Life of Ramanandi Centres in Varanasi

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Bevilacqua
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
First Century ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Local Traditions ◽  
The City

The Ramanandi samprad?y is a Vaisnava religious order supposedly formed by Ramanand in Varanasi in the fifteenth century. The sampraday, nevertheless, primarily developed and spread in the north-west of India, and Ramanandi centres (re)appeared in Varanasi around the nineteenth century. Although renowned for its Saiva temples and ascetics, Varanasi, indeed, also manifests a Vaisnava nature. Referring to an inquiry on the ascetic groups present in the city led by anthropologists Sinha and Saraswati in the 1960s, this article focuses its attention on Ramanandis centres in the twenty-first century. Following the list of places provided by the two scholars, using local traditions and ethnographic data, the article provides glimpses into the life of ‘subaltern’ Ramanandi temples and asrams, showing how today the survival of local religious centres depends on the support of lay people, who may be attracted by devotion to specific places, but mostly by the charisma and the activities of their leaders and the religious community they are able to create.

“Eskimo” Immigrants and Colonial Soldiers: Icelandic Immigrants and the North-West Resistance, 1885

2021 ◽  
Vol 102 (s1) ◽  
pp. s309-s338
Author(s):  
Laurie K. Bertram
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Western Canada ◽  
The West ◽  
New Developments ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
The City ◽  
Urban Working

How did marginalized and racialized ethnic immigrants transform themselves into active, armed colonial agents in nineteenth-century Western Canada? Approximately twenty Icelanders enlisted to fight Louis Riel’s forces during the North-West Resistance in 1885, just ten years following the arrival of Icelandic immigrants in present-day Manitoba. Forty more reportedly enlisted in an Icelandic-Canadian battalion to enforce the government’s victory in the fall. This public, armed stance of a group of Icelanders against Indigenous forces in 1885 is somewhat unexpected, since most Icelanders were relatively recent arrivals in the West and, in Winnipeg, members of the largely unskilled urban working class. Moreover, they were widely rumoured among Winnipeggers to be from a “blubber-eating race” and of “Eskimo” extraction; community accounts testify to the discrimination numerous early Icelanders faced in the city. These factors initially make Icelanders unexpected colonialists, particularly since nineteenth-century ethnic immigration and colonial suppression so often appear as separate processes in Canadian historiography. Indeed, this scholarship is characterized by an enduring belief that Western Canadian colonialism was a distinctly Anglo sin. Ethnic immigrants often appear in scholarly and popular histories as sharing a history of marginalization with Indigenous people that prevented migrants from taking part in colonial displacement. Proceeding from the neglected history of Icelandic enlistment in 1885 and new developments in Icelandic historiography, this article argues that rather than negating ethnic participation in Indigenous suppression, ethnic marginality and the class tensions it created could actually fuel participation in colonial campaigns, which promised immigrants upward mobility, access to state support, and land.

scholarly journals James Henry Greathead and the London Underground

Literator ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Wright
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Cultural Studies ◽  
South African ◽  
Early History ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
London Underground ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Accounts ◽  
The City

This article investigates the origins and early history of the device known as the ‘Greathead Shield’, an important innovation in Victorian engineering crucial to constructing the London Underground. The aim is to explore the basis on which, many years later, a South African engineer, James Henry Greathead, was accorded prominent public acknowledgment, in the form of a statue, for ‘inventing’ the Shield. From a cultural studies perspective, how is the meaning of ‘invention’ to be understood, given that several other brilliant engineers were involved? The question is adjudicated using the notion of cultural ‘extelligence’, seen in relation to several contemporary and historical accounts, including Greathead’s own record of his achievements in the proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers and presented in The City and South London Railway (1896), edited by James Forrest. The paper was first delivered at the conference on ‘Novelty and Innovation in the Nineteenth Century’ held at the North-West University in May 2016.

scholarly journals The Fortifications of Chalcis (Evripos/Negreponte/Egriboz), Greece

X ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stavros Mamaloukos
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Fourteenth Century ◽  
Urban Centre ◽  
Greek City ◽  
Late Medieval ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Byzantine Period ◽  
The City ◽  
Steep Hill

