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Japan: 'An Amazon'. Oil on canvas painting by Fujishima Takeji (1867-1943), 1929, private collection. Fujishima Takeji (October 15, 1867 - March 19, 1943) was a Japanese painter from an ex-samurai class household in southern Kyushu. He helped to develop impressionism and Romanticism within the Western-style ('yōga') art movement that became popular in Japanese painting during the late 19th and early 20th century. He would also be inspired by the Art Nouveau movement in his later years.
Frederik Hendrik / Frederick Henry (1584-1647) was the ruling Prince of Orange and stadtholder of Holland, Guelders, Overijssel, Utrecht and Zeeland. The youngest son of the famed William the Silent, he was the half-brother of the previous Prince of Orange and his predecessor, Maurice, who passed away in 1625. Frederik was born six months before his father's assassination in 1584, and was trained in arms and educated by Maurice.<br/><br/> Frederik proved to be almost as fine a general as his half-brother, as well as a more capable politician and statesman, ruling over the Dutch United Provinces for twenty-two years and waging a successful war against the Spanish Empire. The power of the stadtholderate reached its highest point under him, with the 'Period of Frederik Hendrik' being styled by Dutch writers as a golden age for the young republic.<br/><br/> Frederik managed to secure a concluding peace that legitimised the United Provinces before his death in 1647, finally realising what the Dutch had been seeking for eighty years with the Treaty of Munster, which was formally ratified and signed a year after his death.
Ferdinand II (1578-1637) was the son of Charles II, Archduke of Austria, and grandson of Emperor Ferdinand I. Ferdinand was part of a Catholic faction opposed to his cousin, Emperor Matthias, who was more tolerant to Protestantism. He became King of Bohemia in 1617, King of Hungary in 1618, and ascended to Holy Roman Emperor in 1619 after his cousin's death.<br/><br/> Ferdinand was a zealous Catholic and immediately worked to restore Catholicism as the only religion in the Holy Roman Empire, suppressing Protestantism wherever he could, leading to conflict with his non-Catholic subjects. He discarded the Letter of Majesty signed by the previous emperor, Rudolf II, which granted freedom of religion to the nobles and inhabitants of Bohemia. His absolutist policies and infringement on noble historical privileges led to the Bohemian Revolt. His actions during the Second Defenestration of Prague in 1618 were considered the first steps of the Thirty Years' War.<br/><br/> The Thirty Years' War raged across much of Central Europe, drawing in more and more factions, fighting either on the Catholic or Protestant side. It became one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, as well as being the deadliest European religious war, with more than eight million casualties. Ferdinand himself died in 1637, before the war ended, leaving his son Ferdinand III to deal with the war and try to manage an empire engulfed in chaos.
Matthias (1557-1619) was the son of Emperor Maximilian II and younger brother of Emperor Rudolf II. He married his cousin, Archduchess Anna of Austria, becoming successor to his uncle, Archduke Ferdinand II. He was invited to the Netherlands by the rebellious provinces and offered the position of Governor-General in 1578, which he accepted despite the protestations of his uncle, King Philip II of Spain.<br/><br/> Matthias helped to set down the rules for religious peace and freedom of religion, and only returned home in 1581 after the Netherlands deposed Philip II to become fully independent. He became governor of Austria in 1593 by his brother Rudolf's appointment. He forced his brother to allow him to negotiate with the Hungarian revolts of 1605, resulting in the Peace of Vienna in 1606. He then forced his brother to yield to him the crowns of Hungary, Austria and Moravia in 1608, and then making him cede the Bohemian throne in 1611. By then Matthias had imprisoned his brother, where he remained till his death in 1612.<br/><br/> After Rudolf's death, Matthias ascended to Holy Roman emperor, and had to juggle between appeasing both the Catholic and Protestant states within the Holy Roman Empire, hoping to reach a compromise and strengthen the empire. The Bohemian Protestant revolt of 1618 provoked his strongly Catholic brother Maximilian III to imprison Matthias' advisors and take control of the empire, Matthias being too old and ailing to stop him. Matthias died a year later in 1619.
Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was ruler of both the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and the Spanish Empire (as Charles I of Spain) from 1516, as well as of the lands of the former Duchy of Burgundy from 1506. He stepped down from these and other positions by a series of abdications between 1554 and 1556.<br/><br/> Through inheritance, Charles brought together under his rule extensive territories in western, central, and southern Europe, and the Spanish viceroyalties in the Americas and Asia. As a result, his domains spanned nearly 4 million square kilometres (1.5 million square miles), and were the first to be described as 'the empire on which the sun never sets'.
Maximilian I (22 March 1459 – 12 January 1519), the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor, and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans (also known as King of the Germans) from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky.<br/><br/> He had ruled jointly with his father for the last ten years of his father's reign, from c. 1483. He expanded the influence of the House of Habsburg through war and his marriage in 1477 to Mary of Burgundy, the heiress to the Duchy of Burgundy, but he also lost the Austrian territories in today's Switzerland to the Swiss Confederacy.
'The Tale of the Heike' is a Japanese epic account of the conflict between the Minamoto and Taira clans over control of Japan which occurred near the end of the 12th century CE, known as the Genpei War (1180-1185). The tale is often described as a Japanese 'Iliad', and has been translated into English multiple times.<br/><br/> The Genpei War occurred during the late Heian Period, and ultimately saw the fall of the Taira clan and the rise of the Minamoto clan. Minamoto no Yoritomo, clan leader, then established the Kamakura shogunate, which would rule over Japan for roughly 150 years. The Kamakura shogunate began the suppression of the emperor's power and the rise of samurai influence and power.
Hosokawa Sumimoto (1489-1520) was a samurai commander who lived during the Muromachi Period, in 16th century Japan. A member of the Hosokawa Clan in Awa Province, he succeeded his adopted father Hosokawa Masamoto as leader of the clan, creating a rift between Sumimoto and Hosokawa Sumiyuki, who was originally going to succeed.<br/><br/> In 1507, Masamoto was killed by a servant of Sumiyuki's, while Sumimoto was attacked by a retainer but managed to escape to take refuge at Rokkaku Takayori, in Omi Province. A loyal follower of Sumimoto's, Miyoshi Yukinaga, raised an army and destroyed Sumiyaki, allowing Sumimoto to return and succeed the house in proper form.<br/><br/> When Ashikaga Yoshiki, the previous Shogun who had been deposed by Sumimoto's adopted father, was returned to power in 1508, Sumimoto was forced to flee and rebel. He fought and lost multiple battles, and eventually died after fleeing back to his home province of Awa.
