Nur ad din: Did you mean...?

Hafez of Shiraz (also given as Hafiz, l. 1315-1390) is considered the greatest of the Persian poets and among the most famous and admired writers in world literature. He is among the most often translated poets in the present day and his...

The Ilkhanate (or Ilqanate, 1260-1335 CE) was that part of the Mongol Empire (1206-1368 CE) which mostly covered what is today Iran and parts of Turkmenistan, Turkey, Iraq, Armenia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Established by the Mongol general...

The Koh-i-Noor diamond (also Koh-i-Nur or Kūh-e Nūr) is one of the largest and most famous cut diamonds in the world. It was most likely found in southern India between 1100 and 1300. The name of the stone is Persian meaning ‘Mountain of...

Persian literature derives from a long oral tradition of poetic storytelling. The first recorded example of this tradition is the Behistun Inscription of Darius I (the Great, r. 522-486 BCE), carved on a cliff-face c. 522 BCE during the period...

A picture depicting the failed attempted siege of Damascus in 1148 CE by the knights of the Second Crusade, which ultimately led the city to join hands with Nur ad-Din (sometimes also given as Nur al-Din, 1118 - 1174 CE).

Join World History Encyclopedia as they chat with medievalist Katherine Pangonis, all about her new book Queens of Jerusalem, the Women Who Dared to Rule. Kelly: Do you want to start off by telling us what your book is all about? Katherine...

The angel Metatron as depicted in the Daqa’iq al-Haqa’iq by 14th-century Islamic artist Nasir al-Din Rammal. Metatron appears in Kabbalistic mystical texts and was considered to be the highest of angels closest to God. In Jewish apocryphal...

Coronation of Malik-Shah I (1055-1092 CE), sultan of the Seljuk Empire. This miniature is from the Jami' al-Tawarikh (Compendium of Chronicles), a world history book by Rashid al-Din, completed in Tabriz circa 1307 CE. Edinburgh University...

Dancing Dervishes, Folio from a Divan of Hafiz, attributed to Kamāl al-Dīn Bihzād, Herad, Afghanistan, 1480. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The Seventh Crusade (1248-1254 CE) was led by the French king Louis IX (r. 1226-1270 CE) who intended to conquer Egypt and take over Jerusalem, both then controlled by the Muslim Ayyubid Dynasty. Despite the initial success of capturing Damietta...