Southward expansion of the Han dynasty

The Southward expansion of the Han dynasty was a series of Chinese military campaigns and expeditions in what is now modern Southern China and Northern Vietnam. Military expansion to the south began under the previous Qin dynasty and continued during the Han era. Campaigns were dispatched to conquer the Yue tribes, leading to the annexation of Minyue by the Han in 135 BC and 111 BC, Nanyue in 111 BC, and Dian in 109 BC.
Han Chinese culture took root into the newly conquered territories and the Baiyue and Dian tribes were eventually assimilated or displaced by the Han Empire. Evidence of Han dynasty influences are apparent in artifacts excavated in the Baiyue tombs of modern southern China. This sphere of influence eventually extended to various ancient Southeast Asian kingdoms, where contact led to the spread of Han Chinese culture, trade and political diplomacy. The increased demand for Chinese silk also led to the establishment of the Silk Road connecting Europe, the Near East, and China.
Background.
Military campaigns against the Baiyue began under the Qin, the dynasty that preceded the Han. The First Emperor of the Qin craved for the resources of the Baiyue and ordered military expeditions against the region between 221 and 214 BC. He sent a large contingent of soldiers against Lingnan in 214 BC, comprising conscripted merchants and soldiers. Military garrisons were installed, the Lingqu Canal was constructed, and new areas were placed under Qin administration. The collapse of the Qin caused the dissolution of Qin administration in southern China. Indigenous Yue kingdoms emerged in the former Qin territories, including the Nanyue kingdom in Guangxi, Guangdong, and Vietnam, Minyue in Fujian, and Eastern Ou in Zhejiang.
Supported by the Han military, Minyue was established in 202 BC and Eastern Ou in 192 BC after the fall of the Qin dynasty. Zhao Tuo, a former Chinese commander of the Qin, established Nanyue in 208 BC after the death of the emperor Qin Shi Huang. Emperor Gaozu, first emperor of the Han dynasty, approved Zhao Tuo's new title as king. Zhao was born in the city of Zhending in Central China, and the ruling class of the new kingdom was composed of Chinese officials from the former Qin dynasty. In 180 BC, Zhao offered to submit as a vassal state and the Han accepted, a decision partly based on his family's northern Han Chinese ancestry.
Military campaigns.
Campaigns against Minyue and Eastern Ou.
Military campaigns were launched against the Baiyue under the reign of the Han emperor Wu. The Eastern Ou Kingdom requested Han military assistance when Minyue invaded the kingdom in 138 BC. Supreme commander Tian Fen opposed Han intervention. Tian told the emperor that the Yue tribes could not be trusted. Battles between the Yue tribes occurred frequently, and Tian believed that protecting them was not a responsibility of the Han court. The Han official Zhuang Zhu convinced the emperor to intervene in the war. Zhuang's argument was based on the emperor's role as the Son of Heaven, a concept in Chinese political philosophy. In Sima Qian's "Records of the Grand Historian", Zhuang is reported to have said:
The only thing we should worry about is whether we have strength enough to rescue them and virtue enough to command their loyalty... Now a small country has come to report its distress to the Son of Heaven. If he does not save it, to whom can it turn for aid? And how can the Son of Heaven claim that the rulers of all other states are like sons to him if he ignores their pleases?
The Minyue surrendered after a Han naval force led by Zhuang Zhu was dispatched from Shaoxing in northern Zhejiang, and withdrew from Eastern Ou. The Yue tribes of Eastern Ou were transferred to the north, between the Yangtze River and Huai River.
A second intervention was launched in 135 BC after Minyue, ruled by Zou Ying, invaded Nanyue, ruled by Zhao Mo. Nanyue had been a Han vassal since 180 BC. Zhao asked the Han for their support, and the emperor responded by sending an army led by Wang Hui and Han Anguo against Minyue.
Zou Ying was assassinated with a spear by his younger brother Zou Yushan, who plotted against the ruler with the royal family and prime minister. Ying beheaded the corpse and gave the head to a messenger, who delivered it to Wang as a sign of Minyue's surrender. After the assassination, Minyue was succeeded by a state divided into a dual monarchy composed of the kingdom of Minyue, controlled by a Han proxy ruler, and the kingdom of Dongyue, ruled by Zou Yushan.
As general Yang Pu returned north with his soldiers after the Han–Nanyue War in 111 BC, he requested the emperor's permission to annex Dongyue. The emperor refused after he considered the morale of the troops. Zou Yushan had promised to supply an army to assist the Han in their war against the Nanyue. The army never arrived and Zou blamed the weather conditions, while secretly maintaining a diplomatic relationship with Nanyue.
Zou began a rebellion against the Han after learning of Yang's plot against him. A Han military campaign was dispatched and led by General Han Yue, General Yang Pu, military commander Wang Wenshu, and two marquises of Yue ancestry. The revolt was repressed and the Han annexed Dongyue in the last months of 111 BC, conquering the remaining territory of the former Minyue. Sima Qian records that the entire population of Dongyue was exiled, a claim that is implausible.
Campaign against Nanyue.
In the 110s BC, Jiushi (), the empress dowager of Nanyue, wife of the deceased Zhao Yingqi and a native Han Chinese, mooted the unification of Nanyue with Han China. This proposal was met with resistance in the Nanyue nobility which, although nominally tributary to the Han, had not paid tribute in years. The queen was executed by Lü Jia, leader of those who had opposed her, in the summer of 112 BC.
The Han dynasty took umbrage at the diplomats killed with her and saw this event as an act of rebellion. Emperor Wu sent a military campaign consisting of 2,000 soldiers led by General Han Qianqiu to quell the revolt. The general died in battle and the Han forces lost. The second campaign, led by the generals Lu Bode and Yang Pu, was dispatched by sea with 100,000 soldiers in the fall of 112 BC. They reached the city of Panyu, located in modern Guangzhou, in 111–110 BC and defeated the rebels.
Lingnan was once again brought under Chinese control, and nine Chinese commanderies were created to administer Guangdong, the island of Hainan, and the Red River Delta of northern Vietnam. The two Han commanderies located in Hainan were abandoned in 82 BC and 46 BC, despite the Han government's interest in the area's rare resources.
In the early years of the Eastern Han, following the usurpation of Wang Mang and the re-establishment of the Han, the tribal elites of Nanyue remained loyal to the Han. In 40 AD, revolts against Han rule were led by the Trung sisters near the Red River Delta. The rebellion was defeated in 43 by the general Ma Yuan, a participant in the battles that followed Wang Mang's usurpation.
The Han reestablished control of Nanyue. The Trung sisters were executed or killed during the fighting. In popular accounts, they vanished in the sky, fell sick, or took their own lives by jumping into a river and drowning. Violence in the region continued, and there were seven periods of unrest between 100 and 184. A new strategy was adopted, orchestrated by the official Li Gu, that sought to appoint honest officials, exile hostile tribes, and pit tribal leaders against each other. The strategy was only partially successful.
Campaign against Dian.
In 135 BC, Tang Meng led the earliest Han expedition against Dian, establishing the Jianwei commandery in southwestern China. The Dian tribes were involved in the trade of livestock, horses, fruit, and slaves, and was attractive to the Han because of their resources and metalworking expertise. Trade routes between Dian and the rest of the Han empire were opened up by Han soldiers. The Han continued their expansion northward, and annexed the territory near Shu.
Due to the Han–Xiongnu War on the north, the rising cost of administration in the distant state led to the Han abandoning the commandery. A group of Chinese explorers were captured by the Dian for four years. They were part of an expedition traveling southwards to establish an alternative trade route for the goods reported in Central Asian markets in 122 BC.
Dian was conquered during a military campaign launched by Emperor Wu of Han in 109 BC, and the Yizhou commandery was established in the former kingdom. Archaeologists discovered the king of Dian's imperial seal inscribed by the Han, confirming Dian's surrender and status as a subject of the Han. The Dian led a series of unsuccessful rebellions against Han rule, beginning with two revolts in 86 BC and 83 BC. Chen Li, governor of the Zangge commandery, crushed a rebellion in 28–25 BC. Under Wang Mang's reign as usurper of the Han throne between 9-23 AD, hostilities in southwestern China persisted. Wang sent military campaigns to quell the unrest. Seventy percent of the soldiers in one campaign died from illness. Another campaign, comprising 100,000 men and with double the supplies, was not fruitful. Rebellions continued in 42-45 and 176.
The Han expanded further during Emperor Ming's reign (57–75 AD). The new commandery of Yongchang () was established in what is modern Baoshan, Yunnan in the former Dian Kingdom. The Dian tribes west of Yuexi/Yuesui Commandery (越巂, modern Xichang in southern Sichuan) submitted to Han rule in 114 AD. Emperor Huang (r. 146-168) encouraged the cultural assimilation of the tribes during his reign between. Under Emperor Huangti, sinicization of the Dian involved the teaching of Chinese ethics and Han Chinese culture was promoted in Yunnan. Despite periodic unrest, the Dian Kingdom was eventually absorbed into the Han Empire. Conquered by the Han dynasty, Han Chinese settlers began moving into the lowlands once inhabited by the Dian. Over the centuries, the Dian were assimilated by the Han Chinese and were virtually extinct by the 11th century AD.
Historical significance.
Chinese migration and cultural assimilation.
Han Chinese migration from northern and central China populated Yunnan and Guangdong. The political turmoil that followed Wang Mang's usurpation led to another wave of Chinese migration. Han settlers and soldiers from the north were affected by diseases common in tropical regions, such as malaria and schistosomiasis.
Sinification of the Yue and Dian tribes was brought about by a combination of Han imperial military power, regular Han Chinese settlement and an influx of Han Chinese refugees. The military invasions and an influx Han Chinese immigrants created a culture that merged Han Chinese traditions with indigenous elements. Evidence from modern archaeological digs in the area reveal the extent of Han Chinese influence. Han dynasty tombs in Guangzhou, Guangdong show that the native tools and ceramics were gradually replaced by those modeled after Chinese styles by the Western Han. Excavations from the period have uncovered bronze mirrors, stoves, wells, incense burners, tripods, and lanterns manufactured in the style of the Han Chinese.
Cultural assimilation in Guangxi and Guizhou happened during the late Western Han and occurred later than in Guangdong. As in Guangdong, a number of Han-style mirrors, coins, ceramics, bronze, iron, and lacquerware were discovered in the region's tombs.
Modern Yunnan in southwestern China was annexed into the Han Empire after the establishment of a Chinese prefecture in 109 BC. The growing influence of Chinese culture is apparent in excavated Dian artifacts, and coins, ceramics, mirrors, and bronzes have been discovered in Dian manufactured with Han stylistic elements. Dian art adopted the aesthetics of Han imports and by 100, the indigenous Dian culture had largely disappeared. Northern Chinese culture had become largely ingrained in the south. The expansion of China from the North China Plain to the south, a process that began in the Qin dynasty, had reached its height under the Han.
Trade and foreign contact.
The Southward expansion of the Han dynasty brought the empire into contact with the civilizations of Southeast Asia. Chinese cultural and technological influence spread to nearby Southeast Asian kingdoms. Remnants of Chinese pottery from the Han dynasty have been excavated in Sumatra, Borneo, and Java that date from the 1st century. Archaeologists have also discovered bronze axes in Cambodia that were based on the design of Chinese axes.
Han dynasty emperors and their successors maintained commercial and diplomatic ties with various South and Southeast Asian kingdoms. Han dynasty ships traveled as far as India, expanding the horizon for new foreign markets for Chinese goods and services through maritime trade within the orbit of the Indian Ocean. Trade relationships were also established between China and foreign empires through the conquered territories. Trade connected China with the Indian Mauryan, Sātavāhana and Shunga Empires, the Persian Parthian Empire, and the European Roman Mediterranean. Roman dancers and entertainers were sent to Luoyang as a gift to China from a Burmese kingdom in 120. A kingdom referred to in the "Book of Han" as Huangzhi delivered a rhinoceros in the year 2 AD as a tribute. An Indian embassy arrived in China between 89 and 105. Roman merchants from the province of Syria visited Nanyue in 166, Nanjing in 226, and Luoyang in 284. Foreign products have been found at archaeological sites excavating tombs in southern China. Originating with the overseas demand for Chinese silk, the ancient Silk Road trade routes were responsible for the transmission of goods and services as well as ideas between ancient Europe, the Near East, and China.


