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• 
  

• 
  Afghanistan
  Afghanistan ⁱ/æfˈɡænɨstæn/ (Persian/Pashto: افغانستان, Afġānistān), officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming part of South Asia, Central Asia, and Greater Middle East, it is also considered to be part of a broader West Asia. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of 647,500 km² (250,001 sq mi), making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and the east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast.
  Afghanistan has been an ancient focal point of the Silk Road and human migration. Archaeologists have found evidence of human habitation from as far back as 50,000 BC. Urban civilization may have begun in the area as early as 3,000 to 2,000 BC. Sitting at an important geostrategic location that connects the Middle East with Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the land has been home to various peoples through the ages and witnessed many military campaigns, notably by Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and in modern era Western forces. The land also served as a source from which the Greco-Bactrians, Kushans, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Timurids, Mughals and many others have risen to form major empires.
  
  wn.com/Afghanistan
• 
  Aleppo
  Aleppo (Arabic: حلب‎ Ḥalab [ˈħalæb], other names) is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,132,100 (2004 census), it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant. For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppo is distinct in identity, architecture and culture, all shaped by a markedly different history and geography.
  Aleppo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world; it has been inhabited since perhaps as early as the 6th millennium BC. Excavations at Tell as-Sawda and Tell al-Ansari, just south of the old city of Aleppo, show that the area was occupied since at least the latter part of the 3rd millennium BC; and this is also when Aleppo is first mentioned in cuneiform tablets unearthed in Ebla and Mesopotamia, in which it is noted for its commercial and military proficiency. Such a long history is probably due to its being a strategic trading point midway between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia.
  
  wn.com/Aleppo
• 
  Anatolia
  Coordinates: 39°N 32°E / 39°N 32°E / 39; 32
  Anatolia (from Greek Ἀνατολή Anatolē — "east" or "(sun)rise"; also Asia Minor, from Greek: Μικρὰ Ἀσία Mikrá Asía "small Asia"; in modern Turkish: Anadolu) is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey. The region is bounded by the Black Sea to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and the Aegean Sea to the west. The Sea of Marmara forms a connection between the Black and Aegean Seas through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, and separates Anatolia from Thrace on the European mainland. Traditionally, Anatolia is considered to extend in the east to a line between the Gulf of Iskenderun and the Black Sea, approximately corresponding to the western two-thirds of the Asian part of Turkey. However, since Anatolia is now often considered to be synonymous with Asian Turkey, its eastern and southeastern borders are widely taken to be the Turkish borders with the neighboring countries, which are Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Iraq and Syria, in clockwise direction.
  
  wn.com/Anatolia
• 
  Ardabil
  Ardabil (Persian: اردبیل, also Romanized as Ardabīl and Ardebīl) is a historical city in north-western Iran. The name Ardabil probably comes from the Zoroastrian name of "Artavil" which means a holy place. Ardabil is the center of Ardabil Province. At the 2006 census, its population was 412,669, in 102,818 families. The dominant majority of whom are ethnic Azeris followed by Kurds and Talyshes. Notable for its silk and carpet trade tradition, the ancient Ardabil Carpets are considered some of the best of the classical Persian carpet creations. Ardabil is also known as the seat of a World Heritage Site: the sanctuary and tomb of Shaikh Safî ad-Dîn, eponym of the Safavid Dynasty.
  Ardabil is about 70 km from the Caspian Sea, 210 km from the city of Tabriz. It has an average altitude of 1263 m and total area of 18.011 km².
  Neighboring on the Caspian Sea and the Republic of Azerbaijan, this city is of great political and economical significance.
  The province of Ardabil has been blessed with splendid natural beauty and numerous sights.
  
  wn.com/Ardabil
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  Armenia
  Armenia ⁱ/ɑrˈmiːniə/ (Armenian: Հայաստան Hayastan [hɑjɑsˈtɑn]), officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն, Hayastani Hanrapetut’yun, [hɑjɑstɑˈni hɑnɾɑpɛtuˈtʰjun]), is a landlocked, mountainous country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia to the north, the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and Azerbaijan to the east, and Iran and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the south.
  A former republic of the Soviet Union, Armenia is a unitary, multiparty, democratic nation-state with an ancient and historic cultural heritage. The Kingdom of Armenia became the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as its religion, in the early years of the 4th century (the traditional date is 301 AD). The modern Republic of Armenia recognizes the Armenian Apostolic Church, the world's oldest national church, as the country's primary religious establishment. Armenians have their own unique alphabet invented by Mesrob Mashtots in 406 AD.
  
  wn.com/Armenia
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  Astrakhan
  Astrakhan (Russian: Астрахань, tr. Astrakhanʹ; IPA: [ˈastrəxənʲ]) is a major city in southern European Russia and the administrative center of Astrakhan Oblast. The city lies on the left bank of the Volga River, close to where it discharges into the Caspian Sea at an altitude of 28 meters (92 ft) below sea level. Population: 520,662 (2010 Census preliminary results); 504,501 (2002 Census); 509,210 (1989 Census).
  Astrakhan is situated in the Volga Delta, rich in sturgeon and exotic plants. The fertile area formerly contained the capitals of Khazaria and the Golden Horde. Astrakhan' itself was first mentioned by travellers in the early 13th century as Xacitarxan. Tamerlane burnt it to the ground in 1395. From 1459 to 1556, Xacitarxan was the capital of Astrakhan Khanate. The ruins of this medieval settlement were found by archaeologists 12 km upstream from the modern-day city.
  In 1556, the khanate was conquered by Ivan the Terrible, who had a new fortress, or kremlin, built on a steep hill overlooking the Volga. In 1569, Astrakhan was besieged by the Cossack Ottoman army, which had to retreat in disarray. A year later, the Sultan renounced his claims to Astrakhan, thus opening the entire Volga River to Russian traffic. In the 17th century, the city was developed as a Russian gate to the Orient. Many merchants from Armenia, Persia, India and Khiva settled in the town, giving it a multinational and variegated character.
  
  wn.com/Astrakhan
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  Attock
  Attock (Urdu: اٹک) (formerly Campbellpur) is a city located in the northern border of the Punjab province of Pakistan and the headquarters of Attock District. In the 1901 census, Attock was reported to have had a population of 2866 people, a figure which has grown dramatically during the 20th century with 69,588 reported in the 1998 census and contemporary estimates approaching 100,000.
  It is located on the bank of the Indus, just 80 km (50 mi) from Rawalpindi, 100 km (62 mi) from Peshawar, and 10 km (6 mi) from the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex, Kamra.
  Gandhara was a historic region of ancient India (which corresponds to areas of north west Pakistan including Attock). Situated astride the middle Indus River, the region had Taxila and Peshawar as its chief cities. It was originally a province of the Persian Empire and was reached (327 B.C.) by Alexander the Great. The region passed to Chandragupta, founder of the Maurya empire, in the late 4th century B.C., and under Asoka was converted (mid-3d cent.) to Buddhism. It was part of Bactria from the late 3d cent. to the 1st cent. B.C. Under the Kushan dynasty (1st cent.–3d cent. A.D.), and especially under Kanishka, Gandhara developed a noted school of sculpture, consisting mainly of images of Buddha and relief’s representing scenes from Buddhist texts, but with marked Greco-Roman elements of style. The art form flourished in Gandhara until the 5th century, when the region was conquered by the Huns.
  
  wn.com/Attock
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  Azerbaijan
  Azerbaijan (ⁱ/ˌæzərbaɪˈdʒɑːn/ AZ-ər-by-JAHN; Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani: Azərbaycan Respublikası) is the largest country in the Caucasus region located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. The exclave of Nakhchivan is bounded by Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, while having a short borderline with Turkey to the northwest.
  Azerbaijan has an ancient and historic cultural heritage. Aside from having been the first Muslim-majority country to have operas, theater and plays, Azerbaijan today is among the Muslim-majority countries where support for secularism and tolerance is the highest. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the first democratic and secular republic in the Muslim world, was established in 1918, but was incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1920. Azerbaijan regained independence in 1991. Shortly thereafter, during the Nagorno-Karabakh War, neighboring Armenia occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, its surrounding territories and the enclaves of Karki, Yukhary Askipara, Barkhudarly and Sofulu. The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which emerged in Nagorno-Karabakh, continues to be not diplomatically recognized by any nation and the region is still considered a de jure part of Azerbaijan, despite being de facto independent since the end of the war. Azerbaijan has come under repeated international criticism for its record on human rights.
  
  wn.com/Azerbaijan
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  Baghdad
  Baghdad (Arabic: بغداد‎, Baġdād, IPA: [bæɣˈdæːd]) is the capital of Republic of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Province. The population of Baghdad as of 2011 is approximately 7,216,040, making it the largest city in Iraq, the second largest city in the Arab World (after Cairo, Egypt), and the second largest city in Western Asia (after Tehran, Iran).
  Located along the Tigris River, the city was founded in the 8th century and became the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate. Within a short time of its inception, Baghdad evolved into a significant cultural, commercial, and intellectual center for the Islamic World. This in addition to housing several key academic institutions (e.g. House of Wisdom) garnered the city a worldwide reputation as the "Center of Learning". Throughout the High Middle Ages, Baghdad was considered to be the largest city in the world with an estimated population of 1,200,000 people. The city was largely destroyed at the hands of the Mongol Empire in 1258, resulting in a decline that would linger through many centuries due to frequent plagues and multiple successive empires. With the recognition of Iraq as an independent state (formerly the British Mandate of Mesopotamia) in 1938, Baghdad gradually regained some of its former prominence as a significant center of Arabic culture.
  
  wn.com/Baghdad
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  Balkh
  Balkh (Persian: بلخ Ancient Greek: Baktra or Zariaspa), was an ancient city and centre of Zoroastrianism in what is now northern Afghanistan. Today it is a small town in the province of Balkh, about 20 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital, Mazar-e Sharif, and some 74 km (46 mi) south of the Amu Darya. It was one of the major cities of Khorasan. Marco Polo described Balkh as a "noble and great city".
  The ancient city of Balkh was under the Greeks renamed Bactra, giving its name to Bactria. It was mostly known as the centre and capital of Bactria or Takharistan. Balkh is now for the most part a mass of ruins, situated some 12 km from the right bank of the seasonally flowing Balkh River, at an elevation of about 365 m (1,200 ft).
  Balkh is one of the oldest cities in the world and is considered to be the first city to which the Indo-Iranian tribes moved from the North of Amu Darya, between 2000 - 1500 BC. The Arabs called it Umm Al-Belaad or Mother of Cities due to its antiquity. The city was traditionally a center of Zoroastianism. The name Zariaspa, which is either an alternate name for Balkh or a term for part of the city, may derive from the important Zoroastrian fire temple Azar-i-Asp. Balkh was regarded as the first place where Zoroaster first preached his religion, as well as the place where he died.
  
  wn.com/Balkh
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  Battle of Stalingrad
  Coordinates: 48°42′N 44°31′E / 48.7°N 44.517°E / 48.7; 44.517
  The Battle of Stalingrad was a major and decisive battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 to 2 February 1943 and was the largest battle on the Eastern Front, marked by brutality and disregard for military and civilian casualties. It is among the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare, with the higher estimates of combined casualties amounting to nearly two million. The heavy losses inflicted on the German army made it a significant turning point in the whole war. After the Battle of Stalingrad, German forces never recovered their earlier strength, and attained no further strategic victories in the East.
  The German offensive to capture Stalingrad commenced in late summer 1942, and was supported by intensive Luftwaffe bombing which reduced much of the city to rubble. The German offensive eventually became mired in building-to-building fighting; and despite controlling nearly all of the city at times, the Wehrmacht was unable to dislodge the last Soviet defenders clinging tenaciously to the west bank of the Volga River.
  
  wn.com/Battle_of_Stalingrad
• Bhokarhedi
  Bhokarhedi is a town and a nagar panchayat in Muzaffarnagar district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India.
  As of 2001^[update] India census, Bhokarhedi had a population of 15,973. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Bhokarhedi has an average literacy rate of 51%, lower than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 59% and female literacy of 41%. 17% of the population is under 6 years of age. Timur or Tamarlane discusses a battle he fought with Hindu warriors here while going to Hardwar during 1398-1399 campaign in January 1399.There are 12 wards in Bhokerhadi{lokupura uttari,lokupura dakshani,baheda patti,klallan,pathanan,kuwa patti,main bazar,nai basti,harizan chowk,nehru chowk,shubash chowk and seth puri}.Main crop produce in bhokerdadi is sugarcane.
  Coordinates: 29°31′15″N 77°56′29″E / 29.52083°N 77.94139°E / 29.52083; 77.94139
  
  wn.com/Bhokarhedi
• 
  China
  China (ⁱ/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
  The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.
  
  wn.com/China
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  Damascus
  Damascus (Arabic: دِمَشق‎ / ALA-LC: Dimashq; commonly known in Syria as al-Sham (Arabic: الشام‎ / al-Shām), and as the City of Jasmine (Arabic: مدينة الياسمين‎ / Madīnat al-Yāsmīn), is the capital and the second largest city of Syria. Both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major cultural and religious center of the Levant. The city has an estimated population of 1,711,000 (2009 est.).
  Located in southwestern Syria, Damascus is the center of a large metropolitan area of 2.6 million people (2004). Geographically embedded on the eastern foothills of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range 80 kilometres (50 mi) inland from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean on a plateau 680 metres (2,230 ft) above sea-level, Damascus experiences a semi-arid climate due to the rain shadow effect. The Barada River flows through Damascus.
  First settled in the 2nd millennium BC, it was chosen as the capital of the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 750. After the victory of the Abbasid dynasty, the seat of Islamic power was moved to Baghdad. Damascus saw a political decline throughout the Abbasid era, only to regain significant importance in the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods. During Ottoman rule, the city decayed completely while maintaining a certain cultural prestige. Today, it is the seat of the central government and all of the government ministries. Damascus was chosen as the 2008 Arab Capital of Culture.
  
  wn.com/Damascus
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  Delhi
  Delhi (/ˈdɛli/; locally pronounced Dillee or Dehli), officially the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT), is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest metropolis by population in India. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16.7 million inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census. The region has been given special status of National Capital Region under The Constitution (69th Amendment) Act, 1991. There are nearly 22.2 million residents in the greater National Capital Region urban area (which also includes the cities Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon,Sonepat and Faridabad along with other smaller nearby towns).
  Delhi is known to have been continuously inhabited since at least the 6th century BCE, though human habitation is believed to have existed since the second millennium BCE. Delhi is also widely believed to have been the site of Indraprastha, the legendary capital of the Pandavas during the times of the Mahabharata. Delhi re-emerged as a major political, cultural and commercial city along the trade routes between northwest India and the Gangetic plain after the rise of the Delhi sultanates. It is the site of many ancient and medieval monuments, archaeological sites and remains.
  
