Broken Heart
A woman in her 90's is distraught after the death of her warm, caring, faithful husband of seventy years. She can't live without him and decides that the best way to do herself in is to stab herself in her pitifully broken heart. Still, she doesn't want to linger so she calls a doctor to find out exactly where the heart is.
He tells her to put her first two fingers together, hold them horizontally and place the tip of the first finger just below her left nipple. The heart, he says, is immediately below the first knuckle on her second finger.
Later that day, the doctor is called to the emergency room to put fourteen stitches in the elderly woman's left thigh
Apples and Oranges
A young teenaged girl was a prostitute and, for obvious reasons, kept it a secret from her grandma. One day, the police raided a brothel and arrested a group of prostitutes, including the young girl. The prostitutes were instructed to line up in a straight line on the sidewalk. Well, who should be walking in the neighborhood, but little old Grandma. The young girl was frantic.
Sure enough, Grandma noticed her young granddaughter and asked curiously, "What are you lining up for, dear?" Not willing to let grandma in on her little secret, the young girl told her that some people were passing out free oranges and that she was lining up for some.
"Mmm, sounds lovely," said Grandma. "I think I'll have some myself," she continued as she made her way to the back of the line. A police officer made his way down the line, questioning all of the prostitutes. When he got to Grandma, at the end of the line, he was bewildered. "But you're so old... how do you do it?"
Grandma replied, "Oh, it's quite easy, sonny... I just remove my dentures and suck 'em dry!"
Tuesday, 31 July 2007
jokes for the evening
Sunday, 29 July 2007
KAPILA TEERTHAM (TIRUPATI)
KAPILA TEERTHAM
Location : One And Half Miles From Tirupati, Chittoor District
Presiding Deity : Lord Shiva As Kapileswara
Sacred Theertha : One Of The 108 Sacred Teerthas (Springs) On Tirumala Hills.
Andhra Guide
One and half miles from Tirupati at the mountain foot of 'Sheshadri' hill there is a temple where Kapileswara abides in the form of Linga (Phallus) called "Kapila Teertham". The Shiva Lingam is made of brass in one of the shrines at Kapila Teertham.
According To The Inscriptions
ENTERENCE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxfrVebo9kQ
According to Puranas 'Kapilamuni' of 'Paataala' (under-world) originally worshipped the Linga at Kapila Theertham. Lord Shiva is said to have blessed Sage Kapila with a vision of himself and his consort etc. But for some cause the Kapila Lingam pierced up through the earth to its surface, 'Suras' (Devatas) started worshipping it. Even before the Linga forced itself up, the 'Kamadhenu' (celestial cow) made her way through a hole to the earth and took form here.
INSIDE TEPLE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4EsP2fXOb0
In front of Kapila Lingam lies a very sacred 'Sarovara' (lake), which is the 'Bilam' (cavity) through which 'Kapila Maharshi' came to earth. A spring falls on the temple. Both the temple and the waterfall are considered to be highly pious.
IN THE TEMPLE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyQBRpy6dQg
WATER FALLS
During 'Kartika' month on the occasion of its "mukkoti" on the 'Purnima' (full moon) day, all the teerthas situated in the three world's merge into this Kapila Teertham at noon for ten 'Ghatikas'. It is believed that persons bathing in it at that auspicious time will attain salvation from the cycle of birth and death ('Brahmaloka').
COMING OUT OF TEMPLE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07_IANYJkf0
IN THE GARDEN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C67A0BAA5aM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ny1waYkizI
Sevas
S.No. Seva Price (Rs.)
1 Archana & Harathi 5.00
2 Abhisheka Darsanam 2.00
3 Sahasranama Archana 2.00
4 Nithyabhishekam - permanent 542.00
5 Nithyabhishekam - one year 42.00
6 Rudrabhishekam 50.00
7 Navagraha Abhishekam
& Archana (2 persons) 100.00
8 Archana Navagarahams 50.00
- for each graham 5.00
9 Sivaparvathula Kalyanam
(on every Mahasivarathri Day)
- for two persons (grihasthas) 250.00
10 Unjal Seva (every
Monday - for 5 persons) 116.00
The following festivals are conducted at the temple.
Vinayaka Utsavam
Annabhishekam
Karthika Deepam
Float Festival
Maha Sivarathri
Skanda Sashti
Arudra Darsanam Utsavam
Devi Navarathri Utsavam
Kamakshi Devi Chandana Alankaram
Devotees can perform Nithyabhishekam at the temple.
For more details contact at +91- 0877 - 30253
DETAILS
Pop: 190,000
Phone Code: 0877
Tirupati is 170km northwest of Chennai, in Andhra Pradesh near the Tamil Nadu border, at the bottom of the Tirumala Hill. In Tirupati there is the important Sri Govindaraja Swami Temple, Kothanda Rama Swami Temple and the famous Kapileswara Temple, which is dedicated to Lord Siva. In Tiruchanur, five km from Tirupati, is the Padmavathi Temple, dedicated to the consort of Lord Venkateswara (Balaji).
The temple of Sri Venkateswara or Tirupati Balaji is situated above the actual city of Tirupati in the hilltop town of Tirumala. There is a steep staircase up the hill to Tirumala, used by pilgrims wishing to show their devotion by making the climb; otherwise standard transportation is readily available.
INFORMATION
The AP State Tourist Office is located on Govindaraja Car Street, near the Bhima Deluxe Hotel.
There is also the AP Tourism Regional Office (23208), 139 TP Area, near III Choultry. There are tourist counters at the railway station and airport. They conduct a daily tour from 9 am to 4 pm for Rs 150.
The TTD Information Centre (222-2777) is at 1 New Choultry. TTD web site (http://www.tirumala.org).
Two helpful books that have good practical information about Tirupati and the local temples are the TKT History of Tirupati, by Viruraghava Charya, and the Tirupati Yatra Guide.
Heavy rains can be expected in October and November.
You can change money at
BANKS
INDIAN BANK (91-0877-2222199), 214 Gandhi Rd.
ICICI BANK ,TILAK ROAD
HDFC BANK ,VVMAHAL ROAD
BANK OF BARODA, "
BANK OF MAHARASTRA,"
SATE BANK OF INDIA ,KT ROAD
KARUR VYSYA BANK ,KADHI COLONY
ATM'S
SBI ,NEAR RAILWAY STATION
ICICI BANK,TILAK ROAD
ANDHRA BANK,STARTING OF VV MAHAL ROAD
HDFC ,VV MAHAL
SBI,VV MAHAL CORNER
ANDHRA BANK,KT ROAD
SBI,KADHI COLONY
KARUR VYSYA BANK,KTROAD
ICICI,BALAJY COLONY
ANDHRA BANK,BALAJY COLONY
The Head Post Office is on Gandhi Rd. Postal Code: 517501.
Foreigners’ Registration Office (20503), Intelligence, 499 Reddy ColONY.
APSRTC BUS ENQUIRY NUMBER--91-0877-2289901
railway station towards west from bus station for about two for longs on the way you find EAST POLICE STATION ,FOR ANY COMPLAINTS DAIL 1OO .
HOSPITALS
SVRRGH GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL ,ALIPIRI ROAD(91-0877-2286666)
SVIMS HOSPITAL(CORPORATE HOSPITAL) ,BESIDE SVRRGH GOVT HOSPITAL(91-0877-2287777)
RUSH HOSPITAL,TILAK ROAD NEARER TO HUTCH OFFICE
ASHALATHA NURSING HOME ,REDDY &REDDY COLONY
SWARNAMRUTHA HOPITALS ,OLD METERNITY HOSPITAL ROAD
SNEHA HOSPITAL,
OTHER PLACES
Govindaraja Temple
In this temple there are two main shrines. In the northern shrine is Sri Govindaraja, who is Lord Vishnu lying on Ananta. He is considered to be Lord Venkateswara’s brother. The other main shrine has Deities of Sri Parthasarathi (Krishna as the charioteer of Arjuna), Rukmini and Satyabhama (Krishna’s wives).
Parts of the inner shrine date back to the 9th and 10th centuries. The original temple had Sri Parthasarathi on the main altar. Sri Ramanuja added the Sri Govindaraja Deity around 1130.
To your left, as you enter the first gopuram (gate) of the temple, is a temple dedicated to Lakshmi. She is seated on a lotus in her four-armed form, holding a lotus in each of her upper hands, while her other two hands are in poses of abhaya, fearlessness, and varada, benediction. Situated above the door of this temple there is a carving of Lakshmi holding a lotus in her hand.
