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McGill’s Scotland East Enviro300 number 8484 (SN62 AYB) ‘Burnfoot Enviro’ is seen here on the New Bridge in Roseburn, operation a service AIRX from the airport into town.
Taken on Friday the 8th of August 2025
These E300s are starting to get a bit worn out, however they’re still running along the A8 between the airport and town every day.
McGill’s Scotland East Enviro300 Second Generation number 8484 (SN62 AYB) ‘Burnfoot Enviro’ was new to First Scotland East as their 67781. It was branded for service X95 for a while, and then moved to First Midland Bluebird and in 2019 it gained branding for services X35 and X37. In September 2022 it moved to the Midland Bluebird brand of McGill’s Eastern Scottish as part of the sale of First Scotland East to McGill’s. It was painted for the spare bus for the short lived Forth Bridges tour but often used on the AIRX, until it was repainted into this orange Brightbus Airport Express livery (thanks to ZZ9 for this correction). It has since mainly been used on the AIRX route it is branded for, however can sometimes be found on the likes of the 13, X39 and 60 along with fellow AIRX E300s.
The unofficial name ‘Burnfoot Enviro’ comes from when it was assigned to the X95 and would pass through Hawick often, Burnfoot being in eastern Hawick.
McGill’s launched the Brightbus Airport Express service on the 1st of January 2024. It was started as competition to Lothian’s Airlink service 100 and has mainly used these E300s on it as well as E400MMC number 8951 ‘Blaeberryhill’.
Vehicle Information
Operator: McGill’s Scotland East
Service: AIRX Airport Express Ratho and District Edinburgh Airport – Old Town Waverley Bridge (09:53 departure)
Vehicle type: Alexander Dennis Enviro300 Second Generation Integral AD E30D
Vehicle engine: Diesel
Vehicle fleet number: 8484
Vehicle registration: SN62 AYB
Vehicle name: Burnfoot Enviro
Vehicle depot: McGill’s Scotland East Livingston Deans
Vehicle livery: McGill’s Scotland East BrightBus Airport Express livery 2023 version
Vehicle destination screen: Orange LED screen
Vehicle destination: City Centre Airport Express via Murrayfield
Vehicle Chassis: AD E30D SFD1C8AR2CGG30706
Vehicle Body: AD C314/9
Vehicle Seating: B41F
Operating area: City of Edinburgh and West Lothian
Registration prefix area: Edinburgh
Year of manufacture: 2012
Date of first registration: 01.01.2013 (Day T41274)
Original operator: First Scotland East
Original fleet number: 67781
Original registration: SN62 AYB
Age of vehicle: 12 years, 7 months and 7 days (total 4602 days)
Photo location: New Bridge, Roseburn Terrace (A8), Roseburn, Murrayfield, City of Edinburgh
Taken on: Friday the 8th of August 2025 (08.08.2025)
Taken on Day U3508
References
Bus Lists on the Web (2025) SN62ANU. Available at: www.buslistsontheweb.co.uk/ (Accessed 06.09.2025, Day U3537)
Bustimes.org (2025). McGill’s Eastern Scottish - Vehicles - 8484 (SN62 AYB). Available at: bustimes.org/vehicles/fsce-8484?date=2025-08-08 (Accessed 06.09.2025, Day U3537)
GOV.UK (2025) Check MOT History - SN62 AYB. Available at: www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/results?registration=SN62AYB... (Accessed 06.09.2025, Day U3537)
Scottish Community Councils (2025) Find a Community Council. Available at: www.communitycouncils.scot/community-council-finder (Accessed 06.09.2025, Day U3537)
I once wrote that one stranger leads to another. There is a portrait that is important to my project because it has led to a number of other portraits. However, it doesn’t appear in my stranger gallery. I photographed Jean-François Bélanger a few weeks after I first met him at the end of one of his concerts. I had heard him say he would play an acoustic concert with traditional Swedish instruments named nyckelharpas at the Redpath Museum. I offered to document it. He agreed that I shoot his performance as long as it was done very discreetly and only in available ambient light. The Redpath concert was special for its context. It was part of the Montréal Baroque Festival and set amongst the museum’s artefacts.
I met my stranger # 77, Meaghan, when I first visited the exhibition hall, where there is a standing dinosaur skeleton, to make sure there was enough light to make decent handheld camera photos. The day of the concert, I met Matthias, my stranger # 85. He is a composer and a co-director of the festival.
That day I learned Jean-François would be playing guitar in a quite different context at the Festival Mémoires et racines, in Joliette. I spent a day there in July. At the inn where my wife and I stayed the night before, we met Vern and Pat, visitors from California and my strangers # 92 and 93. On the Festival’s site, I met another J-F. Jean-François Berthiaume is a set caller and contemporary visual artist and my stranger # 94. I also met my stranger # 95 there, Malin, a singer from the Swedish vocal group named Kongero.
Malin told me Kongero would give a concert garage in Montreal the following week. I went to it and met Rossana, my stranger # 97. Rossana told me she gives workshops where she teaches “optimistic writing”. Recently, she sent me an e-mail letting me know that I could attend to one of her workshops in the course of the twentieth edition of “Les Journées de la culture”, a week-end of open door event and free of charge cultural activities.
So, off to the workshop I go. It was held in the exhibition room of l’Artothèque, a bank of art works for rental at affordable cost. There were two tables set-up. In total, there were seven participants. I was seated with three women. One of them was Ornella. I thought the workshop was going to be a bit directive. Things turned out different. Rossana made us listen to Louis Armstrong singing “What a wonderful world” and basically told us to think about something positive and write. So we all wrote and then read out our texts. It turned out everyone could write pretty well, admittedly, with different levels of positivism. There was only one other man but he had the craftiest, most poetic style.
This almost filled the scheduled time for the activity. I hadn’t had the opportunity to speak to my table mates at this point. Ornella was with a friend whom, I felt, seemed the most outgoing of the three women. I thought she would agree to be photographed. I was wrong. It’s OK, I respect refusals. I turned to Ornella who, as you can see, accepted to pose for my project.
As she and her friend had to leave because of another commitment, I got to know very little about either of them. She said she was born in Ukraine, her friend was from Congo. Ornella clearly had a strong sense of style. She had lovely round earrings made of colored beads and was wearing what looked like a hand knitted scarf also with colorful designs. I was very surprised to hear that it was actually a table centerpiece cloth that she had cleverly diverted from its original function. The earrings and the centerpiece cloth were from South Africa.
I wish I could tell you more. The ladies had no time left and ran away in a hurry.
Who knows, our paths may cross again…
J'ai déjà écrit qu’un inconnu mène à un autre. Il y a un portrait qui a été important pour mon projet parce qu'il a conduit à un certain nombre d'autres portraits. Cependant, vous ne le trouverez pas dans ma collection d’inconnus. J'ai photographié Jean-François Bélanger quelques semaines après l’avoir brièvement rencontré à la fin de l'un de ses concerts. Je l'avais entendu dire qu'il allait donner un concert acoustique avec des instruments traditionnels suédois nommés nyckelharpas au Musée Redpath. Je lui ai offert de documenter cet événement. Il a accepté que je couvre sa performance à la condition que ce soit fait très discrètement et seulement en lumière ambiante. Le concert au Redpath était particulier pour son contexte. Il faisait partie du Festival Montréal Baroque était joué au cœur de la collection du musée.
J'ai rencontré mon inconnue # 77, Meaghan, lors de ma première visite dans cette salle d'exposition où il y a un squelette de dinosaure debout. Je m’y étais rendu pour m’assurer qu'il y avait assez de lumière disponible pour faire des photos adéquates. Le jour du concert, j'ai rencontré Matthias, mon inconnu # 85. Il est un compositeur et est co-directeur du festival.
Ce jour-là, j'ai appris Jean-François jouerait de la guitare dans un contexte bien différent au Festival Mémoire et racines, à Joliette. J’ai donc passé une journée là-bas à la fin de juillet. À l'auberge où ma femme et moi avons passé la nuit précédente, nous avons rencontré Vern et Pat, des visiteurs venus la Californie et mes inconnus # 92 et 93. Sur le site du Festival, j'ai rencontré un autre J-F, Jean-François Berthiaume, qui est un calleur de set et un artiste visuel contemporain. C’est mon inconnu # 94. J'ai aussi rencontré là mon inconnue # 95, Malin, une des chanteuses du groupe vocal suédois nommé Kongero.
Malin m'a appris que Kongero donnerait un concert de garage à Montréal la semaine suivante. J’y suis allé et j’y ai rencontré Rossana mon inconnue # 97. Rossana donne des ateliers où elle enseigne «l’écriture optimiste». Récemment, elle m'a envoyé un e-mail me laissant savoir que, dans le cadre de la vingtième édition des «Journées de la culture », un week-end de portes ouvertes et d’activités culturelles accessibles, je pourrais participer à l'un de ses ateliers. Je me rends donc à cet atelier qui avait lieu dans la salle d'exposition de l'Artothèque, une banque d'œuvres d'art en location à un coût abordable.
Il y avait deux tables de préparées. Au total, il y avait sept participants. J'étais assis avec trois femmes. L'un d'elle était Ornella. Je pensais que l'atelier allait être plutôt encadré. Les choses se sont avérées différente. Rossana nous a fait écouter Louis Armstrong chantant «What a wonderful world » puis nous a dit de penser à quelque chose de positif et d’écrire. Nous avons alors tous écrit puis lu nos textes. Il est apparu que tout le monde pouvait écrire assez bien, avec, il est vrai, différents niveaux de positivisme. Il n'y avait qu'un autre homme, mais il avait l’écriture la plus fine, la plus poétique.
Cela a pratiquement rempli le temps prévu pour l'activité. Je n’avais pas eu l'occasion de parler à mes compagnes de table pour la peine à ce point. Ornella était avec une amie qui m’avait parue être la plus communicative des trois femmes. Je me disais qu'elle serait d'accord pour être photographié. J'avais tort. C’est OK, je respecte les refus.
Je me suis alors tourné vers Ornella qui, comme vous pouvez le voir, a accepté de poser pour mon projet. Comme elle et son amie devait quitter en raison d'un autre engagement, je n’ai pu apprendre que très peu de choses sur elles. Ornella m’a dit qu'elle et née en Ukraine, son amie est originaire du Congo. Ornella a clairement un bon sens du style. Elle avait de belles boucles d'oreilles rondes en petites billes multicolores et portait ce qui ressemblait à une écharpe tricotée main comportant aussi avec des motifs bien colorés. Je fus très surpris d'entendre qu'il s’agissait en fait un centre de table qu'elle avait habilement détourné de sa fonction d'origine! Les boucles d'oreilles et le tissu provenaient d'Afrique du Sud.
Je voudrais bien pouvoir vous en dire plus. Les deux dames étaient pressées et sont parties à la hâte.
Qui sait, nos chemins se croiseront peut-être de nouveau...
This photo is part of my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page
More videos on my new youtube channel:
Which song do you like better for the twin goddess videos?
Amazing Grace
Pachelbel's Canon
Please let me know what you think of my new fine art videos!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3b1df46oKw
Epic Landscape Photography!
facebook.com/epiclandscapephotography/
Greetings mate! As many of you know, I love marrying art, science, and math in my fine art portrait and landscape photography!
The gold 45 revolver lingerie is designed in accordance with the golden ratio! More about the design and my philosophy of "no retouching" on the beautiful goddesses in my new book:
www.facebook.com/Photographing-Women-Models-Portrait-Swim...
"Photographing Women Models: Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype"
If you would like a free review copy, message me!
And here's more on the golden ratio which appears in many of my landscape and portrait photographs (while shaping the proportions of the golden gun)!
www.facebook.com/goldennumberratio/
'
The dx4/dt=ic above the gun on the lingerie derives from my new physics books devoted to Light, Time, Dimension Theory!
www.facebook.com/lightimedimensiontheory/
Thanks for being a fan! Would love to hears your thoughts on my philosophies and books! :)
http:/instagram.com/elliotmcgucken
instagram.com/goldennumberratio
Beautiful swimsuit bikini model goddess!
