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A H y A Z — AIN

Anatolian provinces where he was engaged for more than three years. His next appointment was that of directorgeneral of customs, whence he was removed to the office of musteshar of the grand vizierate, and in the following year entered the Cabinet of Midhat Pasha as minister of public instruction, but very soon retired to his seat in the Council of State, and remained out of office until 1875 when he represented. Turkey at the International Telegraphic Conference in St Petersburg. He wras president of the short-lived Turkish parliament during its first session—19th March to 28th June 1877—and at its close was appointed vali of Adrianople, where he rendered invaluable aid to the Red Cross Society. On his recall at the beginning of 1878 he accepted the ministry of public instruction in the Cabinet of Ahmed Hamdi Pasha, and on the abolition of the grand vizierate (5th February 1878) he became prime minister, and held office till about the middle of April, when he resigned. Early in the following year he was appointed vali of Brusa, where he remained nearly four years, and rendered admirable services to the province. The drainage of the pestilent marshes, the water - supply from the mountains, the numerous roads, the suppression of brigandage, the multiplication of schools, the vast development of the silk industry through the substitution of mulberry plantations for rice fields, the opening out of the mineral springs of Tchitli, the introduction of rosetrees, and the production of otto of roses—all these were Ahmed Yefik’s work; and he became so popular that when in 1882 he was recalled, it was thought advisable that he should be taken away secretly by night from the konak in Brusa, and brought to his private residence on the Bosphorus. A few days after his return he was again appointed prime minister (1st December 1882), but Ahmed Yefik demanded, as the condition of his acceptance of office, that he should choose the other members of the Cabinet, and that a number of persons in the sultan’s entourage should be dismissed. Upon this, the sultan, on 3rd December, revoked the irade of 1st December, and appointed Said Pasha prime minister. For the rest of his life Ahmed Yefik, by the sultan’s orders, was practically a prisoner in his own house; and eventually he died, 1st April 1891, of a renal complaint from which he had long been a sufferer. Ahmed Yefik was a great linguist. He spoke and wrote French perfectly, and thoroughly understood English, German, Italian, Greek, Arabic, and Persian. From all these languages he translated many books into Turkish, but wrote no original work. His splendid library of 15,000 volumes contained priceless manuscripts in many languages. In his lifetime he appreciably aided the progress of education; but, as he had no following, the effects of his labour and influence in a great measure faded away after his death. In all his social and family relations Ahmed Yefik was most exemplary. His charity knew' no bounds. He was devoted to his aged mother and to his one wife and children. To his friends and acquaintances he was hospitable, courteous, and obliging ; his conversation wTas intellectual and refined, and in every act of his private life he manifested the spirit of a true gentleman. At home his habits, attire, and mode of life were quite Turkish, but he wras perfectly at his ease in European society; he had strong English proclivities, and numbered many English men and wromen amongst his intimate friends. In public life his gifts v'ere almost sterilized by peculiarities of temperament and incompatibility with official surroundings; and his mission as ambassador to Persia and his administration of Brusa were his only thorough successes. But his intellectual powers, literary erudition, and noble character made him for the last forty years of his life a conspicuous figure in Eastern Europe. (e. w.*)

Ahvaz, a town in the province of Arabistan, Persia, situated on the left bank of the river Karun, has been identified with the Aginis of Nearch. It is now a wretched collection of mud hovels, with a small rectangular fort in a state of ruin, and an Arab population of about 700. Since the opening of the Karun to foreign commerce in October 1888 another settlement called Bander i JVdssiri, in compliment to the shah (Nassir ed din), has been established on a slight elevation overlooking the river at the point near the rapids, where steamers come to anchor, and about one mile below Ahvaz. It has post and telegraph offices, and a few mercantile firms have established agencies at Bander Nassiri. Should the new caravan road to Isfahan prove a success, Ahvaz wall no doubt soon acquire greater commercial importance. Aidin, (1) a Turkish vilayet, in the S.W. part of Asia Minor, which includes the ancient Lydia, Caria, and Western Lycia. It derives its name from the Seljuk emir who took Tralles, and is the richest and most productive province of Asiatic Turkey. The seat of government is Smyrna. Population, 1,400,000 (Moslem, 1,090,000; Christians, 288,000; Jews, 22,000). (2) The principal town of the rich, productive valley of the Menderez, called also Guzelhissar from the beauty of its situation at the foot and on the lower slopes of Mons Messogis. Aidin is on the SmyrnaDineir railway, has large tanneries, and sweetmeat manufactories, and exports figs, cotton, and raisins. It wTas almost destroyed by an earthquake in 1899. It is the seat of a British vice-consul. Population, 34,000 (Moslems, 23,000; Christians, 9000; Jews, 2000). Aigflin, or Aihun (also Sakhalyan-ula-khoto), a town of China, province Hei-lun-tsian, in Northern Manchuria, situated on the right bank of the Amur, in a fertile and populous region, 20 miles below Blagovyeshchensk, where it occupies nearly two miles on the bank of the river. There is a palisaded fort in the middle of the town, inside of which is the house of the fu-tu-fun (governor). Its merchants carry on an active local trade in grain, mustard, oil, and tobacco, and some of its firms supply the Russian administration with grain and flour. During the “ Boxer ” rising of 1900 it was, for a few weeks, the centre of military action directed against the Russians. The population, of some 20,000, includes a few hundred Mussulmans. The town was founded first on the left bank of the Amur, below the mouth of the Zeya, but was abandoned, and the present town was founded in 1684. It was here that Count Muravieff concluded, in May 1857, the Aihun treaty, according to which the left bank of the Amur was conceded to Russia. Ain, a department in the E. of France, bordering on Switzerland. Its eastern part is traversed by the southern end of the Jura. The Rhone enfolds it on the E. and S., the Saone forms its western border; the Ain runs through its centre from N. to S. into the Rhone. Among the lacustrine formations is Lake Nantua. The chief towns are Bourg, Belley, Gex, Nantua, and Trevoux. Area, 2249 square miles. The department comprises 36 cantons and 463 communes. Population in 1896, 351,569, against 364,408 in 1886. Births in 1899, 7204, of which 362 were illegitimate; deaths, 7204 ; marriages, 2665. In 1896 there were 1063 primary schools, with 57,502 pupils. Less than 1 per cent, of the population was illiterate. The total surface under cultivation was 1,236,173 acres, of which 601,744 acres were plough-land ; 229,786 acres in grass, and 265,772 acres in forest. In 1899 the produce of wheat amounted to the value of £1,025,000 ; of wine, £405,000. There were (1899) 14,260 horses, 3080 asses and mules, 240,190 cattle, 50,720 sheep, 87,030 pigs, and 20,190 goats. The mineral production (lignite, peat, and other substances) is unimportant. There is no industry in metals. With agriculture, the industries in weaving, wearing apparel, foods, and the manufacture of paper, are the sources of the prosperity of Ain.