Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/148

 136 K O H K O L long., near the north bank of the Kohat Toi river, and 2 miles from the southern base of the Afridi Hills. The population in 1868, including the cantonment, was 11,274. The town is built on undulating ground, within an amphitheatre of hills, and is surrounded by a slight wall, 12 feet in height. Its principal manufacture is that of gun barrels. The cantonment and civil station lie to the east and north-east of the native city. The canton ment has accommodation for about 3000 troops. KOHL, JOHANN GEOIIG (1808-1878), traveller and author, was born at Bremen, April 28, 1808. He studied law at Gottingen, Heidelberg, and Munich, and for six years was a private tutor in Courland. In 1838, after travelling through parts of Russia, he settled at Dresden. The success of four books, which he published in 1841, describing his Russian experiences, decided his choice of literature as a profession. Travels in Europe and America supplied ample material, and book after book appeared. In 1854 he undertook to prepare an historical coast survey of the United States, in the service of Government. In 1853 he returned to Bremen, where in 1863 he was made city librarian. In that post he died, October 28, 1878. Kohl was a prolific author, and his books, both in the original ami in English translations, have enjoyed considerable popularity, j His style is agreeable and lively, and not without humour ; his , observation was acute, and not more superficial than was inevitable from the mode in whhh he amassed his materials. Besides the books on Russia, Kohl published works on Austria-Hungary (1842), Eng- lind, Scotland, and Ireland (1844), the Alps (1849-51), Denmark and. the Northern Duchies (1846-47), south-eastern Germany (1852), the Netherlands (1850), Istria, Montenegro, &c. (1851), the Danube (1854), Canada and New England (1857), the north-west of the United States (1859), Lake Superior (&quot; Kitchi-Gami &quot;) (1859). Among his historical, geographical, and miscellaneous writings are the following: Der llhein, 2 vols. , 1851 ; Aus meinen Htitten, 3 vols., 1850 ; Gcschichte der Enklcckung America s, 1861 ; Das Ifaus Scefnhrt zu Bremen, 1862 ; Nordwestdeutschc Skizzcn, 1864 ; History of the Discovery of Maine, 1869 ; Die Volker Europas, 2 vols., 1872 ; Klcine Essays, 1875. KOLABA, a district of the Bombay Presidency, India, ! lying between 17 52 and 18 50 N. lat., and between 73 7 and 73 42 E. long. It is bounded on the N. by Bombay harbour and Thana district, on the E. by Poona and Satara, on the S. by Ratn t agiri and Janjira state, and on tlis W. by the Arabian Sea. Lying between the Sihyddri range and the sea, Kolaba district abounds in hills, some being spurs of considerable regularity and height, running at right angles to the main range, whilst others are isolated peaks or lofty detached ridges. The sea ; frontage, of about 20 miles, is throughout the greater part of its length fringed by a belt of cocoa-nut and betel-nut palms. Behind tliis belt lies a stretch of flat country devoted to rice cultivation. In many places along the binks of the salt-water creeks there are extensive tracts of salt marsh land, some of them reclaimed, some still subject to tidal inundation, and others set apart for the manufac ture of salt, The district is traversed by a few small streams. Tidil inlets, of which the principal are the Nagothna on the north, the Roha or Chaul in the west, and the Bankot creek in the south, run inland for 30 or 40 miles, forming highways for a brisk trade in rice, salt, firewood, and dried fish. Near the coast especially, the district is well supplied with reservoirs. The Sahy;klri rvngelias two remarkable peaks, Raigarh, where Sivaji built his capital, a-.id Miradongar. There are extensive teak and black woo:l forests, of which the value is increased by their proximity to Bombay. The Kolaba teak has been pronounced the best grown in the Concan, and inferior only to that of Calicut. In 1875-76 the forest revenue amounted to 3634. Tigers and leopards are found all over the district, and bears on the Sahyadri range. Hyenas and jackals abound. Bison, sdmlhar, and cheetah have been shot, but are very rare. Kolaba district, with the exception of Alibagh sub division, formed part of the dominions of the peshwa, annexed by the Bombay Government in 1818. Alibagh lapsed to the paramount power in 1839. The population in 1872 was 350,405 Hindus, 330,914 ; Moham medans, 17,194 ; Parsis, 25 ; Jews, 1940 ; and Christians, 208. Of the Hindus the most