Editions: _Grammatica_ in H. Keil, _Grammatici Latini_, vii. and
separately (1871); _Hermeneumata_ by G. Gotz (1892) (in G. Lowe's
_Corpus glossariorum Latinorum_, iii.) and E. Bocking (1832), which
contains the appendix (including the legal fragment); see also C.
Lachmann, _Versuch uber Dositheus_ (1837); H. Hagen, _De Dosithei
magistri quae feruntur glossis_ (1877).

DOSSAL (dossel, dorsel or dosel; Fr. _dos_, back), an ecclesiastical
ornamented cloth suspended behind the altar.

DOSSERET, or impost block (a Fr. term, from _dos_, back), in
architecture, the cubical block of stone above the capitals in a
Byzantine church, used to carry the arches and vault, the springing of
which had a superficial area greatly in excess of the column which
carried them.

DOST MAHOMMED KHAN (1793-1863), founder of the dynasty of the Barakzai
in Afghanistan, was born in 1793. His elder brother, the chief of the
Barakzai, Fatteh Khan, took an important part in raising Mahmud to the
sovereignty of Afghanistan in 1800 and in restoring him to the throne in
1809. That ruler repaid his services by causing him to be assassinated
in 1818, and thus incurred the enmity of his tribe. After a bloody
conflict Mahmud was deprived of all his possessions but Herat, the rest
of his dominions being divided among Fatteh Khan's brothers. Of these
Dost Mahommed received for his share Ghazni, to which in 1826 he added
Kabul, the richest of the Afghan provinces. From the commencement of his
reign he found himself involved in disputes with Ranjit Singh, the Sikh
ruler of the Punjab, who used the dethroned Saduzai prince,
Shuja-ul-Mulk, as his instrument. In 1834 Shuja made a last attempt to
recover his kingdom. He was defeated by Dost Mahommed under the walls of
Kandahar, but Ranjit Singh seized the opportunity to annex Peshawar. The
recovery of this fortress became the Afghan amir's great concern.
Rejecting overtures from Russia, he endeavoured to form an alliance with
England, and welcomed Alexander Burnes to Kabul in 1837. Burnes,
however, was unable to prevail on the governor-general, Lord Auckland,
to respond to the amir's advances. Dost Mahommed was enjoined to abandon
the attempt to recover Peshawar, and to place his foreign policy under
British guidance. In return he was only promised protection from Ranjit
Singh, of whom he had no fear. He replied by renewing his relations
with Russia, and in 1838 Lord Auckland set the B