Golden Ratio Lingerie Model Goddess LTD Theory Lingerie dx4/dt=ic! The Birth of Venus, Athena, and Artemis! Girls and Guns!
Would you like to see the whole set? Comment below and let me know!
Follow me!
I am working on several books on "epic photography," and I recently finished a related one titled: The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Why the Fibonacci Numbers Exalt Beauty and How to Create PHI Compositions in Art, Design, & Photography: An Artistic and Scientific Introduction to the Golden Mean . Message me on facebook for a free review copy!
www.facebook.com/goldennumberratio/
The Golden Ratio informs a lot of my art and photographic composition. The Golden Ratio also informs the design of the golden revolver on all the swimsuits and lingerie, as well as the 45surf logo! Not so long ago, I came up with the Golden Ratio Principle which describes why The Golden Ratio is so beautiful.
The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Dr. E’s Golden Ratio Principle: The golden ratio exalts beauty because the number is a characteristic of the mathematically and physically most efficient manners of growth and distribution, on both evolutionary and purely physical levels. The golden ratio ensures that the proportions and structure of that which came before provide the proportions and structure of that which comes after. Robust, ordered growth is naturally associated with health and beauty, and thus we evolved to perceive the golden ratio harmonies as inherently beautiful, as we saw and felt their presence in all vital growth and life—in the salient features and proportions of humans and nature alike, from the distribution of our facial features and bones to the arrangements of petals, leaves, and sunflowers seeds. As ratios between Fibonacci Numbers offer the closest whole-number approximations to the golden ratio, and as seeds, cells, leaves, bones, and other physical entities appear in whole numbers, the Fibonacci Numbers oft appear in nature’s elements as “growth’s numbers.” From the dawn of time, humanity sought to salute their gods in art and temples exalting the same proportion by which all their vital sustenance and they themselves had been created—the golden ratio.
The Birth of Venus! Beautiful Golden Ratio Swimsuit Bikini Model Goddess! Helen of Troy! She was tall, thin, fit, and quite pretty!
Read all about how classical art such as The Birth of Venus inspires all my photography!
www.facebook.com/Photographing-Women-Models-Portrait-Swim...
"Photographing Women Models: Portrait, Swimsuit, Lingerie, Boudoir, Fine Art, & Fashion Photography Exalting the Venus Goddess Archetype"
Enjoy my new fine art landscapes & ballet video!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3b1df46oKw
Let me know what you think! :)
OCA wagon number 112086 was at the very back.
According to Realtime Trains the route and timings were;
Longhedge Junction............0830............1216 1/4..........226L
Factory Junction....................0832 1/2.....1217 3/4.........225L
Wandsworth Road ...............0833............1218 1/4..........225L
Voltaire Road Junction........0833 1/2.....1218 3/4.........225L
Clapham High Street ...........0834............1219 1/4..........225L
Shepherds Lane Junction...0835............1220 1/4.........225L
Brixton [BRX]...........................0836............1221 1/2..........225L
Denmark Hill [DMK]...............0839............1224...............225L
Crofton Road Junction.........0840............1225 1/2.........225L
Peckham Rye [PMR]..............0840 1/2.....1225...............224L
Nunhead [NHD].....................0842............1227 1/4.........225L
Nunhead Junction................0842 1/2.....1227 1/2.........225L
Crofton Park [CFT].................0847............1230...............223L
Catford [CTF]..........................0850 1/2.....1231 1/2...........221L
Bellingham [BGM]..................0855............1233 3/4.........218L
Beckenham Hill [BEC]..........0856 1/2.....1235................218L
Ravensbourne [RVB]............0858............1236 1/2..........218L
Shortlands Junction..............0859............1237 1/4..........218L
Shortlands [SRT]....................0859 1/2.....1237 1/2..........218L
Bromley South [BMS]...........0901............1238 3/4..........217L
Bickley [BKL]...........................0902 1/2.....1240 3/4.........218L
Bickley Junction[XLY]..........0903............1241 3/4..........218L
St Mary Cray Junction..........0904............1242 1/2..........218L
St Mary Cray [SMY]...............0906...........1244 3/4.........218L
Swanley [SAY]........................0909 1/2.....1249................219L
Eynsford [EYN].......................0913 1/2......1253 1/4..........219L
Shoreham [SEH].....................0916 1/2......1255 3/4.........219L
Otford [OTF]............................0918 1/2......1257 3/4.........219L
Otford Junction[XOT]...........0919 1/2......1300 1/2..........221L
Bat & Ball [BBL]......................0921.............1302 1/4..........221L
Sevenoaks [SEV]...................0923............1305 1/4.........222L
Hildenborough [HLB] ..........0929 1/2.....1311 1/2...........222L
Tonbridge [TON]...................0932 1/2.....1314 3/4.........222L
Tonbridge Down Loop.........0933 1/2.....1316................222L
Paddock Wood .....................0943............1320 1/2...........217L
Marden [MRN]........................0950...........1325 1/4..........215L
Staplehurst [SPU]..................0953 1/2.....1327 3/4.........214L
Headcorn [HCN]....................0958 1/2.....1331..................212L
Pluckley [PLC]........................1008.............1336 1/4.........208L
Ashford West Junction........1017..............1342...............205L
Ashford International ...........1018 1/2.......1346...............207L
Sevington Loop.....................1022/1052..NoRep/1415..203L
Ashford East Junction..........1053.............1358 3/4.........185L
Ashford International ...........1054 1/2......1418 1/2..........204L
Ashford West Junction........1055 1/2......1419 3/4.........204L
Pluckley [PLC]........................1101...............1425 1/4.........204L
Headcorn [HCN]....................1106 1/2.......1431.................204L
Staplehurst [SPU]..................1110 1/2........1434 1/2.........204L
Marden [MRN]........................1113 1/2.........1437 1/4..........203L
Paddock Wood .....................1119...............1442...............203L
Tonbridge Up Loop..............1128..............1446 3/4.........199L
Tonbridge [TON]...................1129 1/2.......1450...............200L
Hildenborough [HLB]...........1132 1/2........1457................204L
Sevenoaks [SEV]...................1138 1/2........1504 1/2.........206L
Dunton Green [DNG]............1141...............1506 1/2.........205L
Knockholt [KCK].....................1147 1/2........1511.................203L
Chelsfield [CLD].....................1149 1/2.......1512 1/2..........203L
Orpington [ORP]....................1152..............1515 1/2..........203L
Petts Wood [PET]...................1154 1/2.......1518 1/2..........204L
Petts Wood Junction............1155 1/2.......1519 1/4..........203L
Chislehurst [CIT]....................1158 1/2.......1520 1/4..........201L
Elmstead Woods [ESD]........1201 1/2.......1522...............200L
Grove Park [GRP]...................1205 1/2......1523................186L
Lee Spur Junction.................1221..............1526 1/2..........185L
Lee [LEE]..................................1226 1/2......1530 1/2..........184L
Mottingham [MTG]................1229.............1533 3/4.........184L
New Eltham [NEH].................1230 1/2......1535................184L
Sidcup [SID]............................1233.............1537 1/2..........184L
Albany Park [AYP].................1235.............1539................184L
Bexley [BXY]...........................1237.............1540 1/2..........183L
Crayford [CRY].......................1240.............1543................183L
Crayford Spur B.....................1241..............1544 1/2..........183L
Dartford Junction[XRT]........1242 1/2......1545................182L
Dartford [DFD]........................1243 1/2.......1546 3/4.........183L
Stone Crossing [SCG]...........1248 1/2......1550 1/4..........182L
Greenhithe Bluewater .........1250 1/2......1551 1/4............181L
Swanscombe [SWM].............1253 1/2......1554 1/4..........180L
Northfleet [NFL].....................1255 1/2......1555 3/4.........180L
Springhead Junction ..........1257.............1557.................180L
Gravesend [GRV]...................1304.............1610 1/2...........186L
Hoo Junction Up Yard ........1310 1/2.......1618..................187L
Everyone has a lucky number, mine is 7 ... also 3 creeps in as a lottery choice and here they both are! ; )
Take your birthday, add the numbers together and then see what your number is???
e.g 27/01/ 1977 would be 2+7 + 1 +1 +9 +7+7 = 34 (3 + 4) = 7
Listening to... Seven days in sunny june
GRG26/5/4 Photographic Portraits of South Australian Soldiers, Sailors and Nurses who took part in World War One
Number 1826 HEWITT, Cecil Austin
Australian Flying Corps
Place of birth: Glen Osmond
Residence : Glen Osmond
SRSA ref: GRG26/5/4/1826
The same Tier-4 that led the M-NTWBRC two days earlier is on the point of the V-CHCDBU at Union Junction. DBU stands for Daytons Bluff so I'm not sure why the train is continuing west of there after doing work, but I'll take it.
The rear end of the train has just topped the hill out of St Paul and he's now in full dynos running on an approach to Park Junction.
GRG26/5/4 Photographic Portraits of South Australian Soldiers, Sailors and Nurses who took part in World War One
Number 2000 MATTHEWS, Walter Fenwick
Artillery Units
Place of birth: Clarendon
Residence : Adelaide
SRSA ref: GRG26/5/4/2000
Flickr Friday: cirkels
Omgezaagde iep met jaarringen
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Flickr Friday: circles:
Cut down elm with annual rings
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Dank voor het bekijken, commentaren, favorieten en kritiek.
Geen verder gebruik zonder mijn uitdrukkelijke toestemming. 砊Thanks for watching, comments, favourites and critique.
No further use without my explicit consent.
Thanks for the advanced notice on this one.
Govia Thameslink's class 387 Electrostar dual voltage electric multiple unit (EMU) number 387106 comprised of coaches 421106, 422106, 423106 and 424106 with Thameslink branding works 1H95 from Bedford to Beckenham Junction on 3 August 2015. Class 387 EMUs are being temporarily used on this Thameslink route as an interim measure to replace class 319 EMUs that were transferred to Northern Rail. It is said that use of Class 387s will continue until the delayed class 700 EMU contract is delivered at which point the class 387 EMUs will be transferred to First Great Western. 387106 was built by Bombardier Transportation (previously ADtranz) being assembled at Litchurch Lane Works, Derby and entered service on 18 November 2014.
