>> Cleopatra was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty

Cleopatra VII Philopator (August 12, 30 BC ), known to history simply as Cleopatra, was the last active pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt, shortly survived as pharaoh by her son Caesarion. After her reign, Egypt became a province of the then-recently established Roman Empire.

Cleopatra was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Macedonian Greek origin that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great's death during the Hellenistic period. The Ptolemies, throughout their dynasty, spoke Greek and refused to speak Egyptian, which is the reason that Greek as well as Egyptian languages were used on official court documents such as the Rosetta Stone. By contrast, Cleopatra did learn to speak Egyptian and represented herself as the reincarnation of an Egyptian goddess, Isis.

Cleopatra originally ruled jointly with her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes, and later with her brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV, whom she married as per Egyptian custom, but eventually she became sole ruler. As pharaoh she consummated a liaison with Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne. She later elevated her son with Caesar, Caesarion, to co-ruler in name.

Bust believed to be of Cleopatra VII, Altes Museum, Berlin

After Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, she aligned with Mark Antony in opposition to Caesar's legal heir, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (later known as Augustus). With Antony, she bore the twins Cleopatra Selene II and Alexander Helios, and another son, Ptolemy Philadelphus (her unions with her brothers had produced no children). After losing the Battle of Actium to Octavian's forces, Antony committed suicide. Cleopatra followed suit. According to tradition, she killed herself by means of an asp bite on August 12, 30 BC. She was outlived by Caesarion, who was declared pharaoh by his supporters, but soon killed on Octavian's orders. Egypt then became the Roman province of Aegyptus.

To this day, Cleopatra remains a source of perpetual fascination in Western culture. Her legacy survives in numerous works of art and many dramatizations of incidents from her life in literature and other media, including William Shakespeare's tragedy Antony and Cleopatra, George Bernard Shaw's play Caesar and Cleopatra, Jules Massenet's opera Cléopâtre and the films Cleopatra (1934) and Cleopatra (1963).
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>> Fasilides was proclaimed emperor in 1630 during a revolt led by Sarsa Krestos

Fasilides (20 November 1603 – 18 October 1667), also known as Fasil or Basilide, was emperor of Ethiopia from 1632 to 18 October 1667, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne name was ʿAlam Sagad (Ge'ez ዓለም ሰገድ ʿĀlam Sagad, modern ʿĀlem Seged), meaning "to whom the world bows". He was the son of Emperor Susenyos I and Empress Sultana Mogassa, born at Magazaz in Shewa before 10 November 1603. His paternal grandfather's name was also Fasilides.

Fasilides was proclaimed emperor in 1630 during a revolt led by Sarsa Krestos, but did not reach the throne until his father abdicated in 1632. Once he became emperor, Fasilides immediately restored the official status of the traditional Ethiopian Orthodox Church. He sent for a new abuna from the Patriarch of Alexandria, restoring the ancient relationship that had been allowed to lapse. He confiscated the lands of the Jesuits at Dankaz and elsewhere in the empire, relegating them to Fremona. When he heard that the Portuguese bombarded Mombasa, Fasilides assumed that Afonso Mendes, the Roman Catholic prelate, was behind the act, and banished the remaining Jesuits from his lands. Mendes and most of his followers made their way back to Goa, being robbed or imprisoned several times on the way. In 1665, he ordered the "Books of the Franks"—the remaining religious writings of the Catholics—burnt.

Fasilides' Castle in Gondar

He is commonly credited with founding the city of Gondar in 1636, establishing it as Ethiopia's capital. Whether or not a community existed here before he made it his capital is unknown. Amongst the buildings he had constructed there are the beginnings of the complex later known as Fasil Ghebbi, as well as some of the earliest of Gondar's fabled 44 churches: Adababay Iyasus, Adababay Tekle Haymanot, Atatami Mikael, Gemjabet Mariyam, Fit Mikael, and Qeddus Abbo. He is also credited with building seven stone bridges in Ethiopia; as a result all old bridges in Ethiopia are often commonly believed to be his work.

River during Fasilides reign. Sebara Dildiy was later repaired during Emperor Menelik II's reign in 1901. Photo shows repair to bridge performed by USA charity Bridges to Prosperity in 2001.
Emperor Fasilides also built the Cathedral Church of St Mary of Zion at Axum. Fasilides' church is known today as the "Old Cathedral" and stands next to a newer cathedral built by Emperor Haile Selassie.

The rebellion of the Agaw in Lasta, which had begun under his father, continued into his reign and for the rest of his reign he made regular punitive expeditions into Lasta. The first, in 1637, went badly, for at the Battle of Libo his men panicked before the Agaw assault and their leader, Melka Kristos, entered Fasilides' palace and took the throne for himself. Fasilides quickly recovered and sent for help to Qegnazmach Dimmo, governor of Semien, and his brother Gelawdewos, governor of Begemder. These marched on Melka Kristos, who was still at Libo, where he was killed and his men defeated. The next year Fasilides marched into Lasta; according to James Bruce, the Agaw retreated to their mountain strongholds, and "almost the whole army perished amidst the mountains; great part from famine, but a greater still from cold, a very remarkable circumstance in these latitudes."

Sebara Dildiy (broken bridge in Amharic) was one of two stone bridges built over the Blue Nile River during Fasilides reign.

Fasilides dispatched an embassy to India in 1664–5 to congratulate Aurangzeb upon his accession to the throne of the Mughal Empire.

In 1666, after his son Dawit rebelled, Fasilides had him incarcerated at Wehni, reviving the ancient practice of confining troublesome members of the Imperial family to a mountaintop, as they had once been confined at Amba Geshen.

Fasilides died at Azazo, 8 kilometres (5 miles) south of Gondar, and his body was interred at St. Stephen's, a monastery on Daga Island in Lake Tana. When Nathaniel T. Kenney was shown Fasilides' remains, he saw a smaller mummy also shared the coffin. A monk told Kenney that it was Fasilides' seven-year-old son Isur, who had been smothered in a crush of people who had come to pay the new king homage.
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>> The Emperor of Ethiopia was the hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire

The Emperor of Ethiopia was the hereditary ruler of the Ethiopian Empire, until the abolition of the monarchy in 1975. The Emperor was the head of state and head of government, with ultimate executive, judicial and legislative power in that country. A National Geographic Magazine article called imperial Ethiopia "nominally a constitutional monarchy; in fact [it was] a benevolent autocracy".

The Solomonic dynasty 
The restored Solomonic dynasty, which claimed descent from the old Aksumite rulers, ruled Ethiopia from the 13th century until 1974, with only a couple of usurpers. The most significant usurper was Kassa of Kwara, who in 1855 took complete control over Ethiopia and was crowned Tewodros II (he developed a claim to have been descended from the Solomonics on the distaff side). After his defeat and demise, another Solomonic dynasty, Dejazmatch Kassai took over as Yohannes IV; however, his distaff descent from Solomonics was a well-attested fact. Menelik of Shewa, who descended from Solomonic Emperors, in the direct male line (junior only to the Gondar line), ascended the imperial throne following Yohannis IV's death, thus purporting to restore the male-line Solomonic tradition.

