text: Curzon was President of the Union and Secretary of the Oxford Canning Club (a Tory political club named for George Canning), but as a consequence of the extent of his time-expenditure on political and social societies, he failed to achieve a first class degree in Greats, although he subsequently won both the Lothian Prize Essay and the Arnold Prize, the latter for an essay on Sir Thomas More, about whom he knew little. In 1883, Curzon received the most prestigious fellowship at the university, a Prize Fellowship at All Souls College. Whilst at Eton and at Oxford, Curzon was a contemporary and close friend of Cecil Spring Rice and Edward Grey. However, Spring Rice contributed, alongside John William Mackail, to the composition of a famous sardonic doggerel about Curzon that was published as part of "The Balliol Masque", about which Curzon wrote in later life "never has more harm been done to one single individual than that accursed doggerel has done to me." It read:


title: George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston

text: When Spring-Rice was assigned to the British Embassy to the United States in 1894-1895, he was suspected by Curzon of trying to prevent Curzon's engagement to the American Mary Leiter, whom Curzon nevertheless married. However, Spring Rice assumed for a certainty, like many of Curzon's other friends, that Curzon would inevitably become Foreign Secretary: he wrote to Curzon in 1891, 'When you are Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs I hope you will restore the vanished glory of England, lead the European concert, decide the fate of nations, and give me three months' leave instead of two'.


text: Curzon became Assistant Private Secretary to the Marquess of Salisbury in 1885, and in 1886 entered Parliament as Member for Southport in south-west Lancashire. His maiden speech, which was chiefly an attack on home rule and Irish nationalism, was regarded in much the same way as his oratory at the Oxford Union: brilliant and eloquent but also presumptuous and rather too self-assured. Subsequent performances in the Commons, often dealing with Ireland or reform of the House of Lords (which he supported), received similar verdicts. He was Under-Secretary of State for India in 1891–92 and Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1895–98.


text: In the meantime he had travelled around the world: Russia and Central Asia (1888–89), a long tour of Persia (September 1889 – January 1890), Siam, French Indochina and Korea (1892), and a daring foray into Afghanistan and the Pamirs (1894). He published several books describing central and eastern Asia and related policy issues. A bold and compulsive traveller, fascinated by oriental life and geography, he was awarded the Patron's Medal of the Royal Geographical Society for his exploration of the source of the Amu Darya (Oxus). His journeys allowed him to study the problems of Asia and their implications for British India, whilst reinforcing his pride in his nation and her imperial mission.


text: Curzon believed Russia to be the most likely threat to British India, Britain's most valuable possession, from the 19th century through the early 20th century. In 1879 Russia had begun construction of the Transcaspian Railway along the Silk Road, officially solely to enforce local control. The line starts from the city of Kyzyl-Su, formerly Krasnovodsk (nowadays Turkmenbashi) (on the Caspian Sea), travels southeast along the Karakum Desert, through Ashgabat, continues along the Kopet Dagh Mountains until it reaches Tejen. Curzon dedicated an entire chapter in his book "Russia in Central Asia" to discussing the perceived threat to British control of India. This railway connected Russia with the most wealthy and influential cities in Central Asia at the time, including the Persian province of Khorasan, and would allow the rapid deployment of Russian supplies and troops into the area. Curzon also believed that the resulting greater economic interdependence between Russia and Central Asia would be damaging to British interests.


text: "Persia and the Persian Question", written in 1892, has been considered Curzon's "magnum opus" and can be seen as a sequel to "Russia in Central Asia." Curzon was commissioned by "The Times" to write several articles on the Persian political environment, but while there he decided to write a book on the country as whole. This two-volume work covers Persia's history and governmental structure, as well as graphics, maps and pictures (some taken by Curzon himself). Curzon was aided by General Albert Houtum-Schindler and the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), both of which helped him gain access to material to which as a foreigner he would not have been entitled to have access. General Schindler provided Curzon with information regarding Persia's geography and resources, as well as serving as an unofficial editor.


text: Curzon was appalled by his government's apathy towards Persia as a valuable defensive buffer to India from Russian encroachment. Years later Curzon would lament that "Persia has alternatively advanced and receded in the estimation of British statesmen, occupying now a position of extravagant prominence, anon one of unmerited obscurity."


text: In 1895 he married Mary Victoria Leiter, the daughter of Levi Ziegler Leiter, an American millionaire of German Mennonite origin and co-founder of the Chicago department store Field & Leiter (later Marshall Field). Initially, he had just married her for her money so he could save his estate but subsequently developing feelings for her. Mary had a long and nearly fatal illness near the end of summer 1904, from which she never really recovered. Falling ill again in July 1906, she died on the 18th of that month in her husband's arms, at the age of 36. It was the greatest personal loss of his life.


text: She was buried in the church at Kedleston, where Curzon designed his memorial for her, a Gothic chapel added to the north side of the nave. Although he was neither a devout nor a conventional churchman, Curzon retained a simple religious faith; in later years he sometimes said that he was not afraid of death because it would enable him to join Mary in heaven.


text: They had three daughters during a firm and happy marriage: Mary Irene, who inherited her father's Barony of Ravensdale and was created a life peer in her own right; Cynthia, who became the first wife of the fascist politician Sir Oswald Mosley; and Alexandra Naldera ("Baba"), who married Edward "Fruity" Metcalfe, the best friend, best man and equerry of Edward VIII. Mosley exercised a strange fascination for the Curzon women: Irene had a brief romance with him before either were married; Baba became his mistress; and Curzon's second wife, Grace, had a long affair with him.


text: In January 1899 Curzon was appointed as Viceroy of India. He was created a baron in the peerage of Ireland as Baron Curzon of Kedleston, in the County of Derby, on his appointment. As Viceroy, he was "ex officio" Grand Master of the Order of the Indian Empire and Order of the Star of India. This peerage was created in the Peerage of Ireland (the last so created) so that he would be free, until his father's death, to re-enter the House of Commons on his return to Britain.


text: Reaching India shortly after the suppression of the frontier risings of 1897–98, he paid special attention to the independent tribes of the north-west frontier, inaugurated a new province called the North West Frontier Province, and pursued a policy of forceful control mingled with conciliation. In response to what he called "a number of murderous attacks upon Englishmen and Europeans", Curzon advocated at the Quetta Durbar extremely draconian punishments which he believed would stop what he viewed as such especially abominable crimes. In his own private correspondence, Curzon pondered "Is it possible, under the law, to flog these horrible scoundrels before we execute them? Supposing we remove them for execution to another and distant jail, could we flog them in the first jail before removal? I believe that if we could postpone the execution for a few weeks and give the criminal a few good public floggings - or even one, were more not possible - it would act as a real deterrent. But I have a suspicion that British law does not smile upon anything so eminently practical." The only major armed outbreak on this frontier during the period of his administration was the Mahsud–Waziri campaign of 1901.


text: In the context of the Great Game between the British and Russian Empires for control of Central Asia, he held deep mistrust of Russian intentions. This led him to encourage British trade in Persia, and he paid a visit to the Persian Gulf in 1903. Curzon argued for an exclusive British presence in the Gulf, a policy originally proposed by John Malcolm. The British government was already making agreements with local sheiks/tribal leaders along the Persian Gulf coast to this end. Curzon had convinced his government to establish Britain as the unofficial protector of Kuwait with the Anglo-Kuwaiti Agreement of 1899. The Lansdowne Declaration in 1903 stated that the British would counter any other European power's attempt to establish a military presence in the Gulf. Only four years later this position was abandoned and the Persian Gulf declared a neutral zone in the Anglo-Russian Agreement of 1907, prompted in part by the high economic cost of defending India from Russian advances.


text: At the end of 1903, Curzon sent a British expedition to Tibet under Francis Younghusband, ostensibly to forestall a Russian advance. After bloody conflicts with Tibet's poorly armed defenders, the mission penetrated to Lhasa, where the Treaty of Lhasa was signed in September 1904.


text: During his tenure, Curzon undertook the restoration of the Taj Mahal and expressed satisfaction that he had done so. Curzon was influenced by Hindu philosophy and quoted:


text: Within India, Curzon appointed a number of commissions to inquire into education, irrigation, police and other branches of administration, on whose reports legislation was based during his second term of office as viceroy. Reappointed Governor-General in August 1904, he presided over the 1905 partition of Bengal.


text: Curzon was determined to address the British maltreatment of Indians. In particular, he incurred the displeasure of many in the European community in India by pressing for severe punishment for Europeans who had attacked Indians. On two occasions, he imposed collective punishment on British Army units which had attacked Indians: when soldiers of the West Kent Regiment raped a Burmese woman, he had the whole regiment exiled to Aden without leave. He later imposed similar punishment on the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers for the murder of an Indian cook.


text: Curzon proposed the Partition of Bengal and put it into effect on 16 October 1905. creating the new province of Eastern Bengal and Assam.


text: Curzon also took an active interest in military matters. In 1901, he founded the Imperial Cadet Corps, or ICC. The ICC was a corps d'elite, designed to give Indian princes and aristocrats military training, after which a few would be given officer commissions in the Indian Army. But these commissions were "special commissions" which did not empower their holders to command any troops. Predictably, this was a major stumbling block to the ICC's success, as it caused much resentment among former cadets. Though the ICC closed in 1914, it was a crucial stage in the drive to Indianise the Indian Army's officer Corps, which was haltingly begun in 1917.


text: Military organisation proved to be the final issue faced by Curzon in India. It often involved petty issues that had much to do with clashes of personality: Curzon once wrote on a document "I rise from the perusal of these papers filled with the sense of the ineptitude of my military advisers", and once wrote to the Commander-in-Chief in India, Kitchener, advising him that signing himself "Kitchener of Khartoum" took up too much time and space, which Kitchener thought petty (Curzon simply signed himself "Curzon" as if he were a hereditary peer, although he later took to signing himself "Curzon of Kedleston"). A difference of opinion with Kitchener, regarding the status of the military member of the council in India (who controlled army supply and logistics, which Kitchener wanted under his own control), led to a controversy in which Curzon failed to obtain the support of the home government. He resigned in August 1905 and returned to England.