The aim of this paper is the study of the now destroyed fortifications of the Greek city of Chalcis (Evripos / Negreponte / Egriboz). Having been an important urban centre during the Early and Middle Byzantine Period, Chalcis was occupied by the Latins after the capture of Constantinople in 1204 and became a significant trade centre of Venice. By the end of the fourteenth century, the city became a Venetian holding. In 1470 the Ottomans captured the city after a brief siege. In 1688 the city was unsuccessfully besieged by the Venetians. And in 1833 it was annexed by the Greek State. In the end of the nineteenth century the fortifications of Chalcis were almost completely demolished during an attempt to reorganize and modernize the city. The fortified medieval city of Chalcis, the Kastro, had the shape of a long, irregular pentagon with maximum dimensions 400 x 700 m. It was surrounded on three sides, namely the north, west and south, by sea. Along its two other sides, the northeast and the southeast, there was a dry moat. Its fortifications had three gates, one on Euripus bridge and two on the land wall, through which the city was connected with Boeotia and Euboea, respectively. From the study of the fortifications, based on their depictions in old engravings and photographs as well as on some poor and still visible remnants, it appears that until their demolition the city walls retained to a large extent their late medieval form, although they had undergone significant interventions by the Ottomans, mainly on the eve, and just after the siege of 1688. The only surviving part of the city’s defences, the fort of Karababa, built on the steep hill of the Boeotian coast, can be dated to this period.

Kampungs and Conflict in Colonial Semarang

1988 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 266-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
James L. Cobban
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
City Council ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
North Coast ◽  
The North ◽  
Central Java ◽  
The Government ◽  
The City

By the beginning of the twentieth century, Semarang was a major port city and administrative centre on Java. Attainment of this position was due partly to the expansion of its hinterland during the nineteenth century. This expansion was closely related to developments in the means of transportation and the consequent ability of plantation owners to bring the products of their plantations to the port for shipment to foreign markets. By the end of the century virtually the whole economic life of central Java focused upon Semarang. The city also exercised administrative functions in the Dutch colonial administration and generally had been responsible for Dutch interests in the middle and eastern parts of the island. The importance of Semarang as an administrative centre increased after 1906. In that year the government incorporated the city as an urban municipality (stadsgemeente). In 1914 it had consular representation from the United States, Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Italy, Norway, Germany, and Thailand. Subsequently, in 1926 it became the capital of the Province of Central Java under the terms of an administrative reform fostered by the colonial government at Batavia. Status as an urban municipality meant that local officials sitting on a city council would govern the domestic affairs of the city. The members of the city council at first were appointed from Batavia, subsequently some of them were elected by residents of the city. By the beginning of the twentieth century Semarang had enhanced its position as a major port on the north coast of the island of Java. It was one of the foremost cities of the Dutch East Indies, along with Batavia and Surabaya, a leading port and a centre of administration and trade. This article outlines the growth of the port of Semarang during the nineteenth century and discusses some of the conflict related to this growth over living conditions in parts of the city during the twentieth century, a conflict which smouldered for several decades among the government, members of the city council, and the non-European residents of the city, one which remained unresolved at the end of the colonial era.

scholarly journals Historical Earthquake Scenarios for the Middle Strand of the North Anatolian Fault Deduced from Archeo-Damage Inventory and Building Deformation Modeling

2020 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 583-598
Author(s):  
Yacine Benjelloun ◽  
Julia de Sigoyer ◽  
Hélène Dessales ◽  
Laurent Baillet ◽  
Philippe Guéguen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Historical Earthquakes ◽  
Historical Seismicity ◽  
North Anatolian Fault ◽  
First Century ◽  
Building Vulnerability ◽  
Earthquake Scenarios ◽  
The North ◽  
Seismicity Catalog ◽  
Quality Ranking ◽  
The City

Abstract The city of İznik (ancient Nicaea), located on the middle strand of the North Anatolian fault zone (MNAF), presents outstanding archeological monuments preserved from the Roman and Ottoman periods (first to fifteenth centuries A.D.), bearing deformations that can be linked to past seismic shaking. To constrain the date and intensity of these historical earthquakes, a systematic survey of earthquake archeological effects (EAEs) is carried out on the city’s damaged buildings. Each of the 235 EAEs found is given a quality ranking, and the corresponding damage is classified according to the European Macroseismic Scale 1998 (EMS-98). We show that the walls oriented north–south were preferentially damaged, and that most deformations are perpendicular to the walls’ axes. The date of postseismic repairs is constrained with available archeological data and new C14 dating of mortar charcoals. Three damage episodes are evidenced: (1) between the sixth and late eighth centuries, (2) between the nineth and late eleventh centuries A.D., and (3) after the late fourteenth century A.D. The repartition of damage as a function of building vulnerability points toward a global intensity VIII on the EMS-98. The 3D modeling of a deformed Roman obelisk shows that only earthquakes rupturing the MNAF can account for this deformation. Their magnitude can be bracketed between Mw 6 and 7. Our archeoseismological study complements the historical seismicity catalog and confirms paleoseismological data, suggesting several destructive earthquakes along the MNAF, since the first century A.D. We suggest the fault might still have accumulated enough stress to generate an Mw 7+ rupture.

