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Bengal

(Encyclopedia)Bengal bĕng-gôlˈ, bĕn– [key], region, 77,442 sq mi (200,575 sq km), E India and Bangladesh, on the Bay of Bengal. The inland section is mountainous, with peaks up to 12,000 ft (3,660 m) high in ...

Dukhobors

(Encyclopedia)Dukhobors or Doukhobors both: do͞oˈkəbôrz [key] [Russ.,=spirit wrestlers], religious group, prominent in Russia from the 18th to the 19th cent. The name was coined by the Orthodox opponents of the...

Edessa

(Encyclopedia)Edessa ĭdĕsˈə [key], ancient city of Mesopotamia, on the site of modern Şanlıurfa, Turkey. It emerged in the 4th cent. b.c. as Orrhoe, or Arrhoe, and was later named Edessa by Seleucus I of Syri...

Ibn Batuta

(Encyclopedia)Ibn Batuta ĭˈbən bäto͞oˈtä [key], 1304?–1378?, Muslim traveler, b. Tangier. No other medieval traveler is known to have journeyed so extensively. In 30 years (from c.1325) he made a series of...

Nizam al-Mulk

(Encyclopedia)Nizam al-Mulk nĭzˈəm äl mûlk [key], c.1018–92, vizier (1063–92) under two Seljuk (see Turks) sultans. Of Persian descent, he was early educated in administration, serving the Ghaznavids sulta...

Lull, Ramón

(Encyclopedia)Lull, Ramón rämōnˈ lo͞ol [key], or Raymond Lully, c.1232–1316?, Catalan philosopher, b. Palma, Majorca. Of a wealthy family, he lived in ease until c.1263, when he had a religious experience an...

Luxor

(Encyclopedia)Luxor lŭkˈsôr, lo͝okˈ– [key], city (1996 pop. 360,503), central Egypt, on the east bank of the Nile. It is 1 mi (1.6 km) SW of Karnak and occupies part of the site of Thebes. The temple of Luxo...

Udaipur

(Encyclopedia)Udaipur māwärˈ [key], city and former princely state, now part of Rajasthan state, NW India. The Udaipur region, thickly wooded in the south and west, is mostly an alluvial plain watered by many in...

Burckhardt, Johann Ludwig

(Encyclopedia)Burckhardt, Johann Ludwig or John Lewis bo͝orkˈhärt [key], 1784–1817, European explorer, b. Switzerland, educated in Germany. Supported by an English association for promoting African discovery,...

Sokoto

(Encyclopedia)Sokoto sōkōˈtō, sōˈkətō [key], city (1987 est. pop. 164,000), NW Nigeria, on the Sokoto River. It is the commercial center for a wide region and a collection place for hides, skins, and peanut...