Qarachar Noyan

Qarachar Noyan (1166 – 1243/44 or 1255/56), also spelt Karachar, was a Mongol military commander under Genghis Khan as well as a paternal ancestor of Timur, founder of the Timurid Empire.
Though there is little mention of him in early sources, where he is only described as a military official, the link Qarachar provided between the old Mongol Empire and the Timurid dynasty was paramount to the latter's foundational history. His role and that of his relations were thus heavily expanded and potentially mythologised by Timurid court historians, who portrayed him as a hereditary supreme commander and administrator endowed with a unique intimacy with the ruling clan. This disparity in information results in the actual details regarding his life and position becoming matters of dispute among modern academics.
Life.
Pre-Timurid sources.
Qarachar features very little in the histories contemporary to his lifetime. In "The Secret History of the Mongols", he is mentioned alongside his father, Suqu "Sechen" ("the Sage"), as having attended the assembly which proclaimed Genghis Khan (then called Temüjin) ruler of the Mongols in 1190. Having belonged to the Mongol Barlas tribe, the two acted as one of the delegations representing the group at the event. "The Secret History" also states that in 1206, Qarachar was given command of a thousand by the emperor. According to the thirteenth century historian Juvayni, Qarachar later had a base in Taloqan from which, in 1222, he marched on Merv to suppress a rebellion. By 1227, he and his contingent had been assigned to the retinue of Khan's second son Chagatai, a transfer which is also mentioned in the works of Rashid-al-Din Hamadani.
Timurid sources.
Later Timurid historians, such as Sharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi in his "Zafarnama" and Hafiz-i Abru in his "Majma" and "Zubdat", greatly elaborated on the origins of the dynasty, including on the life and background of Qarachar. In such works, his ancestry (which is never clarified in earlier accounts) is said to link to that of Genghis Khan. His paternal grandfather was stated to be Erdemchu Barlas, son of Qachuli, himself a son of Tumanay Khan, Genghis Khan's great-great-grandfather. This relationship is expressed in other works as well as engraved on Timur's cenotaph and tombstone in the Gur-e-Amir. Qarachar's father Suqu Sechen was depicted as having been a trusted advisor of Yesugei, Genghis Khan's father, having been present at the latter's birth and foretelling the infant's future greatness. Suqu is claimed by Yazdi to have died shortly after Yesugei while their children were still young, though this would contradict "The Secret History", which states that he was still alive in 1190.
Qarachar was described as being among the earliest tribal leaders to swear allegiance to Genghis Khan. He was given a command of 10,000 and advised the emperor frequently throughout his decades-long conquests. As Khan was dying, he is recounted to have summoned his sons and brothers as well as Qarachar. There, after having received their homage, he praised the wisdom of the latter and urged his sons to follow his council and commands. Genghis Khan then ordered the division of his empire among his progeny, bestowing to his second son Chagatai the lands of Transoxiana, which would later become the Chagatai Khanate. In continuation of a covenant made between their respective great-grandfathers Qachuli and Qabul, he commended this son to Qarachar's care, who was also entrusted with the administration and armies to manage on his behalf. This arrangement was formalised by the legal adoption by the nobleman of Chagatai, whose daughter Qarachar also married, so as to establish a "bond of fatherhood and sonship". It was from this marriage that Timur claimed descent.
Yazdi records that Qarachar subsequently occupied a prominent position in the Chagatai court, performing the actual duties of ruling while the Khan revelled and hunted. This arrangement is mentioned by other Timurid historians such as Hafiz-i Abru, who states that as generalissimo, he undertook matters of law, rule and custom. Natanzi in his "Muntakhab" further relates that after Chagatai's death in 1241, Qarachar was given command of the household under his successor Qara Hülegü. The "Mu'izz al-Ansab", a genealogical work from the reign of Shah Rukh, also adds that he carried out legal decisions based on the laws set out by Genghis Khan (the "Yassa").
The year of his death is disputed between accounts. Hafiz-i Abru states that Qarachar survived Chagatai by only a year, with his death occurring in 640 AH (1243/44 CE). Conversely, Yazdi narrates that he had outlived the Khan by thirteen years, dying in 652 AH (1255/56 CE) at the advanced age of eighty-nine. Depending on the source, he may have had up to nineteen sons, with his descendants forming seven of the Barlas clans of Turkestan and Transoxiana. Qarachar's position of generalissimo was bequeathed to his son Ichil (Timur's great-great-grandfather), with the office becoming hereditary among his descendants.
Historicity.
The first historian to question the narratives presented by Timurid histories was Constantine d'Ohsson in 1834, who stated that they were falsified, with the character of Qarachar being an invention due to an apparent lack of mention in the works of Rashid-al-Din Hamadani. This assumption was later disproved by Vasily Bartold, who discovered a comment by Hamadani regarding Qarachar. However, he was only described as being one of Chagatai's military chiefs as opposed to an all-powerful vizier, leading to an implication that his position and exploits had been greatly exaggerated. This is a view shared by Yuri Bregel, who adds that there is no evidence that Qarachar enjoyed any special power.
Zeki Velidi Togan attempted to dispute this claim, revealing that early versions of Hamadani's "Jami' al-tawarikh" contain two mentions of Qarachar's son Ichil, who was stated by the Timurids to have inherited Qarachar's premier position. Togan also states that the general importance of the Barlas among the Chagatai tribes was proved by the influential marriages made by Timur and his sisters prior to the former's ascension. His findings are confirmed by the writings of Jean of Sultaniyya and Clavijo. Beatrice Forbes Manz argues that this does not prove that the Barlas were the "most" important tribe in the khanate, which is the suggested view of the Timurid histories. Such influence, she states, would have led to marriages between the imperial clan and the Barlas, of which there is no evidence of from the time of Qarachar to Timur. In relation to this, Eiji Mano adds that while he believes that the tribe had a shared origin with Genghis Khan, by Timur's time the Barlas had become relatively unimportant. He further says that Qarachar's position likely did not exceed that of a Majordomo.
John E. Woods extensively discussed the matter of Timur's ancestry, including Qarachar, and stated his belief that the conqueror had manipulated his genealogy for political means. Woods relates that as a non-member of the imperial clan, Mongol law dictated that Timur was unable to rule under his own name, instead being forced to make use of a puppet-Chagatai Khan. This arrangement was solemnised by the marriages of himself and his sons with Mongol princesses. However, other regional warlords, many of whom were Timur's rivals, also used similar tactics to support their own authority. To justify his own paramountcy being more legitimate, Woods argues that Timur used the genealogical traditions of Qarachar to suggest that he had a hereditary right to govern the khanate. Such a position therefore diminished his opponents to usurpers to the will of Genghis Khan. This view was made clear in Nizam al-din Ali Shami's version of the "Zafarnama", which portrays that Timur "revived the house of Chagatai" by enthroning his puppet-Khan, thus vindicating the trust Genghis Khan had placed in Qarachar.
However, Maria Subtelny contends that the exalted position ascribed to Qarachar does in fact have basis in Mongol tradition. She notes that Woods did not take into account that the "Yuan Shih", the official history of the Yuan dynasty, specifically mentions that the Barlas belonged to the imperial guard corps, the "Kheshig". These corps, which combined the roles of an elite military division, imperial bodyguards and supervisors of the imperial household, were a central institution for the Mongols, under whom the leadership was hereditary. Subtenly suggests that based on the Timurid descriptions of Qarachar's duties under Chagatai Khan, it can be deduced that he would have been the head of the latter's personal division of the "Kheshig". She therefore believes that the contingent of Qarachar which had been assigned to Chagatai by Genghis Khan, unspecified in Mongol histories, would have been this division. She further states that since members of the corps were traditionally given administrative roles, this would tie in with the influence in government attributed to Qarachar. Subtenly specifically identifies his position as the "yarghuchi" (chief judge), given his association with legislative powers mentioned in the "Mu'izz al-Ansab". Thus Qarachar's military, administrative and legislative functions would be explained by his positions as "yarghuchi" and head of the "Kheshig". She posits that the "Kheshig" role is not explicitly acknowledged in Timurid sources because it was a "submerged" institution, finding little mention in post-Mongol Persian works, which instead prefer circumlocutions.


