Historical Dictionaries of Peoples and Cultures – serie

The Bengali (Bangla) speaking people are located in the northeastern part of South Asia, particularly in Bangladesh and two states of India – West Bengal and Tripura. There are almost 246 million Bengalis at present, which makes them the fifth largest speech community in the world. Despite political and social divisions, they share a common literary and musical culture and several habits of daily existence which impart to them a distinct identity. The Bengalis are known for their political consciousness and cultural accomplishments.The Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis provides an overview of the Bengalis across the world from the earliest Chalcolithic cultures to the present. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 750 cross-referenced dictionary entries on politicians, educators and entrepreneurs, leaders of religious and secular institutions, writers, painters, actors and other cultural figures, and more generally, on the economy, education, political parties, religions, women and minorities, literature, art and architecture, music, cinema and other major sectors. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Bengalis.

In this reference, Buffery and Marcer cover all of the areas historically inhabited by the Catalan people. These are, in order of size and population: Catalonia, which accounts for over half of the population of the Catalan-speaking areas; Valencia, with over a third; the Balearic Islands with just under 8 percent; and the Catalunya Nord, the Principality of Andorra, and the Catalan-speaking areas within Aragon, Murcia, and Alghero.The Historical Dictionary of the Catalans deals not only with the people who live in Catalonia, but with the language and culture of the Catalan countries as well. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, and over 600 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, places, events, institutions, and aspects of culture, society, economy, and politics.

The Historical Dictionary of the Jews presents the history of the Jewish people and their religious culture in a way that makes clear how and why this small, ancient people have survived nearly four millennia and managed to play such an important role in the world-well out of proportion to their population. The Jews trace their origins far back in history to the early tribes of Judah and Moses. Over the centuries, they spread across much of the Western world, as well as into parts of Africa and Asia, until they were crushed by the Holocaust and were forced to find refuge in the United States and the new state of Israel. Because of that horrific event, of the estimated 15 million Jews living today, approximately six million reside in Israel, with almost the same number living in the United States, making these two countries the main center of Jewish life today.This ready reference tells the history of the Jewish people through a detailed chronology, an introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and over 200 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, places, events, institutions, and aspects of culture, society, economy, and politics. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Jewish people.

The Australian Aborigines first arrived on the continent at least 60,000 years ago. They almost certainly landed on the northwest coast by sea from the nearby islands of the Indonesian archipelago. That first arrival may have been replicated many times over. The following exploration and settlement of a vast and varied continent was a venture of heroic proportions. The new settlers had reached southern Tasmania, the point farthest from the original landfall at least 30,000 years ago. By the early 17th century, when the first European seafarers arrived in Australian waters, the Aboriginal nations were living in every part of the continent, having colonized the tropical rainforests of the north, the vast arid deserts of the interior, and the cool and damp woodlands of the southeast.The Historical Dictionary of Australian Aborigines relates the history of Australia's indigenous inhabitants from their arrival on the continent 60,000 years ago to the centuries long European colonization process starting in the 1600s to their role in today's Australia. This is done through a chronology, an introductory essay, an extensive bibliography, and over 300 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, places, events, institutions, and aspects of culture, society, economy, and politics. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Australian Aboriginal peoples.

The Ismaili Muslims, who belong to the Shia branch of Islam, live in over 25 different countries around the world, mainly in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Their history has typically been linked to the history of the various countries in which they live, but the worldwide community is united under Prince Karim Aga Khan, the spiritual leader and 49th Imam of the Ismaili Muslims. Few fields of Islamic studies have witnessed as drastic a change as Ismaili studies, due in part to the recent discovery of numerous historical texts, and author Farhad Daftary makes extensive use of these new sources in the Historical Dictionary of the Ismailis.This comprehensive new reference work is the first of its kind on the Ismailis and presents a summary of the findings of modern scholarship on the Ismaili Shia Muslims and different facets of their heritage. The dictionary covers all phases of Ismaili history as well as the main doctrines of the community. It includes an introductory chapter, which provides a broad historical survey of the Ismailis, followed by alphabetical entries on all major aspects of the community, such as key figures, institutions, traditions, and doctrines. It also contains a chronology, genealogical tables, a glossary, and a substantial bibliography. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Ismailis.

The Inuit do not represent a very large population, only 160,000 or so, spread over a very large portion of the Arctic region and located in four different countries. Although they are a “people,” there are many variations from one group to the next, and any study of them must consider both similarities and differences. The Historical Dictionary of the Inuit introduces us to the Inuit as they actually are and not as they have been traditionally pictured and some would still like to see them—looking after their traditional chores and engaged in time-honored practices—but rather as a modern people trying to shape their worlds in their own interest.This second edition includes an updated chronology, as well as an introduction to provide a broader view of who the Inuit are, where they live, and what they do. But it is the dictionary section that is most interesting, with many new informative entries on persons, places, events, and institutions, shedding light not only on the culture but also on the society, economy, and politics. For those seeking further information, there is a considerably expanded bibliography. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Inuit.

