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Adonis, Syrian poet

(Encyclopedia)Adonis or Adunis, pen name of Ali Ahmad Said Esber, 1930–, Syrian poet and essayist, generally considered the Arab world's greatest living poet. He began writing poetry in the 1950s. After being jai...

Buyid

(Encyclopedia)Buyid bo͞oˈyĭd [key], Shiite Islamic dynasty of N Persian descent that controlled Iraq and Persia from c.945 to 1060; founded by the sons of Buyeh. In the 930s, Buyeh's sons (Ali, Hasan, and Ahmad)...

Persian literature

(Encyclopedia)Persian literature, literary writings in the Persian language, nearly all of it written in the area traditionally known as Persia, now Iran. The 15th cent. period of the second Turko-Tartar invasi...

madrasa

(Encyclopedia)madrasa or madrassah, in Islamic countries, a school, historically usually one devoted to higher education in religious studies, but the term may refer to any school. Privately endowed, often by royal...

Gandhi, Indira

(Encyclopedia)Gandhi, Indira ĭndēˈrə gänˈdē [key], 1917–84, Indian political leader; daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru. She served as an aide to her father, who was prime minister (1947–64), and as minister o...

Afghanistan

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Afghanistan ăfgănˈĭstănˌ, ăfgänˌĭstänˈ [key], officially Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, republic (2020 est. pop. 38,930,000), 249,999 sq mi (6...

Mamluk

(Encyclopedia)Mamluk or Mameluke mămˈəlo͞ok [key] [Arab.,=slaves], a warrior caste dominant in Egypt and influential in the Middle East for over 700 years. Islamic rulers created this warrior caste by collectin...

Balkh

(Encyclopedia)Balkh bälkh [key], town, N Afghanistan, on a dried-up tributary of the Amu Darya River. One of the world's oldest cities, it is the legendary birthplace of the prophet Zoroaster. Because it was locat...

Khan, Abdul Qadeer

(Encyclopedia)Khan, Abdul Qadeer (A. Q. Khan), 1936–, Pakistani metallurgical engineer, often called the father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, b. Bhopal, India. He moved (1952) to Pakistan and studied at the D. J. Sc...

National Dialogue Quartet

(Encyclopedia)National Dialogue Quartet, informal grouping of four Tunisian civil society organizations formed in mid-2013 to facilitate political dialogue in Tunisia that would lead to consensus on the adoption of...