MAHI KANTHA

mahi kantha, a political agency or collection of native states in india, within the gujarat division of bombay. over half the territory is covered by the native state of idar. there are eleven other chiefships, and a large number of estates belonging to rajput or koli thakurs, formerly feudatories of baroda. several of the states are under british administration. total area, 3125 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 361,545, showing a decrease of 38% in the decade, due to famine; estimated revenue, £76,000; tribute (mostly to the gaekwar of baroda), £9000. many of the inhabitants belong to the wild tribes of bhils and kolis. in 1897 a metre-gauge railway was opened from ahmedabad through parantij to ahmednagar. at sadra is the scott college for the education of the sons of chiefs on the lines of an english public school. there are also anglo-vernacular schools at sadra, idar and mansa. the famine of 1899-1900 was severely felt in this tract. mahmud i. (1696-1754), sultan of turkey, was the son of mustafa ii., and succeeded his uncle ahmed iii. in 1730. after the suppression of a military revolt the war with persia was continued with varying success, and terminated in 1736 by a treaty of peace restoring the _status quo ante bellum_. the next enemy whom turkey was called upon to face was russia, later joined by austria. war went on for four years; the successes gained by russia were outweighed by austria's various reverses, terminating by the defeat of wallis at krotzka, and the peace concluded at belgrade was a triumph for turkish diplomacy. the sultan, throughout desirous for peace, is said to have been much under the influence of the chief eunuch, haji beshir aga. in 1754 mahmud died of heart-disease when returning from the friday service at the mosque. he had a passion for building, to which are due numberless kiosques, where nocturnal orgies were carried on by him and his boon companions. in this reign the system of appointing phanariote greeks to the principalities of moldavia and wallachia was instituted. (see phanariotes.) mahmud ii. (1785-1839), sultan of turkey, was the son of abu-ul-hamid