B A L 



fertile and well cultivated, the prince draws from it a con- 

 lidcrable revenue. The cinintry abounds with filk, which 

 furnifhed the inhabitants with a valuable article of manufac- 

 ture. The Uflitcks, fiibjea to the khan of Balk, are the 

 mod civili/ed of all the I'artars inhabiting Great Buchapa, 

 which circumllance is attributed to their commerce with the 

 Perllans. This country has been divided into feveral pro- 

 vinces, of which the moll remarkable are Khotlan, Tokaref- 

 tan, and Badakihan. Its chief cities are Balk, Fariyab, 

 Talkan, Badakihan, and Anderab. Mod. Un. Hill;, vol. iv. 

 p. ^53. 



Balk, a diftinguilhed city of the above-mentioned pro- 

 vince, feated towards the borders of Periia, on the river 

 Dewafh, which flows into the Amu from the mountains of 

 Gaur or Paropamifus. It was probably the ancient Bac- 

 TRiA, which ice. The hiftorians of Ptrfia fay that it was 

 founded bv Kaiumurath, the tirft king of Perfia, and that 

 he gave it this name becaufe he had found his brother, whom 

 he had loft, on this fpot : balkhhicn, or balgkhn, fignuving, in 

 their lano-uaefc, to receive and emhrace a fi'umL The firll; 

 kings of Periia, who inhabited the province of Aderbijan 

 in Media, confidered this city of Baftriana as the fronti^;r of 

 their country. After fevere contelts between the oriental 

 Turks and Pertlans, the kings of Perfia of the fecond dy- 

 nafty made this city the capital of their empire, as it ferved 

 to prevent the people of Turqutftan or Tokareilan from ob- 

 taining the palfage of the river Oxus or Gihon. The kings 

 of the fucceeding dynafties eftabhflied other principal cities, 

 and Balk was merely the capital of Khorafan, which pre- 

 eminence belonged to it when it was taken by Ahnaf, the 

 fon of Alkais, the Arabian commander, under the caliphate of 

 Olhman. Under the Abaffide caliphs, and fucceeding fultans. 

 Balk vi'as a city of peculiar diilinftion ; it v.-as called Cuhat al 

 EJIair., or the Metropolis of Mujfulnmnifm, and extended its 

 Uirifdiftion over the countries of Badakflian, Khotlan, and 

 Tokhareftan. It was taken by the Moguls or Tartars, un- 

 der Jenghiz Khan, in the year of the Hegira 6i8, A. D. 

 122 1, and by his orders its inhabitants were removed out of 

 the walls of the city, and cruelly malTacred. In the year of 

 the Hegira 771, A. D. 1369, Tamerlane compelled fultan 

 Hudain, the lail of the race of Jenghiz Khan, to fiir- 

 render the city ; and his fucctflbrs retained ponVfllon of it 

 till they were expelled by the Uftjccks in the lifteenth cen- 

 tury. Between the Uibeck Tartars and the Perllans it has 

 been the occafion of continual wars. The principal mofque 

 of this city is conftrufted upon the model of that at Mecca. 

 Herbel. Bibl. Orient, p. 167. 



In the beginning of the laft century, Balk was the 

 moft confiderable of all the towns poffefted by the Ma- 

 hometan Tartars, as Bentink informs us, being large, 

 handfonic, and well peopled. Moft of its buildi:-.gs are 

 of brick or ftone; and its fortifications confift of earthern 

 bul.varks, lined on the outfide with a ftrong wall. The 

 khan's caftle is a magnificent ftrutlure, after the eaftern 

 faftiion, built wholly of marble, dug out of the neighbouring 

 mountains. In 1739, Balk was obliged to fubmit to the 

 arms of Nadir ShrJi, or Kuli Khan ; but has fince recovered 

 its independency. As foreigners have free liberty to trade in 

 this citv, it is the chief feat of the commerce between Great 

 Buchana and Hindoftau. N. lat. 36" 21'. E. long. 65^" 



31'. 



BALKAN, a bay on the eaftern coaft of the Cafpian fea, 

 in which are iftands inhabited chiefly by pirates of the race of 

 Turcoman Tartars. Thefe iflands produce rice and cotton, 

 and one of them, called Naphthonia, abounds in naphtha. 

