title: Rana dynasty

text: On 12 May 1847, Jung Bahadur gave a speech in Tundikhel. There he accused the King of the attempted assassination of the Prince and the Prime Minister. The Council then decided to dethrone King Rajendra deeming him mentally ill, and on the same day Surendra was crowned as the new king of Nepal. Hearing the news of the coronation of Surendra, Rajendra decided to take the responsibility of removing Jung Bahadur upon himself and declaring himself as the leader of the army, he left Benaras. Rajendra then appointed Guru Prasad Shah as the Chief of the Army for the operation of removal of Jung Bahadur Rana from Nepal and started to accumulate weapons and training the troops. Antagonism from the British-India Company forced Rajendra and his troops to enter Nepal. On 23 July, the troops reached a village called Alau in Bara and set a camp there. One spy group of the Government of Nepal was keeping close eyes on the event of the rebel groups at Bettiah. They sent the news to Jung Bahadur, immediately after which he sent a troop in the leadership of Sanak Singh Tandon to Alau. They were told to suppress the rebellions, arrest Rajendra and bring him to Kathmandu. On 27 July, the "Gorakhnath Paltan" (Gorakhnath Battalion) reached and rested in a village called Simraungadh, not too far from Alau. The battle of Alau was a decisive one between the forces of King Rajendra and Jang Bahadur. The King lost significantly in the battle. If the massacre of Kot had established Jung Bahadur as a dictator, the battle of Alau had helped him strengthen his dictatorship. Rajendra was imprisoned in an old palace in Bhaktapur.


title: Rana dynasty

text: On 15 May 1848, a Lal Mohar (Red sealed document) was issued claiming descent from Ranas of Mewar and authorizing the Kunwar family of Jang Bahadur to style themselves as Kunwar Ranaji. On 6 August 1856, Jang Bahadur Kunwar (now Ranaji) was conferred the title of Maharaja (Great King) of Kaski and Lamjung, two former hill principalities, by King of Nepal, Surendra Bikram Shah.


title: Rana dynasty

text: In 1885, the Shumsher family, the nephews of Jung Bahadur Kunwar Rana, murdered many of the sons of Jung Bahadur and took over Nepal in a military coup d'état thus bringing in the rule of the Shumsher Rana family also known as the Satra Bhai (17 brothers) Rana family. They murdered Ranodip Singh Kunwar and occupied the hereditary throne of Prime Minister. After this they added Jang Bahadur to their name, although they were descended from Jang's younger brother Dhir Shumsher.


title: Rana dynasty

text: Nine Rana rulers took the hereditary office(s) of Prime Minister, Supreme Commander-in-Chief and Grand Master of the Royal Orders. All were crowned as the Maharaja of Lamjung and Kaski.


title: Rana dynasty

text: Succession to the role of the Prime Ministers and the title of "Shree Teen Maharaja of Nepal and Maharaja of Lamjung and Kaski" was by agnatic seniority, by which the oldest male heir among the sons of equal (a-class) marriages in a generation would succeed. The order of succession was determined by seniority, with each eligible male heir holding a military command, as follows:


title: Black company (Japanese term)

text: A , also referred to in English as a black corporation or black business, is a Japanese term for an exploitative sweatshop-type employment system.


title: Black company (Japanese term)

text: While the term "sweatshop" is associated with manufacturing, and the garment trade in particular, in Japan black companies are not necessarily associated with the clothing industry, but more often with office work.


title: Black company (Japanese term)

text: The term "black company" was coined in the early 2000s by young IT workers but has since come to be applied to various industries.


title: Black company (Japanese term)

text: While specifics may vary from workplace to workplace and company to company, a typical practice at a black company is to hire a large number of young employees and then force them to work large amounts of overtime without overtime pay. Conditions are poor, and workers are subjected to verbal abuse and "power harassment" (bullying) by their superiors.


title: Black company (Japanese term)

text: In order to make the employees stay, superiors of black companies would often threaten young employees with disrepute if they chose to quit.


title: Black company (Japanese term)

text: Mina Mori, a 26-year-old employee of the restaurant chain Watami, committed suicide two months after joining the company in 2008. Her family lodged a complaint with the Yokosuka Labor Standards Office to seek recognition of the suicide as work-related. When their claim was denied, they appealed it to the Kanagawa Prefectural Labor Bureau, which recognized work-related stress as the cause of the decline of her mental health. In December 2015, Watami reached an out-of-court settlement of 130 million yen with the family, and Watami founder Miki Watanabe apologized.


title: Black company (Japanese term)

text: The issue of black companies has attracted attention in Japan. The 2009 drama film "On The Verge At a Black Company" was set in such a workplace, and in 2012 there was a "Black Corporations Award" where people could vote on "the most evil corporation of the year".


title: Black company (Japanese term)

text: In the manga and anime series "The Laughing Salesman", one of the victims/protagonist worked at Black Corporation and contemplated suicide before meeting the Laughing Salesman. As punishment for mistreating his own employees after becoming the head of his own company, the Laughing Salesman places him in a black company experience booth.


title: Black company (Japanese term)

text: In the multimedia project "", the character Doppo Kannonzaka is an office worker at a black company. He lists his work as a reason of his depression but continues to work with them because he has no choice.


title: Black company (Japanese term)

text: The spinoff of manga and anime series "Cells at Work!" called "Cells at Work! Code Black" characterizes the body of an unhealthy, stressed, alcoholic individual as a black company in comparison to that of a healthy human being.


title: Black company (Japanese term)

text: The manga "Zombie 100: Bucket List of the Dead" also known as "Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru made ni Shitai 100 no Koto" starts with the main character Akira working for a black company for three years leaving him disillusioned with life.


title: Black company (Japanese term)

text: One of the targets in the video game "Persona 5" is Kunikazu Okumura, the CEO of black company Okumura Foods, which is using the Metaverse to manufacture scandals in rival companies and has become infamous for horrendous working conditions. Within his Palace, employees are depicted as robots that are severely overworked and incinerated upon collapsing from exhaustion, with breaks that last as little as five seconds. During the end boss fight, Shadow Okumura forces the robots to fight the Phantom Thieves, even ordering them to self-destruct, but ends up depleting his workforce entirely.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The middle kingdoms of India were the political entities in the Indian subcontinent from 200 BCE to 1200 CE. The period begins after the decline of the Maurya Empire and the corresponding rise of the Satavahana dynasty, starting with Simuka, from 230 BCE. The "middle" period lasted for about 1,500 years and ended in 1200 CE, with the rise of the Delhi Sultanate, founded in 1206, and the end of the Later Cholas (Rajendra Chola III, who died in 1279 CE).


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: This period encompasses two eras: Classical India, from the Maurya Empire up until the end of the Gupta Empire in 500 CE, and early Medieval India from 500 CE onwards. It also encompasses the era of classical Hinduism, which is dated from 200 BCE to 1100 CE. From 1 CE until 1000 CE, India's economy is estimated to have been the largest in the world, having between one-third and one-quarter of the world's wealth. It is followed by the late Medieval period in the 13th century.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: During the 2nd century BCE, the Maurya Empire became a collage of regional powers with overlapping boundaries. The whole northwest attracted a series of invaders between 200 BCE and 300 CE. The Puranas speak of many of these tribes as foreigners and impure barbarians (Mlecchas). First the Satavahana dynasty and then the Gupta Empire, both successor states to the Maurya Empire, attempt to contain the expansions of the successive before eventually crumbling internally due to the pressure exerted by these wars.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The invading tribes were influenced by Buddhism which continued to flourish under the patronage of both invaders and the Satavahanas and Guptas and provides a cultural bridge between the two cultures. Over time, the invaders became "Indianized" as they influenced society and philosophy across the Gangetic plains and were conversely influenced by it. This period is marked by both intellectual and artistic achievements inspired by cultural diffusion and syncretism as the new kingdoms straddle the Silk Road.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Indo-Greek Kingdom covered various parts of the Northwestern South Asia during the last two centuries BCE, and was ruled by more than 30 Hellenistic kings, often in conflict with each other.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The kingdom was founded when Demetrius I of Bactria invaded the Hindu Kush early in the 2nd century BCE. The Greeks in India were eventually divided from the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom centered in Bactria (now the border between Afghanistan and Uzbekistan).


