Jnana Karanji

1. Physiology or Medicine James P Allison (USA) and Tasaku Honjo (Japan) “for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation” 2. Physics Arthur Ashkin (USA), Gerard Mourou (France) and Donna Strickland (Canada) "for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics" 3. Chemistry (a) one half to Frances H. Arnold (USA) (b) other half jointly to George P. Smith (USA) and Sir Gregory P. Winter (UK) (a) "for the directed evolution of enzymes" (b) "for the phage display of peptides and antibodies" 4. Peace Denis Mukwege (Congo) and Nadia Murad (Iraq) “for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict” 5. Economic Sciences (a) William D. Nordhaus (USA) (b) Paul M. Romer (USA) (a) “for integrating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis”    

were Harihara I, Bukkaraya, Harihara II and Praudhadevaraya. Harihara laid the foundation for the Vijayanagar empire and developed acapital amidst new hillocks. Bukkaraya Bukkaraya defeated the Reddys of Kondaveedu and merged Penukonda area with Vijayanagar. Bukka was successful in solving the religious war between the Jains and the Srivaishnavas, there by upheld religious harmony. This fact is revealed by one of the inscriptions in Shravana Belagola. He constructed a fort and a few temples in the capital and encouraged agricultural activities. Bukkaraya sent an ambassador to the court of a Chinese king belonging to the Ming dynasty. Bukka’s son Kampana defeated the Sultan of Madurai and enlarged his Kingdom. This victory is marked in ‘Madura Vijayam’ written by Gangadevi. Harihara II : Do you know this ?Nicole Conti, an Italian traveler, visited Vijayanagara and has recorded interesting facts about the kingdom. He has revealed that the capital spread across 60 sq.miles.Do you know th...

Basaveshwara is the most prominent social reformer of medieval Karnataka. Basaveshwara and his disciples advocated Veerashaiva philosophy which was based on simple human values. They rejected the numerous rituals deeply rooted in the Vedic religion. Basaveshwara was the son of Madarasa and Madalambike of Bagewadi of present Vijayapura. Basaveshwara was a strong opponent of caste system and he threw away the ‘Sacred thread’ after his Upanayana (the thread ceremony), and went to Kudalasangama. He took linga deekshe from a shaiva Guru and started practising meditation. Though Basaveshwara became the treasury head of Kalachuri Bijala King, he remained unmoved by money, status and power. He dedicated himself to the removal of social evils from the society. He remain committed to the revival of social centric religion. Basavanna started this socio-religious movement from Mangalakeda. Shivasharana should never discriminate anyone on the basis of caste and he also said that purity of Atma is ...

Madhwacharya was born in Pajaka village near Udupi in Karnataka. His father was Madhwagehabhatta and mother Vedavati. Lord Vishnu was their family deity. It is said that at a very tender age, he displayed abundant knowledge. He had his education in Vedas and Upanishads from Achyutapreksha. The same teacher later inducted Madhwacharya into sanyasa. While studying under his guru, Madhwacharya independently gained great knowledge about the religious scriptures and defeated his guru in a debate. He advocated ‘Dwaitha’ philosophy. Dwaitha means two. According to this philosophy, the human soul and the Divine soul are separate. Do you know this?Ashtha mutts: Palimaru, Adamaru, Krishnapura, Puttige, Shirur, Sode, Kaniyoor and Pejawar mutts. In order to propagate his philosophy, Madhwacharya took to piligrimage to various places and participated in debates. He brought Lord Krishna’s idol which was hidden in a muddy hillock called Gopichandana and installed it in Udupi. Further, to enable regu...

Ramanujacharya was born in Sriperambudur near Chennai. Keshava Somayaji was his father and Kanthimathi was his mother. He studied Veda and Upanishads at Yadavaprakash in kanchi, the famous learning centre in South India. Then, he went to Srirangam and became head of a mutt. The Chola ruler who was shaivite started pestering Ramanujacharya. He was invited by Bittideva, the Hoysala King of Karnataka. It is said that later Bittideva accepted Vaishnava tradition and became Vishnuvardhana. Ramanuja went to Melukote and built Cheluva narayana temple. Ramanujacharya had keen interest to show the path of salvation to the common people. His philosophy is called as ‘Vishistadwaitha’. According to this philosophy Jeeva (life) and Prakruthi (Nature) are under the control of Bramha. Both Atma and Paramathma cannot become one simutaneously. He said that world is the expressed manifestation of Bramha and world is a reality. In order to achive Mukthi (salvtion) Bhakti and Prapathi (complete surrendra...

