title: Scarification

text: During the early 2nd millennium BCE, amid the Eleventh Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, Amunet, a priestess of Hathor, underwent scarification and received a designed pattern of three horizontal parallel lines. In addition to the mummy of a priestess of Hathor, the mummy of a dancer from the Temple of Hathor, both of which have been dated to approximately 4000 BP, show evidence of scarification.


title: Scarification

text: The stone relief of a man from Nubia, which features scarification marks on his forehead, has been dated to the 20th Dynasty of Ramesses III, during the New Kingdom (1181 BCE - 1150 BCE) period of Ancient Egypt.


title: Scarification

text: During the early period of the Holocene (9500 BP - 7500 BP), Round Head rock art was created at Tassili N'Ajjer, in Algeria, and at Tadrart Acacus, in Libya, 70% of which is composed of anthropomorphic art forms; male and female art forms feature scarification marks that differ; linear design patterns are exclusive to male art forms, whereas, crescent-shaped and concentric circular design patterns are exclusive to female art forms.


title: Scarification

text: Kadada figurines from Upper Nubia, which have been dated to 3600 BCE, feature markings that may be tattooing or scarification.


title: Scarification

text: Since at least the ancient Meroe period of Nubia, the cultural practice of facial marking has continued in Sudan, though it has become less common in recent times.


title: Scarification

text: Beninese people practiced scarification as a form of identity marker and citizenship in Benin. Since 1930 CE, the rate of scarification has decreased. However, scarification markings (iwu) have since undergone a revival in expression through clothing.


title: Scarification

text: Tribal markings originated in more ancient times. Prior to the enslaving raids of the 17th century CE, sculptures with scarification markings were created as early as the 14th century CE. Tribal markings became more widespread as a response to enslaving raids in the 17th century CE. Tribal markings, as symbols of group identity, tied together individuals of a common cultural heritage and ancestry. Consequently, this enabled individuals to find enslaved people who originated from the same African ethnic group. The occurrence of a greater number of medical markings in southern Ghana and a greater number of tribal markings in northern Ghana may be due to enslaving raids occurring more in the northern region of Ghana. As a result of this history, there may be greater individual awareness of collective identity in the northern region of Ghana than in the southern region of Ghana.


title: Scarification

text: A wooden standing female figurine from the Inland Niger Delta region of Djenné-Djenno in Mali, which feature dotted scarification markings in the temple region of the head and indication of pregnancy, may have been created by Djennenke peoples between the 11th century CE and the 13th century CE.


title: Scarification

text: At Djenné-Djenno, the sculpture of a mother, with four children, features scarification design patterns (e.g., lines on temples, circles on arms, circles on chest). The sculpture has been dated between the 12th century CE and the 15th century CE. In the westernmost region of Djenné-Djenno, there was also the head of a terracotta statuette, which may have been constructed in the latter period of Djenné-Djenno or a period thereafter, and featured three snakes encircling the neck region and oblique-shaped scarification markings on its cheeks; snakes are a recurring trait among statuettes found in the Inner Niger Delta region.


title: Scarification

text: Maternity figurines and mounted warrior figurines from the Inland Niger Delta region of Djenné-Djenno in Mali, which feature dotted scarification markings in the temple regions of their heads, may have been the Kagoro clan of the Soninke people or the Djennenke peoples between the 13th century CE and the 16th century CE.


title: Scarification

text: Jennenke-styled brass alloy figurines with serpent ornaments and scarification markings, which have been dated between the 15th century CE and the 17th century CE, may have been inspired from earlier figurines from Old Jenne and Dogon-Tellem cultural traditions, as well as may have their origin in Dogon Country, Mali. Based on the composition of the brass alloy, the brass alloy may have derived from the Hartz Mountains.


title: Scarification

text: Nok sculpture remnants from Katsina Ala feature various stylistic details, including facial markings. One of the Nok sculptures from Katsina Ala has been dated, via thermoluminescence dating, to 400 ± 125 BCE


title: Scarification

text: Between 660 CE and 1045 CE, the Igbo Ukwu culture of the Kingdom of Nri produced various types of bronze items (e.g., beetles, flies, grasshopper/locust eggs, and heads of animals such as elephants, leopards, monkeys, pythons, rams, and snails) from Igbo Ukwu and Ezira.


title: Scarification

text: Early archaeological evidence of body modification, such as tattoo and scarification markings, have been found among the Benin, Ife, Igbo, Nok, and Ukwa peoples, including male and female Benin bronzes, which have been dated to the 16th century CE and the 17th century CE.


title: Scarification

text: In Nigeria, evidence of scarification has been found on Ife sculptures composed of terracotta and copper, which have been dated to 1100 CE, and Owo sculptures composed of terracotta, which have been dated to 1400 CE. There are also Yoruba facial markings that have been documented during the 19th century CE and the 20th century CE.


title: Scarification

text: Bantu-speaking Central Africans and other Bantu-speaking Africans, such as the Baluba, Bafipa, Batshokwe, Baushi, Mashona, constructed decorated furnaces, which symbolized transformation as well as were made in the shape of women, with breasts, and scarification usually made in the region of the stomach, during the Early Iron Age in Africa.


title: Scarification

text: At Dirikoro, in the southwestern-most region of Ethiopia, engraved and painted pastoral rock art have been linked to cattle scarification practices, via branding, and body scarification practices (e.g., Riru, Kichoa) among the Mursi people. Mursi men receive Riru scarification markings, in the form of a Miren design pattern (a double ‘u’ symbol), which may be received when cattle raids are successful; while Mursi women receive three Miren-styled markings, Mursi men receive four; in addition to being connected by heat used in the process of scarification, both oxen and Mursi men receive four Miren-styled markings. While Saharan pastoral rock art has been dated to the second half of the seventh millennium BP, Ethiopian pastoral rock art has been dated between 5000 BP and 4000 BP.


title: Scarification

text: Square symbols in western Ethiopian rock art and facial scarification design patterns, mostly found on women from Ethio-Sudanese borderland groups, such as the Gumuz people and the Kwama people in the Benishangul-Gumuz region of Ethiopia and the Mabaan people of Sudan, share a close similarity in appearance. A single cow out of a herd, managed by cattle pastoralists, also had a reticular-shaped scarification marking that matched Bel Bembesh rock art in Assosa. Among western Ethiopian rock art sites in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, the rock painting sites of Bel Bembesh and Bel ash-Sharifu may be dated to the Later Stone Age; the painted Bel K’urk’umu rock art, near Assosa, has been radiocarbon dated between 4965 BP and 875 BP, which corresponds with pottery sherds found near the rock art that have been dated between 1985 BP and 275 BP; these rock painting sites have been attributed in origin to local Koman speakers, who may have resided in the area for millennia, prior to the influx of Sudanese herders during the mid-Holocene.


title: Scarification

text: At Schroda, located in the region of Zhizo, Limpopo, South Africa that was peopled by Bantu-speaking peoples, 2000 figurine remnants with scarification markings were found, which date between the 7th century CE and the 8th century CE; from this foundation, Great Zimbabwe emerged in the 13th century CE.


title: Scarification

text: Scarification has been traditionally practiced by darker skinned cultures, possibly because it is usually more visible on darker skinned people than tattoos. It was common in indigenous cultures of Africa (especially in the west), Melanesia, and Australia.


title: Scarification

text: Among the ethnic groups in sub-Saharan Africa that traditionally practice scarification are the Gonja, Dagomba, Frafra, Mamprusi, Nanumba, Bali, Tɔfin, Bobo, Montol, Kofyar, Yoruba, and Tiv people of West Africa, and the Dinka, Nuer, Surma, Shilluk, Toposa, Moru, Bondei, Shambaa, Barabaig, and Maasai people of East Africa.


title: Scarification

text: Within anthropology, the study of the body as a boundary has been long debated. In 1909, Van Gennep described bodily transformations, including tattooing, scarification, and painting, as rites of passage. In 1963, Levi-Strauss described the body as a surface waiting for the imprintation of culture. Turner (1980) first used the term "social skin" in his detailed discussion of how Kayapo culture was constructed and expressed through individual bodies. Inscribed skin highlights an issue that has been central to anthropology since its inception: the question of boundaries between the individual and society, between societies, and between representation and experiences.


title: Scarification

text: Scarification has been widely used by many West African tribes to mark milestone stages in both men and women's lives, such as puberty and marriage. In many tribes, members unwilling to participate in scarification were generally not included in the group's activities, and are often shunned from their society. According to anthropologist Grace Harris, group members lacking the normal characteristics consistent with the group are not considered as having acquired the full standing as agents in their society; they would also lack the capacity for meaningful behavior, such as greeting, commanding, and stating. Therefore, scarification can transform partial tribe members into "normal" members entirely accepted by the group. Scarification is a form of language not readily expressed, except through extensive and intricate greetings, and gives the ability to communicate fully, which is a key element for being considered as a normal member of the group.One reason why scarification is used as confirmation of adulthood is how it shows the ability to endure pain. With young men, the endurance of the pain of scarring exhibits strength and discipline, especially in tribes where males have roles as hunters and warriors. A young man who has already experienced the feeling of torn or cut flesh is considered less likely to fear the teeth of a wild animal or the tip of an enemy’s spear. In Ethiopia and Zambia, elaborate scarification is often done on women at puberty, used to denote a willingness to be a mother. The markings show that she can stand the pain of childbirth, as well as being an indication of her emotional maturity.


title: Scarification

text: Some of these rites of passage have spiritual or religious roots, such young boys in the Chambri tribe of Papua New Guinea undergo scarification resembling crocodile scales to mark their transition into manhood, a ritual which stems from the belief that humans evolved from crocodiles.


title: Scarification

text: In Ethiopia, Suri men scar their bodies to show that they have killed someone from an enemy tribe; the Mursi practice scarification for largely aesthetic reasons in order to attract the opposite sex and enhance the tactile experience of sex. The Ekoi of Nigeria believe that the scars serve, on their way to the afterlife, as money.


title: Scarification

text: Scarification can be used to transmit complex messages about identity; such permanent body markings may emphasize fixed social, political, and religious roles. Tattoos, scars, brands, and piercings, when voluntarily acquired, are ways of showing a person's autobiography on the surface of the body to the world.


title: Scarification

text: Scarification can also help change status from victim to survivor. These individuals pass through various kinds of ritual death and rebirth, and redefine the relationship between self and society through the skin.


title: Scarification

text: Many people in certain regions of Africa who have "markings" can be identified as belonging to a specific tribe or ethnic group. Some of the tribes in Northern Ghana who use the markings are the Gonjas, Nanumbas, Dagombas, Frafras and Mamprusis.


