K A R 



i-oof which they fcem to fupport. This is' a fingularity not 

 known to exill elfewhere. The wooden ribs aVe not more 

 than three feet apart, and about two in depth, and nine 

 inches thick, and have fomething the appearance of a fliip's 

 bottom, inverted. They run parallel to each other, forming 

 a fine arch, from fide to fide of the apartment. The pillars 

 are fixteen in number on each fide, with a fpace between 

 equal to the diameter of their ball, ws. about four feet. 

 The pedeftals are fquare, the fhafts polygonal. Seven 

 plainer columns continue the hue at the end : on them rells an 

 architrave, whence an arch fprings inwards, forming a roof 

 over the altar, as it may be called, which in the Hindoo Pan- 

 theon is faid to " confift of a vail hemifphere of ftone, reding 

 on a round pedeflal of greater diameter, and having its con- 

 vexity furmounted by a fort of canopy or umbrella of pecuhar 

 conftruftion. The principal arched temple of Kenera is 

 exailly on the fame plan of that here defcribed, and the altar 

 is alilie in both. That at Elora, defcribed by fir Charles 

 Malet, in vol. vi. of the Afiatic Refearches, is alfo exadly 

 Cmilar in refpeft to ground plan, but the principal objecl 

 is different, being Badha himfelf, with the femi globe on 

 the round pedeflal behind him. In neither of thefe three 

 arched caves will, I think, be found any fculptures re- 

 ferring to the gods of the Brahmans ; and thefe three arc 

 the only caves that I ever faw or heard of conftrucled with 

 an arched roof. And I prefume to hazard an opinion that 

 they are of modern origin, relatively with other excavations 

 at Ellora and on Elephanta, containing, with and without 

 Budha, many of the deities now vvorfhipped by the Brah- 

 mans. 



" What I would hence infer is, that in the older fculp- 

 tures we find Budha mixed with the other Hindoo gods : 

 Elephanta and the flat-roofed Pantheiftic temples at Ellora, 

 I reckon among the oldeft. In fculptures more modern, 

 Budha, as a deity, is often feen exclulively pourtrayed ; 

 the arched caves of Ellora, Karly, and Kenera, I judge to 

 be of later date ; and as to form and proportion, of more 

 refined and elegant conftruAion. May we not be allowed, 

 from thefe premifes, to deduce a farther confirmation of the 

 idea that the Budha incarnation of Vifhnu, and the feiiarial 

 deity of that name, exclufively worfhipped by fo many dif- 

 ferent nations under fo many different forms and defignations, 

 are one and the fame perfon ? and that fuch exclufive wor- 

 fhip, and its accompanying ceremonies and privations, is a 

 herefy or reformation, or whatever it may be termed, of the 

 more ancient Brahminical religion ? Among European as 

 well as Indian enquirers, this opinion will find the moft 

 numerous, but, like other majorities, not the moft zealous 

 fupporters. 



" Sir Charles Malet's plate of Ellora gives exaftly a re- 

 prefentation of the temples of Karly and Kenerah as far as 

 regard ground plan and general defign ; and they muit cer- 

 tainly have originated in the fame perfon, as one has been 

 taken from the other. The capitals of the interior pillars, 

 from which the arched roofs fpring, are different : at Ellora 

 they appear to be men in the aft of adoration ; at Karly the 

 entablatures are elegantly formed of figures of men and wo- 

 men feated on kneeling elephants, whofe probofci, joining at 

 the angles, form, in graceful curves, the volutes of the 

 capitals." P. 24J. 



In Mr. Daniel's publications of oriental fcenery, unri. 

 vailed in elegance by any production of the Britiili prefs, 

 are a ft-ries of views of EDora, finifiied from the Iketches of 

 Mr. Wales. To thefe we refer fuch as defire a faithful pic- 

 ture of thefe truly wonderful excavations, of which fome ac- 

 count occurs in an earher volume, under the article Ellora. 

 See alfo Elephaxta, (in which article we will here no. 



Vol. XIX. 



