personages of Muslim history and literature, with many appropriate anecdotes illustrative of their personal character, and extracts from the works of such of them as were authors or poets. It is the most complete and at the same time the most universal and comprehensive biographical dic tionary in the Arabic language, and is the indispensable companion of the student of Mahometan literature. Ibn Khallikan has many imitators, the best-known work of the kind being the Fuwdt el Wafaydt, "Omissions of the Wafayat," by Salah ed din Muhammed ibn ShAkir, which has been published, as well as the work which it is intended to supplement, at the Boulak press.
Ibn Khallikan s work has been published in Arabic with an English translation by Baron MacGnckin do Slane for the Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland (Paris, 1842), and this edition, which is found in most public libraries, is the best and the most accessible one extant.
IBN SINA. See AVICENNA.
IBO, IBU, IGBO, or EBOE, a district of West Africa,
situated in the delta of the Niger, and mainly on the laft
or eastern bank of the river. The chief town, which is
frequently called by the same name, but is more correctly
designated Abo or Aboh, liss on a creek which falls into
the main stream about 150 miles from its mouth, and con
tains from 6000 to 8000 inhabitants. The Ibo are a strong
well-built Negro race. Their women are distinguished by
their embonpoint, which is considered by the people them
selves as the perfection of beauty. The language of the
Ibo is one of the most important in the Niger delta, and is
gradually extending its area. The Rev. J. F. Schbn began
its reduction in 1841, and in 18G1 In published a grammar
of it (Oku Ibo Grammatical Elements, London, Church
Miss. Soc.). Isoama is the dominant dialect, being spoken
by the Aboh, Elugu, Aro, and Abadja tribes.
See Captain W. Allen s Narrative, London, 1848 ; M. Burdo, Niger et Benue, Paris, 1880 (English trans, by Mrs Strange, 1880).
IBRAHIM PASHA (1789-1848), viceroy of Egypt, a real or adopted son of Mehemet Ali, was born at Cavalla in Roumelia in 1789. Early associated with the Egyptian army, he won a name for himself by successful operations against the rebel tribes of Upper Egypt and the fugitive Mamelukes in Nubia, before he entered his twenty-fifth year. In an expedition which he led in 1816 against the Wahhabees of Arabia, the young general was seriously hampered by the want of organized discipline among his troops, and on his triumphant return to Cairo in 1819 he eagerly availed himself of the services of some French officers in his efforts to convert the Oriental turbulence of his forces into the disciplined steadiness of the West. Ibrahim s next campaign was in Greece, whither he was ordered in August 1824 to support the Turkish sultan s attempts to restrain the risings of Hellenic nationality. The defeat of the Turkish and Egyptian fleet at Navarino (October 20, 1827) by the united English, French, and Russian squadrons was the signal for Ibrahim s recall from the Morea, which had suffered keenly at the hands of the cruel Oriental. In Egypt he at once set himself afresh to the work of reorganization in army and navy, and in 1831, when Mehemet Ali ordered an almost unprovoked invasion of Syria, Ibrahim was again at the head of the Egyptian army. Unchecked by the loss of 5000 men from cholera before leaving Egypt, he appeared suddenly on the Syrian coast, took Gaza, Jaffa, and Kaiffa by surprise, and by the 29th of November had invested Acre. There he met with a stubborn resistance ; twice in vain he attempted to carry the seaport by storm, and in the midst of the siege he was called away, to meet an army of relief, commanded by Osman Pasha, governor of Aleppo. Near Tripoli he surprised Osman, who decamped without fighting, and returning hastily to Acre, he threw his whole force on the place, carrying it (27th May 1832) with a loss of 1400 men. Without a pause he marched on Damascus, which offered no resistance. At Hims (July 28; he encountered and defeated a Turkish army of 30,000 men, with a force of 16,000, and passing swiftly through the defiles of Beylan, overtook and completely routed the retreating enemy at Adaneh. Another victory followed at Oulou-Kislak, and then, near Konieh, Ibrahim was met by the vizier Resheed Pasha at the head of 60,000 men. Favoured by a murky day an advantage which helped to counterbalance the great disparity of his forces he contrived to throw the Turkish army into confusion, and, by the capture of the vizier, converted an impending disaster into the most brilliant of his victories. Meantime his licet, equally successful, had chased that of the sultan back to the Bosphorus, and the victor, without an army to oppose him, was within six marches of Constantinople. At the critical moment the order came from Mehemet Ali to await rein forcements. But before these arrived the golden oppor tunity was lost. The Russian army and fleet advanced to the protection of the Ottoman capital ; the other Western powers combined in the effort to effect peace ; and by treaty in February 1833 Syria and Adana were handed over to Mehemet on the condition of his paying tribute for them. As governor, Ibrahim reduced the new territory to order, and gave a strong impulse to industrial enterprise. But war again broke out in 1839, and at Nezecb (24th June) Ibrahim dealt a second deadly blow to the Turkish power. Again the commands of Mehemet forbade him to follow up his success, and the campaign, cut short by the interference of the British, ended in the restoration of Syria to the Porte in 1841. After his retreat from Damascus, achieved with martial skill, although accompanied with serious losses, Ibrahim laid down his sword. Retiring to his estates in the plain of Heliopolis, he occupied himself in establishing cotton and olive plantations, till in 1844 he was called to succeed his father as viceroy. He died at Cairo, 9th November 1848, only a few months after the formal confirmation of his rank of viceroy. The finest qualities of a great commander were his, who out of semi- barbarous hordes fashioned a formidable army, and twice by his individual prowess threatened the overthrow of the Ottoman empire. His cruelty, the one blot on his valour, may be regarded as an accident of his life rather than as a fixed trait in his character. In times of peace, at least, he displayed the sagacity as well as the firmness of an en lightened administrator. See EGYPT, vol. vii. p. 764.
IBRAILA, BRAILA, BRA.HILOW, or BRAILOW, a town, formerly of Wallachia, now of Roumania, situated on the left bank of the Danube, about 9 miles south of Galatz and 102 miles from the Sulina mouth of the river. It has a railway station within a quarter of a mile to the north-west on the Bucharest and Galatz line a branch line coming down to the harbour; and it is the seat of a cham ber of commerce, a tribunal of commerce, and an agency of the Danube Navigation Company. Most of the town lies about 45 or 50 feet above the level of the sea, there being only a very narrow strip of low-lying ground (some 60 or 100 feet) between the edge of the river and the steep and lofty bank by which at this part its course is defined. Ibraila is one of the most regular places in Ronmania, stand ing, indeed, in this respect, next after Bucharest itself. Few of the houses, however, are more than two stories high. Towards the land it has the shape of a crescent, the curve of the outer streets being controlled by the direction of the old fortifications, which were dismantled in 1828. A wide and tree-planted boulevard the Strada Bulivardului separates the town proper from the suburban portion. There is a public garden along the brow of the bank towards the river. Besides the cathedral of St
