1.
Heliodorus pillar
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Historically, it is the first known inscription related to the Bhagavata cult in India. The site is located 5 miles from the Buddhist stupa of Sanchi, the pillar was surmounted by a sculpture of Garuda and was apparently dedicated by Heliodorus to the god Vāsudeva in front of the temple of Vāsudeva. There are two inscriptions on the pillar, the first inscription describes in Brahmi script the situation of Heliodorus and his relationship to the Shunga Empire and the Indo-Greek Kingdom. Although not perfectly clear, the inscription seems to be referring to Heliodoros as a Bhagavata, One devoted to Bhagavan, three steps to immortality, when correctly followed, lead to heaven, control, generosity, and attention. The pillar was surmounted by a sculpture of the eagle Garuda and was dedicated by Heliodorus to Vāsudeva, called god of gods. He is the earliest recorded converts to the Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism, an earlier Greco-Bactrian king Agathocles also minted coins with the image of Hindu gods circa 180 BCE. Coins minted during the period of Antialcidas depict Zeus with a lotus-tipped sceptre, in front of an elephant with a bell, surmouted by Nike holding a wreath. The coins carry the inscription BASILEOS NIKEPHOROU ANTIALKIDOU and these coins were also minted at the Pushkalavati mint and carry the same inscription in Kharoṣṭhī script. Zeus Eagle messenger and companion Aetos Dios, was considered as Zeus himself, when you were an eagle, when you picked up the boy on the slopes of Teukrian Ida with greedy gentle claw, and brought him to heaven. Based on this evidence it has suggested that Heliodorus is one of the earliest Westerner on record to convert to Vaishnavism whose evidence has survived. But some scholars, most notably A. L. Basham, certainly there were numerous others including the king who sent him as an ambassador. Bhagavata History of Hinduism Photo of the pillar with Brahmi inscription Text of the inscriptions on Heliodorus pillar Vedic archeology
2.
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
3.
Madhya Pradesh
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Madhya Pradesh is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, nicknamed the heart of India due to its geographical location in India, Madhya Pradesh is the second-largest state in the country by area. With over 75 million inhabitants, it is the fifth-largest state in India by population and it borders the states of Uttar Pradesh to the northeast, Chhattisgarh to the southeast, Maharashtra to the south, Gujarat to the west, and Rajasthan to the northwest. Its total area is 308,252 km², subsequently, the region was ruled by the major dynasties of India. By the early 18th century, the region was divided into small kingdoms which were captured by the British and incorporated into Central Provinces and Berar. This state was the largest in India by area until 2000, in recent years, the states GDP growth has been above the national average. Rich in mineral resources, MP has the largest reserves of diamond, more than 30% of its area is under forest cover. Its tourism industry has seen growth, with the state topping the National Tourism Awards in 2010–11. Isolated remains of Homo erectus found in Hathnora in the Narmada Valley indicate that Madhya Pradesh might have been inhabited in the Middle Pleistocene era, painted pottery dated to the later mesolithic period has been found in the Bhimbetka rock shelters. Chalcolithic sites belonging to Kayatha culture and Malwa culture have been discovered in the part of the state. The city of Ujjain arose as a centre in the region. It served as the capital of the Avanti kingdom, other kingdoms mentioned in ancient epics — Malava, Karusha, Dasarna and Nishada — have also been identified with parts of Madhya Pradesh. Chandragupta Maurya united northern India around 320 BCE, establishing the Mauryan Empire, ashoka the greatest of Mauryan rulers brought the region under firmer control. After the decline of the Maurya empire, the region was contested among the Sakas, the Kushanas, the Satavahanas, Heliodorus, the Greek Ambassador to the court of the Shunga king Bhagabhadra erected the Heliodorus pillar near Vidisha. Ujjain emerged as the predominant commercial centre of western India from the first century BCE, the Satavahana dynasty of the northern Deccan and the Saka dynasty of the Western Satraps fought for the control of Madhya Pradesh during the 1st to 3rd centuries CE. The Satavahana king Gautamiputra Satakarni inflicted a defeat upon the Saka rulers and conquered parts of Malwa. Subsequently, the region came under the control of the Gupta empire in the 4th and 5th centuries, and their southern neighbours, the attacks of the Hephthalites or White Huns brought about the collapse of the Gupta empire, which broke up into smaller states. The king Yasodharman of Malwa defeated the Huns in 528, ending their expansion, later, Harsha ruled the northern parts of the state
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.
Bhopal
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Bhopal is the capital of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Bhopal district and Bhopal division. The city was the capital of the former Bhopal State, Bhopal is known as the City of Lakes for its various natural as well as artificial lakes and is also one of the greenest cities in India. It is the 17th largest city in the country and 131st in the world, a Y-class city, Bhopal houses various institutions and installations of national importance, including ISROs Master Control Facility and BHEL. Bhopal is home to the largest number of Institutes of National Importance in India, namely IISER, MANIT, SPA, the Bhopal disaster continues to be a part of the socio-political debate and a logistical challenge for the people of Bhopal. The city has been adjudged as the 21st cleanest city in India, according to folklore, Bhopal was founded in 11th century by the Paramara king Bhoja, who ruled from his capital at Dhar. This theory states that Bhopal was originally known as Bhojpal after a dam constructed by the kings minister, an alternative theory says that the city is named after another king called Bhupala. In the early 18th century, Bhopal was a village in the Gond kingdom. The modern Bhopal city was established by Dost Mohammad Khan, an Afghan soldier in the Mughal army, after the death of the emperor Aurangzeb, Khan started providing mercenary services to local chieftains in the politically unstable Malwa region. In 1709, he took on the lease of Berasia estate, Khan received the territory of Bhopal from the Gond queen Kamlapati in lieu of payment for mercenary services and usurped her kingdom after her death. In the 1720s, he built the Fatehgarh fort in the village, Bhopal became a princely state after signing a treaty with the British East India Company in 1818. Between 1819 and 1926, the state was ruled by four women, qudsia Begum was the first woman ruler, who was succeeded by her only daughter Sikandar Begum, who in turn was succeeded by her only daughter, Shahjehan Begum. Sultan Jahan Begum was the last woman ruler who, after 25 years of rule, abdicated in favour of her son, the rule of Begums gave the city its waterworks, railways, a postal system, and a municipality constituted in 1907. Bhopal State was the second-largest Muslim-ruled princely state, the first being Hyderabad, after the independence of India in 1947, the last Nawab expressed his wish to retain Bhopal as a separate unit. Agitations against the Nawab broke out in December 1948, leading to the arrest of prominent leaders including Shankar Dayal Sharma, later, the political detainees were released, and the Nawab signed the agreement for Bhopals merger with the Union of India on 30 April 1949. The Bhopal state was taken over by the Union Government of India on 1 June 1949, on December 1984, a Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant in Bhopal leaked around 32 tons of toxic gases, including methyl isocyanate gas which led to the worst industrial disaster to date. The official death toll was recorded around 4,000. The higher estimates have been challenged, the impact of the disaster continues to this day in terms of psychological and neurological disabilities, blindness, skin, vision, breathing, and birth disorders. The soil and ground water near the site have been contaminated by the toxic wastes
6.
Census
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A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population, the term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses, other common censuses include agriculture, business, and traffic censuses. United Nations recommendations also cover census topics to be collected, official definitions, classifications, the word is of Latin origin, during the Roman Republic, the census was a list that kept track of all adult males fit for military service. Current administrative data systems allow for other approaches to enumeration with the level of detail but raise concerns about privacy. A census can be contrasted with sampling in which information is obtained only from a subset of a population, typically main population estimates are updated by such intercensal estimates. Modern census data are used for research, business marketing, and planning. Census counts are necessary to adjust samples to be representative of a population by weighting them as is common in opinion polling, similarly, stratification requires knowledge of the relative sizes of different population strata which can be derived from census enumerations. In some countries, the census provides the official used to apportion the number of elected representatives to regions. In many cases, a carefully chosen random sample can provide accurate information than attempts to get a population census. A census is often construed as the opposite of a sample as its intent is to count everyone in a rather than a fraction. However, population censuses rely on a frame to count the population. This is the way to be sure that everyone has been included as otherwise those not responding would not be followed up on. The fundamental premise of a census is that the population is not known, the use of a sampling frame is counterintuitive as it suggests that the population size is already known. However, a census is also used to collect data on the individuals in the nation. This process of sampling marks the difference between historical census, which was a house to house process or the product of a decree. The sampling frame used by census is almost always an address register, thus it is not known if there is anyone resident or how many people there are in each household. Depending on the mode of enumeration, a form is sent to the householder, as a preliminary to the dispatch of forms, census workers will check any address problems on the ground. While it may seem straightforward to use the postal service file for this purpose, a particular problem is what are termed communal establishments which category includes student residences, religious orders, homes for the elderly, people in prisons etc
7.
Paramara dynasty
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The Paramara dynasty were an Indian dynasty that ruled Malwa and surrounding areas in west-central India between 9th and 14th centuries. The medieval bardic literature classifies them among the Agnivanshi Rajput dynasties, the Paramara dynasty was established in either 9th or 10th century. The earliest extant Paramara inscriptions, issued by the 10th century ruler Siyaka, have found in Gujarat. Around 972 CE, Siyaka sacked the Rashtrakuta capital Manyakheta, by the time of his successor Munja, the Malwa region in present-day Madhya Pradesh had become the core Paramara territory, with Dhara as their capital. The dynasty reached its zenith under Munjas nephew Bhoja, whose kingdom extended from Chittor in the north to Konkan in the south, and from the Sabarmati River in the west to Vidisha in the east. The Paramara power rose and declined several times as a result of their struggles with the Chaulukyas of Gujarat, the Chalukyas of Kalyani, the later Paramara rulers moved their capital to Mandapa-Durga after Dhara was sacked multiple times by their enemies. Malwa enjoyed a level of political and cultural prestige under the Paramaras. The Paramaras were well known for their patronage to Sanskrit poets and scholars, most of the Paramara kings were Shaivites and commissioned several Shiva temples, although they also patronized Jain scholars. The Harsola copper plates issued by the Paramara king Siyaka II establish that the early Paramara rulers were the feudatories of the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta and this inscription mentions a king called Akalavarsha, followed by the expression tasmin kule, and then followed by the name Vappairaja. Based on the Harsola inscription, some such as D. C. Ganguly theorized that the Paramaras were descended from the Rashtrakutas, ganguly also tried to find support for his theory in Ain-i-Akbari, whose variation of the Agnikula myth states that the founder of the Paramara kingdom came to Malwa from Deccan. Moreover, Siyakas successor Munja assumed titles such as Amoghavarsha, Sri-vallabha and Prithvi-vallabha, several historians have been critical of this theory. Dasharatha Sharma notes that the Agnikula myth about the Paramara origin had come into being by the time of Siyakas son Sindhuraja, Sharma argues that the Rashtrakuta royal origin of the Paramaras could not have been forgotten within a generation. Jain theorizes that Vappairajas mother was related to the Rashtrakuta family, the later Paramara kings claimed to be members of the Agnikula or Agnivansha. Vashistha then conjured a hero from a fire pit, who defeated Vashisthas enemies. Vashistha then gave the hero the title Paramara, the earliest known source to mention this story is the Nava-sahasanka-charita of Padmagupta Parimala, who was a court-poet of the Paramara king Sindhuraja. The legend is not mentioned in earlier Paramara-era inscriptions or literary works, by this time, all the neighbouring dynasties claimed divine or heroic origin, which might have motivated the Paramaras to invent a legend of their own. Later, a mentioned in a recension of Prithviraj Raso extended the legend to include other Rajput dynasties among the fire-born clans
8.
