The climate of Baku is rather mild, its harbor having frozen but once in eighty years. The city owes its prosperity to its petroleum, whose output has grown from 40,000 tons in 1860 to more than 9,000,000 in 1899. In addition to oil refineries there are a number of mills, tobacco factories, and chemical-works. The advantageous position of Baku, on the Caspian Sea near the Persian frontier and at the eastern terminus of the Trans-Caucasian Railway, has made it the entrepôt for the Russo-Persian trade. Cotton, rice, silk, wine, dried fruits, and walnut wood pass through Baku from Persia on their way to Russia and Western Europe, in exchange for various goods of Russian manufacture. The growth of Baku's population has kept pace with that of its industry. In 1860 it numbered only 13,800; in 1897, 112,000, or more than a sevenfold increase in less than forty years. The predominating element in the population of Baku is Tartar. This race constitutes the bulk of the laboring and small trading class of the community; the Russians are next in number, and fill the official positions as well as some of the commercial and financial posts; the Armenians are the most influential class, controlling the business of the city. The petroleum industry is largely in the hands of foreign capitalists.
Baku has been known under its present name since the Seventh Century, though founded at an earlier date. The easily igniting gases, arising from the soil saturated with petroleum, seem to have been known to the ancient Parsis, or fire-worshipers, and attracted great numbers of pilgrims. In the Eighth Century, Baku with the surrounding country was held by the Arabs; then it fell under the rule of the Khans of Shirvan, and from the Sixteenth till the Nineteenth Century was in the possession of the Persians. It finally passed to Russia in 1806, and was made the chief town of the district; in 1859 it became the seat of administration for the entire Trans-Caucasian territory. A vast conflagration took place here in 1901. Consult: Marvin, The Region of Eternal Fire (London, 1883); Louis, "The Baku Petroleum District," in the Engineering Magazine, No. XV. (New York, 1898).
BAKUNIN, bȧ-ko͞on′yē̇n, Mikhail (1814-76).
A Russian agitator and writer. He was a member
of an aristocratic family, and after serving in
the army from 1832 to 1838, traveled in Germany,
where he devoted himself to the study of philosophy.
His liberal tendencies had become marked
even before he left Russia. In 1841 he was in
close association with the leaders of the
Young-German movement at Berlin, and in 1843 he
appears as fraternizing with the Polish exiles in
Paris. He passed a number of years in Switzerland,
where he became prominent in communistic
circles. In 1847 the Russian Government
demanded his return to Russia, and, upon his
refusal, confiscated his property. In the same year
he was expelled from Paris upon the demand of
the Russian authorities as the result of a violent
speech in which he called upon the Poles and
Russians to unite for the overthrow of the absolute
monarchy. During the two years following
he was plunged into the vortex of the revolutionary
movement which was then convulsing all
Europe. We find him at Berlin shortly after the
outbreak of the March Revolution in 1848; in
June of the same year he took part in the Pan-
Slavic Congress at Prague and in the disturbances
which followed, and in May, 1849, he was
one of the leaders of the insurrection at Dresden,
and became a member of the Revolutionary
Government there. He was taken prisoner at Chemnitz,
and was condemned to death in May, 1850,
but the sentence was commuted to imprisonment
for life. After passing through the hands of the
Austrian authorities, Bakunin was handed over
to the Russian officials, and was sent to Eastern
Siberia in 1855. In 1860 he received permission
to remove to the Amur region, whence he
succeeded in making his escape on an American ship
to Japan. Proceeding to London by way of the
United States, he threw himself into the Socialistic
movement, which was then making rapid
progress under the leadership of Marx and
Engels. In 1869 he founded the Social Democratic
Alliance, which soon joined the International
Workingmen's Association. By this time,
however, he had become a believer in militant
anarchism, and he attempted to impose his doctrines
upon the association, whose policy was one of
peaceful agitation. This led to his expulsion in
1872. In 1873 Bakunin retired from active life
and spent the remainder of his days in Switzerland.
He died at Bern July 1, 1876. A list of
his writings, comprising mainly articles in
newspapers and periodicals, covers ten printed pages
in Nettlau's Bibliographie de l'anarchie (Paris,
1897).
BAKWIRI, ba-kwe'rs.
A Bantu tribe of Kamerun, of medium height, well-proportioned, and with regular features. Cannibalism was formerly practiced. Drum-signaling is much Used. The code admits of carrying on sustained conversations, and news is rapidly conveyed to long distances. Witchcraft, ordeals, and sacrifices prevail.
BALAAM, ba'lnm
(Heb., destroyer). A seer; the hero of a remarkable story told in connection with the early history of the Hebrews, which on a critical analysis yields these results: The main narrative is to be found Num. xxii.-xxiv., but such references as Num. xxxi. 8, 16, and Josh. xiii. 22, many modern Biblical scholars think, make it evident that there was another tale current about Balaam quite different from the picturesque narrative of his vain endeavors to pronounce a curse upon Israel. According to such scholars, in the one narrative Balaam was a Midianitish counselor, who, because of his part in persuading his people to lead the Israelites into evil ways (cf. Num. xxv. 1-5), is killed in battle, together with the chiefs of Midian, while in the other and more commonly known narrative Balaam was a native of Mesopotamia, who, at the instance of Balak, King of Moab, leaves his home at Pethor, on the Euphrates, to pronounce a curse upon Israel. These scholars claim that the story rests upon the primitive belief which ascribed irresistible powers to the formulas, which were no doubt incantations, uttered by those supposed to be in close contact with the Deity. Balaam at first declined (xxii. 13), but on the second call God allowed Balaam to go. His instructions, however, were to speak only what God told him. Balak takes Balaam to Bamoth Baal, from which the edge of Israel's camp could be seen. At Balaam's order, seven altars were built, and seven oxen and seven rams offered. Then Balaam prophesies, but instead of cursing Israel, he blesses. A second and a third time
