Thursday, August 26, 2021

Mahmud - Ma Hua-lung

Mahmud
Mahmud.  Name that was borne by many Islamic personages, among them a great number of sultans and rulers, especially in India.

In Bengal: Mahmud I Nasir al-Din (r. 1442-1459); Mahmud II Nasir al-Din (r. 1459); Mahmud III Ghiyath al-Din (r. 1533-1538).

In the Deccan: Mahmud Shihab al-Din (b. 1479), ruler of the Bahmani dynasty from 1482 to 1518.

In Delhi: Mahmud I Nasir al-Din (r. 1246-1266); Mahmud II Nasir al-Din (r. 1394-1399).

In Gujarat: Mahmud I Sayf al-Din Begarha (Begra) (r. 1459-1511); Mahmud II Nasir Khan (r. 1526); Mahmud III Abu’l-Futuhat (r. 1537-1554).

In Jaunpur: Mahmud Shah Sharqi (r. 1440-1458).

In Malwa (India): Mahmud Khalji I (r. 1434-1469); Mahmud Khalji II (r. 1511-1531).

In Uttar Pradesh: Mahmud Khan Nasir al-Din (d. 1410), the founder of the Kalpi dynasty which lasted from 1389 to 1443.

Among the Ottoman Sultans: Mahmud I Ghazi (r. 1730-1754) and Mahmud II (r. 1808-1839), who was known as a westernizing reformer.



Mahmudabad
Mahmudabad.  Leading Shi‘a family of north India under the Mughals, the kings of Awadh and the British from the fourteenth to the twentieth century.



Mahmud ibn Muhammad ibn Malik-Shah
Mahmud ibn Muhammad ibn Malik-Shah (Mahmud II ibn Muhammad ibn Malik-Shah) (d.1131).  Great Saljuq sultan in western Persia and Iraq (r.1118-1131).  A just ruler, he is known for his Arabic scholarship, rare among the Saljuq rulers, and for his patronizing many of the leading poets of his time.  

Mahmud II proclaimed himself the Saljuq (Seljuk) sultan of Baghdad in 1118 following the death of Mehmed I (probably Mahmud's father).  Mahmud fought agains the Saljuq Sultan of Khorasan, Ahmed Sanjar, whom Mehmed I had revolted against in 1105.  Mahmud was succeeded by Dawud.
Mahmud II ibn Muhammad ibn Malik-Shah see Mahmud ibn Muhammad ibn Malik-Shah



Mahmud ibn Sebuktigin
Mahmud ibn Sebuktigin (Mahmud of Ghazna) (Mahmud of Ghazni) (Yamin al-Dawlah Mahmud) (Yamin al-Dawlah 'Abd al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sebuk Tegin)  (November 2, 971 - April 30, 1030).  Ghaznavid ruler (r.998-1030).  During his long reign, he almost ceaselessly campaigned over a vast expanse of southern Asia, particularly in India.  He assembled an empire greater than any known in eastern Islam since the decline of the ‘Abbasids.  His centralized, despotic machinery of state typifies the Perso-Islamic “power-state.”  His court was a congenial center for the scientist al-Biruni and for leading poets such as Farrukhi, ‘Unsuri and, for a short time, Firdawsi.

Mahmud's grandfather was Alptigin, a Turkic slave-guard of the Samanids in Balkh who crossed the Hindu Kush mountains to seize Ghazni from the declining Samanid kingdom, located strategically on the road between Kabul and Kandahar.  Alptigin was succeeded in 977 by his Turkic slave and son-in-law, Sebuktigin, father of Mahmud, who enlarged upon Alptigin's conquests, extending his domain north to Balkh, west to Kandahar including most of Khorasan, and east to the Indus River.  According to Ferishta, Mahmoud's mother was a Persian noble from Zabulistan.

In 994, Mahmud was engaged with his father Sebuktigin in the capture of Khorasan from the rebel Fa'iq in aid of the Samanid Emir Nuh II.  During this period the Samanid state became highly unstable, with shifting internal political tides as various factions vied for control, chief being Abu'l-Qasim Simjuri, Fa'iq, Abu 'Ali, the General Behtuzun as well as the neighboring Buyid and Qarakhanids.

Sebuktigin was recognized by the Caliph in Baghdad as governor of his dominions.  He died in 997, and was succeeded by his younger son Sultan Isma'il of Ghazni.  Mahmud rebelled against his younger brother, Sultan Isma'il of Ghazni, and took over the Ghazni as the new sultan.

Mahmud's first campaign was against the Qarakhanid Empire in the North to his Empire.  After his defeat, he had to enlist the alliance of Seljuk Turks in southern Soghdia and Khwarazm and diplomatically secure his north by 998.  In 999, under the reign of 'Abd al-Malik II, the Samanids engaged in hostilities with Mahmud over Khorasan after political alliances shifted under a new Samanid Emir.  These forces were defeated when the Qarakhanids under Nasr Khan invaded them from the North even as Fa'iq died.  He then solicited an alliance and cemented it by marrying Nasr Khan's daughter.