Archaeological Survey of India
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It was founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham who also became its first Director-General. The first systematic research into Indias history was conducted by the Asiatic Society, based in Calcutta, the society promoted the study of ancient Sanskrit and Persian texts and published an annual journal titled Asiatic Researches. Notable among its members was Charles Wilkins who published the first English translation of the Bhagavad Gita in 1785 with the patronage of the then Governor-General of India. However, the most important of the achievements was the decipherment of the Brahmi script by James Prinsep in 1837. This successful decipherment inaugurated the study of Indian palaeography, armed with the knowledge of Brahmi, Alexander Cunningham, a protégé of Prinsep, carried out a detailed survey of the Buddhist monuments which lasted for over half a century. Inspired by early amateur archaeologists like the Italian military officer, Jean-Baptiste Ventura, the survey was suspended briefly between 1865 and 1871 due to lack of funds but restored by Lord Lawrence the then Viceroy of India. In 1871, the Survey was revived as a separate department, to this day, Alexander Cunningham is revered as the Father of Indian Archaeology. Cunningham retired in 1885 and was succeeded as Director General by James Burgess, Burgess launched a yearly journal The Indian Antiquary and an annual epigraphical publication Epigraphia Indica as a supplement to the Indian Antiquary. The post of Director General was permanently suspended in 1889 due to a crunch and was not restored until 1902. In the interim period, conservation work in the different circles was carried out by the superintendents of the individual circles, the post of Director General was restored by Lord Curzon in 1902. Breaking with tradition, Curzon chose a 26-year-old professor of classical studies at Cambridge named John Marshall to head the survey. Marshall served as Director General for a quarter of a century and during his long tenure, Marshall established the post of Government epigraphist and encouraged epigraphical studies. The most significant event of his tenure was, however, the discovery of the Indus Valley Civilization at Harappa, the success and scale of the discoveries made ensured that the progress made in Marshalls tenure would remain unmatched. Marshall was succeeded by Harold Hargreaves in 1928, Hargreaves was succeeded by Daya Ram Sahni, supervisor of Marshalls excavation of Harappa in 1921−22, who in 1931, became the first Indian Director General of the survey. Sahni was succeeded by J. F. Blakiston and K. N. Dikshit both of whom had participated in the excavations at Harappa and Mohenjodaro, in 1944, a British archaeologist and army officer, Mortimer Wheeler took over as Director General. Wheeler served as Director General till 1948 and during this period he excavated the Iron Age site of Arikamedu, Wheeler was succeeded by N. P. Chakravarti in 1948. The National Museum was inaugurated in New Delhi on August 15,1949 to house the artifacts displayed at the Indian Exhibition in the United Kingdom, madho Sarup Vats and Amalananda Ghosh succeeded Chakravarti. Ghoshs tenure which lasted until 1968 is noted for the excavations of Indus Valley sites at Kalibangan, Lothal, the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act was passed in 1958 bringing the archaeological survey under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture
9.
Pillars of Ashoka
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The pillars of Ashoka are a series of columns dispersed throughout the Indian subcontinent, erected or at least inscribed with edicts by the Mauryan king Ashoka during his reign in the 3rd century BC. Originally, there must have been many pillars but only nineteen survive with inscriptions, and only six with animal capitals, many are preserved in a fragmentary state. Averaging between 12 to 15 m in height, and weighing up to 50 tons each, the pillars were dragged, sometimes hundreds of miles, a few such Ashokan pillars have been discovered in China. All the pillars were built at Buddhist monasteries, many important sites from the life of the Buddha, some of the columns carry inscriptions addressed to the monks and nuns. Some were erected to commemorate visits by Ashoka, the uniformity of style in the pillar capitals suggests that they were all sculpted by craftsmen from the same region. It would therefore seem that stone was transported from Mathura and Chunar to the sites where the pillars have been found. The shafts are always plain and smooth, circular in cross-section, slightly tapering upwards, the lower parts of the capitals have the shape and appearance of a gently arched bell formed of lotus petals. The abaci are of two types, square and plain and circular and decorated and these are of different proportions, the crowning animals are masterpieces of Mauryan art, shown either seated or standing, always in the round and chiselled as a single piece with the abaci. Presumably all or most of the columns that now lack them once had capitals and animals. It is also possible some of the stone pillars predate Ashokas reign. Several pillars were relocated by later Mughal Empire rulers, the capitals being removed. One of them, the four lions of Sarnath, has become the State Emblem of India, various foreign influences have been described in the design of these capitals. The animal on top of a lotiform capital reminds of Achaemenid column shapes, a similar kind of design can be seen in the frieze of the lost capital of the Allahabad pillar. These designs likely originated in Greek and Near-Eastern arts and they would probably have come from the neighboring Seleucid Empire, and specifically from a Hellenistic city such as Ai-Khanoum, located at the doorstep of India. These contain inscriptions recording their dedication, Lumbini, Rupandehi district, Nepal was erected by Ashoka where Buddha was born. Nigali-Sagar, near Lumbini, Rupandehi district, Nepal The most celebrated capital erected by Emperor Ashoka circa 250 BC. also called the Ashoka Column, four lions are seated back to back. At present the Column remains in the same place whereas the Lion Capital is at the Sarnath Museum. This Lion Capital of Ashoka from Sarnath has been adopted as the National Emblem of India and the wheel Ashoka Chakra from its base was placed onto the centre of the flag of India
10.
Udayagiri Caves
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The Udayagiri Caves feature some of the oldest Hindu images and cave temples in India. They are located near the city of Vidisha, northeast of Bhopal in the state of Madhya Pradesh, one of Indias most important archaeological sites from the Gupta period, the Udayagiri hills and its caves are an archaeological site under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India. Udayagiri consists of two low hills immediately next to the River Bes, located a short distance from the earthen ramparts of the ancient city site of Besnagar, Udayagiri is about 4 km from the town of Vidisha and about 13 km from the Buddhist site of Sanchi. Udayagiri is best known for a series of rock-cut sanctuaries and images excavated into hillside in the years of the fifth century CE. The site has important inscriptions of the Gupta dynasty belonging to the reigns of Chandragupta II, the complex consists of twenty caves, of which one is dedicated to Jainism and all others to Hinduism. There are a number of places in India with the name, the most notable being the mountain called Udayagiri at Rajgir in Bihar. The name of the site in ancient times is not directly attested, Udayagiri, literally means the mountain of the sunrise, first appears in inscriptions of the eleventh century and it is now the name attached to a small village at the foot of the hill. Some historians have suggested that the pillar at Delhi originally stood at Udayagiri. If true, the inscription on the shows that Udayagiri was called Viṣṇupadagiri. This is supported by an inscription in one of the Udayagiri caves reporting that the devotee who repaired the shrine bows forever to the feet of Viṣṇu. The site at Udayagiri Caves was extensively reworked under the patronage of Chandragupta II, the caves at Udayagiri were numbered in the nineteenth century from south to north by Alexander Cunningham but a more detailed system was introduced by the Department of Archaeology, Gwalior State. Due to the changes, the numbering sequence is debated. Most visitors will be interested in the sculptures, architecture and inscriptions found at Caves 1,3,4,5,6 and 13, the numbering of which is now generally accepted. Cave 1, the only substantial residue on the part of Udayagiri hill, has a frontage adapted out of a natural ledge of rock. Cave 3 is the first of the group or cluster of shrines. It consists of an irregularly finished cella with a plain entrance, traces of two pilasters are seen on both sides of the entrance and there is a deep horizontal cutting above which shows that there was some sort of portico in front of the shrine. Inside there is a image of Kārttikeya or Skanda, the war god. The mouldings and spout of the plinth are now damaged, the figure, with an impressive muscular torso, stands with his weight equally on both legs, one of the hands holds the remains of a staff or club
11.
Jainism
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Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma, is an ancient Indian religion belonging to the śramaṇa tradition. The central tenet is non-violence and respect all living beings. The three main principles of Jainism are ahimsa, anekantavada and aparigraha, followers of Jainism take five main vows, ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya and aparigraha. Jain monks and nuns observe these vows absolutely whereas householders observe them within their practical limitations, self-discipline and asceticism are thus major focuses of Jainism. The word Jain derives from the Sanskrit word jina, a human being who has conquered all inner passions like attachment, desire, anger, pride, greed, etc. is called Jina. Followers of the path practiced and preached by the jinas are known as Jains, Parasparopagraho Jivanam is the motto of Jainism. Jains trace their history through a succession of teachers and revivers of the Jain path known as Tirthankaras. In the current era, this started with Rishabhdeva and concluded with Mahavira, Jains believe that Jainism is eternal and while it may be forgotten, it will be revived from time to time. The majority of Jains reside in India, with 6-7 million followers, Jainism is smaller than many other major world religions. Outside of India, some of the largest Jain communities are present in Canada, Europe, Kenya, the UK, Suriname, Fiji, contemporary Jainism is divided into two major sects, Digambara and Śvētāmbara. Namokar Mantra is the most common and basic prayer in Jainism, major Jain festivals include Paryushana and Daslakshana, Mahavir Jayanti, and Diwali. The principle of ahimsa is the most fundamental and well-known aspect of Jainism, the everyday implementation of the principle of non-violence is more comprehensive than in other religions and is the hallmark for Jain identity. Jains believe in avoiding harm to others thoughts, speech. According to the Jain text, Purushartha Siddhyupaya, killing any living being out of passions is hiṃsā, Jains extend the practice of nonviolence and kindness not only towards other humans but towards all living beings. For this reason, vegetarianism is a hallmark of Jain identity, if there is violence against animals during the production of dairy products, veganism is encouraged. Jainism has an elaborate framework on types of life and includes life-forms that may be invisible. Therefore, after humans and animals, insects are the living being offered protection in Jain practice. For example, insects in the home are often escorted out instead of killed, Jainism teaches that intentional harm and the absence of compassion make an action more violent
12.