Prehistory of Siberia

The Prehistory of Siberia is marked by several archaeologically distinct cultures. In the Chalcolithic, the cultures of western and southern Siberia were pastoralists, while the eastern taiga and the tundra were dominated by hunter-gatherers until the late Middle Ages and even beyond. Substantial changes in society, economics and art indicate the development of nomadism in the Central Asian steppes in the first millennium BC.
History of research.
Scholarly research of the archaeological background of the region between the Urals and the Pacific began in the reign of Peter the Great (1682-1725), who ordered the collection of Scythian gold hoards and thereby rescued the contents of several robbed graves before they were melted down. During his reign, several expeditions were charged with the scientific, anthropological and linguistic research of Siberia, including the Second Kamchatka Expedition of the Dane Vitus Bering (1733-1743). Scholars also took an interest in archaeology and carried out the first archaeological excavations of Siberian kurgans. After a temporary reduction of interest in the first half of the nineteenth century, archaeological research in Siberia reached new heights in the late nineteenth century. Excavations were particularly intense in South Siberia and Central Asia. The results of the October Revolution 1917 created different, often restricted, conditions for archaeological research, but led to even larger projects, especially rescue excavations as a result of gigantic building projects. Eventually, even remote areas of the Soviet Union such as Sakha and Chukotka, were archaeologically explored. After the Second World War, these developments continued. Following the Collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, much more intensive collaboration with the west became possible.
Topography.
Siberia is characterised by a great deal of variety in climate, vegetation, and landscape. In the west, Siberia is bordered by the Ural Mountains. From there, the west Siberian lowlands extend to the east, all the way to the river Yenisei. Beyond this are the central Siberian highlands which are bordered on the east by the basin of the Lena River, beyond that are the northeast Siberian highlands. Siberia is bordered on the south by a rough chain of mountains and to the southwest by the hills of the Kazakh border. The climate in Siberia is very variable. Yakutia, northeast of the Lena, is among the coldest places on Earth, but every year temperatures may vary for more than 50 °C, from as low as −50 °C in winter to over +20 °C in summer. The rainfall is very low. This is true of the southwest as well, where steppes, deserts and semi-deserts border on one another.
Agriculture is only possible in Siberia without artificial irrigation today between 50° and 60° north. The climatic situation is responsible for the different biomes of the region. In the northernmost section, there is tundra with minimal vegetation. The largest part of Siberia, aside from the mountainous regions, is taiga, northern coniferous forests. In the southwest this becomes forested steppe, and even further south it transitions to grass steppes and the central Asian desert. Before the beginning of the Holocene about 12,000 years ago, the situation was different. During the Weichselian glaciation (from before 115,000 years ago until 15,000 years ago), the tundra extended much further south and an ice sheet covered the Urals and the area to the east of the lower Yenisei.
Historical overview.
Paleolithic.
Late Paleolithic southern Siberians appear to be related to paleolithic Europeans and the paleolithic Jōmon people of Japan. Various scholars point out similarities between the Jōmon and paleolithic and Bronze Age Siberians. A genetic analyses of HLA I and HLA II genes as well as HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 gene frequencies links the Ainu people and some Indigenous peoples of the Americas, especially populations on the Pacific Northwest Coast such as Tlingit, to paleolithic southern Siberians.
Neolithic (until c. 2400 BC).
Finds from the Lower Paleolithic appear to be attested between east Kazakhstan and Altai. The burial of a Neanderthal child found in 1938 shows similarities with the Mousterian of Iraq and Iran. In the Upper Palaeolithic, by contrast, most remains are found in the Urals, where, among other things, rock carvings depicting mammoths are found, in Altai, on the upper Yenissei, west of Lake Baikal and around 25,000 on the shore of the Laptev Sea, north of the arctic circle. The remains of huts have been found in the settlement of Mal'ta near Irkutsk. Sculptures of animals and women (Venus figurines) recall the European Upper Palaeolithic. The Siberian Palaeolithic continues well into the European Mesolithic. In the postglacial period, the taiga developed. Microliths, which are common elsewhere, have not been found.
In North Asia, the Neolithic (c. 5500–3400 BC) is mostly a chronological term, since there is no evidence for agriculture or even pastoralism in Siberia during the central European Neolithic. However, the neolithic cultures of North Asia are distinguished from the preceding Mesolithic cultures and far more visible as a result of the introduction of pottery.
Southwest Siberia reached a neolithic cultural level during the Chalcolithic, which began here towards the end of the fourth millennium BC, which roughly coincided with the introduction of copper–working. In the northern and eastern regions, there is no detectable change.
Bronze Age (c. 2400–800 BC).
In the second half of the third millennium BC, bronzeworking reached the cultures of western Siberia. Chalcolithic groups in the eastern Ural foothills developed the so-called Andronovo culture, which took various local forms. The settlements of Arkaim, Olgino and Sintashta are particularly notable as the earliest evidence for urbanisation in Siberia. In the valleys of the Ob and Irtysh the same ceramic cultures attested there during the neolithic continue; the changes in the Baikal region and Yakutia were very slight.
In the middle Bronze Age (c. 1800–1500 BC), the west Siberian Andronovo culture expanded markedly to the east and even reached the Yenissei valley. In all the local forms of the Andronovo cultue, homogenous ceramics are found, which also extended to the cultures on the Ob. Here, however, unique neolithic ceramic traditions were maintained as well.
With the beginning of the late Bronze Age (c. 1500–800 BC), crucial cultural developments took place in southern Siberia. The Andronovo culture dissolved; its southern successors produced an entirely new form of pottery, with bulbous ornamental elements. At the same time the southern cultures also developed new forms of bronze working, probably as a result of influence from the southeast. These changes were especially significant in the Baikal region. There, the chalcolithic material culture which had continued up to this time was replaced by a bronze-working pastoralist culture. There and in Yakutia, bronze was only used as a material for the first time at this point.
The Ymyakhtakh culture (c. 2200–1300 BC) was a Late Neolithic culture of Siberia, with a very large archaeological horizon. Its origins seem to be in the Lena river basin of Yakutia, and also along the Yenisei river. From there it spread both to the east and to the west.
Iron Age (c. 800 BC - AD 500).
The cultural continuity on the Ob continued in the first millennium BC, as the Iron Age began in Siberia; the local ceramic style continues there even in this period. A much larger break occurred in the central Asian steppe: the sedentary, predominantly pastoralist society of the late Bronze Age is replaced by the mobile horse nomads which would continue to dominate this region until modern times. The mobility, which the new cultural form enabled, unleashed a powerful dynamic, since henceforth the people of Central Asia were able to move across the steppe in great numbers. The neighbouring sedentary cultures were not unaffected by this development. Ancient China was threatened by the Xiongnu and their neighbours, the ancient states of modern Iran were opposed by the Massagetae and Sakas, and the Roman empire eventually was confronted by the Huns. The social changes are clearly indicated in the archaeological finds. Settlements are no longer found, members of the new elite were buried in richly furnished kurgans and completely new forms of art developed.
In the damper steppes to the north, the sedentary pastoralist culture of the late Bronze Age developed under the influence of the material culture of the nomads. Proto-urban settlements like Tshitsha form the late Irmen culture in west Siberia and the settlements in the north of the Xiongnu cultural area.
Subsequent period.
In many places the transition to later periods remains problematic due to the lack of archaeological evidence. Nevertheless, some generalisations are possible. In the Central Asian steppes, Turkic groups become detectable sometime in the 5th century; over the following centuries, they expand to the north and west until eventually they brought the whole of southern Siberia under their control. The area further north, where the speakers of Uralic and Paleosiberian languages were located is still poorly known. The next clear break in the history of Siberia is the Russian expansion into the east which began in the 16th century and only concluded in the 19th century. This process marks the beginning of modernity in Siberia
Peoples and languages.
Reliable historical evidence for the area first appears at the beginning of the first millennium BC, with sources from the Near East. Greek and Chinese sources are also available from slightly later. Thus, certain statements about the peoples and languages of the region are only possible from the Iron Age. For earlier times and the northern part of Siberia, only archaeological evidence is available. Some theories, like the Kurgan hypothesis of Marija Gimbutas, attempt to relate hypothetical language families to archaeological cultures, but this is a highly uncertain procedure.
Sure statements are possible only since the first millennium BC, when neighbouring literate cultures came into contact with the people of the steppe. In the steppes north of the Black Sea and east of the Caspian Sea, Greek, Assyrian and Persian sources attest to horse nomads, which can be identified as speakers of Iranian languages. The first reports from ancient China of the nomads north of China date from the same period Along with various unidentified groups from Shang and Zhou dynasty texts, the Xiongnu are worthy of mention. Based on personal names and titles transmitted by the Chinese sources, different scholars have attempted to identify the language of the Xiongnu as an early Turkic language, a proto-Mongolic language or a Yeniseian language. At the beginning of the early Middle Ages, the Iranian peoples disappeared and in their place Turkic peoples expanded across the region between the eastern edge of Europe and northeastern Siberia. In the areas to the north of the Asiatic steppes, speakers of Uralic and Palaeo-Siberian languages are suspected to have been settled; in the Middle Ages, Turkic peoples appear here as well, but their prehistoric extent is not clear.