The most famous post-Theodorean Emperors were Yohannes IV, Menelik II and Haile Selassie. Emperor Menelik II achieved a major military victory against Italian invaders in March 1896 at the Battle of Adwa. Menelik lost Eritrea to Italy and Djubouti to France. After Menelik, all monarchs were of distaff descent from Solomonics. The male line, through the descendants of Menelik's cousin Dejazmatch Taye Gulilat, still existed, but had been pushed aside largely because of Menelik's personal distaste for this branch of his family. Menelik's Solomonic successors ruled the country until the military coup in 1974.

Italian conquest of Ethiopia
In 1936, with the Italian conquest of Ethiopia, Emperor Haile Selassie was forced to flee abroad. Benito Mussolini soon declared Ethiopia, together with Italian Eritrea and Italian Somaliland, a colonial Empire called Italian East Africa ("Africa Orientale Italiana").

During the summer of 1936 Victor Emmanuel III proclaimed himself Emperor of Ethiopia, a title that was initially considered illegitimate by the international community, but in 1940 recognized by most members of the league of nations. In June 1940, even the USA and USSR were starting the process of recognition of the title, but WWII blocked all this. The title practically lasted five years until 1941. Victor Emmanuel III later officially renounced the title at the end of 1943.

Return of Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie returned to power with the British conquest of the Italian East Africa during World War II. In January 1942 he was officially reinstated to power in Ethiopia by the British government.

The position of the Emperor and the Line of succession were strictly defined in both of the constitutions adopted during the reign of Haile Selassie: the one adopted on July 16, 1931; and the revised one of November 1955.

Haile Selassie tijdens staatsbezoek januari 1969

The last Solomonic monarch to rule Ethiopia was Amha Selassie, who was offered the throne by the Derg after his father Haile Selassie's deposition on September 12, 1974. When Amha Selassie, understandably mistrustful of the Derg, refused to return to Ethiopia to rule, the Derg announced that the monarchy had come to an end on 21 March 1975. In April 1989, Amha Selassie was proclaimed Emperor in exile at London, with his succession backdated to the date of Emperor Haile Selassie's death in August 1975 rather than his deposition in September 1974. In 1993 a group called the "Crown Council of Ethiopia", which includes several descendants of Haile Selassie, claimed that the nəgusä nägäst was still in existence, and was the legal head of Ethiopia. The 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia confirmed the abolition of the Emperorship.
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>> Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world

Ethiopia is a sovereign state located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea to the north and northeast, Djibouti and Somalia to the east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south. With over 100 million inhabitants, Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world, as well as the second-most populous nation on the African continent after Nigeria. It occupies a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometres (420,000 sq mi), and its capital and largest city is Addis Ababa.

Some of the oldest evidence for anatomically modern humans has been found in Ethiopia, which is widely considered the region from which modern humans first set out for the Middle East and places beyond. According to linguists, the first Afroasiatic-speaking populations settled in the Horn region during the ensuing Neolithic era. Tracing its roots to the 2nd millennium BC, Ethiopia was a monarchy for most of its history. During the first centuries AD, the Kingdom of Aksum maintained a unified civilization in the region, followed by the Ethiopian Empire circa 1137.

Ethiopia derived prestige with its uniquely successful military resistance during the late 19th-century Scramble for Africa, becoming the only African country to defeat a European colonial power and retain its sovereignty. Subsequently, many African nations adopted the colors of Ethiopia's flag following their independence. It was the first independent African member of the 20th-century League of Nations and the United Nations. In 1974, at the end of Haile Selassie's reign, power fell to a communist military dictatorship known as the Derg, backed by the Soviet Union, until it was defeated by the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, which has ruled since about the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Dawit II (Lebna Dengel), Emperor of Ethiopia (nəgusä nägäst) and a member of the Solomonic dynasty.

Ethiopia is a multilingual nation with around 80 ethnolinguistic groups, the three largest of which are the Tigrayans, Oromo and Amhara. Most people in the country speak Afroasiatic languages of the Cushitic or Semitic branches. Additionally, Omotic languages are spoken by ethnic minority groups inhabiting the southern regions. Nilo-Saharan languages are also spoken by the nation's Nilotic ethnic minorities.

Ethiopia is the place of origin for the coffee bean. It is a land of natural contrasts, with its vast fertile West, jungles, and numerous rivers, and the world's hottest settlement of Dallol in its north. The Ethiopian Highlands are Africa's largest continuous mountain ranges, and Sof Omar Caves contain Africa's largest cave. Ethiopia has the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa.

Ethiopia's ancient Ge'ez script, also known as Ethiopic, is one of the oldest alphabets still in use in the world. The Ethiopian calendar, which is approximately seven years and three months behind the Gregorian calendar, co-exists alongside the Borana calendar. A slight majority of the population adheres to Christianity (mainly the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and P'ent'ay), while around a third follows Islam (primarily Sunni Islam). The country is the site of the Migration to Abyssinia and the oldest Muslim settlement in Africa at Negash. A substantial population of Ethiopian Jews, known as Beta Israel, resided in Ethiopia until the 1980s, but most of them have since gradually emigrated to Israel.

The castle of Fasilides

Ethiopia is one of the founding members of the UN, the Group of 24 (G-24), the Non-Aligned Movement, G-77 and the Organisation of African Unity. Ethiopia's capital city Addis Ababa serves as the headquarters of the African Union, the Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, African Aviation Training HQ, the African Standby Force, and much of the global NGOs focused on Africa. Despite being the main source of the Nile–the longest river on Earth–Ethiopia underwent a series of famines in the 1980s, which was exacerbated by civil wars and adverse geopolitics. The country has begun to recover recently, and now has the largest economy (by GDP) in East Africa and Central Africa. According to Global Fire Power, Ethiopia has the 42nd most powerful military in the world.
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>> The Nile has two major tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile

The Nile is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is 6,853 km (4,258 miles) long. The Nile is an "international" river as its water resources are shared by eleven countries, namely, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo-Kinshasa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea, South Sudan, Sudan and Egypt. In particular, the Nile is the primary water source of Egypt and Sudan.

The Nile has two major tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile. The White Nile is considered to be the headwaters and primary stream of the Nile itself. The Blue Nile, however, is the source of most of the water and silt. The White Nile is longer and rises in the Great Lakes region of central Africa, with the most distant source still undetermined but located in either Rwanda or Burundi. It flows north through Tanzania, Lake Victoria, Uganda and South Sudan. The Blue Nile (Amharic: ዓባይ?, ʿĀbay  ) begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia and flows into Sudan from the southeast. The two rivers meet near the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.

The Nile's watershed

The northern section of the river flows north almost entirely through the Sudanese desert to Egypt, then ends in a large delta and empties into the Mediterranean Sea. Egyptian civilization and Sudanese kingdoms have depended on the river since ancient times. Most of the population and cities of Egypt lie along those parts of the Nile valley north of Aswan, and nearly all the cultural and historical sites of Ancient Egypt are found along riverbanks.

In the ancient Egyptian language, the Nile is called Ḥ'pī or Iteru, meaning "river", represented by the hieroglyphs shown on the left (literally itrw, and 'waters' determinative). In Coptic, the words piaro (Sahidic) or phiaro (Bohairic) meaning "the river" (lit. p(h).iar-o "the.canal-great") come from the same ancient name.

