1.
Qila Mubarak, Patiala
–
Qila Mubarak located at Patiala is a rare and outstanding example of Sikh Palace architecture in India. There is a collection of different type and sizes of mirrors in Darbaar hall. The great and beautiful paintings of Sikh rulers is also a part of Darbaar hall. No one can neglect the beauty of the art work, done with glass by giving different colours. Quila Mubarak was first built as a kachigarhi by Baba Ala Singh in 1763, later, it was reconstructed in baked bricks. The interior portion of Quila, which is known as Quila Androon is built by Maharaja Amar Singh, the residential palace of Royal family of Patiala, Qila Mubarak complex is built in 10-acre ground in the heart of the city. The whole complex contains Ran Baas and the Darbar Hall besides Quila Androon, there is also underground sewerage system in the Quila. Quila Androon has 13 royal chambers with scenes from Hindu mythology painted in the Patiala art style, the Darbar Hall contains rare cannons, swords, shields and maces, daggers of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, sword of Nadir Shah. Being 300-year-old building, the Quila is in a bad shape and has been damaged a lot, world Monuments Fund had listed Quila Mubarak in list of world’s 100 most endangered monuments in year 2004. Restoration work of Quila has been undertaken by Indian National Trust for Arts and Cultural Heritage, Archaeological Survey of India with the help of Punjab state, world Monuments Watch has also funded preservation of this monument
Qila Mubarak, Patiala
–
Qila Mubarak, Patiala
2.
Punjabi language
–
Punjabi /pʌnˈdʒɑːbi/ is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by over 100 million native speakers worldwide, making it the 10th most widely spoken language in the world. It is the language of the Punjabi people who inhabit the historical Punjab region of India. Among the Indo-European languages it is unusual in being a tonal language, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan, the 11th most widely spoken in India and the third-most spoken native language in the Indian Subcontinent. Punjabi is the fourth-most spoken language in the United Kingdom and third-most spoken native language in Canada, the language also has a significant presence in the United Arab Emirates, United States, Saudi Arabia, and Australia. The Punjabi language is written in the Shahmukhi and Gurmukhi scripts, the word Punjabi is derived from the word Panj-āb, Persian for Five Waters, referring to the five major eastern tributaries of the Indus River. Panj is cognate with Sanskrit pañca and Greek πέντε five, the historical Punjab region, now divided between India and Pakistan, is defined physiographically by the Indus River and these five tributaries. One of the five, the Beas River, is a tributary of another, Punjabi developed from Sanskrit through Prakrit language and later Apabhraṃśa From 600 BC Sanskrit gave birth to many regional languages in different parts of India. These all languages are called Prakrit language collectively, Shauraseni Prakrit was one of these Prakrit languages, which was spoken in north and north-western India and Punjabi and western dialects of Hindi developed from this Prakrit. Later in northern India Shauraseni Prakrit gave rise to Shauraseni Aparbhsha, Punjabi emerged as an Apabhramsha, a degenerated form of Prakrit, in the 7th century A. D. and became stable by the 10th century. By the 10th century, many Nath poets were associated with earlier Punjabi works, Arabic and Persian influence in the historical Punjab region began with the late first millennium Muslim conquests on the Indian subcontinent. The Persian language was introduced in the subcontinent a few centuries later by various Persianized Central Asian Turkic, many Persian and Arabic words were incorporated in Punjabi. Punjabi has more Persian and Arabic vocabulary than Bengali, Marathi, later, it was influenced by Portuguese and English, though these influences have been minor in comparison to Persian and Arabic. However, in India English words in the language are more widespread than Hindi. Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan, the seventh-most widely spoken in India, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language in Pakistan. Punjabi is the language in the Punjab Province of Pakistan. Punjabi is spoken as a language by over 44. 15% of Pakistanis. About 70. 0% of the people of Pakistan speak Punjabi as either their first or second language, Lahore, the capital of the Punjab Province of Pakistan, is the largest Punjabi-speaking city in the world. 86% of the population of Lahore is native Punjabi and Islamabad
Punjabi language
–
Varan Gyan Ratnavali by 16th century historian
Bhai Gurdas
Punjabi language
–
Gurmukhi alphabetic excluding vowels.
Punjabi language
–
Administrative divisions of Punjab Pakistan
Punjabi language
–
Southall Station (United Kingdom) sign in Punjabi, in the Gurmukhī script
3.
Hindi language
–
Hindi, or Modern Standard Hindi is a standardised and Sanskritised register of the Hindustani language. Along with the English language, Hindi written in the Devanagari script, is the language of the Government of India. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of the Republic of India, Hindi is the lingua franca of the so-called Hindi belt of India. Outside India, it is a language which is known as Fiji Hindi in Fiji, and is a recognised regional language in Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana. Hindi is the fourth most-spoken first language in the world, after Mandarin, apart from specialized vocabulary, Hindi is mutually intelligible with Standard Urdu, another recognized register of Hindustani. Part XVII of the Indian Constitution deals with Official Language, under Article 343, official language of the Union has been prescribed, which includes Hindi in Devanagari script and English. Gujarat High Court, in 2010, has observed that there was nothing on record to suggest that any provision has been made or order issued declaring Hindi as a language of India. Article 343 of the Indian constitution states The official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script, the form of numerals to be used for the official purposes of the Union shall be the international form of Indian numerals. It was envisioned that Hindi would become the working language of the Union Government by 1965. Each may also designate a co-official language, in Uttar Pradesh, for instance, depending on the formation in power. Similarly, Hindi is accorded the status of language in the following Union Territories, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu. National-language status for Hindi is a long-debated theme, an Indian court clarified that Hindi is not the national language of India because the constitution does not mention it as such. Outside Asia, Hindi is a language in Fiji as per the 1997 Constitution of Fiji. It is spoken by 380,000 people in Fiji, Hindi is also spoken by a large population of Madheshis of Nepal. Hindi is quite easy to understand for some Pakistanis, who speak Urdu, apart from this, Hindi is spoken by the large Indian diaspora which hails from, or has its origin from the Hindi Belt of India. Like other Indo-Aryan languages, Hindi is considered to be a descendant of an early form of Sanskrit, through Sauraseni Prakrit. It has been influenced by Dravidian languages, Turkic languages, Persian, Arabic, Portuguese, Hindi emerged as Apabhramsha, a degenerated form of Prakrit, in the 7th century A. D. By the 10th century A. D. it became stable, Braj Bhasha, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Khari Boli etc. are the dialects of Hindi
Hindi language
–
The word "Hindi" in
Devanagari script
4.
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
5.
Historical monument
–
The term monument is often applied to buildings or structures that are considered examples of important architectural and/or cultural heritage. Monuments have been created for thousands of years, and they are often the most durable, in more recent times, monumental structures such as the Statue of Liberty and Eiffel Tower have become iconic emblems of modern nation-states. The term monumentality relates to the status and physical presence of a monument. Monuments are frequently used to improve the appearance of a city or location, planned cities such as Washington D. C. New Delhi and Brasília are often built around monuments, for example, the Washington Monuments location was conceived by LEnfant to help organize public space in the city, before it was designed or constructed. Older cities have monuments placed at locations that are important or are sometimes redesigned to focus on one. As Shelley suggested in his famous poem Ozymandias, the purpose of monuments is often to impress or awe. Structures created for purposes that have been made notable by their age. This can happen because of age and size, as in the case of the Great Wall of China. Monuments are also designed to convey historical or political information. They can be used to reinforce the primacy of political power. The social meanings of monuments are rarely fixed and certain and are contested by different social groups. This contention of meaning is a theme of modern post processual archaeological discourse. Until recently, it was customary for archaeologists to study large monuments, New ideas about what constitutes the archaeological record have revealed that certain legislative and theoretical approaches to the subject are too focused on earlier definitions of monuments. An example has been the United Kingdoms Scheduled Ancient Monument laws, recently, more and more monuments are being preserved digitally through organisations as CyArk. Cenotaphs and other memorials to commemorate the dead, usually war casualties, e. g. India Gate and Vimy Ridge Memorial, or disaster casualties, such as the Titanic Memorial, Belfast. Church monuments to commemorate the dead, located above or near their grave, often featuring an effigy, columns, often topped with a statue, e. g. Berlin Victory Column, Nelsons Column in London, and Trajans Column in Rome. Gravestones, small monuments to the deceased, placed at their gravesites, e. g. the tombs and vaults of veterans in Les Invalides, mausoleums and tombs to honor the dead, e. g. the Great Pyramid of Giza and Taj Mahal
Historical monument
–
The
Lincoln Memorial,
Washington Monument, and
US Capitol. The planned US capital
Washington D.C. is built around monuments commemorating founding fathers of the
United States.
Historical monument
–
The
Great Pyramid of
Giza built almost 5000 years ago as
pharaoh 's
tomb, one of the
Seven Wonders and enduring symbol of
ancient Egyptian civilization since antiquity.
Historical monument
–
The
Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol of
Ancient Greece, the
Athenian democracy, as well as the symbol of
Western Civilization.
Historical monument
–
The
Colosseum Flavian amphitheatre in
Rome, a popular monument of the
Roman Empire.
6.
Bathinda
–
It is in northwestern India in the Malwa Region,227 km west of the capital city of Chandigarh and is the fifth largest city of Punjab. Bathindas nicknamed the City of Lakes, courtesy of the lakes in the city. The first empress of India, Razia Sultan was imprisoned in the Qila Mubarak fort in Bathinda. Bathinda is a home of Central University of Punjab and upcoming AIIMS, Bathinda is home to two modern thermal power plants, Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant and Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant at Lehra Mohabbat. The city has a plant, a large oil refinery. A zoo, and a historic Qila Mubarak fort, Bathinda is one of the largest food grain and cotton markets in northern India, the area around Bathinda is a prolific grape growing area. It is one of the cities in education in Punjab. Three national highways, NH7 and NH-54 and NH 148B Bathinda to Narnaul pass through the city, bhatinda was changed to Bathinda to conform to the phonetical expression as locally pronounced. According to Henry George Raverty, Bathinda was known as Tabarhindh, the earliest mention of Tabarhindh occurs in the Jami-Ul-Hakayat written about 607 Hijri or 1211 AD. In 1004, Mahmud of Ghazni besieged the fort, which was located on the route from the northwest into the rich Ganges valley. In 1189, Muhammad Ghori attacked and occupied the fort of Bathinda, prithvi Raj Chauhan, the ruler of this region, managed to recover possession of the fort thirteen months later in 1191 after the first battle of Tarain. In circa 1754, the town was conquered by Maharaja Ala Singh, with the dawn of independence and merger of Patiala and East Punjab States into a division called PEPSU, Bathinda become a full-fledged district with headquarters at Bathinda city. As per written history it is one of oldest city of Punjab, as per provisional reports of Census India, population of Bathinda city in 2011 is 285,813, male and female are 151,782 and 134,031 respectively. The sex ratio of Bathinda city is 883 per 1000 males, total children in Bathinda city are 30,713,16,472 boys and 14,241 girls. Child sex ratio of girls is 865 per 1000 boys, hinduism is the majority religion in Bathinda city with 62. 61% people following the faith. Sikhism is the second most popular religion in the city which is followed by 35. 04% of the people, minorities are Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and Jains. Sikhs count for 70. 89% of the population in Bathinda District on a whole in spite of not being a majority in the city, Bathinda is in the northwestern region of India and is a part of the Indo-Gangetic alluvial plains. The exact cartographic co-ordinates of Bathinda are 30. 20°N74. 95°E /30.20,74.95 and it has an average elevation of 201 metres. Bathindas climate correspond to semi arid with high variation between summer and winter temperatures, average annual rainfall is in a range of 20 mm to 40 mm
Bathinda
–
Qila Mubarak,the landmark of Bathinda City
Bathinda
–
a view of Gurunanak thermal plant
Bathinda
–
Qila Mubarak.
7.
Punjab, India
–
Punjab is a state in North India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state capital is located in Chandigarh, a Union Territory, after the partition of India in 1947, the Punjab province of British India was divided between India and Pakistan. The Indian Punjab was divided on the basis of language in 1966 and it was divided into 3 parts. Haryanvi speaking areas were carved out as Haryana, Hilly regions, Punjab is the only Sikh majority state in India with Sikhs being 57. 69% of the population. Agriculture is the largest industry in Punjab, Punjab has the largest number of steel rolling mill plants in India, which are located in Steel Town—Mandi Gobindgarh in the Fatehgarh Sahib district. The word Punjab is a compound of the Persian words panj, thus Panjāb roughly means the land of five rivers. The five rivers are the Sutlej, Beas, Ravi, Chenab, traditionally, in English, there used to be a definite article before the name, i. e. The name is sometimes spelled as Panjab. During the period when the epic Mahabharata was written, around 800–400 BCE, Punjab was known as Trigarta, the Indus Valley Civilization spanned much of the Punjab region with cities such as Rupar. The Vedic Civilization spread along the length of the Sarasvati River to cover most of northern India including Punjab and this civilisation shaped subsequent cultures in the Indian subcontinent. The Punjab region was conquered by many ancient empires including the Gandhara, Nandas, Mauryas, Shungas, Kushans, Guptas, Palas, Gurjara-Pratiharas, the furthest eastern extent of Alexander the Greats exploration was along the Indus River. Agriculture flourished and trading cities such as Jalandhar, Sangrur and Ludhiana grew in wealth, due to its location, the Punjab region came under constant attack and influence from both west and east. Punjab faced invasions by the Achaemenids, Greeks, Scythians, Turks and this resulted in the Punjab witnessing centuries of bitter bloodshed. Its culture combines Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, Sikh and British influences, the regions of Azad Kashmir and Jammu have also been historically associated with the Punjab. The Punjab is the Sapta Sindhu region mentioned in the Rig Veda, among the classic books that were wholly or partly composed in this region are the following. The Brahmins of this region are called Saraswata after the legendary Saraswati river region, Hinduism has been prevalent in Punjab since historical times before the arrival of Islam and birth of Sikhism in Punjab. Some of the influential Sikh figures such as Guru Nanak, Banda Singh Bahadur, Bhai Mati Das, many of Punjabs Hindus converted to Sikhism. Punjabi Hindus can trace their roots from the time of the Vedas, many modern day cities in Indian Punjab and Pakistani Punjab are still named from that period like Lahore, Jalandhar, Chandigarh and so on
Punjab, India
–
Bottom to top:
Harmandir Sahib,
Qila Mubarak,
Gandhi Bhavan,
Wagah Border,
Jallianwala Bagh Memorial
Punjab, India
Punjab, India
–
Darbar of
Maharaja Ranjit Singh
Punjab, India
–
Sikh Empire
8.
