KUBELIK. 620 KUCHIN. can tour (1901-02) he met with pxtraonlinary pupular success. His teclinique was remarkable, l>ut !iis interpretation suirered in comparison. Kuljelik received numerous decorations and ap- pointments. KUBE'KA, or KUVE'RA. The Hindu god of wealtli. An old Indian etymology iu Sanskrit explains his name as meaning 'having a wretched {leu) body {vera),' and it may be that tliis folk-etymology is not so far astray as desig- nating the liizarre shape with which he is invest- ed b' Hindu mythology. According to Sanskrit literature, his residence, AJakn. is situated in the mines of Mount Kailasa. and lie is attended l>y the Vakshas, Mayus, Kinnaras. and other imps, anxiously guarding the entrance to his garden, Chaitraratha, the abode of all riches. Nine treasures — apparently precious gems — are espe- cially intrusted to his cafe. His wife is an ogress. Kaksiti, or Yaksin, and their children are two sons and a daugliter. As one of the divinities that preside over the regions, he is considered also to be the protector of the North. Consult: Dowson, Hindu Mi/lholorii/ (London. 1879) ; Wilkins, Hindu Mytholoyy (ib., 1900). KUBLAI KHAN, koo'bli klin'. or KHTTBI- LAI KHAN (1210-94). (irand Khan of tlic Jlongols and Emperor of Cliina. He was the grandson of Genghis Klian (q.v. ). through the latter's fourth son, Tuli Khan. When a boy of ten he participated in the last campaign of his grand- father. He succeeded his brother Slangu as Grand Khan upon the death of the latter, in 1259, while engaged in a campaign to complete the subju- gation of China. This task Kublai carried to a conclusion. Invited by Si Tsong of the Sung dynasty to aid in the expulsion of the Kin Tatar dynasty, he invaded Cliina in 12(50 with an im- mense army, drove out the Tatars, and took possession of North China. He fovinded the city of Khan Balig (Kambalu) and made it his capital. This was the nucleus of Peking. Ku- blai maintained only nominally the extended sway of the previous members of his dynasty, the great empire that had been reared by conquest having praetioally broken up into four divisions (see JIoxROi. Dynasties), but his rule was abso- lute and elTicient in Eastern Asia. He was one of the ablest of his race, an organizer and ad- ministrator of a high degree of al)ility and intel- ligence. He conformed in great measure to the Chinese civilization, which was far in advance of that of his own people. In 1279 he completed his conquest of China by subduing the soiith, and as the first foreign Emperor founded the Yuen dy- nasty. His repeated attacks, however, failed to reduce Japan to submission. The Venetian Polo brothers, with the better-known son and m'|>liew, Marco Polo (q.v.), spent some years at Kulilai's Court, and enjoyed his respect and confidence. Desiring to establish some liigher form of reli- gion in his empire, he made them his messengers to the Pope to invite the sending of Christian missionaries to his people. Christendom was too much occupied with its own quarrels over eccle- siastical politics to heed the invitation, and the Khan turned to the Grand Lama, the head of the Buddhists, who was not slow to seize so glorious an opportunity for the conversion of an empire. Kublai Khan died in Peking, in 1294. The empire he had organized did not long survive under his incapable successors, and in l.'?fi8 the dynasty of Yuen was expelled from Cliina. Consult: Y'ule, Cathay and the Way Thither (2 vols., London, 18GG)' ; id. (ed.). The Book of Her Marco Polo ( Ltmdon, 1875); Howortli. Hislori/ of the Monyols (4 vols., Lon- don. 1870-88). KUBUS, kou'buuz, or Orang-Kubu. A people of .Mahiy stock, inhabiting the marsliy, forested region nortliwest of Palembang in South Central .Sumatra, and one of the most primitive tribes in existence. They are particularly interesting, l>ccause in the matter of character, general be- liavior, etc., they a])parcntly rank liiglicr than some of the more civilize<l of the kindred peoples aliout them. For instance, they do not appear to be such cannibals as the Battas once were. !Mar- riages between Kubu women and Malay men are said to be rare. Besides the information in general works on Sumatra and the East Indies, such as Forbes, .1 Xatiiralist's Wander- in;/ in the Eastern Archipelat/o (London, 1885), reference may be made to Zelle, "Les Orangs- Koubous," in the Bulletins de la Societe d'An- throjioloi/ie de Paris for 1891, where some use- ful details are given. KUCH, or COOCH, BEHAR, kwch be-luir'. A siili-Himalayan native State of Bengal, India, near Darjiling. Area, l:J07 square miles. The soil is generally fertile and productive, and is well watered by several rivers. A lailway ex- tends from the frontier town of Dluilirij to the capital, Kuch Behar, and connects it with the main s.vstems of India. In the State are the ruins of the two ancient capitals of the Kam- rup Hindu dynasty, which was overthrown by the Afghans at the end of the fifteenth century. Population of State, in 1891, 578,900; in 190'l, 5(.i7.o:i7. KUCHENMEISTEB, kuK'en-ml'ster, Gott- Lon FruKuiucii IIkixrii'ji (1821-90). A German physician, specialist on intestinal parasites. He was born at Buchheim. studied at Leipzig and Prague, and practiced at Zittau. and later at Dresden. He distinguished the Ticnla saginata. (or mcdioeanellata) from the armata; showed the special danger of the pork tape- worm, and made studies in the development of trichiniB and other ento?oa. His principal works are: Versuche iiher die Metamorphose der Fin- nen- in Bandxoiirmer (1852); Entdeekting iiber die Vmtrandlung der scchshakir/en Brut geimsser Bandnvirmer in Blascnhandu-iirmer (1853); Die in iind an dem Kiirper des Ichenden Mensehen ■vorkommcnden Parasit en {with illustrations, last edition, with Zurn, 1878-79). He was an eager advocate of cremation. Consult the posthumous book, Die Todtenhesta I tungen der Bihel und die Feucrbcstatfung (with a biographical sketch, Stuttgart. 1893). KXJCHIN, koo'chen. A numerous group of Athapascan tribes, extending across Central Alaska and the adjacent portion of British America from the Eskimo border at the mouth of the Y'ukon northeastward almost to the mouth of the JIackcnzie. The various bands are known as Tiikuth-kuehin, 'rat peo])le,' Han' kiiehin. 'river people.' etc., the dialects diflTer- ing but little one from another. The eastern bands are also kno-n collectively as Loucheux by the French voyageurs. The Kuchfn are de- scribed as superior to their neighbors in intel-
