title: 2022 Carolina Panthers season

text: The game starts off well for Carolina in the first quarter when New Orleans fumbles the ball. Marquis Haynes recovers it and scores a fumble recovery for the Panthers. Carolina leads by thirteen points at the half after Eddy Piñeiro kicks two field goals in the second quarter. Early in the fourth, Mark Ingram scores a touchdown for the Saints, giving them their first points of the game. Baker Mayfield completes a 67-yard pass to Laviska Shenault for a touchdown. They tried for a two-point conversion, but it failed. With 8:19 to go in the game Piñeiro kicks another field goal for Carolina. With 2:22 remaining, Marquez Callaway scores a touchdown down for the Saints. Carolina defeats New Orleans 22–14, and they improve to 1–2.


title: 2022 Carolina Panthers season

text: The Panthers lose to San Francisco 15–37. With now being 1–4, head coach Matt Rhule and defensive coordinator Phil Snow are fired from the result of it.


title: 2022 Carolina Panthers season

text: Carolina starts off the game with a field goal in the first. Both Carolina and the Rams scored touchdowns in the second. The Panthers do not score at all in the second half, while Los Angeles scores 17. The Rams defeated Carolina 24–10. For the first time since 2016, the Panthers are 1–5.


title: 2022 Carolina Panthers season

text: This was also the last game Christian McCaffrey would play in as a player of the Panthers, as he was traded to the San Francisco 49ers on October 20, 2022.


title: 2022 Carolina Panthers season

text: Carolina and Tampa Bay were both scoreless in the first quarter. With 35 seconds to go in the second, P. J. Walker made a 20-yard pass to D. J. Moore for a Panthers touchdown. Carolina is up by 7 at the half. Chuba Hubbard scored a touchdown in the third. Ryan Succop makes a field goal for the Bucs in the fourth. Walker passes it to Tommy Tremble for another Carolina touchdown. The Panthers win 21–3 and improved to 2–5.


title: 2022 Carolina Panthers season

text: In the first half of the game, Carolina was scoreless while the Cincinnati Bengals scored 35. Both teams scored 7 in the third quarter. The Panthers went on to score 14 in the fourth, and even though Cincinnati didn't score, it wasn't enough to win. Carolina loses 21–42 and falls to 2–7.


title: 2022 Carolina Panthers season

text: Carolina seeks revenge against Atlanta in this Thursday Night Football game after losing a heartbreaker 11 days prior. The Panthers win 25–15 and improve to 3–7.


title: 2022 Carolina Panthers season

text: For the first time since the 2008 season, the Panthers defeat the Broncos 23–10 and with the win the Panthers improve to 4–8.


title: 2022 Carolina Panthers season

text: Carolina defeated Seattle for the first time since 2015, winning 30–24. The Panthers improved to 5–8.


title: 2022 Carolina Panthers season

text: Mitchell Trubisky and the Pittsburgh Steelers are too much for Carolina defeating them 24–16. The Panthers fall to 5–9.


title: Carnot heat engine

text: A Carnot heat engine is a heat engine that operates on the Carnot cycle. The basic model for this engine was developed by Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot in 1824. The Carnot engine model was graphically expanded by Benoît Paul Émile Clapeyron in 1834 and mathematically explored by Rudolf Clausius in 1857, work that led to the fundamental thermodynamic concept of entropy. The Carnot engine is the most efficient heat engine which is theoretically possible. The efficiency depends only upon the absolute temperatures of the hot and cold heat reservoirs between which it operates.


title: Carnot heat engine

text: A heat engine acts by transferring energy from a warm region to a cool region of space and, in the process, converting some of that energy to mechanical work. The cycle may also be reversed. The system may be worked upon by an external force, and in the process, it can transfer thermal energy from a cooler system to a warmer one, thereby acting as a refrigerator or heat pump rather than a heat engine.


title: Carnot heat engine

text: Every thermodynamic system exists in a particular state. A thermodynamic cycle occurs when a system is taken through a series of different states, and finally returned to its initial state. In the process of going through this cycle, the system may perform work on its surroundings, thereby acting as a heat engine.


title: Carnot heat engine

text: In the adjacent diagram, from Carnot's 1824 work, "Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire", there are "two bodies "A" and "B", kept each at a constant temperature, that of "A" being higher than that of "B". These two bodies to which we can give, or from which we can remove the heat without causing their temperatures to vary, exercise the functions of two unlimited reservoirs of caloric. We will call the first the furnace and the second the refrigerator.” Carnot then explains how we can obtain motive power, i.e., “work”, by carrying a certain quantity of heat from body "A" to body "B".


title: Carnot heat engine

text: The previous image shows the original piston-and-cylinder diagram used by Carnot in discussing his ideal engine. The figure at right shows a block diagram of a generic heat engine, such as the Carnot engine. In the diagram, the “working body” (system), a term introduced by Clausius in 1850, can be any fluid or vapor body through which heat "Q" can be introduced or transmitted to produce work. Carnot had postulated that the fluid body could be any substance capable of expansion, such as vapor of water, vapor of alcohol, vapor of mercury, a permanent gas, air, etc. Although in those early years, engines came in a number of configurations, typically "Q" was supplied by a boiler, wherein water was boiled over a furnace; "Q" was typically removed by a stream of cold flowing water in the form of a condenser located on a separate part of the engine. The output work, "W", is transmitted by the movement of the piston as it is used to turn a crank-arm, which in turn was typically used to power a pulley so as to lift water out of flooded salt mines. Carnot defined work as “weight lifted through a height”.


title: Carnot heat engine

text: Carnot's theorem is a formal statement of this fact: "No engine operating between two heat reservoirs can be more efficient than a Carnot engine operating between the same reservoirs."


title: Carnot heat engine

text: A corollary to Carnot's theorem states that: All reversible engines operating between the same heat reservoirs are equally efficient.


title: Carnot heat engine

text: It is easily shown that the efficiency is maximum when the entire cyclic process is a reversible process. This means the total entropy of system and surroundings (the entropies of the hot furnace, the "working fluid" of the heat engine, and the cold sink) remains constant when the "working fluid" completes one cycle and returns to its original state. (In the general and more realistic case of an irreversible process, the total entropy of this combined system would increase.)


title: Carnot heat engine

text: Since the "working fluid" comes back to the same state after one cycle, and entropy of the system is a state function, the change in entropy of the "working fluid" system is 0. Thus, it implies that the total entropy change of the furnace and sink is zero, for the process to be reversible and the efficiency of the engine to be maximum. This derivation is carried out in the next section.


title: Carnot heat engine

text: For a real heat engine, the total thermodynamic process is generally irreversible. The working fluid is brought back to its initial state after one cycle, and thus the change of entropy of the fluid system is 0, but the sum of the entropy changes in the hot and cold reservoir in this one cyclical process is greater than 0.


title: Carnot heat engine

text: The internal energy of the fluid is also a state variable, so its total change in one cycle is 0. So the total work done by the system is equal to the net heat put into the system, the sum of formula_5 > 0 taken up and the waste heat formula_9 < 0 given off:


title: Carnot heat engine

text: For real engines, stages 1 and 3 of the Carnot cycle, in which heat is absorbed by the "working fluid" from the hot reservoir, and released by it to the cold reservoir, respectively, no longer remain ideally reversible, and there is a temperature differential between the temperature of the reservoir and the temperature of the fluid while heat exchange takes place.


title: Carnot heat engine

text: During heat transfer from the hot reservoir at formula_10 to the fluid, the fluid would have a slightly lower temperature than formula_10, and the process for the fluid may not necessarily remain isothermal.


title: Carnot heat engine

text: Similarly, at the time of heat injection from the fluid to the cold reservoir one would have, for the magnitude of total entropy change formula_14< 0 of the fluid in the process of expelling heat:


title: Carnot heat engine

text: where, during this process of transfer of heat to the cold reservoir, the temperature of the fluid is always slightly greater than formula_15.


title: Carnot heat engine

text: We have only considered the magnitude of the entropy change here. Since the total change of entropy of the fluid system for the cyclic process is 0, we must have


title: Carnot heat engine

text: where formula_16 is the efficiency of the real engine, and formula_4 is the efficiency of the Carnot engine working between the same two reservoirs at the temperatures formula_10 and formula_15. For the Carnot engine, the entire process is 'reversible', and Equation () is an equality. Hence, the efficiency of the real engine is always less than the ideal Carnot engine.


title: Carnot heat engine

text: Equation () signifies that the total entropy of system and surroundings (the fluid and the two reservoirs) increases for the real engine, because (in a surroundings-based analysis) the entropy gain of the cold reservoir as formula_20 flows into it at the fixed temperature formula_15, is greater than the entropy loss of the hot reservoir as formula_22 leaves it at its fixed temperature formula_10. The inequality in Equation () is essentially the statement of the Clausius theorem.


title: Carnot heat engine

text: According to the second theorem, "The efficiency of the Carnot engine is independent of the nature of the working substance".


title: Carnot heat engine

text: In 1892 Rudolf Diesel patented an internal combustion engine inspired by the Carnot engine. Diesel knew a Carnot engine is an ideal that cannot be built, but he thought he had invented a working approximation. His principle was unsound, but in his struggle to implement it he developed the practical engine that bears his name.


title: Carnot heat engine

text: The conceptual problem was how to achieve isothermal expansion in an internal combustion engine, since burning fuel at the highest temperature of the cycle would only raise the temperature further. Diesel's patented solution was: having achieved the highest temperature just by compressing the air, to add a small amount of fuel at a controlled rate, such that heating caused by burning the fuel would be counteracted by cooling caused by air expansion as the piston moved. Hence all the heat from the fuel would be transformed into work during the isothermal expansion, as required by Carnot's theorem.


title: Carnot heat engine

text: For the idea to work a small mass of fuel would have to be burnt in a huge mass of air. Diesel first proposed a working engine that would compress air to 250 atmospheres at 800 °C, then cycle to one atmosphere at 20 °C. However, this was well beyond the technological capabilities of the day, since it implied a compression ratio of 60:1. Such an engine, could it have been built, would have had an efficiency of 73%. (In contrast, the best steam engines of his day achieved 7%.)


title: Carnot heat engine

text: Accordingly, Diesel sought to compromise. He calculated that, were he to reduce the peak pressure to a less ambitious 90 atmospheres, he would sacrifice only 5% of the thermal efficiency. Seeking financial support, he published the "Theory and Construction of a Rational Heat Engine to Take the Place of the Steam Engine and All Presently Known Combustion Engines" (1893). Endorsed by scientific opinion, including Lord Kelvin, he won the backing of Krupp and Maschinenfabrik Augsburg. He clung to the Carnot cycle as a symbol. But years of practical work failed to achieve an isothermal combustion engine, nor could have done, since it requires such an enormous quantity of air that it cannot develop enough power to compress it. Furthermore, controlled fuel injection turned out to be no easy matter.


