title: Carlos Moyá

text: Moyá made a slow start in 2009. He failed to progress beyond the second round of his first four tournaments, including a first-round loss at the Australian Open. In March 2009, he announced that he would have an indefinite hiatus from tennis to recover from injured tendons and ischium in his hip. He returned to professional tennis in January 2010, losing against Janko Tipsarević in the first round of the Chennai Open, then losing in the first round of the 2010 Australian Open to Illya Marchenko.


title: Carlos Moyá

text: On 17 November 2010, he announced his retirement from tennis owing to a long-standing foot injury from which he failed to recover. He received a special ceremony at the O2 Arena in London during the 2010 ATP World Tour Finals, with all top eight singles and doubles players attending. Other players who attended included Fernando Verdasco, Mikhail Youzhny, Àlex Corretja, Jonas Björkman, and Thomas Johansson.


title: Carlos Moyá

text: He has won ATP Tour singles titles in eleven different countries: Argentina, Croatia, France, Italy, India, Mexico, Monaco, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United States.


title: Mo Money Mo Problems

text: "Mo Money Mo Problems" is a song by American rapper The Notorious B.I.G., released through Bad Boy Records and Arista Records, which impacted US mainstream radio stations on July 15, 1997, as the second single from his second and final studio album, "Life After Death" (1997). It was written by the Notorious B.I.G., Steven Jordan, Mason Betha, and Sean Combs, while the latter also produced the song. It contains a sample and an interpolation of "I'm Coming Out" by Diana Ross, for which Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers are also credited as songwriters. The song features guest vocals from Mase and Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, and featured an uncredited hook sung by Kelly Price.


title: Mo Money Mo Problems

text: Released posthumously, "Mo Money Mo Problems" topped the "Billboard" Hot 100 for two weeks in 1997, replacing "I'll Be Missing You" at the top of the chart, Puff Daddy's own tribute to the rapper. The song is Notorious B.I.G.'s second posthumous number-one single, following "Hypnotize", making him the only artist in Hot 100 history to have two number-one singles posthumously. It was the sixth song to hit number one posthumously for a credited artist. It received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group in 1998.


title: Mo Money Mo Problems

text: Based on airplay and chart success, the song is considered one of the most popular singles in hip hop history. In 2021, Samoan Australian hip hop group No Money Enterprise covered the song on Australian youth broadcaster Triple J's "Like a Version" segment.


title: Mo Money Mo Problems

text: Ralph Tee from "Music Week"'s "RM" rated "Mo Money Mo Problems" five out of five, picking it as Hip Hop Tune of the Week. He wrote, "Biggie's profile could not be greater right now, particularly in the States. (...) It's the one true light moment on an extremely dark album and brilliantly utilises the Diana Ross sample from 'I'm Coming Out', cleverly weaved into some serious big beats, scratching and guest appearances by Puff Daddy and Mase. Biggie delivers his rap in the natural self assured way he always did so well, the chorus being as infectious as they get on the song from the album which always screamed of a hit from day one."


title: Mo Money Mo Problems

text: "Mo Money Mo Problems" was able to top the "Billboard" Hot 100 for two weeks, giving Biggie his second number one hit in the US. The song hit number one after he had died. It was preceded by "I'll Be Missing You" by Puff Daddy featuring 112 and Faith Evans (meaning that Puff Daddy spent 13 weeks in a row at the top of the Hot 100) and was succeeded by "Honey" by Mariah Carey, which was also co-produced by Puff Daddy. "Mo Money Mo Problems" also reached number six on the UK Singles Chart.


title: Mo Money Mo Problems

text: The accompanying music video for "Mo Money Mo Problems", directed by Hype Williams, featured Mase and Combs in futuristic locations designed by Ron Norsworthy, including a tunnel lined with fluorescent lamps and a stark white chamber with pressurized air blowing out of the floor, allowing the two to float in midair. This video is also famous for the red shiny jackets that are worn by Combs and Mase. The "air chamber" also had a video screen showing, at first, images of Kelly Price lip-synching to the sample of Diana Ross' voice and singing the song's chorus. During the final verse, which the Notorious B.I.G. performed, Mase and Puffy looked on as the video screen showed archival footage of B.I.G. performing, it ran at a speed so that the footage seemed to sync with B.I.G.'s vocals; since the rapper had died just prior to the release of "Life After Death", and well before the filming of the video, this was the only way to have him appear in the video. The video features appearances from Sheek Louch of The LOX, Riddick Bowe, Stevie J, and Nashiem Myrick.


