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Janissaries

(Encyclopedia)Janissaries jănˈĭsârˌēz [key] [Turk.,=recruits], elite corps in the service of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). It was composed of war captives and Christian youths pressed into service; all the rec...

Dongola

(Encyclopedia)Dongola dŏngˈgələ [key], region, part of Northern state, Sudan. Old Dongola, c.75 mi (120 km) south of the present city of Dongola, was the capital of the Christian kingdom of Makurra or Nubia. It...

Wilders, Geert

(Encyclopedia)Wilders, Geert, 1963–, Dutch politician. known for his far-right and anti-immigration views. A member of People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) from 1989, he was elected to the municipal cou...

Yarkant

(Encyclopedia)Yarkant shäˈcho͝oˈ [key] or Yarkant, forms an oasis at the western end of the Taklimakan desert; it is a trade center. The city, mainly inhabited by Turkic-speaking Muslims, has more than 120 mosq...

Welby, Justin Portal

(Encyclopedia)Welby, Justin Portal, 1956–, archbishop of Canterbury (2013–), b. London, grad. Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A., 1978). An oil executive until 1989, he studied theology at St. John's College, Dur...

racer

(Encyclopedia)racer, name for several related swift, slender snakes, especially those of the genus Coluber. All of the racers are nonpoisonous, nonconstricting, day-active snakes. The black racer, C. constrictor, i...

Moorish art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Moorish art and architecture, branch of Islamic art and architecture developed in the westernmost lands of the Muslims, known as the Maghreb: N Africa and Spain. The Great Mosque at Al Qayrawan in Tun...

truffle

(Encyclopedia)truffle trŭfˈəl [key] [Fr.], subterranean edible fungus that forms a mutually beneficial (symbiotic) relationship with the roots of certain trees and plants. The part of the fungus used as food is ...

Garvey, Marcus

(Encyclopedia)Garvey, Marcus, 1887–1940, American proponent of black nationalism, b. Jamaica. At the age of 14, Garvey went to work as a printer's apprentice. After leading (1907) an unsuccessful printers' strike...