The ziggurrat and temples of Nimrud

Iraq ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 64 ◽  
pp. 135-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. Reade
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
The South ◽  
North West ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Directorate General ◽  
The 1950S

The buildings on the citadel of Nimrud, ancient Kalah or Kalḫu, constitute a most impressive monument (Fig. 1; Postgate and Reade 1980), but the sporadic way in which they have been excavated leaves many questions unanswered. One puzzling area lies north and north-east of the great North-West Palace. It includes the ziggurrat, and the shrines of Ninurta, of Ištar Šarrat Nipḫi (formerly read Bēlat Māti) and of the Kidmuri (or Ištar Bēlat Kidmuri). Their interrelationships have yet to be established, and texts refer to further gods resident at Kalah. Excavations in this quarter were conducted by Layard, Rassam, Rawlinson, Loftus and Smith in the nineteenth century, and by Mallowan in the 1950s, and were resumed by staff of the Iraq Directorate-General of Antiquities in the early 1970s. This paper summarizes some of what we know or may deduce about the area, and defines some of the remaining problems; it does not include, except in passing, the relatively well-known Nabû Temple to the south. I have endeavoured to refer to all items except sherds found during British excavations in the area, but have not attempted the detailed publication which many of the objects, groups of objects, and pottery records may merit.A possible arrangement of the buildings in this area of Nimrud about 800 BC is given in Fig. 2, but it is a reconstruction from inadequate evidence. The relative dates, dimensions, locations and orientations of many excavated structures are arguable, and the plans published by different excavators cannot be fully reconciled. Major uncertainties concern the ziggurrat, the citadel-wall, the Kidmuri shrine and the area between the North-West Palace and the Ninurta shrine. There are many minor uncertainties. My reconstruction includes speculative features, while omitting some excavated walls which I regard as secondary.

Identifying the Country of Meilugudun and the Significant Value of Zhou Qufei’s Lingwai daida

2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-43
Author(s):  
Victoria Almonte
Keyword(s):  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Song Dynasty ◽  
Social Differences ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
Southern Song ◽  
The North ◽  
Maritime Silk Road ◽  
Chinese Texts ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

Abstract During the last century, considerable interest arose regarding Chinese knowledge of western territories, with a long list of works being published on the topic. Joseph Needham’s Science and Civilisation in China (1959) states that Arab thinking had clearly influenced the Chinese conception of geography over the centuries. Zhang Xinglang analyses the relationship between the Chinese empire and countries overseas, focusing on Islamic countries and particularly those in the north of Africa. Feng Chengjun’s western territories toponyms and Gudai nanhai diming huishi have provided two powerful and even fundamental tools for the research presented here. The first gathers together a large collection of toponyms from various literary works; these are written in western language with their relative transcription or translation in Chinese. The second, the Gudai nanhai diming huishi, is divided in two volumes analysing many Chinese toponyms and their use in several geographical works. Li Qingxin’s Haishang Sichou zhilu, focuses on the development of the Maritime Silk Road and its economic-political consequences for China’s empire. Gabriele Foccardi’s research focuses instead on the motives for Chinese travellers and their expeditions, highlighting the historical and social differences between the different dynasties. Friedrich Hirth and William Rockhill provide a crucial literary resource with their translation of Zhao Rukuo’s work, Zhufanzhi (1966), as does J.V.G. Mills with his annotated translation of Ma Huan’s Yingya shenglan, a journey work of the fifteenth century. Yang Wuquan’s research into Zhou Qufei’s work, published in 1999, identifies several toponyms used by Zhou and compares several foreign geographical works. Zhou Qufei and Zhao Rukuo were both imperial officials during the Southern Song dynasty. They spent many years in the border territories of China: Zhou Qufei in Qinzhou, Guangxi province, and Zhao Rukuo in Quanzhou, Fujian province. Their works mention several toponyms never used before in Chinese texts: ‘Meilugudun’, or ‘Meilugu’ (as written by Zhao Rukuo), is one of these. The identification of this toponym has not been determined until now. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to determine which kingdom was identified with the ‘Meilugudun’ toponym during the Song Dynasty. Two different questions are here discussed and resolved. First, can the land of Meilugudun be identified with the city of Merv in Turkmenistan? Second, do Zhou’s ‘Meilugudun’ and Zhao’s ‘Meilugu’ both stand for the same place? This paper can be divided into four sections. The first section focuses on Zhou Qufei, the second on Zhao Rukuo. The third analyses and compares previous scholars’ studies. The fourth proposes the new identification of the Meilugudun kingdom.

