Bombay Presidency

The Bombay Presidency, also known as Bombay and Sind from 1843 to 1936 and the Bombay Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India headquartered in the city of Bombay. The Summer Capital of the Presidency was Mahabaleswar.
The Bombay Presidency was created when the city of Bombay was leased in fee tail to the East India Company by a Royal Charter from the King of England, Charles II, who had in turn acquired it on May 11, 1661, when his marriage treaty with Catherine of Braganza, daughter of King John IV of Portugal, placed the islands of Bombay in possession of the English Empire, as part of Catherine's dowry to Charles. The English East India Company transferred its Western India headquarters from Surat, its first colony in that region, to Bombay in 1687. The Presidency was brought under British Parliament control along with other parts of British India through Pitt's India Act. Major territorial acquisitions were made during the Anglo-Maratha Wars when the whole of the Peshwa's dominions and much of the Gaekwad's sphere of influence were annexed to the Bombay Presidency in different stages till 1818. Aden was annexed in 1839, while Sind was annexed by the company in 1843 after defeating the Talpur dynasty in the Battle of Hyderabad and it was made a part of the Bombay Presidency.
At its greatest extent, the Bombay Presidency comprised the present-day state of Gujarat, the western two-thirds of Maharashtra state, including the regions of Konkan, Desh, and Kandesh, and northwestern Karnataka state of India; it also included Pakistan's Sindh Province (1847–1935) and Aden in Yemen (1839–1932). The districts and provinces of the presidency were directly under British rule, while the internal administration of the native or princely states was in the hands of local rulers. The presidency, however, managed the defence of princely states and British relations with them through political agencies. The Bombay Presidency along with the Bengal Presidency and Madras Presidency were the three major centres of British power.
Origins.
Early history.
The first English settlement in the Presidency known as Western Presidency was begun in 1618 at Surat in present-day Gujarat, when the East India Company established a factory, protected by a charter obtained from the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. In 1626 the Dutch and the English made an unsuccessful attempt to gain possession of the island of Bombay in the coastal Konkan region from Portugal, and in 1653 proposals were suggested for its purchase from the Portuguese. In 1661 Bombay was ceded to the Kingdom of England as part of the dowry of the "infanta" Catherine of Braganza on her marriage to King Charles II. So lightly was the acquisition esteemed in England, and so unsuccessful was the administration of the crown officers, that in 1668 Bombay was transferred to the East India Company for an annual payment of £10, and the company established a factory there. At the time of the transfer, powers for the island's defence and for the administration of justice were also conferred on the company; a European regiment was enrolled; and fortifications were erected which in 1673 proved sufficient to deter the Dutch from an intended attack. As English trade in Bombay increased, Surat (which had been sacked by Shivaji in 1670) began its relative decline. In 1687, Bombay was made the headquarters of all the East India Company's possessions in India. However, in 1753 the governor of Bombay became subordinate to that of Calcutta.
Territorial expansion.
During the 18th century, the Maratha Empire expanded rapidly, claiming Konkan and much of eastern Gujarat from the disintegrating Mughal Empire. In western Gujarat, including Kathiawar and Kutch, the loosening of Mughal control allowed numerous local rulers to create virtually independent states. The first conflict between the British and the Marathas was the First Anglo-Maratha War which began in 1774 and resulted in the 1782 Treaty of Salbai, by which the island of Salsette, adjacent to Bombay island, was ceded to the British, while Bharuch was ceded to the Maratha ruler Scindia. The British annexed Surat in 1800. British territory was enlarged in the Second Anglo-Maratha War which ended in 1803. The East India Company received the districts of Bharuch, Kaira, etc., and the Maratha Gaekwad rulers of Baroda acknowledged British sovereignty.
History.
Expansion.
In 1803 the Bombay Presidency included only Salsette, the islands of the harbour (since 1774), Surat and Bankot (since 1756); but between this date and 1827 the framework of the presidency took shape. The Gujarat districts were taken over by the Bombay government in 1805 and enlarged in 1818. Baji Rao II, the last of the peshwas, who had attempted to shake off the British yoke, was defeated in the Battle of Khadki, captured subsequently and pensioned (1817/1818), and large portions of his dominions (Pune, Ahmednagar, Nasik, Solapur, Belgaum, Kaladgi, Dharwad, etc.) were included in the Presidency, the settlement of which was completed by Mountstuart Elphinstone, governor from 1819 to 1827. His policy was to rule as far as possible on native lines, avoiding all changes for which the population was not yet ripe; but the grosser abuses of the old regime were stopped, the country was pacified, the laws were codified, and courts and schools were established.
The period that followed is notable mainly for the enlargement of the Presidency through the lapse of certain native states, by the addition of Aden (1839) and Sindh (1843), and the lease of the Panch Mahals from Scindia (1853). In 1862, North Canara was transferred from Madras Presidency to Bombay while South Canara remained with Madras.
Victorian era.
In 1859, under the terms of the Queen's Proclamation issued by Queen Victoria, the Bombay Presidency, along with the rest of British India, came under the direct rule of the British Crown.
Henry Bartle Frere (1862–1867) was the first Governor appointed by the Crown. The Governor's Council was reformed and expanded under the Indian Councils Act 1861, the Indian Councils Act 1892, the Indian Councils Act 1909, the Government of India Act 1919 and the Government of India Act 1935.
The establishment of an orderly administration, one outcome of which was a general fall of prices that made the unwonted regularity of the collection of taxes doubly unwelcome, naturally excited a certain amount of misgiving and resentment; but on the whole the population was prosperous and contented, and under Lord Elphinstone (1853–1860) the presidency passed through the crisis of the Revolt of 1857 without any general rising. Outbreaks among the troops at Karachi, Ahmedabad and Kolhapur were quickly put down, two regiments being disbanded, and the rebellions in Gujarat, among the Bhils, and in the southern Maratha country were local and isolated. Under Sir Bartle Frere agricultural prosperity reached its highest point, as a result of the American Civil War and the consequent enormous demand for Indian cotton in Europe. The money thus poured into the country produced an epidemic of speculation known as the Share Mania (1864–1865), which ended in a commercial crisis and the failure of the Bank of Bombay (1866). But the peasantry gained on the whole more than they lost, and the trade of Bombay was not permanently injured. Sir Bartle Frere encouraged the completion of the great trunk lines of railways, and with the funds obtained by the demolition of the town walls (1862) he began the magnificent series of public buildings that now adorn Bombay (Mumbai).
Dyarchy (1920–37).
British India's Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms of 1919, enacted in 1921, expanded the Legislative Council to include more elected Indian members, and introduced the principle of dyarchy, whereby certain responsibilities, including agriculture, health, education, and local government, were transferred to elected ministers. However, the important portfolios like finance, police and irrigation were reserved with members of the Governor's Executive Council. Some of the prominent Indian members of the Executive Council were Chimanlal Harilal Setalvad, R. P. Paranjpe, Ghulam Hussain Hidayatullah, Ali Muhammad Khan Dehlavi, Rafiuddin Ahmed, Siddappa Totappa Kambli, Shah Nawaz Bhutto and Sir Cowasji Jehangir.
In 1932, Aden was separated from Bombay and made a separate province, and Sindh became a separate province on 1 April 1936.
Provincial Autonomy.
The Government of India Act 1935 made the Bombay Presidency into a regular province, and made Sind a separate province, with relations with the princely state of Khairpur managed by Sindh. It enlarged the elected provincial legislature and expanded provincial autonomy "vis a vis" the central government. In the 1937 elections, the Indian National Congress won the elections in Bombay but declined to form the government. The Governor Sir George Lloyd invited Sir Dhanjishah Cooper, to form an interim ministry which was joined by Jamnadas Mehta of the Lokashahi Swarajya Paksha (Democratic Swarajya Party), Sir Siddappa T. Kambli of the Non-Brahmin Party and Hoosenally Rahimtoola of the Muslim League.
The Cooper ministry did not last long and a Congress ministry under B. G. Kher was sworn in.
Council of Ministers in Kher's Cabinet:
In 1939, all of the Congress ministries in British Indian provinces resigned and Bombay was placed under the Governor's rule.
Last days of British rule.
After the end of World War II, the Indian National Congress re-entered politics and won the 1946 election under the leadership of Kher who was again elected as Chief Minister. The Bombay Presidency became the Bombay State when India was granted independence on 15 August 1947 and Kher continued as the Chief Minister of the state, serving until 1952.
Geography.
The Bombay Presidency was bounded on the north by Baluchistan, the Punjab and Rajputana; on the east by Indore, the Central Provinces and Hyderabad; on the south by Madras Presidency and the Kingdom of Mysore; and on the west by the Arabian Sea. Within these limits were the Portuguese settlements of Goa, Daman and Diu, and the native state of Baroda which has direct relations with the government of India; while politically Bombay included the territory of Aden, in present-day Yemen. The total area, including Sind but excluding Aden, was , of which were under British and 65,761 under native rule. The total population was 25,468,209 in 1901, of which 18,515,587 were resident in British territory and 6,908,648 in native states.
Demographics.
The Bombay Presidency had a large and diverse population. The census of 1901 gave a total of 25,468,209. By religion the population was 19,916,438 Hindu, 4,567,295 Muslim, 535,950 Jain, 78,552 Zoroastrian, and approximately 200,000 Christian. A significant number of Bene Israel and other Jews were also present.
In Sindh Islam had been the predominant religion from the Arab conquest in the 8th century. In Gujarat the predominant religion is Hinduism, although Muslim kingdoms have left their influence in many parts of the province. The Deccan is the home of the Marathi, who constituted 30% of the population. The Konkan is notable for various Christian castes, owing their origin to Portuguese rule; while in the Carnatic, Lingayatism, a Hindu reformation movement of the 12th century, was embraced by 45% of the population. The Marathas were the predominant caste and number (1901) 3,650,000, composed of 1,900,000 Kunbis, 350,000 Konkanis, and 1,400,000 Marathas not otherwise specified.
The chief languages of the Presidency were Sindhi in Sindh, Kutchi in Kutch, Gujarati and Hindustani in Gujarat, Marathi in Thana and the central division, Gujarati and Marathi in Khandesh, and Marathi and Kannada in the southern division. There were also Bhil (120,000) and Gipsy (30,000) dialects.
Administration.
The Presidency was divided into four Commisserates and twenty-four districts with Bombay city as the capital. The four divisions were Sind, the northern or Gujarat, the central or Deccan and the southern or Carnatic.
The government of Bombay was administered by a Governor-in-Council, consisting of the Governor as president and two ordinary members. The Governor was appointed by the British Crown on the advice of the Secretary of State for India. The members of his council were appointed from the Indian Civil Service. For making laws there was a legislative council, consisting of the Governor and his executive council, with certain other persons, not fewer than eight or more than twenty, at least half of them being non-officials. Each of the members of the executive council had in his charge one or two departments of the government; and each department had a secretary, an under-secretary, and an assistant secretary, with a numerous staff of clerks. The administration of justice throughout the Presidency was conducted by a High Court at Bombay, consisting of a chief justice and seven puisne judges, along with district and assistant judges throughout the districts of the Presidency.
Each of the four divisions were administered by a senior Indian Civil Service (ICS) officer of the rank of Commissioner while the districts were each administered by a District Collector (officially styled, Deputy Commissioner). The districts were further divided into sub-divisions each under the charge of a Deputy Collector or Assistant Collector, each sub-division comprising a few taluks or tehsils each administered by a tahsildar.
Military.
The East India Company had raised armies in each of the Presidencies, Bombay, Bengal and Madras. The Bombay Army consisted of a number of infantry regiments, sapper and miner units and irregular cavalry. A number of these continue to exist today in the Indian Army; examples being the Mahar Regiment, Maratha Light Infantry and the Grenadiers, amongst others, in the case of infantry, the Bombay Sappers as engineers and the Poona Horse amongst the cavalry.
Under Lord Kitchener's re-arrangement of the Indian army in 1904 the old Bombay command was abolished and its place was taken by the Western army corps under a lieutenant-general. The army corps was divided into three divisions under major-generals. The 4th (Quetta) Division, with headquarters at Quetta, comprised the troops in the Quetta and Sind districts. The 5th division, with headquarters at Mhow, consisted of three brigades, located at Nasirabad, Jabalpur and Jhansi, and included the previous Mhow, Deesa, Nagpur, Narmada and Bundelkhand districts, with the Bombay district north of the Tapti. The 6th division, with headquarters at Pune, consisted of three brigades, located at Bombay, Ahmednagar and Aden. It comprised the previous Poona district, Bombay district south of the Tapti, Belgaum district north of the Tungabhadra, and Dharwar and Aurangabad districts.
Agriculture.
The overwhelming majority of the population of the Bombay Presidency was rural and engaged in agriculture. The staple crops were Sorghum ("jowar"), and Pearl millet ("bajra") in the Deccan and Khandesh. Rice was the chief product of the Konkan. Wheat, generally grown in the northern part of the Presidency, but specially in Sind and Gujarat, was exported to Europe in large quantities from Karachi, and on a smaller scale from Bombay. Barley was principally grown in the northern parts of the presidency. Finger millet ("Nachani") and kodra furnished food to the Kolis, Bhils, Waralis, and other hill tribes. Of the pulses the most important are the chickpea or Bengal gram ("Cicer arietinum"), pigeon pea or tur ("Cajanus cajan"), catjang or kulti ("Vigna unguiculata cylindrica"), and urad bean ("Vigna mungo"). Principal oilseeds were sesame or til ("Sesamum indicum"), mustard, castor bean, safflower and linseed. Of fibres the most important were cotton, Deccan hemp ("Hibiscus cannabinus"), and sunn or tag ("Crotalaria juncea"). Much was done to improve the cotton of the presidency. American varieties were introduced with much advantage in the Dharwad collectorate and other parts of the southern Maratha country. In Khandesh the indigenous plant from which one of the lowest classes of cotton in the Bombay market takes its name has been almost entirely superseded by the superior Hinganghat variety. Miscellaneous crops: sugarcane, requiring a rich soil and a perennial water-supply, and only grown in favoured localities, chile peppers, potatoes, turmeric and tobacco.
Industry.
The chief industries of Bombay Presidency involved the milling of cotton. In the late 19th century steam mills sprang up in Bombay, Ahmedabad and Khandesh. In 1905 there were 432 factories in the presidency, of which by far the greater number were engaged in the preparation and manufacture of cotton. The industry is centred in Bombay, which contains nearly two-thirds of the mills. During the decade 1891–1901 the mill industry passed through a period of depression due to widespread plague and famine, but on the whole there was a marked expansion of the trade as well as a great improvement in the class of goods produced. In addition to the mills there were (1901) 178,000 hand-loom weavers in the province, who still have a position of their own in the manipulation of designs woven into the cloth. Silk goods were manufactured in Ahmedabad, Surat, Yeola, Nasik, Thana and Bombay, the material decorated with printed or woven designs; competition from European goods caused the silk industry to decline in the early 20th century. The custom of investing savings in gold and silver ornaments gave employment to many goldsmiths: the metal was usually supplied by the customer, and the goldsmith charged for his labour. Ahmedabad and Surat are famous for their carved woodwork. Many of the houses in Ahmedabad are covered with elaborate wood-carving, and excellent examples exist in Broach, Baroda, Surat, Nasik and Yeola. Salt was made in large quantities in the government works at Kharaghoda and Udu in Ahmedabad, and was exported by rail to Gujarat and central India. There was one brewery at Dapuri near Pune.
Transportation.
The Province was well supplied with railways, all of which, with one exception, concentrated at Bombay City. The exception is the North-Western line, which enters Sind from the Punjab and terminated at Karachi. The other chief lines are the Great Indian Peninsula, Indian Midland, Bombay, Baroda & Central India, and the Rajputana, Malwa & Southern Mahratta systems. In 1905 the total length of railway under the Bombay government open for traffic was , which did not include the railway system in Sindh.
Education.
The University of Bombay was established in 1857, and had an administration consisting of a chancellor, vice-chancellor and fellows. The governor of Bombay was ex-officio chancellor. The education department was under a director of public instruction, who was responsible for the administration of the department in accordance with the general educational policy of the state. The native states generally adopted the government system. Baroda and the Kathiawar states employed their own inspectors. In 1905 the total number of educational institutions was 10,194 with 593,431 pupils. There were ten art colleges, of which two were managed by government, three by native states, and five were under private management. It was in the year 1913 that the first college of commerce in Asia, Sydenham College, was established. According to the census of 1901, out of a population of 25.5 million nearly 24 million were illiterate.
Film industry.
The film production era is said to have commenced in Bombay from 1913 when the first film, "Raja Harishchandra" by Dadasaheb Phalke made in 1912, was first shown publicly on 3May 1913 at Mumbai's Coronation Cinema, effectively marking the beginning of the Indian film industry. Around one year before, Ramchandra Gopal (known as Dadasaheb Torne) had filmed a stage drama called "Pundalik" and shown it in the same theatre. However, the credit for making the first Indian feature film is attributed to Dadasaheb Phalke.
Other producers at Bombay during the presidency era were Sohrab Modi, Himanshu Rai, V. Shantaram, Shashadhar Mukherjee, and Ardeshir Irani. Ever since production of films took place, there started the trend of film making that established and further progressed, resulting in formation of the film industry and new film production companies as well as studios.
Residencies.
Outside the Presidency, numerous small states princely states such as those of Kathiawar and Mahikantha came under British suzerainty in a system of subsidiary alliances between 1807 and 1820.
The native states eventually comprised some 353 separate units, administered internally by their own princes, with the British responsible for their external affairs. Relations between British India and the states were managed by British agents placed at the principal native capitals; their exact status varied in the different states according to the relations in which the principalities stood with the paramount power.
The principal groups of states were North Gujarat, comprising Kutch, Kathiawar Agency, Palanpur Agency, Mahi Kantha Agency, Ambliara Rewa Kantha Agency and Cambay; South Gujarat, comprising Dharampur, Bansda and Sachin; North Konkan, Nasik and Khandesh, of the Khandesh Agency, Surgana and Jawhar; South Konkan and Dharwar, comprising Janjira, Sawantwadi and Savanur, as well as the territories under the Deccan States Agency, including the Deccan Satara Jagirs, Ichalkaranji, Sangli Akkalkot, Bhor, Aundh, Phaltan, Jath and Daphalapur, the southern Maratha states, comprising Kolhapur, among other states, and Khairpur in Sindh. The native states under the "supervision" of the government of Bombay were divided, historically and geographically, into two main groups. The northern or Gujarat group includes the territories of the Gaekwad of Baroda, with the smaller states which form the administrative divisions of Kutch, Palanpur, Rewa Kantha, and Mahi Kantha. These territories, with the exception of Kutch, have a historical connection, as being the allies or tributaries of the Gaekwad until 1805, when final engagements were included between that prince and the British government. The southern or Maratha group includes Kolhapur, Akalkot, Sawantwari, and the Satara and southern Mahratta Jagirs, and has a historical bond of union in the friendship they showed to the British in their final struggle with the power of the peshwa until 1818. The remaining territories may conveniently be divided into a small cluster of independent zamindaris, situated in the wild and hilly tracts at the northern extremity of the Sahyadri range, and certain. principalities which, from their history or geographical position, are to some extent isolated from the rest of the presidency.
Baroda State (Vadodara), one of the residencies of British India, was combined in the 1930s with the residencies of the princely states (agencies) of the northern Bombay Presidency to form the Baroda and Gujarat States Agency and subsequently expanded in Baroda, Western India and Gujarat States Agency in 1944.
After independence.
In 1947, Bombay Province became part of the Dominion of India. When provinces were replaced with states when the Constitution of India came into force on 26 January 1950, the day India became the first Commonwealth republic, Bombay Province became the Bombay State, a Part-A state.
Notes.
1. A regiment made up of European soldiers.


William Hayes Pope

William Hayes Pope (June 14, 1870 – September 13, 1916) was the last Chief Justice of New Mexico Territory and the first United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico after New Mexico attained statehood.
Education and career.
Pope was born in Beaufort, South Carolina to Joseph James Pope, a lawyer, and Emily Hayes (Mikell). He received a Master of Arts degree from the University of Georgia in 1889, followed by a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1890. He also taught at the University of Georgia as an adjunct professor of ancient languages from 1889 to 1890, when he was admitted to the bar. He then practiced law in Atlanta, Georgia.
Pope moved to Sante Fe, New Mexico Territory in 1894, apparently seeking a climate that was better for his health. He practiced law there until 1896 in the firm Victory & Pope, with senior partner John P. Victory. Their partnership was also a public one; Victory was then the territory's attorney general, and Pope served as the Assistant Attorney General from 1895 to 1897. During that period, he served as a commissioner from New Mexico to the Atlanta Exposition in 1895, and on the Capitol Rebuilding Commission from 1895 to 1900.
In March 1896, Pope was appointed by the United States Attorney General to serve as a special Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Court of Private Land Claims, from which Pope resigned in June 1902. He was then appointed by the United States Secretary of the Interior as a special United States Attorney to represent the interests of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico Territory, from 1901 to 1902.
In June 1902, Governor-General of the Philippines William Howard Taft appointed Pope to a judgeship on the Court of First Instance, Philippine Islands. Pope established a friendship with Taft during his service there. He returned to the United States in July 1903, and in October was appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt as an associate justice of the New Mexico Territorial Supreme Court. Pope was elevated to Chief Justice in 1910, and served in that capacity until 1912.
Federal judicial service.
Pope was the first judge appointed to the new United States District Court for New Mexico, after it attained statehood on January 6, 1912. Pope was nominated by President William Howard Taft on January 22, 1912, to the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, to a new seat authorized by 36 Stat. 557. His nomination received some opposition. Ten prominent New Mexico lawyers accused Pope of delaying decisions in submitted cases (despite his reputation to the contrary), and Pope's support of prohibition may have also been an issue. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 20, 1912, and received his commission the same day. His service terminated on September 13, 1916, due to his death in Atlanta.
Notable case.
One of Pope's decisions on the federal bench was reversed by the U.S. Supreme Court, in "United States v. Sandoval", 231 U.S. 28 (1913). The issue was whether an 1897 federal law that criminalized the sale of alcohol to Indians applied to the Pueblos in the state of New Mexico. Pope had ruled that the Pueblos were ordinary citizens living on private property, and did not fit into the classes of Indians defined in the 1897 law. In reversing, the Supreme Court held that the Pueblos were a dependent people, which Congress had made clear in the Enabling Act providing for New Mexico's statehood.
Memberships and interment.
Pope was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Elks, Shriners, and a freemason. He was married for eleven years, but had no children. He was buried in Fairview Cemetery in Santa Fe.


Sadhu Aur Shaitaan

Sadhu Aur Shaitaan () is a 1968 Hindi film directed by A. Bhimsingh. It stars Om Prakash and Pran in title roles, along with Mehmood, Bharati and Kishore Kumar in lead roles. The movie is a remake of 1966 Tamil suspense-comedy "Sadhu Mirandal".
Plot.
Innocent and honest Bajrang (Mehmood) drives a taxi and helps everyone. He is devoted to another kind-hearted gentleman Mr. Sadhuram (Om Prakash) who is a bank employee. Bajrang is attracted to a school-teacher, Vidya (Bharathi). Vidya's brother Dina Nath (Kishore Kumar) is a Drama Artist. One day a man claiming to be a childhood friend of Sadhuram, named Sher Khan (Pran), enters their lives. His motive is to rob the bank where Sadhuram is employed and blame Sadhuram for this. He manipulates Sadhuram into accepting him, and moves in with him. He borrows a large sum of money from Sadhuram, and also manages to duplicate the bank's safe's key, and steals the money. The Bank Manager (Nasir Hussain) notifies the police of the robbery and Sadhuram becomes the prime suspect. In panic Sadhuram, who comes into possession of the money that Sher Khan has stolen, flees with the police on his tail. Sher Khan (alias dacoit Dilawar Khan) is killed and his dead body ends up in the back seat of Bajrang's taxi, and Bajrang too is on the run. No one can clear them of the crime because Dilawar Khan is dead.


Hendrikus Albertus Lorentz

Hendrikus Albertus Lorentz (18 September 1871 – 2 September 1944) was a Dutch explorer in New Guinea and diplomat in South Africa.
He was born to Theodorus Apolonius Ninus Lorentz and Marie Soet. Lorentz, son of a tobacco grower in East Java who had returned to the Netherlands, studied law and biology at Utrecht University. He married Marie Louise Clemence barones van Zuylen van Nievelt.
Lorentz participated in three expeditions to Dutch New Guinea, the present-day Indonesian (western) portion of the island of New Guinea. The first was the North New Guinea Expedition in 1903, led by Arthur Wichmann. Lorentz himself led expeditions in 1907 and 1909–1910.
Places and species named after Lorentz.
Lorentz National Park and the Lorentz River in southern New Guinea are named after him.
The Lorentz catfish and Lorentz's mosaic-tailed rat are also named after him.
The non-venomous Lorentz's tree snake "Dendrelaphis lorentzii" (Van Lidth de Jeude, 1911) is also named in his honour. The holotype was collected at Sabang on the Noord River (later renamed the Lorentz River) during Lorentz's third Papuan expedition.


Minkhaung of Prome

Minkhaung of Prome ( ; died 1553) was the last king of Prome, who reigned three tumultuous years from 1539 to 1542. He succeeded his brother Narapati in 1539. Minkhaung frantically prepared to defend against another attack by Toungoo Kingdom. He reinforced his already heavily fortified city of Prome (Pyay), and hired foreign mercenaries. Although he knew his nominal overlords, the Confederation of Shan States, would assist him, he continued the alliance with King Min Bin of Mrauk U begun by his late brother. Min Bin was married to Minkhaung's and Narapati's sister.
In late 1541, Toungoo again laid siege to Prome. Prome's allies the Confederation and Mrauk U sent in help to break the siege. But Toungoo forces under the command of Gen. Bayinnaung defeated both armies. Mrauk U also sent in a naval flotilla that landed in Bassein (Pathein). Upon hearing of the Mrauk U army's defeat, the flotilla turned back. After a five months' siege, starvation set in. The besieged deserted the city in great numbers. On 19 May 1542 (5th waxing of Nayon 904 ME), Minkhaung surrendered. Minkhaung and his queen Thiri Hpone Htut were taken to Toungoo (Taungoo).
King Tabinshwehti of Toungoo appointed Mingyi Swe, Bayinnaung's father, governor of Prome, restoring its former position of a provincial capital.
Minkhaung remained under house arrest until 1553 when he was executed by Bayinnaung. Thiri Hpone Htut became a queen of Bayinnaung with the title of Sanda Dewi.
Ancestry.
The following is his ancestry as reported in the "Hmannan Yazawin" chronicle, which in turn referenced contemporary inscriptions.


Education in the Philippines during American rule

During the United States colonial period of the Philippines (1898-1946), the United States government was in charge of providing education in the Philippines.
Pensionado Act.
The word "pensionado" originated with the Spanish language. It means to receive a pension from the government. As the Pensionado Act started in 1903, the purpose was to "Educate and bind current and future Filipino leaders to the American colonial administration." Filipinos, mostly males, that were sponsored by the act were able to continue their education abroad and learn about American culture.
The United States government agreed to having Filipinos in the United States to acquire knowledge on Western culture and civilization. This program encouraged Filipinos to obtain education in the United States and return to the Philippines. The first year of the program there were about 20,000 applicants with only one hundred of Filipinos men ultimately selected to study abroad in the United States. About forty boys and eight girls were chosen each year in 1904 and 1905. Students were spread across the United States to participate in higher education.
The program, which ended in 1943 and sought to train future Philippine leaders in preparation for post-World War II independence, also fostered beliefs in the supremacy of U.S. institutions, language, and white culture as compared to traditional Philippine culture.
Public system of education.
Education became a very important issue for the United States colonial government, since it allowed it to spread their cultural values, particularly the English language, to the Filipino people. Instruction in English language, and American history, lead to forming of a national identity and Filipino nationalism.
Every child from age 7 was required to register in schools located in their own town or province. The students were given free school materials. There were three levels of education during the American period. The "elementary" level consisted of four primary years and 3 intermediate years. The "secondary" or high school level consisted of four years; and the third was the "college" or tertiary level. Religion was not part of the curriculum of the schools as it had been during the Spanish period.
In some cases those students who excelled academically were sent to the U.S. to continue their studies and to become experts in their desired fields or professions. They were called "scholars" and "pensionados" because the government covered all their expenses. In return, they were to teach or work in government offices after they finished their studies. Some examples of these successful Filipino scholars were Judge José Abad Santos, Francisco Benitez, Dr. Honoria Acosta-Sison and Francisco Delgado.
Many elementary and secondary schools from the Spanish era were recycled and new ones were opened in cities and provinces, among which there were normal, vocational, agricultural, and business schools. Among the most important colleges during American rule were: Philippine Normal School in 1901 (now Philippine Normal University) and other normal schools throughout the country such as Colegio Filipino (1900, now National University), Silliman Institute (1901, now Silliman University, Iloilo Normal School (1902, now West Visayas State University), Cebu Normal School (1902, now Cebu Normal University, Negros Oriental High School (1902), Capiz Home School (1904, now Filamer Christian University, the Echague Farm School (1918, now the Isabela State University) St. Paul College of Dumaguete (1904, now St. Paul University Dumaguete), Zamboanga Normal School in 1904 (now Western Mindanao State University), Jaro Industrial School (1905, now Central Philippine University), Instituto de Manila (1913, now University of Manila), Philippine Women's College (1919, now Philippine Women's University), and Institute of Accountancy (1928, now Far Eastern University. Examples of vocational schools are: the Philippine Nautical School, Manila Trade School (1901, now Technological University of the Philippines) and the Central Luzon Agriculture School. The University of the Philippines was also founded in 1908.
Schools were also built in remote areas like Sulu, Mindanao, and the Mountain Provinces, where attention was given to vocational and health practice.
Thomasites.
Volunteer American soldiers became the first teachers of the Filipinos. Part of their mission was to build classrooms in every place where they were assigned. The American soldiers stopped teaching only when a group of teachers from the U.S. came to the Philippines in June 1901. They came aboard the ship "Sheridan." In August 1901, 600 teachers called Thomasites arrived. Their name derived from the ship they traveled on, the .
The original batch of Thomasites was composed by 365 males and 165 females, who sailed from United States on July 23, 1901. The U.S. government spent about $105,000 for the expedition. More American teachers followed the Thomasites in 1902, making a total of about 1,074 stationed in the Philippines.
Criticisms.
Monroe Commission on Philippine Education.
The Monroe Commission on Philippine Education was created in 1925 with the aim of reporting on the effectiveness of the education in the Philippines during the period of U.S. annexation. It was headed by Paul Monroe, who at the time was the Director of the International Institute of Teachers College, Columbia University, and it was composed by a total of 23 education professionals, mostly from the U.S. and some from the Philippines. During 1925 the Commission visited schools all throughout the Philippines, interviewing a total of 32,000 pupils and 1,077 teachers. The commission found that in the 24 years since the U.S. education system had been established, 530,000 Filipinos had completed elementary school, 160,000 intermediate school, and 15,500 high school.
The Commission declared that although Filipino students were on the same level as their American counterparts in subjects like Math or Science, they lagged far behind in English-language related subjects. George Counts, a Yale professor and a member of the Commission wrote in 1925 in "The Elementary School Journal" that "Half of the children were outside the reach of schools. Pupil performance was generally low in subjects that relied on English, although the achievement in Math and Science was at par with the average performance of American school children..." Counts also described the Filipino children of the 1920s as handicapped because not only were they trying to learn new concepts in a foreign language but they were also being forced to do so from the point of view of a different culture, due to the fact that they were using materials originally designed for pupils in the United States.
The report also informed that teacher training was inadequate and that 82 per cent of the pupils did not go beyond grade 4. Many of the problems identified were attributed to the attempt to impose an English-based education system in just one generation, concluding that "Upon leaving school, more than 99% of Filipinos will not speak English in their homes. Possibly, only 10% to 15% of the next generation will be able to use this language in their occupations. In fact, it will only be the government employees, and the professionals, who might make use of English."
Other recommendations of the Commission asking for a "curtailment of the type of industrial work found on schools" and the elimination of the General Sales Department that had been set up to distribute the sale of items made in schools, pushed the implementation of several changes in the educational system to try to prioritize on the instruction of the pupils to be taught over the teaching of "industrial" education that until then had been focusing on the production of handicrafts such as basketry for boys and embroidery for girls, farming techniques, and other skills deemed favorable for the future of the pupils.


