title: Charles VII of France

text: Charles, unsurprisingly, claimed the title King of France for himself, but he failed to make any attempts to expel the English from northern France out of indecision and a sense of hopelessness


title: Charles VII of France

text: Political conditions in France took a decisive turn in the year 1429 just as the prospects for the Dauphin began to look hopeless. The town of Orléans had been under siege since October 1428. The English regent, the Duke of Bedford (the uncle of Henry VI), was advancing into the Duchy of Bar, ruled by Charles's brother-in-law, René. The French lords and soldiers loyal to Charles were becoming increasingly desperate. Then in the little village of Domrémy, on the border of Lorraine and Champagne, a teenage girl named Joan of Arc (), demanded that the garrison commander at Vaucouleurs, Robert de Baudricourt, collect the soldiers and resources necessary to bring her to the Dauphin at Chinon, stating that visions of angels and saints had given her a divine mission. Granted an escort of five veteran soldiers and a letter of referral to Charles by Lord Baudricourt, Joan rode to see Charles at Chinon. She arrived on 23 February 1429.


title: Charles VII of France

text: Second-hand testimony by witnesses who were not present when Joan and the Dauphin met state Charles wanted to test her claim to be able to recognise him despite never having seen him, and so he disguised himself as one of his courtiers. He stood in their midst when Joan entered the chamber in which the court was assembled. Joan identified Charles immediately. She bowed low to him and embraced his knees, declaring "God give you a happy life, sweet King!" Despite attempts to claim that another man was in fact the king, Thereafter Joan referred to him as "Dauphin" or "Noble Dauphin" until he was crowned in Reims four months later. After a private conversation between the two, Charles became inspired and filled with confidence.


title: Charles VII of France

text: After her encounter with Charles in March 1429, Joan of Arc set out to lead the French forces at Orléans. She was aided by skilled commanders such as Étienne de Vignolles, known as La Hire, and Jean Poton de Xaintrailles. They compelled the English to lift the siege on 8 May 1429, thus turning the tide of the war. The French won the Battle of Patay on 18 June, at which the English field army lost about half its troops. After pushing further into English and Burgundian-controlled territory, Charles was crowned King Charles VII of France in Reims Cathedral on 17 July 1429.


title: Charles VII of France

text: Joan was later captured by Burgundian troops under John of Luxembourg at the siege of Compiègne on 24 May 1430. The Burgundians handed her over to their English allies. Tried for heresy by a court composed of pro-English clergy such as Pierre Cauchon, who had long served the English occupation government, she was burned at the stake on 30 May 1431.


title: Charles VII of France

text: Nearly as important as Joan of Arc in the cause of Charles was the support of the powerful and wealthy family of his wife Marie d'Anjou, particularly his mother-in-law, Queen Yolande of Aragon. But whatever affection he may have had for his wife, or whatever gratitude he may have felt for the support of her family, the great love of Charles VII's life was his mistress, Agnès Sorel.


title: Charles VII of France

text: Charles VII and Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, then signed the 1435 Treaty of Arras, by which the Burgundian faction rejected their English alliance and became reconciled with Charles VII, just as things were going badly for their English allies. With this accomplishment, Charles attained the essential goal of ensuring that no Prince of the Blood recognised Henry VI as King of France.


title: Charles VII of France

text: Over the following two decades, the French recaptured Paris from the English and eventually recovered all of France with the exception of the northern port of Calais.


title: Charles VII of France

text: Charles' later years were marked by hostile relations with his heir, Louis, who demanded real power to accompany his position as the Dauphin. Charles consistently refused him. Accordingly, Louis stirred up dissent and fomented plots in attempts to destabilise his father's reign. He quarrelled with his father's mistress, Agnès Sorel, and on one occasion drove her with a bared sword into Charles' bed, according to one source. Eventually, in 1446, after Charles' last son, also named Charles, was born, the king banished the Dauphin to the Dauphiny. The two never met again. Louis thereafter refused the king's demands to return to court, and he eventually fled to the protection of Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, in 1456.


title: Charles VII of France

text: In 1458, Charles became ill. A sore on his leg (an early symptom, perhaps, of diabetes or another condition) refused to heal, and the infection in it caused a serious fever. The king summoned Louis to him from his exile in Burgundy, but the Dauphin refused to come. He employed astrologers to foretell the exact hour of his father's death. The king lingered on for the next two and a half years, increasingly ill, but unwilling to die. During this time he also had to deal with the case of his rebellious vassal John V of Armagnac.


title: Charles VII of France

text: Finally, however, there came a point in July 1461 when the king's physicians concluded that Charles would not live past August. Ill and weary, the king became delirious, convinced that he was surrounded by traitors loyal only to his son. Under the pressure of sickness and fever, he went mad. By now another infection in his jaw had caused an abscess in his mouth. The swelling caused by this became so large that, for the last week of his life, Charles was unable to swallow food or water. Although he asked the Dauphin to come to his deathbed, Louis refused, instead waiting at Avesnes, in Burgundy, for his father to die. At Mehun-sur-Yèvre, attended by his younger son, Charles, and aware of his elder son's final betrayal, the King starved to death. He died on 22 July 1461, and was buried, at his request, beside his parents in Saint-Denis.


title: Charles VII of France

text: Although Charles VII's legacy is far overshadowed by the deeds and eventual martyrdom of Joan of Arc and his early reign was at times marked by indecisiveness and inaction, he was responsible for successes unprecedented in the history of the Kingdom of France. He succeeded in what four generations of his predecessors (namely his father Charles VI, his grandfather Charles V, his great-grandfather John II and great-great grandfather Philip VI) failed to do — the expulsion of the English and the conclusion of the Hundred Years' War.


title: Charles VII of France

text: He had created France's first standing army since Roman times. In "The Prince", Niccolò Machiavelli asserts that if his son Louis XI had continued this policy, then the French would have become invincible.


title: Charles VII of France

text: Charles VII secured himself against papal power by the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges. He also established the University of Poitiers in 1432, and his policies brought some economic prosperity to his subjects.


title: Charles VII of France

text: Charles married his second cousin Marie of Anjou on 18 December 1422. They were both great-grandchildren of King John II of France and his first wife Bonne of Bohemia through the male line. They had fourteen children:


title: The First Law

text: The First Law is a fantasy series written by British author Joe Abercrombie. "The First Law" is the title of the original trilogy in the series, but is also used to refer to the series as a whole. The full series consists of a trilogy, three stand-alone novels, short stories, and a second trilogy, titled "The Age of Madness," of which the third book was published in September 2021.


title: The First Law

text: The original trilogy is published by Gollancz in the UK and Pyr in the United States. The stand-alone novels remain with Gollancz in the UK but will be published by Orbit Books in the United States.


title: The First Law

text: All fictional dates are in relation to the founding of The Union; Before the Union (BU) or After the Union (AU). The Original Trilogy story arc (with characters Logen Ninefingers, Jezal dan Luthar, Sand dan Glokta, Dogman, Collem West and Ferro Maljinn):


title: The First Law

text: The Best Served Cold story arc (with characters Monza Murcatto, Nicomo Cosca, Castor Morveer, Friendly, Caul Shivers and Cas Shenkt):


title: The First Law

text: The Heroes story arc (with characters Bremer dan Gorst, Prince Calder, Curnden Craw, Finree dan Brock, Tunny and Beck):


title: The First Law

text: The Age of Madness Trilogy story arc (with characters Leo dan Brock, Savine dan Glokta, Orso dan Luthar, Rikke, Gunnar Broad, Vick dan Teufel and Jonas Clover), begins in 605 AU:


title: The First Law

text: The titles of the works derive from various sources, including real-world quotes or phrases, and in-world references.


title: The First Law

text: The title of the original trilogy is a reference to a law put forth by the legendary half-Demon Euz from the series, which stated, "It is forbidden to touch the Other Side direct," the Other Side being the realm of Demons, from which magic power derives.


title: The First Law

text: The "First Law" series is set in an epic fantasy world at war, reminiscent of medieval-era Europe and the greater Mediterranean world. Long ago, the world was inhabited by both Demons and Humans. Then, hundreds, or thousands, of years ago, in the Old Time, a legendary half-Demon, half-Human with great magical powers, named Euz, banished the Demons from the world. Magic still exists, which relies on connections to the Other Side, where the Demons live. However, Euz left behind the First Law: "It is forbidden to touch the Other Side direct."


title: The First Law

text: The books of the trilogy do not contain maps, as Abercrombie prefers not to use them. However, the three stand-alone novels do contain their own local maps and a World map was finally produced in full on the cover of the "Sharp Ends" short story collection.


title: The First Law

text: The plot of the original trilogy involves three major powers: The Union, the Gurkish Empire, and the North, recently united under King Bethod.


title: The First Law

text: There are two major theaters of war. The first takes place in the north between the Union and the Northmen, who invade the Union's northern province of Angland. The second is in the south between the Union and the Gurkish Empire, who attempt to annex the Union city of Dagoska. The trilogy centers on the fortunes of a variety of characters as they navigate through these and other conflicts. The trilogy follows the stories of six point-of-view characters, whose paths often intersect.


title: The First Law

text: The first book introduces the three main characters of the trilogy and three secondary ones. Logen Ninefingers is a warrior who earned a fearsome reputation helping to bring Bethod to power in the North, but has since fallen out with him. Logen and his small crew of friends flee after being attacked by Shanka creatures. Logen is separated from his crew, and sets off on his own path. He meets Bayaz, a powerful centuries-old Magus, who enlists Logen's help in accompanying him to Adua. Sand dan Glokta leads an Inquisition investigation into a bribery case, which leads to him uncovering a wider corruption among the merchants. His superiors divert him into investigating Bayaz. Jezal, a vain young nobleman who has become a Union army officer due to his connections, trains for a prestigious swordfighting tournament. He falls in love with Ardee, the sister of his superior Collem, and wins the tournament with help from Bayaz. At a celebration banquet, Bayaz is challenged to prove who he is by entering the House of the Maker. The main characters of the book converge in accompanying Bayaz into the building. Bayaz retrieves an artifact and announces his plan to retrieve the Seed, a powerful magical artifact that can help him take on Khalul and the Gurkish Empire. The book also follows the journey of Logen's companions, led by Dogman, to warn Bethod about the Shanka, and Ferro, an escaped Gurkish slave who travels with another Magus to find Bayaz.


