Enichi-ji

 is a Buddhist temple of the Shingon-shu Buzan-ha sect in the town of Bandai, Yama District, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The temple was founded in the Heian period as , and the ruins of its previous incarnation were designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 1970.
History.
Enichi-ji was opened in 807 AD by the Hossō sect scholar-monk Tokuitsu, who had come from Nara to spread the faith in the Aizu region. He overcame the followers of the Tendai and Shingon sects to become preeminent in Aizu, and by the time of his death in 842, the temples was a complete "shichidō garan" with 300 monks in residence, several thousand "sōhei" and more than 3500 sub-temples. By the late Heian period, the temple had extended its holdings into eastern Echigo province and had established close ties with the Taira clan. During the Genpei War, the temple sent troops in support of the Heike in Shinano Province against Kiso Yoshinaka. However, the temple's leading general, Jōtan-bō, was killed at the 1181 Battle of Yokotagawa by Kiso Yoshinaka's forces, and the temple's forces withdrew and the temple went into decline.
By the Sengoku period, the temple had recovered much of its prosperity, but opposed the forces of Date Masamune after the 1589 Battle of Suriagehara and was almost completely razed, with Masamune sparing only the Kondō. This building also burned down in 1626, and although it was rebuilt, the temple never regained its prosperity, and was destroyed by the post-Meiji restoration "Shinbutsu-shūgō" policy against Buddhism. It was restored in its present form in 1904 as a Shingon temple.
The temple owns a "vajra" made from cupronickel which is used as a ritual object in Shingon ceremonies. It was made in the Heian period and is registered as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. It is not kept at the temple, but is normally on display at the museum at Aizuwakamatsu Castle.
The ruins of the temple have been excavated by archaeologists several times, and some of the artifacts uncovered are on display at a museum on the temple grounds.


Flag of Saint Petersburg

The flag of Saint Petersburg, in the Russian Federation, is a red field charged in the centre with the arms of the city, which consists of two silver anchors (a sea anchor, and a river anchor), and a gold scepter.
The anchors both cross each other at their centers, with the sea anchor to the left and the river anchor on the right. They reflect the fact that the city has both river and sea ports. The scepter is surmounted on the anchors in the centre. It shows that the city was the former capital of Russia.
The flag was adopted on 6 September 1991. The proportions are 2:3.


Naya Pala (Kamboja)


Beja State

The Princely State of Beja was a Princely State of India, in present-day Himachal Pradesh, from the 18th century till 15 April 1948. It was ruled by a cadet branch of the Tomara dynasty ("Tunwar") with the title of "Thakur".
It is one of the 18 Simla Hill States, situated just below Kasauli to the west and is bordered by Mahlog, Patiala State, Kuthar and the Bharauli tract of Simla District around Sabathu. Beja included 45 villages, over an area of 13 km2 or 5 mi2 with 1,131 subjects.
Beja is one of the original constituent members of the Chamber of Princes, a number of smaller states indirectly represented by 12 princes whom they periodically elected.


History of Georgia (country)

