The Taj Mahal (;  ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna  in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal; it also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan himself. The tomb is the centrepiece of a  complex, which includes a mosque and a guest house, and is set in formal gardens bounded on three sides by a crenellated wall.

Construction of the mausoleum was essentially completed in 1643, but work continued on other phases of the project for another 10 years. The Taj Mahal complex is believed to have been completed in its entirety in 1653 at a cost estimated at the time to be around 32 million, which in  would be approximately  billion. The construction project employed some 20,000 artisans under the guidance of a board of architects led by Ustad Ahmad Lahori, the emperor's court architect. Various types of symbolism have been employed in the Taj to reflect natural beauty and divinity.

The Taj Mahal was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983 for being "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage". It is regarded by many as the best example of Mughal architecture and a symbol of India's rich history. The Taj Mahal attracts 7-8 million visitors a year, and in 2007 it was declared a winner of the New 7 Wonders of the World (2000–2007) initiative.

Etymology
Abdul Hamid Lahori, in his book from 1636 Padshahnama, refers to the Taj Mahal as rauza-i munawwara (Perso-Arabic: , rawdah-i munawwarah), meaning the illumined or illustrious tomb.
The current name for the Taj Mahal is of Urdu origin, and believed to be derived from Arabic and Persian, with the words tāj mahall meaning "crown" (tāj) "palace" (mahall). The name "Taj" came from the corruption of the second syllable of "Mumtaz".

Inspiration
The Taj Mahal was commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1631, to be built in the memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died on 17 June that year, while giving birth to their 14th child, Gauhara Begum. Construction started in 1632, and the mausoleum was completed in 1648, while the surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later. The imperial court documenting Shah Jahan's grief after the death of Mumtaz Mahal illustrates the love story held as the inspiration for the Taj Mahal. According to contemporary historians Muhammad Amin Qazvini, Abdul Hamid Lahori and Muhammad Saleh Kamboh, he did not show the same level of affection to others as he had shown her while she was alive. He avoided royal affairs for a week due to his grief, along with giving up listening to music and dressing lavishly for two years. Shah Jahan was enamored by the beauty of the land at the south side of Agra on which a mansion belonging to Raja Jai Singh I stood. This place was chosen for the construction of Mumtaz's tomb by Shah Jahan and Jai Singh agreed to donate it to the emperor.

Architecture and design

The Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions of Indo-Islamic and earlier Mughal architecture. Specific inspiration came from successful Timurid and Mughal buildings including the Gur-e Amir (the tomb of Timur, progenitor of the Mughal dynasty, in Samarkand), Humayun's Tomb which inspired the Charbagh gardens and hasht-behesht (architecture) plan of the site, Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb (sometimes called the Baby Taj), and Shah Jahan's own Jama Masjid in Delhi. While earlier Mughal buildings were primarily constructed of red sandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones. Buildings under his patronage reached new levels of refinement.

Tomb

The tomb is the central focus of the entire complex of the Taj Mahal. It is a large, white marble structure standing on a square plinth and consists of a symmetrical building with an iwan (an arch-shaped doorway) topped by a large dome and finial. Like most Mughal tombs, the basic elements are Indo-Islamic in origin.

The base structure is a large multi-chambered cube with chamfered corners forming an unequal eight-sided structure that is approximately  on each of the four long sides. Each side of the iwan is framed with a huge pishtaq or vaulted archway with two similarly shaped arched balconies stacked on either side. This motif of stacked pishtaqs is replicated on the chamfered corner areas, making the design completely symmetrical on all sides of the building. Four minarets frame the tomb, one at each corner of the plinth facing the chamfered corners. The main chamber houses the false sarcophagi of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan; the actual graves are at a lower level.

The most spectacular feature is the marble dome that surmounts the tomb. The dome is nearly  high which is close in measurement to the length of the base, and accentuated by the cylindrical "drum" it sits on, which is approximately  high. Because of its shape, the dome is often called an onion dome or amrud (guava dome). The top is decorated with a lotus design which also serves to accentuate its height. The shape of the dome is emphasised by four smaller domed chattris (kiosks) placed at its corners, which replicate the onion shape of the main dome. The dome is slightly asymmetrical. Their columned bases open through the roof of the tomb and provide light to the interior. Tall decorative spires (guldastas) extend from edges of base walls, and provide visual emphasis to the height of the dome. The lotus motif is repeated on both the chattris and guldastas. The dome and chattris are topped by a gilded finial which mixes traditional Persian and Hindustani decorative elements.

The main finial was originally made of gold but was replaced by a copy made of gilded bronze in the early 19th century. This feature provides a clear example of integration of traditional Persian and Hindu decorative elements. The finial is topped by a moon, a typical Islamic motif whose horns point heavenward.

The minarets, which are each more than  tall, display the designer's penchant for symmetry. They were designed as working minaretsa traditional element of mosques, used by the muezzin to call the Islamic faithful to prayer. Each minaret is effectively divided into three equal parts by two working balconies that ring the tower. At the top of the tower is a final balcony surmounted by a chattri that mirrors the design of those on the tomb. The chattris all share the same decorative elements of a lotus design topped by a gilded finial. The minarets were constructed slightly outside of the plinth so that in the event of collapse, a typical occurrence with many tall constructions of the period, the material from the towers would tend to fall away from the tomb.

Exterior decorations
The exterior decorations of the Taj Mahal are among the finest in Mughal architecture. As the surface area changes, the decorations are refined proportionally. The decorative elements were created by applying paint, stucco, stone inlays or carvings. In line with the Islamic prohibition against the use of anthropomorphic forms, the decorative elements can be grouped into either calligraphy, abstract forms or vegetative motifs.
Throughout the complex are passages from the Qur'an that comprise some of the decorative elements. Recent scholarship suggests that Amanat Khan chose the passages.

The calligraphy on the Great Gate reads "O Soul, thou art at rest. Return to the Lord at peace with Him, and He at peace with you." The calligraphy was created in 1609 by a calligrapher named Abdul Haq. Shah Jahan conferred the title of "Amanat Khan" upon him as a reward for his "dazzling virtuosity". Near the lines from the Qur'an at the base of the interior dome is the inscription, "Written by the insignificant being, Amanat Khan Shirazi". Much of the calligraphy is composed of florid thuluth script made of jasper or black marble inlaid in white marble panels. Higher panels are written in slightly larger script to reduce the skewing effect when viewed from below. The calligraphy found on the marble cenotaphs in the tomb is particularly detailed and delicate.

Abstract forms are used throughout, especially in the plinth, minarets, gateway, mosque, jawab and, to a lesser extent, on the surfaces of the tomb. The domes and vaults of the sandstone buildings are worked with tracery of incised painting to create elaborate geometric forms. Herringbone inlays define the space between many of the adjoining elements. White inlays are used in sandstone buildings, and dark or black inlays on the white marbles. Mortared areas of the marble buildings have been stained or painted in a contrasting colour which creates a complex  array of geometric patterns. Floors and walkways use contrasting tiles or blocks in tessellation patterns.

On the lower walls of the tomb are white marble dados sculpted with realistic bas relief depictions of flowers and vines. The marble has been polished to emphasise the exquisite detailing of the carvings. The dado frames and archway spandrels have been decorated with pietra dura inlays of highly stylised, almost geometric vines, flowers and fruits. The inlay stones are of yellow marble, jasper and jade, polished and levelled to the surface of the walls.

Interior decoration
The interior chamber of the Taj Mahal reaches far beyond traditional decorative elements. The inlay work is not pietra dura, but a lapidary of precious and semiprecious gemstones. The inner chamber is an octagon with the design allowing for entry from each face, although only the door facing the garden to the south is used. The interior walls are about  high and are topped by a "false" interior dome decorated with a sun motif. Eight pishtaq arches define the space at ground level and, as with the exterior, each lower pishtaq is crowned by a second pishtaq about midway up the wall. The four central upper arches form balconies or viewing areas, and each balcony's exterior window has an intricate screen or jali a grill lattice cut from marble. In addition to the light from the balcony screens, light enters through roof openings covered by chattris at the corners. The octagonal marble screen or jali bordering the cenotaphs is made from eight marble panels carved through with intricate pierce work. The remaining surfaces are inlaid in delicate detail with semi-precious stones forming twining vines, fruits and flowers. Each chamber wall is highly decorated with dado bas-relief, intricate lapidary inlay and refined calligraphy panels which reflect, in little detail, the design elements seen throughout the exterior of the complex.

Muslim tradition forbids elaborate decoration of graves. Hence, the bodies of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan were put in a relatively plain crypt beneath the inner chamber with their faces turned right, towards Mecca. Mumtaz Mahal's cenotaph is placed at the precise centre of the inner chamber on a rectangular marble base of . Both the base and casket are elaborately inlaid with precious and semiprecious gems. Calligraphic inscriptions on the casket identify and praise Mumtaz. On the lid of the casket is a raised rectangular lozenge meant to suggest a writing tablet. Shah Jahan's cenotaph is beside Mumtaz's to the western side and is the only visible asymmetric element in the entire complex. His cenotaph is bigger than his wife's, but reflects the same elements: a larger casket on a slightly taller base precisely decorated with lapidary and calligraphy that identifies him. On the lid of the casket is a traditional sculpture of a small pen box.

The pen box and writing tablet are traditional Mughal funerary icons decorating the caskets of men and women respectively. The Ninety Nine Names of God are calligraphic inscriptions on the sides of the actual tomb of Mumtaz Mahal. Other inscriptions inside the crypt include: O Noble, O Magnificent, O Majestic, O Unique, O Eternal, O Glorious... . The Tomb of Shah Jahan bears a calligraphic inscription that reads: He travelled from this world to the banquet-hall of Eternity on the night of the twenty-sixth of the month of Rajab, in the year 1076 Hijri.

Garden

The complex is set around a large  square charbagh or Mughal garden.
The garden uses raised pathways that divide each of the four-quarters of the garden into 16 sunken parterres or flowerbeds. Halfway between the tomb and gateway in the centre of the garden is a raised marble water tank with a reflecting pool positioned on a north–south axis to reflect the image of the mausoleum. The elevated marble water tank is called al Hawd al-Kawthar in reference to the "Tank of Abundance" promised to Muhammad.

Elsewhere, the garden is laid out with avenues of trees labelled according to common and scientific names and fountains. The charbagh garden, a design inspired by Persian gardens, was introduced to India by Babur, the first Mughal emperor. It symbolises the four flowing rivers of Jannah (Paradise) and reflects the Paradise garden derived from the Persian paridaeza, meaning 'walled garden.' In mystic Islamic texts of the Mughal period, Paradise is described as an ideal garden of abundance with four rivers flowing from a central spring or mountain, separating the garden into north, west, south and east.

