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KULBURGA, a town in the province of Beder, in India, situated in Lat. 17 deg. 19 min. N., Long. 76 deg. 56 min. E. It is now a place of little note, but was of considerable celebrity in ancient times, having been the capital both of a Hindoo and a Mahomedan sovereignty.

KULENAS, or KOOLINS, a superior order of Brahmuns, to whom the seat of honour is on all occasions yielded. A Kulena may marry his son to a daughter of a Brahmun of a lower class, but can only marry his daughters to those of his own order. It was formerly (and still is to a less extent) considered a distinguished honour to unite a daughter to a Kulena, who on such occasions receive large presents from the father of the bride. Many Kulenas have, in consequence, a number of wives: sometimes marrying into thirty, fifty, and even a hundred families, in various parts of Hindostan. With each of these wives the Kulena receives a portion; and also, as he leaves them after marriage with their parents, a handsome present when he may, occasionally, condescend to visit them. Sometimes he never sees them after the marriage ceremony, and sometimes visits them once in three or four years; but does not always, in doing so, cohabit with them, as he dreads having a female offspring, whom he can only marry to a Kulena; which, as these Brahmuns receive, as before observed, large portions from those of inferior orders, is commonly a matter of some difficulty. The evils arising from these circumstances, and the neglect of the married females, are manifold. Profligacy, adultery, and a consequent destruction of unborn children, are of common occurrence among the Kulenas.

KULWAR, according to all, general. The term is applied to a settlement of the land revenues of India, when the rent of each individual Ryot is fixed

and collected by the officers of government, without the intermediate agency of Zemindars, or farmers of the revenue.

KUMAOON, a province of Hindostan, bounded on the north by the Himalaya Mountains; east, Nepaul, from which it is divided by the river Kalee; south, Delhi; and west, Gurwal. The divisions are, Kumaoon, Bhootant, and Painkhundee. The rivers are the Ganges on the west, and Kalee on the east. The whole of this province is mountainous. The mountains of Kumaoon lie between Kumaoon and Sreenuggur, or Gurwal. At the foot of the hills on the Delhi side is a belt of jungle, and higher up, throughout the ranges of mountains, are forests, producing various kinds of trees, including the oak and fir. Parts of the province are open and naked, particularly about Almora. The

northern part of Bhootant, through which are several passes into Thibet, is covered with snow during more than half the year. The productions of this province are principally a coarse kind of wheat, barley, and chenna. The tea-plant grows wild, but not fit to use. In the forests are oak and fir; and gold is supposed to exist in the mountains. In the Painkhundee are cedars of a large size, and hemp. Paper of a particular kind is manufactured from a plant in this district. The only place of any consequence in the province is Almora. The inhabitants are Bhooteans and Khasiyas, with about 6000 Brahmuns scattered through the districts, but the province is very thinly inhabited. The Brahminical system of religion generally prevails; the Khasya dialect is commonly spoken in this province. KUMBUCKT, ill fated, wretch. A common term of reproach or abuse in Persia.

KUNJOOR, in the province of Orissa, in India, the chief town of the Zumeendaree of the same name, is

situated in Lat. 21 deg. 31 min. N., Long. 86 deg. 42 min. E. KUNKUR, lime-stone.

It is much used in India in building and the repair of roads. KUNNAUT, the enclosure of the tents used in India. It is formed of canvass, with perpendicular pieces of bamboo inlaid at intervals of four or five feet, which being driven into the ground, preserve the canvass erect, and so compose a species of wall. KURACHEE, one of the principal

sea-ports, and a British station in the province of Scinde, in Hindostan, situated at the westernmost mouth of the Indus, in Lat. 24 deg. 51 min. N., Long. 67 deg. 16 min. E. KURGOON, a town in India, situated

in Lat. 21 deg. 50 min. N., Long. 75 deg. 40 min. E. It is considered the capital of the Holkar districts, in the province of Khandesh, and the usual residence of the Mahratta go

vernor.

