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religion

(Encyclopedia)religion, a system of thought, feeling, and action that is shared by a group and that gives the members an object of devotion; a code of behavior by which individuals may judge the personal and social...

Gnosticism

(Encyclopedia)Gnosticism nŏsˈtĭsĭzəm [key], dualistic religious and philosophical movement of the late Hellenistic and early Christian eras. The term designates a wide assortment of sects, numerous by the 2d c...

Shinto

(Encyclopedia)Shinto shĭnˈtō [key], ancient native religion of Japan still practiced in a form modified by the influence of Buddhism and Confucianism. In its present form Shinto is characterized less by religiou...

Hyderabad, former state and modern city, India

(Encyclopedia)Hyderabad hīˈdərəbădˌ [key], former princely state, S central India. The former princedom of Hyderabad is now divided among the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Telangana. The Mughal empire...

Bihar

(Encyclopedia)Bihar or Behar shärēfˈ [key] or Bihar, city, on a tributary of the Ganges River, was the former capital of Magadha. It ...

Easter Island

(Encyclopedia)Easter Island, Span. Isla de Pascua, Polynesian Rapa Nui, remote island (2020 est. pop. 5,000), 66 sq mi (171 sq km), in the South Pacific, c.2,200 ...

Kabul

(Encyclopedia)Kabul käˈbo͝ol, kəbo͞olˈ [key], city (1997 est. pop. 1,500,000), capital of Afghanistan and of Kabul prov. and its largest city and economic and cultural center, E Afghanistan, on the Kabul Rive...

Madhyamika

(Encyclopedia)Madhyamika mädyŭˈmĭkə [key] [Skt.,=of the middle], philosophical school of Mahayana Buddhism, based on the teaching of “emptiness” (see sunyata) and named for its adherence to the “middle p...

Khmer Empire

(Encyclopedia)Khmer Empire kəmĕrˈ [key], ancient kingdom of SE Asia. In the 6th cent. the Cambodians, or Khmers, established an empire roughly corresponding to modern Cambodia and Laos. Divided during the 8th ce...

Tagore, Sir Rabindranath

(Encyclopedia)Tagore, Sir Rabindranath rəbĭnˈdrənät təgôrˈ, täko͝orˈ [key], 1861–1941, Indian author and guru, b. Calcutta (now Kolkata). Tagore came from a wealthy Bengali family. He went abroad in 18...