Most Mughal charbaghs are rectangular with a tomb or pavilion in the centre. The Taj Mahal garden is unusual in that the main element, the tomb, is located at the end of the garden. With the discovery of Mahtab Bagh or "Moonlight Garden" on the other side of the Yamuna, the interpretation of the Archaeological Survey of India is that the Yamuna river itself was incorporated into the garden's design and was meant to be seen as one of the rivers of Paradise. Similarities in layout and architectural features with the Shalimar Gardens suggests both gardens may have been designed by the same architect, Ali Mardan. Early accounts of the garden describe its profusion of vegetation, including abundant roses, daffodils, and fruit trees. As the Mughal Empire declined, the Taj Mahal and its gardens also declined. By the 19th century, the British Empire controlled more than three-fifths of India, and assumed management of the Taj Mahal. They changed the landscaping to their liking which more closely resembled the formal lawns of London.

Outlying buildings

The Taj Mahal complex is bordered on three sides by crenellated red sandstone walls; the side facing the river is open. Outside the walls are several additional mausoleums, including those of Shah Jahan's other wives, and a larger tomb for Mumtaz's favourite servant. These structures, composed primarily of red sandstone, are typical of the smaller Mughal tombs of the era. The garden-facing inner sides of the wall are fronted by columned arcades, a feature typical of Hindu temples which was later incorporated into Mughal mosques. The wall is interspersed with domed chattris, and small buildings that may have been viewing areas or watch towers like the Music House, which is now used as a museum.

The main gateway (darwaza) is a monumental structure built primarily of marble, and reminiscent of the Mughal architecture of earlier emperors. Its archways mirror the shape of the tomb's archways, and its pishtaq arches incorporate the calligraphy that decorates the tomb. It uses bas-relief and pietra dura inlaid decorations with floral motifs. The vaulted ceilings and walls have elaborate geometric designs like those found in the other sandstone buildings in the complex.

At the far end of the complex are two grand red sandstone buildings that mirror each other, and face the sides of the tomb. The backs of the buildings parallel the western and eastern walls. The western building is a mosque and the other is the jawab (answer), thought to have been constructed for architectural balance although it may have been used as a guesthouse. Distinctions between the two buildings include the jawab's lack of a mihrab (a niche in a mosque's wall facing Mecca), and its floors of geometric design whereas the floor of the mosque is laid with outlines of 569 prayer rugs in black marble. The mosque's basic design of a long hall surmounted by three domes is similar to others built by Shah Jahan, particularly the Masjid-i Jahān-Numā, or Jama Masjid, Delhi. The Mughal mosques of this period divide the sanctuary hall into three areas comprising a main sanctuary and slightly smaller sanctuaries on either side. At the Taj Mahal, each sanctuary opens onto an expansive vaulting dome. The outlying buildings were completed in 1643.

Construction
The Taj Mahal is built on a parcel of land to the south of the walled city of Agra. Shah Jahan presented Maharaja Jai Singh I with a large palace in the centre of Agra in exchange for the land. An area of roughly  was excavated, filled with dirt to reduce seepage, and levelled at  above the riverbank level. In the tomb area, piles were dug and filled with stone and rubble to form the footings of the tomb. Instead of lashed bamboo, workmen constructed a colossal brick scaffold that mirrored the tomb. The scaffold was so enormous that foremen expected it to take years to dismantle.

The Taj Mahal was constructed using materials from all over India and Asia. It is believed over 1,000 elephants were used to transport building materials. Some 22,000 labourers, painters, embroidery artists and stonecutters were used. The translucent white marble was brought from Makrana, Rajasthan, the jasper from the Punjab region, jade and crystal from China. The turquoise was from Tibet and the Lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, while the sapphire came from Sri Lanka and the carnelian from Arabia. In all, 28 types of precious and semi-precious stone were inlaid into the white marble.

According to the legend, Shah Jahan decreed that anyone could keep the bricks taken from the scaffold, and thus it was dismantled by peasants overnight. A 15-kilometre (9.3 mi) tamped-earth ramp was built to transport marble and materials to the construction site and teams of 20 or 30 oxen pulled the blocks on specially constructed wagons. An elaborate post-and-beam pulley system was used to raise the blocks into the desired position. Water was drawn from the river by a series of purs, an animal-powered rope and bucket mechanism, into a large storage tank and raised to a large distribution tank. It was passed into three subsidiary tanks, from which it was piped to the complex.

The plinth and tomb took some 12 years to complete. The remaining parts of the complex took an additional 10 years and were completed in order of minarets, mosque and jawab, and gateway. Since the complex was built in stages, discrepancies exist in completion dates due to differing opinions on "completion". Construction of the mausoleum itself was essentially completed by 1643 while work on the outlying buildings continued for years. Estimates of the cost of construction vary due to difficulties in estimating costs across time. The total cost at the time has been estimated to be about  32 million, which is around  52.8 billion ($827 million US) based on 2015 values.

Symbolism
Due to the global attention that it has received and the millions of visitors it attracts, the Taj Mahal has become a prominent image that is associated with India, and in this way has become a symbol of India itself.

Along with being a renowned symbol of love, the Taj Mahal is also a symbol of Shah Jahan's wealth and power, and the fact that the empire had prospered under his rule. Bilateral symmetry dominated by a central axis has been used by rulers as a symbol of a ruling force that brings balance and harmony, and Shah Jahan applied that concept in the making of the Taj Mahal. Additionally, the plan is aligned in the cardinal north–south direction and the corners have been placed so that when seen from the centre of the plan, the sun can be seen rising and setting on the north and south corners on the summer and winter solstices respectively. This makes the Taj a symbolic horizon.

The planning and structure of the Taj Mahal, from the building itself to the gardens and beyond, is symbolic of Mumtaz Mahal's mansion in the garden of Paradise. The concept of Gardens of Paradise is extended into the building of the mausoleum as well. Colorful vines and flowers decorate the interior, and are filled in with semi-precious stones using a technique called pietra dura, or as the Mughals called it, parchin kari. The building appears to slightly change colour depending on the time of day and the weather. The sky has not only been incorporated in the design through the reflecting pools but also through the surface of the building itself. This is another way to imply the presence of Allah at the site.

According to Ebba Koch, art historian and international expert in the understanding and interpretation of Mughal architecture and the Taj Mahal, the planning of the entire compound of the Taj symbolises earthly life and the afterlife, a subset of the symbolisation of the divine. The plan has been split into twoone half is the white marble mausoleum itself and the gardens, and the other half is the red sandstone side meant for worldly markets. Only the mausoleum is white so as to represent the enlightenment, spirituality and faith of Mumtaz Mahal. According to the world-traveler Eleanor Roosevelt, the white symbolised the purity of real love. Koch has deciphered that symbolic of Islamic teachings, the plan of the worldly side is a mirror image of the otherworldly side, and the grand gate in the middle represents the transition between the two worlds.

The Taj is also seen as a feminine architectural form, and is thought to embody Mumtaz Mahal herself.

Later days
Soon after the Taj Mahal's completion, Shah Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangzeb and put under house arrest at the nearby Agra Fort from where he could see the Taj Mahal. Upon Shah Jahan's death, Aurangzeb buried him in the mausoleum next to his wife. In the 18th century, the Jat rulers of Bharatpur invaded Agra and attacked the Taj Mahal. They took away the two chandeliers, one of agate and another of silver, which were hung over the main cenotaph; they also took the gold and silver screen. Kanbo, a Mughal historian, said the gold shield which covered the  finial at the top of the main dome was also removed during the Jat despoilation.

By the late 19th century, parts of the buildings had fallen into disrepair. At the end of the 19th century, British viceroy Lord Curzon ordered a sweeping restoration project, which was completed in 1908. He also commissioned the large lamp in the interior chamber, modelled after one in a Cairo mosque. During this time, the garden was remodelled with European-style lawns that are still in place today.

Threats

In 1942, the government erected scaffolding to disguise the building in anticipation of air attacks by the Japanese Air Force. During the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971, scaffolding was again erected to mislead bomber pilots.

More recent threats have come from environmental pollution on the banks of the Yamuna River including acid rain due to the Mathura Oil Refinery, which was opposed by Supreme Court of India directives. The pollution has been turning the Taj Mahal yellow-brown. To help control the pollution, the Indian government has set up the "Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ)", a  area around the monument where strict emissions standards are in place.

Concerns for the tomb's structural integrity have recently been raised because of a decline in the groundwater level in the Yamuna river basin which is falling at a rate of around  per year. In 2010, cracks appeared in parts of the tomb, and the minarets which surround the monument were showing signs of tilting, as the wooden foundation of the tomb may be rotting due to lack of water. It has been pointed out by politicians, however, that the minarets are designed to tilt slightly outwards to prevent them from crashing on top of the tomb in the event of an earthquake. In 2011, it was reported that some predictions indicated that the tomb could collapse within five years.

Small minarets located at two of the outlying buildings were reported as damaged by a storm on 11 April 2018. On 31 May 2020 another fierce thunderstorm caused some damage to the complex.

Tourism

The Taj Mahal attracts a large number of tourists. UNESCO documented more than 2 million visitors in 2001, which had increased to about 7–8 million in 2014. A three-tier pricing system is in place, with a significantly lower entrance fee for Indian citizens and more expensive ones for foreigners. , the fee for Indian citizens was 50, for citizens of SAARC and BIMSTEC countries, it was 540 and for other foreign tourists, it was 1,100. Most tourists visit in the cooler months of October, November and February. Polluting traffic is not allowed near the complex and tourists must either walk from parking areas or catch an electric bus. The Khawasspuras (northern courtyards) are currently being restored for use as a new visitor centre. In 2019, to address overtourism, the site instituted fines for visitors who stayed longer than three hours.

The small town to the south of the Taj, known as Taj Ganji or Mumtazabad, was initially constructed with caravanserais, bazaars and markets to serve the needs of visitors and workers. Lists of recommended travel destinations often feature the Taj Mahal, which also appears in several listings of seven wonders of the modern world, including the recently announced New Seven Wonders of the World, a recent poll with 100 million votes.

The grounds are open from 06:00 to 19:00 hours on weekdays, except on Friday when the complex is open for prayers at the mosque between 12:00 and 14:00 hours. The complex is open for night viewing on the day of the full moon and two days before and after, excluding Fridays and the month of Ramadan.

Foreign dignitaries often visit the Taj Mahal on trips to India. Notable figures who have travelled to the site include Dwight Eisenhower, Jacqueline Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, George Harrison, Vladimir Putin, Princess Diana, Donald Trump, Justin Trudeau, Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth, and Prince Philip.

Myths

Ever since its construction, the building has been the source of an admiration transcending culture and geography, and so personal and emotional responses have consistently eclipsed scholastic appraisals of the monument. A longstanding myth holds that Shah Jahan planned a mausoleum to be built in black marble as a Black Taj Mahal across the Yamuna river. The idea originates from fanciful writings of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a European traveller who visited Agra in 1665. It was suggested that his son Aurangzeb overthrew Shah Jahan before it could be built. Ruins of blackened marble across the river in the Mehtab Bagh, seemed to support this legend. However, excavations carried out in the 1990s found that they were discoloured white stones that had turned black. A more credible theory for the origins of the black mausoleum was demonstrated in 2006 by archaeologists who reconstructed part of the pool in the Mehtab Bagh. A dark reflection of the white mausoleum could clearly be seen, befitting Shah Jahan's obsession with symmetry and the positioning of the pool itself.