  wn.com/Delhi
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  Egypt
  Egypt ⁱ/ˈiːdʒɪpt/ (Arabic: مصر, Miṣr, Egyptian Arabic: [mɑsˤɾ] ; Coptic: Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, Kīmi ; Sahidic Coptic: ⲕⲏⲙⲉ, Kēme), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic:  جمهوريّة مصر العربيّة (help·info), is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Covering an area of about 1,010,000 square kilometers (390,000 sq mi), Egypt is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west.
  Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The great majority of its over 81 million people live near the banks of the Nile River, in an area of about 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq mi), where the only arable land is found. The large areas of the Sahara Desert are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities in the Nile Delta.
  
  wn.com/Egypt
• Fu An
  Fu An(Died AD 1429) was a Supervising Censor, who was dispatched in 1385 with two other Censors and a eunuch named Liu Wei, to open communications with the nations of Central Asia. They traversed the desert of Gobi and reached Hami; thence on to Karakhodjo and Ilbalik, the ancient capital of Kuldja. Their mission was successful as far as Samarcand, the various places visited acknowledging the suzerainty of China. There however they were imprisoned until 1407. The survivors, including only 17 of their original escort of 1500 men, were then sent back and were all rewarded on arrival. Fu An and his companions went on six missions altogether, chiefly to Samarcand, Bishbalik and Heart, until in 1415 Fu An retired to wait on his aged mother.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Fu_An
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  Haridwar
  Haridwar  pronunciation (help·info) (also spelled Hardwar, Hindi: हरिद्वार) is an important pilgrimage city and municipality in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. The River Ganges, after flowing for 253 kilometres (157 mi) from its source at Gaumukh at the edge of the Gangotri Glacier, enters the Indo-Gangetic Plains of North India for the first time at Haridwar, which gave the city its ancient name, Gangadwára.
  Haridwar is regarded as one of the seven holiest places to Hindus. According to the Samudra manthan, Haridwar along with Ujjain, Nasik and Allahabad is one of four sites where drops of Amrit, the elixir of immortality, accidentally spilled over from the pitcher while being carried by the celestial bird Garuda. This is manifested in the Kumbha Mela being celebrated every 3 years in one of the 4 places, and thus every 12 years in Haridwar. Amidst the Kumbha Mela, millions of pilgrims, devotees, and tourists congregate in Haridwar to perform ritualistic bathing on the banks of the river Ganges to wash away their sins to attain Moksha. Brahma Kund, the spot where the Amrit fell, is located at Har ki Pauri (literally, "footsteps of the Lord") and is considered to be the most sacred ghat of Haridwar.
  
  wn.com/Haridwar
• 
  Herat
  Herāt (Persian / Pashto: هرات) is the capital of Herat province in Afghanistan. It is the third largest city of Afghanistan, with a population of about 397,456 as of 2006. It is situated in the valley of the Hari River, which flows from the mountains of central Afghanistan to the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan. The city is linked with Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif via highway 1 or the ring road that stretches across the country. It is also linked to the city of Mashad in Iran through the border town of Islam Qala.
  Situated in a fertile area, Herāt dates back to the Avestan times and was traditionally known for its wine. The city has a number of historic sites, including the Citadel of Alexander and the Mosallah Complex. During the Middle Ages Herāt became one of the important cities of Khorasan, as it was known as the pearl of Khorasan. It was made independent in 1717 from the Safavid dynasty by the Afghans until 1736 when the Hotaki dynasty was defeated by the Afsharids, which finally became part of the Durrani Empire in 1747. It saw some actions during the 19th century Anglo-Afghan wars. Much of the city has been spared from destructions that occurred in other cities of Afghanistan during the 1978-present wars.
  
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  India
  India (ⁱ/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
  Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.
  
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  Indus River
  The Indus River (Sanskrit: सिन्धु Sindhu; Urdu: دریائے سندھ Daryā-e Sindh; Hindi: सिन्धु नदी Sindhu; Sindhi: سنڌو Sindhu; Punjabi: سندھ Sindh; Gujarati: સિંધુ નદી Sindhu; Pashto: اباسين Abāsin "Father of Rivers"; Persian: رود سند Rūd-e Sind‎; Arabic: السند Al-Sind‎; Tibetan: སེང་གེ།་གཙང་པོ Sênggê Zangbo "Lion River"; Greek: Ινδός Indós; Turki: Nilab) is a major river which flows through Pakistan. It has courses through western Tibet (in China) and Northern India.
  Originating in the Tibetan plateau in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar, the river runs a course through the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit, Baltistan and flows through Pakistan in a southerly direction along the entire length of Pakistan to merge into the Arabian Sea near the port city of Karachi in Sindh. The total length of the river is 3,180 km (1,980 mi). It is Pakistan's longest river.
  The river has a total drainage area exceeding 1,165,000 km² (450,000 sq mi). Its estimated annual flow stands at around 207 km³ (50 cu mi), making it the twenty-first largest river in the world in terms of annual flow. Zanskar is its left bank tributary in Ladakh. In the plains, its left bank tributary is Chenab which itself has four major tributaries, namely, Jhelum, Ravi, Beas and Satluj. Its principal right bank tributaries are Shyok, Gilgit, Kabul, Gomal and Kurram. Beginning at the heights of the world in a spring and fed with glaciers and rivers in the Himalayas, the river supports ecosystems of temperate forests, plains and arid countryside.
  
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  Indus river
  The Indus River (Sanskrit: सिन्धु Sindhu; Urdu: دریائے سندھ Daryā-e Sindh; Hindi: सिन्धु नदी Sindhu; Sindhi: سنڌو Sindhu; Punjabi: سندھ Sindh; Gujarati: સિંધુ નદી Sindhu; Pashto: اباسين Abāsin "Father of Rivers"; Persian: رود سند Rūd-e Sind‎; Arabic: السند Al-Sind‎; Tibetan: སེང་གེ།་གཙང་པོ Sênggê Zangbo "Lion River"; Greek: Ινδός Indós; Turki: Nilab) is a major river which flows through Pakistan. It has courses through western Tibet (in China) and Northern India.
  Originating in the Tibetan plateau in the vicinity of Lake Mansarovar, the river runs a course through the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit, Baltistan and flows through Pakistan in a southerly direction along the entire length of Pakistan to merge into the Arabian Sea near the port city of Karachi in Sindh. The total length of the river is 3,180 km (1,980 mi). It is Pakistan's longest river.
  The river has a total drainage area exceeding 1,165,000 km² (450,000 sq mi). Its estimated annual flow stands at around 207 km³ (50 cu mi), making it the twenty-first largest river in the world in terms of annual flow. Zanskar is its left bank tributary in Ladakh. In the plains, its left bank tributary is Chenab which itself has four major tributaries, namely, Jhelum, Ravi, Beas and Satluj. Its principal right bank tributaries are Shyok, Gilgit, Kabul, Gomal and Kurram. Beginning at the heights of the world in a spring and fed with glaciers and rivers in the Himalayas, the river supports ecosystems of temperate forests, plains and arid countryside.
  
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  Iran
  Coordinates: 32°N 53°E / 32°N 53°E / 32; 53
  Iran (ⁱ/ɪˈrɑːn/ or /aɪˈræn/;Persian: ایران‎ [ʔiˈɾɒn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ایران‎ Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān), is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran", which in Persian means "Land of the Aryans", has been in use natively since the Sassanian era. It came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia ( /ˈpɜrʒə/ or /ˈpɜrʃə/). Both "Persia" and "Iran" are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, "Iran" is the name used officially in political contexts.
  The 18th-largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km² (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 79 million. It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in the Middle East and central Eurasia. Iran is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey. Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power, and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran has the second largest proven natural gas reserves in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum reserves.
  
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  Iraq
  Iraq (/ɪˈræk/ or ⁱ/ɪˈrɑːk/; Arabic: العراق‎ al-‘Irāq); officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic:  جمهورية العراق (help·info) Jumhūriyyat al-‘Irāq), is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert.
  Iraq borders Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, Jordan to the southwest and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south. Iraq has a narrow section of coastline measuring 58 km (36 mi) on the northern Persian Gulf. The capital city, Baghdad is in the center-east of the country.
  Two major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, run through the center of Iraq, flowing from northwest to southeast. These provide Iraq with agriculturally capable land and contrast with the steppe and desert landscape that covers most of Western Asia.
  Historically, Iraq was the center of the Abbasid Arabic Islamic Empire. Iraq has been known to the west by the Greek toponym 'Mesopotamia' (Land between the rivers) and has been home to continuous successive civilizations since the 6th millennium BC. The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers is often referred to as the cradle of civilization and the birthplace of writing, law and the wheel. At different periods in its history, Iraq was the center of the indigenous Akkadian, Sumerian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Abbasid empires. It was also part of the Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sassanid, Roman, Rashidun, Umayyad, Mongol, Safavid, Afsharid, and Ottoman empires, and under British control as a League of Nations mandate.
  
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  Isfahan
  Isfahan (Persian: اصفهان‎ Esfahān), historically also rendered in English as Ispahan, Sepahan or Hispahan, is the capital of Isfahan Province in Iran, located about 340 km south of Tehran. It has a population of 1,583,609 and is Iran's third largest city after Tehran and Mashhad. The Isfahan metropolitan area had a population of 3,430,353 in the 2006 Census, the second most populous metropolitan area in Iran after Tehran.
  The cities of Zarrinshahr, Fooladshahr and Najafabad, Se-deh , Shahin-shahr, Mobarakeh, Falavarjan and chiarmahin all constitute the metropolitan city of Isfahan.
  Isfahan is located on the main north-south and east-west routes crossing Iran, and was once one of the largest cities in the world. It flourished from 1050 to 1722, particularly in the 16th century under the Safavid dynasty, when it became the capital of Persia for the second time in its history. Even today, the city retains much of its past glory. It is famous for its Islamic architecture, with many beautiful boulevards, covered bridges, palaces, mosques, and minarets. This led to the Persian proverb "'Esfahān nesf-e jahān ast" (Isfahan is half of the world).
  
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  Karbala
  Karbala (Arabic: كربلاء‎; BGN: Al-Karbalā’; also referred to as Karbalā' al-Muqaddasah) is a city in Iraq, located about 100 km (62 mi) southwest of Baghdad. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorate, and has an estimated population of 572,300 people (2003).
  The city, best known as the location of the Battle of Karbala (680), is amongst the holiest cities for Shia Muslims after Mecca and Medina. It is home to the Imam Hussein Shrine. Karbala is famous as the site of the martyrdom of Hussein ibn Ali (Imam Hussein), and commemorations are held by millions of Shias annually to remember it. Karbala is considered sacred by all Shias.
  There are several theories as to the origin of the name Karbala. One traditional hypothesis is Turkish geographer Yaqut al-Hamawi's belief that the name is an alternate Arabic feminine version of karbalah "soft earth". Another theory is that the name came from the Aramaic root Karb or Qarb; meaning "Near", and Alah; meaning God. Hence, the word 'Karbala' signifies 'Near God'. Alternatively, it has been said to be derived from the Aramaic word Kora, meaning place for making bricks, for the nearby ancient city of Babil, hence Karbabil, which became Karbala by contraction.
  
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  Kashgar
  Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately 3.5 million.
  The city covers an area of 15 km². The altitude averages 1,289 m/4,282 ft. above sea level. The city is located in the western extremity of China, near the border with Tajikistan.
  The modern Chinese name is 喀什 (Kāshí), a shortened form of the longer and less-frequently used (simplified Chinese: 喀什噶尔; traditional Chinese: 喀什噶爾; pinyin: Kāshígé’ěr). Ptolemy (AD 90-168), in his Geography, Chapter 15.3A, refers to Kashgar as “Kasia”. The name is Middle Iranic in its origin, meaning "Kush Mountains" (from gar/ghar, "mountain", and Kush/Kâsh, being the same as the ethnonym of the Kushan Empire and the Hindukush mountains in the neighboring Afghanistan.
  An early Chinese name was 疏勒 (now Shule County), variously romanized as Su-leh, Sulei, Shule, Shu-le', She-le, Shu-lo or Sha-le, which perhaps represents either an original Solek or Sorak.^{[citation needed]}
  
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  Kazakhstan
  Kazakhstan (ⁱ/ˌkɑːzəkˈstɑːn/ or /ˌkæzəkˈstæn/) (Kazakh: Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, pronounced [qɑzɑqstɑ́n]; Russian: Казахстан [kəzɐxˈstan]), officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Europe. The ninth largest country in the world by land area, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of 2,727,300 square kilometres (1,053,000 sq mi) is larger than Western Europe. It is neighbored clockwise from the north by Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and also borders on a significant part of the Caspian Sea. Although Kazakhstan does not share a border with Mongolia, its most easterly point is only 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Mongolia's western tip. The terrain of Kazakhstan ranges from flatlands, steppes, taigas, rock-canyons, hills, deltas, and snow-capped mountains to deserts. With 16.6 million people (2011 estimate) Kazakhstan has the 62nd largest population in the world, though its population density is less than 6 people per square kilometre (15 per sq. mi.). The capital was moved in 1998 from Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, to Astana.
  
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  Khiva
  Khiva (Uzbek: Xiva / Хива; Persian: خیوه / Khiveh‎; Russian: Хива; alternative or historical names include Khorasam, Khoresm, Khwarezm, Khwarizm, Khwarazm, Chorezm, and Persian: خوارزم‎) is a city of approximately 50,000 people located in Xorazm Province, Uzbekistan. It is the former capital of Khwarezmia and the Khanate of Khiva. Itchan Kala in Khiva was the first site in Uzbekistan to be inscribed in the World Heritage List (1991).
  In the early part of its history, the inhabitants of the area were from Iranian stock and spoke an Eastern Iranian language called Khwarezmian. Subsequently the Iranic ruling class was replaced by Turks in the 10th century A.D, and the region gradually tuned into an area with a majority of Turkic speakers.
  The city of Khiva was first recorded by Muslim travellers in the 10th century, although archaeologists assert that the city has existed since the 6th century. By the early 17th century, Khiva had become the capital of the Khanate of Khiva, ruled by a branch of the Astrakhans, a Genghisid dynasty.
  
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  Kingdom of León
  The Kingdom of León (Asturian: Reinu de Llión, Spanish: Reino de León, Galician: Reino de León, Portuguese: Reino de Leão, Latin: Regnum Legionense) was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in AD 910 when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their capital from Oviedo to the city of León. The County of Portugal separated to become the independent Kingdom of Portugal in 1139 and the eastern, inland part of León was joined to the Kingdom of Castile in 1230.
  From 1296 to 1301, the Kingdom of León was again independent and after the re-union with Castile remained a kingdom until 1833, but as part of a united Spain. In the Royal Decree of 30 November 1833, the Kingdom of León was considered one of the Spanish regions and divided into the provinces of León, Zamora and Salamanca. In 1978, these three provinces of the region of León were included along with six provinces of the historic region of Old Castile to create the autonomous community of Castile and León.
  
