1.
Islam
–
Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion which professes that there is only one and incomparable God and that Muhammad is the last messenger of God. It is the worlds second-largest religion and the major religion in the world, with over 1.7 billion followers or 23% of the global population. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and He has guided mankind through revealed scriptures, natural signs, and a line of prophets sealed by Muhammad. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the word of God. Muslims believe that Islam is the original, complete and universal version of a faith that was revealed many times before through prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses. As for the Quran, Muslims consider it to be the unaltered, certain religious rites and customs are observed by the Muslims in their family and social life, while social responsibilities to parents, relatives, and neighbors have also been defined. Besides, the Quran and the sunnah of Muhammad prescribe a comprehensive body of moral guidelines for Muslims to be followed in their personal, social, political, Islam began in the early 7th century. Originating in Mecca, it spread in the Arabian Peninsula. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various caliphates and empires, traders, most Muslims are of one of two denominations, Sunni or Shia. Islam is the dominant religion in the Middle East, North Africa, sizable Muslim communities are also found in Horn of Africa, Europe, China, Russia, Mainland Southeast Asia, Philippines, Northern Borneo, Caucasus and the Americas. Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world, Islam is a verbal noun originating from the triliteral root s-l-m which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, submission, safeness and peace. In a religious context it means voluntary submission to God, Islām is the verbal noun of Form IV of the root, and means submission or surrender. Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the verb form. The word sometimes has connotations in its various occurrences in the Quran. In some verses, there is stress on the quality of Islam as a state, Whomsoever God desires to guide. Other verses connect Islām and dīn, Today, I have perfected your religion for you, I have completed My blessing upon you, still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith. In the Hadith of Gabriel, islām is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān, Islam was historically called Muhammadanism in Anglophone societies. This term has fallen out of use and is said to be offensive because it suggests that a human being rather than God is central to Muslims religion
Islam
–
The
Kaaba, in
Mecca,
Hejaz region, today's
Saudi Arabia, is the
center of Islam.
Muslims from all over the world gather there to
pray in unity.
Islam
–
The dome of the
Carol I Mosque in
Constanța,
Romania, topped by the
Islamic crescent
Islam
–
Medallion showing "
Allah " (
God) in
Hagia Sophia,
Istanbul,
Turkey.
Islam
–
An
angel presenting
Muhammad and his companions with a miniature city. In the
Topkapi Palace Library,
Istanbul.
2.
Wayang
–
Wayang is a Javanese word for a theatrical performance with puppets or human dancers. When the term is used to refer to kinds of puppet theatre, performances of shadow puppet theatre are accompanied by a gamelan orchestra in Java, and by gender wayang in Bali. UNESCO designated wayang kulit, a puppet theatre and the best known of the Indonesian wayang, as a Masterpiece of Oral. In return for the acknowledgment, UNESCO required Indonesians to preserve their heritage, the term wayang is the Javanese word for shadow, or bayang in standard Indonesian, the word also means imagination. In modern daily Javanese and Indonesian vocabulary, wayang can refer to the puppet itself or the whole puppet theatre performance, Wayang is a generic term denoting traditional theatre in Indonesia. There is no evidence that existed before the first century CE. This leads to the hypothesis that the art was imported from either India or China, jivan Pani has argued that wayang developed from two arts of Odisha in Eastern India, the Ravana Chhaya puppet theatre and the Chhau dance. However, there very well may have been indigenous storytelling traditions that had a impact on the development of the traditional puppet theatre. The oldest known record that probably concerns wayang is from the 9th century, around 860 CE an Old Javanese charter issued by Maharaja Sri Lokapala mentions three sorts of performers, atapukan, aringgit, and abanol. Ringgit is described in an 11th century Javanese poem as a shadow figure. An inscription dated 930 CE says si Galigi mawayang, from that time till today it seems certain features of traditional puppet theatre have remained. Galigi was an itinerant performer who was requested to perform for a royal occasion. At that event he performed a story about the hero Bhima from the Mahabharata and this reference to wayang as shadow plays suggested that wayang performance is already familiar in Airlanggas court and wayang tradition has been established in Java, perhaps earlier. An inscription from this period also mentioned some occupations as awayang, Wayang kulit is a unique form of theatre employing light and shadow. The puppets are crafted from buffalo hide and mounted on bamboo sticks, when held up behind a piece of white cloth, with an electric bulb or an oil lamp as the light source, shadows are cast on the screen. The plays are based on romantic tales, especially adaptations of the classic Indian epics, the Mahabharata. Some of the plays are based on local happening or other local secular stories. It is up to the conductor or dalang or master puppeteer to decide his direction, the dalang is the genius behind the entire performance
Wayang
–
Javanese wayang kulit (shadow puppet) performance by a famous Indonesian dalang (puppet master) Ki Manteb Sudharsono, is usually a whole night long.
Wayang
–
Wayang shadow-puppet (
Bali, early 20th century)
Wayang
–
Wayang (shadow puppets) from central Java, a scene from
Irawan 's Wedding, mid 20th century, University of Hawaii Dept. of Theater and Dance
Wayang
–
Wayang Purwa type, depicting five
Pandawa, from left to right:
Bimo,
Arjuna,
Yudhishthira,
Nakula, and
Sahadewa at the
Indonesia Museum in Jakarta.
3.
Brooklyn Museum
–
The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum is New York Citys third largest in physical size, the museum initially struggled to maintain its building and collection, only to be revitalized in the late 20th century, thanks to major renovations. Significant areas of the collection include antiquities, specifically their collection of Egyptian antiquities spanning over 3,000 years, African, Oceanic, and Japanese art make for notable antiquities collections as well. American art is represented, starting at the Colonial period. Artists represented in the collection include Mark Rothko, Edward Hopper, Norman Rockwell, Winslow Homer, Edgar Degas, Georgia OKeeffe, the museum also has a Memorial Sculpture Garden which features salvaged architectural elements from throughout New York City. The roots of the Brooklyn Museum extend back to the 1823 founding by Augustus Graham of the Brooklyn Apprentices’ Library in Brooklyn Heights, in 1890, under its director Franklin Hooper, Institute leaders reorganized as the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences and began planning the Brooklyn Museum. The initial design for the Brooklyn Museum was four times as large as the actualized version, Daniel Chester French, the noted sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial, was the principal designer of the pediment sculptures and the monolithic 12. 5-foot figures along the cornice. The figures were created by 11 sculptors and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers, by 1920, the New York City Subway reached the museum with a subway station, this greatly improved access to the once-isolated museum from Manhattan and other outer boroughs. The Brooklyn Institutes director Franklin Hooper was the museums first director and he was followed by Philip Newell Youtz, Laurance Page Roberts, Isabel Spaulding Roberts, Charles Nagel, Jr. and Edgar Craig Schenck. Thomas S. Buechner became the director in 1960, making him one of the youngest directors in the country. Buechner oversaw a major transformation in the way the museum displayed art and brought some one thousand works that had languished in the museums archives and put them on display. Buechner played a role in rescuing the Daniel Chester French sculptures from destruction due to an expansion project at the Manhattan Bridge in the 1960s. The Brooklyn Museum changed its name to Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1997, on March 12,2004, the museum announced that it would revert to its previous name. In April 2004, the museum opened the James Polshek-designed entrance pavilion on the Eastern Parkway façade, in September 2014, Lehman announced that he was planning to retire around June 2015. In May 2015, Creative Time president and artistic director Anne Pasternak was named the Museums next director, member institutions occupy land or buildings owned by the City of New York and derive part of their yearly funding from the City. The Brooklyn Museum also supplements its earned income with funding from Federal and State governments, as well as donations by individuals. Major benefactors include Frank Lusk Babbott, the museum is the site of the annual Brooklyn Artists Ball which has included celebrity hosts such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Liv Tyler. The Brooklyn Museum exhibits collections that seek to embody the rich heritage of world cultures
Brooklyn Museum
–
Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
–
Replica of the
Statue of Liberty in back lot.
Brooklyn Museum
–
Book of the Dead of the Goldworker of Amun, Sobekmose, 31.1777e
Brooklyn Museum
–
Brooklyn Papyrus 664-332 BCE
4.
Persian Language
–
Persian, also known by its endonym Farsi, is one of the Western Iranian languages within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan and it is mostly written in the Persian alphabet, a modified variant of the Arabic script. Its grammar is similar to that of many contemporary European languages, Persian gets its name from its origin at the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persis, hence the name Persian. A Persian-speaking person may be referred to as Persophone, there are approximately 110 million Persian speakers worldwide, with the language holding official status in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. For centuries, Persian has also been a cultural language in other regions of Western Asia, Central Asia. It also exerted influence on Arabic, particularly Bahrani Arabic. Persian is one of the Western Iranian languages within the Indo-European family, other Western Iranian languages are the Kurdish languages, Gilaki, Mazanderani, Talysh, and Balochi. Persian is classified as a member of the Southwestern subgroup within Western Iranian along with Lari, Kumzari, in Persian, the language is known by several names, Western Persian, Parsi or Farsi has been the name used by all native speakers until the 20th century. Since the latter decades of the 20th century, for reasons, in English. Tajiki is the variety of Persian spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by the Tajiks, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term Persian as a language name is first attested in English in the mid-16th century. Native Iranian Persian speakers call it Fārsi, Farsi is the Arabicized form of Pārsi, subsequent to Muslim conquest of Persia, due to a lack of the phoneme /p/ in Standard Arabic. The origin of the name Farsi and the place of origin of the language which is Fars Province is the Arabicized form of Pārs, in English, this language has historically been known as Persian, though Farsi has also gained some currency. Farsi is encountered in some literature as a name for the language. In modern English the word Farsi refers to the language while Parsi describes Zoroastrians, some Persian language scholars such as Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, and University of Arizona professor Kamran Talattof, have also rejected the usage of Farsi in their articles. The international language-encoding standard ISO 639-1 uses the code fa, as its system is mostly based on the local names. The more detailed standard ISO 639-3 uses the name Persian for the dialect continuum spoken across Iran and Afghanistan and this consists of the individual languages Dari and Iranian Persian. Currently, Voice of America, BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty also includes a Tajik service and an Afghan service. This is also the case for the American Association of Teachers of Persian, The Centre for Promotion of Persian Language and Literature, Persian is an Iranian language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family of languages
Persian Language
–
Old Persian
Persian Language
–
Ferdowsi 's
Shahnameh
Persian Language
–
Kalilah va Dimna, an influential work in Persian literature.