text: Arthur Balfour's refusal to recommend an earldom for Curzon in 1905 was repeated by Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, the Liberal Prime Minister, who formed his government the day after Curzon returned to England. In deference to the wishes of the King and the advice of his doctors, Curzon did not stand in the general election of 1906 and thus found himself excluded from public life for the first time in twenty years. It was at this time, the nadir of his career, that he suffered the greatest personal loss of his life.


text: Mary died in 1906 and Curzon devoted himself to private matters, including establishing a new home. After the death of Lord Goschen in 1907, the post of Chancellor of Oxford University fell vacant. Curzon successfully became elected as Chancellor of Oxford after he won by 1,001 votes to 440 against Lord Rosebery. He proved to be quite an active chancellor – "[he] threw himself so energetically into the cause of university reform that critics complained he was ruling Oxford like an Indian province."


text: In 1908, Curzon was elected a representative peer for Ireland, and thus relinquished any idea of returning to the House of Commons. In 1909–1910 he took an active part in opposing the Liberal government's proposal to abolish the legislative veto of the House of Lords, and in 1911 was created Baron Ravensdale, of Ravensdale in the County of Derby, with remainder (in default of heirs male) to his daughters, Viscount Scarsdale, of Scarsdale in the County of Derby, with remainder (in default of heirs male) to the heirs male of his father, and Earl Curzon of Kedleston, in the County of Derby, with the normal remainder, all in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.


text: He became involved with saving Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire, from destruction. This experience strengthened his resolve for heritage protection. He was one of the sponsors of the Ancient Monuments Consolidation and Amendment Act 1913.


text: On 5 May 1914, he spoke out against a bill in the House of Lords that would have permitted women who already had the right to vote in local elections the right to vote for members of Parliament.


text: Curzon joined the Cabinet, as Lord Privy Seal, when Asquith formed his coalition in May 1915. Like other politicians (e.g. Austen Chamberlain, Arthur Balfour) Curzon favoured British Empire efforts in Mesopotamia, believing that the increase in British prestige would discourage a German-inspired Muslim revolt in India. Curzon was a member of the Dardanelles Committee and told that body (October 1915) that the recent Salonika expedition was "quixotic chivalry". Early in 1916 Curzon visited Sir Douglas Haig (newly appointed Commander-in-Chief of British forces in France) at his headquarters in France. Haig was impressed by Curzon's brains and decisiveness, and considered that he had mellowed since his days as Viceroy (Major-General Haig had been Inspector-General of Cavalry, India, at the time) and had lost "his old pompous ways". Curzon served in Lloyd George's small War Cabinet as Leader of the House of Lords from December 1916, and he also served on the War Policy Committee. With Allied victory over Germany far from certain, Curzon wrote a paper (12 May 1917) for the War Cabinet urging that Britain seize Palestine and possibly Syria. Like other members of the War Cabinet, Curzon supported further Western Front offensives lest, with Russian commitment to the war wavering, France and Italy be tempted to make a separate peace.


text: At the War Policy Committee (3 October 1917) Curzon objected in vain to plans to redeploy two divisions to Palestine, with a view to advancing into Syria and knocking Turkey out of the war altogether. Curzon's commitment wavered somewhat as the losses of the Third Battle of Ypres mounted. In the summer of 1917 the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS) General William Robertson sent Haig a biting description of the members of the War Cabinet, who he said were all frightened of Lloyd George; he described Curzon as "a gasbag". During the crisis of February 1918, Curzon was one of the few members of the government to support Robertson, threatening in vain to resign if he were removed. Despite his opposition to women's suffrage (he had been co-president of the National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage), the House of Lords voted conclusively in its favour.


text: After a long affair with the romantic novelist Elinor Glyn, Curzon married the former Grace Elvina Hinds in January 1917. She was the wealthy Alabama-born widow of Alfredo Huberto Duggan (died 1915), a first-generation Irish Argentinian appointed to the Argentine Legation in London in 1905. Elinor Glyn was staying with Curzon at the time of the engagement and read about it in the morning newspapers.


text: Grace had three children from her first marriage, two sons, Alfred and Hubert, and a daughter, Grace Lucille. Alfred and Hubert, as Curzon's step-sons, grew up within his influential circle. Curzon had three daughters from his first marriage, but he and Grace (despite fertility-related operations and several miscarriages) did not have any children together, which put a strain on their marriage. Letters written between them in the early 1920s imply that they still lived together, and remained devoted to each other. In 1923, Curzon was passed over for the office of Prime Minister partly on the advice of Arthur Balfour, who joked that Curzon "has lost the hope of glory but he still possesses the means of Grace" (a humorous allusion to the well known "General Thanksgiving" prayer of the Church of England, which thanks God for "the means of grace, and for the hope of glory").


text: In 1917, Curzon bought Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, a 14th-century building that had been gutted during the English Civil War. He restored it extensively, and then bequeathed it to the National Trust.


text: Curzon did not have David Lloyd George's support. Curzon and Lloyd George had disliked one another since the 1911 Parliament Crisis. The Prime Minister thought him overly pompous and self-important, and it was said that he used him as if he were using a Rolls-Royce to deliver a parcel to the station; Lloyd George said much later that Churchill treated his Ministers in a way that Lloyd George would never have treated his: "They were all men of substance — well, except Curzon." Multiple drafts of resignation letters written at this time were found upon Curzon's death. Despite their antagonism, the two were often in agreement on government policy. Lloyd George needed the wealth of knowledge Curzon possessed so was both his biggest critic and, simultaneously, his largest supporter. Likewise, Curzon was grateful for the leeway he was allowed by Lloyd George when it came to handling affairs in the Middle East.


text: Other cabinet ministers also respected his vast knowledge of Central Asia but disliked his arrogance and often blunt criticism. Believing that the Foreign Secretary should be non-partisan, he would objectively present all the information on a subject to the Cabinet, as if placing faith in his colleagues to reach the appropriate decision. Conversely, Curzon would take personally and respond aggressively to any criticism.


text: It has been suggested that Curzon's defensiveness reflected institutional insecurity by the Foreign Office as a whole. During the 1920s the Foreign Office was often a passive participant in decisions which were mainly reactive and dominated by the Prime Minister. The creation of the job of Colonial Secretary, the Cabinet Secretariat and the League of Nations added to the Foreign Office's insecurity.


text: After nine months as acting Secretary while Balfour was at the Paris Peace Conference, Curzon was appointed Foreign Secretary in October 1919. He gave his name to the British government's proposed Soviet-Polish boundary, the Curzon Line of December 1919. Although during the subsequent Russo-Polish War, Poland conquered ground in the east, after World War II, Poland was shifted westwards, leaving the border between Poland and its eastern neighbours today approximately at the Curzon Line.


text: Curzon was largely responsible for the Peace Day ceremonies on 19 July 1919. These included the plaster Cenotaph, designed by the noted architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, for the Allied Victory parade in London. It was so successful that it was reproduced in stone, and still stands.


text: In 1918, during World War I, as Britain occupied Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), Curzon tried to convince the Indian government to reconsider his scheme for Persia (Iran) to be a buffer against Russian advances. British and Indian troops were in Persia protecting the oilfields at Abadan and watching the Afghan frontier – Curzon believed that British economic and military aid, sent via India, could prop up the Persian government and make her a British client state. However, the agreement of August 1919 was never ratified and the British government rejected the plan as Russia had the geographical advantage and the defensive benefits would not justify the high economic cost.


text: Small British forces had twice occupied Baku on the Caspian in 1918, while an entire British division had occupied Batum on the Black Sea, supervising German and Turkish withdrawal. Against Curzon's wishes, but on the advice of Sir George Milne, the commander on the spot, the CIGS Sir Henry Wilson, who wanted to concentrate troops in Britain, Ireland, India, and Egypt, and of Churchill (Secretary of State for War), the British withdrew from Baku (the small British naval presence was also withdrawn from the Caspian Sea), at the end of August 1919 leaving only three battalions at Batum.


text: In January 1920 Curzon insisted that British troops remain in Batum, against the wishes of Wilson and the Prime Minister. In February, while Curzon was on holiday, Wilson persuaded the Cabinet to allow withdrawal, but Curzon had the decision reversed on his return, although to Curzon's fury (he thought it "abuse of authority") Wilson gave Milne permission to withdraw if he deemed it necessary. At Cabinet on 5 May 1920 Curzon "by a long-winded jaw" (in Wilson's description) argued for a stay in Batum. After a British garrison at Enzeli (on the Persian Caspian coast) was taken prisoner by Bolshevik forces on 19 May 1920, Lloyd George finally insisted on a withdrawal from Batum early in June 1920. For the rest of 1920 Curzon, supported by Milner (Colonial Secretary), argued that Britain should retain control of Persia. When Wilson asked (15 July 1920) to pull troops out of Persia to put down the rebellion in Mesopotamia and Ireland, Lloyd George blocked the move, saying that Curzon "would not stand it". In the end, financial retrenchment forced a British withdrawal from Persia in the spring of 1921.


text: Curzon worked on several Middle Eastern problems. He designed the Treaty of Sèvres (August 10, 1920) between the victorious Allies and Ottoman Turkey. The treaty abolished the Ottoman Empire and obliged Turkey to renounce all rights over Arab Asia and North Africa. However a new government in Turkey under Kemal Atatürk rejected the treaty. The Greeks invaded Turkey. Curzon tried and failed to induce the Greeks to accept a compromise on the status of Smyrna and failed to force the Turks to renounce their nationalist program. Lloyd George tried to use force at Chanak but lost support and was forced to step down as prime minister. Curzon remained as foreign minister and helped tie down loose ends in the Middle East at the peace conference at Lausanne.


text: Curzon helped to negotiate Egyptian independence (agreed in 1922) and the division of the British Mandate of Palestine, despite the strong disagreement he held with the policy of his predecessor Arthur Balfour, and helped create the Emirate of Transjordan for Faisal's brother, which may also have delayed the problems there. According to Sir David Gilmour, Curzon "was the only senior figure in the British government at the time who foresaw that its policy would lead to decades of Arab–Jewish hostility".