Betwa River
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The Betwa or Betravati is a river in Northern India, and a tributary of the Yamuna. Also known as the Vetravati, the Betwa rises in the Vindhya Range just north of Hoshangabad in Madhya Pradesh and flows north-east through Madhya Pradesh, nearly half of its course, which is not navigable, runs over the Malwa Plateau. The confluence of the Betwa and the Yamuna Rivers is Hamirpur town in Uttar Pradesh, the Indian navy named one of its frigates INS Betwa in honour of the river Betwa. This river is mentioned in the epic Mahabharata along with the Charmanwati river, Vetravati was also known as Shuktimati. In accordance with an agreement between the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in 1973, Betwa River Board was constituted under the Betwa River Board Act,1976. The Betwa River is being linked with the Ken River as a part of the linking project in Madhya Pradesh. Another noteworthy project on the Betwa River is the construction of the Matatila Dam, the region is important for migratory waterbirds. An ambitious pro-ject to link Ken and Betwarivers has become a stage foraunique man-animal con-flict, proponents of the pro-ject, led by the Union WaterMinistry, say that the pro-posed Daudhan dam and the2. Rajghat Dam Matatila Dam Parichha Dam Dhurwara Dam Yamuna Ganga INS Betwa frigate Betwa River Ken-Betwa river link project to cost Rs 4,500 cr Business Line Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Betwa
13.
Sanchi
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Sanchi the Buddhist complex, famous for its Great Stupa, is located on a hilltop at Sanchi Town in Raisen District of the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is 46 km north-east of Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh, the Great Stupa at Sanchi is the oldest stone structure in India and was originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE. Its nucleus was a hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the Buddha. It was crowned by the chatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, the original construction work of this stupa was overseen by Ashoka, whose wife Devi was the daughter of a merchant of nearby Vidisha. Sanchi was also her birthplace as well as the venue of her, in the 1st century BCE, four elaborately carved toranas and a balustrade encircling the entire structure were added. The sanchi stupa built during Mauryan period was made of bricks, the complex flourished until the 11th century. Sanchi is the center of a region with a number of stupas including Satdhara, Morel Khurd, Andher, Mawas, the Great Stupa at Sanchi is the oldest structure and was originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka the Great in the 3rd century BCE. Its nucleus was a brick structure built over the relics of the Buddha. It was crowned by the chatra, a parasol-like structure symbolising high rank, the old stupa was later covered when it was expanded under the Shungas. A pillar of finely polished sandstone was also erected, the bottom part of the pillar still stands. The upper parts of the pillar are placed under a canopy nearby, the pillar has an Ashokan inscription and an inscription in the ornamental Sankha Lipi from the Gupta period. It has been suggested that Pushyamitra may have destroyed the original stupa, the original brick stupa was covered with stone during the Shunga period. During the later rule of the Shunga, the stupa was expanded with stone slabs to almost twice its original size, the dome was flattened near the top and crowned by three superimposed parasols within a square railing. With its many tiers it was a symbol of the dharma, the dome was set on a high circular drum meant for circumambulation, which could be accessed via a double staircase. A second stone pathway at ground level was enclosed by a balustrade with four monumental gateways facing the cardinal directions. The buildings which seem to have been commissioned during the rule of the Shungas are the Second and Third stupas, from the 1st century BCE, the gateways and the balustrade were built and colored, the work being apparently commissioned by the Satavahana. The gateways and toranas are generally dated to the 1st century CE, kharavela in his inscription mentions one Satakarni, who is identified as Satakarni II, who is also identical to the one who inscribed in Sanchi. If this is true, then the dating of Sanchi gateway, although made of stone, they were carved and constructed in the manner of wood and the gateways were covered with narrative sculptures
14.
Shunga Empire
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The Shunga Empire was an ancient Indian dynasty from Magadha that controlled vast areas of the Indian subcontinent from around 187 to 78 BCE. The dynasty was established by Pushyamitra Shunga, after the fall of the Maurya Empire and its capital was Pataliputra, but later emperors such as Bhagabhadra also held court at Besnagar in eastern Malwa. Pushyamitra Shunga ruled for 36 years and was succeeded by his son Agnimitra, the empire is noted for its numerous wars with both foreign and indigenous powers. They fought the Kalinga, the Satavahana dynasty, the Indo-Greek Kingdom, Shunga rulers helped to establish the tradition of royal sponsorship of learning and art. The script used by the empire was a variant of Brahmi script and was used to write Sanskrit, the Shunga Empire played an imperative role in patronizing culture at a time when some of the most important developments in Hindu thought were taking place. Patanjalis Mahābhāṣya was composed in this period, artistry also progressed with the rise of the Mathura art style. The Kanva dynasty succeeded the Shungas around 73 BCE, Pushyamitra Shunga then ascended the throne. Pushyamitra Shunga became the ruler of Magadha and neighbouring territories, the empire of Pushyamitra was extended to the Narmada River in the south, controlled Jalandhar and Sialkot in the Punjab region in the northwest and the city of Ujjain in Central India. Kabul and much of the Punjab passed into the hands of the Indo-Greeks, Pushyamitra died after ruling for 36 years. He was succeeded by son Agnimitra and this prince is the hero of a famous drama by one of Indias greatest playwrights, Kālidāsa. Agnimitra was viceroy of Vidisha when the story takes place, the power of the Shungas gradually weakened. It is said there were ten Shunga emperors. The Shungas were succeeded by the Kanva dynasty around 73 BCE, buddhist scripture Divyavdan and ancient Tibbatan historian Taranath have written about persecution of Buddhists, However, there is doubt as to whether he did persecute Buddhists actively. Later Shunga emperors were seen as amenable to Buddhism and as having contributed to the building of the stupa at Bharhut, some writers believe that Brahmanism competed in political and spiritual realm with Buddhism in the Gangetic plains. Buddhism flourished in the realms of the Bactrian kings, some Indian scholars are of the opinion that the orthodox Shunga emperors were not intolerant towards Buddhism and that Buddhism prospered during the time of the Shunga emperors. The existence of Buddhism in Bengal in the Shunga period can also be inferred from a tablet that was found at Tamralipti and is on exhibit at the Asutosh Museum in Kolkata. An inscription at Bodh Gaya at the Mahabodhi Temple records the construction of the temple as follows, another inscription reads, The gift of Kurangi, the mother of living sons and the wife of Emperor Indragnimitra, son of Kosiki. The gift also of Srima of the palace shrine
15.
Naga people
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The Naga people are an ethnic group conglomerating of several tribes native to the North Eastern part of India and north-western Burma. The Naga speak various distinct Tibeto-Burman languages, including Sumi, Lotha, Sangtam, Angami, Pochuri, Phom, Ao, Mao, Inpui, Rongmei, Poumai, Tangkhul, Thangal, Maram, Zeme and Liangmai. In addition, they have developed Nagamese Creole, which use between tribes and villages, which each have their own dialect of language. As of 2012, the state of Nagaland officially recognises 17 Naga tribes, in addition, some other Naga tribes occupy territory in the contiguous adjoining states of Manipur, Assam, and Arunachal Pradesh, India, and across the border in Burma. P. Nagas have more language diversity than any other ethnic group or states in India. Naga people speak over 89 different languages and dialects, mostly unintelligible with each other, however there are many similarities in between different languages spoken by them. Per Griersons classification system, Naga languages can be grouped into Western, Central, the Western group includes among others Angami, Chokri, Khezha and Rengma. The Central Naga group includes Ao, and Lotha, while Eastern group includes Konyak, Phom, Sangtam, Khiamniungan, Yimchunger, the Sumi group originating in both central and western parts. In addition, there are Naga-Bodo group illustrated by Mikir language and these mostly belong to the Tibeto-Burman language group of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. Shafer came up with his own system for languages found in. The diversity of languages and traditions of the Nagas results most likely from the multiple cultural absorptions that occurred during their successive migrations. According to legend, before settling in the region, these groups moved over vast zones, therefore until recent times, absorptions were a source of many interclan conflicts. In 1967, the Nagaland Assembly proclaimed English as the language of Nagaland. Other than English, Nagamese, a language form of Indo-Aryan Assamese, is a widely spoken language. Every tribe has its own mother tongue but communicates with other tribes in Nagamese or English, however, English is the predominant spoken and written language in Nagaland. The Nagas are organized by tribes differentiated by language and some traditions and they have a strong warrior tradition. Their villages are sited on hilltops and until the part of the 19th century. The tribes exhibit variation to a degree, particularly in their languages
16.
Satavahana dynasty
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The Satavahanas were an ancient Indian dynasty based in the Deccan region. The Satavahana kingdom mainly comprised the present-day Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, at different times, their rule extended to parts of modern Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka. The dynasty had different capital cities at different times, including Pratishthana, the origin of the dynasty is uncertain, but according to the Puranas, their first king overthrew the Kanva dynasty. In the post-Maurya era, the Satavahanas established peace in the Deccan region, in particular their struggles with the Saka Western Satraps went on for a long time. The dynasty reached its zenith under the rule of Gautamiputra Satakarni, the kingdom fragmented into smaller states by the early 3rd century CE. The Satavahanas were early issuers of Indian state coinage struck with images of their rulers and they formed a cultural bridge and played a vital role in trade and the transfer of ideas and culture to and from the Indo-Gangetic Plain to the southern tip of India. They supported Brahmanism as well as Buddhism, and patronised Prakrit language instead of Sanskrit, the date and place of origin of the Satavahanas, as well as the meaning of the dynastys name, are a matter of debate among the historians. According to one theory, the word Satavahana is a Prakrit form of the Sanskrit Sapta-Vahana and this would indicate that the Satavahanas originally claimed association with the legendary solar dynasty, as was common in ancient India. According to Inguva Kartikeya Sarma, the name is derived from the words sata and vahana. Another theory connects their name to the earlier Satiyaputa dynasty, yet another theory derives their name from the Munda words Sadam and Harpan, implying son of the performer of a horse sacrifice. Several rulers of the dynasty bear the name or title Satakarni, Satavahana, Satakarni, Satakani and Shalivahana appear to be variations of the same word. Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi theorized that the word Satakarni is derived from the Munda words sada, the Puranas use the name Andhra or Andhra-Bhritya for the Satavahanas. The term Andhra may refer to ethnicity or territory of the dynasty and it does not appear in the dynastys own records. The use of the name Andhra in the Puranas has led scholars to believe that the dynasty originated in the eastern Deccan region. At Kotilingala in Telangana, coins bearing the legend Rano Siri Chimuka Satavahanasa were found, coins attributed to Simukas successors Kanha and Satakarni I were also discovered at Kotilingla. Based on these discoveries, historians such as D. R. Reddy, S. Reddy, however, the coin samples from Kotlingala are small, and it is not certain if these coins were minted there or reached there from somewhere else. Sastry also later changed his view, and stated that the two kings were different, as for the Puranas, these texts were compiled much later, during the Gupta period, and it is not certain if the Satavahanas were referred to as Andhras during their time. Another section of scholars believe that the Satavahanas originated in western Deccan, all of the four extant inscriptions from the early Satavahana period have been found in and around this region
17.
