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Mongols
Mongols , Asian people, numbering about 6 million and distributed mainly in the Republic of Mongolia, the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region of China, and Kalmykia and the Buryat Republic of Russia. Traditionally the Mongols were a predominantly pastoral people, following their herds of horses, cattl...
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Khiva
Khiva , city (1989 pop. 40,001), S Uzbekistan, in the Khiva oasis and on the Amu Darya River. Industries include metalworking, cotton and silk spinning, wood carving, and carpetmaking. The city, in existence by the 6th cent., was the capital of the Khwarazm (Khorezm) kingdom in the 7th and 8th cen...
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Shemakha
Shemakha or Şamaxu , city (1989 pop. 24,681), E Azerbaijan, at the foot of the Caucasus. Its chief product is wine. Known since ancient times, Shemakha was an important silk center in the 16th cent., trading especially with Venice. It was the capital of the khanate of Shirwan until the 17th...
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Kazan
Kazan , city (1989 est. pop. 1,094,000), capital of Tatarstan , E European Russia, on the Volga. It is a major historic, cultural, industrial, and commercial center. Manufactures include chemicals, explosives, electrical equipment, building materials, consumer goods, and furs. Kazan's port and ship...
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Kokand
Kokand or Khokand , city (1991 pop. 182,000), E Uzbekistan, in the Fergana Valley. It is a center for the manufacture of fertilizers, chemicals, machinery, and cotton and food products. Important since the 10th cent., Kokand became the capital of an Uzbek khanate which became independent of the ...
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Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh , region (1990 pop. 192,000), 1,699 sq mi (4,400 sq km), SE Azerbaijan, between the Caucasus and the Karabakh range. Xankändi (the capital, formerly Stepanakert) and Shusha are the chief towns. The region has numerous mineral springs as well as deposits of lithographic stone, m...
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Batu Khan
Batu Khan , d. 1255, Mongol leader; a grandson of Jenghiz Khan. In 1235 Batu became commander of the Mongol army assigned to the conquest of Europe; his chief general was Subutai. Batu crossed the Volga, sending part of his force to Bulgaria but most of it to Russia. By 1240 he had Moscow and Kiev i...
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Hulagu Khan
Hulagu Khan , 1217-65, Mongol conqueror, grandson of Jenghiz Khan. His brother Mangu, grand khan of the Mongols, directed him to quell a revolt in Persia. In 1256, in the course of his successful campaign, his forces virtually exterminated the powerful Assassin sect. Moving west to enlarge his con...
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Empire of the Golden Horde
Empire of the Golden Horde Mongol state comprising most of Russia, given as an appanage to Jenghiz Khan's oldest son, Juchi, and actually conquered and founded in the mid-13th cent. by Juchi's son, Batu Khan , after the Mongol or Tatar (see Tatars ) conquest of Russia. The name was derived from t...
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Tatars
Tatars or Tartars , Turkic-speaking peoples living primarily in Russia. They number about 5.5 million and are largely Sunni Muslims. The name is derived from Tata or Dada, a Mongolian tribe that inhabited present NE Mongolia in the 5th cent. First used to describe the peoples that overran parts ...
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