title: The First Law

text: The book follows three distinct sets of characters as war breaks out on two fronts. In the south, Sand dan Glokta and his inquisitors attempt to repel a Gurkish invasion of the city of Dagoska, the Union's sole possession on the continent, won some decades earlier at great cost. In the North, the book follows Colonel West and the Northmen as they attempt to deal with Bethod, who intends to force the Union out of Angland, their principal northern possession. Finally, the book follows Logen Ninefingers and his companions as they journey into the far west of their world with the sorcerer Bayaz, First of the Magi, seeking out a powerful and dangerous ancient artifact known as the Seed. The book makes it explicit that all these events are interconnected and part of the greater machinations of a sorcerer called Khalul, Second of the Magi and one of Bayaz's enemies. Khalul has raised a great army of slaves and Eaters (cannibalistic transformed humanoids with enhanced durability and magical abilities), and has indirectly given Bethod an alliance with the Flatheads, orc-like creatures created as weapons in an ancient war, as well as a man known as the Feared, who is supernaturally all but immune to damage. The story ends on a low note for all groups involved: Dagoska is lost to the Gurkish, an intrigue sees both heirs to the throne killed and an innocent man is blamed for political reasons, the quest for the Seed is an abject failure, and Bethod remains at large in the North.


title: The First Law

text: After returning from the west, Jezal is elected as new king of the Union, thanks to Bayaz’s manipulation. Logen returns to the North, kills Bethod and becomes the new king. Bayaz goes to the house of the Maker, and succeeds in unlocking the power of the Seed (which is found in the house). Meanwhile, the Gurkish have invaded the Union and have reached Adua. Logen sets out to aid the Union and a treaty is forged between the Union and the North. During the battle, Bayaz destroys large parts of Gurkish army, together with the city of Adua itself and, in the end, the battle is won. At the end of the book, Glokta, now the Arch Lector, is installed as Bayaz proxy in the Closed council, Jezal is the new puppet king, and Ferro goes in the south to kill the emperor. Logen returns to the North, but is betrayed by Black Dow who becomes king.


title: The First Law

text: The three standalone books are set in the same world as the trilogy. Some of the major characters are minor characters from the original trilogy while several major characters from the trilogy sometimes also appear in smaller roles, cameos or are mentioned in passing.


title: The First Law

text: The first of the standalone books takes place roughly three years after the trilogy. It takes place entirely in Styria, an island continent reminiscent of Italy during the Italian Wars, focusing on the vengeance of a betrayed mercenary leader, Monza Murcatto.


title: The First Law

text: This book focuses on a three-day battle set in the same world as the "First Law" trilogy, about seven years after events of the original trilogy. Union commander Lord Marshal Kroy leads the Union forces against the much smaller Northern army led by Black Dow. The story features many characters seen in previous "First Law" novels such as Bremer dan Gorst, Lord Marshal Kroy, and the Dogman.


title: The First Law

text: The last of the three is set about thirteen years after the "First Law" trilogy and revolves around a youthful female protagonist who is hoping to bury her bloody past, but she'll have to sharpen up some of her old ways to get her family back. Her journey will take her across the barren western plains to a frontier town gripped by gold fever, through feud, duel and massacre and high into the unmapped mountains.


title: The First Law

text: "The Age of Madness" takes place 15 years after the end of "Red Country." The Union has begun to see rapid changes with the onset of an industrial revolution.


title: The First Law

text: Takes place 15 years after the end of Red Country. The Union has entered early industrial age, and the North is invading Angland again. New characters are introduced, crown prince Orso (son of King Jezal and Queen Terez) and Savine dan Glokta (daughter of Sand dan Glokta and Ardee West). Angland is inherited to Leo dan Brock, the young and reckless son of Finree dan Brock and her late husband, and in the protectorate of Uffrith, Dogman's daughter Rikke has the Long Eye, the ability (or curse) to see the future. There is public discontent in the Union, aimed against the Banks and social structures, led by factions called the Burners and the Breakers. In the South there is a rumour that the prophet Khalul has been killed by a demon, and there is a civil war.


title: The First Law

text: In the north, Stour Nightfall, son of Black Calder and nephew to King Scale Ironhand, leads the invasion of Uffrith and Angland.


title: The First Law

text: King Jezal dies and is succeeded by crown prince Orso, with whom Savine had an affair, which she broke after finding out he was her half brother. After marrying to Leo dan Brock, the couple starts to plot rebellion against the crown, with the help of the North, which fails nevertheless. Rikke regains control of her Long Eye, and in the mist of Northern attack on the Adua, she betrays Leo and claims the North.


title: The First Law

text: Leo is saved from the hanging by Savine's confession to Orso that they found out they were siblings, and even through Leo rebellion failed, a new one is ready to succeed, armed with Angland's weapons.


title: The First Law

text: Revolution is swift and new change is taking place in the Union. The first ones to go are the banks of Master Bayaz. Savine dan Glokta manages to became popular hero and mother of the nation, after her fight with rebel leaders, and her husband manages to gather enough forces to take over the government. After finding out that Savine and king Orso are related, he manages to throw off king, and proclaim his new born son (Savine had twins) as new one. Ex king Orso is hanged, which causes further tensions between him and his wife. New order is being established. At the North Rikke manages to beat Calder and becomes undisputed ruler of the North.


title: The First Law

text: At the end it is shown that the real master-planner of the failed rebellion is Savine's father, Glokta. He wanted to rid the Union of Bayaz's influence. And in the words of his daughter, he put half of the world at fire so he could rule the other half. Bayaz banks are no more, and with them goes his control of the Union.


title: The First Law

text: "The Blade Itself" was released to very positive reviews. Writing for "The Guardian", author Jon Courtenay Grimwood said that "for once, the novel comes close to living up to its publisher's hype", and Strange Horizons's Siobhan Carroll said that "fans of character-driven epics who are willing to take their heroes with a grain of moral ambiguity should add this novel to their 'must read' list."


title: The First Law

text: Reviews for "Before They Are Hanged" were also positive; Fantasy Book Review stated that it was "hard not to try and read it in one sitting" and that it "does not disappoint".


title: The First Law

text: Best Fantasy Reviews said it was "an excellent book, and accomplishes a fairly rare feat – the middle book of a trilogy that does a hell of a lot more than provide a stop gap between the beginning and the end."


title: The First Law

text: "Last Argument of Kings" was well received by critics, with "Publishers Weekly" saying that "readers will mourn the end of this vivid story arc." "SFX's" David Bradley gave the book a five star review and stated that Abercrombie "signs off the trilogy on a high, interspersing breathless skirmishes with thriller-like moments."


title: The First Law

text: Eric Brown reviewed "Red Country" for "The Guardian" and said that Abercrombie was "tipping his hat to the Western genre but continuing his mission to drag fantasy, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century with his characteristic mix of gritty realism, complex characterisation, set-piece scenes of stomach-churning violence and villains who are as fully rounded as his flawed heroes" and concluded that the book was "a marvellous follow-up to his highly praised "The Heroes"."


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: Machete is a 2010 American exploitation action film written and directed by Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis. Based on the eponymous character from the "Spy Kids" franchise, the film is an expansion of a fake trailer of the same name published as a part of the promotion of Rodriguez's and Quentin Tarantino's 2007 "Grindhouse" double-feature. "Machete" continues the B movie and exploitation style of "Grindhouse", and includes some of the footage from the original.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: The film stars Danny Trejo reprising the title role from the "Spy Kids" series and the fake trailer, and co-stars Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Don Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Steven Seagal and Lindsay Lohan. This was Trejo's first lead role as the character, and Seagal's first theatrically released film since 2002's "Half Past Dead". "Machete" was released in the United States by 20th Century Fox and Rodriguez's company, Troublemaker Studios, on September 3, 2010. A sequel, "Machete Kills", directed by Rodriguez alone, was released on October 11, 2013.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: In Mexico, Machete Cortez, a Mexican "Federal" and his younger partner are on a mission to rescue a kidnapped girl. During the operation, his partner is killed, the kidnapped girl stabs him in the leg before being killed herself, and Machete is betrayed by his corrupt Chief to the powerful drug lord and former Federal, Rogelio Torrez, who kills Machete's wife and implies that he will kill his daughter before leaving him for dead.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: Three years later, a down-and-out Machete roams Texas, scraping by on yard work. Michael Booth, a local businessman and spin doctor, explains to Machete that corrupt Texas State Senator John McLaughlin is sending hundreds of illegal immigrants out of the country, which would reduce the number of laborers. In order to stop this, Booth offers Machete $150,000 to kill McLaughlin. Machete accepts the murder contract after Booth threatens to kill him if he does not.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: Machete trains a rifle on McLaughlin from a rooftop during a rally, but before he fires he sees one of Booth's henchmen aiming at him. The henchman shoots Machete in the shoulder, then shoots McLaughlin in the leg. It is revealed that Booth orchestrated the attempted assassination as part of a false flag operation to gain public support for McLaughlin's secure border campaign. By setting up Machete as the gunman, the conspirators make it appear that an outlaw illegal Mexican immigrant has tried to assassinate the senator, who is known for his tough stance on illegal immigration.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: An injured Machete escapes capture by Booth and is taken to a hospital to be treated for wounds, escaping once again from Booth's henchmen at the hospital. Agent Sartana Rivera , a persistent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, is sent by her superior to find and capture the injured Machete. Machete, with the help of Luz, aka Shé, the leader of an illegal immigrant aid movement known as the Network, recruits Padre, his "holy" brother. To take revenge on Booth, Machete kidnaps Booth's wife June and his daughter April, after "starring" in an amateur adult film with them. He also collects evidence from Booth's house linking McLaughlin and Torrez in a major drug trafficking deal. After encountering Machete, Sartana begins to develop an interest in him. Elsewhere, Booth, who is revealed to be working for Torrez, hires a hitman, Osiris Amanpour, to assist in the hunt for Machete. A group of border vigilantes, sponsored by McLaughlin and led by Von Jackson, begin attacking anyone who may be harboring Machete and shoot Luz in the right eye.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: Booth and Osiris lead a raid on the church. Padre kills their henchmen before the two incapacitate him and kill him by nailing him to a cross, but do not find Booth's wife and daughter. Unbeknownst to Booth, the church has cameras. Through the CCTV recordings, the news of McLaughlin's corruption and faked assassination is eventually aired on national television. Infuriated, McLaughlin kills Booth and heads back to join Torrez and Jackson to kill Machete. In order to eliminate the people who double-crossed him, Machete gathers the Mexican Network and leads them to the base of the border vigilantes. When McLaughlin arrives at the base, Jackson turns on him for being involved with the Mexican drug trade and attempts to execute him, but is interrupted when Machete and the illegals arrive.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: During this confrontation, the Mexican illegals triumph over the border vigilantes. Jackson tries to escape, but Luz, who survived and now sports an eye patch, shoots him in the back of the head. Machete fights Torrez and stabs him, who then scornfully kills himself through Seppuku. April shows up wearing a nun's habit after escaping from the church and shoots McLaughlin after figuring out that he has killed her father.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: McLaughlin, injured, manages to escape, but he is later killed by the last remnants of his own border vigilante group, who mistake him for a Mexican. Machete meets with Sartana, who gives him a green card, but he rejects it, saying he's already a legend. They kiss and ride off into the night. The closing credits announce further adventures for Machete.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: James Parks reprises his role as Edgar McGraw from the "From Dusk till Dawn" franchise, "" and , and "Grindhouse" segment "Death Proof" in an uncredited cameo appearance.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: According to Rodriguez, the origins of the film go back to "Desperado". He says, "When I met Danny, I said, 'This guy should be like the Mexican Jean-Claude Van Damme or Charles Bronson, putting out a movie every year and his name should be Machete'. So I decided to do that way back when, never got around to it until finally now. So now, of course, I want to keep going and do a feature". Rodriguez stated, "There weren't any action movies that with a Latin flavor that could play to a broad audience. When I watched [director] John Woo's movies, they made me want to be Asian. Woo and [actor] Chow Yun-Fat's "Hard Boiled" and "The Killer" really inspired me to make films that would create that feeling in the Latin arena".


