title: Islam and democracy

text: Legal scholar L. Ali Khan argues that Islam is fully compatible with democracy. In his book, "A Theory of Universal Democracy", Khan provides a critique of liberal democracy and secularism. He presents the concept of "fusion state" in which religion and state are fused. There are no contradictions in God's universe, says Khan. Contradictions represent the limited knowledge that human beings have. According to the Quran and the Sunnah, Muslims are fully capable of preserving spirituality and self-rule.


title: Islam and democracy

text: Religious scholar, Javed Ahmed Ghamdi interprets the Quranic verses as <nowiki>"</nowiki>The collective affairs of Muslims are run on the basis of mutual consultations<nowiki>"</nowiki> (42:37). He is of the view that all the matters of a Muslim state must be sought out through consultations.The parliamentary bodies would provide that platform to practice and implement those consultations.


title: Islam and democracy

text: Esposito and DeLong-Bas distinguish four attitudes toward Islam and democracy prominent among Muslims today:


title: Islam and democracy

text: Polls conducted by Gallup and PEW in Muslim-majority countries indicate that most Muslims see no contradiction between democratic values and religious principles, desiring neither a theocracy, nor a secular democracy, but rather a political model where democratic institutions and values can coexist with the values and principles of Islam.


title: Islam and democracy

text: There are several ideas on the relationship between Islam in the Middle East and democracy. Waltz writes that transformations to democracy seemed on the whole to pass by the Islamic Middle East at a time when such transformations were a central theme in other parts of the world, although she does note that, of late, the increasing number of elections being held in the region indicates some form of adoption of democratic traditions.


title: Islam and democracy

text: Following the Arab Spring, professor Olivier Roy of the European University Institute in an article in "Foreign Policy" has described political Islam as "increasingly interdependent" with democracy, such that "neither can now survive without the other".


title: Islam and democracy

text: Orientalist scholars offer another viewpoint on the relationship between Islam and democratisation in the Middle East. They argue that the compatibility is simply not there between secular democracy and Arab-Islamic culture in the Middle East which has a strong history of undemocratic beliefs and authoritarian power structures. Kedourie, a well known Orientalist scholar, said for example: "to hold simultaneously ideas which are not easily reconcilable argues, then, a deep confusion in the Arab public mind, at least about the meaning of democracy. The confusion is, however, understandable since the idea of democracy is quite alien to the mind-set of Islam." A view similar to this that understands Islam and democracy to be incompatible because of seemingly irreconcilable differences between Sharia and democratic ideals is also held by some Islamists.


title: Islam and democracy

text: However, within Islam there are ideas held by some that believe Islam and democracy in some form are indeed compatible due to the existence of the concept of "shura" (meaning consultation) in the Quran. Views such as this have been expressed by various thinkers and political activists in the Middle East. They continue to be the subject of controversy, e.g. at the second Dubai Debates, which debated the question "Can Arab and Islamic values be reconciled with democracy?"


title: Islam and democracy

text: Writing on The Guardian website, Brian Whitaker, the paper's Middle East editor, argued that there were four major obstacles to democracy in the region: 'the imperial legacy', 'oil wealth', 'the Arab–Israeli conflict' and ' "militant" Islam'.


title: Islam and democracy

text: The imperial legacy includes the borders of the modern states themselves and the existence of significant minorities within the states. Acknowledgment of these differences is frequently suppressed usually in the cause of "national unity" and sometimes to obscure the fact that minority elite is controlling the country. Brian Whitaker argues that this leads to the formation of political parties on ethnic, religious or regional divisions, rather than over policy differences. Voting therefore becomes an assertion of one's identity rather than a real choice.


title: Islam and democracy

text: The problem with oil and the wealth it generates is that the states' rulers have the wealth to remain in power, as they can pay off or repress most potential opponents. Brian Whitaker argues that as there is no need for taxation there is less pressure for representation. Furthermore, Western governments require a stable source of oil and are therefore more prone to maintain the status quo, rather than push for reforms which may lead to periods of instability. This can be linked into political economy explanations for the occurrence of authoritarian regimes and lack of democracy in the Middle East, particularly the prevalence of rentier states in the Middle East. A consequence of the lack of taxation that Whitaker talks of in such rentier economies is an inactive civil society. As civil society is seen to be an integral part of democracy it raises doubts over the feasibility of democracy developing in the Middle East in such situations.


title: Islam and democracy

text: Whitaker's third point is that the Arab–Israeli conflict serves as a unifying factor for the countries of the Arab League, and also serves as an excuse for repression by Middle Eastern governments. For example, in March 2004 Sheikh Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, Lebanon's leading Shia cleric, is reported as saying "We have emergency laws, we have control by the security agencies, we have stagnation of opposition parties, we have the appropriation of political rights – all this in the name of the Arab-Israeli conflict". The West, especially the US, is also seen as a supporter of Israel, and so it and its institutions, including democracy, are seen by many Muslims as suspect. Khaled Abou El Fadl, a lecturer in Islamic law at the University of California comments "modernity, despite its much scientific advancement, reached Muslims packaged in the ugliness of disempowerment and alienation."


title: Islam and democracy

text: This repression by secularistic Arab rulers has led to the growth of radical Islamic movement groups, as they believe that the institution of an Islamic theocracy will lead to a more just society. These groups tend to be very intolerant of alternative views however, including the ideas of democracy. Many Muslims who argue that Islam and democracy are compatible live in the West, and are therefore seen as "contaminated" by non-Islamic ideas.


title: Islam and democracy

text: Early in the history of the state of Pakistan (March 12, 1949), a parliamentary resolution (the Objectives Resolution) was adopted, stating the objectives on which the future constitution of the country was to be based. It contained the basic principles of both Islam and Western Democracy, in accordance with the vision of the founders of the Pakistan Movement (Muhammad Iqbal, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Liaquat Ali Khan). It proclaimed:


title: Islam and democracy

text: This resolution was included in the 1956 constitution as preamble and in 1985 it was inserted in the constitution itself as Article 2 and Schedule item 53 (but with the word "freely" in "Provision shall be made for the religious minorities to freely profess and practice their religions and develop their cultures", removed.). The resolution was inserted again in the constitution in 2010, with the word "freely" reinstated.


title: Islam and democracy

text: However, Islamisation has proceeded slowly in Pakistan, and Islamists and Islamic parties and activists have expressed frustration that sharia law has not yet been fully implemented.


title: Islam and democracy

text: Officially, Indonesia does not have a state religion, and is in many respects a secular democracy. The constitution of Indonesia gives its people the freedom of worship, according to their religion or belief. This is based on the state ideology of "Pancasila" whose first tenet, "Ketuhanan yang Maha Esa," translates as "The One and Almighty God", implying that there is a supreme God that unites the nation. It does not specify any religion, though this is also sometimes mistranslated as an endorsement for monotheism. As a result, Indonesians do have a religion column in their identity card; however, it is not mandatory (an empty column will indicate not having a religion) and is only used for census (which is a Dutch colonial legacy). The 5th points of practice of the "Butir-butir pengamalan Pancasila" states “Religion and belief in God Almighty are private matters that concerns the human relationship with God Almighty.” Sukarno's conception of Pancasila's ideology is not 'secular' in the Western sense, although he agreed with Mahmud Esad Bay and Mustafa Kemal Ataturks' view that Islam should be free of government control. In his speech titled "Islam Sontoloyo" or "Foolish Islam", he was critical of Islamic leaders misuse of authority to justify wrong actions. According to Yudi Latief, Indonesia's founding leaders, while thoroughly educated and motivated as secularists of the time, cannot comprehend an Indonesian society without religion. Indonesian nationalist leaders characterized the country as a “religiously neutral state”, in which Islam would be separated from the state and that Islamic affairs should be managed by Muslims without the help of the state. Preliminary meeting based on Hatta's initiative agreed that Islamic laws can be used for family laws that is signed through the People's Representative Council, but only if it relates to Muslims. Whereas the ‘secular’ national criminal code are not allowed to be changed because it applies to all regardless of religion. Sukarno also banned the most popular Islamic party at the time of Masjumi, as they were allegedly involved in the PRRI rebellion. On 27 January 1953, Sukarno delivered a speech in Amuntai, South Kalimantan, a region with a strong Islamic community. There was a banner reading "Indonesia a Nation State or an Islamic State?” Commenting on the banner, Soekarno said: Sukarno have also disagreed on Aceh adopting Islamic criminal laws as its form of sharia bylaws, stating that "Indonesia is a nation state with the ideology of Pancasila, not a theocratic country with a certain religious orientation" and "Muslim's habit of reading the Quran" are also a form of obedience towards sharia. According to Sukarno, religion is a private matter between oneself and god, that could only be regulated through personal or family matters. During the Suharto era, Islamic parties are even more controlled by his government, through the state formation of the United Development Party. Not only that, Islamic veils were banned. Nurcholis Majid, one of the prominent young Islamic thinkers at the time, in his speech “The Need for Reform in Islamic Thinking and the Problem of Ummah Integration”, considered Indonesian Muslims to be stuck in ideological dogmatism, and as a result lose dynamism. As a result, he coined the famous slogan: "Islam Yes Islamic Party No". Most of his colleagues considered this to be an endorsement of secularism. However, as noted by Abdurrahman Wahid and his contemporaries, the fourth president of Indonesia explained Indonesia’s case as "mild secularism". Neither of them considered themselves to be secularist and prefer to use 'secularisation', acknowledging the reservation that secularism as an ideology can become a new closed world view which functions like a new religion.


title: Islam and democracy

text: However, there is another political movement centered in universities students small groups called "liqo", started in 1970, which is directly inspired by Hasan al-Banna's Muslim Brotherhood, the proponent of which is Hilmi Aminuddin, which advocates for a gradual change to become more ideal Muslim. This coalesced in the formation of KAMMI in 1998, which is alongside of Abdurrahman Wahid's Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Amien Rais' Muhammadiyah as student leaders formed the groups of student protests against Suharto's government. After the fall of Suharto, KAMMI become the political party Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), while NU and Muhammadiyah chose to not involved in practical politics of winning elections and instead forming independent political parties which are aligned but independent of their Islamic organization, in the form of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and National Mandate Party (PAN). The democratic reformation gave impetus to the adoption of Islamic sharia law in the form of adoption of the Jakarta Charter was pushed to the national legislative body (MPR) in 2002, however it was rejected with even PKB and PAN rejecting it.


