Kabila Xks-'be-loV Laurent (Desire) (b. 1939, Jadotville, Belgian Congo—d. Jan. 18?, 2001, en route to Harare, Zimb.) Rebel leader and president (1997-2001) of Congo (Kinshasa). He attended schools abroad, including military school in China, before participating in several Marxist-inspired uprisings in Zaire in the 1960s and ’70s. He later became a trader in precious minerals and ivory. In the Rwandan civil war, Kabila collaborated with Paul Kagame in attacking Hutu guerrilla groups in Zaire as well as Zairean government forces. His troops ousted Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997, and Kabila proclaimed himself president and renamed the coun¬ try. His repressive policies soon led to a new and larger war, in which many African states sent troops and aid to both sides. His assassination was apparently engineered by his own officers; his son Joseph (b. 1971) succeeded him.
Kabir \ko-'bir\ (b. 1440, Varanasi, Jaunpur, India—d. 1518, Maghar) Indian mystic and poet. A weaver who lived in Benares, he preached the essential oneness of all religions and was critical of both Hinduism and Islam for meaningless rites and mindless repetition. From Hinduism he accepted the ideas of reincarnation and the law of karma but rejected idolatry, asceticism, and the caste system. From Islam he accepted the idea of one God and the equality of all men. Revered by both Hindus and Muslims, he is also considered a forerunner of Sikhism, and some of his poetry was incorporated into the Adi Granth. His ideas led to the found¬ ing of several sects, including the Kabir Panth, which regards Kabir as its principal guru or as a divinity.
kabuki \ka-'bii-ke\ Popular Japanese entertainment that combines music, dance, and mime in highly stylized performances. The word is written using three Japanese characters —ka (“song”), bu (“dance”), and ki (“skill”). Kabuki dates from the end of the 16th century, when it devel¬ oped from the nobility’s NO theatre and became the theatre of townspeople.
In its early years it had a licentious reputation, its actors often being pros¬ titutes; women and young boys were consequently forbidden to perform, and kabuki is today performed by an adult all-male cast. Its texts, unlike no texts, are easily understood by its audience. The lyrical but fast-moving and acrobatic plays, noted for their spectacular staging, elaborate cos¬ tumes, and striking makeup in place of masks, are vehicles in which the actors demonstrate a wide range of skills. Kabuki employs two musical ensembles, one onstage and the other offstage. It shares much of its rep¬ ertoire with bunraku, a traditional puppet theatre.
Kabul \'ka-bol\ City (pop., 1993 est.: 700,000), capital of Afghanistan. Located on the Kabul River in a valley strategically located between moun¬ tain passes, it has existed for some 3,500 years. It became the capital of the Mughal dynasty in the 16th century, and it remained under Mughal rule until 1738, when it was captured by the Iranian con¬ queror Nadir Shah. Kabul has been the capital of Afghanistan since 1776. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, it established a military command in Kabul. After the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, factional fighting among Afghan guerrillas con¬ tinued intermittently and the city suffered widespread destruction. In 1996 the Taliban captured Kabul and imposed an austere form of Islamic rule. The city began to recover from years of vio¬ lence only when the Taliban government was overthrown in
Kabul River River in eastern Afghanistan and north¬ western Pakistan. Rising west of the city of Kabul, it flows east into Pakistan and, after a course of 435 mi (700 km), joins the Indus River northwest of Islamabad. The Kabul River valley is a natural route for travel between Afghanistan and Paki¬ stan; Alexander the Great used it to invade India in the 4th century bc. For much of its course, the river is tapped for irrigation.
Kabyle \k9-'bil\ Berber people of northeastern Algeria. Most are Mus¬ lim, though a few are Christian. They are predominantly agricultural, growing grains and olives and herding goats. Village government is run by an assembly of adult males. Villages are divided into clans, and the society is organized into classes. The current population is about 2.5 to 3 million.
Kachchh, Rann of or Rann of Kutch VkochX Large salt marsh, west-central India and southern Pakistan. The northern portion. Great Rann, occupies an area of 7,000 sq mi (18,000 sq km) in Gujarat state, India. The eastern section, Little Rann, occupies 2,000 sq mi (5,100 sq km) of Gujarat. Originally an extension of the Arabian Sea, it has been closed off by centuries of silt¬ ing. A 1965 dispute between India and Pakistan over the boundary line of Great Rann ended when an inter¬ national tribunal awarded about 10% of the border area to Pakistan and the remainder to India.
Kachin \ka-'chin\ Any member of a group of tribal peoples occupying parts of northeastern Myanmar and contiguous areas of India (Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland) and China (Yunnan). Numbering more than 700,000, they speak a variety of lan¬ guages of the Tibeto-Burman group of Sino-Tibetan languages. Tradi¬ tional Kachin society largely sub¬ sisted on the shifting cultivation of hill rice, supplemented by the pro¬ ceeds of banditry and feudal warfare.
The traditional Kachin religion is a form of animistic ancestor cult entailing animal sacrifice.
kachina Vko-'che-noX Ancestral spirit of the Pueblo Indians. There are more than 500 of these spirits, who
Hopi kachina of laqan, or squirrel spirit, c. 1950; in the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, New York City
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Kaczynski ► Kagera River I 1009
act as intermediaries between humans and the gods. Each tribe has its own kachinas, which are believed to reside with a tribe for half of each year. They can be seen by the community if men properly perform a ritual while wearing kachina masks. The spirit depicted on the mask is thought to be actually present with the performer, temporarily transforming him. Kachinas are also represented by small wooden dolls, carved and deco¬ rated by the men of the tribe.
Kaczynski \k3-'zin-ske\, Theodore known as the Unabomber (b.
May 22, 1942, Evergreen Park, Ill., U.S.) U.S. criminal. He attended Har¬ vard University and earned a doctorate in mathematics from the Univer¬ sity of Michigan. He taught at the University of Califomia-Berkeley (1967-69) then abruptly left for rural Montana, where he lived in a tiny, isolated shack. Over a period of 17 years, he sent mail bombs to people he perceived as enemies of humanity, most of them professors and researchers in science and technology, killing 3 people and injuring 23. His manifesto excoriating industrial society was published widely in 1995. Arrested in 1996 on a tip from his younger brother, he was sen¬ tenced to life in prison.
Kadar \'ka-,dar\ Janos orig. Czermanik Janos (b. May 26, 1912, Fiume, Hung.—d. July 6, 1989, Budapest) Premier of Hungary (1956— 58, 1961-65) and first secretary (1956-88) of Hungary’s Communist Party. He joined the then-illegal Communist Party in 1931 and entered the Hungarian Politburo in 1945. In 1950 he came into conflict with the Stalinists and was expelled from the party and jailed (1951-53). Reha¬ bilitated in 1954, he joined the short-lived government of Nagy Imre. After Soviet troops took over the country in 1956, Kadar formed a new government with Soviet backing and quelled a popular revolt. He later convinced the Soviet Union to withdraw its troops and allow Hungary a modicum of internal independence.