text: During the Irish War of Independence, but before the introduction of martial law in December 1920, Curzon suggested the "Indian" solution of blockading villages and imposing collective fines for attacks on the police and army.


text: In 1921 Curzon was created Earl of Kedleston, in the County of Derby, and Marquess Curzon of Kedleston.


text: In 1922, he was the chief negotiator for the Allies of the Treaty of Lausanne, which officially ended the war with the Ottoman Empire and defined the borders of Turkey.


text: Curzon defended the geopolitical talent of Eyre Crowe, who served as Permanent Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office from 1920 until his death in 1925.


text: Unlike many leading Conservative members of Lloyd George's Coalition Cabinet, Curzon ceased to support Lloyd George over the Chanak Crisis and had just resigned when Conservative backbenchers voted at the Carlton Club meeting to end the Coalition in October 1922. Curzon was thus able to remain Foreign Secretary when Bonar Law formed a purely Conservative ministry.


text: In 1922–23 Curzon had to negotiate with France after French troops occupied the Ruhr to enforce the payment of German reparations; he described the French Prime Minister (and former President) Raymond Poincaré as a "horrid little man". Curzon had expansive ambitions and was not much happier with Bonar Law, whose foreign policy was based on "retrenchment and withdrawal", than he had been with Lloyd George. However he provided invaluable insight into the Middle East and was instrumental in shaping British foreign policy in that region.


text: On Bonar Law's retirement as prime minister in May 1923, Curzon was passed over for the job in favour of Stanley Baldwin, despite his eagerness for the job.


text: This decision was taken on the private advice of leading members of the party including former Prime Minister Arthur Balfour. Balfour advised the monarch that in a democratic age it was inappropriate for the prime minister to be a member of the House of Lords, especially when the Labour Party, which had few peers, had become the main opposition party in the Commons. In private Balfour admitted that he was prejudiced against Curzon, whose character was objectionable to some. George V shared this prejudice. A letter purporting to detail the opinions of Bonar Law but actually written by Baldwin sympathisers was delivered to the King's Private Secretary Lord Stamfordham, though it is unclear how much impact this had in the outcome. Curzon felt he was cheated because J. C. C. Davidson—to whom Baldwin was loyal—and Sir Charles Waterhouse falsely claimed to Stamfordham that Law had recommended that George V appoint Stanley Baldwin, not Curzon, as his successor. Harry Bennett says Curzon's arrogance and unpopularity probably prevented him from becoming prime minister despite his brilliance, great capacity for work and accomplishments.


text: Winston Churchill, one of Curzon's main rivals, accurately contended that Curzon "sow[ed] gratitude and resentment along his path with equally lavish hands". Even contemporaries who envied Curzon, such as Baldwin, conceded that Curzon was, in the words of his biographer Leonard Mosley, "a devoted and indefatigable public servant, dedicated to the idea of Empire".


text: Curzon, summoned by Stamfordham, rushed to London assuming he was to be appointed. He burst into tears when told the truth. He later ridiculed Baldwin as "a man of the utmost insignificance", although he served under Baldwin and proposed him for the leadership of the Conservative Party. Curzon remained foreign secretary under Baldwin until the government fell in January 1924. When Baldwin formed a new government in November 1924 he appointed Curzon Lord President of the Council.


text: Curzon's rejection was a turning point in the nation's political history. Henceforth, by convention peers were deemed to be barred from being leaders of major political parties and from becoming prime minister. In an age of democracy, it was no longer acceptable for the prime minister to be based in an unelected and largely powerless chamber.


text: In March 1925 Curzon suffered a severe haemorrhage of the bladder. Surgery was unsuccessful and he died in London on 20 March 1925 at the age of 66. His coffin, made from the same tree at Kedleston that had encased his first wife, Mary, was taken to Westminster Abbey and from there to his ancestral home in Derbyshire, where he was interred beside Mary in the family vault at All Saints Church on 26 March. In his will, proven on 22 July, Curzon bequeathed his estate to his wife and his brother Francis; his estate was valued for probate at £343,279 10s. 4d. (roughly equivalent to £ million in ).


text: Upon his death the barony, earldom and marquessate of Curzon of Kedleston and the earldom of Kedleston became extinct, whilst the viscountcy and barony of Scarsdale were inherited by a nephew. The barony of Ravensdale was inherited by his eldest daughter Mary and is today held by his second daughter Cynthia's great-grandson, Daniel Nicholas Mosley, 4th Baron Ravensdale.


text: There is a blue plaque on the house in London where Curzon lived and died, No. 1 Carlton House Terrace, Westminster.


text: On his appointment as Viceroy of India in 1898, he was created Baron Curzon of Kedleston, in the County of Derby. This title was created in the Peerage of Ireland to enable him to potentially return to the House of Commons, as Irish peers did not have an automatic right to sit in the House of Lords. His was the last title to be created in the Peerage of Ireland. In 1908, he was elected a representative of the Irish peerage in the British House of Lords, from which it followed that he would be a member of the House of Lords until death; indeed, his representative peerage would continue even if (as proved to be the case) he later received a United Kingdom peerage entitling him to a seat in the House of Lords in his own right.


text: In 1911 he was created Earl Curzon of Kedleston, Viscount Scarsdale, and Baron Ravensdale. All of these titles were in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.


text: Upon his father's death in 1916, he also became 5th Baron Scarsdale, in the Peerage of Great Britain. The title had been created in 1761.


text: In the 1921 Birthday Honours, he was created Marquess Curzon of Kedleston. The title became extinct upon his death in 1925, as he was survived by three daughters and no sons.


text: Few statesmen have experienced such changes in fortune in both their public and their personal lives.


text: Curzon's career was an almost unparalleled blend of triumph and disappointment. Although he was the last and in many ways the greatest of Victorian viceroys, his term of office ended in resignation, empty of recognition and barren of reward... he was unable to assert himself fully as Foreign Secretary until the last weeks of Lloyd George's premiership. And finally, after he had restored his reputation at Lausanne, his last ambition was thwarted by George V.


text: Critics generally agreed that Curzon never reached the heights that his youthful talents had seemed destined to reach. This sense of opportunities missed was summed up by Winston Churchill in his book "Great Contemporaries" (1937):The morning had been golden; the noontide was bronze; and the evening lead. But all were polished till it shone after its fashion.


text: Churchill also wrote there was certainly something lacking in Curzon:it was certainly not information nor application, nor power of speech nor attractiveness of manner and appearance. Everything was in his equipment. You could unpack his knapsack and take an inventory item by item. Nothing on the list was missing, yet somehow or other the total was incomplete.


text: His Cabinet colleague The Earl of Crawford provided a withering personal judgment in his diary; "I never knew a man less loved by his colleagues and more hated by his subordinates, never a man so bereft of conscience, of charity or of gratitude. On the other hand the combination of power, of industry, and of ambition with a mean personality is almost without parallel. I never attended a funeral ceremony at which the congregation was so dry-eyed!"


text: The first leader of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, paid Curzon a surprising tribute, referring to the fact that Curzon as Viceroy exhibited real love of Indian culture and ordered a restoration project for several historic monuments, including the Taj Mahal:


text: After every other Viceroy has been forgotten, Curzon will be remembered because he restored all that was beautiful in India.


text: By special remainders, although he had no son, two of Curzon's peerages survive to the present day. His barony of Ravensdale went first to his eldest daughter, Irene Curzon, 2nd Baroness Ravensdale, and then to his grandson Nicholas Mosley, both of whom sat in the House of Lords, while his Viscount Scarsdale title went to a nephew. His great-great-grandson Daniel Mosley, 4th Baron Ravensdale, is a current member of the House of Lords, having been elected as a representative hereditary peer.


text: Curzon Hall, the home of the faculty of science at the University of Dhaka, is named after him. Lord Curzon himself inaugurated the building in 1904.


text: Curzon Gate, a ceremonial gate, was erected by Maharaja Bijay Chand Mahatab in the heart of Burdwan town and was renamed to commemorate Lord Curzon's visit to the town in 1904, which was renamed as Bijay Toran after the independence of India in 1947.


text: Curzon Road, the road connecting India Gate, the memorial dedicated to the Indian fallen during the Great War of 1914–18, and Connaught Place, in New Delhi was named after him. It has since been renamed Kasturba Gandhi Marg. The apartment buildings on the same road are still named after him.


title: Kayvon Thibodeaux

text: Kayvon "The Closer" Thibodeaux ( ; born December 15, 2000) is an American football outside linebacker for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). A native of Los Angeles, he was named "USA Today" High School Football Defensive Player of the Year in 2018.


title: Kayvon Thibodeaux

text: Thibodeaux played college football at Oregon, where was named the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2019, won the Morris Trophy in 2020, and was voted a unanimous All-American in 2021. He was drafted by the Giants fifth overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.


title: Kayvon Thibodeaux

text: Thibodeaux was born in South Los Angeles, California, on December 15, 2000. He attended and played football at Susan Miller Dorsey High School for two years before transferring to Oaks Christian School in 2017. He was named the High School Football Defensive Player of the Year by the "USA Today" after recording 18 sacks and 54 tackles during his senior season in 2018.


title: Kayvon Thibodeaux

text: Thibodeaux recorded 152 total tackles, 54 sacks, and eight forced fumbles during his high school career, and was the second-highest rated overall player in the 2019 recruiting class. He accepted a scholarship to play college football for the Oregon Ducks at the University of Oregon over several other offers.


title: Kayvon Thibodeaux

text: Thibodeaux was named the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2019. As a sophomore, he won the Morris Trophy on defense and was named first-team All-Pac-12 while also winning MVP honors of the 2020 Pac-12 Football Championship Game. Thibodeaux suffered a sprained ankle in the first game of his junior season, and sat out the following two games. He recorded seven sacks in 2021 and was unanimously voted to the 2021 College Football All-America Team. Following the season, Thibodeaux announced that he would forgo his senior year and declared for the 2022 NFL Draft.


title: Kayvon Thibodeaux

text: Thibodeaux was selected fifth overall by the New York Giants in the 2022 NFL Draft. Thibodeax suffered a sprained MCL in week 2 of the preseason against the Cincinnati Bengals.


