Definition of "kula"

kula¹

noun
plural kulas
1. A tower, turret or steeple on the Balkans erected during the period of Ottoman domination on the area.
  Quotations
  Instead of the haïdooks, their next of kin, the zaptiés now hold a kula on the highest point of the pass; here one pauses to rest after scrambling up the vile Turkish road on one side of the ravine, and before scrambling down the vile Turkish road on the other.
  1867, Georgina Mary Muir Mackenzie, Lady Georgina Mary Muir Sebright, Mackenzie Sebright, Adeline Paulina Irby, Travels in the Slavonic Provinces of Turkey-in-Europe, page 107
  The most important kulas of the Čengić-begs are those in Zagorje, in Rataji and the River Odžak near Ustikolina.
  1998, Adil Zulfikarpašić, Milovan Djilas, Nadežda Gaće, The Bosniak‎, page 5
  The kulas were indeed like fortresses, with as many as twenty 'guns', ie. adult men ready to fight.
  1998, Miranda Vickers, Between Serb and Albanian, page 111

kula²

noun
uncountable
1. A ceremonial exchange system conducted in the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea, involving the exchange of bracelets and necklaces, and linked to political authority.