of intrigue; Scaramouch a Philosopher, Harlequin a Schoolboy, Bravo a Merchant and Magician (Theatre Royal, 1677); English Lawyer (Theatre Royal, 1678), an adaptation of George Ruggle’s Latin play of Ignoramus, presented before James I. at Cambridge in March 1615; The London Cuckold (Dorset Garden, 1683), which became a stock piece, but was struck out of the repertory by Garrick in 1751; and The Italian Husband (Lincoln’s Inn Fields, 1697). He wrote in all twelve plays, in which he adapted freely from Molière and others, confessing on one occasion that he “but winnowed Shakespeare’s corn.” He ventured to decry the heroic drama, and Dryden retaliated by satirizing his Mamamouchi, a foolish adaptation from Moliére’s Bourgeois Gentilhomme and Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, in the prologue to the Assignation (Dryden, Works, ed. Scott, iv. 345 seq.).
RAVI, a river of India, one of the “Five Rivers” of the Punjab. It rises in the Kulu subdivision of Kangra district, flows through Chamba state, and enters British territory again in Gurdaspur district. At Madhupur the head works of the Bari Doab canal draw off a large portion of its waters. Thence it flows through the plains of the Punjab, passing within a mile of Lahore, and finally falls into the Chenab after a course of about 450 m.
RAVINE, a deep, narrow gorge, cleft or valley in a mountain, worn by the violent rush of water, whence the name, which comes through Fr. from Lat. rapina, violent robbery or plunder (rapère, to seize). The doublet “ravin” or “raven,” robbery, greed, has given place to the more learned form “rapine,” but is still seen in “ravenous,” greedy, voracious.
RAWALPINDI, a town of British India, which gives its name to a district and a division in the Punjab. The town is situated on the north bank of the little river Leh, 1726 ft. above the sea, 111 m. E. by S. of Peshawar, and 1443 m. N.W. of Calcutta. Pop. (1901) 87,688. It is chiefly notable as the largest military station in India, and the key to the British system of defence upon the North-West Frontier. Railways radiate to Peshawar, Kohat, and the Malakand Pass, and a road runs to the Abbotabad frontier. It is also the starting-point of the cart-road to the hill-station of Murree and of the route into Kashmir. It is protected by a strong chain of forts, connected by the Circular Road. It is the headquarters of the second division of the northern army with a strong force of all arms, and contains an arsenal. Besides the locomotive works of the North-Western railway, there are gas-works, a tent factory, an iron foundry, and a brewery. An annual horse fair is held in April.
The District of Rawalpindi has an area of 2010 sq. m., Attock having been separated from it and formed into a separate district in 1904. It is situated on the southern slopes of the north-western extremities of the Himalayas, including large mountain tracts with rich valleys traversed by mountain torrents. It contains the Murree hills with the sanatorium of that name, the chief hill-station in the Punjab. The Indus and the Jhelum are the chief rivers, and the climate is noted for its healthiness. The principal crops are wheat, barley, maize, millets, and pulses. The district is traversed by the main line of the North-Western railway, crossing the Indus at Attock, and also by a branch towards the Indus at Kushalgarh. The population in 1901 was 558,699, showing an increase of 4.7%, in the decade.
The Division of Rawalpindi lies in the north-west of the Punjab. It consists of the five districts of Gujrat, Attock, Shahpur, Ihelum, and Rawalpindi. The total area is 15,736 sq. m. and the population in 1901 was 2,799,360.