title: Kayvon Thibodeaux

text: Thibodeaux made his NFL debut against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3, where he had one tackle in the 23-16 loss. In Week 6 against the Baltimore Ravens, Thibodeaux had his first career sack, forcing a game-winning fumble by quarterback Lamar Jackson in the fourth quarter during the 24-20 win. On December 18, 2022, against the Washington Commanders, Thibodeaux completed a forced fumble and recovery for his first career touchdown.


title: Kayvon Thibodeaux

text: In July 2021, Thibodeaux announced a collaboration with Nike CEO Phil Knight and shoe designer Tinker Hatfield to design non-fungible token (NFT) artwork. He launched his own cryptocurrency, "$JREAM", in September 2021. It was named after the Jream Foundation, which Thibodeaux also founded. Thibodeaux graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in journalism-advertising.


title: Kayvon Thibodeaux

text: Thibodeaux is an avid chess player, saying he used chess principles to hone his skills as a football player. He began playing chess at a young age, watching his uncles play the board game. Playing online chess, it became a passion for him. He was selected as a player for Chess.com's BlitzChamp tournament, a rapid tournament for NFL players.


title: Carcass (band)

text: Carcass are an English extreme metal band from Liverpool, formed in 1985. The band have gone through several line-up changes, leaving guitarist Bill Steer and bassist-vocalist Jeff Walker as the only constant members. They broke up in 1996, but reformed in 2007 without one of its original members, drummer Ken Owen, due to health reasons. To date, the band have released seven studio albums, two compilation albums, four EPs, two demo albums, one video album, and six music videos.


title: Carcass (band)

text: Carcass are regarded as pioneers of the goregrind genre. Their early work was also tagged as "splatter death metal", and "hardgore" on account of their morbid lyrics and gruesome album covers. Their fourth album, "Heartwork" (1993), is considered a landmark in the melodic death metal genre. Carcass were also one of the few death metal acts to sign to a major label, with Columbia Records handling North American distribution for "Heartwork", while the album was distributed worldwide by Earache who released all of the band's albums up to and including "Swansong" (1996).


title: Carcass (band)

text: Carcass were first formed as a school band by Bill Steer and Ken Owen that soon after disbanded. Steer then joined the D-beat band Disattack with drummer Middie, Paul on bass and Pek on vocals. After releasing a four track demo entitled "A Bomb Drops ..." in 1986, the bass player left the band and was replaced by Jeff Walker, formerly guitarist and vocalist of the Electro Hippies. Vocalist Andrew Pek changed his name to Sanjiv after a visit to India. At about the same time, Bill Steer joined Napalm Death (replacing Justin Broadrick) and recorded the second side of what became Napalm Death's first album, "Scum". Walker also designed the cover art for "Scum".


title: Carcass (band)

text: Disattack then changed its name to Carcass as the group changed musical direction. This led to a change in drummer and saw Ken Owen join the band. In April 1987, they recorded the "Flesh Ripping Sonic Torment" demo, the only Carcass recording featuring vocalist Sanjiv, who left shortly after. Walker, Steer and Owen shared vocal duties for the debut album, which was done in only four days. Despite the primitive production values of Carcass's debut "Reek of Putrefaction" (1988), with which the band was very displeased, it became a favourite of Radio 1 DJ John Peel. Due to his interest, they were asked to participate in their first Peel Session in 1989, where they debuted new material for their second album. The Peel Session was released as an EP with the band members adopting pseudonyms: K. Grumegargler, J. Offalmangler, and W.G. Thorax Embalmer. Also that year, Steer and Walker appeared as members of Lister's fictional band "Smeg and the Heads" in an episode of Red Dwarf.


title: Carcass (band)

text: "Symphonies of Sickness" (1989), the second album, which contained a much improved production quality (courtesy of Colin Richardson), featured more death metal structures and longer songs with more slow passages. The second half of the tour in support of "Symphonies of Sickness" saw the addition of second lead guitarist Michael Amott, whose previous work included Carnage. Amott was to become a permanent member, playing on the second Peel Session and contributing material towards their third album.


title: Carcass (band)

text: "Necroticism – Descanting the Insalubrious" (1991) showed even more intricate composition, further improved production and guitar solos. Despite the addition of Amott to the ranks, Steer still handled all rhythm guitar duties, with Amott only contributing leads and one riff. Carcass again supported the album with heavy touring, and were part of the Earache 'Gods of Grind' tour with Cathedral, Entombed and Confessor in both Europe and the United States. The "Tools of the Trade" EP was released in 1992 to coincide with the "Gods of Grind" tour.


title: Carcass (band)

text: The band's fourth album, "Heartwork", was released in the UK in October 1993, and did not have a US release until three months later. It was considered a radical change by many fans, which eliminated Steer's deeper vocals and the clinically gory lyrics. Again, Steer handled all rhythm guitar duties, this time due to Amott losing his passport in Israel (thus making him unable to return to England in time to record). Song structures, whilst still containing musically complex parts, were simpler, in some cases using the verse/chorus/verse formula.


title: Carcass (band)

text: After the release of "Heartwork", Carcass signed a worldwide deal with Columbia Records, who hoped for commercial success, even suggesting that Jeff Walker learn how to sing. Michael Amott left the band right after "Heartwork" was recorded, and was for a while replaced by Mike Hickey, who was later replaced by Carlo Regadas.


title: Carcass (band)

text: During the summer of 1994, Walker remixed the track "Inside Out" for a Die Krupps remix album, although the version stayed fairly true to the original with the exception of Owen's drum samples from "Heartwork" replacing the Die Krupps original, and additional mixing from Walker and Colin Richardson at Parr Street studios (where "Heartwork" was recorded).


title: Carcass (band)

text: Carcass now set about writing songs for their major label debut. During the December 1994 UK tour Carcass showcased two songs from their current writing sessions – "Edge of Darkness" and "Firmhand", both showing a more straightforward song writing approach than on previous efforts. Around this time, "Edge of Darkness" was recorded for the BBC Radio 1 Rock Show sessions – a session which could be found on later compilation albums.


title: Carcass (band)

text: By late 1994, 17 songs were ready, and the band set about using their $200,000 advance to record the album, again with Colin Richardson, at Rockfield studios in Monmouth, South Wales in early 1995. During the 6-week recording schedule, the record label began to withdraw support, stating that Carcass were not ready to record, and needed to write more songs. This advice was ignored, as was the suggestion to have Terry Date remix the album, and the band continued. At the time, Jeff Walker stated in an interview with the UK's Metal Hammer Magazine that the album was taking more of a classic rock approach, with drums, bass and twin guitars "à la" Thin Lizzy, in comparison to earlier "multi-layered guitar" productions. This has since been put down to Bill Steer's unwillingness to perform the time-consuming guitar layering (as once again Steer performed all rhythm guitar) through losing interest in the metal genre.


title: Carcass (band)

text: During the "Swansong" recording sessions, Carcass were asked to remix the Björk track "Isobel". This was not a remix as such but more of a re-recording with only Björk's vocals remaining. The track saw the light of day in March 1996 on Björk's "Hyperballad" single.


title: Carcass (band)

text: Continuing record company problems with Columbia/Sony caused the album to be delayed from late summer 1995 to June 1996, in which time Carcass moved back to Earache Records, and broke up before even releasing "Swansong". The move back to Earache was dubbed by Walker as "the second great rock and roll swindle" as they had effectively been paid twice for the same album. "Swansong" featured twelve of the seventeen tracks put to tape during the recording sessions. Walker has since stated in interviews that all seventeen songs should have been included in a double album, and that some songs omitted from "Swansong" were actually stronger than some of "Swansong"s actual content. Carcass also remixed Killing Joke's "Democracy" (by re-recording the music, but keeping the original vocals), although this time Regadas performed all guitar duties, as it is thought Steer had quit the band by early 1996. The Carcass "Rooster Mix" was made available on Killing Joke's "Democracy". Around the time of "Swansong"'s release, Carcass informed the press that they were ending the band without even a farewell tour, but most fans had guessed this may be the case via the album title.


title: Carcass (band)

text: The album sold well, staying near the top of the Indie Rock Chart in the UK for several months, above bands such as Placebo, despite having no touring support from the band. It is rumoured that the band were offered several lucrative tours in 1995, such as supporting Iron Maiden on their "X-Factour 95" tour, which had the album been released as expected in 1995, could have improved the band's sales and longevity.


title: Carcass (band)

text: A posthumous compilation, "Wake Up and Smell the... Carcass" was released in October 1996 to collect together Carcass' rarer material, including unreleased material, songs only available on EPs and compilations, and live tracks. An accompanying video was released a few weeks after the "Wake Up" CD with little knowledge from the band or their management. The video, later released on DVD, featured five of the band's promotional videos, a show from the Grindcrusher 1989 tour (as a three piece) and a show from the 1992 Gods of Grind tour. Sound on the two live shows is poor, particularly the latter, which Walker has described as "unmixed".


title: Carcass (band)

text: Owen, Walker, and Regadas continued with the band Blackstar, accompanied by former Cathedral bassist Mark Griffiths, using the second "Swansong" advance from Earache to fund the recording. Blackstar, later Blackstar Rising, became defunct after drummer Owen suffered a severe cerebral hemorrhage. Amott went on to found hard rock band Spiritual Beggars and successful Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. In the biggest musical departure, Steer formed Firebird, a Clapton-esque rock band.


title: Carcass (band)

text: In June 2006, in an interview with Walker, he discussed the possibility of reforming Carcass, but mentioned that it was unlikely that Owen would participate, since he could not replicate his former drumming proficiency due to the effects of the cerebral hemorrhage he suffered in 1999. In September 2007, Michael Amott announced that he was rehearsing with Bill Steer, Jeff Walker and Daniel Erlandsson (replacing Ken Owen) in secret to rehearse old Carcass songs for a possible reunion tour. The original plans were to play at several festivals during the summer, but they could not meet the deadlines.


