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Babism

(Encyclopedia)Babism bäˈbĭzəm [key], system of doctrines proclaimed in Persia in 1844 by Ali Muhammad of Shiraz. Influenced by the Shaykhi Shiite theology that viewed the Twelve Imams as incarnations of the Div...

Ghat

(Encyclopedia)Ghat or Gat both: gät [key], walled town, SW Libya, in an oasis in the Sahara, near the Algerian border. It formerly was an important caravan center. Ghat was captured by the Ottoman Turks in 1875, b...

Vratsa

(Encyclopedia)Vratsa vräˈtsä [key], city (1993 pop. 76,947), NW Bulgaria, in the picturesque foothills of the Balkan Mts. It is a commercial and crafts center and a railway junction. Vratsa has textile, metal pr...

Nâzım Hikmet

(Encyclopedia)Nâzım Hikmet (Nâzım Hikmet Ran) näzĭmˈ hēkmĕtˈ rän [key], 1902–63, widely recognized as Turkey's foremost modern poet, b. Salonika, Ottoman Empire (now Thessaloníki, Greece), grad. Mosco...

Cantacuzene

(Encyclopedia)Cantacuzene känˈtäko͞ozēˈnô [key], noble Romanian family of Greek origin, tracing its descent from the Byzantine emperor John VI (John Cantacuzene). Under Ottoman rule members of the family wer...

Kuala Terengganu

(Encyclopedia)Kuala Terengganu trĕng– [key], city (1991 pop. 228,659), capital of Terengganu state, Malaysia, central Malay Peninsula, on the South China Sea at the mouth of the Terengganu River. It is a port an...

Wissmann, Hermann von

(Encyclopedia)Wissmann, Hermann von hĕrˈmän fən vĭsˈmän [key], 1853–1905, German explorer in Africa. He crossed (1880–82) Africa from Luanda to Zanzibar and, on behalf of Leopold II of Belgium, explored ...

Pinang

(Encyclopedia)Pinang or Penang both: pənăngˈ [key], state (1991 pop. 1,065,075), c.400 sq mi (1,040 sq km), Malaysia, on the Strait of Malacca. It consists of Pulau Pinang (an island of 108 sq mi/280 sq km), for...

Muş

(Encyclopedia)Muş mo͞osh [key], city (1990 pop. 44,019), capital of Muş prov., E Turkey. It is in a region with many vineyards. Founded c.400 b.c., it was an important town of Armenia. Called Tarun by the Arabs,...

Kastamonu

(Encyclopedia)Kastamonu käˌstämōno͞oˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 52,363), capital of Kastamonu prov., N Turkey. It is a manufacturing center, noted for its textiles and copper utensils, and is the chief city of a...