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Shakya
Shakya (Pali, Pāḷi: ; Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan clan of the northeastern region of South Asia, whose existence is attested during the Iron Age in India, Iron Age. The Shakyas were organised into a Gaṇasaṅgha, (an Aristocracy, aristocratic Oligarchy, oligarchic republic), also known as the Shakya Republic. The Shakyas were on the periphery, both geographically and culturally, of the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain in the Greater Magadha cultural region. Location The Shakyas lived in the Terai – an area south of the foothills of the Himalayas and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain with their neighbors to the west and south being the kingdom of Kosala, their neighbors to the east across the Rohni River being the related Koliya tribe, while on the northeast they bordered on the Malla (tribe), Mallakas of Kushinagar. To the north, the territory of the Shakyas stretched into the Himalayas until the forested regions of the mountains, which formed their northern border ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaṇasaṅgha
Gana-Sangha (People's Union) or Gana-Rajya (People's Rule) was a type of Gana, tribe and clan structure of aristocratic republics in janapadas, ancient India. Etymology The word (; Sanskrit: गण) in Sanskrit and Pali means group or community. It can also be used to refer to a body of attendants and can refer to any assemblage or association of men formed for the attainment of the same aims, denotes the gathering of a given community. The word ''sangha'' in Sanskrit means association, assembly, company or community. For instance, in Buddhism, ''sangha'' refers to the Buddhist monasticism, monastic community of bhikkhus (monks) and bhikkhunis (nuns). The phrase ''gana sangha'' can be translated as (rule by) tribal assembly. In ancient Buddhist texts like the ''Anguttara Nikaya'' which make frequent reference to Mahajanapadas, the great states in ancient India, the texts often use the phrase to refer a type of aristocratic rule, contrast to monarchy (साम्राज् ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kapilavastu (ancient City)
Kapilavastu was an ancient city in the eastern Gangetic plains of the Indian subcontinent which was the capital of the clan ''gaṇasaṅgha'' or "republic" of the Shakyas in the late Iron Age, around the 6th and 5th centuries BC. King Śuddhodana and Queen Māyā are believed to have lived at Kapilavastu, as did their son Prince Siddartha Gautama (Gautama Buddha) until he left the palace at the age of 29. Buddhist texts such as the Pāli Canon say that Kapilavastu was the childhood home of Gautama Buddha, on account of it being the capital of the Shakyas, over whom his father ruled. Kapilavastu is the place where Siddhartha Gautama spent the first 29 years of his life. According to Buddhist sources the name Kapilvatthu means "tawny area", due to the abundance of reddish sand in the area. Most foreign accounts from the medieval period, particularly from China, described Kapilavastu as being part of "Central India". Kapilavastu never became a major pilgrimage site like Buddh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Republic
A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representative assembly, representatives—in contrast to a monarchy. Although a republic is most often a single sovereign state, subnational state entities that have governments that are republican in nature may be referred to as republics. Representation in a republic may or may not be freely elected by the general citizenry. In many historical republics, representation has been based on personal status and the role of elections has been limited. This remains true today; among the List of countries by system of government, 159 states that use ''republic'' in their official names , and other states formally constituted as republics, are states that narrowly constrain both the right of representation and the process of election. The term developed i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kosala
Kosala, sometimes referred to as Uttara Kosala () was one of the Mahajanapadas of ancient India. It emerged as a small state during the Late Vedic period and became (along with Magadha) one of the earliest states to transition from a lineage-based society to a monarchy. By the 6th century BCE, it had consolidated into one of the four great powers of ancient northern India, along with Magadha, Vatsa, and Avanti. Kosala belonged to the Northern Black Polished Ware culture (c. 700–300 BCE) and was culturally distinct from the Painted Grey Ware culture of the neighboring Kuru- Panchala region, following independent development toward urbanisation and the use of iron. The presence of the lineage of Ikshvaku—described as a raja in the Ṛgveda and an ancient hero in the Atharvaveda—to which Rama, Mahavira, and the Buddha are all thought to have belonged—characterized the Kosalan realm. One of India's two great epics, Ramayana is set in the "Kosala- Videha" realm i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China China–Nepal border, to the north, and India India–Nepal border, to the south, east, and west, while it is narrowly separated from Bangladesh by the Siliguri Corridor, and from Bhutan by the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Sikkim. Nepal has a Geography of Nepal, diverse geography, including Terai, fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the world's ten List of highest mountains#List, tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and List of cities in Nepal, its largest city. Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural state, with Nepali language, Nepali as the official language. The name "Nepal" is first record ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terai
The Terai or Tarai is a lowland region in parts of southern Nepal and northern India that lies to the south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterised by tall grasslands, scrub savannah, sal forests and clay rich swamps. In North India, the Terai spreads from the Yamuna River eastward across Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. The Terai is part of the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands ecoregion. Nepal's Terai stretches over , about 23.1% of Nepal's land area, and lies at an elevation of between . The region comprises more than 50 wetlands. North of the Terai rises the Bhabar, a narrow but continuous belt of forest about wide. Etymology The Urdu word tarāʼī means "lands lying at the foot of a watershed" or "on the banks of a river; low ground flooded with water, valley, basin, marshy ground, marsh, swamp; meadow". In Hindi, the region is called 'tarāī' m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snake Worship
