Part 15

In the northern quarter stands the great mosque founded by Sidi Okba ibn Nafi, and containing his shrine and the tombs of many rulers of Tunisia. To the outside it presents a heavy buttressed wall, with little of either grandeur or grace. It consists of three parts: a cloistered court, from which rises the massive and stately minaret, the maksura or mosque proper, and the vestibule. The maksura is a rectangular domed chamber divided by 296 marble and porphyry columns into 17 aisles, each aisle having 8 arches. The central aisle is wider than the others, the columns being arranged by threes. All the columns are Roman or Byzantine, and are the spoil of many ancient cities. Access to the central aisle is gained through a door of sculptured wood known as the Beautiful Gate. It has an inscription with the record of its construction. The walls are of painted plaster-work; the mimbar or pulpit is of carved wood, each panel bearing a different design. The court is surrounded by a double arcade with coupled columns. In all the mosque contains 439 columns, including two of alabaster given by one of the Byzantine emperors. To the Mahommedan mind the crowning distinction of the building is that through divine inspiration the founder was enabled to set it absolutely true to Mecca. The mosque of Sidi Okba is the prototype of many other notable mosques (see MOSQUE). Of greater external beauty than that of Sidi Okba is the mosque of the Three Gates. Cufic inscriptions on the facade record its erection in the 9th and its restoration in the 15th century A.D. Internally the mosque is a single chamber supported by sixteen Roman columns. One of the finest specimens of Moorish architecture in Kairawan is the _zawia_ of Sidi Abid-el-Ghariani (d. c. A.D. 1400), one of the Almoravides, in whose family is the hereditary governorship of the city. The entrance, a door in a false arcade of black and white marble, leads into a court whose arches support an upper colonnade. The town contains many other notable buildings, but none of such importance as the mosque of the Companion (i.e. of the Prophet), outside the walls to the N.W. This mosque is specially sacred as possessing what are said to be three hairs of the Prophet's beard, buried with the saint, who was one of the companions of Mahomet. (This legend gave rise to the report that the tomb contained the remains of Mahomet's barber.) The mosque consists of several courts and chambers, and contains some beautiful stained glass. The court which forms the entrance to the shrine of the saint is richly adorned with tiles and plaster-work, and is surrounded by an arcade of white marble columns, supporting a painted wooden roof. The minaret is faced with tiles and is surmounted by a gilded crescent. The 19th-century mosque of Sidi Amar Abada, also outside the wall, is in the form of a cross and is crowned with seven cupolas. In the suburbs are huge cisterns, attributed to the 9th century, which still supply the city with water. The cemetery covers a large area and has thousands of Cufic and Arabic inscriptions.

Formerly famous for its carpets and its oil of roses, Kairawan is now known in northern Africa rather for copper vessels, articles in morocco leather, potash and saltpetre. The town has a population of about 20,000, including a few hundred Europeans.

Arab historians relate the foundation of Kairawan by Okba with miraculous circumstances (Tabari ii. 63; Yaqut iv. 213). The date is variously given (see Weil, _Gesch. d. Chalifen_, i. 283 seq.); according to Tabari it must have been before 670. The legend says that Okba determined to found a city which should be a rallying-point for the followers of Mahomet in Africa. He led his companions into the desert, and having exhorted the serpents and wild beasts, in the name of the Prophet, to retire, he struck his spear into the ground exclaiming "Here is your Kairawan" (resting-place), so naming the city.[1] In the 8th century Kairawan was the capital of the province of Ifrikia governed by amirs appointed by the caliphs. Later it became the capital of the Aghlabite princes, thereafter following the fortunes of the successive rulers of the country (see TUNISIA: _History_). After Mecca and Medina Kairawan is the most sacred city in the eyes of the Mahommedans of Africa, and constant pilgrimages are made to its shrines. Until the time of the French occupation no Christian was allowed to pass through the gates without a special permit from the bey, whilst Jews were altogether forbidden to approach the holy city. Contrary to expectation no opposition was offered by the citizens to the occupation of the place by the French troops in 1881. On that occasion the native troops hastened to the mosques to perform their devotions; they were followed by European soldiers, and the mosques having thus been "violated" have remained open ever since to non-Mahommedans.

