View allAll Photos Tagged Respect
my friend Sara took this of me while we were out. She used my camera, she asked for it because she liked the yellow wall behind me. I know enough with the hat already. You do know when I like something I wear it A LOT. So I found this quote by someone I highly respected when I was a teenager. I sort of fell in love with Fahrenheit 451, I could relate to Clarisse at the time. And I like what he said here. It's very true and being I'm a writer and as motorcycle man says "give me blogging or give me death" Words must come out, either there or in my journals. I don't talk much so the words need to go someplace.
New stop motion video now live at youtu.be/k5s35UdpO0c
#Lego #legocity #legopolice #minifigure #minifig #afol #macro #closeup #handcuffs #police #cops #lawenforcement #crimedoesntpay #carchase
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©All photographs on this site are copyright: DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams) 2011 – 2020 & GETTY IMAGES ®
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Photograph taken at an altitude of Sixty one metres at 06:46am on Monday 10th August 2020, of a Garden snail (Cornu aspersum)moving slowly across the grass, off Chessington Avenue in Bexleyheath, Kent.
This is a species of land snail, a terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusc of the Helicidae family.
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Nikon D850 Hand held with Sigma OS OPtical Stabilization enabled on normal setting. Focal length 260mm Shutter speed: 1/40s Aperture f/5.6 iso64 Image area FX (36 x 24) NEF RAW L (8256 x 5504). NEF RAW L (14 bit uncompressed) Image size L (8256 x 5504 FX). Focus mode AF-C focus. AF-C Priority Selection: Release. Nikon Back button focusing enabled. AF-S Priority selection: Focus. 3D Tracking watch area: Normal 55 Tracking points.AF-Area mode single point & 73 point switchable. Exposure mode: Shutter Priority mode. Matrix metering. Auto ISO sensitivity control on (Max iso 800/ Minimum shutter speed 125). White balance on: Auto1. Colour space: RGB. Active D-lighting: Normal. Vignette control: Normal. Nikon Distortion control: Enabled. Picture control: Auto (Sharpening A +1/Clarity A+1)
Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3DG OS HSM SPORTS. Lee SW150 MKI filter holder with MK2 light shield and custom made velcro fitting for the Sigma lens. Lee SW150 circular polariser glass filter.Lee SW150 Filters field pouch.Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecup.Mcoplus professional MB-D850 multi function battery grip 6960.Two Nikon EN-EL15a batteries (Priority to battery in Battery grip). Matin quick release neckstrap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag.
LATITUDE: N 51d 28m 28.20s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 8m 10.42s
ALTITUDE: 61.0m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF: 90.1MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 25.20MB
PROCESSING POWER:
Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.10 (9/05/2019) LD Distortion Data 2.018 (18/02/20) LF 1.00
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit Version 1.4.1 (18/02/2020). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit Version 1.6.2 (18/02/2020). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 2.4.5 (18/02/2020). Nikon Transfer 2 Version 2.13.5. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.
Image Description: a beige bighorn sheep ewe facing forward and surrounded by green vegetation.
Day Four: Respect Wildlife
There are lots of animals to get to know at Grand Canyon
But don’t be fooled, they are not your companions
Maintain a safe distance, at least twenty five feet
Don’t get bold and try to cheat
Some animals are far too bold on their own
And the risks of these critters may not be well known
Squirrels, mice and ravens will all rob your pack
When sitting to rest, never turn your back
While at camp, put your food and trash in ammo cans
If not provided, be sure to make other plans
Hike with an animal-proof container and use it
Anything smelly, anything tasty, don’t let them abuse it
Keep your distance from condors, sheep and deer
Even some of these guys may exhibit no fear
Respect rattlesnakes and other poisonous things
Most of these injuries are caused by what foolishness brings
“Curiosity killed the cat” so the saying goes
That applies to humans, too, especially when too close
Do not touch or handle these serpents
Your health and safety are far more important
Whether on accident or on purpose, do not feed the wildlife
Do not chase them, stress them out, or cause further strife
Respect all the animals from large to small
Enjoy them from a distance, and enjoy them all
“Respect the wildlife” says Leave No Trace
Help keep Grand Canyon one amazing place!
There are lots of animals to get to know at Grand Canyon
But don’t be fooled, they are not your companions
Maintain a safe distance, at least twenty five feet
Don’t get bold and try to cheat...
- Andrea Tavegia, Grand Canyon National Park Backcountry Information Center
... respectivement juge-arbitre des phases finales et responsable de la commission "jeunes" de la Ligue réunionnaise de tennis, ouvrent la cérémonie de remise des récompenses.
In picture is Mr. Khasapa. He was untangling the white prayer flags to let them fly freely in the wind.
Robert Gourlay, a well respected Scottish Reformer came to Upper Canada in 1818 and after seeing many issues with how the Province was being administered began to question the Provincial Parliament and the cadre of Colonial Elites who seemed to run everything. He hit a nerve and was run out of the Province after being illegally arrested and charged. But it was through his efforts that the reform movement got its spark and became the flame of change leading to the eventual establishment of Responsible Government. Today a bust of Gourlay sits in St. James Park in downtown Toronto.
Mamiya m645 - Mamiya-Sekor C 150mm 1:3.5 N - Ilford FP4+ @ ASA-125
Blazinal (1+25) 9:00 @ 20C
Meter: Pentax Spotmeter V
Scanner: Epson V700
Editor: Adobe Photoshop CC
Copyright© Cindy Grundsten 2010 changing, tubing, cropping, or use my work for other reasons is not allowed. Respect this!
A sign reading, “silence and respect” sits near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, May 6, 2015, Arlington, Va. (U.S. Army photo by Rachel Larue)
Two days after the terrible events at Manchester Arena, GWR 6959 Modified Hall 4-6-0 No.6990 Witherslack Hall shows respect by having a wreath on the smoke box door. The photograph was taken on the 24th May 2017 at Bury Bolton Street Station which is just outside Manchester. The railway is part of the East Lancashire Railway.
I see my street photography improving, 80% Simply came from gaining confidence, respect is the other 20.
Downtown Miami
Lumix G7, panasonic 25mm 1.7
The Ride of Respect is an annual mass ride by motorcyclists to pay tribute both to UK tri-service personnel and to the fallen and their families.
Over the past 4 years' rides, it have raised around a half million pounds for military charities
Project PEARLS ( PEACE, EDUCATION, ASPIRATION, RESPECT, LOVE, SMILES )
About:
A non-profit organization helping the poorest of the poor children in the Philippines.
Company Overview:
Project PEARLS is not a fancy outreach ministry; it is nothing large or grandiose; it doesn't compete or seek for glory. We just simply want to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and hold the hands of those who hurt. It is just a small organization of families and friends who are trying to make a difference in the lives of underprivileged children in the Philippines... without politics, religion, race, national origin, economic status, sex, color, age.
We are just a group of family and friends who share the same mission and passion in trying to make a difference in the lives of the poorest of the poor children in the Philippines.
Mission:
To help the underprivileged children in the Philippines by giving them PEACE, EDUCATION, ASPIRATION, RESPECT, LOVE, SMILES.
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I had a great Saturday! I and my friend volunteered in Project PEARLS. We had so much fun and we are very thankful that we were able to help these kids at Ulingan. Such an amazing experience!
Thank you so much Project PEARLS, till next time! :)
From the official web site:
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics is a basic research centre dedicated to exploring the world around us at its most fundamental level. It began in the summer of 1999 when Mike Lazaridis, founder of Research in Motion and the innovator who was instrumental in launching the smart phone revolution, found himself in a position to help foster research and innovation in Canada by establishing a world-class institute devoted to theoretical physics.
Research
Since research operations began in the fall of 2001, the Institute has grown to include over 80 resident researchers who are involved in day-to-day operations. Additionally, the vigorous Visitor Program has enabled PI to host hundreds of international researchers each year for collaborations and workshops. The current groups involved with cross-disciplinary research include Condensed Matter, Cosmology & Gravitation, Particle Physics, Quantum Foundations, Quantum Gravity, Quantum Information Theory, Superstring Theory and related areas.
Training
Among activities that help develop future generations of scientists, is the innovative Perimeter Scholars International. This research training program exposes rising talent from around the world to the full spectrum of theoretical physics, bringing them rapidly to the leading edge of current research.
Outreach
In addition to the scientific operations, Perimeter Institute also shares the importance of basic research and the power of theoretical physics with the wider community. The award winning educational outreach team provides specifically crafted programs and educational resources for youth, teachers and members of the general public across Canada and beyond.
Funding
Perimeter Institute is an independent, non-profit, charitable organization focused on scientific research, training and educational outreach in theoretical physics. The Institute is funded through an innovative public-private partnership - uniting governments, individuals, corporations, and foundations in a shared enterprise to help advance scientific breakthroughs, nurture scientific talent, and share scientific discovery with the broader public.
Workplace
Perimeter Institute endeavors to foster an inclusive culture that embraces and celebrates the diversity of our organization. We are committed to providing a safe, comfortable, harassment-free working environment for all students, scientists, support staff and volunteers, regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity, religion or place of origin. We have a zero tolerance policy towards any form of harassment, discrimination, or violence in the workplace. Trust and mutual respect are the basis of our community.
This High Dynamic Range 360° panorama was stitched from 60 bracketed photographs with PTGUI Pro, tone-mapped with Photomatix, and touched up in Aperture.
Original size: 18528 × 9264 (171.6 MP; 176 MB).
Location: Perimeter Institute, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
NO EDIT
photographer: BRITA LIGHT
grant photos
Are We Witnessing the Start of a Global Revolution?
North Africa and the Global Political Awakening, Part 1
by Andrew Gavin Marshall
For the first time in human history almost all of humanity is politically activated, politically conscious and politically interactive... The resulting global political activism is generating a surge in the quest for personal dignity, cultural respect and economic opportunity in a world painfully scarred by memories of centuries-long alien colonial or imperial domination... The worldwide yearning for human dignity is the central challenge inherent in the phenomenon of global political awakening... That awakening is socially massive and politically radicalizing... The nearly universal access to radio, television and increasingly the Internet is creating a community of shared perceptions and envy that can be galvanized and channeled by demagogic political or religious passions. These energies transcend sovereign borders and pose a challenge both to existing states as well as to the existing global hierarchy, on top of which America still perches...
The youth of the Third World are particularly restless and resentful. The demographic revolution they embody is thus a political time-bomb, as well... Their potential revolutionary spearhead is likely to emerge from among the scores of millions of students concentrated in the often intellectually dubious "tertiary level" educational institutions of developing countries. Depending on the definition of the tertiary educational level, there are currently worldwide between 80 and 130 million "college" students. Typically originating from the socially insecure lower middle class and inflamed by a sense of social outrage, these millions of students are revolutionaries-in-waiting, already semi-mobilized in large congregations, connected by the Internet and pre-positioned for a replay on a larger scale of what transpired years earlier in Mexico City or in Tiananmen Square. Their physical energy and emotional frustration is just waiting to be triggered by a cause, or a faith, or a hatred...
[The] major world powers, new and old, also face a novel reality: while the lethality of their military might is greater than ever, their capacity to impose control over the politically awakened masses of the world is at a historic low. To put it bluntly: in earlier times, it was easier to control one million people than to physically kill one million people; today, it is infinitely easier to kill one million people than to control one million people.[1]
- Zbigniew Brzezinski
Former U.S. National Security Advisor
Co-Founder of the Trilateral Commission
Member, Board of Trustees, Center for Strategic and International Studies
An uprising in Tunisia led to the overthrow of the country’s 23-year long dictatorship of President Ben Ali. A new ‘transitional’ government was formed, but the protests continued demanding a totally new government without the relics of the previous tyranny. Protests in Algeria have continued for weeks, as rage mounts against rising food prices, corruption and state oppression. Protests in Jordan forced the King to call on the military to surround cities with tanks and set up checkpoints. Tens of thousands of protesters marched on Cairo demanding an end to the 30-year dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. Thousands of activists, opposition leaders and students rallied in the capitol of Yemen against the corrupt dictatorship of President Saleh, in power since 1978. Saleh has been, with U.S. military assistance, attempting to crush a rebel movement in the north and a massive secessionist movement growing in the south, called the “Southern Movement.” Protests in Bolivia against rising food prices forced the populist government of Evo Morales to backtrack on plans to cut subsidies. Chile erupted in protests as demonstrators railed against rising fuel prices. Anti-government demonstrations broke out in Albania, resulting in the deaths of several protesters.
It seems as if the world is entering the beginnings of a new revolutionary era: the era of the ‘Global Political Awakening.’ While this ‘awakening’ is materializing in different regions, different nations and under different circumstances, it is being largely influenced by global conditions. The global domination by the major Western powers, principally the United States, over the past 65 years, and more broadly, centuries, is reaching a turning point. The people of the world are restless, resentful, and enraged. Change, it seems, is in the air. As the above quotes from Brzezinski indicate, this development on the world scene is the most radical and potentially dangerous threat to global power structures and empire. It is not a threat simply to the nations in which the protests arise or seek change, but perhaps to a greater degree, it is a threat to the imperial Western powers, international institutions, multinational corporations and banks that prop up, arm, support and profit from these oppressive regimes around the world. Thus, America and the West are faced with a monumental strategic challenge: what can be done to stem the Global Political Awakening? Zbigniew Brzezinski is one of the chief architects of American foreign policy, and arguably one of the intellectual pioneers of the system of globalization. Thus, his warnings about the 'Global Political Awakening' are directly in reference to its nature as a threat to the prevailing global hierarchy. As such, we must view the 'Awakening' as the greatest hope for humanity. Certainly, there will be mainy failures, problems, and regressions; but the 'Awakening' has begun, it is underway, and it cannot be so easily co-opted or controlled as many might assume.