The full diagram for the two units on this day may have been;
5G91....02:31...Bedford CS to Bedford
2W91...02:42..Bedford to Brighton
1B00....05:48..Brighton to London Bridge
1B05....07:11....London Bridge to Brighton
1W16....08:36..Brighton to Bedford
1W27....11:24....Bedford to Brighton
1W38...14:08...Brighton to Bedford
1H95....16:50...Bedford to Beckenham Junction
1G63....18:30...Beckenham Junction to Bedford
1W65...20:22..Bedford to Brighton
2W80..23:36..Brighton to Bedford
5W80..02:38..Bedford to Bedford CS
According to Realtime Trains the route and timings were;
Bedford [BDM] 1..................1650........................1649 3/4...................RT
Bedford South Junction....1652 1/2..................1651 1/2.....................RT
Flitwick Junction.................1658 1/2..................1658 3/4...................RT
Flitwick [FLT] 1......................1659 1/2/1700........1659 1/2/1700 1/4...RT
Harlington [HLN] 1...............1703 1/2/1704........1703 3/4/1704 1/4...RT
Leagrave Junction..............1707 1/2..................1708 1/4....................RT
Luton North Junction.........1712..........................1711 3/4.....................RT
Luton [LUT] 1........................1713/1714.................1713/1714...................RT
Luton Airport Parkway 1....1715 1/2...................1716 1/4.....................RT
Harpenden [HPD] 1.............1719..........................1720............................1L
Harpenden Junction..........1719..........................1720 1/4......................1L
St Albans [SAC] 1.................1723 1/2/1724 1/2..1724/1725................RT
R. Redland Roadstone.......1728.........................1728...........................RT
Radlett [RDT] 1.....................1729.........................1729...........................RT
Radlett Junction..................1729 1/2..................1729 1/2....................RT
Elstree&Borehamwood.....1731..........................1732 1/4......................1L
Mill Hill Broadway 3............1733.........................1734 1/4.......................1L
Silkstream Junction............1734 1/2...................1735...........................RT
Hendon [HEN] 3..................1735.........................1736.............................1L
Brent Curve Junction.........1736.........................1736 1/2....................RT
Cricklewood Curve Jn.......1736 1/2..................1737...........................RT
Cricklewood [CRI] 3...........1736 1/2..................1737 1/4.....................RT
Cricklewood South Jn.......1736 1/2..................1737...........................RT
W. Hampstead Nth Jn........1737 1/2...................1738 1/4....................RT
W. H'stead Thameslink......1737 1/2...................1738 1/2......................1L
West Hampstead Sth Jn...1738.........................1738 1/2....................RT
Carlton Road Junction.......1739 1/2..................1740 1/4....................RT
Kentish Town Junction......1739 1/2..................1740 3/4.....................1L
Kentish Town [KTN] 1.........1740 1/2..................1741 3/4.......................1L
Dock JunctionNorth...........1742.........................1742...........................RT
St Pancras International....1743 1/2/1744 1/2..1744/1746...................1L
Farringdon [ZFD] 3.............1748 1/2/1749 1/2..1749/1751....................1L
City Thameslink [CTK] 2....1752/1753...............1752/1754..................1L
London Blackfriars 1...........1755/1756..............1755/1756................RT
Elephant & Castle 4............1759/1800..............1759/1800................RT
Loughborough Junction...1803........................1803..........................RT
Herne Hill [HNH] 4..............1806/1807..............1806/1808..................1L
Sydenham Hill [SYH]..........1811/1811 1/2............1812/1813....................1L
Kent House [KTH] 3............1816/1816 1/2..........1818 1/4/1819 1/4.......2L
Beckenham Junction 4.....1819.........................1821 1/4......................2L
Scania number 7180, onboard the P & O ferry 'Sprit of France' as it returns to England from its trip to the Netherlands.
West Yorkshire PTE trainer number 1 a 1955 ex Leeds Leyland Titan PD2/11 with Roe bodywork seen at the side of Leeds bus station 14th of April 1977.
UUA213 Ld PD2/11 550153 Roe GO3894 H33/25R 3/1955 Leeds 213
Ferrari 360 Spider (2000-05) Engine 3586cc V8 394bhp
Registration Number K 13 VRN (Cherished number, originally allocated cica 1992, for issue from Preston)
FERRARI ALBUM
www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157623665054999...
Designed by Goran Popovic at Pininfarina the Ferrari 360 (Type F131) is a two-seater, mid-engine, rear wheel drive sports car, introduced as a replacement for the F355. Ferrari joined forces with Alcoa to produce the entirely new aluminium space frame that was 40% stiffer and 28% lighter than the outgoing F355. The body was styled by Pininfarina returning to the rounded appearance of the 1960's cars. The new V8 common to all versions was only slightly larger and more powerful than the F355's 3.6ltr but the lighter frame and added stiffness improved performance
The Spider version was unveiled at the 2000 Geneva Motorshow. The 360 had been designed with a convertible variant in mind with strengthened sills, stiffened the front of the floorpan and redesigned the windscreen frame. With the rear bulkhead stiffened to cut out engine noise from the cabin. The convertible's necessary dynamic rigidity is provided by additional side reinforcements and a cross brace in front of the engine. Due to use of light aluminium construction throughout, the Spider weighs in only 60 kg (130 lb) heavier than the coupé. Mechanical specification as for the Modena Coupe
Diolch am 84,245,753 o olygfeydd anhygoel, mae pob un yn 90cael ei werthfawrogi'n fawr.
Thanks for 84,245,753 amazing views, every one is greatly appreciated.
Shot 01.08-2021 exiting the Silverstone Festival 01.08.2021 Ref 149-125
This is the abandoned and neglected Hangar Number 4 at the old RCAF base at Claresholm, Alberta. It was really neat visiting these old RCAF bases...some original hangars like this one, and some original runways/taxiways/aprons. You could almost hear the tigermoths flying around.
Here's some history on this base:
RCAF Station Claresholm was initially a British Commonwealth Air Training Plan station that trained pilots for World War II service. The station was located near Claresholm, Alberta, Canada. No. 15 Service Flying Training School (SFTS) was opened on June 9, 1941, and closed in March 1945. Ansons and Cessna Cranes were the aircraft used. No. 2 Flying Instructor School (FIS) opened in April 1942 but closed September 1942 and moved to Vulcan. Student pilots at No.2 FIS flew Tiger Moths and Cessna Cranes.
Claresholm was placed on care and maintenance status until reactivated in 1951 as a NATO training centre run by No. 3 Flying Training School (flying Harvards). The station closed again in 1958 when the school was relocated to Gimli, Manitoba. It is now the Claresholm Industrial Airport.
A photo I took a while back when there were a lot of protests against nuclear power.
This was a rather large one in Shinjuku. I don't usually carry around my camera, but I happened to have it with me then so I shot away. There was a large crowd of police officers ready to stop the protest and this guy was one of them.
Route Nationale 1 07/07/2023 10h10
The nationale route number one as seen from the train from Tanger to Asilah right before arrival.
Asilah
Asilah (Arabic: أصيلة) is a fortified town on the northwest tip of the Atlantic coast of Morocco, about 31 km south of Tangier. Its ramparts and gateworks remain fully intact.
The town's history dates back to 1500 B.C., when Phoenicians occupied a site called Silis, Zili, Zilis, or Zilil which is being excavated at Dchar Jdid, some 12 km (7.5 mi) NE of present Asilah; that place was once considered to be the Roman stronghold Ad Mercuri, but is now accepted to be Zilil. The town of Asilah itself was originally constructed by the Idrisid dynasty, and Umayyad caliph Al-Hakam II rebuilt the town in 966. The Portuguese conquered the city in 1471 and built its fortifications, but it was abandoned because of an economic debt crisis in 1549. The Portuguese kept hold of the town but in 1589 the Moroccans briefly regained control of Asilah, but then lost it to the Spanish.
In 1692, the town was again taken by the Moroccans under the leadership of Moulay Ismail. Asilah served then as a base for pirates in the 19th and 20th centuries, and in 1829, the Austrians punitively bombarded the city due to Moroccan piracy.
Asilah is now a popular seaside resort, with modern holiday apartment complexes on the coast road leading to the town from Tangier. The old neighborhoods are restored and painted white, and the wealthy from Casablanca have their weekend getaways here.
Due to its proximity to Spain, the cuisine in Asilah is described as Ibero-Moroccan with notable delicacies including paella, anchovies, and other seafood with both Moroccan and Valencian flavor influences.
Population: 31K (2014)
GRG26/5/4 Photographic Portraits of South Australian Soldiers, Sailors and Nurses who took part in World War One
Number 1750 HAWSON, Leslie Bond
50th Battalion
Place of birth: Port Lincoln
Residence: Port Lincoln
SRSA ref: GRG26/5/4/1750
Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Landscape & Nature Photography
New book page!
www.facebook.com/epiclandscapephotography/
Epic Landscape Photography: The Mythological Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography
Golden Number Ratio Divine Proportion Compositions Fine Art Photography Dr. Elliot McGucken : Using the Nature's Golden Cut to Exalt Nature Photography!
Join my golden ratio groups!
www.facebook.com/goldennumberratio/
www.facebook.com/groups/1401714589947057/
instagram.com/goldennumberratio
Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Landscape & Nature Photography
New book page!
www.facebook.com/epiclandscapephotography/
Epic Landscape Photography: The Mythological Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography
Ansel Adams used the golden ratio in his photography too:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFlzAaBgsDI
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrOUX3ZCl7I
The Fibonacci Numbers are closely related to the golden ratio, and thus they also play a prominent role in exalted natural and artistic compositions!
I'm working on a far deeper book titled The Golden Ratio Number for Photographers. :)
The famous mathematician Jacob Bernoulli wrote:
The (golden spiral) may be used as a symbol, either of fortitude and constancy in adversity, or of the human body, which after all its changes, even after death, will be restored to its exact and perfect self.
Engraved upon Jacob’s tombstone is a spiral alongside the words, "Eadem Mutata Resurgo," meaning "Though changed, I shall rise again." And so it is that within the Golden Ratio Principle, the golden harmonies rise yet again.
The golden ratio is oft known as the divine cut, the golden cut, the divine proportion, the golden number, and PHI for the name of the architect of the Parthenon Phidias. It has exalted classical art on down through the millennia and it can exalt your art too!
Ask me anything about the golden ratio! :) I will do my best to answer!!
Enjoy my Fine Art Ballet instagram too!
Dr. Elliot McGucken's Golden Ratio Principle: The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Dr. E’s Golden Ratio Principle: The golden ratio exalts beauty because the number is a characteristic of the mathematically and physically most efficient manners of growth and distribution, on both evolutionary and purely physical levels. The golden ratio ensures that the proportions and structure of that which came before provide the proportions and structure of that which comes after. Robust, ordered growth is naturally associated with health and beauty, and thus we evolved to perceive the golden ratio harmonies as inherently beautiful, as we saw and felt their presence in all vital growth and life—in the salient features and proportions of humans and nature alike, from the distribution of our facial features and bones to the arrangements of petals, leaves, and sunflowers seeds. As ratios between Fibonacci Numbers offer the closest whole-number approximations to the golden ratio, and as seeds, cells, leaves, bones, and other physical entities appear in whole numbers, the Fibonacci Numbers oft appear in nature’s elements as “growth’s numbers.” From the dawn of time, humanity sought to salute their gods in art and temples exalting the same proportion by which all their vital sustenance and they themselves had been created—the golden ratio. the golden number, rectangle, and spiral!
Fleet Number: 5455
Reg: NK66 EWD
Model: Wright StreetLite DF
Company: Go North East
Route: 356
Direction: Whitley Bay
Location: Backworth
Livery: Go North East 2016 adapted
Depot: Percy Main
Porsche 911 (930) Turbo (1975-89) Engine 3299cc F6 Turbo
Registration Number REF 182 R (Middlesboro)
PORSCHE ALBUM
www.flickr.com/photos/45676495@N05/sets/72157623690528015...
Porsche originally began experimenting with a Turbo charged version of the 911 Carrera in order to produce a street legal homologation version of the racing car. But despite regulation on the homologation of the race car changing Porsche pressed on with the development of the road car, and it would go on to help as a basis for the 934 and 935 racers. The programme was left in the hands of Ernst Fuhrmann who adapted the turbo technology originally developed for the 917/30 Can Am car to the 3000 cc flat six with an output of 256 bhp. Together with a revised suspension, larger brakes and gearbox. A whale tail spoiler to ensure improved air supply to the engine and to increase downforce, grip was improved with wider rear wheels, upgraded tyres under flared wheel arches.
The car debut at Paris in 1974 as the 911 Turbo but in the US was known as the 930.
In 1978 the car received n upgraded 3300 cc engine with a air-air inter-cooler which increased the output to 300 bhp the brakes were upgrade and the spoiler re-profiled in harmony with the inter-cooler.
In 1980 the 930 was withdrawn from the US and Japan in the face of more stringent emission laws, but remained on sale in Europe. In 1983 a 325 bhp package as a special order with an additional four pipe exhaust an additional oil cooler requiring a re-profiled spoiler and modified rockers.
Porsche discontinued the 930 after model year 1989 when its underlying "G-Series" platform was being replaced by the 964. The 1989 models were the first and last versions of the 930 to feature the G50 transmission, a five-speed manual transmission.
Diolch am 86,022,514 o olygfeydd anhygoel, mae pob un yn 90cael ei werthfawrogi'n fawr.
Thanks for 86,022,514 amazing views, every one is greatly appreciated.
