History of North Korea

The history of North Korea began at the end of World War II in 1945. The surrender of Japan led to the division of Korea at the 38th parallel, with the Soviet Union occupying the north, and the United States occupying the south. The Soviet Union and the United States failed to agree on a way to unify the country, and in 1948 they established two separate governments – the Soviet-aligned Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the Western-aligned Republic of Korea – each claiming to be the legitimate government of all of Korea.
In 1950 the Korean War broke out. After much destruction, the war ended with a stalemate. The division at the 38th parallel was replaced by the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Tension between the two sides continued. Out of the rubble North Korea built an industrialized command economy.
Kim Il-sung led North Korea until his death in 1994. He developed a pervasive personality cult and steered the country on an independent course in accordance with the principle of "Juche" (self-reliance). However, with natural disasters and the collapse of the Soviet Bloc in 1991, North Korea went into a severe economic crisis. Kim Il-sung's son, Kim Jong-il, succeeded him, and was in turn succeeded by his son, Kim Jong-un. Amid international alarm, North Korea developed nuclear missiles. In 2018, Kim Jong-un made a sudden peace overture towards South Korea and the United States.
Before the division.
From 1910 to the end of World War II in 1945, Korea was under Japanese rule. Most Koreans were peasants engaged in subsistence farming. In the 1930s, Japan developed mines, hydro-electric dams, steel mills, and manufacturing plants in northern Korea and neighboring Manchuria. The Korean industrial working class expanded rapidly, and many Koreans went to work in Manchuria. As a result, 65% of Korea's heavy industry was located in the north, but, due to the rugged terrain, only 37% of its agriculture.
Northern Korea had little exposure to modern, Western ideas. One partial exception was the penetration of religion. Since the arrival of missionaries in the late nineteenth century, the northwest of Korea, and Pyongyang in particular, had been a stronghold of Christianity. As a result, Pyongyang was called the "Jerusalem of the East".
Anti-Japanese Armed Struggle.
A Korean guerrilla movement emerged in the mountainous interior and in Manchuria, harassing the Japanese imperial authorities. One of the most prominent guerrilla leaders was the Communist Kim Il-sung.
Division of Korea.
At the Tehran Conference in November 1943 and the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the Soviet Union promised to join its allies in the Pacific War within three months of victory in Europe. On August 8, 1945, after three months to the day, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. Soviet troops advanced rapidly, and the US government became anxious that they would occupy the whole of Korea. On August 10, the US government decided to propose the 38th parallel as the dividing line between a Soviet occupation zone in the north and a US occupation zone in the south. The parallel was chosen as it would place the capital Seoul under American control. To the surprise of the Americans, the Soviet Union immediately accepted the division. The agreement was incorporated into General Order No. 1 (approved on 17 August 1945) for the surrender of Japan. The division placed sixteen million Koreans in the American zone and nine million in the Soviet zone.
Soviet forces began amphibious landings in Korea by August 14 and rapidly took over the northeast, and on August 16 they landed at Wonsan. On August 24, the Red Army reached Pyongyang. US forces did not arrive in the south until September 8.
During August, People's Committees sprang up across Korea, affiliated with the Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence, which in September founded the People's Republic of Korea. When Soviet troops entered Pyongyang, they found a local People's Committee established there, led by veteran Christian nationalist Cho Man-sik. Unlike their American counterparts, the Soviet authorities recognized and worked with the People's Committees. By some accounts, Cho Man-sik was the Soviet government's first choice to lead North Korea.
On September 19, Kim Il-sung and 66 other Korean Red Army officers arrived in Wonsan. They had fought the Japanese in Manchuria in the 1930s but had lived in the USSR and trained in the Red Army since 1941. On October 14, Soviet authorities introduced Kim to the North Korean public as a guerrilla hero.
In December 1945, at the Moscow Conference, the Soviet Union agreed to a US proposal for a trusteeship over Korea for up to five years in the lead-up to independence. Most Koreans demanded independence immediately, but Kim and the other Communists supported the trusteeship under pressure from the Soviet government. Cho Man-sik opposed the proposal at a public meeting on January 4, 1946, and disappeared into house arrest. On February 8, 1946, the People's Committees were reorganized as Interim People's Committees dominated by Communists. The new regime instituted popular policies of land redistribution, industry nationalization, labor law reform, and equality for women.
Meanwhile, existing Communist groups were reconstituted as a party under Kim Il-sung's leadership. On December 18, 1945, local Communist Party committees were combined into the North Korean Communist Party. In August 1946, this party merged with the New People's Party to form the Workers' Party of North Korea. In December, a popular front led by the Workers' Party dominated elections in the North. In 1949, the Workers' Party of North Korea merged with its southern counterpart to become the Workers' Party of Korea with Kim as party chairman.
In 1946, a sweeping series of laws transformed North Korea on Soviet-style Communist lines. The "land to the tiller" reform redistributed the bulk of agricultural land to the poor and landless peasant population, effectively breaking the power of the landed class. This was followed by a "Labor Law", a "Sexual Equality Law", and a "Nationalisation of Industry, Transport, Communications and Banks Law".
Kim established the Korean People's Army (KPA) aligned with the Communists, formed from a cadre of guerrillas and former soldiers who had gained combat experience in battles against the Japanese and later Nationalist Chinese troops. From their ranks, using Soviet advisers and equipment, Kim constructed a large army skilled in infiltration tactics and guerrilla warfare. Before the outbreak of the Korean War, Joseph Stalin equipped the KPA with modern medium tanks, trucks, artillery, and small arms. Kim also formed an air force, equipped at first with ex-Soviet propeller-driven fighter and attack aircraft. Later, North Korean pilot candidates were sent to the Soviet Union and China to train in MiG-15 jet aircraft at secret bases.
Establishment of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
As negotiations with the Soviet Union on the future of Korea failed to make progress, the US took the issue to the United Nations in September 1947. In response, the UN established the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea to hold elections in Korea. The Soviet Union opposed this move. In the absence of Soviet cooperation, it was decided to hold UN-supervised elections in the south only. In April 1948, a conference of organizations from the North and the South met in Pyongyang, but the conference produced no results. The southern politicians Kim Koo and Kim Kyu-sik attended the conference and boycotted the elections in the South. Both men were posthumously awarded the National Reunification Prize by North Korea. The elections were held in South Korea on May 10, 1948. On August 15, the Republic of Korea formally came into existence. A parallel process occurred in North Korea. A new Supreme People's Assembly was elected in August 1948, and on September 3 a new constitution was promulgated. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was proclaimed on September 9, with Kim as Premier. On December 12, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly accepted the report of UNTCOK and declared the Republic of Korea to be the "only lawful government in Korea".
By 1949, North Korea was a full-fledged Communist state. All parties and mass organizations joined the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, ostensibly a popular front but in reality dominated by the Communists. The government moved rapidly to establish a political system that was partly styled on the Soviet system, with political power monopolised by the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).
The Korean War (1950-1953).
The consolidation of Syngman Rhee's government in the South with American military support and the suppression of the October 1948 insurrection ended North Korean hopes that a revolution in the South could reunify Korea, and from early 1949 Kim Il-sung sought Soviet and Chinese support for a military campaign to reunify the country by force. The withdrawal of most U.S. forces from South Korea in June 1949 left the southern government defended only by a weak and inexperienced South Korean army. The southern régime also had to deal with a citizenry of uncertain loyalty. The North Korean army, by contrast, had benefited from the Soviet Union's WWII-era equipment, and had a core of hardened veterans who had fought either as anti-Japanese guerrillas or alongside the Chinese Communists. In 1949 and 1950 Kim traveled to Moscow with the South Korean Communist leader Pak Hon-yong to raise support for a war of reunification.
Initially Joseph Stalin rejected Kim Il-sung's requests for permission to invade the South, but in late 1949 the Communist victory in China and the development of Soviet nuclear weapons made him re-consider Kim's proposal. In January 1950, after China's Mao Zedong indicated that the People's Republic of China would send troops and other support to Kim, Stalin approved an invasion. The Soviets provided limited support in the form of advisers who helped the North Koreans as they planned the operation, and Soviet military instructors to train some of the Korean units. However, from the very beginning Stalin made it clear that the Soviet Union would avoid a direct confrontation with the U.S. over Korea and would not commit ground forces even in case of major military crisis. The stage was set for a civil war between the two rival régimes on the Korean peninsula.
For over a year before the outbreak of war, the two sides had engaged in a series of bloody clashes along the 38th parallel, especially in the Ongjin area on the west coast. On June 25, 1950, claiming to be responding to a South Korean assault on Ongjin, the Northern forces launched an amphibious offensive all along the parallel. Due to a combination of surprise and military superiority, the Northern forces quickly captured the capital Seoul, forcing Syngman Rhee and his government to flee. By mid-July North Korean troops had overwhelmed the South Korean and allied American units and forced them back to a defensive line in south-east South Korea known as the Pusan Perimeter. During its brief occupation of southern Korea, the DPRK regime initiated radical social change, which included the nationalisation of industry, land reform, and the restoration of the People's Committees. According to the captured US General William F. Dean, "the civilian attitude seemed to vary between enthusiasm and passive acceptance".
