Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Osh

(Encyclopedia)Osh ôsh [key], city (1993 pop. 233,300), capital of Osh region, S Kyrgyzstan, in the Fergana Valley. Terminus of the Osh-Khorugh highway and Kyrgyzstan's second largest city, Osh has silk, cotton, te...

Peter the Hermit

(Encyclopedia)Peter the Hermit, c.1050–1115, French religious leader. In 1095 he was a very successful preacher of the First Crusade (see Crusades), and he led one of its bands. In 1096 he reached Constantinople ...

Gansu

(Encyclopedia)Gansu or Kansu both: gänˈso͞oˈ [key], province, 141,000 sq mi (365,284 sq km), NW China. The capital is ...

Aceh

(Encyclopedia)Aceh äˈchā [key], special region (1980 pop. 2,875,634), 21,387 sq mi (55,392 sq km), N Sumatra, Indonesia, formerly known as Atjeh or Achin. The capital and largest city is Banda Aceh. The northern...

Ibn Taymiyya, Taqiyy ad-Din Ahmad

(Encyclopedia)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqiyy ad-Din Ahmad ĭbn tīmēˈyə [key], 1263–1328, Muslim theologian and jurist. He lived in Damascus after the collapse of the central caliphate to the Mongol invasion from the Ea...

Ibn Tumart

(Encyclopedia)Ibn Tumart ĭˈbən to͞omärtˈ [key], c.1080–1130, Berber Muslim religious leader, founder of the Almohads. He went to the East in his youth and returned convinced that he was the Mahdi and that h...

Husain, M. F.

(Encyclopedia)Husain, M. F. (Maqbool Fida Husain), 1915–2011, Indian painter. Often called the Picasso of India, he is known for brightly colored modernist paintings of mythical and religious figures. Although a ...

Hattin, Battle of

(Encyclopedia)Hattin, Battle of hättēnˈ [key], battle on July 4, 1187, in N Palestine, where Saladin's Muslim forces defeated the Christian armies of Guy de Lusignan. When Saladin attacked Tiberias in July, 1187...

Hallaj, Hussein ibn Mansur al-

(Encyclopedia)Hallaj, Hussein ibn Mansur al- ho͞osānˈ ĭbn mänso͝orˈ [key], 857–922, Arabic-speaking Persian Muslim mystic and poet popularly known among Muslims as “the martyr of mystical love.” Born a...

Muhammad of Ghor

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad of Ghor, d. 1206, Afghan conqueror of N India. A brother of the sultan of Ghor, he was made governor of Ghazni in 1173 and from there launched a series of invasions of India. By 1186 he had c...