5.
Urdu Language
–
Urdu is a persianized standard register of the Hindustani language. It is the language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also one of the 22 official languages recognized in the Constitution of India, hyderabad, Rampur, Bhopal and Lucknow are noted Urdu-speaking cities of India. Urdu is historically associated with the Muslims of the northern Indian subcontinent, apart from specialized vocabulary, Urdu is mutually intelligible with Standard Hindi, another recognized register of Hindustani. Urdu, like Hindi, is a form of Hindustani, Urdu developed under the influence of the Persian and Arabic languages, both of which have contributed a significant amount of vocabulary to formal speech. Around 99% of Urdu verbs have their roots in Sanskrit and Prakrit, Urdu words originating from Chagatai and Arabic were borrowed through Persian and hence are Persianized versions of the original words. For instance, the Arabic ta marbuta changes to he or te, nevertheless, contrary to popular belief, Urdu did not borrow from the Turkish language, but from Chagatai. Urdu and Turkish borrowed from Arabic and Persian, hence the similarity in pronunciation of many Urdu, Arabic influence in the region began with the late first-millennium Arab invasion of India in the 7th century. The Persian language was introduced into the subcontinent a few centuries later by various Persianized Central Asian Turkic and Afghan dynasties including that of the Delhi Sultanate. With the advent of the British Raj, Persian was no longer the language of administration but Hindustani, still written in the Persian script, the name Urdu was first used by the poet Ghulam Hamadani Mushafi around 1780. From the 13th century until the end of the 18th century Urdu was commonly known as Hindi, the language was also known by various other names such as Hindavi and Dehlavi. The communal nature of the language lasted until it replaced Persian as the language in 1837 and was made co-official. Urdu was promoted in British India by British policies to counter the previous emphasis on Persian and this triggered a Brahman backlash in northwestern India, which argued that the language should be written in the native Devanagari script. At independence, Pakistan established a highly Persianized literary form of Urdu as its national language, English has exerted a heavy influence on both as a co-official language. Owing to interaction with other languages, Urdu has become localized wherever it is spoken, similarly, the Urdu spoken in India can also be distinguished into many dialects like Dakhni of South India, and Khariboli of the Punjab region since recent times. Because of Urdus similarity to Hindi, speakers of the two languages can understand one another if both sides refrain from using specialized vocabulary. The syntax, morphology, and the vocabulary are essentially identical. Thus linguists usually count them as one language and contend that they are considered as two different languages for socio-political reasons
Urdu Language
–
Autograph and a couplet of Last
Mughal Emperor,
Bahadur Shah II, dated 29 April 1844
Urdu Language
–
Urdu in
Perso-Arabic script (
Nastaliq style)
Urdu Language
–
A trilingual
signboard in the
UAE
Urdu Language
–
A multilingual
New Delhi railway station board
6.
Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib
–
Hamzah ibn ‘Abdul-Muttalib was a companion and paternal uncle of the Islamic Nabi Muhammad. His kunyas were Abu Umara and Abu Ya‘la and he had the by-names Asad Allah and Asad al-Jannah, and Muhammad gave him the posthumous title Sayyidush-Shuhada’. Hamzahs father was ‘Abdul Muttalib ibn Hashim ibn ‘Abd Manaf ibn Qusayy from the Quraysh tribe of Mecca and his mother was Hala bint Uhayb from the Zuhra clan of Quraysh. His parents met when ‘Abdul Muttalib went with his son ‘Abdullah to the house of Wahb ibn Abd Manaf to seek the hand of Wahbs daughter Aminah, while they were there, ‘Abdul-Muttalib noticed Wahbs niece, Hala bint Uhayb, and he asked for her hand as well. Wahb agreed, and Muhammads father ‘Abdullah and his grandfather ‘Abdul-Muttalib were both married on the day, in a double-marriage ceremony. Hence, Hamzah was the brother of Muhammads father. Hamzah was reportedly four years older than Muhammad and this is disputed by Ibn Sayyid, who argues, Zubayr narrated that Hamza was four years older than the Prophet. But this does not seem correct, because reliable hadith state that Thuwayba nursed both Hamza and the Prophet, Ibn Sayyid concludes that Hamza was only two years older than Muhammad, though he adds the traditional expression of doubt, Only God knows. Ibn Hajar writes, Hamza was born two to four years before Muhammad, Hamza was skilled in wrestling, archery and swordsmanship. He was fond of hunting, and he is described as the strongest man of the Quraysh, Hamza married three times and had six children. Salma bint Umays, the half-sister of Maymuna bint al-Harith, umama bint Hamza, wife of Salama ibn Abi Salama. The daughter of Al-Milla ibn Malik of the Aws tribe in Medina, amir ibn Hamza Khawla bint Qays of the An-Najjar clan of the Khazraj in Medina. He had issue, but their descendants had died out by the time of Ibn Sad, two daughters who died in childhood. Hamza took little notice of Islam for the first few years and he did not respond to Muhammads first appeal to the Hashim clan in 613. He converted in late 615 or early 616, Muhammad had not replied to him. Filled with rage, Hamza went out at a run, meaning to punish Abu Jahl when he met him. He entered the Kaaba, where Abu Jahl was sitting with the elders, stood over him and he said, Will you insult him, when I am of his religion and say what he says. He struck Abu Jahls head with a blow that cut open his head, some of Abu Jahls relatives approached to help him, but he told them, Leave Abu Umara alone, for, by God, I insulted his nephew deeply
Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib
–
In
Indonesia, this theatre puppet of Amir Hamzah would have been used to promote Islam.
Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib
–
Hamza and Ali lead the Muslim armies at Badr.
Hamza ibn Abdul-Muttalib
–
Hamza killed at Uhud.
7.
Legend
–
Legend, for its active and passive participants, includes no happenings that are outside the realm of possibility, but may include miracles. Legends may be transformed over time, in order to keep fresh and vital. Many legends operate within the realm of uncertainty, never being believed by the participants. The Brothers Grimm defined legend as folktale historically grounded, a modern folklorists professional definition of legend was proposed by Timothy R. Legend is a loanword from Old French that entered English usage circa 1340. The Old French noun legende derives from the Medieval Latin legenda, in its early English-language usage, the word indicated a narrative of an event. The word legendary was originally a noun meaning a collection or corpus of legends and this word changed to legendry, and legendary became the adjectival form. By 1613, English-speaking Protestants began to use the word when they wished to imply that an event was fictitious, thus, legend gained its modern connotations of undocumented and spurious, which distinguish it from the meaning of chronicle. In 1866, Jacob Grimm described the tale as poetic. Questions of categorising legends, in hopes of compiling a series of categories on the line of the Aarne–Thompson folktale index. Compared to the highly structured folktale, legend is comparatively amorphous, in Einleitung in der Geschichtswissenschaft, Ernst Bernheim asserted that a legend is simply a longstanding rumour. Gordon Allport credited the staying-power of some rumours to the persistent cultural state-of-mind that they embody and capsulise, in the narrow Christian sense, legenda were hagiographical accounts, often collected in a legendary. Hippolyte Delehaye distinguished legend from myth, The legend, on the hand, has, of necessity. It refers imaginary events to some real personage, or it localizes romantic stories in some definite spot, stories that exceed the boundaries of realism are called fables. For example, the talking animal formula of Aesop identifies his brief stories as fables, the parable of the Prodigal Son would be a legend if it were told as having actually happened to a specific son of a historical father. If it included a donkey that gave sage advice to the Prodigal Son it would be a fable, Legend may be transmitted orally, passed on person-to-person, or, in the original sense, through written text. Jacob de Voragines Legenda Aurea or The Golden Legend comprises a series of vitae or instructive biographical narratives and they are presented as lives of the saints, but the profusion of miraculous happenings and above all their uncritical context are characteristics of hagiography. The Legenda was intended to inspire extemporized homilies and sermons appropriate to the saint of the day, the vanishing hitchhiker is the best-known urban legend in America, traceable as far back as 1870, but it is found around the world including in Korea and Russia. In the legend, a girl in a white dress picked up alongside of the road by a passerby
Legend
–
A depiction of the legendary
Rütlischwur.
Legend
–
Holger Danske, a legendary character.
Legend
–
In the painting of
Lady Godiva by
Jules Joseph Lefebvre, the authentic historical person is fully submerged in the legend, presented in an anachronistic high mediaeval setting.
Legend
–
The mediaeval legend of
Genevieve of Brabant connected her to
Treves.
8.
