120 M O T 
fchifm which in the 36th year of the Kegira arofe among 
the Arabs, refpefting the fucceffors of Mahomet, is the 
caufe of an irreconcilable hatred between the two parties. 
See the article Arabia, vol. ii. p. 11-14. The fe&aries 
of Omar, who contiderthemfelves as the only “orthodox,” 
aifiime the title of Sonnite's, which has that fignification, 
and term their adverfaries Shiites, that is, “ feClaries of 
Ali.” The word Motou-Ali has the fame meaning in the 
dialed! of Syria. The followers of Ali, diffatisfied with 
this name, fubflitute that of AAlia, which means “affer- 
tors of juftice,” literally “ jufticiarians a denomination 
which tIvey have affumed in confequence of a doctrinal 
point they advance in oppofition to the Sonnite faith. A 
lmh.ll Arabic treatife, entitled Theological Fragments 
concerning the Sefts and Religions of the World, has the 
following paflage : “Thefe fedtaries who pretend that God 
adts only on principles of juftice, conformable to human 
reafon, are called Adliu, or Jufticiarians. God cannot (lay 
they) command an impracticable worftiip, nor ordain im- 
poftible aCtions, nor enjoin men to perform what is be¬ 
yond their ability; but, wherever he requires obedience, 
will beftow the power to obey. He removes the caufe of 
evil, he allows us to reafon, and impofes only what is 
eafy, not what is difficult; he makes no man refponfible 
for the aCtions of another, nor punifhes him for that in 
which he has no part; he imputes not as a crime what 
himfelf has created in man ; nor does he require him to 
avoid what deftiny has decreed. This would be injuftice 
and tyranny, of which God is incapable, from the per¬ 
fection of his being.” To this doCtrine, which diame¬ 
trically oppofes the fyftem of the Sonnites, the Motoualis 
add certain ceremonies which increafe their mutual aver- 
fion. They curfe Omar and Moawiyah as rebels and 
ufurpers ; and celebrate Ali and Hofein as faints and 
martyrs. They begin their ablutions at the elbowq in- 
ftead of the end of the finger, as is cuftomary with the 
Turks; they think themfelves defiled by the touch of 
ftrangers ; and, contrary to the general pradtice of the 
Eaft, neither eat nor drink out of a veffel which has been 
ufed by a perfon not of their fed!, nor will they even fit 
at the lame table. 
Thefe dodlrines and cuftoms, by feparating the Mo¬ 
toualis from their neighbours, have rendered them a dif- 
tinft fociety. It is faid they have long exifted as a nation 
in that country, though their name has never been men¬ 
tioned by any European writer before the eighteenth cen¬ 
tury ; it is not even to be found in the maps of d’Anville : 
La Roque, who left their country not a hundred years ago, 
gives them the name of Arnediens. Be this as it may, in 
later times their wars, robberies, fucceffes, and various 
changes of fortune, have rendered them of confequence 
in Syria. Till about the middle of this century, they only 
poffelfed Balbec, their capital, and a few places in the 
valley, and Anti-Lebanon, which feems to have been 
their original country. At that period we find them un¬ 
der a like government with the Drufes, that is to fay, 
under a number of Shaiks, with one principal chief of 
the family of Harfoufh. After the year 1750, they efta- 
blifhed themfelves among the heights of Bekaa, and got 
footing in Lebanon, where they obtained lands belonging 
to the Maronites, almoft as far as Befliarrai. They even 
incommoded them fo much by their ravages, as to oblige 
the emir Youfef to attack them with open force and ex¬ 
pel them; but, on the other fide, they advanced along the 
river even to the neighbourhood of Sour (Tyre). In this 
iituation, Shaik Daher had the addrefs, in 1760, to attach 
them to his party. The pachas of Said and Damalcus 
claimed tributes, which they had negleCled paying, and 
complained of feveral robberies committed on their lub- 
je&s by the Motoualis; they were defirous of chalfifing 
them; but this vengeance was neither certain nor eafy. 