Near the first gopuram there is a shrine dedicated to Vedanta Desika. There is also a memorial for three of the Alwar devotees—Tirumallisai Alwar, Namm Alwar, and Kurattalwar—near the Vahana-mandapa, and another nearby shrine is dedicated to Sri Ramanuja. On the left of the second entrance is a Kurma Deity, Lord Vishnu as a tortoise.
This is a big temple. It has a seven-storey gopuram, built in 1628. There are carvings depicting the pastimes of the Ramayana and Lord Krishna’s pastimes on the second gopuram. This temple is located just off the main road, near the Bhima Hotel and the Tirupati railway station. The temple tower is hard to miss, but the rest of the temple is set back from the road.
Sri Venkateswara Museum
There is a good museum right next to the Govindaraja temple. It has many sculptures, Deities of Krishna, and other interesting displays. There is also a photo exhibit of the important 108 Divya Desam Vishnu temples that were immortalized in songs by the Alwar devotees. Open 8 am to 8 pm.
Kothanda Rama Swami Temple
About two km from the Sri Govindaraja temple is the famous Kothanda Rama Swami Temple built in 1481. Sri Chaitanya had darshan of Lord Ramachandra Swami. The main festival of the year is in March-April, for Lord Rama’s appearance day.
ISKCON (Hare Krishna) Temple
The ISKCON temple (08574-20114), Vinayaka Nagar (Driver’s Quarters), is located at the foot of Tirumala Hill, on a piece of land given by the TTD. The Deities here are Radha-Govinda. The temple has a beautiful small garden. The temple is open 4.30 am to 1 pm and 4.30 to 8.30 pm. This temple is included in the daily bus tours of Tirupati.
There is a good guest house next to the temple that has very nice, clean rooms with hot water for Rs 150. It is best to book a room in advance. Prasada is usually available during main meal times. From downtown it costs about Rs 75 by auto-rickshaw to get to the ISKCON temple and back, with an hour waiting time.
Padmavathi Temple
In Tiruchanur, five km from Tirupati, is this large temple dedicated to goddess Padmavathi, the consort of Lord Venkateswara (Balaji). A visit to Tirupati is not considered complete without seeing Sri Padmavathi. Sri Padmavathi is seated in Padmasana, holding a lotus in both of her upper hands. Her lower hands are in poses of abhaya, fearlessness, and varada, benediction. Also in this temple are the Deities of Sri Krishna, Balarama, Sundararaja Swami, and Surya-narayana Swami. It is traditional to first worship Sri Krishna and then to take darshan of Sri Padmavathi.
Non-Hindus are technically not allowed in the temple. To enter you may be asked to sign a paper testifying to being a Hindu. There is a short wait to see the Deity, or for Rs 5 you can enter a special darshan line.
Once a year there is a large festival that celebrates the marriage of Lord Venkateswara to Padmavathi Devi. Padmavathi Devi arrives at Tirumala on the back of a splendid elephant decorated with tilaka of solid gold as Lord Sri Venkateswara comes out to meet her.
The main festival, Brahmotsavam, is in Nov/Dec. The ninth day of this festival is the appearance day of Sri Padmavathi. On this day Lord Sri Venkateswara presents his consort birthday gifts, which are brought from Tirumala on a magnificently decorated elephant, covered with jewels and pearls.
STORY INCLUDING TOTAL NUMBER OF TEERTHAS IN INDIA BASING GREAT EPIC "MAHABHARATHA"
http://www.telugubhakti.com/telugupages/Monthly/Mahabharat/content302.htm
Saturday, 28 July 2007
TALLEST BRIDGE-MILLAU FROM FRANCE
Millau Bridge
Construction of the Millau Bridge in France
"The Millau bridge over the River Tarn in the Massif Central mountains is more than 300m (984ft) high - taller even than the Eiffel Tower. With its concrete and steel pillars soaring high above the morning fog in the Tarn Valley, the construction makes a spectacular sight."
A complicated system of hydraulic rams was used to slide the vast bridge deck into place. It was provided by Enerpac Hydraulic Systems - the company which also "lifted" Golden Gate Bridge off its foundation for better cushioning against earthquakes. Here is a diagram of pushing the bridge's deck:
"The deck was pushed in two sections from both sides of the valley. Each push cycle lasted 4 minutes and moved the deck section 600mm a time."
From both sides of the valley the metal sections of the bridge are assembled, lifted slightly and then in an elaborate manoeuvre pushed into place on each of the seven supporting pillars. The architect, Norman Foster, said the bridge was designed to have the "delicacy of a butterfly"
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS WATCH
http://www.darkroastedblend.com
Thursday, 26 July 2007
*** FRIENDS DONT LET FRIENDS GET OBESE ***
This may be literally true, according to Harvard researchers who suggested in the July 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine that obesity, or the trend to thinness, is socially contagious, "spreading" through social ties.
"This reinforces the idea that because people are interconnected, their health is interconnected," said study author Dr. Nicholas A. Christakis, a professor at Harvard University. "It takes seriously the embedded-ness of people within social networks and gives new meaning to the concept of public health."
While this may cause people to look differently at their friends and acquaintances (both overweight and thin), the real value of the research is in pointing to new ways to combat the growing epidemic of overweight and obesity, experts said.
"Trying to address the problem on an individual level has been so hard, and it may be because we're not addressing the network, which could be family, neighborhood, community, school," said Dr. Julio Licinio, chairman of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. "This is a fascinating way to look at the problem, and it may be a very good reason why treatments have been so difficult, because we're only addressing one member of the network."
"It brings up another component of our environment that influences obesity," added Dr. Samuel Klein, director of the Center for Human Nutrition at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "This would need to be proven, but it suggests that, to be effective in treating obesity, we have to not just treat the person who's obese but also the social network."
The study is likely to become a classic, experts stated.
The issue is of no small concern, since obesity has become a major public health problem in the United States and other Western nations. According to background information in the article, two-thirds of American adults are now overweight, while the prevalence of obesity has increased from 23 percent to 31 percent.
A variety of explanations have been put forth on the epidemic, including less exercising and more eating. But because the epidemic is so widespread and affects all socioeconomic groups, there are likely several social and environmental explanations for the phenomenon, experts said.
The authors speculated that the ubiquity of social networks, and the natural inclination of people to be influenced by the appearance and behaviors of those around them, suggest that weight gain in one person might encourage weight gain in others. Having social contacts of a certain bodily size may also cause you to adopt certain behaviors, or other people's behaviors may even stimulate certain parts of the brain, such as those related to eating food.
To investigate this theory, the authors of this study evaluated more than 12,000 socially interconnected people in New England who had participated in the Framingham Heart Study, a landmark initiative aimed at unearthing the causes of cardiovascular disease. As part of that study, the individuals had undergone repeated measurements including body mass index (BMI) over more than three decades. At the beginning of the study, participants had been asked to identify their friends for follow-up purposes.
The researchers found that thin and fat people tended to be clustered together, with the clusters extended to three degrees of separation. In other words, you're obese and so is you friend's friend's friend, or your friend's spouse's sister.
In addition, a person's odds of becoming obese increased by 57 percent if he or she had a friend who became obese over a certain time interval. If the two people were mutual friends, the odds increased to 171 percent.
And if one adult sibling became obese, the chances that the other sibling would also become obese increased by 40 percent.
Marriage mattered, too -- if a spouse became obese, the other spouse had a 37 percent increased likelihood of following suit.
Social networks were more important than geographic location, the study found. In other words, who you tend to hang out with is more influential, weight-wise, than who your next door neighbor is.
People of the same gender had a greater influence on each other than people of the opposite gender, the team found.
Finally, the researchers found that the trend among Americans to quit smoking did not account for the spread of obesity within a given network.
According to the study authors, there's much more involved in the phenomenon than just similarities in lifestyle and environment, as evidenced by the fact that social networks are more important than geography. Two likely explanations are the spread of behaviors and the spread of social norms, with evidence pointing more to the latter.
"To a point, it reminds me of peer pressure -- we want to fit into this particular group," said Dr. Juan Castro, director of the Texas A&M Health Science Center Coastal Bend Health Education Center in Corpus Christi.
Christakis agreed. When overweight or obesity becomes normal in a given social circle, people may be more likely to become obese themselves. In other words, he said, "I see you gaining weight, so it's OK for me to gain weight."
That finding may support efforts to provide nutrition education in the workplace, where many people find their friends, Castro said. There is also value in targeting interventions at the person in a family in charge of food buying and preparation, he added.