Mahmud's first campaign to the south was against the Isma'ili Fatimid Kingdom at Multan in a bid to curry political favor and recognition with the 'Abbasid Caliphate engaged with the Fatimids elsewhere.  Raja Jayapala of the Hindu Shahi Dynasty of Gandhara attempted to gain of Ghazni under Mahmud's father in the late 980s that had cost him extensive territory, but was again defeated.  His son Anandapala succeeded him and continued the struggle, assembling a powerful confederacy which was defeated once more at Lahore in 1008 bringing Mahmud control of the Hindu Shahi dominions of Updhanpura.  

According to the writings of al-Biruni, Soghidan, Uyghur and Manichean texts the Buddhists, Hindus and Jains were accepted as People of the Book and references to Buddha as Burxan or as a prophet can be found.  After the initial destruction and pillage Buddhists, Jains and Hindus were granted protected subject status as dhimmis.

Following the defeat of the Rajput Confederacy, after deciding to teach them all a lesson for combining against him, discovering that they were rich, and that their temples were great repositories of wealth, Mahmud set out on regular expeditions against them, leaving the conquered kingdoms in the hands of Hindu vassals annexing the Punjab region.   

Mahmud had relationships with the leadership in Balkh through marriage.  Balkh's local Emir, Abu Nasr Mohammad, offered his services to the Sultan and his daughter to Mahmud's son, Muhammad.  After Nasr's death Mahmud brought Balkh under his leadership.  This alliance greatly helped him during his expeditions into Northern India.

The Indian kingdoms of Nagarkot, Thanesar, Kanauj, Gwalior, and Ujjain were all conquered and left in the hands of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist kings as vassal states.  Mahmud was pragmatic enough not to shirk making alliances and enlisting local peoples into his armies at all ranks.

The later invasions of Mahmud were specifically directed to temple towns (Nagarkot, Thanesar, Mathura, Kanauj, Kalinjar and Somnath) as Indian temples were depositories of great wealth, in golden idols, diamonds, and jewelry.  Mahmud's armies stripped the temples of their wealth and then destroyed them at Varanasi, Ujjain, Maheshwar, Jwalamukhi, and Dwarka.

The last four years of Mahmud's life were spent contending with the influx of Oghuz Turkic horse tribes from Central Asia, the Buyid Dynasty and rebellions by Seljuqs.

Sultan Mahmud died on April 30, 1030 in Ghazni at the age of 59.  Mahmud had contracted malaria during his last invasion.  The medical complication from malaria caused lethal tuberculosis.  He had been a gifted military commander, and during his rule, universities were founded to study various subjects such as mathematics, religion, the humanities, and medicine.  Islam was the main religion of his kingdom and the Hanafi school thought favored. The Perso-Afghan dialect Dari was made the official language.  Mahmud's mausoleum is located at Ghazni (in modern Afghanistan).   

Mahmud of Ghazna was the most important ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty and, according to the contemporary political scientist Nizam al-Mulk, the first Islamic “sultan.”  He succeeded in 998 to the command of all the territories his father Sebuktigin had administered from Ghazna in central Afghanistan on the Samanids’ behalf.  After he took Khurasan from the Buyids in 999, his authority was recognized by the caliph al-Qadir.  Thus, his line was established as an independent line.

Of greater historical significance, however, were Mahmud’s continuous campaigns to the Punjab and parts of Sind, campaigns that opened a new era of Muslim expansion into the the Indian subcontinent.  These conquests, along with his taxation policies in Khurasan, have made Mahmud a controversial figure.  Mahmud is frequently criticized for his desecration of temples and for his enslavement of many people as plunder.  Mahmud is also accused of attempting to convert non-Muslims by force.  However, what is  undisputed is Mahmud's success at building the largest empire of its day, extending from central Iran through Afghanistan and into northern India.

Mahmud supported Sunni causes, patronized poetry and learning, and built magnificent palaces, apparently motivated, however, more by convention than conviction.  Nonetheless, he achieved nearly legendary status in literary and folk traditions.

Today, in Afghanistan, Mahmud is celebrated as a national hero and a great patron of the arts, architecture and literature as well as a vanguard of Islam and a paragon of virtue and piety.

In modern Pakistan, he is hailed as a conquering hero who established the standard of Islam upon heathen land, while in India he may be depicted as raiding iconoclastic invader, bent upon the loot and plunder of a peaceful Hindu population.  Conversion to Islam of the native population also became a controversial topic with the versions of sword enforced mass conversions versus inspirational missionary activity.  With the rise of Hindutva and the partition of India, a lot more attention has been focused on casualties, temple destructions, slavery and forced conversions to Islam than before.  This controversy has been further stoked by the depictions of teh historical Mahmud as either a hero or a villain by the polarization of nationalist or ideological orientations.

