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Afghanistan
Afghanistan
i/æfˈɡænɨstæn/ (Persian/Pashto: افغانستان, Afġānistān), officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming part of South Asia, Central Asia, and Greater Middle East, it is also considered to be part of a broader West Asia. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of 647,500 km2 (250,001 sq mi), making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world. It is bordered by Pakistan in the south and the east, Iran in the west, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan in the north, and China in the far northeast.
Afghanistan has been an ancient focal point of the Silk Road and human migration. Archaeologists have found evidence of human habitation from as far back as 50,000 BC. Urban civilization may have begun in the area as early as 3,000 to 2,000 BC. Sitting at an important geostrategic location that connects the Middle East with Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, the land has been home to various peoples through the ages and witnessed many military campaigns, notably by Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and in modern era Western forces. The land also served as a source from which the Greco-Bactrians, Kushans, Saffarids, Ghaznavids, Ghorids, Timurids, Mughals and many others have risen to form major empires.
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Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh /ˌɑːndrə prəˈdɛʃ/ is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the country's southeastern coast. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Hyderabad. Andhra Pradesh lies between 12°41' and 22°N latitude and 77° and 84°40'E longitude, and is bordered by Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Orissa in the north, the Bay of Bengal in the east, Tamil Nadu to the south and Karnataka to the west.
Andhra Pradesh has the second-longest coastline of 972 km (604 mi) among the states of India. Two major rivers, the Godavari and the Krishna, run across the state. The small enclave (30 square kilometres (12 sq mi)) of Yanam, a district of Pondicherry, lies in the Godavari delta in the northeast of the state. The state is separated into three regions: Telangana, Andhra, and Rayalaseema.
The primary official language of Andhra Pradesh is Telugu and the co-official language is Urdu. Other languages often spoken in the state include Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, and Oriya.
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Angkor
Angkor (Khmer: អង្គរ) is a region of Cambodia that served as the seat of the Khmer Empire, which flourished from approximately the 9th to 15th centuries. The word Angkor is derived from the Sanskrit nagara (नगर), meaning "city". The Angkorian period began in AD 802, when the Khmer Hindu monarch Jayavarman II declared himself a "universal monarch" and "god-king", until 1351, when Angkor first fell under Ayutthayan suzerainty, to 1431, when Ayutthaya put down a rebellion and sacked the Khmer capital, causing its population to migrate south to Longvek.
The ruins of Angkor are located amid forests and farmland to the north of the Great Lake (Tonlé Sap) and south of the Kulen Hills, near modern-day Siem Reap (13°24′N, 103°51′E), in Siem Reap Province, and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temples of the Angkor area number over one thousand, ranging in scale from nondescript piles of brick rubble scattered through rice fields to the magnificent Angkor Wat, said to be the world's largest single religious monument. Many of the temples at Angkor have been restored, and together, they comprise the most significant site of Khmer architecture. Visitor numbers approach two million annually.
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Assam
Assam /əˈsæm/ (Assamese: অসম) also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province (British India), is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country[citation needed]. Assam was one of the original provinces of the British ruled Indian sub-continent and among the original provinces of present day India, having a legislature that dates back to 1937. However, present day Assam has undergone numerous territory alignment changes, with its state map being altered more than any other province's. Known for exquisite natural resources, geography and its important role in India's freedom struggle; Assam has its capital as Dispur, an especialized city circuit region located on the outskirts of its largest metropolis, Guwahati.
Assam is particularly famous for its natural beauty. The landscape includes tea gardens, the river Brahmaputra, and many historical monuments and temples. Swami Vivekananda once said that, "next only to Kashmir, Assam is the most beautiful place in India" A state with an abundance of forest, Assam also has five national parks, around half a dozen other wildlife sanctuaries, and is home to two-thirds of the population of the unique one-horned rhino. When it comes to wildlife, Assam too has successfully conserved the one-horned Indian rhinoceros from near extinction, along with the tiger and numerous species of birds, and it provides one of the last wild habitats for the Asian elephant. It is becoming an increasingly popular destination for wildlife tourism, and Kaziranga and Manas are both World Heritage Sites.
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Bangladesh
Coordinates: 23°N 90°E / 23°N 90°E / 23; 90
Bangladesh (i/ˈbɑːŋɡlədɛʃ/ or i/bæŋɡləˈdɛʃ/ (Anglicized pronunciation); Bengali: বাংলাদেশ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh (Bengali: গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ Gônoprojatontri Bangladesh) is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India and Burma and by the Bay of Bengal to the south. The capital (and largest city) is Dhaka, located in central Bangladesh. The official state language is Bengali. The name Bangladesh means "Land of Bengal" or "Country of Bengal" the in the Bengali language, from Bangla "Bengal" and desh holding a dual meaning of "land" and "country" as English "country," German land, French pays, etc.
The borders of present-day Bangladesh were established with the partition of Bengal during the reign and demise of the British India. Its map was chartered by Sir Cyril Radcliffe during the creation of Pakistan and India in 1947, when the region became East Pakistan, part of the newly formed nation of Pakistan. Due to political exclusion and economic exploitation by the politically dominant West Pakistan, popular agitation grew against West Pakistan and led to the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, after the Bangladeshi Declaration of Independence on 26 March 1971. With the intervention of the Indian Army, the war came to an end on 16 December 1971 with the surrender of the Pakistan Army at Ramna Race Course.
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Barabar Caves
The Barabar Caves are the oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India, mostly dating from the Mauryan period (322–185 BCE), and some with Ashokan inscriptions, located in the Jehanabad District of Bihar, India, 24 km north of Gaya.
These caves are situated in the twin hills of Barabar (four caves) and Nagarjuni (three caves) - caves of the 1.6 km distant Nagarjuni Hill sometimes are singled out as Nagarjuni Caves. These rock-cut chambers date back to the 3rd century BC, Maurya period, of Ashoka (r. 273 BC to 232 BC.) and his son, Dasaratha. Though Buddhists themselves, they allowed various Jain sects to flourish under a policy of religious tolerance. These caves were used by ascetics from the Ajivika sect , founded by Makkhali Gosala, a contemporary of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, and of Mahavira, the last and 24th Tirthankara of Jainism . Also found at the site were several rock-cut Buddhist and Hindu sculptures .
The area was also the setting for the opening of E.M. Forster's book, A Passage to India, while the caves themselves are the site of a crucial, though ambiguous, scene at the book's symbolic core. The author visited the site, and later used it, as the Marabar caves in his book .
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Bhutan
Coordinates: 27°25′01″N 90°26′06″E / 27.417°N 90.435°E / 27.417; 90.435
Bhutan (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, tr ʼbrug-yul, "Druk Yul"; Devanagari भूटान, Bhūṭān), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China. Bhutan is separated from the nearby country of Nepal to the west by the Indian state of Sikkim, and from Bangladesh to the south by the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal.
Bhutan existed as a patchwork of minor warring fiefdoms until the early 17th century, when the area was unified by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, who fled religious persecution in Tibet and cultivated a separate Bhutanese identity. In the early 20th century, Bhutan came into contact with the British Empire, after which Bhutan continued strong bilateral relations with India upon its independence. In 2006, Business Week rated Bhutan the happiest country in Asia and the eighth-happiest in the world, based on a global survey.
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Bihar
Bihar (/bɨˈhɑr/, pronounced [bɪˈɦaːr] (
listen)) is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at 38,202 sq mi (98,940 km2) and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India.
Bihar lies mid-way between West Bengal in the east and Uttar Pradesh in the west. It is bounded by the country of Nepal to the north and by Jharkhand to the south. The Bihar plain is divided into two parts by the river Ganges which flows through the middle from west to east. Bihar has notified forest area of 6,764.14 km2, which is 6.8% of its geographical area. Hindi and Urdu are the official languages of the state, while the majority of the people speak Angika, Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Maithili and Bajjika. In 2000, Bihar was divided into 2 parts, the Southern part known as Jharkhand.
Ancient Bihar (which consisted of Anga, Videha/Mithila, Magadha and Vajji/Vrijji) was a centre of power, learning and culture in ancient and classical India. Out of five "The Greats" from India, four greats belonged to this region of India, Magadh: Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka, Samudragupta and Vikramaditya. From Magadha arose India's first and greatest empire, the Maurya empire as well as one of the world's most widely adhered-to religions, Buddhism. Magadha empires, notably under the Maurya and Gupta dynasties, unified large parts of South Asia under a central rule. Its capital Patna, earlier known as Pataliputra, was an important centre of Indian civilization.Nalanda and Vikramshila were centres of learning established in the 5th and 8th century respectively in Bihar, and are counted amongst the oldest and truly international universities, where people all over the world came to study. Bihar has distinction of giving the world its first democracy through Lichchivi (modern days Vaishali) during ancient era.
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Bodhi Tree
Coordinates: 24°41′45.29″N 84°59′29.29″E / 24.6959139°N 84.9914694°E / 24.6959139; 84.9914694
The Bodhi Tree, also known as Bo (from the Sinhalese Bo), was a large and very old Sacred Fig tree (Ficus religiosa) located in Bodh Gaya (about 100 km (62 mi) from Patna in the Indian state of Bihar), under which Siddhartha Gautama, the spiritual teacher later known as Gautama Buddha, is said to have achieved enlightenment, or Bodhi. In religious iconography, the Bodhi tree is recognizable by its heart-shaped leaves, which are usually prominently displayed.
The term "Bodhi Tree" is also widely applied to currently existing trees, particularly the Sacred Fig growing at the Mahabodhi Temple, which is a direct descendant planted in 288 BC from the original specimen. This tree is a frequent destination for pilgrims, being the most important of the four main Buddhist pilgrimage sites. Other holy Bodhi trees which have a great significance in the history of Buddhism are the Anandabodhi tree in Sravasti and the Bodhi tree in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Both are believed to have been propagated from the original Bodhi tree.
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Burma
Burma
i/ˈbɜrmə/ BUR-mə, also known as Myanmar i/ˌmjɑːnˈmɑr/ MYAHN--MAR, is a country in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is bordered by India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand. One-third of Burma's total perimeter of 1,930 kilometres (1,200 mi) forms an uninterrupted coastline along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. At 676,578 km2 (261,227 sq mi), it is the 40th largest country in the world and the second largest country in Southeast Asia. Burma is also the 24th most populous country in the world with over 60.28 million people.
Burma is home to some of the early civilizations of Southeast Asia including the Pyu and the Mon. In the 9th century, the Burmans of the Kingdom of Nanzhao, entered the upper Irrawaddy valley and, following the establishment of the Pagan Empire in the 1050s, the Burmese language and culture slowly became dominant in the country. During this period, Theravada Buddhism gradually became the predominant religion of the country. The Pagan Empire fell due to the Mongol invasions (1277–1301), and several warring states emerged. In the second half of the 16th century, the country was reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty which for a brief period was the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia. The early 19th century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area that included modern Burma as well as Manipur and Assam. The country was colonized by Britain following three Anglo-Burmese Wars (1824–1885).
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Cambodia
Cambodia (i/kæmˈboʊdiə/;Khmer: ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា, Kampuchea, IPA: [kɑmˈpuˈciə]), officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. With a total landmass of 181,035 square kilometres (69,898 sq mi), it is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, Vietnam to the east, and the Gulf of Thailand to the southwest.
With a population of over 14.8 million, Cambodia is the 68th most populous country in the world. The official religion is Theravada Buddhism, which is practiced by around 95% of the Cambodian population. The country minority groups include Vietnamese, Chinese, Chams and 30 various hill tribes. The capital and largest city is Phnom Penh; the political, economic, and cultural center of Cambodia. The kingdom is a constitutional monarchy with Norodom Sihamoni, a monarch chosen by the Royal Throne Council, as head of state. The head of government is Hun Sen, who is currently the longest serving leader in South East Asia and has ruled Cambodia for over 25 years.
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China
China (i/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.
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Dhamek Stupa
Dhamek Stupa (also spelled Dhamekh and Dhamekha) is a massive stupa located at Sarnath, 13 km away from Varanasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India.
The Dhamek Stupa was built in 500 CE to replace an earlier structure commissioned by the great Mauryan king Ashoka in 249 BCE, along with several other monuments, to commemorate the Buddha's activities in this location. Stupas originated as circular mounds encircled by large stones. King Ashoka built stupas to enshrine small pieces of calcinated bone and other relics of Buddha and his disciples. An Ashoka pillar with an edict engraved on it stands near the site.
The Dhamek Stupa is said to mark the spot of a deer park (Rishipattana) where the Buddha gave the first sermon to his five disciples after attaining enlightenment, "revealing his Eightfold Path leading to nirvana". The stupa was enlarged on six occasions but the upper part is still unfinished. While visiting Sarnath in 640 CE, Xuanzang recorded that the colony had over 1,500 priests and the main stupa was nearly 300 feet (91 m) high.
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Egypt
Egypti/ˈiːdʒɪpt/ (Arabic: مصر, Miṣr, Egyptian Arabic: [mɑsˤɾ] ; Coptic: Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, Kīmi ; Sahidic Coptic: ⲕⲏⲙⲉ, Kēme), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: 
جمهوريّة مصر العربيّة (help·info), is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Covering an area of about 1,010,000 square kilometers (390,000 sq mi), Egypt is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west.
Egypt is one of the most populous countries in Africa and the Middle East. The great majority of its over 81 million people live near the banks of the Nile River, in an area of about 40,000 square kilometers (15,000 sq mi), where the only arable land is found. The large areas of the Sahara Desert are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypt's residents live in urban areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria and other major cities in the Nile Delta.
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Greece
Greecei/ˈɡriːs/ (Greek: Ελλάδα, Ellada, IPA: [eˈlaða] ( listen) historically in Katharevousa and Ancient Greek: Ἑλλάς, Hellas, IPA: [eˈlas] and [helːás] respectively), officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Elliniki Dimokratia, IPA: [eliniˈci ðimokraˈtia]), is a country in Southern Europe, politically considered part of Western Europe.Athens is the capital and the largest city in the country (its urban area also including Piraeus). The population of the country is around 11 million.
Greece has land borders with Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the east. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the 11th longest coastline in the world at 13,676 km (8,498 mi) in length, featuring a vast number of islands (approximately 1,400, of which 227 are inhabited), including Crete, the Dodecanese, the Cyclades, and the Ionian Islands among others. Eighty percent of Greece consists of mountains, of which Mount Olympus is the highest at 2,917 m (9,570 ft).
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Harappa
Harappa (Urdu/Punjabi: ہڑپہ, pronounced [ɦəɽəppaː]) is an archaeological site in Punjab, northeast Pakistan, about 35 km (22 mi) west of Sahiwal. The site takes its name from a modern village located near the former course of the Ravi River. The current village of Harappa is 6 km (4 mi) from the ancient site. Although modern Harappa has a train station left from the British times, it is today just a small (pop. 15,000) crossroads town.
The site of the ancient city contains the ruins of a Bronze Age fortified city, which was part of the Cemetery H culture and the Indus Valley Civilization, centered in Sindh and the Punjab. The city is believed to have had as many as 23,500 residents—considered large for its time.
The ancient city of Harappa was greatly destroyed under the British Raj, when bricks from the ruins were used as track ballast in the making of the Lahore-Multan Railroad.
In 2005, a controversial amusement park scheme at the site was abandoned when builders unearthed many archaeological artifacts during the early stages of construction work. A plea from the prominent Pakistani archaeologist Ahmed Hasan Dani to the Ministry of Culture resulted in a restoration of the site.
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India
India (i/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.
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Iran
Coordinates: 32°N 53°E / 32°N 53°E / 32; 53
Iran (i/ɪˈrɑːn/ or /aɪˈræn/;Persian: ایران [ʔiˈɾɒn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ایران Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān), is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran", which in Persian means "Land of the Aryans", has been in use natively since the Sassanian era. It came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia ( /ˈpɜrʒə/ or /ˈpɜrʃə/). Both "Persia" and "Iran" are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, "Iran" is the name used officially in political contexts.
The 18th-largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 79 million. It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in the Middle East and central Eurasia. Iran is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey. Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power, and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran has the second largest proven natural gas reserves in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum reserves.
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Italy
Italyi/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km2 (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.6 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world.
Rome, the capital of Italy, was for centuries a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.
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Junagadh
Junagadh pronunciation (help·info)(Gujarati: જુનાગઢ) is the headquarters of Junagadh district in the Indian state of Gujarat. The city is the 7th largest in Gujarat. The city is located at the foot of the Girnar hills, 355 km south west of state capital Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad. The city is in western India. Literally translated, Junagadh means "Old Fort". It is also known as "Sorath", the name of the earlier Princely State of Junagadh. After brief struggle between India and Pakistan Junagadh joined India on 9 November 1947. It was a part of Saurashtra state and later Bombay state. In 1960 after Maha Gujarat movement it became part of newly formed Gujarat state.
An impressive fort, Uperkot, located on a plateau in the middle of town, was originally built during the Mauryan dynasty by Chandragupta in 319 BCE The fort remained in use until the 6th century, when it was covered over for 300 years, then rediscovered in 976 CE The fort was besieged 16 times over an 800-year period. One unsuccessful siege lasted twelve years.
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Kabul
Kabul ( /ˈkɑːbəl/, /ˈkɑːbuːl/; Pashto: کابل Kābəl, IPA: [kɑˈbəl]; Persian: کابل Kābol, IPA: [kɒːˈbol]), also spelled Cabool, Caubul or Cabul, mostly in historical contexts, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Kabul is the 5th fastest growing city in the world [2] and the world's 64th largest city [3]. It is also the capital of Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan. According to latest estimates, the population of the Kabul metropolitan area is over 4 million.
The city serves as the nation's cultural and learning centre, situated 1,791 metres (5,876 ft) above sea level in a narrow valley, wedged between the Hindu Kush mountains along the Kabul River. It is linked with Kandahar, Herat and Mazar-e Sharif via the circular Highway 1 that stretches across Afghanistan. It is also the start of the main road to Jalalabad and further to Peshawar, Pakistan. The Kabul International Airport is located about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from the center of the city, next to the Wazir Akbar Khan neighborhood. Bagram Airfield is about 40 kilometres (25 mi) northeast of Kabul.
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Kandahar
Kandahar, occasionally Candahar, or Qandahar, (Pashto: کندهار Kandahār) is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m (3,297 feet) above sea level. The Arghandab River runs along the west of the city.
Kandahar is the original and most culturally significant city of the Pashtuns and has always been their traditional seat of power. It is a major trading center for sheep, wool, cotton, silk, felt, food grains, fresh and dried fruit, and tobacco. The region produces fine fruits, especially pomegranates and grapes, and the city has plants for canning, drying, and packing fruit. Kandahar has an international airport and extensive road links with Farah and Herat to the west, Kabul and Peshawar to the northeast, Tarinkot to the north, and Quetta in neighboring Balochistan (Pakistan) to the south.
The region around Kandahar is one of the oldest known human settlements. Alexander the Great is said to have laid-out the foundation of what is now Old Kandahar in the 4th century BC and gave it the Ancient Greek name Αλεξάνδρεια Aραχωσίας (Alexandria of Arachosia). Many empires have long fought over the city due to its strategic location along the trade routes of southern, central and western Asia. In 1709, Mirwais Hotak made the region an independent kingdom and turned Kandahar into the first capital of the Hotaki dynasty. In 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the last Afghan empire, made it the capital of modern Afghanistan.
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Kashmir
Kashmir (Balti, Gojri, Poonchi/Chibhali, Dogri: कश्मीर; Kashmiri: कॅशीर, کٔشِیر; Ladakhi: ཀཤམིར; Uyghur: كەشمىر; Shina: کشمیر) is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range. Today Kashmir denotes a larger area that includes the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (the Kashmir valley, Jammu and Ladakh), the Pakistani-administered Gilgit–Baltistan and the Azad Kashmir provinces, and the Chinese-administered regions of Aksai Chin and Trans-Karakoram Tract.
In the first half of the first millennium, the Kashmir region became an important center of Hinduism and later of Buddhism; later still, in the ninth century, Kashmir Shaivism arose. In 1349, Shah Mir became the first Muslim ruler of Kashmir and inaugurated the Salatin-i-Kashmir or Swati dynasty. For the next five centuries, Muslim monarchs ruled Kashmir, including the Mughals, who ruled from 1526 until 1751, then the Afghan Durrani Empire that ruled from 1747 until 1820. That year, the Sikhs under Ranjit Singh, annexed Kashmir. In 1846, upon the purchase of the region from the British under the Treaty of Amritsar, the Dogras—under Gulab Singh—became the new rulers. Dogra Rule, under the paramountcy (or tutelage) of the British Crown, lasted until 1947, when the former princely state became a disputed territory, now administered by three countries: India, Pakistan, and the People's Republic of China.
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Kerala
Kerala or Keralam /ˈkɛrələ/ is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was formed on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions.
The state has an area of 38,863 km2 (15,005 sq mi) and is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Arabian Sea on the west. Thiruvananthapuram is the state capital. Kochi and Kozhikode are other major cities. According to a survey by The Economic Times, five out of ten best cities to live in India are located in Kerala.
Kerala has the highest Human Development Index in India, higher than that of most developed countries The state has the highest literacy rate in India with 93.91 percent. It hopes to be the first e-literate state in India through the state run Akshaya project. The state recently became and is currently the only one to have banking facilities in every village. A survey conducted in 2005 by Transparency International ranked Kerala as the least corrupt state in the country. Kerala is also ranked as India's cleanest state. Kerala has witnessed significant migration of its people, especially to the Persian Gulf countries during the Kerala Gulf boom and is heavily dependent on remittances from its large Malayali expatriate community.
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Laos
Laos ((i/ˈlaʊs/, /ˈlɑː.ɒs/, /ˈlɑː.oʊs/, or /ˈleɪ.ɒs/) Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, pronounced [sǎː.tʰáː.laʔ.naʔ.lat páʔ.sáː.tʰiʔ.páʔ.tàj páʔ.sáː.són.láːw] Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west. Its population was estimated to be 6.5 million in 2012.
Laos traces its history to the Kingdom which existed from the 14th to the 18th century when it split into three separate kingdoms. In 1893, it became a French protectorate, with the three kingdoms, Luang Phrabang, Vientiane and Champasak, uniting to form what is now known as Laos. It briefly gained independence in 1945 after Japanese occupation, but returned to French rule until it was granted autonomy in 1949. Laos became independent in 1953, with a constitutional monarchy under Sisavang Vong. Shortly after independence, a long civil war ended the monarchy, when the Communist Pathet Lao movement came to power in 1975.
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Lumbini
Lumbinī (Sanskrit: लुम्बिनी, "the lovely") is a Buddhist pilgrimage site in the Rupandehi district of Nepal. It is the place where Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Siddhartha Gautama, who as the Buddha Gautama founded the Buddhist tradition. The Buddha lived between roughly 563 and 483 BCE. Lumbini is one of four magnets for pilgrimage that sprang up in places pivotal to the life of the Buddha, the others being at Kushinagar, Bodh Gaya and Sarnath.
Lumbini was where the Buddha lived until the age of 29. Lumbini has a number of temples, including the Mayadevi temple, and others under construction. Also located here is the Puskarini or Holy Pond where the Buddha's mother took the ritual dip prior to his birth and where he, too, had his first bath, as well as the remains of Kapilvastu palace. At other sites near Lumbini, earlier Buddhas were, according to tradition, born, achieved ultimate awakening and finally relinquished earthly form.
In the Buddha's time, Lumbini was situated between Kapilavastu and Devadaha. It was there that the Buddha was born. A pillar now marks the spot of Asoka's visit to Lumbiní. According to an inscription on the pillar, it was placed there by the people then in charge of the park to commemorate Asoka's visit and gifts. The park was previously known as Rummindei, two miles north of Bhagavanpura.
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Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh /ˈmɑːdjə prəˈdɛʃ/, abbreviated MP, often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city.
Madhya Pradesh is the second largest state by area and with over 75 million inhabitants the sixth largest state in India by population. It borders the states of Uttar Pradesh to the northeast, Chhattisgarh to the southeast, Maharashtra to the south, Gujarat to the west, and Rajasthan to the northwest.
The city of Ujjain (also known as Avanti) arose as a major center in the second wave of Indian urbanization in the sixth century BC, and served as the chief city of the kingdom of Malwa or Avanti. Further east, the kingdom of Chedi lie in Bundelkhand. Chandragupta Maurya united northern India c. 320 BC, establishing the Maurya empire (321 to 185 BC), which included all of modern-day Madhya Pradesh. King Ashoka's wife was said to come from Vidisha- a town north of today's Bhopal. The Maurya empire went into decline after the death of Asoka the Great, and Central India was contested among the Sakas, Kushanas, and local dynasties during the 3rd to 1st centuries BCE. Ujjain emerged as the predominant commercial center of western India from the first century BCE, located on the trade routes between the Ganges plain and India's Arabian Sea ports. It was also an important Hindu and Buddhist center.
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Maharashtra
Maharashtra /mɑːhəˈrɑːʃtrə/ (Marathi: महाराष्ट् mahārāṣṭra [məharaːʂʈrə] ( listen)) is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India. Maharashtra is the richest state in India, contributing 15% of the country's industrial output and 13.3% of its GDP (2006–2007 figures).
Maharashtra is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, Gujarat and the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli to the northwest, Madhya Pradesh to the northeast, Chhattisgarh to the east, Karnataka to the south, Andhra Pradesh to the southeast, and Goa to the southwest. The state covers an area of 307,731 km2 (118,816 sq mi) or 9.84% of the total geographical area of India. Mumbai, the capital city of the state, is India's largest city and the financial capital of the nation. Nagpur is the second capital of the state. Marathi is the official language.
Maharashtra is the world's second most populous first-level administrative country sub-division. Were it a nation in its own right, Maharashtra would be the world's tenth most populous country ahead of Mexico.
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Mongolia
Mongoliai/mɒŋˈɡoʊliə/ (Mongolian: Монгол улс (help·info), literally Mongol country/state) is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest city, is home to about 45% of the population. Mongolia's political system is a parliamentary republic.
The area of what is now Mongolia has been ruled by various nomadic empires, including the Xiongnu, the Xianbei, the Rouran, the Gökturks and others. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan in 1206. After the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols returned to their earlier pattern of constant internal conflict and occasional raids on the Chinese borderlands. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Mongolia came under the influence of Tibetan Buddhism. At the end of the 17th century, all of Mongolia had been incorporated into the area ruled by the Qing Dynasty. During the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, Mongolia declared independence, but had to struggle until 1921 to firmly establish de facto independence from the Republic of China, and until 1945 to gain international recognition.
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Nalanda
Nālandā was an ancient center of higher learning in Bihar, India. The site of Nalanda is located in the Indian state of Bihar, about 88 kilometers south east of Patna, and was a Buddhist center of learning from the fifth or sixth century CE to 1197 CE. It has been called "one of the first great universities in recorded history". Nalanda flourished between the reign of the Śakrāditya (whose identity is uncertain and who might have been either Kumara Gupta I or Kumara Gupta II) and 1197 CE, supported by patronage from the Hindu Gupta rulers as well as Buddhist emperors like Harsha and later emperors from the Pala Empire.
The complex was built with red bricks and its ruins occupy an area of 14 hectares. At its peak, the university attracted scholars and students from as far away as Tibet, China, Greece, and Persia. Nalanda was ransacked and destroyed by Turkic Muslim invaders under Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1193. The great library of Nalanda University was so vast that it is reported to have burned for three months after the invaders set fire to it, ransacked and destroyed the monasteries, and drove the monks from the site. In 2006, Singapore, China, India, Japan, and other nations, announced a proposed plan to restore and revive the ancient site as Nalanda International University.
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Orissa
Orissa /ɔːˈrɪsə/ (Oriya: ଓଡ଼ିଶା [oˑɽisaˑ], Hindi: ओड़िशा – Oṛiśā), officially spelled Odisha, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BCE. The modern state of Orissa was established on April 1, 1936, as a province in India, and consists predominantly of Oriya speakers. April 1st is therefore celebrated as Utkala Dibasa (formation day of Orissa). Cuttack remained the capital of the state for over eight centuries until April 13, 1948 when Bhubaneswar was officially declared as the new capital of Orissa, and is the present capital of this state.
Orissa is the ninth largest state by area in India, and the eleventh largest by population. Oriya (officially spelled Odia) is the official and most widely spoken language, spoken by three quarters of the population. Orissa has a relatively unindented coastline (about 480 km long) and lacked good ports, except for the deepwater facility at Paradip, until the recent launch of the Dhamara Port (The Dhamra Port Company Limited (DPCL) is a 50:50 joint venture of L&T and Tata Steel. DPCL has been awarded a concession by Government of Orissa to build and operate a port north of the mouth of river Dhamra in Bhadrak district). The narrow, level coastal strip, including the Mahanadi River delta supports the bulk of the population. The interior of the state is mountainous and sparsely populated.Deomali at 1672 m is the highest point of the state. Orissa is subject to intense cyclones. The most intense one, in October 1999, Tropical Cyclone 05B caused severe damage and nearly 15,000 deaths.
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Pakistan
Pakistan (i/ˈpækɨstæn/ or i/pɑːkiˈstɑːn/; Urdu: پاکستان) (Urdu pronunciation: [paːkɪˈst̪aːn] (
listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریۂ پاکستان), is a sovereign country in South Asia. It sits at the crossroads of the strategically important regions of South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west and north, Iran to the southwest and China in the far northeast. It is separated from Tajikistan by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, and it shares a marine border with Oman.
The territory of modern Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures, including the Neolithic Mehrgarh and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation, and has undergone invasions or settlements by Hindu, Persian, Indo-Greek, Islamic, Turco-Mongol, Afghan and Sikh cultures. Thus the area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Indian Mauryan Empire, the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the Arab Umayyad Caliphate, the Mongol Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Durrani Empire, the Sikh Empire and the British Empire. As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and India's struggle for independence, Pakistan was created in 1947 as an independent nation for Muslims from the regions in the east and west of India where there was a Muslim majority. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a new constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic. A civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh.
