Category: Biography Story

Maharana Pratap Singh was a famous Rajput warrior and the king of Mewar in Rajasthan, in northwestern India. He is regarded as one of the greatest Rajput warriors, having resisted Mughal emperor Akbar’s attempts to conquer his domain. Unlike the other Rajput rulers in the region, Maharana Pratap repeatedly refused to submit to the Mughals and fought valiantly until his last breath. He was the first Rajput warrior to take on the might of Akbar, the Mughal Emperor and was a sign of Rajput gallantry, diligence, and valor. In Rajasthan, he is regarded as a hero for his bravery, sacrifice, and fiercely independent spirit.

Rana Pratap Singh Biography and Information

• Rana Pratap Singh Wife – Maharani Ajabde

• Maharana Pratap Children –  Amar Singh I, Bhagwan Das

• Maharana Pratap Date of Birth – May 9, 1540

• Maharana Pratap Birthplace – Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan

• Maharana Pratap Death Date – January 29, 1597

• Maharana Pratap Death Place – Chavand

Rana Pratap History

Pratap Singh I, also known as Maharana Pratap, was the 13th king of Mewar, which is now part of the state of Rajasthan in northwestern India. He was recognised for his role in the Battle of Haldighati and Battle of Dewair and was dubbed “Mewari Rana” for his military resistance to the Mughal Empire’s expansionism. From 1572 until his death in 1597, he was the ruler of Sisodias of Mewar.

Maharana Pratap Singh Childhood and Early Life

Maharana Pratap Singh was born in Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan, on May 9, 1540. Maharana Udai Singh II was his father, and Rani Jeevant Kanwar was his mother. Maharana Udai Singh II was the ruler of Mewar, with Chittor as his capital. Maharana Pratap was granted the title of Crown Prince since he was the eldest of twenty-five sons. In the line of the Sisodiya Rajputs, he was destined to be the 54th ruler of Mewar.

Chittor was surrounded by Emperor Akbar’s Mughal forces in 1567 when Crown Prince Pratap Singh was just 27 years old. Rather than surrender to the Mughals, Maharana Udai Singh II chose to abandon Chittor and relocate his family to Gogunda. The young Pratap Singh decided to stay and battle the Mughals, but his elders intervened and persuaded him to leave Chittor, completely oblivious to the fact that his departure from Chittoor would change history forever.

Maharana Udai Singh II and his nobles formed a temporary Mewar kingdom government in Gogunda. The Maharana died in 1572, allowing Crown Prince Pratap Singh to succeed him as Maharana. The late Maharana Udai Singh II, on the other hand, had succumbed to the influence of his favorite queen, Rani Bhatiyani, and had decreed that her son Jagmal should succeed to the throne. As the late Maharana’s body was being transported to the cremation grounds, Crown Prince Pratap Singh accompanied the Maharaja’s body. This was a break from tradition, as the Crown Prince was not supposed to accompany the Maharaja’s body to the tomb and instead was supposed to prepare to ascend the throne, ensuring that the line of succession remained intact.

Per his father’s wishes, Pratap Singh chose to have his half-brother Jagmal succeed him as king. The late Maharana’s nobles, especially the Chundawat Rajputs, forced Jagmal to abdicate the throne to Pratap Singh, knowing that this would be disastrous for Mewar. Jagmal, unlike Bharat, did not voluntarily relinquish the throne. He vowed vengeance and set out for Ajmer to join Akbar’s army, where he was promised a jagir – the town of Jahazpur – in exchange for his assistance. In the meantime, Crown Prince Pratap Singh was elevated to Maha Rana Pratap Singh I, the 54th ruler of Mewar in the Sisodiya Rajput line.

It was the year 1572. Pratap Singh had recently been appointed Maharana of Mewar and had not visited Chittor since 1567. Chittor was under Akbar’s rule, but not the kingdom of Mewar. Akbar’s dream of being the Jahanpanah of Hindustan could not be realized as long as the people of Mewar swore allegiance to their Maharana. He sent several emissaries to Mewar in the hopes of persuading Maharana Rana Pratap to sign a treaty, but the letter was only willing to sign a peace treaty that preserved Mewar’s sovereignty. In the year 1573, Akbar dispatched six diplomatic missions to Mewar in an attempt to persuade Rana Pratap to accept the latter’s suzerainty, but Rana Pratap rejected all of them.

Raja Man Singh, Akbar’s brother-in-law, was in charge of the last of these missions. Raja Man Singh declined to sup with Maharana Pratap Singh, who was enraged that his fellow Rajput was allied with someone who had compelled all Rajputs to submit. The battle lines had been drawn, and Akbar realized that Maharana Pratap would never submit, forcing him to use his troops against Mewar.