The Blue Nile Falls fed by Lake Tana near the city of Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

The English name Nile and the Arabic names en-Nîl and an-Nîl both derive from the Latin Nilus and the Ancient Greek Νεῖλος. Beyond that, however, the etymology is disputed. One possible etymology derives it from a Semitic Nahal, meaning "river". The standard English names "White Nile" and "Blue Nile", to refer to the river's source, derive from Arabic names formerly applied only to the Sudanese stretches which meet at Khartoum.
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>> The Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut is considered one of the "incomparable monuments of ancient Egypt."

The Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, the Djeser-Djeseru ("Holy of Holies"), is located beneath the cliffs at Deir el Bahari on the west bank of the Nile near the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. The mortuary temple is dedicated to the sun god Amon-Ra and is located next to the mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II, which served both as an inspiration, and later, a quarry. It is considered one of the "incomparable monuments of ancient Egypt."  The temple was the site of the massacre of 62 people, mostly tourists, by terrorists that took place on 17 November 1997.

The Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw is responsible for the study and restoration of the three levels of the temple. As of early 1995, the first two levels were almost complete, and the top level was still under reconstruction.

Hatshepsut’s Temple

Hatshepsut's chancellor, royal architect Senenmut oversaw construction. Although the adjacent, earlier mortuary temple of Mentuhotep was used as a model, the two structures are nevertheless significantly different in many ways. Hatshepsut's temple employs a lengthy, colonnaded terrace that deviates from the centralised structure of Mentuhotep’s model – an anomaly that may be caused by the decentralized location of her burial chamber. There are three layered terraces reaching 97 feet tall. Each story is articulated by a double colonnade of square piers, with the exception of the northwest corner of the central terrace, which employs Proto Doric columns to house the chapel. These terraces are connected by long ramps which were once surrounded by gardens with foreign plants including frankincense and myrrh trees. The layering of Hatshepsut's temple corresponds with the classical Theban form, employing pylons, courts, hypostyle hall, sun court, chapel and sanctuary.

The relief sculpture within Hatshepsut’s temple recites the tale of the divine birth of a female pharaoh – the first of its kind. The text and pictorial cycle also tell of an expedition to the Land of Punt, an exotic country on the Red Sea coast. While the statues and ornamentation have since been stolen or destroyed, the temple once was home to two statues of Osiris, a sphinx avenue as well as many sculptures of the Queen in different attitudes – standing, sitting, or kneeling. Many of these portraits were destroyed at the order of her stepson Thutmose III after her death.

Hatshepsut's Temple, showing the height of the cliffs beyond

The main and axis of the temple is set to an azimuth of about 116½° and is aligned to the winter solstice sunrise, which in our modern era occurs around the 21st or 22 December each year. The sunlight penetrates through to the rear wall of the chapel, before moving to the right to highlight one of the Osiris statutes that stand on either side of the doorway to the 2nd chamber. A further subtlety to this main alignment is created by a light-box, which shows a block of sunlight that slowly moves from the central axis of the temple to first illuminate the god Amen-Ra to then shining on the kneeling figure of Thutmose III before finally illuminating the Nile god Hapi. Additionally, because of the heightened angle of the sun, around 41 days on either side of the solstice, sunlight is able to penetrate via a secondary light-box through to the innermost chamber. This inner-most chapel was renewed and expanded in the Ptolemaic era and has cult references to Imhotep the builder of Djoser's Step Pyramid and Amenhotep son of Hapu - the overseer of the works of Amenhotep III.

A partially surviving relief in the temple

Hatshepsut’s temple is considered the closest Egypt came to Classical architecture. Representative of New Kingdom funerary architecture, it both aggrandizes the pharaoh and includes sanctuaries to honor the gods relevant to her afterlife. This marks a turning point in the architecture of Ancient Egypt, which forsook the megalithic geometry of the Old Kingdom for a temple which allowed for active worship, requiring the presence of participants to create the majesty. The linear axiality of Hatshepsut’s temple is mirrored in the later New Kingdom temples. The architecture of the original temple has been considerably altered as a result of misguided reconstruction in the early twentieth century AD.
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>> Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient Northeastern Africa

Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. It is one of six civilizations to arise independently. Egyptian civilization followed prehistoric Egypt and coalesced around 3150 BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology) with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh Narmer (commonly referred to as Menes). The history of ancient Egypt occurred in a series of stable Kingdoms, separated by periods of relative instability known as Intermediate Periods: the Old Kingdom of the Early Bronze Age, the Middle Kingdom of the Middle Bronze Age and the New Kingdom of the Late Bronze Age.

The Great Sphinx and the pyramids of Giza are among the most recognizable symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt.

Egypt reached the pinnacle of its power in the New Kingdom, during the Ramesside period, where it rivalled the Hittite Empire, Assyrian Empire and Mitanni Empire, after which it entered a period of slow decline. Egypt was invaded or conquered by a succession of foreign powers, such as the Canaanites/Hyksos, Libyans, the Nubians, the Assyrians, Babylonians, the Achaemenid Persians, and the Macedonians in the Third Intermediate Period and the Late Period of Egypt. In the aftermath of Alexander the Great's death, one of his generals, Ptolemy Soter, established himself as the new ruler of Egypt. This Greek Ptolemaic Kingdom ruled Egypt until 30 BC, when, under Cleopatra, it fell to the Roman Empire and became a Roman province.

The success of ancient Egyptian civilization came partly from its ability to adapt to the conditions of the Nile River valley for agriculture. The predictable flooding and controlled irrigation of the fertile valley produced surplus crops, which supported a more dense population, and social development and culture. With resources to spare, the administration sponsored mineral exploitation of the valley and surrounding desert regions, the early development of an independent writing system, the organization of collective construction and agricultural projects, trade with surrounding regions, and a military intended to defeat foreign enemies and assert Egyptian dominance. Motivating and organizing these activities was a bureaucracy of elite scribes, religious leaders, and administrators under the control of a pharaoh, who ensured the cooperation and unity of the Egyptian people in the context of an elaborate system of religious beliefs.

Amenemhat III, the last great ruler of the Middle Kingdom

The many achievements of the ancient Egyptians include the quarrying, surveying and construction techniques that supported the building of monumental pyramids, temples, and obelisks; a system of mathematics, a practical and effective system of medicine, irrigation systems and agricultural production techniques, the first known planked boats, Egyptian faience and glass technology, new forms of literature, and the earliest known peace treaty, made with the Hittites. Egypt left a lasting legacy. Its art and architecture were widely copied, and its antiquities carried off to far corners of the world. Its monumental ruins have inspired the imaginations of travelers and writers for centuries. A new-found respect for antiquities and excavations in the early modern period by Europeans and Egyptians led to the scientific investigation of Egyptian civilization and a greater appreciation of its cultural legacy.
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>> History of the United Nations

In the century prior to the UN's creation, several international treaty organizations and conferences had been formed to regulate conflicts between nations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. Following the catastrophic loss of life in the First World War, the Paris Peace Conference established the League of Nations to maintain harmony between countries. This organization resolved some territorial disputes and created international structures for areas such as postal mail, aviation, and opium control, some of which would later be absorbed into the UN.

