Kalidasa \,ka-le-'da-sa\ (fl. c. 5th century) Indian poet and dramatist. Little is known about him; his poems suggest that he was a Brahman (priest). Many works are traditionally ascribed to him, but scholars have identified only six as genuine and one more as likely. The Sanskrit drama The Recognition of Shakuntala, his most famous creation, is traditionally judged the major Indian literary effort of any period, and Kalidasa is regarded as perhaps the greatest of all Indian writers.
Kalinga Ancient kingdom, northeastern India. It corresponds to the area of modem northern Andhra Pradesh, most of Orissa, and a portion of Chhattisgarh. It was conquered by Mahapadma, the founder of the Nanda dynasty, in the 4th century bc. Beginning in the mid-11th century ad, the Eastern Ganga dynasty assumed control. The temple of the sun-god at Konarak was built in the 13th century by Narasimha I. The dynasty col¬ lapsed when the sultan of Delhi invaded Kalinga from the south in 1324.
Kalinin Vko-'le-nyonV Mikhail (Ivanovich) (b. Nov. 19, 1875, Verkhnyaya Troitsa, Russia—d. June 3, 1946, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Russian communist leader and statesman. An early supporter of the Bol¬ sheviks, he participated in the Russian Revolution of 1905 and cofounded Pravda. After the Russian Revolution of 1917 he served as mayor of Petro- grad (St. Petersburg). In 1919 he became chair of the central executive committee of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets, and thus titular head of the Soviet state, a position he kept until his death. From 1925 he was a member of the Politburo and supported Joseph Stalin in crucial votes, thus retaining his high party office.
Kaliningrad \k3-'le-nin-,grat \formerly Konigsberg Vkoe-niks-.berkV City (pop., 1999 est.: 427,200), western Russia, situated on the Pregolya River. Founded in 1255 as Konigsberg, it was the capital of the dukes of Prussia and later the capital of East Prussia. In 1724 it absorbed the nearby cities of Lobenicht and Kneiphof. Virtually destroyed by Soviet forces during World War II, it came under the sovereignty of the U.S.S.R. and was rebuilt in 1946 as Kaliningrad. It is the seat of the University of Kaliningrad and the birthplace of Immanuel Kant.
Kalliope See Calliope
Kalmar \'kal-,mar\ Union (1397-1523) Scandinavian union that joined the kingdoms of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark under the rule of a single monarch. Margaret I had become regent of the three kingdoms by 1388; she chose her grandnephew Erik of Pomerania to become their king, and he was crowned at Kalmar, Swed., in 1397. Each country kept its own laws, customs, and administration. Sweden rebelled and claimed inde¬ pendence under Gustav I Vasa in 1523, and Norway became a Danish province in 1536.
Kaloyan \'ka-lo-yan\ or Kalojan (d. Oct. 1207, near Thessaloniki) Tsar of Bulgaria (1197-1207). The younger brother of the founders of the Second Bulgarian Empire, Kaloyan sought to maintain Bulgarian inde¬ pendence. Although he recognized papal authority and was crowned by papal legates in 1204, Kaloyan reverted to Orthodoxy not long after his coronation. He proposed an alliance with the armies of the Fourth Cru¬ sade but then led a Bulgarian-Greek uprising in the Balkan Peninsula that defeated the Crusaders at Adrianople (1205) and resulted in the capture of Baldwin I, the Latin emperor. Kaloyan’s success against the Crusaders contributed to the ultimate demise of the Latin empire of Constantinople. He died besieging Thessaloniki during his continuing struggle to expanded the empire.
Kama In Indian mythology, the god of love. In the Vedic age he per¬ sonified cosmic desire or the creative impulse, and he was called the first¬ born of primeval chaos. He was later often depicted as a handsome youth attended by heavenly nymphs, who shot love-producing flower arrows from a sugarcane bow. He was once killed by Shiva, who was enraged when Kama disturbed his meditation on a mountaintop, but the great god later relented and brought Kama back to life.
Kama River River, west-central Russia. The largest tributary of the Volga River, it rises in Udmurtiya and flows for 1,122 mi (1,805 km) until it enters the Volga below Kazan. Navigation is possible for about 955 mi (1,535 km). It is one of the most important rivers of Russia, historically as the route to the Urals and Siberia and economically as part of the vast Volga system of waterways.
Kamakura \,ka-ma-'kur-a\ period (1192-1333) Period of Japanese history marked by the country’s first era of military government. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto Yoritomo after his 1185 defeat of a rival warrior family, the Taira (see Taira Kiyomori); its headquarters was in Kamakura. To assert his authority, Yoritomo had jito (stewards) assigned to all the estates ( shOen ) in the land to collect taxes, and shugo (protectors) assigned to one or more provinces to lead them in times of war. This system was improved by the Hojo family, which took control of the shogunate on Yoritomo’s death. The creation of the Kamakura shogunate marks the start of Japan’s medieval or feudal period, characterized by a warrior ethic of duty, loyalty, and stoicism. Many ele¬ ments of Japanese culture that Westerners now associate with the country—including Zen Buddhism, samurai (warriors), seppuku (ritual dis- embowelment), and the tea ceremony —date from this period. The True Pure Land and Nichiren sects of Buddhism, which emphasized salvation through faith alone, provided solace to the masses, while tales of warrior exploits provided them with entertainment. See also BUSHIDO.
Kamchatka \k3m-'chat-k3\ Peninsula Peninsula, eastern Russia. It lies between the Sea of Okhotsk on the west and the Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea on the east. It is 750 mi (1,200 km) long and 300 mi (480 km) across at its widest point, and it has an area of 140,000 sq mi (370,000 sq km). Mountain ranges extend along it; of its 127 volcanoes, 22 are active, including Klyuchevskaya Volcano (15,584 ft [4,750 m]), the high¬ est peak in Siberia.
i orig.
Paiea known as Kame-
Kamehameha \ka-'ma-ha-'ma-ha\ hameha the Great (b. Novem¬ ber 1758?, Kohala district, Hawaii island—d. May 8, 1819, Kailua)
Hawaiian conqueror and king who united all the Hawaiian Islands. His birth came soon after the return of Halley’s Comet (1758), whose appearance led seers to prophesy the coming of a great conqueror. As a young man, he fought his cousin over control of the island of Hawaii; by 1795 he had defeated his cousin and conquered all but two of the Hawaiian Islands, and in 1810 the remaining islands were ceded to him.
He retained the harsh traditional legal system but protected the com¬ mon people from the brutality of powerful chiefs and outlawed human sacrifice. He enriched his kingdom through a government monopoly on the sandalwood trade and through port duties imposed on visiting ships and maintained its independence throughout the difficult period of European discovery and exploration of the islands. He founded the most enduring and best-documented line of rulers of Hawaii.
Kamehameha I, detail of a coloured lithograph by D. Veelward, 1822, after an engraving by Louis Choris, 1816
BERNICE PAUAHI BISHOP MUSEUM, HONOLULU
Kamehameha IV orig. Alex¬ ander Liholiho (b. Feb. 9, 1834, Ewa, Oahu, Hawaiian Islands—d. Nov. 30, 1863, Honolulu, Oahu) Hawaiian ruler (1855-63). Adopted as a child by his uncle, Kamehameha III (1813-54), he was educated by Protestant missionaries. As king, he sought to curb the power of the U.S. missionaries. He expanded trade with other countries and, to offset U.S. influence, invited the Church of England to establish itself in the
Kamehameha IV, c. 1862-1863.
BERNICE PAUAHI BISHOP MUSEUM, HONOLULU; PHOTOGRAPH H.L. CHASE
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