Kahal

“ All property was in common, which however did not prevent the leaders becoming rich. These Kahals or Soviets existed in Rome, France, Holland, Germany, Austria, Russia, Denmark, Italy, Rumania, Turkey and England. In the United States the idea has developed around the synagogue and around national and international secret societies of Jews, of which more will be said in succeeding articles.
The Kahal is the traditional Jewish political institution during the dispersal of the race among the nations. Its international aspect is to be seen in the higher councils. ”

“ Under the Kahal or ancient Soviet, the Jews lived by themselves and governed themselves, doing business with the government solely through their representatives. It was communism in a more drastic form than has been seen anywhere in the world outside Russia. Education, health, taxes, domestic affairs, all were under the absolute control of a few men who constituted the ruling board. This board, as the present-day Jewish hierarchy is supposed to be, was self- perpetuating, the office often passing in an unbroken line of hereditary succession through many generations. ”

“ That able general rallied the retreating force, and with a sufficient remnant, including the brave Himyarite band under Dzul Kelâa, took up a strong position on the frontier, until help should come. Khâlid continued his flight, but was stayed at Wady al Cora.—‘By my life!’ wrote the indignant Caliph, ‘thou shalt come no further; thou pratest bravely when secure, but in battle thou art a coward. I have no patience with thee!’ And he said to those about him: ‘Truly Aly and Omar knew the man better than I. Had I listened to them, this mishap had not been.’ We hear no more of Khâlid ibn Saîd. ”

“ Asked the Jew, “Then what wouldst thou have me say?”; and the fisherman answered, “Say, I sell thee my ape for thy ape and my luck for thy luck.” The Jew laughed, deeming him little of wit, and said by way of jest, “I sell thee my ape for thy ape and my luck for thy luck. Bear witness against him, O merchants! By Allah, O unhappy, thou art debarred from further claim on me!” So Khalif turned back, blaming himself and saying, “There is no Majesty and there is no Might save in Allah, the Glorious, the Great! ”

“ I see a man standing on a hillock.” Al-Rashid asked, “What is he?”; and Ja’afar answered, “Haply he is the guardian of a cucumber-plot.” Quoth the Caliph, “Perhaps he is a pious man [279] ; I would fain go to him, alone, and desire of him his prayers; and abide ye where you are.” So he went up to Khalif and saluting him with the salam said to him, “What art thou, O man?” Replied the fisherman, “Dost thou not know me? I am Khalif the Fisherman;” and the Caliph rejoined, “What? The fisherman with the woollen gown and the honey-coloured turband [280] ?” ”

“ Kala-i-Kakaha is a famous spot in Persian history, for it is said that the great Persian hero Rustam's first exploit was to capture this city and slay its king Kuk, after whom the fort standing above Kakaha is named. In more modern days Kakaha, which, from ancient times, had been a place of shelter for retreating princes hard driven by the enemy, has become noteworthy for its seven years' resistance to the attacks of Nadir's troops, when the Kayani King Malik-Fath, having abandoned his capital, Kala-i-Fath had taken refuge in the impregnable city of Kala-i-Kakaha. ”

“ Nor has one to go so very far from the heart of Calcutta to be reminded that the "premier city" of modern India derives its name from Kali, the most sinister of Indian goddesses. She was the tutelary deity of Kali-Kata, one of the three villages to which Job Charnock removed the first British settlement in Bengal when he abandoned Hugli in 1690, and her shrine has grown in wealth and fame with the growth of Calcutta. Kali-Kata is to-day only a suburb of the modern city, but in entering it one passes into another world—the world of popular Hinduism. ”

“ Nothing at Benares was more repulsive and disgusting than what one sees here. The deity most worshipped in Calcutta is the goddess Kali, who indeed gives name to the city, which is Anglicized from Kali-ghat. She delights in blood, and is propitiated only by constant sacrifices. As one takes his morning drive along the streets leading to her shrine, he sees them filled with young goats, who are driven to the sacred enclosure, which is like a butcher's shambles, so constantly are the heads dropping on the pavement, which is kept wet with blood. ”