Razia Sultana
–
Raziya al-Din, throne name Jalâlat-ud-Dîn Raziyâ, usually referred to in history as Razia Sultan, was the Sultan of Delhi from 10 November 1236 –14 October 1240. She was famously the only ever to rule the Delhi Sultanate. Raziya was the daughter of Shams-ud-din Iltutmish, who had begun life as a Turk slave, Iltutmish had been a great favorite of his master, Qutb ud din Aibak, the first Sultan of Delhi, so Aibak had his daughter Qutub Begum married to Iltutmish. Qutub Begum was the mother of Razia, and Razia was thus a granddaughter of Qutb ud din Aibak. Razia also had a brother, Nasiruddin Mahmud and this was in contrast with her step-brothers Rukn ud din Firuz and Muiz ud din Bahram, who were the sons of former slave-girls, and thus grew up quite distant from the centers of power. When Razia was five years old, Qutb ud din Aibak died and was succeeded by Iltutmish, Razia was a favorite of her father, and as a child was allowed to be present around him while he dealt with affairs of state. Later, like other princesses of the time, she was trained to administer a kingdom if required. Her abilities and diligence, no less than her mothers lineage, commended Razia to Iltutmish. Nevertheless, it was Iltutmishs eldest son Nasiruddin Mahmud who was groomed by Iltutmish to succeed him, in 1230, he had to leave the capital in order to lead an invasion against Gwalior. During his absence, Razia acted as a competent regent, with the assistance of the Sultans trusted minister, Iltutmish returned to Delhi in 1231 after having captured Gwalior, and the issue of succession was foremost on his mind. Iltutmish became the first sultan to appoint a woman as his successor when he designated Razia as his heir apparent, Razia was the first and only female ruler of Delhi Sultanate. However, after Iltutmish died on Wednesday 30 April 1236, Razias step-brother Rukn ud din Firuz was elevated to the throne instead, Rukn ud din Firuzs reign was short. On November 9,1236, both Rukn ud din and his mother Shah Turkaan were assassinated after only six months in power, with reluctance, the nobility agreed to allow Razia to reign as Sultana of Delhi. Razia was an efficient ruler and possessed all the qualities of a monarch, Some recognize them as childhood sweethearts who were strongly in love with each other. However, when Altunia was in Bathinda, the Turkic aristocracy spread rumors about Razias romantic involvement with Jamal-ud-Din Yaqut and this triggered Altunias jealousy and he led a rebellion against Razia, simply with the intention of getting her back. A battle between Razia and Altunia ensued in which Yaqut was killed and Razia was taken prisoner. She was incarcerated in April 1240 at Qila Mubarak at Bathinda, while in prison, Razia was allowed to go to Hajirattan mosque to offer prayers on Fridays in a special palki. She was kept in royalty and Altunia visited her regularly and it was then that their love triumphed and finally she was released in August 1240. Razia won over Altunia with love and married him, after Razia ascended to the throne, the Turkic nobles formed a plan of an organized resistance
Razia Sultana
–
Grave of Razia Sultan in Bulbul-i-Khan near Turkoman Gate, Delhi
Razia Sultana
–
Billon Jital of Razia
Razia Sultana
–
Tomb of Razia Sultan in Mohalla Bulbuli Khana
Razia Sultana
–
Painting depicting tomb of Razia Sultana in Kaithal during 19th century
9.
Delhi
–
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory of Delhi or NCT, is a city and a union territory of India. It is bordered by Haryana on three sides and by Uttar Pradesh to the east, the NCT covers an area of 1,484 square kilometres. According to 2011 census, Delhis city population was about 11 million, Delhis urban area is now considered to extend beyond the NCT boundary to include an estimated population of over 26 million people making it the worlds second largest urban area. As of 2016 recent estimates of the economy of its urban area have ranked Delhi either the top or second most productive metro area of India. Delhi is the second wealthiest city after Mumbai in India, with a wealth of $450 billion. Delhi has been inhabited since the 6th century BC. Through most of its history, Delhi has served as a capital of various kingdoms and it has been captured, ransacked and rebuilt several times, particularly during the medieval period, and modern Delhi is a cluster of a number of cities spread across the metropolitan region. New Delhi is jointly administered by the government of India and the local government of Delhi. Delhi is also the centre of the National Capital Region, which is a unique interstate regional planning area created by the National Capital Region Planning Board Act of 1985, Delhi ranks among the cities with the worst air pollution in the world. There are a number of myths and legends associated with the origin of the name Delhi, one of them is derived from Dhillu or Dilu, a king who built a city at this location in 50 BC and named it after himself. The coins in circulation in the region under the Tomaras were called dehliwal, according to the Bhavishya Purana, King Prithiviraja of Indraprastha built a new fort in the modern-day Purana Qila area for the convenience of all four castes in his kingdom. He ordered the construction of a gateway to the fort and later named the fort dehali, another theory suggests that the citys original name was Dhillika. The people of Delhi are referred to as Delhiites or Dilliwalas, the city is referenced in various idioms of the Northern Indo-Aryan languages. Dilli dilwalon ka shehr or Dilli Dilwalon ki meaning Delhi belongs to the large-hearted/daring, aas-paas barse, Dilli pani tarse, literally meaning it pours all around, while Delhi lies parched. An allusion to the sometimes semi-arid climate of Delhi, it refers to situations of deprivation when one is surrounded by plenty. The area around Delhi was probably inhabited before the second millennium BC, the city is believed to be the site of Indraprastha, the legendary capital of the Pandavas in the Indian epic Mahabharata. According to Mahabharata, this land was initially a huge mass of forests called Khandavaprastha which was burnt down to build the city of Indraprastha, the earliest architectural relics date back to the Maurya period, in 1966, an inscription of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka was discovered near Srinivaspuri. Remains of eight cities have been discovered in Delhi
Delhi
–
From top clockwise:
Lotus temple,
Humayun's Tomb,
Connaught Place,
Akshardham temple and
India Gate.
Delhi
–
The ancient
Yogmaya Temple, claimed to be one of the five temples of the Mahabharata era in Delhi.
Delhi
–
The
iron pillar of Delhi, is said to have been fashioned at the time of
Chandragupta Vikramaditya (375–413) of the
Gupta Empire.
10.
Kushana
–
The Kushan Empire was a syncretic empire, formed by Yuezhi, in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. Emperor Kanishka was a patron of Buddhism, however, as Kushans expanded southward. The Kushans were one of five branches of the Yuezhi confederation, the Kushans possibly used the Greek language initially for administrative purposes, but soon began to use Bactrian language. Kanishka sent his armies north of the Karakoram mountains, capturing territories as far as Kashgar, Khotan and Yarkant, in the Tarim Basin of modern-day Xinjiang, China. A direct road from Gandhara to China remained under Kushan control for more than a century, encouraging travel across the Karakoram, the Kushan dynasty had diplomatic contacts with the Roman Empire, Sasanian Persia, Aksumite Empire and Han China. The Kushan empire fragmented into semi-independent kingdoms in the 3rd century AD, in the 4th century, the Guptas, an Indian dynasty also pressed from the east. The last of the Kushan and Sasanian kingdoms were overwhelmed by invaders from the north. Historian H. G. Rawlinson states that the Kushana Period is a prelude to the age of Guptas. Chinese sources describe the Guishuang, i. e, as the historian John E. Hill has put it, For well over a century. There have been arguments about the ethnic and linguistic origins of the Da Yuezhi, Kushans, and the Tochari. The five tribes constituting the Yuezhi are known in Chinese history as Xiūmì, Guìshuāng, Shuāngmǐ, Xìdùn, the Yuezhi reached the Hellenic kingdom of Greco-Bactria around 135 BC. The displaced Greek dynasties resettled to the southeast in areas of the Hindu Kush, some traces remain of the presence of the Kushans in the area of Bactria and Sogdiana. Archaeological structures are known in Takht-I-Sangin, Surkh Kotal, and in the palace of Khalchayan, various sculptures and friezes are known, representing horse-riding archers, and significantly men with artificially deformed skulls, such as the Kushan prince of Khalchayan. The Chinese first referred to people as the Yuezhi and said they established the Kushan Empire. On the ruins of ancient Hellenistic cities such as Ai-Khanoum, the Kushans are known to have built fortresses, the earliest documented ruler, and the first one to proclaim himself as a Kushan ruler, was Heraios. He calls himself a tyrant on his coins, and also exhibits skull deformation and he may have been an ally of the Greeks, and he shared the same style of coinage. Heraios may have been the father of the first Kushan emperor Kujula Kadphises, Ban Gus Book of Han tells us the Kushans divided up Bactria in 128 BC. He invaded Anxi, and took the Gaofu region and he also defeated the whole of the kingdoms of Puda and Jibin
Kushana
–
Kushan territories (full line) and maximum extent of Kushan dominions under
Kanishka the Great (dotted line), according to the
Rabatak inscription.
Kushana
–
History of Afghanistan
Kushana
–
Head of a Kushan prince (Khalchayan palace,
Uzbekistan).
Kushana
–
A Buddhist devotee in Kushan dress, Mathura, 2nd century. The Kushan dress is generally depicted as quite stiff, and it is thought it was often made of leather (Francine Tissot, "Gandhara").
11.
Kanishka
–
Kanishka I, or Kanishka the Great, was the emperor of the Kushan dynasty in the second century. He is famous for his military, political, and spiritual achievements, a descendant of Kushan empire founder Kujula Kadphises, Kanishka came to rule an empire in Bactria extending from Turfan in the Tarim Basin to Pataliputra on the Gangetic plain. The main capital of his empire was located at Puruṣapura in Gandhara and his conquests and patronage of Buddhism played an important role in the development of the Silk Road, and the transmission of Mahayana Buddhism from Gandhara across the Karakoram range to China. Earlier scholars believed that Kanishka ascended the throne in 78 CE, however, this date is not now regarded as the historical date of Kanishkas accession. Kanishka is estimated to have accessed to the throne in AD127 by Falk, Kanishka was a Kushan of probable Yuezhi ethnicity. However, this was adopted by the Kushans to facilitate communication with local subjects. It is not certain, what language the Kushan elite spoke among themselves, Kanishka was the successor of Vima Kadphises, as demonstrated by an impressive genealogy of the Kushan kings, known as the Rabatak inscription. Knowledge of his hold over Central Asia is less well established. The Book of the Later Han, Hou Hanshu, states that general Ban Chao fought battles near Khotan with a Kushan army of 70,000 men led by an otherwise unknown Kushan viceroy named Xie in 90 AD. Though Ban Chao claimed to be victorious, forcing the Kushans to retreat by use of a scorched-earth policy, the region fell to Kushan forces in the early 2nd century. As a result, for a period the territory of the Kushans extended for a period as far as Kashgar, Khotan and Yarkand. Several coins of Kanishka have been found in the Tarim Basin, controlling both the land and sea trade routes between South Asia and Rome seems to have been one of Kanishkas chief imperial goals. Kanishkas coins portray images of Indian, Greek, Iranian and even Sumero-Elamite divinities, Kanishkas coins from the beginning of his reign bear legends in Greek language and script and depict Greek divinities. Later coins bear legends in Bactrian, the Iranian language that the Kushans evidently spoke, and Greek divinities were replaced by corresponding Iranian ones. All of Kanishkas coins – even ones with a legend in the Bactrian language – were written in a modified Greek script that had one additional glyph to represent /š/, as in the word Kushan and Kanishka. On his coins, the king is depicted as a bearded man in a long coat and trousers gathered at the ankle. He wears large rounded boots, and is armed with a sword similar to a scimitar as well as a lance. He is frequently seen to be making a sacrifice on a small altar, a few coins at the beginning of his reign have a legend in the Greek language and script, ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΝ ΚΑΝΗϷΚΟΥ, basileus basileon kaneshkou of Kanishka, king of kings
Kanishka
–
Gold coin of Kanishka.
British Museum.
Kanishka
–
Statue of Kanishka I, 1st century,
Mathura Museum. Has four
Fleur-de-lis symbols in a square emblem repeated twice on the bottom end of his smaller sword.
Kanishka
–
Vima Kadphises was Kanishka's father.
British Museum.
Kanishka
–
Kushan territories (full line) and maximum extent of Kushan dominions under Kanishka (dotted line), according to the
Rabatak inscription.
12.
India
–
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
India
–
Flag
India
–
The granite
tower of
Brihadeeswarar Temple in
Thanjavur was completed in 1010 CE by
Raja Raja Chola I.
India
–
Writing the will and testament of the Mughal king court in Persian, 1590–1595
13.
Bactria
–
Bactria or Bactriana was the name of a historical region in Central Asia. Bactria was located between the Hindu Kush mountain range and the Amu Darya river, covering the region that straddles modern-day Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The English name Bactria is derived from the Ancient Greek, Βακτριανή, analogous names include the Pashto and Persian, باختر, translit. Bākhtar, Uzbek, Балх, Tajik, Бохтар, Chinese, 大夏, pinyin, Dàxià and this region played a major role in Central Asian history. At certain times the political limits of Bactria stretched far beyond the frame of the Bactrian plain. The Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex is the modern designation for a Bronze Age culture of Central Asia. 2200–1700 BC, located in present-day eastern Turkmenistan, northern Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan, centred on the upper Amu Darya and its sites were discovered and named by the Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi. The early Greek historian Ctesias, c.400 BC, alleged that the legendary Assyrian king Ninus had defeated a Bactrian king named Oxyartes in ca.2140 BC, or some 1000 years before the Trojan War. Since the decipherment of cuneiform in the 19th century, however, according to some writers, Bactria was the homeland of Indo-Iranian tribes who moved south-west into Iran and into north-western India around 2500–2000 BC. Later, it became the province of the Persian Empire in Central Asia. It was in these regions, where the soil of the mountainous country is surrounded by the Turanian desert. After Darius III had been defeated by Alexander the Great, the satrap of Bactria, Bessus attempted to organise a resistance but was captured by other warlords. He was then tortured and killed, however, in the south, beyond the Oxus, he met strong resistance. After two years of war and an insurgency campaign, Alexander managed to establish little control over Bactria. After Alexanders death, Diodorus Siculus tells us that Philip received dominion over Bactria, at the Treaty of Triparadisus, both Diodorus Siculus and Arrian agree that the satrap Stasanor gained control over Bactria. Eventually, Alexanders empire was divided up among the generals in Alexanders army, Bactria became a part of the Seleucid Empire, named after its founder, Seleucus I. The Macedonians, especially Seleucus I and his son Antiochus I, established the Seleucid Empire, the Greek language became dominant for some time there. The paradox that Greek presence was more prominent in Bactria than in areas far closer to Greece can possibly be explained by past deportations of Greeks to Bactria
Bactria
–
Ancient cities of Bactria
Bactria
–
Goddesses, Bactria, Afghanistan, 2000–1800 BC.
Bactria
–
Kafirnigan from Tajikistan (traditional Bactrian male clothing).
Bactria
–
Kafirnigan from Tajikistan (traditional Bactrian female clothing).
14.
