AORIOENTUM. 



140 



aad silk* to more limited 

 but th none** 



._ of them are ia Bhurtpoor. oo the ATe frontier. 

 of > much of the provine. - beloog. to the Bntuh 

 _ ta'1449 r*tsmed a* M.740. The revenue i* chiefly derived 

 from tod tan on UM land, regulated everySO yeera, In 1849-50 

 the IOTWM of UM whole of the Korth-Weetern Provinces was 

 .ttT rupee* ; the duty on import*, export*, Ac., was 13,16.086 

 ; ami on pelt 5l.8i.097 rupee*. The post-office receipt* were 

 n rapee*. the dune* S.ltl.Vll rupees 

 The eountry north of the Cbumbiil u hoM by nijo* or native chief* 

 ! etriet alliance with the British. South of that river the territory u 

 mostly held lr, or tributery to, the Mahrattat. The native* ere fur 

 the moet part a baodeome and robust race, aod superior in theee 

 to the Bengalee*. They arr oompoeod of a mUture of Hindoo* 

 ssirtans Hinduatanee i* the language uaed in common 

 bat Peraian U the official tongue, and u spoken by the 

 higher daae of Mohammedan*. 



AORA, the capital of the proTinoe of Agra, u situated on the right 

 bank of the river Jumna, in 87 18' N. lat, 78" 6' E. long., 180 iniln 

 a&K from Delhi, and 830 mllee N.W. from Calcutta. Agra was 

 originally an lnoon*iderable village, but in the beginning of the 16th 

 century it wme much enlarged by the emperor Sekundcr Lody, who 

 tel ii mil on it the rank of an imperial city, and made it the capital 

 of hi* dominion*, under the name of liadulghur. Half a century later 

 the city we* further enlarged by the emperor Akbar, who built here 

 an extensive palace, and again changed its name to Akbarabad. This 

 city continued to be the seat of the Mogul government until the year 

 1647, when Delhi was declared the capital by the emperor Shah 

 Jrtun. from which period the decline of Agra may be dated. Shah 

 Jehu, during hi* residence at Akbarabad, built a moet superb mauso- 

 leum, M the cemetery of hi* favourite wife, the Begum Noor-Jehan, 

 about three mile* from the city. This building, which is called the 

 Tagt-matuJ, or Crown of Edifices, U composed of white marble, and 

 u mud on an elevated terrace of white and yellow marble. It con- 

 tain* a central hall, within which are the tombs of the Begum and of 

 Shah Jehan himself, and around this hall are several smaller apart- 

 man Is sad corridor*. This mausoleum, the finest probably in the 

 world, is said to have cost 750,0001 There is a college in Agra, sup- 

 ported by the government, at which there were 251 pupils in the year 

 1848, four-fifth* of whom were Hindoos. The houses in Agra are 

 built of (tune, and are very lofty, while the street* are so narrow as 

 gamely to allow a carriage to pass through them. The city contains 

 public baths, caravanserais, and mosques; but most of the 

 1 buildings, especially the splendid palace of Akbar, are in a 

 led .UUs. Agra wa* taken in 1784 by the Hahratta chief 

 -cindia, and was retained by him until 1808, when it was 

 , after a siege, by the forces under Lord Lake. It is now 

 eeat of British government for the province, and it has been 

 Offestod a* the most convenient place for the seat of government 

 * hola of India. During the last ten years a considerable 

 ** ken appended by the government on public works, 

 aoveral court-houses, record-rooms, revenue-offices, a new 

 nd, bridges, and roads. Up to November, 1847, upwards 

 Of rupee* had been expended on the road from Agra to 

 Bonbay alone. The Hindoo inhabitant* hold the city in great vene- 

 ration. as the place of the matin, or incarnation, of Vishnu, under 

 the Dam* of Param Rama. 



1AM, a fortifled town in the Austrian empire, is the capital 

 the Crownland of Croatia. It is situated at a distance of about 

 DJbaMarlv doe south from Vienna, within two miles from 

 the left bank of the Save, in 45' 49' N. lat, 18' 4' E. long., and 



palaatar the Landtag or Pro vincia! Diet, the episcopal palace, and 

 cathedral. a fin, gothic building. The hA two stanTuTtlVsame 



Aff-.Bhre.tlll. 

 it ha* an academy, sn arch-rvmnaslum, a high 



MUoml ooDep, an aoaEmy of music, in 

 convent The chief manufactures are silk. 



-. 



fcoilHaUd by tha navigation of thaBava. 



ta 



AURIOKNTIJM, an ancient city of Sicily, distinguished by the 



!Vfl?"* !l '~ of|l "> It was called by the (Jreeks 



H^f-AfilF 1 * 11 * 1 I* * * a hm 



"Urn coast of Mcfiy, about 24 mile, from the eta, in 



5" * >*, and was founded by a colony from 



J*!""* * ^ * eo*uaotlom with the well- 



^!rrjf "tH !n ^'rf'V T* * p"**' ******** 



awsath* taw*?*. ^ ' """^ *?'" n '' M5 to M0 - I* 



- r of tkr - OI '! MMI * I! bilit '' * 



a*, award having in iteetf 



expressing toe assumption 01 unconstitutional or absolute power. He 

 was destroyed in a popular tumult, by a general attack of the people 

 (C'io. UK' ii 7), and after his death a demooratical government was 

 estahlishad for about 60 years, during which, we find in extant history 

 little or no mention of Agrigeutum, except tluit it rose to groat 

 prosperity under Aloanienes and Alcandnis. (Henolides, PM. 87.) 