title: Islam and democracy

text: This is because the two largest Muslim organizations of Indonesia, NU and Muhammadiyah, very much accepted the pancasila 'secularism' basis of the country. NU and its most associated party PKB (Abdurrahman's party), is member of centrist democrat international which also contain famously German's CDU as well as Hungary's Fidesz party, it is more common with Christian Democrat politics in the West. There are parties associated with the Muslim Brotherhood in the form of PKS but even they have to commit to the state ideology, which means they are pluralist. Islamic groups that stray from and tried to change Pancasila such as HTI (Indonesian branch of Hizb ut-Tahrir) is banned even though they 'participated' in a democracy.


title: Islam and democracy

text: In a practical sense, in central government levels, Indonesia has 6 recognized religions, as these are the recognized majority religions of most Indonesians and received state support.


title: Islam and democracy

text: In the Ministry of Religions there are separate religious leaders administrators for each of the 6 major religions. Sometimes the president or government members in a formal speech will greet in all 6 religious greetings. Example of which in President Joko Widodo's speech on March 26, 2021. In which he used all religious greetings including:


title: Islam and democracy

text: Some Indonesian Muslims in its history had always had problems with the implementation of sharia law, seeing it as not necessary and infringing on the non-Muslim population, while others see the implementation of some sharia-based laws as a solution to a failed and corrupt democratic process, while also inspired by Aceh successful push for local sharia law to be adopted. Indonesian history had a rebellion in the 1960s known locally as "Darul Islam" rebellion which tried to forcefully formed an "Islamic State of Indonesia" although they were eventually defeated, its regional offshoot based in Aceh advocating for independence, however they managed to continue an insurgency for a separate Islamic Aceh country, as a result of the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004 and negotiations facilitated by the Swedish government (Hasan di Tiro had a Swedish passport and lived there in exile) as well as Finnish government, Helsinki MoU was signed. Indonesia would allow Aceh to adopt its own version of shariah law called Qanun, and Aceh would stop fighting for independence and adopt special autonomy law. Still it would be wrong to describe Indonesia as an Islamic country as it would refer to that rebellion and denote Indonesia's official religion as Islam or describe Indonesian society as "Islamic". This was a common misconception by foreign journalists to describe Indonesia as such or Indonesia as "the Muslim democracy" which is also inaccurate. A better description of Indonesia would be a "democracy with a Muslim-majority population".


title: Islam and democracy

text: Since the revolution in Iran, the largest Shia country, Twelver Shia political thought has been dominated by that of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder and leader of the revolution. Khomeini that in the absence of the Hidden Imam and other divinely-appointed figures (in whom ultimate political authority rests), Muslims have not only the right, but also the obligation to establish an "Islamic state". To that end they must turn to scholars of Islamic law (fiqh) who are qualified to interpret the Quran and the writings of the imams.


title: Islam and democracy

text: Once in power and recognizing the need for more flexibility, Khomeini modified some earlier positions, insisted the ruling jurist need not be one of the most learned, that "Sharia" rule was subordinate to interests of Islam (Maslaha—"expedient interests" or "public welfare"), and the "divine government" as interpreted by the ruling jurists, who could overrule Sharia if necessary to serve those interests. The Islamic "government, which is a branch of the absolute governance of the Prophet of God, is among the primary ordinances of Islam, and has precedence over all 'secondary' ordinances."


title: Islam and democracy

text: The last point was made in December 1987, when Khomieni issued a fatwa in support of the Islamic government's attempt to pass a labor protection bill not in accordance with sharia. He ruled that in the Islamic state, governmental ordinances were primary ordinances, and that the Islamic state has absolute right () to enact state commandments, taking precedence over "all secondary ordinances such as prayer, fasting, and pilgrimage".


title: Islam and democracy

text: Were the powers of government to lie only within the framework of secondary divine decrees, the designation of the divine government and absolute deputed guardianship ("wilayat-i mutlaqa-yi mufawwada") to the Prophet of Islam (peace be upon him and his progeny) would have been in practice entirely without meaning and content. ... I must point out, the government which is a branch of the absolute governance of the Prophet of God is among the primary ordinances of Islam, and has precedence over all secondary ordinances such as prayer (salat), fasting (sawm), and pilgrimage (hajj).


title: Islam and democracy

text: The idea and concept of Islamic democracy has been accepted by many Iranian clerics, scholars and intellectuals. The most notable of those who have accepted the theory of Islamic democracy is probably Iran's Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who mentions Islamic democracy as "Mardomsalarie Dini" in his speeches.


title: Islam and democracy

text: There are also other Iranian scholars who oppose or at least criticise the concept of Islamic democracy. Among the most popular of them are Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi who have written: "If not referring to the people votes would result in accusations of tyranny then it is allowed to accept people vote as a secondary commandment." Also Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi has more or less the same viewpoint.


title: Islam and democracy

text: Some Iranians, including Mohammad Khatami, categorize the Islamic Republic of Iran as a kind of religious democracy. They maintain that Ruhollah Khomeini held the same view as well and that's why he strongly chose "Jomhoorie Eslami" (Islamic Republic) over "Hokoomate Eslami" (Islamic State).


title: Islam and democracy

text: Others maintain that not only is the Islamic Republic of Iran undemocratic (see Politics of Iran) but that Khomeini himself opposed the principle of democracy in his book "", where he denied the need for any legislative body saying, "no one has the right to legislate ... except ... the Divine Legislator", and during the Islamic Revolution, when he told Iranians, "Do not use this term, 'democratic.' That is the Western style." Although it is in contrast with his commandment to Mehdi Bazargan. It is a subject of lively debate among pro-Islamic Iranian intelligentsia. Also they maintain that Iran's sharia courts, the Islamic Revolutionary Court, blasphemy laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the Islamic religious police violate the principles of democratic governance. However, it should be understood that when a democracy is accepted to be Islamic by people, the law of Islam becomes the democratically ratified law of that country. Iranians have ratified the constitution in which the principle rules are explicitly mentioned as the rules of Islam to which other rules should conform. Khomeini fervently believed that principles of democracy can't provide the targeted justice of Islam in the Sharia and Islamic thoughts.(Mohaghegh. Behnam 2014)


title: Islam and democracy

text: This contrast of view between the two Iranian head leaders of this Islamic country, as above mentioned about Khatami's and Khomeini's views have provisionally been being a case of disaffiliation of nearly half a country in most probable political coincidence, so the people cognizant of this heterogeneous political belief shall not be affiliated by newly formed views of democratic principles.(Mohaghegh, Behnam 2014)


title: Islam and democracy

text: There are several non-governmental organizations that publish and maintain indices of freedom in the world, according to their own various definitions of the term, and rank countries as being free, partly free, or unfree using various measures of freedom, including political rights, economic rights, freedom of the press and civil liberties.


title: Islam and democracy

text: The following lists Muslim-majority countries and shows the scores given by two frequently used indices: Freedom in the World (2018) by the US-based Freedom House and the 2019 Democracy Index by the Economist Intelligence Unit. These indices are frequently used in Western media, but have attracted some criticism and may not reflect recent changes.


title: Islam and democracy

text: This is a list of parties and organizations which aim for the implementation of Sharia or an Islamic State, or subscribe to Muslim identity politics, or in some other way fulfil the definitions of political Islam, activist Islam, or Islamism laid out in this article; or have been widely described as such by others.


title: Fakku

text: Fakku (styled as FAKKU!, or simply F!, from the Japanese loanword for "fuck": ファック) is the largest English-language hentai publisher in the world.


title: Fakku

text: Fakku was originally an aggregator that provided users with scanlations of adult manga and dōjinshi from Japan. At the start, the content was uploaded exclusively by the site's administrators, but later these privileges were shared with the community, allowing for translators to have their work seen by a much larger audience. However, at the end of 2015, Fakku made the transition into only publishing officially-licensed hentai manga.


title: Fakku

text: Fakku and its creator Jacob Grady have a known relationship with Danny Choo, TV personality and blogger. At Anime Expo 2010, 2011, and 2012 (in Los Angeles, CA) Jacob and Danny hosted community meetups that attracted large audiences of fans and users.


title: Fakku

text: Fakku was created in December 2006 by Jacob Grady while he was studying Computer Science in Massachusetts. Fakku was developed under the codename "AAH" or "All About Hentai" (which later became the site's subtitle). Jacob originally used money from student loans to pay for server and bandwidth costs, but that quickly became unsustainable and shortly after its launch Fakku was forced to shut down. It was brought back up after user donations rescued the site in July 2007.


title: Fakku

text: As of July 2011 Fakku entered into a streaming licensing deal with Kitty Media, a subsidiary of Media Blasters. The deal allows Fakku to stream select anime titles at its discretion, starting with "Immoral Sisters". Both the subtitled and dubbed editions of "Immoral Sisters" were made available to users of Fakku at no charge.


title: Fakku

text: On June 19, 2014, Fakku announced that it had entered into a partnership with Wanimagazine to publish its entire catalog of hentai manga in English. This was the start of their transition into a publisher of only legally-licensed content; by the end of 2015, Fakku had removed all unlicensed scanlations from the site.


title: Fakku

text: On December 11, 2015, Fakku announced plans to run a Kickstarter campaign to publish a remastered version of Toshio Maeda's "Urotsukidōji: Legend of the Overfiend" manga in English. The Kickstarter was to be the first step of a plan to publish all of Maeda's work in English, with "La Blue Girl", "Demon Beast Invasion", and "Adventure Kid" to come next. The Kickstarter launched on June 19, 2016, and concluded on July 19, 2016, having met its goal.


title: Fakku

text: On July 7, 2016, Fakku announced the acquisition of Shintaro Kago's ero guro manga "Koi no Choujikuuhou" and Arisa Yamamoto's non-hentai manga "Aiko no Ma-chan".


title: Fakku

text: On July 3, 2017, Fakku announced the addition of three magazines to the service: Girls forM, Comic Bavel, and Comic Europa.


title: Fakku

text: In December 2018, hentai streaming and fansubbing website Hentai Haven closed down but announced that they had partnered with Fakku to re-establish the site. On May 11, 2019, Hentai Haven's website started a countdown to when it would start back up, and re-activated starting on May 12, 2019.


title: Fakku

text: On July 6, 2019, Fakku announced the addition of four magazines to the service: Dascomi (relaunch of Comic Europa), Comic Aoha (relaunch of Comic Koh), Comic Happining, and Weekly Kairakuten.


