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Indo-Iranian

(Encyclopedia)Indo-Iranian, subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages, spoken by more than a billion people, chiefly in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Iran, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka (see The Indo-Eu...

Liaquat Ali Khan

(Encyclopedia)Liaquat Ali Khan lēäˈkət älēˈ kän [key], 1895–1951, first prime minister of Pakistan. He was educated at Aligarh Muslim Univ. and at Oxford and was admitted to the English bar in 1922. A yea...

Minto, Gilbert John Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Minto, Gilbert John Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th earl of kĭnĭnˈmənd [key], 1845–1914, British colonial administrator. He entered the army in 1867, eventually becoming (1884) military secretary ...

monsoon

(Encyclopedia)monsoon mŏnso͞on [key] [Arab., mausium=season], wind that changes direction with change of season, notably in India and SE Asia. To a lesser degree, monsoonal winds also develop in portions of all o...

Satyarthi, Kailash

(Encyclopedia)Satyarthi, Kailash, 1954–, Indian children's rights activist, b. Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, as Kailash Sharma. Trained as an electrical engineer, he taught college until 1980 when he began devoting hi...

Thomas, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Thomas, Saint, one of the Twelve Apostles, called Didymus. According to John, he refused to believe in the resurrection until he saw Jesus' wounds; hence the expression “doubting Thomas.” John 11....

Vindhya Range

(Encyclopedia)Vindhya Range vĭnˈdyə [key], chain of hills, c.600 mi (970 km) long, rising to c.3,000 ft (910 m), Madhya Pradesh state, central India. The Vindhya Range has been the historic dividing line between...

Shah Alam

(Encyclopedia)Shah Alam shä äˈləm [key], 1728–1806, Mughal emperor of India (1759–1806). Driven out of Delhi in 1758, he nonetheless proclaimed himself emperor after the murder (1759) of his father, Alamgir...

Godavari

(Encyclopedia)Godavari gōdäˈvərē [key], river, c.900 mi (1,450 km) long, rising in the Western Ghats in Maharashtra state, W central India, and flowing SE across the Deccan Plateau through Telangana and Andhra...

Hoysala

(Encyclopedia)Hoysala, dynasty of S India, c.1110–1326. It had its origins in the last half of the 11th cent., when Vinayaditya (1047–98) ruled an an area centered on Dorasamudra (modern Halebid, near Hassan), ...