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The expression "Indo-Greek Kingdom" loosely describes a number of various dynastic polities. There were numerous cities, such as Taxila, Pushkalavati and Sagala in Pakistan's Punjab. These cities would house a number of dynasties in their times, and based on Ptolemy's "Geography" and the nomenclature of later kings, a certain Theophila in the south was also probably a satrapal or royal seat at some point.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Euthydemus I was, according to Polybius a Magnesian Greek. His son, Demetrius, founder of the Indo-Greek kingdom, was therefore of Greek descent from his father at minimum. A marriage treaty was arranged for Demetrius with a daughter of Antiochus III the Great, who had partial Persian descent. The ethnicity of later Indo-Greek rulers is less clear. For example, Artemidoros Aniketos (80 BCE) may have been of Indo-Scythian descent. Intermarriage also occurred, as exemplified by Alexander the Great, who married Roxana of Bactria, or Seleucus I Nicator, who married Apama of Sogdia.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: During the two centuries of their rule, the Indo-Greek kings combined the Greek and Indian languages and symbols, as seen on their coins, and blended Greek, Hindu and Buddhist religious practices, as seen in the archaeological remains of their cities and in the indications of their support of Buddhism, pointing to a rich fusion of Indian and Hellenistic influences. The diffusion of Indo-Greek culture had consequences which are still felt today, particularly through the influence of Greco-Buddhist art. The Indo-Greeks ultimately disappeared as a political entity around 10 CE following the invasions of the Indo-Scythians, although pockets of Greek populations probably remained for several centuries longer under the subsequent rule of the Indo-Parthians and Kushan Empire.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Yavana or Yona people, literally "Ionian" and meaning "Western foreigner", were described as living beyond Gandhara. Yavanas, Sakas, the Pahlavas and Hunas were sometimes described as "mleccha"s, "barbarians". Kambojas and the inhabitants of Madra, the Kekeya Kingdom, the Indus River region and Gandhara were sometimes also classified as "mleccha"s. This name was used to indicate their cultural differences with the culture of the Kuru Kingdom and Panchala.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Indo-Scythians are a branch of the Sakas who migrated from southern Siberia into Bactria, Sogdia, Arachosia, Gandhara, Kashmir, Punjab, and into parts of Western and Central India, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 4th century CE. The first Saka king in India was Maues or Moga who established Saka power in Gandhara and gradually extended supremacy over north-western India. Indo-Scythian rule in India ended with the last of the Western Satraps, Rudrasimha III, in 395 CE.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The invasion of India by Scythian tribes from Central Asia, often referred to as the "Indo-Scythian invasion", played a significant part in the history of India as well as nearby countries. In fact, the Indo-Scythian war is just one chapter in the events triggered by the nomadic flight of Central Asians from conflict with Chinese tribes which had lasting effects on Bactria, Kabul, Parthia and India as well as far off Rome in the west. The Scythian groups that invaded India and set up various kingdoms, included, besides the Sakas, other allied tribes, such as the Medes, Scythians, Massagetae, Getae, Parama Kamboja Kingdom, Avars, Bahlikas, Rishikas and Parada Kingdom.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Indo-Parthian Kingdom was founded by Gondophares around 20 BCE. The kingdom lasted only briefly until its conquest by the Kushan Empire in the late 1st century CE and was a loose framework where many smaller dynasts maintained their independence.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Pahlavas are a people mentioned in ancient Indian texts like the "Manusmṛti", various Puranas, the "Ramayana", the "Mahabharata", and the "Brhatsamhita". In some texts the Pahlavas are synonymous with the Pallava dynasty of South India. While the "Vayu Purana" distinguishes between "Pahlava" and "Pahnava", the "Vamana Purana" and "Matsya Purana" refer to both as "Pallava". The "Brahmanda Purana" and "Markendeya Purana" refer to both as "Pahlava" or "Pallava". The "Bhishama Parava" of the Mahabharata does not distinguish between the Pahlavas and Pallavas. The Pahlavas are said to be same as the Parasikas, a Saka group. According to P. Carnegy, the Pahlava are probably those people who spoke Paluvi or Pehlvi, the Parthian language. Buhler similarly suggests Pahlava is an Indic form of "Parthava" meaning "Parthian". In a 4th-century BCE, the "Vartika" of Kātyāyana mentions the "Sakah-Parthavah", demonstrating an awareness of these Saka-Parthians, probably by way of commerce.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Western Satraps (35-405 CE) were Saka rulers of the western and central part of India (Saurashtra and Malwa: modern Gujarat, southern Sindh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh states). Their state, or at least part of it, was called "Ariaca" according to the "Periplus of the Erythraean Sea". They were successors to the Indo-Scythians and were contemporaneous with the Kushan Empire, which ruled the northern part of the Indian subcontinent and were possibly their overlords, and the Satavahana dynasty of Andhra who ruled in Central India. They are called "Western" in contrast to the "Northern" Indo-Scythian satraps who ruled in the area of Mathura, such as Rajuvula, and his successors under the Kushans, the "Great Satrap" Kharapallana and the "Satrap" Vanaspara. Although they called themselves "Satraps" on their coins, leading to their modern designation of "Western Satraps", Ptolemy's "Geography" still called them "Indo-Scythians". Altogether, there were 27 independent Western Satrap rulers during a period of about 350 years.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Kushan Empire (c. 1st–3rd centuries) originally formed in Bactria on either side of the middle course of the Amu Darya in what is now northern Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan; during the 1st century CE, they expanded their territory to include the Punjab and much of the Ganges basin, conquering a number of kingdoms across the northern part of the Indian subcontinent in the process. The Kushans conquered the central section of the main Silk Road and, therefore, had control of the overland trade between India, and China to the east, and the Roman Empire and Persia to the west.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Emperor Kanishka was a great patron of Buddhism; however, as Kushans expanded southward toward the Indian subcontinent the deities of their later coinage came to reflect its new Hindu majority.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The rise of new Persian power, the Sasanian Empire, saw them exert their influence into the Indus region and conquer lands from the Kushan Empire, setting up the Indo-Sasanians around 240 CE. They were to maintain their influence in the region until they were overthrown by the Rashidun Caliphate. Afterwards, they were displaced in 410 CE by the invasions of the Hephthalite Empire.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Hephthalite Empire was another Central Asian nomadic group to invade. They are also linked to the Yuezhi who had founded the Kushan Empire. From their capital in Bamyan (present-day Afghanistan) they extended their rule across the Indus and North India, thereby causing the collapse of the Gupta Empire. They were eventually defeated by the Sasanian Empire allied with Turkic peoples.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Rai dynasty of Sindh were patrons of Buddhism even though they also established a huge temple of Shiva in Sukkur close to their capital, Aror.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Gandhāra was an ancient region in the Kabul, Peshawar, Swat, and Taxila areas of what are now northwestern Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan. It was one of 16 Mahajanapada of ancient India.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Karkota Empire was established around 625 CE. During the eighth century they consolidated their rule over Kashmir. The most illustrious ruler of the dynasty was Lalitaditya Muktapida. According to Kalhana's "Rajatarangini", he defeated the Tibetans and Yashovarman of Kanyakubja, and subsequently conquered eastern kingdoms of Magadha, Kamarupa, Gauda, and Kaḷinga. Kalhana also states that he extended his influence of Malwa and Gujarat and defeated Arabs at Sindh. According to historians, Kalhana highly exaggerated the conquests of Lalitaditya.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Kabul Shahi dynasties ruled portions of the Kabul valley and Gandhara from the decline of the Kushan Empire in the 3rd century to the early 9th century. The kingdom was known as the Kabul Shahan or Ratbelshahan from 565 CE-670 CE, when the capitals were located in Kapisa and Kabul, and later Udabhandapura, also known as Hund, for its new capital. In ancient time, the title Shahi appears to be a quite popular royal title in Afghanistan and the northwestern areas of the Indian subcontinent. Variants were used much more priorly in the Near East, but as well later on by the Sakas, Kushans Hunas, Bactrians, by the rulers of Kapisa/Kabul and Gilgit. In Persian form, the title appears as "Kshathiya, Kshathiya Kshathiyanam", Shao of the Kushanas and the "Ssaha" of Mihirakula (Huna chief). The Kushanas are stated to have adopted the title "Shah-in-shahi" (""Shaonano shao"") in imitation of Achaemenid practice. The Shahis are generally split up into two eras—the Buddhist Shahis and the Hindu Shahis, with the change-over thought to have occurred sometime around 870 CE.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Following the demise of the Mauryan Empire, the Satavahanas rose as the successor state to check and contend with the influx of the Central Asian tribes from the Northwest. The Satavahanas straddling the Deccan plateau also provided a link for transmission of Buddhism and contact between the Northern Gangetic plains and the Southern regions even as the Upanishads were gaining ground. Eventually weakened both by contention with the northwestern invaders and internal strife they broke up and gave rise to several nations around Deccan and central India regions even as the Gupta Empire arose in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and ushered in a "Golden Age" and rebirth of empire as decentralized local administrative model and the spread of Indian culture until collapse under the Huna invasions. After the fall of Gupta Empire the Gangetic region broke up into several states temporarily reunited under Harsha then giving rise to the Rajput dynasties. In the Deccan, the Chalukyas arose forming a formidable nation marking the migration of the centers of cultural and military power long held in the Indo-Gangetic Plain to the new nations forming in the southern regions of India.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Sātavāhana dynasty began as feudatories to the Maurya Empire but declared independence with its decline. They were the first Indic rulers to issue coins struck with their rulers embossed and are known for their patronage of Buddhism, resulting in Buddhist monuments from the Ellora Caves to Amaravathi village, Guntur district. They formed a cultural bridge and played a vital role in trade and the transfer of ideas and culture to and from the Gangetic plains to the southern tip of India.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Sātavāhanas had to compete with the Shunga Empire and then the Kanva dynastys of Magadha to establish their rule. Later they had to contend in protecting their domain from the incursions of Sakas, Yonas and the Pahlavas. In particular their struggles with the Western Satraps weakened them and the empire split into smaller states.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Mahameghavahanas (c. 250s BCE-400s CE) was an ancient ruling dynasty of Kaḷinga after the decline of the Mauryan Empire. The third ruler of the dynasty, Khārabēḷa, conquered much of India in a series of campaigns at the beginning of the common era. Kaḷingan military might was reinstated by Khārabēḷa: under Khārabēḷa's generalship, the Kaḷinga state had a formidable maritime reach with trade routes linking it to the then-Simhala (Sri Lanka), Burma (Myanmar), Siam (Thailand), Vietnam, Kamboja (Cambodia), Borneo, Bali, Samudra (Sumatra) and Jabadwipa (Java). Khārabēḷa led many successful campaigns against the states of Magadha, Anga, the Satavahanas and the South Indian regions ruled by the Pandyan dynasty (modern Andhra Pradesh) and expanded Kaḷinga as far as the Ganges and the Kaveri.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Kharavelan state had a formidable maritime empire with trading routes linking it to Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Borneo, Bali, Sumatra and Java. Colonists from Kaḷinga settled in Sri Lanka, Burma, as well as the Maldives and Maritime Southeast Asia. Even today Indians are referred to as Keling in Malaysia because of this.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Although religiously tolerant, Khārabēḷa patronised Jainism, and was responsible for the propagation of Jainism in the Indian subcontinent but his importance is neglected in many accounts of Indian history. The main source of information about Khārabeḷa is his famous seventeen line rock-cut Hātigumphā inscription in the Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves near Bhubaneswar, Odisha. According to the Hathigumpha inscription, he attacked Rajagriha in Magadha, thus inducing the Indo-Greek king Demetrius I of Bactria to retreat to Mathura.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Before the rise of the Guptas, Bharshiva Kings ruled most of the Indo-Gangetic plains. They perform ten Ashvamedha sacrifices on the banks of Ganga River. Samudragupta mention Naga rulers in his Allahabad pillar.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Classical Age refers to the period when much of the Indian Subcontinent was reunited under the Gupta Empire (ca. 320 CE–600 CE). This period is called the Golden Age of India and was marked by extensive achievements in science, technology, engineering, art, , literature, logic, mathematics, astronomy, religion and philosophy that crystallized the elements of what is generally known as Hindu culture. The decimal numeral system, including the concept of zero, was invented in India during this period. The peace and prosperity created under Guptas leadership enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors in India.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The high points of this cultural creativity is seen in Gupta architecture, sculpture and painting. The Gupta period produced scholars such as Kalidasa, Aryabhata, Varahamihira, Vishnu Sharma, and Vatsyayana who made advances in a variety of academic fields. Science and political administration advanced during the Gupta era. Trade ties made the region an important cultural center and set the region up as a base that would influence nearby kingdoms and regions in Burma, Sri Lanka, and both maritime and mainland Southeast Asia.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Guptas performed Vedic sacrifices to legitimize their rule, but they also patronized Buddhism, which continued to provide an alternative to Brahmanical orthodoxy. The military exploits of the first three rulers - Chandragupta I (ca. 319–335), Samudragupta (ca. 335–376), and Chandragupta II (ca. 376–415) —brought much of India under their leadership. They successfully resisted the North-Western Kingdoms until the arrival of the Hunas who established themselves in Afghanistan by the first half of the 5th century, with their capital at Bamiyan. Nevertheless, much of the Deccan and southern India were largely unaffected by this state of flux in the north.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Vakataka Empire was the contemporaries of the Gupta Empire and the successor state of the Satavahanas they formed the southern boundaries of the north and ruled over today's modern-day states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra during the 3rd and 5th centuries. The rock-cut Buddhist viharas and chaityas of Ajanta Caves (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), built under the patronage of the Vakataka rulers. They were eventually overrun by the Chalukyas.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: After the collapse of the Gupta Empire, the gangetic plains fractured into numerous small nations. Harsha of Kannauj was able to briefly bind them together under his rulership as the Empire of Harsha. Only a defeat at the hands of the Chalukyas (Pulakeshin II) prevented him from expanding his reign south of the Narmada River. This unity did not last long beyond his reign and his empire fractured soon after his death in 647 AD.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Present day Rajasthan was Gurjara area for centuries with capital at Bhilmal (Bhinmal or Srimal), situated nearly 50 miles to the north west of Mount Abu. The Pratihara of Bhinmal moved to Kannuaj on the Ganges at the beginning of the 9th century and transferred their capital to Kannuaj and founded an empire which at its peak was bounded on the east by Bihar, on the west by the "lost river", the Hakra, and the Arabian Sea, on the North By the Himalaya and Sutlaj, and on the South by the Jumna and Narmada. The region round Broach, which was offshoot of this kingdom, was also ruled by the Gurjaras of Nandipuri and Gurjaras of Lata.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Vishnukundina Empire was an Indian dynasty that ruled over the Deccan, Odisha and parts of South India during the 5th and 6th centuries carving land out from the Vakataka Empire. The Vishnukundin reign came to an end with the conquest of the eastern Deccan by the Chalukya, Pulakeshin II. Pulakeshin appointed his brother Kubja Vishnuvardhana as Viceroy to rule over the conquered lands. Eventually Vishnuvardhana declared his independence and started the Eastern Chalukya dynasty.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Maitraka Empire ruled Gujarat in western India from the c. 475 to 767 CE. The founder of the dynasty, "Senapati" (general) Bhatarka, was a military governor of Saurashtra peninsula under Gupta Empire, who had established himself as the independent ruler of Gujarat approximately in the last quarter of the 5th century. The first two Maitraka rulers Bhatarka and Dharasena I used only the title of "Senapati" (general). The third ruler Dronasimha declared himself as the "Maharaja". King Guhasena stopped using the term "Paramabhattaraka Padanudhyata" along his name like his predecessors, which denotes the cessation of displaying of the nominal allegiance to the Gupta overlords. He was succeeded by his son Dharasena II, who used the title of "Mahadhiraja". His son, the next ruler Siladitya I, Dharmaditya was described by Hiuen Tsang as a "monarch of great administrative ability and of rare kindness and compassion". Siladitya I was succeeded by his younger brother Kharagraha I. Virdi copperplate grant (616 CE) of Kharagraha I proves that his territories included Ujjain.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Gurjara Pratihara Empire (Hindi: गुर्जर प्रतिहार) formed an Indian dynasty that ruled much of Northern India from the 6th to the 11th centuries. At its peak of prosperity and power (c. 836–910 CE), it rivaled the Gupta Empire in the extent of its territory.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Pointing out the importance of the Gurjara Pratihara empire in the history of India Dr. R. C. Majumdar has observed,