Cultures.
Siberia before the Chalcolithic.
The earliest known archaeological finds from Siberia date to the Lower Palaeolithic. In various places in West Siberia, the Baikal region and Yakutia, storage places from early Neolithic times have been found, which often remained in use for centuries. Alongside tent settlements which leave no traces in the ground, there were also huts, often dug slightly into the ground, whose walls and roofs were made of animal bone and reindeer antlers. Tools and weapons were mostly made from flint, slate and bone, with few discernable differences between them despite their immense chronological and geographical scope. In some settlements, early artworks have been found, which consist of human, animal and abstract sculptures and carvings. The Palaeolithic and Mesolithic inhabitants of Siberia were hunter-gatherers, whose prey consisted of mammoths and reindeer, and occasionally fish as well. In the 6th millennium BC, pottery spread across the whole of Siberia, which scholars treat as the beginning of the Siberian neolithic. Unlike Europe and the Near East, this event did not mark a major change in lifestyle, economy or culture.
Hunter-gatherers in Yakutia and the Baikal region.
The prehistoric inhabitants of the vast areas of taiga and tundra east of the Yenissei and north of Baikal differ in many ways from the prehistoric cultures of the other parts of north Asia. There is stronger evidence than usual for settlement continuity here from the Mesolithic until the second half of the first millennium AD, when the not yet entirely clear transition to the Medieval period occurred. Despite the enormous geographic extent of the area, only minor local differences are visible, indicating very mobile, nomadic inhabitants. The earliest culture in Yakutia to make ceramic was the Syalakh culture, which have been dated by radiocarbon dating to the 5th millennium BC. They are known from a type of pottery decorated with net patterns and bands of puncture marks. Their remains include weapons and tools made from flint and bone. A series of settlements, some of which were already in use in the Mesolithic, are known, at which the finds are limited to hearths and pits, while remains of buildings are entirely absent. Thus, the people responsible for the Syalakh culture were nomads who survived from hunting and fishing and inhabited certain spots on a seasonal basis.
This culture gradually transitions into the Belkachi culture (named after the Belkachi settlement in Yakutia) without any clear break. Their pottery features cord decorations, stripes, zigzag lines and such like. Their dead were buried on their backs in earthen graves. Otherwise, no major differences from the preceding culture are visible.
The Ymyyakhtakh culture (2200–1300 BC) is marked out by a new kind of "waffle ceramic", whose upper side is decorated with textile impressions and takes on a waffle-like appearance as a result. Towards the end of the 2nd millennium BC, bronzeworking reached Yakutia. Ymyyakhtakh settlements already feature bronze artifacts.
 followed next. In the first millennium BC, an independent culture developed on the Taymyr Peninsula, which shared its basic features with the Ust-Mil culture. The Iron Age began in Yakutia around the 5th century BC, but apart from the adoption of iron weapons and tools it does not mark a major change in the material culture.
The cultural development in neolithic and chalcolithic Baikal region, where the circumstances were similar to those in Yakutia until the appearance of the late Bronze Age Slab Grave culture. Here too there were some multi-layer storage places which extended back to the Mesolithic period, with hearths, waste pits and storage pits but no remains of buildings. The pottery was similar to that in Yakutia and shows a more or less parallel course of development. The burials are mostly stretched out on their backs, but often the graves were covered by stone slabs. An exception is the area of the Onon River, where crouching graves are found. Grave goods and bone finds indicate that the inhabitants lived by hunting bears, fish, elk and beavers, as well as some fish. The importance of the hunt to their culture is indicated by carvings on bones and rock faces. Their main subjects are people hunting animals. Unlike in Yakutia, pastoralism was adopted in the Baikal region before the Middle Ages; the earliest evidence comes from the chalcolithic Glazkov culture.
Sedentary societies of West Siberia and the Baikal region.
From the Neolithic or early in the Chalcolithic, sedentary groups in which pastoralism played an important economic role developed in southwestern Siberia. The transition to the new economic system and to sedentarism was very smooth. Subsequently, it spread to the Baikal region, where the influence of northern China may also have played a role.
Ceramics.
Through the whole Siberian prehistoric period from the Neolithic until the Iron Age, there are a very limited range of ceramic types. The vast majority of ceramic finds are round bulbous vessels, often with folded edges. In the Neolithic they mostly had concave bases, while later flat bases became more common. In the eastern part of the west Siberian forest steppe, on the Ob, Irtysh and Yenissei, decoration consisted of comb patterns, puncture rows and dimples, arranged in long series or fields (right image). In the course of the dramatic growth of the Andronovo culture in the middle Bronze Age, another type spread through the region. Examples of it are decorated with meander bands, herringbone patterns and triangles (left image). These ceramic types endured even into the Iron Age in west Siberia, yet a stark decline in decoration is observable, contemporary with the entrance of the Scythian and Hunnic Sarmatian nomads. This applies even to the nomadic cultures themselves.
Art and small finds.
Excepting the abstract decoration of the pottery, which has been dealt with above, artistic products are found in south Siberia only in the early Bronze Age.
Artefacts from the Karakol culture in Altai and the Okunev culture in the middle Yenissei include anthropomorphic motifs on stone plates and steles; the Okunev culture also produced humanoid sculptures. The art of the Samus culture of the upper Ob is related to these. In addition to humanoid sculptures and human heads engraved in pottery, the Samus culture also produced ceramic phalli and animal heads. Members of the nearby Susgun culture produced humanoid figures in bone. The only artistic products of the late Bronze Age are early South Siberian "deer stones", stone steles decorated with images of deer, which were subsequently imitated by Scythian art.
The early Iron Age animal style of the south Siberian horse nomads only influenced the cultures of the west Siberian lowlands a little. An entirely unique style was developed by the Kulaika culture and its neighbours in the middle and lower Ob. Here bronze figures of animals and people were manufactured, in which eagles and bears played a particularly important role.
Architecture.
The predominant building material in prehistoric north Asia was wood; stone was used for foundations at most. Most houses were tight structures, sunk less than 1 metre into the earth and had a rectangular or circular ground plan; oval or polygonal ground plans occur rarely. The structure of the roofs may have been pitched wooden constructions or saddle roofs. In many cultures, a small, corridor-like porch was built in front of the entrance. One or more hearths were found in the inner house.
Floodplains and lakesides were the preferred settlement locations. Settlements could take entirely different forms in different cultures; small groups of houses, large unfortified settlements, fortified city-like settlements and elevated fortress complexes are all found. Small village-like groups of houses are found in great numbers in all the sedentary cultures. In some cases, such as the chalcolithic settlement of Botai on the Ishim river, settlements experienced substantial expansion. It was not unusual for larger settlements to have walls and extramural graveyards, as in the case of the west Siberian settlements of Sintashta and Tshitsha. The inner space of these city-like settlements was densely and regularly packed with rectangular houses, indicating a form of town planning. The fortified settlements in elevated locations, like those located in the Minusinsk Hollow and Khakassia in the bronze and Iron Ages are usually distinguished from these settlements by their small size. Their purpose is still unclear; they may have been temporary refuges, the seats of elites, or sanctuaries.
Society.
Unlike the nomadic groups of earlier times and of northeastern Siberia, complex social structures can be detected in sedentary groups in West Siberia in the early Bronze Age. Their existence is indicated by the city-like settlements and by the social differentiation indicated by differences in their grave goods. In the middle Bronze Age, this development seems to have reversed and social differentiation is only detectable again in the late Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Since the northern part of west Siberia was unknown to ancient literate cultures and the ancient inhabitants of this region have left no literary source material themselves, it is very difficult to make detailed statements about their society. In reference to the settled populations of the Wusun, who settled in the Tianshan and Zhetysu, Chinese sources indicate the existence of a king and several nobles.
Economy.
The economy of the sedentary population in prehistoric Siberia was dominated by pastoralism. Cattle were intensively farmed in all cultures, as were sheep and goats. The raising of horses became very significant in western Siberia, particularly with the beginning of the Iron Age. A somewhat different image is given by the finds from the Xiongnu, who had also domesticated pigs and dogs. Hunting and fishing were initially an important supplement, but lost a lot of their significance over time.