Muhammad
–
Muhammad is the prophet of Islam. From a secular historical perspective he was a religious, political, from an Islamic perspective, he was Gods Messenger sent to confirm the essential teachings of monotheism preached previously by Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and other prophets. He is viewed as the prophet of God in all branches of Islam. Muhammad united Arabia into a single Muslim polity and ensured that his teachings, practices, born approximately 570 CE in the Arabian city of Mecca, Muhammad was orphaned at an early age, he was raised under the care of his paternal uncle Abu Talib. Muhammad gained few early followers, and met hostility from some Meccan tribes, to escape persecution, Muhammad sent some followers to Abyssinia before he and his followers migrated from Mecca to Medina in the year 622. This event, the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar, in Medina, Muhammad united the tribes under the Constitution of Medina. In December 629, after eight years of intermittent conflict with Meccan tribes, Muhammad gathered an army of 10,000 Muslim converts, the attack went largely uncontested and Muhammad seized the city with little bloodshed. In 632, a few months after returning from the Farewell Pilgrimage, he fell ill, before his death, most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam. The revelations, which Muhammad reported receiving until his death, form the verses of the Quran, regarded by Muslims as the Word of God and around which the religion is based. Besides the Quran, Muhammads teachings and practices, found in the Hadith and sira literature, are upheld by Muslims. The name Muhammad means praiseworthy and appears four times in the Quran, Muhammad is sometimes addressed by designations deriving from his state at the time of the address, thus he is referred to as the enwrapped in Quran 73,1 and the shrouded in Quran 74,1. In Sura Al-Ahzab 33,40 God singles out Muhammad as the Seal of the Prophets, the Quran also refers to Muhammad as Aḥmad more praiseworthy. The name Abū al-Qāsim Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib ibn Hāshim, begins with the kunya Abū, the Quran is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believe it represents the words of God revealed by the archangel Gabriel to Muhammad, the Quran, however, provides minimal assistance for Muhammads chronological biography, most Quranic verses do not provide significant historical context. An important source may be found in the works by writers of the 2nd. These include the traditional Muslim biographies of Muhammad, which additional information about Muhammads life. The earliest surviving written sira is Ibn Ishaqs Life of Gods Messenger written c.767 CE, although the work was lost, this sira was used verbatim at great length by Ibn Hisham and Al-Tabari. Another early history source is the history of Muhammads campaigns by al-Waqidi, many scholars accept the earliest biographies as accurate, though their accuracy is unascertainable
Muhammad
–
Calligraphic representation of Muhammad's name
Muhammad
–
A folio from an early
Quran, written in
Kufic script (
Abbasid period, 8th–9th century)
Muhammad
–
Arabian peninsula, Byzantine and Sassanid-Persian empires in c.600 CE, on the eve of rise of Islam.
Muhammad
–
Miniature from
Rashid-al-Din Hamadani 's
Jami al-Tawarikh, c. 1315, illustrating the story of Muhammad's role in re-setting the
Black Stone in 605. (
Ilkhanate period)
9.
Mughal Emperor
–
The Mughal emperors were a branch of the Timurid dynasty. From the early 16th century to the early 18th they built and ruled the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the countries of Bangladesh, India. Their power rapidly dwindled during the 18th century and the last of the emperors was deposed in 1857, with the establishment of the British Raj. The dynasty was of Asian Turco-Mongol origin from a now part of modern-day Uzbekistan. Timur is generally known in the West as Tamerlane the Great and its population at the time has been estimated as between 110 and 150 million, over a territory of more than 3.2 million square kilometres. Ousted from his domains in Central Asia by Uzbek Khan. He established himself in Kabul and then pushed steadily southward into India from Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass, baburs forces occupied much of northern India after his victory at Panipat in 1526. The preoccupation with wars and military campaigns, however, did not allow the new emperor to consolidate the gains he had made in India, the instability of the empire became evident under his son, Humayun, who was driven out of India and into Persia by rebels. Humayuns exile in Persia established diplomatic ties between the Safavid and Mughal Courts, and led to increasing West Asian cultural influence in the Mughal court, the restoration of Mughal rule began after Humayun’s triumphant return from Persia in 1555, but he died from a fatal accident shortly afterwards. Humayuns son, Akbar, succeeded to the throne under a regent, Bairam Khan, through warfare and diplomacy, Akbar was able to extend the empire in all directions, and controlled almost the entire Indian subcontinent north of the Godavari river. He created a new class of nobility loyal to him from the aristocracy of Indias social groups, implemented a modern government. At the same time Akbar intensified trade with European trading companies and he left his successors an internally stable state, which was in the midst of its golden age, but before long signs of political weakness would emerge. Akbars son, Jahangir, ruled the empire at its peak, but he was addicted to opium, neglected the affairs of the state, and came under the influence of rival court cliques. During the reign of Jahangirs son, Shah Jahan, the culture, the maintenance of the court, at this time, began to cost more than the revenue. Shah Jahans eldest son, the liberal Dara Shikoh, became regent in 1658, however, a younger son, Aurangzeb, allied with the Islamic orthodoxy against his brother, who championed a syncretistic Hindu-Muslim religion and culture, and ascended to the throne. Aurangzeb defeated Dara in 1659 and had him executed, although Shah Jahan fully recovered from his illness, Aurangzeb declared him incompetent to rule and had him imprisoned. During Aurangzebs reign, the empire gained political strength once more, Aurangzeb expanded the empire to include almost the whole of South Asia, but at his death in 1707, many parts of the empire were in open revolt. Aurangzebs son, Shah Alam, repealed the religious policies of his father, however, after his death in 1712, the Mughal dynasty sank into chaos and violent feuds
Mughal Emperor
–
Bābur بابر
Mughal Emperor
–
The Mughal Empire in 1700.
Mughal Emperor
–
Humayun ہمایوں
Mughal Emperor
–
Akbar-e-Azam اکبر اعظم
10.
Akbar
–
Abul-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad, popularly known as Akbar I and later Akbar the Great, was a Mughal Emperor from 1556 until his death. He was the ruler of the Mughal Dynasty in India. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, a strong personality and a successful general, Akbar gradually enlarged the Mughal Empire to include nearly all of the Indian Subcontinent north of the Godavari river. His power and influence, however, extended over the country because of Mughal military, political, cultural. To unify the vast Mughal state, Akbar established a system of administration throughout his empire and adopted a policy of conciliating conquered rulers through marriage. To preserve peace and order in a religiously and culturally diverse empire, Mughal India developed a strong and stable economy, leading to commercial expansion and greater patronage of culture. Akbar himself was a patron of art and culture, holy men of many faiths, poets, architects and artisans adorned his court from all over the world for study and discussion. Akbars courts at Delhi, Agra, and Fatehpur Sikri became centres of the arts, letters, perso-Islamic culture began to merge and blend with indigenous Indian elements, and a distinct Indo-Persian culture emerged characterised by Mughal style arts, painting, and architecture. A simple, monotheistic cult, tolerant in outlook, it centred on Akbar as a prophet, for which he drew the ire of the ulema, many of his courtiers followed Din-i-Ilahi as their religion as well, as many believed that Akbar was a prophet. One famous courtier who followed this religion was Birbal. Akbars reign significantly influenced the course of Indian history, during his rule, the Mughal empire tripled in size and wealth. He created a military system and instituted effective political and social reforms. By abolishing the tax on non-Muslims and appointing them to high civil and military posts, he was the first Mughal ruler to win the trust. He had Sanskrit literature translated, participated in festivals, realising that a stable empire depended on the co-operation. Thus, the foundations for an empire under Mughal rule was laid during his reign. Akbar was succeeded as emperor by his son, Jahangir, defeated in battles at Chausa and Kannauj in 1539–40 by the forces of Sher Shah Suri Mughal emperor Humayun fled westward to Sindh. There he met and married the then 14-year-old Hamida Banu Begum, daughter of Shaikh Ali Akbar Jami, a teacher of Humauyuns younger brother Hindal Mirza. Jalal ud-din Muhammad Akbar was born the year on 15 October 1542 at the Rajput Fortress of Umerkot in Sindh
Akbar
–
Late 16th century portrait of Akbar by
Manohar
Akbar
–
Rejoicing at the birth of the emperor the great 1542
Akbar
–
Akbar as a boy
Akbar
–
The Mughal Emperor Akbar is depicted training an elephant
11.
Mahmud of Ghazni
–
Yamīn-ud-Dawla Abul-Qāṣim Maḥmūd ibn Sebüktegīn, more commonly known as Mahmud of Ghazni, also known as Mahmūd-i Zābulī, was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid Empire. He conquered the eastern Iranian lands, modern Afghanistan, and the northwestern Indian subcontinent from 997 to his death in 1030. He was the first ruler to carry the title Sultan, signifying the extent of his power, during his rule, he invaded and plundered parts of Hindustan 17 times. Mahmud was born on Thursday,10 Muharram,361 AH/ November 2,971 CE in the town of Ghazna in Medieval Khorasan and his father Sabuktigin was a Turkic Mamluk who founded the Ghaznavid dynasty. His mother was the daughter of a Persian aristocrat from Zabulistan, Sultan Mahmud was born on 2 November 971 CE in Ghazni to first Ghaznavid Sultan Sebüktigin, Yusuf Sebüktigin being his younger brother. He was married to a woman named Kausari Jahan and had twin sons Mohammad and Masud, in 994, Mahmud joined his father Sabuktigin in the capture of Khorasan from the rebel Faiq in aid of the Samanid Emir, Nuh II. Mahmud took over his fathers kingdom in 998 after defeating and capturing Ismail at the Battle of Ghazni and he then set out west from Ghazni to take the Kandahar region followed by Bost, where he turned it into a militarised city. Mahmud initiated the first of numerous invasion of North India, on November 28,1001, his army fought and defeated the army of Raja Jayapala of the Kabul Shahis at the battle of Peshawar. In 1002, Mahmud invaded Sistan and dethroned Khalaf ibn Ahmad, from there he decided to focus on Hindustan to the southeast, particularly the highly fertile lands of the Punjab region. At this point, Jayapala attempted to revenge for an earlier military defeat at the hands of Mahmuds father. His son Anandapala succeeded him and continued the struggle to avenge his fathers suicide and he also vowed to raid and loot the wealthy region of northwestern India every year. In 1001 Mahmud of Ghazni had first invaded modern day Afghanistan and Pakistan then parts of India, Mahmud defeated, captured and later released the Shahi ruler Jayapala, who had moved his capital to Peshawar. Jaya Pala killed himself and was succeeded by his son Ananda Pala, in 1013, during Mahmuds 8th expedition into eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Shahi kingdom was overthrown. In 1014 Mahmud led an expedition to Thanesar, the next year he unsuccessfully attacked Kashmir. In 1018, he attacked Mathura and defeated a coalition of rulers there while also killing a ruler called Chandra Pala, in 1021 Mahmud supported the Kannauj king against Chandela Ganda, who was defeated. That same year Shahi Trilochana Pala was killed at Rahib and his son Bhima Pala succeeded him, Mahmud besieged Gwalior, in 1023, where he given tribute. Mahmud attacked Somnath, in 1025, and its ruler Bhima Deva I fled, the next year, he captured Somnath and marched to Kachch against Bhima Deva. That same year Mahmud also attacked the Jat people of Jud, the last four years of Mahmuds life were spent contending with the influx of Oghuz and Seljuk Turks from Central Asia and the Buyid dynasty
Mahmud of Ghazni
–
Ferdowsi reads the poem, the
Shahnameh, to Mahmud of Ghazni by painter
Vardges Sureniants
Mahmud of Ghazni
–
Sultan Mahmud and his forces attacking the fortress of
Zaranj
Mahmud of Ghazni
–
Mahmud of Ghazni last success in India against Jats
Mahmud of Ghazni
–
A Painting of the tomb of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni, in 1839–40, with Sandalwood Doors long believed to be plundered from Somnath, which he destroyed in ca 1024, later found to be replicas of the original.
