title: Digital rights management

text: The Norwegian consumer rights organization "Forbrukerrådet" complained to Apple in 2007 about the company's use of DRM, accusing it of unlawfully restricting users' access to their music and videos, and of using EULAs that conflict with Norwegian consumer legislation. The complaint was supported by consumers' ombudsmen in Sweden and Denmark, and was reviewed in the EU in 2014. The United States Federal Trade Commission held hearings in March 2009, to review disclosure of DRM limitations to customers' use of media products.


title: Digital rights management

text: Valve president Gabe Newell stated, "most DRM strategies are just dumb" because they only decrease the value of a game in the consumer's eyes. Newell suggested that the goal should instead be "[creating] greater value for customers through service value". Valve operates Steam, an online store for PC games, as well as a social networking service and a DRM platform.


title: Digital rights management

text: At the 2012 Game Developers Conference, the CEO of CD Projekt Red, Marcin Iwinski, announced that the company would not use DRM. Iwinski stated of DRM, "It's just over-complicating things...the game...is cracked in two hours." Iwinski added "DRM does not protect your game. If there are examples that it does, then people maybe should consider it, but then there are complications with legit users."


title: Digital rights management

text: The Association for Computing Machinery and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers opposed DRM, naming AACS as a technology "most likely to fail" in an issue of IEEE Spectrum.


title: Digital rights management

text: The GNU General Public License version 3, as released by the Free Software Foundation, has a provision that "strips" DRM of its legal value, so people can break the DRM on GPL software without breaking laws such as the DMCA. In May 2006, FSF launched a "Defective by Design" campaign against DRM.


title: Digital rights management

text: Creative Commons provides licensing options that encourage creators to work without the use of DRM. Creative Commons licenses have anti-DRM clauses, making the use of DRM by a licensee a breach of the licenses' Baseline Rights.


title: Digital rights management

text: Many publishers and artists label their works "DRM-free". Major companies that have done so include Apple, Comixology, GOG.com, Tor Books and Vimeo on Demand.


title: Digital rights management

text: Many DRM systems require online authentication. Whenever the server goes down, or a territory experiences an Internet outage, it locks out people from registering or using the material. This is especially true for products that require a persistent online connection, where, for example, a successful DDoS attack on the server essentially makes the material unusable.


title: Digital rights management

text: Compact discs (CDs) with DRM schemes are not standards-compliant, and are labeled CD-ROMs. CD-ROMs cannot be played on all CD players or personal computers.


title: Digital rights management

text: Certain DRM systems have been associated with reduced performance: some games implementing Denuvo Anti-Tamper performed better without DRM. However, in March 2018, "PC Gamer" tested "Final Fantasy XV" for the performance effects of Denuvo, which was found to cause no negative gameplay impact despite a little increase in loading time.


title: Digital rights management

text: DRM copy-prevention schemes can never be wholly secure since the logic needed to decrypt the content is present either in software or hardware and implicitly can be hacked. An attacker can extract this information, decrypt and copy the content, bypassing the DRM.


title: Digital rights management

text: Satellite and cable systems distribute their content widely and rely on hardware DRM systems. Such systems can be hacked by reverse engineering the protection scheme.


title: Digital rights management

text: Audio and visual material (excluding interactive materials, "e.g.", video games) are subject to the analog hole, namely that in order to view the material, the digital signal must be turned into an analog signal. Post-conversion, the material can be then be copied and reconverted to a digital format.


title: Digital rights management

text: The analog hole cannot be filled without externally imposed restrictions, such as legal regulations, because the vulnerability is inherent to all analog presentation. The conversion from digital to analog and back reduces recording quality. The HDCP attempt to plug the analog hole was largely ineffective.


title: Digital rights management

text: DRM opponents argue that it violates private property rights and restricts a range of normal and legal user activities. A DRM component such as that found on a digital audio player restricts how it acts with regard to certain content, overriding user's wishes (for example, preventing the user from copying a copyrighted song to CD as part of a compilation). Doctorow described this as "the right to make up your own copyright laws".


title: Digital rights management

text: Windows Vista disabled or degraded content play that used a Protected Media Path. DRM restricts the right to make personal copies, provisions lend copies to friends, provisions for service discontinuance, hardware agnosticism, software and operating system agnosticism, lending library use, customer protections against contract amendments by the publisher, and whether content can pass to the owner's heirs.


title: Digital rights management

text: When a company undergoes business changes or bankruptcy, its previous services may become unavailable. Examples include MSN Music, Yahoo! Music Store, Adobe Content Server 3 for Adobe PDF, and Acetrax Video on Demand.


title: Digital rights management

text: DRM laws are widely flouted: according to Australia Official Music Chart Survey, copyright infringements from all causes are practised by millions of people. According to the EFF, "in an effort to attract customers, these music services try to obscure the restrictions they impose on you with clever marketing."


title: Digital rights management

text: Jeff Raikes, ex-president of the Microsoft Business Division, stated: "If they're going to pirate somebody, we want it to be us rather than somebody else". An analogous argument was made in an early paper by Kathleen Conner and Richard Rummelt. A subsequent study of digital rights management for e-books by Gal Oestreicher-Singer and Arun Sundararajan showed that relaxing some forms of DRM can be beneficial to rights holders because the losses from piracy are outweighed by the increase in value to legal buyers. Even if DRM were unbreakable, pirates still might not be willing to purchase, so sales might not increase.


title: Digital rights management

text: Piracy can be beneficial to some content providers by increase consumer awareness, spreading and popularizing content. This can also increase revenues via other media, such as live performances.


title: Digital rights management

text: Mathematical models suggest that DRM schemes can fail to do their job on multiple levels. The biggest failure is that the burden that DRM poses on a legitimate customer reduces the customer's willingness to buy. An ideal DRM would not inconvenience legal buyers. The mathematical models are strictly applicable to the music industry.


title: Digital rights management

text: Streaming services have created profitable business models by signing users to monthly subscriptions in return for unlimited content. This model has worked for music (such as Spotify, Apple Music, etc.) and video (such as Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, etc.)


title: Digital rights management

text: Accessing pirated copy can be illegal and possibly inconvenient. Businesses that charge acceptable fees can attract customers. The first business model that dissuades illegal file sharing is to make legal content downloading easy and cheap. Pirate websites are often host to malware which attach themselves to the files. If content is provided on legitimate sites and is reasonably priced, consumers are more likely to purchase media legally.


title: Digital rights management

text: The Artistic Freedom Voucher (AFV) introduced by Dean Baker is a way for consumers to support "creative and artistic work". In this system, each consumer receives a refundable tax credit of $100 to give to any artist of creative work. To restrict fraud, the artists must register with the government. The voucher prohibits any artist that receives the benefits from copyrighting their material for a certain length of time. Consumers would be allowed to obtain music for a certain amount of time easily and the consumer would decide which artists receive the $100. The money can either be given to one artist or to many, the distribution is up to the consumer.


title: Zohar

text: The Zohar (, "Zōhar", lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five books of Moses) and scriptural interpretations as well as material on mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology. The "Zohar" contains discussions of the nature of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls, redemption, the relationship of Ego to Darkness and "true self" to "The Light of God".


title: Zohar

text: The "Zohar" was first publicized by Moses de León (c. 1240 – 1305 CE), who claimed it was a Tannaitic work recording the teachings of Simeon ben Yochai (). This claim is universally rejected by modern scholars, most of whom believe de León, also an infamous forger of Geonic material, wrote the book himself between 1280 and 1286. Some scholars argue that the "Zohar" is the work of multiple medieval authors and/or contains a small amount of genuinely antique novel material. Later additions to the "Zohar", including the Tiqqune hazZohar and the Ra'ya Mehimna, were composed by a 14th century imitator.


title: Zohar

text: According to Gershom Scholem and other modern scholars, Zoharic Aramaic is an artificial dialect largely based on a linguistic fusion of the Babylonian Talmud and Targum Onkelos, but confused by de Leon's simple and imperfect grammar, his limited vocabulary, and his reliance on loanwords, including from contemporary medieval languages.


title: Zohar

text: Authorship of the "Zohar" was questioned from the outset, due to the claim that it was discovered by one person and referred to historical events of the post-Talmudic period while purporting to be from an earlier date. Abraham Zacuto's 1504 work "Sefer Yuhasin" (first printed 1566) quotes from the Kabbalist Isaac ben Samuel of Acre's 13th century memoir "Divre hayYamim" (lost), which claims that the widow and daughter of de León revealed that he had written it himself and only ascribed the authorship to Simeon ben Yochai for personal profit:


title: Zohar

text: Isaac goes on to say that he obtained mixed evidence of Zohar's authenticity from other Spanish Kabbalists, and, though he treats it as genuine in his "Otzar haChayyim", he rarely quotes it. Isaac's testimony was censored from the second edition (1580) and remained absent from all editions thereafter until its restoration nearly 300 years later in the 1857 edition.


title: Zohar

text: Within fifty years of its appearance in Spain it was quoted by Kabbalists, including the Italian mystical writer Menahem Recanati and Todros ben Joseph Abulafia. However Joseph ibn Wakar harshly attacked the Zohar, which he considered inauthentic, and some Jewish communities, such as the Dor Daim, Andalusian (Western Sefardic or Spanish and Portuguese Jews), and some Italian communities, never accepted it as authentic. The manuscripts of the "Zohar" are from the 14th-16th centuries.


title: Zohar

text: By the 15th century, its authority in the Iberian Jewish community was such that Joseph ibn Shem-Tov drew from it arguments in his attacks against Maimonides, and even representatives of non-mystical Jewish thought began to assert its sacredness and invoke its authority in the decision of some ritual questions. In Jacobs' and Broyde's view, they were attracted by its glorification of man, its doctrine of immortality, and its ethical principles, which they saw as more in keeping with the spirit of Talmudic Judaism than are those taught by the philosophers, and which was held in contrast to the view of Maimonides and his followers, who regarded man as a fragment of the universe whose immortality is dependent upon the degree of development of his active intellect. The "Zohar" instead declared Man to be the lord of creation, whose immortality is solely dependent upon his morality.


title: Zohar

text: Conversely, Elia del Medigo (c.1458 – c.1493), in his "Beḥinat ha-Dat" endeavored to show that the "Zohar" could not be attributed to Simeon ben Yochai, by a number of arguments. He claims that if it were his work, the "Zohar" would have been mentioned by the Talmud, as has been the case with other works of the Talmudic period; he claims that had ben Yochai known by divine revelation the hidden meaning of the precepts, his decisions on Jewish law from the Talmudic period would have been adopted by the Talmud, that it would not contain the names of rabbis who lived at a later period than that of ben Yochai; he claims that if the Kabbalah were a revealed doctrine, there would have been no divergence of opinion among the Kabbalists concerning the mystic interpretation of the precepts.