Iranians remember Mahmud as an Orthodox Sunni who was responsible for the revival of the Persian culture by commissioning and appointing Persians to high offices in his administration as ministers, viziers and generals.  In addition, Iranians remember Mahmud for the promotion and preference of Persian language.instead of Turkish and patronage of great nationalist poets and scholars such as Firdawsi, al-Biruni, and Ferishta as well as his "Lion and Sun" flag which is still a national symbol in the modern state of Iran.  

Under the reign of Mahmud, Ghazni broke away clearly from the Samanid sphere of influence and hastened their end.  While he nominally acknowledged the Abbasids as Caliph as a matter of form, he was also granted the title of Sultan as recognition of his independence.

By the end of his reign, the Ghaznavid Empire extended from Kurdistan in the west to Samarkand in the northeast, and from the Caspian Sea to the Yamama.  Although his raids carried his forces across Indian sub-continent, only the Punjab and Sindh, modern Pakistan, came under his permanent rule.

The wealth brought back to Ghazni was enormous, and contemporary historians, such as Abolfazl, Beyhaghi, and Firdawsi, give glowing descriptions of the magnificence of the capital, as well as of the conqueror's munificent support of literature.  He transformed Ghazni, the first center of Persian literature, into one of the leading cities of Central Asia, patronizing scholars, establishing colleges, laying out gardens and building mosques, palaces, and caravansaries.  He patronized Firdawsi to write the Shahnama, and after his expedition across the Gangetic plains in 1017 of al-Biruni to compose his Tarikh al-Hind in order to understand the Indians and their beliefs.

The Ghaznavid Empire was ruled by his successors for 157 years, but after Mahmud it never reached anything like the same splendor and power.  The expanding Seljuk Turkish empire absorbed most of the Ghaznavid west.  The Ghorids captured Ghazni around 1150, and Muhammad Ghori captured the last Ghaznavid stronghold at Lahore in 1187.  
 

Mahmud of Ghazna see Mahmud ibn Sebuktigin
Mahmud of Ghazni see Mahmud ibn Sebuktigin
Yamin al-Dawlah Mahmud see Mahmud ibn Sebuktigin
Yamin al-Dawlah 'Abd al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sebuk Tegin see Mahmud ibn Sebuktigin


Mahmud, Mustafa
Mahmud, Mustafa (Mustafa Mahmud) (Mustafa Kamal Mahmoud Husayn) (Mostafa Mahmoud) (December 25, 1921 – October 31, 2009).  Leading Egyptian Islamist philosopher, author, and scientist.  

Many scholars argue that Islamism in the Middle East is, among other things, a reaction against Marxism and that ex-Marxists have turned increasingly to Islam as an anti-modernist ideology.  Egypt’s Mustafa Mahmud, a widely known and generally respected figure, might appear to represent just such a trend.  Mahmud rejected Marxism and distinguished himself as an Islamist.  However, he is far from an anti-modernist.  Trained as a physician, Mahmud gained prominence as an Islamic entrepreneur: scientist, television personality, author of more than sixty books, cardiologist, and founder of a successful charitable organization.  One of his early books God and Man, was censored by the regime of President Gamal Abdel Nasser for its overemphasis on “materialism.”

Raised and educated in Tanta in the Egyptian Delta, Mahmud attended medical school at Cairo University.  After graduation, he practiced medicine from 1952 to 1966.  He also began to write.  Allah wa al-insan (God and Man) was banned by a state court during the Nasser era for its materialism.

After several years of adherence to leftist, secular, and materialistic values, he gave up his medical practice to write books, including a commentary on the Qur'an. Turning to Islam after years of adhering to belief in Western values (especially secularism and materialism) and leftist modes of thought, he wrote his autobiography, Rihlati min al-shakk ila al-iman (My Journey from Doubt to Faith -- 1972), which became a national bestseller in Egypt in the1970s.  He also initiated a television program -- Al-‘ilm wa al-iman (Science and Faith) -- dedicated to the precept that Islam and science are completely compatible and self-supportive. In this television program, Mahmud portrayed the phenomena and the creatures of the natural world and attempted to prove that God was their natural cause.  This program became immensely popular with Egypt's educated middle class.

He founded the Mustafa Mahmud Society much in compliance with this theory -- in the name of Islam, to promote the general welfare, and to maintain his extensive health center. The Mustafa Mahmud Society, founded in 1975, contains an aquarium, library (for the study of Islam), observatory (to mark the precise dates for the beginning and ending of holy days), geological museum, seminar hall, health center (polyclinic) and hospital.  The society also conducts tours to Islamic monuments, presents lectures and films, and sends relief aid abroad (e.g., clothes and medicine to Afghan refugees and thousands of dollars to the Red Crescent in Sudan for victims of floods).  

Dissatisfied with the efficacy of doctors and hospitals in caring for sick people, in 1975, Mahmud raised the funds necessary to build a mosque in the upscale Muhandisin district of Cairo.  In 1979, the society’s Office of Social Services began providing socio-medical services.  By the early 1990s, approximately eight thousand families annually were receiving financial aid -- monthly stipends, medical services (related to kidney, chest, cancer, heart, and leper illnesses), aid to poor students and to blind and disabled individuals.  

