Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Muzaffar ad-Din mo͞ozäf-färˈ äd-dēnˈ [key], 1853–1907, shah of Persia (1896–1907), son of Nasir ad-Din. A weak ruler, he borrowed money from Russia and failed to oppose the encroachments of...

(Encyclopedia) Ahmad Mirza äkhmädˈ mērzäˈ [key], 1898–1930, shah of Persia (1909–25), son of Muhammad Ali. The last of the Qajar dynasty, he came to power as a result of a coup against his father. A regent...

(Encyclopedia) Songhai or Songhay both: sŏngˈgīˈ [key], largest of the former empires in the western Sudan region of N Africa. The state was founded (c.700) by Berbers on the Middle Niger, in what is now central...

(Encyclopedia) Gorgan jo͝orjänˈ [key], town, N Iran, E of the Caspian Sea. The surrounding region yields ...

(Encyclopedia) Delhi Sultanate, refers to the various Muslim dynasties that ruled in India (1210–1526). It was founded after Muhammad of Ghor defeated Prithvi Raj and captured Delhi in 1192. In 1206, Qutb ud-Din, ...

(Encyclopedia) amphoterism ămˌfətĕrˈĭzm [key], in chemistry, the property of certain substances of acting either as acids or as bases depending on the reaction in which they are involved. Many hydroxide compou...

(Encyclopedia) Mahfouz, Naguib nəgēbˈ mäkhfo͞osˈ [key], 1911–2006, Egyptian novelist and short-story writer, b. Cairo. After his graduation (1934) from Cairo Univ., he worked in various government ministries...

(Encyclopedia) National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C., a division of the Smithsonian Institution. Devoted to the collection, presentation, and preservation of the culture of Africa...

(Encyclopedia) Constantine XI (Constantine Palaeologus), d. 1453, last Byzantine emperor (1449–53), brother and successor of John VIII. To secure Western aid against the Turkish assault on what remained of the emp...

(Encyclopedia) An Najaf än näˈjäf [key], city (2020 pop. 874,000), S central Iraq, on a lake near the Euphrates River. The city, one of Shi'a Islam's holiest, is also called Mashad A...