AZAMGARH

azamgarh, or azimgarh, a city and district of british india, in the gorakhpur division of the united provinces. the town is situated on the river tons, and has a railway station. it is said to have been founded about 1665 by a powerful landholder named azim khan, who owned large estates in this part of the country. pop. (1901) 18,835. the area of the district is 2207 sq. m. it is bounded on the n. by the river gogra, separating it from gorakhpur district; on the e. by ghazipur district and the river ganges; on the s. by the districts of jaunpur and ghazipur; and on the w. by jaunpur and fyzabad. the portion of the district lying along the banks of the gogra is a low-lying tract, varying considerably in width; south of this, however, the ground takes a slight rise. the slope of the land is from north-west to south-east, but the general drainage is very inadequate. roughly speaking, the district consists of a series of parallel ridges, whose summits are depressed into beds or hollows, along which the rivers flow; while between the ridges are low-lying rice lands, interspersed with numerous natural reservoirs. the soil is fertile, and very highly cultivated, bearing magnificent crops of rice, sugar-cane and indigo. there are several indigo factories. a branch of the bengal & north-western railway to azamgarh town was opened in 1898. in 1901 the population was 1,529,785, showing a decrease of 11% in the decade. the district was ceded to the company in 1801 by the wazirs of lucknow. in 1857 it became a centre of mutiny. on the 3rd of june 1857 the 17th regiment of native infantry mutinied at azamgarh, murdered some of their officers, and carried off the government treasure to fyzabad. the district became a centre of the fighting between the gurkhas and the rebels, and was not finally cleared until october 1858 by colonel kelly. a[z.][=a]n (arabic for "announcement"), the call or summons to public prayers proclaimed by the muezzin (crier) from the mosque twice daily in all mahommedan countries. in small mosques the muezzin at a[z.][=a]n stands at the door or at the side of the building; in large ones he takes up his position in the minaret. the call translated runs: "god is most great!" (four times), "i testify there is no god but god!" (twice), "i testify that mahomet is the apostle of god!" (twice), "come to prayer!" (twice), "come to salvation!" (twice), "god is most great!" (twice), "there is no god but god!" to the morning a[z.][=a]n are added the words, "prayer is better than sleep!" (twice). the devout moslem has to make a set response to each phrase of the muezzin. at first these are mere repetitions of a[z.][=a]n, but to the cry "come to prayer!" the listener must answer, "i have no power nor strength but from god the most high and great." to that of "come to salvation!" the formal response is, "what god willeth will be: what he willeth not will not be." the recital of the a[z.][=a]n must be listened to with the utmost reverence. the passers in the streets must stand still, all those at work must cease from their labours, and those in bed must sit up. the muezzin, who is a paid servant of the mosque, must stand with his face towards mecca and with the points of his forefingers in his ears while reciting a[z.][=a]n. he is specially chosen for good character, and a[z.][=a]n must not be recited by any one unclean, by a drunkard, by the insane, or by a woman. the summons to prayers was at first simply "come to prayer!" mahomet, anxious to invest the call with the dignity of a ceremony, took counsel of his followers. some suggested the jewish trumpet, others the christian bell, but according to legend the matter was finally settled by a dream:--"while the matter was under discussion, abdallah, a khazrajite, dreamed that he met a man clad in green raiment, carrying a bell. abdallah sought to buy it, saying that it would do well for bringing together the assembly of the faithful. 'i will show thee a better way,' replied the stranger; 'let a crier cry aloud "god is most great, &c."' on awaking, abdallah went to mahomet and told him his dream," and a[z.][=a]n was thereupon instituted.