See Küchen, Geschichte der Stadt Kammin (Kammin, 1885).
KAMPEN, a town in the province of Overysel, Holland, on the left bank of the Ysel, 3½ m. above its mouth, and a terminal railway station 8 m. N.W. of Zwolle. It has regular steamboat communication with Zwolle, Deventer, Amsterdam, and Enkhuizen. Pop. (1900), 19,664. Kampen is surrounded by beautiful gardens and promenades in the place of the old city walls, and has a fine river front. The four turreted gateways furnish excellent examples of 16th and 17th century architecture. Of the churches the Bovenkerk (“upper church”), or church of St Nicholas, ranks with the cathedral of Utrecht and the Janskerk at ’s Hertogenbosch as one of the three great medieval churches in Holland. It was begun in 1369, and has double aisles, ambulatory and radiating chapels, and contains some finely carved woodwork. The Roman Catholic Buitenkerk (“outer church”) is also a fine building of the 14th century, with good modern panelling. There are many other, though slighter, remains of the ancient churches and monasteries of Kampen; but the most remarkable building is the old town-hall, which is unsurpassed in Holland. It dates from the 14th century, but was partly restored after a fire in 1543. The exterior is adorned with niched statues and beautiful iron trellis work round the windows. The old council-chamber is wainscoted in black oak, and contains a remarkable sculptured chimney-piece (1545) and fine wood carving. The town-hall contains the municipal library, collections of tapestry, portraits and antiquities, and valuable archives relating to the town and province. Kampen is the seat of a Christian Reformed theological school, a gymnasium, a higher burgher school, a municipal school of design, and a large orphanage. There are few or no local taxes, the municipal chest being filled by the revenues derived from the fertile delta-land, the Kampeneiland, which is always being built up at the mouth of the Ysel. There is a considerable, trade in dairy produce; and there are shipyards, rope-walks, a tool factory, cigar factories, paper mills, &c.
KAMPTEE, or Kamthi, a town of British India, in the Nagpur district of the Central Provinces, just below the confluence of the Kanhan with the rivers Pench and Kolar; 10 m. N.E. of Nagpur by rail. Pop. (1901), 38,888, showing a continuous decrease since 1881. Kamptee was founded in 1821, as a military cantonment in the neighbourhood of the native capital of Nagpur, and became an important centre of trade. Since the opening of the railway, trade has largely been diverted to Nagpur, and the garrison has recently been reduced. The town is well laid out with wide roads, gardens and tanks.
KAMRUP, a district of British India, in the Brahmaputra valley division of Eastern Bengal and Assam. The headquarters are at Gauhati. Area, 3858 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 589,187, showing a decrease of 7% in the decade. In the immediate neighbourhood of the Brahmaputra the land is low, and exposed to annual inundation. In this marshy tract reeds and canes flourish luxuriantly, and the only cultivation is that of rice. At a comparatively short distance from the river banks the ground begins to rise in undulating knolls towards the mountains of Bhutan on the north, and towards the Khasi hills on the south. The hills south of the Brahmaputra in some parts reach the height of 800 ft. The Brahmaputra, which divides the district into two nearly equal portions, is navigable by river steamers throughout the year, and receives several tributaries navigable by large native boats in the rainy season. The chief of these are the Manas, Chaul Khoya and Barnadi on the north, and the Kulsi and Dibru on the south bank. There is a government forest preserve in the district and also a plantation where seedlings of teak, sál, sissu, súm, and nahor are reared, and experiments are being made with the caoutchouc tree. The population is entirely rural, the only town with upwards of 5000 inhabitants being Gauhati (11,661). The temples of Hajo and Kamākhya attract many pilgrims from all quarters. The staple crop of the district is rice, of which there are three crops. The indigenous manufactures are confined to the weaving of silk and cotton cloths for home use, and to the making of brass cups and plates. The cultivation and manufacture of tea by European capital is not very prosperous. The chief exports are rice, oil-seeds, timber and cotton; the imports are fine rice, salt, piece goods, sugar, betel-nuts, coco-nuts and hardware. A section of the Assam-Bengal railway starts from Gauhati, and a branch of the Eastern Bengal railway has recently been opened to the opposite bank of the river. A metalled road runs due south from Gauhati to Shillong.
KAMYSHIN, a town of Russia, in the government of Saratov, 145 m. by river S.S.W. of the city of Saratov, on the right bank of the Volga. Pop. (1861), 8644; (1897), 15,934. Being the terminus of the railway to Tambov, Moscow and the Baltic ports, it is an important port for the export of cereals and salt from the Volga, and it imports timber and wooden wares. It is famous for its water-melons. Peter the Great built here a fort, which was known at first as Dmitrievsk, but acquired its present name in 1780.