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: "the "Gurjara Pratihara Empire" which continued in full glory for nearly a century, was the last great empire in Northern India before the Muslim conquest." This honour is accorded to the empire of Harsha by many historians of repute but without any real justification, for the Pratihara empire was probably larger, certainly not less in extent rivalled the Gupta Empire and brought political unity and its attendant blessings upon a large part of Northern India. But its chief credit lies in its successful resistance to the foreign invasions from the west, from the days of Junaid. This was frankly recognised by the Arab writers themselves.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Historians of India, since the days of Eliphinstone, has wondered at slow progress of Muslim invaders in India compared to their rapid advance in other parts of the world. Arguments of doubtful validity have often been put forward to explain this unique phenomenon. Now there can be little doubt that it was the power of the Gurjara Pratihara army that effectively barred the progress of the Muslims beyond the confines of Sindh, their first conquest for nearly three hundred years. In the light of later events this might be regarded as the "chief contribution of the Gurjara Pratiharas to the history of India".


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Rajput were a Hindu clan who rose to power across a region stretching from the Gangetic plains to the Afghan mountains, and refer to the various dynasties of the many kingdoms in the region in the wake of the collapse of the Sassanid Empire and Gupta Empire and marks the transition of Buddhist ruling dynasties to Hindu ruling dynasties.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Katoch were a Hindu Rajput clan of the Chandravanshi lineage; with recent research suggests that Katoch may be one of the oldest royal dynasties in the world.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Chauhan dynasty flourished from the 8th to 12th centuries CE. It was one of the three main Rajput dynasties of that era, the others being Pratiharas and Paramaras. Chauhan dynasties established themselves in several places in North India and in the state of Gujarat in Western India. They were also prominent at Sirohi in the southwest of Rajputana, and at Bundi and Kota in the east. Inscriptions also associate them with Sambhar, the salt lake area in the Amber (later Jaipur) district (the Sakhambari branch remained near lake Sambhar and married into the ruling Gurjara–Pratihara, who then ruled an empire in Northern India). Chauhans adopted a political policy that saw them indulge largely in campaigns against the Chalukyas and the invading Muslim hordes. In the 11th century, they founded the city of Ajayameru (Ajmer) in the southern part of their kingdom, and in the 12th century, the Chauhans captured Dhilika (the ancient name of Delhi) from the Tomaras and annexed some of their territory along the Yamuna River.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Chauhan Kingdom became the leading state in Northern India under King Prithviraj III (1165–1192 CE), also known as Prithvi Raj Chauhan or Rai Pithora. Prithviraj III has become famous in folk tales and historical literature as the Chauhan king of Delhi who resisted and repelled the invasion by Mohammed of Ghor at the First Battle of Tarain in 1191. Armies from other Rajput kingdoms, including Mewar, assisted him. The Chauhan kingdom collapsed after Prithviraj and his armies faced defeat from Mohammed of Ghor in 1192 at the Second Battle of Tarain.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Kachwaha originated as tributaries of the preceding powers of the region. Some scholars point out that it was only following the downfall, in the 8th-10th century, of Kannauj (the regional seat-of-power, following the break-up of Harsha's empire), that the Kacchapaghata state emerged as a principal power in the Chambal valley of present-day Madhya Pradesh.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Paramara dynasty was a Rajput dynasty in early medieval Indian dynasty who ruled over Malwa region in central India. This dynasty was founded by Upendra in c. 800 CE. The most significant ruler of this dynasty was Bhoja who was a philosopher king and polymath. The seat of the Paramara kingdom was "Dhara Nagari" (the present day Dhar city in Madhya Pradesh state).


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Chaulukyas (also called Solankis) was another Rajput dynasty In Gujarat, Anhilwara (modern Siddhpur Patan) served as their capital. Gujarat was a major center of Indian Ocean trade, and Anhilwara was one of the largest cities in India, with population estimated at 100,000 in the year 1000. The Chaulukyas were patrons of the great seaside temple of Shiva at Somnath Patan in Kathiawar; Bhima Dev helped rebuild the temple after it was sacked by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1026. His son, Karna, conquered the Bhil king Ashapall or Ashaval, and after his victory established a city named Karnavati on the banks of the Sabarmati River, at the site of modern Ahmedabad.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Tomaras of Delhi was a Rajput Clan during 9th-12th century. The Tomaras of Delhi ruled parts of the present-day Delhi and Haryana. Much of the information about this dynasty comes from bardic legends of little historical value, and therefore, the reconstruction of their history is difficult. According to the bardic tradition, the dynasty's founder Anangapal Tuar (that is Anangapala I Tomara) founded Delhi in 736 CE. However, the authenticity of this claim is doubtful. The bardic legends also state that the last Tomara king (also named Anangapal) passed on the throne of Delhi to his maternal grandson Prithviraj Chauhan. This claim is also inaccurate: historical evidence shows that Prithviraj inherited Delhi from his father Someshvara. According to the Bijolia inscription of Someshvara, his brother Vigraharaja IV had captured Dhillika (Delhi) and Ashika (Hansi); he probably defeated a Tomara ruler.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Gahadavala dynasty ruled parts of the present-day Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, during the 11th and 12th centuries. Their capital was located at Varanasi in the Gangetic plains.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Khayaravala dynasty ruled parts of the present-day Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand, during 11th and 12th centuries. Their capital was located at Khayaragarh in Shahabad district. Pratapdhavala and Shri Pratapa were king of the dynasty according to inscription of Rohtas.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Pratihars ruled from Mandore, near present-day Jodhpur, they held the title of Rana before being defeated by Guhilots of Chittore.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Pala Empire was a Buddhist dynasty that ruled from the north-eastern region of the Indian subcontinent. The name "Pala" (Modern "pal") means "protector" and was used as an ending to the names of all Pala monarchs. The Palas were followers of the Mahayana and Tantric schools of Buddhism. Gopala was the first ruler from the dynasty. He came to power in 750 CE in Gaur by a democratic election. This event is recognized as one of the first democratic elections in South Asia since the time of the Mahā Janapadas. He reigned from 750 to 770 CE and consolidated his position by extending his control over all of Bengal. The Buddhist dynasty lasted for four centuries (750-1120 CE) and ushered in a period of stability and prosperity in Bengal. They created many temples and works of art as well as supported the Universities of Nalanda and Vikramashila. Somapura Mahavihara built by Dharmapala is the greatest Buddhist Vihara in the Indian Subcontinent.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The empire reached its peak under Dharmapala and Devapala. Dharmapala extended the empire into the northern parts of the Indian Subcontinent. This triggered once again the power struggle for the control of the subcontinent. Devapala, successor of Dharmapala, expanded the empire to cover much of South Asia and beyond. His empire stretched from Assam and Utkala in the east, Kamboja (modern-day Afghanistan) in the north-west and Deccan in the south. According to Pala copperplate inscription Devapala exterminated the Utkalas, conquered the Pragjyotisha (Assam), shattered the pride of the Huna, and humbled the lords of Pratiharas, Gurjara and the Dravidas.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The death of Devapala ended the period of ascendancy of the Pala Empire and several independent dynasties and kingdoms emerged during this time. However, Mahipala I rejuvenated the reign of the Palas. He recovered control over all of Bengal and expanded the empire. He survived the invasions of Rajendra Chola and the Chalukyas. After Mahipala I the Pala dynasty again saw its decline until Ramapala, the last great ruler of the dynasty, managed to retrieve the position of the dynasty to some extent. He crushed the Varendra rebellion and extended his empire farther to Kamarupa, Odisha and Northern India.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Pala Empire can be considered as the golden era of Bengal. Palas were responsible for the introduction of Mahayana Buddhism in Tibet, Bhutan and Myanmar. The Palas had extensive trade as well as influence in south-east Asia. This can be seen in the sculptures and architectural style of the Sailendra Empire (present-day Malaya, Java, Sumatra).