The United Nations condemned North Korea's actions and approved an American-led intervention force to defend South Korea. In September, UN forces landed at Inchon and retook Seoul. Under the leadership of US General Douglas MacArthur, UN forces pushed north, reaching the Chinese border. According to Bruce Cumings, the North Korean forces were not routed, but managed a strategic retreat into the mountainous interior and into neighboring Manchuria. Kim Il-sung's government re-established itself in a stronghold in Chagang Province. In late November, Chinese forces entered the war and pushed the UN forces back, retaking Pyongyang in December 1950 and Seoul in January 1951. According to American historian Bruce Cumings, the Korean People's Army played an equal part in this counterattack. UN forces managed to retake Seoul for South Korea. The war essentially became a bloody stalemate for the next two years. American bombing included the use of napalm against populated areas and the destruction of dams and dykes, which caused devastating floods. China and North Korea also alleged the US was deploying biological weapons. As a result of the bombing, almost every substantial building and much of the infrastructure in North Korea was destroyed. The North Koreans responded by building homes, schools, hospitals, and factories underground. Economic output in 1953 had fallen by 75-90% compared with 1949.
While the bombing continued, armistice negotiations, which had commenced in July 1951, wore on. North Korea's lead negotiator was General Nam Il. The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed on July 27, 1953. A ceasefire followed, but there was no peace treaty, and hostilities continued at a lower intensity.
Post-war redevelopment.
Internal politics.
Kim began gradually consolidating his power. Up to this time, North Korean politics were represented by four factions: the Yan'an faction, made up of returnees from China; the "Soviet Koreans" who were ethnic Koreans from the USSR; native Korean communists led by Pak Hon-yong; and Kim's Kapsan group who had fought guerrilla actions against Japan in the 1930s.
When the Workers' Party Central Committee plenum opened on 30 August 1953, Choe Chang-ik made a speech attacking Kim for concentrating the power of the party and the state in his own hands as well as criticising the party line on industrialisation which ignored widespread starvation among the North Korean people. However, Kim neutralised the attack on him by promising to moderate the regime, promises which were never kept. The majority in the Central Committee voted to support Kim and also voted in favor of expelling Choe and Pak Hon-yong from the Central Committee. Eleven of Kim's opponents were convicted in a show trial. It is believed that all were executed. A major purge of the KWP followed, with members originating from South Korea being expelled.
Pak Hon-yong, party vice chairman and Foreign Minister of the DPRK, was blamed for the failure of the southern population to support North Korea during the war, was dismissed from his positions in 1953, and was executed after a show trial in 1955.
The Party Congress in 1956 indicated the transformation that the party had undergone. Most members of other factions had lost their positions of influence. More than half the delegates had joined after 1950, most were under 40 years old, and most had limited formal education.
In February 1956, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev made a sweeping denunciation of Stalin, which sent shock waves throughout the Communist world. Encouraged by this, members of the party leadership in North Korea began to criticize Kim's dictatorial leadership, personality cult, and Stalinist economic policies. They were defeated by Kim at the August Plenum of the party. By 1960, 70 per cent of the members of the 1956 Central Committee were no longer in politics.
Kim Il-sung had initially been criticized by the Soviets during a previous 1955 visit to Moscow for practicing Stalinism and a cult of personality, which was already growing enormous. The Korean ambassador to the USSR, Li Sangjo, a member of the Yan'an faction, reported that it had become a criminal offense to so much as write on Kim's picture in a newspaper and that he had been elevated to the status of Marx, Lenin, Mao, and Stalin in the communist pantheon. He also charged Kim with rewriting history to appear as if his guerrilla faction had single-handedly liberated Korea from the Japanese, completely ignoring the assistance of the Chinese People's Volunteers. In addition, Li stated that in the process of agricultural collectivization, grain was being forcibly confiscated from the peasants, leading to "at least 300 suicides" and that Kim made nearly all major policy decisions and appointments himself. Li reported that over 30,000 people were in prison for completely unjust and arbitrary reasons as trivial as not printing Kim Il-sung's portrait on sufficient quality paper or using newspapers with his picture to wrap parcels. Grain confiscation and tax collection were also conducted forcibly with violence, beatings, and imprisonment.
In late 1968, known military opponents of North Korea's "Juche" (or self-reliance) ideology such as Kim Chang-bong (minister of National Security), Huh Bong-hak (chief of the Division for Southern Intelligence) and Lee Young-ho (commander in chief of the DPRK Navy) were purged as anti-party/counter-revolutionary elements, despite their credentials as anti-Japanese guerrilla fighters in the past.
Kim's personality cult was modeled on Stalinism and his regime originally acknowledged Stalin as the supreme leader. After Stalin's death in 1953, however, Kim was described as the "Great Leader" or "Suryong". As his personality cult grew, the doctrine of "Juche" began to displace Marxism–Leninism. At the same time the cult extended beyond Kim himself to include his family in a revolutionary blood line.
In 1972, to celebrate Kim Il-sung's birthday, the Mansu Hill Grand Monument was unveiled, including a 22-meter bronze statue of him.
International relations.
Like Mao in China, Kim Il-sung refused to accept Nikita Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalin and continued to model his regime on Stalinist norms. At the same time, he increasingly stressed Korean independence, as embodied in the concept of "Juche". Kim told Alexei Kosygin in 1965 that he was not anyone's puppet and "We...implement the purest Marxism and condemn as false both the Chinese admixtures and the errors of the CPSU".
Relations with China had worsened during the war. Mao Zedong criticized Kim for having started the whole "idiotic war" and for being an incompetent military commander who should have been removed from power. PLA commander Peng Dehuai was equally contemptuous of Kim's skills at waging war.
By some analysis, Kim Il-sung remained in power partially because the Soviets turned their attention to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 that fall. The Soviets and Chinese were unable to stop the inevitable purge of Kim's domestic opponents or his move towards a one-man Stalinist autocracy and relations with both countries deteriorated in the former's case because of the elimination of the pro-Soviet Koreans and the latter because of the regime's refusal to acknowledge Chinese assistance in either liberation from the Japanese or the war in 1950–53.
Tensions between North and South escalated in the late 1960s with a series of low-level armed clashes known as the Korean DMZ Conflict. In 1966, Kim declared "liberation of the south" to be a "national duty". In 1968, North Korean commandos launched the Blue House Raid, an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate the South Korean President Park Chung-hee. Shortly after, the US spy ship Pueblo was captured by the North Korean navy. The crew were held captive throughout the year despite American protests that the vessel was in international waters, and they were finally released in December after a formal US apology was issued. In April 1969 a North Korean fighter jet shot down an EC-121 aircraft, killing all 31 crewmen on board. The Nixon administration found itself unable to react at all, since the US was heavily committed in the Vietnam War and had no troops to spare if the situation in Korea escalated. However, the "Pueblo" capture and EC-121 shootdown did not find approval in Moscow, as the Soviet Union did not want a second major war to erupt in Asia. China's response to the USS "Pueblo" crisis is less clear.
After Khrushchev was replaced by Leonid Brezhnev as Soviet Leader in 1964, and with the incentive of Soviet aid, North Korea strengthened its ties with the USSR. Kim condemned China's Cultural Revolution as "unbelievable idiocy". In turn, China's Red Guards labelled him a "fat revisionist".
In 1972, the first formal summit meeting between Pyongyang and Seoul was held, but the cautious talks did not lead to a lasting change in the relationship.
With the fall of South Vietnam to the North Vietnamese on April 30, 1975, Kim Il-sung felt that the US had shown its weakness and that reunification of Korea under his regime was possible. Kim visited Beijing in May 1975 in the hope of gaining political and military support for this plan to invade South Korea again, but Mao Zedong refused. Despite public proclamations of support, Mao privately told Kim that China would be unable to assist North Korea because of the lingering after-effects of the Cultural Revolution throughout China, and because Mao had recently decided to restore diplomatic relations with the US.
Meanwhile, North Korea emphasized its independent orientation by joining the Non-Aligned Movement in 1975. It promoted "Juche" as a model for developing countries to follow. It developed strong ties with the regimes of Bokassa in the Central African Republic, Macias Nguema in Equatorial Guinea, Idi Amin in Uganda, Pol Pot in Cambodia, Gaddafi in Libya, and Ceausescu in Romania.
Economic development.
Reconstruction of the country after the war proceeded with extensive Chinese and Soviet assistance. Koreans with experience in Japanese industries also played a significant part. Land was collectivized between 1953 and 1958. Many landlords had been eliminated by the earlier reforms or during the war.
Recovery from the war was slowed by a massive famine in 1954-55. Local officials had exaggerated the size of the harvest by 50-70%. After the central government took its share, starvation threatened many peasants; about 800,000 died. In addition collectivization was resisted; many farmers killed their livestock rather than turn them over to the collective farm.
Although developmental debates took place within the Workers' Party of Korea in the 1950s, North Korea, like all the postwar communist states, undertook massive state investment in heavy industry, state infrastructure and military strength, neglecting the production of consumer goods.