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: In an interview with "Rolling Stone" magazine, Rodriguez said that he wrote the screenplay back in 1993 when he cast Trejo in "Desperado". "So I wrote him this idea of a federale from Mexico who gets hired to do hatchet jobs in the U.S. I had heard sometimes FBI or DEA have a really tough job that they don't want to get their own agents killed on, they'll hire an agent from Mexico to come do the job for $25,000. I thought, 'That's Machete. He would come and do a really dangerous job for a lot of money to him but for everyone else over here it's peanuts'. But I never got around to making it."


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: Instead, during the filming of Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's "Grindhouse", Rodriguez shot lobby cards and sequences from parts of the original script in 2006 for a fake trailer featuring Danny Trejo, Cheech Marin, and Jeff Fahey. At South by Southwest in March 2007, Rodriguez announced that he would be expanding his trailer for "Machete" into a feature-length film. He announced that it would be a bonus feature on the "Planet Terror" DVD, but the film ended up being produced as a theatrical release.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: During Comic-Con International 2008, he took the time to speak about "Machete", including such topics as the film's status, possible sequels, and production priorities. It was also revealed that he has regularly pulled sequences from it for his other productions including "Once Upon a Time in Mexico".


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: Rodriguez had always planned on being the head-director of the film, since he usually uses his "one-man crew" technique. In April 2009, it was announced that Ethan Maniquis, who is a long-time editor of Rodriguez's films, would be co-directing the film with Rodriguez. At the Comic-Con 2010 event in San Diego, Trejo commented on Rodriguez: "He's a genius. He's an absolute genius. He makes movie-making fun. You know, he makes you wanna go to work. A lot of people wake up saying 'I woke up before my alarm went off' just 'cause you're excited to work with him. You wonder 'what is he going to come up with today?', because every day, he's like inventing something new. So it's awesome to work with somebody like that". "Robert has an incredible vision and is very precise, and [working on his films] you feel like you're in the middle of something both big and experiential. And that anything is possible", states Jeff Fahey, who has collaborated with Rodriguez on "Machete" and "Grindhouse".


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: The film's lead role had always been intended for Danny Trejo, as Rodriguez mentioned. The two had met during the filming of Rodriguez's film, "Desperado". "Nobody really knew about "Desperado", yet the local townspeople would flock to see Danny, thinking he was the star of the movie, even though his part was very small", Rodriguez remembers. "He has incredible presence, and I knew I had found Machete. So, I handed him a knife, and told him to start practicing".


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: Trejo, Cheech Marin, and Jeff Fahey were announced to be reprising their characters in the trailer for the film. Tito Larriva did not reprise his primary role as the sniper who shoots Machete and was replaced by Shea Whigham. Michelle Rodriguez was the first actress to be cast in the film who wasn't in the original trailer. Chris Cooper was approached for the role of Senator McLaughlin. After Cooper turned down the role, Robert De Niro was cast instead. "From the moment you get Robert De Niro in your movie, all the other actors come running", says Robert Rodriguez on De Niro's involvement in the film.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: "What I liked about the character was that it was a fun thing to do in a sense of irony and it's not taken seriously. He's not taken seriously on one level so that frees you to have fun without being weighted down by some requirements", says De Niro on playing his character. Lindsay Lohan was revealed to be cast in the film in July 2009. "Lindsay's cool", Rodriguez said of Lohan. "There's actually a cool part in the movie for her if she takes it". Lohan portrays April Booth, the socialite daughter of Booth, the man who double-crosses Machete. "April was born into a life of privilege and takes everything she has for granted", says Lohan. "But she undergoes a big change. As an actress, I like pushing the envelope". Lohan recolored her hair from auburn red to platinum blonde.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: Jonah Hill was originally cast as Julio, but was replaced by Daryl Sabara, who had worked with Rodriguez, Marin, and Trejo on the set of the "Spy Kids" franchise. Jessica Alba said of her role of Agent Sartana, "My character is an Immigrations Officer and she hunts him (Machete) down, but finds out that he was double-crossed himself. She wrestles with her own right-wing kind of mentality because she's all about enforcing the law and doing what the system tells you".


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: "The cast may have sounded bizarre to some people when first announced. But when you watch "Machete", you see that the actors fit their roles very well. The eclectic mix really works. Danny's worked in hundreds of movies and probably worked with everyone in "Machete" at some point. Everyone just loves Danny and appreciated the fact he was finally getting to be the star of his own film. I remember Robert De Niro, who worked with Danny in "Heat" telling him that, '[Machete] is going to be really good for you'."


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: Regarding the nudity that was present in the film, Rodriguez mentioned that he deliberately set the first scene with a nude woman (actress Mayra Leal) to make the audience think that subsequent scenes show more than they actually do. Jessica Alba mentioned that for her shower scene, "I had undies on, and I had other stuff on, and they just sort of etched it out in post [production]. That's not really me. I'm better covered up".


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: Filming for the fake trailer for "Grindhouse" began in the summer of 2006, while Rodriguez was also filming "Planet Terror". The scenes that Rodriguez shot only consisted of scenes involving Danny Trejo, Cheech Marin, Jeff Fahey, and Tito Larriva. Some of the scenes filmed for the trailer were left intact in the film, while others have been re-shot.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: Principal photography began on July 29, 2009 in and around the city of Austin, Texas. Lindsay Lohan filmed her role in three days, two in August and one in September. Principal photography of the film ended on September 24, 2009.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: The first trailer was released and attached to "Planet Terror" in 2007. On July 28, 2010, it was confirmed that "Machete" would headline the Venice Film Festival held on September 1, 2010, at a special midnight screening, followed by the general theatrical release on September 3.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: The film was released in the U.S. on September 3, 2010, by 20th Century Fox. The film appeared on 3,400 screens at 2,670 locations.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: A fake trailer for the film was released on May 5, 2010, through "Ain't It Cool News". The trailer opened with Danny Trejo saying, "This is Machete with a special Cinco de Mayo message to Arizona", followed by scenes of gunfire, bloodshed, and highlights of the cast. The fake trailer combined elements of the "Machete" trailer that appeared in "Grindhouse" with footage from the actual film, and implied that the film would be about Machete leading a revolt against anti-immigration politicians and border vigilantes. According to Fox News, critics of illegal immigration were offended by the contents of the movie trailer. Production of the film predates the legislation, however.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: Several film websites, including Internet Movie Database, reported that it was the official teaser for the film. However, Rodriguez later revealed the trailer to be a joke, explaining "it was Cinco de Mayo and I had too much tequila". The official theatrical trailer was released on July 8, 2010. It was then attached with "Predators", which Rodriguez produced, and later shown before "The Expendables". A red band trailer featuring more gruesome scenes from the film was released on July 23, 2010.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: "Machete" opened in 2,670 theaters in the United States on September 3 and earned $14,102,888 for its four-day weekend, placing second at the box office behind "The American". The film opened at #2 behind "The American" and took in $3,866,357—$1,448 per theater—on its opening day and $14,102,888—$4,001 per theater—on its opening weekend. "Machete" placed fourth at the box office by the end of the week after "" opened in theaters, totaling $20,916,709.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: "Machete" has made $26,593,646 in the United States as of November 18, 2010. The film made another $17,499,670 in foreign markets, bringing the gross total to $44,093,316, as of November 18, 2010.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 72% based on 190 reviews, with an average rating of 6.33/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""Machete" is messy, violent, shallow, and tasteless -- and that's precisely the point of one of the summer's most cartoonishly enjoyable films". Another aggregator, Metacritic, gives the film a weighted average score of 60 out of 100, based on 29 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: Jessica Alba won a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress, along with her other roles in "The Killer Inside Me", "Little Fockers" and "Valentine's Day".