title: Zohar

text: Believers in the authenticity of the "Zohar" countered that the lack of references to the work in Jewish literature was because ben Yochai did not commit his teachings to writing but transmitted them orally to his disciples over generations until finally the doctrines were embodied in the "Zohar". They found it unsurprising that ben Yochai should have foretold future happenings or made references to historical events of the post-Talmudic period.


title: Zohar

text: By the late 16th century, the "Zohar" was present in one-tenth of all private Jewish libraries in Mantua. The authenticity of the "Zohar" was accepted by such 16th century Jewish luminaries as Joseph Karo (d. 1575), and Solomon Luria (d. 1574), who wrote nonetheless that Jewish law does not follow the Zohar when it is contradicted by the Babylonian Talmud. Luria writes that the "Zohar" cannot even override a minhag. Moses Isserles (d. 1572) writes that he "heard" that the author of the Zohar is ben Yochai. Elijah Levita (d. 1559) did not believe in its antiquity, nor did Joseph Scaliger (d. 1609) or Johannes Drusius (d. 1616).


title: Zohar

text: Debate continued over the generations; Delmedigo's arguments were echoed by Leon of Modena (d. 1648) in his "Ari Nohem" and Jean Morin (d. 1659), and Jacob Emden (d. 1776), who may have been familiar with Morin's arguments, devoted a book to the criticism of the "Zohar", called "Mitpachas Sefarim" (מטפחת ספרים) to fight the remaining adherents of the Sabbatai Zevi movement (in which Zevi, a false messiah and Jewish apostate, cited Messianic prophecies from the "Zohar" as proof of his legitimacy), and endeavored to show that the book on which Zevi based his doctrines was a forgery. Emden argued that the "Zohar" misquotes passages of Scripture; misunderstands the Talmud; contains some ritual observances that were ordained by later rabbinical authorities; mentions The Crusades against Muslims (who did not exist in the 2nd century); uses the expression ""esnoga"", a Portuguese term for "synagogue"; and gives a mystical explanation of the Hebrew vowel points, which were not introduced until long after the Talmudic period. Saul Berlin (d. 1794) argued that the presence of an introduction in the Zohar, unknown to the Talmudic literary genre, itself indicates a medieval date.


title: Zohar

text: In the Ashkenazi community of Eastern Europe, religious authorities including Elijah of Vilna (d. 1797) and Shneur Zalman of Liadi (d. 1812) believed in the authenticity of the "Zohar", while Ezekiel Landau (d. 1793), in his sefer "Derushei HaTzlach" (דרושי הצל"ח), argued that the "Zohar" is to be considered unreliable as it came into our hands many hundreds of years after Ben Yochai's death and lacks an unbroken tradition of authenticity, among other reasons. Isaac Haver (d. 1852) admits the vast majority of content comes from the 13th century but argues that there was a genuine core. Solomon Judah Loeb Rapoport spoke against the Zohar's antiquity.


title: Zohar

text: The influence of the "Zohar" in Yemen contributed to the formation of the Dor Deah movement, led by Yiḥyah Qafiḥ in the later part of the 19th century. Among its objects was the opposition of the influence of the "Zohar", as presented in Qafiḥ's "Milhamoth Hashem" (Wars of the Lord) and "Da'at Elohim".


title: Zohar

text: Yechiel Michel Epstein (d. 1908), and Yisrael Meir Kagan (d. 1933) both believed in the authenticity of the "Zohar", as did Menachem Mendel Kasher (d. 1983), Aryeh Kaplan (d. 1983), David Luria (d. 1855), and Chaim Kanievsky (d. 2022). Aryeh Carmell (d. 2006) did not, and Eliyahu Dessler (d. 1953) accepted the possibility that it was composed in the 13th century. Gedaliah Nadel (d. 2004) was unsure if the Zohar were genuine but was sure that it is acceptable to believe that it is not. Ovadia Yosef (d. 2013) held that Orthodox Jews should accept the Zohar's antiquity in practice based on medieval precedent, but agreed that rejecting it is rational and religiously valid. Joseph Hertz (d. 1946) called the claim of ben Yochai's authorship "untenable", citing Scholem's evidence. Samuel Belkin (d. 1976) argued that the Mystical Midrash section, specifically, predated de León. Joseph B. Soloveitchik (d. 1993) apparently dismissed the Zohar's antiquity. Moses Gaster (d. 1939) wrote that the claim of ben Yochai's authorship was "untenable" but that de León had compiled earlier material. Meir Mazuz (alive) accepts Emden's arguments.


title: Zohar

text: The first systematic and critical academic proof for the authorship of Moses de León was given by Adolf Jellinek in his 1851 monograph "Moses ben Shem-tob de León und sein Verhältnis zum Sohar" and later adopted by the historian Heinrich Graetz in his "History of the Jews", vol. 7. The kabbalah scholar Gershom Scholem began his career at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem with a lecture in which he promised to refute Graetz and Jellinek, but after years of research contended in 1941 that de León himself was the most likely author. Scholem noted the "Zohar's" frequent errors in Aramaic grammar, its suspicious traces of Arabic and Spanish words and sentence patterns, and its lack of knowledge of the land of Israel.


title: Zohar

text: Scholem views the author as having based the "Zohar" on a wide variety of pre-existing Jewish sources, while at the same time inventing a number of fictitious works that the "Zohar" supposedly quotes, "e.g.", the Sifra de-Adam, the Sifra de-Hanokh, the Sifra di-Shelomo Malka, the Sifra de-Rav Hamnuna Sava, the Sifra de-Rav Yeiva Sava, the Sifra de-Aggadeta, the Raza de-Razin and many others.


title: Zohar

text: Scholem's views are widely held as accurate among historians of the Kabbalah, but they are not uncritically accepted. Scholars who continue to research the background of the "Zohar" include Yehuda Liebes (who wrote his doctorate thesis for Scholem on the subject, "Dictionary of the Vocabulary of the Zohar" in 1976), and Daniel C. Matt, also a student of Scholem's who has reconstructed a critical edition of the "Zohar" based on original, unpublished manuscripts.


title: Zohar

text: Academic studies of the "Zohar" show that many of its ideas are based in the Talmud, various works of midrash, and earlier Jewish mystical works. Scholem writes:


title: Zohar

text: The "Zohar" also draws from the Bible commentaries written by medieval rabbis, including Rashi, Abraham ibn Ezra, David Kimhi and even authorities as late as Nahmanides and Maimonides, and earlier mystical texts such as the Sefer Yetzirah and the Bahir and the medieval writings of the Hasidei Ashkenaz.


title: Zohar

text: Another influence that Scholem, and scholars like Yehudah Liebes and Ronit Meroz have identified was a circle of Spanish Kabbalists in Castile who dealt with the appearance of an evil side emanating from within the world of the sephirot. Scholem saw this dualism of good and evil within the Godhead as a kind of "gnostic" inclination within Kabbalah, and as a predecessor of the "Sitra Ahra" (the other, evil side) in the "Zohar". The main text of the Castile circle, the Treatise on the Left Emanation, was written by Jacob ha-Cohen in around 1265.


title: Zohar

text: The "Tikunei haZohar" was first printed in Mantua in 1557. The main body of the "Zohar" was printed in Cremona in 1558 (a one-volume edition), in Mantua in 1558-1560 (a three-volume edition), and in Salonika in 1597 (a two-volume edition). Each of these editions included somewhat different texts. When they were printed there were many partial manuscripts in circulation that were not available to the first printers. These were later printed as ""Zohar Chadash"" (lit. "New Zohar"), but "Zohar Chadash" actually contains parts that pertain to the Zohar, as well as "Tikunim" (plural of "Tikun", "Repair") that are akin to "Tikunei haZohar", as described below. The term "Zohar", in usage, may refer to just the first "Zohar" collection, with or without the applicable sections of "Zohar" Chadash, or to the entire "Zohar" and Tikunim.


title: Zohar

text: Citations referring to the "Zohar" conventionally follow the volume and page numbers of the Mantua edition; while citations referring to "Tikkunei haZohar" follow the edition of Ortakoy (Constantinople) 1719 whose text and pagination became the basis for most subsequent editions. Volumes II and III begin their numbering anew, so citation can be made by "parashah" and page number (e.g. "Zohar: Nasso" 127a), or by volume and page number (e.g. "Zohar" III:127a).


title: Zohar

text: After the book of the "Zohar" had been printed (in Mantua and in Cremona, in the Jewish years 5318-5320 or 1558-1560? CE), many more manuscripts were found that included paragraphs pertaining to the "Zohar" which had not been included in printed editions. The manuscripts pertained also to all parts of the "Zohar"; some were similar to "Zohar" on the Torah, some were similar to the inner parts of the "Zohar" ("Midrash haNe'elam, Sitrei Otiyot" and more), and some pertained to "Tikunei haZohar". Some thirty years after the first edition of the "Zohar" was printed, the manuscripts were gathered and arranged according to the "parasha"s of the Torah and the megillot (apparently the arrangement was done by the Kabbalist, Avraham haLevi of Tsfat), and were printed first in Salonika in Jewish year 5357 (1587? CE), and then in Kraków (5363), and afterwards in various editions.


title: Zohar

text: According to Scholem, the "Zohar" can be divided into 21 types of content, of which the first 18 (a.-s.) are the work of the original author (probably de Leon) and the final 3 (t.-v.) are the work of a later imitator.


title: Zohar

text: A "bulky part" which is "wholly composed of discursive commentaries on various passages from the Torah".


title: Zohar

text: b. Book of Concealment (ספרא דצניעותא)A short part of only six pages, containing a commentary to the first six chapters of Genesis. It is "highly oracular and obscure," citing no authorities and explaining nothing.


title: Zohar

text: c. Greater Assembly (אדרא רבא)This part contains an explanation of the oracular hints in the previous section. Ben Yochai's friends gather together to discuss secrets of Kabbalah. After the opening of the discussion by ben Yochai, the sages rise, one after the other, and lecture on the secret of Divinity, while ben Yochai adds to and responds to their words. The sages become steadily more ecstatic until three of them die. Scholem calls this part "architecturally perfect."


title: Zohar

text: d. Lesser Assembly (אדרא זוטא)Ben Yochai dies and a speech is quoted in which he explains the previous section.


title: Zohar

text: Seven palaces of light are described, which are perceived by the devout in death. This description appears again in another passage, heavily embellished.