title: Fakku

text: On July 7, 2019, PapaHH—the founder of Hentai Haven—posted a message on the home page of the website, claiming that "Fakku has completely taken over and booted [him] out." It was announced a day later that Grady and PapaHH had settled the issue in private, and the website was put back online. On July 12, 2019, PapaHH explained that the "whole situation played out over a misunderstanding" and that Hentai Haven would "continue as an independent entity, with Fakku helping [them] achieve [their] goal of legitimacy."


title: Fakku

text: On April 1, 2021, Fakku announced Fakku Audio, a "hands-free hentai experience" featuring the voices of several YouTube personalities, which was later revealed to be an April Fool's Day prank.


title: Fakku

text: On August 31, 2021, the FAKKU online store that was hosted by a third party provider went down, and was unable to take digital and physical orders. Digital purchases were made available again on October 8, 2021.


title: Fakku

text: Fakku also distributes a few books released by Denpa Books: "Pleasure & Corruption, Volume 1", "Pleasure & Corruption, Volume 2", and "PEZ".


title: Fakku

text: A list of upcoming titles and older titles selected for reprinting can be found on the following dedicated forum post.


title: Fakku

text: In 2011, Kitty Media entered a licensing partnership with Fakku to stream select titles, starting with "Immoral Sisters". In 2017, Kitty Media was acquired by Fakku for digital distribution while physical distribution will still be maintained by Media Blasters.


title: Fakku

text: Fakku first released doujinshi at Anime Expo 2015 with an exclusive compilation, "Bosshi's XXX MiX". Since then, they have regularly put out more self-published content (both Western and Japanese) and also started distributing works localised by other established publishers such as 2D Market.


title: Fakku

text: Fakku also sells merchandise through their own store, such as T-shirts, skateboards, plushies, figures, etc. Some items are imported from the Japanese market while others are done specifically in collaboration with renowned artists for their own customers.


title: Fakku

text: In 2017, Fakku and independent label Zoom Lens teamed up to create a compilation in the form of a 36-page artbook along a vinyl or a CD. "The project focuses on the philosophical narrative of the soul searching for new experiences without judgment, conceptualized by illustrators creating an original piece narrating each song in the album." The cover illustration was drawn by Shintaro Kago.


title: Tom Dumont

text: Thomas Martin Dumont (born January 11, 1968) is an American guitarist and producer. Dumont is a member of third wave ska band No Doubt, and during the band's hiatus, he began Invincible Overlord as a side project and produced Matt Costa's "Songs We Sing".


title: Tom Dumont

text: Born in Los Angeles, California, the Dumont family lived in Irvine, California. Tom was the only adopted child in his family and has two siblings. Dumont's father, who played the piano, gave his son a guitar at age twelve. Dumont practiced by strumming folk songs by the likes of James Taylor. Dumont was influenced by heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and KISS. He joined his older sister's heavy metal band Rising, but left in 1988 for third wave ska band No Doubt. He has one sister named Gina and a brother named John.


title: Tom Dumont

text: Dumont studied music theory for five semesters at Orange Coast College but dropped out when he had to learn classical guitar, which was something he disliked. When the band moved into a house on Beacon Avenue in Anaheim, he wrote a poem about being addicted to television. He took the poem to Eric Stefani, who put the poem to music and came up with the song "Trapped in a Box". The song was recorded for the band's self-titled debut album and was the album's only single.


title: Tom Dumont

text: The band later self-released "The Beacon Street Collection" in March 1995. The same month, Dumont left his job as a file clerk at a mortgage company. He had "a good feeling" about having finished recording "Tragic Kingdom" and planned to fall back on promoting rock concerts if the album was not successful. "Tragic Kingdom" became a commercial success, certified diamond in the United States and selling sixteen million copies worldwide. When Eric left the band, Tom, along with bandmates Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal, took leadership in writing and composing responsibilities.


title: Tom Dumont

text: After the Tragic Kingdom tour, Tom returned to his home in Long Beach, California and started surfing in 1997. Dumont is a member of The Surfrider Foundation, an environmental organization to preserve coastal life. Since Eric Stefani left, Tom Dumont, Tony Kanal and Gwen Stefani became No Doubt's primary songwriters.


title: Tom Dumont

text: During No Doubt's hiatus, Dumont produced Matt Costa's 2005 debut album, titled "Songs We Sing", after hearing a demo tape by Costa.


title: Tom Dumont

text: With Stefani promoting her second solo album, No Doubt began initial work on a new album without her and planned to complete it after Stefani's tour was finished. In March 2008, the band started making posts concerning the progression of the album on their official fan forum. Stefani made a post on March 28, 2008 stating that songwriting had commenced but was slow on her end because she was, at the time, pregnant with her second child.


title: Tom Dumont

text: Manager Jim Guerinot said the yet-untitled album is being produced by Mark "Spike" Stent, who helped produce and mix "Rock Steady". Between Stefani's pregnancy and recording, No Doubt did not tour in 2008, but Guerinot promised, they plan to hit the road hard in 2009 for their first full-fledged band tour in nearly five years.


title: Tom Dumont

text: No Doubt announced on their official website that they will tour in the summer of 2009 with Paramore, The Sounds, Janelle Monáe, Bedouin Soundclash, Katy Perry, and Panic! at the Disco. while finishing their upcoming album, which was set to be released in 2010 but has been delayed. Tickets for the tour went on sale March 7, 2009. As a special promotion for the tour, the band is giving away their entire music catalog free as a digital download with purchase of top tier seating.


title: Tom Dumont

text: In 2009, No Doubt made an appearance on the television series "Gossip Girl", playing a fictional band called "Snowed Out" in the episode "Valley Girls". They performed their cover version of the Adam and the Ants song "Stand and Deliver".


title: Tom Dumont

text: Dumont and his wife Mieke have three sons together: Ace Joseph Dumont, born April 6, 2006, Rio Atticus Dumont, born June 18, 2008, and Koa Thomas Dumont, born February 19, 2011. According to the band's record label representative, the couple was married in October 2004.


title: Tom Dumont

text: According to his No Doubt band mates, when Dumont drinks alcohol he shifts into his alter ego nicknamed "The Douche".


title: Tom Dumont

text: Dumont is an avid traveler, spending a good part of his free time on the road, he has been spotted in remote areas of the world with his wife and kids.


title: Tom Dumont

text: Dumont is endorsed by Hamer Guitars and favors vintage MXR effect pedals. During live performances, he uses Kemper modeling amplifiers, but has also used Divided by Thirteen, Soldano, Vox, Matchless, Fender, and Silvertone amplifiers while recording. He uses Ernie Ball Regular Slinky strings.


title: DFS Group

text: DFS ("DFS Group") is a Hong Kong-based travel retailer of luxury products. Established in 1960, its network consists of over 420 locations, including duty-free stores in 12 major airports and 23 downtown Galleria stores, as well as affiliate and resort locations. It is privately held and majority owned by the luxury conglomerate Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), alongside DFS co-founder and shareholder Robert Warren Miller. As of January 11, 1997, DFS Group operates as a subsidiary of LVMH.


title: DFS Group

text: DFS is headquartered in Hong Kong SAR and has offices in Australia, Cambodia, mainland China, France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Macau, New Zealand, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, United States of America and Vietnam. DFS Group employs over 5,000 people, operating in 14 countries worldwide. In 2017, nearly 160 million travelers visited DFS stores.


title: DFS Group

text: In 1960, American entrepreneurs Charles Feeney and Robert Warren Miller founded Tourists International, which later became Duty Free Shoppers (DFS), in Hong Kong. Minority owners included Alan Parker with a 20% stake, and Anthony M. Pilaro who held 2.5%. The entrepreneurs anticipated the growing spending power of military servicemen as well as the rise of international travelers from Asia, following vast improvements in international air travel after World War II. In 1962, two DFS stores were opened at the international airports in Hong Kong and Honolulu, the first duty-free shop in the United States.


title: DFS Group

text: In the 1960s and 1970s DFS Group significantly expanded their operation in Eurasia and North America. DFS capitalized on the rising wave of Asian tourists who began to travel further overseas, opening stores in international airports and later in downtown locations where travelers have their purchases delivered before departure. In 1968, DFS opened its first downtown duty-free store in Kowloon, Hong Kong, followed shortly thereafter by Honolulu and eventually expanding to 14 locations all over the world. In 2005, branded halls opened in Okinawa, Japan, launching a new shop-in-shop concept for DFS Gallerias. In 2010, "DFS University" was established for its sales associates.


title: DFS Group

text: In 2013 DFS reached 420 locations worldwide and undertook a major branding initiative setting the stage for the next generation of expansion. It re-branded its downtown Galleria Stores “T Galleria” and moved to a strategy of localization for airports, working with local suppliers to increase its mix of “destination” products. In 2015 DFS opened its first transformational wines and spirits duplex store at Singapore Changi Airport, including a Long Bar by Raffles. In the same year, it also launched T Galleria Beauty by DFS, a standalone beauty concept store in Hong Kong and Macau.


title: DFS Group

text: In 2016 DFS expanded its operations, opening T Galleria Angkor in Siem Reap, Cambodia, a significantly extended space at T Galleria by DFS, City of Dreams in Macau, and its first European store, T Fondaco dei Tedeschi in Venice, Italy.


title: DFS Group

text: In January 2021, Benjamin Vuchot returned to DFS as Chairman and CEO after three years as President of Sephora Asia. Both DFS and Sephora are businesses under LVMH's Selective Retailing division.


title: DFS Group

text: In January 2021, DFS opened its first downtown duty-free store in Hainan Island, China, in partnership with Shenzhen Duty Free Group.


title: DFS Group

text: Within a few months, DFS also announced that it would open two new Galleria stores in Oceania by the end of 2022: one in Brisbane, Australia, and another in Queenstown, New Zealand.


title: DFS Group

text: In June 2021, despite the tourism downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, DFS opened its most significant and ambitious store to date, Samaritaine Paris Pont-Neuf in the heart of the French capital. The 150-year-old building, which was meticulously restored over 16 years, was inaugurated on June 21 by French President Emmanuel Macron and LVMH Group head Bernard Arnault.


title: DFS Group

text: In 1996, LVMH acquired the majority share of DFS Group, buying out partners Feeney, Parker, and Pilaro and setting a new focus on the combined elements of travel and luxury. It developed a merchandising strategy based around five core “pillars” – Beauty and Fragrances; Fashion and Accessories; Watches and Jewelry; Spirits, Wine and Tobacco; and Food and Gifts – and a new tagline, “The Traveler's Luxury Department Store”. It also created an annual “Masters Series”, showcasing the best products across all its categories and convening leading brand representatives, top customers, media and industry analysts in a celebration of luxury. In 2004, the company moved its headquarters to Hong Kong from San Francisco, California as part of a corporate restructure.


