A-Z Browse

  • Jalāl od-Dīn Shāh Shojāʿ (Moẓaffarid ruler)
    ...he attacked and captured Tabrīz, but he was unable to hold it. In 1358 he was deposed by his two sons, Qoṭb od-Dīn Shāh Maḥmūd (reigned 1358–75) and Jalāl od-Dīn Shāh Shojāʿ (reigned 1358–84), who divided the Moẓaffarid territories between them....
  • Jalal-Abad (Kyrgyzstan)
    city, western Kyrgyzstan. Though made a city in 1877, it remained essentially a large village. Given city status again in 1927, it now is a regional centre for food processing and other light industries and has a theatre and a museum. Pop. (1999) 74,401....
  • Jalālābād (Afghanistan)
    town, eastern Afghanistan, on the Kābul River, at an altitude of 1,940 ft (590 m). It lies on the route from Kābul, the Afghan capital (110 mi [177 km] north-northwest), via the Khyber Pass to Peshāwar, Pakistan, and handles much of Afghanistan’s trade with Pakistan and India. The town stands at an important strategic position, commanding the entrance...
  • Jalālkot (Afghanistan)
    town, eastern Afghanistan, on the Kābul River, at an altitude of 1,940 ft (590 m). It lies on the route from Kābul, the Afghan capital (110 mi [177 km] north-northwest), via the Khyber Pass to Peshāwar, Pakistan, and handles much of Afghanistan’s trade with Pakistan and India. The town stands at an important strategic position, commanding the entrance...
  • Jalandhar (India)
    city, administrative headquarters of Jullundur district, Punjab state, northwestern India. Jullundur is an ancient city; in the 7th century ad it was the capital of a Rājput kingdom. The third largest city in the state, it is an important rail and road junction and a trade centre for agricultural products. Its industries include manufacturing, tanning, weaving, and carpentry,...
  • jalap (plant)
    ...are enlarged food-storage portions of the roots. Its leaves are oval to lobed, and the 5-cm (2-inch) flowers are pink to rose violet. It probably originated in tropical South America. Jalap (I. purga) is an upright herb with solitary, reddish flowers, native in tropical Mexico. Its apple-sized, turnip-shaped roots are the source of an ancient purgative, still in use.......
  • Jalapa (Mexico)
    city, capital of Veracruz estado (state), east-central Mexico. About 55 miles (90 km) northwest of Veracruz city, Xalapa is located beneath towering volcanic peaks in the Sierra Madre Oriental, at an elevation of about 4,680 feet (1,425 metres). Known for its scenic backdrop and its ...
  • Jalapa (Guatemala)
    city, southeastern Guatemala, located in a picturesque valley of the central highlands at an elevation of 4,469 feet (1,362 metres) above sea level. Jalapa functions as a commercial, manufacturing, and administrative centre for the fertile agricultural and pastoral hinterland. Because of its isolation the city has retained much colonial architecture and culture. Jalapa is connec...
  • Jalapan pine vole (rodent)
    The woodland vole is one of 61 species in the meadow vole genus (Microtus). Its closest living relative is the Jalapan pine vole (M. quasiater), which inhabits cool and wet forests of eastern Mexico in the states of San Luis Potosí and Oaxaca....
  • Jālaun (India)
    ...town of Kālpi. Orai, the administrative headquarters, is 65 mi (105 km) southwest of Kānpur, with which it is linked by road and rail. Orai is a trade centre for agricultural produce. Jālaun town, for which the district is named, is 12 mi northwest of Orai. Pop. (1981) town, 27,650; district, 986,238....
  • Jalaun (district, India)
    town and district, Uttar Pradesh state, northern India. The district occupies an area of 1,756 sq mi (4,549 sq km) on the Ganges alluvial plain and is bounded on the north by the Yamuna River. The Betwa Canal system provides irrigation water; crops include wheat, gram, and mustard. There are acacia tree plantations near the town of Kālpi. Orai, the administrative headquarters, is 65 mi (10...
  • Jalayin (people)
    ...only among the nomads of the plains who raise cattle, sheep, and camels. Each Arab tribe or cluster of tribes is in turn assigned to a larger tribal grouping, of which the two largest are the Jalayin and the Juhaynah. The Jalayin encompasses the sedentary agriculturalists along the middle Nile from Dunqulah south to Khartoum and includes such tribes as the Jalayin tribe proper, the......
