Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Coimbatore kwĭmbətôrˈ [key], city, Tamil Nadu state, SE India. Commanding the eastern approach ...

(Encyclopedia) Ioánnina yôäˈnēnä [key], city, capital of Ioánnina prefecture, NW Greece, in Epirus, o...

(Encyclopedia) Vellore vĕlôrˈ [key], city (1991 pop. 310,776), Tamil Nadu state, SE India, on the Palar River. It is a district administrative center and an agricultural market town. In the 18th cent. Vellore was...

(Encyclopedia) Giri, Varahagiri Venkata vərähäˈgərē vĕnˈkətä gēˈrē [key], 1894–1980, president of India (1969–74). He earned a law degree in Ireland, where he practiced law. After participating in t...

(Encyclopedia) Mansur, al- (Muhammad ibn Abi-Amir al-Mansur billah), 914–1002, Moorish regent of Córdoba, known in Spanish as Almanzor. He became steward to Princess Subh, wife of the caliph Hakim II, and under h...

(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) sharia, the religious law of Islam. As Islam makes no distinction between religion and life, Islamic law covers not only ritual but many aspects of life. The actual codification of canonic law is the ...

(Encyclopedia) Pan-Arabism, general term for the modern movement for political unification among the Arab nations of the Middle East. Since the Ottoman Turks rose to power in the 14th cent., there have been stirring...

(Encyclopedia) Leo Africanus ăfrĭkāˈnəs [key], c.1465–1550, Moorish traveler in Africa and the Middle East. His Arabic name was Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad. Captured by pirates, he was sent as a slave to Pope Leo X...