From the savanna between the Congo and Zambezi rivers rose one of the great empires of pre-colonial Africa, that of the Lunda. Under their ruler the Mwant Yav, and through

In the folded ridges of the Zagros Mountains in western Iran live the Lurs, an ancient Iranian people whose tribes once drove their great herds across some of the most

In the fertile plains of northern Bihar and the eastern Terai of Nepal lives the Maithil people, heirs to the ancient kingdom of Mithila. Speakers of the Maithili language, famed

The Makonde are a Bantu-speaking people of the dry highland plateau that straddles the border between southeastern Tanzania and northern Mozambique. Numbering well over a million and divided by the

In the northern provinces of Mozambique, from the Indian Ocean coast to the granite peaks of the interior, live the Makua, the largest single people of the country. Farmers of

Along the shores and straits of maritime Southeast Asia live the Malays, an Austronesian people whose language once served as the lingua franca of the whole region. From the great

Scattered across the Indian Ocean on nearly twelve hundred coral islands live the Maldivians, an island people whose whole culture has been shaped by the sea. On the lowest-lying land

Along the rivers of southern Iraq and Iran live the Mandaeans, a tiny and ancient people who are the last surviving followers of Gnosticism, the mystical faith of late antiquity.

The Mandinka, also called Malinke or Mandingo, are one of the largest peoples of West Africa, spread across the Gambia, Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Guinea-Bissau and beyond. Numbering many millions, they

In the Uele basin of the northeastern Congo, on the northern edge of the great rainforest, live the Mangbetu, a people famed for one of the most refined court cultures