Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition

, in the histories also Gāwīl , Gāwīlgaŕh , a fortress “of almost matchless strength” (Abu ’l-Faḍl, Āʾīn -i Akbarī , Eng. tr. Jarrett, ii, 237) in Berār, Central India, lat. 21° 20′ N., long. 77° 18′ E., seven kos (about 25 km.) north-west of Eličpur (Iličpur [ q.v.]). According to Firis̲h̲ta the fortress was built by Aḥmad S̲h̲āh Walī [see bahmanīs ] in 829/1425-6; but from its name it appears to have been a former stronghold of the Gāwalī chiefs, and it is more likely that Aḥmad S̲h̲āh merely strengthened the fortifications during t…

[see lakhnāwtī ].

[see kāfir ]. ¶

literally “the mountains of the unbelievers”, the name given by the Turks to several mountainous massifs, notably to (1) that where the Euphrates has its source to the north of Erzurum, and especially to (2) the Amanos, an arc of mountains which forms the south-western extremity of the eastern Taurus. It consists of a vast anticline rising to 7,411 ft/2,262 metres, orientated north-north-east/south-south-west, changing to north-east/south-west in its southern section after the col of Belen, with…

Īlk̲h̲ān [ q.v.] from 1291 until 1295, the younger son of Abaḳa, was raised to power by the leaders of his country after the death of his brother Arg̲h̲ūn [ q.v.]. He ascended the throne on 23 Rad̲j̲ab 690/22 July 1291, when he also adopted the Buddhist (Tibetan) names Rin-čhen rDo-rje “precious jewel”; he was, however, in no way hostile to the Muslims, and he was the only Īlk̲h̲ān who did not carry out any executions. Earlier, as an official in Asia Minor, he had been renowned for his unbounded liberality; now he squandered…

[see atjeh ].

, a measure of length in use in Muslim India, considered equal to the dhirāʿ , which was treated as a synonym for it. Sixty gaz formed the side of the square bīgha , a traditional measure of area. Five thousand gaz made the length of a kuroh (Persian) or krosa (Sanskrit), the traditional measure of road-length. The length of the gaz varied, often according to locality and also according to the subject of measurement (land, cloth, etc.). There is no way of knowing the standard length of the gaz under the Dihlī Sultans. But under Sikandar Lōdī (894-923/1489-1517) the measure known as gaz-i Sikandarī…

[see g̲h̲azza ].

[see g̲h̲azāl ].

[see ʿaynṭāb ].

[see d̲j̲azūla ].

[see d̲j̲azūlī ].

[see gabr and mad̲j̲ūs ].

[see d̲j̲ābir ].

(formerly Geǧbize , Geǧibüze ), the ancient Dakibyza, a small town in north-west Anatolia, 40° 48′ N., 29° 26′ E., situated in undulating country not far from the mouth of the Gulf of Izmit in the Sea of Marmara; at one time a ḳaḍā in the liwā ( sand̲j̲aḳ ) of Ḳod̲j̲a Eli (chief town Iznikmid/Izmit, Eyālet of Ḏj̲ezāʾir [islands]), later (in the 19th century) in the vilâyet of Istanbul, today in the vilâyet of Kocaeli; population, in 1960, of the town 8,018, and of the ḳaḍā 30,442. At the time of Ork̲h̲an Geǧibüze seems to have been already occupied by the Ottomans; in any case, the…

[see Ṣinf ].

, a late mediaeval Arab-African town, built on a coral ridge four miles from the sea and ten miles south of Malindi on the Kenya Coast of East Africa. It is shown on sixteenth century Portuguese maps as Quelman, a rendering for the Swahili Kilimani, meaning “on the hill”. Gedi is a Galla word meaning “precious”, the name which the site acquired in the seventeenth century. The ruins, excavated during the years 1948-58 and maintained as a National Park, cover an area of forty-five acres, and are surrounded by a town wall. They include a d̲j̲āmiʿ , seven other mosques, a…

, a river in west Anatolia, the former Hermos; it takes its modern name from Gediz, a place (39° 3′ N., 29° 29′ E.) near its source. It rises on Murat Daǧi (2312 m.) and in its upper reaches flows through the Lydian mountains. In its central section the Gediz Čay traverses the broad plain which is bounded on the south by Mount Sipylos (Manisa Daǧi), at the foot of which ties the town of Manisa [ q.v.] (formerly Mag̲h̲nisa, the ancient Magnesia). Further along on the southern extremity of this plain lie the towns of Turgutlu (Kasaba) and Salihli which have been connected …

[see arnawutluḳ ].

[see d̲j̲ahannam ].