The reflex action of the imperial powers is to further arm and support the oppressive regimes, as well as the potential to organize a destabilization through covert operations or open warfare (as is being done in Yemen). The alterantive is to undertake a strategy of "democratization" in which Western NGOs, aid agencies and civil society organizations establish strong contacts and relationships with the domestic civil society in these regions and nations. The objective of this strategy is to organize, fund and help direct the domestic civil society to produce a democratic system made in the image of the West, and thus maintain continuity in the international hierarchy. Essentially, the project of "democratization" implies creating the outward visible constructs of a democratic state (multi-party elections, active civil society, "independent" media, etc) and yet maintain continuity in subservience to the World Bank, IMF, multinational corporations and Western powers.
It appears that both of these strategies are being simultaneously imposed in the Arab world: enforcing and supporting state oppression and building ties with civil society organizations. The problem for the West, however, is that they have not had the ability to yet establish strong and dependent ties with civil society groups in much of the region, as ironically, the oppressive regimes they propped up were and are unsurprisingly resistant to such measures. In this sense, we must not cast aside these protests and uprisings as being instigated by the West, but rather that they emerged organically, and the West is subsequently attempting to co-opt and control the emerging movements.
Part 1 of this essay focuses on the emergence of these protest movements and uprisings, placing it in the context of the Global Political Awakening. Part 2 will examine the West's strategy of "democratic imperialism" as a method of co-opting the 'Awakening' and installing "friendly" governments.
The Tunisian Spark
A July 2009 diplomatic cable from America’s Embassy in Tunisia reported that, “many Tunisians are frustrated by the lack of political freedom and angered by First Family corruption, high unemployment and regional inequities. Extremism poses a continuing threat,” and that, “the risks to the regime’s long-term stability are increasing.”[2]
On Friday, 14 January 2011, the U.S.-supported 23-year long dictatorship of Tunisian president Ben Ali ended. For several weeks prior to this, the Tunisian people had risen in protest against rising food prices, stoked on by an immense and growing dissatisfaction with the political repression, and prodded by the WikiLeaks cables confirming the popular Tunisian perception of gross corruption on the part of the ruling family. The spark, it seems, was when a 26-year old unemployed youth set himself on fire in protest on December 17.
With the wave of protests sparked by the death of the 26-year old who set himself on fire on December 17, the government of Tunisia responded by cracking down on the protesters. Estimates vary, but roughly 100 people were killed in the clashes. Half of Tunisia’s 10 million people are under the age of 25, meaning that they have never known a life in Tunisia outside of living under this one dictator. Since Independence from the French empire in 1956, Tunisia has had only two leaders: Habib Bourguiba and Ben Ali.[3] The Tunisian people were rising up against a great many things: an oppressive dictatorship which has employed extensive information and internet censorship, rising food prices and inflation, a corrupt ruling family, lack of jobs for the educated youth, and a general sense and experience of exploitation, subjugation and disrespect for human dignity.
Following the ouster of Ben Ali, Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi assumed presidential power and declared a “transitional government.” Yet, this just spurred more protests demanding his resignation and the resignation of the entire government. Significantly, the trade union movement had a large mobilizing role in the protests, with a lawyers union being particularly active during the initial protests Social media and the Internet did play a large part in mobilizing people within Tunisia for the uprising, but it was ultimately the result of direct protests and action which led to the resignation of Ben Ali. Thus, referring to Tunisia as a “Twitter Revolution” is disingenuous.
Twitter, WikiLeaks, Facebook, Youtube, forums and blogs did have a part to play. They reflect the ability “to collectively transform the Arab information environment and shatter the ability of authoritarian regimes to control the flow of information, images, ideas and opinions.”[5] [Editors Note: The US based foundation Freedom House was involved in promoting and training some Middle East North Africa Facebook and Twitter bloggers (See also Freedom House), M. C.].
We must also keep in mind that social media has not only become an important source of mobilization of activism and information at the grassroots level, but it has also become an effective means for governments and various power structures to seek to manipulate the flow of information. This was evident in the 2009 protests in Iran, where social media became an important avenue through which the Western nations were able to advance their strategy of supporting the so-called 'Green Revolution' in destabilizing the Iranian government. Thus, social media has presented a new form of power, neither black nor white, in which it can be used to either advance the process of the 'Awakening' or control its direction.
Whereas America was publicly denouncing Iran for blocking (or attempting to block) social media in the summer of 2009, during the first several weeks of Tunisian protests (which were largely being ignored by Western media), America and the West were silent about censorship.[6] Steven Cook, writing for the elite U.S. think tank, the Council on Foreign Relations, commented on the lack of attention being paid to the Tunisian protests in the early weeks of resistance prior to the resignation of Ben Ali. He explained that while many assume that the Arab “strongmen” regimes will simply maintain power as they always have, this could be mistaken. He stated that, “it may not be the last days of Ben Ali or Mubarak or any other Middle Eastern strongman, but there is clearly something going on in the region.” However, it was the end of Ben Ali, and indeed, “there is clearly something going on in the region.”[7]
France’s President Sarkozy has even had to admit that, “he had underestimated the anger of the Tunisian people and the protest movement that ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.” During the first few weeks of protests in Tunisia, several French government officials were publicly supporting the dictatorship, with the French Foreign Minister saying that France would lend its police “knowhow” to help Ben Ali in maintaining order.[8]
Days before the ouster of Ben Ali, Hillary Clinton gave an interview in which she explained how America was worried “about the unrest and the instability,” and that, “we are not taking sides, but we are saying we hope that there can be a peaceful resolution. And I hope that the Tunisian Government can bring that about.” Clinton further lamented, “One of my biggest concerns in this entire region are the many young people without economic opportunities in their home countries.”[9] Her concern, of course, does not spur from any humanitarian considerations, but rather from inherent imperial considerations: it is simply harder to control a region of the world erupting in activism, uprisings and revolution.
The Spark Lights a Flame
Tunisia has raised the bar for the people across the Arab world to demand justice, democracy, accountability, economic stability, and freedom. Just as Tunisia’s protests were in full-swing, Algeria was experiencing mass protests, rising up largely as a result of the increasing international food prices, but also in reaction to many of the concerns of the Tunisian protesters, such as democratic accountability, corruption and freedom. A former Algerian diplomat told Al-Jazeera in early January that, “It is a revolt, and probably a revolution, of an oppressed people who have, for 50 years, been waiting for housing, employment, and a proper and decent life in a very rich country.”[10]
In mid-January, similar protests erupted in Jordan, as thousands took to the streets to protest against rising food prices and unemployment, chanting anti-government slogans. Jordan’s King Abdullah II had “set up a special task force in his palace that included military and intelligence officials to try to prevent the unrest from escalating further,” which had tanks surrounding major cities, with barriers and checkpoints established.[11]
In Yemen, the poorest nation in the Arab world, engulfed in a U.S. sponsored war against its own people, ruled by a dictator who has been in power since 1978, thousands of people protested against the government, demanding the dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. In the capitol city of Sanaa, thousands of students, activists and opposition groups chanted slogans such as, “Get out get out, Ali. Join your friend Ben Ali.”[12] Yemen has been experiencing much turmoil in recent years, with a rebel movement in the North fighting against the government, formed in 2004; as well as a massive secessionist movement in the south, called the “Southern Movement,” fighting for liberation since 2007. As the Financial Times explained:
Many Yemen observers consider the anger and secessionist sentiment now erupting in the south to be a greater threat to the country’s stability than its better publicised struggle with al-Qaeda, and the deteriorating economy is making the tension worse.
Unemployment, particularly among the young, is soaring. Even the government statistics office in Aden puts it at nearly 40 per cent among men aged 20 to 24
On January 21, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Albania, mobilized by the socialist opposition, ending with violent clashes between the police and protesters, leading to the deaths of three demonstrators. The protests have been sporadic in Albania since the widely contested 2009 elections, but took on new levels inspired by Tunisia.[14]
Israeli Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom stressed concern over the revolutionary sentiments within the Arab world, saying that, “I fear that we now stand before a new and very critical phase in the Arab world.” He fears Tunisia would “set a precedent that could be repeated in other countries, possibly affecting directly the stability of our system.”[15] Israel’s leadership fears democracy in the Arab world, as they have a security alliance with the major Arab nations, who, along with Israel itself, are American proxy states in the region. Israel maintains civil – if not quiet – relationships with the Arab monarchs and dictators. While the Arab states publicly criticize Israel, behind closed doors they are forced to quietly accept Israel’s militarism and war-mongering, lest they stand up against the superpower, America. Yet, public opinion in the Arab world is extremely anti-Israel, anti-American and pro-Iran.
In July of 2010, the results of a major international poll were released regarding public opinion in the Arab world, polling from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. Among some of the notable findings: while Obama was well received upon entering the Presidency, with 51% expressing optimism about U.S. policy in the region in the Spring of 2009, by Summer 2010, 16% were expressing optimism. In 2009, 29% of those polled said a nuclear-armed Iran would be positive for the region; in 2010, that spiked to 57%, reflecting a very different stance from that of their governments.[16]
While America, Israel and the leaders of the Arab nations claim that Iran is the greatest threat to peace and stability in the Middle East, the Arab people do not agree. In an open question asking which two countries pose the greatest threat to the region, 88% responded with Israel, 77% with America, and 10% with Iran.[17]
At the Arab economic summit shortly following the ousting of Ben Ali in Tunisia, who was for the first time absent from the meetings, the Tunisian uprising hung heavy in the air. Arab League leader Amr Moussa said in his opening remarks at the summit, “The Tunisian revolution is not far from us,” and that, “the Arab citizen entered an unprecedented state of anger and frustration,” noting that "the Arab soul is broken by poverty, unemployment and general recession.” The significance of this ‘threat’ to the Arab leaders cannot be understated. Out of roughly 352 million Arabs, 190 million are under the age of 24, with nearly three-quarters of them unemployed. Often, “the education these young people receive doesn't do them any good because there are no jobs in the fields they trained for.”[18]
There was even an article in the Israeli intellectual newspaper, Ha’aretz, which posited that, “Israel may be on the eve of revolution.” Explaining, the author wrote that:
Israeli civil society organizations have amassed considerable power over the years; not only the so-called leftist organizations, but ones dealing with issues like poverty, workers' rights and violence against women and children. All of them were created in order to fill the gaps left by the state, which for its part was all too happy to continue walking away from problems that someone else was there to take on. The neglect is so great that Israel's third sector - NGOs, charities and volunteer organizations - is among the biggest in the world. As such, it has quite a bit of power.[19]
Now the Israeli Knesset and cabinet want that power back; yet, posits the author, they “have chosen to ignore the reasons these groups became powerful,” namely:
The source of their power is the vacuum, the criminal policies of Israel's governments over the last 40 years. The source of their power is a government that is evading its duties to care for all of its citizens and to end the occupation, and a Knesset that supports the government instead of putting it in its place.[20]
The Israeli Knesset opened investigations into the funding of Israeli human rights organizations in a political maneuver against them. However, as one article in Ha’aretz by an Israeli professor explained, these groups actually – inadvertently – play a role in “entrenching the occupation.” As the author explained:
Even if the leftist groups' intention is to ensure upholding Palestinian rights, though, the unintentional result of their activity is preserving the occupation. Moderating and restraining the army's activity gives it a more human and legal facade. Reducing the pressure of international organizations, alongside moderating the Palestinian population's resistance potential, enable the army to continue to maintain this control model over a prolonged period of time.[21]
Thus, if the Israeli Knesset succeeds in getting rid of these powerful NGOs, they sow the seeds for the pressure valve in the occupied territories to be removed. The potential for massive internal protests within Israel from the left, as well as the possibility of another Intifada – uprising – in the occupied territories themselves would seem dramatically increased. Israel and the West have expressed how much distaste they hold for democracy in the region. When Gaza held a democratic election in 2006 and elected Hamas, which was viewed as the ‘wrong’ choice by Israel and America, Israel imposed a ruthless blockade of Gaza. Richard Falk, the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Inquiry Commission for the Palestinian territories, wrote an article for Al Jazeera in which he explained that the blockade:
unlawfully restricted to subsistence levels, or below, the flow of food, medicine, and fuel. This blockade continues to this day, leaving the entire Gazan population locked within the world's largest open-air prison, and victimized by one of the cruelest forms of belligerent occupation in the history of warfare.[22]
The situation in the occupied territories is made increasingly tense with the recent leaking of the “Palestinian Papers,” which consist of two decades of secret Israeli-Palestinian accords, revealing the weak negotiating position of the Palestinian Authority. The documents consist largely of major concessions the Palestinian Authority was willing to make “on the issues of the right of return of Palestinian refugees, territorial concessions, and the recognition of Israel.” Among the leaks, Palestinian negotiators secretly agreed to concede nearly all of East Jerusalem to Israel. Further, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (favoured by Israel and America over Hamas), was personally informed by a senior Israeli official the night before Operation Cast Lead, the December 2008 and January 2009 Israeli assault on Gaza, resulting in the deaths of over 1,000 Palestinians: “Israeli and Palestinian officials reportedly discussed targeted assassinations of Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists in Gaza.”[23]
Hamas has subsequently called on Palestinian refugees to protest over the concessions regarding the ‘right of return’ for refugees, of which the negotiators conceded to allowing only 100,000 of 5 million to return to Israel.[24] A former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Egypt lamented that, “The concern will be that this might cause further problems in moving forward.”[25] However, while being blamed for possibly preventing the “peace process” from moving forward, what the papers reveal is that the “peace process” itself is a joke. The Palestinian Authority’s power is derivative of the power Israel allows it to have, and was propped up as a method of dealing with an internal Palestinian elite, thus doing what all colonial powers have done. The papers, then, reveal how the so-called Palestinian ‘Authority’ does not truly speak or work for the interests of the Palestinian people. And while this certainly will divide the PA from Hamas, they were already deeply divided as it was. Certainly, this will pose problems for the “peace process,” but that’s assuming it is a ‘peaceful’ process in the first part.
