carries with it many associations of earliest Aryan times. Here Krishna and his brother Balarama fed their cattle upon the plain; and numerous relics of antiquity in the towns of Muttra, Gobardhan, Gokul, Mahaban and Brindaban still attest the sanctity with which this holy tract was invested. During the Buddhist period Muttra became a centre of the new faith. After the invasion of Mahmud of Ghazni the city fell into insignificance till the reign of Akbar; and thenceforward its history merges in that of the Jats of Bharatpur, until it again acquired separate individuality under Suraj Mal in the middle of the 18th century. The Bharatpur chiefs took an active part in the disturbances consequent on the declining power of the Mogul emperors, sometimes on the imperial side, and at others with the Mahrattas. The whole of Muttra passed under British rule in 1804.
See F. S. Growse, Mathura (Allahabad, 1883).
MUTULE (Lat. mutulus, a stay or bracket), in architecture the rectangular block under the soffit of the cornice of the Greek Doric temple, which is studded with guttae. It is supposed to represent the piece of timber through which the wooden pegs were driven in order to hold the rafter in position, and it follows the rake of the roof. In the Roman Doric order the mutule was horizontal, with sometimes a crowning fillet, so that it virtually fulfilled the purpose of the modillion in the Corinthian cornice.
MUZAFFAR-ED-DĪN, shah of Persia (1853–1907), the second son of Shah Nasr-ed-Dīn, was born on the 25th of March 1853. He was in due course declared valī ahd, or heir-apparent, and invested with the governorship of Azerbaijan, but on the assassination of his father in 1896 it was feared that his elder brother, Zill-es-Sultan, the governor of Isfahan, might prove a dangerous rival, especially when it was remembered that Muzaffar-ed-Dīn had been recalled to Teheran by his father upon his failure to suppress a Kurd rising in his province. The British and Russian governments, in order to avoid widespread disturbances, agreed however to give him their support. All opposition was thus obviated, and Muzaffar-ed-Dīn was duly enthroned on the 8th of June 1896, the Russian general Kosakowsky, commander of the Persian Cossacks, presiding over the ceremony with drawn sword. On this occasion the new shah announced the suppression of all purchase of civil and military posts, and then proceeded to remit in perpetuity all taxes on bread and meat, thus lightening the taxation on food, which had caused the only disturbances in the last reign. But whatever hopes may have been aroused by this auspicious beginning of the reign were soon dashed owing to the extravagance and profligacy of the court, which kept the treasury in a chronic state of depletion. Towards the end of 1896 the Amin-es-Sultan, who had been grand vizier during the last years of Nasr-ed-Dīn’s reign, was disgraced, and Muzaffar-ed-Dīn announced his intention of being in future his own grand vizier. The Amin-ad-Dowla, a less masterful servant, took office with the lower title of prime minister. During his short administration an elaborate scheme of reforms was drawn up on paper, and remained on paper. The treasury continued empty, and in the spring of 1898 Amin-es-Sultan was recalled with the special object of filling it. The delay of the British government in sanctioning a loan in London gave Russia her opportunity. A Russian loan was followed by the establishment of a Russian bank at Teheran, and the vast expansion of Russian influence generally. At the beginning of 1900 a fresh gold loan was negotiated with Russia, and a few months later Muzaffar-ed-Dīn started on a tour in Europe by way of St Petersburg, where he was received with great state. He subsequently went to Paris to visit the Exhibition of 1900, and while there an attempt on his life was made by a madman named François Salson. In spite of this experience the shah so enjoyed his European tour that he determined to repeat it as soon as possible. By the end of 1901 his treasury was again empty; but a fresh Russian loan replenished it and in 1902 he again came to Europe, paying on this occasion a state visit to England. On his way back he stopped at St Petersburg, and at a banquet given in his honour by the tsar toasts were exchanged of unmistakable significance. None the less, during his visit to King Edward VII. the shah had been profuse in his expressions of friendship for Great Britain, and in the spring of 1903 a special mission was sent to Teheran to invest him with the Order of the Garter.
The shah’s misguided policy had created widespread disaffection in the country, and the brunt of popular disfavour fell on the atabeg (the title by which the Amin-es-Sultan was now known), who was once more disgraced in September 1903. The war with Japan now relaxed the Russian pressure on Teheran, and at the same time dried up the source of supplies; and the clergy, giving voice to the general misery and discontent, grew more and more outspoken in their denunciations of the shah’s misrule. Nevertheless Muzaffar-ed-Dīn defied public opinion by making another journey to Europe in 1905; but, though received with the customary distinction at St Petersburg, he failed to obtain further supplies. In the summer of 1906 popular discontent culminated in extraordinary demonstrations at Teheran, which practically amounted to a general strike. The shah was forced to yield, and proclaimed a liberal constitution, the first parliament being opened by him on the 12th of October 1906. Muzaffar-ed-Dīn died on the 8th of January 1907, being succeeded by his son Mahommed Ali Mirza.
MUZAFFARGARH, a town and district of British India, in the Multan division of the Punjab. The town is near the right bank of the river Chenab, and has a railway station. Pop. (1901), 4018. Its fort and a mosque were built by Nawab Muzaffar Khan in 1794–1796.
The District of Muzaffargarh occupies the lower end of the Sind-Sagar Doab. Area, 3635 sq. m. In the northern half of the district is the wild thal or central desert, an arid elevated tract with a width of 40 m. in the extreme north, which gradually contracts until it disappears about 10 m. south of Muzaffargarh town. Although apparently a table-land, it is really composed of separate sandhills, with intermediate valleys lying at a lower level than that of the Indus, and at times flooded. The towns stand on high sites or are protected by embankments; but the villages scattered over the lowlands are exposed to annual inundations, during which the people abandon their grass-built huts, and take refuge on wooden platforms attached to each house. Throughout the cold weather large herds of camels, belonging chiefly to the Povindah merchants of Afghanistan, graze upon the sandy waste.
The district possesses hardly any distinct annals of its own, having always formed part of Multan (q.v.). The population in 1901 was 405,656, showing an increase of 6·4% in the decade, due to the extension of irrigation. The principal crops are wheat, pulse, rice and indigo. The most important domestic animal is the camel. The district is crossed by the North-Western railway, and the boundary rivers are navigable, besides furnishing numerous irrigation channels, originally constructed under native rule.
MUZAFFARNAGAR, a town and district of British India, in the Meerut division of the United Provinces. The town is 790 ft. above the sea, and has a station on the North-Western railway. Pop. (1901), 23,444. It is an important trading centre and has a manufacture of blankets. It was founded about 1633 by the son of Muzaffar Khan, Khan-i-Jahan, one of the famous Sayid family who rose to power under the emperor Shah Jahan.
The District of Muzaffarnagar has an area of 1666 sq. m. It lies near the northern extremity of the Doab or great alluvial plain between the Ganges and the Jumna, and shares to a large extent in the general monotony of that level region. A great portion is sandy and unfertile; but under irrigation the soil is rapidly improving, and in many places the villagers have succeeded in introducing a high state of cultivation. Before the opening of the canals Muzaffarnagar was liable to famines caused by drought; but the danger from this has been minimized by the spread of irrigation. It is traversed by four main canals, the Ganges, Anupshahr, Deoband and Eastern Jumna. Its trade is confined to the raw materials it produces. The