title: Carnot heat engine

text: Even so, it slowly evolved over 25 years to become a practical high-compression air engine, its fuel injected near the end of the compression stroke and ignited by the heat of compression, in a word, the diesel engine. Today its efficiency is 40%.


title: Blood in stool

text: Blood in stool looks different depending on how early it enters the digestive tract—and thus how much digestive action it has been exposed to—and how much there is. The term can refer either to melena, with a black appearance, typically originating from upper gastrointestinal bleeding; or to hematochezia, with a red color, typically originating from lower gastrointestinal bleeding. Evaluation of the blood found in stool depends on its characteristics, in terms of color, quantity and other features, which can point to its source, however, more serious conditions can present with a mixed picture, or with the form of bleeding that is found in another section of the tract. The term "blood in stool" is usually only used to describe visible blood, and not fecal occult blood, which is found only after physical examination and chemical laboratory testing.


title: Blood in stool

text: In infants, the Apt test can be used to distinguish fetal hemoglobin from maternal blood based on the differences in composition of fetal hemoglobin as compared to the hemoglobin found in adults.


title: Blood in stool

text: Blood in the stool can come from many sources. The causes range from not harmful to very serious conditions. A common way to divide causes of bleeding is based on the source of bleeding. The GI tract can be divided into upper and lower, with some causes of bleeding affecting the entire tract (upper and lower). Blood in the stool often appears different depending on its source. These differences can help when diagnosing these conditions. The rate of bleeding can also make blood in the stool look different from typical cases.


title: Blood in stool

text: The upper GI tract is defined as the organs involved in digestion above the ligament of Treitz and comprises the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum. Upper gastrointestinal bleeding is typically characterized by melena (black stool). Bright red blood may be seen with active, rapid bleeding.


title: Blood in stool

text: The development of blood in a person's stool results from a variety of conditions, which can be divided into major categories of disease. These broad categories include cancerous processes or abnormal structure of bowel wall, inflammatory disease, colitis caused by infection or medications and vascular compromise.


title: Blood in stool

text: The gut wall is important for the movement of waste products through the GI tract. Repetitive attempts to have a bowel movement can lead to tearing around the exit of the rectum (anal fissure)


title: Blood in stool

text: Diseases causing inflammation in the GI tract can lead to blood in the stool. Inflammation can occur anywhere along the GI tract in Crohn's disease, or in the colon if a person has ulcerative colitis.


title: Blood in stool

text: The tests that are considered to evaluate of the passage of blood in the stool are based on the characteristics of bleeding (color, quantity) and whether or not the person passing blood has a low blood pressure with elevated heart rate, as opposed to normal vital signs. The following tests are combined to determine the causes of the source of bleeding.


title: Blood in stool

text: Hematochezia is defined as bright red blood seen in the toilet either inside of, or surrounding the stool.


title: Blood in stool

text: Hematochezia is typically presumed to come from the lower portion of the GI tract, and the initial steps of diagnosis include a DRE with FOBT, which if positive, will lead to a colonoscopy. If the person has a large amount of blood in their stool, an EGD test may be necessary. If no source of active bleeding is found on these examinations, a capsule endoscopy may be performed, in order to more closely examine the small bowel, which cannot be seen with the other types of studies. With melena, a DRE with FOBT is often also performed, however the suspicion for a source from the upper GI tract is higher, leading first to the use of EGD with the other tests being required if no source is identified. The anoscopy is another type of examination, which can be used along with a colonoscopy, which exams the rectum and distal portion of the descending colon.


title: Blood in stool

text: A texture described as tarry stool is generally associated with dark black stool seen in partially digested blood. This is generally associated with melena.


title: Blood in stool

text: Treatment of bloody stool depends largely on the cause of the bleeding. Bleeding is commonly associated with symptoms of fatigue, dizziness, headaches, or even shortness of breath, and these associated symptoms also require treatment. These symptoms are the result of blood loss, and occur due to a lack of red blood cells (RBCs) circulating in the vascular system, resulting in less oxygen reaching the tissues and organs. Blood in stool can be associated with serious complications as a result of blood volume loss (hemorrhage) or a slow leak of the blood leading to low levels of hemoglobin in the circulating blood (anemia).


title: Blood in stool

text: Anemia is a common complication of blood in the stool, especially when there is a large amount of blood or bleeding occurs over a long period of time. Anemia is also commonly associated with an iron deficiency, due to the importance of iron in the formation of red blood cells (RBCs). When anemia is diagnosed as a result of blood in the stool, vitamins that are important for RBC formation (folate, vitamin B12, and vitamin C) are frequently prescribed in order to ensure that all the materials are available for those cells that are made.


title: Blood in stool

text: Diagnostic measures can be used as interventions to help stop bleeding in some cases. Bleeding that occurs due to a neoplasm (cancer growth) can be treated using colonoscopy and clipping, surgical intervention, or other measures, depending on the form and stage of cancer. Similarly, gastric cancer is treated depending on the staging, although typically requires surgical and medical therapy.


title: Blood in stool

text: The treatment for motility issues, namely constipation, is typically to improve the movement of waste through the GI tract. This is done by using stool softeners (which work by pulling water into the stool while in the colon), addition of fiber to the diet, and use of osmotic laxatives (which help fluid movement through the colon, improving overall motility). Improving a persons gut motility can reduce the straining during defection and decrease the risk of developing of anal fissures. Anal fissures are associated with pain and blood on the toilet paper, and require time for healing. Treatment includes topical nitrates or calcium channel blockers and surgical interventions for chronic or complex cases. Similar to anal fissures, internal hemorrhoids can cause blood on the tissue when wiping, and be felt at the opening of the anus. Treatment options for hemorrhoids can be dependent on whether an underlying cause exists. An anorectal varices related hemorrhoids caused by cirrhosis, however symptomatic treatment often involves removal.


title: Blood in stool

text: Colitis can be divided into infectious and drug induced, as can the treatment for these conditions. With infectious colitis, treatment is pathogen dependent, and generally requires the use of antibiotics. With drug-induced colitis, treatment typically involves removal of the offending agent, as is the case in NSAID induced PUD, however, removing radiation from a cancer patient is not always practical within a treatment regimen, so medical treatment is the primary mode of treatment.


title: Blood in stool

text: Structural compromise leading to blood in stool is caused by a variety of conditions, and therefore requires different treatment for each condition. Peptic ulcer disease alone can be divided into multiple causes, but is generally initially controlled primarily with a proton pump inhibitor, with the addition of an H blocker, or in serious cases, requiring surgical intervention. Diverticulitis and diverticulosis require antibiotic treatment, and may require surgical intervention.