title: Mo Money Mo Problems

text: The video also has a short story, which is about how Combs was competing in a golf tournament and gained help from the spirit of The Notorious B.I.G, who helps him win the tournament. This was a reaction to the newly popular success of Tiger Woods. The music video was released in July 1997.


title: Mo Money Mo Problems

text: MuchMoreMusic ranked "Mo Money Mo Problems" number 31 on "Listed"s "40 Most Memorable Videos Pt. 1 & 2" for its flashy wardrobe, and use of syncing old footage with the lyrics. VH1 ranked the song number 63 as one of the "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s".


title: Mo Money Mo Problems

text: Samoan Australian hip hop group No Money Enterprise covered the song for Australian youth broadcaster Triple J's "Like a Version" segment on 26 November 2021. The cover was digitally released the following week, on 3 December 2021.


title: Mo Money Mo Problems

text: According to "NME Australia"s Jackson Langford, they "remained sonically faithful to Biggie's original version", with member Tommy OT rapping Mase's verse, whilet Randy OT $avag.e and OT Stallyon added their own original verses to the song. The performance also included a live drummer and a female backing vocalist. Australian popular culture website "Junkee"s David James Young ranked the cover at number 32 out of 38 in his list of the best "Like a Version" covers of 2021, stating "[the] Biggie classic doesn't quite meld with the Enterprise's style."


title: Chip on shoulder

text: To have a chip on one's shoulder refers to the act of having an ego or being arrogant that readily provokes disputation.


title: Chip on shoulder

text: This idiom traces its roots back to a custom that was known in North America since the early 19th century. The New York newspaper "Long Island Telegraph" reported on 20 May 1830 "when two churlish boys were determined to fight, a chip [of wood] would be placed on the shoulder of one, and the other demanded to knock it off at his peril". A similar notion is mentioned in the issue of the "Onondaga Standard" of Syracuse, New York on 8 December 1830: "'He waylay me', said I, 'the mean sneaking fellow—I am only afraid that he will sue me for damages. Oh! if I only could get him to knock a chip off my shoulder, and so get round the law, I would give him one of the soundest thrashings he ever had'."


title: Chip on shoulder

text: Some time later in 1855, the phrase "chip on his shoulder" appeared in the "Weekly Oregonian", stating "Leland, in his last issue, struts out with a chip on his shoulder, and dares Bush to knock it off". In American author Mark Twain's 1898 manuscript of "Schoolhouse Hill", character Tom Sawyer states his knowledge of the phrase and custom when he says, "[I]f you want your fuss, and can't wait till recess, which is regular, go at it right and fair; put a chip on your shoulder and dare him to knock it off."


title: Chip on shoulder

text: In Canada, the custom is well described at St. Peter Claver's Indian Residential School for Ojibway boys in the town of Spanish, Ontario:


title: Chip on shoulder

text: The challenger might further provoke his opponent by issuing a dare for him to knock off the chip. The opponent might then display his bravery and contempt by brushing the cheek of the challenger lightly as he did so. In more formal cases, a second might take the chip and present the chip to his man who would then place it on his own shoulder. The boys would then square off and fistfight like boxers.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: Dragon's Crown is a 2013 action role-playing game developed by Vanillaware for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. It was published in Japan and North America by Atlus and in PAL regions by NIS America. A high-definition port for PlayStation 4, Dragon's Crown Pro, was released by Atlus in 2018. Players navigate environments from a side-scrolling perspective, choosing from six character classes to fight in the style of a beat 'em up and acquiring loot through repeated dungeon exploration. The storyline follows adventurers as they journey across Hydeland and become involved in the search for the magical Dragon's Crown.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: Director and lead artist George Kamitani originally planned "Dragon's Crown" as a Dreamcast sequel to the 1997 Sega Saturn title "Princess Crown". Following Vanillaware's successes with "Odin Sphere" and "", Kamitani restarted the project. Originally set to be published by UTV Ignition Entertainment, that company's withdrawal from the gaming market led to Atlus taking up the project. Upon release, journalists praised its gameplay and art style, while the story and repetitive elements drew criticism. It also generated controversy for its exaggerated character designs and sexualized female characters. The game was a commercial success, eventually selling over one million copies worldwide by 2017.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: "Dragon's Crown" is a two-dimensional (2D) side-scrolling action role-playing game in which players take on the role of an adventurer exploring dungeons in the kingdom of Hydeland. The adventurer's base is a town at the kingdom's heart. There players interact with different establishments populated by friendly non-player characters (NPCs); the Adventurers' Guild where quests are accepted and the player can unlock new Skills; Morgan's Magic Shop where equipment can be repaired and upgraded; Canaan Temple, where players can pay to resurrect bone piles found in dungeons and receive boons for dungeon runs; and Lucain's Tower, which documents rune magic unlocked by the player.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: Outside of town, players can explore nine dungeon environments in the surrounding lands; each dungeon has two paths, one unlocked after the first run, and hidden areas. Dungeons are reached either through a magical portal called the Gate, or after a certain point using the stables for a fee. Players are always accompanied in dungeons by two NPCs; the thief Rannie who unlocks treasure chests and doors, and the fairy Tiki who helps point out hidden treasure. While exploring dungeons, players move constantly from left to right, battling both standard enemies and boss monsters at the end of each stage. All characters have the same basic moveset of attacking, dodging and jumping similar to classic beat 'em up games. During single-player, players can find bone piles in dungeons and pay to resurrect them in town, recruiting them as AI-controlled fighting companions. During exploration of some dungeons, players can pacify and mount larger animals with their own health and attacks.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: After the first half of the game, players can continue onto a random dungeon after finishing a run, which triggers a cooking minigame where the player uses ingredients and seasoning to produce meals which increase a character's statistics. After completing each dungeon for the first time, a side quest is unlocked for that region. Some of these are key to reaching the final boss, with later boss battles including time limits players must beat to get the item needed to progress. Loot in the form of equipment and weapons is found in chests within the dungeons, and given a letter grading; gradings range from the highest "S" and then from "A" to the lowest "E". After returning to the town hub, players can spend gold to appraise the item, which gives it an altered selling value compared to its unappraised state. During dungeon runs, players can activate runes, magical abilities triggered using sequences of three symbols, up to two of which can be hidden in the local environment.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: The adventurer is chosen from one of six character classes, separated by the skill level needed from players. The Knight for all players, the Amazon and Dwarf for players of average skill level, and the Elf, Wizard and Sorceress for players of high skill. The Knight is an armored melee fighter based around sword attacks. The Dwarf is similar, but with greater strength and more unarmed attack options. The Amazon is a complex melee class with low health, but strikes grow stronger and faster as she continues attacking. All melee-based classes can launch a powerful area of effect attack, losing their weapon for a short time. The high-speed Elf uses a mixture of archery and close-range melee attacks, replenishing her arrows by defeating enemies. The Wizard and Sorceress are both classes based around magical attacks powered by Mana, needing to replenish Mana by either using normal attacks or charging their Mana meter while stationary. All female classes (the Amazon, Elf and Sorceress) have a high luck statistic, giving players the chance of finding more valuable loot. Each character can unlock additional skills, divided into two skill tree types; general improvements, and class-specific skills.