CHECK YOURS.,
HAVE A FIT BODY..,
HAVE A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT...,
HAVE A HEALTHY WORLD....,
HAVE A NICE EXERCISE FROM TODAY ONWARDS.....OK...BYE
(ON OCCASION OF POST HEALTH DAY ON 25YH JULY)
FOR MORE SEE http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_52665.html
AND ALSO SEE 8.HEALTH GUIDE ON SIDE BAR
WHO ARE TERRORISTS ?
FAKE DRUGS
No matter where you live - especially if it's in a developing country - beware of unscrupulous traders in fake drugs. When it comes to making a fast fortune, anyone is fair game, even the sick or the dying. We can also go one step further. If you're not dying already, these purveyors of malicious indifference would not hesitate in the least to provide you with the means of getting there. Children are no exception. Especially those afflicted with malaria in Africa where fake chloroquine may not just contain harmless ingredients but has actually been manufactured with aspirin in the formulation.
Giving aspirin to young children with life threatening malaria is like lighting a cigarette near a tankful of gasoline. The result can be disastrous because the aspirin might help bring on dangerous acidosis, and is also considered to be completely "verboten" because of its tendency to cause Reye's syndrome in children.
Writing in the April 6, 2002 issue of BMJ Newton, White, and Rozendaal provided some startling revelations about the subject in their editorial, aptly titled "Murder by fake drugs: Time for international action." This is scary enough but some of their illustrations of what is actually going on around the world are literally "hair raising." Malaria seems to be one of the major targets. When a survey was done of 133 vendors in Cambodia of mefloquine tablets for malaria back in 1999 the amazing figure of 60% of them were found to be providing fake medication. Many simply sold pills with nothing of value in them at all. Some at least gave pills, which had mefloquine in them, but the pills came from stocks that were supposed to have been destroyed.
The rest put sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine in their tablets instead of mefloquine because it's a good deal cheaper. However, it also doesn't work. The result is that people are failing to be helped, many are dying, and physicians are deluded into thinking that drug resistance is developing. Similarly, in mainland South East Asia, a survey of five countries found that 38% of tablets that were supposed to be the new antimalarial artusenate were actually fakes. Counterfeiters love drugs like this one because it's expensive, acts quickly, and is in great demand, so they go to a lot of trouble to prepare virtually exact copies of the package designs, even the holograms on them.
In the Philippines the World Health Organization reports, via a quote from Wondemagegnehu, that 8% of drugs that are bought are fakes, according to a survey of pharmacies. All in all, the WHO estimates that about 10% of all worldwide pharmaceuticals are actually fakes, and even worse, very little is being done about it. In the United States recently the spread of these malicious practices became apparent when it was reported that a drug dispenser was diluting anticancer medicines. Prior to that the appearance of fake drugs for cancer in the United States led to local action by the pharmaceutical industry in 2001. But most developing companies are unable to follow through due to lack of resources. Fortunately, a major effort may be in the works as the WHO and Reconnaissance International try to organize a united front against these practices. Also, various techniques for making drugs and their packaging harder to imitate, development of simple assays, policing and legal actions, education of the public, lowering the price of those drugs being copied, etc. are starting to make inroads into the trade, but we are a long way off from achieving success.
Until these horrible purveyors of misery and death can be stopped and brought to justice your best weapon for protecting your own families and yourselves is awareness. That's why this editorial in BMJ is so important and why I chose to review it for you. Now it's up to you to be wary. Never purchase your medications from anywhere but reliable sources, always be suspicious if a medication fails to do what it is supposed to do, be sure that the packaging is proper and intact when purchased, and report any of your suspicions or findings to your physician and the proper authorities.
| Whom can you trust when you're feeling low? You must never give in to a whim or a vibe, |
FOR MORE DETAILS SEE 16. FAMILY TIPS (SIDE BARS)
http://www.familiesonlinemagazine.com/Tuesday, 24 July 2007
JOKES FOR THE DAY
Prostitute Parrots
A lady approaches her priest and says, "Father, I have a problem. I have two female talking parrots, but they only know how to say one thing."
"What do they say?" the priest inquires.
"They only know how to say, 'Hi, we're prostitutes. Want to have some fun?'"
"That's terrible," the priest exclaims, "but I have a solution to your problem. Bring your two female parrots over to my house, and I will put them with my two male talking parrots whom I taught to pray and read the spiritual articles and lessons . My parrots will teach your parrots to stop saying that terrible phrase, and your female parrots will learn to praise and worship."
"Thank you!" the woman responds.
The next day, the woman brings her female parrots to the priest's house. His two male parrots are holding rosary beads and praying in their cage. The lady puts her two female parrots in with the male parrots, and the female parrots say, "Hi, we're prostitutes, want to have some fun?"
One male parrot looks at the other male parrot and exclaims, "Put the beads away. Our prayers have been answered!"
Genie
A couple was golfing one day on a very, very exclusive golf course lined with million-dollar houses.
On the third tee, the husband said, "Honey, be very careful when you drive the ball. Don't knock out any windows. It'll cost us a fortune to fix."
The wife teed up and shanked it right through the window of the biggest house on the course.
The husband cringed and said, "I told you to watch out for the houses. All right, let's go up there, apologize, and see how much this is going to cost."
They walked up and knocked on the door. A voice said, "Come on in. They opened the door and saw glass all over the floor and a broken bottle lying on its side in the foyer.
A man on the couch said, "Are you the people who broke my window?"
"Uh, yeah. Sorry about that," the husband replied.
"No, actually, I want to thank you. I'm a genie who was trapped for a thousand years inside that bottle. You've released me. I'm allowed to grant three wishes -- I'll give you each one wish, and I'll keep the last one for myself."
"Okay, great!" the husband said. "I want a million dollars a year for the rest of my life."
"No problem -- it's the least I could do. And you, what do you want?" the genie said, looking at the wife.
"I want a house in every country of the world," she said.
"Consider it done," the genie replied.
"And what's your wish, genie?", the husband said.
"Well, since I've been trapped in that bottle, I haven't had sex with a woman in a thousand years. My wish is to sleep with your wife."
The husband looked at the wife and said, "Well, we did get a lot of money and all those houses, honey. I guess I don't care."
The genie took the wife upstairs and ravished her for two hours.
After it was over, the genie rolled over, looked at the wife, and said, "How old is your husband, anyway?"
"Thirty-five," she replied.
"And he still believes in genies? ... That's amazing."
Sunday, 22 July 2007
KOHINOOR--THE MOUNTAIN OF LIGHT
Origins and early history
The origins of the diamond are unclear. Many early stories of great diamonds in southern India exist, but it is hard to establish which one was the Koh-i-noor, if any.
According to some sources, the Koh-i-noor was originally found more than 5000 years ago, and is mentioned in ancient Sanskrit writings under the name Syamantaka. Hindus believe that Krishna himself obtained the diamond from Jambavantha, whose daughter Jambavati later married Krishna. The legend says that the diamond was stolen from Krishna as he lay sleeping. Another source claims that the diamond was discovered in a river bed in 3200 BCE.
Historical evidence suggests that the Kohinoor originated in Golconda kingdom, in Hyderabad state of Andhra Pradesh, one of the world's earliest diamond producing regions. South Indian folklore is definite in claiming a local origin for the stone. It is certain that the stone was mined in India, as until the 19th century India was the only place in the world where diamonds were known. It is likely that the diamond was mined in the Kollur mines in the present day Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh.
The Khilji dynasty at Delhi ended in 1320 C.E and Ghiyas ud din Tughluq Shah I ascended the Delhi throne. Tughlaq sent his son Ulugh Khan in 1323 C.E to defeat the Kakatiya king Prataparudra. Ulugh Khan’s raid was repulsed but he returned in a month with a larger and determined army. The unprepared army of Warangal was defeated. The loot, plunder and destruction of Warangal continued for months. Loads of gold, diamonds, pearls and ivory were carried away to Delhi on elephants and camels. The Koh-i-noor diamond was part of the bounty. From then onwards, the stone passed through the hands of successive rulers of the Delhi sultanate, finally passing to Babur, the first Mughal emperor, in 1526.
The first confirmed note historically mentioning the Kohinoor by an identifiable name dates from 1526. Babur mentions in his memoirs, the Baburnama, that the stone had belonged to an un-named Rajah of Malwa in 1294. Babur held the stone's value to be such as to feed the whole world for two days. The Baburnama recounts how this Rajah of Malwa was compelled to yield his prized possession to Ala ud din Khilji; it was then owned by a succession of dynasties that ruled the Delhi sultanate, finally coming into the possession of Babur himself in 1526, following his victory over the last ruler of that kingdom. However, the Baburnama was written c.1526-30; Babur's source for this information is unknown, and he may have been recounting the hearsay of his day. He did not at that time call the stone by its present name, but despite some debate about the identity of 'Babur's Diamond' it seems likely that it was the stone which later became known as Kohinoor
There was a period when Indian diamonds were very famous the world over. These included the Koh-i-noor, Orlov, the Great Moghul, Darya-i-noor, Indore pears, Shah and Arcots. These were all part of the treasure houses of the great emperors of India. Today, they are all in the hands of outsiders.
The legendary Koh-i-noor has been in the eye of the storm ever since it left the hands of its original owners - a diamond which was never bought or sold, but changed many hands. Koh-i-noor has left a trail that speaks of greed, power, murder, mayhem and unhappiness.
According to all references, Koh-i-noor was never that great to look at in its early days. It was just another diamond that was dull, non-sparkling and a little yellow in appearance.
Many legends say that the Koh-i-noor was mined in India, and at least 4,000 years old. It received a mention in the 1300s, when it was named in the Baburnama. One account states that Babur got his hands on the diamond in Gujarat; another says he got it in the Deccan. But when Babur came to Agra in May 1526, the ruler Vikramaditya most likely gave him the great diamond. There is also evidence that his son Humayun carried a large diamond that his father had handed back to him at Agra and was known as Babur’s diamond for the next 200 years.
BABUR
There are still so many unresolved questions surrounding the precious stone. Many believe that the Koh-i-noor was also the Great Mogul and that Babur's diamond was separate; others say the Koh-i-noor and Babur’s diamond were one and same, while the rest identified it with both Babur's diamond and the Great Mogul. Information gathered over the years shows that in fact, three diamonds existed: - the Great Mogul – was the Orlov, weighing 189.62 metric carats, in Kremlin; and Babur's diamond – was the Darya-i-noor, weight 175 gm and 195 metric carats, the Iranian Crown Jewels; and the Koh-i-noor re-cut, Crown Jewels, England.
NADIR SHAH
When the peacock throne was handed over to Nadir Shah, the hiding place of this diamond was given away. A member of Mohammad Shah’s harem gave away the hiding place of Koh-i-noor. It is said that the Shah kept it hidden in his turban. So, Nadir Shah devised a plan - he ordered a grand feast to coincide with the restoration of Mohammed Shah to his throne. During the feast Nadir Shah suddenly proposed an exchange of turbans, a sign of brotherly ties and eternal friendship. Mohammed Shah was hardly likely to resist. After the exchange, Nadir Shah entered his private apartment only at night, where he unfolded the turban and found the diamond concealed within. When he set his eyes on it, he exclaimed "Koh-i-noor", meaning "Mountain of Light".
The next sixty years of its history are the most violent and bloodstained. The final owner was Maharaja Duleep Singh, son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh,
RANGITH SINGH
in the backdrop of the two Sikh Wars leading to the annexation of the Punjab by the British. The hoisting of British flag was on March 29th, 1849 Lahore where Punjab was formally proclaimed a part of the British Empire in India. One of the terms of the Treaty of Lahore was:- "The gem called the Koh-i-noor which was taken from Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk by Maharajah Ranjit Singh shall be surrendered by the Maharajah of Lahore to the Queen of England."
Dr Sir John Login was entrusted with two charges: to take the Koh-i-noor out of the Toshakhana (the jewel house), and also the guardsmanship of the young Duleep Singh. It was formally handed over to the Punjab government of Sir Henry Lawrence (1806-1857), his younger brother John Lawrence (afterwards Lord Lawrence, the man who in February of 1859 would break ground on the future Lahore railroad station), and C.C. Mausel.
The Koh-i-noor sailed from Bombay in H.M.S. Medea. It was put in an iron box and kept in a dispatch box and deposited in the Government Treasury. For security reasons, this piece of news was suppressed, even among officers of the Treasury - and withheld from Commander Lockyer, the ship's captain. HMS Medea's voyage turned out to be a perilous one - cholera broke out on board in Mauritius and the local people demanded its departure. They asked their governor to open fire and destroy the vessel if it did not respond. After leaving Mauritius, a severe gale hit the vessel that lasted for about twelve hours. They reached Plymouth, England, where the passengers and the mail were unloaded, but not the Koh-i-noor, which was forwarded to Portsmouth.
From there, the two officers took the diamond to the East India House, handing it over to the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the company.
The stone
Prince Albert (Prince Consort) and Sebastian Garrard stated that the Koh-i-noor was badly cut, it is rose-not-brilliant-cut. It was decided to seek the advice of practical and experienced diamond cutters. A small steam engine was set up at Garrard's shop, while two gentlemen, Messrs Coster, Mr. Voorzanger and Mr. Fedder, travelled to London to undertake the re-cutting of the diamond. The Koh-i-noor was embedded in lead, two weeks later, after examining the stone. Mitchell thought that it had lost nearly all its yellow colour and become much whiter. The re-cutting took 38 days and cost £8000 ($40,000). The final result was an oval brilliant diamond weighing 108.93 metric carats, which meant a loss of weight of just under 43 per cent. Its was now in stellar brilliant-cut, possessing the regular 33 facets, including the table, while the pavilion has eight more facets than the regular 25 bringing the total number of facets to 66.
In 1853, it was mounted on a magnificent tiara for the Queen, which contained more than two thousand diamonds. Five years later, Queen Victoria ordered a new regal circlet for the diamond. In 1911, Garrards made a new crown that Queen Mary wore for the coronation - it contained diamonds, among them the Koh-i-noor. In 1937, this was transferred to the crown made for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, based on Queen Victoria's regal circlet and is set in a Maltese Cross at the front of the crown.
The controversy
The 20th century saw a war of words over Koh-i-noor and its rightful ownership. In 1947, the government of India asked for the return of the diamond. Also, the Congress Ministry which ruled Orissa staked claim to the stone, saying it belonged to the Lord Jagannath. Ranjit Singh's treasurer mentioned that it was the property of their estate. Pakistan's claim to the diamond was disputed by India. Shortly thereafter, a major newspaper in Teheran stated that the gem should to be returned to Iran.
Sir Olaf has pointed out that the Koh-i-noor had been in Mogul possession in Delhi for 213 years, in Afghan possession in Kandahar and Kabul for 66 years and in British possession for 127 years. Historically, it maybe difficult to pass judgement on the validity of the various claims, but on the other hand, from a gemological aspect, as a paper report said, the Indian claim is the most valid because it was in that country that it was mined.
The legend
Legend goes that Sun God gave this gem to his disciple Satrajit, but his younger brother Persain snatched it from him. A lion in the forest killed Persain and Jamavant took this gem from the body of Persain and delivered it to Lord Krishna, who restored it to Satrajit. Later, this jewel again came back into the hands of Lord Krishna as dowry when Satrajit gave the hand of his daughter Satyabhama in marriage to him. Lord Krishna gave it back to the Sun God .The Koh-i-noor came into the hands of numerous rulers till it was possessed by Porus, the king of Punjab, who retained the diamond after a peace treaty in 325 BC when Alexander left India.
Chandragupta Maurya (325-297 B.C.) became the next possessor and passed it on to his grandson Ashoka who ruled from 273-233 B.C. Later it slipped into the hands of Raja Samprati of Ujjain (Ashoka’s grandson). This jewel remained in the custody of Ujjain and the Parmar dynasty of Malwa. When Ala-ud-din Khilji (1296-1316A.D.) defeated Rai Ladhar Deo, the ruler of Malwa in 1306 AD, he acquired the diamond. From this stage up to the time of Mughal Emperor Babur, the history of this precious stone is lost once more. Koh-i-noor comes to light again in year 1526.
HUMAYUN
Humayun is said to have given the stone to the Shah of Persia for giving him refuge after he lost to Sher Shah. From 1544 to 1547, the Koh-i-noor remained in the possession of Shah Tehmasp of Iran. The Shah sent the Koh-i-noor along with other precious gifts to Burhan Nizam Shah of Ahmednagar (Deccan) for the rulers of the Deccan - Ahmednagar, Golkunda and Bijapur regarded the King of Persia as their religious head. This stone remained in the possession of the Nizam Shahi dynasty of Ahmednagar and the Qutb Shah dynasty of Golkunda in the Deccan for a period of 109 years. How it came back to the Mughals is another gap in history.
After Aurangzeb, this diamond remained consigned into the coffers of the Mughal treasury from 1707 to 1739 A.D. Muhammad Shah Rangila (1719-1748) used to carry this wonder diamond with him in his turban. Nadir Shah got hold of Koh-i-noor when he ransacked Delhi in the 1700s and it went to his successors, landing in the hands of the Afghan ruler Shah Shuja who handed it to Maharaja Ranjit Singh in 1813.
The Koh-i-Noor left the shores of India on April 6, 1850, and on reaching London on July 2, 1850, it was handed over to the Board of Directors of the East India Company. Sir J.W. Logg, the Deputy Chairman of the East India Company, presented it to Queen Victoria.
ELIZEBETH I
The queen recorded in her journal: "The jewels are truly magnificent. They had also belonged to Ranjit Singh and had been found in the treasury of Lahore.... I am very happy that the British Crown will possess these jewels for I shall certainly make them Crown Jewels".
KOHINOOR IN THE CROWN
Many still await the many treasures which were “stolen” by the British Raj, and no one knows how long the wait will be.
But today, if you happen to visit London, please make a stopover at Tower of London and look at the Crown Jewels for the Queen and the Koh-i-noor placed in her crown up front inside a Maltese cross.
LINKS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koh-i-Noor
http://www.santabanta.com/newsmaker.asp?select=263&catname=Interesting%20Read
http://www.internationalreporter.com/news/read.php?id=591
Wednesday, 18 July 2007
WAS THE ART OF LOVE -TAJ WAS A TRUE STORY
WHOM EVER MAY BE
TAJ WAS ,
IS ,
WILLBE
AND EVER
BELONGS
TO INDIANS
http://www.stephen-knapp.com/was_the_taj_mahal_a_vedic_temple.htm
THIS THE CONTINUATION OF ARTICAL OF MY FRIEND LAXMIRAJESH.BLOGSPOT.COM SEE
7.RECOENDATIONS-5.LAXMI FOR MORE
PLEASE VERIFY DETAILS MUSALMAN BHAIYO, PLEASE CHECK AND DONTGET GET FRUSTATED THAT WE ARE insulting MUSALMANS BUT TRY TO UNDERSTAND AND THINK THAT WE (INDIANS)ACCEPT ONLY TRUTH, DONT YOU ?
JOKES-
My Hands Are Freezing
Two young lovers go up to the mountains for a romantic winter vacation. When they get there, the guy goes out to chop some wood. When he gets back, he says, "Honey, my hands are freezing!"
She says, "Well put them here between my legs and that will warm them up."
After lunch he goes back out to chop some more wood and comes back and says gain "Man! My hands are really freezing!"
She says again, "Well put them here between my legs and warm them up."
He does, and again that warms him up.
After dinner, he goes out one more time to chop wood for the night.
When he returns, he again says, "Honey, my hands are really freezing!"
She looks at him and says, "FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, DON'T YOUR EARS EVER GET COLD?"
The Statue
A woman was in bed with her lover when she heard her husband opening the front door. "Hurry!" she said, "stand in the corner." She quickly rubbed baby oil all over him and then she dusted him with talcum powder. "Don't move until I tell you to," she whispered. "Just pretend you're a statue."
"What's this, honey?" the husband inquired as he entered the room.
"Oh, it's just a statue," she replied nonchalantly. "The Smiths bought one for their bedroom. I liked it so much, I got one for us too." No more was said about the statue, not even later that night when they went to sleep.
Around two in the morning the husband got out of bed, went to the kitchen and returned a while later with a sandwich and a glass of milk.
"Here," he said to the 'statue', "eat something. I stood like an idiot at the Smiths' for three days and nobody offered me as much as a glass of of water."
Oh, to be young again
A man walks into a drug store with his 8-year-old son. They happen to walk by the condom display, and the boy asks, "What are these, Dad?"
The man matter-of-factly replies, "Those are called condoms, son. Men use them to have safe sex."
"Oh I see," replied the boys pensively. "Yes, I've heard of that in health class at school."
He looks over the display and picks up a package of three and asks, "Why are there three in this package."
The dad replies, "Those are for high-school boys. One for Friday, one for Saturday, and one for Sunday."
"Cool!" says the boy. He notices a pack of six and asks "Then who are these for?"
"Those are for college men," the dad answers, "Two for Friday, two for Saturday, and two for Sunday."
"WOW!" exclaimed the boy. "Then who uses these?" he asks, picking up a 12-pack.
With a sigh, the dad replied, "Those are for married men. One for January, one for February, one for March."
That Feels Pretty Good
Two women are playing golf on a sunny afternoon when one of them slices her shot into a foursome of men. To her horror, one of the men collapses in agony with both hands in his crotch. She runs to him apologizing profusely, explaining that she is a physical therapist and can help ease his pain.
"No thanks... just give me a few minutes... I'll be fine..." he replies quietly with his hands still between his legs. Taking it upon herself to help the poor man, she gently undoes the front of his pant and starts massaging his genitals.
"Doesn't that feel better?" she asks.
"Well... yes... That feels pretty good," he admits. "But my thumb still hurts like hell."
Monday, 16 July 2007
DELHI------THE DARBAR
RASTRAPATI BHAVAN(PRESIDENT HOUSE) 
RED FORT
DELHI-DILLI-THE CAPITAL CITY
Dhillika is the old name of India's capital, New Delhi. The name Delhi is derived from the word 'Dhillika'. Raja Dhilu (King Dihlu) founded ancient Delhi in 800 BC[1] It was the name of the first medieval township of Delhi, located on the southwestern border of the present Delhi, in Mehrauli. This was the first in the series of seven medieval cities. It is also known as Yoginipura, that is, the fortress of the yoginis (female divinities). It gained importance during the time of Ananga Pala Tomara. In the 12th century, the city was included in the dominions of Prithviraj Chauhan.
Area :1,483 sq .km
Capital :Delhi
Languages :Hindi, Punjab and Urdu
Population :1,37,82,976
Male :75,70,890
Female :62,12,086
Literacy :81.82%
LAND
The national capital territory of Delhi with an area of 1483sq.km is situated between the Himalayas and Aravalis range in the heart of the Indian sub-continent. It is surrounded on 3 sides by Haryana and to the east, across the river Yamuna by Uttar Pradesh. The major part of the territory lies on the western side of the river Yamuna, only some villages and the urban area of Shahdara lie on the eastern side of the river. Its greatest length is around 33 miles and the greatest breadth is 30 miles. Delhi's altitude ranges between 213 to 305 metres above the sea level.
HISTORY
Delhi : A Transition through Time - As you walk along the narrow bylanes of this city of dreams, tread softly. Every crumbling wall has a story to tell. Every yesterday is replete with history. Rulers have come and gone. The city has lived through wars and resurrection, repeatedly rising from the ashes.
Cradling civilisations since times immemorial Delhi goes back hundreds of thousands of years back into time
Stone tools belonging to early stone age were discovered from the Aravalli tracts in and around Anangpur, the Jawaharlal Nehru University Campus, the northern ridge and elsewhere - evidence that the Early Man lived here.
Excavations at Mandoli and Bhorgarh in east and north-west Delhi respectively have thrown up remains of chalcolithic period dating back to 2nd millennium BC, 1st millennium BC as well remains of 4th-5th century AD have been traced here.
The excavations of the ancient mound of Indraprastha, capital of the Pandavas, located withing the fold of the sixteenth century Purana Qila revealed evidence of continuous habitation of the site for almost 2500 years.
According to the Mahabharata, the Pandavas founded their capital Indrapratha in the region known as Khandava-prastha. Delhi was also witness to the glories of the Maurya Empire during 3rd century BC. The Ashokan edict engraved on a rock in East of Kailash as well as remains found in Purana Quila excavations belonging to the Mauryan period point to Delhi's importance during this era.
QUTUB MINAR
The modern city contains the remnants of seven successive ancient cities including:
1.Qila Rai Pithora built by Prithvi Raj Chauhan, near the oldest Rajput settlement in Lal Kot;
2.Siri, built by Alauddin Khilji in 1303;
3.Tughluqabad, built by Ghiyasuddin Tughluq (1321-1325);
4.Jahanpanah, built by Muhammad bin Tughluq (1325-1351);
5.Kotla Firoz Shah, built by Firuz Shah Tughluq (1351-1388);
6.Purana Qila, built by Sher Shah Suri and Dinpanah built by Humayun, both in the area near the speculated site of the legendary Indraprastha (1538-1545); and
7.Shahjahanabad, built by Shah Jahan from 1638 to 1649, containing the Lal Qila and the Chandni Chowk.
IN TO THE HISTORY
1.Qila Rai Pithora built by Prithvi Raj Chauhan, near the oldest Rajput settlement in Lal Kot;
Prithviraj III (Prithviraj Chauhan) (1168- 1192)
Prithviraj III (c. 1168-1192) Prithviraj Chauhan was a king of the Kshatriya Chauhan (Chahamana) dynasty, who ruled a kingdom in northern India during the latter half of the 12th century. He was born c. 1168 to king Someshwara Chauhan and his wife Karpuravalli. He succeeded to the throne c. 1179, while still a minor, and ruled from the twin capitals of Ajmer and Delhi. His elopement with Samyukta, the daughter of Jai Chandra, the Gahadvala king of Kannauj, is a popular romantic tale in India, and is one of the subjects of the Prithviraj Raso, an epic poem composed by Prithviraj's court poet, Chand Bardai. The Chauhan succession had been rather confused since the death of Vigraha-raja in 1165; Prithviraj reconsolidated control of the Chauhan kingdom and conquered several neighboring kingdoms, which made his state the leading Hindu kingdom in northern India. Delhi was captured from the Tomara Rajputs during the early years of his reign, and was renamed Qila Rai Pithora. He campaigned against the Chandela Rajputs of Bundelkhand. His kingdom included much of the present-day Indian states of Rajasthan and Haryana, and parts of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. To this day, Prithviraj is considered to be a legendary hero and martyr by Hindus, and his lineage appears quite spread out covering vast tracts of Uttar Pradesh, Harayana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttaranchal, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.
Chauhan Rulers of Ajmer
Ajay Pal - founded the city Ajaymeru which became to called as Ajmer in the modern times.
Prithviraja I (Amaraja) (12th century)
Jagdeva (? - 1152)
Vigraharaja IV (1152 - 1165)
Apara Gangeya (1165 - ? )
Prithviraja II
Somadeva ( ? - 1179)
Prithviraj III (Prithviraj Chauhan) (1179 - 1192)
LINKS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prithviraj_Chauhan
http://www.answers.com/topic/chauhan
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Prithiviraj+III
2.Siri, built by Alauddin Khilji in 1303;
Ala-ud-din Khilji
Ala-ud-din Khilji (Persian: علاء الدین خلجی ) (real name Juna Khan) (d. 1316), was the second Indian ruler of the Khilji dynasty. He reigned from 1296–1316.
Ala-ud-din was the nephew and son in law of Jalal-ud-din. At first, Jalal-ud-din appointed Ala-ud-Din as the governor of Kara near Allahabad city. In 1296 Ala-ud-Din killed his uncle. But Malika Jahan, the widow of Jalal-ud-din, put her younger son Rukn-ud-din Khilji to the throne. Ala-ud-din quickly marched on Delhi from Kara. He entered Delhi with his uncle's head on a pike and on October 3, 1296, proclaimed himself the King of Delhi. Arkali Khan, Jalal-ud-din's older son, and Rukun ud din were blinded. Malika Jahan was imprisoned.
Very soon he went about despoiling the wealth of nobles, frequently blinding, imprisoning or killing them. In 1297 Allauddin sent an army to plunder Gujarat, under the generalship of Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan. This army looted the temple of Somnath and Shivalinga was broken into pieces and was being carried back to Delhi. Kanhad Dev Songara, ruler of Jalore attacked and defeated Ulugh Khan and captured the broken Shivalinga which was washed in Ganga water, and the fragments were established in various temples in Jalore. Muhammad Shah a neo-Muslim helped Kanhad Dev Songara. Muhammad was a general in Khilji's army. Muhammad Shah after this war went and stayed with Hammir at Ranthambore. Ulugh Khan went and apprised Allauddin who ordered him and Nusrat Khan to conquer Ranthambore. In 1299 they started out with 80,000 cavalry and a large infantry to attack Hammir. Hammir's army repulsed the attack and killed Nusrat Khan. Ulugh Khan escaped and reached Delhi. Khilji was taken aback by this defeat and wanted revenge. He finally came himself in 1301, and there was a long siege. Hammir was very well prepared. When the fort would not fall after repeated bloody skirmishes khilji resorted to diplomacy. Hammir was very suspicious but he heeded to his councillors who told him that the sword is not always the best recourse. Ratipal and Ranmal, who were close confidants of Hammir, were sent to the Khilji camp. Ranmal's father was hung by Hammir for treachery and his property was confiscated. Ranmal earned the trust of Hammir by being brave in battles that Hammir fought but perfidy was in his blood. Khilji bribed these two generals of Hammir's army and consequently Ranthambore fell. After the annexation of Gujarat, he took to the practice of making the innocent families of rebels against the government suffer.
KHALJI DYNASTY AD 1290 - 1320
1290 - 1296 Fîruz Shah II Khaljî
1296 Ibrahim Shah I Qadir Khan
1296 - 1316 Muhammad Shah I Ali Garshasp
1316 Umar Shah
1316 - 1320 Mubacicrak Shah
1320 Khusraw Khan Barwari
LINKS
http://www.indianetzone.com/2/allauddin_khiliji.htm
http://www.webindia123.com/history/MEDIEVAL/delhisultanate/delhi%20sultanate2.htm
http://www.indiasite.com/delhi/history/khiljis.html
3.Tughluqabad, built by Ghiyasuddin Tughluq (1321-1325);
TUGHLUQID (TUGHLUK) DYNASTY AD 1320 - 1414
1320 - 1325 Tughluq Shah I
1325 - 1351 Muhammad Shah II
1351 - 1388 Forum Shah III
1388 - 1389 Tughluq Shah II
1389 - 1391 Abu Bakr Shah
1389 - 1394 Muhammad Shah III
1394 Sikandar Shah I
1394 - 1395 Mahmud Shah II
1395 - 1399 Nusrat Shah
1401 - 1412 Mahmud Shah II
1412 - 1414 Dawlat Khan Lodî
A Hadith in Tughra, a calligraphic style very popular with the Ottoman Turks
Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq 
Mausoleum of Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq at Tughluqabad
Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq (Persian: غیاث الدین تغلق) (real name Ghazi Malik; died in 1325), founder and first ruler (1320–25) of the Turkish Muslim Tughluq dynasty in India. He has been the founder of the third city of Delhi called Tughluqabad.
Tughluqabad.
Ghiyath al-Din rose against rule of Khusraw Khan(who killed Qutb ud din Mubarak Shah, the last ruler of the Khilji dynasty). Ghiyath al-Din was succeeded by his son Muhammad bin Tughluq.
In the historian Isami's book Futuh-us-Salatin it is implied that Ghiyath al-Din Balban poisoned his son-in-law Sultan Nasiruddin Mahmud. This act was possibly linked to the issue of control of Lakhnaurti, the ancient Hindu capital of Bengal, which is now known as Gaur, the ruined city.
LINKS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghiyas_ud_din_Tughluq_Shah_I
http://www.answers.com/topic/ghiyath-al-din-tughluq
4.Jahanpanah, built by Muhammad bin Tughluq (1325-1351);
Name: Muhammad bin Tughluq
Birth Date: c. 1290
Death Date: c. 1351
Nationality: Indian
Gender: Male
Occupations: ruler
Biography on Muhammad bin Tughluq
Muhammad bin Tughluq (1290-1351) was a medieval Indian ruler whose reign saw the beginning of the disintegration of the empire of Delhi.
The son and successor of the Turk Ghiyas-ud-din (reigned 1321-1325), the founder of the Tughluq dynasty that replaced Khilji rule in Delhi, Muhammad bin Tughluq displayed an extraordinary capacity for classical learning and military leadership. He was formally crowned in 1325, when his father met an accidental death in which Muhammad was implicated.
In spite of a wealth of information on Muhammad's reign from contemporaries--such as Zia-ud-din Barani, the well-known chronicler of medieval India, and the Moorish traveler Ibn Battuta, who was in India during 1333-1346--there is a great deal of confusion about the sequence of events in his reign and their precise nature. Muhammad's regime of 26 years seems to have largely been occupied with fighting rebellions (some 22 are listed), planning ambitious projects of conquest of farflung areas, and making administrative innovations that brought disgrace to the ruler and suffering for his subjects.
The most serious of these rebellions were in the Deccan (1326, 1347), Måbar (tip of the Indian peninsula, 1334), Bengal (1338), Gujarat (1345), and Sind (1350). These rebellions led to Delhi's loss of control over the south and the Deccan, Bengal, Gujarat, and Sind.