title: Blood in stool

text: Inflammatory bowel disease is also divided into separate conditions, namely ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, which have different medical treatment regimens, and may require surgical intervention in more serious conditions.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: Takayama first became known for his toughness after he began competing in mixed martial arts, when he took part in one of the most infamous fights in MMA history at PRIDE 21 against Don Frye. Through his career Takayama had several career-threatening injuries, including a stroke after a match against Kensuke Sasaki in 2004. Takayama's career ended with a spinal cord injury in May 2017, which left him paralyzed from the shoulders down.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: A former rugby player, kendoka and lifeguard, Takayama started his professional wrestling career for shoot-style promotion Union of Wrestling Forces International (UWFI). Put under the tutelage of top star Nobuhiko Takada, Takayama debuted against Hiromitsu Kanehara and became a usual competitor of the Junior League Tournaments. In 1995, with the interpromotional feuds with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and WAR, he allied himself with Yoji Anjo and Kenichi Yamamoto to form the semi-serious "Golden Cups" stable. They competed extensively against NJPW representatives, most notably against Masahiro Chono's Ookami Gundan unit. The trio was famous for their involvement in comedic and parodic skits, like assuming masks in NJPW as the "200% Machines" to mock "Super Strong Machine" Junji Hirata, and playing a pop band gimmick to the point of releasing a CD album in July 1996. In WAR, they feuded with Gedo, Jado and Hiromichi Fuyuki, having several important matches against them.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: After UWFI's subsequent collapse, he joined Kingdom, but after it also collapsed, he joined All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) as a free agent along with former UWFi comrade Masahito Kakihara. In the beginning, Takayama was put in a feud with Toshiaki Kawada (against whom he had lost once in an interpromotional match before the UWFI's collapse), but as he lost matches often, he was back in the undercard. He and Kakihara joined former UWFI foreigner Gary Albright in a new version of the "Triangle of Power" stable Albright had formed with Steve Williams before he briefly went back to the United States.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: In 1999, upon Giant Baba's death, Mitsuharu Misawa made him and Kakihara full-time members of All Japan. Pushed as the No Fear team with Omori, Takayama found instant success, first winning the Asian tag team title from Hayabusa and Jinsei Shinzaki and then the Double Cup from Johnny Ace and Bart Gunn. However, they were eventually defeated by the combination of Misawa and Yoshinari Ogawa. In 2000, when Misawa announced plans for his new promotion, Pro Wrestling Noah, Takayama followed him.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: During the first few months of Noah's existence, Takayama competed in the first ever GHC Heavyweight Championship tournament, but lost to Mitsuharu Misawa in the final match. He found continued success in Noah, winning the new GHC Tag Team Championship with Takao Omori, too. It was around 2001 that, spurred by his old UWFI comrades' success in the PRIDE fighting circuit, Takayama decided to try his hand at mixed martial arts competition. He also competed in memorable Noah matches during 2002, winning the GHC Heavyweight Championship from Yoshinari Ogawa on September 7 before losing it to Mitsuharu Misawa later that month.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: In 2001, Takayama declared free agency from Noah so he could pursue MMA, as well as matches in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he began challenging the top stars, such as Yuji Nagata, Masahiro Chono, and Hiroyoshi Tenzan. In 2003 and 2004 he participated in New Japan's annual G1 Climax tournament. In mid-2004 he affiliated himself with former Pancrase wrestler Minoru Suzuki, and they won the IWGP Tag Team Championship, but he had a stroke later in the year following a brutal match with Kensuke Sasaki. During his time away from the ring, Takayama provided occasional colour commentary for Pro Wrestling Noah, famously saying, "I hope this never ends" during a chop exchange between Kenta Kobashi and Kensuke Sasaki on the July 18, 2005 "Destiny" show. In June 2006, Pro Wrestling Noah announced that Takayama would return at the July 16 Nippon Budokan show, and would team with Kenta Kobashi to take on Jun Akiyama and Mitsuharu Misawa. The match was later changed due to Kobashi needing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor, leading to Takayama teaming with Kensuke Sasaki against Akiyama and Misawa. However, when Kenta Kobashi returned, it would be in the same match, teaming with Yoshihiro Takayama to take on Jun Akiyama and Mitsuharu Misawa.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: Takayama then started teaming with old UWFI comrade Takuma Sano in a tournament for the GHC Tag Team Championship vacated by Kenta Kobashi and Tamon Honda due to Kobashi's kidney tumor (Takayama and Sano would reach the final where they would lose to Muhammad Yone and Takeshi Morishima). On December 27, he showed up at a Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX show, attacked former partner Takao Omori, and promised to return at the next show.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: Takayama defeated Great Muta on March 14, 2009, at Pro-Wrestling Love in Ryogoku Vol. 7 to win the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. With this victory, Takayama became the second wrestler (the other being Kensuke Sasaki) to win the three major heavyweight titles in Japan: NOAH's GHC Heavyweight Championship, New Japan's IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and All Japan's Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. Takayama held the Triple Crown for almost seven months, losing the title to Satoshi Kojima on September 26.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: On January 4, 2010, at Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Takayama to retain his IWGP Heavyweight Championship. In 2010, Takayama and Sano competed in NOAH's "Global Tag League" tournament and emerged the victors, however they were subsequently unable to dethrone the GHC Tag Team Champions Takeshi Rikio and Muhammad Yone.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: From March 28 to May 2, 2010, Takayama competed in (and eventually won) Pro-Wrestling Noah's 1st ever Global League. He defeated Jun Akiyama in the final match of the tournament, finishing up with a total of 7 points. It was then announced that due to his victory, Takayama had earned a GHC Heavyweight Championship match versus Takashi Sugiura on July 10. On September 18, 2010, Takayama and Takuma Sano defeated Akitoshi Saito and Bison Smith to win the vacant GHC Tag Team Championship. On January 4, 2011, at New Japan's Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome, Takayama and Sugiura defeated Hirooki Goto and Kazuchika Okada in a tag team match. Takayama and Sano would lose the GHC Tag Team Championship to New Japan's Giant Bernard and Karl Anderson on June 18, 2011, at Dominion 6.18 in a match contested also for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. In late 2011, Takayama began making appearances for New Japan Pro-Wrestling as a member of Minoru Suzuki's Suzuki-gun, which built to a match on January 4, 2012, at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome, where he was defeated by Togi Makabe in a singles match. On March 18, Takayama and his Suzuki-gun stablemate, Lance Archer, unsuccessfully challenged Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima for the IWGP Tag Team Championship.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: In 2016, Takayama began working primarily for DDT Pro-Wrestling, and in April 2017 won both the KO-D Tag Team Championship with Danshoku Dino and the Right to Challenge Anytime, Anywhere contract for the KO-D Openweight Championship. He lost the contract to Yasu Urano on May 4, after a spinal cord injury. Because of the injury, Takayama and Dino were stripped of the KO-D Tag Team Championship on May 9.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: Takayama was injured at a DDT show on May 4, 2017, when he landed on his head when attempting a sunset flip on Yasu Urano. The match was ended immediately and Takayama was rushed to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with a "cervical spinal cord injury due to degenerative cervical spondylosis". For the following months, Takayama remained bedridden and was being taken care of by his wife and son, while the public was left unaware of the extent of his injury. On August 6, it was reported that the injury had left Takayama paralyzed from the neck down, reportedly ending his pro wrestling career. Takayama's situation was made public on September 4, when it was announced that he could now breathe on his own, but was still paralyzed from the shoulders down and was not expected to recover. DDT and Takayama's close friend Minoru Suzuki announced the creation of a foundation named "Takayamania", set to help Takayama and his family with his medical costs. Promotions across Japan came together to set up donation boxes for the foundation at their events.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: Takayama had his anticipated debut in MMA at the event PRIDE 14 against fellow professional wrestler Kazuyuki Fujita. His performance would impress pundits by keeping the fight competitive despite the experience gap, as he escaped repeatedly from underneath the heavier Fujita and exchanged hard strikes in the muay thai clinch with him in the early minutes. Even though his stamina faltered later, which allowed Fujita to deliver multiple knee strikes to the head from a grounded position, Takayama survived to the second round, where he was finally put down by an arm triangle choke.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: At PRIDE 18, he faced superheavyweight kickboxing champion Semmy Schilt in a valiant effort, but he was knocked out in short by his large opponent. However, Takayama would confirm the critics right at PRIDE 21 as a last time replacement. Although the event initially featured a hoped rematch between Ultimate Fighting Championship veterans Mark Coleman and Don Frye, the former was forced to pull out due to a serious neck injury, driving Takayama to accept to fill in two weeks before the bout.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: Frye and Takayama faced off in what many PRIDE fans consider to be a classic. As soon as the fight started, both contenders assumed an identical, aggressive hockey punching-like strategy and turned the match into a brutal slugfest, each one holding the other's head with the left hand and unloading savage unblocked punches to the face with the right. Takayama managed to deliver a belly-to-belly suplex, and land a heavy knee, but Frye got up and both continued striking as previously. Later, after two minutes more of punching, the American finally overpowered Takayama and pounded him with hammerfists from the mount, leading the referee to stop the match.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: Despite its untechnical nature, the fight was critically acclaimed and become one of the most talked about MMA matches ever. It appeared at number one on Fox Sports Network's "Best Damn 50 Beatdowns and was considered by critics "one of the greatest fights of all-time", "one of the finest moments in MMA history," and "the fiercest brawl in the history of the sport". After Takayama's retirement by paralysis in 2018, Frye published a message for him referring the fight, stating: "Takayama-san, God gave me the greatest opponent anybody could ever ask for, you. You made the greatest fight the world has ever seen. [...] You are the warrior we all look to be."


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: At Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2002, Takayama fought the 350-pound Bob Sapp. The fight was one-sided, with Sapp using his superior strength and size to mount Takayama and perform an armbar for the tap out.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: At U-Spirits Again 2013, Takayama would have his last fight against Hikaru Sato, where he would win after delivering a suplex that knocked Sato out, giving Takayama his first and only mixed martial arts win. Though this fight has been disputed as being a professional wrestling match.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: Aside from professional wrestling, Takayama featured a sporadic music career. In summer 1996, as part of Golden Cups stable, Takayama participated in the group's official music debut with the CD album "Golden Cups Present... Oh Taco," containing the three wrestlers's entrance themes along with some covers and original songs. In 2009, Takayama appeared with Riki Choshu in the music video of King RIKI's tenth anniversary version of "Love Machine", posing as HUSTLE wrestlers flanking RIKI.


title: Yoshihiro Takayama

text: Takayama has acted in small parts in several films, beginning with "Muscle Heat" in 2002, and continuing with "Cromartie High - The Movie" and "Nagurimono" in 2005. He also appeared in 2004's "The Calamari Wrestler", playing himself in a cameo role. He also voiced the character Canis Major Sirious in the "Saint Seiya" OVA trilogy "The Hades Chapter". He is credited as "Large Man" in Martin Scorsese's 2016 film Silence.


title: Koyla

text: Koyla ( Coal) is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed, co-written and produced by Rakesh Roshan, which stars Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Amrish Puri in lead roles, while Johnny Lever, Ashok Saraf, Salim Ghouse, Deepshikha and Himani Shivpuri appear in supporting roles. Mohnish Bahl makes a special appearance in the film. The film was released worldwide on 18 April 1997 and was declared an average grosser at the box office, earning over 28.05 crore worldwide against a budget of 11.90 crore. Critics praised the action sequences performed by Khan, and it emerged as the 8th most successful film of 1997 in India. Some scenes of the film were shot in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh. This is the third and final collaboration between Shah Rukh Khan and Rakesh Roshan, due to Rakesh's son Hrithik Roshan entering films and replacing Shah Rukh Khan in Rakesh's films. The film earned Puri a Best Villain at the 43rd Filmfare Awards.


title: Koyla

text: Handsome but mute, Shankar is raised by the powerful Raja, to whom he is loyal. But he treats him like a slave. Shankar is also unnecessarily beaten by Raja's brother Brijwa, a violent psychopath. A ruthless and cruel man with a large appetite for young women, Raja kills anyone who dares to defy him.


title: Koyla

text: Raja sees Gauri, a happy innocent villager, and wishes to marry her. However, she wants to see a photo of her future husband first. Aware that she would instantly reject him, he sends her a photo of Shankar. Gauri instantly agrees, and the wedding proceeds.


title: Koyla

text: However, before the ceremony is completed, she discovers that Shankar isn't her groom and faints; Raja orders the priest to continue, though the marriage would be invalid while Gauri is unconscious.


title: Koyla

text: When she regains consciousness, she sees Raja trying to consummate with her and is shocked knowing they're married. He imprisons and tortures her.


title: Koyla

text: Gauri tries to commit suicide but Shankar saves her. She accuses him of ruining her life but upon knowing his innocence thanks to the son of Raja's doctor who sometimes serves as his interpreter, she is sorry. When Gauri's brother Ashok comes to see her, Raja threatens her to lie to him that she is happy otherwise he will kill Ashok. Gauri does so.


title: Koyla

text: However, Shankar, unable to see Gauri in misery, reveals the truth to Ashok by writing in the dirt as Ashok is about to leave. Raja and Brijwa kill Ashok who returned to rescue Gauri. Moments before dying, he has Shankar promise him to save Gauri; she and Shankar flee Raja's mansion. Enraged, Raja begins a murderous search to find Gauri and Shankar with the help of an old friend of his who is a corrupt DIG.


title: Koyla

text: After a long chase by jungle and mountains, Shankar uses his survival skills to kill Raja's men. Raja and his men leave due to being disadvantaged. During this, Gauri and Shankar begin to fall in love. Unexpectedly, Raja who is back with reinforcements sees and captures them by shooting Gauri in the arm.


title: Koyla

text: Shankar is brutally beaten by Brijwa, and the corrupt DIG, and Raja slits his throat, then leaves him to die in the mountains; and Gauri is sold to a brothel after Raja discovers she loves Shankar. There, Bindya, Raja's former lover who was disowned by him after she too fell for Shankar once (when he tried to protect her from being raped by Brijwa and was beaten well) and was sold to the same brothel, saves Gauri from what had been done to her. To stop her from doing so, Brijwa at his brother's orders, humiliates her in public, before stabbing her with a knife when she tries to do the same to him in order to protect Gauri. Shankar is found and saved by a village boy who brings him to and his grandfather (a healer), who operates on his throat while he is still unconscious. The healer, who discovers that Shankar is not mute by birth, is able to repair some of the damaged nerves in Shankar's throat, enabling him to speak.


