KHAMTIS, a tribe of the north-east frontier of India, dwelling in the hills bordering the Lakhimpur district of Assam. They are of Shan origin, and appear to have settled in their present abode in the middle of the 18th century. In 1839 they raided the British outpost of Sadiya, but they have since given no trouble. Their headquarters are in a valley 200 m. from Sadiya, which can be reached only over high passes and through dense jungle. In 1901 the number of speakers of Khamti was returned as only 1490, mostly in Burma.
KHAN (from the Turkī, hence Persian and Arabic Khān), a title of respect in Mahommedan countries. It is a contracted
form of khāqān (khakan), a word equivalent to sovereign or
emperor, used among the Mongol and Turkī–nomad hordes.
The title khan was assumed by Jenghis when he became supreme
ruler of the Mongols; his successors became known in Europe
as the Great Khans (sometimes as the Chams, &c.) of Tatary or
Cathay. Khan is still applied to semi-independent rulers, such
as the khans of Russian Turkestan, or the khan of Kalat in
Baluchistan, and is also used immediately after the name of
rulers such as the sultan of Turkey; the meaning of the term has
also extended downwards, until in Persia and Afghanistan it has
become an affix to the name of any Mahommedan gentleman,
like Esquire, and in India it has become a part of many Mahommedan
names, especially when Pathan descent is claimed.
The title of Khan Bahadur is conferred by the British government
on Mahommedans and also on Parsis.
KHANDESH, EAST and WEST, two districts of British India, in the central division of Bombay. They were formed
in 1906 by the division of the old single district of Khandesh.
Their areas are respectively 4544 sq. m. and 5497 sq. m., and
the population on these areas in 1901 was 957,728 and 469,654.
The headquarters of East Khandesh are at Jalgaon, and those
of West Khandesh at Dhulia.
The principal natural feature is the Tapti river, which flows through both districts from east to west and divides each into two unequal parts. Of these the larger lie towards the south, and are drained by the rivers Girna, Bori and Panjhra. Northwards 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 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 is navigable, and the Tapti flows in too deep a bed to be useful for irrigation. The district on the whole, however, is fairly well supplied with surface water. Khandesh is not rich in minerals. A large area is under forest; but the jungles have been denuded of most of their valuable timber. Wild beasts are numerous. In 1901 the population of the old single district was 1,427,382, showing an increase of less than 1% in the decade. Of the aboriginal tribes the Bhils are the most important. They number 167,000, 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 principal crops are millets, cotton, pulse, wheat and oilseeds. There are many factories for ginning and pressing cotton, and a cotton-mill at Jalgaon. The eastern district is traversed by the Great Indian Peninsula railway, which branches at Bhusawal (an important centre of trade) towards Jubbulpore and Nagpur. Both districts are crossed by the Tapti Valley line from Surat. Khandesh suffered somewhat from famine in 1896–1897, and more severely in 1899–1900.
KHANDWA, a town of British India, in the Nimar district of
the Central Provinces, of which it is the headquarters, 353 m.
N.E. of Bombay by rail. Pop. (1901), 19,401. Khandwa is an
ancient town, with Jain and other temples. As a centre of
trade, it has superseded the old capital of Burhanpur. It is an
important railway junction, where the Malwa line from Indore
meets the main line of the Great Indian Peninsula. There are
factories for ginning and pressing cotton, and raw cotton is
exported.
KHANSĀ (Tumāḍir bint ‛Amr, known as al-Khansā) (d.
c. 645), Arabian poetess of the tribe Sulaim, a branch of Qais,
was born in the later years of the 6th century and brought up in
such wealth and luxury as the desert could give. Refusing the
offer of Duraid ibn uṣ-Ṣimma, a poet and prince, she married
Mirdās and had by him three sons. Afterwards she married again.
Before the time of Islam she lost her brothers Ṣakhr and Moawiya
in battle. Her elegies written on these brothers and on her
father made her the most famous poetess of her time. At the
fair of ‘Ukāz Nābigha Dhubyāni is said to have placed A‘sha first
among the poets then present and Khansā second above Hassān
ibn Thābit. Khansā with her tribe accepted Islam somewhat
late, but persisted in wearing the heathen sign of mourning,
against the precepts of Islam. Her four sons fought in the armies
of Islam and were slain in the battle of Kadisīya. Omar wrote
her a letter congratulating her on their heroic end and assigned
her a pension. She died in her tent c. 645. Her daughter
‘Amra also wrote poetry. Opinion was divided among later
critics as to whether Khansā or Laila (see Arabic Literature:
§ Poetry) was the greater.
Her diwan has been edited by L. Cheikho (Beirut, 1895) and translated into French by De Coppier (Beirut, 1889). Cf. T. Nöldeke’s Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Poesie der alten Araber (Hanover, 1864). Stories of her life are contained in the Kitāb ul-Aghāni, xiii. 136–147. (G. W. T.)
KHAR, a small but very fertile province of Persia, known
by the ancients as Choara and Choarene; pop. about 10,000.
The governor of the province resides at Kishlak Khar, a large
village situated 62 m. S.E. of Teheran, or at Aradān, a village
10 m. farther E. The province has an abundant water-supply
from the Hableh-rūd, and produces great quantities of wheat,
barley and rice. Of the £6000 which it pays to the state, more
than £4000 is paid in kind—wheat, barley, straw and rice.
KHARAGHODA, a village of British India, in the Ahmedabad district of Bombay, situated on the Little Runn of Cutch, and
the terminus of a branch railway; pop. (1901), 2108. Here is
the government factory of salt, known as Baragra salt, producing
nearly 2,000,000 cwt. a year, most of which is exported to
other provinces in Central and Northern India.
KHARGA (Wah el-Kharga, the outer oasis), the largest
of the Egyptian oases, and hence frequently called the Great
Oasis. It lies in the Libyan desert between 24° and 26° N. and
30° and 31° E., the chief town, also called Kharga, being 435 m.
by rail S. by W. of Cairo. It is reached by a narrow-gauge line
(opened in 1908) from Kharga junction, a station on the Nile
valley line near Farshut. The oasis consists of a depression in
the desert some 1200 sq. m. in extent, and is about 100 m. long
N. to S. and from 12 to 50 broad E. to W. Formerly, and into
historic times, a lake occupied a considerable part of the depression,
and the thick deposits of clay and sand then laid down now
form the bulk of the cultivated lands of the oasis. It includes,
however, a good deal of desert land. The inhabitants numbered
(1907 census) 8348. They are of Berber stock. Administratively
the oasis forms part of the mudiria of Assiut. It is
practically rainless, and there is not now a single natural flowing
spring. There are, however, numerous wells, water being obtained
freely from the porous sandstone which underlies a great
part of the Libyan desert. Some very ancient wells are 400 ft.
deep. In water-bearing sandstones near the surface there are
underground aqueducts dating from Roman times. The oasis
contains many groves of date palms, there being over 60,000
adult trees in 1907. The dom palm, tamarisk, acacia and wild
senna are also found. Rice, barley and wheat are the chief
cereals cultivated, and lucerne for fodder. Besides agriculture
the only industry is basket and mat making—from palm leaves
and fibre. Since 1906 extensive boring and land reclamation
works have been undertaken in the oasis.
