This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

574

Ulundi—Umballa

This catalogue, the first original one since Ptolemy, was edited by Th. Hyde at Oxford in 1665 (Tabulae longitudinis et latitudinis stellarum fixarum ex observatione Ulugbeighi), by G. Sharpe in 1767, and in 1843 by F. Daily in vol. xiii. of the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society.

See Delambre, Histoire de l'astronomie du moyen âge; Poggendorff, Biographisch-litterarisches.

ULUNDI (Zulu for “high place” ), the royal kraal of Cetywayo, situated in the Mahlabatini district of Zululand, about 3 m. north of the White Umfolosi River, and 115 m. N.N.E. of Durban. The valley of the White Umfolosi here forms an extensive basin called the Emhlabatini, and from the time of Chaka to the overthrow of Cetywayo in 1883 was the exclusive place of residence of the Zulu kings. The basin on the south side of the river is regarded as the cradle of the Zulu race; here all their early chiefs are buried, hence the term Emakosini (i.e. at the grave of the chiefs) applied to the district (see Blue Book C. 5143). During Cetywayo's reign a garrison of 3000 was kept at Ulundi. About a mile from the kraal on the 4th of July 1879 a Zulu army some 20,000 strong was totally defeated by Lord Chelmsford. The British force, consisting of the second division and Wood's column, numbered in all 4200 Europeans and some 1000 natives. On the morning of the battle they formed a square, with the mounted troops (about 300) inside. The Zulus attacked with great gallantry but were received with so deadly a fire that they could not come within thirty yards of the rifles. After twenty minutes they broke and fled, and the cavalry followed them till broken ground rendered further pursuit impossible. The British loss was about 100, that of the Zulus 1500. After the fight the royal kraal was burned. On the 1st of September following, at the site of the ruined kraal, Sir Garnet (after wards Lord) Wolseley announced the partition of Zululand into thirteen petty chieftainships. But on the 29th of January 1883 Cetywayo was reinstalled by the British at Ulundi as chief over two-thirds of his old dominions. Attacked at Ulundi in July 1883 by the rival chief Usibepu, Cetywayo and his 5000 followers fled to the Nkandhla bush. The royal kraal was again destroyed and Ulundi ceased to be a rallying point. The magistracy for the district is situated 5 m. north of the site of Ulundi. (See Zululand.)

Ulverston, a market town in the North Lonsdale parliamentary division of Lancashire, England, in the Furness district, 9½ m. N.E. from Barrow-in-Furness and 256 m. N.W. by N. from London, on the Furness railway. Pop. of urban district (1901), 10,064. The church of St Mary, founded in 1111, retains the south door of the original building in the Transition style, but the greater portion of the structure is Perpendicular, of the time of Henry VIII. It contains an altar-tomb with recumbent figure of Walter Sandys of Conishead, dated 1588. After the destruction of Furness Abbey, Ulverston succeeded Dalton as the most important town in Furness, but the rapid rise of Barrow surpassed it in modern times. A monument on Hoad Hill commemorates Sir John Barrow, secretary of the admiralty and a native of the town. Conishead Priory, 2 m. south-east, a mansion on the site of a priory founded in the reign of Henry II., is used as a hydropathic establishment. Formerly Ulverston had a considerable trade in linens, checks and ginghams, but it is now dependent on large iron and steel works, chemical works, breweries, tan-yards, and hardware, paper, and wooden hoop manufactories. Through its connexion with Morecambe Bay by a ship canal of 1 m. in length, owned by the Furness railway, it has a shipping trade in iron and slates.

