KATAGUM, the sub-province of the double province of Kano in the British protectorate of Northern Nigeria. It lies approximately between 11° and 13° N. and 8° 20′ and 10° 40′ E. It is bounded N. by the French Sudan, E. by Bornu, S. by Bauchi, and W. by Kano. Katagum consists of several small but ancient Mahommedan emirates—Katagum, Messau, Gummel, Hadeija, Machena, with a fringe of Bedde pagans on its eastern frontier towards Bornu, and other pagans on the south towards Bauchi. The Waube flows from Kano through the province via Hadeija and by Damjiri in Bornu to Lake Chad, affording a route for the transport of goods brought by the Zungeru-Zaria-Kano railway to the headquarters of Katagum and western Bornu. Katagum is a fertile province inhabited by an industrious people whose manufactures rival those of Kano.
In ancient times the province of Katagum formed the debateable country between Bornu and the Hausa states. Though Mahommedan it resisted the Fula invasion. Its northern emirates were for a long time subject to Bornu, and its customs are nearly assimilated to those of Bornu. The province was taken under administrative control by the British in October 1903. In 1904 the capitals of Gummel, Hadeija, Messau and Jemaari, were brought into touch with the administration and native and provincial courts established. At the beginning of 1905 Katagum was incorporated as a sub-province with the province of Kano, and the administrative organization of a double province was extended over the whole. Hadeija, which is a very wealthy town and holds an important position both as a source of supplies and a centre of trade, received a garrison of mounted infantry and became the capital of the sub-province.
Hadeija was an old Habe town and its name, an evident corruption of Khadija, the name of the celebrated wife and first convert of Mahomet, is a strong presumption of the incorrectness of the Fula claim to have introduced Islam to its inhabitants. The ruling dynasty of Hadeija was, however, overthrown by Fula usurpation towards the end of the 18th century, and the Fula ruler received a flag and a blessing from Dan Fodio at the beginning of his sacred war in the opening years of the 19th century. Nevertheless the habit of independence being strong in the town of Hadeija the little emirate held its own against Sokoto, Bornu and all comers. Though included nominally within the province at Katagum it was the boast of Hadeija that it had never been conquered. It had made nominal submission to the British in 1903 on the successful conclusion of the Kano-Sokoto campaign, and in 1905, as has been stated, was chosen as the capital of the sub-province. The emir’s attitude became, however, in the spring of 1906 openly antagonistic to the British and a military expedition was sent against him. The emir with his disaffected chiefs made a plucky stand but after five hours’ street fighting the town was reduced. The emir and three of his sons were killed, and a new emir, the rightful heir to the throne, who had shown himself in favour of a peaceful policy, was appointed. The offices of the war chiefs in Hadeija were abolished and 150 yards of the town wall were broken down.
Slave dealing is at an end in Katagum. The military station at Hadeija forms a link in the chain of British forts which extends along the northern frontier of the protectorate. (See [Nigeria].)
(F. L. L.)
KATANGA, a district of Belgian Congo, forming the south-eastern part of the colony. Area, approximately, 180,000 sq. m.; estimated population 1,000,000. The natives are members of the Luba-Lunda group of Bantus. It is a highly mineralized region, being specially rich in copper ore. Gold, iron and tin are also mined. Katanga is bounded S. and S.E. by Northern Rhodesia, and British capital is largely interested in the development of its resources, the administration of the territory being entrusted to a committee on which British members have seats. Direct railway communication with Cape Town and Beira was established in 1909. There is also a rail and river service via the Congo to the west coast. (See [Congo Free State].)
KATER, HENRY (1777-1835), English physicist of German descent, was born at Bristol on the 16th of April 1777. At first he purposed to study law; but this he abandoned on his father’s death in 1794, and entered the army, obtaining a commission in the 12th regiment of foot, then stationed in India, where he rendered valuable assistance in the great trigonometrical survey. Failing health obliged him to return to England; and in 1808, being then a lieutenant, he entered on a distinguished student career in the senior department of the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. Shortly after he was promoted to the rank of captain. In 1814 he retired on half-pay, and devoted the remainder of his life to scientific research. He died at London on the 26th of April 1835.
His first important contribution to scientific knowledge was the comparison of the merits of the Cassegrainian and Gregorian telescopes, from which (Phil. Trans., 1813 and 1814) he deduced that the illuminating power of the former exceeded that of the latter in the proportion of 5 : 2. This inferiority of the Gregorian he explained as being probably due to the mutual interference of the rays as they crossed at the principal focus before reflection at the second mirror. His most valuable work was the determination of the length of the second’s pendulum, first at London and subsequently at various stations throughout the country (Phil. Trans., 1818, 1819). In these researches he skilfully took advantage of the well-known property of reciprocity between the centres of suspension and oscillation of an oscillating body, so as to determine experimentally the precise position of the centre of oscillation; the distance between these centres was then the length of the ideal simple pendulum having the same time of oscillation. As the inventor of the floating collimator, Kater rendered a great service to practical astronomy (Phil. Trans., 1825, 1828). He also published memoirs (Phil. Trans., 1821, 1831) on British standards of length and mass; and in 1832 he published an account of his labours in verifying the Russian standards of length. For his services to Russia in this respect he received in 1814 the decoration of the order of St. Anne; and the same year he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society.