Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/944

* OMENS. 808 OMMIADS. every month in the year. Omens are derived from the actions of animals; if the winter is to be severe, they hiy up addiliunal .su])|)lies, or arc more careful iu constructing their habitations. The coUection and classification of omens belonf-- inj; to all eoiintries has not yet proceeded far iMimi^rli to determine how far they agree in dif- ferent regions. OMENTUM. See Peritoneum. OMER PASHA, o'mer pa-shil' (1806-71). A celelirated Turkish general, born of Christian parents at Flasky, an Austrian village in the former Croatian Military Frontier. Michael La- tas (this was his real name) was educated at a military school, and joined a frontier regiment, but lied in IS2S to Bosnia, turned Mohammedan, and l)ecanie tutor in the household of Hussein Pasha, tiovernor of Widdin. In 1834 he was made writing master in a military school at Con- stantino|de, and instructor to Abd-ul-Jledjid, heir apparent to the throne. Omer was made Govern- or of Lebanon in 1842, and successively repressed insurrections in Albania, Kurdistan, and Bosnia. In lS.'>;i lie defeated the Russians at Oltenitza. and in 1854 at Silistria, gaining possession of Bucha- rest, hater he repulsed the Russians at Eupato- ria, in the Crimea, and set out to relieve Kars, but failed. He became Governor of Bagdad in 18.57, but was dismissed in 18.'>9 on account of maladministratiim. In 1802 he repressed the insurrection in Montenegro and took Cetinje. In 1804 he was made field-marshal, and in 1807 was sent to put down the rebellion in Crete. From 1800 he was Minister of War. As a com- mander Omer was noted especially for his excel- lent strategy. OM MANI PADME HUM, dm mii'De pad'- me houm. A sacred I'urmuhi in Buddhism, the so-called fornnila of si.K syllables, well known from the ])art which it plays iu the Buddhist re- ligion, and especially iu that form of it called Lamaism. The reputed author of this formula is the Dhyana-Bodhisattva, or deified saint, Avalokitesvara, or, as the Tibetans call him, Padma))ani, the lotus-han<led. or Amitabha. He is the r.uddha of Kternal Light, the heavenly ruler of the Western paradise. Like Buddha, he is represente<l as sitting or standing within a lotus, and apjjareiitly there is an allusion to this in the .sacreil formula itself, Om mani itadiiie hniii, 'O. the .Jewel in the Lotus, Amen!' The sacred- ne.ss of this fornnila is sutticient when recited to secure exemption from the cycle of reincarna- tion, and final rebirth in the celestial parinlise over which Amitabha rules. It would ajipear not to belong to the earliest stage of Budilhisnu or to the oldest Buddhistic works of lln' north of India, or to those of Ceylon. Consult: Bur- nouf. hitrothirtioH d rhinfoirf. (hi liitdfUiisme in- (ticii (Paris. 1844): Koeppen, Die Rrlioion <lr.i limldlui (Berlin, 18.i7-.'in) ; Schlaginlweit. Jiud- (Ibism in TliiUil (Leipzig, ISO.T); Wad.lell, Thr limhlliisiii iif Tihcl, or hamaixm (London. 1805). OMMIADS, om-mlTKU. OMAYYADS, or OMMEYADES. A dynasty deriving its name fniin an aiiee-tor, Omayya (.rahic Vmaiiiah), which succeeded to the .-Vrabian caliphate on the death of Ali, the fourth Caliph (fifil), and possessed it till superseded by the Abhassides (q.v.) in 7.50. Moawiynh (q.v.), the founder of the dynasty, was the son of the Koreish leader Abu-Soflnn. who defeated Mohammed at Bedr, and his mother was the notorious Hinda. After tlic death of Othman, the third Caliph (050), -Moawiyah, who was his cousin, claimed the throne, and during the whole of All's reign ruled over the western provinces of Syria and Egypt ; but it was not till the death of that Caliph, and the abdication of his son Hassan, that Moawiyah's authority as Caliph was recognized (061). He transferred the seat of the caliphate to Damas- cus, Kufa having been the residence of Ali, and Jlcdina of the first three eali])lis. The Arabs con- tinued to extend their conquests during his reign : the Turks in Khorasan were subdued, Turkestan was invaded, and several important ac- quisitions were made in Asia Jlinor. The Caliph neglected no means of consolidating the Empire, and partly for this reason he made the succession hereditary, and caused his son Yezid (0S0-8.S) to be recognized as his heir. The reigns of Yezid and his successors, Moawiyah II. (083) and Merwan I. (083-085), are devoid of importance, as their sway extended only over Syria and Pales- tine. Abd-el Melek (085-705), an able and warlike prince, succeeded in rendering him- self undisputed ruler of the Mohammedan world ( 092 ), but the latter part of his reign was much disturbed by rebellions in the eastern provinces. He was the first Caliph who interested himself in the promotion of liberal knowledge, causing the most celebrated poeti- cal and other works of the Persians to be trans- lated into Arabic. Four of his sons, Walid I. (705-716), SfLAiMAN (716-717), Yezid II. (720-724), and HiSHAM (724-743), successively occupied the throne. Under Walid, the Ommiad caliphate reached the summit of its power and grandeur: Northern Africa (709). Spain (711- 714), Turkestan (707), and Galatia (710) were conquered; while toward the close of his reign his empire was extended even to the Indus. Omab II. (717-720), who, in the justice and mildness of his government, siirpassed the wliole of the race of Om»vya, was ap[iointed to succeed Snlaiman; but having excited (liscontent among his relatives by suppressing the formula of malediction against .li and his descendants, which had hitherto been regularly pronoiuiced at all public ceremonies, he was poisoned. The invasion of the country of the Franks and a siege of Const;intinoplc in his reign marked the limits of the Onuniad power. Ilisluim. though, like his immediate lu'edoeessor. foiul of pleasure, possessed all the ([ualities neces- sary f(n- a sovereign. The (ireeks, who still strove for the possession of Asia Minor, were repeatedly defeated; the Turks of Northern Per- sia an<l Turkestan were kept in stern subjection, and the civil alfairs of the Empire carefully and strictly administered. Nevertheless the power of the dynasty now began to decline. The march of conquest in the 'est was arrested by Charles Martel (q.v.) at Poitiers (732). the discontented descendants of .Mi raised the standard of revolt, and Ibrahim, the fcnirfh in direct descent from .Abbas, the uncle of Mohammed, invested Abn- Moslem with the aninous duty of enforcing his long-acitated claims to the throne. The reisns of WAi.in IT. (742-743), Ytzin ITT. (743-744). an.l InRAiilM (744). though of ephemeral duration, were long enough to produce n complete disorgan- ization of the Emnire; and though Ibrahim's suc- cessor, Mkhwan it. (744-750). was both an able and politic ruler, and a skillful warrior, the de- clining fortuiu' of his family was beyond remedy.