title: Kreator

text: About three months after the release of "Gods of Violence", Petrozza mentioned a follow-up album, saying, "Maybe we should work with a different producer. Maybe we should go to a different country to record the album. Maybe we should write a more metal or more full-on thrash metal. Whatever we feel, first and foremost, that is the most important thing. Time will tell." In a September 2017 interview with Australia's Silver Tiger Media, Petrozza stated that Kreator could do another album after "Gods of Violence" but "not yet." When asked in February 2018 about the band's future, Petrozza said, "I think we're gonna take next year off and write a new record. That's the plan at least. We'll see what happens. I don't put myself under pressure. Let's see how I feel after this tour, and if I have ideas for new music, I will book a studio and start working on demos as soon as I have the time. And then I'll come up with some new stuff." He told "Guitar Interactive" magazine in July 2018 that Kreator would take 2019 off to focus on writing the new album, which was planned for release in the summer of 2020. Petrozza later stated their new album was not expected to be released until the summer of 2021.


title: Kreator

text: In the beginning of December, Kreator embarked on a tour of Europe, entitled the European Apocalypse, with the bands Dimmu Borgir, Hatebreed and Bloodbath. It was also announced that the final concert of the European Apocalypse in London would be filmed and produced as a live DVD in 2019; titled "London Apocalypticon - Live at the Roundhouse", this DVD was released on 14 February 2020. Kreator supported Slayer on their final world tour, appearing at the Santiago Gets Louder festival in Chile on 6 October 2019, along with Anthrax and Pentagram Chile.


title: Kreator

text: On 16 September 2019, it was announced that Christian "Speesy" Giesler had left Kreator after 25 years as their bassist, and was replaced by Frédéric Leclercq, who had recently left DragonForce.


title: Kreator

text: On 26 March 2020, Kreator released a music video for "666 - World Divided", which marked their first song in three years and their first one since Leclercq joined the band.


title: Kreator

text: On 20 July 2020, Petrozza posted a picture of himself in the studio on his Instagram page, which indicated that Kreator were working on their new album. Petrozza confirmed two months later that Kreator had been writing new material "in the last couple of months", and that he was recording vocals for the album. In a March 2021 interview, Petrozza revealed that Kreator was supposed to start recording their new album in February, but added that this plan was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. He also went on to say that he wants "the album to come out and go on a world tour right afterwards" and revealed that Arthur Rizk would produce it. The band announced in September 2021 that they had begun recording the album at Hansa Tonstudio in Berlin, Germany with Rizk. In December 2021, Mille announced on his Instagram page that their new album would be released in the summer of 2022, preceded by a "new single SOON!". On 4 February 2022 the band released the title track from "Hate Über Alles" as the album's first single, and announced on the same day that the album would be released on 3 June; its release date was later pushed back to 10 June. A video for the second single from "Hate Über Alles", "Strongest of the Strong", was released on 8 April 2022, followed less than a month later by its third single "Midnight Sun".


title: Kreator

text: Kreator will promote "Hate Über Alles" with a world tour, including supporting Mercyful Fate on their first North American tour in over 20 years, and touring Europe with Lamb of God and Municipal Waste, during the winter of 2023. They will also co-headline the Latin American tour Klash of the Titans in the spring of 2023 with Testament.


title: Kreator

text: Kreator's musical style is similar to that of their compatriots Destruction, Sodom and Tankard, which is usually more complex and, since "Violent Revolution" (2001), more melodic. Along with those three bands, Kreator has been referred to as one of the "Big Four" of Teutonic thrash metal, and they are often credited with helping pioneer death metal and black metal by containing several elements of what was to become those genres. The band's style has changed several times over the years, from a Venom-inspired speed metal sound, later moving into thrash metal, and including a period of transitioning from thrash to industrial metal and gothic metal throughout the 1990s. In the early 2000s, Kreator returned to their classic thrash sound, which has continued to the present.


title: Kreator

text: Kreator has been influenced by a variety of music such as post-punk bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees, hardcore punk bands like Bad Religion, D.R.I., the Exploited, GBH and Raw Power, and 1970s and 1980s hard rock and heavy metal bands including Accept, Bathory, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Kiss, Mercyful Fate, Metallica, Motörhead, Possessed, Raven, Rush, Slayer and Venom.


title: Robin Atkin Downes

text: Downes has voiced characters in animated films such as Ack in "How to Train Your Dragon", David in the English dub of "Steamboy", and Manchester Black in "Superman vs. The Elite". His live-action television roles include Pockla in "Angel", Byron and Morann "Babylon 5", and Machida in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", while his voice work on television includes The Master on "The Strain" and various roles on "Regular Show", "", "", and "ThunderCats".


title: Robin Atkin Downes

text: Downes' video game roles include various characters in "Gears of War" and "Metal Gear", Travis Touchdown in "No More Heroes", Captain Slag in "Ratchet & Clank", a selectable voice for the male protagonist in "", the Medic in "Team Fortress 2", Spider in "", the Prophet of Regret in "Halo 2", Brynjolf in "", Robert in "The Last of Us", Captain Conrad Roth in "Tomb Raider", various characters across the "Uncharted" franchise, The Prince in "", and Cyclops and Pyro in "X-Men Legends".


title: Robin Atkin Downes

text: Downes maintains a personal YouTube channel, on which he uploads behind-the-scenes footage of his work over the years.


title: Robin Atkin Downes

text: Downes married American actress Michael Ann Young on 6 November 2004. They live in Los Angeles and have a daughter named Natasha.


title: John Snow

text: John Snow (15 March 1813 – 16 June 1858) was an English physician and a leader in the development of anaesthesia and medical hygiene. He is considered one of the founders of modern epidemiology, in part because of his work in tracing the source of a cholera outbreak in Soho, London, in 1854, which he curtailed by removing the handle of a water pump. Snow's findings inspired the adoption of anaesthesia as well as fundamental changes in the water and waste systems of London, which led to similar changes in other cities, and a significant improvement in general public health around the world.


title: John Snow

text: Snow was born on 15 March 1813 in York, England, the first of nine children born to William and Frances Snow in their North Street home, and was baptised at All Saints' Church, North Street, York. His father was a labourer who worked at a local coal yard, by the Ouse, constantly replenished from the Yorkshire coalfield by barges, but later was a farmer in a small village to the north of York.


title: John Snow

text: The neighbourhood was one of the poorest in the city, and was frequently in danger of flooding because of its proximity to the River Ouse. Growing up, Snow experienced unsanitary conditions and contamination in his hometown. Most of the streets were unsanitary and the river was contaminated by runoff water from market squares, cemeteries and sewage.


title: John Snow

text: From a young age, Snow demonstrated an aptitude for mathematics. In 1827, when he was 14, he obtained a medical apprenticeship with William Hardcastle in the area of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In 1832, during his time as a surgeon-apothecary apprentice, he encountered a cholera epidemic for the first time in Killingworth, a coal-mining village. Snow treated many victims of the disease and thus gained experience. Eventually he adjusted to teetotalism and led a life characterized by abstinence, signing an abstinence pledge in 1835. Snow was also a vegetarian and tried to only drink distilled water that was “pure”. Between 1832 and 1835 Snow worked as an assistant to a colliery surgeon, first in Burnopfield, County Durham, and then in Pateley Bridge, West Riding of Yorkshire. In October 1836 he enrolled at the Hunterian school of medicine on Great Windmill Street, London.


title: John Snow

text: In the 1830s, Snow's colleague at the Newcastle Infirmary was surgeon Thomas Michael Greenhow. The surgeons worked together conducting research on England's cholera epidemics, both continuing to do so for many years.


title: John Snow

text: In 1837, Snow began working at the Westminster Hospital. Admitted as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England on 2 May 1838, he graduated from the University of London in December 1844 and was admitted to the Royal College of Physicians in 1850. Snow was a founding member of the Epidemiological Society of London which was formed in May 1850 in response to the cholera outbreak of 1849. By 1856, Snow and Greenhow's nephew, Dr. E.H. Greenhow were some of a handful of esteemed medical men of the society who held discussions on this "dreadful scourge, the cholera".


title: John Snow

text: After finishing his medical studies in the University of London, he earned his MD in 1844. Snow set up his practice at 54 Frith Street in Soho as a surgeon and general practitioner. John Snow contributed to a wide range of medical concerns including anaesthesiology. He was a member of the Westminster Medical Society, an organisation dedicated to clinical and scientific demonstrations. Snow gained prestige and recognition all the while being able to experiment and pursue many of his scientific ideas. He was a speaker multiple times at the society's meetings and he also wrote and published articles. He was especially interested in patients with respiratory diseases and tested his hypothesis through animal studies. In 1841, he wrote, "On Asphyxiation, and on the Resuscitation of Still-Born Children", which is an article that discusses his discoveries on the physiology of neonatal respiration, oxygen consumption and the effects of body temperature change.


title: John Snow

text: In 1857, Snow made an early and often overlooked contribution to epidemiology in a pamphlet, "On the adulteration of bread as a cause of rickets".


title: John Snow

text: Snow's interest in anaesthesia and breathing was evident from 1841 and beginning in 1843, he experimented with ether to see its effects on respiration. Only a year after ether was introduced to Britain, in 1847, he published a short work titled, "On the Inhalation of the Vapor of Ether," which served as a guide for its use. At the same time, he worked on various papers that reported his clinical experience with anaesthesia, noting reactions, procedures and experiments. Within two years of ether being introduced, Snow was the most accomplished anaesthetist in Britain. London's principal surgeons suddenly wanted his assistance.


title: John Snow

text: As well as ether, John Snow studied chloroform, which was introduced in 1847 by James Young Simpson, a Scottish obstetrician. He realised that chloroform was much more potent and required more attention and precision when administering it. Snow first realised this with Hannah Greener, a 15-year-old patient who died on 28 January 1848 after a surgical procedure that required the cutting of her toenail. She was administered chloroform by covering her face with a cloth dipped in the substance. However, she quickly lost pulse and died. After investigating her death and a couple of deaths that followed, he realized that chloroform had to be administered carefully and published his findings in a letter to "The Lancet".