Gupta Empire
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The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire founded by Sri Gupta. The empire existed at its zenith from approximately 320 to 550 CE, the peace and prosperity created under the leadership of the Guptas enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors. Chandragupta I, Samudragupta, and Chandragupta II were the most notable rulers of the Gupta dynasty, the high points of the period is great cultural developments which took place during the reign of Chandragupta II. Science and political administration reached new heights during the Gupta era, strong trade ties also made the region an important cultural center and set the region up as a base that would influence nearby kingdoms and regions in Burma, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia. The earliest available Indian epics are also thought to have committed to written texts around this period. After the collapse of the Gupta Empire in the 6th century, a minor line of the Gupta clan continued to rule Magadha after the disintegration of the empire. These Guptas were ultimately ousted by Vardhana ruler Harsha, who established his empire in the first half of the 7th century, according to many historians, the Gupta dynasty was a Vaishya dynasty. Historian Ram Sharan Sharma asserts that the Vaishya Guptas appeared as a reaction against oppressive rulers, brannigan, the rise of the Gupta Empire was one of the most prominent violations of the caste system in ancient India. There is controversy among scholars about the homeland of the Guptas. Jayaswal has pointed out that the Guptas were originally inhabitants of Prayaga, Uttar Pradesh, in north India, another scholar, Gayal supported the theory of Jaiswal, suggesting that the original home of the Guptas was Antarvedi embracing the regions of Oudh and Prayag. However another historian of this time in Indian history, Ganguli, has offered a different view about the original Gupta homeland, according to him the Guptas homeland is further south, the Murshidabad region of Bengal, and not Magadha in Bihar. He based his theory on the statement of the Chinese Buddhist monk, Yijing, fleet and other historians however criticize Gangulis theory because Sri Gupta ruled during the end of the 3rd century, but Yijing placed him at the end of the 2nd century. Hence the theory of historians, who have provided their views based on the accounts of Yijing, are considered less valid than theories based on sources such as coinage. From these theories, several conflicting opinions about the original homeland, according to Allan and a few other scholars, the Guptas were initially concentrated in the region of Magadha and from there they extended their sway to Bengal. According to other groups, the homeland of the Guptas was Varendri or the Varendra Bhumi in Bengal. Whatever the theory is, the rule of the Guptas initiated the Golden Age in history of ancient India, bengali historians like HC Raychoudhuri the Guptas originated from the Varendri region which is now part of Rangpur and Rajshahi Division of modern-day Bangladesh. DC Ganguly, on the hand, considers the surrounding region of Murshidabad as the original home of the Guptas. The most likely time for the reign of Sri Gupta is c, the Murundas who were feudal lords of Kushans provided or granted land to Srigupta
18.
Pali
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Pali is a Prakrit language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of much of the earliest extant literature of Buddhism as collected in the Pāli Canon or Tipiṭaka and is the language of Theravāda Buddhism. The word Pali is used as a name for the language of the Theravada canon, Childers translates the word as series and states that the language bears the epithet in consequence of the perfection of its grammatical structure. However, modern scholarship has regarded Pali as a mix of several Prakrit languages from around the 3rd century BCE, combined together and partially Sanskritized. The closest artifacts to Pali that have found in India are Edicts of Ashoka found at Gujarat, in the west of India. There is persistent confusion as to the relation of Pāḷi to the vernacular spoken in the ancient kingdom of Magadha, Pali, as a Middle Indo-Aryan language, is different from Sanskrit more with regard to its dialectal base than the time of its origin. A number of its morphological and lexical features show that it is not a continuation of Ṛgvedic Vedic Sanskrit. Instead it descends from one or more dialects that were, despite many similarities, however, this view is not shared by all scholars. Some, like A. C. Woolner, believe that Pali is derived from Vedic Sanskrit, Paiśācī is a largely unattested literary language of classical India that is mentioned in Prakrit and Sanskrit grammars of antiquity. e. Evidence which lends support to this interpretation is that literature in Paiśācī is fragmentary and extremely rare, many Theravada sources refer to the Pali language as Magadhan or the language of Magadha. This identification first appears in the commentaries, and may have been an attempt by Buddhists to associate more closely with the Maurya Empire. The Buddha taught in Magadha, but the four most important places in his life are all outside of it and it is likely that he taught in several closely related dialects of Middle Indo-Aryan, which had a high degree of mutual intelligibility. There is no attested dialect of Middle Indo-Aryan with all the features of Pali, Pali has some commonalities with both the western Ashokan Edicts at Girnar in Saurashtra, and the Central-Western Prakrit found in the eastern Hathigumpha inscription. In Sri Lanka, Pali is thought to have entered into a period of decline ending around the 4th or 5th century, the work of Buddhaghosa was largely responsible for its reemergence as an important scholarly language in Buddhist thought. Another scholar states that at time it was a refined. Modern scholarship has not arrived at a consensus on the issue, after the death of the Buddha, Pali may have evolved among Buddhists out of the language of the Buddha as a new artificial language. According to K. R. Norman, it is likely that the viharas in North India had separate collections of material, in the early period it is likely that no degree of translation was necessary in communicating this material to other areas. Around the time of Ashoka there had been more linguistic divergence, following this period, the language underwent a small degree of Sanskritisation
19.
Ashoka
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Ashoka was an ancient Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from c. 268 to 232 BCE. One of Indias greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over a realm that stretched from the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan to the state of Bangladesh in the east. It covered the entire Indian subcontinent except parts of present-day Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, the empires capital was Pataliputra, with provincial capitals at Taxila and Ujjain. In about 260 BCE, Ashoka waged a destructive war against the state of Kalinga. He conquered Kalinga, which none of his ancestors had done and he embraced Buddhism after witnessing the mass deaths of the Kalinga War, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. Ashoka reflected on the war in Kalinga, which reportedly had resulted in more than 100,000 deaths and 150,000 deportations, Ashoka converted gradually to Buddhism beginning about 263 BCE. He was later dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia, Ashoka regarded Buddhism as a doctrine that could serve as a cultural foundation for political unity. Ashoka is now remembered as a philanthropic administrator, in the Kalinga edicts, he addresses his people as his children, and mentions that as a father he desires their good. Ashokas name Aśoka means painless, without sorrow in Sanskrit, in his edicts, he is referred to as Devānāmpriya, and Priyadarśin. His fondness for his names connection to the Saraca asoca tree, along with the Edicts of Ashoka, his legend is related in the 2nd-century CE Ashokavadana, and in the Sri Lankan text Mahavamsa. The emblem of the modern Republic of India is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka, Ashoka was born to the Mauryan emperor, Bindusara and a relatively lower ranked wife, Subhadrangī. Ashoka became a great emperor despite having an appearance that was unfavorable to his father. He was the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Mauryan dynasty, since, according to Roman historian Appian, Ashokas grandfather Chandragupta had made a marital alliance with Seleucus, there is a possibility that Ashoka had a Seleucid Greek grandmother. The Avadana texts mention that his mother was queen Subhadrangī, according to the Ashokavadana, she was the daughter of a Brahmin from the city of Champa. Though a palace intrigue kept her away from the emperor, this eventually ended and it is from her exclamation I am now without sorrow, that Ashoka got his name. The Divyāvadāna tells a story, but gives the name of the queen as Janapadakalyānī. Ashoka had several siblings, all of whom were his half-brothers from the other wives of Bindusara. His fighting qualities were apparent from an age and he was given royal military training
20.
Rashtrakuta dynasty
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Rashtrakuta was a royal dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian Subcontinent between the sixth and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their rule from Manapura, other ruling Rashtrakuta clans from the same period mentioned in inscriptions were the kings of Achalapur and the rulers of Kannauj. Several controversies exist regarding the origin of these early Rashtrakutas, their native home and this clan came to be known as the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta, rising to power in South India in 753. At the same time the Pala dynasty of Bengal and the Prathihara dynasty of Malwa were gaining force in eastern and northwestern India respectively, an Arabic text, Silsilat al-Tawarikh, called the Rashtrakutas one of the four principal empires of the world. The early kings of this dynasty were influenced by Hinduism and the kings by Jainism. During their rule, Jain mathematicians and scholars contributed important works in Kannada, Amoghavarsha I, the most famous king of this dynasty wrote Kavirajamarga, a landmark literary work in the Kannada language. Architecture reached a milestone in the Dravidian style, the finest example of which is seen in the Kailasanath Temple at Ellora in modern Maharashtra. Other important contributions are the Kashivishvanatha temple and the Jain Narayana temple at Pattadakal in modern Karnataka, the origin of the Rashtrakuta dynasty has been a controversial topic of Indian history. The relationship of these medieval Rashtrakutas to the most famous later dynasty, the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta, the sources for Rashtrakuta history include medieval inscriptions, ancient literature in the Pali language, contemporaneous literature in Sanskrit and Kannada and the notes of the Arab travellers. Scholars debate over which ethnic/linguistic groups can claim the early Rashtrakutas, possibilities include the north western ethnic groups of India, the Kannadiga, Reddi, the Maratha, or the tribes from the Punjab region. Scholars however concur that the rulers of the dynasty in the 8th to 10th century made the Kannada language as important as Sanskrit. Rashtrakuta inscriptions use both Kannada and Sanskrit, and the rulers encouraged literature in both languages, the earliest existing Kannada literary writings are credited to their court poets and royalty. Though these Rashtrakutas were Kannadigas, they were conversant in a northern Deccan language as well, the heart of the Rashtrakuta empire included nearly all of Karnataka, Maharashtra and parts of Andhra Pradesh, an area which the Rashtrakutas ruled for over two centuries. He then helped his father-in-law, Pallava King Nandivarman regain Kanchi from the Chalukyas and defeated the Gurjaras of Malwa, dantidurgas successor Krishna I brought major portions of present-day Karnataka and Konkan under his control. During the rule of Dhruva Dharavarsha who took control in 780 and he led successful expeditions to Kannauj, the seat of northern Indian power where he defeated the Gurjara Pratiharas and the Palas of Bengal, gaining him fame and vast booty but not more territory. He also brought the Eastern Chalukyas and Gangas of Talakad under his control, according to Altekar and Sen, the Rashtrakutas became a pan-India power during his rule. The ascent of Dhruva Dharavarshas third son, Govinda III, to the throne heralded an era of success like never before, there is uncertainty about the location of the early capital of the Rashtrakutas at this time. During his rule there was a three way conflict between the Rashtrakutas, the Palas and the Pratiharas for control over the Gangetic plains and his military exploits have been compared to those of Alexander the Great and Arjuna of Mahabharata
21.
