Ma'havite (Hebrew only in the plur. Marhavtm', C^irfO, reviriiir/; Sept. MfirociV v. r. Mowi, Vulg. Ma- humitcs, Auth. Vers. ''^Nlahavitc ;" probably by erroneous transcription for the sing. "^W/C), apparently a patrial attribute of Eliel, one of David's body-guard (1 Chron.
xi, 46) ; but no place or person Mahavah or Mahavai is anywhere else alluded to from which the title could have been derived. There is doubtless some corruption in the text, "The Targum has N1W;5 •^•Qr\, 'from Machavua.' Kennicott {Dissert. \).2o\.) conjectures that originally the Hebrew may have stood f^intl^S, ' from the Hivites.' Others have proposed to insert an N and read ' the jSIahanaimite' (Flirst, Ilamlwh. p. 721 a ; Ber- theau, Chronik. p. 130)" (Smith).
Maha'ziOth (Ueh.Machazioth', TiiX'^'n^, visions; Sept. Maw^twS' v. r. Mta^w^), the last named of the fourteen sons of Heman the Levite (1 Chron. xxv, 4), and leader under him of the twentj'-third division of the Temple musicians as arranged bv David (1 Chron. xxv, 30). B.C. lOM.
Ma'her-sha'Ial-hash-baz (Heb. Maher'-Sha- lul'-Chash-Baz, tS Tirri ??'C3 THp, speeding for booty he hastes to the spoil; Sept, 6t,Hi)Q Trpovofn)v Tvoiiiaai aicu- Xiov and Taxso)Q CKvXivaov, o^tujg Trpov('>ptvaov,\u\g. Velociier spolia detrahe, cilo prccdare and A ccelera spo- lia detrahere, festina prcudari ; for the grammatical con- struction, see Gesenius, Comment, ad loc), words which the prophet Isaiah was first commanded to write in large characters upon a tablet, and aftenvards to give as a symbolical name to a son that was to be born to him (Isa. viii, 1, 3), as prognostic of the sudden attack of Damascus and Syria by the Assyrian army (see Hen- derson's Comment, ad loc). The child in question was evidently the prophet's son bj' " the prophetess" whom he espoused in pursuance of the divine mandate, and appears to have been the same with the one whose birth under the more Messianic title of Immanuel was at once a token to Ahaz of the coming defeat of his ene- mies (Isa. vii, 14-16), and an illustrious type of Gospel deliverance, B.C. 739.
Mahes(h)a and MehesWara are names by which Siva is sometimes called. See Siva.
Mah'lali (Heb. Machlah', Th'H'O, another form for nbri^, disease, as in Exod. xv, 26, etc.), the name of two persons.
1. (Sept, MooXa v. r. MafXn,Vulg. Mohola. Auth. Vers. "Mahalah.") Apparently a son (but perhaps a daughter) of Hamoleketh, a female descendant of Ma- nasseh ; the father's name is not given, but two brothers are mentioned (1 Chron. vii, 18). B.C. prob. cir, 1658.
2. (Sept, Moa\a,Vulg. Melcha.) The first named of the five daughters and heiresses of Zelophehad, of the tribe of Manasseh west, who married among their kin- dred (Numb, xxvi, 33 ; xxvii, 1 ; xxxvi, 11 ; Josh, xvii, 13). B.C. 1618.
Mah'li (Heb. MachW, "^IpH^, sick; Sept. MooXi, Vidg. Moholi; but in Exod. vi, 19, MooXfi, Auth,X'ers, " Mahali ;" see also INIahi.ite), the name of two Levites.
1. A son of Xlerari, and grandson of Levi (Exod, vi, 19; Numb, lii, 20; 1 Chron, vi, 19; xxiii, 21 ; xxiv, 26, 28; Ezra viii, 18), He had a son named Libni (1 Chron. vi, 29). His descendants were named after him (Numb, iii, 33; xxvi, 58). B.C. post 1856.
2. A son of Mushi, and. nephew of the preceding (1 Chron. xxiii, 23 ; xxiv, 30). He had a son named Sha- mer (1 Chron. vi, 47). B.C. ante 1658.
Mah'lite (Heb. only in the singular collectively, 3fachli', ''^n^, patronymic of the same form from Mahli; Sept, MooXi, X'ldg. Moholita; ; but in Numb, xxvi, 58, Sept, omits, Vulg, J/o/ioZi; A. Vers, constantly " Mahlites"), the descendants of Mahli, the son of Merari (Numb, iii, 33 ; xxvi, 58).
