Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/396

* KAFIBISTAN. 362 KAGA. KAFIRISTAN, kii'fc'-ii-sUin' (Pers., land of the inlidi'ls). A i)oliticiil dc'])ciulciicy, l)ut prac- tically an indopfiulciit. State in the northeast corner of Afghanistan, situated on the southern slope of the Hindu Kusji. and bounded on the south by the Kabul River (Map: Afghanistan, M 3). Estimated area, 5000 square miles. Toward tlic south the surface consists of luidulat- ing and of level ground, but tlio n(nth is a region of valleys, glens, ravines, and mountains. The soil is fertile, and along the valleys cereals and fruit are cultivated, especially grapes, from which a wine of great local repute is manu- factured; the chief occupations, liowever, are pastoral, and there are large lierds of cattle, sheep, and goats. Since 1S'.K5 the region has been under the nominal control of the Ameer of Afghanistan, who maintains military stations at various points. The iiiliabitaiits, numljcring about 200.000, dilVer from their neiglibors in features and complexion, customs, and creed, and claim to be descendants of troops of Alexander the Great. They are divided into tlireo principal and some minor tribal conununitics often at internecine variance. They are indciiendent and warliUe. and their simple patriarchalisni may i)e compared with the earliest known governmental institutions of the Aryans of Europe. As the tenii 'Kalir" (.ral)ic, infidel) implies, they have retained more or less of their primitive religion and resisted the advances of Islam. They are not nearly so Orientalized as the Hindus, etc., but have preserved many traits of un-Asiatic Aryan character. Some have seen in the Kafirs, unnecessarily, a large Creek admixture, botli in their physical make-up and their arts, customs, etc. Their language, which has no written lit- erature, is apparently midway between the Indian and tle Iranian divisions of the Indo-Iranian dialects. Of the literature about the Kafirs, the foUowinsr may be referred to: Ciddulph, Tribes of the Hindu Kush (Calcutta, 1880) ; Leitner, Kafiristan (Lahore, 1881); Ujfaivy, Aus dem, westlichen Himalaya (Leipzig, 1884) ; Robert- son. The Kafirs of the Hindu Kush (London, 1890). Almost our sole sources of information regarding the language are articles by Leitner in the Journal of the United .SVcin'cf Institution of India (Simla, 1881); and by Trumpp in the Journal of the Ifoyal Asiatic l^ocirti/, O.S., vol. xix. (London, 1802). and in the Zeitschrift der deutschen morrienlAndischen Oesellschaft, vol. xx. (Leipzig, 18GG). KAFIRS, kaf'erz. Tribes of negroes, belong- ing to the great Bantu family inhabiting the southeastern coa.st of Africa. They are tall (1.71.5 ni.), slim, and well built; skin of various shades of dark brown; hair thick, harsh, and woolly; nose broad and flat; lips thick; strong skin odor. Skull capacity, 14.53 cc. cephalic in- dex, or ratio of head-width to head-length, 72..5. Under the general title are included the Ama- Xosas of West Kafirland; Ama-Tembu (Tam- bukies) of Tambuland; Ama-^Ipondo of Pondn- land; Ama-Baka. Ama-JIpondosi. and .ma- Xexihe. of East Griqualand ; and Ama-Fingu of Eincriiland, west of Tambuland. At one time their dominion covered a wider territory than at present, and doubtless in their turn they had driven out the original Hottentot-Bushman abo- rigines. The Kafirs are for themost part cattle- breeders, though they raise millet, maize, yams. melons, and various vegetables, which, with milk, form their diet. They eat meat only when light- ing, and cattle are a medium of exchange, a bride costing from ten to a hundred head. Their houses are cone-shaped and are grouped in vil- lages called kraals; luit the care of their immense herds demands much moving about. In this connection it is worthy of m<>ntion that primitive methods of irrigation were in vogue. The women are the fanners and drudges, and their industrial apparatus is of the rudest .sort. The Kalir is essentially a warrior. His life-long feuds with the Bushmen and his later wars with Dutch and English have developed in him mental and phj-sical qualities far above those of the true negroes. His weajions are the knob-kerry, or striking and throwing club, and assegais or lances for hurling or for tlinisting, and he carries a decorated shield of oxhide almost as high as the wearer. The warriors formerly wore toga-like cloaks of leopard-skins or oxhide, and paid great attention to dressing the hair. The government of the Kafirs is an ab.solute chieftaincy, the tribes all being under the hereditary sovereign or Inlcosc, who is father, legislator, administrator, chief justice, and commander-in-chief. There is be- sides a supreme council of chiefs over which he presides, and their decisions are the law of the. land. The family, the clan, and the tribe is each responsible' for all the actions of its mem- bers. In religious beliefs the Kafirs arc on a much higher plane than most other African tribes. This is shown, for example, by the dele- gation of a maiden daughter of the chief as custodian of the sacred fire, and whose ofTiee was to purify the herds. Somewhat elevated con- ceptiions of a future life were entertained by the Kafirs. Their type of religion was an ad- vanced grade of ancestor-worship. A dead chief was buried in the cattle kraal with an extended ceremony of interment and mourning. The spirits of the dead are supposed to return and tak,'! part in the councils of the tribe, being represented by a branch of his clan tree in which the spirit is thought to be present. KAFTAN, kiif'ti^n, .Troi s ( 1848- ). A Ger- man Protestant theologian, born at Loit, Schlcs- wig. He was educated at Erlangen, Ber- lin, and Kiel; in 1873 became professor at Basel, and ten years afterwards at Berlin. His more important works are: Die Prcdipt des Evangcliums im modcrnen Ceisteslrhen (1879); Wesen der christlichen lleli'.iion (2d ed. l.SSSj; Die Wahrheit der cliristhelien Itclirjion (18S!I) ; Brauchen u:ir cin neucs Doyniaf (2d cd. 1890) ; Christentuni und I'hilosophie (3d ed. IHiXi) ; Christentiim und Xietzsches Herrenmoral (2d ed. 1898) ; and Doymutik (4th ed. 1901). KAGA, kii'ga. or KASHITT. A province on the west coast of the island of Hondo. .lapan (Map: .Japan, E 5). It now forms part of the Ken or Prefecture of Ishikawa. It was formerly the seat of Mayeda. the richest daimio " in the Empire, whose income was rated 1,027,000 koku of rice. His capital was Kanazawa, which now has a population of 83,662. The town is five miles from the sea. has broad, clean streets, and fine public gardens, and is a place of great industry. It has a steam silk-reeling factory. The special products are inlaid bronzes, and the famous 'Kaga porcelains,'