The rebellions in Gujarat and Sind exhausted Muhammad, for it was in the course of his expedition in Sind that he died near Thatta in 1351.
Among Muhammad's ambitious military projects was his plan to invade Khurasan in Persia in 1329; a large army was raised and paid for, all of which was a wasted effort because the Sultan realized its impracticality. During 1337-1338 he attacked the kingdom of Nagarkot in the Punjab and secured a limited success.
Muhammad's administrative innovations also smacked of the spectacular. In 1327 he ordered that the imperial capital be shifted from Delhi in the north to Daulatabad in the Deccan, a distance of over 750 miles. After moving by force a part of the Delhi population, Muhammad realized that his move was ill-advised, and the capital was moved back to Delhi.
GOLD COINS DU
RING TUGLUK REIGN
In 1328-1329 Muhammad ordered an enhancement of agricultural taxes in the Doab (area watered by the Ganges and the Jamuna rivers), and the impost was collected with such severity that it bred rebellions and led to devastation of large tracts. In 1330-1332 Muhammad conceived the idea of introducing a token copper currency without taking the necessary precautions against private minting of copper coins. The result was the flooding of the market with spurious coins which were then withdrawn in exchange for gold and silver coins.
In his religious views Muhammad was a liberal, though he requested recognition from the Caliph in Egypt in 1340. He loved holding discussions with philosophers and men of learning and was undoubtedly an extraordinary man who combined within himself numerous contradictions.
TUGHLAG TOOMB
LINKS
http://www.answers.com/topic/muhammad-bin-tughluq
http://www.indhistory.com/tughluk-dynasty.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_bin_Tughluq
5.Kotla Firoz Shah, built by Firuz Shah Tughluq (1351-1388);
Firuz Shah Tughlaq (also known as Firoz Shah Tughluq) was a Muslim ruler of the Tughlaq Dynasty (1351 - 1388). He succeeded his cousin Muhammad bin Tughluq following the later's death from a fatal illness, but due to widespread unrest Firuz's realm was much smaller than Muhammed's. Firuz was forced by rebellions to concede virtual independence to Bengal and other provinces. He was known as an iconoclast.
The "Tarikh-i-Firuz Shah" is a historical record written during his reign that attests to the systematic persecution of Hindus under his rule[1]. In particular, it records atrocities on Hindu Brahmin priests who refused to convert to Islam:“ An order was accordingly given to the Brahman and was brought before Sultan.The true faith was declared to the Brahman and the right course pointed out. but he refused to accept it. A pile was risen on which the Kaffir with his hands and legs tied was thrown into and the wooden tablet on the top. The pile was lit at two places his head and his feet. The fire first reached him in the feet and drew from him a cry and then fire completely enveloped him. Behold Sultan for his strict adherence to law and rectitude. ”
Under his rule, Hindus who were forced to pay the mandatory Jizya tax were recorded as infidels, their communities monitored and, if they violated Imperial ordinance and built temples, they were destroyed. In particular, an incident in the village of Gohana in Haryana was recorded in the "Insha-i-Mahry" (another historical record written by Amud Din Abdullah bin Mahru) where Hindus had erected a deity and were arrested, brought to the palace and executed en-masse.
In 1230, the Hindu King of orissa Anangabhima III consolidated his rule and proclaimed that an attack on Orissa constituted an attack on the king's god. A sign of Anangabhima's determination to protect Hindu culture is the fact that he named is new capital in Cuttack “Abhinava Varanasi.” His anxieties about further Muslim advances in Orissa proved to be well founded. In 1361, the Indian region of Orissa was conquered by the Delhi Sultan Feroz Shah and he destroyed the Jagannath temple and the stone deity of Krishna, but the indigenous wooden image of the deity was saved.
Firoz probably learnt many lessons from his cousin Muhammad's rule. He decided not to reconquer areas that had broken away. He decided to keep nobles and the Ulema happy so that they would allow him to rule his kingdom peacefully. In fact, there were hardly any rebellions during his rule. We come to know about him from a 32-page brochure he wrote. Firoz allowed a noble's son to succeed to his father's position and jagir after his death. The same was done in the army, where an old soldier could send his son, son-in-law or even his slave in his place. He won over the Ulemas by giving them grants of revenue, which gave him political power. He increased the salary of the nobles. He stopped all kinds of harsh punishments such as cutting off hands. Firoz also lowered the land taxes that Muhammad had raised.
FIRUZ KOTLA
He was the first Muslim ruler to think of the material welfare of his people. Many rest houses, gardens and tombs were built. A number of madrasas (schools) were opened to encourage education. He set up hospitals for the free treatment of the poor. He provided money for marriage of girls belonging to poor families.He also commissioned many public buildings in Delhi. He built over 300 villages and dug 5 major canals for irrigation. More land came under cultivation. Plenty of grains and fruits were grown.
Hindu religious works were translated from Sanskrit to Persian. He had a large personal library full of manuscripts in Persian, Arabic and other languages. He brought 2 Ashokan Pillars from Meerut and Topara, carefully wrapped in silk cloth, to Delhi. He re-erected one of them in his palace at Firoz Shah Kotla.
He had about 1,80,000 slaves, who had been brought from all over the country, trained in various arts and crafts. They however turned out to be undependable. Transfer of capital was the highlight of his reign.
Firoz Shah's death led to many rebellions. His lenient attitude had weakened the sultan's position. His successor Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughluq II could not control the slaves and the nobles. The army had become weak. Slowly the empire shrank in size. After 10 years of his death, Timur's invasion devastated Delhi.
Preceded by Muhammad bin Tughluq
Succeeded by Ghiyas-ud-Din Tughluq 2
LINKS
http://www.answers.com/topic/firuz-shah-tughluq
http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.tcl?site_id=7542
http://www.storyofpakistan.com/person.asp?perid=P051
6.Purana Qila, built by Sher Shah Suri
ROHTAS FORT
SHER SHAH
1472-1540 : Early Days of Sher Shah Suri
1472 Sher Khan born
1522 Sher Khan took the service of Bahar Khan
1527 - 1528 Sher Khan served the Babur camp
1534 Sher Khan defeated the Bengal king on the Kiul river
Oct 1537 Sher Khan invaded Bengal and besieged the city of Gaur
1539 Sher Khan defeated Humayun at Chausa
1540 Sher Khan defeated Humayun at Kanauj
Farid Khan's Childhood
The career of Sher Khan Suri, the hero of Indo-Muslim revival, is as fascinating as Babur and not less instructive than Akbar. Sher Khan was born in 1472. His original name was Farid Khan. Farid's father Hasan Khan was the jagirdar of Sasaram in Bihar. Hasan was a polygamist and his second wife had great influence over him. Farid, fed up of his step-mother's ill-treatment, left home at the age of 22 and went to Jaunpur. This turn made him pass through many adventures and struggle. In Jaunpur, he devoted some time to study and very soon became proficient in Arabic as well as Persian literature.
Gets the Title of Sher Khan
Being an exceptionally brilliant person, he drew the attention first of his teachers and then of Jamal Khan, the governor of Jaunpur. Jamal Khan effected a reconciliation between Farid and his father. He then returned to Sasaram and administered his father's jagirs for 21 years. He successfully administered the jagirs and came to be known as a honest and able administrator. This roused his step-mother's jealousy and once again Farid left Sasaram and went to Agra.
After his father's death, Farid took possession of his paternal jagirs. In 1522, Farid took the service of Bahar Khan, the governor of Bihar. His master was impressed by his service and devotion. Bahar Khan conferred on him the title of Sher Khan for having shown gallantry in killing a tiger single-handed. Later, Sher Khan was appointed Vakil (deputy governor) and also a tutor of Bahar Khan's son Jalal Khan.
Becomes Virtual Ruler of Bihar
Jealous of Sher Khan's success, his enemies poisoned his master's mind and he was thus deprived of his father's jagir. He joined the Babur camp where he served from April 1527 to June 1528. Soon, he left the Mughals and returned back to Bihar and took over his old job as a guardian of Jalal Khan. Jalal Khan being a minor, Sher Khan became the virtual ruler of Bihar.
In 1531, Sher Khan asserted his independence when Humayun was the emperor in India,. The unexpected rise of Sher Khan made the Lohani Afghans and Jalal khan impatient. They even entered into an alliance with Muhamud Shah, the king of Bengal. Sher Khan defeated the Bengal king on the Kiul river in 1534. Later, he invaded Bengal and Muhamud Shah handed over him a large sum and territory extending from Kiul to Sakrigali. He then became the independent ruler of Bihar and Bengal.