The nation of Georgia ( "sakartvelo") was first unified as a kingdom under the Bagrationi dynasty by the King Bagrat III of Georgia in the early 11th century, arising from a number of predecessor states of the ancient kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia. The Kingdom of Georgia flourished during the 10th to 12th centuries under King David IV the Builder and Queen Tamar the Great, and fell to the Mongol invasion by 1243, and after a brief reunion under George V the Brilliant to the Timurid Empire. By 1490, Georgia was fragmented into a number of petty kingdoms and principalities, which throughout the Early Modern period struggled to maintain their autonomy against Ottoman and Iranian (Safavid, Afsharid, and Qajar) domination until Georgia was finally annexed by the Russian Empire in the 19th century. After a brief bid for independence with the Democratic Republic of Georgia of 1918–1921, Georgia was part of the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic from 1922 to 1936, and then formed the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic until the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The current republic of Georgia has been independent since 1991. The first president Zviad Gamsakhurdia stoked Georgian nationalism and vowed to assert Tbilisi's authority over Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Gamsakhurdia was deposed in a bloody coup d'état within the same year and the country became embroiled in a bitter civil war, which lasted until 1995. Supported by Russia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia achieved "de facto" independence from Georgia. The Rose Revolution forced Eduard Shevardnadze to resign in 2003. The new government under Mikheil Saakashvili prevented the secession of a third breakaway republic in the Adjara crisis of 2004, but the conflict with Abkhazia and South Ossetia led to the 2008 Russo–Georgian War and tensions with Russia remain unresolved.
The history of Georgia is inextricably linked with the history of the Georgian people.
Prehistoric period.
Evidence for the earliest occupation of the territory of present-day Georgia goes back to c. 1.8 million years ago, as evident from the excavations of Dmanisi in the south-eastern part of the country. This is the oldest evidence of humans anywhere in the world outside Africa. Later prehistoric remains (Acheulian, Mousterian and the Upper Palaeolithic) are known from numerous cave and open-air sites in Georgia. The earliest agricultural Neolithic occupation is dated sometime between 6000 and 5000 BC. known as the Shulaveri-Shomu culture, where people used local obsidian for tools, raised animals such as cattle and pigs, and grew crops, including grapes.
Numerous excavations in tell settlements of the Shulaveri-Shomu type have been conducted since the 1960s.
Early metallurgy started in Georgia during the 6th millennium BC, associated with the Shulaveri-Shomu culture. From the beginning of the 4th millennium, metals became used to larger extend in East Georgia and in the whole Transcaucasian region.
In the 1970s, archaeological excavations revealed a number of ancient settlements that included houses with galleries, carbon-dated to the 5th millennium BC in the Imiris-gora region of Eastern Georgia. These dwellings were circular or oval in plan, a characteristic feature being the central pier and chimney. These features were used and further developed in building Georgian dwellings and houses of the 'Darbazi' type. In the Chalcolithic period of the fourth and third millennia BC, Georgia and eastern Asia Minor were home to the Kura-Araxes culture, giving way in the second millennium BC. to the Trialeti culture. Archaeological excavations have brought to light the remains of settlements at Beshtasheni and Ozni (4th–3rd millennium BC), and barrow burials (carbon dated to the 2nd millennium BC) in the province of Trialeti, at Tsalka (Eastern Georgia). Together, they testify to an advanced and well-developed culture of building and architecture.
Diauehi, a tribal union of early-Georgians, first appear in written history in the 12th century BC. Archaeological finds and references in ancient sources reveal elements of early political and state formations characterized by advanced metallurgy and goldsmith techniques that date back to the 7th century BC and beyond. Between 2100 and 750 BC, the area survived the invasions by the Hittites, Urartians, Medes, Proto-Persians and Cimmerians. At the same period, the ethnic unity of Proto-Kartvelians broke up into several branches, among them Svans, Zans/Chans and East-Kartvelians. That finally led to the formation of modern Kartvelian languages: Georgian (originating from East Kartvelian vernaculars), Svan, Megrelian and Laz (the latter two originating from Zan dialects). By that time Svans were dominant in modern Svaneti and Abkhazia, Zans inhabited modern Georgian province of Samegrelo, while East-Kartvelians formed the majority in modern eastern Georgia. As a result of cultural and geographic delimitation, two core areas of future Georgian culture and statehood formed in western and eastern Georgia by the end of the 8th century BC. The first two Georgian states emerged in the west known as the Kingdom of Colchis and in the east as the Kingdom of Iberia.
Antiquity.
Early Georgian kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia.
A second Georgian tribal union emerged in the 13th century BC on the Black Sea coast under the Kingdom of Colchis in western Georgia. The kingdom of Colchis, which existed from the 6th to the 1st centuries BC is regarded as the first early Georgian state formation and the term "Colchians" was used as the collective term for early Georgian-Kartvelian tribes such as Mingrelians, Lazs and Chans who populated the eastern coast of the Black Sea.
According to the scholar of the Caucasian studies Cyril Toumanoff:
The ancient Greeks knew of Colchis, and it featured in the Greek legend of Jason and the Argonauts, who travelled there in search of the Golden Fleece. Starting around 2000 BC, northwestern Colchis was inhabited by the Svan and Zan peoples of the Kartvelian tribes. Another important ethnic element of ancient Colchis were Greeks who between 1000 and 550 BC established many trading colonies in the coastal area, among them Naessus, Pityus, Dioscurias (modern Sukhumi), Guenos, Phasis (modern Poti), Apsaros, and Rhizos (modern Rize in Turkey). In the eastern part of Georgia there was a struggle for the leadership among the various Georgian confederations during the 6th–4th centuries BC, which was finally won by the Kartlian tribes from the region of Mtskheta. According to the Georgian tradition, the Kingdom of Kartli (known as Iberia in the Greek-Roman literature) was founded around 300 BC by Parnavaz I, the first ruler of the Parnavazid dynasty.
Between 653 and 333 BC, both Colchis and Iberia survived successive invasions by the Iranian Median Empire. The case is different for the Achaemenid Persians however. According to Herodotus (3.97), Achaemenid power extended as far as the Caucasus mountains, but the Colchians are not included in his list of the twenty Persian satrapies. Nor are they referred to in the lists of Achaemenid lands (dahyāva) given in the Old Persian inscriptions of Darius and his successors. In Xenophon's Anabasis (7.8.25; probably an interpolation) the tribes of Colchis and East Pontus are referred to as independent (autónomoi). On the other hand, Herodotus mentioned both the Colchians and various Pontic tribes in his catalogue (7.78-79) of approximately fifty-seven peoples who participated in Xerxes’ expedition against Greece in 481-80 BCE. As the "Encyclopaedia Iranica" states, it is thus probable that the Achaemenids never succeeded in asserting effective rule over Colchis, though local tribal leaders seem to have acknowledged some kind of Persian suzerainty. The "Encyclopaedia Iranica" further states, whereas the adjoining Pontic tribes of the nineteenth satrapy and the Armenians of the thirteenth are mentioned as having paid tribute to Persia, the Colchians and their Caucasian neighbors are not; they had, however, undertaken to send gifts (100 boys and 100 girls) every five years (Herodotus 3.97).
At the end of the 4th century BC southern Iberia witnessed the invading armies of Alexander the Great, who established a vast Greco-Macedonian empire to the south of the Caucasus. Neither Iberia nor Colchis was incorporated into the empire of Alexander or any of the successor Hellenistic states of the Middle East. However, the culture of ancient Greece still had a considerable influence on the region, and Greek was widely spoken in the cities of Colchis. In Iberia Greek influence was less noticeable and Aramaic was widely spoken.
Between the early 2nd century BC and the late 2nd century AD both Colchis and Iberia, together with the neighboring countries, became an arena of long and devastating conflicts between major and local powers such as Rome, Armenia and the short-lived Kingdom of Pontus.
Pompey's campaign in 66-65 BC annexed Armenia and then he headed north along the Kura river and then west down the Rioni river to the Black Sea. In 189 BC, the rapidly growing Kingdom of Armenia took over more than half of Iberia, conquering the southern and southeastern provinces of Gogarene, Taokhia and Genyokhia, as well as some other territories. Between 120 and 63 BC, Armenia's ally Mithridate VI Eupator of Pontus conquered all of Colchis and incorporated it into his kingdom, embracing almost all of Asia Minor as well as the eastern and northern Black Sea coastal areas.
The Roman–Iranian rivalry and the Roman conquest of Colchis.
This close association with Armenia brought upon the country an invasion (65 BC) by the Roman general Pompey, who was then at war with Mithradates VI of Pontus, and Armenia; but Rome did not establish her power permanently over Iberia. Nineteen years later (36 BC), the Romans again marched on Iberia forcing King Pharnavaz II to join their campaign against Caucasian Albania.
During this time Armenia and Pontus were actively expanding at the expense of Rome, taking over its Eastern Mediterranean possessions. However, the success of the anti-Roman alliance did not last long. As a result of the Roman campaigns of Pompey and Lucullus from the west, and the Parthian invasion from the south, Armenia lost a significant part of its conquests by 65 BC, devolving into a Roman-Parthian dependency. At the same time, the Kingdom of Pontus was completely destroyed by the Romans and all its territory including Colchis were incorporated into the Roman Empire as her provinces.
The former Kingdom of Colchis became the Roman province of Lazicum ruled by Roman legati. The following 600 years of Georgian history were marked by struggle between Rome and neighboring Persia (Iran) ruled subsequently by the Parthians and Sassanids who were fighting long wars against each other for the domination in Western Asia including Syria, Mesopotamia, Armenia, Albania, and Iberia.
While the Georgian kingdom of Colchis was administered as a Roman province, Caucasian Iberia freely accepted the Roman Imperial protection. A stone inscription discovered at Mtskheta speaks of the 1st-century ruler Mihdrat I (AD 58–106) as "the friend of the Caesars" and the king "of the Roman-loving Iberians." Emperor Vespasian fortified the ancient Mtskheta site of Armazi for the Iberian kings in 75 AD.
In the 2nd century AD, Iberia strengthened her position in the area, especially during the reign of King Pharsman II who achieved full independence from Rome and reconquered some of the previously lost territories from declining Armenia. In the early 3rd century, Rome had to give up Albania and most of Armenia to Sassanid Persia. The province of Lazicum was given a degree of autonomy that by the end of the century developed into full independence with the formation of a new Kingdom of Lazica-Egrisi on the territories of smaller principalities of the Zans, Svans, Apsyls, and Sanyghs. This new Western Georgian state survived more than 250 years until 562 when it was absorbed by the Byzantine Empire.
In the 3rd century AD, the Lazi tribe came to dominate most of Colchis, establishing the kingdom of Lazica, locally known as Egrisi. Colchis was a scene of the protracted rivalry between the Eastern Roman/Byzantine and Sassanid empires, culminating in the Lazic War from 542 to 562.
Iberia became a tributary of the Sasanian state during the reign of Shapur I (241–272). Relations between the two countries seem to have been friendly at first, as Iberia cooperated in Persian campaigns against Rome, and the Iberian king Amazasp III (260–265) was listed as a high dignitary of the Sasanian realm, not a vassal who had been subdued by force of arms. But the aggressive tendencies of the Sasanians were evident in their propagation of Zoroastrianism, which was probably established in Iberia between the 260s and 290s.
However, in the Peace of Nisibis (298) while the Roman empire obtained control of Caucasian Iberia again as a vassal state and acknowledged the reign over all the Caucasian area, it recognized Mirian III, the first of the Chosroid dynasty, as king of Iberia.
Adoption of Christianity as state religion.
Before Christianization, the cult of Mithras and Zoroastrianism were commonly practiced in Iberia from the 1st century. The cult of Mithras, distinguished by its syncretic character and thus complementary to local cults, especially the cult of the Sun, gradually came to merge with ancient Georgian beliefs.
The eastern Georgian Kingdom of Iberia became one of the first states in the world to convert to Christianity in 327, when the King of Iberia Mirian III established it as the official state religion. However, the date varies based on numerous accounts and historical documents, which indicate Iberia adopting Christianity as a state religion in 317, 319, 324, 330 etc. According to The Georgian Chronicles, St. Nino of Cappadocia converted Georgia to Christianity in 330 during the time of Constantine the Great. By the middle of the 4th century though, both Lazica (formerly the Kingdom of Colchis) and Iberia adopted Christianity as their official religion. This adoption of Christianity tied the kingdom to the Byzantine Empire, which exerted strong cultural influence over it.
However, after the emperor Julian was slain during his failed campaign in Persia in 363, Rome ceded control of Iberia to Persia, and King Varaz-Bakur I (Asphagur) (363-365) became a Persian vassal, an outcome confirmed by the Peace of Acilisene in 387. However, a later ruler of Kartli, Pharsman IV (406-409), preserved his country's autonomy and ceased to pay tribute to Persia. Persia prevailed, and Sassanian kings began to appoint a viceroy ("pitiaxae"/"bidaxae") to keep watch on their vassal. They eventually made the office hereditary in the ruling house of Lower Kartli, thus inaugurating the Kartli "pitiaxate", which brought an extensive territory under its control. Although it remained a part of the kingdom of Kartli, its viceroys turned their domain into a center of Persian influence. Sasanian rulers put the Christianity of the Georgians to a severe test. They promoted the teachings of Zoroaster, and by the middle of the 5th century Zoroastrianism had become a second official religion in eastern Georgia alongside Christianity.
During the 4th and most of the 5th centuries, Iberia (known also as the Kingdom of Kartli) was under Persian control. At the end of the 5th century though, Prince Vakhtang I Gorgasali orchestrated an anti-Persian uprising and restored Iberian statehood, proclaiming himself the King. After this, the armies of Vakhtang launched several campaigns against both Persia and the Byzantine Empire. However, his struggle for the independence and unity of the Georgian state did not have lasting success. After Vakhtang's death in 502, and the short reign of his son Dachi (502–514), Iberia was reincorporated into Persia as a province once again. The Kingdom of Iberia however was abolished in 580 AD by the Persian authorities at that time ruled by Hormizd IV (578-590), most precisely after the death of King Bakur III, and Iberia became now a Persian province ruled by a "marzpan" (governor). However this time the Iberian nobility were granted the privilege of electing the governors, who in Georgian were called "erismtavari". Georgian nobles urged the Byzantine emperor Maurice to revive the kingdom of Iberia in 582, but in 591 Byzantium and Persia decisively agreed to divide Iberia between them, with Tbilisi to be in Persian hands and Mtskheta to be under Byzantine control. By the late 7th century, the Byzantine-Persian rivalry for the Middle East had given way to Arab conquest of the region and subsequent invasions to ensure Arab hegemony in the Caucasus.