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  Kyrgyzstan
  Kyrgyzstan ( /ˈkɜrɡɨstæn/ KUR-gi-stan;Kyrgyz & Russian: Кыргызстан, Kyrgyzstan, or Киргизия, Kirgiziya), officially the Kyrgyz Republic is a nation located in Central Asia. Landlocked and mountainous, Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east. Its capital and largest city is Bishkek.
  Kyrgyzstan is officially a democratic parliamentary republic. A revolution in April 2010 overthrew the former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev and resulted in the adoption of a new constitution and the appointment of an interim government. Presidential elections were held in November 2011.
  Kyrgyzstan is one of the active members of the Turkic Council and the TÜRKSOY community. The national language, Kyrgyz, is also closely related to the other Turkic languages, with which it shares strong cultural and historical ties.
  Additionally, Kyrgyzstan is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Eurasian Economic Community, the Non-aligned movement and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
  
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  Meerut
  Meerut (Hindi: मेरठ, Urdu: میرٹھ) is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is an ancient city with settlements dating back to the Indus Valley civilization having been found in and around the area. The city lies 70 km (43 mi) northeast of the national capital New Delhi, and 453 km (281 mi) northwest of the state capital, Lucknow. It is the second largest city in the National Capital Region of India (the largest being Delhi), the 16th largest metropolitan area and 25^th largest city in India. It ranked 292 in 2006 and 242 in 2010 in the list of largest cities and urban areas in the world. The city covers an area of about 172 km² (66 sq mi) while the total area is 198 km² (76 sq mi), third largest in Uttar Pradesh after Kanpur and Lucknow . It has the 2^nd largest army cantonment in the country.^{[citation needed]} The city is one of the largest producers of sports goods, and the largest producer of musical instruments in India. The city is also an education hub in western Uttar Pradesh.
  
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  Ming dynasty
  The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China for 276 years (1368–1644) following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, described by some as "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Han Chinese. Although the Ming capital Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the Shun Dynasty, soon replaced by the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty), regimes loyal to the Ming throne—collectively called the Southern Ming—survived until 1662.
  Ming rule saw the construction of a vast navy and a standing army of one million troops. Although private maritime trade and official tribute missions from China had taken place in previous dynasties, the tributary fleet under the Muslim eunuch admiral Zheng He in the 15th century far surpassed all others in size. There were enormous construction projects, including the restoration of the Grand Canal and the Great Wall and the establishment of the Forbidden City in Beijing during the first quarter of the 15th century. Estimates for the late-Ming population vary from 160 to 200 million.
  
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  Ming Dynasty
  The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China for 276 years (1368–1644) following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, described by some as "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Han Chinese. Although the Ming capital Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the Shun Dynasty, soon replaced by the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty), regimes loyal to the Ming throne—collectively called the Southern Ming—survived until 1662.
  Ming rule saw the construction of a vast navy and a standing army of one million troops. Although private maritime trade and official tribute missions from China had taken place in previous dynasties, the tributary fleet under the Muslim eunuch admiral Zheng He in the 15th century far surpassed all others in size. There were enormous construction projects, including the restoration of the Grand Canal and the Great Wall and the establishment of the Forbidden City in Beijing during the first quarter of the 15th century. Estimates for the late-Ming population vary from 160 to 200 million.
  
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  Mongolia
  Mongolia ⁱ/mɒŋˈɡoʊliə/ (Mongolian:  Монгол улс (help·info), literally Mongol country/state) is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest city, is home to about 45% of the population. Mongolia's political system is a parliamentary republic.
  The area of what is now Mongolia has been ruled by various nomadic empires, including the Xiongnu, the Xianbei, the Rouran, the Gökturks and others. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan in 1206. After the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols returned to their earlier pattern of constant internal conflict and occasional raids on the Chinese borderlands. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Mongolia came under the influence of Tibetan Buddhism. At the end of the 17th century, all of Mongolia had been incorporated into the area ruled by the Qing Dynasty. During the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, Mongolia declared independence, but had to struggle until 1921 to firmly establish de facto independence from the Republic of China, and until 1945 to gain international recognition.
  
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  Moscow
  Moscow ( /ˈmɒskaʊ/ or /ˈmɒskoʊ/; Russian: Москва́, tr. Moskva; IPA: [mɐˈskva] ( listen)) is the capital and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural and scientific center of Russia and the continent. Moscow is the northernmost megacity on Earth, the most populous city in Europe, and the 6th largest city proper in the world. Its population, according to the results of the 2010 Census, is 11,503,501. Based on Forbes 2011, Moscow has the largest community of billionaires in the world.
  Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia. In the course of its history the city has served as the capital of a progression of states, from the medieval Grand Duchy of Moscow and the subsequent Tsardom of Russia to the Soviet Union. Moscow is the site of the Moscow Kremlin, an ancient fortress that is today the residence of the Russian President and of the executive branch of the Government of Russia. The Kremlin is also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament (the State Duma and the Federation Council) also sit in Moscow.
  
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  Mughal Empire
  The Mughal Empire, Shahan-e-Gurkhani, Shahan-e-Mughal, Sultanate-e-Mughliya, Daulat-e-Mughliya (Persian: شاهان گورکانی‎ Shāhān-e Gūrkānī; Urdu: مغلیہ سلطنت; self-designation: گوركانى Gūrkānī ),‎ or Mogul (also Moghul) Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were direct descendants of Genghis Khan through Chagatai Khan and Timur. The Mughal Empire began in 1526; at the height of their power in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, they controlled most of the Indian Subcontinent—extending from Bengal in the east to Balochistan in the west, Kashmir in the north to the Kaveri basin in the south. According to "Babur-Nama", Kazakh tribal aristocracy along with number of other Turkic soldiers participated actively in the campaign of Babur, which made great influence over the development of Mughal Empire. Its population at that time has been estimated as between 110 and 150 million, over a territory of more than 3.2 million square kilometres (1.2 million square miles).
  
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  Multan
  Multan (Saraiki, Punjabi, Urdu: : مُلتان  pronunciation (help·info)), is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan.According to area its 3rd largest city of Pakistan,but according to population its on 5th number. It is located in the southern part of the province on the east bank of the Chenab River, more or less in the geographic centre of the country and about 562 km (349 mi) from Islamabad, 356 km (221 mi) from Lahore and 966 km (600 mi) from Karachi. Multan District has a population of 3.1 million (1998).
  Multan is known as the City of Sufis or City of Saints and Madinah-Tul-Awleyah due to the large number of shrines and Sufi saints from the city. According to area its 3rd largest city of Pakistan,but according to population its on 3rd number. The city is full of bazaars, mosques, shrines and ornate tombs. Multan is also the birthplace of Fariduddin Ganjshakar popularly known as Baba Farid who is considered a father of Punjabi language and one of the pioneers in developing Shahmukhī script of Punjabi language which was later adopted by almost all Muslim saints and intellectuals in Punjab region and even in whole of India. Celebrated sufi saint of Punjab and North India Khwaja Ghulam Farid also adopted Shahmukhī script of Punjabi language to convey his teachings.Multan is located in a bend created by five rivers of central Pakistan. The Sutlej River separates it from Bahawalpur and the Chenab River from Muzaffar Garh. The city has grown to become an influential political and economical center for the country, with a dry port and excellent transport links. Multan is famous for its crops: wheat, cotton and sugar cane as well as mangoes, citrus, guavas and pomegranates.
  
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  Nomad
  Nomadic people (Greek: νομάδες, nomádes, "those who let pasture herds"), commonly known as itinerants in modern-day contexts, are communities of people who move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 30-40 million nomads in the world.
  Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic, but traditional nomadic behavior is increasingly rare in industrialized countries. Nomadic cultures are discussed in three categories according to economic specialization: hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads, and "peripatetic nomads".
  Nomadic hunting and gathering, following seasonally available wild plants and game, is by far the oldest human subsistence method. Pastoralists raise herds, driving them or moving with them, in patterns that normally avoid depleting pastures beyond their ability to recover. Peripatetic nomads, who offer the skills of a craft or trade to those with whom they travel, are most common in industrialized nations.
  Many groups of 'nomadic' hunter-gatherers (also known as foragers) moved from campsite to campsite, following game and wild fruits and vegetables. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were hunter-gatherers until around 10,000 years ago.
  
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  Orenburg
  Orenburg (Russian: Оренбу́рг; IPA: [ərʲɪnˈburk]) is a transcontinental city on the Ural River and the administrative center of Orenburg Oblast, Russia. It lies 1,478 kilometers (918 mi) southeast of Moscow, very close to the border with Kazakhstan. Population: 546,987 (2010 Census preliminary results); 549,361 (2002 Census); 546,501 (1989 Census). The highest point is at 154.4 m. As of 2012, the mayor of the city is Yury Mishcheryakov.
  The Russian Empire began plans for the expansion into Asia by construction of an eastern frontier fortress town in the southern Ural region to be named Orenburg in 1734. The colonists originally founded a settlement in 1735 at the confluence of the Ural River with the Or River. The town's name meant "fortress near the Or," as Burg is German for fortress. This settlement changed its name in 1739 to Orsk. An attempt was made to found another Orenburg about 175 kilometers (109 mi) west at a location called Krasnogor, or "Red Hill," in 1741, but this settlement failed. A third Orenburg was successfully established by Ivan Neplyuyev at its present location approximately 250 kilometers (160 mi) west down the Ural from Orsk in 1743. This third Orenburg functioned as an important military outpost on the frontier with the nomadic Kazakhs. It became the center for the Orenburg Cossacks.
  
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  Otrar
  Otrar or Utrar (Kazakh: Отырар Otırar; also called Farab) is a Central Asian ghost town that was a city located along the Silk Road in Kazakhstan. Otrar was an important town in the history of Central Asia, situated on the borders of settled and agricultural civilizations. It was the center of a great oasis and political district, commanding a key point connecting Kazakhstan with China, Europe, Near and Middle East, Siberia and Ural.
  Syr Darya played a special role in the life of Otrar and the whole region, and its waters were used for irrigation. They were also known for being abundant with fish and its shores were covered with rich vegetation and were also home to many birds and animals. Otrar is mentioned in numerous sources such as medieval Arab, Persian and Turkish authors. These sources refer to it as one of the Zhetysu (Seven Rivers) towns. The town was situated at the junction of different geographical landscapes and was at the intersection of the caravan ways of the Great Silk Road. Otrar, being at the junction of the two great rivers, was the center of the large agricultural region and, being near the foothills of the Karatau mountains, became one of the supporting fortresses of the nomads wandering in the steppes. From Otrar, along the Arys, roads spread out to Taraz, Balasagun and further on to East Turkestan; along the Syr Darya an old road went up to Shash, Sogd and then to Merv and Nishapur, and another road went down to Pre-Aral and Ural. Another well known road ran through Kzylkum moving westward to Khorezm and on to the Volga region, the Black Sea and the Caucasus.
  
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  Pakistan
  Pakistan (ⁱ/ˈpækɨstæn/ or ⁱ/pɑːkiˈstɑːn/; Urdu: پاکستان) (Urdu pronunciation: [paːkɪˈst̪aːn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکستان), is a sovereign country in South Asia. It sits at the crossroads of the strategically important regions of South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west and north, Iran to the southwest and China in the far northeast. It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, and it shares a marine border with Oman.
  The territory of modern Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures, including the Neolithic Mehrgarh and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation, and has undergone invasions or settlements by Hindu, Persian, Indo-Greek, Islamic, Turco-Mongol, Afghan and Sikh cultures. Thus the area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Indian Mauryan Empire, the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the Arab Umayyad Caliphate, the Mongol Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Durrani Empire, the Sikh Empire and the British Empire. As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and India's struggle for independence, Pakistan was created in 1947 as an independent nation for Muslims from the regions in the east and west of India where there was a Muslim majority. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a new constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic. A civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh.
  
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  Ryazan
  Ryazan (Russian: Ряза́нь; IPA: [rʲɪˈzanʲ]) is a city and the administrative center of Ryazan Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Oka River 196 kilometers (122 mi) southeast of Moscow. Population: 525,062 (2010 Census preliminary results); 521,560 (2002 Census); 514,638 (1989 Census).
  It is argued that the Ryazan kremlin was founded in 800, by Slavic settlers,^{[citation needed]} as a part of their drive into territory previously populated by Finnic peoples.^{[citation needed]} Initially it was built of wood, gradually replaced by masonry. The oldest preserved part of the kremlin dates back to the 12th century.
  However, the first written mention of the city, under the name of Pereslavl, dates to 1095. At that time the city was part of the independent Principality of Ryazan, which had existed since 1078 and which was centered on the old city of Ryazan. The first ruler of Ryazan was supposedly Yaroslav Sviatoslavich, Prince of Ryazan and Murom (cities of Kievan Rus').
  The lands of Ryazan, situated on the border of forest and steppe, suffered numerous invasions from the south as well as from the north, carried out by a variety of military forces including Cumans, but particularly the Principality was in a conflict with Vladimir-Suzdal. By the end of the 12th century, the capital of Duchy was burnt several times by the armies of Suzdal. Ryazan was the first Russian city to be sacked by the Mongol horde of Batu Khan. On December 21, 1237, it was thoroughly devastated and never fully recovered. As result of the sack, the seat of the principality was moved about 55 kilometers (34 mi) to the town of Pereslavl-Ryazansky, which subsequently took the name of the destroyed capital. The site of the old capital now carries the name of Staraya Ryazan (Old Ryazan), close to Spassk-Ryazansky.
  
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  Samarkand
  Coordinates: 39°39′15″N 66°57′35″E / 39.65417°N 66.95972°E / 39.65417; 66.95972
  Samarkand (Tajik: Самарқанд; Persian: سمرقند‎; Uzbek: Samarqand; from Sogdian: "Stone Fort" or "Rock Town") is the second-largest city in Uzbekistan and the capital of Samarqand Province. The city is most noted for its central position on the Silk Road between China and the West, and for being an Islamic centre for scholarly study. In the 14th century it became the capital of the empire of Timur (Tamerlane) and is the site of his mausoleum (the Gur-e Amir). The Bibi-Khanym Mosque remains one of the city's most notable landmarks. The Registan was the ancient center of the city.
  In 2001, UNESCO added the city to its World Heritage List as Samarkand – Crossroads of Cultures.
  The city was known by an abbreviated name of Marakanda when Alexander the Great took it in 332BC. There are various theories of how Marakanda evolved into Samarkanda/Samarkan. One derives the name from the Old Persian asmara, "stone", "rock", and Sogdian kand, "fort", "town". Others less convincingly derive the name from the old Turkic "Semiz-Kent" meaning "Rich City".^{[citation needed]}. Since the name Marakanda was already in existence 2300 years ago and long before anyone had heard of Turks in that region of Transoxiana, this version is likely a folk etymology.
  