Based on important tool remains and the possible remains of irrigation systems, a wide use of agriculture has been proposed by many researchers, but other scholars state that remains of cereals and other clear evidence are only found in the southernmost cultures, as remains of the Wusun of the Tianshan and Zhetysu. There, as in the northern parts of the Xiongnu territory, millet was cultivated and traces of wheat and rice have also been found. Millet seeds are also found in graves from Tuva, possibly indicating that a hitherto unknown population of settled agriculturalists, who might have been responsible for the area's metal-working, existed there alongside the horse nomads.
From the chalcolithic, ore mining and metallurgy also occurred. This is shown by finds of slag, tools and workshops in various cultural contexts.
Religion and funerary practices.
The burial customs of the sedentary societies were characterised by great variation. In the west Siberian chalcolithic, simple flat graves are found, in which the corpse is laid flat on its back. In the early Bronze Age, kurgans were erected for the first time, whose inhabitants were members of a newly developed warrior class (to judge from the grave goods interred with them) and were not buried in simple pits, but in wooden or stone structures. Already in the middle Bronze Age phase of the Andronovo culture, kurgans are found, but without differentiation of their grave goods. The corpse was interred in a crouched position or cremated. In the somewhat later Karasuk culture on the middle Yenissei, the tombs include rectangular stone enclosures, which were further developed into the stone-cornered kurgans characteristic of the area by the Tagar culture in the Iron Age. A special position belongs to the early Iron Age Slab Grave culture in the Transbaikal area; their dead were sometimes interred in stone cist graves. The burial of corpses lying on their backs which was practiced in west Siberia continued in the developing Scythian cultures of south Siberia, which is dealt with separately along with the other horse nomad cultures below.
Only isolated sanctuaries are known. Among them are the many burnt offering places found near the necropolis of the chalcolithic Afanasevo culture in south Siberia. They consisted of simple stone circles containing ashes, pottery, animal bones and tools made of copper, stone and bone. The many circular buildings containing wooden stakes and walls, in the necropoleis near the early Bronze Age settlement of Sintashta, are probably cult buildings.
Iron age steppe people of central and eastern Asia.
The horse nomads who were characteristic of the Asiatic steppe until modern times are a relatively recent phenomenon. Even in the late second millennium BC, settled pastoralists lived in the arid regions of Central Asia. They were replaced by the early horse nomads in the course of the first millennium BC in ways which are not entirely clear.
The transition to the sedentary groups further north was fluid in many places. The inhabitants of the Minusinsk hollow remained settled pastoralists even in the Iron Age, but their cultural development shows strong affinities to the neighbouring nomads. The Xiongnu in Transbaikal region show characteristics of both horse nomads and settled pastoralists and farmers. The situation in northern Tianshan and Zhetysu is remarkable: in the early Iron Age the nomadic Sakas lived there, but the region was subsequently taken over by the sedentary Wusun.
The earlier nomadic cultures are referred to collectively by archaeologists using the term "Scythian", which is the ancient Greek term for a group of horse nomads living north of the Black Sea; in a wider sense it referred to all horse nomads in the Eurasian steppe. The third century AD marks the beginning of the Hunnic-Sarmatian period, named after two nomadic groups from southern Russia, which continued until the establishment of the Khaganate of the Gokturks in the sixth century AD.
Art.
While the art of the settled cultures of the Asiatic steppe in the Bronze Age was dominated by anthropomorphic motifs, the advent of the horse nomads was accompanied by the development of the Scytho-Sarmatian animal style, which all the steppe people of Asia and eastern Europe shared. Its basic motifs were taken from a repertoire of wild animals, with a remarkable absence of animals which were significant to the daily life of the horse nomads. Thus depictions of horses and of people are extremely rare. Instead, the common motifs are deer, mostly lying down, elk, big cats (which must indicate Near Eastern influence), griffins and hybrids. Individual animals sometimes appear rolled up together as a "rolled animal", pairs of different animal species may be interlaced in a purely ornamental way, or depicted fighting one another. A line of the members of the same species often appear in borders, while individual parts of animals, like their heads, often serve as ornaments.
Especially in the western steppes metal wares are found almost exclusively decorated with elements of the animal style; in the permafrost of south Siberia and Transbaikal, felt carpets and other textiles with elements from the animal style are also found, among which a felt swan stuffed with moss deserves special attention. Stone was only used a little, mostly in the so-called "deer stele," probably anthropomorphic grave stele, which were decorated with deer and are found in south Siberia, Transbaikalia and Mongolia. Finally, the bodies of important people were tattooed with motifs from the animal style.
The origins of the animal style are unclear. Based on possible interactions with ancient eastern art, a strong influence from the south has been proposed. The early dating of some pieces from southern Siberia however, makes a local development on the steppes themselves more likely. It is certain however that especially in central Asia and the area north of the Black Sea, Greek and Persian art had a great influence on the art of the steppe peoples.
Society.
Known features, which were shared by the societies of the horse nomad cultures of the Bronze Age, include a powerful warrior elite, whose wealth and strength is clear from their elaborate grave goods. Particularly interesting in this context are the Chinese reports which provide detailed descriptions of the society of the Xiongnu. According to them, the population was divided into clan-like groups, which gathered together in large clan alliances. Their leaders stood in a strict hierarchy and were all under the authority of the Chanyu, the commander of the entire Xiongnu confederacy.
Economy.
The horse nomads of Inner Asia were nomadic pastoralists and probably travelled about in rather small groups. They particularly focussed on sheep, goats and horses, and in some regions other animals, such as the camel. Agriculture was undertaken by parallel settled populations, but probably did not play an important role. Ore mining and metal working which are known for some nomadic cultures, was probably undertaken by very elusive settled groups as well.
Religion and funerary practices.
All horse nomad cultures shared the burial of the dead in barrow graves which are known as "kurgans". Their size is very variable, with a radius of between 2 and 50 metres and a height of less than one or more than 18 metres, evidently reflecting differences in social hierarchy.
In some regions, kurgans are surrounded by various kinds of stone enclosure. The more or less rectangular tombs of the later Tagar culture were sometimes surrounded by a row of stones at the edge of the kurgan mound, which was broken up by higher stones at regular intervals - later these were usually just at the corners. In the Iron Age culture of Tuva, some but not all kurgans were surrounded by a rectangular or round stone wall. The kurgans themselves were partially built of earth and partially of stone, with regional variation.
In the ground beneath the kurgan was buried one or (very often) more tombs. The corpse lay either in a wooden chamber or a stone cist. The grave goods found along with them indicate that wooden chambers were reserved for people of higher status. While in burials from the Bronze Age the corpses were usually in a crouching position, in the Iron Age they were usually laid on their backs. Evidence for the handling of the dead are only known from Altai and Tuva, were some bodies are preserved as ice mummies by the permafrost, making detailed analysis possible. In these locations, the guts and muscles were removed before burial and the resulting holes were stitched closed with tendons and horse hair. It is uncertain whether damage to the skull reflects injuries that occurred before death or were made after death. Ritual trepanation cannot be assumed. After the guts were removed, distinguished corpses were tattooed and embalmed. These traditions are described also by the Greek historian Herodotus, who included material on the Scythians north of the Black Sea in his 5th century BC work, and is the main Greek source on the Scythians. Even his report of cannabis inhalation in small groups during the funeral have been corroborated by finds from the Pazyryk burials. This corroboration not only affirms the accuracy of Herodotus, but also indicates the cultural homogeneity of the steppe peoples of west Siberia, Central Asia and the region north of the Black Sea. The great kurgans of the Xiongnu present a rather different picture, however. There the burial chambers are deeper and were accessed by a ramp.
Along with the corpse, the burial chambers also contained grave goods, whose richness could vary dramatically. Ordinary mounted warriors were buried with a fully equipped horse and weapons, women were buried with a horse, a knife and a mirror. The burials of higher ranking people were much richer. These could include up to twentyfive richly outfitted horses and an elaborate chariot; the actual burial chamber was built from wooden planks (often larch). The corpse, with a woman who probably accompanied him in death, lay, clothed, in a long treetrunk coffin. In Noin Ula in Mongolia, a woman's braids were interred instead of the woman herself. Outstanding examples of kurgans include the necropoleis of Pazyryk in Altai, Noin Ula in Mongolia, and Arzhan in Tuva, where organic matter was preserved by the permafrost. Thus, felt carpets which decorated the inner walls of the burial chamber, decorated sadels and various kinds of clothing were also found. Although many large kurgans have been robbed of their contents by grave robbers, exceptional examples still remain, including countless gold objects.
On account of the general absence of written source material, research on the religion of the steppe people is based on parallels with later peoples and on the archaeological finds themselves. The funerary rituals leave no doubt about the belief in an afterlife, in which the dead had need of the same material items which they had in life – hence their burial with them.