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Pataliputra
Pāṭaliputra (Devanagari: पाटलिपुत्र), modern-day Patna, was a city in ancient India, originally built by Ajatashatru in 490 BC as a small fort (Pāṭaligrama) near the River Ganges, and later the capital of the ancient Mahājanapadas kingdom of Magadha. Its key central location in north central India led rulers of successive dynasties to base their administrative capital here, from the Nandas, Mauryans, Sungas and the Guptas down to the Palas. In the Lord Buddha's day it was a village known as Pataligrama. He visited it shortly before his death and prophesied it would be great but would face destruction either by fire, water, or civil war.[citation needed] Two important councils were held here, the first at the death of the Buddha and the second in the reign of Asoka. During the reign of Emperor Asoka in the 3rd century BCE, it was one of the world's largest cities, with a population of 150,000-300,000.[citation needed] Pataliputra reached the pinnacle of prosperity when it was the capital of the great Mauryan Emperors, Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka the Great. The city prospered under the Mauryas and a Greek ambassador Megasthenes resided there and left a detailed account of its splendour. The city also became a flourishing Buddhist centre boasting a number of important monasteries. It remained the capital of the Gupta dynasty (3rd–6th centuries CE) and the Pala Dynasty (8th-12th centuries CE). The city was largely in ruins when visited by Hsüan-tsang, and suffered further damage at the hands of Muslim raiders in the 12th century. Afterwards Sher Shah Suri made Pataliputra his capital and changed the name to modern Patna.
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Patna
Paṭnā /ˈpʌtnə/ ( Hindi pronunciation (help·info)) is the capital of the Indian state of Bihar and the second most populous city in Eastern India. Patna is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world.Ancient Patna, known as Pataliputra, was the capital of the Magadha Empire under the Haryanka, Nanda, Mauryan, Sunga, Gupta, Pala and during the Islamic period the seat of power for the Suri dynasty.
Pataliputra was also a seat of learning and fine arts. Its population during the Maurya period (around 300 BCE) was about 400,000.
The modern city of Patna is situated on the southern bank of the Ganges. The city also straddles the rivers Sone, Gandak and Punpun. The city is approximately 35 km long and 16 km to 18 km wide.
In June 2009, the World Bank ranked Patna in second place in India, after Delhi, in terms of the ease of starting a business. As at 2004-2005, Patna had the highest per capita gross district domestic product in Bihar, at Rs31,441. On the basis of,assumed average annual growth,Patna has been ranked as 21st fastest growing city in the world and 5th fastest growing city in India by City Mayors Foundation.Patna registered average annual growth of 3.72%,for the period of 2006-2010.
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Persia
Coordinates: 32°N 53°E / 32°N 53°E / 32; 53
Iran (i/ɪˈrɑːn/ or /aɪˈræn/;Persian: ایران [ʔiˈɾɒn] ( listen)), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: جمهوری اسلامی ایران Jomhuri-ye Eslāmi-ye Irān), is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran", which in Persian means "Land of the Aryans", has been in use natively since the Sassanian era. It came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia ( /ˈpɜrʒə/ or /ˈpɜrʃə/). Both "Persia" and "Iran" are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, "Iran" is the name used officially in political contexts.
The 18th-largest country in the world in terms of area at 1,648,195 km2 (636,372 sq mi), Iran has a population of around 79 million. It is a country of particular geopolitical significance owing to its location in the Middle East and central Eurasia. Iran is bordered on the north by Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. As Iran is a littoral state of the Caspian Sea, which is an inland sea, Kazakhstan and Russia are also Iran's direct neighbors to the north. Iran is bordered on the east by Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the south by the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by Iraq and on the northwest by Turkey. Tehran is the capital, the country's largest city and the political, cultural, commercial and industrial center of the nation. Iran is a regional power, and holds an important position in international energy security and world economy as a result of its large reserves of petroleum and natural gas. Iran has the second largest proven natural gas reserves in the world and the fourth largest proven petroleum reserves.
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Republic of India
India (i/ˈɪndiə/), officially the Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the south-west, and the Bay of Bengal on the south-east, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west;China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north-east; and Burma and Bangladesh to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; in addition, India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia.
Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four of the world's major religions—Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism—originated here, whereas Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived in the 1st millennium CE and also helped shape the region's diverse culture. Gradually annexed by and brought under the administration of the British East India Company from the early 18th century and administered directly by the United Kingdom from the mid-19th century, India became an independent nation in 1947 after a struggle for independence that was marked by non-violent resistance led by Mahatma Gandhi.
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Sisupalgarh
Coordinates: 20°13′35.9″N 85°51′11.0″E / 20.226639°N 85.85306°E / 20.226639; 85.85306
Sisupalgarh or Sishupalgarh are a ruined fortification in Khurda District in Orissa, India. It is one of the largest and best preserved early historic fortification in India.
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Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (i/ʃriː ˈlɑːŋkə/, /sriːˈlɑːŋkə/, or /sriːˈlæŋkə/;Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකාව, Tamil: இலங்கை), is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent in South Asia. Known until 1972 as Ceylon ( /sɨˈlɒn/, /seɪˈlɒn/, or /siːˈlɒn/), Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar, the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the Maldives.
As a result of its location in the path of major sea routes, Sri Lanka is a strategic naval link between West Asia and South East Asia. It was an important stop on the ancient Silk Road. Sri Lanka has also been a center of the Buddhist religion and culture from ancient times, being the nation where the Buddhist teachings were first written down as well as the oldest continually Buddhist country. Sri Lanka boasts a diverse range of cultures, languages and religions. The Sinhalese people form the majority of the population; Tamils, who are concentrated in the north and east of the island, form the largest ethnic minority. Other communities include Moors, Burghers, Kaffirs, Malays and the aboriginal Vedda people.
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Swat, Pakistan
Swat (pronounced [ˈsʋaːt̪], Pashto: سوات) is a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, located close to the Afghan-Pakistan border. It is the upper valley of the Swat River, which rises in the Hindu Kush range. The capital of Swat is Saidu Sharif, but the main town in the Swat valley is Mingora. It was a princely state (see Swat (princely state)) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa until it was dissolved in 1969. The valley is almost entirely populated by ethnic Afghans/Pashtuns . The language spoken in the valley is Pashto/Pakhto. With high mountains, green meadows, and clear lakes, it is a place of great natural beauty and is popular with tourists as "the Switzerland of South Asia".
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Syria
Syria (/ˈsɪriə/ ( listen) SIRR-ee-ə; Arabic: سورية Sūriyya or سوريا Sūryā; Syriac: ܣܘܪܝܐ; Kurdish: Sûrî), officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية العربية السورية al-Jumhūriyyah al-‘Arabīyah as-Sūriyyah Arabic pronunciation (help·info)), is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest.
In English, the name Syria was formerly synonymous with the Levant, known in Arabic as Sham, while the modern state encompasses the sites of several ancient kingdoms and empires, including the Eblan civilization of the third millennium BC. In the Islamic era, its capital city, Damascus, the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate, and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt.
The population of Syria is 74% Sunni, 12% Alawi, 10% Christian, and 3% Druze. Combined, 87% of the Syrian population is Muslim, while the other 10% is Christian, which includes mainly Arab Christians but also Assyrians and Armenians. Major ethnic minorities in Syria include Kurds (9%), Assyrians, Armenians, Turkmens and Circassians. The majority of the population is Arab (90%).
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Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu /ˈtæmɨl ˈnɑːduː/ (Tamiḻ Nāṭu [t̪amɨɭ naːɖɯ] ( listen)) is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital is Chennai, the largest city. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. It is bound by the Eastern Ghats in the north, the Nilgiri, the Anamalai Hills, and Palakkad on the west, by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Gulf of Mannar, the Palk Strait in the south east, and by the Indian Ocean in the south.
Tamil Nadu is the eleventh largest state in India by area and the seventh most populous state. It is the fourth largest contributor (as of 2010) to India's GDP and ranks tenth in Human Development Index as of 2006. Tamil Nadu is also the most urbanised state in India. The state has the highest number (10.56%) of business enterprises and stands second in total employment (9.97%) in India, compared to the population share of about 6%.
The region has been the home of the Tamil people since at least 500 BCE. Its official language Tamil has been in use in inscriptions and literature for over 2000 years. Tamil Nadu is home to many natural resources, Hindu temples of Dravidian architecture, hill stations, beach resorts, multi-religious pilgrimage sites and eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
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Taxila
Taxila (Urdu: ٹیکسلا) is a Tehsil in the Rawalpindi District of Punjab province of Pakistan. It is an important archaeological site. Taxila is situated about 32 km (20 mi) northwest of Islamabad Capital Territory and Rawalpindi in Panjab; just off the Grand Trunk Road. Taxila lies 549 metres (1,801 ft) above sea level.
The city dates back to the Gandhara period and contains the ruins of the Gandhāran city of Takṣaśilā which was an important Hindu and Buddhist centre, and is still considered a place of religious and historical sanctity in those traditions. In 1980, Taxila was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site with multiple locations. In 2006 it was ranked as the top tourist destination in Pakistan by The Guardian newspaper.
Scattered references in later works indicate that Takshashila may have dated back to at least the 5th century BCE. Takṣaśilā is reputed to derive its name from Takṣa, who was the son of Bharata, the brother of Rama, and Mandavi. Legend has it that Takṣa ruled a kingdom called Takṣa Khanda, and founded the city of Takṣaśilā. According to another theory propounded by Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi, Takṣaśilā is related to Takṣaka, Sanskrit for "carpenter", and is an alternative name for the Nāgas of ancient India.
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Telangana
Telangana which literally means Land of Telugu people, is a region in the present state of Andhra Pradesh, India and formerly was part of Hyderabad state which was ruled by the Nizams. It is bordered by the states of Maharashtra to the north and north-west, Karnataka to the west, Chattisgarh to the north-east and Orissa to the east. Andhra Pradesh State has three main cultural regions of which Telengana is one; others include Coastal Andhra region in the east and Rayalaseema region in the south. The Telangana region has an area of 114,840 square kilometres (44,340 sq mi), and a population of 35,286,757 (2011 census) which is 41.6% of Andhra Pradesh state population.
The Telangana region comprises 10 districts: Hyderabad, Adilabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy, and Warangal. The Musi River, Krishna and Godavari rivers flow through the region from west to east.
Since Telangana was merged with Andhra state to form Andhra Pradesh state in 1956, there were several agitations in Telangana to invalidate the merger and to form Telangana state. On December 9, 2009, Government of India announced process of formation of Telangana state. Due to objections raised in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions immediately after the announcement, and due to the agitation in those regions for 14 days, the decision to form to new state was put on hold on December 23, 2009. Since December 2009, Telangana movement intensified and it continue to dominate the state politics and is the cause of instability in the region.
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Thailand
Thailand (
/ˈtaɪlænd/ TY-land or /ˈtaɪlənd/;Thai: ประเทศไทย, RTGS: Prathet Thai), officially the Kingdom of Thailand (Thai: ราชอาณาจักรไทย, RTGS: Ratcha Anachak Thai; IPA: [râːt.tɕʰā ʔāːnāːtɕàk tʰāj] ( listen)), formerly known as Siam (Thai: สยาม; RTGS: Sayam), is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Burma. Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India in the Andaman Sea to the southwest.
The country is a constitutional monarchy, headed by King Rama IX, the ninth king of the House of Chakri, who, having reigned since 1946, is the world's longest-serving head of state and the longest-reigning monarch in Thai history. The king of Thailand is titled Head of State, Head of the Armed Forces, the Upholder of the Buddhist religion, and the Defender of all Faiths.
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Tripitaka Koreana
The Tripitaka Koreana (lit. Goryeo Tripitaka) or Palman Daejanggyeong ("Eighty-Thousand Tripitaka") is a Korean collection of the Tripitaka (Buddhist scriptures, and the Sanskrit word for "three baskets"), carved onto 81,258 wooden printing blocks in the 13th century. It is the world's most comprehensive and oldest intact version of Buddhist canon in Hanja script, with no known errors or errata in the 52,382,960 characters which are organized in over 1496 titles and 6568 volumes. Each wood block measures 70 centimeters in width and 24 centimeters in length. The thickness of the blocks range from 2.6 to 4 centimeters and each weighs about three to four kilograms. The work is stored in Haeinsa, a Buddhist temple in South Gyeongsang province, in South Korea.
The name "Goryeo Tripitaka" comes from "Goryeo", the name of Korea from the 10th to the 14th centuries. It served as reference for the edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon.
The Tripitaka Koreana was first carved in 1087 during the Third Goryeo-Khitan War. The act of carving the woodblocks was considered to be a way of bringing about a change in fortune by invoking the Buddha's help.
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Turkey
Turkey (Turkish: Türkiye), known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia (mostly in the Anatolian peninsula) and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea is to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between East Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.
Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. The vast majority of the population are Muslims. The country's official language is Turkish, whereas Kurdish and Zazaki languages are spoken by Kurds and Zazas, who constitute 18% of the population.
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University of Delhi
The University of Delhi (or simply DU) is a central university in Delhi, India and is funded by Government of India. Established in 1922, it offers courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. Vice-President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari is the chancellor. It was ranked 371 in the world in 2010 by the THES - QS world universities ranking. The university has two campuses in the northern and southern part of the city. The north campus is well connected with the yellow line of the Delhi Metro. The station is called Vishwavidyalaya, which means "university" in Hindi and Sanskrit. North campus is about 2.5 km from Delhi Vidhan Sabha and 7.0 km from ISBT.
When the University took birth, only three colleges existed in Delhi then: St. Stephen’s College founded in 1881, Hindu College founded in 1899 and Ramjas College founded in 1917, which were subsequently affiliated to it. The University thus had a modest beginning with just three colleges, two faculties (Arts and Science) and about 750 students. In October 1933, the University offices and the Library shifted to the Viceregal Lodge Estate, where Viceroy Lord Hardinge stayed (1912-1931)
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Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh /ˌʌtər prəˈdɛʃ/, abbreviation U.P. ("Northern Province"; formerly: United Provinces), is a state located in the north western part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity. Were it a nation in its own right, Uttar Pradesh would be the world's fifth most populous country, ahead of Brazil (a country thirty-five times larger in territorial area than Uttar Pradesh). On 9 November 2000, the Himalayan portion of the state, comprising the Garhwal and Kumaon divisions and Haridwar district, was formed into a new state 'Uttaranchal', now called Uttarakhand, meaning the 'Northern Segment' state.
Uttar Pradesh is the second largest state-economy in India, with a GDP of $103.5 billion in 2009. The annual per capita GDP of the state was $1586 in 2009, on purchasing power parity basis. It contributed 8.34% to India's total GDP in the financial year 2010. Agriculture is a significant part of UP's economy. The state was India's sixth largest producer of fruits, and became the largest producer of vegetables in 2010. With an area of 93,933 sq mi (243,290 km2), Uttar Pradesh covers a large part of the highly fertile and densely populated upper Gangetic plain. It shares an international border with Nepal to the north. Other states along Uttar Pradesh's border include Uttarakhand, Haryana and Delhi to the north and northwest; Rajasthan on the west; Madhya Pradesh on the south; Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand on the south east; and Bihar on the east.
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Varanasi
Varanasi Hindustani pronunciation: [ʋaːˈraːɳəsi] ( listen)), also commonly known as Banaras or Benaras (Banāras [bəˈnaːrəs] ( listen)) and Kashi, Kāśī [ˈkaːʃi] ( listen)), is a city situated on the banks of the River Ganges in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, 320 kilometres (199 mi) southeast of state capital Lucknow. It is regarded as a holy city by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and the oldest in India.
The Kashi Naresh (Maharaja of Kashi) is the chief cultural patron of Varanasi and an essential part of all religious celebrations. The culture of Varanasi is closely associated with the River Ganges and the river's religious importance. The city has been a cultural and religious centre in North India for several thousand years. The Benares Gharana form of the Indian classical music developed in Varanasi, and many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians resided or reside in Varanasi. Gautama Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath located near Varanasi (Kashi).
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Vietnam
Vietnam ( listen), formally the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam; listen), is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. With an estimated 91.5 million inhabitants as of 2012, it is the world's 13th-most-populous country, and the eighth-most-populous Asian country. The name Vietnam translates as "South Viet", and was officially adopted in 1945. The country is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east.
The Vietnamese became independent from Imperial China in 938 AD, following the Battle of Bạch Đằng River. Successive Vietnamese royal dynasties flourished as the nation expanded geographically and politically into Southeast Asia, until the Indochina Peninsula was colonized by the French in the mid-19th century. The First Indochina War eventually led to the expulsion of the French in 1954, leaving Vietnam divided politically into two states, North and South Vietnam. Conflict between the two sides intensified, with heavy foreign intervention, during the Vietnam War, which ended with a North Vietnamese victory in 1975.
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Agyeya
Sachchidananda Hirananda Vatsyayana 'Agyeya' (सच्चिदानन्द हीरानन्द वात्स्यायन 'अज्ञेय') (March 7, 1911 – April 4, 1987), popularly known by his pen-name Ajneya ("Beyond comprehension"), was a pioneer of modern trends not only in the realm of Hindi poetry, but also fiction, criticism and journalism. He was one of the most prominent exponents of the Nayi Kavita (New Poetry) and Prayog (Experiments) in Modern Hindi literature, edited the 'Saptaks', a literary series, and started Hindi newsweekly, Dinaman.
Agyeya also translated some of his own works, as well as works of some other Indian authors to English. A few books of world literature he translated into Hindi also.
Sachchidananda Vatsyayana was born on March 7, 1911 in a tent at Kushinagar, Kushinagar district of Uttar Pradesh. His father Hirananda was an archaeologist, and an expert in the Sanskrit language. His childhood was spent in many different places, including Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Nalanda, Udupi, Madras, Jalandhar, Jammu and Srinagar.
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Ananda
Ānanda was one of the principal disciples and a devout attendant of the Buddha. Amongst the Buddha's many disciples, Ānanda had the most retentive memory and most of the suttas in the Sutta Pitaka are attributed to his recollection of the Buddha's teachings during the First Buddhist Council. For that, he was known as the Guardian of the Dharma.
According to the Buddha every Buddha in the past and to come will have two chief disciples and one attendant during his ministry. In the case of Gautama Buddha the pair of disciples were Sariputta and Mahamoggallana and the attendant Ānanda.
The word 'Ānanda' means 'bliss' in Pali, Sanskrit as well as other Indian languages. It is a popular Buddhist and Hindu name, but popular also among Muslims in Indonesia.
In the Kannakatthala Sutta (MN 90), Ananda is identified with the meaning of his name:
Ānanda was the first cousin of the Buddha by their fathers, and was devoted to him. In the twentieth year of the Buddha's ministry, he became the Buddha's personal attendant, accompanying him on most of his wanderings and taking the part of interlocutor in many of the recorded dialogues. He is the subject of a special panegyric delivered by the Buddha just before the Buddha's Parinibbana (the Mahaparinibbana Sutta (DN 16)); it is a panegyric for a man who is kindly, unselfish, popular, and thoughtful toward others.
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Antiochus II Theos
Antiochus II Theos (Greek: Αντίοχος Β' Θεός, 286 BC – 246 BC) was a king of the Hellenistic Seleucid Kingdom who reigned in 261 BC – 246 BC). He succeeded his father Antiochus I Soter in the winter of 262–61 BC. He was the younger son of Antiochus I and princess Stratonice, the daughter of Demetrius Poliorcetes.
He inherited a state of war with Egypt, the "Second Syrian War", which was fought along the coasts of Asia Minor, and the constant intrigues of petty despots and restless city-states in Asia Minor. Antiochus also made some attempt to get a footing in Thrace. During the war he was given the title Theos (Greek: Θεός, "God"), being such to the Milesians in slaying the tyrant Timarchus.
During the time Antiochus was occupied with the war against Egypt, Andragoras, his satrap in Parthia, proclaimed independence. According to Justin's epitome of Pompeius Trogus, in Bactria, his satrap Diodotus also revolted in 255 BC, and founded the Greco-Bactrian kingdom, which further expanded in India in 180 BC to form the Greco-Indian kingdom (180 BC – 1 BC). Then about 238 BC, Arsaces led a revolt of the Parthians against Andragoras, leading to the foundation of the Parthian Empire. These events would have cut off communications with India. Phylarchus relays current scandals regarding his drunken banquets and liaisons with unsuitable young men.
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Asanga
Asaṅga (Sanskrit: असङ्ग; Tibetan: ཐོགས་མེད།; Wylie: Thogs med; traditional Chinese: 無著; pinyin: Wúzhuó; Romaji: Mujaku) was a major exponent of the Yogācāra tradition in India, also called Vijñānavāda. Traditionally, he and his half-brother Vasubandhu are regarded as the founders of this school. The two half-brothers were also major exponents of Abhidharma teachings, which were highly technical and sophisticated hermeneutics as well.
Asaṅga was born as the son of a Kshatriya father and Brahmin mother in Purushapura (present day Peshawar in Pakistan), which at that time was part of the ancient kingdom of Gandhāra. Current scholarship places him in in the fourth century CE. He was perhaps originally a member of the Mahīśāsaka school or the Mūlasarvāstivāda school but later converted to Mahāyāna.
In the record of his journeys through the kingdoms of India, Xuanzang wrote that Asaṅga was initially a Mahīśāsaka monk, but soon turned toward the Mahāyāna teachings. Asaṅga had a half-brother, Vasubandhu, who was a monk from the Sarvāstivāda school. Vasubandhu is said to have taken up Mahāyāna Buddhism after meeting with Asaṅga and one of Asaṅga's disciples.
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Ashoka
Ashoka (Devanāgarī: अशोक, IAST: Aśoka, IPA: [aˈɕoːkə], ca. 304–232 BC), also known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from ca. 269 BC to 232 BC. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests. His empire stretched from present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan in the west, to the present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of Assam in the east, and as far south as northern Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. He conquered the kingdom named Kalinga, which none of his ancestors had conquered starting from Chandragupta Maurya. His reign was headquartered in Magadha (present-day Bihar). He embraced Buddhism after witnessing the mass deaths of the Kalinga War, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. He was later dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia and established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha. Ashoka was a devotee of ahimsa (nonviolence), love, truth, tolerance and vegetarianism. Ashoka is remembered in history as a philanthropic administrator. In the history of India, Ashoka is referred to as Samraat Chakravartin Ashoka – the "Emperor of Emperors Ashoka".
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Ashoka the Great
Ashoka (Devanāgarī: अशोक, IAST: Aśoka, IPA: [aˈɕoːkə], ca. 304–232 BC), also known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from ca. 269 BC to 232 BC. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests. His empire stretched from present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan in the west, to the present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of Assam in the east, and as far south as northern Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. He conquered the kingdom named Kalinga, which none of his ancestors had conquered starting from Chandragupta Maurya. His reign was headquartered in Magadha (present-day Bihar). He embraced Buddhism after witnessing the mass deaths of the Kalinga War, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. He was later dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia and established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha. Ashoka was a devotee of ahimsa (nonviolence), love, truth, tolerance and vegetarianism. Ashoka is remembered in history as a philanthropic administrator. In the history of India, Ashoka is referred to as Samraat Chakravartin Ashoka – the "Emperor of Emperors Ashoka".
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Atisha
Atiśa Dipankara Shrijnana (Bengali: অতীশ দীপঙ্কর শ্রীজ্ঞান Ôtish Dipôngkor Srigên, IAST: Dīpaṃkara- śrījñiāna Atiśa; Chinese: 燃燈吉祥智; pinyin: Rándēng Jíxiángzhì) (980–1054 CE) was a Buddhist teacher from the Pala Empire who, along with Konchog Gyalpo and Marpa, was one of the major figures in the establishment of the Sarma lineages in Tibet after the repression of Buddhism by King Langdarma (Glang Darma).
Atisha is most commonly said to have been born in the year 980 in Vajrayogini village[citation needed] in Bikrampur, the northeastern region of Bengal (located in modern day Bangladesh). His homestead in the village is still known to the local people as the "Ponditer bhita" (the homestead of the Pundit - a learned man). The exact years of his birth and death are widely disputed. Some sources indicate that Atisha was born in 982 and died in 1054, while more recent studies contend that his life began in 980 and ended in 1052.[citation needed] In any case, it is unanimously recognised that Atisha lived to the age of seventy-two. It is noteworthy that, while no direct connections can be made to the birth of Atisha, the year 980 also saw a major power shift in Bengali politics as the resurgent Pala dynasty seized control of the region, disposing of the incumbent Kamboja rulers. Atisha was allegedly born into royalty, and it would be intriguing to know whether his royal status stemmed from one of these two contemporaneous contending powers.
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Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th/6th century CE. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Ch'an (Sanskrit: Dhyāna, Japanese: Zen) to China, and regarded as the first Chinese patriarch. According to Chinese legend, he also began the physical training of the Shaolin monks that led to the creation of Shaolinquan.
Little contemporary biographical information on Bodhidharma is extant, and subsequent accounts became layered with legend. There are three principal sources for Bodhidharma's biography: Yáng Xuànzhī's (Yang Hsüan-chih) The Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang (547), Tánlín's preface to the Two Entrances and Four Acts (6th century CE), and Dàoxuān's (Tao-hsuan) Further Biographies of Eminent Monks (7th century CE).
These sources vary on their account of Bodhidharma being either "from Persia" (547 CE), "a Brahman monk from South India" (645 CE), "the third son of a Brahman king of South India" (ca. 715 CE).Some traditions specifically describe Bodhidharma to be the third son of a Tamil Pallava king from Kanchipuram.
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Brahmin
Brahmin (also called Brahman; from Sanskrit brāhmaṇa ब्राह्मण) is a name used to designate a member of one of the four varnas (castes) in the traditional Hindu societys of Nepal and India.
Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self. Brahmin or Brahmana refers to an individual, while the word Brahma refers to the creative aspect of the universal consciousness. The English word brahmin is an anglicised form of the Sanskrit word Brāhmana. In the Smriti view there are four "varnas", or classes: the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas, and Shudras. The Atreya smriti 141-142 enjoins that
One is a Shudra by birth
samskarad dvija ucyate
By observing Sanskara one becomes a Dvija
vedapathi bhaved viprah
By studying the Vedas one becomes a Vipra
brahma janati brahmanah
Traditionally Brahmin was the name given to persons who had attained the highest spiritual knowledge (brahmavidya) and who adhered to different branches (shakhas) of Vedas. This was described to be a difficult path of discipline of body, mind, and intellect. Irrespective of their birth or class,[citation needed] people who were dedicated to such an austere life were recognized as Brahmins.[citation needed] An example of this definition of Brahmin, that a person becomes a Brahmin, rather than being born as one, is the story of the sage Vishwamitra, who was a warrior, who became a Brahmin after attaining brahmavidya, and composed the Gayatri mantra. [defunct example from period before dharmashastras So,[citation needed] The belief that people born into the Brahmin caste, automatically become Brahmins, is a concept that emerged later in ancient India.[citation needed]
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Brhadrata
Brihadratha Maurya was the last ruler of the Mauryan dynasty. He ruled from c. 187–180 BCE. He was killed by his senapati (commander-in-chief), Pusyamitra Sunga
According to the Puranas, Brihadratha succeeded Śatadhanvan and he ruled for seven years. Mauryan territories, centered around the capital of Pataliputra, had shrunk considerably from the time of the great Emperor Ashoka when Brihadratha came to the throne.
In 180 BCE, northwestern India (parts of modern day Afghanistan and Pakistan) were attacked by the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius. He established his rule in the Kabul Valley and parts of the Punjab (the present-day Pakistan). The Yuga Purana section of the Gargi Samhita says that the Yavana (Greco-Bactrian) army led by King Dhamamita (Demetrius) invaded the Mauryan territories during Brihadratha's reign and after occupying Panchala region and the cities of Saketa and Mathura, they finally captured Pataliputra. But soon they had to leave to Bactria to fight a fierce battle (probably between Eucratides and Demetrius).
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British people
British people (also referred to as the British, Britons, or informally as Brits or Britishers) are citizens or natives of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, of any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants.British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, which can be acquired, for instance, by birth in the UK or by descent from British nationals. When used in a historical context, the term British people refers to the ancient Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain south of the Forth.
Although early assertions of being British date from the Late Middle Ages, the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 triggered a sense of British national identity. The notion of Britishness was forged during the Napoleonic Wars between Britain and the First French Empire, and developed further during the Victorian era. The complex history of the formation of the United Kingdom created a "particular sense of nationhood and belonging" in Great Britain; Britishness became "superimposed on much older identities", of English, Scots and Welsh cultures, whose distinctiveness still resist notions of a homogenised British identity. Because of longstanding ethno-sectarian divisions, British identity in Northern Ireland is controversial, but it is held with strong conviction by unionists.
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Buddha
Gautama Buddha or Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम बुद्ध; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. The word Buddha is a title for the first awakened being in an era. In most Buddhist traditions, Siddhartha Gautama is regarded as the Supreme Buddha (P. sammāsambuddha, S. samyaksaṃbuddha) of our age, "Buddha" meaning "awakened one" or "the enlightened one." Gautama Buddha may also be referred to as Śākyamuni (Sanskrit: शाक्यमुनि "Sage of the Śākyas"). The Buddha found a Middle Way that ameliorated the extreme asceticism found in the Sramana religions.
The time of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century historians dated his lifetime as c. 563 BCE to 483 BCE, but more recent opinion dates his death to between 486 and 483 BCE or, according to some, between 411 and 400 BCE. UNESCO lists Lumbini, Nepal, as a world heritage site and birthplace of Gautama Buddha. There are also claims about birth place of Gautama Buddha to be Kapileswara, Orissa or Kapilavastu at Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kośala.
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Buddhaghosa
Bhadantācariya Buddhaghoṣa（Thai: พระพุทธโฆษาจารย์, Chinese: 覺音）was a 5th-century Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar. His best-known work is the Visuddhimagga, or Path of Purification, a comprehensive summary and analysis of the Theravada understanding of the Buddha's path to liberation. The interpretations provided by Buddhaghosa have generally constituted the orthodox understanding of Theravada scriptures since at least the 12th century CE. He is generally recognized by both Western scholars and Theravadins as the most important commentator of the Theravada.
