THE MONGOL CONQUEROR, WHO BUILT THE PYRAMID OF SKULL

THE MONGOL CONQUEROR, WHO BUILT THE PYRAMID OF SKULL

      On this day, 1405 Taimur the Lame, the Mongol conqueror who built the Pyramid of skull all over Central Asia, is dead - laid low by disease during an expedition to conquer China. He was 68. Timur (called Tamerlane in Europe) carved out a vast Empire by the sword, stretching from Mongolia to India, from Baghdad to Egypt - although he was crippled in his youth and often had to be carried into a battle on a litter. Claiming direct descent from Genghis Khan, he conquered hi native Transoxiana (Uzbekistan) 35 years ago, and made Samarkand his capital. Then he attacked all his neighbors in turn. His terms were simple: surrender or death - and hesitation meant mass be headings. A brilliant technician, Timur routed the Golden Horde, conquered the Turks, Anatolians, Mamelukes, Arbas and Persians, and sacked Delhi, Damascus Baghdad. He filled Samarkand with looted art treasures -  for Taimur loved art, and was a philosopher who impressed the great minds of his time, even though he was illiterate. his four sons now inherit the empire.

PYRAMID OF GIZA HOUSES

BUILDING OF THE GREAT PYRAMID

        Khufu's monument is the only one of the seven Wonders of the Ancient world to survive today. built in 2575 B.C.E., it house of the tomb of king Khufu, who for twenty-three years had been King of  Upper ad Lower Egypt. Few records survive from his reign, but inscriptions suggest the campaigned both in Nubia to the south and Canaan to the north. Despite this paucity of information,  his reputation has endured for millennia. Khufu is remembered as a cruel ruler, determined to achieve two great goals: to ensure the survival of the dynasty beyond his son Khephren; and to ensure hi own immortality, through the building of the great Pyramid, the largest monument of the Ancient World. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus, writing some 2,000 years later, claimed Khufu forced his daughter to work as a prostitute to raise funds for his pyramid.
        The logistics of constructing such a massive object, 480 feet (146 m) and comprising some 2.3 million blocks of stone, in a relatively short period were astounding. Yet they were obviously overcome. The building simple design, unusual Egypt for not being covered with inscriptions or prayers, has fascinated observers for millennia. In recent years exploration of the structures narrow passageways using robot-mounted cameras has suggested that the Pyramid was aligned with the star Orion in order to allow the King's soul to travel to the stars.
         Beside the pyramid was a 141-foot-long (43 m) funeral boat in which the King was carried to his final resting place, and smaller tombs for members of his household - an unprecedented sight at the time.  

THE DEATH DAY OF BADSHAH SHAH JAHAN , The great Mughal Emperor

THE DEATH DAY OF BADSHAH SHAH JAHAN
         On this day in 1966 Shah Jahan, the mighty Mughal Emperor of India who built the Taj Mahal  as a mausoleum for his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal, died today in the fort where his son, Aurangzeb, imprisoned him eight years ago. he was 74.
He is to be entombed in the Taj Mahal beside his wife. Aurangzeb had fought and killed his brothers to seize the throne, as Shah Jahan had done before him in 1628. Aurangzeb confined his father to his harem in the fort at Agra, from where the old man could gaze at the magnificent white marble mausoleum in which his empress lay. He was a direct descendant of both Genghis Khan and Timur. 

THE BIGGEST WRONG DECISION BY MUGHAL EMPEROR JAHANGIR

TRADERS FROM WEST
      On this day 11th January 1615 Mughal Emperor Jahangir has granted permission(farman) to the new traders, who call themselves The East India Company, to establish factories in Surat. in exchange for this permission, the Emperor is expecting an assortment of English products to be sent his way. These English traders come seeking a variety of Indian goods such as cotton, silk, indigo dye, salt, saltpeter and tea. Much conflict is expected from their Dutch and Portuguese counterparts, not to forget the French who seem to have established a strong foothold in India. But are they strong enough enough to hold their ground? Only time will tell.