Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/521

BAMIAN. BAMIAN, l);i'me-;in'. A valley and pass of Afglianistan. situated about 50 miles northwest of Kabul (Map: Asia, Central, L 3) . The ^lass is at an elevation of 8490 feet, and is the only known l)ass over the Hindu-Kush for artillery and military trans])ort. Considerable interest attaches to this region, on account of tlie his- torical remains in the form of numerous cells hewn in the rocU, and the gigantic statues which seem to indicate that the place was once one of the chief centres of Buddhist worship. The two largest statues are foiuid in a deep niche, and in spite of their dilapidated condition still show some traces of elaborate carving and painting. Each contains a winding stair, by which it is pos- sible to ascend to the head. The whole valley is covered with the ruins of tombs, mosques, and other buildings, once belonging to the town of Ghulghuleh, which more recently occupied this site, and was destroyed by Genghis Khan in 1221. Eight miles eastward of Bamian lies the ancient fortress of Zohak, attributed to the fabulous Per- sian serpent-king of that name. The fortress is preserved for the purjiose of guarding the important |)ass. Both there and in the valley of Bamian a great number of coins, ornaments, and other antiquities have been found.

BAMP'TON LECTURES. These lectures are so called after the name of their founder, the Rev. John Bampton, Canon of Salisbury (died 1751), who left estates originally worth £120 per annum, to the University of Oxford, for the en- dowment of eight divinity-lecture sermons, to be preached at Great Saint JIary's every year, and to be published, at the expense of the estate, within two months of their being preached. The preacher is to lecture on one of the following subjects: "The Confirmation of the Christian Faith and the Confutation of all Hej'etics and Schismatics;" "The Divine Authority of the Scriptures;" "The Authority of the Primitive Fathers in Matters of Christian Faith and Prac- tice;" "The Divinity of Christ;" "The Divinity •of the Holy Ghost;" "The Apostles' and Nicene Creeds." No person is qualified to preach these lectures who has not taken the degree of M. A., •either at Oxford or Cambridge, and the same per- son shall never preach them twice. The first course was delivered in 1780. The more note- worthy of these lectures are those by White, in 1784, Christianity and Jlohammedanism : Nott, in 1802. Iiclif/ious Enthu.iiasin (against White- field and Wesley) ; Hampden, in 1832, The .'Scho- lastic Philnsophy Considered in Its Relation to Christian Theology ; Maurel, in 1858, The Lim- its of Helir/ious Tliought : Liddon, in 1860, Our Lord's Dix^inity; Farrar, in 1885, History of In- terpretation : Cheyne, in 1880, The Psalter; Gore, in ISni, The Incarnation: Sanday, in 1893, In- spiration. The complete and official list of lec- tures will be found in the Historical Reyister of the University of Oxford (published yearly).

BAN (OHG. ban, hann, AS. hann, order under threat of ])unishnient ; hence Fr. ban, public proclamation). A word derived from a root signifying 'to signal,' 'to proclaim,' which meaning it retained in the ])hrase bans or banns (q.v. ) of marriage. In feudal times it denoted a summons to arms, and also the militar.y force thus summoned. The latter meaning it retains in several countries of Europe — as in France, where the National Guard is classed as the ban and the arriere-ban, or reserve; and in Ger- many, where the two divisions of the Landwehr are distinguished as the first and second bans, respectively. In the Middle Ages, the Acht or bannuni was a sentence of outlawry pronounced against those who escaped from justice, or re- fused to submit to trial. We often read of re- fractory princes, and even cities in Germany, being placed under the ban of the Empire. The following are the terms of banning used in an old fornuila: "We declare thy wife a widow and thy children orphans: we restore all thy feudal tenures to the lord of the manor; thy private property we give to thy children, and we devote thy body and Mesh to the beasts of the forest and fowls of the air. In all ways and in evei-y place where others find peace and safety, thou shalt find none: and we banish thee into the four roads of the world — in the devil's name." Be- sides these sentences of outlawry, many other announcements were accompanied with denuncia- tions and imprecations. When a grant of land was made for a religious ])urpose, or when a charter of liberties was granted, the transaction was proclaimed in public with certain cere- monies, and curses were denoiniced against any one who should violate the deed. Thus banniny, or publishing, came to be associated with curs- ing; and hence the origin of the popular use of the word. It occurs in this sense in Shake- speare, Milton, and other early writers. The phrase 'ban of the Church' is the equivalent of the term excommunication (q.v.).

BAN, or BA'NUS (ban, in Southern Slavic and Hungarian, from Persian bun, lord; cf. rtuss. and Pol. pan. master, lord). The title given to some of the militar.y chiefs who guarded the southern boundaries of the Hungarian King- dom. It is equivalent to the German niarkgraf. The Ban Avas appointed by the King and his appointment was ratified by the Diet. In political, judicial, and military affairs, his powers were almost royal, especially within liis own territory. In times of war lie led the troops of his banat (q.v.). Among the banats were those of Dalmatia, Croatia, Sla- vonia, and Bosnia. Their boundaries were con- stantly changing with the encroachments of the Turks. In the Sixteenth Century there was formed the double banat of Dalmatia and Croatia. In the reign of Maria Theresa the Ban Avas acknowledged to be the third dignitary of the Kingdom of Hungary: appointed a member of the Hungarian Council of Government, and President of the Council of the Banat: and was made the bearer of the Golden Apple (the symbol of sovei'eignty ) at the coronation of the King. In 1840, Croatia, Slavonia, and Dalmatia became Austrian crown-lands: but l)y the Ausgleich of 1867 Croatia and Slavonia were restored to Hun- gary, and continued as a banat, with a special local administi'ation for internal affairs.

BAN, ban, ^UTIJA (1818-1903). A prominent poet of the Southern Slavs. He was born at Dubrovnik (Ragusa), where he received a good education, a part of which consisted in a thorough knowledge of French and Italian. He traveled extensively over the Balkan Peninsula, made liis literarj' debut with Italian lyrics (II terrenionto di Ragusa; II Moscocito; Rudimiro), and settled in Belgrade ( 1844) as tutor to the daughters of Prince Alexander Karageorgeviteh. For their benefit he wrote The Woman's Educator