Koumiss

“ An intoxicating drink, Koumiss, made of camel's or [p.158] mare's milk, is in wide use among the steppe tribes.
121. Toorkmuns. A branch of the Turkish race found chiefly in northern Persia and Afghanistan.
122. Tukas. From the province of Azer-baijan.
123. Attruck. A river of Khorassan, near the frontier of Khiva; it has a west course, and enters the Caspian Sea on the east side.
128. Ferghana. A khanate of Turkestan, north of Bokhara, in the upper valley of the Sir Daria. ”

“ The latter is five to six feet long, with a leathern tube, about four inches in diameter, at one corner, through which the milk is poured into the bag, and the koumis drawn out of it. p. 182A wooden instrument, not unlike a churning-staff, is introduced into the bag, for the purpose of frequently agitating the koumis, which is not considered in good condition until after the lapse of twelve to fourteen days. It is drunk in large quantities by such of the Kirghiz as are wealthy enough to keep up a considerable stud of brood mares ”

“ You have committed a great wrong in making this expedition against the Shuswaps. The Ko-cha Kookpi (god) is very angry. You should be shot dead but you can save yourselves. Listen. I will pardon every man of you who can produce a wife or a sweetheart who can prove to my satisfaction that her love for you is greater than the voice of the Thompson, and fiercer than the roar of the Fraser. ”

“ In the Ganjam, Vizagapatam and Godāvari districts they are found in the hills, acting as middle-men between the hill tribes and the people of the plains. Most of the Kōmatis are literate, and this helps them in their dealings with their constituents. They are proverbially shrewd, industrious, and thrifty, and are often rich. If a Kōmati fails in business, his compatriots will come to his rescue, and give him a fresh start. Organised charity is well known among them. Each temple of Kanyaka Paramēswari is a centre for charity. ”

“ They are a well-built, brave but quiet people who carry on a trade with British districts, and have never given the government much trouble. There is little doubt that the Kohistanis are, like the Kafirs of Kafiristan, the remnants of old races driven by Mahommedan invasions from the valleys and plains into the higher mountains. The majority have been converted to Islam within the last 200 years. The total population is about 16,000.
An important district also known as Kohistan lies to the north of Kabul in Afghanistan, extending to the Hindu Kush. ”

“ I have seen all such persons die in poverty and misery; for they almost all took to brandy drinking; and you were far on the road yourself."
Once more Kummas felt ashamed at the truthful words of his neighbour, who kindly, however, added, "Don't take amiss what I say. I mean well to you. Every morning I will give you milk for the foundling, and will look after its clothes. And I have nothing to say against your playing at a respectable marriage, or on a feast-day, when I will take good care of your youngster in your absence. ”

“ The death ceremonies among the Gavaras closely resemble those of Brāhmans. The period of death pollution is sixteen days, during which sweets are taboo.
The Kōmatis are best known as merchants, grocers, and money-lenders. In the city of Madras, they are the principal vendors of all sorts of imported articles. The row of shops in the China bazar, between Pachaiyappa's College and Popham's Broadway, is almost entirely maintained by them. Many Kōmatis are cloth merchants, and Traivarnikas are almost entirely engaged in the glassware trade. ”

“ It may be imagined how great was the astonishment of the peasant, when, in a few minutes, Kummas returned with the infant in his arms. When her surprise at the unexpected appearance had somewhat abated, she said to Kummas, at the same time laying her hand on his shoulder, "Neighbour, you are really better than I gave you credit for, and are an honest man. That is a splendid child. God bless it! Stout and strong as a young lion. ”

“ The Kōmatis replied much in the same manner as Kusuma srēshti and his friends did to the ministers of Vishnu Vardhana in the Kanyaka Purāna, Their answer will be found in canto VII, 223, of the Markandēya Purāna, which contains the earliest authentic literary reference to the name Kōmati. In effect they said " Thou art the ruler of the whole of this universe. Oh! King; we are but poor Kōmatis living by service. Say, then, how can we contract such a marriage? " The king was further dissuaded by his father and the Brāhmans. ”