Belagali

RannaBelagali is a Pattan Panchayat Town in the southern state of Karnataka, India. It is located in the Mudhol taluka of Bagalkot district in Karnataka
Demographics.
 India census, RannaBelagali had a population of 15,041, with 7,582 males and 7,459 females.
In the 2011 census, the population of RannaBelagali was reported as 17,175.


Malpur

Malpur is a census town in Aravalli district in the Indian state of Gujarat.
History.
Malpur State was an Indian princely state founded about the middle of the fifteenth century. Rawal Virajmal, son of Rao Kiratsinghji of Idar State, was succeeded on 12 April 1882 by his son Rawal Dipsinhji Sheosinhji, born in 1863.
The last ruler was Rawal Shri Gambhirsinhji Himatsinhji, born 27 October 1914 and who acceded to the throne on 23 June 1923. He was educated at Scott College, Sadra and Mayo College, Ajmer and nominally ruled till 1947 until.
Malpur State was merged with Baroda State under the Attachment Scheme in December 1943. Finally Baroda State acceded to the Indian Union on 1 May 1949.
Geography.
Malpur is located at . It has an average elevation of 4 metres (13 feet).
Demographics.
 India census, Malpur had a population of 6,510. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Malpur has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 79%, and female literacy is 64%. In Malpur, 12% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Connectivity.
Malpur is connected to all major towns of Gujarat by public transport service operated by GSRTC.


Brian Pezzutti

Brian Patrick Victor Pezzutti, (born 6 January 1947) is a former Australian politician and Australian Army officer. Born in Casino, New South Wales, he was the son of Victor Dominic Pezzutti and Helena Hilda Bazzo. He was an army reservist in 1965 and later became active in the armed forces; he received the National Medal in 1978. On 23 February 1976 he married Christine Jillian Spence, with whom he has two daughters and two sons.
Pezzutti was trained as a medical practitioner and is a specialist anaesthetist. He joined the Liberal Party and was the foundation president of the Lismore Branch, serving from 1983 until 1990. He has been vice-president since this time. In 1988, he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council, on which he served until his retirement in 2003. While an MLC, he served in the Gulf War (1991), Bougainville (1995, 1998) and East Timor (1999). He was also Brigadier Assistant Surgeon General of the Australian Defence Forces from 2000 to 2004.
Honours and awards.
Additional awards:


North-West Telecom

North West Telecom () is part of Rostelecom, providing telecommunications service to northwest Russia.
North-West Telecom became part of Rostelecom on April 1, 2011, together with the seven other Svyazinvest regional telecommunications operators and OJSC Dagsvyazinform.
Operations.
The company operates the following branches:
"Note: there are separate branches for St-Petersburg and for the Leningrad Area."


Art of Champa

Champa was an Indianised civilization within the Greater India that flourished along the coasts of what is now central and southern Vietnam for roughly a one thousand-year period between 500 and 1500 AD. The original Chams were probably colonists from the Indonesian islands, who adopted as their principal vocations those of trade, shipping, and piracy. Their cities were ports of call on important trade routes linking India, China and the Indonesian islands. The history of Champa was one of intermittent conflict and cooperation with the people of Java, the Khmer of Angkor in Cambodia and Đại Việt (Annam) of the Vietnamese in what is now northern Vietnam. It was to Dai Viet that Champa finally lost its independence.
The architecture of the Indian rock-cut temples, particularly the sculptures, were widely adopted in South Indian, and Indianised architecture of Cambodian, Annamese (Champa) and Javanese temples. The artistic legacy of Champa consists primarily of sandstone sculptures - both sculpture in the round and relief sculpture - and brick buildings. Some metal statues and decorative items have also survived. Much of the remaining art expresses religious themes, and though some pieces would have been purely decorative, others would have served important functions in the religious life of the Chams, which synthesized elements of Hinduism (especially Saivism), Buddhism and indigenous cults.
This artistic legacy has been decimated by neglect, war, and vandalism. Much of the damage has been done in the 20th century. Some French scholars such as Henri Parmentier and Jean Boisselier were able to take photographs, create drawings, and pen descriptions of works which have been destroyed in the meantime. Neglect continues to endanger the legacy of Champa to this day, especially the neglect of the inscribed stone steles, the source of much valuable information on the history of Champa. The participants in the Vietnam War wrought their share of devastation, wiping out for example the vestiges of the Buddhist monastery at Dong Duong (Quảng Nam). Willful vandalism and pilfering are an ongoing concern.
The largest collection of Cham art is on exhibit at the Museum of Cham Sculpture in Da Nang. Substantial collections are housed in the Guimet Museum in Paris, the Museum of Vietnamese History in Saigon, and the Museum of History in Hanoi. Smaller collections may be found in the Museum of Fine Arts in Saigon and the Museum of Fine Arts in Hanoi.
Forms of visual art.
The remnants of classical Cham art extant today consist mainly in temples of brick, sandstone sculptures in the round, and sandstone sculptures in high and low relief. A few bronze sculptures and decorative items made of metal remain as well. There are no works of marble or other higher quality stone. Likewise there are no paintings or sketches. The people of Champa wrote, and perhaps also sketched, on leaves, which have not withstood the hot and humid climate of coastal Vietnam. Items made of perishable materials, such as wood, for the most part have not survived.
Metal statues and jewelry.
The remaining works of art made of metal include bronze statues of the Mahayanist deities Lokesvara and Tara dated approximately 900 AD and associated with the Buddhist art of Dong Duong. An even older bronze statue of the Buddha bears a strong resemblance to Indian Buddhist statues of the Amaravati style; scholars doubt that it was originally from Champa, surmising instead that it must have come into the country as part of the maritime trade that linked India with Southeast Asia and China.
We have abundant textual evidence of much classical Cham art that once existed that has been lost to the ravages of time and the depredations of human vandals, looters, and conquerors. For example, the early 14th-century Chinese historian Ma Duanlin reported the existence of a large statue of the Buddha made of gold and silver; the current whereabouts of this statue are unknown. The Cham kings themselves have left us stone inscriptions describing the gifts of now lost precious objects they made to the shrines and sanctuaries of the realm. Especially noteworthy was the practice of donating decorated metallic sleeves ("kosa") and diadems ("mukuta") to important lingas and the divinities with which they were affiliated. For example, an inscription on a stone stele dated approximately 1080 and found at Mỹ Sơn reports that King Harivarman donated a "large, resplendent golden "kosa" adorned with the most beautiful jewels, more brilliant than the sun, illuminated day and night by the rays of shining gems, decorated by four faces" to the deity Srisanabhadresvara, a local embodiment of Siva. A few years later, around 1088, Harivarman may have been outdone by his successor Indravarman, who donated a golden "kosa" with six faces (facing in the four cardinal directions, toward the Northeast and the Southeast) topped off by a "nagaraja" (serpent-king) ornament, and decorated with precious gemstones including a ruby, a sapphire, a topaz, and a pearl. Neither of these treasures has survived.
The written sources, including the Chinese books of history and the Cham inscriptions, also report on some of the catastrophic events, primarily acts of war, that led to the loss of Cham art. In the second quarter of the 5th century AD, according to the historian Ma Duanlin, a Chinese general named Yuen Kan sacked the capital of Champa, making off with many "rare and precious objects", including "tens of thousands of pounds of gold in ingots coming from statues which he had smelted." Similarly, at the beginning of the 7th century a marauding Chinese general named Liu Fang made off with "eighteen massive tablets of gold" commemorating the 18 previous kings of Champa. It is to be assumed that in the centuries that followed, frequent raids and conquests by Khmer and Vietnamese armies, which led to the eventual destruction of Champa as an independent political entity, likewise resulted in the removal of any portable works of art, including of course any works made of precious metals.
Temples.