title: DFS Group

text: DFS Group operates approximately 420 duty-free boutiques at 12 international airports, 23 downtown Galleria stores and several resort locations around the world.


title: DFS Group

text: In 2015, DFS Group was awarded "Best Technology Platform" under the Best Treasury and Finance Strategies in Asia Pacific category at The Corporate Treasurer Awards. In 2017 it received the 19th Duty-Free News International (DFNI) Asia/Pacific Awards for Travel-Retail Excellence.


title: I Ain't Mad at Cha

text: "'I Ain't Mad at Cha'" is a song by American rapper 2Pac from Shakur's fourth studio album, "All Eyez on Me" (1996). It was released on September 15, 1996 two days after Shakur's death as the album's fourth and final single. The song features contemporary soul singer Danny Boy providing vocals for its hook and was written by Shakur, Danny Boy and Daz Dillinger, who produced the song using a sample from DeBarge's "A Dream". The lyrics focus on Shakur reminiscing about past friends, love interests and associates he has lost touch with. The song is widely considered one of Shakur's best with Cheo Hodari Coker calling it "possibly the best song 2Pac has ever recorded". In 1998, "The Source" ranked the song's three verses second in its category of "dopest verses" in the history of hip-hop.


title: I Ain't Mad at Cha

text: The single release differs from the version on the album with re-recorded vocals, alternative lyrics and a live band playing the beat. "I Ain't Mad at Cha" charted well internationally reaching number 13 on the UK Singles chart and number 58 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 Airplay. It also charted in the Top 30 on New Zealand, Netherlands, Ireland and Germany. It was not released as a single in the United States making it ineligible to chart on the "Billboard" singles charts. A small portion of the instrumental was used in the Super Bowl LVI halftime show on February 13, 2022.


title: I Ain't Mad at Cha

text: The track was produced by Daz Dillinger and samples the song "A Dream" by DeBarge. The album version of the song was recorded the same day Tupac was released from prison, and was the second song he recorded that day, "Ambitionz Az a Ridah" being the first. As the song was not released as a single in the US, Toss It Up, the lead single for Tupac's next album, "", was released in the US the following week, and countries that received "I Ain't Mad At Cha" as a single release had to wait until the following month (October) for the release of his next album's single. Writing credits are given to Tupac, Dillinger, Bunny DeBarge and Danny Boy.


title: I Ain't Mad at Cha

text: The day Tupac was released from prison, he went to the studio and recorded "I Ain't Mad at Cha" and "Ambitionz Az a Ridah". When he entered the studio, the beat was already complete, and he wrote the lyrics and recorded the song all in a few hours. Shortly thereafter, Blackstreet released "Don't Leave Me" to the radio, which also interpolates the melody of "A Dream". According to Dave Aron, Tupac had a lot of energy from going into the studio. Kurupt was also in the studio at the time of recording and said that when Tupac heard the beat, he "flipped out" from excitement. He wanted to finish the song quickly and was cursing at the engineers for moving too slow.


title: I Ain't Mad at Cha

text: For the video, the whole song was re-recorded with a live band. Featuring horns and strings, Kevyn Lewis commissioned a band featuring Cornelius Mims, Warryn Campbell, Priest, Ricky Rouse, and Darryl Crooks to replay the track. The new track was recorded at Can-am Studio by Conley Abrams and was mixed at Larrabee North by Abrams. It was also shot weeks before Tupac's death.


title: I Ain't Mad at Cha

text: The music video begins with Tupac and a friend of his (Bokeem Woodbine) leaving a hotel party at night. While waiting for someone to arrive a hooded man comes up, pulls out a handgun, and starts shooting in their direction. As Tupac pushes them out of the way, he gets hit by at least one bullet. In the ambulance his body gives in and he passes away. Upon entering Heaven, Tupac is told that they have been waiting for him to come for a long time, yet he still has to earn his way in. As a spirit, he then returns to Earth to watch over and guide his friend as he struggles through the next few days. While this is going on Tupac is shown rapping to his friend, (who can't see or hear him) trying to offer guidance. Finally, the video concludes with Tupac's friend gaining the courage to give condolences personally to Tupac's widow and daughter.


title: I Ain't Mad at Cha

text: Look-alikes of many deceased African-American entertainers are revealed to be playing the beat in the party, featuring (among others), Redd Foxx, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Nat King Cole, Miles Davis, Marvin Gaye, Billie Holiday, Florence Ballard, Sammy Davis Jr., and Louis Armstrong. Danny Boy is also present in Heaven as an angel.


title: I Ain't Mad at Cha

text: In the censored version, the third verse of the song is completely replaced with new lyrics that talk about the struggles of living, God, and life after death. The video ends with the words "Dedicated to Mutulu Shakur and Geronimo Pratt" appearing on the screen. These individuals are Tupac's stepfather and godfather, respectively. The music video was voted #33 on the "MTV Top 100 of 1996" ranking music videos.


title: I Ain't Mad at Cha

text: Rich Juzwiak of Gawker in an article expressed his disappointment in a 2014 musical about Shakur's life, the article titled, "We're Kind of Mad at Cha: The 2Pac Musical "Holler If Ya Hear Me"".


title: I Ain't Mad at Cha

text: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder referenced the song in December 2014, when protestors interrupted him while he was giving a speech in Atlanta, Georgia at Ebenezer Baptist Church. In response, Holder stated to the protestors, "I’m not mad at cha".


title: I Ain't Mad at Cha

text: On February 13, 2022, Dr. Dre played the first few notes of ‘I Ain’t Mad At Cha’ on the piano at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show.


title: Toda people

text: Toda people are a Dravidian ethnic group who live in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu. Before the 18th century and British colonisation, the Toda coexisted locally with other ethnic communities, including the Kota, Badaga and Kurumba, in a loose caste-like society, in which the Toda were the top ranking. During the 20th century, the Toda population has hovered in the range 700 to 900. Although an insignificant fraction of the large population of India, since the early 19th century the Toda have attracted "a most disproportionate amount of attention because of their ethnological aberrancy" and "their unlikeness to their neighbours in appearance, manners, and customs". The study of their culture by anthropologists and linguists proved significant in developing the fields of social anthropology and ethnomusicology.


title: Toda people

text: The Toda traditionally live in settlements called "", consisting of three to seven small thatched houses, constructed in the shape of half-barrels and located across the slopes of the pasture, on which they keep domestic buffalo. Their economy was pastoral, based on the buffalo, whose dairy products they traded with neighbouring peoples of the Nilgiri Hills. Toda religion features the sacred buffalo; consequently, rituals are performed for all dairy activities as well as for the ordination of dairymen-priests. The religious and funerary rites provide the social context in which complex poetic songs about the cult of the buffalo are composed and chanted.


title: Toda people

text: Fraternal polyandry in traditional Toda society was fairly common; however, this practice has now been totally abandoned, as has female infanticide. During the last quarter of the 20th century, some Toda pasture land was lost due to outsiders using it for agriculture or afforestation by the State Government of Tamil Nadu. This has threatened to undermine Toda culture by greatly diminishing the buffalo herds. Since the early 21st century, Toda society and culture have been the focus of an international effort at culturally sensitive environmental restoration. The Toda lands are now a part of The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO-designated International Biosphere Reserve; their territory is declared UNESCO World Heritage Site.


title: Toda people

text: According to M. B. Emeneau in 1984, the successive decennial Census of India figures for the Toda are: 1871 (693), 1881 (675), 1891 (739), 1901 (807), 1911 (676) (corrected from 748), 1951 (879), 1961 (759), 1971 (812). In his judgment, these records


title: Toda people

text: "justif[y] [sic] concluding that a figure between 700 and 800 is likely to be near the norm, and that variation in either direction is due on the one hand to epidemic disaster and slow recovery thereafter (1921 (640), 1931 (597), 1941 (630)) or on the other hand to an excess of double enumeration (suggested already by census officers for 1901 and 1911, and possibly for 1951). Another factor in the uncertainty in the figures is the declared or undeclared inclusion or exclusion of Christian Todas by the various enumerators ... Giving a figure between 700 and 800 is highly impressionistic, and may for the immediate present and future be pessimistic, since public health efforts applied to the community seem to be resulting in an increased birth rate and consequently, one would expect, in an increased population figure. However, earlier predictions that the community was declining were overly pessimistic and probably never well-founded."


title: Toda people

text: Physical anthropologist Egon Freiherr von Eickstedt, in 1934, described the Todas as being of the North Indid division of the Indid type, therefore connecting them to ancient Proto Dravidian population. DNA studies in the early 21st century showed that the Toda and Kota share genes which distinguish them from the other Nilgiri Hill Tribes.


title: Toda people

text: The Toda dress consists of a single piece of cloth, which is worn wrap over a "dhoti" for men and as a skirt for women along with shawlwrap.


title: Toda people

text: Their sole occupation is cattle-herding and dairy-work. Holy dairies are built to store the buffalo milk.


title: Toda people

text: They once practiced fraternal polyandry, a practice in which a woman marries all the brothers of a family, but no longer do so. All the children of such marriages were deemed to descend from the eldest brother. The ratio of females to males is about three to five. The culture historically practiced female infanticide. In the Toda tribe, families arrange contracted child marriage for couples.


title: Toda people

text: The Todas live in small hamlets called "s". The Toda huts, called "s", are of an oval, pent-shaped construction with sliding door. They are usually 10 feet (3 m) high, 18 feet (5.5 m) long and 9 feet (2.7 m) wide. They are built of bamboo fastened with rattan and are thatched. Thicker bamboo canes are arched to give the hut its basic bent shape. Thinner bamboo canes (rattan) are tied close and parallel to each other over this frame. Dried grass is stacked over this as thatch. Each hut is enclosed within a wall of loose stones.


title: Toda people

text: The front and back of the hut are usually made of dressed stones (mostly granite). The hut has a tiny entrance at the front, about 3 feet (90 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) tall, through which people must crawl to enter the interior. This unusually small entrance is a means of protection from wild animals. The front portion of the hut is decorated with the Toda art forms, a kind of rock mural painting.