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: Rodriguez expressed in an interview that an even more violent director's cut will be released on home media. The R-rated theatrical version of "Machete" was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 4, 2011.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: On the week ending January 9, 2011, "Machete" debuted atop the DVD sales chart in America. The DVD sold 691,317 copies in its first week of release.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: In the Blu-ray deleted scenes, Rose McGowan is featured as one of Osiris's henchmen named Boots McCoy; one scene shows her confronting Luz and shooting her through a cat she is holding, hitting her in the eye and seemingly killing her. However, in the film, this action was given to Von Jackson, and it is later revealed Luz is merely blinded. In other deleted scenes Jessica Alba also plays the role of Sis, Sartana's twin sister. McCoy later shows up and slits her throat with a razor blade, thinking she is actually Sartana.


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: Before the credits roll, a screen super reads that Machete will return in "Machete Kills" and "Machete Kills Again".


title: Machete (2010 film)

text: According to Trejo, Rodriguez had scripts for the first of two "Machete" sequels. At the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, Rodriguez said that both sequels have been greenlit. The trailer for the third film, "Machete Kills Again", precedes the second film as a "Coming Attraction". "Machete Kills" was released on October 11, 2013.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Adam Carolla (born May 27, 1964) is an American radio personality, comedian, actor and podcaster. He hosts "The Adam Carolla Show", a talk show distributed as a podcast which set the record as the "most downloaded podcast" as judged by "Guinness World Records" in 2011.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Carolla co-hosted the syndicated radio call-in program "Loveline" with Drew Pinsky from 1995 to 2005 as well as the show's television incarnation on MTV from 1996 to 2000. He was the co-host and co-creator of the television program "The Man Show" (1999–2004), and the co-creator and a regular performer on the television show "Crank Yankers" (2002–2007, 2019–present). He hosted "The Adam Carolla Project", a home improvement television program which aired on TLC in 2005 and "The Car Show" on Speed TV in 2011.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Carolla has also appeared on the network reality television programs "Dancing with the Stars" and "The Celebrity Apprentice". His book "In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks" debuted on "The New York Times" Best Seller list in 2010, and his second book, "Not Taco Bell Material", also reached "New York Times" bestseller status.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Carolla has made numerous guest appearances on political talk shows as a commentator. He hosted a weekly segment, "Rollin' with Carolla", on Bill O'Reilly's "The O'Reilly Factor".


title: Adam Carolla

text: Adam Carolla was born on May 27, 1964, to Jim and Kris ("née" McCall) Carolla. Some sources list his birthplace as Los Angeles County, California, while others list it as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He grew up in the Los Angeles San Fernando Valley, and his parents separated when he was young. Carolla was not given a middle name by his parents; on his driver's license application he listed his middle name as "Lakers" as a joke. The application was processed without notice. His maternal step-grandfather was screenwriter László Görög. Though Carolla's ancestry is 100% Italian-American, he sometimes identifies with Jewish culture due to his close relationship with Görög as a child.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Adam was raised in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles. He attended Colfax Elementary School, Walter Reed Junior High, and North Hollywood High School. Carolla did not receive his high school diploma until years later as it was held by the school until a library fine was paid. Carolla can be seen paying off the book and receiving his diploma in an episode of his 2005 television show, "The Adam Carolla Project".


title: Adam Carolla

text: During his youth, Carolla played Pop Warner football for seven years; he later suggested that being involved in sports saved him from a chaotic home life. During his senior year at North Hollywood High School, Carolla distinguished himself in football. In December 1981, he was named to the First Team Offensive Line, Central Valley League, one of 8 leagues at the time in the LA City Section of the California Interscholastic Federation. In October 2020 he spoke of being recruited by "7 or 8" schools including UC-Davis, Cal Poly Pomona, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.


title: Adam Carolla

text: He began living on his own at the age of 18. He briefly attended Los Angeles Valley College, a community college, where he was placed on academic probation before dropping out to work in a series of jobs, including carpet cleaner, carpenter, boxing instructor, and traffic school instructor. Although broke, Carolla, his friends, and roommates owned a 1963 Cadillac limousine.


title: Adam Carolla

text: In the early 1990s, Carolla studied improvisational comedy with The Groundlings and was a member of the ACME Comedy Theatre troupe.


title: Adam Carolla

text: In 1994, Carolla volunteered his services as a boxing trainer to prepare Jimmy Kimmel for a bout being staged by KROQ-FM's morning radio program "Kevin and Bean". Kimmel was a regular on the show as "Jimmy the Sports Guy" and he was set to fight another KROQ personality in a boxing exhibition which was being billed as the "Bleeda in Reseda". Carolla parlayed this opportunity into a long-running friendship and business partnership with Kimmel as well as a recurring role on "Kevin and Bean" as cranky woodshop teacher, Mr. Birchum.


title: Adam Carolla

text: In October 1995, after being signed to the William Morris Agency by Mark Itkin, Carolla was offered the job of co-hosting the evening radio call-in show "Loveline." His co-hosts were the physician Drew Pinsky ("Dr. Drew") and metal DJ Riki Rachtman. Carolla received the offer after Pinsky heard him on "Kevin and Bean" (Rachtman left the show the following year.) "Loveline" was broadcast on KROQ-FM in Los Angeles and was syndicated nationwide on the former Westwood One radio network.


title: Adam Carolla

text: While the format of the program was primarily that of a call-in show wherein listeners would ask questions about sex and relationships, Carolla would often spend much of the show ranting about various topics from fart jokes to extended parodies of radio morning shows, including mocking the format's penchant for useless and repetitive weather and traffic reports. In contrast to the reserved, thoughtful Pinsky, Carolla served as the loud, funny side of the show. Carolla's character was described by one reviewer as "a toned-down version of Howard Stern minus the huge ego".


title: Adam Carolla

text: In a late-2003 "Loveline" episode, Carolla said that Hawaiians are "dumb", "in-bred", "retarded" people who are among the "dumbest people we have". The comments were met with anger in Hawaii and resulted in "Loveline"s cancellation on Hawaiian affiliate KPOI.


title: Adam Carolla

text: In October 2005, Carolla was announced as the host of a new morning radio show on the Infinity Broadcasting network. His new show would replace the popular syndicated "Howard Stern Show" (which was moving to satellite radio) in twelve of the 27 markets in which Stern had been broadcast including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Diego, Phoenix, and Portland, Oregon. "The Adam Carolla Show" debuted in January 2006.


title: Adam Carolla

text: In early 2008, actor Gerard Butler sat in and observed Adam Carolla on "The Adam Carolla Show" in order to prepare for his role in "The Ugly Truth" as a cynical and crass talk-radio host allegedly based on Carolla.


title: Adam Carolla

text: On February 18, 2009, "The Adam Carolla Show" was canceled as part of a format switch at KLSX to AMP FM, a new top 40 station. The final show was Friday, February 20, 2009.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Carolla started a daily podcast on February 23, 2009, at his personal website, which would evolve into the ACE Broadcasting Network. The first Adam Carolla podcast was downloaded more than 250,000 times in the initial 24 hours, and by the third podcast, it was the number one podcast on iTunes in both the U.S. and Canada. During the debut week, the Adam Carolla podcast recorded 1.6 million downloads. In the second week it recorded 2.4 million downloads. By the fourth episode of the second week, featuring former "Adam Carolla Show" sidekick Dave Dameshek, the show was downloaded more than 500,000 times. Adam stated that bandwidth cost more than $9,000 a month as of May 2009.


title: Adam Carolla

text: At the end of 2009, "The Adam Carolla Podcast" was selected by iTunes for its end-of-the-year awards as the Best Audio Podcast of 2009.


title: Adam Carolla

text: On the April 4, 2010, episode of "The Adam Carolla Show", Carolla referred to Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao as a "fucking idiot" and said of the Philippines: "They got this and sex tours, that's all they have over there. Get your shit together, Philippines." A spokesman for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo called Carolla an "ignorant fool". Carolla subsequently apologized via Twitter.


title: Adam Carolla

text: On May 18, 2011, Carolla noted on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" that "The Adam Carolla Show" had taken the Guinness World Record for the most downloaded podcast ever from previous holder Ricky Gervais by receiving 59,574,843 unique downloads from March 2009 to March 16, 2011.


title: Adam Carolla

text: In 2010, Carolla posed for the NOH8 Campaign. In August 2011, Carolla released a podcast where he mocked a petition to the producers of "Sesame Street" that demanded Bert and Ernie get married on air. He said on air that gay activists should "[j]ust get married, and please shut up" and that "Y.U.C.K." would be more memorable acronym than LGBT, and referring to transgender people he asked: "When did we start giving a shit about these people?" GLAAD characterized the previous remarks by Carolla as offensive, including an assertion that "all things being equal", heterosexual parents make better parents than homosexual parents. Carolla responded: "I'm sorry my comments were hurtful. I'm a comedian, not a politician."


title: Adam Carolla

text: In 2013, Personal Audio filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Lotzi Digital, Inc., producers of "The Adam Carolla Show" and several other podcasts on the Carolla Digital Network, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The suit alleged that owner Adam Carolla and his network of content infringed on Personal Audio's patent 8,112,504.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Using the crowdfunding site FundAnything.com, listeners contributed more than $475,000 (as of August 2014) to support Carolla throughout the legal proceedings.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Personal Audio dropped the lawsuit July 29, 2014, stating that the defendants were not "making significant money from infringing Personal Audio's patents". However, Carolla countersued, having already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars mounting a defense against claims he deemed unfounded. Among claims sought by the countersuit was a request that the initial patent be invalidated. On August 15, 2014, Carolla and Personal Audio filed a joint motion to dismiss after reaching a settlement, the details of which were not made public but included a six-week "quiet period" during which neither party could speak to the media. Both parties' claims were dropped without prejudice and, as such, could be refiled at a later date.