Geoffrey Cator

Sir Geoffrey Edmund Cator (14 August 1884 – 21 April 1973) was an English diplomat mainly active in the Malayan Civil Service.
Biography.
Cator was born in Lacock, Wiltshire, the son of brewer Robert Cator of Bath and Evelyn Susan Sotheron Estcourt. He married Elizabeth Margaret Wynne Mostyn in 1922; they had a son, Peter John Cator (26 October 1924 – 22 January 2006) and daughter Rosemary Ann Cator.
Sir Geoffrey joined the Malayan Civil Service in 1907 until 1939. He was the British Resident of Brunei from May 1916 until March 1921. Later he was posted as the Superintendent of Government Monopolies of Straits Settlements, the District Officer of Klang and also member of the Legislative Council of Federated Malay States. He was the British Resident of Selangor (1932-1933) and British Resident of Perak (1933-1939). His last post was the head of the Malay States Information Agency in London. He was made a Knight Bachelor in the 1946 New Year Honours. He had previously been awarded the CMG in 1936.
He died at a nursing home in Surrey.
Cator Avenue in Taiping was named after him.
Contributions.
During the World War II, Sir Geoffrey also responsible for planning the war strategy, initially he published some written reviews, when Malaya was ambushed by the Japanese. His publications were,


Dhankuta District

Dhankuta District () () is one of 14 districts of Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. The district covers an area of and has a population (2011) of 163,412. Dhankuta is the district headquarters of Dhankuta District.
History.
Dhankuta was a part of Limbuwan (Pallo kirat) before unification of those parts into Kingdom of Nepal.
After 1816 there were 10 districts in Nepal and Dhankuta-chainpur district was one of them. All land from east of Dudhkosi river to the Mechi river was one district Dhankuta-chainpur.
From 1885 to 1962 Nepal remained divided into 32 districts and there were six districts in eastern-hill region: East No. 1, East No. 2, East No. 3, East No. 4, Ilam and Dhankuta. Dhankuta was center of these districts. That time also dhankuta was a large (by area) district. Current Sankhuwasabha, Tehrathum, Taplejung, Panchthar and Dhankuta districts were Incorporated under one district. The total area of the former Dhankuta district was .
In 1962, Nepal divided into 75 districts and 16 districts of eastern Nepal grouped to form Eastern Development Region and Dhankuta became the headquarter of it.
Geography and Climate.
Dhankuta is a mid-hill district of eastern hill region of Nepal. It is situated between 26°53' to 27°19' north latitude and 87°8' to 88°33' east longitude. Total area of the district is and it is located at to of elevation above sea level.
Vegetation.
The vegetation zones in the district range from sub-tropical Sal forest along the Tamor and Arun rivers, and cooler temperate forests on some of the high ridges that mark the watershed between the two catchments. The altitude ranges from around 300m to 2500m. The majority of the population are involved in agriculture and crops include maize, rice and millet. Important cash crops include citrus fruits, cauliflower, cabbage, ginger, and in recent years, tea. A well-preserved forest (Rani Ban – Queen's Forest) spreads along a ridge line on the northwest side of the village, with well-developed mature stands of rhododendron and sallo (pine) trees.
Demographics.
At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, Dhankuta District had a population of 163,412. Of these, 43.5% spoke Nepali, 12.4% Limbu, 9.6% Bantawa, 9.3% Magar, 5.7% Tamang, 3.5% Rai, 3.3% Athpariya, 3.0% Yakkha, 2.3% Chintang, 2.2% Newari, 1.2% Chulung, 0.7% Yamphu and 0.6% Maithili as their first language.The largest ethnic group is Khas/Chhetri make 37% of total population, The Second largest group is Rai makes 29% of total dist population, Limbu makes 12% of total population and magar makes 9% of total population, Tamangs 5% of total population..others make 8% ( Bahun,Newar etc).
51.8% of the population in the district spoke Nepali, 1.4% Bantawa and 0.6% Chintang as their second language.n
Divisions.
Dhankuta is divided into 3 urban municipalities and 4 rural municipalities.
Former divisions.
Formerly Dhankuta was divided into 2 municipalities and many Village development committees.
Constituencies.
Dhankuta District has a single Parliamentary constituency and 2 Provincial constituencies:
Transportation.
Dhankuta, the headquarter (center) of Dhankuta District is connected with NH-08 (Koshi Highway), which connects Dhankuta with NH-01 (East-west Highway) at Itahari. Itahari is at distance from Dhankuta. The NH-08 also connects Dhankuta to northern hill and mountainous area.


