Mohammedanism may be said, even in its most suc- cessful field — Africa — to be everywhere in a condition of steadUy progressing decay. The most intelligent travellers of modern times show a remarkable agree- ment with regard to this point. H. von Maltzahn, who visited, in the disguise of a Mohammedan pilgrim, all the countries from Timbuctoo to INIecca, and the Hunga- rian, Vambe'ry, who in the same disguise travelled from Teheran to Samarcand ; Henry Earth, who penetrated into Central Africa as far as Timbuctoo ; and Palgrave, who in 18G2 visited Central and Eastern Arabia, and iii particular the empire of the Wahabites, all bear witness to this decay of the Islam. The baron of Maltzahn, in his book of the Pilgrimage to Mecca, which he joined in 1860, under the name of Sidi Abd'er Kahman ben- Mohammed es-Shikdi, says: "The Islam has long been undermined, but now it appears to be on the eve of a general collapse ; all that formerlj' constituted its glory — science, scholarship, art, industry — has long left it; its pohtical power has become a laughing-stock, its commerce has been reduced to zero; one thing only seems to stay for a time the impending collapse — relig- ious fanaticism. A remarkable instance of this decline of Mohammedanism is shown in the decrease of the population of the large cities. Thus Bagdad, which at the time of the caliphate had 2,000,000 inhabitants, has now only 100,000 ; the popidation of Basrah has been reduced from 200,000 to 80,000 ; that of Aleppo from 200,000 to 90,000; that of Samarcand from 180,000 to 20,000 ; that of Katsena, which in the 17th centurj' was the first city of Central Soudan, from 100,000 to 8000. Even the population of the holy city of Mecca, the most licentious city of the East, has been reduced from 100,000 to 45,000. The only country of the Moham- medan world which, during the last twenty years, has made real and important progress is Egypt; but its progress is clearly traceable to the influence of Chris- tian countries. Most of the rulers of the house of Me- hemet Ali have shown their appreciation of the supe- riority of Western civilization, and made earnest ef- forts to elevate Egypt to a level with it. All the
sons of the present khedive have received a Euro- pean education: one has been instructed in Paris, a second one in England, and a third one is to enter the Prussian army. Industrial departments have been cre- ated, as in the constitutional monarchies of Europe, and a council of state lias been created to advise the khedive in all the important affairs of the state. The most in- fluential among the Egyptian ministers, and for many years the chief adviser of the khedive, is an Armenian Christian, Nubar Pasha. Even an assembly of depu-- ties meets annually since 1866, which, as it is officially expressed, is to control the administration and to fix the budget. Sweeping reforms have, in particular, been effected in the department of public education. Since 1868 public schools have been established by the gov- ernment in all the important places of the country. They numbered in 1870 about 4000 pupils, who received from the government not only gratuitous instruction, but their entire support, inclusive of clothing. These schools embrace both the primary and the secondary instruction. The former embraced Arabic reading and writing, arithmetic, drawing, French, or, according to the location of the place, some other foreign language. From the elementary school the pupils pass into the preparatory department of the secondary school. The course lasts three years, and embraces the study of the Arabic, Turkish, French, and English languages; math- ematics, drawing, historj', and geography. After com- pleting this preparatory course, the pupil enters one of the special schools which are to finish his education for the service of the state. These special schools are: 1. The Polytechnic School, the course of which lasts four years. As in France, its pupils are permitted to choose between the civil and the military career. In the for- mer case the pupil enters for two years the School of Administration, and afterwards the service of the state ; in the latter case he enters the Military Academy of the Abbassieh at Cairo. The Polytechnical School had in 1871 seventy-one pupils. 2. The Law School. The students study the law of the Islam, especially that of Egypt, which is now in the course of a radical transfor- mation, and also the Roman law and the present laws of the European countries. 3. The Philological School.
4. The School of Arts and Industry, founded at Bulak by Mehemet Ali, and greatly perfected by Ismail Pasha.
5. The Medical School, with which is connected a School of Midwifery, the only one which exists in the East. 6. The Naval School in Alexandria. Quite recently the Egyptian government has called the celebrated German Orientalist, H. Brugsch, of Gtittingen, to Cairo, in order to organize there an academy for archaologj', and, in particular, Egyptological studies. All these reforms are making wide breaches into the walls by which Moham- medan fanaticism has so long tried to isolate itself from the remainder of the world. Still more is this the case with the construction of the canal of Suez, which opens to the civilization of the Christian coimtries a new and wide road to the intellects and minds of the Egyptian Mohammedans, which, it is believed, no obstruction will ever be able again to block up. The results of this con- tact between Egypt and Christian Europe and America are already apparent. Tlie fanatical customs which the Mohammedans, like those of other countries, used to in- dulge in with regard to Christians begin to disappear one by one. The growth of some of the Egyptian cities is marvellous. Alexandria, which at the close of the 18th century had only 6000, in 1820 only 15,000 inhab- itants, has now over 200,000. The rule of the khedive has been extended far southward into Central Africa and on the coasts of the Red Sea, and it appears to be highly probable that his ambitious scheme of building up a vast civilized African empire has good prospects of being realized." Detailed accounts of the several na- tional branches of Jlohammedans are given under the articles treating of the respective countries. In an ar- ticle under Saracens we will consider the political history of the Moslems since the days of their great