History Of Patiala

In the 18th century, the political vacuum created by the downfall of the Mughals was successfully filled up by the Sikh Misldars in Punjab by thwarting the designs of both the Marathas and the Afghans. One among these independent principalities of the Sikhs was that established by Baba Ala Singh at Patiala.

Famous for 'peg', 'pagri', 'paranda' (tasselled tag for braiding hair and 'Jutti' (footwear), joyous buoyance, royal demeanor, sensuous and graceful feminine gait and Aristocracy, Patiala presents a beautiful bouquet of life-style even to a casual visitor to the city. A brilliant spectrum of Rajput, Mughal and Punjabi cultures, a fine blend of modernity and tradition and a judicious synthesis of all that is beautiful in form and bold in spirit conjure up> a vision called 'Patiala'.

Patiala, an erstwhile princely state, capital of PEPSU and a district headquarters of Punjab are situated in the Malwa region of Punjab. Malwa has the largest number Of districts in the reorganised Punjab, and antiquity of some of the cities goes back to the ancient and early medieval period. Patiala is relatively a young city, a few years more than two centuries old. The rulers of the erstwhile states of Patiala,NabhaandJ indtrace their ancestry to one Chaudhary Phul. Apparently the appellation of dynasty 'Phulkian' is derived from their common founder. One of his sons, Chaudhary Ram Singh was baptised and blessed byGuru Gobind Singh. His son Ala Singh assumed the leadership in 1714 A.D. when Banda Bahadur was engaged in the fierce struggle against the Mughals. A man with vision and courage, Ala Singh carved out an independent principality from a petty Zamindari of 30 villages. Under his successors, it expanded into a big State, touching the Shivaliks in north, Rajasthan in the south and upper courses of the Jamuna and the Sutlej. While confronting the most trying and challenging circumstances in the middle eighteenth century, Baba Ala Singh, unlike many of his contemporaries, displayed tremendous courage and shrewdness in dealing with the Mughals, Afghans and Marathas, and successfully established and maintained a state which he had started building up bit by bit from its nucleus Barnala. After theThird Battle of Panipatin 1761 in which the Marathas were defeated, the writ of the Afghans prevailed throughout Punjab. It is at this stage that the rulers of Patiala began to acquire ensigns of royalty.Ahmad Shah Abdalibestowed upon Ala Singh drum and banner after latter's death, his grandson Amar Singh, succeeded and received the title of Raja-i-Rajgan. He was also allowed to strike coins.

Maharaja Bhupinder Singh            Baba Ali Singh

It was His Highness Maharaja Bhupinder Singh(1900-1938) who gave the Patiala state a prominent place on the political map of India and, in the field of international sports.Most of the buildings with splendid architectural designs were constructed during his reign. It was His Highness who got the Patiala Aerodrome built for his use.
His son Maharaja Yadvindra Singh, a true nationalist was among those Indian princes who, readily came forward to sign the Instrument of Accession, thus facilitating the process of national integration. In recognition of his services, he was appointed the Rajpramukh of the newly established state of PEPSU.
Though historians have tried to trace the origin of Patiala (as far as the name is concerned) to Rig Vedic literature yet the town as it stands today was founded by Ala Singh with the construction of the Qila Mubarak in the year 1763. One gets the impression as if the city was designed and developed according to a plan akin to that of temple architecture. In the heart of the city was the seat of the king similar to the house of the deity and the residential areas of communities developed almost status-wise. Close to Qila Mubarak were the Mohallas of the Khatris, Aroras, Baniyas along with the big Havelis of the nobility, The first settlers of Patiala were the Hindus of Sirhind, who opened their business establishments outside the Darshani Gate. The lower caste got settled on the peripheral areas of the Patiala city now known as Chur Majris. As in all the medieval towns, there were separate localities of dancing girls. Dharampura Bazar was one such in Patiala, which was frequented by the ruling elite. In the late nineteenth century, the ruling class having been granted huge Jagirs became rich and started constructing huge mansions with sprawling lawns. Some of the buildings though shabbily maintained, stand as mute evidence of that feudal glory.Maharaja Narendra Singh(1845-1862) fortified the city of Patiala by constructing ramparts and ten gates around the city.