The first Three Year Plan (1954–1956) introduced the concept of "Juche" or self-reliance. The first Five Year Plan (1957-1961) consolidated the collectivization of agriculture and initiated mass mobilizations campaigns: the Chollima Movement, the Chongsan-ni system in agriculture and the Taean Work System in industry. The Chollima Movement was influenced by China's Great Leap Forward, but did not have its disastrous results. Industry was fully nationalized by 1959. Taxation on agricultural income was abolished in 1966.
North Korea was placed on a semi-war footing, with equal emphasis being given to the civilian and military economies. This was expressed in the 1962 Party Plenum by the slogan, "Arms in one hand and a hammer and sickle in the other!" At a special party conference in 1966, members of the leadership who opposed the military build-up were removed.
On the ruins left by the war, North Korea had built an industrialized command economy. Che Guevara, then a Cuban government minister, visited North Korea in 1960, and proclaimed it a model for Cuba to follow. In 1965, the British economist Joan Robinson described North Korea's economic development as a "miracle". As late as the 1970s, its GDP per capita was estimated to be equivalent to South Korea's. By 1968, all homes had electricity, though the supply was unreliable. By 1972, all children from age 5 to 16 were enrolled in school, and over 200 universities and specialized colleges had been established. By the early 1980s, 60–70% of the population was urbanized.
Juche and self-reliance era.
In the 1970s, expansion of North Korea's economy, with the accompanying rise in living standards, came to an end. Compounding this was a decision to borrow foreign capital and invest heavily in military industries. North Korea's desire to lessen its dependence on aid from China and the Soviet Union prompted the expansion of its military power, which had begun in the second half of the 1960s. The government believed such expenditures could be covered by foreign borrowing and increased sales of its mineral wealth in the international market. North Korea invested heavily in its mining industries and purchased a large quantity of mineral extraction infrastructure from abroad. It also purchased entire petrochemical, textile, concrete, steel, pulp and paper manufacturing plants from the developed capitalist world. This included a Japanese-Danish venture that provided North Korea with the largest cement factory in the world. However, following the world 1973 oil crisis, international prices for many of North Korea's native minerals fell, leaving the country with large debts and an inability to pay them off and still provide a high level of social welfare to its people. North Korea began to default in 1974 and halted almost all repayments in 1985. As a result, it was unable to pay for foreign technology.
By the mid to late 1970s some parts of the capitalist world, including South Korea, were creating new industries based around computers, electronics, and other advanced technology in contrast to North Korea's Stalinist economy of mining and steel production. Migration to urban areas stalled.
In October 1980, Kim Jong-il was introduced to the public at the Sixth Party Congress as the successor to Kim Il-sung. In 1972, Kim Jong-il had established himself as a leading theoretician with the publication of "On the Juche Idea". and in 1974, he had been officially confirmed as his father's successor.
In 1983 North Korea carried out the Rangoon bombing, a failed assassination attempt against South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan while he was visiting Burma. This attack on neutral soil led many Third World countries to reconsider their diplomatic ties with North Korea.
In 1984, Kim visited Moscow during a grand tour of the USSR where he met Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko. Kim also made public visits to East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Soviet involvement in the North Korean economy increased, until 1988 when bilateral trade peaked at US$2.8 billion. In 1986, Kim met the incoming Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow and received a pledge of support.
The bombing of Korean Air Flight 858 in 1987, in the lead up to the Seoul Olympics, led to the US government placing North Korea on its list of terrorist countries.
The collapse of global communism.
Despite the emerging economic problems, the regime invested heavily in prestigious projects, such as the "Juche" Tower, the Nampo Dam, and the Ryugyong Hotel. In 1989, as a response to the 1988 Seoul Olympics, it held the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students in Pyongyang. In fact, the grandiosity associated with the regime and its personality cult, as expressed in monuments, museums, and events, has been identified as a factor in the economic decline.
However, Gorbachev's reforms and diplomatic initiatives, the Chinese economic reforms starting in 1979, and the collapse of the Eastern Bloc from 1989 to 1991 increased North Korea's isolation. The leadership in Pyongyang responded by proclaiming that the collapse of the Eastern Bloc communist governments demonstrated the correctness of the policy of "Juche".
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 deprived North Korea of its main source of economic aid, leaving China as the isolated regime's only major ally. Without Soviet aid, North Korea's economy went into a free-fall. By this time, in the early 1990s, Kim Jong-il was already conducting most of the day-to-day activities of running of the state, being appointed Supreme Commander of the Korean Peoples' Army in December 1991 and Chairman of the National Defence Commission in 1993. Meanwhile, international tensions were rising over North Korea's quest for nuclear weapons. Former US president Jimmy Carter made a visit to Pyongyang in June 1994 in which he met with Kim, and returned proclaiming that he had resolved the crisis.
Songun politics.
Kim Il-sung died from a sudden heart attack on July 8, 1994.The politics in the last years of Kim Il-sung closely resemble those of the beginning of the Kim Jong-il era. Although the succession of Kim Jong-il coincided with much societal upheaval, and the succession is conventionally seen as a turning point of North Korean history, the change in leadership hardly had direct consequences.
The economy was in steep decline. In 1990–1995, foreign trade was cut in half, with the loss of subsidized Soviet oil being particularly keenly felt. The crisis came to a head in 1995 with widespread flooding that destroyed crops and infrastructure, leading to a famine that lasted until 1998. At the same time, there appeared to be little significant internal opposition to the regime. Indeed, a great many of the North Koreans fleeing to China because of famine still showed significant support for the government as well as pride in their homeland. Many of these people reportedly returned to North Korea after earning sufficient money.
Kim Jong-il succeeded as General Secretary of the Korean Workers' Party in October 1997, where until then, North Korea had no leader of the party nor a president. What minimal legal procedure had been established was summarily ignored. Kim Jong-il, who already had full constitutional control over the military exercised most of his power through this organ. In 1998, the constitution was amended, making the National Defense Commission (NDC) the most important state organization After three years of consolidating his power, Kim Jong-il was re-elected Chairman of the NDC as the nation's "highest administrative authority", and thus North Korea's "de facto" head of state.
In reflection of the nature of Kim Jong-il's leadership, he pursued greater emphasis on the military since the start of his rule, with in 1998, the government announcing a new policy called "Songun", or "Military First". Some analysts suggested that this meant the Korean People's Army was now more powerful than the Workers' Party.
Tension and détente.
After his election in 1998, President Kim Dae-jung of South Korea actively attempted to reduce tensions between the two Koreas under the Sunshine Policy. After the election of George W. Bush as the President of the United States in 2000, North Korea faced renewed pressure over its nuclear program.
On October 9, 2006, North Korea announced that it had successfully detonated a nuclear bomb underground. Additionally, North Korea was developing ICBMs.
On February 13, 2007, North Korea signed into an agreement with South Korea, the United States, Russia, China, and Japan, which stipulated North Korea would shut down its Yongbyon nuclear reactor in exchange for economic and energy assistance. However, in 2009 the North continued its nuclear test program.
In 2010, the sinking of a South Korean naval ship, the Cheonan, allegedly by a North Korean torpedo, and North Korea's shelling of Yeonpyeong Island escalated tensions between North and South.
Era of Kim Jong-un.
Kim Jong-il died on December 17, 2011 and was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong-un. In late 2013, Kim Jong Un's uncle Jang Song-thaek was arrested and executed after a trial. According to the South Korean spy agency, Kim may have purged some 300 people after taking power. In 2014, the United Nations Commission of Inquiry accused the government of crimes against humanity.
In 2015, North Korea adopted Pyongyang Standard Time (UTC+08.30), reversing the change to Japan Standard Time (UTC+9.00) which had been imposed by the Japanese Empire when it annexed Korea. As a result, North Korea was in a different time zone to South Korea. In 2016, 7th Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea was held in Pyongyang, the first party congress since 1980.
In 2017, North Korea tested the Hwasong-15, an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking anywhere in the United States of America. Estimates of North Korea's nuclear arsenal at that time ranged between 15 and 60 bombs, probably including hydrogen bombs.
In February 2018, North Korea sent an unprecedented high-level delegation to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, headed by Kim Yo-jong, sister of Kim Jong-un, and President Kim Yong-nam, which passed on an invitation to South Korean President Moon to visit the North. In April the two Korean leaders met at the Joint Security Area where they announced their governments would work towards a denuclearized Korean Peninsula and formalize peace between the two states. North Korea announced it would change its time zone to realign with the South.
On June 12, 2018, Kim met American President Donald Trump at a summit in Singapore and signed a declaration, again affirming a commitment to peace and denuclearization. Trump announced that he would halt military exercises with South Korea and foreshadowed withdrawing American troops entirely. In September, South Korean President Moon visited Pyongyang for a summit with Kim. In February 2019 in Hanoi, a second summit between Kim and Trump broke down without an agreement. On June 30, 2019, Trump, Moon, and Kim met at the DMZ. Talks in Stockholm began in October between US and North Korean negotiating teams, but broke down after one day.
Starting in January 2020, the North Korean government took extensive measures to block the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, including quarantines and travel restrictions. In April, the US analyst website 38 North said this appeared to have been successful.


