text:
Gupta Empire
India
Samudragupta
Western Kshatrapas
Indus River
Bengal
Narmada River
Prabhavatigupta
Vakataka
Faxian
Vikramaditya
Sanskrit
Kalidasa
Chandragupta I
Prabhavatigupta
Vakataka
IAST
Delhi iron pillar
see below
Vishnu Purana
Kosala
Odra
Tamralipta
Puri
Dasharatha Sharma
IAST
Supiya
Skandagupta
Samudragupta
Devichandraguptam
Ramagupta
Dhruvadevi
Shaka
Mathura
Gupta calendar era
Kushana
Kanishka
IAST
D. R. Bhandarkar
D. C. Sircar
Udayagiri
terai
Narmada River
Samudragupta
Kumaragupta I
Ashvamedha
Varanasi
Western Kshatrapas
Shakas
Allahabad Pillar
Samudragupta
Pataliputra
Rudrasimha III
Shaka year
Garuda
Devichandraguptam
Ramagupta
Dhruvadevi
Vikramaditya
Arabian Sea
Gujarat
iron pillar of Delhi
Vishnu
flagpole
Skandagupta
Kumaragupta I
Arabian Sea
Skandagupta
Vanga country
Indus
Vahlikas
Punjab region
Balkh
Sacred Rock of Hunza
Gupta script
Harishena
Sten Konow
mouths
Punjab
Jhelum
Ravi
Sutlej
Beas
Chenab
Kabul
Kunar
Gupta era
Shorkot
Kidarite
Bengal
Allahabad Pillar
Samudragupta
Samatata
Dhruvadevi
Kumaragupta I
Basarh
Govindagupta
Naga dynasty
Prabhavati-gupta
Vakataka
Rudrasena II
Deccan
Hermann Kulke
Dietmar Rothermund
Kadamba dynasty
Talagunda pillar inscription
Karnataka
Vikramaditya
Kalidasa
Kuntala
Gaya
Bodhisattva
Vidisha
ruler of Valkha
Gupta calendar era
Kalachuri calendar era
K. P. Jayaswal
Kalidasa
Navaratnas
Amarasimha
Dhanvantari
Varahamihira
Vararuchi
Vetala Bhatta
William Jones
A. B. Keith
Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi
Faxian
brigandage
Xuanzang
Mathura
corporal punishment
untouchable
Chandala
R. C. Majumdar
cowries
Pataliputra
Buddhas
Brahmanas
Vaishya
Vishnu
Bayana
discus
Udayagiri
Vaishnava
Gupta era
Shiva
Sanchi
Period of reign
Gadhwa stone inscription
Samudragupta
Kumaragupta I
Western Kshatrapas
Garuda
Brahmi
Vishnu
Udayagiri
ascetic
Vikramaditya
D. R. Bhandarkar
V. V. Mirashi
D. C. Sircar
Supia
Rashtrakuta
Govinda IV
Śaka
Malwa
Western Kshatrapas
Kushanas
Mathura
Vikrama Samvat
calendar era
Malava tribe
D. C. Sircar
D. R. Bhandarkar
Coins of Chandragupta II

categories: 4th-century Indian monarchs,5th-century Indian monarchs,Year of birth unknown,410s deaths,Gupta Empire

paragraph: Chandragupta II

paragraph: Chandragupta II (r. ), also known by his title Vikramaditya, was one of the most powerful emperors of the Gupta Empire in northern India.

paragraph: Chandragupta continued the expansionist policy of his father Samudragupta: historical evidence suggests that he defeated the Western Kshatrapas, and extended the Gupta empire from the Indus River in the west to the Bengal region in the east, and from the Himalayan foothills in the north to the Narmada River in the south. His daughter Prabhavatigupta was a queen of the southern Vakataka kingdom, and he may have had influence in the Vakataka territory during her regency.

paragraph: The Gupta empire reached its zenith during the rule of Chandragupta. Chinese pilgrim Faxian, who visited India during his reign, suggests that he ruled over a peaceful and prosperous kingdom. The legendary figure of Vikramaditya is probably based on Chandragupta II (among other kings), and the noted Sanskrit poet Kalidasa may have been his court poet.

paragraph: Section::::Names and titles.

paragraph: Chandragupta II was the second ruler of the dynasty to bear the name "Chandragupta", the first being his grandfather Chandragupta I. He was also simply known as "Chandra", as attested by his coins. The Sanchi inscription of his officer Amrakardava states that he was also known as Deva-raja. The records of his daughter Prabhavatigupta, issued as a Vakataka queen, call him Chandragupta as well as Deva-gupta. Deva-shri (IAST: Devaśri) is another variation of this name. The Delhi iron pillar inscription states that king Chandra was also known as "Dhava": if this king Chandra is identified with Chandragupta (see below), it appears that "Dhava" was another name for the king. Another possibility is that "dhava" is a mistake for a common noun "bhava", although this is unlikely, as the rest of the inscription does not contain any errors.

paragraph: A passage in the "Vishnu Purana" suggests that major parts of the eastern coast of India - Kosala, Odra, Tamralipta, and Puri - were ruled by the Devarakshitas around the same time as the Guptas. Since it seems unlikely that an obscure dynasty named Devarakshita was powerful enough to control substantial territory during the Gupta period, some scholars, such as Dasharatha Sharma, theorize that "Deva-rakshita" (IAST: Devarakṣita) was another name for Chandragupta II. Others, such as D. K. Ganguly, oppose this theory, arguing that this identification is quite arbitrary, and cannot be explained satisfactorily.

paragraph: Chandragupta assumed the titles "Bhattaraka" and "Maharajadhiraja", and bore the epithet "Apratiratha" ("having no equal or antagonist"). The Supiya stone pillar inscription, issued during the reign of his descendant Skandagupta, also calls him "Vikramaditya".

paragraph: Section::::Early life.

paragraph: Chandragupta was a son of Samudragupta and queen Dattadevi, as attested by his own inscriptions. According to the official Gupta genealogy, succeeded his father on the Gupta throne. The Sanskrit play "Devichandraguptam", combined with other evidence, suggests that he had an elder brother named Ramagupta, who preceded him on the throne. In the play, Ramagupta decides to surrender his queen Dhruvadevi to a Shaka enemy when besieged, but Chandragupta goes to the enemy camp disguised as the queen and kills the enemy. Sometime later, Chandragupta dethrones Ramagupta, and becomes the new king. The historicity of this narrative is debated among modern historians, with some believing it to be based on true historical events, while others dismissing it as a work of fiction.

paragraph: Section::::Period of reign.

paragraph: The Mathura pillar inscription of Chandragupta II (as well as some other Gupta inscriptions) mention two dates: several historians have assumed that one of these dates denotes the king's regnal year, while the other date denotes the year of the Gupta calendar era. However, more recently, Indologist Harry Falk (2004) has theorized that the date understood to be the regnal year by the earlier scholars is actually a date of the "kālānuvarttamāna" system. According to Falk, the "kālānuvarttamāna" system is a continuation of the Kushana calendar era established by emperor Kanishka, whose coronation Falk dates to 127 CE. The Kushana era restarts counting after a hundred years (e.g. the year after 100 is 1, not 101).

paragraph: The date portion of the Mathura inscription reads (in IAST):

paragraph: The letters before the words "kālānuvarttamāna-saṃvatsare" are abraded in the inscription, but historian D. R. Bhandarkar (1931-1932) reconstructed them as "gupta", and translated the term "gupta-kālānuvarttamāna-saṃvatsare" as "year following the Gupta era". He translated the entire sentence as:

paragraph: Historian D. C. Sircar (1942) restored the missing letters as "[paṃ]cāme" ("fifth"), and concluded that the inscription was dated to the Chandragupta's fifth regnal year. The missing letters have alternatively been read as "prathame" ("first"). According to these interpretations, the inscription is thus dated in year 61 of the Gupta era, and either the first or the fifth regnal year of Chandragupta. Assuming that the Gupta era starts around 319-320 CE, the beginning of Chandragupta's reign can be dated to either 376-377 CE or 380-381 CE.

paragraph: Falk agrees that the missing letters denote a numerical year, but dismisses Sircar's reading as "mere imagination", pointing out that the missing letters are "abraded beyond recovery". In support of his Kushana era theory, Falk presents four Gupta inscriptions (in chronological order) that mention the term "kālānuvarttamāna-saṃvatsare":

paragraph: Falk notes that the "dynastic year" in the table above appears to be a year of the Gupta era. The "kālānuvarttamāna" year cannot be regnal year, because Chandragupta I is not known to have ruled for as long as 61 years. If we assume "61" of the Mathura pillar inscription denotes a year of the Gupta era (as assumed by Bhandarkar, Sircar and other scholars), we must assume that "15" of the Buddhist image pedestal also denotes a year of the Gupta era: this is obviously incorrect, since Kumaragupta I ruled after Chandragupta II. Scholars K.K. Thaplyal and R.C. Sharma, who studied the Buddhist image pedestal inscription, speculated that the scribe had mistakenly interchanged the years 121 and 15, but Falk calls this assumption unnecessary.

paragraph: According to Falk, the discrepancy can be explained satisfactorily, if we assume that the "kālānuvarttamāna" era denotes a system that restarts counting after a hundred years. The Yaksha figure inscription is dated to year 112 of the Gupta era (c. 432 CE), which corresponds to the "kālānuvarttamāna" year 5. Thus, the "kālānuvarttamāna" era used during Kumaragupta's time must have started in 432-5 = 427 CE. The years mentioned in the Buddhist image pedestal inscription also suggests that the epoch of this era was c. 426-427 CE. Since the "kālānuvarttamāna" system restarts counting every 100 years, the "kālānuvarttamāna" era used during the reign of Chandragupta II must have started in 327 CE. Thus, the Mathura inscription can be dated to 327+61 = c. 388 CE. While Falk's theory does not change the Gupta chronology significantly, it implies that the date of the Mathura inscription cannot be used to determine the beginning of Chandragupta's reign.

paragraph: The Sanchi inscription, dated to 412-413 CE (year 93 of the Gupta era), is the last known dated inscription of Chandragupta. His son Kumaragupta was on the throne by the 415-416 CE (year 96 of the Gupta era), so Chandragupta's reign must have ended sometime during 412-415 CE.

paragraph: Section::::Military career.

paragraph: The Udayagiri inscription of Chandragupta's foreign minister Virasena suggests that the king had a distinguished military career. It states that he "bought the earth", paying for it with his prowess, and reduced the other kings to the status of slaves. His empire seems to have extended from the mouth of the Indus and northern Pakistan in the west to the Bengal region in the east, and from the Himalayan terai region in the north to the Narmada River in the south.

paragraph: Chandragupta's father Samudragupta and his son Kumaragupta I are known to have performed the Ashvamedha horse sacrifice to proclaim their military prowess. In the 20th century, the discovery of a stone image of a horse found near Varanasi, and the misreading of its inscription as "Chandramgu" (taken to be "Chandragupta"), led to speculation that Chandragupta also performed the Ashvamedha sacrifice. However, there is no actual evidence to support this theory.

paragraph: Section::::Military career.:Western Kshatrapas.

paragraph: Historical and literary evidence suggests that Chandragupta II achieved military successes against the Western Kshatrapas (also known as Shakas), who ruled in west-central India. The Allahabad Pillar inscription of Chandragupta's father Samudragupta names the "Shaka-Murundas" among the kings who tried to appease him. It may be possible that Samudragupta reduced the Shakas to a state of subordinate alliance, and Chandragupta completely subjugated them.

