Page:EB1911 - Volume 15.djvu/987

Rh and in 1881 he won further fame by a march of 500 miles from Tashkent to Geok-Tēpē, taking part in the storming of the latter place. In 1882 he was promoted major-general, at the early age of 34, and he henceforth was regarded by the army as the natural successor of Skobelev. In 1890 he was promoted lieutenant-general, and thirteen years later, having acquired in peace and war the reputation of being one of the foremost soldiers in Europe, he quitted the post of minister of war which he then held and took command of the Russian army then gathering in Manchuria for the contest with Japan. His ill-success in the great war of 1904–5, astonishing as it seemed at the time, was largely attributable to his subjection to the superior command of Admiral Alexeiev, the tsar’s viceroy in the Far East, and to internal friction amongst the generals, though in his history of the war (Eng. trans., 1909) he frankly admitted his own mistakes and paid the highest tribute to the gallantry of the troops who had been committed to battle under conditions unfavourable to success. After the defeat of Mukden and the retirement of the whole army to Tieling he resigned the command to General Linievich, taking the latter officer’s place at the head of one of the three armies in Manchuria. (See .)

KURO SIWO, or (literally blue salt), a stream current in the Pacific Ocean, easily distinguishable by the warm temperature and blue colour of its waters, flowing north-eastwards along the east coast of Japan, and separated from it by a strip of cold water. The current persists as a stream to about 40 N., between the meridians of 150° E. and 160° E., when it merges in the general easterly drift of the North Pacific. The Kuro Siwo is the analogue of the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic.

 KURRAM, a river and district on the Kohat border of the North-West Frontier province of India. The Kurram river drains the southern flanks of the Safed Koh, enters the plains a few miles above Bannu, and joins the Indus near Isa-Khel after a course of more than 200 miles. The district has an area of 1278 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 54,257. It lies between the Miranzai Valley and the Afghan border, and is inhabited by the Turis, a tribe of Turki origin who are supposed to have subjugated the Bangash Pathans five hundred years ago. It is highly irrigated, well peopled, and crowded with small fortified villages, orchards and groves, to which a fine background is afforded by the dark pine forests and alpine snows of the Safed Koh. The beauty and climate of the valley attracted some of the Mogul emperors of Delhi, and the remains exist of a garden planted by Shah Jahan. Formerly the Kurram valley was under the government of Kabul, and every five or six years a military expedition was sent to collect the revenue, the soldiers living meanwhile at free quarters on the people. It was not until about 1848 that the Turis were brought directly under the control of Kabul, when a governor was appointed, who established himself in Kurram. The Turis, being Shiah Mahommedans, never liked the Afghan rule. During the second Afghan War, when Sir Frederick Roberts advanced by way of the Kurram valley and the Peiwar Kotal to Kabul, the Turis lent him every assistance in their power, and in consequence their independence was granted them in 1880. The administration of the Kurram valley was finally undertaken by the British government, at the request of the Turis themselves, in 1890. Technically it ranks, not as a British district, but as an agency or administered area. Two expeditions in the Kurram valley also require mention: (1) The Kurram expedition of 1856 under Brigadier Chamberlain. The Turis on the first annexation of the Kohat district by the British had given much trouble. They had repeatedly leagued with other tribes to harry the Miranzai valley, harbouring fugitives, encouraging resistance, and frequently attacking Bangash and Khattak villages in the Kohat district. Accordingly in 1856 a British force of 4896 troops traversed their country, and the tribe entered into engagements for future good conduct. (2) The Kohat-Kurram expedition of 1897 under Colonel W. Hill. During the frontier risings of 1897 the inhabitants of the Kurram valley, chiefly the Massozai section of the Orakzais, were infected by the general excitement, and attacked the British camp at Sadda and other posts. A force of 14,230 British troops traversed the country, and the tribesmen were severely punished. In Lord Curzon’s reorganization of the frontier in 1900–1901, the British troops were withdrawn from the forts in the Kurram valley, and were replaced by the Kurram militia, reorganized in two battalions, and chiefly drawn from the Turi tribe.