Medieval Georgia.
Unification of the Georgian state.
In struggle against the Arab occupation, Bagrationi dynasty came to rule over Tao-Klarjeti and established "Kouropalatate" of Iberia as a nominal dependency under the Byzantine Empire. The restoration of the Georgian kingship begins in AD 888, when Adarnase IV took the title of "King of Iberians". However, the Bagrationi dynasty failed to maintain the integrity of their kingdom which was actually divided between the three branches of the family with the main branch retaining Tao and another controlling Klarjeti. At the end of the 10th century Curopalate David of Tao invaded the Earldom of Iberia (Kartli) and gave it to his foster-son Bagrat III and installed Gurgen as his regent, who was later crowned as "King of Kings of the Iberians" on the death of Bagrat the Simple (994). Through his fortunate bloodlines Bagrat was destined to sit upon two thrones. Furthermore, through his mother Gurandukht, sister of the childless Abkhazian king Theodosius III, Bagrat was a potential heir to the realm of Abkhazia. Three years later, after the death of Theodosius III, Bagrat III inherited the Abkhazian throne. In 1008, Gurgen died, and Bagrat succeeded him as "King of the Iberians", becoming thus the first King of a unified realm of Abkhazia and Iberia. After he had secured his patrimony, Bagrat proceeded to press a claim to the easternmost Georgian kingdom of Kakheti-Hereti and annexed it in or around 1010, after two years of fighting and aggressive diplomacy. Bagrat's reign, a period of uttermost importance in the history of Georgia, brought about the final victory of the Georgian Bagratids in the centuries-long power struggles. Anxious to create more stable and centralized monarchy, Bagrat eliminated or at least diminished the autonomy of the dynastic princes. In his eyes, the most possible internal danger came from the Klarjeti line of the Bagrationi. Although seem to have acknowledged Bagrat's authority, they continued to be styled as Kings, and Sovereigns of Klarjeti. To secure the succession to his son, George I, Bagrat lured his cousins, on pretext of a reconciliatory meeting, to the Panaskerti Castle, and threw them in prison in 1010. Bagrat's foreign policy was generally peaceful and the king successfully manoeuvred to avoid the conflicts with both the Byzantine and Muslim neighbours even though David's domains of Tao remained in the Byzantine and Tbilisi in the Arab hands.
Between Seljuqs and Byzantines.
The major political and military event during George I’s reign, a war against the Byzantine Empire, had its roots back to the 990s, when the Georgian prince Curopalate David of Tao, following his abortive rebellion against Emperor Basil II, had to agree to cede his extensive possessions in Tao and the neighbouring lands to the emperor on his death. All the efforts by David’s stepson and George’s father, Bagrat III, to prevent these territories from being annexed to the empire went in vain. Young and ambitious, George launched a campaign to restore the Kuropalates’ succession to Georgia and occupied Tao in 1015–1016. Byzantines were at that time involved in a relentless war with the Bulgarian Empire, limiting their actions to the west. But as soon as Bulgaria was conquered, Basil II led his army against Georgia (1021). An exhausting war lasted for two years, and ended in a decisive Byzantine victory, forcing George to agree to a peace treaty, in which he had not only to abandon his claims to Tao, but to surrender several of his southwestern possessions to Basil, and to give his three-year-old son, Bagrat IV, as hostage.
The young child Bagrat IV spent the next three years in the imperial capital of Constantinople and was released in 1025. After George I's death in 1027, Bagrat, aged eight, succeeded to the throne. By the time Bagrat IV became king, the Bagratids’ drive to complete the unification of all Georgian lands had gained irreversible momentum. The kings of Georgia sat at Kutaisi in western Georgia from which they ran all of what had been the Kingdom of Abkhazia and a greater portion of Iberia; Tao had been lost to the Byzantines while a Muslim emir remained in Tbilisi and the kings of Kakheti-Hereti obstinately defended their autonomy in easternmost Georgia. Furthermore, the loyalty of great nobles to the Georgian crown was far from stable. During Bagrat's minority, the regency had advanced the positions of the high nobility whose influence he subsequently tried to limit when he assumed full ruling powers. Simultaneously, the Georgian crown was confronted with two formidable external foes: the Byzantine Empire and the resurgent Seljuq Turks.
The Seljuk threat prompted the Georgian and Byzantine governments to seek a closer cooperation. To secure the alliance, Bagrat's daughter Mart’a (Maria) married, at some point between 1066 and 1071, the Byzantine co-emperor Michael VII Ducas.
Great Seljuk invasion.
The second half of the 11th century was marked by the strategically significant invasion of the Seljuq Turks, who by the end of the 1040s had succeeded in building a vast empire including most of Central Asia and Persia. The Seljuqs made their first appearances in Georgia in the 1060s, when the sultan Alp Arslan laid waste to the south-western provinces of the Georgian kingdom and reduced Kakheti. These intruders were part of the same wave of the Turkish movement which inflicted a crushing defeat on the Byzantine army at Manzikert in 1071. Although the Georgians were able to recover from Alp Arslan's invasion by securing the Tao (Theme of Iberia), a frontier region which had been a bone of contention between Georgia and the Byzantine Empire, the Byzantine withdrawal from Anatolia brought them in more direct contact with the Seljuqs. Following the 1073 devastation of Kartli by the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan, George II successfully repelled an invasion. In 1076, the Seljuk sultan Malik Shah I surged into Georgia and reduced many settlements to ruins. Harassed by the massive Turkic influx, known in Georgian history as the Great Turkish Invasion, from 1079/80 onward, George was pressured into submitting to Malik-Shah to ensure a precious degree of peace at the price of an annual tribute.
King David IV the Builder and Georgian Reconquista.
The struggle against the Seljuq invaders in Georgia was led by the young King David IV of the Bagrationi royal family, who inherited the throne in 1089 at the age of 16 after the abdication of his father George II Bagrationi. Soon after coming to power, David created the regular army and peasant militia in order to be able to resist Seljuq colonization of his country. The First Crusade (1096–1099) and the Crusaders' offensive against the Seljuq Turks in Anatolia and Syria favored David's successful campaigns in Georgia. By the end of 1099 David had stopped paying tribute to the Seljuqs and had liberated most of the Georgian lands, with the exception of Tbilisi and Hereti. In 1103 he reorganized the Georgian Orthodox Church and closely linked it with the state by appointing as Catholicos (Archbishop) a Crown Chancellor (Mtsihnobart Ukhutsesi) of Georgia. In 1103–1105 the Georgian army took over Hereti and made successful raids into still Seljuq-controlled Shirvan. Between 1110 and 1118 David took Lori, Samshvilde, Rustavi and other fortresses of lower Kartli and Tashiri, thus turning Tbilisi into an isolated Seljuq enclave.
In 1118–1119, having considerable amounts of free, unsettled land as a result of the withdrawal of Turkish nomads, and desperately needing qualified manpower for the army, King David invited some 40,000 Kipchak warriors from North Caucasus to settle in Georgia with their families. In 1120 the ruler of Alania recognized himself as King David's vassal and afterwards sent thousands of Alans to cross the main Caucasus range into Georgia, where they settled in Kartli. The Georgian Royal army also welcomed mercenaries from Germany, Italy, and Scandinavia (all those westerners were defined in Georgia as "the Franks") as well as from Kievan Rus.
In 1121, the Seljuq Sultan Mahmud declared Jihad on Georgia and sent a strong army under one of his famous generals Ilghazi to fight the Georgians. Although significantly outnumbered by the Turks, the Georgians managed to defeat the invaders at the Battle of Didgori, and in 1122 they took over Tbilisi, making it Georgia's capital. Three years later the Georgians conquered Shirvan. As a result, the mostly Christian-populated Ghishi-Kabala area in western Shirvan (a relic of the once prosperous Albanian Kingdom) was annexed by Georgia while the rest of already Islamicized Shirvan became Georgia's client-state. In the same year a large portion of Armenia was liberated by David's troops and fell into Georgian hands as well. Thus in 1124 David also became the King of Armenians, incorporating Northern Armenia into the lands of the Georgian Crown. In 1125 King David died, leaving Georgia with the status of a strong regional power. In Georgia, King David is called Agmashenebeli (English: the builder).
David Agmashenebeli's successors (Kings Demeter I, David V and George III) continued the policy of Georgia's expansion by subordinating most of the mountain clans and tribes of North Caucasia and further securing Georgian positions in Shirvan. However, the most glorious sovereign of Georgia of that period was Queen Tamar (David's great-granddaughter).
Queen Tamar the Great and the Golden Age (1184–1213).
The reign of Queen Tamar represented the peak of Georgia's might in the whole history of the nation. In 1194–1204, Tamar's armies crushed new Turkish invasions from the south-east and south and launched several successful campaigns into Turkish-controlled Southern Armenia. As a result, most of Southern Armenia, including the cities of Karin, Erzinjan, Khelat, Muş and Van, came under Georgian control. Although it was not included in the lands of the Georgian Crown, and was left under the nominal rule of local Turkish Emirs and Sultans, Southern Armenia became a protectorate of the Kingdom of Georgia.
The temporary fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1204 to the Crusaders left Georgia and Bulgarian Empire as the strongest Christian states in the whole East Mediterranean area. The same year Queen Tamar sent her troops to take over the former Byzantine Lazona and Paryadria with the cities of Atina, Riza, Trebizond, Kerasunt, Amysos, Cotyora, Heraclea and Sinopa. In 1205, the occupied territory was transformed into the Empire of Trebizond, which was dependent on Georgia. Tamar's relative Prince Alexios Komnenos was crowned as its Emperor. In the immediate years after, Georgian armies invaded northern Persia (modern day Iranian Azerbaijan) and took the cities of Marand, Tabriz (1208), Ardabil (1208), Zanjan, Khoy (1210), and Qazvin (1210), placing part of the conquered territory under a Georgian protectorate. This was the maximum territorial extent of Georgia throughout her history. Queen Tamar was addressed as "The Queen of Abkhazians, Kartvels, Rans, Kakhs and Armenians, Shirvan-Shakhine and Shakh-in-Shakhine, The Sovereign of the East and West". Georgian historians often refer to her as "Queen Tamar the Great".
The period between the early 12th and the early 13th centuries, and especially the era of Tamar the Great, can truly be considered as the golden age of Georgia. Besides the political and military achievements, it was marked by the development of Georgian culture, including architecture, literature, philosophy and sciences.
Mongol invasion and decline of the Georgian Kingdom.
In 1225 Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, the ruler of Khwarezmian Empire, attacked Georgia, defeating its forces in the battle of Garni, and conquered Tbilisi., after which allegedly a hundred thousand citizens were put to death for not renouncing Christianity.
In the 1220s, the South Caucasus and Asia Minor faced the invasion of the Mongols. In spite of fierce resistance by Georgian-Armenian forces and their allies, the whole area including most of Georgia, all Armenian lands and Central Anatolia eventually fell to the Mongols.
In 1243, Queen Rusudan of Georgia signed a peace treaty with the Mongols in accordance with which Georgia lost her client-states, ceded western Shirvan, Nakhichevan and some other territories and agreed to pay tribute to the Mongols as well as to let them occupy and de facto rule more than half of the remaining territory. Although Mongol-occupied Tbilisi remained an official capital of the kingdom, the Queen refused to return there and stayed in Kutaisi until her death in 1245. In addition to all the above hardships, even the part of the kingdom that remained free of the Mongols started disintegrating: The Crown started losing control over the warlords of Samtskhe (southern provinces of Georgia) who established their own relations with the Mongols and by the year 1266 practically seceded from Georgia.
The period between 1259 and 1330 was marked by the struggle of the Georgians against the Mongol Ilkhanate for full independence. The first anti-Mongol uprising started in 1259 under the leadership of King David Narin who in fact waged his war for almost thirty years. The Anti-Mongol strife went on under the Kings Demeter II (1270–1289) and David VIII (1293–1311). Finally, it was King George the Brilliant (1314–1346) who managed to play on the decline of the Ilkhanate, stopped paying tribute to the Mongols, restored the pre-1220 state borders of Georgia, and returned the Empire of Trebizond into Georgia's sphere of influence.
In 1386–1403, the Kingdom of Georgia faced eight Turco-Mongolic invasions under the leadership of Tamerlane. Except in Abkhazia and Svaneti, the invasions devastated Georgia's economy, population, and urban centers.
Early modern period.
Ottoman and Iranian domination.
In the 15th century the whole area changed dramatically in all possible aspects: linguistic, cultural, political, etc. During that period the Kingdom of Georgia turned into an isolated, fractured Christian enclave, a relic of the faded East Roman epoch surrounded by a Muslim, predominantly Turco-Iranian world. During the three subsequent centuries, the Georgian rulers maintained their perilous autonomy as subjects under the Turkish Ottoman and Iranian Safavid, Afsharid, and Qajar domination, although sometimes serving as little more than puppets in the hands of their powerful suzerains.
By the middle of the 15th century, most of Georgia's old neighbor-states disappeared from the map within less than a hundred years. The fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 sealed the Black Sea and cut the remnants of Christian states of the area from Europe and the rest of the Christian world. Georgia remained connected to the West through contact with the Genoese colonies of the Crimea.
As a result of these changes, the Georgian Kingdom suffered economic and political decline and in the 1460s the kingdom fractured into several kingdoms and principalities:
By the late 15th century the Ottoman Empire was encroaching on the Georgian states from the west and in 1501 a new Muslim power, Safavid Iran, arose to the east. For the next few centuries, Georgia would become a battleground between these two great rival powers and the Georgian states would struggle to maintain their independence by various means. Ottoman and Safavid Iranian encroachments started for the Ottomans in the late 15th century, and for the Safavids in the earliest 16th century in which the latter managed to make eastern Georgia a vassal in 1500. In 1555, the Ottomans and the Safavids signed the Peace of Amasya following the Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–55), defining spheres of influence in Georgia, assigning Imereti in the west to the Turks and Kartli-Kakheti in the east to the Persians. The treaty however, was not in force for long as the Ottomans gained the upper hand and launched campaigns during the next Ottoman-Safavid war threatening to end the Persian domination in the region. The Safavid Persians reestablished their hegemony over all lost regions some two decades later including full hegemony over most of Georgia in the Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–18).
After the Ottomans utter failure to gain permanent foothold in the eastern Caucasus,