title: Zohar

text: A Pardes narrative in which a head of the celestial academy reveals secrets about the destinies of the soul.


title: Zohar

text: Imitations of the Mishnaic style, designed to introduce longer commentaries in the style of the Talmud.


title: Zohar

text: A Kabbalistic commentary on the Torah, citing a wide variety of Talmudic sages. According to Ramaz, it is fit to be called "Midrash haNe'elam" because "its topic is mostly the "neshamah" (an upper level of soul), the source of which is in "Beri'ah", which is the place of the upper Gan Eden; and it is written in the "Pardes" that drash is in "Beri'ah"... and the revealed midrash is the secret of externality, and "Midrash haNe'elam" is the secret of internality, which is the neshamah. And this derush is founded on the neshamah; its name befits it – "Midrash haNe'elam".


title: Zohar

text: The language of "Midrash haNe'elam" is sometimes Hebrew, sometimes Aramaic, and sometimes both mixed. Unlike the body of the "Zohar", its drashas are short and not long. Also, the topics it discusses — the work of Creation, the nature the soul, the days of Mashiach, and "Olam Haba" — are not of the type found in the "Zohar", which are the nature of God, the emanation of worlds, the "forces" of evil, and more.


title: Zohar

text: t. Faithful Shepherd (רעיא מהימנא)By far the largest "book" included in the "Zohar", this is a Kabbalistic commentary on Moses' teachings revealed to ben Yochai and his friends. Moshe Cordovero said, "Know that this book, which is called "Ra'aya Meheimna", which ben Yochai made with the tzadikim who are in Gan Eden, was a repair of the Shekhinah, and an aid and support for it in the exile, for there is no aid or support for the Shekhinah besides the secrets of the Torah... And everything that he says here of the secrets and the concepts—it is all with the intention of unifying the Shekhinah and aiding it during the exile.


title: Zohar

text: "Tikunei haZohar", which was printed as a separate book, includes seventy commentaries called ""Tikunim"" (lit. Repairs) and an additional eleven Tikkunim. In some editions, Tikunim are printed that were already printed in the "Zohar Chadash", which in their content and style also pertain to "Tikunei haZohar".


title: Zohar

text: Each of the seventy Tikunim of "Tikunei haZohar" begins by explaining the word ""Bereishit"" (בראשית), and continues by explaining other verses, mainly in "parashat Bereishit", and also from the rest of Tanakh. And all this is in the way of Sod, in commentaries that reveal the hidden and mystical aspects of the Torah.


title: Zohar

text: "Tikunei haZohar" and "Ra'aya Meheimna" are similar in style, language, and concepts, and are different from the rest of the "Zohar". For example, the idea of the Four Worlds is found in "Tikunei haZohar" and "Ra'aya Meheimna" but not elsewhere, as is true of the very use of the term "Kabbalah". In terminology, what is called Kabbalah in "Tikunei haZohar" and "Ra'aya Meheimna" is simply called "razin" (clues or hints) in the rest of the "Zohar". In "Tikunei haZohar" there are many references to ""chibura kadma'ah"" (meaning "the earlier book"). This refers to the main body of the "Zohar".


title: Zohar

text: On the one hand, the "Zohar" was lauded by many rabbis because it opposed religious formalism, stimulated one's imagination and emotions, and for many people helped reinvigorate the experience of prayer. In many places prayer had become a mere external religious exercise, while prayer was supposed to be a means of transcending earthly affairs and placing oneself in union with God.


title: Zohar

text: According to the "Jewish Encyclopedia," "On the other hand, the Zohar was censured by many rabbis because it propagated many superstitious beliefs, and produced a host of mystical dreamers, whose overexcited imaginations peopled the world with spirits, demons, and all kinds of good and bad influences." Many classical rabbis, especially Maimonides, viewed all such beliefs as a violation of Judaic principles of faith. Its mystic mode of explaining some commandments was applied by its commentators to all religious observances, and produced a strong tendency to substitute mystic Judaism in the place of traditional rabbinic Judaism. For example, Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, began to be looked upon as the embodiment of God in temporal life, and every ceremony performed on that day was considered to have an influence upon the superior world.


title: Zohar

text: Elements of the "Zohar" crept into the liturgy of the 16th and 17th centuries, and the religious poets not only used the allegorism and symbolism of the "Zohar" in their compositions, but even adopted its style, e.g. the use of erotic terminology to illustrate the relations between man and God. Thus, in the language of some Jewish poets, the beloved one's curls indicate the mysteries of the Deity; sensuous pleasures, and especially intoxication, typify the highest degree of divine love as ecstatic contemplation; while the wine-room represents merely the state through which the human qualities merge or are exalted into those of God.


title: Zohar

text: According to the "Jewish Encyclopedia", "The enthusiasm felt for the Zohar was shared by many Christian scholars, such as Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Johann Reuchlin, Aegidius of Viterbo, etc., all of whom believed that the book contained proofs of the truth of Christianity. They were led to this belief by the analogies existing between some of the teachings of the "Zohar" and certain Christian dogmas, such as the fall and redemption of man, and the dogma of the Trinity, which seems to be expressed in the "Zohar" in the following terms:


title: Zohar

text: The Ancient of Days has three heads. He reveals himself in three archetypes, all three forming but one. He is thus symbolized by the number Three. They are revealed in one another. [These are:] first, secret, hidden 'Wisdom'; above that the Holy Ancient One; and above Him the Unknowable One. None knows what He contains; He is above all conception. He is therefore called for man 'Non-Existing' ["Ayin"] (Zohar, iii. 288b).


title: Zohar

text: According to the "Jewish Encyclopedia", "This and other similar doctrines found in the Zohar are now known to be much older than Christianity, but the Christian scholars who were led by the similarity of these teachings to certain Christian dogmas deemed it their duty to propagate the Zohar."


title: Jay Duplass

text: Lawrence Jay Duplass (born March 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker, actor and author widely known for his films "The Puffy Chair" (2005), "Cyrus" (2010), and "Jeff, Who Lives at Home" (2011), made in collaboration with his younger brother, Mark Duplass.


title: Jay Duplass

text: Duplass starred in the Amazon Video comedy-drama series "Transparent" (2014–2019), and co-created the HBO comedy-drama series "Togetherness" (2015–16) and the HBO anthology series "Room 104" (2017–2020).


title: Jay Duplass

text: Duplass was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of Cynthia (née Ernst) and Lawrence Duplass. He was raised in a Catholic family, and attended Jesuit High School. Duplass graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with an MFA in film. His ancestry includes French Cajun, Italian, Ashkenazi Jewish, and German.


title: Jay Duplass

text: Duplass attributes much of his and his brother's love for film to his appreciation for "Raising Arizona". In an interview with Robert K. Elder for "The Film That Changed My Life", Duplass speculates on what might have happened had he not seen the film in his youth.I probably wouldn't be making movies—seriously. It held over for so long. It really was the root of everything that Mark and I always hold ourselves to in making movies. That is to say that "Raising Arizona" is the most inspired movie that I have ever seen.In 2015, Mark and Jay Duplass via their Duplass Brothers Television label signed an overall deal with HBO.


title: Jay Duplass

text: In 2014, he starred as Josh Pfefferman in the Amazon Prime Original Comedy-Drama Series "Transparent", alongside Jeffrey Tambor, Gaby Hoffmann, Amy Landecker and Judith Light. The series was met with widespread critical acclaim, earning 11 Primetime Emmy nominations, including nominations for Best Comedy Series and Best Actor in a Comedy Series for Jeffrey Tambor. In the second season of the show, Duplass's role became more prominent, and he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.


title: Jay Duplass

text: Prior to "Transparent," Duplass had never acted in a featured part. He was talking with director Joey Soloway at a dinner party about the difficulty they were having finding an actor to play what would end up being Duplass's role. After suggesting many actors for the part to Soloway, Soloway turned to Duplass and told him that he should play the part.


title: Jay Duplass

text: In 2012, Duplass participated in the "Sight & Sound" film polls of that year. Held every ten years to select the greatest films of all time, contemporary directors were asked to select ten films of their choice.


title: Circumference

text: In geometry, the circumference (from Latin "circumferens", meaning "carrying around") is the perimeter of a circle or ellipse. That is, the circumference would be the arc length of the circle, as if it were opened up and straightened out to a line segment. More generally, the perimeter is the curve length around any closed figure.


title: Circumference

text: Circumference may also refer to the circle itself, that is, the locus corresponding to the edge of a disk.


title: Circumference

text: The circumference of a circle is the distance around it, but if, as in many elementary treatments, distance is defined in terms of straight lines, this cannot be used as a definition. Under these circumstances, the circumference of a circle may be defined as the limit of the perimeters of inscribed regular polygons as the number of sides increases without bound. The term circumference is used when measuring physical objects, as well as when considering abstract geometric forms.


title: Circumference

text: The circumference of a circle is related to one of the most important mathematical constants. This constant, pi, is represented by the Greek letter formula_1 The first few decimal digits of the numerical value of formula_2 are 3.141592653589793 ... Pi is defined as the ratio of a circle's circumference formula_3 to its diameter formula_4


title: Circumference

text: Or, equivalently, as the ratio of the circumference to twice the radius. The above formula can be rearranged to solve for the circumference:


title: Circumference

text: In "Measurement of a Circle" written circa 250 BCE, Archimedes showed that this ratio (formula_7 since he did not use the name ) was greater than 3 but less than 3 by calculating the perimeters of an inscribed and a circumscribed regular polygon of 96 sides. This method for approximating was used for centuries, obtaining more accuracy by using polygons of larger and larger number of sides. The last such calculation was performed in 1630 by Christoph Grienberger who used polygons with 10 sides.


title: Circumference

text: Circumference is used by some authors to denote the perimeter of an ellipse. There is no general formula for the circumference of an ellipse in terms of the semi-major and semi-minor axes of the ellipse that uses only elementary functions. However, there are approximate formulas in terms of these parameters. One such approximation, due to Euler (1773), for the canonical ellipse,


title: Circumference

text: Here the upper bound formula_14 is the circumference of a circumscribed concentric circle passing through the endpoints of the ellipse's major axis, and the lower bound formula_15 is the perimeter of an inscribed rhombus with vertices at the endpoints of the major and minor axes.


title: Circumference

text: The circumference of an ellipse can be expressed exactly in terms of the complete elliptic integral of the second kind. More precisely,


