News Stories

Copyright

Story posted: 30. November 2013 by Andrew Forbes

COPYRIGHT, IMAGE USAGE and REFUND POLICY

 

Copyright, Image Usage and Refund Policy Pictures from History / Pictures from Asia: Copyright Statement and Rights Management Details

 

  1. All images in Pictures from History are in the public domain. CPA Media does not claim copyright but makes a claim as ‘provider' for finding, researching, cleaning and supplying public domain images. Pictures from History images should be attributed to @Pictures from History as source and provider.

2. All images in Pictures from Asia are copyright and…

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Health and Well Being: A Medieval Handbook

Story posted: 16. December 2011 by Andrew Forbes

Pictures From History / Themes / MEDIEVAL HEALTH

 

 

Health and Well Being: A Medieval Handbook

 

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The Tacuinum Sanitatis is a medieval handbook on Health and Well Being. First printed in Europe in 1531, it was aimed at an educated secular readership and offered concise and sensible advice on how to live a long, healthy and enjoyable life.

Four handsomely illustrated manuscripts of the Tacuinum survive, all produced in Lombardy and now housed, respectively, at libraries in Rome, Vienna, Paris and…

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Category: World

Ukiyo-e: Pictures of the Floating World

Story posted: 29. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / FLOATING WORLD

 

 



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Ukiyo-e: Pictures of the Floating World

Ukiyo-e ( literally 'pictures of the floating world' ) is a genre of Japanese woodblock prints (or woodcuts) and paintings produced between the 17th and the 20th centuries, featuring motifs of landscapes, tales from history, the theatre, and pleasure quarters. It is the main artistic genre of woodblock printing in Japan.Usually the word ukiyo is literally translated as 'floating world'…

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Category: Japan

The Tokugawa Shogunate, 1600-1868

Story posted: 29. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / TOKUGAWA

 

 

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The Tokugawa Shogunate, 1600-1868

 

The Tokugawa Shogunate , also known as the Tokugawa Bakufu and the Edo Bakufu , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa clan. This period is known as the Edo Period and derives its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was changed in 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate ruled from Edo Castle from 1603 until 1868, when it was…

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Category: Japan

China's Triple Religion: Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism

Story posted: 29. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / SAN JIAO

 

 

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China's Triple Religion: Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism

 

  In Chinese philosophy, the Three Teachings, Three Religions or San Jiao of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism are considered as a harmonious religious union. The concept originated in China during the Wei (220-265 CE) and Jin (265-420 CE) Dynasties, but has long since spread beyond the confines of China to the traditional Sinosphere of Japan, Korea and Vietnam, as well as - more…

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Category: China

Discover Siam's Ancient Capitals

Story posted: 28. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / SIAMESE CAPITALS

 

 

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Discover Siam's Ancient Capitals

 

The earliest known civilisation in Thailand dates from around 3600 BC, when the people of Ban Chiang in the northeast developed bronze tools, fired pottery, and began to cultivate wet paddy rice. At this time the Tai people who have given their name to the kingdom did not even inhabit the region of present day Thailand, but are thought to have been living in loosely organised groups in what is now southern…

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Category: Thailand

Lords of Life - The Royal Dynasties of Thailand

Story posted: 28. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes /     SIAMESE MONARCHS

 

 

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Lords of Life - The Royal Dynasties of Thailand

   

 

Thai people take the institution of the monarchy very seriously. Ever since the first independent Thai kingdom was established at Sukhothai some seven and a half centuries ago, the Thais have been ruled over by kings. It is true that, since the revolution of 1932, the monarchy has been constitutional – but the Thais continue to love and honour their royal…

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Category: Thailand

Tibetan Buddhism: The Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus

Story posted: 28. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / JEWEL IN THE LOTUS

 

 

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Tibetan Buddhism: The Jewel in the Heart of the Lotus

 

Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India (particularly in Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Dharamsala, Lahaul and Spiti in Himachal Pradesh, and Sikkim). It is the state religion of Bhutan. It is also practiced in Mongolia and parts of Russia (Kalmykia,…