paragraph: Virasena's Udayagiri inscription describes him as a resident of Pataliputra, and states that he came to Udayagiri in Central India with the king who sought to "conquer the whole world". This indicates that Chandragupta had reached Udayagiri in central India during a military campaign. The theory that Chandragupta led an army to Central India is also corroborated by the c. 412-413 CE (Gupta year 93) Sanchi inscription of Amrakardava, who is said to have "acquired victory and fame in many battles and whose livelihood was secured by serving Chandragupta." A c. 401-402 CE (Gupta year 82) inscription of Chandragupta's feudatory "Maharaja" Sanakanika has also been discovered in Central India. The only important power to have ruled in this region during Chandragupta's period were the Western Kshatrapas, whose rule is attested by their distinct coinage. The coins issued by the Western Kshatrapa rulers abruptly come to end in the last decade of the 4th century. The coins of this type reappear in the second decade of the 5th century, and are dated in the Gupta era, which suggests that Chandragupta subjugated the Western Kshatrapas.

paragraph: The exact date of Chandragupta's victory is not known, but it can be tentatively dated to sometime between 397 and 409 CE. The last of the 4th century Kshatrapa coins - that of Rudrasimha III - can be dated to the Shaka year 310 or 319 (the coin legend is partially lost), that is 388 CE or 397 CE. Chandragupta's coins, dated to 409, are similar to the Kshtrapa coins, with the Shakas' Buddhist vihara symbol replaced by the Gupta symbol of Garuda.

paragraph: Literary evidence also corroborates Chandragupta's victory over the Western Kshatrapas. The Sanskrit play "Devichandraguptam", whose historicity is disputed, narrates that Chandragupta's elder brother Ramagupta agreed to surrender his queen Dhruvadevi to a Shaka chief when besieged, but Chandragupta went to the enemy camp disguised as the queen, and killed the Shaka chief. Chandragupta bore the title "Vikramaditya", and several Indian legends talk of king Vikramaditya who defeated the Shakas. Several modern scholars have theorized that these legends may be based on Chandragupta's victory over the Shakas.

paragraph: As a result of his victory over the Western Kshatrapas, Chandragupta must have extended his empire up to the Arabian Sea coast in present-day Gujarat.

paragraph: Section::::Military career.:Other military victories.

paragraph: The iron pillar of Delhi contains an inscription of a king called "Chandra". Modern scholars generally identify this king with Chandragupta II, although this cannot be said with complete certainty.

paragraph: While alternative identifications have been proposed, there is strong evidence for identifying Chandra of the iron pillar inscription as Chandragupta II:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Chandragupta's coins refer to him as "Chandra".

paragraph: BULLET::::- According to the iron pillar inscription, Chandra was a devotee of Vishnu. Chandragupta was also a Vaishnavite, and is described as a "Bhagvata" (devotee of Vishnu) in the Gupta records.

paragraph: BULLET::::- The iron pillar is said to have been set up by king Chandra in honour of Vishnu, on a hill named Vishnu-pada, but the king seems to have died shortly before the inscription was engraved, as the inscription states that "the king has quit the earth and gone to the other world". A similar Vishnu-"dhvaja" (flagpole in honour of Vishnu) was set up the Gupta emperor Skandagupta (a grandson of Chandragupta) after the death of his father Kumaragupta I.

paragraph: BULLET::::- According to his Udayagiri inscription, Chandragupta went on a "digvijaya" ("conquest of all quarters") campaign. He is known to have been a powerful sovereign emperor, and this fits in well with the iron pillar inscription's description of king Chandra as someone who "attained sole supreme sovereignty in the world acquired by his own arm and (enjoyed) for a very long time".

paragraph: BULLET::::- The iron pillar inscription states that the southern ocean is "perfumed by the breezes" of Chandra's prowess. This may be a reference to Chandragupta's extension of the Gupta rule to the Arabian Sea after his conquest of the Western Kshatrapa territory. Arabian Sea was located to the south of the Gupta empire, and thus, the term "southern ocean" is applicable to it in this context.

paragraph: BULLET::::- The iron pillar inscription states that "his name was Chandra and he was holding the glory of a full moon on his face". This is reminiscent of his descendant Skandagupta's Mandasaur inscription, which describes Chandragupta as "a moon in the galaxy of Gupta kings with the famous name Chandragupta".

paragraph: The iron pillar inscription credits Chandra with the following victories:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Defeated an alliance of enemies in the Vanga country

paragraph: BULLET::::- Crossed the "seven faces" of the river Sindhu (Indus) during a war, and defeated the Vahlikas.

paragraph: Section::::Military career.:Other military victories.:Punjab region.

paragraph: If Chandra is identified with Chandragupta, it appears that Chandragupta marched through the Punjab region, and advanced up to the country of the Vahlikas, that is, Balkh in present-day Afghanistan. Some short Sanskrit inscriptions at the Sacred Rock of Hunza (in present-day Pakistan), written in Gupta script, mention the name Chandra. A few of these inscriptions also mention the name Harishena, and one particular inscription mentions Chandra with the epithet "Vikramaditya". Based on the identification of "Chandra" with Chandragupta, and Harishena with the Gupta courtier Harishena, these inscriptions can be considered as further evidence of a Gupta military campaign in the area. However, this identification is not certain, and Chandra of the Hunza inscriptions could have well been a local ruler.

paragraph: According to Sten Konow, the term "seven faces", mentioned in the iron pillar inscription, refers to the seven mouths of Indus. Historians R. C. Majumdar and K. P. Jayaswal, on the other hand, believe that the term refers to the tributaries of Indus: the five rivers of Punjab (Jhelum, Ravi, Sutlej, Beas, and Chenab), plus possibly the Kabul and the Kunar rivers.

paragraph: It is quite possible that Chandragupta passed through the Punjab region during this campaign: his political influence in this region is attested to by the use of the Gupta era in an inscription found at Shorkot, and by some coins bearing the name "Chandragupta". However, there is no evidence that Chandragupta annexed Punjab to the Gupta Empire, which suggests that Chandragupta's victory in this region was not a decisive one. There is little evidence of Gupta influence in Punjab after his reign: numismatic evidnece suggests that Punjab was ruled by petty chieftains after his death. These chieftains bore Indian names, but issued coins that imitate the Kidarite coinage: they may have been Hinduized foreigners or Indians continuing the usage of foreign-style coinage.

paragraph: Section::::Military career.:Other military victories.:Bengal region.

paragraph: The identification of Chandra with Chandragupta II also suggests Chandragupta achieved victories in the Vanga area in the present-day Bengal region. According to the Allahabad Pillar inscription of his father Samudragupta, the Samatata kingdom of the Bengal region was a Gupta tributary. The Guptas are known to have been ruling Bengal in the early 6th century CE, although there are no surviving records of the Gupta presence in this region for the intervening period.

paragraph: It is possible that a large part of the Bengal region was annexed to the Gupta empire by Chandragupta, and that this control continued into the 6th century. The Delhi iron pillar inscription suggests that an alliance of semi-independent chiefs of Bengal unsuccessfully resisted Chandragupta's attempts to extend the Gupta influence in this region.

paragraph: Section::::Personal life and matrimonial alliances.

paragraph: Gupta records mention Dhruvadevi as Chandragupta's queen, and the mother of his successor Kumaragupta I. The Basarh clay seal mentions Dhruva-svamini as a queen of Chandragupta, and the mother of Govindagupta. It is unlikely that Chandragupta had two different queens with similar names: it appears that Dhruvasvamini was most probably another name for Dhruvadevi, and that Govindagupta was a uterine brother of Kumaragupta.

paragraph: Chandragupta also married Kuvera-naga (alias Kuberanaga), whose name indicates that she was a princess of the Naga dynasty, which held considerable power in central India before Samudragupta subjugated them. This matrimonial alliance may have helped Chandragupta consolidate the Gupta empire, and the Nagas may have helped him in his war against the Western Kshatrapas.

paragraph: Prabhavati-gupta, the daughter of Chandragupta and Kuvera-naga, married the Vakataka king Rudrasena II, who ruled in the Deccan region to the south of the Gupta empire. After her husband's death in c. 390, Prabhavati-gupta acted as a regent for her minor sons. In the two copper-plate inscriptions issued during her regency, the names of her Gupta ancestors with their imperial titles appear before the name of the Vakataka king with the lesser title "Maharaja". This suggests that the Gupta court may have had influence in the Vakataka administration during her regency. Historians Hermann Kulke and Dietmar Rothermund believe that the Vakataka kingdom was "practically part of the Gupta empire" during her 20-year long regency. The Vakatakas may have supported Chandragupta during his conflict with the Western Kshatrapas.

paragraph: The Guptas also appear to have entered into a matrimonial alliance with the Kadamba dynasty, the southern neighbours of the Vakatakas. The Talagunda pillar inscription suggests that the daughters of the Kadamba king Kakusthavarman, married into other royal families, including that of the Guptas. While Kakusthavarman was a contemporary of Chandragupta's son Kumaragupta I, it is noteworthy that some medieval chiefs of present-day Karnataka (where the Kadambas ruled) claimed descent from Chandragupta. According to the Vikramaditya legends, emperor Vikramaditya (a character believed to be based on Chandragupta) sent his court poet Kalidasa as an ambassador to the lord of Kuntala. While the Kuntala king referred to in this legend has been identified by some scholars with a Vakataka king, it is more likely that he was a Kadamba king, because the Vakataka king did not rule over Kuntala, and was never called the lord of Kuntala.

paragraph: Section::::Administration.

paragraph: Several feudatories of Chandragupta are known from historical records:

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Maharaja" Sanakanika, a feudatory known from the Udayagiri inscription that records his construction of a Vaishnava temple.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Maharaja" Trikamala, a feudatory known from a Gaya inscription engraved on a Bodhisattva image

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Maharaja" Shri Vishvamitra Svami, a feudaotry known from a seal found at Vidisha

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Maharaja" Svamidasa, the ruler of Valkha, was also probably a Gupta feudatory if we assume that his inscription is dated in the Gupta calendar era; according to another theory, his inscription is dated in the Kalachuri calendar era.

paragraph: The following ministers and officers of Chandragupta are known from various historical records:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Vira-sena, foreign minister, known from the Udayagiri inscription recording his construction of a Shiva temple

paragraph: BULLET::::- Amrakardava, a military officer, known from the Sanchi inscription recording his donations to the local Buddhist monastery

paragraph: BULLET::::- Shikhara-svami, a minister; according to historian K. P. Jayaswal's theory, he was the author of the political treatise "Kamandakiya Niti"

paragraph: Section::::Administration.:Navaratnas.

paragraph: "Jyotirvidabharana" (22.10), a treatise attributed to Kalidasa, states that nine famous scholars known as the Navaratnas ("nine gems") attended the court of the legendary Vikramaditya. Besides Kalidasa himself, these included Amarasimha, Dhanvantari, Ghatakarapara, Kshapanaka, Shanku, Varahamihira, Vararuchi, and Vetala Bhatta. However, there is no historical evidence to show that these nine scholars were contemporary figures or proteges of the same king. "Jyotirvidabharana" is considered a literary forgery of a date later than Kalidasa by multiple scholars. There is no mention of such "Navaratnas" in earlier literature, and D. C. Sircar calls this tradition "absolutely worthless for historical purposes".

paragraph: Nevertheless, multiple scholars believe that one of these Navaratnas – Kalidasa – may have indeed flourished during the reign of Chandragupta II. These scholars include William Jones, A. B. Keith, and Vasudev Vishnu Mirashi among others. It is possible that Kalidasa was a court poet of Chandragupta.

paragraph: Section::::Faxian's visit.

