Mycenae is an archaeological site 120 km SW of Athens.
During the late bronze Age, it was one of major centres of Greek civilization.
The period of Greek history between 1600-1100 BCE, is called 'Mycenaean' in reference to Mycenae.
Image of Lion/Lioness gate at Mycenae
At its peak in 1350 BC, the citadel and lower town had a population of 30,000 and an area of 32 hectares.
The Mycenaeans have been described in the Linear B tablets, by the Hittites in their diplomatic correspondence, and by Homer who describes it as 'rich in gold'.
Perhaps Mycenae was the strongest of all the Greek regions in those times, bounded by a loose confederation.
This confederation, perhaps sacked Troy ( Wallusia, in Hittite texts) in the Asia Minor.
Image of a Mycenaean Woman
During excavations in 1876, Heinrich Schilliman found graves of Mycenaean kings along with their swords, cups and other valuable items.
Schliemann also found a golden mask, which is popularly know as 'Mask of Agamemnon', after the legendary king of Mycenae, under whose leadership the Greeks sacked troy in around 1250 BCE.
As per the Linear B tablets, several religious sancturies are mentioned, which are dedicated to number of deities.
Poseidon, mentioned as 'Po-se-da-o', was connected with earthquakes ( E-ne-si-da-o-ne =earth shaker).
The expansion of Mauryan empire towards south has been credited to two kings of the dynasty; Chandragupta or Bindusara.
Ashoka is ruled out because he only conquered Kalinga as per his own admission in RE-XIII, RE Kalsi, etc.
Let's look at Bindusara first.++
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Tārnātha, states that:
"Chanakya accomplished the destruction of the nobles & kings of 16 towns and made Bindusara master of all territory between the eastern and western sea”.
Apart from this, his title 'Amitraghata' = slayer of foes, indicates some forms of conquests. ++
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However, there is rather discouraging evidence against Bindusara's capacity as a conqueror due to following reasons:
a) He was a man of easy going nature & interests mainly in philosophy, wines & figs;
b) There were frequent rebellions in his empire, like Taxila (twice) ++
The thread details the daily routine of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, whose empire stretched from Peshawar to Satluj in the 19th century.
Parts of the thread have taken from accounts of soldiers & diplomats, who spent time with the Maharaja.
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W.G. Osborne- British Military Secretary, spent a month with the Maharaja in 1838 at Dinanagar in Gurdaspur district & noted the routine of the Maharaja.
The Maharaja woke up at 4.30 am during summers & 6 am in winters.
He would start the day with a "brisk gallop at 5 am". ++
On inquiring whether they had breakfast or not, and the reply being in negative, he ordered breakfast to be served at the spot.
The breakfast consisted of rice, curry, sweetmeats, fat cakes stuffed with spices, mango jam and milk.
Moksha: A Charity Event in the Times of Harshavardhan.
The following thread would look at an event named 'Moksha', held every 5 years at Prayaga, under Harsha of Kannauj.
The details of the event have been taken from the writings of Xuanzang, who saw this event in c.639 AD.
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Harsha fixed the place of this event at Prayaga (Prayagraj), at the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna, where according to the traditions "it is more advantageous to give one mite in charity, than a thousand in other places."
This 'Arena of Charity’ was the great sandy plain, about 8 kms on the west of confluence, where even to this day is held the most important & numerously attended Hindu religious congregation of India, called the 'Mahakumbh.'