K- A R 



tice an error in the .nncicnt and native name of this cu- 

 rious and intereiling ifland, which is Ghari-puri, or Gari- 

 pouri, and not, as mifprinted, Gari-pouli,) and Kkneka 

 for fome farther particulars of the caveni-temples of India. 



KARM, an ifland in the North fea, about 12 miles long, 

 and two wide, near the coall of Norway. N. lat. co" 17^ 



E. long. 5^3,'. • ^^ ^• 



KARMALA, m Hindoo Mythology, a fervant or miniller 

 of Yama, the judge of departed fpirits. See Yama. 



KARMELIS, in Orography, a town of Curdillan ; 12 

 miles E. of Moful. 



KARMATIANS, an Eaftcr.i feet which bore an in- 

 veterate malice againll the Mahometans, and began to raifc 

 dillurbances in the year of the Hegira 27S. It is faid to 

 have originated with a ])oor perfon, called Karmata, who 

 came from Chufiftan, in Perfia, to ihe villages near Cufa. 

 and there feigned great itrictnefs and fandity ; al'eging that 

 God had enjoined him to pray fifty times a day, and pre- 

 tending to invite people to the obedience of a certain Imam 

 of the family of Mahomet. This courfe he purfued till he 

 had formed a great party, out of which he chofe twtlve as 

 his apoftlcs, to govern tfie reft, and to propagate his doc- 

 trines. But as his dcftriiics promoted idlenefs, particularly 

 among the hufbandmen and peafaius, he was feizcd by the 

 governor of the province, imprifoned, and menaced witli 

 death. But this menace having been overheard by a girl, 

 who was one of the governor's domeiUcs, Ihe took the kev 

 of the dungeon from under her mailer's pillow whilft he wa,-, 

 afleep, releafed the prifoner, and returned l!ie key to the 

 place where fhe had found it. On the following morning, 

 when the faft was known, his adherents announced that 

 God had taken him into heaven. He .iftervvards appeared 

 in another province, declaring to his followers, that it was 

 not in the power of any one to hurt him : at length, hov/- 

 ever, his refolution failed him, and he retired into Syria, 

 and was not heard of any more. His fcft continued, atul 

 it was pretended that he was a true prophet, and that he 

 had left them a new law, which changed the ceremonies and 

 form of prayer ufed by the Moflems, having introduced a 

 new faft, having allowed them to drink wine, and having 

 difpenfed with the obligation of feveral precepts of the 

 Koran. The precepts of this facred book they interpreted 

 allegorically. From the year above-mentioned, the Karma- 

 tians, under feveral leaders, gave almoft contiimal diftur. 

 bance to the Cahphs and their Mahometan fubjects for fe- 

 veral years, committing great outrages in Chaldea, Arabia, 

 Syria, and Mcfopotamia ; and at length eftablilhing a con- 

 fiderabie principality, which attained its height of eminence 

 and power in the reign of Abu Dhaher, famous for the cap- 

 ture of Mecca, and the indignirics offered by him 10 itj 

 temple ; but it foon after declined and came to nothin"-. 

 The Ifmaelians of Afia refembled the Karmatians, if they 

 were not a branch of them. Thefe Ifmaehans, in 4S3, pcf- 

 fefted themfelves of Al Jebal, in the Perfian Irak, under 

 theconduft of Hafan Sabah ; and this prince, with his de- 

 fcendants, enjoyed the fame for 171 years, till the whole 

 race of them was deftroyed by Holagu the Tarlar. D'Her. 

 belot. Sale's Koran. 



KARMIN, in Geography, a town of Perfia, in Segeftan \ 

 ■25 miles N.E. of Zareng. 



KARMOE, a fmall ifiand in the Nortli fca, near the 

 coaft of Norway. N. lat. 59 10'. 



K.ARMSUND, a Itrait in the North fea, between tlw 

 ifland of Carmen and the coaft of Norway. 



KARMUK, atownofCurdiftan, on the tide of the lakt 

 Van; 22 miles N.N. E. of Betlis. 



KARNAC. SeeCA«NAr. 



^^ KAi<\-i:, 



