1.
Patiala State Monorail Trainways
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Patiala State Monorail Trainways was a unique rail-guided, partially road-borne railways system running in Patiala from 1907 to 1927. PSMT was the second system in India, after the Kundala Valley Railway. The Kundala Valley Railway pre-dated this, also using the Ewing system between 1902 and 1908, although only used bullocks for haulage. Following the conversion of the Kundala Valley Railway from a monorail to a gauge railway in 1908. These were the instances of a monorail train system in India. A locomotive and a coach of PSMT have been restored, are in running condition and are exhibited in the Indian National Rail Museum, maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh of Patiala got this unique railway system constructed to facilitate movement of people and goods in his state. The chief engineer of this project was Colonel C. W. Bowles, maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh made him chief Engineer for the PSMT project. One of the objects of PSMT was to use of the 560 mules being maintained by Patiala State. Apart from mules, bullocks were also used to haul the monorail before introduction of locomotives on the route of PSMT. The only published information about PSMT was in a 1908 edition of Imperial Gazetteer of India in which there was a brief mention, the gazetteer simply stated that a mono-rail tramway, opened in February,1907, connects Basi with the railway at Sirhind. An ordnance map of 1913 also shows a tramway running along west side of road, apart from the above, PSMT has not been mentioned in any official documents of that period in India. The railways based on the Ewing System are basically monorails using a wheel for balancing the train. The main load is borne by the rail while the rest is borne by the balancing wheel which runs on the ground. Further, in train systems, the rails have to be at almost exact level of other rail. By using Ewing system, this problem is solved as the wheel does not need exact level to maintain the balance of monorail. In addition the cost of laying tracks also goes down considerably since only one rail is used, another benefit of using Ewing System was that the balancing wheel could run on existing tarred roads as well as the macadam roads thus further reducing cost to lay down tracks. Using one rail also means that the circle is far less than the standard trains. PSMT had to pass through very congested areas
2.
Salford, Greater Manchester
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Salford is a town lying at the heart of the City of Salford, a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, in North West England. Salford is sited in a meander of the River Irwell, which forms in part its boundary with the city of Manchester to the east, the Salford wards of Broughton and Kersal are on the other side of the river. Together with its towns to the west, Salford forms the local government district of the City of Salford. The wider City of Salford district has a population of 219,200, historically in Lancashire, Salfords early history is marked by its status as a Royal caput and the judicial seat of the ancient hundred of Salfordshire, to which it lent its name. It was granted a charter by Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester, in about 1230, Salford became a major factory town and inland port during the 18th and 19th centuries. Cotton and silk spinning and weaving in local mills attracted an influx of families, Salford Docks was a principal dockyard of the Manchester Ship Canal. By the end of the 19th century Salford had a working class community. Industrial activities declined during the 20th century however, causing an economic depression. Salford subsequently became one of contrasts, with regenerated inner-city areas like Salford Quays next to some of the most socially deprived, Salfords MediaCityUK became the headquarters of CBBC and BBC Sport in 2011. The name of Salford derives from the Old English word Sealhford and it referred to the willows or sallows that grew alongside the banks of the River Irwell. The ford was about where Victoria Bridge is today, willow trees are still found in Lower Broughton. Salford appears in the roll of 1169 as Sauford and in the Lancashire Inquisitions of 1226 as Sainford. The raw material for tools was scarce and unsuitable for working. The Brigantes were the major Celtic tribe in what is now Northern England, following the Roman conquest of Britain, General Agricola ordered the construction of a Roman fort named Mamucium to protect the routes to Deva Victrix and Eboracum from the Brigantes. The fort was completed in AD79, and for over 300 years the Pax Romana brought peace to the area. Both the main Roman road to the north, from Mamucium to Ribchester, and a road to the west, ran through what is now Salford. The withdrawal of the Romans in AD410 left the inhabitants at the mercy of the Saxons, the Danes later conquered the area and absorbed what was left of the Brigantes. Angles settled in the region during the Early Middle Ages and gave the locality the name Sealhford, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Sealhford was part of the Kingdom of Northumbria until it was conquered in 923 by Edward the Elder
3.
