1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Kolkata
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Kolkata /koʊlˈkɑːtɑː/ is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. In 2011, the city had a population of 4.5 million, while the population of the city and its suburbs was 14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. Recent estimates of Kolkata Metropolitan Areas economy have ranged from $60 to $150 billion making it third most-productive metropolitan area in India, after Mumbai, in the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690, Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied Calcutta in 1756, and the East India Company retook it the following year. In 1793 the East India company was enough to abolish Nizamat. Calcutta was the centre for the Indian independence movement, it remains a hotbed of contemporary state politics, following Indian independence in 1947, Kolkata, which was once the centre of modern Indian education, science, culture, and politics, suffered several decades of economic stagnation. Many people from Kolkata—among them several Nobel laureates—have contributed to the arts, the sciences, Kolkata culture features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods and freestyle intellectual exchanges. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by giving importance to association football, there are several explanations about the etymology of this name, The term Kolikata is thought to be a variation of Kalikkhetrô, meaning Field of Kali. Similarly, it can be a variation of Kalikshetra, alternatively, the name may have been derived from the Bengali term kilkila, or flat area. The name may have its origin in the words khal meaning canal, followed by kaṭa, according to another theory, the area specialised in the production of quicklime or koli chun and coir or kata, hence, it was called Kolikata. The discovery and archaeological study of Chandraketugarh,35 kilometres north of Kolkata, Kolkatas recorded history began in 1690 with the arrival of the English East India Company, which was consolidating its trade business in Bengal. The area occupied by the city encompassed three villages, Kalikata, Gobindapur, and Sutanuti. Kalikata was a village, Sutanuti was a riverside weavers village. They were part of an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor and these rights were transferred to the East India Company in 1698. In 1712, the British completed the construction of Fort William, facing frequent skirmishes with French forces, the British began to upgrade their fortifications in 1756. The Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, condemned the militarisation and his warning went unheeded, and the Nawab attacked, he captured Fort William which led to the killings of several East India company officials in the Black Hole of Calcutta. A force of Company soldiers and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following year, declared a presidency city, Calcutta became the headquarters of the East India Company by 1772. In 1793, ruling power of the Nawabs were abolished and East India company took control of the city
3.
West Bengal
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West Bengal is an Indian state, located in East India on the Bay of Bengal. It is Indias fourth-most populous state, with over 91 million inhabitants and it has a total area of 34,267 sq mi, making it similar in size to Serbia. A part of the ethno-linguistic Bengal region, it borders Bangladesh in the east and Nepal and it also has borders five Indian states, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the seventh-largest city in India, the geography of West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in its extreme north, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region and the coastal Sundarbans. The main ethnic group are the Bengali people, with Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority, Ancient Bengal was the site of several major janapadas, including Vanga, Radha, Pundra and Suhma. In the 2nd century BC, the region was conquered by the emperor Ashoka, in the 4th century AD, it was absorbed into the Gupta Empire. From the 13th century onward, the region was ruled by sultans, powerful Hindu states and Baro-Bhuyan landlords. The British East India Company cemented their hold on the following the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Between 1977 and 2011, the state was administered by the worlds longest elected Communist government, a major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to Indias net domestic product. It is noted for its activities and the presence of cultural and educational institutions. The states cultural heritage, besides varied folk traditions, ranges from stalwarts in literature including Nobel-laureate Rabindranath Tagore to scores of musicians, film-makers and artists. West Bengal is also distinct from most other Indian states in its appreciation and practice of playing football besides cricket. The origin of the name Bengal is unknown, one theory suggests that the word derives from Bang, a Dravidian tribe that settled the region around 1000 BC. The word might have derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga. Although some early Sanskrit literature mentions the name, the early history is obscure. At the end of British Rule over the Indian subcontinent, the Bengal region was partitioned in 1947 along religious lines into east and west, the east came to be known as East Bengal and the west came to known as West Bengal, which continued as an Indian state. In 2011, the Government of West Bengal proposed a change in the name of the state to Poschimbongo. This is the name of the state, literally meaning western Bengal in the native Bengali language
4.
India
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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
5.
Queen Victoria
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Victoria was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she adopted the title of Empress of India. Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, both the Duke of Kent and King George III died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne aged 18, after her fathers three brothers had all died, leaving no surviving legitimate children. The United Kingdom was already a constitutional monarchy, in which the sovereign held relatively little direct political power. Privately, Victoria attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments, publicly, Victoria married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together, after Alberts death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength and her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration. Her reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian era and it was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover and her son and successor, Edward VII, belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father. Victorias father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, until 1817, Edwards niece, Princess Charlotte of Wales, was the only legitimate grandchild of George III. Her death in 1817 precipitated a crisis that brought pressure on the Duke of Kent. In 1818 he married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a widowed German princess with two children—Carl and Feodora —by her first marriage to the Prince of Leiningen and her brother Leopold was Princess Charlottes widower. The Duke and Duchess of Kents only child, Victoria, was born at 4.15 a. m. on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London. Victoria was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace and she was baptised Alexandrina, after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina, Charlotte, and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Dukes eldest brother, George, the Duke of Clarence and the Duke of Kent married on the same day in 1818, but both of Clarences daughters died as infants. Victorias father died in January 1820, when Victoria was less than a year old, a week later her grandfather died and was succeeded by his eldest son, George IV. The Duke of York died in 1827, when George IV died in 1830, he was succeeded by his next surviving brother, William IV, and Victoria became heir presumptive
6.
Maidan (Kolkata)
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The Maidan also referred as Brigade Parade Ground is the largest urban park in Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a vast stretch of field and home to play grounds, including the famous cricketing venue Eden Gardens, several football stadia. The Maidan is dotted with statues and pieces of architecture, most notable being the Victoria Memorial, due to the freshness and greenery it provides to the metropolis, it has been referred to as the lungs of Kolkata. The Maidan is a property of the Indian Army and hosts the Eastern zone high command of the Indian Army in Fort William. The Maidan stretches from as far north as the Raj Bhavan building in Esplanade, the wide field stretches from the Hoogly River on the west to the Victoria Memorial on the east. It is a historical and cultural center of Kolkata as well as a center of leisure, in 1758, one year after their decisive win in Battle of Plassey, the British East India Company commenced construction of the new Fort William in the center of the village Gobindapur. The inhabitants of the village were compensated and provided land in Taltala, Kumartuli. The fort was completed in 1773, “The tiger-haunted jungle which cut off the village of Chowringhee from the river was cleared, and gave way to the wide grassy stretch of the Maidan of which Calcutta is so proud. The movement towards Chowringhee had already been noticeable as early as 1746. ”In 1883 -1884 it, along with grounds of the Indian Museum, hosted the Calcutta International Exhibition In 1909, H. E. A. Cotton wrote, “The great Maidan presents a most refreshing appearance to the eye, many of the fine trees with which it was once studded were blown down in the cyclone of 1864. But they have not been allowed to remain without successors, and the handsome avenues across the Maidan still constitute the chief glory of Calcutta. Dotting the wide expanse are a number of tanks, from which the inhabitants were content in former days to obtain their water-supply. ”The Maidan was initially developed as a 5 square kilometre parade ground for the forces. While the Europeans moved to the area around the Maidan, the Indians moved away, the richer families such as the Debs moved to Sobhabazar, the Tagores to Pathuriaghata and Jorasanko, and the Ghosals to Bhukailash. The Maidan has been with the army since it was developed, they are the owners, thieves, both Indian and European, were there as early as the 1860s. Legally, the fort and the Maidan were excluded from the city as per Act 16 of 1847, while the core of the Maidan has remained untouched except for roads and tram tracks across it, the surrounding areas have seen a lot of construction activity. In 1882, Calcutta Tramways Corporation introduced steam-powered trams across the Maidan from Chowringhee to Kalighat, in 1889, came the electric trams. The oldest road on the Maidan is the Course, extending from the ‘Cocked hat’ in the north to the Khidirpur bridge, the ‘broad gravelled walk’ on the west side of that portion is the Red Road, constructed in 1820. To the south of the fort is the Ellenborough Course, meant for horse exercises and that was the scenario a century back
7.
Hooghly River
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The Hooghly River or the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly, called Ganga traditionally, is an approximately 260-kilometre-long distributary of the Ganges River in West Bengal, India. It splits from the Ganges as a canal in Murshidabad District at the Farakka Barrage, the town of Hugli-Chinsura, formerly Hooghly, is located on the river, in the Hooghly. The origins of the Hooghly name are uncertain, whether the city or the river was named first, the Farakka Barrage is a dam that diverts water from the Ganges into a canal near the town of Tildanga in Murshidabad district. This supplies the Hooghly with adequate water even in the dry season and it parallels the Ganges, past Dhulian, until just above Jahangirpur where the canal ends and the river takes its own course. Just south of Jahangirpur it leaves the Ganges area and flows south past Jiaganj Azimganj, Murshidabad, the river then flows south past Katwa, Navadwip and Kalna. At Kalna it originally formed the border between Nadia District and Hooghly District, and then further south between Hooghly District and North 24 Parganas District and it flows past Halisahar, Chinsurah, Serampore, and Kamarhati. Then just before entering the cities of Kolkata and Howrah. At Nurpur it enters an old channel of the Ganges and turns south to empty into the Bay of Bengal through the estuary of about 20 mi wide, two of its primary tributaries are Damodar and Rupnarayan. The tide runs rapidly on the Hooghly, and produces an example of the fluvial phenomenon known as a tidal bore. This consists of the head-wave of the tide, hemmed in where the estuary narrows suddenly into the river. It is felt as high up as Kolkata, and frequently destroys small boats, the difference from the lowest point of low-water in the dry season to the highest point of high-water in the rains is reported to be 20 ft 10 in. The greatest mean rise of tide, about 16 ft, takes place in March, April or May - with a declining range during the season to a mean of 10 ft. In its upper reaches the river is known as the Bhāgirathi. In 1974, the Farakka Barrage began diverting water into the Hooghly during the dry season so as to reduce the difficulties at Kolkatas port. Like the rest of the Ganges, the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly is considered sacred to Hindus, the Bhāgirathi-Hooghly river system is an essential lifeline for the people of West Bengal. It was through this river that the East India company sailed into Bengal and established their settlement, Calcutta. People from other such as the French, Dutch, Portuguese. The river provides a supply of water to the plain of West Bengal for irrigation
8.
