Medina, Arabic Al-Madīnah, formally Al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah

                   Medina, Arabic 

, formally Al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah

(“The Luminous City”)

(“The Luminous City”) or Madīnat Rasūl Allāh (“City of the Messenger of God [i.e., Muhammad]”), ancient Yathrib, city located in the  region of western  about 100 miles (160 km) inland from th and 275 miles from by road. It is the second holiest city in  after Mecca.

Medina is celebrated as the place from which established the Muslim  (ummah) after his flight from Mecca (622 CE) and is where his body is entombed. A  is made to his tomb in the city’s chief Pop. (2010) 1,100,093.

Landscape

City site

Medina lies 2,050 feet (625 metres) above on a fertile  It is bounded on the east by an extensive field, part of which dates from a volcanic eruption in 1207 CE. On the other three sides, the city is enclosed by arid hills belonging to the Hejaz mountain range. The highest of these hills is Mount Uḥud, which rises to more than 2,000 feet above the 

City layout

Prophet's Mosque

improvements to the mosque complex were undertaken by a succession of , and the chamber of the Prophet’s wives was merged in the extension during the time of the Umayyad . Fire twice damaged the mosque, first in 1256 and again in 1481, and its rebuilding was variously undertaken by devout rulers of several Islamic countries. Sultan  (1566–74) decorated the interior of the mosque with overlaid with gold. Sultan built the dome in 1817 and in 1839 painted it green, this being the accepted colour of Islam. Sultan  initiated a project for the virtual reconstruction of the mosque in 1848 and completed it in 1860. This was the last renovation before the modern expansion planned by ʿin 1948 and executed by  in 1953–55. The mosque now includes a new northern court with its surrounding colonnades, all in the same style as the 19th-century building but of concrete instead of stone from the neighbouring hills. The qafaṣ (cage), to which female worshippers were formerly restricted, has been dismantled, while, apart from minor repairs, the southern (main) part of the mosque has remained intact. It  the three ornamental iron structures representing the houses of the Prophet and containing respectively (according to general consensus) the tomb of the Prophet himself under the great green dome, those of the first two caliphs,  and ʿ, and that of the Prophet’s daughter  A specially adorned section of the pillared southern colonnade represents the  grove (al-Rawḍah) in which the first simple mosque was built.

In Ottoman times there was a small military landing ground at Sultanah, to the south near the garrison’s barracks, but the area is now occupied by the king’s palace and its extensive satellites. There too are the ruins of the tomb of  the celebrated conquerer for early Islam of  and  The tomb of  is located on the highest point of Mount Uḥud.
Other religious features of the oasis include the mosque of Qubāʾ, the first in Islamic history, from which the Prophet was vouchsafed a view of Mecca; the Mosque of the Two Qiblahs,  the change of the prayer direction from  to Mecca, at al-Rimāḥ; the tomb of Ḥamza, uncle of the Prophet and of his companions who fell in the Battle of Uḥud (625), in which the Prophet was wounded; and the cave in the flank of Uḥud in which the Prophet took refuge on that occasion. Other mosques  where he donned his armour for that battle; where he rested on the way thither, and where he unfurled his standard for the  (Al-Khandaq); and the ditch itself, dug around Medina by Muhammad, in which the rubble of the great fire during the reign (1839–61) of Sultan  was dumped. All these spots are the object of pious visitation by all Muslims visiting Medina and, like the Prophet’s Mosque, they are forbidden to non-Muslims. In addition the city is also the site of the Islamic University, established in 1961

The modernization of Medina has not been so rapid as that of , and other Saudi towns. Building development has involved the complete dismantlement of the old city wall and the merging of that historic area with the now built-up pilgrim camping ground (al-Manakh) and the Anbariyyah quarter, beyond the Abu Jidaʿ  bed, which was formerly the commercial quarter and in which the Turks established the railway station and terminal yards. The foundations of the old city wall were found to be lower than the surface of accumulated silt and rubble, but no attempt has been made to examine the excavations from the archaeological point of view. Nor has any archaeological work been done on the ruined sites of the old settlements, the largest of which was Yathrib (the Lathrippa or Iathrippa of Ptolemy and Stephanus Byzantius), which gave its name to the whole oasis until Islamic times. There are also several interesting mounds (ʿitm), besides the village of Al-Quraidha, which would certainly produce historical of interest. The Islamic cemetery of al-Baqīʿ (Baqīʿ al-Gharqad) was shorn of all the domes and ornamentation of the tombs of the saints at the time of the Wahhābī conquest of 1925; simple concrete graves in place of the old monuments and a circuit wall have been installed.

