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MAGUEY 82 MAHI KANTHA Military Academy; served in the Mexi- can War; at the outbreak of the Civil War entered the Confederate army; took part in the battle of Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862, being in command as Major-Gen- eral; was appointed commander of the Department of Texas, Oct. 16, 1862; afterward served under the Emperor Maximilian, of Mexico; and died in Houston, Tex., Feb. 19, 1871. MAGUEY, the Agave Americana, from which Pulque {q. v.), pita flax, etc., are made. MAGYARS. See Hungary. MAHABHARATA (ma-ha-bha'ra-ta), one of the two great epic poems of India, the other being the Ramayana. Its lead- ing theme is the contest, perhaps, in the main, histoi-ic, between the Kurus and the Pandus, two dynasties of ancient India, both descended from Bharat, King of Hustinapoor. The discourse between Krishna and Urjoon on the eve of a battle constitutes the Bhagavatgita (q. v.). The roots of some portions of modern Hinduism are in the Mahabha- rata. The worship of Krishna, as one with Vishnu and the universe, has its origin here. MAHAFFY, SIB JOHN PENTLAND, C. V. 0., an Irish educator; bom in Switzerland, in 1839, He Avas educated in Germany and at Trinity College, Dub- lin, being graduated in 1859, and win- ning a fellowship in 1864. He was made Professor of Ancient History there in 1869; was Donnellan lecturer 1873-1874. He was noted for a vdde range of scholar- ship, and was a frequent contributor to periodicals and published books on many subjects. Among these are "Lectures on Primitive Civilization" (1868); "Prole- gomena to Ancient History" (1871), treating of Egyptian antiquities; "Ram- bles and Studies in Greece" (1876) ; "History of Greek Classical Literature" (1880); "Empire of the Ptolemies" (1896); "The Silver Age of the Greek World" (1906) ; "What Have the Greeks Done for Civilization?" ("Lowell Lec- tures," 1909). He died in 1919. MAHAN, ALFRED THAYER (ma- han'), an American naval officer and writer; born in West Point, N. Y., Sept. 27, 1840; was graduated at the United States Naval Academy, in 1859; served in the Civil War; was president of the Naval War College, Newport, in 1886- 3S89 and 1892-1893. He was retired at his own request Nov. 17, 1896. During the war with Spain he was a member of the Naval Board of Strategy; and in 1899 was appointed by President McKin- ley as one of the American delegates to the Universal Peace Conference at The Hague. His chief work "Influence of Sea Power upon History" (1890), with its continuation, "Influence of Sea Power upon the French Revolution and Empire" (1892), gave him a world-wide reputa- tion. He published also: "The Gulf and Inland Waters" (1883); "Life of Ad- miral Farragut" (1892) ; "The Interest of America in Sea Power, Present and Future" (1897), a compilation of his magazine articles; "Life of Nelson" (1897) ; "Lessons of the Spanish War" (1899) ; "Armaments and Arbitration" (1910) ; "Major Operations of the Navies in the War of American Independence (1913). He died in 1914. MAHANADI (ma-ha-nud'i) ("the great river"), a river of India, rising in the Central province, in lat. 20° 10' N., Ion. 82° E. After an E. course of 520 miles, 300 miles of which are naviga- ble, having divided into several branches at or near the town of Cuttack, which forms the head of its delta, it flows E. and S. E. through the district of that name, and falls by several mouths into the Bay of Bengal. MAHANOY CITY, a borough in Schuylkill co.. Pa., on Mahanoy Creek and on the Lehigh Valley and the Phila- delphia and Reading railroads; 13 miles N. E. of Pottsville. It contains a public librai-y, electric lights. National banks, daily and weekly newspapers, and churches of the leading denominations. It is located in a rich anthracite coal region, from which it gains much of its prosperity. It has coUeries, several pot- teries, iron foundries, etc. Pop. (1910) 15,936; (1920) 15,599. MAHARAJAH (literally, a great king) , a title applied in courtesy to every Indian rajah, or to any person of high rank or deemed holy. MAHATMA (-hat'-), a word meaning "the great-souled one," and applied among the Brahmans to one who has attained the highest possible point of spiritual enlightenment. It is used as a term of respect. MAHE (ma-ha'), an island in the Seychelles or Mahe Ai'chipelago, in the Indian Ocean, about 17 miles long and 4 miles broad. Port Victoria is the capital. MAHI KANTHA (ma'he kan'tha) AGENCY, in the presidency of Bombay, India, a group of 52 native states, bounded by Udaipur on the N. and Baroda and Ahmedabad on the W.; total area, 3,125 square miles (over one