title: Scarification

text: For the Nuba tribe of Sudan, scars can serve a medicinal purpose; scars above the eyes are believed to improve eyesight, and scars on the temples help to relieve headaches. In some cultures, scarification is used in traditional medicine to treat some illness by inserting medicine (usually herbs or powdered root) under the skin to heal a variety of infections and illnesses such as Malaria.


title: Scarification

text: Scarification is not a precise practice; variables, such as skin type, cut depth, and how the wound is treated while healing, make the outcome unpredictable. A method that works on one person may not work on another. The scars tend to spread as they heal, so outcome design is usually simple, the details being lost during healing.Some common scarification techniques include:


title: Scarification

text: Scarification produces harm and trauma to the skin. Infection is common when tools are not sterilised properly. Scarification has been linked to the spread of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C when tools are shared between people. In the West, body modification artists may have less experience with scarification due to lower demand, meaning they have less knowledge on how to perform it safely.


title: Carlos Soler (footballer)

text: Carlos Soler Barragán (born 2 January 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central or right midfielder for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Spain national team.


title: Carlos Soler (footballer)

text: Soler began his professional career at Valencia, making 226 appearances, scoring 36 goals and winning the Copa del Rey in 2019. He joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2022 for an initial €18 million fee.


title: Carlos Soler (footballer)

text: Internationally, Soler won a silver medal with the Spanish Olympic team in the 2020 tournament. He made his senior debut in 2021 and was chosen for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.


title: Carlos Soler (footballer)

text: Born in Valencia, Soler was first introduced to football by taking shots at half-time at the age of four during games for Bonrepòs, his brother's team. Impressed by his power, the club wanted him; he was initially too shy and only joined when his grandfather gave him a Game Boy for attending. He joined hometown club Valencia's youth setup four years later in 2005, initially as a prolific striker, but later being pushed back to an attacking midfielder and to central midfielder.


title: Carlos Soler (footballer)

text: Soler made his senior debut with the reserves on 3 May 2015, starting in a 1–0 Segunda División B away loss against Cornellà. He scored his first senior goal on 13 December, netting his team's second in a 2–2 draw at Badalona. The following 12 March he renewed his contract for two more years with the option of as many more, and was an unused substitute in the main squad's 2–1 home win against Athletic Bilbao for the season's UEFA Europa League.


title: Carlos Soler (footballer)

text: On 10 December 2016 Soler made his first team – and La Liga – debut, replacing Mario Suárez in a 3–2 loss against Real Sociedad at the Anoeta Stadium. He scored his first goal in the category the following 21 January, netting the first in a 2–0 Valencian Community derby win against Villarreal at the Estadio de la Cerámica. He was sent off on 4 February in a 4–0 loss to Eibar at the Mestalla Stadium for a tussle with Gonzalo Escalante during a corner kick routine, conceding a penalty.


title: Carlos Soler (footballer)

text: In January 2018, Soler signed his third new contract with Valencia in little over a year, tying him to the club until 2021 and increasing his release clause to €80 million. He totalled 51 appearances in 2018–19, including 13 in his debut European season in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League; he scored in group-stage wins over Young Boys and Manchester United in the former. He played seven games in the season's Copa del Rey as Valencia won their first honour for 11 years, and assisted Rodrigo's winner in the 2–1 final victory over Barcelona on 25 May 2019.


title: Carlos Soler (footballer)

text: On 17 December 2019, Soler signed a four-year contract extension, keeping him at the club until 2023, with his release clause set at €150 million. The following 8 November, he scored the first hat-trick of his career in a 4–1 league win over Real Madrid, with all three goals coming from penalties; only two La Liga players had ever scored such a treble before. He finished 2020–21 as Valencia's top scorer with 12 goals, all bar one in the league season and seven from the spot.


title: Carlos Soler (footballer)

text: In 2021–22, Soler was again Valencia's league top scorer with 11, joint with Gonçalo Guedes. In the cup, he played six games and scored the opener in a 2–1 win at Cartagena in the last 32 on 5 January; he featured for all 120 minutes of the final against Real Betis and scored the first attempt in a penalty shootout that his team lost.


title: Carlos Soler (footballer)

text: On 1 September 2022, Soler signed for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on a five-year contract. The initial transfer fee was €18 million, potentially rising by €3 million. He made his debut five days later as a late-match substitute in a 2–1 Champions League home win over Juventus, and on 18 September he played his first league game off the bench in a 1–0 win at Lyon.


title: Carlos Soler (footballer)

text: Soler was part of the Spanish Olympic team that took part in the delayed 2020 tournament in Japan, finishing with a silver medal. Later in August 2021, he was called up to the senior team for matches against Sweden, Georgia and Kosovo. He made his debut on 2 September away to the Swedes, scoring a volley after four minutes in a 2–1 loss, and three days later he netted again in a 4–0 win over Georgia in Badajoz.


title: Carlos Soler (footballer)

text: Luis Enrique called Soler up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. On 23 November, in Spain's opener against Costa Rica, he came on for Pedri after 57 minutes and scored in a 7–0 victory. In the last 16 against Morocco, he came off the bench in a goalless draw before having his attempt saved by Yassine Bounou in a penalty shootout defeat.


title: Carlos Soler (footballer)

text: Soler started a degree in sports journalism, which he did not finish. He regularly watched the Premier League on Canal+ as a child, and learned the English language.


title: Pop Team Epic

text: The manga chronicles the misadventures of two 14-year-old girls named Popuko and Pipimi, who encounter a variety of both mundane and bizarre situations and respond to them in equally bizarre and exaggerated ways. The manga is noted for its frequent parodies of pop culture and its combination of surrealism, absurdity, and non-sequitur, all of which have contributed to it developing a cult following among both Japanese and Western audiences. An anime television series adaptation animated by Kamikaze Douga and produced by King Records aired on Tokyo MX and other channels from January 7, 2018 to December 18, 2022 for two seasons. The first season concluded on March 25, 2018, and two special episodes aired on April 1, 2019. The second season was co-produced by Space Neko Company (credited in the English version as Space Cat Company) and concluded on December 18, 2022.


title: Pop Team Epic

text: "Pop Team Epic" is written and illustrated by Bkub Okawa, previously known for his "Touhou Project" "dōjinshi". The series was serialized in Takeshobo's "Manga Life Win" website between August 29, 2014 and November 7, 2015. The first "tankōbon" volume was released in print on December 7, 2015. Okawa released the "second season" on the "Manga Life Win" website between February 18, 2016 and April 30, 2017. The second volume was released on June 7, 2017. A "third season" began on the "Manga Life Win" website on October 10, 2017. The manga is licensed in North America by Vertical, who began releasing the series in October 2018. A comic anthology based on the fictional "Hoshiiro Girldrop" manga featured in the series was released on January 9, 2018.


title: Pop Team Epic

text: An anime adaptation of the series was announced on April 2, 2017. It was initially teased as an adaptation of "Hoshiiro Girldrop" on April Fool's Day 2017. The anime features animation by Kamikaze Douga (credited in "Hoshiiro Girldrop" as ) and production by King Records (credited in "Hoshiiro Girldrop" as ), and is directed by Jun Aoki and Aoi Umeki. The first season aired on BS11, Tokyo MX and other networks for 12 episodes from January 7 to March 25, 2018, following a delay from October 2017 due to an "error by King Records". A television special aired on April 1, 2019 which consists of episodes 13 and 14.


title: Pop Team Epic

text: Taking after its source manga, the anime takes the form of an animated parody show, featuring numerous, typically disjointed skits of varying lengths; while some of these shorts are adapted from the original comic strips, the majority of them are original creations. The various shorts collectively showcase a variety of animation styles, most often CGI, professional-looking 2D animation, and idiosyncratic animation from . Each half-hour episode features two near-identical 15-minute segments, each containing different voice actors and other subtle differences.


title: Pop Team Epic

text: The opening theme for episodes 2-10 is "Pop Team Epic" (remixed as "Pop Team Epic (Rebroadcasting Mix)" in "Pop Team Epic Repeat" from the second half of Episode 4 to the first half of Episode 9) by Sumire Uesaka, while the ending theme for the first 9 episodes and episodes 11 and 12 is "Poppy Pappy Day" is sung by Popuko (Yui Makino/Kenji Akabane (ep 1-6), Hiromi Igarashi/Toshiki Masuda (ep 8–9, 11)) and Pipimi (Yui Watanabe/Shunsuke Takeuchi (ep 1-6), Rei Matsuzaki/Wataru Hatano (ep 8–9, 11)), with Shouta Aoi (playing as himself) performing the theme for the male part of episode 12. The ending theme for episode 10 is also by the Igarashi/Matsuzaki and Masuda/Hatano duos as Popuko and Pipimi, respectively. The opening theme for Episode 1, which opened with a "Hoshiiro Girldrop" segment, is the first season's opening theme, "Twinkling Star" by Drop Stars (Sosogu Hoshifuri (Yui Ogura), Shizuku Tsukino (Inori Minase), and Korona Yuhi (Uesaka)). Episode 12 used the classical music pieces "Night on Bald Mountain" and Dies Irae in its storyline. The opening theme for episode 13 is "last sparkle" by Uesaka, while episode 14 uses the opening theme for the second season of "Hoshiiro Girldrop", "Pretty candle star" by Drop Stars (Hiroshifuri (Ogura), Tsukino (Minase), and Yuhi (Uesaka)) in the first half and parodied by Shunsuke Itakura and Tōru Adachi of Team AC (voicing as Yuhi) in the second half. The insert song and ending theme for episode 13 are and , respectively; both are sung by Popuko (Yuka Ozaki/Kent Ito) and Pipimi (Aya Uchida/Ryuichi Kijima). The insert song for episode 14 is "Bansaku neender", sung by the Ozaki/Uchida and Ito/Kijima duos and the Mendez/Tindle and Lee/Seitz duos as Popuko and Pipimi in both Japanese and English, respectively with Aoi (himself) singing his version of the ending theme "Fūsen Hikō" for episode 14a, as well as his own ending theme, "AOI Traveler" for episode 14b.


title: Pop Team Epic

text: The series was renewed for a second season on December 26, 2021, following the finale of "Pop Team Epic Repeat". Jun Aoki returned as director and scriptwriter, while Space Neko Company (Space Cat Company) is animating the season alongside Kamikaze Douga, and aired from October 2 to December 18, 2022. The opening theme for episodes 16-25 is "PSYCHO:LOGY" by Aoi and the ending theme for episodes 15-25 is "Nakayou Peas" by Popuko (Manaka Iwami/Jun Osuka) and Pipimi (Ikumi Hasegawa/Hiroki Takahashi). The opening theme of episodes 15 and 26 is "Endless Love" by Aoi (himself), while the ending theme for the final episode is "Shota Aoi Gymnastics" by Aoi.


