News update 31/03/2022 18
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Only in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. states reappear. Cities also appear, but no longer large, characteristic of the Harappan culture, but small, very well fortified “puras”. The houses in them were stone, wooden, adobe, necessarily protected by an earthen rampart. Craftsmen reappear. Carpenters and blacksmiths enjoyed special respect among them.
Castle of La Mota belongs to the School of Valladolid
Medina del Campo – the capital of the Rueda Denomination of Origin
Tordesillas and its attractions
Valladolid – the capital of Castile and León
In the lower reaches of the Ganges was Magadha - the largest and most powerful state of that time. It reached its highest power in the 4th-3rd centuries. BC. under the Mauryan dynasty, which united almost the entire territory of Hindustan under its rule. Favorable conditions arise for the development of the economy, the improvement of the political system, and the flourishing of culture.
In the IV century. AD a strong power of the Guptas arose, which existed for almost two centuries.
Nandas, Mauryas, Shungas, Kushans, Guptas - each of these Indian dynasties is interesting in its own way. The Nandas had one of the largest armies in the Ancient East. The first king of the Mauryan Empire was the legendary Chandragupta. Ka-nishka was the king of the vast Kushan Empire, through which the Great Silk Road passed in antiquity.
This fabulous country also attracted the great conqueror of antiquity, Alexander the Great (see the article “Philip II and Alexander the Great”). His army crossed the Hindu Kush and split up in the valley of the Coffen River (now Kabul). One part of it, led by Alexander, moved north, the other, under the command of Perdikkas and Hephaestion, crossed the Indus and prepared to give battle. However, the warriors were expected to have a plentiful meal and rest. The local raja Taxil not only did not intend to fight the Greek-Macedonians, but even gave them horses and elephants.
Along with King Taxil, history has preserved the name of the brave King Pora, the ruler of a powerful state in northwestern India, who, despite the numerical superiority of the aliens, decided to give them an open battle. In 326 BC there was a fierce battle. The Indian army was defeated. Bleeding, Por stood before the conqueror and demanded that he be treated as a king should be treated. Alexander, admired by his courage, not only returned Porus his possessions, but even presented new lands.
Alexander failed to conquer all of India. In the conquered territories, he left governors. The last of them, Evdem, left India in 317 BC, that is, already 6 years after the death of Alexander the Great. The contact of the two cultures turned out to be short-lived, but it did not go unnoticed: the influence of Greek culture is noticeable in the beautiful images of North Indian Gandharian sculpture.
Benavente and the Church of Santa María del Azogue
Monastery of Santa María de Moreruela – a Cistercian monastery
Puebla de Sanabria – a historical complex
Sanabria lake – the largest glacial lake in Spain and the Iberian Peninsula
Zamora – the capital of the province
In the II century. BC e. India broke up into many state formations, unable to repel the constant raids of the Parthians, Scythians and other nomads.
Indian history is full of surprises. To learn about one of them, let's go back a little. In 268 BC the Indian throne was occupied by the powerful ruler of the Mauryan dynasty Ashoka (“Deprived of sorrow”). He established diplomatic and trade relations with many countries of the West and East. Under him, the state became one of the largest in the East. In his youth, he did not differ in the softness of his temper and even earned the nickname Chanda-Ashoka ("Cruel Ashoka"). In the eighth year of his reign, he defeated the state of Kalinga (the territory of the modern Indian state of Orissa), received additional political and commercial advantages. It seemed that the great king was destined to continue to wage wars and strengthen his power.
However, Ashoka’s rock edict, left for posterity, read: “... And no matter how many people at the time when the Kalingans were subdued, killed or died, or taken away from there, even a hundredth of this number, even a thousandth of it now burdens the thought Pleasing to the gods ”(as Ashoka called himself). He repented of what he had done.
Albacete – the largest and the most populated city in Castilla-La Mancha
Alcalá del Júcar and its castle
Carcelén castle dates from the 14th century
Chinchilla de Montearagón and its attractions
Chinchilla de Montearagón Castle is located in one of the most strategic places in Spain
Ashoka, once merciless, in another edict instructs: "And if anyone harms, the Delightful One considers that it is necessary to spare, as much as possible to forgive." The unexpected metamorphosis of Ashoka is explained by the fact that the king became an adherent of Buddhism, a religion that arose in India in the 6th century. BC, and began to follow its rules.
India is also the birthplace of Hinduism, one of the oldest religions on earth, which originated in the 4th millennium BC. A distinctive feature of Hinduism is polytheism. The ancient Indians believed that the gods, like people, love delicious food, beautiful clothes, they are also friends and quarrel. Surya (god of the sun), Dyaus-Pitar (god of the sky), Ushas (goddess of the dawn), Parjanya (god of thunder), Sarasvati (goddess of the river of the same name), Agni (god of fire) are considered the gods of the most ancient origin. Indra was especially revered - the lord of rain, who defeated Vritra - the demon of drought. Later, the main gods of the Indians were Brahma (the beginning of all beginnings in the world), Shiva (the destroyer) and Vishnu (the guardian).