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: "Dragon's Crown" supports co-op multiplayer; PlayStation 3 (PS3), PlayStation 4 (PS4) and PlayStation Vita have online multiplayer, but local co-op is exclusive to the home console versions. The online multiplayer is unlocked after players have completed the first half of the story campaign when the harder alternate dungeon routes are unlocked in-game. In addition to class-based difficulty modifiers, there are three difficulty settings. The player begins the game on normal difficulty, and after completing the main campaign the difficulty can be raised to "Hard". After a second run, the difficulty can be raised again to "Inferno". Each difficulty has a level cap, with Inferno difficulty maxing out at level 99, and the higher "Ultimate" difficulty maxing at level 255. After completing the game, a tenth procedurally generated dungeon called the Labyrinth of Chaos is unlocked. A player-versus-player battle arena can be unlocked, accommodating up to four players. An eleventh dungeon dubbed the Tower of Mirage is unlocked on the Ultimate difficulty setting, featuring a larger number of randomly generated areas and bosses.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: The adventurer arrives in Hydeland and gets involved with fights against surging monster attacks from ancient sites across the land, and a political coup attempted by the Prime Minister against the next heirs, siblings Vivian and Dean, following the disappearance of the king. The king killed himself to thwart a ritual by the malevolent Morneon religion to summon a powerful ancient dragon, sealed in the Illusionary Lands by the world's goddesses. Key to their plot is the Dragon's Crown, an artifact that was imbued with the power to control dragons. Following his ascension to the throne, Dean is sacrificed by Morneon, though the adventurer has already destroyed the existing magic to reach the Illusionary Lands. The adventurer finds nine talismans to enter the Illusionary Lands and slays the ancient dragon before it can break free. Vivian is made queen and inherits the now-powerless Dragon's Crown.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: The goddesses, one of which was restored by the ancient dragon's defeat, then tasks the Adventurer with defeating two progressively stronger dragons which stole their power. Upon accomplishing these tasks, the restored goddesses declare the adventurer as the "Gate Guardian" for the Illusionary Lands, their name recorded in their mythology. Each character class also has a specific ending; the Sorceress briefly entertains the nobility before returning to an adventuring life, the Knight lives a long life full of adventure, the Elf returns to her homeland and is made Crown Regent for felling the dragon, the Dwarf leads his people into a new golden age, the Amazon is hailed by the people and recognised by a Hydeland noble family as their lost granddaughter, and the Wizard returns to undo a failed magic ritual he performed on his sister.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: "Dragon's Crown" was originally designed by George Kamitani as a Dreamcast sequel to "Princess Crown", a 1997 video game for the Sega Saturn which he directed. Due to its platform and publisher pressure, "Dragon's Crown" would have used 3D graphics. This earliest version was inspired by the "Wizardry" and "Sorcerian" series. Kamitani's aim was to recreate the gameplay experience of Capcom's "", which he worked on. Due to the closure of the studio he was working at following the commercial failure of "Princess Crown", the concept was scrapped. Kamitani later reused the female warrior concept art for his work on "Fantasy Earth: The Ring of Dominion". Over the next decade, he pitched to several different publishers but was always turned down.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: In 2009, after finishing "", Kamitani returned to the concept. As the original version had been a hard sell to publishers, he rewrote the pitch. Originally planned for the Wii, Kamitani presented it to Capcom. While initially well-received, Capcom's executives decided to pass on it as it would not sell the same numbers as "Monster Hunter". The project was next pitched and eagerly picked up by UTV Ignition Entertainment. The original target platform for the game by this point was the Xbox platform, hoping for an international audience. It eventually settled onto PS3 and Vita. The Vita, with its PS3 crossplay functions, was chosen due to the success of the multiplayer-focused "Monster Hunter" series as UTV Ignition wanted a multiplayer experience. The original producer was UTV Ignition's Kashow Oda.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: During 2011, UTV Ignition ran into financial trouble, pulling first from game development and then publishing. This meant funding for "Dragon's Crown" dried up, threatening its existence. Not wanting the game to be cancelled, Kamitani went to Atlus, who had previously published Vanillaware's first title "Odin Sphere". As the project was well into development and had promise, Atlus agreed to take it, both becoming its publisher and lending development aid from its "Persona" series team. The game's new producers were Katsura Hashino and Yousuke Uda. This did not end the game's production troubles, as it was further threatened in 2013 with the bankruptcy of Atlus's parent company Index Corporation. "Dragon's Crown" had Vanillaware's longest development cycle at the time of four years, and was its most expensive with a budget of over ¥100 million (over US$1,000,000). It was also their first title designed for high-definition consoles. The team put a large amount of effort into development, which left them no resources to aid in the localization of their previous title "Grand Knights History". This led to its planned Western release being cancelled. Kamitani described the production as being "full of twists and turns".