Iranians immediately sought to strengthen their position and finally subject the rebellious Kingdoms of Eastern Georgia and making them integral parts of the empire. During the next 150 years as Persian subjects, various Georgian kings and nobles rose into rebellion, while at many other times political activity was nothing but dormant, and many kings and aristocrats fully accepted Persian overlordship and converted to Islam as well, for greater boons from their Iranian Shahs. On the maternal side of the Safavid (also Qajar) and the Ottoman Turkish dynasty, many members were from Georgian aristocratic or different lines. In the early 17th century Shah Abbas I made a punitive campaign into his Georgian territories after being informed that Teimuraz I of Kakheti with a couple of Christian citizens assaulted the Karabakh governor and killed him. Shah Abbas decided to confront him but Teimuraz I fled to Georgia towards Ahmed I, in order to shelter from Safavid forces. This event brought an end to the Treaty of Nasuh Pasha signed between the Ottomans and the Safavids. In 1616, Abbas I dispatched his troops to Georgia. He aimed to suppress the Georgian revolt in Tbilisi, however the Safavid soldiers met heavy resistance by the citizens of Tbilisi. Enraged, Shah Abbas ordered a massacre of the public. A large number of Georgian soldiers and people were killed and as many as between 130,000 and 200,000
 Georgians from Kakheti were deported to Persia. During the same conflict, Teimuraz sent the Queen mother, Ketevan, as a negotiator to Abbas, but in an act of revenge for the recalcitrance of Teimuraz, he ordered the queen to renounce Christianity, and upon her refusal, had her tortured to death. By the 17th century, both eastern and western Georgia had sunk into poverty as the result of the constant warfare. The economy was so bad that barter replaced the use of money and the populations of the cities declined markedly. The French traveller Jean Chardin, who visited the region of Mingrelia in 1671, noted the wretchedness of the peasants, the arrogance of the nobles and the ignorance of the clergy. The various rulers in Georgia were thus often split between acknowledging Ottoman or Iranian overlordship (which often entailed nominal conversion to Islam) or making a bid for independence. The emergence of a third imperial power to the north, Christian Russia, made the latter an increasingly tempting choice.
The 18th and 19th century: from a mainly Iranian-centred theatre to Russian annexation.
In the early 18th century, Kartli, the most politically dominant region of all Georgian areas, saw a partial recovery under Vakhtang VI, who instituted a new law code and tried to improve the economy. His reign saw the establishment of the first Georgian-language printing press in 1709.
Following a civil war and the resulting chaos that happened in the whole Safavid Empire after its disintegration and overthrow, the Ottomans and Russians decided to divide large parts of Persia in the Treaty of Constantinople (1724). Georgia got divided by the two. Following Persia's quick resurgence under Nader Shah of Iran, the Ottomans were ousted from Kakheti and the rest of Georgia in 1735 by Nader after two years of rule, which resulted in the quick reestablishment of Persian rule over this time almost all of Georgia. Teimuraz sided with the Persians and was installed as a Persian wali (governor) in neighboring Kartli. However, many Georgian nobles refused to accept the new regime and rose in rebellion in response to heavy tribute levied by Nader Shah upon the Georgian provinces. Nonetheless, Teimuraz and Heraclius remained loyal to the shah, partly in order to prevent the comeback of the rival Mukhrani branch, whose fall early in the 1720s had opened the way to Teimuraz's accession in Kartli. He then served as a lieutenant to his father and assumed the regency when Teimuraz was briefly summoned for consultations in the Persian capital of Isfahan in 1744. In the meantime, Heraclius defeated a coup attempt by the rival Georgian prince Abdullah Beg of the Mukhrani dynasty, and helped Teimuraz suppress the aristocratic opposition to the Persian hegemony led by Givi Amilakhvari. As a reward, Nader Shah granted the kingship of Kartli to Teimuraz and of Kakheti to Heraclius, and also arranged the marriage of his nephew Ali-Qoli Khan, who eventually would succeed him as Adil Shah, to Teimuraz's daughter Kethevan.
Yet, both Georgian kingdoms remained under heavy Persian tribute until Nader Shah was assassinated in 1747. Teimuraz and Heraclius took advantage of the ensuing political instability in Persia to assert their independence and expelled Persian garrisons from all key positions in Georgia, including Tbilisi. In close cooperation with each other, they managed to prevent a new revolt by the Mukhranian supporters fomented by Ebrahim Khan, brother of Adel Shah, in 1748. They concluded an anti-Persian alliance with the khans of Azerbaijan who were particularly vulnerable to the aggression from Persian warlords and agreed to recognize Heraclius's supremacy in eastern Transcaucasia. In 1752, the Georgian kings sent a mission to Russia to request 3,000 Russian troops or a subsidy to enable them to hire Circassian mercenaries in order to invade Persia and install a pro-Russian government there. The embassy failed to yield any results, however, for the Russian court was preoccupied with European affairs.
In 1762, Teimuraz II died while on a diplomatic mission to the court of St. Petersburg, and Heraclius succeeded him as King of Kartli, thus uniting eastern Georgia politically for the first time in three centuries. Erekle II, king of unified Kartli-Kakheti from 1762 to 1798, managed to unify east Georgia politically for the first time in three centuries. He turned towards Russia for protection against Ottoman and most notably Persian attacks. The Russian empress Catherine the Great was keen to have the Georgians as allies in her wars against the Turks, but sent only meagre forces to help them. In 1769–1772, a handful of Russian troops under General Gottlieb Heinrich Totleben fought against Turks in Imereti. The Russian troops retreated before a clash against the Turks. In 1783 Erekle signed the Treaty of Georgievsk with Russia, according to which Kartli-Kakheti got established as a protectorate of Russia, which guaranteed Georgia's territorial integrity and the continuation of its reigning Bagrationi dynasty in return for prerogatives in the conduct of Georgian foreign affairs. The treaty therefore confirmed that Georgia abjured any form of dependence on Persia (who had been the suzerains of most of Georgia for centuries) or another power, and every new Georgian monarch would require the confirmation and investiture of the Russian tsar, and have no diplomatic communications with other nations without Russia's prior consent. But when another Russo-Turkish War broke out in 1787, Erekle maintained diplomatic contacts with Ottoman liege Suleiman pasha from Akhaltsikhe and signed a separate treaty with him. This treaty was ratified by the sultan in the summer of 1787. Therefore, the Russians withdrew their troops from the region for use elsewhere, leaving Erekle's kingdom unprotected. In 1795, the new Persian shah, Agha Mohammed Khan, infuriated with the Treaty of Georgievsk which he saw as an act of treason, invaded the country and captured and burnt the capital, Tbilisi, to the ground, reestablishing Persian rule over Georgia.
In spite of failure to honour the terms of the Treaty of Georgievsk, Georgian rulers felt they had nobody else to turn to. After Erekle's death, a civil war broke out over the succession to the throne of Kartli-Kakheti and one of the rival candidates called on Russia to intervene and decide matters. On January 8, 1801, Tsar Paul I of Russia signed a decree on the incorporation of Georgia (Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti) within the Russian Empire, which was confirmed by Tsar Alexander I on September 12, 1801. The Georgian envoy in Saint Petersburg, Garsevan Chavchavadze, reacted with a note of protest that was presented to the Russian vice-chancellor Alexander Kurakin. In May 1801 Russian General Carl Heinrich Knorring dethroned the Georgian heir to the throne David Batonishvili and deployed a government headed by General Ivan Petrovich Lasarev. By this, Persia officially lost control over the city and the wider Georgian lands it had been ruling for centuries.
A part of the Georgian nobility did not accept the decree until April 1802 when General Knorring compassed the nobility in Tbilisi's Sioni Cathedral and forced them to take an oath on the imperial crown of Russia. Those who disagreed were arrested temporarily.
In the summer of 1805 Russian troops on the river Askerani and near Zagam defeated the Qajar Persian army during the Russo-Persian War (1804-1813) led by Fath-Ali Shah Qajar who sought to regain full control over Georgia and Dagestan, saving Tbilisi from its attack. Russian suzerainty over Persia's traditionally eastern and southern Georgian ruled territories were nominally finalized in 1813 in the Treaty of Gulistan. In 1810, the kingdom of Imereti (Western Georgia) was annexed by the Russian Empire after the suppression of King Solomon II's resistance. From 1803 to 1878, as a result of numerous Russian wars against Turkey and Persia, several formerly Georgian territories were annexed to the Russian Empire. These areas (Batumi, Artvin, Akhaltsikhe, Poti, and Abkhazia) now represent the majority of the territory of the present state of Georgia. Georgia was reunified for the first time in centuries but had lost its independence.
Modern history.
Russian Empire.
The Russian and Georgian societies had much in common: the main religion was Orthodox Christianity and in both countries a land-owning aristocracy ruled over a population of serfs. The Russian authorities aimed to integrate Georgia into the rest of their empire, but at first Russian rule proved high-handed, arbitrary and insensitive to local law and customs, leading to a conspiracy by Georgian nobles in 1832 and a revolt by peasants and nobles in Guria in 1841. Things changed with the appointment of Mikhail Vorontsov as Viceroy of the Caucasus in 1845. Count Vorontsov's new policies, alleged by himself, won over the Georgian nobility, who became increasingly eager to abandon Islamic influences that had been forced upon Georgia in the preceding centuries and pursued, after the example of Russian nobility, a long-sought process of Europeanisation. Life for Georgian serfs was very different, however, since the rural economy remained seriously depressed. Georgian serfs lived in dire poverty, subject to the frequent threat of starvation. Few of them lived in the towns, where what little trade and industry there was, was in the hands of Armenians, whose ancestors had migrated to Georgia in the Middle Ages.
Serfdom was abolished in Russian lands in 1861. The tsar also wanted to emancipate the serfs of Georgia, but without losing the loyalty of the nobility whose revenues depended on peasant labour. This called for delicate negotiations before serfdom was gradually phased out in the Georgian provinces from 1864 onwards.
Growth of the national movement.
The emancipation of the serfs pleased neither the serfs nor the nobles. The poverty of the serfs had not been alleviated while the nobles had lost some of their privileges. The nobles in particular also felt threatened by the growing power of the urban, Armenian middle class in Georgia, who prospered as capitalism came to the region. Georgian dissatisfaction with Tsarist autocracy and Armenian economic domination led to the development of a national liberation movement in the second half of the 19th century.
A large-scale peasant revolt occurred in 1905, which led to political reforms that eased the tensions for a period. During this time, the Marxist Social Democratic Party became the dominant political movement in Georgia, being elected to all the Georgian seats in the Russian State Duma established after 1905. Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili (more famously known as Joseph Stalin), a Georgian Bolshevik, became a leader of the revolutionary (and anti-Menshevik) movement in Georgia. He went on to control the Soviet Union.
Many Georgians were upset by the loss of independence of the Georgian Orthodox Church. The Russian clergy took control of Georgian churches and monasteries, prohibiting use of the Georgian liturgy and desecrating medieval Georgian frescos on various churches all across Georgia.
Between the years of 1855 to 1907, the Georgian patriotic movement was launched under the leadership of Prince Ilia Chavchavadze, world-renowned poet, novelist and orator. Chavchavadze financed new Georgian schools and supported the Georgian national theatre. In 1866 he launched the newspaper "Iveria", which played an important part in reviving Georgian national consciousness. His struggle for national awakening was welcomed by the leading Georgian intellectuals of that time such as Giorgi Tsereteli, Ivane Machabeli, Akaki Tsereteli, Niko Nikoladze, Alexander Kazbegi and Iakob Gogebashvili.
The Georgian intelligentsia's support for Prince Chavchavadze and Georgian independence is shown in this declaration:
The last decades of the 19th century witnessed a Georgian literary revival in which writers emerged of a stature unequalled since the Golden Age of Rustaveli seven hundred years before. Ilia Chavchavadze himself excelled alike in lyric and ballad poetry, in the novel, the short story and the essay. Apart from Chavchavadze, the most universal literary genius of the age was Akaki Tsereteli, known as "the immortal nightingale of the Georgian people." Along with Niko Nikoladze and Iakob Gogebashvili, these literary figures contributed significantly to the national cultural revival and were therefore known as the founding fathers of modern Georgia.
Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918–1921).
The Russian Revolution of October 1917 plunged Russia into a bloody civil war during which several outlying Russian territories declared independence. Georgia was one of them, proclaiming the establishment of the independent Democratic Republic of Georgia (DRG) on May 26, 1918. The new country was ruled by the Menshevik faction of the Social Democratic Party, which established a multi-party system in sharp contrast with the "dictatorship of the proletariat" established by the Bolsheviks in Russia. It was recognised by Soviet Russia (Treaty of Moscow (1920)) and the major Western powers in 1921
Georgian–Armenian War (1918).
During the final stages of World War I, the Armenians and Georgians had been defending against the advance of the Ottoman Empire. In June 1918, in order to forestall an Ottoman advance on Tiflis, the Georgian troops controlled the Lori Province, which had an overwhelming Armenian population. After the Armistice of Mudros and the withdrawal of the Ottomans, the Georgian forces remained. Georgian Menshevik parliamentarian Irakli Tsereteli offered that the Armenians would be safer from the Turks as Georgian citizens. The Georgians offered a quadripartite conference including Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus in order to resolve the issue, which the Armenians rejected. In December 1918, the Georgians were confronting a rebellion chiefly in the village of Uzunlar in the Lori region. Within days, hostilities commenced between the two republics.
The Georgian–Armenian War was a border war fought in 1918 between the Democratic Republic of Georgia and the Democratic Republic of Armenia over the parts of then disputed provinces of Lori, Javakheti but were largely populated by Armenians.
Red Army invasion (1921).
In February 1921, the Red Army invaded Georgia and after a short war occupied the country. The Georgian government was forced to flee. Guerrilla resistance in 1921–1924 was followed by a large-scale patriotic uprising in August 1924. Colonel Kakutsa Cholokashvili was one of the most prominent guerrilla leaders in this phase.
Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (1921–1990).
During the Georgian Affair of 1922, Georgia was forcibly incorporated into the Transcaucasian SFSR comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia (including Abkhazia and South Ossetia). The Soviet Government forced Georgia to cede several areas to Turkey (the province of Tao-Klarjeti and part of Batumi province), Azerbaijan (the province of Hereti/Saingilo), Armenia (the Lore region) and Russia (northeastern corner of Khevi, eastern Georgia). Soviet rule was harsh: about 50,000 people were executed and killed in 1921–1924, more than 150,000 were purged under Stalin and his secret police chief, the Georgian Lavrenty Beria in 1935–1938, 1942 and 1945–1951. In 1936, the TFSSR was dissolved and Georgia became the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic.
Reaching the Caucasus oilfields was one of the main objectives of Adolf Hitler's invasion of the USSR in June 1941, but the armies of the Axis powers did not get as far as Georgia. The country contributed almost 700,000 fighters (350,000 were killed) to the Red Army, and was a vital source of textiles and munitions. However, a number of Georgians fought on the side of the German armed forces, forming the Georgian Legion.
