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Ulaanbaatar

(Encyclopedia)Ulaanbaatar or Ulan Bator both: o͞olänˈ bäˈtôr [key] [Mongolian,=red hero], Chinese Kulun, city (2010 est. pop. 1,500,000), capital of the Republic of Mongolia, E central Mongolia, on the Tola R...

alabaster

(Encyclopedia)alabaster, fine-grained, massive, translucent variety of gypsum, a hydrous calcium sulfate. It is pure white or streaked with reddish brown. Alabaster, like all other forms of gypsum, forms by the eva...

Hafiz

(Encyclopedia)Hafiz häfēzˈ [key] [Arab.,=one who has memorized the Qur'an], 1319–1389?, Persian lyric poet, b. Shiraz. His original name was Shams al-Din Muhammad. He acquired the surname from having memorized...

Beyazid I

(Encyclopedia)Beyazid I bāyäzĭdˈ [key], 1347–1403, Ottoman sultan (1389–1402), son and successor of Murad I. He besieged Byzantine Emperor Manuel II at Constantinople, then overcame the Turkish rulers in E ...

Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region

(Encyclopedia)Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region, Mandarin Nei Monggol zizhiqu, autonomous region, c.455,000 sq mi (1,178,755 sq km), NE China. It is bounded on the no...

Samarkand

(Encyclopedia)Samarkand sămərkăndˈ, Rus. səmərkäntˈ [key], city (1991 pop. 395,000), capital of Samarkand region, in Uzbekistan, on the Trans-Caspian RR. It is one of the oldest existing cities in the world...

Bellini

(Encyclopedia)Bellini jōvänˈnē [key], c.1430–1516, who was first active in Padua where he worked with his father and brother. Also influenced by Mantegna, who became his brother-in-law in 1454, Giovanni paint...

Trebizond, empire of

(Encyclopedia)Trebizond, empire of, 1204–1461. When the army of the Fourth Crusade overthrew (1204) the Byzantine Empire and established the Latin Empire of Constantinople, several Greek successor states sprang u...

Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah

(Encyclopedia)Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah khōmāˈnē [key], 1900–1989, Iranian Shiite religious leader. Educated in Islam at home and in theological schools, in the 1950s he was designated ayatollah, a supreme...

Uthman

(Encyclopedia)Uthman ōthˈ [key], c.574–656, 3d caliph (644–56), also known as Uthman ibn al-Affan; son-in-law of Muhammad. He belonged to the great Umayyad family and was selected as caliph after the murder o...