paragraph: Chinese pilgrim Faxian visited India during the reign of Chandragupta, and spent around six years in the Gupta kingdom. He was mostly interested in Buddhist religious affairs, and did not bother to record the name of the reigning king. His account presents an idealized picture of the Gupta administration, and not everything he states can be taken at face value. However, his description of the kingdom as a peaceful and prosperous one seems to be generally true, attested by the fact that he did not face any brigandage unlike the later Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang.

paragraph: Faxian describes Madhya-desha ("Middle Kingdom"), the region to the south-east of Mathura, as a populous region with good climate and happy people. He mentions that the citizens were not required to "register their households or attend to any magistrates and their rules". Faxian mentions that repeated rebels had their hands cut off by the king's administration, but otherwise, there was no corporal punishment for crimes: the criminals were only fined, heavily or lightly, according to the severity of the crime. According to Faxian, the king's bodyguards and attendants all received salaries.

paragraph: Faxian mentions that except than the untouchable Chandalas, the people did not consume meat, intoxicating drinks, onions or garlic. The Chandalas lived apart from other people, and struck a piece of wood to announce their presence when they entered a city or a marketplace: this would enable other people to avoid contact with them. Only the Chandalas engaged in the fisheries and hunting, and sold meat. In the general markets, there were no butchers' shops or alcohol dealers, and the people did not keep pigs or fowl. According to historian R. C. Majumdar, Faxian's observations about the people's food habits seem to have been based on his contact with the Buddhist religious community, and may not be applicable to the general public.

paragraph: Faxian mentions that the people used cowries for buying and selling goods.

paragraph: Faxian mentions the Pataliputra region as the most prosperous part of the Middle Kingdom, describing its people as benevolent and righteous. He describes an annual Buddhist celebration, which involved a procession of 20 grand carts of Buddhas, the Brahmanas's invitation to the Buddhas to enter the city, and music performances. He mentions that in the cities, the Vaishya chiefs had established centers for dispensing charity and medical help to the destitute. These centres attracted the poor, the orphans, the widowers, the childless, the handicapped, and the sick, who were examined by doctors and given food and medicine until they got better.

paragraph: Section::::Religion.

paragraph: Many gold and silver coins of Chandragupta, as well the inscriptions issued by him and his successors, describe him as a "parama-bhagvata", that is, a devotee of the god Vishnu. One of his gold coins, discovered at Bayana, calls him "chakra-vikramah", literally, "[one who is] powerful [due to his possession of the] discus", and shows him receiving a discus from Vishnu.

paragraph: An Udayagiri inscription records the construction of a Vaishnava cave temple by Chandragupta's feudatory "Maharaja" Sanakanika, in year 82 of the Gupta era (c. 401-402 CE).

paragraph: Chandragupta was also tolerant of other faiths. The Udayagiri inscription of Chandragupta's foreign minister Virasena records the construction of a temple dedicated to the god Shambhu (Shiva). An inscription found at Sanchi near Udayagiri records donations to the local Buddhist monastery by his military officer Amrakardava, in year 93 of the Gupta era (c. 412-413 CE).

paragraph: Section::::Inscriptions.

paragraph: The following inscriptions of Chandragupta have been discovered:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Mathura pillar inscription, dated to the year 61 of the Gupta era. The date has been interpreted as c. 380-381 CE by earlier scholars, but Harry Falk (2004) dates it to 388 CE (see Period of reign section above).

paragraph: BULLET::::- Mathura pillar inscription, undated

paragraph: BULLET::::- Udayagiri cave inscription, dated to the year 82 of the Gupta era

paragraph: BULLET::::- Udayagiri cave inscription, undated

paragraph: BULLET::::- Gadhwa stone inscription, dated to the year 88 of the Gupta era

paragraph: BULLET::::- Sanchi stone inscription, dated to the year 93 of the Gupta era

paragraph: BULLET::::- Mehrauli iron pillar inscription, undated

paragraph: Section::::Coinage.

paragraph: Chandragupta continued issuing most of the gold coin types introduced by his father Samudragupta, such as the Sceptre type (rare for Chandragupta II), the Archer type, and the Tiger-Slayer type. However, Chandragupta II also introduced several new types, such as the Horseman type and the Lion-slayer type, both of which were used by his son Kumaragupta I.

paragraph: Chandragupta's various gold coins depict his martial spirit or peacetime pursuits.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Lion-slayer type

paragraph: BULLET::::- Couch-and-flower type

paragraph: BULLET::::- Rider type

paragraph: In addition, Chandragupta II was the first Gupta king to issue silver coins. These coins were intended to replace the silver coinage of the Western Kshatrapas after Chandragupta II defeated them, and were modelled on the Kshatrapa coinage. The main difference was to replace the dynastic symbol of the Kshatrapas (the three-arched hill) by the dynastic symbol of the Guptas (the mythic eagle Garuda). The obverse of these coins depicts a bust of the king, with corrupted Greek legend "OOIHU". The reverse features the Brahmi script legend "Chandragupta Vikramaditya, King of Kings, and a devotee of Vishnu", around Garuda, the mythic eagle and dynastic symbol of the Guptas.

paragraph: Section::::Personality.

paragraph: The Udayagiri inscription of Virasena describes Chandragupta as a "king of kings" as well as an ascetic "rajadhirajarshi", and declares that his activities were "beyond comprehension".

paragraph: Section::::Identification with the legendary Vikramaditya.

paragraph: Vikramaditya is a legendary emperor of ancient India, who is characterised as the ideal king, known for his generosity, courage, and patronage to scholars. A number of historians believe that at least some of the Vikramaditya legends are based on Chandragupta II. These historians include D. R. Bhandarkar, V. V. Mirashi and D. C. Sircar among others.

paragraph: Based on some coins and the Supia pillar inscription, it is believed that Chandragupta II adopted the title "Vikramaditya". The Khambat and Sangli plates of the Rashtrakuta king Govinda IV use the epithet "Sahasanka" for Chandragupta II. The name "Sahasanka" has also been applied to the legendary Vikramaditya.

paragraph: The legendary Vikramaditya is said to have defeated the Śaka invaders, and was therefore, known as Śakari ("enemy of the Śakas). Chandragupta II conquered Malwa after defeating the Western Kshatrapas (a branch of Śakas); he also expelled the Kushanas from Mathura. His victory over these foreign tribes was probably transposed on upon a fictional character, resulting in the Vikramaditya legends.

paragraph: According to most legends, Vikramaditya had his capital at Ujjain, although some legends mention him as the king of Pataliputra. The Guptas had their capital at Pataliputra. According to D. C. Sircar, Chandragupta II may have defeated the Shaka invaders of Ujjain, and placed his son Govindagupta as a viceroy there. As a result, Ujjain might have become a second capital of the Gupta empire, and subsequently, legends about him (as Vikramaditya) might have developed. Guttas of Guttavalal, a minor dynasty based in present-day Karnataka, claimed descent from the imperial Guptas. The Caudadanapura inscription of the Guttas alludes to the legendary Vikramaditya ruling from Ujjayni, and several Gutta royals were named "Vikramaditya". According to Vasundhara Filliozat, their reference to the legendary Vikramaditya is simply because they confused him with Chandragupta II. However, D. C. Sircar sees this as further proof that the legendary Vikramaditya was based on Chandragupta II.

paragraph: Section::::Identification with the legendary Vikramaditya.:Vikram Samvat.

paragraph: Vikrama Samvat, an Indian calendar era beginning in 57 BCE, is associated with the legendary Vikramaditya. However, this association did not exist before 9th century CE. The earlier sources call this era by various names, including "Kṛṭa", "the era of the Malava tribe", or simply, "Samvat". Scholars such as D. C. Sircar and D. R. Bhandarkar believe that the name of the era changed to "Vikram Samvat" after the reign of Chandragupta II, who had adopted the title "Vikramaditya".

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Coins of Chandragupta II

wikidata_label: Chandragupta II

wikipedia_title: Chandragupta II


text: "chanoyu," the Japanese "Way of Tea"

text: wabi-cha

text: Sengoku period

text: Azuchi–Momoyama period

text: iemoto

text: sōke

text: Omotesenke

text: Urasenke

text: Mushakōjisenke

text: Sakai

text: Osaka Prefecture

text: Takeno Jōō

text: wabi

text: Rinzai Zen

text: Zen

text: Daitoku-ji

text: Oda Nobunaga

text: Toyotomi Hideyoshi

text: Emperor Ōgimachi

text: Grand Kitano Tea Ceremony

text: Kitano Tenman-gū

text: tea rooms

text: tatami

text: Tai-an

text: National Treasure

text: implements for tea ceremony

text: Raku

text: teabowls

text: Chōjirō

text: wabi-sabi

text: Yamanoue Sōji

text: Furuta Oribe

text: Nanpō roku

text: Sen Dōan

text: Sen Shōan

text: schools of Japanese tea ceremony

text: ikebana

text: Chishaku-in

text: ritual suicide

text: Siege of Odawara (1590)

text: Yamanoue Sōji

text: Jurakudai

text: Kyoto

text: lunar calendar

text: Gregorian calendar

text: Okakura Kakuzō

text: The Book of Tea

text: kakemono

text: death poem

text: Fushimi

text: Daitoku-ji

text: schools of Japanese tea ceremony

text: Rikyu

text: Hiroshi Teshigahara

text: Sengoku period

text: Death of a Tea Master

text: drama film

text: Kei Kumai

text: Toshiro Mifune

text: 43rd Venice International Film Festival

text: Silver Lion

text: Hyouge Mono

text: manga

text: anime

text: Flower and Sword

text: Tetsuo Shinohara

text: Kōichi Satō

text: Sen Shōan

text: Sen Sōtan

text: Schools of Japanese tea ceremony

text: Bodart-Bailey, Beatrice

text: OCLC 469293854

text: Sansom, George Bailey

text: OCLC 216583509

categories: Japanese tea masters,Seppuku,1522 births,1591 deaths,People from Sakai, Osaka,Chadō,Suicides by sharp instrument in Japan

paragraph: Sen no Rikyū

paragraph: , also known simply as Rikyū, is considered the historical figure with the most profound influence on "chanoyu," the Japanese "Way of Tea", particularly the tradition of "wabi-cha". He was also the first to emphasize several key aspects of the ceremony, including rustic simplicity, directness of approach and honesty of self. Originating from the Sengoku period and the Azuchi–Momoyama period, these aspects of the tea ceremony persist. Rikyū is known by many names; for consistency, he will be referred to as Rikyū in this article.

paragraph: There are three "iemoto" ("sōke"), or "head houses", of the Japanese Way of Tea, that are directly descended from Rikyū: the Omotesenke, Urasenke, and Mushakōjisenke, all three of which are dedicated to passing forward the teachings of their mutual family founder, Rikyū.

paragraph: Section::::Early life.

paragraph: Rikyū was born in Sakai in present-day Osaka Prefecture. His father was a warehouse owner named , who later in life also used the family name Sen, and his mother was . His childhood name was Yoshiro.

paragraph: As a young man, Rikyū studied tea under the townsman of Sakai named Kitamuki Dōchin (1504–62), and at nineteen, through Dōchin's introduction, he began to study tea under Takeno Jōō, who is also associated with the development of the wabi aesthetic in tea ceremony. He is believed to have received the Buddhist name from the Rinzai Zen priest Dairin Sōtō (1480–1568) of Nanshūji temple in Sakai. He married a woman known as Hōshin Myōju (d. 1577) around when he was twenty-one. Rikyū also underwent Zen training at Daitoku-ji temple in Kyoto. Not much is known about his middle years.

paragraph: Section::::Later years.