“ I have kissed and caressed many koomas, but never once did the earth open under us, or the heavens burst asunder. Come, let us embrace!” The maiden thought it well to dissemble, and she replied: “O my koom, thou Doge of Venice! My aged mother told me that I should have her curse if I ever kissed a bearded hero; and I swore to her that I should love only a shaven knight such as is the Royal Prince Marko.” ”

“ The Khawlthang sept of the Haokip clan of Thado Kukis also uses Y-shaped posts (vide Col. Shakespear’s Lushei-Kuki Clans, p. 65) .
The Angami uses them only in the case of the Lisü “genna” performed in Kohima villages only. At this “genna” the spirit of fertility is caused to perambulate the village, symbolized by a Y-shaped and by a phallic post, the former pulled by chaste boys, the latter carried by a man, and representing respectively the female and male organs of generation. It has been already pointed out that the Puchatsuma clan in Kohima has a western origin. ”

“ On each occasion when the Moslem chief endeavoured to conquer our country, it was Kouaga who assumed the generalship of our troops; it was Kouaga who fought valiantly for his queen with his own keen sword; it was Kouaga who drove back the enemy and urged our hosts to slaughter them without mercy; and it was Kouaga who, with fiendish hatred, put the prisoners to the torture. In him my mother had a most trusted servant."
"He doesn't seem very trustworthy now," I observed. "It seems to me we are caught like rats in a trap." ”

“ The Koyis of the Godāvari district are described in the Manual as being "a simple-minded people. They look poor and untidy. The jungles in which they reside are very unhealthy, and the Kois seem almost to a man to suffer from chronic fever. They lead an unsophisticated. savage life, and have few ideas, and no knowledge beyond the daily events of their own little villages ”

“ Koojesse, though one of the most muscular and intelligent of the natives, obeyed with trembling promptness, while the profuse sweat stood in drops upon his nose, (Esquimo perspire freely only on the nose,) and his countenance [310] beamed with intense excitement. The climax was at hand. The Angekok's words began to be plain enough for Mr. Hall's ears. Kudlago's spirit was troubled. Would the white man please give it rest? One of his double-barreled guns would do it! White man! white man! give Kudlago's spirit rest! Give the double-barreled gun! ”

“ If a woman had relations with one kohen and married another kohen within three months, the child is disqualified from the priesthood. If a kohen has relations with a single girl and admits the child is his son, the son would be a kohen for all matters. ”

“ These people are notorious for their importunity and their gift for lampooning those who refuse them alms, and they trade upon the fact.
The Kómatis are the great trading and money-lending caste of the Telugu country, and are not popular. They call themselves Vaisyas, wear the sacred thread, claim to have 102 'gótras,' and of late years some of them have adopted Védic rites at their marriages and funerals in place of the Puránic rites which are traditional with them. ”

“ Indeed, I am not guilty."
"I believe you, my son," said Kummas with a lighter heart, "although appearances are certainly very much against you. But if we are innocent, we may be happy even in a dungeon. Think of the good Joseph, who was in prison for many years, while you are to be only three days in this black hole."
"That is nothing, father; but I cannot bear to think of the shame, and of being pointed at by all the villagers.
"Let them point at you as they like," said Kummas, comforting him; "so long as you are not guilty, it does not matter. ”

“ When Koojesse, who steered the boat, was directing our course away from the Kingaite side, and when I requested him to remain where I wished to make an examination, he curtly and even savagely replied, "You stop; I go." I was forced to smother my anger, and submit to the mortification of being obliged to yield before these untamed children of the icy North. Reflection has, however, convinced me that I can hardly blame them, as I then felt inclined. They are born free as their native wilds; they have no one to control or check them; they roam about as they will ”

“ The great body of the Kōmatis in the country were not parties to the agreement, and they do not now admit that their inferiority has ever been proved.” According to another version of the legend, during the reign of the Chōlas, a water-pandal was erected by the Bēris, and the Kōmatis claimed the right to use it. This was refused on the ground that they were not Vaisyas. The question at issue was referred to the king, who promised to enquire into it, but did not do so. A Vīramushti (caste beggar of the Bēri Chettis and Kōmatis) killed the king’s horse and elephant. ”