However, the League lacked representation for colonial peoples (then half the world's population) and significant participation from several major powers, including the US, USSR, Germany, and Japan; it failed to act against the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1935, the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, and German expansions under Adolf Hitler that culminated in the Second World War.

1942 "Declaration of United Nations" by the Allies of World War II
The earliest concrete plan for a new world organization began under the aegis of the US State Department in 1939. The text of the "Declaration by United Nations" was drafted by President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and Roosevelt aide Harry Hopkins, while meeting at the White House, 29 December 1941. It incorporated Soviet suggestions, but left no role for France. "Four Policemen" was coined to refer four major Allied countries, United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and China, which was emerged in Declaration by United Nations.

The UN in 1945. In light blue, the founding members. In dark blue, protectorates and territories of the founding members.

Roosevelt first coined the term United Nations to describe the Allied countries. "On New Year's Day 1942, President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill, Maxim Litvinov, of the USSR, and T. V. Soong, of China, signed a short document which later came to be known as the United Nations Declaration and the next day the representatives of twenty-two other nations added their signatures."[9] The term United Nations was first officially used when 26 governments signed this Declaration. One major change from the Atlantic Charter was the addition of a provision for religious freedom, which Stalin approved after Roosevelt insisted. By 1 March 1945, 21 additional states had signed.
During the war, the United Nations became the official term for the Allies. To join countries had to sign the Declaration and declare war on the Axis.

Founding the UN 1945
The United Nations was formulated and negotiated among the delegations from the Soviet Union, the UK, the US and China at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference in 1944. After months of planning, the UN Conference on International Organization opened in San Francisco, 25 April 1945, attended by 50 governments and a number of non-governmental organizations involved in drafting the United Nations Charter. "The heads of the delegations of the sponsoring countries took turns as chairman of the plenary meetings: Anthony Eden, of Britain, Edward Stettinius, of the United States, T. V. Soong, of China, and Vyacheslav Molotov, of the Soviet Union. At the later meetings, Lord Halifax deputized for Mr. Eden, V. K. Wellington Koo for T. V. Soong, and Mr Gromyko for Mr. Molotov." The UN officially came into existence 24 October 1945, upon ratification of the Charter by the five permanent members of the Security Council—France, the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, the UK and the US—and by a majority of the other 46 signatories.

The first meetings of the General Assembly, with 51 nations represented, and the Security Council took place in London beginning 6 January 1946. The General Assembly selected New York City as the site for the headquarters of the United Nations, and the facility was completed in 1952. Its site—like UN headquarters buildings in Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi—is designated as international territory. The Norwegian Foreign Minister, Trygve Lie, was elected as the first UN Secretary-General.

Cold War era
Though the UN's primary mandate was peacekeeping, the division between the US and USSR often paralysed the organization, generally allowing it to intervene only in conflicts distant from the Cold War. (A notable exception was a Security Council resolution in 1950 authorizing a US-led coalition to repel the North Korean invasion of South Korea, passed in the absence of the USSR.) In 1947, the General Assembly approved a resolution to partition Palestine, approving the creation of the state of Israel. Two years later, Ralph Bunche, a UN official, negotiated an armistice to the resulting conflict. In 1956, the first UN peacekeeping force was established to end the Suez Crisis however, the UN was unable to intervene against the USSR's simultaneous invasion of Hungary following that country's revolution.

Dag Hammarskjöld was a particularly active Secretary-General from 1953 until his death in 1961.

In 1960, the UN deployed United Nations Operation in the Congo (UNOC), the largest military force of its early decades, to bring order to the breakaway State of Katanga, restoring it to the control of the Democratic Republic of the Congo by 1964. While travelling to meet with rebel leader Moise Tshombe during the conflict, Dag Hammarskjöld, often named as one of the UN's most effective Secretaries-General, died in a plane crash; months later he was posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1964, Hammarskjöld's successor, U Thant, deployed the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, which would become one of the UN's longest-running peacekeeping missions.

With the spread of decolonization in the 1960s, the organization's membership saw an influx of newly independent nations. In 1960 alone, 17 new states joined the UN, 16 of them from Africa. On 25 October 1971, with opposition from the United States, but with the support of many Third World nations, the mainland, communist People's Republic of China was given the Chinese seat on the Security Council in place of the Republic of China that occupied Taiwan; the vote was widely seen as a sign of waning US influence in the organization. Third World nations organized into the Group of 77 coalition under the leadership of Algeria, which briefly became a dominant power at the UN. In 1975, a bloc comprising the USSR and Third World nations passed a resolution, over strenuous US and Israeli opposition, declaring Zionism to be racism; the resolution was repealed in 1991, shortly after the end of the Cold War.

With an increasing Third World presence and the failure of UN mediation in conflicts in the Middle East, Vietnam, and Kashmir, the UN increasingly shifted its attention to its ostensibly secondary goals of economic development and cultural exchange. By the 1970s, the UN budget for social and economic development was far greater than its peacekeeping budget.

Post-Cold War
After the Cold War, the UN saw a radical expansion in its peacekeeping duties, taking on more missions in ten years than it had in the previous four decades. Between 1988 and 2000, the number of adopted Security Council resolutions more than doubled, and the peacekeeping budget increased more than tenfold. The UN negotiated an end to the Salvadoran Civil War, launched a successful peacekeeping mission in Namibia, and oversaw democratic elections in post-apartheid South Africa and post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia. In 1991, the UN authorized a US-led coalition that repulsed the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.  Brian Urquhart, Under-Secretary-General from 1971 to 1985, later described the hopes raised by these successes as a "false renaissance" for the organization, given the more troubled missions that followed.

Kofi Annan, Secretary-General from 1997 to 2006

Though the UN Charter had been written primarily to prevent aggression by one nation against another, in the early 1990s the UN faced a number of simultaneous, serious crises within nations such as Somalia, Haiti, Mozambique, and the former Yugoslavia. The UN mission in Somalia was widely viewed as a failure after the US withdrawal following casualties in the Battle of Mogadishu, and the UN mission to Bosnia faced "worldwide ridicule" for its indecisive and confused mission in the face of ethnic cleansing. In 1994, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda failed to intervene in the Rwandan Genocide amid indecision in the Security Council.

Beginning in the last decades of the Cold War, American and European critics of the UN condemned the organization for perceived mismanagement and corruption. In 1984, the US President, Ronald Reagan, withdrew his nation's funding from UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, founded 1946) over allegations of mismanagement, followed by Britain and Singapore. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary-General from 1992 to 1996, initiated a reform of the Secretariat, reducing the size of the organization somewhat. His successor, Kofi Annan (1997–2006), initiated further management reforms in the face of threats from the United States to withhold its UN dues.

