Bajazet (ba˙-ya˙-zet´), or Bayezid, I, Turkish emperor, who, in 1389, having strangled his brother Jacob, succeeded his father Murad or Amurath, who fell in the battle of Kossovo while fighting against the Serbians. From the rapidity of his conquests he received the name of Ilderim, the Lightning. In three years he overcame Bulgaria, part of Serbia, Macedonia, Thessaly, and the States of Asia Minor, and besieged Constantinople for ten years, defeating Sigismund and the allied Hungarians, Poles, and French in 1395. The attack of Timur (Tamerlane) on Natolia, in 1400, saved the Greek Empire, Bajazet being defeated and taken prisoner by him near Ancyra, Galatia, 1402. The story of his being carried about in a cage by Timur is improbable; but Bajazet died, in 1409, in Timur's camp, in Caramania. His successor was Soliman I.
Bajazet II succeeded his father, Mohammed II, Sultan of the Turks, in 1481. He increased the Turkish Empire by conquests on the N.W. and in the E., took Lepanto, Modon, and Durazzo in a war against the Venetians, and ravaged the coasts of the Christian States on the Mediterranean, to revenge the expulsion of the Moors from Spain. Having abdicated in favour of his younger son Selim, he died on his way to a residence near Adrianople in 1513. He did much for the improvement of his empire and the promotion of the sciences.
Bajimont's Roll. See Bagimonts Roll.
Bajocco, or Baiocco (ba˙-yok´o), was a copper coin in the Papal States, the hundredth part of a scudo, or rather more than a halfpenny. The name was also given in Sicily to the Neapolitan grano, the hundredth part of the ducato (3s. 4d.).
Bajus. See Baius.
Bajza (boi´za), Anton, Hungarian lyric poet, historian, and critic, born 1804, died 1858. As contributor to and editor of various periodicals he played an important part in the development of modern Hungarian literature and drama. A volume of his poems, of high merit, was published in 1835. He also translated a collection of foreign dramas, and edited a series of historical works.
Bakalaha´ri, a Bechuana tribe inhabiting the Kalahari Desert, S. Africa.
Bak´arganj, a maritime district and town in Eastern Bengal; chief rivers: Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna. Area, 3649 sq. miles. Pop. 2,292,000. The town now lies in ruins. Pop. 7000.
Bakau (bä´kou), a town of Roumania, on the Bistritza. Pop. 16,187.
Bakchisarai (ba˙k-chi-sa˙-rī´), or Bagtcheserai (Bakh-chi-Sarai) (bäg-che-se-rī; Turk., 'Garden Palace'), an ancient town of Russia, in the Crimea, picturesquely situated at the bottom of a narrow valley, hemmed in by precipices. It contains the palace of the ancient Crimean khans, restored by the Russian Government. Pop. 15,000.