title: Koyla

text: While recovering, Shankar recalls that when he was a boy, his father discovered diamonds in the coal mine, however, he and his wife were murdered in front of Shankar by two mysterious men; when young Shankar threatened to tell his parents' colleagues what they did, someone came up from behind him and shoved hot coals into his throat, rendering him mute. Raja, who had known Shankar's parents, ordered the police to kill those men, but unknown to everyone, Shankar included, the police led by the DIG only pretended to kill the men while Raja adopted Shankar. Shankar recovers and returns; first, he fights and kills Brijwa and is reunited with Gauri after rescuing her from the same men that killed his parents, and bought Gauri from the brothel, killing one of the men in the process. Simultaneously, while killing him, Shankar discovers that Raja was the person who made him mute and who ordered his parents to be killed so he could steal their wealth. In the meantime, he reunites with Raja's doctor and son who believed him dead.


title: Koyla

text: With Gauri's help as well as that of the doctor's son, he kills Raja's other henchman and then reveals the crimes of Raja to Raja's coal miners, at which Gauri arrives with her uncle and aunt, forcing them to admit their involvement in making her marry Raja. Raja's doctor and his son turn against Raja, notifying everyone that Raja not only deceived Gauri but has been responsible for numerous killings as well as rapes before ordering everyone to throw rocks at him and his men although Raja is able to shoot a few of the workers as well as his doctor in the arm. In the chaos, the DIG scares everyone away by throwing grenades but is killed by Shankar, who then chases and finally manages to fight and corner Raja, who begs for his life, trying to give Shankar reasons for why he should live by pointing out that he adopted him and saved his life, but Shankar disregards this by counterpointing that Raja had adopted him to make him a slave and after dodging a pickaxe thrown at him by Raja kills the evil man by spilling oil and coal around Raja and through that setting him on fire with a burning rock. At last, Shankar and Gauri embrace each other, finally at peace.


title: Koyla

text: Rakesh Roshan got the idea of making "Koyla" when he was shooting for his another directorial venture, which was delayed-since 1992 and finally released in 2000, titled "". The film tells the story of a simple-hearted village girl who falls in love with her torturing husband's mute servant and how the mute man takes revenge against his boss. The film was also Rakesh Roshan's first film to feature DTS 5.1 surround sound.


title: Koyla

text: Roshan approached Sunny Deol for the role of Shankar after watching the latter's action scenes in the 1996 films "Jeet" and "". But due to unknown reasons, Deol rejected the role. Upon his refusal, the role was offered to Shah Rukh Khan, who had worked with Roshan in his films "King Uncle" (1993) and "Karan Arjun" (1995).


title: Koyla

text: Sonali Bendre was Roshan's first choice to play the role of Gauri. Later, Roshan replaced her with Madhuri Dixit for unknown reasons. The film marked the second collaboration between Khan and Dixit following "Anjaam" (1994) after which they also starred in "Dil To Pagal Hai" (1997), " Gaja Gamini" (2000), "Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam" (2002) and "Devdas" (2002).


title: Koyla

text: Principal photography of "Koyla" began in June 1996. A song of the film, "Tanhai Tanhai", and some of the scenes, were shot in Tawang. Other scenes were also filmed in Hyderabad and south areas of Ooty.


title: Koyla

text: During the shooting of the film's one of the popular songs, "Ghungte Mein Chanda", Khan fractured his leg. The other song of the film, "Dekha Tujhe Toh", was to be therefore exited from the film because of his fracture, but after Khan's leg got fully well, the song was shot. The sound of real pots were used for the background music of "Dekha Tujhe Toh". A scene of the film was loosely inspired from the 1994 Hollywood film "Forrest Gump".


title: Koyla

text: "Tanhai Tanhai" and "Dekha Tujhe To" became very popular upon release. The theme song was credited from the movie Conquest of Paradise. "Sanson Ki Mala Pe" was based on a bhajan by Mirabai.


title: Koyla

text: "Koyla" grossed in India and $600,000 (2.14 crore) in other countries, for a worldwide total of , against its budget. It had a worldwide opening weekend of , and grossed in its first week. It is the 9th-highest-grossing Bollywood film of 1997 worldwide.


title: Koyla

text: It opened on Friday, 18 April 1997, across 275 screens, and had a record opening of nett. The film shared the record for the highest opening day with the previous record opener "Trimurti" which also grossed nett on its opening day. It went on to break nett opening weekend record set by "Trimurti", and recorded highest ever opening weekend of nett. It had a first week of nett. The film earned a total of nett.


title: Heaven 17

text: Heaven 17 are an English new wave and synth-pop band that formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of Martyn Ware (keyboards) and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) (both previously of the Human League), and Glenn Gregory (vocals, keyboards). Although most of the band's music was recorded in the 1980s, they have occasionally reformed to record and perform, playing their first ever live concerts in 1997. Marsh left the band in 2007 and Ware and Gregory continued to perform as Heaven 17.


title: Heaven 17

text: Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn Ware were the founding members of pioneering Sheffield electro-pop or synthpop group the Human League; Glenn Gregory (who had previously been in a punk band called Musical Vomit with Marsh) had been their original choice when seeking a lead singer for the band but as he had moved to London to work as a photographer at the time, they chose Ware's school friend Philip Oakey instead. When personal and creative tensions within the group reached a breaking point in late 1980, Marsh and Ware left the band, ceding the Human League name to Oakey. They formed the production company British Electric Foundation (B.E.F.).


title: Heaven 17

text: B.E.F.'s first recordings were a cassette-only album called "Music For Stowaways" and an LP called "Music For Listening To", which was re-released on CD in 1997 with two extra tracks. Shortly after, they completed their line-up when they recruited their friend, photographer Glenn Gregory, as vocalist. Taking their new name from a fictional pop band mentioned in Anthony Burgess's dystopian novel, "A Clockwork Orange" (where The Heaven Seventeen are at number 4 in the charts with "Inside"), Heaven 17 was intended to be just one of the musical projects for British Electric Foundation.


title: Heaven 17

text: Like The Human League, Heaven 17 used synthesisers and drum machines heavily (the Linn LM-1 programmed by Ware). Session musicians were used for bass guitar and guitar (John Wilson) and grand piano (Nick Plytas). Whereas the band's former colleagues the Human League had gone on to major chart success in 1981, Heaven 17 struggled to make an impact. Their debut single "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" attracted some attention and, due to its overtly left-wing political lyrics, was banned by the BBC due to concerns by Radio 1's legal department that it libelled Ronald Reagan, who had recently been elected President of the United States. Neither this nor any other of the four singles taken from the band's debut album "Penthouse and Pavement" managed to reach the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart. The album itself proved to be a success, peaking at Number 14 on the UK Albums Chart, and was later certified gold by the BPI in 1982.


title: Heaven 17

text: Around this time, Ware and Marsh produced two further albums as B.E.F., the first being "Music of Quality & Distinction Volume One" featuring Glenn Gregory, Tina Turner, Paula Yates, Billy Mackenzie, Hank Marvin, Paul Jones, Bernie Nolan, and Gary Glitter. The tracks were cover versions of songs that Ware, Marsh and Gregory had grown up listening to. The album peaked at number 25. The second album was "Geisha Boys and Temple Girls" for the dance troupe Hot Gossip, which used songs formerly recorded by the Human League and Heaven 17, and a track each from Sting and Talking Heads. B.E.F. took over production duties when Richard James Burgess of the band Landscape was unable to complete the album.


title: Heaven 17

text: In October 1982, Heaven 17 released their new single "Let Me Go", which charted just outside the UK Top 40 (but reached the Irish Top 30). However, in 1983 the band's fortunes changed. Their next single, "Temptation" (on which they were augmented by vocalist Carol Kenyon and a studio orchestra), reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart in spring 1983 and became their biggest hit. The song was taken from their second album, "The Luxury Gap", which featured further chart hits "Come Live with Me" (UK #5) and "Crushed by the Wheels of Industry" (UK #17). The album itself charted at number 4 on the UK Albums Chart, their highest ever position, and was certified platinum by the BPI in 1984.


title: Heaven 17

text: In the United States, their self-titled "Heaven 17" album was a re-working of "Penthouse and Pavement" with three songs deleted and replaced by "Let Me Go", "Who'll Stop the Rain", and "I'm Your Money" (along with a different mix of "The Height of the Fighting"). American and Canadian new wave audiences were most familiar with "Let Me Go", which received high rotation airplay on alternative rock and new wave format radio stations such as Los Angeles, California's KROQ-FM, and Long Island, New York's WLIR, an CKOI-FM (Montreal), a regular Top Ten station, and additionally, frequent MTV exposure.


title: Heaven 17

text: Towards the end of 1983, the band (under their B.E.F. guise and assisted by Greg Walsh) helped relaunch Tina Turner's career, producing, and providing backing vocals on her hit "Let's Stay Together", a cover of the Al Green song. 1984 saw the release of Heaven 17's third studio album, "How Men Are", which reached number 12 in the UK Albums Chart and was certified silver by the BPI. The album featured the Earth, Wind & Fire brass section, and two singles from the album ("Sunset Now" and "This Is Mine") both reached the UK Top 40, but would be the band's last singles to do so until various remixes were released in the 1990s.


title: Heaven 17

text: The band also worked on the Band Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" at the end of 1984, with Gregory supplying vocals alongside Midge Ure and Sting, after a personal request from Ure that he attend. However, the band did not perform at Live Aid the following year. Heaven 17's first "live" performance was in 1982 on the UK television programme "The Tube" (though the band made use of backing tapes during this performance).


title: Heaven 17

text: After the remix album "Endless" peaked at number 70 in July 1986, the band's fourth studio album "Pleasure One" was released in November 1986 and featured the single "Trouble" (UK No. 51, Germany #17). The album contained a number of songs that were originally intended for a French film project that never came to be. This was also the first Heaven 17 album to not mention production credits for B.E.F. and the abbreviation would not appear again until the "Bigger Than America" album in 1996. It was followed up in 1988 with the album "Teddy Bear, Duke & Psycho" (featuring the singles "Train of Love in Motion" and "The Ballad of Go Go Brown"), although these two albums were poorly received and had little commercial success. In September 1988, the band appeared on the bill at the Sport Aid event in Sheffield. Heaven 17 were managed by Keith Bourton for Heavenly Management Ltd. during much of this period.