People

The residents of Medina are -speaking Muslims, most of whom belong to the branch of Islam. The city is one of the most populous in Saudi Arabia, and it is common for Muslims who make the pilgrimage to settle in the city. Farming and pottery making are important occupations.

occupations.

Economy

Agriculture

To  the income derived from accommodating pilgrims, Medina has an economy based on the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, and cereals. The city is especially well known for its date palms, the fruits of which are processed and packaged for export at a plant built in 1953.

Mechanical pumps for irrigation, in use since Ottoman times early in the 20th century, have virtually replaced the old draw wells. Drinking water is supplied by an aqueduct from a spring at the southern end of the oasis. In addition to the plentiful supply of subsoil water at no great depth, a number of important wadis meet in the vicinity of Medina and bring down torrents of water during the winter rains. Of these the most notable are the Wadi al-ʿAqīq from the western mountains and a wadi coming down from the Al-Tāʾif area to the south.

Industry

Although Medina was known in early Islamic times for metalworking, jewelry, and armory, those industries were never large-scale, and most activity was connected with agricultural technology until the mid-20th century. Principal activities came to include automobile repair, brick and tile making, carpentry, and metalworking.

Transportation

From 1908 to 1916 Medina was connected with Damascus by the Hejaz railway, destroyed during World War I. Reconstruction of this railroad is studied periodically but has never taken place. A railway has been built, however, between Medina and Jeddah. Asphalt roads link the city with Jeddah, Mecca, and Yanbuʿ (Medina’s port on the Red Sea), and another road extends north through the Hejaz and connects the city to Jordan. Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport serves passengers flying to and from the city.

History

The earliest history of Medina is obscure, though it is known that there were Jewish settlers there in pre-Christian times. But the main influx of Jews would seem to have taken place as the result of their expulsion from Palestine by the Roman emperor Hadrian about 135 CE. It is probable that the Arab tribes of Aws and Khazraj were then in occupation of the oasis, but the Jews were the dominant factor in the population and development of the area by 400 CE. In that year Abu Karib Asʿad, the Sabaean king of Yemen, visited the colony and imbibed the lore and teaching of the Jewish rabbis with the result that he adopted the religion of the Jews and made it the state religion of Yemen on his return, in supersession of the local paganism.

On September 20, 622, the arrival of the Prophet Muhammad at Medina, in flight from Mecca, introduced a new chapter into the history of the oasis. This flight (hijrah; sometimes transliterated Hegira) marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar. Soon thereafter the Jews, at first treated with indulgence, were driven out of all their settlements in Hejaz. Medina became the administrative capital of the steadily expanding Islamic state, a position it maintained until 661, when it was superseded in that role by Damascus, the capital of the Umayyad caliphs.

After the caliph’s sack of the city in 683 for its fractiousness, the native emirs enjoyed a fluctuating measure of independence, interrupted by the aggressions of the sharifs of Mecca or controlled by the intermittent Egyptian protectorate.

The Turks, following their conquest of Egypt, held Medina after 1517 with a firmer hand, but their rule weakened and was almost nominal long before the Wahhābīs, an Islamic puritanical group, first took the city in 1804. A Turko-Egyptian force retook it in 1812, and the Turks remained in effective control until the revival of the Wahhābī movement under Ibn Saud after 1912. Between 1904 and 1908 the Turks built the Hejaz railroad to Medina from Damascus in an attempt at strengthening the empire and ensuring Ottoman control over the hajj, the obligatory Muslim pilgrimage to the nearby holy city of Mecca. Turkish rule ceased during World War I, when Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, the sharif of Mecca, revolted and put the railroad out of commission, with the assistance of the British officer T.E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”). Ḥusayn later came into conflict with Ibn Saud, and in 1925 the city fell to the Saʿūd dynasty.

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Spain History

                         About Spain

                          Spain History ...

