Shaffer, Peter (Levin) (b. May 15, 1926, London, Eng.) British play¬ wright. He first won notice for his comedy Five Finger Exercise (1958) and his epic tragedy The Royal Hunt of the Sun (1964). His Equus (1973, Tony Award; film, 1977) was a hit in London and New York City. He was also acclaimed for Amadeus (1979), which treated Antonio Salieri’s one¬ sided rivalry with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Shaffer adapted the play for film (1984, Academy Award). His later plays include Lettice and Lovage (1988).
Shaft! Vsha-fi-,e\, Abu Abd Allah (Muhammad ibn Idris) al-
(b. 767, Arabia—d. Jan. 20, 820, Al-Fustat, Egypt) Muslim legal scholar and founder of the ShafTiyyah school of law. A distant relative of Muham¬ mad, he was brought up in poverty in Mecca and studied with Islamic scholars across Arabia and the Levant. His great contribution was the cre¬ ation of a synthesis of Islamic legal thought that put into coherent form many familiar but unsystematized ideas. He dealt primarily with the iden¬ tification of the sources of Islamic law and their application to contem¬ porary events. His book, the Risdlah (c. 817), earned him the title “father of Muslim jurisprudence.”
shaft seal See oil seal
Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1 st earl of (b. July 22, 1621, Wimborne St. Giles, Dorset, Eng.—-d. Jan. 21, 1683, Amsterdam, Neth.) English politician. He served in the English Civil Wars, fighting first for the king (1643) and then for Parliament (1644). He was appointed by Oliver Cromwell to the council of state (1653-54, 1659) and also served in Parliament (1654-60). One of 12 commissioners sent to invite Charles II to return to England, he was appointed to Charles’s privy council (1660) and served as chancellor of the Exchequer (1661-72) and lord chancel¬ lor (1672-73). As head of the Council of Trade and Foreign Plantations (1672-74), he drew up a constitution for the North American province of Carolina, aided by his protege John Locke. Dismissed by Charles for sup¬ porting the anti-Catholic Test Act and opposing the marriage of Charles’s brother James (later James II) to another Catholic, Shaftesbury became a leader of the Whig opposition. He exploited the political chaos caused by Titus Oates to consolidate his parliamentary power and tried unsuccess¬ fully to pass the Exclusion Bill, to keep James from the throne. In 1681 Charles dissolved the Parliament; Shaftesbury was arrested and tried for treason but was acquitted. In 1682 he fled to Holland, where he died.
Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd earl of (b. Feb. 26, 1671, London, Eng.—d. Feb. 15, 1713, Naples) English politician and philosopher. Grandson of the 1st earl of Shaftesbury, he received his early education from John Locke. He entered Parliament in 1695; succeeding to his title in 1699, he served three years in the House of Lords. His numer¬ ous philosophical essays were influenced by Neoplatonism; published as Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (1711), they became the chief source of English Deism and influenced writers such as Alexander Pope, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Immanuel Kant.
Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th earl of (b. April 28, 1801, London, Eng.—d. Oct. 1, 1885, Folkestone, Kent) English poli¬ tician and social reformer. When his father succeeded to the earldom in 1811, Cooper became Lord Ashley. As a member of Parliament ( 1826- 51), he opposed the Reform Bill of 1832 but supported Catholic emanci¬ pation and repeal of the Corn Laws. From 1833 he led the factory reform movement in Parliament and effected passage of the Mines Act (1842)
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Shah Jahan ► Shaktism I 1731
and the Ten Hours Act (1847), known as Lord Ashley’s Act, which short¬ ened the working day in textile mills. As president of the Ragged Schools Union (1843-83), he promoted the free education of destitute children. Succeeding to his father’s title in 1851, he continued his work as one of the most effective social reformers of 19th-century England. He also led the Evangelical movement within the Church of England and financially supported several missionary societies.
Shah Jahan Vsha-jo-'hanX (b. Jan. 5, 1592, Lahore, India—d. Jan. 22, 1666, Agra) Mughal emperor of India (1628-58). During the reign of his father, Jahangir, he was part of the clique that dominated Mughal-dynasty politics. After Jahangir’s death, he garnered enough support to proclaim himself emperor. His reign was notable for its successes against the Dec- can states. Though attempts to reconquer lost territory almost bankrupted the empire, his reign marked the zenith of Mughal court splendour. Of his great architectural undertakings (including a fortress-palace built when he transferred the capital from Agra to Delhi), the most famous is the Taj Mahal. Though a more orthodox Muslim than his father, he was less orthodox than his son and successor, Aurangzeb, and he was relatively tolerant of his Hindu subjects.
shah of Iran See Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi; Reza Shah Pahlavi
Shahn, Ben(jamin) (b. Sept. 12, 1898, Kaunas, Russia—d. March 14, 1969, New York, N.Y., U.S.)
Lithuanian-born U.S. painter and graphic artist. His family immigrated to New York City in 1906. As a youth he worked as a lithographer’s apprentice; he later attended New York University and the National Academy of Design. In 1931-33 he achieved fame with a series of gouache paintings inspired by the Sacco-Vanzetti case, combining real¬ ism and abstraction in the service of sharp sociopolitical comment. In 1933 he assisted Diego Rivera with his Rockefeller Center mural and worked for the Public Works of Art Project. In 1935-38 he depicted rural poverty while working as an artist and photographer for the Farm Secu¬ rity Administration. After World War II he concentrated on easel paint¬ ing, poster design, and book illustration.
Shaivism or Saivism Vshl-.vi-zomX One of three main forms of mod¬ ern Hinduism, centred on the worship of Shiva. The earliest of the cults devoted to Shiva date from the 4th century bc. Texts written by devotees of Shiva in the 3rd century ad are the basis of Tantra in Hinduism and other Indian religions. Today Shaivism includes diverse movements, both religious and secular, all of which take Shiva as the supreme and all- powerful deity and teacher and view gaining the nature of Shiva as the ultimate goal of existence. This is believed to be brought about by the performance of complex rituals. See also Shaktism; Vaishnavism.
Shaka \'sha-ko\ (b. c. 1787—d.
Sept. 22, 1828) Zulu chief (18 lb- 28), founder of southern Africa’s Zulu kingdom. His life is the subject of numerous colourful and exagger¬ ated stories, many of which are debated by historians. It is generally accepted that Shaka was a highly skilled warrior who established him¬ self as head of the Zulu about 1816.
Under his autocratic rule, the Zulu kingdom experienced significant expansion, quickly becoming the dominant power in southeastern Africa. Shaka was murdered by his half-brother.
Shaker Member of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Sec¬ ond Appearing, a celibate millenar- ian sect. Derived from a branch of
the radical English Quakers (see Society of Friends), the movement was brought to the U.S. in 1774 by Ann Lee, an illiterate textile worker whose followers accepted her as the second incarnation of Christ. The Shakers spread throughout New England from their base near Albany, N.Y., and later into Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana, eventually establishing 19 com¬ munities. Communities held property in common, observed celibacy, and pursued a life of productive labour. Although sometimes persecuted for their pacifism and for bizarre beliefs falsely attributed to them, Shakers won admiration for their model farms and orderly, prosperous communi¬ ties. Their talent for simple, functional design led to numerous inventions and innovations (see Shaker furniture). The movement reached its height in the 1840s and thereafter gradually declined. In the early 21st century only one working Shaker village remained: Sabbathday Lake, near New Gloucester, Maine.