Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

76 results found

Rao, Raja

(Encyclopedia)Rao, Raja rou [key], 1909–2006, Indian novelist, b. Hassan, Mysore (now Karnataka), as Raja. Rao took his surname as an adult, and was educated in India and France and for many years divided his ti...

boycott

(Encyclopedia)boycott, concerted economic or social ostracism of an individual, group, or nation to express disapproval or coerce change. The practice was named (1880) after Capt. Charles Cunningham Boycott, an Eng...

Besant, Annie

(Encyclopedia)Besant, Annie bĕzˈant [key], 1847–1933, English social reformer and theosophist, b. Annie Wood. She steadily grew away from Christianity and in 1873 separated from her husband, a Protestant clergy...

pacifism

(Encyclopedia)pacifism, advocacy of opposition to war through individual or collective action against militarism. Although complete, enduring peace is the goal of all pacifism, the methods of achieving it differ. S...

Bhagavad-Gita

(Encyclopedia)Bhagavad-Gita bŭgˈəvəd-gēˈtə [key] [Skt.,=song of the Lord], Sanskrit poem incorporated into the Mahabharata, one of the greatest religious classics of Hinduism. The Gita (as it is often called...

Thoreau, Henry David

(Encyclopedia)Thoreau, Henry David thôrˈō, thərōˈ [key], 1817–62, American author, naturalist, social activist, and philosopher, b. Concord, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1837. Thoreau is considered one of the most...

Delhi

(Encyclopedia)Delhi dĕlˈē [key], union territory and city, N central India. The union territory, officia...

Ghose, Aurobindo

(Encyclopedia)Ghose, Aurobindo ôrōbĭnˈdō gōsh [key], 1872–1950, Indian nationalist leader and mystic philosopher. Born in Bengal, he was sent to England and lived there for 14 years, completing his educatio...

Shankar, Ravi

(Encyclopedia)Shankar, Ravi (Robindra Shankar Chowdhury), 1920–2012, Indian sitarist and composer, b. Varanasi. He was the first Indian instrumentalist to attain an international reputation and is credited with i...

Mumbai

(Encyclopedia)Mumbai bŏmbāˈ [key], city (1991 pop. 3,175,000), capital of Maharashtra state, W central India, occupying c.25 sq mi (65 sq km) on Mumbai (Bombay) and Salsette islands on the Arabian Sea coast. Mum...

Browse by Subject