title: Dragon's Crown

text: Kamitani credited programmer Kentaro Ohnishi for steering the game into becoming a beat 'em up, something Vanillaware had never done before. He also asked veterans of those days the games they best remembered for inspiration, and typically they recalled Capcom and Sega's arcade titles of the time with fondness. Ohnishi created the skill system design. Kamitani included elements from games that he enjoyed. He drew direct inspiration from "Dungeons & Dragons: Tower of Doom", "Golden Axe" and "The King of Dragons". He also cited "Dungeon Master", the "Wizardry" and "Sorcerian" series. The loot system and its surrounding mechanics were suggested by Ohnishi, based on those in "Diablo". Random dungeon generation similar to "Diablo" was dropped early in development so players could enjoy memorising and mastering each dungeon. The increased difficulty options were incorporated based on Ignition's request for elements that would appeal to the Western market. Ohnishi described getting the online components to work as his biggest challenge.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: While the framework of the game survived from its days as a Dreamcast title, almost everything else was changed. Unlike previous Vanillaware titles, emphasis was placed on gameplay rather than story. As opposed to the multiple interwoven narratives of "Odin Sphere" and "Muramasa", while there were several ancillary story threads, they all served a single narrative. Nevertheless, the total story content was greater than that of "Muramasa". Kamitani put in everything he possibly could into the game rather than leaving anything for a potential sequel, as he was averse to sequels on principle. The earliest plan was for only a town and dungeon environments like the "Wizardry" series, but the background art team created exterior landscape designs and thus expanded the game's visual scope. This also resulted in the initial design plan being changed to reflect the new environments. Early plans for expansion packs themed after ancient Egypt and the Sengoku period were abandoned due to the extra workload.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: Kamitani was in charge of character designs, and also drew most of the background art and full-motion illustrations. Additional artwork was created by Emika Kida. During Kamitani's earliest role-playing concept, he drew on Western art for inspiration. His first experiment with this style was a 2010 New Year illustration of the game's goddesses. After positive responses, he went with this style. Kamitani's artwork for "Dragon's Crown" drew heavy inspiration from the work of Frank Frazetta. While he incorporated standard fantasy visual elements found in "Dungeons & Dragons" and "The Lord of the Rings", he wanted to give them a unique spin. To do this, he created exaggerated body designs for men, women and monsters; each had their defining characteristics magnified "from different angles", with Kamitani noting that the designs were not intended to be taken seriously.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: As with Vanillaware's other titles, the game used 2D artwork. Kamitani continued to be influenced in his art design work by Akira Yasuda, a Capcom artist who worked on several of the company's most iconic fighting games. While the art style mimicked classic 2D arcade titles from Capcom, Vanillaware's style of animated illustrations was more difficult to manage, particularly with different movement sets for weapon types and palate swaps for each character class. As he was tied up with illustration work for the Vita remake of "Muramasa", Kamitani was often late delivering his artwork. This meant that other staff members at Vanillaware, including fellow artist Shigetake, stepped in to create artworks. While using the basic design of their earlier titles, the team added a pixel shader which Ohnishi compared to a gamma corrector, allowing water effects in the 2D plane.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: The music was composed by long-term Vanillaware collaborator Hitoshi Sakimoto and his company Basiscape. It was Sakimoto's first solo soundtrack in many years. Sakimoto wanted to explore how humans confronted the forces of nature and monsters. His chosen overall focus of the music was defined by him as "affection". The musical tracks were divided into three categories accompanying this theme; humans, nature and monsters. Within his score, humans lived life to the full regardless of their morals, nature was impersonal and could provide support, and monsters were supernatural things divorced from everything else. While many of his previous scores had been set in worlds of either dominant hope or despair, with "Dragon's Crown" he wanted to balance the two. He also shifted his style to incorporate more ethnic percussion. The score was arranged by Sakimoto and Azusa Chiba. For the game's vocals, Sakimoto chose singer Eumyth to evoke its fantasy elements.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: A 3CD soundtrack album released on November 30, 2015 through Basiscape Records. The album, which featured a jacket illustration from Vanillaware staff, included exclusive piano arrangements of the themes "World Map" and "City Street". The arrangements were created by Yu Kanai. The album later released digitally worldwide through iTunes on April 1, 2016. The album received positive reviews from music journalists.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: For "Dragon's Crown Pro", the music was re-recorded, performed by a live orchestra. Chiba arranged the music for a full orchestra. She incorporated folk instruments and extensive percussion into the new versions. Recording took place in Tokyo, Hyogo and Australia. A 3-disc soundtrack originally released exclusively through the limited edition of "Pro". The album included an extra track dubbed "Dragon's Crown Percussion Remix", a new remix of the main theme. A standalone soundtrack album released on February 27, 2020, exclusively through Atlus's online store. The album features three discs, and has a cover art drawn by Kida. The soundtrack includes the same selection as the limited edition version. The album also released digitally worldwide through iTunes.