Ulverston, otherwise Vlureston, Olvestonum, occurs in Domesday Book, where Vlurestun is named as a manor in possession of Turulf, who was probably the original Saxon owner. Early in the 12th century the manor passed to Stephen, count of Boulogne, and was given by him to Furness Abbey. In 1196 the abbot granted the vill of Ulverstone with the inhabitants to Gilbert Fitz-Reinfred, who granted it a charter by which he raised it to the rank of a free borough. The lordship became divided, and one-half passed to the Harringtons and finally to Henry Grey, duke of Suffolk, on whose attainder in 1553 it was forfeited to the Crown. The other moiety returned to the abbey about the end of the 14th century, and at the dissolution was surrendered to the Crown. Early in the 17th century the Crown alienated the manor, which is now in the family of Buccleuch. The yearly court-leet and court-baron are still held in October. In 128O Roger de Lancaster obtained a charter from Edward I. for a weekly market on Thursday and an annual fair of three days beginning on-the eve of the nativity (Sept. 7).

Umañ, a town of Russia, in the government of Kiev, 120 m. S. of the city of Kiev. Pop. 28,628, many of whom are Jews, and carry on the export of corn, spirits, &c. It has a park (290 acres), planted in 1793 by Count Potocki, and now containing a gardening school. Umañ was founded early in the 17th century as a fort against the Tatar raiders. The Cossacks of the Ukraine, who kept it, revolted against their Polish rulers about 1665, and sustained a fierce siege. In 1674 it was plundered and most of its inhabitants murdered by the Ukrainians and Turks. In 1712 its last occupants were transferred by Peter the Great to the left bank of the Dnieper. But by the end of the 18th century, when it again became the property of the Potockis, it was repeopled and became one of the busiest trading towns of Little Russia. In 1768, when the Cossacks revolted anew against the Poles, they took Umañ and murdered most of its inhabitants.

Umarkot, a town in Sind, India, 7 m. from a station on the North-Western railway; pop. (1901), 4924. It is the headquarters of the Thar and Parkar district. The Mogul emperor Akbar was born here in 1542, when his father, Hurnayun, was fleeing to Afghanistan.

Umballa, or Ambala, a city and district of British India, in the Delhi division of the Punjab. The city is 3 m. E. of the river Ghaggar, 902 ft. above the sea. Pop. (1901), 78,638. It has a station on the North-Western railway (1077 m. N .W. of Calcutta), with a branch line to Kalka at the foot of the hills (39 m.), which was continued up to Simla in 1903. Umballa owes its importance to a large military cantonment which was first established in 1843, and is the headquarters of a cavalry brigade belonging to the Northern army. The cantonment, which lies 4 m. south-east of the native town, is well laid out with broad roads shaded by trees. It contains a church, a club-house, several hotels and English shops.

The District of Umballa has an area of 1851 sq. m. With one small exception it consists of a level alluvial plain, sloping away gradually from the foot of the Himalayas, and lying between the rivers Jumna and Sutlej. These rivers do not materially affect the district, which has a drainage system consisting of the numerous torrents which pour down from the hills. In the south these torrents run in broad sandy beds scarcely below the surface of the country, and vary from 200 yds. to 1 m. in width, until, at a. distance of 20 or 30 m. from the hills, they become comparatively docile streams, with well-defined clay banks. Towards the north the torrents run in deep beds from the point where they debouch from the hills; they also differ from the streams of the south in being free from sand. The principal of these northern streams is the Ghaggar, into which the minor streams empty themselves, some within and some beyond the limits of the district. Whatever surplus water of this river is not swallowed up by irrigation passes on through Patiala state and Sirsa, and is finally lost in the sands of Rajputana. The Ghaggar is the only perennial stream within the district, but dwindles to a tiny rivulet in the dry season, and disappears altogether beyond the border of the district. In 1901 the population was 815,880, showing a decrease of 5.6% in the decade. The principal crops are wheat, maize, pulse, millets, rice, cotton and some sugar-cane. There are factories for ginning and pressing cotton, and also for grinding wheat. Two opposite corners of the district are watered by the Sirhind and the Eastern Jumna canals. A portion is crossed by the main line of the North-Western railway and by the Delhi–Umballa–Kalka railway, which have their junction at Umballa city. Umballa is one of the territories previously held by numerous Sikh sirdars, which were attacked by Ranjit Singh during one of his marauding expeditions. This caused the movement of British troops in 1809 which resulted