  • Jalāyirid (Mongol dynasty)
    Mongol tribe that supported the Il-Khan Hülegü’s rise to power and eventually provided the successors to the Il-Khan dynasty as rulers of Iraq and Azerbaijan. A Jalāyirid dynasty made its capital at Baghdad (1336–1432)....
  • Jalāyirid school (Persian painting)
    school of miniature painting that flourished in Baghdad, Iraq, under the Jalāyirids, a local dynasty of governors in power from 1336 to 1432. Along with their contemporaries, the Moẓaffarids of southern Iran, the Jalāyirid school developed a system of perspective, though in a primitive form, that had been suggested by Mongol Il-Khan paintings of the late 13th-century school o...
  • Jaldapāra Wild Life Sanctuary (wildlife preserve, India)
    wildlife preserve in West Bengal state, northeastern India. The preserve was established in 1941 mainly for the protection of the great Indian rhinoceros. It extends over an area of 84 square miles (217 square km) in the northern part of the state, near the Bhutan border, and is composed of forested flatlands dissected by the Torsa River and its tributaries. The forest cover co...
  • jaleo (dance)
    ...It is danced with a limping step, the weight always on the same foot. The music is in 44 time with three sections: paseo, merengue, and jaleo. There are several varieties, some with other names, e.g., jaleo and juangomero. The traditional......
  • Jalgaon (India)
    city, northern Mahārāshtra state, western India. It lies along the Bombay-Nāgpur road and the Bombay-Allahābād railway. Although insignificant before the 19th century, it then attracted merchants and weavers so that it could boast of more than 400 handlooms by 1860. From the late 1800s it grew steadily, and it is now one of the chief commercial centres of the Kh...
  • Jalīlī Family (Iraqi family)
    prominent Iraqi family that ruled the Ottoman pașalik (province) of Mosul (in modern Iraq) in the period 1726–1834. Although the founder of the Jalīlī line, ʿAbd al-Jalīl, was a Christian slave, his son Ismāʿīl distinguished himself as a Muslim public official and became wālī (governor) o...
  • Jalingo (Nigeria)
    town, capital of Taraba state, eastern Nigeria. It became a state capital in 1991 after Gongola state was divided into Adamawa and Taraba states. Jalingo lies in the savanna-covered foothills of the Shebshi Mountains about 25 miles (40 km) southeast of the Benue River. It is a market town, has a government dairy farm, and is connected by road with Yola and Wukari....
  • Jalisco (state, Mexico)
    estado (state), west-central Mexico. It is bounded by the states of Nayarit to the northwest, Zacatecas and Aguascalientes to the north, San Luis Potosí and Guanajuato to the east, and Michoacán and Colim...
  • Jalliānwāla Bāgh massacre (1919, India)
    (April 13, 1919), incident in which British troops fired on a crowd of unarmed Indian protesters, killing a large number. It left a permanent scar on Indo-British relations and was the prelude to Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-cooperation Movement of 1920–22....
  • Jalliānwālla Bāgh (park, Amritsar, India)
    A short distance away from the Golden Temple is a spacious park, Jalliānwālla Bāgh, where on April 13, 1919, British colonial government troops fired on a crowd of unarmed Indian protesters, killing 379 of them and wounding many more. The site of the Amritsar Massacre, as this incident is now called, is now a national monument. Another violent political clash took place in......
  • Jalliānwālla Bāgh massacre (1919, India)
    (April 13, 1919), incident in which British troops fired on a crowd of unarmed Indian protesters, killing a large number. It left a permanent scar on Indo-British relations and was the prelude to Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-cooperation Movement of 1920–22....
  • jallikattu (festival, India)
    ...famous perhaps being the Fiesta de San Fermín, during which bulls are run through the streets of Pamplona. (A similar “running of the bulls,” called jallikattu, occurs among the Tamil of southern India as part of the annual Hindu festival of Pongal.)...
  • Jalna (work by de la Roche)
    De la Roche’s first success, Jalna (1927), ended with the 100th birthday of Grandmother Adeline Whiteoak, a lusty character later celebrated in a long-run play, Whiteoaks (1936), and a film, Jalna (1935). Though not written in chronological order, the saga continues with 15 other books, covering 100 years of Whiteoak family history. Although the locale of Jalna is Ontar...
