| | - Vah River
- tributary of the Danube River in Slovakia. Rising in the Tatra Mountains as the Biely Vah (in the High Tatras) and Cierny Vah (in the Low Tatras), the river describes ... [2 Related Articles]
- Vahan Mamikonian
- (from the article "Armenia") The revolt of 481-484, led by Vahan Mamikonian, Vardan's nephew, secured religious and political freedom for Armenia in return for military aid to Persia, and with the appointment of Vahan ...
- vahana
- (Sanskrit: "mount," or "vehicle"), in Hindu mythology, the creature that serves as the vehicle and as the sign of a particular deity. The vahana accompanies, pulls the chariot of, or ... [1 Related Articles]
- Vahsudan
- (from the article "Mosaferid Dynasty") ...increased his power and gained control of most of Daylam. After Mohammad's death in 941, his domains were divided between his two sons, Marzoban I (ruled 941-957) and Vahsudan (ruled ...
- Vahyazdata
- (from the article "Darius I") ...Margiana, independent governments were set up, most of them by men who claimed to belong to the former ruling families. Babylonia rebelled twice and Susiana three times. In Persia itself ...
- Vai
- people inhabiting northwestern Liberia and contiguous parts of Sierra Leone. Early Portuguese writers called them Gallinas ("chickens"), reputedly after a local wildfowl. Speaking a language of the Mande branch of ... [2 Related Articles]
- Vai script
- (from the article "Sierra Leone") The Vai script has the distinction of being one of the few indigenous scripts in Africa. Some of the local languages are written in European script, and a few, especially ...
- Vaiaku
- (from the article "Tuvalu") Area: 25.6 sq km (9.9 sq mi) | Population (2007 est.): 9,700 | Capital: Government offices in Vaiaku, Fongafale islet, of Funafuti Atoll | Chief of state: Queen Elizabeth II, ...
- Vaida-Voevod, Alexandru
- politician who served three times as prime minister of Romania (1919-20, 1932, 1933) and was a leading spokesman for the union of Transylvania with the Old Kingdom (Moldavia and Walachia).
- Vaidisova, Nicole
- (from the article "Tennis") ...of a set. She finished with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over 2004 U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia. While Henin-Hardenne was the outstanding competitor in the field, 17-year-old Nicole ...
- Vaigai River
- river in Tamil Nadu state, southern India, flowing 150 miles (240 km) generally southeast. Rising in the Varushanad Hills of western Tamil Nadu, it initially flows northeast through the Kambam ... [1 Related Articles]
- Vaihinger, Hans
- German philosopher who, influenced by Arthur Schopenhauer and F.A. Lange, developed Kantianism in the direction of pragmatism by espousing a theory of "fictions" as the basis of what he called ... [4 Related Articles]
- Vaikuntha Perumal
- (from the article "South Asian arts") ...and subsidiary shrines attached to the walls. The enclosure wall has a series of small shrines on all sides and a small gopura. Another splendid temple at Kanchipuram is the ...
- Vail
- town and ski resort, Eagle county, west-central Colorado, U.S. It is located 100 miles (160 km) west of Denver. The town extends about 7 miles (11 km) through the Gore ...
- Vail Mountain
- (from the article "Vail") ...founded by Peter Seibert and Earl Eaton, who, together with other investors, purchased the land and built the resort town in 1962 in the style of a quaint Alpine village. ...
- Vail, Alfred Lewis
- American telegraph pioneer and an associate and financial backer of Samuel F.B. Morse in the experimentation that made the telegraph a commercial reality. [2 Related Articles]
- Vail, Theodore Newton
- American executive who twice headed the Bell Telephone Company at critical times and played a major role in establishing telephone services in the United States. [2 Related Articles]
- Vailala Madness
- (from the article "Melanesian culture") ...Christianity and capitalist development. A striking phenomenon of the early colonial period was the emergence of cargo cults in coastal New Guinea and island Melanesia. These movements, such as the ...
- Vailima
- (from the article "Apia") ...are on the Mulinuu Peninsula, a promontory dividing Apia Harbour from Vaiusu Bay. The 19th-century Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson spent the last year of his life in Apia, and ...
- Vaillant, Edouard-Marie
- French revolutionary publicist and politician who was exiled for his role in the Paris Commune of 1871. After his return he became an important member of the Socialist Party.