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  Shahrisabz
  Shakhrisabz (Uzbek: Шаҳрисабз Shahrisabz; Persian: شهر سبز‎ shahr-i sabz; Russian: Шахрисабз), is a city in Uzbekistan located approximately 80 km south of Samarkand with the population of 53,000 (1991). It is located at the altitude of 622 m. Once a major city of Central Asia, it is primarily known today as the birthplace of 14th century Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur. Its name (شهر سبز) means "green/verdant city" in Persian.
  Formerly known as Kesh (i.e., "heart-pleasing") and tentatively identified with the ancient Nautaca Shahrisabz should be counted among Central Asia’s most ancient cities. It was founded more than 2700 years ago.
  From the 6th to 4th centuries BC it was a part of Akhemenid empire.
  Alexander the Great's general Ptolemy captured the satrap of Bactria and pretender to the Persian throne, Bessus, at Nautaca thus ending the once great Achaemenid Empire. Alexander the Great chose to spend his winters and met his wife Roxanna in the area in 328-327 BC.
  From 4th to 8th century Kesh was one of urban centers of Sogdiana.
  
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  Smyrna
  Smyrna (Ancient Greek: Σμύρνη or Σμύρνα) was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey. The first site, probably founded indigenously, rose to prominence during the Archaic Period as one of the principal ancient Greek settlements in western Anatolia. The second, whose foundation is associated with Alexander the Great, reached metropolitan proportions during the period of the Roman Empire. Most of the present-day remains date from the Roman era, the majority from after a 2nd century AD earthquake.
  In practical terms, a distinction is often made between Old Smyrna, the initial settlement founded around the 11th century BC, first as an Aeolian settlement, and later taken over and developed during the Archaic Period by the Ionians, and Smyrna proper, the new city moved into from the older one as of the 4th century BC and whose foundation was inspired, and perhaps also initiated, by Alexander the Great.
  
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  Syria
  Syria (/ˈsɪriə/ ( listen) SIRR-ee-ə; Arabic: سورية‎ Sūriyya or سوريا Sūryā; Syriac: ܣܘܪܝܐ; Kurdish: Sûrî), officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية العربية السورية‎ al-Jumhūriyyah al-‘Arabīyah as-Sūriyyah  Arabic pronunciation (help·info)), is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest.
  In English, the name Syria was formerly synonymous with the Levant, known in Arabic as Sham, while the modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the Eblan civilization of the third millennium BC. In the Islamic era, its capital city, Damascus, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate, and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt.
  The population of Syria is 74% Sunni, 12% Alawi, 10% Christian, and 3% Druze. Combined, 87% of the Syrian population is Muslim, while the other 10% is Christian, which includes mainly Arab Christians but also Assyrians and Armenians. Major ethnic minorities in Syria include Kurds (9%), Assyrians, Armenians, Turkmens and Circassians. The majority of the population is Arab (90%).
  
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  Tobolsk
  Tobolsk (Russian: Тобо́льск) is a town in Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh Rivers. It is a historic capital of Siberia. Population: 99,698 (2010 Census preliminary results); 92,880 (2002 Census); 94,143 (1989 Census).
  It was founded by Yermak Timofeyevich's Cossacks in 1585–1586 during the first Russian advance into Siberia near the ruins of the Khanate of Sibir's capital, Qashliq. It became the seat of the Viceroy of Siberia and prospered on trade with China and Bukhara. It was there that the first school, theater, and newspaper in Siberia were established. After the Swedish defeat at Poltava in 1709, large numbers of prisoners were sent to Tobolsk. They numbered about 25% of the total population. Many POWs were not repatriated until the 1720s, and some of them settled permanently in Tobolsk.
  After administrative division of the territory, Tobolsk remained the seat of the Governor-General of Western Siberia until the seat was moved to Omsk in the 1820s or 1830s. Bowing to the city's authority, many Siberian towns, including Omsk, Tyumen, and Tomsk, had their original arms display the Tobolsk insignia. Omsk honors the legacy to this day.
  
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  Tulamba
  Tulamba (Urdu: تلمبہ) or Tulambah is a small city in Punjab, Pakistan. A native of Tulamba is referred to as a Tulmabvi. It's situated on the eastern edge of the Ravi River, between the cities of Abdul Hakeem and Mian Channu. Earlier it belonged to the district of Multan, but in 1985 Tulamba was included in the newly born district of Khanewal. Tulamba's population is nearly 50,000. The spoken language is Rachnavi Punjabi (also called Jangli).
  Tulamba is more than 2500 years old. Local legend holds that Tulamba existed in the time of Noah. Tulamba faced many armies as it was on the way to the famous Multan. The forces coming from North and West had to pass Tulamba to get to Multan.
  Archaeological digs have uncovered five distinct eras. The first era belongs to the Moi tribe. The remaining four belong to Greek, Sasani, Budh, Hindu and Muslim civilizations. The coins of several governments were found here, from Aplodots Sir Megas to Muhammad Ghauri.
  When Alexander the Great invaded the Indian sub-continent, he also came to Tulamba. At that time Tulamba was ruled by the Moi people. They were very brave and courageous, and Alexander faced difficulties here.
  
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  Turkey
  Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia (mostly in the Anatolian peninsula) and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea is to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between East Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.
  Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The vast majority of the population are Muslims. The country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who constitute 18% of the population.
  
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  Turkmenistan
  Turkmenistan (ⁱ/tɜrkˈmɛnɨstæn/ or ⁱ/tɜrkmɛnɨˈstɑːn/; Turkmen: Türkmenistan), formerly also known as Turkmenia (Russian: Туркмения), is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (Turkmen SSR). Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states. It is bordered by Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest, Uzbekistan to the east and northeast, Kazakhstan to the north and northwest and the Caspian Sea to the west.
  Turkmenistan's GDP growth rate of 11% in 2010^[update] ranks 4th in the world, but these figures are subject to wide margins of error. It possesses the world's fourth largest reserves of natural gas resources. Although it is wealthy in natural resources in certain areas, most of the country is covered by the Karakum (Black Sand) Desert.
  The Turkmen government operates as a single-party system. Turkmenistan was ruled by President for Life Saparmurat Niyazov (called "Türkmenbaşy" — "leader of the Turkmens") until his sudden death on 21 December 2006. Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov was elected the new president on 11 February 2007.
  
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  Tyumen
  Tyumen (Russian: Тюме́нь; IPA: [tʲʉˈmʲenʲ] ( listen)) is the largest city and the administrative center of Tyumen Oblast, Russia, located on the Tura River 2,144 kilometers (1,332 mi) east of Moscow. Population: 581,758 (2010 Census preliminary results); 510,719 (2002 Census); 476,869 (1989 Census).
  Tyumen is the oldest Russian settlement in Siberia. Founded in 1586 to support Russia's eastward expansion, the city has remained one of the most important industrial and economic centers east of the Ural Mountains. Located at the junction of several important trade routes and with easy access to navigable waterways, Tyumen rapidly developed from a small military settlement to a large commercial and industrial city. The central part of Old Tyumen retains many historic buildings from throughout the city's history.
  Today Tyumen is one of Russia's most important business centers and is prominent in the political and cultural life of Russia.
  Tyumen is the transportation hub and industrial center of Tyumen Oblast—a vast oil-rich region stretching from the Kazakh border to the Arctic Ocean—as well as the home of many companies active in Russia's oil and gas industry.
  
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  Urgench
  Urgench (Uzbek: Urganch/Урганч; Persian: گرگانج / Gorganch‎) is a city (1999 pop. 139,100) in western Uzbekistan. It is the capital of the Khorezm Province, on the Amu Darya River and the Shavat canal. The city is situated 450 km west of Bukhara across the Kyzyl Kum Desert. It is located at latitude 41° 32' 60N longitude 60° 37' 60E, at an altitude of 91 meters.
  The history of the city goes back to the second half of the 18th century. The city should not be confused with the like-named city of Konya-Urgench (also known as "Old Urgench" or "Gurgench") in Turkmenistan. The city of Old Urgench was relocated to Urgench after the Amu Darya river changed its course in the 16th century, leaving the old town high and dry and without water. New Urgench was a trade center of the Khanate of Khiva.
  Modern Urgench is a Soviet-style city with cotton motifs adorning many objects, from street lights to apartment houses. Of note is a monument to the twenty Komsomol members killed by Tekke basmachi on the banks of the Syr Darya in 1922, and a large statue to Muhammed al-Khwarizmi, the 9th century local mathematician who revolutionised algebra, outside the Hotel Urgench. A flat, dry place, this hotel is the main gateway for tourists to Khiva 35 kilometres to the southeast, whose old city, known as Itchan Kala, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  
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  Uzbekistan
  Uzbekistan ⁱ/ʊzˌbɛkɨˈstɑːn/, officially the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzbek: O‘zbekiston Respublikasi, Ўзбекистон Республикаси) is the only doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of only two such countries worldwide. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south. Before 1991, it was part of the Soviet Union.
  Uzbekistan is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia.
  Once part of the Persian Samanid and later Timurid empires, the region was conquered in the early 16th century by Uzbek nomads, who spoke an Eastern Turkic language. Most of Uzbekistan’s population today belong to the Uzbek ethnic group and speak the Uzbek language, one of the family of Turkic languages.
  Uzbekistan was incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century, and in 1924 became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, known as the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR). It became independent on 31 August 1991 (officially, from the following day).
  
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  Yuan Dynasty
  The Yuan Dynasty (Chinese: 元朝, p Yuán Cháo; Mongolian: Их Юань улс) was the branch of Mongol Borjigin dynasty established by Kublai Khan. Although the Mongols had ruled northern China for decades, it was not until 1271 that Kublai Khan officially proclaimed the dynasty in the traditional Chinese style. His realm – the Great Yuan Empire (t 大元帝國, s 大元帝国, p Dà Yuán Dìguó) – was by this point isolated from the other khanates and controlled only most of present-day China and its surrounding areas including modern Mongolia. It was the first non-Han dynasty to rule all of China and lasted until 1368, after which its remnants in Mongolia were known as the Northern Yuan.
  The Yuan is considered both a successor to the Mongol Empire and as an imperial Chinese dynasty. In official Chinese histories, the Yuan Dynasty bore the Mandate of Heaven, following the Song Dynasty and preceding the Ming Dynasty. Although the dynasty was established by Kublai Khan, he placed his grandfather Genghis Khan on the imperial records as the official founder of the dynasty as Taizu.
  
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  Yuan dynasty
  The Yuan Dynasty (Chinese: 元朝, p Yuán Cháo; Mongolian: Их Юань улс) was the branch of Mongol Borjigin dynasty established by Kublai Khan. Although the Mongols had ruled northern China for decades, it was not until 1271 that Kublai Khan officially proclaimed the dynasty in the traditional Chinese style. His realm – the Great Yuan Empire (t 大元帝國, s 大元帝国, p Dà Yuán Dìguó) – was by this point isolated from the other khanates and controlled only most of present-day China and its surrounding areas including modern Mongolia. It was the first non-Han dynasty to rule all of China and lasted until 1368, after which its remnants in Mongolia were known as the Northern Yuan.
  The Yuan is considered both a successor to the Mongol Empire and as an imperial Chinese dynasty. In official Chinese histories, the Yuan Dynasty bore the Mandate of Heaven, following the Song Dynasty and preceding the Ming Dynasty. Although the dynasty was established by Kublai Khan, he placed his grandfather Genghis Khan on the imperial records as the official founder of the dynasty as Taizu.
  
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  Ahmad ibn Arabshah
  Abu Muhammad Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Ibrahim or known as Muhammad ibn Arabshah (Arabic: أحمد بن عربشاه ), (1389–1450), was a writer and traveller who lived under the reign of Timur (1370–1405).
  He was born and grew up in Damascus. Later when Timur invaded Syria, he moved to Samarkand and later to Transoxiana. He later moved to Adarna and worked in the court of Sultan Muhammad Uthman translating Arabic books to Turkish and Persian. He later returned back to Damascus after having been absent from the city for 23 years. Later he moved to Egypt and died there.
  The famous Muslim scholar, Abd al-Wahhab ibn Arabshah, is his son.
  
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  Ahmad Ibn Arabshah
  Abu Muhammad Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Ibrahim or known as Muhammad ibn Arabshah (Arabic: أحمد بن عربشاه ), (1389–1450), was a writer and traveller who lived under the reign of Timur (1370–1405).
  He was born and grew up in Damascus. Later when Timur invaded Syria, he moved to Samarkand and later to Transoxiana. He later moved to Adarna and worked in the court of Sultan Muhammad Uthman translating Arabic books to Turkish and Persian. He later returned back to Damascus after having been absent from the city for 23 years. Later he moved to Egypt and died there.
  The famous Muslim scholar, Abd al-Wahhab ibn Arabshah, is his son.
  
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  Akbar
  Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad Akbar (Persian: جلال الدین محمد اکبر ‎ - Jalāl ud-Dīn Muḥammad Akbar), also known as Shahanshah Akbar-e-Azam or Akbar the Great (14 October 1542  – 27 October 1605), was the third Mughal Emperor. He was of Timurid descent; the son of Emperor Humayun, and the grandson of the Mughal Emperor Zaheeruddin Muhammad Babur, the ruler who founded the Mughal dynasty in India. At the end of his reign in 1605 the Mughal empire covered most of northern and central India. He is most appreciated for having a liberal outlook on all faiths and beliefs and during his era, culture and art reached a zenith as compared to his predecessors.
  Akbar was 13 years old when he ascended the Mughal throne in Delhi (February 1556), following the death of his father Humayun. During his reign, he eliminated military threats from the powerful Pashtun descendants of Sher Shah Suri, and at the Second Battle of Panipat he decisively defeated the newly self-declared Hindu king Hemu. It took him nearly two more decades to consolidate his power and bring all the parts of northern and central India into his direct realm. He influenced the whole of the Indian Subcontinent as he ruled a greater part of it as an emperor. As an emperor, Akbar solidified his rule by pursuing diplomacy with the powerful Hindu Rajput caste, and by marrying Rajput princesses.
  
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  Ali
  Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Arabic: علي بن أﺑﻲ طالب, Transliteration: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, [ʕaliː ibn ʔæbiː t̪ˤɑːlib]; 13^thRajab, 24 BH–21^stRamaḍān, 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661). The son of Abu Talib, Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of Islamic prophet Muhammad, ruling over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam.Sunnis consider Ali the fourth and final of the Rashidun (rightly guided Caliphs), while Shias regard Ali as the first Imam and consider him and his descendants the rightful successors to Muhammad, all of which are members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of Muhammad. This disagreement split the Ummah (Muslim community) into the Sunni and Shia branches.
  Muslim sources, especially Shia ones, state that since Muhammad's time, Ali was the only person born in the Kaaba sanctuary in Mecca, the holiest place in Islam. His father was Abu Talib and his mother was Fatima bint Asad, but he was raised in the household of Muhammad, who himself was raised by Abu Talib, Muhammad's uncle, and Ali's father. When Muhammad reported receiving a divine revelation, Ali was the first male to accept his message, dedicating his life to the cause of Islam.
  