Shankaracharya Shankaracharya was born in the village Kaladi in Kerala in a Namboodari Brahmin family. His father was Shivaguru and mother, Aryamba. Shankara was very intelligent. At the age of seven, he had mastered all the Scriptures. He learnt Vedas and the Puranas from his teacher, Govinda Bhagavatpada. Shankaracharya studied theUpanishads and Brahmasutras in depth and propagated the Adwaitha philosophy. According to this, Brahma is the absolute truth, the rest of the world is false. The soul is one with Brahma, and life is not separate from Brahma. The world is maya, an illusion; Brahma is the absolute truth. People are ignorant; they are not aware of the illusionary nature of the world. They are also not aware that Brahma is the only Truth. Hence we should go on the path of knowledge, and realize the nature of the world. Ultimately, we should merge our ‘atma’ (soul) with the absolute truth, Brahma. Only then we can attain moksha (liberation). In this manner, Shankaracharya taugh...

Administrative System: Most of the Delhi Sultans were dictatorial rulers. They were also the commanders of the army and chief justices too. The administration was in accordance to Quran. Sardars, Ameers and Ulemas had considerable influence over the administration. The central government had departments like Defence, Foreign Affairs, Postal, Charity and Endowment for effective administration. These departments were headed by ministers and officials. The kingdom was divided into many provinces. These administrative divisions were headed by Shikdhar, Amin and Chowkidhars. The collection of revenue, maintenance of law and order, providing education facilities and ensuring cleanliness were the main roles of these officials. Kharaj (land tax), Zakaht, Ushru, Khums (tax on the wealthplundered during battles), Jiziya, tax on property without heirs,import duty, house tax were the main source of income duringSultan’s rule. There were officials for the collection of taxes. Qazis aided the Sult...

Tughlaq dynasty was founded by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq. Ghiyasudddin maintained peace and order in Delhi by implementing liberal administration policies. He strengthened the border to prevent Mongol invasions. He built irrigation canals for the benefit of the farmers and lowered the taxes. He established the postal system consisting of horsemen and runners. He built Tughlaqabad fort near Delhi. He conquered Madurai and Warangal and maintained law and order in Gujarath and Bengal. The other important rulers of this dynasty are Mohammed bin Tughlaq and Firoze Tughlaq. Mohammed bin Tughlaq He was a scholar of Persian and Arabic languages. He was an expert in mathematics, physics, medicine, Persian poetry, astronomy and other subjects. Though he was a man of knowledge, he had a few abnormalities in his personality. He was thinking ahead of his time, often centuries ahead. But, his officials neither had the integrity nor the maturity to implement his plans. Administrative Reforms Do you know t...

Jalaluddin established the Khilji Dynasty. He was a man of mercy and soft spoken. As a result his sardars (lieutenants) became strong and plotted to kill him. Later, Allauddin killed him and became the Sultan of Delhi. Alluddin Khilji He grew up under the protection of Jalaluddin during his childhood days. He was a good warrior and served as the governor and also as the military general. As the military general, he invaded Malwa, Billwa and Devagiri and plundered a lot of wealth. He killed his guide and mentor Jalaluddin. Thus, by treading the path of murder and plunder, Alluddin became the Sultan of Delhi. Alluddin thwarted the attack of Mongolians. He defeated the Rajput king Karnadeva II of Vaghela dynasty, Hameeradeva ofRanathambore and Bheemsigh of Chittor. Apart from this, heconquered Malwa, Jalore, Bundhi, Mandore and Tonk. The honour of successful completion of southern Indian invasion goes to his general Malik Kafur. During his time, he invaded Devagiri, Warangal, Dwarasamudr...

With the departure of Mohammed, his slaves startedstrengthening their rule in the areas conquered by the Turks.Qutubuddin Aibak, a slave who was very close to Mohammed andenjoyed his confidence, made Delhi, the erstwhile capital of Chouhans, as his centre of administration. The other military generals of Turks who had remained in India accepted Qutubuddin Aibak as their Sultan. Qutubuddin Aibak became the founder of Ghulam (slave)dynasty. The rule of Turk which started by Aibak was continued byKhilji, Tughalaq, Syed and Lodhi dynasties till the arrival of Moghuls. GHULAM DYNASTY All the people, who succeeded Mohammed Ghori in all theplaces conquered by him in India, were his slaves. Qutubuddin Aibakwho established Turks rule in Delhi was also a slave. His successorswere also slaves. Hence, their rule is termed as Ghulam dynastyrule. Apart from Aibak, Iltamush, Razia Sultana and Bulban areimportant in the Gulam Dynasty. Qutubuddin Aibak Qutub MinarDo you know this?Qutub Minar is the ta...

