title: Finland under Swedish rule

text:
In Swedish and Finnish history, Finland under Swedish rule is the historical period when the bulk of the area that later came to constitute Finland was an integral part of Sweden. The starting point of Swedish rule is uncertain and controversial. Historical evidence of the establishment of Swedish rule in Finland exists from the late 13th century onwards.

Swedish rule ended in most of so-called Old Finland, the south-eastern part of the Finnish territories, in 1721 as a result of the Great Northern War. Sweden ceded the remainder of Old Finland in 1743 following the Hats' War. On 17 September 1809, the period of Swedish rule over the rest of Finland came to an end when the Treaty of Hamina was signed, ending the Finnish War. As a result, the eastern third of Sweden was ceded to the Russian Empire and became established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland.

Swedish rule in the area of modern-day Finland started as a result of the Northern Crusades.  The Finnish upper class lost its position and lands to new Swedish and German nobility and to the Catholic Church. The Swedish colonisation of some coastal areas of Finland with Christian population was a way to retain power in former pagan areas that had been conquered.  It has been estimated that there were thousands of colonists. Colonisation led to several conflicts between the colonists and local population which have been recorded in the 14th century. In colonised areas the Finnish population principally lost its fishing and cultivation rights to the colonists. Though the Finnish provinces were an integral part of the Kingdom of Sweden with the same legal rights and duties as the rest of the realm, Finnish-speaking Swedish subjects faced comparative challenges in dealing with the authorities as Swedish was established as the sole official language of government. In fact, it remained a widely accepted view in Sweden proper that the Finns were in principle a separate and conquered people and therefore not necessarily entitled to be treated equitably with Swedes. Swedish kings visited Finland rarely and in Swedish contemporary texts Finns were often portrayed as primitive and their language inferior. Approximately half of the taxes collected in Finland was used in the country, while the other half was transferred to Stockholm.

Under Sweden, Finland was annexed as part of the Western Christian domain and the cultural, communal and economic order of Western Europe, on which the market economy, constitutional governments and legalistic principles were founded. Finland was the eastern frontier of the realm, which brought many wars and raids to the areas. The Finnish language, dating from prehistoric times, and some parts of folklore religion and culture remained under Swedish rule, even though they changed as they adapted to new circumstances. For example, in this period Finnish adopted the Latin alphabet as its writing system and approximately 1100 Swedish loanwords, though most of them are originally from Latin or Greek.

Swedish-ruled Finland has in the 20th century also been referred to as "Sweden–Finland". The term has been used to refer to the realm consisting of the main parts of current Sweden and Finland. The historian Peter Englund has noted that Swedish-ruled Finland was not so much part of a national union or a province as "the eastern half of the realm which was practically destroyed in 1809, when both parts went on along their separate ways." Englund thinks that the period of Sweden as a superpower was the common "property" of Sweden and Finland, because the rise as a superpower would have been impossible for a poor nation without the resources of the eastern part of the realm.

For a time, Finns were considered by a majority of historians to be the first inhabitants of Sweden together with the Sámi. This was also believed by some Swedish historians, like Olof von Dalin (18th century), who believed them to be one of the biblical Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. This change in attitude largely stemmed from a need to create a more equal footing during the decline of the Swedish Empire. They still faced difficulties in dealing with higher Swedish authorities in Finnish and a lack of publications in Finnish.

Middle Ages (c. 1150 – 1523)

Finland becomes part of Sweden

The starting point of the Swedish rule is under a large amount of uncertainty. It is connected to the efforts of the Catholic Church to expand the faith in the Eastern Baltic Sea region and to Northern Crusades.

According to the legend of Eric the Holy, written in the 1270s, the King of Sweden Eric the Holy and English bishop Henry made the first Swedish crusade to southwest Finland in the 1150s. According to the chronicle and other fabulous sources, the bishop Henry was converting people to Christianity in the areas of Finland Proper and Satakunta during the crusade. The crusade is not considered to be a real event. Also, the Christianisation of the South-western part of Finland is known to have already started in the 10th century, and in the 12th century, the area was probably almost entirely Christian. According to the Eric Chronicles the Swedish kingdom, which was only starting to form, made two crusades to Finland in the 13th century. The so-called Second Crusade against Tavastians was made in 1249–1250 and the so-called Third Crusade against Karelians in 1293. According to historical sources, the reason for the crusades besides spreading Catholic faith, were the numerous raids that Finnish tribes made to Sweden. Pope Alexander IV even accepted marriage between Swedish king Valdemar and Sophia, daughter of Danish king Eric IV, so they could better repel heathen attacks.

By the 14th century, with the successful crusades and the partial colonization of Finnish coastline with Christian Swedish colonists, what is now Western and Southern Finland and the Karelian isthmus, had become part of Sweden, Catholic Church and the Uppsala diocese. Eastern Karelia, the Käkisalmi region and the Ladoga Karelia retained their ties to the Orthodox Church and to Novgorod.

The Treaty of Nöteborg, made in 1323 between Sweden and Novgorod, was the first treaty that defined the eastern boundary of the Swedish realm and Finland at least for Karelia. The boundary in northern Finland remained unclear. However, Sweden annexed the Finnish population on the shores of Northern Ostrobothnia in the 14th century to its realm.

Finland as part of the Kingdom of Sweden

To help establish the power of the King of Sweden, three castles were built: the Turku Castle in Finland Proper, the Häme Castle in Tavastia and the Vyborg Castle in Karelia. In medieval times the castles were important for the defence of Finland and they also acted as government centers in Finland. The government area surrounding a castle was called a slottslän ( in Finnish). Sweden was an electoral kingdom in medieval times and the election was held at the Stones of Mora. Finland also received the right to send their representative to the election in 1362, which shows the established role of Finland as part of Sweden. The development of government and justice had a large role in the law established during the reign of king Magnus IV of Sweden.

In medieval times, the historical regions of Finland Proper and Satakunta were part of the central area of the Swedish government and retained the ties to Scandinavia they had formed already during prehistory. In Southwest Finland, Tavastia, southern Karelia there was permanent agricultural population, which gradually condensed and spread to a larger area. The spreading and establishment of the new population in Middle and North Ostrobothnia was one of the most notable events in the history of the Finnish population during the medieval ages. In Åland, the Turku archipelago and the coastal regions of Ostrobothnia and Nylandia there also was a Swedish-speaking population. In the medieval ages, peasants were by far the largest population group in Finland. A large part of the area of current Finland was a wilderness in medieval times, where people from Satakunta, Tavastia and Karelia held hunting trips, and which was inhabited by the Sámi pepole, at least some of which spoke Sami. The wilderness was not part of any government area in practical terms.

In the early times of the Swedish rule, official government documents were often written in Latin, which emphasised the role of the clergy also in secular government. The use of old Swedish as a written government language increased during the 14th century. In local governments in cities, particularly concerning international trade, the Middle Low German language was also largely used. It is however impossible to present accurate approximations of the relations of different languages in medieval times.

The countryside and cities
Unlike the situation in central Europe, peasants in Sweden were free and feudalism never developed in the Swedish realm in the proportion it did in central Europe. The local government was based on local settlements (socken) and parishes in the countryside.

In the medieval times, the concept of cities was introduced to Finland. The bourgeoisie living in the cities, such as merchants and handicraft workers, only represented a small part of the population. The most important medieval cities in Finland were Turku and Viipuri. Other cities were Naantali, Rauma, Ulvila and Porvoo. Faraway trade in Finland and other Nordic countries in the medieval times was mostly in the hands of German Hanseatic League merchants and as such a significant portion of the bourgeoisie in Turku and Viipuri were Germans. In cities, the local government was in the hands of a court led by a mayor.

The frälse
The Ordinance of Alsnö, given during the reign of Magnus III of Sweden, established a small secular  (Finnish: ) or nobility, freed from tax, in Sweden and Finland in 1280. The spiritual  meant spiritual people who were exempt from paying tax to the secular government (such as priests, nuns and beggar brothers).

The parishes of the Catholic church in the area of Finland belonged to the Archdiocese of Turku. The bishop of Turku, the head of the diocese, had as well as power over the church, a large amount of secular power, and he was a member of the Privy Council of Sweden. One of the most notable medieval bishops of Turku was Magnus II Tavast, who held the office from 1412 to 1450. The spiritual  were the educated, literate intellectuals in medieval Finland. Its members had often attended the Turku cathedral school and some had also studied in foreign universities.

The age of the Kalmar Union

Finland as part of the Kalmar Union

The Nordic Kalmar Union was founded by Queen of Denmark Margaret I in 1397. In practice, conflicts arose within the union, as the Swedish high classes with their expansion policy were interested in the east, the direction of Russia, whereas the Danish were more interested in the souththe direction of the German lands. There were also internal conflicts between the high class of individual nations. The struggle to power was not only the result of "foreign political" differences in modern parlance.

Even in the union age, Finland did not form a continuous governmental area but was divided into two separate governmental districts. Viipuri acted as a significant, sometimes almost independent centre, whereas Turku was a more integral part of the governmental area of the central authority. According to Kauko Pirinen, "In the decentralised union nation Finland was also decentralised. In practical terms, it was not a continuous political entity."

The independent position of Viipuri was evident in that although Finland was divided into two separate lawspeaker areas, Southern and Northern Finland, in 1435, Viipuri had its own independent Karelian lawspeaker area already in the 1440s, with the lawspeaker probably appointed by the chief of the Viipuri Castle. However, the Karelian lawspeaker had no authority in the Turku land court.

In the union age, Finland's position as part of the realm changed. For four decades, the monarch's grasp of Finland was tighter than before. King Eric of Pomerania visited Finland twice, in 1403 and in 1407. With the union, the leading authorities in Finland also changed, as the king placed his own trustees to lead the castles. Abraham Broderson rose as the chief of the Turku Castle and the Danish Klaus Fleming was appointed as lawspeaker. Later,  and  rose to significant positions. The bishop  was a supporter of the union power.

The community under the union times
The  and the clergy formed the leading political group under the union times. Finland's own  only rarely ruled over larger , which were mostly ruled by Swedes or Danes, sometimes even German-born men, who had however lived in Finland for decades. The Finnish  was mostly responsible for the lower government, military duty and especially justice. The most significant duties in the church were also assigned to sons of the Finnish  under the union times. However, peasants could also participate in the activities of different courts and have an effect in political decisions, such as the election of the king.

