1.
Delhi
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Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory of Delhi or NCT, is a city and a union territory of India. It is bordered by Haryana on three sides and by Uttar Pradesh to the east, the NCT covers an area of 1,484 square kilometres. According to 2011 census, Delhis city population was about 11 million, Delhis urban area is now considered to extend beyond the NCT boundary to include an estimated population of over 26 million people making it the worlds second largest urban area. As of 2016 recent estimates of the economy of its urban area have ranked Delhi either the top or second most productive metro area of India. Delhi is the second wealthiest city after Mumbai in India, with a wealth of $450 billion. Delhi has been inhabited since the 6th century BC. Through most of its history, Delhi has served as a capital of various kingdoms and it has been captured, ransacked and rebuilt several times, particularly during the medieval period, and modern Delhi is a cluster of a number of cities spread across the metropolitan region. New Delhi is jointly administered by the government of India and the local government of Delhi. Delhi is also the centre of the National Capital Region, which is a unique interstate regional planning area created by the National Capital Region Planning Board Act of 1985, Delhi ranks among the cities with the worst air pollution in the world. There are a number of myths and legends associated with the origin of the name Delhi, one of them is derived from Dhillu or Dilu, a king who built a city at this location in 50 BC and named it after himself. The coins in circulation in the region under the Tomaras were called dehliwal, according to the Bhavishya Purana, King Prithiviraja of Indraprastha built a new fort in the modern-day Purana Qila area for the convenience of all four castes in his kingdom. He ordered the construction of a gateway to the fort and later named the fort dehali, another theory suggests that the citys original name was Dhillika. The people of Delhi are referred to as Delhiites or Dilliwalas, the city is referenced in various idioms of the Northern Indo-Aryan languages. Dilli dilwalon ka shehr or Dilli Dilwalon ki meaning Delhi belongs to the large-hearted/daring, aas-paas barse, Dilli pani tarse, literally meaning it pours all around, while Delhi lies parched. An allusion to the sometimes semi-arid climate of Delhi, it refers to situations of deprivation when one is surrounded by plenty. The area around Delhi was probably inhabited before the second millennium BC, the city is believed to be the site of Indraprastha, the legendary capital of the Pandavas in the Indian epic Mahabharata. According to Mahabharata, this land was initially a huge mass of forests called Khandavaprastha which was burnt down to build the city of Indraprastha, the earliest architectural relics date back to the Maurya period, in 1966, an inscription of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka was discovered near Srinivaspuri. Remains of eight cities have been discovered in Delhi
2.
Hyderabad, Sindh
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Hyderabad is a city located in the Sindh province of Pakistan. Hyderabad is the 4th largest city in Pakistan and the 2nd largest in the province of Sindh and it is located in south-east of the country. In AD711, Arab general Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Sindh, Raja Dahir was a Hindu king who ruled over a Buddhist majority and that Chach of Alor and his kin were regarded as usurpers of the earlier Buddhist Rai Dynasty. The forces of Muhammad bin Qasim defeated Raja Dahir, Hyderabad is a city built on three hillocks cascading over each other. Mian Ghulam Shah Kalhoro of the Kalhora Dynasty founded the city in 1768 over the ruins of Neroon Kot, a formal concept for the city was laid out by his son, Sarfraz Khan in 1782. When the foundations were laid, the city obtained the nickname Heart of the Mehran as the ruler Mian Ghulam Shah himself was said to have fallen in love with the city. In 1768 he ordered a fort to be built on one of the three hills of Hyderabad to house and defend his people, the fort was built using fire-baked bricks, on account of which it was named Pacco Qillo meaning the strong fort. The City has a history of Sufism, in the 18th Century Syeds from Multan migrated and settled at Tando Jahania making it a sacred place for Muslims. These Syeds came here from Uch Sharif via Jahanian and these were the descendants of Jahaniyan Jahangasht a noted Sufi saint. The city is a multi-ethnic and has a mix of Sindhi, Urdu speaking Muhajirs, Brahuis, Punjabis, Pashtuns, Memons, the independence of Pakistan in 1947 saw the influx of Muslim Urdu-speaking Muhajirs from India fleeing from anti-Muslim pogroms. Mahjirs mainly live in Latifabad and Sindhi mainly live in Qasimabad areas, a large influx of Punjabis were attracted to Hyderabad after the Indus treaty settlement. Most Punjabis and Pakhtuns are distinct and separately living near the railway station, the city therefore has cosmopolitan atmosphere with multiethnic and multicultural communities. Hindus account for the largest religious minority forming 5% of the population of the city. While Christians account for 1% of the population, Hyderabad is the seat of a Diocese of the Church of Pakistan and has five churches. Two of Pakistans largest highways, the Indus Highway and the National Highway join at Hyderabad, several towns surrounding the city include Kotri at 6.7 kilometres, Jamshoro at 8.1 kilometres, Hattri at 5.0 kilometres and Husri at 7.5 kilometres. Hyderabad has a hot climate, with warm conditions year-round. The period from mid-April to late June is the hottest of the year, during this time, winds that blow usually bring along clouds of dust, and people prefer staying indoors in the daytime, while the breeze that flows at night is more pleasant. Winters are warm, with highs around 25 °C, though lows can drop below 10 °C at night
3.