KURMAVATARA, in the Hindoo mythology, the second of Vishnu's avatars. In this avatar Vishnu assumed the form of an immense tortoise to support the earth. KURNAUL, a large town,about seventy miles from Delhi, in the province of Delhi, in India, is one of the principal military stations in the province. KURNOOL, called also KÜMEERNUGGUR, a town in India, in the province of Balaghat, is situated on the south side of the river Toombudra, a few miles distant from its junction with the river Kistna, in Lat. 15 deg. 44 min. N., Long. 78 deg. 2 min. E. It is strongly fortified, and until 1839, was the residence of a petty Pathan chief, the descendant of the former nabob of Kurnool. This place has been for several centuries the principal station of the Deccan Pathans. KURRUONDA, an Indian bush, which bears berries as large as a purple grape, and resembles that fruit in colour and appearance. It is highly acrid and glutinous, and scarcely

edible. In its wild state it is not larger than a black currant, sweet and pleasantly flavoured. The blossoms are white and starry, and diffuse a most agreeable perfume. KURUNDU, the cinnamon tree of the island of Ceylon. This tree is generally small and bushy, though this arises from its not being permitted to grow, as the shoots of three years' growth are those that are generally cut down for peeling. Some cinnamon trees have been seen which measured five feet in circumference, and thirty or thirty-five feet high. The bark of the young shoots is of a delicate green. To make the bushes thrive the better, they are cleared of all weeds, &c., and the earth is heaped up round their roots once a year. The leaves resemble those of the laurel, but are chiefly distinguished by three thick fibres running lengthwise, without any others crossing them. The flower is white and small, and without smell, and blows in March. The fruit, which is like a small acorn, and black, is ripe about July. Great quantities of the seeds are collected every year for the purpose of being planted. The government cinnamon gardens of Ceylon are very extensive, reaching from Negombo, twenty-three miles north of Colombo, to Caltura, twenty-six miles south of it, and covering a surface of many thousand

acres.

Since the government monopoly of the cinnamon trade ceased in 1833, several hundreds of acres of the gardens have been sold to merchants, natives, and others, and the trade in cinnamon in private hands is now a most profitable and flourishing one. There is a duty of 3s. 6d. a pound on all cinnamon exported by the merchants from the island of Ceylon. The method of peeling cinnamon is this :-In July and August the shoots of three and four years of age are cut down, the leaves and end of the stick are cut off, and the sticks are carried in large bundles into some convenient and shady

place, or some maduwa (temporary shed) erected for the purpose. The peelers have a knife of a peculiar construction, and having rubbed the stick with the handle of the knife, to make the bark supple, they make an incision along the stick, and then loosen the bark so that they can easily take it off without breaking it. It now appears like a long tube. In this state it is laid in the sun to dry, and when the moisture is absorbed the two edges fold in under each other, and it is thus reduced to a much smaller bulk than when first peeled off. It is then put up in bundles or bales, each containing a certain number of pounds, and taken to the godowns. From the leaves and roots, and refuse of the cinnamon, oil is distilled. The barked sticks are used for firewood.

KURWAH, a coarse kind of red cotton cloth, used for a variety of common purposes; it makes palankeen covers, dusters, &c.

KUSS-KUSS, a peculiar kind of Indian grass, used for screens and blinds. See TATTIES.

KUTTACK. See CUTTACK. KUVERA is the god of wealth, and the Hindoo Plutus; he is also the regent of the north. This deity was a son of Viswasrava, and a brother of Ravan, who was overcome by Rama, as related in the account of that god. Thus the latter was one of the datyas, and Kuvera one of the celestials. He is also called Paulastya.