Apart from Turku and Viborg, cities under union times were small, and numbered very few. As such, foreign trade was modest. Even Viborg could not compete with Reval (Tallinn) as the centre of Russian trade. Domestic trade was economically more significant than foreign trade.

Under the union times, the Finnish government was reorganised to help the economic situation. In 1405, hundreds of farms had their tax exemption status revoked. With this, the foundation for systematic agricultural taxing was created. The crown attempted to raise tax income also by settler activities: farming fields caused tax income, whereas work in the wilderness did not. Tax income could be raised by dealing out wilderness areas for permanent population. In 1409, Turku started minting its own money, which had a different value than the money used in the rest of Sweden. They were örtugs made of silver and six penny coins. In 1407, Finland got its own supreme court, the Turku land court, which was also given governmental powers. The leaders of Finland could now decide on their country's matters in their own meetings.

The union begins to fall apart
Externally, the early times of the Kalmar Union were a time of peace for Finland. With his active foreign policy, the king Eric of Pomerania ran into conflict with the Hanseatic League, which made trade more difficult. In the 1430s, the upper class and peasant rebel movements in Sweden did not really have an effect on Finland. The opposition to the upper class caused by the minor peasant rebel movements in Finland can be explained by the expansion of the property of the crown and the . The best known of these rebellions was David's Rebellion in Tavastia in 1438, which was a peasant rebellion aimed at the Viikki manor.

No one from Finland participated in the Arboga meeting in 1435. In the same autumn, the bishop Magnus II Tavast and Krister Nilsson arrived in Sweden, and in the negotiations there they participated in the discharge of the leaders of the Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson rebellion and the forming of a compromise. Krister Nilsson became the  (seneschal) and Karl Knutsson Bonde became the marshal. After Nilsson had returned to Finland in the same autumn, rebel movements started in Sweden again.

In order to fight the rebel movements, the Finnish peasants were promised a cut in taxes in a letter dated 24 June 1436, signed by the archbishop, the  and the marshal, under authority from the government. The stated reason was that the Finns had proven to be loyal to the realm and sworn never to take up a leader of their own, and promised not to rise up in rebellion, and accepted the leader appointed by the government.  has interpreted this so that Sweden feared that the Finnish local government would detach itself from the Swedish realm and the Finns would choose a leader of their own.

Clashes of power between Finland and Sweden

The king was finally deposed in 1439, after which Sweden was ruled by a council of aristocrats. It was composed of bishops and leading noblemen. The mightiest of this group was Karl Knutsson, who was elected leader of the realm in 1438. His biggest competitor, the  Krister retreated to Vyborg after this. After the fall of the absolutist government, Finland's connections to Denmark were severed. However, the connections to Sweden were not really strengthened but local  governors mostly ruled the country.

In 1440, the Danish invited Christopher of Bavaria to their country and elected him as their king. In Sweden, negotiations were being held about the conditions of his recognition. Charles VIII of Sweden moved to Finland in the same year and took hold of the Turku and Kastelholm castles, promising to denounce his position as leader of the realm if he were to receive the whole of Finland as his county. This wish was granted, apart from Åland. However, the situation changed very quickly, and Charles VIII had to contend himself with the Vyborg . Turku returned to the power of an official appointed by the king. The king's intention was to prevent the forming of a continuous Finland.

After Christopher died in 1448, Charles VIII sailed from Vyborg to Stockholm with 800 armed men, where he was elected king (1448 to 1457), apparently because of his military superiority. His term was marked by a war with Christian I of Denmark, which caused taxes to rise also in Finland. During this period, Finland was the king's most significant support area. In 1457, the Swedish high nobility rebelled against the king, and he fled to Danzig. Christian I was elected as king of Sweden. He ruled from 1457 to 1464. However, not all people supported the new kingespecially in Vyborg.

Dispute over the eastern border
The next period was marked by problems in the eastern parts of the realm. As population spread to the wilderness, border disputes and fights with Novgorod and the Karelians started. As Savonian population spread, Northern Karelia was also populated. In 1478, Novgorod was annexed to Moscow, and a new power arose beyond the eastern border. To secure the border, the Olavinlinna castle was built to protect the new settlers. The Russians viewed this as a breach of the border treaty, and open war reigned for many years until the interim peace in 1482. However, the parties could not agree on where the border was to be located.

From Axelsson to Sten Sture

In the battle for the Swedish crown, Finnish castles were also conquered and persuaded to the union king's side. The Danish knight Erik Axelsson Tott came with his brothers to conquer castles in the 1480s, and in the end, all the castles were under the power of the Axelssons. After Erik's death he left the Vyborg, Hämeenlinna and Savonlinna counties to his brothers Ivar and Lauri, who already ruled over Raseborg. However, the formation of a continuous circle of power did not fit to the regent Sten Sture's plans. In 1481 Sten Sture arrived in Finland, all the way to Vyborg. The regent and the local governors could not come to an agreement: the regent promised tax cuts to the people; the local landowners could not accept this.

In the end of the union times, no regent had universal acceptance from all the Nordic countries any more. The King of Denmark John (reigned 1481–1513) was not accepted in the union countries, and the councils took power into their own hands. In 1483 Sten Sture received power over three counties in Finland: Vyborg, Savonlinna and Hämeenlinna. The former realm of the Axelssons became the regent's support area and Finland became an even more integral part of the central government; especially as even Raseborg came to the power of Sten Sture's supporter Knut Posse. Sture did not distribute the castles to the nobility, but ruled over them through officials dependent on him, gathering a significant amount of tax income to himself.

Unrest during the end of medieval times
In the late 15th century, previous skirmishes with Moscow escalated into a war. In 1495, the Vyborg Castle was sieged. People from Western Finland were also drafted to war. In threatened areas, all people over 15 years of age were called to arms, and in addition, German mercenaries and people from Sweden arrived in the country. The Russian attacks stretched from Karelia to Ostrobothnia, Savonia and Tavastia. Peace was made in 1497.

In the same year, the Privy Council of Sweden deposed Sten Sture as regent. However, the Finnish  remained under his control. A civil war followed, where King John beat the regent's troops, becoming King of Sweden himself (1497–1501). In 1499, Sture had to renounce his areas in Finland. In 1503, Svante Nilsson Sture (reigned 1504–1512) was elected as regent, and the Finnish leaders swore their loyalty to him. In a meeting held in Turku, the people showed their support for his position. However, the unanimity was only specious, as part of the leaders of Finland supported their own political standpoint together with Sten Sture's family. Their goals have remained somewhat unclear. However, national history has emphasised the role of eastern politics in the disagreements.

The age of Vasa (1523–1617)

The reign of Gustav Vasa

The final battles of the union

The final times of the union were a time of unrest in most of Finland, not only in Vyborg. In the late 16th century, the Danish went on pillages on the Finnish coast, and the pirate captain Otto Rudi robbed Turku and its cathedral's treasures. As the Danish union king Christian II of Denmark came to power, in his coronation he had tens of Swedish noblemen beheaded. This was called the Stockholm Bloodbath. The Swedish nobleman Gustav Vasa rose up to oppose the union king and won the peasants on his side. The German Hanseatic merchants also supported Gustav Vasa and provided him with weapons and money. The Finnish-born brothers Erik and Ivar Fleming conquered the Finnish castles for Gustav Vasa and drove the Danish away from Finland in 1523. The age of the Nordic union came to an end, and Gustav Vasa became king of Sweden and Finland.

An early modern state is born
During the reign of Gustav Vasa, a continuous Swedish realm started to form. He managed to suppress the regional communities who had been driving their own politics. In turn, the reformation suppressed the church. The high nobility, already weakened by the bloodbath, was now attached to support royal politics. However, the governing was still done in the medieval tradition: the king had numerous noblemen and scribes to help him, but these were not really officials. Also the government did not have a clear distinction of jobs, but tasks under the king's service changed according to the situation. In the 1530s, Gustav Vasa started to bring in German government officials to the country, along with whom new visions of royal power arrived in Sweden. During the , the royalty was changed to hereditary and Gustav Vasa's eldest son Erik was named heir to the throne.

The crown's local government concentrated in the hands of officials after land grants had been revoked. Their jobs were numerous, but collecting taxes was one of the most important ones. During Gustav Vasa's reign, tax collecting switched to literal government; first, systematic land documents (of ownership of land) were kept to help in taxation, other kinds of catalogues and literal accounts soon followed. The officials were also responsible for repopulating vacated houses, providing transport and roads. The officials also had to prevent illegal trade and handwork practiced in the countryside. Also overall peacekeeping and justice work belonged to the officials' dutiesthis way the crown's share of tax and fine income could be secured. Enhancing government raised the crown's tax income by tens of percents.

The war against Russia
Continuing conflicts with Russia were still significant in Finnish foreign politics. In the start of Gustav Vasa's reign, negotiations were held in an attempt to regain an idea of where the borderline went. The Swedish tried to postpone checking the borderline for as long as possible, and despite temporary agreements, conflicts and raids on both sides continued. In a nobility meeting held in Vyborg in 1555, the king was advised to go to war. The attack resulted in a counter-attack by Ivan the Terrible from the direction of Vyborg and Savonia. Negotiations held from 1556 to 1557 resulted in an interim peace lasting 40 years. There was a plan to hold a new negotiation about the borderline in 1559, but this never happened.

Misconduct by the nobility
In war times, the king had spent a long time in Finland. There he ordered an extensive investigation of misconduct by the nobility. This investigation resulted in the so-called Jakob Teit complaint list, which is a significant source of community history in the 16th century. In summer 1556, the king made Finland into its own duchy, and named his son John as its ruler. Gustav Vasa died in September 1560. Erik XIV of Sweden succeeded him on the throne.

From throne conflicts to the start of great power politics

The reign of Erik XIV

Erik XIV was crowned as king in 1561. He attempted to strengthen the monarchy even more in regard to the nobility and also to his brothers. To weaken their position, Erik founded new counties and baronships to divide the power of dukes. In Finland, the king's politics also resulted in new lawspeakers being appointed to the country. In 1561 the king approved the so-called Arboga articles at a diet, which submitted the dukes to the king's control and stripped them of a chance for independent foreign politics.