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  Antonio Vivaldi
  Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741), nicknamed il Prete Rosso ("The Red Priest") because of his red hair, was an ItalianBaroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe. Vivaldi is known mainly for composing instrumental concertos, especially for the violin, as well as sacred choral works and over 40 operas. His best known work is a series of violin concertos known as The Four Seasons.
  Many of his compositions were written for the female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children where Vivaldi worked from 1703 to 1715 and from 1723 to 1740. Vivaldi also had some success with stagings of his operas in Venice, Mantua and Vienna. After meeting the Emperor Charles VI, Vivaldi moved to Vienna hoping for preferment. The Emperor died soon after Vivaldi's arrival, and the composer died a pauper, without a steady source of income.
  
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  Aurangzeb
  Abul Muzaffar Muhiu 'd-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb (Persian/Urdu: ابلمظفر محىالدين محمداورنگزيب, Hindi: अबुल मुज़फ्फर मुहिउद्दीन मुहम्मद औरंगज़ेब आलमगीर) (4 November [O.S. 25 October] 1618 – 3 March [O.S. 20 February] 1707), is more popularly known as Aurangzeb, or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir ("Conquerer of the World"), he was the sixth Mughal Emperor, whose reign lasted for 49 years, from 1658 until his death in 1707.
  Aurangzeb was a notable expansionist and was also among the wealthiest of the previous Mughal rulers with an annual yearly tribute of £38,624,680 (in the year 1690), during his lifetime victories in the south expanded the Mughal Empire to more than 1.25 million square miles, he ruled over more than 150 million subjects, constituting nearly one fourth of the world's population.
  Aurangzeb was born the third son and sixth child of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal (Arjumand Bāno Begam) in Dahod on the way to Ujjain. Aurangzeb was born when Shah Jahan was a governor of Gujarat suba. In June 1626, after an unsuccessful rebellion by his father, Aurangzeb and his brother Dara Shikoh were kept as hostages under Nur Jahan at there grandfather Jahangir's Lahore court. On 26 February 1628, Shah Jahan was officially declared the Mughal Emperor, and then Aurangzeb returned to Agra fort to live with his parents and Since then Aurangzeb received his formal education in Arabic and Persian. His daily allowance were fixed to 500, while he spent his allowance in religious education and the study of history, he accused his brothers of alcoholism and womanizing.
  
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  Babur
  Zahir-ud-din Muhammad Babur (February 14, 1483 – December 26, 1530; sometimes also spelt Baber or Babar) was a conqueror from Central Asia who, following a series of setbacks, finally succeeded in laying the basis for the Mughal dynasty in the Indian Subcontinent and became the first Mughal emperor. He was a direct descendant of Timur through his father, and a descendant also of Genghis Khan through his mother. Babur identified his lineage as Timurid and Chaghatay-Turkic. He was greatly influenced by Persian culture and this affected both his own actions and those of his successors, giving rise to a significant expansion of the Persianate ethos in the Indian subcontinent.
  Ẓahīr ad-Dīn Muḥammad (Persian: ﻇﻬﻴﺮﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ محمد‎, also known by his royal titles as al-ṣultānu 'l-ʿazam wa 'l-ḫāqān al-mukkarram bādshāh-e ġāzī), is more commonly known by his nickname, Bābur (بابر).
  According to Stephen Frederic Dale, the name Babur is derived from the Persian word babr, meaning "tiger", a word that repeatedly appears in Firdawsī's Shāhnāma and had also been borrowed by the Turkic languages of Central Asia. This thesis is supported by the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, explaining that the Turko-Mongol name Timur underwent a similar evolution, from the Sanskrit word cimara ("iron") via a modified version *čimr to the final Turkicized version timür, with -ür replacing -r due to the Turkish vowel harmony (hence babr → babür).^{[citation needed]}
  
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  Bahadur Shah II
  Bahadur Shah II (Urdu: بہادر شاہ دوم), born Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar (Urdu: ابو ظفر سِراجُ الْدین محمد بُہادر شاہ ظفر), on October 1775  – died November 7, 1862) was the last Mughal emperor and a member of the Timurid Dynasty. Zafar was the son of Akbar Shah II and Lalbai, who was a Hindu Rajput, and became Mughal Emperor when his father died on September 28, 1837. He was widely known as Bahadur Shah Zafar. He used Zafar, a part of his name, meaning “victory”, as a nom de plume (takhallus) as an Urdu poet and wrote many Urdu ghazals under it. After his involvement in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 the British tried and then exiled him from Delhi.
  Zafar's father, Akbar Shah II, ruled over a rapidly disintegrating empire between 1806 to 1837. It was during his time that the East India Company dispensed with the illusion of ruling in the name of the Mughal monarch and removed his name from the Persian texts that appeared on the coins struck by the company in the areas under their control.
  
  wn.com/Bahadur_Shah_II
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  Barlas
  The Barlas (Chagatay/Persian: برلاس‎ - Barlās; also Berlas; Mongolian: Barlas) were a Mongol - later Turkicized (Turko-Mongol) - nomadic confederation in Central Asia and the chief tribe of the Timurids who ruled much of Central Asia, Iran, and South Asia in the Middle Ages.
  According to the Secret History of the Mongols, written during the reign of Ögedei Khan, the Barlas had a shared ancestry with the Borjigin and other Mongol clans. The leading clan of the Barlas traced its origin to Qarchar Barlas, head of one of Chaghadai's regiments. He was a descendant of the legendary Mongol warlord Bodonchir (Bodon Achir; Bodon'ar Mungqaq), who was also considered a direct ancestor of Genghis Khan.
  Due to extensive contacts with the native population of Central Asia, the tribe had not only adopted the religion of Islam, but also the Chagatai language, a Turkic language of the Qarluq branch, which was heavily influenced by Arabic and Persian.
  The 14th century conqueror Timur, the eponymous founder of the Timurid dynasty, was born into a noble family of the Barlas clan. One of his descendants, Zahir ud-Din Babur, later founded the Mughal Empire of Central Asia and South Asia.
  
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  Bayezid I
  Bayezid I (Ottoman: بايزيد اول, Turkish: Beyazıt, nicknamed Yıldırım (Ottoman: ییلدیرم), "the Thunderbolt"; 1354 – March 8, 1403) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1389 to 1402. He was the son of Murad I and Valide Sultan Gülçiçek Hatun.
  Bayezid was born in Edirne^{[citation needed]} and spent his youth in Bursa, where he received a high-level education. His father Murad I named him governor of the province of Kütahya.
  Bayezid ascended to the throne following the death of his father Murad I, who was killed by Serbian knight Miloš Obilić during (June 15), or immediately after (June 16), the Battle of Kosovo in 1389, by which Serbia became a vassal of the Ottoman Empire. Immediately after obtaining the throne, he had his younger brother strangled to avoid a plot. In 1390, Bayezid took as a wife Princess Olivera Despina, the daughter of Prince Lazar of Serbia, who also lost his life in Kosovo. Bayezid recognized Stefan Lazarević, the son of Lazar, as the new Serbian leader (later despot), with considerable autonomy.
  
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  Baysonqor
  Gīāṭ al-dīn Bāysonḡor, commonly known as Baysonqor or Baysunghur or (incorrectly) as Baysunqar, also called Sultan Bāyson­ḡor Bahādor Khan (1397, Herat - 1433, the Bāḡ-e Safīd palace near Herat) was a prince from the house of Timurids. He was known as a patron of arts and architecture, as well as a prominent calligrapher.
  Bāyson­ḡor was a son of Mirza Shahrukh, the ruler of Persia and Transoxania, and Shakhrukh's most prominent wife Goharshad.
  In the view of modern historians, Bāyson­ḡor was actually a better statesman than his more famous elder brother, Ulugh Beg, who inherited Shhrukh's throne.
  
  
  
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  Chagatai Khan
  Chagatai Khan (Mongolian: Цагадай, Tsagadai; c. 1183–1241 or 1242) was the second son of Genghis Khan and first khan and origin of the names of the Chagatai Khanate, Chagatai language and Chagatai Turks.
  He inherited most of what are now the five Central Asian states after the death of his father and ruled until his death in 1241. He was also appointed by Genghis Khan to oversee the execution of the Yassa, the written code of law created by Genghis Khan, though that lasted only until Genghis Khan was crowned Khan of the Mongol Empire. The Empire later came to be known as the Chagatai Khanate, a descendant empire of the Mongol Empire.
  The true founder of the state was Chagatai's grandson Alghu. The state was much less influenced by Islam than the Ilkhanate to the southwest, but there were Muslims within the state and some did convert. However, they kept to old nomadic traits much longer. Some historians have said this was a major reason for the decline in urbanism and agriculture in this area which is known to have occurred. The first ruler who actually converted to Islam was Mubarak Shah (note the Arab name). His conversion occurred in 1256. However, this was very problematic because in less than 30 years other rulers would renounce Islam and return to older beliefs, although Tarmashirin converted to Islam and tried to turn the dynasty back toward Islam. His conversion provoked a huge backlash from nomadic groups in the eastern part of the realm who eventually killed him in 1334. After his death the Chagatai state lost its status and disintegrated. Tamerlane would later marry into this family. By the early 16th century they had reasserted themselves in the region that is present-day Uzbekistan and maintained a realm there until the 18th century as the Shaybanid ruling house of the Uzbeks.
  
  wn.com/Chagatai_Khan
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  Charles VI of France
  Charles VI (3 December 1368 – 21 October 1422), called the Beloved (French: le Bien-Aimé) and the Mad (French: le Fol or le Fou), was the King of France from 1380 to 1422, as a member of the House of Valois. His bouts with madness, which seem to have begun in 1392, led to quarrels among the French royal family, which were exploited by the neighbouring powers of England and Burgundy. By the end of his reign much of France was under foreign occupation.
  He was born in Paris, the son of King Charles V and Joan of Bourbon. At the age of eleven, in 1380, he was crowned King of France in the cathedral at Reims. He married Isabeau of Bavaria in 1385. Until he took complete charge as king in 1388, France was ruled primarily by his uncle, Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. During that time, the power of the royal administration and the authority to tax was reestablished, following the tax revolt known as the Harelle, after his father had repealed the taxes on his deathbed.
  Charles VI was known both as Charles the Beloved and later as Charles the Mad, since, beginning in his mid-twenties, he experienced bouts of psychosis. These fits of madness would recur for the rest of his life.
  
  wn.com/Charles_VI_of_France
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  Christopher Marlowe
  Christopher Marlowe (baptised 26 February 1564; died 30 May 1593) was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe was the foremost Elizabethan tragedian until his mysterious early death. Marlowe greatly influenced William Shakespeare, who was born in the same year as Marlowe and who rose to become the eminent Elizabethan playwright after Marlowe's death. Marlowe's plays are known for the use of blank verse, and their overreaching protagonists.
  A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May 1593. No reason for it was given, though it was thought to be connected to allegations of blasphemy—a manuscript believed to have been written by Marlowe was said to contain "vile heretical conceipts". On 20 May he was brought to the court to attend upon the Privy Council for questioning. There is no record of their having met that day, however, and he was commanded to attend upon them each day thereafter until "licensed to the contrary." Ten days later, he was stabbed to death by Ingram Frizer. Whether the stabbing was connected to his arrest has never been resolved.
  
  wn.com/Christopher_Marlowe
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  Edgar Allan Poe
  Edgar Allan Poe (born Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. He is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.
  He was born as Edgar Poe in Boston, Massachusetts; he was orphaned young when his mother died shortly after his father abandoned the family. Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan, of Richmond, Virginia, but they never formally adopted him. He attended the University of Virginia for one semester but left due to lack of money. After enlisting in the Army and later failing as an officer's cadet at West Point, Poe parted ways with the Allans. His publishing career began humbly, with an anonymous collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems (1827), credited only to "a Bostonian".
  
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  Edigu
  Edigu (or Edigey) (also İdegäy or Edege Mangit) (1352–1419) was a Mongol Muslim Emir of the White Horde who founded the new political entity, which came to be known as the Nogai Horde. Edigu was famous Manghit paternal origin and Jochid maternal origin, who founded the Nogai dynasty.
  Edigu was from the Crimean Manghud tribe, the son of Baltychak, a Mongol noble who was defeated and killed by Khan Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde in 1378. He gained fame as a highly successful general of Tokhtamysh before turning the arms against his master. By 1396, he was a sovereign ruler of a large area stretching between the Volga and Ural (known locally as Yayyk) rivers, which would later be called the Nogai Horde.
  In 1397 Edigu allied himself with Timur-Qutlugh and was appointed General and commander-in-chief of the Golden Horde armies. In 1399 he inflicted a crushing defeat on Tokhtamysh and Vytautas of Lithuania at the Vorskla River. Thereupon he managed to unite under his rule all Jochi's lands, albeit for the last time in history.
  
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  Enrique Serrano
  Enrique Serrano (1891–1965) was an Argentine actor and comedian in the 1940s and 1950s.
  He appeared in many films of the 1940s and 1950s including Muchachas que estudian, Asi es la vida (1939). He starred in some 40 films between 1935 and 1964.
  
  
  
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• Fu An
  Fu An(Died AD 1429) was a Supervising Censor, who was dispatched in 1385 with two other Censors and a eunuch named Liu Wei, to open communications with the nations of Central Asia. They traversed the desert of Gobi and reached Hami; thence on to Karakhodjo and Ilbalik, the ancient capital of Kuldja. Their mission was successful as far as Samarcand, the various places visited acknowledging the suzerainty of China. There however they were imprisoned until 1407. The survivors, including only 17 of their original escort of 1500 men, were then sent back and were all rewarded on arrival. Fu An and his companions went on six missions altogether, chiefly to Samarcand, Bishbalik and Heart, until in 1415 Fu An retired to wait on his aged mother.
  
