places which are to be 

 levelled. The superfluous soil U then removed, and if it has been long 

 in the form of a dry bank, it is spread over the grass, which it greatly 

 invigorates. The new surface is enriched with manure, if it requires 

 it, and in moist weather or after watering it, the turf is rolled over it 

 an<) W.-11 beaten down. A heavy roller, drawn over it will greatly assist 

 its rooting, and thus an unsightly bank, on which the gross was usually 

 either coarse or burnt up, according as the season was wet or dry, 

 becomes a good and neat pasture. Another important use of turf is to 

 cut it into small strips and divide these into pieces of a square inch in 

 size, or somewhat more, for the purpose of laying land to grass by 

 itujculalliiH. This is only a partial turfing, which extends rapidly, and 

 in the course of a very few yean converts a field which was not very 

 productive as arable land into a valuable meadow, especially if it is so 

 situated as to be capable of occasional irrigation. 



The advantage of an extent of fine turf for the exercise of high-bred 

 horses has given a name to the pursuit of breeding and training horses 

 for the purpose of racing. The annals of the turf record the deeds of 

 famous homes and the success of their owners. The turf has its rules 

 and codes of laws, and the highest individuals in the nation often sit 

 in judgment on some disputed point of turf law, with as much gravity 

 a* they would decide the most important interests of the state. 



TURKISH CHRONOLOGY. The Turks, like all the other Mo- 

 hammedans, have adopted the sera of the Hijra, which begins with the 

 16th of July, A.D. C'J'J. [.KIIA.] The year of the Hijra contains 12 

 months of alternately 30 and 29 days, or, more exactly, 354 days 

 8 hours, and 48 minutes ; and 32 of our (solar) years are equal to 33 

 Mohammedan (lunar) years, 6 days, 8 hours, and 1C minutes. On 

 these facU is founded the following easy rule for finding the Christian 

 year which corresponds to any given Mohammedan year : 



The number of centuries contained in the given Mohammedan year 

 U multiplied by 3 ; to the product are added as many units as the 

 period of 33 vears is contained in the number of those yean which are 

 in the given Mohammedan year besides the centuries; the sum thus 

 obtained U deducted from the given year ; and to the rest is added 

 f the number of full Christian years before the beginning of the 

 Hijra : the sum thus obtained corresponds to the Christian year. 



Example : What year of Christ corresponds to the Mohammedan 

 year HOB (peace of Kuchuk Kaiuarjl) ? 



11 (the number of centuries) x 3 

 2 (the units of the period of 33 years contained 



in 88) + 33 = 35 



118S (the given year) -85 = 1153 



621 (the number of yean before the Hijra) -f 1153 = 1774 



This u correct, the peace of Kuchuk KaJinarjl having been feigned in 

 A.B. 1774. 



33 



To change a Christian year into a Mohammedan year requires only 

 an invention of the preceding rule. 



Example : What Mohammedan year corresponds to the Christian 

 year 1774 f 



1774-621 = 1153 



11 (the number of centuries in 1153) x 3 . . = 33 

 1 (the number of times which 3 contains 33) 



+ 33 = 34 



84 + 1153 - 1187 



We have seen above that the Mohammedan year corresponding to 

 the Christian year 1774 was 1188 ; but the rc-ult is correct notwith- 

 standing the different results in the two cases ; for the beginning of 

 A.D. 1774 falls in the latter part of A.U. 11*7, and the beginning of 

 A.M. 1188 and the greater part of this year falls in A.D. 1774. Thus 

 the latter rule is only the complement of the first, and by euij 

 both the reader will always know whether a given Mohammedan year 

 falls entirely in one Christian year, or whether it falls in part of one 

 and in part of another Christian year ; and be will know the came for 

 a Christian year with regard to a Mohammedan year. If this be' true, 

 the consequence will be that, if a Mohammedan year falls cut.: 

 the course of one Christian year, there will be no difference in the 

 result obtained by employing successively both the rules. This is in 

 fact the case, as may be seen by the following example : 



The year A.M. 522 begins on the 5th of January, A.D. 1128, and ends 

 on the 24th of December of the same year 1123. 