Maharana Pratap Singh Military Career

Battle of Haldighati

On June 18, 1576, Maharana Pratap Singh fought against Akbar’s forces led by Man Singh I of Amer in the Battle of Haldighati. The Mughals were triumphant and killed a large number of Mewaris, but they were unable to capture the Maharana. (#14) The fighting took place in a narrow mountain pass near Gogunda, which is now known as Rajsamand in Rajasthan. Pratap Singh had about 3000 cavalry and 400 Bhil archers on his side. Man Singh of Amber, who commanded an army of 5000–10,000 soldiers, was the Mughal commander. The Maharana was wounded and the day was lost after a fierce fight that lasted more than six hours. He was able to flee to the hills and return to the battle the next day.

The Mughals were unable to destroy or capture Maharana Pratap Singh or any of his close family members in Udaipur, making Haldighati a meaningless victory. Pratap and his army recaptured the western regions of his dominion as soon as the empire’s attention shifted north-west.number 16 Despite the fact that Pratap was able to make a safe escape, the war did not succeed in breaking the deadlock between the two forces. Following that, Akbar waged a concerted war against the Rana, and by the end of it, he had taken possession of Goganda, Udaipur, and Kumbhalgarh.

Rana Pratap History of Resurgence

Following rebellions in Bengal and Bihar, as well as Mirza Hakim’s incursion into the Punjab, Mughal pressure on Mewar, eased after 1579. In the Battle of Dewair (1582), Pratap Singh invaded and captured the Mughal post at Dewair (or Dewar). All 36 Mughal military outposts in Mewar were automatically liquidated as a result of this. Akbar halted his military campaigns against Mewar after this defeat. Dewar’s triumph was Maharana’s crowning achievement, dubbed the “Marathon of Mewar” by James Tod. 

Akbar moved to Lahore in 1585 and stayed for the next twelve years, keeping an eye on the situation in the north-west. During this time, no major Mughal expeditions were sent to Mewar. Pratap took advantage of the situation and took control of Western Mewar, which included Kumbhalgarh, Udaipur, and Gogunda. He also built a new capital, Chavand, near modern-day Dungarpur, during this time.

Maharana Pratap Singh Personal Life

Maharana Pratap had seventeen sons, eleven wives, and five daughters. His favorite partner, however, was Maharani Ajabde Punwar, his first wife. In 1557, he became the first person to tie a knot. His first son, Amar Singh I, was born in 1559 and would later succeed him.

Pratap is said to have married ten more princesses in order to keep the Rajputs together. Pratap spent most of his childhood in the forests, and it is said that his family once had to live on grass chapatis.

Maharana Pratap Death

Maharana Pratap Singh died on January 19, 1597, at the age of 56, in Chavand from injuries suffered in a hunting accident. His eldest son, Amar Singh I, succeeded him. Pratap told his son on his deathbed not to surrender to the Mughals and to reclaim Chittor.

About Maharana Pratap Singh

Maharana Pratap was a famous warrior of Rajput and was the king of Mewar in Rajasthan which is in the North Western region of India. He was among the greatest flash put for your ears who was recognised for resisting the attempts of the Akbar who was the Mughal ruler to conquer his territory. Maharana Pratap I fought continuously and courageously till his last breath and refused repeatedly to submit to the mighty Mughals. Maharana Pratap was the only Rajput who had taken the might of Akbar who was the Mughal emperor. He was a symbol of Rajput gallantry and diligence. He was also honored as a hero in Rajasthan for all his courage and sacrifices which he had made. 

Maharana Pratap and his family have lived in the forest for a very long time and suffered for the basic things and also survived on chapatis which was made up from grass. He also had a very faithful horse whose name was Chetak, who was his favorite and a very few people know a fact that had Blue eyes. That is why maharana pratap was also known as the rider of the blue horse.

Childhood of Maharana Pratap

Maharana Pratap was born in Kumbhalgarh fort on 9 May 1540. His mother and father were Jaiwanta Bai and Udai Singh II respectively. He had two step sisters and three younger brothers. His father was the king of Mewar. In 1957, Mewar’s capital Chittor was surrounded by the mughal forces. His father Uday Singh left the capital and shifted all his family members to Gogunda. Rana Pratap resisted this decision of his father and insisted on staying back in Chittoor. But his elders convinced him to leave the place.

After the demise of Uday Singh, Rani Dher bai wanted the eldest son of Uday Singh to be crowned as the king. But the senior courtiers felt that Pratap could be a good choice for handling the prevailing situation. This is how Maharana Pratap became the king. 

Accession and Reign

When Rana Pratap Singh succeeded his father to the throne of Mewar, his brother Jagmal Singh, who had joined the Mughal army for the sake of revenge and was nominated by Udai Singh as the crown prince. Akbar, the Mughal king, rewarded Jagmal Singh for the help he had rendered and gave him the town of Jahazpur. After the Rajputs left Chittor, Mughals took control of that place but they were unable to rule over the kingdom of Mewar and became unsuccessful. Akbar sent a few of his envoys to negotiate with Rana Pratap Singh for making an alliance with him, but it didn’t work. 