Axe
–
An axe is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has many forms and specialised uses but generally consists of an axe head with a handle, before the modern axe, the stone-age hand axe was used from 1.5 million years BP without a handle. It was later fastened to a wooden handle, the earliest examples of handled axes have heads of stone with some form of wooden handle attached in a method to suit the available materials and use. Axes made of copper, bronze, iron, and steel appeared as these technologies developed, axes are usually composed of a head and a handle. The axe is an example of a machine, as it is a type of wedge. This reduces the effort needed by the wood chopper and it splits the wood into two parts by the pressure concentration at the blade. The handle of the axe also acts as a lever allowing the user to increase the force at the cutting edge—not using the length of the handle is known as choking the axe. For fine chopping using an axe this sometimes is a positive effect. Generally, cutting axes have a shallow angle, whereas splitting axes have a deeper angle. Most axes are double bevelled, i. e, less common today, they were once an integral part of a joiner and carpenters tool kit, not just a tool for use in forestry. A tool of similar origin is the billhook, however, in France and Holland the billhook often replaced the axe as a joiners bench tool. Most modern axes have heads and wooden handles, typically hickory in the US and ash in Europe and Asia. Modern axes are specialised by use, size, and form, hafted axes with short handles designed for use with one hand are often called hand axes but the term hand axe refers to axes without handles as well. Hatchets tend to be small hafted axes often with a hammer on the back side, as easy-to-make weapons, axes have frequently been used in combat. Initially axes were tools of stone called hand axes, used without handles, axes made with ground cutting edges are known since the Neolithic period ending 4,000 to 2,000 BC. The first true hafted axes are known from the Mesolithic period, few wooden hafts have been found from this period, but it seems that the axe was normally hafted by wedging. Birch-tar and raw-hide lashings were used to fix the blade, the antler was hollowed out at one end to create a socket for the axehead. The antler sheath was then either perforated and a handle inserted into it or set in a made in the handle instead
Axe
–
Double and single bit felling axes
Axe
–
A hoard of
bronze socketed axes from the
Bronze Age found in modern Germany. This was the top tool of the period, and also seems to have been used as a store of value
Axe
–
Roman axe in an ancient Roman relief in
Brescia,
Italy
Axe
–
Hand axes from Swanscombe at the
British Museum that belongs to
Swanscombe Man who lived 200,000–300,000 years ago
15.
Indian subcontinent
–
Geologically, the Indian subcontinent is related to the land mass that rifted from Gondwana and merged with the Eurasian plate nearly 55 million years ago. Geographically, it is the region in south-central Asia delineated by the Himalayas in the north, the Hindu Kush in the west. Politically, the Indian subcontinent usually includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, sometimes, the term South Asia is used interchangeably with Indian subcontinent. There is no consensus about which countries should be included in each and it is first attested in 1845 to refer to the North and South Americas, before they were regarded as separate continents. Its use to refer to the Indian subcontinent is seen from the twentieth century. It was especially convenient for referring to the region comprising both the British India and the states under British Paramountcy. The term Indian subcontinent also has a geological significance and it was, like the various continents, a part of the supercontinent of Gondwana. A series of tectonic splits caused formation of basins, each drifting in various directions. The geological region called the Greater India once included the Madagascar, Seychelles, Antartica, as a geological term, Indian subcontinent has meant that region formed from the collision of the Indian basin with Eurasia nearly 55 million years ago, towards the end of Paleocene. The Indian subcontinent has been a particularly common in the British Empire. The region, state Mittal and Thursby, has also labelled as India, Greater India. The BBC and some sources refer to the region as the Asian Subcontinent. Some academics refer to it as South Asian Subcontinent, the terms Indian subcontinent and South Asia are sometimes used interchangeably. There is no accepted definition on which countries are a part of South Asia or Indian subcontinent. In dictionary entries, the term subcontinent signifies a large, distinguishable subdivision of a continent, the region experienced high volcanic activity and plate subdivisions, creating Madagascar, Seychelles, Antartica, Austrolasia and the Indian subcontinent basin. The Indian subcontinent drifted northeastwards, colliding with the Eurasian plate nearly 55 million years ago and this geological region largely includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The zone where the Eurasian and Indian subcontinent plates meet remains one of the active areas. The English term mainly continues to refer to the Indian subcontinent, physiographically, it is a peninsular region in south-central Asia delineated by the Himalayas in the north, the Hindu Kush in the west, and the Arakanese in the east
Indian subcontinent
–
Indian subcontinent
16.
Bathinda district
–
Bathinda district is in Malwa region of Punjab, India. The districts encompasses an area of 3,344 square kilometres and it is bounded by Faridkot district and Moga district on the north, Mukatsar district on the west, Barnala and Mansa districts on the east, and the state of Haryana on the south. Bathinda is cotton producing belt of Punjab, the district of Bathinda came into existence with the formation of the PEPSU in 1948. It had its headquarters at Faridkot, which were shifted to Bathinda in 1952, according to the 2011 census Bathinda district has a population of 1,388,859, roughly equal to the nation of Swaziland or the US state of Hawaii. This gives it a ranking of 352nd in India, the district has a population density of 414 inhabitants per square kilometre. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 17. 37%, Bathinda has a sex ratio of 865 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 69. 6%. Bathinda is the ninth largest district in Punjab with a population of 1,183,295, Bathinda is divided into the 4 tehsils of Bathinda, Rampura Phul, Maur and Talwandi Sabo. These tehsils are further divided into the nine blocks of Bathinda, Sangat, Nathana, Rampura, Phul, Maur, Balianwali, Bhagta Bhai ka, Bathinda Bathinda district travel guide from Wikivoyage bathinda. nic. in Full history from ancient times to current times
Bathinda district
–
Bathinda fort
Bathinda district
–
Districts of Punjab along with their headquarters
17.
Punjab region
–
The Punjab, also spelled Panjab, panj-āb, land of five rivers, is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of South Asia, comprising areas of eastern Pakistan and northern India. Not being a unit, the extent of the region is the subject of debate. The foreign invaders mainly targeted the most productive region of the Punjab known as the Majha region. The people of the Punjab today are called Punjabis and their language is called Punjabi. The main religions of the Punjab region are Islam, Sikhism and Hinduism, other religious groups are Christianity, Jainism and Buddhism. The name of the region is a compound of two Persian words Panj and āb and was introduced to the region by the Turko-Persian conquerors of India, Punjab literally means Five Waters referring to the rivers, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas. All are tributaries of the Indus River, the Chenab being the largest, there are two main definitions of the Punjab region, the 1947 definition and the older 1846–1849 definition. The third definition incorporates both the 1947 and the definitions but also includes northern Rajasthan on a linguistic basis. 1947 definition The 1947 definition defines the Punjab region with reference to the dissolution of British India whereby the then British Punjab Province was partitioned between India and Pakistan, in Pakistan, the region now includes the Punjab province and Islamabad Capital Territory. In India, it includes the Punjab state, Chandigarh, Haryana, Using the 1947 definition, the Punjab region borders Kashmir to the north, Sindh and Rajasthan to the south, the Pashtun region and Balochistan to the west, and the Hindi belt to the east. Accordingly, the Punjab region is diverse and stretches from the hills of the Kangra Valley to the plains. Present day maps Major cities Using the 1947 definition of the Punjab region, some of the cities of the area include Lahore, Faisalabad. Older 1846–1849 definition The older definition of the Punjab region focuses on the collapse of the Sikh Empire, According to this definition, the Punjab region incorporates, in Pakistan, Azad Kashmir including Bhimber and Mirpur and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In India the wider definition includes parts of Delhi and Jammu Division, the formation of the Himalayan Range of mountains to the east and north-east of the Punjab is the result of a collision between the north-moving Indo-Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. The plates are moving together, and the Himalayas are rising by about 5 millimetres per year. The upper regions are snow-covered the whole year, Lower ranges of hills run parallel to the mountains. The Lower Himalayan Range runs from north of Rawalpindi through Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, the mountains are relatively young, and are eroding rapidly. The Indus and the five rivers of the Punjab have their sources in the range and carry loam, minerals and silt down to the rich alluvial plains
Punjab region
–
Taxila in Pakistan is a
World Heritage Site
Punjab region
–
Punjab Region
Punjab region
–
Menander I Soter (165/155 –130 BC) conqueror of the Punjab, he carved out a
Greek kingdom in the Punjab and ruled the Punjab till his death in 130 B.C.
Punjab region
–
A section of the Lahore Fort built by the Mughal emperor
Akbar.
18.
Central Asia
–
Central Asia stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north. It is also referred to as the -stans as the five countries generally considered to be within the region all have names ending with the Persian suffix -stan. Central Asias five former Soviet republics are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Central Asia has historically been closely tied to its nomadic peoples and the Silk Road. It has acted as a crossroads for the movement of people, goods, the Silk Road connected Muslim lands with the people of Europe, India, and China. This crossroads position has intensified the conflict between tribalism and traditionalism and modernization, in pre-Islamic and early Islamic times, Central Asia was predominantly Iranian, peopled by Eastern Iranian-speaking Bactrians, Sogdians and Chorasmians and the semi-nomadic Scythians and Parthians. Central Asia is sometimes referred to as Turkestan, the idea of Central Asia as a distinct region of the world was introduced in 1843 by the geographer Alexander von Humboldt. The borders of Central Asia are subject to multiple definitions, historically built political geography and geoculture are two significant parameters widely used in the scholarly literature about the definitions of the Central Asia. The most limited definition was the one of the Soviet Union. This definition was also used outside the USSR during this period. However, the Russian culture has two terms, Средняя Азия and Центральная Азия. Since then, this has become the most common definition of Central Asia, the UNESCO general history of Central Asia, written just before the collapse of the USSR, defines the region based on climate and uses far larger borders. An alternative method is to define the region based on ethnicity and these areas include Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the Turkic regions of southern Siberia, the five republics, and Afghan Turkestan. Afghanistan as a whole, the northern and western areas of Pakistan, the Tibetans and Ladakhi are also included. Insofar, most of the peoples are considered the indigenous peoples of the vast region. Central Asia is a large region of varied geography, including high passes and mountains, vast deserts. The vast steppe areas of Central Asia are considered together with the steppes of Eastern Europe as a geographical zone known as the Eurasian Steppe. Much of the land of Central Asia is too dry or too rugged for farming, the Gobi desert extends from the foot of the Pamirs, 77° E, to the Great Khingan Mountains, 116°–118° E. Central Asia has the following geographic extremes, The worlds northernmost desert, at Buurug Deliin Els, Mongolia, the Northern Hemispheres southernmost permafrost, at Erdenetsogt sum, Mongolia, 46°17′ N
Central Asia
–
On the southern shore of Issyk Kul lake,
Issyk Kul Region.
Central Asia
–
Central Asia
Central Asia
–
Uzbek men from
Khiva, ca. 1861–1880
Central Asia
–
Kazakh man on a horse with golden eagle
19.
Barley
–
Barley, a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago, Barley has been used as animal fodder, as a source of fermentable material for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods. It is used in soups and stews, and in barley bread of various cultures, Barley grains are commonly made into malt in a traditional and ancient method of preparation. In 2014, barley was ranked fourth among grains in quantity produced behind corn, rice, the Old English word for barley was bære, which traces back to Proto-Indo-European and is cognate to the Latin word farina flour. The direct ancestor of modern English barley in Old English was the derived adjective bærlic, the first citation of the form bærlic in the Oxford English Dictionary dates to around 966 CE, in the compound word bærlic-croft. The underived word bære survives in the north of Scotland as bere, the word barn, which originally meant barley-house, is also rooted in these words. Barley is a member of the grass family and it is a self-pollinating, diploid species with 14 chromosomes. The wild ancestor of domesticated barley, Hordeum vulgare subsp, spontaneum, is abundant in grasslands and woodlands throughout the Fertile Crescent area of Western Asia and northeast Africa, and is abundant in disturbed habitats, roadsides and orchards. Outside this region, the barley is less common and is usually found in disturbed habitats. However, in a study of genome-wide diversity markers, Tibet was found to be a center of domestication of cultivated barley. Wild barley has a spike, upon maturity, the spikelets separate. Domesticated barley has nonshattering spikes, making it easier to harvest the mature ears. The nonshattering condition is caused by a mutation in one of two linked genes known as Bt1 and Bt2, many cultivars possess both mutations. The nonshattering condition is recessive, so varieties of barley that exhibit this condition are homozygous for the mutant allele, spikelets are arranged in triplets which alternate along the rachis. In wild barley, only the central spikelet is fertile, while the two are reduced. This condition is retained in certain cultivars known as two-row barleys, a pair of mutations result in fertile lateral spikelets to produce six-row barleys. Recent genetic studies have revealed that a mutation in one gene, two-row barley has a lower protein content than six-row barley, thus a more fermentable sugar content. High-protein barley is best suited for animal feed, Malting barley is usually lower protein which shows more uniform germination, needs shorter steeping, and has less protein in the extract that can make beer cloudy
Barley
–
Barley
Barley
Barley
–
The cross-section of a barley root
Barley
–
Two-row and six-row barley
20.
Clay
–
Clay is a fine-grained natural rock or soil material that combines one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure. Clays are plastic due to water content and become hard, brittle. Depending on the content in which it is found, clay can appear in various colours from white to dull grey or brown to deep orange-red. Although many naturally occurring deposits include both silts and clay, clays are distinguished from other fine-grained soils by differences in size, silts, which are fine-grained soils that do not include clay minerals, tend to have larger particle sizes than clays. There is, however, some overlap in size and other physical properties. The distinction between silt and clay varies by discipline, geologists and soil scientists usually consider the separation to occur at a particle size of 2 µm, sedimentologists often use 4–5 μm, and colloid chemists use 1 μm. Geotechnical engineers distinguish between silts and clays based on the plasticity properties of the soil, as measured by the soils Atterberg limits, ISO14688 grades clay particles as being smaller than 2 μm and silt particles as being larger. These solvents, usually acidic, migrate through the rock after leaching through upper weathered layers. In addition to the process, some clay minerals are formed through hydrothermal activity. There are two types of deposits, primary and secondary. Primary clays form as residual deposits in soil and remain at the site of formation, secondary clays are clays that have been transported from their original location by water erosion and deposited in a new sedimentary deposit. Clay deposits are associated with very low energy depositional environments such as large lakes. Depending on the source, there are three or four main groups of clays, kaolinite, montmorillonite-smectite, illite, and chlorite. Chlorites are not always considered to be a clay, sometimes being classified as a group within the phyllosilicates. There are approximately 30 different types of clays in these categories. Varve is clay with visible annual layers, which are formed by deposition of those layers and are marked by differences in erosion. This type of deposit is common in glacial lakes
Clay
–
Gay Head cliffs in
Martha's Vineyard consist almost entirely of clay.
Clay
–
Electron microscope photograph of smectite clay – magnification 23,500
Clay
–
Quaternary clay in
Estonia
Clay
–
Deforestation for clay extraction in
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. The picture is of Morro da Covanca, Jacarepaguá.
21.
Plough
–
A plough or plow is a tool or farm implement used in farming for initial cultivation of soil in preparation for sowing seed or planting to loosen or turn the soil. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by working animals such as horses or cattle, a plough may be made of wood, iron, or steel frame with an attached blade or stick used to cut the earth. It has been an instrument for most of recorded history. The plough represents one of the major agricultural inventions in human history, as the plough is drawn through the soil it creates long trenches of fertile soil called furrows. In modern use, a field is typically left to dry out. Ploughing and cultivating a soil homogenises and modifies the upper 12 to 25 cm of the soil to form a plough layer, in many soils, the majority of fine plant feeder roots can be found in the topsoil or plough layer. Ploughs were initially human-powered, but the process became more efficient once animals were pressed into service. The first animal-powered ploughs were undoubtedly pulled by oxen, and later in areas by horses and mules. In industrialised countries, the first mechanical means of pulling a plough were steam-powered, modern competitions take place for ploughing enthusiasts like the National Ploughing Championships in Ireland. By not ploughing, beneficial fungi and microbial life can develop that will bring air into the soil, retain water. A healthy soil full of active fungi and microbial life, combined with a crop, suppresses weeds and pests naturally. Thus the intensive use of water-, oil- and energy hungry irrigation, fertilisers, cultivated land becomes more fertile and productive over time, while tilled land tends to go down in productivity over time due to erosion and the removal of nutrients with every harvest. Proponents of permaculture claim that it is the way of farming that can be maintained when fossil fuel runs out. The term plough or plow, as used today, was not common until 1700, the modern word plough comes from Old Norse plógr, and therefore Germanic, but it appears relatively late, and is thought to be a loanword from one of the north Italic languages. Words with the same root appeared with related meanings, in Raetic plaumorati wheeled heavy plough, and in Latin plaustrum farm cart, plōstrum, plōstellum cart, and plōxenum, plōximum cart box. The word must have referred to the wheeled heavy plough. Orel tentatively attaches plough to a PIE stem *blōkó-, which gave Armenian peɫem to dig and Welsh bwlch crack, on modern ploughs and some older ploughs, the mouldboard is separate from the share and runner, so these parts can be replaced without replacing the mouldboard. Abrasion eventually destroys all parts of a plough that come into contact with the soil, digging sticks, hoes, and mattocks were not invented in any one place, and hoe-cultivation must have been common everywhere agriculture was practiced
Plough
–
Traditional ploughing: a farmer works the land with horses and plough
Plough
–
Modern tractor ploughing in South Africa. This plough has five non-reversible mouldboards. The fifth, empty furrow on the left will be filled by the first furrow of the next pass.
