White Elephant (pachyderm)
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White Elephant (pachyderm)
A white elephant (also albino elephant) is a rare kind of elephant, but not a distinct species. In Hindu ''puranas'', the god Indra has a white elephant. Although often depicted as snow white, their skin is normally a soft reddish-brown, turning a light pink when wet. They have fair eyelashes and toenails. The traditional "white elephant" is commonly misunderstood as being albino, but the Thai term ''chang samkhan'', actually translates as 'auspicious elephant', being "white" in terms of an aspect of purity. White elephants are only nominally white. Of those currently kept by the Burmese rulers—General Than Shwe regards himself as the heir of the Burmese kings—one is grey and the other three are pinkish, but all are officially white. The king of Thailand also keeps a number of white elephants, eleven of which are still alive . Persia There were white elephants in the army of the Sasanian king Khusrau II. According to al-Tabari, a white elephant killed the commander of th ...
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Abul-Abbas
Abul-Abbas ( – 810) was an Asian elephant brought back to the Carolingian emperor Charlemagne by his diplomat Isaac the Jew. The gift was from the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid and symbolizes the beginning of Abbasid–Carolingian relations. The elephant's name and events from his life are recorded in the Carolingian ''Annales regni Francorum,''''Annales regni francorum'' Anno 801 (, Monumenta Germaniae Historica edition) (Eng. tr. of ''ARB'' = ''Royal Frankish Annals'')The ''Annales regni francorum'' Anno 802 gives "''venit Isaac cum elefanto et ceteris muniberus, quae a rege Persarum missa sunt, et Aquisgrani omnia imperatori detulit; nomen elefanti erat Abul Abaz''". Harun al Rashid is referred to as either the king of the Persians (ibid 801:116 "rex Persarum") or of the Saracenes (ibid 810:113 "''ubi dum aliquot dies moraretur, elefant ille, quem ei Aaron rex Sarracenorum miserat, subita morte periit''" and he is mentioned in Einhard's ''Vita Karoli Magni''. However, no ...
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Monarchy Of Thailand
The monarchy of Thailand (whose monarch is referred to as the king of Thailand; th, พระมหากษัตริย์ไทย, or historically, king of Siam; th, พระมหากษัตริย์สยาม) refers to the constitutional monarchy and monarch of the Kingdom of Thailand (formerly Siam). The King of Thailand is the head of state and head of the ruling Royal House of Chakri. Although the current Chakri Dynasty was created in 1782, the existence of the institution of monarchy in Thailand is traditionally considered to have its roots from the founding of the Sukhothai Kingdom in 1238, with a brief interregnum from the death of Ekkathat to the accession of Taksin in the 18th century. The institution was transformed into a constitutional monarchy in 1932 after the bloodless Siamese Revolution of 1932. The monarchy's official ceremonial residence is the Grand Palace in Bangkok, while the private residence has been at the Dusit Palace. The current ...
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Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the extremity of Myanmar. Thailand also shares maritime borders with Vietnam to the southeast, and Indonesia and India to the southwest. Bangkok is the nation's capital and largest city. Tai peoples migrated from southwestern China to mainland Southeast Asia from the 11th century. Indianised kingdoms such as the Mon, Khmer Empire and Malay states ruled the region, competing with Thai states such as the Kingdoms of Ngoenyang, Sukhothai, Lan Na and Ayutthaya, which also rivalled each other. European contact began in 1511 with a Portuguese diplomatic mission to Ayutthaya, w ...
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Trailok
Borommatrailokkanat ( th, บรมไตรโลกนาถ, , sa, Brahmatrailokanātha) or Trailok (1431–1488) was the king of the Ayutthaya Kingdom from 1448 to 1488. He was one of many monarchs who gained the epithet ''King of White Elephants'' ( th, พระเจ้าช้างเผือก). He was the first Thai king to possess a "noble" or white elephant, which, according to Hindu belief, was a "glorious and happy sign". His reign was also known for a massive reforms of Thai bureaucracy and a successful campaign against Lan Na. He was also revered as one of the greatest monarchs of Thailand. King of Sukhothai Prince Ramesuan (not to be confused with King Ramesuan r. 1369–1370) was born in 1431 to King Borommarachathirat II or Chao Sam Phraya. Some authors claim that his mother was a princess of the Sukhothai Kingdom, daughter of Sai Lue Thai. According to historian Michael Vickery, however, this is not verifiable in historic sources and may be due to a misr ...
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Flag Of Siam (1855)
, RTGS: ''thong trai rong''), 'Tricolour flag' , Morenicks = , Use = 111110 , Symbol = , Proportion = 2:3 , Adoption = 28 September 1917 (standardized on 30 September 2017) , Design = Five horizontal stripes of red, white, blue, white and red, the middle stripe twice as wide as the others , Designer = King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) , Image2 = Naval Ensign of Thailand.svg , Nickname2 = th, ธงราชนาวี ( RTGS: ''thong ratcha nawi''), 'Royal Navy flag' , Morenicks2 = , Use2 = 000001 , Symbol2 = , Proportion2= 2:3 , Adoption2 = 28 September 1917 (''de jure'') , Design2 = A red disc containing a white elephant (Airavata) in regalia centered on the national flag , Designer2 = The flag of Thailand ( th, ธงไตรรงค์; , meaning 'tricolour flag') shows five horizontal stripes in the colours red, white, blue, white and red, with the central blue stripe being twice as wide as each of the other four. T ...