Lancashire
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Lancashire is a non-metropolitan ceremonial county in north west England. The county town is Lancaster although the administrative centre is Preston. The county has a population of 1,449,300, people from Lancashire are known as Lancastrians. The history of Lancashire begins with its founding in the 12th century, in the Domesday Book of 1086, some of its lands were treated as part of Yorkshire. The land that lay between the Ribble and Mersey, Inter Ripam et Mersam, was included in the returns for Cheshire, when its boundaries were established, it bordered Cumberland, Westmorland, Yorkshire, and Cheshire. Lancashire emerged as a commercial and industrial region during the Industrial Revolution. Liverpool and Manchester grew into its largest cities, dominating global trade, the county contained several mill towns and the collieries of the Lancashire Coalfield. By the 1830s, approximately 85% of all cotton manufactured worldwide was processed in Lancashire, Accrington, Blackburn, Bolton, Burnley, Bury, Chorley, Colne, Darwen, Manchester, Nelson, Oldham, Preston, Rochdale and Wigan were major cotton mill towns during this time. Blackpool was a centre for tourism for the inhabitants of Lancashires mill towns, the detached northern part of Lancashire in the Lake District, including the Furness Peninsula and Cartmel, was merged with Cumberland and Westmorland to form Cumbria. Lancashire lost 709 square miles of land to other counties, about two fifths of its area, although it did gain some land from the West Riding of Yorkshire. Today the county borders Cumbria to the north, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south and North and West Yorkshire to the east, with a coastline on the Irish Sea to the west. The county palatine boundaries remain the same with the Duke of Lancaster exercising sovereignty rights, including the appointment of lords lieutenant in Greater Manchester, the county was established in 1182, later than many other counties. During Roman times the area was part of the Brigantes tribal area in the zone of Roman Britain. The towns of Manchester, Lancaster, Ribchester, Burrow, Elslack, in the centuries after the Roman withdrawal in 410AD the northern parts of the county probably formed part of the Brythonic kingdom of Rheged, a successor entity to the Brigantes tribe. During the mid-8th century, the area was incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, in the Domesday Book, land between the Ribble and Mersey were known as Inter Ripam et Mersam and included in the returns for Cheshire. Although some historians consider this to mean south Lancashire was then part of Cheshire and it is also claimed that the territory to the north formed part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It bordered on Cumberland, Westmorland, Yorkshire, and Cheshire, the county was divided into hundreds, Amounderness, Blackburn, Leyland, Lonsdale, Salford and West Derby. Lonsdale was further partitioned into Lonsdale North, the part north of the sands of Morecambe Bay including Furness and Cartmel
4.
Prince of Wales
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Charles, Prince of Wales is the eldest child and heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth II. Known alternatively in South West England as Duke of Cornwall and in Scotland as Duke of Rothesay, he is the heir apparent in British history. He is also the oldest person to be next in line to the throne since Sophia of Hanover, Charles was born at Buckingham Palace as the first grandchild of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. After earning a bachelor of degree from Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1981, he married Lady Diana Spencer and they had two sons, Prince William later to become Duke of Cambridge, and Prince Harry, in 1996, the couple divorced, following well-publicised extramarital affairs. Diana died in a car crash in Paris the following year, in 2005, Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles. Charles has sought to raise awareness of the dangers facing the natural environment. As an environmentalist, he has received awards and recognition from environmental groups around the world. His support for alternative medicine, including homeopathy, has been criticised by some in the medical community and he has been outspoken on the role of architecture in society and the conservation of historic buildings. Subsequently, Charles created Poundbury, a new town based on his theories. He has authored a number of books, including A Vision of Britain, A Personal View of Architecture in 1989 and he was baptised in the palaces Music Room by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, on 15 December 1948. When Prince Charles was aged three his mothers accession as Queen Elizabeth II made him her heir apparent. As the monarchs eldest son, he took the titles Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince. Charles attended his mothers coronation at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, seated alongside his grandmother, as was customary for upper-class children at the time, a governess, Catherine Peebles, was appointed and undertook his education between the ages of five and eight. Buckingham Palace announced in 1955 that Charles would attend school rather than have a private tutor, Charles then attended two of his fathers former schools, Cheam Preparatory School in Berkshire, England, followed by Gordonstoun in the north-east of Scotland. He reportedly despised the school, which he described as Colditz in kilts. Upon his return to Gordonstoun, Charles emulated his father in becoming Head Boy and he left in 1967, with six GCE O-levels and two A-levels in history and French, at grades B and C, respectively. Tradition was broken again when Charles proceeded straight from school into university
5.
