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Khorasan

(Encyclopedia)Khorasan ko͝orˌəsänˈ [key], region and former province (1991 pop. 6,013,200), c.125,000 sq mi (323,750 sq km), NE Iran. Mashhad is the chief city; other cities include Sabzevar, Bojnurd, and Neys...

Abd al-Mumin

(Encyclopedia)Abd al-Mumin äbˌdäl-mŭˈmĭn [key], d. 1163, founder of the empire of the Almohads. He was the favorite of the Almohad religious reformer Ibn Tumart and became (1130) his successor. Even before hi...

Ahidjo, Ahmadou

(Encyclopedia)Ahidjo, Ahmadou ämäˈdō ähēˈjo͝o [key], 1924–89, president of Cameroon (1960–82). A Muslim Fulani chief's son, he served with the French during World War II. Entering politics in the French...

Sylvester II

(Encyclopedia)Sylvester II, c.945–1003, pope (999–1003), a Frenchman (b. Auvergne) named Gerbert; successor of Gregory V. In his youth he studied at Muslim schools in Spain and became learned in mathematics and...

Abbasi, Shahid Khaqan

(Encyclopedia)Abbasi, Shahid Khaqan, 1958–, Pakistani politician. Trained as an electrical engineer, he worked in the United States and Saudi Arabia before returning to Pakistan in 1988. A member of the Pakistan ...

Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar

(Encyclopedia)Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar vĭnäˈyək däˈmōdär səvärˈkər [key], 1883–1966, Indian nationalist. Educated in Pune, he was militantly anti-British and anti-Muslim. He founded a terrorist organ...

Sennar

(Encyclopedia)Sennar – [key], town, SE Sudan, on the Blue Nile. It was the capital of the Muslim kingdom of Sennar, traditionally known as the “Black Sultanate,” which was founded in the 16th cent. Under its ...

Stone, Edward Durell

(Encyclopedia)Stone, Edward Durell, 1902–78, American architect, b. Fayetteville, Ark. Stone's first major work, designed in the starkly functional International style in collaboration with Philip L. Goodwin, was...

Mecca

(Encyclopedia)Mecca măkˈə [key], city (1993 pop. 966,381), capital of the Hejaz, W Saudi Arabia. The birthplace c.a.d. 570 of Muhammad the Prophet, it is the holiest city of Islam, and the goal of the annual Mus...

Mamluk

(Encyclopedia)Mamluk or Mameluke mămˈəlo͞ok [key] [Arab.,=slaves], a warrior caste dominant in Egypt and influential in the Middle East for over 700 years. Islamic rulers created this warrior caste by collectin...