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Munger

(Encyclopedia)Munger or Monghyr both: mŭngˈgĭr [key], city (1991 pop. 150,112), Bihar state, NE India, on the Ganges River. It is a district administrative center and a grain market, with important road, rail, a...

Kitab al-Aghani

(Encyclopedia)Kitab al-Aghani kētäbˈ äl-ägänēˈ [key] [Arab.,=book of songs], collection of poems in many volumes compiled by Abu al-Faraj Ali of Esfahan. It contains poems from the oldest epoch of Arabic li...

Kufa

(Encyclopedia)Kufa ko͞oˈfə [key], former Mesopotamian city, near the Euphrates River, c.110 mi (177 km) S of Baghdad. Founded in 638, Kufa soon rivaled Basra in size. The Arab governor of Iraq resided there unti...

Muzaffar ad-Din

(Encyclopedia)Muzaffar ad-Din mo͞ozäf-färˈ äd-dēnˈ [key], 1853–1907, shah of Persia (1896–1907), son of Nasir ad-Din. A weak ruler, he borrowed money from Russia and failed to oppose the encroachments of...

Palakkad

(Encyclopedia)Palakkad pälgôtˈ [key], town (2011 pop. 130,955), Kerala state, SW India. It commands the Palakkad, or Palghat, Gap, the major pass for road and rail through the Western Ghats, connecting the India...

Songhai

(Encyclopedia)Songhai or Songhay both: sŏngˈgīˈ [key], largest of the former empires in the western Sudan region of N Africa. The state was founded (c.700) by Berbers on the Middle Niger, in what is now central...

Zia ul-Haq, Mohammad

(Encyclopedia)Zia ul-Haq, Mohammad, 1924–88, Pakistani military and political leader. Named general and chief of staff by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1976, he declared martial law in July, 1977, in response to agitati...

Ahmad Mirza

(Encyclopedia)Ahmad Mirza äkhmädˈ mērzäˈ [key], 1898–1930, shah of Persia (1909–25), son of Muhammad Ali. The last of the Qajar dynasty, he came to power as a result of a coup against his father. A regent...

Selim III

(Encyclopedia)Selim III, 1761–1808, Ottoman sultan (1789–1807), nephew and successor of Abd al-Hamid I to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). He suffered severe defeats in the second of the Russo-Turkish...

National Museum of African American History and Culture

(Encyclopedia)National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C., a division of the Smithsonian Institution. Devoted to the collection, presentation, and preservation of the culture of Africa...