Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/164

152 had commissioned to claim homage was sent back with ignominy. A great armament was equipped in the of  to avenge this insult; but after some temporary success the force was compelled to re-embark with a loss of 3000 men. The death of Kublai prevented further action. Some other expeditions, in which force was not used, gratified the ’s vanity by bringing back professions of, with, and with the curious reports of foreign in which Kublai delighted. Such expeditions extended to the of southern, to eastern , and even to. Of Kublai’s twelve sons, Chingkim, the favourite and designated successor, died in –; and Teimur, the son of Chingkim, took his place. No great arose in the  after Kublai. He had in all nine successors of his house on the throne of, but the long and reign of the ninth, Toghon Teimur, ended  in disgrace and expulsion, and the   of  reigned in their stead. (undefined)  KUCHÁN (a contracted form of Kabushán), a walled and also a district of Persia, province Khórásán, enclosed north and south by the Hazar-Mazjíd and Ala-Dagli mountains. The lies at the north foot of the Shah Jahan Kuh (11,000 ), 3300  above the sea, in 37° 10′ N. lat., 58° 25′ E. long., about 80  north-west of Meshhed on the route to Shirván. It is an important place, seat of a district governor, and surrounded by extensive gardens and vineyards yielding excellent fruits and grapes from which a superior wine is made. 20,000. The district forms the western section of the longitudinal valley stretching between the above-mentioned ranges from Meshhed to Shirván and communicating by the Allaho-Akbar Pass (4200 ) northwards with the Dara-Gez country on the frontier of the new Russian Trans-Caspian Territory. It is very fertile, largely cultivated, and well watered by the upper Atrek river, which has its furthest source in an intermittent torrent just south of the pass. The whole valley is thickly dotted over with villages, while the slopes of the hills afford good pasture to the numerous flocks and herds of the warlike Zafaranlu Kurds, who guarded the frontier against the Akhal Tekke Turkomans until these marauders were reduced by the Russians in the spring of 1881. Of this region little was known until the explorations of Baker, Gill, O’Donovan, and Stewart (1874–81).  KUCH BEHAR, or, a native state in Bengal, India, lying between 25° 57′ and 26° 32′ N. lat., and 88° 48′ and 89° 55′ E. long. It is entirely surrounded by British territory, being bounded on the N. by Jalpáigurí, on the E. by Goálpára, on the S. by Rangpur, and on the W. by Purniah districts. The state forms a level plain of triangular shape, intersected by numerous rivers. The greater portion is fertile and well cultivated, but tracts of jungle are to be seen in the north-east corner, which abuts upon Assam. The soil is uniform in character throughout, consisting of a light, friable loam, varying in depth from 6 es to 3, superimposed upon a deep bed of sand. The whole is detritus, washed down by torrents from the neighbouring Himálayas. The rivers all pass through the state from north to south, to join the main stream of the Brahmaputra. Some half dozen are navigable for small trading boats throughout the year, and are nowhere fordable; and there are about twenty minor streams which become navigable only during the rainy season. The streams have a tendency to cut new channels for themselves after every annual flood, and they communicate with one another by cross-country water-courses. There are no embankments or artificial canals, nor are any mineral products known to exist.

The in 1872 was 532,565, distributed over an area of 1307. The Hindus numbered 127,928; the Mohammedans, 48,086. The Koch or Rájbansí tribe numbered 111,125 adult, males, or 63 per cent. of the whole. This is a widely spread tribe, evidently of aboriginal descent, which is found throughout all northern Bengal, from Purniah district to the Assam valley. They are akin to the Indo-Chinese races of the north-east frontier; but they have now become largely Hinduized, especially in their own home, where the appellation “Koch” has come to be used as a term of reproach. Kuch Behar, which contains the palace of the rájá, and has 7132 inhabitants, is the only populous place in the state. Even villages, in the ordinary sense of the word, are unknown, each well-to-do family living apart in its own homestead. Rice is grown on three-fourths of the total cultivated area. Jute and tobacco are largely grown for exportation over an increasing area year by year. The only special industries are the weaving of a strong silk from worms fed on the castor-oil plant, and of a coarse jute cloth, used for screens and bedding. The external trade is chiefly in the hands of Márwarí immigrants from Upper India. The chief exports are jute, tobacco, oil, timber; salt, sugar, and piece goods are imported. The net revenue in 1870–71 amounted to 112,093, of which 25,719 was derived from zamíndárí estates in British territory. The climate is damp and malarious, but not so hot as in other parts of Bengal. The average annual rainfall is 123. As in the case of many other small native states, the royal family of Kuch Behar lays claim to a divine origin in order to conceal an impure aboriginal descent. The greatest monarch of the dynasty was Nar Náráyan, the son of Visu Sinh, who began to reign about. He conquered the whole of Kámrúp, built temples in Assam, of which ruins still exist bearing inscriptions with his name, and extended his power southwards over what is now part of the British districts of Rangpur and Purniah. To his reign also is attributed the introduction of the well-known Náráyaní currency, the privilege of coining which has not yet been entirely abolished. His son, Lakshmí Náráyan, who succeeded him in Kuch Behar, became tributary to the Mughal empire. In 1772 a competitor for the throne, having been driven out of the country by his rivals, applied for assistance to Warren Hastings. A detachment of sepoys was accordingly marched into the state; the Bhutiás, whose interference had led to this intervention, were expelled, and forced to sue for peace through the mediation of the lama of Tibet. By the treaty made on this occasion, April 1773, the rájá acknowledged subjection to the Company, and made over to it one half of his annual revenues. But, though the Bhutiás were driven out, the rivalry of domestic faction continued. In 1863, on the death of the rájá, leaving a son and heir only ten months old, a British commissioner was appointed to undertake the direct management of affairs during the minority of the prince, and many important reforms have thus been successfully introduced.  KUEN-LUN, or, the name given to the between western and the  of ; it is derived from the , and is probably a corruption of some  or  word; it appears to be unknown locally. The name having been adopted, chiefly on the initiative of, before any correct knowledge had been obtained of the region to which it was applied, it has been used with inconvenient want of precision, and this has encouraged erroneous conceptions. Little precise information is yet available on the subject, but there is no reason to doubt that, within the limits to which actual exploration has gone, the designated as Kuen-lun form the northern border of the  of, descending to the n , just as those commonly spoken of under the name of  constitute the broad ous slope which descends to the lower levels of. Nothing can be said with confidence of the northern border of east of 82° E. long., but from this point westward, to about the 75th meridian, it consists of a series of  ranges on a scale of magnitude quite analogous to that of the higher ranges of the, and beyond the last-named meridian merges into the. A line of demarcation between the summit of the and its northern flank can, in the present condition of our knowledge, only be fixed in an arbitrary manner, and it may for convenience be regarded as following the  line from which the streams flow northward to the  of. Using the name 