K H O 



449 



K H O 



Kboec. 



Butm*ndu. which they obtain from the Kirghese and Turcoman 

 Tartars, are the articles which they export to Bucharia 

 nd Persia. Khiva is the capital of the district. It 

 stands on a rising ground, on the west of the river 

 Gihon. it has three gates, and a thick strong wall of 

 earth, with turrets at short intervals, and a deep and 

 broad ditch full of water. The houses are low, and 

 built of mud, and the roofs flat and covered with earth. 

 Khiva is 260 miles N. W. of Samarcand ; and is si- 

 tuated in East Long. 58 25', and North Lat, 41 30*. 

 See Hanway's T'avrU. 



KIIA I'M A S'DU. KATMANDU, CATMANDOO, JINOBU, 

 KATIIIPOOH, YINDAISE, and GONGOOL-FL-TTIN, orCASii- 

 TIIAMANDIR, signifying the Wooden Metropolis, are 

 the different names which have been given to a city in 

 the valley of Nepaul Proper, and reckoned the capital 

 of that kingdom, from being the residence of the 

 Ghoorkili Rajah. It is situated on the eastern bank 

 of the Bishenmutty, along which it stretches for about 



mile. Its breadth is seldom greater than a quarter of 

 a mile, and never exceeds half a mile. The houses are 

 built of brick and tile, with pitched or pent roof's. To- 

 wards the street, they hav- frequently enclosed wooden 

 balconies of open carved work, and of a singular fa- 

 shion ; the front piece, instead of rising perpendicular- 

 ly, projects in a sloping direction towards the eaves 

 of the house. The nouses which, not excepting even 

 the Rajah's residence, are of a mean appearance, are ge- 

 nerally two, three, and four stories high. The streets 

 are extremely narrow anil filthy. 



The most striking objects of Khatmandu are nume- 

 rous wooden temples, not only in the town itself, but 

 Mattered over its environs, and particularly along the 

 sides of a quadrangular tank, or reservoir of water, 

 at a short distance from the north-east quarter of the 

 town, called Itani-pokra. They resemble, both in their 

 form and construction, the wooden munduts in other 

 puts of India. Some of them are very large and high. 

 Khatmandu likewise possesses several rich temples on 



large scale, with two, three, and four sloping roofs, 

 diminishing gradually as they ascend, and terminating 

 generally in pinnacles. These pinnacles, as well as 

 tome of the superior roofs, are splendidly gilt, and have 

 an agreeable and singular effect. The number of idols 

 is about 2733. 



During Uie time of Jye Purkhaush, Khatmandu was 

 supposed to contain 28,000 houses, including, no doubt, 

 the dependent villages, to the amount of 2O or SO, as 

 the area of the city cannot hold more than 5000 houses. 

 The population of the town is estimated at 48,000 by 

 Colonel Kirkpatrick, and that of the capital and its dis- 

 trict at 186,000, not including Doona-baise, Noakote, 

 Nerjah, or any of the dependencies beyond the valley. 

 The view of the town from the west bank of the river, 

 with the bridge on the right hand, and the lofty Hima- 

 laya mountains in the back ground, is remarkably fine. 

 The distance of Khatmandu from the Himalaya moon- 

 tains is 4O miles; and it is situated in 85 39* East 

 Long, and 27 33' North Lat See the Aiialic Re. 

 leorckrt, vol. ii. p. 307. ; Colonel Kirkpatrick's Account 

 of thr Kingdom of ffepaul, p. 158, &c. London, 1811 ; 

 and Dr. Francis Buchanan's Account f ffepaul, which 

 is now in the preas. 



KHIV.\ XKHARASM. 



KHOEE is a town of Persia, and the capital of a 

 rich and extensive district in the province of Aser- 

 bijan. It is the emporium of a considerable trade car- 

 ried on between Turkey and Persia. It is said to be 



VOL. XII. PART II. 



built on the site of Ataxata, the former metropolis of Khonsar. 

 Armenia. It stands in a plain celebrated by the bat- K" 01 '^ 5 ^'; 

 tie in 151-t, in which 30,000 Persians encountered 

 3OO.OOO Turks. It is reckoned one of the most beau- 

 tiful and best built towns in Persia. The streets, which 

 are regular, are shaded with avenues of trees ; the walls 

 are in good repair ; and the ceilings of many of the 

 houses covered with paintings in good taste, which are 

 supposed to have been executed about the period of 

 Shah Ismael. According to Captain Sutherland, it con- 

 tains a population of 25,000. East Long. 45 1 1 ', North 

 Lat. S8 30'. Distance from Tabreez 22 fursungs. See 

 Macdonald Kinneir's Geog. Mem. of the Persian Em- 

 pire, p. 154. 



KHONSAR is a town of Persia, in the province of 

 Irak, situated in a most interesting and romantic man- 

 ner. It stands at the base of two parallel ranges oi 

 mountains, so very close, that the houses occupy the 

 bottom, and at the same time the face of the hills to 

 some height. Every house is surrounded by its own 

 garden, so that the town is connected only by planta- 

 tions. It is about six miles long, and about one-fourth 

 of a mile broad. " The hills," says Mr. Kinneir, " af- 

 ford an ample supply of water ; and the appearance 

 of the black and barren mountains, without a particle 

 of vegetation upon them, hanging over these gardens, 

 forms a contrast with the luxuriant and variegated foli- 

 age of the plantations, which can hardly be imagined 

 by a person who has never visited this little paradise." 

 The traveller, in approaching it from the west, passes 

 over a road completely shaded on both sides, for about 

 five miles, by every kind of tree which the country pro- 

 duces. There is no com produced in the valley ; but 

 the abundance of fruit enables the inhabitants to pro- 

 cure every necessary in exchange for it. A kind of 

 cider is made of the apples, but it does not keep above 

 a month. The women are celebrated for their beauty 

 and vivacity. The town contains about 2500 families, 

 and yields an annual revenue of 5000 tomauns. East 

 Long. 50 26', North Lat. 33 8'. See Macdonald Kin- 

 neir's Grog. Mem. of the Persian Empire, p. 128. 



KHUKASSAN, or the Country of the Sun, is an ex- 

 tensive province of Persia, Ixjunued on the north-east 

 and east by the Oxus and the country of Bulkh ; on 

 the south by Cabul and Seistan ; and on the west by 

 Irak, Asterabad, and Dahestan. The northern and 

 eastern parts are said to be a level country, intersected 

 with sandy deserts, and irregular ridges of lofty moun- 

 tains. The climate is in some parts temperate, and in 

 others cold. The wind called Bad-e-iemum, which 

 blows for forty days every year in the deserts, is in- 

 stantly fatal to thoMj who are exposed to it The soil, 

 which is in general good, produces wine, fruit, corn, 

 rice, and silk, in great quantities, and of the best qua- 

 lity ; but, in consequence of the incursions of savage 

 tribes, its princely cities have been demolished, its com- 

 merce ruined, and its fertile districts converted into so- 

 litary wastes. The cities of Meshed, Nnhapour, Tur- 

 shish, and Tabas, with their dependencies, belong 

 to Persia; but the southern parts, including the city 

 of Herat, are in the possession of the Afghans. 



The different ridges of mountains appear to be con- Mountains, 

 nected with each other, and with the Hindoo Koh, and 

 the range of Elburz. The mountains of Bamian and 

 Goor, which separate Khorassan from Cabul, send out 

 an immense branch to the south-west, as far as 34 of 

 North Latitude, and 65" 20' of East Longitude. Turn- 

 ing suddenly to the north-west, it cuts the latitude of 

 8ft 



