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The <i>Padshahnama</i> is a genre of works written to visually record the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666). The historical volumes were written by multiple authors, including Muhammad Amin Qazvini, Jalaluddin Tabatabai and Abdul Hamid Lahori, the latter having written the most significant works of the genre.<br/><br/> Lahori completed his two-volume portion in 1648, and when he died in 1654, his pupil, Muhammad Waris, completed the last volume of the <i>Pahshahnama</i>, covering the final years of Shah Jahan's reign. These works are the greatest source of information on Shah Jahan's rule, with indepth looks at his court and the administration of the Mughal Empire.
The First Sino-Japanese War (1 August 1894 - 17 April 1895) was waged between Qing Dynasty China and the Japanese Empire, primarily over control of the Korean peninsula. In China, the war is commonly known as the War of Jiawu, while in Japan it is called the Japan-Qing War, and in Korea, the Qing-Japan War.<br/><br/> The war lasted 8 months altogether, and saw more than six months of unbroken victories and success by the Japanese land and naval forces against the numerically superior but militarily inferior Chinese army. The Japanese eventually took over the Chinese port city of Weihaiwei and forced the Qing government to sue for peace in February 1895, though the war would continue until April.<br/><br/> The Sino-Japanese War highlighted the stark failure of the Qing Empire to modernise and advance its armed forces, and resulted in regional dominance in East Asia shifting for the first time from China to Japan. The Korean peninsula, Joseon, was removed from the Chinese sphere of influence and fell under Japanese vassalage instead.
Soong May-ling or Mei-ling, also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek (Song Meiling, 1898-2003), First Lady of the Republic of China (ROC) and wife of President Chiang Kai-shek. She was a politician and painter.<br/><br/> The youngest and the last surviving of the three Soong sisters, she played a prominent role in the politics of the Republic of China and was the sister in law of Song Qingling, wife of President Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Chinese Republic (1912).
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a series of battles fought in the Ryukyu Islands, centered on the island of Okinawa, and included the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War.The 82-day-long battle lasted from 1 April until 22 June 1945.<br/><br/> The Battle of Okinawa was remarkable for the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of kamikaze attacks from the Japanese defenders, and the great number of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle was one of the bloodiest in the Pacific.
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a series of battles fought in the Ryukyu Islands, centered on the island of Okinawa, and included the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War.The 82-day-long battle lasted from 1 April until 22 June 1945.<br/><br/> The Battle of Okinawa was remarkable for the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of kamikaze attacks from the Japanese defenders, and the great number of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle was one of the bloodiest in the Pacific.
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.
The Ottoman Mayor of Jerusalem, Hussein Effendi el Husseini (al-Husseini), meeting with Sergeants Sedgwick and Hurcomb of the 2/19th Battalion, London Regiment, under the white flag of surrender, at 8 am, 9 December, 1917.
The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 1942 – 2 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in Southern Russia, near the eastern boundary of Europe.<br/><br/> Marked by constant close quarters combat and direct assaults on civilians by air raids, it is often regarded as one of the single largest (nearly 2.2 million personnel) and bloodiest (1.7–2 million wounded, killed or captured) battles in the history of warfare. The heavy losses inflicted on the German Wehrmacht make it arguably the most strategically decisive battle of the whole war. It was a turning point in the European theatre of World War II; German forces never regained the initiative in the East and withdrew a vast military force from the West to replace their losses.
On December 7–8, 1941, Japanese forces carried out surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor, attacks on British forces in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong and declared war, bringing the US and the UK into World War II in the Pacific.<br/><br/> After the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender on August 15. The war cost Japan and the rest of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere millions of lives and left much of the nation's industry and infrastructure destroyed.
On December 7–8, 1941, Japanese forces carried out surprise attacks on Pearl Harbor, attacks on British forces in Malaya, Singapore, and Hong Kong and declared war, bringing the US and the UK into World War II in the Pacific.<br/><br/> After the Soviet invasion of Manchuria and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender on August 15. The war cost Japan and the rest of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere millions of lives and left much of the nation's industry and infrastructure destroyed.
The invasion of Iwo Jima began on February 19, 1945, and continued to March 27, 1945. The battle was a major initiative of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. The Marine invasion was charged with the mission of capturing the airfields on the island, which up until that time had harried U.S. bombing missions to Tokyo. Once the bases were secured, they could then be of use in the impending invasion of the Japanese mainland.<br/><br/> The battle was marked by some of the fiercest fighting of the War. The Imperial Japanese Army positions on the island were heavily fortified, with vast bunkers, hidden artillery, and 18 kilometres of tunnels.The battle was the first U.S. attack on the Japanese Home Islands and the Imperial soldiers defended their positions tenaciously. Of the 21,000 Japanese soldiers present at the beginning of the battle, over 19,000 were killed and only 1,083 taken prisoner.
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a series of battles fought in the Ryukyu Islands, centered on the island of Okinawa, and included the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War.The 82-day-long battle lasted from 1 April until 22 June 1945.<br/><br/> The Battle of Okinawa was remarkable for the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of kamikaze attacks from the Japanese defenders, and the great number of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle was one of the bloodiest in the Pacific.
