SHIKARPUR 396 SHIMONOSEKi Shiites, habitually ill-used in Arabia, absent themselves much from Mecca, and, unable to bless Abu-bekr and Omar, who are buried in Medina, go still less thither. But they do pilgrimage unhindered to the tombs of Ali and Hussein in the pashalic of Bagdad, and to the tomb of Riza, one of their 12 imams, in Meshhed, the capital of Khorassan, and to the tombs of Shiite saints. They keep the orthodox feasts and others, among which the Moharram feast, occupying the first 10 days of the month Moharram, and com- memorating the martyrdom of Hussein, is the chief. They detest Ayeshah and the founders of the four orthodox schools, and hold all caliphs save Ali to have been usurpers. They own no caliphate nor imamate; these have been dormant since the death of Mohammed, their 12th imam, in 879, but shall be revived in him when he, the Hidden Imam, reappears as the Mahdi. Shiism, the ancient protest of Persian patriotism against Arabian ascen- dency, has spread through Afghanistan into India, but toward the W. has made no way. The Shiites, divided and sub- divided into sects, number 10,000,000, most of whom are Aryans. Toleration and free thought are common in towns and among the more cultivated Persians. In 1736 Nadir Shah tried but failed to restore the Shiites to orthodoxy. SHIKARPUR, an important trading town and capital of a district in the N. of Sind, India, 18 miles W. of the Indus, on the railway leading to Quetta and Pishin. Before the opening of this rail- way it was a place of very considerable commercial importance, owing to its situa- tion on one of the principal routes be- tween India and Khorassan — viz.: that by the Bolan Pass. It occupies a very low site, the adjacent country being often inundated, but the soil is extremely fer- tile and yields heavy crops of grain and fruits. Carpets, coarse cottons, furniture, baskets, etc., are made in the town. Pop. about 54,000. SHILKA, a river of Eastern Siberia; rises in the Trans-Baikal region, among the Yablonoi mountains, and after a N. E. course of 260 miles falls into the Amur, a little beyond Ust Strelka. It is navigable for boats to the foot of the Yablonoi mountains, and is historically interesting as the "point of departure" for the Russians in their conquests on the Lower Amur. SHILLABER, BENJAMIN PENH AL- LOW, an American humorist; born in Portsmouth, N. H., July 12, 1814; was best known as the author of the popular sayings of "Mrs. Partington." He was connected with the "Boston Post," the "Saturday Evening Gazette," and other periodicals, and wrote: "Rhymes with Reason and Without" (1853); "Life and Sayings of Mrs. Partington" (1854) ; "Mrs. Partington's Knitting Work" (1857); "Partingtonian Patch -Work" (1873) ; "Lines in Pleasant Places" (1874) ; "Ike Partington and His Friends" (1879); "Cruises with Captain Bob" (1880); "The Double - Runner Club" (1882) ; etc. He died in Chelsea, Mass., Nov. 25, 1890. SHILLING, an English silver coin and money of account equal to 12 pence, or the 20th part of a sovereign or pound sterling; and equivalent in the United States to about 24^ cents. In the United 'States, a denomination of money formerly in use, differing in value relatively to the dollar in different states, but below that of the English shilling. York shilling, a designation given in some parts of Canada to a silver sixpenny piece or Eng- lish sixpence. SHILOH, a town of the tribe of Eph- raim, the first permanent resting-place of the Tabernacle; the home of Eli and Samuel; and long the religious center of Israel. The site is well ascertained — a ruinous village hidden among the hills 20 miles N. of Jerusalem. SHILOH, BATTLE OF, one of the most memorable battles of the American Civil War. Shiloh was a locality in Har- din co., Tenn., near Pittsburgh Landing, on the Tennessee, and 88 miles E. of Memphis. It took its name from a log chapel known as "Shiloh Church." The battle was fought on April 6 and 7, 1862, Grant and Sherman leading the Federals, and Albert S. Johnston and Beauregard the Confederates. The first day the Con- federates, taking the Federals by sur- prise, drove them from their lines with heavy loss in men and guns; but the second day the Federals, having received reinforcements under Buell, and largely outnumbering the Confederates, regained their lines, and forced the Confederates to retreat to their former position at Corinth. General Johnston was killed on the first day. The Federal loss was placed at 13,573; the Confederate at 10,699. SHIMONOSEKI, a town of Japan, at the S. W. extremity of the main island and the W. entrance to the Inland Sea; declared a seaport open to foreign traders in 1890. The batteries and a part of the town itself were destroyed during a bom- bardment by a combined English, French, Dutch, and American fleet in 1864. Here the peace between China and Japan was negotiated after the war of 1894. Pop. (1918) 67,866.