Plough
–
Oxen driven ploughing
Plough
–
Ploughing with
buffalo in
Hubei, China
22.
Indo-Aryans
–
Indo-Aryan peoples are a diverse Indo-European ethnolinguistic group of speakers of Indo-Aryan languages. There are over one billion native speakers of Indo-Aryan languages, most of them native to South Asia and these migrations started approximately 1,800 BCE, after the invention of the war chariot, and also brought Indo-Aryan languages into the Levant and possibly Inner Asia. 1800–1400 BCE in the steppes around the Aral sea, present-day Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, the proto-Indo-Iranians were influenced by the Bactria-Margiana Culture, south of the Andronovo culture, from which they borrowed their distinctive religious beliefs and practices. The Indo-Aryans split off around 1800-1600 BCE from the Iranians, whereafter the Indo-Aryans migrated into the Levant, horseplay at Harappa - People Fas Harvard - Harvard University A tale of two horses - Frontline
Indo-Aryans
–
Geographical distribution of the major Indo-Aryan languages.
23.
Scythian
–
The Scythian languages belonged to the Eastern branch of the Iranian languages. Ancient Greek historians spoke of Scythians who lived north of the Black Sea, Persians used the term Saka, for approximately the same people who lived further east. Although the ancients did not clearly distinguish the two terms, modern scholars usually use Saka to refer to Iranian-speaking tribes who inhabited the central steppe, the Chinese used the term Sai, for Sakas who had moved into the Tarim Basin. Assyrian sources speak of Iskuzai or Askuzai south of the Caucasus who were probably Scythians, the relationships between the peoples living in these widely separated regions remains unclear. Their westernmost territories during the Iron Age were known to classical Greek sources as Scythia, the Scythians were among the earliest peoples to master mounted warfare. In the 8th century BC they possibly raided Zhou China, soon after they expanded westwards and dislodged the Cimmerians from power on the Pontic Steppe. Based in what is modern-day Ukraine, Southern European Russia, and Crimea, the Scythians established and controlled a vast trade network connecting Greece, Persia, India and China, perhaps contributing to the contemporary flourishing of those civilizations. Settled metalworkers made portable decorative objects for the Scythians and these objects survive mainly in metal, forming a distinctive Scythian art. In the 7th century BC the Scythians crossed the Caucasus and frequently raided the Middle East along with the Cimmerians, around 650–630 BC, Scythians briefly dominated the Medes of the western Iranian Plateau, stretching their power all the way to the borders of Egypt. After losing control over Media the Scythians continued intervening in Middle Eastern affairs, the Scythians subsequently engaged in frequent conflicts with the Achaemenid Empire. The western Scythians suffered a defeat against Macedonia in the 4th century BC, and were subsequently gradually conquered by the Sarmatians. In Eastern Europe, by the early Medieval Ages, the Scythians, Scythians kept herds of horses, cattle, and sheep, lived in tent-covered wagons, and fought with bows and arrows on horseback. They developed a culture characterized by opulent tombs, fine metalwork. Sulimirski views the Histories of Herodotus as the most important literary source relating to ancient Scyths, Herodotus provides a depiction that can be related to the results of archaeological research, but apparently knew little of the eastern part of Scythia. He did say that the ancient Persians called all the Scyths Σάκαι and their principal tribe, the Royal Scyths, ruled the vast lands occupied by the nation as a whole, calling themselves Σκώλοτοι. The restored Scythian name is *Skuda, which among the Pontic or Royal Scythians became *Skula, in which the d has been regularly replaced by an l. Saka, on the hand, Szemerényi relates to an Iranian verbal root, sak-, go, roam. The name does appear somewhat further east than the Achaemenid Empire, whether they adopted the Achaemenid name, or Saka came to be an endonym, it is not clear
Scythian
–
Scythians shooting with the
Scythian bow,
Kerch (ancient
Panticapeum),
Crimea, 4th century BC
Scythian
–
Gold Scythian pectoral, or neckpiece, from a royal
kurgan in Tolstaya Mogila,
Ordzhonikidze, Ukraine, dated to the second half of the 4th century BC. The central lower tier shows three horses, each being torn apart by two
griffins.
Scythian
–
Gold Scythian belt title,
Mingachevir (ancient Scythian kingdom),
Azerbaijan, 7th century BC.
Scythian
–
Skunkha, king of the Sakā tigraxaudā ("wearing pointed caps Sakae", a group of Scythian tribes). Detail of
Behistun Inscription.
24.
Balochistan (region)
–
Balochistan is an arid desert and mountainous region in south-western Asia. It comprises the Pakistani province of Balochistan, Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, Balochistan borders the Pashtun region to the north, Sindh to the east, Punjab to the northeast, and Persian regions to the west and northwest. South of its coastline, including the Makran Coast, are the Arabian Sea. The name Balochistan is generally believed to derive from that of the Baloch people, the term Baloch does not appear in pre-Islamic sources. It is likely that the Balochs were known by other name at their place of origin. The Suffix -stān is a Persian word meaning place, johan Hansman relates the term Baloch to Meluḫḫa, the name by which the Indus Valley Civilisation is believed to have been known to the Sumerians and Akkadians in Mesopatamia. Meluḫḫa disappears from the Mesopotamian records at the beginning of the second millennium B. C, however, Hansman states that a trace of it in a modified form, as Baluḫḫu, was retained in the names of products imported by the Assyrians. Al-Muqaddasī, who visited the capital of Makran Bannajbur, states that it was populated by people called Balūṣī, leading Hansman to postulate Baluch as a modification of Meluḫḫa and Baluḫḫu. Asko Parpola relates the name Meluḫḫa to Indo-Aryan words mleccha and milakkha/milakkhu etc. which do not have an Indo-European etymology even though they were used to refer to non-Aryan people. Taking them to be proto-Dravidian in origin, he interprets the term as meaning either a proper name milu-akam or melu-akam, meaning high country, historian Romila Thapar also interprets Meluḫḫa as a proto-Dravidian term, possibly mēlukku, and suggests the meaning western extremity. A literal translation into Sanskrit, aparānta, was used to describe the region by the Indo-Aryans. During the time of Alexander the Great, the Greeks called the land Gedrosia and its people Gedrosoi, the earliest evidence of human occupation in what is now Balochistan is dated to the Paleolithic era, represented by hunting camps and lithic scatters, chipped and flaked stone tools. The earliest settled villages in the date to the ceramic Neolithic. These villages expanded in size during the subsequent Chalcolithic, when interaction was amplified and this involved the movement of finished goods and raw materials, including chank shell, lapis lazuli, turquoise, and ceramics. By 2500 BCE, the now known as Pakistani Balochistan had become part of the Harappan cultural orbit. From the 1st century to the 3rd century CE, the region was ruled by the Pāratarājas, the dynasty of the Pāratas is thought to be identical with the Pāradas of the Mahabharata, the Puranas and other vedic and Iranian sources. These coins are found in Loralai in todays western Pakistan. Herodotus in 450 BCE described the Paraitakenoi as a tribe ruled by Deiokes, arrian describes how Alexander the Great encountered the Pareitakai in Bactria and Sogdiana, and had them conquered by Craterus
Balochistan (region)
–
Major ethnic groups of Pakistan in 1980. The pink color represents the Baloch ethnic group.
Balochistan (region)
–
Ancient empires
25.
History of Sindh
–
Sindh is one of the provinces of Pakistan. Sindh had one of the worlds oldest civilizations, the Indus Valley civilization, Sindh has been known by various names in the past, the name Sindh comes from the Indo-Aryans whose legends claimed that the Indus River flowed from the mouth of a lion or Sinh-ka-bab. In Sanskrit, the province was dubbed Sindhu meaning an ocean, the Assyrians knew the region as Sinda, the Persians Abisind, the Greeks Sinthus, the Romans Sindus, the Chinese Sintow, while the Arabs dubbed it Sind. The first known settlements date as far back as 7000 BCE. Permanent settlements at Mehrgarh to the west expanded into Sindh, the original inhabitants of ancient Sindh, and other regions of the Indian Subcontinent, were the aborigine tribes speaking languages related to Munda languages. The Dravidians migrated from the Iranian plateau and settled in the Indus valley around 4000 BCE, the Dravidian culture blossomed over the centuries and gave rise to the Indus Valley Civilization around 3000 BCE. Speculation remains as to how and why the civilization declined and may have been a combination of natural disasters such as flooding, the Indus Valley Civilization spanned much of what is today Pakistan and Northwestern India, but suddenly went into decline just prior to the rise of Indo-Iranians. A branch of these called the Indo-Aryans are believed to have founded the Vedic Civilization that have existed between Sarasvati River and Ganges river around 1500 BCE. This civilization helped shape subsequent cultures in the Indian subcontinent, Sindh was conquered by the Persian Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BCE, and became part of the Persian satrapy of Hindush centred in the Punjab to the north. Persian speech had a tendency to replace S with an H resulting in Sindu being pronounced and they introduced the Kharoshti script and links to the west in the region. Later, during the reign of the Buddhist king Ashoka the region would become a Buddhist domain. The Buddhist city of Siraj-ji-Takri is located along the western limestone terraces of the Rohri Hills in the Khairpur district of Upper Sindh and this city is not mentioned from any text dealing with the history of the Buddhist period of Sindh. The Scythians shattered the Greco-Bactrians fledgling empire and then the Tocharian Kushan Empire annexed Sindh by the 1st century CE, the Kushans under Kanishka adopted Buddhism and sponsored many building projects for local beliefs. The Kushan Empire was defeated in the mid 3rd century AD by the Sassanid Empire of Persia and these rulers were defeated by the Kidarites in the late 4th century. It then came under the Gupta Empire after dealing with the Kidarites, by the late 5th century, attacks by Hephthalite tribes known as the Indo-Hephthalites or Hunas broke through the Gupta Empires northwestern borders and overran much of northwestern India. Concurrently, Ror dynasty ruled parts of the region for several centuries, afterwards, Sindh came under the rule of Emperor Harshavardhan, then the Rai Dynasty around 478. The Rais were overthrown by Chachar of Alor around 632, the Brahman dynasty ruled a vast territory that stretched from Multan in the north to the Rann of Kutch, Alor was their capital. Conquered by Syrian Arabs led by Muhammad bin Qasim, Sindh became the easternmost province of the Umayyad Caliphate, the Arab province of Sindh is modern Pakistan
History of Sindh
History of Sindh
–
Sindh during the Rashidun
Caliphate, which covers part of
Afghanistan and
Pakistan.
History of Sindh
–
Sindh in 700 AD, under the Brahmin dynasty.
History of Sindh
–
coins during the rule of
Amirs of Sindh, c. 257 -- 421 AH / c. 870 -- 1030 AD
26.
Kushan
–
The Kushan Empire was a syncretic empire, formed by Yuezhi, in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. Emperor Kanishka was a patron of Buddhism, however, as Kushans expanded southward. The Kushans were one of five branches of the Yuezhi confederation, the Kushans possibly used the Greek language initially for administrative purposes, but soon began to use Bactrian language. Kanishka sent his armies north of the Karakoram mountains, capturing territories as far as Kashgar, Khotan and Yarkant, in the Tarim Basin of modern-day Xinjiang, China. A direct road from Gandhara to China remained under Kushan control for more than a century, encouraging travel across the Karakoram, the Kushan dynasty had diplomatic contacts with the Roman Empire, Sasanian Persia, Aksumite Empire and Han China. The Kushan empire fragmented into semi-independent kingdoms in the 3rd century AD, in the 4th century, the Guptas, an Indian dynasty also pressed from the east. The last of the Kushan and Sasanian kingdoms were overwhelmed by invaders from the north. Historian H. G. Rawlinson states that the Kushana Period is a prelude to the age of Guptas. Chinese sources describe the Guishuang, i. e, as the historian John E. Hill has put it, For well over a century. There have been arguments about the ethnic and linguistic origins of the Da Yuezhi, Kushans, and the Tochari. The five tribes constituting the Yuezhi are known in Chinese history as Xiūmì, Guìshuāng, Shuāngmǐ, Xìdùn, the Yuezhi reached the Hellenic kingdom of Greco-Bactria around 135 BC. The displaced Greek dynasties resettled to the southeast in areas of the Hindu Kush, some traces remain of the presence of the Kushans in the area of Bactria and Sogdiana. Archaeological structures are known in Takht-I-Sangin, Surkh Kotal, and in the palace of Khalchayan, various sculptures and friezes are known, representing horse-riding archers, and significantly men with artificially deformed skulls, such as the Kushan prince of Khalchayan. The Chinese first referred to people as the Yuezhi and said they established the Kushan Empire. On the ruins of ancient Hellenistic cities such as Ai-Khanoum, the Kushans are known to have built fortresses, the earliest documented ruler, and the first one to proclaim himself as a Kushan ruler, was Heraios. He calls himself a tyrant on his coins, and also exhibits skull deformation and he may have been an ally of the Greeks, and he shared the same style of coinage. Heraios may have been the father of the first Kushan emperor Kujula Kadphises, Ban Gus Book of Han tells us the Kushans divided up Bactria in 128 BC. He invaded Anxi, and took the Gaofu region and he also defeated the whole of the kingdoms of Puda and Jibin
Kushan
–
Kushan territories (full line) and maximum extent of Kushan dominions under
Kanishka the Great (dotted line), according to the
Rabatak inscription.
Kushan
–
History of Afghanistan
Kushan
–
Head of a Kushan prince (Khalchayan palace,
Uzbekistan).
Kushan
–
A Buddhist devotee in Kushan dress, Mathura, 2nd century. The Kushan dress is generally depicted as quite stiff, and it is thought it was often made of leather (Francine Tissot, "Gandhara").
27.
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.
28.
