Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/68

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K H A K H A principal manufacture is that of cigars, begun in 1867, and steadily prospering. Previous to 1874, when a hurricane destroyed the works, 30,000 bushels of salt were annually produced on the island by solar evaporation. Fishing, sponge-gathering, and turtle-catching occupy many of the inhabitants ; and a large number of small vessels are employed in " wrecking," i.e., in saving goods and rendering assistance to vessels that have failed to clear the dangerous Florida reef. The population of the city in 1880 was 9890. KHABAROVKA, the chief town of the Maritime Pro vince, in eastern Siberia, is situated on high crags, on the right bank of the Amoor, amidst wide forests and marshes, at the confluence of the Ussuri. It was but a poor settle ment with 700 inhabitants when it took the place of Niko- laievsk as the seat of the military administration of the Maritime Province and of the various establishments connected with the Amoor fleet. Since its foundation in 1857 it has always been the chief centre for the trade in sables, purchased yearly from the aborigines to the average amount of 20,000 pieces, and sent to Irkutsk and to Russia. KHAIRABAD, or KHYKABAD, the chief town of Sitapur district, Oudh. India, situated 5 miles south of Sitapur civil station and cantonment, 27 31 30" N. lat., 80 47 35" E. long. It is the fifth largest town in Oudh, with a population in 1869 of 15,677, made up of Hindus and Mohammedans in about equal numbers. The town con tains forty mosques and thirty Hindu temples, besides a beautiful group of sacred Mohammedan buildings. A large fair is held here in January, lasting ten days, and attended by an average of 60,000 persons. A second fair is held at the Dasahdra festival, attended by about 15,000 persons. The annual value of bazar sales is about .34,000. KHAIRPUR, or KHYRPOOR, a native state in Sind, India, lying between 26 10 and 27 46 N. lat., and 68 14 and 70 13 E. long., bounded on the N. by Shikarpur district, S. by Jaisilmir state, E. by Hyderabad district, and W. by the Indus river, with an area of 6109 square miles. Like other parts of Sind, Khairpur consists of a great alluvial plain, very rich and fertile in the neighbour hood of the Indus and the irrigation canals, the remaining area being a continuous series of sand-hill ridges covered with a stunted brushwood, where cultivation is altogether impossible. A small ridge of limestone hills passes through the northern part of the state, being a continuation of a ridge known as the Ghar, running southwards from Rohri. The state is watered by five canals drawn off from the Indus, besides the Eastern Kara, a canal which follows an old bed of the Indus. In the desert tracts are pits of natron, forming a source of revenue to the chief ; as many as a thousand camel loads are annually exported to northern and central India, as well as to the seaboard, each load being taxed at 5s. A census taken in 1872 returned the population at 130,350, or 21 per square mile. The Moslems chiefly belong to the Bajur tribe. The Hindus are principally Rajputs of the Soda Thakur clan, who inhabit the extreme eastern part of the state. They are a well- built and sturdy race, of nomadic habits, their wealth consist ing in herds of camels, oxen, sheep, and goats. The principal food grain crops are jodr (Hulais sorghum], bdjrd (Holcus spicatus), wheat, gram, and pulses. Indigo is largely cultivated, and cotton to a less extent. Fruits consist of the mango, mulberry, apple, pomegranate, date, &c. Several varieties of Jbrest trees are grown in the mir s game preserves. The annual value of the export trade is estimated at about 52,000, and the imports at 25,000. Cotton and silk fabrics, silver ware, lacquered wood-work, boots, shoes, horse trappings, swords, matchlocks, and pottery are the chief manufactures. A small quantity of salt and saltpetre is also manufactured. The revenue of the state, which is collected in kind, the im r receiving one-third of the produce, is estimated to amount to about 50,000. The climate is agreeable during about four months of the year, and fiercely hot during the remaining eight. The principal diseases are fever, ophthalmia, and cutaneous affections. The chief or im r of Khairpur belongs to a Baluchi family, known as the Talpur, which rose on the fall of the Kalhora dynasty