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Category: China

Chiang Mai and the Lan Na Kingdom

Story posted: 28. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / LAN NA KINGDOM  

 

 

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Chiang Mai and the Lan Na Kingdom

Khon Muang, or “People of the Principalities”, is the name most commonly applied by the people of northern Thailand to themselves. In times past they have been referred to variously as the Tai Yuan—a name now considered to be somewhat derogatory, and therefore no longer in favour—and also, somewhat misleadingly, as the “Northern Lao”. Sometimes, indeed, they were referred to as…

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Category: Thailand

Exploring Sri Lanka’s Cultural Triangle

Story posted: 28. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / CULTURAL TRIANGLE

 

 

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Sri Lanka's Cultural Triangle

In recent years north-central Sri Lanka has been much promoted by the Sri Lanka Tourist Board as "the Cultural Triangle" - and with good reason. While the south coast offers some of the most beautiful beaches on earth, the roughly triangular area encompassing Kandy, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa is home to some of the richest and most impressive archaeological monuments in Asia.

 

Sigiriya

The single most…

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Category: Sri Lanka

The Ancient Tea Horse Road

Story posted: 28. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / TEA HORSE ROAD  

 

 

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The Ancient Tea-Horse Road

 

What is the name of that mountain , That mountain that lies ahead?

After we get to Changdu Monastery , Then we can press on to Ya’an

The butter tea of Batang is sweet , The zanba of Litang so appetizing  

Once we’ve reached Baxiu We can press on to Mangkang

 

What is the name of that river, That river that lies ahead?

After we get to…

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Category: China

Dreams of Xanadu - The Allure of Orientalism

Story posted: 28. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / OZYMANDIAS

 

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Dreams of Xanadu - The Allure of Orientalism

 

'Orientalism' is the name given to a romanticised and even meretricious vision of The East that developed following Napoleon's invasion of Egypt in 1799. From about this time Western adventurers and explorers began to penetrate the back-blocks of Asia and the Middle East, often followed by poets and painters. In fact this process of ‘discovery' was not only commercially driven, but also by a genuine lust…

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Category: World

LIST OF ALL THEMES by COUNTRY

Story posted: 27. May 2011 by CPA Media

 

Pictures From History: Themes Listed By Country

 

Below is a list of all current Pictures From History THEMES listed alphabetically by location from AFGHANISTAN to WORLD .

Simply click on a theme to be taken to the relevant THEME PAGE , then click on the rotating images to see all related images.

To read the related in depth text, click on READ MORE and then on THEME TEXT CONTINUED .

 

 

AFGHANISTAN

Graveyard of Invaders

CAMBODIA

Ancient Angkor, Eighth Wonder of the World

Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge Regime…

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Category: About Themes

Historic Hampi, Capital of the Vijayanagara Empire

Story posted: 27. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / HISTORIC HAMPI

 

 

Historic Hampi, Capital of the Vijayanagara Empire

 

'What I saw… seemed to me as large as Rome, and very beautiful to the sight… There you will find all sorts of rubies, and diamonds, and emeralds, and pearls, and seed-pearls, and cloths, and every other sort of thing there is on earth and that you may wish to buy'.

Domingo Paes, Portuguese visitor to Hampi, c.1520

 

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Today Hampi is a village in southern India's Karnataka…

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Category: India

Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge Regime

Story posted: 26. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / DEMOCRATIC KAMPUCHEA

 

 

 

Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge Regime

 

'Whoever questions is an enemy; whoever opposes is a corpse'.  