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Eastern Ganga dynasty rulers reigned over Kaḷinga which consisted of the parts of the modern-day Indian states of Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh from the 11th century to the early 15th century. Their capital was known by the name Kalinganagar, which is the modern Srimukhalingam in Srikakulam District of Andhra Pradesh bordering Odisha. Today they are most remembered as the builders of the Konark Sun Temple a World Heritage Site at Konark, Odisha. It was built by King Narasimhadeva I (1238–1264 CE). During their reign (1078-1434 CE) a new style of temple architecture came into being, commonly called as Indo-Aryan architecture. This dynasty was founded by King Anantavarma Chodaganga Deva (1078–1147 CE). He was a religious person and a patron of art and literature. He is credited for having built the famous Jagannath Temple of Puri in Odisha.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: King Anantavarman Chodagangadeva was succeeded by a long line of illustrious rulers such as Narasimhadeva I (1238–1264 CE). The rulers of Eastern Ganga dynasty not only defended their kingdom from the constant attacks of the Muslim rulers from both northern and southern India but were perhaps one of the few empires to have successfully invaded and defeated their Muslim adversaries. The Eastern Ganga King Narasimha Deva I invaded the Muslim kingdom of Bengal and handed a heavy defeat to the Sultan. This ensured that Sultanate never encroached upon the domains of the Ganga Emperors for nearly a century. His military exploits still survive today as folklore in Odisha. This kingdom prospered through trade and commerce and the wealth was mostly used in the construction of temples. The rule of the dynasty came to end under the reign of King Bhanudeva IV (1414–1434 CE), in the early 15th century.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Palas were followed by the Sena dynasty who brought Bengal under one ruler during the 12th century. Vijay Sen the second ruler of this dynasty defeated the last Pala emperor Madanapala and established his reign. Ballal Sena introduced Kulīna System in Bengal and made Nabadwip the capital. The fourth king of this dynasty Lakshman Sen expanded the empire beyond Bengal to Bihar, Assam, northern Odisha and probably to Varanasi. Lakshman was later defeated by the Muslims and fled to eastern Bengal where he ruled few more years. The Sena dynasty brought a revival of Hinduism and cultivated Sanskrit literature in India.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Varman Dynasty (not to be confused with the Varman dynasty of Kamarupa) ruled over eastern Bengal and were contemporaries of the Senas.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Kāmarūpa, also called Pragjyotisha, was one of the historical kingdoms of Assam alongside Davaka, that existed from 350 to 1140 CE. Ruled by three dynasties from their capitals in present-day Guwahati, North Guwahati and Tezpur, it at its height covered the entire Brahmaputra Valley, North Bengal, Bhutan and parts of Bangladesh, and at times portions of West Bengal and Bihar.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Varman dynasty (350-650 CE), the first historical rulers of Kamarupa; was established by Pushyavarman, a contemporary of Samudragupta. This dynasty became vassals of the Gupta Empire, but as the power of the Guptas waned, Mahendravarman (470-494 CE) performed two horse sacrifices and threw off the imperial yoke. The first of the three Kamarupa dynasties, the Varmans were followed by the Mlechchha and then the Pala dynasties.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Mlechchha dynasty succeeded the Varman dynasty and ruled to the end of the 10th century. They ruled from their capital in the vicinity of the Harrupeshwara (Tezpur). The rulers were aboriginals, with lineage from Narakasura. According to historical records, there were ten rulers in this dynasty. The Mlechchha dynasty in Kamarupa was followed by the Pala kings.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Pala dynasty of Kamarupa succeeded the Mlechchha dynasty, ruled from its capital at Durjaya (North Gauhati). Dynasty reigned till the end of the 12th century.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Brahma Pala (900-920 CE), was founder Pala dynasty (900–1100 CE) of Kamarupa. Dynasty ruled from its capital Durjaya, modern-day North Guwahati. The greatest of the Pala kings, Dharma Pala had his capital at Kamarupa Nagara, now identified with North Guwahati. Ratna Pala was another notable sovereign of this line. Records of his land-grants have been found at Bargaon and Sualkuchi, while a similar relic of Indra Pala, has been discovered at Guwahati. Pala dynasty come to end with Jaya Pala (1075-1100 CE).