Delhi Book
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Delhi Book or Delhie Book titled Reminiscences of Imperial Delhi is a collection of paintings done in company style, commissioned by Sir Thomas Metcalfe in 1844. It contains 120 paintings by Indian artists, mainly by Mughal painter, the book was bought by the British Library and displayed in London. It was commissioned by Sir Thomas Metcalfe, Governor-Generals Agent at the Imperial court of the Mughal Emperor, the paintings, done by Mughal painter, Mazhar Ali Khan, document the lifestyle of the last Mughal in 19th century Delhi. The book containing the paintings was sent to England for Metcalfes daughter, the Delhi Book is an album consisting of 89 folios with approximately 130 paintings by Indian artists. The paintings depict Mughal and pre-Mughal monuments of Delhi, the lives of native Indians as well as contemporary material. Metcalfe added extensive descriptions to almost all paintings and bound them into a book and he had assembled the album as a gift for his daughter, Emily, who at the time in 1844 lived in England. The most important feature of the book is that, it shows buildings as they were before the siege of Delhi during the Indian Mutiny, many of these structures were razed, vandalized or suffered neglect in the years following the Mutiny
4.
Akbar II
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Akbar II, also known as Akbar Shah II, was the penultimate Mughal emperor of India. He reigned from 1806 to 1837 and he was the second son of Shah Alam II and the father of Bahadur Shah II. Akbar had little de facto power due to the increasing British influence of India through the East India Company. He sent Ram Mohan Roy as an ambassador to Britain and gave him the title of Raja. During his regime, in 1835, the East India Company discontinued calling itself subject of the Mughal Emperor, the Persian lines in the Companys coins to this effect were deleted. He is credited with starting the Hindu-Muslim unity festival Phool Walon Ki Sair His grave lies next to the dargah of 13th century Sufi saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki at Mehrauli. Prince Mirza Akbar was born on 22 April 1760 to Emperor Shah Alam II at Mukundpur, Satna, on 2 May 1781, at the Red Fort, the prince was made Crown Prince with the title of Wali Ahd Bahadur, after the death of his elder brother. In In 1782 he was appointed the viceroy of Assam until 1799, when the renegade eunuch Ghulam Qadir captured Delhi, the young Prince Mirza Akbar was forced to nautch dance together along with other Mughal princes and princesses. He witnessed how the members of the imperial Mughal family were humiliated, when Mahmud Shah fled, Mirza Akbar was titular Emperor with the title of Akbar Shah II, and was to remain acting emperor even after the reinstation of his father Shah Alam II, till December 1788. Emperor Akbar II presided over an empire titularly large but in limited to the Red Fort in Delhi alone. The cultural life of Delhi as a whole flourished during his reign, the British therefore reduced his titular authority to King of Delhi in 1835 and the East India Company ceased to act as the mere lieutenants of the Mughal Empire as they did from 1803 to 1835. Simultaneously they replaced Persian text with English text on the companys coins, the British encouraged the Nawab of Oudh and the Nizam of Hyderabad to take royal titles in order to further diminish the Emperors status and influence. Out of deference, the Nizam did not, but the Nawab of Awadh did so, Ram Mohan Roy submitted a well argued memorial on behalf of the Mughal ruler, but to no avail. His grave lies, next to the dargah of the 13th century, Sufi saint, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki at Mehrauli, Delhi in an enclosure, along with that of Bahadur Shah I. Phool Walon Ki Sair Sair-e-Gulfaroshan It was year 1812, East India Company had penetrated to Mughal court completely and a Resident Officer was living inside the Red Fort, controlling the administration of India. Coins were struck by British Mints and name of Mughal Emperor was removed from currency. Emperor Shah Alam II had died, for whom people started saying at the end of his reign ‘Badshah Shah Alam, Az Delhi, Ta Palam’ which means, Emperor Shah Alam’s rule is from Delhi to Palam only. Shah Alam II’s son, Akbar II was the king and Archibald Seton. Next in line to throne, Crown Prince Mirza Jahangir was against British way of working, one day, this reckless young prince of 19 insulted Seton by calling him Lullu
5.