12.
Mughals
–
The dynasty, though ethnically Turco-Mongol, was Persianate in terms of culture. The Mughal empire extended over parts of the Indian subcontinent. The beginning of the empire is conventionally dated to the victory by its founder Babur over Ibrahim Lodi, the Mughal emperors were Central Asian Turco-Mongols belonging to the Timurid dynasty, who claimed direct descent from both Genghis Khan and Timur. During the reign of Humayun, the successor of Babur, the empire was briefly interrupted by the Sur Empire, the classic period of the Mughal Empire started in 1556 with the ascension of Akbar the Great to the throne. Under the rule of Akbar and his son Jahangir, the region enjoyed economic progress as well as harmony. Akbar was a warrior who also forged alliances with several Hindu Rajput kingdoms. Some Rajput kingdoms continued to pose a significant threat to the Mughal dominance of northwestern India, the reign of Shah Jahan, the fifth emperor, between 1628 and 1658 was the golden age of Mughal architecture. He erected several monuments, the best known of which is the Taj Mahal at Agra, as well as the Moti Masjid, Agra, the Red Fort, the Jama Masjid, Delhi. By the mid-18th century, the Marathas had routed Mughal armies, during the following century Mughal power had become severely limited, and the last emperor, Bahadur Shah II, had authority over only the city of Shahjahanabad. He issued a firman supporting the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and following the defeat was therefore tried by the British East India Company for treason, imprisoned and exiled to Rangoon. Contemporaries referred to the empire founded by Babur as the Timurid empire, which reflected the heritage of his dynasty, another name was Hindustan, which was documented in the Ain-i-Akbari, and which has been described as the closest to an official name for the empire. In the west, the term Mughal was used for the emperor, and by extension, the use of Mughal derived from the Arabic and Persian corruption of Mongol, and it emphasised the Mongol origins of the Timurid dynasty. The term gained currency during the 19th century, but remains disputed by Indologists, similar terms had been used to refer to the empire, including Mogul and Moghul. Nevertheless, Baburs ancestors were sharply distinguished from the classical Mongols insofar as they were oriented towards Persian rather than Turco-Mongol culture, ousted from his ancestral domains in Central Asia, Babur turned to India to satisfy his ambitions. He established himself in Kabul and then pushed steadily southward into India from Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass, Baburs forces occupied much of northern India after his victory at Panipat in 1526. The preoccupation with wars and military campaigns, however, did not allow the new emperor to consolidate the gains he had made in India, the instability of the empire became evident under his son, Humayun, who was driven out of India and into Persia by rebels. Humayuns exile in Persia established diplomatic ties between the Safavid and Mughal Courts, and led to increasing Persian cultural influence in the Mughal Empire, the restoration of Mughal rule began after Humayuns triumphant return from Persia in 1555, but he died from a fatal accident shortly afterwards. Humayuns son, Akbar, succeeded to the throne under a regent, Bairam Khan, through warfare and diplomacy, Akbar was able to extend the empire in all directions and controlled almost the entire Indian subcontinent north of the Godavari River
Mughals
–
Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire.
Mughals
–
Flag
Mughals
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Mughal Army artillerymen during the reign of
Akbar.
Mughals
–
Mughal matchlock rifle.
13.
Babur
–
He was a direct descendant of Turco-Mongol conqueror Timur from the Barlas clan, through his father, and also a descendant of Genghis Khan through his mother. Babur was the eldest son of Umar Sheikh Mirza and he ascended the throne of Fergana in 1495 at the age of twelve and faced rebellion from his own relatives. He conquered Samarkand two years later, only to lose the city of Fergana soon after, in his attempt to reconquer Fergana, he lost control of Samarkand. In 1501, his attempt to both cities went in vain as he was defeated by Muhammad Shaybani Khan. In 1504, he conquered Kabul, which was under the rule of the infant heir of Ulugh Begh. Babur formed a partnership with Safavid ruler Ismail I and reconquered parts of central Asia, including Samarkand, only to lose it. After losing Samarkand for the time, Babur turned his attention to creating his empire in north India. In 1524, Daulat Khan Lodi, a rebel of the Lodhi dynasty, invited Babur to overthrow Ibrahim, Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526 and founded the Mughal empire. However, he faced opposition, this time from Rana Sanga of Mewar who considered Babur a foreigner. The Rana was defeated at the Battle of Khanwa, notable among his sons are Humayun, Kamran Mirza and Hindal Mirza. Babur died in 1530 and was succeeded by Humayun, according to Baburs wishes, he was buried in Bagh-e-Babur in Kabul, Afghanistan. Being a patrilineal descendant of Timur, Babur considered himself a Timurid and Turk and he is considered a national hero in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Many of his poems also have become popular folk songs and he wrote his autobiography, Baburnama, in Chaghatai Turkic and this was translated into Persian during Akbars reign. Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn is Arabic for Defender of the Faith, and Muhammad honours the Islamic prophet, the name is generally taken in reference to the Persian babr, meaning tiger. The word repeatedly appears in Ferdowsis Shahnameh and was borrowed into the Turkic languages of Central Asia. The choice of vowel would nominally be restricted to one of the four front vowels, hence babr → babür, thackston argues for an alternate derivation from the PIE word beaver, pointing to similarities between the pronunciation Bābor and the Russian bobr. Babur bore the royal titles Badshah and al-ṣultānu l-ʿazam wa l-ḫāqān al-mukkarram pādshāh-e ġāzī and he and later Mughal emperors used the title of mirza when they were princes. Baburs memoirs form the source for details of his life
Babur
–
Babur portrait
Babur
–
17th century Portrait of Mughal Emperor Zahir ud-Din Mohammad (Babur)
Babur
–
Umar Sheikh Mirza – Father of Babur, c. 1875–1900
Babur
–
Babur was driven out of Transoxiana by Muhammad Shaybani Khan, another descendent of Genghis Khan.
14.
Mughal miniature
–
Mughal painting later spread to other Indian courts, both Muslim and Hindu, and later Sikh. This art of painting developed as a blending of Persian and Indian ideas, by the time of the Mughal invasion, the tradition had abandoned the high viewpoint typical of the Persian style, and adopted a more realistic style for animals and plants. No miniatures survive from the reign of the founder of the dynasty, Babur, nor does he mention commissioning any in his diaries, the Baburnama. Copies of this were illustrated by his descendents, Akbar in particular, with portraits of the many new animals Babur encountered when he invaded India. However some surviving un-illustrated manuscripts may have been commissioned by him, Mughal painting immediately took a much greater interest in realistic portraiture than was typical of Persian miniatures. Animals and plants were more realistically shown. Subjects are rich in variety and include portraits, events and scenes from life, wild life and hunting scenes. The Persian tradition of richly decorated borders framing the image was continued. The style of the Mughal school developed within the royal atelier, knowledge was primarily transmitted through familial and apprenticeship relationships, and the system of joint manuscript production which brought multiple artists together for single works. When Humayun returned to India, he brought him two accomplished Persian artists Abd al-Samad and Mir Sayyid Ali. His usurping brother Kamran Mirza had maintained a workshop in Kabul, humayans major known commission was a Khamsa of Nizami with 36 illuminated pages, in which the different styles of the various artists are mostly still apparent. Apart from the London painting, he commissioned at least two miniatures showing himself with family members, a type of subject that was rare in Persia but was to be common among the Mughals. Mughal painting developed and flourished during the reigns of Akbar, Jahangir, Akbar inherited and expanded his fathers library and atelier of court painters, and paid close personal attention to its output. He had studied painting in his youth under Abd as-Samad, though it is not clear how far these studies went. Between 1560 and 1566 the Tutinama, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art was illustrated, among other manuscripts, between 1562 and 1577 the atelier worked on an illustrated manuscript of the Hamzanama consisting of 1,400 canvas folios. Sadis masterpiece The Gulistan was produced at Fatehpur Sikri in 1582, a Darab Nama around 1585, Mughal style during this period continued to refine itself with elements of realism and naturalism coming to the fore. Between the years of 1570 to 1585 Akbar hired over a one hundred painters to practice Mughal style painting, Jahangir had an artistic inclination and during his reign Mughal painting developed further. Brushwork became finer and the colors lighter, Jahangir was also deeply influenced by European painting
Mughal miniature
–
Babur Beg Receives a Courtier, 1589, by
Mirza Farrukh Baig
Mughal miniature
–
17th-century Mughal painting
Mughal miniature
–
Painting by
Ustad Mansur (died after 1621)
Mughal miniature
–
Princes of the House of Timur, attributed to Abd as-Samad, ca. 1550-1555.
15.