Republican Party (Turkey)

Republican Party () was a former political party in Turkey.
The Republican People's Party (CHP) which is usually credited as the founder of the Turkish Republic in 1923 was the oldest party in Turkey. But after the party adopted the policy of so-called left of center in the 1960s, two groups of MPs broke away from the party. The first group in 1967 founded the Reliance Party. The Republican Party was founded by the second group in 1972.
The party was founded on 4 September 1972.
The chairman of the party was Kemal Satır, an ex vice prime minister. But it was a short lived party. On 28 February 1973 it was merged to the National Reliance Party (a.k.a. Reliance Party), which was renamed as the Republican Reliance Party.


Maizuru Naval Arsenal

 was one of four principal naval shipyards owned and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy.
History.
The Maizuru Naval District was established at Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture in 1889, as the fourth of the naval districts responsible for the defense of the Japanese home islands. After the establishment of the navy base, a ship repair facility was established in 1901 with a dry dock. With the addition of equipment and facilities for ship production by 1903, the Maizuru Naval Arsenal was officially established.
Additional dry docks were completed in 1904 and 1914. When the No. 3 dry dock was completed in 1914, it was the largest in Japan at the time. In 1923, after the Washington Naval Treaty, there were discussions within the Navy Ministry about closing the facility, and it was largely mothballed until 1936. Afterwards, it reopened and expanded, building ships, aircraft and weapons for the military.
It specialized mostly in destroyer-size and smaller vessels.
Post WW II.
In the post-World War II period, a private company, Iino Industries Co. Ltd., took over and formed the Maizuru Shipyards.
In 1963, the name was changed to Maizuru Heavy Industries. In 1971, it was merged with Hitachi Zosen Corporation. In 2002, Hitachi Zosen spun off the shipbuilder into a joint venture with JFE Engineering called Universal Shipbuilding Corporation. Universal Shipbuilding Corporation and IHI Marine United Inc. united and became Japan Marine United in 2013.
The former head office and some warehouses associated with the shipyards are preserved as commemorative museums by the Maizuru city government. The pre-war dry docks and one of the large cranes are still in use today.


Chowta (surname)

Chowta (also spelt Chouta) is a surname from coastal Karnataka in India. It is found among Hindus of the Bunt community.
History.
It is also the name of the Jain dynasty, who ruled certain parts of the Tulu Nadu region for several centuries (12th - 18th). The succession to the throne was as per the Bunt custom of matrilineal inheritance (Aliyasantana). They initially ruled from their capital at Ullal and the first known king of the Dynasty was Tirumalaraya Chowta I (reign 1160–1179). His successor, Channaraya Chowta I (reign 1179–1219), moved it inland to Puttige.
The principality of Chowta split in 1544 giving rise to two separate capitals: one at Ullala under the renowned Queen Abbakka Chowta, and another at Puttige. The Ullal branch seemed to have become extinct and 1603, the Chowta moved their capital to Moodabidri. In succeeding years, Chowta's power had greatly diminished due to invasions by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan with whom they signed treaties. Chandrasekhara Chikkaraya Chowta V was the last Chowta king who had some authority. He reigned from 1783 to 1822. Following the conquest of South Canara by the British, the Chowtas had lost all their power except for a small pension they received from the then government. Descendants of the Chowta rulers still survive today and have inhabited the "Chowtara Aramane" (Chowta Palace) of Moodabidri, which is known for its ornate carvings such as the Nava Nari Kunjara (Nine Damsel Elephant).
Notable people.
Notable people with the surname Chowta, who may or may not be members of the Bunt community, include:


History of Kagoshima Prefecture

The outline of the History of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan is described herein.
Etymology.
The name came from Kagoshima Shrine situated in , . A number of theories exist as to the wider etymology of the name; in one, the name comes from a boat used by the mythical that was built in Mountain, with himself later enshrined on ; in another, comes from , a mountain encircled by cliffs and an old name of . Another theory posits that means a (island) mountain, or an island where live.
Prehistoric Kagoshima.
About 24,000 years ago, Aira Caldera, corresponding to Kagoshima Bay and larger areas, erupted a number of times, with the volcanic ash reaching as far as Hokkaido as well as forming through pyroclastic flows. As of 2005, about 40 archaeological sites of the Lower Paleolithic era had been found in Prefecture. In , , a camp site of the Lower Paleolithic era 31,000 years ago, sharpened stones and burned soil were found.
"Yamato Ōken" and Kagoshima.
There are various Japanese names for a political/governmental organization present starting in the 3rd century of the Kofun period in the Kinki area of Japan, composed of several powerful families, with the "Ō" (king) or "Ōkimi" (great king) as its center. These names include "Yamato Chōtei" (Court), "Yamato Ōken", "Wa Ōken", and "Yamato Seiken". Kagoshima had been long regarded as a foreign country. Hayato people made underground tombs. Under the influence of "Yamato Ōken", Satsuma Local Country was established in 702 and Osumi Local Country was established in 713. However, Hayato people were not friendly with the "Yamato Ōken".
Shimazu Tadahisa, the founder of the Shimazu clan.
In 1185, Shimazu Tadahisa (died August 1, 1227) was the founder of the Shimazu clan. As a close retainer of Minamoto no Yoritomo, the founder of the Kamakura shogunate, he was appointed as "jitō" (land steward) of Shimazu Estate in 1185, from which he took the clan name. The Shimazu clan occupied the positions of "shugo" (military governor) of Satsuma, Ōsumi and Hyūga Provinces.
Wakō, the Portuguese, Francis Xavier and the introduction of firearms.
In the medieval age, Wokou, meaning Japanese pirates, raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century onwards. In Kagoshima Prefecture, Wokou departed from Bōnotsu and Uchinoura ports. In 1543, a gun was firstly imported into Tanegashima when the Portuguese, the first Europeans, arrived in Japan, which later revolutionized warfare in the country. Francis Xavier, born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta (7 April 1506 – 3 December 1552) was a pioneering Roman Catholic missionary born in Navarra and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. In 1549, under the patronage of Portuguese King, he landed at Kagoshima and started missionary work. In 1574, the Kimotsuki clan of Ōsumi Province was defeated and in 1577, Ito of Hyūga Province was also defeated and the Shimazu clan unified the southern treeh provinces of Kyushu. In 1587, Toyotomi Hideyoshi won over the Shimazu clan and the Shimazu clan survived only in Satsuma and Osumi areas. Near the end of the 16th century, Japanese feudal leader Toyotomi Hideyoshi ordered the Ryukyu Kingdom to support Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea with men and arms.
Conquest of the Ryukyu Kingdom.
With the approval of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Satsuma Domain conquered the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1609. The Tokugawa shogunate decided to keep the small polity as a separate entity, with intent to make it work as a broker in the shogunate's failed attempt to establish diplomatic relations with China. After several twists and turns, Ryūkyū's position within the shogunate was finalized in 1634. Ryūkyū, with its "kokudaka" assessed as 123,700 "koku", was officially recognized as part of the Satsuma Domain. As a result, Ryūkyū became Japan's one of four gateways to foreign countries. Under the direction of Satsuma, Ryūkyū's rulers continued to regularly pay tribute to the Chinese emperors, under the title of King of Chūzan of the State of Ryūkyū, concealing its vassalage to Satsuma.
Satsuma Ware (Porcelain) and history.
Satsuma ware or porcelain was originally developed by Korean potters, who came to Japan following the Japanese Invasion of Korea in the 17th century. The Prince of Satsuma brought potters from Korea, where they established a now famous kiln for making pottery. The ongoing patronage of the prince's family, the Shimazu family was the "daimyōs" (feudal lords) at the time that resulted in the great popularity of Satsuma porcelain. Production of Satsuma pottery is no longer limited to one area of Japan. The Shimazu family introduced the world to their beautiful earthenware pieces at the Paris International Exposition of 1867.
Hōreki Age River Improvement Incident.
The Hōreki Age River Improvement Incident or Nōbi Plain River Improvement Incident was a big project of Satsuma han which intended to divide the rivers into Kiso River, Nagara River and Ibi River, in Nagoya district between 1754 and 1755. These rivers were three big rivers which flowed in the Nōbi Plain with complicated geographical features and frequent floods. Tokugawa Ieshige, the 9th Edo "shōgun" ordered the river improvement construction works to be done by the Satsuma han, in order to weaken the Satsuma han. Hirata Yukie (1704–1755) a "karō" (house elder), accepted the construction works with 947 people. The works were tremendously difficult and 51 samurai died and 33 people died of disease during the construction works. Hirata Yukie committed seppuku for the great burden to the Satsuma han. Ironically, floods increased after the works and modern technology completed the works in the Meiji period under the direction of Johannis de Rijke (1842–1913) a Dutch civil engineer and advisor to Japanese government.
Shimazu Nariakira.
Shimazu Nariakira (1809–1858) was an influential "daimyō" of Satsuma. After he became daimyō of Satsuma, Nariakira had Minayoshi Hotoku, a Satsuma physician, to build the Iroha-maru, one of the first Western-style ships built in Japan. It was based on Minayoshi's 6-foot-long (180 cm), 3-foot-wide (91 cm) model. Nariakira then built a shipyard for Western-style shipbuilding at Sakurajima. He also began enacting educational changes in Satsuma geared at bringing in Western science and technology. Nariakira established the Rangaku Koshujo, a school for the study of the Dutch language and Western culture. He would frequently visit schools and ask students to explain the meaning of the Confucian texts, to ensure that their Western learning did not corrupt their sense of nationalism. So strong was Nariakira's desire to raise well-educated youths that he set aside four koku annually to feed starving scholars, essentially a form of financial aid or scholarship. The Shūseikan (集成館) industrial area established by Shimazu Nariakira in 1852 in Iso, Satsuma Province.
Shōhei Maru (Japanese: 昇平丸) was Japan's first Western-style warship following the country's period of seclusion. She was ordered in 1852 by the government of the "shōgun" to the southern fief of Satsuma in the island of Kyūshū, in anticipation of the announced mission of Commodore Perry in 1853.
Tokugawa shogunate, powerful Satsuma clan and Satsuma rebellion.
Toward the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, namely the bakumatsu in which the Shimazu clan played an important role, there have been a chain of events such, bombardment of Kagoshima, also known as the Anglo-Satsuma War (Satsu-Ei Sensō), which took place on 15–17 August 1863 during the Late Tokugawa shogunate, Meiji Restoration (1868), abolition of the han system (1871) and Satsuma Rebellion (1877). In 1872, the Ryukyu islands were made the Ryukyu han. The Sword Abolishment Edict and the abolishment of the Samurai system were issued in 1876, and samurai were angered and became furious. Saigō Takamori, the hero and leader of Meiji Restoration left the central Meiji Government and returned to Kagoshima, with dissatisfied samurai. In 1877, Satsuma Rebellion army went up to Kumamoto, but could not invade the Kumamoto Castle and Saigō committed seppuku at his native place Kagoshima. In 1883, Kagoshima Prefecture was founded after the re-establishment of Miyazaki Prefecture. In 1914, Mt. Sakurajima erupted and the island of Sakurajima connected with the Osumi Peninsula.
World War II and after.
On June 17, 1945, Kagoshima city was attacked by B-29 bombers with 2316 persons killed, while in the same year, suicide attack planes departed from Kagoshima Prefecture. At the end of the war, the islands souther of 30th parallel north, or the Tokara and Amami Islands, were separated from Japanese administration and went into American military occupation. The Tokara Islands were return to Kagoshima Prefecture in 1952, which was followed by the Amami Islands in 1953. In 1972, Kamoike Airport was abolished and a new airport was established in Kirishima City. In 1993, 1993 Kagoshima Heavy Rain occurred, with the death toll of 71, but about 2,500 people who were either in 1200 cars or buses, including those on the trains and inhabitants were saved by fishing boats and ferries which carried them to Kagoshima through the Sakurajima Bay. In 1996, the Kagoshima Prefectural buildings were completed in the present place. In 2004, Kyushu Shinkansen partially opened between Shin-Yatsushiro and Kagoshima-Chūō Station which opened fully in 2011.