title: Adam Carolla

text: From 1996 to 2000, Carolla and Dr. Drew hosted "Loveline" on MTV, a television version of the radio show. Carolla began his first original television series with "The Man Show", along with partner and friend Jimmy Kimmel, on Comedy Central from 1999 to 2003. He left "The Man Show" at the same time as Kimmel. Carolla has continued his work with Kimmel as a writer and guest on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!". He also appeared on an episode of "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" around this time.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Carolla and partner Daniel Kellison are the heads of Jackhole Productions. The two created the television show "Crank Yankers" for Comedy Central, which revived the Mr. Birchum character. The show premiered in 2002 on Comedy Central and returned to MTV2 on February 9, 2007, running again until March 30, 2007. The show screened in Australia on SBS Television and The Comedy Channel between 2003 and 2008. The show revived in 2019.


title: Adam Carolla

text: From August 2005 to November 2005, Carolla hosted the talk show "Too Late with Adam Carolla" on Comedy Central.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Also in 2005, Carolla was featured in a home remodeling program called "The Adam Carolla Project" wherein he and a crew of old friends renovated his childhood home. The 13 episodes aired on the cable channel TLC (The Learning Channel) from October through December 2005. The house was then sold for 1.2 million dollars.


title: Adam Carolla

text: In 2006, Carolla appeared on the special summer series "Gameshow Marathon" as a celebrity panelist on the Match Game episode.


title: Adam Carolla

text: On the February 18, 2008, broadcast of his radio show, Carolla announced that he would be one of the contestants on the next season of "Dancing with the Stars". Later in the broadcast, it was revealed to Carolla that his partner would be Julianne Hough. He was voted off on the April 8, 2008, episode after his performance of the Paso Doble, after incorporating a demonstration of unicycle riding in his dance routine.


title: Adam Carolla

text: On June 16, 2008, Carolla was selected to host a pilot of an American version of the popular BBC show "Top Gear" for NBC. In December 2008, NBC decided not to pick up the show.


title: Adam Carolla

text: On February 21, 2009, a day after his Los Angeles-based morning radio show was canceled – as part of a format change at KLSX-FM – CBS ordered a comedy pilot, "Ace in the Hole", starring Carolla as a husband and father who works as a driving instructor. Carolla created and wrote the pilot with Kevin Hench ("Jimmy Kimmel Live!"). Carolla stated that Pamela Adlon was to play his wife and Windell Middlebrooks would play his best friend. During his March 30, 2009, podcast, Carolla briefly described the show as being ""All in the Family", essentially", with Carolla playing a similar role to that of Archie Bunker. On the July 23, 2009, episode of the "Adam Carolla Podcast", Carolla announced that CBS was not picking up the pilot for the 2009 season, "in any way, shape or form".


title: Adam Carolla

text: On October 22, 2009, it was reported in "Variety" that Carolla had struck a deal with NBC to produce a half-hour pilot for a sitcom. The report was later confirmed on January 4, 2010, and was the first comedy pilot ordered by NBC for the season. The untitled project, written by Carolla and Kevin Hench, was a single-camera sitcom that starred Carolla as a contractor and father who attempts to rebuild his life after his wife leaves him. Carolla was set to executive produce the NBC project along with frequent collaborators Kimmel and Hench, as well as his agent James "Babydoll" Dixon, Jon Pollack, Gail Berman, Daniel Kellison, and Lloyd Braun. Universal Media Studios, BermanBraun, and Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel's own Jackhole Industries.


title: Adam Carolla

text: On the February 13, 2010, episode of Carolla's "CarCast" podcast, he revealed that The History Channel had picked up "Top Gear US", which NBC had decided against in 2008. On the March 26, 2010, episode of "CarCast", Carolla said that he would not be co-hosting "Top Gear US" because of scheduling conflicts with his NBC sitcom project. In June 2010, Carolla said that his NBC pilot had not been picked up and was now "dead".


title: Adam Carolla

text: Premiering on February 19, 2012, Carolla was also one of the contestants in the 12th season of NBC's "The Celebrity Apprentice". He was fired in Week 4, because host Donald Trump perceived that Carolla did not utilize teammate Mario Andretti's car background during a Buick presentation.


title: Adam Carolla

text: In 2022, Carolla competed in season eight of "The Masked Singer" as "Avocado". He was eliminated on "Comedy Roast Night" alongside Chris Jericho as "Bride".


title: Adam Carolla

text: Carolla's "The Car Show" debuted on Speed TV July 13, 2011. Appearing Wednesdays at 10 pm Eastern, it featured Carolla as the host, along with Dan Neil, John Salley, and Matt Farah. It had a format similar to "Top Gear", mixing car reviews, tests and humor. The show was initially met with positive reviews from car enthusiasts and comedy fans. Talk show host and comedian Jay Leno called "The Car Show", "a lot of fun".


title: Adam Carolla

text: "The Car Show" was cancelled after one season, after undergoing format changes due to low ratings, as Carolla mentioned on his podcast on January 13, 2012.


title: Adam Carolla

text: "Catch a Contractor" is a non-scripted, original series on Spike, hosted by Carolla along with "no-nonsense contractor" Skip Bedell and his wife, investigator Alison Bedell. Together they expose unethical contractors and seek retribution for wronged homeowners.


title: Adam Carolla

text: The show premiered on March 9, 2014, to 1.2 million viewers, the largest audience for a series debut on Spike since "Coal" in March 2011. The show was cancelled in 2015.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Premiering on Spike TV on March 14, 2017, "Adam Carolla and Friends Build Stuff Live" features Carolla building projects live and in studio with some of his Hollywood friends, and tackling viewers' home improvement projects via social media.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Carolla has also done voice acting in animation, including Commander Nebula on the Disney animated series "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command", Death on "Family Guy" (replacing Norm Macdonald) and Spanky Ham on "Drawn Together". He was also the voice of the éclair police officer, Wynchell, in the Disney film "Wreck-It Ralph". In 2008 and 2009, he was the spokesperson for T.G.I. Friday's.


title: Adam Carolla

text: In 2003, he appeared in "Windy City Heat" as himself. In 2006, Carolla finished work on "The Hammer", a semi-autobiographical independent film he co-wrote and co-produced, in which he stars opposite Heather Juergensen. The film is based loosely on his own life and is filmed at a gym he helped build with his co-star, Ozzie, played by Oswaldo Castillo, his friend in real life whom he met while building the gym when they both worked in construction. The film made its world premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City and shortly thereafter received a positive review in Variety. The film was released on March 21, 2008. The film is rated 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Adam made a short appearance in Jeff Balis' "Still Waiting..." (a sequel to "Waiting...") playing a pick-up artist guru.


title: Adam Carolla

text: In July 2013, Carolla used crowdfunding for "Road Hard"; a film he directed and starred in, about the lives of aging road comics. Adam confirmed through a press conference that the film would co-star David Alan Grier, Illeana Douglas, Diane Farr, and Larry Miller. It had limited theatrical release in the United States. Several minutes of the credits are devoted to listing the names of those who helped crowdfund the film.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Carolla also directed the documentary "" on the 35-year car racing career of Paul Newman. The documentary showcases Newman's racing life as both a prolific driver and owner.


title: Adam Carolla

text: In 2017, Carolla and Dennis Prager began filming "No Safe Spaces", a documentary about political correctness at universities. "No Safe Spaces" had a limited opening on October 25, 2019, and did well enough to open nationwide on December 6, 2019.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Carolla and Drew Pinsky co-wrote (with Marshall Fine) the self-help book "The Dr. Drew and Adam Book: A Survival Guide to Life and Love," published in 1998. The book is a compilation of some of the advice the pair compiled while producing Loveline.


title: Adam Carolla

text: In November 2010, Carolla's "In Fifty Years We'll All Be Chicks... And Other Complaints from an Angry Middle-Aged White Guy" was published by Crown Archetype and debuted at number eight on the "New York Times" Best Seller list for hardcover non-fiction on November 21, 2010. The book was compiled from rants Carolla had delivered on his radio show and podcast along with some new material and was dictated to and ghost-written by Mike Lynch.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Carolla published a short, illustrated e-book entitled "Rich Man, Poor Man" in January 2012. The book details some similarities in the experiences of the very rich and the very poor which are not shared by the middle class. The book was illustrated by Michael Narren.


title: Adam Carolla

text: In "President Me: The America That's in My Head," Carolla presents the comedian's fantasy of the United States with him at the helm. When asked in separate interviews, both before and after the book's release, about whether the "if-I-were-king" critique of America was a serious piece, he said it's both: "Well, there's a lot of jokes in it, but you know, it's like... Well, if you have a fat friend you may make a lot of fat jokes about your fat friend, but he's still fat".


title: Adam Carolla

text: In "Daddy, Stop Talking!: And Other Things My Kids Want But Won't Be Getting," Carolla writes about modern parenting. Carolla describes what he believes adults must do if they don't want to have to support their kids forever. Carolla uses his own childhood as a cautionary tale, and decries helicopter parenting.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Carolla's book, "I'm Your Emotional Support Animal: Navigating Our All Woke, No Joke Culture", was published by Post Hill Press on June 16, 2020.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Carolla's latest book, "Everything Reminds Me of Something", was published by Post Hill Press on July 19, 2022.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Regarding his political views, Carolla has stated, "I guess I would be Republican, in the sense that I want a secure border, I'm not into the welfare state, I'm not into all those freebie lunch programs. It just kind of demeans people." He goes on to state, however, that he is also in favor of typically liberal causes such as the legalization of marijuana (he is a member of the advisory board of the Marijuana Policy Project) and support for as well some progressive causes such as "[being] against semi-automatic and automatic weapons. I'm not an NRA guy by any stretch of the imagination. I'd like alternative energy to be explored and electric cars to be used, but I want them to be powered by nuclear power plants." Elsewhere, he has stated, "My feeling is this whole country is founded on the principle of 'If you are not hurting anyone, and you're not fucking with someone else's shit, and you are paying your taxes, you should be able to just do what you want to do.' It's the freedom and the independence." In an interview with "Reason TV", Carolla described his views as libertarian.