No concrete evidence exists for claims that describe, often in horrific detail, the deaths, dismemberments and mutilations which Shah Jahan supposedly inflicted on various architects and craftsmen associated with the tomb. Some stories claim that those involved in construction signed contracts committing themselves to have no part in any similar design. Similar claims are made for many famous buildings. No evidence exists for claims that Lord William Bentinck, governor-general of India in the 1830s, supposedly planned to demolish the Taj Mahal and auction off the marble. Bentinck's biographer John Rosselli says that the story arose from Bentinck's fund-raising sale of discarded marble from Agra Fort.

Another myth suggests that beating the silhouette of the finial will cause water to come forth. To this day, officials find broken bangles surrounding the silhouette.

Several myths, none of which are supported by the archaeological record, have appeared asserting that people other than Shah Jahan and the original architects were responsible for the construction of the Taj Mahal. For instance, in 2000, India's Supreme Court dismissed P. N. Oak's petition to declare that a Hindu king built the Taj Mahal. In 2005, a similar petition was dismissed by the Allahabad High Court. This case was brought by Amar Nath Mishra, a social worker and preacher who claimed that the Taj Mahal was built by the Hindu King Parmal Dev in 1196.

Another such unsupported theory is that the Taj Mahal was designed by an Italian, Geronimo Vereneo, held sway for a brief period after it was first promoted by Henry George Keene in 1879 who went by a translation of a Spanish work Itinerario, (The Travels of Fray Sebastian Manrique, 1629–1643). Another theory that a Frenchman, Austin of Bordeaux designed the Taj was promoted by William Henry Sleeman based on the work of Jean-Baptiste Tavernier. These ideas were revived by Father Hosten and discussed again by E.B. Havell and served as the basis for subsequent theories and controversies.

As of 2017, several court cases about Taj Mahal being a Hindu temple have been inspired by P. N.  Oak's theory. In August 2017, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) stated there was no evidence to suggest the monument ever housed a temple. Bharatiya Janata Party's Vinay Katiyar in 2017 claimed that the 17th century monument was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan after destroying a Hindu temple called "Tejo Mahalaya" and it housed a Shiva linga. This claim had also been made by another BJP member Laxmikant Bajpai in 2014. The BJP government's Union Minister of Culture Mahesh Sharma stated in November 2015 during a session of the parliament, that there was no evidence that it was a temple. The theories about Taj Mahal being a Shiva temple started circulating when Oak released his 1989 book Taj Mahal: The True Story. He claimed it was built in 1155 AD and not in the 17th century, as stated by the ASI.

Gallery

See also

 Architecture of India
 Bibi Ka Maqbara, a similar building in the Deccan, Aurangabad
 Fatehpur Sikri, a nearby city and World Heritage Site
 Islamic architecture
 Indo-Islamic architecture
 Inside, a 1968 new-age music album recorded in the building
 List of tallest domes
 List of tallest structures built before the 20th century
 New 7 Wonders of the World
 Taj Mahal replicas and derivatives
 Wonders of the World

References

Citations

General sources

 Havell, E.B. (1913). Indian Architecture: Its Psychology, Structure and History, John Murray.

External links

  of the Taj Mahal
 Description of the Taj Mahal at the Archaeological Survey of India
 Profile of the Taj Mahal at UNESCO

1654 establishments in the Mughal Empire
Articles containing video clips
Buildings and structures completed in 1654
Buildings and structures in Agra
Domes
Marble buildings
Mausoleums in Uttar Pradesh
Mughal tombs
Mughal gardens in India
Persian gardens in India
Tombs in India
Tourism in India
Tourism in Uttar Pradesh
Tourist attractions in Agra
World Heritage Sites in India

Taj Mahal


Puthige Matha (Kannada: ಪುತ್ತಿಗೆ ಮಠ) or Puttige Mutt in some records and literature is a Madhwa Vaishnava monastery. It is one of the Ashta Mathas of Udupi founded by Dvaita philosopher Madhvacharya of Udupi. The first pontiff of Puttige matha was Sri Upendra Tirtha, who was a direct disciple of Sri Madhvacharya, the founder of the Dvaita school of philosophy.  The main idols worshipped in the Puttige matha are that of Panduranga (Vittala), which was given to Sri Upendra Tirtha by Sri Madhvacharya.  Till date, there have been 29 pontiffs who have headed the matha.

The current Swamiji of the matha is Shri Sugunendra Tirtha Swamiji

The Lineage of Swamiji's (guru parampara)

 Upendra Tirtha-Sri Madhwavijaya mentions a story of Sri Upendra teeertha.  Sri Madhva undertook a second trip to Badari.  On the way, many interesting incidents took place.  Once, after Sri Madhva and his followers crossed the Ganga river, the troops of a Muslim ruler arrested all of them.  Sri Madhva explained to the King that it was the same Supreme Being that all people on earth worshipped and therefore he feared none.  Looking at the fearless saint and impressed by his words, the King offered many gifts to Sri Madhva (all of which were politely refused) and permitted them to leave. On another occasion, a band of dacoits attacked the party.  Sri Madhva asked Upendra Tirtha, his disciple, to confront them.  Sri Upendra Tirtha, who went on to become one of the eight disciples who got the opportunity of worshipping Sri Krishna at Udupi, and who is the founder of the Puttige Matha, fought like a man possessed and drove away the bandits.
 Kavindra Tirtha
 Hamsendra Tirtha
 Yadavendra Tirtha
 Dharanidhara Tirtha
 Damodara Tirtha
 Raghunatha Tirtha
 Shreevatsanka Tirtha
 Gopinatha Tirtha
 Ranganatha Tirtha
 Lokanatha Tirtha
 Ramanatha Tirtha-
 Shreevallabha Tirtha- jnAnavairAgyabhaktyAdiguNapuShpArchitAchyutAn| shrIvallabhAkhyayOgIndrAn naumyahaM tatkRupAbalaH|
 Shreenivasa Tirtha- Puthige mutt guruparampara shloka describes him as "Vadirajamunisupriyam".  His disciple's Shreenidheeya tippani on Nyaayasudha describes that his Vidyaguru had Narasimha's grace shrInivAsapadAMbhOjayugalAsakta mAnasAn| shrInivAsAkhyahaMsEMdrAn naumyahaM buddhishuddhayE|
Shreenidhi Tirtha-He has written commentary on nyaaya sudha written by jayateertha
 Gunanidhi Tirtha
 Anandanidhi Tirtha
 Taponidhi Tirtha
 Yadavendra Tirtha
 Kavindra Tirtha- There were two pillars opposite to each other on which a lion and an elephant was carved. The villagers of puthige village were in trouble. Lord Ganesha came out of the pillar on which elephant was carved hearing to prayers of Kavindra teertha.
 Raghavendra Tirtha-He laid steps for Madhvasarovara in Udupi Sri Krishna Mutt.  His brindavana is in Hiriyadka, Puthige.  Lakshmidhara teertha of Shiroor mutt was his brother in poorvashrama.
 Vibudhendra Tirtha
 Surendra Tirtha
Bhuvanendra Tirtha-His brindavana is at Kuruvalli in teerthahalli.  He has been mentioned in Vishvapriyavilaasa written by kochi rangappacharya. He had done sudha mangala for 12 times.  He renovated Ananteshvara temple in Udupi.  He had many sanyasi shishyaru like Yogindra teertharu of puthige mutt, Vidyadheesha teertharu of Krishnapura mutt, Rajendra yatigalu, etc.   of his Panditya, puthige matha got jahgeer at Teerthahalli. His disciple Rajendra yatigaLu entered brindavana before Bhuvanendra Tirtha. So he gave ashrama to Yogindra teertha.
 Yogindra Tirtha
Sumatindra Tirtha
Shatayushi Sudhindra tirtha- Sri Sudheendra Teertha took ashrama from Sri Vidyadheesha Teertha of Krishnapura Mutt and ruled the peetha for 79 years. He was born in the year 1856 at Hejamadi Village belonging to Shukla Yajurveda Shakha. He took Sanyasa in 1878. He got his initial education under Sri Vidyadheesha Teertha of Krishnapura Mutt and later studied sudha and other higher education under Sri Lakshmivallabha Teertha of Shiroor Mutt.
Sujnanendra teertha
Sugunendra Tirtha (Present Pitadhipathi)
 Sushreendra Tirtha (Junior Pontiff)

Branches & Temples Managed by Shri Puthige Matha

 Shri Puthige Vidyapeetha, Hiriyadka, Udupi
 Shri Puthige Matha, Car Street, Udupi
 Shri Puthige Vidyapeetha, Paadigar, Udupi
 Shri Puthige Matha, Theerthahalli
 Shri Govardhanagiri Kshetra, Basavanagudi, Bengaluru
 Vishnumurthy Temple, Hiriyadka, Udupi
 Anantheshwara Chandreshwara Temple, Car Street, Udupi
 Gourishankara Temple, Theerthahalli
 Shri Mahalingeshwara Temple, Hejamadi
 Vishnumurthy Temple, Karamballi
 Ananthapadmanabha Temple, Paniyadi
 Shri Guru Raghavendra Matha, Hosanagara
 Vittala Anjeneya Raghavendra Matha, Habbuvada, Karwar
 Shri Karaanjaneya Swamiji Matha, Mailapur, Chennai
 Raghavendra Swami Matha, Darmapuri, Tamil Nadu
 Shri Krishna Hanuman Gurusarva Bhouma Sannidhi, Kolkata
 Subramanya Raghavendra Swami Matha, Taamram, Chennai
 Kemmundel Primary School, Udupi.
Sri Hejamadi Mahalingeshvara temple, Hejamadi

International Centers

 Shri Krishna Vrundavana, New Jersey
215 May Street
Edison, NJ 08837
United States

 Shri Venkata Krishna Kshetra, Arizona
615 S Beck Ave
Tempe, AZ 85281
United States

 Shri Venkata Krishna Temple, Los Angeles
2770, Borchar Road
Thousand Oaks, New Bury Park
Los Angeles, CA 91320
United States

 Shri Krishna Vrundavana, Texas
10223 #A Synott Rd
Sugar Land, TX 77498
United States

 Shri Krishna Vrundavana Temple, San Jose
43, Sunol Street
San Jose, CA 95126
United States

 Shri Krishna Vrundavana, Atlanta
Shri Krishna Vrundavana, Atlanta
4946, Shiloh Road
Cumming, GA 30040
United States

 Shri Krishna Brundavana, Canada
3005 Islington Ave E
North York, ON M9L 2K9
North York, ON 000000
Canada

 Shri Venkata Krishna Brundavana, Melbourne
241 Poath Road
Murrumbeena VIC 3163
Australia

 Shri Krishna Brundavana, Sydney
58, Toongabbie Road
Toongabbie NSW 2146
Australia

 Venkata Krishna Vrundavana, London
36 Wembley Station Grove
London
HA04AL
United Kingdom

References

Dvaita Vedanta
Ashta Mathas of Udupi

Puttige Matha


Alive As You Are is the third and final album by Darker My Love. It was released on 26 July 2010 in the UK and 17 August 2010 in North America on Dangerbird Records.