See Murray's _Handbook to Algeria and Tunis_, by Sir R. L. Playfair (1895); A. M. Broadley, _The Last Punic War: Tunis Past and Present_ (1882) and H. Saladin, _Tunis el Kairouan_ (1908).

FOOTNOTE:

[1] Though Okba founded his city in a desert place, excavations undertaken in 1908 revealed the existence of Roman ruins, including a temple of Saturn, in the neighbourhood.

KAISERSLAUTERN, a town in the Bavarian palatinate, on the Waldlauter, in the hilly district of Westrich, 41 m. by rail W. of Mannheim. Pop. (1905), 52,306. Among its educational institutions are a gymnasium, a Protestant normal school, a commercial school and an industrial museum. The house of correction occupies the site of Frederick Barbarossa's castle, which was demolished by the French in 1713. Kaiserslautern is one of the most important industrial towns in the palatinate. Its industries include cotton and wool spinning and weaving, iron-founding, and the manufacture of beer, tobacco, gloves, boots, furniture, &c. There is some trade in fruit and in timber.

Kaiserslautern takes its name from the emperor (Kaiser) Frederick I., who built a castle here about 1152, although it appears to have been a royal residence in Carolingian times. It became an imperial city, a dignity which it retained until 1357, when it passed to the palatinate. In 1621 it was taken by the Spanish, in 1631 by the Swedish, in 1635 by the imperial and in 1713 by the French troops. During 1793 and 1794 it was the scene of fighting; and in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 it was the base of operations of the second German army, under Prince Frederick Charles. It was one of the early stations of the Reformation, and in 1849 was the centre of the revolutionary spirit in the palatinate.

See Lehmann, _Urkundliche Geschichte von Kaiserslautern_ (Kaiserslautern, 1853), and E. Jost, _Geschichte der Stadt Kaiserslautern_ (Kaiserslautern, 1886).

KAISERSWERTH, a town in the Prussian Rhine province, on the right bank of the Rhine, 6 m. below Dusseldorf. Pop. (1905), 2462. It possesses a Protestant and a large old Romanesque Roman Catholic church of the 12th or 13th century, with a valuable shrine, said to contain the bones of St Suitbert, and has several benevolent institutions, of which the chief is the _Diakonissen Anstalt_, or training-school for Protestant sisters of charity. This institution, founded by Pastor Theodor Fliedner (1800-1864) in 1836, has more than 100 branches, some being in Asia and America; the head establishment at Kaiserswerth includes an orphanage, a lunatic asylum and a Magdalen institution. The Roman Catholic hospital occupies the former Franciscan convent. The population is engaged in silk-weaving and other small industries.

In 710 Pippin of Heristal presented the site of the town to Bishop Suitbert, who built the Benedictine monastery round which the town gradually formed. Until 1214 Kaiserswerth lay on an island, but in that year Count Adolph V. of Berg, who was besieging it, dammed up effectually one arm of the Rhine. About the beginning of the 14th century Kaiserswerth, then an imperial city, came to the archbishopric of Cologne, and afterwards to the duchy of Juliers, whence, after some vicissitudes, it finally passed into the possession of the princes of the palatinate, whose rights, long disputed by the elector of Cologne, were legally settled in 1772. In 1702 the fortress was captured by the Austrians and Prussians, and the Kaiserpfalz, whence the young emperor Henry IV. was abducted by Archbishop Anno of Cologne in 1062, was blown up.

See J. Disselhoff, _Das Diaconissenmutterhaus zu Kaiserswerth_ (new ed., 1903; Eng. trans., 1883).

KAITHAL, or KYTHAL, an ancient town of British India in Karnal district, Punjab. Pop. (1901), 14,408. It is said to have been founded by the mythical hero Yudisthira, and is connected by tradition with the monkey-god Hanuman. In 1767 it fell into the hands of the Sikh chieftain, Bhai Desu Singh, whose descendants, the bhais of Kaithal, ranked among the most powerful Cis-Sutlej chiefs. Their territories lapsed to the British in 1843. There remain the fort of the bhais, and several Mahommedan tombs of the 13th century and later. There is some trade in grain, sal-ammoniac, live stock and blankets; and cotton, saltpetre, lac ornaments and toys are manufactured.