Daher interpofed; and, by becoming fecurity for the tri¬ 
bute, and promifing to prevent any depredations, acquired 
allies who were able, as it is laid, to arm 10,000 horfemen, 
all refolute and formidable troops. Shortly after, they 
M O T 
took poffeffion of Sour, anchmade that village their prin¬ 
cipal lea-port. I11 1771 they were of great fervice to Ali 
Bey and Daher againft the Ottomans. But emir Youfef, 
having in their abfence armed the Drufes, ravaged their 
country. He was befieging the caftle of Djezin, when the 
Motoualis, returning from Damafcus, received Jntelli - 
gence of this invafion. At the relation of the barbarities 
committed by the Drufes, an advanced corps, of only five 
hundred men, were fo enraged, that they immediately 
ruflied forward againft the enemy, determined to perifli 
in taking vengeance. But the furprife and confufion they 
occafioned, and the difcord which reigned between the 
two factions of Manfour and Youfef, fo much favoured 
this defperate attack, that the whole army, confiding of 
25,000 men, was completely overthrown. In the follow¬ 
ing year, the affairs of Daher taking a favourable turn, 
the zeal of the Matoualis cooled towards him, and they 
finally abandoned him in the cataftrophe in which he loft; 
his life. But they have fullered for their imprudence 
under the adminiftration of the pacha who fucceeded 
him. After the year 1777, Djezzar, the famous pacha of 
Acre and Said, incefl’antly laboured to dellroy them. His 
perfecution forced them in 1784 to a reconciliation with 
the Drufes, and to enter into an alliance with the emir 
Youfef. Though reduced to lefs than feven hundred 
armed men, they did more in that campaign than 15,000 
Drufes and Maronites affembled at Dair-el-Kamar. They 
alone took the ftrong fortrefs of Mar-Djebaa, and put to 
the fword all the Epirots who defended it. But the mif- 
underftanding which prevailed.among the chiefs of the 
Drufes having rendered abortive all their operations, the 
pacha obtained poffeffion of the whole valley, and the city 
of Balbec itfelf. At this period not more than five hundred 
families of the Motoualis remained, who took refuge in 
Anti-Lebanon, and the Lebanon of the Maronites ; and, 
driven as they now are from their native foil, it is pro¬ 
bable they will be totally annihilated, and even their very 
name become extinfl. 
MOTOVSKA'IA, a town of Ruffia, in the govern¬ 
ment of Archangel: twelve miles north-north-eaft of 
Kola. 
MOTRAPOU'R, a town of Bengal: ten miles north 
of Mahmudpour. 
MOTRI'CO, a feaport town of Spain, in Guipufcoa, 
in the bay of Bifcay: eighteen miles weft of St. Sebaftian. 
MO'TRIL, a feaport town of Spain, in the province of 
Granada. From this town, along the coaft as far almoft 
as to Gibraltar, there are feveral lugar-mills, called ing-e- 
nios; and at Motril are four of them, which have been 
ufed from time immemorial for the manufacture of fugar; 
but the culture of fugar-canes has of late, from political 
motives, been fuperfeded by that of the vine. It is four 
miles eaft of Malaga. Lat. 36. 45. N. Ion. 3.42. W. 
MO'TRIL, a town ofWalachia: ten miles north-north- 
weft of Krajova, and twenty-eight eaft of Czernetz. 
MO'TRIX, Something that has the power or faculty 
of moving. 
MOT'TA, a town of Italy, in the Trevifan, at the 
union of the Mottegano and Livenza: eighteen miles 
eaft-north-eaft of Trevigio. It is deferibed by Mr. Op- 
penheim, in his Hiftory of Maritime Auftria, as a conli- 
derable and populous borough, with an old caftle; and 
contains a church built in a fplendid ftyle, after a defign 
of Sanfovin. The inhabitants, who are very induftrious, 
poffefs two hat-manufactories, and two dyeing-houfes, 
which, together with the much-frequented annual fair, 
afford them abundant means of lubfiltence. Without the 
borough (lands a convent belonging to the order of Con¬ 
templative Minorites. 
MOT'TA, a town of Naples, in the Capitanata: two 
miles eaft-fouth-eaft of Volturara. 
MOT'TA, a town of Sicily, in the valley of Noto : 
eleven miles weft of Catania. 
MOT'TA, a town of Italy, in the department of the 
Upper Po : twenty-one miles eaft of Cremona. 
MOT'TA, 