Destroying the position of John, the duke of Finland, was important to the king. As John's duchy, Finland became a "feudal minicountry" subject to the realm, with its own chancery, tax chamber and council, which could be compared to a state council. John's prerogatives in Livonia were also in conflict with the king: through a planned marriage with Catherine Jagiellon, John could receive numerous castles under his power in Livonia. At the same time, Erik XIV was being driven to war with Poland because of his expansion politics directed at Livonia. In 1561, the Tallinn city council had already given the city to the protection of the king, and during the same spring the Virumaa and Harjumaa nobility also resigned from the German knighthood.

The struggle for power
After the conflict had intensified, the king assembled a diet in 1563, where John was sentenced to death. The development led to the siege of the Turku Castle in summer 1563. After conflicts and bombardments, the castle surrendered on 12 August 1563, after which the luxury of the castle was destroyed, the duke and his wife were arrested and sent to Sweden for imprisonment. In the 1560s, Swedish foreign policy was marked by war against Poland in the Baltics. As well as this, Erik XIV was driven to war against Denmark-Norway and Lübeck. This required good relations to the east: concentrating military forces elsewhere required good relations towards Moscow. Erik XIV's era ended in 1568 after the nobility rose up against the king. This time even the Finnish nobility was on the side of the rebels, both old supporters of John and Erik's trusted men. The Turku Castle fell under the power of the rebels. Erik spent the next years in prison, until he was sentenced to death and poisoned in 1577.

The long wrath

Under the reign of John III of Sweden, the border conflicts at the border of Käkisalmi county led to a new war (1570–1595), which is now known as the "25-year war". It was mostly a brutal war with guerilla warfare on both sides. In its beginnings, the war was well organised, and there was a truce on the Finnish front from 1573 to 1577. In the middle of the decade the peasant conflicts started again: the Karelians attacked in the direction of Oulujärvi and Iijoki, forces from Southern Finland travelled across the Gulf of Finland. At the end of the decade, organised warfare started again with an attack to Narva (1579) and the conquest of Käkisalmi in 1580. Narva was conquered the next year, after which negotiations led to an interim peace lasting until the year 1590. Despite the interim peace, guerilla warfare continued on both sides of the eastern border, which led to Kainuu and Northern Ostrobothnia being largely deserted in the 1580s. Led by Pekka Vesainen, the Ostrobothnians made vengeance trips to Viena Karelia. The war ended in 1595 with the Treaty of Teusina.

A new struggle for the throne

After John III died in 1592, the throne was left vacant. There were two candidates for his successor: Sigismund and the duke Karl. The question of the monarchy was entwined with church politics: in the time of the counter-reformation in Europe Sigismund was a Catholic, which made his position even more problematic in Lutheran Sweden. In 1593, Sigismund arrived in the country to be crowned. He took his oath as a ruler in the autumn of the next year. At the same time, he accepted the Lutheran line of the Uppsala estate and church meeting (1593). With Sigismund's coronation, a personal union between Sweden and Poland, lasting a few years, was born; Sigismund was king of Poland until 1632.

After the king returned to Poland, conflicts arose among the nobility about Karl's position as a regent. In this conflict, Finland's leader Klaus Fleming sided with the king. At the Arboga diet in 1597, Karl was still named as regent. At this time, he declared his opponents, especially Klaus Fleming, to be rebels.

Justice becomes stricter
In general, secular courts in Europe during the start of the New Age in the 16th and 17th centuries started using the so-called "Law of Moses", that is to say, some parts of the Bible. According to the Law of Moses, witchcraft and magic was forbidden, and for example blasphemy, swearing, betraying one's parents, perjury, killing, demanding too high interest, false testimony and numerous sexual crimes could be punished by death. The Law of Moses became a general guide of justice in the Swedish realm in 1608 and remained in force until the new law of the realm in 1734. However, the law was often not used to the full extent of its cruelty, and death penalties were replaced with lesser penalties in about half of the cases.

The peasant unrest in the 16th century and the Cudgel War
Unrest increased among the peasants during Gustav Vasa's reign, because of both heightened taxes and the struggle for power amongst his sons. The unrest resulted in the Cudgel War from 1596 to 1597. It ended bloodily, with the army beating the Ostrobothnian and Savonian peasants, armed by cudgels, spears and bows. The rebellion in Finland was directed at the nobility in power and especially at Klaus Fleming. The rebels sought help from the duke Karl who had been trying to usurp the throne. According to current research, the reasons for the rebellion included strain left from the 25-year war, financial setbacks and suffering caused by the castle camp system. Researchers disagree on how big an effect the duke Karl's leading the rebels against Klaus Fleming had on the outbreak of the Cudgel War.

The Great Power age (1611–1721)

The Treaty of Stolbovo

From 1604 to 1611, the duke Karl of Södermanland was king Charles IX of Sweden. During his reign, the realm was almost constantly at war with Russia and Poland, especially about the ownership of the Baltic lands of Estonia and Livonia. Also, a war with Denmark was fought from 1611 to 1613, resulting in a loss for Sweden. After Charles IX died, his son Gustav II Adolf inherited the throne. The realm was in a bad state and Sweden had to sign a peace treaty with Denmark in 1613. The Treaty of Stolbovo was signed with Russia in 1617, which resulted in the Käkisalmi county, Nöteborg and part of Ingria being annexed into Sweden.

Modernisation and renewals
Under the leadership of the king and the chancellor of state Axel Oxenstierna, significant renewals were made in Sweden and Finland once the foreign political situation had calmed down. The army and the military organisation were reorganised especially based on the model of the Dutch Mortis of Orania. The realm received a new form of government and was divided into counties. Also, a Governor General was appointed to Finland  to improve the conditions in the country. Governor Generals of Finland included Niels Bielke and count Per Brahe the Younger, whose official residence was the Turku Castle. During the superpower age, new cities were founded in Finland, as well as the Turku court of justice and in 1640, Finland's first university, the Royal Academy of Turku.

The Thirty Years' War

In the Baltics, Sweden was still at war with Poland, and in 1629 the temporary Truce of Altmark was made. In Germany, Gustav II Adolf joined the Thirty Years' War between the Catholic emperor and the Protestant princes in 1630 after making landfall in Northern Germany. Sweden's aim in the war was to support the German Protestants and strengthen its own position. However, Gustav II Adolf died in the Battle of Lützen in 1632 and his daughter Christina succeeded him on the throne while still a minor. In practice, the realm was ruled by a caretaker government led by Axel Oxenstierna. In the Peace of Westphalia that had ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648, Sweden secured its position as a superpower. However, the Thirty Years' War and other conflicts in the superpower age drained Sweden's and Finland's resources badly. A significant part of the peasants had to serve in the army and the navy, and many of them died in service.

From the wars to the age of peace
During Christina's reign from 1632 to 1654, a large amount of lands were given as feudal lands to the nobility. The nobility had the right to collect taxes on their lands, which made the crown's financial position more difficult. After Christina had renounced the crown, Charles X Gustav of Sweden followed her on the throne and ruled over the Swedish realm from 1654 to 1660. Charles X died in 1660, and was followed by Charles XI of Sweden, during whose reign from 1660 to 1697, a large reduction was made, which returned most of the feudal lands to the crown. Charles XI weakened the power of the nobility and ruled the realm as an autocrat. Charles XI's reign meant a long time of peace for Finland. The Protestant clergy was responsible for teaching literacy to the people, and clerical life was dominated by religious purism. From 1695 to 1697 Finland was devastated by the Great Famine, which resulted in a significant part of the population dying of hunger and illnesses.

The Great Northern War

During the reign of Charles XI's successor Charles XII of Sweden, the Great Northern War erupted in 1700, resulting in Sweden losing its superpower position. The cause of the war was an alliance against Sweden made by its enemies Denmark, Russia, Poland and Saxony. In the 1617 Treaty of Stolbovo, Russia had lost its connection to the Baltic Sea. The renovation-minded tsar Peter the Great sought to reopen a connection to the Baltic Sea for Russia, so that its connections and trade to Western Europe would become easier.

Although Charles XII managed to beat Denmark, Russia's attacking troops (in the Battle of Narva) and Poland, one at a time, the Swedish finally suffered a decisive defeat to the Russians in the Battle of Poltava in 1709. After this, the king fled to Turkey and the realm was open to an enemy attack. Vyborg was conquered in 1710, and the Russians occupied the rest of Finland after the Battle of Pälkäne in Pälkäne, the Battle of Storkyro in Ostrobothnia and the Battle of Gangut in front of Hanko by 1714. The Russian invasion period from 1714 to 1721 is commonly called the Greater Wrath. The occupation period was destructive to Finland. Thousands of people were killed and even more were sent to Russia, and a large part of the country's officials and clergy fled to Sweden. The Great Northern War and the Greater Wrath ended in the Treaty of Nystad in 1721. In the treaty, Ingria, Estonia, Livonia, the Käkisalmi county and Vyborg were annexed to Russia. The part of Karelia annexed to Russia is commonly called Old Finland. Russians also sometimes enslaved large parts of the Finnish population, both Swedes and Finns. Swedish boys were praised for their high literacy and almost all Swedish slaves were able to read. They were considered luxury goods by Russian and Ottoman nobles for their beautiful eyes and blonde hair. Slavery was banned in Sweden in the 14th century. But the primitive ruling system in Russia enabled slavery to remain economically feasible. During the Swedish and Russian wars, Finns were frequently sold into slavery by Russian Cossacks. Due to the Swedish state, higher morals and political pressure concerning slavery created a demand to stop the trade of Finnish and Swedish slaves in Russia among Russian noblemen.

Karl XII also spoke some Finnish with the Finnish part of the Swedish military.

Proposals about the Swedification of Finland
During the Great Northern War, professor  of the Turku Academy wrote several articles about the fate of the Finnish language. In one of his articles, he proposed the Swedification of Finland by teaching the Swedish language to the people of Finland and by bringing more population from Sweden to strengthen and expand the Swedish population. He thought that the Finnish language was so peculiar that only a couple of villages on the border of Lapland should be allowed to keep their language. According to Nesselius, this could be handled by bringing army recruits from Skåne as immigrants to Finland to defend the country against Russian attacks. In return, Finnish soldiers could be moved to Skåne as farmers and to defend the border against Denmark. Also the Finnish sauna custom – "that constant sauna bathing" – should be eliminated as it wasted firewood and was different from the Swedish customs.

