Economic history of India

The economic history of India begins with the Indus Valley Civilisation (3300–1300 BCE), whose economy appears to have depended significantly on trade and examples of overseas trade. The Vedic period saw countable units of precious metal being used for exchange. The term "Nishka" appears in this sense in the Rigveda. Historically, India was the largest economy in the world for most of the next three millennia, starting around the 1st millennia BCE and ending around the beginning of British rule in India.
Around 600 BCE, the Mahajanapadas minted punch-marked silver coins. The period was marked by intensive trade activity and urban development. By 300 BCE, the Maurya Empire had united most of the Indian subcontinent except Tamilakam, which was ruled by Three Crowned Kings. The resulting political unity and military security allowed for a common economic system and enhanced trade and commerce, with increased agricultural productivity.
The Maurya Empire was followed by classical and early medieval kingdoms, including the Cholas, Pandyas, Cheras, Guptas, Western Gangas, Harsha, Palas, Rashtrakutas and Hoysalas. The Indian subcontinent had the largest economy of any region in the world for most of the interval between the 1st century and 18th century. Up until 1000 CE, its GDP per capita was not much higher than subsistence level.
India experienced per-capita GDP growth in the high medieval era after 1000 CE, during the Delhi Sultanate in the north and Vijayanagara Empire in the south, but was not as productive as Ming China until the 16th century. By the late 17th century, most of the Indian subcontinent had been reunited under the Mughal Empire, which became the largest economy and manufacturing power in the world, producing about a quarter of global GDP, before fragmenting and being conquered over the next century. Bengal Subah, the empire's wealthiest province, that solely accounted for 40% of Dutch imports outside the west, had an advanced, productive agriculture, textile manufacturing and shipbuilding, in a period of proto-industrialization.
By the 18th century, the Mysoreans had embarked on an ambitious economic development program that established the Kingdom of Mysore as a major economic power. Sivramkrishna analyzing agricultural surveys conducted in Mysore by Francis Buchanan in 1800-1801, arrived at estimates, using "subsistence basket", that aggregated millet income could be almost five times subsistence level. The Maratha Empire also managed an effective administration and tax collection policy throughout the core areas under its control and extracted chauth from vassal states.
India experienced deindustrialisation and cessation of various craft industries under British rule, which along with fast economic and population growth in the Western world, resulted in India's share of the world economy declining from 24.4% in 1700 to 4.2% in 1950, and its share of global industrial output declining from 25% in 1750 to 2% in 1900. Due to its ancient history as a trading zone and later its colonial status, colonial India remained economically integrated with the world, with high levels of trade, investment and migration.
The Republic of India, founded in 1947, adopted central planning for most of its independent history, with extensive public ownership, regulation, red tape and trade barriers. After the 1991 economic crisis, the central government began policy of economic liberalisation. While this has made it one of the world's fastest growing large economies, it has come at the cost of deepening income inequality.
Indus Valley Civilization.
The Indus Valley Civilisation, the first known permanent and predominantly urban settlement, flourished between 3500 BCE and 1800 BCE. It featured an advanced and thriving economic system. Its citizens practised agriculture, domesticated animals, made sharp tools and weapons from copper, bronze and tin, and traded with other cities. Evidence of well-laid streets, drainage systems and water supply in the valley's major cities, Dholavira, Harappa, Lothal, Mohenjo-daro and Rakhigarhi, reveals their knowledge of urban planning.
Ancient and medieval characteristics.
Although ancient India had a significant urban population, much of India's population resided in villages, whose economies were largely isolated and self-sustaining. Agriculture was the predominant occupation and satisfied a village's food requirements while providing raw materials for hand-based industries such as textile, food processing and crafts. Besides farmers, people worked as barbers, carpenters, doctors (Ayurvedic practitioners), goldsmiths and weavers.
Religion.
Religion played an influential role in shaping economic activities. Pilgrimage towns like Prayagraj, Benares, Nasik and Puri, mostly centred around rivers, developed into centres of trade and commerce. Religious functions, festivals and the practice of taking a pilgrimage resulted in an early version of the hospitality industry.
Economics in Jainism is influenced by Mahavira and his philosophy. He was the last of the 24 Tirthankars, who spread Jainism. Relating to economics, he emphasised the importance of the concept of 'anekanta' (non-absolutism).
Family business.
In the joint family system, members of a family pooled their resources to maintain the family and invest in business ventures. The system ensured younger members were trained and employed and that older and disabled members would be supported. The system prevented agricultural land from splitting with each generation, aiding yield from the benefits of scale. Such sanctions curbed rivalry in junior members and instilled a sense of obedience.
Organisational entities.
Along with the family- and individually-owned businesses, ancient India possessed other forms of engaging in collective activity, including the gana, pani, puga, vrata, sangha, nigama and Shreni. Nigama, pani and Shreni refer most often to economic organisations of merchants, craftspeople and artisans, and perhaps even para-military entities. In particular, the Shreni shared many similarities with modern corporations, which were used in India from around the 8th century BCE until around the 10th century CE. The use of such entities in ancient India was widespread, including in virtually every kind of business, political and municipal activity.
The Shreni was a separate legal entity that had the ability to hold property separately from its owners, construct its own rules for governing the behaviour of its members and for it to contract, sue and be sued in its own name. Ancient sources such as "Laws of Manu" VIII and Chanakya's "Arthashastra" provided rules for lawsuits between two or more Shreni and some sources make reference to a government official ("Bhandagarika") who worked as an arbitrator for disputes amongst Shreni from at least the 6th century BCE onwards. Between 18 and 150 Shreni at various times in ancient India covered both trading and craft activities. This level of specialisation is indicative of a developed economy in which the Shreni played a critical role. Some Shreni had over 1,000 members.
The Shreni had a considerable degree of centralised management. The headman of the Shreni represented the interests of the Shreni in the king's court and in many business matters. The headman could bind the Shreni in contracts, set work conditions, often received higher compensation and was the administrative authority. The headman was often selected via an election by the members of the Shreni, and could also be removed from power by the general assembly. The headman often ran the enterprise with two to five executive officers, also elected by the assembly.
Coinage.
Punch marked silver ingots were in circulation around the 5th century BCE. They were the first metallic coins minted around the 6th century BCE by the Mahajanapadas of the Gangetic plains and were India's earliest traces of coinage. While India's many kingdoms and rulers issued coins, barter was still widely prevalent. Villages paid a portion of their crops as revenue while its craftsmen received a stipend out of the crops for their services. Each village was mostly self-sufficient.
Maurya Empire.
During the Maurya Empire (c. 321–185 BCE), important changes and developments affected the Indian economy. It was the first time most of India was unified under one ruler. With an empire in place, trade routes became more secure. The empire spent considerable resources building and maintaining roads. The improved infrastructure, combined with increased security, greater uniformity in measurements, and increasing usage of coins as currency, enhanced trade.
West Coast.
Maritime trade was carried out extensively between South India and Southeast and West Asia from early times until around the fourteenth century CE. Both the Malabar and Coromandel Coasts were the sites of important trading centres from as early as the first century BCE, used for import and export as well as transit points between the Mediterranean region and southeast Asia. Over time, traders organised themselves into associations which received state patronage. Historians Tapan Raychaudhuri and Irfan Habib claim this state patronage for overseas trade came to an end by the thirteenth century CE, when it was largely taken over by the local Parsi, Jewish, Syrian Christian and Muslim communities, initially on the Malabar and subsequently on the Coromandel coast.
Silk Route.
Other scholars suggest trading from India to West Asia and Eastern Europe was active between the 14th and 18th centuries. During this period, Indian traders settled in Surakhani, a suburb of greater Baku, Azerbaijan. These traders built a Hindu temple, which suggests commerce was active and prosperous for Indians by the 17th century.
Further north, the Saurashtra and Bengal coasts played an important role in maritime trade, and the Gangetic plains and the Indus valley housed several centres of river-borne commerce. Most overland trade was carried out via the Khyber Pass connecting the Punjab region with Afghanistan and onward to the Middle East and Central Asia. Although many kingdoms and rulers issued coins, barter was prevalent. Villages paid a portion of their agricultural produce as revenue to the rulers, while their craftsmen received a part of the crops at harvest time for their services.
Delhi Sultanate.
Before and during the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526 CE), Islam underlay a cosmopolitan civilization. It offered wide-ranging international networks, including social and economic networks. They spanned large parts of Afro-Eurasia, leading to escalating circulation of goods, peoples, technologies and ideas. While initially disruptive, the Delhi Sultanate was responsible for integrating the Indian subcontinent into a growing world system.
The period coincided with a greater use of mechanical technology in the Indian subcontinent. From the 13th century onwards, India began widely adopting mechanical technologies from the Islamic world, including water-raising wheels with gears and pulleys, machines with cams and cranks, papermaking technology, and the spinning wheel. The worm gear roller cotton gin was invented in the Indian subcontinent during the 13th–14th centuries, and is still used in India through to the present day. The incorporation of the crank handle in the cotton gin first appeared in the Indian subcontinent some time during the late Delhi Sultanate or the early Mughal Empire. The production of cotton, which may have largely been spun in the villages and then taken to towns in the form of yarn to be woven into cloth textiles, was advanced by the diffusion of the spinning wheel across India during the Delhi Sultanate era, lowering the costs of yarn and helping to increase demand for cotton. The diffusion of the spinning wheel, and the incorporation of the worm gear and crank handle into the roller cotton gin, led to greatly expanded Indian cotton textile production.
India's GDP per capita was lower than the Middle East from 1 CE (16% lower) to 1000 CE (about 40% lower), but by the late Delhi Sultanate era in 1500, India's GDP per capita approached that of the Middle East.
GDP estimates.
According to economic historian Angus Maddison in "Contours of the world economy, 1–2030 AD: essays in macro-economic history", the Indian subcontinent was the world's most productive region, from 1 CE to 1600.
While Stephen Broadberry, Johann Custodis, and Bishnupriya Gupta, in 2014, offered the following comparative estimates for:
Karl Marx, writing in 1857, suggested the Nominal (Silver) per capita Income of Company India, in 1854, was approximately 1:12 that of the UK, as was the Nominal per capita tax burden 1:12 of the UK, 1:10 of France, and 1:5 of Prussia. Explaining why the EIC administration was perpetually running local deficits, and in need to borrow monies in India, to fund the administration.
Economic historians such as Prasannan Parthasarathi have criticized these estimates, arguing primary sources show Real (grain) wages in 18th-century Bengal and Mysore were comparable to Britain. According to evidence cited by Immanuel Wallerstein, Irfan Habib, Percival Spear and Ashok Desai, per-capita agricultural output and standards of consumption in 17th-century Mughal India was higher than in 17th-century Europe and early 20th-century British India..Sivramkrishna analyzed agricultural surveys conducted in Mysore by Francis Buchanan in 1800-1801, arrived at estimates, using "subsistence basket", that aggregated millet income could be almost five times subsistence level, while corresponding rice income is three times that much. That could be comparable to advance part of Europe. However due to the scarcity of data, more research is needed, before drawing any conclusion. Shireen Moosvi estimates that Mughal India had a per-capita income 1.24% higher in the late 16th century than British India had in the early 20th century, although the difference would be less if increasing purchasing power in terms of manufactured goods were taken into account. She also estimates that the secondary sector contributed a higher percentage to the Mughal economy (18.2%) than it did to the economy of early 20th-century British India (11.2%).