Is Egypt on the Edge of Revolution?
Unrest is even spreading to Egypt, personal playground of U.S.-supported and armed dictator, Hosni Mubarak, in power since 1981. Egypt is the main U.S. ally in North Africa, and has for centuries been one of the most important imperial jewels first for the Ottomans, then the British, and later for the Americans. With a population of 80 million, 60% of which are under the age of 30, who make up 90% of Egypt’s unemployed, the conditions are ripe for a repeat in Egypt of what happened in Tunisia.[26]
On January 25, 2011, Egypt experienced its “day of wrath,” in which tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets to protest against rising food prices, corruption, and the oppression of living under a 30-year dictatorship. The demonstrations were organized through the use of social media such as Twitter and Facebook. When the protests emerged, the government closed access to these social media sites, just as the Tunisian government did in the early days of the protests that led to the collapse of the dictatorship. As one commentator wrote in the Guardian:
Egypt is not Tunisia. It’s much bigger. Eighty million people, compared with 10 million. Geographically, politically, strategically, it's in a different league – the Arab world's natural leader and its most populous nation. But many of the grievances on the street are the same. Tunis and Cairo differ only in size. If Egypt explodes, the explosion will be much bigger, too.[27]
In Egypt, “an ad hoc coalition of students, unemployed youths, industrial workers, intellectuals, football fans and women, connected by social media such as Twitter and Facebook, instigated a series of fast-moving, rapidly shifting demos across half a dozen or more Egyptian cities.” The police responded with violence, and three protesters were killed. With tens of thousands of protesters taking to the streets, Egypt saw the largest protests in decades, if not under the entire 30-year reign of President Mubarak. Is Egypt on the verge of revolution? It seems too soon to tell. Egypt, it must be remembered, is the second major recipient of U.S. military assistance in the world (following Israel), and thus, its police state and military apparatus are far more advanced and secure than Tunisia’s. Clearly, however, something is stirring. As Hilary Clinton said on the night of the protests, “Our assessment is that the Egyptian government is stable and is looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people.”[28] In other words: “We continue to support tyranny and dictatorship over democracy and liberation.” So what else is new?
According to some estimates, as many as 50,000 protesters turned out in Cairo, Alexandria, Suez and other Egyptian cities.[29] The protests were met with the usual brutality: beating protesters, firing tear gas and using water cannons to attempt to disperse the protesters. As images and videos started emerging out of Egypt, “television footage showed demonstrators chasing police down side streets. One protester climbed into a fire engine and drove it away.”[30] Late on the night of the protests, rumours and unconfirmed reports were spreading that the first lady of Egypt, Suzanne Mubarak, may have fled Egypt to London, following on the heels of rumours that Mubarak’s son, and presumed successor, had also fled to London.[31]
Are We Headed for a Global Revolution?
During the first phase of the global economic crisis in December of 2008, the IMF warned governments of the prospect of “violent unrest on the streets.” The head of the IMF warned that, “violent protests could break out in countries worldwide if the financial system was not restructured to benefit everyone rather than a small elite.”[32]
In January of 2009, Obama’s then-Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, told the Senate Intelligence Committee that the greatest threat to the National Security of the U.S. was not terrorism, but the global economic crisis:
I’d like to begin with the global economic crisis, because it already looms as the most serious one in decades, if not in centuries ... Economic crises increase the risk of regime-threatening instability if they are prolonged for a one- or two-year period... And instability can loosen the fragile hold that many developing countries have on law and order, which can spill out in dangerous ways into the international community.[33]
In 2007, a British Defence Ministry report was released assessing global trends in the world over the next 30 years. In assessing “Global Inequality”, the report stated that over the next 30 years:
[T]he gap between rich and poor will probably increase and absolute poverty will remain a global challenge... Disparities in wealth and advantage will therefore become more obvious, with their associated grievances and resentments, even among the growing numbers of people who are likely to be materially more prosperous than their parents and grandparents. Absolute poverty and comparative disadvantage will fuel perceptions of injustice among those whose expectations are not met, increasing tension and instability, both within and between societies and resulting in expressions of violence such as disorder, criminality, terrorism and insurgency. They may also lead to the resurgence of not only anti-capitalist ideologies, possibly linked to religious, anarchist or nihilist movements, but also to populism and the revival of Marxism.[34]
Further, the report warned of the dangers to the established powers of a revolution emerging from the disgruntled middle classes:
The middle classes could become a revolutionary class, taking the role envisaged for the proletariat by Marx. The globalization of labour markets and reducing levels of national welfare provision and employment could reduce peoples’ attachment to particular states. The growing gap between themselves and a small number of highly visible super-rich individuals might fuel disillusion with meritocracy, while the growing urban under-classes are likely to pose an increasing threat to social order and stability, as the burden of acquired debt and the failure of pension provision begins to bite. Faced by these twin challenges, the world’s middle-classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class interest.[35]
We have now reached the point where the global economic crisis has continued beyond the two-year mark. The social repercussions are starting to be felt – globally – as a result of the crisis and the coordinated responses to it. Since the global economic crisis hit the ‘Third World’ the hardest, the social and political ramifications will be felt there first. In the context of the current record-breaking hikes in the cost of food, food riots will spread around the world as they did in 2007 and 2008, just prior to the outbreak of the economic crisis. This time, however, things are much worse economically, much more desperate socially, and much more oppressive politically.
This rising discontent will spread from the developing world to the comfort of our own homes in the West. Once the harsh realization sets in that the economy is not in ‘recovery,’ but rather in a Depression, and once our governments in the West continue on their path of closing down the democratic façade and continue dismantling rights and freedoms, increasing surveillance and ‘control,’ while pushing increasingly militaristic and war-mongering foreign policies around the world (mostly in an effort to quell or crush the global awakening being experienced around the world), we in the West will come to realize that ‘We are all Tunisians.’
In 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr., said in his famous speech “Beyond Vietnam”:
I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.[36]
This was Part 1 of "North Africa and the Global Political Awakening," focusing on the emergence of the protest movements primarily in North Africa and the Arab world, but placing it in the context of a wider 'Global Awakening.'
Part 2 will focus on the West's reaction to the 'Awakening' in this region; namely, the two-pronged strategy of supporting oppressive regimes while promoting "democratization" in a grand new project of "democratic imperialism."
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.
WIKIPEDIA
Diver letting an Olive Sea Snake (Aipysurus laevis) go by.
Snake Pit dive site on the Great Barrier Reef.
Once a professor at a respected university, Thomas Silvio found himself becoming increasingly obsessed with advanced mechanics, and the prospect of a bipedal mechanical walker. After finding reliable sources of funding and power, he immersed himself in his mission, abandoning family, career, and any of life's other little distractions along the way. After years of tinkering he finally achieved his goal, but what he will do with this amazing new technology is anyone's guess.
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Budapest (Acerca de este sonido /ˈbudɒpɛʃt/ (?·i)) es la capital y ciudad más poblada de Hungría,3 así como su principal centro industrial, comercial y de transportes.4 La ciudad posee 1,74 millones de habitantes (2011),5 una disminución significativa respecto de los casi 2,1 millones con que contaba a mediados de los años 1980,6 que representan un quinto de la población total de Hungría. Es la ciudad más poblada de Europa central-oriental y la séptima de la Unión Europea. La ciudad ocupa una superficie de 525 km²7 y su área metropolitana cuenta con una población de 2,38 millones de habitantes. Budapest se convirtió en una única ciudad cuando ocupó las dos orillas del río Danubio, unificando las ciudades de Buda y Óbuda, en la orilla oeste, con Pest, en la orilla este, el 17 de noviembre de 1873.7 8
La historia de Budapest comenzó con Aquincum, originalmente un asentamiento celta9 10 que se convirtió en la capital romana de Panonia Inferior.9 Los húngaros llegaron al territorio en el siglo IX.11 Su primer asentamiento fue saqueado por los mongoles en 1241-42.12 La ciudad restablecida se convirtió en uno de los centros de la cultura del Renacimiento humanista en el siglo XV.13 14 Después de la batalla de Mohács y tras casi 150 años de dominio otomano,15 el desarrollo de la región entró en una nueva era de prosperidad en los siglos XVIII y XIX, y Budapest se convirtió en una ciudad global después de la unificación de 1873.16 También se convirtió en la segunda capital de Austria-Hungría, una gran potencia que se disolvió en 1918. Budapest fue el punto focal de la revolución húngara de 1848, la República Soviética Húngara de 1919, la Operación Panzerfaust en 1944, la batalla de Budapest de 1945 y la Revolución de 1956.
Considerada como una de las ciudades más bellas de Europa,3 17 18 Budapest cuenta con varios sitios que son Patrimonio de la Humanidad, entre los que se incluyen, a orillas del Danubio, el barrio del Castillo de Buda, la avenida Andrássy, la Plaza de los Héroes y el Metropolitano del Milenio, el segundo más antiguo del mundo.17 19 Otros puntos destacados incluyen un total de 80 manantiales geotérmicos,20 el mayor sistema de cuevas de aguas termales del mundo,21 la segunda sinagoga más grande y el tercer edificio del Parlamento más grande del mundo. La ciudad atrae a alrededor de 4,3 millones de turistas al año, convirtiéndola en la 25.ª ciudad más popular del mundo, según Euromonitor.22
Budapest es, también, un importante centro financiero de Europa Central. La ciudad se situó tercera (de un total de 65 ciudades) en el Índice de Mercados Emergentes elaborado por Mastercard,23 y clasificada como la ciudad mejor habitable de Europa Central y Europa del Este por índice de calidad de vida según Economist Intelligence Unit.24 25 También se clasificó como el "séptimo lugar idílico de Europa para vivir" por la revista Forbes,26 y como la novena ciudad más bella del mundo por UCityGuides.27 Es, también, la mejor ciudad de Europa Central y del Este en el índice Innovation Cities' Top 100.28 29
Toponimia[editar]
El nombre de «Budapest» es la composición de los nombres de las ciudades «Buda» y «Pest», ya que se unieron (junto con Óbuda) para convertirse en una sola ciudad en 1873.30 Una de las primeras apariciones del nombre combinado «Buda-Pest» fue en 1831 en el libro Világ («Mundo»), escrito por el conde István Széchenyi.
El origen de las palabras «Buda» y «Pest» es incierto. Según las crónicas de la Edad Media el nombre de «Buda» viene del nombre de su fundador, Bleda (Buda), el hermano del huno Atila. La teoría de que «Buda» fue el nombre de una persona es apoyada también por los estudiosos modernos.31 Una explicación alternativa sugiere que deriva de la palabra eslava «вода, voda» («agua»), una traducción del nombre en latín Aquincum, que era el principal asentamiento romano en la región.32
También existen varias teorías sobre el origen del nombre «Pest». Una de las teorías sostiene que proviene de la época romana,33 ya que había una fortaleza, «Contra-Aquincum», que en esta región que se conoce como «Pession» (Πέσσιον, III.7. § 2) por Ptolomeo.34 Según otra teoría, toma su origen de la palabra eslava «пещера, peshtera» («cueva») o de la palabra «печь, pesht» («horno») en referencia a una cueva local.35 En la antigua lengua húngara había un significado similar para la palabra «horno/cueva» y el nombre antiguo original alemán de esta región fue «Ofen». Más tarde, «Ofen», en alemán, se refiere a la parte de Buda.
Historia[editar]
La corona de San Esteban, la espada, el cetro y el orbe de Hungría.