Limited reliable information is available about the life of Buddhaghosa. Three primary sources of information exist: short prologues and epilogues attached to Buddhaghosa's works; details of his life recorded in the Mahavamsa, a Sri Lankan chronicle; and a later biographical work called the Buddhaghosuppatti. A few other sources discuss the life of Buddhaghosa, but do not appear to add any reliable material. His name means "Reverend Teacher" (Bhadanta+ācariya) and "Voice of the Buddha" (Buddha+ghosa) in Pali.
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Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy indigenous to the Indian subcontinent and encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs, and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is commonly known as the Buddha (meaning "the awakened one" in Sanskrit and Pāli). The Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by Buddhists as an awakened or enlightened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end ignorance (avidyā), craving (taṇhā), and suffering (dukkha), by recognizing dependent origination and sunyata, and attain Nirvana.
Two major branches of Buddhism are recognized: Theravada ("The School of the Elders") and Mahayana ("The Great Vehicle"). Theravada has a widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana is found throughout East Asia and includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shingon, Tiantai (Tendai) and Shinnyo-en. In some classifications, Vajrayana—practiced mainly in Tibet and Mongolia, and adjacent parts of China and Russia—is recognized as a third branch, while others classify it as a part of Mahayana. There are other categorisations of these three Vehicles or Yanas.
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Buddhist
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy indigenous to the Indian subcontinent and encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs, and practices largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, who is commonly known as the Buddha (meaning "the awakened one" in Sanskrit and Pāli). The Buddha lived and taught in the eastern part of Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by Buddhists as an awakened or enlightened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end ignorance (avidyā), craving (taṇhā), and suffering (dukkha), by recognizing dependent origination and sunyata, and attain Nirvana.
Two major branches of Buddhism are recognized: Theravada ("The School of the Elders") and Mahayana ("The Great Vehicle"). Theravada has a widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Mahayana is found throughout East Asia and includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shingon, Tiantai (Tendai) and Shinnyo-en. In some classifications, Vajrayana—practiced mainly in Tibet and Mongolia, and adjacent parts of China and Russia—is recognized as a third branch, while others classify it as a part of Mahayana. There are other categorisations of these three Vehicles or Yanas.
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Chandragupta Maurya
Chandragupta Maurya (Sanskrit: चन्द्रगुप्त मौर्य महान Hindi: चन्द्रगुप्त मौर्य महान), (born c. 340 BCE, ruled c. 320 BCE, – 298 BCE) was the founder of the Maurya Empire. He succeeded in conquering most of the Indian subcontinent and is considered the first unifier of India as well as its first genuine emperor. In foreign Greek and Latin accounts, Chandragupta is known as Sandrokyptos (Σανδρόκυπτος), Sandrokottos (Σανδρόκοττος) or Androcottus.
Prior to Chandragupta's consolidation of power, small regional kingdoms dominated the northwestern subcontinent, while the Nanda Dynasty dominated the middle and lower basin of the Ganges. After Chandragupta's conquests, the Maurya Empire extended from Bengal and Assam in the east, to Afghanistan and Balochistan,some part of the easten and south-east Iran in the west, to Kashmir and Nepal in the north, and to the Deccan Plateau in the south. Tradition holds that Chandragupta abdicated his throne to become a monk and led such an ascetic life that he starved himself to death. Whether or not this is factually accurate, he was succeeded by his son in 298 BC.
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China
China (i/ˈtʃaɪnə/; Chinese: 中国; pinyin: Zhōngguó; see also Names of China), officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is the world's most-populous country, with a population of over 1.3 billion. Covering approximately 9.6 million square kilometres, the East Asian state is the world's second-largest country by land area, and the third- or fourth-largest in total area, depending on the definition of total area.
The People's Republic of China is a single-party state governed by the Communist Party of China. It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four directly controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing), and two mostly self-governing special administrative regions (Hong Kong and Macau). Its capital city is Beijing. The PRC also claims Taiwan—which is controlled by the Republic of China (ROC), a separate political entity—as its 23rd province, a claim controversial due to the complex political status of Taiwan and the unresolved Chinese Civil War. The PRC government denies the legitimacy of the ROC.
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Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Sino-Mongolian word далай (dalai) meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word བླ་མ་ bla-ma (with a silent "b") meaning "chief, high priest".
In religious terms, the Dalai Lama is believed by his devotees to be the rebirth of a long line of tulkus who are considered to be manifestations of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteśvara. Traditionally, the Dalai Lama is thought of as the latest reincarnation of a series of spiritual leaders who have chosen to be reborn in order to enlighten others. The Dalai Lama is often thought to be the leader of the Gelug School, but this position belongs officially to the Ganden Tripa, which is a temporary position appointed by the Dalai Lama who, in practice, exerts much influence. The line of Dalai Lamas began as a lineage of spiritual teachers; the 5th Dalai Lama assumed political authority over Tibet.
For certain periods between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lamas sometimes directed the Tibetan government, which administered portions of Tibet from Lhasa. The 14th Dalai Lama remained the head of state for the Central Tibetan Administration ("Tibetan government in exile") until his retirement on March 14, 2011. He has indicated that the institution of the Dalai Lama may be abolished in the future, and also that the next Dalai Lama may be found outside Tibet and may be female. The Chinese government was very quick to reject this and claimed that only it has the authority to select the next Dalai Lama.
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Dharmaraksita
Dharmarakṣita (Sanskrit), or Dhammarakkhita (Pali) (translation: Protected by the Dharma), was one of the missionaries sent by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka to proselytize the Buddhist faith. He is described as being a Greek (Pali: "Yona", lit. "Ionian") in the Mahavamsa, and his activities are indicative of the strength of the Hellenistic Greek involvement during the formative centuries of Buddhism.
Greek communities had been present in neighbouring Bactria and in northwestern India since the time of the conquests of Alexander the Great around 323 BCE, and developed into the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms until the end of the 1st century BCE. Greeks were generally described in ancient times throughout the Classical world as "Yona", "Yonaka", "Yojanas" or "Yavanas", lit. “Ionians".
It seems they were ardent recipients of the Buddhist faith and the example of Dharmaraksita indicates that they even took an active role in spreading Buddhism as leading missionaries.
The efforts of Emperor Ashoka to spread the Buddhist faith are described in the Edicts of Ashoka carved during his reign on stone pillars and cave walls:
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Fa Hien
Faxian (traditional Chinese: 法顯; simplified Chinese: 法显; pinyin: Fǎxiǎn; also romanized as Fa-Hien, Fa-hsien, Fa Xian, et al.) (337 – c. 422 CE) was a Chinese Buddhist monk who traveled to India, Sri Lanka and Kapilavastu in today's Nepal between 399 and 412 to acquire Buddhist scriptures. His journey is described in his important travelogue, A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms, Being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Xian of his Travels in India and Ceylon in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline.
He is most known for his pilgrimage to Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautama Buddha. Faxian is a Chinese pilgrim and scholar who visited India during the reign of Chandragupta II. Faxian claimed that demons and dragons were the original inhabitants of Ceylon (Sri Lanka).
On Faxian's return to China, after a two-year stay in Ceylon, a violent storm drove his ship onto an island that was probably Java. Faxian landed at Laoshan in what is now Shandong province, 30 km east of the city of Qingdao, and went to Shandong's then-capital, Qingzhou, where he remained for a year translating and editing the scriptures he had collected.
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Gautama Buddha
Gautama Buddha or Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम बुद्ध; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. The word Buddha is a title for the first awakened being in an era. In most Buddhist traditions, Siddhartha Gautama is regarded as the Supreme Buddha (P. sammāsambuddha, S. samyaksaṃbuddha) of our age, "Buddha" meaning "awakened one" or "the enlightened one." Gautama Buddha may also be referred to as Śākyamuni (Sanskrit: शाक्यमुनि "Sage of the Śākyas"). The Buddha found a Middle Way that ameliorated the extreme asceticism found in the Sramana religions.
The time of Gautama's birth and death are uncertain: most early 20th-century historians dated his lifetime as c. 563 BCE to 483 BCE, but more recent opinion dates his death to between 486 and 483 BCE or, according to some, between 411 and 400 BCE. UNESCO lists Lumbini, Nepal, as a world heritage site and birthplace of Gautama Buddha. There are also claims about birth place of Gautama Buddha to be Kapileswara, Orissa or Kapilavastu at Piprahwa, Uttar Pradesh He later taught throughout regions of eastern India such as Magadha and Kośala.
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Indo-Greek Kingdom
The Indo-Greek Kingdom or Graeco-Indian Kingdom covered various parts of the northwest regions of the Indian subcontinent during the last two centuries BC, and was ruled by more than 30 Hellenistic kings, often in conflict with each other.
The kingdom was founded when the Graeco-Bactrian king Demetrius invaded India early in the 2nd century BC. Pushed by the Scythian tribes, the Graeco-Bactrians were forced to invade India. The Greeks in India were eventually divided from the Graeco-Bactrians centered in Bactria (now the border between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan). But, the Greeks failed to establish a united rule in north-western India. The most famous Indo-Greek ruler was Menander (Milinda). He had his capital at Sakala in Punjab, modern Pakistan, and he successfully invaded the Ganges-Yamuna doab.
The expression "Indo-Greek Kingdom" loosely describes a number of various dynastic polities, traditionally associated with a number of regional capitals like Taxila, (modern Punjab (Pakistan)), Pushkalavati and Sagala. Other potential centers are only hinted at; for instance, Ptolemy's Geographia and the nomenclature of later kings suggest that a certain Theophila in the south of the Indo-Greek sphere of influence may also have been a satrapal or royal seat at one time.
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Jaishankar Prasad
Jaishankar Prasad (January 30, 1889 – January 14, 1937), one of the most famous figures in modern Hindi literature as well as Hindi theatre.
Jaishankar Prasad was born on January 30, 1889, in an elite madheshiya vaisya family in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India. His father Babu Devki Prasad, also known as Sunghani Sahu (सुंघनी साहू), was a tobacco dealer. After, he lost his father at an early age, he had to encounter some family financial problems at a relatively young age, and left school after class eight. However, he remained interested in literature, many languages, and ancient history, and continued studying at home; thereafter he developed a special inclination towards the Vedas and these interests are innately reflected in the deep philosophical contender/content of his works.[citation needed]
His initial poetry (Chitraadhar collection) was done in the Braj dialect of Hindi, but later he switched to the Khadi dialect or Sanskritized Hindi.
In his earlier days, he was influenced by Sanskrit dramas, but later the influence of Bengali and Persian dramas is evident on his works. Prasad's most famous dramas include Skandagupta, Chandragupta and Dhruvaswamini .
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James Prinsep
James Prinsep (20 August 1799 – 22 April 1840) was an English scholar and antiquary. He was the seventh son of John Prinsep, a wealthy East India merchant and Member of Parliament (1746–1830) and his wife, Sophia Elizabeth Auriol (1760–1850). He married in Calcutta cathedral (25 April 1835) Harriet Sophia Aubert, the elder daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Jeremiah Aubert of the Bengal Army (grandson of Alexander Aubert) and his wife, Hannah. There was only one surviving child, a daughter, Eliza, born in 1837.
From 1832 to 1838 he was assay-master in the India Government Mint, Kolkata, Apart from architectural work (chiefly at Benares), his leisure was devoted to Indian inscriptions and numismatics. He is most noted as a philologist for fully deciphering and translating the rock edicts of Asoka from the Brāhmī script.
He arrived in Calcutta on September 15, 1819 and at the age of twenty, joined the service of the East India Company as Assay Master at the Government mint in Banares under Dr. Horace Hayman Wilson, the distinguished Sanscrit Scholar. He ultimately became assay-master at the main Government mint at Calcutta in 1832, succeeding Dr. Wilson, whom he likewise succeeded as secretary of the Asiatic Society. During James Prinsep's years in the mint he reformed weights and measures, introduced a uniform coinage and devised a balance so delicate as to indicate the three-thousandth part of a grain (.1944 mg).
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Kareena Kapoor
Kareena Kapoor (pronounced [kəˈriːnaː kəˈpuːr]; born on 21 September 1980), often informally referred to as Bebo, is an Indian actress who appears in Bollywood films. During her career, Kapoor has been noted for her performances in a range of film genres; these include her work from contemporary romantic dramas to comedies, period films to major Bollywood productions, as well as less publicised independent films.
Born into a family where her parents, Randhir Kapoor and Babita, and elder sister Karisma were actors, Kapoor faced the media spotlight from a very young age, but did not make her acting debut until the 2000 film Refugee. Her melodrama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... became India's highest-grossing film in the overseas market in 2001, and is one of her biggest commercial successes to date. After receiving negative reviews for a series of repetitive roles, Kapoor accepted more demanding parts in order to avoid being typecast, and was consequently recognized by critics for displaying greater versatility as an actress. Her portrayal of a sex worker in Chameli (2004) proved to be the turning point in her career and she was later noted for her performances in the critically acclaimed projects Dev (2004) and Omkara (2006). She went on to play the lead female role in the Imtiaz Ali-directed romantic comedy Jab We Met (2007), for which she received the Filmfare Award for Best Actress, and the drama 3 Idiots (2009), which became the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time.
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Katyayana (Buddhist)
Katyayana was a disciple of Gautama Buddha.
Katyayana, also known as Kaccana (or Kaccayana), Mahakatyayana, Mahakaccana and in Japanese as Kasennen, is one of the "Ten Disciples of the Buddha". [(1) Mahakashyapa, 2) Ananda, 3) Shariputra, 4) Subhuti, 5) Purna, 6) Mahamaudgalyayana, 7) Maha Katyayana, 8) Aniruddha, 9) Upali and 10) Rahula.] He was foremost in explaining Dharma. He was born in a brahmin family at Ujjayini (Ujjain) and received a classical Brahminical education studying the Vedas. Katyayana studied assiduously under Asita on Mount Vindhya, who had predicted that Prince Siddharta would become either a cakravartin, a great worldly ruler, or a Buddha. With a group of seven friends he invited the Buddha to visit, and gained enlightenment (bodhi) while listening to him preach. He was ordained, and made numerous converts in the state of Avanti.
Tradition attributes the authorship to Katyayana of the Nettipakarana, a work of grammar, and the Petakopadesa, a treatise on exegetical methodology, although these were most probably composed by a school descended from him.
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Khema
Khema was one of the two chief female disciples of Buddha (the other being Uppalavanna).
The name Khema means well-composed and she was quite beautiful. The nun belonged to the royal family of Magadha and was one of the chief queens of King Bimbisara.
She did not want to meet the Buddha as she knew he did not care much about beauty, and she was very self conscious about hers. She heard about the Buddha from her husband who encouraged her to hear his sermons and told her how beautiful Buddha's monastery was. Very interested in seeing beautiful things, decked out in royal splendor, she went to the monastery of Lord Buddha. There Buddha saw her approaching and created an exceptionally beautiful maiden by his side, whose beauty surpassed her own. Khema was captivated, seeing this, Buddha slowly aged the maiden :
Khema was finally willing to listen to Buddha, after his sermons, she attained full enlightenment, she became an arahant. With her husband's permission, she joined the order of nuns.
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Mahapajapati Gotami
Mahāpajābatī Gotamī (in Pali; Mahāprajābatī Gautamī in Sanskrit) was the first woman to request ordination from the Buddha and to join the Saṅgha. Mayadevi and Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī were the Koliyan Princess and was sisters of Suprabuddha . She was both the Buddha's maternal aunt and adoptive mother, raising him after her sister, Queen Maya (Mahāmāyā), the Buddha's birth mother, died.
An eminent Therī, Mahāprajāpatī was born at Devadaha, in the family of Suppabuddha, as the younger sister of Mahāmāyā. Mahāprajāpatī was so called because, at her birth, augurs prophesied that she would have a large following. Both sisters married King Śuddhodana, leader of the Śākya. When Mahāmāyā died, seven days after the birth of the Buddha, Pajāpati looked after the Buddha and nursed him. She raised the Buddha and had her own children, Siddhartha's half-brother Nanda and half-sister Sundari Nanda, but it is said that she gave her own children to nurses and herself nursed the Buddha.
When her sister, Queen Maya, died, Mahapajapati Gotami decided to attain Ordination. Mahapajapati Gotami went to the Buddha and asked to be ordained into the Sangha. The Buddha refused and went on to Vesāli. Undaunted, Gotami cut off her hair and donned yellow robes and with a large number of Sakyan ladies followed the Buddha to Vesāli on foot. Upon arrival, she repeated her request to be ordained. Ananda, one of the principal disciples and an attendant of the Buddha, met her and offered to intercede with the Buddha on her behalf.
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Mahinda
Mahinda (Sanskrit: महेन्द्र; Mahendra) (born 3rd century BCE in Magadha, now in Bihar, India) was a Buddhist monk depicted in Buddhist sources as bringing Buddhism to Sri Lanka. He was the son of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka and Ashoka's consort Maharani Devi.
The Dipavamsa and the Mahavamsa, Sri Lanka's two great religious chronicles, contain accounts of Mahinda travelling to Sri Lanka and converting King Devanampiyatissa. These are the primary sources for accounts of his life and deeds. Inscriptions and literary references also establish that Buddhism became prevalent in Sri Lanka around the 3rd century BCE, the period when Mahinda lived.
Mahinda grew up at Vidisha, the residence of his mother and became a monk at the age of 20 with Moggaliputta-Tissa, his father's spiritual teacher, guiding him and was well-versed with the Tripitaka. Mahinda together with fellow monks Itthiya, Uttiya, Sambala, Bhaddasala and Saamanera Sumana(who was the son of Sanghamitta) were sent to Sri Lanka to spread Buddhism, following the Third Buddhist Council, upon the recommendation of Moggaliputta-Tissa. He was also accompanied by a lay disciple Bhankuka, who was a maternal grandson of his aunt. The party left from Vedasagiri vihara, believed to be modern day Sanchi.
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Mahākāśyapa
Mahākāśyapa (Sanskrit; Pali: Mahākassapa; Japanese: Maha Kasho or Makakasho) or Kāśyapa was a brahman of Magadha, who became one of the principal disciples of Śākyamuni Buddha and who convened and directed the first council. Mahākāśyapa is one of the most revered of the Buddha's early disciples, foremost in ascetic practices. He is often depicted in statuary together with Ananda, each standing to one side of the Buddha.
Zen purports to lead its adherents to insights akin to that mentioned by Śākyamuni Buddha in his Flower Sermon in which he held up a white flower and just admired it in his hand. Mahākāśyapa smiled faintly, and Śākyamuni Buddha picked that disciple as one who truly understood him and who was worthy to be his successor.
The words of the Śākyamuni Buddha addressed to Mahākāśyapa are described below:
I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvana, the true form of the formless, the subtle dharma gate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahākāśyapa.
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Michael H. Hart
Michael H. Hart (born April 28, 1932 in New York City) is an astrophysicist who has also written three books on history and controversial articles on a variety of subjects. Hart describes himself as a Jeffersonian liberal, while his critics call him a conservative and a racial separatist.
Hart, a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science who enlisted in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, received his undergraduate degree at Cornell University in mathematics and later earned a Ph.D. in astrophysics at Princeton University. He also holds graduate degrees in physics, astronomy, and computer science, as well as a law degree. He was a research scientist at NASA before leaving to be a professor of physics at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. He has also taught both astronomy and history of science at Anne Arundel Community College in Arnold, Maryland. His published work in peer-reviewed scientific journals includes several detailed computer simulations of atmospheric evolution.
Among Hart's articles was one, published in 1975, that gave scientific support for the conclusion that the only intelligent life in the Milky Way Galaxy resides on the planet Earth.
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Moggallana
This article incorporates text from the Dictionary of Pali Proper Names by G. P. Malalasekera, a publication now in the public domain.
Maudgalyāyana (Pali: Moggallāna; Chinese: 目連; pinyin: Mùlián; Japanese: 目犍連, Mokuren or Mokkenren), also known as Mahāmaudgalyāyana or Mahāmoggallāna, was one of the Śākyamuni Buddha's closest disciples. A contemporary of famous arhats such as Subhūti, Śāriputra, and Mahākāśyapa, he is considered the second of the Buddha's two foremost disciples (foremost in supernatural powers), together with Śāriputra. He was born in a Brahmin family of Kolita.
Maudgalyāyana was the most accomplished of all the Buddha's disciples in the various supernormal powers that could be developed through meditation. These abilities included being able to use mind-reading for such things as detecting lies from truths, transporting himself from his body into the various realms of existence, and speaking with ghosts and gods. He is traditionally attributed with the ability to do such things as walking through walls, walking on water, flying through the air, and moving with a speed comparable to the speed of light.[citation needed]
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Mortimer Wheeler
Brigadier Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH, CIE, MC, FBA, FSA (10 September 1890 – 22 July 1976), was one of the best-known British archaeologists of the twentieth century.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, he was educated at Bradford Grammar School and the University of London where he achieved an MA degree in 1912. In 1913 he won the studentship for archaeology established jointly by the University of London and the Society of Antiquaries in memory of Augustus Wollaston Franks. Sir Arthur Evans doubled the amount of money that went with the studentship, paying out of his own pocket another £100. In late autumn 1913 he began to work for the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England).
At the beginning of World War I he was commissioned into the Royal Artillery (Territorial Force), at first remaining in London as an instructor in the University of London Officers' Training Corps. Then he was posted to several battery commands in Scotland and England until 1917. The last part of the war he fought in France, Passchendaele, the Western Front, near Bapaume, and finally marched into Germany, commanding 'A' Battery of 76th Brigade, RFA. During July 1919 he returned from the Rhineland to London and to civilian life.
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Nagarjuna
Acharya Nāgārjuna (Devanagari:नागार्जुन, Telugu: నాగార్జున, Tibetan: ཀླུ་སྒྲུབ་ klu sgrub, Chinese: 龍樹, Sinhala නාගර්පුන) (ca. 150–250 CE) was an important Buddhist teacher and philosopher. Along with his disciple Āryadeva, he is credited with founding the Mādhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The Mādhyamaka school was in turn transmitted to China under the name of the Sānlùn School (Ch. 三論宗, "Three Treatise School").
Nāgārjuna is sometimes credited with developing the philosophy of the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, and being associated with the Buddhist university of Nālandā. In the Jodo Shinshu and Shingon schools of Buddhism in Japan he is considered the First Patriarch. In some Mahāyāna traditions, Nāgārjuna is regarded as a second buddha.
According to most available accounts, Nāgārjuna was originally from Southern India. Archaeological discoveries at Amarāvatī confirm the fact that Nāgārjuna maintained a friendship with the Sātavāhana king Gautamīputra Śātakarṇi, to whom he addressed his Letter to a Friend (Skt. Sahṛd-lekhā). On this basis, Nāgārjuna is conventionally placed at around 150–250 CE.
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Nanda (Buddhist)
Prince Nanda was the younger half-brother of the Buddha. He shared the same father as the Buddha, King Śuddhodana and his mother, Mahapajapati Gotami, was the Buddha's mother's younger sister.
It was seven years after his Enlightenment that the Buddha, at the request of his father, who missed him dearly, returned to his home city of Kapilavatthu.
On the third day of his return, the Buddha, after partaking of his meal, silently handed his bowl to Nanda, rose and exited. Thinking that the Buddha would take his bowl back, Nanda followed him until he reached the Park of Nigrodha, where the Buddha was staying. This was the Buddha's silent demonstration of the Dhamma to his younger brother: a scene which is often represented in Greco-Buddhist art.
When they arrived at the Park, the Buddha questioned Nanda regarding whether he might become a Monk. Although Nanda had just wedded the beautiful Janapada Kalyāni ,, that same day, he took ordination and joined the community of Monks.
However, Nanda enjoyed no spiritual happiness. His thoughts were constantly directed towards to Janapada Kalyāni and his heart pined for her.
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Nichiren
Nichiren (日蓮) (February 16, 1222 – October 13, 1282) was a Buddhist monk who lived during the Kamakura period (1185–1333) in Japan. Nichiren taught devotion to the Lotus Sutra, entitled Myōhō-Renge-Kyō in Japanese, as the exclusive means to attain enlightenment and the chanting of Nam-Myōhō-Renge-Kyō as the essential practice of the teaching. Nichiren Buddhism includes various schools with diverging interpretations of Nichiren's teachings. While virtually all Nichiren Buddhist schools regard him as a reincarnation of the Lotus Sutra's Bodhisattva Superior Practices, Jōgyō Bosatsu (上行菩薩), some schools of Nichiren Buddhism's Nikkō lineages regard him as the actual Buddha of this age, or the Buddha of the Latter day of the Law.
Nichiren was born on February 16, 1222 in the village of Kominato, Nagase District, Awa Province (within present-day Chiba Prefecture). Nichiren's father was Mikuni-no-Tayu Shigetada, also known as Nukina Shigetada Jiro (d. 1258) and his mother was Umegiku-nyo (d. 1267). On his birth, his parents named him Zennichimaro (善日麿?) which has variously been translated into English as "Splendid Sun" and "Virtuous Sun Boy" among others. The exact site of Nichiren's birth is believed to be submerged off the shore from present-day Kominato-zan Tanjō-ji (小湊山 誕生寺), a temple in Kominato that commemorates Nichiren's birth. In his own words about his birth, Nichiren stated that he was "the son of a chandala family who lived near the sea in Tojo in Awa Province, in the remote countryside of the eastern part of Japan."
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Nichiren Buddhism
Nichiren Buddhism (日蓮系諸宗派: Nichiren-kei sho shūha) is a branch of Mahāyāna Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th century Japanese monk Nichiren (1222–1282). Various forms of Nichiren Buddhism have had great influence among certain sections of Japanese society at different times in the country's history, such as among the merchants of Kyoto in Japan's Middle Ages and among some ultranationalists during the pre-World War II era. Nichiren Buddhism is generally noted for its focus on the Lotus Sutra and an attendant belief that all people have an innate Buddha nature and are therefore inherently capable of attaining enlightenment in their current form and present lifetime. It is also noted for positioning itself in opposition to other forms of Japanese Buddhism—in particular the Zen, Pure Land, esoteric, and Ritsu schools, which Nichiren saw as deviating from the orthodoxy of Mahayana Buddhism. Nichiren Buddhism is a comprehensive term covering several major schools and many sub-schools, as well as several of Japan's new religions. Nichiren Buddhists believe that the spread of Nichiren's teachings and their effect on practitioners' lives will eventually bring about a peaceful, just, and prosperous society.
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Piers Anthony
Piers Anthony Dillingham Jacob (born August 6, 1934 in Oxford, England) is an English American writer in the science fiction and fantasy genres, publishing under the name Piers Anthony. He is most famous for his long-running novel series set in the fictional realm of Xanth.
Many of his books have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list. He has claimed that one of his greatest achievements has been to publish a book for every letter of the alphabet, from Anthonology to Zombie Lover.
Anthony's family immigrated to the United States from Britain when he was six. He graduated from Goddard College in Vermont in 1956. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen while serving in the United States Army in 1958. After completing a two year stint in military service, he briefly taught school at Admiral Farragut Academy in St. Petersburg, Florida before becoming a fulltime writer.
Piers Anthony met his future wife, Carol Marble, while both were attending college. They were married in 1956, the same year he graduated from Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont. After a series of odd jobs Piers Anthony decided to join the U.S. Army in 1957 for a steady source of income and medical coverage for his pregnant wife. He would stay in the Army until 1959; he became a U.S. citizen during this time. While in the army, he became an editor and cartoonist for the battalion newspaper. After leaving the army, he spent a brief stint as a public school teacher before trying his hand at becoming a full-time writer.[citation needed]
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Ptolemy III
Ptolemy III Euergetes, (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Εὐεργέτης, Ptolemaĩos Euergétēs, reigned 246 BC – 222 BC) was the third ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt.
Euergetes ("Benefactor") was the eldest son of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his first wife, Arsinoe I, and came to power in 246 BC upon the death of his father. He married Berenice of Cyrene in the year corresponding to 244/243 BC; and their children were:
Ptolemy III Euergetes was responsible for the first known example of a series of decrees published as bilingual inscriptions on massive stone blocks in three writing systems. Ptolemy III's stone stela is the Canopus Stone of 238 BC. Other well-known examples are the Memphis Stele (Memphis Stone), bearing the Decree of Memphis, about 218 BC, passed by his son, Ptolemy IV, and the famous Rosetta Stone erected by Ptolemy Epiphanes, his grandson, in 196 BC.
Ptolemy III's stone contains decrees about priestly orders, and is a memorial for his daughter Berenice. But two of its 26 lines of hieroglyphs decree the use of a leap day added to the Egyptian calendar of 365 days, and the associated changes in festivals.
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Punna
Purna Maitrayani-putra, also called Puṇṇa, was an arahant and one of the ten leading disciples of the Buddha.
When asked by the Buddha what he would think if people were to assault or kill him, each time Puṇṇa explained how he would find himself fortunate. As a result, the Buddha commended Puṇṇa on his self-control and peacefulness. Puṇṇa went on to establish a thousand lay followers in the Buddha's teaching. Upon Puṇṇa's death, the Buddha discerned that Puṇṇa had attained final Nibbana.
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Pusyamitra Sunga
Pusyamitra Sunga (died 151 BCE, r. 185–151 BCE) was the founder and first King of the Sunga Dynasty in Northern India.
Pusyamitra Sunga was originally a Senapati (General) of the Mauryan empire. In 185 BCE he assassinated the last Mauryan Emperor (Brhadrata) during an army review, and proclaimed himself King. He then performed the Ashwamedha Yajna and brought much of Northern India under his rule. Inscriptions of the Shungas have been found as far as the Jalandhar in the Punjab, and the Divyavadana mentions that his rule extended as far as Sagala (Sialkot).
