See CALIPH.
KHALSA, The.
See SIKHS;
also, INDIA: A. D. 1836-1845, and 1845-1849.
KHAN.
KHAGAN.
"'Khan' is the modern contracted form of the word which is
found in the middle ages as 'Khagan,' or 'Chagan,' and in the
Persian and Arabic writers as 'Khakan' or 'Khacan.' Its
original root is probably the 'Khak,' which meant King' in
ancient Susianian, in Ethiopic ('Tirhakah'), and in Egyptian
('Hyk-sos')."
_G. Rawlinson,
The Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy,
chapter 14, foot-note._
KHAR, OR KHARU, The.
"The term Khar in Egyptian texts appears to apply to the
inhabitants of that part of Syria generally known as Phœnicia,
and seems to be derived from the Semitic Akharu, 'the back' or
'west.'"
_C. R. Conder,
Syrian Stone Lore,
chapter 1._
KHAREJITES, The.
A democratical party among the Mahometans, which first took
form during the Caliphate of Ali, A. D. 657. The name given to
the party, Kharejites, signified those who "go forth"—that is
in secession and rebellion. It was their political creed that,
"believers being absolutely equal, there should be no Caliph,
nor oath of allegiance sworn to any man; but that the
government should be in the hands of a Council of State
elected by the people." Ali attacked and dispersed the
Kharejites, in a battle at Nehrwan, A. D. 658; but they
continued for a long period to give trouble to succeeding
Caliphs.
_Sir W. Muir,
Annals of the Early Caliphate,
chapters 40 and 42, with foot-note._
KHARTANI, Tragedy of the Cave of.
See BARBARY STATES: A. D. 1830-1846.
KHARTOUM, The Mahdi's siege of.
See EGYPT: A. D. 1884-1885.
KHAZARS, OR CHAZARS, OR KHOZARS, The.
"This important people, now heard of for the first time in
Persian history [late in the fifth century of the Christian
era], appears to have occupied, in the reign of Kobad, the
steppe country between the Wolga and the Don, whence they made
raids through the passes of the Caucasus into the fertile
provinces of Iberia, Albania, and Armenia. Whether they were
Turks, as is generally believed, or Circassians, as has been
ingeniously argued by a living writer [H. H. Howorth], is
doubtful; but we cannot be mistaken in regarding them as at
this time a race of fierce and terrible barbarians."
_G. Rawlinson,
Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy,
chapter 18._
"After the fall of the Persian empire [see MAHOMETAN CONQUEST:
A. D. 632-651], they [the Khazars, or Chazars] crossed the
Caucasus, invaded Armenia, and conquered the Crimean
peninsula, which bore the name of Chazaria for some time. The
Byzantine emperors trembled at the name of the Chazars, and
flattered them, and paid them a tribute, in order to restrain
their lust after the booty of Constantinople. The Bulgarians,
and other tribes, were the vassals of the Chazars, and the
people of Kiev (Russians) on the Dnieper were obliged to
furnish them every year with a sword, and fine skins from
every fur hunt.
{1943}
With the Arabs, whose near neighbours they gradually became,
they carried on terrible wars. Like their neighbours, the
Bulgarians and the Russians, the Chazars professed a coarse
religion, which was combined with sensuality and lewdness. The
Chazars became acquainted with Islamism and Christianity
through the Arabs and Greeks. … There were also Jews in the
land of the Chazars; they were some of the fugitives who had
escaped (723) the mania for conversion which possessed the
Byzantine Emperor Leo. … As interpreters or merchants,
physicians or counsellors, the Jews were known and beloved by
the Chazarian court, and they inspired the warlike Bulan with
a love of Judaism. … It is possible that the circumstances
under which the Chazars embraced Judaism have been embellished
by legend, but the fact itself is too definitely proved on all
sides to allow of there being any doubt as to its reality.
Besides Bulan, the nobles of his kingdom, numbering nearly
4,000, adopted the Jewish religion. Little by little it made
its way among the people, so that most of the inhabitants of
the towns of the Chazarian kingdom were Jews. … A successor
of Bulan, who bore the Hebrew name of Obadiah, was the first
to occupy himself earnestly with the Jewish religion. He …
founded synagogues and schools. … After Obadiah came a long
series of Jewish Chagans, for according to a fundamental law
of the state only Jewish rulers were permitted to ascend the
throne."
_H. Graetz,
History of the Jews,
volume 3, chapter 5._