Dunhuang ( means large and properous in Chinese) is a city in northwestern Gansu province, Western China. It was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road, was known at times as Shāzhōu (沙州), or 'City of Sands', a name still used today.It commands a very strategic position at the ...
The year 1206, when Temüjin, son of Yesügei, was elected Genghis Khan of a federation of tribes on the banks of the Onon River, must be regarded as the beginning of the Mongol empire. This federation not only consisted of Mongols in the proper sense—that is,Mongol-speakingtribes—but...
Mongol empire historical empire, Asia Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degr...
Iran is a mountainous, arid, and ethnically diverse country of southwestern Asia. The heart of the Persian empire of antiquity, Iran has long played an important role in the region as an imperial power and as a factor in superpower rivalries. Modern Iran
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Mongolia, landlocked country in north-central Asia. Its remarkable variety of scenery consists largely of upland steppes, semideserts, and deserts, though in the west and north are forested high mountain ranges alternating with lake-dotted basins. The ca
Mongolia, landlocked country in north-central Asia. Its remarkable variety of scenery consists largely of upland steppes, semideserts, and deserts, though in the west and north are forested high mountain ranges alternating with lake-dotted basins. The ca
The Crimean War (1853–56) was fought mainly on the Crimean Peninsula between Russia and Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire. It arose from the conflict of great powers in the Middle East and was more directly caused by Russian demands to exercise pr
Aconspicuousridge runs along the southern rim of the Sinai in a great horseshoe curve, from which three main drainage basins have developed. The northern (or Mediterranean)drainage basin, in which Wadi Al-ʿArīsh acts as a master stream, empties into the Mediterranean near the town ofAl-...
Mughal dynasty, Muslim dynasty of Turkic-Mongol origin that ruled most of northern India from the early 16th to the mid-18th century. The administrative organization of the Mughal Empire allowed it to prosper for more than two centuries before being over