Krishna III
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Krishna III whose Kannada name was Kannara was the last great warrior and able monarch of the Rashtrakuta Dynasty of Manyakheta. He was an administrator and skillful military campaigner. He waged many wars to bring back the glory of the Rashtrakutas and his queen was a Chedi princess and his daughter Bijjabbe was married to a Western Ganga prince. During his rule he held such as Akalavarsha, Maharajadhiraja, Parameshvara, Paramamaheshvara. At his peak, he ruled a vast empire stretching from the Narmada river in the north to the Kaveri river delta in the south. The grant states that when King Krishna III mobilised his armies and he killed the Western Ganga ruler Rachamalla II and made his brother-in-law Butuga II the king of the Gangavadi territory. He invaded the territory of Gurjara Prathihara and captured Chitrakuta and Kalinjara regions and he even defeated his own family relations, the Chedi of Tripuri who had turned against the Rashtrakutas. Later he invaded the southern Deccan and recaptured Kolar and Dharmapuri from the Banas and Vaidumbas who had given shelter to Govinda IV due to his relations with the Cholas. Though he initially may have experienced setbacks, Tondaimandalam was secured by 944 and he defeated the Cholas and captured Kanchi and Tanjore, according to the Siddalingamadam plates of 944. In c.949, he defeated the Cholas decisively in a battle of Takkolam in the North Arcot district, Krishna III was helped by his Western Ganga feudatory Buthuga II in these campaign. Rajaditya Chola was killed while seated on his elephant with a well-aimed arrow, from the famous Atakur inscription it is known that Krishna III gave Buthuga II extensive Ratta territories near Banavasi in return for this victory. This victory is narrated in Somadevas writing Yashatilaka Champu of 959 as well, however, from location of the inscriptions it is argued that Krishna III had full control only of Tondaimandalam as his inscriptions are not found further south in modern Tamil Nadu. After these victories he proclaimed himself Conqueror of Kacci and Tanjai and he exerted influence on the Vengi by helping Badapa secure the throne against his competitor Amma II. Later, Danarnava of Vengi became his feudatory, while Krishna III focussed on southern Deccan, the Chandelas had captured Chitrakuta and Kalinjar. This prompted Krishna III to send his Western Ganga feudatory Marasimha, son of Buthuga II, the northernmost Kannada inscription of the Rashtrakutas, dated about 964 is the Jura record in present-day Madhya Pradesh. The details of these victories are inscribed in this inscription, two inscriptions of Marasimha, dated 965 CE and 968 CE, state that his forces destroyed Ujjayani. Based on this, some such as A. S. Altekar conclude that the Paramara king Siyaka must have rebelled against the Rashtrakuta suzerainty. Thus, Marasimha must have defeated the Paramaras
22.
Parwar (Jain community)
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Parwar, also spelt as Paravāra, is a major Jain community from the Bundelkhand region, which is largely in Madhya Pradesh, but also includes region of Uttar Pradesh. Apart from this District Nagpur have also a very large Parwar community, there is an area in Itwari of Nagpur known as Parwar-Pura having large number of Parwars homes and shops. Most of the Nagpurs Parwar are migrated from Sagar, Deori, Parwar exclusively follow the Digambar Jain tradition. Parwar usually preferred their marriage within community, there are 12 Gotra in Parwar community. A marriage within the same gotra or lineage are not allowed, traditionally a marriage within any of the 8 branches was not permitted and hence the community was termed ashta-shakha. A number of Jain scholars have belonged to community, including Tarana Swami, the founder of Taran Panth. Osho was born in the Samaiya section of this community, the map of districts having large number of Parwar Jain in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh is shown below. A number of inscriptions mentiong the community have been found in the adjacent to the Betwa river. In the older inscriptions they are called Paurapatta or Puravada, the oldest inscriptions include those found at Vidisha, Pachrai, Ahar, Chanderi, Sironj, Narwar. A long inscription at Deogarh of VS1493 mentions Lakshaman Singhai and his large family and it is probably the first mention of the Singhai title in the region. Some authors have proposed a connection between the Parwar and the Porwad communities. Jainism had a presence in this region since antiquity. Jainism was flourishing during the Gupta period at Vidisha region, the Durjanpur idols installed during the rule of Ramagupta date to about 365 AD. The Udaigiri cave Parshvanath inscription mentioning the lineage of Bhadranvaya is dated to 425 AD, the great Shantinath temple at Deogarh was built before 862 CE, suggesting a prosperous Jain community in this region. According to Mahavamsa, Devi, the wife of Maurya Ashoka was a daughter of a merchant of Vidisha and it is likely that the Parwar community is a continuation of the ancient merchant community of the region. The Parwars are divided into 12 gotras, each gotra is further divided into 12 shakhas s. Traditionally 4 of the shakas of the grandparents of the boy, thus the Parwars were sometimes termed ashta-shaha. There were once several social divisions among the Parwars, which are no longer significant, some Parwars follow Taran Panth and are called Samaiya, because Taran Swami based his teachings on Samayasara of Acharya Kundakunda
23.
Hemachandra
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Acharya Hemachandra was a Jain scholar, poet, and polymath who wrote on grammar, philosophy, prosody, and contemporary history. Noted as a prodigy by his contemporaries, he gained the title kalikālasarvajña, Hemachandra was born in Dhandhuka, in present-day Gujarat, on Kartika Sud Purnima. His date of birth according to sources but 1088 is generally accepted. His father, Chachiga-deva was a Modh Bania Vaishnava and his mother, Pahini, was a Jain. Hemchandras original given name was Changadeva, in his childhood, the Jain monk Devachandra Suri visited Dhandhuka and was impressed by the young Hemachandras intellect. His mother and maternal uncle concurred with Devachandra, in opposition to his father, Devachandra took Hemachandra to Khambhat, where Hemachandra was placed under the care of the local governor Udayana. Chachiga came to Udayanas place to take his son back, but was so overwhelmed by the treatment he received. Some years later, Hemachandra was initiated a Jain monk on Magha Sud Chauth and was given a new name, Udayana helped Devchandra Suri in the ceremony. He was trained in religious discourse, philosophy, logic and grammar, at the age of 21, he was ordained an acharya of the Śvētāmbara school of Jainism at Nagaur in present-day Rajasthan. At this time, he was named Hemachandra Suri, at the time, Gujarat was ruled by the Chaulukya dynasty from Anhilwad Patan. It is not certain when Hemachandra visited Anhilwad Patan for the first time, probably around 1125, he was introduced to the Jayasimha Siddharaja and soon rose to prominence in the Chaulukya royal court. In 1135, when the Siddharaja conquered Malwa, he brought the works of Bhoja from Dhar along with other things, one day Siddhraj came across the manuscript of Sarasvati-Kanthabharana, a treatise on Sanskrit grammar. He was so impressed by it that he told the scholars in his court to produce a grammar that was as easy, Hemachandra requested Siddharaja to find the eight best grammatical treatises from Kashmir. He studied them and produced a new work in the style of Pāṇinis Aṣṭādhyāyī. He named his work Siddha-Hema-Śabdanuśāśana after himself and the king, Siddharaja was so pleased with the work that he ordered it to be placed on the back of an elephant and paraded through the streets of Anhilwad Patan. Hemachandra also composed the Dvyashraya Kavya, an epic on the history of the Chaulukya dynasty, according to the Prabhachandra, there was an incident where Siddharaja wanted to kill his nephew Kumarapala because it was prophesied that the kingdom would meet its demise at Kumarapalas hands. Hemachandra hid Kumarapala under a pile of manuscripts to save him, however, such motifs are common in Indian folk literature, so it is unlikely it was an actual historical event. Also, many sources differ on Siddharajas motives, Hemachandra became the advisor to Kumarapala
24.