According to economic historian Paul Bairoch, India as well as China had a higher GDP (PPP) per capita than Europe in 1750. For 1750, Bairoch estimated the GNP per capita for the Western world to be $182 in 1960 US dollars ($ in 1990 dollars) and for the non-Western world to be $188 in 1960 dollars ($ in 1990 dollars), exceeded by both China and India. Other estimates he gives include $150–190 for England in 1700 and $160–210 for India in 1800. Bairoch estimated that it was only after 1800 that Western European per-capita income pulled ahead. Others such as Andre Gunder Frank, Robert A. Denemark, Kenneth Pomeranz and Amiya Kumar Bagchi also criticised estimates that showed low per-capita income and GDP growth rates in Asia (especially China and India) prior to the 19th century, pointing to later research that found significantly higher per-capita income and growth rates in China and India during that period.
Medieval India.
Economy of India under Mughal Empire, Maratha Empire and among others was prosperous into the early 18th century. Parthasarathi estimated that 28,000 tonnes of bullion (mainly from the New World) flowed into the Indian subcontinent between 1600 and 1800, equating to 30% of the world's production in the period.
An estimate of the annual income of Emperor Akbar the Great's treasury, in 1600, is $90 trillion (in contrast to the tax take of Great Britain two hundred years later, in 1800, totaled $90 tillion). The South Asia region, in 1600, was estimated to be the largest in the world followed by China.
By the late 17th century, the Mughal Empire was at its peak and had expanded to include almost 90 percent of the Indian subcontinent. It enforced a uniform customs and tax-administration system. In 1700, the exchequer of the Emperor Aurangzeb reported an annual revenue of more than £100 million, or $450 million, more than ten times that of his contemporary Louis XIV of France, while controlling just 7 times the population.
By 1700, Mughal India had become the world's largest economy, ahead of Qing China and Western Europe, containing approximately 24.2% of the World's population, and producing about a quarter of world output. Mughal India produced about 25% of global industrial output into the early 18th century. India's GDP growth increased under the Mughal Empire, exceeding growth in the prior 1,500 years. The Mughals were responsible for building an extensive road system, creating a uniform currency, and the unification of the country. The Mughals adopted and standardized the rupee currency introduced by Sur Emperor Sher Shah Suri. The Mughals minted tens of millions of coins, with purity of at least 96%, without debasement until the 1720s. The empire met global demand for Indian agricultural and industrial products.
Cities and towns boomed under the Mughal Empire, which had a relatively high degree of urbanization (15% of its population lived in urban centres), more urban than Europe at the time and British India in the 19th century. Multiple cities had a population between a quarter-million and half-million people, while some including Agra (in Agra Subah) hosted up to 800,000 people and Dhaka (in Bengal Subah) with over 1 million. 64% of the workforce were in the primary sector (including agriculture), while 36% were in the secondary and tertiary sectors. The workforce had a higher percentage in non-primary sectors than Europe at the time; in 1700, 65–90% of Europe's workforce were in agriculture, and in 1750, 65–75% were in agriculture.
Agriculture.
Indian agricultural production increased. Food crops included wheat, rice, and barley, while non-food cash crops included cotton, indigo and opium. By the mid-17th century, Indian cultivators had begun to extensively grow two crops from the Americas, maize and tobacco. Bengali peasants learned techniques of mulberry cultivation and sericulture, establishing Bengal Subah as a major silk-producing region. Agriculture was advanced compared to Europe, exemplified by the earlier common use of the seed drill.
The Mughal administration emphasized agrarian reform, which began under the non-Mughal Emperor Sher Shah Suri. Akbar adopted this and added more reforms. The Mughal government funded the building of irrigation systems, which produced much higher crop yields and harvests.
One reform introduced by Akbar was a new land revenue system called "zabt". He replaced the tribute system with a monetary tax system based on a uniform currency. The revenue system was biased in favour of higher value cash crops such as cotton, indigo, sugar cane, tree-crops, and opium, providing state incentives to grow cash crops, adding to rising market demand. Under the "zabt" system, the Mughals conducted extensive cadastral surveying to assess the cultivated area. The Mughal state encouraged greater land cultivation by offering tax-free periods to those who brought new land under cultivation.
According to evidence cited by economic historians Immanuel Wallerstein, Irfan Habib, Percival Spear, and Ashok Desai, per-capita agricultural output and standards of consumption in 17th-century Mughal India was higher than in 17th-century Europe and early 20th-century British India.
Manufacturing.
Until the 18th century, Mughal India was the most important manufacturing center for international trade. Key industries included textiles, shipbuilding and steel. Processed products included cotton textiles, yarns, thread, silk, jute products, metalware, and foods such as sugar, oils and butter. This growth of manufacturing has been referred to as a form of proto-industrialization, similar to 18th-century Western Europe prior to the Industrial Revolution.
Early modern Europe imported products from Mughal India, particularly cotton textiles, spices, peppers, indigo, silks and saltpeter (for use in munitions). European fashion, for example, became increasingly dependent on Indian textiles and silks. From the late 17th century to the early 18th century, Mughal India accounted for 95% of British imports from Asia, and the Bengal Subah province alone accounted for 40% of Dutch imports from Asia. In contrast, demand for European goods in Mughal India was light. Exports were limited to some woolens, ingots, glassware, mechanical clocks, weapons, particularly blades for Firangi swords, and a few luxury items. The trade imbalance caused Europeans to export large quantities of gold and silver to Mughal India to pay for South Asian imports. Indian goods, especially those from Bengal, were also exported in large quantities to other Asian markets, such as Indonesia and Japan.
The largest manufacturing industry was cotton textile manufacturing, which included the production of piece goods, calicos and muslins, available unbleached in a variety of colours. The cotton textile industry was responsible for a large part of the empire's international trade. The most important center of cotton production was the Bengal Subah province, particularly around Dhaka. Bengal alone accounted for more than 50% of textiles and around 80% of silks imported by the Dutch. Bengali silk and cotton textiles were exported in large quantities to Europe, Indonesia Japan, and Africa, where they formed a significant element in the exchange of goods for slaves, and treasure. In Britain protectionist policies, such as 1685-1774 Calico Acts, imposed tariffs on imported Indian textiles.
Mughal India had a large shipbuilding industry, particularly in the Bengal Subah province. Economic historian Indrajit Ray estimates shipbuilding output of Bengal during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries at 223,250 tons annually, compared with 23,061 tons produced in nineteen colonies in North America from 1769 to 1771.
Bengal Subah.
Bengal Subah was the Mughal's wealthiest province, generating 50% of the empire's GDP and 12% of the world's GDP. According to Ray, it was globally prominent in industries such as textile manufacturing and shipbuilding. Bengal's capital city Dhaka was the empire's financial capital, with a population exceeding one million. It was an exporter of silk and cotton textiles, steel, saltpeter and agricultural and industrial products.
Domestically, much of India depended on Bengali products such as rice, silks and cotton textiles.
Post–Mughal Empire.
In the early half of the 18th century, Mughal Empire fell into decline, with Delhi sacked in Nader Shah's invasion of the Mughal Empire, the treasury emptied, tens of thousands killed, and many thousands more carried off, with their livestock, as slaves, weakening the empire and leading to the emergence of post-Mughal states. The Mughals were replaced by the Marathas as the dominant military power in much of India, while the other smaller regional kingdoms who were mostly late Mughal tributaries, such as the Nawabs in the north and the Nizams in the south, declared autonomy. However, the efficient Mughal tax administration system was left largely intact, with Tapan Raychaudhuri estimating revenue assessment actually increased to 50 percent or more, in contrast to China's 5 to 6 percent, to cover the cost of the wars. Similarly in the same period, Maddison gives the following estimates for the late Mughal economy's income distribution:
Among the post-Mughal states that emerged in the 18th century, the dominant economic powers were Bengal Subah (under the Nawabs of Bengal) and the South Indian Kingdom of Mysore (under Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan). The former was devastated by the Maratha invasions of Bengal, which experienced six invasions, over a decade, claimed to have killed hundreds of thousands, blocked trade with the Persian and Ottoman empires, and weakened the territory's economy to the point the Nawab of Bengal agreed to a peace treaty with the Marathas. The agreement made Bengal Subah a tributary to the Marathas, agreeing to pay Rs. 1.2 million in tribute annually, as the Chauth of Bengal and Bihar. The Nawab of Bengal also paid Rs. 3.2 million to the Marathas, towards the arrears of chauth for the preceding years. The chauth was paid annually by the Nawab of Bengal, up to his defeat at the Battle of Plassey by the East India Company in 1757.
Jeffrey G. Williamson argued that India went through a period of deindustrialization in the latter half of the 18th century as an indirect outcome of the collapse of the Mughal Empire, and that British rule later caused further deindustrialization. According to Williamson, the Mughal Empire's decline reduced agricultural productivity, which drove up food prices, then nominal wages, and then textile prices, which cost India textile market share to Britain even before the latter developed factory technology, though Indian textiles maintained a competitive advantage over British textiles until the 19th century. Prasannan Parthasarathi countered that several post-Mughal states did not decline, notably Bengal and Mysore, which were comparable to Britain into the late 18th century.
British rule.
A year after the loss of the British East India Company trading base of Calcutta, to the new Nawab of the Bengal Subah, Siraj ud-Daulah, it won a decisive victory over the Nawab, and his French East India Company allies, at the Battle of Plassey, in 1757. The victory was achieved through agreeing to appoint the Nawab's military commander, Mir Jafar, as a Company friendly replacement, if he turned Siraj ud-Daulah's numerically superior forces on his masters household, and partitioned the Nawab's treasury, to compensate both parties. The Company regained, and fortified Calcutta, later gaining the right to collect tax revenues, on the Nawabs behalf, in the Bengal Subah, from 1765, a right to trade tax free, fortify the cities and factories it established, along with a right to establish local armies, turning the mercantile company, into the effective state apparatus, and later proxy for the British Crown. Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British Crown would intervene and establish a formal colonial administration in the Company controlled territory.
British East India Company rule (1764–1857).
Immediately following the East India Company gaining the right to collect revenue, on behalf of the Nawab of Bengal, the Company largely ceased a century and a half practice of importing gold and silver, and for more than a decade, which it had hitherto used to pay for the goods shipped back to Britain, the American colonies, East Asia, or on to African Slavers, to be bartered for Slaves in the Atlantic Slave trade:
In addition, as under Mughal rule, land and opium revenue collected in the Bengal Presidency helped finance the Company's administration, raise Sepoy armies, and fund wars in other parts of India, and later further afield, for example the Opium Wars, with additional capital raised, at typically 10%, from Banias money lenders.
In the period 1760–1800, Bengal's money supply was greatly diminished. The closing of some local mints and close supervision of the rest, the fixing of exchange rates and the standardization of coinage added to the economic downturn.