Mohammed Ghori
–
Muizz ad-Din was one of the greatest rulers of the Ghurid dynasty, and is credited with laying the foundation of Muslim rule in South Asia, that lasted for several centuries. He reigned over a territory spanning over parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Muizz ad-Din took the city of Ghazni in 1173 to avenge the death of his ancestor Muhammad ibn Suri at the hands of Mahmud of Ghazni, in the meantime, he assisted his brother Ghiyath in his contest with the Khwarazmian Empire for the lordship of Khorasan in Western Asia. He also annexed the Ghaznavid principality of Lahore in 1186, the last haven of his Persianized rivals, after the death of Ghiyath in 1202, he became the successor of the Ghurid Empire and ruled until his assassination in 1206. A confused struggle then ensued among the remaining Ghuri leaders, though the Ghurids empire was short-lived and petty Ghurid states remained in power until the arrival of Timurids, Muizzs conquests laid the foundations of Muslim rule in India. Qutbu l-Din Aibak, a slave of Muizz, was the first Sultan of Delhi. Muizz ad-Din Muhammad was born in 1149 in the Ghor region of what is now present day Afghanistan, the exact date of his birth is unknown. His father, Baha al-Din Sam I, was the ruler of the Ghor region at the time. Muizz also had a brother named Ghiyath al-Din Muhammad. During their early life, Muizz and Ghiyath were imprisoned by their uncle Ala al-Din Husayn, when Sayf died in 1163, the Ghurid nobles supported Ghiyath, and helped him ascend the throne. Ghiyath shortly gave Muizz control over Istiyan and Kajuran, however, the throne was challenged by several Ghurid chiefs, Muizz aided Ghiyath in defeating and killing a rival Ghurid chief named Abul Abbas. Ghiyath was then challenged by his uncle Fakhr al-Din Masud, who claimed the throne for himself, and had allied with Tadj al-Din Yildiz, the Seljuq governor of Herat, however, the coalition was defeated by Ghiyath and Muizz at Ragh-i Zar. The brothers managed to kill the Seljuq governor during the battle, and then conquered Zamindawar, Badghis, Gharchistan, Ghiyath, however, spared Fakhr al-Din and restored him as the ruler of Bamiyan. Muizz, after returning from an expedition from Sistan, was awarded with Kandahar by his brother. In 1173, the two brothers invaded Ghazni, and defeated the Oghuz Turks who had captured the city from the Ghaznavids, Muizz was then appointed as the ruler of Ghazni. In 1175, the two brothers conquered Herat from its Seljuq governor, Baha al-Din Toghril, and also managed to conquer Pushang, the ruler of Sistan, Taj al-Din Harb ibn Muhammad, shortly acknowledged the sovereignty of the Ghurids, and so did the Oghuz Turks dominating Kirman. During the same period, the Khwarazmian Sultan Shah, who was expelled from Khwarezm by his brother Tekish, took refuge in Ghor, Ghiyath, however, did not help the latter. Sultan Shah managed to get help from the Kara-Khitan Khanate, after having helped his brother in expanding the western frontiers of the Ghurid Empire, he began to focus on India
Mohammed Ghori
–
Mu'izz ad-Din
Mohammed Ghori
–
A sign post in
Sohawa pointing towards the direction of Mu'izz's Tomb
Mohammed Ghori
–
The murder of Muhammad Ghori, A.D. 1206
29.
Prithvi Raj Chauhan
–
Prithvirāja III, popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora in the folk legends, was an Indian king from the Chahamana dynasty. He ruled Sapadalaksha, the traditional Chahamana territory, in present-day north-western India and he controlled much of the present-day Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi, and some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. His capital was located at Ajayameru, although the medieval legends describe him as the king of Indias political centre Delhi to portray him as a representative of the pre-Islamic Indian power. Early in his career, Prithviraj achieved military successes against several neighbouring Hindu kingdoms and he also repulsed the early invasions by Muhammad of Ghor, a ruler of the Muslim Ghurid dynasty. However, in 1192 CE, the Ghurids decisively defeated Prithviraj at the Second battle of Tarain and his defeat at Tarain is seen as a landmark event in the Islamic conquest of India, and has been described in several semi-legendary accounts, most notably the Prithviraj Raso. The extant inscriptions from Prithvirajs reign are few in number, and were not issued by the king himself, much of the information about him comes from the medieval legendary chronicles. Besides the Muslim accounts of Battles of Tarain, he has mentioned in several medieval kavyas by Hindu. These include Prithviraja Vijaya, Hammira Mahakavya and Prithviraj Raso and these texts contain eulogistic descriptions, and are therefore, not entirely reliable. Prithviraja Vijaya is the surviving literary text from the reign of Prithviraj Chauhan. Prithviraj Raso, which popularized Prithviraj as a king, is purported to be written by the kings court poet Chand Bardai. However, it is full of exaggerated accounts many of which are worthless for the purposes of history, other chronicles and texts that mention Prithviraj include Prabandha-Chintamani, Prabandha Kosha and Prithviraja-Prabandha. These were composed centuries after his death, and contain exaggerations, both Prabandha-Chintamani and Prithviraja-Prabandha portray Prithviraj as an inept and unworthy king who was responsible for his own downfall. Prithviraj has also mentioned in Kharatara-Gachchha-Pattavali, a Sanskrit text containing biographies of the Kharatara Jain monks. While the work was completed in 1336 CE, the part that mentions Prithviraj was written around 1250 CE, the Alha-Khanda of the Chandela poet Jaganika also provides an exaggerated account of Prithvirajs war against the Chandelas. Prithviraj was born to the Chahamana king Someshvara and queen Karpuradevi, both Prithviraj and his younger brother Hariraja were born in Gujarat, where their father Someshvara was brought up at the Chaulukya court by his maternal relatives. According to Prithviraja Vijaya, Prithviraj was born on the 12th day of the Jyeshtha month, the text does not mention the year of his birth, but provides some of the astrological planetary positions at the time of his birth, calling them auspicious. Based on these positions and assuming certain other planetary positions, Dasharatha Sharma calculated the year of Prithvirajs birth as 1166 CE, the medieval biographies of Prithviraj suggest that he was educated well. The Prithviraja Vijaya states that he mastered 6 languages, the Prithviraj Raso claims that he learned 14 languages, the Raso goes on to claim that he became well-versed in a number of subjects, including history, mathematics, medicine, military, painting, philosophy, and theology
Prithvi Raj Chauhan
–
Statue of Prithviraj Chauhan at Ajmer
Prithvi Raj Chauhan
–
Second battle of Tarain
30.
Guru Nanak Dev
–
Guru Nanak was the founder of Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated world-wide as Guru Nanak Gurpurab on Kartik Pooranmashi, Guru Nanak has been called one of the greatest religious innovators of all time. He travelled far and wide teaching people the message of one God who dwells in one of His creations. He set up a spiritual, social, and political platform based on equality, fraternal love, goodness. Nanak was born on 15 April 1469 at Rāi Bhoi Kī Talvaṇḍī near Lahore and his parents were Kalyan Chand Das Bedi, popularly shortened to Mehta Kalu, and Mata Tripta. His father was the local patwari for crop revenue in the village of Talwandi and his parents were both Hindus and belonged to the merchant caste. He had one sister, Bebe Nanaki, who was five years older than he was, in 1475 she married and moved to Sultanpur. Nanak was attached to his sister and followed her to Sultanpur to live with her and her husband, at the age of around 16 years, Nanak started working under Daulat Khan Lodi, employer of Nanakis husband. This was a time for Nanak, as the Puratan Janam Sakhi suggests. According to Sikh traditions, the birth and early years of Guru Nanaks life were marked with events that demonstrated that Nanak had been marked by divine grace. Commentaries on his life details of his blossoming awareness from a young age. At the age of five, Nanak is said to have voiced interest in divine subjects, at age seven, his father enrolled him at the village school as was the custom. On 24 September 1487 Nanak married Mata Sulakkhani, daughter of Mūl Chand and Chando Rāṇī, the couple had two sons, Sri Chand and Lakhmi Chand. Sri Chand received enlightenment from Guru Nanaks teachings and went on to become the founder of the Udasi sect, the earliest biographical sources on Nanaks life recognised today are the Janamsākhīs. Bhai Gurdas, a scribe of the Gurū Granth Sahib, also wrote about Nanaks life in his vārs, although these too were compiled some time after Nanaks time, they are less detailed than the Janamsākhīs. The Janamsākhīs recount in minute detail the circumstances of the birth of the guru, gyan-ratanavali is attributed to Bhai Mani Singh who wrote it with the express intention of correcting heretical accounts of Guru Nanak. Bhai Mani Singh was a Sikh of Guru Gobind Singh who was approached by some Sikhs with a request that he should prepare an account of Guru Nanak’s life. At the end of the Janam-sakhi there is an epilogue in which it is stated that the work was taken to Guru Gobind Singh for his seal of approval
Guru Nanak Dev
–
Guru Nanak with Bhai Bala and Bhai Mardana and Sikh Gurus
Guru Nanak Dev
–
Baba Nanak goes to school
Guru Nanak Dev
–
Gurdwara Janam Asthan
Guru Nanak Dev
–
Bhai Mani Singh 's Janamsakhi
31.
Guru Teg Bahadur
–
Guru Tegh Bahadur, revered as the ninth Nanak, was the ninth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion. Tegh Bahadur continued in the spirit of the first guru, Nanak, gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib and Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi mark the places of execution and cremation of the Gurus body. Guru Tegh Bahadur was born in a Sodhi Family, the Sixth guru, Guru Hargobind had one daughter Bibi Viro and five sons, Baba Gurditta, Suraj Mal, Ani Rai, Atal Rai and Tyaga Mal. Amritsar at that time was the centre of Sikh faith, Guru Tegh Bahadur was brought up in Sikh culture and trained in archery and horsemanship. He was also taught the old classics and he underwent prolonged spells of seclusion and contemplation. Tegh Bahadur was married on 3 February 1633, to Mata Gujri, in the 1640s, nearing his death, Guru Hargobind and his wife Nanaki moved to his ancestral village of Bakala in Amritsar district, together with Tegh Bahadur and Mata Gujri. Bakala, as described in Gurbilas Dasvin Patishahi, was then a town with many beautiful pools, wells. After Guru Hargobinds death, Tegh Bahadur continued to live in Bakala with his wife and he spent most of his time in meditation, but was not a recluse, and attended to family responsibilities. He made visits outside Bakala, and visited the eighth Sikh guru Guru Har Krishan, in March 1664 Guru Har Krishan contracted smallpox. When asked by his followers who would lead them after him, he replied Baba Bakala, taking the advantage of the ambiguity in the words of the dying Guru, many installed themselves in Bakala, claiming themselves as the new Guru. Sikhs were puzzled to see so many claimants, the Sikh tradition has a legend on how Tegh Bahadur was selected the ninth guru. A wealthy trader, Baba Makhan Shah Labana, had prayed for his life and had promised to gift 500 gold coins to the Sikh guru if he survived. He arrived in search of the ninth Guru, every guru he met accepted the 2 gold coins and bid him farewell. Then he discovered that Tegh Bahadur also lived at Bakala, Labana gifted Tegh Bahadur the usual offering of two gold coins. Tegh Bahadur gave him his blessings and remarked that his offering was considerably short of the five hundred. Makhan Shah Labana forthwith made good the difference and ran upstairs and he began shouting from the rooftop, Guru ladho re, Guru ladho re meaning I have found the Guru, I have found the Guru. In August 1664 a Sikh Sangat arrived in Bakala and anointed Tegh Bahadur as the guru of Sikhs. The Sangat was led by Diwan Durga Mal, and a formal Tikka ceremony was performed by Bhai Gurditta on Tegh Bahadur conferring Guruship on him
Guru Teg Bahadur
–
Guru Tegh Bahadur ਗੁਰੂ ਤੇਗ਼ ਬਹਾਦਰ
Guru Teg Bahadur
–
Gurudwara Sisganj Sahib in Delhi. The long window under the marble platform is the location where Guru Tegh Bahadur was martyred.
Guru Teg Bahadur
–
Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, Delhi
32.
Guru Gobind Singh
–
Guru Gobind Singh, born Gobind Rai, was the 10th Sikh Guru, a spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher. His four sons died during his lifetime in Mughal-Sikh wars – two in battle, two executed by the Mughal army. Among his notable contributions to Sikhism are founding the Sikh warrior community called Khalsa in 1699 and introducing the Five Ks, Guru Gobind Singh also continued the formalisation of the religion, wrote important Sikh texts, and enshrined the scripture the Guru Granth Sahib as Sikhisms eternal Guru. Gobind Singh was the son of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh guru. He was born in Patna, Bihar, while his father was visiting Bengal and his birth name was Gobind Rai, and a shrine named Takht Sri Patna Harimandar Sahib marks the site of the house where he was born and spent the first four years of his life. In 1670, his family returned to Punjab, and in March 1672 they moved to Chakk Nanaki in the Himalayan foothills of north India, called the Sivalik range, where he was schooled. Gobind Singhs father Tegh Bahadur founded the city of Chakk Nanaki, now known as Anandpur Sahib, in 1665 and his father Guru Tegh Bahadur was petitioned by Kashmiri Pandits in 1675 for protection from the fanatic persecution by Iftikar Khan, an Islamic satrap of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Tegh Bahadur considered a resolution by meeting Aurangzeb, but was cautioned by his advisors that his life may be at risk. The young Gobind Rai – to be known as Gobind Singh after 1699 – advised his father no one was more worthy to lead. After this martyrdom, the young Gobind Rai was installed by the Sikhs as the tenth Sikh Guru on Vaisakhi on March 29,1676. The education of Guru Gobind Singh continued after he became the 10th Guru and he stayed in Paonta, near the banks of river Yamuna, till 1685. Guru Gobind Singh had three wives, at age 10, he married Mata Jito on 21 June 1677 at Basantgaṛh,10 km north of Anandpur. The couple had three sons, Jujhar Singh, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh. at age 17, he married Mata Sundari on 4 April 1684 at Anandpur. The couple had one son, Ajit Singh. at age 33 and they had no children, but she had an influential role in Sikhism. Guru Gobind Singh proclaimed her as the Mother of the Khalsa, the life example and leadership of Guru Gobind Singh has been of historic importance to the Sikhs. In 1699, the Guru requested the Sikhs to congregate at Anandpur on Vaisakhi, according to the Sikh tradition, he asked for a volunteer from those who gathered, someone willing to sacrifice his head. One came forward, whom he took inside a tent, the Guru returned to the crowd without the volunteer, but with a bloody sword. He asked for volunteer, and repeated the same process of returning from the tent without anyone
Guru Gobind Singh
–
Painting of Guru Gobind Singh, c. 1800
Guru Gobind Singh
–
Guru Gobind Singh's birthplace
Guru Gobind Singh
–
Keshgarh Sahib Gurudwara at
Anandpur Sahib, Punjab, the birthplace of
Khalsa
Guru Gobind Singh
–
Old Fresco of Guru Gobind Singh and The
Panj Piare found in Abandoned Gurdwara Bhai Than Singh built in the reign of Maharaja
Ranjit Singh
33.