Agung Anom

Agung Anom (Mengwi) ( 1690–1722) was king of the Balinese Kingdom of Mengwi. Agung married a princess from the powerful northern kingdom of Buleleng, a daughter of Panji Sakti and used this alliance to extend Mengwi's dominion into Blambangan in eastern Java. He was descended from Gusti Agung, a minister of the Gelgel kingdom who had overthrown its last king in the mid-17th century.


Kul Tigin

Kul Tigin ( , Pinyin: Quètèqín, Wade-Giles: chüeh-t'e-ch'in, Xiao'erjing: ٿُؤ تْ ٿٍ, AD 684–731) was a general and a prince of the Second Turkic Khaganate.
Etymology.
Necip Asım (1921) for the first time did read his name as "köl", based on the etymology of Mahmud al-Kashgari, meaning "lake, sea". Radloff did read this word as "kül", and Thomsen (1896), Malov (1951) and Tekin (1968) adopted this reading. Bazin (1956) and Hamilton (1962) rejected Radloff's reading and preferred the form "köl". However, Chinese sources used the Chinese character 闕 ("què"). Therefore this word should be read as "kül", not "köl".
Early years.
He was a second son of Ilterish Qaghan, the dynasty's founder, and the younger brother of Bilge Kaghan, the fourth kaghan. He was seven when his father died.
During the reign of Qapagan Khaghan, Kul Tigin and his older brother earned reputation for their military prowess. They defeated Yenisei Kirghiz, Turgesh, and the Karluks, extending the Kaganate territory all the way to the Iron Gate south of Samarkand. They also subjugated all nine of the Tokuz Oguz tribes.
In 705, Tujue forces commanded by Mojilian entered Lingwu, defeating Shazha Chongyi (沙吒忠义). Kul Tigin commanded a unit in battle, in which he lost three horses.
In 711, he participated in Battle of Bolchu, which was disastrous for Turgesh.
In 713 he participated in subjugation of Karluk tribes with his brother and uncle.
As supreme commander.
Upon the death of Qapagan Khaghan, his son Inel Qaghan attempted to illegally ascend to the throne, defying the traditional Lateral succession law, but Kül Tigin refused to recognize the takeover. He raised an army, attacked, and killed Inel, Ashina Duoxifu and his trusted followers. He placed his elder brother Bilge Khagan on the throne, and took the title of Shad, an equivalent of commander-in-chief of the army, for himself.
Death.
He died suddenly in 27 February 731. A stele in memory of Kül Tigin, which included inscriptions in both the Turkic and Chinese, was erected at his memorial complex at the present site of the Orkhon inscriptions. Kül-Tegin is also mentioned in the inscription erected in memory of his older brother Bilge Qaghan at the neighbouring site of Khöshöö-Tsaidam-1.
His burial ceremony took place in 1 November 731. He was posthumously renamed Inanču Apa Yarğan Tarqan () by Bilge Khagan.
The head of the Kül Tigin sculpture in the Khöshöö-Tsaidam enclave in (Orkhon, in northern Mongolia) carries a bird with wings spread like an eagle, personifying a raven.
Popular culture.
He was portrayed by Ham Suk Hun (함석훈) in Korean TV Series "Dae Jo Yeong."