Track listing
All tracks by Tim Presley except where noted.
 "Backseat" – 3:15
 "Split Minute" – 2:55
 "18th Street Shuffle" – 4:17
 "New America" – 3:41
 "Rain Party" – 3:33
 "Maple Day Getaway" (Rob Barbato, Presley) – 2:32
 "Trail the Line" (Barbato) – 3:03
 "June Bloom" – 4:31
 "Dear Author" (Barbato) – 2:51
 "A Lovely Game" (Barbato, Presley) – 2:34
 "Cry On Me Woman" – 2:33

Personnel
Darker My Love
 Tim Presley – vocals, guitar
 Rob Barbato – vocals, bass guitar
 Jared Everett – guitar, sax
 Will Canzoneri – organ, clavinet, accordion
 Dan Allaire – drums, percussion
 Maria Taylor – vocals
 Joe Goldmark – pedal steel guitar
 Moira Little – oboe, English horn
 Leonard Edmondson – bassoon

Production
 Nick Huntington – production, mixing
 Drew Fischer – engineer, mixing
 Chris Reynolds – engineer
 Jason Lader – mixing
 Dave Cooley – mastering
 Malia James – photography

Reception
AllMusic - "More Beatles/Dylan than My Bloody Valentine, Alive as You Are is an album that's more about being listened to than just felt. With layers of vocal and guitar melodies at work, songs like 'Trail the Line' and 'Dear Author' have a carefully constructed depth that feels more intricate than 2's thick fuzz was able to produce. This kind of precision helps to give you the feeling that this is an album that was written and not just jammed out, allowing you to feel the hand of its creator and to appreciate the songcraft at work here. While fans of Darker My Love's earlier albums may be a bit put off by this sudden sea change, Alive as You Are marks a pleasant sonic shift for the band, offering anyone willing to listen a love letter to San Francisco's psych-pop past and the sounds of the paisley underground. ".
Pitchfork - "Alive As You Are mines the 1960s folk-rock canon with a near-dopey lack of shame. If the Dylan-esque vocal aping on opening track "Backseat" doesn't make you blush for these guys' sake, try the following cut, "Split Minute", which is basically the Byrds' "Turn! Turn! Turn!" sans any trace of the original's euphoric payoff." (Rating: 5.8/10)
Drowned in Sound - "Granted, one wouldn't have wished for a watered down xerox of its predecessor, but the West Coast psychedelia on a Nashville vacation of Alive As You Are could almost be a different band entirely. When Tim Presley sings "Act like you were born again in your own time" on the album's midpoint 'Maple Day Getaway' he could almost be writing his and Darker My Love's updated autobiography. Certainly anyone expecting a repeat of the gargantuan riffs and soaring melodies of 'Summer Is Here' and 'Talking Words' will be disappointed here, although once the initial shock subsides, there are still a handful of treasures in Alive As You Are to suggest the instinctive chameleon within the band hasn't totally dampened their songwriting abilities".
The A.V. Club - "After two records of clamorous psych-rock, the group now winds the clock back 40 years for an influence-worshipping period piece. Recording in the famed Hyde Street Studios, Darker My Love borrows heavily from its past clients (especially Grateful Dead) and injects stretches of Beatles-aping, but even those tiring of the Blitzen Trapper/Fleet Foxes throwback sound shouldn't immediately dismiss it: The styles and guitar work may be lifted from classic-rock radio, but the songwriting is impressively genuine. At times warmly sunny and loose and at other times coolly subdued, Alive As You Are is undeniably personal, with a depth lacking in the group's previous reverb-soaked fuzz anthems." (Grade: B+)
NME - "If we close our eyes hard enough, we can almost visualise the members of Darker My Love blowing lungfuls of cheap hash out of our old bedroom window while heads bob in unison to the strains of The Grateful Dead's 'American Beauty'. And by God, does it make us giddy. Inspired by the death of frontman Tim Presley's father, 'Alive As You Are' is a minor masterpiece, a record whose points of reference – the aforementioned Dead, Moby Grape, Teenage Fanclub – are impeccable, but never merely parroted back at you. From the countrified guitar licks and spectral three-part harmonies of opener 'Backseat', through the stoned shoegaze of 'Split Minute' and the dream-pop of 'June Bloom', this is an album to be held close to your heart and revered as psych-pop scripture.

References

External links
 Dangerbird Records - Album release information
 Darker My Love - Alive As You Are - Rdio
 Darker My Love - Alive As You Are - Spotify

2010 albums
Darker My Love albums
Dangerbird Records albums

Alive as You Are


The Hopf maximum principle is a maximum principle in the theory of second order elliptic partial differential equations and has been described as the "classic and bedrock result" of that theory. Generalizing the maximum principle for harmonic functions which was already known to Gauss in 1839, Eberhard Hopf proved in 1927 that if a function satisfies a second order partial differential inequality of a certain kind in a domain of Rn and attains a maximum in the domain then the function is constant. The simple idea behind Hopf's proof, the comparison technique he introduced for this purpose, has led to an enormous range of important applications and generalizations.

Mathematical formulation

Let u = u(x), x = (x1, …, xn) be a C2 function which satisfies the differential inequality

in an open domain (connected open subset of Rn) Ω, where the symmetric matrix aij = aji(x) is locally uniformly positive definite in Ω and the coefficients aij, bi  are locally bounded. If u takes a maximum value M in Ω then u ≡ M.

The coefficients aij, bi  are just functions. If they are known to be continuous then it is sufficient to demand pointwise positive definiteness of aij on the domain.

It is usually thought that the Hopf maximum principle applies only to linear differential operators L. In particular, this is the point of view taken by Courant and Hilbert's Methoden der mathematischen Physik. In the later sections of his original paper, however, Hopf considered a more general situation which permits certain nonlinear operators L and, in some cases, leads to uniqueness statements in the Dirichlet problem for the mean curvature operator and the Monge–Ampère equation.

Boundary behaviour
If the domain  has the interior sphere property (for example, if  has a smooth boundary), slightly more can be said. If in addition to the assumptions above,  and u takes a maximum value M at a point x0 in , then for any outward direction ν at x0, there holds  unless .

References

 .
 .

Elliptic partial differential equations
Mathematical principles

Hopf maximum principle


Sir Gilbert Thomas Carter KCMG (Greenwich, Kent, 14 January 1848 – Barbados, 18 January 1927) was an administrative officer in the Royal Navy and later a colonial official for the British Empire.

Starting as a Collector of Customs for the Gold Coast, he later became the Treasurer of the Gold Coast and The Gambia. Changing his career to administration, he started as the Administrator for The Gambia, where he dealt with the aggression of the native King of Gambia. He then became Governor for the Lagos where he negotiated on treaties with the local chiefs which protected Christian missionaries and ending human sacrifices. He later served as the Governors for The Bahamas and Barbados and finally as the Governor for Trinidad and Tobago.

Early life and career in the navy
Carter was the only son of Thomas Gilbert Carter who was a Commander in the Royal Navy. He was educated at the Royal Naval School in Greenwich.

Carter joined the Royal Navy in 1864, working as an Assistant Clerk on different ships. He also worked as a Clerk and as an Assistant Paymaster (the person responsible for paying everyone). His final job in the Royal Navy was on a Colonial steamer. While he was on this ship, he took part in the third war between England and the Ashanti people on the Gold Coast (now Ghana).

When the town of Elmina was sold to the British by the Dutch Government, he was a commissioner, responsible for valuing the military supplies left behind by the Dutch. He left the Navy on 21 July 1875.

Leeward Islands, the Gold Coast and the Gambia
In 1875, Carter became the private secretary to Sir George Berkeley who was the Governor of the Leeward Islands. In August 1879, he became Collector of Customs and Treasurer of the Gold Coast.

From 1882 until December 1888, Carter was in charge of the Settlement (the British colony) on The Gambia as a Treasurer and Postmaster. From 1886, he was acting Administrator of the Colony of the Gambia, until 1 December 1888, when he was given the job as full Administrator on the Gambia's separation from Sierra Leone.

On 1 January 1890, Carter was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG).

In 1891, the native King of Gambia had been organising abusive acts towards the British colonists. Carter sent an envoy from his official residence in Bathurst with a message that if the abuses continued, "he might expect a visit of a disciplinary nature from the marine forces of the Queen of England." (This means that the British Navy would send warships to punish the King.) The King sent the envoy back mutilated, with a message: "This is the King's answer." In response, Carter sent three British gunboats to get revenge for the bad treatment shown to the envoy.

Lagos (Nigeria)
On 3 February 1891, Carter became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Lagos (now Nigeria). In 1892, Carter ordered an attack on the Ijebu tribe  (of the Yoruba people) "in the interest of civilisation". Afterwards, he continued to say that this attack was a war to end slavery and promote civilisation. In early 1893, Carter travelled to various parts of Yorubaland, travelling with soldiers, in an attempt to show the power of the British. Some of the tribal chiefs did not want Carter there, and told him not to interfere with the slavery trade.

In January 1893, the Egba chiefs decided to sign a Treaty of Independence with the British Government. The Crown agreed that Her Majesty's Government would not try to take over any part of the Egba Nation without the permission of the lawful Authority of the nation. They also agreed that no aggressive actions should be made against the nation, and that its independence would be recognised. The Egba chiefs also said they would end human sacrifices.

He became a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) on 3 June 1893. This was for the work that he did in Yoruba country, and for bringing an end to a long war there.

Carter sent works of art made by the Ife peoples of Yoruba to Europe.

Later life, retirement and death
In 1898, Carter was moved to The Bahamas as the Governor and Commander-in-Chief. He also had a temporary job as the Governor of Trinidad and Tobago. In July 1904, he was moved to Barbados as Governor and Commander-in-Chief.

In the spring of 1903, Carter met Gertrude Codman Parker (born 6 February 1875). She was travelling in the Bahamas with her parents. Carter and Parker got married on 25 August 1903 in the Church of the Advent in Boston, USA. He had been married before this, and had three sons and two daughters. His son Humphrey was Director of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. He had one son from his second marriage, named John Carter, who was a Senior Engineer for Westinghouse Electric.

Carter retired in 1910. In 1919, he changed his surname to Gilbert-Carter and in the early 1920s, he moved back to Barbados, and lived at Ilaro Court, which had been designed and built by his wife.

He died in Barbados on 18 January 1927.