Personal Life of Maharana Pratap

Maharana Pratap had a total of 11 wives, five daughters, and 17 sons but his favorite wife was his first wife whose name was Maharani Ajabde Punwar. He tied the knot with her in 1557. The name of his first son Amar Singh was born in 1559 and later succeeded him. In order to strengthen the Rajput unity, it is being said that Maharana Pratap married ten more princesses. 

Legacy of Rana Pratap Singh

Maharana Pratap Singh did not surrender the Mughal armies which was led by Akbar and that is why he is considered to be India’s first freedom fighter which was in itself a big thing. Also there are few television shows made on the life and achievements of Maharana Pratap Singh. A historic site has also been made to dedicate it to Maharana Pratap Singh, which is situated at the top of Moti Magri, Pearl Hill which is situated in Udaipur and named as Maharana Pratap Memorial. It was built by the Maharana Bhagwat Singh of Mewar and represented a bronze statue of the great warrior Maharana Pratap Singh riding his horse Chetak. 

Death 

At the age of 56,  on 29 January 1597, the great warrior Maharana Pratap left. The reason for his demise was the injuries which he got during the struggle against the Mughal Empire. His eldest son Amar Singh succeeded him to the throne and became a king of Mewar. 

Elon Musk life story begins in South Africa, where he was born. Later, he went on to become an American entrepreneur who co-founded PayPal and established SpaceX, a launch vehicle and spacecraft manufacturer. He was also one of the original major investors in and the CEO of Tesla, an electric car company.

Elon Reeve Musk is the eldest of his parents’ three children, and a citizen of three countries: South Africa, Canada, and the United States. He was born in 1971 to Maye Musk, a model and nutritionist, and Errol Musk, an electromechanical engineer whom Elon has described as “a dreadful human being.” Read the entire article to learn about Elon Musk History which is inspiring for generations to come.

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Elon Musk Early Life

Musk was born in Canada to a Canadian mother and a South African father. Musk grew up with his head stuck in books and computers. He was bullied by his classmates and often beaten up by class bullies as a little, timid youngster until he grew strong enough to defend himself during a growth spurt in his teens. He developed a video game at the age of 12 and sold it to a computer magazine. Musk left South Africa in 1988 after getting a Canadian passport because he refused to support apartheid through compulsory military duty and wanted to pursue the higher economic prospects offered in the United States.

Elon Musk Qualification

Musk travelled to Canada at the age of 17 to attend Queen’s University and evade military service in South Africa. Musk got his Canadian citizenship the same year, partly because he thought it would be easier to get American citizenship that way. Musk moved to the United States in 1992 to study business and physics at the University of Pennsylvania. He earned an undergraduate degree in economics before continuing on to earn a second bachelor’s degree in physics. Musk went to Stanford University in California to earn a Ph.D. in energy physics after leaving Penn. But that Ph.D couldn’t make it to Elon Musk Degrees since he walked out of Stanford after only two days to start his first firm.

Elon Musk Works

In the summer of 1995, Musk relocated to Silicon Valley. He enrolled at Stanford University’s PhD programme in applied physics, but dropped out after only two days. Kimball Musk, Elon’s 15-month younger brother, had recently graduated from Queen’s University with a business degree and had travelled to California to join him. As the early Internet grew in popularity, the brothers decided to develop a company called Zip2, an internet business directory with maps. That’s how Elon Musk started entering into the business world.

Zip2 eventually recruited angel investors and grew into a profitable firm thanks to the brothers’ efforts. Zip2 was sold to Compaq for ＄307 million in 1999 by the brothers. Elon subsequently went on to create his own online financial services company, X.com. Confinity, a company formed by Peter Thiel and two others mere months after X.com and with headquarters in the same building, was its main competitor. In March 2000, the two firms joined and adopted the name of their major product, PayPal, an online money transfer service for individuals. In October 2002, Ebay, the online auction site, purchased PayPal for ＄1.5 billion in Ebay stock. Elon Musk, who had been the largest shareholder in PayPal with 11.7% of the company’s equity shares, found himself with ＄165 million in Ebay stock at the age of 31.

Since leaving PayPal, he has founded, co-founded, and/or led companies focused on addressing three distinct existential risks to humanity’s long-term survival: climate risk, single-planet dependency risk, and human species obsolescence risk. Two of these companies, SpaceX and Tesla Motors, he risked his entire early fortune to build.