In the 18th century, there was discussion about bringing Swedish population as immigrants to Finland in a different context. The idea was to kill two birds with one stone. On one hand, areas suffering from overpopulation, such as Dalarna County, would be addressed. On the other hand, farming could be extended to sparsely-populated areas in Finland. The Swedish official and economist  specified in 1738 that this kind of migration would help develop bilingualism in the eastern parts of the realm.

At the Diet of 1738, the president of the court  started a discussion about languages at the discussion of the great secret court. According to Åkerhielm, the peculiarity of the eastern part of the realm was exaggerated and the use of the Finnish language was a lesser problem than what had been claimed. According to him it was short-sighted to demand knowledge of both languages in order to get official posts in the eastern parts of the realm. If posts in the eastern parts of the realm required knowledge of Finnish, which in practice meant being born in Finland, the same requirement had to be also in the western parts of the realm. He saw this as causing envy and striking a wedge between "our two nations", which would harm the realm. However, he saw it as an unchangeable fact that the people in the realm spoke two different languages. Jakob Faggot continued the same thought in his letter in 1745, but according to him, the Finnish people should be taught Swedish so they could become as good Swedes in their language as they were in their mind.

The Diet of 1746–1747 saw the increase of the use of the Swedish language in Finland as favourable. It was seen as "strengthening the trust between two peoples". However, even the proponents of this matter saw its practical fulfilment as impossible.

The Age of Liberty and the Gustavian Age (1721–1809)

Power away from the king

In the Swedish realm after Charles XII, the estates took power away from the king in the 1719 and 1720 governments and the age of autocracy changed into the age of estate rule (the "Age of Liberty"). Economy and science progressed during this age, but on the other side, power politics among parties caused problems. France and Russia gained power in Sweden by financing competing parties, which were called the Caps and the Hats.

Finnish became an official language of the Swedish administration in Civil Code of 1734. So monolingual Finnish parliamentarians could always use Swedish translators at the Riksdag of the Estates and use Finnish with local administrators. It was a new liberal reform made to modernize the Swedish state. The reform had been proposed earlier in the 18th century but the invasion of Finland by Russia delayed the Swedish government from passing the new law until 1734. The law is also the oldest law both partially still in use in both Finland and Sweden. It was the first time in Sweden and Finland's history when the king and Riksdag created a unitary legal code applied to the entire country. It was also translated to Finnish so that Finnish speakers would understand.

The Hats' War
The Hats' rise to power in the 1738–1739 diet led to a Russophobic foreign policy, which was a disadvantage for Finland. An attack war against Russia, known as the Hats' War, erupted in 1741. Sweden suffered a defeat in the battle of Lappeenranta in the same year, and the later stages of the war fared no better for it. In 1742, the Swedish army withdrew from a Russian attack and surrendered. Russia occupied Finland again from 1742 to 1743. This occupation period is known as the Lesser Wrath. The Russian empress Elizabeth spread a manifesto in 1742, urging Finns to abandon Sweden and form an autonomous state protected by Russia. However, after the occupation of Finland, promises of autonomy stopped. The occupation ended in the Treaty of Åbo. The occupation during the Lesser Wrath did not cause as much damage as the longer and more violent Greater Wrath a couple of decades earlier.

Thoughts in the new age

After the war, the mercantilist principles in the trade led to the financial gain from tar and shipbuilding being left in Stockholm. In 1760, Anders Chydenius, the vicar of Kokkola, started demanding freedom of trade and speech. During the last decades of the 18th century, interest to Finnish history and Finnish national poetry arose in the Royal Academy of Turku, especially because of Henrik Gabriel Porthan, the "father of Finnish history". Of the researchers, Eino Jutikkala says: "People in various regions and of various estates in Finland in the late 18th century consciously considered themselves as Finnish as opposed to the Swedish who lived on the other side of the sea."

The Swedish clergy demanded universal literacy.  Finland and Sweden had the highest literacy rates in comparison to other European nations due to Lutheran priests demanding pupils and farmers to read the Bible, which led to quick development in reading skills. Already in the 1660s religious school classes could read with good scores for the time in comparison with other European nations. Charles XI of Sweden believed that an illiterate man could never become a full member of the Swedish church. Therefore, he could never join the church and would never marry if he were not a member of the church.  In  official examinations of Finland and Sweden, he found high literacy an essential part of religious education for commoners in both countries in 1833. The first Finnish papers only started to appear in the late 18th century.

The restless reign of Gustav III
In 1772, after Gustav III of Sweden had seized power, a new constitution was made, giving power back to the king. The age tried to get rid of mercantilism. Freedom of speech and freedom of religion expanded. Finnish officers trusted the king less, because the nobility lost their power to the king, who was supported by the people. Some high-ranking soldiers moved to serve in Russia.

From 1788 to 1790, the so-called Gustav III's war, started by Gustav III, was fought between Sweden and Russia. Sweden was also confronted by Denmark. The officers in the Anjala conspiracy, among others, opposed the war. Despite a decisive marine victory at the Battle of Svensksund, Sweden did not gain any new territories in the Treaty of Värälä. The Union and Security Act of 1789 strengthened the king's power even more. With the war, the nobility grew even more bitter towards the king, and this eventually led to the king's murder in 1792.

Sweden loses Finland
The Finnish War was fought from 1808 to 1809 between Russia and Sweden. The reason for the war were the Treaties of Tilsit made between Russia and France on 7 July 1807. In the treaties, France and Russia had become allies and Russia had promised to pressure, with armed force if necessary, Sweden and other countries to join the Continental System against the United Kingdom, an embargo that France would have used to strengthen its position against the maritime power of the United Kingdom.

The last Grand Duke of Finland during the Swedish era was Gustav IV Adolf's second son Karl Gustaf, who was born in 1802 and died as an infant in 1805. Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden, the last Swedish king of Finland, ironically was one of few Swedish kings to learn Finnish. He also became popular among the people in Finland when he was nine years old and spoke Finnish with local Finns during his visit to Finland. Gustav travelled to Finland on several vacations because of his extensive knowledge of the language. But he was considered an incompetent ruler when it came to international politics and his management of Swedish Armed Forces.

The Swedish attitude towards Finland
The Swedish thought Finland was far away from the centre of power and from Stockholm. From Stockholm's point of view, inhabitants of the eastern part of the realm were seen as "the people of that country". Royal letters about matters relating to Finland told that information had been gathered "from that area" and people came from Finland "over here to Sweden". Landlords in Finland could be called to come "here to Sweden". People who ended up in Finland from Sweden felt they had arrived in a strange and foreign environment. For example, troops from Småland stationed in Vyborg rebelled in 1754 because they had not received the benefits usually given to Swedish troops stationed abroad. They also felt that they were not required to defend Finland as it was not their home country. Governor-General Niels Bielke, who had arrived in Turku in the 1620s to strengthen the rule of the central power, described Finland as a repulsive land of barbarians, and the bishop Isaacus Rothovius felt he was "in the middle of scorpions and barbarians".

Professor , who had moved from Växjö to Turku in 1640, repeatedly wrote to Per Brahe the Younger that as a Smålandian, he was "a foreigner in this country" and he felt sorry for "the moment he arrived in this country". Carl Johan Ljunggren, who had served in the Västmanland regiment in the Finnish War in 1808 described the Swedish-speaking people of the coast as similar to the common people of Sweden, but the peasants in the inner country as looking repulsive and impolite. They wore dome-shaped caps on their heads and leather boots on their feet. Living in smoke cabins had made their skin a dirty shade of brown and they spoke "incomprehensible gobbledygook".

During the period after the loss of the great Swedish power status and due to the potential growth of Finnish nationalism, a need among the Swedish nobles and historians for a common Swedish and Finnish identity arose. Instead of treating the Finnish culture and history as inferior, the Swedish historians and nobles sought to make Finnish culture appear more connected to the history of Sweden. The Swedish state (during the period) advocated that the Finns were the original Inhabitants of Sweden. According to Johannes Messenius, a Finnish king was the first monarch to rule Scandinavia. This thesis that the Finns were the first to rule Scandinavia launched during the 16th century, as previously mentioned this was to create a combined Finnish and Swedish identity. This idea conflicted with previous historical consensus which ruled that the Swedes settled Scandinavia before the Finns arrived.

The first king of Scandinavia was allegedly (according to Messenius) the first monarch of the Fornjót dynasty. This first king was of Finnish descent. Finland was the first kingdom in Scandinavia according to Sven Lagerbring and Johan Ihre.

Swedish historians and politicians during the Great power era sought to make Sweden appear more prestigious. Considered being connected with a great and glorious past was deemed of great importance.  Swedes and Finns being related to ancient peoples with a proud history was invented for Sweden to appear more prestigious among foreign nobles.
Swedish historians believed Finns were still speaking Hebrew and were considered a lost tribe of Israel. Olof von Dalin in the 18th century was one of the advocates for Finns being a lost Scythian, Greek Hebrew tribe. Von Dalin stated in 1732: "they are a mix of Scythians, Greeks and
Hebrews". Finns were to have been the creators of the first advanced civilization according to some Swedish historians. He describes Finns as simple people that live simple lives but are as close to God as they can be: very happy and satisfied with their easy life and closeness to nature and God. Von Dalin also claims Finns are as fast as trolls on their skis moving incredibly fast, but that their clothing style looks somewhat wild in comparison with Swedes making them look like trolls.

According to von Dalin the Finnish and Swedish elite even before the Swedish crusades had close friendly connections but also fought some wars. Neurer or Finns, the first inhabitants of Scandinavia, according to Dalin already had an independent Finlandic kingdom with their own courts and kings before the Old Uppsala kingdom was created. The Finns, according to von Dalin, took part in the Gothic migration from Sweden into the Roman empire. When the East Geats together with the Finns made up the ancestors of the Gothic migration from Sweden.

This noble Finnish past was also created by a geopolitical need to create a common identity between Swedes and Finns against Russia. The idea of Finns being a lost tribe of Israel became a consensus among Swedish historians. The Finnish language was ancient Hebrew according, to the Swedish priest Olof Rudbeck. Finnish was also, according to Rudbeck, related to the Gothic language. The idea of Finnish being ancient Hebrew soon had support among many Swedish historians. The German nationalist awakening claimed Germanic peoples or Swedes made up the bulk of early Swedish civilization. It got rejected by Swedish mainstream historians that meant it was Finnish tribes that first reached Sweden. The idea that Finnish was Hebrew was later abandoned by a majority of mainstream historians, though some stuck to the theory. But the Finns being the first people in Sweden stuck among the majority of historians.

