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Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah

(Encyclopedia)Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah khōmāˈnē [key], 1900–1989, Iranian Shiite religious leader. Educated in Islam at home and in theological schools, in the 1950s he was designated ayatollah, a supreme...

Assassin

(Encyclopedia)Assassin əsăsˈĭn [key], European name for the member of a secret order of the Ismaili sect of Islam. They are known as Nizaris after Nizar ibn al-Mustansir, whom they supported as caliph; the Euro...

Taj Mahal

(Encyclopedia)Taj Mahal täzh məhälˈ, täj məhŭlˈ [key], mausoleum, Agra, Uttar Pradesh state, N India, on the Yamuna River. It is considered one of the most beautiful buildings in the world and the finest ex...

Moltke, Helmuth Karl Bernhard, Graf von

(Encyclopedia)Moltke, Helmuth Karl Bernhard, Graf von, 1800–1891, Prussian field marshal. Following his graduation from the Royal Military Academy of Denmark, he entered the Danish service, but resigned his commi...

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...

Scanderbeg

(Encyclopedia)Scanderbeg or Skanderbeg both: skănˈdərbĕg [key], c.1404–1468, Albanian national hero. His original name was George Castriota or Kastriotes, but the Ottomans called him Iskender Bey, and this wa...

Shkodër

(Encyclopedia)Shkodër sko͞oˈtərē [key], Serbo-Croatian Skadar, anc. Scodra, city (1989 est. pop. 80,200), capital of Shkodër dist., NW Albania, at the outlet of Lake Scutari. It is a market center in a fertil...

tattoo

(Encyclopedia)tattoo, the marking of the skin with punctures into which pigment is rubbed. The word originates from the Tahitian tattau [to mark]. The term is sometimes extended to scarification, which consists of ...

Fazzan

(Encyclopedia)Fazzan fĕz– [key], historic region, SW Libya. Marzuq, Sabhha, Brak, and Zawilah, all situated in oases in the Sahara Desert, are the chief settlements. The population is largely Arab, with Berber a...

Husayn ibn Ali

(Encyclopedia)Husayn ibn Ali ĭˈbən äˈlē [key], 1856–1931, Arab political and religious leader. In 1908 he succeeded as grand sherif of Mecca and thus became ruler of the Hejaz under the Ottoman Empire. In W...