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Aguascalientes ... Ahmad Shah

Aguascalientes city, capital of Aguascalientes estado (state), central Mexico. It is located in the south-central part of the state on the Mesa Central, 6,194 feet (1,888 metres) above sea level, on the left (east) bank of the Juchipila (Aguascalientes) River. Founded in 1575 and designated a town in 1661, Aguascalientes ("Hot ... Agueda River river, western Spain. It rises on the northern slopes of the Sierra de Gata and flows 80 miles (130 km), generally northwest, to the Douro River. For the last 15 miles (24 km) of its course, the Agueda forms part of the Portugal-Spain boundary. Aguesseau, Henri-Francois d' jurist who, as chancellor of France during most of the period from 1717 to 1750, made important reforms in his country's legal system. Agui general and official during the middle years of the Qing dynasty. The scion of a noble family, Agui directed Chinese military expeditions that quelled uprisings in the western provinces of Sichuan and Gansu. He also conquered Ili and Chinese Turkistan, areas on China's northwestern frontier that are today part of ... Aguilar, Grace poet, novelist, and writer on Jewish history and religion, best known for her numerous sentimental novels of domestic life, especially for Home Influence (1847) and The Mother's Recompense (1851). Aguilera, Christina American pop singer who emerged during the teen pop explosion of the late 1990s and experienced almost instant commercial success. Aguinaldo, Emilio Filipino leader who fought first against Spain and later against the United States for the independence of the Philippines. Aguirre, Lope de Spanish adventurer whose name practically became synonymous with cruelty and treachery in colonial Spanish America. Agulhas Current surface oceanic current that forms the western boundary current of the southern Indian Ocean. It flows southward along the southeast coast of Mozambique and the coast of South Africa before turning eastward to join the flow from Africa to Australia. A small part of Agulhas water apparently continues westward around ... Agulhas, Cape cape that is the southernmost point of the African continent, located 109 miles (176 km) southeast of Cape Town, S.Af. Its name, Portuguese for "needles," may refer to the jagged rocks and reefs there that have wrecked many ships; another explanation attributes the name to observations by early Portuguese navigators ... agunah in Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, a woman who is presumed to be widowed but who cannot remarry because evidence of her husband's death does not satisfy legal requirements. The plight of the agunah has generated voluminous and complex treatment in Halakhic literature. Although religious courts are not empowered to grant ... Agung third sultan of the Mataram dynasty of central Java who brought his domain to its greatest territorial and military power. Agung, Abulfatah ruler of the powerful Javanese sultanate of Bantam from 1651 to 1683. Agung, Mount volcano, northeastern Bali, Indonesia. The highest point in Bali and the object of traditional veneration, it rises to a height of 9,888 feet (3,014 m). In 1963 it erupted after being dormant for 120 years; some 1,600 people were killed and 86,000 left homeless. Agus Salim, Hadji Indonesian nationalist and religious leader from an upper class Minangkabau family, who played a key role during the 1920s in moderating the messianic and communist element in the Muslim nationalist movement in the Dutch East Indies. Agusan River longest river in Mindanao, Philippines. It rises in the southeast and flows northward for 240 miles (390 km) to enter Butuan Bay of the Bohol Sea. The river forms a fertile valley 40 to 50 miles (65-80 km) wide between the Central Mindanao Highlands (west) and the Pacific Cordillera (east). ... Agustin, Jose Mexican novelist whose prolific writings, reflecting an urban sensibility and the modern culture of youth, highlight urban violence and decay. Agustini, Delmira one of the most important poets of South America. Ah Kin (Mayan: "He of the Sun"), the regular clergy of the Yucatec Maya in pre-Columbian times. The Ah Kin are best known historically for their performance in the ritual sacrifice of victims, whose hearts were offered to the Mayan gods. The chief priest (Ah Kin Mai) served in the various capacities ... Ah, Wilderness! comedy in four acts by Eugene O'Neill, published and first performed in 1933. Perhaps the most atypical of the author's works, the play presents a sentimental tale of youthful indiscretion in a turn-of-the-century New England town. Richard, adolescent son of the local newspaper publisher, Nat Miller, exhibits the wayward tendencies ... Aha Of Shabha prominent Babylonian Talmudist who is the first rabbinical writer known to history after the close of the Talmud. Ahab seventh king of the northern kingdom of Israel (reigned c. 874-c. 853 BC), according to the Old Testament, and son of King Omri. Ahab, Captain fictional character, a one-legged captain of the whaling vessel Pequod in the novel Moby Dick (1851), by Herman Melville. From the time that his leg is bitten off by the huge white whale called Moby Dick, Captain Ahab monomaniacally pursues his elusive nemesis. Ahab's obsession with killing Moby Dick brings ... Ahad Ha'am Zionist leader whose concepts of Hebrew culture had a definitive influence on the objectives of the early Jewish settlement in Palestine. Ahaggar large plateau in the north centre of the Sahara, on the Tropic of Cancer, North Africa. Its height is above 3,000 feet (900 m), culminating in Mount Tahat (9,573 feet [2,918 m]) in southeastern Algeria. The plateau, about 965 miles (1,550 km) north to south and 1,300 miles (2,100 km) ... ahankara ("I-saying," or "I-making"), in the dualist and evolutionist Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy, the second stage of