title: Carcass (band)

text: In October 2007, Carcass were confirmed to play at German heavy metal festival Wacken Open Air and Finland's Tuska Open Air Metal Festival in 2008. Carcass later embarked on a reunion tour, beginning on 6 June 2008 at the Sweden Rock Festival in Norje, Sweden. Carcass also played at Hellfest Summer Open Air, Metalcamp and several other festivals. The band toured Australia and New Zealand in 2008, and then in North America during September and October 2008, followed by the band's first South American tour, playing in Colombia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. On 15 November 2008, Carcass headlined the Danish Metal Awards held in Amager Bio, Copenhagen, Denmark. Steer also presented the award for Best Danish Debut Album, which went to SCAMP for "Mirror Faced Mentality". Carcass surprised the audience by bringing Ken Owen to the stage where he gave a brief drum solo to show how far he had come in recovering from his illness. Carcass performed an exclusive UK show at the Damnation Festival in Leeds. It was the first time Carcass had played in England in 14 years.


title: Carcass (band)

text: Carcass re-released their entire back catalogue with bonus material during 2008 on Earache Records. When asked if the band were planning on writing and recording a new album, Steer replied:


title: Carcass (band)

text: Carcass continued to play live in 2009, with a North American tour completed in March 2009. Carcass also headlined the Bloodstock Open Air in Derbyshire, England in August 2009. In August 2010, Carcass headlined Vagos Open Air in Vagos, Portugal, and Jalometalli Metal Music Festival held in Oulu, Finland. At Hellfest 2010, they performed the "Necroticism" album in its entirety. In 2012, Amott and Erlandsson left Carcass to focus on Arch Enemy.


title: Carcass (band)

text: Steer and Walker started talking about recording a new album after the reunion shows were done. They wrote some songs to see how they would turn out. According to Steer, "If it sounded like Carcass to us, we were going to proceed. We also said if it didn't feel right, we'd just drop it". Carcass recorded a new album in 2012, titled "Surgical Steel". Daniel Wilding (drummer of Bristol-based deathgrind band Trigger the Bloodshed) performs drums on "Surgical Steel". The original drummer, Ken Owen, was also brought in to record some backing vocals on the album. Ben Ash (guitarist of Pig Iron, Desolation, and Liquefied Skeleton) joined the band in March 2013 on guitars.


title: Carcass (band)

text: On 26 March 2013 Carcass performed for the first time with their new lineup at the Camden Underworld in London, where they played for three nights. Carcass also performed at the Chilean music festival Metalfest in April 2013, and the Maryland Deathfest XI music festival in May 2013.


title: Carcass (band)

text: In May 2013 Carcass signed with Nuclear Blast. In Japan they signed a deal with Trooper Entertainment for the release of the new album. Carcass released "Surgical Steel" on 13 September 2013 in Europe, 16 September in the UK, and 17 September in North America. Overall the album received positive reviews. "Surgical Steel" earned a Top 50 position on the US "Billboard" 200 charts. After releasing "Surgical Steel", Carcass headlined Damnation Festival in Leeds before embarking on the Defenders of the Faith Tour with Amon Amarth and Hell, which ran throughout Europe and the UK in November and December 2013. Carcass performed at 70000 Tons of Metal in January 2014 and headlined the Agglutination Festival on 23 August that year.


title: Carcass (band)

text: In a June 2014 interview with Metal Underground, Walker was asked if Carcass were going to make a follow-up to "Surgical Steel". He replied, "Ultimately, as long as we feel we got somewhere to go then we would create new material. We are not just going to do it just for the sake of it. We have to feel inspired. All I can say is I do see somewhere where we can take Carcass if we choose to do another album and personally I do want to do another album. I'm not completely satisfied with any album we've made so far. I don't think we've made the classic Carcass album, that's the way I feel."


title: Carcass (band)

text: Carcass released an EP titled "Surgical Remission/Surplus Steel" in November 2014. The EP is a collection of unreleased tracks recorded during the "Surgical Steel" sessions and it is released on physical and digital formats. "Well, let's call this tying up loose ends," commented Walker. "We thought we'd make all the tracks available from the "Surgical Steel" album session on an EP… just in case you bought the jewel case version, didn't buy the digipak, didn't buy the Japanese import, or maybe you never bought the Decibel magazine issue with the flexi disc? Well, here you go; ALL the songs on one disc along with a previously unreleased track. Even Trevor Strnad's arm makes a guest appearance! Enjoy."


title: Carcass (band)

text: Carcass continued touring. They played at Download Festival in Castle Donington 13 June 2015. Reviewing their concert, James Weaver wrote: "Carcass have proved, not only that they can play any spectrum of rock festivals, but that they still remain as one of the greats in the extreme metal genre." Carcass also headlined the "Deathcrusher 2015" tour alongside Napalm Death, Obituary, Voivod and Herod. The tour run in Europe October–November 2015. During the "Deathcrusher 2015" tour Bill Steer rejoined his former band Napalm Death on some dates to perform the classic Napalm Death song "Deceiver". Along with Testament, Carcass supported Slayer on their "Repentless" tour, which took place in February and March 2016.


title: Carcass (band)

text: In a statement released in early March 2018, Ben Ash announced he had left Carcass. Tom Draper (Pounder, ex-Angel Witch), a UK native based in California, made his first live appearance with the band at the Netherlands Deathfest on 2 March 2018 and his second appearance during the Decibel Metal and Beer Fest in Philadelphia on 1 April 2018. They also opened for Slayer on selected dates of their final world tour, including ForceFest in Mexico in October 2018, and Hellfest in France in June 2019.


title: Carcass (band)

text: On 13 December 2019, Carcass released their first song in six years, "Under the Scalpel Blade", on digital outlets. This track was also made available to deluxe "Decibel" magazine subscribers.


title: Carcass (band)

text: On 23 February 2020, Carcass announced on their Facebook page that their seventh studio album would be released on 7 August. A week-and-a-half later, guitarist Bill Steer revealed "Torn Arteries" as the title of the album, which is a reference to a demo tape recorded by Ken Owen when he was a teenager. On 2 April 2020, Carcass announced that the release of the album had been delayed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stating: "Well there's no way our new album is gonna get released in August now, what with the pandemic, CD & vinyl manufacturers have closed and label distribution has been put on hold for the foreseeable future. There's more pressing things to be concerned with right now, correct? Bunker down, look after yourselves, let's see the next few months through and we'll get the album released as soon as there's some kind of return to 'normality'." "Decibel" magazine later reported that the release of "Torn Arteries" had been postponed to 2021.


title: Carcass (band)

text: On 21 August 2020, Carcass announced that, with "Torn Arteries" still on hold, they would release a four-song EP called "Despicable" on 30 October. The new EP includes the previously released digital single "Under the Scalpel Blade". Walker commented: "Well, the COVID situation has put the release of the new Carcass album on the backburner for the time being. Given that we said there'd be new music in August, we thought it would be cool to have a stop-gap release and let you hear some of the tracks that never quite made the cut. Don't say we never give you anything. Enjoy."


title: Carcass (band)

text: On 18 June 2021, "Kelly's Meat Emporium" was released as the lead single from "Torn Arteries"; on the same day, it was announced that the album would be released on 17 September 2021, just eight years following the release of its predecessor "Surgical Steel". In order to promote the album, Carcass embarked on their North American spring 2022 headlining tour, first in six years, with support from Immolation and Creeping Death. They will support Arch Enemy and Behemoth on their co-headlining European tour in the fall of 2022, and later will support Amon Amarth on their "Great Heathen Army" North American tour.


title: Carcass (band)

text: Carcass are influenced by death metal and grindcore bands like Death, Repulsion, Master, Morbid Angel, Napalm Death and Macabre, as well as other acts such as Slayer, King Diamond, Cryptic Slaughter, Discharge, Siege, N.Y.C. Mayhem and Diamond Head. Otrebor of black metal band Botanist cites Carcass' use of medical dictionary terms in lyrics and song titles as a precedent for its lyrics and song titles from plant and insect dictionaries.


title: Carcass (band)

text: In the "Red Dwarf" episode "Timeslides", Steer and Walker appeared as members of Lister's childhood band, "Smeg and the Heads".


title: Dhanushkodi

text: Dhanushkodi is an abandoned town at the south-eastern tip of Pamban Island of the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is south-east of Pamban and is about west of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. The town was destroyed during the 1964 Rameswaram cyclone and remains uninhabited in the aftermath. Today only a few vendors and restaurants can be seen at Dhanushkodi during the day along with the ruins of the long destroyed town.


title: Dhanushkodi

text: The National Highway completed the 9.5-km-long road – 5 km from Mukuntharayar Chathiram to Dhanushkodi and 4.5 km from Dhanushkodi to Arichamunai. Until 2016, Dhanushkodi was reachable either on foot along the seashore or in jeeps. In 2016, a road was completed from the village of Mukundarayar Chathiram.


title: Dhanushkodi

text: A metre gauge railway line connected Mandapam on mainland India to Dhanushkodi. Boat mail express ran from Chennai Egmore to Dhanushkodi till 1964 when the metre-gauge branch line from Pamban to Dhanushkodi was destroyed during the 1964 Dhanushkodi cyclone. In 2003, Southern Railway sent a project report to Ministry of Railways for re-laying a railway line to Dhanushkodi from Rameswaram. The planning commission looked into the possibility of a new railway line between Dhanushkodi and Rameswaram in 2010.


title: Dhanushkodi

text: The area around Rameswaram is prone to high-intensity geomorphic activity. A scientific study conducted by the Geological Survey of India indicated that the southern part of Dhanushkodi facing the Gulf of Mannar sank by almost in 1948 and 1949, due to vertical tectonic movement of land parallel to the coastline. As a result of this, a patch of land of about in width, stretching from north to south, was submerged under the sea.


title: Dhanushkodi

text: On 17 December 1964, a tropical depression formed at 5°N 93°E in the South Andaman Sea. On 19 December, it intensified into a cyclonic storm. After 21 December 1964, it moved westwards, almost in a straight line, at the rate of per day. On 22 December, it crossed Vavuniya in Sri Lanka and made landfall at Dhanushkodi on the night of 22–23 December 1964. Estimated wind velocity was and tidal waves were high.