Gurdwara
–
A gurudwara is a place of worship for Sikhs. People from all faiths, and those who do not profess any faith, are welcomed in Sikh gurdwaras. Each gurdwara has a Darbar Sahib where the current and everlasting guru of the Sikhs, the Raagis recite, sing and explain, the verses from the Guru Granth Sahib, in the presence of the holy congregation. All gurdwaras have a hall, where people can eat free vegetarian food. They may also have a library, nursery, and classroom, a gurdwara can be identified from a distance by tall flagpoles bearing the Nishan Sahib, the Sikh flag. The most well-known gurdwara is the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, Punjab, India, the first gurdwara was built in Kartarpur, on the banks of Ravi River in the Punjab region by the first Sikh guru, Guru Nanak Dev in the year 1521. It now lies in the Narowal District of west Punjab, the worship centres were built as a place where Sikhs could gather to hear the guru give spiritual discourse and sing religious hymns in the praise of Waheguru. As the Sikh population continued to grow, Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh guru, the etymology of the term gurdwara is from the words gur and dwara, together meaning the gateway through which the guru could be reached. Thereafter, all Sikh places of worship came to be known as gurdwaras, Some of the prominent Sikh shrines established by the Sikh gurus are, Nankana Sahib, established in the 1490s by first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak Dev, Punjab, Pakistan. Sultanpur Lodhi, established in 1499 became the Sikh centre during Guru Nanak Dev time Kapurthala District, Kartarpur Sahib, established in 1521 by the first Sikh Guru, Guru Nanak Dev, near River Ravi, Narowal, Punjab, Pakistan. Khadur Sahib, established in 1539 by the second Sikh Guru, Guru Angad Dev, near River Beas, Amritsar District, Punjab, goindwal Sahib, established in 1552 by the third Sikh Guru, Guru Amar Das, near River Beas, Amritsar District Punjab, India. Sri Amritsar, established in 1577 By the fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das, District Amritsar, Tarn Taran Sahib, established in 1590 by the fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan Dev, District Tarn Taran Sahib, Punjab. Kartarpur Sahib, established in 1594 by the fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan Dev, near river Beas, Jalandhar District, sri Hargobindpur, established by the fifth Sikh Guru, Guru Arjan Dev, near river Beas, Gurdaspur District, Punjab. Kiratpur Sahib, established in 1627 by the sixth Sikh Guru, Guru Hargobind, near river Sutlej, Ropar District, Punjab, anandpur Sahib, established in 1665 by the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, near river Sutlej, Punjab, India. Paonta Sahib, established in 1685 by the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, near river Yamuna, by the early 20th century, a number of Sikh gurdwaras in British India were under the control of the Udasi mahants. The Gurdwara Reform Movement of the 1920s resulted in Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee taking control of these gurdwaras, a gurdwara has a main hall called a darbar, a community kitchen called a langar, and other facilities. Strictly speaking only Shabads from Guru Granth Sahib, Dasam Granth, Paath, religious discourse and reading of Gurbani from the Guru Granth Sahib, with its explanations. There are two types of discourse, Akhand Paath and Sadharan Paath, Sangat and Pangat, providing a free community kitchen called a langar for all visitors, regardless of religious, regional, cultural, racial, caste, or class affiliations
Gurdwara
–
Shri
Hazoor Sahib A gurdwara in
Nanded, India
Gurdwara
–
Guru Nanak Gurdwara Smethwick Sandwell,
West Midlands, one of the first and largest Gurdwaras in the
United Kingdom.
Gurdwara
–
The
Harmandir Sahib, a Sikh gurdwara in
Amritsar, India
Gurdwara
–
Nishan Sahib flags on poles at
Harmandir Sahib,
Amritsar.
34.
Archaeological Survey of India
–
It was founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham who also became its first Director-General. The first systematic research into Indias history was conducted by the Asiatic Society, based in Calcutta, the society promoted the study of ancient Sanskrit and Persian texts and published an annual journal titled Asiatic Researches. Notable among its members was Charles Wilkins who published the first English translation of the Bhagavad Gita in 1785 with the patronage of the then Governor-General of India. However, the most important of the achievements was the decipherment of the Brahmi script by James Prinsep in 1837. This successful decipherment inaugurated the study of Indian palaeography, armed with the knowledge of Brahmi, Alexander Cunningham, a protégé of Prinsep, carried out a detailed survey of the Buddhist monuments which lasted for over half a century. Inspired by early amateur archaeologists like the Italian military officer, Jean-Baptiste Ventura, the survey was suspended briefly between 1865 and 1871 due to lack of funds but restored by Lord Lawrence the then Viceroy of India. In 1871, the Survey was revived as a separate department, to this day, Alexander Cunningham is revered as the Father of Indian Archaeology. Cunningham retired in 1885 and was succeeded as Director General by James Burgess, Burgess launched a yearly journal The Indian Antiquary and an annual epigraphical publication Epigraphia Indica as a supplement to the Indian Antiquary. The post of Director General was permanently suspended in 1889 due to a crunch and was not restored until 1902. In the interim period, conservation work in the different circles was carried out by the superintendents of the individual circles, the post of Director General was restored by Lord Curzon in 1902. Breaking with tradition, Curzon chose a 26-year-old professor of classical studies at Cambridge named John Marshall to head the survey. Marshall served as Director General for a quarter of a century and during his long tenure, Marshall established the post of Government epigraphist and encouraged epigraphical studies. The most significant event of his tenure was, however, the discovery of the Indus Valley Civilization at Harappa, the success and scale of the discoveries made ensured that the progress made in Marshalls tenure would remain unmatched. Marshall was succeeded by Harold Hargreaves in 1928, Hargreaves was succeeded by Daya Ram Sahni, supervisor of Marshalls excavation of Harappa in 1921−22, who in 1931, became the first Indian Director General of the survey. Sahni was succeeded by J. F. Blakiston and K. N. Dikshit both of whom had participated in the excavations at Harappa and Mohenjodaro, in 1944, a British archaeologist and army officer, Mortimer Wheeler took over as Director General. Wheeler served as Director General till 1948 and during this period he excavated the Iron Age site of Arikamedu, Wheeler was succeeded by N. P. Chakravarti in 1948. The National Museum was inaugurated in New Delhi on August 15,1949 to house the artifacts displayed at the Indian Exhibition in the United Kingdom, madho Sarup Vats and Amalananda Ghosh succeeded Chakravarti. Ghoshs tenure which lasted until 1968 is noted for the excavations of Indus Valley sites at Kalibangan, Lothal, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act was passed in 1958 bringing the archaeological survey under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture
Archaeological Survey of India
–
Archaeological Survey of India
Archaeological Survey of India
–
Alexander Cunningham
35.
Archaeological
–
Archaeology, or archeology, is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. In North America, archaeology is considered a sub-field of anthropology, archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. Archaeology as a field is distinct from the discipline of palaeontology, Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for whom there may be no written records to study. Prehistory includes over 99% of the human past, from the Paleolithic until the advent of literacy in societies across the world, Archaeology has various goals, which range from understanding culture history to reconstructing past lifeways to documenting and explaining changes in human societies through time. The discipline involves surveying, excavation and eventually analysis of data collected to learn more about the past, in broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research. Archaeology developed out of antiquarianism in Europe during the 19th century, Archaeology has been used by nation-states to create particular visions of the past. Nonetheless, today, archaeologists face many problems, such as dealing with pseudoarchaeology, the looting of artifacts, a lack of public interest, the science of archaeology grew out of the older multi-disciplinary study known as antiquarianism. Antiquarians studied history with attention to ancient artifacts and manuscripts. Tentative steps towards the systematization of archaeology as a science took place during the Enlightenment era in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, in Europe, philosophical interest in the remains of Greco-Roman civilization and the rediscovery of classical culture began in the late Middle Age. Antiquarians, including John Leland and William Camden, conducted surveys of the English countryside, one of the first sites to undergo archaeological excavation was Stonehenge and other megalithic monuments in England. John Aubrey was a pioneer archaeologist who recorded numerous megalithic and other monuments in southern England. He was also ahead of his time in the analysis of his findings and he attempted to chart the chronological stylistic evolution of handwriting, medieval architecture, costume, and shield-shapes. Excavations were also carried out in the ancient towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum and these excavations began in 1748 in Pompeii, while in Herculaneum they began in 1738. The discovery of entire towns, complete with utensils and even human shapes, however, prior to the development of modern techniques, excavations tended to be haphazard, the importance of concepts such as stratification and context were overlooked. The father of archaeological excavation was William Cunnington and he undertook excavations in Wiltshire from around 1798, funded by Sir Richard Colt Hoare. Cunnington made meticulous recordings of neolithic and Bronze Age barrows, one of the major achievements of 19th century archaeology was the development of stratigraphy. The idea of overlapping strata tracing back to successive periods was borrowed from the new geological and paleontological work of scholars like William Smith, James Hutton, the application of stratigraphy to archaeology first took place with the excavations of prehistorical and Bronze Age sites
Archaeological
–
Roman ruins,
Lausanne, Switzerland.
Archaeological
–
An early photograph of Stonehenge taken July 1877
Archaeological
–
Artifacts discovered at the 1808
Bush Barrow excavation by Sir
Richard Colt Hoare and
William Cunnington.
Archaeological
–
Mortimer Wheeler pioneered
systematic excavation in the early 20th century. Pictured, are his excavations at
Maiden Castle, Dorset, in October 1937.
36.
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.
37.
Vijayanagara
–
Vijaya Nagara was the capital city of the historic Vijayanagara Empire which extended over South India. The citys ruins, surrounding the village of Hampi, are in Ballari district. Most of the city lies on the bank of the Tungabhadra River. The city was built around the center of the Virupaksha temple complex at Hampi. Other holy places lie within its environs, including the site that legend calls as Kishkindha, which includes the historically important Hanuman temple and it is known to house the cave home of Sugriva, the monkey king in the Hindu epic Ramayana. The city at its greatest extent was considerably larger than the described here. The central areas of the city, which include what are now called the Royal Centre and it includes the modern village of Hampi. Another village, Kamalapura, lies just outside the old walled city, surrounded by ruins, the nearest town and railway is in Hospet, about 13 kilometres by road. Hosapete lies within the extents of the old city, though most of the items of interest are walking distance of Hampi. The natural setting for the city is a landscape, dotted with granite boulders. The Tungabhadra river runs through it and provides protection from the north, beyond the hills, on the south bank on which the city was built, a plain extended further the south. Large walls and fortifications of hewn granite defended the centre of the city, the name translates as City of Victory, from vijaya and nagara. As the prosperous capital of the largest and most powerful kingdom of its time in all of India, after Timurs sack of Delhi, North India remained weak and divided up. South India was better off, and the largest and most powerful of the kingdoms was Vijayanagar. This state and city attracted many of the Hindu refugees from the north, the whole city was full of gardens, and because of them, as an Italian visitor in 1420, Nicolo Conti writes, the circumference of the city was sixty miles. A later visitor was Paes, a Portuguese who came in 1522 after having visited the Italian cities of the Renaissance. The city of Vijayanagar, he says, is as large as Rome and very beautiful to the sight, it is full of charm and wonder with its lakes and waterways. It is the city in the world and everything abounds
Vijayanagara
–
A view of the Virupaksha complex from Hemakuta hill
Vijayanagara
–
"Ancient City of Beejnuggur: Ruins near Camalapore", photo circa 1865-1871
Vijayanagara
–
Virupaksha Temple
38.
Gingee Fort
–
Gingee Fort or Senji Fort in Tamil Nadu, India is one of the surviving forts in Tamil Nadu, India. It lies in Villupuram District,160 kilometres from the capital, Chennai. The fort is so fortified, that Shivaji, the Maratha king, ranked it as the most impregnable fortress in India, the nearest town with a railway station is Tindivanam and the nearest airport is Chennai, located 150 kilometres away. Originally the site of a fort built by the Chola dynasty during the 9th century AD. As per one account, the fort was built during the 15–16th century by the Nayaks, the lieutenants of the Vijayanagara Empire and who later became independent kings. The fort passed to the Marathas under the leadership of Shivaji in 1677 AD, Bijapur sultans, the Moghuls, Carnatic Nawabs, French and the British in 1761. The fort is associated with Raja Tej Singh, who unsuccessfully revolted against the Nawab of Arcot. The Gingee Fort complex is on three hillocks, Krishnagiri to the north, Rajagiri to the west and Chandrayandurg to the southeast, the three hills together constitute a fort complex, each having a separate and self-contained citadel. The fort walls are 13 km and the three hills are connected by walls enclosing an area of 11 square kilometres and it was built at a height of 800 feet and protected by a 80 feet wide moat. The complex has a seven-storeyed Kalyana Mahal, granaries, prison cells, the fortifications contain a sacred pond known as Aanaikulam. On the top of the hillock, there are minor fortifications, the fort, in modern times, is maintained and administered by the Archaeological Survey of India. The fort is one of the prominent tourist destinations in Villupuram district, the Bijapur Nawabs who held the fort from about 1660 to 1677 AD called it Badshabad, while the Marathas who succeeded them called it Chandry or Chindy. The Mughals, on their capture of the fort in 1698 A. D. named it Nusratgadh in honour of Nawab Zulfiqar Khan Nusrat Jung, later, the English and the French called it Gingee or Jinji. The early Madras records of the English give the spelling Chingee or Chengey, as per Tamil legend, the tragic tale of Raja Tej Singh, popularly known in Tamil as Thesingu Raasan, is associated with the fort. The true life story of Tej Singh and his general, Mehboob Khan, who were friends, has inspired many poems, street plays and he was the son of Swarup Singh and revolted against the Nawab of Arcot, and was defeated and killed in the war that followed. Though Gingee became a part of the Nawabs territory in 1714, the main source for the first two hundred years of the history of the place is the Complete History of the Carnatic Kings among the Mackenzie manuscripts. According to historian Narayan, a village called Melacerri, located 3 mi away from Gingee is called Old Gingee has traces of fortifications from about 1200 AD. Ananda Kon of the community, accidentally found a treasure in one of the cavities of the Western hill while grazing his sheep
Gingee Fort
–
A panorama of the Gingee fort with the Kalyana Mahal visible just right of centre
Gingee Fort
–
Throne on the Krishnagiri
Gingee Fort
–
Kalyana Mahal at Gingee fort
39.
Bangalore Fort
–
Bangalore Fort began in 1537 as a mud fort. The builder was Kempe Gowda I, a vassal of the Vijaynagar Empire, haider Ali in 1761 replaced the mud fort with a stone fort. The army of the British East India Company, led by Lord Cornwallis on 21 March 1791 captured the fort in the siege of Bangalore during the Third Mysore War, at the time the fort was a stronghold for Tipu Sultan. Today, the forts Delhi gate, on Krishnarajendra Road, a marble plaque commemorates the spot where the British breached forts wall, leading to its capture. The old fort area also includes Tipu Sultans Summer Palace, the fort has provided the setting for the treasure hunt in the book Riddle of the Seventh Stone. He persevered with his vision and got permission from the King Achutaraya, the King gifted 12 hoblis with an annual income of 30,000 varahas to Kempe Gowda to meet the expenses of his venture of building a new city. Kempe Gowda moved from his land of Yelahanka to establish his new principality. Thereafter, he constructed a mud fort, with a moat surrounding it, the building of the mud fort is also steeped in a legend. During the construction of the Fort it was said that the gate would collapse no sooner than it was built. Thereafter, the fort was completed without any mishap, in her memory, Kempe Gowda built a temple in her name in Koramangala. Thus, Kempe Gowdas dream fructified and the Bengaluru Pete evolved around the Mud fort called the Bangalore Fort, in 1637-38, the Bangalore Fort under Kempe Gowda’s rule was very prosperous. Rustam i Zaman, the commander under the Bijapur Sultanate who was on a war campaign, and after he had captured the Sira Fort close to Bangalore, wanted to capture the Bangalore Fort, Kempe Gowda managed to get Nayak withdraw the troops. Soon enough he prevailed on Kempe Gowda to surrender the fort with all its riches without any battle, rustom-i-Zaman then took over the fort and handed over its management to Shahji along with other territories, which he had recently conquered, with Bangalore as his headquarters. This mud fort was enlarged during Chikkadeva Raya Wodeyars rule between 1673 AD –1704 AD, in 1761, it was renovated by Hyder Ali, who made it strong with stones. A part of the fort was subject to bombardment by the British when they fought a battle against Tipu Sultan, Tipu Sultan repaired the fort later. Inside the fort, there is dedicated to Lord Ganapathy. In March 1791 the army of the British East India Company led by Lord Cornwallis laid siege to the Bangalore fort during the Third Mysore War. In the words of the British chronicler Mark Wilks “Resistance was everywhere respectable. ”With the capture of the Bangalore Fort the Army of British East India Company replenished supplies and obtained a base from where it could attack Srirangapatna
Bangalore Fort
–
Bangalore Fort
Bangalore Fort
–
Plan of Bangalore Fort, 1792
Bangalore Fort
–
Kempe Gowda I, builder of
Bangalore or Bengaluru pete, his statue oppostite to the Bangalore Corporation office
Bangalore Fort
–
The Death of Colonel Moorhouse at the Storming of the Pettah Gate of Bangalore
40.
Udayagiri Fort
–
There are two forts named Udayagiri Fort in South India. The fort in Tamil Nadu is located 14 kilometres from Nagercoil in Thuckalay Town and this was the most important military barracks of the Travancore rulers, when Padmanabhapuram was their capital. Originally built in the 17th century, the fort was rebuilt by Maharaja Marthanda Varma of Travancore in the 18th century, enclosing an area of about 90 acres, including an isolated 260 feet, the fort contains an old foundry which was used for casting guns. In the early days, the fort was of strategic importance, prisoners captured in the campaign against Tippu Sultan were confined in the fort for some time. In 1810, the East India Companys Army under Colonel Leger marched into Travancore through the Aramboly Pass to quell a rebellion under the leadership of Velu Thambi Dalava, in later years, English East India Company troops were stationed at the fort until the middle of the 19th century. A foundry for the manufacture of guns, mortars and cannonballs was established within the fort under the supervision of the resident General, the fort is built of massive granite blocks around an isolated hillock. The tombs of the Dutch Admiral Eustachius De Lannoy, and of his wife, De Lannoys body was buried within the fort and a chapel was built at his burial site. De Lannoys tombstone lies within the walls of the ruined chapel, the inscriptions on his stone are both in Tamil and in Latin. His wife and son were buried by his side, recently, officials of the Department of Archaeology found an underground tunnel within the fort
Udayagiri Fort
–
Contents
Udayagiri Fort
–
Udayagiri Fort in
Kanyakumari District,
Tamil Nadu, with a view of the Western Ghats and hillock within the fort.
Udayagiri Fort
–
De Lannoy's Tomb at the Udayagiri Fort on the
Kanyakumari -
Trivandrum highway in
Kanyakumari District.
Udayagiri Fort
–
History
41.
Vellore Fort
–
Vellore Fort is a large 16th-century fort situated in heart of the Vellore city, in the state of Tamil Nadu, India built by Vijayanagara kings. The fort was at one time the headquarters of the Aravidu Dynasty of the Vijayanagara Empire, the fort is known for its grand ramparts, wide moat and robust masonry. The forts ownership passed from Vijayanagara kings, to the Bijapur sultans, to the Marathas, to the Carnatic Nawabs and finally to the British, the Indian government maintains the fort with the Archaeological Department. During British rule, the Tipu Sultans family and the last king of Sri Lanka, the fort houses the Jalakanteswarar Hindu temple, the Christian St. Johns Church and a Muslim mosque, of which the Jalakanteswarar Temple is famous for its magnificent carvings. The first significant military rebellion against British rule erupted at this fort in 1806, Vellore Fort was built by Chinna Bommi Reddy and Thimma Reddy, subordinate chieftains under Sadasiva Raya of the Vijayanagara Empire in the year of 1566 AD. Vellore Fort gained strategic prominence following the re-establishment of Vijayanagar rule with Chandragiri as their 4th capital after the Talikota battle. The Aravidu Dynasty that held the title of Rayas in 17th century resided in this fort and this major battle took place for the claiming of the Raya title between two factions of the Raya family. Each faction included their respective subordinates, the Nayaks of Tanjore, the Gingee, the Rayas also had long-running battles with their longtime rivals, the Bijapur Sultans, and with the Nayaks of Madurai and the Gingee over non-remittance of annual tributes. In the 1640s, during the reign of Sriranga Raya III, the fort was captured by the Bijapur army. These events led to the Battle of Toppur in 1616, one of the largest South Indian wars of the century, in the 1650s, Sriranga allied with the Mysore and Tanjore Nayaks and marched south to attack Gingee and Madurai. His first stop was the capture of Gingee Fort, but Thirumalai Nayak of Madurai responded by requesting the Sultan of Bijapur to attack Vellore from the north to divert Srirangas attention, the Bijapur sultan promptly dispatched a large army and captured Vellore Fort. Subsequently, both the Madurai-Bijapur armies converged on Gingee, defeating the Vellore-Tanjore forces, after a melee, both the forts ended up in the hands of the sultan of Bijapur. The defeat also marked the end of the last direct line of Vijayanagara emperors, within 20 years after this incident, the Marathas seized the fort from the Bijapur sultans. In 1676, the Marathas under Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj marched south to the Tanjore country, in 1688, after a prolonged fourteen-month siege, the fort passed on to the Marathas. Shivajis representative strengthened the forts fortifications and ruled the area in relative peace, in 1707, the year that Aurangazeb died, the Delhi Army under Daud Khan captured Vellore Fort after defeating the Marathas. The struggle for the Delhi throne empowered the Deccan Muslim governors to declare independence, in 1710 the recently established Nawab of Arcot under Sadat Ullah Khan followed suit. Dost Ali, the successor in 1733, gifted the fort to one of his sons-in-law. Following the decline of Madurai Nayaks, and coinciding with the emergence of the British on the Madras coast, the Nawab was supported by the British and the rival claimants by the French, resulting in the Carnatic Wars
Vellore Fort
–
Velur Kottai
Vellore Fort
–
European Burying-Ground at Vellore (MacLeod, p.142, 1871)
Vellore Fort
–
Tomb of Tippoo Family, Vellore (MacLeod, p.141, 1871)
Vellore Fort
–
"Sri
Jalagandeeswarar Temple, Feb 2012
42.
Deccan sultanates
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The Deccan sultanates were five dynasties of various ethnic backgrounds that ruled late medieval kingdoms, namely, Bijapur, Golkonda, Ahmadnagar, Bidar, and Berar in south-western India. The Deccan sultanates were located on the Deccan Plateau, between the Krishna River and the Vindhya Range and these kingdoms became independent during the break-up of the Bahmani Sultanate. In 1490, Ahmadnagar declared independence, followed by Bijapur and Berar in the same year, Golkonda became independent in 1518 and Bidar in 1528. In 1510, Bijapur repulsed an invasion by the Portuguese against the city of Goa, although generally rivals, they did ally against the Vijayanagara Empire in 1565, permanently weakening Vijayanagar in the Battle of Talikota. In 1574, after a coup in Berar, Ahmadnagar invaded and conquered it, in 1619, Bidar was annexed by Bijapur. The territory of the sultanate was located in the northwestern Deccan, initially his capital was in Junnar. In 1494, the foundation was laid for the new capital Ahmadnagar, Malik Ahmed Shah after several attempts, secured the great fortress of Daulatabad in 1499. After his death in 1510, his son Burhan, a boy of seven was installed in his place, Burhan Shah I died in Ahmadnagar in 1553. He left six sons, of whom Hussain succeeded him, after the death of Hussain Shah I in 1565, his minor son Murtaza ascended the throne. During his minority, his mother Khanzada Humayun Sultana ruled as a regent for several years, Murtaza Shah annexed Berar in 1574. On his death in 1588, his son Miran Hussain ascended the throne, but his reign could last only a little more than ten months as he was poisoned to death. Ismail, a cousin of Miran Hussain was raised to the throne, but the power was in the hands of Jamal Khan. Jamal Khan was killed in the battle of Rohankhed in 1591 and soon Ismail Shah was also captured and confined by his father Burhan, after the death of Burhan Shah his eldest son Ibrahim ascended the throne. Ibrahim Shah died only after a few months in the battle with Bijapur sultanate, soon, Chand Bibi, the aunt of Ibrahim Shah, proclaimed Bahadur, the infant son Ibrahim Shah as the rightful Sultan and she became the regent of him. In 1596, Mughal attack led by Murad was repulsed bravely by Chand Bibi, after the death of Chand Bibi in July,1600 Ahmadnagar was conquered by the Mughals and Bahadur Shah was imprisoned. But Malik Ambar and other Ahmadnagar officials defied the Mughals and declared Murtaza Shah II as sultan in 1600 at a new capital Paranda, Malik Ambar became prime minister and Vakil-us-Saltanat of Ahmadnagar. Later, the capital was shifted first to Junnar and then to a new city Khadki. After the death of Malik Ambar, his son Fath Khan surrendered to the Mughals in 1633 and handed over the young Nizam Shahi ruler Hussain Shah, who was sent as a prisoner to the fort of Gwalior
Deccan sultanates
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Ibrahim Adil Shah II
Deccan sultanates
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Chand Bibi, an 18th-century painting
Deccan sultanates
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A manuscript depicting the painting of
Abul Hasan Qutb Shah the last ruler of the Golkonda Sultanate.
Deccan sultanates
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Gol Gumbaz
43.
Ahmednagar Fort
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The Ahmednagar Fort is located beside on Bhingar River near Bhingar and ahmednagarrAhmednagar, Maharashtra. It was the headquarters of the Ahmednagar Sultanate, in 1803, it was taken by the British in during the Second Anglo-Maratha War. It was used as a prison during the British Raj, currently, the fort is under the administration of the Armoured Corps of the Indian Army. In 1803 the Ahmednagar Fort was round in appearance, with bastions, one large gate. The berm was only one yard wide. The rampart was of black stone, the parapet of brick in chunam. The bastions were all about 4 1⁄2 feet higher, they were round, one of them mounted eight guns en barbet, pointing eastward, all the rest had jingies, four in each. In 1803 two guns were visible in each bastion, and 200 were said to be ready in the fort to be mounted, a gunshot to the west of the fort was the Pettah of Ahmednagar. The main gate of the fort faced the pettah, and was defended by a small work, with one traverse. There was a bridge over the ditch, which could be taken away in time of war. A small river came from the northward, round the west side of the pettah, a nullah also passed from the northward, between the fort and a town called Bhingar, about a gunshot to the eastward, and joined the river. A potential defensive weakness was a hill or rising ground close to and east of Bhingar. There were no passages across the ditch from the sally ports, the nullah mentioned above, had steep banks and passed within 60 yards of the fort, the aqueduct from Bhingar passed under it. There was no bridge or even a prominent crossing point at the nullah, there were many small pagodas and mosques round the pettah and the fort, but none exactly between, or between the fort and Bhingar, or nearer to the fort than those towns. The fort was built by Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah I in 1427 CE and he was the first sultan of the Nizam Shahi dynasty and he built the fort to defend the city against invaders from neighbouring Idar. Initially it was made of mud but major fortification began in 1559 under Hussain Nizam Shah and it took four years and was finally finished in 1562. In 1596, Chand Bibi the queen regent successfully repulsed the Mughal invasion, aurangzeb died at Ahmednagar fort at the age of 88 on February 20,1707. After Aurangzebs death the fort passed to the Nizams in 1724, to Marathas in 1759, during the period of instability in the Maratha Empire following the death of Madhavrao II, Daulat Scindia had the fort and its surrounding region ceded to him
Ahmednagar Fort
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Ahmednagar fort
Ahmednagar Fort
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Ahmednagar fort (on the left side)
Ahmednagar Fort
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Ahmednagar fort interior
44.
Gawilghur
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Gawilghur was a well-fortified mountain stronghold of the Maratha Empire north of the Deccan Plateau, in the vicinity of Melghat Tiger Reserve, Amravati District, Maharashtra. It was successfully assaulted by an Anglo-Indian force commanded by Arthur Wellesley on 15 December 1803 during the Second Anglo-Maratha War, the fort takes its name from the Gawli who inhabited the Berar for centuries. Earlier the fort was likely just made of mud as were several areas in the region. Likely this was the date when major fortification was carried out, in 1803 during the 2nd Maratha War the fort was besieged by Arthur Wellesley. The Scots then forced the northern gatehouse and opened the many gates, the British suffered few casualties in the final assault. The fortress was returned to the Marathas after making peace with the British, the fort has several inscriptions in Persian recording the date of building of each of its seven gates. It has two water tanks, which would have been the water source in case the fort was besieged. Within the fort the ruins of a mosque are the most conspicuous and it stands at the highest point in the inner fort and is built in the Pathan style of architecture. The mosque has a canopy with intricate stone lattice work. The mosque originally had two minarets, only one of which is intact today, gafur Ahmed, a jaglia of the Narnala fort, tried to determine whether the chambers built into the fort of Narnala had any use by driving 20 sheep into them. One of the turned up at Gawilgarh which is more than 20 miles away. So, probably there is a tunnel connecting the two forts. There are several unrepaired breaches made by British guns, which remain to this day, the gun that killed five attackers with a single shot still stands, although now with graffiti running the length of the barrel. Capture of Gawilghur List of forts in Maharashtra
Gawilghur
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Gavilgad fort walls
45.
Narnala
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Narnala, also known as Shanur Fort, is a hill fortress in Maharashtra, India, named after the Rajput Ruler Narnal Singh. The fort was first established in 10 A. D. by Gond Kings, in the 15th Century it was occupied and rebuilt by the Mughals, becoming one of Berar Subahs thirteen sarkar. It consists of three forts, Zafarabad fort on the east, Narnala in the centre and Teliagarh to the west. Occupied since at least the Khilji dynasty, the fort is known for the Muslim saint Hazrat Burhanuddin Bagh Sawar Wali. Adli Beg or Atalu Beg carved many Arabic inscriptions into the fort and it is also the birthplace of the Mughal Aurangzebs great grandson. The fort is located in the Akot Taluka Akola district, Berar at coordinates of 20.703 N and 76.997 E, the closest city is Akot, which is 18 km away. It is at the southernmost tip of the Satpura Hills at an elevation of 912 meters above sea level, currently the fort falls within the Melghat Tiger Reserve. After his expedition across the Gangetic plains in 1017, of Al-Biruni to compose his Tarikh Al-Hind in order to understand the Indians and their beliefs. Mughals recreated the Narnala Fort with Mughal architecture and built mosque at the fort. Through the route of Shahnoor fort he was stay here threefold night and pray. Ahmad Shah Bahamani got the fort repaired around 1425 when he constructed Gavilgad with a view to obstructing the invaders from the frontier of his kingdom. Nearly all the present buildings seem to be of Islamic origin, the fort passed on to Fathullah Imad-ul-Mulk when he became an independent ruler by 1490 as he was the Subhedar of Berar under the Bahamanis. Gavilgad also passed on to him, Burhan Imad Shah was imprisoned on this fort by one of his Amirs Tufalkhan who crowned himself. In the battle that was fought between Tufalkhan and Murtaza Nizam Shah in 1572 Tufalkhan was defeated and had to flee and took asylum with Muhammad Shah of Khandesh, the fort was invested by the army of Murtaza. The fort surrendered and Tufalkhan and also Burhan Imad Shah were imprisoned along with 40 others and they were confined in the fort of Lohagad where they died while in captivity. Some historians say that all of them were poisoned under the orders of Murtaza Nizam Shah, the fort can now ho ascended by a motorable road. About halfway up it crosses first one and then another piece of level ground, the path passes two other strong gateways and one slighter one before entering the heart of the fort, and climbs meanwhile to the uppermost glials. Between the last two gateways are the tombs of Bagh Savar Wali and Gaz Badshah. Wali, the not only rode a tiger in his life but the old Gazetteer slates even now a tiny white tiger may be seen at night going to
Narnala
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Narnala fort, circa 1860
Narnala
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Narnala (Marathi नरनाळा) photo by dhiraj hadole
46.
