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Herat

(Encyclopedia)Herat hĕrätˈ [key], city (1984 est. pop. 161,000), capital of Herat prov., NW Afghanistan, on the Hari Rud. The fertile river valley is renowned for its fruits, especially grapes. Herat has textile...

Almohads

(Encyclopedia)Almohads ălˈməhădz [key], Berber Muslim dynasty that ruled Morocco and Spain in the 12th and 13th cent. It had its origins in the puritanical sect founded by Ibn Tumart, who stirred up (c.1120) th...

Meknès

(Encyclopedia)Meknès mĕknĕsˈ [key], city (1994 pop. 443,214), N central Morocco. It has a noted carpet-weaving industry. There are also woolen mills, cement and metal works, oil distilleries, and food-processin...

Tanzimat

(Encyclopedia)Tanzimat tänˈzēmät [key], [Turk.,=reorganization], the name referring to a period of modernizing reforms instituted under the Ottoman Empire from 1839 to 1876. In 1839, under the rule of Sultan Ab...

Lyautey, Louis Hubert Gonzalve

(Encyclopedia)Lyautey, Louis Hubert Gonzalve lwē übĕrˈ gôNzälvˈ lyōtāˈ [key], 1854–1934, colonial administrator and marshal of France. A career soldier, he served in Indochina, Madagascar, and Algeria b...

Muhammad VI, king of Morocco

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad VI, 1963–, king of Morocco (1999–), formerly Muhammad ben Al-Hassan, crown prince Sidi Muhammad. He studied at Muhammad V Univ., Rabat, where he received bachelor's (1985) and master's (1...

Muhammad XI, sultan of Granada

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad XI, d. 1538, last sultan of Granada in Spain (1482–92); also called Boabdil by the Spanish. He seized the throne from his father and thus plunged Granada into civil war at the time the Cast...

Marrakech

(Encyclopedia)Marrakech or Marrakesh both: märäˈkĕsh, mə– [key], city (1994 pop. 672,478), W central Morocco. The city, renowned for leather goods, is one of the principal commercial centers of Morocco and a...

Umayyad

(Encyclopedia)Umayyad o͞omäˈyäd [key], the first Islamic dynasty (661–750). Their reign witnessed the return to leadership roles of the pre-Islamic Arab elite, and the rejuvenation of tribal loyalties. The Ba...

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...