Iltutmish
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Shams ud-Din Iltutmish was a ruler of the Delhi Sultanate in India. Although his predecessor Qutb al-Din Aibak established the Mamluk Dynasty of Delhi, Iltutmish is considered the founder of the Delhi Sultanate, Shams-ud-din Iltutmish was the second ruler of the Slave dynasty. He founded the Delhi Sultanate in 1211 and received the Caliphs investiture in his rule and he conquered Multan and Bengal from contesting rulers, and Ranathambhore and Siwalik from their rulers. He expanded his domain by defeating the Muslim rulers of Ghazni, Multan and Bengal and he conquered the latter two territories and made further conquests in the Hindu lands, conquering the fort of Ranathambhore and the lands of Gwalior and the fort of Mandur. The name Iltutmish is a Turkic name, meaning he has held/owned land, another theory concerning the meaning of the name suggests a connection with an eclipse that supposedly occurred at his birth. The title Shams ad-Dunya Wad-Din is a royal Laqab of the time, translated as Sun of the world, Shams-ud-din belonged to the tribe of Ilbari in the Eurasian Steppe of Turkestan. While his association with the Turkic nobility of that tribe confidence can be seen as dubious and anachronistic and he was sold into slavery at an early age, reportedly after being sold by his kinsmen to slave merchants. Earning some reputation in his court, he was appointed personal attendant of the Sultan. Muhammads deputy and former slave, Qutub-ud-din-Aybak, then Viceroy of Lahore, Aibak bought Iltutmish and another slave for the high price of 100,000 Tankas, the silver coin used in Muslim India. He rose quickly in Aibaks service, earned the title Amir Tamghach, married Aibaks daughter, in recognition of his services during the campaign of Muhammad of Ghur against the Khokhars in 1205-06, he was, by the Sultans order, manumitted. Iltutmish was appointed Governor of Badaun in 1206 and was serving in this post when Aibak died in a polo accident, subsequently, a group of noblemen invited Iltutmish to stake his claim on the Indian dominions of the Ghurids. By 1211, Qutb al-Din Aibak was dead from a polo accident, Muizzi amirs, who had been appointed by Muhammad of Ghor, supported Aram Shah, possible son of Qutb al-Din Aibak. Qutbi amirs, owing allegiance to Aibak, invited Iltutmish, then Governor of Badaun, Aram Shah ascended to the throne in Lahore. In 1211, Iltutmish claimed the throne in Delhi, Aram Shah marched towards Delhi but was slain in battle at Bagh-i-Jud leaving Iltutmish unopposed in Delhi. On his accession, Iltutmish faced a number of challenges to his rule, in the aftermath of Aibaks death, the Ghurid dominions in India had divided into four. Nasir-ud-Din Qabacha, the Governor of Uch and Multan asserted his independence, ali Mardan Khilji, who had been appointed Governor of Lakhnauti in Bengal by Aibak in 1206, had thrown off his allegiance to Delhi after his death and styled himself Sultan Ala-ud-din. Lahore was contested by Iltutmish, Qabacha and, Muhammad of Ghors adopted son, Yildoz attempted to bring Delhi under his control. Initially, Iltutmish acknowledged Yildozs suzerainty by accepting the symbolic presents of the chatr, to add to Iltutmishs troubles, some of the Amirs of Delhi expressed resentment against his rule
25.
Alauddin Khalji
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Ala ud-Din Khilji, born Juna Muhammad Khilji, was the second ruler of the Khilji dynasty reigning from 1296 to 1316. He is considered to be one of the most powerful rulers in Indian history, Malik Kāfūr returned to Delhi in 1311 laden with spoils. Thereafter the fortunes of ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn and the dynasty declined, the sultan died in early 1316, and Malik Kāfūr’s attempted usurpation ended with his own death. He was a strategist and military commander who commanded forces across the Indian subcontinent, Sultan Ala-ud-din Khilji is also noted in history for being one of the few rulers in the world to have repeatedly defended his empire against Mongol invasions. He defeated large Mongol armies and then launched punitive expeditions against them in Central Asia, contemporary chroniclers have not written much about Alauddins childhood. According to the 17th century writer Haji-ud-Dabir, Alauddin was 34 years old when he started his march to Ranthambore, assuming this is correct, Alauddins birth can be dated to 1266-1267 CE. His original name was Ali Gurshasp and he was the eldest son of Shihabuddin Masud, who was the elder brother of the Khilji dynastys founder Sultan Jalaluddin. He had three brothers, Almas Beg, Qutlugh Tigin and Muhammad, Alauddin was brought up by Jalaluddin after Shihabuddins death. Both Alauddin and his younger brother Almas Beg married Jalaluddins daughters, after Jalaluddin became the Sultan of Delhi, Alauddin was appointed as Amir-i-Tuzuk, while Almas Beg was given the post of Akhur-beg. Alauddins marriage to Jalaluddins daughter was not a happy one, having suddenly become a princess after Jalaluddins rise as a monarch, she was very arrogant and tried to dominate over Alauddin. According to Hajib-ud-Dabir, Alauddin married a woman named Mahru. Once, while Alauddin and Mahru were together in a garden, the incident was reported to Jalaluddin, but the Sultan did not take any action against Alauddin. Alauddin was not on terms with his mother-in-law either. According to the 16th century historian Firishta, she warned Jalaluddin that Alauddin was planning to set up an independent kingdom in a part of the country. She kept a watch on Alauddin, and encouraged her daughters arrogant behaviour towards him. When Malik Chhajju, the governor of Kara revolted against Jalaluddin, Alauddin played an important role in crushing the revolt, as a result, Jalaluddin appointed him as the new governor of Kara in 1291. Malik Chajjus former Amirs at Kara considered Jalaluddin as a weak and ineffective ruler and this, combined with his unhappy domestic life, made Alauddin determined to dethrone Jalaluddin. To finance his plan to dethrone Jalaluddin, Alauddin decided to raid the neighbouring Hindu kingdoms, in 1293, he raided Bhilsa, a wealthy town in the Paramara kingdom of Malwa, which had been weakend by multiple invasions
26.
Delhi Sultanate
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The Delhi Sultanate was a Muslim kingdom based mostly in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years. Five dynasties ruled over Delhi Sultanate sequentially, the Mamluk dynasty, the Khilji dynasty, the Tughlaq dynasty, the Sayyid dynasty, the first four dynasties were of Turkic origin, and the last dynasty was of Afghan origin. Qutb-ud-din Aibak, a slave of Muhammad Ghori, was the first sultan of Delhi. Afterwards the Khilji dynasty was able to conquer most of central India. The sultanate reached the peak of its reach during the Tughlaq dynasty. This was followed by due to continuing Hindu-Muslim wars, states such as the Vijayanagara Empire asserting independence. The Delhi Sultanate caused destruction and desecration of politically important temples of South Asia, in 1526 the Sultanate fell, to be succeeded by the Mughal Empire. By 962 AD, Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms in South Asia were under a wave of raids from Muslim armies from Central Asia. Among them was Mahmud of Ghazni, who raided and plundered kingdoms in north India from east of the Indus river to west of Yamuna river seventeen times between 997 and 1030, Mahmud of Ghazni raided the treasuries but retracted each time, only extending Islamic rule into western Punjab. The wave of raids on north Indian and western Indian kingdoms by Muslim warlords continued after Mahmud of Ghazni, the raids did not establish or extend permanent boundaries of their Islamic kingdoms. The Ghurid Sultan Muizz al-Din Muhammad began a war of expansion into north India in 1173. He sought to carve out a principality for himself by expanding the Islamic world, Mu’izz sought a Sunni Islamic kingdom of his own extending east of the Indus river, and he thus laid the foundation for the Muslim kingdom called the Delhi Sultanate. Some historians chronicle the Delhi Sultanate from 1192 due to the presence, Muizz al-Din was assassinated in 1206, by Ismāʿīlī Shia Muslims in some accounts or by Hindu Khokhars in others. After the assassination, one of Mu’izz slaves, the Turkic Qutbu l-Din Aibak, assumed power, Qutb al-Din Aibak, a slave of Muizz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori, was the first ruler of the Delhi Sultanate. Aibak was of Cuman-Kipchak origin, and due to his lineage, Aibak reigned as the Sultan of Delhi for four years. After Aibak died, Aram Shah assumed power in 1210, but he was assassinated in 1211 by Shams-ud-din Iltutmish, iltutmishs power was precarious, and a number of Muslim amirs challenged his authority as they had been supporters of Qutb al-din Aibak. After a series of conquests and brutal executions of opposition, he consolidated his power and his rule was challenged a number of times, such as by Qubacha, and this led to a series of wars. Iltumish conquered Multan and Bengal from contesting Muslim rulers, as well as Ranathambhore and he also attacked, defeated, and executed Taj al-Din Yildiz, who asserted his rights as heir to Muizz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori
27.
Jalaluddin Firuz Khalji
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Jalaluddin Firuz Khilji was the first sultan of the Khilji dynasty, who reigned from 1290 to 1296. Jalaluddin built his capital at Kilughari, a few miles from the city of Delhi and he ruled much of Northern India for six years, from 1290 to 1296. Jalaluddin Khalji was born as Malik Firuz, in Qalat, Zabul Province and he was of Turkic ethnic background. He was appointed by Sultan Qaiqabad to the fief of Baran, soon, Sultan Qaiqabad suffered from a paralytic stroke and Firuz marched towards Delhi. The nobles placed Kayumars, the son of Qaiqabad on the throne. But the sons of Firuz dashed into the city and carried away the infant Sultan, most of the Turkic nobles now submitted to Firuz. Qaiqabad was put to death and his corpse was thrown into the Yamuna, on 13 July 1290 Jalal-ud-Din Firuz was enthroned in the palace of Kalughari. He was made a slave from there. After the accession to the throne, Jalaluddin allowed Malik Chhajju, the post of wazir was conferred on Khvaja Khatir, who had held it under Balban and Qaiqabad. Fakhr-ud-Din, the kotwal of Delhi was also allowed to continue, jalaluddins eldest son received the title of Khan Khanan, his second son received the title of Arkali Khan and his third son received the title of Qadr Khan. He appointed his brother the ariz-i-mumalik and conferred upon him the title of Yaghrush Khan. His two nephews, Alauddin and Almas Beg received significant responsibilities in the royal household, in 1292, the Sultan defeated a Mongol army who had invaded the Dipalpur-Multan region. He then allowed them to retreat, Jalaluddin was killed in 1296 by his nephew Alauddin
28.
Malwa
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Malwa is a natural region in west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the upland north of the Vindhya Range. Politically and administratively, the historical Malwa region includes districts of western Madhya Pradesh, the definition of Malwa is sometimes extended to include the Nimar region north of the Vindhyas. The Malwa region had been a political unit from the time of the ancient Malava Kingdom. It has been ruled by several kingdoms and dynasties, including the Avanti Kingdom, the Mauryans, the Malavas, the Guptas, the Paramaras, the Malwa sultans, the Mughals and the Marathas. Malwa continued to be a division until 1947, when the Malwa Agency of British India was merged into Madhya Bharat state of independent India. Although its political borders have fluctuated throughout history, the region has developed its own culture, influenced by the Rajasthani, Marathi. Ujjain had been the political, economic, and cultural capital of the region in ancient times, overall, agriculture is the main occupation of the people of Malwa. The region has one of the important producers of opium in the world. Wheat and soybeans are other important cash crops, and textiles are a major industry, several early stone age or Lower Paleolithic habitations have been excavated in eastern Malwa. The name Malwa is derived from the name of the ancient Indian tribe of Malavas, the name Malava is said to be derived from the Sanskrit term Malav, which means “part of the abode of Lakshmi”. The location of the Malwa or Moholo, mentioned by the 7th-century Chinese traveller Xuanzang, is identified with present-day Gujarat. The region is cited as Malibah in Arabic records, such as Kamilu-t Tawarikh by Ibn Asir, Ujjain, also known historically as Ujjaiyini and Avanti, emerged as the first major centre in the Malwa region during Indias second wave of urbanisation in the 7th century BC. Around 600 BC an earthen rampart was built around Ujjain, enclosing a city of considerable size, Avanti was one of the prominent mahajanapadas of ancient India. The region was conquered by the Maurya Empire in the mid-4th century BC, Ashoka, who was later a Mauryan emperor, was governor of Ujjain in his youth. After the death of Ashoka in 232 BC, the Maurya Empire began to collapse, although evidence is sparse, Malwa was probably ruled by the Kushanas, the Shakas and the Satavahana dynasty during the 1st and 2nd century CE. Ownership of the region was the subject of dispute between the Western Kshatrapas and the Satavahanas during the first three centuries AD, Ujjain emerged a major trading centre during the 1st century AD. Malwa became part of the Gupta Empire during the reign of Chandragupta II, also known as Vikramaditya, the Gupta period is widely regarded as a golden age in the history of Malwa, when Ujjain served as the empires western capital
29.