Bahadur Shah Zafar
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Mirza Abu Zafar Sirajuddin Muhammad Bahadur Shah Zafar was the last Mughal emperor. He was the son of and became the successor to his father, Akbar II. He used Zafar, a part of his name, for his nom de plume as an Urdu poet and he was a nominal Emperor, as the Mughal Empire existed in name only and his authority was limited only to the city of Delhi. Following his involvement in the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British exiled him to Rangoon in British-controlled Burma, Zafars father, Akbar II had been imprisoned by the British and he was not his father’s preferred choice as his successor. One of Akbar Shahs queens, Mumtaz Begum, pressured him to declare her son as his successor, however, The East India Company exiled Jahangir after he attacked their resident, in the Red Fort. Bahadur Shah Zafar presided over a Mughal Empire that only ruled the city Delhi, the Marathas installed Shah Alam II in the throne in 1772, under the protection of the Maratha general Mahadaji Shinde and maintained suzerainty over Mughal affairs in Delhi. The East India Company became the dominant political and military power in mid-nineteenth century India, outside the region controlled by the Company, hundreds of kingdoms and principalities, fragmented their land. The emperor was respected by the Company and had him a pension. The emperor permitted the Company to collect taxes from Delhi and maintain a force in it. Zafar never had any interest in statecraft or had any imperial ambition, after the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British exiled him from Delhi. Bahadur Shah Zafar was a noted Urdu poet, having written a number of Urdu ghazals, while some part of his opus was lost or destroyed during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, a large collection did survive, and was compiled into the Kulliyyat-i-Zafar. The court that he maintained was home to several prolific Urdu writers, including Mirza Ghalib, Dagh, Mumin, because of his neutral views on religions, some Indian kings and regiments accepted Zafar as the Emperor of India. On 12 May 1857, Zafar held his first formal audience in years after defeating. It was attended by several sepoys who treated him familiarly or disrespectfully, when the sepoys first arrived at Bahadur Shah Zafar’s court, he asked them why they had come to him because he had no means of maintaining them. Bahadur Shah Zafar’s conduct was indecisive, however, he yielded to the demands of the sepoys when he was told that they would not be able to win against the East India Company without him. On 16 May, sepoys and palace servants killed 52 Europeans who were prisoners of the palace, the executions took place under a peepul tree in front of the palace, despite Zafars protests. The aim of the executioners who were not the supporters of Zafar was to him in the killings. Once he had joined them, Bahadur Shah II took ownership for all the actions of the mutineers, though Zafar was dismayed by the looting and disorder, he gave his public support to the rebellion
6.
Alwar
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Alwar is a city and administrative headquarters of Alwar District in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located around 150 km south of Delhi, and about 150 km north of Jaipur, Alwar is part of National Capital Region. Alwar is a part of the Ahirwal regional and it is also famous for its olive plantation in Tinkirudi. Alwar was formerly the capital of the state of Alwar which was ruled by kachwaha Rajputs. It was formerly spelt as Ulwar in British India and this placed it in last position in alphabetically ordered lists, so a king changed the spelling to Alwar to bring it to the top. Alwar is also known by the name Matsya Nagar, Alwar has most haunted place Bhangarh. Alwar dates back to 1000 AD, the king of Amer ruled the area in the eleventh century and his territory extended up to the present city of Alwar. He founded the city of Alpur in 1106 Vikrami samvat after his own name which eventually became Alwar, from time to time, Different sub-clans of Rajputs ruled Alwar. Such as Khanzada Rajputs, Nikumbh Rajputs, Badgujar Rajputs and Last was Naruka Rajputs who took the control over this area, marathas and Jats of Bharatpur also ruled this region for very short period. A brave Rajput Partap Singh took the Alawar Fort from Jat Raja of Bharatpur on an agreement and laid down the foundation for modern Alwar. Great Hindu King Hemu also born into a Brahmin family in Machari was, a Hindu emperor of North India during the 16th century, a period when the Mughals and Afghans were vying for power in the region. Hemu acceded to the throne of Delhi on 7 October 1556 after defeating Akbars Mughal forces in the Battle of Delhi in the Tughlakabad area in Delhi and he won twenty-two battles in succession and became the last Hindu emperor of India. He is sometimes known as the Napoleon of India and he died on 5 November 1556. The princely state of Alwar was ruled by Pratap Singh, a Rajput of the Kachwaha lineage and he was earlier jagirdar of dhai Gaon means two and half villages near macheri. A few years later, His successor Bakhtawar Singh ventured an armed incursion into neighbouring Jaipur, the senior Kachwaha state, and he was defeated, a fresh engagement was made with him by the East India Company, prohibiting him from political intercourse with other states without British consent. Alwar acceded unto the dominion of India following the independence of India in 1947, on 18 March 1948, the state merged with three neighbouring princely states to form the Matsya Union. On 15 May 1949, it was united with neighbouring princely states, the Residents of Alwar are from different communities. Alwar was a part of Matsya region, the principal communities are the Meenas, Rajputs, Ahirs, Meos and Gujjars
7.
