[Punic Wars], the name given to the wars between Rome and Carthage for the empire of the world, of date, the first from 264 to 241, the second from 218 to 201, and the third from 149 to 146 B.C., due all to transgressions on the one side or the other of boundaries fixed by treaty, which it was impossible for either in their passion of empire to respect. It was a struggle which, though it ended in the overthrow of Carthage, proved at one time the most critical in the history of Rome.
[Punjab] (25,130), "five rivers," a province in the extreme NW. of India, watered by the Indus and its four tributaries, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravee, and Sutlej; its frontiers touch Afghanistan and Cashmir. Mountain ranges traverse the N., W., and S; little rain falls; the plains are dry and hot in summer. There is little timber, cow-dung is common fuel; the soil is barren, but under irrigation there are fertile stretches; wheat, indigo, sugar, cotton, tobacco, opium, and tea are largely grown; cotton, silk, lace, iron, and leather are manufactured; indigo, grain, cotton, and manufactured products are exported in exchange for raw material, dyes, horses, and timber. The population is mixed, Sikhs, Jats, and Rajputs predominate; more than a half are Mohammedan, and more than a third Hindu. Lahore is the capital, but Delhi and Amritsar are larger towns. Several railways run through the province. The natives remained loyal throughout the Mutiny of 1857-58, Sikhs and Pathans joining the British troops before Delhi.
[Puránas], a body of religious works which rank second to the Vedas, and form the basis of the popular belief of the Hindus. There are 18 principal Puránas and 18 secondary Puránas, of various dates, but believed to be of remote antiquity, though modern critical research proves that in their present form they are not of very ancient origin.
[Purbeck, Isle of], the peninsula in South Dorsetshire lying between the river Frome, Poole Harbour, and the English Channel; formerly a royal deer-forest; has a precipitous coast, and inland consists of chalk downs; nearly 100 quarries are wrought of "Purbeck marble."
[Purcell, Henry], eminent English musician, born at Westminster; was successively organist at Westminster Abbey and to the Chapel Royal; excelled in all forms of musical composition; was the author of anthems, cantatas, glees, &c., which attained great popularity; he set the songs of Shakespeare's "Tempest" to music (1658-1695).
[Purchas, Samuel], collector of works of travel and continuator of the work of Hakluyt, in two curious works entitled "Purchas his Pilgrimage," and "Hakluyt's his Posthumous, or Purchas his Pilgrimmes," and was rector of St. Martin's, Ludgate, and chaplain to Archbishop Abbot (1577-1626).
[Purgatorio], region in Dante's "Commedia" intermediate between the Inferno, region of lost souls, and the Paradiso, region of saved souls, and full of all manner of obstructions which the penitent, who would pass from the one to the other, must struggle with in soul-wrestle till he overcome, the most Christian section, thinks Carlyle, of Dante's poem.
[Purgatory], in the creed of the Church of Rome a place in which the souls of the dead, saved from hell by the death of Christ, are chastened and purified from venial sins, a result which is, in great part, ascribed to the prayers of the faithful and the sacrifice of the Mass. The creed of the Church in this matter was first formulated by Gregory the Great, and was based by him, as it has been vindicated since, on passages of Scripture as well as the writings of the Fathers. The conception of it, as wrought out by Dante, Carlyle considers "a noble embodiment of a true noble thought." See his "Heroes."
[Purim, the Feast of], or Lots, an annual festival of the Jews in commemoration of the preservation, as recorded in "Esther," of their race from the threatened wholesale massacre of it in Persia at the instance of Haman, and which was so called because it was by casting "lots" that the day was fixed for the execution of the purpose. It lasts two days, being observed on the 14th and 15th of the month Adar.
[Puritan City], name given to Boston, U.S., from its founders and inhabitants who were originally of Puritan stock.