Unlike the Khmer of Angkor, who for the most part employed a grey sandstone to construct their religious buildings, the Cham built their temples from reddish bricks. Some of these brick structures can be still be visited in the Vietnamese countryside. The most important remaining sites include Mỹ Sơn near Da Nang, Đồ Bàn (Vijaya) near Quy Nhơn, Po Nagar near Nha Trang, and Po Klong Garai near Phan Rang.
Buildings constituting a temple.
Typically, a Cham temple complex consisted of several different kinds of buildings.
These building types are typical for Hindu temples in general; the classification is valid not only for the architecture of Champa, but also for other architectural traditions of Greater India.
Most significant temples.
The culturally most important temples of historical Champa were the temple of Bhadresvara located at Mỹ Sơn near modern Da Nang, and the temple of the goddess known as Bhagavati (her Hindu name) or Yan Po Nagar (her Cham name) located just outside modern Nha Trang.
Sandstone sculptures.
The Cham created freestanding sandstone sculptures in the round, as well as high and bas-relief carvings of sandstone. In general, they appear to have preferred sculpting in relief, and they excelled especially at sculpture in high relief. Cham sculpture went through a marked succession of historical styles, the foremost of which produced some of the best works of Southeast Asian art.
The subject-matter of Cham sculpture is drawn mostly from the legends and religion of Indian civilization. Many of the sculptures are representations of particular Hindu and Buddhist deities, most prominently Siva, but also Lokesvara, Visnu, Brahma, Devi, and Shakti. Such sculptures may have served a religious purpose rather than being purely decorative. Any sculpture in the round of an important deity that is completely forward-oriented, not engaged in any particular action, and equipped with symbolic paraphernalia, would have been a candidate for ritual or devotional use. Cham sculptors also created numerous lingas, phallic posts linked symbolically with Siva (if the cross-section is a circle) or with the trimurti (if the post is segmented, consisting of a lower square section symbolic of Brahma, a middle octagonal section symbolic of Visnu, and a top circular section symbolic of Siva). The ritual uses of the linga are familiar from modern Hinduism.
A few of the sculptures in the art of Champa depart from the Indian subject-matter to reveal something of the life of the historical Cham people. An example are the especially well-executed representations of elephants that serve as decorative details in some pieces: from written sources we know that the Cham relied on elephants for military and other purposes, since they lacked a steady supply of horses. Other sculptures reflect the cultural legacy of Greater India and express legendary themes more typical of Javanese or Cambodian art than the art of India. An example of such a theme is the motif of the makara sea-monster, which came to Champa from Java, where it is prominent in the art of the Borobudur and other temples of the same period.
Periods and styles of Cham art.
Scholars agree that it is possible to analyze the art of Champa in terms of distinct "styles" typical for various historical periods and different locations. Several have attempted through their study to set down a classification of historical styles. Perhaps the most influential of these attempts are those of the French scholars Philippe Stern ("The Art of Champa (formerly Annam) and its Evolution", 1942) and Jean Boisselier ("Statuary of Champa", 1963). Summarizing the conclusions of these scholars, art historian Jean-François Hubert has concluded that it is possible to distinguish at least the following styles and sub-styles:
Each style is named after a place in Vietnam at which works exemplative of that style have been found.
Mỹ Sơn E1 Style.
The ruins at Mỹ Sơn are not all of the same style and do not all belong to the same period of Cham history. Scholars have coded the ruins to reflect the diversity of periods and styles. The earliest identifiable style has been dubbed the Mỹ Sơn E1 Style. It is named after a particular structure, which scholars refer to as Mỹ Sơn E1. Works of this style reflect foreign influence from a variety of sources, primarily from the Khmer of pre-Angkorian Cambodia, but also from the art of Dvaravati, the Javanese art of Indonesia, and of southern India.
Perhaps the most famous work of the Mỹ Sơn E1 style is a large sandstone pedestal dated from the second half of the 7th century. Originally, the pedestal had a religious function, and was used to support a huge lingam as a symbol for Siva, the primary deity in Cham religion. The pedestal itself is decorated with relief carvings featuring scenes from the lives of ascetics: ascetics playing various musical instrument, an ascetic preaching to animals, an ascetic receiving a massage. To the Cham, the pedestal symbolized Mount Kailasa, the mythological abode of Siva which also accommodated numerous forest- and cave-dwelling ascetics, just as the lingam it supported represented the god himself.
Another important work of the Mỹ Sơn E1 style is the unfinished sandstone pediment that was once affixed over the main entrance to the temple at Mỹ Sơn E1. The pediment shows the dawn of the present era according to Hindu mythology. Vishnu is reclining at the bottom of the ocean. His bed is Sesha the serpent. A lotus grows upwards from Vishnu's navel, and Brahma emerges from the lotus in order to recreate the universe.
Dong Duong Style.
In 875, the Cham king Indravarman II founded a new dynasty at Indrapura, in what is now the Quảng Nam region of central Vietnam. Departing from the religious traditions of his predecessors, who were predominantly Shaivists, he founded the Mahayana Buddhist monastery of Dong Duong, and dedicated the central temple to Lokesvara. The temple complex at Dong Duong having been devastated by bombing during the Vietnam War, our knowledge of its appearance is limited to the photographs and descriptions created by French scholars earlier in the 20th century. A fair number of sculptures of the period have survived, however, in the museums of Vietnam, and collectively they are known as the works of the Dong Duong Style. The style lasted until well into the 10th century.
The Dong Duong style of sculpture has been described as a highly original style of "artistic extremism", "with exaggerated, almost excessively stylized features." The figures are characterized by their thick noses and lips and by the fact that they do not smile. Prominent motifs include scenes from the life of the Buddha, Buddhist monks, dharmapalas (guardians of the Buddhist law), dvarapalas (armed temple guardians), the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, and the goddess of compassion Tara, who was also regarded as the shakti or spouse of Avalokiteshvara.
Mỹ Sơn A1 Style.
The art of the Mỹ Sơn A1 style belongs to the 10th and 11th centuries, a period of Hindu revival following the Buddhist period of Dong Duong, and also a period of renewed influence from Java. This period has been called the "golden age" of Cham Art. The style is named after a temple at Mỹ Sơn, "the most perfect expression of Cham architecture" according to art historian Emmanuel Guillon, that fell victim to the Vietnam War in the 1960s. Most of the remaining monuments at Mỹ Sơn also belong to the Mỹ Sơn A1 style, including most of the constructions of groups B, C, and D.
As to the sculpture of the Mỹ Sơn A1 style, it is known as being light and graceful, in contrast with the more severe style of Dong Duong. According to Guillon, "It is an art of dance and movement, of grace, and of faces which sometimes wear a slight, almost ironic style, as though surprised by their own beauty." Indeed, dancers were a favorite motif of the Mỹ Sơn A1 sculptors. The style is also known for its fine relief images of real and mythical animals such as elephants, lions and garudas.
The Mỹ Sơn A1 style encompasses not only works of art found at Mỹ Sơn, but also works found at Khuong My and Trà Kiệu, though the latter are sometimes treated as representing distinct styles. The works of Khuong My in particular are frequently treated as transitional between the styles of Dong Duong and Mỹ Sơn A1. Likewise, works found at Chanh Lo are sometimes treated as belonging to the Mỹ Sơn A1 style and sometimes treated as transitional between the Mỹ Sơn A1 and Thap Mam styles.
Khuong My Style.
In the village of Khuong My in the Vietnamese province of Quảng Nam stands a group of three Cham towers dating from the 10th century. The style of the towers and the artwork associated with them is transitional between the powerful style of Dong Duong and the more charming and delicate Mỹ Sơn A1 style. The style of Khuong My also exhibits Khmer and Javanese influence.
Trà Kiệu Style.
Although the Cham monuments at Trà Kiệu in Quảng Nam Province have been destroyed, a number of magnificent pieces of sculpture associated with the site remain and are preserved in museums. Especially noteworthy are a large pedestal serving as a base for a lingam that is known simply as the "Trà Kiệu Pedestal" and another pedestal known as the "Dancers' Pedestal."
The Trà Kiệu Pedestal, consisting of a base decorated with friezes in bas relief, an ablutionary cistern, and a massive lingam, is regarded as one of the masterpieces of Cham art. The figures on the friezes are especially beautiful, and represent episodes from the life of Krishna as related in the Bhagavata Purana. At each corner of the pedestal, a leonine atlas appears to support the weight of the structure above him.
The Dancers' Pedestal, likewise, is regarded as a masterpiece. The purpose and function of the pedestal, which has the shape of a corner piece, remain obscure. Each side of the corner is graced by a dancing apsara and a music-playing gandharva. The base underneath these figures is adorned with leonine heads and makaras.
Thap Mam Style.
After the 10th century, Cham art went into gradual decline. Both architecture, as exemplified by the temples of Po Nagar and Po Klong Garai, and sculpture became more stereotyped and less original. Only the sculptures of mythical animals, such as the makara or the garuda, could rival their counterparts of the earlier styles.
The Thap Mam Style of the 11th through the 14th centuries is named for an archaeological site in Bình Định Province, formerly Vijaya. The sculpture of this style is characterized by "a return to hieratic formalism and the simplification of shape, leading to a certain loss of vitality." The sculptors seem to have been concerned more with the detail of ornamentation than with the grace and motion of the figures themselves. Indeed, the style has been characterized as "baroque", in reference to the proliferation of ornamental details that distinguishes it from its more "classical" predecessors.
One of the most original motifs of the Thap Mam period was the sculpting in stone of a row of female breasts around the base of a pedestal. The motif first emerged in the 10th century (the Trà Kiệu Pedestal at one point had such a row of breasts) and became characteristic of the Thap Mam Style. It appears to have no counterpart in the art of other Southeast Asian countries. Some scholars have identified this theme with figure of Uroja ("breasts"), the mythical ancestor of an 11th-century dynasty at Mỹ Sơn, and claim a connection between this Uroja and the goddess venerated at Po Nagar.