By 1100 b.C. Phoenicians arrived to the peninsula andfounded colonies, the most important of which was Gadir (today's Cadiz), Malaca (today's Malaga) and Abdera (today's Adra, in Almeria). Also Greeks founded colonies in southern Spain and along the Mediterranean coast

From about 900 BC a seafaring people called the Phoenicians who came from what is now Lebanon traded with what is now Spain. They founded a chain of trading settlements along the coast on islands and peninsulas. The Iberians gave the Phoenicians silver in return for wine and olive oil as well as jewelry. The people of Spain were heavily influenced by the Phoenician culture. The Greeks also traded with Spain the Iberians were also influenced by Greek culture.

A Phoenician colony in North Africa called Carthage rose to be powerful and important. After the Romans defeated them in 241 BC the Carthaginians increased their influence in Spain. In 227 BC they founded New Carthage (modern Cartagena). However, in 226 the Carthaginians made a treaty with Spain. They agreed not to expand north of the River Ebro.

Yet in 119 BC the Carthaginians took the town of Saguntum. It was south of the Ebro but the Romans claimed Saguntum was their ally and they ordered the Carthaginian general, Hannibal to withdraw. He refused and war ensued. The Romans sent an army to Spain in 218 BC and they gradually pushed back the Carthaginians. By 206 BC the Carthaginians were gone from Spain. In 197 BC the Romans divided the Iberian peninsula into 2 areas, Hispania Citerior (east of the River Iberius) and Hispania Ulterior.

However the Iberians wanted independence and they rebelled against the Romans. Rome sent a man named Cato who regained control of most of Spain. Nevertheless, the Iberians continued to resist and fighting continued for nearly 200 years. Resistance finally ended when the Cantabrians were defeated in 19 BC. Afterward, Spain was gradually integrated into the Roman Empire. The Romans built a network of roads and founded towns and Spain became highly civilized.

Under Roman rule Spain became prosperous. Mining was an important industry. Gold and silver were exported. So were olives, grapes, and grain. Roman Spain also exported a fish sauce called garum. However, in 171-173 raiders from North Africa swept into Spain. There were further attacks at the beginning of the 3rd century. In any case from the mid-3rd century, the Roman Empire gradually declined. Meanwhile, the people of Roman Spain were gradually converted to Christianity

Cricket History

                About Cricket
             Introduction of Cricket
Cricket was introduced to North America via the English colonies as early as the 17th century, and in the 18th century it arrived in other parts of the globe. It was introduced to the West Indies by colonists and to India by British East India Company mariners

The British brought cricket to India in the early 1700s, with the first cricket match played in 1721. In 1848, the Parsi community in Bombay formed the Oriental Cricket Club, the first cricket club to be established by Indians. After slow beginnings, the Europeans eventually invited the Parsis to play a match in 1877

W. G. Grace is considered to be the father of cricket. He played an vital role in developing cricket across the world. He is born in England. The most important thing is he is an all-rounder

William Gilbert Grace, (born July 18, 1848, Down end, Gloucestershire, Eng.—died Oct. 23, 1915, 

Official Cricket Rules

Cricket is a game played between two teams made up of eleven players each. There is also a reserve player called a “twelfth man” who is used should a player be injured during play.

The twelfth man is not allowed to bowl, bat, wicket keep or captain the team. His sole duty is to act as a substitute fielder.

The original player is free to return to the game as soon as they have recovered from their injury.

To apply the law and make sure the cricket rules are upheld throughout the game there are two umpires in place during games. Umpires are responsible for making decisions and notifying the scorers of these decisions.

Two umpires are in place on the playing field while there is also a third umpire off the field who is in charge of video decisions.

This is where the call is too close for the on field umpires and they refer it to the third umpire who reviews slow motion video replays to make a decision

However, in cricket the batting team bat in pairs, and they continue batting until 10 of the 11 team members are ‘out’.
The fielding team must continue fielding until 10 of the batting team are ‘out’ (i.e. there is only one batter left – no pair).

