Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/571

BARBARY STATES. and other Europeans, several distinct races may be enumerated: Berbers — the ancient autochtho- nous race from wliom comes the name — Jloors and settled Arabs, Bedouins or wandering Arabs, Jews, Turks, Kuluglis, and Negroes. The Ber- bers inhabit the ojjen country, while the Jloors reside in the towns. Jews settled here in ancient times, but the greater number of tlial race immi- grated at the time of their expulsion from Spain. The Turks entered the Barbary States in the Sixteenth Century, and soon extended their sway westward as far as the borders of Jlcnocco. They still retain their hold on Tripoli and Barea. The Kuluglis (the children of Turks by native mothers) are excluded from the possession of all the paternal riglits and privileges. The Ne- groes are not natives, but are brought thither principally from vSudan and Guinea. The great majority of the population is llohanunedan. Arabic is the language of commerce and inter- course, and in Morocco the language of Govern- ment, and the mother-tongue of Bedouins, Moors, and even Jews; but in Tripoli the language of Government is Turkish. The Berbers proper, in the highlands, to which they have been driven by foreign conquerors, use a peculiar speech.

In the oldest historical times the JIauri (the ancestors of the modern Jloors) dwelt in the northwest; the Nuraidians occupied the interior and eastern parts; and Phoenician colonies were situated on the coasts. The Plioenieians founded cities — among them Utiea, Hippo, Hadrumetum, Leptis, and afterwards Carthage — from about B.C. 1050 to 850. Confining themselves to the coast between the Great Syrtis and the Straits of Gibraltar, they maintained commerce with the people of the interior and the seaports of the Mediterranean. In the Seventh Century B.C. the Greeks founded Cyrene, and colonized the plateau of Barca. While the Pliienician colonies held sway on the coast, the JIauri and the Nu- midians were divided into several independent tribes, and, like their neighbors, the Gsetuli, were wholly uncivilized. After the Second Punic War, the Romans extended their sway over Car- thaginian Africa, which became a Roman prov- ince at the close of the Third Punic War, when the city of Carthage was sacked and destroyed (B.C. 140). Numidia was annexed after the vic- tory over Jugurtha, and Mauretania after the •defeat of .Juba and the Ponipeians by Ca-sar. The son of Juba, bearing the same name, was allowed to reign as a nominal sovereign liy Augustus, but Mauretania was in fact a Roman province. The territory thus acquired by the Romans formed some of the largest and most flourishing provinces of their vast empire. They built large towns, whose extensive ruins are still to lie seen scattered over the land, even to the verge of the Desert. Everywhere they executed important works, such as the cisterns and aqueducts at Rusicada, Hippo, and Cirta, and the temples and ampliitheatres of C'alama and Anuna, which clearly show that the inhabitants enjoyed the benefits of a secure civilization. I'nder Con- stantine North Africa was divided into nine provinces. At the division of the Empire, all of thesf. except one. the Repio Syrtica, fell to the share of the Western Empire. Christianity took a strong hold in Roman Africa, and in the three JIauretanias there were more than 1(!0 dioceses. The decline of Roman power produced A state of anarchy in the African provinces, and they easily fell a prey to the 'andals under Gen- serie in a.d. 429. The Vandal kingdom continued until 533, when it was overthrown by Justinian's great general, Belisarius. The Numidians and the JIauri made themselves masters of the interi- or and of the coast of JIauretania Tingitana. ami the Byzantine territories were restricted to the neighborhood of Carthage and some points on the coast. North Africa was swept in <!47 liy an Arabic invasion, impelled by the first Mohamme- dan impulse of conquest. The first invader, Ab- dallah-ben-Said, carried the banner of tlio Cres- cent through Tripoli. He was followed by Akbar (665-670), who completed the conquest of Tripoli to the edge of the Desert. Hassan, the general of the Caliph Abd-el-Malek, in 692 de- stroyed the new Carthage. In the course of less than a century the greater part of the native tribes were converted forcibly to the faith of Islam. In 711 the Saracens crossed over from Africa into Spain, which they conquered- within three years. In 789 the western provinces of Jlohammedan Africa separated themselves from the others, and Edris-ben-Abdallah founded there the dynasty of the Edrisites. In 800 the gover- nor of the eastern provinces, Ibrahim-ben- Aglab, declared himself independent, and founded the dj'nastj' of the Aglabites. From this time down to 1269 the changes of d.vnasty in Barbarj* were frequent. Ninnerous independent States arose. At the close of the Eleventh Century the Almora- vides, who had established their sway in Jloroceo, made themselves masters of Jlohammedan Spain. In the middle of the Twelfth Century they suc- cumbed to the Almohades. The conquest of the Jloors in Spain by the Christians was followed by their settlement on the coast of Northern Africa, where they began their career of piracy, at first as a retaliation against their Christian foes, but ultimately as a barbarous profession. As early as the time of Ferdinand the Catholic, the Spaniards sought to cheek their ravages, and invaded Africa on several occasions, capturing the ports of Ceuta, Melilla, Oran, Bugia (Bou- gie), the island before Algiers, and Tripoli. The Portuguese landed on the coast of Morocco, where at first they had great success ; but they were ultimately compelled to leave the country. In the course of the Sixteentli Century Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis were brought under the gov- ernment of the Turkish Sultan. The Dey of Algiers shook off the authority of Turkey about the beginning of the Eighteenth Century. The French established their sway in Algeria after a bloody war, which lasted froi'ii 1830 to 1847. In 1881 Tunis was placed under French protec- tion. For an account of the modern States comprised within this region, see the articles JIoRocco : Tuxis ; Algeria ; Tripoli ; Fezzan ; and Barca.

BARBASTELLE, biir'ba-stel (Fr., from Lat. 6ar6f(, beard) . A European long-eared bat. See Bat.

BARBASTRO, bar-ba'str6. A town in the Province of Huesca, Aragon, Spain, on the Vero, 30 miles southeast of Huesca (Map: Spain, F 2). It is the terminus of a branch railway line with a junction at Selgua, I2V{! miles distant. The town is an episcopal see, is surrounded by walls, and has a Sixteenth-Century cathedral, containing paintings by Antonio Galaran. Population, in 1897, 7194.