important class are the Brahmans, who own large gardens and palm groves along the coast. Another important class are the Bhandaras, or toddy-drawers and cocoa-nut cultivators. The Beni-Israel (see vol. xiii. p. 685) are chiefly found in the sea board tracts. A considerable number of them enlist in the native army, and are highly esteemed as soldiers. They also monopolize the work of oil-pressing to so great an extent that they are generally known as oilmen or tclis. The total area of Government cultivable land in 1876-77 was returned at 468,646 acres, of which upwards of 93 per cent, was taken up for cultivation. Eice forms the staple produce, and is the chief export of the district. The inferior grains are nachni (Elcusine coracana), ivari (Panicum miliaceiim), and harik (Paspalum frumcntaccum) ; and these form the chief food supply of the people. The estimated value of the exports (rice, salt, timber, vegetables, and fruit) is 438, 249; of the imports (grain, piece goods, oil, butter, and sugar), 170,816. The local industries are salt manufacture and silk-weaving. The total imperial, local, and municipal revenue in 1876-77 was 106,893, of which 72,462 was contributed by the land tax. There are seventy-one Govern ment or aided schools attended by 3644 pupils. The average annual rainfall is 75 inches. The chief town of the district is Alibagh. KOLAR, or COLAR, a district of Mysore state, Southern India, lying between 12 46 and 13 36 N. lat., and 78 5 and 78 35 E. long. It occupies that portion of the Mysore table-land immediately bordering the Eastern Ghats. The principal watershed lies in the north-west, around the hill of Nandidrug (4810 feet), from which rivers radiate in all directions ; and the whole country is broken by numerous hill ranges. The chief rivers are the Palar, the South Pinakini or Pennar, the North Pinakini, and the Papaghni, which are industriously utilized for irrigation by means of anicuts and tanks. The rocks of the district are mostly syenite or granite, with a small admixture of rnica and felspar. The soil in the valleys consists of a fertile loam ; and in the higher levels sand and gravel are found. The hills are covered with scrub, jungle, and brushwood. The only tract where the trees attain any size is in the neighbourhood of Nandidrug, where an area of 7 square miles has been reserved by the forest department. The population in 1871 was 618,954, spread over an area of 2577 square miles Hindus numbering 592,652 ; Mohammedans, 25,038 ; Jains, 651 ; and Christians, 613. Four towns contain up wards of 5000 inhabitants, namely, Kolar, 9924 ; Chikballapur, 9882 ; Sidlghata, 7009; and Hosur, 5711. The staple agricultural products are rice, ragi, audjoar. Pulses, oil-seeds, vegetables, and tobacco are also grown on limited areas. Cattle breeding has recently been fostered by the British Government, and large cattle fairs are held annually. The manufactures of the district com prise sugar, silk and cotton weaving, and oil-pressing. Iron ore is smelted in considerable quantities. The principal expoits are sugar, rice, ragi, vegetables, cotton cloth, betel leaf, opium, and (jhi ; the imports are European piece goods and salt. The total revenue of the district in 1873-74 amounted to 119,446, of which 97,470 was derived from the land and paid by 78,247 proprietors of 678 separate estates. The Government aided and inspected schools in 1874 numbered 233, attended by 5547 pupils ; in addition there were also 102 unaided schools. The district bears a good reputation for healthiness, the mean annual temperature being 76, and the average annual rainfall 29 17 inches. The early history of the district is enshrouded in the usual Hindu legends, chiefly localized at the village of Avani, which is still a popular place of pilgrimage, as containing a Jinga set up by t lima himself. The earliest authentic evidence shows that Kolar in primitive times formed part of the kingdom of the Pal lavas, a dynasty overthrown by the Cholas, to whom is assigned the foundation of Kolar town. After the Cholas came the Balhila kings, who in their turn gave way to the powerful monarch of Vijayanagar, in the early part of the 14th century. About this period arose the Gauda family, whose chiefs appear to have submitted successively to every conqueror until they were swept away by Hyder All. The first Mohammedans to invade this tract were the Bijapur kings, whose general was the Marhatta Shahji, the father of Sivaji the Great. In 1639 Shahji obtained Kolar as a fief, which he transmitted to his son Venkoji or Ekoji, the