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Yazd

(Encyclopedia)Yazd yäzd [key], city (1991 pop. 275,298), capital of Yazd prov., central Iran, in a desert region. The city is known for its elaborate silk products and remains a center for silk weaving. Grain, fru...

Nur Jahan

(Encyclopedia)Nur Jahan, 1577–1645, empress (1611–27) of Mughal India. Born Mehrunnisa in Kandahar (now in Afghanistan), she was the daughter of Persian nobility and had been widowed before she became the favor...

Patan

(Encyclopedia)Patan ləlĭtˈpo͝or [key], city (1991 pop. 115,865), central Nepal, in the Katmandu valley, c.4,000 ft (1,220 m) above sea level. Agriculture and grazing are important in the surrounding area. The c...

Qazvin

(Encyclopedia)Qazvin käzvēnˈ [key], city (1991 278,826), Tehran prov., NW Iran. A road and rail-transport center, the city has textile and flour mills, and wineries. Qazvin was probably founded by Shapur II, kin...

Abdullah, Abdullah

(Encyclopedia)Abdullah, Abdullah äbdəläˈ äbdəläˈ [key], 1960–, Afghan political leader. An ophthalmologist of Tajik and Pashtun ethnicity, he worked with guerrilla leader Ahmed Shah Massoud, head of the N...

Mazandaran

(Encyclopedia)Mazandaran dĕränˈ [key], province (1991 pop. 3,793,149), c.20,400 sq mi (52,840 sq km), N Iran, bordering the Caspian Sea in the north. Sari is the capital; other cities include Babol, Amul, and Go...

Ahmed I

(Encyclopedia)Ahmed I äˈmĕd [key], 1589–1617, Ottoman sultan (1603–17), son and successor of Muhammad III to the throne of the Ottoman Empire. The chief event of his reign was the Treaty of Zsitvatorok (1606...

Persian art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Persian art and architecture, works of art and structures produced in the region of Asia traditionally known as Persia and now called Iran. Bounded by fierce mountains and deserts, the high plateau of...

Rafsanjani, Hashemi

(Encyclopedia)Rafsanjani, Hashemi (Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani) älēˈ äkˈbär häshˈəmē räfˌsänjänˈē [key], 1934–2017, Iranian religious and political leader, president of Iran (1989–97). A Shiite...

Mughal art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Mughal art and architecture, a characteristic Indo-Islamic-Persian style that flourished on the Indian subcontinent during the Mughal empire (1526–1857). This new style combined elements of Islamic ...