Khmer Rouge maxim

 

For most of the last half of the 20th century Cambodia was racked by war and famine. Considered a ‘sideshow' in the Second Indochina War, it was invaded by both North and South Vietnam, bombed to bits by the United States, strewn with land mines and lethal weapons of every kind, and – worst of all – ruled, between 1975 and…

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Category: Cambodia

Mandate of Heaven: Imperial Dynasties of China

Story posted: 26. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / MANDATE OF HEAVEN

 

 

 

Mandate of Heaven - Imperial Dynasties of China

 

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The title Emperor of China - in Chinese, Huángdì - refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shi Kai's short-lived Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven - ti?nz? - a title that predates the Qin unification and includes the legendary dynasties, the…

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Category: China

The Ramayana, Great Epic of Hinduism - and Buddhism

Story posted: 24. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / RAMAYANA

 

 

The Ramayana, Great Epic of Hinduism - and Buddhism

 

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  It's a story as old as time and - at least in the Indian subcontinent and across much of Southeast Asia - of unparalleled popularity. More than two thousand three hundred years ago, at about the same time as Alexander the Great invaded north-west India, in another, less troubled part of that vast country the scholar-poet Valmiki sat down to write his definitive epic of love and war.

The…

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Category: India

Holy Men of Nepal

Story posted: 21. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / SADHU HOLY MEN

 

 

 

Holy Men of Nepal

 

And the wildest dreams of Kew are the facts in Kathmandu

Rudyard Kipling, 1895



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They are known, variously, as sadhus , yogis , fakirs and sunyasins . They are the ascetic - and often eccentric - practitioners of an austere form of Hinduism. Sworn to cast off earthly desires, some choose to live as anchorites in the wilderness. Others, as these pictures make clear, are of a less retiring disposition,…

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Category: Nepal

Cloud Maidens of Sigiriya

Story posted: 21. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / CLOUD MAIDENS

 

 

 

Cloud Maidens of Sigiriya

 

The girl with golden skin entices the mind and eyes

Her lovely breasts cause me to recall swans drunk with nectar

Graffito, Sigiriya Mirror Wall, c. 800 AD

 

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The rock fortress of Sigiriya rises abruptly from the surrounding plains of north-central Sri Lanka, dominating the country for miles around. A massive monolith of red stone, so sheer that the top overhangs the vertical walls on all four sides, it…

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Category: Sri Lanka

Palaces of the Gods: Khmer Temples of Isaan

Story posted: 21. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / KHMER TEMPLES OF ISAN

 

 

 

Palaces of the Gods: Khmer Temples of Isan

 

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The high plateaus of northeastern Thailand -- or Isan, as the region is most commonly known today -- boast the country's longest and most continuous cultural heritage. From Asia's earliest bronze-age culture 4000 years ago to present-day Thai nationhood, Isan has remained intimate with virtually every key historical transition mainland Southeast Asia has seen.

 

Of these important…

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Category: Thailand

Women in Asian and African History

Story posted: 21. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / WOMEN IN HISTORY

 

 

 

Women in Asian and African History

 

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  It will come as no surprise that men have dominated Asian and African history just as completely as they have in Europe and the West. Indeed, perhaps even more completely. Take China, for instance ­­– five thousand years of more-or-less continuous civilization but only one female ruler in her own right, Empress Wu Zetian (r. 690-705). Plenty of consorts and concubines, to be sure, and one…

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Category: World

Benin and its Bronzes

Story posted: 20. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / BENIN BRONZES

 

 

 

Benin and its Bronzes

 

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The Benin Empire (1440–1897) was a pre-colonial African state in what is now modern Nigeria. It is not to be confused with the modern-day country called Benin, formerly called Dahomey.

The original people and founders of the Benin Empire, the Edo People, were initially ruled by the Ogisos (Kings of the Sky) who called their land Igodomigodo. The city (later called Benin City by the Portuguese in the late 15th…

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Category: Nigeria

Celebrating Old Ceylon

Story posted: 20. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / OLD CEYLON

 

 

 

Celebrating Old Ceylon

 

‘Dear me, it is beautiful! And most sumptuously tropical, as to character of foliage and opulence of it'. Mark Twain, Following the Equator (Hartford, Connecticut: 1897).