A major battleground, Burma was devastated during World War II. By March 1942, within months after they entered the war, Japanese troops had advanced on Rangoon and the British administration had collapsed. A Burmese Executive Administration headed by Ba Maw was established by the Japanese in August 1942.<br/><br/> Wingate's British Chindits were formed into long-range penetration groups trained to operate deep behind Japanese lines. A similar American unit, Merrill's Marauders, followed the Chindits into the Burmese jungle in 1943. Beginning in late 1944, allied troops launched a series of offensives that led to the end of Japanese rule in July 1945. However, the battles were intense with much of Burma laid waste by the fighting. Overall, the Japanese lost some 150,000 men in Burma.<br/><br/> Although many Burmese fought initially for the Japanese, some Burmese, mostly from the ethnic minorities, also served in the British Burma Army. The Burma National Army and the Arakan National Army fought with the Japanese from 1942 to 1944, but switched allegiance to the Allied side in 1945.
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a series of battles fought in the Ryukyu Islands, centered on the island of Okinawa, and included the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War.The 82-day-long battle lasted from 1 April until 22 June 1945.<br/><br/> The Battle of Okinawa was remarkable for the ferocity of the fighting, the intensity of kamikaze attacks from the Japanese defenders, and the great number of Allied ships and armored vehicles that assaulted the island. The battle was one of the bloodiest in the Pacific.
Photograph from Jürgen Stroop Report to Heinrich Himmler from May 1943, one of the most infamous and distressing pictures of World War II.
In September 1945, 20,000 British troops of the 20th Indian Division occupied Saigon under the command of General Sir Douglas David Gracey. During the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, the Allies had agreed on Britain taking control of Vietnam south of the 16th parallel (then part of French Indochina) from the Japanese occupiers. Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed Vietnamese independence from French rule and major pro-independence and anti-French demonstrations were held in Saigon. Ho Chi Minh was the leader of the communist Viet Minh.<br/><br/> The French, anxious to retain their colony, persuaded Gracey's Commander in Chief, Lord Mountbatten, to authorise Gracey to declare martial law. Fearing a communist takeover of Vietnam, Gracey decided to rearm French citizens who had remained in Saigon. He allowed them to seize control of public buildings from the Viet Minh. In October 1945, as fighting spread throughout the city, Gracey issued guns to the Japanese troops who had surrendered. He used them to help maintain colonial rule.<br/><br/> According to some socialist and communist commentaries, this controversial decision furthered Ho Ch Minh's cause of liberating Vietnam from foreigners' rule and precipitated the First Indochina War. French General Leclerc arrived in Saigon in October 1945 to assume authority but it was not until well into the first half of 1946 that enough French troops had arrived to allow General Gracey to return with his troops to India where the 20th Indian Division was disbanded.
The Korean War (25 June 1950 - armistice signed 27 July 1953) was a military conflict between the Republic of Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China (PRC), with military material aid from the Soviet Union. The war was a result of the physical division of Korea by an agreement of the victorious Allies at the conclusion of the Pacific War at the end of World War II.<br/><br/>The Korean peninsula was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the end of World War II. Following the surrender of Japan in 1945, American administrators divided the peninsula along the 38th Parallel, with United States troops occupying the southern part and Soviet troops occupying the northern part. The failure to hold free elections throughout the Korean Peninsula in 1948 deepened the division between the two sides, and the North established a Communist government. The situation escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950. It was the first significant armed conflict of the Cold War.<br/><br/>The United Nations, particularly the United States, came to the aid of South Korea in repelling the invasion. A rapid UN counter-offensive drove the North Koreans past the 38th Parallel and almost to the Yalu River, and the People's Republic of China (PRC) entered the war on the side of the North. The Chinese launched a counter-offensive that pushed the United Nations forces back across the 38th Parallel.<br/><br/>The Soviet Union materially aided the North Korean and Chinese armies. In 1953, the war ceased with an armistice that restored the border between the Koreas near the 38th Parallel and created the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) wide buffer zone between the two Koreas. Minor outbreaks of fighting continue to the present day.
The surrender of the Empire of Japan on September 2, 1945, brought the hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent.<br/><br/> On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. Late in the evening of August 8, 1945, in accordance with the Yalta agreements, but in violation of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, and soon after midnight on August 9, 1945, the Soviet Union invaded the Imperial Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo.<br/><br/> Later that same day, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb, this time on the city of Nagasaki. The combined shock of these events caused Emperor Hirohito to intervene and order the Supreme Council for the Direction of the War to accept the terms the Allies had set down in the Potsdam Declaration for ending the war.
The Japanese Invasion of French Indochina, also known as the Vietnam Expedition, was a move by the Empire of Japan in September 1940, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, to prevent China from importing arms and fuel through French Indochina, via the Sino-Vietnamese Railway from the port of Haiphong through Hanoi to Kunming in Yunnan.<br/><br/> Japan occupied northern Indochina, which tightened the blockade of China, and made continuation of the drawn out Battle of South Guangxi unnecessary. In March 1945, Japan launched the Second French Indochina Campaign and ousted the Vichy French and formally installed Emperor Bảo Đại in the short-lived Empire of Vietnam. In August 1945, Japanese forces surrendered in Indochina at the end of World War II.