  
  
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  Genghis Khan
  Genghis Khan (/ˈɡɛŋɡɪs ˈkɑːn/ or /ˈdʒɛŋɡɪs ˈkɑːn/,Mongol: [tʃiŋɡɪs xaːŋ] ( listen); 1162? – August 1227), born Temujin, was the founder and Great Khan (emperor) of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death.
  He came to power by uniting many of the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia. After founding the Mongol Empire and being proclaimed "Genghis Khan", he started the Mongol invasions that resulted in the conquest of most of Eurasia. These included raids or invasions of the Kara-Khitan Khanate, Caucasus, Khwarezmid Empire, Western Xia and Jin dynasties. These campaigns were often accompanied by wholesale massacres of the civilian populations – especially in Khwarezmia. By the end of his life, the Mongol Empire occupied a substantial portion of Central Asia and China.
  Before Genghis Khan died, he assigned Ögedei Khan as his successor and split his empire into khanates among his sons and grandsons. He died in 1227 after defeating the Western Xia. He was buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in Mongolia at an unknown location. His descendants went on to stretch the Mongol Empire across most of Eurasia by conquering or creating vassal states out of all of modern-day China, Korea, the Caucasus, Central Asian countries, and substantial portions of modern Eastern Europe, Russia and the Middle East. Many of these invasions resulted in the large-scale slaughter of local populations, which have given Genghis Khan and his empire a fearsome reputation in local histories.
  
  wn.com/Genghis_Khan
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  Giacomo Puccini
  Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒaːkomo putˈtʃiːni]; 22 December 1858 – 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire. Some of his arias, such as "O mio babbino caro" from Gianni Schicchi, "Che gelida manina" from La bohème, and "Nessun dorma" from Turandot, have become part of popular culture.
  Described by Encyclopædia Britannica Online as "one of the greatest exponents of operatic realism", he is regarded as one of the last major Italian opera composers. His repertoire is essentially rooted in verismo, or a post-Romantic operatic tradition and literary style. Whilst his work is essentially based on traditional late-19th century Italian opera, his music shows some influences from then-contemporary composers and movements such as Igor Stravinsky and Impressionism. Common themes within his operas include the important role, yet usually tragic end, of his heroines, as well as love; furthermore, there is a strong presence of exoticism in his operas, with several being set in faraway locations.
  
  wn.com/Giacomo_Puccini
• Gérard Chaliand
  Gérard Chaliand (born 1934) is a French-Armenian expert in armed-conflict studies and in international and strategic relations, especially asymmetric conflicts (e.g., guerrillas, terrorism). He is one of the most prolific international theoricians on these subjects. Gérard Chaliand is also a writer and a poet (La marche têtue suivie de Feu nomade, 1996).
  After graduating from the National Institute of Oriental Civilisations and Languages (INALCO, Paris) and earning his PhD in third-cycle (Paris V – Sorbonne), Gérard Chaliand committed himself with anti-colonialist guerrillas (like Portuguese Guinée-Bissau with Amilcar Cabral) sometimes as an observer, sometimes as a fighter. For approximatively 40 years, he has led research in more than 60 countries in Africa, the Middle East, South-East Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Commonwealth of Independent States (Central Asia). From 1964 to 2000, he completed more than 12 terrain-researches as a war observer in countries like Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Nagorno-Karabakh, Sri Lanka (with the Tamil Tigers, whom he called one of the most efficient and ruthless guerrilla organizations), Chechnia, Peru, Chiapas, and Kurdistan. He has developed theories and systems which explain the workings of asymmetric conflicts.
  
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  Hafez
  Khwāja Shamsu d-Dīn Muhammad Hāfez-e Shīrāzī (Persian: خواجه شمس‌الدین محمد حافظ شیرازی‎), known by his pen name Hāfez (1325/1326–1389/1390), was a Persian lyric poet. His collected works composed of series of Persian poetry (Divan) are to be found in the homes of most Persian speakers in Iran and Afghanistan, as well as elsewhere in the world, who learn his poems by heart and use them as proverbs and sayings to this day. His life and poems have been the subject of much analysis, commentary and interpretation, influencing post-fourteenth century Persian writing more than any other author.
  Themes of his ghazals are the beloved, faith, and exposing hypocrisy. His influence in the lives of Iranians can be found in "Hafez readings" (fāl-e hāfez, Persian: فال حافظ‎), frequent use of his poems in Persian traditional music, visual art and Persian calligraphy. His tomb in Shiraz is visited often. Adaptations, imitations and translations of Hafez' poems exist in all major languages.
  Hafez was born in Shiraz, modern Iran. Despite his profound effect on Persian life and culture and his enduring popularity and influence, few details of his life are known. Accounts of his early life rely upon traditional anecdotes. Early tazkiras (biographical sketches) mentioning Hafez are generally considered unreliable. The preface of his Divān, in which his early life is discussed, was written by an unknown contemporary of Hafez whose name may have been Moḥammad Golandām. Two of the most highly regarded modern editions of Hafez's Divān are compiled by Moḥammad Qazvini and Qāsem Ḡani (495 ghazals) and by Parviz Natil Khanlari (486 ghazals).
  
  wn.com/Hafez
• Hajji Beg
  Hajji Beg Barlas (died 1361) was a leader of the Barlas tribe.
  Hajji Beg is first mentioned in 1358 or 1359, when he participated in the overthrow of the Qara'unas ‘Abdullah, who was effectively in control of the southern Chagatai Khanate. 'Abd Allah, who had recently taken power, was young and inexperienced, and his move to Samarkand threatened Hajji Beg, whose territories were centered in the nearby city of Kish. Together with another tribal leader named Buyan Suldus, Hajji Beg removed him from power and killed his puppet khan Shah Temur. Buyan Suldus was then raised to 'Abd Allah's former position of amir.
  Buyan Suldus' refusal to enforce his authority, as well as a continuing state of chaos within the Chagatai ulus, led to the Khan of Moghulistan, Tughlugh Timur, to invade in 1360. Most of the Chagatai leaders did not oppose the invasion; many of them took the opportunity to pillage each other's lands. The Yasa'ur Hajji Mahmudshah, whose tribe bordered the Barlas, decided to raid their territory with a Moghul army. Hajji Beg decided at first to resist, but seeing that the Moghuls were much stronger, he fled to Khorasan.
  
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  Henry III of Castile
  Henry III KG (4 October 1379 – 25 December 1406), sometimes known as Henry the Sufferer or Henry the Infirm (Spanish: Enrique el Doliente, Galician: Henrique o Doente), was the son of John I and Eleanor of Aragon, and succeeded him as King of the Castilian Crown in 1390.
  Henry was born in Burgos, the capital of Castile. Before becoming king, he was known by the title Prince of Asturias, designating him as the heir apparent. After succeeding to the throne at 11, Henry took power at 14. Despite his nickname, he engaged in a vigorous foreign policy and maneuvers during the first few years of the 15th century. He was able to pacify the nobility and restore royal power. During his reign, the Castilian fleet won several victories against the English; Henry sent a naval fleet in 1400 that destroyed Tétouan in North Africa, a pirate base. In 1402, Henry began the colonization of the Canary Islands, sending French explorer Jean de Béthencourt. He deflected a Portuguese invasion with an attack on Badajoz, finally signing a peace treaty with Juan I of Portugal in 1402. He restarted the conflict against the kingdom of Granada, winning a victory at Collejares, near Úbeda in 1406.
  
  wn.com/Henry_III_of_Castile
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  Hongwu Emperor
  The Hongwu Emperor (Chinese: 洪武帝; Wade–Giles: Hung-wu Ti; 21 October 1328 – 24 June 1398), known variably by his given name Zhu Yuanzhang (Chinese: 朱元璋; Wade–Giles: Chu Yuan-chang) and by his temple name Taizu of Ming (Chinese: 明太祖; literally "Great Ancestor of Ming"), was the founder and first emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China. His era name, Hongwu, means "vastly martial".
  In the middle of the 14th century, with famine, plagues and peasant revolts sweeping across China, Zhu became a leader of an army that conquered China, ending the Yuan Dynasty and forcing the Mongols to retreat to the Mongolian steppes. With his seizure of the Yuan capital (present-day Beijing), he claimed the Mandate of Heaven and established the Ming Dynasty in 1368.
  Zhu Yuanzhang was born in a poor peasant family in a village in Zhongli (鍾離, present day Fengyang, Anhui). His father was Zhu Shizhen (朱世珍, original name Zhu Wusi 朱五四) and his mother was Chen Erniang. He had seven older siblings, several of whom were "given away" by his parents, as they did not have enough food to support the family. When he was 16, the Yellow River broke its banks and flooded the lands where his family lived. Subsequently, a plague killed his family, except one brother.
  
  wn.com/Hongwu_Emperor
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  Humayun
  Nasir ud-din Muhammad Humayun (Persian: نصیر الدین محمد همایون‎; full title: Al-Sultan al-'Azam wal Khaqan al-Mukarram, Jam-i-Sultanat-i-haqiqi wa Majazi, Sayyid al-Salatin, Abu'l Muzaffar Nasir ud-din Muhammad Humayun Padshah Ghazi, Zillu'llah; OS 7 March 1508 – OS 17 January 1556) was the second Mughal Emperor who ruled present day Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of northern India from 1530–1540 and again from 1555–1556. Like his father, Babur, he lost his kingdom early, but with Persian aid, he eventually regained an even larger one. On the eve of his death in 1556, the Mughal empire spanned almost one million square kilometers.
  He succeeded his father in India in 1530, while his half-brother Kamran Mirza, who was to become a rather bitter rival, obtained the sovereignty of Kabul and Lahore, the more northern parts of their father's empire. He originally ascended the throne at the age of 22 and was somewhat inexperienced when he came to power.
  Humayun lost Mughal territories to the Pashtun noble, Sher Shah Suri, and, with Persian aid, regained them 15 years later. Humayun's return from Persia, accompanied by a large retinue of Persian noblemen, signaled an important change in Mughal court culture, as the Central Asian origins of the dynasty were largely overshadowed by the influences of Persian art, architecture, language and literature and also there are many stone carved and Persian language In India from the time of Humayun also thousands of Persian manuscript in India.
  
  wn.com/Humayun
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  Husayn Bayqarah
  Husayn Bayqarah (1438 – May 4, 1506) (Persian حسین بایقرا) was a Timurid ruler of Herat from 1469 to 1506, with a brief interruption in 1470. His father was Mansur, a great-grandson of Timur. He is also referred to as Sultan-Husayn Mirza (Baburnama).
  Mansur died when Husayn Bayqarah was around seven or eight years of age; the latter ended up in the service of Babur Ibn-Baysunkur, ruler of Herat, in 1452. Following Babur's death in 1457 and the subsequent invasion of Khurasan by the Timurid ruler of Samarkand, Abu Sa'id, Husayn adopted the life of a mercenary. After a while, he decided to fight for himself and wrested Gurgan (or Gorgan) from the Black Sheep Turkmen. Later on he would conquer Mazandaran. At first submissive to Abu Sa'id, he took advantage of the Samarkand ruler's attempts to put down a revolt in Transoxiana in 1460; by the following year he was laying siege to Herat, which had fallen into Abu Sa'id's hands in 1459. However, he was soon defeated and forced to take refuge in Khwarazm, from which he began making pillaging raids into Khurasan; these raids were conducted in earnest starting in 1464. Seeking to protect himself against Abu Sa'id, he received the help of the Uzbeks.
  
  wn.com/Husayn_Bayqarah
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  Ibn Khaldun
  Ibn Khaldūn or Ibn Khaldoun (full name, Arabic: أبو زيد عبد الرحمن بن محمد بن خلدون الحضرمي ‎, Abū Zayd ‘Abdu r-Raḥmān bin Muḥammad bin Khaldūn Al-Ḥaḍrami, May 27, 1332 AD/732 AH – March 19, 1406 AD/808 AH) was a Muslim historiographer and historian who is often viewed as one of the forerunners of modern historiography,sociology and economics.
  He is best known for his Muqaddimah (known as Prolegomenon in English), which was discovered, evaluated and fully appreciated first by 19th century European scholarship, although it has also had considerable influence on 17th-century Ottoman historians like Ḥajjī Khalīfa and Mustafa Naima who relied on his theories to analyze the growth and decline of the Ottoman empire. Later in the 19th century, Western scholars recognized him as one of the greatest philosophers to come out of the Muslim world.
  Ibn Khaldun's life is relatively well-documented, as he wrote an autobiography (التعريف بابن خلدون ورحلته غربا وشرقا; Al-Taʻrīf bi Ibn-Khaldūn wa Riħlatuhu Gharbān wa Sharqān) in which numerous documents regarding his life are quoted word-for-word. However, the autobiography has little to say about his private life, so little is known about his family background. Generally known as "Ibn Khaldūn" after a remote ancestor, he was born in Tunis in AD 1332 (732 A.H.) into an upper-class Andalusian family, the Banū Khaldūn. His family, which held many high offices in Andalusia, had emigrated to Tunisia after the fall of Seville to Reconquista forces around the middle of the 13th century. Under the Tunisian Hafsid dynasty some of his family held political office; Ibn Khaldūn's father and grandfather however withdrew from political life and joined a mystical order. His brother, Yahya Ibn Khaldun, was also a historian who wrote a book on the Abdalwadid dynasty, and who was assassinated by a rival for being the official historiographer of the court.
  
  wn.com/Ibn_Khaldun
• Jacques Pradon
  Jacques Pradon, often called Nicolas Pradon, (1632 - 14 January 1698) was a French playwright. Early in his career he was helped by Pierre Corneille and was introduced to the salons at the Hôtel de Nevers and the Hôtel de Bouillon by Madame Deshoulières.
  Pradon was born in Rouen and is the author of eight tragedies: Pyrame et Thisbé (1674) (see Pyramus and Thisbe), Tamerlan, ou la mort de Bajazet (1676), Phèdre et Hippolyte (1677), La Troade (1679), Statira (1680), Regulus (1688), Germanicus (1694) and Scipion (1697). His plays enjoyed a certain limited success, but were severely judged by his rival Jean Racine, who also wrote tragedies based on the stories of Bajazet (Bayezid I) and Phaedra ("The only difference between Pradon and me is that I know how to write", Racine is reported to have said), and Racine's supporter Nicolas Boileau. This rivalry was particularly intense when Pradon brought out his Phèdre et Hippolyte at the same time as Racine's Phèdre (the writers Donneau de Visé and Adrien Thomas Perdou Subligny both took Pradon's side), and throughout his life Pradon wrote several attacks on Boileau. He died in Paris.
  
