“HISTORY OF RUSSIA.”
P. 365, c. 1.—“Tatar.” Also written Tata; the correct, though unusual forms of the word Tartar, supposed to be of Chinese origin.
P. 365, c. 1.—“1224-1264.” Contemporaneous with these invasions we have Henry III. in England, holding the first regular parliament, and fixing weights and measures for his kingdom. Frederick I., of Germany, carries on the sixth crusade, and Louis IX., of France, the seventh. Roger Bacon invents spectacles, and the Bible is first divided into chapters. The papal chair is filled successively by Innocent III., Honorius III., Gregory IX.; while in 1258 Bagdad suffers its first overthrow.
P. 365, c. 1.—“Federation.” To unite in a league.
P. 365, c. 1.—“Ban-dog” is a corruption of band-dog—one which is kept chained because of its fierceness.
P. 365, c. 1.—“Marke.” Notice the use of the capital. Among the ancients and during the Middle Ages there was no distinction between the use of capitals and small letters. The Germans begin all substantives with capitals. A practice continued for some time in old English.
P. 365, c. 1.—“Matthew Arnold.” The son of Dr. Arnold, the famous Rugby teacher. His principal works are his poems and “Essays in Criticism.” The Edinburgh Review says of him: “For combined culture and fine natural feeling in versification, Dr. Arnold has no superior.”
P. 365, c. 1.—“Oxus.” A classic name for the Amoor Darya or Jihoon River. It flows into the Aral Sea, though geologists affirm that it once flowed into the Caspian.
P. 365, c. 1.—“Kal´mucks;” “Kuz´zacks.” Tribes living north of what is now Eastern Russia.
P. 365, c. 1.—“Kirghizes,” ke´ri-gheez. One of the six divisions into which the Tatar race is divided, occupying the region around the Aral Sea.
P. 365, c. 2.—“Bo-kha´ra.” A khanate (kân´ate, or kăn´ate) of Turkestan; its most famous city bears the same name.
P. 365, c. 2.—“Khiva,” kî´va. A khanate of Turkestan; supposed by geologists to have been the bed of an ancient sea, of which the Aral and Caspian now remain. Many interesting facts of the customs and character of the Khivians may be gathered from Burnaby’s book, “A Ride to Khiva,” published by Harper Brothers.
P. 365, c. 2.—“Toor´kums,” tu´kas. Tribes of Tatars that lived in Southern Turkestan.
P. 365, c. 2.—“Salore.” A province in Central Asia.
P. 365, c. 2.—“At´truck.” A river flowing into the Caspian Sea.
P. 365, c. 2.—“Ferghana,” fer´gä-na.
P. 365, c. 2.—“Jaxartes,” jax-ar´tes. The ancient name for the Sur Daria River.
P. 365, c. 2.—“Kipschak,” kips-chak; also written kiptchak. A vast territory north of the Caspian Sea, stretching from the Don to the Turkestan.
P. 365, c. 2.—“Genghis Khan,” jen´ghis kan. An Asiatic conqueror, born in 1160, died in 1227. At fourteen he succeeded his father as chief of a Tatar horde. He soon succeeded in vanquishing all the surrounding tribes, and was proclaimed their khan, or prince. Having established a new form of government, and laid down a code of laws, which is still known in Asia, he began an unparalleled line of conquests. He annexed Tartary, overran China, capturing Pekin, conquered Bokhara, Samarcand, Southern Russia, Corea, and the countries northwest of India. Having destroyed the Tangut dynasty, he was contemplating new conquests, when death ended his career.
“Tchep,” chep.
“Subudaï-bagadur,” su-bu´dā bag´a-dür.
P. 365, c. 2.—“Bruited,” bru-ted. Rumored.
P. 365, c. 2.—“Polovtsui.” See map.
P. 365, c. 2.—“Petchenegs.” See map. Wandering tribes which inhabited the western and southern borders of Russia, and during the tenth and eleventh centuries kept the people of the borderland in incessant war and turmoil.
P. 365, c. 2.—“Drevliané.” See map. A tribe whose condition was little above that of the beasts. They were first subdued by Olga, who partially civilized them.
P. 365, c. 2.—“Boyar,” boy´ar. A Russian nobleman.
P. 366, c. 1.—“Avant courier.” Forerunner.
P. 366, c. 1.—“Feodor,” fē-o´dor.
P. 366, c. 1.—“Andrei Bogoliubski,” an-drë´ï bō-gō-li-ub´ski.
P. 366, c. 2.—“Metrophanes,” me-tro-pha´nes.
P. 366, c. 2.—“Tver.” Tv pronounced quickly, as in ver.
P. 366, c. 2.—“Kozelsk,” kô´zelsk.
P. 367, c. 1.—“Russian St. Anthony.” Saint Anthony lived in Egypt during the first half of the fourth century. He is honored as the founder of monastic life. The catacombs spoken of are hewn from the rock.
P. 368, c. 1.—“Louis IX.” is the Saint Louis of the Catholic Church.
P. 368, c. 1.—“Leignitz,” līg´nits.
P. 368, c. 1.—“Olmutz,” ol´muts.
P. 368, c. 1.—“Karinthia,” usually spelt Carinthia. It is a crown-land of Austria. Its capital is Klagenfurt.
P. 368, c. 1.—“Laraï,” lara´ï. The city was destroyed by a Tatar khan about 1502.
P. 368, c. 1.—“Nogais,” no´gā.
P. 368, c. 1.—“Bashkirs.” See map. Uncivilized tribes west of the Ural Mountains. Not subdued until the middle of the last century.
P. 368, c. 1.—“As-tra-kan´,” a country north of the Caspian Sea, and divided by the Ural River into two desolate steppes.
P. 368, c. 1.—“Khubulai,” khu-bu-la´i.
P. 368, c. 1.—“Khan Uzbeck,” kan uz´bek.
P. 368, c. 1.—“Islam,” iz-lam. A word signifying obedience to God, used by Mohammedans to designate their religion and the whole body of believers.
P. 368, c. 1.—“Propagandist,” prop´a-gan-dist. One who devotes himself to the spread of any creed or principle.
P. 368, c. 2.—“Orientalism.” A system of doctrines or customs peculiar to the inhabitants of the East.
P. 368, c. 2.—“Innoculate.” To communicate.