Some historians have rejected Pushyamitra' s persecution of Buddhists. The traditional narratives are dated to two centuries after Pushyamitra’s death in Asokâvadâna and the Divyâvadâna, Buddhist books of legend. The traditional accounts are often described as exaggerated. The Asokavadana legend is likely a Buddhist version of Pusyamitra's attack on the Mauryas, reflecting the declining influence of Buddhism in the Sunga Imperial court.
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Rudradaman I
Rudradaman I (r. 130–150) was a Saka ruler from the Western Kshatrapas dynasty. He was the grandson of the celebrated Sah king Chastana. Rudradaman I was instrumental in the decline of the Satavahana Empire.
Rudradama I took up the title of Maha-kshtrapa ("Great Satrap"), after he became the king and then strengthened his kingdom. During his reign he married a Hindu woman and converted to Hinduism Quoting from the book Buddhist critical spirituality: Prajñā and Śūnyatā, the author Shōhei Ichimura speaks thus about him,
He maintained matrimonial relationships with Satavahanas and conceded the country of Aparanta to Vashishtiputra Satakarni, his son-in-law and probably son of Gautamiputra Satakarni, as dowry. In spite of the matrimonial link, at least two wars took place between them wherein he defeated Satavahanas but spared the life of Satakarni(probably, Goutami Putra Satakarni), essentially because of their relationship. However, it is not known who was the aggressor in either of the wars and whether there were more wars between them.
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Rāhula
Rāhula (born c. 534 BC) was the only son of Siddhartha Gautama (Pāli Siddhattha Gotama), later known as the Buddha, and his wife Princess Yasodharā.
Accounts of his life differ in certain points. The following is that given in the Pāli Canon.
Prince Siddhartha was preparing himself to leave the palace. One account claims that when he received the news of his son's birth he replied Rāhu jāto, bandhanam jātam — "A rāhu is born, a fetter has arisen." Accordingly the child was named Rāhula, meaning "fetter", or "impediment", recognizing that the child could be a tie that bound him to his wife Yashodhara, a binding that may impede a search for enlightenment. Others, however, feel rāhu does not mean "fetter" in this sense. The second account, found in the Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya, is that Rāhula received his name in accordance with an eclipse of the moon, caused by the snake Rahu.
Supporting the first account, in the Dhammapada, the pleasure and joy that a man receives in his wife and children is called a "soft fetter" that ties individuals to life and suffering, not just through eventual loss and separation of loved ones but more deeply and subtly may act as ties to cyclic existence (samsara).
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Sanghamitra
Sanghamittā (Sanghmitra in Sanskrit) was the daughter of Emperor Ashoka and his Buddhist queen Devī. Together with Mahinda, her brother, she entered an order of Buddhist monks. The two siblings later went to Sri Lanka to spread the teachings of Buddha at the request of King Devanampiya Tissa (250 BC – 210 BC) who was a contemporary of Ashoka (304 BC – 232 BC). Ashoka was initially reluctant to send his daughter on an overseas mission. However, because of the insistence of Sanghamittā herself, he finally agreed. She was sent to Sri Lanka together with several other nuns to start the nun-lineage of Bhikkhunis (a fully ordained female Buddhist monastic) at the request of King Tissa to ordain queen Anulā and other women of Tissa's court at Anuradhapura who desired to be ordained as nuns after Mahindra converted them to Buddhism.
After Sanghamittā’s contribution to the propagation of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and her establishing the 'Bikhhunī Sangha' or 'Meheini Sasna' (Order of Nuns) there, her name became synonymous with 'Buddhist Female Monastic Order of Theravāda Buddhism' that was established not only in Sri Lanka but also in Burma, China and Thailand, in particular. The day the most revered tree, the Bodhi tree, a sapling of which was brought by her to Sri Lanka and planted in Anuradhapura, and which is still surviving, is also celebrated every year on the Full Moon day of December as "Uduvapa Poya" or "Uposatha Poya" and "Sanghamittā Day" by Theravāda Buddhists in Sri Lanka.
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Sanghamitta
Sanghamittā (Sanghmitra in Sanskrit) was the daughter of Emperor Ashoka and his Buddhist queen Devī. Together with Mahinda, her brother, she entered an order of Buddhist monks. The two siblings later went to Sri Lanka to spread the teachings of Buddha at the request of King Devanampiya Tissa (250 BC – 210 BC) who was a contemporary of Ashoka (304 BC – 232 BC). Ashoka was initially reluctant to send his daughter on an overseas mission. However, because of the insistence of Sanghamittā herself, he finally agreed. She was sent to Sri Lanka together with several other nuns to start the nun-lineage of Bhikkhunis (a fully ordained female Buddhist monastic) at the request of King Tissa to ordain queen Anulā and other women of Tissa's court at Anuradhapura who desired to be ordained as nuns after Mahindra converted them to Buddhism.
After Sanghamittā’s contribution to the propagation of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and her establishing the 'Bikhhunī Sangha' or 'Meheini Sasna' (Order of Nuns) there, her name became synonymous with 'Buddhist Female Monastic Order of Theravāda Buddhism' that was established not only in Sri Lanka but also in Burma, China and Thailand, in particular. The day the most revered tree, the Bodhi tree, a sapling of which was brought by her to Sri Lanka and planted in Anuradhapura, and which is still surviving, is also celebrated every year on the Full Moon day of December as "Uduvapa Poya" or "Uposatha Poya" and "Sanghamittā Day" by Theravāda Buddhists in Sri Lanka.
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Santosh Sivan
Santosh Sivan (Malayalam: സന്തോഷ് ശിവൻ; born in Trivandrum, Kerala, India) is an Indian cinematographer, film director, actor and producer known for his extensive work in Indian cinema. .
Santhosh Sivan graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) and went on to completing 45 features and 41 documentaries. He was a founding member of the Indian Society of Cinematographers (ISC) and is the most awarded director of photography (DP) in India. The finest cinematographer in Indian cinema Santosh Sivan has become the first DOP (director of photography) in Asia Pacific's to be awarded the prestigious American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) membership. He was awarded the National Film Awards for Best Cinematography four times, for the films Perumthachan (1991), Kaalapani (1996), Iruvar (1997), and Dil Se.. (1998).
Santosh Sivan was born into a family of artists. His grandmother used to teach him painting and music in the palace and as a kid he accompanied her to the palace. These visits gave him an opportunity to become familiar with the paintings of Raja Ravi Varma, a nineteenth century Indian painter whose renowned works were themes from Hindu mythology, and everyday life of his times.
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Sariputta
Śāriputra (Sanskrit: शारिपुत्र) or Sāriputta (Pāli) was one of two chief male disciples of the Buddha along with Maudgalyayana (Pali: Moggallāna), counterparts to the nuns Khema and Uppalavanna, named the two chief female disciples. He became an Arhat "foremost in wisdom" renowned for his teaching and is depicted in the Theravada tradition as one of the most important disciples of the Buddha.
Śāriputra came from a Brahmin family and had already embarked on life as a spiritual ascetic when he encountered the teachings of the Buddha. Śāriputra had a close friend Mahāmaudgalyāyana (Pāli: Mahāmoggallāna), another wandering ascetic. They both renounced the world on the same day and became disciples of the sceptic Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta before converting to Buddhism.
After hearing of the Buddha's teachings from a monk named Assaji (Sanskrit: Asvajit), Śāriputra sought out the Buddha and became an adherent to his teachings. These two are often depicted together with the Buddha, and several sutras regard interactions between Śāriputra and Mahāmaudgalyāyana (who became renowned among the early Buddhists for his mastery of supernatural powers).
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Seleucus Nicator
Seleucus I (given the surname by later generations of Nicator, Greek : Σέλευκος Νικάτωρ, i.e. Seleucus the Victor) (ca. 358 BC – 281 BC) was a leading officer of Alexander the Great's League of Corinth and one of the Diadochi. In the Wars of the Diadochi that took place after Alexander's death, Seleucus established the Seleucid dynasty and the Seleucid Empire. His kingdom would be one of the last holdouts of Alexander's former empire to Roman rule. They were only outlived by the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt by roughly 34 years.
After the death of Alexander, Seleucus was nominated as the satrap of Babylon in 320 BC. Antigonus forced Seleucus to flee from Babylon, but, supported by Ptolemy, he was able to return in 312 BC. Seleucus' later conquests include Persia and Media. It is assumed that he was defeated by the emperor of India, Chandragupta Maurya and accepted a matrimony alliance for 500 elephants after ceding the territories considered as part of India. Seleucus defeated Antigonus in the battle of Ipsus in 301 BC and Lysimachus in the battle of Corupedium in 281 BC. He was assassinated by Ptolemy Ceraunus during the same year. His successor was his son Antiochus I.
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Shahrukh Khan
Shahrukh Khan (pronounced [‘ʃaːɦrəx ˈxaːn]; born 2 November 1965), often credited as Shah Rukh Khan and informally referred to as SRK, is an Indian film actor. Known as "The King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films. He has won fourteen Filmfare Awards from thirty nominations for his work in Indian films and shares the record for the highest number of Best Actor awards with Dilip Kumar, eight wins. In 2005, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for his contributions towards Indian cinema.
After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in economics, he started his career appearing in theatre and several television serials in the late 1980s and later made his Hindi film debut in 1992 with Deewana. Early in his career he was recognised for his unconventional choice of negative roles in films such as Darr (1993), Baazigar (1993) and Anjaam (1994). Since then he has played leading roles in a wide variety of film genres, including romantic films, comedies, thrillers, action films, sport films, and historical dramas among others.
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Skandagupta
Skandagupta (Sanskrit: स्कन्दगुप्त) (died 467) was a Gupta Emperor of northern India. He is generally considered the last of the great Gupta Emperors.
Skandagupta's antecedents remain unclear. Later official genealogies omit his name, and even the inscriptions of his own age omit the name of his mother. Another contemporary record notes that the "goddess of sovereignty, of her own accord, selected him as her husband, having in succession discarded all other princes." This has been interpreted as suggesting that Skandragupta was the son of a junior wife. It may even be that he was simply a successful general who promoted himself into the ruling Gupta clan.
He certainly faced some of the greatest challenges in the annals of the empire having to contend with the Pushyamitras and the Hunas (a name by which the "White Huns" were known in India). He defeated the Pushyamitras, a tribe who were settled in central India but then rebelled. He was also faced with invading Indo-Hephthalites or Hunas, from the northwest. Skandagupta had warred against the Huns during the reign of his father, and was celebrated throughout the empire as a great warrior. He crushed the Huna invasion in 455, and managed to keep them at bay; however, the expense of the wars drained the empire's resources and contributed to its decline. In particular, coinage issued under SkandaGupta is seriously debased.
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Telangana
Telangana which literally means Land of Telugu people, is a region in the present state of Andhra Pradesh, India and formerly was part of Hyderabad state which was ruled by the Nizams. It is bordered by the states of Maharashtra to the north and north-west, Karnataka to the west, Chattisgarh to the north-east and Orissa to the east. Andhra Pradesh State has three main cultural regions of which Telengana is one; others include Coastal Andhra region in the east and Rayalaseema region in the south. The Telangana region has an area of 114,840 square kilometres (44,340 sq mi), and a population of 35,286,757 (2011 census) which is 41.6% of Andhra Pradesh state population.
The Telangana region comprises 10 districts: Hyderabad, Adilabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy, and Warangal. The Musi River, Krishna and Godavari rivers flow through the region from west to east.
Since Telangana was merged with Andhra state to form Andhra Pradesh state in 1956, there were several agitations in Telangana to invalidate the merger and to form Telangana state. On December 9, 2009, Government of India announced process of formation of Telangana state. Due to objections raised in Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions immediately after the announcement, and due to the agitation in those regions for 14 days, the decision to form to new state was put on hold on December 23, 2009. Since December 2009, Telangana movement intensified and it continue to dominate the state politics and is the cause of instability in the region.
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The 100
The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History is a 1978 book by Michael H. Hart, reprinted in 1992 with revisions. It is a ranking of the 100 people who, according to Hart, most influenced human history.
The first person on Hart's list is the Prophet of Islam Muhammad. Hart asserted that Muhammad was "supremely successful" in both the religious and secular realms. He also believed that Muhammad's role in the development of Islam was far more influential than Jesus' collaboration in the development of Christianity. He attributes the development of Christianity to St. Paul, who played a pivotal role in its dissemination."
The 1992 revisions included the demotion of figures associated with Communism, such as Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong, and the introduction of Mikhail Gorbachev. Hart took sides in the Shakespearean authorship issue and substituted Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford for William Shakespeare. Hart also substituted Niels Bohr and Henri Becquerel with Ernest Rutherford, thus correcting an error in the first edition. Henry Ford was also promoted from the "Honorary Mentions" list, replacing Pablo Picasso. Finally, some of the rankings were re-ordered, although no one listed in the top ten changed position.
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Upali
Upali (Sanskrit उपालि upāli) was a monk, one of the ten chief disciples of the Buddha. Before joining the order, he worked as a barber. He asked the Buddha if a person of "low birth" such as he could join the order. Buddha ordained him before the princes and asked the princes to pay homage to Upali, who by then had become an Arhant with Buddha's sermons while Buddha was getting a hair cut. He became the chief disciple in knowing the rules of the order and the foremost disciple in keeping precepts.
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Uppalavanna
Uppalavannā (蓮華色比丘尼)was considered to be amongst the two chief female disciples of the Buddha, the other being Khema.
She was the daughter of a wealthy merchant and was known for her great beauty. Her name means "one with the hue of the blue lotus".
She was the daughter of a businessman from Savatthi (Shravasti). She was named Uppalavanna because her complexion was that of a blue lotus. She was so beautiful that when she came of age, powerful and wealthy suitors sent messengers to her father asking for her hand. Not wanting to displease so many people, he suggested that she become a bhikkhuni. She agreed and became a nun. She quickly progressed in meditation and became an Arahant (fully liberated).
Buddha declared her to be the foremost in supernormal powers among the nuns.
Samyutta Nikaya V.5, the Uppalavanna Sutta, is attributed to her:
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Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu (Sanskrit: वसुबन्दु; traditional Chinese: 世親; pinyin: Shìqīn; Tibetan: དབྱིག་གཉེན་, Wylie: dbyig gnyen) (fl. 4th c.) was an Indian Buddhist monk, and along with his half-brother Asanga, one of the main founders of the Indian Yogācāra school. However, some scholars consider Vasubandhu to be two distinct people. Vasubandhu is one of the most influential figures in the entire history of Buddhism. In the Jodo Shinshu branch of Buddhism, he is considered the Second Patriarch. In Zen, he is the 21st Patriarch.
Born a brahmin Vasubandhu was said to have been the half brother of Asanga, another key personage in the founding of the Yogacara School. He was also, as well as his elder half brother Asanga, one of the ‘Six Ornaments’(i.e. six great commentators on the Buddha’s teachings). He resided at Kausambhi (near modern Allahabad) where he was trained in the orthodox Sarvastivada Order of Buddhism, which had its seat at Kausambhi. He was contemporaneous with King Chandragupta I, the father of Samudragupta. This information temporally places this Vasubandhu in the fourth century CE.
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Yona
"Yona" is a Pali word used in ancient India to designate Greek speakers. Its equivalent in Sanskrit, Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu and Tamil is the word "Yavana" and "Javanan" in Bengali. "Yona" and "Yavana" are both transliterations of the Greek word for "Ionians" (Homer Iāones, older *Iāwones), who were probably the first Greeks to be known in the East.
The Yavanas are mentioned in the Buddhist discourse of the Middle Length Sayings, in which the Buddha mentions to the Brahman Assalayana the existence of the Kamboja and Yavana people who have only two castes, master or slave. The direct identification of the word "Yavana" with the Greeks at such an early time (6th-5th century) can be doubted. However, in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the word "Yavana" is used to identify the Greeks.
Direct identification of these words with the Greeks include:
This usage was shared by many of the countries east of Greece, from the Mediterranean to India:
In Indian sources, the usage of the words "Yona", "Yauna", "Yonaka", "Yavana" or "Javana" etc. appears repeatedly, and particularly in relation to the Greek kingdoms which neighboured or sometimes occupied the Indian north-western territories (which is now Afghanistan or part of Pakistan) over a period of several centuries from the 4th century BC to the 1st century AD, such as the Seleucid Empire, the Greco-Bactrian kingdom and the Indo-Greek kingdom. The Yavanas are mentioned in detail in Sangam literature epics such as Paṭṭiṉappālai, describing their brisk trade with the Cholas in Tamilakam.
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Śuddhodana
King Suddhodana (Sanskrit: Śuddhodana) was the father of Siddhartha Gautama, later known as the Buddha. He was a leader of the Shakya people, who lived in northern India and southern Nepal. Suddhodana's father was Sihahanu. Suddhodana won a battle against his father, thus gaining permission to marry the two sisters of his cousin, Suprabuddha, of the Koliya clan. Suprabuddha in turn married Suddhodana's two sisters. Siddhartha, later Buddha, in turn married his cousin, Yasodhara, daughter of Suprabuddha and his father's sister. Suddhodana's consorts, Mayadevi and Mahaprajapati of Devadaha Kingdom located in southern Nepal and northern India on the bank of the river Anoma, were in turn Buddha's mother, and step-mother.
The sage Asita visited Siddhartha when he was just a baby, and was surprised when the infant prince placed his feet on top of the sage's head. After Asita examined the prince’s feet, he kneeled and paid homage to the infant. King Suddhodana copied his action and said, “Son, this is my first act of obeisance.”. Siddhartha later received his name from the Five Forest Brahmana, Kaundinya, Mahaanaama, Baspa, Asvajita, and Bharika, who later became Buddha's companions during his ascetic practices, and his first five followers after his enlightenment at Bodh Gaaya and his first sermon (Dharmacakraptavatana sutra - Turning of the Wheel of Law) at Sraavastii.
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Samrat Ashoka the Great Indian king
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- Duration: 6:40
- Updated: 05 Dec 2012
In the history of the world there have been thousands of kings and emperors who called themselves 'their highnesses,' 'their majesties,' and 'their exalted majesties' and so on. They shone for a brief moment, and as quickly disappeared. But Ashoka shines and shines brightly like a bright star, even unto this day. popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from 269 BC to 232 BC. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests. His empire stretched from present-day Pakistan, Afghanistan in the west, to the present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of Assam in the east, and as far south as northern Kerala and Andhra. He conquered the kingdom named Kalinga, which no one in his dynasty had conquered starting from Chandragupta Maurya. His reign was headquartered in Magadha (present-day Bihar, India) He embraced Buddhism from the prevalent Vedic tradition after witnessing the mass deaths of the war of Kalinga, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. He was later dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia and established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha. Ashoka in human history is often referred to as the emperor of all ages. Ashoka was a devotee of ahimsa (nonviolence), love, truth, tolerance and vegetarianism. Ashoka is remembered in history as a ...
http://wn.com/Samrat_Ashoka_the_Great_Indian_king
In the history of the world there have been thousands of kings and emperors who called themselves 'their highnesses,' 'their majesties,' and 'their exalted majesties' and so on. They shone for a brief moment, and as quickly disappeared. But Ashoka shines and shines brightly like a bright star, even unto this day. popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from 269 BC to 232 BC. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests. His empire stretched from present-day Pakistan, Afghanistan in the west, to the present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of Assam in the east, and as far south as northern Kerala and Andhra. He conquered the kingdom named Kalinga, which no one in his dynasty had conquered starting from Chandragupta Maurya. His reign was headquartered in Magadha (present-day Bihar, India) He embraced Buddhism from the prevalent Vedic tradition after witnessing the mass deaths of the war of Kalinga, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. He was later dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia and established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha. Ashoka in human history is often referred to as the emperor of all ages. Ashoka was a devotee of ahimsa (nonviolence), love, truth, tolerance and vegetarianism. Ashoka is remembered in history as a ...
SAN SANA NA SAN ```````````` ASHOKA
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:43
- Updated: 26 Nov 2012
MOVIE : ASHOKA " (2001) SONG : SAN SANANA SAN SANANA SAN JAJA RE JARE JARE JARI PAWAN ............... [HQ] SINGER : HEMSARDESAI " ALKA YAGNIK " CAST : KAREENA KAPOOR " SHAHRUKH KHAN :"""
http://wn.com/SAN_SANA_NA_SAN_````````````_ASHOKA
MOVIE : ASHOKA " (2001) SONG : SAN SANANA SAN SANANA SAN JAJA RE JARE JARE JARI PAWAN ............... [HQ] SINGER : HEMSARDESAI " ALKA YAGNIK " CAST : KAREENA KAPOOR " SHAHRUKH KHAN :"""
- published: 14 Nov 2009
- views: 38961
- author: sAiRaErAM
Kareena+Ashoka Song
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:02
- Updated: 24 Nov 2012
Ashoka movie song.Kareena's best dance ever.A historical bollywood movie starring shahrukh & kareena
http://wn.com/Kareena+Ashoka_Song
Ashoka movie song.Kareena's best dance ever.A historical bollywood movie starring shahrukh & kareena
- published: 19 May 2007
- views: 377374
- author: mr9211
Buddha and Ashoka: Crash Course World History #6
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 12:17
- Updated: 05 Dec 2012
In which John relates a condensed history of India, post-Indus Valley Civilization. John explores Hinduism and the origins of Buddhism. He also gets into the reign of Ashoka, the Buddhist emperor who, in spite of Buddhism's structural disapproval of violence, managed to win a bunch of battles. Resources: Awesome comic book about Ashoka by Anant Pai: dft.ba He did a huge series of comics about Indian history and religion: dft.ba India: A History by John Keay: dft.ba The Bhagavad Gita: dft.ba The Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, and Rig Veda, all-in-one edition: dft.ba Credits: Executive Producer: John Green Producer: Stan Muller Writer and historian: Raoul Meyer Script Supervisor: Danica Johnson Music: Jason Weidner Thought Bubble is a product of the Smart Bubble Society: dft.ba the Smart Bubble Society is: Suzanna Brusikiewicz Jonathon Corbiere Nick Counter Allan Levy James Tuer Adam Winnik Set Design: Donna Sink Props: Brian McCutcheon Photos: David Shankbone ClipWorks Follow us! @thecrashcourse @realjohngreen @raoulmeyer @crashcoursestan @saysdanica @thoughtbubbler Like us! www.facebook.com Follow us again! thecrashcourse.tumblr.com
http://wn.com/Buddha_and_Ashoka_Crash_Course_World_History_6
In which John relates a condensed history of India, post-Indus Valley Civilization. John explores Hinduism and the origins of Buddhism. He also gets into the reign of Ashoka, the Buddhist emperor who, in spite of Buddhism's structural disapproval of violence, managed to win a bunch of battles. Resources: Awesome comic book about Ashoka by Anant Pai: dft.ba He did a huge series of comics about Indian history and religion: dft.ba India: A History by John Keay: dft.ba The Bhagavad Gita: dft.ba The Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, and Rig Veda, all-in-one edition: dft.ba Credits: Executive Producer: John Green Producer: Stan Muller Writer and historian: Raoul Meyer Script Supervisor: Danica Johnson Music: Jason Weidner Thought Bubble is a product of the Smart Bubble Society: dft.ba the Smart Bubble Society is: Suzanna Brusikiewicz Jonathon Corbiere Nick Counter Allan Levy James Tuer Adam Winnik Set Design: Donna Sink Props: Brian McCutcheon Photos: David Shankbone ClipWorks Follow us! @thecrashcourse @realjohngreen @raoulmeyer @crashcoursestan @saysdanica @thoughtbubbler Like us! www.facebook.com Follow us again! thecrashcourse.tumblr.com
- published: 01 Mar 2012
- views: 348618
- author: crashcourse
History of King Ashoka- Grandpa's Indian Heritage Summer Camp Vol. I
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 23:33
- Updated: 03 Dec 2012
King Ashoka is one of the greatest of the kings that ever lived. At the zenith of his power, he gave up everything and became a disciple of Buddha. Every child of Indian origin must know his/her roots which cannot be separated from this great king of kings. His iconic Ashoka Chakra of India Government reminds us of his legacy. Thisvideo is part of the curriculum for Grandpa's Indian Heritage Summer Camp. Students who watch all the videos in the curriculum and answer the associated questions will receive a certificate and a small, surprise reward. Please visit our website for more information. This video was produced by The Association of Indian Immigrants. For more information about our organization, please visit our website: www.agiivideo.com
http://wn.com/History_of_King_Ashoka_Grandpa's_Indian_Heritage_Summer_Camp_Vol_I
King Ashoka is one of the greatest of the kings that ever lived. At the zenith of his power, he gave up everything and became a disciple of Buddha. Every child of Indian origin must know his/her roots which cannot be separated from this great king of kings. His iconic Ashoka Chakra of India Government reminds us of his legacy. Thisvideo is part of the curriculum for Grandpa's Indian Heritage Summer Camp. Students who watch all the videos in the curriculum and answer the associated questions will receive a certificate and a small, surprise reward. Please visit our website for more information. This video was produced by The Association of Indian Immigrants. For more information about our organization, please visit our website: www.agiivideo.com
- published: 12 Jun 2011
- views: 19658
- author: grandpakanai
Ashoka: Great Buddhist Emperor of India
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:39
- Updated: 05 Dec 2012
by Krell through Professor Rev. Dr. James Kenneth Powell II, opensourcebuddhism.org This very nice inroduction to Buddhism's answer to Christianity's Constantine (or was the later Constantine the answer to Ashoka?) reveals the great tragedy that caused his conversion. The first to build animal hospitals, rest areas, edicts of tolerance for all throughout India, he certainly ranks as one of the most powerful yet benevolent of history's famous emperors.
http://wn.com/Ashoka_Great_Buddhist_Emperor_of_India
by Krell through Professor Rev. Dr. James Kenneth Powell II, opensourcebuddhism.org This very nice inroduction to Buddhism's answer to Christianity's Constantine (or was the later Constantine the answer to Ashoka?) reveals the great tragedy that caused his conversion. The first to build animal hospitals, rest areas, edicts of tolerance for all throughout India, he certainly ranks as one of the most powerful yet benevolent of history's famous emperors.
- published: 09 Aug 2008
- views: 100776
- author: JAMES K POWELL II
The Edicts of Ashoka - The Story of India - BBC
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:30
- Updated: 02 Dec 2012
A fascinating look at one of the pillars of King Ashoka, on to which are inscribed some of his Edicts. Great short video from BBC show The Story of India. Watch more high quality videos on the Explore YouTube channel from BBC Worldwide here: www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/The_Edicts_of_Ashoka_The_Story_of_India_BBC
A fascinating look at one of the pillars of King Ashoka, on to which are inscribed some of his Edicts. Great short video from BBC show The Story of India. Watch more high quality videos on the Explore YouTube channel from BBC Worldwide here: www.youtube.com
- published: 12 Jan 2010
- views: 17653
- author: BBCExplore
"Social Entrepreneurship" - Ashoka's Bill Drayton speaks...
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 59:52
- Updated: 14 Nov 2012
Bill Drayton, Chairman and CEO of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public and lifelong entrepreneur, helped build the field of social entrepreneurship 25 years ago and remains committed to shaping a dynamic, global citizen sector. He was recently selected as one of America's Best Leaders by US News & World Report and Harvard's Center for Public Leadership. Ashoka's mission is to shape a citizen sector that is entrepreneurial, productive and globally integrated, and to develop the profession of social entrepreneurship around the world. Ashoka identifies and invests in leading social entrepreneurs - extraordinary individuals with unprecedented ideas for change in their communities - supporting them, their...
http://wn.com/Social_Entrepreneurship_Ashoka's_Bill_Drayton_speaks
Bill Drayton, Chairman and CEO of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public and lifelong entrepreneur, helped build the field of social entrepreneurship 25 years ago and remains committed to shaping a dynamic, global citizen sector. He was recently selected as one of America's Best Leaders by US News & World Report and Harvard's Center for Public Leadership. Ashoka's mission is to shape a citizen sector that is entrepreneurial, productive and globally integrated, and to develop the profession of social entrepreneurship around the world. Ashoka identifies and invests in leading social entrepreneurs - extraordinary individuals with unprecedented ideas for change in their communities - supporting them, their...
- published: 16 Jul 2007
- views: 20350
- author: Google
Asoka Trailer
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:33
- Updated: 27 Nov 2012
Bollywood Asoka Trailer from the biggest german bollywood portal of its kind - www.bolly-wood.de/.net
http://wn.com/Asoka_Trailer
Bollywood Asoka Trailer from the biggest german bollywood portal of its kind - www.bolly-wood.de/.net
- published: 10 Dec 2006
- views: 114992
- author: andyleery
Shahrukh Khan/Ashoka Sword Fight 2 (2001)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:10
- Updated: 30 Oct 2012
Shahrukh Khan fight scene from the bollywood movie Asoka (2001). The movie is based on 'Ashoka the great' and his life however it is more fictional than accurate.
http://wn.com/Shahrukh_Khan_Ashoka_Sword_Fight_2_2001
Shahrukh Khan fight scene from the bollywood movie Asoka (2001). The movie is based on 'Ashoka the great' and his life however it is more fictional than accurate.
- published: 10 Jan 2009
- views: 38909
- author: MyBelovedBengal
1-3 Ashoka-Indischer Krieger Buddhas.
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 15:04
- Updated: 03 Dec 2012
Link zu"Ashoka-Indischer Krieger Buddhas." (2009) www.youtube.com
http://wn.com/1-3_Ashoka-Indischer_Krieger_Buddhas
Link zu"Ashoka-Indischer Krieger Buddhas." (2009) www.youtube.com
- published: 11 Jun 2011
- views: 3364
- author: DDHecht2
The Story of Ashoka
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:50
- Updated: 29 Nov 2012
A group of 35 summer interns tell the story of Ashoka in their own words
http://wn.com/The_Story_of_Ashoka
A group of 35 summer interns tell the story of Ashoka in their own words
- published: 09 Aug 2010
- views: 30118
- author: Ashokavideos
Ashoka (Buddhism)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:09
- Updated: 18 Apr 2012
Made about Ashoka who was important to the spread of early Buddhism. I made this for an RS project a few months ago, however if made a new one I think it would be better.
http://wn.com/Ashoka_Buddhism
Made about Ashoka who was important to the spread of early Buddhism. I made this for an RS project a few months ago, however if made a new one I think it would be better.