Persian miniature
–
A Persian miniature is a small painting on paper, whether a book illustration or a separate work of art intended to be kept in an album of such works called a muraqqa. The techniques are comparable to the Western and Byzantine traditions of miniatures in illuminated manuscripts. The tradition continued, under some Western influence, after this, the Persian miniature was the dominant influence on other Islamic miniature traditions, principally the Ottoman miniature in Turkey, and the Mughal miniature in the Indian sub-continent. Persian art under Islam had never completely forbidden the human figure and this was partly because the miniature is a private form, kept in a book or album and only shown to those the owner chooses. It was therefore possible to be free than in wall paintings or other works seen by a wider audience. In Islamic art this is referred to as illumination, and manuscripts of the Quran, in later periods miniatures were increasingly created as single works to be included in albums called muraqqa, rather than illustrated books. This allowed non-royal collectors to afford a representative sample of works from different styles, the bright and pure colouring of the Persian miniature is one of its most striking features. Lighting is even, without shadows or chiaroscuro, walls and other surfaces are shown either frontally, or as at an angle of about 45 degrees, often giving the modern viewer the unintended impression that a building is hexagonal in plan. Buildings are often shown in complex views, mixing interior views through windows or cutaways with exterior views of parts of a facade. Costumes and architecture are always those of the time, many figures are often depicted, with those in the main scene normally rendered at the same size, and recession indicated by placing more distant figures higher up in the space. More important figures may be larger than those around them. The dress of figures is shown with great care, although artists understandably often avoid depicting the patterned cloth that many would have worn. Even when a scene in a palace is shown, the viewpoint often appears to be from a point some metres in the air. This is used in all the manuscripts for the court that constitute the most famous Persian manuscripts. The miniatures normally occupy a full page, later spreading across two pages to regain a square or horizontal landscape format. There are often panels of text or captions inside the picture area, the rest of the page is often decorated with dense designs of plants and animals in a muted grisaille, often gold and brown, text pages without miniatures often also have such borders. In later manuscripts, elements of the miniature begin to expand beyond the frame, another later development was the album miniature, conceived as a single picture rather than a book illustration, though such images may be accompanied by short lyric poems. The withdrawal of Shah Tahmasp I from commissioning illustrated books in the 1540s probably encouraged artists to transfer to these works for a wider circle of patrons
Persian miniature
–
Behzad 's Advice of the Ascetic (c. 1500-1550). As in Western
illuminated manuscripts, exquisitely decorated borders were an integral part of the work of art.
Persian miniature
–
Camp scene from late in the classic period, with no frame.
Majnun (at top wearing orange) spies on his beloved Layla (standing in tent doorway)
Persian miniature
–
Saki, album miniature by
Reza Abbasi, 1609
Persian miniature
–
Complex palace scene, 1539-43,
Mir Sayyid Ali
16.
Persian language
–
Persian, also known by its endonym Farsi, is one of the Western Iranian languages within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan and it is mostly written in the Persian alphabet, a modified variant of the Arabic script. Its grammar is similar to that of many contemporary European languages, Persian gets its name from its origin at the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persis, hence the name Persian. A Persian-speaking person may be referred to as Persophone, there are approximately 110 million Persian speakers worldwide, with the language holding official status in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. For centuries, Persian has also been a cultural language in other regions of Western Asia, Central Asia. It also exerted influence on Arabic, particularly Bahrani Arabic. Persian is one of the Western Iranian languages within the Indo-European family, other Western Iranian languages are the Kurdish languages, Gilaki, Mazanderani, Talysh, and Balochi. Persian is classified as a member of the Southwestern subgroup within Western Iranian along with Lari, Kumzari, in Persian, the language is known by several names, Western Persian, Parsi or Farsi has been the name used by all native speakers until the 20th century. Since the latter decades of the 20th century, for reasons, in English. Tajiki is the variety of Persian spoken in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan by the Tajiks, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term Persian as a language name is first attested in English in the mid-16th century. Native Iranian Persian speakers call it Fārsi, Farsi is the Arabicized form of Pārsi, subsequent to Muslim conquest of Persia, due to a lack of the phoneme /p/ in Standard Arabic. The origin of the name Farsi and the place of origin of the language which is Fars Province is the Arabicized form of Pārs, in English, this language has historically been known as Persian, though Farsi has also gained some currency. Farsi is encountered in some literature as a name for the language. In modern English the word Farsi refers to the language while Parsi describes Zoroastrians, some Persian language scholars such as Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, and University of Arizona professor Kamran Talattof, have also rejected the usage of Farsi in their articles. The international language-encoding standard ISO 639-1 uses the code fa, as its system is mostly based on the local names. The more detailed standard ISO 639-3 uses the name Persian for the dialect continuum spoken across Iran and Afghanistan and this consists of the individual languages Dari and Iranian Persian. Currently, Voice of America, BBC World Service, Deutsche Welle, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty also includes a Tajik service and an Afghan service. This is also the case for the American Association of Teachers of Persian, The Centre for Promotion of Persian Language and Literature, Persian is an Iranian language belonging to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family of languages
Persian language
–
Old Persian
Persian language
–
Ferdowsi 's
Shahnameh
Persian language
–
Kalilah va Dimna, an influential work in Persian literature.
17.
Colophon (publishing)
–
In publishing, a colophon is a brief statement containing information about the publication of a book such as the place of publication, the publisher, and the date of publication. A colophon may also be emblematic or pictorial in nature, colophons were formerly printed at the ends of books, but in modern works they are usually located at the verso of the title-leaf. The term colophon derives from the Late Latin colophōn, from the Greek κολοφών and it should not be confused with Colophon, an ancient city in Asia Minor, after which colophony, or rosin, is named. The term is applied to clay tablet inscriptions appended by a scribe to the end of an Ancient Near East text such as a chapter, book, manuscript. The colophon usually contained facts relative to the such as associated person, literary contents. Colophons and catch phrases helped the reader organize and identify various tablets, positionally, colophons on ancient tablets are comparable to a signature line in modern times. Bibliographically, however, they closely resemble the imprint page in a modern book. Examples of colophons in ancient literature may be found in the compilation The Ancient Near East, Supplementary Texts, colophons are also found in the Pentateuch, where an understanding of this ancient literary convention illuminates passages that are otherwise unclear or incoherent. An extensive study of the eleven colophons found in the book of Genesis was done by Percy John Wiseman. C. sometimes additional information, such as the name of a proofreader or editor, or other more-or-less relevant details, might be added. A colophon might also be emblematic or pictorial rather than in words, the normal position for a colophon was after the explicit. After around 1500 these data were transferred to the title page. Colophons sometimes contained book curses, as this was the one place in a medieval manuscript where a scribe was free to write what he wished, such curses tend to be unique to each book. In Great Britain colophons grew generally less common in the 16th century, in some parts of the world, colophons helped fledgling printers and printing companies gain social recognition. For example, in early modern Armenia printers used colophons as a way to gain power by getting their name out into the social sphere. Some commercial publishers took up the use of colophons, and began to include details in their books. Such colophons might identify the designer, the software used, the printing method, the printing company, the typeface used in the page design. Book publishers Alfred A. Knopf, the Folio Society and OReilly Media are notable for their substantial colophons, some web pages also have colophons, which frequently contain HTML, CSS, or usability standards compliance information and links to website validation tests. Jerusalem Colophon Union label Wiseman hypothesis
Colophon (publishing)
–
A colophon printed in 1471
Colophon (publishing)
–
The colophon of
John Fortescue 's A Learned Commendation of the Politique Lawes of Englande (1567), which appears at the end of the book
18.
Tutinama
–
Tutinama, literal meaning Tales of a Parrot, is a 14th-century Persian series of 52 stories. An illustrated version containing 250 miniature paintings was commissioned by the Mughal Emperor, the work redacted in 14th century AD in Iran derives from an earlier anthology ‘Seventy Tales of the Parrot’ in Sanskrit compiled under the title Śukasaptati dated to the 12th century AD. In Iran, as in India, parrots are popular as storytellers in works of fiction and he had translated and/or edited a classical Sanskrit version of the stories similar to Tutinama into Persian, around 1335 AD. It is conjectured that this book of short stories, moralistic in theme. It is also inferred that since Akbar had a harem, the stories had specific orientation towards the control of women. The two artists Mir Sayyid Ali and Abd al-Samad were invited by Humayun around 1530–40 to teach art to himself. Initially, the artists came to Kabul with Humayun and in later years shifted to Delhi when he won back his empire from the Suri Dynasty, the artists then moved to Fatehpur Sikri with the Mughal Emperor Akbar, where a huge workshop of artists were engaged in producing miniatures. This type of painting came to be known as Mughal painting, during Akbars reign from 1556 to 1605 and it thus developed as a unique blend of Indian, Persian and Islamic styles. Most of the paintings are now in the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Mughal style covered mainly portraits of Mughal emperors, Queens, court scenes, hunting scenes, special ceremonies, battle scenes, love scenes and various activities of royal rulers. This format of miniatures was also adopted by Rajput and Malwa rulers. The merchant had gone on his business trip leaving behind his wife in the company of a mynah, the wife strangles the mynah for advising her not to indulge in any illicit affair. The parrot, realising the gravity of the situation, adopts a more indirect approach of narrating fascinating stories over the next fifty-two nights, the stories are narrated every successive night for 52 nights as an entertaining episode to keep Khojastas attention and distract her from going out. The story related by the parrot is of a Brahmin boy falling in love with a princess, the magician further facilitates the meeting of his friend with the kings daughter by telling the King that the girl in question was his daughter-in-law. On seeking entry into the palace the Brahmin discloses his identity to his adored princess. But a twist is introduced into the tale with the Kings son beholding a beautiful girl while taking bath in a pond falls in love with her, to avoid discovery of his true identity, the Brahmin runs away with the King’s daughter. The magician then appears before the King seeking return of his daughter-in-law, but the King realising the true state of the two missing girls, compensates the magician with rich gifts. The gifts are passed on by the magician to his Brahmin friend, the parrot concludes the narration, towards day break, with the advice to Kojasta that she should also have everything in life including her husband. It is said that the text of the Tutinama was written in Nastaliq calligraphy style, but each of the paintings seen in various libraries across the world focus on a single topic or episode of the stories
Tutinama
–
Tutinama (Tales of a Parrot)
Tutinama
–
The Parrot addresses Khojasta, a scene from the Tutinama (1556–1565) paintings
Tutinama
–
Mughal women dancing
Kathak style
19.
