Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Shere Ali

(Encyclopedia)Shere Ali: see Sher Ali.

Liston, Sonny

(Encyclopedia)Liston, Sonny (Charles Liston), 1932–71, American boxer, b. Little Rock, Ark. While serving a sentence for robbery at the Missouri State Penitentiary, Liston became interested in boxing. In 1953 he ...

Fatima

(Encyclopedia)Fatima fătˈĭmə, fäˈtĭmə, fətēˈmə [key], 616?–633?, daughter of Muhammad by his first wife, Khadija. Fatima was the wife of Ali, the mother of Hasan and Husein, and reputedly the ancestre...

Dost Muhammad

(Encyclopedia)Dost Muhammad dōst mo͞ohämˈmäd [key], 1793–1863, emir of Afghanistan. He and his family struggled to get the emirate for years before he finally succeeded in establishing himself in 1826. He wa...

Mussadegh, Muhammad

(Encyclopedia)Mussadegh, Muhammad mo͞ohämˈmäd mo͞oˈsädāg [key], 1880–1967, Iranian political leader, prime minister of Iran (1951–53). He held a variety of government posts (1914–25) but retired to pr...

Muhammad, Elijah

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad, Elijah, 1897–1975, American black-nationalist and religious leader, b. near Sandersville, Ga. Originally named Elijah Poole, he left home at 16 and worked at various jobs. In 1923 he settl...

Yunus, Muhammad

(Encyclopedia)Yunus, Muhammad, 1940–, Bangladeshi economist and banker, b. Chittagong (then in British India), grad. Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, Tenn. (Ph.D. 1971). Yunus, who taught economics in the United Stat...

Umayyad

(Encyclopedia)Umayyad o͞omäˈyäd [key], the first Islamic dynasty (661–750). Their reign witnessed the return to leadership roles of the pre-Islamic Arab elite, and the rejuvenation of tribal loyalties. The Ba...

Browse by Subject