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Ibn Khalikan

(Encyclopedia)Ibn Khalikan ĭbn khăˈlēkăn [key] or Ahmad bin Muhammad al-Barmaki al-Irbili ash-Shafii, 1211–82, Arabic biographer, b. in Erbil, Iraq. Ibn Khallikan lived and served as a judge and scholar in M...

Aqaba, Gulf of

(Encyclopedia)Aqaba, Gulf of, northeastern arm of the Red Sea, 118 mi (190 km) long and 10 to 15 mi (16.1 to 24.1 km) wide, between the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas; a part of the Great Rift Valley. The gulf, which...

Idrisids

(Encyclopedia)Idrisids ĭdˈrĭsĭdzˌ [key], two historic Muslim families. 1 An Arab Shiite dynasty of Morocco (788–974), founded by Idris I, a descendant of caliph Ali. It was the first Shiite dynasty in the hi...

Port Said

(Encyclopedia)Port Said bo͝or [key], city (1986 pop. 469,533), NE Egypt, a port on the Mediterranean Sea at the entrance to the Suez Canal. It is a fueling point for ships using the canal and is the site of the ma...

Abd al-Aziz

(Encyclopedia)Abd al-Aziz Turk. äbdülˈäzēzˈ [key], 1830–76, Ottoman sultan (1861–76), brother and successor of Abd al-Majid. The economic and political reforms enacted under his rule could not outpace the...

conscription

(Encyclopedia)conscription, compulsory enrollment of personnel for service in the armed forces. Obligatory service in the armed forces has existed since ancient times in many cultures, including the samurai in Japa...

Muslim League

(Encyclopedia)Muslim League, political organization of India and Pakistan, founded 1906 as the All-India Muslim League by Aga Khan III. Its original purpose was to safeguard the political rights of Muslims in India...

Konya

(Encyclopedia)Konya kōnˈyä [key], city (1990 pop. 509,208), capital of Konya prov., S central Turkey. It is the trade center of a rich agricultural and livestock-raising region. Manufactures include cement, carp...

Tabari

(Encyclopedia)Tabari (Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Jarir at-Tabari) täbäˈrē [key], c.839–c.923, Arab historian and commentator. The name Tabari was given him because he was born in Tabaristan, Persia. He traveled w...

Ottoman Empire

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Ottoman Empire (c.1683) Ottoman Empire ŏtˈəmən [key], vast state founded in the late 13th cent. by Turkish tribes in Anatolia and ruled by the descendants of Osman I until its dissolution ...