KAKAPO, the Maori name, signifying "night parrot," and frequently adopted by English writers, of a bird, commonly called by the British in New Zealand the "ground-parrot" or "owl-parrot." The existence of this singular form was first made known in 1843 by Ernst Dieffenbach (_Travels in N. Zealand_, ii. 194), from some of its tail-feathers obtained by him, and he suggested that it was one of the _Cuculidae_, possibly belonging to the genus _Centropus_, but he added that it was becoming scarce, and that no example had been seen for many years. G. R. Gray, noticing it in June 1845 (_Zool. Voy. "Erebus" and "Terror,"_ pt. ix. p. 9), was able to say little more of it, but very soon afterwards a skin was received at the British Museum, of which, in the following September, he published a figure (_Gen. Birds_, pt. xvii.), naming it _Strigops[1] habroptilus_, and rightly placing it among the parrots, but he did not describe it technically for another eighteen months (_Proc. Zool. Society_, 1847, p. 61). Many specimens have now been received in Europe, so that it is represented in most museums, and several examples have reached England alive.

In habits the kakapo is almost wholly nocturnal,[2] hiding in holes (which in some instances it seems to make for itself) under the roots of trees or rocks during the day time, and only issuing forth about sunset to seek its food, which is solely vegetable in kind, and consists of the twigs, leaves, seeds and fruits of trees, grass and fern roots--some observers say mosses also. It sometimes climbs trees, but generally remains on the ground, only using its comparatively short wings to balance itself in running or to break its fall when it drops from a tree--though not always then--being apparently incapable of real flight. It thus becomes an easy prey to the marauding creatures--cats, rats and so forth--which European colonists have, by accident or design, let loose in New Zealand. Sir G. Grey says it had been, within the memory of old people, abundant in every part of that country, but (writing in 1854) was then found only in the unsettled districts.

The kakapo is about the size of a raven, of a green or brownish-green colour, thickly freckled and irregularly barred with dark brown, and dashed here and there with longitudinal stripes of light yellow. Examples are subject to much variation in colour and shade, and in some the lower parts are deeply tinged with yellow. Externally the most striking feature of the bird is its head, armed with a powerful beak that it well knows how to use, and its face clothed with hairs and elongated feathers that sufficiently resemble the physiognomy of an owl to justify the generic name bestowed upon it. Of its internal structure little has been described, and that not always correctly. Its furcula has been said (_Proc. Zool. Society_, 1874, p. 594) to be "lost," whereas the clavicles, which in most birds unite to form that bone, are present, though they do not meet, while in like manner the bird has been declared (_op. cit._, 1867, p. 624, note) to furnish among the _Carinatae_ "the only apparent exception to the presence of a keel" to the sternum. The keel, however, is undoubtedly there, as remarked by Blanchard (_Ann. Nat. Sc., Zoologie_, 4th series, vol. xi. p. 83) and A. Milne Edwards (_Ois. Foss. de la France_, ii. 516), and, though much reduced in size, is nearly as much developed as in the Dodo and the Ocydrome. The aborted condition of this process can hardly be regarded but in connexion with the incapacity of the bird for flight, and may very likely be the result of disuse. There can be scarcely any doubt as to the propriety of considering this genus the type of a separate family of _Psittaci_; but whether it stands alone or some other forms (_Pezoporus_ or _Geopsittacus_, for example, which in coloration and habits present some curious analogies) should be placed with it, must await future determination. In captivity the kakapo is said to show much intelligence, as well as an affectionate and playful disposition. Unfortunately it does not seem to share the longevity characteristic of most parrots, and none that has been held in confinement appears to have long survived, while many succumb speedily.

For further details see Gould's _Birds of Australia_ (ii. 247), and _Handbook_ (ii. 539); Dr Finsch's _Die Papageien_ (i. 241), and Sir Walter Buller's _Birds of New Zealand_ especially. (A. N.)

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This generic term was subsequently altered by Van der Hoeven, rather pedantically, to _Stringops_, a spelling now generally adopted.

[2] It has, however, been occasionally observed abroad by day; and, in captivity, one example at least is said to have been as active by day as by night.