Gusti Ngurah Made Pemecutan

Gusti Ngurah Made Pemecutan (died 1810) was a King in Badung who created the province of Badung and conquered Jembrana in the late 18th century.


Talapty Settlement

The Talapty Settlement is located in the western part of the Zhetysu (Dzungar) Alatau, the valley of the Koksu River, and the right bank from the gorge number 8 to the gorge number 10.
The Talapty Settlement is an ancient city of the 4th century BC. The Talapty Settlement discovered in 1982, and three years later, the excavations began under the guidance of doctor of historical Sciences, Professor A. N. Maryashev.
Conditions of formation.
The settlement of the Koksu valley began in the 4th century BC according to the numerous of archaeological sites of Zhetysu (Dzungar) Alatau and its spurs. The main part of the valley developed later, at the turn of the late II-early I Millennium BC. Life continued here in the early Iron Age, in the Middle Ages and in modern times. Petroglyphs also belong to the periods of settlement. Traces of various civilizations embodied in the rock art that is widely represented in this region. Archaeologists continue to find many artifacts today.
On the surface of the ancient city, there found stone layouts that had a rectangular shape. Later, the remains of grain grinders and stone pestles collected. Most of the village washed away by the river, but the remaining land was paved with several stone half- earthen houses and one house, which measured 16 by 18 m, and had a depth of 1 m. The entrance to the house shaped like a letter "G". There is a hearth of the rectangular shape, a size of 2.4 x 2.2 m. Pits dug from the rectangular hearth to the East. Presumably, one of the pits was a storage (storage place) and evenly lined with stones. Another of the pits filled with animal bones and the remains of broken dishes that were garbage. Along the Northern wall there was a large stone walls with a length of 15 m and a width of 1.6 m. On the territory of the settlement found stone pestles, pieces of copper ore, bone arrowheads leaf-shaped, veneers, tubes, bone punctures, polished stones with grooves for tying the rope. To catch animals, they used a bolas (a rope weighted with stones) that tied the animal's legs. At the entrance to the dwelling, many other household items found on the floor: knife plates, hoes, sharpeners and stone knives.
References.
1. Памятники археологии Семиречья и их использование в экскурсиях – Алматы, 2002.
2. А.П. Горбунов Горы Центральной Азии. Толковый словарь географических названий и терминов - Алматы, 2006.
3. Сайт туризма Алматинской области
4.


Tamassos

Tamassos (Greek: Ταμασσός) or Tamasos (Greek: Τἀμασος) – names Latinized as Tamassus or Tamasus – was a city-kingdom in Cyprus, one of the 10 Kingdoms of Cyprus. It was situated in the great central plain of the island, south-east of Soli, on the road from Soli to Tremithus. It is an archaeological site bordering the village of Politiko, about 21 kilometres southwest of Nicosia.
An Assyrian inscription from ca. 673 BC () refers to it as Tamesi, described as a city-state which paid tribute to the Neo-Assyrian Empire. As there were copper mines in the neighbourhood, it is very probably the Temese mentioned by Homer (Odyssey, I, 184), which was in his time the principal copper market of the island.
Today the villages of Psimolofou, Episkopeio, Pera Orinis, Ergates, Politiko, Kampia, Analyontas, and Kapedes occupy the site of the city.
History.
The city-state prospered mainly because of its mines, from which metals (mostly copper, Cyprus's chief export in the ancient world) were extracted. However, it managed to survive despite exhaustion of its copper deposits.
Foundations, inhabitants, and economy.
Unlike other city-states on the island, there is no precise information from either history or tradition concerning the establishment of the city as a human settlement and later as an important trade city.
The area itself was in fact home to a number of small farmer settlements, which the city replaced after the discovery and exploitation of the copper that became the heart of the economy in the succeeding centuries. Studies of the archaeological artefacts suggest that the region was inhabited since prehistoric times, more specifically since the Chalcolithic Age. Villages such as Kampia, Margi, Kotsiatis, and Mathiatis in the wider region were densely populated from the Early Bronze Age. The population increased significantly following exploitation of the copper mines. Tombs and copper-processing installations discovered in the area date back to the Late Bronze Age.
Writers such as Claudius Ptolemy and Stephanus of Byzantium mention the city. Stephanus describes the city as "mesogeia" (inland) with copper of excellent quality. Its inland location and lack of a port kept it from becoming a major trading post such as Salamis and Paphos. The city also lacked the cosmopolitan character of the island's coastal cities. It resembled an "industrial" city of mines and workshops, though it had without doubt also developed the agricultural and stock-breeding potentialities of the surrounding fertile land, enriched by one of the most important rivers of Cyprus, the Pediaios, and its tributaries.
The two royal tombs discovered are proof of the city's wealth during the Archaic era, due to their fine construction.
Phoenician and Greek influence.
The King of Tamassos, Pasikypros, is said to have sold his kingdom to the Phoenicians of Kition for a price of 50 talents. Having received this amount of money, the King went to spend his last days in Amathus
Athenaeus claims that Alexander the Great gave the same city to Pnytagoras, the King of Salamina, as he had assisted him with the invasion and capture of Tyros. The temple of Aphrodite and perhaps other public buildings were rebuilt at the beginning of the Hellenistic period. It is assumed that there was an alteration to the city character and political structure, and new public buildings built. During the same period, Greeks from various places of the empire came to live in Tamassos. One of these people was Aspendios from Asia Minor.
Decline.
With the spread of Christianity throughout southern Europe, Tamasos became one of the first Greek Orthodox dioceses in Cyprus. The presence of its two first Bishops, Saint Herakleidios and Saint Mnason, was prominent. The pseudepigraphical "Acts of Barnabas" mention Tamasus as the meeting point of Barnabas and Heraclide, made bishop by Barnabas.
Tamassos is referred to as a city of Cyprus until the 10th century AD, but by then it was already in decline. The mines were abandoned after their exhaustion, and the economy was destroyed. Much later on, the city was replaced by small settlements such as Politiko and Episkopeio. The name "Politiko" refers to the brilliant ancient city it has replaced, whereas the name "Episkopeio" is reminiscent of Tamassos's old diocese. "Ergates" has been thus named because it is the area where the mine workers lived, while "Pera Orinis" is named because it is opposite Politiko ("pera" being Greek for "yonder"), and because it is located in a hilly area ("oreinis" being Greek for "of the mountains" as opposed to the village "Pera "Chorio Nisou"" which is in the lowlands). It is believed that these settlements are a continuation of ancient Tamassos and that the inhabitation of this region has thus been continuous from the ancient Prehistoric times until present times.
Archaeological site.
The centre of the town, which is believed to have been the location of various public buildings and shrines, is thought to be under the village of Politiko and the nearby Greek Orthodox monastery of "Agios Herakleidios".
Sporadic excavations between 1970 and 1990 in the outer area resulted in the discovery of many artifacts as well as parts of the original city dating from the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic eras. The visible sections of this large and important archaeological site also include the site of the temple of Aphrodite, the two majestic royal tombs, and other graves.
Fortifications which surrounded the city during the Archaic period have also been unearthed, as well as, copper-processing installations, clay and stone statuettes, and various oblation-vessels, censers, and oil lamps. A limestone altar was found nearby Aphrodite's temple as well as a temple devoted to Kiveli (the Mother of Gods). The latter was discovered alongside an epigraphic testimony regarding the goddess' worship. In addition, there are various literary references proving the worshipping of Apollo, Aesculapius, and Dionysus.
Recently six unique life-size, limestone, undamaged sculptures were discovered in the royal necropolis, of which two represented sphinxes and four represented lions in a crouching position. The exquisite sculptures date from the 6th century BC when the Ptolomies ruled the island.
The necropolis and the tombs.
North-east of Aphrodite's temple lies the necropolis of Tamassos. In addition, three cemeteries are located in the region. One dates back to the Copper / Bronze Age, another to the Archaic period, whilst the third belongs to the Hellenistic era and the times of Roman rule.
Most of the Bronze Age cemetery is probably close to the Lambertes barrow (south-east of the Politiko village). South-west of the "Agios Herakleidios" monastery, a tomb belonging to the Middle Bronze era was dug up in 1963. Yet another tomb from the latter part of the Bronze Age was excavated south-east of the monastery, in the region between the present-day nunnery and the Lambertes barrow.
The Archaic era cemetery is located south-west of the village, between the region's two rivers, of which one is the torrential Pediaios, which waters most of Nicosia District and particularly the fertile (and now North Cyprus) area of Mesaoria.
The Hellenistic/Roman cemetery is found on a slope north-west of Politiko, where the "Agios Mnason" monastery once existed.
Many shrines also seem to have existed around the ancient city of Tamassos. This can be proven by the presence of the Archaic earthen statue and the famous bronze statue of Apollo found in the area.
Nowadays the two monasteries of St. Herakleidios and St. Mnason are believed to be important monuments of the region.
Tamassos today.
Tamassos now includes the area in which the villages of Psimolofou, Episkopeio, Pera Orinis, Ergates, Politiko, Kampia, Analyontas, and Kapedes are located. For the past few centuries, the villages have developed from being poor agricultural villages housing some 10 families to becoming villages consisting of 1000 inhabitants. Pera Orinis and Politiko retain much of the older buildings of the older settlements at the centre of the villages, which are deemed to be of high cultural significance. Highlights of these include the church of "Panagia Odigitria", the "Old Mill", the "Parthenagogion" and "Arenagogion", as well as the recently restore chapel of "St George" of Pera Orinis, and the famous "Tombs of the Kings" of the village of Politiko.