Su Bingqi

Su Bingqi (; 1909 – 30 June 1997) was a Chinese archaeologist and co-founder of Peking University's archaeology program. He was China's major archaeological theoretician for 50 years, and regarded in his later years as the paramount authority in the archaeology of China. He was best known for his "regional systems and cultural types" () model of Chinese Neolithic cultural development, which rejected the traditional view of Chinese culture radiating from the core Central Plain region and has been widely adopted. It was further developed by Kwang-chih Chang as the Chinese Interaction Sphere model.
Biography.
Su was born in 1909 in Gaoyang County, Hebei Province. From 1928 to 1934 he studied history at Beijing Normal University. After graduation he joined the Institute of Historical Studies of the Peiping Academy (a predecessor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) and its excavation team at the Doujitai archaeological site in Baoji, Shaanxi Province, where he spent three years, from 1934 to 1937, under the guidance of senior archaeologist Xu Xusheng, who had a significant influence on him. Su completed the excavation report in 1945, but it was published only in 1948.
In 1940 Su wrote a book analyzing the types of "li" () pottery tripods excavated at Doujitai, but lost the manuscript in the chaos of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Some of the contents were published in his excavation report, but it took 40 years before an abridged version of the study was finally published. The book was highly regarded as "probably the most ambitious and systematic project of pottery typology" in Chinese archaeology. Su used "li" vessel typology to determine ethnic affiliations of archaeological sites, and his methodology has been adopted by generations of Chinese scholars.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Su became a fellow of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (under the Chinese Academy of Sciences until 1977). In 1952 he co-founded China's first university archaeology program at Peking University, then under the Department of History, where he trained many of China's leading archaeologists who have been greatly influenced by him. After the death of Xia Nai, Su was elected to succeed him as President of the Chinese Archaeology Association in 1986.
Su Bingqi died on 30 June 1997. In 2005, his biography, written by his son Su Kaizhi (), was published by Joint Publishing.
Multi-region model.
After the disruption to academic research caused by the Cultural Revolution, in 1979 Su proposed the influential "regional systems and cultural types" () model of Chinese Neolithic cultural development (published in 1981 in the journal "Wenwu"). Rejecting the traditional point of view that the Central Plain (Yellow River valley) was the cradle of Chinese civilization and radiated out to backward regions in the rest of China, Su argued that archaeological data had proven that ancient cultures were developing simultaneously in multiple regions and influenced each other, including the Central Plain.
Many scholars, especially Su's students, consider the multi-region model his most important theoretical contribution. In the view of Li Feng of Columbia University, although the theory "does little more than synthesize what had already been revealed by the extensive archaeological work" of the recent past, it was a powerful tool for analyzing prehistoric development in Neolithic China. According to archaeologist Kwang-chih Chang of Harvard University, Su's theory legitimized a view of ancient China that had been regarded as heresy. Based on Su's model, Chang developed the model of "Chinese Interaction Sphere" in 1986. Their theories have since been widely accepted in academia.