When Finland was lost, the ideas of Finns being the original native population of Sweden and a lost tribe of Israel was gradually abandoned. It was abandoned since there were no geopolitical benefits for building a common identity any longer. New ideas began to develop; instead of the Swedes being mixed with Finnic peoples, the idea arose that Swedes were completely culturally clean both in history and archaeology. Especially due to the shared Viking history with Norway and Denmark, after the Union between Sweden and Norway, interests in regaining Finland ended. Sami and Finnish archaeological findings in Sweden began to be denied even though they had been widely examined and studied before. Even though there were clear traces of Finnic tribes in some parts of Sweden, archaeologists ended their research on Finnish history in Sweden. Some bitterness in Sweden remained in the hope of regaining Finland in a war with Russia, but the idea of Scandinavism or Scandinavian unification like in Germany and Italy
started to develop among the Nordic language-speaking populations in Scandinavia in the 19th century.

References

Bibliography
 Vahtola, Jouko: Suomen historia: Jääkaudesta Euroopan unioniin. Otava, 2003, Helsinki (4th edition 2005). .
 Zetterberg, Seppo (ed.): Suomen historian pikkujättiläinen. WSOY, 1987, Helsinki. .
 Korhonen, Arvi (ed.): Suomen historian käsikirja, previous part. WSOY, 1949, PorvooHelsinki.
 Karonen, Petri: Pohjoinen suurvalta: Ruotsi ja Suomi 1521–1809. WSOY, 1999, Helsinki. .
 Pohjolan-Pirhonen, Helge: Suomen historia 1523–1617. WSOY, 1960, PorvooHelsinki.

External links

 Agricola Finland history network: Events, documents and articles about the history of Finland in chronological order

Medieval Finland
Medieval Sweden


title: Brian Reece

text:
Brian Reece (24 July 1913 – 12 April 1962) was an English actor.

Biography
Born in Wallasey, Cheshire, he starred as the eponymous policeman in the BBC radio series The Adventures of PC 49 (1947–1953). His films include Orders Are Orders (1954), A Case for PC 49 (1951), Geordie (1955) and Carry On Admiral (1957). On stage, he appeared in Bless The Bride (1947), Bet Your Life (1952) with Julie Wilson and Arthur Askey. He appeared twice as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs, first on 24 July 1953. and again on 17 April 1961.

In 1955 he appeared at Aldwych Theatre in the farce Man Alive! by John Dighton.

Reece lived from 1948 until 1953 at No. 59 Strand-on-the-Green, in West London. He sometimes worshipped at St Anne's Church, Kew and there is a pew cushion in the church dedicated to him, although it shows his dates incorrectly.

Reece died in London, aged 48.

Selected filmography
 A Case for PC 49'' (1951)

References

External links

1913 births
1962 deaths
BBC people


title: List of awards and nominations received by Ariana Grande

text:
American singer and actress Ariana Grande has won many accolades and awards throughout her career. Her debut album Yours Truly was released in 2013, which debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album spawned three singles "The Way", "Baby I" and "Right There", all which entered the Hot 100. That same year, she won New Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards. She played the titular role of Cat in the teen sitcom Sam & Cat (2013–14), for which she won a Favorite TV Actress award at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.

In 2014, Grande released her second studio album, My Everything, preceded by its lead single "Problem". At the 31st annual MTV Video Music Awards, "Problem" won the Best Pop Video award, and garnered three nominations, including Best Female Video. The single also won Best Song at the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards. She won the Favorite Breakout Artist award at the 40th ceremony of the People's Choice Awards. At the 2014 Young Hollywood Awards, Grande earned four nominations, including Hottest Music Artist. At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, Grande was nominated for two awards. In 2015, she won another American Music Award for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and an iHeartRadio Music Award for Best Collaboration for "Bang Bang". She has won a total of ten Teen Choice Awards and six Radio Disney Music Awards.

In 2016, Grande released her third studio album, Dangerous Woman. She was nominated for five awards at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards, which included Best Pop Video and Best Female Video for her second single "Into You". She won the American Music Award for Artist of the Year. At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, Grande was nominated for two more awards, for Best Pop Solo Performance for her single "Dangerous Woman" as well as Best Pop Vocal Album, her second nomination in that category. In 2017, she was nominated for Artist of the Year at the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards.

In 2018, Grande released her fourth studio album, Sweetener, releasing lead single "No Tears Left to Cry". Grande was nominated for five awards at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards, including Artist of the Year and Video of the Year for "No Tears Left to Cry", but ultimately won Best Pop Video for the latter song. In December 2018, Grande was named Billboards Woman of the Year. In 2019, Grande released her fifth studio album, Thank U, Next, which includes the lead single "Thank U, Next". Grande was nominated for two awards at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards, winning her first award for Best Pop Vocal Album for Sweetener. She was also nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance for Sweeteners second single, "God is a Woman". Grande also won the award for International Female Solo Artist at the 2019 Brit Awards. Grande was nominated for nine awards at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards, including Top Artist; she won two awards, for Billboard Chart Achievement and Top Female Artist. Grande was also nominated for 12 awards at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year for "Thank U, Next". She won three awards, including Artist of the Year. Grande was also nominated for five Grammy awards at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for Thank U, Next and Record of the Year for "7 Rings".

Grande was nominated for nine VMAs at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, including Video of the Year for "Rain on Me" with Lady Gaga. Grande would go on to win a Grammy Award at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Rain on Me" with Lady Gaga, making it the first female-collaboration to win the award. As of 2021, Grande has so far broken a total of 30 Guinness World Records.  At the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, Grande was nominated for three awards, for Best Pop Vocal Album for her sixth studio album, Positions, which became her fifth consecutive nomination in this category, tied for the most by any artist, and Best Pop Solo Performance for the single, "Positions", where she also tied for the most nominations in this category with four total. Furthermore, for her work on Doja Cat's third studio album, Planet Her, as a collaborator and songwriter on the track, "I Don't Do Drugs", she was nominated for Album of the Year for the second time. In 2021, Grande starred in the film Don't Look Up, directed and written by Adam McKay, playing the character Riley Bina. For her role in the film - as well as for her contributions to the film's song, "Just Look Up", written and performed by Grande, she has received numerous nominations, including a Critics Choice Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

Awards and nominations

Other accolades

World records

Listicles

State honors

See also

Notes

References

Awards
Grande, Ariana


title: James Ashton (Royal Navy officer)

text:
Rear Admiral James Ashton DSO (1883–1951) was a senior Royal Navy officer.

Naval career
Born in 1883, Ashton was educated at Bedford School and at the Royal Naval Engineering College, Devonport. He served in the Royal Navy during the First World War and was invested as a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order in 1917. He was appointed as Aide-de-camp to King Edward VIII in 1936, and served at the Admiralty during the Second World War.

Rear Admiral James Ashton died on 30 December 1951, aged 68.

References

1883 births
1951 deaths
People educated at Bedford School
Royal Navy rear admirals
Royal Navy officers of World War I
Royal Navy officers of World War II
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order


title: 1997 Halifax Blue Sox season

text:
The 1997 Halifax Blue Sox season was the 102nd season in the club's rugby league history and the second season in the Super League. Coached by John Pendlebury, the Halifax Blue Sox competed in Super League II and finished in 7th place. The club also reached the fifth round of the Challenge Cup.

Table

Squad

References

External links
Halifax Blue Sox - Rugby League Project

Halifax Blue Sox
Halifax R.L.F.C. seasons


title: Prakash Nanjappa

text:
Prakash Nanjappa (born 29 February 1976) is an Indian shooter who competes in the 10 metre air pistol and 50 metre pistol events. He was the only Indian to win a medal in the 2013 ISSF World Cup, when he won bronze with a very minor difference between the second place in 10 metre air pistol event in Changwon, South Korea. In the same event, he won the silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Early life
Prakash Nanjappa was born on 29 February 1976 in Bangalore to P. N. Papanna, a international-level shooter. He started shooting in 1999, though motorbike rallies was his primary interest. In 2003, he moved to Canada and worked as a software engineer till 2009, when, on his father's insistence, he quit the job and moved back to India and took up the sport again.

Career
Nanjappa won a bronze medal in the 2013 ISSF World Cup in Changwon, South Korea, in the 10 metre air pistol event having scored 180.2 points in the final. In the same year, he suffered from a paralytic attack in the right side of his face, during the World Cup in Granada. Following his recovery, in October 2013, Nanjappa won the silver medal in the 50 metre pistol event in the Asian air gun championship in Tehran.

In the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Nanjappa won the silver medal in the 10 m air pistol event, having scored 198.2 points in the final. Earlier, he had topped the qualification round by scoring 580 points.

Nanjappa qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics in Men's 50 metres Pistol event, where he finished 25th in the qualification round.

References

External links

 Prakash Nanjappa profile at ISSF

Living people
1976 births
Indian male sport shooters
ISSF pistol shooters
Sportspeople from Bangalore
Commonwealth Games silver medallists for India
Asian Games medalists in shooting
Shooters at the 2014 Asian Games
Asian Games bronze medalists for India
Olympic shooters for India
Shooters at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Commonwealth Games medallists in shooting
Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games
Sport shooters from Karnataka
Shooters at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Recipients of the Arjuna Award
21st-century Indian people
Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games


title: II liga Rugby

text:
II liga Rugby is the third tier league for rugby union in Poland. Originally there were two divisions, consisting of 8 teams in the Rugby Ekstraliga and 6 in I liga Rugby, however as the sport is growing in popularity and more and more teams are being registered, a third division was created, consisting of 6 teams. Although local divisions do exist, there is no official relegation or promotion system between the national level and the local divisions, the Champions are may be promoted to I liga Rugby,

The competing team gets four points for a win, two points for a draw and zero for a loss. There is an extra point for a team that loses by 7 points or less, and an extra point for scoring 4 or more tries in a game. In the event of a forfeit, the team unable to play will be docked 1 point and their opponent will be awarded a score of 25-0 and 5 points. At present there are no official relegations or promotions from the division.