Becomes the Afghan Ruler in Delhi
In October 1537, Sher Khan again invaded Bengal and besieged the city of Gaur. Humayun realising the strength of the Afghan marched to oppose Sher Khan in December 1537 and besieged Chunar. However the brave army of Sher Khan baffled all the attempts of the assailants for six months which gave all the time to Sher Khan for reduction of Gaur by April 1538.
PURANA KILLA
In 1539 when Humayun marched towards Bengal, Sher Khan cleverly went and occupied the Mughal territories in Bihar and Jaunpur. And finally in 1539, Sher Khan was able to defeat Humayun at Chausa (situated near the boundary of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh). And again in 1540, he defeated Humayun at Kanauj, and went on to capture Delhi and Agra. Thus Sher Khan re-established the Afghans rule in Delhi.
DURING OLD AGE
LINKS
http://sify.com/itihaas/fullstory.php?id=13233571
http://www.indhistory.com/sher-shah-suri.html
http://tanmoy.tripod.com/bengal/sher.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/sher-shah-suri
http://www.storyofpakistan.com/articletext.asp?artid=A013
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Trunk_Road
THIS IS THE GRAND TRUNK ROAD LONGEST AND OLDEST ROAD LINKING INDIA AND PESHAWAR
The Mughal Empire
THE MUGHAL FLAG
The Mughal Empire (Persian: سلطنت مغولی هند) (Urdu:موغل سلطنت), self-designation Gurkānī, گوركانى, lasted from the early sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. At its peak, around 1700, it covered most of the Indian subcontinent and parts of what is now Afghanistan. Its population at that time has been estimated as between 100 and 150 million, over a territory of over 3 million square km. After 1720, it declined rapidly. The decline has been variously described as due to wars of succession, agrarian crises fueling local revolts, and the growth of a religious revivalism among the Hindu and Sikh population. The last Emperor, whose rule was restricted to the city of Delhi, was imprisoned and exiled by the British after the Indian Rebellion of 1857.
The classic period of the Empire starts with the accession of Akbar in 1556 and ends with the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. During this period, the Empire was marked by a strongly centralized administration connecting the different regions of India. All the significant monuments of the Mughals, their most visible legacy, date to this period.
MUGHAL
Mughal is the Persian word for Mongol and was generally used to refer to Central Asian nomads who claimed descent from the Mongol warriors of Genghis Khan. The foundation for empire was established around 1504 by the Timurid prince Babur,
BABUR
when he took control of Kabul and eastern regions of Khorasan controlling the fertile Sind region and the lower valley of the Indus River. In 1526, he defeated the last of the Delhi Sultans, Ibrahim Shah Lodi, at the First Battle of Panipat. These early military successes of the Mughals in India, carried out by an army much smaller in size than its opponents, have been attributed to their cohesion, mobility, and horse-mounted archers.
CONTROVERSY BABREE MASGEED
BABUR TOOMB AT LAHORE
LINK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babur
HUMAYUN
BABUR SON Humayun succeeded him in 1530 but suffered major reversals at the hands of the Pashtun Sher Shah Suri and effectively lost most of the fledgling empire before it could grow beyond a minor regional state.
SHER SHAH
From 1540 onwards, Humayun became a ruler in exile, reaching the Court of Persian Safavid ruler in 1542 while his forces still controlled some fortresses and small regions. But when the Afghans fell into disarray with the death of Sher Shah Suri, Humayun returned with a mixed army, raised more troops and managed to reconquer Delhi in 1555.
HUMAYUN TOOMB
LINK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humayun
AKBAR
JODABAI AKBAR
His son Akbar was an infant when Humayun decided to cross the rough terrain of Makran with his wife, and so was left behind to keep him from the rigors of the long journey. Since he did not go to Persia with his parents, he was eventually transported from the fortress in the Sind where he was born to be raised for a time by his uncle Askari in the rugged country of Afghanistan. There he became an excellent outdoorsman, horseman, hunter and learned the arts of the warrior.
MAIN GATE OF AGRA FORT
After the resurgent Humayan conquered the central plateau about Delhi, he was killed a few months later in an accident, leaving an unsettled realm still involved in war. Akbar (1556 to 1605) succeeded his father on 14 February 1556, while in the midst of a war against Sikandar Shah Suri for the reclamation of the Mughal throne.
FATEHPUR SIKHRI
Hence he was thrust onto the throne and soon recorded his first victory at the age of 13 or 14, and the rump remnant began to grow, then it grew considerably, so that he became called Akbar, as he was a wise ruler, set fair but steep taxes, he investigated the production in a certain area and the inhabitants were taxed accordingly 1/3 of the agricultural produce. He also set up an efficient bureaucracy and was tolerant of religious differences which softened the resistance by the conquered.
LINK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akbar
JAHANGIR
Jahangir, the son of Mughal Emperor Akbar and Rajput princess Mariam-uz-Zamani, ruled the empire from 1605–1627.
HIRAN MINAR BY JAHANGIR
LINK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jahangir
SHAH JAHAN
MUMTAJ
NURJAHAN
In October 1627, Shah Jahan, the son of Mughal Emperor Jahangir and Rajput princess Manmati, succeeded to the throne, where he inherited a vast and rich empire in India; and at mid-century this was perhaps the greatest empire in the world. Shah Jahan commissioned the famous Taj Mahal (1630–1653) in Agra as a tomb for his wife Mumtaz Mahal,
who died giving birth to their 14th child. By 1700 the empire reached its peak with major parts of present day India, except for the North eastern states and small areas in the south and most of Afganistan under its domain, under the leadership of Aurengzeb Alamgir.
THE GRAND MOSQUE BY SHAH JAHAN
LINK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah_Jahan
AURENGZEB
BHADSHAHI MOSQUE
LAHORE FORT GATE
Aurengzeb was the last of the powerful Mughal kings.
He was a pious Muslim and ended all the extravagance and non-Islamic routines of the court. After his death, the Mughal Empire fell apart very quickly.
The increasing association of Aurangzebs government with Islam further drove a wedge between the ruler and his Hindu subjects. Aurangzeb's policies towards his Hindu subjects was harsh, and intended to force them to convert. Temples were despoiled and the harsh "jiziya" tax (which non Muslims had to pay) was re-introduced. In this clime, contenders for the Mughal throne were many, and the reigns of Aurangzeb's successors were short-lived and filled with strife. The Mughal Empire experienced dramatic reverses as regional nawabs or governors broke away and founded independent kingdoms (such as the Marathas in the south and the Sikhs in the north. In the war of 27 years from 1681 to 1707, the Mughals suffered several heavy defeats at the hands of the Marathas in the south. as well as this in the early 1700 the sikhs of the north became increasingly militant in an attempt to fight the oppressive Mughal rule. They had to make peace with the Maratha armies, and Persian and Afghan armies invaded Delhi, carrying away many treasures, including the Peacock Throne in 1739.
The decline of the Mughal Empire has been studied under several different theories. Some historians such as Irfan Habib have described the decline of the Mughal Empire in terms of class struggle. Habib proposed that excessive taxation and repression of peasants created a discontented class that either rebelled itself or supported rebellions by other classes and states. On the other hand, Athar Ali proposed a theory of a "jagirdari crisis." According to this theory, the influx of a large number of new Deccan nobles into the Mughal nobility during the reign of Aurangzeb created a shortage of agricultural crown land meant to be alloted, and destroyed the crown lands altogether. The classical theory of Aurangzeb's Islamicism and Mughal decline continues to find a new life in the research of S. R. Sharma. Other theories put weight on the devious role played by the Saeed brothers in destabilizing the Mughal throne and auctioning the agricultural crown lands for revenue extraction.
LINK
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurangzeb
THE LAST MUGHAL EMPORER HAD PHOTOGRAPHED DURING BRITISH
BAHADUR SHAH ZAFAR AT RANGOON
LINK
THE TOTAL HISTORY OF MUGHAL
http://www.storyofpakistan.com/timeline03.htm
THE BRITISH INDIA AFTER MUGHALS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_India
TOUR OF DELHI
QUTUB MINAR
JANTAR MANTAR
DELHI GATE
CHANDINI CHOUK
RASTRAPATI BHAVAN VIRTUAL TOUR
http://presidentofindia.nic.in/welcome.html
MUGHAL GARDENS TOUR
http://www.mughalgardens.org/html/home.html
DELHI SIGHT SEEING
http://www.delhihotels.net/