Da Lam Tserenchimed

Da Lam Tserenchimed (, ; 1869 – 1914) was a prominent lama and early 20th century Mongolian independence leader. In December 1911, he was appointed interior minister and "de facto" prime minister in the Bogd Khan's first government of Autonomous Mongolia, a position he held until Tögs-Ochiryn Namnansüren officially became the first prime minister in July 1912.
Early life and career.
Tserenchimed was born in 1869 in present-day Khövsgöl Province. He entered a monastery at an early age, became a lama, and then started work as low level clerk in the office of the Shamzudba (the Secular Affairs Administration office) of the estates of the Bogd Khan "Ikh Shav"), quickly climbing his way up to become "Da Lam" (Chief Lama or Abbot). He showed a talent for politics early on and established excellent working relations with local political officials. Around this time he began to support calls for Mongolian independence.
In July 1911 Tserenchimed was one of several high-ranking lamas and hereditary princes summoned to Khüree (present day Ulaanbaatar) by the Bogd Khan to discuss independence. The Bogd Khan then named him a member of a delegation, along with Namnansüren, that traveled to Saint Petersburg to seek Czarist Russian and West European support for Mongolian independence from Chinese rule.
In November 1911 he was named head of General Administration Office of Khalkh Affairs in the provisional Mongolian government set up as Qing Dynasty collapsed in China. The only commoner in Bogd Khan's government, he was then appointed interior minister in the first government of the newly established Autonomous Mongolia in early 1912, a position that was recognized as a "de facto" prime ministry, until the establishment in July 1912 of office of prime minister and appointment of Namnansüren to the position.
Tserenchimed had established close ties to the Chinese Kuomintang nationalists and the Japanese. In 1913 he attempted to travel to Tokyo to seek Japanese recognition of Mongolian independence and assistance in uniting northern and southern Mongolians but was turned back at Harbin by Russian officials.
In 1914 he was removed from his position as minister of interior and reassigned to be minister for pacification of western frontier. He died a short while later while traveling out to the western frontier to take up his new position.