During this period Stalin ordered the deportation of the Chechen, Ingush, Karachay and the Balkarian peoples from the Northern Caucasus; they were transported to Siberia and Central Asia for alleged collaboration with the Nazis. He abolished their respective autonomous republics. The Georgian SSR was briefly granted some of their territory until 1957.
Stalin's successful appeal for patriotic unity eclipsed Georgian nationalism during the war and diffused it in the years following. On March 9, 1956, about a hundred Georgian students were killed when they demonstrated against Nikita Khrushchev's policy of de-Stalinization.
The decentralisation program introduced by Khrushchev in the mid-1950s was soon exploited by Georgian Communist Party officials to build their own regional power base. A thriving pseudo-capitalist shadow economy emerged alongside the official state-owned economy. While the official growth rate of the economy of the Georgia was among the lowest in the USSR, such indicators as savings level, rates of car and house ownership were the highest in the Union, making Georgia one of the most economically successful Soviet republics. Corruption was at a high level. Among all the union republics, Georgia had the highest number of residents with high or special secondary education.
Although corruption was hardly unknown in the Soviet Union, it became so widespread and blatant in Georgia that it came to be an embarrassment to the authorities in Moscow. Eduard Shevardnadze, the country's interior minister between 1964 and 1972, gained a reputation as a fighter of corruption and engineered the removal of Vasil Mzhavanadze, the corrupt First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party. Shevardnadze ascended to the post of First Secretary with the blessings of Moscow. He was an effective and able ruler of Georgia from 1972 to 1985, improving the official economy and dismissing hundreds of corrupt officials.
Soviet power and Georgian nationalism clashed in 1978 when Moscow ordered revision of the constitutional status of the Georgian language as Georgia's official state language. Bowing to pressure from mass street demonstrations on April 14, 1978, Moscow approved Shevardnadze's reinstatement of the constitutional guarantee the same year. April 14 was established as a Day of the Georgian Language.
Shevardnadze's appointment as Soviet Foreign Minister in 1985 brought his replacement in Georgia by Jumber Patiashvili, a conservative and generally ineffective Communist who coped poorly with the challenges of perestroika. Towards the end of the late 1980s, increasingly violent clashes occurred between the Communist authorities, the resurgent Georgian nationalist movement and nationalist movements in Georgia's minority-populated regions (notably South Ossetia). On April 9, 1989, Soviet troops were used to break up a peaceful demonstration at the government building in Tbilisi. Twenty Georgians were killed and hundreds wounded and poisoned. The event radicalised Georgian politics, prompting many—even some Georgian communists—to conclude that independence was preferable to continued Soviet rule.
Independent Georgia.
Gamsakhurdia presidency (1991–1992).
Opposition pressure on the communist government was manifested in popular demonstrations and strikes, which ultimately resulted in an open, multiparty and democratic parliamentary election being held on 28 October 1990 in which the Round Table/Free Georgia bloc captured 54 percent of the proportional vote to gain 155 seats out of the 250 up for election, while the communists gained 64 seats and 30 percent of the proportional vote. The leading dissident Zviad Gamsakhurdia became the head of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia. On March 31, 1991, Gamsakhurdia wasted no time in organising a referendum on independence, which was approved by 98.9% of the votes. Formal independence from the Soviet Union was declared on April 9, 1991, although it took some time before it was widely recognised by outside powers such as the United States and European countries. Gamsakhurdia's government strongly opposed any vestiges of Russian dominance, such as the remaining Soviet military bases in the republic, and (after the dissolution of the Soviet Union) his government declined to join the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
Gamsakhurdia was elected president on May 26, 1991, with 86% of the vote. He was subsequently widely criticised for what was perceived to be an erratic and authoritarian style of government, with nationalists and reformists joining forces in an uneasy anti-Gamsakhurdia coalition. A tense situation was worsened by the large amount of ex-Soviet weaponry available to the quarreling parties and by the growing power of paramilitary groups. The situation came to a head on December 22, 1991, when armed opposition groups launched a violent military coup d'état, besieging Gamsakhurdia and his supporters in government buildings in central Tbilisi. Gamsakhurdia managed to evade his enemies and fled to the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya in January 1992.
Shevardnadze presidency (1992–2003).
The new government invited Eduard Shevardnadze to become the head of a State Council—in effect, president—in March 1992, putting a moderate face on the somewhat unsavoury regime that had been established following Gamsakhurdia's ouster. In August 1992, a separatist dispute in the Georgian autonomous republic of Abkhazia escalated when government forces and paramilitaries were sent into the area to quell separatist activities. The Abkhaz fought back with help from paramilitaries from Russia's North Caucasus regions and alleged covert support from Russian military stationed in a base in Gudauta, Abkhazia and in September 1993 the government forces suffered a catastrophic defeat, which led to them being driven out and the entire Georgian population of the region being expelled. Around 14,000 people died and another 300,000 were forced to flee.
Ethnic violence also flared in South Ossetia but was eventually quelled, although at the cost of several hundred casualties and 100,000 refugees fleeing into Russian North Ossetia. In south-western Georgia, the autonomous republic of Ajaria came under the control of Aslan Abashidze, who managed to rule his republic from 1991 to 2004 as a personal fiefdom in which the Tbilisi government had little influence.
On September 24, 1993, in the wake of the Abkhaz disaster, Zviad Gamsakhurdia returned from exile to organise an uprising against the government. His supporters were able to capitalise on the disarray of the government forces and quickly overran much of western Georgia. This alarmed Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and units of the Russian Army were sent into Georgia to assist the government. Gamsakhurdia's rebellion quickly collapsed and he died on December 31, 1993, apparently after being cornered by his enemies. In a highly controversial agreement, Shevardnadze's government agreed that it would join the CIS as part of the price for military and political support.
Shevardnadze narrowly survived a bomb attack in August 1995 that he blamed on his erstwhile paramilitary allies. He took the opportunity to imprison the paramilitary leader Jaba Ioseliani and ban his Mkhedrioni militia in what was proclaimed as a strike against "mafia forces". However, his government—and his own family—became increasingly associated with pervasive corruption that hampered Georgia's economic growth. He won presidential elections in November 1995 and April 2000 with large majorities, but there were persistent allegations of vote-rigging.
The war in Chechnya caused considerable friction with Russia, which accused Georgia of harbouring Chechen guerrillas. Further friction was caused by Shevardnadze's close relationship with the United States, which saw him as a counterbalance to Russian influence in the strategic Transcaucasus region. Georgia became a major recipient of US foreign and military aid, signed a strategic partnership with NATO and declared an ambition to join both NATO and the EU. In 2002, the United States sent hundreds of Special Operations Forces to train the Military of Georgia—a programme known as the Georgia Train and Equip Program. Perhaps most significantly, the country secured a $3 billion project for a Caspian-Mediterranean pipeline (Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan pipeline)
A powerful coalition of reformists headed by Mikheil Saakashvili and Zurab Zhvania united to oppose Shevardnadze's government in the November 2, 2003 parliamentary elections. The elections were widely regarded as blatantly rigged, including by OSCE observers; in response, the opposition organised massive demonstrations in the streets of Tbilisi. After two tense weeks, Shevardnadze resigned on November 23, 2003, and was replaced as president on an interim basis by Burjanadze.
These results were annulled by the Georgia Supreme Court after the Rose Revolution on November 25, 2003, following allegations of widespread electoral fraud and large public protests, which led to the resignation of Shevardnadze.
Saakashvili presidency (2004–2013).
A new election was held on March 28, 2004. The National Movement – Democrats (NMD), the party supporting Mikheil Saakashvili, won 67% of the vote; only the Rightist Opposition (7.6%) also gained parliamentary representation passing the 7% threshold.
On January 4, Mikheil Saakashvili won the Georgian presidential election, 2004 with an overwhelming majority of 96% of the votes cast. Constitutional amendments were rushed through Parliament in February strengthening the powers of the President to dismiss Parliament and creating the post of Prime Minister. Zurab Zhvania was appointed Prime Minister. Nino Burjanadze, the interim President, became Speaker of Parliament.
The new president faced many problems on coming to office. More than 230,000 internally displaced persons put an enormous strain on the economy. Peace in the separatist areas of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, overseen by Russian and United Nations peacekeepers in the framework of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, remained fragile.
The Rose Revolution raised many expectations, both domestically and abroad. The new government was expected to bring democracy, ending a period of widespread corruption and government inefficiency; and to complete state-building by re-asserting sovereignty over the whole Georgian territory. Both aims were very ambitious; the new ruling elite initiated a process of concentration of power in the hands of the executive, in order to use the revolutionary mandate to change the country. In fact, the Saakashvili government initially achieved impressive results in strengthening the capacity of the state and toppling corruption. Georgia's ranking in the Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International improved dramatically from rank 133 in 2004 to 67 in 2008 and to 51 in 2012, surpassing several EU countries. But such achievements could only result from the use of unilateral executive powers, failing to achieve consent and initiating a trade-off between democracy-building and state-building.
After the Rose Revolution, relations between the Georgian government and semi-separatist Ajarian leader Aslan Abashidze deteriorated rapidly, with Abashidze rejecting Saakashvili's demands for the writ of the Tbilisi government to run in Ajaria. Both sides mobilised forces in apparent preparations for a military confrontation. Saakashvili's ultimatums and massive street demonstrations forced Abashidze to resign and flee Georgia (2004 Adjara crisis).
Relations with Russia remained problematic due to Russia's continuing political, economic and military support to separatist governments in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russian troops still remained garrisoned at two military bases and as peacekeepers in these regions. Saakashvili's public pledge to resolve the matter provoked criticism from the separatist regions and Russia. In August 2004, several clashes occurred in South Ossetia.
On October 29, 2004, the North Atlantic Council (NAC) of NATO approved the Individual Partnership Action Plan of Georgia (IPAP), making Georgia the first among NATO's partner countries to manage this task successfully.
Georgia supported the coalition forces in Iraq War. On November 8, 2004, 300 extra Georgian troops were sent to Iraq. The Georgian government committed to send a total of 850 troops to Iraq to serve in the protection forces of the UN Mission. Along with increasing Georgian troops in Iraq, the US will train additional 4 thousand Georgian soldiers within frames of the Georgia Train-and-Equip Program (GTEP).
In February 2005 Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania died, and Zurab Nogaideli was appointed as the new Prime Minister. Saakashvili remained under significant pressure to deliver on his promised reforms. Organisations such as Amnesty International have pushed serious concerns over human rights. Discontent over unemployment, pensions and corruption, and the continuing dispute over Abkhazia, have greatly diminished Saakashvili's popularity in the country.
In 2006 Georgia's relationship with Russia was at nadir due to the Georgian–Russian espionage controversy and related events. In 2007, a political crisis led to serious anti-government protests, and Russia allegedly led a series of airspace violations against Georgia.
Since the weakening of the democratic credentials of the Saakashvili cabinet after the police crackdown of the 2007 protests, the government has put the stress on his successful economic reforms. Kakha Bendukidze was pivotal in the libertarian reforms launched under Saakashvili, including one of the least restrictive labour codes, the lowest flat income tax rates (12%) and some of the lowest customs rates worldwide, along with the drastic reduction of necessary licenses and permits for business. The objective of the Georgian elite switched to the aim of "a functioning democracy with the highest possible level of economic liberties", as expressed by the prime minister Lado Gurgenidze.
Saakashvili called new parliamentary and presidential elections for January 2008. In order to contest the presidential election, Saakashvili announced his resignation effective 25 November 2007, with Nino Burjanadze becoming acting president for a second time (until the election returned Saakashvili to office on 20 January 2008).
In August 2008 Russia and Georgia engaged in the 2008 South Ossetia war. Its aftermath, leading to the 2008–2010 Georgia–Russia crisis, is still tense.
In October 2011 famous georgian tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili admitted his entrance to politics of Georgia. In December he established opposition political movement Georgian Dream and announced his desire to take part in the 2012 parliamentary elections. In February 2012 they formed coalition with Republican Party of Georgia, Free Democrats, National Forum and Industry Will Save Georgia. Tensions rose during pre-election campaign, whereas many leaders of opposition were arrested. 54% of electorate voted in favor of the newly formed coalition, thus Georgia Dream obtained 65 seats in parliament.
In October 2012, Saakashvili admitted defeat for his party in parliamentary elections. In his speech he said that "the opposition has the lead and it should form the government – and I as president should help them with this". This represented the first democratic transition of power in Georgia's post-Soviet history.
Margvelashvili presidency (2013–2018).
On 17 November 2013, Giorgi Margvelashvili won the Georgian presidential election, 2013 with 62.12% of the votes cast. With this, a new constitution came into effect which devolved significant power from the President to the Prime Minister. Margvelashvili's inauguration was not attended by his predecessor Mikheil Saakashvili, who cited disrespect by the new government towards its predecessors and opponents.
Margvelashvili initially refused to move to the luxurious presidential palace built under Saakashvili in Tbilisi, opting for more modest quarters in the building of the State Chancellery until a 19th-century building once occupied by the U.S. embassy in Georgia is refurbished for him. However, he later started to occasionally use the palace for official ceremonies. This was one of the reasons for which Margvelashvili was publicly criticized, in a March 2014 interview with Imedi TV, by the ex-Prime Minister Ivanishvili, who said he was "disappointed" in Margvelashvili.