  • Jalor (India)
    city, southwestern Rājasthān state, northwestern India. It lies just south of the Sukri River, which is a tributary of the Lūni River. Jālor is connected by road with Jodhpur and is the agricultural market for the surrounding area. A medieval stronghold, Jālor was the 12th-century capital of the Cauhān Rājputs (the warrior rulers of the historic reg...
  • Jalore (India)
    city, southwestern Rājasthān state, northwestern India. It lies just south of the Sukri River, which is a tributary of the Lūni River. Jālor is connected by road with Jodhpur and is the agricultural market for the surrounding area. A medieval stronghold, Jālor was the 12th-century capital of the Cauhān Rājputs (the warrior rulers of the historic reg...
  • “Jalousie, La” (work by Robbe-Grillet)
    ...or only partially explained events from which to read a meaning that will not, in any case, be definitive. In Robbe-Grillet’s La Jalousie (1957; Jealousy), for example, the narrator’s suspicions of his wife’s infidelity are never confirmed or denied, but the interest of the writing is in conveying their obsessive quality, ac...
  • Jalowaz, Battle of (Turkish history)
    ...alliance; but after 1441, when the alliance expanded to include German, Polish, and Albanian forces, the Ottomans lost Niš and Sofia (1443) and were soundly defeated at Jalowaz (1444). After signing a peace treaty at Edirne (June 12, 1444), Murad abdicated in favour of his 12-year-old son, Mehmed II....
  • Jalpaiguri (India)
    city, northern West Bengal state, northeastern India, just west of the Tīsta River. The chief agricultural distributing centre of the state, the city is connected by road and rail with Darjeeling, Silīguri, and Saidpur (Bangladesh). Jute pressing, sawmilling, and match manufacture are the major industries; nearby are railway workshops. Jalpaiguri, constituted a municipality in 1885,...
  • Jalta (Ukraine)
    city, Crimea, southern Ukraine. It faces the Black Sea on the southern shore of the Crimean Peninsula. Settlement on the site dates from prehistoric times, but modern Yalta developed only in the early 19th century, becoming a town in 1838. Its favourable climate with mild winters and its scenic location between sea and mountains make Yalta one of the most popular holiday and hea...
  • jaltarang (musical instrument)
    ...can be played either with small sticks by percussion or by rubbing wetted fingers along the rims—the cups do not contain water. But the jaltarang, also South Asian, makes use of water for fine tuning and for the playing of gamakas (ornaments) by carefully bringing the sticks into......
  • Jaluit Atoll (atoll, Marshall Islands)
    coral formation in the Ralik (western) chain of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, situated in the west-central Pacific Ocean. The atoll has a total land area of 4.4 square miles (11.4 square km) and a lagoon that is easily accessible and provides a good anchorage. The first missionaries to the Marshall Islands landed on Jaluit in 1857. The atoll was also the site (1885) of Germany...
  • Jām (town, Afghanistan)
    ...in the city. One is the tower. Those narrow and tall (up to about 150 feet [50 metres]) were minarets, of which several dozen have been preserved all over Iran and Central Asia (such as the one at Jām). Shorter and squatter towers were mausoleums. These were particularly typical of northern Iran. The other characteristic architectural type exists only in Eṣfahān in a......
  • JAM (Iraqi militia group)
    ...of victims. The sectarian violence that engulfed the country caused enormous chaos, with brutal killings by rival Shīʿite and Sunni militias. One such Shīʿite militia group, the Mahdi Army, formed by cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the summer of 2003, was particularly deadly in its battle against Sunnis and U.S. and Iraqi forces and was considered a major destabilizing for...
  • jam (food)
    ...sometimes making use of blemished or off-grade fruits that may not be ideal for fresh consumption. In jelly making, the goal is to produce a clear, brilliant gel from the juice of a chosen fruit. Jams are made from the entire fruit, including the pulp, while preserves are essentially jellies that contain whole or large pieces. Marmalade, usually made from citrus fruit, is a jellylike......