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The Nissan Maxima is a full-size car manufactured and marketed by Nissan and offered as Nissan's flagship sedan primarily in North America, the Middle East, and China — and currently in its eighth generation. Having debuted for model year 1982 as the Datsun Maxima, it replaced the earlier Datsun 810. The name "Maxima" dates to model year 1981 when Datsun marketed the upscale 810 as the "810 Maxima" in North America. Like the 810, early versions of the Maxima had their origins in the Datsun/Nissan Bluebird. It is renamed to Nissan Maxima when the Datsun brand was phased out for model year 1985.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The Maxima was marketed as an upscale alternative to the Altima and prior to 1993, the Stanza, distinguished by features such as a premium interior and V6 engine. Most Maximas were built in Oppama, Japan, until North American assembly began in Smyrna, Tennessee for model year 2004.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: In some markets beyond North America, the "Maxima" name has also been used on variations of the Nissan Cefiro and Teana (see below). The Maxima nameplate has been used intermittently in the Japanese domestic market, initially as a luxury version of the Bluebird.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The first car to wear the Maxima name, the second generation Datsun 810, was introduced in 1980 for model year 1981. It was essentially a Japanese-market Datsun Bluebird (910) with the wheelbase extended to accommodate the inline-six engine. This model replaced the Datsun 810 (first generation). The second generation Datsun 810 was not marketed in Japan, only in North America as the lower trim Datsun 810 Deluxe and upper trim 810 Maxima. Both were available with either sedan or wagon bodywork. In 1981 for the 1982 model year, all 810s were rebranded as Datsun Maxima. In 1983 for model year 1984, the last year of the first generation Maxima, North American Datsuns began carrying the "Nissan" badge as well. Only 1984 model year Nissans have rear "Nissan" and "Datsun" badges, although earlier models had a "Datsun" badge with a small "by Nissan" designation below.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: For the first model year, the 810 Deluxe came with a five-speed manual transmission, while the upper trim 810 Maxima only came with a three-speed automatic. The Maxima's introduction to North America followed the successful introduction of the Datsun 240Z, and used the same engine and transmission while offering luxury content four doors. The sedans have independent rear suspension while the wagon has a leaf sprung live rear axle. The wagon also received rear drums rather than disc brakes.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The second generation retained the same 2.4-liter base engine as the previous Datsun 810, although up by 2 to and with more torque available at a lower engine speed. It was also available with the 2.8-liter "LD28" OHC inline-six diesel engine (available in the US from mid-1981 through 1983) with either a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic transmission with overdrive.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: Some of the power steering pumps were sourced from General Motors' Saginaw Gear division, while others were sourced from Atsugi. This was the second Nissan to use US-sourced parts besides the Borg-Warner T-5 transmission used in the 82–86 Nissan ZX Turbos. The use of USA-made parts was phased in prior to the passage of local content laws imposed by the U.S. Government.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The Maxima featured a phonograph-based voice warning system. Warnings an open door, etc. would be relayed through the miniaturized phonograph and played audibly: "door is open, key is in ignition, etc." 1981 models were the first 'talking car' marketed in the US and offered only one voice warning, a female voice reminding the driver to "Please turn off the lights".


title: Nissan Maxima

text: On October 17, 1984, the first front-wheel drive Maxima (based on the Bluebird U11) was introduced for the 1985 model year. This Maxima was available with a , 3.0-liter "VG30E" V6 engine and a four-speed automatic or a five-speed manual transmission. In Japan, a smaller 2.0-liter version of this engine was fitted. These engines were the first V6 engine to be mass-produced in Japan. The second generation was assigned compact status in the US market. This was the last generation to be available as a station wagon, a version which had been offered since the Datsun 810 days.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: In late 1986, the 1987 Maxima was introduced with a freshened exterior and interior. Automatic shoulder belts were now found on both the 1987 sedan and wagons built after February 1987. Luxury amenities were offered on both the "base" GL, later renamed GXE and SE trim levels. Such features for the GL/GXE included digital touch entry system on the driver and passenger side door panel, power windows, locks, antenna, power seats, remote trunk release, voice warning system, optional leather seating, optional heated front seats, an optional Electronics Pkg (a sedan exclusive, it included a digital instruments and a trip computer) and an optional power sunroof (sunroof was standard on Maxima wagons). 15-inch alloy wheels were standard for the Maxima.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: An exclusive option for 1988 was the Sonar Suspension System -which was part of the Electronics Pkg- replacing the trip computer that was previously offered. This feature used sonar waves to monitor the road conditions ahead and adjusted the shocks accordingly for the most controlled ride. 1988 was also the year that the previously standard digital touch system offered on the GXE sedan became part of the 'Electronics Package' option as well. The SE (and some GXEs) offered dual power seats, a five-speed manual transmission, three-way shock adjustable suspension, front and rear windshield defroster, and a factory-installed security system. The SE also has a small rear spoiler, all-wheel disc brakes, black side rear view mirrors, and body molding (GXE got body-color side rear-view mirrors and matching body molding). Again, the Maxima's prime competitor was the similarly specified Toyota Cressida, which remained rear wheel drive. The Maxima provided a combination of luxury and sporty features while the Cressida was generally seen as being softer and more luxurious.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The Japanese market received either four-door hardtop sedan or pillared sedan bodywork and a 2.0-liter V6 engine (with an available turbocharger). It received the smaller V6 engine so that it would comply with Japanese Government dimension regulations that tax larger vehicles. The station wagon bodywork was not available in the home market, with the hardtop exclusive to "Nissan Bluebird Store" Japanese dealerships.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The redesigned Maxima debuted on October 24, 1988 for the 1989 model year, internally designated "J30". Larger dimensions made it the second Japanese sedan sold in North America to qualify as a "mid-size" (after the Mazda 929). Nissan used a "4DSC" window decal on the third generation Maxima in North America, marketing it as a "four-door sports car." This generation was briefly marketed in Japan, replacing the Nissan Leopard sedan at "Nissan Bluebird Store" locations. A refresh occurred in August 1991 for the 1992 model year (from July 1991 production), adding a driver's side SRS airbag. The facelifted version was no longer offered in Japan.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: It now featured the , 3.0-liter "VG30E" V6, with the , "VE30DE" unit standard on the SE model starting in 1991. In the United States, the "VG30E" engine, which featured a variable intake manifold on automatic and manual transmission models, was used on all 1989 to 1994 GXE models and 1989 to 1991 SE models. This generation Maxima was fitted with an independent rear suspension, and continued to offer the road scanning, electronic Super Sonic Suspension (sonar). The digital touch entry system on the GXE (in conjunction with the new Luxury Package) allowed the windows to be lowered and the moon roof opened from outside the vehicle on a keypad integrated on the front door handle, without the key in the ignition. One of the industry's first heads up displays was also included in the package, for model years 1989-92. The system projected a holographic image of the vehicles speed on a small screen in the windshield.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The VE30DE engine was exclusively offered on the 1992–1994 Maxima SE. It was a 3.0-liter, 24 valve, DOHC motor. Its iron block was topped with aluminum cylinder heads and featured a dual length intake manifold (5-speed model only), variable intake valve timing, coil on plug ignition, plus a limited-slip differential. The VE30DE was rated at at 5600 rpm and at 4000 rpm, and had a 6500 rpm redline. SE models include white-faced gauges, twisted-spoke turbine wheels (.5 inch wider than GXE wheels and similar in design to wheels offered on the Z31 300ZX), body-colored grille, twin-tip mufflers, factory-tinted tail lights, black trim replacing chrome, firmer sport suspension, and optional 5-speed manual transmission. The automatic transmission on all GXEs (RE4F02A) was a compact unit from Jatco, which featured "sport" and "comfort" modes that shifted at different points. The 1992 to 1994 SE received an optional automatic transmission (RE4F04V) that had stronger internals, but kept the "sport" and "comfort" modes. The SE also had a rear spoiler and black side mirrors, whereas the GXE has body-color side mirrors.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: During this year, the Maxima was first introduced to the European market, replacing the Laurel. For European markets, the model range was: 3.0, 3.0 S, and 3.0 SE.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: Nissan Australia began importing the J30 series for a May 1990 release to replace the locally assembled Nissan Skyline (R31) sedan and station wagon. Powertrain comprised the 3.0-liter "VG30E" V6 rated at and a four-speed automatic. Nissan made the Maxima available in two equipment grades, the M and Ti. The M featured air conditioning, alloy wheels, central locking, cruise control, power steering, and power windows. The Ti added a rear spoiler, climate control air conditioning, anti-lock brakes, electric seats and a PIN touch-pad locking system. The M-based LE of late 1991 featured a CD player and sunroof. There was also a leather/sunroof pack optional on Ti. Nissan Australia released a facelift in January 1993 that included a new grille insert, revised tail lamps, wheels and cabin trim. A driver airbag was now fitted to the Ti, and made optional on the new Executive trim that replaced the M. The J30 in Australia was replaced in February 1995 by a new Maxima based on the Nissan Cefiro (A32).