Jhusi

Jhusi or Jhunsi is a town and a gram panchayat in Allahabad district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was formerly called Andhernagri and Pratishthan Pur or Puri.
The place is also noted for being one of the Neolithic site, that provides one of the earliest evidence of farming in South Asia.
Geography.
Jhusi has an average elevation of . It is the biggest town area in Allahabad district.
Demographics.
 India census, Jhusi had a population of 33,901 including the populations of Jhusi nagar panchayat and Jhusi Kohna census town, 13,878 and 20,023 respectively.
History.
Archeological site near the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers yielded a C14 dating of 7106 BCE to 7080 for its Neolithic levels. Historically, Jhusi was known as Prathisthanpuram.
Prayag's past buried at Jhusi.
The historian Dr. D. P. states it once belonged to the rulers of Mauryan, Shunga, Kushana and Gupta period, the ancient Pratisthana has lost its identity to the modernity of Jhusi. The only evidence related to this historical fact is still visible in the shape of high mounds in Jhusi. Surprisingly, these high mounds have further added to the significance of the city as the articles excavated from here belong to the sixth century BC and antiquities belonging to five cultural phases ranging from chalcolithic to early medieval period have been found here. As per the historians and the pre NBP ware deposit the site of Kumbh Mela is marked at this place as the earliest culture represented at the site. Early layer of this deposit has yielded iron objects. Some pottery items and antiquities are similar to those found at different chalcolithic sites in UP, Bihar and Northern Vindhyas. From the pre-NBP Ware period to the Gupta period there had been continuous settlement at the site. However, there appears to be a cultural gap between the end of Gupta period and the beginning of early medieval period. "There is every likelihood that the site may show up no gap at all when excavated extensively. This possibility is based on the strategic location of the site itself which, by virtue of the same reason, would have never been abandoned after having been once occupied. The excavations in the area only hint at the above fact. The ruins of ancient Pratishthana which are represented by the high mounds of Jhunsi on the eastern bank of Ganges are spread over an area of about four square miles. Pratishthana was the most important locality of Prayag and it was founded by king Ila and was the capital of Pururavas and other kings of Lunar dynasty Kalidasa too mentions about Pratishthana in his drama Vikramor-vasiyam. He has given an imaginary account of this palace of Pururavas which was magnificent. Various myths are also associated with this site. An inscription of Trilochanapala, the Pratihara king, was discovered from the site in 1830. In his book, VN Pandey mentions that the naming of Jhunsi too has a legend associated with it. It was once ruled by Har-bonga, an imbecile and foolish king in whose reign chaos prevailed everywhere. When the cup of his inequity was full there was an upheaval on the earth and the capital Pratishthana was turned upside down, hence now known as 'Ulta Quila'.
There was a conflagration which completed the destruction of the city and the ruins went by the name of Jhulsi, a burnt town, from the Hindi root "jhulasna". It is also said that the town was destroyed in an earthquake in 1359 CE as a result of the invocations of saint Maqdoom Shah Taqiuddin, whose tomb lies on one side of the fortress. Dubey states these traditions and the etymological meaning of the name Jhusi possibly indicate to the destruction and burning of the site by the Muslim invaders in the thirteenth century C.E. He adds that traditions relating to the scattering of Brahmana and Kshatriya clans abandoning their homes in Jhusi and emigrating to distant places during the medieval period lend colour to this theory.
There is also the historical and sacred Samudrakoop here, which has its own story. "It is known as Samudrakoop since it belongs to the period of Samudragupta. In fact five such wells are found in Ujjain, Mathura, Prayag (Allahabad), Varanasi and Patalpur. It was dumped with garbage once but the efforts of a sage Dayaram brought its historical importance to limelight." Research on lost heritage of Allahabad under Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) suggests that the site is slowly losing its identity on account of continuous erosion of Ganges river. "The high mound, which belong to Kushana period, has few bricks exposed right now".