RĀWENDIS, a Persian sect that took its name from a town Rāwend near Isfahan. Its origin is unknown, but they held ultra-Shiite doctrines (see Shiites). Under the year 158 (A.D. 775) Tabarī says that a man of the Rāwendis, called al-Ablaq (because he was leprous), asserted that the spirit that was in Jesus was in ‛Ali, then in the imāms one after the other to Ibrahīm ibn Maḥommed, and that thus these were gods. Asad ibn ‛Abdallah, then governor of Khorasan, put many of them to death. Under the year 135 (A.D. 752–3) the historian again mentions a rising of the Rāwendis of Talaqān, and its suppression. Under 141 (A.D. 758–9) he gives a fuller account of them. They believed in metempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls, and asserted that the spirit of Adam was in Othman ibn Nāhik, that the Lord who fed them and gave them drink was Abu Ja‛far ul-Manṣūr, and that al-Haitham ibn Moawiyā was Gabriel. Accordingly they came to the palace of Manṣūr in Hashimiya and began to hail him as Lord. Manṣūr, however, secured their chiefs and threw them into prison. By means of a mock funeral they succeeded in reaching the prison and delivering their leaders. They then turned in wrath against Manṣūr and almost succeeded in capturing him, but were defeated and slain by al-Haitham. (G. W. T.)
RAWITSCH (Polish Ravicz), a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Posen, lying near the Silesian frontier, 37 m. N. of Breslau, at the junction of railways to Posen and Liegnitz. Pop. (1905) 11,403. It contains a handsome Protestant church and a medieval town hall. The principal industry is the manufacture of snuff and cigars, and for the former it enjoys a considerable reputation. Trade is carried on in grain, wool, cattle, hides, and timber. Rawitsch was founded by Protestant refugees from Silesia during the Thirty Years' War. It passed to Prussia at the second partition of Poland in 1793.
RAWLINSON, GEORGE (1812–1902), English scholar and historian, was born at Chadlington, Oxfordshire, on the 23rd November 1812, being the younger brother of Sir Henry Rawlinson (q.v.). Having taken his degree at Oxford (from Trinity College) in 1838, he was elected to a fellowship at Exeter College in 1840, of which from 1842 to 1846 he was fellow and tutor. He was ordained in 1841; was Bampton lecturer in 1859, and Camden professor of ancient history from 1861 to 1889. In 1872 he was appointed canon of Canterbury, and after 1888 he was rector of All Hallows, Lombard Street. In 1873 he was appointed proctor in Convocation for the Chapter of Canterbury. He married Louisa, daughter of Sir R. A. Chermside, in 1846. His chief publications are his translation of the History of Herodotus (in collaboration with Sir Henry Rawlinson and Sir Gardner Wilkinson), 1858–60; The Five Great Monarchies, of the Ancient Eastern World, 1862–67; The Sixth Great Oriental Monarchy (Parthian), 1873; The Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy (Sassanian), 1875; Manual of Ancient History, 1869; Historical Illustrations of the Old Testament, 1871; The Origin of Nations, 1877; History of Ancient Egypt, 1881; Egypt and Babylon, 1885; History of Phoenicia, 1889; Parthia, 1893; Memoir of Major-General Sir H. C. Rawlinson, 1898. He was a contributor to the Speaker’s Commentary, the Pulpit Commentary, Smith’s Dictionary of the Bible, and various similar publications; and he was the author of the article “Herodotus” in the 9th edition of the Ency. Brit. He died on the 7th of October 1902.
RAWLINSON, SIR HENRY CRESWICKE (1810–1895), English soldier and orientalist, was born at Chadlington, Oxfordshire, on the 11th of April 1810. In 1827 he went to India as cadet under the East India Company; and after six years' life with his regiment as subaltern, during which time he had become proficient in the Persian language, he was sent to Persia in company with some other English officers to drill and reorganize the Shah’s troops. It was at this time that he was first attracted to the study of inscriptions, more particularly those in the hitherto undeciphered cuneiform character. In the course of the two years during which he was in its immediate neighbourhood he transcribed as much as he was able of the great cuneiform inscription at Behistun (q.v.); but the friction between the Persian court and the British government ended in the departure of the British officers.
He was appointed political agent at Kandahar in 1840. In that capacity he served for three years, his political labours being as meritorious as was his gallantry during various engagements in the course of the Afghan War; for these he was rewarded by the distinction of C.B. in 1844. A fortunate chance, by which