Edward VII
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Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, before his accession to the throne, he served as heir apparent and held the title of Prince of Wales for longer than any of his predecessors. During the long reign of his mother, he was excluded from political power. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial duties, and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and the Indian subcontinent in 1875 were popular successes, as king, Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War. He reinstituted traditional ceremonies as public displays and broadened the range of people with whom royalty socialised and he died in 1910 in the midst of a constitutional crisis that was resolved the following year by the Parliament Act 1911, which restricted the power of the unelected House of Lords. Edward was born at 10,48 in the morning on 9 November 1841 in Buckingham Palace and he was the eldest son and second child of Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was christened Albert Edward at St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle and he was named Albert after his father and Edward after his maternal grandfather Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. He was known as Bertie to the family throughout his life. As the eldest son of the British sovereign, he was automatically Duke of Cornwall, as a son of Prince Albert, he also held the titles of Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke of Saxony. He was created Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester on 8 December 1841, Earl of Dublin on 17 January 1850, a Knight of the Garter on 9 November 1858, and a Knight of the Thistle on 24 May 1867. In 1863, he renounced his rights to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in favour of his younger brother. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were determined that their eldest son should have an education that would prepare him to be a constitutional monarch. At age seven, Edward embarked on an educational programme devised by Prince Albert. Unlike his elder sister Victoria, Edward did not excel in his studies and he tried to meet the expectations of his parents, but to no avail. Although Edward was not a diligent student—his true talents were those of charm, sociability and tact—Benjamin Disraeli described him as informed, intelligent, after the completion of his secondary-level studies, his tutor was replaced by a personal governor, Robert Bruce. After an educational trip to Rome, undertaken in the first few months of 1859, he spent the summer of that year studying at the University of Edinburgh under, among others, in October, he matriculated as an undergraduate at Christ Church, Oxford. Now released from the strictures imposed by his parents, he enjoyed studying for the first time
6.
Holkar
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The Holkar dynasty was a Hindu Maratha royal house in India. The Holkars ruled as Maratha Rajas, and later as Maharajas of Indore in Central India as an independent member of the Maratha Empire until 1818, later, their kingdom became a princely state under the protectorate of British India. The dynasty was founded with Malhar Rao, who joined the service of the Peshwas of the Maratha Empire in 1721, the name of the dynasty was associated with the title of the ruler, who was known informally as Holkar Maharaja. The Holkars claim descent from the family of Udaipur. The sun in their emblem asserts their Suryavanshi lineage, Malhar Rao Holkar, a Maratha chief serving Peshwa Baji Rao, established the dynastys rule over Indore. In the 1720s, he led Maratha armies in Malwa region, in 1734, Malhar Rao established a camp later called Malharganj. In 1747, he started the construction of his royal palace, by the time of his death, he ruled much of Malwa, and was acknowledged as one of the five virtually independent rulers of the Maratha Confederacy. He was succeeded by Ahilyabai Holkar, his daughter-in-law and she was born in the Chaundi village in Maharashtra. She moved the capital to Maheshwar, south of Indore on the Narmada River, Rani Ahilyabai was a prolific builder and patron of Hindu temples in Maheshwar and Indore. She also built temples at sacred sites outside her kingdom, from Dwarka in Gujarat east to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple at Varanasi on the Ganges, the adopted son of Malhar Rao Haolkar, Tukoji Rao Holkar briefly succeeded Rani Ahilyabai upon her death. Tukoji Rao had been a commander under Ahilyabai for her entire rule and his son Yashwantrao Holkar succeeded him upon his death. He tried to free the Delhi Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II from the British in the unsuccessful Second Anglo-Maratha War, the grateful Shah Alam gave him the title of Maharajadiraj Rajrajeshwar Alija Bahadur in honor of his bravery. Attempts by Yashwantrao Holkar to unite the kings failed, and he was approached to sign a treaty with the British. The Treaty of Rajghat, signed late December 1805, recognised him as a king and returned all his territories, including Jaipur, Udaipur, Kota, Bundi. In 1811, the four-year-old Maharaja Malharrao Holkar II succeeded Yashwantrao Holkar and his mother, Maharani Tulsabai Holkar, looked after the administration. However, with the help of Pathans, Pindaris, and the British, Dharama Kunwar and Balaram Seth plotted to imprison Tulsabai, when Tulsabai learnt about this, she beheaded both of them in 1815 and appointed Tantia Jog. As a result, Gaffur Khan Pindari secretly signed a treaty with the British on 9 November 1817, the treaty was signed on 6 January 1818 at Mandsaur. Bhimabai Holkar did not accept the treaty, and kept attacking the British by guerilla methods, Rani Lakshmibai of Jhanshi took inspiration from Bhimabai Holkar and also fought against the British
7.
