KANAKA, a Polynesian word meaning “man,” used by Polynesians to describe themselves. Its ethnical value, never great, has been entirely destroyed by its indiscriminate use by the French to describe all South Sea islanders, whether black or brown. The corrupt French form canaque has been used by some English writers. The term came into prominence in 1884-1885 in connexion with the scandals arising over the kidnapping of South Sea islanders for enforced labour on the sugar plantations of north Queensland.
KANARA, or Canara, the name of two adjoining districts of British India: North Kanara in the presidency of Bombay, South Kanara in that of Madras. Both are on the western coast.
North Kanara District forms part of the southern division of Bombay. The administrative headquarters are at Karwar, which is also the chief seaport. Area, 3945 sq. m.; pop. (1901), 454,490, showing an increase of 2% in the decade. The trade of the interior, which used to pass down to the seaports, has been largely diverted by the opening of the Southern Mahratta railway. Along the coast rice is the chief crop, and coco-nut palms are also important. In the upland there are valuable gardens of areca palms, cardamoms and pepper. Rice and timber are exported, and sandalwood-carving and salt manufacture are carried on. The main feature in the physical geography of the district is the range of the Western Ghats, which, running from north to south, divides it into two parts, a lowland or coast strip (Payanghat), and an upland plateau (Balaghat). The coast-line is only broken by the Karwar headland in the north, and by the estuaries of four rivers and the mouths of many smaller streams, through which the salt water finds an entrance into numerous lagoons winding several miles inland. The breadth of the lowlands varies from 5 to 15 miles. From this narrow belt rise a few smooth, flat-topped hills, from 200 to 300 ft. high; and at places it is crossed by lofty, rugged, densely wooded spurs, which, starting from the main range, maintain almost to the coast a height of not less than 1000 ft. Among these hills lie well-tilled valleys of garden and rice land. The plateau of the Balaghat is irregular, varying from 1500 to 2000 ft. in height. In some parts the country rises into well-wooded knolls, in others it is studded by small, isolated, steep hills. Except on the banks of streams and in the more open glades, the whole is one broad waste of woodland and forest. The open spaces are dotted with hamlets or parcelled out into rice clearings. Of the rivers flowing eastward from the watershed of the Sahyadri hills the only one of importance is the Wardha or Varada, a tributary of the Tungabhadra. Of those that flow westwards, the four principal ones, proceeding from north to south, are the Kali, Gungawali, Tadri and Sharavati. The last of these forms the famous Gersoppa Falls. Extensive forests clothe the hills, and are conserved under the rules of the forest department.
South Kanara District has its headquarters at Mangalore. Area, 4021 sq. m. Pop. (1901), 1,134,713, showing an increase of 7% in the decade. The district is intersected by rivers, none of which exceeds 100 miles in length. They all take their rise in the Western Ghats, and many are navigable during the fair weather for from 15 to 25 miles from the coast. The chief of these streams are the Netravati, Gurpur and Chendragiri. Numerous groves of coco-nut palms extend along the coast, and green rice-fields are seen in every valley. The Western Ghats, rising to a height of 3000 to 6000 ft., fringe the eastern boundary. Forest land of great extent and value exists, but most of it is private property. Jungle products (besides timber) consist of bamboo, cardamoms, wild arrowroot, gall-nuts, gamboge, catechu, fibrous bark, cinnamon, gums, resin, dyes, honey and beeswax. The forests formerly abounded in game, which, however, is rapidly decreasing under incessant shooting. The staple crop is rice. The chief articles of import are piece goods, cotton yarn, oils and salt. Tiles are manufactured in several places out of a fine potter’s clay. The Azhikal-Mangalore line of the Madras railway serves the district.
See South Canara District Manual (2 vols., Madras, 1894-1895).
KANARESE, a language of the Dravidian family, spoken by about ten millions of people in southern India, chiefly in Mysore, Hyderabad, and the adjoining districts of Madras and Bombay. It has an ancient literature, written in an alphabet closely resembling that employed for Telugu. Since the 12th century the Kanarese-speaking people have largely adopted the Lingayat form of faith, which may be described as an anti-Brahmanical sect of Siva worshippers (see [Hinduism]). Most of them are agriculturists, but they also engage actively in trade.
KANARIS (or Canaris), CONSTANTINE (1790-1877), Greek patriot, belonged to the class of coasting sailors who produced if not the most honest, at least the bravest, and the most successful of the combatants in the cause of Greek independence. He belonged by birth to the little island of Psara, to the north-west of Chio. He first became prominent as the effective leader of the signal vengeance taken by the Greeks for the massacre at Chio in April 1822 by the Turkish Capitan Pasha. The commander of the force of fifty small vessels and eight fireships sent to assail the Turkish fleet was the navarch Miaoulis, but it was Kanaris who executed the attack with the fireships on the flagship of the Capitan Pasha on the night of the 18th of June 1822. The Turks were celebrating the feast of Bahram at the end of the Ramadān fast. Kanaris had two small brigs fitted as fireships, and thirty-six men. He was allowed to come close to the Turkish flagship, and succeeded in attaching his fireships to her, setting them on fire, and escaping with his party. The fire reached the powder and the flagship blew up, sending the Capitan Pasha and 2000 Turks into the air. Kanaris was undoubtedly aided by the almost incredible sloth and folly of his opponents, but he chose his time well, and the service of the fireships was always considered peculiarly dangerous. That Kanaris could carry out the venture with a volunteer party not belonging to a regularly disciplined service, not only proved him to be a clever partisan fighter, but showed that he was a leader of men. He repeated the feat at Tenedos in November of 1822, and was then considered to have disposed of nearly 4000 Turks in the two ventures. When his native island, Psara, was occupied by the Turks he continued to serve under the command of Miaoulis. He was no less distinguished in other attacks with fireships at Samos and Mytilene in 1824, which finally established an utter panic in the Turkish navy. His efforts to destroy the ships of Mehemet Ali at Alexandria in 1825 were defeated by contrary winds. When the Greeks tried to organize a regular navy he was appointed captain of the frigate “Hellas” in 1826. In politics he was a follower of Capo d’Istria. He helped to upset the government of King Otho and to establish his successor, was prime minister in 1864-1865, came back from retirement to preside over the ministry formed during the crisis of the Russo-Turkish war, and died in office on the 15th of September 1877. Kanaris is described as of small stature, simple in appearance, somewhat shy and melancholy. He is justly remembered as the most blameless of the popular heroes of the War of Independence. He was almost the only one among them whom Dundonald, with whom he served in a successful attack on an Egyptian war-ship near Alexandria, exempts from the sweeping charges of cowardice he brings against the Greeks.