KAKAR, a Pathan tribe on the Zhob valley frontier of Baluchistan. The Kakars inhabit the back of the Suliman mountains between Quetta and the Gomal river; they are a very ancient race, and it is probable that they were in possession of these slopes long before the advent of Afghan or Arab. They are divided into many distinct tribes who have no connexion beyond the common name of Kakar. Not only is there no chief of the Kakars, or general _jirgah_ (or council) of the whole tribe, but in most cases there are no recognized heads of the different clans. In 1901 they numbered 105,444. During the second Afghan War the Kakars caused some annoyance on the British line of communications; and the Kakars inhabiting the Zhob valley were punished by the Zhob valley expedition of 1884.

KALA-AZAR, or Dum-Dum fever, a tropical disease, characterized by remittent fever, anaemia and enlargement of the spleen (splenomegaly) and often of the liver. It is due to a protozoon parasite (see PARASITIC DISEASES), discovered in 1900 by Leishman in the spleen, and is of a malarial type. The treatment is similar to that for malaria. In Assam good results have been obtained by segregation.

KALABAGH, a town of British India in the Mianwali district of the Punjab. Pop. (1901), 5824. It is picturesquely situated at the foot of the Salt range, on the right bank of the Indus, opposite the railway station of Mari. The houses nestle against the side of a precipitous hill of solid rock-salt, piled in successive tiers, the roof of each tier forming the street which passes in front of the row immediately above, and a cliff, also of pure rock-salt, towers above the town. The supply of salt, which is worked from open quarries, is practically inexhaustible. Alum also occurs in the neighbouring hills, and forms a considerable item of local trade. Iron implements are manufactured.

KALACH, also known as DONSKAYA, a village of S.E. Russia, in the territory of the Don Cossacks, and a river port on the Don, 31 m. N.E. of Nizhne-Chirskaya, in 43 deg. 30' E. and 48 deg. 43' N. Its permanent population, only about 1200, increases greatly in summer. It is the terminus of the railway (45 m.) which connects the Don with Tsaritsyn on the Volga, and all the goods (especially fish, petroleum, cereals and timber) brought from the Caspian Sea up the Volga and destined for middle Russia, or for export through the Sea of Azov, are unloaded at Tsaritsyn and sent over to Kalach on the Don.

KALAHANDI (formerly KAROND), a feudatory state of India, which was transferred from the Central Provinces to the Orissa division of Bengal in 1905. A range of the Eastern Ghats runs from N.E. to S.W. through the state, with open undulating country to the north. Area 3745 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 350,529; estimated revenue, L8000; tribute, L800. The inhabitants mostly belong to the aboriginal race of Khonds. A murderous outbreak against Hindu settlers called for armed intervention in 1882. The chief, Raghu Kishor Deo, was murdered by a servant in 1897, and during the minority of his son, Brij Mohan Deo, the state was placed in charge of a British political agent. The capital is Bhawani Patna.

KALAHARI DESERT, a region of South Africa, lying mainly between 20 deg. and 28 deg. S. and 19 deg. and 24 deg. E., and covering fully 120,000 sq. m. The greater part of this territory forms the western portion of the (British) Bechuanaland protectorate, but it extends south into that part of Bechuanaland annexed to the Cape and west into German South-West Africa. The Orange river marks its southern limit; westward it reaches to the foot of the Nama and Damara hills, eastward to the cultivable parts of Bechuanaland, northward and north-westward to the valley of the Okavango and the bed of Lake Ngami. The Kalahari, part of the immense inner table-land of South Africa, has an average elevation of over 3000 ft. with a general slope from east to west and a dip northward to Ngami. Described by Robert Moffat as "the southern Sahara," the Kalahari resembles the great desert of North Africa in being generally arid and in being scored by the beds of dried-up rivers. It presents however many points of difference from the Sahara. The surface soil is mainly red sand, but in places limestone overlies shale and conglomerates. The ground is undulating and its appearance is comparable with that of the ocean at times of heavy swell. The crests of the waves are represented by sand dunes, rising from 30 to 100 ft.; the troughs between the dunes vary greatly in breadth. On the eastern border long tongues of sand project into the veld, while the veld in places penetrates far into the desert. There are also, and especially along the river beds, extensive mud flats. After heavy rain these become pans or lakes, and water is then also found in mud-bottomed pools along the beds of the rivers. The water in the pans is often brackish, and in some cases thickly encrusted with salt. Pans also occur in crater-like depressions where rock rises above the desert sands. A tough, sun-bleached grass, growing knee-high in tufts at intervals of about 15 in., covers the dunes and gives the general colour of the landscape. Considerable parts of the Kalahari, chiefly in the west and north, are however covered with dense scrub and there are occasional patches of forest. Next to the lack of water the chief characteristics of the desert are the tuberous and herbaceous plants and the large numbers of big game found in it. Of the plants the most remarkable is the water-melon, of which both the bitter and sweet variety are found, and which supplies both man and beast with water. The game includes the lion, leopard, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, buffalo, zebra, quagga, many kinds of antelope (among them the kudu and gnu), baboon and ostrich. The elephant, giraffe and eland are also found. The hunting of these three last-named animals is prohibited, and for all game there is a close time from the beginning of September to the end of February.