George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
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As Viceroy of India, he is noted for the creation of Eastern Bengal and Assam. As Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, he drew the Curzon Line as the eastern frontier of Poland. He was passed over as Prime Minister in 1923 in favour of Stanley Baldwin and his character polarised opinion amongst his contemporaries, sow gratitude and resentment along his path with equally lavish hands. He quarrelled endlessly and his arrogance and inflexibility made even more enemies, critics have been negative in contrasting his enormous talents and energy on behalf of British imperialism with his mixed results and unrealized ambitions. He was born at Kedleston Hall, built on the site where his family and his mother, worn out by childbirth, died when George was 16, her husband survived her by 41 years. Neither parent exerted an influence on Curzons life. Lord Scarsdale was an austere and unindulgent father who believed in the family tradition that landowners should stay on their land. He thus had little sympathy for those journeys across Asia between 1887 and 1895 which made his son one of the most travelled men who sat in a British cabinet. Paraman periodically forced him to parade through the wearing a conical hat bearing the words liar, sneak. Curzon later noted, No children well born and well-placed ever cried so much and he was educated at Wixenford School, Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford. At Eton he was a favourite of Oscar Browning, a relationship that led to his tutors dismissal. While at Eton, he was a figure who was liked and disliked with equal intensity by large numbers of masters. This strange talent for both attraction and repulsion stayed with him all his life, few people ever felt neutral about him, at Oxford he was President of the Union and Secretary of the Oxford Canning Club. Although he failed to achieve a first class degree in Greats, he won the Lothian and Arnold Prizes and he was elected a prize fellow of All Souls College in 1883. Whilst at Oxford, he was a contemporary and close friend of Cecil Spring Rice and Edward Grey. While at Oxford, Curzon was the inspiration for the following Balliol rhyme and my cheeks are pink, my hair is sleek, I dine at Blenheim once a week. Curzon became Assistant Private Secretary to Lord Salisbury in 1885, subsequent performances in the Commons, often dealing with Ireland or reform of the House of Lords, received similar verdicts. He was Under-Secretary of State for India in 1891–92 and Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1895–98
9.
George V
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George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. He was the son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. From the time of his birth, he was third in the line of succession behind his father and his own brother, Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence. From 1877 to 1891, George served in the Royal Navy, on the death of his grandmother in 1901, Georges father became King-Emperor of the British Empire, and George was created Prince of Wales. He succeeded his father in 1910 and he was the only Emperor of India to be present at his own Delhi Durbar. His reign saw the rise of socialism, communism, fascism, Irish republicanism, the Parliament Act 1911 established the supremacy of the elected British House of Commons over the unelected House of Lords. In 1917, George became the first monarch of the House of Windsor, in 1924 he appointed the first Labour ministry and in 1931 the Statute of Westminster recognised the dominions of the Empire as separate, independent states within the Commonwealth of Nations. He had health problems throughout much of his reign and at his death was succeeded by his eldest son. George was born on 3 June 1865, in Marlborough House and he was the second son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, Albert Edward and Alexandra. His father was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and he was baptised at Windsor Castle on 7 July 1865 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Longley. As a younger son of the Prince of Wales, there was expectation that George would become king. He was third in line to the throne, after his father and elder brother, George was only 17 months younger than Albert Victor, and the two princes were educated together. John Neale Dalton was appointed as their tutor in 1871, neither Albert Victor nor George excelled intellectually. For three years from 1879, the brothers served on HMS Bacchante, accompanied by Dalton. They toured the colonies of the British Empire in the Caribbean, South Africa and Australia, and visited Norfolk, Virginia, as well as South America, the Mediterranean, Egypt, Dalton wrote an account of their journey entitled The Cruise of HMS Bacchante. Between Melbourne and Sydney, Dalton recorded a sighting of the Flying Dutchman, after Lausanne, the brothers were separated, Albert Victor attended Trinity College, Cambridge, while George continued in the Royal Navy. He travelled the world, visiting many areas of the British Empire, during his naval career he commanded Torpedo Boat 79 in home waters then HMS Thrush on the North America station, before his last active service in command of HMS Melampus in 1891–92. From then on, his rank was largely honorary
10.
New Delhi
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New Delhi is the capital of India and one of Delhi citys 11 districts. The National Capital Region is a larger entity comprising the entire National Capital Territory along with adjoining districts. The foundation stone of the city was laid by George V and it was designed by British architects, Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker. The new capital was inaugurated on 13 February 1931, by Viceroy, New Delhi has been selected as one of the hundred Indian cities to be developed as a smart city under Prime Minister of India Narendra Modis flagship Smart Cities Mission. Calcutta was the capital of India during the British Raj until December 1911, Delhi had served as the political and financial centre of several empires of ancient India and the Delhi Sultanate, most notably of the Mughal Empire from 1649 to 1857. During the early 1900s, a proposal was made to the British administration to shift the capital of the British Indian Empire, as India was officially named, from Calcutta on the east coast, to Delhi. The Government of British India felt that it would be easier to administer India from Delhi in the centre of northern India. The land for building the new city of Delhi was acquired under the Land Acquisition Act 1894. The foundation stone of New Delhi was laid by King George V and Queen Mary at the site of Delhi Durbar of 1911 at Kingsway Camp on 15 December 1911, during their imperial visit. Large parts of New Delhi were planned by Edwin Lutyens, who first visited Delhi in 1912, the contract was given to Sobha Singh. The original plan called for its construction in Tughlaqabad, inside the Tughlaqabad fort, construction really began after World War I and was completed by 1931. The city that was later dubbed Lutyens Delhi was inaugurated in ceremonies beginning on 10 February 1931 by Lord Irwin, Lutyens designed the central administrative area of the city as a testament to Britains imperial aspirations. Soon Lutyens started considering other places, however, it was rejected by the Viceroy when the cost of acquiring the necessary properties was found to be too high. The central axis of New Delhi, which faces east at India Gate, was previously meant to be a north-south axis linking the Viceroys House at one end with Paharganj at the other. During the projects early years, many believed it was a gate from Earth to Heaven itself. Eventually, owing to space constraints and the presence of a number of heritage sites in the North side. A site atop the Raisina Hill, formerly Raisina Village, a Meo village, was chosen for the Rashtrapati Bhawan, then known as the Viceroys House. The reason for this choice was that the hill lay directly opposite the Dinapanah citadel, which was considered the site of Indraprastha
11.
British Raj
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The British Raj was the rule by the British Crown in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947. The rule is also called Crown rule in India, or direct rule in India, the resulting political union was also called the Indian Empire and after 1876 issued passports under that name. It lasted until 1947, when the British Indian Empire was partitioned into two sovereign states, the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The British Raj extended over almost all present-day India, Pakistan and this area is very diverse, containing the Himalayan mountains, fertile floodplains, the Indo-Gangetic Plain, a long coastline, tropical dry forests, arid uplands, and the Thar desert. In addition, at times, it included Aden, Lower Burma, Upper Burma, British Somaliland. Burma was separated from India and directly administered by the British Crown from 1937 until its independence in 1948, among other countries in the region, Ceylon was ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. Ceylon was part of Madras Presidency between 1793 and 1798, the kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan, having fought wars with the British, subsequently signed treaties with them and were recognised by the British as independent states. The Kingdom of Sikkim was established as a state after the Anglo-Sikkimese Treaty of 1861, however. The Maldive Islands were a British protectorate from 1887 to 1965, India during the British Raj was made up of two types of territory, British India and the Native States. In general, the term British India had been used to also to the regions under the rule of the British East India Company in India from 1600 to 1858. The term has also used to refer to the British in India. The terms Indian Empire and Empire of India were not used in legislation, the monarch was known as Empress or Emperor of India and the term was often used in Queen Victorias Queens Speeches and Prorogation Speeches. The passports issued by the British Indian government had the words Indian Empire on the cover, in addition, an order of knighthood, the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire, was set up in 1878. At the turn of the 20th century, British India consisted of eight provinces that were administered either by a Governor or a Lieutenant-Governor, during the partition of Bengal the new provinces of Assam and East Bengal were created as a Lieutenant-Governorship. In 1911, East Bengal was reunited with Bengal, and the new provinces in the east became, Assam, Bengal, Bihar, there were 565 princely states when India and Pakistan became independent from Britain in August 1947. The princely states did not form a part of British India, the larger ones had treaties with Britain that specified which rights the princes had, in the smaller ones the princes had few rights. Within the princely states external affairs, defence and most communications were under British control, the British also exercised a general influence over the states internal politics, in part through the granting or withholding of recognition of individual rulers. Although there were nearly 600 princely states, the majority were very small
12.
Royal Institute of British Architects
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After the grant of the royal charter it had become known as the Royal Institute of British Architects in London, eventually dropping the reference to London in 1892. In 1934, it moved to its current headquarters on Portland Place, with the building being opened by King George V and it was granted its Royal Charter in 1837 under King William IV. Supplemental Charters of 1887,1909 and 1925 were replaced by a single Charter in 1971, any revisions to the Charter or Byelaws require the Privy Councils approval. The design of the Institutes Mycenean lions medal and the motto ‘Usui civium, decori urbium has been attributed to Thomas Leverton Donaldson and it was again redesigned in 1931 by Eric Gill and in 1960 by Joan Hassall. His School, Liverpool, was one of the twenty schools named for the purpose of constituting the statutory Board of Architectural Education when the 1931 Act was passed. The RIBA Guide to its Archive and History has a section on the Statutory registration of architects with an extending from a draft bill of 1887 to one of 1969. This led to proposals for reconstituting ARCUK, eventually, in the 1990s, before proceeding, the government issued a consultation paper Reform of Architects Registration. RIBA Visiting Boards continue to assess courses for exemption from the RIBAs examinations in architecture, under arrangements made in 2011 the validation criteria are jointly held by the RIBA and the Architects Registration Board, but unlike the ARB, the RIBA also validates courses outside the UK. The RIBA is an organisation, with 44,000 members. Chartered Members are entitled to call themselves chartered architects and to append the post-nominals RIBA after their name, formerly, fellowships of the institute were granted, although no longer, those who continue to hold this title instead add FRIBA. Members gain access to all the services and receive its monthly magazine. The RIBA has been recognised as a business Superbrand since 2008, RIBA is based at 66 Portland Place, London—a 1930s Grade II* listed building designed by architect George Grey Wornum with sculptures by Edward Bainbridge Copnall and James Woodford. Parts of the London building are open to the public, including the Library and it has a large architectural bookshop, a café, restaurant and lecture theatres. Rooms are hired out for events, the Institute also maintains a dozen regional offices around the United Kingdom, it opened its first regional office for the East of England at Cambridge in 1966. It employs over 250 staff, approximately 180 of whom are based in Newcastle and its services include RIBA Insight, RIBA Appointments, and RIBA Publishing. It publishes the RIBA Product Selector and RIBA Journal, in Newcastle is the NBS, the National Building Specification, which has 130 staff and deals with the building regulations and the Construction Information Service. RIBA Bookshops, which operates online and at 66 Portland Place, is part of RIBA Enterprises. The British Architectural Library, sometimes referred to as the RIBA Library, was established in 1834 upon the founding of the institute with donations from members
13.
Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture
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The Indo-Saracenic Revival was an architectural style movement by British architects in the late 19th century in British India. It drew elements from native Indo-Islamic and Indian architecture, and combined it with the Gothic revival and Neo-Classical styles favoured in Victorian Britain. The style gained momentum in the west with the publication of the views of India by William Hodges. Saracenic was a used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia. The first Indo-Saracenic building is said to be the Chepauk Palace, located in the neighbourhood of Chepauk, in present-day Chennai. Chennai is said to many buildings of this architecture, some of which are the Victoria Public Hall, Madras High Court, Senate House of the University of Madras, Chennai Central station. Confluence of different architectural styles had been attempted before during the mainly Turkic, Delhi Sultanate, Turkic and Mughal conquest in the Indian subcontinent, introduced new concepts in the already rich architecture of India. The prevailing style of architecture was trabeate, employing pillars, beams, after the disintegration of the Turkic Delhi Sultanate, rulers of individual states established their own rule and hence their own architectural styles, which was heavily influenced by local styles. Examples of these are the Bengal and the Gujarat schools, the Mughal style was conceived by Akbar the Great, the third Mughal emperor and also the architect of the Mughal empire. This Akbari Style was an amalgam of earlier Timurid, Persian and this style was further consolidated by his grandson and fellow architecture enthusiast, Shah Jahan. Some of the significant architectural legacies of the Mughals are Humayuns Tomb, the Taj Mahal, the Forts of Agra and Lahore, Shah Jahan was succeeded by his puritanical son, Aurangzeb, who had no soft spot for art and architecture. As a result, Mughal architecture suffered, with all artisans migrating to work under the patronage of local rulers, with no major architectural projects undertaken, the Mughal style rapidly declined. This decline was evident in such as Bibi Ka Maqbara, built by Azam Shah. However, local rulers embraced the style, as they had emulated it during the reigns of Jahangir. The last architectural marvel produced during this period of Mughal rule was Safdarjungs Tomb. By the early 19th century, the British had made themselves the masters of the Indian Subcontinent. In 1803, their control was strengthened with the defeat of the Marathas under Daulatrao Scindia. They legitimized their rule by taking the then weak Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II under their protection, however, this uprising was doomed from the start, and was crushed by the British with ferocity, marking the end of the Mughal Empire
14.
Mughal architecture
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Mughal architecture is an architectural style developed by the Mughals in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries throughout the ever-changing extent of their empire in Medieval India. It was an amalgam of Islamic, Persian, Turkic and South-Asian architetcure, Mughal buildings have a uniform pattern of structure and character, including large bulbous domes, slender minarets at the corners, massive halls, large vaulted gateways and delicate ornamentation. Examples of the style can be found in India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Mughal dynasty was established after the victory of Babur at Panipat in 1526. During his five-year reign, Babur took considerable interest in erecting buildings and his grandson Akbar built widely, and the style developed vigorously during his reign. Among his accomplishments were Humayuns Tomb, Agra Fort, the fort-city of Fatehpur Sikri, akbars son Jahangir commissioned the Shalimar Gardens in Kashmir. While Shah Jahans son Aurangzeb commissioned buildings such as the Badshahi Masjid in Lahore, his reign corresponded with the decline of Mughal architecture, Agra fort is a UNESCO world heritage site in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. The major part of Agra fort was built by Akbar The Great during 1565 AD to 1574 AD, the architecture of the fort clearly indicates the free adoption of the Rajput planning and construction. Some of the important buildings in the fort are Jahangiri Mahal built for Jahangir and his family, the Moti Masjid, the Jahangir Mahal is an impressive structure and has a courtyard surrounded by double-storeyed halls and rooms. Akbar’s greatest architectural achievement was the construction of Fatehpur Sikri, his Capital City near Agra, the religious edifices worth mentioning are the Jami Masjid and Salim Chisti’s Tomb. The tomb built in 1571 A. D. in the corner of the compound is a square marble chamber with a verandah. The cenotaph has an exquisitely designed lattice screen around it,14 years after the death of Humayun, his widow- Hamida Banu Begum built the Humayun’s tomb in Delhi. The mausoleum of Humayun is located in the centre of a surrounded by typical Mughal garden in Fatehpur Sikri. It is said to be first mature example of Mughal architecture, Buland Darwaza, also known as the Gate of Magnificence, was built by Akbar in 1576 A. D. at Fatehpur Sikri. Akbar built the Buland Darwaza to commemorate his victory over Gujarat and it is 40 metres high and 50 metres from the ground. The total height of the Structure is about 54 metres from the ground level, the Haramsara, the royal seraglio in Fatehpur Sikri was an area where the royal women lived. The opening to the Haramsara is from the Khwabgah side separated by a row of cloiters and this is the largest palace in the Fatehpur Sikri seraglio, connected to the minor haramsara quarters. The main entrance is double storied, projecting out of the facade to create a kind of leading into a recessed entrance with a balcony. Inside there is a surrounded by rooms
15.
Venetian Gothic architecture
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Venetian Gothic is an architectural style combining use of the Gothic lancet arch with Byzantine and Moorish architecture influences. The style originated in 14th century Venice with the confluence of Byzantine styles from Constantinople, Arab influences from Moorish Spain, chief examples of the style are the Doges Palace and the Ca dOro in Venice. In the 19th Century, the works of John Ruskin and others drew from the style in a revival, part of the broader Gothic Revival movement in Victorian architecture. The Gothic Period erupted in Venice during a time of great affluence, at the same time, monks were beginning to bring the Gothic style to Venices churches from mainland Italy. The most striking examples of new architectural fashion can be seen in Santi Giovanni e Paolo. However, these churches were very similar to those found in the rest of Italy. It was not until the increase in construction, that Venetian Gothic became a distinct style in itself. Influenced by the Doges Palace, the creators of new style meshed Gothic, Byzantine. This Venetian Gothic style lasted well into the 15th century because of the love of ornate decoration. In Northern Europe, traceries only supported stained glass, in contrast, traceries in Venetian Gothic supported the weight of the entire building. Therefore, the relative weight sustained by the traceries alludes to the weightlessness of the buildings as a whole. This gives the Venetian Gothic architectural style lightness and grace in structure, the Venetian Gothic, while far more intricate in style and design than previous construction types in Venice, never allowed more weight or size than necessary to support the building. Venice had always held the concern that every inch of land is valuable, one major aspect of the Venetian Gothic style change that came about during the 14th and 15th centuries was the proportion of the central hall in secular buildings. This hall, known as the portego, evolved into a passageway that was often opened by a loggia with Gothic arches. Architects favored using intricate traceries, similar to found on the Doges Palace. The most iconic Venetian Gothic structure, the Doges Palace, is a luxuriously decorated building that includes traits of Gothic, Moorish, in the 14th Century, following two fires that destroyed the previous structure, the palace was rebuilt in its present, recognizably Gothic form. Yet another important example of Venetian Gothic architecture is Santa Maria dei Frari, first constructed in the 15th century, this Franciscan church was rebuilt in its current Gothic style in the 15th Century. The style was revived in the 19th century, largely through the influence of British architectural critic John Ruskin and his treatise The Stones of Venice
16.
Ancient Egyptian architecture
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The core of the pyramids consisted of locally quarried stone, mudbricks, sand or gravel. For the casing stones were used that had to be transported from farther away, predominantly white limestone from Tura, Ancient Egyptian houses were made out of mud collected from the Nile river. It was placed in molds and left to dry in the hot sun to harden for use in construction, others are inaccessible, new buildings having been erected on ancient ones. Fortunately, the dry, hot climate of Egypt preserved some mud brick structures, examples include the village Deir al-Madinah, the Middle Kingdom town at Kahun, and the fortresses at Buhen and Mirgissa. Also, many temples and tombs have survived because they were built on high ground unaffected by the Nile flood and were constructed of stone, in a similar manner, the incised and flatly modeled surface adornment of the stone buildings may have derived from mud wall ornamentation. Exterior and interior walls, as well as the columns and piers, were covered with hieroglyphic and pictorial frescoes, many motifs of Egyptian ornamentation are symbolic, such as the scarab, or sacred beetle, the solar disk, and the vulture. Other common motifs include leaves, the papyrus plant. Hieroglyphs were inscribed for decorative purposes as well as to record historic events or spells, in addition, these pictorial frescoes and carvings allow us to understand how the Ancient Egyptians lived, statuses, wars that were fought and their beliefs. This was especially true when exploring the tombs of Ancient Egyptian officials in recent years, Ancient Egyptian temples were aligned with astronomically significant events, such as solstices and equinoxes, requiring precise measurements at the moment of the particular event. Measurements at the most significant temples may have been undertaken by the Pharaoh himself. The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo and this complex of ancient monuments is located some 8 kilometers inland into the desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 20 kilometers southwest of Cairo city center. The pyramids, which were built in the Fourth Dynasty, testify to the power of the pharaonic religion and they were built to serve both as grave sites and also as a way to make their names last forever. The size and simple design show the skill level of Egyptian design. The pyramid of Khafre is believed to have been completed around 2532 BC, Khafre ambitiously placed his pyramid next to his fathers. It is not as tall as his fathers pyramid but he was able to give it the impression of appearing taller by building it on a site with a foundation 33 feet higher than his fathers. Along with building his pyramid, Chefren commissioned the building of the giant Sphinx as guardian over his tomb, the face of a human, possibly a depiction of the pharaoh, on a lions body was seen as a symbol of divinity among the Greeks fifteen hundred years later. The Great Sphinx is carved out the bedrock and stands about 65 feet tall. Menkaures pyramid dates to circa 2490 BC and stands 213 feet high making it the smallest of the Great Pyramids, popular culture leads people to believe that Pyramids are highly confusing, with many tunnels within the pyramid to create confusion for grave robbers
17.