Victoria and Albert Museum
–
The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is the worlds largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and these include the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the Royal Albert Hall. The museum is a public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media. Like other national British museums, entrance to the museum has been free since 2001, the V&A covers 12.5 acres and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. The museum owns the worlds largest collection of sculpture, with the holdings of Italian Renaissance items being the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, China, Japan, Korea, the East Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection is amongst the largest in the Western world. Overall, it is one of the largest museums in the world, New 17th- and 18th-century European galleries were opened on 9 December 2015. These restored the original Aston Webb interiors and host the European collections 1600–1815, at this stage the collections covered both applied art and science. Several of the exhibits from the Exhibition were purchased to form the nucleus of the collection, by February 1854 discussions were underway to transfer the museum to the current site and it was renamed South Kensington Museum. In 1855 the German architect Gottfried Semper, at the request of Cole, produced a design for the museum, but it was rejected by the Board of Trade as too expensive. The site was occupied by Brompton Park House, this was extended including the first refreshment rooms opened in 1857, the official opening by Queen Victoria was on 22 June 1857. In the following year, late night openings were introduced, made possible by the use of gas lighting, in these early years the practical use of the collection was very much emphasised as opposed to that of High Art at the National Gallery and scholarship at the British Museum. George Wallis, the first Keeper of Fine Art Collection, passionately promoted the idea of art education through the museum collections. From the 1860s to the 1880s the scientific collections had been moved from the museum site to various improvised galleries to the west of Exhibition Road. In 1893 the Science Museum had effectively come into existence when a director was appointed. The laying of the stone of the Aston Webb building on 17 May 1899 was the last official public appearance by Queen Victoria. It was during this ceremony that the change of name from the South Kensington Museum to the Victoria, the exhibition which the museum organised to celebrate the centennial of the 1899 renaming, A Grand Design, first toured in North America from 1997, returning to London in 1999
Victoria and Albert Museum
–
Entrance to the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
–
In 2000,
an 11 metre high, blown glass chandelier by
Dale Chihuly was installed as a focal point in the rotunda at the V&A's main entrance.
Victoria and Albert Museum
–
Henry Cole, the museum's first director
Victoria and Albert Museum
–
Frieze detail from internal courtyard showing Queen Victoria in front of the 1851 Great Exhibition.
20.
Kashmir
–
Kashmir is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range. In the first half of the 1st millennium, the Kashmir region became an important centre of Hinduism and later of Buddhism, later still, in the ninth century, in 1339, Shah Mir became the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir, inaugurating the Salatin-i-Kashmir or Swati dynasty. Kashmir was part of the Mughal Empire from 1586 to 1751 and that year, the Sikhs, under Ranjit Singh, annexed Kashmir. The Sanskrit word for Kashmir was, the Nilamata Purana describes the Valleys origin from the waters, a lake called Sati-saras. A popular, but uncertain, local etymology of Kashmira is that it is land desiccated from water, an alternative, but also uncertain, etymology derives the name from the name of the sage Kashyapa who is believed to have settled people in this land. Accordingly, Kashmir would be derived from either kashyapa-mir or kashyapa-meru, the Ancient Greeks called the region Kasperia which has been identified with Kaspapyros of Hecataeus and Kaspatyros of Herodotus. Kashmir is also believed to be the country meant by Ptolemys Kaspeiria, Cashmere is an archaic spelling of present-Kashmir, and in some countries it is still spelled this way. In the Kashmiri language, Kashmir itself is known as Kasheer, the Buddhist Mauryan emperor Ashoka is often credited with having founded the old capital of Kashmir, Shrinagari, now ruins on the outskirts of modern Srinagar. Kashmir was long to be a stronghold of Buddhism, as a Buddhist seat of learning, the Sarvāstivādan school strongly influenced Kashmir. East and Central Asian Buddhist monks are recorded as having visited the kingdom, in the late 4th century CE, the famous Kuchanese monk Kumārajīva, born to an Indian noble family, studied Dīrghāgama and Madhyāgama in Kashmir under Bandhudatta. He later became a translator who helped take Buddhism to China. His mother Jīva is thought to have retired to Kashmir, vimalākṣa, a Sarvāstivādan Buddhist monk, travelled from Kashmir to Kucha and there instructed Kumārajīva in the Vinayapiṭaka. Karkota Empire was a powerful Hindu empire, which originated in the region of Kashmir and it was founded by Durlabhvardhana during the lifetime of Harshavardhan. The dynasty marked the rise of Kashmir as a power in South Asia, avanti Varman ascended the throne of Kashmir on 855 A. D. establishing the Utpala dynasty and ending the rule of Karkota dynasty. According to tradition, Adi Shankara visited the pre-existing Sarvajñapīṭha in Kashmir in the late 8th century or early 9th century CE, the Madhaviya Shankaravijayam states this temple had four doors for scholars from the four cardinal directions. The southern door of Sarvajna Pitha was opened by Adi Shankara, abhinavagupta was one of Indias greatest philosophers, mystics and aestheticians. He was also considered an important musician, poet, dramatist, exegete, theologian, and logician – a polymathic personality who exercised strong influences on Indian culture
Kashmir
–
Political Map: the Kashmir region districts, showing the
Pir Panjal range and the
Kashmir Valley or Vale of Kashmir.
Kashmir
–
Kashmir
Kashmir
–
Swami Vivekananda in Kashmir in 1898.
Kashmir
–
General view of Temple and Enclosure of
Marttand (the
Sun), at Bhawan, ca. 490–555; the colonnade ca. 693–729.
Surya Mandir at
Martand, Jammu & Kashmir, India, photographed by
John Burke, 1868.
21.
British Museum
–
The British Museum is dedicated to human history, art and culture, and is located in the Bloomsbury area of London. The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician, the museum first opened to the public on 15 January 1759, in Montagu House, on the site of the current building. Although today principally a museum of art objects and antiquities. Its foundations lie in the will of the Irish-born British physician, on 7 June 1753, King George II gave his formal assent to the Act of Parliament which established the British Museum. They were joined in 1757 by the Old Royal Library, now the Royal manuscripts, together these four foundation collections included many of the most treasured books now in the British Library including the Lindisfarne Gospels and the sole surviving copy of Beowulf. The British Museum was the first of a new kind of museum – national, belonging to neither church nor king, freely open to the public, sloanes collection, while including a vast miscellany of objects, tended to reflect his scientific interests. The addition of the Cotton and Harley manuscripts introduced a literary, the body of trustees decided on a converted 17th-century mansion, Montagu House, as a location for the museum, which it bought from the Montagu family for £20,000. The Trustees rejected Buckingham House, on the now occupied by Buckingham Palace, on the grounds of cost. With the acquisition of Montagu House the first exhibition galleries and reading room for scholars opened on 15 January 1759. During the few years after its foundation the British Museum received several gifts, including the Thomason Collection of Civil War Tracts. A list of donations to the Museum, dated 31 January 1784, in the early 19th century the foundations for the extensive collection of sculpture began to be laid and Greek, Roman and Egyptian artefacts dominated the antiquities displays. Gifts and purchases from Henry Salt, British consul general in Egypt, beginning with the Colossal bust of Ramesses II in 1818, many Greek sculptures followed, notably the first purpose-built exhibition space, the Charles Towneley collection, much of it Roman Sculpture, in 1805. In 1816 these masterpieces of art, were acquired by The British Museum by Act of Parliament. The collections were supplemented by the Bassae frieze from Phigaleia, Greece in 1815, the Ancient Near Eastern collection also had its beginnings in 1825 with the purchase of Assyrian and Babylonian antiquities from the widow of Claudius James Rich. The neoclassical architect, Sir Robert Smirke, was asked to draw up plans for an extension to the Museum. For the reception of the Royal Library, and a Picture Gallery over it, and put forward plans for todays quadrangular building, much of which can be seen today. The dilapidated Old Montagu House was demolished and work on the Kings Library Gallery began in 1823, the extension, the East Wing, was completed by 1831. The Museum became a site as Sir Robert Smirkes grand neo-classical building gradually arose
British Museum
–
British Museum
British Museum
–
The centre of the museum was redeveloped in 2001 to become the
Great Court, surrounding the original
Reading Room.
British Museum
–
Sir
Hans Sloane
British Museum
–
Montagu House, c. 1715
22.
Smithsonian
–
The Smithsonian Institution, established in 1846 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge, is a group of museums and research centers administered by the Government of the United States. Originally organized as the United States National Museum, that ceased to exist as an administrative entity in 1967. Additional facilities are located in Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York City, Texas, Virginia, more than 200 institutions and museums in 45 states, Puerto Rico, and Panama are Smithsonian Affiliates. The Institutions thirty million annual visitors are admitted without charge and its annual budget is around $1.2 billion with 2/3 coming from annual federal appropriations. Other funding comes from the Institutions endowment, private and corporate contributions, membership dues, and earned retail, concession, Institution publications include Smithsonian and Air & Space magazines. The British scientist James Smithson left most of his wealth to his nephew Henry James Hungerford, Congress officially accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation, and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust on July 1,1836. The American diplomat Richard Rush was dispatched to England by President Andrew Jackson to collect the bequest, Rush returned in August 1838 with 105 sacks containing 104,960 gold sovereigns. Once the money was in hand, eight years of Congressional haggling ensued over how to interpret Smithsons rather vague mandate for the increase, unfortunately, the money was invested by the US Treasury in bonds issued by the state of Arkansas which soon defaulted. The United States Exploring Expedition by the U. S. Navy circumnavigated the globe between 1838 and 1842, in 1846, the regents developed a plan for weather observation, in 1847, money was appropriated for meteorological research. The Institution became a magnet for young scientists from 1857 to 1866, the Smithsonian played a critical role as the U. S. partner institution in early bilateral scientific exchanges with the Academy of Sciences of Cuba. The Smithsonian Institution Building began construction in 1849, designed by architect James Renwick Jr. its interiors were completed by general contract Gilbert Cameron and the building opened in 1855. The Smithsonians first expansion came with construction of the Arts and Industries Building in 1881, Congress had promised to build a new structure for the museum if the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition generated enough income. It did, and the building was designed by architects Adolf Cluss and Paul Schulze, meigs of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The National Zoological Park opened in 1889 to accommodate the Smithsonians Department of Living Animals and this structure was designed by the D. C. architectural firm of Hornblower & Marshall. More than 40 years would pass before the museum, the Museum of History. It was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White. That same year, the Smithsonian signed an agreement to take over the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum opened in the Old Patent Office Building on October 7,1968. The first new building to open since the National Museum of Natural History was the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Smithsonian
–
The
"Castle" (1847), the Institution's first building and still its headquarters
Smithsonian
–
Smithsonian Institution Logo of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian
–
Aircraft on display at the
National Air and Space Museum, including a
Ford Trimotor and
Douglas DC-3 (top and second from top)
Smithsonian
–
The Smithsonian Castle doorway
23.