title: Heaven 17

text: The early 1990s was a quiet period for the band, though Ware produced a second B.E.F. album in 1991, to follow 1982's original "Music of Quality & Distinction." This album again featured Tina Turner and Billy Mackenzie, but this time also featured artists such as Scritti Politti's Green Gartside, Lalah Hathaway, Billy Preston, and Chaka Khan. Ware also became a producer for the likes of Terence Trent D'Arby, Soft Cell's Marc Almond, and Erasure. Gregory, meanwhile, went on to form the band Honeyroot with Keith Lowndes, then Ugly with John Uriel and Ian Wright .


title: Heaven 17

text: In late 1992, a Brothers in Rhythm remix of "Temptation" reached number 4 and was followed by the compilation album "Higher and Higher – The Best of Heaven 17" in 1993. Remixes of "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" and "Penthouse and Pavement" were also minor hits in 1993. However, the band would not release any new material as Heaven 17 until 1996's "Bigger Than America". The album failed to chart in the UK.


title: Heaven 17

text: The year 2005 saw the release of a new studio album, "Before After", which had a much more contemporary dance sound compared to previous albums. A CD composed entirely of remixes of the song "Hands Up to Heaven" from the album reached number six on the US "Billboard" Hot Dance Club Play chart in May 2006. In October of the same year, Virgin Records issued a greatest hits compilation album entitled "Sight and Sound", which included a previously-unheard version of "Temptation" with spoken vocals by an unknown student from Germany whom the band met in 1982. It had been discovered on 1-inch tape by Gregory's mother and was remastered by Simon Heyworth. In November 2005, Heaven 17 were filmed for a live DVD playing to a packed house at The Scala in London. The DVD contains an in-depth question-and-answer session with both Ware and Gregory, along with fans' reactions to the gig.


title: Heaven 17

text: In 2006, Marsh stopped making live appearances with the band. In an early 2009 interview, Ware stated that Marsh had left the band and was now studying at university. Beginning in the mid-1990s, Billie Godfrey worked with the band as a backing vocalist and appeared with them at concerts. She performed as part of the band on 21 November 2008 for their highest profile TV appearance of recent years on "Now That's What I Call 1983" on ITV1.


title: Heaven 17

text: In December 2008, Heaven 17 toured the UK as part of the Sheffield band-based Steel City Tour alongside the Human League and ABC. Coinciding with this was the release of their new album, "Naked as Advertised – Versions 08", issued through the Just Music record label. The album contained re-workings of tracks such as "Temptation" along with versions of Ware songs best known from his time with the Human League, including "Being Boiled" and "Empire State Human", as well as a cover of the Associates' hit "Party Fears Two". The band were managed by Nick Ashton-Hart for much of the early 2000s.


title: Heaven 17

text: On 16 February 2010, Heaven 17 joined La Roux to record a joint live session for the BBC which was shown on the BBC Red Button interactive channel in January 2010. Glenn Gregory joined La Roux on stage at Glastonbury Festival on 26 June 2010, performing "Temptation". (La Roux cite Heaven 17 as one of their main influences). The two acts also appeared live on stage at the War Child Brit Awards aftershow in February 2010.


title: Heaven 17

text: In the run up to their 30th anniversary, the band announced several dates in which they would perform their 1981 debut album "Penthouse and Pavement" live in its entirety for the first time. The dates were scheduled over November and December 2010 with the first date held on 10 November 2010 at the well known Leadmill live music venue in Sheffield. By chance the Leadmill also celebrated a 30-year anniversary in 2010. By their own admission this Leadmill gig was one of the band's most successful. The band performed a couple of dates of the Penthouse and Pavement tour in March 2010, one of which was in Sheffield and was filmed and shown on BBC Two on 16 May 2010. An hour-long documentary about the making of the album was shown on BBC Two the following night. This film was also screened at a special "Music in Sheffield" evening of films at the Showroom in Sheffield, which Martyn Ware attended, on the eve of the announcement of the City of Culture 2013.


title: Heaven 17

text: The band appeared on "Later... with Jools Holland" on 22 October 2010, performing "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" and "Temptation" and appeared in BBC Children in Need in November 2010. They also made a tongue-in-cheek appearance in TV advertisements for Sheffield-based broadband provider Plusnet. On 22 November, the band released a 2 disc DVD combining never-seen-before documentary and rehearsal footage with the band's full live concert filmed in Sheffield in March 2010. Also included was a unique collection of all the digital videos used in the live show, set to the accompanying live audio from the performance. Each video was commissioned from a different visual artist and included both established up-and-coming artists from the worlds of digital and graphic design, fine art, and film.


title: Heaven 17

text: Since 2011 the band's regular keyboard player has been Berenice Scott (the daughter of Robin Scott of the group M and "Pop Muzik" fame). In July 2014, they appeared as special guests of John Shuttleworth in his BBC Radio 4 programme "John Shuttleworth's Music Lounge" and performed some of Shuttleworth's material.


title: Heaven 17

text: In November 2015, a compilation album called "80s Recovered" featured many groups including Heaven 17. They performed a cover of Elton John's "Rocket Man", with a regular version, and a remix.


title: Heaven 17

text: During October 2016, Heaven 17 undertook a dual headline tour with their British Electronic Foundation (B.E.F.) The dates included venues in Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow, Gateshead, Manchester, Bury St Edmunds, Basingstoke and London. B.E.F. enlisted Mari Wilson, Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols), and Peter Hooton (The Farm) to present new arrangements of songs from the B.E.F. back catalogue. The tour was significant in that it was the first time that Heaven 17 had played the Sheffield City Hall, having not performed there during the 1980s.


title: Heaven 17

text: In January 2017, Ware and Gregory started work on a new album at Ware's London studio "The House of Illustrious". A work-in-progress version of this album was released by Bowers & Wilkins under the title "Not For Public Broadcast" (Society of Sound #105).


title: Heaven 17

text: In late 2018 Heaven 17 gigs in Liverpool, London, Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester and Sheffield celebrated the 35th anniversary of The Luxury Gap album. The tour support was provided by X-Propaganda featuring Claudia Brücken and Susanne Freytag from '80s band Propaganda.


title: Heaven 17

text: In September 2021 the group performed the first two Human League albums "Reproduction" (1979) and "Travelogue" (1980) in Sheffield and London with long-standing collaborator Malcolm Garrett providing live visuals on stage.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen is the seventh studio album by American musician Kid Cudi, released on December 11, 2020 by Republic Records. It is the final installment of Cudi's "Man on the Moon" trilogy of albums (which includes 2009's "" and 2010's "").


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: The 18-track album was produced mainly by Cudi himself and Dot da Genius, along with Plain Pat, Emile Haynie and Mike Dean, all of whom contributed to the previous two "Man on the Moon" albums. Guest vocals on the album are contributed by Phoebe Bridgers, Pop Smoke, Skepta and Trippie Redd.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: Thematically, "Man on the Moon III" is a concept album that finds Cudi in an internal struggle against his evil alter ego, Mr. Rager, in hopes to win back his peace and happiness. As with the previous two installments in the trilogy, the album is divided into separate acts.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: "Man on the Moon III: The Chosen" received mostly positive reviews from music critics, who praised Cudi's songwriting and generally favored the latter two acts, though some found it derivative of Cudi's earlier albums. It debuted at number two on the "Billboard" 200, earning 144,000 album-equivalent units of which 15,000 were pure sales, marking Cudi's fifth top 10 album in the US.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: Kid Cudi released the first edition of his "Man on the Moon" series in 2009; with the subtitle "", the album detailed the struggles of Cudi's loneliness in his formative years, as well as dealing with the death of his father at an early age. The album, which included the worldwide hit single "Day 'n' Nite", was divided into five acts and featured narration from Cudi's then-GOOD Music label-mate and fellow American rapper Common. The next year he released the sequel, the follow-up to his critically acclaimed seminal debut; with the subtitle "", Cudi took an even darker approach, creating an alter ego by the name of Mr. Rager and chronicling how his initial sudden and unexpected rise to fame drove him to alcohol and drugs.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: In 2014, Cudi released "", which he called a prelude to "Man on the Moon III". In 2015, following the release of "Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven", which had lukewarm reception much to Cudi’s dismay, Cudi took to Twitter to address the response "News Flash: motm3 doesn't exist. Its just a title. It will be nothing like any of my previous work just like all my releases. My first 2 albums were meant to be untopped. I didn't even think Id live to make another record after motm 2... My point is, u cant top timeless. And that was what we aim for everytime."


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: However, in a 2016 interview with "Billboard", Cudi announced "Man on the Moon III" would never exist: "Guys, you have to realize: I came up with "Man on the Moon" when I was a young man. People change their vibe! We can follow the same template and do the five-act split. Sonically, I'm still going to be where I'm at. Honestly, I was ready to live up to the obligation and do "Man on the Moon III". I haven't been dicking around. I was planning on doing it after "Speedin' Bullet". But the "Speedin' Bullet" response tore me up. It made me realize what's most important. I'm getting back on the bike again and doing what I do best: me."


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: In 2016, Cudi reunited with Emile Haynie and Plain Pat, both of whom are former business partners of Cudi and helped formulate his signature sound, to produce "Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin'", which followed the same format as the "Man on the Moon" projects. The significance in the release is it marks the first time all three had collaborated since "Man on the Moon II" (2010) and the disestablishment of their record label, Dream On.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, Cudi detailed how he went from working on "Entergalactic" (his Netflix-series soundtrack album) and "The Scotts" (his collaborative album with Houston-based rapper Travis Scott), to ultimately working on the final installment of his trilogy.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: The album features production from Cudi's longtime collaborators Dot da Genius, Emile Haynie, Plain Pat and Mike Dean, all of whom helped shape the sound for the first two installments of the "Man on the Moon" series. Added to Cudi's team of producers was up-and-coming production duo Take a Daytrip, whose production is featured prominently throughout the album; the duo had previously produced Cudi's first number one single on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, "The Scotts", alongside Dot da Genius.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: After achieving his first number one single in the US with "The Scotts", Cudi celebrated with the song's producers, Dot da Genius and Take a Daytrip. While celebrating and drinking shots of tequila, they began recording a song ultimately titled "Tequila Shots". Cudi subsequently went on to record two more songs with the producers, namely "Another Day" and "She Knows This", which went on to lay the foundation for "Man on the Moon III". Cudi explained to Apple Music that he had been in a good place working on his animated series "Entergalactic" and on "The Scotts", but he kept coming up with cuts that didn't fit either of those projects. After those three songs, he was saying to himself, "Whoa, this shit really feels like a "Man on the Moon". It sounds like you pick right back up where we left off 10 years ago."