Shot 01.08-2021 exiting the Silverstone Festival 01.08.2021 Ref 150-278
Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Landscape & Nature Photography
New book page!
www.facebook.com/epiclandscapephotography/
Epic Landscape Photography: The Mythological Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography
Golden Number Ratio Divine Proportion Compositions Fine Art Photography Dr. Elliot McGucken : Using the Nature's Golden Cut to Exalt Nature Photography!
Join my golden ratio groups!
www.facebook.com/goldennumberratio/
www.facebook.com/groups/1401714589947057/
instagram.com/goldennumberratio
Dr. Elliot McGucken Fine Art Landscape & Nature Photography
New book page!
www.facebook.com/epiclandscapephotography/
Epic Landscape Photography: The Mythological Principles of Fine Art Nature Photography
Ansel Adams used the golden ratio in his photography too:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFlzAaBgsDI
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrOUX3ZCl7I
The Fibonacci Numbers are closely related to the golden ratio, and thus they also play a prominent role in exalted natural and artistic compositions!
I'm working on a far deeper book titled The Golden Ratio Number for Photographers. :)
The famous mathematician Jacob Bernoulli wrote:
The (golden spiral) may be used as a symbol, either of fortitude and constancy in adversity, or of the human body, which after all its changes, even after death, will be restored to its exact and perfect self.
Engraved upon Jacob’s tombstone is a spiral alongside the words, "Eadem Mutata Resurgo," meaning "Though changed, I shall rise again." And so it is that within the Golden Ratio Principle, the golden harmonies rise yet again.
The golden ratio is oft known as the divine cut, the golden cut, the divine proportion, the golden number, and PHI for the name of the architect of the Parthenon Phidias. It has exalted classical art on down through the millennia and it can exalt your art too!
Ask me anything about the golden ratio! :) I will do my best to answer!!
Enjoy my Fine Art Ballet instagram too!
Dr. Elliot McGucken's Golden Ratio Principle: The Golden Number Ratio Principle: Dr. E’s Golden Ratio Principle: The golden ratio exalts beauty because the number is a characteristic of the mathematically and physically most efficient manners of growth and distribution, on both evolutionary and purely physical levels. The golden ratio ensures that the proportions and structure of that which came before provide the proportions and structure of that which comes after. Robust, ordered growth is naturally associated with health and beauty, and thus we evolved to perceive the golden ratio harmonies as inherently beautiful, as we saw and felt their presence in all vital growth and life—in the salient features and proportions of humans and nature alike, from the distribution of our facial features and bones to the arrangements of petals, leaves, and sunflowers seeds. As ratios between Fibonacci Numbers offer the closest whole-number approximations to the golden ratio, and as seeds, cells, leaves, bones, and other physical entities appear in whole numbers, the Fibonacci Numbers oft appear in nature’s elements as “growth’s numbers.” From the dawn of time, humanity sought to salute their gods in art and temples exalting the same proportion by which all their vital sustenance and they themselves had been created—the golden ratio. the golden number, rectangle, and spiral!
I saw a surprising number of trucks hauling loads of Volkswagen diesel cars traveling through the East County area and Aberdeen, it’s because Port of Grays Harbor facilities are being used to collect the cars and prepare them for their eventual return to the market after problems are fixed.
The recall came after it was discovered Volkswagen had doctored their vehicles to provide U.S. diagnostics equipment with a false emissions level that fit with U.S. standards, even though the cars’ emissions were truly not. When the deceit was discovered, Volkswagen was forced to recall thousands of vehicles sold in the U.S.
“The influx of recalled cars overflows Terminal 4, so additional space is being used at the Satsop Business Park,” said Leonard Barnes, Deputy Executive Director for the Port. Most of the cars coming in are from Washington, but some from Oregon and even a few from Alaska have shown up at the Port.
According to Satsop Business Park manager Alissa Shay, Pasha Automotive has leased 26 acres in the “main park” – the main section of the park around the cooling towers – and another 29 acres in the “west park,” which is the area of the park toward the location of Grays Harbor Energy’s facility.
Whether these areas are being used to take in cars before heading to Pasha’s Terminal 4 location to be made ready for market, or if the Satsop Business Park locations are being used to store cars once Pasha is done with them, is unknown. Penny Eubanks, general manager of Pasha’s Terminal 4 location, said she was not at liberty to discuss any details about Pasha’s agreement with Volkswagen regarding the recalled vehicles.
The actual number of cars coming in is not known either. Barnes said, “Dealers notify us when they have a truck coming. And they’re still coming.” The Volkswagen scandal involved about a half million cars in the U.S. alone, and the Port is one of only a handful of locations in the nation with an agreement to take them, which could mean a lot of VWs coming through town.
On Friday the company pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and conspiracy over the scheme to program nearly 600,000 vehicles to deceive the Environmental Protection Agency, according to the Associated Press. Sentencing is next month.
VW also agreed to pay $4.3 billion in criminal and civil penalties. While that is the largest-ever fine imposed by the U.S. government on an automaker, the company could have been on the hook for much more.
Federal sentencing guidelines called for fines from $17 billion to $34 billion due to the size of the plot and because VW employees destroyed documents and data after learning of the government investigation, the AP reported.
The company has already spent more than $11 billion for vehicle buybacks. VW’s total cost of the scandal now has been estimated at more than $21 billion, according to Associated Press reporting.
When a dealership in this region gets enough cars to ship, they’re trucked to Port property.
“They are brought in by truck, and then offloaded,” said Barnes. “Pasha takes care of offloading them and doing everything to them the manufacturer would want, following certain criteria to get the cars back to the dealerships.” Pasha typically readies cars for export from their facility, and has a large detailing center on their Port property for that reason. The Terminal 4 Pasha location boasts 18-plus acres of paved and new auto processing facilities, including an automated wash system and three drive-over undercoating pits.
Once Pasha has finished its work, the cars will eventually make it back to dealerships, which will be responsible for fixing the emissions issues on the cars. Once that is done, the cars should be ready for resale on the used car market.
“It has created quite a few jobs,” said Barnes, “Teamster jobs,” people who do the unloading and work in Pasha’s detailing facility.
The Red Fort was the residence of the Mughal emperor of India for nearly 200 years, until 1857. It is located in the centre of Delhi and houses a number of museums. In addition to accommodating the emperors and their households, it was the ceremonial and political centre of Mughal government and the setting for events critically impacting the region.
The Red Fort was built as the fortified palace of Shahjahanabad, capital of the fifth Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, in 1648. Named for its massive enclosing walls of red sandstone, it is adjacent to the older Salimgarh Fort, built by Islam Shah Suri in 1546. The imperial apartments consist of a row of pavilions, connected by a water channel known as the Stream of Paradise (Nahr-i-Behisht). The Red Fort is considered to represent the zenith of Mughal creativity under Shah Jahan. Although the palace was planned according to Islamic prototypes, each pavilion contains architectural elements typical of Mughal buildings, reflecting a fusion of Timurid, Persian and Hindu traditions. The Red Fort’s innovative architectural style, including its garden design, influenced later buildings and gardens in Delhi, Rajasthan, Punjab, Kashmir, Braj, Rohilkhand and elsewhere. With the Salimgarh Fort, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007 as part of the Red Fort Complex.
The Red Fort is an iconic symbol of India. On Independence Day, the prime minister hoists the national flag at the main gate of the fort and delivers a nationally-broadcast speech from its ramparts.
NAME
Its English name, "Red Fort", is a translation of the Hindustani Lal Quila (لال قلعہ, लाल क़िला) deriving from its red-sandstone walls. As the residence of the imperial family, the fort was originally known as the "Blessed Fort" (Quila-i-Mubarak). Agra Fort is also called Lal Quila.
HISTORY
Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned construction of the Red Fort in 1638, when he decided to shift his capital from Agra to Delhi. Its design is credited to architect Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. The fort lies along the Yamuna River, which fed the moats surrounding most of the walls. Construction began in the sacred month of Muharram, on 13 May 1638. Supervised by Shah Jahan, it was completed in 1648. Unlike other Mughal forts, the Red Fort's boundary walls are asymmetrical to contain the older Salimgarh Fort. The fortress-palace was a focal point of the medieval city of Shahjahanabad, which is present-day Old Delhi. Its planning and aesthetics represent the zenith of Mughal creativity prevailing during Shah Jahan's reign. His successor Aurangzeb added the Pearl Mosque to the emperor's private quarters, constructing barbicans in front of the two main gates to make the entrance to the palace more circuitous.
The administrative and fiscal structure of the Mughals declined after Aurangzeb, and the 18th century saw a degeneration of the palace. When Jahandar Shah took over the Red Fort in 1712, it had been without an emperor for 30 years. Within a year of beginning his rule, Shah was murdered and replaced by Farukhsiyar. To raise money, the silver ceiling of the Rang Mahal was replaced by copper during this period. Muhammad Shah, known as 'Rangila' (the Colourful) for his interest in art, took over the Red Fort in 1719. In 1739, Persian emperor Nadir Shah easily defeated the Mughal army, plundering the Red Fort including the Peacock Throne. Nadir Shah returned to Persia after three months, leaving a destroyed city and a weakened Mughal empire to Muhammad Shah. The internal weakness of the Mughal empire made the Mughals titular heads of Delhi, and a 1752 treaty made the Marathas protectors of the throne at Delhi. The 1758 Maratha conquest of Lahore and Peshawar placed them in conflict with Ahmad Shah Durrani. In 1760, the Marathas removed and melted the silver ceiling of the Diwan-i-Khas to raise funds for the defence of Delhi from the armies of Ahmed Shah Durrani. In 1761, after the Marathas lost the third battle of Panipat, Delhi was raided by Ahmed Shah Durrani. Ten years later, Shah Alam ascended the throne in Delhi with Maratha support. In 1783 the Sikh Misl Karorisinghia, led by Baghel Singh Dhaliwal, conquered Delhi and the Red Fort. The Sikhs agreed to restore Shah Alam as emperor and retreat from the fort if the Mughals would build and protect seven Gurudwaras in Delhi for the Sikh gurus.
During the Second Anglo-Maratha War in 1803, forces of British East India Company defeated Maratha forces in the Battle of Delhi; this ended Maratha rule of the city and their control of the Red Fort. After the battle, the British took over the administration of Mughal territories and installed a Resident at the Red Fort. The last Mughal emperor to occupy the fort, Bahadur Shah II, became a symbol of the 1857 rebellion against the British in which the residents of Shahjahanbad participated.
Despite its position as the seat of Mughal power and its defensive capabilities, the Red Fort was not defended during the 1857 uprising against the British. After the rebellion failed, Bahadur Shah II left the fort on 17 September and was apprehended by British forces. He returned to Red Fort as a prisoner of the British, was tried in 1858 and exiled to Rangoon on 7 October of that year. With the end of Mughal reign, the British sanctioned the systematic plunder of valuables from the fort's palaces. All furniture was removed or destroyed; the harem apartments, servants' quarters and gardens were destroyed, and a line of stone barracks built. Only the marble buildings on the east side at the imperial enclosure escaped complete destruction, but were looted and damaged. While the defensive walls and towers were relatively unharmed, more than two-thirds of the inner structures were destroyed by the British; steps were later taken by Lord Curzon to repair some damage.
1911 saw the visit of the British king and queen for the Delhi Durbar. In preparation of the visit, some buildings were restored. The Red Fort Archaeological Museum was also moved from the drum house to the Mumtaz Mahal.
The INA trials, also known as the Red Fort Trials, refer to the courts-martial of a number of officers of the Indian National Army. The first was held between November and December 1945 at the Red Fort.
On 15 August 1947, the first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru raised the Indian national flag above the Lahore Gate. On each subsequent Independence Day, the prime minister has raised the flag and given a speech that is broadcast nationally.
After Indian Independence the site experienced few changes, and the Red Fort continued to be used as a military cantonment. A significant part of the fort remained under Indian Army control until 22 December 2003, when it was given to the Archaeological Survey of India for restoration. In 2009 the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP), prepared by the Archaeological Survey of India under Supreme Court directions to revitalise the fort, was announced.