One of the most intriguing minority groups in the Middle East is now a thousand years old. It emerged in the city of Cairo, spread to what is today Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, and subsequently became known by outsiders as Druze (in Arabic, Durooz, meaning Druzes). Druzes have played a major role in the history of the Middle East and often been misunderstood by neighbors and outsiders because of their esoteric religious doctrine, the secretive nature that such a doctrine has instilled in them, and the variety of perspectives or divisions prevalent among members of the community.This second edition of Historical Dictionary of the Druzes covers their history through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1000 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Druzes.

The term ‘Bedouins’ was given to nomads who came from or lived in the desert, and consisted of a sedentary population (from the badia – desert). However, in time, it came to define their social economic essence as: people who raised grazing animals and were compelled to conduct a nomadic life, to live in tents that could be dismantled, carried, and re-erected easily, and to move with their livelihood and living accommodation, according to the environmental conditions — those which provided water and grass. Not all Bedouin tribes are of Arabic origin, as all Muslim nomadic groups in the area adopted the term "Bedouins." There are Bedouin tribes of Turkmen, Kurdish Baluch, and Berberic origin and there are "Arabized" African people and hybrid people, who are categorized as Bedouins.The Historical Dictionary of the Bedouins contains a chronology, an introduction, an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 300 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Bedouins.

Dwelling in the highland areas of Northeast India, Bangladesh, Southwest China, Taiwan, Burma (Myanmar), Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Peninsular Malaysia are hundreds of “peoples”. Together their population adds up to 100 million, more than most of the countries they live in. Yet in each of these countries, they are regarded as minorities. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of the Peoples of the Southeast Asian Massif contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on about 300 groups, the ten countries they live in, their historical figures, and their salient political, economic, social, cultural and religious aspects. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more.

Berbers, also known as Imazighen, are the ancient inhabitants of North Africa, but rarely have they formed an actual kingdom or separate nation state. Ranging anywhere between 15-50 million, depending on how they are classified, the Berbers have influenced the culture and religion of Roman North Africa and played key roles in the spread of Islam and its culture in North Africa, Spain, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Taken together, these dynamics have over time converted to redefine the field of Berber identity and its socio-political representations and symbols, making it an even more important issue in the 21st century.This second edition of Historical Dictionary of the Berbers contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 200 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, places, events, institutions, and aspects of culture, society, economy, and politics. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Berbers.

The Tamils have an unbroken history of more than two thousand years. Tamil, the language they speak, is one of the oldest living languages in the world. The only people comparable to the Tamils in terms of their hoary past and vibrant present would be the Jews with one marked difference. The Tamils have always had their homeland 'Tamilaham' (alternately pronounced and spelt 'Tamizhaham') known today as Tamil Nadu which to them represents their mother and is revered by them as 'Tamizh Tai' literally ‘Tamil Mother’. This is in striking contrast to the Jews who have been through a long and arduous struggle to gain their homeland, a deeply contested site to this day with Hebrewisation of Israel being a key marker of Jewish identity in the region. Tamils, by contrast have a clear numerical majority in the region that now comprises Tamil Nadu and the language unites rather than divides adherents of different faiths.The second edition of Historical Dictionary of the Tamils contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 600 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Tamils.

The failed states of Iraq and Syria plus the rise and fall of ISIS have helped lead to near Kurdish statehood in Iraq (the KRG) and Kurdish autonomy in Syria (Rojava). In Turkey too—as illustrated by its negotiations and temporary cease-fire with the PKK and the rise of the HDP as the first pro-Kurdish party to be elected to the Turkish parliament as a party and not as mere independents—the Kurds have reached new heights of recognition. These major developments and much more are prominently reflected and developed in this new third edition of Historical Dictionary of the Kurds.This third edition of Historical Dictionary of the Kurds contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 700 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture of the Kurds. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the Kurds.

The Ismailis represent an important Shi’i Muslim community, who are now scattered in more than 30 countries of Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and North America. The Ismailis have had a long and eventful history dating back to the formative period of Islam. This dictionary, the first work of reference of its kind, presents the findings of modern scholarship on the Ismailis and different facets of their heritage. It covers all the major phases of Ismaili history and thought, including major and minor divisions within the Ismaili community. The main theological and doctrinal concepts are also covered. Designed as a mini encyclopedia, this dictionary serves as first point of reference for information on all the key Ismaili figures, concepts, institutions, and traditions, as well as regions of importance in Ismaili history. In addition, numerous Muslim dynasties and figures with whom the Ismailis have come into contact are included. This second edition of the dictionary, first published in 2012, represents a thorough updating of the entries, with many new entries also added. Another main feature of this edition is the inclusion of many new items to all sections of the dictionary’s extensive bibliography.Historical Dictionary of the Ismailis, Second Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, an extensive bibliography, and cross-referenced entries on key Ismaili figures, concepts, institutions, and traditions, as well as regions of importance in Ismaili history. In addition, numerous Muslim dynasties and figures with whom the Ismailis have come into contact are included. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Ismailis.