The Siberian Intervention (シベリア出兵 - Shiberia Shuppei), or the Siberian Expedition of 1918–1922 was the dispatch of troops of the Entente powers to the Russian Maritime Provinces as part of a larger effort by the western powers and Japan to support White Russian forces against the Bolshevik Red Army in the final year of World War I and during the Russian Civil War.<br/><br/> The Imperial Japanese Army continued to occupy Siberia even after other Allied forces had withdrawn in 1920.
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.<br/><br/> 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 Siege of Tsingtao was the attack on the German-controlled port of Tsingtao (now Qingdao) in China during World War I by Imperial Japan and the United Kingdom. It took place between 31 October and 7 November 1914 and was fought by Imperial Japan and the United Kingdom against Germany.<br/><br/> It was the first encounter between Japanese and German forces, and also the first Anglo-Japanese operation during the war.
Although addressed to 'American Soldiers' (who were engaged in the bulk of the fighting in the Pacific Theatre during World War II), this leaflet was produced by the U.S. Psychological Warfare Branch of the Office of War Information in Brisbane, Australia.
A close-up view of the plaque aboard the battleship USS MISSOURI (BB-63) that commemorates the end of World War II. The official surrender by Japan took place aboard the Missouri on Sep. 2, 1945, with Shigemitsu Mamoru, representative of the Japanese emperor, signing surrender documents in the presence of Admiral Chester Nimitz, representing the United States Navy, and General Douglas MacArthur, acting as the supreme commander of Allied forces for the ceremony.
On August 28, the occupation of Japan by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers began. The surrender ceremony was held on September 2 aboard the U.S. battleship Missouri, at which officials from the Japanese government signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, ending World War II.
General Douglas MacArthur signs as Supreme Allied Commander during formal surrender ceremonies on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. Behind General MacArthur are Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright and Lieutenant General A. E. Percival.<br/><br/> On August 28, the occupation of Japan by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers began. The surrender ceremony was held on September 2 aboard the U.S. battleship Missouri, at which officials from the Japanese government signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, ending World War II.
General Tomoyuki Yamashita was a general of the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. He was most famous for conquering the British colonies of Malaya and Singapore, earning the nickname 'The Tiger of Malaya'. He served in Manchuria and North China as well as the Philippines.<br/><br/> In 1945 he was convicted of war crimes, and on 23 February 1946, at Los Baños, Laguna Prison Camp, 30 miles (48 km) south of Manila, Yamashita was hanged.
In September 1945, 20,000 British troops of the 20th Indian Division occupied Saigon under the command of General Sir Douglas David Gracey. During the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, the Allies had agreed on Britain taking control of Vietnam south of the 16th parallel (then part of French Indochina) from the Japanese occupiers. Meanwhile, Ho Chi Minh proclaimed Vietnamese independence from French rule and major pro-independence and anti-French demonstrations were held in Saigon. Ho Chi Minh was the leader of the communist Viet Minh.<br/><br/> The French, anxious to retain their colony, persuaded Gracey's Commander in Chief, Lord Mountbatten, to authorise Gracey to declare martial law. Fearing a communist takeover of Vietnam, Gracey decided to rearm French citizens who had remained in Saigon. He allowed them to seize control of public buildings from the Viet Minh. In October 1945, as fighting spread throughout the city, Gracey issued guns to the Japanese troops who had surrendered. He used them to help maintain colonial rule.<br/><br/> According to some socialist and communist commentaries, this controversial decision furthered Ho Ch Minh's cause of liberating Vietnam from foreigners' rule and precipitated the First Indochina War. French General Leclerc arrived in Saigon in October 1945 to assume authority but it was not until well into the first half of 1946 that enough French troops had arrived to allow General Gracey to return with his troops to India where the 20th Indian Division was disbanded.
The important Battle of Dien Bien Phu was fought between the Việt Minh (led by General Vo Nguyen Giap), and the French Union (led by General Henri Navarre, successor to General Raoul Salan). The siege of the French garrison lasted fifty-seven days, from 5:30PM on March 13 to 5:30PM on May 7, 1954.<br/><br/> The southern outpost or fire base of the camp, Isabelle, did not follow the cease-fire order and fought until the next day at 01:00AM; a few hours before the long-scheduled Geneva Meeting's Indochina conference involving the United States, the United Kingdom, the French Union and the Soviet Union.<br/><br/> The battle was significant beyond the valleys of Dien Bien Phu. Giap's victory ended major French involvement in Indochina and led to the accords which partitioned Vietnam into North and South. Eventually, these conditions inspired the United States to increase their involvement in Vietnam leading to the Second Indochina War.<br/><br/> The battle of Điện Biên Phủ is described by historians as the first time that a non-European colonial independence movement had evolved through all the stages from guerrilla bands to a conventionally organized and equipped army able to defeat a modern Western occupier in pitched battle.