Kyansittha

Kyansittha (, ; also Kyanzittha or "Hti-Hlaing Shin"; 1030 – 1112/13) was king of Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1084 to 1112/13, and is considered one of the greatest Burmese monarchs. He continued the social, economic and cultural reforms begun by his father, King Anawrahta. Pagan became an internationally recognized power during his 28-year reign. The Burmese language and culture continued to gain ground.
In his early life, Kyansittha was a popular and successful general who led Anawrahta's major military campaigns that founded the Pagan Empire. He was exiled twice in the 1070s and 1080s for his affair with Queen Manisanda. Kyansittha ascended to the Pagan throne in 1084 after suppressing a major Mon rebellion that killed King Saw Lu.
His reign was largely peaceful. A great admirer of Mon culture, he pursued a conciliatory policy towards the Mon of the south, and continued the patronage of Mon language and culture at his court. It was in his reign that the synthesis of Burman, Mon, Pyu and Buddhist practices into a Burmese cultural tradition began to reach a level of maturity. The Burmese script began to be used alongside Pyu, Mon, and Pali. A peaceful Pagan grew wealthy from agriculture and trade, and large scale temple building began in earnest. Kyansittha completed Anawrahta's Shwezigon Pagoda and built his crowning achievement, the Ananda Temple. Pagan became a major center of Buddhist learning. Theravada Buddhism continued to gain ground although many Ari, Mahayana and Hindu practices continued to pervade. Pagan emerged a major power alongside the Khmer Empire in Southeast Asia, recognized as a sovereign kingdom by the Chinese Song Dynasty, and Indian Chola dynasty.
Kyansittha is one of the most famous monarchs in Burmese history. His life stories and exploits are still retold in Burmese literature, theater, and cinema.
Early life.
Much of Kyansittha's early life, like much of early Pagan history, is shrouded in legend. Many of the stories given in the Burmese chronicles attributed to Kyansittha are legends, with a heavy touch of literary flourish.
Parentage.
According to the chronicles, Kyansittha was born to Princess Pyinsa Kalayani of Wethali and Anawrahta, then a senior prince at the court of King Sokkate. He grew up away from Anawrahta's court after Anawrahta banished his mother who was pregnant with him to the countryside because Anawrahta was led to believe that she was not of royal blood. The chronicles also speculate that Kyansittha's real father might not be Anawrahta but Yazataman, the Pagan official who guarded Pyinsa Kalayani during her journey to Pagan. Nonetheless, the chronicles accept that he was a "legal" son of Anawrahta per Burmese customary law, which says a child born in wedlock is presumed to have been begotten by the husband. At any rate, a stone inscription at the Hledauk Pagoda in Taungbyon says that it was donated by Kyansittha, son of Anawrahta.
Birth date.
The chronicles do not agree on the dates regarding his life and reign. The table below lists the dates given by the four main chronicles.
Moreover, according to "Zata", considered the most accurate chronicle for the dates of the best-known Pagan and Ava kings, Kyansittha was born on 21 July 1030, and was about 19 years older than Saw Lu. "Maha Yazawin" says Kyansittha was about four years older but the two later chronicles "Yazawin Thit" and "Hmannan" say Kyansittha was about a year younger than Lu. If "Hmannan" is correct about Kyansittha's age at death, Kyansittha was born in 1041.
Inconsistent chronicle narratives.
Furthermore, the chronicle narratives are filled with many inconsistencies. The chronicles claim that Anawrahta was already king when Pyinsa Kalayni was sent. But Anawrahta did not become king until 1044. Kyansittha had been born at least since 1030. Moreover, it was unlikely that the ruler of Wethali would have sent his daughter to Anawrahta who until 1044 was a prince but not to Sokkate, the king himself. The chronicles also claim that "King" Anawrahta tried to kill off all babies in the year that Kyansittha was born because his astrologers predicted that a new born would be king. Again, Anawrahta was not the king.
The meaning of the name Kyansittha.
Kyansittha's birth name is lost to history. According to the Shwezigon Pagoda inscriptions dedicated by Kyansittha himself, the name Kyansittha is a title given by Anawrahta. The king gave him the title Kyansittha which means "the remaining/last standing soldier" because of the latter's knack for surviving in the battlefield. But according to historian George Coedes, it is a corruption of the Pali word, "kalan cacsa", meaning "soldier-official"."
Military career (1057–1070s).
Kyansittha grew up in relative obscurity until Anawrahta recalled his son at a later point (likely by his early teens). At Anawrahta's court, he was a minor prince under the shadow of his elder half-brother Saw Lu, and served as a royal cadet in the Pagan army. Anawrahta soon recognized the ability of his son. According to tradition, in early 1057, the king made his teenage son one of four lead commanders in his invasion of Thaton Kingdom. (Anawrahta's appointment of Kyansittha as commander at such an early age indicates that Anawrahta considered Kyansittha his offspring. During the Burmese imperial era, only the royalty were allowed to assume a senior position in the army at an early age. Commoners, who had to earn that privilege over years of service, were never that young.) Pagan's forces captured Thaton after a 3-months' siege in May 1057. Kyansittha became famous as one of the Four Paladins.
More recent research by historian Michael Aung-Thwin accepts Anawrahta's conquest of Lower Burma but argues that the chronicle narrative of the conquest of Thaton is a post-Pagan legend.
Anawrahta went on found the Pagan Empire (also known as the First Burmese Empire) expanding his authority in all directions: northern Arakan in the west, Shan Hills in the north and east, and Tenasserim in the south. Kyansittha partook in all of Anawrahta's expeditions including one to the Nanzhao Kingdom, and in some cases (such as the Tenasserim campaign against the Khmer Empire) led them. Soon after the Thaton conquest, Kyansittha along with his three other "Paladins" were sent to take control of Tenasserim. The Four Paladins defeated the Khmer army, and Tenasserim became part of Pagan Empire from then on.
In the early 1070s, Kyansittha was called into service to defend Pegu (Bago) against the raiders from the direction of Chiang Mai. The Pagan army easily drove out the raiders. The ruler of Pegu, whom Anawrahta had allowed to remain as viceroy for his cooperation in the 1057 conquest of Thaton, sent his young daughter, the lady Khin U, jewels and hair relics as presents for Anawrahta. On the journey to Pagan, Khin U was borne in a curtained litter, and Kyansittha rode at her side. During the long journey, they fell in love with each other so violently that the matter had to be reported to Anawrahta. It was the end of Kyansittha's career. He was sent into exile by the king.
Exile years (1070s–1082).
Kyansittha fled west, and at a time, he earned a living by tending horses. He finally settled at Kaungbyu (likely in the Sagaing District), and married Thanbula, niece of the head abbot of the local monastery. He was in his early 30s. He lived there for the remainder of Anawrahta's reign until 1077.
In April 1077, Anawrahta died, and his son Lu succeeded. Lu, who had always viewed Kyansittha as a rival, reluctantly recalled Kyansittha to Pagan, at the urging of Shin Arahan, primate of Pagan, to help administer the kingdom. Kyansittha left a pregnant Thanbula at Kaungbyu. At Pagan, he soon renewed his affair with Khin U (now with the title of Manisanda), who was now a queen of Lu. Kyansittha was promptly exiled again, this time much farther away to Dala (modern-day Yangon).
Pegu rebellion (1082–1084).
In 1082, Saw Lu faced a serious rebellion by his childhood friend Yamankan, whom he had appointed governor of Pegu. The king recalled Kyansittha to put down the rebellion. At a battle near Magwe, Lu was captured in November 1082 (Natdaw 444 ME). Ministers offered Kyansittha the crown. But he refused. Instead he personally tried to rescue Lu by breaking into the enemy camp at night. Seated on Kyansittha's shoulders and well on the way to safety, Lu thought Kyansittha was stealing him to kill him. After all, he had never treated Kyansittha well, and could not believe that Kyansittha would risk his life to rescue someone who had treated him badly. Yamankan on the other hand was his childhood friend, and son of his wet nurse.
Yamankan promptly executed Lu, and marched to Pagan. Unable to blockade the fortified walls of Pagan, his army drifted north to near the present-day Ava (Inwa).
Kyansittha went to the Kyaukse region, the breadbasket of Pagan, to raise an army. He received allegiance from the chief of Htihlaing, who helped him raise men. With his army, Kyansittha drove Yamankan out. Yamankan's army fled south while Yamankan fled on a barge full of gold and gems he had looted down the Irrawaddy. Kyansittha and his army followed up on the retreating Peguan forces. Midway to the Pegu country, Kyansittha's advance forces caught up with Yamankan near Myingyan. Yamankan, who was blind in one eye, was killed by an arrow through his remaining good eye.
According to the chronicle "Zatadawbon Yazawin", Kyansittha and Yamankan fought a battle c. April 1083 (Kason of 445 ME). The battle may not be the final battle in which Yamankan was slain since "Zatadawbon" says Saw Lu died in 1084 after having reigned seven years. However, other chronicles ("Hmannan" and "Yazawin Thit") say he reigned only for five years, followed by an interregnum that lasted till 1084—implying that Saw Lu died in late 1082 or early 1083. At any rate, Kyansittha came to power in 1084, per the Myazedi inscription.
Accession.
At Pagan, Kyansittha was once proclaimed king on 21 April 1084. The coronation ceremony may have been two years later, in 1086. He ascended to the throne with the title Śrī Tribhuvanāditya Dhammarāja (ဂြီတြိဘုဝနာဒိတျဓမ္မရာဇ). The title's meaning is "Fortunate Buddhist King, Sun of the Three Worlds". He was joined by his three queens:
His wife from his first exile Thanbula was not present. She would later come and see him with their son Yazakumar later.
Reign.
Rule of Pagan Empire.
Kyansittha strengthened the foundations of Pagan Empire which Anawrahta had built. Although he suppressed the Mon rebellion, he pursued a conciliatory policy towards the Mon. Having spent seven years in the Mon country in exile, the king had a genuine respect for the Mon culture, and kept Mon scholars at his court. The language of most of his epigraphs is Mon (likely because the Burmese script was still coming into its own). The Mon language was widely used among the ruling elite, and the Pyu language continued to be a cultural force as well.
His policy proved effective. The rest of his reign saw no more rebellions in the south. Elsewhere too was largely peaceful. (He did send an expedition to northern Arakan because the tributary kingdom in the west had come under attack by the lord of southern Arakan. His troops repelled the attack but could not catch the lord.)
Pagan's power did not go unnoticed. The Khmer Empire, the other Southeast Asian power, stopped raiding southern Pagan territory. When Pagan sent an embassy to the Chinese Song court in 1106, the Chinese met the Burmese envoys with the full rites accorded only sovereign kingdoms.
Gradual growth of Burmese language.
The use of Burmese vernacular continued to gain strength among the populace although it was still junior to more established languages of Pyu and Mon. (Pali had already replaced Sanskrit as the liturgical language since 1057.) The earliest evidence of a more settled Burmese script was the Myazedi inscription, dedicated to him in 1112 when the king was on his deathbed. The use of Pyu began to decline.
The first ever mention of the word "Myanmar" (the literary name of the Burmans (Bamar)) appeared in the epigraph of his new palace, built between December 1101 and April 1102.
Religious affairs.
Kyansittha guided by Shin Arahan continued Anawrahta's policies to reform the Buddhism of Pagan, which was a mix of Ari Buddhism, Mahayana Buddhism, Theravada Buddhism and Hinduism. He gave sanctuary to Buddhists fleeing India (which had just come under Muslim rule). The king entertained eight learned Indian monks for three months, listening to their stories. Enthralled by the description of their great cave temple of Ananta in the Udayagiri hills of Orissa, the king commissioned the Ananda Temple in imitation. He also completed the Shwezigon Pagoda which Anawrahta began.
Nonetheless, historians contend that even the reformed religion of Shin Arahan, Anawrahta, Kyansittha and other Pagan kings was one still strongly influenced by Hinduism when compared to later more orthodox (18th and 19th century) standards. Indeed, with the approval of primate Shin Arahan, Kyansittha believed Vishnu was his patron.
Succession.
Kyansittha appointed his grandson Sithu (later Alaungsithu) as heir apparent because he thought he did not have a son. It turned out that he had forgotten the pregnant wife he left in Kaungbyu when he first recalled to Pagan in 1078. Thanbula gave birth to a boy, and did not learn of Kyansittha's ascent to the throne right away. When she finally came to the Pagan to meet Kyansittha with their son, the king did not want to go back on his word. Instead he appointed the boy the titular lord of Arakan with the title of Yazakumar (Pali: Rajakumar, lit. King's son). Alaungsithu succeeded him.
Death.
Kyansittha died in either 1112 or 1113 after a long illness. He was either 82 or 83.
Legacy.
Kyansittha is regarded as one of the greatest Burmese monarchs for saving the nascent Pagan Empire and making it stronger. His continuation of Anawrahta's social, economic and religious policies transformed the kingdom to a major regional power. His reign is generally understood as the time when the assimilation of various cultural traditions (Mon, Pyu and Burman) began to meld into a common Burmese cultural tradition that would come to dominate the Irrawaddy valley.
In popular culture.
Kyansittha is remembered as a romantic warrior king. He was popular throughout his reign and after. His life stories and exploits are still retold in Burmese literature, theater, and cinema.