By defeating the small kingdoms of Rajput kings, Turks built their empire in the subsequent years. The establishment of Turks’ rule, whose religion was Islam, was not completely unexpected. Arabs had made failed attempts to capture Sindh regions from the beginning of 8thcentury.Still, Sindh region was always under the constant threat of Turks’ attack. Turks belong to a nomadic tribe of Mangolia, a part of central Asia, who had accepted Islam. Alaptigin, who belonged to this tribe, established his independent state in 963 C.E. in ‘Ghazni’ region of Afghanistan. The battles between Turks and Rajputs started from his period. Mohammed Ghazni Ghazni ascended throne after Alaptigin in 999 C.E. Mohammed Ghazni invaded India seventeen times. The famous Somanatha Temple and the temples of Saurashtara were destroyed during his invasions.Though, all the Rajput kingdoms of the western India were batteredby these invasions, they failed to face Turks with unity. Mohammedsucceeded in his invasions d...

After the rule of Vardhanas of Sthanaveeneshwara, most of the western and the northern India was ruled by Gurjara Prathiharas, Chandelas of Bundelkhand, Garhwalas, Solankis, Paramars, and many other Rajput dynasties. By the end of twelfth century, Rajput Kings like Prithviraj Chauhan, Jayachandra Gharwal, Paramardideva Chandela were the powerful kings of northern India. Gurjara Prathiharas: The Prathiharas have claimed in many of their inscriptions, that the Laxmana of Ramayana period, a Kshatriya of Suryavamsha, as the founding person of their family. But as per the available evidences, Nagabhatta is the founder of this dynasty. The Prathiharas ruled Sindh region by keeping Kanuj as their capital city. They fought back the frequent Arab attacks. Mihara Boja and Mahendrapala, the powerful rulers of this dynasty, had defeated the Pala’s of Bengal and had extended their Prathihara kingdom till Bengal. An Arab traveller named Sulaiman had visited the court of Mihara Bhoja and has appreci...

Islam originated in Arabia. Arabia is a peninsula of West Asia. It is basically a desert which is not suitable for agriculture. Thus the Arabs migrated to fertile lands and settled in places where water was available. Such places were Mecca and Medina. Do you know this :KaabaThis is a sacred place for Muslims present in Mecca. Muslims offer their prayers everyday facing towards Kaaba. The piligrimage to this place is called as ‘Haj’ by them. In the beginning Arabs worshipped many objects of nature. They worshipped stones, trees and streams as Gods. In Mecca, the stone of Kaaba and other 360 idols were worshipped by them. This was considered to be one of the most important religious places. Life of Mohammad Paigambar Mecca The founder of Islam Mohammad Paigambar was born in 570 C.E at Mecca His parents were Abdulla and Ameena. He lost his parents during his childhood and was brought up by his uncle. He was a shepherd in the beginning and later started visiting Mecca and Syria for busin...

Jesus Christ Christianity was established in the beginning of First century C.E in Nazareth province of Palestine. It was under the reign of Roman Empire. Jesus Christ was the founder of Christianity. Before the arrival of Christianity, the Jews of Palestine had become slaves to superstitious practices. They were subjected to various hardships due to the misrule of Romans. In such a situation Jesus Christ was born and founded Christianity. Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ Many details of Jesus Christ´s early life are unknown. Available sources suggest that he was born into a poor family of Joseph and Mary at Bethlehem village near Jerusalem. He did not get proper education. Despite this he acquired a lot of religious knowledge by his extraordinary power of intelligence and interpreted the holy of books Jews in a simple language. At the age of thirty he came under the influence of John Baptist and was baptized by him. He enlightened the people in distress by divine teachings and ...

Jesus Christ Christianity was established in the beginning of First century C.E in Nazareth province of Palestine. It was under the reign of Roman Empire. Jesus Christ was the founder of Christianity. Before the arrival of Christianity, the Jews of Palestine had become slaves to superstitious practices. They were subjected to various hardships due to the misrule of Romans. In such a situation Jesus Christ was born and founded Christianity. Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ Many details of Jesus Christ´s early life are unknown. Available sources suggest that he was born into a poor family of Joseph and Mary at Bethlehem village near Jerusalem. He did not get proper education. Despite this he acquired a lot of religious knowledge by his extraordinary power of intelligence and interpreted the holy of books Jews in a simple language. At the age of thirty he came under the influence of John Baptist and was baptized by him. He enlightened the people in distress by divine teachings and made...