“ Still another account says that some of the Kōmatis, just before a marriage, leave in the backyard of Madiga houses a few pice and betel close to the cattle-pen, and that it is whispered that some Kōmatis use chuckler's (leather-worker's) tools, made in silver, for worship. It is also reported that chuckler's work is pretended to be gone through by some Kōmatis, after the completion of the marriage ceremonies, in the backyard of the house at dead of night, in the presence of caste-people only, and by preference under a dānimma chettu (Punica Granatum: pomegranate) . ”

“ The head man would be called for by Kouaga. "Why are your men not ready? Know you not that the son of the great Naya is with us?" With a deprecatory smile the head-man would make some excuse. He had hurt his foot, or had rheumatism, and therefore he, and consequently his men, would be compelled to rest that day. He would then be warned that if not ready to march in five minutes, he would be carried captive into Mo for the Great White Queen herself to deal with. ”

“ The great mountains of Hindoo Koosh lie in sight, south of Koondooz, covered with snow: the neighbouring hills are low, creeping ridges, covered with grass and flowers, but destitute of trees or brushwood. A little further up the valley the climate becomes much more genial; and the people speak in raptures of the groves and rivulets, the fruits and flowers, of Budukhshan. Its chief. The ruler of Koondooz, Mahommed Moorad Beg, is an Uzbek of the tribe of Kudghun, who has but lately risen into power. He is now encroaching in every direction, and possesses all the valley of the Oxus ”

“ The phrase Kōmatiguttu (the secrecy of a Kōmati) is said to be a common one. Others say that it is from gō-mati, meaning the possessor of cows, one of the ordained duties of Vaisyas being the protecting of cows. Others, again, say that it is from gō-mati, meaning cow-minded. A modern redaction of the Kanyakā Purāna, the sacred book of the Kōmatis, gives this derivation. According to this work, the Kōmatis did severe penance, and were consequently invited to live in heaven. ”

“ This perhaps is strengthened by what I have learned of the beliefs at the Herbert River, still farther to the north along the coast.
In these tribes there is a striking belief in a supernatural being called Kohin. He is said to have his dwelling in the Milky Way (Kuling) , but to roam about by night on earth as a gigantic warrior, who kills those whom he meets. He can at will make himself invisible. He sends thunder and lightning, and the blacks talk to him during the storm, and spit and put up their hand towards the sky, as if to ward off the lightning. ”

“ The pass varies from 400 yds. to 11⁄4 m. in width, and its summit is some 600 to 700 ft. above the plain. It is inhabited by the Adam Khel Afridis, and nearly all British relations with that tribe have been concerned with this pass, which is the only connexion between two British districts without crossing and recrossing the Indus (see Afridi) . It is now traversed by a cart-road.
KOHISTAN, a tract of country on the Peshawar border of the North-West Frontier Province of India. Kohistan means the “country of the hills” and corresponds to the English word highlands ”

“ He replied. “Let us be enemies, Al Nakia.”
“Agreed.” Hector rose and walked to the door. There he turned and added, quite gently, “But we shall not be enemies for long.”
“For as long as there is breath in my body!” burst out Koom Khan.
“That is just what I meant when I said that it would not be for long. For—I have never trusted a living enemy—and I have never feared a dead one!”
Koom Khan gave a slight start, but controlled himself almost immediately, and said, with the utmost, arrogant nonchalance:
“Death is not such a savory mouthful that one should gulp it down whole. ”

“ They have exhibited much bravery, and considerable military knowledge in making their strongholds on the plains instead of the hills. The fortress of Koochan is a place of great strength; it is built of mud, and the tenacious nature of the soil is favourable to that kind of fortification, which is common all over Khorasan. These Koords, though Shiahs, form secret connexions with their Toorkmun neighbours, and connive at the capture of the Persians and plunder of the provinces. Their country, although it yields a sufficiency for the consumption of the people, is poor. ”