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Bandar-e Torkaman

(Encyclopedia)Bandar-e Torkaman tôrˌkämänˈ [key] town, Mazandaran prov., N Iran, on the Caspian Sea. The town has ...

Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah

(Encyclopedia)Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah khōmāˈnē [key], 1900–1989, Iranian Shiite religious leader. Educated in Islam at home and in theological schools, in the 1950s he was designated ayatollah, a supreme...

Iran hostage crisis

(Encyclopedia)Iran hostage crisis, in U.S. history, events following the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran by Iranian students on Nov. 4, 1979. The overthrow of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi of Iran by an Isla...

Murad IV

(Encyclopedia)Murad IV, 1612?–1640, Ottoman sultan (1623–40), nephew and successor of Mustafa I. He recovered (1638) Baghdad, which Shah Abbas I of Persia had seized. On his victory he sent an order to murder h...

Vijapura

(Encyclopedia)Vijapura, formerly Bijapur bĭjäˈpo͝or [key], city (1991 pop. 193,131), Karnataka state, SE India. It is a trade and district administrative center. Cotton ginning is an important activity; manufac...

Shahjahanpur

(Encyclopedia)Shahjahanpur shäjəhänˈpo͝or [key], city (1991 pop. 260,403), Uttar Pradesh state, N central India, on the plain between the Ramganga and Garra rivers. Founded by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in ...

Firozpur

(Encyclopedia)Firozpur fərōzˈpôr [key], city, Punjab state, NW India, on the Sutlej River. It is a tran...

Alfonso II, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso II (Alfonso the Fat), 1185–1223, king of Portugal (1211–23), son and successor of Sancho I. His reign was spent in struggles with the church and his brothers and sisters, to whom his fathe...

Demetrius II, king of Macedon

(Encyclopedia)Demetrius II, d. 229 b.c., king of Macedon (239–229 b.c.), son of Antigonus II. His reign was a confusion of wars and invasions, mostly concerned with possession of Epirus. The Aetolian League and t...

Alexander II, czar of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Alexander II, 1818–81, czar of Russia (1855–81), son and successor of Nicholas I. He ascended the throne during the Crimean War (1853–56) and immediately set about negotiating a peace (see Paris...