The Hermitage of San Baudelio de Berlanga (Ermita de San Baudelio de Berlanga) is an early 11th-century church at Caltojar in the province of Soria, Spain, 80 km south of Berlanga de Duero. It is an example of Mozarabic architecture and was built in the 11th century, in what was then the frontier between Islamic and Christian lands. It is dedicated to Saint Baudilus or Baudel.<br/><br/> The hermitage housed many fine Romanesque frescoes from about 1125; most of these have been removed, but some have remained. Two sections, transferred to canvas, are now in the Indianapolis Museum of Art, showing the Entry of Christ into Jerusalem and the Wedding at Cana.<br/><br/> The paintings were done by the Catalan Master of Tahull (Taüll in Catalan), whose best known works are in Sant Climent de Taüll and the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Barcelona, with two other painters. The frescoes include that of a camel and of a war elephant, which were inspired by Muslim motifs.
William I, Prince of Orange (1533-1584), also known as William the Silent and William the Taciturn, was a wealthy nobleman from the Dutch provinces of the Spanish Netherlands. He originally served the Spanish Habsburgs, but increasing dissatisfaction with the centralisation of power away from the local estates and Spanish persecution of Dutch Protestants led William to join the Dutch revolt and becoming its main leader.<br/><br/> As leader of the uprising, William led the Dutch to several successes against the Spanish, setting off the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648). He was declared an outlaw by the Spanish king in 1580, before helping to declare the formal independence of the Dutch Republic, also known as the United Provinces, in 1581. He was eventually assassinated by Balthasar Gerard in 1584.<br/><br/> William was the founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, making him the ancestor of the present Dutch monarchy. Within the Netherlands he is also fondly remembered as the 'Father of the Fatherland'.
The <i>Tres Riches Heures du Duc de Berry</i> is the most famous and possibly the best surviving example of French Gothic manuscript illumination, showing the late International Gothic phase of the style. It is a book of hours: a collection of prayers to be said at the canonical hours.<br/><br/> It was created between c. 1412 and 1416 for the extravagant royal bibliophile and patron John, Duke of Berry, by the Limbourg brothers. When the three painters and their sponsor died in 1416, possibly victims of plague, the manuscript was left unfinished. It was further embellished in the 1440s by an anonymous painter, who many art historians believe was Barthelemy d'Eyck. In 1485-1489, it was brought to its present state by the painter Jean Colombe on behalf of the Duke of Savoy.<br/><br/> Acquired by the Duc d'Aumale in 1856, the book is now in the Musee Conde, Chantilly, France.
The Peasants' Revolt, also called Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black Death in the 1340s, the high taxes resulting from the conflict with France during the Hundred Years' War, and instability within the local leadership of London. The final trigger for the revolt was the intervention of a royal official, John Bampton, in Essex on 30 May 1381. His attempts to collect unpaid poll taxes in Brentwood ended in a violent confrontation, which rapidly spread across the south-east of the country.<br/><br/> Unrest continued until the intervention of Henry le Despenser, who defeated a rebel army at the Battle of North Walsham on 25 or 26 June. Troubles extended north to York, Beverley and Scarborough, and as far west as Bridgwater in Somerset. Richard II mobilised 4,000 soldiers to restore order. Most of the rebel leaders were tracked down and executed; by November, at least 1,500 rebels had been killed.
Japanese woodblock print showing an American man smoking a cigarette while on horseback.<br/><br/> Utagawa Yoshitora was a designer of <i>ukiyo-e</i> Japanese woodblock prints and an illustrator of books and newspapers who was active from about 1850 to about 1880. He was born in Edo (modern Tokyo), but neither his date of birth nor date of death is known. He was the oldest pupil of Utagawa Kuniyoshi who excelled in prints of warriors, kabuki actors, beautiful women, and foreigners (<i>Yokohama-e</i>).
The Long March was a military retreat undertaken by the Red Army of the Communist Party of China, the forerunner of the People's Liberation Army, to evade the pursuit of the Kuomintang (KMT or Chinese Nationalist Party) army. There was not one Long March, but a series of marches, as various Communist armies in the south escaped to the north and west.<br/><br/> The most well known is the march from Jiangxi province which began in October 1934. The First Front Army of the Chinese Soviet Republic, led by an inexperienced military commission, was on the brink of annihilation by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's troops in their stronghold in Jiangxi province. The Communists, under the eventual command of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, escaped in a circling retreat to the west and north, which reportedly traversed some 12,500 kilometers (8,000 miles) over 370 days. The route passed through some of the most difficult terrain of western China by traveling west, then north, to Shaanxi.<br/><br/> The Long March began the ascent to power of Mao Zedong, whose leadership during the retreat gained him the support of the members of the party. The bitter struggles of the Long March, which was completed by only one-tenth of the force that left Jiangxi, would come to represent a significant episode in the history of the Communist Party of China, and would seal the personal prestige of Mao and his supporters as the new leaders of the party in the following decades.
Construction of the Shwezigon Pagoda began during the reign of King Anawratha (r. 1044 -1077) and was completed during the reign of King Kyanzittha, in 1102.<br/><br/> Bagan, formerly Pagan, was mainly built between the 11th century and 13th century. Formally titled Arimaddanapura or Arimaddana (the City of the Enemy Crusher) and also known as Tambadipa (the Land of Copper) or Tassadessa (the Parched Land), it was the capital of several ancient kingdoms in Burma.
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910), the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death.<br/><br/> The tax records of Mughal Emperor Akbar (1584–1598) as well as the work of a 15th century Bengali poet, Bipradaas, both mention a settlement named Kalikata (thought to mean ‘Steps of Kali’ for the Hindu goddess Kali) from which the name Calcutta is believed to derive.<br/><br/> In 1690 Job Charnock, an agent of the East India Company, founded the first modern settlement in this location. In 1698 the company purchased the three villages of Sutanuti, Kolikata and Gobindapur. In 1727 the Calcutta Municipal Corporation was formed and the city’s first mayor was appointed.<br/><br/> In 1756 the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, seized Calcutta and renamed the city Alinagar. He lost control of the city within a year and Calcutta was transferred back to British control. In 1772 Calcutta became the capital of British India on the orders of Governor Warren Hastings.<br/><br/> In 1912 the capital was transferred to New Delhi while Calcutta remained the capital of Bengal. Since independence and partition it has remained the capital and chief city of Indian West Bengal.