  • Jam, Jimmy (American musician)
    Jam and Lewis’s emergence as major record producers was kick-started by Prince’s pique. Keyboard player Jimmy Jam (James Harris III) and bassist Terry Lewis played together in local Minneapolis bands while in high school, graduating to Flyte Tyme, which evolved into Prince’s backing band, the Time, in 1981. When Jam and Lewis produced the SOS Band’s hit “Just Be ...
  • Jam Master Jay (American rap musician)
    American rap musician and producer (b. Jan. 21, 1965, New York, N.Y.—d. Oct. 30, 2002, New York City), was a member of Run-D.M.C., the first rap group to attract a worldwide audience. Jam Master Jay teamed with Joe (“Run”) Simmons and Darryl (“D.M.C.”) McDaniels to form the group in the early 1980s. The trio’s debut album, Run-D.M.C. (1984), featuri...
  • jam nut (tool)
    ...slots are aligned with a hole in the bolt and locked in place by a cotter pin or wire lacing to prevent loosening or unscrewing. Locking can also be accomplished by tightening a thin nut called a jam nut against a standard nut. Another locknut contains a fibre or plastic insert near the top of the nut; locking occurs when this insert interferes with the bolt threads as the nut is tightened.......
  • Jam, the (British rock group)
    British rock group that emerged at the height of the punk rock movement but whose sound and image were greatly influenced by the British mod bands of the early 1960s. The principal members were Paul Weller (b. May 25, 1958Woking, Surrey, Eng.), Rick B...
  • ’Jam-dpal (bodhisattva)
    in Mahāyāna Buddhism, the bodhisattva (“Buddha-to-be”) personifying supreme wisdom. His name in Sanskrit means “gentle, or sweet, glory”; he is also known as Mãnjughoṣa (“Sweet Voice”) and Vāgīśvara (“Lord of Speech”). In China he is called Wen-shu Shih-li, in Japan Monju, and in Tibet ...
  • ’Jam-dpal-rgya-mtsho (Dalai Lama)
    The seventh Dalai Lama, Bskal-bzang-rgya-mtsho (1708–57), experienced civil war and the establishment of Chinese Manchu suzerainty over Tibet; the eighth, ’Jam-dpal-rgya-mtsho (1758–1804), saw his country invaded by Gurkha troops from Nepal but defeated them with the aid of Chinese forces. The next four Dalai Lamas all died young, and the country was ruled by regents. They wer...
  • JAMA
    A prime example of a medical association is the influential American Medical Association (q.v.; AMA), founded in 1847. Its major publication is the Journal of the American Medical Association. With the rise of speciality boards and associations, however, the AMA lost its place as the exclusive forum for American medicine, and other highly respected publications—such......
  • Jama Masjid (mosque, Delhi, India)
    ...kings (1451–1526) are characterized by finer domes and decoration and the use of finer marbles and tiles. The later Mughal architecture represented in the Red Fort (Lal Qila) and the Principal Mosque (Jama Masjid) reveals an increasing use of marble, elaboration of external surfaces with florid decoration, and the construction of bulbous domes and lofty minarets....
  • Jamaa al-Fna square (square, Marrakech, Morocco)
    ...the medina in Marrakech is called the “red city” because of its buildings and ramparts of beaten clay, which were built during the residence of the Almohads. The heart of the medina is Jamaa el-Fna square, a vibrant marketplace. Nearby is the 12th-century Kutubiyyah (Koutoubia) Mosque with its 253-foot (77-metre) minaret, built by Spanish captives. The 16th-century Saʿd...
  • jamāʿah (Islam)
    ...a community, and many communities make an ethnic group. The simplest Berber political structure, found in villages in Algeria and the High (Haut) Atlas mountains, is the jamāʿah, a meeting of all reputable adult men in the village square. Fully nomadic groups elect a permanent chieftain and council, while seasonal nomads annually elect a summ...
  • Jamaame (Somalia)
    town, southern Somalia, eastern Africa. Jamaame is situated on the eastern bank of the lower Jubba River, in the southeastern coastal lowlands near the Indian Ocean. The town is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial centre. Bananas, the major crop, are exported through Kismaayo (Chisimayu), a port located 35 miles (56 km) to the south. Cotton, peanuts (groundnuts), and corn (maize...
