Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/347

ALKMAAR ALLAN 32? the ITelder ship canal, about 18 m. N. by W. of Amsterdam ; pop. in 1867, 11,609. Its en- virons are laid out in beautiful gardens and fine meadows, and broad canals intersect its streets, the banks of which are planted with trees. A court of first resort and a tribunal of commerce sit in Alkmaar, and the town is well supplied with educational and scientific institutions. There is a large export trade in cheese and butter, and a considerable trade in cattle and corn. The manufactures consist of sail cloth, parchment, salt, soap, vinegar, leather, and earthenware. Alkmaar successfully stood a siege of ten years by the Spaniards, from 1573 to 1583 ; and in the expedition of 1799 the British and Russians, under the duke of York, halted here, before the conclusion by the latter of his inglorious capitulation with the French. ALKMAAR, Heinrieh von, a poet of the 15th century, a native of Alkmaar, celebrated prin- cipally in connection with his supposed author- ship of the famous poem Reinelce Vos or Rei- neke Fucks; but, from Alkmaar's own state- ments in his preface, it seems probable that he only compiled the poem. ALKORAV. See KORAST. ALLAH (Arab. Z, the, and Illah, God), the Mohammedan name of the Supreme Being. The unity of the Deity is the great postulate of the Mohammedan creed. His attributes are thus summed up by the Koran: "There is no God but God. This only true, great, and most high God has his being through himself; is everlasting ; is not begotten and begetteth not ; is all-sufficient in himself; fills the universe with his infinity; is the centre in which all things unite, as well the hidden as the mani- fest ; is Lord of the world of bodies and spirits, creator and ruler, almighty, all-wise, all-loving, merciful; and his decrees are unchangeable." Mohammedans repeat a rosary of the 99 epi- thets of the Supreme Being, closing it with the great, all-including name of Allah. Allah ak- fiar (God is great) is a battle cry of the Mos- lem, while Bism-Illah or Bism- Allah (in the name of God) is the grace before meat of the pious and the invocation at the commencement of every literary performance. ALLAHABAD. I. A division of the Northwest- ern Provinces of British India, bounded N. by Agra and Oude, E. by Behar, S. by Gund- wana, and W. by Malwah ; area, 11,826 sq. m. ; pop. about 3,800,000. It is one of the rich- est provinces of Hindostan. II. A district of the preceding division, between lat. 24 49' and 25 44' N., and Ion. 81 14' and 82 26' E. ; area, 2,788 sq. m. ; pop. about 1,400,000. A part of the district is included in the great plain of the Doab, and the surface generally is nearly level. It is abundantly watered by the Ganges, the Jumna, and some artificial water- courses, produces timber, maize, cotton, flax, indigo, and sugar, and exports salt. III. The chief town of the district and province, and since 1862 capital of the Northwestern Prov- inces, situated at the confluence of the Ganges and Jumna, and on the East Indian railway, lat. 25 26' N., Ion. 81 55' E., 75 m. N. W. of Benares; pop. about 65,000, including sub- urbs. The Hindoos, who call the town Praya- ga, regard it as the holiest of all places, and immense numbers of pilgrims visit it annually to bathe at the junction of the two rivers. It was also regarded by the Mohammedans as so sacred that, on coming into possession of it, they named it "God's place" (Allah abad). It contains some interesting shrines and ruins, and an ancient castle, converted into a fort and great military depot for Upper India. The native town is inconsiderable, but the European quarter is well built, and the British government since the sepoy rebellion has planned extensive improvements, which will render Allahabad a great military and commercial post. Some have identified the city with the Palibothra of Greek and Roman geographers. It was fortified by Akbar, and on the dismemberment of the empire of Delhi was seized in 1753 by the vizier of Oude, from whom it was taken by the British in 1765 ; it was afterward transferred to the nawaub of Oude, and finally ceded to the East India com- pany in 1801. It was then in a very ruinous condition. A sepoy regiment mutinied here June 6, 1857, and killed several of their offi- cers. The rest of the Europeans defended themselves in the fort until relieved by Col. Neill, but the town was nearly destroyed. ALLAMAK.EE, a county forming the N. E. ex- tremity of Iowa, bordering on Minnesota, and separated from "Wisconsin by the Mississippi river; area, 667 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 17,868. It is intersected in the N. by the Upper Iowa, and in the S. by the Yellow river. The soil is productive, and the surface undulating wood- land and prairie. The productions in 1870 were 675,448 bushels of wheat, 331,035 of corn, 2,399 of oats, 25,474 of barley, 73,512 of potatoes, and 18,873 tons of hay. Capital, Lansing. ALLAMAND, Jean Nicolas Sebastien, a natural- ist, born in Lausanne in 1713, died in Ley den, March 2, 1787. He was professor of philoso- Ehy and natural history at the university of eyden, member of the London royal society, and of the Haarlem academy of sciences. The Dutch sailors collected for him, in their expe- ditions into distant countries, specimens of plants, animals, and fossils, which he placed in the botanic garden and museum of the univer- sity, which were under his care. He devoted much time to the study of electricity, and was the first to explain the phenomena of the Leyden jar. The shrub Allamanda, a native of South America, is called after him. He was the literary executor of 'sGravesande and Prosper Marchand, and, besides editing their unpublished works, translated and edited many English books. ALLAN, David, a Scottish painter and en- graver, born at Alloa, in Clackmannanshire, Feb. 13, 1744, died in Edinburgh, Aug. 6, 1796.