Saptari District

Saptari (), a part of Province No. 2, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. Its district headquarter is Rajbiraj. Saptari is an Outer Terai district. This district covers an area of and has a population (2011) of 639,284 which makes it the 10th most populated district of Nepal. Saptari is renowned for its agricultural output, and is bordered on the east by the massive Sapta Koshi river.
There are nine municipalities in Saptari: Dakneshwori, Rajbiraj, Bodebarsain, Hanumannagar Yoginimai, Kanchanrup, Saptakoshi, surunga, Shambhunath and Khadak. Other small towns include Mahuli, Kathauna Bazar, Pato and Itahari Bishnupur with the area government "Machha Palan Kendra" fish farming centre.
The famous Chhinnamasta temple is one of the shakti peeths and Kankalini Temple are also located in Saptari District. Saptari has highest growth in Maithili literature. Various local and national newspapers and intellectuals have requested the Nepal government act swiftly and punish all those who are involved in corruption and delay in infrastructure creation so that the work can start as soon as possible.
Temples.
Chinnamasta Bhagawati.
Chinnamasta Bhagawati (छिन्नमस्ता भगवती) is a temple of Eastern Nepal. It is situated in Chinnamasta VDC, Saptari, from Rajbiraj and also near to Indian Border. It is a main attraction for Indian pilgrims. People are likely to come here in Bada Dashain. Some thousands of goats are sacrificed here during dashain.
Shambhunath.
Shambhunath (शम्भुनाथ) is another one of the famous temples of Eastern Nepal. It is situated in Shambhunath, from Rajbiraj and also near Mahendra Highway. This temple is a main attraction for Indian pilgrims. People are likely to come here in Siruwa Mela during month of Baisakh (the first month of Bikram Sambat).
Kankalini Temple.
Kankalini Temple (कंकालिनी) is another temple situated in this district; it is located in Bhardah-1 of Hanumannagar Kankalini Municipality. This temple is main attraction for Indian pilgrims. Kankalini Temple has great religious importance. Like most of the other Shakti Peethas in Nepal, this temple, too, has a legend attached to it. According to the legend, the people settled in Bhardaha village had started to use the land for farming, however, while digging, some farmers had found a stone statue carved beautifully with the image of Goddess Durga and in that very place, this temple is said to have been built. It is believed that when a devotee worships with great devotion and true heart in the temple, their wish comes true. So, thousands of peoples from many part of the country come to this temple to worship the avatar of Goddess Durga, known famously as goddess Kankalini.
Education.
HSEB affiliated +2 colleges are:
Demographics.
At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, Saptari District had a population of 639,284. Of these, 79.1% spoke Maithili, 10.4% Tharu, 4.1% Nepali and 3.9% Urdu as their first language.
40.5% of the population in the district spoke Nepali, 5.9% Hindi, 3.0% Maithili, 1.3% Tharu and 0.9% Urdu as their second language.
Administration.
The district consists of eighteen municipalities, out of which nine are urban municipalities and nine are rural municipalities. These are as follows:
Notable persons.


Kalachuris of Ratnapura

The Kalachuris of Ratnapura were a central Indian dynasty during 11th and 12th centuries. They ruled parts of present-day Chhattisgarh from their capital at Ratnapura (modern Ratanpur in Bilaspur district). They were an offshoot of the Kalachuris of Tripuri, and ruled as vassals of the parent dynasty for many years.
History.
Several inscriptions and coins of the Ratnapura branch have been found, but these do not provide enough information to reconstruct the political history of the region with complete certainty.
According to the 1114 CE Ratanpur inscription of Jajjaladeva I, the Tripuri Kalachuri king Kokalla had 18 sons, the eldest of whom succeeded him on the throne of Tripuri. The younger ones became rulers of "mandala"s (feudatory governors). The Ratnapuri Kalachuris descended from one of these younger sons. The new branch was established by Kalingaraja around 1000 CE.
Kalingaraja conquered Dakshina Kosala region, and made Tummana his capital. His grandson Ratnaraja established Ratnapura (modern Ratanpur). The inscriptions of Kalingaraja's great-grandson Prithvideva I indicate that he Ratnapuri Kalachuris continued to rule as feudatories of the Tripuri Kalachuris.
Prithvideva's son Ratnadeva II repulsed an invasion by Anantavarman Chodaganga, the king of the Eastern Ganga dynasty.
Decline.
The last known sovereign ruler of the dynasty was Pratapa-malla. Pratapmalla continued his attempts to invade the frontiers of the Ganga territory along with his son Paramardi Dev. Anangabhima Deva III, the Eastern Ganga ruler, sent a large force under the command of his able Brahman commander, Vishnu. The two forces met face to face at the Seori Narayana village in undivided Sambalpur district on the banks of the river called Bhima near the Vindhya hills and the Kalchuris were defeated for the first time in a major way by the Gangas. The Chateswara Temple Inscription of Anangabhima mentions that Vishnu terrorized the Kalachuri king so much that the latter "perceived Vishnu every where through out his kingdom."
Pratapmalla was taken prisoner and forced to cede the Sambalpur-Sonepur-Bolangir tracts along with parts of what is now Chhattishgarh state to the Ganga kingdom. Later with the advise of his minister Vishnu, Anangabhima established a diplomatic and matrimonial alliance with the Kalachuris by offering the hand of his daughter Chandrika in marriage to the Kalachuri prince, Parmardi Dev. Once the alliance was secured, the Ganga forces multiplied in strength.
Parmardi Dev died in the final recorded battle of Narasingha Deva I's invasion of Bengal at Umurdan (Amarda in Mayurbhanj district). Paramardi Deva had led the Eastern Ganga forces with possibly the other conscript soldiers from the independent and Semi independent Hindu kingdoms in Eastern India against the Muslim rulers of Bengal under the command of his Eastern Ganga brother in law. The fate of his successors is not known.
List of rulers.
The following is a list of the Ratnapura Kalachuri rulers, with estimated period of their reigns:
Coinage.
The Kalachuri rulers of Ratnapura issued gold, silver and copper coins, which bear the issuer's name in Nagari script. The coins feature four types of design:
Hoards of their coins have been found at following places:
3 silver coins of Prithvideva were discovered from the Mahanadi riverbed near Balpur. Thousands of copper coins issued by them have also been discovered, including a hoard of 3900 copper coins at Dhanpur in Bilaspur district.
Inscriptions.
The inscriptions of the Ratnapura Kalachuri rulers have been discovered at several places in present-day Chhattisgarh:


Thulatthana of Anuradhapura

Thulatthana was an early monarch of the Kingdom of Anuradhapura, based at the ancient capital of Anuradhapura that ruled in the year 119 BC. Thulatthana was the son of Saddha Tissa and the brother of Lanja Tissa, Khallata Naga and Valagamba.


Foreign policy of Xi Jinping

The foreign policy of Xi Jinping concerns the policies of the People's Republic of China's Xi Jinping with respect to other nations. Xi succeeded as the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and became the paramount leader in 2012. Xi has reportedly taken a hard-line on security issues as well as foreign affairs, projecting a more nationalistic and assertive China on the world stage. His political program calls for a China more united and confident of its own value system and political structure.
Xi Jinping's foreign policy writ large, perceived anti-China hostility from the West amongst Chinese government officials, and shifts within the Chinese diplomatic bureaucracy have been cited as factors leading to its emergence. It is commonly known as "Wolf warrior diplomacy".
Americas.
United States.
Xi has called China–United States relations in the contemporary world a "new type of great-power relations", a phrase the Obama administration had been reluctant to embrace. Under his administration the Strategic and Economic Dialogue that began under Hu Jintao has continued. On China–U.S. relations, Xi said, "If [China and the United States] are in confrontation, it would surely spell disaster for both countries". The U.S. has been critical of Chinese actions in the South China Sea. In 2014, Chinese hackers compromised the computer system of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, resulting in the theft of approximately 22 million personnel records handled by the office.
Xi has also indirectly spoken out critically on the U.S. "strategic pivot" to Asia. Addressing a regional conference in Shanghai on 21 May 2014, he called on Asian countries to unite and forge a way together, rather than get involved with third party powers, seen as a reference to the United States. "Matters in Asia ultimately must be taken care of by Asians. Asia's problems ultimately must be resolved by Asians and Asia's security ultimately must be protected by Asians", he told the conference.
In spite of what seemed to be a tumultuous start to Xi Jinping's leadership vis-à-vis the United-States, on 13 May 2017 Xi said at the "Belt and Road Forum" in Beijing: "We should foster a new type of international relations featuring 'win-win cooperation', and we should forge a partnership of dialogue with no confrontation, and a partnership of friendship rather than alliance. All countries should respect each other's sovereignty, dignity and territorial integrity; respect each other's development path and its social systems, and respect each other's core interests and major concerns... What we hope to create is a big family of harmonious coexistence."
Asia.
Iran.
On 4 June 2019, Xi told the Russian news agency TASS that he was "worried" about the current tensions between the U.S. and Iran. He later told his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani during an SCO meeting that China would promote ties with Iran regardless of developments from the Gulf of Oman incident.
Japan.
China–Japan relations have soured under Xi's administration; the most thorny issue between the two countries remains the dispute over the Senkaku islands, which China calls Diaoyu. In response to Japan's continued robust stance on the issue, China declared an Air Defense Identification Zone in November 2013.
Korea.
Under Xi China has also taken a more critical stance on North Korea, while improving relationships with South Korea.
Starting in 2017, China's relationship with South Korea soured over the THAAD purchase of the latter while China's relations with North Korea increased because of meetings between Xi and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. At the G20 meeting in Japan, Xi called for a "timely easing" of sanctions imposed on North Korea.
Europe.
Russia.
Xi has cultivated stronger relations with Russia, particularly in the wake of the Ukraine crisis of 2014. He seems to have developed a strong personal relationship with President Vladimir Putin. Both are viewed as strong leaders with a nationalist orientation who are not afraid to assert themselves against Western interests. Xi attended the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Under Xi, China signed a $400 billion gas deal with Russia; China has also become Russia's largest trading partner.
Public opinion.
In the 2019, the Pew Research Center made a survey on attitude to Xi Jinping among six-country medians based on Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines and South Korea. The survey indicated that a median 29% have confidence in Xi Jinping to do the right thing regarding world affairs, meanwhile a median of 45% have no confidence. These number are almost same with those of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (23% confidence, 53% no confidence).


Thihathu of Pagan

Thihathu (, ; also known as Min Yin; 1230s–1256) was the crown prince of the Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1251 to 1256. The prince was the senior of the two sons of King Uzana. He was seen as an arrogant, rude prince by the court led by the Chief Minister Yazathingyan. Chronicles say that the prince once spat on Yazathingyan, someone three decades his senior. When Uzana died from a hunting accident in May 1256, Yazathingyan persuaded the court to give the throne to Narathihapate, the fallen king's only other son by a concubine. The court arrested Thihathu, and presumably put him to death.