Panhala Fort
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Panhala fort, is located in Panhala,20 kilometres northwest of Kolhapur in Maharashtra, India. It is strategically located looking over a pass in the Sahyadri mountain range which was a trade route from Bijapur in the interior of Maharashtra to the coastal areas. Here, the regent of Kolhapur State, Tarabai, spent her formative years. Several parts of the fort and the structures within are still intact, Panhala fort was built between 1178 and 1209 CE, one of 15 forts built by the Shilahara ruler Bhoja II. It is said that aphorism Kahaan Raja Bhoj, kahan Gangu Teli is associated with this fort, a copper plate found in Satara shows that Raja Bhoja held court at Panhala from 1191–1192 CE. About 1209–10, Bhoja Raja was defeated by Singhana, the most powerful of the Devgiri Yadavas, apparently it was not well looked after and it passed through several local chiefs. In 1376 inscriptions record the settlement of Nabhapur to the south-east of the fort and it was an outpost of the Bahamanis of Bidar. Mahmud Gawan, a prime minister, encamped here during the rainy season of 1469. On the establishment of the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur in 1489 and they built the strong ramparts and gateways of the fort which, according to tradition, took a hundred years to build. Numerous inscriptions in the fort refer to the reign of Ibrahim Adil Shah, in 1659, after the death of the Bijapur general Afzal Khan, in the ensuing confusion Shivaji Maharaj took Panhala from Bijapur. In May 1660, to win back the fort from Shivaji, Shivaji Maharaj fought back and they could not take the fort. The siege continued for 5 months, at the end of all provisions in the fort were exhausted. Under these circumstances, Shivaji Maharaj decided that escape was the only option and he gathered a small number of soldiers along with his trusted commander Baji Prabhu Deshpande and, on 13 July 1660, they escaped in the dead of night to flee to Vishalgad. Baji Prabhu and a barber, Shiva Kashid, who looked like Shivaji Maharaj, kept the enemy engaged, in the ensuing battle, almost three quarters of the one thousand strong force died, including Baji Prabhu himself. The fort went to Adil Shah and it was not until 1673 that Shivaji Maharaj could occupy it permanently. Sambhaji, Shivajis son and successor to the throne, fell out of favor with his father and he escaped from here along with his wife on 13 December 1678 and attacked Bhupalgad. He returned to Panhala, however, on 4 December 1679 to reconcile with his father just before his fathers death on 4 April 1680, at the height of Shivajis power in 1678, Panhala housed 15,000 horses and 20,000 soldiers. In 1689, when Sambhaji was imprisoned by Aurangzebs general Takrib Khan at Sangameshwar, however, it was re-captured in 1692 by Kashi Ranganath Sarpotdar under the guidance of Parshuram Pant Pratinidhi a Maratha garrison commander of the fort of Vishalgad
Panhala Fort
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Inner gate of Teen darwaza c. 1894, Panhala fort
Panhala Fort
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Lotus motif on Panhala of Raja Bhoj, who built the fort
Panhala Fort
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Peacock motif on Panhala fort of the Adil Shah Sultanis
Panhala Fort
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Statue of
Baji Prabhu Deshpande at Panhala
47.
Gujarat Sultanate
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The Gujarat Sultanate was a kingdom established in the early 15th century in Gujarat. Zafar Khans father Sadharan, was a Tanka Rajput convert to Islam, Zafar Khan defeated Farhat-ul-Mulk near Anhilwada Patan and made the city his capital. He declared himself independent in 1407, the next sultan, his grandson Ahmad Shah I founded the new capital Ahmedabad in 1411 on the banks of Sabarmati River, which he styled as Shahr-i-Muazzam. The prosperity of the sultanate reached its zenith during the rule of Mahmud Shah I Begada, in 1509, the Portuguese wrested Diu from Gujarat sultanate following the Battle of Diu. Mughal emperor Humayun attacked Gujarat in 1535, the end of the sultanate came in 1573, when Akbar annexed Gujarat in his empire. The last ruler Muzaffar Shah III was taken prisoner to Agra, in 1583, he escaped from the prison and with the help of the nobles succeeded to regain the throne for a short period before being defeated by Akbars general Abdul Rahim Khan-I-Khana. During the rule of Muhammad bin Tughluq, his cousin Firuz Shah Tughlaq was once on an expedition in area what is now Kheda district of Gujarat. He lost his way and lost and he was welcome to partake in hospitality by village headmen, two brothers of Tanka Rajput family, Sadhu and Sadharan. After drinking, he revealed his identity as a cousin and successor of the king, the brothers offered his beautiful sister in marriage and he accepted. They accompanied Firuz Shah Tughluq to Delhi along with his sister, Sadhu assumed new name, Samsher Khan while Sadharan assumed Wajih-ul-Mulk. They were disciple of saint Hazrat-Makhdum-Sayyid-i-Jahaniyan-Jahangshi aka Saiyyd Jalaluddin Bukhari, Delhi Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq appointed Malik Mufarrah, also known as Farhat-ul-Mulk and Rasti Khan governor of Gujarat in 1377. In 1387, Sikandar Khan was sent to him. In 1391, Sultan Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad bin Tughluq appointed Zafar Khan, in 1392, he defeated Farhat-ul-Mulk in the battle of Kamboi, near Anhilwada Patan and occupied the city of Anhilwada Patan. In 1403, Zafar Khans son Tatar Khan urged his father to march on Delhi, as a result, in 1408, Tatar imprisoned him in Ashawal and declared himself sultan under the title of Muhammad Shah. He marched towards Delhi, but on the way he was poisoned by his uncle, after the death of Muhammad Shah, Muzaffar was released from the prison and he took over the control over administration. In 1407, he declared himself as Sultan Muzaffar Shah, took the insignia of royalty, after his death in 1411, he was succeeded by his grandson, the son of Tatar Khan, Ahmad Shah. Soon after his accession, Ahmad Shah was faced with a rebellion of his uncles, the rebellion was led by his eldest uncle Firuz Khan, who declared himself king. Ultimately Firuz and his brothers surrendered to him, during this rebellion Sultan Hoshang Shah of Malwa invaded Gujarat
Gujarat Sultanate
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Death of
Bahadur Shah of Gujarat an
Ottoman ally at
Diu, in front of the
Portuguese, in 1537; (Illustration from the
Akbarnameh, end of 16th century).
Gujarat Sultanate
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Flag
Gujarat Sultanate
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Copper coin of Muzaffir Shah
Gujarat Sultanate
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The Teen Darwaza (Triple Gateway) in Ahmedabad, built by Ahmad Shah I
48.
Mahim Fort
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The Mahim Fort is a fort in Mahim in Mumbai, Maharashtra state, India. Strategically located in the Mahim Bay, the fort overlooks Worli to the south, Bandra to the north, the origins of the fort are unclear, but it occupies a strategic location that has been frequently contested. The fort is currently in disrepair, suffering from neglect, encroachment of slums. In 1516, Portuguese commander Dom Joao de Monoy entered the Mahim Creek, in 1661, the Portuguese ceded the island of Mahim as dowry to Charles II of England. After the English gained control of the fort, it was strengthened by Sir Thomas Grantham in 1684, and became a strategic watchtower against possible Portuguese attacks, in 1772, the Portuguese attempted to attack this fort, but they were repelled by the British with cannonballs. The Mount Marys Basilica was damaged during this encounter, according to historical accounts, the fort had 100 soldiers and 30 cannons at that time. The fort was captured by the British during the First Anglo-Maratha War, the fort lies off the Mahim Causeway which links the suburbs to the city. The fort is heavily encroached by slums, and parts of the fort have caved in due to tidal erosion, though the site is classified as a Grade I heritage structure, nothing much has been done to maintain it. Large boulders are strewn on the sand and crevices as high as three metres are visible, responsibility of the fort is shuffled between the state government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, although the fort lies of state government land. In 2004, rupees five lakhs had to be returned as the encroachments were not removed by local authorities, later, in 2008, Jairaj Phatak, the Municipal Commissioner had proposed a makeover to the fort. List of forts in Maharashtra Media related to Mahim Fort at Wikimedia Commons Mahim Fort
Mahim Fort
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Mahim Fort
49.
Bhadra Fort
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Bhadra Fort is situated in the walled city area of Ahmedabad, India. It was built by Ahmad Shah I in 1411,1411 - The massive fortified gate was built in or about 1411 to serve as the principal eastern entrance of the palace erected here by Sultan Ahmad Shah I, the founder of Ahmedabad. Three inscribed slabs on the walls connecting this gateway with two ancillary gates behind are now almost completely defaced, one of these appears to show a date of the time of Jahangir. Ahmedabad was named after Ahmad Shah I of the Muzaffarid dynasty who captured Karnavati in 1411 and he established Ahmedabad as the new capital of Gujarat Sultanate and built Bhadra Fort on the east bank of the Sabarmati river. It was also known as Arak Fort as described in Mirat-i-Ahmadi, the foundation stone of fort was laid down at Manek Burj in 1411. The area within the fort had become occupied by urban developments by 1525, almost 60 governors ruled Gujarat during the Mughal period including the future Mughal emperors Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb. A seraglio was built later in the 17th century by a Mughal governor, Azam Khan and it was used as a Musafir khana during Mughal rule. Sarsenapati Umabaisaheb Khanderao Dabhade became the only female Commander-in-Chief in the history of the Marathas in 1732 and she commanded the Maratha Army and fought a war near Ahmedabad at Bhadra Fort defeating Mughal Sardar Joravar Khan Babi. Joint rule by Peshwa and Gaekwad of the Maratha Empire brought an end to the Mughal era in 1583, during the First Anglo–Maratha War, General Thomas Wyndham Goddard with 6,000 troops stormed Bhadra Fort and captured Ahmedabad on February 15,1779. There was a garrison of 6,000 Arab and Sindhi infantry and 2,000 horses, losses in the fight totalled 108, including two Britons. After the war, the fort was handed back to Marathas under the Treaty of Salbai. Ahmedabad was conquered by the British in 1817, the fort complex was used as a jail during the British Raj. Azam Khan sarai currently houses the government offices, an ASI office, a post office and it is also used for flag hoisting on Independence Day and Republic Day. Bhadra Fort housed royal palaces and the beautiful Nagina Baugh and the royal Ahmed Shahs Mosque on the west side and it had a fortified city wall with 14 towers, eight gates and two large openings covering an area of 43 acres. The eastern wall on the bank can still be seen. The fort complex was used as a court during his reign. On the eastern side of a fort, there is a gateway known as Teen Darwaza which was formerly an entrance to the royal square. The road beyond Teen Darwaza leads Manek Chowk, a mercantile square, on the south side along the road, there is a congregational mosque known as Jami Masjid
Bhadra Fort
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Bhadra Gate
Bhadra Fort
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Bhadra and other structures in
old Ahmedabad, 1879
Bhadra Fort
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Teen Darwaza visible in street scene of 1890
Bhadra Fort
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Azam Khan Sarai in 1866 when it was used as jail
50.
Delhi Sultanate
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The Delhi Sultanate was a Muslim kingdom based mostly in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years. Five dynasties ruled over Delhi Sultanate sequentially, the Mamluk dynasty, the Khilji dynasty, the Tughlaq dynasty, the Sayyid dynasty, the first four dynasties were of Turkic origin, and the last dynasty was of Afghan origin. Qutb-ud-din Aibak, a slave of Muhammad Ghori, was the first sultan of Delhi. Afterwards the Khilji dynasty was able to conquer most of central India. The sultanate reached the peak of its reach during the Tughlaq dynasty. This was followed by due to continuing Hindu-Muslim wars, states such as the Vijayanagara Empire asserting independence. The Delhi Sultanate caused destruction and desecration of politically important temples of South Asia, in 1526 the Sultanate fell, to be succeeded by the Mughal Empire. By 962 AD, Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms in South Asia were under a wave of raids from Muslim armies from Central Asia. Among them was Mahmud of Ghazni, who raided and plundered kingdoms in north India from east of the Indus river to west of Yamuna river seventeen times between 997 and 1030, Mahmud of Ghazni raided the treasuries but retracted each time, only extending Islamic rule into western Punjab. The wave of raids on north Indian and western Indian kingdoms by Muslim warlords continued after Mahmud of Ghazni, the raids did not establish or extend permanent boundaries of their Islamic kingdoms. The Ghurid Sultan Muizz al-Din Muhammad began a war of expansion into north India in 1173. He sought to carve out a principality for himself by expanding the Islamic world, Mu’izz sought a Sunni Islamic kingdom of his own extending east of the Indus river, and he thus laid the foundation for the Muslim kingdom called the Delhi Sultanate. Some historians chronicle the Delhi Sultanate from 1192 due to the presence, Muizz al-Din was assassinated in 1206, by Ismāʿīlī Shia Muslims in some accounts or by Hindu Khokhars in others. After the assassination, one of Mu’izz slaves, the Turkic Qutbu l-Din Aibak, assumed power, Qutb al-Din Aibak, a slave of Muizz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori, was the first ruler of the Delhi Sultanate. Aibak was of Cuman-Kipchak origin, and due to his lineage, Aibak reigned as the Sultan of Delhi for four years. After Aibak died, Aram Shah assumed power in 1210, but he was assassinated in 1211 by Shams-ud-din Iltutmish, iltutmishs power was precarious, and a number of Muslim amirs challenged his authority as they had been supporters of Qutb al-din Aibak. After a series of conquests and brutal executions of opposition, he consolidated his power and his rule was challenged a number of times, such as by Qubacha, and this led to a series of wars. Iltumish conquered Multan and Bengal from contesting Muslim rulers, as well as Ranathambhore and he also attacked, defeated, and executed Taj al-Din Yildiz, who asserted his rights as heir to Muizz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori
Delhi Sultanate
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History of the Turkic peoples Pre-14th century
Delhi Sultanate
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Alai Gate and Qutub Minar were built during Mamluk and Khalji dynasty periods of Delhi Sultanate.
Delhi Sultanate
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Muhammad bin Tughlaq moved his capital to the
Deccan Plateau, ordered Delhi people to move and build a new capital named Daulatabad (shown), then reversed his decision because Daulatabad lacked the river and drinking water supply Delhi had.
Delhi Sultanate
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A base metal coin of Muhammad bin Tughlaq that led to an economic collapse.
