Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/235

AHIMELECH AHMED SHAH 211 king that he should never rise from his hed. II. Son and successor of Jehoram, king of Ju- dah. He reigned but one year, and during that time he was under the entire control of his mother Athaliah, the daughter of Omri, and sister of Ahab, king of Israel. He was slain (884 B. C.) by Jehu, who regarded Ahaziah as coming by blood into the scope of his commis- sion to destroy the house of Ahab. AHIMELECH, son of Ahitub, a Jewish high priest dwelling at Nob. David, fleeing from Saul, came to Ahimelech, and by a misrepre- sentation induced him to supply his wants with the shew-bread which was kept in the taberna- cle. The priest also gave him the sword of Goliath. For this Saul caused Doeg to slay Ahimelech with all the priests of Nob. AHITHOPHEL, the confederate and adviser of Absalom in his rebellion against his father Da- vid. He was famed for his sagacity and almost considered infallible. The advice of Cushai having been preferred to his by Absalom, he committed suicide by hanging. AHLEFELD, Charlotte Sophie Lnlse Wilhelmine von, a German novelist, born near Weimar, Dec. 6, 1781, died at Teplitz, July 27, 1849. She married Herr von Ahlefeld, of Schleswig-Hol- stein, in 1798, and was separated from him in 1807. Goethe expressed a high opinion of her precocious literary talent. She published a great number of sentimental novels, under the name of Elisa Selbig and under her own name (1797-1832), as well as a volume of poetry (Weimar, 1826), under the name of Natalie. AHLFELD, Johanii Friedrieh, a German clergy- man, born at Mehringen, Nov. 1, 1810. He has been celebrated since 1851 as a pulpit ora- tor at the St. Nicholas church in Leipsic. Nearly 20 volumes of his sermons have been published since 1848, and passed through many editions. He is an orthodox Lutheran. A II Mil 1ST, August Engelbert, a Finnish philol- ogist and poet, professor of philology and Finnish literature at Helsingfors, born at Kuo- pio, Aug. 7, 1826. He is distinguished for his philological and ethnographical investigations, especially those in respect to the dialects and races of the Uralo- Altaic family. He publish- ed the results of his researches in Finland and Russia in a work entitled Muistelmia matkoil- ta Wenajalla ruosina, 1853-'8 (Helsingfors, 1860). He is also the author of a grammar of the language of the almost extinct Wot tribe (Wotuk Grammatik). In 1847 he founded at Helsingfors a journal entitled Suometar (Fin- land). His collected poetry has been published under the title of Sdkenia (" Sparks "). He has also made Finnish translations of several of Schiller's works. AHLWARDT, Theodor Wilhelm, a German ori- entalist, born at Greifswald, July 4, 1828. He is the son of 'the philologist and Hellenist Christian Wilhelm Ahlwardt (1760-1830), and has been since 1861 professor of oriental lan- guages at the Greifswald university. He is a high authority on Arabic literature and history. His principal original work is Ueber Poesie und Poetik der Ardber (Gotha, 1856). AHMED SHAH, founder of the Afghan monar- chy, born about 1724, died in 1773. Ahmed was the son of Sammaun Khan, the amir of the great tribe of the Abdallis and of the family of the Suddosis. At his father's death he and his brother Zulfucar fell into the power of Hussein Shah, the head of the tribe of the Ghiljis, who was then master of Candahar. At this period Afghanistan was subject to Persia. On the invasion of India by Nadir Shah, the two young princes were rescued from the hands of Hus- sein and sent into Persia. Ahmed's brother died in captivity, but he himself was taken into the service of the usurper, and promoted to the command of a body of horse. When Nadir was assassinated in 1747, Ahmed and his tribe at- tempted to avenge his death. But finding the Persian army too powerful, he retreated into the fastnesses of his native country, changed the name of his tribe from Abdalli to Durrani, which they still retain, raised the standard of independence, proclaimed himself shah, and was soon joined by the amirs and their several tribes. His first act was to seize a convoy of treasure coming from India to Persia, and to possess himself of the famed Koh-i-noor dia- mond (now in possession of the British crown), which had fallen into the hands of Nadir Shah. Aware that his power depended on finding oc- cupation for his turbulent subjects, he led them at once to conquest, and rapidly subdued the provinces surrounding his realm and part of the kingdom of Persia. He then directed his arms to India, overran the Punjaub and Cash- mere (1752), and penetrated (l756-'7) as far as Delhi, the capital of the Mogul emperor Alam- ghir, whither that monarch, jealous of his vizier's excessive power, is said to have earnestly sum- moned him. The crafty vizier, Ghazy-ed-Deen, propitiated Ahmed, and, professing entire sub- servience to his views, induced the Afghan monarch to leave him in possession of his ill- gotten power as a check upon his sovereign. Ahmed entered Delhi in triumph, sacked it, and invested his son, Timour Shah, with the government of the Punjaub and of Sirhind. In retiring from Delhi, he left a lieuten- ant to hold both the vizier and the Great Mogul in check. No sooner was the restraint of his presence removed than the minister rose on the Afghan commander, drove him out of Delhi, and assassinated the emperor, placing a prince of the blood royal on the throne. The Mahratta chieftains now saw their opportunity for expelling the Mohammedan, rulers alto- gether, and establishing Hindoo supremacy. Ahmed Shah brought a powerful army into the field (1759). More than a year was spent in manoeuvres and skirmishes, till the Mahrattas took up an intrenched position at Paniput, when Ahmed cut off their supplies, and forced them to an engagement, Jan. 6, 1761, in which the Mah- rattas sustained a decisive defeat. The shah, however, saw the impossibility of maintaining