Ferozsons
–
Ferozsons Limited is a Pakistani publishing company in Lahore, Pakistan. It is a publishing house in Pakistan since 1894 with an estimated net worth of Rs 8 billion. Recently, a laboratory was established in Lahore Ferozsons was established in 1894 by Maulvi Feroz-ul-Din. He started his work by publishing and printing the books in Lahore, now the company is spread countrywide in 26 big cities of Pakistan. It does the publishing, printing and selling of the books and it is a large book distribution network in Pakistan. It has created its retailing and distribution network in 200 markets including Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi, company has five outlets in Lahore and one each in Karachi and Rawalpindi with its head-office at The Mall road, Lahore. In the summer of 2012, the historic bookstore survived a blaze which raged on for days, the fire erupted on May 30 and caused the wooden roof of the building to collapse. Within a month of the inferno, the bookstore again opened its doors to the public, the management made temporary arrangements and restarted sales on June 27,2012 with a five-member team managing it. However, the building took months to get restored to its former glory
Ferozsons
–
Ferozsons
24.
Iran
–
Iran, also known as Persia, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a sovereign state in Western Asia. Comprising a land area of 1,648,195 km2, it is the second-largest country in the Middle East, with 82.8 million inhabitants, Iran is the worlds 17th-most-populous country. It is the country with both a Caspian Sea and an Indian Ocean coastline. The countrys central location in Eurasia and Western Asia, and its proximity to the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran is the countrys capital and largest city, as well as its leading economic and cultural center. Iran is the site of to one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the area was first unified by the Iranian Medes in 625 BC, who became the dominant cultural and political power in the region. The empire collapsed in 330 BC following the conquests of Alexander the Great, under the Sassanid Dynasty, Iran again became one of the leading powers in the world for the next four centuries. Beginning in 633 AD, Arabs conquered Iran and largely displaced the indigenous faiths of Manichaeism and Zoroastrianism by Islam, Iran became a major contributor to the Islamic Golden Age that followed, producing many influential scientists, scholars, artists, and thinkers. During the 18th century, Iran reached its greatest territorial extent since the Sassanid Empire, through the late 18th and 19th centuries, a series of conflicts with Russia led to significant territorial losses and the erosion of sovereignty. Popular unrest culminated in the Persian Constitutional Revolution of 1906, which established a monarchy and the countrys first legislative body. Following a coup instigated by the U. K. Growing dissent against foreign influence and political repression led to the 1979 Revolution, Irans rich cultural legacy is reflected in part by its 21 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the third-largest number in Asia and 11th-largest in the world. Iran is a member of the UN, ECO, NAM, OIC. Its political system is based on the 1979 Constitution which combines elements of a democracy with a theocracy governed by Islamic jurists under the concept of a Supreme Leadership. A multicultural country comprising numerous ethnic and linguistic groups, most inhabitants are Shia Muslims, the largest ethnic groups in Iran are the Persians, Azeris, Kurds and Lurs. Historically, Iran has been referred to as Persia by the West, due mainly to the writings of Greek historians who called Iran Persis, meaning land of the Persians. As the most extensive interactions the Ancient Greeks had with any outsider was with the Persians, however, Persis was originally referred to a region settled by Persians in the west shore of Lake Urmia, in the 9th century BC. The settlement was then shifted to the end of the Zagros Mountains. In 1935, Reza Shah requested the international community to refer to the country by its native name, opposition to the name change led to the reversal of the decision, and Professor Ehsan Yarshater, editor of Encyclopædia Iranica, propagated a move to use Persia and Iran interchangeably
Iran
–
Cave painting in Doushe cave,
Lorestan, Iran,
8th millennium BC
Iran
–
Flag
Iran
–
A depiction of the united
Medes and
Persians in
Apadana,
Persepolis
Iran
–
Ruins of the
Gate of All Nations,
Persepolis
25.
Astrologer
–
Astrology is the study of the movements and relative positions of celestial objects as a means for divining information about human affairs and terrestrial events. Throughout most of its history astrology was considered a tradition and was common in academic circles, often in close relation with astronomy, alchemy, meteorology. It was present in political circles, and is mentioned in works of literature, from Dante Alighieri and Geoffrey Chaucer to William Shakespeare, Lope de Vega. Astrology thus lost its academic and theoretical standing, and common belief in it has largely declined, Astrology is now recognized to be pseudoscience. The word astrology comes from the early Latin word astrologia, which derives from the Greek ἀστρολογία—from ἄστρον astron, astrologia later passed into meaning star-divination with astronomia used for the scientific term. Many cultures have attached importance to astronomical events, and the Indians, Chinese, the majority of professional astrologers rely on such systems. Astrology has been dated to at least the 2nd millennium BCE, with roots in systems used to predict seasonal shifts. A form of astrology was practised in the first dynasty of Mesopotamia, Chinese astrology was elaborated in the Zhou dynasty. Hellenistic astrology after 332 BCE mixed Babylonian astrology with Egyptian Decanic astrology in Alexandria, Alexander the Greats conquest of Asia allowed astrology to spread to Ancient Greece and Rome. In Rome, astrology was associated with Chaldean wisdom, after the conquest of Alexandria in the 7th century, astrology was taken up by Islamic scholars, and Hellenistic texts were translated into Arabic and Persian. In the 12th century, Arabic texts were imported to Europe, major astronomers including Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler and Galileo practised as court astrologers. Astrological references appear in literature in the works of such as Dante Alighieri and Geoffrey Chaucer. Throughout most of its history, astrology was considered a scholarly tradition and it was accepted in political and academic contexts, and was connected with other studies, such as astronomy, alchemy, meteorology, and medicine. At the end of the 17th century, new concepts in astronomy. Astrology thus lost its academic and theoretical standing, and common belief in astrology has largely declined, Astrology, in its broadest sense, is the search for meaning in the sky. This was a first step towards recording the Moons influence upon tides and rivers, by the 3rd millennium BCE, civilisations had sophisticated awareness of celestial cycles, and may have oriented temples in alignment with heliacal risings of the stars. Scattered evidence suggests that the oldest known references are copies of texts made in the ancient world. The Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa thought to be compiled in Babylon around 1700 BCE, a scroll documenting an early use of electional astrology is doubtfully ascribed to the reign of the Sumerian ruler Gudea of Lagash
Astrologer
Astrologer
–
Marcantonio Raimondi engraving, 15th century
Astrologer
–
'The Zodiac Man' a diagram of a human body and astrological symbols with instructions explaining the importance of astrology from a medical perspective. From a 15th century Welsh manuscript
Astrologer
–
The Roman orator
Cicero objected to astrology.
26.
Prophet Daniel
–
Daniel is the hero of the Book of Daniel. Six cities claim Daniels Tomb, the most famous being that in Susa, in southern Iran, at a site known as Shush-e Daniyal. The various branches of the Christian church do recognise him as a prophet, and although he is not mentioned in the Quran, Muslim sources describe him as a nabi, Daniels name means God is my judge. In chapter 20, Ezekiel says of the land of Israel that even if these three, Noah, Daniel and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness. In chapter 28, Ezekiel taunts the king of Tyre, asking rhetorically and it is possible that the author of the Book of Daniel chose the name Daniel for his hero because of his reputation. The legendary Daniel, known long ago but still remembered as an exemplary character. Serves as the human hero in the biblical book that now bears his name. Ezra 8,2 mentions a priest named Daniel who went from Babylon to Jerusalem with Ezra, Daniel is a son of David mentioned at 1 Chronicles 3,1. Daniel is also the name of a figure in the Aqhat legend from Ugarit and this legendary Daniel is known for his righteousness and wisdom and a follower of the god El, who made his will known through dreams and visions. It is unlikely that Ezekiel knew the far older Canaanite legend, the four are chosen for their intellect and beauty to be trained in the Babylonian court, and are given new names. Daniel is given the Babylonian name Belteshazzar, while his companions are given the Babylonian names Shadrach, Meshach, Daniel and his friends refuse the food and wine provided by the king of Babylon to avoid becoming defiled. They receive wisdom from God and surpass all the magicians and enchanters of the kingdom, Nebuchadnezzar dreams of a giant statue made of four metals with feet of mingled iron and clay, smashed by a stone from heaven. Only Daniel is able to interpret it, the dream signifies four kingdoms, of which Babylon is the first, the Medes and Persians overthrow Nebuchadnezzar and the new king, Darius the Mede, appoints Daniel to high authority. In the third year of Darius, Daniel has a series of visions, in the second, a ram with two horns is attacked by a goat with one horn, the one horn breaks and is replaced by four. A little horn arises and attacks the people of God and the temple, in the third, Daniel is troubled to read in holy scripture that Jerusalem would be desolate for 70 years. Daniel repents on behalf of the Jews and requests that Jerusalem, an angel refers to a period of 70 sevens of years. The Greek text of Daniel contains three additional tales, two of which feature Daniel, Daniels clever cross-examination unmasks their evil and leads to their deaths. Bel and the Dragon consists of two episodes, in the first Daniel exposes the deceptions of the heathen priests, who have been pretending that their idols eat and drink
Prophet Daniel
–
Daniel's Answer to the King by
Briton Rivière
Prophet Daniel
–
Stained glass depiction of Daniel interceding with
Arioch, commander of the king's guard, charged with killing all the Babylonian wise men after they were unable to interpret Nebuchadnezzar's dream.