As the largest monument in Delhi, is one of its most popular tourist destinations and attracts thousands of visitors every year.
THE FORT TODAY
Every year on 15 August (the day India achieved independence from the British), the Prime Minister hoists the national flag at the Red Fort and delivers a nationally-broadcast speech from its ramparts. The Red Fort, the largest monument in Delhi, is one of its most popular tourist destinations and attracts thousands of visitors every year.
A sound and light show describing Mughal history is a tourist attraction in the evenings. The major architectural features are in mixed condition; the extensive water features are dry. Some buildings are in fairly-good condition, with their decorative elements undisturbed; in others, the marble inlaid flowers have been removed by looters. The tea house, although not in its historical state, is a working restaurant. The mosque and hamam are closed to the public, although visitors can peer through their glass windows or marble latticework. Walkways are crumbling, and public toilets are available at the entrance and inside the park.
The Lahore Gate entrance leads to a mall with jewellery and craft stores. There are a museum of "blood paintings", depicting young 20th-century Indian martyrs and their stories, an archaeological museum and an Indian war-memorial museum. Although, Red Fort is still one of the most beautiful and well designed forts in the world.
ARCHITECTURE
The Red Fort has an area of 103.06 ha enclosed by 2.41 kilometres of defensive walls, punctuated by turrets and bastions and varying in height from 18 metres on the river side to 33 metres on the city side. The fort is octagonal, with the north-south axis longer than the east-west axis. The marble, floral decorations and double domes in the fort's buildings exemplify later Mughal architecture.
It showcases a high level of ornamentation, and the Kohinoor diamond was reportedly part of the furnishings. The fort's artwork synthesises Persian, European and Indian art, resulting in a unique Shahjahani style rich in form, expression and colour. Red Fort is one of the building complexes of India encapsulating a long period of history and its arts. Even before its 1913 commemoration as a monument of national importance, efforts were made to preserve it for posterity.
The Lahori and Delhi Gates were used by the public, and the Khizrabad Gate was for the emperor. The Lahore Gate is the main entrance, leading to a domed shopping area known as the Chatta Chowk (covered bazaar).
MAJOR STRUCTURES
The most-important surviving structures are the walls and ramparts, the main gates, the audience halls and the imperial apartments on the eastern riverbank.
LAHORI GATE
The Lahori Gate is the main gate to the Red Fort, named for its orientation towards the city of Lahore. During Aurangzeb's reign, the beauty of the gate was spoiled by the addition of bastions (Like a veil drawn across the face of a beautiful woman). Every Indian Independence Day since 1947, the national flag has flown and the Prime Minister has made a speech from its ramparts.
DELHI GATE
The Delhi Gate is the southern public gate, in layout and appearance similar to the Lahori Gate. Two life-size stone elephants, on either side of the gate, face each other.
WATER GATE
A minor gate, the Water Gate is at the southeastern end of the walls. It was formerly on the riverbank; although the river has changed course since the fort's construction, the name has remained.
CHHATTA CHOWK
Adjacent to the Lahori Gate is the Chhatta Chowk, where silk, jewellery and other items for the imperial household were sold during the Mughal period. The bazaar leads to an open outer court, where it crosses the large north-south street which originally divided the fort's military functions (to the west) from the palaces (to the east). The southern end of the street is the Delhi Gate.
NAUBAT KHANA
The vaulted arcade of the Chhatta Chowk ends in the centre of the outer court, which measured 160 m × 110 m. The side arcades and central tank were destroyed after the 1857 rebellion.
In the east wall of the court stands the now-isolated Naubat Khana (also known as Nakkar Khana), the drum house. Music was played at scheduled times daily next to a large gate, where everyone except royalty was required to dismount.
DIWAN-I-AAM
The inner main court to which the Nakkar Khana led was 160 m wide and 130 m deep, surrounded by guarded galleries. On the far side is the Diwan-i-Aam, the Public Audience Hall.
The hall's columns and engrailed arches exhibit fine craftsmanship, and the hall was originally decorated with white chunam stucco. In the back in the raised recess the emperor gave his audience in the marble balcony (jharokha).
The Diwan-i-Aam was also used for state functions. The courtyard (mardana) behind it leads to the imperial apartments.
NAHR-I-BEHISHT
The imperial apartments consist of a row of pavilions on a raised platform along the eastern edge of the fort, overlooking the Yamuna. The pavilions are connected by a canal, known as the Nahr-i-Behisht ("Stream of Paradise"), running through the centre of each pavilion. Water is drawn from the Yamuna via a tower, the Shahi Burj, at the northeast corner of the fort. The palace is designed to emulate paradise as described in the Quran. In the riverbed below the imperial apartments and connected buildings was a space known as zer-jharokha ("beneath the latticework").
MUMTAZ MAHAL
The two southernmost pavilions of the palace are zenanas (women's quarters), consisting of the Mumtaz Mahal and the larger Rang Mahal. The Mumtaz Mahal houses the Red Fort Archaeological Museum.
RANG MAHAL
The Rang Mahal housed the emperor's wives and mistresses. Its name means "Palace of Colours", since it was brightly painted and decorated with a mosaic of mirrors. The central marble pool is fed by the Nahr-i-Behisht.
KHAS MAHAL
The Khas Mahal was the emperor's apartment. Connected to it is the Muthamman Burj, an octagonal tower where he appeared before the people waiting on the riverbank.
DIWAN-I-KHAS
A gate on the north side of the Diwan-i-Aam leads to the innermost court of the palace (Jalau Khana) and the Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Private Audience). It is constructed of white marble, inlaid with precious stones. The once-silver ceiling has been restored in wood. François Bernier described seeing the jewelled Peacock Throne here during the 17th century. At either end of the hall, over the two outer arches, is an inscription by Persian poet Amir Khusrow:
If heaven can be on the face of the earth,
It is this, it is this, it is this.
HAMMAM
The hammam were the imperial baths, consisting of three domed rooms floored with white marble.
MOTI MASJID
West of the hammam is the Moti Masjid, the Pearl Mosque. A later addition, it was built in 1659 as a private mosque for Aurangzeb. It is a small, three-domed mosque carved in white marble, with a three-arched screen leading down to the courtyard.
HIRA MAHAL
The Hira Mahal is a pavilion on the southern edge of the fort, built under Bahadur Shah II and at the end of the Hayat Baksh garden. The Moti Mahal on the northern edge, a twin building, was destroyed during (or after) the 1857 rebellion.
SHAHI BURJ
The Shahi Burj was the emperor's main study of the; its name means "Emperor's Tower", and it originally had a chhatri on top. Heavily damaged, the tower is undergoing reconstruction. In front of it is a marble pavilion added by Aurangzeb.
HAYAT BAKHSH BAGH
The Hayat Bakhsh Bagh is the "Life-Bestowing Garden" in the northeast part of the complex. It features a reservoir (now dry) and channels, and at each end is a white marble pavilion (Savon and Bhadon). In the centre of the reservoir is the red-sandstone Zafar Mahal, added about 1842 under Bahadur Shah II.
Smaller gardens (such as the Mehtab Bagh or Moonlight Garden) existed west of it, but were destroyed when the British barracks were built. There are plans to restore the gardens. Beyond these, the road to the north leads to an arched bridge and the Salimgarh Fort.
PRINCES´ QUARTER
North of the Hayat Bakhsh Bagh and the Shahi Burj is the quarter of the imperial princes. This was used by member of the Mughal royal family and was largely destroyed by the British forces after the rebellion. One of the palaces was converted into a tea house for the soldiers.
WIKIPEDIA
Number seen: 2 (all the others were light trucks).
Marina (HR), Harbour Area, Aug. 11, 2012.
© 2012 Sander Toonen Amsterdam | All Rights Reserved
(Continued from previous photo)
After the crowning of King John Balliol, there followed a number of years of political and military tumult, during which the different factions fought each other when they weren’t busy fighting the English, and everyone tried to manipulate poor John Balliol for their own gain. Essentially, it was all about the different factions fighting for their own gain. It was largely not about nationalism, and therefore to side with England when it suited was considered to be quite justifiable.
Meanwhile English interests thrived in a country they had effectively divided and conquerored. It was only when William Wallace appeared on the scene that nationalism rose above self interest for a while, and the reason that Wallace eventually lost, was that generally throughout Scottish history, self interest has been more important to the (ruling class of) Scots than nationalism, and in this instance self interest eventually won out!
Following the death of Wallace and the irreconcilable differences that their support for an independant Scotland had placed between the Bruces and Comyns on the one hand, and Edward of England on the other, an uneasy truce emerged between the last two serious contenders for King John Balliol’s empty throne. Balliol had abdicated in 1296 and retired to his estates in France and it was clear he was not going to return.
On February 10th 1306, one of those single events that changes the course of history occurred at Dumfries in Galloway. Up until that point, it is reasonable to assume that the Comyns might eventually have become kings of Scotland, which would have changed the subsequent history of the British Isles. However, when Robert Bruce and John the ‘Red Comyn’ met at Dumfries to attempt to settle their differences, things went awry and Bruce, for reasons not fully known, stabbed Comyn, who died at the altar of the church in which they met.
Robert Bruce, whatever else he may have been, was a decisive man, and grabbing the initiative he had created (probably unintentionally), he promptly had himself crowned King of Scots. His next priority, before dealing with the English, was to remove any counterclaims from the likes of the Comyns, and while he had already removed the head of the family at Dumfries, John Earl of Buchan had just as much royal blood in him as his cousin the ‘Red Comyn’ had (or used to have!).
King Robert I invaded the North-east in late 1307 and in May 1308 The Bruce defeated John Comyn’s army near Old Meldrum in a decisive battle. Comyn fled to England, where he died later that year. Following the battle, Bruce subjected the earldom of Buchan to systematic devastation, in what has since been known as the “Harrying of Buchan”. It is probable that the Castle of King-Edward was destroyed as part of this process and was never rebuilt. Bruce's men proceeded to kill those loyal to the Comyns, destroying their homes, farms, crops and slaughtering their cattle. The lands of Buchan were subsequently granted by the king to those that had principally supported him, such as the Hays and the Keiths. Much of Badenoch, which had belonged to the Red Comyn, was given to a little known family from the Borders that had also supported Bruce, the Gordons!
So ended the power of a family, of whom, the Scottish historian Buchanan says in his History of Scotland, "the power of this family has never been equalled in Scotland, either before or since." John Comyn, Earl of Buchan’s heir was his niece Alice, who married Henry Beaumont, a Norman English nobleman, and his efforts to claim the earldom of Buchan in the name of his wife played a large part in bringing about the Second War of Scottish Independence 25 years later.
One of a number of pictures I have saved from the Internet over the years. If this is your photo please let me know and I will give you credit or remove it.
Call number: ON 588/Box 13
Digital ID: c071720006
Format: glass photonegative
Find more detailed information about this photograph: archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110375560
Search for more great images in the State Library's collections: archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/home
From the collection of the State Library of New South Wales www.sl.nsw.gov.au
It's a digital world but it wasn't always so. These electric meters use principles of electricity discovered over a hundred years ago.These meters are probably as old as I am and still going strong.
The scene is lit by sunlight through a small glass block window behind the camera. Shot handheld, Program AE, ISO 3200, spot focused on the meter on the upper right.
I like the shallow DoF and the way it looks drained of color. I considered converting it to B&W but the low light and drab scene seems to have mostly done it for me.
Kashgar is an oasis city with an approximate population of 350,000. It is the westernmost city in China, located near the border with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Kashgar has a rich history of over 2,000 years and served as a trading post and strategically important city on the Silk Road between China, the Middle East, and Europe. Kashgar is part of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Located historically at the convergence point of widely varying cultures and empires, Kashgar has been under the rule of the Chinese, Turkic, Mongol, and Tibetan empires. The city has also been the site of an extraordinary number of battles between various groups of people on the steppes.