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The three variants assembled locally in New Zealand had automatic transmissions and the VG30E Engine only. Versions sold in Japan and Europe had a manual transmission option as an alternative to the automatic transmission that was standard in North America and Australia/New Zealand. The Maxima "SE" was on "Car and Driver" magazine's Ten Best list for 1990.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: Another Bluebird Maxima continued on as a Nissan Bluebird (U12) and solely as a station wagon with the "VG20ET" engine during this period until the introduction of the U13 Bluebird, and the Avenir replaced the Bluebird wagon altogether.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: Designed from early 1990 to March 1991, the fourth generation Maxima arrived in May 1994 for the 1995 model year as the "A32". A new "VQ30DE" 190 hp (141 kW), 3.0 liter V6 was the only engine option for the North American market. The VQ30DE earned a first spot on the Ward's 10 Best Engines List, and the VQ has now been recognized consecutively for every year since its introduction (as of 2012, 18 years running). The independent rear suspension of the previous generation was replaced with a lighter and cheaper torsion bar solid axle system, part of a general trend of cost cutting by Japanese manufacturers in the wake of the bursting of Japan's economic bubble of the late 1980s.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The Maxima's primary competitor, the Toyota Cressida, was discontinued after the 1992 model year, with Toyota touting the front-wheel-drive Toyota Avalon, a stretched version of the Toyota Camry introduced in 1994, as its replacement.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The North American 1995 Maxima included a Bose Sound System on the GLE (optional on the SE) which had a 6 speaker sound system, a Clarion system was also an option (non-Bose). The fourth generation Maxima was highly praised for its quiet, roomy interior. This Maxima was "Motor Trend"s Import Car of the Year for 1995. The Maxima "SE" again made "Car and Driver" magazine's Ten Best list for 1995 and 1996.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The 1995's VQ30DE (3.0 liter) engine produced and of torque. With the manual transmission 0–60 mph took 6.6 seconds with a quarter-mile time of 15.2-seconds at 92.4-mph, making it both the quickest and fastest (142 mph top speed) Japanese sedan on the North American market at that time. A top-of-the-line 1994 Maxima GLE equipped with a four-speed automatic transmission turned in a 6.7 second 0-60-mph run with a 15.6-second/89.4-mph quarter-mile time.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: At the time, the Maxima was one of few four-door, six-cylinder cars sold in North America with a standard manual transmission. A viscous limited slip differential came standard on Canadian SE models equipped with the 5-speed manual (in the US, the VLSD was restricted to the Infiniti I30). The automatic was a no cost option, which most Maximas were equipped with.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: In October 1996, the Maxima's exterior was refreshed for 1997, with new five-spoke alloy wheels, plastic (clear-lens) headlights vs. the previous glass headlights, a slightly different front and rear fascia with new redesigned tail-lights, the rear-facing part of the trunk was smoothed out to match the tail-lights, redesigned fog-lights and badge designs, and a chrome grille insert for GLE's (body color for SE models) was added. Among interior changes were a different steering wheel and CD player. Front seat-mounted side impact airbags were added as an option for 1998 and 1999 SE and GLE models. There were also structural modifications to improve crash worthiness for the 1997 to 1999 models. The 1999 Nissan Maxima also saw some minor changes: an Anti-Theft Engine Immobilizer was standard using a chip in the ignition key, as well as some minor body trims. The 1999 Maxima SE was also available with a Limited Package which consisted of Titanium tinted SE-Limited emblems on the front doors, titanium tinted trunk emblems, and titanium tinted 16" alloy wheels. The interior gauge cluster was also titanium tinted and the optional leather seats were perforated and embossed with SE on the backrests. The front floor mats were also embossed with SE-Limited logos.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: As the Maxima badge was retired in Japan, this particular generation was sold there as the Nissan Cefiro A32. The Cefiro badge had previously been used on a Nissan Laurel-based, higher specification model with rear-wheel drive (see A31 Cefiro). For the Japanese market, a Cefiro-badged station wagon was also available. One version of the Cefiro (Brougham VIP spec) was sold in the US as the Infiniti I30, yet the Cefiro had subtle differences including different fog light arrangements, one-piece headlights and a few assorted engine options (VQ20/25/30DE). The Cefiro was actually introduced first, in August 1994, and was originally available with 2 and 2.5-liter V6 engines with JIS.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: This generation was also sold as the Maxima QX in Europe and other parts of the world, and was mostly identical to the Japanese Cefiro except for minor trim differences. In Europe a smaller, two-liter V6 engine with was available in addition to the larger 3.0, to suit local taxation structures.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: Introduced in May 1999, the MY 2000 Maxima was designed at Nissan's La Jolla, California design studio 1996–1997 under the direction of Jerry Hirshberg, and was internally designated "A33B". The fifth generation Maxima was a badge engineered variant of the JDM "A33" Nissan Cefiro, which was itself marketed globally, including by Nissan North America's luxury "Infiniti" brand as the I30 and subsequently as the I35. The A33 Cefiro was marketed in Europe as the Maxima QX.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The engine was a 3.0 L "VQ30DE" V6 for all versions except the SE, which produced . The vehicle has a 0–60 mph time of 7.0 seconds. This variant of the VQ30DE was referred to as the VQ30DE-K. The A33b was offered in GXE (base), GLE (luxury, with 16 inch alloy wheels) and SE trim levels, the latter offering a rear trunklid spoiler.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: For the 2001 model year, Nissan offered an SE model trim package commemorating the model's 20th anniversary. In addition to SE content, the commemorative edition used the Infiniti I30 engine, ground effect rocker panels, drilled metal "brushed metallic" pedals, brushed metallic shifter, and stainless steel door embossed sill plates. The optional leather interior was perforated, unlike that in the regular SE. Finally, the "SE Comfort and Convenience Package" included a sunroof and 17" dark chrome alloy wheels.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: For the 2002 model year, the Maxima received a mild facelift. The A33B received the 3.5 L "VQ35DE" producing and of torque, the engine used in the Infiniti I35. The facelifted version received a larger, revised grille and front bumper openings, revised foglamps with vertical lines in the glass lens, larger Nissan emblem on the grille, a revised headlamp design with high-intensity discharge (HID) low beams, a six-speed manual transmission with optional helical Torsen limited-slip differential borrowed from the Japan market Nissan Skyline GT-R (identified by brushed, metal pedals for the accelerator, brake, and clutch), revised 17-inch 6-spoke alloy wheels in silver on the SE model, new 17-inch 7-spoke machined alloy wheels on the GLE model, clear Altezza-style taillights, a revised rocker moulding/side skirt standard on all models, and interior and refinements over the 2000 to 2001 models.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: Some interior differences include slightly redesigned seats, a smaller screw-on shift knob on automatic models along with a different shift pattern, a redesigned steering wheel, revised headunits, and a different cup holder lid. Facelift SE models equipped with the six-speed manual transmissions were capable of 0-60 acceleration of 6.0 seconds with a 1/4 mile time of 14.7 seconds at 97 mph. The 2002-2003 models also posted better braking numbers, requiring 182 feet to stop from 70 mph, compared with the 195 feet of the earlier model.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: For 2003, Nissan offered an option to SE trim, marketed as the "Titanium Edition," which included glossy titanium color 6-spoke alloy wheels and titanium interior accents. In the United States, the "Meridian Edition" option included heated front seats, steering wheel and outside mirrors; the Leather Package included leather-appointed seats, 4-way power passenger’s seat and power driver’s seat with memory function and entry/exit feature (SE A/T, std. GLE). Other options included Power Glass Sliding Sunroof with tilt (SE, GLE); front seat side- impact supplemental air bags (SE, GLE); traction control system (SE automatic, GLE); helical limited-slip differential (SE manual); Bose? audio system (SE, std. GLE) and Nissan Navigation System (SE, GLE). In Russia and Europe, the Maxima was marketed as Nissan Maxima QX.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The sixth generation Maxima, code-named A34, was marketed soley in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It was developed from 1998 to 2002, with a March 2001 design freeze. It was introduced in production form as a 2004 model at the 2003 North American International Auto Show. In the US, it came with the "VQ35DE", a DOHC V6 engine that produced 265 hp (198 kW) at 5,800 rpm, and of torque at 4,400 rpm and a standard SkyView fixed glass paneled roof that ran down the center of the roof (from front to back) or an optional traditional style moonroof. Sixth generation Maximas were available in two trim levels, SE and SL. The sporty SE model came standard with 18 inch alloy wheels, P245/45R18 V-rated tires, stiffer suspension, rear spoiler, and an optional 6-speed manual transmission. The luxurious SL model came standard with 17 inch alloy wheels, P225/55R17 H-rated tires, wood interior trim, 6-disc CD changer, Bose stereo, leather seats, and HID headlights and optional heated front seats. The manual transmission was never offered in the SL model and the suspension is tuned for a softer ride. For all models, the rear independent suspension returned, this time using a multilink setup similar to the Altima.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: For 2007, the U.S. Maxima became available with a standard Xtronic CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) (similar to the CVT found in the Nissan Murano) as the only transmission choice; a manual transmission was no longer offered; however the CVT featured a manual mode. It featured a freshened front fascia (lacking the center block, the new grille closely resembled that of the 2007 Altima). Headlights were also more squared around the edges. New interior changes included an Intelligent Key system with integrated ignition tab, new center console, and new white-and-orange gauges as opposed to the older pure orange ones.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: For 2008, the Maxima's fuel economy dropped from 21MPG-City / 28MPG-Highway to 19/25 due to new EPA measurement methods. A Platinum Edition package of convenience features was added for 2008 on both SE and SL trim levels.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: In Australia, the Maxima had the same engine, but Nissan set the maximum power to only . The Australian version was code-named J31, shared the VQ engine, initially only came with a four-speed automatic transmission, and had quite noticeable styling differences to the North American version as it was based on the Nissan Teana. In 2007, it received a minor mid-life facelift and an all-new CVT automatic transmission.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The North American Maxima was known for a balance between sport and luxury; other models tended to focus more on comfort.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The Maxima was redesigned for the 2009 model year and made its debut at the 2008 New York International Auto Show. The seventh generation Maxima (A35) is built on the Nissan D platform sharing this platform with the fourth generation Nissan Altima and second generation Nissan Murano. The exterior and interior design are somewhat similar to the Infiniti G and Infiniti M, with an updated navigation interface and optional USB interface system that works with the main console monitor and steering wheel controls. It serves as Nissan's North American top front wheel drive sedan at Nissan dealerships.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: It came equipped with a revised version of the "VQ35DE" engine producing and of torque. A revised version of Nissan's Xtronic CVT (continuously variable transmission) with paddle shifting was the only transmission offered, with no manual or regular automatic available. A diesel version was expected to be released for the 2010 model year, although those plans were not realized. The new Maxima was offered in S and SV trims with several premium and technology packages available. The Maxima's design traded height and length for a sleeker styling, although the width was increased slightly. The keyless ignition uses a push button to start and stop the engine. In the U.S., the seventh generation Maxima went on sale in late June 2008. The SkyView center glass was replaced by a retractable panoramic moonroof for A35 series Maxima.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: For 2012, Nissan modestly freshened the Maxima's exterior, with a new grille, taillights and new alloy wheels in 18- and 19-inch diameters. Three new exterior colors, Java Metallic, Dark Slate, and Pearl White are available.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The 2013 Nissan Maxima still remained the same for the most part and was available with three new option packages for the new model year. There is the Bose Audio Package, a Bose audio upgrade with SiriusXM Satellite Radio functionality. The "SV Value Package" includes the premium Bose audio setup along with heated front seats, a heated steering wheel and heated outside mirrors. The Sport Package included alloy wheels and a climate-controlled driver's seat, combined with the Maxima Monitor Package (a rearview camera system, seven-inch color monitor, USB port and an iPod storage net).