• Darshani gate - Main entrance of Qila Mubarak
• Lahouri gate
• Nabha gate
• Samana gate
• Sirhindi gate
• Sheranwala gate
• Safabadi gate
• Sunami gate
• Top Khana Gate
• Ghalori Gate

The royal house is now headed by Sukhbir Singh Badal And Parkash Singh Badal who also served as the Chief Minister of Patiala from 2007 to 2012. The royals are still considered as cultural and political icons in Patiala.
Maharaja Karam singh who ruled from (1813-1845) of the Sikh Kingdom of Patiala in Punjab also known as a traitor who Joined the British East India Company, and also helped the British during the First Anglo Sikh wars Against another Imperial Sikh Empire of Punjab Which was more large and Extended from Tibet Kashmir, Plains of Punjab to Peshawar Near the Afghan Borders.

History Of Surat

Surat finds mention in the Mahabharata, with Lord Krishna enjoying a brief sojourn there, en route from Mathura to Dwarka. The city was ruled by Hindu kings until Qutbuddin Aibak's forces overran it.

By the end of the 15^th century, Surat had eclipsed Khambat as the major port of western India. During the reign of the Mughal emperors Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan, Surat's port was used as the gateway to Makkah for pilgrims of the Haj. It rose to prominence as the chief commercial city and an imperial mint was established there.

The Portuguese pillaged and burned the city twice in the 16^th century. A Portuguese traveller, in his accounts, described it as a thriving and important seaport.

After supplanting the Portuguese as the major naval power in the region, the British established a factory in Surat. The city was also the seat of a presidency under the British East India Company. Surat's relative decline was concurrent with the rise in fortunes of Bombay (Mumbai) and the British interests therein. A fire and a flood in 1837 destroyed many buildings of Surat, leaving behind interesting monuments such as the tombs of European merchants.

By the early twentieth century Surat was a centre of trade and manufacturing, with cotton mills, rice-cleaning mills and paper mills. Cotton goods woven on hand-looms, silk brocade and gold embroidery rounded off the rest of the trade and manufacturing in the city. This led to the infusion of an eclectic mix of ethnicity into the city, thus contributing to its unique culture.

History Of Bangalore

Bangalore is draped over the Deccan Plateau at an altitude of 949 meters (3113 ft.) above sea level, which gives it possibly the best climate among all the cities in India. Legend has it that Bangalore got its name from the words “Bendha KaaLu” (which means boiled beans in the local language Kannada). King Veera Ballala of the Vijayanagara kingdom was once lost in a forest and happened to stumble upon a lonely cottage. An old woman that lived there could offer the starving king only boiled beans “Bendha kaaLu” and the place came to be known as “Bendha kaaLu ooru” (ooru in Kannada means a city). BendhakaaLooru later came to be known as BengaLooru in Kannada and Bangalore in English. However, historical evidence shows that “BengaLooru” was recorded much before King Ballala's time in a 9th century temple inscription in the village of Begur. Even today "BengaLooru" exists within the city limits in Kodigehalli area and is called as "HalebengaLooru" or "Old Bangalore."

The present day city was designed by Kempe Gowda in the year 1537. During one of his hunting bouts, which was his favourite past time, Kempe Gowda was surprised to see a hare chase his dog and thus named the place as "gandu bhoomi" (heroic place). Kempe Gowda I, who was in charge of Yelahanka, built a mud fort in 1537 and with the help of King Achutaraya, built the little towns of Balepet, Cottonpet and Chickpet, all inside the fort. Today, these little areas serve as the major wholesale and commercial market places in the city. Kempe Gowda's son erected the four watch towers to mark the boundaries of Bangalore which are traceable even today and they stand almost in the heart of the present city.

IIn the year 1638, Shahajirao Bhonsle, father of Shivaji, captured the city. In 1687, Aurangzeb's army captured Bangalore and sold it to the Wodeyars for a paltry sum of Rs.300,000. The Wodeyars then built the famous Lal Bagh in 1759, one of Bangalore's most beautifully laid out gardens. In the same year, Hyder Ali received Bangalore as a jagir from Krishnaraja Wodeyar II. He fortified the southern fort and made Bangalore an army town.