title: Pop Team Epic

text: Sentai Filmworks simulcast the series on Hidive. Crunchyroll simulcast the series worldwide outside of Asia. Funimation simulcast the English-dubbed version in English-speaking territories as it aired; Funimation also acquired the rights to release the anime on home video in North America. Funimation also arranged the series to air on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block starting on July 1, 2018. In Australia and New Zealand, the series simulcast on AnimeLab. Aniplus Asia simulcast the series in Southeast Asia. The series became available on Netflix in February 2020 in what was originally 11-minute episodes. It was replaced by the original half-hour format due to complaints from users. A remixed rerun titled "Pop Team Epic Repeat", which mixes up the voice actors from the original run, began airing from October 9, 2021 and is being simulcast by Crunchyroll. It also features re-recorded versions of the Team AC segments and Japanese dubs of the Japon Mignon segments. There are also visual differences in the "Repeat" version.


title: Pop Team Epic

text: The Nendoroid figures of Popuko and Pipimi, dressed as "Batman Ninja" Batman (voiced by Kōichi Yamadera) and Joker (voiced by Wataru Takagi) respectively, were displayed at the Warner Bros. booth at AnimeJapan 2018. It was suggested by Junpei Mizusaki at Kamikaze Douga; the studio animated both "Pop Team Epic" television series and "Batman Ninja" film. The crossover figures were accompanied by a 15-second television commercial, where Popuko and Pipimi (in the aforementioned costumes and being voiced by the film's respective voice actors) re-enact a sketch from "Pop Team Epic" comics before it jumps to a "Batman Ninja" scene.


title: Pop Team Epic

text: On April 26, 2018, Japan Racing Association's Umabi.jp website launched the campaign, where users can create a customised avatar of either Popuko or Pipimi as a virtual spectator. It also hinted a surprise to be revealed when a number of avatars reaches one million. As the number reached one million in late May 2018, the JRA released a branded webisode on 14 June 2018. Produced by Space Neko Company (which animated Pop Team Story segments and some of short sketches in the TV series), Mikako Komatsu and Ryusei Nakao reprised their role as Popuko in the first and second halves respectively, and so did Sumire Uesaka and Norio Wakamoto as Pipimi. The JRA also held promotional events at Tokyo Racecourse.


title: Conscription in Russia

text: Conscription in Russia (, translated as ""universal military obligation"" or ""liability for military service"") is a 12-month draft, which is mandatory for all male citizens ages 18–27, with a number of exceptions. The mandatory term of service was reduced from two years to one year in 2007 and 2008. Avoiding the draft is a felony under Russian criminal code and is punishable by up to 2 years of imprisonment. Conscripts are generally prohibited from being deployed abroad.


title: Conscription in Russia

text: Before Peter I, Russia formed the bulk of the military from the nobility and people who owned land on condition of service. During wars, additional recruiting of volunteers and ordinary citizens was common. Peter I introduced a regular army consisting of the nobility and recruits, including conscripts. The conscripts to the Imperial Russian Army were called "recruits" in Russia (not to be confused with voluntary recruitment, which did not appear until the early 20th century). The system was called "recruit obligation" ().


title: Conscription in Russia

text: Russian tsars before Peter maintained professional hereditary musketeer corps (streltsy in Russian) that were highly unreliable and undisciplined. In times of war, Russia augmented the armed forces with peasant levies. Peter I formed the Imperial Russian Army built on the German model, but with a new aspect: the Army did not necessarily draw officers from the nobility, giving talented commoners promotions that eventually included a noble title at the attainment of an officer's rank. Russia organised the conscription of peasants and townspeople on a quota system per settlement. Initially, it based conscription on the number of households in a given area. Later it was calculated on population numbers.


title: Conscription in Russia

text: The term of service in the 18th century was effectively for life, so long as an individual remained physically capable of service. In 1736 it was reduced to 25 years, with one male member of each family excluded from managing its property. In 1834 it was reduced to 20 years plus five years in the reserve, and in 1855 to 12 years plus three years of reserve liability.


title: Conscription in Russia

text: After the Russian defeat in the Crimean War during the reign of Alexander II, the Minister of War Dmitry Milyutin introduced military reforms, with an initial draft presented in 1862. On January 1, 1874 , a statute concerning conscription was approved by the Tsar by which military service was generally made compulsory for males at the age of 21. The term of actual service was reduced for the land army to 6 years, followed by nine years in the reserve. This measure created a large pool of military reservists ready to be mobilized in the event of war while permitting the maintenance of a smaller active army during peacetime. Most naval conscripts had an obligation for seven years of service, reflecting the extended period required for technical training.


title: Conscription in Russia

text: Immediately before the outbreak of World War I, the Imperial Government imposed compulsory service of three years for entrants to infantry and artillery regiments and four years for cavalry and engineers. After completing this initial period of full-time service, conscripts passed into the first class reserves for seven years. The final obligation for compulsory service ended at age 43, after eight years in the second reserves.


title: Conscription in Russia

text: The large population in Russia permitted military service exemptions on a larger scale than in other European armies of the period. Muslims and members of certain racial or religious minorities were generally exempted from conscription, as was about half of the Russian Orthodox population. The Military of the Grand Duchy of Finland followed separate arrangements. An only son was not typically required to serve.


title: Conscription in Russia

text: The first all-union conscription law of 1925 was tailored for the mixed cadre-militia structure of the peacetime Red Army after the Civil War. Draft-age was 21 years. Terms of service varied between one year in territorial formations and 2 to 4 years in the cadre army. Only "workers and peasants" were seen worthy to serve in combat units. Men of other social backgrounds were restricted to rear or labor services or had to pay a military tax.


title: Conscription in Russia

text: The 1936 Soviet Constitution declared military service a "sacred duty" of all Soviet citizens. The Constitution dropped any reservations regarding social or national background. A 1939 service law lowered the call-up age to 19. The Red army had adopted a full-cadre structure in the 1930s.


title: Conscription in Russia

text: During the so-called Great Patriotic War, all non-disabled men of ages 18–51 were subject to draft except specialists declared vitally necessary in the domestic military/defense industry.


title: Conscription in Russia

text: Soviet Armed Forces completed post-World War II demobilisation in 1948. A 1949 service law set service terms at three years in ground forces and four years in the navy.


title: Conscription in Russia

text: The late Soviet Armed Forces were manned by mandatory draft (with some exceptions) for all able-bodied males for 2 years (3 years for seagoing parts of the Navy and Border troops), based on the 1967 Law on Universal Military Service. A bi-annual call-up in spring and autumn was introduced then, replacing the annual draft in fall. The conscripts were normally sent to serve far away from their residence.


title: Conscription in Russia

text: Men were subject to draft at the age of 18. The draft could be postponed due to continued education. However, since the early 1980s Soviet Union had a mandatory draft for students of most colleges/universities — the first mass student recruitment was in spring 1983, the maximum conscription fraction in 1987 — until it was abolished in the spring of 1989. Students were drafted for two or, if for the navy, three years of military service typically after termination (more seldom in the middle) of the first or second year of college.


title: Conscription in Russia

text: Most universities had military departments which were in charge of military training of all non-disabled male students to become reserve officers of a particular military specialty depending on the university. At the moment of the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, there were 397 civilian institutions of higher education which had military departments, in whole USSR. There was the practice of the selective conscription of graduates of civilian institutions of higher education (universities, academies and, strictly speaking, institutions), who have graduated the military departments of their almae matres and received a commission as an officer, in the Soviet Union. Such a person could be conscripted from the reserve of armed forces to active duty, but until the age of 27 only; the period of active duty of such an officer was several years, and at the end of that period, he was due to be enlisted in the reserve of armed forces again. Such officers were called "blazers" in army's slang (for example, Anatoly Kvashnin was a "blazer").


title: Conscription in Russia

text: The two-year conscription term in force in the USSR after 1967 continued in Russia following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union until 2006, when the Government of Russia and State Duma gradually reduced the term of service to 18 months for those conscripted in 2007 and to one year from 2008, while dropping some legal excuses for non-conscription from the law (such as non-conscription of rural doctors and teachers, of men who have a child younger than 3 years, etc.) from 1 January 2008.


title: Conscription in Russia

text: As of 2021, all male citizens aged 18–27 are subject to conscription for 1 year of active duty military service in armed forces, but the precise number of conscripts for each of the recruitment campaigns, which are usually held twice annually, is prescribed by particular Presidential Decree. Russian law provides some grounds for temporary postponement of and permanent exemption from military draft.


title: Conscription in Russia

text: The conscription of graduates of civilian institutions of higher education, who have graduated the military departments of their universities and received a commission as an officer was abolished on 1 January 2008 when the amendments, contained in Federal Law of 6 July 2006, №104-FZ, entered into force.


title: Conscription in Russia

text: On 5 November 2022, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, president Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing people convicted of serious crimes, including drug trafficking and murder, to be mobilized into the Russian army. The exemption does not include people convicted of sex crimes involving minors and crimes against the state, such as treason, spying or terrorism. This could allow "hundreds of thousands" of people to be mobilized. Putin subsequently claimed that 18,000 people have been mobilised over the goal of 300,000, which began in September.


title: Śramaṇa

text: Śramaṇa (Sanskrit; Pali: "𑀲𑀫𑀦") means "one who labours, toils, or exerts themselves (for some higher or religious purpose)" or "seeker, one who performs acts of austerity, ascetic". During its development, the term came to refer to several non-Brahmanical ascetic religions parallel to but separate from the Vedic religion. The Śramaṇa tradition includes primarily Jainism, Buddhism, and others such as the Ājīvika.


title: Śramaṇa

text: The śramaṇa religions became popular in the same circles of mendicants from greater Magadha that led to the development of spiritual practices, as well as the popular concepts in all major Indian religions such as "saṃsāra" (the cycle of birth and death) and "moksha" (liberation from that cycle).


title: Śramaṇa

text: The Śramaṇic traditions have a diverse range of beliefs, ranging from accepting or denying the concept of soul, fatalism to free will, idealization of extreme asceticism to that of family life, renunciation, strict ahimsa (non-violence) and vegetarianism to permissibility of violence and meat-eating.