title: Dhanushkodi

text: An estimated 1,800 people died in the cyclonic storm on 22 December including 115 passengers on board the Pamban-Dhanushkodi passenger train. The entire town was marooned and the Government of Madras declared Dhanushkodi as a ghost town, unfit for living.


title: Dhanushkodi

text: In December 2004, around the 40th anniversary of the deadly cyclone, the sea around Dhanushkodi receded about from the coastline, briefly exposing the submerged part of the town before massive tsunami waves struck the coast.


title: Dhanushkodi

text: The wreckage of the Rameswaram-Dhanushkodi passenger train, which was hit by the cyclone and tidal waves that struck the area on December 22, lies half submerged here. More than 115 people died in the area-wide calamity 1964.12.31 (UPI Radiophoto)


title: Kempton Bunton

text: Kempton Cannon Bunton (14 June 1904–April 1976) was a disabled British pensioner and unemployed bus driver who confessed to stealing Francisco Goya's painting "Portrait of the Duke of Wellington" from the National Gallery in London in 1961. The theft of the painting was the subject of the October 2015 BBC Radio 4 drama "Kempton and the Duke", and the 2020 movie "The Duke".


title: Kempton Bunton

text: A National Archives file released in 2012 revealed that Bunton's son, John, had confessed to the theft in 1969.


title: Kempton Bunton

text: Bunton was a disabled, retired bus driver who earned £8 a week in 1961 (equivalent to £ in ). In that year, Charles Bierer Wrightsman, a rich American art collector, who made his money in the oil business, purchased Goya's painting "Portrait of the Duke of Wellington" for the sum of £140,000 ($390,000) (). He had plans to take it to the United States. The British Government decided to buy the painting, for the same sum, to prevent the painting leaving Britain. The move was reported to have enraged Bunton, however, who objected to the television licence fee, considering that TV should be made available to everybody who needed it. He had campaigned for free TV licences for pensioners, and been imprisoned several times for refusing to pay for a licence.


title: Kempton Bunton

text: According to his own account, Bunton learnt from conversations with guards at the National Gallery that the elaborate electronic security system of infrared sensors and alarms was deactivated in the early morning to allow for cleaning. Bunton claimed that on the early morning of 21 August 1961 he had loosened a window in a toilet and entered the gallery. He further claimed that he had then prised the framed painting from the display and escaped via the window.


title: Kempton Bunton

text: The police initially assumed that an expert art thief was responsible. A letter was received by the Reuters news agency, however, requesting a donation of £140,000 to charity to pay for TV licences for poorer people, and demanding an amnesty for the thief, after which the painting would be returned. The request was declined.


title: Kempton Bunton

text: In 1965, four years after the theft, Bunton contacted a newspaper and, through a left-luggage office at Birmingham New Street railway station, returned the painting voluntarily. Six weeks later, he also surrendered to the police, who initially discounted him as a suspect, considering it unlikely that a 61-year-old retiree, weighing , could have carried out the theft.


title: Kempton Bunton

text: During the subsequent trial, the jury convicted Bunton only of the theft of the frame, which had not been returned. Bunton's defence team, led by Jeremy Hutchinson QC, successfully claimed that Bunton never wanted to keep the painting, which meant he could not be convicted of stealing it. Bunton was sentenced to and served three months in prison.


title: Kempton Bunton

text: In 1996, documents released by the National Gallery implied that another person may have carried out the theft, and then passed the painting to Bunton. Bunton's son John was mentioned. In 2012, following a Freedom of Information request by Richard Voyce, and with the assistance of Sarah Teather MP, the National Archives released a confidential file from the Director of Public Prosecutions in which it was revealed that Bunton's son, John, had confessed to the theft following his arrest in 1969 for an unrelated minor offence. John Bunton said that his father had intended to use the painting as part of his campaign and that it would ultimately have been returned to the National Gallery. He said that both he and his brother, Kenneth, had been ordered by their father not to come forward despite the trial. Sir Norman Skelhorn, the Director of Public Prosecutions, told the police that John Bunton's admission of guilt was almost certainly not sufficient to prosecute him. Skelhorn also advised that it would be difficult to prosecute Bunton senior for perjury, because the prosecution would have to rely on the evidence of the son, who was clearly an unreliable witness. No further action was taken.


title: Kempton Bunton

text: In a direct response to the case, Section 11 of the Theft Act 1968 was enacted, making it an offence to remove without authority any object displayed or kept for display to the public in a building to which the public have access.


title: Kempton Bunton

text: Bunton died in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1976. His death went largely unreported and there were no obituaries in the major newspapers.


title: Kempton Bunton

text: Bunton purported theft and the disappearance of the Goya work entered into popular culture. In the 1962 James Bond film, "Dr. No", the painting is displayed in Dr. No's lair, with lead actor Sean Connery pausing before it in the scene where it is displayed. In "The Goodies", episode 6 of season 2, "Culture for the Masses", refers to some aspects of the case. In 2015, the comedy drama "Kempton and the Duke" by David Spicer was broadcast on BBC Radio 4.


title: Kempton Bunton

text: The story of the theft, and the subsequent trial of Bunton, was dramatized in the 2020 movie "The Duke", starring Jim Broadbent and Helen Mirren, which premiered in UK cinemas on 25 February 2022. Coinciding with the release of the film, Christopher Bunton revealed previously unknown details about his grandfather's theft, including the family's side of the story.


title: Kempton Bunton

text: In 2020, a musical based on the story of the theft, titled "Kempton Bunton", with book by Richard Voyce, music by Luke Bateman and lyrics by Richard Hughes, was due to be showcased at BEAM 2020, the festival of new musical theatre, organised by Mercury Musical Developments. BEAM 2020 was postponed because of Covid lockdowns in the UK and excerpts from the piece were eventually presented at Hackney Empire in September 2021 as part of the delayed festival of new musicals. In 2022 William Godfree became attached to the project as composer/lyricist.


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: Can't Hardly Wait is a 1998 American teen romantic comedy film written and directed by Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont. It stars an ensemble cast including Ethan Embry, Charlie Korsmo, Lauren Ambrose, Peter Facinelli, Seth Green, and Jennifer Love Hewitt, and is notable for a number of "before-they-were-famous" appearances by teen stars. The story takes place at a high school graduation party in the 1990s.


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: The film received mixed reviews from critics. It grossed a total of $25 million at the North American domestic box office, against a production budget of $10 million. The soundtrack peaked at number 25 on the "Billboard" 200 chart.


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: The story takes place at a high school graduation party in the late 1990s and in a style much like that of the high school movies of the 1980s. The idea of setting most of the movie at a party was based primarily on concerns to keep production costs low and was also inspired by the movies of John Hughes and the party scene in Say Anything.


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: The film takes its name from The Replacements' song of the same title, from their 1987 album "Pleased to Meet Me", which plays over the film's closing credits.


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: In 1998, the senior class of a suburban high school, Huntington Hillside High, are attending a graduation party at a large house owned by a rich class member's family. Among them are Preston Meyers, a typical outsider who plans to proclaim his love to his four-year secret crush Amanda Beckett. Amanda, the most popular girl in school and the senior class prom queen, has recently been dumped by her popular jock boyfriend Mike Dexter. Mike is targeted by nerd classmate William Lichter, who is plotting revenge against him for years of relentless bullying. Preston's antisocial best friend Denise Fleming has no intention of going to the party, but is dragged along by Preston. Kenny Fisher is a wannabe thug who plans on losing his virginity by the end of the night.


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: Amanda is consoled by her popular girlfriends, whom she realizes she has nothing in common with, and her own second-cousin, who tries to hit on her. She tries to figure out if she has an identity beyond only being known as "Mike Dexter's girlfriend". She discovers a letter addressed to her by Preston and, moved by its contents, makes it her mission to find him, but she doesn't know what he looks like and no one she asks gives any helpful descriptions. Meanwhile, Denise and Kenny wind up locking themselves inside an upstairs bathroom away from the party by accident, where they talk about their old friendship and how they had drifted apart; their conversation leads to the restoration of their friendship and escalates into them having sex.


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: Later, an intoxicated Mike learns from Trip McNeely—a graduate and former stud from his high school—that in college, guys like them are "a dime a dozen". Trip emphasizes how he dumped his girlfriend in the same fashion that Mike did to "score" with other women and was unsuccessful. Terrified of this prospect, Mike tries to get Amanda back, but she is happier without him and humiliates him in front of everyone at the party. After seeing the school jock turned down, multiple men begin to hit on her, much to her disgust. Preston finds Amanda and confesses his love, but since she still hasn't learned what he looks like, she assumes he is another pervert and rejects him in front of the entire party as well. She later realizes her mistake when she sees Preston's yearbook picture and tries to find him, but he has already driven home in disappointment.


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: At the same time, William devises his plan to get revenge on Mike and goes into the party to drive Mike out. While inside the party, William begins drinking alcohol to fit in, and drinks enough to make him forget the entire reason he was there. An impromptu sing-along to Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City" causes him to become popular, with multiple women trying desperately to have sex with him. Soon after, William begins talking with Mike, who apologizes for bullying him. William forgives him; the two bond and seemingly become friends. When Mike and William are jailed as a result of a police bust, Mike takes the blame.


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: The next morning, when William sees Mike and his friends at a diner, he tries to thank Mike for taking the fall. But Mike acts as though he remembers nothing that happened the previous night and ridicules William in front of his friends. Meanwhile, Preston is at a train station about to leave for Boston when Amanda arrives and asks him about the letter. Preston confesses he wrote it and is about to depart for a writing workshop with Kurt Vonnegut. The two say goodbye and Preston walks away, but he then stops and runs back to Amanda and they share a kiss.


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: The script for "Can't Hardly Wait" was originally written in 1996, by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan who were looking for a project they could develop and direct themselves on a limited budget. The project was approved by Columbia Pictures in mid-1997, following the success of teen-oriented horror film "Scream" in early 1997. Principal photography for "Can't Hardly Wait" started in October 1997, and ran for 26 days. Jennifer Love Hewitt was known for "Party of Five" when she signed on to the film, and appeared in the slasher hit "I Know What You Did Last Summer", which helped to further raise her profile. According to Charlie Korsmo, Adam Hann-Byrd was originally cast as William Lichter.