  • Jama’are (Nigeria)
    town and traditional emirate, Bauchi state, northern Nigeria. The town is situated along the Jamaari River, which is a tributary of the Katagum, and at the intersection of roads leading from Wudil, Azare, and Faggo. Traditionally founded in 1811 by Muhammadu Wabi I, a leader in the Fulani jihad (holy war) led by Usman dan Fodio, the emirate was not officially recognized until 18...
  • Jamaari (Nigeria)
    town and traditional emirate, Bauchi state, northern Nigeria. The town is situated along the Jamaari River, which is a tributary of the Katagum, and at the intersection of roads leading from Wudil, Azare, and Faggo. Traditionally founded in 1811 by Muhammadu Wabi I, a leader in the Fulani jihad (holy war) led by Usman dan Fodio, the emirate was not officially recognized until 18...
  • Jamāʿat al-Madrasah Ḥadīthah (Egyptian literary group)
    A major advance in short-story writing occurred in the early and mid-20th century with a group of Egyptian writers who became known as Jamāʿat al-Madrasah Ḥadīthah (“New School Group”). The pioneer figure of the school, Muḥammad Taymūr, died at an early age, but the other members of the group elaborated on his efforts and brought the genre to...
  • jamāʿat khānah (Ismāʿīlīyah gathering house)
    ...Aga Khan III (1887–1957) had taken several measures to bring his followers closer to the main body of the Muslims. The Ismāʿīlīs, however, still have not mosques but jamāʿat khānahs (“gathering houses”), and their mode of worship bears little resemblance to that of the Muslims generally....
  • Jamāʿat-e Islāmī (political party, Pakistan)
    The role of religion in Pakistani society and politics finds its most visible expression in the Islamic Assembly (Jamāʿat-e Islāmī) party. Founded in 1941 by Abū al-Aʿlā Mawdūdī (Maududi), one of the world’s foremost thinkers in Sunni revivalism, the party has long played a role in Pakistan’s political life and has contin...
  • Jamadagni (Brahman sage)
    ...(“Great Epic of the Bharata Dynasty”) and the Purāṇas (“Ancient Lore”) record that Paraśurāma was born to the Brahman sage Jamadagni in order to deliver the world from the arrogant oppression of the baron or warrior caste, the Kshattriyas. He killed all the male Kshattriyas on earth 21 successive times (each time their......
  • jāmah (garment)
    ...new dress styles were adopted to conform with Muslim practice, which required that the body be covered as completely as possible. Men’s costumes thereafter consisted of the jamah, a long-sleeved coat that reached to the knees or below and was belted in with a sash, and wide trousers known as isar. These garments ...
  • Jamāhīrīyah al-ʿArabīyah al-Lībīyah ash-Shaʿbīyah al-Ishtirākīyah, Al-
    country of North Africa. It is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea on the north, Egypt on the east, The Sudan on the southeast, Niger and Chad on the south, and Tunisia and Algeria on the west. It is largely composed of the Sahara, and the population is concentrated along the coast, where the de facto capital, Tripoli (Ṭarābulus), and Ban...
  • Jamaica
    island nation of the West Indies. It is the third largest island in the Caribbean Sea, after Cuba and Hispaniola. Jamaica is about 146 miles (235 km) long and varies from 22 to 51 miles (35 to 82 km) wide. It is situated some 100 miles (160 km) west of Haiti, 90 miles (150 km) south of Cuba, and 390 miles (630 km) northeast of Cape Gracias a Dios, Nicaragua, the nearest point on the mainland. The ...
  • Jamaica, Bank of (Jamaican company)
    ...of Canadian, British, and U.S. banks, dominate the financial sector. Life insurance companies, building societies, and credit unions also offer savings and credit services. The central bank is the Bank of Jamaica (founded 1960); it issues currency (the Jamaican dollar) and credit and promotes economic development. Several banks and special funding institutions provide loans for industry,......
  • Jamaica Bay (inlet, New York, United States)
    shallow inlet of the Atlantic Ocean covering about 20 square miles (50 square km) on the southwestern shore of Long Island, southeastern New York, U.S. Part of the Port of New York, the bay is sheltered on the south by Rockaway Peninsula and is traversed by the Cross Bay Boulevard. Dotted with marshy islands, Jamaica Bay connects with the oc...