title: Adam Carolla

text: In June 2012, Carolla gave a printed interview to the "New York Post", where among other things he stated that "chicks" are "always the least funny on the writing staff" and that "dudes are funnier than chicks". Carolla's comments were criticized as sexist. Carolla criticized coverage of his comments as over-simplistic and misleading.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Carolla said, "If you meet anyone over 45, they'll tell you they got paddled, they got swatted, the teacher would smack them with a ruler. … Paddling a kid sounds pretty outrageous in 2020 and nobody would stand for it. ... But the people who engaged in it at the time when it was common practice or had a context, we don't need to build a time machine so we can cancel-culture them". In an interview with Tucker Carlson, Carolla said that cancel culture is "destroying free speech and killing comedy."


title: Adam Carolla

text: On September 28, 2002, Carolla married Lynette Paradise. The couple's twins Natalia and Santino "Sonny" Richard Carolla were born June 7, 2006. Carolla announced in May 2021 that he and Lynette were divorcing after 19 years. He currently lives in La Cañada Flintridge, California.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Carolla was a part owner of Amalfi, an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles, saying, "I own about two percent of it, but I've never seen a penny."


title: Adam Carolla

text: Carolla won the 2013 Pro/Celebrity Race as a professional and the 2012 Pro/Celebrity Race at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach as an amateur. The 2012 race was run on April 14, 2012, and was broadcast on Speed TV. Carolla has previously participated in the race in 2010 and 2003. He finished ninth among 19 racers (fifth among the ten celebrities) in 2010 despite being regarded as a pre-race favorite. He is also a serious automobile collector with over 20 cars. His collection includes several Lamborghinis from the 1960s and early 1970s, including two Miuras (of 764 examples ever produced), one of which he has loaned to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, two 400GT 2+2s (of 247 units produced) and a 1965 350GT (one of 135 built). At least one Ferrari and Aston Martin and several vintage race cars round out the collection.


title: Adam Carolla

text: Carolla and Pinsky received a Sexual Health in Entertainment (SHINE) Award from The Media Project in 2000 for "incorporating accurate and honest portrayals of sexuality" in the talk show category for "Loveline".


title: Company rule in India

text: Company rule in India (sometimes, Company "Raj", from ) refers to the rule of the British East India Company on the Indian subcontinent. This is variously taken to have commenced in 1757, after the Battle of Plassey, when the Nawab of Bengal was defeated and replaced with another individual who had the support of the East India Company; or in 1765, when the Company was granted the "diwani", or the right to collect revenue, in Bengal and Bihar; or in 1773, when the Company abolished local rule (Nizamat) and established a capital in Calcutta, appointed its first Governor-General, Warren Hastings, and became directly involved in governance. The rule lasted until 1858, when, after the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and consequently of the Government of India Act 1858, the British government assumed the task of directly administering India in the new British Raj.


title: Company rule in India

text: The English East India Company ("the Company") was founded in 1600, as "The Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East Indies". It gained a foothold in India in with the establishment of a factory in Masulipatnam on the Eastern coast of India in 1611 and the grant of the rights to establish a factory in Surat in 1612 by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir. In 1640, after receiving similar permission from the Vijayanagara ruler farther south, a second factory was established in Madras on the southeastern coast. Bombay island, not far from Surat, a former Portuguese outpost gifted to England as dowry in the marriage of Catherine of Braganza to Charles II, was leased by the Company in 1668. Two decades later, the Company established a presence on the eastern coast as well; far up that coast, in the Ganges Delta, a factory was set up in Calcutta. Since, during this time other "companies"—established by the Portuguese, Dutch, French, and Danish—were similarly expanding in the region, the English Company's unremarkable beginnings on coastal India offered no clues to what would become a lengthy presence on the Indian subcontinent.


title: Company rule in India

text: The company's victory under Robert Clive in the 1757 Battle of Plassey and another victory in the 1764 Battle of Buxar (in Bihar), consolidated the company's power, and forced emperor Shah Alam II to appoint it the "diwan", or revenue collector, of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. The Company thus became the de facto ruler of large areas of the lower Gangetic plain by 1773. It also proceeded by degrees to expand its dominions around Bombay and Madras. The Anglo-Mysore Wars (1766–1799) and the Anglo-Maratha Wars (1772–1818) left it in control of large areas of India south of the Sutlej River. With the defeat of the Marathas, no native power represented a threat for the Company any longer.


title: Company rule in India

text: The expansion of the company's power chiefly took two forms. The first of these was the outright annexation of Indian states and subsequent direct governance of the underlying regions, which collectively came to comprise British India. The annexed regions included the North-Western Provinces (comprising Rohilkhand, Gorakhpur, and the Doab) (1801), Delhi (1803), Assam (Ahom Kingdom 1828), and Sindh (1843). Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, and Kashmir, were annexed after the Anglo-Sikh Wars in 1849-1856 (Period of tenure of Marquess of Dalhousie Governor General); however, Kashmir was immediately sold under the Treaty of Amritsar (1850) to the Dogra dynasty of Jammu, and thereby became a princely state. In 1854 Berar was annexed, and the state of Oudh two years later.


title: Company rule in India

text: The second form of asserting power involved treaties in which Indian rulers acknowledged the company's hegemony in return for limited internal autonomy. Since the Company operated under financial constraints, it had to set up "political" underpinnings for its rule. The most important such support came from the "subsidiary alliances" with Indian princes during the first 75 years of Company rule. In the early 19th century, the territories of these princes accounted for two-third of India. When an Indian ruler, who was able to secure his territory, wanted to enter such an alliance, the Company welcomed it as an economical method of indirect rule, which did not involve the economic costs of direct administration or the political costs of gaining the support of alien subjects.


title: Company rule in India

text: In return, the Company undertook the "defence of these subordinate allies and treated them with traditional respect and marks of honor." Subsidiary alliances created the princely states, of the Hindu maharajas and the Muslim nawabs. Prominent among the princely states were: Cochin (1791), Jaipur (1794), Travancore (1795), Hyderabad (1798), Mysore (1799), Cis-Sutlej Hill States (1815), Central India Agency (1819), Cutch and Gujarat Gaikwad territories (1819), Rajputana (1818), and Bahawalpur (1833).


title: Company rule in India

text: Until Clive's victory at Plassey, the East India Company territories in India, which consisted largely of the presidency towns of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, were governed by the mostly autonomous—and sporadically unmanageable—"town councils", all composed of merchants. The councils barely had enough powers for the effective management of their local affairs, and the ensuing lack of oversight of the overall Company operations in India led to some grave abuses by Company officers or their allies. Clive's victory, and the award of the "diwani" of the rich region of Bengal, brought India into the public spotlight in Britain. The company's money management practices came to be questioned, especially as it began to post net losses even as some Company servants, the "Nabobs", returned to Britain with large fortunes, which—according to rumours then current—were acquired unscrupulously. By 1772, the Company needed British government loans to stay afloat, and there was fear in London that the company's corrupt practices could soon seep into British business and public life. The rights and duties of the British government with regards the company's new territories came also to be examined. The British parliament then held several inquiries and in 1773, during the premiership of Lord North, enacted the "Regulating Act", which established regulations, its long title stated, "for the better Management of the Affairs of the "East India Company", as well in "India" as in "Europe"".


title: Company rule in India

text: Although Lord North himself wanted the company's territories to be taken over by the British state, he faced determined political opposition from many quarters, including some in the City of London and the Parliament of Great Britain. The result was a compromise in which the Regulating Act—although implying the ultimate sovereignty of the British Crown over these new territories—asserted that the company could act as a sovereign power on behalf of the Crown. It could do this while concurrently being subject to oversight and regulation by the British government and parliament. The Court of Directors of the company were required under the Act to submit all communications regarding civil, military, and revenue matters in India for scrutiny by the British government. For the governance of the Indian territories, the act asserted the supremacy of the Presidency of Fort William (Bengal) over those of Fort St. George (Madras) and Bombay. It also nominated a Governor-General (Warren Hastings) and four councillors for administering the Bengal Presidency (and for overseeing the company's operations in India). "The subordinate Presidencies were forbidden to wage war or make treaties without the previous consent of the Governor-General of Bengal in Council, except in case of imminent necessity. The Governors of these Presidencies were directed in general terms to obey the orders of the Governor-General-in-Council, and to transmit to him intelligence of all important matters." However, the imprecise wording of the Act left it open to be variously interpreted; consequently, the administration in India continued to be hobbled by disunity between the provincial governors, between members of the council, and between the Governor-General himself and his Council. The "Regulating Act" also attempted to address the prevalent corruption in India: Company servants were henceforth forbidden to engage in private trade in India or to receive "presents" from Indian nationals.


title: Company rule in India

text: In 1783, the Fox–North coalition tried to reform colonial policy again with a bill introduced by Edmund Burke which would have transferred political power over India from the East India Company to a parliamentary commission. The bill passed the House of Commons with the enthusiastic support of Foreign Secretary Charles James Fox, but was vetoed by the House of Lords under pressure from King George III, who then dismissed the government and formed a new ministry under Fox's rival William Pitt the Younger. Pitt's India Act left the East India Company in political control of India but established a Board of Control in England both to supervise the East India Company's affairs and to prevent the company's shareholders from interfering in the governance of India. The Board of Control consisted of six members, which included one Secretary of State from the British cabinet, as well as the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Around this time, there was also extensive debate in the British Parliament on the issue of landed rights in Bengal, with a consensus developing in support of the view advocated by Philip Francis, a member of the Bengal council and political adversary of Warren Hastings, that all lands in Bengal should be considered the "estate and inheritance of native land-holders and families".


