was born in Kufa, but spent much of his life in Bagdad. Like his father, on whose authority he relied largely, he collected information about the genealogies and history of the ancient Arabs. According to the Fihrist (see Nadīm) he wrote 140 works. As independent works they have almost entirely ceased to exist, but his account of the genealogies of the Arabs is continually quoted in the Kitāb ul-Aghāni.
Large extracts from another of his works, the Kitāb ul-Asnām, are contained in the Khizānat ul-Adab (iii. 242-246) and in the geography of Yāqūt (q.v.). These latter have been translated with comments by J. Wellhausen in his Reste des arabischen Heidentums (2nd ed., Berlin, 1897). (G. W. T.)
HISPELLUM (mod. Spello, q.v.), an ancient town of Umbria, Italy, 3 m. N. of Fulginiae, on the road between it and Perusia, 1030 ft. above sea-level. It does not appear to be mentioned before the time of Augustus, who founded a colony there (Colonia Iulia Hispellum) and extended its territory to the springs of the Clitumnus, which had originally belonged to the territory of Mevania. It received the name of Flavia Constans by a rescript of the emperor Constantine, a copy of which on a marble tablet is still preserved at Spello. The gate by which the town is entered is ancient and has three portrait statues above it; two other gates and a part of the city wall, built of rectangular blocks of local limestone, may still be seen, as also the ruins of what is possibly a triumphal arch (attributed to Augustus) and an amphitheatre, and perhaps of a theatre, close to the modern high-road, outside the town. (T. As.)
HISSAR, a district in Central Asia, lying between 66° 30′ and 70°
E. and 39° 15′ and 37° N. and dependent on the amir of Bokhara.
It forms that part of the basin of the Amu-darya or Oxus which
lies on the north side of the river, opposite the Afghan province
of Balkh. The western prolongation of the Tian-shan, which
divides the basin of the Zarafshan from that of the upper Amu,
after rising to a height of 12,300 ft., bifurcates in 67° 45′ E. The
main chain, the southern arm of this bifurcation, designated the
Hissar range, but sometimes called also Koh-i-tau, forms the N.
and N.W. boundaries of Hissar. On the W. it is wholly bounded
by the desert; the Amu limits it on the S. and S.E.; and Karateghin
and Darvaz complete the boundary on the E. Until
1875 it was one of the least known tracts of Central Asia. Hissar is traversed from north to south by four tributaries of the Amu,
viz. the Surkhab or Vakhsh, Kafirnihan, Surkhan and Shirabad-darya,
which descend from the snowy mountains to the north
and form a series of fertile valleys, disposed in a fan-shape,
within which lie the principal towns. In the N.W. boundary
range between Khuzar and Derbent is situated the defile
formerly called the Iron Gate (Caspian Gates, Bāb-al-Hadīd, Dar
Ahanīn and in Chinese T’ie-mēn-kuan) but now styled Buzghol-khana
or the Goat-house. It was also called Kohluga, said to be
a Mongol word meaning barrier. This pass is described as a deep
but narrow chasm in a transverse range, whose rocks overhang
and threaten to choke the tortuous and gloomy corridor (in
places but five paces wide) which affords the only exit from the
valley. In ancient times it was a vantage point of much importance
and commanded one of the chief routes between
Turkestan and India. Hsüan Tsang, the Chinese traveller, who
passed through it in the 7th century, states that there were
then two folding doors or gates, cased with iron and hung
with bells, placed across the pass. Clavijo, the Spanish ambassador
to the court of Timur, heard of this when he passed
through the defile nearly 800 years later, but the gates had then
disappeared.
The Surkhan valley is highly cultivated, especially in its upper portion. It supplies Bokhara with corn and sheep, but its chief products are rice and flax. The town of Hissar (pop. 15,000) commands the entrance into the fertile valleys of the Surkhan and Kafirnihan, just as Kabadian at the southern end of the latter defends them from the south. Hissar was long famous for its damascened swords and its silk goods. Kulab produces wheat in abundance, and gold is brought thither from the surrounding districts. Kabadian is a large, silk-producing town, and is surrounded with rice-fields.
