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Selim III

(Encyclopedia)Selim III, 1761–1808, Ottoman sultan (1789–1807), nephew and successor of Abd al-Hamid I to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). He suffered severe defeats in the second of the Russo-Turkish...

Umayyad

(Encyclopedia)Umayyad o͞omäˈyäd [key], the first Islamic dynasty (661–750). Their reign witnessed the return to leadership roles of the pre-Islamic Arab elite, and the rejuvenation of tribal loyalties. The Ba...

Sanusi

(Encyclopedia)Sanusi or Senussi both: səno͞oˈsĭ [key], Arabic Sanusiyya, a political-religious organization in Libya and Sudan founded in Mecca in 1837 by Muhammad bin Ali al-Sanusi (1791–1859), known as the ...

Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand

(Encyclopedia)Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand gänˈdē [key], 1869–1948, Indian political and spiritual leader, b. Porbandar. In 1942, after rejection of his offer to cooperate with Great Britain in World War II ...

alabaster

(Encyclopedia)alabaster, fine-grained, massive, translucent variety of gypsum, a hydrous calcium sulfate. It is pure white or streaked with reddish brown. Alabaster, like all other forms of gypsum, forms by the eva...

Ben Ali, Zine el-Abidine

(Encyclopedia)Ben Ali, Zine el-Abidine zēˈnĕl abĭdēn bĕn älēˈ [key], 1936–2019, president of Tunisia (1987–2011). Educated in France and the United States, he entered the army and became ambassador to ...

Muhammad V, king of Morocco

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad V (Sidi Muhammad ibn Youssef), 1910–61, king of Morocco (1957–61). He succeeded his father, Moulay Youssef, as sultan in 1927. An ardent nationalist, he was deposed and exiled (1953) by t...

Muhammad VI, king of Morocco

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad VI, 1963–, king of Morocco (1999–), formerly Muhammad ben Al-Hassan, crown prince Sidi Muhammad. He studied at Muhammad V Univ., Rabat, where he received bachelor's (1985) and master's (1...

Muhammad XI, sultan of Granada

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad XI, d. 1538, last sultan of Granada in Spain (1482–92); also called Boabdil by the Spanish. He seized the throne from his father and thus plunged Granada into civil war at the time the Cast...

Bukhari, Muhammad ibn Ismail, al-

(Encyclopedia)Bukhari, Muhammad ibn Ismail, al- bo͞ok-härēˈ [key] (c.810–70), Arabic scholar, b. Bukhara. He traveled widely over Muslim regions and made an authoritative collection of the hadith, the traditi...