Elon Musk Success Story

Musk joined engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning to help operate Tesla Motors in 2004, where he played a key role in the development of the world’s first electric vehicle, the Tesla Roadster. Musk took over as CEO and product architect after Eberhard was fired from the company in 2007 due to a series of conflicts. Tesla has grown to be one of the most popular and desirable vehicle brands in the world under his leadership.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has signed many high-profile contracts with NASA and the US Air Force to manufacture rockets and execute military missions. Musk has been vocal about his desire to work with NASA on a collaborative mission to deploy an astronaut to Mars by 2025. Elon Musk has always been a proponent of various space-age technologies, but it hasn’t always been a smooth journey for him. He went on to become a small business owner and eventually the CEO of two creative firms after being bullied in school. But he made the decision to ascend from there and never settle for anything less.

Tesla, in addition to creating electric automobiles, has a strong presence in the solar energy sector, courtesy to its purchase of SolarCity. This clean-energy services company, which was founded in 2006, now develops two rechargeable solar batteries that are primarily used for stationary energy storage. The Powerwall is designed for residential backup power and off-grid use, whereas the Powerpack is designed for business or electric utility grid use.

Facts about Elon Musk

• Elon Musk was born in the year 1971 in South Africa.

• He is best known for co-founding Tesla Motors and SpaceX, but he first got his wealth as a PayPal co-founder.

• Tony Stark, the fictional character created, was heavily influenced by Musk (a.k.a. Iron Man). Indeed, elements of Iron Man 2 were shot both inside and outside of SpaceX. Even Elon Musk makes an appearance in the film!

• Musk’s official annual pay for Tesla Motors is ＄1, similar to that of Steve Jobs and other well-known entrepreneurs.

• Musk taught himself computer programming at the age of 12 and produced the video game Blastar, which he sold for $500.

• Elon Musk did not become an American citizen until he was 31 years old, in 2002.

• Elon Musk immigrated to Canada from South Africa when he was 17 years old. He eventually went to the University of Pennsylvania in the United States for college.

• Musk moved to California after graduation to pursue physics graduate school at Stanford University. He dropped out of Stanford after only two days, opting to take advantage of the booming Internet industry.

• Musk swiftly founded his first startup, Zip2, which supplied online newspapers with maps and business directories, after dropping out of graduate school. In 1999, he sold the company for ＄307 million.

• Musk co-founded X.com in 1999, an online payment startup that later became PayPal before being purchased by eBay for ＄1.5 billion in equity (of which Musk received ＄165 million).

• Tesla Motors, a firm that designs and manufactures electric sports automobiles, was co-founded by Musk. Tesla was able to flourish where other significant manufacturers failed in the electric vehicle sector. He is presently Tesla’s CEO and chief product architect.

• The National Highway Safety Administration gave the Tesla Model S a 5.4/5 safety rating, the highest ever given to a car.

• Musk is one of the driving drivers behind SolarCity, which he and his cousins created. He is also the company’s main shareholder.

• Elon Musk also created SpaceX (formerly known as Space Exploration Technologies), a corporation that designs and manufactures space launch vehicles, with a concentration on rocket technology. His goal is to lower the cost of space travel in order to expand human life beyond the Earth.

• Musk originally struggled to raise funds for SpaceX, which investors dismissed as a pipe fantasy. Musk put all of his personal funds into SpaceX in order to make it a reality (going against every piece of business advice ever written).

Conclusion

Elon Musk has shown entrepreneurial inclinations since he was a child. His Engineer father and Dietician mother, who recognised and encouraged his son’s passion in technology, accepted him warmly. He got his first computer when he was ten years old and taught himself how to programme. At the age of 12, the young boy built a fully playable video game called “Blastar,” which he allegedly sold for ＄500. Elon Musk attended Pretoria Boys High School and graduated in 1988. To avoid South Africa’s obligatory military duty, he went to Canada in 1989 and enrolled at Queen’s University in Ontario. He only stayed at the University of Pretoria for five months after that. Musk went on to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business to earn a bachelor’s degree in economics. He also left after two days to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions after being accepted into the University of Stanford’s Physics Graduate Program. As we learn about Elon Musk biography, we understand that he has pursued goals that have motivated not only himself, but also the team of people he has engaged to work with him. Whether it’s interplanetary space flight or electric vehicles, these objectives are all geared toward the future and dramatically improving existing conditions.

After Princess Diana’s father obtained the title of Earl Spencer in 1975, she was named Lady Diana Spencer. On July 29, 1981, she married Prince Charles, the heir to the British monarchy. In 1996, they divorced after having two boys. Diana died in an automobile accident in Paris on August 31, 1997, princess diana age was 36 at the time.. Because of her broad popularity and global humanitarian endeavours, she is known as the “People’s Princess.”