The population consists principally of Uzbegs and Tajiks, the former predominating and gradually pushing the Tajiks into the hills. On the banks of the Amu there are Turkomans who work the ferries, drive sheep and accompany caravans. Lyuli (gipsies), Jews, Hindus and Afghans are other elements of the population. The climate of the valleys of Hissar and Kulab is pleasant, as they are protected by mountains to the north and open towards the south. They produce all the cereals and garden plants indigenous to Central Asia. Cotton is grown in the district of Shirabad; and cotton, wheat, flax, sheep and rock-salt are all exported.
History.—This country was anciently part of the Persian empire of the Achaemenidae, and probably afterwards of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom, and then subject to the invading Asiatic tribes who broke up that kingdom, e.g. the Yue-chi. It was afterwards conquered by the Ephthalites or White Huns, who were subdued by the Turks in the early part of the 7th century. It then became subject successively to the Mahommedan invaders from Persia, and after to the Mongol dynasty of Jenghiz Khan, and to Timur and his successors. It subsequently became a cluster of Uzbeg states and was annexed by the amir of Bokhara (q.v.) in 1869–1870, soon after the Russian occupation of Samarkand. (J. T. Be.; C. El.)
HISSAR, a town and district of British India, in the Delhi
division of the Punjab. The town is situated on the Rajputana
railway and the Western Jumna canal, 102 m. W.N.W. of Delhi.
Pop. (1901) 17,647. It was founded in 1356 by the emperor
Feroz Shah, who constructed the canal to supply it with water;
but this fell into decay during the 18th century, owing to the
constant inroads of marauders. Hissar was almost completely
depopulated during the famine of 1783, but was afterwards
occupied by the famous Irish adventurer George Thomas,
who built a fort and collected inhabitants. It is now chiefly
known for its cattle and horse fairs, and has a cotton factory.
The District comprises an area of 5217 sq. m. It forms the western border district of the great Bikanir desert, and consists for the most part of sandy plains dotted with shrub and brushwood, and broken by undulations towards the south, which rise into hills of rock like islands out of a sea of sand. The Ghaggar is its only river, whose supply is uncertain, depending much on the fall of rain in the lower Himalayas; its overflow in times of heavy rain is caught by jhils, which dry up in the hot season. The Western Jumna canal crosses the district from east to west, irrigating many villages. The soil is in places hard and clayey, and difficult to till; but when sufficiently irrigated it is highly productive. Old mosques and other buildings exist in parts of the district. Hissar produces a breed of large milk-white oxen, which are in great request for the carriages of natives. The district has always been subject to famine. The first calamity of this kind of which there is authentic record was in 1783; and Hissar has suffered severely in more recent famines. Its population in 1901 was 781,717, showing practically no increase in the decade, whereas in the previous decade there had been an increase of 15%. The climate is very dry, hot westerly winds blowing from the middle of March till July. Cotton weaving, ginning and pressing are carried on. The district is served by the Rajputana-Malwa, the Southern Punjab and the Jodhpur-Bikanir railways. The chief trading centres are Bhiwani, Hansi, Hissar and Sirsa.
Before the Mahommedan conquest, the semi-desert tract of which Hissar district now forms part was the retreat of Chauhan Rajputs. Towards the end of the 18th century the Bhattis of Bhattiana gained ascendancy after bloody struggles. To complete the ruin brought on by these conflicts, nature lent her aid in the great famine of 1783. Hissar passed nominally to the British in 1803, but they could not enforce order till 1810. Early in the mutiny of 1857 Hissar was wholly lost for a time to British rule, and all Europeans were either murdered or compelled to fly. The Bhattis rose under their hereditary chiefs, and the majority of the Mahommedan population followed their example. Before Delhi had been recovered, the rebels were utterly routed.