 The traffic, fays Mr.Coxe (Trav. in Ruflia, vol. iii. p. 332.) 

 might be increafed to the advantage of Ruflia; as it would 



B A L 



be far more commodious to trade with the Tartars of 

 Khiva and Bucharia from thefe parts than from Oren- 

 burg, through the country of the warlike and independent 

 Kirghees. 



BALKAN, a mountain of European Turkey, which di- 

 vides Romania from Bulgaria. 



BALKEE, a town of Hindoftan, in the country of Dow- 

 latabad, i j miles W.N.W. of Bedtr. 



BALKERS, m the Fifl.'ery, perfons placed on rocks 

 and eminences at fea, to fpy the herring-droves, and give 

 notice to the fiftiermen by waving bought, what way they 

 go, and where they may be found. i Stat. Juc. I. 

 cap. 23. 



BALL, John, in Biography, 2M Englifli divine, was bora 

 at Cafhngton, near Woodllock, in Oxforddiire. Although 

 educated at Oxford, he attaclicd himfclf to the caufeof the 

 Puritans. Ordained by an Irifa bifliop without fubfcription, 

 he ferved a curacy of 20I. a year at Whitmore in Stafford- 

 ftiire, and with this, together with the produce of a fmall 

 fchool, he lived contentedly. In this obfcure and lowly con- 

 dition, he dillinguiflied himfelf by his writings. His chief 

 work was " A ftiort Treatile concerning all the principal 

 grounds of the Chviftian religion;" and fu popular was this 

 treatife that it palled through fourteen editions before the 

 year 1632, and was tranllated into the Turkifh language. 

 He alfo wrote " A Treatife on Faith," 410. 1631; "A 

 Friendly Trial of the Grounds of Separation," 410. 1640; 

 and feveral devotional pieces. Although he difiiked cere- 

 monies, he wrote againft tiiofc who thought them a fuffi- 

 cient ground of feparation. He died in 1640, with the 

 character of a laborious preacher, and an ingenious writer. 

 Biog. Brit. 



Ball, in a general fenfe, a round body, found naturally, 

 or foimed by art, of this figure. 



Ball, in Antiquily, gives the denomination to a fpecies 

 of game or fport Irequent among the ancients. 



The Romans had four kinds oi p'lht, or balls : the firft 

 called trlgon, or /r/f^/w/i^, iecaufe the three gamefters at it 

 were placed in a triangle : thefe alternately caught and toffed 

 the b.ill, and he who firll let it fall to the ground, was the lofer. 

 The fecond called fcUis, or frjUicuhis, was rrade of leather, 

 blown up like our foot-balls : the largeft fort of thefe were 

 ftruck with the arm, the fnialier with the fift : the former 

 feems to have been dillinguiflied by the appellation prgama:, 

 as being much ufed in country villages : the fourth was the 

 harpiTJli a kind of fmall ball, fo called, becaufe the gamefters 

 endeavoured to fnatch it from each other. 



Galen has an entire treatife on the exercife of the lefler 

 ball. 



Balls, in Arch'iteBure, are reprefented at C, in the figure 

 of the bafilic (fee Basilic) ; and are ufed for fupporting 

 Attic pedellals. 



Balls, in Breiu'wg. They are either Ircwn or pale, and 

 ufed to fine, feed, prefei-ve, and colour malt-drinks, wines, 

 and cyders. See the compofition of them defcribed under 

 Brewing. 



Balls, Martial, in Chemijlry, a preparation of iron now 

 entirely difufed in this form, but retained in the Materia 

 Medica as a powder. It is the fcrriim iarlarixctiim, farlrilc 

 of iron ; or this metal united with, and partly difTolvtd by, 

 cream of tartar. 



To make martial balls, take one part of filings of iron, 

 and two pans of powdered cream of tartar ; nux them well 

 together, and put them into an earthen or iron vefiel with 

 fome water ; ftir the mixture from time to time, till it be- 

 comes almoll dry ; add mo -e water, and ftir it as before, till 

 it ac<juires, when nearly dry, fomewhat of the confiftence 



and 