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: The film initially received an R-Rating due to MPAA objections about the depiction of teens drinking alcohol at an unsupervised party and drug use. The film was recut to receive a PG-13 rating.


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: "Can't Hardly Wait" was released on June 12, 1998, and grossed $8,025,910 in its opening weekend. Its total domestic gross was $25,605,015, more than double its production budget.


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 41% based on 63 reviews, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The site's consensus reads, "Occasionally clever and moderately intelligent, "Can't Hardly Wait" also contains too many cheap laughs, recycled plotting, and flat characters." On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B+" on scale of A to F.


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote: "For all its nonstop energy and high spirits, "Can't Hardly Wait" allows its characters to emerge as fully dimensional individuals; they've been written with care and perception and played with equal aplomb by a roster of talented young actors".


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" wrote: ""Can't Hardly Wait" has freshness, comic invention and an engaging romantic spirit."


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: Stephen Thompson of "The A.V. Club" wrote: "But the film deserves credit, both for its breezy pacing and its uncommon tendency to make its characters smarter and geekier than they might have been."


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: Emanuel Levy of "Variety" called the film a "mediocre attempt to recapture the exuberance and candid portraiture of such high school movie classics as "American Graffiti", "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "Dazed and Confused."" Levy praised the cast but was critical of the "uneven script and rough direction".


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4, and wrote: "The kind of movie that somehow succeeds in moving very, very slowly even while proceeding at a breakneck pace. It cuts quickly back and forth between nothing and nothing... It doesn't have the zing of life and subversion that the best high school movies always have."


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: In 2012, "Entertainment Weekly" ranked "Can't Hardly Wait" number 44 on its list of the 50 Best High School Movies of all time.


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: On May 25, 2019, on Danny Pellegrino's "Everything Iconic" podcast - Jennifer Love Hewitt revealed that she is developing "Can't Hardly Wait 2" with plans to direct it herself. The concept revolves around the reunion of the original high school gang from the 1998 film.


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: The film was released on VHS and DVD on November 17, 1998. On September 30, 2008, it was re-released on DVD and Blu-ray as the "10 Year Reunion Edition" to commemorate the film's 10th anniversary. The re-release included bonus features not on the original release. Mill Creek Entertainment reissued the DVD and Blu-ray on June 17, 2014 and October 30, 2018 respectively with the latter format billed as the "20 Year Reunion Edition".


title: Can't Hardly Wait

text: Can't Hardly Wait: Music From The Motion Picture is the soundtrack of the film which was released on May 26, 1998 by Elektra Records. It peaked at number 25 on the "Billboard" 200 chart.


title: Inhaler (band)

text: Inhaler is an Irish rock band originating from Dublin. The band consists of vocalist and guitarist Elijah Hewson, bassist Robert Keating, guitarist Josh Jenkinson and drummer Ryan McMahon. The band were tipped for success in 2020 when they ranked at number 5 in BBC's Sound of... music poll. As of 2021, Inhaler have released ten singles, "I Want You", "It Won't Always Be Like This", "My Honest Face", "Ice Cream Sundae", "We Have to Move On", "Falling In", "When It Breaks", "Cheer Up Baby", "Who's Your Money On (Plastic House)", and "Totally". Their debut album, "It Won't Always Be Like This", was released on 9 July 2021. It entered the Irish Albums Chart at number one, it also entered the top 10 and top 20 album charts in other European countries such as the Netherlands and Germany. It entered the UK Album Chart at number one.


title: Inhaler (band)

text: Originally formed in 2012 at St Andrews College in Blackrock, Dublin, the band decided on the name Inhaler in 2015. Jenkinson joined the band right after the band name was decided.


title: Inhaler (band)

text: The group self-released their debut single "I Want You" in 2017. The single was featured on "Garageland Volume 1", released on 14 April 2017. This was later followed by three more singles in 2019, namely "It Won't Always Be Like This", "My Honest Face" and "Ice Cream Sundae". They placed fifth on BBC's annual music poll, Sound of 2020. On 21 January 2020, the group released their fourth single, titled "We Have to Move On".


title: Inhaler (band)

text: On their 2019–2020 tours, the band released a self-titled debut EP featuring the singles "It Won't Always Be Like This", "Oklahoma" (Late Night Version), "My Honest Face" and "There's No Other Place".


title: Inhaler (band)

text: The band were one of the winners of the Music Moves Europe Talent Award 2021 and were also shortlisted for the MTV Push UK & Ireland 2021.


title: Inhaler (band)

text: On 17 March 2021, the band released a single titled "Cheer Up Baby" and announced that their debut album, "It Won't Always Be Like This", would be released on 16 July 2021. On 13 May 2021, the band announced on their social media that the album release would be pushed forward by a week, to be released on 9 July 2021.


title: Inhaler (band)

text: The band presented the album live on summer festivals in 2022 (including Glastonbury Festival) and did opening acts for some shows on their When You See Yourself tour.


title: Dowry system in India

text: The dowry system in India refers to the durable goods, cash, and real or movable property that the bride's family gives to the groom, his parents and his relatives as a condition of the marriage. Dowry is referred to dahez in Hindi and as "jahez" in Urdu.


title: Dowry system in India

text: The dowry system can put great financial burden on the bride's family. In some cases, the dowry system leads to crime against women, ranging from emotional abuse and injury to even deaths. The payment of dowry has long been prohibited under specific Indian laws including the Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 approved by the Parliament of India and subsequently by Sections 304B and 498A of the Indian Penal Code. The Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 defines dowry: "Dowry means any property or valuable security given or agreed to be given either directly or indirectly - (a) by one party in marriage to the other party in marriage; or (b) by the parents of either party to a marriage or by any other person to either party to marriage or to any other persons;at or before or after the marriage as consideration for the marriage of the said parties, but does not include dower or mahr in the case of persons to whom the Muslim Personal law applies."


title: Dowry system in India

text: Article 3 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 specifies that the penalty for giving or taking dowry does not apply to presents that are given at the time of a marriage to the bride or groom is when no demand for them has been made.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Although Indian laws against dowries have been in effect for decades, they have been largely criticised as being ineffective. The practice of dowry deaths and murders continues to take place unchecked in many parts of India, which has further added to the concerns of enforcement.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code required the groom and his family to be automatically arrested if a wife complains of dowry harassment. The law was widely abused, and in 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that arrests cannot be made without a magistrate's approval.


title: Dowry system in India

text: The history of dowry in South Asia is not clear. Some scholars believe dowry was practised in antiquity, but some do not. The traces of the dowry system in India can be found in the Vedic Age where it is common for upper caste Hindus.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Michael Witzel claims the ancient Indian literature suggests dowry practices were not significant during the Vedic period. Witzel also notes that women in ancient India had property inheritance rights either by appointment or when they had no brothers.


title: Dowry system in India

text: The findings of MacDonell and Keith are similar to Witzel, and differ from Tambiah; they cite ancient Indian literature suggesting bridewealth was paid even in brahma- and daiva-types of marriage. Dowry was not infrequent when the girl suffered from some bodily defect. Property rights for women increased in ancient India, suggest MacDonell and Keith, over the Puranas.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Kane claims ancient literature suggests bridewealth was paid only in the asura-type of marriage that was considered reprehensible and forbidden by Manu and other ancient Indian scribes. Lochtefeld suggests that religious duties listed by Manu and others, such as 'the bride be richly adorned to celebrate marriage' were ceremonial dress and jewelry along with gifts that were her property, not property demanded by or meant for the groom; Lochtefeld further notes that bridal adornment is not currently considered as dowry in most people's mind.


title: Dowry system in India

text: One of these are the eyewitness records from Alexander the Great conquest ("ca". 300 BC) as recorded by Arrian and Megasthenes. Arrian first book mentions a lack of dowry,


title: Dowry system in India

text: The two sources suggest dowry was absent, or infrequent enough to be noticed by Arrian. About 1200 years after Arrian's visit, another eyewitness scholar visited India named Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī, also known as Al-Biruni, or Alberonius in Latin. Al-Biruni was an Islamic era Persian scholar who went and lived in India for 16 years from 1017 CE. He translated many Indian texts into Arabic, as well as wrote a memoir on Indian culture and life he observed. Al-Biruni claimed,


title: Dowry system in India

text: Al-Biruni further claims that a daughter, in 11th century India, had legal right to inherit from her father, but only a fourth part of her brother. The daughter took this inheritance amount with her when she married, claimed Al-Biruni, and she had no rights to income from her parents after her marriage or to any additional inheritance after her father's death. If her father died before her marriage, her guardian would first pay off her father's debt, then allocate a fourth of the remaining wealth to her upkeep until she is ready to marry, and then give the rest to her to take with her into her married life.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Various reasons have been suggested as cause of dowry practice in India. These include economic factors and social factors.


title: Dowry system in India

text: There are many economic factors that contribute towards the system of dowry. Some of these include inheritance systems and the bride's economic status.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Some suggestions point to economics and weak legal institutions on inheritance place women in disadvantage, with inheritances being left only to sons. This leaves women dependent upon their husbands and in-laws, who keep the dowry when she marries. Prior to 1956, including during the British Raj, daughters had no rights of inheritance to their family's wealth. In 1956, India gave equal legal status to daughters and sons among Hindu, Sikh and Jain families, under the Hindu Succession Act (India grants its Muslim population the Sharia derived personal status laws). Despite the new inheritance law, dowry has continued as a process whereby parental property is distributed to a daughter at her marriage by a social process, rather than after parents death by a slow court supervised process under Hindu Succession Act (1956).


title: Dowry system in India

text: Dowry gave, at least in theory, women economic and financial security in their marriage in the form of movable goods. This helped prevent family wealth break-up and provided security to the bride at the same time. This system can also be used as a premortem inheritance, as once a woman is presented with movable gifts, she may be cut off from the family estate.


title: Dowry system in India

text: For many, dowry has become a greater financial burden on the family, and can leave families destitute based on the demands from the groom.