The current Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon

In the late 1990s and 2000s, international interventions authorized by the UN took a wider variety of forms. The UN mission in the Sierra Leone Civil War of 1991–2002 was supplemented by British Royal Marines, and the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 was overseen by NATO. In 2003, the United States invaded Iraq despite failing to pass a UN Security Council resolution for authorization, prompting a new round of questioning of the organization's effectiveness. Under the current Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, the UN has intervened with peacekeepers in crises including the War in Darfur in Sudan and the Kivu conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo and sent observers and chemical weapons inspectors to the Syrian Civil War. In 2013, an internal review of UN actions in the final battles of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009 concluded that the organization had suffered "systemic failure" One hundred and one UN personnel died in the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the worst loss of life in the organization's history.
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>> The Qing dynasty was the last imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912

The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing, also called the Empire of the Great Qing, or the Manchu dynasty, was the last imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The Qing multi-cultural empire lasted almost three centuries and formed the territorial base for the modern Chinese state.

The dynasty was founded by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan in Manchuria. In the late sixteenth century, Nurhaci, originally a Ming vassal, began organizing Jurchen clans into "Banners", military-social units. Nurhaci formed these clans into a unified entity, the subjects of which became known collectively as the Manchu people. By 1636, his son Hong Taiji began driving Ming forces out of Liaodong and declared a new dynasty, the Qing. In 1644, peasant rebels led by Li Zicheng conquered the Ming capital Beijing. Rather than serve them, Ming general Wu Sangui made an alliance with the Manchus and opened the Shanhai Pass to the Banner Armies led by Prince Dorgon, who defeated the rebels and seized Beijing.

The Kangxi Emperor (r. 1662–1722)

The conquest of China proper was not completed until 1683 under the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661–1722). The Ten Great Campaigns of the Qianlong Emperor from the 1750s to the 1790s extended Qing control into Central Asia. While the early rulers maintained their Manchu ways, and while their official title was Emperor they were known as khans to the Mongols and patronized Tibetan Buddhism, they governed using Confucian styles and institutions of bureaucratic government. They retained the imperial examinations to recruit Han Chinese to work under or in parallel with Manchus. They also adapted the ideals of the tributary system in international relations, and in places such as Taiwan, the Qing so-called internal foreign policy closely resembled colonial policy and control.

The reign of the Qianlong Emperor (1735–1796) saw the apogee and initial decline in prosperity and imperial control. The population rose to some 400 million, but taxes and government revenues were fixed at a low rate, virtually guaranteeing eventual fiscal crisis. Corruption set in, rebels tested government legitimacy, and ruling elites did not change their mindsets in the face of changes in the world system. Following the Opium War, European powers imposed unequal treaties, free trade, extraterritoriality and treaty ports under foreign control.

"The reception of the Diplomatique (Macartney) and his suite, at the Court of Pekin". Drawn and engraved by James Gillray, published in September 1792.

The Taiping Rebellion (1850–64) and Dungan Revolt (1862–77) in Central Asia led to the deaths of some 20 million people. In spite of these disasters, in the Tongzhi Restoration of the 1860s, Han Chinese elites rallied to the defense of the Confucian order and the Qing rulers. The initial gains in the Self-Strengthening Movement were destroyed in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895, in which the Qing lost its influence over Korea and the possession of Taiwan. New Armies were organized, but the ambitious Hundred Days' Reform of 1898 was turned back by Empress Dowager Cixi, a ruthless but capable leader. When, in response to the violently anti-foreign Yihetuan ("Boxers"), foreign powers invaded China, the Empress Dowager declared war on them, leading to defeat and the flight of the Imperial Court to Xi'an.

After agreeing to sign the Boxer Protocol the government then initiated unprecedented fiscal and administrative reforms, including elections, a new legal code, and abolition of the examination system. Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionaries competed with reformers such as Liang Qichao and monarchists such as Kang Youwei to transform the Qing empire into a modern nation. After the death of Empress Dowager Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor in 1908, the hardline Manchu court alienated reformers and local elites alike. Local uprisings starting on October 11, 1911 led to the Xinhai Revolution. Puyi, the last emperor, abdicated on February 12, 1912.
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>> History of the Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the end of the Qing dynasty—the years 1420 to 1912. It is located in the centre of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. It served as the home of emperors and their households as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government for almost 500 years.

Constructed from 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings and covers 72 ha (180 acres). The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Part of the museum's former collection is now located in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Both museums descend from the same institution, but were split after the Chinese Civil War. With over 14 million annual visitors, the Palace Museum is the most visited Museum in the world.

When Hongwu Emperor's son Zhu Di became the Yongle Emperor, he moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, and construction began in 1406 on what would become the Forbidden City.

Construction lasted 14 years and required more than a million workers. Material used include whole logs of precious Phoebe zhennan wood (Chinese: 楠木; pinyin: nánmù) found in the jungles of south-western China, and large blocks of marble from quarries near Beijing. The floors of major halls were paved with "golden bricks" (Chinese: 金砖; pinyin: jīnzhuān), specially baked paving bricks from Suzhou.

The Forbidden City as depicted in a Ming dynasty painting

From 1420 to 1644, the Forbidden City was the seat of the Ming dynasty. In April 1644, it was captured by rebel forces led by Li Zicheng, who proclaimed himself emperor of the Shun dynasty. He soon fled before the combined armies of former Ming general Wu Sangui and Manchu forces, setting fire to parts of the Forbidden City in the process.

By October, the Manchus had achieved supremacy in northern China, and a ceremony was held at the Forbidden City to proclaim the young Shunzhi Emperor as ruler of all China under the Qing dynasty. The Qing rulers changed the names on some of the principal buildings, to emphasise "Harmony" rather than "Supremacy", made the name plates bilingual (Chinese and Manchu), and introduced Shamanist elements to the palace.

In 1860, during the Second Opium War, Anglo-French forces took control of the Forbidden City and occupied it until the end of the war. In 1900 Empress Dowager Cixi fled from the Forbidden City during the Boxer Rebellion, leaving it to be occupied by forces of the treaty powers until the following year.

After being the home of 24 emperors – 14 of the Ming dynasty and 10 of the Qing dynasty – the Forbidden City ceased being the political centre of China in 1912 with the abdication of Puyi, the last Emperor of China. Under an agreement with the new Republic of China government, Puyi remained in the Inner Court, while the Outer Court was given over to public use, until he was evicted after a coup in 1924. The Palace Museum was then established in the Forbidden City in 1925.

The throne in the Hall of Preserving Harmony

In 1933, the Japanese invasion of China forced the evacuation of the national treasures in the Forbidden City. Part of the collection was returned at the end of World War II, but the other part was evacuated to Taiwan in 1948 under orders by Chiang Kai-shek, whose Kuomintang was losing the Chinese Civil War. This relatively small but high quality collection was kept in storage until 1965, when it again became public, as the core of the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, some damage was done to the Forbidden City as the country was swept up in revolutionary zeal. During the Cultural Revolution, however, further destruction was prevented when Premier Zhou Enlai sent an army battalion to guard the city.

The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 by UNESCO as the "Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties", due to its significant place in the development of Chinese architecture and culture. It is currently administered by the Palace Museum, which is carrying out a sixteen-year restoration project to repair and restore all buildings in the Forbidden City to their pre-1912 state.