Yeronisos

Yeronisos and Geronisos (; ) is a small island lying off the west coast of Cyprus, some 18 kilometres north of Paphos. Uninhabited since the 15th century, recent excavations have revealed it once held a sanctuary dedicated to Apollo in the late Hellenistic period.
Description.
The island which lies 280 metres from the shore of western Cyprus has been uninhabited since the 14th or 15th century. It has an area of 26000 square metres and rises 21.65 metres from sea level. Geologically the island consists of a hard calcarenite crust of Pleistocene marine terraces overlying a soft marl core.
The toponym "Holy Island" is an ancient one. Pliny speaks of an island called "Hiera," near Paphos, and Strabo mentions a place called "Hierocepis" nearby Paphos and Akamas. It is likely that the name refers to the Apollo sanctuary that stood there in the 1st century BC.
Excavations.
The island was first excavated in 1982 by Sophocles Hadjisavvas following a proposal to build a hotel on the island. He quickly established the presence of Hellenistic remains on the island, which halted all further attempts to build on the island. In 1989, Joan Breton Connelly from New York University heard about the work and impressed by the range of the material joined the excavations which have continued since then.
The excavations have established three periods of occupation on Yeronisos. Early Chalcolithic (3800 BC), late Hellenistic (80-30 BC), and Byzantine (6th-7th century and 13th century). The most intense of this activity is the late Hellenistic period at a time when Cleopatra ruled Cyprus. Artefacts include coins, pottery, glass, and inscriptions. Limestone amulets, identical to those used in Cypriot sanctuaries of Apollo, point to ritual activity and the worship of Apollo. The island was apparently abandoned following a devastating earthquake in 1st century BC/AD. Low-level activity on the island begins again in the 6th century AD. when a reservoir and animal shelters were built.


Camachus

Camachus was a town in the Roman province of Armenia III. The true primitive name seems to have been Camacha. Camachus, Camachum and Camache are later forms. It is today Kemah in eastern Turkey.
History.
The town enclosed a celebrated temple of the god Aramazd, containing a great number of literary monuments, which were destroyed by the orders of St. Gregory of Armenia. Here were deposited the treasures of the Armenian kings, as well as many of their tombs: hence the name - the word Gamakh by which it was known in Armenian signifying "corpse". The Byzantine emperors kept a strong garrison there to defend the eastern part of their empire from the attacks of the Moslems, up to the commencement of the 11th century.
Bishopric.
The episcopal see of Camachus does not appear in ecclesiastical history before the 7th century. When the "Pseudo-Ecthesis" of Epiphanius was drawn up (about 640), it was not yet a see. But in 681, George, "Bishop of Daranalis or Camachus", was present at the Third Council of Constantinople and subscribed its acts as "bishop of the clima of Daranalis"; a third name of the see, Analibla, is given by the old Latin version. The same prelate subscribed (692) the acts of the Trullan Council. Another bishop of Camachus, Sisinnius, took part in a synod called by Patriarch Alexius of Constantinople in 1029.
About the end of the 9th century, Camachus, until then a suffragan of Sebaste (metropolis of Armenia I), was made a metropolitan see by Leo the Philosopher; it had five, and at one time eight, suffragan sees.
By the 15th century the residential see had disappeared. Accordingly, it is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.


2009 Northern Cypriot parliamentary election

Parliamentary elections were held in Northern Cyprus on 19 April 2009, a year earlier than necessary. The early election was decided upon by the ruling Republican Turkish Party. Winning the largest portion of the vote, the National Unity Party won the election, and the party chairman, Derviş Eroğlu, became Prime Minister.
171,000 Cypriots were eligible to vote. It has been claimed that of these as many as 100,000 were originally Turkish immigrants.
Results.
The National Unity Party (UBP) won the election with 44% of the vote. The Republican Turkish Party (CTP) received 29% of the vote.
Analysis.
The UBP's strong anti-unification position means that the results are likely to halt UN efforts to reunify Cyprus. However, the UBP stated after its election victory that it wanted the talks to continue. The UBP remains opposed to a federalist solution, however, and prefers a two-state solution; while analysts have stated that the UBP is unlikely to directly work against the talks, it might shore up resentment and opposition if the talks drag on too long or if it considers the outcome to be unfavourable.
Reactions.
Derviş Eroğlu, the UBP chairman and the Prime Minister, stated, "I am proud that Turkey is our main native country. Thanks to our native country we are living calm and safe." In addition, many Turkish Cypriots celebrated the UBP victory. On the other hand, Greek news agency ANA-MPA reported "despair has gripped the Republic of Cyprus" following the release of early election results.
Some analysts say that the new parliament could create difficulties for Mehmet Ali Talat, the peace negotiator for the Turkish Cypriots. With Talat's party gaining slightly fewer seats, "... it is obviously going to limit Talat's ability to act in a lot of ways, you know parliament is going to have a much greater say in all of this and really can tie his hands."


Soththisena of Anuradhapura

Soththisena was King of Anuradhapura in the 5th century, whose reign lasted the year 434. He succeeded his father Mahanama as King of Anuradhapura and was succeeded by his step sister Chattagahaka Jantu.