Princess Diana Information

Full Name: Diana Frances Spencer; 

Born: 1 July 1961

Died: 31 August 1997 (aged 36); Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital

Burial: 6 September 1997

Spouse: Charles, Prince of Wales

House: Spencer (by birth); Windsor (by marriage)

Father: John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer

Mother: Frances Roche

Childhood and Teenage Years

Diana has been raised at Park House, a leased property on Queen Elizabeth II’s Sandringham estate wherein she played with the queen’s younger sons, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, as a kid. Edward John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, heir to the 7th Earl Spencer, and his first wife, Frances Ruth Burke Roche, had three children, the youngest of whom was her. Diana, together with her brother and two sisters, lived with her father after her parents’ tumultuous marriage ended in divorce, when she was a youngster. When her father was given the earldom in 1975, she became Lady Diana Spencer. Diana received her education at Riddlesworth Hall (near Thetford, Norfolk) and West Heath School (Sevenoaks, Kent). Diana traveled to England after attending the Chateau d’Oex finishing school in Montreux, Switzerland, and worked as a kindergarten assistant at the famous Young England school which was located in Pimlico.

Marriage and Divorce

In 1980, she reestablished touch with the royal family, and her connection with Prince Charles (princess diana husband) developed. Their engagement was announced on February 24, 1981, and her beauty and modest demeanor—which gave her the nickname “Shy Di”—made her an instant media and popular sensation. On July 29, 1981, the pair married in St. Paul’s Cathedral in front of hundreds of millions of people in a worldwide televised event. Prince William Arthur Philip Louis of Wales, their first child, born on 21 June 1982, and Prince Henry (“Harry”) Charles Albert David, on 15 September 1984.

“Princess Di” quickly became a symbol of grace, elegance, and glitz. She exploited her celebrity profile to support a variety of charity causes, and her ever-changing haircuts and attire made her a fashion trailblazer. However, behind the scenes, the princess and prince were having marital problems. Diana suffered from severe postpartum depression, poor self-esteem, disordered eating, and the stress of being followed by both the official media and the tabloid press, especially the paparazzi, at all times.

The pair officially separated in 1992 after mutual recriminations, tell-all biographies, and confessions of infidelity from both sides revealed the marital breakdown. Diana gave her version of the storey in Andrew Morton’s tumultuous book Diana: Her True Story (1992), as well as in an unusually honest televised interview in 1995. The couple’s divorce was finalised on August 28, 1996, after lengthy talks that resulted in Diana receiving a considerable cash settlement but not the title of Her Royal Highness.

Personal Life after Divorce

Diana leased the double apartment on the north side of Kensington Palace which she had shared with Charles during their first year of marriage after their divorce in 1996; the property stayed her home till her death the following year. She also relocated her offices to Kensington Palace, however she was allowed to “use the state apartments in St James’s Palace.” Paul Burrell stated that Diana’s confidential letters indicated that her brother, Lord Spencer, had declined to let her dwell at Althorp against her demand in a book published in 2003.

She has also been provided a stipend to manage her private office, that was in charge of her charity work and royal duties, but she has been obligated to pay her bills and “any expenditure” spent by her or on her account beginning in September 1996.

Diana dated Hasnat Khan, a British-Pakistani cardiac surgeon who has been dubbed “the love of her life” by several of her best mates after her death, and who she is reported to have praised as “Mr Wonderful” by her friends. Diana toured Lahore in May 1996 at the call of Imran Khan, a relative of Hasnat Khan, and paid a secret visit to the latter’s family.

“The People’s Princess” and Charity Work

Diana retained her prominent public presence after the divorce and maintained numerous of the activities she had previously undertaken in service of charities, including the children’s issues, arts, and AIDS victims. She has also been involved in the campaign to ban landmines. Diana took her sons to hospitals, orphanages and homeless shelters to guarantee that they had “a knowledge of people’s feelings, their uncertainties, people’s anguish, and their hopes and dreams.” She drove them to fast food restaurants and public transportation to familiarise them with life outside of royal luxury. She was dubbed “the People’s Princess” for her compassion, humility, personal warmth, and accessibility.

Death and Funeral

Diana’s remarkable popularity in the United Kingdom and worldwide remained after her divorce, making her among the most photographed women around the world. The media (particularly the paparazzi) have often been invasive, despite the fact that she was using her popularity to great use in promoting her philanthropic efforts. 

Diana and Dodi Fayed were engaged in a car accident while visiting Paris on August 31, 1997, after attempting to flee the paparazzi. At the scene, both Fayed and the driver have been declared dead. Diana withstood the incident at first, but perished to her injuries several hours later in a Paris hospital. She was 36 years old at the time. 

The world was shocked to learn of her untimely passing. On September 5, Queen Elizabeth II, who had been chastised for not publicly addressing Diana’s death, delivered a broadcast address from Buckingham Palace, in which she said: “No one who knew Diana will ever forget her.” Millions of people will remember her, even if they never met her. I assume there are lessons to be learned from both her life and the exceptional and moving response to her death. I appreciate your desire to keep her memory alive.