During this period, the East India Company began tax administration reforms in a fast expanding empire spread over , or 35 percent of Indian domain, with regional land, opium and salt taxes set, and collected. Indirect rule was established on protectorates and buffer states.
During the period 1780–1860 India changed from an exporter of processed goods paid for in bullion to an exporter of raw materials and a buyer of manufactured goods.
The abolition of the Atlantic slave trade, from 1807, both eliminated a significant export market, and encouraged Caribbean plantations to organize the import of South Asian labor.
By 1820, India had fallen from the top rank to become the second-largest economy in the world, behind China.
British economic policies gave them a monopoly over India's large market and cotton resources.
Textiles.
In the 1750s fine cotton and silk was exported from India to markets in Europe, Americas, Asia, and Africa. With East India Company supplied cotton pieces comprising approximately 30%, by value, of the trade goods bartered for Slaves in the Anglo-African Triangular trade, and featuring in the French and Arab slave trades.
From the late 18th century British industry began to lobby their government to reintroduce the Calico Acts, and again start taxing Indian textile imports, while in parallel allow them access to the markets of India. Which the UK parliaments partly conceded to, with removal of the East India Company's two hundred year old monopoly on most British trade with India, via the Charter Act of 1813, forcing the till then protected Indian market to open to British goods, which could now be sold in India without Company tariffs or duties. Starting in the early 19th century, British textiles began to appear in the Indian markets, with the value of the textile imports growing from £5.2 million in 1850 to £18.4 million in 1896. Raw cotton was imported without tariffs to British factories, which manufactured textiles and sold them back to India, also without tariffs.
Indian historian, Rajat Kanta Ray, noted the relative decline of the Indian cotton textile industry started in the mid-1820s. The pace of its decline was, however, slow though steady at the beginning, but reached a crisis by 1860, when 563,000 textile workers lost their jobs. Ray estimates that the industry shrank by about 28% by 1850. However, it survived in the high-end and low-end domestic markets. Ray argued that British discriminatory policies undoubtedly depressed the industry's exports, but suggests its decay is better explained by technological innovations in Britain. With Amiya Bagchi estimating the impact of the invention of the Spinning mule on the employment of handspinners:
Indian textiles had maintained a competitive advantage over British textiles up until the 19th century, when Britain eventually overtook India as the world's largest cotton textile manufacturer. In 1811, Bengal was still a major exporter of cotton cloth to the Americas and the Indian Ocean. However, Bengali cotton exports declined over the course of the early 19th century, as British imports to Bengal increased, from 25% in 1811 to 93% in 1840.
The second quarter of the 19th century, raw materials, which chiefly consisted of raw cotton, opium, and indigo, accounted for most of India's exports. By the end of the 1930’s Indian textiles, and raw cotton, jute, hemp, and silk exports exceed $200 million, annually.
Mining.
Exploitable mineral deposits had started to be identified under the East India Company, with the first Coal mines, along with the Geological Survey of India established to identify and map the available resources in the territory. A modern Iron and steel industry in India would be established in the Second half of the 19th century, with over 3 million tonnes of metals produced annually, and 25 million tonnes of coal, by the 1940s.
Roads.
The East India Companies’ trade, and industry enabling metalled road network was expanded from the , constructed to 1850, to by 1943.
Indian Ordnance Factories.
In 1787, a Gunpowder Factory was established at Ishapore; it began production in 1791, it is now the Rifle Factory Ishapore, beginning in 1904. In 1801, Gun & Shell Factory, Calcutta was established and the production began on 18 March 1802. There were eighteen ordnance factories before India became independent in 1947.
Paper and Publishing.
Under the EIC the first Indian authored publications, printed, on locally produced paper, produced in locally established paper mills, appeared, from the Hicky's Bengal Gazette, to by the 1940s, a hundred thousand tonnes of paper was being produced, annually.
British Raj (1858–1947).
The formal dissolution of the Mughal Dynasty heralded a change in British treatment of Indian subjects. During the British Raj, massive railway projects were begun in earnest and government jobs and guaranteed pensions attracted a large number of upper caste Hindus into the civil service for the first time. British cotton exports absorbed 55 percent of the Indian market by 1875. In the 1850s the first cotton mills opened in Bombay, posing a challenge to the cottage-based home production system based on family labour.
It is believed the British took $65 trillion dollars from India during its time as the jewel in the crown of the British empire. Twice the gross domestic product of the United States of America.
Fall of the rupee.
After its victory in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71), Germany extracted a huge indemnity from France of £200,000,000, and then moved to join Britain on a gold monetary standard. France, the US, and other industrialising countries followed Germany in adopting gold in the 1870s. Countries such as Japan that did not have the necessary access to gold or those, such as India, that were subject to imperial policies remained mostly on a silver standard. Silver-based and gold-based economies then diverged dramatically. The worst affected were silver economies that traded mainly with gold economies. Silver reserves increased in size, causing gold to rise in relative value. The impact on silver-based India was profound, given that most of its trade was with Britain and other gold-based countries. As the price of silver fell, so too did the exchange value of the rupee, when measured against sterling.
Agriculture and industry.
The Indian economy grew at about 1% per year from 1890 to 1910, in line with, and largely dependent on increased agricultural output, through schemes such as the Punjab Canal Colonies, Ganges canal, and cultivation of 4,000,000 acres of Assam jungle, which the growth of land under cultivation only keptIng pace with a population that doubled in the same period. The result was little change in Real income levels. Agriculture was still dominant, with most peasants at the subsistence level.
Entrepreneur Jamsetji Tata (1839–1904) began his industrial career in 1877 with the Central India Spinning, Weaving, and Manufacturing Company in Bombay. While other Indian mills produced cheap coarse yarn (and later cloth) using local short-staple cotton and simple machinery imported from Britain, Tata did much better by importing expensive longer-stapled cotton from Egypt and buying more complex ring-spindle machinery from the United States to spin finer yarn that could compete with imports from Britain.
In the 1890s, Tata launched plans to expand into the heavy industry using Indian funding. The Raj did not provide capital, but aware of Britain's declining position against the US and Germany in the steel industry, it wanted steel mills in India so it promised to purchase any surplus steel Tata could not otherwise sell.
By the end of the 1930s, Cotton, Jute, Peanuts, Tea, Tobacco, and Hides accounted for the majority of the $500+ million of agricultural derived, annual exports.
Railways.
British investors built a modern railway system in the late 19th century—it became the then fourth-largest in the world and was renowned for the quality of construction and service. The government was supportive, realising its value for military use and for economic growth. The railways at first were privately owned and operated, and run by British administrators, engineers and skilled craftsmen. At first, only the unskilled workers were Indians.
A plan for a rail system was first advanced in 1832. The first train ran from Red Hills to Chintadripet bridge in Madras, inaugurated in 1837. It was called "Red Hill Railway". It was used for freight transport. A few more short lines were built in the 1830s and 1840s. They did not interconnect and were used for freight forwarding. The East India Company (and later the colonial government) encouraged new railway companies backed by private investors under a scheme that would provide land and guarantee an annual return of up to five percent during the initial years of operation. The companies were to build and operate the lines under a 99-year lease, with the government retaining the option to buy them earlier. In 1854 Governor-General Lord Dalhousie formulated a plan to construct a network of trunk lines connecting the principal regions. A series of new rail companies were established, leading to rapid expansion.
In 1853, the first passenger train service was inaugurated between Bori Bunder in Bombay and Thane, covering a distance of . The route mileage of this network increased from in 1860 to in 1880 – mostly radiating inland from the port cities of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. Most of the railway construction was done by Indian companies supervised by British engineers. The system was sturdily built. Several large princely states built their own rail systems and the network spread across India. By 1900 India had a full range of rail services with diverse ownership and management, operating on broad, metre and narrow gauge networks.
Headrick argues that both the Raj lines and the private companies hired only European supervisors, civil engineers and even operating personnel, such as locomotive engineers. The government's Stores Policy required that bids on railway contracts be submitted to the India Office in London, shutting out most Indian firms. The railway companies purchased most of their hardware and parts in Britain. Railway maintenance workshops existed in India, but were rarely allowed to manufacture or repair locomotives. TISCO first won orders for rails only in the 1920s. Christensen (1996) looked at colonial purpose, local needs, capital, service and private-versus-public interests. He concluded that making the railways dependent on the state hindered success, because railway expenses had to go through the same bureaucratic budgeting process as did all other state expenses. Railway costs could therefore not respond to needs of the railways or their passengers.
In 1951, forty-two separate railway systems, including thirty-two lines owned by the former Indian princely states, were amalgamated to form a single unit named the "Indian Railways". The existing rail systems were abandoned in favor of zones in 1951 and a total of six zones came into being in 1952.
Chemicals.
The first refineries were established to produce kerosene, petrol, paints and over chemicals, locally, with production increasing once local deposits had been identified, to by the 1940s, sixty million gallons of petrochemicals were being produced annually.
Economic impact of imperialism.
Debate continues about the economic impact of British imperialism on India. The issue was first raised by Edmund Burke who in the 1780s vehemently attacked the East India Company, claiming that Warren Hastings and other top officials had ruined the Indian economy and society, and elaborated on in the 19th century by Romesh Chunder Dutt. Indian historian Rajat Kanta Ray (1998) continued this line of reasoning, saying that British rule in the 18th century took the form of plunder and was a catastrophe for the traditional economy. According to the economic drain theory, supported by Ray, the British depleted food, and money stocks and imposed high taxes that helped cause the terrible famine of 1770, which killed a third of the people of Bengal. Ray also argued British India failed to offer the necessary encouragement, technology transfers, and protectionist frameworks, to permit British India to replicate Britain’s own industrialisation, before its independence.
British historian P. J. Marshall reinterpreted the view that the prosperity of the Mughal era gave way to poverty and anarchy, arguing that the British takeover was not a sharp break with the past. British control was delegated largely through regional rulers and was sustained by a generally prosperous economy through the 18th century, except for the frequent, deadly famines. Marshall notes the British raised revenue through local tax administrators and kept the old Mughal tax rates. Instead of the Indian nationalist account of the British as alien aggressors, seizing power by brute force and impoverishing the region, Marshall presents a British nationalist interpretation in which the British were not in full control, but instead were controllers in what was primarily an Indian-run society and in which their ability to keep power depended upon cooperation with Indian elites. Marshall admitted that much of his interpretation is rejected by many historians.