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Twipra Kingdom ruled ancient Tripura. Kingdom was established around the confluence of the Brahmaputra river with the Meghna and Surma rivers in today's Central Bangladesh area. The capital was called Khorongma and was along the Meghna river in the Sylhet Division of present-day Bangladesh.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: In the first half of the millennium the South saw various small kingdoms rise and fall mostly independent to the turmoil in the Gangetic plains and the spread of the Buddhism and Jainism to the southern tip of India.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: From the mid-seventh to the mid-13th centuries, regionalism was the dominant theme of political and dynastic history of the Indian subcontinent. Three features commonly characterize the sociopolitical realities of this period.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Peninsular India was involved in an 8th-century tripartite power struggle among the Chalukyas (556–757 CE), the Pallavas (300–888 CE) of Kanchipuram, and the Pandyas. The Chalukya rulers were overthrown by their subordinates, the Rashtrakutas (753-973 CE). Although both the Pallava and Pandya kingdoms were enemies, the real struggle for political domination was between the Pallava and Chalukya realms.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The emergence of the Rashtrakutas heralded a new era in the history of South India. The idiom of a Pan-Indian empire had moved to south. South Indian kingdoms had hitherto ruled areas only up to and south of the Narmada River. It was the Rashtrakutas who first forged north to the Gangetic plains and successfully contested their might against the Palas of Bengal and the Rajput Prathiharas of Gujarat.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Despite interregional conflicts, local autonomy was preserved to a far greater degree in the south where it had prevailed for centuries. The absence of a highly centralized government was associated with a corresponding local autonomy in the administration of villages and districts. Extensive and well-documented overland and maritime trade flourished with the Arabs on the west coast and with Southeast Asia. Trade facilitated cultural diffusion in Southeast Asia, where local elites selectively but willingly adopted Indian art, architecture, literature, and social customs.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The interdynastic rivalry and seasonal raids into each other's territory notwithstanding, the rulers in the Deccan and South India patronized all three religions - Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism. The religions vied with each other for royal favor, expressed in land grants but more importantly in the creation of monumental temples, which remain architectural wonders. The cave temples of Elephanta Island (near Mumbai or Bombay, as it was known formerly), Ajanta, and Ellora (in Maharashtra), and structural temples of Pattadakal, Aihole, Badami in Karnataka and Mahaballipuram and Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu are enduring legacies of otherwise warring regional rulers.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: By the mid-7th century, Buddhism and Jainism began to decline as sectarian Hindu devotional cults of Shiva and Vishnu vigorously competed for popular support.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Although Sanskrit was the language of learning and theology in South India, as it was in the north, the growth of the bhakti (devotional) movements enhanced the crystallization of vernacular literature in Dravidian languages: Kannada and Tamil; they often borrowed themes and vocabulary from Sanskrit but preserved much local cultural lore. Examples of Tamil literature include two major poems, Cilappatikaram (The Jewelled Anklet) and Manimekalai (The Jewelled Belt); the body of devotional literature of Shaivism and Vaishnavism—Hindu devotional movements; and the reworking of the Ramayana by Kamban in the 12th century. A nationwide cultural synthesis had taken place with a minimum of common characteristics in the various regions of South Asia, but the process of cultural infusion and assimilation would continue to shape and influence India's history through the centuries.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Farther south were three ancient Tamil states — Chera (on the west), Chola (on the east), and Pandya (in the south). They were involved in internecine warfare seeking regional supremacy. They are mentioned in Greek and Ashokan sources as important Indian kingdoms beyond the Mauryan Empire. A corpus of ancient Tamil literature, known as Sangam (academy) works, provides much useful information about life in these kingdoms in the era 300 BCE to 200 CE.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Tamil social order was based on different ecoregions. Segments of society were characterized by matriarchy and matrilineal succession—which survived well into the 19th century—cross-cousin marriage, and strong regional identity. Tribal chieftains emerged as "kings" just as people moved from pastoralism toward agriculture sustained by irrigation based on rivers by small-scale water tanks (as man-made ponds are called in India) and wells, as well as maritime trade with Rome and Southeast Asia.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Discoveries of Roman gold coins in various sites attest to extensive South Indian links with the outside world. As with Pataliputra in the northeast and Taxila in the northwest (in modern Pakistan), the city of Madurai, the capital of the Pandyan Kingdom (in modern Tamil Nadu), was the center of intellectual and literary activity. Poets and bards assembled there under royal patronage at successive concourses to composed anthologies of poems and expositions on Tamil grammar. By the end of the 1st century BCE, South Asia was crisscrossed by overland trade routes, which facilitated the movements of Buddhist and Jain missionaries and other travelers and opened the area to a synthesis of many cultures.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: From early pre-historic times, Kerala and Tamil Nadu were the homes of the four Tamil-Malayalam states of the Chera, Chola, Pandya and Pallavas. The oldest extant literature, dated between 300 BCE and 600 CE mentions the exploits of the kings and the princes, and of the poets who extolled them. Cherans, who spoke Malayalam language ruled from the capitals of Kuttanad, Muziris, Karur, and traded extensively with West Asian kingdoms.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: An unknown dynasty called Kalabhras invaded and displaced the three Tamil kingdoms between the 4th and the 7th centuries. This is referred to as the Dark Age in Tamil history. They were eventually expelled by the Pallavas and the Pandyas.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Little of their origins or the time during which they ruled is known beyond that they ruled over the entirety of the southern tip of India during the 3rd to the 6th century, overcoming the Sangam era kingdoms. The appear to be patrons of Jainism and Buddhism as the only source of information on them is the scattered mentions in the many Buddhist and Jain literature of the time. They were contemporaries of the Kadambas and the Western Ganga Dynasty. They were overcome by the rise of the Pallavas and the resurgence of the Pandyan Kingdom.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Kadamba Dynasty () (345–525 CE) was an ancient royal family of Karnataka that ruled from Banavasi in present-day Uttara Kannada district. The dynasty later continued to rule as a feudatory of larger Kannada empires, the Chalukya and the Rashtrakuta empires for over five hundred years during which time they branched into Goa and Hanagal. At the peak of their power under King Kakushtavarma, they ruled large parts of Karnataka. During the pre-Kadamba era the ruling families that controlled Karnataka, the Mauryas, Satavahanas and Chutus were not natives of the region and the nucleus of power resided outside present day Karnataka. The Kadambas were the first indigenous dynasty to use Kannada, the language of the soil at an administrative level. In the history of Karnataka, this era serves as a broad based historical starting point in the study of the development of region as an enduring geo-political entity and Kannada as an important regional language.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The dynasty was founded by Mayurasharma in 345 which at times showed the potential of developing into imperial proportions, an indication to which is provided by the titles and epithets assumed by its rulers. One of his successors, Kakusthavarma was a powerful ruler and even the kings of imperial Gupta Dynasty of northern India cultivated marital relationships with his family, giving a fair indication of the sovereign nature of their kingdom. Tiring of the endless battles and bloodshed, one of the later descendants, King Shivakoti adopted Jainism. The Kadambas were contemporaries of the Western Ganga Dynasty of Talakad and together they formed the earliest native kingdoms to rule the land with absolute autonomy.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Western Ganga Dynasty (350–1000 CE) () was an important ruling dynasty of ancient Karnataka in India. They are known as Western Gangas to distinguish them from the Eastern Gangas, who in later centuries ruled over modern Odisha. The general belief is the Western Gangas began their rule during a time when multiple native clans asserted their freedom due to the weakening of the Pallava dynasty of South India, a geo-political event sometimes attributed to the southern conquests of Samudragupta. The Western Ganga sovereignty lasted from about 350 to 550 CE, initially ruling from Kolar and later moving their capital to Talakad on the banks of the Kaveri in modern Mysore district.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: After the rise of the imperial Chalukya dynasty of Badami, the Gangas accepted Chalukya overlordship and fought for the cause of their overlords against the Pallavas of Kanchipuram. The Chalukyas were replaced by the Rashtrakutas of Manyakheta in 753 CE as the dominant power in the Deccan. After a century of struggle for autonomy, the Western Gangas finally accepted Rashtrakuta overlordship and successfully fought alongside them against their foes, the Chola dynasty of Tanjavur. In the late 10th century, north of Tungabhadra river, the Rashtrakutas were replaced by the emerging Western Chalukya Empire and the Chola Dynasty saw renewed power south of the Kaveri. The defeat of the Western Gangas by Cholas around 1000 resulted in the end of Ganga influence over the region.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Though territorially a small kingdom, the Western Ganga contribution to polity, culture and literature of the modern south Karnataka region is considered important. The Western Ganga kings showed benevolent tolerance to all faiths but are most famous for their patronage towards Jainism resulting in the construction of monuments in places such as Shravanabelagola and Kambadahalli. The kings of this dynasty encouraged the fine arts due to which literature in Kannada and Sanskrit flourished. Chavundaraya's writing, "Chavundaraya Purana" of 978 CE, is an important work in Kannada prose. Many classics were written on subjects ranging from religious topics to elephant management.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Chalukya Empire, natives of the Aihole and Badami region in Karnataka, were at first a feudatory of the Kadambas.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: These victories earned him the title "Dakshinapatha Prithviswamy" (lord of the south). Pulakeshin II continued his conquests in the east where he conquered all kingdoms in his way and reached the Bay of Bengal in present-day Odisha. A Chalukya viceroyalty was set up in Gujarat and Vengi (coastal Andhra) and princes from the Badami family were dispatched to rule them. Having subdued the Pallavas of Kanchipuram, he accepted tributes from the Pandyas of Madurai, Chola dynasty and Cheras of the Kerala region. Pulakeshin II thus became the master of India, south of the Narmada River. Pulakeshin II is widely regarded as one of the great kings in Indian history. Hiuen-Tsiang, a Chinese traveller visited the court of Pulakeshin II at this time and Persian emperor Khosrau II exchanged ambassadors. However, the continuous wars with Pallavas took a turn for the worse in 642 when the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I avenged his father's defeat, conquered and plundered the capital of Pulakeshin II who may have died in battle. A century later, Chalukya Vikramaditya II marched victoriously into Kanchipuram, the Pallava capital and occupied it on three occasions, the third time under the leadership of his son and crown prince Kirtivarman II. He thus avenged the earlier humiliation of the Chalukyas by the Pallavas and engraved a Kannada inscription on the victory pillar at the Kailasanatha Temple. He later overran the other traditional kingdoms of Tamil country, the Pandyas, Cholas and Keralas in addition to subduing a Kalabhra ruler.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Kappe Arabhatta record from this period (700) in "tripadi" (three line) metre is considered the earliest available record in Kannada poetics. The most enduring legacy of the Chalukya dynasty is the architecture and art that they left behind. More than one hundred and fifty monuments attributed to them, built between 450 and 700, have survived in the Malaprabha basin in Karnataka. The constructions are centred in a relatively small area within the Chalukyan heartland. The structural temples at Pattadakal, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the cave temples of Badami, the temples at Mahakuta and early experiments in temple building at Aihole are their most celebrated monuments. Two of the famous paintings at Ajanta cave no. 1, "The Temptation of the Buddha" and "The Persian Embassy" are also credited to them.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The 7th century Tamil Nadu saw the rise of the Pallavas under Mahendravarman I and his son "Mamalla" Narasimhavarman I. The Pallavas were not a recognised political power before the 2nd century. It has been widely accepted by scholars that they were originally executive officers under the Satavahana Empire. After the fall of the Satavahanas, they began to get control over parts of Andhra and the Tamil country. Later they had marital ties with the Vishnukundina who ruled over the Deccan. It was around 550 AD under King Simhavishnu that the Pallavas emerged into prominence. They subjugated the Cholas and reigned as far south as the Kaveri River. Pallavas ruled a large portion of South India with Kanchipuram as their capital. Dravidian architecture reached its peak during the Pallava rule. Narasimhavarman II built the Shore Temple which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many sources describe Bodhidharma, the founder of the Zen school of Buddhism in China, as a prince of the Pallava dynasty.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Eastern Chalukyas were a South Indian dynasty whose kingdom was located in the present day Andhra Pradesh. Their capital was Vengi and their dynasty lasted for around 500 years from the 7th century until c. 1130 CE when the Vengi kingdom merged with the Chola empire. The Vengi kingdom was continued to be ruled by Eastern Chalukyan kings under the protection of the Chola empire until 1189 CE, when the kingdom succumbed to the Hoysalas and the Yadavas. They had their capital originally at Vengi now (Pedavegi, Chinavegi and Denduluru) near Eluru of the West Godavari district end later changed to Rajamahendravaram (Rajamundry).