Alcázar de San Juan and its mills
Alhambra castle may have an Umayyad origin
Almagro – a historic-artistic complex
Calatrava la Nueva – a medieval castle and convent
Campo de Criptana and its windmills
Ciudad Real and its attractions
Doña Berenguela castle – a former Moorish fortress
Lagunas de Ruidera Natural Park
Palace of the Marquis of Santa Cruz – the headquarters of the General Archive of the Spanish Navy
Peñarroya castle dates back to 1198
Villanueva de los Infantes – National Historic Site
The ancient Indians imagined Vishnu as a beautiful young man reclining on the mythical snake Shesha, which swims in the waters of the cosmic ocean. Vishnu has four arms, in which he holds a conch, a wheel, a club and a lotus flower. Vishnu has the gift of transforming himself into animals and humans. Once, turning into a dwarf, Vishnu came to the demon king Bali and asked him to give him as much land as he could cover in three steps. Laughing, Bali willingly gave permission, but soon regretted it: the dwarf grew to a gigantic size and covered the sky with the first step, and the earth with the second. Seeing the horror of Bali, the magnanimous Vishnu did not take the third step.
High in the Himalayas on Mount Kailash, the god Shiva lives. His appearance is formidable - Shiva is entwined with cobras, dressed in a tiger skin, wears a necklace of skulls. He is many-sided and many-armed, on his forehead is an all-withering third eye. As the legend says, saving people, Shiva drank poison, and his neck turned blue. Therefore, it is often called "Blue-throated". Shiva has a trident in his hand, and he always performs accompanied by the bull Nandin. Shiva and his wife Parvati, which means "Goryanka", have two sons. The first is the four-armed Ganesha, an elephant-headed man riding a rat. Until now, Ganesha is revered as the god of wisdom and good luck. His brother, the war god Skanda, has six heads. He rides a huge peacock, holding a bow in one hand and arrows in the other.
The ancient Indians deified animals. The sacred cow Surabhi was especially revered, which means “Good-smelling” in translation. According to legend, this cow resides in the paradise of the god Indra. The Indians worshiped snakes - nagas. In modern India, there is a state called Nagaland - "Land of Serpents".
In ancient India, it was customary to visit holy places. It was considered a special virtue to visit Hardvar, the place where the Ganges River flows out onto the plain, and at least once in a lifetime, no matter how far a person lives, to bathe in its sacred waters.
Archaeological Park of Segóbriga
Belmonte castle – one of the most emblematic in Spain
Garcimuñoz castle and its architecture
Toba reservoir on the Júcar river
Uña lagoon – a part of the Serranía de Cuenca natural park
The invaluable heritage of the great Indian culture is the Mahabharata - a huge collection of legends, fairy tales, traditions, religious and philosophical texts. The author of this grandiose work is unknown. There are many stories in the Mahabharata, the main one of which tells about the struggle of two royal families - the Pandavas and the Kauravas. In a long dispute, the Pandava brothers won, but not without divine help: the chariot of one of them, the brave and powerful Arjuna, was ruled by his mentor the great Krishna. The conversation between Krishna and Arjuna before the battle is depicted in the Bhagavad Gita (Divine Song), which is considered the most sacred part of the Mahabharata. Some parts of the Bhagavad-gi-you sound quite modern:
Whoever has conquered himself is his own ally, Whoever does not control himself, he, being at enmity, is hostile to himself.
The epic poem Ramayana, in contrast to the Mahabharata, is a single and coherent work attributed to the poet Valmiki. The Ramayana tells about the eldest son of King Dasaratha, Rama, who, due to the deceit of one of the royal wives, is forced to go into exile with his brother Lakshman and his faithful wife Sita. They lived in the forest, eating roots and fruits. The king of demons, the evil Ravana, kidnapped Sita and carried him away. In a terrible rage, Rama, united with the monkey leader Hanuman, kills the kidnapper and frees the beautiful Sita. Returning to the capital, Rama becomes king.
Almonacid de Zorita and its attractions
Entrepeñas reservoir and its water activities
Galve de Sorbe castle was built in the 15th century for the house of Zúñiga
Guadalajara and its attractions
Jadraque castle dates to the late 15th century
Monastery of Santa María de Monsalud – an old Cistercian monastery
Molina de Aragón and its castle – one of the biggest in Spain
Recópolis – an ancient city of Visigothic origin
Sigüenza – a historic-artistic complex
Torija castle first built by the Knights Templar in the 11th century
Zorita de los Canes castle was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1931
"Ramayana" and "Mahabharata" can be called an encyclopedia of the life of Ancient India: there is so much information about the country, people's customs, government and culture.