Some historians point to Company rule as a major factor in both India's deindustrialization and Britain's Industrial Revolution, suggesting capital amassed from Bengal following its 1757 conquest supported investment in British industries such as textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution as well as increasing British wealth, while contributing to deindustrialization in Bengal.
Other economic historians have blamed the colonial rule for the current dismal state of India's economy, with investment in Indian industries limited since it was a colony. Under British rule, India's a number of native manufacturing industries shrank. The economic policies of the British Raj caused a severe decline in the handicrafts and handloom sectors, with reduced demand and dipping employment; the yarn output of the handloom industry, for example, declined from 419 million pounds in 1850 to 240 million pounds in 1900. During the British East India Company's rule in India, production of food crops declined, mass impoverishment and destitution of farmers and numerous famines. The result was a significant transfer of capital from India to England, which led to a massive drain of revenue rather than any systematic effort at modernisation of the Indian economy.
Economic historians have investigated regional differences in taxation, and public good provision, across the British Raj, with a strong positive correlation found between education spending, and Literacy in India; with historic Provincial policies still impacting comparative economic development, productivity, and employment.
Other economic historians debate the impact of Mahatma Gandhi’s establishment of the Swadeshi movement, and "All India Village Industries Association," in the 1930s, to promote an alternative, self sufficient, indigenous, village economy, approach to development, over the Classical Western economic model; along with the impact of the Nonviolent resistance movement, with the mass boycottIng of industrial goods, tax strikes, and abolition of the salt tax, on public revenues, public programs, growth and industrialisation, in the last quarter of the British Raj.
India served as both a significant supplier of raw goods to British manufacturers and a large captive market for British manufactured goods.
Relative decline in productivity.
India accounted for 25% of the world's industrial output in 1750, declining to 2% of the world's industrial output in 1900. Britain replaced India as the world's largest textile manufacturer in the 19th century. In terms of urbanization, Mughal India had a higher percentage of its population (15%) living in urban centers in 1600 than British India did in the 19th century.
Several economic historians claimed that in the 18th century real wages were falling in India, and were "far below European levels". This has been disputed by others, who argued that real wage decline occurred in the early 19th century, or possibly beginning in the late 18th century, largely as a result of "globalization forces".
Clingingsmith and Williamson argue India deindustrialized, in the period between 1750 and 1860, due to two very different causes, before reindustrialization. Between 1750 and 1810, they suggest the loss of Mughal hegemony allowed new despotic rulers to revenue farm their conquered populations, seeing tax and rent demands increase to 50% of production, compared to the 5–6% extracted in China during the period, and levied largely to fund regional warfare. Combined with the use of labour and livestock for martial purposes, grain and textile prices were driven up, along with nominal wages, as the populous attempted to meet the demands, reducing the competitiveness of Indian handicrafts, and impacting the regional textile trade. Then from 1810 to 1860, the expansion of the British factory system drove down the relative price of textiles worldwide, through productivity advances, a trend that was magnified in India as the concurrent transport revolution dramatically reduced transportation costs, and in a sub-continent that had not seen metalled roads, the introduction of mechanical transport exposed once protected markets to global competition, hitting artisanal manufacture, but stabilizing the agricultural sector.
Angus Maddison states:
Absence of industrialisation.
Historians have questioned why India failed to industrialise. As the global cotton industry underwent a technological revolution in the 18th century, while Indian industry stagnated after adopting the Flying shuttle, and industrialisation began only in the late 19th century. Several historians have suggested that this was because India was still a largely agricultural nation with low Commodity money wage levels, arguing that nominal wages were high in Britain so cotton producers had the incentive to invent and purchase expensive new labour-saving technologies, and that wages levels were low in India so producers preferred to increase output by hiring more workers rather than investing in technology.
Colonial Boom (1910–30).
British colonial rule created an institutional environment that stabilized Indian society, though they stifled trade with the rest of the world. They created a well-developed system of railways, telegraphs and a modern legal system. Extensive irrigation systems were built, providing an impetus for growing cash crops for export and for raw materials for Indian industry, especially jute, cotton, sugarcane, coffee, rubber, and tea.
The Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO), headed by Dorabji Tata, opened its plant at Jamshedpur in Bihar (present day in Jharkhand) in 1908. It became the leading iron and steel producer in India, with 120,000 employees in 1945. TISCO became an India's symbol of technical skill, managerial competence, entrepreneurial flair, and high pay for industrial workers.
During the First World War, the railways were used to transport troops and grains to Bombay and Karachi en route to Britain, Mesopotamia and East Africa. With shipments of equipment and parts from Britain curtailed, maintenance became much more difficult; critical workers entered the army; workshops were converted to make artillery; locomotives and cars were shipped to the Middle East. The railways could barely keep up with the sudden increase in demand. By the end of the war, the railways had deteriorated badly. In the Second World War the railways' rolling stock was diverted to the Middle East, and the railway workshops were again converted into munitions workshops.
Non-royal private wealth was encouraged by colonial administrations during these times. Houses of Birla and Sahu Jain began to challenge the Houses of Martin Burn, Bird Heilgers and Andrew Yule. About one-ninth of the national population were urban by 1925.
Economic Bust (1930–50).
The 20-year economic boom cycle ended with the Great Depression of 1929 that had a direct impact on India, with relatively little impact on the modern secondary sector. The colonial administration did little to alleviate debt stress. The worst consequences involved deflation, which increased the burden of the debt on villagers. Total economic output did not decline between 1929 and 1934. The worst-hit sector was jute, based in Bengal, which was an important element in overseas trade; it had prospered in the 1920s but prices dropped in the 1930s. Employment also decline, while agriculture and small-scale industry exhibited gains. The most successful new industry was sugar, which had meteoric growth in the 1930s.
Gold-Silver ratio peaked at 100-1 by 1940. The Bank of England records the Indian central bank held a positive balance of £1,160 million on 14 July 1947, and that British India maintained a trade surplus, with the United Kingdom, for the duration of the British Raj eg.
Source: Indian sterling balances, p. 2, 15 Jan.1.1947, Bank of England (BoE), OV56/55.
Studies of the comparative tax burdens in the British Empire, by days of labour required to meet the per capita tax bill, income tax rates, and gross colonial revenues indicate the tax burden in India required approximately half the number of days of labour to meet, as that of the UK, and a third that of some settler colonies, such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and Hong Kong, which some economic historians speculate deprived the Colonial Indian administration of the revenue necessary to provide the public goods to accelerate economic development, literacy, and industrialisation, as experienced elsewhere in the empire.
The newly independent but weak Union government's treasury reported annual revenue of £334 million in 1950. In contrast, Nizam Asaf Jah VII of Hyderabad State was widely reported to have a fortune of almost £668 million then. About one-sixth of the national population were urban by 1950. A US Dollar was exchanged at 4.79 rupees.
Republic of India.
"Hindu rate of growth".
The phrase "Hindu rate of growth" was used by some socialista to refer to the low annual growth rate of the economy of India before 1991, suggesting that the blame for low growth lies with the Hinduism. It remained around 3.5% from the 1950s to 1980s, while per capita income growth averaged 1.3% a year. During the same period, South Korea grew by 10% and Taiwan by 12%. The Indian economy of this period is characterised as Dirigism.
Socialist Boom (1950–1970).
Before independence a large share of tax revenue was generated by the land tax. Thereafter land taxes steadily declined as a share of revenues.
The economic problems inherited at independence were exacerbated by the costs associated with the partition, which had resulted in about 2 to 4 million refugees fleeing past each other across the new borders between India and Pakistan. Refugee settlement was a considerable economic strain. Partition divided India into complementary economic zones. Under the British, jute and cotton were grown in the eastern part of Bengal (East Pakistan, after 1971, Bangladesh), but processing took place mostly in the western part of Bengal, which became the Indian state of West Bengal. As a result, after independence India had to convert land previously used for food production to cultivate cotton and jute.
Growth continued in the 1950s, the rate of growth was less positive than India's politicians expected.
Toward the end of Nehru's term as prime minister, India experienced serious food shortages.
Beginning in 1950, India faced trade deficits that increased in the 1960s. The Government of India had a major budget deficit and therefore could not borrow money internationally or privately. As a result, the government issued bonds to the Reserve Bank of India, which increased the money supply, leading to inflation. The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 led the US and other countries friendly towards Pakistan to withdraw foreign aid to India, which necessitated devaluation. India was told it had to liberalise trade before aid would resume. The response was the politically unpopular step of devaluation accompanied by liberalisation. Defence spending in 1965/1966 was 24.06% of expenditure, the highest in the period from 1965 to 1989. Exacerbated by the drought of 1965/1966, the devaluation was severe. GDP per capita grew 33% in the 1960s, reaching a peak growth of 142% in the 1970s, before decelerating to 41% in the 1980s and 20% in the 1990s.
From FY 1951 to FY 1979, the economy grew at an average rate of about 3.1 percent a year, or at an annual rate of 1.0 percent per capita. During this period, industry grew at an average rate of 4.5 percent a year, compared with 3.0 percent for agriculture.
Economic Bust (1970–90).
The 20-year economic boom cycle ended in 1971 with the Nixon shock. In 1975 India's GDP (in 1990 US dollars) was $545 billion, $1,561 billion in the USSR, $1,266 billion in Japan, and $3,517 billion in the US.
Prime minister Indira Gandhi proclaimed a national emergency and suspended the Constitution in 1975. About one-fifth of the national population were urban by 1975.
Steel.
Prime Minister Nehru was a believer in socialism and decided that India needed maximum steel production. He, therefore, formed a government-owned company, Hindustan Steel Limited (HSL) and set up three steel plants in the 1950s.
Capitalist Boom (1990–2020).
Economic liberalisation in India in the 1990s and first two decades of the 21st century led to large economic changes.
About one-fourth of the national population was urban by 2000.
The Indian steel industry began expanding into Europe in the 21st century. In January 2007 India's Tata bought European steel maker Corus Group for $11.3 billion. In 2006 Mittal Steel (based in London but with Indian management) acquired Arcelor for $34.3 billion to become the world's biggest steel maker, ArcelorMittal, with 10% of world output.
The GDP of India in 2007 was estimated at about 8 percent that of the US. The government started the Golden Quadrilateral road network connecting Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata with various Indian regions. The project, completed in January 2012, was the most ambitious infrastructure project of independent India.
The top 3% of the population still earn 50% of GDP.
Coronavirus Economic Bust (March 2020–Aug 2020).
The 28-year economic boom cycle ended in 2020. The coronavirus pandemic led to a temporary recession in the Indian economy. The 2nd and 3rd quarter of the 2020 financial year had GDP drops of 23.9% and 8.6% respectively.
For purchasing power parity comparisons, the US dollar is converted at 9.46 rupees. Despite continuous real GDP growth of at least 5% since 2009, the Indian economy was mired in bureaucratic hurdles.
Bibliography.
Since 1947.
Frankel, Francine R. "India's Political Economy, 1947–1977: The Gradual Revolution" (1978).