East India Company
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The company also ruled the beginnings of the British Empire in India. The company received a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600, wealthy merchants and aristocrats owned the Companys shares. Initially the government owned no shares and had only indirect control, during its first century of operation the focus of the Company was trade, not the building of an empire in India. The company eventually came to rule large areas of India with its own armies, exercising military power. Despite frequent government intervention, the company had recurring problems with its finances, the official government machinery of British India had assumed its governmental functions and absorbed its armies. Soon after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, London merchants presented a petition to Queen Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean, one of them, Edward Bonventure, then sailed around Cape Comorin to the Malay Peninsula and returned to England in 1594. In 1596, three ships sailed east, however, these were all lost at sea. Two days later, on 24 September, the Adventurers reconvened and resolved to apply to the Queen for support of the project, the Adventurers convened again a year later. For a period of fifteen years the charter awarded the newly formed company a monopoly on trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan. Anybody who traded in breach of the charter without a licence from the Company was liable to forfeiture of their ships and cargo, the governance of the company was in the hands of one governor and 24 directors or committees, who made up the Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to the Court of Proprietors, ten committees reported to the Court of Directors. According to tradition, business was transacted at the Nags Head Inn, opposite St Botolphs church in Bishopsgate. Sir James Lancaster commanded the first East India Company voyage in 1601, in March 1604 Sir Henry Middleton commanded the second voyage. Early in 1608 Alexander Sharpeigh was appointed captain of the Companys Ascension, thereafter two ships, Ascension and Union sailed from Woolwich on 14 March 1607–8. Initially, the company struggled in the trade because of the competition from the already well-established Dutch East India Company. The company opened a factory in Bantam on the first voyage, the factory in Bantam was closed in 1683. During this time belonging to the company arriving in India docked at Surat. In the next two years, the company established its first factory in south India in the town of Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal
8.
William Fraser (British India civil servant)
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His bungalow, a low domed structure in lemon yellow colour was situated near Kashmere Gate area, behind St. James Church. He was killed near his home on 22 March 1835, by Kureem Khan, an assassin hired by Nawab Shamsuddin Ahmed Khan, of Ferozepur Jhirka, who shot him with a carbine and Fraser died instantly. Nawab Shamsuddin Ahmed Khan, the ruler of Lotharu and Ferozepur Jhirka and father of noted Mughal poet and his death is mentioned in the Delhi Book of Sir Thomas Metcalfe, a subsequent agent at the Mughal imperial court. He was first buried at local burial ground, thereafter reburied at the St. James Church, Delhi by Colonel James Skinner, today William Frasers bungalow houses the Office of Chief Engineer Northern Railways and has restricted entry. William Dalrymple mentions visiting the bungalow in his 1994 book City of Djinns and he was among the British officers who were greatly influenced by the Mughal culture. He was a patron of arts, and was a big admirer of Mughal poet. He also commissioned famed art work called as the Fraser Album and it consisted of works by renowned artists of Mughal era. The artwork covered the life in Mughal era during the time, list of British Residents or Political Agents in Delhi, 1803–57
9.