Hejaz Railway Station

Hejaz Railway Station () is a former main railway station in central Damascus, Syria close to the Marjeh Square.
It was part of the Hejaz Railway, and there were many railway stations of the railway.
This includes 'Hejaz railway stations' at: al-Taibe, Amman, Anese, Bosra, D'ara, Derra, Djizeh, el-Akhthar, el-Ula, Haifa, Jisra, Kadem, Khamees, Makarin, Ma'an, Marfaq, Meda'in Saleh, Muazzem, Tabuk, Wadi Kelt, Wadi Rum, Zarqaa and Zat ul Hajj.
It was designed by the Spanish architect Fernando de Aranda.


Sawantwadi State

Savantvadi State, also spelt Sawantwadi ruled by the Sawant dynasty was one of the non-salute Maratha princely states during the British Raj. It was the only state belonging to the Kolaba Agency under the Bombay Presidency, which became later part of the Deccan States Agency. Its capital was at Sawantwadi, in the present-day Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra.
Sawantvadi State measured 438 square kilometers in area. According to the 1931 census, the population was 250,589. The main language of the inhabitants of the state was Marathi.
History.
Sawantwadi state was founded in 1627 by Khem Sawant I, later becoming a vassal state of the Sultanate of Bijapur. Khem Sawant II made Sundarwadi his capital which later got the name of Sawantwadi as the rulers were known as Sawants.
The Sawant dynasty, the head of the Sawantwadi State, arrived in the province in the 16th century. This dynasty ruled over South Konkan for a long time. Their career is full of bravery.
Sawants of Kudal are descendants of the Sisodia Rajput family of Udaipur (Rajasthan). These families are considered to be the kings of the Sun dynasty. According to available references these descendants of the Sisodia dynasty ruled at that time by establishing a throne at Chittod in Mewar province. Udaipur is a city in the same province.
Mang Sawant of this family was the first to come here in South Konkan. He is considered to be the progenitor of the Sawantwadi dynasty. He came to this province with the army of King of Vijayanagar.
Initially, he was stationed
at Gandharvagad in Chandgad taluka for some time. Therefore, he was also known as Chandgudhadhipati.
After coming to Konkan, he first established his stronghold at Hodawade (Tal. Vengurle). He defeated the local chiefs who had influence in the area at that time. His fame gradually spread in the province.
In 1580, Mang Sawant and Kudaldeshastha Prabhu's general Dev Dalvi jointly declared war on Kudal province. The purpose behind this was to establish the power. The lord of Kudal got help from the Bijapur Sultan. Mang Sawant was killed in a battle between the two armies at Hodawade.
On 7 April 1765 Savantvadi State became a British protectorate.
Sawantwadi acceded to the Dominion of India on 15 August 1947, becoming part of Bombay State in 1948.
Rulers.
Title "Raja Bahadur".
The Present Head of the family is His Highness Khem Sawant VI. The erstwhile royal family is now striving hard to promote and carry forward the legacy of art of Ganjifa and Lacquer ware which was once revived by His Highness Lt. Col. Shivramraje Sawant Bhonsle and Her Highness Satvashiladevi Bhonsle in the Sawantwadi Palace. They are also coming up with a boutique hotel whose centre theme revolves around the Dashavtar Ganjifa.
References.
4.
https://www.esakal.com/kokan/sawant-bhosale-family-history-konkan-sindhudurg-404266


Badr ul-Alam Syah

Sultan Badr ul-Alam Syah (died 1765) was the twenty-sixth sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. He usurped the throne from the Bugis Dynasty and ruled from 1764 to 1765.
When Sultan Alauddin Johan Syah died in 1760, his son and successor Alauddin Mahmud Syah I was still young. An official called Maharaja Labui or Mantri Makota Raja was therefore acting as regent, taking care of the affairs. This person was descended from the sultan's family of Siak though the exact link is not clear. Siak had risen to become an important power on the east coast of Sumatra in the eighteenth century. In 1763 disturbances broke out in the Aceh sultanate, presumably as a consequence of the sultan's unpopular attempts to control trade. The details are not entirely clear, but in 1764 Alauddin Mahmud Syah I was driven from the capital and Mantri Makota Raja took the throne in February of that year under the name Sultan Badr ul-Alam Syah. However, the expelled sultan was able to build up a new base at Kota Musapi with the help of an influential qadi, Malik ul-Adil. Badr ul-Alam Syah was attacked by the exile's adherents and killed in August 1765. Alauddin Mahmud Syah was once again placed on the throne. Badr ul-Alam had a daughter, Merah di Awan, who was later married to Alauddin Mahmud Syah's eldest son in an attempt to reconcile the families. Her son later became sultan under the name Alauddin Jauhar ul-Alam Syah


Anurak Devesh

Somdet Phra Chao Lan Ther Chaofa Thong-In Krom Phra Rajawang Boworn Sathan Phimuk (, lit: "His Royal Highness Prince Thong-In, the Deputy Viceroy of Siam") (28 March 1746 – 20 December 1806) was a Siamese Prince and military leader. A nephew of King Phutthayotfa Chulalok (Rama I) the founder of the Chakri Dynasty, he was appointed Deputy Viceroy or Rear Palace, the 3rd highest position in the kingdom. Becoming the only person to hold that title during the Rattanakosin Kingdom.
Life.
Thong-In (ทองอิน) was born on the 28 March 1746 to an Ayutthayan aristocrat Phra Intraraksa (Seam) and Sa (later Princess Sister ; the eldest child of Thongdee and Daoreung). Sa was also the elder sister of Thong Duang, later Chao Phraya Chakri and in 1782 King Phutthayotfa Chulalok. Thong-In was the eldest child and has two younger brothers and a sister.
For a time Thong-In served in the Army under King Taksin of Thonburi as Luang Ritnaiwair (หลวงฤทธิ์นายเวร). In 1780 he was raised to the rank of Phraya Suriyaphai (พระยาสุริยอภัย) and was appointed governor of Nakhon Ratchasima.
When his uncle ascended to the throne as King of the new Rattanakosin Kingdom in 1782, he elevated his nephew to the rank of "Chaofa" (most senior rank of Prince). Soon he was appointed to the title of "Krom Phra Rajawang Boworn Sathan Phimuk" and Rear Palace or Deputy Viceroy (Deputy Uparaja), this meant he was essentially the third most powerful individual in the Kingdom. When the new capital was built at Bangkok Prince Anurak Devesh built his residence (Wang Lang) back in Thonburi, directly opposite the Front Palace, today the site is now occupied by the Siriraj Hospital.
After becoming the Rear Palace he assisted King Rama I in his fight against King Bodawpaya of Burma in 1785 during the Nine Armies War. During the conflict he personally accompanied the King to recapture the city of Phitsanulok from the Burmese.
Death.
Anurak Devesh died on the 20 December 1806 at the age of 60. After his death King Rama I decided not to appoint anyone to succeed him as Rear Palace and left the office vacant, the tradition was carried by subsequent kings until the official abolishment of the title in 1885 by King Chulalongkorn. Making Anurak Devesh the only Rear Palace of the Chakri Dynasty.
The Prince had 35 children, six borne from his consort Thongyu, others by concubines. Of his six children (borne with Thongyu), the four sons and two daughters received the title of "Phra Ong Chao" (the middle rank of Princes). The rest (borne with concubines) received the title of "Mom Chao" (the most junior rank of Princes), however during the reign of King Mongkut (Rama IV), all 35 children was given the additional title of "Royal Cousins" (พระสัมพันธวงศ์เธอ or Phra Samphan Wong Ther).


Reminiscences of the Anti-Japanese Guerillas

Reminiscences of the Anti-Japanese Guerillas is a collection of memoirs of North Korean guerillas fighting during the 1930s and 1940s in Manchuria against the Japanese. It was used as a textbook for indoctrination until it was effectively replaced by another piece of guerilla literature, Kim Il-sung's autobiography "With the Century", in the 1990s. The memoirs were written in order to portray Kim Il-sung as a national liberator, and to strengthen his cult of personality. However, the memoirs are still used as a textbook in ideological workplace study sessions, as well as in other forms of indoctrination. Many of the memoirs have been adapted as movies by the North Korean film industry.
Role of the memoirs and state propaganda.
The Party History Institute was founded in 1958, and its collection of memoirs, "Reminiscences of the Anti-Japanese Guerillas", was published in 1959, when Kim Il-sung's cult of personality was being strengthened after the August Faction Incident. These initiatives were part of the efforts to create and promote Kim Il-sung's activities during World War II as an anti-Japanese myth. High-ranking defector Hwang Jang-yop dated the beginning of the personality cult at the end of the 1960s, when various guerillas disappeared from North Korean partisan literature. Until the 1960s, guerillas like Eul Ji Mun Deok, Kang Gam-chan and Lee Sun-shin were common in North Korean partisan literature. Others like Ahn Chang-ho and Shin Chae-ho were discredited.
In the late 1960s, Kim Jong-il called back all the unofficial guerilla memoirs, and publishing them independently through news media or publishing houses was banned. After the Kapsan Faction Incident in 1967, similar to the August Faction Incident in nature, Kim Jong-il ordered the chapters in "Reminiscences of the Anti-Japanese Guerillas" written by the conspirators to be deleted. Since then, the Party History Institute would review and edit all memoirs. Hwang accused Kim Jong-il of trying to monopolize the independence struggle for the Kim family. Jae-Cheon Lim argues that in the 1990s, the role of the memoirs as a tool for indoctrination were largely replaced by "With the Century".
The memoirs are still commonly used in daily ideological study sessions at workplaces, as they are seen as classic literature of the Workers' Party of Korea. They are also used as ideological study material in universities and in the Korean People's Army. The memoirs are also used in annual mandatory party members' political examinations handled by the party Propaganda and Agitation Department. Repeated failures in the examinations have resulted in local officials being fired.
Release details.
In May 1959, the first volume of the memoirs was published for the first time by the Workers' Party of Korea Publishing House. Since then, they have been republished in numerous volumes and editions.
In November 2003, it was announced that the Workers' Party of Korea Publishing House planned to publish 20 volumes of reminiscences by combining earlier published series "Reminiscences of the Anti-Japanese Guerillas", "Combat Reminiscences of Anti-Japanese Guerillas" and "For the Freedom and Liberation of the People". The first volume carried 27 chapters of memoirs.
In 2012, the memoirs won the People's Prize in North Korea. Many of the memoirs have since the 1959 release been made into movies, including "Comrades! Please Take This Pistol", "Fighter on Mt. Chonbo" and "Story of An Sun Hwa".
The memoirs have been reprinted by University Press of the Pacific in English. Translations exist in Finnish and Swahili.
Select contributors.
The following guerillas who entered politics after the war have contributed to the series.


List of Indonesian prisoners and detainees

This is a list of Indonesian prisoners and detainees: