Post-Angkor Period

The post-Angkor period of Cambodia (), also called the Middle Period and Dark Age (), and "Vigilantism" () refers to the historical era from the early 15th century to 1863, the beginning of the French protectorate of Cambodia. As reliable sources (for the 15th and 16th centuries, in particular) are very rare, a defensible and conclusive explanation that relates to concrete events that manifest the decline of the Khmer Empire, recognised unanimously by the scientific community, has so far not been produced. However, most modern historians have approached a consensus in which several distinct and gradual changes of religious, dynastic, administrative and military nature, environmental problems and ecological imbalance coincided with shifts of power in Indochina and must all be taken into account to make an interpretation. In recent years scholars' focus has shifted increasingly towards human–environment interactions and the ecological consequences, including natural disasters, such as flooding and droughts.
Stone epigraphy in temples, which had been the primary source for Khmer history, is already a rarity throughout the 13th century, ends in the third decade of the fourteenth, and does not resume until the mid-16th century. Recording of the Royal Chronology discontinues with King Jayavarman IX Parameshwara (or Jayavarma-Paramesvara), who reigned from 1327 to 1336. There exists not a single contemporary record of even a king’s name for over 200 years. Construction and maintenance of monumental temple architecture had come to a standstill after Jayavarman VII's reign. According to author Michael Vickery there only exist external sources for Cambodia’s 15th century, the Chinese Ming Shilu (engl. veritable records) annals and the earliest Royal Chronicle of Ayutthaya, which must be interpreted with greatest caution. Wang Shi-zhen (王世貞), a Chinese scholar of the 16th century, is noted as having remarked: "The official historians are unrestrained and are skillful at concealing the truth; but the memorials and statutes they record and the documents they copy cannot be discarded."
The single incident which undoubtedly reflects reality, the central reference point for the entire 15th century, is a Siamese intervention of some undisclosed nature at the capital Yasodharapura (Angkor Thom) around the year 1431. Historians relate the event to the shift of Cambodia's political centre southward to the river port region of Phnom Penh and later Longvek.
Sources for the 16th century are more numerous, although still coming from outside of Cambodia. The kingdom is centred at the Mekong, prospering as an integral part of the Asian maritime trade network, via which the first contact with European explorers and adventurers does occur. Wars with the Siamese resulted in loss of territory in the West and eventually the conquest of the capital Longvek in 1594. The Vietnamese on their "Southward March" reached Prei Nokor/Saigon at the Mekong Delta in the 17th century. This event initiates the slow process of Cambodia losing access to the seas and independent marine trade.
Siamese and Vietnamese dominance intensified during the 17th and 18th century, provoking frequent displacements of the seat of power as the Khmer monarch's authority decreased to the state of a vassal. Both powers alternately demanded subservience and tribute from the Cambodian court. In the early 19th century with dynasties in Vietnam and Siam firmly established, Cambodia was placed under joint suzerainty, having lost its national sovereignty. British agent John Crawfurd states: "...the King of that ancient Kingdom is ready to throw himself under the protection of any European nation..." To save Cambodia from being incorporated into Vietnam and Siam, King Ang Duong agreed to colonial France's offers of protection, which took effect with King Norodom Prohmbarirak signing and officially recognising the French protectorate on 11 August 1863.
Historical background and causes.
The Khmer Empire had steadily gained hegemonic power over most of mainland Southeast Asia since its early days in the 8th and 9th centuries. Rivalries and wars with its western neighbour, the Pagan Kingdom of the Mon people of modern-day Burma were less numerous and decisive than those with Champa to the east. The Khmer and Cham Hindu kingdoms remained for centuries preoccupied with each other's containment and it has been argued that one of the Khmer's military objectives was "...in the reigns of the Angkor kings Suryavarman II and Jayavarman VII." the conquest of the Cham ports, "...important in the international trade of the time". Even though the Khmer suffered a number of serious defeats, such as the Cham invasion of Angkor in 1177, the empire quickly recovered, capable to strike back, as it was the case in 1181 with the invasion of the Cham city-state of Vijaya.
Mongol incursions into southern China and political and cultural pressure caused the southward migration of the Tai people and Thai people and their settling on the upper Chao Phraya River in the 12th century. The Sukhothai Kingdom and later the Ayutthaya kingdom were established and "...conquered the Khmers of the upper and central Menam valley and greatly extended their territory..."
Military setbacks.
Although a number of sources, such as the Cambodian Royal Chronicles and the Royal chronicles of Ayutthaya contain recordings of military expeditions and raids with associated dates and the names of sovereigns and warlords, several influential scholars, such as David Chandler and Michael Vickery doubt the accuracy and reliability of these texts. Other authors criticise this rigid "overall assessment", though.
David Chandler states in "A Global Encyclopedia of Historical Writing, Volume 2": "Michael Vickery has argued that Cambodian chronicles, including this one, that treat events earlier than 1550 cannot be verified, and were often copied from Thai chronicles about Thailand..."
Linguist Jean-Michel Filippi concludes: "The chronology of Cambodian history itself is more a chrono-ideology with a pivotal role offered to Angkor." Similarities apply to Thai chronological records, with the notable example of the "Ramkhamhaeng controversy".
According to the Siamese Royal chronicles of Paramanuchitchinorot, clashes occurred in 1350, around 1380, 1418 and 1431.
Land or People?
Siamese sources record the habit of capturing sizeable numbers of inhabitants from the capital cities and centres of civilisation of the defeated parties in Chiang Mai and Angkor which can be assumed to have accelerated the cultural decline.
Author Michael Vickery debates the degree of importance of this subject in his publication "Two Historical Records of the Kingdom of Vientiane - Land or People?": "It is not at all certain that Angkor desired manpower in central Thailand, rather than simply control over the rich agricultural resources." and "...whether the political economy of early Southeast Asia resulted in rulers being more concerned with control of land or control of people..." and "...both sides of this discussion have offered ad hoc, case-by-case pronunciamentos, which are then repeated like mantra... Critical discussion of the question is long overdue...[sic]"
Contrary views:
Author Akin Rabibhadana, who quotes Ram Khamhaeng: "One particular characteristic of the historical Southeast Asian mainland states was the lack of manpower. The need for manpower is well illustrated by events following each war between Thailand and her neighbours. The victorious side always carried off a large number of people from the conquered territory. Whole villages were often moved into the territory of the conqueror, where they were assimilated and became the population of the conqueror."
David K. Wyatt: "As much as anything else, the Tai müang was an instrument for the efficient use of manpower in a region where land was plentiful in relation to labor and agricultural technology.[sic]"
And Aung-Thwin wrote: "Much of the warfare of early Southeast Asia witnessed the victor carrying off half the population of the vanquished foe and later resettling them on his own soil. Pagan was located in the dry belt of Burma, and depended mainly upon irrigated agriculture for its economic base. Land was plentiful but labor was extremely difficult to obtain."
Dynastic and religious factors.
The complete transition from the early Khmer kingdom to the firm establishment of the Mahidharapura dynasty ( first king Jayavarman VI, 1080 to 1107), which originated west of the Dângrêk Mountains at Phimai in the Mun river valley lasted several decades. Some historians argue, that these kings failed to acquire absolute central administrative control and had limited access to local resources. The dynasty discontinued "ritual policy" and genealogical traditions. Further momentum ensued as Mahayana Buddhism was eventually tolerated and several Buddhist kings emerged, including Suryavarman I, Rajendravarman II and Jayavarman VII. These rulers were not considered, and did not consider themselves, as divine, which lead to a shift in perception of royal authority, central power and a loss of dynastic prestige with respect to foreign rulers. Effectively the royal subjects were given permission to re-direct attention and support from the Hindu state of military dominance with its consecrated leader, the "Varman"—protector king, towards the inner-worldly alternative with the contradictory teachings of the Buddhist temple.Indravarman III (c. 1295-1308) adopted Theravada Buddhism as the state religion, which implied an even more passive, introverted focus towards individual and personal responsibility to accumulate merit to achieve nirvana.
Miriam T. Stark argues that competition and rivalries in royal succession, usurpers and "second grade" rulers characterised the kingdom since the 9th century. Periods of "...consolidation alternated with political fragmentation [as] only few rulers were able to wrest control from the provincial level".
Debate remains on the progress of the imperial society as the kingdom grew and occupied foreign lands. Authors present numerous theories about the relationship between Southeast Asian kings and the populace's loyalties, nature and degree of identity, the Mandala concept and the effects of changing state-religion. Scholar Ben Kiernan highlights a tendency to identify with a universal religion rather than to adhere to the concept of a people or nation, as he refers to author Victor Lieberman in: "Blood and Soil: Modern Genocide 1500-2000" "[local courts make]...no formal demand, that rulers be of the same ethnicity as their subjects"
Environmental problems and infrastructural breakdown.
Historians increasingly maintain the idea that decline was caused by progressing ecological imbalance of the delicate irrigation network and canal system of "...a profoundly ritualized, elaborate system of hydraulic engineering..." at Angkor's Yasodharapura. Recent studies indicate that the irrigation system was overworked and gradually started to silt up, amplified by large scale deforestation. Permanent monument construction projects and maintenance of temples instead of canals and dykes put an enormous strain on the royal resources and drained thousands of slaves and common people from the public workforce and caused tax deficits. Author Heng L. Thung addressed common sense in "Geohydrology and the decline of Angkor" as he sums things up: "...the preoccupation of the Khmers with the need to store water for the long dry season. Each household needed a pond to provide drinking and household water for both man and beast. The barays [reservoirs] of Angkor were simply the manifestation of the need of an urban population. Water was the fountain of life for Angkor; a disruption in its supply would be fatal."
Recent Lidar (Light detection and ranging) Geo-Scans of Angkor have produced new data, that have caused several "Eureka moments" and "have profoundly transformed our understanding of urbanism in the region of Angkor". Results of dendrochronological studies imply prolonged periods of drought between the 14th and 15th centuries. As a result, recent re-interpretations of the epoch put greater emphasis on human–environment interactions and the ecological consequences.
Chaktomuk era.
Following the abandonment of the capital Yasodharapura and the Angkorian sites, the few remaining Khmer survivors, with Siamese help, established a new capital around two-hundred kilometres to the south-east on the site which is modern day Phnom Penh, at the confluence of the Mekong and the Tonle Sap river. Thus, it controlled the river commerce of the Khmer heartland, upper Siam and the Laotian kingdoms with access, by way of the Mekong Delta, to the international trade routes that linked the Chinese coast, the South China Sea, and the Indian Ocean. Unlike its inland predecessor, this society was more open to the outside world and relied mainly on commerce as the source of wealth. The adoption of maritime trade with China during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) provided lucrative opportunities for members of the Cambodian elite who controlled royal trading monopolies.
Historians consent that as the capital ceased to exist, the temples at Angkor remained as central for the nation as they always had been.
David P. Chandler: "The 1747 inscription is the last extensive one at Angkor Wat and reveals the importance of the temple in Cambodian religious life barely a century before it was "discovered" by the French."
Longvek era.
King Ang Chan I (1516–1566) moved the capital from Phnom Penh north to Longvek at the banks of the Tonle Sap river. Trade was an essential feature and "...even though they appeared to have a secondary role in the Asian commercial sphere in the 16th century, the Cambodian ports did indeed thrive." Products traded there included precious stones, metals, silk, cotton, incense, ivory, lacquer, livestock (including elephants), and rhinoceros horn.
First Contact with the West.
Messengers of Portuguese admiral Alfonso de Albuquerque, conqueror of Malacca arrived in Indochina in 1511, the earliest documented official contact with European sailors. By the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, Longvek maintained flourishing communities of Chinese, Indonesians, Malays, Japanese, Arabs, Spaniards, English, Dutch and Portuguese traders.
Christian missionary activities began in 1555 with Portuguese clergyman friar Gaspar da Cruz, the first to set foot in the Kingdom of Cambodia, who "...wasn’t able to spread the word of God and he was seriously ill[sic]." Subsequent attempts did not yield any results that could substantiate a congregation.
Siamese encroachment.
Cambodia was attacked by Thai prince and warlord Naresuan in 1583. and Longvek was captured in 1594 which marked the beginning of the establishment of a Siamese military governor in the city. For the first time a degree of foreign political control was established over the kingdom as the seat of the sovereign was demoted to that of a vassal. Following the Siam capture of the capital at Longvek, Cambodian royals were taken hostage and relocated at the court of Ayutthaya, kept under permanent Thai influence and left to compromise and out-compete each other under the overlord's scrutiny.
The initially lucky circumstance of some royal family members, managing to seek refuge at the Lao court of Vientiane, ended as one of many sinister chapters for the health and integrity of Khmer royalty. The refugees never returned to demand their claims. Their sons, born and raised in Lao, were alienated, as can be expected, and while "moderately" manipulated, engaged in rivalries with their relatives in Siam, and had the ruling king Ram I., who was of lower birth, killed with the help of Spanish and Portuguese sailors. Shortly after they were killed and defeated in the Cambodian–Spanish War, foreign hands—Malays and Chams—involved. This pattern of royal indignity is noticeable in its continuity during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, the Vietnamese court in Hue joining in as yet another stage of royal drama. Promoted and orchestrated by their protectors, who successfully interfered in marriage policies, royal contender's quarrels often prevented any chance of restoring an effective King of competitive authority for decades.
Srey Santhor era.
Kings Preah Ram I and Preah Ram II moved the capital several times and established their royal capitals at Tuol Basan (Srey Santhor) around 40 kilometres north-east of Phnom Penh, later Pursat, Lavear Em and finally Oudong. In 1596 Spanish and Portuguese conquistadores from Manila raided and razed Srei Santhor.
In 1597 Malay Muslim merchants massacred the Spanish conquistadors who attempted to conquer Cambodia.
Oudong era.
By the 17th century Siam and Vietnam increasingly fought over control of the fertile Mekong basin, enhancing pressure on weakened Cambodia. The 17th century was also the beginning of direct relations between post-Angkor Cambodia and Vietnam, that is the war between Nguyễn lords who ruled central and southern Vietnam and Trịnh lords in the north.
Henri Mouhot: "Travels in the Central Parts of Indo-China" 1864
Loss of Mekong Delta.
By the late 15th century, the Vietnamese—descendants of the Sinic civilisation sphere—had conquered some of the territories of the principalities of Champa. Some of the surviving Chams began their diaspora in 1471, many re-settling in Khmer territory. However, the Cambodian Chronicle does not mention the Cham arrival in Cambodia until the 17th century. The last remaining principality of Champa, Panduranga, survived until 1832.
Traditional course:
In 1620 the Vietnamese on their southwards expansion (Nam tiến) had reached the Mekong Delta, a hitherto Khmer domain. Also in 1620 the Khmer king Chey Chettha II (1618–28) married a daughter of lord Nguyễn Phúc Nguyên, one of the Nguyễn lords, who held sway over southern Vietnam for most of the Lê Dynasty era from 1428 to 1788. Three years later, king Chey Chettha allowed Vietnam to establish a custom-post at Prey Nokor, modern day Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam after gaining independence from the Chinese now instituted its own version of the frontier policies of the Chinese empire and by the end of the 17th century, the region was under full Vietnamese administrative control. Cambodia's access to international sea trade was now hampered by Vietnamese taxes and permissions.
Contrary views:
The story of a Cambodian king falling in love with a Vietnamese princess, who requested and obtained Kampuchea Krom, the Mekong Delta for Vietnam is folklore, dismissed by scholars and not even mentioned in the Royal Chronicles.
In the process of re-interpretation of the royal records and their rather doubtful contents, Michael Vickery again postulates that future publications take these contradicting facts into account: "First, the very concept of a steady Vietnamese "Push to the South" (nam tiến) requires rethinking. It was not steady, and its stages show that there was no continuing policy of southward expansion. Each move was ad hoc, in response to particular challenges..."
In 1642 Cambodian prince Ponhea Chan became king after overthrowing and assassinating king Outey. Malay Muslim merchants in Cambodia helped him in his takeover, and he subsequently converted to Islam from Buddhism, changed his name to Ibrahim, married a Malay woman and reigned as Ramathipadi I. His reign marked the historical apogee of Muslim rule in mainland Southeast Asia.
Ramathipadi defeated the Dutch East India Company in naval engagements of the Cambodian–Dutch War during 1643 and 1644. Pierre de Rogemortes, the ambassador of the Company was killed alongside a third of his 432 men and it was not until two centuries later that Europeans played any important and influential role in Cambodian affairs. In the 1670s the Dutch left all the trading posts they had maintained in Cambodia after the massacre in 1643. The first Vietnamese military intervention took place in 1658-59, in which rebel Cambodian princes, Ibrahim Ramathipadi's own brothers, had requested military support to depose the Muslim ruler and restore Buddhism.
Siam, which might otherwise have been courted as an ally against Vietnamese incursions in the 18th century, was itself involved in prolonged conflicts with Burma and in 1767 the Siamese capital of Ayutthaya was completely destroyed. However, Siam recovered and soon reasserted its dominion over Cambodia. The youthful Khmer king Ang Eng (1779–96) was installed as monarch at Oudong while Siam annexed Cambodia's Battambang and Siem Reap provinces. The local rulers became vassals under direct Siamese rule.
A renewed struggle between Siam and Vietnam for control of Cambodia and the Mekong basin in the early 19th century resulted in Vietnamese dominance over a Cambodian vassal king. Justin Corfield writes in "French Indochina": "[1807] the Vietnamese expanded their lands by establishing a protectorate over Cambodia. However king […] Ang Duong was keen on Cambodia becoming independent of [...] Thailand [...] and Vietnam [...] and sought help from the British in Singapore. When that failed, he enlisted the help of the French."
Attempts to force Cambodians to adopt Vietnamese customs caused several rebellions against Vietnamese rule. The most notable took place from 1840 to 1841, spreading through much of the country.
Siam and Vietnam had fundamentally different attitudes concerning their relationship with Cambodia. The Siamese shared a common religion, mythology, literature, and culture with the Khmer, having adopted many religious and cultural practices. The Thai Chakri kings followed the Chakravatin system of an ideal universal ruler, ethically and benevolently ruling over all his subjects.
The Vietnamese enacted a civilising mission, as they viewed the Khmer people as culturally inferior and regarded the Khmer lands as legitimate site for colonisation by settlers from Vietnam.
The territory of the Mekong Delta became a territorial dispute between Cambodians and Vietnamese. Cambodia gradually lost control of the Mekong Delta. By the 1860's French colonist had taken over the Mekong Delta and establish the colony of French Cochinchina.
Consequences and conclusions.
European colonialism and Anglo-French rivalries.
Admiral Léonard Charner proclaimed the formal annexation of three provinces of Cochinchina into the French Empire on 31 July 1861, the beginning of the colonial era of France in South-East Asia. France's interference in Indochina was thus a fact and the colonial community pressing to establish a commercial network in the region based on the Mekong river, ideally linking up with the gigantic market of southern China. Dutch author H.Th. Bussemaker has argued that these French colonial undertakings and acquisitions in the region were mere reactions to or counter-measures against British geo-strategy and economic hegemony. "For the British, it was obvious that the French were trying to undercut British expansionism in India and China by interposing themselves in Indochina. The reason for this frantic expansionism was the hope that the Mekong river would prove to be navigable to the Chinese frontier, which then would open the immense Chinese market for French industrial goods." To save the kingdom's national identity and integrity, King Ang Duong initiated secret negotiations in a letter to Napoleon III seeking to obtain some agreement of protection with France.
In June 1884, the French governor of Cochinchina, Charles Thomson went to Phnom Penh, Norodom's capital, and demanded approval of a treaty with Paris that promised far-reaching changes such as the abolition of slavery, the institution of private land ownership, and the establishment of French résidents in provincial cities. The king reluctantly signed the agreement. The Philaster Treaty of 1874 confirmed French sovereignty over the whole of Cochin China and on 16 November 1887 the Indo-Chinese Union was established.
Outlook.
Archaeology of Cambodia is considered to be still in its infancy. The introduction of new methods of geochronology such as LIDAR-Scanning and Luminescence dating has revealed new sets and kinds of data and studies on climate—and environmental imbalances have become more numerous in recent years. Reflection of results obviously requires time, as in an article of the US National Academy of Sciences of the year 2010, the author complains: "Historians and archaeologists have, with a few notable exceptions only rarely considered the role played by environment and climate in the history of Angkor".
Widely debated remain historiography, culturalism and other aspects of the historical sources as wide contradictions suggest. Probably the greatest challenge is to synchronise all research with the conclusions of the neighbouring countries. Delicate issues exist that are rooted in this historical period (border disputes, cultural heritage), which are politically relevant and far from solved. Definitive conclusions with all contributing factors in a reasonable context are clearly future events.
Miriam T. Stark in: "From Funan to Angkor Collapse and Regeneration in Ancient Cambodia"


2007 Iranian petrol rationing riots

Iranian petrol rationing riots started on 27 June 2007 when the Iranian government introduced petrol rationing. Iranians set fire to at least 12 petrol stations in Tehran, chanting that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad must be killed.
Private motorists were rationed to 100 litres of petrol a month. Petrol currently sells at the heavily subsidised price of 1,000 rials a litre (approx. €0.08 or US$0.11).
The Iranian government's justification for the rationing was to reduce Iran's vulnerability to potential sanctions by the United Nations Security Council which would be in response to Iran's nuclear programme. Iran had been planning to ration petrol for a year prior, but had postponed the policy out of fear of unrest. The Iranian Parliament voted on May 7 to increase the price of petrol to $0.64, but Ahmadinejad decided to ration it instead. Iranian newspapers have been criticizing the decision, despite a warning prior to the start of the rationing to not report the riots. Iranian newspaper "Etemad Melli" criticized the decision, saying that it had overwhelmed public transportation, stranding people on the streets, and wondered if the Iranian government enjoys or benefits from causing such difficulties.
Another Iranian newspaper, "Seday-e-Edelat", reported that five gallons of petrol sold for US$15 in the southeast regions on Iran on the black market.


List of colonial governors of Burma

The colonial governors of Burma were the colonial administrators responsible for the territory of British Burma, an area equivalent to modern-day Myanmar.
As a result of the Second Anglo-Burmese War, Burma was initially setup as a province of British India. Later it was made a separate crown colony within the British Empire. Following capture by the Empire of Japan during World War II, it was controlled by a Japanese military governor. After the Japanese were expelled, it was under a Allied military commander, then a civilian governor until independence.


Anita Parkhurst Willcox

Anita Parkhurst Willcox (1892–1984) was an American artist, feminist and pacifist. Her career as a graphic illustrator was interrupted by 15 months spent entertaining the troops in World War I, which left her passionately anti-war. During the 1920s, she gained fame for drawing "the New American Woman" image, but this contradicted her personal experiences as wife and mother. By the 1930s, she drew images that reflected her own life and beliefs. She was inspired by Gandhi's non-violence, and in Mao's China; but met rejection and censorship during the McCarthy era. Despite this, she continued painting until her death in 1984.
Early life.
Anita Parkhurst Willcox was born in Chicago, in 1892. She studied at the Chicago Art Institute from 1909 to 1913, learning classic drawing; but also studying mural-painting with John W. Norton. While a student, she began her commercial art career drawing illustrations of hats for Gages, the largest millinery company in the United States. She then moved to New York City, where she worked as a graphic artist and commercial illustrator, initially sharing a studio with Neysa McMein. Between 1913 and 1929, her commercial graphics included covers for Saturday Evening Post, Colliers, Every Week, Fashion Art, McCalls, and Screenland; posters for the YMCA, and numerous advertising illustrations. She signed her commercial work throughout this period with her maiden name, "Anita Parkhurst".
In New York, Willcox joined the social and intellectual group that after 1919 formed the Algonquin Round Table. (Willcox was an occasional participant in this group during the 1920s). She studied art briefly with George Bellows and Robert Henri (called the "Ashcan School" of art), but left after they objected to her "classic" drawing style.
She married engineer Henry Willcox in 1918.
Entertaining troops, World War I.
In 1918, two weeks after her marriage, Willcox went to France, to work with the YMCA to support American troops. She worked in a canteen stationed with the American First Division army during the Second Battle of the Somme (1918) in March 1918, then in the Gondecourt sector. With artist Neysa McMein and Jane Bullard, she developed and performed a vaudeville show which toured the troops on the front lines. Willcox and McMein also painted elephants on an observation balloon and artillery guns. She remained with the US army when it entered Germany, returning to New York in March 1919. These experiences made her a committed pacifist.
"New American Woman" image.
After the war, Willcox resumed both her commercial art career in New York, and her married life. She became known for creating the "New American Woman" image – idealized pictures of women who were young, beautiful, fashionable, invariably white and economically successful. A feature newspaper article by Thompson Feature Services in 1921 reads: "The name of Anita Parkhurst is signed with greater frequency than that of any other artist . . .her work has a certain touch."
Conflicts between art career and gender roles.
Between 1921 and 1926 Willcox gave birth to four children; she adopted a fifth in 1930. In 1923, following the birth of her third child, Willcox spent six months in bed with puerperal fever (childbirth fever). This led her to question the contradictions between the idealized images she produced, and the actualities of women's lives.
In 1925, Willcox wrote a book called "Between Jobs and Babies", exploring the changing nature of women's roles in industrial society. Leading women academics responded positively; Edith Stern, reviewing the book for Boni and Liveright, commented: "This is exactly the book I have wanted to have written." Despite the reviews, Willcox was unable to find a publisher.
Arguing that the idealized "pretty girls" she drew for commercial illustration were "socially pernicious", Willcox quit her career as a commercial artist.
Towards gendered social realism.
From 1928, Willcox sought to create art that captured her own experiences and perceptions. In 1930, she studied briefly with John Sloan at the Art Student's League. She traveled extensively, sketching scenes, events, and people around her. She did not attempt to position this artwork within the "art world", and made few attempts to hold gallery exhibitions. All of her work from this period on is signed "Anita Willcox", or "AW".
During the Depression, Willcox designed posters and graphics for Norman Thomas' League for Industrial Democracy, and for Masses magazine. She drew caricatures for Colliers of AFL leader W. Green, and John Lewis of the CIO.
Against all wars.
A committed pacifist, Willcox saw World War II as incomprehensible. She wrote in 1939: "I am paralyzed, clinging to bare reason to find a pattern, any pattern, that I can accept." Her depression was compounded by accidental carbon monoxide poisoning in 1940. For the next few years, she struggled to make any art, painting portraits of friends, and learning silkscreening.
Towards the end of World War II, she drew posters for Americans United for World Organisation, promoting the formation of the United Nations, and calling for an end to all wars. She publicly condemned the Korean War, and nuclear weapons.
In 1949 Willcox traveled through India. Her sketches record the First All India Conference held in Jaipur after the end of British rule; and a peace conference at Sevagram, Mahatma Gandhi (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi)'s ashram, on the first anniversary of his assassination.
Harassment from McCarthyism.
In 1950, Anita and Henry Willcox, with three of their five children, founded a community in Norwalk, Connecticut called Village Creek. Conceived as a haven from racism, the Cold War, and McCarthy era red-baiting, Village Creek became the first inter-racial cooperative on the Eastern seaboard of the United States. Village Creek today comprises some sixty houses; in 2010 it was declared a National Historical Monument.
In 1952 Anita and Henry Willcox represented the Quakers at the Asia and Pacific Rim Peace Conference in Peking China. Willcox sketched delegates to the conference. Afterwards she traveled throughout the People's Republic of China. Meeting Anna Louise Strong led to extensive correspondence which laid the basis for Strong's newspaper column in the US, Letter from China.
Following this trip, the US State Department confiscated the Willcox's passports. The subsequent court case (a class action that included singer Paul Robeson) led to the 1958 Supreme Court ruling that the State Department cannot withhold a passport because of a citizen's beliefs or associations. (During the 1950s, when Robeson was unable to perform in public venues, he practiced on the piano in the Willcox house in West Greenwich.)
Willcox became a target for McCarthy era censorship. At aged 70, she was called to testify before Eastland Committee (both for attending the China conference, and as the person who funded the legal defence of Harvey Matusow, an FBI informer jailed for publicly admitting perjury as a state witness against "communist" trade union officials). Publicity around this meant she was unable to find a publisher for her book about India, and a Norwalk elementary school refused to take donated murals depicting Norwalk Harbor in the 17th century (the school accepted and hung the mural panel in 1977). Henry Willcox, her husband, a professional engineer and president of Willcox Construction Company, was expelled from the company he himself had founded.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Willcox continued to travel and paint throughout the world. She died in Village Creek in 1984.


Jatindramohan Tagore

"See Tagore for disambiguation"
Maharaja Bahadur Sir Jatindramohan Tagore () (16 May 1831 – 10 January 1908), was a theatre enthusiast, art-lover, and philanthropist from Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent.
Early life.
The son of Hara Kumar Tagore (1798 – 1858) and grandson of Gopi Mohan Tagore, he belonged to the Pathuriaghata branch of the Tagore family. Tagore completed his studies at Hindu College, and thereafter, read English and Sanskrit at home. He also received private tuition from Captain D.L. Richardson and others. His father, Hara Kumar Tagore, was also a learned scholar in the Hindu scriptures, Sanskrit and English. He had compiled critically admired books and assisted Radhakanta Deb (1783 – 1867) in compiling "Sabdakalpadrum".
From an early age, Tagore displayed exceptional literary taste for composition both in English and in Bengali, having written several dramas and farces. One of these works was the "Vidya Sundar Nataka", which when performed at his residence, received critical acclaim.
When Gnanendramohan Tagore, son of his uncle, Prasanna Coomar Tagore, converted to Christianity in 1851 and was deprived of inheritance for that reason, he inherited the vast property of his uncle.
Public life.
In 1866, Tagore lent help to the ruling administration, donating towards the benefit of famine-stricken farmers in Midnapur. He was Honorary Secretary of the British Indian Association for several years; was elected as its President in 1879; re-elected in 1881. In 1870 he was chosen as a Member of the Legislative Council of Bengal, and reappointed in 1872. In 1871 he received the title of 'Raja Bahadur', and was exempted from attendance in Civil Courts in April of that year. He received the title of "Maharaja" in 1877, on the occasion of the proclamation of Queen Victoria as Empress of India. He was appointed as a Member of the Legislative Council of the Governor-General in February of that year, and in recognition of his assistance towards the Civil Procedure Bill, was reappointed in 1879. In the latter year, he was created a Companion of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India; and appointed for a third time, a Member of the Viceroy's Council in 1881. Created Knight Commander of the Star of India in May 1882; he received the title of "Maharaja-Bahadur" in January, 1890, and in January of the following year, this title was made hereditary in his family.
Tagore contributed extensively towards the establishment of the Mayo Hospital, resulting in one of the wards being named after him. He also established several scholarships for students of literature, science, culture and history in the names of his father and his uncle, Prasanna Coomar Tagore. He set apart funds for the provision of a gold "keyur" or armlet, to be annually presented to the best student in Sanskrit literature in Calcutta University; and founded a gold medal for the best student who passed an examination after attending the Tagore Law Lectures, annually, and another gold medal for the best student in Physical Science. He was appointed as a Justice of the Peace for the town of Calcutta, Fellow of the University of Calcutta, Trustee of the Indian Museum (of which he was elected President in the year 1882), one of the Governors of the Mayo Hospital, and a Member of the Asiatic Society. He had the honour of being elected the President of the Reception Committee during the visit of Prince Albert Victor in 1889. He was Vice President of the Syndicate of the Calcutta University in 1881, and President of the Faculty of Arts in 1881-82. He presented to the Calcutta University the marble statue of his uncle, the Hon. Prasanna Kumar Tagore, which is placed in the portico of the Senate House. Jointly with his brother, the Raja Sir Sourindro Mohun Tagore, he presented a piece of land to the Municipality of Calcutta for the construction of a Square (to be named after his father), in which at his own expense, he placed a marble bust of his father. He also founded an endowment for the benefit of Hindu widows, of one lakh of rupees, under the name of the "Maharajmata Shib Sundari Debi's Hindu Widows' Fund."
The visit of the eighteenth President of the United States of America, General Ulysses S. Grant to Calcutta specifically significant as it was a momentous event in the United Kingdom-United States of America relations of the late nineteenth century. In the papers of Ulysses S. Grant, recently made public, there is a reference to him being entertained at the Tagore household by Sourindro Mohun and his elder brother, Jatindra Mohun – "On March 14, 1879, USG (Ulysses S. Grant) met Garth at the Bengal High Court and participated in graduation ceremonies at Calcutta University. USG later attended a party given by the influential Tagore family and praised the traditional entertainment." This entertainment included a number of traditional performances as The Statesman and Friend of India described the occasion: "The house, grounds, and lakes were illuminated, and the effect was exceedingly beautiful. The entertainment of the evening consisted of Hindu Music, nautches, and other performances which we are sorry to say, completely beggar our descriptive powers. General Grant said it was the best entertainment of an Oriental character that he had ever witnessed." Similarly, The Indian Mirror reported that: "The Party … were treated to a variety of Hindu Music, consisting of different specimens of songs, performances on the Surbahar, Setar, Jaltaranga, Nyastaranga, Kathakata, Panchali, Rasdhari, Jattra, Bengali Jattra, Nautch, Boat-song (in the lake), and the Nagar-Kirtun, with all the paraphernalia which usually accompany the procession of the Vaisnavas."
His adopted son and heir was the Maharaj Kumar Prodyot Coomar Tagore; He had four daughters born.out of wedlock.
Tagore Castle and the Prasad.
The first house, on the land where Tagore Castle now stands on at 26 Prasanna Kumar Tagore Street in Pathuriaghata, was built by Kali Kumar Tagore. It was a simple three-storey structure. Kali Kumar had given the house to his younger brother Prasanna Coomar. Jatindra Mohan Tagore inherited the property from Prasanna Coomar. In 1895, Jatindra Mohan demolished the old building and started construction of a new building. The plan for the building was prepared by Macintosh Burn and Company from England. It had a 100 feet high centre tower, inspired by the Windsor castle, a flag staff, and a clock imported from England. The building had large rooms as in the castles of England. There was an auditorium on the second floor, meant mainly for the staging of plays. In 1954, S.B. House and Land Pvt. Ltd. of Haridas Mundhra took over the building and has altered most of it to beyond recognition.
Jatindramohan Tagore's primary residence was however, the building opposite the Tagore Castle, known fondly as the "Prasad" (built in 1884). Personalities like Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Girish Ghosh, Sisir Ghosh, Rajendra Lal Mishra, Mahendra Lal Sarkar, Ramesh Dutta, Nabin Sen, Haraprasad Shastri, Amritalal Basu, Dwijendralal Roy, Ashutosh Mukhopadhyay and family members like Gaganendranath, Samarendranath and Abanindranath Tagore frequented the Prasad.
Banga Natyalaya.
Jatindra Mohan Tagore and his brother Shourendra Mohan Tagore, both theatre enthusiasts, started the Banga Natylalay in Pathuriaghata. The plays were reviewed by contemporary newspapers such as "Hindu Patriot" which flourished under Harish Chandra Mukherjee, and Dwarkanath Vidyabhusan’s "Somprakash". The first play to be staged at Banga Natyalaya was Kalidas’ "Mālavikāgnimitram" in Sanskrit, in July 1859. A year later, a Bengali translation of Pandit Ramnarayan Tarkaratna's play was staged. Even prior to the Banga Natyalaya, plays were staged at their house in Pathuriaghata from time to time. He inspired Michael Madhusudan Dutta to compose "Tilottamasambhav Kabya" and paid the expenses for the printing it.
Music & Painting.
Jatindramohan was drawn towards music. Under his patronage Kshetramohan Goswami was the first in India to experiment with orchestra or group music. On 3 July 1857, a drama titled "Ratnavali" was staged at Jatindramohan's house in Belgachia. He assigned Kshetramohun Goswami and Jadunath Pal to form an orchestra imitating those found in European theatres. It was a path-breaking achievement in a country with the tradition of solo music and was an attempt at fusion of western music with Indian traditions. Since then, several Bengali musicians began experimenting with European music, often transposing them into staff notation.
India's first Surbahar concert was featured in his court. The famous Gopal Chandra Banerjee, also known as 'Nulo Gopal', the first guru of Sarode maestro Ustad Allauddin Khan resided in his court.
He was also one of the influential art patrons of the day, featuring both as a donor and a purchaser of European paintings at Exhibitions.
Other activities.
A man of varied tastes, he donated extensively for public causes. He spent unhesitatingly for the rehabilitation of widows. In 1870, he was appointed a member of the Legislative Council of Bengal, and was reappointed in 1872. In February 1877, he was appointed a member of the Legislative Council of the Viceroy, being reappointed in 1879.
He was secretary and president of British Indian Association, member of the Viceroy's council, Education Commission, Calcutta University, and Indian Museum. He had a museum in Tagore Castle.
He wrote extensively in English, Bengali and Sanskrit.
Honours.
He was honoured with the personal title of "Raja Bahadur" in 1871, which was elevated to "Maharaja" in January 1877. In January 1890, he was elevated to the title of "Maharaja Bahadur", which was made hereditary in January 1891.
Tagore was granted the following coat of arms by the British government:
Legacy.
Jatindra Mohan Avenue, the northern extension of Central Avenue is named in Jatindra Mohan Tagore's honour.


Alauddin Sulaiman Ali Iskandar Syah

Sultan Alauddin Sulaiman Ali Iskandar Syah (died 1857) was the thirty-second sultan of Aceh in northern Sumatra. His largely nominal reign lasted from 1838 to 1857.
Nominal sultan.
Originally called Raja Sulaiman, he was the only son of Sultan Alauddin Muhammad Da'ud Syah I. When his father died in 1838, Raja Sulaiman was nominally put on the throne under the name Alauddin Sulaiman Ali Iskandar Syah. However, he was still only a child. His forceful uncle Ibrahim was in fact made acting sultan; as such he is known as Alauddin Ibrahim Mansur Syah (1838-1870). The latter married his daughter Sribanun to the young Alauddin Sulaiman Ali Iskandar Syah. The sultan was also married to Tengku Seriati binti Abbas who was likewise his first cousin.
Incidents with the Dutch.
The nominal reign of Alauddin Sulaiman Ali Iskandar Syah was filled with incidents with the Dutch colonial state. Although Aceh was still entirely independent, it was considered a part of the Dutch sphere of interest following the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824. In 1839 the important port Barus, hitherto a part of the Acehnese possessions, was occupied by the Dutch whose claims to that place went back before 1779. That triggered an Acehnese counter-attack in October in the same year, departing from Tapus and Singkil. This in turn led to Dutch forces taking these two places in 1840. The Acehnese attempted to attack Singkil in 1848, which caused the Dutch to seek support from Trumon, a principality which had formerly stood under Aceh but withdrawn around 1830. The raja of Trumon received 200 guilders per month for his assistance. The flourishing pepper trade was occasionally disturbed when ships belonging to European powers were plundered. On one occasion in 1844 the two ports Kuala Bateë and Meureudu were chastised by British warships after a set of piratical acts. Acehnese power over part of the east coast of Sumatra, including Langkat, Serdang, Batubara, Deli and Asahan was strengthened in 1853-54 thanks to the efforts of the senior sultan Alauddin Ibrahim Mansur Syah.
Power struggles.
When Alauddin Sulaiman Ali Iskandar Syah had come to age he demanded the powers that were due to him from his uncle. However, Alauddin Ibrahim Mansur Syah refused to step down. As a consequence a civil war broke out in 1854. The nominal sultan was supported by the "panglimas" (headmen) of two of the regions, the XXV Mukims and XXVI Mukims, plus a further number of chiefs. His uncle, the acting sultan, found support from other important chiefs. This made for a long and violent struggle between the two parties. Alauddin Ibrahim Mansur Syah was able to dominate the capital Kutaraja while his nephew stayed at the VI Mukims, part of the XXV Mukims. The "uleëbalang" (chief) of the VII Mukims, part of the XXII Mukims, showed his strength by attacking the palace in Kutaraja, after which Alauddin Sulaiman Ali Iskandar Syah married the chief's sister. However, he died in 1857 without gaining the capital, leaving his rival as the sole ruler. He left a son called Mahmud, born from a commoner wife; this prince later became sultan in 1870.


Saw Lu

Saw Lu ( ; also spelled Sawlu; also known as Min Lulin ( ), ; 19 April 1049 – 21 April 1084) was king of Pagan dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) from 1077 to 1084. He inherited from his father Anawrahta the Pagan Empire, the first ever unified kingdom of Burma (Myanmar) but proved an inexperienced ruler. In 1082, he faced a rebellion in Lower Burma, and was captured c. April 1083. He was later killed in captivity about a year later.
Early life.
Saw Lu was born to King Anawrahta and Queen Agga Mahethi, Queen of the Southern Palace. The Burmese chronicles do not agree on the dates regarding his life and reign. The table below lists the dates given by the four main chronicles, and scholarship.
Moreover, the chronicles do not agree whether or not Saw Lu was older than Kyansittha, Anawrahta's other son. According to early chronicles, Kyansittha was older (20 years per "Zata") and (two years per "Maha Yazawin"). However, later chronicles "Yazawin Thit" and "Hmannan" say Saw Lu was older by about one and two years, respectively.
At any rate, Anawrahta made Saw Lu the heir presumptive even though Anawrahta already had a son, Kyansittha by a minor queen whom he had discarded. Saw Lu was brought up by a Mon lady of noble birth. He grew up with the wet nurse's son Yamankan, who became a close friend of his. Saw Lu was not interested in running the kingdom, and never participated in any of his father's military campaigns. He viewed Kyansittha, his half-brother and general in the Pagan army who was extremely popular with the people, with suspicion.
Reign.
Saw Lu ascended to the Pagan throne on 11 April 1077 after his father Anawrahta had died under mysterious circumstances. When he became king, he married his father's Mon queen Manisanda (Khin U) and made her the chief queen. His regnal title was Śrīvájrabharaṇatribupati ().
To run the Mon-speaking territories in the south, he appointed his trusted childhood friend Yamankan, an ethnic Mon. To administer the upcountry, Saw Lu, at the urging of Primate Shin Arahan, reluctantly brought back Kyansittha, who had been sent to exile by Anawrahta for his affair with Manisanda. However, Saw Lu soon had to banish Kyansittha again (this time to Dala near Yangon) because the latter renewed his affair with Manisanda.
Mon rebellion.
As governor of Pegu, Yamankan continued to visit Saw Lu at Pagan. Knowing the inexperience of his childhood friend well, Yamankan decided to rebel. The chronicles describe the final breach between Saw Lu and Yamankan in a dramatic way. The two were playing a game of dice, and Yamankan won. As Yamankan romped about in joy at his victory, Saw Lu taunted him, "If you are so clever, why don't you rebel against me?"
Yamankan went back to Pegu, and revolted. In late 1082, he sailed up the Irrawaddy river with his army, and took a position on an island a few miles below Pagan. Saw Lu recalled Kyansittha from exile, and gave him the command of Pagan army. They marched south and halted near Myingun (near Magwe). Yamankan's army was stationed at Thayet. Saw Lu was impatient and against Kyansittha's warning, attacked. But Yamankan had expected such an attack and prepared his positions well. Saw Lu's army was routed and the king was taken prisoner. According to the chronicle "Zatadawbon Yazawin", the battle between Saw Lu and Yamankan took place in November 1082.
Death.
Kyansittha tried to rescue but Saw Lu refused to be rescued. His last fatal miscalculation that Kyansittha would kill him to get the throne but his friend Yamankan would not. He was killed by Yamankan to prevent the further rescue attempts. According to scholarship, he likely died c. April 1084 before 21 April 1084. Yamankan himself was ambushed by the sniper bow-shot of Nga Sin the hunter and died. Later Kyansittha became the third king of the Pagan Empire.
According to "Zatadawbon Yazawin", Kyansittha and Yamankan fought a battle c. April 1083 (Kason of 445 ME). The battle may not be the final battle in which Yamankan was slain since "Zata" says Saw Lu died in 1084 after having reigned seven years. However, other chronicles ("Hmannan" and "Yazawin Thit") say he reigned only for five years, followed by an interregnum that lasted till 1084—implying that the king died in 1083.
Saw Lu was so incompetent that it says much for the genius of the father that his kingdom survived the test.


Bodawpaya

Bodawpaya (, ; ; 11 March 1745 – 5 June 1819) was the sixth king of the Konbaung Dynasty of Burma. Born Maung Shwe Waing and later Badon Min, he was the fourth son of Alaungpaya, founder of the dynasty and the Third Burmese Empire. He was proclaimed king after deposing his nephew Phaungkaza Maung Maung, son of his eldest brother Naungdawgyi, at Ava. Bodawpaya moved the royal capital back to Amarapura in 1782. He was titled Hsinbyumyashin (Lord of the White Elephants), although he became known to posterity as Bodawpaya in relation to his successor, his grandson Bagyidaw (Royal Elder Uncle), who in turn was given this name in relation to his nephew Mindon Min. He fathered 62 sons and 58 daughters by about 200 consorts.
Military expeditions.
Also known as Bodaw U Waing, he invaded Arakan in 1784 sending his royal armies led by his son, the Heir Apparent Thado Minsaw, across the Western Yoma range of mountains. The capital of Arakan Mrauk U was captured on the last of 1784. The Mahamuni Buddha image, among other treasures such as the Khmer bronze statues, were brought back to mainland Burma; these can still be seen in Mandalay. Also taken were 20,000 captives as slaves to pagodas and temples, and the nobility at Amarapura. Once Arakan was annexed as a province of Burma, her borders became contiguous with British India. The Arakanese revolted in 1794, and the British Governor of India Sir John Shore (later Lord Teignmouth) sent Captain Michael Symes on an embassy, fully equipped to gather as much information as possible about the country, to the Court of Ava as the kingdom was still known to the outside world. Bodawpaya invaded Siam in 1785, and was defeated. The Governor of Tavoy revolted in 1791 with the aid of the Siamese, but a punitive expedition sent by Bodawpaya by sea laid siege ending in peace negotiations in 1793 and the ceding of the Tenasserim coast to the Burmese. He invaded Siam again in 1809, but was fended off by Maha Senanurak and the heroines, Chan and Mook.
In 1816, the Ahom governor of Guwahati in Assam, Badan Chandra Borphukan visited the court of Bodawpaya to seek help in order to defeat his political rival Purnananda Burhagohain, the Prime Minister of Ahom Kingdom in Assam. A strong force of 16,000 under the command of Gen. Maha Minhla Minkhaung was sent with Badan Chandra Borphukan. The Burmese force entered Assam in January, 1817 and defeated the Assamese force in the battle of Ghiladhari. Meanwhile, Purnananda Burhagohain died, and Ruchinath Burhagohain, the son of Purnananda Burahgohain fled to Guwahati. The reigning Ahom king Chandrakanta Singha came in terms with Badan Chandra Borphukan and his Burmese allies. The King appointed Badan Chandra Borphukan as Mantri Phukan (Prime Minister) and an Ahom princess Hemo Aideo was given for marriage to Burmese King Bodawpaya along with many gifts. The Burmese force retired from Assam soon after. A year later, Badan Chandra Borphukan was assassinated and the Ahom king Chandrakanta Singha was deposed by rival political faction led by Ruchinath Burhagohain, the son of Purnananda Burhagohain . Chandrakanta Singha and the friends of Badan Chandra Borphukan appeal for help to Bodawpaya. In February 1819, the Burmese forces invaded Assam for second time and reinstalled Chandrakanta Singha on the throne of Assam.
Religion and culture.
Bodawpaya proclaimed himself the next messianic Buddha or Maitreya ("Arimittya"), but his claim was firmly rejected by the Sangha. During his reign, scholarship flourished due to the discipline and stability achieved by establishing a chapter of Sangharajas or senior monks charged with the responsibility of safeguarding the purity of the Sangha. He had successfully arbitrated in favour of orthodoxy to cover both shoulders on the alms round in the controversy concerning the correct way of wearing the robes, and the Order of Monks was unified under the Thudhamma order. Burma became the custodian of Buddhism in the region, and the upasampada ordination was re-introduced to Sri Lanka where it established the Amarapura Nikaya.
In 1790 Bodawpaya began the construction of a gigantic stupa called Mantalagyi (Great Royal Stupa) at Mingun, up the River Irrawaddy from Mandalay on the west bank. It was however never finished after a prophecy went round saying " Payagyi lè apyi that, moksoe thonnya kap" – "Once the great pagoda has been wrought, the Moksoe dynasty will come to nought" (). It was meant to have stood , tall enough to be seen from Shwebo in the west, the birthplace of the dynasty, towering above the Minwun Hills. An earthquake in 1838 left huge fissures in the structure, and also caused the heads of the two gigantic chinthes to fall into the river. There was also a gigantic 90 ton bell dedicated to the stupa called the Mingun Bell, cast between 1808 and 1810. It was the largest ringing bell in the world, as the larger bell in Moscow Kremlin called the Tsar bell is broken, until the larger Bell of Good Luck was cast and first rung for the new year in 2000. During his reign Bodawpaya also proved to be a great patron of the performing arts; he appointed a minister called "Thabin Wun" (), and established strict regulations by royal decree ( "a meint daw"). He also ordered a major economic survey of the kingdom in 1784.
Bodawpaya was succeeded after his death in 1819 by his grandson, Prince of Sagaing, who later became known as Bagyidaw. The Heir Apparent, father of Bagyidaw, had died in 1808.


Our Lady of Montserrat Abbey

The Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat, or Manila Abbey, is a Benedictine men's monastery located on Mendiola Street in Manila, the Philippines. The monastery was founded by monks from Spain in 1895, in the final years of Spanish colonial era in the Philippines and is dedicated to Our Lady of Montserrat.
The resident monks, which belong to the Philippine Pro-Province of the Subiaco Cassinese Congregation (a part of the Benedictine Confederation) also operate San Beda University on the abbey's grounds.
History.
Origins.
In the 19th century, several anti-clerical governments in Spain took measures to suppress the many monasteries there. If they were not closed outright, communities were forbidden by the state to accept new candidates, with the goal of letting monastic communities die out. With time however, exceptions were made for monasteries which would operate in the far-flung regions still a part of Spain's once mighty empire, primarily the Philippines.
As a result of this incentive, the ancient Benedictine Abbey of Our Lady of Monserrat near Barcelona made the decision to establish a mission foundation in the area of Manila. The plan was for the community to follow the agrarian way of life which was part of the reform then under way by the recently formed Subiaco Congregation (forerunner of the present congregation) and provide pastoral care of the local population. On September 12, 1895, eight choir monks and six laybrothers, under the leadership of Dom José Deas y Villar, O.S.B., arrived in Manila. After being hosted by the local Jesuit community, the monks obtained property for themselves in Surigao, which they occupied on April 25 of the following year.
American period.
The American occupation of the Philippines in 1898, in the course of the Spanish–American War, changed the new monastery's situation dramatically. Loss of financial support from the Spanish crown for the Catholic missions in the country left the community in desperate straits. Given that, and a desire on the part of the abbot of the community to counteract the new influence of Protestant missionaries, who had arrived under the protection of the American government, the monks decided to turn to education as their focus. On June 17, 1901, they opened San Beda College, named after the great English Benedictine scholar and saint, the Venerable Bede, on Arlegui Street. The curriculum consisted of elementary, secondary and initial university studies, with graduates awarded either a Bachelor of Arts degree or a diploma in business. The college was accredited and affiliated by and to the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas in 1906.
By that time, the monastery grounds had become too small for the monks and the college, so the monks purchased land on Mendiola Street. In 1909, they entrusted the pastoral care of the region to Missionaries of the Sacred Heart from the Netherlands and moved to their current location, which they expanded in 1918. The cornerstone of the abbey church was laid on February 15, 1925, and it was completed and consecrated on January 13, 1926 to the Infant of Prague.
It was built in a Neogothic exterior, with a Neo-baroque interior painted by Dom Lesmes López, a Spaniard, and Brother Salvador Alberich. The pair worked on the abbey church from 1931 to 1939, leaving only the back wall of the nave above the entrance blank. Dom Lesmes López's paintings on the vaulted ceiling of the nave include the 16 allegories on the virtues, theology and the Church. "The Apotheosis of the Holy Name of Jesus" were painted over the sanctuary, while on its walls are eight panels on the Nativity of the Lord. Paintings of the Stations of the Cross are also seen within the interior of the church.
Present condition.
By 1971, the monastic community had gone from a high point of some 100 monks to a membership of thirty.
In 2010, Rev Aelred Nilo, designed the final mural to fill the back wall of the nave, which was then executed by the Italian painter, Francesco Giannini, on 126 square metres of jute canvas. The mural depicts the history of the present congregation, as well as the Resurrected Christ, saints, and various other religious figures, some based on real-life photographs.
National Historical Commission marker.
The marker of Abbey of Our Lady of Montserrat Manila was installed in 1939 at San Beda College, Mendiola, Manila. It was installed by the Philippines Historical Committee (now the National Historical Commission of the Philippines).
List of Abbots.
The Abbey has been led by eight abbots throughout its history.


Baw Kyaw

Baw Kyaw (, , ; 1370–1402) was a Hanthawaddy royal and governor of Dala–Twante from 1388/89 to 1402.
Kyaw was appointed governor of Dala in 1388/89 by his half-uncle King Razadarit, who had ordered Kyaw's father Nyi Kan-Kaung executed for suspicion of rebellion. Despite this, Kyaw was a loyal vassal to his uncle. He became a commander in the army, and fought in the war against the northern Ava Kingdom. He died in action outside Prome (Pyay) on 26 December 1402.


Ashina Huseluo

Ashina Huseluo (693-704) — was a puppet khagan set up by Wu Zetian during the Zhou dynasty in China.
Life.
Ashina Huseluo was the son of Ashina Buzhen who died in 667. His original title was Böri shad (歩利設). As a youth he saw Tang influence decline in favor of Tibetan Empire in Central Asia, thus he couldn't rule his ancestral lands and tribes. However, in 685 Wu Zetian made him Jiwangjue Khagan and Mengchi Protector-General in order to strengthen the rule in west.
In 690, he was made Jiezhong Shizhu Khagan () for his valiant fights against the Tibetan Empire and the Second Turkic Khaganate. Reportedly he was harsh and ruthless towards his subjects.
After Ashina Tuizi's rebellion he was sent again to Suiye in 700, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Pingxi Force (平西軍大総管). However, after the rise of Wuzhile (chief of Turgesh), he did not dare to come back to the Western Region again.
He died in 704, in Changan and was succeeded by Ashina Huaidao.


Timeline of the Oirats

This is a timeline of the Oirats, also known as the Kalmyks or Dzungars.


Hasina Murshed

Hasina Murshed was a Bengali politician, educationist, and Member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly.
Biography.
Hasina Murshed was married to Syed Manzoor Murshed, they had a son Syed Tanweer Murshed. She was her husbands second wife, his first wife was a member of Dhaka Nawab family. Syed Tanweer Murshed was married to Yasmeen Murshed, who was also a member of Dhaka Nawab family. Hasina was elected to the Bengal Legislative Assembly of British India in 1937. She was the first women parliamentary secretary of Bengal. She was self-educated. She was one of the founders of Lady Brabourne College, the first college in Bengal for Muslim women. She sat in the governing body of Lady Brabourne College. She was awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) by the British Raj. She was a member of the Coalition Party. In the Bengal Legislative Assembly, she talked about the importance of women's education and called for the building of women's college and hostels.


Mudhol State

Mudhol State was a princely state during the British Raj. It was one of the former states of the Southern Maratha Country and its capital was the city of Mudhol in present-day Bagalkot District of Karnataka State in India. The last ruler was HH Shrimant Raja Bhairavsinhrao Malojirao Ghorpade II. Mudhol acceded to the Dominion of India on 8 March 1948, and is currently a part of Karnataka state.
Covering an area of , Mudhol State enjoyed revenue estimated at £20,000 in 1901. According to the 1901 census, the population was 63,001, with the population of the town itself at 8,359 in that year.
History.
The Mudhol jagir (estate) was founded ca 1400. Ruled by the Maratha Ghorpade dynasty. In 1670, Mudhol estate became a state. It became a British protectorate in 1819. The state flag, called 'Bavuta', was a triangular tricolour of horizontal bands, in order from the top: white, black and green. All colour bands came to the point in the fly. Mudhol State was one of the 9-gun salute states of British India, under the summit of Niranjan.
Mudhol State's last king, HH Shrimant Raja Bhairavsinhrao Malojirao Ghorpade II, born 15 October 1929 and succeeded to the throne on 9 November 1937, was the 23rd Raja of Mudhol. He signed the accession to join the Indian Union on 8 March 1948. He died in 1984 in a car accident.
Mudhol Hound.
Shrimant Rajesaheb Malojirao Ghorpade of Mudhol (1884–1937) of the Mudhol State is credited with reviving the Mudhol hound. He noticed local tribal people using these hounds for hunting. Using selective breeding, he was able to restore the royal Mudhol hound. On a visit to England in the early 1900s, the Maharaja of Mudhol State presented King George V a pair of hounds, which popularized the Mudhol hound breed.


Villavicencio-Marella House

The Villavicencio-Marella House or Wedding Gift House is an old Spanish Colonial Era house in Taal, Batangas, Philippines. The house was the wedding gift present of Don Eulalio Villavicencio to his wife Doña Gliceria Marella y Legaspi on the occasion of their wedding in 1871.
History.
Early years.
The house was built in 1870 and was presented to Doña Gliceria Marella y Legaspi on the occasion of their marriage in 1871. Hence it came to be called "The Wedding Gift House".The couple lived in the house until the death of Don Eulalio's parents who left him the adjoining house. Since it was bigger, the couple moved over to the older house to accommodate their growing family.
The Wedding Gift House then served as a guest house. The Luna brothers stayed there in January 1892 while soliciting contributions throughout Batangas for the Propaganda Movement. The Villavicencio couple donated P18,000 to the cause. In gratitude, Juan Luna gifted the couple with their portraits, which were subsequently framed in beautifully carved and gilded frames by Isabelo Tampinco.
The house later went to Don Jose Villavicencio, Don Eulalio's son. He lived in the house along with his wife until he demised in the 1980s. The house was later occupied by one of his wards who converted it into apartments. For a while, the house became a toy factory.
Later years and restoration.
Although the house was lived in by Don Jose Villavicencio, Doña Gliceria's son, until his death in the 1980s, no major repair was done on the house during his occupancy, except for the time of his death; the original hand-painted canvas walls had faded by then, with any traces of the original paintings.
When the rooms of the house was converted into apartments after his death, the house became derelict. Leaks in the roof had rotten some of the floorboards and many post had sunk due to wood rot. The dining-room floor had sagged so dangerously at one end that the room could not be used. By 1990, the house had fallen into disrepair and only half of it was habitable.
In the communal partition, the house went to the heirs of Doña Vicenta Villavicencio de Villavicencio, Glirecia's eldest daughter. Monserrat Villavicencio Joven, Vicenta's eldest child, inherited the house. It was only then the house was restored by Jocelyn Villavicencio Joven, daughter of Monserrat Villavicencio Joven, along with her husband Adviculo Cuay Quiblat. The sagging and leaking roof was repaired, the post was jacked up and reinforced, and the rotten floorboards replaced. With the help of Martin I. Tinio Jr., the walls of the upper floor were painted in the style of the 1870s, using colors typical of that period. The garden was landscaped with plants mentioned in the third edition of Fr. Blanco's book Flora de Filipinas. A gazebo in the 1890s style was built in the garden. The process took six years, and the house is now a delight to see.
Architecture and style.
The house is a three-bayed "bahay na bato". The walls of the entire house, including the second floor except the front, are built of adobe blocks. A wooden "volada" on the second floor fronting the street is walled with carved molave panels and wall-to-wall sliding capiz windows topped by multi-lobed exterior transoms, also of capiz. Above the upper window sill are decorative slats, where Japanese lanterns were hung during processions. "Ventanilla" or "little windows" beneath the window sill are faced with iron grillwork wrought in the "palmette" motif with cast-lead ornamentation typical of the 1870s. The neo-Gothic ogee arches are carved on the main double doors replicated those in the older Villavicencio House.
The house is unusual because the town main double doors of the "zaguan" are built on either side of the a central bay sporting a large decorative wrought-iron grills with a palmatte motif decorated with cast-lead ornaments. The left door led to that part of the zaguan where the carriage was kept when not in use. A door on the left opened to the central garden with a tone stairway at the end leading up to the "azotea". The "caballeriza" or stable was located under the "azotea". The left zaguan door also serve as a tradesman's entrance to the large and spacious concerns of the Villavicencio's. French doors on the street side let light in while sliding capiz windows on either side of the "entresuelo" ensured good cross-ventilation.


Antakin

Antakin was a Bornean mass murderer, who killed six women and nine men, three of them youths, and wounded two other women and a man in Gunsat's Kampong near Keningau, North Borneo, on May 27, 1897. According to reports Antakin, a coolie, killed his wife after finding out that she had an affair with a man named Egah, and then rushed through the street stabbing people at random with his kris, until he was shot dead by one of Gunsat's followers.


Ardumanish

Ardumaniš (or Ardumanish) was a Persian nobleman and son of Vakauka. He is sometimes considered as identical with Aspathines. He was one of the seven conspirators who killed the Magian Gaumāta, who had attempted to usurp the throne of the Achaemenids, and helped Darius the Great become king. He died in 500 BCE.


Old Mon script

The Old Mon script was a script used to write Mon, and may also be the source script of the Burmese alphabet.
History.
The Old Mon language might have been written in at least two scripts. The Old Mon script of Dvaravati (present-day central Thailand), derived from Grantha (Pallava), has conjecturally been dated to the 6th to 8th centuries AD.
The second Old Mon script was used in what is now Lower Burma (Lower Myanmar), and is believed to have been derived from Kadamba or Grantha. According to mainstream colonial period scholarship, the Dvaravati script was the parent of Burma Mon, which in turn was the parent of the Old Burmese script, and the Old Mon script of Haripunjaya (present-day northern Thailand). However, no archaeological evidence or any other kind of proof that the Dvaravati and Burma Mon scripts are related exists. The extant evidence shows only that Burma Mon was derived from the Old Burmese script, not Dvaravati. (The earliest evidence of the Old Burmese script is securely dated to 1035, while an 18th-century casting of an old Pagan era stone inscription points to 984. The earliest securely dated Burma Mon script is 1093 at Prome while two other "assigned" dates of Old Burma Mon are 1049 and 1086.)
However, Aung-Thwin's argument that the Burmese script provided the basis for the Mon script of Burma relies on the general thesis that Mon influence on Burmese culture is overstated. According to Aung-Thwin, the backwardness of lower Burma and the Irrawady delta as compared to upper Burma during the Pagan period, and the lack of verifiable Mon presence in lower Burma during Pagan period, implies that the Mon could not have influenced a civilization as sophisticated as Pagan. According to Stadtner's rebuttal of Aung-Thwin, these assumptions are not backed by archaeological evidence. Pottery shards from Winka, 28 km to the northwest of Thaton, bears inscriptions in Mon that have been paleographically dated to the sixth century. Furthermore, contrary to Aung-Thwin's assertion that the Mon script of Burma cannot be attributed to the script used in Dvaravati because of a four century gap between the first appearance of the former and the last appearance of the latter, Mon inscriptions from after the Dvaravati period contemporary with the Mon inscriptions at Pagan appeared where Mon inscriptions have appeared previously in the epigraphical record, such as in northern Thailand and Laos. Such a distribution, in tandem with archaeological evidence of Mon presence and inscriptions in lower Burma, suggests a contiguous Mon cultural space in lower Burma and Thailand. In addition, there are specifically Mon features in Burmese that were carried over from the earliest Mon inscriptions. For instance, the vowel letter အ has been used in Mon as a zero-consonant letter to indicate words that begin with a glottal stop. This feature was first attested in Burmese in the 12th century, and after the 15th century, became default practice for writing native words beginning with a glottal stop. In contrast to Burmese, Mon only uses the zero-consonant letter for syllables which cannot be notated by a vowel letter. Although Mon of the Dvaravati inscriptions differ from Mon inscriptions of the early second millennium, orthographical conventions connect it to the Mon of the Dvaravati inscriptions and set it apart from other scripts used in the region. Given that Burmese is first attested during the Pagan era, the continuity of orthographical conventions in Mon inscriptions, and the differences between the Pyu script and the script used to write Mon and Burmese, scholarly consensus attributes the origin of the Burmese script to Mon. The Pyu itself shows broad stylistic variations, with the Myazedi inscription showing stylistic influence from Mon and Burmese while older inscriptions from Rakhine State showing affinities with the North Indic script Siddham.
The calligraphy of modern Mon script follows that of modern Burmese. Burmese calligraphy originally followed a square format but the cursive format took hold in the 17th century when popular writing led to the wider use of palm leaves and folded paper known as "parabaiks". The script has undergone considerable modification to suit the evolving phonology of the Burmese language, but additional letters and diacritics have been added to adapt it to other languages; the Shan and Karen alphabets, for example, require additional tone markers.


Central United Methodist Church (Manila)

Central United Methodist Church is the first Protestant church in the Philippines, located along T.M. Kalaw Street, Ermita, Manila. Founded on 5 March 1899 during the American Occupation, it was originally named Central Methodist Episcopal Church. The church was originally designed by Juan Arellano.
History.
The church's history is closely intertwined with that of Knox United Methodist Church mainly because the two churches were the result of Filipino-American ties during the surrender of Manila in 1898. Thereafter, the first Protestant worship service in the Philippines was held on 28 August 1898 and was officiated by Rev. George C. Stull, attended by both American soldiers and Filipino civilians.
During the Philippine–American War, the congregation separated itself from the American component, who transferred its services to the YMCA and was organised in 1899.
Its first chapel was completed on December 23, 1901 and was replaced by a structure made of stone in November 1906. In 1932, it was elevated to a cathedral. During the Liberation of Manila in 1945, the Central UMC was severely damaged and rendered unusable by the fighting between the combined Filipino and American troops and the Japanese Imperial forces. Its congregation reunited with Knox UMC until 1949, when Central UMC was rebuilt in its original site along T.M. Kalaw Street.
Since then, membership of Central UMC has shifted rapidly from a predominantly American to a mixed Filipino and American demographic.
Location.
Central UMC is located in T.M. Kalaw Avenue corner Taft Avenue, Manila, across from Plaza Olivia Salamanca.


Obi-Rakhmat Grotto

The Obi-Rakhmat Grotto is a Middle Paleolithic prehistoric site that yielded Neanderthal fossils. It is a shallow karst cave near the junction of the Chatkal and Pskem Rivers at the southwestern end of the Talassky Alatau Range in the Tien Shan Mountains, northeast of Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Excavations.
The Obi-Rakhmat Grotto was discovered in 1962 by a team from the Institute of History and Archaeology of Uzbekistan, headed by A. R. Mukhamedzhanov. Initial excavations were carried out under the supervision of M. M. Gerasimov and H. K. Nasretdinov and from 1964 to 1965 by R. H. Suleimanov. An international multidisciplinary team resumed excavations in 1998 under the direction of Anatoly Derevyanko, Andrei Krivoshapkin and Patrick Wrinn.
Stratigraphy.
The cave is long, wide at the entrance and high and sitting at an elevation of ,
The sequence of deposits has a depth of about and divides into 22 stratigraphic units, based on texture and archaeological content. The rich assemblages of lithic artifacts suggest prolonged Neanderthal occupation.
Obi-Rakhmat's tool industry differs in only minor ways from the classic and elongated Levallois points of Kara-Bom. Obi-Rakhmat's finds share features of both the late Middle Paleolithic and the early Upper Paleolithic artifacts of Southwest Asia and the Altai Mountains. It appears that the Upper Paleolithic in the Altai emerged from a local Middle Paleolithic culture established in the area around 100,000 to 50,000 years ago. Based on material of the most recent excavations from 2007 to 2009 there is reason to assume that the Obi-Rakhmat lithic artefacts represent a transitional Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic industry.
Stratum 19 seems to represent a series of exceptionally intensive occupational episodes because of the high density of finds and the presence of charcoal, burnt bones and artefacts.
Chronology.
(Uranium-thorium datings of travertine sediments range between 70,000–100,000 years BP. These results are less secure due to the high uranium content and the presence of detritus, which contaminates dated sediments. ESR analysis of tooth enamel for eight Bovidae give an age estimation of ca. 57,000 to 73,000 years BP (strata 12–14) and ca. 87,000 years BP (basal stratum 21.1). The preliminary results of OSL dating on sediments from several profile locations gave uniform ages for all cultural successions: stratum 5.1 (56,000 ± 3200 years), stratum 8.1 (60,100 ± 3000 years), and stratum 21.2 (61,400 ± 3600 years):
Parts of the sequence is beyond the limit of sensitivity of the C14 dating method. However layer 9, dated to 42,100 years BP is well within the limit. Possibly, the age of layer 14.1 (48,800 years BP) may be a minimal estimate, but more study is necessary to precisely determine the age. The true age of layer 14 at Obi-Rakhmat site is still open to discussion.
Fauna.
The faunal assemblage is dominated by the Siberian mountain goat ("Capra sibirica") and red deer ("Cervus elaphus"), which constitute 90% of the identified fossils. Other faunal remains include sheep ("Ovis" sp.), wild boar ("Sus scrofa"), fox ("Vulpes vulpes") and marmot ("Marmota sp".). Carnivore remains are rare.
Evidence of human modification of the bones including cut marks, conchoidal impact, scars and burning, is consistently present. The lithic artefacts and faunal remains recovered at Obi-Rakhmat suggest that the site was repeatedly used by hominins as a short-term hunting and butchery station.
Hominin remains.
OR 1.
In 2003, hominin remains were recovered from stratum 16. They consist of 6 isolated permanent upper teeth and 121 cranial fragments from a single juvenile.
Morphology.
Six isolated permanent teeth were found. They consisted of an upper lateral incisor, upper third premolar, upper fourth premolar, upper first molar, and an upper second molar, as well as 121 cranial fragments. All of the teeth found had complete crowns with developed roots. The varying size of the roots in each tooth make it difficult to determine if they are damaged, or the length they are because of development. It was determined that all of the pieces belonged to a 9-12-year-old juvenile. The sex of this particular fossil remains unknown. The teeth found have Neanderthal features, as some of them show Taurodontism, which is primarily found in the Neanderthal morphology. Studies of the pieces of cranium found are more ambiguous and harder to link to Neanderthals. The Parietal bone has a stronger likeness to anatomically modern humans, while other bones of the skull can be linked to Neanderthal craniums. Most researchers believe that this particular fossil is a Neanderthal because of the analysis of its dentition.
The Obi-Rakhmat fossil expresses a relatively Neanderthal-like dentition coupled with more ambiguous cranial anatomy (e.g., its parietal size and aspects of the external surface of its temporal) that does not conform to existing descriptions of sub-adult Neanderthals. It represents an individual of roughly 9 to 12 years of age at death, estimated from the examination of relative root development and degree of dental wear.
The sub-adult bone yielded non-calibrated dates ranging from 29,990 ± 500 years BP to 37,800 ± 450 years BP. To date, the best chronological estimate for the hominid remains from Obi-Rakhmat is ca. 60,000 to 90,000 years BP and 70,000 years BP.
DNA analysis.
The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences from the Obi-Rakhmat sub-adult (OR-1) and Teshik Tash child fall within the European Neanderthal mtDNA variation, showing that both individuals belonged to a population related to European and western Asian Neanderthals. However, the Teshik Tash mtDNA sequence seems to be more closely related to the mtDNA sequence from Scladina in western Europe than to the sequence from Okladnikov Cave. The absence of deep mtDNA divergence shows that Central Asian, Caucasian and European Neanderthals were not separated for a long time, supporting the view that Central Asia (most of the Russian plains) was relatively recently colonized by Neanderthals, maybe not before an exceptionally warm episode 125,000 years ago.


Penlop

Penlop (Dzongkha: དཔོན་སློབ་; Wylie: "dpon-slob"; also spelled Ponlop, Pönlop) is a Dzongkha term roughly translated as governor. Bhutanese penlops, prior to unification, controlled certain districts of the country, but now hold no administrative office. Rather, penlops are now entirely subservient to the House of Wangchuck.
Traditionally, Bhutan comprised nine provinces: Trongsa, Paro, Punakha, Wangdue Phodrang, Daga (also Taka, Tarka, or Taga), Bumthang, Thimphu, Kurtoed (also Kurtoi, Kuru-tod), and Kurmaed (or Kurme, Kuru-mad). The Provinces of Kurtoed and Kurmaed were combined into one local administration, leaving the traditional number of governors at eight. While some lords were penlops, others held the title Dzongpen (Dzongkha: རྗོང་དཔོན་; Wylie: "rjong-dpon"; also "Jongpen," "Dzongpön"), a title also translated as "governor." Other historical titles, such as "Governor of Haa," were also awarded.
Under the dual system of government, penlops and dzongpens were theoretically masters of their own realms but servants of the Druk Desi. In practice, however, they were under minimal central government control, and the Penlop of Trongsa and Penlop of Paro dominated the rest of the local lords. And while all governor posts were officially appointed by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, later the Druk Desi, some offices such as the Penlop of Trongsa were "de facto" hereditary and appointed within certain families. Penlops and dzongpens often held other government offices such as Druk Desi, Je Khenpo, governor of other provinces, or a second or third term in the same office.
The heir apparent and King of Bhutan still hold the title Penlop of Trongsa for a period, as this was the original position held by the House of Wangchuck before it obtained the throne.
History.
Under Bhutan's early theocratic dual system of government, decreasingly effective central government control resulted in the "de facto" disintegration of the office of Shabdrung after the death of Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in 1651. Under this system, the Shabdrung reigned over the temporal Druk Desi and religious Je Khenpo. Two successor Shabdrungs – the son (1651) and stepbrother (1680) of Ngawang Namgyal – were effectively controlled by the Druk Desi and Je Khenpo until power was further splintered through the innovation of multiple Shabdrung incarnations, reflecting speech, mind, and body. Increasingly secular regional lords (penlops and dzongpens) competed for power amid a backdrop of civil war over the Shabdrung and invasions from Tibet, and the Mongol Empire. The penlops of Trongsa and Paro, and the dzongpons of Punakha, Thimphu, and Wangdue Phodrang were particularly notable figures in the competition for regional dominance.
Within this political landscape, the Wangchuck family originated in the Bumthang region of central Bhutan. The family belongs to the Nyö clan, and is descended from Pema Lingpa, a Bhutanese Nyingmapa saint. The Nyö clan emerged as a local aristocracy, supplanting many older aristocratic families of Tibetan origin that sided with Tibet during invasions of Bhutan. In doing so, the clan came to occupy the hereditary position of Penlop of Trongsa, as well as significant national and local government positions.
The Penlop of Trongsa controlled central and eastern Bhutan; the rival Penlop of Paro controlled western Bhutan; and dzongpons controlled areas surrounding their respective dzongs. Eastern dzongpens were generally under the control of the Penlop of Trongsa, who was officially endowed with the power to appoint them in 1853. The Penlop of Paro, unlike Trongsa, was an office appointed by the Druk Desi's central government. Because western regions controlled by the Penlop of Paro contained lucrative trade routes, it became the object of competition among aristocratic families.
Although Bhutan generally enjoyed favorable relations with both Tibet and British India through the 19th century, extension of British power at Bhutan's borders as well as Tibetan incursions in British Sikkim defined politically opposed pro-Tibet and pro-Britain forces. This period of intense rivalry between and within western and central Bhutan, coupled with external forces from Tibet and especially the British Empire, provided the conditions for the ascendancy of the Penlop of Trongsa.
After the Duar War with Britain (1864–65) as well as substantial territorial losses (Cooch Behar 1835; Assam Duars 1841), armed conflict turned inward. In 1870, amid the continuing civil wars, Penlop Jigme Namgyal of Trongsa ascended to the office of Druk Desi. In 1879, he appointed his 17-year-old son Ugyen Wangchuck as Penlop of Paro. Jigme Namgyal reigned through his death 1881, punctuated by periods of retirement during which he retained effective control of the country.
The pro-Britain Penlop Ugyen Wangchuck ultimately prevailed against the pro-Tibet and anti-Britain Penlop of Paro after a series of civil wars and rebellions between 1882 and 1885. After his father's death in 1881, Ugyen Wangchuck entered a feud over the post of Penlop of Trongsa. In 1882, at the age of 20, he marched on Bumthang and Trongsa, winning the post of Penlop of Trongsa in addition to Paro. In 1885, Ugyen Wangchuck intervened in a conflict between the Dzongpens of Punakha and Thimphu, sacking both sides and seizing Simtokha Dzong. From this time forward, the office of Desi became purely ceremonial.
Trongsa Penlop Ugyen Wangchuck, firmly in power and advised by "Kazi" Ugyen Dorji, accompanied the British expedition to Tibet as an invaluable intermediary, earning his first British knighthood. Penlop Ugyen Wangchuck further garnered knighthood in the KCIE in 1904. Meanwhile, the last officially recognized Shabdrung and Druk Desi had died in 1903 and 1904, respectively. As a result, a power vacuum formed within the already dysfunctional dual system of government. Civil administration had fallen to the hands of Penlop Ugyen Wangchuck, and in November 1907 he was unanimously elected hereditary monarch by an assembly of the leading members of the clergy, officials, and aristocratic families. His ascendency to the throne ended the traditional dual system of government in place for nearly 300 years. It also marked the end of the traditional position of independent penlops. The title Penlop of Trongsa – or Penlop of Chötse, another name for Trongsa – continued to be held by crown princes.
Penlops of Trongsa.
Penlops of Trongsa, also called "Tongsab" (Dzongkha: ཀྲོང་སརབ་; Wylie: "krong-sarb"), are based in Trongsa, modern day Trongsa District in central Bhutan. In the 19th century, the Penlop of Trongsa emerged as one of the two most powerful offices in the realm, having marginalized all others but the Penlop of Paro. By the ascension of Jigme Namgyel (also called "Deb Nagpo", "the Black Deb") in 1853, the office was virtually hereditary, held firmly by the House of Wangchuck of the Nyö clan. Many members of the family occupied other government offices before, during, or after the position of Trongsa Penlop.
Penlops of Paro.
The Penlops of Paro were also known as "Parob" (Dzongkha: སྤ་རོབ་; Wylie: "spa-rob"). As the office flourished, so did competition with the pro-British Penlop of Trongsa. Ultimately, the independence of the Penlop of Paro ended in merger with the House of Wangchuck.
Penlops of Daga.
The Penlop of Daga, or "Dagab" (Dzongkha: དར་དཀརབ་; Wylie: "dar-dkarb"), was based in Daga, a town in modern Dagana District.


Embassy of the United Kingdom, Bangkok

The Embassy of the United Kingdom in Bangkok is the chief diplomatic mission of the United Kingdom in Thailand. Established as an embassy in 1947, its history dates to 1856 when a British consul was first posted in Bangkok following the signing of the Bowring Treaty. First established on Charoen Krung Road by the Chao Phraya River, the mission relocated to a new site on the corner of Phloen Chit and Witthayu Roads in 1922. Originally a rural location on the outskirts of the city, the area soon developed into one of the city centre's prime locations. The compound remained a leafy oasis amidst its densely developed surroundings throughout the 20th century, but was sold to Central Group at record-setting prices, first partially in 2007, then completely in 2017. The embassy is being relocated to an office building on Sathon Road, while its original buildings, including the ambassador's residence, have been demolished to make way for redevelopment.
History.
Establishment.
In 1856, following the coming into force of the Bowring Treaty, Charles Batten Hillier became the first British Consul in Bangkok. The mission originally rented premises in the area of Bang Kho Laem District, but was soon gifted a piece land on the bank of the Chao Phraya, next to the Portuguese Consulate, by King Mongkut. This was a gesture of generosity, as well as restitution for an incident where Siamese officials punished a British subject of a crime, violating the extraterritoriality provided by the new treaty. Construction of the new building was finished in 1876. By then, the newly built Charoen Krung Road also ran past the property, opposite the river.
The consulate was raised to the status of a legation in 1895, and by the 1900s came to house several buildings, including the minister's residence, two jails and two courthouses. A flagpole, the tallest in Bangkok at the time, was raised in 1892 to replace an earlier one blown down in a storm. Made of steel and ordered from Hong Kong, its cost of £500 earned the vice-consul responsible a reprimand from the Foreign Office and Ministry of Works for unnecessary extravagance. A statue of Queen Victoria was raised on the site in 1903.
Move to Phloen Chit.
When Minister Ralph Paget arrived in 1902, the area, by then known as Bang Rak, had become very busy and the legation was exposed to much pollution and noise from nearby rice mills, river and road traffic, as well as noisy neighbours which included a temple whose bells sounded every morning and a bar situated opposite. Paget made suggestions for the relocation of the legation, but the government's response was unenthusiastic. It wasn't until 1922 that a new plot of land of about in the Phloen Chit area was acquired from the Chinese businessman Nai Lert. The old compound was sold to the Siamese Government, which used it as the site of Bangkok's General Post Office, for about £110,000. This was enough to pay for both the land and the construction of new buildings (completed in 1926), as the new site was in a rural swampy area—a fact which made the move highly unpopular at the time. Queen Victoria's statue and the flagpole were relocated to the new site, and a war memorial was also erected in 1923. The minister's (now ambassador's) residence served as the compound's main building.
The legation was re-established as the British Embassy in 1947, with Geoffrey Harrington Thompson becoming the first British Ambassador to Thailand. Several additional buildings have since been built, but the compound remained an oasis of greenery amidst its surroundings, which by the late 20th century had developed into part of the commercial city centre, containing luxury hotels, offices, apartments and shopping malls.
Redevelopment and sale.
In 2006, as part of its plan to downgrade several embassies and consulates to divert funds to other activities, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office sold about or about a third of the embassy's estate—the portion fronting Phloen Chit Road—to Tiang Chirathivat Real Estate Company, whose owners also operated Central Group. Queen Victoria's statue and the war memorial were relocated to accommodate the sale, which subsequently developed the land into the high-end Central Embassy shopping centre.
In 2017, the Foreign Office sold the remaining of embassy land. The auction was again won by Central Group, who reportedly offered in the range of 2–2.2 million baht per square "wa" (4 m2), placing the total price at over 18 billion baht (£420 million) and making it the highest-priced real estate deal in Thailand ever. The office issued a statement confirming the sale, to a joint venture of Central and Hongkong Land, in January 2018. The embassy is being relocated to AIA Sathorn Tower, an office building on Sathon Road. The war memorial has been relocated to the British Club, but Queen Victoria's statue will be transferred along with the site. By August 2019, the ambassador's residence was reported to have been demolished to make way for redevelopment.