In recent years, the presence of commercial enterprises in the Forbidden City has become controversial. A Starbucks store that opened in 2000 sparked objections and eventually closed on 13 July 2007. Chinese media also took notice of a pair of souvenir shops that refused to admit Chinese citizens in order to price-gouge foreign customers in 2006.
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>> The Tiananmen is a famous monument in Beijing, the capital of the China

The Tiananmen ("Gate of Heavenly Peace") is a famous monument in Beijing, the capital of the China. It is widely used as a national symbol. First built during the Ming dynasty in 1420, Tiananmen is often referred to as the front entrance to the Forbidden City. However, the Meridian Gate (午门) is the first entrance to the Forbidden City proper, while Tiananmen was the entrance to the Imperial City, within which the Forbidden City was located. Tiananmen is located to the north of Tiananmen Square, separated from the plaza by Chang'an Avenue.

The gate was originally named Chengtianmen (traditional Chinese: 承天門; simplified Chinese: 承天门; pinyin: Chéngtiānmén), or "Gate of Accepting Heavenly Mandate", and it has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. The original building was first constructed in 1420 and was based on a gate of an imperial building in Nanjing with the same name and hence inherited the name "Chengtianmen". The gate was damaged by lightning in July, 1457, and was completely burnt down. In 1465, the Chenghua Emperor of the Ming dynasty ordered Zi Gui (自圭), the Minister of Works, to rebuild the gate, and the design was changed from the original paifang form to the gatehouse that is seen today. It suffered another blow in the war at the end of the Ming dynasty, when in 1644 the gate was burnt down by rebels led by Li Zicheng.

Tian'anmen, in a panorama photograph taken in 2009

Following the establishment of the Qing dynasty and the Manchu conquest of China proper, the gate was once again rebuilt, beginning in 1645, and was given its present name upon completion in 1651. The gate was reconstructed again between 1969 and 1970. The gate as it stood was by then 300 years old, and had badly deteriorated, partly due to heavy usage in the 1950s and 1960s. As the gate was a national symbol, Zhou Enlai ordered that the rebuilding was to be kept secret. The whole gate was covered in scaffolding, and the project was officially called a "renovation". The rebuilding aimed to leave the gate's external appearance unchanged while making it more resistant to earthquakes and featuring modern facilities such as an elevator, water supply and heating system.

The building is 66 metres long, 37 metres wide and 32 metres high. Like other official buildings of the empire, the gate has unique imperial roof decorations.

Tiananmen in 1901 

In front of the gate are two lions standing in front of the gate and two more guarding the bridges. In Chinese culture, lions are believed to protect humans from evil spirits.

Two stone columns, called huabiao, each with an animal (hou) on top of it, also stand in front of the gate. Originally, these installations were designed for commoners to address their grievances by writing or sticking up petitions on the columns. However, the examples in front of the Imperial City were purely decorative and instead connoted the majesty of the imperial government.

The western and eastern walls have giant placards; the left one reads "Long Live the People's Republic of China" (Chinese: 中华人民共和国万岁; pinyin: Zhōnghuá rénmín gònghéguó wànsuì), while the right one reads "Long Live the Great Unity of the World's Peoples". The right placard used to read "Long Live the Central People's Government"[citation needed] on the founding ceremony of the PRC, but after the ceremony it was changed to "Long Live the Great Unity of the World's Peoples" (Chinese: 世界人民大团结万岁; pinyin: Shìjièrénmíndàtuánjiéwànsuì). Both placards were changed to use simplified Chinese instead of traditional Chinese characters in 1964. The phrasing has significant symbolic meaning, as the phrase used for long live, like the Imperial City itself, was traditionally reserved for Emperors of China, but is now available to the common people.

Stone column (huabiao) with depiction of dragons and phoenixes decorates the surroundings of the Tiananmen gate.

The reviewing stands in the foreground are used on International Workers Day (May Day) and on the National Day (October 1) of the People's Republic of China.

In front of the stands is the Imperial City's moat, still filled with water but now containing decorative illuminated fountains.

In ancient times, the Tiananmen was among the most important gates encountered when entering Beijing's Imperial City along with the Qianmen, the Gate of China. Proceeding further inward, the next gate is the 'Upright Gate', identical in design to the Tian'anmen; behind it is the southern entrance of the Forbidden City itself, known as the Meridian Gate.

Because of the gate's position at the front of the Imperial City, and historical events that have taken place on Tiananmen Square, the gate has great political significance. In 1925, when China was ruled by the Nationalist government, a large portrait of Sun Yat-sen was hung at the gate after his death. In 1945, to celebrate the victory over Japan, Chiang Kai-shek's portrait was hung.

On July 7, 1949, pictures of Zhu De and Mao Zedong were hung to commemorate the Second Sino-Japanese War. Since then, from the founding date of the People's Republic of China, a portrait of Mao has been hung at the square on October 1. Each year the old portrait is replaced before October 1, the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. However, on certain occasions the picture has been different. For example, on March 9, 1953, a picture of Joseph Stalin was put up due to his death.

Portrait of Mao Zedong at the Tiananmen gate made by Ge Xiaoguang

In 2011 Alexander Pann Han-tang, chairman of the Asia Pacific Taiwan Federation of Industry and Commerce, and a close friend of Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou, proposed that the picture of Sun Yat-sen be displayed at Tiananmen Square instead for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China. However this proposal was rejected.

The portrait weighs 1.5 tonnes and is generally replaced by a spare when it is vandalised In 1989, three dissidents, including Yu Dongyue, attacked the portrait with eggs during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Yu was sent to prison and was not released until 17 years later in 2006. On May 12, 2007 the portrait of Mao caught fire. A 35-year-old unemployed man from Urumqi was arrested for the incident. About 15% of the portrait was damaged, and had to be repaired later. On April 5, 2010, a protester threw ink in a plastic bottle and hit a wall near the portrait. He was then arrested.
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>> History of Thailand

There is evidence of human habitation in Thailand that has been dated at 40,000 years before the present, with stone artefacts dated to this period at Tham Lod Rockshelter in Mae Hong Son. Similar to other regions in Southeast Asia, Thailand was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India, starting with the Kingdom of Funan around the 1st century CE to the Khmer Empire. Thailand in its earliest days was under the rule of the Khmer Empire, which had strong Hindu roots, and the influence among Thais remains even today.

Indian influence on Thai culture was partly the result of direct contact with Indian settlers, but mainly it was brought about indirectly via the Indianized kingdoms of Dvaravati, Srivijaya, and Cambodia. E:A Voretzsch believes that Buddhism must have been flowing into Siam from India in the time of the Indian Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire and far on into the first millennium after Christ. Later Thailand was influenced by the south Indian Pallava dynasty and north Indian Gupta Empire.

The ruins of Wat Chaiwatthanaram at Ayutthaya.

According to George Cœdès, "The Thai first enter history of Farther India in the eleventh century with the mention of Syam slaves or prisoners of war in" Champa epigraphy, and "in the twelfth century, the bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat" where "a group of warriors" are described as Syam. Additionally, "the Mongols, after the seizure of Ta-li on January 7, 1253 and the pacification of Yunnan in 1257, did not look with disfavor on the creation of a series of Thai principalities at the expense of the old Indianized kingdoms." The Menam Basin was originally populated by the Mons, and the location of Dvaravati in the 7th century, followed by the Khmer Empire in the 11th. The History of the Yuan mentions an embassy from the kingdom of Sukhothai in 1282. In 1287, three Thai chiefs, Mangrai, Ngam Muang, and Ram Khamhaeng formed a "strong pact of friendship".