of Sind. About 1813, during the troubles in Cabul incidental to the establishment of the Barakzai dynasty, the mirs were able to refuse the tribute which up to that date had been somewhat irregularly paid to the rulers of Afghanistan. In 1832 the individuality of the Khairpur state was recognized by the British Government in a treaty, under which the use of the liver Indus and the roads of Sind were secured. When the first Cabul expedition was decided on, the mir of Khairpur, AH Murad, cordially supported the British policy ; and the result was that, after the battles of Miani and Daba had put the whole of Sind at the disposal of the British, Khairpur was the only state allowed to retain its political existence under the protection of the paramount power. KHAMGAON, a town in Akola district, Berar, India, in 20 42 30" N. lat, 76 37 30" E long., with a popu lation in 1867 of 9432. The cotton market the largest in the province was established about 1820. A branch line of 8 miles, opened in 1870, connects Khamgaon with the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. In fair seasons above 100,000 bullock-loads of cotton are brought into Khamgaon on the weekly market day. To the east of the town is a large enclosed cotton-market. The factories of the Berar Ginning Company and the Mofussil Pressing Company possess^steam machinery for full-pressing cotton. KHANDESH, or CANDEISH, a district of Bombay Pre sidency, India, lying between 20 D 15 and 22 N. lat., and 73 37 and 76 24 E. long., bounded on the N. by the Satpura hills, E. by Berar, S. by the Satmala or Ajanta hills, S.W. by Nasik district, and W. by Baroda territory, with an area of 10,162 square miles. The chief town is Dhulia. The principal natural feature is the Tapti river, which enters at the south-east corner of the district, and flows in a north-westerly direction, dividing Khandesh into two unequal parts. Of these the larger lies towards the south, and is drained by the river Girna. North wards beyond the alluvial plain, which contains some of the richest tracts in Khandesh, the land rises towards the Satpura hills. In the centre and east the country is level, save for some low ranges of barren hills, and has in general an arid, unfertile appearance. Towards the north and west, the plain rises into a difficult and rugged country, thickly wooded, and inhabited by wild tribes of Bhils, who chiefly support themselves on the fruits of the forests and by the profits of wood-cutting. The drainage of the district centres in the Tapti, which receives thirteen principal tributaries in its course through Khandesh. None of the rivers are navigable, and the Tapti flows in too deep a bed to be made use of for irrigation. The district on the- whole, however, is fairly well supplied with surface water. Kh.lndesh is not rich in minerals. A large area is under forest ; but the jungles have been robbed of most of their valuable timber. Wild beasts are numerous. As late as 1858 tigers abounded ; but since then they have been very closely hunted, and driven almost entirely out of the plains into the rough hilly country. The census of 1872 returned the population at 1,028,642 (males 530,610, and females 498,032), Hindus, 948,279 ; Musalmtins, 79,359; Parsis, 61; Christians, 517 ; -Tews, 36; Sikhs, 59; "others," 331. Of the aboriginal tribes the Bhils are the most important. They number 122,092, and formerly were a wild and lawless robber tribe. Since the introduction of British rule, the efforts made by kindly treatment, and by the offer of suitable employment, to win the Bhils from their disorderly life have been most successful. Many of them are now employed in police duties and as village watchmen. The total area of Government cultivable land is returned at 3,453,549 acres, of which 2,218,355 acres were under cultivation in 1875-76. Food grains take up 52 per cent. ; pulses, 5| percent. ; fibres, 28 per cent. ; oil seeds, 11 per cent. ; miscellaneous crops, 3 j per cent, of the cultivated area. Irrigation is more extensively practised in Khandesh than in the Deccan and the southern Marhatta country. Owing to the liability of the district to river-floods, almost every year is marked by some failure of the crops. The chief exports are food grains, oil seeds, butter, indigo, wax, and honey ; and the imports salt, spices, metal, piece goods, cotton yarn, and sugar. There are ten steam cotton presses, and one steam spinning and