title: Company rule in India

text: Mindful of the reports of abuse and corruption in Bengal by Company servants, the India Act itself noted numerous complaints that divers Rajahs, Zemindars, Polygars, Talookdars, and landholders' had been unjustly deprived of 'their lands, jurisdictions, rights, and privileges. At the same time the company's directors were now leaning towards Francis's view that the land-tax in Bengal should be made fixed and permanent, setting the stage for the Permanent Settlement (see section Revenue collection below). The India Act also created in each of the three presidencies a number of administrative and military posts, which included: a Governor and three Councilors, one of which was the Commander in Chief of the Presidency army. Although the supervisory powers of the Governor-General-in-Council in Bengal (over Madras and Bombay) were extended—as they were again in the Charter Act of 1793—the subordinate presidencies continued to exercise some autonomy until both the extension of British possessions into becoming contiguous and the advent of faster communications in the next century.


title: Company rule in India

text: Still, the new Governor-General appointed in 1786, Lord Cornwallis, not only had more power than Hastings, but also had the support of a powerful British cabinet minister, Henry Dundas, who, as Secretary of State for the Home Office, was in charge of the overall India policy. From 1784 onwards, the British government had the final word on all major appointments in India; a candidate's suitability for a senior position was often decided by the strength of his political connections rather than that of his administrative ability. Although this practice resulted in many Governor-General nominees being chosen from Britain's conservative landed gentry, there were some liberals as well, such as Lord William Bentinck and Lord Dalhousie.


title: Company rule in India

text: British political opinion was also shaped by the attempted Impeachment of Warren Hastings; the trial, whose proceedings began in 1788, ended with Hastings' acquittal, in 1795. Although the effort was chiefly coordinated by Edmund Burke, it also drew support from within the British government. Burke accused Hastings not only of corruption, but—appealing to universal standards of justice—also of acting solely upon his own discretion, without concern for law, and of wilfully causing distress to others in India. Hastings' defenders countered that his actions were consistent with Indian customs and traditions. Although Burke's speeches at the trial drew applause and focused attention on India, Hastings was eventually acquitted, due in part to the revival of nationalism in Britain in the wake of the French Revolution. Nonetheless, Burke's effort had the effect of creating a sense of responsibility in British public life for the company's dominion in India.


title: Company rule in India

text: Soon rumblings appeared amongst merchants in London that the monopoly granted to the East India Company in 1600, intended to facilitate its competition against Dutch and French in a distant region, was no longer needed. In response, in the Charter Act of 1813, the British Parliament renewed the company's charter but terminated its monopoly except with regard to tea and trade with China, opening India both to private investment and missionaries. With increased British power in India, supervision of Indian affairs by the British Crown and Parliament increased as well. By the 1820s British nationals could transact business or engage in missionary work under the protection of the Crown in the three presidencies. Finally, under the terms of The Saint Helena Act 1833, the British Parliament revoked the company's monopoly in the China trade and made it an agent for the administration of British India. The Governor-General of Bengal was redesignated as the Governor-General of India. The Governor-General and his executive council were given exclusive legislative powers for the whole of British India. Since the British territories in north India had now extended up to Delhi, the Act also sanctioned the creation of a Presidency of Agra. With the annexation of Oudh in 1856, this territory was extended and eventually became the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. In addition, in 1854, a lieutenant-governor was appointed for the region of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha, leaving the Governor-General to concentrate on the governance of India as a whole.


title: Company rule in India

text: In the remnant of the Mughal Empire revenue system existing in pre-1765 Bengal, zamindars, or "land holders", collected revenue on behalf of the Mughal emperor, whose representative, or "diwan", supervised their activities. In this system, the assortment of rights associated with land were not possessed by a "land owner", but rather shared by the several parties with stake in the land, including the peasant cultivator, the "zamindar", and the state. The "zamindar" served as an intermediary who procured economic rent from the cultivator, and after withholding a percentage for his own expenses, made available the rest, as revenue to the state. Under the Mughal system, the land itself belonged to the state and not to the "zamindar", who could transfer only his right to collect rent. On being awarded the "diwani" or overlordship of Bengal following the Battle of Buxar in 1764, the East India Company found itself short of trained administrators, especially those familiar with local custom and law; tax collection was consequently farmed out. This uncertain foray into land taxation by the company, may have gravely worsened the impact of a famine that struck Bengal in 1769–70, in which between seven and ten million people—or between a quarter and third of the presidency's population—may have died. However, the company provided little relief either through reduced taxation or by relief efforts, and the economic and cultural impact of the famine was felt decades later, even becoming, a century later, the subject of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's novel "Anandamath".


title: Company rule in India

text: In 1772, under Warren Hastings, the East India Company took over revenue collection directly in the Bengal Presidency (then Bengal and Bihar), establishing a Board of Revenue with offices in Calcutta and Patna, and moving the pre-existing Mughal revenue records from Murshidabad to Calcutta.


title: Company rule in India

text: In 1773, after Oudh ceded the tributary state of Benaras, the revenue collection system was extended to the territory with a Company Resident in charge. The following year—with a view to preventing corruption—Company "district collectors", who were then responsible for revenue collection for an entire district, were replaced with provincial councils at Patna, Murshidabad, and Calcutta, and with Indian collectors working within each district. The title, "collector", reflected "the centrality of land revenue collection to government in India: it was the government's primary function and it moulded the institutions and patterns of administration".


title: Company rule in India

text: The Company inherited a revenue collection system from the Mughals in which the heaviest proportion of the tax burden fell on the cultivators, with one-third of the production reserved for imperial entitlement; this pre-colonial system became the Company revenue policy's baseline. However, there was vast variation across India in the methods by which the revenues were collected; with this complication in mind, a Committee of Circuit toured the districts of expanded Bengal Presidency in order to make a five-year settlement, consisting of five-yearly inspections and temporary tax farming. In their overall approach to revenue policy, Company officials were guided by two goals: first, preserving as much as possible the balance of rights and obligations that were traditionally claimed by the farmers who cultivated the land and the various intermediaries who collected tax on the state's behalf and who reserved a cut for themselves; and second, identifying those sectors of the rural economy that would maximise both revenue and security. Although their first revenue settlement turned out to be essentially the same as the more informal pre-existing Mughal one, the company had created a foundation for the growth of both information and bureaucracy.


title: Company rule in India

text: In 1793, the new Governor-General, Lord Cornwallis, promulgated the permanent settlement of land revenues in the presidency, the first socio-economic regulation in colonial India. By the terms of the settlement rajas and taluqdars were recognised as zamindars and they were asked to collect the rent from the peasants and pay revenue to the company. It was named "permanent" because it fixed the land tax in perpetuity in return for landed property rights for zamindars; it simultaneously defined the nature of land ownership in the presidency, and gave individuals and families separate property rights in occupied land. Since the revenue was fixed in perpetuity, it was fixed at a high level, which in Bengal amounted to £3 million at 1789–90 prices. According to the Permanent Settlement if the zamindars failed to pay the revenue on time, the zamindari right would be taken from them. According to one estimate, this was 20% higher than the revenue demand before 1757. Over the next century, partly as a result of land surveys, court rulings, and property sales, the change was given practical dimension. An influence on the development of this revenue policy were the economic theories then current, which regarded agriculture as the engine of economic development, and consequently stressed the fixing of revenue demands in order to encourage growth. The expectation behind the permanent settlement was that knowledge of a fixed government demand would encourage the zamindars to increase both their average outcrop and the land under cultivation, since they would be able to retain the profits from the increased output; in addition, it was envisaged that land itself would become a marketable form of property that could be purchased, sold, or mortgaged. A feature of this economic rationale was the additional expectation that the zamindars, recognising their own best interest, would not make unreasonable demands on the peasantry.


title: Company rule in India

text: However, these expectations were not realised in practice, and in many regions of Bengal, the peasants bore the brunt of the increased demand, there being little protection for their traditional rights in the new legislation. Forced labour of the peasants by the zamindars became more prevalent as cash crops were cultivated to meet the Company revenue demands. Although commercialised cultivation was not new to the region, it had now penetrated deeper into village society and made it more vulnerable to market forces. The zamindars themselves were often unable to meet the increased demands that the company had placed on them; consequently, many defaulted, and by one estimate, up to one-third of their lands were auctioned during the first two decades following the permanent settlement. The new owners were often Brahmin and Kayastha employees of the Company who had a good grasp of the new system, and, in many cases, some had prospered under it.


title: Company rule in India

text: Since the zamindars were never able to undertake costly improvements to the land envisaged under the Permanent Settlement, some of which required the removal of the existing farmers, they soon became rentiers who lived off the rent from their tenant farmers. In many areas, especially northern Bengal, they had to increasingly share the revenue with intermediate tenure holders, called "jotedars", who supervised farming in the villages. Consequently, unlike the contemporaneous Enclosure movement in Britain, agriculture in Bengal remained the province of the subsistence farming of innumerable small paddy fields.


title: Company rule in India

text: The zamindari system was one of two principal revenue settlements undertaken by the Company in India. In southern India, Thomas Munro, who would later become Governor of Madras, promoted the "ryotwari" system or the Munro system, in which the government settled land-revenue directly with the peasant farmers, or "ryots". It was first tried in small scale by Captain Alexander Read in the areas that were taken over from the wars with Tipu Sultan. Subsequently, developed by Thomas Munro, this system was gradually extended all over South India. This was, in part, a consequence of the turmoil of the Anglo-Mysore Wars, which had prevented the emergence of a class of large landowners; in addition, Munro and others felt that "ryotwari" was closer to traditional practice in the region and ideologically more progressive, allowing the benefits of Company rule to reach the lowest levels of rural society. At the heart of the "ryotwari" system was a particular theory of economic rent—and based on David Ricardo's Law of Rent—promoted by utilitarian James Mill who formulated the Indian revenue policy between 1819 and 1830. "He believed that the government was the ultimate lord of the soil and should not renounce its right to 'rent', i.e. the profit left over on richer soil when wages and other working expenses had been settled." Another keystone of the new system of temporary settlements was the classification of agricultural fields according to soil type and produce, with average rent rates fixed for the period of the settlement. According to Mill, taxation of land rent would promote efficient agriculture and simultaneously prevent the emergence of a "parasitic landlord class". Mill advocated "ryotwari" settlements which consisted of government measurement and assessment of each plot (valid for 20 or 30 years) and subsequent taxation which was dependent on the fertility of the soil. The taxed amount was nine-tenths of the "rent" in the early 19th century and gradually fell afterwards. However, in spite of the appeal of the "ryotwari" system's abstract principles, class hierarchies in southern Indian villages had not entirely disappeared—for example village headmen continued to hold sway—and peasant cultivators sometimes came to experience revenue demands they could not meet. In the 1850s, a scandal erupted when it was discovered that some Indian revenue agents of the company were using torture to meet the company's revenue demands.