William Bolts

William Bolts (1738–1808) was a Dutch-born British merchant active in India. He began his career as an employee of the East India Company, and subsequently became an independent merchant. He is best known today for his 1772 book, "Considerations on India Affairs", which detailed the administration of the East India Company in Bengal which began shortly after their victory at Plassey in 1757. The observations and experiences he recorded offer a unique resource for scholars inquiring into the nature of Company rule in Bengal. Throughout his life, Bolts continued to propose and execute various trading ventures on his own behalf and in conjunction with various commercial and governmental partners. The ventures of individual traders like Bolts did much to spur governments and large corporations into the expansion of their own interests.
Biography.
William Bolts was born in Amsterdam on 7 February 1738. The baptismal register of the English Reformed Church at Amsterdam records his baptism on 21 February 1738. His parents were William and Sarah Bolts, who almost left no traces; perhaps both English, like the witnesses although Piot suggested his father was from the Palatinate (region).
Service in the East India Company.
When Bolts was fifteen, he left for England. According to a deposition he made in 1801, Bolts lived in Portugal in 1755 where he spent some time working in the diamond trade. Four years later, Bolts decided to venture to Bengal, where he was employed in Calcutta as a factor in the service of the East India Company. He learned to speak Bengali, in addition to his other languages, English, Dutch, German, Portuguese and French. Later, he was appointed to the Company's Benares (Varanasi) factory, where he opened a woolens mart, developed saltpeter manufacturing, established opium plantations, imported cotton, and promoted the trade in diamonds from the Panna and Chudderpoor (Chhatarpur) mines in Bundelkhand.
He fell foul of the East India Company in 1768, possibly because diamonds were a favorite means for Company employees to secretly remit back home profits made by private trade in India, which they were officially forbidden to engage in. He announced in September of that year that he intended to start up a newspaper in Calcutta (which would have been India's first modern newspaper), saying that he had "in manuscript many things to communicate which most intimately concerned every individual", but he was directed to quit Bengal, and proceed to Madras and from thence to take his passage to England. Company officials declared him bankrupt, "to the irretrievable loss of his Fortune", he later claimed. He never seemed to have been able to redeem himself in the eyes of the Company, and in London and elsewhere fought a rearguard action against his many opponents within it.
"Considerations on India Affairs".
The rearguard action occurred in 1772 with the publication of his book ""Considerations on India Affairs..."," in which he attacked the administration of the East India Company in Bengal; and in particular complained of the arbitrary power exercised by the authorities and of his own deportation. "Considerations" was translated into French and enjoyed wide circulation, which contributed to his fame on the Continent. The observations and experiences he records still offer a unique resource for scholars inquiring into the nature of Company rule in Bengal.
The voyage of the "Giuseppe e Teresa," 1776-1781.
In 1775, Bolts offered his services to the Imperial government, putting forward a proposal for re-establishing Austrian trade with India from the Adriatic port of Trieste. His proposal was accepted by the government of Empress Maria Theresa, and on 24 September 1776, Bolts sailed from Leghorn (today's Livorno) in the dominions of Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany, the younger son of the Empress, to India in command of a ship under the Imperial flag, the former Indiaman "Earl of Lincoln," renamed the "Giuseppe e Teresa" (also called "Joseph et Thérèse" or "Joseph und Therese"). He took with him a ten-year charter authorizing him to trade under Imperial colors between Austria's Adriatic ports and Persia, India, China and Africa, and from Africa and Madagascar to America. This enterprise required substantial capital, which Bolts sought in the Austrian Netherlands (Belgium), and he brought in the Antwerp banker, Charles Proli, and his associates, the bankers I.C.I. Borrikens and D. Nagel.
Colonisation of Delagoa Bay.
In the next few years Bolts established factories on the Malabar Coast, on the South East African coast at Delagoa Bay and at the Nicobar Islands. His aim in establishing a factory at Delagoa Bay was to use it as a base for trade between East Africa and the West coast ports of India. He procured three ships to conduct this "country" trade, as trade by Europeans between India and other non-European destinations was called. During his voyage out, he obtained Brazilian cochineal beetles at Rio de Janeiro, and transported them to Delagoa Bay, thereby predating the introduction to Bengal of this insect for the making of scarlet dyes and carmine. The Imperial flag did not fly for long over Delagoa Bay, as alarmed Portuguese authorities who claimed the place as their own sent a 40-gun frigate and 500 men from Goa to remove Bolts's men in April 1781, and to found the Presidio of Lourenço Marques (Maputo) that established a permanent Portuguese presence there.
Activities in India, 1776-1781.
When it learned of Bolts's venture, the East India Company instructed its officers in Bengal, Madras and Bombay to "pursue the most effectual means that can be fully justified to counteract and defeat" him. Bolts took full advantage of Austria's neutral status in the war between Britain and France, Spain and the Dutch Republic during 1778 to 1783 that formed part of the war for American independence. The Company's hostility towards Bolts in India were the subject of urgent representations by the Austrian Ambassador in London, resulting in the sending in January 1782 of instructions from the Court of Directors to India, which ordered their officers in India not to give offence to "any subject of his Imperial Majesty". Although when he first arrived in India, at Surat, the East India Company made every effort to frustrate his activities, he soon made himself known to Hyder Ali, the Nawab of Mysore. He visited Hyder Ali at his capital, Seringapatam, where he was granted permission to establish trading factories in the Nawab's Malabar Coast dominions at Mangalore, Karwar and Baliapatam.
Colonisation of the Nicobar Islands.
While Bolts himself was at Seringapatam, he sent the "Joseph und Theresia" to the Nicobar Islands, where she arrived in June 1778. There her captain, Bennet, took possession on 12 July. The islands were the focus of a Christian missionary effort of the Moravian Brethren, who visited from time to time from the Danish base on the Indian mainland at Tranquebar. In consequence of Bolts' action, the Imperial company had established a trading factory on the island of Nancowery, headed by Gottfried Stahl who was accompanied by five other Europeans. Danish authorities strongly protested against Bolts' action in taking possession of the Nicobars, and in 1783 sent a warship to remove the Austrians.
Bolts in dispute with Proli.
In spite of his many achievements since 1776, Bolts's venture, on the whole, had made a loss, to the dismay of his Belgian financial backers, Charles Proli and his associates. Proli also disagreed with Bolts over the importance of the China market: Proli wanted to concentrate exclusively on that market while Bolts urged the equal importance of India as Austrian commodities, such as mercury, lead, copper, iron, tin, and vitriol, could find sale there, in contrast to China where only Spanish silver dollars were accepted in return for Chinese products such as tea, porcelain, and silk.
While Bolts was still in India, the Proli group sent out two ships, the "Ville de Vienne" to Mauritius and the "Prince Kaunitz" to China, without informing him. In ignorance of Bolts' purchase of a ship he called the "Prince Kaunitz," the Proli group sent another ship of the same name to China independently of him. This constituted a breach of their contract with him. They refused to honor the bills he drew upon their bank while he was in India. Proli petitioned the Imperial Government to have Bolts' charter transferred exclusively to him. Proli also seized the "Joseph et Therese" as security when the vessel returned to Leghorn.
At an audience with Emperor Joseph II in Brussels on 28 July 1781, Bolts and Proli agreed to the transformation of their association into a share company, and in August, Bolts surrendered his charters to the new Imperial Company of Trieste and Antwerp for the Commerce of Asia (Société Impériale pour le Commerce Asiatique de Trieste et d'Anvers). The Company was to send six ships to China and India, two to East Africa and Mauritius, and three for the southern whale fishery.
Imperial Company of Trieste and Antwerp.
The Imperial Company of Trieste and Antwerp was opened to public subscription in August 1781 to raise, nominally, half its capital in one thousand shares. In fact, the Company was seriously under-capitalized, as the other thousand shares held by the Proli group and Bolts were paid for by the nominal value of the assets of the former association. Bolts' valuation of those assets was accepted at face value, but it was a fictitious valuation and in fact the new Company inherited the old association's debts. It consequently suffered chronic lack of cash and had to resort to short-term loans and bottomry bonds (for which the ships themselves were the collateral) at a premium of 30 to 35 per cent. Under these conditions, every voyage had to be a success for the Company to remain viable. Also under the terms of the agreement erecting the new company, Bolts ceded his charter to his Belgian partners in return for a loan of 200,000 florins (that is, his 200 shares in the Company) and the right to send two ships on his own account to China.
The Imperial Asiatic Company, under the direction of the Proli group, focussed on the China tea trade. In 1781, 1782 and 1783 the price of tea in Europe, especially in England, had risen to unheard of levels. In 1781 and 1782 no Dutch or French ships appeared at Canton as a result of the American War, and in 1782 only eleven English, three Danish and two Swedish ships called there. Only four out of thirteen British ships returned safely in 1783 due to French depredations. Attempting to seize the opportunity to make good profits, the Proli group sent five ships to Canton: the "Croate," the "Kollowrath," the "Zinzendorff," the "Archiduc Maximilien," and the "Autrichien."
However, the opportunity had been missed as, with the signing of an armistice in January 1783 the former belligerents were able to send their ships to Canton safely, and the summer of 1783 saw a total of thirty-eight ships there, including the five Imperial vessels. They had to buy tea at a high price, but when they returned to Ostend in July 1784 they had to sell at a low price on a glutted market, as well as having to pay for permission to return to that port. The price of tea at Ostend collapsed when the British Government introduced the "Commutation Act" in 1784, which reduced the tax on tea from fifty to ten per cent and made smuggling from the Netherlands unprofitable.
The price of tea in Europe fell suddenly from 30 to 33 French sols to 11 to 14 sols, or around sixty per cent. Disastrously, a sixth ship, the "Belgioioso", carrying a large amount of silver specie for the purchase of Chinese goods, foundered in a storm in the Irish Sea soon after departing Liverpool, where she was fitted out, on the voyage to Canton. Regardless of mounting losses, debts and liabilities, the Company invested in a further ship, the "Kaiserliche Adler" or "Aigle Impériale" ["Imperial Eagle"], a giant of 1,100 tons, specially built for the Company by the Fiume shipyards, which was launched in March 1784, bringing the Company's fleet to a total of nine vessels.