Indore
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Indore /ɪnˈdɔər/, is the largest and most populous city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division, Indore was described by the Economic Times as the commercial capital of the state. It is also considered as a hub of the state. With a census-estimated 2011 population of 1,994,397 and 2,170,295, the city is distributed over a land area of just 530 square kilometers making Indore the most densely populated major city in the central province. It comes under Tier 2 cities in India, Indore traces its roots to its 16th century founding as a trading hub between the Deccan and Delhi. The city and its surroundings came under Hindu Maratha Empire on 18 May 1724 after Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao I assumed the control of Malwa. During the days of the British Raj, Indore State was a 19 Gun Salute princely state ruled by the Maratha Holkar dynasty, Indore served as the capital of the Madhya Bharat from 1950 until 1956. Indores financial district, anchored by central Indore, functions as the capital of the Madhya Pradesh and is home to the Madhya Pradesh Stock Exchange. It has also qualified the first round of Smart Cities Mission and has selected as one of the first twenty cities to be developed as Smart Cities. By 1720, the headquarters of the local pargana were transferred from Kampel to Indore, on 18 May 1724, the Nizam accepted the rights of the Maratha Peshwa Baji Rao I to collect chauth from the area. In 1733, the Peshwa assumed the control of Malwa. Nandlal Chaudhary accepted the suzerainty of the Marathas, on 29 July 1732, Bajirao Peshwa-I granted Holkar State by merging 28 and half parganas to Malhar Rao Holkar, the founder ruler of Holkar dynasty. His daughter-in-law Ahilyabai Holkar moved the capital to Maheshwar in 1767. In 1818, the Holkars were defeated by the British during the Third Anglo-Maratha War, a residency with British resident was established at Indore, but Holkars continued to rule Indore State as a princely state mainly due to efforts of their Dewan Tatya Jog. During that time, Indore was established the headquarters of British Central Agency, Ujjain was originally the commercial centre of Malwa. But the British administrators such as John Malcolm decided to promote Indore as an alternative to Ujjain, because the merchants of Ujjain had supported anti-British elements. In 1906 electric supply was started in the city, fire brigade was established in 1909 and in 1918, first master-plan of city was made by noted architect and town planner, Patrick Geddes. During the period of Maharaja Tukoji Rao Holkar II efforts were made for the planned development, with the introduction of Railways in 1875, the business in Indore flourished till the reign of Maharaja Shivaji Rao Holkar, Maharaja Tukoji Rao Holkar III and Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Holkar
8.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station
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Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, is a historic railway station and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India which serves as the headquarters of the Central Railways. The stations name was changed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in March 1996, Bori Bunder was one of the areas along the Eastern shore line of Mumbai, India which was used as a storehouse for goods imported and exported from Mumbai. In the areas name, Bori means sack and Bandar means port or haven, in the 1850s, the Great Indian Peninsular Railway built its railway terminus in this area and the station took its name as Bori Bunder. The train between Bori Bunder and Thane took 57 minutes at a distance of 35 km apart, the station was designed by the consulting British architect Frederick William Stevens. He received ₹1,614,000 as the payment for his services, Stevens earned the commission to construct the station after a masterpiece watercolour sketch by draughtsman Axel Haig. The final design bears resemblance to St Pancras railway station in London. GG Scotts plans for Berlins parliament building had been published four years before, crawford market is also located near CSTM. The station took ten years to complete, the longest for any building of that era in Bombay and this famous architectural landmark in a Gothic-revival style was built as the headquarters of the Great Indian Peninsular Railway. Since then, the station came to be known as Bombay VT, the original platforms were from 1–9. The original building is still in use to handle traffic and is used by over three million commuters daily. It is also the headquarters of the Central Railway. In 1996, the Minister of Railways, Suresh Kalmadi, changed the name of the station to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in honour of Great King Chhatrapati Shivaji, on 26 November 2008, two terrorists entered the passenger hall of the CST, opened fire and threw grenades at people. The terrorists were armed with AK-47 rifles, One of the terrorists, Ajmal Kasab, was later caught alive by the police and identified by eyewitnesses. This despite the fact that Central Railway RPF Hq being located near Platform 13 overlooking the central passenger hall. The CCTV captured the attack but was not completely made public to hide Railway police inaction. The CCTV evidence was used to identify and indict Kasab, in 2010, Kasab was sentenced to death for his role in the attack, and in 2012 he was hanged. The station building is designed in the High Victorian Gothic style of architecture, the building exhibits a fusion of influences from Victorian Italianate Gothic Revival architecture and classical Indian architecture. The skyline, turrets, pointed arches, and eccentric ground plan are close to classical Indian palace architecture, the station stands as an example of 19th century railway architectural marvels for its advanced structural and technical solutions. The CST was constructed using high level of engineering both in terms of engineering and civil engineering
9.