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  Jahangir
  |سلیم جهانگیر نورالدین}}}} Persian: نورالدین سلیم جهانگیر‎ Hindi: नूरुद्दीन सलीम जहांगीर) (full title: Al-Sultan al-'Azam wal Khaqan al-Mukarram, Khushru-i-Giti Panah, Abu'l-Fath Nur-ud-din Muhammad Jahangir Padshah Ghazi [Jannat-Makaani]) (20 September 1569 – 8 November 1627) was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1605 until his death. The name Jahangir is from Persian جهانگیر,meaning "Conqueror of the World". Nur-ud-din or Nur al-Din is an Arabic name that means " Light of the Faith". Born as Prince Muhammad Salim and nicknamed Sheykhu Baba, he was the third and eldest surviving son of Mogul Emperor Akbar. Akbar's twin sons, Hasan and Hussain, died in infancy. His mother was the Rajput Princess of Amber, Jodhabai(born Rajkumari Hira Kunwari, eldest daughter of Raja Bihar Mal or Bharmal, Raja of Amber, India). Jahangir was a child of many prayers.]
  It is said to be by the blessing of Shaikh Salim Chishti (one of the revered sages of his times) that Akbar's first surviving child, the future Jahangir, was born. The child was named Salim after the dervish and was affectionately addressed by Akbar as Sheikhu Baba.
  
  wn.com/Jahangir
• John Joseph Saunders
  John Joseph Saunders (17 June 1910 – 25 November 1972) was a British historian whose work focused on medieval Islamic and Asian history.
  Born in Alphington, Devon, he was educated at Exeter University. He was a lecturer at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Geoffrey Rice wrote of him:
  John Saunders was an only child, and books were his best companions from an early age. He also displayed artistic ability with pen and ink drawing, having something of a gift for cartoons and caricature. At school at Mount Radford in Exeter he showed particular aptitude for languages, literature and history. One of the masters who noticed his potential, Theodore Vine, became a lifelong friend. John Saunders was too shy to make friends easily, but all his life he was a faithful correspondent, sustaining his friendships over long distances and periods of time. ... John Saunders died on 25 November 1972, shortly after his return to New Zealand. Saunders's reputation as an outstanding university teacher is well attested from many sources, and generations of Canterbury graduates remember him with affection and admiration.
  
  wn.com/John_Joseph_Saunders
• 
  Josef Mysliveček
  Josef Mysliveček (9 March 1737 – 4 February 1781) was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music. Mysliveček provided his younger friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with significant compositional models in the genres of symphony, Italian serious opera, and violin concerto; both Wolfgang and his father Leopold Mozart considered him an intimate friend from the time of their first meetings in Bologna in 1770 until he betrayed their trust over the promise of an operatic commission for Wolfgang to be arranged with the management of the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. He was close to the Mozart family, and there are frequent references to him in the Mozart correspondence.
  
  wn.com/Josef_Mysliveček
• Justin Marozzi
  Justin Marozzi is an English journalist, historian and travel writer. He studied at Cambridge University where he gained a Starred Double First in History in 1993. He has also earned degrees in broadcast journalism from Cardiff University and in international relations from the University of Pennsylvania as a Thouron Scholar. As a journalist, he worked for the BBC, the Financial Times and the Economist.
  Marozzi has published four books. South from Barbary is an account of his explorations through the Libyan Sahara. Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World was a highly regarded biography of the Mongol conqueror Timur and was listed as a Sunday Telegraph Book of the Year. Faces of Exploration, an account of famous explorers, was followed by The Man Who Invented History: Travels with Herodotus, a biography of the world's first historian.
  Marozzi was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
  
  wn.com/Justin_Marozzi
• 
  Kashgar
  Kashgar or Kashi is an oasis city with approximately 350,000 residents in the western part of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Kashgar is the administrative centre of Kashgar Prefecture which has an area of 162,000 km² and a population of approximately 3.5 million.
  The city covers an area of 15 km². The altitude averages 1,289 m/4,282 ft. above sea level. The city is located in the western extremity of China, near the border with Tajikistan.
  The modern Chinese name is 喀什 (Kāshí), a shortened form of the longer and less-frequently used (simplified Chinese: 喀什噶尔; traditional Chinese: 喀什噶爾; pinyin: Kāshígé’ěr). Ptolemy (AD 90-168), in his Geography, Chapter 15.3A, refers to Kashgar as “Kasia”. The name is Middle Iranic in its origin, meaning "Kush Mountains" (from gar/ghar, "mountain", and Kush/Kâsh, being the same as the ethnonym of the Kushan Empire and the Hindukush mountains in the neighboring Afghanistan.
  An early Chinese name was 疏勒 (now Shule County), variously romanized as Su-leh, Sulei, Shule, Shu-le', She-le, Shu-lo or Sha-le, which perhaps represents either an original Solek or Sorak.^{[citation needed]}
  
  wn.com/Kashgar
• Khalil Sultan
  Khalil Sultan (Urdu: خلیل سلطان ) was the Timurid ruler of Transoxiana from 1405 to 1409. He was a son of Miran Shah and a grandson of Timur.
  During Timur's lifetime, Khalil Sultan gained the conqueror's particular favor. He distinguished himself during the campaign in India and in 1402 was given rule of Ferghana. Upon Timur's death in 1405 Khalil viewed himself as his successor. Timur's appointed successor Pir Muhammad was quickly cast aside, and Khalil gained control of Samarkand. Khalil gained Timur's treasury and bestowed the puppet title of Chagatai Khan (which before had always been granted by Timur to a descendant of Genghis Khan to legitimize his rule) to a Timurid prince. Khalil also gained an ally, Sultan Husain, who had previously also made claims to the throne as a grandson of Timur.
  Meanwhile, Shah Rukh, who was ruling in Herat, also decided to press his claims. He advanced to the Oxus River against Khalil but turned back when Khalil's father Miran Shah, as well as his brother Aba Bakr, marched from Azerbaijan in support. Nevertheless, Khalil's position began to weaken. He was unpopular in Samarkand, where the nobility despised his wife Shad Mulk. The latter had considerable influence over Khalil, convincing him to appoint people of low birth to high positions at the expense of the nobility. A famine caused him to be even more despised. He decided to return to Ferghana with his former mentor, Khudaidid Husain, who went to Moghulistan (the realm of the eastern Chagatai Khans) in an attempt to win their support. However, Persian historian Khwandamir instead claims that Khudaidid Husain began a civil war against Khalil and took him prisoner, delivering him along with his territory to eastern Chagatai Khan Shams-i-Jahan (r. 1399-1408). Shams-i-Jahan, however, had Khudaidid Husain executed for his treason to Khalil and returned Khalil his kingdom.
  
  wn.com/Khalil_Sultan
• 
  Mamluk
  A Mamluk (Arabic: مملوك mamluk (singular), مماليك mamālīk (plural)), "owned"; also transliterated mamlouk, Turkish: Memlük, also called Kölemen; , mamluq, mamluke, mameluk, mameluke, mamaluke or marmeluke was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans or Kipchak and later Circassian and Georgian. The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior class, was of great political importance and was extraordinarily long-lived, lasting from the 9th to the 19th century AD. Over time, mamluks became a powerful military caste in various Muslim societies. Particularly in Egypt, but also in the Levant, Iraq, and India, mamluks held political and military power. In some cases, they attained the rank of sultan, while in others they held regional power as amirs or beys. Most notably, mamluk factions seized the sultanate for themselves in Egypt and Syria in a period known as the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517). The Mamluk Sultanate famously beat back the Mongols at the Battle of Ayn Jalut and fought the Crusaders effectively driving them out from the Levant by 1291 and officially in 1302 ending the era of the Crusades.
  
  wn.com/Mamluk
• 
  Marco Polo
  Marco Polo (ⁱ/ˈmɑrkoʊ ˈpoʊloʊ/; Italian pronunciation: [ˈmarko ˈpɔːlo]; c. 1254 – January 9, 1324) was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently met Kublai Khan. In 1269, they returned to Venice to meet Marco for the first time. The three of them embarked on an epic journey to Asia, returning after 24 years to find Venice at war with Genoa; Marco was imprisoned, and dictated his stories to a cellmate. He was released in 1299, became a wealthy merchant, married and had three children. He died in 1324, and was buried in San Lorenzo.
  Their pioneering journey inspired Christopher Columbus and others. Marco Polo's other legacies include Venice Marco Polo Airport, the Marco Polo sheep, and several books and films. He also had an influence on European cartography, leading to the introduction of the Fra Mauro map.
  
  wn.com/Marco_Polo
• 
  Miran Shah
  Mirza Miran Shah Beg (1366 – 16? April 1408) (Persian: میران شاہ‎) was a son of Timur, and a Timurid governor during his father's lifetime.
  Miran Shah's first charge was a vast region centered around Qandahar, which he was granted in 1383. That same year, he destroyed a rebellion against Timurid authority by the Kartids, then vassals of Timur in Khurasan under their leader Ghyas al-Din. To solidify control over the area, in 1396 he invited the remaining Kartid princes to a banquet and slew them.
  In the winter of 1386 Miran Shah defeated an invading force of the Golden Horde that was on its way to Persia. He captured several prisoners, but these were released under light conditions when handed over to Timur.
  In 1396 Miran Shah was given control of Azerbaijan, principally the cities of Soltaniyeh, the former capital of the Ilkhans, and Tabriz. In the summer of 1398 he marched from Tabriz with the goal of subduing the Jalayirids of Baghdad, but was forced to call off the expedition. Meanwhile, rumors had come to Timur that his son was planning to betray him. The conqueror was also angry over Miran Shah's refusal to solve the problems of tax dodgers within his area, and over his son's inability to keep the important fortress of Alinjaq out of the hands of the Jalayirids. In 1399 Timur sent a force under his nephew Sulaiman Shah to summon Miran Shah. The latter came with Sulaiman Shah willingly back to his father, where he was deposed of his governorship and assigned to his father's company for four years. His friends and advisors were executed.
  
  wn.com/Miran_Shah
• 
  Mongols
  Mongols (Mongolian:  Монголчууд (help·info)), Mongolchuud) are a Central-East Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in the countries of Mongolia, China, and Russia. Owing to wars and migrations, Mongols are also found in some Central Asian states such as Kazakhstan. In China, ethnic Mongols can be found mainly in the central north region of China such as Inner Mongolia (a smaller number of Mongols can also be found in Xinjiang in northwest China). The Buryat branch of the Mongol ethnic group can be found in the autonomous republic of Buryatia, Russia. Ethnic Mongols are bound together by a common language and culture. They speak languages belonging to the Mongolic languages. The contiguous territories inhabited by ethnic Mongols is also known as Greater Mongolia^{[disambiguation needed ]}. There are approximately 10 million ethnic Mongols in total.
  A definition includes the Mongols proper, who can be approximately divided into the eastern Mongols (the Khalkha Mongols, the Inner Mongolians, the Buryats), and the Oirats. In a wider sense, the Mongol people includes all people who speak a Mongolic language, such as the Kalmyks of eastern Europe.
  
  wn.com/Mongols
• Pir Muhammad
  Pir Muhammad (c. 1374 – 22 February 1407) was a grandson and appointed successor of Timur. He was the son of Jahangir.
  In 1392 he received the governorship of Qandahar. His territory extended from the lands west of the Hindu Kush to the Indus River. In the fall of 1397 he led the first wave of Timurids into India, and was invested with the rulership of Multan.
  On his deathbed, Timur named Pir Muhammad as his successor. Timur felt that none of his sons were capable of handling the job (Jahangir and 'Umar Shaikh had died, Miran Shah suffered from mental difficulties, and Shah Rukh was judged too pious to rule). Unfortunately for Pir Muhammad, none of his relatives supported him following Timur's death. He was unable to assume command in Samarkand and was murdered by his vizier in 1407.
  
  
  
  wn.com/Pir_Muhammad
• Qara Yusuf
  Abu Nasr Qara Yusuf Nuyan ibn Muhammad was the ruler of the Kara Koyunlu or Black Sheep Turkomans from c.1388 to 1420, although his reign was interrupted by the Timurid invasion (1400-05).
  At the beginning of Qara Yusuf’s reign, although the Kara Koyunlu were supposedly vassals of the Jalayirid dynasty in Baghdad and Tabriz, in fact both the Jalayirids and the Kara Koyunlu were threatened by the Timurids to the east. In 1396 Timur appointed his son Miran Shah as Timurid viceroy of Azerbaijan. By collaborating on equal terms with the Jalayirid Sultan Ahmad against the Timurids, Qara Yusuf effectively secured the independence of the Kara Koyunlu.
  The Timurids began another campaign in 1400 and defeated both the Kara Koyunlu and the Jalayirids. Qara Yusuf and Sultan Ahmad Jelair both fled and took refuge with the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I. In 1402 they returned together with an army. However, once they had retaken control of Baghdad they quarrelled, and Qara Yusuf expelled Ahmad from the city. Ahmad took refuge with the Mamelukes, but they imprisoned him out of fear of Timur. In 1403 the Timurids drove Qara Yusuf out of Baghdad again. He too sought asylum with the Mamelukes, and was imprisoned by them along with Ahmad. Together in prison, the two leaders renewed their friendship, making an agreement that Ahmad should keep Baghdad while Qara Yusuf would have Azerbaijan. When Timur died in 1405 the Mamelukes released them both.
  
  wn.com/Qara_Yusuf
• 
  Shah Alam II
  Shah Alam II (1728–1806 CE), also known as Ali Gauhar, was the eighteenth Mughal Emperor, he escaped to Allahabad in December 1759, he was later nominated as the emperor by Ahmad Shah Durrani after the Third Battle of Panipat, when he was in Bihar region.
  Though he was nominated as the Mughal Emperor, he did not venture to proceed to Delhi for 12 years until 1772, when he was installed as the puppet ruler on the Mughal throne by Mahadji Sindhia of the Maratha Empire, receiving in return the title of deputy Naib Vakil-ul-Mutlak or vice-regent of the Empire and that of Vakil-ul-Mutlak being at his request conferred on the Peshwa, Shah Alam II also gave Mahadji the title of Amir-ul-Amara(head of the amirs).
  Throughout his life, Shah Alam II remained a puppet in the hands of the Marathas and the British. In 1788, Ghulam Qadir, grandson of the Rohilla Leaders Najib-ud-Daulah ransacked the Mughal palace. The floors of the houses of the grandees in the city were dug out. The princesses were turned out and their jewellery was snatched by Ghulam Qadir. Ghulam Qadir also blinded Shah Aalam and deposed him and put Bidar Bakhat on the Mughal Throne. However, the Marathas brought out Shah Aalam from his captivity and restored him to the throne. Ghulam Qadir was defeated and hanged by the Marathas. In 1803, the British captured Delhi after the Second Anglo-Maratha War and Shah Alam II became a pensioner of the British East India Company..
  
  wn.com/Shah_Alam_II
• 
  Shah Jahan
  Shah Jahan(also spelled Shah Jehan, Shahjehan,(Urdu: شاه ‌جہاں, Persian: شاه جهان) (January 5, 1592–January 22, 1666), (full title: Shahanshah Al-Sultan al-'Azam wal Khaqan al-Mukarram, Malik-ul-Sultanat, Ala Hazrat Abu'l-Muzaffar Shahab ud-din Muhammad Shah Jahan I, Sahib-i-Qiran-i-Sani, Padshah Ghazi Zillu'llah, Firdaus-Ashiyani, Shahanshah—E--Sultanant Ul Hindiya Wal Mughaliya) was the emperor of the Mughal Empire in South Asia from 1628 until 1658. The name Shah Jahan comes from Persian meaning "Ruler of Everywhere". He was the fifth Mughal emperor after Babur, Humayun, Akbar, and Jahangir. While young, he was favourite of his legendary grandfather, Akbar the Great. Shah Jahan was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan through Timur and was the heir of the Mughal Empire of Babur, he is also alleged to have been a descendant of Charlemagne.
  At a young age, he was chosen as successor to the Mughal throne after the death of Emperor Jahangir. He succeeded to the throne upon his father's death in 1627. He is considered to be one of the greatest Mughals, and his reign has been called the Golden Age of the Mughals and one of the most prosperous ages of Indian civilization. Like Akbar, he was eager to expand his vast empire. In 1658, he fell ill and was confined by his son Emperor Aurangzeb in the Agra Fort until his death in 1666.
  
