The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (480 page)

Cain
.

Eldest son of
Adam
and
Eve
and brother of
Abel
: see
Genesis
4. 1–16.

 
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(Arab., al-Q
hira, ‘the victorious’, but also from al-Q
hir, Mars, the city of Mars). Capital city of the
F
imids
, established by al-Mu‘izz in 969 (AH 358). It was originally called al-Man
riyya until al-Mu‘izz entered it, and only then was it called ‘the victorious city of al-Mu‘izz’. Under the Mamluke dynasty (1250–1517 (AH 648–922)), many of the great
mosques
were built, including
al-Azhar
.

 
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(Heb., ‘storing’). A storeroom attached to the Ezra
synagogue
in Cairo which contained valuable Hebrew historical documents. It was rediscovered and explored by Solomon
Schechter
in 1896.

 
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(Skt.).
1
In Hinduism, the spiritually awakened consciousness; hence among followers of
Ramakrishna
it is the title of the initiated
bhakti
-caitanya.
2
A devotee of K
a, and source of the Caitanya or Gau
ya Sampradaya (movement), who lived
c.
1485–1533, and was a major influence on the development of devotion to K
a (K
a-bhakti). In 1510, he was initiated as an
ascetic
and took the name
r
K