“ He was thoroughly interested, but as yet unconcerned. "What do you mean, khalasi?"
[#] "In the name of Allah!"--a common exclamation.
"I parted but now, on the river, from a fellow-boatman who of late has lain in prison at Hugli, put there, they say, by order of Sinfray Sahib. He is not a dacoit; no man less so; but false witnesses rose up against him. And, I bethink me, he said that the sahib's khansaman was one of these men with lying lips. Surely he was in error; for your face, O khansaman, is open as the sun, your lips are fragrant with the very attar of truth. ”

“ In the Kali-puranna minute directions are given for the sacrifice of human victims to this monster. She is said on one occasion to have cut her own throat, that the blood issuing thence might spout into her mouth to quench her appetite for blood.
Such is the being whom the Hindus of Bengal delight to honour. Her most famous temple is at Kali-ghat, a village on the south side of Calcutta. ”

“ It was after the reverse of Ikrima that Khâlid, on being summoned to Medîna on the affair of Mâlik ibn Noweira, received the commission to attack Moseilama. In anticipation of serious opposition, the Caliph promised to strengthen his army by a fresh column composed of veterans from amongst the men of Mecca and Medîna. So Khâlid returned to his camp at Bitâh, and when these reinforcements came up, he marched in strength to meet the enemy. ”

“ KAKAR, a Pathan tribe on the Zhob valley frontier of Baluchistan. The Kakars inhabit the back of the Suliman mountains between Quetta and the Gomal river; they are a very ancient race, and it is probable that they were in possession of these slopes long before the advent of Afghan or Arab. They are divided into many distinct tribes who have no connexion beyond the common name of Kakar. Not only is there no chief of the Kakars, or general jirgah (or council) of the whole tribe, but in most cases there are no recognized heads of the different clans. ”

“ As a matter of fact, the attachment 201of Mohammedans is to the office of the Caliph rather than to his person, and according to the qualities necessary for the man who holds it, a true Caliph must be a perfect specimen of humanity. If he cannot fulfil the prescribed conditions of the Islamic religious law, that law orders the faithful to depose him, and justifies the election of a proper Caliph. There are not lacking in the history of Islam instances in which the Caliph has been deposed solely on these religious grounds. ”

“ To the west of the Indus the characteristics of the country resemble those of Dera Ghazi Khan. To the east of the present bed of the river there is a wide tract known as the Kachi, exposed to river action. Beyond this, the country rises abruptly, and a barren, almost desert plain stretches eastwards, sparsely cultivated, and inhabited only by nomadic tribes of herdsmen. In 1901 the trans-Indus tract was allotted to the newly formed North-West Frontier Province, the cis-Indus tract remaining in the Punjab jurisdiction. ”

“ When they heard these words they said to him, “May Allah not assain thy body, unlucky madman that thou art! Of a surety thou art fallen mad to-night! Lie down to sleep, may Allah never bless thee! How many thousand dinars hast thou, that the Caliph should come and borrow of thee?” He replied, “By Allah, I have naught but nine dinars.” And they all said, “By Allah, he is not otherwise than passing rich!” Then they left him wondering at his want of wit, and Khalif took his cash and wrapped it in a rag, saying to himself, “Where shall I hide all this gold? ”

“ The Caliph was astounded at her quickness and understanding, and said to the rhetorician, "Doff thy clothes." So he rose up and cried, "I call all who are present in this assembly to witness that she is more learned than I and every other learned man." And he put off his clothes and gave them to her, saying, "Take them and may Allah not bless them to thee!" So the Caliph ordered him fresh clothes and said, "O Tawaddud, there is one thing left of that for which thou didst engage, namely, chess." ”

“ Quoth the Caliph, “Hast thou then a house?”; and quoth Khalif, “Yea, verily! and thou, O Commander of the Faithful, art my guest this day.” Al-Rashid said, “I alone, O Khalif, or I and those who are with me?”; and he replied, “Thou and whom thou wilt.” So Ja’afar turned to him and said, “We will be thy guests this night;” whereupon he kissed ground again and withdrawing, mounted his mule and rode off, attended by his servants and suite of Mamelukes leaving the Caliph marvelling at this and saying to Ja’afar, “Sawest thou Khalif, with his mule and dress, his white slaves and his dignity? ”