Amarna: Urban Manufacture of Luxury Items

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna K. Hodgkinson
Keyword(s):  
Far East ◽  
Ancient Egypt ◽  
Capital City ◽  
North West ◽  
Far North ◽  
The Core ◽  
The North ◽  
The Far East ◽  
Royal Road ◽  
The City

Little is necessary in terms of an introduction, since Amarna is one of the best-known settlements of ancient Egypt. The city was founded by pharaoh Amenhotep IV, known from his fifth regal year as Akhenaten, on his move away from Thebes and Memphis to found a new religious and administrative capital city. Akhenaten reigned approximately between 1348 and 1331 BC, and his principal wife was Nefertiti. Akhenaten’s direct successor appears to have been a figure named Smenkhare (or Ankhkheperure) who was married to Akhenaten’s daughter Meritaten. Like Nefertiti, Smenkhare/Ankhkheperure held the throne name Nefernefruaten. For this reason it is uncertain whether this individual was Nefertiti, who may have reigned for some years after the death of Akhenaten, possibly even with a brief co-regency, or whether this was a son or younger brother of the latter. The rule of Smenkhare/Ankhkheperure was short, and he or she was eventually succeeded by Tutankhamun. The core city of Amarna was erected on a relatively flat desert plain surrounded by cliffs on the east bank of the Nile, in Middle Egypt, approximately 60km south of the modern city of Minia, surrounded by the villages et- Till to the north and el-Hagg Qandil to the south. The site was defined by at least sixteen boundary stelae, three of which actually stand on the western bank, past the edge of the modern cultivation. In total, the city measures 12.5km north–south on the east bank between stelae X and J, and c.8.2km west–east between the projected line between stelae X and J and stela S to the far east, which also indicates approximately the longitude of the royal tomb. The distance between stelae J and F, to the far south-west, measures c.20km, and between stelae X and A, to the far north-west 19.2km. The core city, which is the part of the settlement examined in this section, was erected along the Nile, on the east bank, and it is defined by the ‘Royal Road’, a major thoroughfare running through the entire core city north–south.

Subsidence and Flooding in Bangkok

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noppadol Phienwej ◽  
Prinya Nutalaya
Keyword(s):  
Land Subsidence ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Road Construction ◽  
Central Plains ◽  
Central Plain ◽  
The North ◽  
Chao Phraya River ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The City

Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, is situated on flat, low land in the southern part of the Central Plain, one of the main physical units of the country. Through the heart of the city, the Chao Phraya flows from the north and discharges into the Gulf of Thailand, 25 km south of the city centre. The city was founded in 1782, and in its early years numerous klongs (canals) were dug for transportation and defence uses. These canals became corridors of early development, and banks were lined with houses, shop-houses, and temples, etc. With the beauty of its waterway landscape, Bangkok was once dubbed the Venice of the East. Unfortunately, such a resemblance no longer exists as most of the canals have been backfilled to make room for road construction in recent urbanization. The Bangkok metropolis, which at present has a population in excess of 10 million, has expanded rapidly on both banks of the river since 1950. It has encroached into surrounding provinces, covering an area of approximately 60 × 70 km. Owing to its flat topography and close proximity to the sea, flooding threatens the city annually. Modern urbanization has resulted in the drastic destruction or blockage of natural drainage paths, increasing the flood risk to the city. Severe land subsidence from excessive groundwater extraction since the 1960s has intensified the flood risk, as well as creating numerous foundation problems. At present the land surface in some areas is already below mean sea level. The city now has to rely on a flood protection system to prevent inundation. However, its effectiveness is only temporary because land subsidence has not yet ceased. The Central Plain is formed by the Chao Phraya River, the largest in the country. The river basin stretches from the Northern Highland to the Central Plain and covers about one-third of the country (514 000 km2). The Central Plain can be divided into the Upper and Lower Central Plains. The former extends from Tak to Nakhon Sawan Provinces. Four main rivers, namely, the Ping, the Wang, the Yom, and the Nan, which originate in the Northern Highland, traverse the plain and join together at Nakhon Sawan, 240 km north of Bangkok, to form the Chao Phraya River.

Back to Work

2018 ◽  
pp. 213-224
Author(s):  
Joseph R. Fitzgerald
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Young People ◽  
First Century ◽  
Wall Street ◽  
Student Activists ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Not For Profit ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The City

The final chapter briefly touches on Richardson’s second divorce but focuses on her difficulties finding and keeping employment. After holding a series of jobs in various corporate and not-for-profit agencies, Richardson eventually earned a permanent civil service position with the City of New York, where she worked until the twenty-first century. In one way or another, all her jobs involved some kind of social justice. Over the last five decades, Richardson has paid close attention to social change movements, including Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter, and this chapter discusses her thoughts about them, particularly her view that young people have the capability and vision to lead the nation to greater freedom, just as young people did in the 1960s. She advises them to replicate the group-centered and member-driven model student activists employed in the early 1960s and to avoid becoming ideological.

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