Deccan Plateau
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The Deccan Plateau is a large plateau in southern India. It rises to 100 metres in the north, and to more than 1 kilometre in the south and it extends over eight Indian states and encompasses a wide range of habitats, covering most of central and southern India. It is separated from the Gangetic plain to the north by the Satpura and Vindhya Ranges, the name Deccan is an anglicised form of the Prakrit word dakkhin, itself derived from the Sanskrit word dákṣiṇa, as the Deccan Plateau is located in southern part of Indian subcontinent. The Deccan region has historically lacked an enduring geo-political centre, and has been defined in various ways, geographers have attempted to define it using indices such as rainfall, vegetation, soil type or physical features. When considering physical features, it is taken to be the bounded by the Narmada River, the Eastern Ghats. The 16th century historian Firishta defined Deccan as the inhabited by the native speakers of Kannada, Marathi. Richard M. Eaton also settled on this linguistic definition, the Western Ghats mountain range is very tall and blocks the moisture from the southwest monsoon from reaching the Deccan Plateau, so the region receives very little rainfall. The eastern Deccan Plateau is at an elevation spanning the southeastern coast of India. Its forests are relatively dry but serve to retain the rain to form streams that feed into rivers that flow into basins. Most Deccan plateau rivers flow south, most of the central plateau is drained by the Tungabhadra River, Krishna River and its tributaries, including the Bhima River, which also run east. The climate of the region varies from semi-arid in the north to tropical in most of the region with distinct wet, rain falls during the monsoon season from about June to October. March to June can be dry and hot, with temperatures regularly exceeding 40 °C. The name derives from the Sanskrit daksina, the plateau is bounded on the east and west by the Ghats, while its northern extremity is the Vindhya Range. The Deccans average elevation is about 2,000 feet, sloping generally eastward, its rivers, the Godavari, Krishna. The plateaus climate is drier than that on the coasts and is arid in places, having once constituted a segment of the ancient continent of Gondwanaland, this land is the oldest and most stable in India. The average height of the Western Ghats, which run along the Arabian Sea, anaimudi Peak in Kerala, with a height of 2,695 m above sea level, is the highest peak of peninsular India. In the Nilgiris lie Ootacamund, the hill station of southern India. The western coastal plain is uneven and swift rivers flow through it that forms beautiful lagoons and backwaters, the east coast is wide with deltas formed by the rivers Godavari, Mahanadi and Kaveri
18.
Islam
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Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion which professes that there is only one and incomparable God and that Muhammad is the last messenger of God. It is the worlds second-largest religion and the major religion in the world, with over 1.7 billion followers or 23% of the global population. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and He has guided mankind through revealed scriptures, natural signs, and a line of prophets sealed by Muhammad. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the word of God. Muslims believe that Islam is the original, complete and universal version of a faith that was revealed many times before through prophets including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses. As for the Quran, Muslims consider it to be the unaltered, certain religious rites and customs are observed by the Muslims in their family and social life, while social responsibilities to parents, relatives, and neighbors have also been defined. Besides, the Quran and the sunnah of Muhammad prescribe a comprehensive body of moral guidelines for Muslims to be followed in their personal, social, political, Islam began in the early 7th century. Originating in Mecca, it spread in the Arabian Peninsula. The expansion of the Muslim world involved various caliphates and empires, traders, most Muslims are of one of two denominations, Sunni or Shia. Islam is the dominant religion in the Middle East, North Africa, sizable Muslim communities are also found in Horn of Africa, Europe, China, Russia, Mainland Southeast Asia, Philippines, Northern Borneo, Caucasus and the Americas. Converts and immigrant communities are found in almost every part of the world, Islam is a verbal noun originating from the triliteral root s-l-m which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of wholeness, submission, safeness and peace. In a religious context it means voluntary submission to God, Islām is the verbal noun of Form IV of the root, and means submission or surrender. Muslim, the word for an adherent of Islam, is the active participle of the verb form. The word sometimes has connotations in its various occurrences in the Quran. In some verses, there is stress on the quality of Islam as a state, Whomsoever God desires to guide. Other verses connect Islām and dīn, Today, I have perfected your religion for you, I have completed My blessing upon you, still others describe Islam as an action of returning to God—more than just a verbal affirmation of faith. In the Hadith of Gabriel, islām is presented as one part of a triad that also includes imān, Islam was historically called Muhammadanism in Anglophone societies. This term has fallen out of use and is said to be offensive because it suggests that a human being rather than God is central to Muslims religion
19.
Baron Redesdale
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Baron Redesdale, of Redesdale in the County of Northumberland, is a title that has been created twice, both times in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was firstly created in 1802 for the lawyer and politician Sir John Freeman-Mitford and he was Speaker of the House of Commons between 1801 and 1802 and Lord Chancellor of Ireland between 1802 and 1806. His only son, the second Baron, served as Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords from 1851 to 1886, in 1877 he was created Earl of Redesdale, in the County of Northumberland, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Lord Redesdale never married and on his death in 1886 both titles became extinct, in 1902 the Redesdale title was revived when Algernon Freeman-Mitford was raised to the peerage as Baron Redesdale, of Redesdale in the County of Northumberland, on 15 July 1902. He was succeeded by his second but eldest surviving son, David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale and he was also a member of the Right Club, founded by Archibald Maule Ramsay. His only son the Hon. Thomas Mitford was killed in action in Burma in 1945, Lord Redesdale was therefore succeeded by his younger brother, the third Baron. He was High Sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1935 and he died childless and on his death in 1962 the title passed to his younger brother, the fourth Baron. He also died childless and was succeeded by his nephew, the fifth Baron and he was the son of the Hon. Ernest Rupert Bertram Ogilvy Freeman Mitford, fifth son of the first Baron. As of 2010 the title is held by the fifth Barons son, the sixth Baron and he is a Liberal Democrat politician, who in 2000 was created the youngest life peer ever as Baron Mitford, of Redesdale in the County of Northumberland. Bertram David Mitford William Mitford Mitford sisters Kidd, Charles, Williamson, new York, St Martins Press,1990, Leigh Rayments Peerage Pages
20.
David Prain
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Sir David Prain M. D. FRS was a Scottish physician and botanist. Born to a saddler in Fettercairn, Scotland, in 1857, Prain attended the Fettercairn Parish School and the University of Aberdeen, where he gained his M. A. in 1878. After teaching for two years at Ramsgate College, he returned to Aberdeen and thence to the University of Edinburgh and he was demonstrator of anatomy at the College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1882 and 1883, and at the University of Aberdeen in 1883 and 1884. Prain duly went to India as a physician / botanist in the Indian Medical Service, in 1898 he was promoted director of the Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta as well as the Botanical Survey of India, and superintendent of Cinchona Cultivation in Bengal, remaining there until 1905. From 1898 to 1905 he also served as Professor of Botany at the Medical College of Calcutta, in 1905 he became Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Bengal Plants In May 1905, Prain was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, in 1907 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of philosophy at the Linnaeus tercentenary in Uppsala, Sweden, and became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1912. He was also knighted in 1912 and he was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1925 and the Linnean Medal in 1935. In 1887 Prain married Margaret Caird Thomson, daughter of Reverend William Thomson of Belhevie and they had one son, Theodore, who was killed in World War I. Prain died at Whyteleaf, Kent, on 16 March 1944, durand, Théophile, Benjamin Daydon Jackson, William Turner Thiselton-Dyer, David Prain, Arthur William Hill, Edward James Salisbury. Index Kewensis plantarum phanerogamarum, Supplementum Tertium Nomina et Synonyma Omnium Generum et Specierum AB Initio Anni MDCCCCI Usque AD Finem Anni MDCCCCV Complectens, Correspondence to David Prain as Director of The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is being made available online through the Directors Correspondence Project
21.
William Burges
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William Burges ARA was an English architect and designer. Burges stands within the tradition of the Gothic Revival, his works echoing those of the Pre-Raphaelites and his architectural output was small but varied. Working with a team of craftsmen, he built churches, a cathedral, a warehouse, a university. Burgess most notable works are Cardiff Castle, constructed between 1866 and 1928, and Castell Coch, both of which were built for John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute. Other significant buildings include Gayhurst House, Buckinghamshire, Knightshayes Court, the Church of Christ the Consoler, St Marys, Studley Royal, in Yorkshire, many of his designs were never executed or were subsequently demolished or altered. His competition entries for cathedrals at Lille, Adelaide, Colombo, Brisbane, Edinburgh and he lost out to George Edmund Street in the competition for the Royal Courts of Justice in The Strand. His plans for the redecoration of the interior of St Pauls Cathedral were abandoned, skilbecks Warehouse was demolished in the 1970s, and work at Salisbury Cathedral, at Worcester College, Oxford, and at Knightshayes Court had been lost in the decades before. Beyond architecture, Burges designed metalwork, sculpture, jewellery, furniture, for most of the century following his death, Victorian architecture was neither the subject of intensive study nor sympathetic attention and Burgess work was largely ignored. However the revival of interest in Victorian art, architecture, and design in the twentieth century has led to a renewed appreciation of Burges. Burges was born on 2 December 1827, the son of Alfred Burges, Alfred made a considerable fortune, some £113,000 at his death, enabling his son to devote his life to the study and practice of architecture without requiring that he actually earn a living. Burges entered Kings College School, London, in 1839 to study engineering, his contemporaries there including Dante Gabriel Rossetti and he left in 1844 to join the office of Edward Blore, surveyor to Westminster Abbey. Blore was an architect, having worked for both William IV and Queen Victoria, and had made his reputation as a proponent of the Gothic Revival. In 1848 or 1849, Burges moved to the offices of Matthew Digby Wyatt, Wyatt was as prominent an architect as Blore, evidenced by his leading role in the direction of The Great Exhibition in 1851. Burgess work with Wyatt, particularly on the Medieval Court for this exhibition, was influential on the subsequent course of his career. During this period, he worked on drawings of medieval metalwork for Wyatts book, Metalwork, published in 1852. Of equal importance to Burgess subsequent career was his travelling, Burges believed that all architects should travel, remarking that it was absolutely necessary to see how various art problems have been resolved in different ages by different men. Enabled by his income, Burges moved through England, then France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece. In total, he spent some 18 months abroad developing his skills, what he saw and drew provided a repository of influences and ideas that he used and re-used for the whole of his career
22.
Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai
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Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai, Marathi, महात्मा ज्योतिबा फुले मंडई is one of South Mumbais most famous markets. It was earlier named after Arthur Crawford, the first Municipal Commissioner of the city, the Market was later named after Mahatma Jotirao Phule after a long struggle by the President of Mahatma Phule Smarak Samiti, Mukundraoji Bhujbal Patil. The market is situated opposite the Mumbai Police headquarters, just north of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, the market houses a wholesale fruit, vegetable and poultry market. One end of the market is a pet store, different varieties of dogs, cats, and birds can be found in this area. Also, endangered species are sold there. Most of the sellers inside the market sell imported items such as foods, cosmetics, household and it was the main wholesale market for fruits in Mumbai until March 1996, when the wholesale traders were relocated to Navi Mumbai. The building, completed in 1869, was donated to the city by Cowasji Jehangir, after Indias independence, the market was renamed after Maharashtrian social reformer, Mahatma Jyotirao Phule. In 1882, the building was the first in India to be lit up by electricity, the market was designed by British architect William Emerson. The edifice is a blend of Norman and Flemish architectural styles, the friezes on the outside entrance depicting Indian farmers, and the stone fountains inside, were designed by Lockwood Kipling, father of novelist Rudyard Kipling. The market covers an area of 22,471 sq m, the structure was built using coarse buff coloured Kurla stone, with redstone from Bassein. It has a 15 m high skylight awning designed to allow the sunlight brighten up the marketplace and this market is mostly closed on Sundays. So if you are planning to do shopping in and around that area, on other days, its open from 11,00 am to 8,00 pm One can buy a variety of things in and around Crawford market. Also varieties of electrical fittings and carpentry fittings are available. One can easily reach Crawford market area from CST railway station or take a cab from there and you can also take a bus to VT station or ride in your car. There is car parking available but very costly and has to be paid on an hourly basis, a 137-Year Legacy, Times News Network, Times of India, 2006-03-25, pg-2 www. crawford-market. com
23.
Mumbai
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Mumbai is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India and the ninth most populous agglomeration in the world, Mumbai lies on the west coast of India and has a deep natural harbour. In 2008, Mumbai was named a world city. It is also the wealthiest city in India, and has the highest GDP of any city in South, West, Mumbai has the highest number of billionaires and millionaires among all cities in India. The seven islands that came to constitute Mumbai were home to communities of fishing colonies, during the mid-18th century, Bombay was reshaped by the Hornby Vellard project, which undertook reclamation of the area between the seven islands from the sea. Along with construction of roads and railways, the reclamation project, completed in 1845. Bombay in the 19th century was characterised by economic and educational development, during the early 20th century it became a strong base for the Indian independence movement. Upon Indias independence in 1947 the city was incorporated into Bombay State, in 1960, following the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, a new state of Maharashtra was created with Bombay as the capital. Mumbai is the financial, commercial and entertainment capital of India and it is also home to some of Indias premier scientific and nuclear institutes like BARC, NPCL, IREL, TIFR, AERB, AECI, and the Department of Atomic Energy. The city also houses Indias Hindi and Marathi film and television industry, Mumbais business opportunities, as well as its potential to offer a higher standard of living, attract migrants from all over India, making the city a melting pot of many communities and cultures. The oldest known names for the city are Kakamuchee and Galajunkja, in 1508, Portuguese writer Gaspar Correia used the name Bombaim, in his Lendas da Índia. This name possibly originated as the Old Portuguese phrase bom baim, meaning good little bay, in 1516, Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa used the name Tana-Maiambu, Tana appears to refer to the adjoining town of Thane and Maiambu to Mumbadevi. Other variations recorded in the 16th and the 17th centuries include, Mombayn, Bombay, Bombain, Bombaym, Monbaym, Mombaim, Mombaym, Bambaye, Bombaiim, Bombeye, Boon Bay, and Bon Bahia. After the English gained possession of the city in the 17th century, Ali Muhammad Khan, imperial diwan or revenue minister of the Gujarat province, in the Mirat-i-Ahmedi referred to the city as Manbai. By the late 20th century, the city was referred to as Mumbai or Mambai in the Indian statewise official languages of Marathi, Konkani, Gujarati, Kannada and Sindhi, the Government of India officially changed the English name to Mumbai in November 1995. According to Slate magazine, they argued that Bombay was a corrupted English version of Mumbai, Slate also said The push to rename Bombay was part of a larger movement to strengthen Marathi identity in the Maharashtra region. A resident of Mumbai is called mumbaikar in the Marathi language, the term has been in use for quite some time but it gained popularity after the official name change to Mumbai. Mumbai is built on what was once an archipelago of seven islands, Bombay Island, Parel, Mazagaon, Mahim, Colaba, Worli and it is not exactly known when these islands were first inhabited
24.
All Saints Cathedral, Allahabad
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All Saints Cathedral, also known as Patthar Girja is an Anglican cathedral located in Allahabad, India. Modeled after 13th-century Gothic style churches, it is among the Gothic Revival buildings built by the British during their rule in India, British architect Sir William Emerson, who also designed the Victoria Memorial, Kolkata, designed the cathedral in 1871. It was consecrated in 1887 and was completed four years later, the church celebrates its anniversary on All Saints Day and is part of the Church of North India. The cathedral is at the centre of an open space at the crossing of two of the principal roads of Allahabad, MG Marg and SN Marg. The work was carried out in a stone with fine red sandstone dressings. The cathedrals nave is about 40 feet wide and 130 feet long, total length of the church is about 240 feet and it is designed to accommodate 300 to 400 persons. It is a remarkable example architecture of colonial India, the church is surrounded by a lush green garden. The pulpit is a fine piece of workmanship in alabaster by Mr. Nicholls of Lambeth from Mr. Emerson’s designs. Narrow aisles were made in the building thus giving an internal width of about 56 feet. There are two transepts on the North and South respectively, a chancel with an ambulatory, a tower at the intersection of the nave and transepts. The lantern tower, Victoria Tower, is a memorial to Queen Victoria, christianity in India William Emerson List of churches in Allahabad List of cathedrals in India List of tourist attractions in Allahabad A. G. Davies-Leigh. A Short History of All Saints Cathedral, Allahabad
25.
University of Allahabad
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The University of Allahabad, informally known as Allahabad University, is a public central university located in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. Established on 23 September 1887, it is the fourth oldest University in India and its origins lie in the Muir Central College, named after Lt. Governor of North-Western Provinces, Sir William Muir in 1876, who suggested the idea of a Central University at Allahabad, at one point it was called the Oxford of the East. On 24 June 2005 its Central University status was restored through the University Allahabad Act 2005 of the Parliament of India, the foundation stone of the Muir Central College was laid by Governor-General of India, Lord Northbrook on 9 December 1873. The college was named after Sir William Muir, Lt, governor of United Province, who was instrumental in its foundation. The building was designed by William Emerson, who also designed Victoria Memorial in Kolkata and Crawford Market in Mumbai in a combination of Indo-Saracenic, Egyptian and Gothic styles. Initially it functioned under the University of Calcutta and later, on 23 September 1887 and it began as an affiliating and examining body for graduate and postgraduate degrees with a classical orientation and the responsibility for secondary education as well. By 1904 the university established its own teaching departments and instituted doctoral research programs, the University Senate hall was opened by the Lieutenant-Governor, Sir John Hewett, in 1912. In 1921, with the promulgation of the Allahabad University Act of 1921, the Muir Central College merged with the university, over the next few years its affiliated colleges were transferred to Agra University and the task of conducting secondary-level examinations was relocated. In 1951, the university recognized certain local institutions as Associated Colleges authorized to teach undergraduate courses under the faculties of Arts, Commerce, Science, and Law. In view of these achievements, as well as its position among the universities of Uttar Pradesh, during the universitys centenary celebrations in 1987 there were demands from students, faculty and employees for the granting of status as a Central University. The Government of India eventually acceded to this and the university gained both Central status and recognition as an Institution of National Importance in May 2005. Two of its departments — Ancient History, Culture and Archaeology, and Psychology — are recognized as UGC Centres of Advanced Study, several departments in the Faculty of Science are covered by the COSIST and FIST Programs. These projects have helped augment and expand research facilities and infrastructure, the CSIR has granted a ‘Chair’ to the university on Intellectual Property Rights, and the university has already prepared a Plan of Action in the IPR field. The UGC has established the M. N. Saha Chair, the Munshi Prem Chand Chair, in accordance with the UGC Scheme for vocational courses, vocational options have been provided in the graduate degree programs. The university has developed post-graduate professional courses, and such courses are being offered by the Institute of Professional Studies, the Centre of Food Technology and Centre of Computer Education are two activities which offer diploma certificate courses. The university established the Institute of Inter-disciplinary Studies in 2000, designed as a collective of centres. The centres of IIDS are the K and it is conducting a post-graduate program and several high-end research projects
26.
Bhavnagar
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Bhavnagar pronunciation is a city in the Bhavnagar district of the Saurashtra region of the Gujarat state of India. It was founded in 1724 by Bhavsinhji Gohil and it was the capital of Bhavnagar State, which was a princely state before it was merged into the Indian Union in 1948. It is now the administrative headquarter of the Bhavnagar district, Bhavnagar is the fifth largest city of Gujarat state after Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot. Bhavnagar is situated 198 km from the state capital Gandhinagar and to the west of the Gulf of Khambhat and it has always been an important city for trade with many large and small scale industries along with the worlds largest ship breaking yard located 50 km away. The Gohil Rajput of the Suryavanshi clan faced severe competition in Marwar, around 1260 AD, they moved down to the Gujarat coast and established three capitals, Sejakpur, Umrala and Sihor. In 1722–1723, the led by Khanthaji Kadani and Pilaji Gaekwad attempted to raid Sihor but were repelled by Maharajah Bhavsinhji Gohil. After the war, Bharealized the reason for repeated attack was the location of Sihor, in 1723, he established a new capital near Vadva village,20 km away from Sihor, and named it Bhavnagar after himself. It was a carefully chosen strategic location because of its potential for maritime trade, naturally, Bhavnagar became the capital of Bhavnagar State. In 1807, Bhavnagar State became a British protectorate, the old town of Bhavnagar was a fortified town with gates leading to other important regional towns. It remained a port for almost two centuries, trading commodities with Mozambique, Zanzibar, Singapore, and the Persian Gulf. Bhavsinhji ensured that Bhavnagar benefited from the revenue that was brought in from maritime trade, as the castle of Surat was under the control of the Sidis of Janjira, Bhavsinhji brokered an agreement with them, giving the Sidis 1. 25% of the revenue by Bhavnagar port. Bhavsinhji entered into an agreement with the British when they took over Surat in 1856. Whilst Bhavsinhji was in power, Bhavnagar grew from a small chieftainship to an important state. This was due to the addition of new territories as well as the income provided by maritime trade, bhavsinhjis successors continued to encourage maritime trade through Bhavnagar port, recognizing its importance to the state. In 1793, Vakhatsinhji conquered the forts of Chital and Talaja, Bhavnagar remained the main port of the state, with Mahuva and Ghogha also becoming important ports. Because of the trade, the state prospered compared to other states. During the late 19th century, the Bhavnagar State Railway was constructed and this made Bhavnagar the first state that was able to construct its railway system without any aid from the central government, which was mentioned in the The Imperial Gazetteer of India. Mr. Peile, an agent, described the state as follows, With flourishing finances
27.
