Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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Kalacuri Dynasty ... Kallay, Benjamin

Kalacuri Dynasty: any of several dynasties in Indian history, disparately placed in time and space. Apart from the dynastic name and perhaps a belief in common ancestry, there is little in known sources to connect them.
Kalahari: a large, basinlike plain of the interior plateau of southern Africa. It occupies almost all of Botswana, the eastern third of Namibia, and the northernmost part of Northern Cape province in South Africa. In the southwest it merges with the ...
Kalahari Gemsbok National Park: national park in the Kalahari desert, Northern Cape province, South Africa. The park lies between Namibia and Botswana and adjoins the Gemsbok National Park of Botswana. It was established in 1931, has an area of 3,703 square miles (9,591 square ...
Kalakacaryakatha: a noncanonical work of the Shvetambara ("White-robed") sect of Jainism, a religion of India.
Kalakaua: king of Hawaii from 1874 to 1891.
kalam: in Islam, speculative theology. The term is derived from the phrase kalam Allah (Arabic: "word of God"), which refers to the Qur'an, the sacred scripture of Islam. Those who practice kalam are known as mutakallimun.
Kalamai: industrial city and port of the southern Peloponnese and capital of the nomos (department) of Messenia, Greece. It lies along the Nedhon River at the head of the Gulf of Messenia. After Patrai, it is the principal outlet for exports ...
kalamatianos: a Greek chain dance, a form of the syrtos (q.v.).
Kalamazoo: city, seat (1830) of Kalamazoo county, southwestern Michigan, U.S. It lies along the Kalamazoo River, 50 miles (80 km) south of Grand Rapids. A fur-trading post, known as Kee-Kalamazoo (Indian: "Mirage," or "Reflecting River"), was already established at the site ...
Kalamazoo College: private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Kalamazoo, Mich., U.S. It is a liberal arts college dedicated to undergraduate studies. In addition to the arts and sciences, the college offers instruction in business, economics, and the health sciences. The majority ...
Kalambo Falls: waterfall, the second highest uninterrupted fall in Africa (after Tugela Falls, South Africa), located on the Kalambo River near the southeastern shore of Lake Tanganyika on the Tanzania-Zambia border. The 704-foot (215-metre) drop in the falls is only part of ...
kalanchoe: (genus Kalanchoe), any of several species of succulent plants of the stonecrop family (Crassulaceae), popular for their easy culture indoors.
Kalantiyaw, Code of: one of the few written documents to survive from the pre-Spanish Philippine culture. The penal code was apparently written in 1433 and discovered on the island of Panay in 1614.
Kalasin: town, northeastern Thailand on the Khorat Plateau. It lies on the east bank of the Bao River on a major road from Khon Kaen to Sakon Nakhon. The area is known for its livestock, watermelons, and rice, grown in the ...
Kalat: town, Balochistan province, Pakistan. The town, known locally as Kalat-e Baluch to distinguish it from Kalat-e Ghilzai (Qalat-e Ghelza'i) in Afghanistan, and Kalat-e Sewa after its legendary founder, occupies a spur of the Shas-i Mardan Hill at the western end ...
Kalaupapa Peninsula: peninsula on the northern shore of Molokai island, Hawaii, U.S. Occupying a 5-square-mile (13-square-km) plateau unsuited to agriculture, the peninsula is isolated from the rest of the island by 2,000-foot (600-metre) cliffs. It was formed more than 200,000 years ago ...
Kalb River, Al-: river, west-central Lebanon, flowing westward and emptying into the Mediterranean Sea north of Beirut. Apart from a small section near the coast the river is seasonal; in summer its only source is a spring at the J'ita Cave. The river ...
Kalb, Johann: prominent German officer who fought for the Continental Army in the American Revolution.
kale: (species Brassica oleracea, variety acephala), loose-leafed, edible plant derived from the cabbage of the mustard family (Brassicaceae) and including several forms. Common, or Scotch, and Buda kale are among the hardiest of vegetable crops. The plant produces a strong-growing rosette ...
Kaledin, Aleksey Maksimovich: Russian Imperial Army officer and Cossack leader who was one of the first to organize military resistance against the Bolsheviks after their accession to power in Russia (October 1917, Old Style).
kaleidoscope: optical device consisting of mirrors that reflect images of bits of coloured glass in a symmetrical geometric design through a viewer. The design may be changed endlessly by rotating the section containing the loose fragments. The name is derived from ...
Kalemi: town, southeastern Congo (Kinshasa), central Africa. It is a port on the west bank of Lake Tanganyika where the Lukuga River exits, and it has an airport and rail links to Lubumbashi and Kananga. In 1915 Kalemi, then the site ...
Kalenjin: any member of the Nandi, Kipsikis, Pokot, Tatoga, and other related peoples of west-central Kenya, northern Tanzania, and Uganda who speak Nilotic languages of the Nilo-Saharan language family.
Kalevala: Finnish national epic compiled from old Finnish ballads, lyrical songs, and incantations that were a part of Finnish oral tradition.
Kalf, Willem: one of the best known Dutch painters of still-life compositions.
Kalgan: city in northwestern Hopeh Province, China. Kalgan, the name by which the city is most commonly known, is a Mongolian word meaning "gate in a barrier," or "frontier." The city was colloquially known in Chinese as the Tung-k'ou (Eastern Entry) ...