title: Nissan Maxima

text: Nissan's flagship Maxima sedan entered the 2014 model year in late August 2013 with the addition of a new S Value Package. This has smoked appearance HID Xenon headlights, a compass in the rearview mirror, rear spoiler, fog lights, outside mirrors with integrated turn signals and metallic trim treatment. The Monitor and HID Xenon Packages were no longer available, while the SV received most of the Monitor package as standard. There were two new exterior colors: Gun Metallic (replaces Dark Gray) and Midnight Garnet (replaces Tuscan Sun); for eight available exterior colors total. The 3.5 S and 3.5 SV were the available models, each powered by a 3.5-liter V6 engine mated to an Xtronic CVT. 2014 was the last year for this generation Nissan Maxima, despite it carrying over into 2015 as a 2014 model year. Nissan stated "they will have plenty 2014 Nissan Maximas on dealer lots until the all-new 2016 Nissan Maxima arrives" in calendar year 2015.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The eighth-generation Maxima was unveiled at the April 2015 New York International Auto Show. Sporting an athletic body redesign, Nissan calls it a "four-door sports car", a marketing term also used on the third generation J30 series (1988-1992). The Nissan Sport Sedan Concept shown in the 2014 Detroit Auto Show previewed the exterior design of the vehicle. The vehicle is 82 pounds lighter than before, with a revamped interior taking inspiration from aerospace. The "VQ35DE" engine was carried over with minor updates and more power, now rated at and of torque. The Maxima is available with six exterior color options and three trim levels: SV, SR, and Platinum. There was also an SR Midnight Edition that was introduced in 2016. The Midnight Edition blacked out most chrome (Grille, rims, rear chrome, exhaust tips, etc.) and added a more sporty appearance to the Maxima. The Midnight Edition was discontinued after the 2018 model year. For the 2021 model year a 40th Anniversary edition is available with unique Ruby Slate Grey Pearl paint, black exterior & interior trim, black wheels, 40th Anniversary floor mats & exterior badge and a unique white face gauge cluster.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: This generation Maxima made its debut in China at the 2015 Guangzhou Auto Show with the Chinese name 西玛, which they used as the previous generation Nissan Cima.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The Maxima for Mexico was facelifted on July 9, 2019. It is offered in the Advance, SR, and Exclusive trim lines.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: The Nissan Maxima was discontinued from the Mexican market after the 2020 model year. For the US and Canada, Nissan plans to end production of the Maxima in 2023. However, the Maxima name could be used on an upcoming electric sedan which will get an Infiniti equivalent.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: In other markets, the Maxima J30 series sold internationally between 1990 and 1994, albeit with different frontal styling to the North American version. Between 1994 and 2003, the "Maxima" name was applied to the Nissan Cefiro sold in Australasia, Europe, and South America. From 2003 until 2013, Nissan in Australasia also retailed the Teana under the Maxima badge.


title: Nissan Maxima

text: In the United Kingdom, the "Maxima" name was also used in the mid 1980s as a high series trim designation on the B11 Sunny, N12 Cherry and the Japanese built versions of the T12 Bluebird/Stanza.


title: Sunny Deol filmography

text: Sunny Deol (born 19 October 1956) is an Indian actor, director and producer having acted in over 100 films in Bollywood, who was highly successful in the 1990s and has earned various accolades including two National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards.


title: Sunny Deol filmography

text: Deol debuted in his father's production "Betaab" (1983) directed by Rahul Rawail, which was a commercial success. It was followed by numerous roles in some other films of that decade including "Arjun" (1985), "Sultanat" (1986) and "Dacait" (1987). In 1989, his role as a police officer in "Tridev" was highlighted and he also appeared in "ChaalBaaz"; both were among the top 5 highest earning films of the year.


title: Sunny Deol filmography

text: Deol appeared in the lead role of a boxer in another of his father's productions "Ghayal", directed by debutante Rajkumar Santoshi, which became the year's second top-grossing film. It established and won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor and National Film Award for Best Actor. In 1993, Deol reunited with Santoshi to play an alcoholic lawyer in the highly successful social drama "Damini" and was awarded the Filmfare Award and National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. That year, his character of an lieutenant army officer in Yash Chopra's psychological thriller "Darr" earned him a Filmfare Award for Best Actor nomination. His films in 1994 and 1995 were commercially unsuccessful, but in 1996 he appeared as a criminal in Raj Kanwar's action film "Jeet". He also worked with Santoshi a third time in "" (1996). Though his 1998 film "Salaakhen" was not well reviewed, Deol was critically acclaimed for his role. Three years later, he produced and directed his brother's starrer "Dillagi" (1999), in which he had a lead role too, but the film failed to gain success.


title: Sunny Deol filmography

text: In 2001, Deol featured as a Sikh truck driver who loves a Muslim woman in Anil Sharma's patriotic action drama portraying the India-Pakistan partition of 1947, "", opposite Amisha Patel. The film became the highest-grossing Hindi film up until then in mainstream cinema earning over worldwide and he was nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Actor once again. In the same year, he worked in another highly successful action thriller film "Indian" (2001). He went on to appear in several films co-starring his father and brother, such as "Apne" (2007) and the "Yamla Pagla Deewana film series" (2011–18). In 2016, Deol directed and starred in a to "Ghayal". He launched and directed his elder son as an actor in the romantic thriller "Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas" (2019).


title: Oyo Empire

text: The Oyo Empire was a powerful Yoruba empire of West Africa made up of parts of present-day eastern Benin and western Nigeria (including Southwest zone and the western half of Northcentral zone). It grew to become the largest Yoruba-speaking state and rose through the outstanding organizational and administrative skills of the Yoruba people, wealth gained from trade, and a powerful cavalry. The Oyo Empire was one of the most politically important states in the entirety of Western Africa from the mid-17th to the late 18th century, and held sway not only over most of the other kingdoms in Yorubaland, but also over nearby African states, notably the Fon Kingdom of Dahomey in the modern Republic of Benin on its west.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The origins of the Oyo Empire lie with Oranyan (also known as Oranmiyan), the last prince of the Yoruba Kingdom of Ile-Ife (Ife). Oranmiyan made an agreement with his brother to launch a punitive raid on their northern neighbors for insulting their father Oduduwa, the first Ooni of Ife. On the way to the battle, the brothers quarreled and the army split up. Oranmiyan's force was too small to make a successful attack, so he wandered the southern shore until reaching Bussa. There, the local chief entertained him and provided a large snake with a magic charm attached to its throat.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The chief instructed Oranmiyan to follow the snake until it stopped somewhere for seven days and disappeared into the ground. Oranmiyan followed the advice and founded Oyo where the serpent stopped. The site is remembered as Ajaka. Oranmiyan made Oyo his new kingdom and became the first "oba" (meaning 'king' or 'ruler' in the Yoruba language) with the title of "Alaafin of Oyo" (Alaafin means 'owner of the palace' in Yoruba). He left all his treasures in Ife and allowed another king to rule there.


title: Oyo Empire

text: At one time, Oyo-ile was at war with the Bariba of Borgu, who wanted to subjugate the new city still under construction. Orangun Ajagunla of Ila, Oranmiyan's elder brother, stormed in with his men to assist. Not long after the war was won, Oranmiyan had a son, Ajuwon Ajaka; much later Arabambi was born by the woman from Tapa (Nupe). It is believed that the name "Sango" was given by his maternal grandfather or he adopted it from the local name for the God of Thunder. Either way the royal family was devoted to The Spirits of Thunder (Jakuta) and War (Ogun).


title: Oyo Empire

text: The founding of Oyo is regarded as 1300 CE(common era), but this is only estimated through backtracking the Chronology.


title: Oyo Empire

text: Oranmiyan, the first oba (king) of Oyo, was succeeded by Oba Ajaka, Alaafin of Oyo. Ajaka was deposed, because he lacked Yoruba military virtue and allowed his sub-chiefs too much independence. Leadership was then conferred upon Ajaka's brother, Shango, who was later deified as the deity of thunder and lightning. Ajaka was restored after Sango's death. Ajaka returned to the throne thoroughly more warlike. His successor, Kori, managed to conquer the rest of what later historians would refer to as metropolitan Oyo.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The heart of metropolitan Oyo was its capital at Oyo-Ile (also known as Oyo Katunga or Old Oyo or Oyo-oro). The two most important structures in Oyo-Ile were the 'Afin,' or palace of the Oba, and his market. The palace was at the center of the city close to the Oba's market called 'Oja-Oba'. Around the capital was an enormous earthen wall for defense with 17 gates. The importance of the two large structures (the palace and the Oja Oba) signified the importance of the king in Oyo.


title: Oyo Empire

text: Oyo had grown into a formidable inland power by the end of the 14th century. For over a century, the Yoruba state had expanded at the expense of its neighbors. During the reign of Onigbogi, Oyo suffered military defeats at the hands of the Nupe led by Tsoede. Sometime around 1535, the Nupe occupied Oyo and forced its ruling dynasty to take refuge in the kingdom of Borgu. The Nupe sacked the capital, destroying Oyo as a regional power until the early 17th century.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The Yoruba of Oyo went through an interregnum of 80 years as an exiled dynasty after its defeat by the Nupe. They re-established Oyo to be more centralized and expansive than ever. The people created a government that established its power over a vast empire. During the 17th century, Oyo began a long stretch of growth, becoming a major empire. Oyo never encompassed all Yoruba people, but it was the most populous kingdom in Yoruba history.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The key to the Yoruba rebuilding of Oyo was a stronger military and a more centralized government. Taking a cue from their Nupe enemies (whom they called "Tapa"), the Yoruba rearmed with armor and cavalry. Oba Ofinran, Alaafin of Oyo, succeeded in regaining Oyo's original territory from the Nupe. A new capital, Oyo-Igboho, was constructed, and the original became known as Old Oyo. The next oba, Eguguojo, conquered nearly all of Yorubaland. After this, Oba Orompoto led attacks to obliterate the Nupe to ensure Oyo was never threatened by them again. During the reign of Oba Ajiboyede, he held the first Bere festival, an event to celebrate peace in the kingdom. Celebrated regularly, it would retain much significance among the Yoruba long after the fall of Oyo.


title: Oyo Empire

text: Under his successor, Abipa, the Yoruba repopulated Oyo-Ile and rebuilt the original capital. Despite a failed attempt to conquer the Benin Empire sometime between 1578 and 1608, Oyo continued to expand. The Yoruba allowed autonomy to the southeast of metropolitan Oyo, where the non-Yoruba areas could act as a buffer between Oyo and Imperial Benin. By the end of the 16th century, the Ewe and Aja states of modern Benin were paying tribute to Oyo.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The reinvigorated Oyo Empire began raiding southward as early as 1682. By the end of its military expansion, Oyo's borders would reach to the coast some southwest of its capital. It met little serious opposition until the early 18th century. In 1728, the Oyo Empire invaded the Kingdom of Dahomey in a major campaign of its cavalry. Dahomey warriors, on the other hand, had no cavalry but many firearms. Their gunshots scared the Oyo cavalry horses and prevented their charging. Dahomey army also built fortifications such as trenches, which forced the Oyo army to fight as infantry. The battle lasted four days, but the Yoruba were eventually victorious after reinforcements arrived. Dahomey was forced to pay tribute to Oyo. The Yoruba invaded Dahomey 11 times before finally subjugating the small kingdom in 1748.