title: John Snow

text: John Snow was one of the first physicians to study and calculate dosages for the use of ether and chloroform as surgical anaesthetics, allowing patients to undergo surgical and obstetric procedures without the distress and pain they would otherwise experience. He designed the apparatus to safely administer ether to the patients and also designed a mask to administer chloroform. Snow published an article on ether in 1847 entitled "On the Inhalation of the Vapor of Ether". A longer version entitled "On Chloroform and Other Anaesthetics and Their Action and Administration" was published posthumously in 1858.


title: John Snow

text: Although he thoroughly worked with ether as an anaesthetic, he never attempted to patent it; instead, he continued to work and publish written works on his observations and research.


title: John Snow

text: Snow's work and findings were related to both anaesthesia and the practice of childbirth. His experience with obstetric patients was extensive and used different substances including ether, amylene and chloroform to treat his patients. However, chloroform was the easiest drug to administer. He treated 77 obstetric patients with chloroform. He would apply the chloroform at the second stage of labour and controlled the amount without completely putting the patients to sleep. Once the patient was delivering the baby, they would only feel the first half of the contraction and be on the border of unconsciousness, but not fully there. Regarding administration of the anaesthetic, Snow believed that it would be safer if another person that was not the surgeon applied it.


title: John Snow

text: The use of chloroform as an anaesthetic for childbirth was seen as unethical by many physicians and even the Church of England. However, on 7 April 1853, Queen Victoria asked John Snow to administer chloroform during the delivery of her eighth child, Leopold. He then repeated the procedure for the delivery of her daughter Beatrice in 1857. This led to wider acceptance of obstetrical anaesthesia.


title: John Snow

text: Snow was a skeptic of the then-dominant miasma theory that stated that diseases such as cholera and bubonic plague were caused by pollution or a noxious form of "bad air". The germ theory of disease had not yet been developed, so Snow did not understand the mechanism by which the disease was transmitted. His observation of the evidence led him to discount the theory of foul air. He first published his theory in an 1849 essay, "On the Mode of Communication of Cholera", followed by a more detailed treatise in 1855 incorporating the results of his investigation of the role of the water supply in the Soho epidemic of 1854.


title: John Snow

text: By talking to local residents (with the help of Henry Whitehead), he identified the source of the outbreak as the public water pump on Broad Street (now Broadwick Street). Although Snow's chemical and microscope examination of a water sample from the Broad Street pump did not conclusively prove its danger, his studies of the pattern of the disease were convincing enough to persuade the local council to disable the well pump by removing its handle (force rod). This action has been commonly credited as ending the outbreak, but Snow observed that the epidemic may have already been in rapid decline:


title: John Snow

text: Snow later used a dot map to illustrate the cluster of cholera cases around the pump. He also used statistics to illustrate the connection between the quality of the water source and cholera cases. He showed that homes supplied by the Southwark and Vauxhall Waterworks Company, which was taking water from sewage-polluted sections of the Thames, had a cholera rate fourteen times that of those supplied by Lambeth Waterworks Company, which obtained water from the upriver, cleaner Seething Wells. Snow's study was a major event in the history of public health and geography. It is regarded as the founding event of the science of epidemiology.


title: John Snow

text: Researchers later discovered that this public well had been dug only from an old cesspit, which had begun to leak faecal bacteria. The cloth nappy of a baby, who had contracted cholera from another source, had been washed into this cesspit. Its opening was originally under a nearby house, which had been rebuilt farther away after a fire. The city had widened the street and the cesspit was lost. It was common at the time to have a cesspit under most homes. Most families tried to have their raw sewage collected and dumped in the Thames to prevent their cesspit from filling faster than the sewage could decompose into the soil.


title: John Snow

text: Thomas Shapter had conducted similar studies and used a point-based map for the study of cholera in Exeter, seven years before John Snow, although this did not identify the water supply problem that was later held responsible.


title: John Snow

text: After the cholera epidemic had subsided, government officials replaced the Broad Street pump handle. They had responded only to the urgent threat posed to the population, and afterward they rejected Snow's theory. To accept his proposal would have meant indirectly accepting the fecal-oral route of disease transmission, which was too unpleasant for most of the public to contemplate.


title: John Snow

text: It was not until 1866 that William Farr, one of Snow's chief opponents, realised the validity of his diagnosis when investigating another outbreak of cholera at Bromley by Bow and issued immediate orders that unboiled water was not to be drunk.


title: John Snow

text: Farr denied Snow's explanation of how exactly the contaminated water spread cholera, although he did accept that water had a role in the spread of the illness. In fact, some of the statistical data that Farr collected helped promote John Snow's views.


title: John Snow

text: Public health officials recognise the political struggles in which reformers have often become entangled. During the Annual Pumphandle Lecture in England, members of the John Snow Society remove and replace a pump handle to symbolise the continuing challenges for advances in public health.


title: John Snow

text: Snow became a vegetarian at the age of 17 and was a teetotaller. He embraced an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet by supplementing his vegetables with dairy products and eggs. On this diet he excelled at swimming. He later became a vegan. In the mid-1840s, his health deteriorated and he suffered a renal disorder which he attributed to his vegan diet so he took up meat-eating and drinking wine. He continued drinking pure water (via boiling) throughout his adult life. He never married.


title: John Snow

text: In 1830, Snow became a member of the temperance movement. In 1845, he became a member of York Temperance Society. After his health declined it was only about 1845 that he consumed a little wine to aid digestion.


title: John Snow

text: Snow suffered a stroke while working in his London office on 10 June 1858. He was 45 years old at the time. He never recovered, dying six days later on 16 June 1858. He was buried in Brompton Cemetery.


title: Kent Bateman

text: Bateman is the father of actors Jason Bateman and Justine Bateman. Kent Bateman was a film producer for Ealing Films (not to be confused with the British studio) in the late 1960s and early 1970s in Newton, Massachusetts.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The Kingdom of Benin, also known as the Edo Kingdom, or the Benin Empire (Bini: "Arriọba ẹdo") was a kingdom within what is now southern Nigeria. It has no historical relation to the modern republic of Benin, which was known as Dahomey from the 17th century until 1975. The Kingdom of Benin's capital was Edo, now known as Benin City in Edo State, Nigeria. The Benin Kingdom was "one of the oldest and most developed states in the coastal hinterland of West Africa". It grew out of the previous Edo Kingdom of Igodomigodo around the 11th century AD, and lasted until it was annexed by the British Empire in 1897.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The original people and founders of the Benin Kingdom, the Edo people, were initially ruled by the Ogiso (Kings of the Sky) who called their land Igodomigodo. The first Ogiso (Ogiso Igodo), wielded much influence and gained popularity as a good ruler. He died after a long reign and was succeeded by Ere, his eldest son. In the 12th century, a great palace intrigue erupted and crown prince Ekaladerhan, the only son of the last Ogiso, was sentenced to death as a result of the first queen (who was barren) changing an oracle's message to the Ogiso. In carrying out the royal order that he be killed, the palace messengers had mercy and set the prince free at Ughoton near Benin. When his father the Ogiso died, the Ogiso dynasty ended. The people and royal kingmakers preferred their late king's son as the next to rule.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The exiled Prince Ekaladerhan had by this time changed his name to Izoduwa (meaning 'I have chosen the path of prosperity') and found his way to Ile-Ife. It was during this period of confusion in Benin that the elders, led by Chief Oliha, mounted a search for the banished Prince Ekaladerhan – whom the Ile-Ife people now called Oduduwa. Oduduwa, who could not return due to his advanced age, granted them Oranmiyan, his grandson, to rule over them. Oranmiyan was resisted by Ogiamien Irebor, one of the palace chiefs, and took up his abode in the palace built for him at Usama by the elders (now a coronation shrine). Soon after his arrival, he married a beautiful lady, Erinmwinde, daughter of Ogie-Egor, the ninth Enogie of Egor, by whom he had a son. After residing there for some years he called a meeting of the people and renounced his office, remarking in vexation "Ile-Ibinu" ("ile" means land, "binu" mean anger, and thus the kingdom was called Ibinu, which was mispronounced Bini in the 15th and 16th centuries by the Portuguese). This was out of frustration as he often expressed that "only a child born, trained and educated in the arts and mysteries of the land could reign over the people". He arranged for his son born to him by Erinmwinde, Eweka, to be made king in his place, and returned to Yorubaland thereafter. His son the new king was soon found to be deaf and mute, and so the elders appealed to Oranmiyan. He gave them charmed seeds known as "omo ayo" to play with, saying that to do so will make him talk. The little Eweka played with the seeds with his peers at Useh near egor, his mother's hometown. While playing with the seeds, he announced "Owomika" as his royal name. Thus, he gave rise to the tradition of the subsequent Obas of Benin spending seven days and nights at Usama before proceeding to announce their royal names at Useh. Eweka thus started a dynasty that now bears his name. Oranmiyan went on to serve as the founder of the Oyo Empire, where he ruled as the first Alaafin of Oyo. His descendants now rule in Ile Ife, Oyo and Benin.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: By the 15th century, Benin had expanded into a thriving city-state. The twelfth Oba in the line, Oba Ewuare the Great (1440–1473) would expand the city-state's territories to surrounding regions.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: It was not until the 15th century, during the reign of Oba Ewuare the Great, that the kingdom's administrative centre, the city of Ubinu (or Ibinu), began to be known as Benin City by the Portuguese, a pronunciation later adopted by the locals as well. The Portuguese would write this down as Benin City. Edo's neighbours, such as the Itsekiris and the Urhobos, continued to refer to the city as Ubini up until the late 19th century.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: Aside from Benin City, the system of rule of the Oba in the empire, even through the golden age of the kingdom, was still loosely based upon the Ogiso dynasty's tradition, which was military protection in exchange for pledged allegiance and taxes paid to the royal administrative centre. The language and culture was not enforced, as the empire remained heterogeneous and localized according to each group within the kingdom, though a local enogie (or duke) was often appointed by the Oba for specific ethnic areas.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: By the 1st century BC, the Benin territory was partially agricultural; and it became primarily agricultural by around 500 AD, but hunting and gathering still remained important. Also by 500 AD, iron was in use by the inhabitants of the Benin territory.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: Benin City (formerly Edo) sprang up by around 1000, in a forest that could be easily defended. The dense vegetation and narrow paths made the city easy to defend against attacks. The rainforest, which Benin City is situated in, helped in the development of the city because of its vast resources – fish from rivers and creeks, animals to hunt, leaves for roofing, plants for medicine, ivory for carving and trading, and wood for boat building – that could be exploited. However, domesticated animals, from the forest and surrounding areas, could not survive, due to a disease spread by tsetse flies; after centuries of exposure, some animals, such as cattle and goats, developed a resistance to the disease.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The original name of the kingdom of Benin, at its creation some time in the first millennium CE, was Igodomigodo, as its inhabitants called it. Their ruler was called Ogiso – the ruler of the sky. Nearly 36 known Ogiso are accounted for as rulers of this initial incarnation of the state.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The Impluvium was used in Benin architecture to store rainwater. Among the residences of the nobility, a compluvium channeled the rainwater into the impluvium in order to permit light and air through the walls since windows were absent among these structures. The stored rainwater in the impluvium was discharged out of the house through a drainage system beneath the floor. Archaeological works from the mid 20th century has revealed the existence of edge-laid potsherd pavements in Benin city, dated around or prior to the 14th century. The Walls of Benin are a series of earthworks made up of banks and ditches, called "ya" in the Edo language in the area around present-day Benin City, the capital of present-day Edo, Nigeria. They consist of of city iya and an estimated in the rural area around Benin. Some estimates suggest that the walls of Benin may have been constructed between the thirteenth and mid-fifteenth century CE and others suggest that the walls of Benin (in the Esan region) may have been constructed during the first millennium AD.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The Benin City walls have been known to Westerners since around 1500. Around 1500, the Portuguese explorer Duarte Pacheco Pereira, briefly described the walls during his travels.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: Another description given around 1600, one hundred years after Pereira's description, is by the Dutch explorer Dierick Ruiters.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The archaeologist Graham Connah suggests that Pereira was mistaken with his description by saying that there was no wall. Connah says, "[Pereira] considered that a bank of earth was not a wall in the sense of the Europe of his day."