El primer asentamiento en el territorio de Budapest fue construido por los celtas9 antes del año 1 a. C. y fue ocupado más tarde por los romanos. El asentamiento romano, Aquincum, se convirtió en la principal ciudad de la Baja Panonia en el 106 a. C.9 Los romanos construyeron carreteras, anfiteatros, baños y casas con calefacción por suelo en este campamento militar fortificado.36
El tratado de paz de 829 añadió Panonia a Bulgaria debido a la victoria del ejército búlgaro de Omurtag sobre el Sacro Imperio Romano de Ludovico Pío. Budapest surgió de dos fronteras búlgaras, las fortalezas militares de Buda y Pest, situada en las dos orillas del Danubio.37 Los húngaros, liderados por Árpád, se establecieron en el territorio a finales del siglo IX,11 38 y un siglo más tarde se fundó oficialmente el Reino de Hungría.11 Las investigaciones sitúan la residencia de la Casa de Árpad en un lugar cercano de lo que se convertiría en Budapest.39 La invasión tártara en el siglo XIII rápidamente demostró que la defensa es difícil en una llanura.7 11 El rey Béla IV de Hungría ordenó la construcción de muros de hormigón armado en torno a las ciudades11 y estableció su propio palacio real en la cima de los cerros protectores de Buda.12 En 1361 se convirtió en la capital de Hungría.12
El Castillo de Buda en la Edad Media.
El papel cultural de Buda fue particularmente importante durante el reinado del rey Matías Corvino.7 El Renacimiento italiano tuvo una gran influencia en la ciudad.7 Su biblioteca, la Bibliotheca Corvinniana, fue la colección de crónicas históricas y obras filosóficas y científicas más grande de Europa en el siglo XV, y la segunda en tamaño sólo superada por la Biblioteca Vaticana.7 Después de la fundación de la primera universidad húngara de Pécs en 1367,40 la segunda se estableció en Óbuda en 1395.40 El primer libro impreso en húngaro fue en Buda en 1473.41 Buda tenía unos 5000 habitantes hacia 1500,42 aunque estudios modernos apuntan a que la suma de Buda y Pest tenía entre 15 000 y 25 000 habitantes.43
Los otomanos saquearon Buda en 1526, la sitiaron en 1529 y, finalmente, la ocuparon en 1541. La ocupación turca duró más de 140 años.7 Los turcos construyeron muchas instalaciones de baños en la ciudad.11 Bajo el gobierno otomano, muchos cristianos se convirtieron al islam. En 1547 el número de cristianos se redujo a alrededor de mil, y en 1647 había descendido a sólo unos setenta.42 La parte no ocupada occidental del país se convirtió en parte del imperio de los Habsburgo como Hungría real.
En 1686, dos años después del infructuoso asedio de Buda, una renovada campaña comenzó a entrar en la capital húngara. Esta vez, el ejército de la Liga Santa era dos veces más grande, con más de 74.000 hombres. Entre ellos había ingleses, alemanes, holandeses, croatas, húngaros, españoles, checos, italianos, franceses, daneses y suecos, junto con otros europeos como voluntarios, artilleros, y oficiales. Las fuerzas cristianas reconquistaron Buda y, en los años siguientes, todas las tierras húngaras anteriores, a excepción de las zonas cercanas a Timişoara (Temesvár), fueron arrebatadas a los turcos. En el Tratado de Karlowitz de 1699 estos cambios territoriales fueron reconocidos oficialmente, y en 1718 todo el Reino de Hungría fue liberado del poder otomano. La ciudad fue destruida durante la batalla.7 Hungría se incorporó entonces al Imperio Habsburgo.7
La Ópera Nacional de Hungría, construida en el período de Austria-Hungría.
La orilla del Danubio en Budapest en una imagen de 1873.
1867 fue el año de la reconciliación que trajo consigo el nacimiento de Austria-Hungría. El siglo XIX fue dominado por la lucha por la independencia de Hungría y la modernización.7 La insurrección nacional contra los Habsburgo comenzó en la capital húngara en 1848 y fue derrotado poco más de un año después. Esto hizo de Budapest la capital gemela de una monarquía dual. Fue este compromiso que abrió la segunda fase de gran desarrollo en la historia de Budapest, que duró hasta la Primera Guerra Mundial. En 1849, el Puente de las Cadenas que une Buda con Pest, abrió sus puertas el primer puente permanente sobre el Danubio44 y en 1873 fueron Buda y Pest oficialmente fusionadas con la tercera parte, Óbuda (antiguo Buda), creando así la nueva metrópoli de Budapest. La dinámica Pest se convirtió en centro político, administrativo, económico, comercial y cultural del país. La población de origen étnico húngaro superó a la alemana en la segunda mitad del siglo XIX debido a la migración masiva desde la superpoblada y rural el Transdanubia y la Gran Llanura Húngara. Entre 1851 y 1910 la proporción de húngaros se incrementó de 35,6% a 85,9%, el húngaro se convirtió en la lengua dominante y el alemán fue desplazado. La proporción de judíos llegó a su punto máximo en 1900 con el 23,6%.45 46 47 Debido a la prosperidad y la gran comunidad judía presente en la ciudad a principios del siglo XX, Budapest fue conocida también como la "Meca judía".48
En 1918, Austria-Hungría perdió la guerra y se desplomó; por lo que Hungría se declaró una república independiente. En 1920 el Tratado de Trianon finalizó la partición del país; como resultado, Hungría perdió dos tercios de su territorio y alrededor de dos tercios de sus habitantes en virtud del tratado, incluyendo 3,3 millones de los 10 millones de húngaros étnicos.49 50
El Puente de las Cadenas de Budapest, volado por las fuerzas nazis.
En 1944, hacia el final de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, Budapest fue parcialmente destruida por los ataques aéreos británico y americano. Desde el 24 de diciembre de 1944 al 13 de febrero de 1945, la ciudad fue sitiada durante la Batalla de Budapest. La capital sufrió grandes daños causados por el ataque de las fuerzas soviéticas y rumanas y las tropas defensoras alemanas y húngaras. Todos los puentes fueron destruidos por los alemanes. Más de 38.000 civiles perdieron la vida durante el conflicto.
Entre el 20% y el 40% de los 250.000 habitantes judíos de Budapest murieron a causa del genocidio perpetrado por los nazis y el Partido de la Cruz Flechada durante 1944 y principios de 1945.51 El diplomático sueco Raoul Wallenberg logró salvar la vida de decenas de miles de judíos en Budapest, dándoles pasaportes suecos y tomándolos bajo su protección consular.52
En 1949, Hungría fue declarada como República Popular comunista. El nuevo gobierno comunista consideró edificios como el Castillo de Buda símbolos del régimen anterior y, durante la década de 1950, el palacio fue destruido y los interiores fueron destruidos.
El centro de Budapest en 1979.
En 1956, las manifestaciones pacíficas en Budapest condujeron al estallido de la Revolución Húngara. La dirección se derrumbó después de las manifestaciones de las masas que se iniciaron el 23 de octubre, pero los tanques soviéticos entraron en Budapest para aplastar la revuelta. La lucha continuó hasta principios de noviembre, dejando más de 3.000 muertos.
Desde la década de 1960 a finales de 1980 Hungría era referida, en ocasiones y de forma satírica, la "barraca feliz" en el Bloque del Este,53 y gran parte de los daños de guerra de la ciudad fueron finalmente reparados. Los trabajos en el Puente de Erzsébet, el último en ser reconstruido, fue terminado en 1964. A principios de 1970, se inauguró la línea M2 del metro de Budapest en su sentido este-oeste, seguida de la línea M3 en 1982. En 1987, el Castillo de Buda y las orillas del Danubio fueron incluidos en la lista de Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco. La Avenida Andrássy (incluyendo el tren subterráneo del Milenio, Hősök tere y Városliget) se añadió a la lista de la Unesco en 2002. En la década de 1980 la población de la ciudad alcanzó los 2,1 millones de habitantes. En los últimos tiempos se ha producido una disminución significativa en la población, debido principalmente, a un movimiento demográfico masivo al condado de Pest.
En las últimas décadas del siglo XX los cambios políticos de 1989-90 produjeron importantes cambios en la sociedad civil y en las calles de Budapest. Los monumentos comunistas fueron retirados de los lugares públicos y llevados a Memento Park. En los primeros veinte años de la nueva democracia, el gobierno de la ciudad fue presidido por Gábor Demszky.
Geografía[editar]
El área de 525 km² de Budapest se encuentra en el centro de Hungría rodeado de asentamientos de la aglomeración en el condado de Pest. La capital se extiende a 25 y 29 kilómetros al norte-sur y este-oeste, respectivamente. El río Danubio entra en la ciudad por el norte, y más tarde lo rodea dos islas, Óbuda y la isla de Margarita.7 La tercera isla, Csepel, es la más grande de las islas del Danubio de Budapest, sin embargo, sólo la punta más al norte se encuentra dentro de los límites de la ciudad. El río que separa las dos partes de la ciudad está a sólo 230 metros de ancho en su punto más estrecho en Budapest. Pest se encuentra en la planicie de la Gran Llanura, mientras que el terreno en Buda es muy accidentado.7 El terreno de Pest se levanta con una ligera pendiente hacia el este, por lo que las partes más orientales de la ciudad están a la misma altura que las pequeñas colinas de Buda, en particular la colina Gellért y Monte del Castillo. Las colinas de Buda son principalmente de piedra caliza y dolomita, el agua creó espeleotemas, que se pueden encontrar los más famosos en las la cuevas Pálvölgyi y Szemlőhegyi. Los cerros se formaron en la era del Triásico. El punto más alto de las colinas y de Budapest es la colina János, a 527 metros sobre el nivel del mar. El punto más bajo es la línea del Danubio, que es de 96 metros sobre el nivel del mar. Los bosques de las colinas de Buda están protegidos medioambientalmente.
Distritos[editar]
Artículo principal: Distritos de Budapest
Originalmente había 10 distritos de Budapest después de la unificación de las tres ciudades en 1873. El 1 de enero de 1950 Budapest se unió con varios pueblos vecinos y el número de sus distritos se elevó a 22, formando el Gran Budapest. En ese tiempo hubo cambios, tanto en el orden de los distritos como en sus tamaños. Ahora hay 23 distritos, seis en Buda, 16 en Pest y uno en la isla de Csepel, en el Danubio. Cada distrito puede asociarse con una o varias partes de la ciudad con nombres de ciudades anteriores de Budapest. El mismo centro de la ciudad, en un sentido más amplio, comprende los distritos V, VI, VII, VIII, IX y XIII en el lado de Pest, y el I, II, XI y XII en el lado de Buda de la ciudad.54
Los 23 distritos de Budapest
Palacio Gresham
Distrito IV[editar]
El distrito IV está ubicado al norte de Budapest, sobre la orilla oeste del Río Danubio. Antes de 1950, fecha en que se anexaron varias zonas a Budapest, se trataba de la localidad de Újpest. El nombre significa "Nuevo Pest", porque se formó al borde de la Ciudad de Pest en 1840. Újpest fue una Aldea o Villa por seis décadas antes de 1907, cuando se transformó en pueblo. Como decíamos, en 1950 el pueblo se unificó con Budapest, para formar el Gran Budapest, y constituirse en el IV Distrito.
Distrito XXI[editar]
Ubicación[editar]
El distrito XXI está ubicado al norte de la isla de Csepel, por el este fluye el Danubio y en la otra margen se encuentran los distritos IX, XX y XXIII, por el oeste la frontera del distrito la marca de forma natural el contorno de la isla con la ribera del Danubio que en su margen opuesta presenta los distritos XI y XXII, por el sur el límite demarcado por la capital, es decir los límites propios del poblado de Szigetszentmiklós.
Barrios de mayor relevancia[editar]
Barrio de la calle Ady Endre
Csillágtelep
Barrio de Királymajori
Barrio de Vízmű
Barrio de la calle Árpád
Historia[editar]
En la segunda mitad del siglo XX ocurrió la industrialización más importante del distrito, lo que lo convirtió en una base de la industria pesada. En esta zona se asentaron los trabajadores, quienes contribuyeron a la formación de zonas urbanísticas, parques y barrios. El distrito se convirtió así en bastión de la clase obrera húngara.
Fue independiente hasta el 1 de enero de 1950, cuando junto con otras zonas fue anexionado como parte integral de Budapest capital.
Economía[editar]
El distrito XXI es considerado como uno de los distritos industriales clásicos de Budapest (por su industria metalúrgica, acerera y de papel)
En la primera mitad del siglo XX la economía del distrito esta unida al nombre de Manfréd Weiss, quien con su empresa metalúrgica tenía la gama más amplia de productos que para la época existía en toda la región de Europa central y oriental
Después de la II Guerra Mundial la fábrica pasó a funcionar a manos del estado. A mediados de los años 50 hasta en el Tíbet eran comercializados los productos de la fábrica. A finales de los 80 debido a la baja demanda de productos y lo elevado de los costos de mantenimiento, la fábrica fue paralizándose paulatinamente.
En la actualidad el conjunto funciona como zona industrial, albergando cientos de otras empresas, oficinas, y pequeñas fábricas.
Riquezas naturales[editar]
Solamente una zona protectora alberga el Distrito, en la loma de Tamariska en la zona de Királyerdő que desde 1999 fue declarada por la ciudad capital como patrimonio natural, ya que en sus bancos arenosos se encuentran innumerables especies vegetales autóctonas y exclusivas de la zona.
Clima[editar]
Invierno en la plaza Vörösmarty.