Kalgoorlie: town, south central Western Australia. Together with neighbouring Boulder to the south, it forms the principal settlement of the East Coolgardie goldfield, on the western fringe of the Nullarbor Plain and the Great Victoria Desert. Mining began with a rush ...
Kali: major Hindu goddess whose iconography, cult, and mythology commonly associate her with death, sexuality, violence, and, paradoxically in some of her later historical appearances, motherly love. Although depicted in many forms throughout South Asia (and now much of the world), ...
Kali Glagah Fauna: early Pleistocene vertebrate faunal assemblage known from Southeast Asia (the Pleistocene Epoch began about 2,500,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago). The Kali Glagah deposits follow those of the Tji Djulang Beds and are more than 2,000,000 years ...
Kalibangan: ancient site of the Indus Valley Civilization, in northwestern India (now Rajasthan). This site, discovered by A. Ghosh (director general of the Archaeological Survey of India), is of archaeological significance because it contains both pre-Harappan and Harappan remains; and therein ...
Kalidasa: Sanskrit poet and dramatist, probably the greatest Indian writer of any epoch. The six works identified as genuine are the dramas Abhijnanasakuntala ("The Recognition of Sakuntala"), Vikramorvasi ("Urvasi Won by Valour"), and Malavikagnimitra ("Malavika and Agnimitra"); the epic poems Raghuvamsa ...
Kalighat painting: short-lived style of watercolour painting produced in the 19th century in India by artists in the Calcutta marketplace for sale to pilgrims visiting the Kalighat temple. The style is characterized by broad sweeping brush lines, bold colours, and simplification of ...
Kalimantan: southern three-quarters of the island of Borneo (q.v.) that is politically part of Indonesia. Indonesians, however, use the word as a geographic term for the entire island. The origin of the name Kalimantan is obscure. In Sarawak the term Kelamantan ...
Kalimantan Barat: provinsi ("province"), western Borneo, Indonesia, bounded on the north by the East Malaysian state of Sarawak, by the Indonesian provinces of Kalimantan Timur on the northeast and Kalimantan Tengah on the southeast, and by the Java Sea on the south ...
Kalimantan Selatan: provinsi ("province"), southeastern Borneo, Indonesia, bounded by the Makassar Strait on the east, the Java Sea on the south, and the provinces of Kalimantan Tengah on the west and Kalimantan Timur on the north. It covers an area of 14,280 ...
Kalimantan Tengah: provinsi ("province"), south-central Borneo, Indonesia, bounded by Kalimantan Barat province on the northwest, Kalimantan Timur province on the north and northeast, Kalimantan Selatan province on the southeast, and the Java Sea on the south. It has an area of 59,383 ...
Kalimantan Timur: provinsi ("province"), east-central Borneo, Indonesia, fronting the Celebes Sea to the northeast and the Makassar Strait to the southeast. It is bounded on the north and northwest by the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak and by the Indonesian ...
Kalimnos: mountainous Greek island in the Aegean Sea, part of the Dodecanese group, 42 square miles (111 square km) in area. The capital, Kalimnos (Pothia), located at the head of an inlet in the southeast, is the chief port and a ...
Kalimpong: city, extreme northern West Bengal state, northeastern India, just east of the Tista River. The city, a Himalayan hill station, is linked by road with Darjeeling, Siliguri, and Baghdogra and is the terminus of the mule-trade route from Tibet. It ...
Kaline, Al: professional baseball player, an outfielder who was a preeminent fielder and hitter, batting and throwing right-handed.
Kalinga: ancient territorial subdivision of east-central India, corresponding to northern Andhra Pradesh, most of Orissa, and a portion of Madhya Pradesh. Strictly, it stretched no farther south than the Godavari River, thus excluding Vengi (the Andhra territory between that river and ...
Kalinin, Mikhail Ivanovich: communist leader and statesman who was the formal head of the Soviet state from 1919 until 1946.
Kaliningrad: oblast (province), extreme western Russia. Most of the oblast is in the basin of the Pregolya River and its tributaries. Centred on Kaliningrad city, it was formed in 1945 from the northern half of German East Prussia, which was ceded ...
Kaliningrad: city, seaport, and administrative centre of Kaliningrad oblast ("region"), Russia. Detached from the rest of the country, the city is an exclave of the Russian federation. Kaliningrad lies on the Pregolya River just upstream from Frisches Lagoon. ...
kaliophilite: variety of the mineral nepheline (q.v.).
Kalisky, Rene: Belgian writer of Polish descent who is best known for the plays he wrote in the last 12 years of his life.
Kalispell: city, seat (1894) of Flathead county, northwestern Montana, U.S. The city lies in the Flathead Valley near the head of Flathead Lake. It is the western gateway to Glacier National Park and headquarters of the Flathead National Forest. Named for ...
Kalisz: city, Wielkopolskie wojewodztwo (province), west-central Poland, situated on the Prosna River.
Kalkbrenner, Friedrich: German-born French pianist, composer, and teacher whose compositions, mainly for piano, exhibit an emphasis on virtuosity.
Kalkin: final avatar (incarnation) of the Hindu god Vishnu, who is yet to appear. At the end of the present Kali age, when virtue and religion have disappeared and the world is ruled by unjust men, Kalkin will appear to destroy ...
Kallay, Benjamin: Austro-Hungarian statesman who was concurrently imperial minister of finance and chief secretary for Bosnia for more than two decades (1882-1903).