- published: 15 Feb 2011
- views: 708
- author: Psiren3
Bill Drayton - Ashoka - Social Entrepreneurship
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:16
- Updated: 29 Nov 2012
In this fourth (and last) interview with Global X, Bill Drayton addresses a key question: How can one be an effective social entrepreneur? "First, you have to give yourself permission to be one!" And that may be the biggest barrier. Many people will tell you that this is too hard and that you will fail. "You have to very politely ignore them," recommends the founder of Ashoka. Then pick a social problem that you really want to solve. It shouldn't be that difficult, as there are so many that remains to be solved. Think of it as an iterative building process: "It is not rocket science. It's patient, careful problem solving." But you need persistence in looking at the problem so that you understand the field very well. Finally, make sure that what you are doing is really important, even historic, for the field. "It has to be a big win for all decision makers in the field!" And don't forget, as Bill Drayton showed about Rodrigo Baggio, that you need deep integrity and ethical fiber to succeed. The founder of Ashoka, who is now spending a lot of time on the new generation of change makers, also describes in a previous interview the magical instant when a social entrepreneur discovers that the moment to change social structure has arrived.
http://wn.com/Bill_Drayton_Ashoka_Social_Entrepreneurship
In this fourth (and last) interview with Global X, Bill Drayton addresses a key question: How can one be an effective social entrepreneur? "First, you have to give yourself permission to be one!" And that may be the biggest barrier. Many people will tell you that this is too hard and that you will fail. "You have to very politely ignore them," recommends the founder of Ashoka. Then pick a social problem that you really want to solve. It shouldn't be that difficult, as there are so many that remains to be solved. Think of it as an iterative building process: "It is not rocket science. It's patient, careful problem solving." But you need persistence in looking at the problem so that you understand the field very well. Finally, make sure that what you are doing is really important, even historic, for the field. "It has to be a big win for all decision makers in the field!" And don't forget, as Bill Drayton showed about Rodrigo Baggio, that you need deep integrity and ethical fiber to succeed. The founder of Ashoka, who is now spending a lot of time on the new generation of change makers, also describes in a previous interview the magical instant when a social entrepreneur discovers that the moment to change social structure has arrived.
- published: 26 Jun 2008
- views: 6994
- author: socialedge
The Simpleshow explains ASHOKA
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:07
- Updated: 04 Nov 2012
The Simpleshow explains ASHOKA
http://wn.com/The_Simpleshow_explains_ASHOKA
Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:10
- Updated: 22 Nov 2012
Ashoka is the global association of the world's leading social entrepreneurs—men and women with system changing solutions for the world's most urgent social problems. Since 1981, we have elected over 1800 leading social entrepreneurs as Ashoka Fellows, providing them with living stipends, professional support, and access to a global network of peers in more than 60 countries. With our global community, we develop models for collaboration and design infrastructure needed to advance the field of social entrepreneurship and the citizen sector. Our Fellows inspire others to adopt and spread their innovations - demonstrating to all citizens that they too have the potential to be powerful changemakers. Want to learn more? Visit www.ashoka.org.
http://wn.com/Ashoka_Innovators_for_the_Public
Ashoka is the global association of the world's leading social entrepreneurs—men and women with system changing solutions for the world's most urgent social problems. Since 1981, we have elected over 1800 leading social entrepreneurs as Ashoka Fellows, providing them with living stipends, professional support, and access to a global network of peers in more than 60 countries. With our global community, we develop models for collaboration and design infrastructure needed to advance the field of social entrepreneurship and the citizen sector. Our Fellows inspire others to adopt and spread their innovations - demonstrating to all citizens that they too have the potential to be powerful changemakers. Want to learn more? Visit www.ashoka.org.
- published: 06 Mar 2008
- views: 23184
- author: Ashokavideos
7 Wonders of India: Ashoka's Pillar
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:28
- Updated: 19 Oct 2012
The 13 meter high sandstone obelisk with Ashoka's edict stands testimony to the history of this old city. Ferozabad, the fifth city of Delhi, was erected by Feroz Shah Tughlaq in 1354 and can be found at Feroz Shah Kotla, just off Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg between Old and New Delhi. Also seen, are the remains of a mosque and a well, but most of the ruins were used for the construction of later cities. Feroz Shah was a great builder and so, this fifth city of Delhi was full of splendid palaces, mosques and gardens. The Tughlaqabad area was woefully short of water and this made the Tomars move westward to Mehrauli. Firoz Shah, Muhammad Tughlaq's successor, solved this problem by building his new city on the banks of Yamuna. Kotla was the inner citadel of Firozabad, built like Windsor, with great palaces and a magnificent mosque.
http://wn.com/7_Wonders_of_India_Ashoka's_Pillar
The 13 meter high sandstone obelisk with Ashoka's edict stands testimony to the history of this old city. Ferozabad, the fifth city of Delhi, was erected by Feroz Shah Tughlaq in 1354 and can be found at Feroz Shah Kotla, just off Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg between Old and New Delhi. Also seen, are the remains of a mosque and a well, but most of the ruins were used for the construction of later cities. Feroz Shah was a great builder and so, this fifth city of Delhi was full of splendid palaces, mosques and gardens. The Tughlaqabad area was woefully short of water and this made the Tomars move westward to Mehrauli. Firoz Shah, Muhammad Tughlaq's successor, solved this problem by building his new city on the banks of Yamuna. Kotla was the inner citadel of Firozabad, built like Windsor, with great palaces and a magnificent mosque.
- published: 24 Jan 2009
- views: 25781
- author: 7wondersofindia
Ashoka - Aa Tayyar Hoja
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:17
- Updated: 26 Nov 2012
Shahrukh
http://wn.com/Ashoka_Aa_Tayyar_Hoja
Tv spot Ashoka Tano
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:24
- Updated: 23 Nov 2012
http://wn.com/Tv_spot_Ashoka_Tano
How to Tie the Ashoka Chakra Knot by TIAT
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:51
- Updated: 03 Dec 2012
Paracord Fusion Ties - Volume 1: www.amazon.com The Ashoka Chakra Knot is a fusion knot based upon the "Wheel of Law" edict depicted on the pillars of King Ashoka (an ancient emperor from India). The technique used to create this knot will soon be presented as the base for a family of knots, taught here, on my YouTube channel, and in my forthcoming books, "Paracord Fusion Knots" (Volumes 1 & 2). Video production by JD of Tying It All Together.
http://wn.com/How_to_Tie_the_Ashoka_Chakra_Knot_by_TIAT
Paracord Fusion Ties - Volume 1: www.amazon.com The Ashoka Chakra Knot is a fusion knot based upon the "Wheel of Law" edict depicted on the pillars of King Ashoka (an ancient emperor from India). The technique used to create this knot will soon be presented as the base for a family of knots, taught here, on my YouTube channel, and in my forthcoming books, "Paracord Fusion Knots" (Volumes 1 & 2). Video production by JD of Tying It All Together.
- published: 11 Mar 2011
- views: 51629
- author: TyingItAllTogether
A Global Movement: Ashoka's Youth Venture
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:53
- Updated: 03 Apr 2012
90 second video highlighting the movement of young people participating with Ashoka's Youth Venture
http://wn.com/A_Global_Movement_Ashoka's_Youth_Venture
90 second video highlighting the movement of young people participating with Ashoka's Youth Venture
- published: 08 Sep 2008
- views: 3563
- author: youthventure
photo: AP / Jason DeCrow
16 Dec 2012
NEWTOWN, Conn. — The gunman in the Connecticut shooting rampage committed suicide as first responders closed in, the governor said Sunday, raising the specter that Adam Lanza had planned an even more gruesome massacre and was stopped short. Lanza blasted his way into the building and used a high-power rifle to kill 20 children and six adults, including the principal who tried to stop him, authorities said ... Among the questions ... H ... The Rev....(size: 8.8Kb)
photo: AP / Charles Krupa
18 Dec 2012
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. "Most people reason dramatically, not quantitatively." -Oliver Wendell Holmes. On the same day that a 20-year-old, described as brilliant but remote, walked into an elementary school in Connecticut and massacred 26 children and adults, the school where I teach went on "lock-down." Four students with a handgun were arrested ... That morning before school, he had posted on Twitter and Facebook....(size: 14.0Kb)
photo: AP / Jason DeCrow
18 Dec 2012
An increasing number of US congressmen have called for a national dialogue about measures to curb gun violence following the shooting last week at a primary school in Connecticut that killed 26 people, including 20 children and six adults. White House officials have said that President Barack Obama would make preventing gun-related violence a priority in his second term in office and stricter laws would be part of the effort. ... ....(size: 19.2Kb)
photo: AP / Manu Brabo
18 Dec 2012
The UN's humanitarian chief has called on Syria to urgently allow fuel imports for aid deliveries and give access to 10 more aid agencies. Valerie Amos met government officials in the capital, Damascus, to discuss the growing humanitarian crisis. UN workers also needed to freely move into opposition-controlled areas to step up their aid efforts, she said ... 'Greater rebel contact' ... The claim could not be independently verified ... ....(size: 2.6Kb)
photo: AP / Khalil Hamra
16 Dec 2012
Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. "Fundamentalism is good for protest, good for revolution, and good for war, but not so good for development.". After a century of being persecuted and driven underground, mainly for their vibrant nationalism and their anti-imperialist and pro-Palestinian views, Egypt's Islamist Muslim Brotherhood has finally taken center-state ... Such actions will have to be avoided....(size: 6.9Kb)
The Times of India
19 Dec 2012
BANGALORE. 'If you continue to dump garbage here on February 1, it'll be carried to the doorsteps of chief minister Jagadish Shettar and deputy CM R Ashoka.' That's the warning of Mandur villagers to BBMP and the state government here on Tuesday ... 'Dumping Saaku' ... ....(size: 1.3Kb)
Deccan Herald
18 Dec 2012
Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka said that the two proposals are being finalised and that the issue will be discussed with the chief minister ... “All of them will be given commando-type training,” Ashoka said ... Ashoka said that, at present time, civil police have been deployed to provide security to ......(size: 1.9Kb)
The Times of India
18 Dec 2012
BANGALORE. Former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa has made his first move ... During one of his meetings , Yeddyurappa is said to have asked ministers MP Renukacharya and Murugesh R Nirani to get ready to resign from the cabinet ... In an effort to identify candidates for the assembly polls due next year , the party has constituted five teams , headed by Eshwarappa , Shettar , HN Ananth Kumar , Ashoka and DV Sadananda Gowda ....(size: 2.5Kb)
Deccan Herald
18 Dec 2012
Irate residents to meet CM over illegal dumping. Roiled by garbage trucks being allowed inside the Mandur landfill site despite protests, members of the Mandur grama panchayat on Tuesday said they would meet Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar shortly to discuss the matter ... Gram panchayat president Amrutha Manjunath complained ... Accusing Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka of pressuring the police to allow trucks into Mandur, Narendra said....(size: 2.4Kb)
The Times of India
18 Dec 2012
COIMBATORE. It was a proud moment for the members of 25 and 33 squadrons of the Indian Air Force, when President Pranab Mukherjee honoured the flying units with the President's Standard for their exemplary service to the nation, both in war and peace, during its 50 years of service, in Coimbatore on Tuesday ... A gold plated metal crust with four Ashoka lions mounted on two Himalayan Eagles forms the head of the staff ... ....(size: 2.8Kb)
Deccan Herald
18 Dec 2012
Green Space ... Parking means pollution, they reason, and this will shatter the serene environs of Lalbagh ... Metrolife interacts with regular walkers to understand what problems they face ... Anu Govindaraj, a housewife who lives near Ashoka Pillar in Jayanagar and walks regularly in Lalbagh, points out, “There isn’t enough drinking water and the pay-and-use toilets here are not very well-maintained ... ....(size: 3.5Kb)
The Times of India
18 Dec 2012
KOLAGHAT (EAST MIDNAPORE). Trinamool Congress toughs stormed the construction site of the new Kolaghat bridge for the second day on Tuesday, bringing work to a halt ... The company is paying workers Rs 13 less than the prevalent rate ... The bridge is being constructed on a build-operate-transfer basis with Nasik-based Ashoka Buildcon Ltd financing the project with the prospect of recovering the cost and earning profits from toll collection ... ....(size: 5.6Kb)
Asia Times
18 Dec 2012
By Pushkar. Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say ... ... According to Pramath Sinha, the founding Dean of the Indian School of Business (Hyderabad) and one of the key figures behind the upcoming Ashoka University, governments in other countries do not make it difficult to enter the education sector but "make it quite strict that whatever you provide is adequately rated." ... Perhaps....(size: 16.4Kb)
The Times of India
17 Dec 2012
Deputy chief minister and Bangalore incharge R Ashoka finally got his way ... The move to post Siddaiah back to BBMP is said to have taken place on Saturday, during chief minister Jagadish Shettar's meeting with Ashoka, health minister Aravind Limbavali and other officials. Faced with criticism from all the sides, Ashoka feels Siddaiah would do better in finding a solution to the garbage crisis....(size: 3.2Kb)
The Times of India
17 Dec 2012
Deccan Herald
17 Dec 2012
There was, however, no representation from the Medical Education department,” said Dr Ravindra ... Meanwhile, according to Limbavali, the government has already formed a Cabinet sub-committee headed by Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka along with Minister S A Ramdas and himself to resolve the issue. ....(size: 1.7Kb)
Deccan Herald
17 Dec 2012
All-party delegation. Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka told reporters in Bidar on Monday that an all-party delegation would visit New Delhi soon to urge the Centre not to notify the final award until the Supreme Court decides on a writ petition filed by the State government in this regard ... ....(size: 1.8Kb)
Deccan Herald
17 Dec 2012
The State government on Monday appointed Siddaiah “in-charge” Commissioner of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), a year after his unceremonious exit from the civic body ... reinstated as the BBMP commissioner ... The report quoted sources as saying that Deputy Chief Minister R Ashoka, Urban Development Minister S Suresh Kumar and Mayor D Venkatesh Murthy had met Siddaiah to persuade him to assume charge ... ....(size: 2.3Kb)
For other uses, see Ashoka (disambiguation).
| Ashoka | |
|---|---|
| Maurya Samrat | |
 A "Chakravartin" ruler, first century BC/CE. Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati. Preserved at Musee Guimet |
|
| Reign | 274–232 BC |
| Coronation | 270 BC |
| Titles | Samraat Chakravartin; other titles include Devanampriya and Priyadarsin |
| Born | 304 BC |
| Birthplace | Pataliputra, Patna |
| Died | 232 BC (aged 72) |
| Place of death | Pataliputra, Patna |
| Buried | Ashes immersed in the Ganges River, possibly at Varanasi, Cremated 232 BC, less than 24 hours after death |
| Predecessor | Bindusara |
| Successor | Dasaratha Maurya |
| Consort | Maharani Devi |
| Wives | Rani Tishyaraksha Rani Padmavati Rani Kaurwaki |
| Offspring | Mahendra, Sanghamitra, Teevala, Kunala |
| Royal House | Mauryan dynasty |
| Father | Bindusara |
| Mother | Rani Dharma or Shubhadrangi |
| Religious beliefs | Buddhism |
Ashoka (Devanāgarī: अशोक, IAST: Aśoka, IPA: [aˈɕoːkə], ca. 304–232 BC), also known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from ca. 269 BC to 232 BC.[1] One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests. His empire stretched from present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan in the west, to the present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of Assam in the east, and as far south as northern Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. He conquered the kingdom named Kalinga, which none of his ancestors had conquered starting from Chandragupta Maurya. His reign was headquartered in Magadha (present-day Bihar). He embraced Buddhism after witnessing the mass deaths of the Kalinga War, which he himself had waged out of a desire for conquest. He was later dedicated to the propagation of Buddhism across Asia and established monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha. Ashoka was a devotee of ahimsa (nonviolence), love, truth, tolerance and vegetarianism. Ashoka is remembered in history as a philanthropic administrator. In the history of India, Ashoka is referred to as Samraat Chakravartin Ashoka – the "Emperor of Emperors Ashoka".
His name "aśoka" means "painless, without sorrow" in Sanskrit (the a privativum and śoka "pain, distress"). In his edicts, he is referred to as Devānāmpriya (Pali Devānaṃpiya or "The Beloved Of The Gods"), and Priyadarśin (Pali Piyadasī or "He who regards everyone with affection").
Along with the Edicts of Ashoka, his legend is related in the later 2nd-century Aśokāvadāna ("Narrative of Asoka") and Divyāvadāna ("Divine narrative"), and in the Sri Lankan text Mahavamsa ("Great Chronicle").
Ashoka played a critical role in helping make Buddhism a world religion.[2] As the peace-loving ruler of one of the world's largest, richest and most powerful multi-ethnic states, he is considered an exemplary ruler, who tried to put into practice a secular state ethic of non-violence. The emblem of the modern Republic of India is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka.
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Biography[link]
Early life[link]
Ashoka was born to the Mauryan emperor Bindusara and his queen, Dharmā [or Dhammā]. He was the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, founder of Mauryan dynasty. Ashokāvadāna states that his mother was a queen named Subhadrangī, the daughter of Champa of Telangana. Queen Subhadrangī was a Brahmin of the Ajivika sect. Sage Pilindavatsa (aias Janasana) was a kalupaga Brahmin[3] of the Ajivika sect had found Subhadrangī as a suitable match for Emperor Bindusara. A palace intrigue kept her away from the king. This eventually ended, and she bore a son. It is from her exclamation "I am now without sorrow", that Ashoka got his name. The Divyāvadāna tells a similar story, but gives the name of the queen as Janapadakalyānī.[4][5]
Ashoka had several elder siblings, all of whom were his half-brothers from other wives of Bindusāra.
He had been given the royal military training knowledge. He was a fearsome hunter, and according to a legend, killed a lion with just a wooden rod. He was very adventurous and a trained fighter, who was known for his skills with the sword. Because of his reputation as a frightening warrior and a heartless general, he was sent to curb the riots in the Avanti province of the Mauryan empire.[6]
Rise to power[link]
The Divyavandana talks of Ashoka putting down a revolt due to activities of wicked ministers. This may have been an incident in Bindusara's times. Taranatha's account states that Chanakya, one of Bindusara's great lords, destroyed the nobles and kings of 16 towns and made himself the master of all territory between the eastern and the western seas. Some historians consider this as an indication of Bindusara's conquest of the Deccan while others consider it as suppression of a revolt. Following this, Ashoka was stationed at Ujjayini as governor.[5]
Bindusara's death in 273 BC led to a war over succession. According to Divyavandana, Bindusara wanted his son Sushim to succeed him but Ashoka was supported by his father's ministers. A minister named Radhagupta seems to have played an important role. Ashoka managed to become the king by getting rid of the legitimate heir to the throne, by tricking him into entering a pit filled with live coals. The Dipavansa and Mahavansa refer to Ashoka killing 99 of his brothers, sparing only one, named Tissa,[5] although there is no clear proof about this incident. The coronation happened in 269 BC, four years after his succession to the throne.
Early life as Emperor[link]
Ashoka is said to have been of a wicked nature and bad temper. He submitted his ministers to a test of loyalty and had 500 of them killed. He also kept a harem of around 500 women. When a few of these women insulted him, he had the whole lot of them burnt to death. He also built hell on earth, an elaborate and horrific torture chamber. This torture chamber earned him the name of Chand Ashoka (Sanskrit), meaning Ashoka the Fierce.[5]
Ascending the throne, Ashoka expanded his empire over the next eight years, from the present-day boundaries and regions of Burma–Bangladesh and the state of Assam in India in the east to the territory of present-day Iran / Persia and Afghanistan in the west; from the Pamir Knots in the north almost to the peninsular of southern India (i.e. Tamil Nadu / Andhra Pradesh).[5]
Conquest of Kalinga[link]
Main article: Kalinga War
While the early part of Ashoka's reign was apparently quite bloodthirsty, he became a follower of the Buddha's teaching after his conquest of Kalinga on the east coast of India in the present-day states of Orissa and North Coastal Andhra Pradesh. Kalinga was a state that prided itself on its sovereignty and democracy. With its monarchical parliamentary democracy it was quite an exception in ancient Bharata where there existed the concept of Rajdharma. Rajdharma means the duty of the rulers, which was intrinsically entwined with the concept of bravery and Kshatriya dharma. The Kalinga War happened eight years after his coronation. From his 13th inscription, we come to know that the battle was a massive one and caused the deaths of more than 100,000 soldiers and many civilians who rose up in defense; over 150,000 were deported.[7] When he was walking through the grounds of Kalinga after his conquest, rejoicing in his victory, he was moved by the number of bodies strewn there and the wails of the kith and kin of the dead.
Buddhist conversion[link]
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File:AshokStambhaThailand.jpg
A similar four "Indian lion" Lion Capital of Ashoka atop an intact Ashoka Pillar at Wat U Mong near Chiang Mai, Thailand showing another larger Dharma Chakra / Ashoka Chakra atop the four lions thought to be missing in the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath Museum which has been adopted as the National Emblem of India.
As the legend goes, one day after the war was over, Ashoka ventured out to roam the city and all he could see were burnt houses and scattered corpses. This sight made him sick and he cried the famous monologue:
What have I done? If this is a victory, what's a defeat then? Is this a victory or a defeat? Is this justice or injustice? Is it gallantry or a rout? Is it valor to kill innocent children and women? Do I do it to widen the empire and for prosperity or to destroy the other's kingdom and splendor? One has lost her husband, someone else a father, someone a child, someone an unborn infant.... What's this debris of the corpses? Are these marks of victory or defeat? Are these vultures, crows, eagles the messengers of death or evil?
The brutality of the conquest led him to adopt Buddhism, and he used his position to propagate the relatively new religion to new heights, as far as ancient Rome and Egypt. He made Buddhism his state religion around 260 BC, and propagated it and preached it within his domain and worldwide from about 250 BC. Emperor Ashoka undoubtedly has to be credited with the first serious attempt to develop a Buddhist policy.
Prominent in this cause were his son Venerable Mahindra and daughter Sanghamitra (whose name means "friend of the Sangha"), who established Buddhism in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). He built thousands of Stupas and Viharas for Buddhist followers. The Stupas of Sanchi are world famous and the stupa named Sanchi Stupa was built by Emperor Ashoka. During the remaining portion of Ashoka's reign, he pursued an official policy of nonviolence (ahimsa). Even the unnecessary slaughter or mutilation of animals was immediately abolished. Everyone became protected by the king's law against sport hunting and branding. Limited hunting was permitted for consumption reasons but Ashoka also promoted the concept of vegetarianism. Ashoka also showed mercy to those imprisoned, allowing them leave for the outside a day of the year. He attempted to raise the professional ambition of the common man by building universities for study, and water transit and irrigation systems for trade and agriculture. He treated his subjects as equals regardless of their religion, politics and caste. The kingdoms surrounding his, so easily overthrown, were instead made to be well-respected allies.
He is acclaimed for constructing hospitals for animals and renovating major roads throughout India. After this transformation, Ashoka came to be known as Dhammashoka (Sanskrit), meaning Ashoka, the follower of Dharma. Ashoka defined the main principles of dharma (dhamma) as nonviolence, tolerance of all sects and opinions, obedience to parents, respect for the Brahmans and other religious teachers and priests, liberality towards friends, humane treatment of servants, and generosity towards all. These principles suggest a general ethic of behaviour to which no religious or social group could object.
Some critics say that Ashoka was afraid of more wars, but among his neighbors, including the Seleucid Empire and the Greco-Bactrian kingdom established by Diodotus I, none could match his strength. He was a contemporary of both Antiochus I Soter and his successor Antiochus II Theos of the Seleucid dynasty as well as Diodotus I and his son Diodotus II of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom. If his inscriptions and edicts are well studied one finds that he was familiar with the Hellenic world but never in awe of it. His edicts, which talk of friendly relations, give the names of both Antiochus of the Seleucid empire and Ptolemy III of Egypt. The fame of the Mauryan empire was widespread from the time that Ashoka's grandfather Chandragupta Maurya defeated Seleucus Nicator, the founder of the Seleucid Dynasty.
The source of much of our knowledge of Ashoka is the many inscriptions he had carved on pillars and rocks throughout the empire. All his inscriptions have the imperial touch and show compassionate loving. He addressed his people as his "children". These inscriptions promoted Buddhist morality and encouraged nonviolence and adherence to Dharma (duty or proper behavior), and they talk of his fame and conquered lands as well as the neighboring kingdoms holding up his might. One also gets some primary information about the Kalinga War and Ashoka's allies plus some useful knowledge on the civil administration. The Ashoka Pillar at Sarnath is the most popular of the relics left by Ashoka. Made of sandstone, this pillar records the visit of the emperor to Sarnath, in the 3rd century BC. It has a four-lion capital (four lions standing back to back) which was adopted as the emblem of the modern Indian republic. The lion symbolizes both Ashoka's imperial rule and the kingship of the Buddha. In translating these monuments, historians learn the bulk of what is assumed to have been true fact of the Mauryan Empire. It is difficult to determine whether or not some actual events ever happened, but the stone etchings clearly depict how Ashoka wanted to be thought of and remembered.
Ashoka's own words as known from his Edicts are: "All men are my children. I am like a father to them. As every father desires the good and the happiness of his children, I wish that all men should be happy always." Edward D'Cruz interprets the Ashokan dharma as a "religion to be used as a symbol of a new imperial unity and a cementing force to weld the diverse and heterogeneous elements of the empire".
Also, in the Edicts, Ashoka mentions that some of the people living in Hellenic countries as converts to Buddhism, although no Hellenic historical record of this event remain:
Now it is conquest by Dhamma [(which conquest means peaceful conversion, not military conquest)] that Beloved-of-the-Gods considers to be the best conquest. And it (conquest by Dhamma) has been won here, on the borders, even six hundred yojanas away, where the Greek king Antiochos rules, beyond there where the four kings named Ptolemy, Antigonos, Magas and Alexander rule, likewise in the south among the Cholas, the Pandyas, and as far as Tamraparni. Here in the king's domain among the Greeks, the Kambojas, the Nabhakas, the Nabhapamkits, the Bhojas, the Pitinikas, the Andhras and the Palidas, everywhere people are following Beloved-of-the-Gods' instructions in Dhamma. Even where Beloved-of-the-Gods' envoys have not been, these people too, having heard of the practice of Dhamma and the ordinances and instructions in Dhamma given by Beloved-of-the-Gods, are following it and will continue to do so.
Ashoka also claims that he encouraged the development of herbal medicine, for human and nonhuman animals, in their territories:
Everywhere within Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi's [Ashoka's] domain, and among the people beyond the borders, the Cholas, the Pandyas, the Satiyaputras, the Keralaputras, as far as Tamraparni and where the Greek king Antiochos rules, and among the kings who are neighbours of Antiochos, everywhere has Beloved-of-the-Gods, King Piyadasi, made provision for two types of medical treatment: medical treatment for humans and medical treatment for animals. Wherever medical herbs suitable for humans or animals are not available, I have had them imported and grown. Wherever medical roots or fruits are not available I have had them imported and grown. Along roads I have had wells dug and trees planted for the benefit of humans and animals.
The Greeks in India even seem to have played an active role in the propagation of Buddhism, as some of the emissaries of Ashoka, such as Dharmaraksita, are described in Pali sources as leading Greek (Yona) Buddhist monks, active in spreading Buddhism (the Mahavamsa, XII[9]).
Death and legacy[link]
Ashoka ruled for an estimated forty years. After his death, the Mauryan dynasty lasted just fifty more years. Ashoka had many wives and children, but many of their names are lost to time. Mahindra and Sanghamitra were twins born by his first wife, Devi, in the city of Ujjain. He had entrusted to them the job of making his state religion, Buddhism, more popular across the known and the unknown world. Mahindra and Sanghamitra went into Sri Lanka and converted the King, the Queen and their people to Buddhism. They were naturally not handling state affairs after him.
In his old age, he seems to have come under the spell of his youngest wife Tishyaraksha. It is said that she had got his son Kunala, the regent in Takshashila, blinded by a wily stratagem. The official executioners spared Kunala and he became a wandering singer accompanied by his favourite wife Kanchanmala. In Pataliputra, Ashoka hears Kunala's song, and realizes that Kunala's misfortune may have been a punishment for some past sin of the emperor himself and condemns Tishyaraksha to death, restoring Kunala to the court. Kunala was succeeded by his son, Samprati, but his rule did not last long after Ashoka's death.
The reign of Ashoka Maurya could easily have disappeared into history as the ages passed by, and would have had he not left behind a record of his trials. The testimony of this wise king was discovered in the form of magnificently sculpted pillars and boulders with a variety of actions and teachings he wished to be published etched into the stone. What Ashoka left behind was the first written language in India since the ancient city of Harappa. The language used for inscription was the then current spoken form called Prakrit.
In the year 185 BC, about fifty years after Ashoka's death, the last Maurya ruler, Brhadrata, was assassinated by the commander-in-chief of the Mauryan armed forces, Pusyamitra Sunga, while he was taking the Guard of Honor of his forces. Pusyamitra Sunga founded the Sunga dynasty (185 BC-78 BC) and ruled just a fragmented part of the Mauryan Empire. Many of the northwestern territories of the Mauryan Empire (modern-day Afghanistan and Northern Pakistan) became the Indo-Greek Kingdom.
In 1992, Ashoka was ranked #53 on Michael H. Hart's list of the most influential figures in history. In 2001, a semi-fictionalized portrayal of Ashoka's life was produced as a motion picture under the title Asoka. King Ashoka, the third monarch of the Indian Mauryan dynasty, has come to be regarded as one of the most exemplary rulers in world history. The British historian H.G. Wells has written: "Amidst the tens of thousands of names of monarchs that crowd the columns of history, their majesties and graciousnesses and serenities and royal highnesses and the like, the name of Asoka shines, and shines, almost alone, a star."