La ciudad tiene un clima húmedo continental, un clima de transición entre el clima templado, cubierto de nieve de Transdanubia, el clima variable continental de la gran llanura plana y abierta del este y el clima casi sub-mediterráneo del sur.55
La primavera se caracteriza por la abundancia de sol y lluvias aisladas. La temperatura comienza a subir notablemente en abril, por lo general alcanzan máximas de 25 °C al final del mes, aunque hay cortos períodos de frío con bajas temperaturas en la zona con 0-5 °C y las heladas pueden aparecer incluso a mediados de mayo.
En los veranos, los prolongados períodos de calor, con temperaturas entre 32-35 °C, se intercambian con breves períodos húmedos con frentes fríos provenientes del oeste, con temperaturas de entre 18-25 °C. La humedad es alta, de vez en cuando, en verano principalmente secundaria por la influencia del Mediterráneo. Sin embargo, en general, el calor es seco y las temperaturas nocturnas son muy agradables, especialmente en los suburbios residenciales. En el centro de Pest, sin embargo, no es raro que las temperaturas sean superiores a 25 °C en medianoche. Las tormentas, algunas de ellas violentas con rachas fuertes y lluvias torrenciales, también son frecuentes. La temperatura más alta registrada fue de 40,7 °C el 20 de julio de 2007.56
Las temperaturas altas pueden mantenerse por encima de 20 °C hasta el final de octubre. Las noches más frías y las heladas llegan por primera vez, por lo general, en la segunda semana de octubre. Los cortos períodos fríos varían con el veranillo de San Miguel, que puede durar semanas enteras. En noviembre sobreviene la abundante lluvia, a veces nieve, y una caída drástica de las temperaturas (a 10 °C durante todo el otoño del mes).
Los inviernos son variables e impredecibles. Los vientos del oeste traen aire templado oceánico, con temperaturas de entre 5-10 °C, casi sin congelar y dispersa la lluvia o nieve. Las borrascas que se desplazan desde el mar Mediterráneo pueden traer tormentas de nieve con 20-40 cm de caída en un solo día, seguido por aire frío de Rusia. Las borrascas del Atlántico sur y el viento puede traer un clima inusualmente cálido, con temperaturas alcanzando los 15 °C incluso en enero. El anticiclón de Siberia trae cada dos años un período muy soleado pero frío con una duración de una semana o dos con puntos bajos en el rango climático de -15 a -20 °C. Los anticiclones con los centros superiores de Europa occidental producen niebla fría sin cambios en la temperatura entre el día y la noche y se quedan alrededor o un poco por debajo de 0 °C. La niebla puede durar semanas. Las borrascas mediterráneas que se mueven por encima de la capa de niebla puede llevar uno o dos días de lluvia helada.57 58 59
[ocultar]Gnome-weather-few-clouds.svg Parámetros climáticos promedio de Budapest WPTC Meteo task force.svg
MesEne.Feb.Mar.Abr.May.Jun.Jul.Ago.Sep.Oct.Nov.Dic.Anual
Temp. máx. abs. (°C)18.119.725.430.234.039.540.739.435.230.822.619.340.7
Temp. máx. media (°C)2.95.510.616.421.924.626.726.621.615.47.74.015.3
Temp. media (°C)-0.42.36.112.016.619.721.521.216.911.85.41.811.2
Temp. mín. media (°C)-1.70.03.57.612.115.116.816.512.87.852.9-0.07.8
Temp. mín. abs. (°C)-25.6-23.4-15.1-4.6-1.63.05.95.0-3.1-9.5-16.4-20.8-25.6
Precipitación total (mm)372930426263454940395343532
Días de precipitaciones (≥ 1 mm)76668876557778
Horas de sol558413718223024827425519715667481933
Fuente: www.met.hu60
Economía[editar]
Budapest se convirtió en una ciudad global debido a la industrialización. En 1910, el 45,2% de la población total trabajaban en fábricas. La capital húngara fue una de las más grandes ciudades industriales de Europa con 600.000 trabajadores de fábricas en la década de 1960. Entre 1920 y 1970, más de la mitad del total de la producción industrial de Hungría se hacía en Budapest. La Metalurgia (FÉG), la industria textil y la industria del automóvil (Ikarus) fueron los principales sectores que recibieron los cambios estructurales.61
Ahora casi todas las ramas de la industria se encuentra en Budapest. Los principales productos son los aparatos de comunicación de ingeniería e informática, máquinas eléctricas, lámparas incandescentes (General Electric). La industria farmacéutica también es importante, muy conocida Egis y las compañías Gedeon Richter y Chinoin son húngaras, mientras que Teva también tiene una división aquí.
La industria está más bien en las afueras, pues el centro es el lugar para el servicio principal de empresas financieras nacionales e internacionales, como Telekom Hungría, General Electric, Vodafone, Telenor, Erste Bank, CIB Bank, K&H Bank&Insurance, UniCredit, Budapest Bank, Generali Providencia Insurance, ING, Aegon Insurance, Allianz. Las bases regionales de Volvo Co., Saab, Ford, GE, IBM, TATA Consultancy Services Limited están Budapest. El grupo MOL de Petróleo y Gas húngaros, que con sus subsidiarias, es un líder integrado de petróleo y gas en Europa Central y del Este. El OTP Bank, que es el banco más grande de Hungría, con sucursales en otros ocho países, tienen su sede en la capital.
Budapest es el centro de los servicios, asesoría financiera, transacciones de divisas, servicios comerciales y bienes. Los servicios de comercio y logística están bien desarrollados. El turismo y la hostelería también merecen mención, ya que en la capital existen miles de establecimientos de restaurantes, bares, cafés y lugares de fiesta.
Lugares de interés[editar]
Budapest, con las riberas del Danubio, el barrio del castillo de Buda y la avenida Andrássy
UNESCO logo.svg Welterbe.svg
Nombre descrito en la Lista del Patrimonio de la Humanidad
BudapestDSCN3838.JPG
Vista del Puente de las cadenas desde el Castillo de Buda.
PaísFlag of Hungary.svg Hungría
TipoCultural
Criteriosii, iv
N.° identificación400bis
RegiónEuropa y América del Norte
Año de inscripción1987 (XI sesión)
Año de extensión2000
[editar datos en Wikidata]
El Parlamento de estilo neogótico contiene, entre otras cosas, las joyas de la corona húngara. La Basílica de San Esteban, donde se exhibe la Mano Derecha del Santo fundador de Hungría, el rey San Esteban. La cocina húngara y la cultura café pueden degustarse, por ejemplo, en el Café Gerbeaud, y los restaurantes Százéves, Biarritz, Fortuna, Alabárdos, Arany Szarvas, Kárpátia y el famoso Mátyás Pince. Hay restos romanos en el Museo Aquincum y mobiliario histórico en el Museo Nagytétény, que son sólo dos de los 223 museos de Budapest.
Vista del Parlamento de noche desde el río Danubio
La colina del castillo, los muros de contención del río Danubio y el conjunto de Andrássy út han sido oficialmente reconocidos por la UNESCO como Patrimonio de la Humanidad.
La colina del castillo y el distrito del castillo albergan tres iglesias, seis museos y una serie de interesantes edificios, calles y plazas. El antiguo Palacio Real es uno de los símbolos de Hungría y ha sido escenario de batallas y guerras desde el siglo XIII. Hoy en día alberga dos museos impresionantes y la Biblioteca Nacional Széchenyi. El cercano Palacio Sándor alberga las oficinas y la residencia oficial del Presidente de Hungría. La Iglesia de San Matías, de siete siglos de antigüedad, es una de las joyas de Budapest. A su lado está una estatua ecuestre del primer rey de Hungría, el rey San Esteban, y tras ésta el Bastión de los Pescadores, desde donde se abre una vista panorámica de toda la ciudad. Las estatuas del Turul, el pájaro guardián mítico de Hungría, se pueden encontrar tanto en el Barrio del Castillo y el Distrito XII.
Plaza de los Héroes.
En Pest, sin duda el espectáculo más importante es Andrássy út, mientras que las calles Kodály Körönd y Oktogon están llenas de tiendas y grandes pisos construidos muy juntos. Desde allí hasta la Plaza de los Héroes las casas se separan por completo y son más amplias. En el marco del conjunto se encuentra el ferrocarril metropolitano más antiguo de Europa continental, la mayoría de cuyas estaciones conservan su aspecto original. La Plaza de los Héroes está dominada por el Monumento del Milenio, con la Tumba del Soldado Desconocido en el frente. A los lados se encuentran el Museo de Bellas Artes y la Kunsthalle de Budapest, y detrás se abre el Parque de la Ciudad, con el castillo de Vajdahunyad. Una de las joyas de Andrássy út es la Ópera Nacional de Hungría. Memento Park, un parque temático con estatuas notables de la era comunista, está situado a las afueras del centro de la ciudad y es accesible por transporte público.
En la ciudad reside la sinagoga más grande de Europa (la Sinagoga de la Calle Dohány)62 y la segunda más grande del mundo. La sinagoga se encuentra en el barrio judío ocupando varias cuadras en el centro de Budapest bordeado por Király utca, Wesselényi utca, el Grand Boulevard y la carretera Bajcsy Zsilinszky. La ciudad también se enorgullece de tener el mayor baño de aguas medicinales de Europa (Baños Széchenyi) y el tercer edificio del Parlamento más grande del mundo. La tercera iglesia más grande de Europa (la Basílica de Esztergom) y el segundo mayor castillo barroco del mundo (Gödöllő) se encuentran en las proximidades.
En el paisaje urbano de Budapest puede distinguirse la Estatua de la Libertad, que tiene 14 metros de altura y descanasa sobre un pedestal de 26 metros en la Colina Gellért.63 La estatua fue construida en bronce durante la ocupación soviética de Hungría.
Iglesia de San Matías
Basílica de San Esteban
Castillo de Vajdahunyad
Mercado Central de Budapest
Sinagoga de la Calle Dohány
Vista del Castillo de Buda de noche desde el río Danubio.
Cultura[editar]
Ópera Nacional de Hungría.
Museo de Bellas Artes.
La tradición de la danza de la cuenca de los Cárpatos es el área única de la cultura de la danza europea, que es también una especie de transición entre los Balcanes y las regiones de Europa Occidental. En Budapest existen varios conjuntos de auténtica danza folclórica húngara, algunos de ellos profesionales. Budapest es una de las pocas ciudades del mundo donde hay una escuela secundaria para el aprendizaje de la danza folclórica.
En Budapest, actualmente hay 837 monumentos diferentes, que representan la mayor parte del estilo artístico europeo. Son prominentes los clásicos y únicos edificios de estilo Art Nouveau húngaros.
Los 223 museos y galerías de la ciudad presentan no sólo exposiciones y arte húngaro, sino también arte y ciencia de la cultura universal y europea. Entre los más importantes que se encuentran en la ciudad destacan el Museo Nacional de Hungría, la Galería Nacional Húngara, el Museo de Bellas Artes, el Museo Histórico de Budapest, el Parque Memento y el Museo de Artes Aplicadas.
En Budapest hay cuarenta teatros, siete salas de conciertos y un teatro de la ópera. También se celebran a menudo en edificios históricos festivales al aire libre, conciertos y conferencias que enriquecen la oferta cultural del verano. Las instituciones más prestigiosas de teatro son la Opereta y Teatro Musical de Budapest, el Teatro József Attila, el Teatro Katona József, el Teatro Madách, la Ópera Nacional de Hungría, el Teatro Nacional, el Vigadó, el Teatro Radnóti Miklós y el Teatro de la Comedia.
Muchas bibliotecas tienen colecciones únicas en Budapest, como la Biblioteca Nacional Széchenyi, que mantiene las reliquias históricas de la época antes de la impresión de los libros. La Biblioteca metropolitana Ervin Szabó juega un papel importante en la educación general de la población de la capital. Otras bibliotecas importantes son la Biblioteca de la Academia de Ciencias de Hungría, la Biblioteca de la Universidad Eötvös Loránd, la Biblioteca del Parlamento y de la Biblioteca Nacional de Literatura Extranjera.
Entre los eventos culturales de Hungría, el mayor festival al aire libre es el Festival de Sziget, que es muy popular en toda Europa. Otros que también son importantes y se celebran en la ciudad son el Festival de la Primavera de Budapest, el Festival de Otoño de Budapest, la Fiesta del Vino de Budapest y el Festival de Budapest de Pálinka.
Los turistas que visitan Budapest disponen de mapas gratuitos e información acerca de los diversos "puntos de interés" por la empresa municipal BTDM en sus puntos de información.64 Está disponible para los visitantes las tarjeta de 24 y 72 horas de Budapest. Para el transporte, la validez de la tarjeta es gratuita y hay descuentos en varios museos, restaurantes y otros lugares de interés.65 La ciudad también es conocida por sus bares en antiguas ruinas.66
Baños termales[editar]
En 1934, Budapest recibió el título de «Ciudad de Balnearios» por ser la capital que dispone de más pozos de aguas medicinales y termales del mundo;[cita requerida] es conocida por algunos como «La capital mundial de las aguas medicinales».