- Vaillant, Francois Le
- (from the article "Orange River") ...expeditions across the river in the 18th century were led by the Afrikaner explorer Hendrik Hop; Robert Jacob Gordon, a Dutch officer; William Paterson, an English traveler; and the French ...
- vain oath
- (from the article "oath") In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam oaths have been used widely. In Judaism, two kinds of oaths are forbidden: (1) a vain oath, in which one attempts to do something that ...
- Vainamoinen
- (from the article "stringed instrument") ...and rebirth. Thus, legend relates that Hermes made the first lyre from a turtle carapace; similarly, the first Arab lute was modeled after the body of a beloved male child; ...
- Vaiont Dam
- concrete arch dam across the Vaiont River in Italy with a height of 859 feet (262 m) and crest length of 623 feet (190 m). Completed in 1961, it was ... [3 Related Articles]
- vaipulya
- (from the article "anga") 9. Vedalla (perhaps meaning "subtle analysis"), teachings in catechetical form, according to the Pali system. The Sanskrit tradition places here, as vaipulya, a number of important Mahayana works, including the ...
- vair
- (from the article "heraldry") ...white field with black spots), ermines (a black field with white spots), erminois (gold field with black spots), pean (black field with gold spots), or vair (alternating blue and white ...
- Vair, Guillaume du
- a highly influential French thinker and writer of the troubled period at the end of the 16th century. [1 Related Articles]
- vairagin
- in Hinduism, a religious ascetic who worships principally one or another form of the god Vishnu. Vairagins generally wear white robes, in contrast to the ochre-coloured robes worn by Saiva ... [1 Related Articles]
- Vairocana
- ("Great Illuminator"), the supreme Buddha, as regarded by many Mahayana Buddhists of East Asia and of Tibet, Nepal, and Java. [8 Related Articles]
- Vaisala, Yrjo
- Finnish meteorologist and astronomer noted for developing meteorological measuring methods and instruments.
- Vaisali
- city of ancient India, north of Patna, northwestern Bihar state, on the Gandak River. In antiquity Vaisali was the capital of the Licchavi republic and was closely associated with the ... [2 Related Articles]
- Vaisheshika
- ("Particular"), one of the six orthodox systems (darshans) of Indian philosophy, significant for its naturalism, a feature that is not characteristic of most Indian thought. The Sanskrit philosopher Kanada Kasyapa ... [5 Related Articles]
- Vaishnavism
- worship of the god Vishnu and of his incarnations, principally as Rama and as Krishna. It is one of the major forms of modern Hinduism-with Saivism and Shaktism (Saktism). [25 Related Articles]
- Vaishya
- third highest in ritual status of the four varnas, or social classes, of Hindu India, traditionally described as commoners. Legend states that the varnas (or colours) sprang from Prajapati, a ... [9 Related Articles]
- Vaisnava-Sahajiya
- member of an esoteric Hindu cult centred in Bengal that sought religious experience through the world of the senses, specifically human sexual love. Sahaja (Sanskrit: "easy" or "natural") as a ... [3 Related Articles]
- Vaisnavi
- (from the article "Saptamatrka") ...a group of seven mother-goddesses, each of whom is the sakti, or female counterpart, of a god. They are Brahmani, Mahesvari, Kaumari, Vaisnavi, Varahi, Indrani, and Camunda, or Yami. (One ...
- Vaitarani
- (from the article "death") The soul, in its substantial envelope, is meanwhile proceeding on its journey, holding onto a cow's tail to cross the Vaitarani, a horrible river of blood and filth that marks ...
- Vaitown
- city, western Liberia, West Africa. Located in the Bomi Hills former iron-mining district, it is associated with the Liberian Mining Company (LMC; a subsidiary of Republic Steel Corporation), which closed ...
- Vajda, Janos
- (from the article "Hungarian literature") ...whose ironic novel in verse, A delibabok hose (1873; "The Hero of the Mirages"), is representative of the mood of disillusionment. Another poet, Janos Vajda, bridged the gap between the ...
- vaji
- (from the article "arched harp") Arched harps were prominent in ancient Central Asia, and 1st-century frescoes (Gandhara culture, in modern Pakistan) show a seemingly archaic variety that survives almost unchanged in the vaji, or Kafir ...