Paku Alam III

Paku Alam III was a ruler of the principality of Pakualaman between 1858 and 1864, making it the second shortest reign of a prince of the Paku Alam.
Pakualaman became a small hereditary Duchy within the Sultanate of Yogyakarta, as a mirror-image of the Mangkunegaran principality in the territory of the Susuhunanate of Surakarta.
Paku Alam III was considered to be an enthusiastic author and literary patron.
The son of Paku Alam II, Paku Alam III was buried at Kota Gede.


Jettha Tissa II of Anuradhapura

Jettha Tissa II was King of Anuradhapura in the 4th century, whose reign lasted from 332 to 341. He succeeded his brother Sirimeghavanna as King of Anuradhapura and was succeeded by his son Buddhadasa.


Tenjiku Tokubei

Tenjiku Tokubei (1612 - c. 1692) (Japanese: 天竺徳兵衛) was a Japanese adventurer and writer of the early 17th century. He traveled to Southeast and South Asia, hence his "Tenjiku" (Japanese: 天竺, East Asian name of "India") nickname.
He was born in Sendo-machi, Takasago-cho, in today's Hyōgo Prefecture in 1612. His father was a salt wholesaler.
The adventurer.
At the age of fifteen, in 1626, Tokubei was hired by a trading company in Kyoto. He pursued commercial activities aboard Japanese Red Seal Ships.
In 1627, Tokubei visited China, Vietnam and Siam (modern Thailand) on board a Japanese Red Seal ship. He would stay for some time in Siam and again visit the country on board one of the ships of the Dutch adventurer Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn. He also sailed to India, to the source of the Ganges, and the country of Magadha, and returned with great wealth and numerous stories to tell.
Upon his return to Japan, and after the introduction of the Seclusion policy (Sakoku), Tokubei wrote an essay titled "Tenjiku Tokai Monogatari" (天竺渡海物語, literally "The Tale of Crossing the Sea to India") on his adventures in foreign countries, which became very popular in Japan.
He died around the age of 80 in his home town of Takasago.
The Kabuki character.
Tenjiku Tokubei became a popular character of Kabuki and Joruri puppet dramas, where he was given the role of a magician. He was a popular subject of woodcut prints in the 18th and 19th century.
In September 1795, Kunitaro played the role of Tokubei's wife in the drama "Tenjiku Tokubei Kikigaki Ôrai", while the role of Tenjiku Tokubei was played by Arashi Koroku III.


Sangha Tissa I of Anuradhapura

Sangha Tissa I was King of Anuradhapura in the 3rd century, whose reign lasted from 248 to 252. He succeeded Vijaya Kumara as King of Anuradhapura and was succeeded by Siri Sangha Bodhi I.


Aziz Saleh Al-Numan

Aziz Saleh al-Numan () is a former Iraqi Ba'ath Party Regional Command Chairman. He was appointed Iraqi governor of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein during the 1991 Gulf War; taking over the post from Ali Hassan al-Majid in November 1990, and holding it until 27 February 1991.
He is a member of the "dirty dozen", allegedly responsible for torture and murder in Iraq. Prior to the U.S. invasion in April 2003, Al-Numan was the Baath Party's regional command chair, responsible for West Baghdad. He was previously the governor of Karbala and Najaf. He was taken into custody on May 22, 2003. At the time, he was the Number 8 on the Central Command's list of the 55 most wanted Iraqis, and was the highest-ranking person on the list of 55 to have been taken into custody to that time. He was one of nine Iraqi leaders that the United States wished to see tried for either war crimes or crimes against humanity.
In 2011, he was transferred to Iraqi custody along with five others, tried and sentenced to death.
Nuhmah was the King of Diamonds in the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards.