Now administered as a county-level unit of the People's Republic of China, Kashgar is the administrative centre of its eponymous prefecture in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region which has an area of 162,000 square kilometres and a population of approximately 3.5 million. The city's urban area covers 15 km2, though its administrative area extends over 555 km2.
NAME
The modern Chinese name is 喀什 (Kāshí), a shortened form of the longer and less-frequently used (simplified Chinese: 喀什噶尔; traditional Chinese: 喀什噶爾; pinyin: Kāshígé’ěr; Uyghur: قەشقەر). Ptolemy (AD 90-168), in his Geography, Chapter 15.3A, refers to Kashgar as “Kasi”. Its western and probably indigenous name is the Kāš ("rock"), to which the East Iranian -γar ("mountain"); cf. Pashto and Middle Persian gar/ġar, from Old Persian/Pahlavi girīwa ("hill; ridge (of a mountain)") was attached. Alternative historical Romanizations for "Kashgar" include Cascar and Cashgar.
Non-native names for the city, such as the old Chinese name Shule 疏勒 and Tibetan Śu-lig may have originated as an attempts to transcribe the Sanskrit name for Kashgar, Śrīkrīrāti ("fortunate hospitality")
Variant transcriptions of the official Uyghur: يېڭىشەھەر include: K̂äxk̂är or Kaxgar, as well as Jangi-schahr, Kashgar Yangi Shahr, K’o-shih-ka-erh, K’o-shih-ka-erh-hsin-ch’eng, Ko-shih-ka-erh-hui-ch’eng, K’o-shih-ko-erh-hsin-ch’eng, New Kashgar, Sheleh, Shuleh, Shulen, Shu-lo, Su-lo, Su-lo-chen, Su-lo-hsien, Yangi-shaar, Yangi-shahr, Yangishar, Yéngisheher, Yengixəh̨ər and Еңишәһәр.
HISTORY
HAN DYNASTY
The earliest mention of Kashgar occurs when a Chinese Han dynasty envoy traveled the Northern Silk Road to explore lands to the west.
Another early mention of Kashgar is during the Former Han (also known as the Western Han dynasty), when in 76 BC the Chinese conquered the Xiongnu, Yutian (Khotan), Sulei (Kashgar), and a group of states in the Tarim basin almost up to the foot of the Tian Shan range.
Ptolemy speaks of Scythia beyond the Imaus, which is in a “Kasia Regio”, probably exhibiting the name from which Kashgar and Kashgaria (often applied to the district) are formed. The country’s people practised Zoroastrianism and Buddhism before the coming of Islam.
In the Book of Han, which covers the period between 125 BC and 23 AD, it is recorded that there were 1,510 households, 18,647 people and 2,000 persons able to bear arms. By the time covered by the Book of the Later Han (roughly 25 to 170 AD), it had grown to 21,000 households and had 3,000 men able to bear arms.
The Book of the Later Han provides a wealth of detail on developments in the region:
"In the period of Emperor Wu [140-87 BC], the Western Regions1 were under the control of the Interior [China]. They numbered thirty-six kingdoms. The Imperial Government established a Colonel [in charge of] Envoys there to direct and protect these countries. Emperor Xuan [73-49 BC] changed this title [in 59 BC] to Protector-General.
Emperor Yuan [40-33 BC] installed two Wuji Colonels to take charge of the agricultural garrisons on the frontiers of the king of Nearer Jushi [Turpan].
During the time of Emperor Ai [6 BC-AD 1] and Emperor Ping [AD 1-5], the principalities of the Western Regions split up and formed fifty-five kingdoms. Wang Mang, after he usurped the Throne [in AD 9], demoted and changed their kings and marquises. Following this, the Western Regions became resentful, and rebelled. They, therefore, broke off all relations with the Interior [China] and, all together, submitted to the Xiongnu again.
The Xiongnu collected oppressively heavy taxes and the kingdoms were not able to support their demands. In the middle of the Jianwu period [AD 25-56], they each [Shanshan and Yarkand in 38, and 18 kingdoms in 45], sent envoys to ask if they could submit to the Interior [China], and to express their desire for a Protector-General. Emperor Guangwu, decided that because the Empire was not yet settled [after a long period of civil war], he had no time for outside affairs, and [therefore] finally refused his consent [in AD 45].
In the meantime, the Xiongnu became weaker. The king of Suoju [Yarkand], named Xian, wiped out several kingdoms. After Xian’s death [c. AD 62], they began to attack and fight each other. Xiao Yuan [Tura], Jingjue [Cadota], Ronglu [Niya], and Qiemo [Cherchen] were annexed by Shanshan [the Lop Nur region]. Qule [south of Keriya] and Pishan [modern Pishan or Guma] were conquered and fully occupied by Yutian [Khotan]. Yuli [Fukang], Danhuan, Guhu [Dawan Cheng], and Wutanzili were destroyed by Jushi [Turpan and Jimasa]. Later these kingdoms were re-established.
During the Yongping period [AD 58-75], the Northern Xiongnu forced several countries to help them plunder the commanderies and districts of Hexi. The gates of the towns stayed shut in broad daylight."
And, more particularly in reference to Kashgar itself, is the following record:
"In the sixteenth Yongping year of Emperor Ming 73, Jian, the king of Qiuci (Kucha), attacked and killed Cheng, the king of Shule (Kashgar). Then he appointed the Qiuci (Kucha) Marquis of the Left, Douti, King of Shule (Kashgar). ‹See TfD›
In winter 73, the Han sent the Major Ban Chao who captured and bound Douti. He appointed Zhong, the son of the elder brother of Cheng, to be king of Shule (Kashgar). Zhong later rebelled. (Ban) Chao attacked and beheaded him."
THE KUSHANS
The Book of the Later Han also gives the only extant historical record of Yuezhi or Kushan involvement in the Kashgar oasis:
"During the Yuanchu period (114-120) in the reign of Emperor, the king of Shule (Kashgar), exiled his maternal uncle Chenpan to the Yuezhi (Kushans) for some offence. The king of the Yuezhi became very fond of him. Later, Anguo died without leaving a son. His mother directed the government of the kingdom. She agreed with the people of the country to put Yifu (lit. “posthumous child”), who was the son of a full younger brother of Chenpan on the throne as king of Shule (Kashgar). Chenpan heard of this and appealed to the Yuezhi (Kushan) king, saying:
"Anguo had no son. His relative (Yifu) is weak. If one wants to put on the throne a member of (Anguo’s) mother’s family, I am Yifu’s paternal uncle, it is I who should be king."
The Yuezhi (Kushans) then sent soldiers to escort him back to Shule (Kashgar). The people had previously respected and been fond of Chenpan. Besides, they dreaded the Yuezhi (Kushans). They immediately took the seal and ribbon from Yifu and went to Chenpan, and made him king. Yifu was given the title of Marquis of the town of Pangao [90 li, or 37 km, from Shule].
‹See TfD›
Then Suoju (Yarkand) continued to resist Yutian (Khotan), and put themselves under Shule (Kashgar). Thus Shule (Kashgar), became powerful and a rival to Qiuci (Kucha) and Yutian (Khotan)."
However, it was not very long before the Chinese began to reassert their authority in the region:
“In the second Yongjian year (127), during Emperor Shun’s reign, Chenpan sent an envoy to respectfully present offerings. The Emperor bestowed on Chenpan the title of Great Commandant-in-Chief for the Han. Chenxun, who was the son of his elder brother, was appointed Temporary Major of the Kingdom. ‹See TfD›
In the fifth year (130), Chenpan sent his son to serve the Emperor and, along with envoys from Dayuan (Ferghana) and Suoju (Yarkand), brought tribute and offerings.”
From an earlier part of the same text comes the following addition:
“In the first Yangjia year (132), Xu You sent the king of Shule (Kashgar), Chenpan, who with 20,000 men, attacked and defeated Yutian (Khotan). He beheaded several hundred people, and released his soldiers to plunder freely. He replaced the king [of Jumi] by installing Chengguo from the family of [the previous king] Xing, and then he returned.”[38]
Then the first passage continues:
“In the second Yangjia year (133), Chenpan again made offerings (including) a lion and zebu cattle. ‹See TfD›
Then, during Emperor Ling’s reign, in the first Jianning year, the king of Shule (Kashgar) and Commandant-in-Chief for the Han (i.e. presumably Chenpan), was shot while hunting by the youngest of his paternal uncles, Hede. Hede named himself king.
‹See TfD›
In the third year (170), Meng Tuo, the Inspector of Liangzhou, sent the Provincial Officer Ren She, commanding five hundred soldiers from Dunhuang, with the Wuji Major Cao Kuan, and Chief Clerk of the Western Regions, Zhang Yan, brought troops from Yanqi (Karashahr), Qiuci (Kucha), and the Nearer and Further States of Jushi (Turpan and Jimasa), altogether numbering more than 30,000, to punish Shule (Kashgar). They attacked the town of Zhenzhong [Arach − near Maralbashi] but, having stayed for more than forty days without being able to subdue it, they withdrew. Following this, the kings of Shule (Kashgar) killed one another repeatedly while the Imperial Government was unable to prevent it.”
THREE KINGDOMS TO THE SUI
These centuries are marked by a general silence in sources on Kashgar and the Tarim Basin.
The Weilüe, composed in the second third of the 3rd century, mentions a number of states as dependencies of Kashgar: the kingdom of Zhenzhong (Arach?), the kingdom of Suoju (Yarkand), the kingdom of Jieshi, the kingdom of Qusha, the kingdom of Xiye (Khargalik), the kingdom of Yinai (Tashkurghan), the kingdom of Manli (modern Karasul), the kingdom of Yire (Mazar − also known as Tágh Nák and Tokanak), the kingdom of Yuling, the kingdom of Juandu (‘Tax Control’ − near modern Irkeshtam), the kingdom of Xiuxiu (‘Excellent Rest Stop’ − near Karakavak), and the kingdom of Qin.
However, much of the information on the Western Regions contained in the Weilüe seems to have ended roughly about (170), near the end of Han power. So, we can’t be sure that this is a reference to the state of affairs during the Cao Wei (220-265), or whether it refers to the situation before the civil war during the Later Han when China lost touch with most foreign countries and came to be divided into three separate kingdoms.
Chapter 30 of the Records of the Three Kingdoms says that after the beginning of the Wei Dynasty (220) the states of the Western Regions did not arrive as before, except for the larger ones such as Kucha, Khotan, Kangju, Wusun, Kashgar, Yuezhi, Shanshan and Turpan, who are said to have come to present tribute every year, as in Han times.
In 270, four states from the Western Regions were said to have presented tribute: Karashahr, Turpan, Shanshan, and Kucha. Some wooden documents from Niya seem to indicate that contacts were also maintained with Kashgar and Khotan around this time.
In 422, according to the Songshu, ch. 98, the king of Shanshan, Bilong, came to the court and "the thirty-six states in the Western Regions" all swore their allegiance and presented tribute. It must be assumed that these 36 states included Kashgar.
The "Songji" of the Zizhi Tongjian records that in the 5th month of 435, nine states: Kucha, Kashgar, Wusun, Yueban, Tashkurghan, Shanshan, Karashahr, Turpan and Sute all came to the Wei court.
In 439, according to the Weishu, ch. 4A, Shanshan, Kashgar and Karashahr sent envoys to present tribute.
According to the Weishu, ch. 102, Chapter on the Western Regions, the kingdoms of Kucha, Kashgar, Wusun, Yueban, Tashkurghan, Shanshan, Karashahr, Turpan and Sute all began sending envoys to present tribute in the Taiyuan reign period (435-440).
In 453 Kashgar sent envoys to present tribute (Weishu, ch. 5), and again in 455.
An embassy sent during the reign of Wencheng Di (452-466) from the king of Kashgar presented a supposed sacred relic of the Buddha; a dress which was incombustible.
In 507 Kashgar, is said to have sent envoys in both the 9th and 10th months (Weishu, ch. 8).