- Vajirananavarorasa
- prince-patriarch of Buddhism in Siam, who institutionalized Thai Buddhism, spread the faith in the countryside, and was his generation's leading intellectual.
- Vajiravudh
- also Phramongkutklao, or Rama Vi king of Siam from 1910 to 1925, noted for his progressive reforms and prolific writings. [5 Related Articles]
- Vajpayee, Atal Bihari
- leader of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and twice prime minister of India (1996; 1998-2004). [5 Related Articles]
- vajra
- five-pronged ritual object extensively employed in Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies. It is the symbol of the Vajrayana school of Buddhism. [2 Related Articles]
- vajra-dhatu
- (from the article "arts, East Asian") ...to be separate realms. Thus, one of the most important iconographic images was the ryokai mandara ("mandala of the two worlds"), which consisted of two parts-the kongo-kai ("diamond world") and ...
- Vajrabodhi
- (from the article "Buddhism") ...in 716, and he translated the Mahavairocana-sutra and a closely related ritual compendium, the Susiddhikara, into Chinese. The other two monks, Vajrabodhi and his ...
- Vajrahasta III
- (from the article "Ganga Dynasty") ...and Calukyas in the period when the Western Gangas had been forced to abandon this role. Early dynasties of the eastern Gangas ruled in Orissa from the 8th century; but ...
- Vajrapani
- in Mahayana Buddhist mythology, one of the celestial bodhisattvas ("Buddhas-to-be"), the manifestation of the self-born Buddha Aksobhya. [1 Related Articles]
- vajrasattva yoga
- (from the article "Buddhism") According to Vajrayana traditions, the culmination of this process, called vajrasattva yoga, gives the initiate a diamond-like body beyond all duality. The four stages in the process are described in ...
- Vajrayana
- important development within Buddhism in India and neighbouring countries, notably Tibet. Vajrayana, in the history of Buddhism, marks the transition from Mahayana speculative thought to the enactment of Buddhist ideas ... [24 Related Articles]
- Vajrayogini
- in Vajrayana (Tantric Buddhism), female embodiment of the cognitive function leading to Buddhahood. Vajrayana emphasizes experience over speculation but uses the terms of speculative philosophical Buddhism in an imaginative way. ...
- Vakataka Dynasty
- Indian ruling house originating in the central Deccan in the mid-3rd century AD, the empire of which is believed to have extended from Malwa and Gujarat in the north to ... [3 Related Articles]
- Vakh
- (from the article "Ob River") ...River from the left. Successive tributaries along the northwesterly course, after the Chulym, include the Chaya and the Parabel (both left), the Ket (right), the Vasyugan (left), and the Tym ...
- Vakhan
- a mountainous region and panhandle in the Pamir Mountains of extreme northeastern Afghanistan. From the demarcation of the Afghan frontier (1895-96), the panhandle formed a political buffer between Russian Turkistan, ... [3 Related Articles]
- Vakhan River
- (from the article "Panj River") ...It is 700 miles (1,125 km) long and constitutes part of the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The Panj River is formed between the Hindu Kush and the Pamir Mountains ...
- Vakhsh River
- (from the article "Tajikistan") The dense river network that drains the republic includes two large swift rivers, the upper courses of the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya, together with their tributaries, notably the ...
- Vakhtang Gorgaslani
- (from the article "Georgia") ...the Black Sea (incorporating the ancient Colchis) became closely bound to Byzantium. Iberia passed under Persian control, though toward the end of the 5th century a hero arose in the ...
- Vakhtang VI
- (from the article "Georgia") ...of Iran. There was a period of respite under the viceroys of the house of Mukhran, who governed at Tbilisi under the aegis of the shahs from 1658 until 1723. ...
- Vakhtangov, Yevgeny Bagrationovich
- Russian theatrical director of the Moscow Art Theatre. [3 Related Articles]
- vaki
- supernatural power believed by the Baltic Finns to reside in those natural sites, objects, and animals that for various reasons attracted popular attention and inspired strong emotional attachments. Vaki was ...
- Vakili, Shuhrah
- (from the article "Literature") ...by women writers continued to gain momentum both in Iran and among expatriate Iranians. Parinush Sani'i's Sahm-i man (2002; "My Lot") and Shuhrah Vakili's Shab-i arusi-yi man ("My Wedding Night") ...