Varagavank

Varagavank (, "Monastery of Varag"; , "Seven Churches") was an Armenian monastery on the slopes of Mount Erek, southeast of the city of Van, in eastern Turkey.
The monastery was founded in the early 11th century by Senekerim-Hovhannes Artsruni, the Armenian King of Vaspurakan, on a preexisting religious site. Initially serving as the necropolis of the Artsruni kings, it eventually became the seat of the archbishop of the Armenian Church in Van. The monastery has been described as one of the great monastic centers of the Armenian church by Ara Sarafian and the richest and most celebrated monastery of the Lake Van area by Robert H. Hewsen.
During the Armenian Genocide, in April–May 1915, the Turkish army attacked, burned, and destroyed much of the monastery. More of it was destroyed in the 1960s, although some sections are still extant.
History.
Origins.
According to tradition, in the late third century, Saint Hripsime hid the remnant of the True Cross she wore on her neck at the site of the monastery. In 653, when the location was discovered, Catholicos Nerses III the Builder built the Church of Surb Nshan (Holy Sign), described by Robert H. Hewsen as "a simple hermitage". Catholicos Nerses also established the Feast of the Holy Cross of Varag (Վարագա սուրբ խաչի տոն), celebrated by the Armenian Apostolic Church on the Sunday nearest to September 28, always two weeks after the Feast of the Cross.
Queen Khushush, the daughter of King Gagik I of Armenia and spouse of Senekerim-Hovhannes Artsruni, the future Artsruni King of Vaspurakan, built a church at the site in 981 dedicated to the Holy Wisdom ("Surb Sopi"). In the late medieval period, it was converted into a castle and was known as "Berdavor" ("berd" means "fortress" in Armenian). The Church of Surb Hovhannes (Saint John) was built to the north in the 10th century.
Foundation and medieval period.
The monastery itself was founded by Senekerim-Hovhannes early in his reign (1003–24) to house a relic of the True Cross that had been kept on the site since Hripsime. In 1021, when Vaspurakan fell to Byzantine rule, Senekerim-Hovhannes took the relic to Sebastia, where the following year his son Atom founded the Surb Nshan Monastery. In 1025, following his death, Senekerim-Hovhannes was buried at Varagavank and the True Cross was returned to the monastery. Fearing an attack by Muslims, Varagavank Father Ghukas took the True Cross in 1237 to the Tavush region of northeastern Armenia. There he settled in the Anapat monastery, which was renamed Nor Varagavank. In 1318, the Mongols invaded the region and ransacked the monastery. All the churches were destroyed except St. Hovhannes, which had an iron door and was where the monks hid. Between 1320 and the 1350s, the monastery was completely restored.
Modern period.
The Safavid emperor Tahmasp I ransacked the monastery in 1534. In 1648, along with other buildings in the region, Varagavank was destroyed by an earthquake. Its restoration began immediately thereafter by monastery father Kirakos who found financial support among the wealthy merchants in Van. According to the 17th-century historian Arakel of Tabriz, four churches were restored and renovated.
The architect Tiratur built a square-planned gavit (narthex) west of Church of Surb Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God) in 1648. It functioned as a church during the 19th century, called Surb Gevorg. To the west of the narthex was a 17th-century three-arched open-air porch; to the north was Church of Surb Khach (Holy Cross); while to the south was the 17th-century Church of Surb Sion. Urartian cuneiform inscriptions were used as lintels on their western entrances.
Suleyman, the prince of Hoşap Castle, invaded the monastery in 1651, looting it of its Holy Cross, manuscripts, and treasures. The cross was later repurchased and it was added to the Tiramayr Church of Van in 1655. The monastery declined in the late 17th century and, in 1679, many of its treasures were sold due to economic difficulties. Archbishop Bardughimeos Shushanetsi renovated the monastery in 1724.
In 1779, father Baghdasar "vardapet" decorated the narthex walls with frescoes of King Abgar V, Theodosius I, Saint Gayane, Hripsime, Khosrovidukht, and Gabriel. According to Murad Hasratyan, the unknown painter had fused together the styles of Armenian, Persian, and Western European art.
19th century.
A wall was built around the monastery in 1803 and, fourteen years later, the Church of Surb Khach (Holy Cross) was completely renovated and converted into a depository of manuscripts by archbishop Galust. In 1832, Tamur pasha of Van robbed the monastery's treasures and strangled the father Mktrich "vardapet" Gaghatatsi to death. In 1849, Gabriel "vardapet" Shiroyan restored the Church of Sion, which had been destroyed by an earthquake, and converted it into a wheat warehouse.
Mkrtich Khrimian, the future head of the Armenian Church, became father of Varagavank in 1857 and made the monastery effectively independent and subordinate only to the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople. He founded a printing house and began publishing "Artsvi Vaspurakan" ("The Eagle of Vaspurakan"), the first newspaper in historical Armenia, which was published between 1858 and 1864. He also established a modern school. The school taught subjects such as theology, music, grammar, geography, Armenian studies and history; the prominent novelist Raffi was briefly one of the teachers. The school produced its first graduates in 1862.
During the Hamidian massacres of 1896, the monastery was sacked and robbed. Some teachers and students were killed. According to a contemporary report by an American at Van, "Varak, the most famous and historic monastery in all this [Van] region, which has weathered the storms of centuries is almost certain to go [on fire]."
Sacking and abandonment.
On 20 April 1915, some 30 gendarmes arrived at Varagavank and murdered the monastery's two monks together with four of their servants. The monastery remained under their occupation until 30 April, when, for unknown reasons, the gendarmes withdrew and returned to Van city. This withdrawal coincided with the arrival on Varag mountain of some 3000 Armenian refugees from the Hayatzor valley who had escaped the massacres that had taken place there several days earlier. They were soon joined by some 3000 survivors of massacres elsewhere, and together they found a temporary refuge in the Armenian villages and monasteries on the mountain, including Varagavank. Self-defense units were also set up in an attempt to protect the villages - about 250 men, almost half the force, was stationed at Varag, with most of the remainder based at nearby Shushants monastery. On the order of Van's governor, Djevdet Bey, Turkish forces returned in strength, with 300 calvarymen, 1000 militia, and three batteries of artillery. According to Kevorkian this was on 8 May. Shushants quickly fell after putting up a feeble defense and was burnt down. Varagavank fell shortly afterwards and was also burnt. The majority of the villagers and the refugees managed to escape to Van at night. The Turkish forces made no attempt to stop them entering the Armenian-controlled sectors of the city; it is speculated that they were deliberately allowed in so that they would use up the limited food supplies of the defenders.
The exact date of the burning of the monastery is not known for certain. On April 27, 1915, a message sent "To Americans, or any Foreign Consul" by Clarence Ussher and Ernest Yarrow, American missionaries in Van, said that "From our window we could plainly see Shushantz afire on its mountain-side and Varak Monastery, with its priceless store of ancient manuscripts, going up in smoke." However, a fellow missionary, Elizabeth Barrows Ussher, Clarence Ussher's wife, wrote in her diary that the monastery was attacked by 200 cavalry and foot soldiers on April 30, but they were repulsed. She gave May 4 as the day the monastery was burned. Another missionary teacher, Grace H. Knapp, recounted, however, that "On the 8th May we saw the place in flames, and Varak Monastery near by, with its priceless ancient manuscripts, also went up in smoke."
Current state.
A significant number of the structures surviving the 1915 destruction were destroyed in the 1960s. As of 2006, the monastery's remains were used as a barn. According to historian Ara Sarafian, as of 2012, "good sections have just barely survived until our days." Dr. Jenny B. White, a scholar on Turkey, wrote in 2013 that, on her visit, the remains of the monastery "consisted of nothing more than a few brick vaults used to house goats amid a clutch of tumbledown Kurdish homes." The best-preserved section of the monastery is the church of Surb Gevorg (St. George), which is now looked after by a caretaker. The dome is partly collapsed and contains some traces of surviving frescoes. The dome of the church of Surb Nshan is entirely gone.
In February 2010, following the renovation of the Holy Cross Cathedral at Akdamar Island in Lake Van, Halil Berk, the Deputy Governor of Van Province, announced that the Governor's Office sought to restore Varagavank and the Ktuts monastery at Çarpanak Island. In June of that year, the governor also stated that the monastery at Çarpanak Island and Varagavank would be renovated "in the near future." In October 2010, "Radikal" reported that a nearby mosque, built in 1997, would be demolished to make room for the restoration of Varagavank.
The monastery was damaged as a result of the 2011 Van earthquake. According to Ara Sarafian, "parts of the main church collapsed, while other parts were significantly weakened. Old cracks got bigger, new ones appeared." Turkish engineers reportedly inspected it and announced that they would commence restoration work in the spring of 2012. Sarafian wrote that "such promises have been made in the past and one needs to be a little skeptical. The current state of the church makes such work much harder than at any time in the past." He noted in a 2012 article that the local and provincial governments supported the preservation and restoration of the monastery. In October 2012, the artist Raffi Bedrosyan, who contributed to the restoration of the St. Giragos Church in Diyarbakır, stated that he had hoped to restore Varagavank and added that "Both Ankara and Van agreed to launch the restoration project, but social and natural obstacles delayed the process.". In 2017 it was documented that the remaining stones of the monastery are regularly taken off by the local authorities to build a local mosque and other developments with them.
Ownership.
"Taraf" reported in September 2012 that the monastery is owned by the Turkish journalist and media executive Fatih Altaylı. In an interview, Altaylı told the newspaper that the monastery belonged to his grandfather and he inherited it from his father. The monastery was confiscated during the Armenian Genocide. A group of Armenians in Turkey, led by the activist Nadya Uygun, started a petition asking him to "Apply to the Armenian Patriarchate of Turkey and transfer the title deed of the church to the concerned [Armenian community] foundation." Altayli told "Agos" that he is ready to give it to the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, but no government authority has approached him to respond to his offer to give back the church to its owners, and that they displayed no interest in cooperating. Revolutionary Socialist Workers' Party (DSİP) activists demonstrated in early October 2012 before the Habertürk headquarters in Beyoğlu, Istanbul demanding the return of the monastery land to the Armenians. As of September 2014, there was no progress. In 2017 it was documented that the Turkish government actively tried to tear the stones of what remains from the monastery to construct a mosque, houses and other developments in the area.
Architecture.
The monastery was composed of six churches, gavit, narthex, (nakhasrah), and other structures. The main church of Varagavank was called Surb Astvatsatsin (Holy Mother of God). It dated to the 11th century and was similar in plan to the prominent Saint Hripsime Church in Vagharshapat. The earliest structure was on the southern part of the ensemble and was known as Surb Sopia (10th century). Queen Khushush left an inscription (dated 981) on its western wall.
Manuscripts.
In the 10th century, Queen Mlke, the wife of Gagik I, presented the monastery with the "Gospel of Queen Mlke" (), one of the best known Armenian illuminated manuscripts. In the 14th–16th centuries the monastery became a major center of manuscript production. A number of Varagavank manuscripts are now kept at the Matenadaran repository in Yerevan.
Cultural references.
Raffi mentions the monastery in volume two of the novel "Sparks" («Կայծեր», 1883–87). The prominent poet Hovhannes Tumanyan wrote an article about the monastery in 1910, on the fiftieth anniversary of Mkrtich Khrimian becoming father of Varag and the monastery's subsequent revival as a great center of education and culture.
References.
Notes