  wn.com/Shah_Jahan
• Sharif
  Sharīf (Arabic: شريف‎ šarīf) or Chérif is a traditional Arab tribal title given to those who serve as the protector of the tribe and all tribal assets, such as property, wells, and land. In origin, the word is an adjective meaning "noble", "highborn". The feminine singular is sharifa(h) (Arabic: شريفة‎ šarīfah). The masculine plural is Ashraf (Arabic: اشراف‎ ʾašrāf).
  Primarily Sunnis in the Arab world reserve the term sharif for descendants of Hasan ibn Ali, while sayyid is used for descendants of Husayn ibn Ali. Both Hasan and Husayn are grandchildren of Prophet Muhammad, through the marriage of his cousin Ali and his daughter Fatima. However ever since the post-Hashemite era began, the term sayyid has been used to denote descendants from both Hasan and Husayn. Arab Shiites use the terms sayyid and habib to denote descendants from both Hasan and Husayn; see also ashraf.
  From 1201 until the Hejaz was conquered by Ibn Saud in 1925, this family held the office of the Sharīf of Mecca, often also carrying the title and office of King of Hejaz. Descendants now rule the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the name being taken from the Banu Hashim, the sub-tribe of Banu Quraish, to which Prophet Muhammad belonged.
  
  wn.com/Sharif
• 
  Tatars
  Tatars (Tatar: Tatarlar / Татарлар, sometimes spelled Tartars) are a Turkic people, numbering around 7 million. The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of 5.5 million, 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan, 1 million in the republic of Bashkortostan and other 2.5 million in different regions of Russia. Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine.
  The Tatars originated with the Tatar confederation in the north-eastern Gobi desert in the 5th century. After subjugation in the 9th century by the Khitans, they migrated southward. In the 13th century Mongol Empire, they were subjugated under Genghis Khan and reassigned once again particularly by his son Jochi. Under the leadership of his grandson Batu Khan, they moved westwards, forming part of the Golden Horde which dominated the Eurasian steppe during the 14th and 15th centuries. In Europe, they were assimilated by the local populations or their name spread to the conquered peoples: Kipchaks, Kimaks and others; and elsewhere with Uralic-speaking peoples, as well as with remnants of the ancient Greek colonies in the Crimea and Caucasians in the Caucasus.
  
  wn.com/Tatars
• 
  Timur
  Timur (Turkish: Demir "iron", Persian: تمور‎ Timūr, Chagatai: Temür "iron"; 8 April 1336 – 18 February 1405), historically known as Tamerlane (from Persian: تيمور لنگ‎, Timūr-i Lang, Aksak Timur "Timur the Lame" in Turkish), was a Turkic, who conquered West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty. He was the grandfather of Ulugh Beg, who ruled Central Asia from 1411 to 1449, and the great-great-grandfather of Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire, which ruled South Asia for centuries.
  Timur envisioned the restoration of the Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan. Unlike his predecessors Timur was also a devout Muslim and referred to himself as the Sword of Islam. His armies were inclusively multi-ethnic and multicultural. During his lifetime Timur would emerge as the most powerful ruler in the Muslim world after defeating the formidable Mamluks of Egypt and Syria, the emerging Ottoman Empire and the declining Sultanate of Delhi; Timur had also decisively defeated the Knights Hospitaler at Smyrna and since then referred to himself as a Ghazi. By the end of his reign Timur had also gained complete suzerainty over all the remnants of the Chagatai Khanate, Ilkhanate, Golden Horde and even the Yuan Khanate.
  
  wn.com/Timur
• 
  Tokhtamysh
  Tokhtamysh (died 1406) was the prominent khan of the Blue Horde, who briefly unified the White Horde and Blue Horde subdivisions of the Golden Horde into a single state. He was a descendant of Genghis Khan's eldest grandson, Orda Khan or his brother Tuqa-Timur.
  Tokhtamysh appears in history in 1376, trying to overthrow his uncle Urus Khan, ruler of the White Horde, and fleeing to the great Timur. Tokhtamysh outlived Urus and both his sons and forcefully ascended the throne of the White Horde in 1378 with Timur's backing.
  Tokhtamysh dreamed of emulating his ancestors and made plans to reunite the Ulus Jochi. In 1380, he invaded the Blue Horde by fording across the Volga. The ruler of the Blue Horde, Mamai, was killed shortly after the Battle of Kulikovo, making Tokhtamysh's victory over the horde all the easier.
  Having divided the Blue and White Hordes into the Golden Horde in 1382 Tokhtamysh led a successful campaign against Russia as a punishment for the Kulikovo defeat - setting back, though not ending, the Russian aspiration to free themselves of Mongol rule. In just six years, Tokhtamysh had reunified the Mongol lands from Crimea to Lake Balkhash.
  
  wn.com/Tokhtamysh
• 
  Turkic languages
  The Turkic languages constitute a language family of at least thirty-five languages, spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean to Siberia and Western China, and are considered to be part of the proposed Altaic language family.
  Turkic languages are spoken as a native language by some 165 to 200 million people; and the total number of Turkic speakers is over 300 million, including speakers of a second language. The Turkic language with the greatest number of speakers is Turkish proper, or Anatolian [and Balkan] Turkish, the speakers of which account for about 40% of all Turkic speakers.
  Characteristic features of Turkish, such as vowel harmony, agglutination, and lack of grammatical gender, are universal within the Turkic family. There is also a high degree of mutual intelligibility between the various Oghuz languages, which include Turkish, Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Qashqai, Gagauz, Balkan Gagauz Turkish and Oghuz influenced Crimean Tatar.
  The characteristic features of the Turkic languages are vowel harmony, extensive agglutination by means of suffixes and other affixes, and lack of noun classes or grammatical gender. Subject–object–verb word order is universal within the family. All of these distinguishing characteristics are shared with the Mongolic, Tungusic, and Korean language families, as well as (with the exception of vowel harmony) with Japonic, which are considered by some linguists to be genetically linked with the Turkic languages in an Altaic language family.
  
  wn.com/Turkic_languages
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  Turkic peoples
  The Turkic peoples are a collection of ethnic groups that live in northern, central and western Asia, northwestern China and parts of eastern Europe. They speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family. They share, to varying degrees, certain cultural traits and historical backgrounds. The term Turkic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people including existing societies such as the Turkish, Azerbaijani, Chuvashes, Kazakhs, Tatars, Kyrgyzs, Turkmens, Uyghurs, Uzbeks, Bashkirs, Qashqai, Gagauzs, Yakuts, Crimean Karaites, Krymchaks, Karakalpaks, Karachays, Nogais and as well as past civilizations such as the Göktürks, Kumans, Kipchaks, Avars, Bulgars, Turgeshes, Khazars, Seljuk Turks, Ottoman Turks, Mamluks, Timurids and possibly Huns and the Xiongnu.
  The distribution of people of Turkic cultural background ranges from Siberia, across Central Asia, to Eastern Europe. As of 2011^[update] the largest groups of Turkic people live throughout Central Asia—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan, in addition to Turkey and Iran. Additionally, Turkic people are found within Crimea, East Turkistan region of western China, northern Iraq, Pakistan, Israel, Russia, Afghanistan, and the Balkans: Moldova, Bulgaria, Romania, and former Yugoslavia. A small number of Turkic people also live in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Small numbers inhabit eastern Poland and the south-eastern part of Finland. There are also considerable populations of Turkic people (originating mostly from Turkey) in Germany, United States, and Australia, largely because of migrations during the 20th century.
  
  wn.com/Turkic_peoples
• 
  Turkmen people
  The Turkmen (Turkmen: Türkmen/Түркмен, plural Türkmenler/Түркменлер) are a Turkic people located primarily in the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, Syria, Iraq and North Caucasus (Stavropol Krai). They speak the Turkmen language, which is classified as a part of the Western Oghuz branch of the Turkic languages family together with Turkish, Azerbaijani, Qashqai, Gagauz and Salar.
  Originally, all Turkic tribes that were not part of the Turkic dynastic mythological system (for example, Uigurs, Karluks, Kalaches and a number of other tribes) were designated "Turkmens". Only later did this word come to refer to a specific ethnonym. The etymology of the term derives from Türk plus the Sogdian affix of similarity -myn ,-men, and means "resembling a Türk" or "co-Türk". A prominent Turkic scholar, Mahmud Kashgari, also mentions the etymology Türk manand (like Turks). The language and ethnicity of the Turkmen were much influenced by their migration to the west. Kashgari calls the Karluks Turkmen as well, but the first time the etymology Turkmen was used was by Makdisi in the second half of the 10th-century AD. Like Kashgari, he wrote that the Karluks and Oghuz Turks were called Turkmen. Some modern scholars have proposed that the element -man/-men acts as an intensifier, and have translated the word as "pure Turk" or "most Turk-like of the Turks". Among Muslim chroniclers such as Ibn Kathir the etymology was attributed to the mass conversion of two hundred thousand households in AH 349 (971 CE), causing them to be named Turk Iman, which is a combination of "Turk" and "Iman" إيمان (faith, belief), meaning "believing Turks", with the term later dropping the hard-to-pronounce hamza.
  
  wn.com/Turkmen_people
• 
  Ulugh Beg
  Ulugh Beg (Uzbek: Muhammad Tarag'ay Ulug'beg, Муҳаммад Тарағай Улуғбек; Persian: میرزا محمد طارق بن شاہرخ الغ‌بیگ‎ – Mīrzā Muhammad Tāraghay bin Shāhrukh Uluġ Beg) (March 22, 1394 in Sultaniyeh (Persia) – October 27, 1449 (Samarkand)) was a Timurid ruler as well as an astronomer, mathematician and sultan. His commonly-known name is not truly a personal name, but rather a moniker, which can be loosely translated as "Great Ruler" or "Patriarch Ruler" and was the Turkic equivalent of Timur's Perso-Arabic title Amīr-e Kabīr. His real name was Mīrzā Mohammad Tāraghay bin Shāhrokh. Ulugh Beg was also notable for his work in astronomy-related mathematics, such as trigonometry and spherical geometry. Being an genius astronomer he built the great Ulugh Beg Observatory in Samarkand between 1424 and 1429. It was considered by scholars to have been one of the finest observatories in the Islamic world at the time and the largest in Central Asia. He also build the Ulugh Beg Madrasah (1417–1420) in Samarkand and Bukhara, transforming the cities into cultural center of learning in Central Asia. He was also a mathematics genius of the 15th century — albeit his mental aptitude was perseverance rather than any unusual endowment of intellect. He ruled Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, southern Kazakhstan for almost half an century from 1411 to 1449 and occupied the Herat province in Afghanistan for an short time in 1448.
  
  wn.com/Ulugh_Beg
• Wikipedia Persondata
  wn.com/Wikipedia_Persondata
• Yadigar Muhammad
  Yadigar Muhammad (died 1470) was the Timurid ruler of Herat in opposition to Husayn Bayqarah for a portion of 1470.
  Yadigar Muhammad was born to Sultan Muhammad, who was a grandson of Shah Rukh. It was his family ties that caused Uzun Hasan, sultan of the Ak Koyunlu confederation, to hand over to him Abu Sa'id after capturing him in 1469. Abu Sa'id, who had previously ordered the execution Shah Rukh's wife, was killed by Yadigar Muhammad.
  Later in 1469, Uzun Hasan had Yadigar Muhammad proclaimed as Abu Sa'id's successor and provided him with Timurid forces so that he could take over Khurasan, which was then controlled by Husayn Bayqarah. Although Yadigar Muhammad was defeated by Husayn in battle in September, fresh reinforcements were sent by the Ak Koyunlu leader. Furthermore, two of Uzun Hasan's sons arrived to assist him. Eventually Husayn was compelled to evacuate Herat, which Yadigar Muhammad occupied in July 1470. Despite this, his troops were unreliable and Husayn reentered Herat six weeks later. Yadigar Muhammad, who was captured, was promptly executed by his enemy. He was the last descendant of Shah Rukh to play a dominant role in the politics of the Timurid principalities.
  
  wn.com/Yadigar_Muhammad
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  Yongle Emperor
  The Yongle Emperor (Traditional Chinese: 永樂帝; Simplified Chinese: 永乐帝; pinyin: Yǒnglèdì; Wade-Giles: Yung-lo Ti; IPA: [jʊ̀ŋlɤ̂]) (2 May 1360 – 12 August 1424), born Zhu Di (朱棣), was the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China from 1402 to 1424. His Chinese era name Yongle means "Perpetual Happiness".
  He was the Prince of Yan (燕王), possessing a heavy military base in Beijing. He became known as Chengzu of Ming Dynasty (明成祖 also written Cheng Zu, or Ch'eng Tsu (Cheng Tsu) in Wade-Giles) after becoming emperor (self title). He became emperor by conspiring to usurp the throne which was against Hongwu Emperor's wishes.
  He moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing where it was located in the following generations, and constructed the Forbidden City there. After its dilapidation and disuse during the Yuan Dynasty and Hongwu's reign, the Yongle Emperor had the Grand Canal of China repaired and reopened in order to supply the new capital of Beijing in the north with a steady flow of goods and southern food supplies. He commissioned most of the exploratory sea voyages of Zheng He. During his reign the monumental Yongle Encyclopedia was completed. Although his father Zhu Yuanzhang was reluctant to do so when he was emperor, Yongle upheld the civil service examinations for drafting educated government officials instead of using simple recommendation and appointment.
  
  wn.com/Yongle_Emperor
• Öljei Temür Khan
  Öljei Temür Khan (full name: Bunyashiri, died 1412) was the Mongol khan of the Northern Yuan Dynasty in Mongolia. He was a son of Elbeg Nigülesügchi Khan and younger brother of Gün Temür Khan. He was one of the Borjigin princes, such as Tokhtamysh and Temur Qutlugh, backed by Tamerlane to seize the throne.
  Tsagaan Sechen tells that Bunyashiri (Buyanshir) was born in 1379. Twenty years after his birth, his father, Elbeg, was murdered by the Oirats led by Bahamu and Guilichi. In 1402, his older brother, Gün Temür Khan was killed by Örüg Temür Khan Guilichi in the struggle for the crown. Due to internal struggles of the Mongols, the infant prince, Bunyashiri, fled to Beshbalik where Timur's governor stationed. Timur ordered his governor to receive him kindly. Bunyashiri converted to Islam while he stayed at the court of Timur in Samarkand, thus making Öljei Temür Khan one of the very notable converts to Islam from the house of Kublai Khan.
  However, Örüg Temür Khan Guilichi’s victory was short lived when he made several grave miscalculation. The first was when he replaced Mongol Khan with Tatar Khan, alienating many other Mongol clans that were not Tatar. The second one was that Örüg Temür Khan Guilichi abolished the name Yuan, because he needed to show Ming Dynasty friendly gesture as Ming’s subordinate so that he could consolidate his power and conquer other Mongol clans. This move was totally unacceptable to most if not all Mongols who wanted to recover their former glory and retake China proper by defeating Ming Dynasty, which originally begun as rebellions against the Yuan Dynasty.
  
  wn.com/Öljei_Temür_Khan