Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/70

58 K H A K H A

There is epigraphic evidence for the existence of a town on this site in the time of Nero (see Mordtmann in Hermes, 1880), and by some it is identified with Carcathiocerta, the capital of the province of Sophene. Kharput (Armenian, Kharpert, i.e., Castle Rock; Χάρποτε of Cedrenus; Arabic, Khartabirt) appears in the older Arabic literature as Ḥiṣn Ziyad. It is the Quart Piert or Quart Pierre of William of Tyre, the scene of the tragical story of the imprisonment of Baldwin II. by the emír Balak. See Tozer, Turkish Armenia, &c., London, 1881.

KHARTÚM or Khartoum (erroneously Kartum), the chief town of the Egyptian Sudan, situated in 15° 37′ N, lat., and 22° 54′ E. long., on the peninsula formed by the junction of the White and the Blue Nile. The level of the stream just below the town is 1240 feet. The principal landing-place and the dockyards are on the Blue river. The surrounding country is flat and open, the forest described by the first European visitors having disappeared for a considerable distance up the river, but there are many gardens within and around the town planted with date-palms, fig and orange trees, &c. The town, though consisting chiefly of mean mud-built huts, has a considerable number of substantial modern buildings, the most imposing of which is the stone-faced palace of the governor. As the centre of the great caravan routes from the interior of Africa, Khartúm carries on a good legitimate trade, but the inhabitants have always shown a preference for slave traffic when the governor has proved indulgent or inefficient. Khartúm is the seat of a Roman Catholic mission founded by Pope Gregory XVI. in 1846, and long conducted by Dr Ignaz Knoblecher, of Protestant missions, and of several European consulates. The British consulate, established in 1849, and latterly held by Petherick, was abolished in 1864 under circumstances which gave rise to much comment. The population amounts to 50,000, including in addition to the natives the usual medley elements of an Egyptian town.

Khartúm was founded by Mohammed Aly in 1823. In 1859 the population was estimated at 40,000. In 1869-70 the disturbed state of the country had brought the number down to 15,000, but since then the recovery has been rapid.

See Lord Prudhoe in Journ. R. Geog. Soc. 1832; G. Melly, Khartoum, &c., 1851; Heuglin, Reise n. Abessinien, 1868; Schweinfurth, Heart of Africa, 1873; Hansal, Briefe aus Chartum, 1856 and 1880. Details regarding the Roman Catholic mission will be found in the last work; in Jahresberichte of the Marienverein; and in Zeitschr. f. allg. Erdk., 1858 and 1861.

KHÁSI AND JÁINTIA HILLS, a district in Assam, India, lying between 25° 1′ and 26° 14′ N. lat., and 90° 47′ and 92° 52′ E. long., and bounded on the N. by Kámrúp and Nowgong districts, E. by Cachar and the Nágá Hills, S. by Sylhet, and W. by the Gáro Hills. Its approximate area is 6157 square miles.

The district consists of a succession of steep ridges running east and west, with elevated table-lands between. On the southern side, towards Sylhet, the mountains rise precipitously from the valley of the Bárák. The first plateau is about 4000 feet above sea-level. Farther north is another plateau, on which is situated the station of Shillong, 4900 feet above the sea; behind lies the Shillong range, of which the highest peak rises to 6449 feet. On the north side, towards Kámrúp, are two similar plateaus of lower elevation. The general appearance of all these table-lands is that of undulating clowns, covered with grass, but destitute of large timber. At 3000 feet elevation the indigenous pine predominates over all other vegetation, and forms almost pure pine forests. The highest ridges are clothed with magnificent clumps of timber trees, which superstition has preserved from the axe of the woodcutter. The characteristic trees in these sacred groves chiefly consist of oaks, chestnuts, magnolias, &c. Beneath the shade grow rare orchids, rhododendrons, and wild cinnamon. The streams are merely mountain torrents. As they approach the plains, they form rapids and cascades, and many of them pass through narrow gorges of wild beauty. From time immemorial, Lower Bengal has drawn its supply of lime from the Khási Hills, and the quarries along their southern slope are literally inexhaustible. Coal of excellent quality crops out at several places, but has not yet been remuneratively worked. Ironstone exists in abundance, and in former days the Khásias were renowned as smelters of iron. Among other natural products may be mentioned beeswax, lac, and caoutchouc. Wild animals abound, including the elephant, rhinoceros, tiger, buffalo, mithun or wild cow, and many varieties of deer.