After the fall of the Khmer Empire in the 13th century, various states thrived there, established by the various Tai peoples, Mons, Khmers, Chams and Ethnic Malays, as seen through the numerous archaeological sites and artefacts that are scattered throughout the Siamese landscape. Prior to the 12th century however, the first Thai or Siamese state is traditionally considered to be the Buddhist Sukhothai Kingdom, which was founded in 1238.

Stupas, Ayutthaya Historical Park.

Following the decline and fall of the Khmer empire in the 13th–15th century, the Buddhist Tai kingdoms of Sukhothai, Lanna, and Lan Xang (now Laos) were on the rise. However, a century later, the power of Sukhothai was overshadowed by the new Kingdom of Ayutthaya, established in the mid-14th-century in the lower Chao Phraya River or Menam area.

Ayutthaya's expansion centred along the Menam while in the northern valleys the Lanna Kingdom and other small Tai city-states ruled the area. In 1431, the Khmer abandoned Angkor after Ayutthaya forces invaded the city. Thailand retained a tradition of trade with its neighbouring states, from China to India, Persia, and Arab lands. Ayutthaya became one of the most vibrant trading centres in Asia. European traders arrived in the 16th century, beginning with the Portuguese, followed by the French, Dutch, and English. The Burmese–Siamese War (1765–1767) left Ayutthaya burned and sacked by King Hsinbyushin.

Location of  Thailand  (green)in ASEAN  (dark grey)

After the fall of Ayutthaya in 1767 to the Burmese, Taksin moved the capital to Thonburi for approximately 15 years. The current Rattanakosin era of Thai history began in 1782 following the establishment of Bangkok as capital of the Chakri Dynasty under King Rama I the Great. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, "A quarter to a third of the population of some areas of Thailand and Burma were slaves in the 17th through the 19th centuries."

Despite European pressure, Thailand is the only Southeast Asian nation to never have been colonised. This has been ascribed to the long succession of able rulers in the past four centuries who exploited the rivalry and tension between French Indochina and the British Empire. As a result, the country remained a buffer state between parts of Southeast Asia that were colonised by the two colonial powers, Great Britain and France. Western influence nevertheless led to many reforms in the 19th century and major concessions, most notably the loss of a large territory on the east side of the Mekong to the French and the step-by-step absorption by Britain of the Shan and Karen people areas and Malay Peninsula.
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>> Kraton of Yogyakarta serves as a cultural center for the Javanese people

Kraton of Yogyakarta (formally known as: Keraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat) is a palace complex located in the city of Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta Special Region, Indonesia. The palace is the main seat Sultan of Yogyakarta and his family. It serves as a cultural center for the Javanese people and contains a museum that displays the sultanate's artifacts.

Yogyakarta Palace was built by Prince Mangkubumi in 1755-1756 (Javanese year: 1682), several months after the signing of the Treaty of Giyanti between Prince Mangkubumi of Yogyakarta, Hamengkubuwono of Surakarta and Dutch East India Company. A Banyan Forest was chosen as the site of the palace due to its location between two rivers which were considered good protection from possible flooding.

Pagelaran hall of Yogyakarta Kraton

On 20 June 1812, Stamford Raffles led a 1,200-strong British force to attack the walled royal city of Yogyakarta. The Javanese, although outnumbering the invader, weren't prepared for the attack and were taken back by the event. In one day the city of Yogyakarta fell and the royal palace was sacked and burned. The total loot from the palace valued £15,000 in gold, jewels and hard currency (which values £500,000 today). The event was the first time an attack has been carried out into a court in Java and as a result the sultanate was completely subjugated to colonial authority.

Most of the palace's current form are built by Sultan Hamengkubuwono VIII who reign from 1921 to 1939. It suffered from an earthquake in 1876 and 2006, and was subsequently rebuilt after the devastation.

One of the pavilions (bangsal)

Kraton means the place where the "ratu" (in English: Queen, in Javanese also mean: King) resides. The word "Keraton" (Keraton is living quarter of the royal family in the palace) (shortened form of ratu/Ka-ratuan) derived from the word "Ratu" which in Malay means king. The palace was built according to Javanese Philosophy and is shrouded by mysticism. The spatial arrangement of the palace, including the cityscape of the old city of Yogyakarta, including its architecture, direction of buildings, and objects all belongs to the mythological value and belief system of the Javanese. The main street of the old city forms a straight line from Tugu Yogyakarta, Kraton, Mount Merapi to Krapyak Hunting House. The layout mean "the origin of human beings and their last purposes" (Javanese: sangkan paraning dumadi).

Kraton Yogyakarta featured in 1,000-rupiah banknote.

The road from Krapyak Hunting House to the palace symbolizes the first creation of men stage to adulthood. The villages surrounding Krapyak Hunting House are named "Mijen" from the word Wiji (seed). Along the way Tamarind and Spanish cherry trees are planted to represent the journey from childhood to adulthood. It then goes to Tugu Yogyakarta and finally ends at the palace, meaning the end of human life and meeting the Creator. And finally the seven gates of Gladhag to Donopratopo means the seven step to Heaven.

Gilig Golong Monument, popularly known as Tugu Yogyakarta.

Tugu Yogyakarta (Gilig golong monument) located on the north side of the old city is a symbol of "unification between the king (golong) and the people (gilig)" (Javanese: manunggaling kawulo gusti). It also symbolizes the final unity of the creator (Khalik) and His subjects. Gate Donopratoro (Gate to Kedaton quarter) means "a good person is someone who is generous and knows how to control his lust" and the two Dwarapala statues, named Balabuta and Cinkarabala, each represent good and evil. The palace's magical artifacts are believed to have the power to repulse evil intention.
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>> Yogyakarta or Jogjakarta renowned as a center of education, classical Javanese fine art and culture

Yogyakarta, also Jogja or Jogjakarta, is a city and the capital of Yogyakarta Special Region in Java, Indonesia. It is renowned as a center of education (Kota Pelajar), classical Javanese fine art and culture such as batik, ballet, drama, music, poetry, and puppet shows. Yogyakarta was the Indonesian capital during the Indonesian National Revolution from 1945 to 1949, with Gedung Agung as the president's office. One of the districts in Yogyakarta, Kotagede, was the capital of the Mataram Sultanate between 1575 and 1640. The city is named after the Indian city of Ayodhya from the Ramayana epic. Yogya means "suitable, fit, proper", and karta, "prosperous, flourishing" (i.e., "a city that is fit to prosper").

Location of Yogyakarta in Indonesia

Its population was 388,627 inhabitants at the 2010 census and its built-up (or metro) area was home to, 4,010,436 inhabitants spread on two cities (Yogyakarta and Magelang) and 65 districts spread on Sleman, Klaten, Bantul, Kulon Progo and Magelang regencies. While urbanization sprawls, Yogyakarta-Magelang and Surakarta are being agglomerated in a few years. The Dutch name of the city is Djokjakarta.