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Eastern Chalukyas were closely related to the Chalukyas of Vatapi (Badami). Throughout their history they were the cause of many wars between the more powerful Cholas and Western Chalukyas over the control of the strategic Vengi country. The five centuries of the Eastern Chalukya rule of Vengi saw not only the consolidation of this region into a unified whole, but also saw the efflorescence of Telugu culture, literature, poetry and art during the later half of their rule. It can be said to be the golden period of Andhra history.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Pallavas were replaced by the Pandyas in the 8th century. Their capital Madurai was in the deep south away from the coast. They had extensive trade links with the Southeast Asian maritime empires of Srivijaya and their successors. As well as contacts, even diplomatic, reaching as far as the Roman Empire. During the 13th century of the Christian era Marco Polo mentioned it as the richest empire in existence. Temples like Meenakshi Amman Temple at Madurai and Nellaiappar Temple at Tirunelveli are the best examples of Pandyan Temple architecture. The Pandyas excelled in both trade as well as literature and they controlled the pearl fisheries along the South Indian coast, between Sri Lanka and India, which produced some of the finest pearls in the known ancient world.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: In the middle of the 8th century the Chalukya rule was ended by their feudatory, the Rashtrakuta family rulers of Berar (in present-day Amravati district of Maharashtra). Sensing an opportunity during a weak period in the Chalukya rule, Dantidurga trounced the great Chalukyan "Karnatabala" (power of Karnata). Having overthrown the Chalukyas, the Rashtrakutas made Manyakheta their capital (modern Malkhed in Kalaburagi district). Although the origins of the early Rashtrakuta ruling families in central India and the Deccan in the 6th and 7th centuries is controversial, during the eighth through the 10th centuries they emphasised the importance of the Kannada language in conjunction with Sanskrit in their administration. Rashtrakuta inscriptions are in Kannada and Sanskrit only. They encouraged literature in both languages and thus literature flowered under their rule.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Rashtrakutas quickly became the most powerful Deccan empire, making their initial successful forays into the doab region of Ganges River and Jamuna River during the rule of Dhruva Dharavarsha. The rule of his son Govinda III signaled a new era with Rashtrakuta victories against the Pala Dynasty of Bengal and Gurjara Pratihara of north western India resulting in the capture of Kannauj. The Rashtrakutas held Kannauj intermittently during a period of a tripartite struggle for the resources of the rich Gangetic plains. Because of Govinda III's victories, historians have compared him to Alexander the Great and Pandava Arjuna of the Hindu epic Mahabharata.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Sanjan inscription states the horses of Govinda III drank the icy water of the Himalayan stream and his war elephants tasted the sacred waters of the Ganges River. Amoghavarsha I, eulogised by contemporary Arab traveller Sulaiman as one among the four great emperors of the world, succeeded Govinda III to the throne and ruled during an important cultural period that produced landmark writings in Kannada and Sanskrit. The benevolent development of Jain religion was a hallmark of his rule. Because of his religious temperament, his interest in the arts and literature and his peace-loving nature, he has been compared to emperor Ashoka. The rule of Indra III in the 10th century enhanced the Rashtrakuta position as an imperial power as they conquered and held Kannauj again. Krishna III followed Indra III to the throne in 939. A patron of Kannada literature and a powerful warrior, his reign marked the submission of the Paramara of Ujjain in the north and Cholas in the south.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: An Arabic writing "Silsilatuttavarikh" (851) called the Rashtrakutas one among the four principle empires of the world. "Kitab-ul-Masalik-ul-Mumalik" (912) called them the "greatest kings of India" and there were many other contemporaneous books written in their praise. The Rashtrakuta empire at its peak spread from Cape Comorin in the south to Kannauj in the north and from Banaras in the east to Broach (Bharuch) in the west.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: While the Rashtrakutas built many fine monuments in the Deccan, the most extensive and sumptuous of their work is the monolithic Kailasanatha temple at Ellora, the temple being a splendid achievement. In Karnataka their most famous temples are the Kashivishvanatha temple and the Jain Narayana temple at Pattadakal. All of the monuments are designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: In the late 10th century, the Western Chalukyas, also known as the Kalyani Chalukyas or 'Later' Chalukyas rose to power by overthrowing the Rashtrakutas under whom they had been serving as feudatories. Manyakheta was their capital early on before they moved it to Kalyani (modern Basavakalyan). Whether the kings of this empire belonged to the same family line as their namesakes, the Badami Chalukyas is still debated. Whatever the Western Chalukya origins, Kannada remained their language of administration and the Kannada and Sanskrit literature of their time was prolific. Tailapa II, a feudatory ruler from Tardavadi (modern Bijapur district), re-established the Chalukya rule by defeating the Rashtrakutas during the reign of Karka II. He timed his rebellion to coincide with the confusion caused by the invading Paramara of Central India to the Rashtrakutas capital in 973. This era produced prolonged warfare with the Chola dynasty of Tamilakam for control of the resources of the Godavari River–Krishna River doab region in Vengi. Someshvara I, a brave Chalukyan king, successfully curtailed the growth of the Chola Empire to the south of the Tungabhadra River region despite suffering some defeats while maintaining control over his feudatories in the Konkan, Gujarat, Malwa and Kaḷinga regions. For approximately 100 years, beginning in the early 11th century, the Cholas occupied large areas of South Karnataka region (Gangavadi).


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: In 1076 CE, the ascent of the most famous king of this Chalukya family, Vikramaditya VI, changed the balance of power in favour of the Chalukyas. His fifty-year reign was an important period in Karnataka's history and is referred to as the "Chalukya Vikrama era". His victories over the Cholas in the late 11th and early 12th centuries put an end to the Chola influence in the Vengi region permanently. Some of the well known contemporaneous feudatory families of the Deccan under Chalukya control were the Hoysalas, the Seuna Yadavas of Devagiri, the Kakatiya dynasty and the Southern Kalachuri. At their peak, the Western Chalukyas ruled a vast empire stretching from the Narmada River in the north to the Kaveri River in the south. Vikramaditya VI is considered one of the most influential kings of Indian history. Important architectural works were created by these Chalukyas, especially in the Tungabhadra river valley, that served as a conceptual link between the building idioms of the early Badami Chalukyas and the later Hoysalas. With the weakening of the Chalukyas in the decades following the death of Vikramaditya VI in 1126, the feudatories of the Chalukyas gained their independence.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Kalachuris of Karnataka, whose ancestors were immigrants into the southern deccan from central India, had ruled as a feudatory from Mangalavada (modern Mangalavedhe in Maharashtra). Bijjala II, the most powerful ruler of this dynasty, was a commander ("mahamandaleswar") during the reign of Chalukya Vikramaditya VI. Seizing an opportune moment in the waning power of the Chalukyas, Bijjala II declared independence in 1157 and annexed their capital Kalyani. His rule was cut short by his assassination in 1167 and the ensuing civil war caused by his sons fighting over the throne ended the dynasty as the last Chalukya scion regained control of Kalyani. This victory however, was short-lived as the Chalukyas were eventually driven out by the Seuna Yadavas.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Seuna, "Sevuna" or Yadava dynasty (Marathi: देवगिरीचे यादव, ) (c. 850–1334 CE) was an Indian dynasty, which at its peak ruled a kingdom stretching from the Tungabhadra to the Narmada rivers, including present-day Maharashtra, north Karnataka and parts of Madhya Pradesh, from its capital at Devagiri (present-day Daulatabad in Maharashtra). The Yadavas initially ruled as feudatories of the Western Chalukyas. Around the middle of the 12th century, they declared independence and established rule that reached its peak under Singhana II. The foundations of Marathi culture was laid by the Yadavas and the peculiarities of Maharashtra's social life developed during their rule.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Kakatiya dynasty was a South Indian dynasty that ruled Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, India from 1083 to 1323 CE. They were one of the great Telugu kingdoms that lasted for centuries.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Kalachuri is the name used by two kingdoms who had a succession of dynasties from the 10th-12th centuries, one ruling over areas in Central India (west Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan) and were called Chedi or "Haihaya" ("Heyheya") (northern branch) and the other southern Kalachuri who ruled over parts of Karnataka. They are disparately placed in time and space. Apart from the dynastic name and perhaps a belief in common ancestry, there is little in known sources to connect them.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The earliest known Kalachuri family (550–620 CE) ruled over northern Maharashtra, Malwa and western Deccan. Their capital was Mahismati situated in the Narmada river valley. There were three prominent members; Krishnaraja, Shankaragana and Buddharaja. They distributed coins and epigraphs around this area.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Kalachuris of Kalyani or the southern Kalachuris (1130–1184 CE) at their peak ruled parts of the Deccan extending over regions of present-day North Karnataka and parts of Maharashtra. This dynasty rose to power in the Deccan between 1156 and 1181 CE. They traced their origins to "Krishna" who was the conqueror of "Kalinjar" and Dahala in Madhya Pradesh. It is said that "Bijjala" a viceroy of this dynasty established the authority over Karnataka. He wrested power from the Chalukya king Taila III. Bijjala was succeeded by his sons Someshwara and Sangama but after 1181 CE, the Chalukyas gradually retrieved the territory. Their rule was a short and turbulent and yet very important from the socio-religious movement point of view; a new sect called the Lingayat or Virashaiva sect was founded during these times.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: A unique and purely native form of Kannada literature-poetry called the "Vachanas" was also born during this time. The writers of "Vachanas" were called "Vachanakaras" (poets). Many other important works like Virupaksha Pandita's "Chennabasavapurana", Dharani Pandita's "Bijjalarayacharite" and Chandrasagara Varni's "Bijjalarayapurana" were also written.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: Kalachuris of Tripuri (Chedi) ruled in central India with its base at the ancient city of Tripuri (Tewar); it originated in the 8th century, expanded significantly in the 11th century, and declined in the 12th–13th centuries.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Hoysalas had become a powerful force even during their rule from Belur in the 11th century as a feudatory of the Chalukyas (in the south Karnataka region). In the early 12th century they successfully fought the Cholas in the south, convincingly defeating them in the battle of Talakad and moved their capital to nearby Halebidu. Historians refer to the founders of the dynasty as natives of Malnad Karnataka, based on the numerous inscriptions calling them "Maleparolganda" or "Lord of the Male (hills) chiefs" ("Malepas"). With the waning of the Western Chalukya power, the Hoysalas declared their independence in the late 12th century.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: During this period of Hoysala control, distinctive Kannada literary metres such as "Ragale" (blank verse), "Sangatya" (meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a musical instrument), "Shatpadi" (seven line) etc. became widely accepted. The Hoysalas expanded the Vesara architecture stemming from the Chalukyas, culminating in the Hoysala architectural articulation and style as exemplified in the construction of the Chennakesava Temple at Belur and the Hoysaleswara temple at Halebidu. Both these temples were built in commemoration of the victories of the Hoysala Vishnuvardhana against the Cholas in 1116. Veera Ballala II, the most effective of the Hoysala rulers, defeated the aggressive Pandya when they invaded the Chola kingdom and assumed the titles "Establisher of the Chola Kingdom"


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: ("Cholarajyapratishtacharya"), "Emperor of the south" ("Dakshina Chakravarthi") and "Hoysala emperor" ("Hoysala Chakravarthi"). The Hoysalas extended their foothold in areas known today as Tamil Nadu around 1225, making the city of Kannanur Kuppam near Srirangam a provincial capital. This gave them control over South Indian politics that began a period of Hoysala hegemony in the southern Deccan.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: In the early 13th century, with the Hoysala power remaining unchallenged, the first of the Muslim incursions into South India began. After over two decades of waging war against a foreign power, the Hoysala ruler at the time, Veera Ballala III, died in the battle of Madurai in 1343. This resulted in the merger of the sovereign territories of the Hoysala empire with the areas administered by Harihara I, founder of the Vijayanagara Empire, located in the Tungabhadra region in present-day Karnataka. The new kingdom thrived for another two centuries with Vijayanagara as its capital.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: By the 9th century, under Rajaraja Chola and his son Rajendra Chola, the Cholas rose as a notable power in south Asia. The Chola Empire stretched as far as Bengal. At its peak, the empire spanned almost 3,600,000 km (1,389,968 sq mi). Rajaraja Chola conquered all of peninsular South India and parts of the Sri Lanka. Rajendra Chola's navies went even further, occupying coasts from Burma (now Myanmar) to Vietnam, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Sumatra, Java, Malaya in South East Asia and Pegu islands. He defeated Mahipala, the king of the Bengal, and to commemorate his victory he built a new capital and named it Gangaikonda Cholapuram.


title: Middle kingdoms of India

text: The Cholas excelled in building magnificent temples. Brihadeshwara Temple in Thanjavur is a classical example of the magnificent architecture of the Chola kingdom. Brihadshwara temple is an UNESCO Heritage Site under "Great Living Chola Temples." Another example is the Chidambaram Temple in the heart of the temple town of Chidambaram.