Located on the main street of the upper-middle class district of Muhandisin, the Mustafa Mahmud Society links a mosque with a hospital, the former raising funds through sakat (wealth tax, alms), the latter providing health services.  Beyond local contributions, Mahmud’s activities receive special assistance from his personal friends from Gulf Arab states, providing his society with hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.  The health services these help to provide run the gamut from physical exams, blood testing, urinalysis, and diagnoses to kidney dialysis, appendectomies, CT-scans, and heart treatment.  Dental and psychological services were also provided.  In the late 1980s, a high-rise apartment building in Muhandisin was donated by a friend of Mahmud and was the society’s hospital.

The hospital had sixty beds, half of which were for charitable and low-price services.  The medical staff consists of more than ninety physicians -- perhaps the largest group among the thousands of Islamic societies throughout Egypt.  Doctors and physicians receive anywhere from 20 to 50 percent of the value of their treatment.

This capitalist enterprise founded in the name of Islam was hardly representative of the vast number of Islamic societies in Egypt, but was a model of achievement with financial benefits accruing to the staff and low-cost health care for thousands of patients.  Through these achievements, Mahmud provided tangible evidence for his theories linking Islam with scientific and socio-economic advancement.

While managing this complex of religious institutions, Mahmud continued to write and speak on television.  Among his publications are two books that have been translated into English, Marxism and Islam and Dialogue with an Atheist.  Drawing on charitable contributions by Egyptians and by Arabs from the Gulf states, Mahmud has successfully provided generous benefits to a large professional staff and low-cost health care for thousands of patients, independent of the Egyptian government.  Mahmud successfully avoided any involvement in revolutionary Islamist movements and forthrightly condemned terrorism.  Although not a member of the 'ulama', Mustafa Mahmud became one of Egypt's most influential and respected authorities on Islamic beliefs and institutions because of his reconciliation of science and faith in terms understandable to modernize Egyptians.


Mustafa Mahmud see Mahmud, Mustafa
Mostafa Mahmoud see Mahmud, Mustafa
Mahmoud, Mostafa see Mahmud, Mustafa
Mustafa Kamal Mahmoud Husayn see Mahmud, Mustafa
Husayn, Mustafa Kamal Mahmoud  see Mahmud, Mustafa


Mahmud Nedim Pasha

Mahmud Nedim Pasha (1817-1883).  Ottoman bureaucrat and Grand Vizier.  In 1872, he was dismissed from the Grand Vizierate by Sultan Abdul-aziz as a result of Midhat Pasha’s energetic representation to the sultan about the harm he was causing.  In 1875, he was re-installed as Grand Vizier to be dismissed again in 1876.

Mahmud Nedim Pasha was the son of Nejib Pasha, a former governor-general of Baghdad.  After occupying various subordinate posts at the Porte he became undersecretary of state for foreign affairs, governor-general of Syria and Smyrna, minister of commerce, and governor-general of Tripoli; minister successively of justice and of marine (1869); grand vizier from 1871 to 1872 and from 1875 to 1876.

He was high in favor with Sultan Abdul Aziz and fell under the influence of General Ignatiev, the forceful Russian ambassador before the war of 1877-78.  Mahmud's subserviency to Russia earned for him the nickname of "Nedimoff."  Mahmud's administration was unsuccessful from every point of view, and he was largely responsible for the issue of the decree suspending the interest on the Turkish funds.  He was also minister of the interior from 1879 to 1883.


Nedim, Mahmud see Mahmud Nedim Pasha
Nedimoff see Mahmud Nedim Pasha


Mahmud Pasha
Mahmud Pasha  (d. 1474).  Ottoman Grand Vizier.  He took part in the siege of Istanbul and accompanied Sultan Muhammad II on several of his campaigns.


Mahmud Riayat Syah III
Mahmud Riayat Syah III (1759-1812).  Sultan of Johor (r. 1761-1812).  His election was forced upon the Malays, who preferred a mature candidate, by the Bugis faction, which dominated Johor until it was driven out by Dutch forces in 1784.  Mahmud found that in exchange for Dutch support he had to yield to the occupation, and consequent stultification, of Riau.  He temporarily overcame the Dutch with the help of Illanun pirates in 1787 but was then forced to fell Riau to avoid Dutch retribution.  Refused help by the English, he attempted to unite all Malay and Bugis against the Europeans but without success.  The Napoleonic wars caused the Dutch to leave Riau in 1795, and the Bugis and Malays returned, along with their quarrel.  On Mahmud’s death in 1812 the throne again became a bone of contention, as, perhaps intentionally, he had not clearly specified which of his two sons was his heir and had given one to each faction to raise.  The Bugis again forced the success of their candidate, but the confusion was sufficient to give the English the opportunity to seize Singapore.