 KURSEONG, or, a sanatorium of northern India, in the Darjeeling district of Bengal, 20 m. S. of Darjeeling and 4860 ft. above sea-level; pop. (1901), 4469. It has a station on the mountain railway, and is a centre of the tea trade. It also contains boys’ and girls’ schools for Europeans and Eurasians.

 KURSK, a government of middle Russia, bounded N. by the government of Orel, E. by that of Voronezh, S. by Kharkov and W. by Chernigov. Area, 17,932 sq. m. It belongs to the central plateau of middle Russia, of which it mostly occupies the southern slope, the highest parts being in Orel and Kaluga, to the north of Kursk. Its surface is 700 to 1100 ft. high, deeply trenched by ravines, and consequently assumes a hilly aspect when viewed from the river valleys. Cretaceous and Eocene rocks prevail, and chalk, iron-stone, potters’ clay and phosphates are among the economic minerals. No fewer than four hundred streams are counted within its borders, but none of them is of any service as waterways. A layer of fertile loess covers the whole surface, and Kursk belongs almost entirely to the black-earth region. The flora is distinct from that of the governments to the north, not only on account of the black-earth flora which enters into its composition, but also of the plants of south-western Russia which belong to it, a characteristic which is accentuated in the southern portion of the government. The climate is milder than that of middle Russia generally, and winds from the south-east and the south-west prevail in winter. The average temperatures are—for the year 42° F., for January 14° F. and for July 67° F. The very interesting magnetic phenomenon, known as the Byelgorod anomaly, covering an oval area 20 m. long and 12 m. wide, has been studied near the town of this name. The population, 1,893,597 in 1862, was 2,391,091 in 1897, of whom 1,208,488 were women and 199,676 lived in towns. The estimated pop. in 1906 was 2,797,000. It is thoroughly Russian (76% Great Russians and 24% Little Russians), and 94% are peasants who own over 59% of the land, and live mostly in large villages. Owing to the rapid increase of the peasantry and the small size of the allotments given at the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, emigration, chiefly to Siberia, is on the increase, while 80,000 to 100,000 men leave home every summer to work in the neighbouring governments. Three-quarters of the available land is under crops, chiefly rye, other crops being wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat, millet, potatoes, sugar-beets, hemp, flax, sunflowers and fruits. Grain is exported in considerable quantities. Bees are commonly kept, as also are large numbers of livestock. Factories (steam flour-mills, sugar-factories, distilleries, wool-washing, tobacco factories) give occupation to about 23,000 workers. Domestic and petty trades are on the increase in the villages, and new ones are being introduced, the chief products being boots, ikons (sacred images) and shrines, toys, caps, vehicles, baskets, and pottery. About 17 m. from the chief town is held the Korennaya fair, formerly the greatest in South Russia, and still with an annual trade valued at £900,000. The Kursk district contains more than sixty old town sites; and barrows or burial mounds (kurgans) are extremely abundant. Notwithstanding the active efforts of the local councils (zemstvos), less than 10% of the population read and write. The government is crossed from north to south and from west to south by two main lines of railway. The trade in grain, hemp, hemp-seed oil, sheepskins, hides, tallow, felt goods, wax, honey and leather goods is very brisk. There are fifteen districts, the chief towns of which, with their populations in 1897, are (q.v.) Byelgorod (21,850), Dmitriev (7315), Fatezh (4959), Graivoron (7669), Korocha (14,405), Lgov (5376), Novyi Oskol (2762), Oboyañ (11872), Putivl (8965), Rylsk (11,415), Staryi Oskol (16,662), Shchigry (3329), Suja (12,856) and Tim (7380). There are more than twenty villages which have from 5000 to 12,000 inhabitants each. 