title: Oyo Empire

text: With its cavalry, Oyo campaigned successfully in conquest and suppression over great distances. The Oyo army was able to attack defensive fortifications, but it was harder to supply an army, and they withdrew when supplies ran out. The Oyo did not use guns in its major conquests. The military waited until the 19th century to adopt them. In 1764, a joint Akan (Akyem)-Dahomey-Oyo force defeated an Asante army. The alliance victory defined borders between the neighboring states. Oyo led a successful campaign into Mahi territory north of Dahomey in the late 18th century. The Yoruba also used the forces of their tributaries; for instance, they accomplished a 1784 naval blockade of Badagri with an Oyo-Dahomey-Lagos force.


title: Oyo Empire

text: At the beginning, the people were concentrated in metropolitan Oyo. With imperial expansion, Oyo reorganized to better manage its vast holdings within and outside of Yorubaland. It was divided into four layers defined by relation to the core of the empire. These layers were Metropolitan Oyo, southern Yorubaland, the Egbado Corridor and Ajaland.


title: Oyo Empire

text: Metropolitan Oyo corresponded, more or less, to the Oyo state prior to the Nupe invasion. This was the hub of the empire, where the Yoruba spoke the Oyo dialect. Metropolitan Oyo was divided into six provinces, with three on the west side of the Ogun River and three to the river's east. Each province was supervised by a governor appointed directly by the Alaafin of Oyo.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The second layer of the empire was composed of the towns closest to Oyo-Ile, which were recognized as brothers. This area was south of metropolitan Oyo, and its Yoruba inhabitants spoke different dialects from that of Oyo. These tributary states were led by their own rulers, titled Obas, who were confirmed by the Alaafin of Oyo.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The empire's third layer was the Egbado Corridor southwest of Yorubaland. This area was inhabited by the Egba and Egbado, and guaranteed Oyo's trade with the coast. The Egba and Egbado tributaries were allowed, like their Yoruba counterparts, to rule themselves. They were, however, supervised by Ajele. These were agents appointed by the Alaafin of Oyo to oversee his interest and monitor commerce. The lead representative of Oyo in the corridor was the Olu, ruler of the town of Ilaro.


title: Oyo Empire

text: Ajaland was the last layer added to the empire. It was the most restive and distant, and kept in line with threats of expeditions against it. This territory extended from the non-Yoruba areas west of the Egbado Corridor far into Ewe controlled territory in modern Togo. This area, like all tributary states, was allowed a fair degree of autonomy as long as taxes were paid, the orders from Oyo were strictly followed, and access to local markets was provided to Oyo merchants. The Oyo often demanded tribute in slaves. The tributary chiefs of other kingdoms sometimes made war on others to capture slaves for this purpose. Oyo was known to punish disobedience by wholesale slaughter of the erring community, as it accomplished in Allada in 1698.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The Oyo Empire developed a highly sophisticated political structure to govern its territorial domains. Scholars have not determined how much of this structure existed prior to the Nupe invasion. After reemerging from exile in the early 17th century, Oyo took on a noticeably more militant character. The influence of an aggressive Yoruba culture is exemplified in the standards placed on the oba (king) and the roles of his council.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The oba (meaning 'king' in the Yoruba language) at Oyo, who was referred to as the Alaafin of Oyo (Alaafin means 'owner of the palace' in Yoruba), was the head of the empire and supreme overlord of the people. He was responsible for keeping tributaries safe from attack, settling internal quarrels between sub-rulers, and mediating between those sub-rulers and their people. The Alaafin of Oyo was also expected to give his subordinates honours and presents. In return, all sub-rulers had to pay homage to the Oba and renew their allegiance at annual ceremonies. The most important of these was the Bere festival, marking the acclamation of successful rule by the Alaafin. After the Bere festival, peace in Yorubaland was supposed to last for three years. The king could not be disposed of but could be compelled to commit suicide if he was no longer wanted. This was done by sending Bashorun (The prime minister) to present either an empty calabash or a dish of parrot's eggs to him and pass a sentence of rejection, known as "Awon Eniyan Koo" (i.e. the people reject you, the world rejects you and the gods reject you also). According to tradition, the Alaafin was expected to commit ritual suicide thereafter.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The Oyo Empire was not a purely hereditary monarchy, nor was it an absolute one. The Oyo Mesi selected the Alaafin. He was not always closely related to his predecessor, although he did have to be descended from Oranmiyan, a son of Oduduwa, and to hail from the Ona Isokun ward (which is one of the three royal wards). At the beginning of the Oyo Empire, the Alaafin's eldest son usually succeeded his father upon the throne. This sometimes led the crown prince, known as the Aremo, to hasten the death of his father. In order to prevent this occurrence, it became traditional for the crown prince to be made to commit ritual suicide upon his father's death. Independent of the succession, the Aremo was quite powerful in his own right. For instance, by custom the Alaafin abstained from leaving the palace, except during the important festivals, which in practice curtailed his power. By contrast, the Aremo often left the palace. This led the noted historian S. Johnson to observe: "The father is the king of the palace, and the son the king for the general public". The two councils which checked the Alaafin had a tendency to select a weak Alaafin after the reign of a strong one to keep the office from becoming too powerful.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The Alaafin of Oyo appointed certain religious and government officials, who were usually eunuchs. These officials were known as the "ilari" or half-heads, because of the custom of shaving half of their heads and applying what was believed to be a magical substance into them. The hundreds of Ilari were divided evenly between the sexes. Junior members of the Ilari did menial tasks, while seniors acted as guards or sometimes messengers to the other world via sacrifice. Their titles related to the king, such as "oba l'olu" ("the king is supreme") or "" ("do not oppose him"). They carried red and green fans as credentials of their status.


title: Oyo Empire

text: All sub-courts of Oyo had Ilari who acted as both spies and taxmen. Oyo appointed these to visit and sometimes reside in Dahomey and the Egbado Corridor to collect taxes and spy on Dahomey's military successes, so that the Alaafin of Oyo could get his cut.


title: Oyo Empire

text: While the Alaafin of Oyo was supreme overlord of the people, he was not without checks on his power. The Oyo Mesi and the Yoruba Earth cult known as Ogboni kept the Oba's power in check. The Oyo Mesi spoke for the politicians while the Ogboni spoke for the people and were backed by the power of religion. The power of the Alaafin of Oyo in relation to the Oyo Mesi and Ogboni depended on his personal character and political shrewdness.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The Oyo Mesi were seven principal councillors of the state. They constituted the Electoral Council and possessed legislative powers. Led by the Bashorun, acting as prime minister, and consisting of the Agbaakin, the Samu, the Alapini, the Laguna, the Akiniku and the Ashipa, they represented the voice of the nation and had the chief responsibility of protecting the interests of the empire. The Alaafin was required to take counsel from them whenever any important matter affecting the state occurred. Each chief had a state duty to perform at court every morning and afternoon. Each also had a deputy whom they would send to the Alaafin if their absence was unavoidable. The Oyo Mesi developed as a check on the Alaafin's power, preventing the Alaafin from being an autocrat; they compelled many Alaafins to commit suicide during the 17th and 18th centuries.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The head of the council of Oyo Mesi, the Bashorun, consulted the Ifa oracle prior to the royal succession for approval from the gods. New alaafins of Oyo were therefore seen as being appointed by the gods. They were regarded as "Ekeji Orisa," meaning "deputy of the gods." The Bashorun had final say on the nomination of the new Alaafin, his power rivaling that of the king himself. For example, the Bashorun orchestrated many religious festivals; he did this in addition to being commander-in-chief of the army, which gave him considerable independent religious authority.


title: Oyo Empire

text: Chief among the responsibilities of the Bashorun was the all important festival of Orun. This religious divination, held every year, was to determine if the members of the Mesi still held favour with the Alaafin. If the council decided on the disapproval of the Alaafin, the Bashorun presented the Alaafin with an empty calabash, or parrot's eggs, as a sign that he must commit suicide. This was the only way to remove the Alaafin because he could not legally be deposed. Once given the calabash or the parrot's eggs, the Alaafin, his eldest son the Aremo, and his personal counselor within the Oyo Mesi, the Asamu, all had to commit suicide in order to renew the government. The suicide ceremony took place during the Orun festival.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The Oyo Mesi did not enjoy an absolute power either. While the Oyo Mesi wielded political influence, the Ogboni represented the popular opinion backed by the authority of religion, and therefore the views of the Oyo Mesi could be moderated by the Ogboni. There were checks and balances on the power of the Alaafin and the Oyo Mesi and thus no one was arrogated absolute power. The Ogboni was a very powerful secret society composed of aristocratic freemen noted for their age, wisdom and importance in religious and political affairs. Its members enjoyed immense power over the common people due to their religious station. A testament to how widespread the institution was is the fact that there were (and still are) Ogboni councils at nearly all sub-courts within Yorubaland. Aside from their duties in respect to the worship of the earth, they were responsible for judging any case dealing with the spilling of blood. The leader of the Ogboni, the Oluwo, had the unqualified right of direct access to the Alaafin of Oyo on any matter.


title: Oyo Empire

text: There was a high degree of professionalism in the army of the Oyo Empire. Its military success was due in large part to its cavalry as well as the leadership and courage of Oyo officers and warriors. Because its main geographic focus was north of the forest, Oyo enjoyed easier farming and thus a steady growth in population. This contributed to Oyo's ability to consistently field a large force. There was also an entrenched military culture in Oyo where victory was obligatory and defeat carried the duty of committing suicide. This do-or-die policy no doubt contributed to the military aggressiveness of Oyo's generals.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The Oyo Empire was the only Yoruba state to adopt cavalry; it did so because most of its territory was in the northern savannah. The origin of the cavalry is unclear; however, the Nupe, Borgu and Hausa in neighbouring territories also used cavalry and may have had the same historical source. Oyo was able to purchase horses from the north and maintain them in metropolitan Oyo because of partial freedom from the tsetse fly. Cavalry was the long arm of the Oyo Empire. Late 16th and 17th century expeditions were composed entirely of cavalry. There were drawbacks to this. Oyo could not maintain its cavalry army in the south but could raid at will.


title: Oyo Empire

text: Cavalry in highly developed societies such as Oyo was divided into light and heavy. Heavy cavalry on larger imported horses was armed with heavy thrusting lances or spears and also with swords. Light cavalry on smaller indigenous ponies was armed with clubs or bows.