  • Jamaica Channel (strait, West Indies)
    ...Cuba (west) from Hispaniola (southeast). It has a threshold depth of 5,500 feet (1,700 m) and is on the direct shipping route between the east coast of the United States and the Panama Canal. The Jamaica Channel, between Jamaica (west) and Hispaniola (east), forms a southwest extension of the Windward Passage....
  • Jamaica ebony (plant)
    ...dendo, native to Angola, is a valuable timber tree with very black and hard heartwood known as black ebony, as billetwood, or as Gabon, Lagos, Calabar, or Niger ebony. Jamaica, American, or green ebony is produced by Brya ebenus, a leguminous tree or shrub; the heartwood is rich dark brown, very heavy, exceedingly hard, and capable of receiving a high polish....
  • Jamaica, flag of
    ...
  • Jamaica, history of
    The following history of Jamaica focuses on events from the time of European contact. For treatments of the island in its regional context, see West Indies, history of, and Latin America, history of....
  • Jamaica, Institute of (Jamaican cultural organization)
    The Institute of Jamaica, an early patron and promoter of the arts, sponsors exhibitions and awards. It administers the Cultural Training Centre, which includes schools of art, dance, drama, and music, as well as the National Library, the National Gallery, and a publishing company. The institute is also the country’s museums authority. The Jamaica Library Service, Jamaica Archives, National...
  • Jamaica Labour Party (political party, Jamaica)
    ...of Caribbean islands that formed a unit within the Commonwealth. Norman Manley, leader of the People’s National Party (PNP), became prime minister after the elections of July 1959, but in 1960 the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) under Sir Alexander Bustamante pressed for secession from the federation. A referendum in 1961 supported their views. The JLP was the overall winner of elections in A...
  • Jamaica quassia (plant)
    ...tonic. This species is widely cultivated for its red flowers and bitter bark. Likewise, bitters are prepared from the bark of Simaba cedron in Central America and Picrasma excelsa (Jamaica quassia) in the West Indies. At one time, the bitter leaves and licorice-flavoured bark of the West Indian and Central American Picramnia antidesma (cascara amarga) were exported to......
  • Jamaican cobnut (plant)
    ...the nut to its husk. This distinction was found to be misleading, and filbert became the common name for the genus in the U.S. The term cobnut is limited to a commercial variety of one species; the Jamaican cobnut has a similar flavour but is an unrelated plant of the family Euphorbiaceae. The terms hazel and hazelnut, however, are still in popular use....
  • Jamaican fruit bat (mammal)
    a common and widespread bat of Central and South America with a fleshy nose leaf resembling a third ear positioned on the muzzle. The Jamaican fruit bat has gray-brown fur and indistinct, whitish facial stripes. It has no tail, and the membrane stretching between its legs is small and u-shaped. Its length is about 9 cm (3.5 inches). Although compared to other New World fruit bats, the Jamaican fru...
  • Jamaican sorrel (plant)
    (Hibiscus sabdariffa), plant of the hibiscus, or mallow, family (Malvaceae), and its fibre, one of the bast fibre group. Roselle is probably native to West Africa and includes H. sabdariffa variety altissima, grown for fibre, and H. sabdariffa variety sabdariffa, cultivated for the edible external portion of its flower (calyx...
  • JaMais, Yvonne Marie Antoinette (American singer)
    American singer who was a petite but powerful vocalist who performed with Frank Sinatra in the big swing bands of Harry James and Tommy Dorsey and went on to make more than 200 solo recordings, 25 of which sold more than 50,000 copies. Some of her best-known songs include “Let’s Get Away from It All,” “Friendship,” “What Is This Thing Called Love?,”...
  • Jamāl ad-Dīn al-Afghānī (Muslim journalist and politician)
    Muslim politician, political agitator, and journalist whose belief in the potency of a revived Islāmic civilization in the face of European domination significantly influenced the development of Muslim thought in the 19th and early 20th centuries....
  • Jamāl ad-Dīn al-Afghānī as-Sayyid Muḥammad ibn Ṣafdar al-Ḥ (Muslim journalist and politician)
    Muslim politician, political agitator, and journalist whose belief in the potency of a revived Islāmic civilization in the face of European domination significantly influenced the development of Muslim thought in the 19th and early 20th centuries....