History 
Mataram Kingdom (8th – 10th century CE) 
According to Canggal inscription dated 732, the area traditionally known as "Mataram" became the capital of the Medang Kingdom, identified as Mdang i Bhumi Mataram established by King Sanjaya. Mataram became the center of a refined and sophisticated Javanese Hindu-Buddhist culture, for about three centuries its heartland in Kewu Plain (southern slope of Mount Merapi) around Prambanan witnessed the construction of numerous candi including Borobudur and Prambanan.

Kotagede, former capital of the Mataram Sultanate.

Around the year 929, the centre of the kingdom was shifted to East Java by Mpu Sindok, who established the Isyana Dynasty. The exact cause of the move is still uncertain; however, a severe eruption of Mount Merapi volcano or a power struggle probably caused the move. Historians suggest that, some time during the reign of King Wawa of Mataram (924–929), Merapi volcano erupted and devastated the kingdom's capital in Mataram.

Majapahit Empire (1293–1527) 
During the Majapahit era, the area surrounding modern Yogyakarta was identified again as "Mataram" and recognized as one of the twelve Majapahit provinces in Java ruled by a Duke titled 'Bhre Mataram'. During the reign of Hayam Wuruk (1350 to 1389), the title of Bhre Mataram was held by king's nephew and son in-law Wikramawardhana.

Mataram Sultanate (1575–1620)
Kotagede (now a district of Yogyakarta) was established as the capital of the Mataram Sultanate. During the reign of Sultan Agung Hanyokrokusumo (1613-1645), the Sultanate Mataram reached its zenith as the greatest kingdom in Java, and expanded its influence to Central Java, East Java and half of West Java. After two changes of capital, (Palace of Pleret and Place of Kerta, both located in Bantul Regency), the capital of Mataram Sultanate moved to Kartasura.

Aftermath of the Gianti Treaty (1745–1945)
During the reign of Pakubuwono II, a civil war broke out in Mataram Sultanate. The civil war was fought between Prince Mangkubumi and his elder brother, Sunan Pakubuwono II. It started when Sunan Pakubuwono II agreed to cooperate with the VOC, ceded some Mataram territory to the Dutch, and submitted to the foreign power. His younger brother, Prince Mangkubumi stood against the agreement due to concerns that his people would become slaves under Dutch rule. Prince Mangkubumi defeated the Pakubuwono forces and declared sovereignty in the Kingdom of Yogjakarta occupying the southern parts of the former Mataram Sultanate.

The Yogyakarta sultanate palace's main pavilion

The Yogyakarta Sultanate was established as a result of the Treaty of Giyanti (Perjanjian Gianti) by Prince Mangkubumi, who later ascended the throne as Sultan Hamengkubuwono I. Officially, the creation of Yogyakarta Sultanate is dated at 7 October 1756 as a result of civil war among the princes of The Mataram Sultanate. This civil war marked the end of the Mataram Sultanate and resulted in the birth of the Yogyakarta Sultanate and the Surakarta Sunanate.

During the British occupation of Java, rumors of plans by the Javanese court to stage a rebellion caused uneasiness among the colonial authorities. On 20 June 1812, Stamford Raffles led a 1,200-strong British force to attack the royal city. The Javanese were surprised by the attack and were easily subdued. In one day the city of Yogyakarta fell, with the city destroyed and its palace looted. The event completely stripped the sultanate of its remaining power and influence. The sack also left the court humiliated and fueled a rebellion which would be known as Java War.

Republic of Indonesia era (1945–present)
In 1942 the Japanese Empire invaded Dutch East Indies and ruled Java until they were defeated in 1945. Sukarno proclaimed the independence of the Indonesian Republic on August 1945. Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX promptly sent a letter to Sukarno, expressing his support for the newly born nation of Indonesia and acknowledging the Yogyakarta Sultanate as part of the Indonesian Republic. The Sunanate of Surakarta did the same, and both of the Javanese kingdoms were awarded special status as "Special Regions" within the Indonesian Republic. However, because of a leftist anti-royalist uprising in Surakarta, the Sunanate of Surakarta lost its special administrative status in 1946 and was absorbed into Central Java Province.

The Taman Sari Water Castle

Yogyakarta's support was essential in the Indonesian struggle for independence during the Indonesian National Revolution (1945-1949). The city of Yogyakarta became the capital of the Indonesian Republic from 1946 to 1948, after the fall of Jakarta to the Dutch. Later the Dutch also invaded Yogyakarta, causing the Republic's capital to be transferred once again, to Bukittinggi in West Sumatra on 19 December 1948. Because of its significant contribution to the survival of the Indonesian Republic, Yogyakarta was given the status of Special Administrative Region, making Yogyakarta the only region headed by a monarchy in Indonesia.
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>> Pura Besakih is a temple complex in the village of Besakih on the slopes of Mount Agung in eastern Bali, Indonesia

Pura Besakih is a temple complex in the village of Besakih on the slopes of Mount Agung in eastern Bali, Indonesia. It is the most important, the largest and holiest temple of Hindu religion in Bali, and one of a series of Balinese temples. Perched nearly 1000 meters up the side of Gunung Agung, it is an extensive complex of 23 separate but related temples with the largest and most important being Pura Penataran Agung. The temple is built on six levels, terraced up the slope. The entrance is an formed by a Candi Bentar (split gateway), and beyond it the Kori Agung is the gateway to the second courtyard.

The early morning sun hits the spires of Pura Besakih

The precise origins of the temple are not clear but it almost certainly dates from prehistoric times. The stone bases of Pura Penataran Agung and several other temples resemble megalithic stepped pyramids, which date back at least 2000 years. It was certainly used as a Hindu place of worship from 1284 when the first Javanese conquerors settled in Bali. By the 15th century, Besakih had become a state temple of the Gelgel dynasty. It was built on the south slopes of Mount Agung, the principal volcano of Bali.

Pura Besakih is a complex made up of twenty-three temples that sit on parallel ridges. It has stepped terraces and flights of stairs which ascend to a number of courtyards and brick gateways that in turn lead up to the main spire or Meru structure, which is called Pura Penataran Agung. All this is aligned along a single axis and designed to lead the spiritual person upward and closer to the mountain which is considered sacred.

Location in Bali; high on Mount Agung

The main sanctuary of the complex is the Pura Penataran Agung. The symbolic center of the main sanctuary is the lotus throne or padmasana, which is therefore the ritual focus of the entire complex. It dates to around the seventeenth century.

A series of eruptions of Mount Agung in 1963, which killed approximately 1,700 people also threatened Pura Besakih. The lava flows missed the temple complex by mere meters. The saving of the temple is regarded by the Balinese people as miraculous, and a signal from the gods that they wished to demonstrate their power but not destroy the monument the Balinese faithful had erected.

A prayer ceremony at Besakih Temple

Each year there are at least seventy festivals held at the complex, since almost every shrine celebrates a yearly anniversary. This cycle is based on the 210-day Balinese Pawukon calendar year.

It had been nominated as a World Heritage Site as early as 1995, but remains unvested.

Visitors to this temple should exercise caution as there is a syndicate operating in and around the premise of this temple. They target tourists by offering a compulsory "tour guide" at exorbitant charges. They also perform "prayers" and request for tips at the end of the "tour". Visitors who decline their "services" are dealt with rather aggressively.
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