Gujarat
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Gujarat is a state in Western India, sometimes referred to as the Jewel of Western India. It has an area of 196,024 km2 with a coastline of 1,600 km, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula, and a population in excess of 60 million. The state is bordered by Rajasthan to the north, Maharashtra to the south, Madhya Pradesh to the east, and the Arabian Sea and its capital city is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. Gujarat is home to the Gujarati-speaking people of India, the state encompasses some sites of the ancient Indus Valley Civilization, such as Lothal and Dholavira. Lothal is believed to be one of the worlds first seaports, Gujarat was known to the ancient Greeks, and was familiar in other Western centres of civilisation through the end of the European Middle Ages. Modern-day Gujarat is derived from Sanskrit term Gurjaradesa, the Gurjar nation, parts of modern Rajasthan and Gujarat have been known as Gurjaratra or Gurjarabhumi for centuries before the Mughal period. Gujarat was one of the centres of the Indus Valley Civilization. It contains ancient metropolitan cities from the Indus Valley such as Lothal, Dholavira, the ancient city of Lothal was where Indias first port was established. The ancient city of Dholavira is one of the largest and most prominent archaeological sites in India, the most recent discovery was Gola Dhoro. Altogether, about 50 Indus Valley settlement ruins have been discovered in Gujarat, the ancient history of Gujarat was enriched by the commercial activities of its inhabitants. There is clear evidence of trade and commerce ties with Egypt, Bahrain. The early history of Gujarat reflects the grandeur of Chandragupta Maurya who conquered a number of earlier states in what is now Gujarat. Pushyagupta, a Vaishya, was appointed governor of Saurashtra by the Mauryan regime and he ruled Giringer and built a dam on the Sudarshan lake. Between the decline of Mauryan power and Saurashtra coming under the sway of the Samprati Mauryas of Ujjain, in the first half of the 1st century AD there is the story of a merchant of King Gondaphares landing in Gujarat with Apostle Thomas. The incident of the cup-bearer killed by a lion might indicate that the city described is in Gujarat. For nearly 300 years from the start of the 1st century AD, the weather-beaten rock at Junagadh gives a glimpse of the ruler Rudradaman I of the Saka satraps known as Western Satraps, or Kshatraps. Mahakshatrap Rudradaman I founded the Kardamaka dynasty which ruled from Anupa on the banks of the Narmada up to the Aparanta region which bordered Punjab, in Gujarat several battles were fought between the south Indian Satavahana dynasty and the Western Satraps. The greatest ruler of the Satavahana Dynasty was Gautamiputra Satakarni who defeated the Western Satraps, the Kshatrapa dynasty was replaced by the Gupta Empire with the conquest of Gujarat by Chandragupta Vikramaditya
28.
Hinduism
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Hinduism is a religion, or a way of life, found most notably in India and Nepal. Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder. This Hindu synthesis started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE following the Vedic period, although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, it is linked by shared concepts, recognisable rituals, cosmology, shared textual resources, and pilgrimage to sacred sites. Hindu texts are classified into Shruti and Smriti and these texts discuss theology, philosophy, mythology, Vedic yajna, Yoga, agamic rituals, and temple building, among other topics. Major scriptures include the Vedas and Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or aims of human life, namely Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, karma, samsara, and the various Yogas. Hindu practices include such as puja and recitations, meditation, family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals. Some Hindus leave their world and material possessions, then engage in lifelong Sannyasa to achieve Moksha. Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings, patience, forbearance, self-restraint, Hinduism is the worlds third largest religion, with over one billion followers or 15% of the global population, known as Hindus. The majority of Hindus reside in India, Nepal, Mauritius, the Caribbean, the word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan/Sanskrit word Sindhu, the Indo-Aryan name for the Indus River in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. The term Hindu in these ancient records is a geographical term, the Arabic term al-Hind referred to the people who live across the River Indus. This Arabic term was taken from the pre-Islamic Persian term Hindū. By the 13th century, Hindustan emerged as an alternative name of India. It was only towards the end of the 18th century that European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus. The term Hinduism, then spelled Hindooism, was introduced into the English language in the 18th-century to denote the religious, philosophical, because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. The religion defies our desire to define and categorize it, Hinduism has been variously defined as a religion, a religious tradition, a set of religious beliefs, and a way of life. From a Western lexical standpoint, Hinduism like other faiths is appropriately referred to as a religion, in India the term dharma is preferred, which is broader than the western term religion. Hindu traditionalists prefer to call it Sanatana Dharma, the study of India and its cultures and religions, and the definition of Hinduism, has been shaped by the interests of colonialism and by Western notions of religion. Since the 1990s, those influences and its outcomes have been the topic of debate among scholars of Hinduism, Hinduism as it is commonly known can be subdivided into a number of major currents
29.
Bengal Nagpur Railway
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The Bengal Nagpur Railway was one of the companies which pioneered development of the railways in eastern and central India. It was succeeded first by Eastern Railway and subsequently by South Eastern Railway, the opening of the Mumbai-Thane line in 1853 marked the beginning of railways in India. Extension of the railways was set off throughout the country, on the north-eastern side of Mumbai, the Great Indian Peninsular Railway line was extended up to Bhusawal and then split in two. While one track lead to Nagpur, the other to Jabalpur to connect with the East Indian Railway line from Allahabad to Jabalpur, thereby connecting Mumbai and Kolkata. The great famine of 1878 provided an opportunity for the construction of 150 km long meter gauge link called the Nagpur Chhattisgarh Railway in 1882 connecting Nagpur with Rajnandgaon, the Nagpur Chhattisgarh Railway was owned by the Great Indian Peninsular Railway. Bengal Nagpur Railway was formed in 1887, the Nagpur Chhattisgarh Railway was purchased from Great Indian Peninsula Railway by Bengal Nagpur Railway in 1888, and was converted to broad gauge. The Bengal Nagpur Railway main line from Nagpur to Asansol was opened for traffic on 1 February 1891. It was only after Kharagpur was linked from the west and the south that it was connected to Howrah in 1900. The Bengal Nagpur Railway was nationalized in 1944. Eastern Railway was formed on 14 April 1952 with the portion of East Indian Railway Company east of Mughalsarai, in 1955, South Eastern Railway was carved out of Eastern Railway. It comprised lines mostly operated by BNR earlier, amongst the new zones started in April 2003 were East Coast Railway and South East Central Railway. Both these railways were carved out of South Eastern Railway
30.
Delhi Durbar
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The Delhi Durbar, meaning Court of Delhi, was a mass assembly at Coronation Park, Delhi, India, to mark the succession of an Emperor or Empress of India. Also known as the Imperial Durbar, it was three times, in 1877,1903, and 1911, at the height of the British Empire. The 1911 Durbar was the only one attended by the sovereign, the term was derived from common Mughal term durbar. The 1877 Durbar was largely an official event and not a popular occasion with mass participation like later durbars in 1903 and 1911 and it was attended by the 1st Earl of Lytton—Viceroy of India, maharajas, nawabs and intellectuals. This was the culmination of transfer of control of much of India from the British East India Company to The Crown and it was at this glittering durbar that a man in homespun spotless white khadi rose to read a citation on behalf of the Pune Sarvajanik Sabha. Ganesh Vasudeo Joshi put forth a demand couched in polite language. With this demand, it can be said that the campaign for a free India was formally launched, the durbar would later be seen as controversial because it directed funds away from the Great Famine of 1876–78. The durbar was held to celebrate the succession of Edward VII and Alexandra of Denmark as Emperor, the two full weeks of festivities were devised in meticulous detail by Lord Curzon, Viceroy of India. It was a display of pomp, power and split second timing. Neither the earlier Delhi Durbar of 1877, nor the later Durbar held there in 1911, souvenir guide books were sold and maps of the camping ground distributed. A special Delhi Durbar Medal was struck, firework displays, exhibitions, the assembly awaiting them displayed possibly the greatest collection of jewels to be seen in one place. Each of the Indian princes was adorned with the most spectacular of his gems from the collections of centuries, on the first day, the Curzons entered the area of festivities, together with the maharajahs, riding on elephants, some with huge gold candelabras stuck on their tusks. The durbar ceremony itself fell on New Years Day and was followed by days of polo and other sports, dinners, balls, military reviews, bands, the world’s press dispatched their best journalists, artists and photographers to cover proceedings. The popularity of movie footage of the event, shown in cinemas throughout India, is often credited with having launched the country’s early film industry. The India Post issued a set of two commemorative souvenir sheets with special cancellation struck on 1 January 1903 -12 noon, a sought after item for the stamp collectors today. Practically every ruling prince and nobleman in India, plus thousands of landed gentry and other persons of note, the official ceremonies lasted from 7 December to 16 December, with the Durbar itself occurring on Tuesday,12 December.05 ounces. His action was interpreted at the time as a sign of dissent to British rule, afterwards, the royal couple ascended to the domed royal pavilion, where the King-Emperor announced the move of Indias capital from Calcutta to Delhi. Then on 14 December the King-Emperor presided over a parade of 50,000 troops
31.
Bengal Club
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The Bengal Club is a social club in Kolkata, West Bengal. It was opened in 1827 as the Calcutta United Service Club, the clubs first President was Lt. Col. The club-house was in a building in Esplanade West, erected in 1813, the club has a dining hall, a number of bars, libraries and a gymnasium and is built in the colonial style. Members are also able to visit other clubs around India. The Club has strict dress regulations and this Club is one of the most prestigious clubs in Calcutta. It serves the tradition of Bengal and British culture with a blend of ethics, list of Indias gentlemens clubs The Bengal Club Official website
32.