title: Śramaṇa

text: One of the earliest recorded uses of the word "śramaṇa", in the sense of a mendicant, is in verse 4.3.22 of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad composed by about the 6th century BCE. The concept of renunciation and monk-like lifestyle is found in Vedic literature, with terms such as yatis, rishis, and śramaṇas. The Vedic literature from pre-1000 BCE era, mentions "Muni" (मुनि, monks, mendicants, holy man). Rig Veda, for example, in Book 10 Chapter 136, mentions mendicants as those with "kēśin" (केशिन्, long-haired) and "mala" clothes (मल, dirty, soil-colored, yellow, orange, saffron) engaged in the affairs of "mananat" (mind, meditation).


title: Śramaṇa

text: The hymn uses the term "vātaraśana" (वातरशन) which means "girdled with wind". Some scholars have interpreted this to mean "sky-clad, naked monk" and therefore a synonym for "Digambara" (a Jainism sect). However, other scholars state that this could not be the correct interpretation because it is inconsistent with the words that immediately follow, "wearing soil-hued garments". The context likely means that the poet is describing the "munis" as moving like the wind, their garments pressed by the wind. According to Olivelle, it is unlikely that the "vātaraśana" implies a class within the Vedic context.


title: Śramaṇa

text: The earliest known explicit use of the term śramaṇa is found in section 2.7 of the "Taittiriya Aranyaka", a layer within the "Yajurveda" (~1000 BCE, a scripture of Hinduism). It mentions "śramaṇa Rishis" and celibate "Rishis".


title: Śramaṇa

text: Buddhist commentaries associate the word's etymology with the quieting (') of evil (') as in the following phrase from the 3rd century BCE "Dhammapada", verse 265: ' ("someone who has pacified evil is called '").


title: Śramaṇa

text: The word śramaṇa is postulated to be derived from the verbal root "", meaning "to exert effort, labor or to perform austerity". The history of wandering monks in ancient India is partly untraceable. The term 'parivrajaka' was perhaps applicable to all the peripatetic monks of India, such as those found in Buddhism, Jainism and Brahmanism.


title: Śramaṇa

text: The "śramaṇa" refers to a variety of renunciate ascetic traditions from the middle of the 1st millennium BCE. The śramaṇas were individual, experiential and free-form traditions. The term "śramaṇas" is used sometimes to contrast them with "Brahmins" in terms of their religious models. Part of the śramaṇa tradition retained their distinct identity from Hinduism by rejecting the epistemic authority of the Vedas, while a part of the śramaṇa tradition became part of Hinduism as one stage in the Ashrama dharma, that is as renunciate sannyasins.


title: Śramaṇa

text: Pali "samaṇa" has been suggested as the ultimate origin of the word Evenki сама̄н ("samān") "shaman", possibly via Middle Chinese or Tocharian B; however, the etymology of this word, which is also found in other Tungusic languages, is controversial (see ).


title: Śramaṇa

text: Several "śramaṇa" movements are known to have existed in India before the 6th century BCE (pre-Buddha, pre-Mahavira), and these influenced both the āstika and nāstika traditions of Indian philosophy. Martin Wiltshire states that the Śramaṇa tradition evolved in India over two phases, namely Paccekabuddha and Savaka phases, the former being the tradition of individual ascetic and latter of disciples, and that Buddhism and Jainism ultimately emerged from these as sectarian manifestations. These traditions drew upon already established Brahmanical concepts, states Wiltshire, to communicate their own distinct doctrines. Reginald Ray concurs that Śramaṇa movements already existed and were established traditions in pre-6th century BCE India, but disagrees with Wiltshire that they were nonsectarian before the arrival of Buddha.


title: Śramaṇa

text: According to the Jain Agamas and the Buddhist Pāli Canon, there were other śramaṇa leaders at the time of Buddha. In the "Mahāparinibbāna Sutta" (DN 16), a śramaṇa named Subhadda mentions:


title: Śramaṇa

text: The traditional view of scholars in the field, represented for example by Govind Chandra Pande in his 1957 study on the origins of Buddhism, is that Śramaṇa began as a "distinct and separate cultural and religious" tradition from Vedic religion.


title: Śramaṇa

text: Patrick Olivelle, a professor of Indology and known for his translations of major ancient Sanskrit works, states in his 1993 study that contrary to some representations, the original Śramaṇa tradition was a part of the Vedic one. He writes,


title: Śramaṇa

text: According to Olivelle, and other scholars such as Edward Crangle, the concept of Śramaṇa exists in the early Brahmanical literature. The term is used in an adjectival sense for sages who lived a special way of life that the Vedic culture considered extraordinary. However, Vedic literature does not provide details of that life. The term did not imply any opposition to either Brahmins or householders. In all likelihood states Olivelle, during the Vedic era, neither did the Śramaṇa concept refer to an identifiable class, nor to ascetic groups as it does in later Indian literature. Additionally, in the early texts, some pre-dating 3rd-century BCE ruler Ashoka, the Brahmana and Śramaṇa are neither distinct nor opposed. The distinction, according to Olivelle, in later Indian literature "may have been a later semantic development possibly influenced by the appropriation of the latter term [Sramana] by Buddhism and Jainism".


title: Śramaṇa

text: The Vedic society, states Olivelle, contained many people whose roots were non-Aryan who must have influenced the Aryan classes. However, it is difficult to identify and isolate these influences, in part because the vedic culture not only developed from influences but also from its inner dynamism and socio-economic developments.


title: Śramaṇa

text: According to Bronkhorst, the sramana culture arose in "Greater Magadha," which was Indo-Aryan, but not Vedic. In this culture, Kshatriyas were placed higher than Brahmins, and it rejected Vedic authority and rituals.


title: Śramaṇa

text: Pande attributes the origin of Buddhism, not entirely to the Buddha, but to a "great religious ferment" towards the end of the Vedic period when the Brahmanic and Sramanic traditions intermingled.


title: Śramaṇa

text: The Buddhist text of the "Samaññaphala Sutta" identifies six pre-Buddhist śrāmana schools, identifying them by their leader. These six schools are represented in the text to have diverse philosophies, which according to Padmanabh Jaini, may be "a biased picture and does not give a true picture" of the Sramanic schools rivaling with Buddhism,


title: Śramaṇa

text: The pre-Buddhist śrāmana movements were organized "Sanghagani" (order of monks and ascetics), according to the Buddhist "Samaññaphala Sutta". The six leaders above are described as a "Sanghi" (head of the order), "Ganacariyo" (teacher), "Cirapabbajito" (recluse), "Yasassi and Neto" (of repute and well known).


title: Śramaṇa

text: Jain literature too mentions Pūraṇa Kassapa, Makkhali Gosāla and Sañjaya Belaṭṭhaputta. During the life of Buddha, Mahavira and the Buddha were leaders of their śramaṇa orders. Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta refers to Mahāvīra.


title: Śramaṇa

text: According to Pande, Jainas were the same as the Niganthas mentioned in the Buddhist texts, and they were a well established sect when Buddha began preaching. He states, without identifying supporting evidence, that "Jainas" appear to have belonged to the non-Vedic Munis and Sramanas who may have been ultimately connected with pre-Vedic civilization". The śramaṇa system is believed by a majority of Jaina scholars to have been of independent origin and not a protest movement of any kind, were led by Jaina thinkers, and were pre-Buddhist and pre-Vedic.


title: Śramaṇa

text: Some scholars posit that the Indus Valley civilisation symbols may be related to later Jain statues, and the bull icon may have a connection to Rishabhanatha. According to Dundas, outside of the Jain tradition, historians date the Mahavira as about contemporaneous with the Buddha in the 5th-century BCE, and accordingly the historical Parshvanatha, based on the c. 250-year gap, is placed in 8th or 7th century BCE.


title: Śramaṇa

text: It was as a śramaṇa that the Buddha left his father's palace and practised austerities. Gautama Buddha, after fasting nearly to death by starvation, regarded extreme austerities and self-mortification as useless or unnecessary in attaining enlightenment, recommending instead a "Middle Way" between the extremes of hedonism and self-mortification. Devadatta, a cousin of Gautama, caused a split in the Buddhist sangha by demanding more rigorous practices.


title: Śramaṇa

text: The Buddhist movement chose a moderate ascetic lifestyle. This was in contrast to Jains, who continued the tradition of stronger austerity, such as fasting and giving away all property including clothes and thus going naked, emphasizing that complete dedication to spirituality includes turning away from material possessions and any cause for evil karma. The moderate ascetic precepts, states Collins, likely appealed to more people and widened the base of people wanting to become Buddhists. Buddhism also developed a code for interaction of world-pursuing lay people and world-denying Buddhist monastic communities, which encouraged continued relationship between the two. Collins states, for example, that two rules of the vinaya (monastic code) were that a person could not join a monastic community without parent's permission, and that at least one son remained with each family to care for that family. Buddhism also combined the continuing interaction, such as giving alms to renunciants, in terms of merit gained for good rebirth and good karma by the lay people. This code played a historic role in its growth, and provided a means for reliable alms (food, clothing) and social support for Buddhism.


title: Śramaṇa

text: Randall Collins states that Buddhism was more a reform movement within the educated religious classes, composed mostly of Brahmins, rather than a rival movement from outside these classes. In early Buddhism, the largest number of monastics were originally brahmins, and virtually all were recruited from the two upper classes of society – brahmins and kshatriyas.


title: Śramaṇa

text: Ājīvika was founded in the 5th century BCE by Makkhali Gosala, as a śramaṇa movement and a major rival of early Buddhism and Jainism. Ājīvikas were organised renunciates who formed discrete communities.


title: Śramaṇa

text: The Ājīvikas reached the height of their prominence in the late 1st millennium BCE, then declined, yet continued to exist in south India until the 14th Century CE, as evidenced by inscriptions found in southern India. Ancient texts of Buddhism and Jainism mention a city in the first millennium BCE named Savatthi (Sanskrit "Śravasti") as the hub of the Ājīvikas; it was located in what is now the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. In later part of the common era, inscriptions suggests that the Ājīvikas had a significant presence in the South Indian state of Karnataka and the Kolar district of Tamil Nadu.


title: Śramaṇa

text: Original scriptures of the Ājīvika school of philosophy once existed, but these are unavailable and probably lost. Their theories are extracted from mentions of Ājīvikas in the secondary sources of ancient Indian literature. Scholars question whether Ājīvika philosophy has been fairly and completely summarized in these secondary sources, written by ancient Buddhist and Jaina scholars, who represented competing and adversarial philosophies to Ājīvikas.