title: Khao soi

text: Khao soi or khao soy (, ; , ,) is a Chin Haw dish served in Laos and northern Thailand. A comparable dish, "ohn no khao swè", is widely served in Myanmar. The name means 'cut rice', although it is possible that it is simply a corruption of the Burmese word for noodles – "khao swè" – which may account for the variations. Traditionally, the dough for the rice noodles is spread out on a cloth stretched over boiling water. After steaming the large sheet noodle is then rolled and cut with scissors. Lao khao soi is traditionally made with hand sliced rice noodles in clear soup broth and topped with minced pork and tomato sauce. In some markets in Luang Namtha and Muang Sing vendors still hand cut the noodles. These traditionally cut noodles can also be found in several places in northern Thailand.


title: Chlamydomonas

text: Chlamydomonas is a genus of green algae consisting of about 150 species of unicellular flagellates, found in stagnant water and on damp soil, in freshwater, seawater, and even in snow as "snow algae". "Chlamydomonas" is used as a model organism for molecular biology, especially studies of flagellar motility and chloroplast dynamics, biogenesis, and genetics. One of the many striking features of "Chlamydomonas" is that it contains ion channels (channelrhodopsins) that are directly activated by light. Some regulatory systems of "Chlamydomonas" are more complex than their homologs in Gymnosperms, with evolutionarily related regulatory proteins being larger and containing additional domains.


title: Chlamydomonas

text: Molecular phylogeny studies indicated that the traditional genus "Chlamydomonas" as defined using morphological data was polyphyletic within Volvocales. Many species were subsequently reclassified (e.g., in "Oogamochlamys, Lobochlamys"), and many other ""Chlamydomonas"" s.l. lineages are still to be reclassified.


title: Chlamydomonas

text: All "Chlamydomonas" are unicellular organisms, spherical or slightly cylindrical, and a papilla may be present or absent. Chloroplasts are green and usually cup-shaped. A key feature of the genus is its two anterior flagella, each as long as the other. The flagellar microtubules may each be disassembled by the cell to provide spare material to rebuild the other's microtubules if they are damaged.


title: Chlamydomonas

text: "Chlamydomonas" is widely distributed in freshwater or damp soil. It is generally found in a habitat rich in ammonium salt. It possesses red eye spots for photosensitivity and reproduces both asexually and sexually.


title: Chlamydomonas

text: "Chlamydomonas"'s asexual reproduction occurs by zoospores, aplanospores, hypnospores, or a palmella stage, while its sexual reproduction is through isogamy, anisogamy or oogamy.


title: Chlamydomonas

text: Most species are obligate phototrophs but "C. reinhardtii" and "C. dysostosis" are facultative heterotrophs that can grow in the dark in the presence of acetate as a carbon source.


title: Yes Sir, I Can Boogie

text: "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" is a 1977 hit single by the Spanish vocal duo Baccara. Written by Frank Dostal and Rolf Soja, and produced by Soja, this song was a hit across Europe and became the duo's sole number one single in the United Kingdom, spending a single week at the top of the UK Singles Chart in October 1977.


title: Yes Sir, I Can Boogie

text: Baccara were Spanish flamenco dancers Mayte Mateos and Maria Mendiola. They were discovered on the island of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands by RCA Records executive Leon Deane, who saw them dancing flamenco and singing traditional songs for tourists and signed them to the label.


title: EuroBasket 2017

text: EuroBasket 2017 was the 40th edition of the EuroBasket championship that was organized by FIBA Europe and held between 31 August and 17 September 2017. Beginning from 2017, the continental championships take place every four years with a similar system of qualification as for the FIBA Basketball World Cup.


title: EuroBasket 2017

text: Like the previous edition, the tournament was co-hosted by four countries. Games in the group stage were held in Turkey, Finland, Israel and Romania. The knock-out phase was played in Istanbul, Turkey.


title: EuroBasket 2017

text: Slovenia won their first-ever tournament after defeating Serbia 93–85 in the final. Spain won the bronze medal by beating Russia with the same result.


title: EuroBasket 2017

text: Following the decision to relocate the 2015 tournament, original hosts Ukraine were offered the chance to host the 2017 edition, but they declined, citing the ongoing unrest in the country. Countries expressed interest in hosting were Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland (possible joint bid), Serbia, Macedonia, and Bulgaria (possible joint bid), United Kingdom, Israel, Poland, Slovenia, Belgium.


title: EuroBasket 2017

text: On 5 November 2015, FIBA Europe announced that five national federations have applied to organise the EuroBasket 2017: Finland, Israel, Poland, Romania and Turkey.


title: EuroBasket 2017

text: On 11 December 2015, FIBA Europe announced that the tournament will be hosted by four countries: Israel, Romania, Finland and Turkey with the knockout stage host at the Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul.


title: EuroBasket 2017

text: A total of 24 qualified teams played in groups of six; the four best teams in these groups advanced to a single-elimination knockout stage.


title: EuroBasket 2017

text: The hosts (4 teams) and 2016 Summer Olympics or 2016 Olympic Qualifying Tournament participants (9 other teams) all qualified directly to the EuroBasket 2017.


title: EuroBasket 2017

text: The remaining 27 teams joined through qualification from 31 August 2016 to 17 September 2016 for 11 places.


title: EuroBasket 2017

text: FIBA Europe released the seedings for the EuroBasket 2017 draw on 20 November 2016. According to the FIBA Europe regulations the participating nations, the 9 participants of the 2016 Summer Olympics and Olympic Qualifying Tournaments would be seeded first, based on their respective records in EuroBasket 2015, with the remaining teams seeded based on their qualification records.


title: EuroBasket 2017

text: As in the EuroBasket 2015, each of the four hosts was granted the right to select a partner federation for commercial and marketing criteria. These teams would automatically be placed into the same group as their chosen partner country.


title: EuroBasket 2017

text: Similar to EuroBasket 2015 the preliminary round is being played in four different venues in different countries. Each of the four groups exists of six teams, the best four teams of each group advance to the knockout stage. The first matches were played on August 31 and the last are scheduled for September 7.


title: Tremonti (band)

text: Tremonti is an American heavy metal band founded and fronted by lead vocalist and guitarist Mark Tremonti, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock bands Creed and Alter Bridge. The band also consists of rhythm guitarist Eric Friedman, bassist Tanner Keegan and drummer Ryan Bennett. Bassist Wolfgang Van Halen and drummer Garrett Whitlock are former members of the band. Mark Tremonti's Creed and Alter Bridge bandmate Brian Marshall was also a touring member in 2012.


title: Tremonti (band)

text: What originally started as a Mark Tremonti solo project evolved into a fully fledged band that has released five studio albums: "All I Was" in July 2012, "Cauterize" in June 2015, "Dust" in April 2016, "A Dying Machine" in June 2018 and "Marching in Time" in September 2021. The band's music is a departure from Mark Tremonti's main bands, featuring more of a speed metal influence with melodic vocals.


title: Tremonti (band)

text: Tremonti began expressing interest in releasing a solo album in 2010. "The bands are so different," he said of his two current main projects. "And I write so much. I'm going to do a solo record because there are some songs that I'd hate to think wouldn't see the light of day because they don't work for Creed or Alter Bridge." He is playing guitar and singing lead on all of the songs himself, and former Submersed members Eric Friedman and Garrett Whitlock perform on the record as well. Tremonti described the music as "melody driven," and in a May 2011 interview, Tremonti said that it would be a "heavier-sounding" thrash metal album. He later said that the album is "probably heavier than either Creed or Alter Bridge," and that it would have "lots of soloing."


title: Tremonti (band)

text: Tremonti's first album, "All I Was" was released on July 17, 2012, under the label FRET12 Records. "You Waste Your Time" was released as the first single from the album. One day after its release, the song reached number 10 on the iTunes Rock Songs Chart, and Tremonti's live music video for it premiered on May 17, 2012, on Noisecreep.


title: Tremonti (band)

text: The band originally consisted of Friedman and Whitlock alongside Alter Bridge and Creed bassist Brian Marshall playing bass guitar as a touring musician. The band performed its first solo concert at The Social in Orlando, Florida, on July 17, 2012, with the performance filmed for a future video release. Wolfgang Van Halen replaced Brian Marshall as a touring bassist in September 2012.


title: Tremonti (band)

text: In 2013 Mark Tremonti regrouped with Alter Bridge to record the album "Fortress". After a tour, in 2014, Tremonti began recording their second album with Wolfgang Van Halen playing bass. On March 3, 2015, Tremonti released a sample of the song "Radical Change" whilst revealing the album title "Cauterize" and the track listing for their second album. On Tuesday, March 17, 2015, Tremonti released another song preview for the track "Flying Monkeys" and also gave a concrete release date of June 9, 2015 for "Cauterize". On March 20, 2015, Tremonti unveiled via Twitter that the first single, titled "Another Heart", would be released Tuesday, March 24, 2015. On March 23, 2015, the single Another Heart was made available for streaming via FRET12. On March 27, 2015, the artwork for "Cauterize" was revealed, and it was revealed that it will be the first of two albums to be released as the two albums were recorded together. The second single off the new album, titled "Flying Monkeys", was released in the US on May 15, 2015.


title: Tremonti (band)

text: The band's third album titled "Dust" was released on April 29, 2016. The album was recorded at the same time as their previous album, and Tremonti said he "wanted to make sure both albums flowed dynamically. If there were two slow moody songs, [he]'d put one on each album, same thing if there were two really heavy aggressive songs, [he] would split them up evenly. There's isn't a specific theme to one or the other. Each record is mixed" and that "it's definitely not the 'b-sides' of this album".


title: Tremonti (band)

text: Mark Tremonti, in February, announced the band's fourth studio album "A Dying Machine" to be released on June 8, 2018, through Napalm Records. The album is produced by Michael Baskette, who produced all the band's previous albums and the last four Alter Bridge records as well. The listening party and performance event for "A Dying Machine" were both held on May 12. Tremonti supported Iron Maiden on their European tour in June 2018. In late 2018, drummer Garrett Whitlock didn't tour with the band due to a necessary leave of absence for undisclosed personal reasons. Ryan Bennett, a longtime friend of guitarist Eric Friedman, filled in on drums when the tour kicked off in Philadelphia on September 15. It was later confirmed that Bennett would be a permanent replacement for Whitlock. After the band's tour with Sevendust in April, Tremonti said he will go back recording new Alter Bridge record set for October 2019, while interminently tour with his band: "We're gonna go into studio in March and April. And then after that, I go back on tour with Tremonti and then go back on tour with Alter Bridge this winter."


