that prince's favourite minister. In 1215 Shamsuddin held the lordship of Uhtir in sonte kind of alliance with. or subordination to, the Mongols, who had not yet definitively established thentselves in Persia, and in 1248 he received from the Great Khan Mangu an in- vestiture of all the provinces front Merv to the Indus, including by name Sijistan (or Seistan), Cabul, Tirah (adjoining the Khaibar pass), and Afghanistan (a very early Occurrence of this name), which he ruled from lierat. He stood well with lfulakt't, and for a long time with his son Abaka, but at last incurred the latter's jealousy, and was poisoned when on a visit to the court at Tabriz (1276). His son Ruknuddin Kurt was, however, invested with the government of liltorasan (1278), but after some years, mistrusting his Tartar suzemins, he withdrew into Ght'tr, and abode itt his strong fortress of liaissar till his death there in 1305. The family held on through a succession of eigltt kings itt all, sometimes submissive to the Mongol, sometimes aiming at independence, sometimes for a series of prosperous years adding to the strength and splendour of Herat, and sometimes sorely buffeted by the hosts of masterless Tartar brigands that tore Khorasan and Persia in the decline of the dynasties of lfulakt't and (.‘hagatai. It is possible that the Kurts might have established a lasting Tajik kingdom at lfcrat, bttt in the time of the last of the dynasty, Ghiyassuddin Pir—‘Ali, Tartar-doxn, reorganized and re-embodicd in the person of Timur, came against Her-at, and carried away the king and the treasures of his dynasty (1380). A revolt and massacre of his garrison provoked ’l‘imur's vengeance ; he put the captive king to death, came against the city a second time, and showed it no mercy (1353). Ght'u' has since been as obscure in history as it is in its topography.
The proper capital of the kingdom of Ghur when its princes were rising to dominion in the 12th century was Firt'tz-Koh, where a city and fortress were founded by Saifuddin Stir-i. The true position of Firt’u-Koh does not seem to have been determined, out it was probably on or near the upper waters of the IIari-rt’td or river of Herat; and it is possible that it maybe represented by Shahrak, a place in that valley (about 65° 30' E. long. ), once a populous and flourishing town, which was described to Ferrier, who passed not far from it, as having been anciently the capital of (him The name of Fird.:-Kuhis has been appropriated to one of the most numerous of the nomad tribes occupying the upper part of the Hari-rt'td and part of the Murghab, but it is doubtful if this has to do with the Gltt'tr capital, as the nante is otherwise explained. Other places claim to have been the old capital. Thus Karrukh, a place visited by Khanikoft' in 1858, in a rapid excursion from Ilerat, and lying on the north side of the valley, is one. But this scctns too near IIerat (only 30 miles dist-int). Ferrier, again, describes as the ancient capital a place, which he reached in his journey, called Z'mu', about 150 miles by road front lIerat towards the SE, The population did not exceed 1200, belonging to the St'm' and Taimt’tni tribes. The peak of Chalap Dalan, “one of the highest in the world,” rose before Zarni in imposing majestv. The mountain, at half its height, has a compass of some 40 miles ; the sides are covered with forests and pastures, villages and tents, and also exhibit naturally impregnable positions where successive chiefs have built strongholds. F errier, in accompanying the Afghan governor, who lived at Zarni, saw three ancient towns on the skirts of this mountain, all large and fortified, viz., Kala’ Kaissar, Kala’ Sangi, and F akltrz’tbzid. These are described as only a few fursa/rhs, or hours' march, north-east of Tciverclt, which last is in some of our maps. Doubts have indeed been cast on the authenticity of tlus_part of F errter‘s book, chiefly on account of the extreme brevity of the tune which he allows. But the professed journal was probably, under the circumstances, only an cxpansioh front memory of the merest jottings; and several things are in favour of ' authenticity. IIis notices of the country, slight as they are corre- spond notably in the impression eonveyed with those bf the Tabvlktiti-i-Ndsiri (see below). [Caissmy which he mentions, is a place that has already been referred to as the stronghold of Ituknuddin hurt. Zarni, as roughly located by him, corresponds fairly with what was told Conolly on his journey between Ilerat and Kandahar of the position and character of “ the old city of Ghore . now,’ a ruinous, ill-inhabited town, the capital of a petty province, goverged by one of Shah Kamran's sons, who has his residence there . (Journey, vol. ii. p. 6]). Zarni is mentioned by Major Leech in connexion with ’l‘aiwara (Teivereh of Ferric-r) and other places in the south of the Ght'tr country, but not so as to determine its posttton. In some other points, moreover, as to names of chiefs 5a)., l-‘trrter’s statements agree with Leech's.