Su red es única: el rendimiento de las aguas termales, con temperaturas de 21 a 78 grados centígrados, que brotan de 118 fuentes naturales y de pozos artificiales, supera los 70 millones de litros diarios. En Budapest se encuentran conocidos baños termales públicos: Balneario Gellért (Gellért fürdő), Balneario Széchenyi (Széchenyi fürdő) el balneario europeo más grande, Balneario Lukács (Lukács fürdő), Balneario Rudas (Rudas fürdő), Balneario Király (Király fürdő) y Balneario Rác (Rác fürdő).
Baños termales Széchenyi.
Las aguas medicinales sirven para tratar enfermedades de los órganos locomotrices, de la circulación sanguínea y de la ginecología.
En los alrededores de estos baños termales existen pozos y salas para beber agua medicinal con alto contenido de distintos tipos minerales. La más conocida de estas salas de ingesta sirve de entrada al baño termal Lukács, que fue inaugurado en 1937, orientándose sus aguas medicinales a la curación de problemas digestivos. El edificio del baño termal fue construido en 1894. Sus efectos benéficos medicinales pronto fueron conocidos en el resto de Europa, convirtiéndose en uno de los lugares más notables de esta saludable especialidad.
También son famosos los baños termales de la época turca que funcionan hoy en día, como por ejemplo el Király, construido a finales de los años 1500, y el baño Rác. El baño Rudas —con su sala octogonal de columnas y cúpula— es el baño turco más antiguo y mejor ornamentado.
Islas[editar]
En el Danubio se pueden encontrar siete islas: Astillero, Isla Margarita, Isla de Csepel, Palotai-Sziget (actualmente una península), Népsziget, Haros-Sziget, y Sziget Molnár.
Entre las islas notables se incluyen:
La Isla Margarita de 2,5 km (1,6 millas) de largo y 0,965 kilómetros cuadrados (238 acres) de superficie. Se compone principalmente de un parque y es una popular zona de recreo para los turistas y lugareños por igual. La isla se encuentra entre el Puente Margarita (sur) y el puente Árpád (norte). En la isla se pueden encontrar discotecas, piscinas, un parque acuático, pistas para correr, de ciclismo, de atletismo y gimnasios. Durante el día la isla está ocupada por la gente que hace deporte o simplemente descansa. En el verano (por lo general los fines de semana) los más jóvenes van a la isla por la noche de fiesta en sus terrazas, o para divertirse con una botella de alcohol en un banco o en el césped (esta forma de entretenimiento se denomina a veces como banco-fiesta).
La isla de Csepel (pronunciación en húngaro:] tʃɛpɛlsiɡɛt [) es la isla mayor del río Danubio en Hungría. Tiene 48 km (30 millas) de largo, su ancho es de 6.8 km (3,75-5 millas) y su área abarca 257 km2 (99 millas cuadradas), aunque sólo el extremo norte se encuentra dentro de los límites de la ciudad.
Hajógyári-Sziget ([hɒjo ː ː ɟa siɡɛt ri], o Sziget Óbudai-) es una isla artificial, ubicada en el tercer distrito. Esta isla alberga numerosas actividades tales como: wake boarding, motos de agua durante el día, y clubes de baile durante la noche. Esta es la isla donde tiene lugar el famoso Festival de Sziget, recibiendo cientos de actuaciones por año y alrededor de 400.000 visitantes en su última edición. Se están llevando a cabo muchos proyectos de construcción para hacer de esta isla uno de los centros de ocio más importantes de Europa, el plan es construir edificios de apartamentos, hoteles, casinos y un puerto deportivo.
Luppa-Sziget es la isla más pequeña de Budapest, situada en la región norte.
de pronto uno se pregunta respecto de sus caminos... respecto de los pasos dados, esta noche reflexiva uno se pregunta de pronto...
que soñaba antes, que queria... que exactamente esperaba?
he caminado, caminos extraños... huraños, celosos, caminos infieles, caminos engañosos, caminos que me usaron, caminos que me derrumbaron...
he caminado caminos... que me cambiaron, que me enfriaron, que me torturaron, caminos engañosos que pensaba que queria... y quise de verdad en algunos lapsus...
me reencuentro luego frente de ellos y curiosamente dejan de significar... de pronto ya es muy tarde y es como si quisieran que uno les recorra y los pies ya no tienen ganas... es tarde!
he caminado caminos hacia ningun lado, caminos sin salida, caminos absurdos como causas perdidas, caminos gastados y hasta malos caminos.
tambien he flotado, por caminos por caminos buenos, caminos sinceros, caminos que me sonrien sin apegos y por mas que quisiera andar por ellos enternamente no se puede y uno debe de entender que esos caminos simplemente no llevan a ningun lado...
ahora... me pregunto, que es lo que realmente hubiera querido encontrar al final del camino? que es lo que se busca? si viajo de pronto a mi corazon de niña... que es lo que se supone le corresponde a cada uno?
y si no hay nada? si de pronto uno advierte y se encuentra que en este camino particular de la vida de uno... no hay respuesta, que no importa el camino que se tome... simplemente en este tema particular uno no tiene respuesta... no hay nada al final...
de pronto estoy cansada de caminar...
de pronto ya ni importa...
Événement lors du califat de Muawiya Ier
La mort de Moughirah Ibn Shou’bah et la nomination de Samourah Ibn Joundoub pour Basra
Cette même année, en l’an 49 de l’Hégire (669), décéda le respectable Compagnon et le général héros al-Moughirah Ibn Shou’bah Ibn Abi ‘Amir Ibn Mas’oud ath-Thaqafi, qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui. Il est mort poignardé et fut enterré à Koufa. D’autres ont rapporté que sa mort fut en l’an 50 (669) et d’autres en l’an 51 de l’Hégire (670).
Il est connu que Moughirah Ibn Shou’bah devint musulman l’année de la bataille de la Tranchée. Il était présent à Houdaybiyah et au pacte de Ridwan. Il combattit lors des batailles des Apostats, à Yamamah. Il participa à la conquête de la Syrie, à Yarmouk et à la conquête de la Perse et de l’Iraq à Qadissiyah. Il resta à l’écart de la Fitnah et lors de l’appel au Jugement par le Livre d’Allah sous ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui), il rejoignit les rangs de Mou’awiyah, qu’Allah soit satisfait d’eux.
Lorsque Moughirah Ibn Shou’bah mourut, Mou’awiyah rajouta à Ziyad Ibn Abi Soufyan la gouvernance de Basra et de Koufa. Ziyad Ibn Abi Soufyan nomma Samourah Ibn Joundoub al-Khazari (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui) gouverneur de Basra.
Samourah Ibn Joundoub combattit en compagnie du Messager d’Allah (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui) et il était implacable envers les khawarije. S’il était informé de la présence de l’un d’entre eux, il se chargeait de le tuer lui-même tellement il les détestait et disait : « Les pires créatures vivant sous le ciel, ils jettent la mécréance sur les Musulmans et rendent licite leur sang ». Samourah mourut en l’an 59 de l’Hégire (678), puisse Allah lui faire miséricorde.
Quand Samourah prit son poste en charge, il alla directement à la mosquée de Koufa, monta sur la chair de prêche et fit un discours. Lorsqu’il eut finit certaines personnes se levèrent et le haranguèrent. Il s’assit le temps de les laisser finir tout en ordonnant à sa garde de se mettre aux portes de la mosquée. Puis il demanda aux gens de Koufa présent de sortir de la mosquée quatre par quatre. Il leur dit : « Quiconque d’entre vous jurera par Allah qu’il n’a pas cherché à me juger sera libre. Quiconque ne jurera pas sera emprisonné et expulsé ».
Certains ont rapporté que le nombre de personnes n’ayant pas juré s’éleva à trois tandis que d’autres ont rapporté le nombre de huit. Il ordonna que leurs mains soient tranchées. Le crime de ces gens est d’avoir manqué de respect et de considérer celui en charge de leurs affaires comme moins que rien.
A ceux qui se poseront la question, pourquoi une telle violence, il faut se rappeler les graves évènements qui secouèrent la nation islamique de l’époque ou plus de soixante-dix-mille Musulmans trouvèrent la mort suite à la grande Fitnah qui débuta avec l’assassinat du troisième Calife Bien Guidé ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui). Samourah voulut empêcher dès son arrivée la résurgence de tels troubles en appliquant à ceux qui seraient tentés et aux fauteurs de troubles un dur châtiment afin qu’ils soient une leçon pour tous.
Si le gouverneur perdait le contrôle des évènements, ils pourraient s’ensuivre à nouveau d’inquiétants évènements. Samourah voulut immédiatement couper court à cette éventualité connaissant sa haine des khawarije.
Ceci doit servir d’exemple pour faite face à de tels évènements dans le futur. L’histoire des Omeyyades est pleine de révoltes, de guerres, de divisions, de rebellions et de luttes fratricides.
Il fallait mettre fin aux troubles, dont les effets furent extrêmement néfastes pour les Musulmans, d’une manière impitoyable et appliquer aux subversifs un très dur châtiment. Il n’y a aucun intérêt à laisser faire les gens d’innovations, de convoitises et les révolutionnaires. Ils ne doivent pas être abandonnés mais traités obligatoirement comme il se doit et rapidement pour éviter les effets funestes qu’entrainent leurs actions, ceci bien évidemment dans l’état islamique ou la Loi d’Allah est appliquée dans son intégralité. Mais vous êtes-vous jamais demandé si vous étiez prêts pour un état islamique ou bien les cœurs cacheraient quelques hypocrisies ?
En l’an 50 de l’Hégire (670), décéda le respectable Compagnon Abou Moussa al-Asha’i. Il est ‘Abdallah Ibn Qays Ibn Soulaym des Ash’ariyine qui sont des tribus Kahlan et Qahtaniyah. Abou Moussa al-Asha’i (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui) a une grande histoire. Il est le conquérant d’Ispahan, d’al-Ahwaz et un des deux juges lors du conflit suite à l’assassinat de ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui). D’autres ont rapporté que sa mort eut lieu en l’an 53 de l’Hégire (673). Nous avons rapporté les deux versions sur lesquels les historiens sont en désaccord et qui ne sont que des désaccords minimes.
Durant cette année, Bousr Ibn Abi Artat et Soufyan Ibn Awf al-Azdi attaquèrent conjointement les territoires byzantins tandis que Fadalah Ibn ‘Oubayd al-Ansari les attaqua par mer.
La conquête de Tunis et la construction de la ville de Kairouan
Durant cette même année, Mou’awiyah Ibn Houdayj, le gouverneur d’Egypte et d’Ifriqiyah[1], fut désisté par Mou’awiyah Ibn Abi Soufyan et remplacé par ‘Ouqbah Ibn Nafi’ al-Fihri pour l’Ifriqiyah et Maslamah pour l’Egypte et ensuite pour Ifriqiyah. ‘Ouqbah conquit Tunis (ifriqiyah) et la ville de Kairouan (qayrawan). Muhammad Ibn ‘Omar a rapporté que l’emplacement de la ville était mauvais à cause du grand nombre de serpents, de fauves, et d’autres animaux du même genre. Quand Allah Exalté Tout Puissant et Grand les appela, aucun animal ne resta et les bêtes de proies emportèrent leurs petits. ‘Ouqbah Ibn Nafi a dit : « Lorsque nous nous sommes installé, les animaux s’enfuirent de leurs repaires en nous blâmant ».
Zayd Ibn Abi Habib, un homme de l’armée égyptienne dit : « Nous arrivâmes avec ‘Ouqbah Ibn Nafi’ qui fut la première personne à faire un plan de la ville. Il l’a divisa en quartiers, construisit des maisons pour les gens et la mosquée. Nous restâmes avec lui jusqu’à ce qu’il fut désisté. Il était le meilleur des gouverneurs et le meilleur commandant ».
Puis, Mou’awiyah désista Mou’awiyah Ibn Houdayj d’Egypte et ‘Ouqbah Ibn Nafi’ d’Ifriqiyah et nomma à leur place, Maslamah Ibn Moukhallad pour toute l’Afrique du Nord et l’Egypte à l’ouest. Il fut le premier gouverneur pour qui l’ouest entier, l’Egypte, Barqah, Tripoli (tarablous) et Tunis fut combiné. Maslamah Ibn Moukhallad nomma son domestique al-Mouhajir pour Tunis et démit ‘Ouqbah Ibn Nafi’ de ses fonctions. Maslamah resta gouverneur d’Egypte et de l’ouest jusqu’à la mort de Mou’awiyah Ibn Abi Soufyan.
Certains ont dit que cette même année, al-Hakam Ibn ‘Amr al-Ghifari décéda à Merv après son retour d’une razzia contre les gens de la montagne d’al-Ashall.
Le raid d’al-Hakam Ibn ‘Amr contre al-Ashall
Alors qu’al-Hakam Ibn ‘Amr se trouvait au Khorasan. Ziyad lui écrivit : « Les armes des gens de la montagne d’al-Ashall sont de feutre et leurs vaisselles d’or ». Ibn ‘Amr les attaqua, puis se retira et lorsque ses forces atteignirent le milieu du défilé, l’ennemi prit des pistes secrètes et l’encercla. Ne sachant que faire, il délégua le commandement de l’armée à al-Mouhallab qui résista et finit par capturer un de leurs chefs à qui il dit : « Choisis : sois je te tue ou alors tu nous sors de cette passe ». L’homme lui dit alors : « Allume un feu sur l’une de ces routes, ordonne que les bagages soient amenés, et tourne toi vers cette route afin que les gens pensent que tu as commencé à voyager le long de celle-ci. Alors, ils vont se rassembler sur cette route et vous abandonneront les autres. Alors laisse-les, prends une autre route et ils ne pourront vous attaquer avant que vous ayez quitté le défilé. Il fit ainsi et ils purent s’échapper avec un immense butin jusqu’à Hérat avant de retourner à Merv.
