Glossary • 495terrorism: Threat or use of violence by individuals, groups, or governments, to
shock or intimidate a group larger than the immediate victims; often used as a
propaganda term
Thrace: Area on the northern shore of the Aegean Sea
Tigris: The more eastern of Iraq's two rivers
timar (tee-MAHR): Land grant by Ottoman sultans for military service
Timur Leng (tee-MOOR): Central Asian Turkish conqueror of Khurasan, Persia,
Iraq, and Syria (1369-1405); also known as Tamerlane
Timurid dynasty: Family descended from Timur, ruling Central Asia in the fif¬
teenth century, and later India, where they were called Mughals
Tiran (tee-RAHN): Straits linking the Gulf of Aqaba to the Red Sea
Tobacco Boycott: Organized Persian refusal to buy tobacco in 1891-1892 after
Nasiruddin Shah had sold to a British company the concession to process and
market the product
Trans-Iranian Railway: Line linking the Caspian Sea and the Gulf, built under
Reza Shah
Transjordan: Emirate or principality east of the Jordan River excised by the
British from their Palestine mandate in 1921
Transoxiana: Land northeast of the Oxus River, conquered by the Arabs in the
eighth century and later invaded successively by Turks and Mongols
Trench, Battle of the: Unsuccessful Meccan siege of the Medinan Muslims in 627
tribe: Group of people (often nomadic) sharing real or fictitious descent from a
common ancestor, as well as common traditions, customs, and leaders
Tripoli: (1) City in northern Lebanon; (2) twelfth-century Crusader state;
(3) Libya's capital city
Truman Doctrine: US policy statement of 1947 promising aid to Greece and
Turkey against communist aggression
Tudeh (too-DAY): Procommunist worker's party of Iran
Turk: (1) Speaker of a Turkic language; (2) citizen of Turkey
Turkish: Pertaining to the language and culture of the Turks
Twelve-Imam Shi'i: Any Muslim who believes that the umma should have been
led by Ali and his descendants, of whom the twelfth is hidden but will someday
return to restore righteousness; also known as Imami, Ja'fari, or Twelver
Ubaydallah (oo-bay-DUL-la): Founder (909-934) of the Fatimid dynasty, having
his capital at Mahdiya, near modern Tunis; called the Mahdi (rightly guided
one) by his followers
Uhud, Battle of (OH-hood): Meccan defeat of Muslims in 625
Uighur (oo-ee-GOOR): Turkic people of northwestern China, who ruled a large
kingdom in the eighth and ninth centuries
ulama (OO-le-ma): Muslim scholars and jurists
Umar I (OH-mar): Second of the Rashidun caliphs (634-644); leader of the early
Arab conquests