title: Toda people

text: The Todas are vegetarians and do not eat meat, eggs that can hatch, or fish (although some villagers do eat fish). The buffalo were milked in a holy dairy, where the priest/milkman also processed their gifts. Buffalo milk is used in a variety of forms: butter, butter milk, yogurt, cheese and drunk plain. Rice is a staple, eaten with dairy products and curries.


title: Toda people

text: According to the Toda Religion, the goddess "Teikirshy" and her brother first created the sacred buffalo and then the first Toda man and woman. Many rites feature the buffalo, its milk and other products form the basis of their diet.


title: Toda people

text: The Toda religion exalted high-class men as holy milkmen, giving them sacred status as priests of the holy dairy. According to Sir James Frazer in 1922 (see quote below from "Golden Bough"), the holy milkman was prohibited from walking across bridges while in office. He had to ford rivers by foot, or by swimming. The people are prohibited from wearing shoes or any type of foot covering.


title: Toda people

text: Toda temples are distinct from Hindu temples and are constructed in a circular pit lined with stones. They are similar in appearance and construction to Toda huts. Women are not allowed to enter or go close to these huts that are designated as temples.


title: Toda people

text: The Toda language is a member of the Dravidian family. The language is typologically aberrant and phonologically difficult. Linguists have classified Toda (along with its neighbour Kota) as a member of the southern subgroup of the historical family proto-South-Dravidian. It split off from South Dravidian, after Kannada, but before Malayalam. In modern linguistic terms, the aberration of Toda results from a disproportionately high number of syntactic and morphological rules, of both early and recent derivation, which are not found in the other South Dravidian languages (save Kota, to a small extent.)


title: Toda people

text: The forced interaction with other peoples with technology has caused a lot of changes in the lifestyle of the Todas. They used to be primarily a pastoral people but now, they are increasingly venturing into agriculture and other occupations. They used to be strict vegetarians but now, some people eat meat.


title: Toda people

text: Although many Toda abandoned their traditional distinctive huts for houses made of concrete, in the early 21st century, a movement developed to build the traditional barrel-vaulted huts. From 1995 to 2005, forty new huts were built in this style, and many Toda sacred dairies were renovated. Each has a narrow stone pit around it and the tiny door is held shut with a heavy stone. Only the priest may enter it. It is used for storage of sacred buffalo milk.


title: Toda people

text: Registrar of Geographical Indication gave GI status for this unique embroidery, a practice which has been passed on to generations. The status ensures uniform pricing for Toda embroidery products and provides protection against low-quality duplication of the art.


title: N700S Series Shinkansen

text: The is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train with tilting capability operated by JR Central and JR West on the Tokaido and San'yō Shinkansen lines since 2020, and JR Kyushu on the Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen line since 2022.


title: N700S Series Shinkansen

text: In June 2016, JR Central announced plans to build a new prototype "N700S" 16-car trainset (with "S" standing for "Supreme") for evaluating new technology and features on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines from March 2018. Developed from the earlier N700 series design, the new train will incorporate a number of new features. Refinements to the ATC and braking systems will enable shorter braking distances in emergencies such as earthquakes. Optimized underfloor equipment layout will allow the same standard design to be used to easily produce 12, 8 and 6-car trainsets in addition to the Tokaido Shinkansen 16-car trainsets. The optimization is intended to make the train more flexible for possible export. The optimization further allows Toshiba SCiB LTO batteries to be installed so that the train can operate at low speed in the event of a disruption to overhead power. Green cars will use active suspension to further improve ride quality, and ordinary-class cars will have AC power outlets for each seat.


title: N700S Series Shinkansen

text: A 16-car prototype set (J0), assembled at the Nippon Sharyo Toyokawa plant, was unveiled at Hamamatsu depot on 10 March 2018. Beginning from 20 March, this set has been used for testing and evaluation. The first full-production J set (J1) was delivered to JR Central in April 2020, with trains entering revenue service on 1 July 2020.


title: N700S Series Shinkansen

text: High-speed trials at the design speed of 360 km/h were conducted during 2019 on the Tokaido Shinkansen, reaching 362 km/h. This is 28 km/h faster than the fastest speed ever achieved by the N700A, and may indicate plans to raise the maximum operating speed on the line.


title: N700S Series Shinkansen

text: JR Central announced in May 2022 that it would add 19 trainsets (304 vehicles) to their current N700S fleet. The first two of these trainsets are scheduled to enter service in 2023.


title: N700S Series Shinkansen

text: The first N700S sets replaced 700 series trains, and added more rolling stock needed to realize the increased amount of services on the Tokaido Shinkansen planned from 2020. The N700S series is expected to gradually replace N700 series sets on the Sanyo, Tokaido, and Kyushu Shinkansen lines. A 6-car variant started operations on the Nishi Kyushu Shinkansen on 23 September 2022.


title: N700S Series Shinkansen

text: The train is also planned to run on the proposed Texas Central Railway high-speed line connecting Dallas and Houston.


title: N700S Series Shinkansen

text: The J sets were the first to be introduced, and include the pre-series J0 set used for testing between 2018 and 2020.


title: Harihara

text: Harihara (Sanskrit: हरिहर) is the fused sattvika characterisation of Vishnu (Hari) and Shiva (Hara) from Hindu theology. Hari is the form of Vishnu, and Hara is the form of Shiva. Harihara is also known as Shankaranarayana ("Shankara" is Shiva, and "Narayana" is Vishnu).


title: Harihara

text: "Harihara" is also sometimes used as a philosophical term to denote the unity of Vishnu and Shiva as different aspects of the same Ultimate Reality called Brahman. This concept of equivalence of various gods as one principle and "oneness of all existence" is discussed as Harihara in the texts of Advaita Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy.


title: Harihara

text: Some of the earliest sculptures of Harihara, with one half of the image as Vishnu and other half as Shiva, are found in the surviving cave temples of India, such as in the cave 1 and cave 3 of the 6th-century Badami cave temples.


title: Harihara

text: The diversity within Hinduism encourages a wide variety of beliefs and traditions, of which two important and large traditions are associated with Vishnu and Shiva. Some schools focus on Vishnu (including his associated avatars such as Rama and Krishna) as the Supreme God, and others on Shiva (including his different avatars such as Mahadeva and Pashupata). The Puranas and various Hindu traditions treat both Shiva and Vishnu as being different aspects of the one Brahman. Harihara is a symbolic representation of this idea. A similar idea, called Ardhanarishvara or "Naranari", fuses masculine and feminine deities as one and equivalent representation in Hinduism.


title: Harihara

text: Depending on which scriptures (and translations) are quoted, evidence is available to support each of the different arguments. In most cases, even if one personality is taken as being superior over the other, much respect is still offered to both Vishnu and Shiva by the other's worshippers (i.e. Shiva is still regarded as being above the level of an ordinary jiva and 'the greatest of the Vaishnavas' by Vaishnavas who worship only Vishnu).


title: Harihara

text: The earliest mention of Harihara is likely to be observed in the Harivamsha, where Markandeya discusses the being.


title: Harihara

text: According to one legend, when Vishnu appeared as the enchantress Mohini in front of Shiva, the latter grew besotted with her and attempted to embrace her. At this moment, Mohini reverted to the true form of Vishnu, at which point the two deities fused as one being, Harihara.


title: Harihara

text: Harihara is depicted in art as split down the middle, one half representing Shiva, the other half representing Vishnu. The Shiva half will have the matted locks of a yogic master piled high on his head and sometimes will wear a tiger skin, reserved for the most revered ascetics. Shiva's pale skin may be read as ash-covered in his role as an ascetic. The Vishnu half will wear a tall crown and other jewelry, representing his responsibility for maintaining world order. Vishnu's black skin represents holiness. Broadly, these distinctions serve to represent the duality of humble religious influence in the ascetic and authoritative secular power in the king or householder. However, in other aspects Shiva also takes on the authoritative position of householder, a position which is directly at odds with the ascetic position depicted in his Harihara manifestation.


title: Harihara

text: Harihara has been part of temple iconography throughout South Asia and Southeast Asia, with some illustrations listed in the following table. In some states, the concept of Harihara appears through alternate names and its progeny; for example, temples incorporating Ayyappan and Shasta deities in Kerala illustrate this Hindu tradition there since at least the 7th century.


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: Oh! What a Lovely War is a 1969 British comedy musical war film directed by Richard Attenborough (in his directorial debut), with an ensemble cast, including Maggie Smith, Dirk Bogarde, John Gielgud, John Mills, Kenneth More, Laurence Olivier, Jack Hawkins, Corin Redgrave, Michael Redgrave, Vanessa Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, Ian Holm, Paul Shelley, Malcolm McFee, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Nanette Newman, Edward Fox, Susannah York, John Clements, Phyllis Calvert and Maurice Roëves.


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: The film is based on the stage musical "Oh, What a Lovely War!", originated by Charles Chilton as the radio play "The Long Long Trail" in December 1961, and transferred to stage by Gerry Raffles in partnership with Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop in 1963.


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: The title is derived from the music hall song "Oh! It's a Lovely War", which is one of the major numbers in the film.


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: "Oh! What a Lovely War" summarises and comments on the events of World War I using popular songs of the time, many of which were parodies of older popular songs, and using allegorical settings such as Brighton's West Pier to criticise the manner in which the eventual victory was won.


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: The diplomatic maneuvering and events involving those in authority are set in a fantasy location inside the pierhead pavilion, far from the trenches. In the opening scene, various foreign ministers, generals and heads of state walk over a huge map of Europe, reciting actual words spoken by these figures at the time. An unnamed photographer takes a picture of Europe's rulers – after handing two red poppies to the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, the Duchess of Hohenberg, he takes their picture, "assassinating" them as the flash goes off. Many of the heads of state enjoy good personal relations and are reluctant to go to war: a tearful Emperor Franz Josef declares war on Serbia after being deceived by his Foreign Minister, and Czar Nicholas II and Kaiser Wilhelm II are shown as unable to overrule their countries' military mobilisation schedules. The German invasion of Belgium leaves Sir Edward Grey little choice but to get involved. Italy reneges on its alliance with the Central Powers (it joined the Allies in 1915) but Turkey joins them instead.


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: The start of the war in 1914 is shown as a parade of optimism. The protagonists are an archetypal British family of the time, the Smiths, who are shown entering Brighton's West Pier, with General Haig selling tickets – the film later follows the young Smith men through their experiences in the trenches. A military band rouses holidaymakers from the beach to rally round and follow – some even literally boarding a bandwagon. The first Battle of Mons is similarly cheerfully depicted yet more realistic in portrayal. Both scenes are flooded in pleasant sunshine.