Mahmud Shabistari
Mahmud Shabistari (1287/1288 - 1320/1340).  Persian mystic and writer.  His fame rests entirely on his poem in rhyming couplets, called The Secret Rose Garden.  

Mahmud Shabistari was one of the most celebrated Persian Sufi poets of the 14th century.  He was born in the town of Shabestar near Tabriz, where he received his education. He became deeply versed in the symbolic terminology of Ibn Arabi. He wrote during a period of Mongol invasions.

His most famous work is a mystic text called The Secret Rose Garden (Gulishan-i Rāz) written about 1311 in rhyming couplets (Mathnawi). This poem was written in response to seventeen queries concerning Sufi metaphysics posed to "the Sufi literati of Tabriz" by Rukh Al Din Amir Husayn Harawi (d. 1318). It was also the main reference used by François Bernier when explaining Sufism to his European friends (in: Lettre sur le Quietisme des Indes; 1688)

Other works include The Book of Felicity (Sa'adat-nāma) and The Truth of Certainty about the Knowledge of the Lord of the Worlds (Ḥaqq al-yaqīn fi ma'rifat rabb al-'alamīn). The former is regarded as a relatively unknown poetic masterpiece written in khafif meter, while the later is his lone work of prose.
Shabistari, Mahmud see Mahmud Shabistari


Mahmud Shewqat Pasha
Mahmud Shewqat Pasha (Mahmud Sevket Pasha) (1856- June 11, 1913).  Ottoman general, war minister and Grand Vizier.  He was one of the most important military political figures of the Young Turk period.

Mahmud Shewqat Pasha was born in Baghdad.  He played important roles in ending the 31 March Incident and the reign of Abdul Hamid II.  He served as a Grand Vizier to Mehmed V, between January 23, 1913, and June 11, 1913, when he was assassinated in Istanbul.
Mahmud Sevket Pasha see Mahmud Shewqat Pasha
Sevket, Mahmud see Mahmud Shewqat Pasha
Shewqat, Mahmud see Mahmud Shewqat Pasha


Mahmud Syah II
Mahmud Syah II (Mahmud Shah II ibni al-Marhum Sultan Ibrahim Shah) (1675 - September 3, 1699).   Sultan of Johor (1685-1699).  Mahmud Syah was unstable and sadistic.  His irresponsible behavior did much to destroy in a short period the carefully nurtured prosperity that had come to Johor in the late seventeenth century with the decline of Aceh and Melaka.  His behavior led to his murder, apparently with the collusion of the Orang Kaya -- a radical course of action in a Malay court, which held no crime more heinous than murder.  He left no heirs and was the last Johor sultan who could claim direct descent from the Melaka sultans.  

Mahmud Shah II ibni al-Marhum Sultan Ibrahim Shah was the 10th Sultan of Johor, Pahang and Lingga (1685 - September 3,1699).
Born in 1675, he was the last in line of a dynasty of the Sultanate of Johor (founded by his grandfather, Sultan Alauddin Ri'ayat Shah II) descended from the Sultans of Melaka (Malacca). As he was still a young boy when his father Sultan Ibrahim died (16th of February,1685), Sultan Mahmud II reigned under the joint regency of his mother and the Bendahara Paduka Raja until the death of the latter (July 27, 1697).

He had several wives and is said to have slain any of them to have the misfortune of becoming pregnant. Perhaps this could have been the result of his fear that the birth of a son would enable rivals to depose him. After all, he himself came to power at a young age through a palace conspiracy that led to the poisoning of his father Sultan Ibrahim by his wives. Sultan Mahmud Shah II is famously known as "Sultan Mahmud Mangkat Dijulang". The name Mangkat Dijulang was given in remembrance of the way he was killed (mangkat being the Malay word referring specifically to a royal death) while being carried (dijulang) in a royal litter or dais. On his way back from Friday prayers, he was assassinated by one of his military chiefs, Laksamana Megat Sri Rama (hailing from Bintan). The famous legend behind the murder of Sultan Mahmud Shah II is recounted in the 19th century Malay chronicle, the Tuhfat al-Nafis. Based on this story, he is mostly remembered for his decadence and cruelty, marking a shameful end to his dynasty.

Sultan Mahmud was buried in a village near Kota Tinggi in Johor, which is still known today as Kampung Makam (Village of the Tomb).

After Mahmud's death, his Bendahara (chief minister) Abdul Jalil declared himself the next Sultan of Johor. Upon ascending the throne, the new Sultan (Abdul Jalil IV) killed all the wives of Sultan Mahmud in order to avoid the possibility of any future claims to the throne. However, according to the Hikayat Negeri Johor (Chronicles of the State of Johor) and the Pahang Manuscripts, one wife, Che Mi, managed to escape to Minangkabau and gave birth to Raja Kechil. Less than two decades later in 1717, Raja Kechil would assemble a fleet from Minangkabau and succeed temporarily in ousting Sultan Abdul Jalil's successor Sultan Sulaiman and gain the Johor Sultanate, basing his legitimacy on the claim that he was the posthumous son of Sultan Mahmud Shah II. However, Bugis mercenaries that assisted him in this campaign changed sides and he was eventually forced to flee to Siak, where he founded a new Sultanate.