The driver was found to be responsible for driving at a fast speed and being under the influence of drugs or alcohol and antidepressant medicines, according to a report published in 1999 following an investigation into Diana’s deadly vehicle accident. Many photographers who were once accused of triggering the crash have had their charges dropped. Despite the report, suspicions regarding alternate causes for the disaster remained for years. One conspiracy theory claimed it was part of a royal family-planned assassination, but no further evidence was found to corroborate that idea.

Funeral and Gravesite

Diana’s burial procession began at Kensington Palace on September 6th, with her casket laying on a gun carriage drawn by six black horses. Thousands of mourners lined the streets to witness, with William, 15, and Harry, 12, attending the final length of their mother’s four-mile procession. The event at Westminster Abbey, which had a passionate eulogy from Diana’s brother, Earl Charles Spencer, and a performance by Elton John, was watched by an estimated 2.5 billion people on television.

Diana’s remains were laid to rest at her family’s estate, Althorp, on a tiny island.

Memorials and Charities:

William and Harry (princess diana children) paid tribute to their loving mother, queen diana, with a magnificent concert on what would have been her 46th birthday in 2007, a little before the 10th anniversary of her death. The event’s proceeds went to charity that Diana and her sons promote.

Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, William and Kate Middleton’s second child, was born on May 2, 2015, and was named in honour of Diana.

Following her death, the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund was established to give funding for palliative care, criminal justice reform, asylum, and other causes. The fund became part of The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry in 2013.

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Narayanaswami (RK Narayan) was a well-known Indian writer famous for his set of work and writing in the fictional South Indian town of Malgudi. He was one of the leading and famous authors of early Indian literature written in English along with two others, Mulk Raj Anand and Raja Rao.

Narayan’s greatest achievement was to make India accessible to the outside world through his writing and powerful words in his literature. Narayan’s biography is always centered on his friendship with Graham Greene. Because he was Narayan’s mentor and close friend. He was actively involved in identifying and getting publishers for Narayan’s first four books. 

In 1941, he founded his own publishing house and his works quickly found a permanent and favorite place in the bookshelves of almost all the Indian homes. When he was at the peak of his fame in his successful career, Narayan was then awarded a Padma Bhushan in 1964 and 36 years later, just a year before his death at 94, another prestigious Padma Vibhushan award in 2000. Narayan was critically ill and hospitalized with cardiovascular problems two weeks ago in Madras, the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, where he was born in 1906.

Early Life 

Narayan was born in 1906 in Madras (now renamed and known as Chennai, Tamil Nadu), British India into a normal Hindu family. He was one of eight children his parents have had and Narayan was second among the sons; his younger brother Ramachandran was an editor at Gemini Studios, and the youngest brother Laxman was a successful cartoonist. 

Narayan spent the early years of his life in Madras in the care of his grandmother and a maternal uncle and joined his parents mainly only during the vacations. At that time, India was still treated as the most important of the British empire, a colony held since 1857.

Education

RK Narayan attended a number of schools than a usual student would as in Madras while living with his grandmother, in which the main school was the Lutheran Mission School in Purasawalkam, C.R.C. High School, and Christian College High School. Narayan was an ardent and passionate reader who grew up reading Dickens, Wodehouse, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Thomas Hardy.

After completing high school, Narayan failed the university entrance examination unfortunately but got to have lots of time to spend a year at home reading and writing; and then he successfully passed the final examination in 1926 and joined Maharaja College of Mysore.

RK Narayan was always found devoted and dedicated to reading whenever he got time.

Awards and Honors

Among the best works of RK Narayan among his 34 novels, The English Teacher (1945), Waiting for the Mahatma (1955), The Guide (1958), The Man-Eater of Malgudi (1961), The Vendor of Sweets (1967), and A Tiger for Malgudi (1983) were the best.

His novel The Guide (1958) won him the most prestigious National Prize of the Indian Literary Academy, which was his country’s highest honor. Narayan received many other awards and honors including the AC Benson Medal from the Royal Society of Literature, the Padma Vibhushan, and the Padma Bhushan, India’s second and third highest civilian awards, and in 1994 the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, the highest honor of India’s national academy of letters. He was also once nominated to the Rajya Sabha, which is the upper house of India’s parliament.

To know more about RK Narayanan, log into engineeringinterviewquestions and find out what the experts have to say about this legend. His creations have made him an immortal figure in Indian literature that every booklover, irrespective of age, admires.

Ashoka, actually spelled Asoka according to the Brahmi text followed during his time, in English became Ashoka. An Indian Emperor and was the heir of a great ruler, his grandfather, Chandragupta Maurya, who formed the Maurya Dynasty. It was indeed emperor Ashoka’s sheer grit that he inherited and expanded the reign of the Maurya Dynasty that covered the Indian subcontinent. He has fought relentlessly and leads an army for continuing the Mauryan Dynasty. Emperor Ashoka is still remembered as a great model and leader, because of his efforts to spread the teachings of Buddhism and Dharma. Ashoka spread this message through the means of Pillars and rock edicts and these historical records have stood the test of time. He is very deservingly called Ashoka -The Great. 

