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Lakshadweep

(Encyclopedia)Lakshadweep ləkshädˈwēpˌ [key], union territory (2001 provisional pop. 60,595), 11 sq mi (28 sq km), SW India, consisting of the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi islands in the Arabian Sea off th...

Chishti, Muin ad-Din Hasan

(Encyclopedia)Chishti, Muin ad-Din Hasan mo͞oēnˈ äd-dĭn häsänˈ chĭshˈtē [key], 1142–1236, Indian Muslim saint, b. Sistan, Persia. He founded a Sufi mystic order responsible for spreading Islamic teachi...

Prithvi Raj

(Encyclopedia)Prithvi Raj prĭtˈvē räj [key], d. 1192, ruler of the Chauan dynasty of N India. A great warrior, he later became the subject of many romantic epics, including the Chand Raisa. He resisted the incu...

Bukhari, Muhammad ibn Ismail, al-

(Encyclopedia)Bukhari, Muhammad ibn Ismail, al- bo͞ok-härēˈ [key] (c.810–70), Arabic scholar, b. Bukhara. He traveled widely over Muslim regions and made an authoritative collection of the hadith, the traditi...

Dagestan Republic

(Encyclopedia)Dagestan Republic or Daghestan Republic dägəstänˈ [key], constituent republic, c.19,4...

Avars

(Encyclopedia)Avars äˈvärz [key], mounted nomad people who in the 4th and 5th cent. dominated the steppes of central Asia. Dislodged by stronger tribes, the Avars pushed west, increasing their formidable army by...

Mzab

(Encyclopedia)Mzab əmzäbˈ [key], stony, barren valley, Algeria, in the N Sahara. It was settled c.1000 by members of an austere Muslim sect, the Kharijites. The inhabitants, called Mozabites, dug wells, created ...

Mathura

(Encyclopedia)Mathura mŭˈtrə [key], city (1991 pop. 235,922), Uttar Pradesh state, N central India, on the Yamuna River. An agricultural market town and district administrative center, it is best known as a Hind...

Ramadan

(Encyclopedia)Ramadan rämädänˈ, rămˌədänˈ [key], in Islam, the ninth month of the Muslim year, during which all Muslims must fast during the daylight hours. Indulgence of any sort is forbidden during the f...

Idris I

(Encyclopedia)Idris I, 1890–1983, king of Libya (1951–69). A grandson of the founder of the Sanusi Muslim sect, he became leader of the group in 1917. He was acknowledged (1920) by the Italians as emir of Cyren...