The legend of Sultan Mahmud II is recounted in a 1959 Malay film written by the famous Malay film star P. Ramlee as well as a 1961 Malay film directed by K. M. Basker.

Syah, Mahmud see Mahmud Syah II
Mahmud Shah II ibni al-Marhum Sultan Ibrahim Shah  see Mahmud Syah II
Sultan Mahmud Mangkat Dijulang see Mahmud Syah II


Mahmud Taymur
Mahmud Taymur (1894-1973).  Egyptian writer.  His prolific output includes novels and short stories, theatrical pieces, accounts of journeys, articles and various studies, in particular relating to Arabic language and literature.
Taymur, Mahmud see Mahmud Taymur


Mahmud Yalawac
Mahmud Yalawac (d. 1254).  Minister in Central Asia and China.  The Mongol Great Khan Ogedey appointed him governor of Beijing, an office confirmed by the Great Khans Guyuk and Mongke.
Yalawac, Mahmud see Mahmud Yalawac


Mahra
Mahra.  Tribe living in the southeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula, in a stretch of land along the coast of the Indian Ocean between Hadhramaut and Oman, and in the hinterland belonging to that region.

The Mahra Sultanate was a sultanate that included both the historical region of Mahra and the Indian Ocean island of Socotra in what is now eastern Yemen.  It was ruled by the Banu Afrar dynasty and is sometimes called Mahra State in English.

The capitals of Mahra were Qishn in Mahra and Tamrida (Hadiboh) on Socotra.  During 1886, the sultanate became a British protectorate and later became a part of the Aden Protectorate.  In the 1960s, Mahra declined to join the Federation of South Arabia but remained under British protection as part of the Protectorate of South Arabia.  In 1967, the sultanate was abolished and Mahra became part of newly independent South Yemen which united with North Yemen in 1990 to become the Republic of Yemen.  Today the Mahra area (without Socotra) is the Al Mahrah Governorate of Yemen.  

The Mahra Sultanate of Qishn and Socotra (Arabic: Salṭanat Mahrah fī Qishn wa Suquṭrah) or sometimes the Mahra Sultanate of Ghayda and Socotra (Arabic: Salṭanat Mahrah fī-l Ghayḍā’ wa Suquṭrah]) was a sultanate that included both the historical region of Mahra and the Indian Ocean island of Socotra in what is now eastern Yemen.

The capitals of Mahra were Qishn in Mahra and Tamrida (Hadiboh) on Socotra. During 1886, the sultanate became a British protectorate and later became a part of the Aden Protectorate. In the 1960s, Mahra declined to join the Federation of South Arabia but remained under British protection as part of the Protectorate of South Arabia. In 1967, the sultanate was abolished and Mahra became part of newly independent South Yemen which united with North Yemen in 1990 to become the Republic of Yemen. Today the Mahra area (without Socotra) is the Al Mahrah Governorate of Yemen.

In addition to Arabic, Mehri, a Modern South Arabian language is spoken in Mahra. Mahra shares with the neighboring Dhofar in Oman cultural treats such as the modern South Arabian language spoken, the importance of frankincense and geographic and climatic ties as well, which distinguish these regions from the desert surrounding them, mostly due to the beneficial action of the khareef monsoon.

The Mahra are a Jat clan, found in the Punjab province of Pakistan. According to their traditions, they were originally Mughal, and settled near Delhi. About 10 or 12 generations ago, the whole tribe was exterminated with the exception of a boy who was found lying among the slain, hence the name Mara (which means the dead in the local Saraiki language). He and his descendants then migrated to the banks of the Indus River. By contracting marriages with the local Jat community, they also became Jat. They are a Saraiki speaking community.

The Mahra are found mainly in Dera Ghazi Khan, Multan, Muzaffargarh and Layyah districts of Punjab.

Their main villages include Kot Mahra in Multan District, Bahadur Mahra, Mahra Faraz and Mahra Sharqi in Muzaffargarh District


Mahsati
Mahsati (Mahsati Ganjavi) (b. c. 1089, Ganja — c. 1159).  Persian female poet who lived sometime between the eleventh and twelfth centuries.  An original collection of her quatrains is not known to exist.  The current collections of her poetry are modern compilations from many different sources.  Usually, she is represented as a singer, a musician and a court poet.

Mahsati is a compound of two words "Maah" (Moon) and "Sati" (Lady) and the name appears in the works of Saadi, Nizami, and Sanai.  As an eminent poetess, she was composer of quatrains (ruba'is).  Originated from Ganja, she was said to have associated with both Omar Khayyam and Nizami.  She is also said to have been a companion of Sultan Sanjar.  Her alleged free way of living and peddled verses stamped her as a Persian Madame Sans-Gene.  Her purported love affairs are recounted in the works of Jauhari of Bukhara.  

