AJALON coast, in lat. 41 55' N., Ion. 8 44' E. ; pop. in 1866, 14,558. It has a cathedral, college, mu- seum, library, botanical garden, naval school, picture gallery presented to the town by Cardi- nal Fesch, and fine promenades. It is much frequented in winter by invalids on account of its genial climate, and is connected by steamers with Marseilles and Nice. The largest ships can lie along its wharves, but the harbor is danger- ous during the prevalence of southwest winds. Wine, olive oil, and fruits are the chief articles of trade. It is the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the house in which he was born is still in good preservation. AJALON, or ijalun, a town of ancient Pales- tine, about 14 m. N. E. of Jerusalem, allotted to the tribe of Dan, but also spoken of as be- longing to Ephraim, to Benjamin, and to Ju- dah. It was of little historical importance, and is chiefly known as the place near which, accord- ing to the narrative originally contained in the book of Jasher, Joshua commanded the moon to stand still. The modern town is called Yalo. AJAJY, an extensive tract on the E. coast of Africa. It extends from Zanguebar to Cape Guardafui, about 10 degrees of latitude, the southern extremity being near the equator. The S. coast is sandy and barren; the N. is high, especially at Cape d'Orfui (Ras Hafoon), which is a bluff toward the sea, backed by lofty mountains of singular shape. The inhab- itants belong to the Eesah or Somauli tribe. There is no river of importance. Ajan was known to the ancients, and called Azania. The inhabitants traded with -the Arabs in ivory, tortoise shell, &c., and were under Arab con- trol ; and Rhaptum, the capital, was the fur- thest point to the south known to the Greeks. AJAX, the name of two Greek chiefs in the Trojan war, distinguished as the greater and the lesser. The greater was the son of Tela- mon, king of Salamis, and third in direct male descent from Jupiter. He was second only to Achilles in martial prowess, equal to him in strength, but inferior in agility. He led the forces of the Salaminians, in 12 ships. Hector retired before the Telamonian Ajax on more than one occasion in the course of the war. At the death of Achilles, the arms of that hero were allotted to him who had deserved best of the Greeks. But two advanced claims to this honor, the greater Ajax and Ulysses. The former alleged his preeminence as a warrior, the latter as a counsellor. The arms were ad- judged to Ulysses. Ajax went mad, committed many excesses, and slew himself. This catas- trophe, which is only alluded to by Homer, forms the subject of the tragedy of Sophocles called the " Ajax." In the Odyssey, Ulysses is represented as descending to the infernal re- gions and there making fraternal overtures to Ajax, who stalks away without reply. He was worshipped in Salamis as its tutelary hero. The lesser, son of Ofleus, king of the Locrians, whom he led in 40 ships, was remarkable for liis swiftness of foot. Having excited the an- 16 VOL. i. 16 AKBAR 225 ger of the gods, they raised a storm against his fleet as he was returning home. The Olle- an escaped to a rock, and defied the vengeance of the gods, whereupon Neptune cleft the rock with his trident, and threw Ajax into the sea. His fate is, however, variously told by the poets. According to some, his crime was the violation of Cassandra in the temple of Miner- va, at the sack of Troy. AJMEER, or Ajmere. I. A non - regulation district of Rajpootana, subject to the lieutenant governor of the Northwest Provinces of Ben- gal, between lat. 25 43' and 26 42' N., and Ion. 74 22' and 75 33' E. ; area, 2,029 sq. m. ; pop. 225,000, mostly Hindoos. The N. W. portion is occupied by mountains connected with the Aravalli range, and contains mines of carbonate of lead, and ores of manganese, copper, and iron. Elsewhere the country is sandy and nearly level. The only river, the Koree, is so strongly impregnated with carbo- nate of soda that the water is undrinkable. II. A city, capital of the above district, situa- ted on the slope of a rocky basin in lat. 26 29' N., Ion. 74 43' E., 220 m. S. W. of Del- hi; pop. about 30,000. It is an ancient city, with stone walls and fine gateways, spacious houses, numerous temples, and a ruined palace of Shah Jehan. A large artificial lake sup- plies it with water. It has an annual fair and pilgrimage in honor of a Mussulman saint called Kwajah, who is supposed on these occa- sions to work extraordinary miracles. In the 16th century it was the chief place of one of Akbar's richest provinces. The British took it from the Sindia family in 1817. AK VB VII, a fortified village of Arabia, situated in an extensive date grove, or oasis, near the northern extremity of the gulf of Akabah. It is believed to occupy the site of either the Scriptural Elath (the ^Elana of the Greeks) or Eziongeber. (See ELATH.) Gulf of (the JEla- nitic gulf of the ancients), an inlet of the Red sea, about 12 m. wide, forming its N. E. arm after its bifurcation, lat. 28 6 N. It extends in a N. E. direction to lat. 29 32' N., bounding the mountainous peninsula of Sinai on tho E. AKBAR, or Akber, Jelal-ed-Deen Mohammed, the greatest of all the Mogul emperors of Hindo- stan, born Oct. 14, 1542, died in September, 1 605, after reigning half a century. At the time of his accession to the throne of Delhi, on the death of his father Humayun, his dominions embraced but three provinces; in the 40th year of his reign they numbered 15, embracing the whole of Hindostan N. of the Deccan. Akbar was tolerant of all forms of religious belief, and invited Portuguese missionaries from Goa to give him an account of Christianity, which, however, he did not adopt. He dimin- ished the cruel and oppressive taxes laid on his Hindoo subjects, reformed the administration of the revenue, promoted commerce, and im- proved the roads of the empire. He encour- aged learning and literature, and instituted schools in all parts of his empire. His history