Minamoto no Yoshitsune (源 義経, 1159 – June 15, 1189) was a general of the Minamoto clan of Japan in the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Yoshitsune was the ninth son of Minamoto no Yoshitomo, and the third and final son and child that Yoshitomo would father with Tokiwa Gozen.<br/><br/> Yoshitsune's older brother Minamoto no Yoritomo (the third son of Yoshitomo) founded the Kamakura shogunate. Yoshitsune's name in childhood was Ushiwakamaru (牛若丸). He is considered one of the greatest and the most popular warriors of his era, and one of the most famous samurai fighters in the history of Japan. Isoda Koryūsai (礒田湖龍斎 1735–c.1790) was a Japanese printmaker and painter active from approximately 1764 to 1788.<br/><br/> The details of his life are under some dispute. He apparently came from a samurai background. One theory stated he became a rōnin and was forced to turn to art, but another says he voluntarily gave up the life of a samurai for art. In 1781 he received the title Hokkyo for his talent and accomplishments. That he was so honored is one of the rare statements that is generally agreed to. There are those who believe he was a pupil of Harunobu, but this is disputed. Although some of his prints survived few of his paintings did.<br/><br/> That said it is known that he was a prolific artist. His subjects ranged from Confucian virtues, to birds, to herblore, and also included hundreds of erotica prints.
Samurai is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. By the end of the 12th century, samurai became almost entirely synonymous with bushi, and the word was closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class.<br/><br/> The samurai followed a set of rules that came to be known as Bushidō. While they numbered less than ten percent of Japan's population, samurai teachings can still be found today in both everyday life and in martial arts such as Kendō, meaning the way of the sword.
Chinese erotic art was a tradition that spanned from antiquity until its apex in the late Ming Dynasty (early 17th century). This art was not just produced for stimulation. Chinese erotica portrays ideals of feminine beauty, narratives on imperial and vernacular life, humour, tenderness and love. However, traditional Chinese erotic art remains a little known tradition because so much of it was destroyed during the Maoist era.<br/><br/> Foot binding (pinyin: <i>chanzu</i>, literally 'bound feet') was a custom practiced on young girls and women for approximately one thousand years in China, beginning in the 10th century and ending in the first half of 20th century.<br/><br/> Qing Dynasty sex manuals listed 48 different ways of playing with women's bound feet. For men, the primary erotic effect was a function of the lotus gait, the tiny steps and swaying walk of a woman whose feet had been bound.
Manipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Its people include the Meetei, Pangal (Muslims), Bishnupriya Manipuri's, Naga and Kuki who speak different languages of branches of the Tibeto-Burman family.<br/><br/> The state is bounded by Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south, and Assam to the west; Burma lies to the east. It covers an area of 22,327 square kilometres (8,621 sq mi).
Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya (also known as Hemu Vikramaditya, Raja Vikramaditya or simply Hemu) (1501 – 5 November 1556) was a Hindu emperor of north India during the sixteenth century CE, a period when Mughals and Afghans were vying for power in the region.<br/><br/> The son of a Hindu priest, who later became a food seller, and a vendor of saltpetre at Rewari, Hemu rose to become Chief of Army and Prime Minister of Adil Shah Suri of the Suri Dynasty. He fought Afghan rebels across North India from the Punjab to Bengal and the Mughal forces of Akbar and Humayun in Agra and Delhi, winning 22 consecutive battles.<br/><br/> Hemu acceded to the throne of Delhi on 7 October 1556, assuming the title of Vikramaditya that had been adopted by many Hindu kings since Vedic times. His rajyabhishek (coronation) as Samrat was held at Purana Quila in Delhi. Hemu re-established Hindu rule (albeit for a short duration) in North India, after over 350 years of Muslim rule.
Marwar - Hindi: मारवाड़ - is a region of southwestern Rajasthan state in western India. It lies partly in the Thar Desert. In Rajasthani dialect 'wad' means a particular area. The word Marwar is derived from Sanskrit word 'Maruwat'. English translation of the word is 'The region of desert'. Marwar includes the present-day districts of Barmer, Jalore, Lakshman Nagar, Jodhpur, Nagaur, and Pali. It is bounded on the north by the Jangladesh region, on the northeast by Dhundhar, on the east by Ajmer, on the southeast by Mewar, on the south by Godwar, on the southwest by Sindh, and on the west by Jaisalmer region.
Ma Chao (176 – 222) was the oldest son of Ma Teng and a military general during the late Han Dynasty and early Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history. In Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he received the nickname 'Ma Chao the Splendid' due to his elaborate armour and grand skill as a warrior. Ma is remembered as one of the Five Tiger Generals of Shu Han, popularized by the novel. 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.
Palestine (Arabic: فلسطين‎ Filasṭīn, Falasṭīn, Filisṭīn; Greek: Παλαιστίνη, Palaistinē; Latin: Palaestina; Hebrew: פלשתינה Palestina) is a n ame given to the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. The region is also known as the Land of Israel (Hebrew: ארץ־ישראל Eretz-Yisra'el), the Holy Land and the Southern Levant.<br/><br/> In 1832 Palestine was conquered by Muhammad Ali's Egypt, but in 1840 Britain intervened and returned control of the Levant to the Ottomans in return for further capitulations. The end of the 19th century saw the beginning of Zionist immigration and the Revival of the Hebrew language. The movement was publicly supported by Great Britain during World War I with the Balfour Declaration of 1917. The British captured Jerusalem a month later, and were formally awarded a mandate in 1922.<br/><br/> In 1947, following World War II and the Holocaust, the British Government announced their desire to terminate the Mandate, and the United Nations General Assembly voted to partition the territory into a Jewish state and an Arab state. The Jewish leadership accepted the proposal but the Arab Higher Committee rejected it; a civil war began immediately, and the State of Israel was declared in 1948.<br/><br/> The 1948 Palestinian exodus, known in Arabic as the Nakba (Arabic: النكبة‎, an-Nakbah, 'The Catastrophe') occurred when approximately 711,000 to 725,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled from their homes, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War during which Israel captured and incorporated a further 26% of Palestinian territory.<br/><br/> In the course of the Six Day War in June 1967, Israel captured the remainder of historic Palestine and began a continuing policy of Israeli settlement and annexation.