Chowringhee
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Chowringhee is a neighbourhood in central Kolkata, earlier known as Calcutta, in the Indian state of West Bengal. Jawaharlal Nehru Road runs on its western side, a neighbourhood steeped in history, it is a business district, as well as a shopper’s destination and entertainment-hotel centre. The name ‘Chowringhee’ has defied etymologists, there is, however, the legend of a yogi, Chourangi Giri, who discovered an image of the goddess Kali’s face and built the first and founded the original Kalighat temple. In the seventeenth century or prior to it, the now occupied by the Maidan. At the eastern end of it was an old road, which had once built by the Sabarna Roy Choudhury family from Barisha to Halisahar. Beyond it there were “pools, swamps and rice-fields, dotted here and there with the huts of fishermen. In that region were three small hamlets – Chowringhee, Birjee and Colimba, in 1717, Chowringhee was a hamlet of isolated hovels, surrounded by water-logged paddy-fields and bamboo-groves separated from Gobindapur by the jungle. Tradition has it that Warren Hastings, hunted with elephants in the jungle, Birjee occupied the south-eastern end of later day Maidan, Victoria Memorial and Rabindra Sadan area. Colimba took its name from the Bengali word for musk melon, the strengthening of British power, subsequent to their victory in the Battle of Plassey was followed by the construction of the new Fort William, in 1758. The European inhabitants of Kalikata gradually forsook the narrow limits of the old palisades, in the mid eighteenth century Englishmen began to build magnificent houses on the Chowringhee that earned Kolkata the title of ‘City of Palaces’. The first road in Kolkata to be macadamised was Chitpur Road in 1839, in the evening of 6 July 1857 Chowringhee was lit up with gas lights provided by the Oriental Gas Company. Building of pavements started in 1858, first in Chowringhee and then elsewhere, the pavements were built to facilitate the erection of gas lamps. The traders objected as their customers were forced to park their carriages some distance from the shops, the ‘road to Chowringhee’ ran from Lower Circular Road in the south to Dharmatala in the north. According to old maps, Chowringhee is a locality, not a road, in Colonel Mark Wood’s map of 1784 while the road is marked ‘Road to Chowringhee’, the name ‘Chowringhee’ is given to the locality immediately south of Park Street. Travelling along the ‘Road to Chowringhee’ from south to north, the first crossing was with Theatre Road, at that corner was the Theatre of Calcutta from 1813 to 1839. It was destroyed in a fire, the next turning is that of Harrington Street named after John Herbert Harrington, a judge of the Sadar Adalat. The next crossing Middleton Street was named after Dr. Thomas Fanshaw Middleton, further down the road was Bengal Club. The building was once the residence of Thomas Babington Macaulay, behind Bengal Club ran Russel Street, named after Sir Henry Russel, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 1806-1813
33.
Cornerstone
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The rite of laying a cornerstone is an important cultural component of eastern architecture and metaphorically in sacred architecture generally. Some cornerstones include time capsules from, or engravings commemorating, the time a building was built. Often, the ceremony involved the placing of offerings of grain, wine and these were symbolic of the produce and the people of the land and the means of their subsistence. This in turn derived from the practice in more ancient times of making an animal or human sacrifice that was laid in the foundations. The object of the sacrifice is to give strength and stability to the building and it is believed that the man will die within the year. Not long ago there were still shadow-traders whose business it was to provide architects with the necessary for securing their walls. In these cases the measure of the shadow is looked on as equivalent to the shadow itself, and to bury it is to bury the life or soul of the man, who, deprived of it, must die. Ancient Japan legends talk about Hitobashira, in which maidens were buried alive at the base or near some constructions as a prayer to ensure the buildings against disasters or enemy attacks and this person is usually asked to place their hand on the stone or otherwise signify its laying. Often still, and certainly until the 1970s, most ceremonies involved the use of a manufactured and engraved trowel that had a formal use in laying mortar under the stone. Similarly, a hammer was often used to ceremonially tap the stone into place. Freemasons sometimes perform the public cornerstone laying ceremony for notable buildings and this ceremony was described by The Cork Examiner of 13 January 1865 as follows. After this, Bishop Gregg spread cement over the stone with a specially made for the occasion by John Hawkesworth, a silversmith. He then gave the stone three knocks with a mallet and declared the stone to be duly and truly laid, the Deputy Provincial Grand Master of Munster poured offerings of corn, oil and wine over the stone after Bishop Gregg had declared it to be duly and truly laid. The Provincial Grand Chaplain of the Masonic Order in Munster then read out the prayer, May the Great Architect of the universe enable us as successfully to carry out. The choir and congregation sang the Hundredth Psalm. In Freemasonry, which grew from the practice of stonemasons, the initiate is placed in the north-east corner of the Lodge as a foundation stone. This is intended to signify the unity of the North associated with darkness, a cornerstone will sometimes be referred to as a foundation-stone, and is symbolic of Christ, whom the Apostle Paul referred to as the head of the corner and is the Chief Cornerstone of the Church. Many of the ancient churches will place relics of the saints, especially martyrs
34.
History of the Republic of India
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The history of the Republic of India begins on 26 January 1950. The country became an independent nation within the British Commonwealth on 15 August 1947, concurrently the Muslim-majority northwest and east of British India was separated into the Dominion of Pakistan, by the partition of India. The partition led to a transfer of more than 10 million people between India and Pakistan and the death of about one million people. Indian National Congress leader Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Prime Minister of India, the new constitution of 1950 made India a secular and a democratic state. It has a Hindu majority, a large Muslim minority, and numerous other religious such as Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists. The nation faced religious violence, casteism, naxalism, terrorism and regional separatist insurgencies, especially in Jammu and Kashmir and northeastern India. India has unresolved territorial disputes with China, which in 1962 escalated into the Sino-Indian War, and with Pakistan, which resulted in wars in 1947,1965,1971 and 1999. India was neutral in the Cold War, but purchased its military weapons from the Soviet Union, while its arch-foe Pakistan was closely tied to the United States and the Peoples Republic of China. India is a state, having conducted its first nuclear test in 1974. From the 1950s to the 1980s, India followed socialist-inspired policies, the economy was shackled by extensive regulation, protectionism and public ownership, leading to pervasive corruption and slow economic growth. Beginning in 1991, neoliberal economic reforms have transformed India into the third largest and one of the economies in the world. Today, India is a world power with a prominent voice in global affairs and is seeking a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. Many economists, military analysts and think tanks expect India to become a superpower in the near future, both governments constructed large relief camps for incoming and leaving refugees, and the Indian Army was mobilised to provide humanitarian assistance on a massive scale. More than one million people flooded the streets of Delhi to follow the procession to cremation grounds, in 1949, India recorded almost 1 million Hindu refugees into West Bengal and other states from East Pakistan, owing to communal violence, intimidation and repression from Muslim authorities. The plight of the refugees outraged Hindus and Indian nationalists, and the refugee population drained the resources of Indian states, while not ruling out war, Prime Minister Nehru and Sardar Patel invited Liaquat Ali Khan for talks in Delhi. Although many Indians termed this appeasement, Nehru signed a pact with Liaquat Ali Khan that pledged both nations to the protection of minorities and creation of minority commissions, Khan and Nehru also signed a trade agreement, and committed to resolving bilateral disputes through peaceful means. Steadily, hundreds of thousands of Hindus returned to East Pakistan, British India consisted of 17 provinces and 562 princely states. The provinces were given to India or Pakistan, in cases in particular — Punjab
35.
Nike (mythology)
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In ancient Greek religion, Nike was a goddess who personified victory. She was variously described as the daughter of the Titan Pallas and the goddess Styx, and the sister of Kratos, Bia, the word νίκη nikē is of uncertain etymology. R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin, Nike and her siblings were close companions of Zeus, the dominant deity of the Greek pantheon. According to classical myth, Styx brought them to Zeus when the god was assembling allies for the Titanomachy against the older deities, Nike assumed the role of the divine charioteer, a role in which she often is portrayed in Classical Greek art. Nike flew around rewarding the victors with glory and fame. Nike is seen with wings in most statues and paintings, with one of the most famous being the Winged Victory of Samothrace, most other winged deities in the Greek pantheon had shed their wings by Classical times. Nike is the goddess of strength, speed, and victory, Nike was a very close acquaintance of Athena, and is thought to have stood in Athenas outstretched hand in the statue of Athena located in the Parthenon. Nike is also one of the most commonly portrayed figures on Greek coins, the sports equipment company Nike, Inc. is named after the Greek goddess Nike. Project Nike, an American anti-aircraft missile system is named after the goddess Nike, a figure of Nike with a vessel was the design of the first FIFA World Cup trophy, known also as the Jules Rimet trophy. Since Giuseppe Cassiolis design for the 1928 Summer Olympics, the face of every Olympic medal bears Nikes figure holding a palm frond in her right hand. The goddess appears on the emblem of the University of Melbourne, spirit of Ecstasy, the hood ornament used by the automobile manufacturer Rolls-Royce was inspired by Nike. The Titanic Engineers Memorial, Southampton depicts Nike blessing the engineers of the RMS Titanic for staying at their post as the ship sank, the Honda motorcycle companys logo is inspired by the goddess Nike. Winged Victory of Samothrace Altar of Victory Nike of Paeonius Ángel de la Independencia Smith, William, A Dictionary of Greek, online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Media related to Nike at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of Nike at Wiktionary Theoi Project, Nike Goddess Nike
36.
Allegorical sculpture
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Allegorical sculpture refers to sculptures that symbolize and particularly personify abstract ideas as in allegory. This approach of using human form and its posture, gesture and it may be seen in funerary art as early as 1580. They were used on renaissance monuments when patron saints became unacceptable, particularly popular were the four cardinal virtues and the three Christian virtues, but others such as fame, victory, hope and time are also represented. The use of sculpture was fully developed under the École des Beaux-Arts. It is sometimes associated with Victorian art, and is found in works dating from around 1900. The Four cardinal virtues, by Maximilian Colt, on the monument to Robert Cecil, pintos Allegories of Justice and Truth by architect Giuseppe Bonici and mason Giovanni Puglisi,1758. The figures of the four continents and four arts and sciences surrounding the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens,1872
37.