Mah'lon (Hebrew Machlon', '^^^'PT\'2, sickly ; Sept. Maa\iO]',yn]g.J/()hahm), the elder of the two sons of Elimelech the Bethlehemite by Naomi ; they removed with him to Moab, where this one married Ituth, and died childless (Ruth i, 2, 5; iv, 9, 10). B,C, cir, 1360. .See Ri'TH, " It is uncertain which was the elder of the two. In the narrative (i, 2, 5) Mahlon is mentioned
MAHMUD
657
MAHRATTAS
first, but in his formal address to the elders in the gate (iv, 9), Boaz says ' Chilion and Mahlon.' Like his brother, Mahlon died in the land of ]\Ioab without off- spring, which in the Targum on Kuth (i, 5) is explained to have been a judgment for their transgression of the law in marrying a Moabitess. In the Targum on 1 Chron. iv^, '2i, Mahlon is identified with Joash, possibly on account of the double meaning of the Hebrew word which follows, and wliich signifies both ' had dominion' and ' married'" (Smith).
Mahniud, Abul-Kasim Ye.min Er>-DowLAir, one of the most celebrated of the Mohammedan sovereigns, the founder of the Gaznevide dynasty, and the first who established a permanent Moslem empire in India, was born at Gazna (or Ghizni) in A.D. 9G7. His fa- ther was originally a Turkish slave, but having become governor, under the sovereign of Persia, of the prov- ince of Kandahar, he finally secured for his own posses- sion the whole of the Punjab (q. v.), besides the AflF- ghan dominions. Mahmud came to the throne A.D. 997. Already, during the reign of his father, Mahmud had distinguished himself by superior warlike qual- ities. Ill treated by Mansiir, the Saraanide sovereign of Persia, he made war against him, resulting in the overthrow of the Samanide dynasty, and the establish- ment of Mahmud himself as the most powerful mon- arch in Asia. A devout Mussulman, he aspired to the character of an apostle of his religion. " His chief am- bition was to extend his religion throughout the rich l)rovincos of India, a task to which he was stimidated bj' a belief, cherished from his early boyhood, that he was intristed with a divine mission to extirpate idolatry from the land of the Hindus." In twelve successive expeditions into India, during a reign of thirty-five years, he carried fire and sword among the idolaters, de- throned and slew several princes, plundered and burned theii cities, stormed the forts, massacred the garrisons, ravaged the fields, and carried away so many natives into captivity, that the price of a slave was reduced at Gazna to a couple of rupees ; and all this notwithstand- ing that all India regarded the contest with Mahmud in the light of a holy war, and that no sacrifice of mon- ey or men' was spared to defend the religion of their forefathers (compare Moore's poem PararUse and the Peri). Mahmud extended his conquests not only over the whole of the Punjab, but penetrated as far as Bun- delcund on the east, and Guzerat on the south. It has frequently been charged that these incursions to India were made by INIahmud rather for the sake of spoil than to extend the Mussulman faith (comp. Trevor, In- clia, p. 72), but there is every evidence, both in the fact that his arms were constantly directed against the re- ligion rather than the people, and in his lavish expen- diture at Gazna of the treasures brought from India, and in the encouragement he gave to learning, that Mahmud believed in his divine mission. He founded a university in Gazna, with a vast collection of curi- ous books, in various languages, and a museum of nat- ural curiosities. He appropriated a large sum for the maintenance of this establishment. He also set aside £10.000 a year for pensions to learned men. Ho died in 1030. The great Mussulman poet Firdusi flourish- ed at this time. See Ferishta, History of the Rise of the Mohiimniedan Power in India (translated by general Briggs) ; Wilken, Historia Ghasnevidanim ; Historj) of Ju-itish India, vol. i (Harper's Farailj' Library) ; Von Hammer, Gemdhldesaal grosser Moslemischer Herrscher ; 'JVc'vor, India, p. G9 sq. ; India, Pictorial, Descript. and Hist. (London, Bohn, 1854, 12mo), p. 54 sq. ; D'Hcrbelot, liiblioth. Orientale, p. 544 sq. ; and the excellent article in Tliomas, Diet, of Biorj. and Mijthol. s. v. (J. H. W.)