National Museum of Korea

The National Museum of Korea is the flagship museum of Korean history and art in South Korea and is the cultural organization that represents Korea. Since its establishment in 1945, the museum has been committed to various studies and research activities in the fields of archaeology, history, and art, continuously developing a variety of exhibitions and education programs.
In 2012, it was reported that since its relocation to Yongsan District in 2005, the museum had attracted an attendance of 20 million visitors, or over 3 million annually which makes it one of the most visited museums in the world and Asia and the most visited in South Korea. A poll of nearly 2,000 foreign visitors, conducted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in November 2011, stated that visiting the museum is one of their favorite activities in Seoul. It is one of the largest museums in Asia.
History.
Emperor Sunjong established Korea's first museum, the Imperial Household Museum, in 1909. The collections of the Imperial Household Museum at Changgyeonggung and the Japanese Government General Museum administered during Japanese rule of Korea became the nucleus of the National Museum's collection, which was established when South Korea regained independence in 1945.
During the Korean War, the museum's 20,000 pieces were safely moved to Busan to avoid destruction. When the museum returned to Seoul after the war, it was housed at both Gyeongbokgung and Deoksugung Palace. In 1972, the museum moved again to a new building on the grounds of the Gyeonbokgung Palace. The museum was moved again in 1986 to the Jungangcheong, the former Japanese General Government Building, where it was housed (with some controversy and criticism) until the building's demolition in 1995. In December 1996, the museum was opened to the public in temporary accommodations in the renovated Social Education Hall, before officially reopening in its grand new building in Yongsan Family Park on October 28, 2005.
In October 2005, the museum opened in a new building in Yongsan Family Park in Seoul, South Korea. The museum is situated on what used to be a golf course that was part of the Yongsan Garrison, the central command of the United States Forces stationed in Korea. The US Army returned a part of the land in 1992 to the Korean government, which went on to become the Yongsan Family Park. While the plans for the museum inside the park began in 1993, its opening was delayed repeatedly by a helipad, which was eventually relocated in 2005 by agreement. The museum contains over 310,000 pieces in its collection with about 15,000 pieces on display at one time. It displays relics and artifacts throughout six permanent exhibition galleries such as Prehistory and Ancient History Gallery, Medieval and Early Modern History Gallery, Donation Gallery, Calligraphy and Painting Gallery, Asian Art Gallery, and Sculpture and Crafts Gallery. It is the sixth largest museum in the world in terms of floor space, now covering a total of .
In order to protect the artifacts inside the museum, the main building was built to withstand a magnitude 6.0 Richter Scale earthquake. The display cases are equipped with shock-absorbent platforms. There is also an imported natural lighting system which utilizes sunlight instead of artificial lights and a specially designed air-conditioning system. The museum is made from fire-resistant materials and has special exhibition halls, education facilities, a children's museum, huge outdoor exhibition areas, restaurants, cafes, and shops.
Layout.
The museum is divided into three floors. Symbolically, the left of the museum is supposed to represent the past, while the right side of the museum represents the future. The ground floor contains parks; gardens of indigenous plants; waterfalls and pools; and a collection of pagodas, stupas, lanterns, and steles (including National Treasure of Korea No. 2, the Great Bell of Bosingak, the exemplar of Korean bells of the Joseon period).
First floor.
On the first floor is the Prehistory and Ancient History Gallery, which contains approximately 4,500 artifacts from the Paleolithic to the Unified Silla era excavated from sites across Korea. The nine exhibition rooms in the gallery are the Palaeolithic Room, the Neolithic Room, the Bronze Age & Gojoseon Room, the Proto Three Kingdoms Room, the Goguryeo Room, the Baekje Room, the Gaya Room, and the Silla Room. Ranging from chipped stone handaxes to luxurious ancient royal ornaments, the relics displayed here show the long journey taken by early settlers on the Peninsula towards developing their unique culture.
Artifacts from important prehistoric sites and settlements such the Bangudae Petroglyphs and Songgung-ni are found in the Neolithic and Bronze Age Rooms.
Also on the first floor is the Medieval and Early Modern History Gallery, which showcases the cultural and historical heritage throughout the Unified Silla, Balhae, Goryeo, and Joseon periods. The eight rooms of the gallery include the Unified Silla Room, Balhae Room, Goryeo Room, and the Joseon Room.
Second floor.
The second floor contains the Donation Gallery and the Calligraphy and Painting Gallery, which contains 890 pieces of art that showcase the traditional and religious arts of Korea in line and color. The Calligraphy and Painting Gallery is divided into four rooms: the Painting Room, the Calligraphy Room, the Buddhist Paintings Room, and the Sarangbang (Scholar's Studio).
The Donation Gallery holds 800 pieces of art donated from the private collections of collectors. The gallery is divided into eleven rooms: the Lee Hong-kun Collection Room, the Kim Chong-hak Collection Room, the Yu Kang-yul Collection Room, the Park Young-sook Collection Room, the Choi Young-do Collection Room, the Park Byong-rae Collection Room, the Yoo Chang-jong Collection Room, the Kaneko Kazushige Collection Room, the Hachiuma Tadasu Collection Room, the Iuchi Isao Collection Room, and the Other Collection Room.
Third floor.
The third floor contains the Sculpture and Crafts Gallery, with 630 pieces that represent Korean Buddhist sculpture and craftwork. Highlights of the gallery include Goryeo Celadon wares and National Treasure of Korea No. 83, Bangasayusang (or Pensive Bodhisattva). The five rooms of the gallery are the Metal Arts Room, the Celadon Room, the Buncheong Ware Room, the White Porcelain Room, and the Buddhist Sculpture Room.
Also on the third floor is the Asian Arts Gallery, which contains 970 pieces that explore the similarities and divergences of Asian art and the confluence of Asian and Western art via the Silk Road. The five rooms are the Indian & Southeast Asian Art Room, the Central Asian Art Room, the Chinese Art Room, the Sinan Undersea Relics Room, and the Japanese Art Room.
Collection.
Gold Crown, National Treasure of Korea No. 191.
The Fifth-century Silla gold crown was excavated from the North tomb of Hwangnamdaechong in Gyeongju. More ornaments, including a silver belt ornament inscribed (보인대)'Buindae ("Madame's belt"), were found in the North tomb than in the South tomb, suggesting that the North tomb is a woman's. The gold crown reflects the owner's political and social class.
Pensive Bodhisattva (Gilt-bronze Maitreya in Meditation) (National Treasure No. 83).
This Bodhisattva, from the early Seventh-century, sits with one leg over the other, lost in thought with fingers on its cheeks. The pose is derived from that of the Buddha contemplating the life of human beings. This statue wears a flat crown called the 'Three Mountain Crown' or 'Lotus Crown.' The torso is naked, adorned by a simple necklace. There are remarkable similarities with the wooden Pensive Bodhisattva at the Koryuji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, which is believed to have been founded by a Silla monk. It is likely, then, that this statue was created in Silla. The well-balanced shape, however, and elegant and refined craftsmanship is typical of the Baekje period.
Incense Burner, Celadon with Openwork, National Treasure of Korea No. 95.
This Twelfth-century incense burner represents some of the best quality Goryeo celadon. It is composed of a cover (with a central hole for releasing incense), a burner, and a support. Above the hole for incense is a curved knob with a Seven Treasure design incised to aid the release of scent.
Ten-Story Pagoda from Gyeongcheonsa Temple, National Treasure of Korea No. 86.
The "Gyeongcheonsa Ten-Story Pagoda" (경천사 십층석탑, 敬天寺十層石塔) was originally erected at the monastery Gyeongcheonsa in the fourth year (1348) of King Chungmok of Goryeo. In 1907, it was illegally smuggled to Japan by a Japanese court official, but was returned in 1918 at the behest of British and American journalists, E. Bethell and H. Hulbert. In 1960, it was restored to Gyoengbokgung Palace, but proved difficult to conserve because of acid rain and weathering. So, it was dismantled again in 1995, to be housed inside in the National Museum of Korea's 'Path to History' when the museum reopened in 2005.
Album of Genre Painting by Danwon, Treasure of Korea No. 527.
The Eighteenth-century painter Kim Hong-do, also known as Danwon, is known for his humorous and candid paintings of the lives of common people. This album consists of twenty-five paintings, each focusing on figures without background features. Kim's paintings appear sketchy, yet show expressive brush strokes and balanced composition. It is presumed that this style arose in Kim's late 30s, the album being completed when he was about 40 years old.
The Oegyujanggak Uigwe.
Gyujanggak was a royal library established on the grounds of Changdeokgung Palace in the capital by order of King Jeongjo, the 22nd ruler of the Joseon, in 1776. Over time, the library also developed into a state-sponsored research institution. In 1782, a royal library annex called Oegyujanggak was established on Gangwha Island to preserve important documents related to the royal family more systematically and securely than possible in the capital. Oegyujanggak housed copies of writings, calligraphy, and drawings by former kings as well as the royal genealogies, uigwe, and other such items. As such it was a repository of royal family culture. It includes records of the preparations for state-sponsored events and ceremonies involving key members of the Joseon royal family. The text explains every process in detail and is supported by illustrations elaborately drawn by hand. These served as references for later generations organizing similar ceremonies or events. The Uigwe began to be produced in the 15th century, during early Joseon, and the practice continued to the end of the kingdom in the early 20th century. They preserve core elements of Confucian culture, which revered ritual and propriety. These works also show the governing philosophy and systems by which the Joseon state was run. Their historical and cultural value has been recognized globally, as the “Royal Protocols of Joseon Dynasty”* were inscribed into the UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2007.
Two hundred and ninety-seven volumes of the Protocols that were looted in 1866 during the French campaign against Korea were kept at the Bibliothèque nationale de France. They were repatriated in April and June 2011 in four separate installments. A special exhibition, "The Return of the Oegyujanggak Uigwe from France: Records of the State Rites of the Joseon Dynasty", was held from 19 July to 18 September 2011. In June 2011, before of the exhibition, the museum showcased five copies of the records to the media, along with the silk covers of other volumes.