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: "Dragon's Crown" was announced in June 2011. In an interview, Oda said that overseas responses to the game were strong, pointing out the positive reputation of "Odin Sphere" and "Muramasa" as reasons for this. The change of publishers from UTV Ignition to Atlus was announced in April 2012, with statements from both publishers on the matter. The game released in Japan on July 25, 2013. The game was localised for the West by Atlus USA, who released it close to the Japanese version's release date. This meant localization had to start while the game was in production. The English voice recording was handled by PCB Productions, a frequent collaborator with Atlus USA, and overseen by Valerie Arem. "Dragon's Crown" released in North America on August 6. In Europe and Australia, the game was published by NIS America, with pre-orders from selected European stores coming with a small artbook; it released in Australia on October 10 and in Europe on October 11. The PAL digital PlayStation Network (PSN) version was taken down when NIS America and Atlus ended their publishing partnership in 2016. It was later republished on PSN by Atlus.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: "Dragon's Crown" received downloadable content (DLC) post-launch, which allowed the narration to be changed to one of the six character class voice actors. Five patches, which fixed issues and added new content, were released between August and December 2013. The patches included cross-platform play not available at launch, additional difficulty settings, and new gameplay elements.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: A manga adaptation began serialisation in the December 2013 issue of "Comptiq", a magazine published by Kadokawa Shoten. The manga was written and illustrated by Yuztan, an artist then new to manga who later worked on "Valkyrie Drive". To properly interpret the game's story into manga form, Yuztan played the game himself. He incorporated all the classes as characters and crafted their personalities based on his impression of them. The manga ran from 2013 to 2014. It was published in two tankōbon in June and December 2014 by Kadokawa Shoten. In North America, the manga volumes were published by Udon Entertainment. The two volumes were released in the region in November 2017 and October 2018. A novelization was written by Hironori Kato, featuring a cover illustration by Kamitani, was published by Fujimi Shobo. An artbook was published by Atlus on January 14, 2016. The book featured concept and character art, interviews with staff, and guest illustrations. Udon Entertainment published the artbook in September 2019. Figurines based on the Sorceress and Amazon characters have been released in Japan.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: "Dragon's Crown Pro", announced in December 2017, was a remastered port for the PS4. It featured enhancements for the PS4's Pro model, replace/redraw hi-res sprites to support 4K resolution, English and Japanese voicetracks, a rerecorded soundtrack, cross-platform play, and all previous patches and DLC. Originally scheduled for January 15, 2018 in Japan, it was delayed by a couple of weeks to February 8. In the West, "Pro" released on May 15 of the same year. A limited Battle Hardened Edition was released exclusively in the West alongside its standard physical and digital editions. The Battle Hardened Edition included a steel case for the game, and seven cards themed after the in-game skill trees.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: "Dragon's Crown Pro" was the first time Vanillaware had sought to update an existing title in this way, which proved a challenge as they needed to do bug fixes and balance adjustment based on the latest patch version of the game. Kamitani acted as a producer for the game, running parallel with his work on "". One of the biggest issues faced in development was getting all assets to show in 4K without jagged edges or distracting graphical glitches, a process which took six months. So jagged edges would not be too visible in-game, planner Wataru Nakanishi worked to put in extra graphical fuzzing to smooth the edges of colour transitions in illustrations and art assets. The final patch which enabled crossplay was the most difficult to date, as they needed to adjust for the changes made since the game's release. While they needed to reduce some in-game storage space to make room for some of the patch features, they considered it a fair trade as they included elements originally cut from the base game.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: "Dragon's Crown" received "generally favorable" reviews on all platforms, according to the review aggregator Metacritic. At the 2013 National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers awards, "Dragon's Crown" won in the "Game, Original Role-Playing" category.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: Japanese gaming magazine "Famitsu" gave a positive review to both the PS3 and Vita versions, praising the gameplay and nostalgic style. "Destructoid"s Chris Carter was highly positive, praising the game for reviving the beat 'em up genre. Andrew Fitch, writing for "Electronic Gaming Monthly", praised the game as "a love letter to the classic side-scrolling arcade brawler". Martin Robinson of "Eurogamer" was less positive than other reviewers, praising some elements but disliking the artstyle and finding it overly long and archaic. "GameSpot"s Peter Brown found many elements of the visuals either distracting or offensive, but praised the gameplay design and skill system.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: Justin Speer of "GameTrailers" praised the game for breathing life into its genre, saying players who were willing to push through its repetitive aspects would find a lot to enjoy. Writing for "Joystiq", Danny Cowan was worried about repeating content in the late game, but praised the game's mechanics and style. "IGN"s Colin Moriarty was also highly positive, with his only main criticism being the narrative. Danielle Riendeau of "Polygon" noted the repetitive nature of level design and disliked much of its art design, but said that it was an enjoyable experience. "RPGFan"s Robert Steinman, reviewing the PS3 version, praised the game but faulted its UI design and the "obfuscation" of its multiplayer.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: The narrative was seen by many as either unnecessary or forced at players, though it was also praised for evoking nostalgia. Moriarty called the story "its greatest weakness", while "Famitsu" praised the story's nostalgic style and compared it to playing a tabletop RPG. The gameplay was praised or at least noted for evoking the design and experience of classic beat 'em up titles from the 1980s to 1990s. The multiplayer was lauded by reviewers as superior to AI-controlled companions despite its unlocking requirements, although many complained that the number of on-screen effects obscured their characters. The original lack of cross-platform multiplayer was criticized by some journalists. The searching and commanding mechanic was also faulted in the PS3 version as cumbersome. The artwork in general was praised by reviewers, with Cowan calling it "unique and eye-catching".