  • Jamāl ad-Dīn Ḥasan ibn Yūsuf ibn ʿAli ibn Muṭhahhar al-Ḥillī (Muslim theologian)
    theologian and expounder of doctrines of the Shīʿī, one of the two main systems of Islam, the other being the Sunnī, which is the larger....
  • Jamāl-zādeh, Muhammad ʿAli (Iranian author)
    Iranian prose writer who became one of the most important figures in 20th-century Persian literature....
  • Jamali, Muhammad Fadhil al- (prime minister of Iraq)
    , Iraqi statesman who was the last survivor of the signatories to the UN Charter, was prime minister of Iraq twice, and--following the overthrow of the monarchy in 1958--was sentenced to be hanged; his sentence was later commuted, and he spent the remainder of his life in exile (b. April 20, 1903--d. May 24, 1997)....
  • Jamalpur (India)
    town, central Bihār state, northeastern India. It is situated at the foot of the Monghyr Ghāt (hills) near the Ganges River. The town was established in 1862 as a railway settlement and contains large locomotive engineering workshops, as well as major iron and steel foundries. Slate quarries are located to the southwest. Jamālpur has two c...
  • Jamalpur (Bangladesh)
    city, north-central Bangladesh, on the west bank of the Old Brahmaputra River. An important trade centre, especially for agricultural products, it is connected by rail with Mymensingh, Jagannathganj Ghat, and Bahadurabad Ghat and by road with Mymensingh, Tangail, and Meghalaya (India). It has several government colleges. T...
  • Jamālzāda, Muhammad ʿAli (Iranian author)
    Iranian prose writer who became one of the most important figures in 20th-century Persian literature....
  • Jamalzadah, Muhammad ʿAli (Iranian author)
    Iranian prose writer who became one of the most important figures in 20th-century Persian literature....
  • Jamalzadeh, Mohammed Ali (Iranian author)
    Iranian prose writer who became one of the most important figures in 20th-century Persian literature....
  • Jamame (Somalia)
    town, southern Somalia, eastern Africa. Jamaame is situated on the eastern bank of the lower Jubba River, in the southeastern coastal lowlands near the Indian Ocean. The town is an important agricultural, commercial, and industrial centre. Bananas, the major crop, are exported through Kismaayo (Chisimayu), a port located 35 miles (56 km) to the south. Cotton, peanuts (groundnuts), and corn (maize...
  • Jamanota, Mount (mountain, Aruba)
    ...(10 km) across at its widest point. Generally low in elevation, the island consists largely of igneous rocks overlain by limestone deposits and is fringed with coral reefs. Its highest point is Mount Jamanota, which rises to 620 feet (189 metres) above sea level. Among the isolated steep-sided hills that characterize the landscape is the mountain known as Hooiberg (“Haystack”),......
  • Jamasp (king of Persia)
    ...Sokhra), but when he contrived to eliminate this over-powerful protector, the hostility of the nobles, with tribal unrest in Armenia and western Iran, led to his deposition in favour of a brother, Jamasp....
  • Jambhala (Buddhist and Hindu mythology)
    in Hindu mythology, the king of the yakṣas (nature spirits) and the god of wealth. He is associated with the earth, mountains, all treasures such as minerals and jewels that lie underground, and riches in general. According to most accounts he first lived in Laṅkā (Sri Lanka), but his palace was taken away from him by his half brother, Rāvaṇa...
  • Jambi (province, Indonesia)
    kotamadya (city) and propinsi (province), southeastern Sumatra, Indonesia. The province is bounded by Bengkulu and Sumatera Selatan (“South Sumatra”) provinces on the south, by Sumatera Barat (“West Sumatra”) province on the west and northwest, by Riau province on the north, and by the Strait of Berhala on the east....
  • Jambi (Indonesia)
    kotamadya (city) and propinsi (province), southeastern Sumatra, Indonesia. The province is bounded by Bengkulu and Sumatera Selatan (“South Sumatra”) provinces on the south, by Sumatera Barat (“West Sumatra”) province on the west and northwest, by Riau province on the north, and by the Strait of Berhala on the east....