Jayavarman II

Jayavarman II (; c. 770 – 835) (reigned c. 802–835) was a 9th-century king of Cambodia, widely recognized as the founder of the Khmer Empire, the dominant civilisation on the Southeast Asian mainland until the mid 15th century. He was a powerful Khmer king who overthrew the rule of the Shailendra Dynasty from Java. Historians formerly dated his reign as running from 802 AD to 835 AD. Before Jayavarman II came to power, there was much fighting among local overlords who ruled different parts of Cambodia. The country was not unified under one ruler. No inscriptions by Jayavarman II have been found. Future kings of the Khmer Empire described him as a warrior and the most powerful king from that time frame that they can recall.
Universal monarch.
Jayavarman II is widely regarded as the king that set the foundation of the Angkor period in Cambodian history, beginning with the grandiose consecration ritual conducted by Jayavarman II (reign 790-835) in 802 on sacred Mount Mahendraparvata, now known as Phnom Kulen, to celebrate the independence of Kambuja from Javanese dominion (presumably the "neighboring Chams", or "chvea"). At that ceremony Prince Jayavarman II was proclaimed a universal monarch ("Kamraten jagad ta Raja" in Cambodian) or God King ("Deva Raja" in Sanskrit). According to some sources, Jayavarman II had resided for some time in Java during the reign of Sailendras, or "The Lords of Mountains", hence the concept of Devaraja or God King was ostensibly imported from Java. At that time, Sailendras allegedly ruled over Java, Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and parts of Cambodia.
An inscription from the Sdok Kak Thom temple recounts that at Mahendraparvata, Jayavarman II took part in a ritual by the Brahman Hiranyadama, and his chief priest Lord Sivakaivalya, known as devaraja () which placed him as a "chakravartin", Lord of the Universe.
The foundation of Hariharalaya near present-day Roluos was the first settlement in what would later become the empire of Angkor. Despite this key role in Khmer history, few firm facts survive about Jayavarman. No inscriptions authored by him have been found, but he is mentioned in numerous others, some of them written long after his death. He appears to have been of aristocratic birth, beginning his career of conquest in the southeast of present-day Cambodia. He may have been known as Jayavarman Ibis at that time. “For the prosperity of the people in this perfectly pure royal race, great lotus which no longer has a stalk, he rose like a new flower,” declares one inscription. Various other details are recounted in inscriptions: he married a woman named Hyang Amrita; and he dedicated a foundation at Lobok Srot, in the southeast.
Taken in sum, the record suggests that Jayavarman and his followers moved over the course of some years from southeast Cambodia to the northwest, subduing various principalities along the way. Historian Claude Jacques writes that he first seized the city of Vyadhapura in the southeast, then pushed up the Mekong River to take Sambhupura. He later installed himself at another city state, now known as Banteay Prei Nokor, near present-day Kompong Cham. Jacques believes that from there he pressed on to Wat Pu, seat of a city-state in present-day southern Laos, then moved along the Dangrek Mountains to arrive in the Angkor region. Later he brought pressure on local Khmer leaders located to the west, but they fought back and drove him to seek refuge on the summit of present-day Phnom Kulen, about 50 kilometers east of Angkor, where the Brahman declared the independent state. Jacques suggests that this step might have been intended to affirm Jayavarman's authority in the face of strong resistance.
Once established in the Angkor region, he appears to have reigned not only in Hariharalaya, located just north of the Tonle Sap lake, but also at a place that inscriptions call Amarendrapura. It has not been positively identified, though some historians believe it to be a now lost settlement at the western end of the West Baray, the eight kilometer-long holy reservoir that was built about two centuries after his death. No single temple is positively associated with Jayavarman, but some historians suggest he may have built Ak Yum, a brick stepped pyramid, now largely ruined, at the southern edge of the West Baray. The temple was a forerunner to the mountain-temple architectural form of later Khmer kings.
Sdok Kak Thom.
The most valuable inscription concerning Jayavarman II is the one dated in 1052 AD, two centuries after his death, and found at the Sdok Kak Thom temple in present-day Thailand. “When His Majesty Paramesvara came from Java to reign in the royal city of Indrapura,…Sivakaivalya, the family’s "purohit", was serving as his guru and held the post of royal chaplain to His Majesty,” states the inscription, using the king’s posthumous name. In a later passage, the text says that a Brahman named Hiranyadama, “proficient in the lore of magic power, came from Janapada in response to His Majesty’s having invited him to perform a sublime rite which would release Kambujadesa [the kingdom] from being any longer subject to Java.” The text also recounts the creation of the cult of the devaraja, the key religious ceremony in the court of Jayavarman and subsequent Khmer people.
Interpretations on "Java".
The word in the inscription that has often been translated as "Java" has caused endless debate. Some early scholars, such as George Coedès and Lawrence Palmer Briggs, have established the notion that it refers to the island of Java in present-day Indonesia. The mythical stories of battles between the Khmers and Javanese correspond in their view to Sailendras that ruled both Java and Sumatran Srivijaya.
Later scholars such as Charles Higham doubt that the word refers to the island. Michael Vickery has re-interpreted the word to mean "the Chams", the Khmers' neighbors to the east, described a "chvea".
Other scholars like Takashi Suzuki suggest that Java is on the Malaysia Peninsula instead, or particularly Kedah which has been the center of Srivijaya's realm under Sailendra.
Historical assessment.
More broadly, debate continues as to whether Jayavarman II’s rule truly represented a seminal turning point in Khmer history, the creation of an independent unified state from small feuding principalities, or was instead part of a long process toward that end. Certainly inscriptions indicate that later Khmer kings treated him as the august first in their line and font of their own legitimacy. But Hindu civilization had existed already for centuries in the region; the fact that Jayavarman was the second monarch to carry that name is a sign that there was already long line of kings of significant states in the region.
Posthumous name.
Jayavarman II died in 850 AD and received the posthumous name of Parameshwara, "the supreme ruler," an epithet of Sri Shiva. After him, the throne was held by his son Jayavarman III and two other kings of the family into which he had married. He was formally honored along with these two kings and their wives in the Preah Ko temple in Roulous, built by King Indravarman I and inaugurated in 880 AD.


Bir Singha Dev

Bir Singha Dev, also known as Beera Singha was the fifty-second king of the Mallabhum. He ruled from 1656 to 1682 CE.
History.
Personal life.
Bir Singha Dev was the son of Raghunath Singha Dev. During his regime his kingdom was extended. It was the period when Aurangjeb was the Samrat. History says that Auranjeb was a very cruel type of king. He seized all the tax-free land or bepanchaki jamin from them. Bir Singha Dev had two queens. The elder one Churamoni or Siromoni Devi was a very pious woman. She had three sons named Durjan, Sur, and Krishna Singha 0ev. The younger queens name was Swamamoyee Devi. She was a very cruel woman and had one son. As she thought that her son would not be able to sit on the throne of the Malla king, she insisted Bir Singha to kill all the sons of his first wife and the king also had done the cruel murder of his sons of first wife as per the instruction of the second wife. Among those three sons by his first wife Durjan Singha Dev somehow escaped and could save his life.
Later the second wife’s only son Baldev died. Then Bir Singha Dev could realize what wrong he had done. He became very disturbed, disappointed and repented. He was in search of his successor. At that time Durjan Singha Dev came to him. The king did not know that he was alive. Seeing him Bir Singha Dev got some peace in his mind and Durjan Singha Dev became the king after Bir Singha Dev.
Reservoir.
He also Had the seven big lakes or tanks, called Lalbandh, Krishnabandh, Gantatbandh, Jamunabandh, Kalindibandh, Shyambandh, and pokabandh excavated, and erected.
Mallabhum temples.
Though Bir Singha Dev was cruel, but he had an aesthetic sense and during his period several temples were established which are full with artistic work. As per the wishes of the queen Siromoni Devi, two buildings were also constructed and dedicated to Radha Krishna. Those are Madan Mohan and Madan Gopal temple In Bishnupur, he established both small and large stone gates, Radha lal Jiu temple.
Radha Laljiu/Laljiu temple.
After crossing the big stone gate if one stands facing south, one can see the palace and on the north or left side there are several temples. Among those, a laterite temple is found. Bir Singha Dev established it in 1658. In its architecture Orissa style is noticed. There are figures of birds and animals with fresco painting. The temple is placed upon a large plinth. It is a square shaped temple with slanting roof slightly sloping in all sides. It has a nahabat khana (room or platform where the sanai concert is played), nat mandir (portico of a temple) that reminds the visitors, tourists and travelers about the recreational life of the Malla dynasty. In the temple) deity is there and everyday puja is performed officiated by a Brahman.
Murali Mohan temple.
This magnificent temple was built by Siromani Chudamoni Devi, the queen of Raja Bir Singha Dev and mother of Durjan Singha Dev in 1665. This latente ekratna temple is dedicated to Murali Mohan Jiu. A few decorations of floral designs is noticed. Stuccowork is found in this temple.