paragraph: In 1579, at the age of 58, Rikyū became a tea master for Oda Nobunaga and, following Nobunaga's death in 1582, he was a tea master for Toyotomi Hideyoshi. His relationship with Hideyoshi quickly deepened, and he entered Hideyoshi's circle of confidants, effectively becoming the most influential figure in the world of chanoyu. In 1585, because he needed extra credentials in order to enter the Imperial Palace so that he could help at a tea gathering that would be given by Hideyoshi for Emperor Ōgimachi and held at the Imperial Palace, the emperor bestowed upon him the Buddhist lay name and title . Another major chanoyu event of Hideyoshi's that Rikyū played a central role in was the Grand Kitano Tea Ceremony, held by Hideyoshi at the Kitano Tenman-gū in 1587.

paragraph: It was during his later years that Rikyū began to use very tiny, rustic tea rooms referred as "sō-an" ("grass hermitage"), such as the two-tatami mat tea room named Tai-an, which can be seen today at Myōki-an temple in Yamazaki, a suburb of Kyoto, and which is credited to his design. This tea room has been designated as a National Treasure. He also developed many implements for tea ceremony, including flower containers, teascoops, and lid rests made of bamboo, and also used everyday objects for tea ceremony, often in novel ways.

paragraph: Raku teabowls were originated through his collaboration with a tile-maker named Raku Chōjirō. Rikyū had a preference for simple, rustic items made in Japan, rather than the expensive Chinese-made items that were fashionable at the time. Though not the inventor of the philosophy of "wabi-sabi", which finds beauty in the very simple, Rikyū is among those most responsible for popularizing it, developing it, and incorporating it into tea ceremony. He created a new form of tea ceremony using very simple instruments and surroundings. This and his other beliefs and teachings came to be known as "sōan-cha" (the grass-thatched hermitage style of chanoyu), or more generally, "wabi-cha". This line of chanoyu that his descendants and followers carried on was recognized as the .

paragraph: A writer and poet, the tea master referred to the ware and its relationship with the tea ceremony, saying, "Though you wipe your hands and brush off the dust and dirt from the vessels, what is the use of all this fuss if the heart is still impure?"

paragraph: Two of his primary disciples were Nanbō Sōkei (南坊宗啓; dates unknown), a somewhat legendary Zen priest; and Yamanoue Sōji (1544–90), a townsman of Sakai. Another was Furuta Oribe (1544-1615), who became a celebrated tea master after Rikyū's death. Nanbō is credited as the original author of the "Nanpō roku", a record of Rikyū's teachings. There is, however, some debate as to whether Nanbō even existed, and some scholars theorize that his writings were actually by samurai litterateur Tachibana Jitsuzan (1655-1708), who claimed to have found and transcribed these texts. Yamanoue's chronicle, the "Yamanoue Sōji ki" (山上宗二記), gives commentary about Rikyū's teachings and the state of chanoyu at the time of its writing.

paragraph: Rikyū had a number of children, including a son known in history as Sen Dōan, and daughter known as Okame. This daughter became the bride of Rikyū's second wife's son by a previous marriage, known in history as Sen Shōan. Due to many complex circumstances, Sen Shōan, rather than Rikyū's legitimate heir, Dōan, became the person counted as the 2nd generation in the Sen-family's tradition of chanoyu (see "san-Senke" at schools of Japanese tea ceremony).

paragraph: Rikyū also wrote poetry, and practiced "ikebana".flowers for chanoyu are not called ikebana; need verification about him practicing ikebana

paragraph: One of his favourite gardens was said to be at Chishaku-in in Kyoto.

paragraph: Section::::Death.

paragraph: Although Rikyū had been one of Hideyoshi's closest confidants, because of crucial differences of opinion and because he was too independent, Hideyoshi ordered him to commit ritual suicide. One year earlier after the Siege of Odawara (1590), his famous disciple Yamanoue Sōji was tortured and decapitated on Hideyoshi's orders. While Hideyoshi's reason may never be known for certain, it is known that Rikyū committed "seppuku" at his residence within Hideyoshi's Jurakudai villa in Kyoto in 1591 on the 28th day of the 2nd month (of the traditional Japanese lunar calendar; or April 21 when calculated according to the modern Gregorian calendar), at the age of seventy.

paragraph: According to Okakura Kakuzō in "The Book of Tea", Rikyū's last act was to hold an exquisite tea ceremony. After serving all his guests, he presented each piece of the tea-equipage for their inspection, along with an exquisite "kakemono", which Okakura described as "a wonderful writing by an ancient monk dealing with the evanescence of all things". Rikyū presented each of his guests with a piece of the equipment as a souvenir, with the exception of the bowl, which he shattered, as he uttered the words: "Never again shall this cup, polluted by the lips of misfortune, be used by man." As the guests departed, one remained to serve as witness to Rikyū's death. Rikyū's last words, which he wrote down as a death poem, were in verse, addressed to the dagger with which he took his own life:

paragraph: When Hideyoshi was building his lavish residence at Fushimi the following year, he remarked that he wished its construction and decoration to be pleasing to Rikyū. Hideyoshi was known for his temper, and is said to have expressed regret at his treatment of Rikyū.

paragraph: Rikyū's grave is located at Jukōin temple in the Daitoku-ji compound in Kyoto; his posthumous Buddhist name is Fushin'an Rikyū Sōeki Koji.

paragraph: Memorials for Rikyū are observed annually by many schools of Japanese tea ceremony. The Omotesenke school's annual memorial takes place at the family's headquarters each year on March 27, and the Urasenke school's takes place at its own family's headquarters each year on March 28. The three Sen families (Omotesenke, Urasenke, Mushakōjisenke) take turns holding a memorial service on the 28th of every month, at their mutual family temple, the subsidiary temple Jukōin at Daitoku-ji temple.

paragraph: Section::::In popular culture.

paragraph: "Rikyu" (利休 "Rikyū", 1989) is Hiroshi Teshigahara's film about the master. The film focuses on the late stages of life of Rikyū, during the highly turbulent Sengoku period of feudal Japan. The film won a number of awards.

paragraph: "Death of a Tea Master" (千利休 本覺坊遺文, "Sen no Rikyu: Honkakubô ibun" also known as "Sen no Rikyū: Honkakubo's Student Writings") is a 1989 biographical drama film directed by Kei Kumai with Toshiro Mifune as the lead character. It is based on the events surrounding his ritual suicide. It was entered into the main competition at the 43rd Venice International Film Festival, in which it won the Silver Lion.

paragraph: "Hyouge Mono" (へうげもの "Hyōge Mono", "Jocular Fellow") is a Japanese "manga" written and illustrated by Yoshihiro Yamada. It was adapted into an "anime" series in 2011, and is a fictional depiction of Sen no Rikyū's life.

paragraph: Sen no Rikyū is one of the main characters in "Flower and Sword" (花戦さ "Hana Ikusa"), a 2017 tragicomical movie by "Tetsuo Shinohara". The role of Rikyū is performed by " Kōichi Satō".

paragraph: Section::::See also.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Sen Shōan

paragraph: BULLET::::- Sen Sōtan

paragraph: BULLET::::- Schools of Japanese tea ceremony

paragraph: Section::::References.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Bodart-Bailey, Beatrice. (1977). "Tea and counsel, the political rele of Sen Rikyū." OCLC 469293854

paragraph: BULLET::::- Sansom, George Bailey. (1961). "A History of Japan: 1334-1615." London: Cresset Press. OCLC 216583509

paragraph: Section::::Further reading.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Tanaka, Seno, Tanaka, Sendo, Reischauer, Edwin O. “The Tea Ceremony”, Kodansha International; Revised edition, May 1, 2000. , .

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Momoyama, Japanese Art in the Age of Grandeur, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Sen no Rikyū

paragraph: BULLET::::- Turning point : Oribe and the arts of sixteenth-century Japan, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Sen no Rikyū

alias:
Sen no Rikyû
Rikyû Sen
Rikyū Sen
Sen no Rikyu
Rikyu Sen
Sen no Rikyuu

description: Japanese tea master

wikidata_label: Sen no Rikyū

wikipedia_title: Sen no Rikyū


text:
Barnett Bank
U.S. state
Florida
NationsBank
Hiawatha, Kansas
University of Kansas
neuralgia
Yankee
Duval County
National Bank Act
Burroughs Adding Machine
phosphate
Great Fire of 1901
Barnett National Bank Building
Great Depression
Florida National Bank
stock market crash in 1929
bank run
Madeleine L'Engle
Mason
Knights Templar
Florida Yacht Club
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks

categories: 1857 births,People from Jacksonville, Florida,People from Hiawatha, Kansas,American financial company founders,Bank of America people,American centenarians,University of Kansas alumni,American bankers,Bookkeepers,1958 deaths

paragraph: Bion Barnett

paragraph: Bion Hall Barnett (October 7, 1857 – October 30, 1958) was an American banker. In 1877 he co-founded Barnett Bank, known as ""Florida's Bank"", the largest in the U.S. state of Florida at the time of its acquisition by NationsBank in 1997.

paragraph: Section::::Early years.

paragraph: He was born in Hiawatha, Kansas, the son of William Boyd Barnett and the former Sarah Jane Blue.

paragraph: His father was a merchant and a banker in northeast Kansas.

paragraph: Bion was the younger of two children who lived to adulthood. His older brother Will was five years older than he, and moved from Kansas to Jacksonville, Florida to start a furniture business in 1874, just as Bion enrolled at the University of Kansas. Will spoke highly of Florida's moderate winter, so the following year, his parents journeyed to Jacksonville to visit their oldest son. Sarah Barnett suffered from neuralgia, but her health improved during their time in Florida, so the Barnetts returned to Kansas, liquidated their assets, and relocated to Jacksonville in March 1877. Bion, who was a college senior, withdrew from school to join his parents three months before graduation.

paragraph: Section::::Bank of Jacksonville.

paragraph: On May 7, 1877, Barnett opened the "Bank of Jacksonville" on the corner of Main and Forsyth with $43,000 in capital. William was president, Bion acted as bookkeeper, and one other person was hired as teller/clerk. Most Florida banks at the time were private and unregulated. In spite of being a newcomer and a Yankee, Barnett and the new institution slowly gained the people's trust, but at the end of their first year, and deposits only amounted to $11,000. Undeterred, William invited Bion to be partner.

paragraph: Section::::Bank of Jacksonville.:Fate.

paragraph: A conversation between Bion Barnett and Henry L'Engle changed the bank's fortunes. L'Engle, the Duval County Tax Collector, was annoyed because the bank holding the county's funds charged $6.25 for each transfer to New York City banks. Bion offered to waive the fee if Duval County deposited their funds in the Bank of Jacksonville. L'Engle agreed, and the BoJ began to prosper. Within a year, L'Engle was appointed Treasurer for the State of Florida, and the state's accounts were transferred to BoJ. Within a few years, operating capital exceeded $150,000, and in 1888, the Barnetts applied for and received a "National Charter", pursuant to the National Bank Act. This allowed them to become the "National Bank of Jacksonville". The institution's deposits exceeded $1 million in 1893. Florida's first Burroughs Adding Machine was installed at the bank during this time.

paragraph: Section::::Bank of Jacksonville.:Experience.

paragraph: Around 1890, Bion invested $3,000 in a phosphate mining enterprise that promised a return of $100,000 in three months time. When he lost the entire amount, he never again speculated, and applied that same principle at Barnett Bank. He was fond of telling people, "It is not the things you don't know that get you in trouble. It is the things you think you know for sure that get you in trouble."

paragraph: On Barnett Banks 50th anniversary in 1927, Bion repeated his father's Five Rules of Business:

paragraph: Section::::Bank of Jacksonville.:20th century.