title: Dowry system in India

text: The structure and kinship of marriage in parts of India contributes to dowry. In the north, marriage usually follows a patrilocal (lives with husband's family) system, where the bride is a non-related member of the family. This system encourages dowry perhaps due to the exclusion of the bride's family after marriage as a form of premortem inheritance for the bride. In the south, marriage is more often conducted within the bride's family, for example with close relatives or cross-cousins, and in a closer physical distance to her family. In addition, brides may have the ability to inherit land, which makes her more valuable in the marriage, decreasing the chance of dowry over the bride price system.


title: Dowry system in India

text: In addition to marriage customs that may influence dowry, social customs or rituals, and parents' expectations of dowry are important factors to consider. A 1995 study showed that while attitudes of people are changing about dowry, dowry continues to prevail. In a 1980 study conducted by Rao, 75% of students responded that dowry was not important to marriage, but 40% of their parents likely expected dowry.


title: Dowry system in India

text: While India has been making progress for women's rights, women continue to be in a subordinate status in their family. Women's education, income, and health are some significant factors that play into the dowry system, and for how much control a woman has over her marriage.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Dowry in India is not limited to any specific religion. It is widespread among Hindus and other religions. For example, Indian Muslims call dowry as "jahez", justify the practice in terms of jahez-e-fatimi. Islamists classify jahez into two categories: The first comprises some essential articles for the outfit of the bride as well as for conjugal life. The other is made up of valuable goods, clothes, jewelry, an amount of money for the groom's family, which is settled on after bargaining. The "jahez" often far exceeds the cost of the "baraat" and marriage parties. The "jahez" is separate from cash payment as "Mahr" or dower that Sharia religious law requires.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Dowry had been a prevalent practice in India's modern era and in this context, it can be in the form of a payment of cash or gifts from the bride's family to the bridegroom's family upon marriage. There are variations on dowry prevalence based on geography and class. States in the north are more likely to participate in the dowry system among all classes, and dowry is more likely to be in the form of material and movable goods. In the south, the bride price system is more prevalent, and is more often in the form of land, or other inheritance goods. This system is tied to the social structure of marriage, which keeps marriage inside or close to family relations.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Dowry also varies by economic strata in India. Upper-class families are more likely to engage in the dowry system than the lower class. This could be in part due to women's economic exclusion from the labor market in upper classes.


title: Dowry system in India

text: When dowry evolved in the Vedic period, it was essentially followed by the upper castes to benefit the bride, who was unable to inherit property under Hindu law. To counter this, the bride's family provided the groom with dowry which would be registered in the bride's name. This dowry was seen as "stridhan" (Sanskrit: woman's property). Also, an important distinction is the fact that while the upper castes practised dowry, the lower castes practised bride price to compensate her family for the loss of income.


title: Dowry system in India

text: In the modern era, the concept of dowry has evolved and Indian families no longer practise the dowry. This is because with the passage of time, bride price gradually disappeared and dowry became the prevalent form of transfer. In the modern era, the practice of dowry requires the bride's family to transfer goods to the groom's family in consideration for the marriage.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Since marriages in India are a time for big celebrations in each family, they tend to be very lavish. Accordingly, Indian weddings usually involve considerable expenditure and accompanying wedding presents from relatives in both sides of the family. This is normal expenditure which is done willingly and varies from one family to another depending on the wealth, status, etc.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Many times, as part of this mutual 'give-and-take', an attempt is made by the groom's family to dictate the quantum of each gift along with specific demands for dowry. In such circumstances, there is an element of exerting coercion on the bride's family and this is what has come to be recognized as the menace of dowry in today's times. Dowry does not refer to the voluntary presents which are made to the bride and the groom; rather it is what is extracted from the bride or her parents.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Recently married women can be a target for dowry related violence because she is tied economically and socially to her new husband. In some cases, dowry is used as a threat or hostage type situation, in order to extract more property from the bride's family. This can be seen in new brides, who are most vulnerable in the situation. Dowry crimes can occur with the threat or occurrence of violence, so that the bride's family is left with no choice but to give more dowry to protect their daughter. The northern and eastern states of India show higher rates of dowry-related violence.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Dowry is considered a major contributor towards observed violence against women in India. Some of these offences include physical violence, emotional abuses, and even murder of brides and young girls prior to marriage. The predominant types of dowry crimes relate to cruelty (which includes torture and harassment), domestic violence (including physical, emotional and sexual assault), abetment to suicide and dowry death (including, issues of bride burning and murder).


title: Dowry system in India

text: A 2005 Canadian documentary film, "Runaway Grooms", exposed a phenomenon of Indo-Canadian men taking advantage of the dowry system. These men would fraudulently return to India ostensibly seeking a new bride, but then abandon the woman and return to Canada without her as soon as they had secured possession of her dowry.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Cruelty in the form of torture or harassment of a woman with the objective of forcing her to meet a demand for property or valuable security is a form of dowry crime. The cruelty could be in the form of verbal attacks or may be accompanied by beating or harassment in order to force the woman or her family to yield to dowry demands. In many instances, the cruelty may even force the woman to commit suicide and it has been specifically criminalized by the anti-dowry laws in India.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Domestic violence includes a broad spectrum of abusive and threatening behavior which includes physical, emotional, economic and sexual violence as well as intimidation, isolation and coercion. There are laws like the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 that help to reduce domestic violence and to protect women's rights.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Continuing abuse by the husband and his family with threats of harm could lead to a woman committing suicide. In such situations, the dowry crime even extends to abetment of suicide, which includes all acts and attempts to intentionally advise, encourage, or assist in committing suicide. The impact of dowry can leave a woman helpless and desperate, which can cumulate in emotional trauma and abuse. Dowry related abuse causes emotional trauma, depression and suicide. The offence of abetment to suicide is significant because in many cases, the accused persons often bring up a defense that the victim committed suicide at her own volition, even though this may not be true in reality.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Dowry deaths and dowry murder relate to a bride's suicide or killing committed by her husband and his family soon after the marriage because of their dissatisfaction with the dowry. It is typically the culmination of a series of prior domestic abuses by the husband's family. Most dowry deaths occur when the young woman, unable to bear the harassment and torture, commits suicide by hanging herself or consuming poison. Dowry deaths also include bride burning where brides are doused in kerosene and set ablaze by the husband or his family. Sometimes, due to their abetment to commit suicide, the bride may end up setting herself on fire.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Bride burnings are often disguised as accidents or suicide attempts. Bride burnings are the most common forms of dowry deaths for a wide range of reasons like kerosene being inexpensive, there being insufficient evidence after the murder and low chances of survival rate. Apart from bride burning, there are some instances of poisoning, strangulation, acid attacks, etc., as a result of which brides are murdered by the groom's family.


title: Dowry system in India

text: India, with its large population, reports the highest number of dowry related deaths in the world according to Indian National Crime Record Bureau. In 2012, 8,233 dowry death cases were reported across India, while in 2013, 8,083 dowry deaths were reported. This means a dowry-related crime causes the death of a woman every 90 minutes, or 1.4 deaths per year per 100,000 women in India.


title: Dowry system in India

text: The first all-India legislative enactment relating to dowry to be put on the statute book was The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and this legislation came into force from 1 July 1961. It marked the beginning of a new legal framework of dowry harassment laws effectively prohibiting the demanding, giving and taking of dowry. Although providing dowry is illegal, it is still common in many parts of India for a husband to seek a dowry from the wife's family and in some cases, this results in a form of extortion and violence against the wife.


title: Dowry system in India

text: To further strengthen the anti-dowry law and to stop offences of cruelty by the husband or his relatives against the wife, new provisions were added to the Indian criminal law – section 498A to Indian Penal Code and section 198A to the Criminal Procedure Code in 1983. In 2005, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act was passed, which added an additional layer of protection from dowry harassment. Although the changes in Indian criminal law reflect a serious effort by legislators to put an end to dowry-related crimes, and although they have been in effect for many years now, they have been largely criticised as being ineffective.


title: Dowry system in India

text: The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 consolidated the anti-dowry laws which had been passed on certain states. This legislation provides for a penalty in section 3 if any person gives, takes or abets giving or receiving of dowry. The punishment could be imprisonment for minimum 5 years and a fine more than ₹15,000 or the value of the dowry received, whichever is higher. Dowry in the Act is defined as any property or valuable security given or agreed to be given in connection with the marriage. The penalty for giving or taking dowry is not applicable in case of presents which are given at the time of marriage without any demand having been made.


title: Dowry system in India

text: The Act provides the penalty for directly or indirectly demanding dowry and provides for a penalty involving a prison term of not less than 6 months and extendable up to two years along with a fine of ₹10,000. Dowry agreements are void "ab initio" and if any dowry is received by anyone other than the woman, it should be transferred to the woman. The burden of proving that an offense was not committed is on the persons charged and not on the victim or her family. Under its powers to frame rules for carrying out its objectives under the Act, the government of India has framed the Maintenance of Lists of Presents to the Bride and the Bridegroom Rules, 1985. There are also several state level amendments to the Dowry Prohibition Act.


title: Dowry system in India

text: The Indian criminal laws were comprehensively amended to include dowry as a punishable offence. Section 304B was added to the Indian Penal Code, 1860 ("IPC"), which made dowry death a specific offence punishable with a minimum sentence of imprisonment for 7 years and a maximum imprisonment for life. It provided that if the death of a woman is caused by burns or bodily injury or occurs in suspicious circumstances within 7 years of her marriage, and there's evidence to show that before her death, she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or his relative regarding the demand for dowry, then the husband or the relative shall be deemed to have caused her death.


title: Dowry system in India

text: Further, section 113B of the Evidence Act, 1872 ("Evidence Act"), creates an additional presumption of dowry death when it is shown that before her death, the woman had been subjected to cruelty on account of dowry demand. Section 304B IPC along with Section 113B of the Evidence Act have enabled the conviction of many who were not caught by the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. Section 113A of the Evidence Act provides a similar presumption of abetment of suicide (which is an offense under Section 306 IPC), in case of death of a married woman within a period of seven years of her marriage.