Khatmandu

Khatmandu', the capital of Nepal, at the confluence of the Baghmati and Vishnumati rivers. The principal building is the immense ugly palace of the Maharaja. Pop. 50,000.

Khelat

Khelat. See Kelat.

Kherson

Kherson, or Cherson, capital of a Russian government, stands on the Dnieper, 19 miles from its mouth, and 81 NB. of Odessa. The town was laid out by Prince Potemkin in 1778 as a port for the construction of ships of war; but was soon supplanted by Odessa and Nikolaieff, both as a dockyard and a commercial outlet. It has a large trade in timber, and manufactures soap, tallow, beer, and tobacco. Wool-cleansing is an important industry. At Kherson Potemkin is buried, and John Howard, the prison reformer, died. Pop. a little over 70,000. - The government borders on the Black Sea, having the Dnieper for its eastern boundary and the Dniester for its western, while the interior is watered by the Bug, Ingul, etc, which form shallow, salt lagoons next the sea. Area, 27,515 sq. m. ; pop. about 2,800,000. The chief towns are Kherson, Odessa, Nikolaieff, Otchakoff, Yelisavetgrad, Voznesensk, and Tiraspol.

Khodavendighiar

Khodavendighiar, a Turkish division of Asia Minor, south of the Sea of Marmora.

Khoi

Khoi, a town in the Persian province of Azerbijan, 75 miles NW. of Tabriz. Here Selim I. defeated the Persians in 1514. Pop. 25,000.

Khojak

Khojak, a pass in the Khwaja Amran range, at the head of the Pishin valley, has been pierced at a height of 6400 feet above the sea by a tunnel, 2 1/2 miles long, on the railway from India to Kandahar.

Khojend

Khojend, a walled town of Russian Turkestan, on the Sir-Daria, 75 miles S. by W. of Khokand. It manufactures silk. The Russians seized it in 1865. Pop. 35,000.

Khokand

Khokand, once a khanate of Turkestan, now forming the Russian government of Ferghana (q.v.). The town of Khokand has 84,000 inhabitants.

Khonsar

Khonsar, or Khunsar, a Persian town, 80 miles NW. of Ispahan. Pop. 12,000.

Khorassan

Khorassan (old Persian 'eastward'), the largest province of Persia, bordering on Afghanistan, contains about 210,000 sq. m., of which nearly one-third is a vast salt waste; of the remainder a large portion consists of plains of shifting sand. The fertile districts are in the north, where the high range of the Elburz crosses the province. The chief towns are Meshed (the capital), Nishapur, Kutchan, Shah-rud, Khaf, Kain, and Tebbes.

Khorsahad

Khorsahad. See Nineveh.

Khotan

Khotan, or Ilchi, a city of eastern Turkestan, at the northern base of the Kuen-Lun Mountains. Pop. 40,000.

Khulm

Khulm, a city (pop. 15,000), capital of a small state in Afghan Turkestan, adjoining Balkh.

Khurja

Khurja, a town of India, 50 miles SE. of Delhi. There is a large export of raw cotton to Cawn-pore and Calcutta. Pop. 30,000.

Khuzistan

Khuzistan (anc. Susiana), a province of Persia, having Fars and the Persian Gulf on the south.

Khyber Pass

Khyber Pass, the great northern military road between the Punjab and Afghanistan, winds 33 miles north-westward, and varies in width from 150 yards to 20, in one place only ' 10 feet or less.: It is liable to sudden inundations. The mountains on either side are often sheer walls of smooth rock; they vary in height from 1400 to over 3000 feet. The Khyber Pass has been the key of the adjacent regions in either direction from the days of Alexander the Great; and it was stipulated in the treaty of Gandamak (1879) that the Anglo-Indian authorities were in future to have full control of it.