Joko Tingkir

Joko Tingkir, or sometimes written as Jaka Tingkir, is the founder and the first king of the Sultanate of Pajang. He ruled from 1549 to 1582. He is also known by the title of Sultan Hadiwijaya.
Ancestry.
He was the son of Ki Ageng Pengging, born as Mas Karèbèt. When he was conceived, his father was having a wayang beber (shadow puppet) show performed by Ki Ageng Tingkir as the dalang. Both are the followers of Syekh Siti Jenar (the 10th saint of Java). Afterwards, unfortunately Ki Ageng Tingkir become sick and then died.
Ten years later, Ki Ageng Pengging was given capital punishment on the ground of rebellion against the Sultanate of Demak with Sunan Kudus as the executioner. After her husband's death, Nyai Ageng Pengging also fell ill and died. So, since then Mas Karèbèt was taken care by Nyai Ageng Tingkir, the widow of Ki Ageng Tingkir.
When he grew up, he became widely known as Jaka Tingkir. He followed the teaching of Sunan Kalijaga as well as Ki Ageng Sela. He was also considered to be related to the three grandsons of Ki Ageng Tingkir, Ki Juru Martani, Ki Ageng Pemanahan, and Ki Panjawi.


Orobazus

Orobazus was the ambassador of the Parthian king Mithridates II who contacted the Roman magistrate Lucius Cornelius Sulla. This was the first meeting between a Parthian and a Roman official. The results of this meeting are not clear, but it is generally known that during the meeting Sulla was sitting between the Parthian ambassador and Ariobarzanes I of Cappadocia the king of Cappadocia. The center was considered the seat of honor, and for this the Parthian king put Orobazus to death for allowing a Roman magistrate to treat a Parthian envoy arrogantly.


Mahendra of Dakshina Kosala

Mahendra was a king of Dakshina Kosala,<ref name="https://puratattva.in/2011/06/24/sirpur-an-icon-of-dakshina-kosala-167"></ref> whose identity is not completely verified, and is mentioned as a king of Dakshinapatha. He was one of the many kings who were subjugated, captured and later released by the mighty Gupta emperor Samudragupta, who paid him allegiance and tribute. His dynasty is uncertain, though some historians suggest that he was from the Mahameghavahana dynasty.
Other theories suggest that he was a king of a branch the Ikshvaku dynasty, who had established a mighty kingdom in the south. <ref name="https://puratattva.in/2011/06/24/sirpur-an-icon-of-dakshina-kosala-167"></ref> Yet another theory identifies Mahendra with a Nala king named Mahendraditya.
Allahabad stone pillar inscription of Samudragupta.
The Allahabad stone pillar inscription of Samudragupta's lines which include Mahendra's name in it goes as follows-


Taichiud

The Tayichiud (Mongolian Cyrillic: Тайчууд, Taichuud) was one of the three core tribes of the Khamag Mongol confederation in Mongolia during the 12th century.
They lived in the southern part of current Zabaykalsky Krai and the Mongolian Dornod Province. Though the Khiyad Borjigids and the Tayichiuds were closely related and shared a common ancestor in Bodonchar Munkhag, at times they were arch-rivals for the rule of the Khamag Mongol. Though Khabul Khan of the Borjigin had 7 sons, he had designated Ambaghai, a son of Sengum Bilge of the Tayichiud, as his successor. Thus Ambaghai Khan became the second khan of the Khamag Mongol. The rule of the Mongols had alternated between the Borjigid and the Tayichiud tribes, finally coming into the hands of Genghis Khan of Borjigid.
The Tayichiud were rivals of the Naimans and several other tribes. In the "Secret History of the Mongols", they were portrayed as bitter enemies of Genghis Khan. As allies of Jamukha and the Keraites, they would defeat the latter bitterly.
Although the ruling Tayichiud clan was destroyed by Genghis, their descendants, who had surrendered, achieved fame in parts of the Mongol Empire. Jebe (born Jurgaadai), who had struck the final blow to the Jurchens during the Mongol conquest of the Jin dynasty in 1219 and defeated the Kypchaks and their European allies at the battle of Kalka in 1223, was from Besud clan of Tayichiud. Baiju, the commander of the Tammachi in Persia, was also from the Besud clan of the Tayichiud. Chilaun, one of Genghis Khan's four close companions, was from the Suldus, a sub-clan of the Tayichiud. His descendant Chupan reached the peak of his career during the reign of Ilkhan Abu Said, and was given the title of chief commander of all Mongol Khanates by the court of the Yuan Dynasty in 1327. In the Chagatai Khanate, another aristocrat, Buyan Suldus, overthrew the Qara'unas in Transoxiana in 1359, but was executed by Chagatai Khan Tughluq Temur in 1362.
The tribe exerted great influence during the reign of Timur. The head of the Tayichiud during this time was Amir Musa. Though clashing with Timur on several occasions, Amir Musa also enjoyed multiple matrimonial alliances with the imperial family. Both his daughter, Tuman Agha, and niece, Saray Mulk Khanum, were married to the emperor, with the latter becoming his chief consort. In addition to this, Amir Musa's son Muhammad Beg was married to Timur's daughter Aka Begim. They were the parents of Sultan Husayn, who later held prominent positions in the imperial army.
People with the clan name Tayichiud or Taichiud are found in present-day Mongolia, Inner Mongolia and in Kalmykia (tyayachiud).


Artyphius

Artyphius (Old Persian: "Ardufya") was a general of the Achaemenid Army during the Second Persian invasion of Greece (480-479 BCE). He was the son of Artabanus, grandson of Hystaspes, and therefore nephew of Darius the Great and first degree cousin of Xerxes I.
According to Herodotus, Artyphius was in command of the contingents of the Gandharian and Dadicae in the invading Achaemenid army of Xerxes I:
Artyphius had a brother, named Tritantaechmes, who also a general in the army of Xerxes I.


Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall

The Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall or the Ambara Villa (: "Phra Thinang Amphorn Sathan") is a royal mansion situated inside Bangkok's Dusit Palace. It served as the primary residence of the former King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) and former Queen Sirikit of Thailand, and was the birthplace of King Vajiralongkorn.
History.
Construction began in 1890 on the order of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) who wanted a European style mansion built inside the Dusit Gardens. The residence was initially named the 'Ivory Garden' (). The name was later changed to the “Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall” or the "Phra Thinang Amphorn Sathan"; translated as: 'The royal seat in the sky'.
Chaophraya Yommarat, Minister of Public Works of Siam, was the director of construction in 1906 and celebrated the completion of the new building with a ceremony lasting from 18 to 22 February 1906. King Rama V lived in the residence and died there in 1910. Both kings Vajiravudh (Rama VI) and Prajadhipok (Rama VII) spent time in this residence during their respective reigns. When King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) came back permanently from Switzerland in 1950, he decided to live in the Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall before his coronation ceremony. As renovations were being carried out in the preferred Chitralada Royal Villa, the king, Queen Sirikit and the growing royal family remained living at Amphorn Sathan. Once the renovations were completed at Chitralada in 1957, the king and the royal family moved out. During the royal couple's stay at the hall, three of their children were born here: Prince Vajiralongkorn on 28 July 1952, Princess Sirindhorn 2 April 1955 and Princess Chulabhorn 4 July 1957.
The residence is known to most Thais as the location of many of King Bhumibol's early musical broadcasts on the radio. In 1952, the king established the A.S. (Amporn Sathan) Radio Station. From the residence, the king would jam with various jazz musicians and his own band every Friday, including playing some of his own compositions. Pathorn Srikaranonda, one of the king's band members, remembered that: "Anyone could call in to request music. If the band couldn't play that song, then he would play the record instead. He even answered the phone himself. People didn't know they were speaking to the King as His Majesty didn't like to reveal his presence". The king's band was called the 'A.S. Friday'.
In 1972, Prince Vajiralongkorn was made Crown Prince of Thailand and was granted the residence by the king as his official home. On 7 December 1978, Princess Bajrakitiyabha, Vajiralongkorn's eldest child was born at the palace. On the 1 December 2016, Vajiralongkorn accepted the formal invitation from the President of the National Assembly of Thailand to accept the crown and become King Rama X inside residence's throne room. At present the Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall is the primary home and working palace of King Vajiralongkorn (Rama X) in Bangkok.
Location.
The residence is located on the south side of the Vimanmek Mansion and is located on the northwest side of the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall. It is situated between Ang-yok canal and Benjamas road. The front building faces to the south east side, the back side of building is close to the Meng seng canal.
Architecture.
The Amphorn Sathan Residential Hall is a 3-story building in the style of a European country villa. The residence's layout resembles an H-shape, made up of two rectangular buildings constructed parallel to each other. The residence's two buildings are the Amphorn Sathan and Udon-pak wings. The two parts are connected by a vertical bridge. The exterior features two curved porches in the front.
The interior style is primarily a combination of Art Nouveau and Second Empire styles. Most of the interior was decorated with details of flowers and foliage in stucco. The edge of the doors and windows has decoration in the form of plants and organic forms made in wet colour cement technique. Moreover, there is a baluster and balustrade made of metal in natural elemental forms. The interior walls and ceilings are decorated with frescoes, painted by the Italian artists Galileo Chini and Annibale Rigotti.


Einda Thiri

Einda Thiri (, ; ) was a daughter of King Mohnyin Thado of Ava, and governor of Pagan. The princess was the first known female ruler of the Pagan (Bagan) capital region. Her tenure at the ancient capital city of Pagan (Bagan) probably began . Chronicles do not say when her tenure at Pagan ended.