title: Śramaṇa

text: According to the 2nd century CE text "Ashokavadana", the Mauryan emperor Bindusara was a patron of the Ajivikas, and it reached its peak of popularity during this time. "Ashokavadana" also mentions that Bindusara's son Ashoka converted to Buddhism, became enraged at a picture that depicted Buddha in negative light, and issued an order to kill all the Ajivikas in Pundravardhana. Around 18,000 followers of the Ajivika sect were executed as a result of this order.


title: Śramaṇa

text: Jaina texts mention separation and conflict between Mahavira and Gosala, accusation of contemptuous comments, and an occasion where the Jaina and Ajivika monastic orders "came to blows". However, given the texts alleging conflict and portraying Ajivikas and Gosala in negative light were written centuries after the incident by their śramaṇa opponents, and given the versions in Buddhist and Jaina texts are different, the reliability of these stories, states Basham, is questionable.


title: Śramaṇa

text: Jainism derives its philosophy from the teachings and lives of the twenty-four Tirthankaras, of whom Mahavira was the last. Acharyas Umaswati, Kundakunda, Haribhadra, and others further developed and reorganized Jain philosophy in its present form. The distinguishing features of Jain philosophy are its belief in the independent existence of soul and matter, predominance of karma, the denial of a creative and omnipotent God, belief in an eternal and uncreated universe, a strong emphasis on nonviolence, an accent on anekantavada and morality and ethics based on liberation of the soul. The Jain philosophy of anekantavada and syādvāda, which posits that the truth or reality is perceived differently from different points of view, and that no single point of view is the complete truth, have made very important contributions to ancient Indian philosophy, especially in the areas of skepticism and relativity.


title: Śramaṇa

text: Jain monastics are known as śramaṇas while lay practitioners are called śrāvakas. The religion or code of conduct of the monks is known as the śramaṇa dharma. Jain canons like "Ācāranga Sūtra" and other later texts contain many references to Sramanas.


title: Śramaṇa

text: The "Ācāranga Sūtra" gives three names of Mahavira, the twenty fourth Tirthankara, one of which was "Śramaṇa":


title: Śramaṇa

text: Another Jain canon, "Sūtrakrtanga" describes the śramaṇa as an ascetic who has taken Mahavrata, the five great vows:


title: Śramaṇa

text: The "Sūtrakrtanga" records that prince, Ardraka, who became disciple to Mahavira, arguing with other heretical teachers, told Makkhali Gosala the qualities of śramaṇas:


title: Śramaṇa

text: Buddha initially practiced severe austerities, fasting himself nearly to death of starvation. However, he later considered extreme austerities and self-mortification as unnecessary and recommended a "Middle Way" between the extremes of hedonism and self-mortification.


title: Śramaṇa

text: The Brahmajāla Sutta mentions many śramaṇas with whom Buddha disagreed. For example, in contrast to Sramanic Jains whose philosophical premise includes the existence of an "Atman" (self, soul) in every being, Buddhist philosophy denies that there is any self or soul. This concept called "Anatta" (or "Anatman") is a part of "Three Marks of existence" in Buddhist philosophy, the other two being "Dukkha" (suffering) and "Anicca" (impermanence). According to Buddha, states Laumakis, everything lacks inherent existence. Buddhism is a transtheistic philosophy, which is especially concerned with pratītyasamutpāda (dependent origination) and śūnyatā (emptiness or nothingness).


title: Śramaṇa

text: The Ājīvika school is known for its "Niyati" doctrine of absolute determinism, the premise that there is no free will, that everything that has happened, is happening and will happen is entirely preordained and a function of cosmic principles. Ājīvika considered the karma doctrine as a fallacy. Ajivika metaphysics included a theory of atoms similar to the Vaisheshika school, where everything was composed of atoms, qualities emerged from aggregates of atoms, but the aggregation and nature of these atoms was predetermined by cosmic forces. Ājīvikas were atheists and rejected the epistemic authority of the Vedas, but they believed that in every living being there is an "ātman" – a central premise of Hinduism and Jainism as well.


title: Śramaṇa

text: The "śramaṇa" traditions subscribed to diverse philosophies, significantly disagreeing with each other as well as orthodox Indian philosophy (six schools of Hindu philosophy). The differences ranged from a belief that every individual has a soul (self, atman) to asserting that there is no soul, from axiological merit in a frugal ascetic life to that of a hedonistic life, from a belief in rebirth to asserting that there is no rebirth.


title: Śramaṇa

text: A denial of the epistemic authority of the Vedas and Upanishads was one of the several differences between Sramanic philosophies and orthodox Hinduism. Jaini states that while authority of vedas, belief in a creator, path of ritualism and social system of heredity ranks, made up the cornerstones of Brahminal schools, the path of ascetic self-mortification was the main characteristic of all the Sramanic schools.


title: Śramaṇa

text: In some cases when the Sramanic movements shared the same philosophical concepts, the details varied. In Jainism, for example, Karma is based on materialist element philosophy, where Karma is the fruit of one's action conceived as material particles which stick to a soul and keep it away from natural omniscience. The Buddha conceived Karma as a chain of causality leading to attachment of the material world and hence to rebirth. The Ajivikas were fatalists and elevated Karma as inescapable fate, where a person's life goes through a chain of consequences and rebirths until it reaches its end. Other śramaṇa movements such as those led by Pakkudha Kaccayana and Purana Kashyapa, denied the existence of Karma.


title: Śramaṇa

text: The śramaṇa traditions influenced and were influenced by Hinduism and by each other. According to some scholars, the concept of the cycle of birth and death, the concept of samsara and the concept of liberation may quite possibly be from śramaṇa or other ascetic traditions. Obeyesekere suggests that tribal sages in the Ganges valley may instead have inspired the ideas of samsara and liberation, just like rebirth ideas that emerged in Africa and Greece. O'Flaherty states that there isn't enough objective evidence to support any of these theories.


title: Śramaṇa

text: It is in the Upanishadic period that Sramanic theories influence the Brahmanical theories. While the concepts of Brahman and Atman (Soul, Self) can be consistently traced back to pre-Upanishadic layers of Vedic literature, the heterogeneous nature of the Upanishads show infusions of both social and philosophical ideas, pointing to evolution of new doctrines, likely from the Sramanic movements.


title: Śramaṇa

text: Śramaṇa traditions brought concepts of Karma and Samsara as central themes of debate. Śramaṇa views were influential to all schools of Indian philosophies. Concepts, such as karma and reincarnation may have originated in the śramaṇa or the renunciant traditions, and then become mainstream. There are multiple theories of possible origins of concepts such as Ahimsa, or non-violence. The Chāndogya Upaniṣad, dated to about the 7th century BCE, in verse 8.15.1, has the earliest evidence for the use of the word "Ahimsa" in the sense familiar in Hinduism (a code of conduct). It bars violence against "all creatures" ("sarvabhuta") and the practitioner of Ahimsa is said to escape from the cycle of metempsychosis (CU 8.15.1). According to some scholars, such as D. R. Bhandarkar, the Ahimsa dharma of the Sramanas made an impression on the followers of Brahamanism and their law books and practices.


title: Śramaṇa

text: Theories on who influenced whom, in ancient India, remains a matter of scholarly debate, and it is likely that the different philosophies contributed to each other's development. Doniger summarizes the historic interaction between scholars of Vedic Hinduism and Sramanic Buddhism:


title: Śramaṇa

text: Randall Collins states that "the basic cultural framework for lay society which eventually became Hinduism" was laid down by Buddhism.


title: Śramaṇa

text: Modern Hinduism can be regarded as a combination of Vedic and śramaṇa traditions as it is substantially influenced by both traditions. Among the Astika schools of Hinduism, Vedanta, Samkhya, and Yoga philosophies influenced and were influenced by the śramaṇa philosophy. As Geoffrey Samuel notes,


title: Śramaṇa

text: Some Brahmins joined the śramaṇa movement such as Cānakya and Sāriputta. Similarly, a group of eleven Brahmins accepted Jainism and become Mahavira's chief disciples or ganadharas.


title: Śramaṇa

text: Patrick Olivelle suggests that the Hindu ashrama system of life, created probably around the 4th-century BCE, was an attempt to institutionalize renunciation within the Brahmanical social structure. This system gave complete freedom to adults to choose what they want to do, whether they want to be householders or sannyasins (ascetics), the monastic tradition was a voluntary institution. This voluntary principle, states Olivelle, was the same principle found in Buddhist and Jain monastic orders at that time.


title: Śramaṇa

text: Various possible references to "śramaṇas", with the name more or less distorted, have appeared in ancient Western literature.


title: Śramaṇa

text: Clement of Alexandria makes several mentions of the śramaṇas, both in the context of the Bactrians and the Indians:


title: Śramaṇa

text: Porphyry extensively describes the habits of the śramaṇas, whom he calls "Samanaeans", in his "On Abstinence from Animal Food" Book IV . He says his information was obtained from "the Babylonian Bardesanes, who lived in the times of our fathers, and was familiar with those Indians who, together with Damadamis, were sent to Caesar."


title: Śramaṇa

text: German novelist Hermann Hesse, long interested in Eastern, especially Indian, spirituality, wrote "Siddhartha", in which the main character becomes a Samana upon leaving his home.


title: Javed Miandad

text: Mohammad Javed Miandad PP SI (Urdu: ; born 12 June 1957), popularly known as Javed Miandad (Urdu: ), is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer known for his unconventional style of captaincy and batting. ESPNcricinfo described him as "the greatest batsman Pakistan has ever produced"  and his contemporary Ian Chappell extolled him as one of the finest batsmen in the history of cricket.


title: Javed Miandad

text: He played for Pakistan in Tests and One-Day Internationals between 1975 and 1996. Noted for his unique technique and impressive control, Miandad has won accolades and applause from cricket historians as well as contemporaries. Miandad was ranked 44th among the best cricketers of all time by the ESPN Legends of Cricket. He has served as a captain of the Pakistan team. He is widely known for his historic last ball big six against India in 1986 at Sharjah, when 4 runs were required to win, winning an international game in that fashion for the first time, and for his contribution with the bat in the 1992 ICC World Cup.


title: Javed Miandad

text: After his playing career, Miandad has remained the coach of Pakistan cricket team at various occasions, as well as held key positions in the Pakistan Cricket Board. He had three coaching stints with the Pakistan national team.


title: Javed Miandad

text: Javed Miandad, an ethnic Muhajir, was born on 12 June 1957 in Karachi. His parents moved from Palanpur, Gujarat, India, where his father, Miandad Noor Mohammad, worked in the police department, posted in cities like Ahmedabad and Baroda, whilst at the same time, he was also overseeing the sports clubs in the city for the Nawab. He had three brothers who played first-class cricket in Pakistan: Anwar Miandad, Sohail Miandad and Bashir Miandad. His nephew, Faisal Iqbal, is also a Test cricketer.