References

Further reading

Other websites
 Carter Coat of Arms

1848 births
1927 deaths
British colonial officials
Bahamian politicians
British military people
Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
Gambia Colony and Protectorate

Gilbert Thomas Carter


Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur is a 1939 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated cartoon short directed by Chuck Jones. The cartoon was released on April 22, 1939, and is the first Daffy Duck cartoon directed by Jones.

Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur is set in a chronologically twisted Stone Age and features Daffy Duck going up against a caveman named Casper (who is a caricature of Jack Benny), and his pet Apatosaurus, Fido.

This is the last cartoon with the Vitaphone intro, which was first used in The Phantom Ship in 1936.

Plot

Casper (a caveman) and Fido (an apatosaur) go hunting for breakfast and come upon Daffy. Casper uses a slingshot to fire a rock at the duck who, until he realizes the danger, is casually floating along in a lake. He revs up to amazing speed, though barely keeping ahead of the rock. Finally, Daffy slides to a halt and, disguised as a traffic cop, causes the rock to wait while a swan crosses, as though at an intersection.  After that, Daffy waves the rock through and takes off in the other direction. The rock realizes it has been tricked and backtracks but Daffy races between Casper's and Fido's legs. Fido, bending down to peer between his legs to see where Daffy has gone, has his head impacted by the rock. The dazed dinosaur performs a silly dance before floating to the ground, asleep.

Casper, upon seeing Daffy behaving decidedly not like a regular duck in water, says,  "Gosh, that duck acts like he's crazy."  Daffy replies, "That is correct; absolutely one-hundred percent correct!" and snaps the rubber of Casper's slingshot into the caveman's face. Casper decides to dive in after the duck and strips down. As he dives in, Daffy holds up a sign which indicates no swimming is allowed; Casper freezes in mid-dive then retreats to shore.

After ordering Fido to retrieve Daffy, which results only in Fido tying his own neck in a knot, the two leave.  Daffy, however, knows that Casper will not give up, so he paints an image of himself on a rock. Indeed, Casper returns with a club, sees the image and bashes it; the reverberation courses through his body. Daffy gives the caveman a glass of bromo-seltzer which cures the issue and results in Casper thanking the duck and offering to shake hands. Daffy gives him a card advertising "...the biggest, most luscious Duck..."  Casper and Fido head off in the direction indicated on the card, following a series of billboards (parodying advertising techniques of the era, including references to "The Breakfast of Champions" and "The Pause that Refreshes") Daffy has erected. They eventually reach an inflatable balloon duck which is being pumped up by Daffy. Casper is terrified by this until Daffy hands him a knife. Casper marches over and stabs the huge, angry-looking balloon duck. The ensuing explosion proves lethal enough to blow up Casper, Fido, and even Daffy himself.

The short ends showing the three in Heaven, lounging on clouds. Fido plays a harp while Daffy and Casper think about their mistakes. Daffy laments, "You know, maybe that wasn't such a hot idea after all!" Invoking Jack Benny's usual farewell, Casper says, "Good night, folks." as the scene irises out.

Production notes
Most of Chuck Jones-directed cartoons from this era (such as the ones featuring Sniffles the Mouse) were very heavily inspired by Walt Disney's cartoon shorts, placing more emphasis on story and animation than gags. Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur shows the faintest hints of deviation from such cartoons, which eventually led to the fast-paced Jones cartoons of the 1940s, such as The Dover Boys and The Draft Horse.

This is also an important milestone in the evolution of Daffy Duck's personality. While Tex Avery and Bob Clampett had depicted Daffy as completely insane, irrational, and uncontrollable in their previous cartoons with the character, Jones depicted Daffy here as somewhat more thoughtful and calculating. Jones and Friz Freleng continued to develop Daffy's personality in this direction throughout the 1940s and 1950s.

References

External links

Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur at Big Cartoon Database

1939 animated films
1939 short films
Merrie Melodies short films
Short films directed by Chuck Jones
1939 films
Vitaphone short films
Daffy Duck films
Animated films about dinosaurs
Animated films set in prehistory
1930s Warner Bros. animated short films
Films about cavemen
Animated films about cavemen
1930s English-language films

Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur


The tropical small-eared shrew (Cryptotis tropicalis) is a very small mammal of the family Soricidae. The species is found in the eastern highlands of Chiapas, Mexico, and parts of Belize and Guatemala. Until recently, it was considered a subspecies of the North American least shrew (C. parva), but it has gained species status. Its relationship with the Central American least shrew (C. orophila) remains to be studied.

References

External links

Cryptotis
Mammals of Central America
Mammals of Mexico
Mammals described in 1895

Tropical small-eared shrew


Neognathae (; ) is an infraclass of birds, called neognaths, within the class Aves of the clade Archosauria. Neognathae includes the majority of living birds; the exceptions being the tinamous and the flightless ratites, which belong instead to the sister taxon Palaeognathae. There are nearly 10,000 living species of neognaths.

The earliest fossils are known from the very end of the Cretaceous but molecular clocks suggest that neognaths originated sometime in the first half of the Late Cretaceous, about 90 million years ago. Since then, they have undergone adaptive radiation, producing the diversity of form, function, and behavior that exists today. Neognathae includes the order Passeriformes (perching birds), one of the largest orders of land vertebrates, containing some 60% of living birds. Passeriformes is twice as species-rich as Rodentia and about five times as species-rich as Chiroptera (bats), which are the two largest orders of mammals. Neognathae also contains some very small orders, often birds of unclear relationships like the hoatzin.

The neognaths have fused metacarpals, an elongate third finger, and 13 or fewer vertebrae. They differ from the Palaeognathae in features like the structure of their jawbones. Neognathae means "new jaws", but it seems that the supposedly "more ancient" paleognath jaws are among the few apomorphic (more derived) features of the palaeognaths, meaning that the respective jaw structure of these groups is not informative in terms of comparative evolution. A neognath-like palate is however seen in modern basal birds like Ichthyornis.

Taxonomy and systematics
Neognathae was long ranked as a superorder subdivided into orders. Attempts to organise this group further, as in the Conspectus of Charles Lucien Bonaparte, were never accepted by a significant majority of ornithologists.  Until the 1980s, there was little subdivision of the Aves in general, and even less of phylogenetic merit. Since then, the availability of massive amounts of new data from fossils (especially Enantiornithes and other Mesozoic birds) and molecular (DNA and protein) sequences allowed scientists to refine the classification. With new groups of neognath orders being verified, the taxonomic rank of the group needed to shift. Most researchers have now employed the unranked taxa of phylogenetic nomenclature.

Neognathae is now universally accepted to subdivide into two lineages, the "fowl" clade Galloanseres and the Neoaves (sometimes called "higher neognaths"). The subdivisions of the latter are still not well resolved, but several monophyletic lineages have been proposed, such as the Mirandornithes, Cypselomorphae, Metaves, and Coronaves. Although groups such as the former two (uniting a few closely related orders) are robustly supported, this cannot be said for the groups Metaves and Coronaves for which there is no material evidence at present, while the Mesozoic record of Neognathae is at present utterly devoid of birds that should have been present if these proposed clades were real.

Systematics
The orders are arranged in a sequence that attempts to follow the modern view on neognath phylogeny. It differs from the widely used Clements taxonomy as well as from the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, combining those elements from each that more modern research agrees with while updating those that are refuted. Most of the changes affect those "higher landbirds" that are sometimes united as near passerines.

Neognathia
Feduccia defined the clade Neognathia as birds whose palatal mobility increased due to the following modifications (Feduccia 1980, 1996):

 Loss of the Basipterygoid articulation with the cranium.
 Development of a pterygoid/palatine joint.
 Reduction of the vomer, such that it does not reach caudally to the pterygoid, or is lost entirely.

Relationships
Neognathae cladogram of modern bird relationships based on Braun & Kimball (2021)

Footnotes

References

Mindell, David P. & Brown, Joseph W. (2005): The Tree of Life Web Project - Neornithes. Version of 2005-DEC-14. Retrieved 2008-JAN-08.
Mindell, David P.; Brown, Joseph W. & Harshman, John (2005): The Tree of Life Web Project - Neoaves. Version of 2005-DEC-14. Retrieved 2008-JAN-08.

External links
Tree of Life: Neoaves
 Tree of Life: Galloanserae

Extant Maastrichtian first appearances
Taxa named by William Plane Pycraft

Neognathae


Ram Shankar Misra was Professor of Comparative Religionin the Department of Philosophy, Banaras Hindu University.

Among his published books is The Integral Advaitism of Sri Aurobindo (first published in 1957), an important contribution to the philosophical teachings of Sri Aurobindo.

External links
Sabda Newsletter no.17, Dec 2000 (includes book review)

Sri Aurobindo
Writers from Varanasi
Banaras Hindu University alumni
Year of birth missing
Year of death missing

Ram Shankar Misra


MGA Entertainment Inc. (short for Micro-Games America Entertainment; sometimes referred to as MGA) is a manufacturer of children's toys and entertainment products founded in 1979. Its products include Bratz, L.O.L. Surprise!, Num Noms, and Rainbow High. MGA also owns Little Tikes and animation studio MGA Studios.

MGA is headquartered in a mixed use corporate campus in the Chatsworth area of Los Angeles. In 2018, the chairman and CEO of MGA Entertainment, Isaac Larian, announced that an Australian office of the business would be opening in early 2019.

Products

Bratz

Introduced in 2001, Bratz is MGA's most successful product line, with various spin-offs from the original teenage dolls, including miniature versions (Lil' Bratz), kid versions (Bratz Kidz) baby dolls (Bratz Babyz), pets (Bratz Petz), tiny baby dolls with pets (Lil' Angelz), TV series (of the same name), live-action feature film (Bratz: The Movie) and direct-to-video film (Bratz Girlz Really Rock) and numerous DVDs and soundtracks. Because of the lawsuit brought by Mattel against MGA in 2008, the Bratz Kidz and Bratz Lil' Angelz were renamed "4*Ever Kidz" and "4*Ever Lil' Angelz", respectively, before their eventual discontinuation in 2009. They returned in 2010 for their 10th Anniversary with brand new bodies and makeup, which resembled the makeup of the prototypes for the original dolls. In 2013, they were given a new, taller body and a brand new logo. They took a hiatus a year later to rebuild the brand to try and match their original success. They returned, once again, in 2015 with completely new branding, head and body molds, and the return of the original logo. They were met with low sales and dissatisfaction from children and fans alike, and were discontinued again in 2016. They returned in 2018 with a collector line designed by Hayden Williams, and relaunched the original 2001 dolls for their 20th anniversary.

Moxie Girlz and Moxie Teenz

In 2009, a new doll line named Moxie Girlz was introduced. These Moxie girlz are similar, but legally distinct, from the Bratz line of dolls. This is to circumvent the ruling from the lawsuit described below.

The Moxie Girlz were intended to replace Bratz, but when they came back, the Moxie Girlz became a separate line of their own. The line includes Avery, Lexa, Sophina, Bria and more characters, and has been around since 2009. They are similar to the Bratz line, only this line shows more modest fashions that typical tweens would wear.