title: Tremonti (band)

text: On July 8, 2021, Mark Tremonti announced that the band would be releasing their fifth studio album, "Marching in Time", on September 24, 2021. On July 22 they released the first single from the upcoming album, entitled "If Not for You".


title: Jabil

text: Jabil Inc. is an American worldwide manufacturing services company. Headquartered in the Gateway area of St. Petersburg, Florida, it is one of the largest companies in the Tampa Bay area. Jabil has around 100 plants in 30 countries, and 260,000 employees worldwide.


title: Jabil

text: The company's name derives from the first names of James Golden and William (Bill) E. Morean, who together founded the company in 1966. Jabil was formally incorporated in Detroit, Michigan, in 1969. One of the early products it manufactured was PCBs.


title: Jabil

text: In the 1980s, the company was making parts for PC companies like Dell, and this continued through the mid-1990s.


title: Jabil

text: The company went public in 1993. In 1998, Jabil began trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange under ticker symbol JBL. The company was then added to the S&P 500 Index in 2001. In 2014, the company was moved from the S&P 500 Index to the S&P MidCap 400 Index.


title: Jabil

text: On March 1, 2013, Jabil appointed William E. Peters as president and William D. Muir Jr. as chief operating officer. Both had been with Jabil for more than 20 years. On the same day, Mark Mondello was appointed CEO, replacing Timothy Main, elected chairman of the board of directors. The appointments were sparked by the retirement of board chairman William D. Morean, the son of one of the Jabil founders.


title: Jabil

text: In 2017, Jabil announced that it would be closing its first European international plant in Livingston, UK, by the end of the year. Two hundred sixty-six employees in Livingston would lose their jobs. Jabil laid off approximately 400 people in September of 2016, 100 of those being corporate employees located in St. Petersburg Florida.


title: Jabil

text: Jabil customers span numerous industries, including healthcare, life sciences, clean technology, instrumentation, defense, aerospace, automotive, computing, storage, consumer products, networking and telecommunications. Its services include design engineering, manufacturing and supply chain services for the EMS and consumer industries; and materials technology services (plastics, metals, automation and tooling). Jabil diversifies their business into three areas.


title: Jabil

text: Jabil is involved in design engineering services. The company has industrial design services that concentrate on designing the look and feel of enclosures for printed circuit board assemblies and systems. Jabil's mechanical design services include dimensional design and analysis of electronic and optical assemblies. Computer-assisted design from Jabil includes testing and verification for printed circuit board assembly design and other consulting services. Jabil has assisted many Fortune 500 companies with design and engineering.


title: Jabil

text: Jabil provides supply chain and logistic services. These services include electronic sourcing, virtual/vertical mechanics, logistics, supply chain management, advanced planning, quality, standardized global systems, supply chain solutions, and business analytics. The company's supply chain and logistics management were seen during Japan's 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. When supply chain disruption occurred, Jabil re-routed supply from alternative sources, allocated limited production to key customers and distributors, specify and quality alternative parts, and called on existing suppliers to help reduce the impact of the disruptions. Jabil was able to do the same during the 2010 and 2011 Thailand floods.


title: Jabil

text: Over the years, Jabil has received awards for its community engagement and business practices. Jabil's organizational culture supports numerous social and environmental responsibility initiatives and embraces lean thinking throughout the organization. The company also has its university to promote employees from within the company. The university has programs for "Operator To Supervisor", "Blue Collar to White Collar", and "White Collar to Future Manager".


title: Jabil

text: Jabil's company culture uses the concept of lean manufacturing, which drives improvement and innovation by reducing waste and increasing process speed. In September 2011, Jabil hosted 14,000 Kaizen Blitz events. Kaizen is a Japanese term for improvement, and Kaizen events focus on projects that aim to improve processes. Many of Jabil's senior leaders are currently undergoing or have already achieved Six Sigma Black Belt Certification (a Jack Welch principle).


title: Jabil

text: Jabil also holds an annual improvement competition known as "Deliver Best Practices." This is a company-wide (and worldwide) competition to recognize, support, and promote process advancements within the company. Employee teams enter innovative and cost-saving projects into the Deliver Best Practices competition. After several rounds, the top twenty-four projects from the global teams win a trip to Jabil's corporate offices and present their projects to company executives in person. One project in four different categories is chosen, and the team receives a $10,000 prize.


title: Jabil

text: Jabil is involved in both social and environmental responsibility. Jabil employs a director of social and environmental responsibility as part of their company who also serves on the board of directors for the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition.


title: Jabil

text: Jabil is also involved with a charity and non-profit organizations outside of the Tampa / St. Petersburg area. They are a donor for the Guadalajara Los Pinos Boys Shelter in Los Pinos, Mexico. In Japan, Jabil Gotemba employees harvest and sell fruits to Jabil employees and use the proceeds to purchase and donate wheelchairs to the Gotemba community. Jabil employee Rick Smiley climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2011 to raise money for charity. He raised funds and went to an orphanage in Kenya called "New Hope."


title: Jabil

text: As part of the company's global initiative, more than 7,000 Jabil employees donated money to help the victims of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Jabil Green Point Wuxi and Wuxi Konggang Industrial Park teamed up to build the Shuofang Agricultural Sanatorium for the Disabled and the Health and Happiness Garden. The facility opened on May 15, 2012.


title: Jabil

text: Jabil has been the recipient of many awards and recognition. It was the first-ever recipient of the Mexican government's National Quality Award, which was given to it in 2006. This award is given to organizations recognized for their total quality management practices.


title: Jabil

text: The company was awarded the Excellence in Best Practices Award from Frost & Sullivan in 2009. The company also received an HR award in Poland and a NEC Solution America's Favored Supplier Award. Jabil was awarded with the 2010 Save Energy Now Award by the United States Department of Energy.


title: Jabil

text: Jabil made the list of Newsweek S&P 500 Green Companies in 2011. It was the 3rd consecutive year for Jabil to be on the list, improving each year from number 200 to number 127 in 2011. They were also given the 2010-2011 Annual Enterprise of Harmonious Labor Relation of Guangzhou City award.


title: Jabil

text: In 2012, Jabil was recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the Fortune 500 Most Admired Companies Jabil was also awarded the 2012 Kaizen Award in China by 1MFG and Masaaki lmai's Kaizen Institute Consulting Group (KICG). In 2012, Tim Main, former CEO and current chairman of the board, and Bill Morean, former chairman of the board of directors, won Entrepreneur of the Year Awards from Ernst & Young, LLC for the Florida region.


title: Jabil

text: Jabil Circuit Shanghai received the Institute of Engineers Lean Best Practice Award in 2014, an award given in recognition of innovation and Lean Six Sigma capabilities.


title: Jabil

text: Jabil Singapore received the prestigious ASQ ITEA Silver Award and First Place Winner for Institute of Industrial Engineers Annual Lean Best Practice Award in 2016.


title: Jabil

text: Jabil has acquired numerous companies and arms of companies. Their acquisitions have helped them expand their presence in countries such as China, Mexico, India, Spain, the Netherlands and Russia to name a few. In 2011, Jabil opened a Photovoltaic Certification and Testing Laboratory in St. Petersburg, FL. In February 2013, Jabil announced it would be purchasing Nypro for $665 million in cash. The purchase was completed in July 2013.


title: Strike (attack)

text: A strike is a directed physical attack with either a part of the human body or with an inanimate object (such as a weapon) intended to cause blunt trauma or penetrating trauma upon an opponent.


title: Strike (attack)

text: There are many different varieties of strikes. A strike with the hand closed into a fist is called a punch, a strike with the leg or foot is referred to as a kick and a strike with the head is called a headbutt. There are also other variations employed in martial arts and combat sports.


title: Strike (attack)

text: "Buffet" or "beat" refer to repeatedly and violently striking an opponent; this is also commonly referred to as a combination, or combo, especially in boxing or fighting video games.


title: Strike (attack)

text: Strikes are the key focus of several sports and arts, including boxing, savate, karate, Muay Lao, taekwondo and wing chun. Some martial arts also use the fingertips, wrists, forearms, shoulders, back and hips to strike an opponent as well as the more conventional fists, palms, elbows, knees and feet that are common in combat sports. Other sports and arts, such as wrestling employ no strikes in focusing on grappling techniques.


title: Strike (attack)

text: There is also a form of karate called goju ryu which focuses on pressure points (joints) in the legs and arms.


title: Strike (attack)

text: Arm strikes is the act of striking with some part of the palm, knuckle, arm, elbow, or shoulder. This is usually the elbow, the hand, the forearm, or the back of the wrist.


title: Strike (attack)

text: A strike using the palm of the hand. Whether the hand is open or the fingertips are folded against the bottom knuckles, palm strikes hit with the bottom part of the palm, where the hand meets the wrist. The hand is held perpendicular to the wrist to avoid hitting the softer inner wrist tissue against the target.


title: Strike (attack)

text: The bottom ridge of the palm is a surprisingly solid striking surface, and can do just as much damage as a closed fist when utilized properly (some studies have shown that a palm strike actually can produce more energy than a punch), with far less risk of injury to the striker's own hand.


title: Strike (attack)

text: The palm strike is useful as it is thrown in a more relaxed manner than a clenched fist. This is because clenching the fist shortens the extensor muscles of the wrist which counter the action of flexor muscles of the wrist used in punching. Many martial arts teach to keep the fist clench relaxed until impact in order to maximize the speed of the punch.


title: Strike (attack)

text: Targets are numerous and some examples include the nose, jaw, ears, back of the head, the groin, the kidneys, the temples and abdominal cavity. Some combat sports, such as Pancrase, have forbidden strikes using the clenched fist but permitted strikes using the palm.


title: Strike (attack)

text: Use a stiff arm as an example, from a standing position, left hand up in guard and right hand at your side, shoot your right arm upward hitting with the forearm, since the other hand has to check low let it pass by the bicep of the right arm, as you add more power and speed you end up slapping your bicep on the way by.


title: Strike (attack)

text: A strike using the part of the hand opposite the thumb (from the little finger to the wrist), familiar to many people as a karate chop, "Shuto" or "Tegatana". This refers to strikes performed with the side of the knuckle of the small finger.