Zhengzhou Shang City

The Zhengzhou Shang City () is an archaeological site in Zhengzhou, Henan, China. Based upon examination of the soil in the walls of the site, it was built about 3,570 years ago, during the early Shang dynasty. The excavation of the site is of great importance in understanding the history of Shang dynasty.
Excavations.
Archaeologist Han Weizhou discovered the site in 1950. In the spring of 1951, a group of archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Sciences came to research in Zhengzhou. They collected some specimens and confirmed that it was indeed of Shang dynasty, and older than the Shang city of Yinxu in Anyang.
Erligang is the type site of Erligang culture. This is the area located outside the giant walls of the ancient city. Starting in 1952, the first formal archaeological excavations at Erligang began. Also the east area of Luoyang was explored. In 1954, the archaeologist An Jinhuai and staff conducted a large-scale excavation in this area. The site of the city walls was identified to be of Shang dynasty in 1955. The living area of the royal families was found in the northeast part of Shang City. The excavation was forced to stop because of the Cultural Revolution.
In 1971, An Jinhuai reorganized the archaeological group to continue excavations when he had a chance to go back to Zhengzhou. In 1973, they found ruins of many buildings of differing sizes made of "hangtu". This turned out to be the palace area. Archaeologists found numerous other sites in this area. The excavations are difficult because the modern city covers most of the ancient city area.
Layout.
The city was rectangular in form. The perimeter of the inner city walls was around 6,960 meters, with 11 gaps that might be city gates. The north wall was about 1,690 meters in length, the west about 1,870 meters, while the south and east were both about 1,700 meters. The walls were estimated to have been 20 meters (66 ft) wide at the base, rising to a height of 8 meters (26 ft). The inner city covered an area of roughly 300 ha (740 acres). The palaces were located in the northeast of the city and inside were water storage facilities made of stones. There were also smaller buildings believed to be where slaves lived. Recent archaeological findings include the existence of an outer city and wall. The area inside the outer wall may be as large as 1,500 ha (3,700 acres). Large workshops were located in the outer city, including a bone workshop, a pottery workshop and two bronze vessel workshops.


Withdrawal of Feni River Water

The Feni River is a trans-boundary river located in Bangladesh, and the water rights have been a source of dispute between India and Bangladesh. It originates in the South Tripura district and flows through Sabroom town, entering Bangladesh. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Bangladesh and India, allowing India to withdraw 1.82 cubic feet per second (cu sec) of water (equal to 51.4 litres per second) from the Feni River. These two countries have signed seven bilateral documents concerning the water disputes.
Details.
Bangladesh and India have signed seven bilateral documents to strengthen relations between the respective countries. The agreement was signed between the Ministry of Water Resources of Bangladesh and Ministry of Jal Shakti, India, in New Delhi. The purpose of this accord is to provide a supply of drinking water to the Sabroom Town of Tripura.
The two PMs directed a technical committee of the Joint Rivers Commission to expeditiously exchange updated data and information and prepare a draft framework for interim sharing agreements for the six rivers, namely Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla and Dudhkumar. The committee was also directed to firm-up the draft framework of the Feni River's interim sharing agreement.
Before this agreement, India had been alleged to have illegally withdrew water from the Feni River. India set 36 low-lifting pumps in No man's land between Shilachori to Amlighat of south Tripura. BGB of Bangladesh warned India to remove the pumps, but they did not oblige. By building the pump house, India may have broken the international border law.
Aftermath.
Bangladesh will face some problems if India withdraws more than 1.82 cusecs of water because it may affect the Muhuri-Feni irrigation project, which utilizes the water from the Feni River. Around 230.076 hectares land area is under the Muhuri-Feni irrigation project.
The deal on the Feni river comes amid Bangladesh's frustration over refusal to sign the Teesta deal, which was scheduled to be finalized during the Indian PM at the time, Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka in 2011. It was not possible due to opposition from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Water from the Teesta is crucial for Bangladesh's northern region where farmers depend heavily on underground water for irrigation during the lean season.
Controversy.
After criticising the government online, Abrar Fahad (b. 13 May 1998- d. 7 Oct 2019), a second year student of electrical and electronic engineering at the department of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), was tortured and then killed by Buet's Chhatra League leaders inside Buet's Sher-e-Bangla Hall. The incident that led to this was Fahad's Facebook post, in which he expressed his critical views about Bangladesh's agreement with India to allow the withdrawal of water from the Feni River. An autopsy report confirmed that Fahad was beaten to death for at least four hours by blunt objects (cricket stumps and bamboo sticks).


Battle of Tirurangadi

The Battle of Tirurangadi (also called the Battle of Calicut) was a series of engagements that took place between 7 and 12 December 1790 at Tirurangadi near the port of Calicut on the Malabar Coast of India, during the Third Anglo-Mysore War.
A British Bombay Army force landed at Tellicherry and with the aid of Nair, defeated Tipu's commander, Hussain Ali Khan, at Calicut. Abercromby then went on to capture "all of Malabar."


Rukmini Sukarno

Rukmini Sukarno Kline (born around 1943) is a daughter of President Sukarno of Indonesia.
An opera singer, she lived in Rome in the 1960s. There, in the early 1960s, she met and married the American film actor Franklin Latimore Kline. Their son, Chris Kline, is a journalist. Her husband once arranged a concert for her at Carnegie Hall, and dubbed it Fiesta Mundo (world party). Rukmini, who is claimed to speak eight languages fluently, sang songs from the various countries around the globe.
By the late 1970s, she was the sole owner of Frankenburg Import-Export Ltd., a Kansas corporation registered in Mexico as a middleman-supplier of steel products to that country.
In December 1978, Petroleos Mexicanos, "Pemex", Mexico's national oil company, accepted her bid to supply some 93,000 meters of steel oil field pipe, and in March 1979 forwarded Frankenburg-Kansas a purchase order requesting various types and quantities of pipe for which Pemex was willing to pay approximately $5.2 million.
In March 1986, she was convicted by a state court in Houston, Texas, of failing her fiduciary duties in brokering a deal between Pemex, Mexico's national oil company, and the Nissho-Iwai American Corporation. She was sentenced to 14 years in prison and fined $10,000 for misappropriating $5.5 million.
She was not in court to hear the outcome of the trial. A few days later, she surrendered to the authorities, turning herself in before a state district judge in Houston, Texas and saying she fled after the conviction because she panicked and became sick.
She is listed as a contributor to the presidential campaign of George H.W. Bush in 1987.
In July 1988, her appeal against the result of her suit against the Nissho-Iwai American Corporation was denied by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.


Great Crown of Victory

The Great Crown of Victory (; ) is one of the regalia of Thailand. Made of gold and enamelled in red and green during the reign of King Rama I in 1782, the crown is 66 centimeters (26 inches) high and weighs 7.3 kg (16 pounds). In the reign of King Rama IV, a set of diamonds was added to the crown. Also added was a large cut diamond from India to decorate the top of the crown, called the "Great Diamond" (พระมหาวิเชียรมณี "Phra Maha Wichian Mani"). The crown is of a distinctive Thai design, being a multi-tiered conical diadem, terminating in a tapering spire.
The crown is worn only when a king is crowned. He places the crown on his own head. The shape of the crown represents the concept of divine monarchy. The tall spire signifies divine authority and the right to rule over his subjects.
The Great Crown of Victory is the most important of the five regalia of Thailand, yet at one time the crown was accorded the same importance as the other regalia.
As symbol.
The Great Crown of Victory is used as part of symbol in many public organization and educational institutions. The rank insigna of Royal Thai Army field grade officers (Major and above) all depicts the grand crown.