Prophet Daniel
–
Daniel refusing to eat at the King's table, early 1900s Bible illustration
Prophet Daniel
–
Nebuchadnezzar's dream: the cut down tree (France, 15th century).
27.
Oxford Art Online
–
A new edition was published in 2003 by Oxford University Press. Written by 6,700 experts from around the world, its 32, 600-pages cover over 45,000 topics about art, artists, art critics, art collectors, or anything else connected to the world of art. According to The New York Times Book Review it is the most ambitious art-publishing venture of the late 20th century, almost half the content covers non-Western subjects, and contributors hail from 120 countries. Topics range from Julia Margaret Cameron to Shoji Hamada, Korea to Timbuktu, the Enlightenment to Marxism, entries include bibliographies and a vast number of images. The dictionary is available in a standard hardcover edition, though the leather-bound version appears to be out of print. The Grove Dictionary of Art is published by Oxford University Press, the online version, which is updated three times a year, is available by subscription and includes some extra content. In the UK, many libraries offer it free to their online users using their library membership number. The Grove Dictionary of Art was first offered online through the Grove Art Online web site in 1998. The site was expanded and renamed as Oxford Art Online, including works, The Oxford Companion to Western Art, Encyclopedia of Aesthetics. In 2011, the Benezit Dictionary of Artists was added to the database, the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians References Sources Jane Turner
Oxford Art Online
–
The Dictionary of Art
28.
Freer Gallery of Art
–
The Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery form the Smithsonian Institutions national museums of Asian art in the United States. The gallery is located on the side of the National Mall in Washington. The museum is open 364 days a year, and is administered by a staff with the Sackler Gallery. The galleries are among the most visited art museums in the world, the Freer houses over 26,000 objects spanning 6,000 years of history from the Neolithic to modern eras. In addition to Asian art, the Freer also contains the famous Peacock Room by American artist James McNeill Whistler which serves as the centerpiece to the Freers American art collection. The museum offers tours to the public and presents a full schedule events for the public including films, lectures, symposia, concerts, performances. Over 11,000 objects from the Freer|Sackler collections are searchable and available online. The Freer was also featured in the Google Art Project, which offers online viewers close-up views of selected items from the Freer, the gallery was founded by Detroit railroad-car manufacturer and self-taught connoisseur Charles Lang Freer. He owned the largest collection of works by American artist James McNeill Whistler and became a patron, Whistler made it very clear to Freer that if he helped him to build the premier Whistler collection, then that collection would have to be displayed in a city where tourists went. In 1908, Charles Moore, an aide to Michigan United States Senator, James McMillin. Moore became friends with Freer, who was director of the Michigan Car Company, travelers impressed by the beauty of the National Mall in Washington, D. C. can thank three Detroiters for their role in creating it. The mall was the brainchild of James McMillan, a Michigan United States senator, Charles Freer for his enormous donation to the Smithsonian, and Moore for carrying out the Washington mall concept. The Freer gift was accepted on behalf of the government by the Smithsonian Board of Regents in 1906, freer’s will, however, contained certain requirements that only objects from the permanent collection could be exhibited in the gallery, and that none of the art could be exhibited elsewhere. Freer felt strongly that all of the museum’s holding should be accessible to scholars at all times. In addition, Freers bequest to the Smithsonian came with the proviso that he would execute full curatorial control over the collection until his death, the Smithsonian initially hesitated at the requirements but the intercession of President Theodore Roosevelt allowed for the project to proceed. The Freer Gallery possesses a letter from Roosevelt inviting Freer to visit him at the White House. Freer died before the art gallery was completed, construction of the gallery began in 1916 and was completed in 1921, after a delay due to World War I. On May 9,1923, the Freer Gallery of Art was opened to the public, designed by American architect and landscape planner Charles A. Platt, the Freer is an Italian Renaissance-style building inspired by Freers visits to palazzos in Italy
Freer Gallery of Art
–
Freer Gallery of Art
Freer Gallery of Art
Freer Gallery of Art
–
This
earthenware dish from 9th century
Abbasid Iraq is one of the many artifacts exhibited at the Freer Gallery.
Freer Gallery of Art
29.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
–
The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art form the Smithsonian Institutions national museums of Asian art in the United States. The Freer and Sackler galleries house the largest Asian art research library in the country, founded in 1982, the Gallery is named after Arthur M. Sackler, who donated approximately 1,000 objects and $4 million to the building of the museum. Japanese Prime Minister Masayoshi Ōhira visited the Freer Gallery of Art in 1979, during his visit, he announced that Japan would donate $1 million to the Smithsonian in order to assist in the building of an annex to the Freer to display Asian art. That same year, the United States Senate approved the Smithsonian Institutions request for $500,000 to build museums for Asian and African art on June 6, in June,1980, the Smithsonian removed the South Quadrangle Project from their fiscal plan. The project resurfaced in 1981, and on December 23 Congress approved $960,000 for the new complex and it was the first time that federal funds were contributed to a project as unrestricted. In 1982, Arthur M. Sackler donated around 1,000 Asian artworks, the collection was valued at $50 million. Along with the donation, Sackler also provided $4 million to build a facility to house the objects. The quadrangle construction began on June 22,1982, an additional $36.5 million was appropriated to continue the project in October. Groundbreaking took place on June 21,1983 with participation by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, then Vice President George H. W. Bush, on February 21,1984, Milo C. Beach was declared scholarly director of the Sackler Gallery. The gallery opened on September 28,1987, Arthur Sackler died four months before the opening. In honor of the complexs opening, Washington, D. C. Mayor Marion Barry declared the day Smithsonian Institution Day, starting in October, Milo C. Beach served as acting director of both the Sackler and the Freer. In November 1988, he director of both. In March 2002, scholar in Islamic art Julian Raby was appointed director of the combined galleries, in 2006, J. Keith Wilson became the assistant director and curator of Chinese art. In January,2012, the Sackler celebrated the 30th anniversary of its founding with a gift of $5 million from Sacklers widow, the Gallery is located in the Quadrangle Complex behind the Smithsonian Institution Castle. It shares the complex with the National Museum of African Art, the complex, which is 96% underground and covers 115,000 square feet, was designed by Jean Paul Carlhian, with the goal of connecting various underground buildings. The Sackler Gallery is next to the Freer Gallery of Art and it is decorated with designs inspired by Islamic art. A4,130 square foot granite pavilion was built in the Enid A. Haupt Victorian Garden to serve as an entrance to the facility
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
–
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
–
The grand staircase at the Sackler.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
–
Ancient sculptures from Jordan
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
–
Exhibition at the Sackler, 2006
30.
Smithsonian Institution
–
The Smithsonian Institution, established in 1846 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge, is a group of museums and research centers administered by the Government of the United States. Originally organized as the United States National Museum, that ceased to exist as an administrative entity in 1967. Additional facilities are located in Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York City, Texas, Virginia, more than 200 institutions and museums in 45 states, Puerto Rico, and Panama are Smithsonian Affiliates. The Institutions thirty million annual visitors are admitted without charge and its annual budget is around $1.2 billion with 2/3 coming from annual federal appropriations. Other funding comes from the Institutions endowment, private and corporate contributions, membership dues, and earned retail, concession, Institution publications include Smithsonian and Air & Space magazines. The British scientist James Smithson left most of his wealth to his nephew Henry James Hungerford, Congress officially accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation, and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust on July 1,1836. The American diplomat Richard Rush was dispatched to England by President Andrew Jackson to collect the bequest, Rush returned in August 1838 with 105 sacks containing 104,960 gold sovereigns. Once the money was in hand, eight years of Congressional haggling ensued over how to interpret Smithsons rather vague mandate for the increase, unfortunately, the money was invested by the US Treasury in bonds issued by the state of Arkansas which soon defaulted. The United States Exploring Expedition by the U. S. Navy circumnavigated the globe between 1838 and 1842, in 1846, the regents developed a plan for weather observation, in 1847, money was appropriated for meteorological research. The Institution became a magnet for young scientists from 1857 to 1866, the Smithsonian played a critical role as the U. S. partner institution in early bilateral scientific exchanges with the Academy of Sciences of Cuba. The Smithsonian Institution Building began construction in 1849, designed by architect James Renwick Jr. its interiors were completed by general contract Gilbert Cameron and the building opened in 1855. The Smithsonians first expansion came with construction of the Arts and Industries Building in 1881, Congress had promised to build a new structure for the museum if the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition generated enough income. It did, and the building was designed by architects Adolf Cluss and Paul Schulze, meigs of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The National Zoological Park opened in 1889 to accommodate the Smithsonians Department of Living Animals and this structure was designed by the D. C. architectural firm of Hornblower & Marshall. More than 40 years would pass before the museum, the Museum of History. It was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White. That same year, the Smithsonian signed an agreement to take over the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum opened in the Old Patent Office Building on October 7,1968. The first new building to open since the National Museum of Natural History was the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Smithsonian Institution
–
The
"Castle" (1847), the Institution's first building and still its headquarters
Smithsonian Institution
–
Smithsonian Institution Logo of the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
–
Aircraft on display at the
National Air and Space Museum, including a
Ford Trimotor and
Douglas DC-3 (top and second from top)
Smithsonian Institution
–
The Smithsonian Castle doorway
31.
International Standard Book Number
–
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
International Standard Book Number
–
A 13-digit ISBN, 978-3-16-148410-0, as represented by an
EAN-13 bar code