A game of cricket is divided into ‘Overs’ and ‘Innings’. One ‘over’ is made up of 6 balls. After 6 balls have been bowled, the bowler must change. Anyone on the fielding team can bowl, but most teams usually have 4 or 5 specialist bowlers and 5 or 6 specialist batsmen

The batting team must score as many ‘runs’ as possible, by hitting the ball and running to the other end of the pitch. If the batsman can reach the other end of the pitch successfully, he scores 1 ‘run’. If he can reach the other end of the pitch and return, he scores 2 runs etc.
If he hits the ball to the edge of the field, he scores 4 runs. If he can hit the ball to the edge of the field without bouncing, he scores 6 runs.
The batsman can continue to bat until he is ‘out’ – and then he will be replaced by his next teammate.
Sometimes the first batsman is never out, and he scores 100 or 200+ runs in the game.

The International Cricket Council is the global governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England and South Africa. It was renamed as the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and took up its current name in 1989

PM.Imran Khan Kamayab Jawan scheme form

Prime Minister Imran Khan
Kamayab Jawan Program

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About Japan

                                Japan                                                                                           

日本....     

There are various era divisions in Japanese history, and there is nothing that can be called an established theory. Historical research is widely accepted as a method of dividing the period between (primitive), ancient, medieval, early modern, and modern. Even in this case, when to set the epoch of each era varies greatly depending on the controversy.

Regarding the beginning of ancient times, there are different views over the time of the formation of the ancient state. For the medieval period, the manor public territory system, which was a socio-economic system throughout the middle ages, was regarded as an indicator of the era. Each is required for the Dazai site in the second half of the 16th century. The modern times began before and after the Dazai site,

It is supposed to end before and after. The beginning of modern times is generally considered to be from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji Restoration period, but there is also an idea that the rise of the household machinery industry in the first half of the 18th century is the beginning of modern times. Furthermore, the modern world and the present day may be distinguished by the defeat in the Second World War, but recently, in the history of Japan, the cold war structure has collapsed at the boundary between the modern and the modern, and the economy has risen due to the collapse of the bubble. Some argue that it should be changed around 1990 when growth is over.

The above-mentioned period division theory is influenced by the developmental history view, and it is pointed out that there is a limit to not paying much attention to the stratification and continuity of history. For this reason, some researchers have begun to advocate “the transition theory”, which is regarded as a transition rather than a subject to distinguish the times.

A well-known era division is an era division that focuses mainly on the location of the political center. This period division does not have a clear division standard and is not suitable as a period division in historical research. It is an age division that is merely used for convenience. The period when the archaeological historical material remains without the historical material is according to the archaeological period classification, the Paleolithic period, Jomon period, Yayoi period

Distinguished from the Kofun period. From the period when historical documents remain to some extent, according to the location of the political center, Asuka period (Asoka village), Nara period (Nara city), Heian period (Kyoto city), Kamakura period (Kamakura city), Murom chi period (Kyoto city)・ Azuchi-Momoyama period (Azuchi-cho, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto) and Edo period (Tokyo). However, this is not always enough, so we set up the divisions of the North and South Dynasty in the early Murom chi period, the Sengoku period in the late Murom chi period, and the end of the Edo period in the late Edo period. is there. After the Edo period, the Emperor ’s reign period

Naya Pakistan Housing scheme

Naya Pakistan Housing scheme
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About Marco polo

                            Marco Polo 
The story and biography of Marco Polo which contains interesting information, facts & the history about the life of this Medieval person of historical importance

Marco Polo travels to Cathay (China)Marco Polo lived from 1254-1324. Some years before St. Louis led his last Crusade there was born in Venice a boy named Marco Polo. His father was a wealthy merchant who often went on trading journeys to distant lands. In 1271, when Marco Polo was seventeen years old, he accompanied his father and uncle on a journey through the Holy Land, Persia and Tartary, and at length to the Empire of China, then called Cathay. It took the travellers three years to reach Cathay.

Marco Polo meets Kublai Khan in PekingThe emperor of Cathay was a monarch named Kublai Khan who lived in Peking. Marco Polo's father and uncle had been in Cathay once before and had entertained Kublai Khan by telling him about the manners and customs of Europe. So when the two Venetian merchants again appeared in Peking, Kublai Khan was glad to see them. He was also greatly pleased with the young Marco Polo, whom he invited to the palace. Important positions at the Chinese court were given to Marco Polo's father and uncle, and so they and Marco Polo lived in the country for some years. Marco Polo studied the Chinese language, and it was not very long before he could speak it.