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Ajatashatru
Ajatasattu (Pāli ) or Ajatashatru (Sanskrit ) in Buddhist tradition, or Kunika () and Kuniya () in the Jain histories, (c. 492 to 460 BCE or early 5th century BCE) was one of the most important kings of the Haryanka dynasty of Magadha in East India. He was the son of King Bimbisara and was a contemporary of both Mahavira and Gautama Buddha. He forcefully took over the kingdom of Magadha from his father and imprisoned him. He fought a war against the Vajjika League, led by the Licchavis, and conquered the republic of Vaishali. The city of Pataliputra was formed by fortification of a village by Ajatashatru. Ajatashatru followed policies of conquest and expansion. He defeated his neighbours including the king of Kosala; his brothers, at odds with him, went to Kashi, which had been given to Bimbisara as dowry and led to a war between Magadha and Kosala. Ajatashatru occupied Kashi and captured the smaller kingdoms. Magadha under Ajatashatru became the most powerful kingdom in Nor ...
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Magadha
Magadha was a region and one of the sixteen sa, script=Latn, Mahajanapadas, label=none, lit=Great Kingdoms of the Second Urbanization (600–200 BCE) in what is now south Bihar (before expansion) at the eastern Ganges Plain. Magadha was ruled by Brihadratha dynasty, Pradyota dynasty (682–544 BCE), Haryanka dynasty (544–413 BCE), the Shaishunaga dynasty (413–345 BCE) and the Mauryan dynasty by the end of it. Villages had their own assemblies under their local chiefs called ''Gramakas''. Their administrations were divided into executive, judicial, and military functions. Magadha played an important role in the development of Jainism and Buddhism. It was succeeded by four of northern India's greatest empires, the Nanda Empire (c. 345–322 BCE), Maurya Empire (c. 322–185 BCE), Shunga Empire (c. 185–78 BCE) and Gupta Empire (c. 319–550 CE). The Pala Empire also ruled over Magadha and maintained a royal camp in Pataliputra. The Pithipatis of Bodh Gaya referred to ...
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Musth
Musth or must (from Persian, )''The Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus: American edition'', published 1996 by Oxford University Press; p. 984 is a periodic condition in bull (male) elephants characterized by aggressive behavior and accompanied by a large rise in reproductive hormones. Testosterone levels in an elephant in musth can be on average 60 times greater than in the same elephant at other times (in specific individuals these testosterone levels can even reach as much as 140 times the normal). However, whether this hormonal surge is the sole cause of musth or merely a contributing factor is unknown. Scientific investigation of musth is problematic because even the most placid elephants become violent toward humans and other elephants during musth. Musth differs from rut in that the female elephant's estrus cycle is not seasonally linked, whereas musth most often takes place in winter. Furthermore, bulls in musth have often been known to attack female elephants, regardless ...
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Bimbisara
Bimbisāra (in Buddhist tradition) or Shrenika () and Seniya () in the Jain histories (c. 558 – c. 491 BCE or during the late 5th century BCE) was a King of Magadha (V. K. Agnihotri (ed.), ''Indian History''. Allied Publishers, New Delhi 262010p. 166f. or c. 400 BCE) and belonged to the Haryanka dynasty.Peter N. Stearns (2001), ''The Encyclopedia of World History''. Houghton Mifflin, p. 76 ff. . He was the son of Bhattiya. His expansion of the kingdom, especially his annexation of the kingdom of Anga to the east, is considered to have laid the foundations for the later expansion of the Mauryan Empire. According to Jain Tradition, he is said to be the first Tirthankara (''will be named as Padmanabha / Mahapadma'') out of 24th Tirthankara of the future cosmic age. He frequently visited Samavasarana of Lord Mahavira seeking answers to his queries. According to Buddhist Tradition, he is also known for his cultural achievements and was a great friend and protector of the Budd ...
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Airavata
Indra (alias Sakra) and Shachi riding the five-headed Divine Elephant Airavata, Folio from a Jain text, Panch Kalyanaka">Shachi.html" ;"title="Indra (alias Sakra) and Shachi">Indra (alias Sakra) and Shachi riding the five-headed Divine Elephant Airavata, Folio from a Jain text, Panch Kalyanaka (Five Auspicious Events in the Life of Jina Rishabhanatha), c. 1670–1680, Painting in LACMA museum, originally from Amber, India, Amber, Rajasthan Airavata ( sa, ऐरावत "belonging to Iravati") is a white elephant (pachyderm), white elephant who carries the deity Indra. It is also called 'abhra-Matanga', meaning "elephant of the clouds"; 'Naga-malla', meaning "the fighting elephant"; and ' Arkasodara', meaning "brother of the sun". 'Abhramu' is the elephant wife of Airavata. Airavata has four tusks and seven trunks and is spotless white. Airavata is also the third son of Iravati. In the ''Mahabharata'' he is listed as a great serpent. Hindu tradition According to the Ram ...
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