title: Dragon's Crown

text: Reviewing "Dragon's Crown Pro, "Chris Moyse of "Destructoid" echoed many of Carter's comments, calling "Pro" the game's "definitive edition" while noting that there was little to justify buying it a second time. Mollie L Patterson, writing for "Electronic Gaming Monthly", admitted that the only improvements were to the graphics and audio, but felt that the gameplay and art still made it a worthwhile purchase. "RPGFan"s Alana Hagues praised the existing upgrades and enjoyed the game, but was disappointed by the lack of additional features and content as seen in other Vanillaware re-releases.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: Upon its debut in Japan, "Dragon's Crown" sold 175,000 physical units. Due to the strong demand, a stock shortage emerged at its release. "Dragon's Crown" had sold more than 300,000 physical retail copies in Japan within the first week of release across both PS3 and Vita platforms. The Vita and PS3 versions were respectively the first and second best-selling digital games on PSN in Japan during 2013. By December 2013, the game had shipped 800,000 copies worldwide, 100,000 units more than Atlus's "Persona 4 Golden". The original "Dragon's Crown" sold over one million copies worldwide by September 2017. The game's international success took Vanillaware by surprise, with it becoming much bigger than Kamitani expected.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: "Dragon's Crown" drew significant controversy in pre-release coverage during April 2013 for its exaggerated character design, particularly the Sorceress' breasts and Amazon's buttocks. Game journalist Jason Schreier of "Kotaku" strongly criticized the design, calling it symptomatic of the video game industry's treatment of women. While many critics lauded the game's artistic achievements and Kamitani's skill, they also felt uncomfortable with his perceived over-sexualisation of women.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: Kamitani responded with artwork of three bathing dwarfs in loincloths that was interpreted as a homophobic attack on Schreier, escalating the controversy. Kamitani later explained both his design choices in the game and the Dwarf artwork. The latter was described as not being aimed at Schreier, but being a piece of artwork he created on his own as a "cynical" response to Japanese retailers requesting the female characters in swimwear for store artwork. Atlus defended the design choice.


title: Dragon's Crown

text: Several reviewers commented on the artstyle when the game released. Brown described the Sorceress and Amazon designs as akin to softcore pornography. Speer compared these elements to the inclusion of bodybuilding and "dirty" magazines. Riendeau noted that the Amazon and Sorceress, while sexualised, were empowered and had agency compared to other in-game women being shown as damsels in distress. Robinson found the sexualised female artwork one of the elements that put him off the game, also being critical of counterarguments about the male characters being equally sexualised. Fitch, while noting the Amazon and Sorceress designs, felt that the controversy was overblown, as the entire cast was exaggerated and "grotesque".


title: Sandakozhi 2

text: Sandakozhi 2 () is a 2018 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by N. Linguswamy. A sequel to "Sandakozhi", the film stars Vishal and Rajkiran reprising their roles from the first film, alongside Keerthy Suresh and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar. It also happens to be Vishal's 25th film. The film began production during September 2017 and was released on 18 October 2018.


title: Sandakozhi 2

text: After the events following the first film, Balu returns to Theni district after 7 years from USA to meet his family, where he learns about his distinct relative Pechankarasi "Pechi". Pechi's husband was killed by the villagers for killing a lower-caste person. Due to this, Pechi kills all the male clan of the lower-caste person, except for Anbu, who is safeguarded by Balu's chieftan father Durai. Balu learns that Pechi wants to disrupt the temple festival to kill Anbu, where he decide to protect him. During the temple festival, Balu secretly saves Anbu and thrashes the attackers without anyone's knowledge.


title: Sandakozhi 2

text: Balu meets Sembaruthi, whose activities reminds him of Hema. Sembaruthi learns from Durai that Balu relocated to US as Hema died in an accident on their way to Tirupathi for their marriage. Despite this, Balu falls for Sembaruthi, where Durai accepts their relationship. As per Durai's wishes, Anbu's UPSC attempt at becoming IAS becomes successful, where Durai and Anbu leave for Anbu's village to convey the result. Pechi's men attacks Anbu, but Durai accidentally gets stabbed. Balu rushes and saves Durai, who receives clandestine treatment in his home.


title: Sandakozhi 2

text: Durai requests Balu to not inform the incident to the villagers, as it would result in communal riots and would eventually spoil the temple festival. Balu promises the comatose Durai that he would save Anbu as well as ensure that the temple festival ends smoothly. Finally, Pechi and Balu meet in an open ground, where Pechi beats up Balu. Balu does not want to hurt Pechi and asks her to leave Anbu, for which she does not agree. When Pechi was about to kill Anbu with a sickle, her chain gets stuck in a "Trishula", and she accidentally loses control. Her aruval moves towards her son's neck, but Balu holds the aruval and saves him. Pechi realizes her mistake and decides to spare Anbu. Durai recovers and reunites with Balu and Sembaruthi.


