KHABAROVKA, the chief town of the Maritime Province, in eastern Siberia, is situated on high crags, on the right bank of the Amoor, amidst wide forests and marshes, at the confluence of the Ussuri. It was but a poor settlement with 700 inhabitants when it took the place of Nikolaievsk as the seat of the military administration of the Maritime Province and of the various establishments connected with the Amoor fleet. Since its foundation in 1857 it has always been the chief centre for the trade in sables, purchased yearly from the aborigines to the average amount of 20,000 pieces, and sent to Irkutsk and to Russia.
KHAIRÁBÁD, or Khyrabad, the chief town of Sitápur district, Oudh, India, situated 5 miles south of Sitápur civil station and cantonment, 27° 31′ 30″ N. lat., 80° 47′ 35″ E. long. It is the fifth largest town in Oudh, with a population in 1869 of 15,677, made up of Hindus and Mohammedans in about equal numbers. The town contains forty mosques and thirty Hindu temples, besides a beautiful group of sacred Mohammedan buildings. A large fair is held here in January, lasting ten days, and attended by an average of 60,000 persons. A second fair is held at the Daschára festival, attended by about 15,000 persons. The annual value of bázár sales is about £34,000.
KHAIRPUR, or Khyrpoor, a native state in Sind, India, lying between 26° 10′ and 27° 46′ N. lat., and 68° 14′ and 70° 13′ E. long., bounded on the N. by Shikárpur district, S. by Jáisalmír state, E. by Hyderabad district, and W. by the Indus river, with an area of 6109 square miles. Like other parts of Sind, Khairpur consists of a great alluvial plain, very rich and fertile in the neighbourhood of the Indus and the irrigation canals, the remaining area being a continuous series of sand-hill ridges covered with a stunted brushwood, where cultivation is altogether impossible. A small ridge of limestone hills passes through the northern part of the state, being a continuation of a ridge known as the Ghar, running southwards from Rohri. The state is watered by five canals drawn off from the Indus, besides the Eastern Nára, a canal which follows an old bed of the Indus. In the desert tracts are pits of natron, forming a source of revenue to the chief; as many as a thousand camel loads are annually exported to northern and central India, as well as to the seaboard, each load being taxed at 5s.
A census taken in 1872 returned the population at 130,350, or 21 per square mile. The Moslems chiefly belong to the Rájur tribe. The Hindus are principally Rájputs of the Soda Thákur clan, who inhabit the extreme eastern part of the state. They are a well-built and sturdy race, of nomadic habits, their wealth consisting in herds of camels, oxen, sheep, and goats. The principal food grain crops are joár (Holcus sorghum), bájrá (Holcus spicatus), wheat, gram, and pulses. Indigo is largely cultivated, and cotton to a less extent. Fruits consist of the mango, mulberry, apple, pomegranate, date, &c. Several varieties of forest trees are grown in the mír’s game preserves. The annual value of the export trade is estimated at about £52,000, and the imports at £25,000. Cotton and silk fabrics, silver ware, lacquered wood-work, boots, shoes, horse trappings, swords, matchlocks, and pottery are the chief manufactures. A small quantity of salt and saltpetre is also manufactured. The revenue of the state, which is collected in kind, the mír receiving one-third of the produce, is estimated to amount to about £50,000. The climate is agreeable during about four months of the year, and fiercely hot during the remaining eight. The principal diseases are fever, ophthalmia, and cutaneous affections.
The chief or mír of Khairpur belongs to a Baluchí family, known as the Tálpur, which rose on the fall of the Kalhorá dynasty of Sind. About 1813, during the troubles in Cabul incidental to the establishment of the Bárakzái dynasty, the mírs were able to refuse the tribute which up to that date had been somewhat irregularly paid to the rulers of Afghánistán. In 1832 the individuality of the Khairpur state was recognized by the British Government in a treaty, under which the use of the river Indus and the roads of Sind were secured. When the first Cabul expedition was decided on, the mír of Khairpur, Alí Murád, cordially supported the British policy; and the result was that, after the battles of Miani and Daba had put the whole of Sind at the disposal of the British, Khairpur was the only state allowed to retain its political existence under the protection of the paramount power.
KHÁMGAON, a town in Akola district, Berar, India, in 20° 42′ 30″ N. lat. 76° 37′ 30″ E. long., with a population in 1867 of 9432. The cotton market—the largest in the province—was established about 1820. A branch line of 8 miles, opened in 1870, connects Khámgáon with the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. In fair seasons above 100,000 bullock-loads of cotton are brought into Khámgáon on the weekly market day. To the east of the town is a large enclosed cotton-market. The factories of the Berár Ginning Company and the Mofussil Pressing Company possess steam machinery for full-pressing cotton.
KHÁNDESH, or Candeish, a district of Bombay Presidency, India, lying between 20° 15′ and 22° N. lat., and 73° 37′ and 76° 24′ E. long., bounded on the N. by the Sátpura hills, E. by Berar, S. by the Sátmála or Ajanta hills, S.W. by Násik district, and W. by Baroda territory, with an area of 10,162 square miles. The chief town is Dhulia. The principal natural feature is the Tápti river, which enters at the south-east corner of the district, and flows in a north-westerly direction, dividing Khándesh into two unequal parts. Of these the larger lies towards the south, and is drained by the river Girna. Northwards beyond the alluvial plain, which contains some of the richest tracts in Khándesh, the land rises towards the Sátpura hills. In the centre and east the country is level, save for some low ranges of barren hills, and has in general an arid, unfertile appearance. Towards the north and west, the plain rises into a difficult and rugged country, thickly wooded, and inhabited by wild tribes of Bhíls, who chiefly support themselves on the fruits of the forests and by the profits of wood-cutting. The drainage of the district centres in the Tápti, which receives thirteen principal tributaries in its course through Khándesh. None of the rivers are navigable, and the Tápti flows in too deep a bed to be made use of for irrigation. The district on the whole, however, is fairly well supplied with surface water. Khándesh is not rich in minerals. A large area is under forest; but the jungles have been robbed of most of their valuable timber. Wild beasts are numerous. As late as 1858 tigers abounded; but since then they have been very closely hunted, and driven almost entirely out of the plains into the rough hilly country.