paragraph: The Great Fire of 1901 destroyed most of the city, and the National Bank of Jacksonville was the only bank still standing. When Bion's father died on October 21, 1903, Bion became president and resolved to rename the institution in his father's honor. The bank was rechartered as the "Barnett National Bank of Jacksonville" in 1908.

paragraph: For their 50th anniversary, the bank built and moved into the 18-story Barnett National Bank Building, the tallest structure in Jacksonville from 1926 to 1954. Bion Barnett commented "that the family-owned institution had endured epidemics, fire, freezes, and financial panics".

paragraph: Section::::Bank of Jacksonville.:Depression.

paragraph: Just two years later, the bank experienced the Great Depression and Barnett tried unsuccessfully to merge with Florida National Bank.

paragraph: Baker, Fentress & Company owned Consolidated Naval Stores in Jacksonville and purchased a sizable quantity of Barnett stock. The infusion of capital left the bank stronger, but ended complete family control of the institution.

paragraph: A bank holding company was begun after the stock market crash in 1929, and "Barnett National Securities Corporation" purchased and reopened several failed banks. The day before a bank holiday on March 5, 1933, Barnett expected a bank run. To prevent this, Bion directed the bank's personnel to pull all small denomination bills from the vault, and leave the $50s, $100s, $500s and $1,000 bills. Tellers were instructed to slowly count each withdrawal. Those at the end of the line saw their friends and neighbors leave the bank carrying large stacks of bills, which prompted many customers to regain confidence and leave without their money.

paragraph: The bank continued to grow with the acquisition of many more Florida banks over the next two decades.

paragraph: Section::::Personal.

paragraph: Barnett married Carolina Hallowes L'Engle on April 8, 1880 and the union produced four children: Madeline, William L'Engle, Bion Hall, Jr., and Donald Murray.

paragraph: Barnett kept a home in France, and stayed there for extended visits. He also enjoyed golfing in Scotland.

paragraph: He was the grandfather of author Madeleine L'Engle, Yvonne West, Caroline B. Bryan, and Claudia Gordon.

paragraph: Sometime before 1910, Bion Barnett and Carolina L'Engle Barnett were divorced. In 1910, he married Mrs. Anna Hardy Bell Daniel, the daughter of Dr. Alexander Taylor Bell of Baltimore, Maryland. Anna was born in Norfolk, Virginia on 6 May 1867. Bion and Anna made their home in North Berwick, Scotland, where they renovated a property known as Gribdae. Between 1910 and 1937 when Anna died, Bion Barnett made 29 transatlantic crossings and Anna made 19. Applications for passport renewals were usually made at the United States Consulate in Scotland. At the time of her death, Anna Barnett was living in Monte Carlo, Monaco in a villa named La Biondella. Her obituary in the Jacksonville, Florida Times-Union stated that her husband was with her at the time of her death. Anna Barnett had two daughters with her first husband, Richard Bowen Daniel from whom she was divorced in 1906-1907. Richard Daniel was the son of Dr. Richard Potts Daniel and Isabel Mary Fernandez.

paragraph: Section::::Public service.

paragraph: Beginning in the late 19th century, Jacksonville's "Board of Bond Trustees" controlled most government operations, including the municipal electric plant, the city water and sewer departments, the fire and police departments, and hired all city employees except elected officials. Barnett was a member or chairman of the board from October 1896 to March 1911 when he resigned.

paragraph: He was a prominent Mason; treasurer of Damascus Commandry, Knights Templar; a member of the Seminole Club, the Florida Yacht Club, the Florida Country Club and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

paragraph: Section::::Retirement.

paragraph: Barnett retired from the board of Barnett Bank with 75 years of service in 1952 at the age of 94 and was named honorary chairman. Every evening thereafter, a courier delivered the bank's daily business report, which he studied while sipping a bourbon, followed by a cigar. Bion died in 1958 at age 101.

description: American banker

wikidata_label: Bion Barnett

wikipedia_title: Bion Barnett


text:
Semnan
Iran
Muhammad
Hussain
Ruknuddin Ala ul Daula Semnani
Ala ul Haq Pandwi
Mir Syed Ali Hamdani
Hafiz shirazi
Bande Nawaz
Sultan Walad
Ambedkar Nagar
Uttar Pradesh
urs
Muharram
Ala ud-Daula Simnani
Alaul Haq Pandavi
Ashrafia
Sufi Saints of South Asia
Wahab Ashrafi

categories: Sufi mystics,People from Ambedkar Nagar district,Chishti Order,People from Semnan, Iran,Sufi teachers,Sufi poets,1308 births,Sufi writers,Indian Sufi saints,1405 deaths

paragraph: Ashraf Jahangir Semnani

paragraph: Ashraf Jahangir Semnani (; 1285–1386 CE) Sultan Syed Makhdoom Ashraf Jihangir Semnani was a sufi saint born in the year 1285 A.D in Semnan, Iran.

paragraph: His father Sultan Ibrahim Noorbakshi was the king of Semnan. He traced his lineage to Muhammad through his grandson Imam Hussain. His mother Bibi Khadija was a descendant of the Turkish Sufi saint Khwaja Ahmed Yasawi.

paragraph: Section::::Early Life.

paragraph: After the demise of his father he was made the king at the age of 17.He was always inclined towards sufism and always kept company of the sufis of his time most notably Ruknuddin Ala ul Daula Semnani.

paragraph: At the age of 23 he abdicated his throne to his brother Sultan Sayyid Muhammad also sought permission from his mother and set on his journey to meet his master Ala ul Haq Pandwi in Bengal.

paragraph: Section::::Travels.

paragraph: He travelled in South India to Gulbarga and then to Sarandib and he also visited Mecca and Madinah.

paragraph: Section::::Meeting with other Sufis.

paragraph: While on his travels he met , Mir Syed Ali Hamdani, Hafiz shiraziHafaz Shirazi Bande Nawaz, and Sultan Walad (Jalaluddin Rumi’s Son)

paragraph: Section::::Shrine and Urs.

paragraph: His shrine is located in Kichauccha Sharif, district Ambedkar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, India. His "urs" (demise anniversary) is commemorated on 28th of the Islamic month Muharram.

paragraph: Section::::See also.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Ala ud-Daula Simnani

paragraph: BULLET::::- Alaul Haq Pandavi

paragraph: BULLET::::- Ashrafia

paragraph: BULLET::::- Sufi Saints of South Asia

paragraph: BULLET::::- Wahab Ashrafi

alias:
Àixraf Jahangir
Aixraf Jahangir

description: Indian Sufi saint

wikidata_label: Ashraf Jahangir Semnani

wikipedia_title: Ashraf Jahangir Semnani


text:
Szabadka
Szabadka
Hungarian
Bunjevac
Serbia
1906 Intercalated Games
Athens
Greece

categories: Sportspeople from Subotica,Olympic athletes of Hungary,1878 births,Medalists at the 1906 Intercalated Games,Athletes (track and field) at the 1906 Intercalated Games,Hungarian male racewalkers,1918 deaths,Olympic gold medalists for Hungary,Bunjevci

image: 512px-Ђуро_Стантић.jpg

paragraph: György Sztantics

paragraph: György Sztantics () (Szabadka, 19 August 1878 – Szabadka, 10 July 1918) was a Hungarian athlete (ethnic Bunjevac from today's Serbia) who competed mainly in the 3000 metre walk.

paragraph: He competed for Hungary at the 1906 Intercalated Games held in Athens, Greece in the 3000 metre walk where he won the gold medal.

description: Hungarian racewalker

wikidata_label: György Sztantics

wikipedia_title: György Sztantics


href: Hungarian%20people Painting Mattersburg Vienna Jew Catholicism pilgrimage Rome Hungary Sz%C3%A9kesfeh%C3%A9rv%C3%A1r P%C3%A1pa Pest%2C%20Hungary Vienna cleric monastery Vienna L%C3%A1szl%C3%B3%20K%C3%A1rolyi

text:
Hungarian
painter
Mattersburg
Vienna
Jew
Catholicism
pilgrimage
Rome
Hungary
Székesfehérvár
Pápa
Pest
Vienna
cleric
monastery
Vienna
László Károlyi

categories: Converts to Roman Catholicism from Judaism,Hungarian expatriates in Austria,Austrian male painters,People from Mattersburg District,Hungarian painters,Hungarian Roman Catholics,1797 births,1865 deaths,Jewish painters,19th-century Austrian painters,Austrian Roman Catholics

paragraph: Tivadar Alconiere

paragraph: Tivadar Cohn Hermann Alconiere (, 1797–1865) was a 19th-century Austro-Hungarian painter. Cohn Hermann was his original family name.

paragraph: He was born in Mattersburg and began studying art in Vienna in 1812. Born to Jewish parents, he converted to Catholicism in order to pursue a career in art, and adopted the surname "Alconiere". He made a pilgrimage to Rome in the 1830s, where he spent 13 years pursuing art studies. He returned to Hungary in the 1840s and painted in the towns of Székesfehérvár, Pápa and Pest until the 1850s when he moved back to Vienna. He then dedicated his life entirely to the pursuit of his religion and died as a cleric in a monastery at Vienna.

paragraph: Alconiere painted mainly portraits such as Count László Károlyi on horseback.

alias:
Hermann Cohn
Theodor H. Alconiere
Theodor H Alconieri
Theodor Heinrich Alconiere
Theodore Alconière
Tivadar Alconiere
Theodore Alconiere
theodor alconiere
hermann alconiere

description: painter

wikidata_label: Tivadar Alconière

wikipedia_title: Tivadar Alconiere


text: speed skater

text: Norway

text: 1980 Winter Olympics

text: Lake Placid

text: European Allround Championships

text: World Allround Championships

text: "Oslo Skøiteklubb"

text: Larvik

text: Ådne Søndrål

text: Roger Strøm

text: Adelskalender

text: Tom Erik Oxholm at Skateresults.com

text: Evert Stenlund's Adelskalender pages

categories: 1959 births,Olympic bronze medalists for Norway,Olympic speed skaters of Norway,Speed skaters at the 1980 Winter Olympics,People from Larvik,Medalists at the 1980 Winter Olympics,Norwegian male speed skaters,Living people,Olympic medalists in speed skating

paragraph: Tom Erik Oxholm

paragraph: Tom Erik Oxholm (born 22 February 1959) is a former speed skater from Norway. He had his best period in the early 1980s.

paragraph: At the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, Oxholm won two bronze medals – on the 5,000 m and the 10,000 m. In addition, he finished third at both the European Allround Championships and the World Allround Championships that same year.

paragraph: Oxholm was Norwegian Allround Champion in 1980 and 1986. He skated a few seasons for "Oslo Skøiteklubb" but otherwise represented "Idrettsforeningen Fram" in Larvik. After his active career, he enjoyed successes as a coach for Ådne Søndrål and Roger Strøm.

paragraph: Section::::Medals.

paragraph: An overview of medals won by Oxholm at important championships he participated in, listing the years in which he won each:

paragraph: Section::::Personal records.

paragraph: To put these personal records in perspective, the "WR" column lists the official world records on the dates that Oxholm skated his personal records.

paragraph: Oxholm has an Adelskalender score of 164.031 points.

