BANIM

banim, john (1798-1842), irish novelist, sometimes called the "scott of ireland," was born at kilkenny on the 3rd of april 1798. in his thirteenth year he entered kilkenny college and devoted himself specially to drawing and painting. he pursued his artistic education for two years in the schools connected with the royal society at dublin, and afterwards taught drawing in kilkenny, where he fell in love with one of his pupils. his affection was returned, but the parents of the young lady interfered and removed her from kilkenny. she pined away and died in two months. her death made a deep impression on banim, whose health suffered severely and permanently. in 1820 he went to dublin and settled finally to the work of literature. he published a poem, _the celts' paradise_, and his _damon and pythias_ was performed at covent garden in 1821. during a short visit to kilkenny he married, and in 1822 planned in conjunction with his elder brother michael (1796-1874), a series of tales illustrative of irish life, which should be for ireland what the waverley novels were for scotland. he then set out for london, and supported himself by writing for magazines and for the stage. a volume of miscellaneous essays was published anonymously in 1824, called _revelations of the dead alive_. in april 1825 appeared the first series of _tales of the o'hara family_, which achieved immediate and decided success. one of the most powerful of them, _crohoore of the bill hook_, was by michael banim. in 1826 a second series was published, containing that excellent irish novel, _the nowlans_. john's health had given way, and the next effort of the "o'hara family" was almost entirely the production of his brother michael. _the croppy, a tale of 1798_ (1828) is hardly equal to the earlier tales, though it contains some wonderfully vigorous passages. _the denounced_, _the mayor of windgap_, _the ghost hunter_ (by michael banim), and _the smuggler_ followed in quick succession, and were received with considerable favour. john banim, meanwhile, had become much straitened in circumstances. in 1829 he went to france, and while he was abroad a movement to relieve his wants was set on foot by the english press, headed by john sterling in _the times_. a sufficient sum was obtained to remove him from any danger of actual want, and to this government added in 1836 a pension of l150. he returned to ireland in 1835, and settled in windgap cottage, a short distance from kilkenny; and there, a complete invalid, he passed the remainder of his life, dying on the 13th of august 1842. michael banim had acquired a considerable fortune which he lost in 1840 through the bankruptcy of a firm with which he had business relations. after this disaster he wrote _father connell_ (1842), _clough fionn_ (1852), _the town of the cascades_ (1862). michael banim died at booterstown on the 30th of august 1874. the true place of the banims in literature is to be estimated from the merits of the _o'hara tales_; their later works, though of considerable ability, are sometimes prolix and are marked by too evident an imitation of the waverley novels. the _tales_, however, are masterpieces of faithful delineation. the strong passions, the lights and shadows of irish peasant character, have rarely been so ably and truly depicted. the incidents are striking, sometimes even horrible, and the authors have been accused of straining after melodramatic effect. the lighter, more joyous side of irish character, which appears so strongly in samuel lover, receives little attention from the banims. see p. j. murray, _life of john banim_ (1857). banjaluka (sometimes written banialuka, or bainaluka), the capital of a district bearing the same name, in bosnia. pop. (1895) 13,666, of whom about 7000 were moslems. banjaluka lies on the river vrbas, and at the terminus of a military railway which meets the hungarian state line at jasenovac, 30 m. n.n.w. banjaluka is the seat of roman catholic and orthodox bishops, a district court, and an austrian garrison. it is at the head of a narrow defile, shut in by steep hills on the east and west but expanding on the north to meet the valley of the save. a small stream called the crkvina enters the vrbas from the north-east and in the angle thus formed stand the citadel and barracks, with the 16th-century ferhadiya jamia, largest and most beautiful of more than 40 mosques in the city. the celebrated roman baths are all in ruins, except one massive, domed building, dating from the 6th century and still in use, although modern baths are also open, for the development of the hot springs. other noteworthy buildings are the franciscan and trappist monasteries, a girls' school, belonging to the sisterhood of the sacred blood of nazareth, a real-school and a turkish bazaar. coal, iron, silver and other minerals are found in the adjoining hills; and the city possesses a government tobacco factory, a brewery, cloth-mills, gunpowder-mills, a model farm and many corn-mills, worked by the two rapid rivers. banjaluka is probably the roman fort, marked, in the _tabula peutingeriana_, as _castra_, on the river urbanus and the road from salona on the adriatic to servitium in pannonia. the origin of its later name, meaning the "baths of st luke," is uncertain. in the 15th century, the fall of jajce, a rival stronghold 22 m. s., led to the rapid rise of banjaluka, which was thenceforward the scene of many encounters between austrians and turks; notably in 1527, 1688 and 1737. no bosnian city had greater prosperity or importance in the last half of the 18th century. in 1831, hussein aga borberli, called the "dragon of bosnia," or _zmaj bosanski_, set forth from banjaluka on his holy war against the sultan mahmud ii. (see bosnia.) banjermasin (dutch _bandjermasin_), the chief town in the dutch portion of the island of borneo, east indies, on the river martapura, near its junction with the barito, 24 m. from the mouth of the barito in a bay of the south coast. the town is the seat of the dutch resident of south and east borneo. its buildings stand on either bank of the river, but many of the inhabitants (who number nearly 50,000) occupy houses either floating on, or built on piles in the river. as large vessels can sail up to the town, it is a trade centre for the products of the districts along the banks of the barito and martapura, such as benzoin, rattans, wax, gold, diamonds, iron and weapons. in 1700 the east indian company established a factory here; but the place was found to be unhealthy, and the company's servants were finally attacked by the natives, whom they repulsed with great difficulty. the settlement was abandoned. the english again seized banjermasin in 1811, but restored it in 1817. of the commercial community the chinese are a very important portion, and there is also a considerable number of arabs. the district of banjermasin was incorporated by the dutch in consequence of the war of 1860, in regard to the succession in the sultanate, which had been under their protection since 1787. the town of martapura was the seat of the sultan from 1771. the inland portion of the district is covered with forest, while the flat and swampy seaboard is largely occupied by rice-fields. the inhabitants are mostly dyaks.