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: In an interview for Apple Music, Cudi explained that he was encouraged by his protégé, Houston-based rapper Travis Scott to be more lyrical and made a concerted effort to showcase his skill set as a rapper on this album, since he feels he is overlooked in that aspect of his artistry. In a January 2021 interview with "Complex", Dot da Genius spoke on the creation of several tracks on the album: 'Solo Dolo III' was a beat me and Plain Pat did initially during the "Entergalactic" sessions that Cudi never recorded to. But he was inspired to during the "Man on the Moon III" sessions."


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: When speaking on the song "Show Out", his collaboration with the posthumous Brooklyn rapper Pop Smoke and London-based rapper Skepta, Cudi said "It was powerful because like I talked to Steven Victor (Pop Smoke's manager) about this and he said, when [Pop Smoke] first recorded this song, he had thought of me on it. Steven had thought of me on it. The reason why I kind of got this record, Dot da Genius and Plain Pat had worked with Pop, like before he blew up at the Brewery in New York, at Dot's studio. And they had this record, they just never did anything with it. It was just something that Dot had on tuck, you know?" Cudi went on to reveal that once Dot da Genius played him the record, he was compelled by it: "And I was chilling with them one day because Dot's working on our album and he was like, 'Yo, I got this record. I'm going to play it for you. Let me know what you think'. He plays this shit. And I'm like, 'I need this. Like I need this, man'. I was like, 'Nobody's ever heard me on anything like this. Skepta sounds amazing. Pop Smoke sounds amazing. Like this would be so unexpected. I think I can be on this and I could hold it down and like do my thing'. And this is also another way I can, you know, showcase these bars." Dot da Genius later revealed the song was originally intended for his own album.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: Cudi also revealed for this album, he decided to incorporate ad-libs, but was hesitant to do it in the traditional way. "I decided to sprinkle in some ad-libs, something I've never really done before," he explains. "I was able to do it in my own little way, so it remains authentic and doesn't sound like I'm doing ad-libs like everybody else." In 2021, Cudi appeared on American TV talk show "The Shop", where he spoke on his writing and recording process. Cudi mentioned for his early albums he would sit down and write entire verses. However, while working on "Man on the Moon III", he adopted Kanye West's writing process. Instead of writing to a beat, he records a reference track for himself, where he freestyles and hums his way through the beat to get a melody, and fills in the lyrics as they come to him.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: "Beautiful Trip", the album's intro, comprises instrumentation, backing vocals, and a sample of a voice counting down: "3,2,1." It interpolates sounds from "In My Dreams", the first track on "Man on the Moon: The End of Day". The synths at the beginning are also the same as those on "Scott Mescudi vs. the World", the opening song of "Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager". On the second album cut, "Tequila Shots", Cudi lays out his inner demons and mental health journey. Charles Holmes of "The Ringer" wrote "["Tequila Shots"] sounds like a surge of cosmic energy. The tempo is fast, the drums are intense, and the song doesn't relent […] with rhymes about 'demons creepin' and 'serenity,' but 'Tequila Shots' refuses to be anything besides a banger." Holmes also wrote "songs like 'Another Day' and 'She Knows This,' Cudi layers his verses with ad-libs, and his vocals sound more distorted and robotic than ever." "Show Out" is a drill song, featuring a "distortion-heavy instrumental and the relentless flows that Cudi zings back and forth" with Pop Smoke and Skepta.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: The cover art depicts Cudi staring directly at the listener, in contrast to the artwork of the previous installments in the trilogy, which feature Cudi looking downwards; the right side of Cudi's face is composed of a "psychedelic/prismatic explosion of bones and sinew", with a moon and a falling moon man obscuring his eye. It was designed by illustrator Sam Spratt, who was hired due to Cudi liking his artwork for Logic's album "No Pressure". Spratt stated that the artwork was meant to capture Cudi's feelings, while still being "something that would stand out in a Spotify gallery and steer the algorithm", calling it a "glorified piece of marketing".


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: The continuation of Kid Cudi's "Man on the Moon" trilogy was first teased in his July 2020 collaboration with fellow American rapper Eminem, "The Adventures of Moon Man & Slim Shady", in which Cudi raps on the outro, "The trilogy continues". Cudi officially confirmed "Man on the Moon III" in October 2020, releasing a trailer with the caption, "The trilogy continues... soon". In November, he tweeted, "The music is coming. I promise". On December 7, 2020, he released a cinematic trailer, revealing the title, release date, tracklist, and the cover art, designed by Sam Spratt.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: The songs "She Knows This" and "Heaven on Earth" were released as promotional singles, with accompanying two part music videos. The music video for "Heaven on Earth" picks up where the video for "She Knows This" left off. Both videos were filmed cinematically and were directed by high-profile music video director Nabil Elderkin. The videos were a part of YouTube Music's Artist Spotlight series.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: Just hours before releasing the long-awaited album, Cudi rolled out a small batch of merchandise in support of the album. The range was made in collaboration with Cactus Plant Flea Market, and consists of short- and long-sleeve T-shirts, pullover hoodies, and sweatpants—all of which feature graphics that reference "MOTM3" tracks. On December 20, 2020, Cudi revealed he would be releasing a deluxe edition of the album, dubbed "The Cudder Cut". However, in May 2021, Cudi opted not to issue a deluxe edition of the album, in order to focus on new material.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: In April 2021, Kid Cudi was the sole musical guest on "Saturday Night Live", where he performed "Man on the Moon III" album cuts "Tequila Shots" and "Sad People"; both performances were in tribute to Nirvana's late frontman Kurt Cobain. His performance of "Sad People", made headlines as Cudi wore a dress as a statement against social norms much like his idol Cobain had done.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: In June 2021, Kid Cudi partnered with Amazon, to perform on their Prime Day Show event, which included three new alternate versions of songs from the album, namely "Tequila Shots", "Sad People" and "4 Da Kidz". The alternate versions of the songs were included on an extended play (EP) titled "Prime Day Show x Kid Cudi", issued exclusively on Amazon Music, on June 17, 2021.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: On September 25, 2021, Cudi revealed he was preparing for an upcoming concert tour in promotion for "Man on the Moon III", when he wrote on Twitter that he's "been bookin venues for months." Cudi ultimately announced his first arena tour in June 2022, with To the Moon World Tour, set to begin in Vancouver on August 16, 2022, and conclude in Milan on November 22, 2022.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: "Man on the Moon III: The Chosen" was met with generally positive reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 71, based on 10 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 6.9 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: Critics have generally found the first half of the album to be weaker. Riley Wallace of "Exclaim!" stated, "Cudi sparkles in the first two acts. ... While satisfying, the most endearing and powerful standout moments appear in the third and fourth acts". For "The Line of Best Fit", Luke Ballance complimented the guest appearances and the album's progression beyond Act II, concluding: "While it might take a few listens to make sense of the album's seemingly muddled introduction, one thing is clear: by the end of this hour-long journey, Cudi has reached his destination." Skye Butchard of "Loud and Quiet" wrote that "Cudi finds his feet again on the back half of the project, allowing himself to wander into trippy and introspective songwriting". Some were also dismissive of the album's concept; Butchart found it to be "flimsy, there to give greater a sense of weight to what are largely formulaic pop rap songs", and Alphonse Pierre of "Pitchfork" opined it was placed to "make the album seem more important". For Danny Schwartz of "Rolling Stone", it has a more "half-baked" narrative compared to "Man on the Moon II", which he said to contribute to the album's "faux-epic scope".


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: In a positive review, Mason Meyers of "Clash" dubbed "Man on the Moon III: The Chosen" as Cudi's "best solo album to date", praising the production and modern influences. Writing for "Variety", A. D. Amorosi praised the album, stating that "The album generally finds his deep-breathing, sing-song-y baritone nestled almost exclusively in ambient synth-hop. Ultimately, this nearly single-sourced sound is more consistent, and easier on the ears. ... But it's when Cudi is by himself – lonely and punching through the darkness – that his somnolent, bittersweet reveries are at their tastiest". Will Lavin of "NME" said, "Kid Cudi gives us every part of himself, laying out his insecurities and inner demons in the hope that it might help someone else, his words etched into a vivid backdrop of intoxicating melodies and palatial riffs. No one does mood music quite like Cudi". Rowan5215 from Sputnikmusic enjoyed the album, saying, "This is a fun, sometimes moving project, extremely consistent and concise by the standards we apply to Kid Cudi since around 2013". Fred Thomas of AllMusic wrote, ""Man on the Moon, Vol 3: The Chosen" represents both a return to form for Cudi as much as a distillation of his most successful experiments with genre and delivery".


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: Some critics found the album to be unoriginal. Danny Schwartz of "Rolling Stone" stated, "We've seen it all before. Kid Cudi's ability to be an avatar for people's struggles with mental illness has always been central to his appeal. His music might still be relatable, but it has never sounded so cliché". Writing for "Pitchfork", Alphonse Pierre found the album underwhelming, and commented that its second half is too reminiscent of Cudi's past works, naming his "lifeless hums" and "half-assed singing" as clichés. He wrote that "[Cudi's] stories about how struggles with depression and loneliness affected his relationships were detailed enough to be personal but also vague enough to be easily applied to anyone's life. That's not the reality anymore, and Cudi doesn't appear to realize it".