 

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Perhaps the most beautiful country in South Asia, Sri Lanka has an appeal which has drawn visitors over the centuries, first for its rich spice and gem markets, and more recently for its pristine beaches and magnificent hill country.…

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Category: Sri Lanka

The Great Khans and the Mongol Imperium

Story posted: 20. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / GREAT KHANS

 

 

The Great Khans and the Mongol Imperium

 

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In the 13th century a new and unexpected power exploded onto the Central Asian scene, rapidly conquering the entire length of the Silk Road from Chang’an in the east to Antakya in the west under a single empire for the first time in history, and producing as a consequence the last great flourishing of Silk Road trade before the latter’s decline and gradual disappearance in the 15th and 16th centuries. The…

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Category: Mongolia

The Silk Road in History

Story posted: 20. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / SILK ROAD

 

 

 

The Silk Road in History

 

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In recent years the end of the Cold War, together with the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, the newly acquired independence of the various Central Asian Republics (sometimes referred to collectively as ‘the Stans’) and the opening up of China, have all combined to make the Heart of Asia more accessible to the ordinary traveller than at any time in the past. As a consequence, the term ‘Silk…

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Category: China

Graham Greene's Saigon Revisited

Story posted: 19. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / GRAHAM GREENE IN SAIGON

 

 

 

Graham Greene's Saigon Revisited

 

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  It was quite by chance that I fell in love with Indo-China; nothing was further from my thoughts on my first visit than that I would one day set a novel there… The spell was first cast, I think, by the tall elegant girls in white silk trousers, by the pewter evening light on flat paddy fields, where the water-buffaloes trudged fetlock-deep with a slow primeval gait, by the French…

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Category: Vietnam

Phuket's Bloody Vegetarian Festival

Story posted: 18. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / VEGETARIAN FESTIVAL

 

 

 

Phuket's Bloody Vegetarian Festival

 

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Phuket's most unusual religious happening is the Vegetarian Festival, which is celebrated during the first nine days of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar. In practice, this usually falls in late September or early October.

The festival marks the start of Taoist Lent, when devout Sino-Thais abstain from eating meat of all kinds. In Phuket, the festival activities centre on six Chinese temples,…

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Category: Thailand

The Black Tai of Thailand's Loei Province

Story posted: 18. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / BLACK TAI

 

 

 

The Black Tai of Thailand's Loei Province

 

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Few people, even in Thailand, know much in detail about the Tai Dam or ‘Black Tai’ people. Certainly they are one of the numerous Tai-speaking sub groups scattered across mainland Southeast Asia from Assam to Guangdong, rather like the Tai Yai of Burma’s Shan State, the Tai Lu of China’s Sipsongpanna region, and the Tai Phuan of Xieng Khouang in Laos. But beyond this simple fact, little…

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Category: Thailand

Exploring Ancient Angkor

Story posted: 18. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / ANCIENT ANGKOR

 

 

 

Exploring Ancient Angkor

 

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Angkor is one of the wonders of the world. Perhaps nowhere else on earth, unless it be the Valley of the Nile in Egypt, are the relics of antiquity found on so monumental a scale. In colonial times, when the French first opened Angkor to tourism, it was usual to distinguish between the ‘Small Circuit’ comprising the central temples of the complex, and the ‘Great Circuit’, taking in the outer…

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Category: Cambodia

Afghanistan, Graveyard of Invaders

Story posted: 18. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / GRAVEYARD OF INVADERS

 

 

 

Afghanistan, Graveyard of Invaders

 

 

When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains,  

And the women come out to cut up what remains,

Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains,

  An' go to your Gawd like a soldier.

 

 

Rudyard Kipling, The Young British Soldier (1892).

 

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Afghanistan is a welcoming land, full of hospitable (if unusually well-armed) people. I…

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Category: Afghanistan

Old Shanghai, City of Wealth, Inequality and Vice

Story posted: 18. May 2011 by CPA Media

Pictures From History / Themes / OLD SHANGHAI

 

 

 

Old Shanghai, City of Wealth, Inequality and Vice

 

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Shanghai is a city of superlatives. China’s largest city, with a population of almost 19 million in the municipal area and more than 10 million in the urban core, it is the nation’s richest, most progressive, most stylish and most modern metropolis. It’s also perhaps the least Chinese of cities in China, having been molded and formed since the mid-19th century by decades of…

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Category: China