Bang, Or Banj

Bang, Or Banj, a narcotic made of the leaf of a kind of hemp (cannabis Indica), used by the orientals as a means of intoxication. It is generally chewed. It is also sometimes given with tobacco, or in coffee or other drinks, and is used to drug persons with.

Bangalore

Bangalore, a fortified city of southern India, in the state of Mysore, 175 m. W. of Madras; pop. in 1867 estimated 140,000, mostly Hindoos. It was founded by Hyder Ali, under whom it rose rapidly. Lord Cornvvallis took it by assault in 1791, and alter the English withdrew Tippoo Saib partially dismantled the fortress and drove away the wealthy merchants by bis heavy exactions. On the death of Tippoo the territory, though ruled by a native sovereign, came under British protection, and revived rapidly. The town has considerable trade with all parts of S. India in salt, sugar, spices, metals, dyestuffs, silk, cotton, and wool. Silk and cotton tissues are woven for home consumption. The town is on an elevated site, and is a place of resort for invalids.

Banialuka

Banialuka, a fortified town of Turkey in Europe, in the province of Bosnia, on the left bank of the Verbas, 90 m. N.W. of Bosna-Serai; pop. about 15,000. It contains 40 mosques, several colleges, public baths, a cathedral, and a powder mill.

Banister, Or Halifax Court House

Banister, Or Halifax Court House, a post village of Halifax CO., Virginia, on the Banister river, 10 m. above its continence with the Dan, and 120 m. by rail S.W. of Richmond; pop. in 1870, 3,731. The Richmond and Danville railroad passes through it, and the river is navigable for bateaux from its mouth to Meadville, 10 m. above Banister. Six miles from the village there is a plumbago mine.

Banjo

Banjo (corrupted from bandore, a species of guitar), a musical stringed instrument much esteemed by the negroes of the southern United States. Its capacity is limited to the performance of simple tunes, and it is purely an instrument of accompaniment. Its head and neck are shaped like the guitar, while the body is a circular frame like the head of a drum, over which parchment is stretched in place of a sounding board. Five strings, of which the fifth is shorter than the others, pass over this parchment, and are played with the fingers.

Bank Ban, Or Ban Bank

Bank Ban, Or Ban Bank, a Hungarian military governor, executed with his whole family by order of King Andrew II. (1205-35). Bank's wife having been seduced by the queen's brother Eckart, with the queen's connivance, he placed himself at the head of a mob who stormed the palace in the king's absence and cut the queen to pieces, Eckart barely escaping with his life to Styria (1214). Katona's Bank-ban, a celebrated Hungarian drama (Klausen-burg, 1827), has been translated into German (Leipsic, 1858). Grillparzer also dramatized the subject in Ein treuer Diener seines Herrn (Vienna, 1830).

Banquo

Banquo, a Scottish thane and warrior of the 11th century, celebrated as the progenitor of the royal house of Stuart, through his grandson Walter, first lord high steward of Scotland. He was assassinated by Macbeth in 10G6, after having joined him in his conspiracy against King Duncan; but Shakespeare, instead of making him Macbeth's accomplice, represents him simply as his victim.