Taungthaman Le-sar Maung Pe Nge

"Taungthaman Le-sar" Maung Pe Nge (), was a royal artillery officer, noted poet, and a companion of King Thibaw. He was granted the appendages of Taungthaman with the title of "Taungthaman Le-sar" (, the Lord of the Taungthaman).
Biography.
According to the royal chronicles, Maung Pe Nge was the grandson of the Princess of Magyitone, who was the daughter of Ananda Thiri (a royal concubine of King Bodawpaya), and Prince Min Ye Kyawswa of Shweku, the son of Bodawpaya by his consort, Madaya Myosa Mibaya. He serverd as an advisor and close confidante of Prince Thibaw. When Thibaw ascended the throne, he was appointed as a cavalry officer together with the Prince of Yanaung Maung Maung Toke, who was the commander of the Tavoy Regiment. He composes a number of romantic poems for himself and also on behalf of some members of the royal family.
Maung Pe Nge was secretly in love with the beautiful lady named Daing Khin Khin, the daughter of the Duke of Kenni. However at the command of King Thibaw he helps to arrange an affaire de coeur between the King and Daing Khin Khin. When Supayalat found out that King Thibaw was in love with Daing Khin Khin, Maung Pe Nge, Maung Maung Toke, Daing Khin Khin and her family are all arrested by order of the Royal Court and charged with attempts to seize the throne. Maung Maung Toke committed suicide. Then Maung Pe Nge was sent to Bhamo and executed, but first, in April 1882, he managed to send a poem to Daing Khin Khin confessing his love and asking her to observe the obsequies for him. Unfortunately, she was already dead at the hands of the executioner, despite being pregnant with Thibaw Min's child. His story is still part of popular Burmese theater, and he is portrayed as a sad romantic figure.
According to other historical records, Maung Pe Nge is only on visiting terms with Daing Khin Khin and her family, but there is nothing of the love-relationship existing between
the two of them. Maung Pe Nge himself had long been married to Princess of Hingamaw, and two lesser ones. The aforesaid poem is in reality meant for his chief wife, but in order to build up the tragic climax the author takes the liberty of altering a word or two in the poem so that the addressee becomes Daing Khin Khin.


Vladimir Sergeyevich Sergeyev

Vladimir Sergeyevich Sergeyev () (June 28, 1883 N.S. - January 8, 1941 in Moscow) was a Soviet historian of classical antiquity.
During 1934-41 Sergeev served as the head of Department of Ancient History at the Moscow State University and the Moscow Institute of Philosophy, Literature and History. During 1936-41 worked in the Institute of History Soviet Academy of Sciences. Sergeev concentrated on the history of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome and was author of the first Soviet textbooks about this topic.


Parakramabahu II of Dambadeniya

Parakkamabahu II was King of Dambadeniya in the 13th century, who ruled from 1234 to 1269. He succeeded his father Vijayabahu III as King of Dambadeniya and was succeeded by his son Vijayabahu IV.
He became the King of Dambadeniya in 1236. In 1258 He had to battle an invader named Chandrabahu from Southeast Asia. He succeeded in defeating
the Chola-Ganga invader, Magha. Unifying the three kingdoms of Sri Lanka is his greatest achievement.


Yamuna Eri

Yamuna Eri (; lit. "Yamuna lake") is an ancient pond situated in Nallur, Jaffna, Sri Lanka. In 1948, it was listed as one of the protected archaeological monuments in the Jaffna District by the Sri Lankan government.
One of the ruins of the Jaffna kingdom, Yamuna Eri is located near the Mantri Manai palace and the Cankilian Thoppu arch. According to the chronological historical book "Yalpana Vaipava Malai", it was built during the reign of Jaffna Kingdom King Cinkai Ariyan Cekaracacekaran I (1215–1240). The text describes the King bringing sacred water from India's Yamuna River and mixing it with the water in the pond.
Original text:
Translation: ...he afterwards built the city of Nallur with all its ramparts, gates, mansions, palaces, towers, flower-gardens, baths, stables for elephants and horses, halls of justice, pleasure-houses, dwellings for Brahmans and warriors... He dug a three-sided well with whose water, he mixed water brought from the sacred river Yamunai.
The "Yalpana Vaipava Malai" is contradicted by another source, however, which suggests that the pond was built by a later king, Singai Pararasasegaram (1478–1519). In either case, the pond derives its name from the Indian river from which sacred waters were brought. The pond is built as a "three-sided well", in the shape of the Tamil letter, "ப", and was made in brick with stone steps that were built to reach both the inside and the outside, allowing for convenient bathing. There is a decorative flower garden located in the centre. Local legends have it that Yamuna Eri was used by the Queen of Jaffna Kingdom, and was linked to Mantri Manai ("the minister's palace") by an underground tunnel. A similar legend has Tamil Kings and royal families using the pond. Yet another legend has the pond being used for offering ritual baths to the idol of Kartikeya, the primary deity of the Nallur Kandaswamy temple. Conquerors of the Jaffna Kingdom are also believed to have used the pond for bathing.


Huzoor Palace, Porbandar

The Huzoor Palace, also spelled Huzar Palace, is a palace in Porbandar, in the Indian state of Gujarat. It was built by Rana Natwarsinhji, who was the last Maharaja of the Princely State of Porbandar, in the early years of the 20th century, with clear European influences. The palace is now used by the successors of the Maharaja's family who reside in London.
During the Navratri festival people of the town queue up at the palace grounds to pay a "nazar" or pay respect to the former Maharaja and Maharani of Porbandar.
Location.
The palace is situated in the city of Porbandar of the Kathiawar Peninsula in western Gujarat on the Arabian Sea coast at the terminal part of the Marine Drive, facing the sea, spread over a sprawling ground. It is served by air, rail and road services. The railway station is to the east of the town and trains run to Ahmedabad and Mumbai. The town's airport is away and daily flights operate to Mumbai.
History.
Huzoor Palace was constructed in early part of the 20th century by Rana Natwarsinhji, who was the last Maharaja of the Princely State of Porbandar. Tourists are prohibited from visiting the palace,
as it is now used by the successors of the Maharaja's family who reside in London.
Presently, the palace seems to be in desolate condition with door taken out and brick walls put in place. It is not open to visitors.
Architecture.
The palace was built with a clear European influence, with many wings and a slanting roof. The windows are very large with views of the sea. The various wings of the palace have front and backyards, and arranged so that they present a natural scenic ambiance surrounded by gardens and fountains. The ornamental porticos in the facade are semi-circular in shape, built with neoclassical columns.


Mamuq of Kazan

Mamıq or ("Mamuq") (?-1498/1499), was khan of the Khanate of Kazan and was possibly the same person who was Khan of the Siberia Khanate. After murdering Ibak Khan in 1495, Mamuq left Tyumen Ulus and shifted his capital to Qashliq better known as Sibir. He led faithful Tyumen troops and Nogais to invade Kazan in 1495-96.
With the support of coup of "Qarachi" Qol Muhammad Mamuq occupied Kazan in 1495 becoming Khan of Kazan from 1495–1496. He struggled against the local nobility and tried to centralize power. Finding the people and nobility of Kazan resistant and fearing the possible arrival of Russian reinforcements, Mamuq left Kazan and died on his way home in 1497-98.


Tuanku Sultan Otteman II

Sultan Otteman II Perkasa 'Alam Shah ibni al-Marhum Sultan 'Amal ud-din al-Sani Perkasa 'Alam Shah (1945-1967) was a former Sultan of Deli, in which the kingdom's capital was Medan, in North Sumatra. He was born to Sultan 'Amal ud-din II Perkasa 'Alam Shah, the Sultan of Deli, and Raja Maheran, third daughter of Sultan 'Abdu'llah Muhammad Shah II Habibu'llah (a former Sultan of Perak). He was the eldest son.


Jaso State

Jaso or Jassu, formerly known as Yashogarh was a princely state of the Bundelkhand Agency in British India located in present-day Nagod tehsil, Satna district, Madhya Pradesh.
It was surrounded in the north, east and south by Nagod State and in the east by Ajaigarh.
History.
Jaso State was founded in 1732 by Bharti Chand, younger brother of Raja Hrideshah of Panna. Around 1750, it was split into Bandhora and Jaso, being reunited later in the eighteenth century.
In 1816 Jaso State became a British protectorate. The last ruler of the state signed the accession of Jaso State to the Indian Union in 1948.
Rulers.
Rulers bore the title of Diwan
Rulers of Bandhora.
Durjan Singh and Medni Singh ruled as the Dewans of Bandhora when the state was split from Jaso in the 18th century.


Narajole Raj

The Narajole Raj was a medieval royal dynasty and later a zamindari (estate) during the British period in Paschim Medinipur district in the state of West Bengal.
The kings of Narajole belonged to the Sadgop community and had a close link with the rulers of Karnagarh.
History.
According to Binoy Ghosh, Narajole's ruling clan, belonging to the Sadgop community, was founded by Uday Narayan Ghosh. His great grandson, Raja Kartickram, was honoured with the title ‘Roy’ by the Mughal emperor. The family used the title till in the eighth generation, when Raja Balwant was honoured with the ‘Khan’ title for some praise-worthy achievement. Thereafter, they used that title.
Raja Ajit Singh, the last king of the Midnapore zamindari, with its headquarters at Karnagarh, died childless in 1749. They were close to the rulers of Narajole. His two queens, who inherited the Midnapore zamindari, ran into great difficulties during the Chuar rebellion and sought the support of Raja Trilochan Khan of Narajole. After Raja Trilochan Khan's death, the responsibility of looking after the Midnapore zamindari and Rani Shiromani of Karnagarh (the other queen had died by then) fell successively on Raja Motiram and Raja Sitaram. Rani Shiromani loved Sitaram's eldest son, Anandalal, as her own son and handed over the entire Midnapore zamindari to him in 1800. Unfortunately, Anandalal died childless and as per his wishes his brothers became the owners – Nandalal Khan of Narajole Zamindari and Mohanlal Khan of Midnapore Zamindari.
The Palace.
Narjole Rajbari.
Narajole's Rajbari or Garh Narajole, was spread over 500 bighas and divided in to the inner and outer segments. The outer segment housed the poorer people, amongst whom were some painter families, who had survived the travails of life and in 1970 continued to produce dolls, painted pots and decorative wall plates. The inner segment was an ‘Indrapuri’ (the palace of heaven) consisting of splendid buildings (including the three-storeyed palace) temples, gardens etc. The large entrance gate lead to a spacious garden, with a temple of the family deity, Sitaramjiu. The drawing rooms were filled with selected country made and foreign showpieces and pictures of the royalty. On the way out, one again got to see a mix of gardens, ponds and residential quarters, with some Shiva temples nearby. There were many other temples. On the southern side were rangmahal, rasmancha and dolmancha.
Hawa Mahal.
The Hawa Mahal (ballroom) is spread over 60 bigha land, surrounded by a parikha. Lankagarh, about a kilometer from main Rajbari houses fifty four temples. A 10-bigha plot was donated for a degree college.
References.