[Kubera] or Kuvera, the Hindu Plutus, or god of riches, represented as deformed and mounted on a car drawn by hobgoblins.
[Kublai Khan] was a great Mongol emperor of the 13th century; built up an empire which included all the continent of Asia (except India, Arabia, and Asia Minor) and Russia, the most extensive that ever existed; he was an enlightened prince, adopted Chinese civilisation, promoted learning, and established Buddhism throughout his domains.
[Kuenen, Abraham], a Dutch Biblical critic, born at Haarlem; studied at Leyden, and became professor there; distinguished for his researches on the lines of the so-called higher criticism bearing upon the literary history of the books of the Old Testament, beginning with that of the Pentateuch (1828-1891).
[Kuen-Lun], N. of Thibet, a great snow-clad mountain range, 18,000 to 25,000 ft. high; stretches for 700 m., with a breadth of 100 m. It was explored by General Prjevalski, a Russian, 1876-88.
[Kulm], a Bohemian village on the left bank of the Elbe, 50 m. NW. of Prague, where the French under Vandamme surrendered to the Russians and Prussians in 1813.
[Kunersdorf], a village near Frankfort-on-Oder, where Frederick the Great was defeated by Russians and Austrians in 1759.
[Kurdistan] (2,250), a stretch of plateau and mountain land in Turkish, Persian, and Russian Trans-Caucasian territory, consisting of grassy plains and lofty ranges through which rivers like the Zabs, Batman-su, and Euphrates force their way; is inhabited by a partly nomad, partly agricultural people of ancient stock, who export wool, gum, and hides; the Kurds retain their old customs and organisation, are subject to their own chiefs, impatient of the rule of the Porte and the Shah; predatory by instinct, but brave and chivalrous; they are Moslems and Nestorians.
[Kurile Islands], a chain of 26 islands, being a continuation of the peninsula of Kamchatka, enclosing the sea of Okhotsk; very sparsely inhabited.
[Kurrachee] (105), the chief port of the Punjab; situated on the delta of the Indus, with an extensive harbour and trade.
[Kurtz, Heinrich], German theologian, professor at Dorpat; author, among other works, of a "Handbook of Church History"; b. 1809.