title: Javed Miandad

text: Pakistan's first Test captain, Abdul Hafeez Kardar, upon seeing Miandad during the 1970s, predicted famously about him: "the find of the decade". His inclusion in the Pakistan team was itself an achievement. A formidable batting line-up of Mushtaq Mohammad, Majid Khan, Sadiq Mohammad, Zaheer Abbas, Asif Iqbal and Wasim Raja were hard to break into, but Miandad's raw talent made it possible and he became an integral part of Pakistan's strong batting lineup. He made his Test debut against New Zealand at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on 9 October 1976. He scored 163 and 25 not out in that match, and became the youngest batsman to score a century on debut, at the age of 19 years and 119 days; he also took a wicket in the match and Pakistan won the match by six wickets. In the third match of the same series, he scored a double century by scoring 206 runs at the National Stadium, Karachi. He broke George Headley's 47-year-old record, and became the youngest player—aged 19 years and 140 days—to score a double-century. He scored 85 runs in the second innings, failing to accomplish the unique feat of scoring a double-century and a century in a single match. Miandad was the highest run-scorer of the series, with 504 runs from five innings at the average of 126.00. His performance ensured Pakistan's victory in the three-match series by 2–0.


title: Javed Miandad

text: During Pakistan's tour to Australia in 1976–77, he played three Tests and scored 148 runs at the average of 29.60. He also took five wickets in the series, including three wickets for 85 runs at the Adelaide Oval. In the 1977–78 home series against England, Miandad scored 262 runs at the average of 131.00, including three half-centuries. His highest score in an innings in the series was 88 runs not out at the Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad. Miandad scored a Test century in his first match against India at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, during the 1978–79 series between the teams. With 154 not out in the match, he completed his first 1,000 Test runs at the age of 21 years and 126 days; he took 23 innings and 14 matches to achieve the feat – the second youngest batsman after Kapil Dev to do so. In the same series, by scoring another century at the National Stadium, he accumulated 357 runs from five innings at the average of 178.50, and ensured Pakistan's victory 2–0. In the same season, Miandad played three matches in New Zealand, and accumulated 297 runs against them at the average of 99.00. Being the highest run-scorer of the series, he also scored 160 not out at the Lancaster Park, Christchurch. During the Pakistan's tour to Australia in the same season, he scored 183 runs at the average of 61.00, including 129 runs not out at the WACA Ground, Perth.


title: Javed Miandad

text: Under the captaincy of Asif Iqbal in 1979–80, Pakistan toured India and played a six-Test match series against them. Miandad was one of the most "consistent" batsmen, scoring 421 runs—behind Sunil Gavaskar's 529 and Wasim Raja's 450—with the help of four fifties, averaged 42.10. During the third series at the Wankhede Stadium, Bombay, he completed 2,000 Test runs of his career; he took 42 innings and 24 matches to achieve the feat, and became the fastest Pakistani to do so. In the same season, Miandad was appointed as Pakistan's captain for the first time, against the touring Australia. He scored 181 runs at the average over 60 in the series, including 106 runs not out at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad, and Pakistan won the three-match series 1–0. In the solitary series of the 1980–81 at home, against the West Indies, Miandad scored 230 runs at the average of 32.85. He scored 60 of the 128 runs in the Pakistan's first innings of the third Test match, after they were 14 runs for four wickets. In the 1981–82, during the Pakistan's tour of Australia, Miandad captained the Pakistan team in three Test matches. During the first Test at Perth, he was involved in an unpleasant controversy with Dennis Lillee, where the two players came into contact after Lillee blocked Miandad's way while he was taking a single, with Lillee kicking Miandad, who responded by shaping to strike him with his bat. Pakistan lost the first two matches of the series, but they won the third Test at Malbourne by an innings and 82 runs, and finished the series 2–1. Miandad batted consistently throughout the series, but could not get support from his teammates as a captain. He scored 205 runs from five innings at the average of 41.00, including two half-centuries.


title: Javed Miandad

text: In the home series of the same season against Sri Lanka, he captained the team in three Tests, although the players refused to play under his captaincy following the Lillee-Miandad controversy. Pakistan won the series by 2–0, with Miadad scoring 176 at the average over 35, including 92 runs at the National Stadium. After the refusal of senior players to play under Miandad captaincy, Imran Khan was appointed as a new captain for the 1982 England tour; Khan was leading the team for the first time. Pakistan lost the three-Test match series 2–1, with Miandad scoring 178 runs at the average of 35.60. In his next series against the touring Australia, he scored his eighth century—138 runs—in the third Test at the Gaddafi Stadium, and ensured Pakistan's third successive win in the series. On his performance in the series, the cricket almanack "Wisden" noted that he "grew further in stature as an international batsman, his youthful audacity now being supplanted by a technical competence and insatiable appetite for runs."


title: Javed Miandad

text: In their home series against India in 1982–83, Pakistan played six Tests and defeated them by 3–0; Pakistan's victories at Karachi, Hyderabad and Faisalabad were gained by large margins. Miandad's consistency of scoring runs, along with Zaheer, Mudassar and Mohsin Khan, crushed the Indian bowling line. Miandad was the third highest run-scorer, with 594 runs – after Mudassar's 761 and Zaheer's 650 runs – at the average of 118.80; they made the record for the three top batsmen in any Test series. Miandad and Mudassar's partnership of 451 runs in the Hyderabad Test constituted a new world record for the third wicket, and equalled the all-time record for any Test wicket, made by Don Bradman and Bill Ponsford in 1938. They became the first two Pakistani batsmen to score double-centuries in an inning. Miandad scored his career best 280 not out, before the captain Imran Khan, decided to declare the innings, thus stopping him from "possibly breaking the individual Test world record of Sir Garfield Sobers". Cricket critics call this "one of the worst decisions by Imran as captain of Pakistan" as he "didn't even give him a particular time or the number of overs he could bat on for." Miandad, however never expressed displeasure on the decision. Pakistan won the match by an innings and 119 runs. Pakistan visited India in 1983–84 under the captaincy of Zaheer, and played a leveled three-Test match series. Miandad scored 225 runs in the series at the average of 75.00, including 99 runs at Bangalore. Miandad scored 131 runs against Australia at the Adelaide Oval, the third Test of the series between the teams. He could not perform consistently and finished the series with 302 runs at average of over 33, with Pakistan lost the five-match series 2–0.


title: Javed Miandad

text: Miandad scored centuries in the each innings of the second Test of the 1984–85 series against New Zealand; he scored 104 and 103 not out at the Niaz Stadium, Hyderabad. In the second innings of the match, he established a partnership of 212 runs for third wicket with Mudassar, a Pakistani record at that time. This was the 1,000 match in the history of Test cricket. He was the highest run-scorer of the series, with 337 runs at the average over 84; Pakistan won the series 2–0. Miandad captained the Pakistan cricket team in the next series against the same team, which was played in New Zealand. He could not maintained his previous form against them, and only managed to score 138 runs, averaged below 28. During 1985–86 Sri Lankan tour to Pakistan, three Test matches were played between the teams. Miandad, who was captaining Pakistan, made his third double century in the first Test at Iqbal Stadium. During his innings of 203 not out, he made a partnership of 397 runs with Qasim Umar—who also made a double century in the innings—for third wicket, which was eighth highest overall and second highest for the third wicket at that time. Miandad's score of 306 runs from three innings were the most by any batsmen in the series, and his average for the score was 153.00. In the same season Pakistan visited Sri Lanka, and played three Tests against them. During the second Test, Two unpleasant incidents occurred: when an umpire started rubbing the new ball replaced with the older one on the ground, during Pakistan's second innings after sixteen overs to get the similar characteristics; Pakistan manager came to the umpire and showed him the 1985 Wisden's relevant Law; and Miandad's disagreement to the umpire's decision of lbw against him. Later on someone from the crowd threw a stone upon Miandad, and he went upstairs into the crowd to take revenge from the spectator.


title: Javed Miandad

text: In 1992, during the Pakistan tour to England, he scored 153 not out in the first Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham. From then to his retirement he scored 578 runs, without scoring a century, at the average of 32.11 in 11 Tests. He made only four half-centuries during that period.


title: Javed Miandad

text: Miandad played 124 Test matches, batting in 189 innings. His aggregate of 8,832 Test runs was a Pakistani record until Younis Khan broke it in 2015. Inzamam ul Haq also came close to breaking this record just falling short by 4 runs. Even though his test career spanned 17 years, he failed to make it into the top-most category of batsmen with test aggregates of over 10,000 runs. Miandad's 23 centuries and 43 fifties were Pakistani national records, until they were broken by Inzamam-ul-Haq. Miandad's Test career batting average of 52.57 is currently the highest for Pakistani batsmen. He scored six double centuries which is the most by a Pakistani and 6th overall. He became the first batsman in the history of cricket to score a century in both his 1st and 100th test (against New Zealand and India respectively). He made his highest score of 280 not out against India. Pakistan went on to win that match by an innings and 119 runs.


title: Javed Miandad

text: Miandad made his One Day International debut against the West Indies at Edgbaston, Birmingham in the 1975 Cricket World Cup. His last ODI was also a World Cup match, and Pakistan lost the match. More, he scored 2 fours and 0 sixes and his strike rate was below 100 in both of his, first and last ODI innings. His highest ODI score came against India at the Gaddafi Stadium in a match which Pakistan lost in 1982. He scored 119 not out off 77 balls with a strike rate of 154.54 in the match.


title: Javed Miandad

text: Pakistan recorded their first win at a major tournament in 1986's Austral-Asia Cup held in Sharjah and Miandad finished his innings with 116 not out in the final against India. This is still considered one of the most historic moments in the history of ODI cricket and he became a national hero.


title: Javed Miandad

text: Javed Miandad is the first (and one of the only two, other being Sachin Tendulkar) player to have played in six World Cups, the first six, from 1975 to 1996.


title: Javed Miandad

text: After Asif Iqbal's retirement following a series loss in the 1979–1980 tour of India, coupled with match fixing allegations for the very first time in Pakistan's history, a 22 year old Miandad was made the captain of Pakistan. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) preferred him over the senior cricketers like Zaheer Abbas, Sarfraz Nawaz, Majid Khan and Wasim Bari who were still playing. He faced a little opposition but his first two series as captain, in 1981/82, included a win against Australia, and a credible 0–1 loss to the West Indies. After a tough tour of Australia, opposition to his captaincy gained strength, and his first captaincy period ended during the following home series against Sri Lanka.