A Brief on Ashoka, the Great

Ashoka was the last prominent king of the Mauryan kingdom of India. During his reign (c. 265–238 BCE; cited as c. 273–232 BCE), he was a strong supporter of Buddhism, which helped spread to India. After his conquest of Kalinga but brutally on the east coast of India, Ashoka abandoned an armed victory for “victory by dharma.”

His reign, which lasted from 273 BC to 232 BC, was one of the richest times in India. The Ashoka empire extended from modern-day Afghanistan and parts of Persia in the west to Bengal and Assam in the east, and to Mysore in the south, and included large parts of India, South Asia, and beyond. According to Buddhist sources, Ashoka was a vicious and ruthless ruler who changed his heart after the battle of Kalinga, a vicious war. After the conflict, he converted to Buddhism and devoted his life to spreading the teachings of this religion.

He rose to prominence as a benevolent ruler, instructing his government to provide his people with an equal supply of lands. He was awarded the moniker ‘Devanampriya Priyadarshi’ for his compassionate attitude as a king. The Dharma Chakra adorning the Ashok stambh has become part of the Indian National Flag as a way of honouring his impartial philosophy. Ashoka and his great rule are linked to one of India’s most successful times in history. The Ashoka Lion Capital has been used as a symbol of the Republic of India.

Ashoka propagated his beliefs and efforts by making oral announcements and inscriptions on rocks and pillars in strategic locations. These inscriptions  rock and pillar systems (for example, the lion’s capital, found in Sarnath, which has become a symbol of the Indian subcontinent), usually written during the various years of his reign contain statements about his thoughts and actions, giving information about his life and actions.

By making oral announcements and inscriptions on rocky outcrops and pillars in important places, Ashoka spread the word about his ideas and efforts. Rock and pillar inscriptions (for example, the lion’s capital, excavated at Sarnath, which has become a symbol of the Indian subcontinent), usually written during the various years of his reign, include pronouncements of his beliefs and activities and provide information on his life and actions.

Ashoka spread the word about his principles and efforts by making verbal and written proclamations on rocks and pillars in strategic places. Instructions on the rock and the pillars, often written during the various years of his reign and include proclamations about his beliefs and activities as well as information about his life and actions (for example, the lion’s capital, excavated at Sarnati, which has been excavated at Sarnati.

The establishment of human and animal hospitals, the planting of trees and shrubs along the road, the digging of wells, and the construction of irrigation centres and restrooms were among his public activities. Orders were also issued to combat public negligence and to prevent animal cruelty. The Mauryan dynasty split after Ashoka’s death, and his efforts were abandoned. Her legacy continues to grow because of her goals and high standards.

After his spiritual transformation, Ashoka’s government became increasingly concerned about the welfare of his subjects. Following the established idea established by the Mauryan Kings before Ashoka, the emperor ruled over the nobles. Vithashoka, his younger brother, and a group of trusted ministers assisted him in his administrative duties, and Ashoka consulted with them before adopting any new administrative policy. Yuvaraj (Prince of Crown), Mahamantri (Prime Minister), Senapati (general), and Purohita were among the most important members of the advisory council (priest). Compared to his predecessors, Asoka’s rule saw the introduction of a number of beneficial measures. In view of Kalinga’s decision, he used his father’s approach to government and said, “All men are my children.” He also expressed his gratitude to his servants for his love and respect, and he felt compelled to serve them to their advantage.

Basic Information 

Ashoka Birth– 304 BCE

Birthplace – Pataliputra in the Mauryan Empire reign, present-day, Patna, India

Empire – ruled for many years from 268 BCE- 232 BCE.

Works – Edicts of Buddhism across South Asia and European Subcontinent

Death – 232 BCE, Pataliputra, present-day Patna, India.

Ashoka History

Who was Ashoka?

Ashoka was the grandson of the founder and the first ruler of The Mauryan Dynasty, Chandragupta Maurya after he defeated Magadha. Father of Ashoka, Bindusara, and Mother Subhadrangi were blessed with a son in 304 BCE, in Pataliputra present-day Patna and his mother named him Ashoka, which in Sanskrit literally translates to “A-shoka” that is ‘painless or the one without sorrow.

Ashoka’s Birth is not actually dated back according to the present-day calculations, it was presumed to be this because of his own inscriptions, wherein he mentioned some of the rulers of the period whose date of birth is recorded. 