Current Teams
Chaos Poznan
Mazovia Minsk Mazowiecki
Copper Lubin
Alfa Bydgoszcz
Rugby Bialystok
Unia Brześć / Terespol

Champions
2016-2017 - Ark Rumia
2015-2016 - Biało-Czarnia Nowy Sacz
2014-2015 - Czarni Pruszcz Gdański
2013-2014 - RC Legia Warsaw

Former teams
 Dragonia Mosina
 Kaskada Szczecin
 Posnania

See also
 Poland national rugby union team
 Rugby union in Poland

References

Rugby union leagues in Poland


title: Volker Hage

text:
Volker Hage (born 9 September 1949 in Hamburg) is a retired German journalist, author and literary critic, who has reinvented himself as a novelist.

Life
Hage began his career as a journalist in 1975 as an editor for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, working initially for the Literature section and later for the newspaper's weekly “FAZ Magazin” colour supplement. From 1986 through to 1992 he was chief literary editor of another leading (West) German newspaper, Die Zeit, for which he subsequently has continued to write.   Since 1992 he has worked on Der Spiegel where he has served as culture editor (“Redakteur im Kulturressort”). He was the founder of the periodical  “Deutsche Literatur” (“German Literature”), published by Reclam and he has produced various anthologies and collections.

From 1988 through to 1994 Hage was a member of the jury for the annual Ingeborg Bachmann Prize contest, which is an event broadcast on television of Austria, Germany and Switzerland. More recently, in 2005 and 2006, he sat on the jury for the German Book Prize.

Volker Hage has written biographies of Max Frisch, Walter Kempowski, John Updike, Philip Roth and (combined with Mathias Schreiber) of Marcel Reich-Ranicki. He has also been involved in rediscovering the ”realist” genre work of the writer Gert Ledig.  This came during the course of Hage’s contributions to the debates, initiated by Max Sebald, about the literary treatment of the bombing of German cities during the Second World War. Hage was particularly effective as an advocate for Ledig’s second novel, Vergeltung, a powerfully apocalyptical and autobiographical anti-war narrative.

In an engagingly two-edged assessment, fellow critic Marcel Reich-Ranicki wrote that Hage’s style of literary criticism had the great advantage that you always knew in advance precisely what he wanted to say.

As a retired journalist Hage has begun to reinvent himself as a novelist. He has published in 2015 the novel Die freie Liebe concerning a love triangle amidst the cultural changes of the 1970s in Germany. The biographic novel Des Lebens fünfter Akt (Luchterhand 2018) narrates the last years of the life of Austrian writer Arthur Schnitzler.

Publications
 Max Frisch (Rowohlts Monographien 321). Rowohlt, Reinbek 1983,
 Alles erfunden: Porträts deutscher und amerikanischer Autoren. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1988,
 Marcel Reich-Ranicki. Kiepenheuer und Witsch, Köln 1995,  (gemeinsam mit Mathias Schreiber)
 Auf den Spuren der Dichtung. Reisen zu berühmten Schauplätzen der Literatur. Goldmann, München 1997,
 Propheten im eigenen Land. Auf der Suche nach der deutschen Literatur. Deutscher Taschenbuchverlag, München 1999,
 Zeugen der Zerstörung: die Literaten und der Luftkrieg. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2003,
 John Updike: eine Biographie. Rowohlt, Reinbek 2007,
 Letzte Tänze, erste Schritte: deutsche Literatur der Gegenwart. Deutsche Verlagsanstalt, München 2007,
 Philip Roth. Bücher und Begegnungen. Hanser, München 2008,
 Kritik für Leser: Vom Schreiben über Literatur, Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2009,
 Schiller. Vom Feuerkopf zum Klassiker. btb Verlag, München 2009,
 Walter Kempowski, Bücher und Begegnungen. Knaus Verlag, München 2009,
 Max Frisch - Sein Leben in Bildern und Texten, Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin 2011,
 Die freie Liebe, Luchterhand Literaturverlag, München 2015,
 Des Lebens fünfter Akt: Roman, Luchterhand, München 2018,

Notes and source

1949 births
Journalists from Hamburg
German male journalists
German literary critics
20th-century German non-fiction writers
Living people
20th-century German male writers
Der Spiegel people


title: Halltree

text:
Halltree is a hamlet in the Scottish Borders.

Etymology

The etymology of Halltree is debated, but the second element is likely to be a Cumbric word cognate with Welsh tref 'farmstead'. If so, the first element is probably also a Cumbric word such as hâl 'marsh'. Alternatively, the name might come from Old English, for example heald' 'sloping, bent' and trēow'' 'tree'.

References

Villages in the Scottish Borders


title: TSV Neudrossenfeld

text:
The TSV Neudrossenfeld is a German association football club from the town of Neudrossenfeld, Bavaria.

The club's greatest success came in 2014 when it qualified for the northern division of the Bayernliga, the fifth tier of the German football league system.

History
For most of its history the club, formed on 21 June 1924, has been a non-descript amateur side in local Bavarian football. The club first rose above local Kreisliga football in 1990 when it won promotion to the Bezirksliga Oberfranken-Ost. It spent four seasons in the lower half of the table before being relegated again in 1994. The club promptly returned to the Bezirksliga in 1995 but again lasted for only four seasons before suffering another relegation in 1999. Neudrossenfeld won its third promotion to the Bezirksliga in 2004 for a third stint of four seasons. This time however the club was a stronger side and capped the four seasons with a league championship in 2008.

Promoted to the tier seven Bezirksoberliga Oberfranken TSV finished runners-up in its first season there and was immediately promoted another level, now to the Landesliga Bayern-Nord.

The club played in the Landesliga for the next five seasons, the first three in the Landesliga Nord with average success. In 2012 this league was disbanded when the Landesligas were expanded from three to five divisions. Neudrossenfeld was grouped in the Landesliga Bayern-Nordost where it came sixth in 2013, followed by a league championship the season after.

The later allowed the club to move up to the Bayernliga for the first time, competing in the northern division in 2014–15. After a seventeenth place in 2014–15 the club had to enter the relegation round, where it lost to SpVgg Selbitz and was relegated.

Honours
The club's honours:
 Landesliga Bayern-Nordost
 Champions: 2014
 Bezirksoberliga Oberfranken
 Runners-up: 2009
 Bezirksliga Oberfranken-Ost
 Champions: 2008

Recent seasons
The recent season-by-season performance of the club:

With the introduction of the Bezirksoberligas in 1988 as the new fifth tier, below the Landesligas, all leagues below dropped one tier. With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier. With the establishment of the Regionalliga Bayern as the new fourth tier in Bavaria in 2012 the Bayernliga was split into a northern and a southern division, the number of Landesligas expanded from three to five and the Bezirksoberligas abolished. All leagues from the Bezirksligas onwards were elevated one tier.

Key

References

External links
 Official team site
 Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv  historical German domestic league tables
 Manfreds Fussball Archiv  Tables and results from the Bavarian amateur leagues
 TSV Neudrossenfeld at Weltfussball.de

Football clubs in Germany
Football clubs in Bavaria
Football in Upper Franconia
Association football clubs established in 1924
1924 establishments in Germany


title: 2000 Atlantic 10 Conference baseball tournament

text:
The 2000 Atlantic 10 Conference Baseball Championship was held at Bear Stadium in Boyertown, Pennsylvania from May 18 through 20. It was the 13th and final tournament held in Boyertown. It featured the top two regular-season finishers of each of the conference's six-team divisions. West Division top seed Virginia Tech defeated Massachusetts in the title game to win the tournament for the third time, earning the Atlantic 10's automatic bid to the 2000 NCAA tournament.

Seeding and format
Each division's top teams, based on winning percentage in the 21-game regular season schedule, qualified for the field. In the four-team double-elimination format, the East Division champion played the West Division runner-up, and vice versa. In the West Division, Virginia Tech's regular season series win over George Washington gave it the top seed.

Bracket

All-Tournament Team
The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team. Virginia Tech shortstop Addison Bowman, one of three Hokies selected, was named Most Outstanding Player.

Virginia Tech's Addison Bowman, also named in 1999, was selected for the second time.

References

Tournament
Atlantic 10 Conference baseball tournament
Atlantic 10 Conference baseball tournament
Atlantic 10 Conference baseball tournament
Baseball in Pennsylvania
College sports in Pennsylvania
History of Berks County, Pennsylvania
Sports competitions in Pennsylvania
Sports in the Delaware Valley
Tourist attractions in Berks County, Pennsylvania


title: Alec Robertson (music critic)

text:
Alec Robertson, MBE (3 June 1892, Southsea – 18 January 1982, Midhurst) was a British writer, broadcaster and music critic. He wrote music criticism for Gramophone for more than 50 years, beginning with the magazine's very first issue in 1923. He later served as that magazine's music editor from 1952–1972. Ho joined the Gramophone Department of the BBC in 1940, and worked as producer of music talks on the Home and Third programmes, retiring from the BBC in 1952.

In 1950, Robertson succeeded Ralph Hill as editor of Music, the annual Pelican book series, having previously written a record review column for its predecessor, Penguin Music Magazine. He also wrote for The Catholic Herald, and The Tablet.

He appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs on 3 June 1957, and again on 3 June 1972.

Robertson was educated at Bradfield College and the Royal Academy of Music. He was named a fellow of the latter institution in 1946. In 1972, he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire.

Bibliography

References

1892 births
1982 deaths
Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music
British music critics
British writers about music
BBC radio producers
Fellows of the Royal Academy of Music
Members of the Order of the British Empire
People educated at Bradfield College
Classical music critics
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 4


title: You Me Bullets Love

text:
You Me Bullets Love is the first album by The Bombay Royale released in 2012 and was chosen as iTunes Breakthrough World Music Album for 2012. In terms of tracks, the album features "eight originals and two classic Bollywood covers". The title track was featured in the video game Far Cry 4.

Track listing

References

2014 albums


title: Culex vishnui

text:
Culex vishnui is a mosquito belonging to the Culicidae family. It is the most common vector (carrier) of the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Sarawak.

See also
 Japanese encephalitis

Identification

The Culex vishnui Theobald mosquito species belongs to a sub-type that also includes two other carriers of the Japanese encephalitis virus - Culex tritaeniorhynchus Giles and Culex pseudovishnui Colless. Since the females of these different species are difficult to morphologically distinguish from one another, an rDNA based diagnostic PCR is used for identification.

