KHALĪL IBN AḤMAD [ABŪ ‘Abdurraḥmān ul-Khalīl Ibn Aḥmad ibn ‘Amr ibn Tamīm] (718-791), Arabian philologist, was a native of Oman. He was distinguished for having written the first Arabic dictionary and for having first classified the Arabic metres and laid down their rules. He was also a poet, and lived the ascetic life of a poor student. His grammatical work was carried on by his pupil Sībawaihī. The dictionary known as the Kitāb-ul-‘Ain is ascribed, at least in its inception, to Khalīl. It was probably finished by one of his pupils and was not known in Bagdad until 862. The words were not arranged in alphabetical order but according to physiological principles, beginning with ‘Ain and ending with Ya. The work seems to have been in existence as late as the 14th century, but is now only known from extracts in manuscript.
Various grammatical works are ascribed to Khalīl, but their authenticity seems doubtful; cf. C. Brockelmann, Gesch. der arabischen Literatur, i. 100 (Weimar, 1898).
(G. W. T.)
KHAMGAON, a town of India, in the Buldana district of Berar, 340 m. N.E. of Bombay. Pop. (1901), 18,341. It is an important centre of the cotton trade. The cotton market, the second in the province, was established about 1820. Khamgaon was connected in 1870 with the Great Indian Peninsula railway by a short branch line.
KHAMSEH, a small but important province of Persia, between Kazvin and Tabriz. It consisted formerly of five districts, whence its name Khamseh, “the five,” but is now subdivided into seventeen districts. The language of the inhabitants is Turkish. The province pays a revenue of about £20,000 per annum, and its capital is Zenjān.
KHAMSIN (Arabic for “fifty”), a hot oppressive wind arising in the Sahara. It blows in Egypt at intervals for about fifty days during March, April and May, and fills the air with sand. In Guinea the wind from the Sahara is known as harmattan (q.v.).