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Tom Erik Oxholm at Skateresults.com

paragraph: BULLET::::- Personal records from Jakub Majerski's Speedskating Database

paragraph: BULLET::::- Evert Stenlund's Adelskalender pages

description: Norwegian speed skater

wikidata_label: Tom Erik Oxholm

wikipedia_title: Tom Erik Oxholm


text:
Queen regnant
Kauai
Kaumualii
James Cook
Puhi
Kalaheo
Hanamaulu
Kauai
Peleioholani
Alii nui of Oahu
Alii nui of Kauai
Kalanikukuma
Waimea
Kualii
Kūmahana
Ewa
Kahahana
Kahekili II
Maui
Kaumualii
Niihau
Kauai
Kalanikūpule
Kamehameha the Great

categories: 1794 deaths,Year of birth uncertain,Niihau,18th-century monarchs,Royalty of Kauai and Niihau,Hawaiian queens regnant

paragraph: Kamakahelei

paragraph: Kamakahelei (c. 18th century - 1794), was alii nui, or Queen regnant, of the island of Kauai. She was the ruling chiefess of Kauai reigning from 1770 - 1794. In some historical references she has been described as a regent for her sons Keawe and Kaumualii. She was the sovereign of the Island of Kauai at the time Captain James Cook landed on its shores. The Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School in the district of Puhi is named after her. This school serves the Kalaheo to Hanamaulu districts on the island of Kauai.

paragraph: Section::::Biography.

paragraph: Kamakahelei was the only daughter of High Chief Kaumeheiwa, the son of High Chief Lonoikahaupu and High Chiefess Kamuokaumeheiwa, and his wife, High Chief Kaapuwai, possibly the daughter of Peleioholani, Alii nui of Oahu and Alii nui of Kauai. According to tradition, her grandfather Lonoikahaupu was five generations in descent from the 13th "Alii Aimoku" of Kauai, Kalanikukuma. His family had traditionally ruled in Waimea and the south-western section of the island, although always in subordination to the elder line of Kauaian chiefs. It is unclear why Kamakahelei succeeded Peleioholani as the "Alii" of Kauai. It is not certain that she was his granddaughter or a close relative. The legends remain silent between the transaction of rule between the two dynasties.

paragraph: She first married Kaneoneo, Peleioholani's grandson and the pretender to the throne of Oahu of the Kualii line. He had rights to the succession to Kauai, but it is not known if he contended with his wife over the rule of the island. Kaneoneo's father, Kūmahana, was deposed by the Ewa chiefs, who replaced him with Kahahana. The latter was the last king of Oahu.

paragraph: She and her first husband had two daughters: Lelemahoalani and Kapuaamohu. Kaneoneo died during the rebellion on Oahu against Mauian King Kahekili II in the year 1785 or 86.

paragraph: Kamakahelei next married Kaeokulani, a prince of Maui and brother of Kahekili II. They had a son Kaumualii. Together they united rule of the island of Niihau, her husband's domain, and the Island of Kauai.

paragraph: Section::::Successors.

paragraph: After Kamakahelei's death in 1794, her husband Kaeokulani may have briefly taken regency over his son as he did his nephew Kalanikūpule's inheritance of Maui. Kaeokulani died the same year, killed at the Battle of Kukiiahu, at Kalauao, Oahu on December 12, 1794. Her son continued to ruled the kingdom of Kauai independently until he consented to becoming a vassal of Kamehameha the Great.

description: Hawaiian queen

wikidata_label: Kamakahelei

wikipedia_title: Kamakahelei


text:
Latinized
Thessaly
Constantine Doukas of Thessaly
Thessalian
Guy II de la Roche
Athens
Anthony le Flamenc
bailli
William I de la Roche
John I Doukas
Anna Palaiologina Kantakouzene
Epirus
Catalan Company
Walter of Brienne
Battle of Halmyros
Kephissos
Boeotia
Attica
Gulf of Corinth
Byzantine Empire
Andronikos II Palaiologos
sebastokratōr
Stephen Gabrielopoulos
Duchy of Neopatras

categories: Medieval rulers of Thessaly,People from Thessaly,1318 deaths,14th-century Byzantine people,Sebastokrators,14th-century rulers in Europe,Year of birth unknown,Komnenodoukas dynasty

paragraph: John II Doukas of Thessaly

paragraph: John II Doukas, also Angelos Doukas (Latinized as Angelus Ducas) (), was ruler of Thessaly from 1303 to his death in 1318.

paragraph: John II Angelos Doukas was the son of Constantine Doukas of Thessaly by his wife Anna Euagionissa. He succeeded to his father's lands as a child in 1303. The Thessalian magnates chose his father's cousin Duke Guy II de la Roche of Athens as regent, and the duke promptly established his protectorate over Thessaly, with Anthony le Flamenc as his deputy ("bailli"). Guy was the son of Duke William I de la Roche by Helena Komnene, the daughter of John I Doukas of Thessaly.

paragraph: The selection of the duke of Athens as regent proved both timely and fortuitous. Anna Palaiologina Kantakouzene, the regent of Epirus had invaded Thessaly, but was now forced to retreat by Guy's forces. Guy proved less successful, however, in restraining the Catalan Company, which burst into Thessaly in 1306 and proceeded to ravage the region for some three years. By the time Guy died in 1308 John had just come of age and resented the attempt of the new duke of Athens, Walter of Brienne, to maintain Athenian protectorate over Thessaly. To overcome John's resistance, Walter hired the Catalan Company himself, and charged it with asserting his authority over Thessaly. The Catalans conquered many fortresses, but insisted on garrisoning them by themselves. Frightened by their disobedience, Walter now turned against them, but the Catalans invaded his duchy in 1310. When the two forces clashed, Walter was defeated and killed in the Battle of Halmyros or Kephissos in 1311.

paragraph: With the Catalans moving into Boeotia, Attica, and the Gulf of Corinth coast, John II was able to exert more control over Thessaly. Here he encountered the opposition of the local magnates, who had probably become accustomed to central authority that had been even more ineffectual than usually. John attempted to strengthen his position by drawing closer to the Byzantine Empire and marrying Irene Palaiologina, the illegitimate daughter of Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos in 1315. Perhaps at this time John was conferred the title of "sebastokratōr". He was already relying on some Byzantine assistance against the Catalans within his domains, but died in 1318 without heirs.

paragraph: On John II's death in 1318 much of northwestern Thessaly came under the control of the powerful magnate Stephen Gabrielopoulos, but the southernmost areas around Neopatras were seized by the Catalans, who set up their own principality there (the Duchy of Neopatras).

description: Ruler of Thessaly

wikidata_label: John II Doukas of Thessaly

wikipedia_title: John II Doukas of Thessaly


text:
Montferrat
Thessalonica
Amalfi
Thessalonica
Boniface of Montferrat
Margaret of Hungary
Emperor
Isaac II Angelos
Fourth Crusade
Thessalonica
Saint Demetrius
Bulgaria
Kaloyan of Bulgaria
William VI of Montferrat
Latin Emperor
Henry of Flanders
Umberto II of Biandrate
Pope Innocent III
Serres
Kavala
parliament at Ravennika
Epirote
Peter of Courtenay
Italy
Hungary
Theodore Komnenos Doukas
Theodore Komnenos Doukas
Frederick II
Levant
Nicolas Cheetham

categories: Roman Catholic monarchs,People from Thessaloniki,Kings of Thessalonica,1205 births,1230 deaths,Christians of the Crusades,Aleramici

paragraph: Demetrius of Montferrat

paragraph: Demetrius or Demetrios of Montferrat (; , "Dēmētrios Momferratikos"), (Thessalonica, 1205 – 1230 in Amalfi), was king of Thessalonica from 1207 to 1224.

paragraph: Demetrius was the son of Marquis Boniface of Montferrat by Margaret of Hungary, the widow of Emperor Isaac II Angelos. In the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade Boniface had secured for himself the kingdom of Thessalonica in the division of the spoils. Marrying the former Byzantine empress, he found it easier to attract support from the members of the Byzantine aristocracy. When Boniface's son was born in 1205, he was named after Saint Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessalonica.

paragraph: Boniface was killed in a battle against the Bulgarians in 1207, and Kaloyan of Bulgaria promptly besieged Thessalonica. The siege ended with Kaloyan's murder, but Demetrius' rule was not secure. The most influential magnates of the kingdom conspired against him, plotting to replace the infant ruler with his half-brother, Marquis William VI of Montferrat. The Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders determined to stem this movement and advanced on Thessalonica in December 1208. The barons, led by Count Umberto II of Biandrate, shut the gates of the city before the emperor and issued several unreasonable demands. The emperor pretended to accept Biandrate's terms (provided that Margaret accepted them) long enough to gain entrance into the city. Margaret was instructed to overrule the terms and Henry crowned young Demetrius king on January 6, 1209 and extracted oaths of homage from the Lombard barons. The emperor's actions were confirmed by Pope Innocent III.

paragraph: The rights of the young king were still threatened by Biandrate's Lombard garrisons of important fortresses like Serres and Kavala. Henry took Serres but Kavala held out. Hoping to reach a reconciliation, the emperor summoned the nobility of the Kingdom of Thessalonica to a parliament at Ravennika, but many lords did not submit. After further military action, Henry obtained the submission of Biandrate and the remaining Lombard lords. He defeated the Epirote attack on Thessalonica in 1210 and left his younger brother Eustace as regent for King Demetrius. The situation changed again on Henry's death in 1216.

paragraph: The new Latin Emperor, Peter of Courtenay, was won over by the Lombard lords and invested William of Montferrat with the kingdom before leaving Italy. The Queen Mother Margaret fled to Hungary, but Demetrius apparently remained in place, while the Emperor Peter was captured and eventually executed by Theodore Komnenos Doukas in Epirus.

paragraph: The ruler of Epirus, Theodore Komnenos Doukas, exploited the dissension among the nobility in Thessalonica to gradually conquer the kingdom's fortified towns one after another. Although William of Montferrat proved unwilling to dispossess his half-brother, he agreed to lead a crusade to the relief of Thessalonica in 1222, and prepared to set out, sending ahead Umberto of Biandrate. Before the main force of this crusade reached Thessalonica, however, Theodore forced the surrender of the city in December 1224. Together with the Latin archbishop, King Demetrius fled to the court of Emperor Frederick II in Italy. He participated in Frederick's crusade to the Levant, and died in 1230 at Amalfi, after ceding his rights to Thessalonica to Frederick II.

paragraph: Section::::References.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Peter Lock, "The Franks in the Aegean 1204–1500", New York, 1995.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Nicolas Cheetham, "Mediaeval Greece", Yale University Press, 1981.

wikidata_label: Demetrius of Montferrat

wikipedia_title: Demetrius of Montferrat


text: monk

text: Ramsey Abbey

text: Huntingdonshire

text: Anglo-Saxon England

text: computistic

text: hagiographic

text: historical

text: Abbo of Fleury

text: Ramsey Abbey

text: Oswald of Worcester

text: Egwin

text: Northumbria

text: Oswald of Worcester

text: Simeon of Durham

text: computus

text: BL

text: Bede

text: St John's College, Oxford

text: computus

text: manuscript

text: Abbo of Fleury

text: Ramsey Abbey

text: Bodl.

categories: Christian hagiographers,11th-century historians,11th-century deaths,10th-century historians,Medieval English mathematicians,10th-century births,11th-century English writers,Medieval English astronomers,English historians,English Christian monks,11th-century mathematicians,Medieval historians,11th-century astronomers,English chroniclers

paragraph: Byrhtferth

paragraph: Byrhtferth (; ) was a priest and monk who lived at Ramsey Abbey in Huntingdonshire. He had a deep impact on the intellectual life of later Anglo-Saxon England and wrote many computistic, hagiographic, and historical works. He was a leading man of science and best known as the author of many different works (although he may not have written many of them). His "Manual" ("Enchiridion"), a scientific textbook, is Byrhtferth's best known work.

paragraph: He studied with Abbo of Fleury, who was invited to Ramsey Abbey by Oswald of Worcester to help teach. Abbo was there during the period 985-987, and became a large influence on Byhrtferth who was interested in the same studies, such as history, logic, astronomy, and mathematics. We do not have contemporary biographies of Byrhtferth, and the only information we have is the one in his "Manual" and his "Preface".