The ancient Indians were versed not only in literature, but also in mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. It was they who gave the world chess.
The science of healing was called Ayurveda - "the science of long life." The ancient Indian physician was at the same time a botanist, a pharmacologist, a biologist, and a psychologist. Skilled surgeons, they not only removed arrows from wounds almost painlessly for the patient, but even restored the correct shape of noses and ears crippled in battle, i.e. did plastic surgery. Well, in the treatment of snake bites, Indian doctors knew no equal!
Barcience castle dates back to the XV century
Casarrubios del Monte castle dates back to the 15th century
Castillo de la Vela was declared a historical monument of art in 1931
El Toboso – the homeland of Dulcinea, a character from Don Quixote de la Mancha
Guadamur castle was declared a historical-artistic monument
Escalona and its castle-palace
La Puebla de Montalbán and its attractions
Orgaz castle was built in the 14th century
Puñoenrostro castle dates back to the XIV century
Talavera de la Reina and its pottery craft
The most interesting monuments of architecture have come down to us from ancient times. Buddhist sanctuaries-stupas outwardly very much resemble a bell. When looking at them, thoughts about their cosmic origin unconsciously arise - they are so unusual. Their basis is an artificial mound, lined with bricks or covered with whitewashed plaster. The top of the structure crowns
square terrace "harmika" ("palace of the gods"). A spire rushes upward from its center, on which umbrellas (three or seven), called "amalaka", are strung. Seven umbrellas symbolize seven steps from earth to heaven, and three - the number of heavenly spheres. Inside there is a small chamber (sometimes more than one) with the remains of the Buddha or Buddhist saints. All prayers and rituals are performed only outside.
The most famous is the stupa sanctuary in Sanchi, which was built from the 3rd to the 1st century BC. BC. On its famous four gates, called "torana", the whole of India is represented: nature, architecture, traditions and legends associated with the life of gods and people, fantastic creatures, wildlife, trees and flowers, the biography of the Buddha. You can look at the gate for hours - how to read a fascinating book.
Ancient Indian civilization had a huge impact on many countries of the East. It is impossible to understand or study the history and culture of the peoples of South and Southeast Asia without knowing the history of Ancient India. She teaches a lot today. Do not forget the wisdom of the Vedas:
Let there be no hate
From brother to brother, and from sister to sister!
Turning to each other
following one vow, Speak a good word!
Ancient China... There, since time immemorial, the earth has been yellow. And the yellow waters of the great river, which they called so - Yellow - Huang He. Sitting on its shore, the goddess Nuwa sculpted little men from yellow clay. They slipped out of her life-giving hands and populated this land. Their lord was called the Yellow Sovereign - Huangdi. So the legend tells.
Fertile soil and an abundance of water determined the main occupation of the ancient inhabitants of the Huang He Valley - agriculture. Exploring new lands far from water, people learned how to irrigate them by laying canals.
They began to get a larger harvest when tools began to be made not from stone, as before, but from bronze and iron. An arrow with a metal tip instead of a flint or bone one and an iron sword instead of a stone or club were much more convenient for hunting and in battle. The ability to use them to appropriate the property of neighbors, to annex foreign lands gave rise to frequent wars between various clans and tribes. Clashes with neighbors-foreigners continued with the advent of state formations: destinies, principalities, kingdoms.
The Shang tribe with resettlement in the Huang He valley began to be called Yin. It settled on new lands, after a bloody struggle, driving out the Qiang or Xia tribe that lived here earlier.
The shang-yin elders turned from tribal leaders into sole rulers. Among the subjects, the idea of them as "sons of Heaven", who received power at the behest of divine forces, was strengthened. This was a turning point in the formation of the state in the Central Plain, as the Yellow River valley has long been called. "Zhong Guo" - "Middle State" - this is how the people of China themselves began to call their country.
The state of Shang-Yin, having existed from 1766 to 1122 BC, fell under the rule of the Zhou tribe, whose rulers, who ruled from 1122 to 247 BC, called themselves vans - kings. The first of these was U-van - "King Warrior". He handed out lands and titles to his comrades-in-arms: “gun”, “hou”, “bo”, “zi”, “nan”, which is similar to the European “duke”, “prince”, “count”, “baron”, “baronet”. Under the onslaught of neighboring tribes and their own tribal nobility, the Zhou kingdom broke up into destinies. This time (from 770 to 403 BC) was sometimes called by the inhabitants of the Middle State "Spring and Autumn".
The rulers of the destinies fought with each other and with neighbors-foreigners, who were considered savages.