Al Khazneh ('The Treasury'; Arabic: الخزنة‎) is one of the most elaborate buildings in the ancient Jordanian city of Petra. As with most of the other buildings in this ancient town, including the Monastery (Arabic: Ad Deir), this structure was also carved out of a sandstone rock face. It has classical Greek-influenced architecture.<br/><br/> Petra was first established as a city by the Nabataean Arabs in the 4th century BC, and owed its birth and prosperity to the fact that it was the only place with clear and abundant water between the Hijaz trading centres of Mecca and Medina, and Palestine.<br/><br/> Hewn directly into the Nubian sandstone ridges of the south Jordanian desert, it seems probable that - given its excellent defensive position and good water supplies - Petra has been continually occupied from as early as Paleolithic times. It is thought to be mentioned in the Bible as Sela, a mountain fortress captured by Amaziah, King of Judah, in the 9th century BC, when the defenders were hurled to their deaths from the summit, and as many as 10,000 people died.<br/><br/> The city's Latin name, Petra - literally, 'Rock' - probably replaced the biblical name Sela at the time of the Roman conquest some 1,900 years ago. Today, in Arabic, the ancient site is still called Batraa, though the valley in which it is situated is known as Wadi Musa - 'The Valley of Moses' - being one of the places where, according to semitic tradition, the Prophet Moses struck a rock and water gushed forth. Truly Petra is steeped in history.
Commonly known as Rana Sanga, the Rajput Maharana Sangram Singh (born April 12, 1484) was the ruler of Mewar, which was located within the geographic boundaries of present-day India's modern state of Rajasthan. He ruled between 1509 and 1527.<br/><br/> A scion of the Sisodia clan of Suryavanshi Rajputs, Rana Sanga succeeded his father Rana Raimal as king of Mewar in 1509. He fought against the Mughals in the Battle of Khanwa, which ended with Mughal victory, dying shortly thereafter, on March 17, 1527.
Yahyâ ibn Mahmûd al-Wâsitî was a 13th-century Arab Islamic artist. Al-Wasiti was born in Wasit in southern Iraq. He was noted for his illustrations of the Maqam of al-Hariri.<br/><br/> Maqāma (literally 'assemblies') are an (originally) Arabic literary genre of rhymed prose with intervals of poetry in which rhetorical extravagance is conspicuous. The 10th century author Badī' al-Zaman al-Hamadhāni is said to have invented the form, which was extended by al-Hariri of Basra in the next century. Both authors' maqāmāt center on trickster figures whose wanderings and exploits in speaking to assemblies of the powerful are conveyed by a narrator.<br/><br/> Manuscripts of al-Harīrī's Maqāmāt, anecdotes of a roguish wanderer Abu Zayd from Saruj, were frequently illustrated with miniatures.
Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram Shah Jahan I (1592 –1666), or Shah Jahan, from the Persian meaning ‘king of the world’, was the fifth Mughal ruler in India and a favourite of his legendary grandfather Akbar the Great.<br/><br/> He is best known for commissioning the ‘Phadshahnamah’ as a chronicle of his reign, and for the building of the Taj Mahal in Agra as a tomb for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Under Shah Jahan, the Mughal Empire attained its highest union of strength and magnificence. The opulence of Shah Jahan’s court and his famous Peacock Throne was the wonder of all the European travelers and ambassadors. His political efforts encouraged the emergence of large centers of commerce and crafts—such as Lahore, Delhi, Agra and Ahmedabad—linked by roads and waterways to distant places and ports. He moved the capital from Agra to Delhi. Under Shah Jahan's rule, the Red Fort and Jama Masjid in Delhi were built, the Shalimar Gardens of Lahore, sections of the Lahore Fort and his father's mausoleum.
The battles of Kawanakajima (川中島の戦い, Kawanakajima no tatakai) were fought in the Sengoku Period of Japan between Takeda Shingen of Kai Province and Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province in the plain of Kawanakajima, in the north of Shinano Province. The location is in the southern part of the present-day city of Nagano.<br/><br/> The five major battles took place in 1553, 1555, 1557, 1561 and 1564. The best known and severest among them was fought on September 10, 1561.<br/><br/> The battles started after Shingen conquered Shinano Province, expelling Murakami Yoshiharu and Ogasawara Nagatoki, who subsequently turned to Kenshin for help.
Shunga (春画) is a Japanese term for erotic art. Most shunga are a type of ukiyo-e, usually executed in woodblock print format. While rare, there are extant erotic painted handscrolls which predate the Ukiyo-e movement. Translated literally, the Japanese word shunga means picture of spring; 'spring' is a common euphemism for sex.<br/><br/> The ukiyo-e movement as a whole sought to express an idealisation of contemporary urban life and appeal to the new chōnin class. Following the aesthetics of everyday life, Edo period shunga varied widely in its depictions of sexuality. As a subset of ukiyo-e it was enjoyed by all social groups in the Edo period, despite being out of favour with the shogunate.<br/><br/> Suzuki Harunobu (鈴木 春信, 1724 – July 7, 1770) was a Japanese woodblock print artist, one of the most famous in the Ukiyo-e style. He was an innovator, the first to produce full-color prints (nishiki-e) in 1765, rendering obsolete the former modes of two- and three-color prints.<br/><br/> Harunobu used many special techniques, and depicted a wide variety of subjects, from classical poems to contemporary beauties (bijin, bijin-ga). Like many artists of his day, Harunobu also produced a number of shunga, or erotic images.
Mughal period miniature painting from an album featuring portraits of Timur the Great and his descendants, mid-17th century
Utagawa Toyokuni (1769 - February 24, 1825), also often referred to as Toyokuni I, to distinguish him from the members of his school who took over his gō (art-name after he died) was a great master of ukiyo-e, known in particular for his Kabuki actor prints.<br/><br/> Utagawa was one of the heads of the renowned Utagawa school of Japanese woodblock artists, and was the person who really moved it to the position of great fame and power it occupied for the rest of the nineteenth century.