See the “Tabakdt—i-Nt‘isiri.“ in the Bibi. Indira, transl. by Itavetty; Journal Asian‘quc. ser. v., tom. xvii.; "Ibn Hank ii," in J. -l S 1 ' ' ' F crrier'e Cal-arm: Joumeys: Ilamntcr's Ill-ham, the. L 06' law" ‘2)il.)l3ill".
GIAMBELLI, or Gianibelli, Federigo, a military engineer, was born at Mantua about the middle of the 16th century. Having had some experience as a military entrineer in Italy, he went to Spain to offer his services to Philip II. Iiis proposals were, however, somewhat lukewarmly received, and as he could obtain front the king no immediate employment, he took up his residence at Antwerp, where he soon gained Considerable reputation for his knowledge in various departments of science. He is said to ltave vowed to be revenged for his rebuff at the Spanish court; and when Antwerp was besieged by the duke of Parma in 1581, he put himself in communication with Queen Elizabeth, who having satisfied herself of his abilities, engaged him to aid by his counsels in its defence. His plans for provisioning the town were rejected by the senate, but they agreed to a modification of his scheme for destroying the famous bridge which closed the entrance to the town front the side of the sea, by the conversion of two ships of 60 and 70 tons into infernal machines. One of these exploded, and, besides destroying more than 1000 soldiers, effected a breach in the structure of more than 200 feet in width, by which, but for the hesitation of Admiral Jacobzoon, the town might at once have been relieved. After the surrender of Antwerp Giambelli went to England, where he was engaged for some time in fortifying the river Thames; and when the Spanish Armada was attacked by fire-ships in the Calais roads, the panic which ensued was due t) the conviction among the Spaniards that the fire-ships were infernal machines constructed by Giambelli. lie is said to have died in London, but the year of his death is unknown. See Motley’s 11 {story of the Failed Netherlands, vols. i. and ii., and the authorities therein referred to.
the strong and clear light thrown in his works on the growth of the papal power, was born at Iscltitella, in the province of Capitanata, on the 7th of May 1676. Arriving in Xaph-s at the age of eighteen, he devoted himself to the study of law, bttt his legal pursuits were much surpassed in import— ance by his literary labours. He devoted twenty years to the composition of his great work, The Civil History If A'aplcs, which was ultimately published in 17:23. Here, in his account of the rise and progress of the Neapolitan laws and government, he warmly espoused the side of the civil power in its conflicts with the Romish hierarchy. The position thus taken 11p by him, and the manner in which that position was assumed, gave rise to a life-long COllillcl' between Giannone and the church; and we must know much more accurately than we at present do all the facts concerning his alleged retractation in prison at Turin, before we can withheld from him the palm—as he certainly endured the sufferings—of a confessor and martyr in the cattse of what he deemed historical truth. Ifooted by the mob of Naples, and excommunicated by the archbishup‘s court, he was forecd to leave Naples and repair to Vienna. Meanwhile the Inquisition had attested after its own fashh n the value of his history by putting it on the Index. .‘tt Vienna the favour of the etnperor Charles VI. and of many leading personages at the Austrian court obtained for him a pension and other facilities for the prosecution of his historical studies. Of these the most important result was I l Triregno, ossia clel ref/no del cielo, (lei/a. arm, 6 (It! pupa. On the transfer of the Neapolitan crown to Charles ot Bourbon, Giannone lost his Austrian pension, and was com- pelled to remove to Venice. There he was at first most favourably received. The post of consulting lawyer to the republic, in which he might have continued the special work of F ra Paulo Sarpi, was offered to hitn, as well as that of professor of public law in Padua ; but he declined both offers. Unhappily there arose a suspicion that his views on maritime law were not favourable to the pretensions of Venice, and, notwithstanding all his efforts to dissipate that suspicion, it was resolved to expel him from the state. f )n
the 23d of September 1735 he was seized and conveyed to