In 512, Kashgar sent envoys in the 1st and 5th months. (Weishu, ch. 8).
Early in the 6th century Kashgar is included among the many territories controlled by the Yeda or Hephthalite Huns, but their empire collapsed at the onslaught of the Western Turks between 563 and 567 who then probably gained control over Kashgar and most of the states in the Tarim Basin.
TANG DYNASTY
The founding of the Tang dynasty in 618 saw the beginning of a prolonged struggle between China and the Western Turks for control of the Tarim Basin. In 635, the Tang Annals reported an emissary from the king of Kashgar to the Tang capital. In 639 there was a second emissary bringing products of Kashgar as a token of submission to the Tang state.
Buddhist scholar Xuanzang passed through Kashgar (which he referred to as Ka-sha) in 644 on his return journey from India to China. The Buddhist religion, then beginning to decay in India, was active in Kashgar. Xuanzang recorded that they flattened their babies heads, tattooed their bodies and had green eyes. He reported that Kashgar had abundant crops, fruits and flowers, wove fine woolen stuffs and rugs. Their writing system had been adapted from Indian script but their language was different from that of other countries. The inhabitants were sincere Buddhist adherents and there were some hundreds of monasteries with more than 10,000 followers, all members of the Sarvastivadin School.
At around the same era, Nestorian Christians were establishing bishoprics at Herat, Merv and Samarkand, whence they subsequently proceeded to Kashgar, and finally to China proper itself.
In 646, the Turkic Kagan asked for the hand of a Tang Chinese princess, and in return the Emperor promised Kucha, Khotan, Kashgar, Karashahr and Sarikol as a marriage gift, but this did not happen as planned.
In a series of campaigns between 652 and 658, with the help of the Uyghurs, the Chinese finally defeated the Western Turk tribes and took control of all their domains, including the Tarim Basin kingdoms. Karakhoja was annexed in 640, Karashahr during campaigns in 644 and 648, and Kucha fell in 648.
In 662 a rebellion broke out in the Western Regions and a Chinese army sent to control it was defeated by the Tibetans south of Kashgar.
After another defeat of the Tang Chinese forces in 670, the Tibetans gained control of the whole region and completely subjugated Kashgar in 676-8 and retained possession of it until 692, when the Tang dynasty regained control of all their former territories, and retained it for the next fifty years.
In 722 Kashgar sent 4,000 troops to assist the Chinese to force the "Tibetans out of "Little Bolu" or Gilgit.
In 728, the king of Kashgar was awarded a brevet by the Chinese emperor.
In 739, the Tangshu relates that the governor of the Chinese garrison in Kashgar, with the help of Ferghana, was interfering in the affairs of the Turgesh tribes as far as Talas.
In 751 the Chinese were defeated by an Arab army in the Battle of Talas. The An Lushan Rebellion led to the decline of Tang influence in Central Asia due to the fact that the Tang dynasty was forced to withdraw its troops from the region to fight An Lushan. The Tibetans cut all communication between China and the West in 766.
Soon after the Chinese pilgrim monk Wukong passed through Kashgar in 753. He again reached Kashgar on his return trip from India in 786 and mentions a Chinese deputy governor as well as the local king.
BATTLES WITH ARAB CALIPHATE
In 711, the Arabs invaded Kashgar, but did not hold the city for any length of time. Kashgar and Turkestan lent assistance to the reigning queen of Bukhara, to enable her to repel the Arabs. Although the Muslim religion from the very commencement sustained checks, it nevertheless made its weight felt upon the independent states of Turkestan to the north and east, and thus acquired a steadily growing influence. It was not, however, till the 10th century that Islam was established at Kashgar, under the Kara-Khanid Khanate.
THE TURKIC RULE
According to the 10th-century text, Hudud al-'alam, "the chiefs of Kashghar in the days of old were from the Qarluq, or from the Yaghma." The Karluks, Yaghmas and other tribes such as the Chigils formed the Karakhanids. The Karakhanid Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan converted to Islam in the 10th century and captured Kashgar. Kashgar was the capital of the Karakhanid state for a time but later the capital was moved to Balasaghun. During the latter part of the 10th century, the Muslim Karakhanids began a struggle against the Buddhist Kingdom of Khotan, and the Khotanese defeated the Karakhanids and captured Kashgar in 970. Chinese sources recorded the king of Khotan offering to send them a dancing elephant captured from Kashgar. Later in 1006, the Karakhanids of Kashgar under Yusuf Kadr Khan conquered Khotan.
The Karakhanid Khanate however was beset with internal strife, and the khanate split into two, the Eastern and Western Karakhanid Khanates, with Kashgar falling within the domain of the Eastern Karakhanid state. In 1089, the Western Karakhanids fell under the control of the Seljuks, but the Eastern Karakhanids was for the most part independent.
Both the Karakhanid states were defeated in the 12th century by the Kara-Khitans who captured Balasaghun, however Karakhanid rule continued in Kashgar under the suzerainty of the Kara-Khitans. The Kara-Khitan rulers followed a policy of religious tolerance, Islamic religious life continued uninterrupted and Kashgar was also a Nestorian metropolitan see. The last Karakhanid of Kashgar was killed in a revolt in 1211 by the city's notables. Kuchlug, a usurper of the throne of the Kara-Khitans, then attacked Kashgar which finally surrendered in 1214.
THE MONGOLS
The Kara-Khitai in their turn were swept away in 1219 by Genghis Khan. After his death, Kashgar came under the rule of the Chagatai Khans. Marco Polo visited the city, which he calls Cascar, about 1273-4 and recorded the presence of numerous Nestorian Christians, who had their own churches. Later In the 14th century, a Chagataid khan Tughluq Timur converted to Islam, and Islamic tradition began to reassert its ascendancy.
In 1389−1390 Tamerlane ravaged Kashgar, Andijan and the intervening country. Kashgar endured a troubled time, and in 1514, on the invasion of the Khan Sultan Said, was destroyed by Mirza Ababakar, who with the aid of ten thousand men built a new fort with massive defences higher up on the banks of the Tuman river. The dynasty of the Chagatai Khans collapsed in 1572 with the division of the country among rival factions; soon after, two powerful Khoja factions, the White and Black Mountaineers (Ak Taghliq or Afaqi, and Kara Taghliq or Ishaqi), arose whose differences and war-making gestures, with the intermittent episode of the Oirats of Dzungaria, make up much of recorded history in Kashgar until 1759. The Dzungar Khanate conquered Kashgar and set up the Khoja as their puppet rulers.
QING CONQUEST
The Qing dynasty defeated the Dzungar Khanate during the Ten Great Campaigns and took control of Kashgar in 1759. The conquerors consolidated their authority by settling other ethnics emigrants in the vicinity of a Manchu garrison.
Rumours flew around Central Asia that the Qing planned to launch expeditions towards Transoxiana and Samarkand, the chiefs of which sought assistance from the Afghan king Ahmed Shah Abdali. The alleged expedition never happened so Ahmad Shah withdrew his forces from Kokand. He also dispatched an ambassador to Beijing to discuss the situation of the Afaqi Khojas, but the representative was not well received, and Ahmed Shah was too busy fighting off the Sikhs to attempt to enforce his demands through arms.
The Qing continued to hold Kashgar with occasional interruptions during the Afaqi Khoja revolts. One of the most serious of these occurred in 1827, when the city was taken by Jahanghir Khoja; Chang-lung, however, the Qing general of Ili, regained possession of Kashgar and the other rebellious cities in 1828.
The Kokand Khanate raided Kashgar several times. A revolt in 1829 under Mahommed Ali Khan and Yusuf, brother of Jahanghir resulted in the concession of several important trade privileges to the Muslims of the district of Altishahr (the "six cities"), as it was then called.
The area enjoyed relative calm until 1846 under the rule of Zahir-ud-din, the local Uyghur governor, but in that year a new Khoja revolt under Kath Tora led to his accession as the authoritarian ruler of the city. However, his reign was brief—at the end of seventy-five days, on the approach of the Chinese, he fled back to Khokand amid the jeers of the inhabitants. The last of the Khoja revolts (1857) was of about equal duration, and took place under Wali-Khan, who murdered the well-known traveler Adolf Schlagintweit.
1862 CHINESE HUI REVOLT
The great Dungan revolt (1862–1877) involved insurrection among various Muslim ethnic groups. It broke out in 1862 in Gansu then spread rapidly to Dzungaria and through the line of towns in the Tarim Basin.
Dungan troops based in Yarkand rose and in August 1864 massacred some seven thousand Chinese and their Manchu commander. The inhabitants of Kashgar, rising in their turn against their masters, invoked the aid of Sadik Beg, a Kyrgyz chief, who was reinforced by Buzurg Khan, the heir of Jahanghir Khoja, and his general Yakub Beg. The latter men were dispatched at Sadik’s request by the ruler of Khokand to raise what troops they could to aid his Muslim friends in Kashgar.
Sadik Beg soon repented of having asked for a Khoja, and eventually marched against Kashgar, which by this time had succumbed to Buzurg Khan and Yakub Beg, but was defeated and driven back to Khokand. Buzurg Khan delivered himself up to indolence and debauchery, but Yakub Beg, with singular energy and perseverance, made himself master of Yangi Shahr, Yangi-Hissar, Yarkand and other towns, and eventually became sole master of the country, Buzurg Khan proving himself totally unfit for the post of ruler.
With the overthrow of Chinese rule in 1865 by Yakub Beg (1820–1877), the manufacturing industries of Kashgar are supposed to have declined.
Yaqub Beg entered into relations and signed treaties with the Russian Empire and the British Empire, but when he tried to get their support against China, he failed.
Kashgar and the other cities of the Tarim Basin remained under Yakub Beg’s rule until May 1877, when he died at Korla. Thereafter Kashgaria was reconquered by the forces of the Qing general Zuo Zongtang during the Qing reconquest of Xinjiang.
QING RULE
There were eras in Xinjiang's history where intermarriage was common, "laxity" which set upon Uyghur women led them to marry Chinese men and not wear the veil in the period after Yaqub Beg's rule ended, it is also believed by Uyghurs that some Uyghurs have Han Chinese ancestry from historical intermarriage, such as those living in Turpan.
Even though Muslim women are forbidden to marry non-Muslims in Islamic law, from 1880-1949 it was frequently violated in Xinjiang since Chinese men married Muslim Turki (Uyghur) women, a reason suggested by foriengers that it was due to the women being poor, while the Turki women who married Chinese were labelled as whores by the Turki community, these marriages were illegitimate according to Islamic law but the women obtained benefits from marrying Chinese men since the Chinese defended them from Islamic authorities so the women were not subjected to the tax on prostitution and were able to save their income for themselves. Chinese men gave their Turki wives privileges which Turki men's wives did not have, since the wives of Chinese did not have to wear a veil and a Chinese man in Kashgar once beat a mullah who tried to force his Turki Kashgari wife to veil. The Turki women also benefited in that they were not subjected to any legal binding to their Chinese husbands so they could make their Chinese husbands provide them with as much their money as she wanted for her relatives and herself since otherwise the women could just leave, and the property of Chinese men was left to their Turki wives after they died. Turki women considered Turki men to be inferior husbands to Chinese and Hindus. Because they were viewed as "impure", Islamic cemeteries banned the Turki wives of Chinese men from being buried within them, the Turki women got around this problem by giving shrines donations and buying a grave in other towns. Besides Chinese men, other men such as Hindus, Armenians, Jews, Russians, and Badakhshanis intermarried with local Turki women. The local society accepted the Turki women and Chinese men's mixed offspring as their own people despite the marriages being in violation of Islamic law. Turki women also conducted temporary marriages with Chinese men such as Chinese soldiers temporarily stationed around them as soldiers for tours of duty, after which the Chinese men returned to their own cities, with the Chinese men selling their mixed daughters with the Turki women to his comrades, taking their sons with them if they could afford it but leaving them if they couldn't, and selling their temporary Turki wife to a comrade or leaving her behind.