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: "Man on the Moon III: The Chosen" debuted at number two on the US "Billboard" 200 with 144,000 album-equivalent units (including 15,000 pure album sales) in its first week. This became Cudi's fifth top 10 album. The album also accumulated a total of 167.45 million on-demand streams of the set's songs in the week ending December 17, 2020.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: With 18 simultaneous placements on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, Cudi became the fifth artist to post at least that many entries on the chart in a single week. His company includes Drake, who has claimed 10 separate weeks with 18-plus entries, Lil Uzi Vert and the Weeknd, each with two such weeks, and Lil Wayne and Pop Smoke, who have managed the feat once apiece.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: The album also produced nine chart entries on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart of December 26, 2020 with "Tequila Shots" the highest entry at number 41, as well as the intro "Beautiful Trip" at number 100. At 37 seconds long, "Beautiful Trip" is a shorter Hot 100 track than the 45-second long "PPAP (Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen)" by Japanese comedian Pikotaro, the current "Guinness World Records" holder for shortest song to chart in the history of the Hot 100.


title: Man on the Moon III: The Chosen

text: In December 2021, "Man on the Moon III: The Chosen" broke the record for biggest vinyl sales week for both a male artist and a rap album in Nielsen history, with 41,500 in vinyl units sold.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar (; 14 March 1742 – 17 June 1797), also known by his regnal name of Agha Mohammad Shah (, ), was the founder of the Qajar dynasty of Iran, ruling from 1789 to 1797 as king (shah). Originally chieftain of the Quwanlu branch of the Qajar tribe, Agha Mohammad Khan was enthroned as the king of Iran in 1789, but was not officially crowned until March 1796, having deposed Lotf Ali Khan of the Zand dynasty in 1794. Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar was famously the eunuch Monarch, being castrated as a young adult upon his capture by Adel Shah Afshar, and hence was childless. He was assassinated on 17 June 1797, and was succeeded by his nephew, Fath-Ali Shah Qajar.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: Agha Mohammad Khan's reign is noted for the return of a centralized and unified Iran and for relocating the capital to Tehran, where it still stands today. He is also noted for his cruel and rapacious behavior, particularly during the re-subjugation of Georgia. He sacked the capital Tbilisi, massacred many of its inhabitants, and moved some 15,000 Georgian captives back to mainland Iran.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: Agha Mohammad Khan was born in Astarabad around 1742. He belonged to the Quwanlu (also spelled Qawanlu) branch of the Qajar tribe. The Qajars were one of the original Turkoman Qizilbash tribes that emerged and spread in Asia Minor around the tenth and eleventh centuries. They later supplied power to the Safavids since the dynasty's earliest days. The tribe had several other branches, one of the most prominent ones being the Develu, which often fought against the Quwanlu. Agha Mohammad Khan was the eldest son of the chieftain of the Quwanlu clan, Mohammad Hasan Khan Qajar, and the grandson of Fath-Ali Khan Qajar, a prominent aristocrat executed by the orders of Shah Tahmasp II (possibly compelled by Nader Qoli Beg, who came to be known as Nader Shah after usurping the throne of Iran in 1736, marking the foundation of the Afsharid dynasty). Agha Mohammad Khan had several half-brothers and full-brothers: Hossein Qoli Khan, Morteza Qoli Khan, Mostafa Qoli Khan, Reza Qoli Khan, Jafar Qoli Khan, Mehdi Qoli Khan, Abbas Qoli Khan and Ali Qoli Khan.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: When Nader Shah died in 1747, the Afsharid rule of Iran fell apart, which gave Mohammad Hasan an opportunity to seize Astarabad for himself, leading Nader Shah's nephew Adel Shah to march from Mashhad to the city in order to capture him. Although he failed to capture Hasan, Adel Shah managed to capture Agha Mohammad Khan, whom he planned to kill. He later chose to spare Agha Mohammad Khan's life and instead had him castrated and thereafter freed. While the common spelling of "Agha" () is usually used as a title roughly translated to "Sir" or "Mister", Agha Mohammad Khan's title is differently spelled (), which is a common one among eunuchs who served at the court.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: During the following 10 years, Afsharid rule in Khorasan suffered heavily from war among rival chieftains and from invasions by the Durrani ruler of Qandahar, Ahmad Shah Durrani. During this period, Mohammad Hasan fought against the Pashtun military leader Azad Khan Afghan and the Zand ruler Karim Khan for suzerainty over the western part of Nader Shah's former empire. He was, however, defeated in 1759 by a Zand army. He was betrayed by his own followers and thereafter, killed by his old rival, Mohammad Khan of Savadkuh. Due to Agha Mohammad Khan's castration, his brother Hossein Qoli Khan was appointed as the new chieftain of the Quwanlu instead. Shortly thereafter Astarabad fell under the control of Karim Khan, who appointed a Develu named Hossein Khan Develu as its governor. Meanwhile, Agha Mohammad Khan and his brother Hossein Qoli Khan fled to the steppe. One year later, Agha Mohammad Khan made an incursion against Astarabad, but was forced to flee, chased by the city's governor. Agha Mohammad Khan managed to reach Ashraf, but was at last seized and was sent as a hostage to Tehran, ruled by Karim Khan. Hossein Qoli Khan was also soon captured and sent to Karim Khan.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: During his stay, Agha Mohammad Khan was treated kindly and honorably by Karim Khan, who made him convince his kinsmen to lay down their arms, which they did. Karim Khan then settled them in Damghan. In 1763, Agha Mohammad Khan and Hossein Qoli Khan were sent to the Zand capital, Shiraz, where their paternal aunt Khadija Begum, who was part of Karim Khan's harem, lived. Agha Mohammad Khan's half-brothers Morteza Qoli Khan and Mostafa Qoli Khan were granted permission to live in Astarabad, due to their mother being the sister of the governor of the city. His remaining brothers were sent to Qazvin, where they were treated honorably.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: Agha Mohammad Khan was looked upon more as a respected guest in Karim Khan's court than a captive. Furthermore, Karim Khan also acknowledged Agha Mohammad Khan's political knowledge and asked his advice on interests of the state. He called Agha Mohammad Khan his "Piran-e Viseh", referring to an intelligent counselor of the mythical Turanian king Afrasiab in the Shahnameh epic. Two of Agha Mohammad Khan's brothers who were at Qazvin were also sent to Shiraz during this period. In February 1769, Karim Khan appointed Hossein Qoli Khan as the governor of Damghan. When Hossein Qoli Khan reached Damghan, he immediately began a fierce conflict with the Develu and other tribes to avenge his father's death. He was, however, killed ca. 1777 near Findarisk by some Turks from the Yamut tribe with whom he had clashed. On 1 March 1779, while Agha Mohammad Khan was hunting, he was informed by Khadija Begum that Karim Khan had died after six months of illness.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: Agha Mohammad Khan took with him a group of loyal followers and left for Tehran. Meanwhile, in Shiraz, people were fighting among themselves. In Tehran, Agha Mohammad Khan met the main chieftains of the Develu clan, with whom he made peace. He visited the shrine of Shah Abd al-Azim, where his father's skull was kept. He then travelled to the Mazandaran Province, where his first task was to set up his suzerainty among his Quwanlu brothers. This resulted in a clash with his brothers Reza Qoli and Morteza Qoli, whom he defeated on 2 April, conquering Mazandaran. Meanwhile, Morteza Qoli fled to Astarabad, where he fortified himself. Agha Mohammad Khan could not simply storm the city, since starting a war with Morteza Qoli would mean that his frail alliance with the Develu could fall apart—Morteza Qoli's mother was a Develu. At the same time, the Zand prince Ali-Morad Khan Zand sent an army of Zand and Afghan troops under Azad Khan Afghan's son Mahmud Khan to Mazandaran, which Agha Mohammad Khan's brother Jafar Qoli Khan managed to repel. Agha Mohammad Khan, together with Hossein Qoli Khan's sons Fath-Ali Qoli and Hosayn Qoli, was now in a firm position in Babol, the capital of Mazandaran.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: In Autumn 1780 Reza Qoli invaded Babol with an army of men from Larijan, where he encircled Agha Mohammad Khan's house and captured him after a fight lasting several hours. When Morteza Qoli learned of this, he marched to Babol on the 1st of January 1781 with an army of Turkmens and released Agha Mohammad Khan. The three brothers tried to settle their problems; Agha Mohammad Khan and Reza Qoli succeeded, while Morteza Qoli was discontented and fled to Ali-Morad Khan in Isfahan, and then to Sadeq Khan Zand in Shiraz. He died in Khorasan. His former supporters then went to Agha Mohammad Khan and began serving him. At that time, Agha Mohammad Khan had once again become involved in a conflict with his brother Reza Qoli, whom he defeated in several battles, and thereafter established peace with him once more: Morteza Qoli was allowed as the "de facto" ruler of Astarabad and several districts in the region of Hezar Jarib.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: Peace did not last long. Ali-Morad Khan soon invaded Mazandaran, which led Agha Mohammad Khan to march from Babol with an army of Mazandaranis and Qajars and attack Ali-Morad Khan, whom he managed to repel from the province. Agha Mohammad Khan then seized Qumis, Semnan, Damghan, Shahrud and Bastam. Furthermore, he also made Hedayat-Allah Khan, the ruler of Gilan, his vassal. He thereafter granted land in Semnan to his brother Ali Qoli as a reward for his help in the conquest of the cities.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: In 1781, the Russian Empire, which was interested in building a trade route with Iran in order to be able to trade with regions deep into Asia, sent an emissary under Marko Ivanovich Voinovich to the coast of Gorgan, where he arrived on August 10 and sought approval to build a trading-post at Ashraf. When Agha Mohammad Khan refused, Voinovich ignored his refusal and went on to establish an interim settlement on Ashurada island. With no ships, Agha Mohammad Khan was unable to retake the island. Instead, he tricked Voinovich and some of his men into meeting him at Astarabad for a banquet on December 26, where they were held as captives until Voinovich agreed to order his men to leave Ashurada on January 13, 1782.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: A year later Agha Mohammad Khan invaded Gilan, because its ruler Hedayat-Allah had changed his allegiance to the Zand dynasty. Hedayat-Allah then sent two diplomats, Mirza Sadeq and Agha Sadeq Lahiji, to Agha Mohammad to make peace. As a precaution he went to Shirvan. The diplomats were unable to come to favorable terms with Agha Mohammad Khan, who raided Gilan's capital Rasht and seized its riches. Rejoicing in his victory, he sent his brother Jafar Qoli Khan to conquer the northern part of Persian Iraq. He defeated a Zand army in Ray (or Karaj), and thereafter seized Qazvin. He then marched to Zanjan, which he also seized.In autumn they returned to Mazandaran. In the spring of 1783, Agha Mohammad Khan besieged Tehran, a town under Zand control which had proved troublesome. During the siege, plague started spreading in the town, and thereafter to Agha Mohammad Khan's army camp outside the city, which forced him to lift the siege.He marched back to Ali Bolagh, a summer house near Damghan. Agha Mohammad Khan then returned to Mazandaran and spent the winter there.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: The next year Ali-Morad Khan, in retaliation for Agha Mohammad Khan's attack on Tehran the previous year sent a huge army reportedly numbering 60,000 to Mazandaran in June 1784, aiming to crush the Qajars once and for all. His 15-year-old son Sheikh Veis Khan was put in command of the army, with Ali Morad staying behind in Tehran. When the army arrived, its people quickly surrendered to the Zands and the nobles defected. Agha Mohammad Khan and a few of his supporters fled to Astarabad, where he tried to fortify the city as much as possible. Meanwhile, Morteza Qoli changed his allegiance and began serving the Zand dynasty. Ali-Morad Khan then sent an army numbering 8,000 under his relative Mohammad Zahir Khan to Astarabad, and laid siege to the city. Agha Mohammad Khan had already stocked provisions in case of a siege. Every day his troops would try to lay waste to the countryside to limit the besiegers' provisions. This in the end made the besiegers' situation unsustainable, and allowed Agha Mohammad Khan to leave the city to attack them. Mohammad Zahir Khan fled towards the Karakum Desert, but was captured by Agha Mohammad Khan's Yomut allies and was brutally killed. Only a few of his men managed to survive. On the 14th of November Agha Mohammad marched from Astarabad into Mazandaran and defeated a Zand force at Ashraf. The Zands were unable to defend Sari and Sheikh Veis Khan fled to Tehran on November 23.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: Meanwhile, Ali-Morad Khan had raised another group of Zand troops, which he sent to Mazandaran under the command of his cousin Rustam Khan Zand, only to be defeated by Agha Mohammad Khan. Ali-Morad Khan died on 11 February 1785. When Agha Mohammad Khan heard of his death, he went to Tehran to try to capture it. When he reached the city, the inhabitants quickly closed the gates, and told him that they would open the gate only for the king of Iran, who according to them was Jafar Khan Zand, who had succeeded Ali-Morad Khan. Thus Agha Mohammad Khan had to defeat Jafar Khan to be recognized as the king of Iran. He thereafter quickly marched towards Isfahan. Jafar Khan sent men to stop his advance towards the city, but they withdrew at Qom without putting up any resistance. Jafar Khan then sent an even larger Zand army towards Agha Mohammad Khan, who defeated the army near Kashan. Jafar Khan then fled to Shiraz. Agha Mohammad arrived at Isfahan on May 2, where he discovered what was left of the Zand treasure and Jafar Khan's harem. The Qajar troops then looted the city.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: During the summer of 1785, Agha Mohammad Khan made the city his headquarters for his expeditions in Persian Iraq. He left Isfahan on July 7 on a campaign in which he managed to bring the Bakhtiari chieftains under his suzerainty. He then left for Tehran on September 2, appointing a former Zand commander to govern. When he arrived at Tehran, the town finally submitted to him. At the same time, his men captured Hamadan and forced many Kurdish and Turkic chieftains to submit to Qajar rule. On 12 March 1786, Agha Mohammad Khan made Tehran his capital. By then the city had a population of 15,000–30,000 people. It appears that during this period, Agha Mohammad Khan saw himself as the king of Iran, although he avoided using the title "shah".