paragraph: Section::::Works.

paragraph: Byrhtferth's signature appears on only two unpublished works, his Latin and Old English "Manual", and Latin "Preface". He also composed a Latin life of St. Egwin, compiled a chronicle of Northumbrian history in the 990's, wrote a Latin life of Oswald of Worcester (the "Vita Oswaldi") about the year 1000, and it is suggested that he is responsible for the early sections of the "Historia regum", or "History of the Kings", attributed to Simeon of Durham. This last attribution is based on the similarity of the style between Simeon and Byrhtferth. The last of Byrhtferth's works is an unsigned fragment of Old English text on computus in the Manuscript BL Cotton Caligula A.xv, fols. MS 142v-143r. It is attributed to him because of the stylistic similarity to the Old English that he wrote in "Manual".

paragraph: Byrhtferth has also been credited with Latin commentaries on Bede's "De natura rerum" and "De temporum ratione" (first attributed to him by John Herwagen) and a "Vita S. Dunstani" signed "B" (first attributed to him by Jean Mabillon). However, many scholars argue that these works were not written by Byrhtferth, but instead were a compilation of material by several writers in the late ninth and early tenth centuries. This is argued because of the smooth, polished style of these works in comparison with the styles of the only signed works "Manual" and "Preface".

paragraph: Section::::Works.:Preface.

paragraph: St John's College, Oxford MS 17 contains several computistical works by Bede and Helperic, and a computus which includes the Latin "Epilogus", or "Preface", by Byrhtferth. He also constructed a full-page diagram showing the harmony of the universe, and suggesting correspondences among cosmological, numerological, and physiological aspects of the world. Other items in the manuscript may in fact be Byrhtferth, but it cannot be proved. Also, he may have compiled most of these things from works that Abbo of Fleury left behind at Ramsey Abbey after his death.

paragraph: Section::::Works.:Manual.

paragraph: Bodl. Ashmole MS 328 preserves Byrhtferth's Latin "Enchiridion", or "Manual". It is written in Latin and Old English and the largest part is that of a computus similar to the one in "Preface". It touches on the belief that the divine order of the universe can be perceived through the study of numbers and can be of great reference for the study of medieval number symbolism. It also contains treatises on rhetorical and grammatical subjects, a table of weights and measures and three theological tracts on the ages of the world, the loosing of Satan and the eight capital sins.

paragraph: Section::::Further reading.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Byrhtferth's Enchiridion, edited and translated by Peter S. Baker and Michael Lapidge. Oxford: Published for the Early English Text Society by the Oxford University Press, 1995.

paragraph: Section::::External links.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Anonymous life of Oswald (in Latin), pg. 399 ff.

description: English Christian monk

wikidata_label: Byrhtferth

wikipedia_title: Byrhtferth


text:
Spanish
racing cyclist
Estepona
Venezuela
Fuenlabrada
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
Mario Cipollini
Volta ao Alentejo
Tour of Asturias
Volta a Catalunya
Vilanova i Geltru
ambulance
Saúl Morales

categories: Cyclists killed while racing,1999 deaths,People from the Province of Ciudad Real,1977 births,Sport deaths in Spain,Spanish male cyclists

paragraph: Manuel Sanroma

paragraph: Manuel Sanromà (1977–1999) was a Spanish racing cyclist.

paragraph: In late 1998 he became a "stagaire" in the Estepona team, winning three stages in the Tour of Venezuela. In 1999 he rode for the Fuenlabrada team. The next year was his great breakthrough. In a stage in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, he beat Mario Cipollini in the sprint.

paragraph: He also won stages in the Volta ao Alentejo and the Tour of Asturias. In the Volta a Catalunya he started as a favorite for the first stage, but one kilometre before the finish in Vilanova i Geltru he fell head first on the curb stone. He died in an ambulance on his way to the hospital.

paragraph: The only victory of the Fuenlabrada team that year after Sanroma's death was a stage win of Saúl Morales in the Tour of Venezuela. A year later, Saúl Morales died as well during an in-race accident.

description: Spanish racing cyclist

wikidata_label: Manuel Sanroma

wikipedia_title: Manuel Sanroma


text:
courtesy name
Song dynasty
Emperor Huizong
Emperor Qinzong
the wars
Jurchen
Jin dynasty
Kaifeng
Jingkang Incident
Hangzhou
Zhao Shen (Emperor Xiaozong)
Taishang Huang
Song
trumped-up charges
Yue Fei
Emperor Taizong
Emperor Taizu
Emperor Huizong
Emperor Qinzong
Emperor Huizong
Emperor Huizong
Emperor Qinzong
Bianjing
brother
father
Bianjing
Jurchen
Jin Empire
Jingkang Incident
Bianjing
Bianjing
Jiankang
Jiankang
Shangqiu
Emperor Taizu of Song
Da Chu
Zhang Bangchang
Da Chu
Empress Meng
Li Gang
Da Chu
Zong Ze
Yue Fei
Han Shizhong
Yu Yunwen
Emperor Qinzong
Yangzhou
Lin'an
Hangzhou
Jiankang
Wuzhu
Shaoxing
Wuzhu
Lin'an
Zhang Jun
Jin
Suzhou
Yue Fei
Han Shizhong
Battle of Huangtiandang
Lin'an
Empress Wu
other one
Xiangyang
Han River
Yue Fei
Han Shizhong
Hefei
Emperor Taizong
Anhui
Zhang Jun
Emperor Xizong
Lin'an
Censorate
chancellor
Qin Hui
exile
Manchuria
Yue Fei
Han Shizhong
Yue Fei
Treaty of Shaoxing
Huai River
vassal state
Chinese poets
Wanyan Liang
Battle of Tangdao
Battle of Caishi
Zhao Fu
Zhao Shen
Emperor Xiaozong
Battle of Caishi
Taishang Huang
Emperor Xiaozong
Shaoxing
Zhao Ji
Empress Xianjie
Empress Xiansheng
Zhao Fu
Chinese emperors family tree (middle)
List of emperors of the Song dynasty
Architecture of the Song dynasty
Culture of the Song dynasty
Economy of the Song dynasty
History of the Song dynasty
Society of the Song dynasty
Technology of the Song dynasty
Yue Fei
Jin–Song Wars
Tang Clan

categories: 1187 deaths,12th-century Chinese poets,Southern Song emperors,Poets from Henan,1107 births,12th-century Chinese monarchs,Song dynasty poets,Song dynasty calligraphers,Writers from Kaifeng

paragraph: Emperor Gaozong of Song

paragraph: Emperor Gaozong of Song (12 June 1107 – 9 November 1187), personal name Zhao Gou, courtesy name Deji, was the tenth emperor of the Song dynasty in China and the first emperor of the Southern Song dynasty.

paragraph: He was the ninth son of Emperor Huizong and a younger half-brother of Emperor Qinzong. In 1127, during the wars between the Song dynasty and Jurchen-led Jin dynasty, the Song capital Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng) fell to Jin forces in an event historically known as the Jingkang Incident. Emperors Huizong and Qinzong were taken prisoner by the Jurchens, while Zhao Gou managed to escape to southern China. He reestablished the Song dynasty (as the Southern Song dynasty) in Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou) and was proclaimed emperor. He reigned from 1127 until 1162, when he abdicated the throne in favour of his adopted son Zhao Shen (Emperor Xiaozong), and became a "Taishang Huang" ("Retired Emperor") until his death in 1187. He was a capable ruler who brought stability to the Song but was criticized by his reputation of sentencing his court members with trumped-up charges including Yue Fei, whom he executed.

paragraph: He was the last descendant of Emperor Taizong to become emperor; subsequent Song emperors were descendants of Emperor Taizu.

paragraph: Section::::Early life.

paragraph: Emperor Gaozong was the ninth son of Emperor Huizong and a younger half-brother of Emperor Qinzong. His mother, whose maiden family name was Wei (韋), was a concubine of Emperor Huizong. She was honoured as Empress Xianren (顯仁皇后; 1080–1159) after his ascension to the throne.

paragraph: Emperor Gaozong was originally a prince named Zhao Gou during the reigns of his father and brother. After Emperor Huizong abdicated, his older brother Emperor Qinzong became emperor. During this time, the capital of Bianjing was under siege by the Jurchens. He was ordered to the Jurchen camp to negotiate peace by Qinzong in an effort to end the siege early but Zhao Gou was held for ransom. He later came back after being ransomed due to the Jurchens' doubts of his identity. After his brother and father and the capital of Bianjing were captured by forces of the Jurchen-led Jin Empire in the Jingkang Incident in 1127 along with majority of the imperial clan members due to his predecessors' incompetence and the imperial court's corruption, he escaped to Southern China due to being in Cizhou for a diplomatic mission and therefore, not in Bianjing. In order to escape, Zhao Gou had to move province to province in order to escape the Jin troops. The Jurchens tried to lure him back to Bianjing where they could finally capture him, but did not succeed. Zhao Gou finally arrived in the Song Southern Capital at Jiankang, the first of many temporary capitals.

paragraph: Section::::Reign.

paragraph: Section::::Reign.:Enthronement.

paragraph: After proving himself to be a more competent administrator than his predecessors, he won support from imperial court's remnants of his ascension to the throne; he reestablished the Song Empire (historically known as the Southern Song dynasty) and was proclaimed as Emperor Gaozong with the era name Jianyan in Jiankang (present Nanjing) which at the time was a temporary residence for the remnants of the Song. He would later move to Yingtianfu (; modern Shangqiu) due to the historical significance to Emperor Taizu of Song.

paragraph: From 1127 to 1129, the Song sent thirteen embassies to the Jin to discuss peace terms and to negotiate the release of Gaozong's mother and Huizong, but the Jin court ignored them. The Da Chu, a puppet state established by the Jin Empire, was abolished in 1127 when Zhang Bangchang and the regent of Da Chu, the former Empress Meng, submitted to Emperor Gaozong, who then ordered Zhang's execution under pressure from Li Gang.

paragraph: Emperor Gaozong's early reign was filled with Jurchen raids and attacks on his realm. This can be traced to Zhang's execution and the submission of Da Chuto Song,which ultimately caused the Jin to renew their attacks and quickly conquer Northern China. Initially, he employed military leaders such as Li Gang, Zong Ze, Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, and Yu Yunwen to lead the Song forces to hold off the Jurchens, as well as to improve his public image through his declaration to restore the Song Empire to its former glory. However, when one of Li Gang's guerrilla forces, the Red Scarf Army, scored a major victory against the Jin troops and almost captured their commander-in-chief, the emperor dismissed the minister on a trumped-up charge, implying that he did not want to win this battle, because if Song won, Emperor Qinzong might be restored.

paragraph: Owing to the vulnerability of Yingtianfu, Emperor Gaozong moved to Yangzhou in late 1127 or early 1128. However, Yangzhou proved to be no safe haven for the Song either, as barely a year later the Jurchens advanced to the point were they were threatening to capture Yangzhou. When the Jurchens advanced to the Huai River, the court was partially evacuated to Lin'an (modern Hangzhou) in 1129. Days later, Gaozong narrowly escaped on horseback, just a few hours ahead of Jurchen vanguard troops.

paragraph: Section::::Reign.:Mutiny & First Abdication.