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: When the casualties start to mount, a theatre audience is rallied by singing "Are We Downhearted? No!" A chorus line dressed in frilled yellow dresses, recruits a volunteer army with "We don't want to lose you, but we think you ought to go". A music hall star (Maggie Smith) then enters a lone spotlight, and lures the still doubtful young men in the audience into "taking the King's Shilling" by singing about how every day she "walks out" with different men in uniform, and that "On Saturday I'm willing, if you'll only take the shilling, to make a man of any one of you." The young men take to the stage and are quickly moved offstage and into military life, and the initially alluring music hall singer is depicted on close-up as a coarse, over-made-up harridan.


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: The red poppy crops up again as a symbol of impending death, often being handed to a soldier about to be sent to die. These scenes are juxtaposed with the pavilion, now housing the top military brass. There is a scoreboard (a dominant motif in the original theatre production) showing the loss of life and "yards gained".


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: Outside, Sylvia Pankhurst (Vanessa Redgrave) is shown addressing a hostile crowd on the futility of war, upbraiding them for believing everything they read in the newspapers. She is met with catcalls and jeered from her podium.


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: 1915 is depicted as darkly contrasting in tone. Many shots of a parade of wounded men illustrate an endless stream of grim, hopeless faces. Black humour among these soldiers has now replaced the enthusiasm of the early days. "There's a Long, Long Trail a-Winding" captures the new mood of despair, depicting soldiers filing along in torrential rain in miserable conditions. Red poppies provide the only bright colour in these scenes. In a scene of British soldiers drinking in an estaminet, a Soubrette (Pia Colombo) leads them in a jolly chorus of "The Moon Shines Bright on Charlie Chaplin", a reworking of an American song then shifts the mood back to darker tone by singing a soft and sombre version of "Adieu la vie". At the end of the year, amidst more manoeuvres in the pavilion, General (later Field Marshal) Douglas Haig replaces Field Marshal Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief of the British Forces. Haig is then mocked by Australian troops who see him inspecting British soldiers; they sing "They were only playing Leapfrog" to the tune of "John Brown's Body".


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: An interfaith religious service is held in a ruined abbey. A priest tells the gathered soldiers that each religion has endorsed the war by way of allowing soldiers to eat pork if Jewish, meat on Fridays if Catholic, and work through the sabbath if in service of the war for all religions. He also says the Dalai Lama has blessed the war effort.


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: 1916 passes and the film's tone darkens again. The songs contain contrasting tones of wistfulness, stoicism and resignation, including "The Bells of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling", "If the Sergeant Steals Your Rum, Never Mind" and "Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire". The wounded are laid out in ranks at the field station, a stark contrast to the healthy rows of young men who entered the war. The camera often lingers on Harry Smith's silently suffering face.


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: The Americans arrive, but are shown only in the "disconnected reality" of the pavilion, interrupting the deliberations of the British generals by singing "Over There" with the changed final line: "And we won't come back – we'll be buried over there!" The resolute-looking American captain seizes the map from an astonished Haig.


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: Jack notices with disgust that after three years of fighting, he is literally back where he started, at Mons. As the Armistice is sounding, Jack is the last one to die. There is a splash of red which at first glance appears to be blood, but which turns out to be yet another poppy out of focus in the foreground. Jack's spirit wanders through the battlefield, and he eventually finds himself in the room where the elder statesmen of Europe are drafting the coming peace – but they are oblivious to his presence. Jack finally finds himself on a tranquil hillside, where he joins his brothers for a lie down on the grass, where their figures morph into crosses. The film closes with a long slow pan out that ends in a dizzying aerial view of countless soldiers' graves, as the voices of the dead sing "We'll Never Tell Them" (a parody of the Jerome Kern song "They Didn't Believe Me").


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: At the time, the Beatles were interested in making an anti-war film. At Bertrand Russell’s suggestion, Paul McCartney met with the producer Len Deighton to discuss the opportunity of the band portraying the Smith family although in the end it was not possible to arrange.


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: The producers were the novelist Len Deighton, photographer Brian Duffy and Richard Attenborough, who was making his directorial debut. The Deighton Duffy production company had produced the film adaptation of Deighton’s "Only When I Larf" starring Richard Attenborough. Deighton wrote the screenplay for "Oh! What a Lovely War" and the opening title sequence was created by Len Deighton's lifelong friend Raymond Hawkey, the designer responsible for many of Deighton's book covers in the 1960s. In an attempt to shame other people who he thought were claiming credit for things they hadn't actually done, Deighton decided not to be listed in the film credits, a gesture he later described as "stupid and infantile".


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: The 1969 film transferred the mise-en-scène completely into the cinematic domain, with elaborate sequences shot at West Pier in Brighton, elsewhere in Brighton and on the South Downs, interspersed with motifs from the stage production. These included the 'cricket' scoreboards showing the number of dead, but Deighton did not use the pierrot costumes. However, as many critics, including Pauline Kael, noted, the treatment diminished the effect of the numbers of deaths, which appear only fleetingly. Nonetheless, Deighton’s final sequence, ending in a helicopter shot of thousands of war graves is regarded as one of the most memorable moments of the film. According to Attenborough, 16,000 white crosses had to be hammered into individually dug holes due to the hardness of the soil. Although this is effective in symbolising the scale of death, the number of crosses was in fact fewer than the number of deaths in a single battle: depicting the actual number would have required the scale to have been replicated more than 1000 times.


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: The film was shot in the summer of 1968 in Sussex, mostly in the Brighton area. Many of the extras were local people, but a great many were students from the University of Sussex, Falmer, on the outskirts of the town. The film's locations included the West Pier (now gutted by fire and wrecked), Ditchling Beacon, Sheepcote Valley (the trench sequences), Old Bayham Abbey, near Frant (the church parade), Brighton station and Ovingdean (where thousands of crosses were erected for the classic finale).


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: The song was written by J. P. Long and Maurice Scott in 1917 and was part of the repertoire of music hall star and male impersonator Ella Shields. The first verse and the chorus follow:


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: Two pre-musical renditions, one from 1918, can be found at Firstworldwar.com. Almost all of the songs featured in the film also appear on the CD41 album series "Oh! It's a Lovely War" (four volumes).


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" called it "a big, elaborate, sometimes realistic film whose elephantine physical proportions and often brilliant all-star cast simply overwhelm the material with a surfeit of good intentions." "Variety" called the film "dedicated, exhilarating, shrewd, mocking, funny, emotional, witty, poignant and technically brilliant." Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun Times" gave the film 4 stars out of 4, writing that it was not a movie but "an elaborately staged tableau, a dazzling use of the camera to achieve essentially theatrical effects. And judged on that basis, Richard Attenborough has given us a breathtaking evening." Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" also gave the film a perfect grade of 4 stars and wrote it "deserves an Academy Award nomination for the best picture of the year ... You can sit back and enjoy this film on any one of many levels. The songs are good, the lyrics are biting; the staging and costuming blend with the story rather than overshadow it. The acting seems effortless." Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote: "What noted British actor Richard Attenborough, in a dazzling directorial debut, and his principal writers Len Deighton and Brian Duffy have done is to transform the highly political and one-dimensional Joan Littlewood theatre piece into timeless—and painfully timely—tragic allegory." Gary Arnold of "The Washington Post" wrote: "The conception is intriguing, but the film turns into an infernal, precision machine. As one big production number succeeded the other and one perfectly measured and symmetrical tableau faded into the next, I began to feel stupefied rather than touched. The physical production was rolling over the songs, the characters and the vignettes." David Wilson of "The Monthly Film Bulletin" wrote that "one is simply left admiring a worthy mosaic of bits and pieces, full of good ideas but nowhere near to being a self-contained dramatic entity."


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: The film presently has a score of 79% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 14 reviews, with an average grade of 8.2 out of 10.


title: Oh! What a Lovely War

text: The "Toronto Star" received complaints from veteran organizations about the advertisement for the film that featured cemetery crosses and later ran the adverts without the image.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: The Battle of Sarikamish was an engagement between the Russian and Ottoman empires during World War I. It took place from December 22, 1914, to January 17, 1915, as part of the Caucasus campaign.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: The battle resulted in a Russian victory. The Ottomans employed a strategy which demanded highly mobile troops, capable of arriving at specified objectives at precise times. This approach was based both on German and Napoleonic tactics. The Ottoman troops, ill-prepared for winter conditions, suffered major casualties in the Allahuekber Mountains. Around 25,000 Ottoman soldiers froze to death before the start of the battle.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: After the battle, Ottoman Minister of War Enver Pasha, who had planned the Ottoman strategy in Sarikamish, publicly blamed his defeat on the Armenians and the battle served as a prelude to the Armenian genocide.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: Russia viewed the Caucasus Front as secondary to the Eastern Front, which enjoyed the major share of Russian resources. Russia had taken the fortress of Kars from the Turks during the Russo-Turkish War in 1877, when it was incorporated into the militarily administered Kars Oblast. After the Ottoman Empire entered the war in October 1914 on the side of the Central Powers, Russia now feared a Caucasus Campaign aimed at retaking Kars and the port of Batum.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: From the point of view of the Central Powers, a campaign in the Caucasus would have a distracting effect on Russian forces. The immediate strategic goal of the Caucasus Campaign was to retake Artvin, Ardahan, Kars, and the port of Batum. As a longer-term goal, head of the Ottoman war ministry İsmail Enver hoped a success would facilitate opening the route to Tbilisi and beyond, which in turn would trigger a revolt of Caucasian Muslims. Another Turkish strategic goal was to cut Russian access to its hydrocarbon resources around the Caspian Sea.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: The headquarters of the Ottoman 3rd Army was in Erzurum, under the command of Hasan Izzet. On 30 October 1914, the 3rd Army headquarters was informed by High Command in Constantinople about the Ottoman navy's bombardment of the Russian ports of Novorossiysk, Odessa and Sevastopol in the Black Sea. High Command expected the Russian Army to cross the Ottoman border at any time. The Bergmann Offensive (November 2, 1914 – November 16, 1914) ended with the defeat of Russian troops under Bergmann.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: Turks’ IX (28,000 soldiers) and X Corps (40,000 soldiers) were well-trained soldiers but the Ottoman Army was poorly equipped with winter clothes. Rear services, logistic and sanitary measures were inadequate as well.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: The war minister, Ismail Enver, devised an operation plan while he was at the Department of War in Istanbul. His strategy was based on German principles copied from Napoleon. Enver's plan involved a single envelopment using three Corps. On the right flank, XI Corps would fix the Russians in place and conduct feint attacks. In the left flank, X (40,000 soldiers) under Colonel Hafız Hakkı and IX Corps (28,000 soldiers) under brigadier Ali İhsan Paşa would reach Kötek (30 kilometers southwest of Sarikamish) and 10-15 kilometers northeast of main Russian Army (2nd Turkistan Corps: 21 Battalions, 22 Battalions of 1st Caucasus Corps, 11 Battalions of 1st and 2nd Plastun Brigade (6 battalions), 1st Caucasus Cossack Division (30 sotni (Squadron: 100-150 cavalry), and drive the Russians to the Aras Valley, where the Russian forces would be destroyed by all three Corps attacking in concert.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: Hasan İzzet was firstly in favor of outflanking maneuver and offensive due to high trust to Enver Paşa and Hasan İzzet Paşa gave the final shape of the outflanking plan. In 17 December, Enver Pasha returned Erzurum after inspecting the army and seeing Hasan İzzet Paşa accepted his plan. In the presence of other officers, Enver Paşa said to Hasan İzzet Paşa “I am going to Erzurum. Either I will go back to Istanbul from there, or I will look at your actions as a spectator”. However, in 18 November, Hasan İzzet Paşa telegraphed Enver Pasha:


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: IX Corps, X Corps’ pioneers would arrive on the Kötek-Kars road in eight to nine days, meanwhile it is doubtful that the XI Corps, left alone, would not be crushed. When the pioneers come out of the great mountains, they will be in a difficult position against the enemy, who are not less than themselves. I see the outcome of this offensive field battle as doubtful according to our preparation. In case of failure, the long expedition will turn against us. Let's not give a pitched battle and be content with expelling the enemy in Id (Narman). For the future, hope is left for attack and invasion…


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: In sources, Enver Pasha's answer isn't recorded. Then, Hasan İzzet Pasha telegraphed Enver Pasha again on the evening of 18 December.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: I ask for forgiveness from my duty as I do not see the strength and confidence in myself to carry out these movements, and I am actually disturbed by an extraordinary nervousness”.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: Enver Pasha returned Köprüköy in order to persuade Hasan İzzet Pasha. He temporarily took command of 3rd army as he couldn't persuade Hasan İzzet Pasha.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: Enver Pasha's chief of staff Bronsart von Schellendorf and operation department manager (in Turkish: Harekat Şubesi Müdürü) Major Feldmann continued their service in the 3rd army under Enver Pasha.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: The war zone was nearly wide from the Black Sea to Lake Van, which made military concentration difficult. The operation was executed at a plateau averaging above sea level. The main difficulty with the region was the roads, with the transportation infrastructure on the Ottoman side far from adequate. Russia's main advantage was the Kars Gyumri Akhalkalaki railway line and a terminal at Sarikamish. The railway was from the border. The only way for an army to get through the Caucasian heights was the high mountain passes in which lay the cities Kars and Sarikamish. Beyond, the upper valleys of the Aras River and Euphrates extended westward. Everywhere else the roads were mere tracks which were impenetrable to artillery. The forces were concentrated about on each side of the border at the fortresses of Kars on the Russian side and Erzurum on the Ottoman side.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: The 3rd Army, under the command of Enver, was composed of the IX, X and XI Corps. A detachment unit (1 regiment and the Special Organization (Teşkilat-I Mahsusa) volunteers) known as Ştanke Bey Müfrezesi under the command of the German Lieutenant Colonel Stange embarked Artvin to reinforce the offense and pin down the Russians. The fighting power of 90,000 regular troops (Russian Sarikamish detachment consisted of 60,000 infantry, 4,000 Cavalry (Cossacks), 14,000 Reserves totaled 78,000 soldiers), reserves, and personnel from the Erzurum Fortress totalled 118,000.[4] The total manpower including transportation units, deport regiments, and military police was 200,000. There were 73 machine guns (Russian had extreme advantage) and 218 (it is equal to Russians) artillery pieces. Ottoman forces were inadequately prepared for the campaign. IX and X Corps began a long trek with no winter clothing and only dry bread and olives for rations. XI Corps left at the front, also was in same situation.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: The Russians sent the 2nd and 3rd Caucasian and 1st Turkestan Corps to the Western front to reinforce this front. Therefore, the Russian Caucasian Army consisted of the 1st Caucasian Corps (32 battalions), 2nd Turkestan Corps (21 battalions), 3 Plastun brigades (18 battalions), the 66th Division (16 battalions) and some independent detachments. The Russian force at the beginning of the war consisted of 100 infantry battalions (100 thousand infantry), 117 cavalry companies (15 thousand cavalry) and 256 cannons:


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: (a) Erzurum-Kars: 39th Infantry Division (16 battalions, 48 guns) and one brigade of 20th Infantry Division (24 battalions, each battalion has 1250-1300 soldiers), 1 Caucasian Cossack Division, 6 of 5 battalions 1rd Plastun Brigade (each battalion has 600-800 soldiers), total: 29 battalions, 30 sotni and 96 guns, 2nd Turkestan Corps (21 battalions, 42 guns, each battalion has 600-800 soldiers like Plaston Brigades, it reached Battlefield in 16 November).


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: (b) Erzurum-Oltu: one brigade of 20th Infantry Division, one Cossack (cavalry) regiment (6 sotni), total: 8 battalions, 6 sotni, 24 guns (Erzurum-Kars aka Sarikamish detachment borrowed 6 guns from Oltu detachment considering each Russian battalions 3 guns, Cossack divisions had 12 horsed guns, Plastuns (infantry Cossacks) had no guns. Both group under General Bergman in command of I Caucasian Army Corps.).


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: (c) Erevan-Bayazit: one brigade of 66th Division (8 battalions), 2nd Kuban Plastun Brigade (6 battalions), 2nd Caucasian Cossack Division, Transcaspian Cossack Brigade, total: 14 battalions, 36 sotni, 52 guns.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: (d) Batum region: 264th Infantry Regiment (of 66th Division), 1 of 6 1st Kuban Plastun Brigade (6 battalions), total: 5 battalions with 8 guns-to which were added one and a half battalions of Frontier Guards. The six battalions of the 3rd Kuban Plastun Brigade were echeloned along the coast of the Black Sea.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: (e) Detachment in Persian Azerbaijan: 2nd Caucasian Rifle Brigade, 4th Caucasian Cossack Division, total: 8 battalions, 24 sotni, 24 guns under General Chernozubov.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: Russian Caucasian Army in Battle of Sarikamish, which was reinforced by Armenian and Georgian volunteers and newly formed 3rd Caucasian Rifle Brigade (8 battalions), was around 130 thousand soldiers. In the Bergmann Offensive, the Russian army suffered 7,000 casualties. Russian Army against Turk 3rd Army was 30 battalions of the 1st Caucasus Corps, 2nd Turkestan Corps (21 battalions) and 11 Plaston battalions totaled 58,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry. In addition, there were 4 battalions of 66th Division in Kars and the newly formed 3rd Caucasian Rifle Brigade (8 battalions) and the Siberian Cossack Brigade (12 sotni) in Tbilisi, total 14,000 soldiers came for help in Battle of Sarikamish. Apart from these forces, 12 battalions of Russian troops were in Batumi and its surroundings, 8 battalions and 30 cavalry companies were in Iğdır, 8 battalions and 24 cavalry companies were in Iranian Azerbaijan and did not participate in the battles of Sarikamish. The Turks, on the other hand, had put forward all their troops (90,000 soldiers, 218 guns) in order to get a decided result in this battle. Another advantage of the Russians is that all of the Russian soldiers are equipped with winter clothes, the medical organization is much better than the Turks (from the beginning of the war, 500 soldiers died in hospitals on the Turkish side every day. The number of soldiers who died in the hospital was more than 10 thousand, more soldiers died from frostbite and Typhus epidemic outside hospitals as well. Turk soldiers used to not go hospitals because they knew they have a greater chance of survival outside the hospitals).