Snake worship is devotion to serpent deities. The tradition is nearly universal in the religions and mythologies of ancient cultures, where snakes were seen as the holders of knowledge, strength, and renewal. Near East Ancient Mesopotamia Ancient Mesopotamians and Semites believed that snakes were immortal because they could infinitely shed their skin and appear forever youthful, appearing in a fresh guise every time. The Sumerians worshipped a serpent god named Ningishzida. Before the arrival of the Israelites, snake cults were well established in Canaan in the Bronze Age, for archaeologists have uncovered serpent cult objects in Bronze Age strata at several pre-Israelite cities in Canaan: two at Megiddo, one at Gezer, one in the ''sanctum sanctorum'' of the Area H temple at Hazor, and two at Shechem. In the surrounding region, serpent cult objects figured in other cultures. A late Bronze Age Hittite shrine in northern Syria contained a bronze statue of a god holding a ser ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progressing to protohistory (before written history). In this usage, it is preceded by the Stone Age (subdivided into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic) and Bronze Age. These concepts originated for describing Iron Age Europe and the ancient Near East. In the archaeology of the Americas, a five-period system is conventionally used instead; indigenous cultures there did not develop an iron economy in the pre-Columbian era, though some did work copper and bronze. Indigenous metalworking arrived in Australia with European contact. Although meteoric iron has been used for millennia in many regions, the beginning of the Iron Age is defined locally around the world by archaeological convention when the production of Smelting, smelted iron (espe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iron Age In India
In the prehistory of the Indian subcontinent, the Iron Age succeeded Bronze Age India and partly corresponds with the megalithic cultures of South India. Other Iron Age archaeological cultures of north India were the Painted Grey Ware culture (1300–300 BCE) and the Northern Black Polished Ware (700–200 BCE). This corresponds to the transition of the Janapadas or principalities of the Vedic period to the sixteen Mahajanapadas or region-states of the early historic period, culminating in the emergence of the Maurya Empire towards the end of the period. The earliest evidence of iron smelting predates the emergence of the Iron Age proper by several centuries. Region Northern India R. Tewari (2003) radiocarbon dated iron artefacts in Uttar Pradesh, including furnaces, tuyeres, and slag between c. 1000 BCE to 1800 BCE. Antiquity of iron in India was pushed back from following the excavations at Malhar, Raja Nala ka Tila, Dadupur and Lauhradewa in Uttar Pradesh from 1996-200 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aristocracy
Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense Economy, economic, Politics, political, and social influence. In Western Christian countries, the aristocracy was mostly equal with magnates, also known as the titled or higher nobility, however the members of the more numerous social class, the untitled lower nobility (petty nobility or gentry) were not part of the aristocracy. Classical aristocracy In ancient Greece, the Greeks conceived aristocracy as rule by the best-qualified citizens—and often contrasted it favorably with monarchy, rule by an individual. The term was first used by such ancient Greeks as Aristotle and Plato, who used it to describe a system where only the best of the citizens, chosen through a careful process of selection, would become rulers, and hereditary monarchy, hereditary rule would actually have been f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oligarchy
Oligarchy (; ) is a form of government in which power rests with a small number of people. Members of this group, called oligarchs, generally hold usually hard, but sometimes soft power through nobility, fame, wealth, or education; or through corporate, religious, political, or military control. Throughout history, power structures considered to be oligarchies have often been viewed as coercive, relying on public obedience or oppression to exist. Aristotle pioneered the use of the term as meaning rule by the rich, contrasting it with aristocracy, arguing that oligarchy was a corruption of aristocracy. Types Minority rule The consolidation of power by a dominant minority, whether religious or ethnic, can be considered a form of oligarchy. Examples include South Africa during apartheid, Liberia under Americo-Liberians, the Sultanate of Zanzibar, and Rhodesia. In these cases, oligarchic rule was often tied to the legacy of colonialism. In the early 20th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater Magadha
Greater Magadha is a theory in the studies of the ancient history of India, introduced by Johannes Bronkhorst. It refers to the non-Vedic political and cultural sphere that developed in the lower Gangetic plains (modern day Bihar, Eastern Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal), east of the Vedic heartland and roughly corresponding to the region of the later Magadha empire. According to Bronkhorst, out of the ideological opposition between these two cultural spheres – the Vedic realms of Kuru and Panchala in the west, and Śramaṇa of Greater Magadha in the east – developed the two main religious & spiritual ideologies of Ancient India. Critics have questioneded Bronkhorst's assertion of a stark cultural division between East and West, as well as his claim that early Magadha was less influenced by Brahmanization. Overview The concept was developed in a book by the Indologist Johannes Bronkhorst. The concept of the cultural region of "Greater Magadha" extends well beyond th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
