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Phoolan Devi (10 August 1963 – 25 July 2001), popularly known as 'Bandit Queen', was an Indian bandit and later a politician. Born to a low caste family in rural Uttar Pradesh, Devi's early years were characterised by numerous incidents of sexual abuse, followed by a criminal career she later became known for.<br/><br/> At the age of 18 Devi was gang-raped by high-caste bandits after the gang she was part of was ambushed by rivals. As a result of this incident she became a gang leader in her own right and sought revenge. In 1981 Devi and her gang returned to the village where she had been raped and 22 Thakur caste villagers, including two of her rapists, were rounded up and executed.<br/><br/> The press portrayed the Behmai massacre as an act of righteous lower-caste rebellion and Devi herself as an oppressed feminist Robin Hood. Indian police authorities argue that there is no recorded instance of Devi helping those in need.<br/><br/> Devi and surviving gang members evaded capture for 2 years before surrendering in 1983. She was charged for 48 crimes, including murder, plunder, arson and kidnapping for ransom. After 11 years pending trial, the state government withdrew all charges against her and she was released in 1994. She then ran for election as a candidate of the Samajwadi Party and was elected to parliament.<br/><br/> In 2001 Devi was assassinated in New Delhi by a trio of upper-caste men.
Phoolan Devi (10 August 1963 – 25 July 2001), popularly known as 'Bandit Queen', was an Indian bandit and later a politician. Born to a low caste family in rural Uttar Pradesh, Devi's early years were characterised by numerous incidents of sexual abuse, followed by a criminal career she later became known for.<br/><br/> At the age of 18 Devi was gang-raped by high-caste bandits after the gang she was part of was ambushed by rivals. As a result of this incident she became a gang leader in her own right and sought revenge. In 1981 Devi and her gang returned to the village where she had been raped and 22 Thakur caste villagers, including two of her rapists, were rounded up and executed.<br/><br/> The press portrayed the Behmai massacre as an act of righteous lower-caste rebellion and Devi herself as an oppressed feminist Robin Hood. Indian police authorities argue that there is no recorded instance of Devi helping those in need.<br/><br/> Devi and surviving gang members evaded capture for 2 years before surrendering in 1983. She was charged for 48 crimes, including murder, plunder, arson and kidnapping for ransom. After 11 years pending trial, the state government withdrew all charges against her and she was released in 1994. She then ran for election as a candidate of the Samajwadi Party and was elected to parliament.<br/><br/> In 2001 Devi was assassinated in New Delhi by a trio of upper-caste men.
Sir Marc Aurel Stein (usually known as Aurel Stein) KCIE, FBA (Hungarian: Stein Mark Aurel) (26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, mainly concerned with exploring ancient Central Asia. He was also a professor at various Indian universities.
The Taiping Rebellion was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having received visions, maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty. About 20 million people died, mainly civilians, in one of the deadliest military conflicts in history.<br/><br/> Hong established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with its capital at Nanjing. The Kingdom's army controlled large parts of southern China, at its height containing about 30 million people. The rebels attempted social reforms believing in shared 'property in common' and the replacement of Confucianism, Buddhism and Chinese folk religion with a form of Christianity.<br/><br/> The Taiping troops were nicknamed 'Longhairs' (simplified Chinese: 长毛; traditional Chinese: 長毛; pinyin: Chángmáo) by the Qing government. The Taiping areas were besieged by Qing forces throughout most of the rebellion. The Qing government crushed the rebellion with the eventual aid of French and British forces.<br/><br/> In the 20th century, Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party, looked on the rebellion as an inspiration, and Chinese paramount leader Mao Zedong glorified the Taiping rebels as early heroic revolutionaries against a corrupt feudal system.
The Taiping Rebellion was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having received visions, maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty. About 20 million people died, mainly civilians, in one of the deadliest military conflicts in history.<br/><br/> Hong established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with its capital at Nanjing. The Kingdom's army controlled large parts of southern China, at its height containing about 30 million people. The rebels attempted social reforms believing in shared 'property in common' and the replacement of Confucianism, Buddhism and Chinese folk religion with a form of Christianity.<br/><br/> The Taiping troops were nicknamed 'Longhairs' (simplified Chinese: 长毛; traditional Chinese: 長毛; pinyin: Chángmáo) by the Qing government. The Taiping areas were besieged by Qing forces throughout most of the rebellion. The Qing government crushed the rebellion with the eventual aid of French and British forces.<br/><br/> In the 20th century, Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party, looked on the rebellion as an inspiration, and Chinese paramount leader Mao Zedong glorified the Taiping rebels as early heroic revolutionaries against a corrupt feudal system.
The Taiping Rebellion was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having received visions, maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty. About 20 million people died, mainly civilians, in one of the deadliest military conflicts in history.<br/><br/> Hong established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with its capital at Nanjing. The Kingdom's army controlled large parts of southern China, at its height containing about 30 million people. The rebels attempted social reforms believing in shared 'property in common' and the replacement of Confucianism, Buddhism and Chinese folk religion with a form of Christianity.<br/><br/> The Taiping troops were nicknamed 'Longhairs' (simplified Chinese: 长毛; traditional Chinese: 長毛; pinyin: Chángmáo) by the Qing government. The Taiping areas were besieged by Qing forces throughout most of the rebellion. The Qing government crushed the rebellion with the eventual aid of French and British forces.<br/><br/> In the 20th century, Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party, looked on the rebellion as an inspiration, and Chinese paramount leader Mao Zedong glorified the Taiping rebels as early heroic revolutionaries against a corrupt feudal system.