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: Estimates for the initial construction of the walls range from the first millennium to the mid-fifteenth century. According to Connah, oral tradition and travelers' accounts suggest a construction date of 1450–1500. It has been estimated that, assuming a ten-hour work day, a labour force of 5,000 men could have completed the walls within 97 days, or by 2,421 men in 200 days. However, these estimates have been criticized for not taking into account the time it would have taken to extract earth from an ever deepening hole and the time it would have taken to heap the earth into a high bank. It is unknown whether slavery or some other type of labour was used in the construction of the walls.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The walls were built of a ditch and dike structure; the ditch dug to form an inner moat with the excavated earth used to form the exterior rampart.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The Benin Walls were partially demolished by the British in 1897 during their 1897 punitive expedition (where are the source?). Scattered pieces of the structure remain in Edo, with the vast majority of them being used by the locals for building purposes. What remains of the wall itself continues to be torn down for real estate developments in Nigeria.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: Ethnomathematician Ron Eglash has discussed the planned layout of the city using fractals as the basis, not only in the city itself and the villages but even in the rooms of houses. He commented that "When Europeans first came to Africa, they considered the architecture very disorganised and thus primitive. It never occurred to them that the Africans might have been using a form of mathematics that they hadn’t even discovered yet."


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: In 1440, Oba Ewuare, also known as Ewuare the Great, came to power and expanded the borders of the former city-state. It was only at this time that the administrative centre of the kingdom began to be referred to as Ubinu after the Portuguese word and corrupted to Bini by the Itsekhiri, Urhobo and Edo who all lived together in the royal administrative centre of the kingdom. The Portuguese who arrived in an expedition led by in 1485 would refer to it as Benin and the centre would become known as Benin City.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The Kingdom of Benin gained political strength and ascendancy over much of what is now mid-western Nigeria. Benin's wealth grew through its extensive trade, especially with the Portuguese. European traders were keen to acquire Benin's art, ivory and pepper.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: In the late seventeenth century, the kingdom temporarily declined following a major civil war and disputes over the kingship.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: Forty-one female skeletons thrown into a pit were discovered by the archaeologist Graham Connah. These findings indicate that human sacrifice or execution of criminals took place in Benin in the thirteenth century AD. From the early days, human sacrifices were a part of the state religion. But many of the accounts of the sacrifices, says historian J. D. Graham, are exaggerated or based on rumour and speculation. He says that all of the evidence "points to a limited, ritual custom of human sacrifice, many of the written accounts referring to the human sacrifices describe them as actually being executed criminals."


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: Humans were sacrificed in an annual ritual in honour of the god of iron, where warriors from Benin City would perform an acrobatic dance while suspended from the trees. The ritual recalled a mythical war against the sky.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: Sacrifices of a man, a woman, a goat, a cow and a ram were also made to a god called "the king of death." The god, named Ogiuwu, was worshipped at a special altar in the centre of Benin City.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: There were two separate annual series of rites that honored past Obas. Sacrifices were performed every fifth day. At the end of each series of rites, the current Oba's deceased father was honored with a public festival. During the festival, twelve criminals, chosen from a prison where the worst criminals were held, were sacrificed.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: By the end of the eighteenth century, three to four people were sacrificed at the mouth of the Benin River annually, to attract European trade, according to one source.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The monarchy of Benin was hereditary; the eldest son was to become the new Oba. In order to validate the succession of the kingship, the eldest son had to bury his father and perform elaborate rituals. If the eldest son failed to complete these tasks, the eldest son might be disqualified from becoming king.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: After the son was installed as king, his mother – after having been invested with the title of Iyoba – was transferred to a palace just outside Benin City, in a place called Uselu. The mother held a considerable amount of power; she was, however, never allowed to meet her son – who was now a divine ruler – again.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: In Benin, the Oba was seen as divine. The Oba's divinity and sacredness was the focal point of the kingship. The Oba was shrouded in mystery; he only left his palace on ceremonial occasions. It was previously punishable by death to assert that the Oba performed human acts, such as eating, sleeping, dying or washing. The Oba was also credited with having magical powers.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The Oba had become the mount of power within the region. Oba Ewuare, the first "Golden Age" Oba, is credited with turning Benin City into a city-state from a military fortress built by the Ogisos, protected by moats and walls. It was from this bastion that he launched his military campaigns and began the expansion of the kingdom from the Edo-speaking heartlands.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: A series of walls marked the incremental growth of the sacred city from 850 AD until its decline in the 16th century. To enclose his palace he commanded the building of Benin's inner wall, an earthen rampart girded by a moat deep. This was excavated in the early 1960s by Graham Connah. Connah estimated that its construction if spread out over five dry seasons, would have required a workforce of 1,000 laborers working ten hours a day, seven days a week. Ewuare also added great thoroughfares and erected nine fortified gateways.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: Excavations also uncovered a rural network of earthen walls long that would have taken an estimated 150 million man-hours to build and must have taken hundreds of years to build. These were apparently raised to mark out territories for towns and cities. Thirteen years after Ewuare's death, tales of Benin's splendors lured more Portuguese traders to the city gates.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: At its height, Benin dominated trade along the entire coastline from the Western Niger Delta, through Lagos to the kingdom of Great Accra (modern-day Ghana). It was for this reason that this coastline was named the Bight of Benin. The present-day Republic of Benin, formerly Dahomey, decided to choose the name of this bight as the name of its country. Benin ruled over the tribes of the Niger Delta including the Western Igbo, Ijaw, Itshekiri, Ika, Isoko and Urhobo amongst others. It also held sway over the Eastern Yoruba tribes of Ondo, Ekiti, Mahin/Ugbo, and Ijebu. It also conquered what became the city of Lagos hundreds of years before the British took over in 1861.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The state developed an advanced artistic culture, especially in its famous artifacts of bronze, iron and ivory. These include bronze wall plaques and life-sized bronze heads depicting the Obas and Iyobas of Benin. The most well-known artifact is based on Queen Idia, now best known as the "FESTAC Mask" after its use in 1977 in the logo of the Nigeria-financed and hosted Second Festival of Black & African Arts and Culture (FESTAC 77).


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The first European travelers to reach Benin were Portuguese explorers under João Afonso de Aveiro in about 1485. A strong mercantile relationship developed, with the Edo trading slaves and tropical products such as ivory, pepper and palm oil for European goods such as manillas and guns. In the early 16th century, the Oba sent an ambassador to Lisbon, and the king of Portugal sent Christian missionaries to Benin City. Some residents of Benin City could still speak a pidgin Portuguese in the late 19th century.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The first English expedition to Benin was in 1553, and significant trading developed between Europe and Benin based on the export of ivory, palm oil, pepper, and later slaves. Visitors in the 16th and 19th centuries brought back to Europe tales of "Great Benin", a fabulous city of noble buildings, ruled over by a powerful king. A fanciful engraving of the settlement was made by a Dutch illustrator (from descriptions alone) and was shown in Olfert Dapper's "Naukeurige Beschrijvinge der Afrikaensche Gewesten", published in Amsterdam in 1668. The work states the following about the royal palace:


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: Another Dutch traveler, David van Nyendael, visited Benin in 1699 and also wrote an account of the kingdom. Nyendael's description was published in 1704 as an appendix to Willem Bosman's "Nauwkeurige Beschryving van de Guinese Goud-, tand- en Slave-kust". In his description, Nyendael states the following about the character of the Benin people:


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: British trader James Pinnock who visited the kingdom wrote that he saw "a large number of men all handcuffed and chained" with "their ears cut off with a razor". T. B. Auchterlonie described the approach to the capital through an avenue of trees hung with decomposing human remains. After the "lane of horrors" came a grass common "thickly strewn with the skulls and bones of sacrificed human beings."


