Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) banyan bănˈyən [key], species of fig (Ficus bengalensis) of the family Moraceae (mulberry family), native to India, where it is venerated. Its seeds usually germinate in the branches of some tree w...

(Encyclopedia) Syr Darya or Syrdarya both: sēr däryäˈ, –därˈyə [key], ancient Jaxartes or Yaxartes, Pers. Sihun, river, c.1,380 mi (2,220 km) long, flowing through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. On...

(Encyclopedia) pogrom pōˈgrəm, pōgrŏmˈ [key], Russian term, originally meaning “riot,” that came to be applied to a series of violent attacks on Jews in Russia in the late 19th and early 20th cent. Pogroms...

(Encyclopedia) Pontus, ancient country, NE Asia Minor (now Turkey), on the Black Sea coast. On its inland side were Cappadocia and W Armenia. It was not significantly penetrated by Persian or Hellenic civilization. ...

(Encyclopedia) Sen, Amartya Kumar, 1933–, Indian economist, b. Bengal, Ph.D. Cambridge, 1959. He has taught at Jadavpur Univ., Kolkata (1956�...

(Encyclopedia) Elgin, James Bruce, 8th earl of ĕlˈgĭn [key], 1811–63, British statesman, son of the 7th earl. He served as governor of Jamaica (1842–46) and in 1847 was appointed governor-general of Canada. T...

(Encyclopedia) Giers, Nikolai Karlovich nyĭkəlīˈ kärˈləvĭch gēyĕrsˈ [key], 1820–95, Russian statesman. Appointed deputy foreign minister in 1875, he increasingly took over the duties of the elderly fore...

(Encyclopedia) Halicarnassus hălˌĭkärnăˈsəs [key], ancient city of Caria, SW Asia Minor, on the Ceramic Gulf (now the Gulf of Kos) and on the site of the modern city of Bodrum, Turkey. Halicarnassus was Greek...

(Encyclopedia) Gregory XII, c.1327–1417, pope (1406–15), a Venetian named Angelo Correr; successor of Innocent VII. As a condition of election, Gregory promised to do everything possible to end the Great Schism,...

(Encyclopedia) David I, 1084–1153, king of Scotland (1124–53), youngest son of Malcolm III and St. Margaret of Scotland. During the reign of his brother Alexander I, whom he succeeded, David was earl of Cumbria,...