Buddhist kingship[link]
Main articles: History of Buddhism and History of Buddhism in India
Further information: Buddhism in Sri Lanka and Buddhism in Burma
One of the more enduring legacies of Ashoka Maurya was the model that he provided for the relationship between Buddhism and the state. Throughout Theravada Southeastern Asia, the model of rulership embodied by Ashoka replaced the notion of divine kingship that had previously dominated (in the Angkor kingdom, for instance). Under this model of 'Buddhist kingship', the king sought to legitimize his rule not through descent from a divine source, but by supporting and earning the approval of the Buddhist sangha. Following Ashoka's example, kings established monasteries, funded the construction of stupas, and supported the ordination of monks in their kingdom. Many rulers also took an active role in resolving disputes over the status and regulation of the sangha, as Ashoka had in calling a conclave to settle a number of contentious issues during his reign. This development ultimately lead to a close association in many Southeast Asian countries between the monarchy and the religious hierarchy, an association that can still be seen today in the state-supported Buddhism of Thailand and the traditional role of the Thai king as both a religious and secular leader. Ashoka also said that all his courtiers were true to their self and always governed the people in a moral manner.
Historical sources[link]
Western sources[link]
Ashoka was almost forgotten by the historians of the early British India, but James Prinsep contributed in the revelation of historical sources. Another important historian was British archaeologist John Hubert Marshall who was director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India. His main interests were Sanchi and Sarnath besides Harappa and Mohenjodaro. Sir Alexander Cunningham, a British archaeologist and army engineer and often known as the father of the Archaeological Survey of India, unveiled heritage sites like the Bharhut Stupa, Sarnath, Sanchi, and the Mahabodhi Temple; thus, his contribution is recognizable in realms of historical sources. Mortimer Wheeler, a British archaeologist, also exposed Ashokan historical sources, especially the Taxila.
Eastern sources[link]
Information about the life and reign of Ashoka primarily comes from a relatively small number of Buddhist sources. In particular, the Sanskrit Ashokavadana ('Story of Ashoka'), written in the 2nd century, and the two Pāli chronicles of Sri Lanka (the Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa) provide most of the currently known information about Ashoka. Additional information is contributed by the Edicts of Asoka, whose authorship was finally attributed to the Ashoka of Buddhist legend after the discovery of dynastic lists that gave the name used in the edicts (Priyadarsi – 'favored by the Gods') as a title or additional name of Ashoka Mauriya. Architectural remains of his period have been found at Kumhrar, Patna, which include an 80-pillar hypostyle hall.
Edicts of Ashoka -The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of 33 inscriptions on the Pillars of Ashoka, as well as boulders and cave walls, made by the Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan dynasty during his reign from 272 to 231 BC. These inscriptions are dispersed throughout the areas of modern-day Pakistan and India, and represent the first tangible evidence of Buddhism. The edicts describe in detail the first wide expansion of Buddhism through the sponsorship of one of the most powerful kings of Indian history.It give more information about Ashoka's proselytism, Moral precepts, Religious precepts, Social and animal welfare .
Ashokavadana - The Ashokavadana is a 2nd century CE text related to the legend of the Maurya Emperor Ashoka. The legend was translated into Chinese by Fa Hien in 300 CE.
Mahavamsa -The Mahavamsa ("Great Chronicle") is a historical poem written in the Pali language, of the kings of Sri Lanka. It covers the period from the coming of King Vijaya of Kalinga (ancient Orissa) in 543 BC to the reign of King Mahasena (334–361). As it often refers to the royal dynasties of India, the Mahavamsa is also valuable for historians who wish to date and relate contemporary royal dynasties in the Indian subcontinent. It is very important in dating the consecration of the Maurya emperor Ashoka.
Dipavamsa -The Dipavamsa, or "Deepavamsa", (i.e., Chronicle of the Island, in Pali) is the oldest historical record of Sri Lanka. The chronicle is believe to be compiled from Atthakatha and other sources around the 3–4th century, King Dhatusena (4th century CE) had ordered that the Dipavamsa be recited at the Mahinda (son to Ashoka) festival held annually in Anuradhapura.
The use of Buddhist sources in reconstructing the life of Ashoka has had a strong influence on perceptions of Ashoka, as well as the interpretations of his edicts. Building on traditional accounts, early scholars regarded Ashoka as a primarily Buddhist monarch who underwent a conversion to Buddhism and was actively engaged in sponsoring and supporting the Buddhist monastic institution. Some scholars have tended to question this assessment. The only source of information not attributable to Buddhist sources are the Ashokan edicts, and these do not explicitly state that Ashoka was a Buddhist. In his edicts, Ashoka expresses support for all the major religions of his time: Buddhism, Brahmanism, Jainism, and Ajivikaism, and his edicts addressed to the population at large (there are some addressed specifically to Buddhists; this is not the case for the other religions) generally focus on moral themes members of all the religions would accept.
However, there is strong evidence in the edicts alone that he was a Buddhist. In one edict he belittles rituals, and he banned Vedic animal sacrifices; these strongly suggest that he at least did not look to the Vedic tradition for guidance. Furthermore, there are many edicts expressed to Buddhists alone; in one, Ashoka declares himself to be an "upasaka", and in another he demonstrates a close familiarity with Buddhist texts. He erected rock pillars at Buddhist holy sites, but did not do so for the sites of other religions. He also used the word "dhamma" to refer to qualities of the heart that underlie moral action; this was an exclusively Buddhist use of the word. Finally, the ideals he promotes correspond to the first three steps of the Buddha's graduated discourse.[10]
Contributions[link]
Global spread of Buddhism[link]
Ashoka, now a Buddhist emperor, believed that Buddhism is beneficial for all human beings as well as animals and plants, so he built 84,000 stupas, Sangharama, viharas, Chaitya, and residences for Buddhist monks all over South Asia and Central Asia. He gave donations to viharas and mathas. He sent his only daughter Sanghamitta and son Mahindra to spread Buddhism in Sri Lanka (ancient name Tamraparni). Ashoka also sent many prominent Buddhist monks (bhikshus) Sthaviras like Madhyamik Sthavira to modern Kashmir and Afghanistan; Maharaskshit Sthavira to Syria, Persia / Iran, Egypt, Greece, Italy and Turkey; Massim Sthavira to Nepal, Bhutan, China and Mongolia; Sohn Uttar Sthavira to modern Cambodia, Laos, Burma (old name Suvarnabhumi for Burma and Thailand), Thailand and Vietnam; Mahadhhamarakhhita stahvira to Maharashtra (old name Maharatthha); Maharakhhit Sthavira and Yavandhammarakhhita Sthavira to South India. Ashoka also invited Buddhists and non-Buddhists for religious conferences. Ashoka inspired the Buddhist monks to compose the sacred religious texts, and also gave all types of help to that end. Ashoka also helped to develop viharas (intellectual hubs) such as Nalanda and Taxila. Ashoka helped to construct Sanchi and Mahabodhi Temple. Ashoka never tried to harm or to destroy non-Buddhist religions, and indeed gave donations to non-Buddhists. As his reign continued his even-handedness was replaced with special inclination towards Buddhism.[11] Ashoka helped and respected both Sramans (Buddhists monks) and Brahmins (Vedic monks). Ashoka also helped to organize the Third Buddhist council (c. 250 BC) at Pataliputra (today's Patna). It was conducted by the monk Moggaliputta-Tissa who was the spiritual teacher of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka.
As administrator[link]
Ashoka's military power was so strong that he was able to crush those empires that went to war against him. Still, he was on friendly terms with kingdoms in the South like Cholas, Pandya, Keralputra, the post Alexandrian empire, Tamraparni, and Suvarnabhumi who were strong enough to remain outside his empire and continued to profess Hinduism. According to his edicts we know that he provided humanitarian help including doctors, hospitals, inns, wells, medical herbs and engineers to his neighboring countries. In neighboring countries, Ashoka helped humans as well as animals. Ashoka also planted trees in his empire and his neighboring countries. Ashoka was perhaps the first emperor in human history to ban slavery, hunting, fishing and deforestation. Ashoka also banned the death sentence and asked the same for the neighboring countries.[12] Ashoka commanded his people to serve the orders of their elders parents and religious monks (shramana and Brahmin). Ashoka also recommended his people study and respect all religions. According to Ashoka, to harm another's religion is a harm to one's own religion. Ashoka asserted his people to live with Dharmmacharana. Ashoka asked people to live with harmony, peace, love and tolerance. Ashoka called his people as his children, and they could call him when they need him. He also asked people to save money and not to spend for immoral causes. Ashoka also believed in dharmacharana (dhammacharana) and dharmavijaya (dhammavijaya). According to many European and Asian historians the age of Ashoka was the age of light and delightment. He was the first emperor in human history who has taught the lesson of unity, peace, equality and love. Ashoka's aim was not to expand the territories but the welfare of all of his subjects (sarvajansukhay). In his vast empire there was no evidence of recognizable mutiny or civil war. Ashoka was the true devotee of nonviolence, peace and love. This made him different from other emperors. Ashoka also helped Buddhism as well as religions like Jainism, Hinduism, Hellenic polytheism and Ajivikas. Ashoka was against any discrimination among humans. He helped students, the poor, orphans and the elderly with social, political and economic help. According to Ashoka, hatred gives birth to hatred and a feeling of love gives birth to love and mercy. According to him the happiness of people is the happiness of the ruler. His opinion was that the sword is not as powerful as love. Ashoka was also kind to prisoners, and respected animal life and tree life. Ashoka allowed females to be educated. He also permitted females to enter religious institutions. He allowed female Buddhist monastics such as Bhikkhuni. He combined in himself the complexity of a king and a simplicity of a buddhist monk. Because of these reasons he is known as the emperor of all ages and thus became a milestone in the History of the world.
Ashoka Chakra[link]
Main article: Ashoka Chakra
The Ashoka Chakra (the wheel of Ashoka) is a depiction of the Dharmachakra or Dhammachakka in Pali, the Wheel of Dharma (Sanskrit: Chakra means wheel). The wheel has 24 spokes. The Ashoka Chakra has been widely inscribed on many relics of the Mauryan Emperor, most prominent among which is the Lion Capital of Sarnath and The Ashoka Pillar. The most visible use of the Ashoka Chakra today is at the centre of the National flag of the Republic of India (adopted on 22 July 1947), where it is rendered in a Navy-blue color on a White background, by replacing the symbol of Charkha (Spinning wheel) of the pre-independence versions of the flag. Ashoka Chakra can also been seen on the base of Lion Capital of Ashoka which has been adopted as the National Emblem of India.
The Ashoka chakra was built by Ashoka during his reign. Chakra is a Sanskrit word which also means cycle or self repeating process. The process it signifies is the cycle of time as how the world changes with time.
A few days before India became independent on August 1947, the specially constituted Constituent Assembly decided that the flag of India must be acceptable to all parties and communities.[13] A flag with three colours, Saffron, White and Green with the Ashoka Chakra was selected.
Pillars of Ashoka (Ashokstambha)[link]
Main article: Pillars of Ashoka
The pillars of Ashoka are a series of columns dispersed throughout the northern Indian subcontinent, and erected by Ashoka during his reign in the 3rd century BC. Originally, there must have been many pillars of Ashoka although only ten with inscriptions still survive. Averaging between forty and fifty feet in height, and weighing up to fifty tons each, all the pillars were quarried at Chunar, just south of Varanasi and dragged, sometimes hundreds of miles, to where they were erected. The first Pillar of Ashoka was found in the 16th century by Thomas Coryat in the ruins of ancient Delhi. The wheel represents the sun time and Buddhist law, while the swastika stands for the cosmic dance around a fixed center and guards against evil. There is no evidence of a swastika, or manji, on the pillars.
Lion Capital of Asoka (Ashokmudra)[link]
Main article: Lion Capital of Asoka
The Lion capital of Ashoka is a sculpture of four "Indian lions" standing back to back. It was originally placed atop the Aśoka pillar at Sarnath, now in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The pillar, sometimes called the Aśoka Column is still in its original location, but the Lion Capital is now in the Sarnath Museum. This Lion Capital of Ashoka from Sarnath has been adopted as the National Emblem of India and the wheel "Ashoka Chakra" from its base was placed onto the center of the National Flag of India.
The capital contains four lions (Indian / Asiatic Lions), standing back to back, mounted on an abacus, with a frieze carrying sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull, and a lion, separated by intervening spoked chariot-wheels over a bell-shaped lotus. Carved out of a single block of polished sandstone, the capital was believed to be crowned by a 'Wheel of Dharma' (Dharmachakra popularly known in India as the "Ashoka Chakra").
The Ashoka Lion capital or the Sarnath lion capital is also known as the national symbol of India. The Sarnath pillar bears one of the Edicts of Ashoka, an inscription against division within the Buddhist community, which reads, "No one shall cause division in the order of monks". The Sarnath pillar is a column surmounted by a capital, which consists of a canopy representing an inverted bell-shaped lotus flower, a short cylindrical abacus with four 24-spoked Dharma wheels with four animals (an elephant, a bull, a horse, a lion).
The four animals in the Sarnath capital are believed to symbolize different steps of Lord Buddha's life.
- The Elephant represents the Buddha's idea in reference to the dream of Queen Maya of a white elephant entering her womb.
- The Bull represents desire during the life of the Buddha as a prince.
- The Horse represents Buddha's departure from palatial life.
- The Lion represents the accomplishment of Buddha.
Besides the religious interpretations, there are some non-religious interpretations also about the symbolism of the Ashoka capital pillar at Sarnath. According to them, the four lions symbolize Ashoka's rule over the four directions, the wheels as symbols of his enlightened rule (Chakravartin) and the four animals as symbols of four adjoining territories of India.
Constructions credited to Ashoka[link]
- Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, India
- Dhamek Stupa, Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India
- Mahabodhi Temple, Bihar, India
- Barabar Caves, Bihar, India
- Nalanda University (Vishwaviddyalaya), (some portions like Sariputta Stupa), Bihar, India
- Taxila University (Vishwaviddyalaya), (some portions like Dharmarajika Stupa and Kunala Stupa), Taxila, Pakistan
- Bhir Mound, (reconstructed), Taxila, Pakistan
- Bharhut stupa, Madhya Pradesh, India
- Deorkothar Stupa, Madhya Pradesh, India
- Butkara Stupa, Swat, Pakistan
Ashoka today[link]
In art, film and literature[link]
- One of the most famous figures in modern Hindi literature, Jaishankar Prasad, composed Ashoka ki chinta (in English: Anxiety of Ashoka), a famous Hindi verse. The poem portrays Ashoka’s heart during the war of Kalinga.
- Uttar-Priyadarshi (The Final Beatitude) a verse-play written by poet Agyeya, depicting his redemption, was adapted to stage in 1996 by theatre director, Ratan Thiyam and has since been performed in many parts of the world.[14][15]
- In Piers Anthony’s series of space opera novels, the main character mentions Asoka as a model for administrators to strive for.
- Asoka is a 2001 epic Bollywood historical drama. It is a largely fictional version of the life of the Indian emperor Ashoka. The film was directed by Santosh Sivan and stars Shahrukh Khan as Ashoka and Kareena Kapoor as Kaurwaki, a princess of Kalinga.The film ends with Asoka renouncing the sword and embracing Buddhism. The final narrative describes how Asoka not only built a large empire, but spread Buddhism and the winds of peace through it.
- The Legend of Kunal is an upcoming film based on the life of Kunal, the son of the Indian emperor Ashoka. The movie will be directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi.
Footnotes[link]
- ^ Thapur (1973), p. 51.
- ^ Bruce Rich. To Uphold The World Author Discussion
- ^ History And Doctrines Of The Ajivikas A Vanished Indian Religion By A. L. Basham
- ^ K. T. S. Sarao (2007). A text book of the history of Theravāda Buddhism (2 ed.). Department of Buddhist Studies, University of Delhi. p. 89. ISBN 978-81-86700-66-2.
- ^ a b c d e Upinder Singh (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th century. Pearson Education. ISBN 978-81-317-1677-9.
- ^ Prachin bharoter itihas by Sunil Chatterjee
- ^ prachin bharater itihas by sunil chattopadhyay
- ^ The Edicts of King Asoka: an English rendering by Ven. S. Dhammika. Access to Insight: Readings in Theravāda Buddhism. Last accessed 01 Sep 2011.
- ^ Full text of the Mahavamsa Click chapter XII
- ^ Richard Robinson, Willard Johnson, and Thanissaro Bhikkhu, Buddhist Religions, fifth ed., Wadsworth 2005, page 59.
- ^ N.V. Isaeva, Shankara and Indian philosophy. SUNY Press, 1993, page 24.
- ^ Available at: Asoka: Rock and Pillar Edicts. Then Again: David Koeller. Retrieved on: 2009-02-21
- ^ Heimer, Željko (2 July 2006). "India". Flags of the World. http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/in.html. Retrieved 2006-10-11.
- ^ Margo Jefferson (October 27, 2000). "Next Wave Festival Review; In Stirring Ritual Steps, Past and Present Unfold". New York Times. http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?pagewanted=print&res=990ce6dc1131f934a15753c1a9669c8b63.
- ^ Review: Uttarpriyadarshi by Renee Renouf, ballet magazine, December 2000,
See also[link]
- Arthashastra
- Ashoka's Major Rock Edict
- Ashokavadana
- Edicts of Ashoka
- Kalinga War
- Lion Capital of Ashoka
- Magadha
- Maurya Empire
- Sisupalgarh
- Virodhi Himsa Adhyatma
References[link]
- Ahir, D. C. (1995). Asoka the Great. Delhi: B. R. Publishing.
- Bhandarkar, D.R. (1969). Aśoka (4th ed.). Calcutta: Calcutta University Press.
- Bongard-Levin, G. M. Mauryan India (Stosius Inc/Advent Books Division May 1986) ISBN 0-86590-826-5
- Chauhan, Gian Chand (2004). Origin and Growth of Feudalism in Early India: From the Mauryas to AD 650. Munshiram Manoharlal, Delhi. ISBN 978-81-215-1028-8
- Durant, Will (1935). Our Oriental Heritage. New York: Simon and Schuster.
- Falk, Harry. Asokan Sites and Artefacts - A Source-book with Bibliography (Mainz : Philipp von Zabern, [2006]) ISBN 978-3-8053-3712-0
- Gokhale, Balkrishna Govind (1996). Asoka Maurya (Twayne Publishers) ISBN 978-0-8290-1735-9
- Hultzsch, Eugene (1914). The Date of Asoka, The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (Oct., 1914), pp. 943–951. Article stable URL.
- Keay, John. India: A History (Grove Press; 1 Grove Pr edition May 10, 2001) ISBN 0-8021-3797-0
- Mookerji, Radhakumud (1962). Aśoka (3rd ed.). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas.
- Nikam, N. A.; McKeon, Richard (1959). The Edicts of Aśoka. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta (1967). Age of the Nandas and Mauryas. Reprint: 1996, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi. ISBN 978-81-208-0466-1
- Swearer, Donald. Buddhism and Society in Southeast Asia (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania: Anima Books, 1981) ISBN 0-89012-023-4
- Thapar, Romila. (1973). Aśoka and the decline of the Mauryas. 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, Reprint, 1980. SBN 19-660379 6.
External links[link]
 |
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Asoka. |
- Ashoka at the Open Directory Project
Media related to Ashoka at Wikimedia Commons
Quotations related to Ashoka at Wikiquote- International Vegetarian Union: King Asoka of India
|
Ashoka
Mauryan dynasty
Born: 304 BC Died: 232 BC |
||
| Preceded by Bindusara |
Mauryan Emperor 272 BC – 232 BC |
Succeeded by Dasaratha |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ashoka |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | Indian monarch |
| Date of birth | 304 BC |
| Place of birth | Pataliputra, Patna |
| Date of death | 232 BC |
| Place of death | Pataliputra, Patna |
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There are many people in history who are commonly appended with the phrase "the Great", or who were called that or an equivalent phrase in their own language. Other languages have their own suffixes such as e Bozorg and e azam in Persian and Urdu respectively.
In Persia, the title "the Great" at first seems to be a colloquial version of the Old Persian title "Great King". This title was first used by the conqueror Cyrus II of Persia.[1]
The Persian title was inherited by Alexander III of Macedon (336–323 BC) when he conquered the Persian Empire, and the epithet "Great" eventually became personally associated with him. The first reference (in a comedy by Plautus)[2] assumes that everyone knew who "Alexander the Great" was; however, there is no earlier evidence that Alexander III of Macedon was called "the Great".
The early Seleucid kings, who succeeded Alexander in Persia, used "Great King" in local documents, but the title was most notably used for Antiochus the Great (223–187 BC).
Later rulers and commanders began to use the epithet "the Great" as a personal name, like the Roman general Pompey. Others received the surname retrospectively, like the Carthaginian Hanno and the Indian emperor Ashoka the Great. Once the surname gained currency, it was also used as an honorific surname for people without political careers, like the philosopher Albert the Great.
As there are no objective criteria for "greatness", the persistence of later generations in using the designation greatly varies. For example, Louis XIV of France was often referred to as "The Great" in his lifetime but is rarely called such nowadays, while Frederick II of Prussia is still called "The Great". A later Hohenzollern - Wilhelm I - was often called "The Great" in the time of his grandson Wilhelm II, but rarely later.
Contents |
Rulers[link]
- Abbas I of Persia (1571–1629), Shah of Iran
- Akbar (1542–1605), ruler of the Mughal Empire of South Asia, mainly India
- Alain I of Albret (1440–1522), French aristocrat
- Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), King of Macedonia, Persia, Greece, Egypt, and all of Mesopotamia
- Alexander I of Georgia (1386–1446), King of Georgia
- Alfonso III of León (c. 848-910), King of León, Galicia and Asturias
- Alfred the Great (848/849-899), King of Wessex
- Antiochus III the Great (c. 241–187 BC), ruler of the Seleucid Empire
- Ashoka the Great (c. 304–232 BC), Indian emperor of the Maurya dynasty
- Ashot I of Iberia “the Great”(died 826/830), presiding prince of Iberia (modern Georgia),
- Askia Mohammad I (c. 1442–1538), ruler of the Songhai Empire
- Bhumibol Adulyadej (born 1927), King of Thailand
- Bolesław I Chrobry (967-1025), sometimes called "the Great", first King of Poland
- Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the following section)
- Buddha Yodfa Chulaloke (1736–1809), founder and ruler of the Rattanakosin Kingdom (in what is now Thailand)
- Cnut the Great (c. 985 or 995-1035), King of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden
- Casimir III the Great (1310–1370), King of Poland
- Catherine the Great (1729–1796), Empress of Russia
- Chandragupta II (reigned 375-413/415), also known as Vikramaditya, ruler of the Gupta empire in India
- Charlemagne (died 814), King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans
- Chulalongkorn (1853–1910), King of Siam (now Thailand)
- Chlothar II (584-629), King of Neustria and King of the Franks
- Conrad, Margrave of Meissen (c. 1097-1157), Margrave of Meissen
- Constantine I (c. 272-337), Roman emperor
- Cyaxares the Great (c. 625-585 BC), third king of Media
- Cyrus the Great (c. 600 BC or 576 BC–530 BC), founder and ruler of the Persian or Achaemenid Empire
- Darius the Great (550 – 486 BC), third ruler of the Persian Empire
- Devapala (died 850), ruler of the Pala Empire in the Indian subcontinent
- Dionysius I, Greek tyrant of Syracuse[3]
- Ferdinand I of León and Castile (c. 1015–1065), King of León and Count of Castile
- Frederick the Great (1712–1786), King of Prussia
- Genghis Khan (1162?-1227), founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire
- Gero (c. 900–965), ruler of Marca Geronis, a very large march in Europe
- Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden (1594–1632), King of Sweden, founder of the Swedish Empire, and noted military leader
- Gwanggaeto the Great, King of Goguryeo, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea[4][5]
- Hanno the Great, the name of three leaders of Carthage, in the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd centuries BC
- Henry I, Duke of Burgundy (946–1002)
- Henry IV of France (1553–1610), King of France and King of Navarre
- Herod the Great (73/74 BC-4 BC), King of Judea
- Hugh the Great (898-956), Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris
- Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France
- Hugh I, Count of Vermandois (1057–1101)
- Humphrey I de Bohun (died c. 1123), Anglo-Norman aristocrat
- Ivan III of Russia (1440–1505), Tsar of Russia
- John I of Portugal (1358–1433), King of Portugal and the Algarve
- John II of Aragon (1398–1479), King of Aragon and, through his wife, King of Navarre
- Justinian I (483-565), Byzantine Emperor
- Kamehameha I (c. 1758-1819), first King of Hawai'i
- Kanishka (died c. 127), ruler of the Kushan Empire in Central Asia and parts of India
- Kvirike III of Kakheti (1010–1029), King of Kakheti in eastern Georgia
- Kublai Khan (1215–1294), Mongol ruler in the 13th century and Emperor of China; founder of the Yuan Dynasty
- Llywelyn the Great (c. 1172–1240), Prince of Gwynedd and de facto ruler of most of Wales
- Louis I of Hungary (1326–1382), King of Hungary, Croatia and Poland
- Mangrai the Great (1238–1317), Lanna, northern Thailand
- Emperor Meiji (1852–1912), Emperor of Japan
- Mircea I of Wallachia (1355–1418)
- Mithridates II of Parthia (died 88 BC), ruler of the Parthian Empire (in present day Iran)
- Mithridates VI of Pontus (134 BC–63 BC), ruler of Pontus and the Bosporan Kingdom
- Mstislav I of Kiev (1076–1132), Grand Prince of Kievan Rus
- Naresuan (1555–1605), King of Ayutthaya
- Narai (1633–1688), King of Ayutthaya (in what is now modern Thailand)
- Odo the Great (died c. 735), Duke of Aquitaine
- Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (912-973)
- K'inich Janaab' Pakal (603-683), ruler of the Mayan city-state of Palenque
- Parakramabahu I of Polonnaruwa (1123–1186), King of Sri Lanka
- Peter Krešimir IV of Croatia (died 1075), King of Croatia
- Peter the Great (1672–1725), Tsar of Russia
- Peter III of Aragon (1239–1285), King of Aragon and King of Sicily
- Pompey (106 BC-48 BC), military and political leader of the late Roman Republic, rival of Julius Caesar
- Radama I (1793–1828), first king of greater Madagascar
- Raja Raja Chola I (c. 947-1014), Indian emperor of the Cholas.[6][7][8]
- Rajendra Chola I (reigned 1014–1044), Tamil King of India
- Ramesses II (reigned 1279 BC – 1213 BC), considered the greatest pharaoh of Ancient Egypt
- Ram Khamhaeng (around 1237 to 1247-1298), King of Sukhothai (in present day Thailand)
- Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona (1082–1131), also Count of Provence and various other counties
- Rhodri the Great (c. 820–878), King of Gwynedd (in present day Wales)
- Roman the Great (after 1160-1205), Grand Prince of Kiev
- Saladin (c. 1138-1193), Kurdish Sultan of Egypt and Syria, founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, and victor over the Crusaders
- Samudragupta (c. 335–375), ruler of the Gupta empire in the Indian subcontinent
- Sancho III of Navarre (c. 992-1035), King of Kingdom of Navarre
- Sargon of Akkad (died c. 2215 BC), ruler of the Akkadian Empire
- Sejong the Great (1397–1450), Korean king[9]
- Shapur II (309-379), king of the Sassanid Empire, Persia
- Simeon I of Bulgaria (864/865-927), ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire
- Stephen III of Moldavia (1433–1504), Prince of Moldavia (Romania)
- Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia (c. 1308-1355), King of Serbia and Emperor of the Serbs and Greeks
- Taksin (1734–1782), King of the Thonburi Kingdom (Thailand)
- Tamar (1160-1123), Queen of the Georgian Empire
- Timur (1336–1405), better known as Tamerlane, founder of the Timurid Dynasty
- Theobald II, Count of Champagne (1090–1151), Count of Blois and of Chartres as Theobald IV, Count of Champagne and of Brie
- Theodoric the Great (454-526), King of the Ostrogoths, regent of the Visigoths and a viceroy of the Byzantine Empire
- Theodosius I (347-395), Roman emperor
- Tigranes the Great (140-55 BC), Emperor of Armenia
- Tiridates III of Armenia (285-339), King of Armenia
- Umar (c. 586 to 590–644), second caliph of the Muslim Empire
- Valdemar I of Denmark (1131–1182), King of Denmark
- Valentinian I (364-375), Roman Emperor
- Vladimir I of Kiev (c. 958-1015), ruler of Kievan Rus
- Vytautas (c. 1350-1430), archduke of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy
- William I, Count of Burgundy (1020–1087), Count of Burgandy and Mâcon
- William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969-1030), also Count of Poitou
- Xerxes I (519-465 BC), King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire (Persia)
- Yu the Great (c. 2200-2100 BC), legendary ruler in ancient China
Religious figures[link]
- Abraham the Great of Kashkar (ca. 492-586), monk and saint of the Assyrian Church of the East
- Abraham Kidunaia (died c. 366, hermit, priest, and Christian saint of Mesopotamia
- Albertus Magnus (1193/1206–1280), medieval German philosopher and theologian
- Anthony the Great (c. 251–356), early Christian saint of Egypt
- Babai the Great (c. 551–628), Assyrian church leader
- Basil of Caesarea (330-379), Greek bishop and theologian
- Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia (also listed in the previous section)
- Euthymius the Great (377-473), abbot and Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox saint
- Gertrude the Great (1256-c. 1302), German Benedictine, mystic, theologian and Roman Catholic saint
- Pope Gregory I (c. 540-604)
- Hiyya the Great, 3rd-century rabbi, Palestine
- Pope John Paul II (1920–2005)
- Pope Leo I (c. 391 or 400-461)
- Macarius of Egypt (c. 300-391), Egyptian hermit
- Pope Nicholas I (c. 800-867)
- Photius I of Constantinople (c. 810–c. 893), Eastern Orthodox saint and Patriarch of Constantinople
- William of Maleval (died 1157), founder of the Catholic congregation of Williamites
Other[link]
- Beli Mawr, a figure in medieval Welsh literature and genealogies
- Emmy the Great, folk singer
- Matteo Rosso the Great, Roman politician and father of Pope Nicholas III
- Prokop the Great, Hussite general in Bohemia
See also[link]
- Epithet
- List of monarchs by nickname
- List of nicknames of European Royalty and Nobility: G-I
- James, son of Zebedee, also known as James the Greater, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus
- Ajax (mythology), called Ajax the Greater
- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, whose common honorific "Mahatma" means "Great Soul"
Notes[link]
- ^ In a clay cylinder (online). The expression was used in a propagandistic context: the conqueror wants to show he is a normal Babylonian ruler. The first Persian ruler to use the title in an Iranian context was Darius I of Persia (Darius the Great), in the Behistun Inscription (online).