As of 2021, no Moxie Teenz were made after 2011, and Moxie Girlz were discontinued in 2014. Leftover dolls were made into Moxie Girlz Friends (exclusive to Target) and the Storytime Princess Collection (exclusive to Toys "R" Us).

Lalaloopsy

MGA introduced its Lalaloopsy brand in 2010 accompanied by the tagline "Sew Magical, Sew Cute." Lalaloopsy dolls were once rag dolls who magically came to life when their last stitch was sewn. Each Lalaloopsy doll has a personality reflected by the fabrics used to make them. They live happily together in Lalaloopsy Land, a whimsical world full of fun and surprises around every corner. Each Lalaloopsy doll comes with his or her own pet.

Lalaloopsy dolls stand approximately 13 inches tall. Large dolls include Rosy Bumps 'n' Bruises, Crumbs Sugar Cookie, Dot Starlight, Peanut Big Top, and many more. In Fall 2011, MGA released Suzette La Sweet, a Lalaloopsy collector doll who was sewn from pieces of a duchess' dress.

The Lalaloopsy line includes Littles dolls, the younger brothers and sisters of Lalaloopsy dolls. Just like their older siblings, the Littles magically came to life when their very last stitch was sewn. The Lalaloopsy Littles have their own unique personalities and pets. There are currently over 30 Lalaloopsy Littles dolls, including Matey Anchors (Marina Anchors' brother), Bundles Snuggle Stuff (Mittens Fluff 'n' Stuff's sister), and Scribbles Splash (Spot Splatter Splash's sister). The toy line's popularity peaked at around 2013.

Also in the Lalaloopsy line are Mini Lalaloopsy, Lalaloopsy Micros, and Accessories. The Accessories line includes outfits and furniture for the Lalaloopsy dolls and Littles dolls, and Mini Lalaloopsy playsets and vehicles.

Lalaloopsy dolls are sold in-store and online at a variety of retailers. On December 7, 2010, Lalaloopsy won the People's Play Award for large dolls.

L.O.L. Surprise!
The toymaker launched the unboxing toy line L.O.L. Surprise! ("Li'l Outrageous Littles") on December 7, 2016. The brand became a huge success for MGA and the L.O.L. Surprise doll assortment was the #1 toy for 2017 through November in the US, according to The NPD Group. MGA Entertainment planned to double the sales of L.O.L. Surprise toys in 2018. Several new higher-priced L.O.L. Surprise toys were released over summer including the L.O.L. Surprise House, L.O.L. Amazing Surprise, and the L.O.L. Bigger Surprise!. The L.O.L. Amazing Surprise Playset was a Top 100 toy on Amazon in November 2019, according to Shareably.

The L.O.L. Surprise brand was expanded in 2019 with the addition of the L.O.L. O.M.G. fashion dolls ("Outrageous Millennial Girls"). The new line received the award of Doll of the Year at 2020's Annual Toy Industry Awards in addition to the main L.O.L. Surprise brand winning the Toy of the Year award for a third consecutive year. 2020 saw the introduction of another spin-off line - the L.O.L. J.K. mini fashion dolls which were released during that summer.

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted production of L.O.L. and threatened supply for the 2020 holiday season.
 In April 2020 a special edition charity doll was announced - named Frontline Hero, one dollar from every sale would go to the company's MGA Entertainment Cares non-profit.
 L.O.L Surprise is one of MGA's most successful toylines.

On October 8, 2021, an animated 47 min feature film, L.O.L. Surprise! The Movie was released on Netflix as an original movie. The film is about Queen Bee, a young girl who finds herself in the popular dolls' CG-animated world, where she must help them create a movie. It is the first feature length film of the L.O.L Surprise franchise. It received mixed-to-average reviews from audiences. Another movie, L.O.L. Surprise! Winter Fashion Show was released in October 2022.

Three video games, L.O.L Surprise! Remix: We Rule The World (2020), L.O.L Surprise! Movie Night (2021) and L.O.L Surprise! B.B's Born (2022), all developed by Maestro Interactive Games, have been released for the Nintendo Switch platform.

Project Mc2

Project Mc2 was a product line introduced in 2015. The line included science sets and a doll line which ran from 2015 to 2018. MGA also produced a live-action tie-in series with AwesomenessTV, a division of Viacom, which ran on Netflix from 2015 to 2017, spanning six series. The line's tagline is Smart is the New Cool.

Zapf Creation
On July 20, 2006, MGA acquired a 19.2% minority stake in German toy company Zapf Creation. The deal allowed for MGA to distribute Zapf's products in North America and South America and for Zapf Creation to distribute MGA's products in certain European territories. It was announced in 2023 that MGA would acquire the rest of the company.

Other
Here is a list of products produced by MGA, past and present:

 Air Wars Battle Drones
 America's Next Top Model
 Awesome Little Green Men
 Belly Busters
 BFC, Ink.
 Bratzillaz (House of Witchez)
 Crate Creatures Surprise
 Dojo Battle
 Dream Ella
 Foamo
 Gel-a-Peel
 Glam Goo
 Glitter Babyz
 The Hangrees
 HugWallas
 KaChooz
 The Legend of Nara
 Mermaze Mermaidz
 MGA Games
 Moj Moj
 Mooshka
 My Beautiful Mermaid
 Na! Na! Na! Surprise
 Novi Stars
 Num Noms
 Poopsie Slime Surprise
 Rainbow Surprise
 Rainbow High
 Pop Pop Hair Surprise
 Rainbows in Pieces
 Ready 2 Robot
 Rescue Pets
 Secret Crush
 Shakin' Pinball
 Shreddin' Sharks
 Smooshins
 Spider-Man
 Sugar Planet
 Storytime Princess
 Tobi
 Vi and Va
 VIRO Rides
 Who's That Girl?
 Wreck Royale
 Yummi-Land

Miscellaneous
MGA Entertainment also owns Little Tikes, a popular infant, toddler and preschool toy line brand.
During the 1990s, MGA also released handheld versions of various arcade games from Namco (Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and Mappy), Taito (Space Invaders) and Atari (Centipede, Asteroids and Super Breakout), as well as handheld games based on Navy Seals, Goosebumps, Power Rangers and RoboCop, the latter two are not to be confused with similar handhelds made by Tiger Electronics.

On March 13, 2018, MGA Entertainment confirmed in an email that it had submitted a bid for the Canadian division of Toys "R" Us. Their plan was, with a group of fellow toymakers, to keep some of its more than 700 locations open in Canada. CEO Isaac Larian made a statement during an interview saying "Toys 'R' Us Canada is a good business," and "If there is no Toys 'R' Us, I don't think there is a toy business."

On November 14, 2022, MGA Entertainment acquired Australian animation studio Pixel Zoo and renamed it MGA Studios.

Super Click-It
In 1999, a rival to the Hasbro's Bop It line of games was made by MGA Entertainment under the name Super Click-It, and it was also made under the name Bonk It. It was sold in the UK by Marks and Spencer in 2003. The game unit has five actions which are Squish It (a double sided yellow button that is pressed), Zip It (a lever that can be pushed up and down), Twist It (an orange knob that looks similar to the Twist It knob from the Bop It Extreme), Blast It (a green fan that when the command is issued will work either by blowing or using one finger to make it work.) and Crack It (an object that is designed to pull backwards and then to normal position). The game has two game modes which are: One Player with Voice Commands (the voice will say: "One Player, Squish It!" when the player presses the Squish It button to select the game mode), One Player with Sound Commands (The voice will say "One Player" with a Squish It sound effect). There are also two two-player game modes which are Two Player Voice Commands and Two Player Sound Commands.

The aim of the game is similar to Bop It where the game gives one command and the player has to obey and perform the action. The game has a maximum score of 100 points and on achieving the maximum score the player is celebrated with a fanfare. In the two player game mode, the game can continue up to 200 points if one player has scored 100 first. In the two player mode, the voice says "Switch" instead of "Pass It". Unlike Bop It, the game gives the player more time to respond to the command. The game doesn't have any screaming sounds when the player performs the wrong action or runs out of time, instead cartoon sound effects are heard such as the wa wa wa wa melody or a slip up sound effect when a cartoon character slips over a banana peel.

Lawsuits over Bratz doll line
On July 17, 2008, the U.S. District Court in Riverside considered to rule a lawsuit between MGA and Mattel to fight over the creation rights of the Bratz doll line. The jury in the case determined that Carter Bryant, creator of the Bratz doll line, had violated his exclusivity contract and had designed the dolls while he was still working at Mattel. Mattel was awarded $100 million US in damages, far less than the $1 billion they were seeking.

On December 3, 2008, U.S. District judge Stephen Larson granted an injunction requested by Mattel, which effectively banned MGA from manufacturing and selling Bratz dolls, though he allowed MGA to continue selling Bratz through the end of the 2008 holiday season. Larson determined that all of MGA's Bratz produced from 2001 through 2008, except for the Kidz and Lil Angelz lines, infringed on Mattel's intellectual property. Larson allowed MGA to continue to manufacture the Kidz and Lil Angelz lines, provided that they not be promoted under the Bratz brand. He also stipulated that MGA must, at their own cost, remove all Bratz merchandise from retailers' shelves, reimburse retailers for said merchandise, and turn all recalled product over to Mattel for disposal. In addition, MGA was to destroy all marketing materials, molds, and other materials that had been used in the manufacture and sale of Bratz. MGA immediately filed for a permanent stay of the injunction and, on February 11, 2009, was granted a stay through at least the end of 2009.

On December 10, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted MGA an immediate stay of the injunction, effectively halting the recall of Bratz product, which was to have begun on January 21, 2010. In their initial ruling, the Court found Larson's previous ruling to be unusually "draconian", questioned why Mattel had simply been handed ownership of the entire franchise rather than be awarded a stake in the ownership of the franchise or a share of the royalties from future Bratz sales, and ordered MGA and Mattel into mediation.

In April 2011, a federal court jury in Santa Ana, California, awarded MGA $88.4 Million and ruled that MGA didn't steal the idea for Bratz dolls from Mattel or infringe its copyright. Additionally, the jury found Mattel liable for stealing closely held trade secrets from MGA and other toymakers.

Due to a technical procedural issue having nothing to do with the merits of the claims, the Ninth circuit vacated without prejudice the $170 million judgment against Mattel for this misconduct. On January 13, 2014, MGA filed a complaint for these claims in State court in California seeking in excess of $1 billion.

Controversies
The L.O.L. Surprise line of dolls have been criticized for being anatomically correct.

In June 2020, Instagrammer Amina Mucciolo, known as Tasselfairy, alleged a doll in the L.O.L Surprise line called "Rainbow Raver" had plagiarized her likeness from photos posted on social media. MGA denied the allegations stating they "deeply respect the artistic and creative community and would not take from a creator in the way suggested."
MGA founder and CEO Isaac Larian responded to the allegations on Twitter, calling Mucciolo a "Liar and a extortinist[sic] and fraud" and a "disgrace to Black people" and threatening legal action. He later deleted these messages and posted an apology before taking down his Twitter account after receiving backlash.

