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Chatterjee, Bankim Chandra

(Encyclopedia)Chatterjee, Bankim Chandra bəngˈkĭm chŭnˈdrə chäˈtərjē [key], 1838–94, Indian nationalist writer, b. Bengal. He popularized a Bengali prose style that became the vehicle of the major natio...

Chola

(Encyclopedia)Chola chōˈlə [key], S Indian dynasty, whose kingdom was in what is now Tamil Nadu. Its chief capitals were at Kanchi (Kanchipuram) and Thanjavur (Tanjore). The Chola kingdom was one of the three of...

Humayun

(Encyclopedia)Humayun or Homayun ho͝omäˈyo͞on [key], 1507–56, second Mughal emperor of India (1530–56), son and successor of Babur. In 1535, pressed by enemy incursions into Rajasthan, Humayun defeated the ...

Brahmaputra

(Encyclopedia)Brahmaputra bräməpo͞oˈtrə [key] [Sanskrit,=son of Brahma], river, c.1,800 mi (2,900 km) long, rising in the Kailas range of the Himalayas, SW Tibet, China, and flowing through NE India to join wi...

Sen, Amartya Kumar

(Encyclopedia)Sen, Amartya Kumar, 1933–, Indian economist, b. Bengal, Ph.D. Cambridge, 1959. He has taught at Jadavpur Univ., Kolkata (1956�...

Ghats

(Encyclopedia)Ghats gŏts [key] [Hindi,=steps], two mountain ranges of S India, paralleling the coasts of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal and forming two sides of the Deccan plateau. Anai Mudi (8,841 ft/2,695...

Bhattacharya, Bhabhani

(Encyclopedia)Bhattacharya, Bhabhani bəbäˈnē bätəchärˈyə [key], 1906–88, Indian novelist, journalist, and translator. Bhattacharya was educated in India and England and taught and traveled in many parts ...

Trincomalee

(Encyclopedia)Trincomalee trĭngˌkəməlēˈ [key], town (1995 est. pop. 50,000), capital of Eastern prov., NE Sri Lanka, on the Bay of Bengal. Trincomalee has one of the world's finest natural harbors and can acc...

Ramakrishna

(Encyclopedia)Ramakrishna or Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa shrē räˌməkrĭshˈnə pəräˌməhänˈsä [key], 1836–86, Hindu mystic. He was born of a poor Brahman family in Bengal, and his given name was Gadadha...

Sher Khan

(Encyclopedia)Sher Khan shä [key], 1486–1545, Afghan ruler in N India. He enlisted in the service of the Mughal leader Babur when the latter invaded India and became governor of Bihar. After Babur's death, howev...