KUZZILBASH, a Turkish word signifying "red head." It was an appellation originally given by Shah Ismael the first, to seven tribes which were united and firmly bound to defend their king and the Sheah faith against all enemies and aggressors. These tribes wore a red cap as a distinguishing mark, which afterwards became the military head dress of the Persian troops; hence the term kuzzilbash is used to express a Persian soldier, and often, particularly among

the

Toorkomans and Oozbecks is applied as a national designation to the people in general. KYAPOOTEE OIL, or CAJEPUT OIL, the volatile oil obtained from the leaves of the cajeput tree, cajeputa officinarum, the melaleuca leucadendron of Linnæus. The tree

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which furnishes the Kyapootee oil is frequent on the mountains of Amboyna and the other Molucca Islands. It is obtained by distillation from the dried leaves of the smaller of two varieties. It is prepared in great quantities, especially in the island of Banda, and sent to Holland in copper flasks. When it arrives in England, it is of a green colour, very limpid, lighter than water, of a strong smell resembling camphor, and a strong pungent taste, like that of cardamoms. It burns entirely away, without leaving any residuum. It is frequently adulterated with other essential oils, coloured with the resin of milfoil. In the genuine oil, the green colour depends on the presence of copper, for when rectified it is colourless. As an embrocation, this oil is of the greatest utility, especially in cases of rheumatism, sciatica, lumbago, &c.

L.

LAC, a gum (gum lacca) obtained in India and China. It is yielded by insects (the coccus lacca), which fix themselves upon the succulent extremities of the branches of the trees on which they are produced, and form small cells like honeycombs; these cells constitute the gum. The lac, after undergoing various processes of preparation, is much used for sealing-wax, varnish, japanning, painting, and dyeing. LAC, one hundred thousand. A lac of rupees (£10,000) was once the desiderated maximum of an AngloIndian fortune. The "nabobs" of the last century, and a few of the present, often returned to England

with several lacs. At the present day, the accumulation of a single lac is a matter of difficulty. LACCADIVES, the, a cluster of islands situated opposite to the coast of Malabar, a province of India, and distant about seventy-five miles from thence. They consist of thirty small low islets, extending from the tenth to the twelfth degree of north latitude, being separated from each other by wide channels, and the largest not containing six square miles of land. They are all very barren, producing nothing but cocoanuts, coir, jaggery, and a little betel nut, which are exported to India in exchange for grain, clothes, and other articles. The inhabitants are Mahomedans of the Malay class; they are very poor, and subsist chiefly upon cocoa-nut and fish. LAHORE, or the PUNJAB, a province of India, bounded on the north by the Himalayas, Cashmere, and the Himalayas; east, the Sutlej, separating it from Delhi; south, Mooltan; west, the Indus. The province is divided into a number of small districts for the purposes of government; but the two principal natural divisions may be said to be the Lower Punjab, or level country, between the rivers, and the Kohistan, or hill country, occupying the northern part. The principal rivers are the Indus, Jelum, Chenab (q. v.), Ravee, Beya, or Beas, and Sutlej. The Jelum has its source in the south-eastern corner of Cashmere, and flowing first westward, and afterwards to the south, falls into the Chenab, after a course of about 450 miles, 100 miles above Mooltan. The Kohistan division is implied by the name, is hilly throughout, and its productions are not numerous, the cold, for some months, being too severe for those of India generally, and the heat during others being too great for those of more northern climates. The declivities of the mountains, however, produce abundant crops of wheat, barley, and peas,

which constitute the principal articles of food of the inhabitants. The Punjab is generally level, and affords both pasturage and tillage. It yields wheat, barley, rice, pulses of all sorts, sugar, and tobacco. Horses of tolerably good quality are bred in great numbers, and the oxen and buffaloes are of a large powerful kind. Large quantities of fossil salt are found in many places, particularly between the rivers Indus and Jelum. The towns are Attock, Rawulpindee, Rotas, Kishtagar, Lahore, Umritzur. The inhabitants of this province are Sikhs, Singhs, Jats, Rajpoots, and other Hindoos of inferior castes, and Mahomedans. The latter are still numerous, but chiefly of the poorer classes. The total population is supposed to amount to between three and four millions. They are generally a robust, athletic race, and of martial habits. The religion of the Sikhs may be described as a mixture of Hindooism and Deism. It was founded about the middle of the 15th century, by a Hindoo priest named Baba Narnak or Narnak Sah, who desired to reform what he looked upon as the corruption of his religion. This system gradually spread under the influence of the Gooroos, or teachers, who succeeded him, until the time of the tenth Gooroo, Govind Singh, who, animated by the ambition of worldly, as well as religious power, entirely remodelled the Sikh constitution, and converted his followers into fierce and formidable soldiers, changing their designation from Silkhs, signifying simply disciples, into Singhs, or hions, which before had exclusively belonged to the Rajpoot tribes. The Sikhs revere Gooroo Narnak as the founder of their religion, but have still greater veneration for Gooroo Govind, as the founder of their national power. Gooroo Govind is believed to have died about the year 1708, and was the last of the Gooroos. Their tenets are contained in a number of books written at different times, by Nar