An anti-Russian uproar broke out when Russian customs officials, 3 Cossacks and a Russian courier invited local Turki (Uyghur) prostitutes to a party in January 1902 in Kashgar, this caused a massive brawl by the inflamed local Turki Muslim populace against the Russians on the pretense of protecting Muslim women because there was anti-Russian sentiment being built up, even though morality was not strict in Kashgar, the local Turki Muslims violently clashed with the Russians before they were dispersed by guards, the Chinese sought to end to tensions to prevent the Russians from building up a pretext to invade.
After the riot, the Russians sent troops to Sarikol in Tashkurghan and demanded that the Sarikol postal services be placed under Russian supervision, the locals of Sarikol believed that the Russians would seize the entire district from the Chinese and send more soldiers even after the Russians tried to negotiate with the Begs of Sarikol and sway them to their side, they failed since the Sarikoli officials and authorities demanded in a petition to the Amban of Yarkand that they be evacuated to Yarkand to avoid being harassed by the Russians and objected to the Russian presence in Sarikol, the Sarikolis did not believe the Russian claim that they would leave them alone and only involved themselves in the mail service.
Many of the young Kashgari women were most attractive in appearance, and some of the little girls quite lovely, their plaits of long hair falling from under a jaunty little embroidered cap, their big dark eyes, flashing teeth and piquant olive faces reminding me of Italian or Spanish children. One most beautiful boy stands out in my memory. He was clad in a new shirt and trousers of flowered pink, his crimson velvet cap embroidered with gold, and as he smiled and salaamed to us I thought he looked like a fairy prince. The women wear their hair in two or five plaits much thickened and lengthened by the addition of yak's hair, but the children in several tiny plaits.
The peasants are fairly well off, as the soil is rich, the abundant water-supply free, and the taxation comparatively light. It was always interesting to meet them taking their live stock into market. Flocks of sheep with tiny lambs, black and white, pattered along the dusty road; here a goat followed its master like a dog, trotting behind the diminutive ass which the farmer bestrode; or boys, clad in the whity-brown native cloth, shouted incessantly at donkeys almost invisible under enormous loads of forage, or carried fowls and ducks in bunches head downwards, a sight that always made me long to come to the rescue of the luckless birds.
It was pleasant to see the women riding alone on horseback, managing their mounts to perfection. They formed a sharp contrast to their Persian sisters, who either sit behind their husbands or have their steeds led by the bridle; and instead of keeping silence in public, as is the rule for the shrouded women of Iran, these farmers' wives chaffered and haggled with the men in the bazar outside the city, transacting business with their veils thrown back.
Certainly the mullas do their best to keep the fair sex in their place, and are in the habit of beating those who show their faces in the Great Bazar. But I was told that poetic justice had lately been meted out to one of these upholders of the law of Islam, for by mistake he chastised a Kashgari woman married to a Chinaman, whereupon the irate husband set upon him with a big stick and castigated him soundly.
That a Muslim should take in marriage one of alien faith is not objected to; it is rather deemed a meritorious act thus to bring an unbeliever to the true religion. The Muslim woman, on the other hand, must not be given in marriage to a non-Muslim; such a union is regarded as the most heinous of sins. In this matter, however, compromises are sometimes made with heaven: the marriage of a Turki princess with the emperor Ch'ien-lung has already been referred to; and, when the present writer passed through Minjol (a day's journey west of Kashgar) in 1902, a Chinese with a Turki wife (? concubine) was presented to him.
FIRST EAST TURKESTAN REPUBLIC
Kashgar was the scene of continual battles from 1933 to 1934. Ma Shaowu, a Chinese Muslim, was the Tao-yin of Kashgar, and he fought against Uyghur rebels. He was joined by another Chinese Muslim general, Ma Zhancang.
BATTLE OF KASHGAR (1933)
Uighur and Kirghiz forces, led by the Bughra brothers and Tawfiq Bay, attempted to take the New City of Kashgar from Chinese Muslim troops under General Ma Zhancang. They were defeated.
Tawfiq Bey, a Syrian Arab traveler, who held the title Sayyid (descendent of prophet Muhammed) and arrived at Kashgar on August 26, 1933, was shot in the stomach by the Chinese Muslim troops in September. Previously Ma Zhancang arranged to have the Uighur leader Timur Beg killed and beheaded on August 9, 1933, displaying his head outside of Id Kah Mosque.
Han chinese troops commanded by Brigadier Yang were absorbed into Ma Zhancang's army. A number of Han chinese officers were spotted wearing the green uniforms of Ma Zhancang's unit of the 36th division, presumably they had converted to Islam.
BATTLE OF KASHGAR (1934)
The 36th division General Ma Fuyuan led a Chinese Muslim army to storm Kashgar on February 6, 1934, attacking the Uighur and Kirghiz rebels of the First East Turkestan Republic. He freed another 36th division general, Ma Zhancang, who was trapped with his Chinese Muslim and Han Chinese troops in Kashgar New City by the Uighurs and Kirghiz since May 22, 1933. In January, 1934, Ma Zhancang's Chinese Muslim troops repulsed six Uighur attacks, launched by Khoja Niyaz, who arrived at the city on January 13, 1934, inflicting massive casualties on the Uighur forces. From 2,000 to 8,000 Uighur civilians in Kashgar Old City were massacred by Tungans in February, 1934, in revenge for the Kizil massacre, after retreating of Uighur forces from the city to Yengi Hisar. The Chinese Muslim and 36th division Chief General Ma Zhongying, who arrived at Kashgar on April 7, 1934, gave a speech at Id Kah Mosque in April, reminding the Uighurs to be loyal to the Republic of China government at Nanjing. Several British citizens at the British consulate were killed or wounded by the 36th division on March 16, 1934.
PEOPLE´S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Kashgar was incorporated into the People's Republic of China in 1949. During the Cultural Revolution, one of the largest statues of Mao in China was built in Kashgar, near People's Square. In 1986, the Chinese government designated Kashgar a "city of historical and cultural significance". Kashgar and surrounding regions have been the site of Uyghur unrest since the 1990s. In 2008, two Uyghur men carried out a vehicular, IED and knife attack against police officers. In 2009, development of Kashgar's old town accelerated after the revelations of the deadly role of faulty architecture during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Many of the old houses in the old town were built without regulation, and as a result, officials found them to be overcrowded and non-compliant with fire and earthquake codes. When the plan started, 42% of the city's residents lived in the old town. With compensation, residents of faulty buildings are being counseled to move to newer, safer buildings that will replace the historic structures in the $448 million plan, including high-rise apartments, plazas, and reproductions of ancient Islamic architecture. The European Parliament issued a resolution in 2011 calling for "culture-sensitive methods of renovation." The International Scientific Committee on Earthen Architectural Heritage (ISCEAH) has expressed concern over the demolition and reconstruction of historic buildings. ISCEAH has, additionally, urged the implementation of techniques utilized elsewhere in the world to address earthquake vulnerability.
Following the July 2009 Urumqi riots, the government focused on local economic development in an attempt to ameliorate ethnic tensions in the greater Xinjiang region. Kashgar was made into a Special Economic Zone in 2010, the first such zone in China's far west. In 2011, a spate of violence over two days killed dozens of people. By May 2012 two-thirds of the old city had been demolished, fulfilling "political as well as economic goals." In July 2014 the Imam of the Id Kah Mosque, Juma Tayir, was assassinated in Kashgar.
CLIMATE
Kashgar features a desert climate (Köppen BWk) with hot summers and cold winters, with large temperature differences between those two seasons: The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from −5.3 °C in January to 25.6 °C in July, while the annual mean is 11.84 °C. Spring is long and arrives quickly, while fall is somewhat brief in comparison. Kashgar is one of the driest cities on the planet, averaging only 64 millimetres of precipitation per year. The city’s wettest month, July, only sees on average 9.1 millimetres of rain. Because of the extremely arid conditions, snowfall is rare, despite the cold winters. Records have been as low as −24.4 °C in January and up to 40.1 °C in July. The frost-free period averages 215 days. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 50% in March to 70% in September, the city receives 2,726 hours of bright sunshine annually.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Kashgar is predominately peopled by Muslim Uyghurs. Compared to Ürümqi, Xinjiang's capital and largest city, Kashgar is less industrial and has significantly fewer Han Chinese residents.
ECONOMICS AND SOCIETY
The city has a very important Sunday market. Thousands of farmers from the surrounding fertile lands come into the city to sell a wide variety of fruit and vegetables. Kashgar’s livestock market is also very lively. Silk and carpets made in Hotan are sold at bazaars, as well as local crafts, such as copper teapots and wooden jewellery boxes.
In order to boost the economy in Kashgar region, the government classified the area as the sixth Special Economic Zone of China in May 2010.
Mahmud al-Kashgari (Turkish: Kâşgarlı Mahmud) (Mahmut from Kashgar) wrote the first Turkic–Arabic Exemplary Dictionary called Divan-ı Lugat-it Türk[citation needed]
The movie The Kite Runner was filmed in Kashgar. Kashgar and the surrounding countryside stood in for Kabul and Afghanistan, since filming in Afghanistan was not possible due to safety and security reasons.
SIGHTS
Kashgar's Old City has been called "the best-preserved example of a traditional Islamic city to be found anywhere in Central Asia". It is estimated to attract more than one million tourists annually.
- Id Kah Mosque, the largest mosque in China, is located in the heart of the city.
- People's Park, the main public park in central Kashgar.
- An 18 m high statue of Mao Zedong in Kashgar is one of the few large-scale statues of Mao remaining in China.
- The tomb of Afaq Khoja in Kashgar is considered the holiest Muslim site in Xinjiang. Built in the 17th century, the tiled mausoleum 5 km northeast of the city centre also contains the tombs of five generations of his family. Abakh was a powerful ruler, controlling Khotan, Yarkand, Korla, Kucha and Aksu as well as Kashgar. Among some Uyghur Muslims, he was considered a great Saint (Aulia).
- Sunday Market in Kashgar is renowned as the biggest market in central Asia; a pivotal trading point along the Silk Road where goods have been traded for more than 2,000 years. The market is open every day but Sunday is the largest.
TRANSPORTATION
AIR
Kashgar Airport serves mainly domestic flights, the majority of them from Urumqi. The only scheduled international flights are passenger and cargo services with Pakistan's capital Islamabad.
RAIL
Kashgar has the westernmost railway station in China. It is connected to the rest of China's rail network via the Southern Xinjiang Railway, which was built in December 1999. Kashgar–Hotan Railway opened for passenger traffic in June 2011, and connected Kashgar with cities in the southern Tarim Basin including Shache (Yarkand), Yecheng (Kargilik) and Hotan. Travel time to Urumqi from Kashgar is approximately 25 hours, while travel time to Hotan is approximately ten hours.
The investigation work of a further extension of the railway line to Pakistan has begun. In November 2009, Pakistan and China agreed to set up a joint venture to do a feasibility study of the proposed rail link via the Khunjerab Pass.
Proposals for a rail connection to Osh in Kyrgyzstan have also been discussed at various levels since at least 1996.
In 2012, a standard gauge railway from Kashgar via Tajikistan and Afghanistan to Iran and beyond has been proposed.
ROAD
The Karakorum highway (KKH) links Islamabad, Pakistan with Kashgar over the Khunjerab Pass. The China–Pakistan Economic Corridor is a multibillion-dollar project was that will upgrade transport links between China and Pakistan, including the upgrades to the Karakorum highway. Bus routes exist for passenger travel south into Pakistan. Kyrgyzstan is also accessible from Kashgar, via the Torugart Pass and Irkeshtam Pass; as of summer 2007, daily bus service connects Kashgar with Bishkek’s Western Bus Terminal. Kashgar is also located on China National Highways G314 (which runs to Khunjerab Pass on the Sino−Pakistani border, and, in the opposite direction, towards Ürümqi), and G315, which runs to Xining, Qinghai from Kashgar.
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