title: Company rule in India

text: Land revenue settlements constituted a major administrative activity of the various governments in India under Company rule. In all areas other than the Bengal Presidency, land settlement work involved a continually repetitive process of surveying and measuring plots, assessing their quality, and recording landed rights, and constituted a large proportion of the work of Indian Civil Service officers working for the government. After the Company lost its trading rights, it became the single most important source of government revenue, roughly half of overall revenue in the middle of the 19th century; even so, between the years 1814 and 1859, the government of India ran debts in 33 years. With expanded dominion, even during non-deficit years, there was just enough money to pay the salaries of a threadbare administration, a skeleton police force, and the army.


title: Company rule in India

text: In 1772, when Hastings became the first Governor-General one of his first undertakings was the rapid expansion of the Presidency's army. Since the available soldiers, or "Sepoys", from Bengal—many of whom had fought against the British in the Battle of Plasseywere now suspect in British eyes, Hastings recruited farther west from the "major breeding ground" of India's infantry in eastern Awadh and the lands around Banaras including Bihar. The high caste rural Hindu Rajputs and Brahmins of this region, known as "Purbiyas" (Hindi, lit. "easterners"), had been recruited by Mughal Empire armies for two hundred years; the East India Company continued this practice for the next 75 years, with these soldiers comprising up to eighty per cent of the Bengal army. British in Malabar also converted Thiyyar army, called as Thiyya pattalam into a special regiment centered at Thalassery called as The Thiyyar Regiment in 1904. However, in order to avoid any friction within the ranks, the company also took pains to adapt its military practices to their religious requirements. Consequently, these soldiers dined in separate facilities; in addition, overseas service, considered polluting to their caste, was not required of them, and the army soon came to recognise Hindu festivals officially. "This encouragement of high caste ritual status, however, left the government vulnerable to protest, even mutiny, whenever the sepoys detected infringement of their prerogatives."


title: Company rule in India

text: The Bengal Army was used in military campaigns in other parts of India and abroad: to provide crucial support to a weak Madras army in the Third Anglo-Mysore War in 1791, and also in Java and Ceylon. In contrast to the soldiers in the armies of Indian rulers, the Bengal sepoys not only received high pay, but also received it reliably, thanks in great measure to the company's access to the vast land-revenue reserves of Bengal. Soon, bolstered both by the new musket technology and naval support, the Bengal army came to be widely well-regarded. The well-disciplined sepoys attired in red-coats and their British officers began to arouse "a kind of awe in their adversaries. In Maharashtra and in Java, the sepoys were regarded as the embodiment of demonic forces, sometimes of antique warrior heroes. Indian rulers adopted red serge jackets for their own forces and retainers as if to capture their magical qualities."


title: Company rule in India

text: In 1796, under pressure from the company's board of directors in London, the Indian troops were re-organised and reduced during the tenure of John Shore as Governor-General. However, the closing years of the 18th century saw, with Wellesley's campaigns, a new increase in the army strength. Thus in 1806, at the time of the Vellore Mutiny, the combined strength of the three presidencies' armies stood at 154,500, making them one of the largest standing armies in the world.


title: Company rule in India

text: As the East India Company expanded its territories, it added irregular "local corps", which were not as well trained as the army. In 1846, after the Second Anglo-Sikh War, a frontier brigade was raised in the Cis-Sutlej Hill States mainly for police work; in addition, in 1849, the "Punjab Irregular Force" was added on the frontier. Two years later, this force consisted of "3 light field batteries, 5 regiments of cavalry, and 5 of infantry". The following year, "a garrison company was added, ... a sixth infantry regiment (formed from the Sind Camel Corps) in 1853, and one mountain battery in 1856". Similarly, a local force was raised after the annexation of Nagpur in 1854, and the "Oudh Irregular Force" was added after Oudh was annexed in 1856. Earlier, as a result of the treaty of 1800, the Nizam of Hyderabad had begun to maintain a contingent force of 9,000 horse and 6,000-foot which was commanded by Company officers; in 1853, after a new treaty was negotiated, this force was assigned to Berar and stopped being a part of the Nizam's army.


title: Company rule in India

text: In the Indian rebellion of 1857 almost the entire Bengal army, both regular and irregular, revolted. It has been suggested that after the annexation of Oudh by the East India Company in 1856, many sepoys were disquieted both from losing their perquisites, as landed gentry, in the Oudh courts and from the anticipation of any increased land-revenue payments that the annexation might augur. With British victories in wars or with annexation, as the extent of British jurisdiction expanded, the soldiers were now not only expected to serve in less familiar regions (such as in Burma in the Anglo-Burmese Wars in 1856), but also make do without the "foreign service", remuneration that had previously been their due, and this caused resentment in the ranks. The Bombay and Madras armies, and the Hyderabad contingent, however, remained loyal. The Punjab Irregular Force not only did not revolt, it played an active role in suppressing the mutiny. The rebellion led to a complete re-organisation of the Indian army in 1858 in the new British Raj.


title: Company rule in India

text: The reforms initiated after 1784 were designed to create an elite civil service where very talented young Britons would spend their entire careers. Advanced training was promoted especially at the East India Company College (until 1853). Haileybury emphasised the Anglican religion and morality and trained students in the classical Indian languages. Many students held to Whiggish, evangelical, and Utilitarian convictions of their duty to represent their nation and to modernise India. At most there were about 600 of these men who managed the Raj's customs service, taxes, justice system, and its general administration. The company's original policy was one of "Orientalism", that is of adjusting to the way of life and customs of the Indian people and not trying to reform them. That changed after 1813, as the forces of reform in the home country, especially evangelical religion, Whiggish political outlook, and Utilitarian philosophy worked together to make the company an agent of Anglicization and modernisation. Christian missionaries became active, but made few converts. The Raj set out to outlaw sati (widow-burning) and thuggee (ritual banditry) and upgrade the status of women. Schools would be established in which they would teach the English language. The 1830s and 1840s, however, were not times of prosperity: After its heavy spending on the military, the company had little money to engage in large-scale public works projects or modernisation programs.


title: Company rule in India

text: After gaining the right to collect revenue in Bengal in 1765, the Company largely ceased importing gold and silver, which it had hitherto used to pay for goods shipped back to Britain.


title: Company rule in India

text: In addition, as under Mughal Empire rule, land revenue collected in the Bengal Presidency helped finance the company's wars in other parts of India. Consequently, in the period 1760–1800, Bengal's money supply was greatly diminished; furthermore, the closing of some local mints and close supervision of the rest, the fixing of exchange rates, and the standardisation of coinage, paradoxically, added to the economic downturn. During the period, 1780–1860, India changed from being an exporter of processed goods for which it received payment in bullion, to being an exporter of raw materials and a buyer of manufactured goods. More specifically, in the 1750s, mostly fine cotton and silk was exported from India to markets in Europe, Asia, and Africa; by the second quarter of the 19th century, raw materials, which chiefly consisted of raw cotton, opium, and indigo, accounted for most of India's exports. Also, from the late 18th century British cotton mill industry began to lobby the government to both tax Indian imports and allow them access to markets in India. Starting in the 1830s, British textiles began to appear in—and soon to inundate—the Indian markets, with the value of the textile imports growing from £5.2 million 1850 to £18.4 million in 1896. The American Civil War too would have a major impact on India's cotton economy: with the outbreak of the war, American cotton was no longer available to British manufacturers; consequently, demand for Indian cotton soared, and the prices soon quadrupled. This led many farmers in India to switch to cultivating cotton as a quick cash crop; however, with the end of the war in 1865, the demand plummeted again, creating another downturn in the agricultural economy.


title: Company rule in India

text: At this time, the East India Company's trade with China began to grow as well. In the early 19th century, demand for Chinese tea had greatly increased in Britain; since the money supply in India was restricted and the company was indisposed to shipping bullion from Britain, it decided upon opium, which had a large underground market in Qing China and which was grown in many parts of India, as the most profitable form of payment. However, since the Chinese authorities had banned the importation and consumption of opium, the Company engaged them in the First Opium War, and at its conclusion, under the Treaty of Nanjing, gained access to five Chinese ports, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Shanghai, and Ningbo; in addition, Hong Kong was ceded to the British Crown. Towards the end of the second quarter of the 19th century, opium export constituted 40% of India's exports.


title: Company rule in India

text: Another major, though erratic, export item was indigo dye, which was extracted from natural indigo, and which came to be grown in Bengal and northern Bihar. In late 17th and early 18th century Europe, blue clothing was favoured as a fashion, and blue uniforms were common in the military; consequently, the demand for the dye was high. In 1788, the East India Company offered advances to ten British planters to grow indigo; however, since the new (landed) property rights defined in the Permanent Settlement, did not allow them, as Europeans, to buy agricultural land, they had to in turn offer cash advances to local peasants, and sometimes coerce them, to grow the crop. The European demand for the dye, however, proved to be unstable, and both creditors and cultivators bore the risk of the market crashes in 1827 and 1847. The peasant discontent in Bengal eventually led to the "Indigo rebellion" in 1859–60 and to the end of indigo production there. In Bihar, however, indigo production continued well into the 20th century; the centre of indigo production there, Champaran district, became the staging ground, in 1917, for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's first experiment in non-violent resistance against the British Raj.