Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/718

 700 MOHAVE MOHEGANS its successful struggle for independence in 1821 ; Algiers was wrested from them in 1830; and the dependence of the Danubian principalities on the Ottoman Porte long since became merely nominal. But Mohammedan- ism continues to make peaceable conversions in the interior of Africa, where many of the most intelligent tribes and kingdoms have adopted the Arabic faith and culture. Several nations of the Indian archipelago have been converted at a recent period, and in Malabar the Moham- medans purchase or procure children of the lower classes to bring them up in the "true faith." But while the Islam advances among races inferior to the original Mohammedans in point of civilization, its foremost representa- tive among the great nations, the Ottoman em- pire, lives avowedly at the mercy of the great powers of Europe; Persia and Turkistan have felt the superiority of Russia, and Morocco has been defeated by Spain. The total number of Mohammedans at the present time is estimated at about 180,000,000. In Europe they are al- most confined to Turkey, and even there they form but a fourth of the population, about 4,000,000 out of 16,500,000 (including Rouma- nia), and are constantly decreasing. In Euro- pean Russia they count about 2,400,000 souls ; in Asiatic Russia, 5,000,000. They prevail in Asiatic Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan, Beloo- chistan, Arabia, and Tartary, and are largely represented in India and the Indian archi- pelago, and to some extent in China. In In- dia the census of 1872 revealed the fact that the number of Mohammedans, as well as of the total population, had been greatly under- estimated. Their number had been placed at 25,000,000, but they are now estimated at 41,000,000. The fact that the Mohammedan religion ignores all distinctions of caste, and at once raises the new convert to full social equality, tends greatly to promote its spread among the Hindoo population. It is believed that in Africa about 100,000,000 may be set down as Mohammedans. In America and Australia they are not represented at all. More detailed accounts of the several national branches of Mohammedans will be found in the articles devoted to the Mohammedan coun- tries. See also the articles on the Arabic, Persian, and Turkish literatures. One of the best treatises on Mohammedanism is that of Dollinger, MuJiamme&s Religion nach ihrer innern Entwickelung und ihrem Einflusse auf das Leben der Vollcer (Ratisbon, 1838). See also Taylor, "History of Mohammedanism;" Mill, "Mohammedanism" (London, 1817); Arnold, "Ishmael, or a Natural History of Islamism" (1859); "Islam, its History, Char- acter, and Relation to Christianity" (Boston, 1874) ; and works cited under MOHAMMED. MOHAVE, the N. W. county of Arizona, bounded N. by Utah and W. by California and Nevada, from which it is separated for the greater part by the Colorado river ; area, about 10,500 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 179. It is intersected in the north by the Colorado, which here enters the Grand Canon, and in the south by Bill Williams fork. The lower portion of the Colorado valley is from 2 to 10 m. wide, possessing a rich alluvial soil, gener- ally covered with a dense vegetation, and well wooded with mezquite and cotton wood. Parts of the county E. of the valley are rolling and hilly, covered with nutritious grasses and an abundance of timber ; but the greater portion is rocky and desolate, seamed with precipitous cafious. Gold, silver, copper, and lead are found in the mountains, and some mining is carried on. Capital, Mohave City. MOHAVES, an Indian tribe on the Mohave and Colorado rivers, Arizona, being part of the Yuma nation of the Pima family. They call themselves Amockhave, and were known to the Spaniards by several names, as the Jamajabs, Cosninas, &c. Their territory extended from lat. 34 to 35. They are warlike, tall, well formed, and industrious cultivators of the soil. They paint themselves from head to foot with ochre, clay, and charcoal. The men wear lit- tle more than a breech cloth, and the women a double apron of strips of bark and vegetable fibre ; both sexes wear necklaces of shell ; the men exclusively wear eagle feathers, and if wealthy nose pendants. The houses are made of logs with a wide shed in front, but some live in mere hovels of brush. They store grain and mezquite beans in circular thatched granaries of osier twigs and very large earthen jars. They have several times come into col- lision with the United States troops, but are now quite peaceful to the whites, though occa- sionally at war with the Chemehueves. They are rapidly declining, being almost all infected with disease. A reservation of 131,200 acres on the Colorado has been assigned to them, but fewer than 1,000 reside upon it. They have lost severely by epidemic diseases, and are now roughly estimated at 840 on the res- ervation and 2,000 to 3,000 not yet brought in. They have no schools nor missionaries. MOHAWK, a river of New York, which rises in Oneida co., about 20 m. N. of Rome, from which place it flows S. E. and E. through Her- kimer, Montgomery, Schenectady, and Sarato- ga counties, falling into the Hudson at Water- ford, 10 m. above Albany; length, 135 m. At Little Falls, Herkimer co., and "The Noses," Montgomery co., the river has forced its way through mountain barriers, and flows through deep, rocky ravines ; and at Cohoes, 1 m. from its mouth, it falls over a precipice 70 ft. in perpendicular height. During its course it supplies valuable water power. The Erie canal and the New York Central railroad follow its banks as far as Rome. Rome, Utica, Little Falls, Schenectady, Cohoes, and Waterford are the principal towns on its banks. MOHAWKS. See AGMEGUE. MOHEGANS, or Mohicans, an Algonquin tribe, found by the Dutch holding both sides of the Hudson river for about 75 m. They received