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: Military operations relied on a well trained disciplined force. At the head of the host stood the Oba of Benin. The monarch of the realm served as supreme military commander. Beneath him were subordinate generalissimos, the "Ezomo", the "Iyase", and others who supervised a Metropolitan Regiment based in the capital, and a Royal Regiment made up of hand-picked warriors that also served as bodyguards. Benin's queen mother, the "Iyoba", also retained her own regiment – the "Queen's Own". The Metropolitan and Royal regiments were relatively stable semi-permanent or permanent formations. The Village Regiments provided the bulk of the fighting force and were mobilized as needed, sending contingents of warriors upon the command of the king and his generals. Formations were broken down into sub-units under designated commanders. Foreign observers often commented favorably on Benin's discipline and organization as "better disciplined than any other Guinea nation", contrasting them with the slacker troops from the Gold Coast.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: Until the introduction of guns in the 15th century, traditional weapons like the spear, short sword, and bow held sway. Efforts were made to reorganize a local guild of blacksmiths in the 18th century to manufacture light firearms, but dependence on imports was still heavy. Before the coming of the gun, guilds of blacksmiths were charged with war production—particularly swords and iron spearheads. In addition, crossbowmen formed a specialized unit of the Benin army. Archers and crossbowmen were trained in target and field archery.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: Benin's tactics were well organized, with preliminary plans weighed by the Oba and his sub-commanders. Logistics were organized to support missions from the usual porter forces, water transport via canoe, and requisitioning from localities the army passed through. Movement of troops via canoes was critically important in the lagoons, creeks and rivers of the Niger Delta, a key area of Benin's domination. Tactics in the field seem to have evolved over time. While the head-on clash was well known, documentation from the 18th century shows greater emphasis on avoiding continuous battle lines, and more effort to encircle an enemy ("ifianyako").


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: Fortifications were important in the region and numerous military campaigns fought by Benin's soldiers revolved around sieges. As noted above, Benin's military earthworks are the largest of such structures in the world, and Benin's rivals also built extensively. Barring a successful assault, most sieges were resolved by a strategy of attrition, slowly cutting off and starving out the enemy fortification until it capitulated. On occasion, however, European mercenaries were called on to aid with these sieges. In 1603–04 for example, European cannon helped batter and destroy the gates of a town near present-day Lagos, allowing 10,000 warriors of Benin to enter and conquer it. As payment, the Europeans received items, such as palm oil and bundles of pepper. The example of Benin shows the power of indigenous military systems, but also the role outside influences and new technologies brought to bear. This is a normal pattern among many nations.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: Benin temporarily declined after 1700 after a civil war, then partially recovered later in that century, only to decline once again in the late 19th century. Benin's economy was previously thriving in the early to mid 19th century with the development of the trade in palm oil, and the continuation of the trade in textiles, ivory and other resources. To preserve the kingdom's independence, bit by bit the Oba banned the export of goods from Benin, until the trade was exclusively in palm oil.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: By the last half of the 19th century Great Britain had come to want a closer relationship with the Kingdom of Benin; for British officials were increasingly interested in controlling trade in the area and in accessing the kingdom's palm oil, kola nut, ivory and potentially rubber resources, following the introduction of Hevea brasiliensis saplings, via Kew Gardens, in 1895.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: Several attempts were made to achieve this end beginning with the official visit of Richard Francis Burton in 1862 when he was consul at Fernando Pó. Following that came attempts to establish a treaty between Benin and the United Kingdom by Hewtt, Blair and Annesley in 1884, 1885 and 1886 respectively. However, these efforts did not yield any results. The kingdom resisted becoming a British protectorate throughout the 1880s, but the British remained persistent. Progress was made 1892 during the visit of Vice-Consul Henry Gallwey. This mission was the first official visit after Burton's. Moreover, it would also set in motion the events to come that would lead to Oba Ovonramwen's fall from power.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: In the late 19th century, the Kingdom of Benin managed to retain its independence and the Oba exercised a monopoly over trade which British merchants in the region found irksome. The territory was coveted by an influential group of investors for its rich natural resources such as palm-oil, and ivory. After British consul Richard Burton visited Benin in 1862 he wrote of Benin's as a place of "gratuitous barbarity which stinks of death", a narrative which was publicized in Britain and increased support for the territory's colonization. In spite of this, the kingdom maintained its independence and was not visited by another representative of Britain until 1892 when Henry Gallwey, the British Vice-Consul of the Oil Rivers Protectorate (later the Niger Coast Protectorate), visited Benin City hoping to open up trade and ultimately annex Benin Kingdom and transform it into a British protectorate. Gallwey was able to get Omo n’Oba (Ovonramwen) and his chiefs to sign a treaty which gave Britain legal justification for exerting greater influence over the Empire. While the treaty itself contains text suggesting Ovonramwen sought Benin to become a protectorate, this was contrasted by Gallwey's own account, which suggests the Oba was hesitant to sign the treaty. Although some suggest that humanitarian motivations were driving Britain's actions, letters written between colonial administrators suggest that economic motivations were predominant. The treaty itself does not explicitly mention anything about Benin's "bloody customs" that Burton had written about, and instead only includes a vague clause about ensuring "the general progress of civilization".


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: A British delegation departed from the Oil Rivers Protectorate in 1897 with the stated aim of negotiating with the Oba of Benin. The leader of the delegation, James Robert Phillips, had asked his superiors in the British Foreign Office for permission to lead an armed British expedition to depose the Oba of Benin not long before the expedition, but left for Benin City with a diplomatic delegation (or a reconnaissance mission disguised as a peaceful diplomatic delegation) before receiving a reply to his request. Perceiving this to be an attempt to depose the Oba, the Oba's generals unilaterally ordered an attack on the delegation as it was approaching Benin City (which included eight unknowing British representatives and hundreds of African porters and labourers) all but two of whom were killed. A punitive expedition was launched in response, and a 1,200-men strong force, under the command of Sir Harry Rawson, captured Benin City. They deliberately sought out and destroyed certain areas of the city, including those thought to belong to the chiefs responsible for the ambush of the British delegation, and in the process a fire burnt the palace and surrounding quarters, which the British claimed was accidental.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: There has much debate of why James Phillips set out on the mission to Benin without much weaponry. Some have argued he was going on a peaceful mission. Such commentators argue that the message from the Oba that his festival would not permit him to receive European visitors touched the humanitarian side of Phillips's character because of an incorrect assumption that the festival included human sacrifice. According to Igbafe, this does not explain why Phillips set out before he had received a reply from the Foreign Office to his request where he stated that: F.O. 2/I02, Phillips to F.O. no. 105 of i6 Nov 1896. Phillips wrote that 'there is nothing in the shape of a standing army. ... and the inhabitants appear to be if not a peace-loving at any rate a most unwarlike people whose only exploits during many generations had been an occasional quarrel with their neighbours about trade or slave raiding and it appears at least improbable that they have any arms to speak of except the usual number of trade guns... When Captain Gallwey visited the city the only canon he saw were half a dozen old Portuguese guns. They were lying on the grass unmounted'. Compare this with the opinion of his immediate predecessor, Ralph Moor, who was convinced that 'the people in all the villages are no doubt possessed of arms' (F.O. 2/84, Moor to F.O. no. 39 of I2 Sept. 1895).


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: Igbafe also points to Phillips' November 1896 advocacy of military force regarding Benin, arguing that this is inconsistent with the perception of Phillips as a man of peace in January 1897. Igbafe posits that Phillips was going on a reconnaissance mission and that Phillips' haste to Benin can be explained by a belief that nothing bad would happen to him or his party.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The expeditionary force also looted the palace art. The looted portrait figures, busts, and groups created in iron, carved ivory, and especially in brass (conventionally termed the "Benin Bronzes") were sold off to defray the cost of the expedition and some were accessioned to the British Museum; most were sold elsewhere and are now on display in various museums around the world. In March 2021, institutions in Berlin, Germany and Aberdeen, Scotland announced decisions to return Benin Bronzes in their possession to their place of origin.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The British occupied Benin, which was absorbed into the British Niger Coast Protectorate and eventually into British colonial Nigeria. A general emancipation of slaves followed in the wake of British occupation but Britain also imposed a system of forced labour in Benin and in surrounding areas, as they did throughout other parts of southern Nigeria. The British launched an additional operation in 1899, called the "Benin Territories Expedition", against rebels still holding out against the British. The British burnt down numerous towns, and destroyed farms in an attempt to starve the rebels into submission. After the 1899 expedition, military resistance in the former Kingdom of Benin against the British occupation ceased.


title: Kingdom of Benin

text: The monarchy continues to exist today as one of the traditional states of contemporary Nigeria. Ewuare II, the present king, is one of the most prominent of the various traditional rulers of Nigeria.


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi is a fictional dinosaur who appears in video games published by Nintendo. Yoshi debuted in "Super Mario World" (1990) on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as Mario and Luigi's sidekick. Yoshi is the title character of the "Yoshi" series and a supporting character in "Mario" spin-off games such as "Mario Party" and "Mario Kart", as well as many "Mario" sports games. He also appears as a playable character in crossover fighting game "Super Smash Bros." series. Yoshi is a member of the same-named species, which is distinguished for its wide range of colors.


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi was well-received, with some critics noting that he is one of the most recognizable characters and one of the best sidekicks in video games. Yoshi's image has also appeared on a range of products, including clothes and collectibles.


title: Yoshi

text: Shigeru Miyamoto, the video game designer at Nintendo credited with inventing the "Mario" series, had wanted Mario to have a dinosaur companion ever since the first release of "Super Mario Bros."; however, Nintendo engineers could not add such a character into the game due to the limitations of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The inspiration for Yoshi can be traced back further, to the green dragon Tamagon in the 1984 video game "Devil World:" also designed by Miyamoto, both are green lizards that hatch from eggs and can eat enemies with their large mouth, and also emit the same noise when they hatch. During the development of "Super Mario Bros. 3", Miyamoto had a number of sketches around his desk, including an image of Mario riding a horse. Takashi Tezuka, a "Mario" series developer, speculated that Miyamoto's love of horse riding as well as country and western themes influenced Yoshi's creation. The concept of Mario riding a dinosaur also came from the NES video game "Excitebike", which featured people riding motorcycles.


title: Yoshi

text: Once the more powerful Super NES was released, Miyamoto was finally able to implement Yoshi into the series, putting Yoshi into the video game "Super Mario World". As development of "Super Mario World" progressed, the team opted to set the game in a "dinosaur land", so Tezuka asked designer Shigefumi Hino to draw a reptile-like creature based on Miyamoto's sketches. Hino originally produced a design that Tezuka deemed too reptilian, and "didn't really fit into the Mario world", so he encouraged the designer to create a "cuter" character. According to Hino also, the reasoning behind the design is that when Mario punches Yoshi, Yoshi is so surprised that his tongue leaps out.


