Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/843

 KIIORASAN KIANGSI 823 KHORASA1V, or Khorassan, a N. E. province of Persia, between lat. 31 30' and 38 40' N., and Ion. 52 40' and 61 20' E., bounded N. by Khiva, E. by Afghanistan, S. and W. by the Persian provinces of Kerman, Fars, Luristan, and Irak-Ajemi ; area, 124,400 sq. m. ; pop. estimated at 850,000. A large portion of the surface is covered by the great salt desert, called by the natives Kubir. The N. W. and N. E. districts are fertile, with numerous oases, mostly of small extent, but containing several populous towns. The Elburz mountains stretch along the north of the province, and throw off ramifications to the southward. The products of the cultivated districts are grain, cotton, hemp, tobacco, aromatic plants, and drugs, in- cluding asafoetida, manna, and gum tragacanth. The manufactures are silk, woollen, and goats' hair stuffs, carpets, muskets, and sword blades. Meshed is the capital of the province, and the other chief towns are Yezd, Tabas or Tubus, and Nishapur. About 40 m. N. W. of Nisha- pur are famous turquoise mines. Two thirds of the inhabitants are Persians, resident in towns, the remainder being nomadic Turkomans and Kurds. The prevalent religion is Mohamme- danism of the sect of Ali. The province com- prises the ancient territories of Parthia, Mar- giana, and Aria. After its having formed part of the empire of Alexander the Great and of the Seleucidse, a portion of it was incorpora- ted with Bactria. The Arsacides of Parthia, the Sassanides of Persia, and the caliphs ruled over the entire province. Its governor Taher revolted in 813, and he and his successors con- tinued independent. The Suffarides regained possession of it, but lost it to the Samanides and their successors in power, the Ghuznevides. The Seljuks also occupied it for a while, losing it periodically to the people of Kharesm and Ghore, and finally Genghis Khan conquered it. About 1383 it fell into the hands of Tamer- lane, and in the reign of his son it enjoyed great prosperity. After much suffering from the inroads of the Uzbecks, it was seized by Ismacl, and has formed since 1510, with the exception of Herat, a province of Persia. KHOTI1V, or Cbodm, a fortified town of Rus- sia, in Bessarabia, on the right bank of the Dniester, nearly opposite Kamenetz, near the frontier of Galicia; pop. in 1867, 20,917. It is surrounded by hills, which lessen the strategi- cal value of the fortifications. It is the seat of an archbishop of the Greek church. The indus- try consists chiefly in furnishing supplies for the army. It was anciently a Moldavian city, and became afterward an important stronghold of the Turks against the Poles. The latter, how- ever, achieved here two celebrated victories. In 1621 Gen. Chodkiewicz repulsed here vig- orous Turkish assaults on his fortified camp ; and in 1673 John Sobieski routed an army of Mohammed IV. in a battle of scarcely two hours. Strengthened by new fortifications since 1718, the place was taken by the Russians in 1739, but restored to the Turks; taken again in 1769, and restored in 1774; taken by the Aus- trians in 1788, but not held ; and finally ceded by the peace of Bucharest to Russia in 1812. Mil /IST (anc. Siteict7ia), a province of Persia, bounded N. and N. E. by Luristan, S. E. by Fars, S. by the Persian gulf, and W. by the Turkish vilayet of Bagdad ; area estimated at 39,000 sq. m. ; pop. about 400,000. Its sur- face is hilly, the Bakhtiyari mountains rising on its N". E. frontier, and lesser eminences being scattered over the N. part of the prov- ince. In the south it is more level. The Shat- el-Arab (the united stream of the Tigris and Euphrates) forms part of its W. boundary. Several of the branches which form its delta empty into the Persian gulf through this prov- ince. The principal rivers which traverse the interior are the Kerkha (anc. Choaspes) and the Karun (anc. Eul(etis). Khuzistan con- tains extensive grazing lands on which vast herds are pastured, and produces rice, maize, barley, cotton, sugar cane, dates, and indigo. The silkworm is reared, and trade is carried on with Bagdad, Bassorah, and other places. Its principal towns are Shaster, Dizful, Ahwaz, and Mohammerah. The inhabitants are Tajiks, Sabian Christians, Lurs, Erdelans, and Arabs, all of whom except the Sabians are Moham- medans. The province contains the ruins of Susa, one of the ancient capitals of Persia. (See ELAM, and SUSIANA.) KIAKHTA, or Kiacbta, a town of Siberia, near the Chinese frontier, in the Russian province of Transbaikalia, lat. 50 20' N., Ion. 106 30' E., about 100 m. S. of Lake Baikal, on a small stream of its own name, 2,500 ft. above the sea; pop. in 1867, 4,286. It consists of the for- tress, where the custom house and the govern- ment buildings are established, and of the lower town or town proper, where the merchants live, many of them in elegant houses. Kiakhta is a great emporium of trade between Russia and China, the Chinese settlement Maimachin being less than half a mile from the lower town. In 1727 a free commercial intercourse was established between China and Russia, to be carried on at the common boundary on the Kiakhta. Fairs were formerly held annually, at which Russian productions were bartered for Chinese, especially tea, a great amount of which was forwarded to the fair of Nizhni- Novgorod. The trade of Kiakhta, formerly estimated at $8,000,000 a year, has decreased since the treaty of Peking, Nov. 14, 1860, which opened for traffic the whole line of the Rus- sian-Chinese frontier. KIANGSI, a S. E. province of China, border- dering on Hupeh, Nganhwui, Chihkiang, Fo- kien, Kwangtung, and Hunan; area, 72,176 sq. m. ; pop. about" 23,000,000. It is watered chiefly by the Kan-kiang, which flows into Lake Poyang, and its numerous affluents. East of the lake are large coal mines. Green tea is produced chiefly in the E. and black in the W. part of the province. The other products include cereals, rice, cotton, sugar, indigo, and