Morphological identification of multiple JEV carrier mosquitoes including Cx. vishnui are based on identifying specific features of the legs, abdomen, palpi, wings, proboscises, and tarsi. The identification of Cx. vishnui is confirmed by verifying that the "anterior surface of hindfemur with pale stripe does not contrast with dark scaled area".

References

vishnui
Diptera of Asia
Insects described in 1901
Taxa named by Frederick Vincent Theobald


title: Josh Ralph (athlete)

text:
Joshua "Josh" Ralph (born 27 October 1991) is an Australian middle-distance runner. He was a participant at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics and the 2014 Commonwealth Games and is a current Oceanian Record holder in the 4 × 800 m.

Biography
Ralph was born in Sydney and started Little Athletics at North Rocks, New South Wales, when he was nine. He was educated at Newington College where he was Captain of both Athletics and Cross Country in the schools GPS teams in 2009. Ralph went on a student exchange to France for the whole of 2010. Currently he is at the University of Sydney studying to become a Bachelor of Applied Science (Exercise and Sport Science) and also plays a number of musical instruments. In 2013 Ralph won the Balmoral Burn, an event created by fellow Old Newingtonian Phil Kearns.

References

External links

 Josh Ralph at Athletics Australia

1991 births
Living people
People educated at Newington College
Australian male middle-distance runners
Athletes from Sydney
World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia
Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia
Sportsmen from New South Wales


title: Respect to Mehmetçik Monument

text:
The Respect to Mehmetçik Memorial () is a monument in the Gallipoli peninsula, Çanakkale Province, Turkey. It is located in the Eceabat district of Çanakkale Province in the southern end of Albayrak heights within the Gallipoli Peninsula Historical Site which is facing the Anzac Cove. Mehmetçik is a common name given to soldiers in a war, akin to G.I. in the US.

History
The monument, which was created by the Turkish sculptor Tankut Öktem (1941–2007) in 1997, is a sculpture of a Turkish soldier carrying an Australian officer.  The sculpture is based on an event in the Dardanelles Campaign of the World War I in which a Turkish soldier, after raising a white flag, carried a wounded Australian officer to Australian lines and returned to his lines before fighting resumed. There is also an inscription of a statement made by Lord Richard Casey then a lieutenant and the staff captain with the 3rd Brigade in the Australian army, during a visit to Turkey about his respect for the Turkish army.

References

Gallipoli campaign
World War I memorials in Turkey
Eceabat District
Turkish military memorials and cemeteries
Buildings and structures in Çanakkale Province
1997 establishments in Turkey
Tourist attractions in Çanakkale Province
Bronze sculptures in Turkey
Sculptures of men in Turkey


title: Kundanlal Dholakia

text:
Kundanlal Dholakia (10 August 1920 – 8 March 2011) was a politician from Gujarat. He was born in Calcutta to Jashwantray and Jiviben. He started his career as lawyer and was president of Kutch District Bar Association for year 1965–66. He married Harsuta.  He was member of erstwhile Bombay Assembly from 1957 to 1960 and Gujarat Assembly from 1960 to 1962 as a member of pre-Indira Congress party from Bhuj. In 1962 elections as candidate of Congress from Bhuj, he lost to independent candidate Gulabshankar Amritlal. After split of Congress in 1969 he became associated with Indian National Congress (Organisation) and was elected as a member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly for 1975-80 again from Bhuj. He was the speaker of Gujarat Assembly from June 1975 to March 1977 and then from April 1977 to June 1980. He worked actively during the earthquake and drought in Kutch during 1956. In 2009, he was awarded Gujarat Pratibha Award.
His other major contribution was as a historian, he penned down history of Kutch in books - ‘Shruti ane Smruti: Kutch’ and  ‘Kutch na antarango’ both wonderful books on Kutch's recent history. His major contribution to contemporary history of Gujarat was his book ‘Samayne sathvare Gujarat.’ This is most probably the only book that narrates Gujarat's political history between 1952 and 2009 in continuing chapters. Dholakia's book was first published in 1991. Though, Dholakia was from Congress party, he didn't rescue himself from writing something against Congress Chief Ministers of Gujarat while penning down contemporary history. After every few years he would add other chapters on recent political affairs. Thus the subsequent editions with added chapters were published in 1994, 2005 and finally in 2010. One has to take note that as a historian, he was active right till his death at age of 90 in 2011 and his last writings were published just a year before in 2010.

References

2011 deaths
Indian National Congress (Organisation) politicians
Speakers of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly
People from Bhuj
Gujarat MLAs 1975–1980
1920 births
Bombay State politicians
Gujarat MLAs 1960–1962
Bombay State MLAs 1957–1960
Politicians from Kolkata
Indian National Congress politicians from Gujarat
Gujarati-language writers
20th-century Indian historians


title: 1974–75 FIBA Korać Cup

text:
The 1974–75 FIBA Korać Cup was the fourth edition of FIBA's new competition, running from 5 November 1974 to 25 March 1975. It was contested by 42 teams, five more than in the previous edition.

Birra Forst Cantù defeated CF Barcelona in the final to become the competition's first and only three-peat champion.

Season teams

First round

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Second round

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Automatically qualified to the round of 16
 Birra Forst Cantù (title holder)
 Dynamo Moscow
 Stroitel

Round of 16
The round of 16 were played with a round-robin system, in which every Two Game series (TGS) constituted as one game for the record.

Semi finals

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Finals

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References
Linguasport 1974–75 FIBA Korać Cup
1974–75 FIBA Korać Cup

1974–75
1974–75 in European basketball


title: Darsie Japp

text:
Darsie Napier Japp MC (17 February 1883 – 1973) was an English painter and soldier.

Japp was born in Liverpool and attended St John's College of the University of Oxford. After he graduated, he worked in the offices of his father's shipping company in the City of London between 1904 and 1907. While working in the City, Japp studied at the night school of the Lambeth School of Art under Philip Connard. Japp studied at the Slade School of Art between 1908 and 1909, where he became friends with his fellow student Stanley Spencer and would often visit him in his home at Cookham in Berkshire. Japp specialised in landscape and figure paintings, and exhibited with the New English Art Club of which he became a member in 1919.

At the start of the First World War Japp joined the British Army, and eventually became a Major in the Royal Field Artillery commanding an artillery battery in Macedonia, for which he was awarded the Military Cross. Coincidentally, Spencer also served in Macedonia in the last years of the war and the British War Memorial Committee was keen for both men to be released from their military duties to work on paintings for the proposed, but never built, national Hall of Remembrance. The Army refused to release either of them until after the Armistice, when Japp, following a visit to the Western Front, began work on the painting The Royal Field Artillery in Macedonia, Spring 1918 (1919), which is now part of the collection of the Imperial War Museum.

Shortly after the war, Japp gave up painting professionally to farm and to breed race horses in Berkshire. Henry Lamb painted a group portrait of Japp and his family in 1928, which is now in Manchester Art Gallery. Japp left England in 1926, and for the next 27 years lived in France and Spain, before returning to England in 1953. He left England again to live in Portugal some years later.

References

External links

1883 births
1973 deaths
20th-century English painters
English male painters
Alumni of St John's College, Oxford
Alumni of the Lambeth School of Art
Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art
British Army personnel of World War I
English expatriates in France
English expatriates in Spain
20th-century English farmers
Modern artists
Military personnel from Liverpool
Recipients of the Military Cross
Royal Artillery officers
Artists from Liverpool
20th-century English male artists


title: Leksand Church

text:
Leksand Church () is a church building in Leksand in Sweden. It belongs to the Leksand Parish of the Church of Sweden.

References

External links

Churches in the Diocese of Västerås
Leksand
Churches in Dalarna County


title: Shooting at the 2014 Commonwealth Games – Men's 25 metre rapid fire pistol

text:
The qualification round of  Men's 25 metre rapid fire pistol event was held on 28 July 2014 at the Barry Buddon Shooting Centre, while the final was held on 29 July 2014 at the same place. David Chapman from Australia won the gold medal while Harpreet Singh from India Won the silver medal.

Results

Qualification

Finals

References

External links
Schedule

Shooting at the 2014 Commonwealth Games


title: Link-ZA

text:
Link-ZA (also "Link ZA" or "LinkZA") is a tactical data link system used by the South African National Defence Force. It is the data communication component of the "Combat Net Interoperability Standard" (CNIS). Development began in the early 1990s when South Africa acquired a wide variety of high technology defence equipment such as Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter jets, BAE Hawk lead-in fighter trainers, Valour-class frigates and other weapons systems. Because South Africa was not able to acquire the NATO standard Link-16 system an indigenous system was developed.

Features
Link-ZA is a multi-platform secure network protocol operating over HF, VHF or UHF radio or satellite link. It uses TDMA and CSMA to establish links and share data with up to 31 active nodes and an unlimited number of passive nodes. Static or dynamic routing tables are supported. Link-ZA node controllers have store and forward capability to transfer data between different radio nets. A node controller can access multiple radios and automatically select the most appropriate link.

References

Further sources

Military communications
Network protocols
Military radio systems
Post–Cold War military equipment of South Africa


title: Sangken

text:
The Sangken festival is celebrated in Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Assam, India, as the traditional New Year's Day from 14 to 16 April by the Theravada Buddhist Communities. It coincides with the New Year of many calendars. The Sangken festival is celebrated by the Khamti, Singpho, Khamyang, Tangsa tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, and Tai Phake, Tai Aiton, and Tai Turung communities of Assam. Sangken generally falls in the month of  'Nuean Ha',  the fifth month of the year of the Tai lunisolar calendar coinciding with the month of April.  It is celebrated in the last days of the old year and the New Year begins on the day just after the end of the festival.

New Year Traditions
The main attraction of the festival is splashing clean water, which is the symbol of peace and purity. The images of Buddha are taken out and after the ceremonial bath. The procession is accompanied by drums, dances and enjoyment. The holy bath of Buddha is an auspicious event in the festival. The celebration takes place for three consecutive days. During the celebration the locals make homemade sweet and distribute them. The exchange of gifts is also a common trait of the festival. There are festivals other than Sangken celebrated throughout the year calendar. Some of the festivals are namely: POI-PEE-MAU (Tai or Dai New Year), MAI-KASUNG-PHAI, KHAO-WA, POAT-WA, etc.