The climate is hot, dry and healthy, save in the neighbourhood of the large marshes in the north, where malarial fever is prevalent. In this region the drainage is N.E. to the great Makarikari marsh and the Botletle, the river connecting the marsh with the Ngami system. In the south the drainage is towards the Orange. The Molopo and the Kuruman, which in their upper course in eastern Bechuanaland are perennial streams, lose their water by evaporation and percolation on their way westward through the Kalahari. The Molopo, a very imposing river on the map, is dry in its lower stretches. The annual rainfall does not exceed 10 in. It occurs in the summer months, September to March, and chiefly in thunderstorms. The country is suffering from progressive desiccation, but there is good evidence of an abundant supply of water not far beneath the surface. In the water-melon season a few white farmers living on the edge of the desert send their herds thither to graze. Such few spots as have been under cultivation by artificial irrigation yield excellent returns to the farmer; but the chief commercial products of the desert are the skins of animals.

The Kalahari is the home of wandering Bushmen (q.v.), who live entirely by the chase, killing their prey with poisoned arrows, of Ba-Kalahari, and along the western border of Hottentots, who are both hunters and cattle-rearers. The Ba-Kalahari (men of the Kalahari), who constitute the majority of the inhabitants, appear to belong to the Batau tribe of the Bechuanas, now no longer having separate tribal existence, and traditionally reported to be the oldest of the Bechuana tribes. Their features are markedly negroid, though their skin is less black than that of many negro peoples. They have thin legs and arms. The Ba-Kalahari are said to have possessed enormous herds of large horned cattle until deprived of them and driven into the desert by a fresh migration of more powerful Bechuana tribes. Unlike the Bushmen, and in spite of desert life, the Ba-Kalahari have a true passion for agriculture and cattle-breeding. They carefully cultivate their gardens, though in many cases all they can grow is a scanty supply of melons and pumpkins, and they rear small herds of goats. They are also clever hunters, and from the neighbouring Bechuana chiefs obtain spears, knives, tobacco and dogs in exchange for the skins of the animals they kill. In disposition they are peaceful to timidity, grave and almost morose. Livingstone states that he never saw Ba-Kalahari children at play. An ingenious method is employed to obtain water where there is no open well or running stream. To one end of a reed about 2 ft. long a bunch of grass is tied, and this end of the reed is inserted in a hole dug at a spot where water is known to exist underground, the wet sand being rammed down firmly round it. An ostrich egg-shell, the usual water vessel, is placed on the ground alongside the reed. The water-drawer, generally a woman, then sucks up the water through the reed, dexterously squirting it into the adjacent egg-shell. To aid her aim she places between her lips a straw, the other end of which is inserted in the shell. The shells, when filled, are buried, the object of the Ba-Kalahari being to preserve their supplies from any sudden raid by Bushmen or other foe. Early travellers stated that no amount of bullying or hunting in a Ba-Kalahari village would result in a find of water; but that on friendly relations being established the natives would bring a supply, however arid the district. The British government has since sunk wells in one or two districts. Though the Ba-Kalahari have no religion in the strict sense of the word, they show traces of totemism, and as Batau, i.e. "men of the lion," revere rather than fear that beast.