Cai Wenji was born shortly before 178 CE in what is now Qi County, Kaifeng, Henan. In 195, the chaos after Chancellor Dong Zhuo's death brought Xiongnu nomads into the Chinese capital and Cai Wenji was taken as prisoner to the northern lands. During her captivity, she became the wife of the Xiongnu chieftain Liu Bao and bore him two sons. It was not until twelve years later that Cao Cao, the new Chancellor of Han, ransomed her in the name of her father. When Cai Wenji returned to her homeland, she left her children behind at the frontier. The reason Cao Cao needed her back, was that she was the only one remaining of her clan and he needed her to placate the spirits of her ancestors. Cai Wenji's father Cai Yong was an established writer, but his works were lost in the ravages of war. At Cao Cao's request, Cai Wenji was able to recite from memory up to four hundred out of four thousand of her father's lost works. Later in her life, she wrote two poems describing her turbulent years. Her year of death is unknown. Contemporary (20th century) painting.
Ragamala Paintings are a series of illustrative paintings from medieval India based on Ragamala or the 'Garland of Ragas', depicting various Indian musical nodes, Ragas. They stand as a classical example of the amalgamation of art, poetry and classical music in medieval India. Ragamala paintings were created in most schools of Indian painting, starting in the 16th and 17th centuries and are today named accordingly, as Pahari Ragamala, Rajasthan or Rajput Ragamala, Deccan Ragamala, and Mughal Ragamala.
Senanan, meaning 'Monday', was a jousting competition held at the beginning of the week in many areas of Java. More of an equestrian parade and a show of horsemanship as opposed to a bloodsport, the events were held in the main square of the town with royal dignitaries or court officials in attendance.<br/><br/> The Dutch East India Company, or VOC, was a chartered company granted a monopoly by the Dutch government to carry out colonial activities in Asia. It was the first multinational corporation in the world and the first company to issue stock. It was also arguably the world's first megacorporation, possessing quasi-governmental powers, including the ability to wage war, imprison and execute convicts, negotiate treaties, coin money and establish colonies. The VOC was set up in 1602 to gain a foothold in the East Indies (Indonesia) for the Dutch in the lucrative spice trade, which until that point was dominated by the Portuguese. Between 1602 and 1796, the VOC sent almost a million Europeans to work in the Asia trade on 4,785 ships, and netted more than 2.5 million tons of Asian trade goods.
Prince Dara Shikoh (1615—59) was the eldest son and the heir apparent of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal. His name in Persian means ‘Darius the Magnificent’ and he was favoured as a successor by his father and his sister Jahanara Begum, but was defeated by his younger brother Aurangzeb in a bitter struggle for the Mughal throne.
Ahmed Cemal Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: احمد جمال پاشا, modern Turkish: Ahmet Cemal Paşa; 6 May 1872 – 21 July 1922), commonly known as Djemal Pasha to Turks, and Jamal Basha in the Arab world, was an Ottoman military leader and one-third of the military triumvirate known as the Three Pashas that ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I.<br/><br/> Djemal was also Mayor of Istanbul and is seen as one of the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide and the Assyrian genocide.
Samurai is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. By the end of the 12th century, samurai became almost entirely synonymous with bushi, and the word was closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class.<br/><br/> The samurai followed a set of rules that came to be known as Bushidō. While they numbered less than ten percent of Japan's population, samurai teachings can still be found today in both everyday life and in martial arts such as Kendō, meaning the way of the sword.
Spain / France / Maghreb: Isabel of Bourbon is portrayed on an Andalusian horse. Oil on canvas painting by Diego Velazquez (1599-1660), c. 1635.<br/><br/> Isabella of Bourbon / Elisabeth of France (1602-1644) was Queen Consort of Spain and Portugal, and was married to King Philip V of Spain. She briefly served as regent during the Catalan Revolt in 1640-1642, and once again in 1643-1644.<br/><br/> The Andalusian horse was a crossbreed of the North African Barb and the Spanish horse, which was developed at the Umayyad court in Cordoba and was the preferred mount of many European royals.
Khwāja Shamsu d-Dīn Muhammad Hāfez-e Shīrāzī (Persian: خواجه شمس‌الدین محمد حافظ شیرازی‎), known by his pen name Hāfez (1325/1326–1389/1390),was a Persian lyric poet. His collected works composed of series of Persian poetry (Divan) are to be found in the homes of most Persian speakers in Iran and Afghanistan, as well as elsewhere in the world, who learn his poems by heart and use them as proverbs and sayings to this day. His life and poems have been the subject of much analysis, commentary and interpretation, influencing post-fourteenth century Persian writing more than any other author.<br/><br/> Themes of his ghazals are the beloved, faith, and exposing hypocrisy. His influence in the lives of Iranians can be found in 'Hafez readings' (fāl-e hāfez, Persian: فال حافظ‎), frequent use of his poems in Persian traditional music, visual art and Persian calligraphy. His tomb in Shiraz is visited often. Adaptations, imitations and translations of Hafez' poems exist in all major languages.
Samurai is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. By the end of the 12th century, samurai became almost entirely synonymous with bushi, and the word was closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class.<br/><br/> The samurai followed a set of rules that came to be known as Bushidō. While they numbered less than ten percent of Japan's population, samurai teachings can still be found today in both everyday life and in martial arts such as Kendō, meaning the way of the sword.
Sultan Suleyman I (1494-1566), also known as 'Suleyman the Magnificent' and 'Suleyman the Lawmaker', was the 10th and longest reigning sultan of the Ottoman empire.<br/><br/>He personally led his armies to conquer Transylvania, the Caspian, much of the Middle East and the Maghreb. He intoduced sweeping reforms in Turkish legislation, education, taxation and criminal law, and was highly respected as a poet and a goldsmith. Suleyman also oversaw a golden age in the development of arts, literature and architecture in the Ottoman empire.
The First Indochina War (also known as the French Indochina War, Anti-French War, Franco-Vietnamese War, Franco-Vietminh War, Indochina War, Dirty War in France, and Anti-French Resistance War in contemporary Vietnam) was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps, led by France and supported by Emperor Bảo Đại's Vietnamese National Army against the Việt Minh, led by Hồ Chí Minh and Võ Nguyên Giáp. Most of the fighting took place in Tonkin in Northern Vietnam, although the conflict engulfed the entire country and also extended into the neighboring French Indochina protectorates of Laos and Cambodia. The war ended in French defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954.
