Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/529

* SAKUNTALA. 475 SALADIN. SAKUNTALA, slia-kini'ta-la. A legendary Hindu nyi]](ih. Her uauie oeeurs in the Yujur- rCda (see 'euaj and the tiiitiijjiitha lirulnuami, she is the subjeet of au episode of the Maliubhu- rata (q.v.)> ">"i 's mentioned in the I'liruiius (q.v.). iShe is best known, however, as the heroine of Kalidasa's Abliiji'iuiHisahKiitiilu, or Sakuntahx Recognized. The principal features of the legend of Sakuntala, as narrated in the Mahabharata, are the following: iSlie was the daughter of the saint. Vi^vamitra, and the Apsaras, or water-njmph, ilenaka. Abandoned by her parents, slie was adopted liy the sage Kama, who brought her u]) in his hermitage as his daugliter. While King Dushyaiita was luint- ing in the forest, lie came by chance to the hut of Kanva. saw Sakuntala, and fell in love with her. He married her and promised her that the son she would bear him should be the heir to liis throne, and that he would take her as his queen to his ro.val city. After the birth of her child, she remained at the hermitage until the boy was six years old; but Dush,vanta, unmindful of his promise, did not send for her. Kanva. therefore, directed her to go to the residence of Dushvanta. This she did. Iiut when she arrived at his palace she was repudiated by the King until a voice from heaven assured him that Sakuntala had spoken the tiiith. and that he saw before him his lawful son. Thereupon he recognized her as his queen, and her son as his heir, whom he named Bharata, and who became the founder of the race of the Bliaratas. In the drama Kalidasa modi- fied the legend so as to show that the obstacle to her recognition was the consequence of a curse which Sakuntala had incurred from a wrathful sage, who had considered himself treated with scant hospitality by her on one occasion when he had visited Kama's hermitage. See Kalid.sa. SAKYAMITNI, sha'kya-nni'ne. A name of the founder of the Buddhist religion. See Bud- dhism. SAL (Hhorca rohusta). An East Indian tree of the natural order DipteroearpaceiP, highly valued for its timber, which resembles teak in ])roperties and uses. The great forests of the southern Himalavas, which in some places has been cut down, have passed under the care of the Govern- ment for preservation. Several related species native to India and the Philippine Islands are important timber trees. SALA, sala. A town of Sweden, situated on the Northern Railroad, 5.5 miles northwest of Stockholm (Map: Sweden, G 7). It is impor- tant on account of its silver mine, which has yielded a large output for centuries, and still produces yearly over 30.000 ounces of silver. Population, in 'lOOO, 050,3. SALA, George Augustus Henry (1828-95). An English journalist, born in London. He came to America in 180.3 as special correspon- dent for the Daily Teleriraph of London; and in 1804 published Amrricn in the Midst of the War. He acted as correspondent to the same paper at the Paris Exposition I 1807) ; during the Franco- German War (1870-71); in Spain, Paris, and Venice (18G6-67) ; in Ru.ssia (1870) ; and in Aus- tralia (1885). He twice visited the United States as lecturer (1879 and 1885). Sala's pre- tentious style is finel.v ridiculed by Matthew Arnold in Frirndxhip's Gnrlnnd. Among Sala's popular books of travel, made up mostly from his Vol. XVH.— 31. contributions to the Diiily Telegraph, are A Jour- ney Oue .orth (1859); .1 Trip to Uarbary { 1800) ; I'rom Waterloo to the Peninsula ( 1807) ; Jiome and eniee (1809); Ameriea Uecisiteii (1882); A Journey Due lioulh (1885); Thinys I Hare >Seen (1894); and the most interesting Life and Adrentures (1895). His social satire is best represented by Twice Hound the Clock (1859). He also wrote several popular novels: The liaddinyton Peerage (18(i0); Captain Dan- gerous (1803) ; and Quite Alone 1804). SALAAM, sii-lam' (Ar. s)il.um, peace, from saliin<i, to be safe). The common salutation among Jlohammcdans to those of their own faith; to non-Mohammedans a difl'erent form is used. The full salutation is as-saUim 'alaikum, 'peace be unto you.' and the proper reply is wa- 'ulaihum as-suldm, "and unto you peace.' The giv- ing of the salaam is a duty recommended by AIo- liammed: the re])ly is obligator,v. Consult Lane, Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, eh. viii. (London, 1830). SAL'ADIMT (Salah-ed-Dix Yusuf ibn Eyub) (1137-931. Sultan of Egypt and Syria, born at Tekrit of Kurdish blood. After a life of pleas- ure and study he accompanied his uncle, Shirkuh, about llli(!. on an expedition dispatched by Xu- reddin. Sultan of Syria, to reinstate Shawir, the expelled Vizier of Egv'pt. When the latter, some years later, threw off his allegiance to Xureddin, Shirkuh made a second invasion of Egypt, over- threw Shawir, assumed the vizierate, and, dying soon after, was succeeded by Saladin (1109). The last of the Fatimite caliphs died in 1171 and Saladin became absolute ruler of the country, though he did not proclaim himself Sultan till after the death of Nureddin in 1174. Between 1174 and 1183 Saladin wrested Syria and most of ilesopotamia from the successors of Nureddin. During these conquests he also warred against the Christians, but without success. In 1187 he made a great onslaught upon the Kingdom of .Jerusalem, and in July a desperate battle was fought on the shores of Lake Tiberias, which ended in the total defeal, of the Christians. Gu.v de Lusignan, King of Jerusalem, the grand master of the Templars and Hospitalers, and an immense number of prisoners fell into Saladin's hands. The capture of Tiberias, Acre, .TafTa, and Beirut, with many other places, was followed by the surrender of Jerusalem in Oc- tober. Tyre alone held out against Saladin un- til relieved by Conrad of Montferrat. The armies of the Third Crusade, under Richard the Lion- hearted and Philip II. of France, retook Acre after a memoralile siege of two .years (1191), but, owing to the dissensions between Richard and Philip, the great object of the Crusade, the recovery of Jerusalem, was left unaccomplished. Richard entered into a three years' armistice with Saladin by which the coast from Jaffa to Tyre was left to the Christians (1192). Saladin died at Damascus, March 3, 1193. In Saladin the warrior instinct of the Kurd was united to a high intelligence; and even his o])ponents did not deny him the noblest qualities of chivalry, courage, fidelity to treaties, greatness of soul. ])iet,v, jus- tice, and moderation. He was not a mere soldier, but also a wise administrator. Consult: Stanle,v Lane-Poole. Saladin and the Fall of Jerusalem (New York, 1898) ; Gaston Paris, La h'gende de Saladin (Paris, 1893) ; Yusuf ibn Rati, The Life