development of the prakriti, the original stuff of material nature, which evolves into the manifest world. Ahaz king of Judah (c. 735-720 BC) who became an Assyrian vassal (2 Kings 16; Isaiah 7-8). Ahenobarbus, Gnaeus Domitius Roman general who became one of the chief partisans of Mark Antony after Antony defeated the assassins of Julius Caesar. Ahenobarbus, Lucius Domitius a leader of the Optimates (conservative senatorial aristocracy) in the last years of the Roman Republic. Ahern, Bertie taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland from 1997 to 2008. Ahhiyawa ancient kingdom lying to the west of the Hittite empire. The exact location of Ahhiyawa is not definitely known but may have been western Anatolia or one of the islands in the Aegean Sea. The most commonly held theory is that the people of Ahhiyawa were the Achaeans of Homer, ... Ahidjo, Ahmadou first president of the United Republic of Cameroon, who served from 1960 to 1982. He presided over one of the few successful attempts at supraterritorial African unity: the joining of the southern half of the former British Cameroons with the larger, French-speaking Cameroon. Ahikar, The Story of folktale of Babylonian or Persian origin, about a wise and moral man who supposedly served as one of the chief counselors of Sennacherib, king of Assyria (704-681 BC). Like the biblical Job, Ahikar was a prototype of the just man whose righteousness was sorely tested and ultimately rewarded by God. ... ahimsa in the Indian religions of Jainism, Hinduism, and Buddhism, the ethical principle of not causing harm to other living things. Ahir cattle-tending caste widespread in northern and central India. Considerable historical interest attaches to this caste, because its members are thought to be identical with the Abhiras of Sanskrit literature, who are mentioned repeatedly in the great epic the Mahabharata. Some scholars contend that these cattlemen, scattered over southern Rajasthan and ... Ahithophel in the Old Testament, one of King David's most trusted advisers. He took a leading part in the revolt of David's son Absalom, and Ahithophel's defection was a severe blow to David. Having consulted Ahithophel about his plans to proceed against David, Absalom then sought advice from Hushai, another of ... Ahl al-Bayt designation in Islam for the holy family of the Prophet Muhammad, particularly his daughter Fatimah, her husband 'Ali (who was also Muhammad's cousin), and their descendants. Ahl al-Kitab (Arabic: "People of the Book"), in Islamic thought, those religionists such as Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians who are possessors of divine books (i.e., the Torah, the Gospel, and the Avesta), as distinguished from those whose religions are not based on divine revelations. The latter are an imprecisely identified group referred ... Ahl-e Haqq (Arabic: "People of Truth," or "People of God"), a secret, syncretistic religion, derived largely from Islam, whose adherents are found in western Iran, with enclaves in Iraq. They retain the 12 imams of the Ithna 'Ashariyah sect and such aspects of Islamic mysticism as the communal feast. Central to their ... Ahlfors, Lars Valerian Finnish mathematician who was awarded one of the first two Fields Medals in 1936 for his work with Riemann surfaces. He also won the Wolf Prize in 1981. Ahlin, Lars influential Swedish novelist of the mid-20th century. Ahmad 10th ruler of the Husaynid dynasty of Tunisia. Ahmad al-Mansur sixth ruler of the Sa'di dynasty, which he raised to its zenith of power by his policy of centralization and astute diplomacy. Al-Mansur resisted the demands of his nominal suzerain, the Ottoman sultan, by playing off the European powers, namely, France, Portugal, Spain, and England, against one another in order ... Ahmad Baba jurist, writer, and a cultural leader of the western Sudan. Ahmad Gran leader of a Muslim movement that all but subjugated Ethiopia. At the height of his conquest, he held more than three-quarters of the kingdom, and, according to the chronicles, the majority of men in these conquered areas had converted to Islam. Ahmad ibn Hanbal Muslim theologian, jurist, and martyr for his faith. He was the compiler of the Traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (Musnad) and formulator of the Hanbali, the most strictly traditionalist of the four orthodox Islamic schools of law. His doctrine influenced such noted followers as the 13th-14th-century theologian Ibn Taymiyah, the ... Ahmad ibn Tulun the founder of the Tulunid dynasty in Egypt and the first Muslim governor of Egypt to annex Syria. Ahmad ibn Tulun, Mosque of huge and majestic red brick building complex built in 876 by the Turkish governor of Egypt and Syria. It was built on the site of present-day Cairo and includes a mosque surrounded by three outer ziyadahs, or courtyards. Much of the decoration and design recalls the 'Abbasid architecture of Iraq. ... Ahmad Khan, Sir Sayyid Muslim educator, jurist, and author, founder of the Anglo-Mohammedan Oriental College at Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, and the principal motivating force behind the revival of Indian Islam in the late 19th century. His works, in Urdu, include Essays on the Life of Mohammed (1870) and commentaries on the Bible and ... Ahmad Musa painter active at the court of the Il Khans at Tabriz. He is said to have learned painting from his father and to have "drawn the veil from the face of painting and invented the art of the Persian miniature." He was active under Abu Sa'id (ruled 1316-35), the last ... Ahmad Shah ineffectual Mughal emperor of India from 1748 to 1754, who has been characterized as good-natured but incompetent and without personality, training, or qualities of leadership. He was entirely dominated by others, including the queen mother, Udham Bai, and the eunuch superintendent of the harem, the emperor's vicar Javid Khan. Twice ...