Samurai is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. By the end of the 12th century, samurai became almost entirely synonymous with bushi, and the word was closely associated with the middle and upper echelons of the warrior class.<br/><br/> The samurai followed a set of rules that came to be known as Bushidō. While they numbered less than ten percent of Japan's population, samurai teachings can still be found today in both everyday life and in martial arts such as Kendō, meaning the way of the sword.
This illustration by Louis Delaporte is one of dozens he produced during his two-year venture (1866-68) with the Mekong Exploration Commission sponsored by the French Ministry of the Navy, the intention of which was to lay the groundwork for the expansion of French colonies in Indochina. Traveling the Mekong by boat, the small French delegation voyaged from Saigon to Phnom Penh to Luang Prabang, then farther north into the uncharted waters of Upper Laos and China's Yunnan province, before returning to Hanoi in 1868 by foot, accompanied by porters and elephants.
Qasr al-Hayr al-Gharbi castle (Arabic: قصر الحير الغربي‎), located 80 km south-west of Palmyra on the Damascus road, is a twin palace with Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi, built by the Umayyad caliph Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik in 727 CE.<br/><br/> It was used as an eye of the king during the Umayyad era, to control the movement of the desert tribes and to be a barrier against them, as well as being a hunting chalet. Later it was utilized by the Ayyubids and the Mamelukes but was abandoned permanently after the Mongol invasions.<br/><br/> The castle is quadrangular in outline with 70-meter sides. The central doorway to the castle is very attractive, and has been moved to the National Museum of Damascus to be used as the entrance. Its semi-cylindrical towers on the sides of the doorway, columns, and the geometric shapes mirrored a blend of Persian, Byzantine and Arab architecture.<br/><br/> Not much remains from the castle. All that is visible is a reservoir to collect waters from Harbaka dam, a bath and a khan. The gateway is presently preserved as a façade in the National Museum of Damascus.
The Nuremberg Chronicle is an illustrated world history. Its structure follows the story of human history as related in the Bible; it includes the histories of a number of important Western cities. Written in Latin by Hartmann Schedel, with a version in German translation by Georg Alt, it appeared in 1493. It is one of the best-documented early printed books - an incunabulum (printed, not hand-written) - and one of the first to successfully integrate illustrations and text.
The Shahnameh or Shah-nama (Persian: شاهنامه Šāhnāmeh, 'The Book of Kings') is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c.977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Iran and related Perso-Iranian cultures. Consisting of some 60,000 verses, the Shahnameh tells the mythical and to some extent the historical past of Greater Iran from the creation of the world until the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century.<br/><br/> The work is of central importance in Persian culture, regarded as a literary masterpiece, and definitive of ethno-national cultural identity of Iran. It is also important to the contemporary adherents of Zoroastrianism, in that it traces the historical links between the beginnings of the religion with the death of the last Zoroastrian ruler of Persia during the Muslim conquest.
The renowned female samurai, Tomoe-gozen in the 11th Century. Her husband or love was the Genji General Kiso Yoshinaka.<br/><br/> According to the 'The Tale of Heike', Tomoe was especially beautiful, with white skin, long hair, and charming features. She was also a remarkably strong archer, and as a swords-woman she was a warrior worth a thousand, ready to confront a demon or a god, mounted or on foot.<br/><br/> She handled unbroken horses with superb skill; she rode unscathed down perilous descents. Whenever a battle was imminent, Yoshinaka sent her out as his first captain, equipped with strong armor, an oversized sword, and a mighty bow, and she performed more deeds of valor than any of his other warriors.
Emperor Jiajing, 12th ruler of the Ming Dynasty (r. 1521-1567). Personal Name: Zhu Houcong, Zhū Hòucōng. Posthumous Name: Sudi, Sùdì. Temple Name: Shizong, Shìzōng. Reign Name: Ming Jiajing, Ming Jiājìng.<br/><br/> The Jiajing Emperor was the 12th Ming Dynasty Emperor of China who ruled from 1521 to 1567. His era name means 'Admirable Tranquility'. After 45 years on the throne (the second longest reign in the Ming Dynasty), Emperor Jiajing died in 1567 – possibly due to mercury overdose – and was succeeded by his son, the Longqing Emperor. Though his long rule gave the dynasty an era of stability, Jiajing's neglect of his official duties resulted in the decline of the dynasty at the end of the 16th century.
Edwin Lord Weeks (1849 – 1903), American artist and Orientalist, was born at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1849. He was a pupil of Léon Bonnat and of Jean-Léon Gérôme, at Paris. He made many voyages to the East, and was distinguished as a painter of oriental scenes.<br/><br> Weeks' parents were affluent spice and tea merchants from Newton, a suburb of Boston and as such they were able to accept, probably encourage, and certainly finance their son's youthful interest in painting and travelling.<br/><br> As a young man Edwin Lord Weeks visited the Florida Keys to draw and also travelled to Surinam in South America. His earliest known paintings date from 1867 when Edwin Lord Weeks was eighteen years old. In 1895 he wrote and illustrated a book of travels, From the Black Sea through Persia and India.
Oda Nobunaga (June 23, 1534 – June 21, 1582) was the initiator of the unification of Japan under the rule of the shogun in the late 16th century, a rule that ended only with the opening of Japan to the Western world in 1868. He was also a major daimyo during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. His work was continued, completed and finalized by his successors Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. He was the second son of Oda Nobuhide, a deputy shugo (military governor) with land holdings in Owari Province.<br/><br/> Nobunaga lived a life of continuous military conquest, eventually conquering a third of Japanese daimyo before his death in 1582. His successor, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a loyal Oda supporter, would eventually become the first man to conquer all of Japan and the first ruler of all Japan since the Ōnin War.
The Qianlong Emperor (Chinese pinyin: Qianlong Di; Wade–Giles: Chien-lung Ti; Mongolian: Tengeriin Tetgesen Khaan, Manchu: Abkai Wehiyehe, Tibetan: lha skyong rgyal po), born Hongli (25 September 1711 – 7 February 1799) was the fifth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper.<br/><br/> The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1736 to 7 February 1795. On 8 February (the first day of that lunar year), he abdicated in favor of his son, the Jiaqing Emperor - a filial act in order not to reign longer than his grandfather, the illustrious Kangxi Emperor. Despite his retirement, however, he retained ultimate power until his death in 1799. Although his early years saw the continuity of an era of prosperity in China, he held an unrelentingly conservative attitude. As a result, the Qing Dynasty's comparative decline began later in his reign.