  • Jambol (Bulgaria)
    town, east-central Bulgaria, on the Tundzha (Tundja) River. North of the present town are the ruins of Kabyle (or Cabyle), which originated as a Bronze Age settlement in the 2nd millennium bc and was conquered by the Macedonians under Philip II in 342–341 bc. Taken by Rome in 72 bc, Kabyle became a city in the Roman province of Th...
  • jāmdānī (Indian textile art)
    type of figured muslin that is one of the greatest accomplishments of the Indian weaver. The origins of figured muslin are not clear; it is mentioned in Sanskrit literature of the Gupta period (4th–6th century ad). It is known, however, that in the Mughal period (1556–1707) the finest jāmdānīs were produced at Dacca (Dhākā), in...
  • Jamdat Nasr Period
    ...the Chalcolithic phase of culture. There is evidence that their occupation was ended by a flood, formerly thought to be the one described in Genesis. From the succeeding “Jamdat Nasr” (Late Protoliterate) phase a large cemetery produced valuable remains allied to more sensational discoveries made at Erech....
  • James, Alexander Franklin (American outlaw)
    Reared on a Missouri farm, Jesse and Frank shared their family’s sympathy with the Southern cause when the American Civil War broke out (1861). Frank joined William C. Quantrill’s Confederate guerrillas, becoming friends with Cole Younger, a fellow member. Jesse followed suit by joining “Bloody” Bill Anderson’s guerrilla band. At the end of the war the bands surr...
  • James, Anthony T. (British scientist)
    ...that preferentially dissolves in the mobile liquid is more rapidly transported in the direction of flow than is a substance that has greater affinity for the stationary liquid. In 1953 Martin and A.T. James helped perfect gas chromatography, the separation of chemical vapours by differential absorption on a porous solid....
  • James Baines (ship)
    ...the overland route across North America to the California goldfields. The Flying Cloud, launched in 1851, made the voyage from New York City to San Francisco in a record 89 days, and the James Baines set the transatlantic sailing record of 12 days 6 h from Boston to Liverpool, Eng. The Lightning set the all-time record for a single day’s sail, covering 436 nautical m...
  • James Bay (bay, Canada)
    shallow southern extension of Hudson Bay, located between northern Ontario and Quebec, Canada. Generally less than 200 feet (60 m) deep, the bay is 275 miles (443 km) long and 135 miles (217 km) wide and contains numerous islands, all of which are administered by the Northwest Territories. Akimiski, the largest island, has an area of 1,159 square miles (3,002 square km). The many rivers that flow...
  • James Bay (bay, Saint Helena)
    ...South of the mountains, water-cut gorges are dispersed, becoming deep valleys near the sea. Springs are numerous. The only practicable place for ship landings is on the island’s northwestern side at James Bay, from which a narrow valley extends 1.5 miles (2.4 km) inland. In this valley is nestled the town and port of Jamestown....
  • James, C. L. R. (British writer and activist)
    West Indian-born cultural historian, cricket writer, and political activist who was a leading figure in the Pan-African movement....
  • James Cittie (English colony, North America)
    first permanent English settlement in North America, located near present-day Williamsburg, Virginia. Established on May 14, 1607, the colony gave England its first foothold in the European competition for the New World, which had been dominated by the Spanish since the voyages of Christopher Columbus in the late 15th century....
  • James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (astronomy)
    ...operate at submillimetre wavelengths are located near the summit of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, at elevations above 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) and on Mount Graham near Tucson, Ariz. The largest of these, the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope at the Mauna Kea Observatory, has a diameter of 15 metres (49 feet)....
  • James, Cyril Lionel Robert (British writer and activist)
    West Indian-born cultural historian, cricket writer, and political activist who was a leading figure in the Pan-African movement....
  • James, Dennis (American television personality)
    American television personality who for nearly 60 years worked as game show and variety show host, sports commentator, actor, commercial spokesman, and charity fund-raising telethon host (b. Aug. 24, 1917--d. June 3, 1997)....
  • James Edward, the Old Pretender (claimant to English and Scottish thrones)
    son of the deposed Roman Catholic monarch James II of England and claimant to the English and Scottish thrones. Styled James III of England and James VIII of Scotland by his supporters, he made several halfhearted efforts to gain his crown....
  • James, Elmore (American musician)
    American blues singer-guitarist noted for the urgent intensity of his singing and guitar playing. He was a significant influence on the development of rock music....

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