“ Now I have an idea that has occurred to me, and 'tis to send out for you a tent with ten mamelukes and four servants upon horses and mules, baggage, stuffs, chests of dresses, and horses and gilded vehicles. Everything I have mentioned will be placed outside the city that no one shall know of thee, and I will say that thou art Ja'afar the Barmeky the Caliph's Wazir. I will go to the Kady and the Wali and the Naïb and I will inform them of thee (as Ja'afar) ; so will they come out to meet and salute thee. Then thou wilt salute them and tell them that thou hast come on business of the Caliph. ”

“ It was founded in the 14th century by Genoese colonists, who employed large numbers of workmen (Calfats) in repairing ships—which industry gave its name to the place. In 1854 a Russian force was defeated at Calafat by the Turks under Ahmed Pasha, who surprised the enemy's camp.
CALAH (so in the Bible; Kalah in the Assyrian inscriptions) , an ancient city situated in the angle formed by the Tigris and [v.04 p.0965] the upper Zab, 19 m. S. of Nineveh, and one of the capitals of Assyria. ”

“ A quarrel has sprung up between the Kashalla and Saïd, Haj Beshir's slave, about the road we should take from this to Kuka. The north-eastern, or direct east, is the shortest, but there are three days without habitations: this is Saïd's road. The south-eastern is the longer route, and is the Kashalla's, but there are people every day. The latter is probably the better route for me. It is decided that we leave the day after to-morrow.
This evening the Sultan sent me a camel, as a present. Not having experienced the difficulty of riding a horse, I had sold all my camels. ”

“ CALAY, s. Tin; also v., to tin copper vessels—H. ḳala'ī karnā. The word is Ar. ḳala'i, 'tin,' which according to certain Arabic writers was so called from a mine in India called ḳala'. In spite of the different initial and terminal letters, it seems at least possible that the place meant was the same that the old Arab geographers called Kalah, near which they place mines of tin (al-ḳala'i) , and which was certainly somewhere about the coast of Malacca, possibly, as has been suggested, at Kadah [54] or as we write it, Quedda. [See Āīn, tr. Jarrett, iii. 48.] ”

“ In Nejef are preserved the ashes of Ali, the husband of Fatima, daughter of the Prophet of Mecca, while in the mosque of Kerbela is the last resting place of his son, Husein. By his followers Ali was considered the first legitimate Caliph and his sons Hasan and Husein have ever since their tragic death been venerated as martyrs. It was the dispute about the first lawful Caliph that occasioned the great schism which divides the Moslem world into two sects: the Shiites, who reject the first three Caliphs—Abu-Bekr, Omar, and Othman—as usurpers ”

“ The chord of loyalty in the fickle city’s heart was touched; a tumult arose, and Abu Mûsa, unable to maintain his weak neutrality, was deposed. The Arab tribes rallied, and for the moment heartily, around such noted leaders as Cacâa, and Adî the son of Hâtim. And soon ten thousand men, partly by land, partly embarking on the river, set out to join the Caliph, who, advancing slowly from Dzu Câr, awaited their arrival. Thus reinforced, Aly was able to take the field effectively, and to march on the rebellious city with an imposing force. ”

“ Said the Caliph, “By Allah, O Ja’afar, if he take another paper and death be written therein, I will assuredly kill him, and thou wilt be the 174cause.” Answered Ja’afar, “If he die he will be at rest.” But Khalifah the Fisherman said to him, “Allah ne’er gladden thee with good news! Have I made Baghdad strait upon you, that ye seek to slay me?” Quoth Ja’afar, “Take thee a paper and crave the blessing of Allah Almighty!” So he put out his hand and taking a paper, gave it to Ja’afar, who read it and was silent. The Caliph asked, “Why art thou silent, O son of Yahya?” ”

“ The people are the Kalash section of the Kafirs, inferior in appearance, manner, and disposition to their neighbours situated westwards; they pay a small tribute in kind to Chitral, and are allowed to retain their own manners and customs. To Daras Karu, in the Bamburath Vale, famed for its pears, I next proceeded; here also are Kalash Kafirs, and some Bashgali settlers. The valley is very narrow, and the cultivation restricted principally to terraced fields on the hill-slopes. ”