Taisho-era gift certificate, from a specific shop in Japan, for refined sake. Depicts a samurai on horseback, against a rayed, rising sun; framed by an array of samurai weapons (including a naginata across the top, and a yari across the bottom).<br/><br/> Japanese woodblock printing as commercial art, very early 20th century
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang ( 8 September 685-3 May 762), also commonly known as Emperor Ming of Tang (Tang Minghuang), personal name Li Longji, known as Wu Longji, was the seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, reigning from 712 to 756. His reign of 43 years was the longest during the Tang Dynasty. In the early half of his reign he was a diligent and astute ruler, ably assisted by capable chancellors like Yao Chong and Song Jing, and was credited with bringing Tang China to a pinnacle of culture and power. Emperor Xuanzong, however, was blamed for over-trusting Li Linfu, Yang Guozhong and An Lushan during his late reign, with Tang's golden age ending in the great Anshi Rebellion of An Lushan.
Prince Dara Shikoh (1615—59) was the eldest son and the heir apparent of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal. His name in Persian means ‘Darius the Magnificent’ and he was favoured as a successor by his father and his sister Jahanara Begum, but was defeated by his younger brother Aurangzeb in a bitter struggle for the Mughal throne.
Ahmed Cemal Pasha (Ottoman Turkish: احمد جمال پاشا, modern Turkish: Ahmet Cemal Paşa; 6 May 1872 – 21 July 1922), commonly known as Djemal Pasha to Turks, and Jamal Basha in the Arab world, was an Ottoman military leader and one-third of the military triumvirate known as the Three Pashas that ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I.<br/><br/> Djemal was also Mayor of Istanbul and is seen as one of the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide and the Assyrian genocide.
Chinese scroll painting from 1280 by Liu Kuan-tao showing a camel caravan carrying carpets in the background with the Mongol emperor Kublai Khan hunting in foreground; note hunting cheetah on back of saddle.
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 (and formerly called Dahomey).
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 (and formerly called Dahomey).
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 (and formerly called Dahomey).
During late 1920s and 1930s Japan, a new poster style developed that reflected the growing influence of the masses in Japanese society. These art posters were strongly influenced by the emerging political forces of Communism and Fascism in Europe and the Soviet Union, adopting a style that incorporated bold slogans with artistic themes ranging from Leftist socialist realism through Stateism and state-directed public welfare, to Militarism and Imperialist expansionism.<br/><br/> Though diverse in their messages, all bear the stamp of the ovebearing proletarian art of the time, reflecting shades of Nazi Germany, Socialist Russia and Fascist Italy in the Far East.
The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was the first great war of the 20th century which grew out of the rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea.<br/><br/> The major theatres of operations were Southern Manchuria, specifically the area around the Liaodong Peninsula and Mukden, the seas around Korea, Japan, and the Yellow Sea. The resulting campaigns, in which the Japanese military attained victory over the Russian forces arrayed against them, were unexpected by world observers. As time transpired, these victories would transform the balance of power in East Asia, resulting in a reassessment of Japan's recent entry onto the world stage.<br/><br/> The embarrassing string of defeats inflamed the Russian people's dissatisfaction with their inefficient and corrupt Tsarist government, and proved a major cause of the Russian Revolution of 1905.
Hui Muslim general and scion of the Ma Clique of Northwest Muslim warlords during the Chinese Republic (1911-1949).<br/><br/> The Ma clique is a collective name for a group of Hui (Muslim Chinese) warlords in northwestern China who ruled the Chinese provinces of Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia from the 1910s until 1949.<br/><br/> There were three families in the Ma clique (‘Ma’ being a common Hui rendering of the common Muslim name, Muhammad), each of them controlling one area respectively. The three most prominent members of the clique were Ma Bufang, Ma Hongkui and Ma Hongbin, collectively known as the 'Xibei San Ma', (The Three Ma of the Northwest).<br/><br/> Some contemporary accounts, such as Edgar Snow's, described the clique as the ‘Four Ma’, adding Ma Bufang's brother Ma Buqing to the list of the top warlords.
Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram Shah Jahan I (1592 –1666), or Shah Jahan, from the Persian meaning ‘king of the world’, was the fifth Mughal ruler in India and a favourite of his legendary grandfather Akbar the Great.<br/><br/> He is best known for commissioning the ‘Phadshahnamah’ as a chronicle of his reign, and for the building of the Taj Mahal in Agra as a tomb for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Under Shah Jahan, the Mughal Empire attained its highest union of strength and magnificence. The opulence of Shah Jahan’s court and his famous Peacock Throne was the wonder of all the European travelers and ambassadors. His political efforts encouraged the emergence of large centers of commerce and crafts—such as Lahore, Delhi, Agra and Ahmedabad—linked by roads and waterways to distant places and ports. He moved the capital from Agra to Delhi. Under Shah Jahan's rule, the Red Fort and Jama Masjid in Delhi were built, the Shalimar Gardens of Lahore, sections of the Lahore Fort and his father's mausoleum.
The Ainu or in historical Japanese texts Ezo, are an indigenous people of Japan (Hokkaido, and formerly northeastern Honshu) and Russia (Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands).<br/><br/> Historically, they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin. Most of those who identify themselves as Ainu still live in this same region, though the exact number of living Ainu is unknown. This is due to confusion over mixed heritages and to ethnic issues in Japan resulting in those with Ainu backgrounds hiding their identities.<br/><br/> In Japan, because of intermarriage over many years with Japanese, the concept of a pure Ainu ethnic group is no longer feasible. Official estimates of the population are of around 25,000, while the unofficial number is upward of 200,000 people.