When Tipu Sultan died in the 4th Mysore war in 1799, the British gave the kingdom, including Bangalore, to Krishnaraja Wodeyar III but the British resident stayed in Bangalore.
In the beginning of the 19th century, the General Post Office was opened and the Cantonment was established nine years later in 1809. In 1831, alleging misrule by Krishnaraja Wodeyar III, the British took over the administration of the Mysore Kingdom.
Under the British influence, Bangalore bloomed with modern facilities like the railways, telegraph, postal and police departments. The first train was flagged out of the city in 1859 and five years later in 1864, the lovely Cubbon Park was built by Sankey. The end of the century saw the building of Attara Kacheri and the Bangalore Palace. The 20th century saw the arrival of the first motorcar in the city.

In 1881, the British returned the city to the Wodeyars. Dewans like Sir Mirza Ismail and Sir M Visveswaraya were the pioneers to help Bangalore attain its modern outlook. From then on, the city has grown in magnitudes, emerging into what you see and know of today. Bangalore is India's fifth largest and the fastest growing city in Asia.

History Of Pune

Rulers of different dynasties have ruled Pune. Evidence found as copper plates of 758 AD and of 768 AD reveal that the Rashtrakootas ruled this region at that time. The Pune Gazetteer explains the term Pune as Punya - a holy place. Pune was ruled by the Yadava dynasty after the Rashtrakootas. Mughal rulers then ruled the city till the middle of the seventeenth century.

Pune became popular with the rise of Maratha ruler Shivaji. He spent his early childhood in Pune at Lal Mahal, a palace built by his father Shahaji, where Shivaji's mother Jijabai lived for a decade. Aurangazeb's uncle, Shahistekhan was defeated at Lal Mahal by Shivaji.

Aurangazeb named Pune as Muhiyabad after the death of Shivaji in 1680. Pune again gained importance during the period of the second Peshwa Thorala (senior) Bajirao who ruled from 1720 to 1740. The palace of the Peshwas - Shaniwarwada was built during his time. Different Peshwas constructed various monuments.

Nanasaheb Peshwa succeeded Thorala Bajirao Peshwa and ruled the Maratha kingdom from 1740 to 1761. He checked the aggressions of the Nizam and maintained peace. Nanasaheb Peshwa emphasized in urbanizing the Pune city and encouraged setting up of peths or wards in Pune. Nanasaheb Peshwa constructed Parvati Temple complex, which is known to be the pride of the Pune city.

British defeated the Marathas in 1818 and established the administration in this region. Pune and Delhi were the only centres of power during this century. Pune has been recognized as a seat of learning and the Deccan College (1851) led the educational movement in Pune. The Pune-Mumbai rail track and the Khadakwasla Dam were constructed in 1857. Later many colleges were established gradually, the Deccan college, the college of Engineering and the Ferguson college. In 1857, the offices of the Department of Meteorology were shifted from Simla to Pune. The first Textile Mill was built in 1893 by Raja Bahadur Motilal Pittie.

Pune is the 7th ranking industrial metro of India at present. Infact Kothrud has achieved a place in the Guinness book of world records for having the fastest urban growth rate.

History Of China

China, one of the countries that can boast of an ancient civilization, has a long and mysterious history - almost 5,000 years of it! Like most other great civilizations of the world, China can trace her culture back to a blend of small original tribes which have expanded till they became the great country we have today.

It is recorded that Yuanmou man is the oldest hominoid in China and the oldest dynasty is Xia Dynasty. From the long history of China, there emerge many eminent people that have contributed a lot to the development of the whole country and to the enrichment of her history. Among them, there are emperors like Li Shimin (emperor Taizong of the Tang), philosophers like Confucius, great patriotic poets like Qu Yuan and so on.

Chinese society has progressed through five major stages - Primitive Society, Slave Society, Feudal Society, Semi-feudal and Semi-colonial Society, and Socialist Society. The rise and fall of the great dynasties forms a thread that runs through Chinese history, almost from the beginning. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st, 1949, China has become a socialist society and become stronger and stronger.