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: In farthest left flank, Hafız Hakkı with X Corps numbered 40.000 fresh troops attacked General Istomin's Brigade (8.000 infantry, 1.000 cavalry) in 22 December. 30th and 32rd Divisions attacked Kaleboğazı, west of Oltu and 31st Division attacked İd (now, Narman). In both sides, Russian retreated cautiously after rearguard battle. Istomin's Brigade retreated around Oltu Town. 31st Division spent the night in Narman (Now, Rus Narmanı in Turkish), 15 kilometers South of Oltu. In 23 December, 31st Division captured 750 soldiers and Colonel Kutatedza with 2 guns. 31st Division attacked Oltu from south and 30th and 32rd Division from west. 32rd Division opened dense artillery and rifle fire to 31st Division thinking 32rd Division is Russian troops. Battle continued 2 hours, thus General Istomin withdrew his army without heavy losses from Oltu. İlden, based on his friend battled in this battle, claimed that Turks suffered 2.000 casualties in this accidental battle. However, Fahri Belen asked casualties to various officers being on duty in this battle, he received different answers from each officer and the maximum amount of loss was said to be 250. > In next days, 250 Russian soldiers 4 guns and 4 machine guns got captured by X Corps. In midday, Istomin evacuated Oltu. Hafız Hakkı allowed soldiers to pillage the town in order to raise their morale. Turks lost provisions that can feed Turks army for days due to this pillage.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: After this, Hafız turned X Corps’ direction to Sarikamish-Kars line opposite of initially planned Kars-Kötek line. This change of path caused 40 kilometers lengthening to 30th and 31st Division.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: In 22–24 December, IX Corps reached Bardız village from Toygarlı village. IX Corps didn't engage in combat like X Corps, except to disperse the patrolling front guards. 29th Division captured Bardız from front guards on night of December 24. As the Russians did not have time to destroy the supplies, there were supplies in the Bardız that could feed the corps for days. Enver Pasha set up guards in the supply depots for preventing looting of the village, thus the mistake in Oltu didn't happen. However, in the same day, 40% of 17th Division's troops became stragglers due to heavy snowstorm.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: On 24 December, General Vorontsov sent his deputy General Myshlayevsky and chief of staff General Yudenich with officers to meet with General Bergmann in Micingirt (now İnkaya). Bergmann said that offensive to Istomin's detachment had only local significance, Istomin will repel and retake Oltu from Turks after his troops are reinforced by 3rd Caucasus Rifle Brigade. On the main front, 39th Division should continue to successful offensive. General Yudenich opposed Bergmann's idea. He said that attack on Istomin detachment is signal of Turks’ outflanking maneuver. Turks are encircling our right flank, we must occupy Bardız Village in order to cover road to Sarikamish where Russian railway passes. Offensive on main front is unnecessary. We should stay defensive and reinforce Sarikamish. General Myshlayevsky placed both Bergmann and Yudenich's proposals to his order of the day. At 11.30 a.m ., Myshlayevsky learned that Bardız village was already occupied by strong Turkish force. Therefore, Myshlayevsky changed his order of the day and He issued new order accepting Yudenich's defensive idea.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: On night of 24 December, Enver and his officers reached Bardız village from Narman in 14 hours on horseback. He declared that IX Corps should attack to Sarikamish because captive soldiers said that Sarikamish is defended by 2-3 scratch companies. He asked IX Corps commander Ali İhsan Paşa his idea. Ali İhsan Paşa said that “... According to this (The 17th and 28th divisions could not reach Bardız yet), it means that the IX Corps has no forces at hand for now, other than the 29th Division. I do not know the operational requirements concerning the army. It is said that there is no information from the X Corps. If your aim can be realized with the strength of a division tomorrow, the 29th Division is ready for action and command. Bronsart Pasha and Major Feldman also stated that they agreed with İhsan Pasha's opinion. After 3 days of marching, IX Corps needed rest. Communication between 9th and 10th Corps was cut after the X Corps deviated from initial plan by entering Oltu-Ardahan road in pursuit of Istomin's unit. Therefore, the commanders under Enver Pasha suggested to wait in Bardız until the X Corps reached its map objective. Enver Pasha, on the other hand, thought that if Sarikamish, where the railway passes, is captured, Russians would have no way to retreat and would surrender themselves.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: On morning of 25 December, 29th Division moved to Sarikamish. The path was covered with 30 cm of snow.29th Division reached Kızılkilise village 8 kilometers northwest of Sarikamish. 29th Division prepared to bivouac in Kızılkilise. However, Enver Paşa ordered to attack Bardız Pass and capture Sarikamish supposed to behind Bardız Pass.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: On evening of 25 December, 2 regiments of the 29th Division, on the orders of Enver Pasha, entered the forest to encircle the Russian troops defending the Bardız Pass. Hundreds of soldiers froze from the dispersed troops in the forest filled with ditches and cliffs, reducing the 29th Division's number by 50 percent. Turks took Bardız Pass from 1000 railwaymen at 12:00 p.m.. Only 1 battalion could pursuit escaping Russian troops due to exhaustion. It could not be successful in its attacks on Sarikamish alone. This night, even commander of Division and officers overcame frostbite by covering oilcloth to themselves together. Situation of soldiers was naturally more difficult.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: As for X Corps, Hafız Hakkı pursued Istomin's brigade in 2 days, 24–25 December. Istomin gradually retreated, engaging in a successful distraction battle. Istomin retreated to Merdenek (now, Göle) village. 30th and 31st Divisions reached northern slopes of Allahu Ekber mountains. Hafız Hakkı left a regiment against Istomin's detachment and entered the Allahu Ekber mountains to cut the Sarıkamış-Kars railway line. Allahu Ekber track was rugged and snowcapped path where soldiers weren't able to get off from Allahu Ekber fewer than 19 hours. In 26 December 02.00 a.m., 30th and 31st Divisions entered Allahu Ekber Mountain. 2 Divisions caught by snowstorm and according to İlden, 10.000 soldiers died from frostbitein Allahu Ekber Mountains. Number of these 2 Divisions decreased to 3200 when they got off from Allahu Ekber on night of 26 December. X Corps lost 90% of troops before engaging in a major battle. Hafız Hakkı thought number of soldiers can be increased to 10.000 in 2 days from deserted soldiers, therefore he decided to continue offensive.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: On morning of 26 December, the number of Sarikamish detachment increased from a scratch 2.000 soldiers to 3.500-4.000 soldiers (1.5000 seasoned soldiers, 1.000 railwaymen, 1.000 militia with some hundreds of volunteers from the rear services). On 26 December, Muratoff claimed that the IX Corps had 10,000 soldiers, but Turkish sources say that after the Turkish army dispersed in the night attack on 25 December, on 26 December IX Corps had a force of only the size of an infantry regiment, or 3,000 soldiers. Only 5 regiments from the 9 regiments of the IX Corps were able to catch up 26 December attack. IX Corps commander, Ali İhsan Pasha, declared in an interview with the Russian newspaper that he had a total of 6,000 soldiers after he was captured by the Russians. Initial strength of IX corps was 28,000 soldiers. Majority of the 22,000 casualties are made up of fugitives. Contrary to popular belief, number of those who died from frostbite and disease was much less.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: Turks went on a fierce offensive until evening. Turkish commanders persuaded Enver Pasha to stop the attack, which was made as a result of Enver's excessive insistence. Russian sources claimed that if this offensive had continued, Sarıkamish would have fallen. On the other hand, Turk sources claimed Turkish army had suffered heavy casualties as a result of Enver Pasha's offensive orders described in short “ attack without considering casualties”, and in addition, the number of the Turkish army was less than the Russian troops defending Sarikamish and was very tired after days of marching.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: On night of 26 December, General Voropanof, commander of the Sarikamish garrison, demanded from General Myshlayevski that the warehouses be destroyed and Sarikamish be abandoned, due to large number of casualties in the garrison. General Myshlayevski stated that Sarikamish should definitely not be left because the best way for the Russians to withdraw is the Sarikamish-Kars railway. General Myshlayevski and Bergmann panicked at the encirclement maneuver of the Turks and had already admitted defeat. Since the Karakurt-Kağızman road was not suitable for the passage of wheeled vehicles, it was not possible to withdraw from this road. That's why General Myshlayevski thought to save the army, or at least a part of the army, by using the Sarikamish-Kars railway.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: 5 Turkestan battalions appointed by Yudenich attacked towards Bardız and defeated the 82nd Regiment of the 28th Division, which was defending the Çakırtepe hills, with a bayonet charge. Observing this, the 32nd Division Commander Lieutenant Colonel Abdülkerim Bey gave up the idea of moving to Sarikamish and went to battle against Turkestan battalions.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: On evening of December 26, the Sarikamish garrison was reinforced by the 80th Kabardinsky Regiment (4 infantry battalions, one thousand infantry per battalion) and Zaporojski Cossack Regiment (6 cavalry divisions). With this reinforcement, the Russian force defending Sarikamish increased to 10.000 soldiers supported by weak artillery. On Turkish side, after the 26 December offensive was stopped, deserters dispersed into forests were tried to be gathered and only on the afternoon of 26 December, 83rd and 84th Regiments of the 28th Division arrived. This division, too, had lost most of its force on the way, as it had been brought in by forced night marches. Numbers of Turkish troops isn't recorded in Turkish sources. Considering that Turks had 3,000 soldiers on the 26th of December, it can be estimated that there would not be more than 5,000 soldiers on 27 December. Enver Pasha renewed his “attack without considering casualties” decree for 27 December. 29th Division managed to enter Upper Sarikamish Village (in Turkish sources, Çerkezköy (Circassianvillage)) at midday. Colonel Bukretov counterattacked to village and encircled Turkish soldiers in village.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: Meanwhile, Hafız Hakkı Bey sent a cavalry regiment on 27 December, occupied Selim station and destroyed the Sarikamish-Kars railway from there. On the same day, Stange Bey, who had an infantry regiment and Special Organization irregulars under his command, captured Ardahan, which was defended by 2,000 Russian soldiers.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: On December 24, Nasuhi Bey, chief of staff of the X Corps, was captured by the Russians. A copy of the attack order given by Enver Pasha was found on Nasuhi Bey. The Russian commanders understood from this order that the Turkish forces attacking Sarikamish were the IX and X Corps. General Myslayesvki, who knew that he could not stop 2 Corps with weak Russian forces defending Sarikamish, was sure that if the Russian army did not withdraw, it would be destroyed. However, General Msylayevski was unaware that the number of Turkish troops hastily sent to Sarikamish by forced marches had been reduced by 80%. As a result of Yudenich's insistence, he remained as commander of the Caucasian army until 28 December but news of the fall of Ardahan and cutting of the Sarikamish-Kars railway shook General Myshlayevsky deeply, and thought that he would be captured. On morning of 28 December, he left Mecingirt riding horses and set off first to Kağızman, then from Gyumri to Tbilisi. He did not appoint a commander-in-chief in his place. General Yudenich appointed to command 2nd Turkestan Corps and 6 battalions of 1st Caucasus Corps while remaining forces were commanded by General Bergmann. So many frictions broke out between General Bergmann and Yudenich for this appointment. For this reason, just after the victory was won (January 6, 1915), General Bergmann was dismissed and General Yudenich was appointed as the commander of all forces.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: It took 29 December for the 30th and 31st Divisions to gather and reach Sarikamish from Başköy-Beyköy. Plan to capture Russian troops, who were thought to have come from Kars, lost 1 day to the 30th Division.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: After Russians put an end to their offensive against the XI Corps on 24 December, the XI Corps remained inactive against the Russian forces from the beginning to the end of the battle. The plan of the Russians was to stay on the defensive against the XI Corps, to pull the forces against XI Corps to Sarıkamish and to protect Sarıkamish against Turks with these forces.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: On 28 December, 155th Kubinski Regiment (4 battalions) and 1st Plastun Brigade (5 battalions) arrived in Sarıkamish from Yudenich's front. Therefore, Russian force in Sarıkamish increased to 20 infantry battalions, a cavalry regiment, 34 cannons and several score of machine guns under commander of 1st Plastun Brigade General Przevalski. Muratoff says that Russian force defending Sarıkamish has increased to 13–14.000 soldiers.


title: Battle of Sarikamish

text: 30th and 31st Divisions took on task of attacking Sarıkamish as the IX Corps number decreased to 1000 soldiers. According to the sources, the 30th and 31st Divisions were around 2000 soldiers, too. Although 93rd Regiment of 31st Division managed to enter Sarıkamish with 600 soldiers with night attack on 29 December, it had to retreat from Sarikamish due to dispersal of the soldiers in town and attack of the superior Russian forces. The soldiers who had captured the barracks in Sarıkamish were also taken prisoner by the Russian soldiers besieging the barracks on morning of 30 December.