RUNJEET SINGH 146 RURAL CREDIT castle cross in Cumberland. Several crosses in the Isle of Man are carved with the old Irish interlaced ornaments, and are in the form of the old Irish cross. See Alphabet. RUNJEET SINGH, called the "LlON of the Punjab," founder of the Sikh kingdom; born in Gugaranwalla, India, Nov. '2, 1780. His father, a Sikh chief- tain, died in 1792, and the government fell into the hands of his mother. At the age of 17, however, Runjeet rebelled against his mother's authority, assumed the reins himself, and began a career of ambition. The Shah of Afghanistan granted him possession of Lahore, which had been taken from the Sikhs, and Run- jeet soon subdued the small Sikh states to the N. of the Sutlej. The chiefs to the S. of that river invoked the protection of the British, who made an arrangement with Runjeet in 1809, both accepting the Sutlej as the S. boundary of his do- minions. He now organized his army after the European model with the help of French and English officers, and stead- ily extended his power, assuming the title of rajah in 1812. In 1813 he took At- tock, and in the same year assisted Shah Shuja, then a refugee from Afghanistan, in return for the famous Koh-i-noor dia- mond. In 1818 he captured Multan; in 1819 he annexed Kashmir, and in 1823 the Peshawur valley. He was now ruler of the entire Punjab, and in 1819 had already assumed the title of Maharajah, or king of kings. In 1836 he suffered a heavy defeat from the Afghans, but until his death he retained his power over his 20,000,000 subjects. He died in Lahore, June 27, 1839. RUNNIMEDE, a long stretch of green meadow, lying along the right bank of the Thames, 1 mile above Staines and 36 miles by river W. S. W. of London. Here, or on Charta Island, a little way off the shore Magna Charta (q. v.) was signed by King John, June 15, 1215. In the document the king states that it was signed "by our hands in the meadow which is called Runnimede." RUPEE, a silver coin in use in the British dominions in India, with corre- sponding ones of much inferior workman- ship and variable value in the native states. Also a silver coin of India, worth normally, in United States money, 32.4c. RUPERT OF BAVARIA, PRINCE, an English military officer; born in Prague, Bohemia, Dec. 17, 1619. He was the third son of Frederick V., elector pala- tine and King of Bohemia, by Elizabeth, daughter of James I. of England. After some military experience on the Continent he went to England to assist his uncle, Charles I., and in 1642 was made general of the horse. He distinguished himself at Edgehill and Chalgrove, captured Bir- mingham and Lichfield in 1642, and Bris- tol in 1643, and displayed his courage at Marston Moor and Naseby in 1645. His feeble defense of Bristol against Fairfax involved him in temporary disgrace with Charles ; but in 1648 he was made admiral of the English royalist fleet. He carried on a predatory naval war against Parlia- ment, in European waters, till Blake forced him to escape to the West Indies, where he preyed on English and Spanish merchantmen. In 1653 he joined Charles II. at Versailles. After the Restoration he was appointed lord-high-admiral and served with Monk against the Dutch. He became governor of Windsor Castle, privy-councilor, etc. Many of his later years were devoted to scientific study. He introduced mezzotint engraving into Eng- land. As one of the founders and the first governor of the Hudson Bay Com- pany his name was given to Ruperts- land (q. v.). He died in London, Nov. 29, 1682, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. RUPERTSLAND, an extensive but in- determinate region in the interior of Canada, named in honor of Prince Ru- pert, and transferred to the Hudson Bay Company, of which that prince was one of the founders, by Charles II. in 1670. This region is now included in the North- west Territories. RUPTURE, the breaking or laceration of the walls or continuity of an organ, especially of a viscus. Also, the popular name for Hernia (q. v.). RURAL CREDIT, various systems of extending loans to farmers for the pur- pose of financing the growing and mar- keting of their crops. Rural credit may be divided into two chief forms: co-opera- tive and state aid. The former is by far the most extensively practiced. The co-operative method had its origin in Ger- many, where it was first established by Raiffeisen, from whom it has taken its name as the Raiffeisen system. A num- ber of farmers in a community join to- gether and form a co-operative bank in which the members are jointly liable for the debts of the association. Each mem- ber owns a limited number of shares, usually only one. Each member has only one vote in determining the policies of the association. In Germany, before the World War, the share capital of the banks formed only three and eight-tenths per cent, of the total capital available for loans, eighty-five per cent, of the capital being supplied by the savings accounts of the farmer-members. This system has