- vakk
- (from the article "vorsud") The tonni-vakk of the Estonians (also a Finno-Ugric people) was a similar object of worship. The vakkas, or "cases," were kept by families and in some cases collectively by a ...
- Vakyakara
- (from the article "Indian philosophy") ...he had been preceded by no less an authority than the Bhagavadgita. In his general philosophical position, he followed the vrttikara Bodhayana, the Vakyakara (to whom he referred but whose ...
- Val-d'Oise
- (from the article "Ile-de-France") region of France encompassing the north-central departements of Val-d'Oise, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-Saint-Denis, Ville-de-Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne, Essonne, and Yvelines. Ile-de-France is bounded by the
- Val-d'Or
- city, Abitibi-Temiscamingue region, western Quebec province, Canada. Val-d'Or lies near Lakes Blouin, de Montigny, and Lemoine. Although its name means "valley of gold," there is no valley in the vicinity. ...
- Val-de-Grace, Church of
- (from the article "Mansart, Francois") ...the setbacks he began to encounter, the first of which was a royal commission he received in 1645 and lost in 1646. Anne of Austria asked Mansart to draw up ...
- Val-de-Marne
- (from the article "Ile-de-France") ...of France encompassing the north-central departements of Val-d'Oise, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-Saint-Denis, Ville-de-Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne, Essonne, and Yvelines. Ile-de-France is bounded by the regions of Picardy ...
- Val-Saint-Lambert factory
- (from the article "glassware") In Belgium the Val-Saint-Lambert factory was an important producer of heavily cut crystal throughout the period. It is also associated with layered work and was particularly prominent with original work ...
- Valabhi
- city of ancient India that was the capital of the Maitraka dynasty in the 5th-8th century AD. It was situated on an inlet of the Gulf of Cambay (Khambhat), northwest ... [1 Related Articles]
- Valabhi era
- (from the article "chronology") ...king Isvarasena and first used in Gujarat and Maharashtra and later (until the 13th century) in Madhya Pradesh and as far north as Uttar Pradesh; the Valabhi era (AD 318, ...
- Valachi, Joseph
- American gangster, member of Lucky Luciano's mob family, who turned informer in 1962.
- Valadier, Giuseppe
- (from the article "Western architecture") The greatest achievement in urban planning of the period was the design of the Piazza del Popolo in Rome (1813-31) by Giuseppe Valadier, a great open space with three diagonal ...
- Valadon, Suzanne
- French painter noted for her robust figures and bold use of colour. She was the mother of the painter Maurice Utrillo. [1 Related Articles]
- Valais
- canton, southern Switzerland. It borders Italy to the south and France to the west and is bounded by the cantons of Vaud and Bern on the north and Uri and ... [5 Related Articles]
- Valanginian Stage
- second of six main divisions (in ascending order) in the Lower Cretaceous Series, representing rocks deposited worldwide during the Valanginian Age, which occurred 140.2 to 136.4 million years ago during ...
- Valaoritis, Aristotelis
- Greek poet and statesman who was memorable chiefly for the ardent patriotism he displayed both in his poetry and in his political career. [1 Related Articles]
- Valcea
- judet (county), south-central Romania. The Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians) and the sub-Carpathians rise above settlement areas in the valleys, and the Olt and Cerna rivers drain southward through the county. ...
- Valdai Hills
- upland region running north-south, about midway between St. Petersburg and Moscow, Russia. The hills are a northward extension of the Central Russian Upland. The ridge is overlain by deposited glacial ... [3 Related Articles]
- Valdemar Birgersson
- king of Sweden (1250-75) who governed jointly with his father Birger Jarl (q.v.) until the latter's death in 1266 and then reigned alone. Because of an extramarital affair with his ... [1 Related Articles]
- Valdemar I
- king of Denmark (1157-82) who ended the Wend (Slav) threat to Danish shipping, won independence from the Holy Roman emperor, and gained church approval for hereditary rule by his dynasty, ... [4 Related Articles]
- Valdemar II
- king of Denmark (1202-41) who, between 1200 and 1219, extended the Danish Baltic empire from Schleswig in the west to include lands as far east as Estonia. In his later ... [3 Related Articles]
- Valdemar IV Atterdag
- king of Denmark (1340-75) who united his country under his own rule after a brief period of alien domination. His aggressive foreign policy led to conflict with Sweden, North German ... [6 Related Articles]
- Valdemar Magnusson
- (from the article "Sweden") ...especially by the marsk, Torgils Knutsson; even after Birger's coronation in 1302, Torgils retained much of his power. The king's younger brothers Erik and Valdemar, who were ...