About the year ac. 488, we find Theron ruling the city, with the 

 title of prinoe (Jwimji, Diod. xik known by two odes of Pindar, com- 

 posed in honour of victories gained by his chariot* in i 

 games. Theron was a mild and popular ruler. Ho reduced Himera, 

 a town on the northern coast of Sicily, the tyrant of which, Terillus, 

 sought help at Carthage, and gave occasion to the first important 

 attempt of that city to extend its dominions in Sicily. A large army 

 of Carthaginians passed over (B.C. 480) and besieged Himera, but was 

 defeated with great slaughter by the combined force of Agrigentum 

 and Syracuse. A vast number of prisoners were taken and mode slaves 

 on this occasion, insomuch that it is stated, probably with some 

 exaggeration, that 400 fell to the share of many individual citizens, 

 and yet the greatest part were retained for the public use, ami 

 employed in those stupendous buildings of which we -till admire the 

 remains. Theron died ac. 472, and Thrasydttus, his son, a m 

 licentious and cruel temper, succeeded, He provoked a war with 

 Syracuse, in which he wo* defeated, and, his power probably being 

 shaken, he was expelled by the Agrigentines, who again established a 

 democracy, which continued uninterruptedly until the Carthaginian 

 invasion in ac. 406. 



During this period the city flourished, according to Diodorus, in 

 wealth and luxury, such as no other state but Home itself had 

 exhibited. Of the means by which such wealth was acquired, we 

 know nothing, except that extraordinary fertility is ascribed to the 

 soil, and that the resort of foreigners mokes it likely that it was a 

 great commercial depot. The number of citizens is stated by 

 Diodorus (xiii.) at 20,000, and of foreigners settled there 180,000 

 more ; this hist number probably included slaves as well as foreigners. 

 Diogenes Laertius (viii. 2, 68) makes the population of the city 

 alone amount to 800,000, which is without doubt a gross exaggeration. 

 The period was not, however, one of unbroken peace. A dispute with 

 a Sikelian chief named Ducetius led to hostilities which embroiled 

 the Agrigentines with the Syraciuans, who gained a great victory over 

 the Agrigentines at Himera in ac. 446. (Diod. XL 76, 91 ; xii 8.) 

 When the Athenians invaded Sicily in the Peloponnesiau war (ac. 

 416), Agrigentum remained strictly neuter. 



In B.C. 406 this prosperous city was again attacked by Carthage. 

 The Agrigentines were supported by a body of Italian mercenaries, 

 commanded by a Lacedaemonian, Dexippus ; and a powerful <ln 

 was made from without by Syracuse. But civil discord ami insubor- 

 dination rendered fruitless a resistance which for some time was 

 spirited, and might have been successful. The Carthaginians 

 completed lines of circumvolution ; and when the place was reduced 

 to extremity by hunger, the bulk of the citizens passed the enemies' 

 lines in a winter night, and reached Gela in safety. The town was 

 preserved by Hainilcar or Imilcon, the Carthaginian general, for 

 winter quarters, but razed in the following spring : the pictures, 

 statues, and most valuable spoil were taken to Carthage, the rest Bold. 

 The vacant town and territory of Leontiuui was given by the Sy racusans 

 to the fugitives. 



The city never completely recovered from this fatal disaster, though, 

 at the conclusion of peace between Syracuse and Carthage, the 

 inhabitants were permitted to return, and to occupy the city on 

 condition of not restoring the fortifications. The Agrigentines \ 

 with Dionysius the Elder, when he declared war against Carthage in 

 B.c. 897, but were able to play only a subordinate part. In the 

 general settlement of the aflkirs of Sicily by Tiuioleon, after hi great 

 victory over the Carthaginians on the Crimissus in n.c. 840, he recolo- 

 nised Agrigentum with citizens from Volia in Italy, and has in 

 consequence been looked upon as its second founder. During the 

 peace that followed. Agrigentum again attained great prosperity, and 

 became once more the rival of Syracuse. 



Fearing the ambition of Agathocles of Syracuse, the Agrigentines 

 entered into an alliance with the Ueloans and Messenions to oppose 

 his power, and obtained from Sparta, Acrotatus, son of Cleomenee, as 

 their general Acrotatus, however, unfitted for such a trust, was 

 d, and the citizens purchased peace by acknowledging the 

 i-upi-i'inney nf Syracuse B.c. 814. Soon after, in B.C. 309, they mode 

 an attempt to recover their ancient |xm.i in Si,-ily, and for a time 

 seemed to prosper, but desisted from the attempt in the second year, 

 in consequence of experiencing a defeat from the Syracusnns. (Diod. 

 xx. 81, 82, 66, 62.) After the death of Agathocles, Agrigentum Ml 

 tinder the yoke of Phintius, who assumed th title of king, and seems 

 to have attained great power. He was expelled, but at what date is 

 unknown. The prosperity of the city at a somewhat later period in 

 rendered probable by a statement in Diodorus (xxii. 14), that Pyrrhus 

 received from the Agrigentines 18,000 foot and 800 horse, "c<\ 

 the Epirot troops," when they admitted him into their city, nl.. .>.! 

 ac. 280. In the first Punic war the state adhered to Cartluu." 

 admitted a Carthaginian garrison into the citadel. In n.c. 26'J 

 taken by the Romans after a seven months' siege and a loss of 

 of their men ; and 26,000 of the inhabitant* were carried oft' into 



