Pandoor. See [Pandour].
Pandosia (now Castel Franco). A town in Bruttium (which see) near the frontiers of Lucania. Lævinus, the Roman consul, was defeated at Pandosia by Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, 280 B.C.
Pandour (from Pandur, a mountainous district of Hungary). The name has been applied to that portion of the light-armed infantry in the Austrian service which is raised in the Slavonian districts on the Turkish frontier. The Pandours originally fought under the orders of their own proper chief, who was called Harun-Basha, and rendered essential service to the Austrians during the Spanish War of Succession, and afterwards in the Seven Years’ War. They originally fought after the fashion of the “free lances,” and were a terror to the enemy, whom they annoyed incessantly. Their appearance was exceedingly picturesque, being somewhat oriental in character, and their arms consisted of a musket, pistol, a Hungarian sabre, and two Turkish poniards. Their habits of brigandage and cruelty rendered them, however, as much a terror to the people they defended as to the enemy. Since 1750 they have been gradually put under a stricter discipline, and are now incorporated with the Austrian frontier regiments.
Panic. A sudden fright; especially, a sudden fright without real cause, or terror inspired by a trifling cause, or misapprehension of danger; as, the troops were seized with a panic; they fled in a panic. These terrors are attributed to Pan, as some say, because when Osiris was bound by Typho, Pan and the satyrs appearing, cast him into a fright; or because he frightened all the giants that waged war against Jupiter; or, as others say, that when Pan was Bacchus’s lieutenant-general in his Indian expedition, being encompassed in a valley by an army of enemies far superior to them in number, he advised the god to order his men to give a general shout, which so surprised the enemy that they immediately fled from their camp. And hence it came to pass that all sudden fears impressed upon men’s spirits without any just reason were, by the Greeks and Romans, called panic terrors.
Panic-stricken. Struck with a panic or sudden fear; as, the troops were panic-stricken.
Paniput, or Paneeput. A town of British India, capital of a district of the same name in the territorial division of Delhi, Northwest Provinces, 78 miles north of Delhi, and 965 miles northwest of Calcutta. The neighborhood of Paniput, lying in the great military highway between Eastern India and Afghanistan, has been at various times the field of great battles. The first great battle of Paniput was fought in 1526, and gained by Mirza Baber, the ex-ruler of Ferghana, at the head of 12,000 Mongols, over Ibrahim, the emperor of Delhi, whose unwarlike array numbered 100,000 men, with 1000 elephants. This victory seated Baber on the throne of Hindostan as the first of the “Great Mogul” dynasty. The second great battle was fought in 1556 by the Mongols under Akbar, grandson of Baber, and third of the Mogul emperors, against Hemu, an Indian prince, who had usurped the throne of Delhi. Hemu’s army was defeated with great slaughter, and himself slain. The third battle was fought on January 14, 1761, between Ahmed Abdalli, ruler of Afghanistan, and the till then invincible Mahrattas. The Jats, who had been forced to join the Mahrattas, deserted to the Afghans at a time when victory seemed to be declaring for the former; and this act of treachery, together with the loss of their leaders, threw the Mahrattas into confusion, and in spite of their most resolute valor they suffered a total defeat. They left 50,000 slain on the field of battle, including all their leaders except Holkar, and 30,000 men were killed in the pursuit, which was continued for four days. It was at Kurnaul, a town a little to the north of Paniput, that Nadir Shah of Persia, in 1739, won the celebrated battle over the Mogul emperor, which placed Northwestern India at his feet.
Pannels. Are the carriages upon which mortars and their beds are conveyed upon a march.
Pannier. A shield of basket-work formerly used by archers, who set them up in their front. Also a basket, usually slung in pairs over the back of a beast of burden to carry a load. The term is also applied to leather bags to be used in the same way, and especially to cases for carrying medicines.
Pannonia. A province of the ancient Roman empire, bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by the mountains of Noricum, and on the south reaching a little way across the Save; and thus including part of modern Hungary, Slavonia, parts of Bosnia, of Croatia, and of Carniola, Styria, and Lower Austria. The Pannonians (Pannonii) were a brave, warlike people. They maintained their independence of Rome till Augustus, after his conquest of the Illyrians (35 B.C.), turned his arms against them; they were shortly afterwards subdued by his general Vibius. In 7, the Pannonians joined the Dalmatians and the other Illyrian tribes in their revolt from Rome, and were with difficulty conquered by Tiberius, after a desperate struggle, which lasted three years (7-9). The dangerous mutiny (14) of the Roman troops which were garrisoned in Pannonia was with difficulty quelled by Drusus. Fifteen legions had to be assembled against the Pannonians, who mustered 200,000 warriors. Great numbers of the Pannonian youth were drafted into the Roman legions, and proved, when disciplined, among the bravest and most effective soldiers in the imperial army. Pannonia was subsequently divided into Upper and Lower Pannonia. Upper Pannonia was the scene of the Marcomannic war in the 2d century. In the 5th century it was transferred from the Western to the Eastern empire, and afterwards given up to the Huns. After Attila’s death, in 453, the Ostrogoths obtained possession of it. The Longobards under Alboin made themselves masters of it in 527, and relinquished it to the Avari upon commencing their expedition to Italy. The Magyars, or Hungarians, took it in the end of the 9th century.
Panonceau (Fr.). An ancient name for an ensign or banner.