title: Javed Miandad

text: He captained Pakistan in six more tests in 1985, and thereafter broadly shared Test captaincy duties with Imran Khan until the end of his career. Pakistan won 14 and lost 6 of his 34 tests in charge. He captained them to home and away Test series victories against England in 1987-8 and 1992, and averaged just over 50 as a batsman when Pakistan's captain.


title: Javed Miandad

text: In one-day cricket he captained Pakistan in 62 one-day internationals of which they won 26 and lost 33. None of his one-day international hundreds came as captain.


title: Javed Miandad

text: Miandad is one of the few individuals (others being Waqar Younis and Richard Pybus) to have coached the Pakistan Cricket Team over three or more separate occasions. He was first appointed coach in September 1998. Under his reign Pakistan defeated India in India (once in the Test series which ended 1–1, and once in the Asian Test Championship), won the tri-series in India, won the Asian Test Championship and won the 1999 Sharjah Cup in April. Strangely, Miandad faxed his resignation to the PCB in late April 1999, just before the 1999 Cricket World Cup. The reason for his first resignation was unknown. Many cited hiring of Richard Pybus (technical coach) and Sarfaraz Nawaz (bowling coach) as a possible reason. Others suggested unrest with senior players.


title: Javed Miandad

text: In 2000, after Moin Khan took over captaincy from Saeed Anwar, Miandad was reappointed as the coach. During his second reign, Pakistan won the Sharjah Cup (March 2000), the Asia Cup (May–June 200), the West Indies tri-series and the Test series in Sri Lanka. Pakistan lost the ICC Champions Trophy semifinal under his reign. Miandad was removed along with Moin Khan in April 2001 after Pakistan lost the ODI series in New Zealand. There were also reports of match fixing during the preceding Test series which Pakistan drew after losing the third game.


title: Javed Miandad

text: After Pakistan's dismal show in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, another cleanup operation was undertaken by the PCB, naming Rashid Latif as captain and Javed Miandad as team coach in March 2003. During this reign, Miandad won Pakistan the Sharjah Cup (April 2003) bereft of big names like Inzamam and Yousaf. Pakistan won the home Test series against South Africa after losing 3–2 in the ODI series. Pakistan lost the home ODI series to India in 2004 and following the loss of the Test series, Miandad was shown the door in June 2004, being replaced by South African Bob Woolmer.


title: Javed Miandad

text: Following this he was offered broadcasting and coaching positions in India. Also in November 2010 it was being planned to give Miandad a role as a batting coach.


title: Javed Miandad

text: Javed Miandad married Tahira Saigol, daughter of Khalid Saigol and Farida Hayat in 1981. He has two sons and a daughter. His son Junaid Miandad is married to Mahrukh Ibrahim, daughter of Dawood Ibrahim, an Indian born mafia kingpin, who heads organised crime syndicate D-Company. Miandad told the press that his son and Ibrahim's daughter met while studying together in the UK. In 2011, Miandad recorded Na`at for Geo TV; his "Sakoon Paya" was well received by his fans but he did not subsequently read any more Naat.


title: Quba Mosque

text: The Quba Mosque () is a mosque located on the outskirts of Medina, Saudi Arabia. Initially, the mosque was built off Medina in the village of Quba, before Medina expanded to include this village. Depending on whether the Mosque of the Companions in the Eritrean city of Massawa is older or not, it may be the first mosque in the world that dates to the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the 7th century CE. According to records, its first stones were positioned by Muhammad as soon as he arrived on his emigration from the city of Mecca to Medina, and the mosque was completed by his companions. Per Quranic texts, Muhammad spent 14 days in this mosque praying "qaṣr" (, a short prayer) while waiting for Ali to arrive in Medina, after the latter stayed behind in Mecca to safeguard Muhammad’s life and safe escape by sleeping in Muhammad’s bed in his place. Also going along with traditional saying, this mosque is said to be where the first Friday prayer was held, led by Muhammad.


title: Quba Mosque

text: According to Islamic tradition, performing "Wuḍūʾ" ('Ablution') in one's home then offering two "Rakaʿāt" of "Nafl" (Optional) prayers in the Quba Mosque is equal to performing one "ʿUmrah". Muhammad used to go there, riding or on foot, every Saturday and offer a two "rakaʿāt"-prayer. He advised others to do the same, saying, "Whoever makes ablutions at home and then goes and prays in the Mosque of Quba, he will have a reward like that of an 'Umrah." This "ḥadīth" was reported by Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Al-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah and Hakim al-Nishaburi. In keeping with traditional belief, this mosque is said to be the site of Muhammad's first Friday prayer.


title: Quba Mosque

text: When the Driehaus Prize winner and New Classical architect Abdel-Wahed El-Wakil was commissioned, in the 20th century, to conceive a larger mosque, he intended to incorporate the old structure into his design. But the old mosque was torn down and replaced with a new one.


title: Quba Mosque

text: The new mosque consists of a rectangular prayer hall raised on a second story platform. The prayer hall connects to a cluster containing residential areas, offices, ablution facilities, shops and a library.


title: Quba Mosque

text: The recent new construction of the Quba Mosque that happened in 1984 include many new additions, such as 7 main entrances, 4 parallel minarets, and the 56 mini domes that surround the perimeter of the mosque from an overhead point of view. The courtyard of this mosque is composed of black, red, and white marble. And majority of the structure and interior structures such as the minbar and mihrab are all composed of white marble. Originally, there was one minaret, the new renovations included the addition of the other three minarets, they rest on square bases, have octagonal shafts which take on a circular shape as they reach the top.


title: Quba Mosque

text: The prayer hall is arranged around a central courtyard, characterised by six large domes resting on clustered columns. A portico, which is two bays in depth, borders the courtyard on the east and west, while a one-bayed portico borders it on the north, and separates it from the women's prayer area.


title: Quba Mosque

text: The women's prayer area, which is surrounded by a screen, is divided into two parts as a passageway connects the northern entrance with the courtyard.


title: Quba Mosque

text: When Quba Mosque was rebuilt in 1986, the Medina architecture was retained – ribbed white domes, and basalt facing and modest exterior – qualities that recalls Madina's simplicity. The courtyard, is flagged with black, red and white marble. It is screened overhead by day from the scorching heat with shades. Arabesque latticework filters the light of the palm groves outside. Elements of the new building include work by the Egyptian architect Abdel-Wahed El-Wakil and the Stuttgart tensile architect Mahmoud Bodo Rasch, a student of Frei Otto.


title: Quba Mosque

text: The merits of Masjid Quba are mentioned in nineteen "Sahih al-Bukhari" hadiths; thirteen "Sahih Muslim" hadiths; two "Sunan Abu Dawood" hadiths; six "Al-Muwatta" hadiths.


title: Quba Mosque

text: It is believed to be the mosque which the Qur'an mentions as being founded on piety and devoutness ("Masjid al-Taqwa")


title: Breeching (boys)

text: Breeching was the occasion when a small boy was first dressed in breeches or trousers. From the mid-16th century until the late 19th or early 20th century, young boys in the Western world were unbreeched and wore gowns or dresses until an age that varied between two and eight. Various forms of relatively subtle differences usually enabled others to tell little boys from little girls, in codes that modern art historians are able to understand but may be difficult to discern for the layperson.


title: Breeching (boys)

text: Breeching was an important rite of passage in the life of a boy, looked forward to with much excitement, and often celebrated with a small party. It often marked the point at which the father became more involved with the raising of a boy.


title: Breeching (boys)

text: The main reason for keeping boys in dresses was toilet training, or the lack thereof. The change was probably made once boys had reached the age when they could easily undo the rather complicated fastenings of many early modern breeches and trousers. Before roughly 1550 various styles of long robes were in any case commonly worn by adult males of various sorts, so boys wearing them could probably not be said to form a distinct phenomenon. Dresses were also easier to make with room for future growth, in an age when clothes were much more expensive than now for all classes. The "age of reason" was generally considered to be about seven, and breeching corresponded roughly with that age for much of the period. The many portraits of Balthasar Charles, Prince of Asturias (1629–1646), son of Philip IV of Spain, show him wearing breeches from about the age of six.


title: Breeching (boys)

text: For working-class children, about whom even less is known than their better-off contemporaries, it may well have marked the start of a working life. The debate between his parents over the breeching of the hero of "Tristram Shandy" (1761) suggests that the timing of the event could be rather arbitrary; in this case it is his father who suggests the time has arrived. The 17th-century French cleric and memoirist François-Timoléon de Choisy is supposed to have been kept in dresses until he was eighteen.


title: Breeching (boys)

text: In the 19th century, photographs were often taken of the boy in his new trousers, typically with his father. He might also collect small gifts of money by going round the neighbourhood showing off his new clothes. Friends, of the mother as much as the boy, might gather to see his first appearance. A letter of 1679 from Lady Anne North to her widowed and absent son gives a lengthy account of the breeching of her grandson: "Never had any bride that was to be dressed upon her wedding-night more hands about her, some the legs and some the armes, the taylor buttn'ing and other putting on the sword, and so many lookers on that had I not a ffinger amongst them I could not have seen him. When he was quit drest he acted his part as well as any of them. ... since you could not have the first sight I resolved you should have a full relation". The dresses he wore before she calls "coats".


title: Breeching (boys)

text: The first progression, for both boys and girls, was when they were shortcoated or taken out of the long dresses that came well below the feet that were worn by babies—and which have survived as the modern christening robe. It was not possible to walk in these, which no doubt dictated the timing of the change. Toddlers' gowns often featured leading strings, which were narrow straps of fabric or ribbon attached at the shoulder and held by an adult while the child was learning to walk.


title: Breeching (boys)

text: After this stage, in the Early Modern period it is usually not too difficult to distinguish between small boys and girls in commissioned portraits of the wealthy, even where the precise identities are no longer known. The smaller figures of small children in genre painting have less detail, and painters often did not trouble to include distinguishing props as they did in portraits. Working-class children presumably were more likely than the rich to wear handed-down clothes that were used by both sexes. In portraits the colours of clothes often keep the rough gender distinctions we see in adults—girls wear white or pale colours, and boys darker ones, including red. This may not entirely reflect reality, but the differences in hairstyles, and in the style of clothing at the chest, throat and neck, waist, and often the cuffs, presumably do.