Both as regards history and administration the Khási (Khasiá or Cossya) and Jáintia or Jayntiya Hills constitute two separate tracts. The Khási Hills are occupied by a collection of petty states, each governed by an elective ruler. The chiefs have not been brought completely under British administration, and still retain marks of semi-independence. The headquarters of the British political agent for the Khásí Hills is at Chára Púnjí (Cherra Poonjee). The Jáintia Hills, on the other hand, are purely British territory. The inhabitants call themselves Syntengs, and first became British subjects in 1835 (see JÁINTIA HILLS, vol xiii. p. 554).

An enumeration in 1872 disclosed a total population in the Khási and Jáintia Hills of 141,838 – aboriginal tribes, 141,283; Hindus, 365; Mohammedans, 62; Christians, 128. The two races of Khásias and Syntengs have succeeded in preserving to the present day their primitive isolation, free from the interference of Hinduism. They have only given way somewhat to Hindu prejudices as regards purity of food. The Khásias have no written character or literature, nor even any traditions of their own. The most curious of their social customs is the importance attached to female descent and female authority. The husband marries into the wife's family, the wife or her mother is regarded as the head of the household, and all property descends in the female line – a survival of the polyandric institutions still kept up in full force by the Nairs, and other non-Aryan tribes of India. The ashes of the dead are buried under cromlechs consisting of four upright slabs of stone, covered over by a fifth slab. The only places in the Khásí and Jáintia Hills above the rank of hamlets are Shillong, the headquarters station, Jowái, and Chára Púnjí.

The principal cereal crop is rice, but even of this they do not grow sufficient for their own consumption. Sugar cane, cotton, and potatoes are also grown; and fruits such as oranges, limes, and pine-apples are raised in large quantities for export to Calcutta. The land is the absolute property of the cultivators, who pay no rent or revenue either to the British Government or to their own chiefs. Blights, floods, and droughts are almost unknown. Of a total area of 6157 square miles, only 286 are estimated as under cultivation, but other 3898 are returned as available for tillage. The trade of the hills is considerable. The estimated exports in 1876-77 were valued at £160,000, chiefly potatoes, limestone, cotton, stick-lac, bay leaves, oranges, and betel nuts. The imports were valued at £157,000. By far the greater portion of the trade is conducted at a row of markets along the southern foot of the hills, of which Chhatak in Sylhet district is the most important.

The Khási and Jáintia Hills constitute a political agency, independent of the ordinary jurisdiction. The Khási petty states, twenty-five in number, are presided over by elective chiefs, having jurisdiction over their own subjects in all cases except homicide. The British Government undertakes the management of the natural products of the country, such as lime, coal, timber, and elephants, and pays over to the chiefs a half share of the profits. Their other sources of revenue are market dues, court fines, and various cesses. Their aggregate income is approximately estimated at £5000, of which £2300 is derived from lime quarries. The total revenue of the district to the British Government in 1875 was £13,383, of which the larger portion came from royalties on lime quarries and the house tax; the expenditure was £9692. Education is conducted through the agency of the Welsh Calvinistic mission, and in 1874-75 there were seventy-three schools open, attended by 1666 pupils. Female education is making progress among the Khásias. The climate of the district is mild and equable, though in some parts excessively humid. At Shillong the thermometer rarely exceeds 80° Fahr., and falls as low as 38°. Shallow water occasionally freezes, but snow never falls. The rainfall at Chára Púnjí is the heaviest recorded in the world. The average during the three years ending 1876 is returned at 368.41 inches; and 805 inches are said to have fallen in 1861, including 366 inches in the single month of July. At Shillong the annual rainfall declines to about 85 inches; and at Jowái, which occupies an intermediate position, the average is 150 inches. The district is liable to shocks of earthquake. Generally speaking, the climate is healthy, both for natives and Europeans. Cholera never prevails, unless directly imported from the plains.