Haridas Mundhra

Haridas Mundhra (; died January 6, 2018) was a Calcutta-based stock speculator who was found guilty and imprisoned in the first big financial scandal of newly independent India in the 1950s.
The "Mundhra scandal" exposed the nexus between the Bureaucracy, stock market speculators and small rogue businessmen. It also brought to light rifts between the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his son-in-law Feroze Gandhi, and also led to the resignation of India's then finance minister T. T. Krishnamachari.
Life.
Born into a trading family with two younger brothers- Tulsi Das Mundhra and Manmohan Das Mundhra, Mundhra started life as a light-bulb salesman, and pyramided his holdings by "fast deals and stock juggling", buying shares of small companies and hiking their prices up through circular trading and rumour mongering into a Rs. 40 million (US$10 million) empire. However, by the mid-50s, his business empire was unravelling, and he came to be known for his somewhat questionable ethics. In 1956, he was indicted by the Bombay Stock Exchange for selling forged shares.
In 1957, Mundhra got the government-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) to invest Rs. 12.4 million (about US$3.2 million at the time) in the shares of six troubled companies of whom Mundhra held a large number of shares which he was trying to boost by rigging the market: Richardson Cruddas, Jessops & Company, Smith Stanistreet, Osler Lamps, Agnelo Brothers and British India Corporation. The investment was done under governmental pressure and bypassed the LIC's investment committee, which was informed of this decision only after the deal had gone through. In the event, LIC lost most of the money.
The Mundhra Scandal.
The irregularity was highlighted in 1958 by Feroze Gandhi of the Indian National Congress party, who represented the Rae Bareli seat in the Parliament of India. Jawaharlal Nehru was Prime Minister at the time, and Feroze was married to his daughter Indira Gandhi. Nehru, as the leader of the ruling Congress party, wished to have the LIC matter handled quietly since it might show the government in a poor light.
However, Feroze Gandhi was the primary force behind an anti-corruption movement that in 1956 resulted in imprisonment of one of India's wealthiest men, Ram Kishan Dalmia, for defrauding his life insurance company. Subsequently, the parliament had passed the Life Insurance of India Act on 19 June 1956, under which 245 firms were nationalised and consolidated under the Life Insurance Corporation. Hence, he looked upon the LIC as a "child of Parliament". He would have no softpedalling on the matter, and took the case directly to parliament:
However, the matter was dramatised further in the public mind by the tense relations between Feroze and his father-in-law.
Feroze Gandhi vs. Nehru.
Feroze Gandhi had married Indira Nehru over initial objections of Jawaharlal, but Indira had gotten him to agree to the marriage, and relations between the men were cordial. Indira often helped her father in his duties, acting as official hostess, and helping run the huge residence. In 1949, Indira and their two sons Rajiv Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi moved to Delhi to live with Jawaharlal, while Feroze continued alone in Lucknow. In 1952, after Feroze Gandhi was elected to Parliament (his campaign was managed by Indira), he also moved to Delhi, where he was assigned an MP quarters, but "Indira continued to stay with her father, thus putting the final seal on the separation".
This rift was well known and it lent drama to the already sensational matter when Feroze Gandhi raised the Mundhra question on the floor of the parliament. Standing from the treasury benches, he asked the government whether the newly formed Life Insurance Corporation had used premiums from 5.5 million life-insurance policyholders to buy up shares at above-market prices in the companies controlled by a notorious stock speculator named Haridas Mundhra.
Thus the prime minister was confronted by his own son-in-law. The fierce Finance minister, himself a noted industrialist, initially snapped "That is not the fact," but had to admit later that this in fact was the case.
Commission of Enquiry: M.C. Chagla.
Given the public spotlight, the government was forced to appoint a committee to examine the matter. The retired Bombay High Court Justice M. C. Chagla was appointed as a one-man committee. Chagla held that a transparent and public enquiry was a "very important safeguard for ensuring that the decision will be fair and impartial. The public is entitled to know on what evidence the decision is based.". Consequently, large crowds would attend the hearings which were concluded in just 24 days. Several leading stockbrokers who were on the LIC Investment Committee testified that the investment could not have been made for the purpose of propping up the market, as was claimed by the Finance Ministry, and that had the LIC consulted the Investment Committee, they would have pointed out Mundhra's forged shares episode from 1956. Among those who gave evidence was HT Parekh, then the Deputy general manager of Industrial Credit & Investment Corporation of India, now ICICI Bank, who was also a member of LIC's Investment Committee. HT Parekh's Note to the Investment Committee and his testimony is available in a two-volume collection of his writings.
Justice Chagla determined that the Finance Secretary, Haribhai M. Patel, along with two LIC officials, L S Vaidyanathan, may have colluded on the payment, and should be investigated. Subsequent inquiry committee headed by Retired Justice Vivian Bose cleared the names of two civil servants but passed strictures against finance minister for "lying". The Finance Minister T. T. Krishnamachari, in his testimony tried to distance himself from the LIC decision, implying that it may have been taken by the Finance Secretary, but Justice Chagla held that the Minister is constitutionally responsible for the action taken by his secretary and he disown his actions. Eventually, Krishanamachari had to resign. The Nehru government suffered considerable loss of prestige in the incident.
Haridas Mundhra was arrested from his luxury suite at the Claridge's Hotel in Delhi, and sent to prison.
It turned out that Mundhra's manipulations were not restricted to LIC. The income tax department
had curiously withdrawn certain notices pending against him having entered
into "some understanding" about the payment of arrears.
In recent times, Mundhra is often noted as the forerunner of other financial scamsters of modern India, including Harshad Mehta and Abdul Karim Telgi, who also operated with considerable political connivance. However, unlike in the Mundhra case, the government response in appointing an honest and competent judge, and also the judicial investigation (24 days of public hearings) has been far from transparent.
This lack of transparency has also been commented upon in the public investigation of the Bofors Scandal, one of India's largest scandals, which involved Feroze Gandhi's son Rajiv Gandhi, the Prime Minister at the time.
References.
8. India in Transition: Through the Eyes of Visionary −1940s to 1990s; Writings of H.T. Parekh; 1995; Volume 2, pp. 553ff.


Saw Pa Oh of Sagaing

Saw Pa Oh (, ) was a queen consort of King Kyaswa of Sagaing. She was a daughter of King Uzana I of Pinya. She and Kyaswa had at least one daughter named Saw Sala who became a queen of King Uzana II of Pinya.


Church of the Transfiguration (Zaymo-Obryv)

The Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior () ― is a Russian Orthodox church in the village of Zaymo-Obryv, Azovsky District, Rostov Oblast, Russia. It belongs to the Diocese of Rostov and Novocherkassk of Moscow Patriarchate and was built in 1910. It is also an object of cultural heritage of Russia.
History.
The Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior in Zaimo-Obryv was completed in 1910 (according to other sources, in 1909) on the project of the Don architect P. S. Studenikin in neo-Byzantine style. The church reached 35.5 meters in height (with the cross on the dome) and 21 meters in width. In the first years after its erection, it vas visited by about three thousand parishioners.
During the Soviet era, the church building was partially destroyed (with the bell tower was being also damaged), and the untouched part was used as a granary store.
The church began to be renovated in 1989. The belltower was rebuilt anew, the area in front of the church was paved with sidewalk tiles, and the walls were newly plastered and painted. A refectory was built and a Sunday School was opened.
In 1992, the church was officially recognized as an object of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation.
Since 2014, a work to restore the interior decoration of the church is underway.


Siri Sangha Bodhi I of Anuradhapura

Siri Sangha Bodhi I (a.k.a. Siri Sangabo) was King of Anuradhapura in the 3rd century, whose reign lasted from 252 to 254. He succeeded Sangha Tissa I as King of Anuradhapura and was succeeded by Gothabhaya.
Siri Sanga Bo's story of utter devotion to Buddhism is told in the Mahavamsa. The king was said to have been so committed to the Buddha's teachings that he refused to execute criminals. When his prime minister led a rebellion against him, he could not bear the thought of the bloodshed that would result from putting down the rebellion, so he voluntarily abdicated and retired to the forest to live as an ascetic. The prime minister, now King Gathabhaya, fearing the return of the rightful king, offered a reward to anyone who would bring him the head of Siri Sanga Bo. One day, a poor peasant shared his meal with Siri Sanga Bo who, having nothing to give him in return, informed the man of his identity and offered him his head, decapitating himself. Siri Sanga Bo is regarded as a great Buddhist saint in Sri Lanka.


