Part 238

KERUI, Ind. a village or parish.

KETTLE, a vessel used to boil composition for fire-works.

KETTLE-Drums. See DRUMS.

KETTLE-drum cart, a four wheel carriage which is drawn by four horses, and is used exclusively by the British artillery as a pageant.

The ordnance flag is planted on the fore part, and the drummer with two kettle drums is seated, as in a chair of state, on the back part. This cart is finely engraven and richly gilt. It has not been in the field since the year 1743, when the king was present. It is kept in the tower.

KEYS, in a general sense, are instruments with which locks are opened.

KEYS, in artillery carriages, may be considered under three specific heads, viz.

Fore-lock KEYS, which serve to pass through the lower end of bolts, in order to fasten them.

Spring KEYS may be used in the same manner, but are differently made, for instead of being of one single piece, they are of two, like two springs laid one over the other. When they are put into eye-bolts, they are pinched together at the ends, and when they are in, they open again; so that the motion of the carriage cannot disturb or shake them out. Spring keys are peculiarly useful in travelling carriages.

KEYS with chains and staples fixed on the side pieces of a carriage or mortar bed. They serve to fasten the cap squares by passing through the eyes of the eye-bolts, with or without.

KEY stone, in architecture, is the middle stone of an arch, by which the sweep of the arch is bound together.

KEY. See QUAY.

KEYSERLICKS, or imperialists, the Austrian troops are frequently called so. The term was indeed common among the British soldiers, when they did duty together, and invaded France in 1794. It is derived from keyser, from Caesar, which in German, signifies emperor.

KHAN, Ind. signifies lord or chieftain. This title was given by the king of Delhi, for which it is supposed, the person maintained 250 horse soldiers, which he commanded and disciplined for the king’s service.

KHEET, Ind. a fortified city, which is four coss or eight English miles in length and breadth, and not so much as eight coss.

KHODA, Ind. GOD.

KHODADAUD SIRCAR, Ind. That is the government or ruler blessed or beloved of God; it was a title assumed by Tippo Sultaun, the sovereign of the kingdom of Mysore, who fell in defence of his capital, Serungputtun, or Seringapatam, when it was stormed, May the 4th, 1799, by the British forces under the command of lieutenant general Harris.

KID. This appellation was formerly given to any person that was trepanned by kidnappers.

KIDNAPPER, a man who by improper means decoys the unwary into the army or navy.

KIEU, the Indian term for any bridge under which water flows.

KILLA, Ind. a castle, fort, or fortress.

KILLADAR, Ind. the governor or commandant of a fort.

KINDALAHS, a vagabond, outcast set of people in India, originally belonging to the Hindoo tribe. By such proscription and disgrace are these miserable creatures marked, that the people of other casts not only will not visit them, but if any one of them should presume to approach a person of the Nayr tribe, it is lawful for the latter to put him to instant death.

To KINDLE, in a military sense, is to excite mankind to arms. To kindle the flames of war is a familiar expression.

KING from the Saxon koning, that is cunning, wise; it has come to bear a different sense, and to signify a person neither cunning nor wise; a person in whom a supreme or qualified authority is vested without the consent of a nation. The chief magistrate, and one of the three nominal parts of the British government.

In a military acceptation of the term, the king of Great Britain is captain general of the British army, the primary source from which all appointments in it are derived, and the last resort of naval and military jurisdiction. With him, as principal magistrate in the state, and head of the executive power, all the arrangements of the British army finally rest, as from him they primarily issued. From him all the effective forces derive energy and effect, and when war has been declared, to him only does the army look for the immediate application and general exercise of its powers, through the medium of the ministers he appoints, who are responsible to parliament for the manner in which the authority they have received has been executed.

The British king is likewise supreme head of the militia, and has the power of appointing or dismissing lieutenants of counties. This king may likewise order three deputy lieutenants to act, when the lieutenant is abroad, or when there is a vacancy. He may join independent companies into a battalion, or incorporate them with any other regiment; and by him only can adjutants be appointed to act in the militia. If they are selected from the regular army, they preserve their rank, and their new commission bears the sign manual.

In case of an invasion or rebellion, the British king has the power to order the county lieutenants to embody the militia, and to put it under general officers from the regular army. On these occasions he may issue a proclamation for the meeting of parliament in fourteen days.