title: Oyo Empire

text: Infantry in the region around the Oyo Empire was uniform in both armour and armament. All infantry in the region carried shields, swords and lances of one type or another. Shields were four feet tall and two feet wide and made of elephant or ox hide. A heavy sword was the main armament for close combat. The Yoruba and their neighbours used triple barbed javelins which could be thrown accurately from about 30 paces.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The Oyo Empire, like many empires before it, used both local and tributary forces to expand its domains. The structure of the Oyo military prior to its imperial period was simple and closer aligned to the central government in metropolitan Oyo. This may have been adequate in the 14th century when Oyo controlled only its heartland, but to make and maintain conquest farther away, the structure underwent several changes.


title: Oyo Empire

text: Oyo maintained a semi-standing army of specialist cavalry soldiers called the "Eso", the "Esho" or, formally, the Eso of Ikoyi. These were 70 junior war chiefs who were nominated by the Oyo Mesi and confirmed by the Alaafin of Oyo. The Eso were appointed for their military skill without regard to heritage, although de facto dynasties of Eso were also known to exist. The Eso were led by the Are-Ona-Kakanfo, and were famous for living by a warrior code that was comparable to the Latin dictum infra dignitatem.


title: Oyo Empire

text: After Oyo's return from exile, the post of Are-Ona-Kakanfo was established as the supreme military commander. He was required to live in a frontier province of great importance to keep an eye on the enemy and to keep him from usurping the throne. During Oyo's imperial period, the Are-Ona-Kakanfo personally commanded the army in the field on all campaigns.


title: Oyo Empire

text: Since the Are-Ona-Kakanfo could not reside near the capital, arrangements had to be made for the latter's protection in case of emergency. Forces inside metropolitan Oyo were commanded by the Bashorun, leading member of the Oyo Mesi. As stated earlier, Metropolitan Oyo was divided into six provinces divided evenly by a river. Provincial forces were thus grouped into two armies, under the "Onikoyi" and the "Okere" for the east and west side of the river respectively. Lesser war chiefs were known as Balogun, a title carried on by the soldiers of Oyo's successor state, Ibadan.


title: Oyo Empire

text: Tributary leaders and provincial governors were responsible for collecting tribute and contributing troops under local generalship to the imperial army in times of emergency. Occasionally, tributary leaders would be ordered to attack neighbors even without the backing of the main imperial army. These forces were often utilized in Oyo's distant campaigns on the coast or against other states.


title: Oyo Empire

text: Oyo became the southern emporium of the Trans-Saharan trade. Exchanges were made in salt, leather, horses, kola nuts, ivory, cloth and slaves. The Yoruba of metropolitan Oyo were also highly skilled in craft making and iron work. Aside from taxes on trade products coming in and out of the empire, Oyo also became wealthy off the taxes imposed on its tributaries. Taxes on the kingdom of Dahomey alone brought in an amount estimated at 1 million U.S. dollars a year.


title: Oyo Empire

text: By 1680, the Oyo Empire spanned over 150,000 square kilometers. It reached the height of its power in the 18th century. Despite its violent creation, it was held together by mutual self-interest. The government was able to provide unity for a vast area through a combination of local autonomy and imperial authority.


title: Oyo Empire

text: Unlike the great savannah empires, of which Oyo may not be called a successor since it was a successor of Ife, there was little if any Islamic influence in the empire. It is known that at least some Muslim officials were kept in Metropolitan Oyo, and men capable of writing and calculating in Arabic were reported by French traders in 1787.


title: Oyo Empire

text: Many believe the decline of the Oyo empire had started as early as 1754 with the dynastic intrigues and palace coups sponsored by the Oyo Prime Minister Gaha. Gaha, in his quest for absolute power, conspired with the Oyo Mesi and probably to some extent the Ogboni to force four successive Alaafins to commit ritual suicide after they had been presented with the symbolic parrot's eggs. Between June and October 1754 alone, two Alaafins had been forced to commit suicide by Gaha. Because of this, Alaafin Awonbioju spent 130 days on the throne, while Alaafin Labisi only spent 17 days on the throne. Gaha's treachery was not ended until 1774 during the reign of Alaafin Abiodun, the fifth Alaafin he served. Gaha was subsequently executed by Abiodun but the instability that had been brought about by these intrigues had further weakened Oyo.


title: Oyo Empire

text: Alaafin Abiodun during his reign had also conducted failed campaigns against Borgu in 1783 and Nupe in 1789, losing the equivalent of 11 and 13 generals and their men respectively. Abiodun was subsequently murdered by his own son Awole, who subsequently ascended his father's throne.


title: Oyo Empire

text: The events that led to the secession of Ilorin began in 1793. Ilorin was a war camp headed by the Are-Ona Kakanfo Afonja. Afonja took cause with Awole when the latter commanded him to attack Alaafin Abiodun's maternal home, Iwere-Ile. Afonja, being bound by an oath and also desirous not to fall under a curse from a previous Alaafin made to the effect that any Aare Ona Kakanfo who attacked Iwere-Ile (his paternal home) was to die miserably, refused to comply. A further cause was given in 1795, when Awole ordered Afonja to attack the market town of Apomu, a part of Ile-Ife. All Alaafins, due to the Yoruba belief that Ife was the spiritual home of the Yorubas, were previously made to swear an oath never to attack Ife. Afonja carried out Awole's order and sacked Apomu, but on the return of the army from the campaign he marched on the capital Oyo-Ile (which was itself a taboo), and demanded that Awole abdicate. Awole eventually committed ritual suicide.


title: Oyo Empire

text: After the death of Awole, there was a scramble for the throne by numerous contenders; some were reported to have spent less than six months on the throne; there was also a period of interregnum of almost twenty years where the various factions could not agree on a candidate. This power vacuum led to the ascendancy of powerful military and regional commanders like Adegun, the Onikoyi and Solagberu, the Otun Are-Ona Kakanfo. Shehu Alimi, a Fulani chief who was the leader of the growing Muslim population in Oyo, also rose to power at this time. These new elements had lost regard for the office of the Alaafin due to the various political wranglings and the lack of a central authority at the time; this situation eventually led to Afonja seceding Ilorin from Oyo in 1817 with the help of Oyo Muslims. In 1823, after Afonja had been killed by his erstwhile allies Shehu Alimi and Solagberu (who was himself later killed by Alimi's son), Ilorin became part of the Sokoto Caliphate. By the time Captain Hugh Clapperton visited Oyo-Ile in 1825 during the reign of Alaafin Majotu, the empire was already in a state of decline. Clapperton's party recorded passing numerous Oyo villages burned by the Fulani of Ilorin while Majotu had also sought the help of the English king and the Oba of Benin in putting down the Ilorin rebellion. Clapperton also noticed a shortage of horses, even though the Oyo were renowned as a great cavalry force; this might have something to do with the fact that most of the empire's soldiers and hence cavalry were stationed at Ilorin under the command of Afonja (and later Alimi's successors).


title: Oyo Empire

text: Ilorin then besieged Offa and started raiding, burning and pillaging villages in Oyo, eventually destroying the capital Oyo-Ile in 1835.


title: Oyo Empire

text: As Oyo tore itself apart via political intrigue, its vassals began taking advantage of the situation to press for independence. The Egba, under the leadership of a war chief called Lishabi, massacred the Ilari stationed in their area and drove off an Oyo punitive force.


title: Oyo Empire

text: In 1823 Dahomey was reported to have raided villages that were under the protection of Oyo. Oyo immediately demanded a huge tribute from King Gezo for the unauthorized incursion, to which Gezo dispatched his Brazilian viceroy, Chacha Francisco Félix de Sousa, to the Alaafin at Oyo to make peace. The peace talks eventually broke down, and Oyo subsequently attacked Dahomey. The Oyo army was decisively defeated, ending Oyo's hegemony over Dahomey. After gaining its independence, Dahomey began raiding the corridor.


title: Oyo Empire

text: After the destruction of Oyo-Ile, the capital was moved further south, to Ago d'Oyo. Oba Atiba sought to preserve what remained of Oyo by placing on Ibadan the duty of protecting the capital from the Ilorin in the north and northeast. He also attempted to get the Ijaye to protect Oyo from the west against the Dahomeans. The center of Yoruba power moved further south to Ibadan, a Yoruba war camp settled by Oyo commanders in 1830.


title: Oyo Empire

text: Atiba's gambit failed, and Oyo never regained its prominence in the region. The Oba, otherwise called Atiba Atobatele, died in 1859; His first son Adelu Alao Agunloye became the Alaafin after him 1859 - 1876, followed by his 4th son Alowolodu Adeyemi I, the third Alaafin to rule in the present Oyo who also died in 1905. Others who ruled after Adeyemi 1 were Lawani Agogo ija, Ladigbolu 1, Adeyemi II, Gbadegesin and Lamidi Adeyemi who died in 2022. During the colonial period, the Yorubas were one of the most urbanized groups in Africa. About 22% of the population lived in large areas with populations exceeding 100,000, and over 50% lived in cities made up of 25,000 or more people. The index of urbanization in 1950 was close to that of the United States, excluding Ilorin. The Yoruba continue to be the most urbanized African ethnic group today. Prominent contemporary cities include Oyo, Ibadan, Osogbo, and Ogbomoso, which are some of the major cities that flourished after old Oyo's collapse.


title: Oyo Empire

text: A remnant of the monarchy continues to exist as one of the traditional states of contemporary Nigeria.


title: Mary Wilson (singer)

text: Mary Wilson (March 6, 1944 – February 8, 2021) was an American singer. She gained worldwide recognition as a founding member of The Supremes, the most successful Motown act of the 1960s and the best-charting female group in U.S. chart history, as well as one of the best-selling girl groups of all-time. The trio reached number one on "Billboard"s Hot 100 with 12 of their singles, ten of which feature Wilson on backing vocals.


title: Mary Wilson (singer)

text: Wilson remained with the group following the departures of the other three original members Barbara Martin (in 1962), Florence Ballard (in 1967), and Diana Ross (in 1970), though the subsequent group disbanded following Wilson's own departure in 1977. Wilson later became a "New York Times" best-selling author in 1986 with the release of her first autobiography, "", which set records for sales in its genre, and later for the autobiography "Supreme Faith: Someday We'll Be Together".


title: Mary Wilson (singer)

text: Continuing a successful career as a concert performer in Las Vegas, Wilson also worked in activism, fighting to pass Truth in Music Advertising bills and donating to various charities. Wilson was inducted along with Ross and Ballard (as members of the Supremes) into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.