- ^ Plautus, Mostellaria 775.
- ^ History, Instituto Geografico De Agostini S.p.A., p. 479
- ^ World and Its Peoples:Korea. Marshall Cavendish Corporation. September 2008. p. 887. ISBN 0-7614-7631-8.
- ^ Alison Behnke (2004). North Korea in Pictures. Twenty-First Century Books. p. 70. ISBN 0-8225-1908-9. http://books.google.com/?id=ovWvhyLc6hAC&pg=RA1-PA70&dq=%22Gwanggaeto+the+Great%22.
- ^ Sarkar, Benoy Kumar (December 1919). "An English History of India". Political Science Quarterly 34 (4): 644–653. DOI:10.2307/2142032. JSTOR 2142032. ""The finances of the state were not more centralized under Louis XIV than under Rajaraja the Great.""
- ^ "Heaven sent: Michael Wood explores the art of the Chola dynasty". Royal Academy, UK. http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/ra-magazine/winter2006/features/heven-sent,47,RAMA.html. Retrieved 2007-04-26.
- ^ "The Chola Dynasty: Accession of Rajaraja, the Great". Sify.com. http://sify.com/itihaas/fullstory.php?id=13219885. Retrieved 2007-04-26.
- ^ Christoph Bluth; Gareth Schott (2007). Korea. Polity. p. 10. ISBN 0-7456-3356-0.
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-
- For other men with this name, see William Drayton (disambiguation).
File:BillDraytonF7.jpg
Bill Drayton as Ashoka Celebrates its 25th Anniversary (2006)
William "Bill" Drayton is a social entrepreneur. Born in 1943 in New York City, U.S. Drayton was named by US News & World Report as one of America's 25 Best Leaders in 2005.[1] He is responsible for the rise of the phrase "social entrepreneur",[citation needed] a concept first found in print in 1972.[2]
Drayton is the founder and current Chair of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding and fostering social entrepreneurs worldwide. Drayton also chairs the Community Greens, Youth Venture and Get America Working! organizations.
Drayton's philosophy of social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society's most pressing social problems. To quote Drayton, "Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry."
Biography[link]
Drayton's mother emigrated to the US from Australia. His father was an American who became an explorer. Public service and strong values run through the history of both parents' families - including several of the earliest anti-slavery abolitionist and women's leaders in the U.S.[3] Drayton was born in 1943 in New York City.
Drayton attended high school at Andover and went on to Harvard where he received his BA in 1965. Drayton entered Balliol College, Oxford and received an MA in 1967, after which he went to Yale Law School where he received his JD in 1970.
File:BillDraytonLG.jpg
Bill Drayton
Drayton became a manager and management consultant, working for McKinsey and Company as a consultant for almost ten years.[4] During the Carter administration (1977–1981) he was an Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency where he launched emissions trading among other reforms. He has been a visiting Professor at Harvard and Stanford.[5]
Drayton has received many awards and acknowledgments for his achievements. He was elected one of the early MacArthur Fellows for his work, including the founding of Ashoka.[6] The American Society of Public Administration and the National Academy of Public Administration jointly awarded him their National Public Service Award[7] and he has also been named a Preiskel-Silverman Fellow for Yale Law School[8] and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[9] On May 25, 2009 he was awarded an honorary degree, Doctorate of Humane Letters, by Yale University at Commencement.[10] David Gergen has called Drayton the “godfather of social entrepreneurship.” [11] And in 2008, Drayton was named a “visionary” as one of Utne Reader magazine’s “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing the World.”[12] In 2011, Drayton won Spain's prestigious Prince of Asturias awards for international cooperation for his work promoting entrepreneurs. The prize foundation described him as a "driving force behind the figure of social entrepreneurs, men and women who undertake innovative initiatives for the common good." [13]
References[link]
- ^ USNews.com: The social entrepreneur: Bill Drayton
- ^ see J Banks, The Sociology of Social Movements, London, MacMillan, 1972.
- ^ "GOOD Q&A: Social Entrepreneur Bill Drayton On His White House Years". Huffington Post. 2007-12-03. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/good-magazine/good-qa-social-entrepre_b_75010.html.
- ^ Bill Drayton Paints a Vision of Changemaking
- ^ Events - Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship(CASE)
- ^ He is not to be confused with William Drayton of reality television fame.MacArthur Fellows, November 1984, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Retrieved February 9, 2008.
- ^ National Public Service Awards
- ^ "Yale Bulletin and Calendar". Yale University. November/December 1999. http://www.yale.edu/opa/arc-ybc/v28.n14/visiting.html. Retrieved 2009-09-01.
- ^ http://www.amacad.org/members/alpha_list.pdf
- ^ http://opa.yale.edu/media/pdf/Honorary-Degrees-2009-Program.pdf
- ^ Gergen, David (2006-02-12). "The New Engines of Reform". U.S News & World Report. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/060220/20gergen.htm.
- ^ Visionaries Who Are Changing the World
- ^ "New York social activist wins Spanish prize". Forbes. 2011-06-08. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/06/08/general-eu-spain-asturias-prize_8505802.html. [dead link]
External links[link]
- Ashoka Leadership page (Drayton profile and others)
- Video (and audio) of interview with Bill Drayton at Bloggingheads.tv
- MIT Press Journals - Innovations: "Everyone a Changemaker" by William Drayton
- Lessons for Social Entrepreneurs from Bill Drayton & Ashoka Foundation
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Drayton, William |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | 1943 |
| Place of birth | |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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Related pages:
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
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"Shahrukh" redirects here. For the Timurid dynasty ruler, see Shah Rukh (Timurid dynasty).
"King of Bollywood" redirects here. For the film, see King of Bollywood (film).
| Shahrukh Khan | |
|---|---|
 Shahrukh Khan at TAG Heuer Press Conference. |
|
| Born | (1965-11-02) 2 November 1965 (age 46) New Delhi, India |
| Residence | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India[1] |
| Other names | King Khan, SRK, King of Bollywood, The Baadshah of Bollywood[2] |
| Occupation | Actor, producer, television presenter |
| Years active | 1988—present |
| Spouse | Gauri Khan (1991—present) |
| Children | 2 |
Shahrukh Khan (pronounced [‘ʃaːɦrəx ˈxaːn]; born 2 November 1965), often credited as Shah Rukh Khan and informally referred to as SRK, is an Indian film actor. Known as "The King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films.[3][4][5] He has won fourteen Filmfare Awards from thirty nominations for his work in Indian films and shares the record for the highest number of Best Actor awards with Dilip Kumar, eight wins. In 2005, the Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri for his contributions towards Indian cinema.
After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in economics, he started his career appearing in theatre and several television serials in the late 1980s and later made his Hindi film debut in 1992 with Deewana. Early in his career he was recognised for his unconventional choice of negative roles in films such as Darr (1993), Baazigar (1993) and Anjaam (1994). Since then he has played leading roles in a wide variety of film genres, including romantic films, comedies, thrillers, action films, sport films, and historical dramas among others.
Eleven of the films he has acted in have accumulated gross earnings of over 
1 billion (US$19.95 million).[6] Khan's films such as Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (1995), Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998), Devdas (2002), Chak De! India (2007), Om Shanti Om (2007), Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008), and Ra.One (2011) remain some of Bollywood's biggest hits, while films like Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... (2001), Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), Veer-Zaara (2004), Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006), My Name Is Khan (2010), and Don 2 (2011) have been top-grossing Indian productions in the overseas markets thus making him one of the most successful leading actors of Hindi cinema.[7]
In addition to movie acting, Khan is a television presenter, a regular stage performer, and a social activist. He is the founder/owner of two production companies: Dreamz Unlimited and Red Chillies Entertainment and, along with actress Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta, the owner of the Indian Premier League cricket team Kolkata Knight Riders. Khan is considered to be one of the biggest movie stars in history, with a fan following claimed to number in the billions.[3][8] He has an estimated net worth of over 25 billion (US$540 million).[9][10] In 2008, Newsweek named Khan one of the 50 most powerful people in the world.[3]
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Early life and background[link]
Khan was born on 2 November 1965 to Muslim parents of Pathan descent in New Delhi, India.[11][12] His father, Taj Mohammed Khan, was an Indian independence activist from Peshawar, British India. According to Khan, his paternal grandfather was originally from Afghanistan.[13] His mother, Lateef Fatima, was the adopted daughter of Major General Shah Nawaz Khan of the Janjua Rajput clan, who served in the Indian National Army.[14] Khan's father came to New Delhi from Qissa Khawani Bazaar in Peshawar before the partition of India,[15] Ethnically, he describes himself as being half-Pathan through his father and half-Hyderabadi through his mother, with his paternal grandmother being Kashmiri.[16] His father died from cancer when Khan was 15 years old, and his mother died in 1990 after prolonged illness.[17][18] Khan was very attached to his parents as a child and describes their early deaths as a turning point in his life and as his biggest motivation for hard work. Khan explained his ideology in life was "... to make movies so damn bloody big...that my parents somewhere sit down on a star and from there also can look at their son and say 'I can see his movies from here better than I can see the Wall of China or anything. We see his movies covering the face of this earth'."[19] Khan has an elder sister named Shehnaz.[20]
Growing up in Rajendra Nagar neighbourhood of Delhi,[21] Khan attended St. Columba's School where he was accomplished in sports, drama, and academics. He won the Sword of Honour, an annual award given to the student who best represents the spirit of the school. Khan later attended the Hansraj College (1985–1988) and earned his Bachelors degree in Economics. When Hansraj College celebrated its 50th anniversary, it gave away 17 shields to its alumni who had excelled in their lives and professions. Khan was one of them. Though he pursued a Masters Degree in Mass Communications at Jamia Millia Islamia, he later opted out to pursue a career in Bollywood.[22] He also attended the National School of Drama in Delhi.[23]
After the death of his mother, Khan moved to Mumbai in 1991.[24] He married Gauri Chibber, a Hindu, in a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony on 25 October 1991.[17] They have two children, son Aryan (b. 1997) and daughter Suhana (b. 2000). According to Khan, while he strongly believes in Allah, he also values his wife's religion. At home, his children follow both religions, with the Qur'an being situated next to the Hindu deities.[25]
Khan studied acting under celebrated theatre director Barry John at Delhi's "Theatre Action Group" (TAG). In 2007, John commented on his former pupil, "The credit for the phenomenally successful development and management of Shahrukh's career goes to the superstar himself."[26] Khan started shooting for Lekh Tandon's television series Dil Dariya, but its delay meant that he made his acting debut with the 1988 television series, Fauji, playing the leading role of Commando Abhimanyu Rai.[24][27] He went on to appear in other television serials, such as Aziz Mirza's Circus in 1989, which depicted the life of circus performers.[28] The same year, Khan also had a minor role in the made-for-television English-language film, In Which Annie Gives it Those Ones, which was based on life at Delhi University, written by Arundhati Roy. When he appeared in those teleserials, people found in him some resemblance with actor Dilip Kumar and also compared his acting style with the latter's.[29]
Acting career[link]
1990s[link]
Khan received his first break upon moving from New Delhi to Mumbai when Hema Malini offered him a role in her directorial debut Dil Aashna Hai.[24] However, the delay in the release of the film meant that his first release was Deewana opposite Rishi Kapoor and Divya Bharti.[23][30] The movie became a box office hit, and launched his career in Bollywood.[31] His performance won him a Filmfare Best Male Debut Award. In a 2001 interview with Rediff, Khan recalled: "Actually, June 26 marks exactly 11 years since I faced the cameras for my first shot for Dil Aashna Hai, in 1990. I knew it would be a tough field, a very demanding profession."[23] He went on to star in Maya Memsaab, which generated some controversy because of his appearance in an "explicit" sex scene in the movie.[32]
In 1993, Khan won acclaim for his performances in villainous roles as an obsessive lover and a murderer, respectively, in the box office hits, Darr and Baazigar.[33] In Khan's entry in Encyclopædia Britannica's "Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema" it was stated that "he defied the image of the conventional hero in both these films and created his own version of the revisionist hero."[34] Darr marked his first collaboration with renowned film-maker Yash Chopra and his banner Yash Raj Films, the largest production company in Bollywood. Khan's scene in the film, in which he makes obsessive phone calls to Chawla's character stammering "i love you, kkkiran," attained great popularity.[35] Baazigar, which saw Khan portraying an ambiguous avenger who murders his girlfriend, shocked its Indian audience with an unexpected violation of the standard Bollywood formula.[36] His performance won him his first Filmfare Best Actor Award. In that same year, Khan played the role of a young musician in Kundan Shah's Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, a performance that earned him a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance. In a 2004 retrospective review by Rediff, Sukanya Verma called it Khan's best performance and added:"He was spontaneous, vulnerable, boyish, mischievous and acting straight from the heart."[37] Khan maintains that this is his all-time favourite among the movies he has acted in.[38] In 1994, Khan once again played an obsessive lover/psycho's role in Anjaam, co-starring alongside Madhuri Dixit. Though the movie was not a box office success, Khan's performance earned him the Filmfare Best Villain Award.[39]
In 1995, Khan starred in the two biggest hits of the year in India. His first release was Rakesh Roshan's Karan Arjun, Khan was part of an ensemble cast including Salman Khan, Kajol, Mamta Kulkarni, Raakhee and Amrish Puri. The film, which dealt with reincarnation, became the second-highest grossing film of the year in India.[40] He followed it with Aditya Chopra's directorial debut, the romance Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. A major critical and commercial success, the movie became the year's top-grossing production in India and abroad.[41] The film was declared an all time blockbuster and it remains the longest-running film in the history of Indian cinema. Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge grossed over 1.2 billion. The film won ten Filmfare Awards, and Khan's performance as a young NRI who falls for Kajol's character while on a college vacation won him much critical acclaim and his second Best Actor Award. In 2005, Indiatimes Movies ranked the movie amongst the 25 Must See Bollywood Films, citing it as a "trendsetter of sorts".[42] In that same year's retrospective review by Rediff, Raja Sen stated, "Khan gives a fabulous performance, redefining the Lover for the 1990s with great panache. He's cool and flippant, but sincere enough to appeal to the junta. The performance itself is, like the best in the business, played well enough to come across as effortless, as non-acting."[43]
1996 proved a disappointing year for Khan, he appeared in two films—English Babu Desi Mem and Mahesh Bhatt' Chaahat both of which proved critically and commercially unsuccessful in India.[44] This was, however, followed by a comeback in 1997. He saw success with Subhash Ghai's social drama Pardes opposite newcomer Mahima Chaudhry. The film brought to light the culture shock and difficulties that may be involved in the cases of young Indian women immigrating to foreign countries after their marriage to Non Resident Indian men. It was one of the biggest hits of the year and earned him a nomination for the Best Actor Award at the Filmfare ceremony. He then appeared in Aziz Mirza's comedy Yes Boss which paired him with Juhi Chawla for the fourth time. The film was a moderately successful feature.[45] His second project with Yash Chopra as a director, Dil to Pagal Hai became that year's second highest-grossing movie, and he won his third Filmfare Best Actor Award for his role as a stage director who falls in love with one of his new actresses.[45]
In 1998, Khan starred in Karan Johar's directorial debut, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, which paired him with Kajol and Rani Mukerji. The movie was declared an all time blockbuster, with a worldwide gross of over 1.03 billion.[46] Khan played the role of Rahul Khanna, a young college student who falls in love with his best friend after the death of his wife, years after breaking contact with her. His performance won him the Best Actor award at the Filmfare Awards for the second consecutive year. He won critical praise for his performance in Mani Ratnam's critically acclaimed Dil Se.., in which he played the part of Amar Varma, an All India Radio correspondent who falls deeply in love with a mysterious woman terrorist, played by Manisha Koirala.[47] Rediff wrote: "Khan delivers a compelling performance. He plays the part with taut restraint, and expresses exasperation superbly."[48] The movie failed financially in India, however, it was a commercial success overseas.[49] becoming the first Indian film to enter the top 10 in the United Kingdom box office charts.[50][51] Khan's only release in 1999, Baadshah opposite Twinkle Khanna, was an average grosser, for which he earned a Filmfare Award nomination for Best Performance in a Comic Role.[52]
2000s[link]
Khan's success continued with Aditya Chopra's 2000 film, Mohabbatein, co-starring Amitabh Bachchan. The film was a major financial success, and Khan's performance as a college teacher was acclaimed by critics; Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama wrote that he "is outstanding as Raj Aryan." He was awarded his second Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor for the role. He also starred in Mansoor Khan's action film Josh. The film starred Khan as the tough leader of a Christian gang in Goa and Aishwarya Rai as his twin sister, and was also a box office success.[53] In a positive review, Vinayak Chakravorty of Hindustan Times wrote that Khan "basks in his tailormade role, donning with panache the garb of a streetsmart tough."[54] He further played the role of an archaeologist Muslim beaten to death by Hindu fanatics during the unrest following the partition of India in Hey Ram. Directed by and co-starring Kamal Hassan, the film was critically acclaimed and was selected as India's entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars that year.[55] Khan also dubbed his own voice in Tamil for the film.[56] In that same year, Khan set up his own production house, Dreamz Unlimited with Juhi Chawla and director Aziz Mirza (see below). The three collaborated on the first film of their production house, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani.[53]
In 2001, His collaboration with Karan Johar continued with the family drama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham in which he featured as part of an ensemble cast that included Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor, Kajol and Hrithik Roshan. the movie was a major financial success and became India's second highest-grossing film of the year and one of the biggest Bollywood success of all time in the overseas market, earning over 1,000 million (US$19.95 million) worldwide.[57] Khan's portrayal of Rahul Raichand, an adopted young man who's disowned by his rich and powerful father, played by Bachchan, for marrying a middle-class girl Anjali, played by Kajol was well received by critics. Taran Adarsh commented, "Khan sparkles yet again", noting that he performed the part "with amazing poise, class, honesty and maturity".[58] It garnered him a nomination for the Filmfare Best Actor Award. This was his last collaboration with Kajol until they would be cast again by Johar as a lead pair in early 2010.
The same year, Khan essayed the role of Emperor Asoka in Santosh Sivan's historical epic, Asoka, a partly fictionalised account of the life of Ashoka the Great.[59] It was widely screened across the United Kingdom and North America, and was also selected for screening at the Venice Film Festival and the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival, where it got positive response.[60] While promoting the film in New York City, Khan along with the film director, Sivan were stuck in the city due to the 11 September terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.[60] The film received generally positive reviews and Khan received favourable reactions for his performance, Rediff concluded that "He puts in a strong performance, in this well defined role."[61]
In 2002, Khan played the title role in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's award-winning period romance, Devdas which was the most expensive Bollywood film ever made at the time.[62] This was the third Hindi movie adaptation of Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay's well-known novel of the same name. Featured opposite Aishwarya Rai and Madhuri Dixit, Khan's performance as a rebellious alcoholic is often considered one of his best performances, and won him a Filmfare Best Actor Award. The film surfaced as the highest-grossing film of the year in India and overseas, earning a revenue of 39 million (US$778,050) domestically.[63][64] Devdas won numerous awards, including 10 Filmfare Awards and received a special screening at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.[65][66] It received a BAFTA nomination for Best Foreign Language Film as well and was India's entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. After the release of the film, Khan took a six months break from acting, he explained that during that period he "Just enjoyed the feeling of being sad". In an interview with Rediff, Khan commented: "For an entire year, that is what I did. I was sad. " and added, "We stars live in this bubble where everyone is smiling at you, where everyone loves you. Somehow, you lose touch with real, deep down sadness. Working on this film put us in touch with that emotion."[23] Khan also starred opposite Madhuri Dixit and Salman Khan in the family-drama Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam. The film took six years to make, with huge sabbaticals in between shoots due to unending production problems,[67] and was an average grosser at the box office.[63]
In 2003, Khan starred in Aziz Mirza's romantic drama, Chalte Chalte opposite Rani Mukerji. The film was moderately successful in India but fared much better in the overseas.[68][69] Khan played the role of Raj Mathur, a middle class man who falls in love and marries Priya Chopra, a successful fashion designer whose family is quite wealthy. But after the marriage, differences arise between the couple, leading to an irreversible separation. Manish Gajjar of BBC mentioned that he is "a sheer natural which explains why he is a great asset to Bollywood." Several critics were not as positive, including Vivek Fernandes from Rediff, who noted: "Shah Rukh hams and haws his way through the film – biting his lip, crinkling his eyebrows – it is oh-so-familiar. He is over the top, especially as the inebriated Raj who confronts the estranged wife."[70]
That same year, he starred in Kal Ho Naa Ho a drama set in New York City, written by Karan Johar and directed by Nikhil Advani co-starring Jaya Bachchan, Preity Zinta and Saif Ali Khan. Khan's performance as a man with a fatal heart disease was met with positive response from critics. The Hindu noted, "His enthusiasm unbounded, his energy unbridled, Shah Rukh is in form here. And as a guy with a few days to live and a life to spend in a moment, he looks for your sympathy. He reduces many to tears. And with each tear he rises a rank higher in the echelons of actors".[71] while rediff concluded, "Shah Rukh excels as the supercool Aman (...) He steals the show with a designer-made role."[72] The film was a critical and commercial success, becoming the second top-grossing movie domestically and the top-grossing Bollywood film in the overseas market that year.[68] When adjusted for inflation its total gross worldwide is 1.3 billion.[73] The film earned him another Filmfare Best Actor Award nomination.
2004 was a particularly good year for Khan, both commercially and critically. He produced and starred in Farah Khan's directorial debut, the action comedy Main Hoon Na. The movie did well at the box office. He then played the role of an Indian officer, Veer Pratap Singh in Yash Chopra's love saga Veer-Zaara, which was the biggest hit of 2004 in both India and overseas, with a worldwide gross of over 960 million.[57][74] It was also screened at the Berlin Film Festival.[75] The film relates the love story of Veer and a Pakistani woman Zaara Haayat Khan, played by Preity Zinta. Khan's performance in the film was praised by critics and won him awards at several award ceremonies. Rama Sharma from The Tribune wrote:"Shah Rukh Khan here scales the heights of sensitivity, rising above the mundane. His expressions are mature and reach out to touch the heart of the common man. As a prisoner lodged in a Pakistani jail, he breathes life into the story. His trauma becomes a saga and speaks about the untold sufferings of innocent prisoners."[76]
In that same year, he received critical acclaim for his performance in Ashutosh Gowariker's drama Swades which most of the critics deemed as one of his best performance till date.[77] Jitesh Pillai said of his role, "Ultimately your heart leaps out to the magical Shah Rukh Khan, who unarguably gives his career's finest performance. Shorn of any artifice or nervous energy, his anguish is tangible. He inhabits Mohan Bharghava with consummate ease, you can feel the earnestness of his intentions, the wetness of his tears".[78] His performance was later included in the 2010 issue of the "Top 80 Iconic Performances" by Filmfare.[79] He was nominated for the Filmfare Best Actor Award for all three of his releases in 2004, winning it for Swades.[74] The film itself was featured on Rediff's list of the 10 Best Bollywood Movies of the Decade.[80]
His only release in 2005, Paheli opposite Rani Mukerji, was screened at the Sundance Film Festival and was chosen as India’s official entry to the Oscars for the 79th Academy Awards.[81] The film was critically acclaimed, as was Khan's performance, which Raja Sen called " A top-notch performance, [That] justifies his supremacy in the film world".[82] In 2006, Khan collaborated with Karan Johar for the third time with the melodrama Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, with an ensemble cast including Amitabh Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukerji and Kirron Kher. The film told the story of two unhappily married couples in New York, which later results in an extramarital affair. Khan played the role of Dev Saran, a bitter and cynical former football player who is jealous of his wife Rhea's successful career as a fashion magazine editor, played by Zinta. The film opened to mixed reviews but emerged as a major commercial success; becoming the biggest Bollywood hit in the overseas market of all-time. It grossed over 1.13 billion worldwide[57][83]
File:SRK and Farah on OSO set.jpg
Khan with director Farah Khan on the sets of Om Shanti Om (2007).
His second release that year saw him playing the title role in the action film Don, a remake of the 1978 hit film of the same name. He played the character of Don, a role which was played by Amitabh Bachchan in the original movie. While the film was generally well received, Khan's performance received mixed critical reactions. His performance was extensively compared to that of Bachchan. Taran Adarsh noted that Khan "carries a massive responsibility on his shoulders since direct comparisons with Bachchan are foreseeable" adding that "He does very well as Don. He enacts the evil character with flourish. But he fails to carry off the other role [Vijay] with conviction. It looks made up, it doesn't come natural to him at all."[84] While Derek Elley of Variety argued that "it's hard to accept him (Khan) as the title character" and that "Khan is far more convincing as Vijay, playing up to his rom-com fanbase with plenty of boyish humor."[85] The film became the fifth-highest grossing film of the year in India.[83] and the highest grossing film of the year in the overseas market. It grossed a total of 1.04 billion worldwide.[57] Both the films earned him Filmfare Best Actor Award nominations while his role as Don earned him a nomination for the Asian Film Awards.
Khan's success continued with a few more highly popular films. One of his most successful works was the multiple award-winning 2007 film, Chak De! India, about the Indian women's national hockey team. The film was a major critical and commercial success in India and abroad.[86] Earning over 1.03 billion worldwide.[57] Chak De! India became the third-highest grossing movie of 2007 in India and won yet another Filmfare Award for Best Actor for Khan. Rajeev Masand from CNN-IBN wrote about his performance, "For the first time since Swades, Shah Rukh plays a role without any of his typical trappings, without any of his trademark quirks. He sinks his teeth into the part of the determined coach and comes up with such a terrific performance. He's hopeful at times and despondent at others, he's humorous at times, and stern at others. He plays Kabir Khan like a real flesh-and-blood human being."[87] Filmfare also included his performance in the 2010 issue of the "Top 80 Iconic Performances" and commented:
| “ | It´s hard for an actor who is on the top of the heap to let go and reconstruct himself. It´s like asking a style icon to wear drab everyday clothes. Shah Rukh Khan does all that and more and reiterates the fact that beneath the nation´s sweetheart avatar lies a brilliant actor. His heartbreak at missing the goal at the film´s beginning is heartfelt, his frustration at not making his team work together is something any coach will identify with and his jubilation when he waves the Indian flag makes us proud to be Indians. The scene where he goes back home and is accepted by his neighbors once again – the satisfaction in his eyes, the half-hesitant smile – the relief of acceptance is mixed with the bitter-sweet realisation that in the end, nothing succeeds like success.[88] | ” |
In the same year Khan also starred in Farah Khan's 2007 film, Om Shanti Om. A re-incarnation melodrama. Khan essayed the role of Om Prakash Makhija, a junior artiste from the 70s who is reborn thirty years later as a superstar named Om Kapoor, he then attempts to discover the mystery of his demise and avenge the death of his lost love. His performance was generally well received by critics; Khalid Mohammed from Hindustan Times wrote, "Above all the enterprise belongs to Shah Rukh Khan, who tackles comedy, high drama and action with his signature style – spontaneous and intuitively intelligent."[89] The film emerged as the year's highest grossing film in India and the overseas market, and became India's highest grossing production ever up to that point with a worldwide gross of over 1.48 billion.[90] It earned him another nomination for Best Actor at the Filmfare ceremony.
In 2008, Khan collaborated with Aditya Chopra for the third time with the romantic drama Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi opposite newcomer Anushka Sharma where he played a double role, one of Surinder Sahni, a shy self-described geek who works for Punjab Power in Amritsar whose love for beautiful, vivacious Taani, played by Sharma, causes him to transform himself into the loud and fun-loving Raj to win her love. The film received positive reviews and was declared a blockbuster, and had been concluded as the second-highest grossing film of all-time to that point by the end of the year.[91] His performance was appreciated by critics. Rachel Saltz of New York Times stated: "The Surinder/Raj dual role seems tailor-made (probably was) for Mr. Khan, who gets to show off his twin talents: he suffers nobly and entertains with panache."[92] It earned him yet again another nomination for Best Actor at the Filmfare ceremony.
In December of the same year, Khan suffered a serious shoulder injury while filming a special appearance in Mudassar Aziz's Dulha Mil Gaya. He went through extensive physiotherapy sessions while shooting for My Name Is Khan at the time, but due to immense pain that left him almost immobile, he had to undergo an arthroscopic surgery in February 2009 after the shooting schedule for the film in the United States was over.[93][94]
2010s[link]
Khan's next film was My Name Is Khan, his fourth collaboration with director Karan Johar and the sixth movie in which he is paired with Kajol. Filming commenced in December 2008 in Los Angeles and ended in October 2009. While in Los Angeles, along with his wife Gauri and director Karan Johar, he took a break from filming to attend the 66th Golden Globe Awards, held in Los Angeles, on 11 January 2009,[95][96] where he was introduced as the King of Bollywood.[97] Khan introduced Slumdog Millionaire, a movie he had previously turned down, along with a star from the film, Freida Pinto.