Sultan
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Sultan is a noble title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning strength, authority, rulership, derived from the verbal noun سلطة sulṭah, the dynasty and lands ruled by a sultan are referred to as a sultanate. A feminine form of sultan, used by Westerners, is Sultana or Sultanah, but Turkish and Ottoman Turkish also uses sultan for imperial lady, because Turkish grammar uses the same words for women and men. However, this styling misconstrues the roles of wives of sultans, in a similar usage, the wife of a German field marshal might be styled Frau Feldmarschall. The female leaders in Muslim history are known as sultanas. Special case in Brunei, the Queen Consort is known as Raja Isteri with suffix Pengiran Anak if the queen consort is a royal princess. Among those modern hereditary rulers who wish to emphasize their secular authority under the rule of law and these are generally secondary titles, either lofty poetry or with a message, e. g. g. Sultan ul-Mujahidin as champion of jihad, ghaznavid Sultanate Sultans of Great Seljuk Seljuk Sultanate of Rum Sultans of the Ottoman Empire, the Osmanli Elisu Sultanate and a few others. A Sultan ranked below a Khan and this usage underlines the Ottoman conception of sovereign power as family prerogative. Western tradition knows the Ottoman ruler as sultan, but Ottomans themselves used padişah or hünkar to refer to their ruler, the emperors formal title consisted of sultan together with khan. In formal address, the children were also entitled sultan, with imperial princes carrying the title before their given name. Example, Şehzade Sultan Mehmed and Mihrimah Sultan, son and daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent, henceforth, the mother of the reigning sultan was the only person of non imperial blood to carry the title sultan. In Kazakh Khanate a Sultan was a lord from the ruling dynasty elected by clans, the best of sultans was elected as khan by people at Kurultai. See ru, Казахские султаны In a number of states under Mongol or Turkic rule. These administrations were often decimal, using originally princely titles such as khan, malik, in the Persian empire, the rank of sultan was roughly equivalent to that of a modern-day captain in the West, socially in the fifth-rank class, styled Ali Jah
30.
Mughal Empire
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The dynasty, though ethnically Turco-Mongol, was Persianate in terms of culture. The Mughal empire extended over parts of the Indian subcontinent. The beginning of the empire is conventionally dated to the victory by its founder Babur over Ibrahim Lodi, the Mughal emperors were Central Asian Turco-Mongols belonging to the Timurid dynasty, who claimed direct descent from both Genghis Khan and Timur. During the reign of Humayun, the successor of Babur, the empire was briefly interrupted by the Sur Empire, the classic period of the Mughal Empire started in 1556 with the ascension of Akbar the Great to the throne. Under the rule of Akbar and his son Jahangir, the region enjoyed economic progress as well as harmony. Akbar was a warrior who also forged alliances with several Hindu Rajput kingdoms. Some Rajput kingdoms continued to pose a significant threat to the Mughal dominance of northwestern India, the reign of Shah Jahan, the fifth emperor, between 1628 and 1658 was the golden age of Mughal architecture. He erected several monuments, the best known of which is the Taj Mahal at Agra, as well as the Moti Masjid, Agra, the Red Fort, the Jama Masjid, Delhi. By the mid-18th century, the Marathas had routed Mughal armies, during the following century Mughal power had become severely limited, and the last emperor, Bahadur Shah II, had authority over only the city of Shahjahanabad. He issued a firman supporting the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and following the defeat was therefore tried by the British East India Company for treason, imprisoned and exiled to Rangoon. Contemporaries referred to the empire founded by Babur as the Timurid empire, which reflected the heritage of his dynasty, another name was Hindustan, which was documented in the Ain-i-Akbari, and which has been described as the closest to an official name for the empire. In the west, the term Mughal was used for the emperor, and by extension, the use of Mughal derived from the Arabic and Persian corruption of Mongol, and it emphasised the Mongol origins of the Timurid dynasty. The term gained currency during the 19th century, but remains disputed by Indologists, similar terms had been used to refer to the empire, including Mogul and Moghul. Nevertheless, Baburs ancestors were sharply distinguished from the classical Mongols insofar as they were oriented towards Persian rather than Turco-Mongol culture, ousted from his ancestral domains in Central Asia, Babur turned to India to satisfy his ambitions. He established himself in Kabul and then pushed steadily southward into India from Afghanistan through the Khyber Pass, Baburs forces occupied much of northern India after his victory at Panipat in 1526. The preoccupation with wars and military campaigns, however, did not allow the new emperor to consolidate the gains he had made in India, the instability of the empire became evident under his son, Humayun, who was driven out of India and into Persia by rebels. Humayuns exile in Persia established diplomatic ties between the Safavid and Mughal Courts, and led to increasing Persian cultural influence in the Mughal Empire, the restoration of Mughal rule began after Humayuns triumphant return from Persia in 1555, but he died from a fatal accident shortly afterwards. Humayuns son, Akbar, succeeded to the throne under a regent, Bairam Khan, through warfare and diplomacy, Akbar was able to extend the empire in all directions and controlled almost the entire Indian subcontinent north of the Godavari River
31.
Scindia
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Scindia/Shinde is a Hindu Maratha clan from Maharashtra. The Scindia dynasty was founded by Ranoji Scindia, who was the son of Jankojirao Scindia, the Deshmukh of Kanherkhed, Peshwa Baji Raos career saw the strengthening of the Maratha Empire. Ranoji was in charge of the Maratha conquests in Malwa in 1726, Ranoji established his capital at Ujjain in 1731. His successors included Jayajirao, Jyotibarao, Dattajirao, Jankojirao, Mahadji Shinde, the Scindhia state of Gwalior became a major regional power in the latter half of the 18th century and figured prominently in the three Anglo-Maratha Wars. They held sway over many of the Rajput states, and conquered north India, after the death of Daulatrao, Maharani Baiza Bai ruled the empire, saving it from the British power, till the adopted child Jankoji Rao took over the charge. Jankoji died in 1843, and his widow Tarabai Raje scindia successfully maintained the position, the Scindia family ruled Gwalior until Indias independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, when the Maharaja Jivajirao Scindia acceded to the Government of India. Gwalior was merged with a number of princely states to become the new Indian state of Madhya Bharat. George Jivajirao served as the states rajpramukh, or appointed governor, from 28 May 1948 to 31 October 1956, in 1962, Rajmata Vijayraje Scindia, the widow of Maharaja Jiwajirao, was elected to the Lok Sabha, beginning the familys career in electoral politics. She was first a member of the Congress Party, and later became a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Her son Madhavrao Scindia was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1971 representing the Congress Party and his son, Jyotiraditya Scindia, also in the Congress Party, was elected to the seat formerly held by his father in 2004. Vijayarajes daughters have supported the Bharatiya Janata Party, Vasundhara Raje Scindia contested and won five parliamentary elections from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. Under the Vajpayee government from 1998 onwards, Vasundhara was in charge of different ministries. In 2003 she led the Bharatiya Janata Party to its largest majority in Rajasthan, in 2013 again, she led Bharatiya Janata Party to a thumpin win in the state of Rajasthan, winning over 160 out of the 200 seats in the assembly elections. Her other daughter, Yashodhara Raje Scindia, contested elections from Shivpuri in Madhya Pradesh and won in 1998,2003 and 2013. Upon the BJPs win in the state, she became the states Minister for Tourism, Sports, vasundharas son Dushyant Singh entered the Lok Sabha in 2004 from Rajasthan. The Scindia served the Peshwa, and were also Shiledars under the sultanates of the Deccan, Born c 1720, died 25 July 1755. Vacant 15 January 1761 –25 November 1763 Kadarji Rao Scindia Died, Born c.1730, died 12 February 1794. Born 1779, died 21 March 1827, Born 1805, died 7 February 1843
32.
Kailash Satyarthi
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Kailash Satyarthi is an Indian childrens rights and education advocate and an activist against child labour. He founded the Bachpan Bachao Andolan in 1980 and has acted to protect the rights of more than 83,000 children from 144 countries. His work is recognized through various national and international honours and awards including the Nobel Peace Prize of 2014, originally named Kailash Sharma, Satyarthi was born on 11 January 1954 in the Vidisha district of central Indian state Madhya Pradesh. He then joined a college in Bhopal as a lecturer for a few years, in 1980, he gave up his career as an engineer and became secretary general for the Bonded Labor Liberation Front, he also founded the Bachpan Bachao Andolan that year. In addition, he established GoodWeave International as the first voluntary labelling, monitoring, Satyarthi has highlighted child labor as a human rights issue as well as a welfare matter and charitable cause. He has argued that it perpetuates poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, population growth, and other social problems and he has also had a role in linking the movement against child labour with efforts for achieving Education for All. He has been a member of a UNESCO body established to examine this and has been on the board of the Fast Track Initiative and he is now reportedly working on bringing child labour and slavery into the post-2015 development agenda for the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Satyarthi is the fifth Nobel Prize winner for India and only the second Indian winner of the Nobel Peace Prize after Mother Teresa in 1979 and he lives in New Delhi, India. His family includes his wife, a son, daughter-in-law and a daughter and he has been described as an excellent cook. Satyarthi has been the subject of a number of documentaries, television series, talk shows, advocacy, according to some, it will make child labour go underground, which may cause reduced wages. On 16 June 2015 Satyarthi gave a call to leaders and countries towards global elimination of child labour. Child labour Iqbal Masih Ehsan Ullah Khan Official website Kailash Satyarthi at TED How to make peace
33.