Bindusara, the father of Ashoka, was not very fond of him due to his inconspicuous appearance. And he would often counsel with his minister as to who would become his successor among his sons or princes. Despite not being pleased with Ashoka’s aesthetics he would trust him with responsibilities and in fact, sent him to suppress the rebellions on many occasions. 

Ashoka had 5 children, 3 sons, Mahinda, Tivala, and Kunala. And 2 daughters, Charumathi and Sangamitra. Mahendra was the firstborn and the oldest son Of Ashoka. Son of Ashoka, Mahinda was very much involved in his Father’s mission to spread the teachings of Dhamma and Buddhism; he was sent to Ceylon for the same. 

Ashoka Reign 

Bindusara, father of Ashoka reigned the Mauryan empire his father Chandragupta had founded and built for 28 years. After his death in the 270s BCE, there was struggle and concern as to who among his sons would be his successor and Ashoka stepped up to take the throne in around 269 BCE-268 BC. 

Ashoka was an ambitious monarch. And he suppressed and crushed many rebellions during his young age following his father’s advice and also waged many when he sat on the throne. Ashoka was always an excellent commander, and he took charge of suppressing the rebellion against his empire in Ujjain and Takshashila. He was relentlessly aggressive and reasserted his power in West and South India. Due to his strategic nature and valour, the Mauryan Empire was once again exerting superiority of reign in the Indian subcontinent. His strength was applauded and also referred to him as Ashoka Chakravarthy, Chakravarthy means King of Kings. 

Many texts that are Sri Lankan and North Indian like the Ashokavadana suggest that he was a violent king referred to as Chandashoka- that means Ashoka The Fierce. One such incident is mentioned wherein Ashoka, beheaded 500 men who were his ministers after they failed to honour his command of cutting every fruit and flower-bearing tree and bringing it to him. The name Chandashoka truly captures his nature to perform such cruel acts.  

The Kalinga War and Its Aftermath

The pivotal and turning point in his reign, as well as his life, came to be when he waged war against Kalinga, that is present-day Odisha previously called Orissa. His conquest to project power over Kalinga but building fortifications was successful. With his troop of army and civilians, he was able to win and rule over Kalinga. It was the most devastating and destructive war of all time wherein 100,000 – 150,000 of them were killed. Among them, 10,000 were Ashoka’s men. The fury and fallout of the war threatened the lives of more people. Ashoka even after his win couldn’t fathom this level of destruction. He was a personal witness to all of this and as days went by his feeling of remorse only grew. 

It was during this unfathomable period of time that Ashoka embraced Buddhism. The suffering he witnessed changed him dramatically. The teachings of Buddhism completely changed his perspective and he became a different man. Instead of waging wars time and again, he adapted and practised ‘ahimsa’ that preaches non-violence to any other living being. Animal hunting was also banned as he was following the path of dharma that taught noninjury to any animal. 

Dharma, proclaimed by the Buddha, is the doctrine that is the ultimate universal truth applicable to all individuals at all times. Taking from his learnings he also documented them in the pillars, as edicts which is an official order issued by the authority or the one in power. The pillar today is called the Ashoka Pillar and the lion capital has become the national emblem of India. His edicts are a well-kept record of his life and the acts he performed that rung, to be frank, and sincere. 

He went on to live his life with honesty, compassion, and mercy. His dealings with others no longer involved violence. He spoke of Buddhism only to those who practice the same philosophy as him. 

Ashoka became a man who now understood the sorrows of the common man and went to the rural parts to spread Buddhism and relieve them from suffering. He even ordered his ministers and other administrators to do the same. He involved his sons too, Mahinda travelled extensively throughout the nation and outside for Buddhist missions. None of his sons was the successors to the throne. Tivala Maurya died before his time and Kunala was blinded hence was not considered a suitable successor. Ashoka’s reign was for 37 years, it changed after his 8th year when he attacked Kalinga the years after and was only aimed at spreading Buddhism all around. His reign name, that many kings adopt that is different from their birth name, was Priyadasi which means ‘one who regards amicably.’

Death of Ashoka the Great

Ashoka in his final regnal years was ill and died in his 37th year of reign in Pataliputra, now Patna at the age of 72 like an Emperor who made a difference to people’s lives by donating and many philanthropic works via Buddhism. He wanted Mahinda to become his successor but he declined this to follow the path of Buddhism and lead a life as a monk. And Samprati, Kamala’s son, was too young to be crowned. It was Ashoka’s Grandson Dasharatha Maurya who succeeded him. 

Conclusion

Ashoka was truly the king that ruled for so many years and was instrumental in spreading the teachings of Buddhism and establishing it as a world religion. His contribution to commencing and sustaining the unification of the nation was truly extraordinary. He is still referred to as the great emperor, Ashoka The great. When he started his conquest by dharma practice following the deadliness of the Kalinga war the Mauryan Empire was truly thriving and the highest populated estimated to be 30 million among all dynasties.