No details about her life are documented except that she was born in Ganja and was highly esteemed at the court of Sultan Sanjar of the Seljuk dynasty.  She is said to have attracted the notice and gained the favor of Sanjar by the following verse, which she extemporized one evening when the King, on going out from his audience-hall to mount his horse found that a sudden fall of snow had covered the ground.

It is also known that Mahsati was persecuted for her courageous poetry condemning religious obscurantism, fanaticism, and dogmas.  Her only works that have come down to us are philosophical and love quatrains (rubaiyat), glorifying the joy of living and the fullness of love.

About 200 works of Mahsati remain.  A monument to Mahsati was erected in Ganja in 1980.


Mahsati Ganjavi see Mahsati
Ganjavi, Mahsati see Mahsati


Mahsud
Mahsud (Masood) (Mahsood) (Masud) (Maseed) .  Pathan (Pashtun) tribe on the northwest frontier of Pakistan.  In British Indian times, they were the fiercest opponents of British rule.

The Mahsud tribe lives in the very center of Waziristan, Pakistan.  They are divided into three great clans namely Alizai, Bahlolzai, and Shaman Khel.

In 1860, 3000 Mahsud tribesmen attacked the British regiment base in Tank (in present day Waziristan).  The British struggled to defeat them.  

In 1897, Mahsud tribesmen again stood up against the British all the way from Chitral to Quetta and the British experienced difficulty while engaging them.  It was during this time that the name of Mullah Powindah emerged.  Over time, Mullah Powindah grew more popular and famous.  He emerged as a legendary figure among the people of the region and beyond.  

In 1907, the Wazir and Mahsud tribesmen were blocked from entry into any government controlled territory.  Economic sanctions were placed on them so that even basic amenities such as food and medicine could be blocked from going into their hands.  Various areas were searched to arrest Mullah Powindah but to no avail.

Mullah Powindah died in 1913.  Upon his death, his son Shah Fazal Din was given leadership and his son-in-law, Mulla Abdul Hakeem, was appointed his adviser.  
 
When the First World War began, the English were concerned that they would be engaged in battle on more than one front.  This was a threat to their safety and economy so they decided to close fronts of lesser significance.  The British abandoned their "Forward Policy" and sent a message of friendship and peace to the tribes.  The tribes did not trust the British and rejected these peace proposals.  Instead, the Mahsuds put in place a Lashkar to attack the British.

At this time, the British had established an airforce in the subcontinent which was used to harass the tribesmen and as a result the tribe's hatred of the British increased.  Due to their sufferings, they were bent upon taking revenge and hence their morale increased.  a series of attacks were made by the Mahsuds inflicting heavy losses on the enemy.  An attack on the Marhatta Regiment resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Sepoys and five British officers.  In the attack on the Punjab Regiment, Ghazis slaughtered everyone.  the aerial bombardments had inflicted significant losses on the tribesmen but they were content that they were also doing well and had killed around 250 of the enemy forces.

After the end of the First World War, the British returned to Waziristan.  This time, they constructed an airport in Razmak.  Instead of flying all the way from India, their aircraft would fly from Razmak Airport and bomb the countryside.  Because of this, the countryside of Makin was totally devastated.  The Mahsuds deemed it appropriate to agree to a ceasefire because this tactic adopted by the British was inflicting wide scale losses on their side.  The ceasefire would also enable them to devise a strategy of how to counter the latest British advances.

In 1925, the Royal Air Force successfully put down a Mahsud rebellion by strafing the tribes' mountain strongholds.  The action, which came to be known as Pink's War led to the tribal leaders seeking peace terms.

After independence, many social, economic and demographic changes occurred in Wazaristan.  A large number of Mahsuds joined mainstream Pakistani society.  When the Hindu traders of Tank left after the Partition of India in 1947, most of their shops were taken over by Mahsuds.  Now Mahsuds are employed in the militia and regular army, state bureaucracy, and involved in business all around the country.  Many of them are now living far away from their native lands.

Immediately after independence, Mahsuds raised a tribal lashkar which entered Kashmir.  They quickly reached the outskirts of Srinagar defeating the Maharaja's troops.  

Historically, the Wazirs and Mahsuds always looked toward Afghanistan as their home, and throughout the British Colonial period, they supported Afghan kings in their wars against the British.  On many occasions, the Afghan throne was saved with the help of the Mahsuds and Wazirs from Waziristan.  Of those who fought during this time, most of them came back to their homeland, but those who stayed were given high ranks of office such as Faiz Muhammad Mahsud who later became equivalent to the title of prime minister during the 1970s. The majority are still in the province of Logar with the title of Waziri, but by caste, they are Mahsuds.  The majority of these are Manzai with a sub-caste of Dramankel, Faridi, and others.  When the Soviet-Afghan War started, some of these families came back to Waziristan but could not stay there, so they moved to cities like Peshawar and Karachi.