- Valdemar's War
- (from the article "Sweden") ...following year Valdemar attacked Skane, and Magnus relinquished Skane, Blekinge, and Halland in return for Valdemar's promise of help against Magnus's Swedish enemies. In 1361 Valdemar attacked Gotland and captured ...
- Valdepenas
- city, Ciudad Real provincia (province), in the comunidad autonoma (autonomous community) of Castile-La Mancha, south-central Spain. The city lies on the left bank of ...
- Valderrama, Juanito
- Spanish singer-songwriter (b. May 24, 1916, Torredelcampo, Spain-d. April 12, 2004, Espartinas, Spain), won critical acclaim from the mid-1930s as a performer of flamenco and from the 1950s achieved towering ...
- Valdes Leal, Juan de Nisa
- painter, president of the Sevilla (Seville) Academy, and the major figure in Sevillian painting for many years, known for his dramatic, inventive, and often violent paintings. [1 Related Articles]
- Valdes Peninsula
- (from the article "Chubut") ...hectares]) includes glaciated mountains, alpine lakes, rivers, and forests. To the east are isolated mountain ranges, salt flats, and salt lakes. Chubut River crosses the province west to east. The ...
- Valdes, Alfonso de
- Humanist satirist, one of the most influential and cultured thinkers in Spain of the early 16th century and twin brother of Juan de Valdes. [2 Related Articles]
- Valdes, Juan de
- Spanish Humanist. He and his twin brother, Alfonso, were members of an influential intellectual family that played significant roles in the religious, political, and literary life of Spain and its ... [1 Related Articles]
- Valdes, Zoe
- (from the article "Latin American literature") Younger women novelists such as Cubans Mayra Montero (settled in Puerto Rico), Daina Chaviano (settled in Miami), and Zoe Valdes (settled in France) and Mexican Angeles Mastretta outstripped their predecessors ...
- Valdez
- city, southeastern Alaska, U.S. Situated on Prince William Sound, 305 miles (490 km) east of Anchorage, it is the northernmost all-year port in North America. Formerly known as Copper City, ... [3 Related Articles]
- Valdivia
- city, southern Chile. It lies at the confluence of the Callecalle and Cruces rivers, where they flow into the Valdivia River, 11 miles (18 km) from the Pacific Ocean. Although ... [2 Related Articles]
- Valdivia
- (from the article "Native American art") ...American foothold in Ecuador and that the region is also the site of the earliest datable pottery. From perhaps as early as 15,000 BC until about 3200 BC, when pottery ...
- Valdivia, Pedro de
- conqueror and governor of Chile for Spain and founder of the cities of Santiago and Concepcion. [6 Related Articles]
- Valdivieso, Alfonso
- For two decades life in Colombia had been carried out in the ever-present shadow of the violence and corruption engendered by narcotics trafficking. The infamous Medellin and Cali drug cartels ...
- Valdivieso, Mount
- (from the article "Andes Mountains") ...the easternmost point of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, reaching an elevation of 3,700 feet. They run to the west through Grande Island, where the highest ridges-including Mounts Darwin, Valdivieso, ...
- Valdosta
- city, seat (1860) of Lowndes county, southern Georgia, U.S., about 60 miles (100 km) northeast of Tallahassee, Florida. Troupville, the original town and county seat (1828, as Franklinville), was moved ...
- Valduga, Patrizia
- (from the article "Italian literature") Of the poets born after 1950, mention should be made of the precocious Valerio Magrelli; Patrizia Valduga, whose poems take advantage of the rigidity of traditional metres to control otherwise ...
- Vale of Glamorgan
- county, southern Wales, extending along the Bristol Channel coast west of Cardiff and lying entirely within the historic county of Glamorgan (Morgannwg). It comprises an undulating coastal platform, with an ...
- Vale of White Horse
- district, administrative county of Oxfordshire, historic county of Berkshire, England, lying southwest of Oxford. It encompasses the northern part of the historic county of Berkshire. Its principal feature is a ...
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