In August 2020, media outlets reported that L.O.L. Surprise dolls, when dunked in cold water, show what seemed to be lingerie, tattoos, and bondage gear.

References

External links

Doll manufacturing companies
Toy companies of the United States
Manufacturing companies based in Los Angeles
Lake Balboa, Los Angeles
American companies established in 1979
Toy companies established in 1979
1979 establishments in California
Privately held companies based in California

MGA Entertainment


The pungi, originates from the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a reservoir into which air is blown and then channelled into two reed pipes. It is played with no pauses, as the player employs circular breathing. In street performances, the pungi is used for snake charming. The pungi is also sometimes called "been." And it is made of gourd, wax, bamboo, metal, beeswax, and coconuts. Common pungi's are as long to be one-two feet in length.
Woodwind instruments

Pungi


Rohillas are a mixed Indian community of Pashtun heritage, historically found in Rohilkhand, a region in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It forms the largest Pashtun diaspora community in India, and has given its name to the Rohilkhand region. The Rohilla military chiefs settled in this region of northern India in the 1720s, the first of whom was Ali Mohammed Khan.

The Rohillas are found all over Uttar Pradesh, but are more concentrated in the Rohilkhand regions of Bareilly and Moradabad divisions. Between 1838 and 1916, some Rohillas migrated to Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean region of the Americas in which they form a subset of the Muslim minority of the Indo-Caribbean ethnic group. After the 1947 Partition of India, many of the Rohillas migrated to Karachi, Pakistan as a part of the Muhajir community.

Origin

The Indian term Rohilla originated from Roh, meaning the hilly country, where Rohilla was used as a fairly broad notion of the people from Roh. Later Roh referred to a geographical term which corresponded with, in its limited sense, the territory stretching from Swat and Bajaur in the north to Sibi in the south, and from Hasan Abdal (Attock) in the east to Kabul and Kandahar in the west, which corresponded with the homeland of the Pashtuns. The Pashtun or primarily Yusufzai migrations towards Northern India could be traced to their expulsion from Kandahar due to the Turko-Mongol invasions, who were subsequently resettled in Kabul, where they were again dispelled by the Timurids and forced to settle in Swat, where they assimilated the native Dardic and Tajik Dehqan population, who were collectively termed Yusufzais to the outside. A further migration continued towards Northern India, where typically inhabitants in the valley without land and those seeking trade opportunities quitted the country of Roh and migrated to India. The immigration of Pashtuns from the Peshawar valley was further exacerbated with the collapse of Mughal authority and the invasion of Nader Shah.

This community over generations had become culturally closer to the Awadh region between Katehr and Awadh. In the 1700s, the decentralization of Mughal power allowed for the rise of Rohilla power in Katehar, with the rise of Ali Muhammad Khan's territories, in the context of the rise of other elements such as the Marathas, Jats and the Sikhs. This region, called Katehar by the Hindus, and Sambhal-Moradabad by the Muslims, was already known as one of the most troublesome regions for its turbulence and rebelliousness under the Katehriya Rajputs, especially since the Delhi Sultanate. In this respect the Rohillas were following their footsteps. As Ali Muhammad occupied Katehar, and had invited a large number of people from Roh, it was during his lifetime that the land of Katehr was named Rohilkhand which means the land of the Rohillas. The settlers from Roh consisted primarily of Pashtuns of the Mandarr Yousafzai tribe, as well as the Khattak , Bunerwal , Muhammadzai and Afridi tribes who were inhabitants of the Peshawar valley. A majority of Rohillas migrated from Pashtunistan to North India between the 17th and 18th century.

Among the Rohillas were long-domiciled Indian descendants, who were known as the country-born. These included the Shahjahanpur Pathans of the 1600s. A large number of Indian converts were assimilated into the Rohilla fold, such as Ali Muhammad Khan Rohilla and Fath Khan-i-Saman, who swelled their ranks, adopting a professional "Rohilla" identity that reinvented lineage idioms and norms. Finally, a large number of newer Pashtun arrivals from the Northwest swelled their ranks, who were termed "Vilayati". All were collectively termed Rohillas, thus the Rohillas were in the process of developing a real or fictive kinship based on newly forged marriage alliances, consisting of Indian Pathan families, converted Hindus and new arrivals from the Northwest.

History

Early history

The founder of the state of Rohilkhand was Ali Muhammad Khan who was a Jat boy of age of eight when he was adopted by Daud Khan Rohilla. The first immigrant to the Katehr region was Shah Alam Khan, who had settled in Katehr in 1673 and had brought along a band of his tribe, the Barech. His son Daud Khan gained a number of villages in the Katehr region by working for the Mughals and various Rajput Zamindars. Originally, some 20,000 soldiers from various Pashtun tribes as mercenaries had immigrated to the region. Daud Khan adopted two Hindus, converted them to Islam, and provided them a proper religious education. These were Ali Muhammad Khan and Fath Khan-i-Saman. They were trained as mercenaries, and the former was put at the head of his following, which included both Pashtuns and various Hindustanis.

Establishment of the Rohilla state

The rise of the Rohilla state owed mainly to Ali Muhammad Khan, who succeeded Daud Khan's jagirs in 1721. The Rohillas being a mixture of old pedigree Indian Pathan families, Indian converts and new adventurers from the northwest, were in the process of developing a real or fictive kinship based on newly forged marriage alliances. Ali Muhammad Khan distinguished himself by helping in suppressing the rebellion of the Indian Muslim Barah Sayyid tribe, who controlled the upper Doab under the Mughal empire, and who had under their chief Saifudddin Barha put the Mughal governor Marhamat Khan and all of his followers to death. As a reward Ali Muhammad Khan was given the title of Nawab by Muhammad Shah in 1737. He became so powerful that he refused to send tax revenues to the central government. Ali Muhammad Khan defeated Despat, the Banjara chief who held Philbit. In 1744, Ali Muhammad Khan successfully invaded Kumaon with a well-prepared army that was 10,000 men strong. In late 1743, he captured Almora, after which the king Kalyan Chand fled and sought the protection of the Raja of Garhwal, who forgave his previous mutual animosity and offered military support. As Ali Muhammad Khan burnt down the temple of Jageshwar, the Rohillas were faced by a combined Garhwal and Kumaon army which was defeated by Ali Muhammad Khan at the battle of Kairarau, forcing the Garhwal king to sue for peace. After seven months stay, disliking the climate of the region, the Rohillas returned to their homes in Katehr. Safdar Jang, the Nawab of Oudh, warned the Mughal emperor Muhammad Shah of the growing power of the Rohillas. This caused Mohammed Shah to send an expedition against him as a result of which he surrendered to imperial forces. He was taken to Delhi as a prisoner, but was later pardoned and appointed governor of Sirhind. Most of his soldiers has already settled in the Katehar region during Nadir Shah's invasion of northern India in 1739 increasing the Rohilla population in the area to 100,000. Due to the large settlement of Rohilla Pashtuns, this part Katehar region came to be known as Rohilkhand. The conversion of Hindus to Islam further resulted in its rapid growth. As Ali Muhammad Khan returned to Rohilkhand, Bareilly was made the capital of this newly formed Rohilkhand state.

When Ali Muhammad Khan died, leaving six sons. However, two of his elder sons were in Afghanistan at the time of his death while the other four were too young to assume the leadership of Rohilkhand. As a result, power transferred to other Rohilla Sardars, where Sadullah Khan was made the nominal head of the state. Faizullah Khan retained Bareilly, Dundi Khan gained Moradabad and Bisauli, Fath Khan-i-Saman was placed in charge of Badaun and Usehat, Mulla Sardar Bakhshi gained Kot and Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech gained Salempur or Pilibhit. In 1755, Qutb Shah Rohilla, who was not a Rohilla by caste, but came to be known as a Rohilla as a preceptor and fighter of the Indian Rohillas, raised the standard of rebellion in Saharanpur against the Wazir Imad-ul-Mulk, who had taken his jagirs and given them to the Marathas. Mian Qutb Shah defeated the Mughal army at Karnal, and plundered the adjoining towns until he conquered the town of Sirhind. When he was completely defeated in his attempt to enter the Jalandhar Doab, he was forced to abandon all his territory. The Marathas invaded Rohilkhand, and as the chiefs could offer no effective resistance, they fled to the Terai, whence they sought the aid of Shuja-ud-Daula of Awadh. Shuja-ud-Daulah came to their aid, and their combined forces in November 1759 drove the Marathas across the Ganges, after inflicting severe losses upon them. Qutb Khan Rohilla defeated and beheaded the Maratha general Dattaji at Burari Ghat.

Following the Battle of Panipat in 1761

In the third battle of Panipat (1761) one of the Rohilla Sardars, Najib-ud-Daula, allied himself with Ahmad Shah Abdali against the Marathas. He not only provided 40,000 Rohilla troops but also 70 guns to the allied. He also convinced Shuja-ud-Daula, the Nawab of Oudh, to join Ahmad Shah Abdali's forces against the Marathas. In this battle, the Marathas were defeated and as a consequence the Rohilla increased in power.

The Marathas invaded Rohilkhand to retaliate against the Rohillas' participation in the Panipat war. The Marathas under the leadership of the Maratha ruler Mahadji Shinde entered the land of Sardar Najib-ud-Daula which was held by his son Zabita Khan after the sardar's death. Zabita Khan initially resisted the attack with Sayyid Khan and Saadat Khan behaving with gallantry, but was eventually defeated with the death of Saadat Khan by the Marathas and was forced to flee to the camp of Shuja-ud-Daula and his country was ravaged by Marathas. The Maratha ruler Mahadji Shinde captured the family of Zabita Khan, desecrated the grave of Najib ad-Dawlah and looted his fort. With the fleeing of the Rohillas, the rest of the country was burnt, with the exception of the city of Amroha, which was defended by some thousands of Amrohi Sayyid tribes. The Rohillas who could offer no resistance fled to the Terai whence the remaining Sardar Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech sought assistance in an agreement formed with the Nawab of Oudh, Shuja-ud-Daula, by which the Rohillas agreed to pay four million rupees in return for military help against the Marathas. Hafiz Rehmat, abhoring unnecessary violence unlike the outlook of his fellow Rohillas such as Ali Muhammad and Najib Khan, prided himself on his role as a political mediator and sought the alliance with Awadh to keep the Marathas out of Rohilkhand. He bound himself to pay on behalf of the Rohillas. However, after he refused to pay, Oudh attacked the Rohillas.