Dipalpur

Dipalpur (; ), also spelt Depalpur, is a city in Okara District of the Punjab that served as headquarters of Depalpur Tehsil. Dipalpur tehsil is the largest tehsil of pakistan. It is situated 25 kilometres from the district capital Okara on a bank of the Beas River in Bari Doab. It is located in the west of District Kasur.
Historical architecture.
In the past, Dipalpur was surrounded by a fortified wall, rising to the height of 25 feet and strengthened by a deep trench. When and by whom this wall was constructed is not known, but it was renovated, repaired and improved during the rule of Firuz Shah Tughluq and later by Abdur Rahim Khan-e-Khanan, who was the governor during the time of Akbar. Firoz Shah Tughluq constructed a grand mosque and palaces. He also excavated a canal from the river Sutlej to irrigate gardens around the town.
Wide and airy tunnels linked the royal residential quarters inside the fort to the adjoining gardens outside. There were 24 burgs (musketry holes) on the fortification wall, 24 mosques, 24 (ponds) and 24 wells at the town's peak. The trench, ponds and tunnels have been filled in, but in some places the location of the trench can still be defined. Most of the wall has been razed. Two of the four massive gateways with pointed arches also exist though they are badly damaged and their wooden doors have vanished. Later coats of cement have marred the original architecture of the gateways.
Hindu monastery.
Besides doors with decorated latches, Jharokhas, bay windows and cut brick works, the most noticeable feature inside old Dipalpur is the monastery of Lal Jas Raj, a guru much venerated by the local people.
According to the legend, Lal Jas Raj was the young son of Raja Dipa Chand, the founder of Dipalpur. He sank into the earth due to a curse by his stepmother Rani Dholran. Raja Dipa Chand constructed this monastery in the memory of his son. Today, the chamber is dilapidated, the doors are jammed and a stairway is used for storage. The structure itself is crumbling. According to local residents, there used to be a grand annual "mela" held here. It was also used by Hindus as a place to perform the Sardukahr (head-shaving ritual) until the partition, but "nobody comes anymore".
Caravanserai.
Dipalpur's "saray" (inn) is near the monastery of Lal Jas Raj. It was a spacious building with airy rooms on four sides, a big courtyard in the centre and four arched entrances. The inn, like most of the older structures in town, is now in a state of disrepair. It has been divided and subdivided so many times by successive occupants that the original shapes are obscured. Even the verandas have been converted to create rooms.
Saints.
Many Muslim saints have come to preach in this area. Bahawal Haq commonly known as Bahawal Sher Qalandar came from Baghdad and settled in the village of Patharwall near Dipalpur. The saint constructed a hujra (small living room) and a mosque outside the village. His grandson Shah Muqeem continued his mission. The village came to be known as Hujra Shah Muqeem. This is the place mentioned in the famous Punjabi love story "Mirza Saheban", although there is no historical evidence that Jati Sahiba (Mirza Sahiba) came here and prayed that "The streets should desert when where my lover Mirza roams about".
The Mughal Emperor Akbar, along with his son Saleem and royal entourage, stayed in Dipalpur when he came to pay homage to Farid Ganj Shakar in 1578. Akbar named the corridor "Bari Doab" by combining the syllables of the names of the two rivers, Beas and Ravi, that bounded the area. Baba Guru Nanak also stayed in Dipalpur for some time. The ruins of a Gurudwara mark the place.
Muslim saint named as Saayi Abdul Razaq stayed in Dipalpur and later on he started his volunteer activity for local people and after his death he was buried in city. Now, his death place is known as Razaqia Darbar. Hazrat baba Fazal Chisti shrine in Kari wala Jagir Near sukh pur.His Urs celebrated every year.


Adarnase of Abkhazia

Adarnase Shavliani () was the King of Abkhazia between 880 and 887. He succeeded his father, the usurper John Shavliani, to the throne but was deposed and put to death by Bagrat I, the son of Demetrius II.
The name Adarnase derives from Middle Persian "Ādurnarsēh", with the second component of the word ("Nase") being the Georgian attestation of the Middle Persian name "Narseh", which ultimately derives from Avestan "nairyō.saŋya-". The Middle Persian name "Narseh" also exists in Georgian as "Nerse". The name "Ādurnarsēh" appears in the Armenian language as "Atrnerseh".


Battle of Sultanpet Tope

The Battle of Sultanpet Tope was a small action fought on 5 and 6 April 1799 between forces of the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. Although initially checked it was a British victory.
Prelude.
On 3 April the British force reached the position next to Seringapatam in which General Abercromby had encamped in 1792, on the south-west side of the island and prepared to besiege the place.
During the time which had intervened since Lord Cornwallis's siege of Seringapatam (1792), the Sultan had given great attention to strengthening the fortifications. But, excepting a battery which he had erected on the north-west angle of the fort, his improvements had been mainly directed to the south and east sides.
The works on the west side where the wall overlooks the Káveri were not so strong, although even here they were protected by a double wall and a ditch. In front of the British army was broken rising ground intersected by deep ditches, with some deserted villages, and several topes (groves) of areca-nut palms and cocoa trees, which afforded a safe cover to Tipu's skirmishers and rocket-men. An aqueduct within of the fortress, near a wooded tope called the Sultanpet Tope or "Sultaunpet", afforded Tippoo's skirmishers and rocketmen firing rocket artillery a safe cover from which they most seriously annoyed the British outposts.
General Baird was directed to scour this grove and dislodge the enemy, but on his advancing with this object on the night of 4/5 April, he found the tope unoccupied.
Battle.
During the day, the Mysore troops reoccupied the position, and as it was absolutely necessary to expel them, two columns were detached at sunset on 5 April for the purpose. The first of these columns, under Colonel Shawe, took possession of a ruined village, which it successfully held. The second column, under Colonel Wellesley, on advancing into the tope, was at once attacked in the darkness of night by a tremendous fire of musketry and rockets. The men, floundering about amidst the trees and the water-courses, at last broke, and fell back in disorder, some being killed and a few taken prisoners. In the confusion Colonel Wellesley was struck on the knee by a spent ball, and narrowly escaped being captured by the enemy.
The second attack with four regiments, also under the command of Wellesley, succeeded in taking possession of the grove on the morning of 6 April. This allowed British forces to advance within of Seringapatam, and General Harris was able to proceed with his siege-operations, the army taking up its final position on 7 April.
Aftermath.
The military historian Richard Holmes made the point that:
References.
Attribution


Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Church (Pagsanjan)

Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Church, designated as the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Pablo, is the only Roman Catholic Church in Pagsanjan, Laguna, Philippines, and the oldest church in the Philippines under the patronage of Our Lady of Guadalupe. It is home to the patroness of Pagsanjan, Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose image was a gift from Mexico.
History.
A former visita of Lumban, the parish church of Pagsanjan was founded on November 12, 1687, by Franciscan missionary Father Agustin de la Magdalena as its first pastor (parish priest). The first church was originally made of light materials like bamboo, nipa and wood in 1688 by natives of Pagsanjan under forced labor. A larger and more solid church constructed from adobe with a red-tiled roof was built in 1690 with the help of Chinese Miguel Guan Co and chief "alguacil alferez" Alonzo Garcia to replace the original church.
Further renovations were conducted from 1847 to 1852 under Father Joaquin de Coria, who engineered the stone belfry and Romanesque dome. In 1872, the church added a transept under the direction of Father Serafin Linares and Father Cipriano Bac.
The church was heavily damaged by American and Filipino military bombers on March 15, 1945 during World War II. A replica of the church was constructed over its ruins, without the original dome, with the help of Manila Pagsanjenos under the leadership of Engr. German Yia and Dr. Rosendo Llamas. Serious restoration efforts after the war took place in 1965 under Lipa Archbishop Alejandro Olalia. On April 6, 1969, Bishop Pedro Bantigue blessed the rebuilt church and consecrated the main altar. Due to the devotion of the people of Pagsanjan and nearby towns, the Diocese of San Pablo declared Pagsanjan Church as the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2012. Under the term of Monsignor Castillo from 2013 to the present, further renovations were carried out, including the church patio and construction of the choir loft and church gate.
Features.
The facade of Pagsanjan church is a three-level early Renaissance styled facade with a semicircular arched main entrance, choir loft window and a three-story bell tower. A side chapel near the altar houses an image of San Juan Diego, a replica of the tilma of the Our Lady of Guadalupe and a stone relic from Tepeyac Hill, Mexico City in 1531, the site of the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The chapel is also a mini-museum containing liturgical vestments of Pagsanjeño priests.
Images of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Within the church of Pagsanjan, two images of the town patroness, Our Lady of Guadalupe, can be found. The original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was donated by Father Agustin when the parish was first established. The image was given to him as a gift from rich and pious Mexican families; it was installed at the main altar on December 12, 1688. However, the original image was destroyed during the American and Filipino military bombings of 1945. In 1958, Mexican Catholics contributed a life-sized image of Our Lady of Guadalupe sculpted by Ramon Barretto of Toluca, which can be seen in the church today. The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe placed on the main altar was sculpted by Maximo Vicente of Manila.