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Nuristan

(Encyclopedia)Nuristan no͝orĭstănˈ [key] [Persian,=land of light or the enlightened], region on the southern slopes of the Hindu Kush, NE Afghanistan, bordered on the E by Pakistan. Formerly called Kafiristan [...

Taylor, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, Isaac, 1829–1901, English clergyman, antiquarian, and author, chiefly noted for researches in philology. In 1885, Taylor became canon of York. His inclination toward controversy led to the w...

Stanhope, Lady Hester Lucy

(Encyclopedia)Stanhope, Lady Hester Lucy, 1776–1839, English traveler. Leaving England in 1810, she traveled in the Levant, adopting Eastern male dress and a religion that was a composite of Christianity and Isla...

Bogomils

(Encyclopedia)Bogomils bōˈgōmĭlz [key], members of Europe's first great dualist church, which flourished in Bulgaria and the Balkans from the 10th to the 15th cent. Their creed, adapted from the Paulicians and ...

Mufaddaliyat

(Encyclopedia)Mufaddaliyat mō– [key], great Arabic anthology compiled by the celebrated philologist Al Mufaddal ad-Dabbi (d. c.775). It contains 126 poems, some complete odes, others fragmentary. They are all of...

Barth, Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Barth, Heinrich hīnˈrĭkh bärt [key], 1821–65, German explorer in British service. After traveling (1845–47) through the Levant and N Africa, he entered the service of the British government. H...

Qom

(Encyclopedia)Qom kôm [key], city (1991 pop. 681,253), Tehran prov., W central Iran. Located in a semiarid region, it is an industrial and transportation center. Its manufactures include textiles, glass, pottery, ...

Burj Khalifa

(Encyclopedia)Burj Khalifa [Arab.,=Khalifa Tower], skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that is the tallest building in the world. The centerpiece of a large urban development, it stands 2,717 ft (828 m) high...

Shelley, Percy Bysshe

(Encyclopedia)Shelley, Percy Bysshe bĭsh [key], 1792–1822, English poet, b. Horsham, Sussex. He is ranked as one of the great English poets of the romantic period. Most of Shelley's poetry reveals his philos...

Malcolm X

(Encyclopedia)Malcolm X, 1925–65, militant black leader in the United States, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, b. Malcolm Little in Omaha, Neb. A petty crimi...