paragraph: In March 26, 1129, Gaozong lost his throne to a mutiny that was instigated by the palace guards led by Miao Fu (苗傅) and Liu Zhengyan (劉正彥). They were unsatisfied with Gaozong's decision to appoint their adversary Wang Yuan to an important imperial post hence would outrank them. Banding together with at least ten thousand palace guards under the pretense that Wang and the court eunuchs were plotting, Miao and Liu mutinied and murdered Wang. They then forced Gaozong to abdicate in favor of his two-year-old son, Zhao Fu. The plot came to an abrupt end less than a month later on April 20, 1129, when Miao and Liu were defeated by Gaozong's loyal army, led by Han Shizhong, and were both executed for treason. Gaozong's son later died from illness after an unofficial reign of three months. After being restored to the throne, Gaozong himself was pursued by Jin forces and was not in full control of southern China until the late 1130s. The mutiny would cause Emperor Gaozong to move his capital to Jiankang.

paragraph: In 1130, Wuzhu, a Jurchen general, crossed the Yangtze southwest of Jiankang and then captured the city. Wuzhu set out from Jiankang and advanced rapidly to try to capture Gaozong. The Jin seized Hangzhou on January 22 and then Shaoxing further south on February 4 where Emperor Gaozong was almost captured by Wuzhu at Mingzhou near Lin'an but Zhang Jun, another general who briefly halted the Jin advance, giving Emperor Gaozong the chance to flee the city by ship. Soon, the Jurchens gave up the pursuit and retreated north. After they plundered the undefended cities of Hangzhou and Suzhou, they finally started to face resistance from Song armies led by Yue Fei and Han Shizhong.

paragraph: In 1130, during the Battle of Huangtiandang, when fleeing to the south, he had the newly appointed commander-in-chief, Yue Fei, who was only 27 years old at the time, to help with the defense, and Yue scored a major victory against the Jin armies neared Nanjing. After the Song forces defeated the Jin, they stayed north of the Yangzi River, and Emperor Gaozong declared the city of Lin'an as the dynasty's new temporary capital, replacing Kaifeng in 1133.

paragraph: Having no surviving sons of his own, he adopted two boys in 1133: one of them became the foster son of the future Empress Wu in 1140, and the other one in 1142.

paragraph: Section::::Reign.:Invasion from Da Qi.

paragraph: Reluctant to let the war drag on, the Jin decided to create Da Qi (the "Great Qi") in 1130, their second attempt at a puppet state in Northern China. The Jurchens believed that this state, nominally ruled by someone of Han Chinese descent, would be able to attract the allegiance of disaffected members of the insurgency. The Jurchens also suffered from a shortage of skilled manpower, and controlling the entirety of northern China was not administratively feasible. In the final months of 1129, Liu Yu (; 1073–1143) won the favor of the Jin Emperor Taizong. Da Qi had more autonomy than the previous Da Chu although Liu Yu was obligated to obey the orders of the Jurchen generals. With Jin support, Da Qi invaded the Song in November 1133. Li Cheng, a Song turncoat who had joined the Qi, led the campaign. They initially had success as Xiangyang and nearby prefectures fell to his army. The capture of Xiangyang on the Han River gave the Jurchens a passage into the central valley of the Yangtze River. However, their southward push was halted by the general Yue Fei. In 1134, Yue Fei defeated Li and retook Xiangyang and its surrounding prefectures. But later that year, Qi and Jin initiated a new offensive further east along the Huai River. For the first time, Emperor Gaozong issued an edict officially condemning Da Qi. The armies of Qi and Jin won a series of victories in the Huai Valley, but were repelled by Han Shizhong near Yangzhou and by Yue Fei at Luzhou (, modern Hefei). In 1135, the Jin Emperor Taizong died. This caused the Da Qi to suddenly withdraw, giving the Song time to regroup. The Da Qi lost a battle at Outang (), in modern Anhui, against a Song army led by Yang Qizhong (). The victory boosted Song morale, and the military commissioner Zhang Jun convinced Emperor Gaozong to begin plans for a counterattack. Emperor Gaozong initially agreed, but he quickly abandoned the counteroffensive when an officer named Li Qiong () killed his superior official and defected to the Jin with tens of thousands of soldiers.

paragraph: Section::::Reign.:Invasion from Da Qi.:Steps towards Peace.

paragraph: Meanwhile, Emperor Xizong inherited the Jin throne from Taizong, and pushed for peace. He and his generals were disappointed with Liu Yu's military failures and believed that Liu was secretly conspiring with Yue Fei. These conditions caused the Jin to officially abolish Da Qi in late 1137 and the Jin and Song began negotiations towards peace.

paragraph: When Emperor Gaozong was eventually told of the death of Huizong and Empress Zheng in 1137, he reportedly reacted quite severely, ordering an extended period of mourning.

paragraph: In 1138, Gaozong officially declared Lin'an the capital of the dynasty, but the label of temporary capital would still be in place. Despite this, Lin'an would remain the capital of the Southern Song for the next 150 years, growing into a major commercial and cultural center.

paragraph: Gaozong promoted Qin Hui in 1138 and put him in charge of deliberations with the Jin. Yue Fei, Han Shizhong, and a large number of officials at court criticized the peace overtures. Aided by his control of the Censorate, Qin purged his enemies and continued negotiations.

paragraph: Section::::Reign.:Treaty of Shaoxing.

paragraph: After years of fighting and significant military success, Emperor Gaozong settled on a pacifist stance. One of the major reasons behind this was that Emperor Gaozong and the chancellor Qin Hui did not want the Song army to defeat the Jurchens and destroy the Jin Dynasty, as this might result in Gaozong's half-brother - the last emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, Emperor Qinzong, who was living in Jin-imposed exile in Manchuria - being recalled to the throne. If this happened, Gaozong would lose power. At the time, Yue Fei and Han Shizhong were preparing to attack Kaifeng and recapture it. Fearing that a victory at Kaifeng might cause the Jurchens to release Emperor Qinzong, Emperor Gaozong followed their advice, sending 12 orders back in the form of 12 gold plaques to Yue Fei, recalling him to the capital. There, Yue Fei said, in tears, "Thirty years of effort now is wasted." Emperor Gaozong also recalled every soldier under threats to kill their families. After Yue Fei's return to the capital, Emperor Gaozong and Qin Hui imprisoned him on a trumped-up charge under "groundless" () and had him put to death. Han Shizhong was also dismissed from his military duties. On October 11, 1142, the Song and Jin empires signed the Treaty of Shaoxing, which recognised the Jurchens' claims to the former Song territories they had already conquered. This meant that Emperor Gaozong had to give up all land north of the Huai River, in exchange for peace between the two empires. Aside from two incidents,this peace would last for seventy years. The Song also had to pay a yearly tribute of 250,000 taels of silver and 250,000 packs of silk to the Jin.

paragraph: The negotiation allowed the emperor's mother and other selected members of the imperial clan (including a woman claimed to be his half-sister Princess Roufu (Zhao Duofu), whom he later sentenced to death under suspicion of impersonating an imperial princess) to return to Song; Empress Wei was then named Empress Dowager in Southern Song. However, the treaty designated the Song as the "insignificant state", while the Jin was recognized as the "superior state". People would later blame the emperor for Yue Fei's death and vilify him as a hypocritical tyrant. However, although the treaty's terms resulted in Song becoming a vassal state to the Jin, it saved Song's economy: since the dynasty's founding, the regime had lost more capital on military defenses than on annual payments to their neighbors, about three-quarters of state revenue. Thus, even if Gaozong wanted to recover the lost territories, he couldn't afford it financially, the fact that his successors would learn when wanting to complete this campaign themselves. The cost of supporting his army in battle and the rebuilding of the Song's northern territories would have risked bankrupting the south. In addition, with the southern part of China remaining under Song control, the transport of goods became more cost-effective by boat via the streams and canels criss-crossing the region. It also eliminated obstacles to trades, allowing traders to import goods between Song and Jin territories. Qin Hui, in a reply to Gaozong's gratitude for the success of the peace negotiations, told the emperor that "the decision to make peace was entirely Your Majesty's. Your servant only carried it out; what achievement was there in this for me?"

paragraph: Emperor Gaozong was also a notable poet and had significant influence on other Chinese poets. Among his surviving works is the "Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain".

paragraph: In 1161, the ruler of the Jin Dynasty, Wanyan Liang, wishing to unify China under his regime, declared war on the Song in the Battle of Tangdao and the Battle of Caishi. The Jin lost the war. An important consequence of this was to remove Song's status as a vassal state, although it still had to pay tribute. Wanyan Liang was assassinated shortly afterwards, when many Jin officers rebelled as a result of the Jin defeat.

paragraph: Section::::Reign.:Second Abdication.

paragraph: In 1162, after reigning for more than 35 years, Emperor Gaozong abdicated. Because his only son, Zhao Fu, had died of illness around the age of two, Emperor Gaozong passed the throne to his adopted son and distant cousin Zhao Shen, who then became Emperor Xiaozong. Emperor Gaozong's handling of the Battle of Caishi with Wanyan Liang may also have contributed to his decision to retire. In retirement he assumed the title of "Taishang Huang" ("Retired Emperor") and retained some power until his death in 1187.

paragraph: His death saddened Emperor Xiaozong and caused him to abdicate only two years after Gaozong's death.

paragraph: One of his era names, Shaoxing is a name for a city, Shaoxing.

paragraph: Section::::Titles from birth.

paragraph: BULLET::::- "His Imperial Highness" The Prince of Kang 康王

paragraph: BULLET::::- "His Imperial Majesty" The Emperor 皇帝

paragraph: BULLET::::- "His Imperial Majesty" The Retired Emperor 太上皇

paragraph: Section::::Family.

paragraph: BULLET::::- Parents:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Zhao Ji, Huizong (; 1082–1135)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Empress Xianren, of the Wei clan (; 1080–1159)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Consorts and Issue:

paragraph: BULLET::::- Empress Xianjie, of the Xing clan (; 1106–1139), personal name Bingyi ()

paragraph: BULLET::::- Empress Xiansheng, of the Wu clan (; 1115–1197)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Xianfei", of the Pan clan (; d. 1148)

paragraph: BULLET::::- "Zhao Fu, Crown Prince Yuanyi" (; 1127–1129), first son

paragraph: BULLET::::- Unknown

paragraph: BULLET::::- "First Princess Kang" (; 1124–1127), personal name Fuyou (), first daughter

paragraph: BULLET::::- Second Princess Kang (; b. 1124), personal name Shenyou (), second daughter

paragraph: BULLET::::- Third Princess Kang (; b. 1125)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Fourth Princess Kang (; b. 1126)

paragraph: BULLET::::- Fifth Princess Kang (; b. 1126)

paragraph: Section::::See also.

paragraph: BULLET::::1. Chinese emperors family tree (middle)

paragraph: BULLET::::2. List of emperors of the Song dynasty

paragraph: BULLET::::3. Architecture of the Song dynasty

paragraph: BULLET::::4. Culture of the Song dynasty

paragraph: BULLET::::5. Economy of the Song dynasty

paragraph: BULLET::::6. History of the Song dynasty

paragraph: BULLET::::7. Society of the Song dynasty

paragraph: BULLET::::8. Technology of the Song dynasty

paragraph: BULLET::::9. Yue Fei

paragraph: BULLET::::10. Jin–Song Wars

paragraph: BULLET::::11. Tang Clan

alias:
Gou Zhao
Sung Kʻang-wang
Emperor of the Song dynasty Gaozong
Kou Chao
Song Gaozong
Gaozong
Zhao Gou
Kao Tsung
Emperor of the Song dynasty Ga0zong
Gao Zong
Deji
Song Kangwang
Emperor of the Song dynasty Kao-tsung
Sung Kao-tsung
Sung K‘ang-wang
Emperor of China Song Gaozong
Kao-tsung

description: emperor of Song Dynasty China

wikidata_label: Emperor Gaozong of Song

wikipedia_title: Emperor Gaozong of Song