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi proved to be popular in this debut, which caused the next game in the series, "", to focus on the Yoshi species. Miyamoto made the idea of using Yoshi as the main character of a platforming game, with the goal of being more accessible than previous games in the "Mario" series. To give the gameplay a more "gentle and relaxed pacing", the levels lack time limits and feature more exploration elements than previous games; Yoshi's flutter jump also makes him easier to control in the air than Mario. In this game, he is responsible for Baby Mario, which leads him to Bowser's Castle, where he is reunited with Baby Luigi. Yoshi successfully pulls the twins together just in time to go home after beating a huge Baby Bowser.


title: Yoshi

text: The version of Yoshi seen in the "Super Mario Bros." film was made using a animatronic dinosaur. Yoshi was designed in the film by Dave Nelson. The animatronic had nearly 60 meters (200 ft) of cable and hundreds of moving parts inside of it and was controlled by nine puppeteers. The body was cable-controlled, while the head was radio-controlled. Nelson described the overall process as being "difficult." The creation of Yoshi was handled by a company independent from the filmmakers. Yoshi also belongs to the species of the same name, which is characterized by their variety of colors.


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi has a variety of abilities that stand out relative to other characters in the "Mario" series. Yoshi's prehensile tongue can extend a considerable distance to eat enemies, grab distant objects, or act as a grappling hook to access otherwise out-of-reach areas. After eating an enemy or object, Yoshi may either spit it out as an attack, or swallow it to instantly turn it into a distinctive spotted egg; eggs can then be thrown at distant targets to collect or damage them, and depending on the game they either explode on impact or ricochet off surfaces. Another signature technique is the Flutter Jump, where Yoshi quickly flaps his arms and legs to slow his descent from a jump or even gain height in midair. Yoshi is also a noted user of the Ground Pound, which involves dropping bottom-first after a jump in order to destroy blocks or damage opponents. Yoshi's large nose unsurprisingly allows for the detection of hidden collectibles as well as flowers by smell and, as demonstrated in the "Super Smash Bros." series, may be used as an offensive weapon. Yoshi can form an egg around himself, which can be used for protection as a shield against attacks or for mobility by rolling or launching himself. Yoshi's Final Smash in installments before Super Smash Bros. Ultimate had him grow wings and be able to breathe fire for a limited period of time. His newest Final Smash has his opponent trampled under a stampede of Yoshis.


title: Yoshi

text: The Yoshi species appear in a variety of colors. This is generally a cosmetic difference used to differentiate individuals. However, in some games, Yoshi's color changes to reflect gained offensive or movement abilities, such as fiery breath, wings, balloon-like inflation, or juice-spitting. In some games, this is a characteristic of Yoshi's natural color, while in others it is a temporary status gained by eating certain fruit or flowers. Yoshis of various colors appear often in multiplayer games as alternate choices, which may or may not have statistics unique from the default green color.


title: Yoshi

text: In games where the player can ride Yoshi, he acts as an extra hit point; taking damage causes the player to be knocked off Yoshi instead of any other negative effects. This causes Yoshi to run around haphazardly until he is remounted, falls off-screen, or disappears in some 3D games. Yoshi is otherwise indestructible; he can freely walk over spikes, does more damage to enemies when jumped on, and can take any number of hits without additional penalty. Combined with his other unique powers, this makes him very strong in levels designed for Mario's abilities, while a level designed for Yoshi may be overly difficult for Mario alone. As a result, Yoshi's presence tends to be limited to certain levels; for example, in "Super Mario World" he is not allowed in haunted or castle levels (explained in-universe by him being scared of such areas). While riding Yoshi, bongos or other thematically appropriate percussion instruments are added to the level's background music.


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi's language skills are inconsistent. In some games, they speak the same language as all other characters. In others, they are shown with their speech in parentheses to imply speaking a different language that is translated for the player to read. Sometimes they are shown only speaking the repeated word "Yoshi". Whether other characters can understand Yoshi's speech is also inconsistent.


title: Yoshi

text: "Super Mario World" was the first video game to feature Yoshi as a companion to Mario. Yoshi's rideability was inspired by Miyamoto's love for horseback riding. "Super Mario World" released during a console war between Nintendo and Sega; Sega's mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, was considered a "cooler" alternative to Mario, for which Miyamoto apologized.


title: Yoshi

text: In "Super Mario 64", Yoshi makes a minor cameo. A cannon outside the castle becomes available if Mario collects all 120 Power Stars, which can be used to access the Mushroom Castle's roof. There, the player can chat with Yoshi, who congratulates the player on finishing the game by delivering a message from the developers before rewarding Mario with 100 extra lives and a better Triple Jump.


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi is one of the primary protagonists and the first playable character in "Super Mario 64 DS", alongside Mario. Princess Peach initially invites Mario to her palace. Yoshi is sleeping on the roof when Mario, Luigi, and Wario arrive at the castle. During this time, Bowser kidnaps Princess Peach, steals the castle's Power Stars, and confines everyone within by placing them in the worlds inside the castle's paintings. The crew reclaims the castle's Power Stars after Yoshi saves Mario, Mario saves Luigi, and Luigi saves Wario, and Mario defeats Bowser and rescues Princess Peach.


title: Yoshi

text: In "Super Mario Sunshine", Yoshi appears as a mount for Mario, and will only come out of his egg if offered a specific tropical fruit. This fruit gives him the ability to spit a finite stream of juice, though with the tradeoff that he dies as soon as he touches water.


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi makes another cameo in "New Super Mario Bros. Wii", this time as a rideable character, as he did in his initial appearance. Yoshi sounds just like he does in "Super Mario World". Yoshi's in the colors yellow, light blue, and pink also appear in multiplayer.


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi's appearance is a prominent selling point for "Super Mario Galaxy 2", as his gained abilities while eating various fruits aid Mario and Luigi in gathering power stars to foil Bowser's plan to take over the universe. These fruits give him the ability to float, to run on water and against gravity, and to illuminate intangible walkways.


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi and his eggs can be found in "Super Mario Maker" and "Super Mario Maker 2" in the "Super Mario World" and "New Super Mario Bros. U" styles, and they function the same as they do in each respective game.


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi appears in "Super Mario Odyssey" as a capturable character. In the Mushroom Kingdom, he may be found on top of Peach's Castle, just like in "Super Mario 64". He can also be discovered in Yoshi Eggs in secret locations accessed via the Dark Side, where he must eat Berries in order for a Power Moon to form. He can also be found in one of the Darker Side's sections. Yoshi may employ his characteristic Flutter Jump and eating powers if captured, similar to his appearance in "Super Mario Galaxy 2".


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi's initial appearance in the "Yoshi" series was in the puzzle game named after him, where he counted the number of eggs hatched on the side of the screen.


title: Yoshi

text: In "Yoshi's Cookie", Yoshi appears as a character in V.S. mode. Yoshi has to make horizontal and vertical rows of the same kind of cookie to proceed to the next level. In the Nintendo Puzzle Collection version, there is now a story mode in the game, where Mario and Yoshi are making cookies but get exhausted from the many cookie deliveries.


title: Yoshi

text: Bowser conquers Jewelry Land during the events of "Yoshi's Safari" (It is the only "Mario" franchise game to feature first-person shooter gameplay and requires the SNES's Super Scope light gun.), kidnapping its rulers, King Fret and Prince Pine, and removing the twelve mystical jewels that gave the kingdom its name and stability, forcing it to split into two realms: the Dark Realm and the Light Realm. Princess Peach then summons Mario and Yoshi to restore order. To help the two, Peach provides Mario a new weapon, the Super Scope, an energy pistol. Mario and Yoshi enter a Warp Pipe with this new weapon, which transports them to Jewelry Land.


title: Yoshi

text: The Magikoopa sorcerer Kamek foresees that two newborn brothers will bring ruin to the Koopas and attempts to capture them as the stork carries them to their mother and father in the Mushroom Kingdom one morning years before the events of most Mario games, during the events of "". While Kamek captures Baby Luigi, his twin brother, Baby Mario, escapes to Yoshi's Island unseen. Fortunately, Yoshi is out walking in the woods that day, and Baby Mario lands unharmed on his saddle, along with a map to Bowser's Castle, where Kamek has stolen Baby Luigi.


title: Yoshi

text: Bowser and his forces attack Yoshi's Island during the events of "Yoshi Topsy-Turvy" (also known as "Yoshi's Universal Gravitation"), bringing chaos and anarchy. A spirit named Hongo, by chance, encases the entire island in a storybook to keep Bowser and his army at bay.


title: Yoshi

text: In "Yoshi Touch & Go", Yoshi must help Baby Mario in safely floating down to the forest at the start of each mode. They can use the stylus to block opponents or move Baby Mario about, as well as to form coin bubbles around non-spiked enemies and to add coins to Baby Mario.


title: Yoshi

text: Kamek and Bowser travel back in time in "Yoshi's Island DS" to try to capture the famous star children (Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Donkey Kong), who had special energy in their bodies that, once in Bowser's hands, would let him to take over the world. Without knowing who the star children were, Kamek and Bowser went out to kidnap all of the Mushroom Kingdom's youngsters, only to have their prey escape their hands and join Yoshi in a journey to save the other kids.


title: Yoshi

text: In "Yoshi's New Island", Yoshi reappears alongside Baby Mario and Baby Luigi. The game takes place between "Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island" and "Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island DS".


title: Yoshi

text: In "Yoshi's Woolly World", Kamek tries to transform all of the Yoshis on Craft Island into Wonder Wools in order to assist Baby Bowser in building a new castle, but he misses Yoshi and Red Yoshi. After that, the two embarked on a quest to restore Craft Island to its former splendor.


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi and the rest of his kind are gathered around the Sundream Stone in "Yoshi's Crafted World", which is claimed to make anyone's dream come true. Kamek and Baby Bowser try to get their hands on the stone. The Sundream Stone breaks into five diamonds, which spread around the island for the Yoshis to collect.