Ooty
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Udhagamandalam and abbreviated as Udhagai and Ooty is a town and municipality in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located 80 km north of Coimbatore and is the capital of the Nilgiris district and it is a popular hill station located in the Nilgiri Hills. Originally occupied by the Toda, the area came under the rule of the East India Company at the end of the 18th century, the economy is based on tourism and agriculture, along with the manufacture of medicines and photographic film. The town is connected by the Nilgiri ghat roads and Nilgiri Mountain Railway and its natural beauty attracts tourists and it is a popular summer destination. As of 2011, the town had a population of 88,430, the origin of the name Udhagamandalam is obscure. The first known mention of the place is given as Wotokymund in a letter of March 1821 to the Madras Gazette from an unknown correspondent. In early times it was called OttakalMandu, Mund is the Anglicised form of the Toda word for a village Mandu. The first part of the name is probably a corruption of the name for the central region of the Nilgiri Plateau. The stem of the name comes from the language in which Otha-Cal literally means Single Stone. This is perhaps a reference to a sacred stone revered by the local Toda people, the name probably changed under British rule from Udhagamandalam to Ootacamund, and later was shortened to Ooty. Ooty is situated in the Nilgiri hills, because of the beautiful mountains and green valleys, Ooty became known as the Queen of Hill Stations. Udhagamandalam was originally a land occupied by the Toda along with other hill tribes who coexisted through specialisation. The major tribes of Nilgiris area are the Toda, Kota, Irula, the Toda in the Nilgiris are first referenced in a record belonging to Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana and his general Punisa, dated 1117 CE. The Toda people were known for raising water buffalo, the Tamil and Badaga people known for farming activities. Nilgiris was ruled by various dynasties like Satavahanas, Cheras, Gangas, Kadambas, Rashtrakutas, Cholas, Hoysalas, the Vijayanagara empire, Tipu Sultan captured Nilgiris in the eighteenth century and extended the border by constructing a hideout cave like structure. The Nilgiris came into possession of British East India Company as part of the lands, held by Tipu Sultan. Whish and N. W. Kindersley, assistants to John Sullivan, then Collector of Coimbatore, visited Ooty, Sullivan camped at Dimbhatti, north of Kotagiri in January 1819 and was enthralled by the beauty of the place. It resembles Switzerland, more than any country of Europe, the hills beautifully wooded and fine strong spring with running water in every valley
10.
Rajkot
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Rajkot is the fourth-largest city in the state of Gujarat, India, after Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara. Rajkot is the centre of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Rajkot is the 35th-largest urban agglomeration in India, with a population more than 1.2 million as of 2015. Rajkot is the seventh-cleanest city of India, and is the 22nd-fastest-growing city in the world, the city contains the administrative headquarters of the Rajkot District,245 km from the state capital Gandhinagar, and is located on the banks of the Aji and Nyari rivers. Rajkot was the capital of the Saurashtra State from 15 April 1948 to 31 October 1956, Rajkot was reincorporated into Gujarat State from 1 May 1960. Rajkot has been under different rulers since it was founded, Rajkot has a long history and had a significant part in the Indian independence movement. Rajkot was home to many personalities like Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Rajkot is in a transition period of growing cultural, industrial and economical activities. Rajkot is the 26th largest city of India and the 22nd fastest growing area of the world. Rajkot was the capital of the then Saurashtra state from 15 April 1948 to 31 October 1956 before merging in bilingual Bombay State on 1 November 1956, Rajkot was merged into Gujarat State from bilingual Bombay state on 1 May 1960. Thakur Saheb Pradyumansinhji died in 1973 and his son, Manoharsinhji Pradyumansinhji, who has carved out a political career at the provincial level, succeeded him. He served as a Member of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly for several years and as the state Minister for Health, monoharsinhjis son, Mandattasinh Jadeja has embarked on a business career. On 26 January 2001 an earthquake centred near Bhuj, measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale, Rajkot is located at 22. 3°N70. 78°E /22.3,70.78. It has an elevation of 128 metres. The city is located on the bank of Aji River and Nyari River which remains dry except the monsoon months of July to September, the city is spread in the area of 170.00 km². Rajkot is situated in the region called Saurashtra in the Gujarat state of India, the significance of Rajkots location is owing to the fact that it is one of the prime industrial centres of Gujarat. Rajkot has a location in the area called the Kathiawar peninsula. The city is located within the Rajkot district in Gujarat, Rajkot city is the administrative headquarters of the district of Rajkot. The district is surrounded by Bhavnagar and Surendranagar in the east, Junagadh and Amreli in the south, Morbi in the north and Jamnagar in the west. Rajkot has a climate, with hot, dry summers from mid-March to mid-June and the wet monsoon season from mid-June to October