Matters came to a head in January 1785 when the Company suspended all payments, and shortly afterward it was declared bankrupt, bringing the Proli banking house down with it. Charles Proli committed suicide. An article in the Dublin press of 25 May 1786 recorded the sale of the dissolved company's ships, "Zinderdorf" [sic], "Kollowrath, Kaunitz, Maximilian" and "Austrian," "together with their whole apparel, guns, stores, &c." and observed: "The destruction of this company, as well as several others in Europe, is in a great measure owing to the commutation tea tax in England, and the advantages which territorial possessions throw in favour of the British company."
Bolts's Plan for a voyage to the North West Coast of America.
After Bolts returned from India in May 1781, he developed the idea for a voyage to the North West Coast of America to engage in the trade in sea otter furs to China and Japan. He apparently heard from John Reid, his agent at Canton (Guangzhou), of the success the crew of James Cook's ships had had there in November 1779 in selling the sea otter pelts they had obtained for trinkets on the American coast in the course of Cook's third expedition to the Pacific. Bolts' ship, the "Kaunitz" (not to be confused with the Proli group's vessel of the same name), arrived back at Leghorn (Livorno) from Canton with this news on 8 July 1781. Bolts afterward wrote that he had the ambition of wishing to be the first to profit from this new branch of trade.
At an audience in Vienna in May 1782, Bolts discussed his plan with Emperor Joseph II, for which he had bought a ship in England in November 1781. The ship was called the "Cobenzell" (or "Cobenzl") in honor of the Vice-Chancellor of State, Count Philipp Cobenzl (Kobenzl), a patron of the Imperial Company. Bolts' plan called for the ship to round Cape Horn, take on furs at Nootka, sell or trade them in China and Japan, and return by the Cape of Good Hope. He engaged four sailors who had served under Cook, including George Dixon, who subsequently commanded the "Queen Charlotte" on a voyage to the North West coast for the Etches Company of London, and Heinrich Zimmermann, who had written an account in German of Cook's final voyage. He bought a sloop, the "Trieste," as a tender, and obtained letters of credence from the Emperor to various rulers at whose ports the ship would touch.
Proposed scientific voyage of discovery.
The Emperor lent a ready ear to Bolts as the venture offered a vehicle for carrying into effect his desire, prompted by the voyages of James Cook, for an Austrian round the world voyage dedicated to scientific research. This had been urged by the eminent savant Ignaz von Born who, at the Emperor's invitation, nominated five naturalists to go with Bolts on the "Cobenzell". The intended expedition was reported in the English press in mid-October 1782, in the following terms:
The Emperor intends to signalise himself, in imitation of other Princes, by sending a ship round the world to make discoveries. The vessel destined for this tedious and dangerous expedition, is the Count de Cobenzet [sic], which cleared out of the Port of London the 15th of April last; sailed from Leghorn the 26th of August, and arrived at Trieste the 1st of September with a great cargo, part of which she is to take out with her, particularly fourteen chests of watches and watch-work, which she brought from London. Four persons of great learning are to be sent out in her, at the Emperor's expence, to make discoveries in Natural Philosophy.
Although the Emperor was initially enthusiastic, he refused to provide finance for it apart from the expenses of his naturalists, and the venture eventually proved impossible to realize. Bolts' hopes for a commercial voyage and the desire of the Emperor and his naturalists for a voyage of scientific discovery were incompatible as a combined undertaking. The opposition of Bolts' Belgian former financial partners and now rivals in the Imperial Asiatic Company of Trieste and Antwerp was also a cause of its not going ahead, and in the autumn of 1782, it was abandoned. Instead of sending out a scientific expedition on an Austrian ship as Born had proposed, the Austrian naturalists under the leadership of Franz Jozef Maerter went from Le Havre in April 1783 on the American frigate "General Washington" (Captain Joshua Barney) to Philadelphia and thence to South Carolina, Florida, the Bahamas and Santo Domingo (Hispaniola). Besides plants, they were to collect animal and mineral specimens. Reflecting the origins of the enterprise, their instructions gave them the option (which was not taken up) to take ship from Acapulco in Mexico to the Philippines, thence to the Sunda Islands in the Dutch East Indies, the coasts of Bengal, Coromandel and Malabar, and the Iles de France and Bourbon (Mauritius and Reunion).
Bolts's approaches to Russia and Naples.
Bolts refused to give up on his hopes for a voyage to the North West coast of America. Emperor Joseph II released Bolts from his obligations (except to his creditors) and gave him leave in November 1782 to take his proposal to the court of Catherine II of Russia. The Russian court proved unresponsive, so Bolts also put his proposal before the court of Joseph's brother-in-law, Ferdinand IV, King of Naples. He had an encouraging response from Naples, where King Ferdinand's Minister of Commerce and the Navy, General Sir John Acton, wanted to promote the kingdom's maritime trade. King Ferdinand gave Bolts a charter, modelled on that he had received from Empress Maria Theresa in 1776, with a term of twenty-one years from 1786, for a Royal Indian Company of Naples (Regia Società dell'India di Napoli), but the Neapolitan government agreed to support Bolts only after he had made a successful initial voyage at his own expense and risk. Preparations were begun in Marseille to fit out the "Ferdinand", a ship Bolts planned to send to the North West Coast under the Neapolitan flag, but the venture was abandoned when Bolts received a more positive response from the French government.
Bolts and the Lapérouse expedition.
With the Emperor's permission, Bolts also put his proposal to Joseph's other brother-in-law, Louis XVI of France. Bolts outlined his plan in letters he wrote to the Maréchal de Castries on 25 January and 9 April 1785. The "Cobenzell" would be sent around Cape Horn to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), Nootka Sound, the Kurile Islands, and China. The sloop would be left at Nootka to trade for furs, while a couple of Frenchmen would be left in the Kuriles to learn Japanese and adopt the dress and ways of the inhabitants. At least two ships would be employed to maintain communication with Europe via both the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn. A botanist, metallurgist, and astronomer would be employed. In the South Atlantic, Tristan da Cunha was to be claimed for France and settled as a base for the whaling industry.
In addition to Tristan, "the Island discovered by La Roche in 1675" (probably South Georgia) was to be found and settled. The French government adopted the concept, though not its author, leading to the sending out of an expedition under the command of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse. Charles Pierre Claret de Fleurieu, Directeur des Ports et Arsenaux, stated in the draft of the memorandum on the expedition he submitted to the King: "the utility which may result from a voyage of discovery ... has made me receptive to the views put to me by Mr. Bolts relative to this enterprise". However, as Fleurieu explained to the King: "I am not proposing at all, however, the plan for this voyage as it was conceived by Mr. Bolts". Political and strategic considerations took priority over the commercial. Bolts was paid 1,200 Louis for "the communications useful for the Service which he has given", but was given no part in the preparation or execution of the Lapérouse expedition.
The voyages of the "Cobenzell" to India and the "Belgiojoso" to China.
At odds with his suspicious Antwerp backers, Bolts found himself declared bankrupt in mid-1782. Although he possessed no capital himself, he was able to trade on his reputation as an expert in the Eastern trade to launch a new share company in 1783, the Triestine Society, which in September sent the "Cobenzell" on a commercial voyage to the Malabar Coast by way of Marseilles, where she took in the principal part of her cargo, and the Cape of Good Hope. At Bombay, a second ship was purchased, called the "Count of Belgiojoso." The captain of the Cobenzell, John Joseph Bauer, transferred to the "Belgiojoso", and sailed on to China.
It was reported from Trieste on 22 February 1786 that "The Comte Cobenzel East Indiaman arrived in this port the 18th inst. with a rich cargo" of saltpeter, tea, cassia, camphire, coffee, pepper and other merchandise, having left Canton 23 January 1785. The "Belgioioso" under Bauer went from Canton to New York, where she arrived in June 1786. The ship's arrival from New York at Dover, England, was reported in "The Daily Universal Register" of 15 September, and the same newspaper published an extract of a letter from Ostend dated 24 September that said: "The Count de Belgioioso, on account of the East India Company, is arrived here from Bengal and China, her cargo consists chiefly of piece goods, with only a few chests of the finest teas, and one of spices, from Ceylon, at which island they touched on their way home".
The voyage of the "Imperial Eagle".
Having missed the opportunity provided by the American War of Independence to send a ship to the North West Coast undisturbed by competitors, Bolts was apparently able to share in the only voyage sent there under the Imperial flag, that of the "Imperial Eagle," the former East Indiaman "Loudoun," which in November 1786 sailed from Ostend under Charles William Barkley. Having cleared Ostend in November 1786, the "Imperial Eagle" made port at the Sandwich Islands in May 1787 and reached Nootka in June, from whence she traded southward for two months along the American coast. Barkley added significantly to knowledge of the geography of the area during this voyage, notably identifying the Strait of Juan de Fuca. He returned to Macao with his takings of furs on 5 November. The expedition was apparently profitable, as an article in "The London Chronicle" of 21 June 1788 reported that, "After taking in his cargo, &c. &c. Captain Berkeley [Barkley] proceeded to Macao, where he disposed of his furs at an amazing price". It was originally intended that the "Imperial Eagle" would make three voyages to the North West Coast, Japan, and Kamchatka, but when she reached Canton after her first season she was sold after threats were made from the East India Company for breaching its monopoly.
Plan to colonize Australia 1786-1787.
In November 1786, Bolts was given a contract by King Gustav III of Sweden to discover an island off the coast of Western Australia, where a Swedish colony and trading post could be established. However, the plan was shelved after Sweden became embroiled in war with Russia the following year. Bolts was given 250 pounds for his trouble, and the proposed colony was never established.
Bolts's final years.
Bolts is said to have attempted to revive his fortunes in France, setting up an enterprise near Paris, but the outbreak of war once again destroyed his hopes. He returned to England in 1800, where he attempted unsuccessfully to interest the East India Company in obtaining supplies of copper from Anatolia to sell in India. He then moved to Lisbon where in the 1760s, before joining the East India Company, he had worked in the diamond trade. He made his last will in Lisbon in August 1805 and died, it is said, in a Paris poorhouse (hôpital) in 1808.