James Skinner (East India Company officer)
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Skinner was born in 1778 in Calcutta India. When he was 12 years old his mother committed suicide and he was first educated at an English school in Calcutta, and then at a boarding school. His father originally apprenticed him to a printer in Calcutta but hating the life he ran away three days. Boigne was impressed by his ancestry, Skinners having served William the Conqueror in the 11th century. Once taken in, Skinner soon showed military talent, eventually he joined the Bengal Army of the East India Company where Lord Lake had become Commander-in-Chief of British India in 1801. Subsequently, on 23 February 1803, Skinner raised a regiment of irregular cavalry called Skinners Horse or the Yellow Boys because of the colour of their uniform. Later it became a regiment of light cavalry in the British Indian Army. He was present at the siege of Bharatpur, and in 1818 was granted a jagir of Hansi, in 1828, James was finally given the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the British service, and his brother Robert that of major. Later James became a colonel, having already been appointed Companion of the Order of the Bath on 26 December 1826 and he had an intimate knowledge of the characters of the people of India, and his advice was highly valued by successive governor-generals and commanders-in-chief. He commissioned paintings in the Company style on a large scale, first translated from the original Persian by James Fraser. St. James Church, also known as Skinners Church, was commissioned by Skinner after he had vowed, while lying wounded in the battlefield of Uniara in 1800 and it was built at his own expense and at a cost of Rs95,000. Designed by Major Robert Smith it was built between 1826-36 to a plan, with three porticoed porches and a central octagonal dome. It was consecrated on 21 November 1836 by the Right Reverend Daniel Wilson D. D. the Bishop of Calcutta, Skinner is also reported to have built a temple and a mosque, though details of them are unknown. He had also lived at Jahaj kothi in Hisar after the defeat of Irish mercenary adventurer George Thomas, Skinner died at Hansi, on 4 December 1841, at the age of 64. He was first buried in the Cantonment Burial Ground at Hansi and after a period of 40 days was disinterred, subsequently he was buried in Skinners Church on 19 January 1842 in a vault of white marble immediately below the Communion table. All his three sisters married gentlemen in the East India Companys service, while his brother, David, went to sea. Emily Eden, sister of Governor General George Auckland records in 1838 that Major Robert Skinner, was the sort of melodramatic character as his elder brother. Suspecting his wife of infidelity he killed several of his servants, Many of his family members and their descendants are buried in Skinners family plot, north of St. James Church, Delhi
10.
The New York Times
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The New York Times is an American daily newspaper, founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18,1851, by The New York Times Company. The New York Times has won 119 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper, the papers print version in 2013 had the second-largest circulation, behind The Wall Street Journal, and the largest circulation among the metropolitan newspapers in the US. The New York Times is ranked 18th in the world by circulation, following industry trends, its weekday circulation had fallen in 2009 to fewer than one million. Nicknamed The Gray Lady, The New York Times has long been regarded within the industry as a newspaper of record. The New York Times international version, formerly the International Herald Tribune, is now called the New York Times International Edition, the papers motto, All the News Thats Fit to Print, appears in the upper left-hand corner of the front page. On Sunday, The New York Times is supplemented by the Sunday Review, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine and T, some other early investors of the company were Edwin B. Morgan and Edward B. We do not believe that everything in Society is either right or exactly wrong, —what is good we desire to preserve and improve, —what is evil, to exterminate. In 1852, the started a western division, The Times of California that arrived whenever a mail boat got to California. However, when local California newspapers came into prominence, the effort failed, the newspaper shortened its name to The New-York Times in 1857. It dropped the hyphen in the city name in the 1890s, One of the earliest public controversies it was involved with was the Mortara Affair, the subject of twenty editorials it published alone. At Newspaper Row, across from City Hall, Henry Raymond, owner and editor of The New York Times, averted the rioters with Gatling guns, in 1869, Raymond died, and George Jones took over as publisher. Tweed offered The New York Times five million dollars to not publish the story, in the 1880s, The New York Times transitioned gradually from editorially supporting Republican Party candidates to becoming more politically independent and analytical. In 1884, the paper supported Democrat Grover Cleveland in his first presidential campaign, while this move cost The New York Times readership among its more progressive and Republican readers, the paper eventually regained most of its lost ground within a few years. However, the newspaper was financially crippled by the Panic of 1893, the paper slowly acquired a reputation for even-handedness and accurate modern reporting, especially by the 1890s under the guidance of Ochs. Under Ochs guidance, continuing and expanding upon the Henry Raymond tradition, The New York Times achieved international scope, circulation, in 1910, the first air delivery of The New York Times to Philadelphia began. The New York Times first trans-Atlantic delivery by air to London occurred in 1919 by dirigible, airplane Edition was sent by plane to Chicago so it could be in the hands of Republican convention delegates by evening. In the 1940s, the extended its breadth and reach. The crossword began appearing regularly in 1942, and the section in 1946
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