In his will Edmond de Goncourt left his estate for the endowment of an academy, the formation of which was entrusted to MM. Alphonse Daudet and Léon Hennique. The society was to consist of ten members, each of whom was to receive an annuity of 6000 francs, and a yearly prize of 5000 francs was to be awarded to the author of some work of fiction. Eight of the members of the new academy were nominated in the will. They were: Alphonse Daudet, J. K. Huysmans, Léon Hennique, Octave Mirbeau, the two brothers J. H. Rosny, Gustave Geffroy and Paul Margueritte. On the 19th of January 1903, after much litigation, the academy was constituted, with Elémir Bourges, Lucien Descaves and Léon Daudet as members in addition to those mentioned in de Goncourt’s will, the place of Alphonse Daudet having been left vacant by his death in 1897.
On the brothers de Goncourt see the Journal des Goncourt already cited; also M. A. Belloc (afterwards Lowndes) and M. L. Shedlock, Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, with Letters and Leaves from their Journals (1895); Alidor Delzant, Les Goncourt (1889) which contains a valuable bibliography; Lettres de Jules de Goncourt (1888), with preface by H. Céard; R. Doumic, Portraits d’écrivains (1892); Paul Bourget, Nouveaux Essais de psychologie contemporaine (1886); Émile Zola, Les Romanciers naturalistes (1881). &c.
GONDA, a town and district of British India, in the Fyzabad division of the United Provinces. The town is 28 m. N.W. of Fyzabad, and is an important junction on the Bengal & North-Western railway. The site on which it stands was originally a jungle, in the centre of which was a cattle-fold (Gontha or Gothah), where the cattle were enclosed at night as a protection against wild beasts, and from this the town derives its name. Pop. (1901) 15,811. The cantonments were abandoned in 1863.
The district of Gonda has an area of 2813 sq. m. It consists of a vast plain with very slight undulations, studded with groves of mango trees. The surface consists of a rich alluvial deposit which is naturally divided into three great belts known as the tarai or swampy tract, the uparhar or uplands, and the tarhar or wet lowlands, all three being marvellously fertile. Several rivers flow through the district, but only two, the Gogra and Rapti, are of any commercial importance, the first being navigable throughout the year, and the latter during the rainy season. The country is dotted with small lakes, the water of which is largely used for irrigation. On the outbreak of the Mutiny in 1857, the raja of Gonda, after honourably escorting the government treasure to Fyzabad, joined the rebels. His estates, along with those of the rani of Tulsipur, were confiscated, and conferred as rewards upon the maharajas of Balrampur and Ajodhya, who had remained loyal. In 1901 the population was 1,403,195, showing a decrease of 4% in one decade. The district is traversed by the main line and three branches of the Bengal & Northwestern railway.
GONDAL, a native state of India, in the Kathiawar political agency of Bombay, situated in the centre of the peninsula of Kathiawar. Its area is 1024 sq. m.; pop. (1901) 162,859. The estimated gross revenue is about £100,000, and the tribute £7000. Grain and cotton are the chief products. The chief, whose title is Thakur Sahib, is a Jadeja Rajput, of the same clan as the Rao of Cutch. The Thakur Sahib, Sir Bhagvat Sinhji (b. 1865), was educated at the Rajkot college, and afterwards graduated in arts and medicine at the university of Edinburgh. He published (in English) a Journal of a Visit to England and A Short History of Aryan Medical Science. In 1892 he received the honorary degree of D.C.L. of Oxford University. He was created K.C.I.E. in 1887 and G.C.I.E. in 1897. The state has long been conspicuous for its progressive administration. It is traversed by a railway connecting it with Bhaunagar, Rajkot and the sea-board. The town of Gondal is 23 m. by rail S. of Rajkot; pop. (1901) 19,592.
GONDAR, properly Guendar, a town of Abyssinia, formerly the capital of the Amharic kingdom, situated on a basaltic ridge some 7500 ft. above the sea, about 21 m. N.E. of Lake Tsana, a splendid view of which is obtained from the castle. Two streams, the Angreb on the east side and the Gaha or Kaha on the west, flow from the ridge, and meeting below the town, pass onwards to the lake. In the early years of the 20th century the town was much decayed, numerous ruins of castles, palaces and churches indicating its former importance. It was never a compact city, being divided into districts separated from each other by open spaces. The chief quarters were those of the Abun-Bed or bishop, the Etchege-Bed or chief of the monks, the Debra Berhan or Church of the Light, and the Gemp or castle. There was also a quarter for the Mahommedans. Gondar was a small village when at the beginning of the 16th century it was chosen by the Negus Sysenius (Seged I.) as the capital of his kingdom. His son Fasilidas, or A’lem-Seged (1633-1667), was the builder of the castle which bears his name. Later emperors built other castles and palaces, the latest in date being that of the Negus Yesu II. This was erected about 1736, at which time Gondar appears to have been at the height of its prosperity. Thereafter it suffered greatly from the civil wars which raged in Abyssinia, and was more than once sacked. In 1868 it was much injured by the emperor Theodore, who did not spare either the castle or the churches. After the defeat of the Abyssinians at Debra Sin in August 1887 Gondar was looted and fired by the dervishes under Abu Anga. Although they held the town but a short time they inflicted very great damage, destroying many churches, further damaging the castles and carrying off much treasure. The population, estimated by James Bruce in 1770 at 10,000 families, had dwindled in 1905 to about 7000. Since the pacification of the Sudan by the British (1886-1889) there has been some revival of trade between Gondar and the regions of the Blue Nile. Among the inhabitants are numbers of Mahommedans, and there is a settlement of Falashas. Cotton, cloth, gold and silver ornaments, copper wares, fancy articles in bone and ivory, excellent saddles and shoes are among the products of the local industry.
Unlike any other buildings in Abyssinia, the castles and palaces of Gondar resemble, with some modifications, the medieval fortresses of Europe, the style of architecture being the result of the presence in the country of numbers of Portuguese. The Portuguese were expelled by Fasilidas, but his castle was built, by Indian workmen, under the superintendence of Abyssinians who had learned something of architecture from the Portuguese adventurers, helped possibly by Portuguese still in the country. The castle has two storeys, is 90 ft. by 84 ft., has a square tower and circular domed towers at the corners. The most extensive ruins are a group of royal buildings enclosed in a wall. These ruins include the palace of Yesu II., which has several fine chambers. Christian Levantines were employed in its construction and it was decorated in part with Venetian mirrors, &c. In the same enclosure is a small castle attributed to Yesu I. The exterior walls of the castles and palaces named are little damaged and give to Gondar a unique character among African towns. Of the forty-four churches, all in the circular Abyssinian style, which are said to have formerly existed in Gondar or its immediate neighbourhood, Major Powell-Cotton found only one intact in 1900. This church contained some well-executed native paintings of St George and the Dragon, The Last Supper, &c. Among the religious observances of the Christians of Gondar is that of bathing in large crowds in the Gaha on the Feast of the Baptist, and again, though in more orderly fashion, on Christmas day.