nak, and other of the Gooroos, and finally arranged in one volume, called the Grinth, or Grunth, a Sanscrit work, meaning book, or writing. The Sikhs reject all distinction of caste, and admit converts from all classes. The language of the Sikhs is called the Punjabee. It is a mixture of Hindostanee and Persian. LAHORE, a city in India, the capital

of the Punjab, or province of Lahore, situated on the south side of the Ravee river, in Lat. 31 deg. 36 min. N., Long. 74 deg. 3 min. E. In the earliest times of which we have any record, this place appears to have been of consequence as the capital of the Rajpoot Kings of Lahore. Subsequently, in the year 1520, Sultaun Baber made it the capital of his empire, and it continued to be the seat of government for nearly a hundred years. Though the old city is now, in many parts, nearly in ruins, it still retains the vestiges of its former grandeur, and contains several magnificent edifices, particularly the palace built by the Emperor Acbar, the Shah Dura, or Mausoleum of the Emperor Juhangeer, on the opposite side of the river, and the tomb of his queen, the celebrated Noor Juhan. There is also the beautiful garden of Shah Juhan, called the Shalimar, intersected by a canal, which throws up its water in 450 fountains to cool the air. LAKERAGE, or LAKIRAJ, rentfree; lands rent-free, or lands the government dues from which are assigned to any person for his own benefit, or are appropriated to any public purpose. The term is used in contradistinction to Malgoozary. LAKSHMI. This sea-born goddess (Hindoo mythology) of beauty and prosperity, the consort, or sacti of Vishnu, was obtained by him at the churning of the sea. She is painted yellow, sitting on the lotus, or waterlily, and holding in her hand sometimes the kamala, or lotus, at others, the shell or club of Vishnu. At her birth she was so beautiful that all

the gods became enamoured of her; but Vishnu at length obtained her. She is considered the Hindoo Ceres, or goddess of abundance. Lakshmi has various names, among which are Sri or Sris, the goddess of prosperity; Pedma, or Kamala, from the lotus or nymphæa being sacred to her; Rembha, the sea-born goddess; Varahi (as the energy of Vishnu in the Varaha avatar); Ada Maya, the mother of the world; Narayana, Vidgnani, Kaumali, &c. The festivals in honour of Lakshmi are held in the months Bhadra, Aswinu, Karteku, Poushu, and Choitru. The ceremonies are performed before a corn measure filled with rice in the husk, which is decorated with a garland of flowers, shells, &c. No sanguinary sacrifices are offered. The chewing of the cud by the cow arose, according to the Hindoos, from a curse of Lakshmi, that her mouth should be always in a state of uncleanliness, in consequence of a falsehood told by the animal to the goddess.

LALITAPUTTUN, a town in India, in the province of Nepaul, situated about two miles to the north of Khatmandoo. This is the largest town in Nepaul, and contains about 25,000 inhabitants. LAMA. See THIBET. LA-MAH-E-IL-ALLAH!

Persian.

"There is no God but God!" The first part of the Mahomedan confession of faith. It is in constant colloquial use, as an exclamation of astonishment, grief, or pleasure, or even as an occasional ejaculation without any meaning at all. LANDOUR, a military cantonment, or dépôt for sick troops in a ridge of outer Himlaya of that name, immediately above the Deyrah Dhoon. It was established in 1827, at the recommendation of Lord Combermere, then Commander-in-chief in India, as a sanatorium. The climate from March to June is delicious, and favourable to the restoration of Europeans to health. In the rainy sea

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