Ziyad écrivit à al-Hakam et lui dit : « Par Allah, si tu survie, je te décapiterais certainement ! » Parce que Ziyad lui écrivit précédemment lorsqu’il fut informé de l’immense quantité qu’il avait pris, lui disant : « L’émir des croyants m’a écrit pour lui demander de lui choisir de l’or, de l’argent et des objets précieux pour son usage personnel. Ne fait rien avant d’avoir procéder à sa demande. » Al-Hakam lui répondit au dos de sa lettre : « Ta lettre vient de me parvenir dans laquelle tu mentionnes que l’émir des croyants t’a ordonné ceci et cela. Mais sache que le Livre d’Allah Exalté, Tout-Puissant et Grand, est prioritaire au désir de l’émir des croyants. Par Allah, si « les cieux et la terre formaient une masse compacte[2] » un serviteur doit craindre Allah à Lui les Louanges et la Gloire. Allah Exalté et Loué soit-Il, lui fournira une sortie ». Il dit alors aux soldats d’aller prendre leur part du butin, après qu’il eut mis de côté le cinquième, il le divisa équitablement entre eux. Al-Hakam dit alors : « O Grand Seigneur, si Tu considères que ce que j’ai fait est juste alors prends-moi ». Et, il mourut peu après dans la capitale du Khorasan à Merv après avoir nommé Anas Ibn Abi Ounas son successeur.
Les Musulmans s’installent au Khorasan
En l’an 51 de l’Hégire (671), Fadalah Ibn ‘Oubayd attaqua en hiver le territoire byzantin et Bousr Ibn Abi Artat, en été.
Ziyad nomma ar-Rabi’ Ibn Ziyad al-Harithi gouverneur du Khorasan après la mort d’al-Hakam Ibn ‘Amr al-Ghifari. Al-Hakam nomma Anas Ibn Abi Ounas pour lui succéder dans sa juridiction après sa mort et Anas conduisit la prière sur al-Hakam à sa mort et avant de mourir, al-Hakam écrivit à Ziyad pour l’informer de la nomination d’Anas. Ziyad le désista et le remplaça par Khoulayd Ibn ‘AbdAllah al- Hanafi avant d’être remplacé à son tour, après n’être resté qu’un mois gouverneur, par Rabi’ Ibn Ziyad al-Harithi. Les gens partirent avec leurs familles au Khorasan ou ils s’établirent de manière permanente tandis que peu après Ziyad désista ar-Rabi’.
Quand ar-Rabi’ arriva au Khorasan, il conquit pacifiquement Balkh après que les gens de la ville l’ai fermée[3] suite au traité de paix conclut avec al-Ahnaf Ibn Qays. Il conquit le Qouhistan par la force et comme il y avait des Turcs dans ses régions, il les combattit. Il en tua certains avant que les autres ne s’enfuient. L’un des survivants étaient Nizak Tarkhan que Qoutaybah Ibn Mouslim tua quand il fut gouverneur. Certains ont rapporté que lors de sa campagne ar-Rabi’ traversa le fleuve Oxus avec son domestique, Farroukh et sa servante Sharifah. Il pilla et revint sans avoir été inquiété si bien qu’il libéra Farroukh.
Le premier Musulman qui but de l’eau du fleuve fut un domestique d’al-Hakam à l’aide de son bouclier. Il en donna à al-Hakam qui en but et fit ses ablutions avant d’exécuter deux unités de prières au-delà du fleuve et il fut la première personne à le faire.
La mort de Houjr Ibn ‘Adiyy Ibn Jaballah al-Kindi
Toujours en l’an 51 de l’Hégire (670) fut tué Houjr Ibn ‘Adiyy Ibn Jaballah al-Kindi. Houjr Ibn ‘Adiyy comme certains l’ont dit était un respectable Compagnon (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui) mais la plupart des rapporteurs de Hadith, comme l’a signalé al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir, ne lui reconnaissent pas de mérite.
Houjr Ibn ‘Adiyy était un adorateur ascète, un général héros qui prit le parti de ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui). Il était à l’époque de Moughirah Ibn Shou’bah (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui), émir de Koufa et un de ceux qui le critiquèrent. Moughirah qui était un homme lucide le mit plusieurs fois en garde contre les conséquences néfastes de tels propos alors que l’obéissance et le respect sont dus au Sultan.
Un jour Moughirah lui dit : « O Houjr, soit perdu, crains le Seigneur ! O Houjr, soit perdu, crains le sultan ! Crains sa colère, crains son rang car parfois la colère du sultan met fin à des individus tels que toi ! »
Moughirah le mettait en garde mais il l’excusait et lui pardonnait.
L’Imam Tabari a rapporté dans son livre d’Histoire que Moughirah, alors qu’il approchait de sa fin, implora le pardon pour ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’eux). Il dit : « O Seigneur pardonne à ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan et récompense le des meilleurs récompenses pour ses actions. Il appliqua Tes Lois et suivit la Sounnah de Ton Messager (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui). Il nous unifia, nous protégea et fut tué injustement. O grand Seigneur pardonne à ses partisans, à ses amis, à ceux qui l’aiment et le protégèrent et à ceux qui cherchèrent à le venger puis il implora contre ceux qui l’avait tué ».
Houjr se leva un jour dans la mosquée et se mit à crier en mal contre Moughirah si bien que tous ceux qui étaient présents et à l’extérieur l’entendirent. Il dit : « Tu ne fais pas attention à ceux à qui tu portes préjudices par tes actes. Ou sont nos bien que tu as arrêté de nous donner. Viens nous voir et distribuent nous les car ils ne t’appartiennent pas. Tu es devenu renommé avec la mort de l’Emir des Croyants (sous-entendu ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui)) et un support pour les criminels (sous-entendu les partisans de Mou’awiyah (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’eux) ».
At-Tabari a rapporté qu’un tiers de l’assistance s’est levé avec lui et se mirent à scander : « Houjr a dit la vérité ».
Al-Moughirah descendit du Minbar et rentra chez lui. Ses gens le rejoignirent et le critiquèrent à propos des sa réaction aux propos de Houjr. Cela allait conduire à deux évènements :
- Le premier, l’habitude des gens à se rebeller contre les dirigeants et l’autre la colère du calife à Damas contre Moughirah. Les gens lui demandèrent :
- « Après qui tu en as ? » Il répondit :
- « Moughirah ! Car je l’ai tué. Comment l’ai-je tué ? Il viendra un émir après moi et il le considérera comme moi et il lui fera comme il a fait avec moi. Il le tuera à sa première remarque. Ma fin approche et je ne veux pas pousser les gens de Syrie à tuer les meilleurs d’entre eux et à faire couler leur sang. Eux seront content tandis que moi je serais perdu. Afin que dans ce monde Mou’awiyah en tire de l’honneur tandis que Moughirah sera humilié le jour de Qiyamah ».
Lorsque Ziyad Ibn Abi Soufyan prit en charge son poste, il mit en garde Houjr Ibn ‘Adiyy et lui conseilla de ne pas répéter ce qu’il faisait lors du vivant de Moughirah. Ziyad lui dit : « Sache que je te connais, j’étais en compagnie de ton père pour une affaire que tu connais (sous-entendu qu’ils étaient des partisans de ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui). Si ton sang venait à couler une seule goutte, sache alors que je te viderais de tout ton sang. Retiens ta langue et reste à l’écart des problèmes afin que les ignorants ne te suivent pas ». Et Houjr qui connaissait Ziyad comprit bien ses paroles menaçantes.
Ziyad partageait son temps entre Koufa et Basra ou il restait six mois dans chacune des villes pour gérer les affaires des Musulmans.
Lorsqu’il partit pour Basra, les shiites de Koufa vinrent trouver Houjr et ils se réunirent régulièrement chez lui ou ils insultaient Mou’awiyah (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui) et le reniaient.
Le secrétaire de Ziyad à Koufa, ‘Amr Ibn Hourayth, le mit en garde contre ses activités et lui envoya un messager qui lui dit :
- « Qui sont ces gens qui se réunissent chez toi alors que l’émir t’a mis en garde ? » Houjr Ibn ‘Adiyy lui répondit :
- « Ils critiquent ce que vous faites. Maintenant va-t’en ! » Et il le renvoya durement en lui disant :
- « Fait attention à toi et surveille ton dos ! »
Lorsque l’homme revint à ‘Amr et l’informa, celui-ci fit envoyer un messager à Ziyad lui demandant de revenir sur le champ à Koufa à cause de la gravité de la situation pouvant engendrer rapidement une révolte.
Lorsque Ziyad entendu le messager et les graves nouvelles, il revint sur le champ et dit : « Par Allah je vais couper le fil du coup du traitre obtus ».
Puis il envoya à Houjr trois compagnons du Messager d’Allah (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui) : ‘Adiyy Ibn Hatim at-Tahi, Jarir Ibn ‘Abdillah al-Bajali et Khalid Ibn ‘Ourfouta al-Leythi, Leythi des Bani Bakr Ibn ‘Abdel Manaf Ibn Kinanah, (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’eux).
D’autres ont dit que c’était Khalid Ibn ‘Ourfouta Ibn Sou’ayr al- ‘Oudri : Hanif Ibn Zouhra (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’eux) et cela n’a pas d’importance.
Lorsqu’ils rencontrèrent Houjr, ils parlèrent avec lui mais il ne leur répondit pas. Plutôt, il dit à son serviteur :
- « O ghoulam, as-tu attaché le chamelon ? » ‘Adiyy Ibn Hatim lui dit :
- « Es-tu possédé ? Nous te parlons de choses sérieuses et tu nous dit : « O ghoulam, as-tu attaché le chamelon ? »
Puis, ils retournèrent à Ziyad et ne l’informèrent que de choses légères pour qu’il ne se mette pas en colère contre eux et lui demandèrent d’avoir pitié de lui.
Et il lui arriva ce que personne des Arabes n’attendait ni même Moughirah. Ziyad envoya la police mettre de nouveau en garde Houjr et son clan ne lui fut d’aucune utilité comme l’a rapporté Ibn Kathir. La police le ramena à Ziyad qui l’emprisonna dix jours.
Lorsque Houjr sortit, il rejoignit ses amis. Ziyad les envoya à Mou’awiyah en Syrie, en compagnie de soixante-dix personnes qui témoigneraient que :
- Houjr et ses partisans encourageaient les gens à la désobéissance, à la révolte et à la guerre contre l’émir,
- Qu’ils avaient rompu le pacte d’obéissance à l’émir,
- Qu’ils s’étaient mis à l’écart de la communauté,
- Qu’ils cherchaient à semer la division parmi les Musulmans,
- Qu’ils insultaient le calife, et chacune de ces accusations était passible de la peine de mort !
Houjr Ibn ‘Adiyy fut emmené en Syrie avec treize de ses compagnons à Mardj Adra près de Damas. Le motif d’accusation de Ziyad fut lue à Mou’awiyah puis les gens témoignèrent. Lorsqu’ils eurent finit, Mou’awiyah étonné de leur comportement leur demanda :
- « Que pensez-vous de ces accusations des vôtres ? »
Puis il écrivit à Ziyad et lui dit : « Parfois je pense que leur mise à mort est meilleure que leur libération et parfois, je pense que leur pardon est meilleur que leur mise à mort ».
Lorsque le message parvint à Ziyad, il lui répondit : « Je reste perplexe des choix qui se sont imposés à toi. Si tu penses qu’ils ont un quelconque intérêt ne me renvoie pas Houjr et ses compagnons ».
Les gens du peuple de Syrie de la famille de certains des accusés se levèrent pour intercéder en leur faveur. Mou’awiyah pardonna à six d’entre eux mais il refusa l’intercession de Malik Ibn Houbayrah as-Sakouni al-Kindi en faveur de Houjr, Houjr al-Kindi.
Mou’awiyah lui dit je ne peux accepter ton intercession parce que ce membre de ta tribu est leur chef et j’ai peur que la ville de Koufa échappe à mon contrôle à cause de ses agissements. Mou’awiyah ordonna que les six soient relâchés et que tous les autres soient exécutés.
Les tombes furent creusées et les linceuls préparés. Houjr demanda à faire ses ablutions puis pria deux unités de prières tandis que Houdbah Ibn Khayad se présenta avec son sabre pour l’exécuter. On lui dit :
- « Peut-être n’es-tu pas encore prêt ». Houjr répondit :
- « Comment ne serais-je pas encore prêt alors que je vois la tombe creusée, le linceul et le sabre affûté (sous-entendu la mort) ».