Kule 1 for A.H. 622 : 5 x 3 . 



622-15 



507 + 621 . 

 Rule 2 for A.D. 1128 : 1128-621 



6 (centuries) x 3 



15 + 507 



15 



607 



1128 



507 



15 



from which we may conclude that the year 522 A.U. falls entirely in 

 the course of the year 1128 A.D. To make this more intelligible" u.- 

 observe that the Mohammedan year being composed of lunar or move- 

 able months, its beginning is likewise moveable, and in the c 

 33 years it goes successively through all the twelve months of our 

 year. The above-mentioned two rules will be good till A.H. llol 

 (A.D. 1980). The determining of the corresponding days of the two 

 eras presents considerable difficulties, and cannot conveniently be 

 given here. 



TURKISH LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE. The Turkish 

 languages form a particular family, which differs from the Arabic, the 

 Persian, the Mongol, and the Chinese. The principal Turkish lan- 

 guages are the following : 



1. Uighur. This language U considered the most ancient of all the 

 Turkish dialects, and is still spoken in eastern Turkistdu, especially in 

 the country between Kikhghar and Kiiuiul. The Uighur was origin- 

 ally written with fourteen, and afterwards with sixteen letters, which, 

 according to Abel Ki'musat, are an imitation of the Syriac alp: 

 although there is some reason to believe that they have been iiu 



by the Uighurs themselves. They were afterwards adopted by the 

 Mongols, who however have modified them. The Uighur language 

 was cultivated at a very parly period, and, as it seems, has had con- 

 siderable influence on the Chinese literature. The number of I 

 words introduced into the Uighur is not very considerable, and this 

 language is consequently the purest of all the Turkish dialects. The 

 Bodleian Library contains a beautiful Uighur manuscript, the ' Bakh- 

 liyar-Nameh,' written in A.H. 888 (A.D. 1434). Two other Uighur 

 manuscripts on Mohammedan divinity are in the Royal Library at 

 Paris, and a fourth, the ' Kau.lat ku-bilik,' or ' The Science of ( ;. 

 nient,' was sent to Paris by Von Hammer PurgstalL This work was 

 computed about A.U. 460 (A.D. 1069), during the reign of Alp-Arslan, 

 sultan of the Seljuks; but the copy of You Hammer dates only from 

 A.U. 843 (A.D. 1459). The Uighur language ia very little known in 

 Europe. 



2. Jagataa, in the greater part of independent Turkistdn. This 

 language, which was originally written with the Uighur characters, and 

 which, in ancient times, greatly resembled the Uighur language, U 

 remarkable for its strength, perspicuity, and simplicity. Turkistdn, 

 especially Samarkand and Bokhara, having been the centra of the 

 power of the successors of Genghis-khan and Timur, the JagatdY was 

 cultivated at on early period, and many Arabic anil Persian words wero 

 introduced into it. The Arabic characters were substituted for the 

 Uighur letters, but not till a c time after the Mohammedan 

 religion had been introduced into TurkUUn. The J.tgatdt language 

 has a valuable literature. The ' \Viiki at i Biibiiri ' is an autobiography 

 of Sultan Baber, the conqueror of Hindustan (AH. 900 till U3S ; AD. 

 II'.' I till 15:11). It lia- into Kngliith under tl.. 



' Mcmoira of Xi-hir-ed <liii Muliammed Baber, Kinpnor of Hindustan, 

 tt i itt. n by himself;' translated partly by the late John LeyiU-n. 

 and partly by W. Erskiue, Esq., 4to., Loiulm. 1 MS. It li:u< al.- 

 Lranslated into Persian. The famous ' Genealogical History of tho 

 Turks,' by 'Abu-l-ghii/4 (Bahadur Khan, Sultan of Khowaresm). was 

 >riginally written in the Jagatdi language. The first manuscript of 

 this work known to Europeans wan discovered by Swedi 

 who, after the battle of 1'ulUwa, were sent as prisoners to Siberia. 



