Kharesm, Or Khovaresm, in the middle ages, a designation of the khanate of Khiva, and in more recent times of the central portion of it. According to eastern legends, Kai Khosru in pursuit of the army of Turan, crossing the Oxus and beholding the field of battle, exclaimed, Kharesmibud, "I have my desire," and the plain has ever since been called Kharesm. The name of its inhabitants seems, however, to be identical with that of the ancient Cho-rasmii or Chorasmusini mentioned by Herodotus, Strabo, Pliny, and others. During the middle ages Kharesm was for a time subject to the Seljuks, and subsequently formed an independent kingdom, and the Kharesmians were formidable enemies to the Persians until both peoples were conquered by Genghis Khan. An invasion of Syria by a horde of Kharesmians (Carizmians, or Corasmians), flying from the Mongols, about 1243, is related by the chroniclers of the crusades, and also by the Arabian historians.

KHARKOV* I. A S. government of European Russia, in the province of Ukraine, bordering on Kursk, Voronezh, the land of the Don Cossacks, Yekaterinoslav, and Poltava; area, 21,-016 sq. m.; pop. in 1867, 1,681,486. It has an elevated but flat and monotonous surface, partly covered with forests, and a fertile soil, which is generally loamy and here and there sandy. It is traversed by the Donetz, the Os-kol, its chief tributary from the north, and tributaries of the Dnieper. None of these are navigable for any considerable distance. The chief vegetable productions are the various species of grain, flax, hemp, tobacco, hops, and potatoes. Besides agriculture, the rearing of cattle (which are excellent), horses, and bees forms the principal occupation of the inhabitants, who are for the most part Little-Rus-sians and Cossacks. The principal towns are Kharkov, Akhtyrka, and Bogodukhov. II. A city, capital of the government, situated at the confluence of two small affluents of the Donetz, and at the junction of railway lines to Moscow, Odessa, and Taganrog, 400 m.

S. by W. of Moscow; pop. in 1867, 59,968. It is mostly built of wood, but contains a cathedral, many churches, two convents, and a theatre; a university founded in 1804, with a botanical garden, museum, and a library of 20,000 volumes; and numerous other educational institutions. The manufactures of Kharkov consist chiefly in felt hats, carpets, soap, brandy, and leather. The winter fairs are numerously attended by traders from all parts of the empire. It is the see of an archbishop.