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi has appeared in nearly all of the "Mario" spin-off games, including every game in the "Mario Kart" series as a playable character (usually as a middleweight or light middleweight) and every "Mario Party" game to date as a playable character. Yoshis have also made appearances in multiple "Mario" sports games, such as "Mario Tennis", "Mario Golf", "Mario Super Sluggers", "Super Mario Strikers", and "Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games".


title: Yoshi

text: The Yoshi species makes its "Paper Mario" series debut in the fifth chapter of "Paper Mario" when Mario comes across a village of Yoshis and rescues a group of Yoshi kids after they become lost in the surrounding jungle outside of the village. In the sequel "" Mario rescues a Yoshi egg that hatches into a baby Yoshi, who then joins his team during the third chapter of the game and can be named upon doing so. He also appears in "".


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi is a playable character in "Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle", and he arrives late in the story. After fighting Mecha Jr. in the Lava Pit, he is unlocked. He also returns as a playable character in the sequel "Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope".


title: Yoshi

text: Outside of "Super Mario" and "Yoshi" series. Yoshi makes a cameo appearance in "Metal Gear" ( and ). In "", Yoshi and Mario appears as a dolls that stand on a desk. Additional video game series in which Yoshi has made a cameo appearance includes "The Legend of Zelda" series ("Link's Awakening" and "Ocarina of Time") as a collectible doll and as a framed photo in Hyrule Castle.


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi is the main character in the English localization of "Tetris Attack". Yoshi also appears as a playable character in every installment of the "Super Smash Bros." series. He is one of the more unique characters in the series' early history, most notably in how his recovery is a single interruption-resistant Flutter Jump, as opposed to most characters having multiple jumps and special moves to use in sequence. Yoshi's moveset mostly consists of kicks, headbutts, tail attacks, and tongue grabs.


title: Yoshi

text: The animated series "Super Mario World" produced by DIC Entertainment is based on the game of the same name, and similar in plotline to the previous series "The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3", and "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show", except with a different setting. The show features Yoshi as a regular character, voiced by Andrew Sabiston. In the cartoon, Yoshi is a young, friendly, and fleet-of-foot dinosaur who occasionally talks in 3rd person until speaking coherent English from slightly later in the episode "A Little Learning".


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi is featured in the "Super Mario Adventures" comic serial printed in Nintendo Power, the "Nintendo Adventure Books", and the "Super Mario Bros." movie (taking the form of a realistic animatronic dinosaur). Yoshi is King Koopa's pet, and is referred to as a "throwback" by a gang of Koopas. He later joins Princess Daisy's side and selflessly takes a stabbing for her. However, he does reappear at the end of the film in good health. Yoshi first debuts in the first volume of "Super Mario-Kun" and has since become a frequent companion to Mario. Yoshi is prone to making surprising behaviors and mistakes, prompting Mario to chastise him. Yoshi abandons Mario, Luigi, and Wario in volume 23 when they take advantage of him.


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi is one of the most recognizable characters in the "Mario" series and is featured in a myriad of "Mario" merchandise, such as toys, shirts, and figures. Yoshi also appeared in two of Happy Meal promotions of "Mario" toys, which only featured Mario, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi. Yoshi was also one of the 12 initial Amiibo figurines. As part of the release of "Yoshi's Woolly World", Yoshi Amiibo made out of yarn are either bundled with the game or sold separately. In addition to the regular-sized green, pink and light blue yarn Yoshi Amiibo, an 8-inch tall, green "Mega Yarn Yoshi" has been released.


title: Yoshi

text: Since debuting in "Super Mario World", Yoshi has received largely positive reception. An article in "Electronic Gaming Monthly" commented, "Maybe it was the undeniable dino charm. Maybe it was the insatiable appetite that put fellow foe-eater Kirby to shame. Or maybe it was the status of being Mario's newest best buddy. Whatever the reason, gamers took an immediate liking to Yoshi and his multicolored kin when "Super Mario World" hatched him into the pantheon of classic game characters." The 2011 issue of the "Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition" ranked Yoshi at 21st place in their list of the "Top 50 Video Game Characters of All Time", making him the second highest-ranked "Mario" character on the list, of which Mario himself is ranked first. In a poll conducted in 2008, Yoshi was voted as the third-favorite video game character in Japan, with Cloud Strife and Mario placing second and first, respectively. "GameTrailers" created a special tribute video for Yoshi for the release of "Super Mario Galaxy 2". "Yardbarker" included Yoshi in their "The most memorable characters from old school Nintendo games", stating that "Yoshi began life in "Super Mario World". However, the dinosaur with the lengthy tongue was swiftly spun off into his own video games. There’s "Yoshi’s Island", "Yoshi’s Cookie", and more. Yoshi is off doing his own thing a lot of the time." Chris Carter of "Destructoid" described Yoshi, along with Poochy, as "cute as hell" in the "Poochy & Yoshi’s Woolly World" promotion. Yoshi was voted one of the finest dinosaurs of pop culture by Jim Vorel of "Paste", he said that "Yoshi has been a fan favorite since he first appeared alongside Mario on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. That's why he's the most famous dinosaur in the world."


title: Yoshi

text: Yoshi was also praised for being the best video game sidekick."GameSpy" ranked Yoshi as the seventh-best video game sidekick, above Luigi by reasoning that only Yoshi can pull off being green and still be cool. "Complex" ranked Yoshi at fourth place among "The 25 Most Kickass Dragons in Video Games", adding "Yoshi would have to be one of the best sidekicks of all time". Australia's "Official Nintendo Magazine" called Yoshi a "cute, trustworthy, a plumber's best friend" and compared Yoshi's loyalty to that of a dog. Yoshi is ranked at 52nd place on "GamesRadar"s Top 100 video game heroes. 4,228 gamers from all over the world were asked to choose their favorite "most loved sidekick characters in video games." Yoshi from Super Mario World came in top place and was voted the most popular sidekick character with 71 percent of the voting. Yoshi was included in "IGN"s "The Best Video Game Wingmen Ever", stating that "Always ready to give his plumber friend a ride, Yoshi doesn't shy away from putting in extra effort, whether that means holding a Koopa shell in his mouth for an entire level or kicking his feet to get a little extra air during a jump, Yoshi has Mario's back." Yoshi has been named one of the best-supporting characters in video games by Kevin Wong of "Complex", stating that "Yoshi has everything Mario and Luigi need in a sidekick – a monstrous appetite, boots that can walk on Munchers, and the ability to breathe fire, fly, and cause earthquakes, depending on the Koopa shell's color. You have to love a sidekick that hatches with a built-in saddle." Yoshi was also included as 4th in "Complex"s "The 25 Most Kickass Dragons in Video Games". While Alyssa Mercante of "GamesRadar" also included Yoshi in their list of "The ten best video game animal companions," she stated that "Yoshi is another companion that has achieved a level of fame virtually unrivaled by video game sidekicks." "Yoshi Committed Tax Fraud", an internet meme that began in May 2018, is a reference to jokes about Yoshi dodging taxes.


title: Indian classical music

text: Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as "Hindustani" and the South Indian expression known as "Carnatic". These traditions were not distinct until about the 15th century. During the period of Mughal rule of the Indian subcontinent, the traditions separated and evolved into distinct forms. Hindustani music emphasizes improvisation and exploration of all aspects of a raga, while Carnatic performances tend to be short composition-based. However, the two systems continue to have more common features than differences.


title: Indian classical music

text: The roots of the classical music of India are found in the Vedic literature of Hinduism and the ancient "Natyashastra", the classic Sanskrit text on performing arts by Bharata Muni. The 13th century Sanskrit text "Sangeeta-Ratnakara" of Sarangadeva is regarded as the definitive text by both the Hindustani music and the Carnatic music traditions.


title: Indian classical music

text: Indian classical music has two foundational elements, "raga" and "tala". The "raga", based on a varied repertoire of "swara" (notes including microtones), forms the fabric of a deeply intricate melodic structure, while the "tala" measures the time cycle. The "raga" gives an artist a palette to build the melody from sounds, while the "tala" provides them with a creative framework for rhythmic improvisation using time. In Indian classical music the space between the notes is often more important than the notes themselves, and it traditionally eschews Western classical concepts such as harmony, counterpoint, chords, or modulation.


title: Indian classical music

text: The root of music in ancient India are found in the Vedic literature of Hinduism. The earliest Indian thought combined three arts, syllabic recital ("vadya"), melos ("gita") and dance ("nrtta"). As these fields developed, "sangeeta" became a distinct genre of art, in a form equivalent to contemporary music. This likely occurred before the time of Yāska (c. 500 BCE), since he includes these terms in his nirukta studies, one of the six Vedanga of ancient Indian tradition. Some of the ancient texts of Hinduism such as the "Samaveda" (c. 1000 BCE) are structured entirely to melodic themes, it is sections of "Rigveda" set to music.


title: Indian classical music

text: The "Samaveda" is organized into two formats. One part is based on the musical meter, another by the aim of the rituals. The text is written with embedded coding, where "swaras" (octave notes) are either shown above or within the text, or the verse is written into "parvans" (knot or member); in simple words, this embedded code of swaras is like the skeleton of the song. The swaras have about 12 different forms and different combinations of these swaras are made to sit under the names of different ragas. The specific code of a song clearly tells us what combination of swaras are present in a specific song. The lyrical part of the song is called "sahityam" and sahityam is just like singing the swaras altogether but using the lyrics of the song. The code in the form of swaras have even the notation of which note to be sung high and which one low. The hymns of "Samaveda" contain melodic content, form, rhythm and metric organization. This structure is, however, not unique or limited to "Samaveda". The "Rigveda" embeds the musical meter too, without the kind of elaboration found in the "Samaveda". For example, the Gayatri mantra contains three metric lines of exactly eight syllables, with an embedded ternary rhythm.


title: Indian classical music

text: In the ancient traditions of Hinduism, two musical genre appeared, namely "Gandharva" (formal, composed, ceremonial music) and "Gana" (informal, improvised, entertainment music). The "Gandharva" music also implied celestial, divine associations, while the "Gana" also implied singing. The Vedic Sanskrit musical tradition had spread widely in the Indian subcontinent, and according to Rowell, the ancient Tamil classics make it "abundantly clear that a cultivated musical tradition existed in South India as early as the last few pre-Christian centuries".