Jayanta Mongkol

Jayanta Mongkol, the Prince Mahisara Rajaharudaya (; ; 30 January 1866 – 15 April 1907) was a son of King Mongkut, Rama IV, and his Royal Consort Huang. He was 13 years younger than his brother, Chulalongkorn, who would become Rama V. The prince was a leading member of the progressive clique known as the "Young Siam", on whom King Chulalongkorn relied for support in his efforts to reform the country. At the king's insistence, the younger members of his family and extended family were all educated in Western ways, sometimes attending schools abroad.
Biography.
Prince Jayanta began his public career with the Royal Guard and was later transferred to a civilian post in the Bureau of the Royal Secretariat. In 1895, Prince Jayanta was given the royal title Prince Mahisara Rajaharudaya, and was promoted to a very high position in the Siamese court. There was a major shuffle of ministerial posts, with eight of the 12 minister positions going to members of the Young Siam. The Prince was put in charge of the Ministry of Treasury (later Finance Ministry), which had recently absorbed the Ministry of Agriculture. In 1897, when HM King Rama V embarked on a nine-month tour of Europe, Prince Jayanta, as the Minister of Treasury, accompanied him and saw first-hand the government administration of several European states, and the important role banks played in developing the economy and promoting international trade.
Upon returning home, the Prince assumed the task of developing international trade relations and bringing Siam's business practices in line with those in Europe. There was certainly a great need for an indigenous bank but the Prince realised that founding a bank would take time and expertise, while at the same time, there would be resistance from the established foreign banking community. The Prince also turned his attention to further reforming the awkward pod duang currency into a European-style metric system, involving just two units (1 baht equivalent to 100 satang). The reform made bookkeeping much easier and paved the way for the introduction of Siamese banknotes in 1902. Having succeeded with his currency reforms, Prince Jayanta went on to launch a small Siamese-owned private trust in 1904 called the Book Club. Three years later, this trust was the foundation for Siam's first commercial bank, Siam Commercial Bank, Limited, which was launched under a royal charter on the Prince's birthday, 30 January, in 1907. Because of his achievements, he is widely acknowledged as the 'Father of Thai Banking'.