The Northern Qi Dynasty (pinyin: Běi Qí Cháo) was one of the Northern dynasties of Chinese history and ruled northern China from 550 to 577.<br/><br/> The Chinese state of Northern Qi was the successor state of the Chinese/Xianbei state of Eastern Wei and was founded by Emperor Wenxuan. As Eastern Wei's paramount general Gao Huan was succeeded by his sons Gao Cheng and Gao Yang, who took the throne from Emperor Xiaojing of Eastern Wei in 550 and established Northern Qi as its Emperor Wenxuan.<br/><br/> Although Northern Qi was plagued by violence and/or incompetent emperors (Emperor Wenxuan, Emperor Wucheng, and Gao Wei), corrupt officials, and deteriorating armies for most of its existence, it was the strongest state of the three main Chinese states (along with the Northern Zhou state and the Chen Dynasty) when it was established. Like most imperial dynasties, it gradually declined and was destroyed by the Northern Zhou in 577.
Tonk was a Princely State of India which by treaty in 1817 accepted British suzerainty. Following the Partition of India in 1947, Tonk acceded to the newly independent Union of India. It was located in the region that is now the Tonk district.<br/><br/> The founder of the state was Muhammad Amir Khan (1768-1834), an adventurer and military leader of Afghan descent. In 1817, upon submitting to the British East India Company, he received the territory of Tonk and the title of Nawab. While retaining internal autonomy and remaining outside British India, the state came under the supervision of the Rajputana Agency and consisted of six isolated districts. Three of these were under the Rajputana Agency, namely, Tonk, Aligarh (formerly Rampura) and Nimbahera. The other three, Chhabra, Pirawa and Sironj were in the Central India Agency.<br/><br/> The total area of the princely state was 2553 sq. mi, with a total population in 1901 of 273,201. The town of Tonk, capital of the state, had a population of 38,759 in that year. The town was surrounded by a wall and boasted a mud fort. It had a high school, the Walter hospital for women, under a matron, and a separate hospital for men.<br/><br/> The princely state enjoyed an estimated revenue of £77,000; however, no tribute was payable to the government of British India. Grain, cotton, opium and hides were the chief products and exports of the state. Two of the outlying tracts of the state were served by two different railways.
Mamluk (Arabic: مملوك mamluk (singular), مماليك mamālīk (plural)), 'owned'; also transliterated Mamlouk, Turkish: Memlük, also called Kölemen; , Mamluq, Mamluke, Mameluk, Mameluke, Mamaluke or Marmeluke.<br/><br/> A soldier of slave origin, predominantly Cuman or Kipchak and later Circassian and Georgian. The 'Mamluk phenomenon', as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior class, was of great political importance and was extraordinarily long-lived, lasting from the 9th to the 19th century CE. Over time, Mamluks became a powerful military caste in various Muslim societies. Particularly in Egypt, but also in the Levant, Iraq, and India, Mamluks held political and military power.<br/><br/> In some cases, they attained the rank of sultan, while in others they held regional power as amirs or beys. Most notably, Mamluk factions seized the sultanate for themselves in Egypt and Syria in a period known as the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517). The Mamluk Sultanate famously beat back the Mongols at the Battle of Ayn Jalut and fought the Crusaders effectively driving them out from the Levant by 1291 and officially in 1302 ending the era of the Crusades.<br/><br/> They were predominantly drawn from Turkic tribes, the Cumans and Kipchaks, depending on the period and region in question. While Mamluks were purchased, their status was above ordinary slaves, who were not allowed to carry weapons or perform certain tasks. In places such as Egypt from the Ayyubid dynasty to the time of Muhammad Ali of Egypt, mamluks were considered to be 'true lords', with social status above freeborn Muslims.
Mahmud Ghazan (1271–1304) was the seventh ruler of the Mongol Empire's Ilkhanate division in modern-day Iran from 1295 to 1304. He was the son of Arghun and Quthluq Khatun, continuing a line of rulers who were direct descendants of Genghis Khan. Considered the most prominent of the Ilkhans, he is best known for making a political conversion to Islam in 1295 when he took the throne, marking a turning point for the dominant religion of Mongols in Central Asia. His principal wife was Kokochin (Kokechin), a Mongol princess sent by Kublai Khan, and escorted from the Mongol capital to the Ilkhanate by Marco Polo.
Jodhpur (Rajasthani: जोधपुर), (Urdu: جودهپُور ‎) is the 2nd largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located 335 kilometres (208 mi) west of the state capital, Jaipur and 200 kilometres (124 mi) from the city of Ajmer. It was formerly the seat of a princely state of the same name, the capital of the kingdom known as Marwar.<br/><br/> The city is known as the 'Blue City' due to the vivid blue-painted houses around the Mehrangarh Fort. The old city circles the fort and is bounded by a wall with several gates. However, the city has expanded greatly outside the wall over the past several decades. Jodhpur lies near the geographic centre of Rajasthan state, which makes it a convenient base for travel in the region.
Abu'l Muzaffar Muin ud-din Muhammad Shah Farrukh-siyar Alim Akbar Sani Wala Shan Padshah-i-bahr-u-bar [Shahid-i-Mazlum] (or Farrukhsiyar, 20 August 1685 – 19 April 1719) was the Mughal emperor between 1713 and 1719. Noted as a handsome ruler he was easily swayed by his advisers, he lacked the ability, knowledge and character to rule independently.<br/><br/> His reign witnessed the primacy of the Sayyid Brothers who became the effective powers of the land, behind the façade of Mughal rule. His constant plotting eventually led the Sayyid Brothers to officially depose him.
Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib (Arabic: علي بن أﺑﻲ طالب) was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam.<br/><br/> Sunni Muslims consider Ali the fourth and final of the Rashidun (rightly guided Caliphs), while Shi'a Muslims regard Ali as the first Imam and consider him and his descendants the rightful successors to Muhammad, all of whom are members of the Ahl al-Bayt, the household of Muhammad.<br/><br/> This disagreement divides the Ummah (Muslim community) into the Sunni and Shi'a branches. Ali is greatly revered in Shia Islam. Zulfiqar 'bifurcated' (Arabic: ذو الفقار‎ Dhū l-Fiqār) is the sword of Ali. In Arabic the name is commonly transliterated as Dhu al-Fiqar, Thulfeqar, Dhulfiqar, Zoulfikar etc.<br/><br/> Representations of the Prophet Muhammad are controversial, and generally forbidden in Sunni Islam (especially Hanafiyya, Wahabi, Salafiyya). Shia Islam and some other branches of Sunni Islam (Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi'i) are generally more tolerant of such representational images, but even so the Prophet's features are generally veiled or concealed by flames as a mark of deep respect.