Under a summer moon in Oshu (Mustu Province), Princess Nadeshiko, who had been fulling (finishing) silk, is attacked by the robber Tsuchikuro. She parries his sword thrust by throwing a fulling mallet into his face (1885).<br/><br/> Toyohara Chikanobu (豊原周延) (1838–1912), better known to his contemporaries as Yōshū Chikanobu (楊洲周延), was a prolific woodblock artist of Japan's Meiji period. His works capture the transition from the age of the samurai to Meiji modernity.<br/><br/> In 1875 (Meiji 8), he decided to try to make a living as an artist. He travelled to Tokyo. He found work as an artist for the Kaishin Shimbun. In addition, he produced nishiki-e artworks. In his younger days, he had studied the Kanō school of painting; but his interest was drawn to ukiyo-e.<br/><br/> Like many ukiyo-e artists, Chikanobu turned his attention towards a great variety of subjects. His work ranged from Japanese mythology to depictions of the battlefields of his lifetime to women's fashions. As well as a number of the other artists of this period, he too portrayed kabuki actors in character, and is well-known for his impressions of the mie (formal pose) of kabuki productions.<br/><br/> Chikanobu was known as a master of bijinga, images of beautiful women, and for illustrating changes in women's fashion, including both traditional and Western clothing. His work illustrated the changes in coiffures and make-up across time. For example, in Chikanobu's images in Mirror of Ages (1897), the hair styles of the Tenmei era, 1781-1789 are distinguished from those of the Keio era, 1865-1867.
Lithograph from 'Afghaunistan' by Lieutenant James Rattray (1841). The Kohistani is Mir Alam, formerly one of a band of noted robbers on the road to Turkestan, north-west of Begram. Rattray wrote: 'Coistaun has always been remarkable for the war-like character of its inhabitants, who average some forty thousand families famous for the efficiency and excellence of their Pyadas (foot-soldiery). As light infantry they are unrivalled, and from their numbers and determined courage, are of considerable importance in the event of any revolution in which they may take part'.<br/><br/> The robber chief Hassan secretly and daringly accosted the British envoy William McNaghten and offered to bring him Dost Mohammmed's head in return for a large amount of money. Although this offer was hastily turned down, Hassan and his men were later enrolled among the infantry escort of Rattray's brother. Giving up their precarious livelihood, they became most efficient soldiers.<br/><br/> Mir Alam carries a 'juzzail', a type of large heavy rifle. Afghan snipers were expert marksmen and their juzzails fired roughened bullets, long iron nails or even pebbles over a range of some 250 metres. The Afghans could fling the large rifles across their shoulders as if they were feathers and spring nimbly from rock to rock. They loved to decorate their rifles: Rattray writes of finding one adorned with human teeth.
The was born in Tay Ninh Province and raised in the Cao Dai religion. He was trained in military officer school by the Japanese Kempeitai when Japan began using Cao Dai paramilitary troops. By 1945 he was an officer in the Cao Dai militia. In June 1951, The broke from the Cao Dai hierarchy and took about two thousand troops with him to form his own militia, the Lien Minh, devoted to combating both the French and the Viet Minh. The’s forces were implicated in a series of terrorist bombings in Saigon from 1951 to 1953—which were blamed on communists at the time. In 1954, United States military advisor Edward Lansdale, charged with propping up the regime of Ngo Dình Diem, negotiated with The to use his militia to back up Diem and the ARVN. On February 13, 1955, The's troops were officially integrated into the South Vietnamese army, where he assumed the rank of general. He led the Lien Minh on a triumphal march into Saigon. On May 3, 1955, while driving in an open vehicle, The was shot in the back of the head by a sniper. He features prominently in Graham Greene's 1955 novel 'The Quiet American'.
Utagawa Kunisada (1786 – January 12, 1865) (Japanese: 歌川 国貞, also known as Utagawa Toyokuni III 三代歌川豊国 ) was the most popular, prolific and financially successful designer of ukiyo-e woodblock prints in 19th-century Japan.<br/><br/>In his own time, his reputation far exceeded that of his contemporaries, Hokusai, Hiroshige and Kuniyoshi.
Utagawa Kunimasa (歌川 国政, 1772 - December 26, 1810) was a Japanese ukiyo-e printmaker and student of Utagawa Toyokuni. Originally from Aizu in Iwashiro province, he first worked in a dye shop upon arriving in Edo (the present-day Tokyo). It was there that he was noticed by Toyokuni, to whom he became apprenticed.<br/><br/> Kunimasa is especially known for his yakusha-e prints (portraits of kabuki actors) and for his bijinga pictures of beautiful women. His style is said to strive to 'combine the intensity of Sharaku with the decorative pageantry of his master Toyokuni'. However, those who make the comparison often say he failed to achieve the level of Sharaku's intensity.