John Peter Grant

Sir John Peter Grant, GCMG, KCB, (28 November 1807 – 6 January 1893), was a British colonial administrator who served as Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal (1859–1862) and as Governor of Jamaica.
Life.
John Peter Grant was born in London on 28 November 1807. His parents were the similarly named John Peter Grant, who came from Rothiemurchus, Inverness-shire, and his wife, Jane, a daughter of William Ironside from Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham.
Grant was educated at Eton College from 1819, spent some time at Edinburgh University and then, in 1827, became a student at the East India College in Haileybury. He joined the Bengal Civil Service in the following year and spent some time at Fort William College in Calcutta before being appointed as an assistant magistrate in Bareilly. The experience there did not suit him and he returned to Calcutta in 1832.
There followed a nine-year period during which Grant held various secretarial posts in the administration.
Jamaica.
Grant was appointed Governor of Jamaica and arrived on 5 August 1866. His arrival attracted excited crowds and he was given a guard of honour from the First and Third West India Regiments.
Grant was responsible for the disestablishment of the Anglican Church in Jamaica, which took place in 1870, and he also established a constabulary in 1867 as well as instituting Crown Colony rule with a nominated council there.
He died at Upper Norwood on 6 January 1893.
Family.
On 16 February 1835, Grant married Henrietta Isabella Phillippa Plowden at Calcutta Cathedral. She was the daughter of another Bengal Civil Service officer, Trevor Chichele Plowden. The couple had five sons and three daughters, one of whom, Jane Maria Strachey was a leading suffragist and she married Sir Richard Strachey.
His son Major Bartle Grant was the father of the painter Duncan Grant.


Mnemata Site

The Mnemata Site is an archaeological excavation site at the Mnemata locality of Larnaca, Cyprus. A tomb was discovered in 1979—during the construction of a refugee settlement.
Built over the excavation site is now a supermarket.
The site is located on the city block east of the junction of Plateia Mitropoleos and Nikodimou Mylona Street.
The site has been referred to as Agios Georgios cemetery, in various interim reports. (There are other institutions in the same city that are known as Agios Georgios. One is the Agios Georgios refugee settlement—the other is the cemetery on Agiou Georgiou Kontou Street.
Other archaeological sites in its vicinity include the Pervolia Site, located north-east of Mnemata.
Name.
"Mnemata" is the name of the locality, and it means "graves".
The Mnemata Site is also known as the Agios Georgios cemetery, because a tomb was found in 1979 during the construction of a refugee settlement called "Agios Georgios". Other tombs were found on site, later.
History.
During the construction of Agios Georgios (refugee settlement), a tomb was discovered on March 22, 1979. In 1979, 63 tombs were excavated there.
In 1989 Michael Heltzer said that the Ayious Georghios-Mnimata site had an unexcavated southern part that lies 700 meters northwest of Kition's city wall, and 1500 meters northwest of the seashore. "The site had been used as a cemetery from the beginning of the Iron Age until the Roman times", and there were four cemeteries in its environs in 1989.


Setthathirath II

Setthathirath II (died 1735), also called Ong Lo and Sai Ong Hue (also spelled Xai Ong Ve; ), grandson of the great ruler Suliyavongsa, was the king of the Lao Kingdom of Lān Xāng. In Vietnamese records, he was called Triều Phúc (朝福).
He spent most of his early years as a prince of the royal house in exile at Huế (now in Vietnam). His father Prince Som Phou fled to Vietnam upon the placement by the nobles of his younger brother (Setthathirath II's uncle) Suliyavongsa was king of Lan Xang. Upon the 1694 death of King Suliyavongsa, a noble named Tian Thala ascended to the throne. Within six months, Tian Thala was deposed.
In 1698 Setthathirath II attacked Vientiane, the capital of Lan Xang. In 1699, Nan Tharat became ruler and with the aid of Vietnamese forces, Setthathirath II ousted King Nan Tharat and secured the city. In 1700 he declared himself king under the name Sethathirat II, and in 1705 he moved the Prabang Buddha, the sacred religious statue and symbol of royalty, from Luang Prabang to Vientiane.
Setthathirath II then sent his brother to take the northern city of Loung Prabang from his cousin Prince Kitsarat (or Kitsarath), a grandson of King Suliyavongsa, who refused to recognize his authority. Kitsarat asks for assistance from the Siamese King and was granted independence from Lan Xang, creating the Kingdom of Luang Phrabang and converting Lan Xang into the Kingdom of Vientiane.
In 1713, another grandson of Suliyavongsa, Prince Nokasat Song or Nokasad, saw the opportunity to break away from Lan Xang to the South, and was also granted independence from Siam to form the Kingdom of Champasak, which further divided the Lao Kingdom.
Issue.
King Sethathirat II had issue: three sons and one daughter.


Operation Gold Fish

Operation Gold Fish is a 2019 Indian Telugu-language action thriller film written and directed by Sai Kiran Adivi and produced by Vinayakudu Talkies, U&I Entertainments. The story is inspired by true events of mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in the 1980s. The film starring Aadi as an NSG commando, Nithya Naresh, Sasha Chhetri, Karthik Raju and Parvateesam, has Abburi Ravi, the Telugu writer, as the antagonist. The patriotic thriller has Aadi playing an NSG commando.
With the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, the script has been changed to suit the current scenario and new scenes were shot reflecting the aspirations of Kashmiri Pandits. The film was released on 18 October 2019.
Soundtrack.
The soundtrack of the film is composed by Sricharan Pakala and lyrics by Ramajogayya Sastry.
Released.
The film was released on 18 October 2019.


Ashina Tuizi

Ashina Tuizi (693-700) — was a claimant to Western Turkic Khaganate.
Life.
He escaped Tang after execution of his father at the hand of Lai Junchen. After arriving in Tibetan Empire in 693, he was created Onoq Khagan with regnal title Tong Yabgu Khagan. He was soon joined by his uncles Ashina Babu (阿史那拔布) and Ashina Poluo (阿史那仆罗).
In 694, combined forces of khagan and Tibetan general Gar Tsenyen Gungton ("Bolun Zanren" (勃論贊刃) in Chinese) suffered a defeat near Qinghai Lake against Wang Xiaojie. Later that year Tridu Songtsen and Tuizi attacked Lengchen and raided several cities.
According to the Old Tibetan Annals he was sent to Tujue in 700. Some think he was sent as a reinforcement for Axiji Baolu (阿悉吉薄露), who was thought to be of Western Turk origin and who raised a rebellion against the Tang. Some think he was sent to the Second Turkic Qaghanate as a messenger of the united front with the Tibetan Empire.
In 705, he again allied with Tibetan Empire and conquered Ferghana Valley. In 706, Tang army was driven off.


Minye Thihathu

Minye Thihathu is a Burmese royal title, and may mean:


Church of Our Lady of the Sign, Verkhoturye

Church of Our Lady of the Sign - is an Orthodox church in Verkhoturye, Sverdlovsk oblast.
The building was granted the status of regional significance on the 31st of December 1987 (decision № 535 by the executive committee of Sverdlovsk oblast Council of People's Deputies). The object number of cultural heritage of regional significance is 661410161840005.
History.
The first building of the temple was wooden and destroyed by fire in 1778. Soon the construction of a new capital stone two-story building began. November 6, 1781 the lower church was consecrated in honor of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos "The Sign". On the lower tier there was a semicircular three-tiered iconostasis. On May 11, 1808, the upper church was consecrated in the name of the martyrs of Flora and Laurus. On the upper tier there was a four-cestal iconostasis with the image of God the Father.
The parish included the villages of Furina, Kamenka, Shvedova and Nekhoroshka (there was a wooden chapel). The number of parishioners is slightly more than 600.
In 1922, the property of the church was confiscated: "3 poods 11 pounds 38 silver spools" (53.5 kilograms). The building was closed in 1935. The dome and bell tower are demolished. Currently not working.
Architecture.
A monument to the temple architecture of the late XVIII century. A rare example of the use of clypeus with characteristic spiral curls. It belongs to the number of key urban dominants, forms its coastal panorama. It is placed with an indent from the red line of Sverdlov Street on the slope of the bank of the Tura River.
To the longitudinally extended volume with the temple, the refectory and the sub-consigned space adjoins a narrowed pentahedral apse.
Members of the facades are formed by columns and a relaxed entablature. The partitions are cut by arched windows in clypees with twin spiral curls. Some of the windows have been replaced by blind walls. The southern part of the temple is marked by double three-quarter columns, placed on pedestals and carrying an entablement. The protrusions of the liberated parts are full three-tiered, in the span are devoid of a tier of architrave. Under the frieze a row of curly denticles was launched. The wall of the wall is cut by windows in two axes.
Through the opening in the order portal with twin curls, the entrance from the west to the collapsed room and then to the square refectory with a blind northern wall. The refectory is covered with a semi-vault arch with three decks above the southern windows. The temple stretched from the north to the south is communicated through wide arches with a refectory.