Bina Etawa
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Bina Etawa is a town and a municipality in Sagar district in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Bina is a taluk headquarters town and is among the cities of Madhya Pradesh. The City is an important destination for the economic and industrial activities of the state. The only oil refinery of central India, under Bharat Oman Refineries Limited, moreover, a Thermal Power Plant, a High Voltage Power Station, and some important agriculture processing industries are also located in the city. Apart from this, Historically, Bina Etawa is famous for the city Eran which is located near the city along the bank of Bina River. Eran was the capital of Airikina Pradesha or Airkina Vishaya, a division of the Gupta empire. Also the region is famous for its best quality wheat produce and is an important centre for the agricultural activities, Bina Railway Junction is also an important landmark in the city and is a very important junction point in the country. The route from Delhi-Mumbai and from Katni-Kota passes through the station, Also Malkheri Railway Junction which is under development, and located in the city and will be an important railway station for the trains between Katni-Kota and Katni-Delhi Route. Bina city was known as Etawa. Etawa is the name of the village earlier present in the area, later in 1923, Bina Railway Junction was founded in the area with its name derived from the Bina River flowing nearby. The new name was chosen to dismiss any ambiguity between the Itawa located in Uttar Pradesh, later all administrative documents started using the name Bina-Etawa, and therefore, the municipal corporation was also named as Bina-Etawa Municipal Corporation. Also, Eran, an ancient Indian historical city, is located near Bina and it is among the oldest historical towns in the region. In earlier coins and inscriptions its name appears as Airikiṇa, from an early inscription at Sanchi, we know that the residents of Eran had made some gifts to the famous Stupa situated at Sanchi. This city was the capital of Airikina Pradesha or Airkina Vishaya, Eran is also the site of first reported monument of Sati dated 510 AD in India. Inscription of Shridharvarman Important Temple of Eran 1, narsingh Temple 4. Old Temple of Lord Hanuman 5. Garuda Pillar about 48 fit Also the Khimlasa Fort located near the city is an important destination to understand the history of the region, Khimlasa is said to have been founded by a Mohammedan noble and was the mahal in the sarkar of Raisen of the subah of Malwa. The town of Khimlasa is enclosed within a wall built of stone rubble more or less coursed. As of 2011 approximation, Bina Etawa had a population of 64,529, males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%
34.
Broad-gauge railway
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Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the 1,435 mm standard gauge. In Britain the Great Western Railway, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, pioneered broad gauge in 1838 with a gauge of 7 ft 1⁄4 in, some harbours also used railways of this gauge for construction and maintenance. These included Portland Harbour and Holyhead Breakwater, which used a locomotive for working sidings, as it was not connected to the national network, this broad-gauge operation continued until the locomotive wore out in 1913. The gauge initially proposed by Brunel was 7 ft exactly but this was increased by 1⁄4 in to accommodate clearance problems identified during early testing. It became apparent that standardization on a gauge throughout a rail transport system was advantageous. Rolling stock did not need to match the gauge exactly, a difference of a few millimetres could be coped with, the value of interoperability was initially not obvious to the industry. The standardization movement was gradual, over time the value of a proprietary gauge diminished, being replaced by the idea of charging money for equipment used on other railway lines. Ireland, using the criteria, was allocated a different standard gauge. Broad-gauge lines in Britain were gradually converted to dual gauge or standard gauge from 1864, Ireland and some states in Australia and Brazil have a gauge of 5 ft 3 in, but Luas, the Dublin light rail system, is built to standard gauge. Russia and the other former Soviet Republics use a 1,520 mm gauge while Finland continues to use the 5 ft gauge inherited from Imperial Russia, in 1839 the Netherlands started its railway system with two broad-gauge railways. But the neighbouring countries Prussia and Belgium already used standard gauge, in 1855, NRS regauged its line and shortly afterwards connected to the Prussian railways. There are replicas of one broad-gauge 2-2-2 locomotive and three carriages in the Dutch Railway Museum in Utrecht and these replicas were built for the 100th anniversary of the Dutch Railways in 1938–39. Portugal and the Spanish Renfe system use a gauge of 1,668 mm called Ancho Ibérico in Spanish or Bitola Ibérica in Portuguese, in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, a gauge of 5 ft 6 in is widespread. This is also used by the Bay Area Rapid Transit system of the San Francisco Bay Area. In Toronto, Canada the gauge for TTC subways and streetcars was chosen in 1861, years after the establishment of gauge in Britain. In 1861, the province was supplying subsidies only to broad gauge railways. The use of a non-standard gauge precludes interoperability of rolling stock on railway networks. On the 5 ft 3 in and 5 ft 6 in gauges, the extra width allowed bigger inside cylinders and greater power, in the event, the most powerful engines on standard gauge in North America and Scandinavia far exceeded the power of any broad-gauge locomotive
35.
Katni
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Katni is a town on the banks of the Katni River in Madhya Pradesh, India. It is the headquarters of Katni District. It is in the Mahakoshal Region of Central India, the city is 90 km from the Divisional Headquarters of the region, Jabalpur. It is one of largest railway junctions in India and has the largest railyard, the city has an abundance of lime and bauxite. It also has the Ordnance Factory Katni of the Ordnance Factories Board which manufactures products for the Indian Armed Forces, Katni is a conglomeration of culture from three cultural states — Mahakausal, Bundelkhand, and Baghelkhand. There are three stories which may explain why Katni is called Mudwara, Katni junction has a half circular Mode from the wagon yard. Another story is there was a village called Modwar that was given as a reward for the bravery of cutting Mud. A similar story is that the British government used to cut the heads of baggies and plunderers, one of the prime junctions of Indian railways, Katni Junction is in the heart of the rail network. Trains come to Katni from five directions, as it is at the junction of rail routes connecting north-south. The public has access to almost all parts of the country directly through mail express trains from Katni, the railways are now establishing a new zone at Jabalpur. There are more than 5,000 railway employees at Katni, Katni is the second biggest diesel locomotive shed of the Indian Railways, housing 200 locomotives. It has a locomotive shed holding 100 locomotives. Katni is home to Indian railways biggest wagon repair shop, a complete new township has been developed at Katni Junction. The nearest airport is at Jabalpur, around 100 kilometres distant, daily flights are available to Delhi and Mumbai. Katni is connected by road to Varanasi, Nagpur, Bhopal, Raipur, Allahabad, Hyderabad, the longest national highway of India, i. e. National Highway 7 runs through the city. NH78 starts from Katni connecting Shahdol, Ambikapur and to Gumla, dussehra is the biggest annual festival in Katni district. The effigy of Ravana made here ranges in height from 43 to 49 metres in Kymore near Vijayraghavgarh every year, people from far away visit to witness the event. Burning of the effigy was temporarily discontinued due to safety reasons and has resumed, Katni has recently become home to some good hotels
36.
Raisen district
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Raisen District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state of India. The town of Raisen is the district headquarters, the district is part of Bhopal Division. Raisen District takes its name from Raisen town, which is named after a fort and this fort is built on a sandstone hill, at the foot of which settles the town. The name is probably a corruption of Rajavasini or Rajasayan, the royal residence, Raisen district is situated between the latitude 2247 and 2333 north and the longitude 7721 and 7849 east. Sehore district lies in west, Vidisha district in the north, Sagar district in the east and south-east, Narsimhapur district in the south-east, Hoshangabad and it covers an area of 8,395 square kilometres. Raisen district has eight tehsils – Raisen, Goharganj, Begamganj, Gairatganj, Silwani, Bareli, Udaipura, the territory of the present-day Raisen district was once part of the Nizamat-A-Mashrif district of the Bhopal princely state. After the Bhopal State of independent India came into being, Raisen was declared a district on 5 May 1950. The Buddhist monuments at Sanchi, a UNESCO world heritage site, are located in Raisen district. Bhimbetka rock shelters, another UNESCO world heritage site, are also located in Raisen district. According to the 2011 census Raisen District has a population of 1,331,699 and this gives it a ranking of 365th in India. The district has a density of 157 inhabitants per square kilometre. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 18. 36%, Raisen has a sex ratio of 899 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 74. 26%. Raisen is 45 km from Bhopal, Its connected to Bhopal via NH-86, nH-12 also passes thru the District
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Bhojpur, Madhya Pradesh
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Bhojpur is a town of historical and religious importance in Raisen District of Madhya Pradesh, India. Bhojpur is situated on the Betwā River,28 km from Bhopal, the site is located on sandstone ridges typical of central India, next to a deep gorge through which the Betwā River flows. Two large dams, constructed of massive hammer-dressed stones, were built in the century to divert and block the Betwā. The approximate size of the lake is shown in the site plan given here, Bhojpur takes its name from king Bhoja, the most celebrated ruler of the Paramāra dynasty. A location was found in the kingdom allowed the king to fulfil this vow. Although the dams were constructed of masonry, one of them was opened on the orders of Hoshang Shah of Malwa in the fifteenth century. Bhojpur also has an unfinished Jain temple containing a 6-meter-tall statue of Bhagwan Shantinath, on the base of the central images of Lord Shatinath there is an inscription mentioning king Bhoja, the only epigraphic evidence connecting Bhoja to the site. This huge temple was established in year 1100 AD, the miraculous idol of principal deity Bhagwan Shantinath in standing posture is installed in the huge sanctum of this temple. On the both sides of this idol,2 standing beautiful idols of Bhagwan Parshvanath & Suparshvanath 8 feet in each are installed. Near the feet of Bhagwan Shantinath, artistic whisk bearers are carved on both sides, Bhojpur is famous for the incomplete Bhojeśvar temple dedicated to Shiva. The temple houses one of the largest liṅga-s in India,5.5 m tall and 2.3 m in circumference and it is crafted out a single rock. The building is under the protection of the Archaeological Survey of India, the style of the sculpture on the building confirms an early to mid-eleventh-century date for the structure. The building as it consists of the inner cella or garbhagṛha, supported by massive pillars. The outer walls and superstructure of the temple were never built, the temple at Bhojpur is unique in being left unfinished, with a series of large architectural parts still located in the quarries where the stones were cut and fashioned. In addition, there are a significant number of drawings engraved on the flat surfaces of the quarry showing mouldings, pillars. Also of note is the earthen ramp behind the temple which shows how medieval craftsmen raised the large blocks of stone into position. Immediately opposite the temple, on the west side of the gorge facing the Betwā, is a rock-shelter or cave, popularly known as Pārvatīs Cave, the cave contains a number of sculptures and architectural fragments dating to the eleventh century. On the low plateau above the Cave of Pārvatī and opposite the Bhojpur temple are the remains of Bhojas palace, the complex is laid out as a grid in a square, with a courtyard in the centre
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