Maiwand

Maiwand, 50 miles NW. of Kandahar, where an English army was defeated by Ayub Khan, 27th July 1880.

Majuba Hill

Maju'ba Hill, in the extreme north of Natal, was the scene of the defeat of 648 British troops, with the loss of their leader, Sir George Colley, by a greatly superior force of Transvaal Boers on 27th February 1881.

Mako

Mako, a market-town of Hungary, on the Maros, 19 miles ESE. of Szegedin. Pop. 35,663.

Malabar

Malabar', a district (5585 sq. m.) on the southwest coast of India, in the Presidency of Madras. Pop. 2,S52,565, over two-thirds Hindus, and one-fourth Mohammedans. The name is applied to the whole SW. coast of Southern India.

Maladetta

Maladetta ('accursed'), a great mountain of the Pyrenees, 12 miles SE. of Bagneres de Luchon, containing the highest peak of the whole range, the Pic de Nethou (11,170 feet).

Malar

Malar, Lake, most beautiful of Swedish lakes, is 80 miles in length from E. to W., and has numerous long narrow arms and offsets ; area, 650 sq. m. It is studded with over 1200 wooded islands. Its east end is close by Stockholm, where its waters are poured into the Baltic.

Malatia

Malatia (anc. Melitene), a town in the province of Diarbekir in Asia Minor, 8 miles from the Euphrates. Pop. 20,000.

Malay Peninsula

Malay Peninsula. See Malacca.

Maldegem

Mal'degem, a town of Belgium, 12 miles by rail E. of Bruges. Pop. 8522.

Maiden

Maiden, a village of Surrey, 3 miles SE. of Kingston-upon-Thames. The manor-house and estate here of Bishop Walter de Merton was the original endowment (1264) of Merton College at Oxford. New Maiden is 2 miles E. of Kingston, of which it is practically a suburb.

Maiden

Maiden, a town of Massachusetts, 5 miles by rail N. of Boston. It manufactures india-rubber goods, cords and tassels, sand-paper, etc. Pop. (1880) 12,017 ; (1900) 33,664.

Maiden Island

Maiden Island, a British possession in the Central Pacific, NW. of the Marquesas. It is a coral island 5 miles long by 4 broad, and has deposits of guano. Pop. 168.

Maldive Islands

Maldive Islands, a chain of coral atolls in the Indian Ocean, lying SW. of Ceylon, 550 miles in length by 45 in breadth ; the seventeen groups embrace several hundred islands, all small, with a total pop. of 30,000. Less than 200 are inhabited. Male (pop. 2000), the residence of the Sultan, is 1 mile long. The people are closely akin to the Singhalese. They are Mohammedans by religion, and are peaceful, affectionate, and cleanly. Coir, cowries, dried bonito fish, cocoa-nuts and copra, and tortoise-shell are exported. Ibn Batuta lived on the islands in 1343-44. The Portuguese had factories there after 1518. Since 1645 they have been dependent on Ceylon.

Maldon

Maldon, a municipal borough of Essex, 9 miles E. of Chelmsford and 38 NE. of London (by rail 44), stands on a hill near the confluence of the Chelmer and the Blackwater, in the vicinity of which traces are still extant of a Roman encampment. It has two fine churches, and a quaint town or moot hall dating from the reign of Henry VI., and manufactures salt; near it are oyster-fisheries. From 1328 to 1867 Maldon returned two members to parliament, and thence to 1885 one. Pop. (1801) 2358 ; (1901) 5505.

Maldon

Maldon, a town of Talbot county, Victoria, 80 miles NE. of Melbourne. It is the centre of a good gold district. Pop. 3600.