Masood see Mahsud
Mahsood  see Mahsud
Masud  see Mahsud
Maseed  see Mahsud


Ma Hua-lung
Ma Hua-lung (Ma Ch’ao-ching) (Ma Hualong) (d. March 2, 1871).  Chinese Muslim leader.  He was an exponent of the “New Teaching,” a neo-orthodox reformist movement in Chinese Islam that originated in northwest China in the latter half of the eighteenth century.  He played an important part in the great mid-nineteenth century Muslim uprisings against the Ch’ing dynasty.  Ma led a rebellion in Kansu and Shessi from 1862 to 1877 and tried to establish a Muslim state.  

Ma Hualong was the fifth leader (jiaozhu) of the Jahriyya, a Sufi order (menhuan) in northwestern China. From the beginning of the anti-Qing Muslim Rebellion in 1862, and until his surrender and death in 1871, he was one of the main leaders of the rebellion.

Ma Hualong became the leader of the Jahriyya around 1849, succeeding the menhuan's fourth shaykh, Ma Yide (late 1770s - 1849). Although the Jahriyya had been originally created by Ma Mingxin in the central Gansu, by the time of Ma Hualong's succession to the leadership position the order was centered in the northern Ningxia (which in the 19th century was also part of Gansu Province), its headquarters being located in Jinjipu, a few kilometers south from today's Wuzhong City. The town of Jinjipu became an important religious and commercial center, and the menhuan's leaders grew wealthy thanks to the order's profitable participation in the caravan trade across Inner Mongolia, between Baotou, Huhhot and Beijing.

Since the beginning of the Muslim Rebellion in 1862, Ma Hualong was based at the Jahriyya headquarters in Jinjipu. The area of his direct influence included the Jahriyya-heavy eastern parts of the 19th-century Gansu Province, i.e. today's Ningxia and easternmost sections of today's Gansu. While the rebels elsewhere within the 19th-century borders of Gansu had their own leaders - notably, Ma Zhan'ao in Hezhou (now Linxia), Ma Guiyuan in Xining, and Ma Wenlu in Suzhou (Jiuquan), who, in the view of modern historians, were acting essentially independent from each other, there were Jahriyya members (all owing allegiance to Ma Hualong) participating in the rebellion throughout the region.

At some points during the rebellion, Ma Hualong negotiated with the authorities, and at least once he even surrendered, taking a new name, "Ma Chaoqing" ("one who attends on the Qing"). However, instead of disbanding his militias, he continued fortifying Jinjipu, and collaborating with the rebels who had retreated to Gansu from Shaanxi.

Ma was besieged in Jinjipu in July 1869 by the Qing forces led by General Zuo Zongtang. After fortifications outside of the town itself had been captured by the government troops, and starvation started inside the walls, Ma Hualong surrendered in January 1871, hoping to spare the lives of his people. However, once Zuo's troops entered Jinjipu, a massacre followed, with over a thousand people losing their lives. and the town being destroyed.

Existing accounts on Ma Hualong's death differ. It is likely that he was executed on Zuo's orders on March 2, 1871, along with his son Ma Yaobang and over eighty rebel officials (supposedly, Zuo sentenced them to death by slicing), although it was said by some that he had been murdered by a traitor from within his own ranks.

Few of Ma Hualong's family survived the massacre at Jinjipu. Two of his grandsons, Ma Jincheng and Ma Jinxi, were sentenced to castration upon reaching the age of 12. Ma Jincheng ended his days as a eunuch slave in Kaifeng in 1890, although the new Jahriyya leader, Ma Yuanzhang (the 1850s - 1920), managed to secretly provide him with some support until his death. The younger grandson, Ma Jinxi, was spirited away, intact, from his Xi'an confinement by Ma Yuanzhang, and was hidden at a Hui household in Hangzhou.

Many years later, Ma Yuanzhang managed to obtain a pardon for Ma Jinxi, and Ma Hualong's grandson returned to Ningxia. A split within the Jahriyya followed, with some members becoming followers of Ma Jinxi, and others holding for Ma Yuanzhang (who claimed descent from the order's founder Ma Mingxin, and was also related to Ma Hualong's family through his marriage).

According to Jahriyya adherents in Ningxia, Ma Hualong's grave is in Dongta Town, which now is a suburb of Wuzhong City. Accordingly, a tomb shrine called Siqiliangzi gongbei was established there. More than 10,000 people from all over China attended a commemoration ceremony (ermaili) at that site in 1985.

Adherents of a rival tradition within Jahriyya, however, believe that Ma Hualong's true tomb is in Xuanhuagang, in Gansu's Zhangjiachuan County, which, coincidentally, was the base of Ma Hualong's successor, Ma Yuanzhang.

Some authors try to reconcile the two traditions, by saying that Ma Hualong's body is in Dongta, and the head is in Zhangjiachuan.



Ma Ch'ao-ching see Ma Hua-lung
Ch'ao-ching, Ma see Ma Hua-lung
Hua-lung, Ma see Ma Hua-lung
Ma Hualong see Ma Hua-lung
Hualong, Ma see Ma Hua-lung

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