Nala dynasty

The Nalas were an Indian dynasty that ruled parts of present-day Chhattisgarh and Odisha during the 6th century CE. Their core territory included the areas around Bastar and Koraput districts. Their capital was probably Pushkari (IAST: Puṣkarī), identified with the modern Garhdhanora in Bastar district. At one point, they seem to have conquered the Vakataka capital Nandivardhana in the Vidarbha region, but suffered reverses against the Vakatakas as well as the Chalukyas. Sharabhapuriyas, their northern neighbours, also seem to have played a part in their downfall. They were probably supplanted by the Panduvamshi dynasty, although one branch of the dynasty seems to have ruled a small territory until the 7th or 8th century CE.
History.
Inscriptions of three kings mention them as members of the Nala family: Arthapati, Bhavadatta and Skandavarman. Some gold coins suggest the existence of three other Nala rulers - Varaharaja, Nandanaraja, and Stambha. Although these coins do not mention the name of their dynasty, they bear the bull-and-crescent dynastic emblem of the Nala kings, and weigh same as the known Nala coins. Also, the name of the issuer is written in "box-headed" script of 6th century on all the coins, and they have all been discovered in the former Nala territory. The coins of Varaharaja have been discovered along with those of Arthapati and Bhavadatta. All these evidences indicate that Varaharaja, Nandanaraja and Stambha were all Nala kings too.
Varaharaja.
Palaeographic evidence suggests that Varaharaja was the earliest of these kings, although it is not certain if he was the dynasty's founder. His issuance of gold coins suggests that he enjoyed a sovereign status.
Arthapati.
Arthapati is known from a copper-plate inscription and coins. His only known inscription was issued from Pushkari, which may have been the capital of the Nala kings. The inscription suggests that the king was a devotee of Maheshvara (Shiva) and Mahasena (Kartikeya). The inscription mentions that he was from the family of Nala. According to one theory, this is a reference to the legendary king Nala of Nishadha Kingdom. However, there is no concrete proof for this interpretation.
Bhavadatta.
The next known king of the dynasty is Bhavadatta, whose copper-plate inscription was found at Rithpur (also Rithapur or Ridhapur) in Amravati district, Maharashtra. The inscription was engraved by one Boppadeva. It mentions the king's name as "Bhavattavarman", which is probably a mistake or a Prakrit form of the Sanskrit name "Bhavadattavarman". It names Arthapati as the king's "aryaka", which is variously interpreted to mean "father" or "grandfather"; according to another interpretation, "aryaka" is an epithet of Bhavadatta. The inscription names the place of issue as Nandivardhana, and states that the king and the queen were staying at Prayaga as pilgrims. Like Arthapati's inscription, it mentions Maheshvara, Mahasena and the Nala family.
The find spot of Bhavadatta's inscription suggests that he extended the Nala territory to the present-day Vidarbha region, possibly at the expense of the Vakatakas (whose capital was at Nandivardhana).
During his last years, Bhavadatta seems to have suffered reverses against the Vakatakas and the Chalukyas. An inscription of Bhavadatta's successor Skandavarman indicates that Bhavadatta lost the control of Pushkari, possibly to the Vakatakas or the Chalukyas. The Vakataka king Prithivisena II is said to have restored the glory of his family, apparently by defeating the Nalas. An Aihole inscription credits the Chalukya king Kirtivarman I with the destruction of the Nalas.
Skandavarman.
The last known king of the dynasty is Skandavarman, whose Podagada inscription mentions him as a son of Bhavadattavarman. The inscription states that Skandavarman retrieved the lost glory of the Nala family, and re-populated the deserted city of Pushkari. It also records the construction of a Vishnu shrine by the king.
Possible successors.
Nothing is known about the immediate successors of Skandavarman. But the Nalas were probably supplanted by the Panduvamshi dynasty. The Sharabhapuriya dynasty may have also contributed to the decline of the Nalas. The coins of the Sharabhapuriyas are similar to that of the Nalas, which suggests that the two dynasties were contemporaries. Epigraphic and numismatic evidence indicates that the Sharabhapuriyas were the northern neighbours of the Nalas.
A dynasty claiming descent from the legendary Nala is known to have ruled a small area in present-day Chhattisgarh sometime later. The undated Rajim inscription of this dynasty can be assigned to either 7th or 8th century CE. This dynasty was probably a branch of the Nalas of Bastar. Its known members include Prithviraja, Viruparaja and Vilasatunga.
Capital.
The dynasty's capital was probably Pushkari, which is mentioned as the place of issue in an inscription of Arthapati. Earlier, Pushkari was believed to be the present-day Podagada in Koraput district, where an inscription of Skandavarman has been found. Later research has led to the identification of Garhdhanora in Bastar district as Pushkari. The excavations carried out by Madhya Pradesh's Directorate of Archaeology and Museums has resulted in discovery of several ruined temples and sculptures at Garhdhanora.
Religion.
The Brahmanical system thrived during the rule of the Nala kings, who patronized Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Shaktism.
Inscriptions.
The following inscriptions of the Nala kings have been discovered:
List of rulers.
The following rulers of the dynasty are known from their coins and inscriptions:
Two other rulers are known from coins, but they cannot be placed in chronology based on the available information.
Descendants.
The descendants of the Nala dynasty later established the Khidisingi mandala in modern Ganjam region around 9th-10th century CE which eventually became the ancestors of the Soroda dynasty. The Khidisingi estate further split into 4 separate zamindaris consisting of Badagada,
Dharakote, Soroda and Sheragada.


Arthur Younghusband

Arthur Delaval Younghusband (30 November 1854 – 30 August 1931) was a British civil servant of the Raj.
Early life.
The second (but eldest surviving) son of Lieutenant-General Robert Romer Younghusband, CB, who served at Sind (sometime as Adjutant-General), as well as at Baluchistan and Hyderabad, by his wife Ellen Blayds, daughter of W. S. Benthall, of Totnes, Younghusband was educated at Sherborne, Rugby, Clifton and Balliol College, Oxford, before entering the Indian Civil Service in 1875. He attained the rank of deputy commissioner in 1892 and commissioner in 1897, being awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal (1st Class) in 1901, and serving as an additional member of the Government of Bombay's Council in 1903.
Sind.
He was the Commissioner in Sind from 1905 to 1912.
Later life.
Having been awarded CSI (1907) and CBE (1920) in recognition of his career, Younghusband died on 30 August 1931 at Priory House, Long Bennington, near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England, aged 76, without issue, but survived by his wife, Maud Helen, daughter of Lewis Gordon, whom he had married in 1892. He was succeeded as head of the family by his nephew, Ralph George Napier Younghusband, son of George William Younghusband.
Two of his brothers also had careers in India: George William Younghusband (1856-1897) served with the 34th Regiment, 2nd Punjab Cavalry, and Romer Edward Younghusband (1858-1933), CSI, a barrister, worked with the Indian Civil Service from 1879, as a Deputy Commissioner (1894), General Secretary to the Government of Punjab (1899-1900), Commissioner at Lahore, and Member of Council of the Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab (1905–09).
Younghusband's first cousins, sons of his father's younger brother Maj.-Gen. John William Younghusband, CSI, were the brothers Maj.-Gen. George Younghusband, Indian Army officer, author, and Keeper of the Jewel House at the Tower of London and Lt-Col Sir Francis Younghusband, Indian Army officer, administrator and explorer.
Their uncle was Lt-Gen. Charles Younghusband, an Army officer and meteorologist.


Storm over Laos

Storm over Laos, a contemporary history was written in 1961 by Prince Sisouk na Champassak. It is written in English. It is a book on Laos from 1945 to 1961. It goes into much detail about the semi non-violent Secret War in Laos. It also talks about the rise of the Pathet Lao, from its beginnings as a dusty guerrilla unit.
Prince Sisouk not only talks about Laos but also the surrounding struggles of Vietnam and China. Upon trips to Peking, Prince Sisouk describes his views on the rising totalitarian governments of Laos' neighbors. Below is an excerpt from Chapter 5, "Journey to Peking" when Prince Sisouk and other Pathet Lao delegates met with Chinese Minister of Defense, Marshal Peng Dehuai.
"We were impressed by the strong personality of our host, dubbed "the tiger of Korea" for his military exploits at head of the Chinese "volunteers" in the Land of the Morning Calm. Assuring us that China would never attack Laos, since she only desired to maintain good neighborly relations with all countries of Asia, Peng declared in his energetic tone, "We are not afraid of the U.S. We beat them in Korea. We do not have atom bombs, but we have great manpower. Even if they were to use their atom bombs in case of war, they could never kill more than 300 of 400 million Chinese. That would still leave 200 million which would easily be enough to be them." These aggressive statements revealed to us the Chinese leaders' profound contempt for human life."


Pherendatis

Pherendatis (died 466 BC) was an Achaemenid general who was appointed Supreme Commander of the ground forces in the Battle of the Eurymedon. He perished in this battle.


Min Nyo San

Min Nyo San (, ) was the father of King Alaungpaya, the founder of the Konbaung Dynasty of Burma (Myanmar). He was the mayor (headman) of Moksobo, and descended from the family that governed the Mu valley since the 15th century. He was awarded the royal title "Thiri Maha Dhamma Yaza" after his son became king.