title: Indian classical music

text: The classic Sanskrit text "Natya Shastra" is at the foundation of the numerous classical music and dance traditions of India. Before "Natyashastra" was finalized, the ancient Indian traditions had classified musical instruments into four groups based on their acoustic principle (how they work, rather than the material they are made of) for example flute which works with gracious in and out flow of air. These four categories are accepted as given and are four separate chapters in the "Natyashastra", one each on stringed instruments (chordophones), hollow instruments (aerophones), solid instruments (idiophones), and covered instruments (membranophones). Of these, states Rowell, the idiophone in the form of "small bronze cymbals" were used for "tala". Almost the entire chapter of "Natyashastra" on idiophones, by Bharata, is a theoretical treatise on the system of "tala". Time keeping with idiophones was considered a separate function than that of percussion (membranophones), in the early Indian thought on music theory.


title: Indian classical music

text: The early 13th century Sanskrit text "Sangitaratnakara" (literally, "Ocean of Music and Dance"), by Sarngadeva patronized by King Sighana of the Yadava dynasty in Maharashtra, mentions and discusses "ragas" and "talas". He identifies seven "tala" families, then subdivides them into rhythmic ratios, presenting a methodology for improvization and composition that continues to inspire modern era Indian musicians. "Sangitaratnakara" is one of the most complete historic medieval era Hindu treatises on this subject that has survived into the modern era, that relates to the structure, technique and reasoning behind "ragas" and "talas".


title: Indian classical music

text: The centrality and significance of music in ancient and early medieval India is also expressed in numerous temple and shrine reliefs, in Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, such as through the carving of musicians with cymbals at the fifth century Pavaya temple sculpture near Gwalior, and the Ellora Caves.


title: Indian classical music

text: The post-Vedic era historical literature relating to Indian classical music has been extensive. The ancient and medieval texts are primarily in Sanskrit (Hinduism), but major reviews of music theory, instruments and practice were also composed in regional languages such as Braj, Kannada, Odia, Pali (Buddhism), Prakrit (Jainism), Tamil and Telugu. While numerous manuscripts have survived into the modern era, many original works on Indian music are believed to be lost, and are known to have existed only because they are quoted and discussed in other manuscripts on classical Indian music. Many of the encyclopedic Puranas contain large chapters on music theory and instruments, such as the "Bhagavata Purana", the "Markandeya Purana", the "Vayu Purana", the "Linga Purana", and the "Visnudharmottara Purana".


title: Indian classical music

text: The most cited and influential among these texts are the "Sama Veda", "Natya shastra" (classic treatise on music theory, Gandharva), "Dattilam", "Brihaddesi" (treatise on regional classical music forms), and "Sangita Ratnakara" (definitive text for Carnatic and Hindustani traditions). Most historic music theory texts have been by Hindu scholars. Some classical music texts were also composed by Buddhists and Jain scholars, and in 16th century by Muslim scholars. These are listed in the attached table.


title: Indian classical music

text: The classical music tradition of the ancient and medieval Indian subcontinent (modern Bangladesh, India, Pakistan) were a generally integrated system through the 14th century, after which the socio-political turmoil of the Delhi Sultanate era isolated the north from the south. The music traditions of the North and South India were not considered distinct until about the 16th century, but after that the traditions acquired distinct forms. North Indian classical music is called "Hindustani", while the South Indian expression is called "Carnatic" (sometimes spelled as "Karnatic"). According to Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy, the North Indian tradition acquired its modern form after the 14th or the 15th century.


title: Indian classical music

text: Indian classical music has historically adopted and evolved with many regional styles, such as the Bengali classical tradition. This openness to ideas led to assimilation of regional folk innovations, as well as influences that arrived from outside the subcontinent. For example, Hindustani music assimilated Arabian and Persian influences. This assimilation of ideas was upon the ancient classical foundations such as "raga", "tala", "matras" as well as the musical instruments. For example, the Persian "Rāk" is probably a pronunciation of "Raga". According to Hormoz Farhat, "Rāk" has no meaning in modern Persian language, and the concept of "raga" is unknown in Persia.


title: Indian classical music

text: Purandara Dasa (1484–1564) was a Hindu composer and musicologist who lived in Hampi of the Vijayanagara Empire. He is considered "Pithamaha" (literally, "grandfather") of the Carnatic music. Purandara Dasa was a monk and a devotee of the Hindu god Krishna (Vishnu, Vittal avatar). He systematised classical Indian music theory and developed exercises for musicians to learn and perfect their art. He travelled widely sharing and teaching his ideas, and influenced numerous South Indian and Maharashtra Bhakti movement musicians. These exercises, his teachings about "raga", and his systematic methodology called "Suladi Sapta Tala" (literally, "primordial seven talas") remains in use in contemporary times. The efforts of Purandara Dasa in the 16th century began the Carnatic style of Indian classical music.


title: Indian classical music

text: Carnatic music, from South India, tends to be more rhythmically intensive and structured than Hindustani music. Examples of this are the logical classification of ragas into melakartas, and the use of fixed compositions similar to Western classical music. Carnatic raga elaborations are generally much faster in tempo and shorter than their equivalents in Hindustani music. In addition, accompanists have a much larger role in Carnatic concerts than in Hindustani concerts. Today's typical concert structure was put in place by the vocalist Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar. The opening piece is called a varnam, and is a warm-up for the musicians. A devotion and a request for a blessing follows, then a series of interchanges between ragams (unmetered melody) and Tanam (the ornamentation within a melorhythmic cycle, equivalent to the "jor"). This is intermixed with hymns called krithis. The pallavi or theme from the raga then follows. Carnatic pieces also have notated lyrical poems that are reproduced as such, possibly with embellishments and treatments according to the performer's ideology, referred to as Manodharmam.


title: Indian classical music

text: Primary themes include worship, descriptions of temples, philosophy, and nayaka-nayika (Sanskrit "hero-heroine") themes. Tyagaraja (1759–1847), Muthuswami Dikshitar (1776–1827) and Syama Sastri (1762–1827) have been the important historic scholars of Carnatic music. According to Eleanor Zelliot, Tyagaraja is known in the Carnatic tradition as one of its greatest composers, and he reverentially acknowledged the influence of Purandara Dasa.


title: Indian classical music

text: A common belief is that Carnatic music represents a more ancient and refined approach to classical music, whereas Hindustani music has evolved by external influences.


title: Indian classical music

text: It is unclear when the process of differentiation of Hindustani music started. The process may have started in the 14th century courts of the Delhi Sultans. However, according to Jairazbhoy, the North Indian tradition likely acquired its modern form after the 14th or after the 15th century. The development of Hindustani music reached a peak during the reign of Akbar. During this 16th century period, Tansen studied music and introduced musical innovations, for about the first sixty years of his life with patronage of the Hindu king Ram Chand of Gwalior, and thereafter performed at the Muslim court of Akbar. Many musicians consider Tansen as the founder of Hindustani music.


title: Indian classical music

text: Tansen's style and innovations inspired many, and many modern "gharanas" (Hindustani music teaching houses) link themselves to his lineage. The Muslim courts discouraged Sanskrit, and encouraged technical music. Such constraints led Hindustani music to evolve in a different way than Carnatic music.


title: Indian classical music

text: Hindustani music style is mainly found in North India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. It exists in four major forms: Dhrupad, Khyal (or Khayal), Tarana, and the semi-classical Thumri. Dhrupad is ancient, Khyal evolved from it, Thumri evolved from Khyal. There are three major schools of Thumri: Lucknow gharana, Banaras gharana and Punjabi gharana. These weave in folk music innovations. Tappa is the most folksy, one which likely existed in Rajasthan and Punjab region before it was systematized and integrated into classical music structure. It became popular, with the Bengali musicians developing their own Tappa.


title: Indian classical music

text: Khyal is the modern form of Hindustani music, and the term literally means "imagination". It is significant because it was the template for Sufi musicians among the Islamic community of India, and "Qawwals" sang their folk songs in the Khyal format.


title: Indian classical music

text: Dhrupad (or Dhruvapad), the ancient form described in the Hindu text "Natyashastra", is one of the core forms of classical music found all over the Indian subcontinent. The word comes from "Dhruva" which means immovable and permanent.


title: Indian classical music

text: A Dhrupad has at least four stanzas, called Sthayi (or Asthayi), Antara, Sanchari and Abhoga. The Sthayi part is a melody that uses the middle octave's first tetrachord and the lower octave notes. The Antara part uses the middle octave's second tetrachord and the higher octave notes. The Sanchari part is the development phase, which builds using parts of Sthayi and Antara already played, and it uses melodic material built with all the three octave notes. The Abhoga is the concluding section, that brings the listener back to the familiar starting point of Sthayi, albeit with rhythmic variations, with diminished notes like a gentle goodbye, that are ideally mathematical fractions such as "dagun" (half), "tigun" (third) or "chaugun" (fourth). Sometimes a fifth stanza called Bhoga is included. Though usually related to philosophical or Bhakti (emotional devotion to a god or goddess) themes, some Dhrupads were composed to praise kings.


title: Indian classical music

text: Improvisation is of central importance to Hindustani music, and each "gharana" (school tradition) has developed its own techniques. At its core, it starts with a standard composition (bandish), then expands it in a process called "vistar". The improvisation methods have ancient roots, and one of the more common techniques is called "Alap", which is followed by the "Jor" and "Jhala". The "Alap" explores possible tonal combinations among other things, "Jor" explores speed or tempo (faster), while "Jhala" explores complex combinations like a fishnet of strokes while keeping the beat patterns. As with Carnatic music, Hindustani music has assimilated various folk tunes. For example, ragas such as Kafi and Jaijaiwanti are based on folk tunes.


title: Indian classical music

text: Hindustani music has had Arab and Persian music influences, including the creation of new ragas and the development of instruments such as the sitar and sarod. The nature of these influences are unclear. Scholars have attempted to study Arabic "maqam" (also spelled "makam") of Arabian peninsula, Turkey and northern Africa, and "dastgah" of Iran, to discern the nature and extent. Through the colonial era and until the 1960s, the attempt was to theoretically study "ragas" and "maqams" and suggested commonalities. Later comparative musicology studies, states Bruno Nettl – a professor of Music, have found the similarities between classical Indian music and European music as well, raising the question about the point of similarities and of departures between the different world music systems.


title: Indian classical music

text: One of the earliest known discussions of Persian "maqam" and Indian "ragas" is by the late 16th century scholar Pundarika Vittala. He states that Persian "maqams" in use in his times had been derived from older Indian "ragas" (or "mela"), and he specifically maps over a dozen "maqam". For example, Vittala states that the "Hijaz maqam" was derived from the "Asaveri raga", and "Jangula" was derived from the "Bangal". In 1941, Haidar Rizvi questioned this and stated that influence was in the other direction, Middle Eastern "maqams" were turned into Indian "ragas", such as "Zangulah maqam" becoming "Jangla raga". According to John Baily – a professor of Ethnomusicology, there is evidence that the traffic of musical ideas were both ways, because Persian records confirm that Indian musicians were a part of the Qajar court in Tehran, an interaction that continued through the 20th century with import of Indian musical instruments in cities such as Herat near Afghanistan-Iran border.


title: Indian classical music

text: Classical Indian music is a genre of South Asian music, the other being film, various varieties of pop, regional folk, religious and devotional music.


title: Indian classical music

text: In Indian classical music, the "raga" and the "tala" are two foundational elements. The "raga" forms the fabric of a melodic structure, and the "tala" keeps the time cycle. Both "raga" and "tala" are open frameworks for creativity and allow a very large number of possibilities, however, the tradition considers a few hundred "ragas" and "talas" as basic. "Raga" is intimately related to "tala" or guidance about "division of time", with each unit called a "matra" (beat, and duration between beats).


title: Indian classical music

text: A "raga" is a central concept of Indian music, predominant in its expression. According to Walter Kaufmann, though a remarkable and prominent feature of Indian music, a definition of "raga" cannot be offered in one or two sentences. "Raga" may be roughly described as a musical entity that includes note intonation, relative duration and order, in a manner similar to how words flexibly form phrases to create an atmosphere of expression. In some cases, certain rules are considered obligatory, in others optional. The "raga" allows flexibility, where the artist may rely on simple expression, or may add ornamentations yet express the same essential message but evoke a different intensity of mood.


title: Indian classical music

text: A "raga" has a given set of notes, on a scale, ordered in melodies with musical motifs. A musician playing a "raga", states Bruno Nettl, may traditionally use just these notes, but is free to emphasize or improvise certain degrees of the scale. The Indian tradition suggests a certain sequencing of how the musician moves from note to note for each "raga", in order for the performance to create a "rasa" (mood, atmosphere, essence, inner feeling) that is unique to each "raga". A "raga" can be written on a scale. Theoretically, thousands of "raga" are possible given 5 or more notes, but in practical use, the classical Indian tradition has refined and typically relies on several hundred. For most artists, their basic perfected repertoire has some forty to fifty "ragas". "Raga" in Indian classical music is intimately related to "tala" or guidance about "division of time", with each unit called a "matra" (beat, and duration between beats).


title: Indian classical music

text: A "raga" is not a tune, because the same "raga" can yield a very large number of tunes. A "raga" is not a scale, because many "ragas" can be based on the same scale. A "raga", states Bruno Nettl and other music scholars, is a concept similar to mode, something between the domains of tune and scale, and it is best conceptualized as a "unique array of melodic features, mapped to and organized for a unique aesthetic sentiment in the listener". The goal of a "raga" and its artist is to create "rasa" (essence, feeling, atmosphere) with music, as classical Indian dance does with performance arts. In the Indian tradition, classical dances are performed with music set to various "ragas".


title: Indian classical music

text: According to David Nelson – an Ethnomusicology scholar specializing in Carnatic music, a "tala" in Indian music covers "the whole subject of musical meter". Indian music is composed and performed in a metrical framework, a structure of beats that is a "tala". A "tala" measures musical time in Indian music. However, it does not imply a regular repeating accent pattern, instead its hierarchical arrangement depends on how the musical piece is supposed to be performed.


title: Indian classical music

text: The "tala" forms the metrical structure that repeats, in a cyclical harmony, from the start to end of any particular song or dance segment, making it conceptually analogous to meters in Western music. However, "talas" have certain qualitative features that classical European musical meters do not. For example, some "talas" are much longer than any classical Western meter, such as a framework based on 29 beats whose cycle takes about 45 seconds to complete when performed. Another sophistication in "talas" is the lack of "strong, weak" beat composition typical of the traditional European meter. In classical Indian traditions, the "tala" is not restricted to permutations of strong and weak beats, but its flexibility permits the accent of a beat to be decided by the shape of musical phrase.


title: Indian classical music

text: The most widely used "tala" in the South Indian system is "adi tala". In the North Indian system, the most common "tala" is "teental". In the two major systems of classical Indian music, the first count of any "tala" is called "sam".


title: Indian classical music

text: Instruments typically used in Hindustani music include the sitar, sarod, surbahar, esraj, veena, tanpura, bansuri, shehnai, sarangi, violin, santoor, pakhavaj and tabla. Instruments typically used in Carnatic music include veena, venu, gottuvadyam, harmonium, mridangam, kanjira, ghatam, nadaswaram and violin.


title: Indian classical music

text: Players of the tabla, a type of drum, usually keep the rhythm, an indicator of time in Hindustani music. Another common instrument is the stringed tanpura, which is played at a steady tone (a drone) throughout the performance of the raga, and which provides both a point of reference for the musician and a background against which the music stands out. The tuning of the tanpura depends on the raga being performed. The task of playing the tanpura traditionally falls to a student of the soloist. Other instruments for accompaniment include the sarangi and the harmonium.


title: Indian classical music

text: Indian classical music is both elaborate and expressive. Like Western classical music, it divides the octave into 12 semitones of which the 7 basic notes are, in ascending tonal order, "Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni " for Hindustani music and "Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni " for Carnatic music, similar to Western music's "Do Re Mi Fa So La Si ". However, Indian music uses just-intonation tuning, unlike some modern Western classical music, which uses the equal-temperament tuning system. Also, unlike modern Western classical music, Indian classical music places great emphasis on improvisation.


title: Indian classical music

text: The underlying scale may have four, five, six or seven tones, called "swaras" (sometimes spelled as "svaras"). The "swara" concept is found in the ancient "Natya Shastra" in Chapter 28. It calls the unit of tonal measurement or audible unit as "Śhruti", with verse 28.21 introducing the musical scale as follows,


title: Indian classical music

text: These seven degrees are shared by both major "raga systems", that is the North Indian (Hindustani) and South Indian (Carnatic) systems. The solfege ("sargam") is learnt in abbreviated form: "sa, ri (Carnatic) or re (Hindustani), ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, sa". Of these, the first that is ""sa"", and the fifth that is ""pa"", are considered anchors that are unalterable, while the remaining have flavors that differs between the two major systems.


title: Indian classical music

text: Contemporary Indian music schools follow notations and classifications (see melakarta and thaat). These are generally based on a flawed but still useful notation system created by Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande.


title: Indian classical music

text: According to Yukteshwar Kumar, elements of Indian music arrived in China in the 3rd century, such as in the works of Chinese lyricist Li Yannian.


title: Indian classical music

text: In 1958, Ravi Shankar came to the US and started making albums. These started a 1960s penchant for Indian classical music in the States. By 1967 Shankar and other artists were performing at rock music festivals alongside Western rock, blues, and soul acts. This lasted until the mid-1970s. Ravi Shankar performed at Woodstock for an audience of over 500,000 in 1969.


title: Indian classical music

text: In the 1980s, 1990s and particularly the 2000s onwards, Indian Classical Music has seen rapid growth in reception and development around the globe, particularly in North America, where immigrant communities have preserved and passed on classical music traditions to subsequent generations through the establishment of local festivals and music schools. Numerous musicians of American origin, including Ramakrishnan Murthy, Sandeep Narayan, Pandit Vikash Maharaj, Sandeep Narayan, Abby V, and Mahesh Kale have taken professionally to Indian Classical Music with great success. In his 2020 released video, Canadian singer Abby V demonstrated 73 different Indian Classical ragas in a live rendering, which went viral on the internet; further establishing the growing prominence of Indian Classical Music around the globe.


title: Indian classical music

text: SPIC MACAY, established in 1977, has more than 500 chapters in India and abroad. SPIC MACAY claims to hold around 5000 events every year related to Indian classical music and dance.


title: Bryson DeChambeau

text: Bryson James Aldrich DeChambeau (born September 16, 1993) is an American professional golfer. He has won eight times on the PGA Tour including one major championship, the 2020 U.S. Open. As an amateur, DeChambeau became the fifth player in history to win both the NCAA Division I championship and the U.S. Amateur in the same year. With his U.S. Open victory he became the third player to have won those three championships, after Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, and the sixth player to win both the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Open.


title: Bryson DeChambeau

text: Renowned for his analytical and scientific approaches to the sport, DeChambeau has acquired the nickname of "The Scientist". His clubs are specially designed to his specifications, with thicker than normal grips and irons that are all the same length. In 2020, he became the longest driver on the PGA Tour.


title: Bryson DeChambeau

text: DeChambeau was born on September 16, 1993, in Modesto, California to John Howard Aldrich DeChambeau and Janet Louise Druffel. He moved to Clovis, east of Fresno, at age seven. He attended Clovis East High School and won the California State Junior Championship at age 16 in 2010. He graduated in 2012 and accepted a scholarship to Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, majoring in physics.


title: Bryson DeChambeau

text: In June 2015, DeChambeau became the first SMU Mustang to win the NCAA individual championship, recording a score of 280 (−8) to win by one stroke. In August, he won the U.S. Amateur title, defeating Derek Bard 7 & 6 in the 36-hole final. He became the fifth player to win both the NCAA and U.S. Amateur titles in the same year, joining Jack Nicklaus (1961), Phil Mickelson (1990), Tiger Woods (1996), and Ryan Moore (2004).