title: Breeching (boys)

text: In the 19th century, perhaps as childhood became sentimentalised, it becomes harder to tell the clothing apart between the sexes; the hair remains the best guide, but some mothers were evidently unable to resist keeping this long too. By this time the age of breeching was falling closer to two or three, where it would remain. Boys in most periods had shorter hair, often cut in a straight fringe, whilst girls' hair was longer, and in earlier periods sometimes worn "up" in adult styles, at least for special occasions like portraits. In the 19th century, wearing hair up itself became a significant rite of passage for girls at puberty, as part of their "coming out" into society. Younger girls' hair was always long, or plaited. Sometimes a quiff or large curl emerges from under a boy's cap. Boys are most likely to have side partings, and girls centre partings.


title: Breeching (boys)

text: Girls' bodices usually reflected adult styles, in their best clothes at least, and low bodices and necklaces are common. Boys often, though not always, had dresses that were closed up to the neck-line, and often buttoned at the front—rare for girls. They frequently wear belts, and in periods when female dresses had a V at the waist, this is often seen on little girls, but not on boys. Linen and lace at the neck and cuffs tend to follow adult styles for each gender, although again the clothes worn in portraits no doubt do not reflect everyday wear, and may not reflect even best clothes accurately.


title: Breeching (boys)

text: Unbreeched boys of the nobility are sometimes seen wearing swords or daggers on a belt. A speech by King Leontes from Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale" implies that, as common sense would suggest, these could not be drawn, and were purely for show:


title: Breeching (boys)

text: — he also calls his dress a "coat"; "cote" was a French and English term, dating back to the Middle Ages, for earlier adult male gowns and seems to have been kept in use for boys' clothes to preserve some gender distinction.


title: Breeching (boys)

text: Usually jewellery is not worn by boys, but when worn it is likely to be dark in colour, like the coral beads worn by the Flemish boy above. Coral was considered by medical authorities the best material to use for teething aids, and a combined rattle and whistle (in silver) and teething stick (in coral) can be seen in many portraits.


title: Breeching (boys)

text: In portraits even very young girls may wear necklaces, often of pearls. In the Van Dyck portrait of the children of Charles I, only the absence of a necklace and the colour of his dress distinguish the unbreeched James (aged four) from his next youngest sister Elizabeth, whilst their elder brother and sister, at seven and six, have moved on to adult styles. In cases of possible doubt, painters tend to give boys masculine toys to hold like drums, whips for toy horses, or bows.


title: Breeching (boys)

text: In the late 18th century, new philosophies of child-rearing led to clothes that were thought especially suitable for children. Toddlers wore washable dresses called frocks of linen or cotton. British and American boys after perhaps three began to wear rather short pantaloons and short jackets, and for very young boys the skeleton suit was introduced. These gave the first real alternative to dresses, and became fashionable across Europe.


title: Breeching (boys)

text: The skeleton suit consisted of trousers and tight-fitting jacket, buttoned together at the waist or higher up; they were not unlike the romper suit introduced in the early 20th century. But dresses for boys did not disappear, and again became common from the 1820s, when they were worn at about knee-length, sometimes with visible pantaloons called pantalettes as underwear, a style also worn by little girls.


title: Breeching (boys)

text: As the next stage, from the mid-19th century boys usually progressed into shorts at breeching—again these are more accommodating to growth, and cheaper. The knickerbocker suit was also popular. The jackets of boys after breeching lacked adult tails, and this may have influenced the adult tail-less styles which developed, initially for casual wear of various sorts, like the smoking-jacket and sports jacket. After the First World War the wearing of boy's dresses seems finally to have died out, except for babies.


title: Breeching (boys)

text: In England and some other countries, many school uniforms still mandate shorts for boys until about nine or ten.


title: Venus figurine

text: A Venus figurine is any Upper Palaeolithic statuette portraying a woman, usually carved in the round. Most have been unearthed in Europe, but others have been found as far away as Siberia, and distributed across much of Eurasia.


title: Venus figurine

text: Most date from the Gravettian period (26,000–21,000 years ago). However, findings are not limited to this period; for example, the Venus of Hohle Fels dates back at least 35,000 years to the Aurignacian era, and the Venus of Monruz dates back about 11,000 years to the Magdalenian. Such figurines were carved from soft stone (such as steatite, calcite or limestone), bone or ivory, or formed of clay and fired. The latter are among the oldest ceramics known to historians. In total, over 200 such figurines are known; virtually all of modest size, between about in height. These figurines are recognised as some of the earliest works of prehistoric art.


title: Venus figurine

text: Most have wide hips and legs that taper to a point. Arms and feet are often absent, and the head is usually small and faceless. Various figurines exaggerate the abdomen, hips, breasts, thighs, or vulva, although many found examples do not reflect these typical characteristics. Depictions of hairstyles can be detailed, and especially in Siberian examples, clothing or tattoos may be indicated.


title: Venus figurine

text: The original cultural meaning and purpose of these artefacts is not known. It has frequently been suggested that they may have served a ritual or symbolic function. There are widely varying and speculative interpretations of their use or meaning: they have been seen as religious figures, an expression of health and fertility, grandmother goddesses, or as self-depictions by female artists.


title: Venus figurine

text: The "Vénus impudique", which was the figurine that gave the whole category its name, was the first Palaeolithic sculptural representation of a woman to be discovered in modern times. It was found in 1864 by Paul Hurault, 8th Marquis de Vibraye at Laugerie-Basse in the Vézère valley. This valley is one of the many important Stone Age sites in and around the commune of Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil in Dordogne, southwestern France. The figurines were mostly discovered in settlement contexts, both in open-air sites and caves. The Magdalenian Venus from Laugerie-Basse is headless, footless, armless, and displays a strongly emphasised female reproductive system.


title: Venus figurine

text: Four years later, Salomon Reinach published an article about a group of soapstone figurines from the caves of Balzi Rossi. The famous Venus of Willendorf was excavated in 1908 from a loess deposit in the Danube valley located in Austria. Since then, hundreds of similar figurines have been discovered from the Pyrenees Mountains to the plains of Siberia.


title: Venus figurine

text: In September 2008, archaeologists from the University of Tübingen discovered a figurine carved from a mammoth's tusk. This figurine was later called the Venus of Hohle Fels and can be dated to at least 35,000 years ago. It represents the earliest known sculpture of this type and the earliest known work of figurative art.


title: Venus figurine

text: Upper Palaeolithic female figurines are collectively described as "Venus figurines" in reference to the Roman goddess of beauty Venus. The name was first used in the mid-nineteenth century by the Marquis de Vibraye, who discovered an ivory figurine and named it "La Vénus impudique" or "Venus Impudica" ("immodest Venus"). The Marquis then contrasted the ivory figurine to the Aphrodite Of Knidos, a Greco-Roman sculpture depicting Venus covering her naked body with both her hands. In the early 20th century, the general belief among scholars was that the figurines represent an ancient ideal of beauty. Since their discovery, considerable diversity in opinion amongst archeologists and in paleoanthropological literature has arisen as to the function and significance of the figures. Most scholars that have differing opinions on the purpose of the figurines, such as anthropologist Randall White, also disapprove of the "Venus" name as a result.


title: Venus figurine

text: The use of the name is metaphorical as there is no link between the ancient figurines and the Roman goddess Venus; although they have been interpreted as representations of a primordial female goddess. This perception is said to have derived from the fact that attention is directed to certain features common to most of the figurines. In particular, emotionally charged primary and secondary sexual characteristics, such as, the breasts, stomachs and buttocks. The term has been criticised for being a reflection of modern Western ideas rather than reflecting the beliefs of the sculptures' original owners, but the original names are unknown as well, so the term Venus has persisted.


title: Venus figurine

text: Like many prehistoric artefacts, the exact cultural meaning of these figures may never be known. Archaeologists speculate, however, that they may be symbolic of security and success, fertility, or a mother goddess. The female figures are a part of Upper Palaeolithic art, specifically the category of Palaeolithic art known as portable art.


title: Venus figurine

text: The majority of Venus figurines are depictions of women, and follow artistic conventions of the times. Most of the figurines display the same body shape with the widest point at the abdomen and the female reproductive organs exaggerated. Oftentimes other details, such as the head and limbs, are neglected or absent which leads the figure to be abstracted to the point of simplicity. The heads are often of relatively small size and devoid of detail. Some may represent pregnant women, while others show no indication of pregnancy.


title: Venus figurine

text: The Venus of Willendorf and the Venus of Laussel (a rock relief rather than a figurine) bear traces of having been externally covered in red ochre. The significance of this is not clear, but is traditionally assumed to be religious or ritual in nature. Some human bodies from the Palaeolithic era are found similarly covered, so it is assumed this colour had a significant meaning in their culture even though we do not know what.


title: Venus figurine

text: All generally accepted Palaeolithic female figurines are from the Upper Palaeolithic. Although they were originally mostly considered part of the Aurignacian culture, the majority are now associated with the Gravettian and Solutrean cultures. In these periods, the more rotund figurines are predominant. Within the Magdalenian cultures, the forms become finer with more detail and the styling of said figures started to become similar within areas of close contact.


title: Venus figurine

text: Despite being thought as one of the most 'fertile sources of debate in all of archeology', Venus figurines appear to be relatively unstudied as a whole. The consequences of this is that they have fallen victim to generalised stereotypes that fail to acknowledge morphological variation and differing contexts.


title: Venus figurine

text: Nevertheless, there has still been many differing interpretations of the figurines since their discovery - one of which comes from Helen Benigni. In her book, "Emergence of the Goddess", she argues that the consistency in design of these featureless, large-breasted, often pregnant figures throughout a wide region and over a long period of time suggests they represent an archetype of a female Supreme Creator. Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age inhabitants likely connected women as creators innately tied to the cycles of nature. Through this, it was believed that women's birth and menstrual cycles aligned with lunar cycles and tides.


title: Venus figurine

text: One interpretation came from McCoid and McDermott who suggested that because of the way these figures are depicted, such as the large breasts and lack of feet and faces, these statues were made by women looking at their own bodies. They suggest that women during the period would not have had access to mirrors to maintain accurate proportions. This theory also provides an explanation as to why many of the Venus figures do not have faces or heads, as the creators would need mirrors to do so. However, Michael S. Bisson critiqued this theory by suggesting that alternatives, such as puddles, could have been used as mirrors.


title: Venus figurine

text: It has been suggested that they may be a sign of an earlier prevalence of steatopygia, now associated principally to women of certain African or Andamanese ancestry.


title: Venus figurine

text: However the Venuses do not qualify as steatopygian, since they exhibit an angle of approximately 120 degrees between the back and the buttocks, while steatopygia is diagnosed by modern medical standards at an angle of about 90 degrees only.