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: Some time later, while Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar was campaigning against the Bakhtiaris, Jafar Khan quickly marched towards Isfahan and re-captured it (although the citadel of Tabrak held out for four months). He then sent troops towards Kashan and Qom, while he marched towards Hamadan in early January 1786. He was, however, defeated by local tribal chieftains, among them Khosrow Khan and Mohammad Hosayn Khan Qaragozlu. Jafar Khan then withdrew to Isfahan to deal with a rebellion by the chiefs of Jandaq, who marched towards the city. The chiefs were defeated and submitted to Jafar Khan. When Agha Mohammad Khan heard about the Zand invasion of Isfahan and its surroundings, he quickly moved towards the city, which made Jafar Khan retreat to Shiraz once again. Agha Mohammad Khan then appointed Jafar Qoli Khan as the city's governor. However, the governor of Zanjan revolted shortly afterward, which forced Agha Mohammad Khan to go back north, where he suppressed the latter's revolt and pardoned him.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: Agha Mohammad Khan now had to focus on Gilan because Hedayat-Allah Khan had returned to the province (allegedly with Russian help) since the Qajar invasion of the province in 1782. In Agha Mohammad Khan's eyes, the whole Caspian coast was under threat by Hedayat-Allah and the Russians. Agha Mohammad Khan and his men easily managed to enter Gilan. While he was marching towards Rasht, he was joined by a local ruler named Mehdi Beg Khalatbari and other people. Furthermore, the Russian consul in Gilan betrayed Hedayat-Allah by providing weapons to Agha Mohammad Khan. Hedayat-Allah once again tried to flee to Shirvan, but was captured by men sent by a local ruler named Agha Ali Shafti (or another local ruler according to some sources), who killed him to avenge the slaughter of his family a few years earlier. Gilan was now completely under Qajar rule. Besides the conquest of Gilan, the second most valuable thing for Agha Mohammad Khan was Hedayat-Allah's treasure.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: Some time later a local ruler named Amir Mohammad Khan, who with another local ruler named Taqi Khan (the ruler of Yazd), had recently defeated Jafar Khan and seized many riches, invaded Qajar territory, and marched towards Isfahan. Jafar Qoli Khan, who was still the governor of Isfahan, left the city before Taqi Khan could reach it and defeated the latter. Agha Mohammad Khan then went southwards once again. He met Jafar Qoli Khan at Isfahan in 1788, and after some time, made Taqi Khan accept Qajar suzerainty, and thereafter punished some Qashqai tribes, who fled into the mountains. Agha Mohammad Khan then approached Shiraz, where he hoped to bait Jafar Khan out of the city, which was strongly fortified, making it very hard to besiege. Unfortunately for him, Jafar Khan remained in the city. Agha Mohammad Khan returned to Isfahan, where he appointed his brother Ali Qoli as its governor, succeeding Jafar Qoli Khan. He then left for Tehran.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: With Agha Mohammad Khan once again in the north, in autumn Jafar Khan began raising an army to prepare another attack against Isfahan and its surroundings. Jafar left Shiraz on September 20 and marched towards Isfahan. When Ali Qoli learned of it he sent a group of tribesmen to Qumishah, a city south of Isfahan. However, Jafar Khan easily defeated them. Ali Qoli thereafter retreated to Kashan. Jafar Khan was then able to occupy Isfahan on October 20. Agha Mohammad Khan, learning of this, marched rapidly towards Isfahan, which led Jafar Khan withdraw to Shiraz once again and reached the city on November 30. Agha Mohammad Khan returned to Tehran rather than attacking Shiraz again. Jafar Khan was murdered on 23 January 1789, which started a four-month civil war between several Zand princes who fought for succession to the throne. In May Jafar Khan's son Lotf Ali Khan emerged the victor in this civil war. Lotf Ali Khan fled to Bushehr and managed to recruit the local chiefs of Dashestan to his side. Lotf Ali was able to march against Sayed Morad Khan on April 22 and enter Shiraz on May 8.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: It was also during this period that Agha Mohammad Khan was enthroned (however still not crowned) and named his nephew Baba Khan (who would later be known as Fath-Ali Shah Qajar) as his heir. Thus 1789 is marked as the start of his reign.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: Now that the Zand dynasty was no longer under the rule of Jafar Khan Zand, Agha Mohammad Khan saw an opportunity to capture Shiraz once and for all. He marched towards the city, and as he neared it, was attacked by Lotf Ali Khan. A battle was fought on 25 June 1789, which ended in Lotf Ali Khan withdrawing to Shiraz while Agha Mohammad Khan followed him and besieged the city. The siege lasted until 7 September. He set up an encampment and returned to Tehran, where he stayed until the end of the ensuing Nowruz. On 17 May 1790, Agha Mohammad Khan once again marched towards Shiraz. When he reached Fars, the governor of Bihbahan acknowledged his authority. Lotf Ali Khan once again left Shiraz in order to stop Agha Mohammad Khan's advance, but the Qajar ruler withdrew to Qazvin and its surroundings, where he had to resolve some problems. Agha Mohammad Khan later quarreled with Jafar Qoli Khan, who saw himself as the best heir of the Qajar dynasty. Agha Mohammad had him executed, which he believed necessary having seen in the Zand family how quickly a dynasty could decline due to disputes over the throne.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: While Lotf Ali Khan was having problems with Kerman, Agha Mohammad Khan could thus freely focus on Azerbaijan. He appointed Baba Khan as the governor of Persian Iraq and marched into Azerbaijan in the spring of 1791. He stopped at Tarum, and sent his relative Suleiman Khan Quwanlu to make the Talysh Khanate acknowledge Qajar authority. Agha Mohammad Khan thereafter went to Sarab, where he forced the Sarab Khanate into submission. He then went to Ardabil, where he subdued the Ardabil Khanate and visited the city's shrine. He finally went to Qaradagh, where he brought an end to all resistance against him. He appointed the Donboli noble Hosayn Qoli Donboli as the governor of Khoy and Tabriz.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: While Agha Mohammad Khan was conquering Azerbaijan, Lotf Ali Khan used the opportunity to attack Isfahan. However Hajji Ebrahim Shirazi, the popular governor of Shiraz, used Lotf Ali Khan's absence from the city to stage a coup, while his brother Mohammad-Hosayn Shirazi, who was the Zand ruler's general, mutinied along with many other troops. Lotf Ali Khan rushed to Shiraz, but when he arrived at the city, its inhabitants refused to open the gates. He went into the mountains and raised an army large enough to capture Shiraz. Hajji Ebrahim then sent an emissary to Agha Mohammad Khan, asking him to become the ruler of Fars, offering to give him 3,000 mares if he accepted; he immediately did. When Agha Mohammad Khan arrived at Fars, he appointed Hajji Ebrahim as the governor of the whole province, and sent one of his men to take Lotf Ali Khan's family to Tehran, and take the possessions of the Zand family. Furthermore, he also ordered Baba Khan to establish a garrison in nearby Shiraz to be prepared to help Hajji Ebrahim if needed.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: The Sheikh of Bushehr also took this opportunity to defect to the Qajars, although the reason for doing so is disputed. Sheikh Naser II managed to establish control over Dashtestan, Kharg and Bandar Rig. He also attempted to take Khesht from January to June 1792, but his attempt to capture it failed and he returned to Bushehr on June 27.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: In the meantime, Lotf Ali Khan had defeated the men sent by Hajji Ebrahim and had advanced towards the stronghold of Kazerun in late October and captured it. He then marched to the countryside outside Shiraz and prepared to starve the city. Some time later, the Qajar army from the nearby garrison attacked Lotf Ali Khan's men and were winning—until Lotf Ali Khan himself decided to participate in the battle, and the Qajar army was defeated. When Agha Mohammad Khan learned of this, he sent 7,000 horsemen to reinforce Hajji Ebrahim's forces, and also ordered the surviving Qajar forces from the nearby garrison to do the same.


title: Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar

text: Lotf Ali Khan let the reinforcements arrive to Shiraz, expecting that as soon as the forces of Hajji Ebrahim were strengthened, they would come out of Shiraz, and could be overwhelmed in open battle. He was correct in his prediction—a battle shortly took place to the west of Shiraz, where Lotf Ali Khan defeated the united forces of Hajji Ebrahim and his Qajar reinforcements. This took place in late 1791, or early 1792.