Lorsque la mère des croyants Saydah ‘Ayshah (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’elle), qui se trouvait à Médine l’Illuminée, entendit parler de ces révoltes orchestrés par Houjr et son transfert en Syrie, elle envoya ‘AbderRahmane Ibn al-Harith al-Makhzoumi (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui) à Mou’awiyah pour lui demander de libérer Houjr. Mais ‘AbderRahmane Ibn al-Harith arriva trop tard et ‘Ayshah fut très fâchée par la mort de Houjr.
Lorsque Mou’awiyah vint à Médine et demanda à entrer pour saluer la Mère des croyants, ‘Ayshah refusa de le recevoir alors qu’il était le calife des Musulmans. Et elle dit : « Il ne rentrera jamais chez moi. »
Ibn Kathir (puisse Allah lui faire miséricorde) a dit dans « al-Bidayah wal Nihayah » que Mou’awiyah se justifia longuement et réussit à rentrer chez elle et que ‘Ayshah (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’elle) lui pardonna.
Il est aussi rapporté que Mou’awiyah (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui) lui dit qu’il avait tué cet homme pour l’intérêt général des gens et que c’était préférable à leur corruption.
Il est aussi rapporté que ‘AbdAllah Ibn ‘Omar (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’eux) se trouvait assit au marché lorsqu’il entendit les nouvelles de la mort de Houjr, il pleura et sanglota longuement.
Lorsque ‘AbderRahmane Ibn al-Harith al-Makhzoumi rencontra Mou’awiyah, il lui demanda :
- « As-tu tué Houjr Ibn al-Abdar ? » Mou’awiyah lui répondit :
- « Sa mort m’est préférable que je tue avec lui des gens que tu ne connais pas (sous-entendu : il vaut mieux tuer un seul homme que d’en tuer des milliers) ».
La mort de Houjr fut aussi un des évènements douloureux du règne des Omeyyades.
La mort de plusieurs Compagnons du Prophète en l’an 51
En l’an 51 de l’Hégire (670), mourut un grand nombre de Compagnons. Nous ne pouvons pas tous les nommer ici mais nous allons en citer seulement quelqu’un.
- Sa’id Ibn Zayd Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Noufayl (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui), un des grands Compagnons et l’un des dix compagnons à qui fut annoncé le Paradis de leur vivant par le Messager d’Allah (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui). Il mourut à Médine.
- ‘AbdAllah Ibn Ounays al-Jouhani (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui). Il participa à tous les évènements excepté Badr. Il fut témoin à al-‘Aqabah.
- Abou Bakra, le respectable Compagnon (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui).
- Jarir Ibn ‘AbdAllah al-Bajali (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui) qui devint musulman au mois de Ramadan de l’année 10 de l’Hégire (631).
Boukhari a rapporté dans son Sahih que Jarir a dit : « Chaque fois que le Prophète (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui) m’a vu, il m’a vu le sourire au lèvre. Je me suis plain auprès de lui de ma difficulté à tenir sur un cheval. Alors il frappa ma poitrine du plat de la main et dit « O Grand Seigneur rends le ferme et un guide qui guide » ».
Ahmad a aussi rapporté de lui dans son Mousnad que le Prophète (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui) lui dit : « N’allez-vous pas me débarrasser de Dzoul Khalassah[4] ! »
Jarir dit : « Nous sortîmes au nombre de cinquante cavaliers et nous l’avons détruit ou brûlé jusqu’à la laisser comme un chameau galeux. Puis, j’envoyais un messager en informer le Messager d’Allah (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui) qui lui dit : « O Prophète d’Allah ! Par Celui qui t’a envoyé avec la vérité, je ne suis pas venu avant de l’avoir détruit et laissé comme un chameau galeux ! Alors le Prophète (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui) dit cinq fois de suite : « Puisse Allah bénir les chevaux d’Ahmas[5] et leurs hommes. » Alors je lui dis : « O Messager d’Allah, je suis un homme qui a du mal à se tenir sur un cheval ». Alors il (Saluts et Bénédictions d’Allah sur lui) mit sa main sur ma figure si bien que je senti la fraicheur de sa main et il dit : « O Grand Seigneur ! Fais un de lui un guide qui guide ».
Jarir Ibn ‘Abdallah al-Bajali participa aux conquêtes d’Iraq et combattit lors de la bataille d’al-Qadissiyah (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui).
En l’an 52 de l’Hégire (672), Soufyan Ibn ‘Awf al-Azdi attaqua le territoire byzantin. Al-Waqidi a aussi affirmé qu’il trouva la mort et qu’il désigna ‘AbdAllah Ibn Mas’adah al-Fazari comme son successeur avant de mourir.
D’autres ont dit que cette année aussi, Bousr Ibn Abi Artat accompagné de Soufyan Ibn ‘Awf al-Azdi razzièrent le territoire byzantin. Tandis que d’autres ont dit que ce fut Muhammad Ibn ‘AbdAllah ath-Thaqafi qui commanda l’attaque.
La conquête de Rhodes et la mort de Ziyad Ibn Abi Soufyan
En l’an 53 de l’Hégire (672), ‘AbderRahmane Ibn Oumm al-Hakam ath-Thaqafi attaqua le territoire byzantin.
Jounadah Ibn Abi Oumayyah al-Azdi conquis Rhodes[6], une île dans la mer. Les Musulmans s’y établirent, l’a cultivèrent et acquirent des biens. Le bétail paissait la journée dans les prairies avant d’être rentrés dans la forteresse à la tombée de la nuit. Ils établirent aussi un guet pour les prévenir de toutes surprises venant de mer. Ils causèrent un grand désarroi aux Byzantins parce qu’ils bloquaient leurs navires. Mou’awiyah leur envoyait régulièrement des vivres et dépensait pour eux tandis que l’ennemi les craignaient. Quand Mou’awiyah décéda, Yazid Ibn Mou’awiyah les rapatria.
Il est n’est pas inutile de préciser que sous le règne de Mou’awiyah (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui), les conquêtes ne cessèrent pas.
Au mois de Ramadan de cette même année décéda Ziyad Ibn Abi Soufyan. Juste auparavant, il envoya un message à Mou’awiyah lui disant : « Je t’ai assujetti l’Iraq avec ma gauche, donne-moi le Hijaz que j’occupe ma droite ».
Lorsque les gens du Hijaz furent informés, ils en parlèrent au respectable Compagnon ‘AbdAllah Ibn ‘Omar Ibn al-Khattab (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’eux) qui leur dit : « Invoquez Allah qu’Il nous en débarrasse ». Puis tous ensemble, ils s’orientèrent vers la Qiblah pour implorer le Seigneur contre lui.
Et comme l’a mentionné Ibn Kathir, Ziyad fut poignardé par la permission d’Allah peu de temps après et Allah Exalté soit-Il écarta son mal du Hijaz et de La Mecque.
En l’an 54 de l’Hégire (673), Muhammad Ibn Malik attaqua le territoire byzantin en hiver et Ma’n Ibn Yazid as-Soulami en été.
Waqidi a rapporté que Jounadah Ibn Abi Oumayyah captura une île proche de Constantinople nommée Arwad. Muhammad Ibn ‘Omar a rapporté que les Musulmans, dont Moujahid Ibn Jabr, y restèrent durant sept années. Toubay, le fils de la femme de Ka’b dit un jour : « Voyez-vous cette marche (darajah) ? Lorsqu’elle sera enlevée, l’heure de notre retour arrivera ». Un jour de vent fort, la marche fut emportée et quelqu’un arriva, annonça la mort de Mou’awiyah avec une lettre de Yazid. Alors, nous sommes revenus. L’île devint inhabitée et après cela les habitations tombèrent en ruine tandis que les Byzantins se réjouirent de leur départ.
‘Oubaydillah Ibn Ziyad nommé gouverneur du Khorasan
‘Oubaydillah partit de Syrie pour le Khorasan à la fin de l’année 53 de l’Hégire (673) alors qu’il était âgé de vingt-cinq ans. Il envoya devant lui Aslam Ibn Zour‘ah al-Kilabi au Khorasan. ‘Oubaydillah parti accompagné par al-Ja’d Ibn Qays an-Namari qui récita des vers dans une élégie pour Ziyad. ‘Oubaydillah pleura ce jour jusqu’à ce que son turban tombe de sa tête.
Du Khorasan, il traversa sur un chameau l’Oxus et marcha vers les montagnes de Boukhara, Il fut donc le premier atteindre les gens de Boukhara en traversant la montagne avec une armée. Il conquit les villes de Ramithan et Baykand[7] qui dépendent de Boukhara et qu’il atteignit à partir d’elles. ‘Oubaydillah Ibn Ziyad affronta les Turcs à Boukhara alors que Qabj Khatoun, l’épouse du roi était avec son mari. Quand Allah Exalté les vainquit, les Turcs lui conseillèrent vivement de remettre ses pantoufles. Elle mit l’un d’eux tandis que l’autre fut laissé en arrière que les Musulmans acquirent et qui valait deux-cents-mille dirhams.
Quelqu’un a rapporté : Je n’ai jamais vu personne de plus courageux que ‘Oubaydillah Ibn Ziyad. Une armée de Turcs nous attaqua au Khorasan, et je l’ai vu combattre. Il les chargea, pénétra leurs rangs et disparu de vue puis, il éleva sa bannière ruisselante de sang.
‘Oubaydillah Ibn Ziyad rapporta à Basra deux-mille personnes de Boukhara. Ils étaient tous d’excellents archers. L’armée des Turcs à Boukhara était une des nombreuses armées du Khorasan qui étaient au nombre de cinq. Al-Ahnaf Ibn Qays rencontra l’une d’entre elle entre Qouhistan et Abrashahr[8], et les trois à Marghab. La cinquième armée de Qarin fut détruite par ‘AbdAllah Ibn Khazim. ‘Oubaydillah Ibn Ziyad resta deux années au Khorasan.
Puis à la fin de l’année 55 de l’Hégire (674), Mou’awiyah le nomma gouverneur de Basra à la place de ‘Abdallah Ibn ‘Amr Ibn Ghaylan.
En l’an 55 de l’Hégire (674), Soufyan Ibn ‘Awf al-Azdi razzia le territoire byzantin. D’autres ont dit que c’était ‘Amr Ibn Mouhriz, et d’autres ont dit ‘AbdAllah Ibn Qays al-Fazari et d’autres Malik Ibn ‘AbdAllah.
Les raisons qui poussèrent Mou’awiyah à l’engagement de Yazid Ibn Mou’awiyah à prendre en charge le mandat
En l’an 56 de l’Hégire (675), Mou’awiyah demanda aux gens de porter allégeance à son fils Yazid après lui et le nomma responsable des affaires des Musulmans. Tous les gens lui portèrent allégeance excepté cinq personnes :
- Al-Houssayn Ibn ‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib,
- ‘AbdAllah Ibn ‘Omar,
- ‘AbdAllah Ibn Zoubayr,
-’AbdAllah Ibn ‘Abbas Ibn ‘Abdel Moutalib et
- ‘AbderRahmane Ibn Abou Bakr as-Siddiq (qu’Allah soit satisfait d’eux).
L’on peut se demander pourquoi Mou’awiyah nomma Yazid calife des Musulmans ? Cette question est de prime importance. Mou’awiyah dut réfléchit prudemment à la question et il en tira plusieurs conclusions.
- La grande Fitnah était toujours présente dans l’esprit des Musulmans et il était impératif pour eux de s’unifier auprès de leur émir et de ne pas se diviser une nouvelle fois.
Mais n’y avait-il pas pour Mou’awiyah Ibn Abi Soufyan des gens meilleurs que son fils Yazid pour la nomination ?
Certes, il ne fait aucun doute qu’il y avait des milliers de Compagnons et des dizaines de milliers de compagnon des Compagnons meilleurs que Yazid dont il ne prit même pas la peine de consulter.
Et il ne fait aussi aucun doute que du côté politique et juridique, que Mou’awiyah vit derrière son fils Yazid l’assurance de l’armée de Syrie et c’est un point très important que d’avoir une armée dévouée car les soldats de Syrie étaient les piliers de l’état omeyyade et ce depuis ses premiers jours. Ces soldats avaient la particularité d’écouter et d’obéir à Mou’awiyah au doigt et à l’œil mais aussi de ne jamais lui avoir désobéi !
Quant à Yazid, il avait l’expérience militaire. Il fut le premier commandant à avoir attaqué Constantinople, la capitale de César (qayssar) à la tête d’une armée comportant des compagnons que nous avons déjà mentionné.
Il fut aussi nommé émir du Hajj des Musulmans durant les années 51, 52 et 53 de l’Hégire.
Ainsi Mou’awiyah le nomma émir des Musulmans du fait qu’il avait de l’expérience dans les affaires des Musulmans et une stabilité politique ferme derrière lui. S’il avait abandonné les Musulmans sans émir cela aurait pu conduire à des évènements bien plus graves.
Avec la porte de la Fitnah ouverte avec l’assassinat du troisième Calife Martyr ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affan (qu’Allah soit satisfait de lui), Mou’awiyah voulut prendre des précautions pour protéger les Musulmans et éviter que la porte ne s’ouvre de nouveau.
Jeri Ryan arrives as The 7th Annual "GLSEN Respect Awards" at The Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA on Friday, October 21, 2011
(Alex J. Berliner/ABImages)
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