Taj Mahal
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The Taj Mahal is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the south bank of the Yamuna river in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The tomb is the centrepiece of a 17-hectare complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643 but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years. The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by the architect to the emperor. The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the worlds heritage. Described by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore as the tear-drop on the cheek of time, it is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture, the Taj Mahal attracts 7–8 million visitors a year. In 2007, it was declared a winner of the New7Wonders of the World initiative. The Taj Mahal was commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1631, to be built in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632. The imperial court documenting Shah Jahans grief after the death of Mumtaz Mahal illustrate the story held as the inspiration for Taj Mahal. The principal mausoleum was completed in 1643 and the surrounding buildings, the Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions of Persian and earlier Mughal architecture. Specific inspiration came from successful Timurid and Mughal buildings including the Gur-e Amir, Humayuns Tomb, Itmad-Ud-Daulahs Tomb, while earlier Mughal buildings were primarily constructed of red sandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones. Buildings under his patronage reached new levels of refinement, the tomb is the central focus of the entire complex of the Taj Mahal. It is a large, white marble standing on a square plinth and consists of a symmetrical building with an iwan topped by a large dome. Like most Mughal tombs, the elements are Persian in origin. The base structure is a large multi-chambered cube with chamfered corners forming an unequal eight-sided structure that is approximately 55 metres on each of the four long sides. Each side of the iwan is framed with a huge pishtaq or vaulted archway with two similarly shaped arched balconies stacked on either side and this motif of stacked pishtaqs is replicated on the chamfered corner areas, making the design completely symmetrical on all sides of the building. Four minarets frame the tomb, one at each corner of the plinth facing the chamfered corners, the main chamber houses the false sarcophagi of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan, the actual graves are at a lower level. The most spectacular feature is the dome that surmounts the tomb
38.
Emperor
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An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the equivalent, may indicate an emperors wife, mother. Emperors are generally recognized to be of an honour and rank than kings. The Emperor of Japan is the currently reigning monarch whose title is translated into English as Emperor. Both kings and emperors are monarchs, but emperor and empress are considered the higher monarchical titles. In as much as there is a definition of emperor, it is that an emperor has no relations implying the superiority of any other ruler. Thus a king might be obliged to pay tribute to another ruler, or be restrained in his actions in some unequal fashion, although initially ruling much of Central Europe and northern Italy, by the 19th century the Emperor exercised little power beyond the German speaking states. In Eastern Europe the rulers of the Russian Empire also used translatio imperii to wield authority as successors to the Eastern Roman Empire. Their title of Emperor was officially recognised by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1514, in practice the Russian Emperors are often known by their Russian-language title Tsar, which may also used to refer to rulers equivalent to a king. Historians have liberally used emperor and empire anachronistically and out of its Roman and European context to any large state from the past or the present. Such pre-Roman titles as Great King or King of Kings, used by the Kings of Persia, however such empires did not need to be headed by an emperor. Empire became identified instead with vast territorial holdings rather than the title of its ruler by the mid-18th century, outside the European context, emperor was the translation given to holders of titles who were accorded the same precedence as European emperors in diplomatic terms. In reciprocity, these rulers might accredit equal titles in their languages to their European peers. Through centuries of international convention, this has become the dominant rule to identifying an emperor in the modern era, also the name of the position split in several branches of Western tradition, see below. Later new symbols of worldly and/or spiritual power, like the orb, rules for indicating successors also varied, there was a tendency towards male inheritance of the supreme office, but as well election by noblemen, as ruling empresses are known. Ruling monarchs could additionally steer the succession by adoption, as occurred in the two first centuries of Imperial Rome. Of course, intrigue, murder and military force could also mingle in for appointing successors, probably the epoch best known for this part of the imperial tradition is Romes third century rule. When Republican Rome turned into a de facto monarchy in the half of the 1st century BC
39.
Chhatri
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Chhatris are elevated, dome-shaped pavilions used as an element in Indian architecture. The word Chhatri means canopy or umbrella, in the context of architecture, the word is used to refer to two different things. The usual and more widely understood meaning is of a memorial, usually very ornate, such memorials usually consist of a platform girded by a set of ornate pillars which hold up a stone canopy. The word chhatri is also used to refer to the pavilions that mark the corners. These pavilions are purely decorative and have no utility, but are a folly which announce the status. Chhatris are commonly used to depict the elements of pride and honor in the Jat, Maratha and they are widely used, in palaces, in forts, or to demarcate funerary sites. They are today seen on its finest monuments, Humayuns Tomb in Delhi, Chhatris are basic element of Hindu as well as Mughal architecture. The term chhatri means umbrella or canopy, in the Shekhawati region of Rajasthan, chhatris are built on the cremation sites of wealthy or distinguished individuals. Chhatris in Shekhawati may consist of a structure of one dome raised by four pillars to a building containing many domes. In some places, the interior of the chhatris is painted in the manner as the Havelis of the region. Many other chhatris exist in parts of Rajasthan. Their locations include, Jaipur – Gaitore Cenotaphs of the Maharajas of Jaipur, set in a narrow valley, the cenotaphs of the former rulers of Jaipur consist of the somewhat typical chhatri or umbrella-shaped memorials. Sawai Jai Singh IIs Chhatri is particularly noteworthy because of the carvings that have used to embellish it. The chhatri of Maharaja Suraj Mal of Bharatpur has fine frescos illuminating the life of Surajmal, vividly depicting darbar and hunting scenes, royal processions and wars. Udaipur- Flanked by a row of enormous stone elephants, the Lake Pichola island has an impressive chhatri carved from gray blue stone, haldighati – A beautiful Chhatri with white marble columns, dedicated to Rana Pratap, stands here. Chetak Smarak, the dedicated to Chetak, Rana Prataps famous horse, is also noteworthy. Alwar – Moosi Maharani ki Chhatri is a red sandstone. Bundi – Suraj Chhatri and Mordi Ki Chhatri, Chaurasi Khambon ki Chhatri, Bundi, rani Shyam Kumari wife of Raja Chhatrasal on the northern hill constructed the Suraj Chhatri and Mayuri the second wife of Chhatrasal on the southern hill erected Mordi Ki Chhatri
40.
Thomas Daniell
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Thomas Daniell RA was an English landscape painter. He spent seven years in India, accompanied by his nephew William, also an artist, Thomas Daniell was born in 1749 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. His father was the landlord of the Swan Inn at Chertsey, Thomas began his career apprenticed to an heraldic painter and worked at Maxwells the coach painter in Queen Street before attending the Royal Academy Schools. Although he exhibited 30 works – mainly landscapes and floral pieces – at the Academy between 1772 and 1784, Daniell found it difficult to establish himself as a painter in Britain. Thomas and William Daniell sailed from Gravesend on 7 April 1785, in July of that year, Daniell announced, in an advertisement in the Calcutta Chronicle, his intention to publish a set of views of the city. Executed in etching and aquatint and hand-coloured by local painters, the plates were completed in late 1788. In November of that year Daniell wrote to Ozias Humphrey I was obliged to stand Painter Engraver Copper-smith Printer and it was a devilish undertaking but I was determined to see it through at all events. On 3 September 1788, the Daniells set out on a tour of north-east India leaving Calcutta by boat along the River Ganges, travelling as far as Srinagar, where they arrived in May 1789. Thomas and his nephew spent 1790-1 in the town of Bhagalpur with the orientalist and amateur artist Samuel Davis and they made many stops on their return journey, not arriving back in Calcutta until February 1792. On 10 March 1792 the Daniells left Calcutta once more, this time for Madras and they were back in Madras in January 1793. A briefer third tour took them through western India and they left Madras in the middle of February 1793 and reached Bombay the following month. In May 1793 the Daniells left India and returned to England, on his return to England, Daniell set about publishing an extensive illustrated work under the general heading title of Oriental Scenery. Six volumes, published between 1795 and 1808, were based on drawings made in India by the Daniells themselves, first published on 1 January 1804. The Daniells also published Views in Egypt and Picturesque Voyage to India and they etched all the plates themselves, almost all in aquatint. Daniell continued to exhibit Eastern subjects until 1828 and he also contributed drawings to Reess Cyclopædia, but these have not been identified. He contributed to some landscaping projects, designing an Indian temple for Sir John Osborne at Melchet Court and he died at his home in Earls Terrace, Kensington, on 19 March 1840, aged 91, having outlived both his nephews. James Forbes Davis, Samuel, Aris, Michael, Views of Medieval Bhutan, the diary and drawings of Samuel Davis,1783. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
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Antiquarian
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An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with attention to ancient artifacts, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives. Today the term is used in a pejorative sense, to refer to an excessively narrow focus on factual historical trivia. The Kaogutu or Illustrated Catalogue of Examined Antiquity compiled by Lü Dalin is one of the oldest known catalogues to systematically describe and classify ancient artifacts which were unearthed. Interests in antiquarian studies of ancient inscriptions and artifacts waned after the Song Dynasty, Books on antiquarian topics covered such subjects as the origin of customs, religious rituals, and political institutions, genealogy, topography and landmarks, and etymology. By contrast, antiquarian works as a form are organized by topic. Major antiquarian Latin writers with surviving works include Varro, Pliny the Elder, Aulus Gellius, the Roman emperor Claudius published antiquarian works, none of which is extant. Some of Ciceros treatises, particularly his work on divination, show strong antiquarian interests, roman-era Greek writers also dealt with antiquarian material, such as Plutarch in his Roman Questions and the Deipnosophistae of Athenaeus. The aim of Latin antiquarian works is to collect a number of possible explanations. The antiquarians are often used as sources by the ancient historians, despite the importance of antiquarian writing in the literature of ancient Rome, some scholars view antiquarianism as emerging only in the Middle Ages. Antiquarianisms wider flowering is more associated with the Renaissance, and with the critical assessment. The development of genealogy as a scientific discipline went hand-in-hand with the development of antiquarianism, genealogical antiquaries recognised the evidential value for their researches of non-textual sources, including seals and church monuments. Many early modern antiquaries were also chorographers, that is to say, they recorded landscapes, in England, some of the most important of these took the form of county histories. They increasingly argued that empirical evidence could be used to refine. Antiquaries had always attracted a degree of ridicule, and since the century the term has tended to be used most commonly in negative or derogatory contexts. Nevertheless, many practising antiquaries continue to claim the title with pride, Antiquary was the usual term in English from the 16th to the mid-18th centuries to describe a person interested in antiquities. From the second half of the 18th century, however, antiquarian began to be used widely as a noun. From the 16th to the 19th centuries, a distinction was perceived to exist between the interests and activities of the antiquary and the historian
