494 • Glossarysipahi (se-PAW-hee): Ottoman horse soldier supported by a timar
Skanderbeg: Fifteenth century Albanian military leader
Smyrna: See Izmir
Sogut (suh-EWT): Northwest Anatolian town where Ottoman Empire started
Stern Gang: Zionist group, also called Lehi, which broke with the Irgun and com¬
mitted guerrilla acts in Palestine up to 1949
Suez Affair: 1956 British, French, and Israeli attack on Egypt, following Nasir's
nationalization of the Suez Canal Company
Suez Canal: Human-made channel between the Mediterranean and Red seas
Sufi (SOO-fee): Pertaining to Muslim mystics or to their beliefs, practices, or
organizations
Sufism: Organized Muslim mysticism
Suleyman the Magnificent (suh-lay-MAHN): Ottoman sultan (1520-1566)
sulh (SOOL-h): Comprehensive peace settlement
sultan (sool-TAWN): Title for ruler of various Muslim states, including the Seljuk
and Ottoman empires
sunna (SOON-na): The sayings and actions of Muhammad regarding correct
Muslim belief or behavior; hence, next to the Quran, the most important
source of Muslim law
Sunni (SOON-nee): (1) A Muslim who accepts the legitimacy of the caliphs who
succeeded Muhammad and adheres to one of the legal rites developed in the
early caliphal period; (2) careful adherent to Muhammad's sunna
Sykes-Picot (pee-KOE): Secret pact (1916) among Britain, France, and Russia
outlining their plan to partition the Ottoman Empire
Syria: (1) Region east of the Mediterranean, including parts of southern Turkey,
the Republic of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and the northern Sinai, also
called the Levant; (2) the Republic of Syria
Syrian Protestant College: American University of Beirut, up to 1920
Tabatabai: See Ziya ud-Din Tabatabai, Sayyid
Tabriz (ta-BREEZ): City in Azerbaijan and early Safavid capital
Tahirid dynasty (TAW-her-id): Ruling family in eastern Persia (820-873)
Taif (TAH-if): Mountain city in western Arabia, near Mecca; site of 1989 confer¬
ence that restructured Lebanese politics
Talat (ta-LAHT): Influential Young Turk leader (d. 1921)
Taliban (taw-li-BAWN): Islamist group that controlled most of Afghanistan
(1996-2001)
Tanzimat (tan-zee-MAHT): Program of intensive westernizing reforms by the
Ottoman government, especially from 1839 to 1876
Tawfiq (tow-FEEK): Egypt's viceroy (1879-1892)
Tehran (teh-RAWN): Capital of Persia/Iran since 1794
Tel Aviv: Coastal city and commercial center in Israel
Temple: When capitalized, one of several edifices built in Jerusalem as the main
centers of Jewish worship in biblical times