My Name Is Khan was released on 12 February 2010.[98] Based on a true story, and set against the backdrop of perceptions on Islam post 11 September attacks, My Name Is Khan stars Khan as Rizwan Khan, a Muslim man suffering from Asperger syndrome who sets out on a journey across America on a mission to meet the country's President and clear his name. Khan admitted that it was a very difficult role to play and that he had to spent several months of research including reading books, watching videos and talking to people affected with the disorder in an effort to get into the skin of the character.[99] In an interview with Hindustan Times he said, "Whenever you're dealing with a disorder or a near atypical situation, the first thought is that the sort of parameters you have to set that in no which way you are derogatory or deriding the disorder. The second part is you have to come as close to reality in depicting that characterization and so one had to study a lot and one does get worried"[100] During a promotional visit to the United States, Khan was detained at Newark Airport, New Jersey because of the similarity of his last name to known terrorists.[101] Upon release, the film received positive reviews from critics and became the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all-time in the overseas market up until then. Khan's performance in the film was appreciated by most critics and earned him his eighth Filmfare Award for Best Actor, thereby joining Dilip Kumar as the record holder in this category. Jay Wesissberg from Variety wrote, "Khan uses the mannerisms associated with Asperger's – averted eyes, springy steps, stuttered repetitions of memorized texts – yet captures the personality beneath the condition in a standout performance sure to receive the Autism Society's gold seal of approval."[102]
His first release in 2011 was Anubhav Sinha's science fiction superhero film Ra.One opposite Kareena Kapoor. The film, which follows the story of a London-based videogame designer who creates the strongest villain that escaped to the real world was billed as Bollywood's most expensive film.[103] With an estimated budget of 125 crore (US$24.94 million),[104] it witnessed massive campaigning and the use of several technology equipments not used in Bollywood before.[105] The film was a box office success, grossing 2.4 billion worldwide.[106][107] Khan was involved in other aspects of the making of Ra.One—he volunteered to write the film's console game script, dubbed for it, and oversaw its technical development; he also authored the digital comics based on the film's characters.[108][109] Upon release, the film which saw Khan playing a double role, received mixed reactions from critics in India and Khan himself received mixed reviews. While most critics praised his performance as the robotic superhero G.one, they panned the one of Shekhar, the videogame designer. Rajeev Masand concluded: "The only real standout performance is by Shah Rukh Khan. His Aiyyo-speaking Shekhar Subramaniam is caricaturish but charming, while as G.One, he gives even his robotic video-game character a charismatic edge." while DNA India added: "Another half attempt comes from the lead actor: Khan is in his element and endearing as superhero G.One, but annoyingly over the top as video game creator Shekhar".[110][111]
His second release of the year was Don 2, a sequel to his 2006 film Don. The film marked Khan's return to playing villainous characters since his earlier films like Darr and Baazigar.[112] Khan experimented with a variety of looks, including long unkempt hair and stubble.[113] He also bulked up for the film by developing a six pack and decided to perform all of his own stunts.[114][115] His performance fetched him critical praise, Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India noted, "Shah Rukh remains in command and never loses his foothold, neither through the dramatic sequences nor through the action cuts."[116] The film was a major success in India and it went on to become the year's highest-grossing Bollywood production abroad with a worldwide gross of more than 2.1 billion.[117][118] It earned him another nomination for Best Actor at the Filmfare ceremony .[119]
In January 2012, he has started filming for Yash Chopra's Untitled project, opposite Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma.[120]
Producer[link]
Khan turned producer when he set up a production company called Dreamz Unlimited with Juhi Chawla and director Aziz Mirza in 1999.[121] The first film he produced and starred in, Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani (2000), co-starring Chawla herself and directed by Mirza was a critical and commercial failure. The following year, he produced Asoka which was a box office failure.[59] However, it was well received by critics, and was nominated for the Filmfare Best Movie Award. The film was also selected for screening at the Venice Film Festival and the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival. His third film as a producer and star, Chalte Chalte, proved a box office hit.[122]
In 2004, Khan took over his old production company Dreamz Unlimited and transformed it into Red Chillies Entertainment with his wife Gauri also serving as a producer.[123] In the same year he produced and starred in Main Hoon Na, another hit, which was directed by his friend and well-known choreographer Farah Khan.[74] The film earned a nomination for the Filmfare Best Actor Award. The following year, he produced and starred in the fantasy film Paheli, which did poorly.[124] It was, however, critically acclaimed and was selected as India's official entry to the Academy Awards for consideration for Best Foreign Language Film, but it did not pass the final selection. Also in 2005, Khan co-produced the supernatural horror film Kaal with Karan Johar, and performed an item number for the film with Malaika Arora Khan. Kaal was moderately successful at the box office.[124]
In 2007, Khan produced Om Shanti Om also directed by Farah Khan. The film was a major commercial success, and was declared India's highest grossing production ever up to that point. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, and went on to win several awards for special effects and Art Direction. It was also nominated for the Filmfare Best Movie Award. His company has further gone on to produce Billu (2009), and Always Kabhi Kabhi (2011). During the filming of My Name Is Khan, Karan Johar producer of the film and head of Dharma Productions, asked Khan to co-produce the film under his production company.[125] The both will further collaborate in Johar's next directorial venture Student Of The Year.
Since the creation of his company, Khan was keen on making a VFX-loaded film.[126] The company continued working on other projects and seeking for the right film until they finally decided on Ra.One (2011). The pre-production work began in 2007 after the release of Om Shanti Om.[126] The film's crew consisted of more than 5,000 members from India, Italy and the US, and was pieced together by more than 1,000 people, working in shifts, in around 15 studios across the world.[127] It saw the inclusion of several visual effects techniques being incorporated in the production which were carried out by Red Chillies VFX.[126] With an estimated budget of 125 crore (US$23.75 million), Ra.One was the second-most expensive film ever produced in Indian cinema, and the most expensive Bollywood film[103][109] The film witnessed a level of publicity campaigning previously unseen in India films, with marketing taking place over a period of nine months and involving major brand tie-ups of a 52 crore (US$9.88 million) which set the record for the largest marketing budget in India.[128] Khan is also one of the producers of Don 2 (2011), but not through his production company. The movie was a major success in India and abroad.
Apart from film production, the company also has a visual effects studio known as Red Chillies VFX which had been involved with many major movies like Chak De India, Om Shanti Om, Dostana, and Kurbaan. As well as studios for TV commercials known as Red Chillies TVC and TV shows/serials known as Red Chillies Idiot Box, which conceived popular shows like Up Close & Personal with PZ and Ishaan. The company also has a little over 50% stake in the Cricket team Kolkata Knight Riders often abbreviated as KKR, in the BCCI-backed IPL cricket competition.[129]
Philanthropy[link]
Khan is known for keeping a low profile and secrecy on his social commitments and Humanitarian work.[130][131] In an interview with The Guardian he stated that his reason for keeping his charity work guarded was because "it's not out of guilt. Somewhere in the Qur'an it says that if you do charity for a reason, it's not charity."[132] Apart from regular donations to organisations and individuals, especially in the case of AIDS and cancer patients, he is behind the creation of a children's ward at the Nanavati hospital in Mumbai, in memory of his late mother.[131][133] Khan is also active with relief funds when the Indian nation faces a natural calamity.[131] He also lent his name to various government campaigns throughout the years, notably those of Pulse Polio immunisation campaign which was established in 1995 to eradicate poliomyelitis in India by vaccinating all children under the age of five years against the polio virus, the National AIDS Control Organisation and the National Rural Health Mission of India which aims to provide accessible, affordable, effective and reliable health care service to the people of India residing in villages.[134] Khan is a member of the board of directors of Make-A-Wish Foundation in India.[135]
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In March 2004, Khan visited the border post at the Attari-Wagah section of the Indo-Pak border, near Amritsar (the only one where people can cross over to the other side) to boost the morale of the jawans. It was for a TV show called Jai Jawan where entertainers and stars visit Indian troops in far-flung regions to encourage them along with the NDTV team.[136] In February 2005, Khan performed at the HELP! Telethon Concert to help raise money for the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake in company with other Bollywood stars and also donated 2.5 million for the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Tsunami Relief Fund for the tsunami-affected areas in India.[137][138] He organised and participated in the Temptations 2005 show in New Delhi which helped to raise funds for the National Centre For Promotional of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP), a leading disabled rights group.[139] In 2007, he collaborated with veteran artist M.F. Husain to create a canvas in celebration of 60 years of Indian independence at a charity auction in Bonhams, London. The painting was sold for over 12 million.[140]
During his 2009 appearance at the NDTV Greenathon, Khan adopted five villages in Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara, to provide them with electricity under the solar energy harnessing project in its title initiative 'Light A Billion Lives'.[141] The following year, he adopted eight more villages, and again adopted eleven during his appearance in in the third edition of the event. In the 2012 edition of of the initiative, he again adopted twelve villages.[142][143][144] In 2009, Khan committed to bear all the expenses for the treatment of two Kashmiri orphan children who suffered severe burns during a terrorist grenade attack in Srinagar. He also visited the two orphans at the hospital.[145]
In 2011, Khan teamed up with Amitabh Bachchan and English actress Judi Dench to promote Resul Pookutty's foundation that works to better the living conditions of the underprivileged in India. The campaign aims to spread awareness on the cause of education among the impoverished, in India and also discourages child labour in the low income bracket of society and focus on providing opportunities to let children have a proper childhood.[146] the same year, he was honoured with the UNESCO's Pyramide con Marni award for his charity engagements and social commitment towards providing education for kids thus becoming the first Indian to win the accolade.[147] Later that year, Khan was appointed by The UNOPS to be the first global ambassador of The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council that works to improve the lives of poor people by enhancing collaboration among sector agencies and professionals around sanitation and water supply.[148] During Ra.One's premiere in Dubai in October 2011, Khan along with co-stars Kareena Kapoor and Arjun Rampal held a high-profile dinner and charity auction, which raised AED 30,000 for building a workshop for children with special needs.[149]
Non-film work[link]
Television presenting[link]
In 2007, Khan replaced Amitabh Bachchan as the host of the third season of the game show Kaun Banega Crorepati popularly known as KBC, the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?.[150] The previous had hosted the show for two previous seasons in 2000 and 2005. On 22 January 2007, Kaun Banega Crorepati aired with Khan as the new host. The grand prize amount of 2 crore rupees (approx. $430,000 USD) was still used in KBC3.[151] and later ended on 19 April 2007 with a special finale.[152] In an interview with The Times Of India, Khan explained that he was offered to host the second season of the show as well but he turned it down because Bachchan wanted to do it then.[153] For his work at KBC 3, Khan won the best anchor at various awards ceremonies including The Global Indian Film and Television Honours and Indian Telly Awards.
A year later, Khan began hosting the game show Kya Aap Paanchvi Pass Se Tez Hain?, the Indian version of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?,[154] The show premiered on 25 April 2008 and the last episode was telecast on 27 July 2008 with Lalu Prasad Yadav as the special guest.[155] On 1 February 2011, he began hosting Zor Ka Jhatka: Total Wipeout, the Indian version of the American game show Wipeout, on Imagine TV. The show ended on 25 February 2011 with Kushal Punjabi as the winner.[156]
Stage performances[link]
Khan is a stage performer and has participated in several world tours and concerts. In 1997, he preformed in the Asha Bhosle's: Moments In Time in Malaysia. He returned to another concert there the following year with Shahrukh—Karisma: Live in Malaysia concert. In 1999, he was part of The Awesome Foursome, which included Salman Khan, Juhi Chawla and Twinkle Khanna.[157] In November 2002, Khan took part in the Fire & Flames concert in Malaysia, alongside Rani Mukerji, Saif Ali Khan and BPL-Oye VJ Raageshwari with a 40-member troupe of singers and dancers.[157] In the same year, he participated in the show From India With Love in the UK, along with Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir Khan, Preity Zinta and Aishwarya Rai. It took place at two outdoor venues, Manchester's Old Trafford and London's Hyde Park, with over 100,000 spectators.[158]
Khan participated in a concert tour titled Temptations 2004 which was the most successful Bollywood concert at the time. Khan performed alongside Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, Arjun Rampal and Priyanka Chopra in nineteen stage shows across the globe. He sang, danced and performed in skits.[159] In 2008, Khan set up Temptation Reloaded 2008, a series of concerts showcased across several different countries. The show, which also featured Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Katrina Kaif, Ganesh Hegde, Javed Ali and Anusha Dandekar, took place at the Ahoy Rotterdam venue in Rotterdam, Netherlands.[160] Several months later, he again joined Kapoor, Rampal and Kaif to perform for 15,000 spectators at Dubai's Festival City Arena.[161] In 2010, Khan performed alongside Rani Mukerji, Arjun Rampal, Neeraj Shridhar and Ishaa Koppikar for a concert at the Army Stadium, Dhaka, Bangladesh to a packed audience.[162] And in 2011, he joined Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra in the Friendship Concert, celebrating 150 years of India-South Africa friendship in Durban, South Africa.[163]
Ownership of IPL cricket team[link]
In 2008, Khan in partnership with actress Juhi Chawla Mehta and her husband Jay Mehta acquired ownership rights for the franchise representing Kolkata in the Twenty20 cricket tournament Indian Premier League, for a price of USD 75.09 million (Rs 357 crores), and have since named the team Kolkata Knight Riders. KKR is the richest team in the IPL and it has been ranked as the most valued with a brand value of $42.1 million.[164] Financially, the KKR are the most profitable and successful franchise in the IPL as well.[165][166] The team was surrounded with controversy and poor on-field performance through the first three years of the tournament.[167] It's performance, however, improved from the fourth season and they eventually became the IPL champions for the first time in 2012.[168]
In 9 April 2012, Khan was served a notice by the Rajasthan Police for smoking in public after he was caught smoking on camera during a match between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Rajasthan Royals on April 8.[169] and in 16 May of the same year he received a five-year ban from the Wankhede Stadium for arguing with security at the ground after a match between his team and The Mumbai Indians.[170] Khan later apologised to the children and his fans after his team won the final match at Chennai on May 27.[171] The Mumbai Cricket Association in return stated that it had taken note of the apology but had not withdrawn the ban.[172]
In the media[link]
Khan was given the birth name "Shahrukh" (meaning "Face of the King"), but prefers his name to be written as "Shah Rukh Khan", and is also commonly referred to as SRK.[173] Khan has various homes in India and abroad. His house in Mumbai called Mannat is a well-known tourist spot and is considered a heritage building, deemed important to the townscape and hence exempt from demolition.[1] In addition, he also had a house in New Delhi.[174] Khan also owns a £20 million apartment in London and a villa on the Palm Jumeirah. He said in a television interview that "I bought the house, because one can see the island from the moon."[175][176] Khan's net worth is estimated at over 25 billion (US$540 million)[177][178]
Khan has been noted for having several trademark mannerisms, gestures and ways of delivering dialogues.[37][87] As it has been cited by CNN-IBN: "The mannerisms that have earned him both brickbats and endeared him to his fans over the years – that half nod, raised brow gesture, a deep dimpled smile and a deliberate stammer – were absent when he debuted. If he picked them up later to addapt to the big screen, they stayed for the rest of his acting career."[179] Due to his appearance in numerous romantic films, Khan has developed a "romantic lover boy" image and is referred to as the "King of Romance" by media outlets.[180][181][182] He has been accused of repeating himself through the type of characters that he played, referred to as the "Rajs and Rahuls", or him not being able to shed the superstar persona on screen and often playing himself.[183] In 2011, Rediff listed him in the top 10 "Readers Choice: The Greatest Actors of all time".[184]
Globally, Khan is considered to be one of the biggest movie stars, with a fan following claimed to number in the billions. He is also of one the most watched movie stars in the world, and one of the most recognisable faces of Indian cinema.[185][186][187][132] In 2008, Newsweek named him one of the 50 most powerful people in the world.[3] In 2011, The Los Angeles Times noted: "He is the biggest movie star you’ve never heard of. And perhaps the world’s biggest movie star, period."[188] His success and popularity has been attributed as the result of his emergence in the era of liberalisation and changing economic scenario in the 1990s. He was often described as the face and catalyst of a new consumerist urban society, and that he has managed to personify "the restless spirit of post-liberalization, ambitious, assertive and yet feel-good India."[189][190][191]
In 2004, Khan was awarded the Filmfare Power Award (shared with Amitabh Bachachan) for topping the Filmfare list of the "Ten Most Powerful Names of Bollywood", and again in 2005. In 2006 he was ranked as second overall behind Yash Chopra and his son Aditya and the most powerful actor, an achievement he would go on to repeat till 2009.[192][193] He occupied the top slot of Box Office India's Top Actors list for the first time in 1994 for two consecutive years, then again in 1998 and for the majority of the 2000s (from 2002 till 2008).[194] He was voted the sexiest Asian man in the world by Eastern Eye in 2007, and was ranked third in 2008 and 2011.[195][196] In a 2009 poll conducted by the newspaper DNA, he was voted as India's second most popular icon behind Sachin Tendulkar.[197] In a 2012 Hindustan Times Youth Survey, Khan was declared as the biggest role model for youth in India.[198]
Khan is often labelled by the Media as "Brand SRK" due to his various brand endorsement and entrepreneurship ventures. The Times Of India noted “Khan has established himself as a brand on the map of the film industry. Hailing from a non-filmi background with no pedigree to boast of and no godfather to pull strings, the St. Columba's alumnus has become a muse. ”[199] In 2005, he launched his own perfume, labelled "Tiger Eyes by SRK" by the French perfume brand Jeanne Arthes.[200] In 2009, Khan was crowned as the "Brand Ambassador of the Year" at the CNBC Awaaz consumer awards and in 2010 won the ‘Brand Ambassador of the Year’ award at NDTV Profit Car & Bike Awards.[201][202] He is also is one of the top paid Bollywood actors in this respect.[203] While in 2003, he endorsed eight brands, his endorsement rose up to a total of thirteen brands in 2004 and in 2005, he endorsed twenty one brands, thirty four brands in 2009 and twenty five in 2011.[204][205] Some of the brands that he has endorsed over the years are Pepsi, Nokia, Hyundai, Sunfeast, Videocon, Airtel, Himani, Nerolac Paints, Dish TV, D'decor and Tag Heuer.[204][205] In 2011, Khan was appointed the brand ambassador of the Champions League Twenty20.[206]
In 2005, Nasreen Munni Kabir produced a two-part documentary on Khan, titled The Inner and Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan. Featuring his 2004 Temptations concert tour, the film contrasted Khan's inner world of family and daily life with the outer world of his work. The book Still Reading Khan by Mushtaq Sheikh, which details his family life, was released in 2006. Another book by Anupama Chopra, King of Bollywood: Shahrukh Khan and the seductive world of Indian cinema, was released in 2007. It describes the world of Bollywood through Khan's life.[207][208] In 2010, Discovery Travel & Living channel produced a ten-part series titled Living with a Superstar-Shah Rukh Khan. The series was the biggest Indian show on television, with a budget of nearly 20 million, highlighting Khan’s daily living, film-making, IPL venture and global lifestyle.[203][209] Khan is also the first actor and the second Indian after Sachin Tandulkar to have an official Opus dedicated to him.[210]
Awards and honours[link]
Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Shahrukh Khan
Filmography[link]
Main article: Shahrukh Khan: Filmography
See also[link]
Notes[link]
- ^ a b "rediff.com: Bandra, where the Big Stars live". Specials.rediff.com. 7 August 2006. http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2006/aug/07sld1.htm. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
- ^ "Bollywood Badshah bats for tech magic at 42nd film festival: Bollywood News – India Today". Indiatoday. intoday.in. 24 November 2011. http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/42nd-international-film-festival-of-india—iffi-2011-shah-rukh-khan-annual-film-carnival-chief-guest-at-iffi/1/161333.html. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
- ^ a b c d "The Global Elite – 41: Shahrukh Khan". Newsweek. 20 December 2008. http://www.newsweek.com/id/176325. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
- ^ profile_1_bollywood-indian-cinema-shah-rukh-khan?_s=PM: SHOWBIZ "The King of Bollywood". CNN Entertainment. CNN. 5 February 2008. http://articles.cnn.com/2008-02-05/entertainment/SRK. profile_1_bollywood-indian-cinema-shah-rukh-khan?_s=PM: SHOWBIZ. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
- ^ Saner, Emine (4 August 2006). world "King of Bollywood". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2006/aug/04/india. world. Retrieved 25 June 2011.
- ^ "Boxofficeindia.com". Boxofficeindia.com. http://boxofficeindia.com/boxnewsdetail.php?page=shownews&articleid=3826&nCat=. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
- ^ Kumar, Anuj (11 November 2004). "Bollywood bonanza". The Hindu (Chennai, India). http://www.hindu.com/mp/2004/11/11/stories/2004111101010300.htm. Retrieved 16 August 2009.
Kamath, Sudhish (7 December 2007). "Being SRK". The Hindu (Chennai, India). http://www.hindu.com/cp/2007/12/07/stories/2007120750010100.htm. Retrieved 16 August 2009. - ^ "SRK's Wax Figure to Enter Madame Tussads New York". 10 August 2010. http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=690092. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
- ^ Your name:. "Bollywood's King Khan: 45 and worth $540m". Emirates 24/7. http://www.emirates247.com/entertainment/films-music/bollywood-s-king-khan-45-and-worth-540m-2010-11-02-1.312121. Retrieved 24 January 2012.
- ^ "Shah Rukh Khan's net worth is 2500 crore". The Times of India (India). 21 October 2009. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/celebs/Shah-Rukh-Khans-net-worth-is-2500-crore/videoshow/5146155.cms. Retrieved 12 February 2010.
- ^ "Bollywood Gets Political". Foreign Policy In Focus. 24 October 2008. http://www.fpif.org/articles/bollywood_gets_political.
- ^ "The Rediff Interview / Shah Rukh Khan". Rediff. http://www.rediff.com/movies/2007/mar/16srk.htm. Retrieved 5 July 2006.
- ^ 2009 interview with an Afghan movie director on Afghan TV channel, Shahrukh Khan states that his father's father (grandfather) is from Afghanistan.
- ^ Kidwai, Rasheed (31 May 2004). "Badshah at durbar and dinner". The Telegraph (Kolkota, India). http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040531/asp/frontpage/story_3313328.asp. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
- ^ "Rediff News Gallery: The Shahrukh Connection". http://specials.rediff.com/news/2004/may/31sl02.htm.
- ^ "i am half hyderabadi( mom ) half pathan( Dad)some kashmiri (grandmom) born in delhi life in mumbai punjabi wife kolkata team.indian at heart". 27 August 2010. http://twitter.com/#!/iamsrk/status/21639346475.
- ^ a b Siddiqui, Rana (17 November 2006). "Much ado about King Khan". The Hindu (Chennai, India). http://www.hindu.com/fr/2006/11/17/stories/2006111701130100.htm. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
- ^ "SRK used to write limericks!". The Times of India. 6 August 2007. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-08-06/news-interviews/27988571_1_vidhu-vinod-chopra-srk-king-khan. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Shahrukh Khan – Journey". Movies.indiatimes.com. 11 September 2003. http://movies.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/articleshow?artid=177008&right=1&fright=1&botlink=1. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ SRK to run for Delhi TNN, The Times of India, 30 September 2009. "I was born here, in Talwar Nursing Home. I lived here for more than two decades in Rajinder Nagar"
- ^ IndiaFM News Bureau (2 November 2006). "Facts you never knew about SRK". indiaFM. http://oldbh.bollywoodhungama.com/features/2006/11/02/1777/. Retrieved 26 July 2008.
- ^ a b c d "'For an entire year I was sad'". Rediff. http://www.rediff.com/movies/2002/jul/10srk.htm. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
- ^ a b c "I feel like a 25-year-old: King Khan". The Hindu. PTI (Chennai, India). 3 November 2009. http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/03/stories/2009110357772000.htm. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
- ^ Zubair Ahmed (23 September 2005). "Who's the real Shah Rukh Khan?". BBC News – BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4274774.stm. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
- ^ "Shahrukh's teacher gives him the credit". Hindustan Times. India. 9 April 2007. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=f9c017a9-918d-45bf-9162-f147e9fec513&MatchID1=4502&TeamID1=2&TeamID2=6&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1122&PrimaryID=4502&Headline='Theatre+is+at+an+all-time+low+in+Delhi'. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ Khubchandani, Lata (1 June 2004). "'I can't take credit for Shah Rukh's success'". Rediff.com. http://www.rediff.com/movies/2004/jun/02lekh.htm. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
- ^ Saunders, Emma (23 August 2002). "Shahrukh goes global". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2204900.stm. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ Pg.34 Everybody wants a hit: 10 mantras of success in Bollywood cinema – By Derek Bose. Google Books. 1 January 2006. ISBN 978-81-7992-558-4. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=wv_mmculJ8kC&pg=PA34. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
- ^ "SRK credits all his success to Hema". The asian age. India. http://www.asianage.com/bollywood/srk-credits-all-his-success-hema-635. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
- ^ "Box Office 1992". BoxOfficeIndia.Com. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=198&catName=MTk5Ng==. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
- ^ Dhawan, M. L. (23 March 2003). "Year of sensitive, well-made films". The Tribune. India. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030323/spectrum/main6.htm. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
- ^ "Box Office 1993". BoxOfficeIndia.Com. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=199&catName=MTk5Mw==. Retrieved 20 April 2008.
- ^ Gulzar; Nihalani, Govind; Chatterji, Saibal (2003). Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. Popular Prakashan. p. 574. ISBN 81-7991-066-0.
- ^ "Weekend Watch: Darr". Rediff.com. http://www.rediff.com/movies/2005/nov/04watch.htm. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
- ^ "Shah Rukh's Best Movies". Rediff.com. http://specials.rediff.com/movies/2005/oct/18sld4.htm. Retrieved 20 April 2008.
- ^ a b "Shah Rukh Khan's best performance". Rediff.com. 31 December 2004. http://www.rediff.com/movies/2004/mar/25corner.htm. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
- ^ "Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa is very special, says Shahrukh Khan". Hindustan Times. India. 2 November 2006. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=d64ec412-a1cd-44ca-909f-84e8cb73447b&MatchID1=4567&TeamID1=6&TeamID2=1&MatchType1=2&SeriesID1=1145&PrimaryID=4567&Headline=iKabhi+Haan+Kabhi+Naa%2fi+is+special%3a+SRK. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ "Box Office 1994". BoxOfficeIndia.Com. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=200&catName=MTk5NA==. Retrieved 20 April 2008.
- ^ "Box Office 1995". BoxOfficeIndia.Com. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=201&catName=MTk5NQ==. Retrieved 12 January 2007.
- ^ "All Time Earners Inflation Adjusted (Figures in Ind Rs)". BoxOfficeIndia.com. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/cpages.php?pageName=all_time_earners. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
- ^ Kanwar, Rachna (3 October 2005). "25 Must See Bollywood Movies". The Times Of India. Archived from the original on 29 January 2011. http://web.archive.org/web/20080209035002/http://movies.indiatimes.com/Special_Features/25_Must_See_Bollywood_Movies/articleshow/msid-1250837,curpg-4.cms. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
- ^ Sen, Raja (13 May 2005). "DDLJ: Ten years, everybody cheers". Rediff.com. http://www.rediff.com/movies/2005/may/13raja.htm. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
- ^ "Box Office 1996". BoxOfficeIndia.Com. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=202&catName=MTk5Ng==. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
- ^ a b "Box Office 1997". BoxOfficeIndia.Com. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=203&catName=MTk5Ng==. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
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- ^ Deosthalee, Deepa (22 August 1998). "A picture perfect ode to love, Dil Se". The Indian Express. http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/19980822/23450914.html. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
- ^ ttp://in.rediff.com/movies/2005/oct/21dilse.htm
- ^ "Overseas Earnings (Figures in Ind Rs)". BoxOfficeIndia.Com. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/cpages.php?pageName=overseas_earners. Retrieved 10 January 2008.
- ^ Aftab, Kaleem (October 2002). "Brown: the new black! Bollywood in Britain". Critical Quarterly (Blackwell Synergy) 44 (3): 88–98. DOI:10.1111/1467-8705.00435. "The first Bollywood film to enter the UK top 10, Dil Se was nevertheless a flop in India. Such factors attest to the crucial role of the NRI audience in the commercial fate of Bollywood produce."
- ^ Cary Rajinder Sawhney (2006). "Dil Se..". British Film Institute. http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/5. Retrieved 16 February 2008.
- ^ "Box Office 1999". BoxOfficeIndia.Com. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=205&catName=MTk5Ng==. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
- ^ a b "Box Office 2000". BoxOfficeIndia.Com. http://www.boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=206&catName=MjAwMA==. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
- ^ Chakravorty, Vinayak (2000). "Josh". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 19 October 2000. http://web.archive.org/web/200011210715/http://www.go4i.com/cinema/reviews/bollywood/reviewsbollywoodjosh.shtml. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ^ "India's Oscar failures (25 Images)". Movies.ndtv.com. http://movies.ndtv.com/gallerydetails.aspx?id=3290&category=Movies&picno=8§ion=Bollywood&ShowID=0#BD. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
- ^ "Stars pay tribute to Jagjit Singh – Rediff.com Movies". Rediff.com. 10 October 2011. http://www.rediff.com/movies/slide-show/slide-show-1-celeb-tweets-through-the-day/20111010.htm. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
- ^ a b c d e "Top Lifetime Grossers Worldwide (IND Rs)". BoxOffice India.com. http://boxofficeindia.com/showProd.php?itemCat=312&catName=TGlmZXRpbWU=. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
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Bibliography[link]
- Nasreen Munni Kabir. The Inner and Outer World of Shah Rukh Khan (Documentary, 2005).
- Chopra, Anupama. King of Bollywood : Shah Rukh Khan and the seductive world of Indian cinema (English). New York: Warner Books, 2007. ISBN 978-0-446-57858-5.
- Shahrukh Khan – Still Reading Khan. A1Books Distributor 2007. ISBN 978-81-87107-79-8.
- Gahlot, Deepa; Singh, Dipali and Agarwal, Amit. King Khan SRK. Augsburg Weltbild 2007. ISBN 978-3-8289-8869-9.
External links[link]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Shahrukh Khan |
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Khan, Shahrukh |
| Alternative names | Shah Rukh Khan, SRK |
| Short description | Film actor |
| Date of birth | 2 November 1965 |
| Place of birth | New Delhi, India |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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