Tappa Hisar

Tappa Hisar is an archaeological site located in Iran near Damghan. Expeditions in 1931-32 by the University of Pennsylvania and 1956 by the University of Tokyo revealed that the site was inhabited from 3900 to 1900 BC. Evidence was uncovered of pottery-making and metallurgy. A large Sasanian Empire palace was also uncovered.


Cao Cao Mausoleum

The Cao Cao Mausoleum, also known as the Gaoling Mausoleum of Wei and the Xigaoxue Tomb No. 2, is a tomb in Xigaoxue Village, Anfeng Township, Anyang County, Anyang City, Henan Province, China. It is purported to be the burial site of Cao Cao (155–220 CE), a prominent warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. The discovery of the tomb was reported on 27 December 2009 by the Henan Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau. In 2013, the tomb became part of the seventh batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level in China.
Historical background.
Cao Cao (155–220 CE) was a warlord and politician who rose to prominence towards the end of the Han dynasty ( 184–220 CE) and became the "de facto" head of government in China during that period. In 216 CE, he received the title of a vassal king – King of Wei () – from Emperor Xian, the figurehead Han emperor whom he controlled. Through his military conquests, he laid the foundation for what was to become the state of Cao Wei (220–266 CE), which was established by his son and successor, Cao Pi. Cao Cao died in 220 CE in Luoyang at the age of 65 and was posthumously honoured as "King Wu" (武王; literally "martial king") by Emperor Xian.
The location of Cao Cao's tomb has been a mystery over the centuries. According to his official biography in the "Records of the Three Kingdoms" ("Sanguozhi"), he was interred in the Gaoling (高陵; literally "high mausoleum") about one month after his death. However, he was also believed to be buried elsewhere. Other purported burial sites of Cao Cao include: Xu (許; present-day Xuchang, Henan), the capital of the Han dynasty at the time; beneath the Zhang River; below the Bronze Sparrow Platform, a terrace in Ye (in present-day Handan, Hebei), the capital of Cao Cao's vassal kingdom.
Another legend, which originated in the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) and was popularised by the works of Luo Guanzhong, Pu Songling and others in later periods, says that Cao Cao had 72 tombs constructed to serve as decoys and protection against grave robbers. The Northern Dynasty Tombs in Ci County, Handan, Hebei were initially believed to be the 72 tombs, but archaeologists later confirmed that they belonged to the imperial families of the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi dynasties and have nothing to do with Cao Cao.
Discovery.
The tomb was discovered in December 2008 when workers at a nearby kiln were digging for mud to make bricks. Its discovery was initially not reported. The local authorities found out only after they seized a stone tablet bearing the inscription 'King Wu of Wei' – Cao Cao's posthumous title – from grave robbers who claimed to have stolen it from the tomb. Over the following year, archaeologists recovered more than 250 relics from the tomb, including stone paintings depicting social life in Cao Cao's time, stone tablets bearing inscriptions of sacrificial objects, and several items labelled as "personal belongings" frequently used by Cao Cao, including weapons and stone pillows. The bones of three persons were also unearthed and identified to be those of a man in his 60s, a woman in her 50s and another woman in her 20s.
The tomb, made of bricks, faced east and formed a shape resembling the Chinese character "jia" () when viewed from above. It covered an area of roughly 740 square metres and its deepest point was about 15 metres below the ground. The underground tomb has two main chambers (front and back), four side chambers and connecting passages. An inclined passage 39.5 metres long and 9.8 metres wide leads to the underground chambers.
The discovery of the tomb was confirmed by archaeological officials on 27 December 2009.
Controversy.
Since the tomb was discovered, many sceptics and experts have pointed out problems with it and raised doubts about its authenticity. Yuan Jixi, a vice dean of the Renmin University of China's School of Chinese Classics, suggested that the items in the tomb cannot be guaranteed as authentic because the tomb had been greatly disturbed by grave robbers. Yuan also noted that the most important pieces of evidence – namely the artefacts bearing the inscription 'King Wu of Wei' – may have been deliberately placed in the tomb for deceptive purposes.
31 December 2009 seminar.
On 31 December 2009, the Henan Provincial Institute of Archaeology invited experts from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences's Institute of Archaeology, Zhengzhou University, and Henan University to join its researchers in a seminar to discuss the findings from the tomb and respond to queries from the press. The most popular topics discussed at the seminar include:
Endorsement by the SACH.
In early January 2010, in light of the controversy over the authenticity of the tomb, Han Fuzheng, a lawyer from Cangzhou, made a freedom of information (FOI) request to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) for the disclosure of the information and assessment standards used in confirming the tomb. On 28 January, the SACH stated that the procedures associated with the excavation process, archaeological research and verification, publishing of results, etc., were all in accordance with the rules of archaeological work. This statement by the SACH effectively served as a legal endorsement of the results from the research conducted throughout 2009 which suggest that the tomb was Cao Cao's.
August 2010 forum.
In August 2010, 23 experts and scholars presented evidence at the National High-Level Forum on Culture of the Three Kingdoms Period held in Suzhou, Jiangsu to argue that the findings and the artefacts of the tomb are fake.
During the forum, Lin Kuicheng, a historian and member of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, pointed out that Cao Cao should not be referred to as "King Wu of Wei" before 220 CE. After Cao Cao died in March 220 CE, his vassal king title – "King of Wei" – was inherited by his son, Cao Pi, who continued to hold the title until around December when he forced Emperor Xian, the last emperor of the Han dynasty, to abdicate in his favour. Since Cao Cao was buried about one month after his death and his funeral was most likely presided over by Cao Pi, it would be taboo to refer to Cao Cao as "King Wu of Wei" because the "King of Wei" (Cao Pi) was still living then. Furthermore, when Emperor Xian relinquished his throne to Cao Pi, he referred to Cao Pi and Cao Cao as "King of Wei" and "King Wu" respectively in his official abdication edict; Cao Cao was never referred to as "King Wu of Wei" in the edict.
Cao Huan and Cao Yu.
On 12 September 2010, the Henan Provincial Institute of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage and the Anyang County Cultural Centre published an article in the journal "Kaogu" ("Archaeology") about the tomb. In the article, they claimed that the tomb and the adjacent one (the Xigaoxue Tomb No. 1) actually belonged to Cao Huan (the fifth and last Wei emperor) and his father Cao Yu (a son of Cao Cao) respectively. The defining piece of evidence was a seal that was initially thought to be a simple official seal, but was later discovered to be actually a seal bearing the tomb owner's name. When the seal was first revealed after it was excavated from the tomb, it was presented upside-down so the Chinese character inscribed on it in seal script did not make any sense. After the error was corrected, archaeologists recognised that the Chinese character on the seal is "huan" (), hence they deduced that the tomb was Cao Huan's. When compared with the Chinese characters inscribed on a bronze seal belonging to Cao Xiu (whose tomb's discovery was announced and confirmed in May 2010), archaeologists noticed that the Chinese character on the seal from the Xigaoxue tomb bore some slight resemblance to the Chinese character "cao" (). According to the "Wei Shipu" (魏世譜; "Genealogy of Wei"), Cao Huan died at the age of 57, which was rather close to the age at which the man in the tomb died.
Fang Beichen, a Sichuan University history professor who specialises in the Three Kingdoms period, published an essay on his personal blog about the findings from the Xigaoxue tomb and the pieces of evidence which point out that the tombs are actually the mausoleums of Cao Huan and Cao Yu.
Current status.
In 2010, the tomb became part of the fifth batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level in China.
The excavation of the two tombs was completed by the end of 2010, with over 400 artefacts unearthed and 100 damaged relics restored by the provincial archaeologist team. To enhance the protection of the tomb, the local government in Anyang has established a special committee to oversee and manage the tomb. , the tomb is not open to the public yet even though preparatory works for its opening are underway. The government has also built a temporary exhibition hall and a supporting ring corridor.
, it has been announced that the government is constructing a museum on the original site of the tomb which will be named 'Cao Cao Mausoleum Museum' (). On 12 November 2012, a private museum in Zhengzhou donated a stele to the Cao Cao Mausoleum.
Media reports from 2018 describe the tomb complex as having an outer rammed earth foundation, a spirit way, and structures on the east and south sides. Archaeologists have also noted that the tomb's exterior and perimeter appear to be deliberately left unmarked; there are neither structures above the ground around the tomb nor massive piles of debris in the vicinity. This indirectly confirms historical records that Cao Pi had ordered the monuments on the surface to be systematically dismantled to honour his father's wishes to be buried in a simple manner in a concealed location, as well as to prevent tomb robbers from finding and looting the tomb.
Archaeologists also found another tomb next to Cao Cao's that was built around the same time. The other tomb, however, contains only clothes and no human remains were found inside. Experts believe that this tomb belongs to Cao Cao's eldest son, Cao Ang, who was killed at the Battle of Wancheng and his body was never found.