History of jammu and kashmir

Many historians and locals believe that Jammu was founded by Raja Jamboolochan in 14th century BCE. During one of his hunting campaigns he reached the Tawi River where he saw a goat and a lion drinking water at the same place. The king was impressed and decided to set up a town after his name, Jamboo. With the passage of time, the name was corrupted and became "Jammu". According to one "folk etymology", the name "Kashmir" means "desiccated land" (from the Sanskrit: Ka = water and shimeera = desiccate). According to another folk etymology, following Hindu mythology, the sage Kashyapa drained a lake to produce the land now known as Kashmir.
With a fertile soil and temperate climate, the valley is rich in rice, vegetables and fruits of all kinds, and famous for the quality of its wool. Kashmir has been inhabited since prehistoric times, sometimes independent but at times subjugated by invaders from Bactria, Tartary, Tibet and other mountainous regions to the North, and from the Indus valley and the Ganges valley to the South. At different times the dominant religion has been Animist, Buddhist, Hindu and (after the period of the history) Muslim.
The Rajatarangini is the first of a series of four histories that record the annals of Kashmir. Commencing with a rendition of traditional 'history' of very early times (3102 BCE), the Rajatarangini comes down to the reign of Sangrama Deva, (c.1006 AD) and Kalhana. The second work, by Jonaraja, continues the history from where Kalhana left off, and, entering the Muslim period, gives an account of the reigns down to that of Zain-ul-ab-ad-din, 1412. P. Srivara carried on the record to the accession of Fah Shah in 1486. The fourth work, called Rajavalipataka, by Prajnia Bhatta, completes the history to the time of the incorporation of Kashmir in the dominions of the Mogul emperor Akbar, 1588.
Jonaraja (c. 15th century) was a Kashmiri historian and Sanskrit poet. His Dvitīyā Rājataraṅginī is a continuation of Kalhana's Rājataranginī and brings the chronicle of the kings of Kashmir down to the time of the author's patron Zain-ul-Abidin (r. 1423-74). Jonaraja, however, could not complete the history of the patron as he died in the 35th regnal year of him. His pupil, Śrīvara continued the history and his work, the Tritīyā Rājataraṅginī covers the period 1459-86.
In his Dvitīyā Rājataranginī, Jonaraja has vividly described the decline of the Hindu ruling dynasty and the rise of the Muslim ruling dynasty in Kashmir.
The Rājataranginī (The River of Kings) is a metrical chronicle of the kings of Kashmir from earliest time written in Sanskrit by Kalhana. It is believed that the book was written sometime during 1147-1149 CE. The work generally records the heritage of Kashmir, but 120 verses of Rājatarangiṇī describe the misrule prevailing in Kashmir during the reign of King Kalash, son of King Ananta Deva of Kashmir. Although the earlier books are far from accurate in their chronology, they still provide an invaluable source of information about early Kashmir and its neighbors, and are widely referenced by later historians and ethnographers.
In the Rajatarangini, a history of Kashmir written by Kalhana in mid-12th century, it is stated that the valley of Kashmir was formerly a lake. This was drained by the great rishi or sage, Kashyapa, son of Marichi, son of Brahma, by cutting the gap in the hills at Baramulla (Varaha-mula). When Kashmir had been drained, Kashyapa asked Brahmans to settle there. This is still the local tradition, and in the existing physical condition of the country, we may see some ground for the story which has taken this form. The name of Kashyapa is by history and tradition connected with the draining of the lake, and the chief town or collection of dwellings in the valley was called Kashyapa-pura name which has been identified with the Kao-1r6.nupos of Hecataeus (apud Stephen of Byzantium) and Kaspatyros of Herodotus (3.102, 4.44). Kashmir is the country meant also by Ptolemy's Kao-ir,~pta.
Kalhana (c. 12th century CE) a Kashmiri Brahmin was the author of Rajatarangini, and is regarded as Kashmir's first historian. In fact, his translator Aurel Stein expressed the view that his was the only true Sanskrit history. Little is known about him except from what he tells us about himself in the opening verses of his book. His father Champaka was the minister in Harsha of Kashmir's court.
Kalhana in his opening Taranga of Rajatarangini presents his views on how history ought to be written. From Stein's translation[2]:
Verse 7. Fairness: That noble-minded author is alone worthy of praise whose word, like that of a judge, keeps free from love or hatred in relating the facts of the past.
Verse 11. Cite earlier authors: The oldest extensive works containing the royal chronicles [of Kashmir] have become fragmentary in consequence of [the appearance of] Suvrata's composition, who condensed them in order that (their substance) might be easily remembered.
Verse 12. Suvrata's poem, though it has obtained celebrity, does not show dexterity in the exposition of the subject-matter, as it is rendered troublesome [reading] by misplaced learning.
Verse 13. Owing to a certain want of care, there is not a single part in Ksemendra's "List of Kings" (Nrpavali) free from mistakes, though it is the work of a poet.
Verse 14. Eleven works of former scholars containing the chronicles of the kings, I have inspected, as well as the [Purana containing the] opinions of the sage Nila.
Verse 15. By looking at the inscriptions recording the consecretations of temples and grants by former kings, at laudatory inscriptions and at written works, the trouble arising from many errors has been overcome.
Despite these stated principles, and despite the value that historians have placed on Kalhana's work, it must be accepted that his history was far from accurate. Kalhana lived in a time of political turmoil in Kashmir, at that time a brilliant center of civilization in a sea of barbarism. Kalhana was an educated and sophisticated Brahmin, well-connected in the highest political circles. His writing is full of literary devices and allusions, concealed by his unique and elegant style. Kalhana was a poet.
Kalhana borrowed from authors such as Ksemendra, Padmamiriha and Chavillakara, and tells us that he used many other sources to confirm his information including engravings, literary manuscripts, other histories and local verbal traditions. Certainly, some of his descriptions show evidence of such research. However, he clearly used his imagination to fill in the gaps. The Gonandiya dynasty, taking its name from the legendary first king of Kashmir, is revived twice in the Rājatarangiṇī, but with little historical evidence. Perhaps Kalhana used it as a literary device, where the ancient and legitimate dynasty was periodically displaced by invaders and usurpers, but always re-emerged.
Kalhana's chronology, particularly in the first three books, is highly inaccurate. For a man of his time, exact dates may have been more a way to add realism and emphasis to the account. What mattered was the story.
The Rajtarangini Kalhanas chronicle
The author of the Rajatarangini history chronicles the rulers of the valley from earliest times, from the epic period of the Mahābhārata to the the reign of Sangrama Deva (c.1006 CE), before the Muslim era. The list of kings goes back to the 19th century BCE[4]. Some of the kings and dynasties can be identified with inscriptions and the histories of the empires that periodically included the Kashmir valley, but for long periods the Rajatarangini is the only source.
This work consists of 7826 verses, which are divided into eight books called Tarangas (waves).
Kalhaṇa’s account of Kashmir begins with the legendary reign of Gonarda, who was contemporary to Yudhisthira of the Mahābhārata, but the recorded history of Kashmir, as retold by Kalhaṇa begins from the period of the Mauryas. Kalhaṇa’s account also states that the city of Srinagar was founded by the Mauryan emperor, Ashoka, and that Buddhism reached the Kashmir valley during this period. From there, Buddhism spread to several other adjoining regions including Central Asia, Tibet and China.

History Of Jaipur

The city owes its name, founding and planning to the great warrior-astronomer Maharaja Jai Singh II (1693–1743). In 1727, with Mughal power on the wane, Jai Singh decided the time was right to move from his cramped hillside fort at nearby Amber. He laid out the city, with its surrounding walls and rectangular blocks, according to principles set down in the Shilpa-Shastra, an ancient Hindu architectural treatise. In 1728 he built Jantar Mantar, Jaipur’s remarkable observatory.
In 1876, Maharaja Ram Singh had the entire old city painted pink, a colour associated with hospitality, to welcome the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), and the tradition has been maintained – the current maharaja is a great polo chum of Britain’s Prince Charles