Marco Polo works as an envoy for Kublai Khan When Marco Polo was about twenty-one Kublai Khan sent him on very important business to a distant part of China. He did the work well and from that time was often employed as an envoy of the Chinese monarch. His travels were sometimes in lands never before visited by Europeans and Marco Polo had many strange adventures among the almost unknown tribes of Asia. Step by step he was promoted. For several years he was governor of a great Chinese city. Finally Marco Polo, his father and his uncle desired to return to Venice. They had all served Kublai Khan faithfully and he had appreciated it and given them rich rewards; but he did not wish to let them go.

Marco Polo leaves China While the matter was being talked over an embassy arrived in Peking from the king of Persia. This monarch desired to marry the daughter of Kublai Khan, the Princess Cocachin, and he had sent to ask her father for her hand. Consent was given, and Kublai Khan fitted out a fleet of fourteen ships to carry the wedding party to Persia. The Princess Cocachin was a great friend of Marco Polo, and urged her father to allow him to go with the party. Finally Kublai Khan gave his consent. Marco Polo's father and uncle were also allowed to go, and the three Venetians left China.

Marco Polo escorts the daughter of the Kublai Khan to Persia The fleet with the wedding party on board sailed southward on the China Sea. It was a long and perilous voyage. Stops were made at Borneo, Sumatra, Ceylon and other places, until the ships entered the Persian Gulf and the princess was safely landed. After they reached the capital of Persia the party, including the three Venetians, was entertained by the Persians for weeks in a magnificent manner and costly presents were given to all. At last the Venetians left their friends, went to the Black Sea and took ship for Venice.

Marco Polo returns to Venice They had been away so long and were so much changed in appearance that none of their relations and old friends knew them when they arrived in Venice. As they were dressed in Tatar costume and sometimes spoke the Chinese language to one another, they found it hard to convince people that they were members of the Polo family. At length, on order to show that they were the men that they declared themselves to be, they gave a dinner to all their relations and old friends. When the guests arrived they were greeted by the travelers, arrayed in gorgeous Chinese robes of crimson satin. After the first course they appeared in crimson damask; after the second, they changed their costumes to crimson velvet; while at the end of the dinner they appeared in the usual garb of wealthy Venetians. "Now, my friends," said Marco Polo , "I will show you something that will please you." He then brought into the room the rough Tatar coats which he and his father and uncle had worn when they reached Venice. Cutting open the seams, he took from inside the lining packets filled with rubies, emeralds and diamonds. It was the finest collection of jewels ever seen in Venice. The guests were now persuaded that their hosts were indeed what they claimed to be.

Marco Polo is captured by the Genoese Eight hundred years before Marco Polo's birth, some of the people of North Italy had fled before the Attila to the muddy islands of the Adriatic and founded Venice upon them. Since then the little settlement had become the most wealthy and powerful city of Europe. Venice was the queen of the Adriatic and her merchants were princes. They had vessels to bring the costly wares of the East to their wharves; they had warships to protect their rich cargoes from the pirates of the Mediterranean; they carried on wars. At the time when Marco Polo returned from Cathay they were at war with Genoa . The two cities were fighting for the trade of the world. In a great naval battle the Venetians were completely defeated. Marco Polo was in the battle and with many of his countrymen was captured by the enemy.

Marco Polo dictates an account of his travels For a year he was confined in a Genoese prison. One of his fellow-prisoners was a skilful penman and Marco Polo dictated to him an account of his experiences in China, Japan, and other Eastern countries. This account was carefully written out. Copies of the manuscript exist to this day. One of these is in a library in Paris. It was carried into France in the year 1307. Another copy is preserved in the city of Berne. It is said that the book was translated into many languages, so that people in all parts of Europe learned about the adventures. of Marco Polo.

The Legacy of Marco Polo - The Travels of Marco Polo  About a hundred and seventy-five years after the book was written, the famous Genoese, Christopher Columbus, planned his voyage across the Atlantic. It is believed that he had read the description by Marco Polo of Java, Sumatra and other East India Islands, which he thought he had reached when he discovered Haiti and Cuba. So Marco Polo may have suggested to Columbus the voyage which led to the discovery of America