Every festive occasion or celebration of the Buddhist people revolves around the principles and teachings of Buddha. All its socio-cultural activities have been truly religious. The essence of festivals lies in bringing people together and spreading the intrinsic values of their cultures and traditions. Being followers of Buddha, the Buddhist people are lovers of peace and harmony. Thus, Sangken has always unfolded the message of peace, harmony and unity. Their decency and craftsmanship and their cuisine reveal their love and taste of food, while their sports show their adeptness in the art of games.

The Tai Phakes is a lesser known Buddhist population of Assam. With its microscopic existence of less than 2000 souls, they mostly dwell in villages. In a constantly changing world they have tried to keep up, all the while trying to maintain their ways of life, tradition and culture.

The Three Days
Before the beginning of the Sangken festival, a temporary shrine called 'Kyongfra' is constructed for keeping the idols of Buddha during Sangken. In this Kyongfra during Sangken, clean water is sprinkled through a specially designed water fountain called the 'Lungkong'.  Clean and scented water poured through the fountain is sprinkled over the idols of Buddha kept inside the Kyongfra. This water, which has washed the Gods, is collected as holy water by the devotees. Sangken festival is celebrated for three consecutive days. On the first day and at an auspicious time,  the images of Buddha are taken out of the shrine,  given a ceremonial bath and placed in the  'Kyongfra’ to the accompaniment of drums and cymbals.  People pray,  offer sweets and food as offerings in the temple and then distribute sweets and goodwill amongst all by pouring water over each other. Water is also poured over all the holy objects, including the Boddhi tree, the Sailiks ropes of the holy book), Chausangphau-upuk and the Sammukathing. Water is also poured on Bhikkhus (monk) to invoke their blessings for good luck, good health, peace and harmony throughout the year.

On the final day of the Sangken festival at the appointed time, the images are taken back to their original places and this marks the end of the old year.  The Sangken festival marks a farewell to the old year and a warm welcome to the New Year. On the last day, devotees take “Pancha Sheel or Ashta Sheel” as per their age and vows. And after that wash the feet of the abbot of monks and other monks as well, offer gifts, flowers and take blessings.

The New Year is welcomed with community prayers and feast during the ‘Poi Sangken’ celebrated after the end of the festival. This day is celebrated with great devotion and enthusiasm by all and marked by people going to the monastery to wash and clean up the shrine, idols and sprinkle holy water in the premises and a community feast which follows. This festival is dedicated to the worship of Buddha so that he can bless mankind with prosperity.

Sangken elsewhere
Sangken is also seen to be celebrated abroad. Many Buddhist exist elsewhere where this festival is celebrated with enthusiasm. Sangken is celebrated as Songkran in other South East Asian countries. Songkran is a new year in the countries like Thailand, Laos, etc., while the Tai Phake celebrate Sangken to invoke the blessings of the Buddha for protection of the mankind from the evils, for peace, harmony, good luck and good health.

See also
South and Southeast Asian solar New Year
Indian New Year's days
Celebrate Sangken Water Festival 2023 of Arunachal Pradesh with Buddhists - Tai New Year.

References

Tribes of Arunachal Pradesh
Tribes of Assam
Buddhist holidays
April observances

Observances on non-Gregorian calendars
New Year celebrations
Buddhist festivals in India
New Year in India
Social groups of Assam


title: Hatun Urqu (Chumbivilcas)

text:
Hatun Urqu (Quechua hatun big, urqu, mountain, "big mountain", Hispanicized spelling Ccatunorcco) is a mountain in the Cusco Region in Peru, about  high. It is situated in the Chumbivilcas Province, Velille District, south-east of Velille.

References

Mountains of Peru
Mountains of Cusco Region


title: Rättvik Church

text:
Rättvik Church () is a church building in Rättvik in Sweden. It belongs to Rättvik Parish of the Church of Sweden.

References

External links

Rattvik Church
Churches in Dalarna County


title: William Cross Barratt

text:
Major General William Cross Barratt  (2 June 1862 – 2 April 1940) was a senior British Army and British Indian Army officer.

Biography

Born in Calcutta, Barratt was educated at Bedford School. He received his first commission in the Royal Berkshire Regiment in 1883.  He served in Sudan during the Suakin Expedition of 1885, and fought at the Battle of Hasheen and at the Battle of Tofrek. In 1890 he took part in the Zhob Valley Expedition in India, and fought in Waziristan between 1894 and 1895.  He served in East Africa in 1896, in Zanzibar and Uganda between 1897 and 1898, in China during the Boxer Rebellion between 1900 and 1901, and was present at the Relief of Peking.  He subsequently served on the North West Frontier in India. He was appointed as General Officer Commanding the 9th (Secunderabad) Division and as General Officer Commanding the 16th Indian Division.

Major General William Cross Barratt retired from the British Indian Army in 1920.  He died on 2 April 1940.

References

1862 births
1940 deaths
People educated at Bedford School
Royal Berkshire Regiment officers
Indian Army generals of World War I
Companions of the Order of the Bath
Companions of the Order of the Star of India
Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
Military personnel of British India
British Indian Army generals
British military personnel in colonial India


title: 2014 Rabo–Liv Women Cycling Team season

text:
The 2014 women's road cycling season was the tenth for the Rabo–Liv Women Cycling Team, which began as DSB Bank in 2005.

Team roster

Ages as of 1 January 2014

Riders who joined the team for the 2014 season

Riders who left the team during or after the 2013 season

Season victories

Footnotes

References

2014 UCI Women's Teams seasons
2014 in Dutch sport
2014


title: Hatun Urqu

text:
Hatun Urqu or Jatun Urqu (Quechua hatun big (in Bolivia always jatun), urqu mountain, "big mountain", also spelled Atun Orco, Atún Orco, Atun Orcco, Atunorco, Ccatun Orcco, Ccatunorcco, Jatun Orcco, Jatun Orjo, Jatun Orkho, Jatún Orkho, Jatunorcco, Qatun Orqo) may refer to:

 Hatun Urqu (Acomayo), a mountain in the Acomayo Province, Cusco Region, Peru
 Hatun Urqu (Chumbivilcas), a mountain in the Chumbivilcas Province, Cusco Region, Peru
 Hatun Urqu (Huancavelica), a mountain in the Huancavelica Region, Peru
 Jatun Urqu (Bolivia), a mountain near Sacabamba in the Sacabamba Municipality, Esteban Arce Province, Cochabamba Department, Bolivia
 Jatun Urqu (Matarani), a mountain near Matarani in the Sacabamba Municipality, Esteban Arce Province, Cochabamba Department, Bolivia
 Jatun Urqu (Mizque), a mountain in the Mizque Province, Cochabamba Department, Bolivia
 Jatun Urqu (Potosí), a mountain in the Potosí Department, Bolivia


title: Ulundurpet railway station

text:
Ulundurpet/Ulundurpettai railway station (station code: ULU) is a railway station on the Viluppuram–Tiruchirappalli section serving Ulundurpet, a town and taluka headquarters in Kallakurichi district, Tamil Nadu. It is one of the railway stations of the Tiruchirappalli railway division of the Southern Railway zone.

Location and layout
It is located on the NH 45 near the Ulunderpet Toll Gate, one of the largest toll plazas in South India. The station has a two platform.

Traffic
Of the numerous trains passing through the station, only the Madurai to Villupuram express has a commercial halt, despite Ulundupet being a town panchayat as well as the headquarters of both the Ulundurpet taluk and the Ulundurpet state assembly constituency.

The nearest major railheads are:
  (20 km)
  (36 km)

References

Trichy railway division
Railway stations in Viluppuram district


title: Borgholm Church

text:
Borgholm Church () is a church in Borgholm on the Swedish Baltic Sea island of Öland. Belonging to Borgholm Parish of the Church of Sweden, it was opened on Pentecost Sunday in 1879.

References

External links

Churches in the Diocese of Växjö
19th-century Church of Sweden church buildings
Churches completed in 1879
Churches in Kalmar County


title: Trinity Church, Halmstad

text:
Trinity Church () is a Roman Catholic  church in Halmstad in Sweden. It is part of Saint Mary's Roman Catholic Parish within the Catholic Diocese of Stockholm.

It was opened on 24 May 1981.

References

Halmstad
Roman Catholic churches in Sweden
1981 establishments in Sweden
Churches completed in 1981


title: Audrey Russell

text:
Muriel Audrey Russell,  (29 June 1906 – 8 August 1989) was a BBC Radio journalist (then called a "commentator"), the BBC's first female news reporter, and, in 1944, the first accredited female war reporter.

Russell was born in Dublin on 29 June 1906, to Muriel (née Metcalfe) and John Strangman Russell. Her father was director of his family's woollen mill. She was their only child. Her maternal uncle was E. Dudley "Fruity" Metcalfe, a close friend of Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII).

She was home-educated governesses, before attending a private boarding-school called Southlands, at Harrow. She then went to a finishing school at the Villa St Georges, Neuilly, Paris.

After training at the Central School of Speech and Drama, she became an actress (her stage debut was at the Lyric in London in 1937) and stage manager, and joined the BBC in 1942 after being discovered by them when interviewed about her wartime work for the National Fire Service.

She travelled to mainland Europe just after the D-Day landings and reported from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and Norway, before returning on health grounds in March 1945.

In 1953, Russell gave a live commentary on the Coronation of Elizabeth II, from inside Westminster Abbey. She also gave commentary on the funeral of Sir Winston Churchill in 1965.

She appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs on 29 July 1957. In 1967, she was granted the freedom of the City of London, and was appointed a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) in the 1976 Birthday Honours. Her autobiography, A Certain Voice, was published in 1984. She died of Alzheimer's disease in Woking, Surrey, on 8 August 1989. An obituary, calling here the "grande dame of radio's vintage years", was published in The Times.

Her World War II military uniform (though non-combatants, war correspondents held military rank) is in the collection of the Imperial War Museum.

Bibliography

References

1906 births
Broadcasters from Dublin (city)
1989 deaths
Place of death missing
BBC people
British radio journalists
War correspondents of World War II
British firefighters
British war correspondents
20th-century British actresses
Members of the Royal Victorian Order
People from Woking
Neurological disease deaths in England
Deaths from Alzheimer's disease
British stage actresses
British women radio presenters