Afterwards, the Rohillas were attacked by the neighbouring kingdom of Oudh led by the Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula and his principal sardars, Basant Ali Khan, Mahbub Ali Khan, and Sayyid Ali Khan. The Nawab also received assistance from an East India Company force under the command of Colonel Alexander Champion. Hafiz Rehmat was joined by the Indian Pathans of Farrukhabad in the Doab and the Rajput yeomanry. This conflict is known as the Rohilla War. When Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech was killed, in April 1774, Rohilla resistance crumbled, and Rohilkhand was annexed by the kingdom of Oudh. Shuja-ud-Daulah spread his troops to murder, plunder and commit every on the peasantry. The Rohillas under Faizullah Khan, Ahmad Khan Bakhshi, Ahmad Khan-i-Saman, the son of Fath Khan-i-saman retired to the hills at Lal Dang and started a guerrilla war to avenge their defeat. Warren Hastings' role in the conflict was publicized during his impeachment.

From 1774 to 1799, the region was administered by Khwaja Almas Khan, a Jat Muslim convert from Hoshiarpur, Punjab, as representative of the Awadh (Kingdom of Oudh) rulers. This period was particularly tough for the Rohillas, as Almas Khan made every effort to violently extract wealth from the inhabitants. Almas Khan carved out a principality and posessed a considerable army like the Nawab. In 1799, the British East India Company annexed the territory, and started to pay a pension to the family of Hafiz Rahmat Khan Barech.

Establishment of Rampur State

While most of Rohilkhand was annexed, the Rohilla State of Rampur was established by Nawab Faizullah Khan on 7 October 1774 in the presence of Colonel Alexander Champion, and remained a compliant state under British protection thereafter. The first stone of the new Fort at Rampur was laid in 1775 by Nawab Faizullah Khan. The first Nawab proposed to rename the city Faizabad, but many other places were known by that name so its name was changed to Mustafabad. Faizullah Khan suppressed a rebellion of Hurmat Khan, the son of Hafiz Rehmat, and sent a force of horse under Muhammad Umar Khan help the British defeat the Sikh attacks in Bijnor.

The Qissa-o-Ahwal-i-Rohilla written by Rustam Ali Bijnori in 1776 provides an example of the refined Urdu prose of the Muslim Rohilla elite in Rohilkhand and Katehr.

Nawab Faizullah Khan ruled for 20 years. He was a patron of education and began the collection of Arabic, Persian, Turkish and Hindustani manuscripts which are now housed in the Rampur Raza Library. After his death his son Muhammad Ali Khan took over. He was assassinated by Rohilla elders after reigning for 24 days, and Muhammad Ali Khan's brother, Ghulam Muhammad Khan, was proclaimed Nawab. The East India Company took exception to this, and after a reign of just 3 months and 22 days, Ghulam Muhammad Khan was besieged and defeated by East India Company forces. The East India Company supported Muhammad Ali Khan's son, Ahmad Ali Khan, to be the new Nawab. He ruled for 44 years. He did not have any sons, so Muhammad Saeed Khan, son of Ghulam Muhammad Khan, took over as the new Nawab after his death. He established Courts and improved the economic conditions of farmers. His son Muhammad Yusuf Ali Khan took over after his death and his son, Kalb Ali Khan, became the new Nawab after his death in 1865.

Between 1774 and 1857

They were generally settled in villages, in many of which they own and cultivate the soil, and in some of which they formed large brotherhoods, approaching those of Jats and Rajputs, with a similar constitution. Evidence from 1857 suggests that the survival of degrees of Pathan-derived lineage based identity in villagers of the old Rohilkhand districts. These identities were marked as much by signs of assimilation and transformation as any continuity.

Between 1857 and 1947

The period between the revolt of 1857 and the independence of India in 1947 was a period of stability for the Rohilla community. In 1858, the British colonial government issued a general pardon to all those who had taken part in the Indian Rebellion and restored many lands. Some of the tribes were punished for aiding the rebels. Some tribes had to migrate to Delhi and Gurgaon, while others migrated to the Deccan region. Conditions improved after some years and migration from the North West Frontier Province and Afghanistan recommenced, adding to the Rohilla population. During this period, the Rohillas were also effected by the reformist movement of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, with many taking to modern education. The founder of the Barelvi sect of Sunni Islam, Ahmad Raza Khan, was also born among the Rohillas and the city of Bareilly became an important centre of Islamic learning in Northern India.

While a majority of Rohillas remained landowners and cultivators, a significant minority took to western education, and entered professions such as law and medicine. They also began to take an interest in the political debates during the last decade of the 19th Century. Some of them joined the newly formed Indian National Congress, while others were attracted to pan-Islamism. This period also saw a wholesale adoption of North Indian Muslim culture, with Urdu becoming the native language of the Rohilla. In fact the term of Rohilla was slowly replaced with the term "Pathan", which was a new self-identification. However a sense of distinct identity remained strong, with the Rohillas residing in distinct quarters of cities, such as, Kakar Tola, Pani Tola and Gali Nawaban in Bareilly, which was home to the descendants of Hafiz Rahmat Khan. There was intermarriages with neighbouring Muslim communities such as the Shaikh, Muslim Rajput and Kamboh. Thus at the dawn of independence, the Rohilla were losing their distinct community status.

Present circumstances

The independence of Pakistan and India in 1947 had a profound effect on the Rohilla community. The vast majority of them emigrated to Pakistan in 1947. Those that were left in India, were affected by the abolishment of the zamindari system in 1949, as well as the ascension of the State of Rampur to India and many of them migrated to join their kinsmen in Karachi, Pakistan. The Rohilla now form two distinct communities with the majority in Pakistan and a small minority residing in India.

In India

The Rohilla now form one of the larger Muslim as well as Hindu Rohilla Rajput communities of Uttar Pradesh and are found throughout Uttar Pradesh, with settlements in Rampur, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur in Rohilkhand being the densest Rampur. Rampur was established by Hindu Rohilla Rajput king Raja Ram Singh (909 to 966 A.D.) in the 9th century. Till 1254 it was being ruled by Rohilla clan king Maharaja Ranveer Singh Rohilla, who was killed on the day of Rakshabandhan festival by Nasiruddin Changej. Prior to that Nasiruddin Changej was defeated by Maharaja Ranveer Singh Rohilla, but left without killing. He took help of Rajpurohi Pandit Gokul Nath Pandey, who told that Rohilla Rajputs worship Arms at Raksha Bandhan and do prayers. It was while Maharaja Ranveer Singh Rohilla was doing worship of Lord Shiva, under planned conspiracy he was attacked and killed by Royal Army from Delhi led by Nasirudding Changej of Ghulam Vansh, who ruled Delhi.

In Pakistan
In Pakistan, the Rohillas and other Urdu-speaking Pathans have now completely assimilated into larger Urdu speaking community. There is no sense of corporate identity among the descendants of Rohilla Pathans in Pakistan with high degree of intermarriage with other Muslims. They mainly live in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, and other urban areas of Sindh.

See also
Pathans of Uttar Pradesh
Pathans of Punjab
Pathans of Sindh
Pathans of Gujarat

References

Mughal Empire
Maratha Empire
History of Uttar Pradesh
Social groups of Pakistan
Urdu-speaking people
Punjabi tribes
Indian people of Pashtun descent
Muslim communities of India
Social groups of Uttar Pradesh
Muslim communities of Uttar Pradesh
Rohilla

Rohilla


Isocoma, commonly called jimmyweed or goldenweed, is a genus of North American semi-woody shrubs in the family Asteraceae. It is found in the semi-arid areas of Southwestern United States and Mexico.

The name of this genus is derived from the Greek for "equal hair" referring to the pappus on the seed.

Isocoma species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Schinia bicuspida (recorded on I. drummondii), Schinia erosa (feeds exclusively on I. acradenia) and Schinia tertia (recorded on I. pluriflora).

 Species
 Isocoma acradenia (Greene) Greene - alkali goldenbush, alkali jimmyweed - Baja California, Sonora, California Arizona Nevada Utah
 Isocoma arguta Greene - Carquinez goldenbush - Solano County in California
 Isocoma azteca G.L.Nesom - Aztec goldenbush - Arizona New Mexico
 Isocoma coronopifolia (Gray) Greene - common goldenbush, goldenweed - southern Texas, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas
 Isocoma drummondii (Torr. & Gray) Greene - Drummond's goldenbush, Drummond's jimmyweed - southern Texas, Tamaulipas
 Isocoma felgeri G.L.Nesom - Sonora
 Isocoma gypsophila B.L.Turner - Zacatecas, Nuevo León
 Isocoma hartwegii (A.Gray) Greene - San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, Guanajuato
 Isocoma humilis G.L.Nesom - Zion goldenbush - Utah (Kane + Washington Cos)
 Isocoma menziesii (Hook. & Arn.) G.L.Nesom - Menzies' goldenbush - Baja California, California
 Isocoma pluriflora (Torr. & Gray) Greene - rayless goldenrod, southern goldenbush, southern jimmyweed - Texas New Mexico Arizona Chihuahua
 Isocoma rusbyi Greene - Rusby's goldenbush - Arizona New Mexico Utah Colorado
 Isocoma tehuacana G.L.Nesom - Puebla
 Isocoma tenuisecta Greene - burrow goldenweed, burroweed - Arizona New Mexico
 Isocoma tomentosa G.L.Nesom - Chihuahua
 Isocoma veneta (Kunth) Greene - jimmyweed - Mexico from Coahuila to Oaxaca

References

External links

 USDA Plants Profile for Isocoma (goldenbush)
 Integrated Taxonomic Information System
 Jepson Manual

Asteraceae genera
Taxa named by Thomas Nuttall

Isocoma


The Antarctic Treaty System is a set of agreements about the continent of Antarctica. It was signed in 1959 and took effect in 1961. So far, it has been signed by 46-48 countries.

The ATS is used for governing the continent. The main idea of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) is to make sure that Antarctica is:
 is used peacefully and taken care of.
 is not exploited or used for animal hunting.
 is not involved with military use unless for peaceful purposes.
 is not owned by one group.
 is not ruled by any country and/or continent.
 is not used for violence e.g. testing nuclear missiles.

References

1950s treaties
Antarctica
1959
1961

Antarctic Treaty System


Gauzfrid of Maine (died 878) was both Count of Maine and Margrave of the Norman March from 865 until his death. He was a son of Rorgon of Maine by his wife Bilechilde.

In 861, Charles the Bald, king of West Francia, created the March of Neustria, combining the Norman March and the Breton March. They were invested to Adalard the Seneschal and Robert the Strong, respectively. Gauzfrid and his brother Rorgon II, who was Count of Maine at the time, revolted against Robert. The two brothers allied with Salomon of Brittany in opposition to Robert the Strong.

In 865, Rorgon II died and Gauzfrid became the new Count of Maine. The same year, Charles the Bald deprived Adalard's family of their land in Neustria, and awarded it to Gauzfrid.

He had several children.
Gauzlin (died 914), Count of Maine
Gauzbert (fl. 912)

Upon his death in 878, Gauzfrid's lands passed to his cousin Ragenold, because Gauzfrid's children were too young to succeed.

9th-century people from West Francia
Rorgonid dynasty
Counts of Maine
878 deaths
Year of birth unknown

Gauzfrid, Count of Maine