title: Sandakozhi 2

text: Following the release of "Anjaan" in August 2014, Linguswamy took a brief sabbatical before simultaneously completing two scripts, "Yenni Ezhu Naal" for actor Karthi and a sequel to his successful "Sandakozhi" (2005) for Vishal. In December 2014, it was announced that the sequel would be jointly produced by Vishal's Vishal Film Factory and Linguswamy's Thirrupathi Brothers and that production would start in 2015. Thirrupathi Brothers later opted out of production duties after the failure of several of their films meant that they experienced financial constraints. The casting process began in mid-2015, with Rajkiran retained to reprise his role from the original film alongside Vishal, while Soori was signed for a new role and D. Imman was selected as the music composer. Meera Jasmine, who played the leading female role in the 2005 film, was reported to be portraying a cameo role, while the team looked for another actress to play a leading role. Shamili and Akshara Haasan were approached and held discussions for the role in mid-2015, but neither actress was eventually signed on. Sathyaraj was also considered for the role of the lead antagonist, but production delays meant that the actor was not finalised. Despite announcements that the film would begin shoot in August 2015, it failed to take off and Vishal stated in an interview to The Hindu that the film would not happen unless the script was better than the first.


title: Sandakozhi 2

text: In January 2016, Vishal revealed that production would start in February and that the film would have the city of Madurai as its backdrop. However, during late February 2016, Vishal revealed that the film had been cancelled and blamed Linguswamy's lack of commitment towards the project. The move had come after Linguswamy had agreed terms to work on a bilingual film starring Allu Arjun for Studio Green, without sorting out dates with Vishal. In a turn of events in June 2016, Vishal stated that the film had been revived and that cinematographer Madhi and composer Yuvan Shankar Raja had also joined the project, replacing Imman. In due course, Linguswamy delayed his project with Allu Arjun and resumed scripting for "Sandakozhi 2". The team held discussions with more actresses about the lead role, first approaching Manjima Mohan, before Keerthy Suresh was finalised in December 2016. The shoot was meant to start in January 2017 but was delayed further when Vishal chose to prioritise his commitments to filming for Mysskin's "Thupparivaalan" (2017). Hareesh Peradi and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar were recruited in mid-2017 to portray negative roles, with the latter appearing as the wife of one of three antagonists in the script.


title: Sandakozhi 2

text: The film was launched with a ceremony in Chennai on 10 August 2017, with the art directors led by Rajeevan, constructing a set resembling a festival at Binny Mills, Chennai. Due to Madhi was busy with other commitments, cinematographer K.A. Shakthivel was roped in. The set at Binny Mills was made to resemble one of Madurai's key localities with 500 shops and a temple being erected and initial scenes for a song were shot with junior artistes. Despite indications that the lead actors would join by late August, the film's first filming schedule only began on 20 September 2017 at Binny Mills.


title: Sandakozhi 2

text: The film was simultaneously dubbed and released in Telugu under the title "Pandem Kodi 2". The satellite rights of the film were sold to Sun TV.


title: Sandakozhi 2

text: The film received mixed reviews from critics. A reviewer at Sify.com described the second half of the film as too dramatic, with a disappointing climax, but praised the film for having a strong father-son story, and for Suresh's "bubbly" performance. Film Companion South wrote"All Lingusamy does is transform the broad beats of a classic drama like Thevar Magan into a masala entertainer


title: Sandakozhi 2

text: ". "Mirchi9" reviewing the Telugu dubbed version "Pandem Kodi 2", rated 2 out of 5 and wrote "Not Even Half The Fun".


title: Sony α7

text: The Sony α7, α7R, α7S and α7C (the α is sometimes spelled out as Alpha) are four closely related families of full-frame mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras. The first two were announced in October 2013, the third in April 2014 and the fourth in September 2020. They are Sony's first full-frame mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras and share the E-mount with the company's smaller sensor NEX series.


title: Sony α7

text: The α7 II was announced in November 2014, and is the first in the family to revise the original body and ergonomics. The α7C introduced an even more compact form factor, being the smallest full-frame camera with in-body image stabilization. The α7 series is targeted at experienced users, enthusiasts and professionals.


title: Sony α7

text: The Sony α7 and α7R have the model numbers ILCE-7 and ILCE-7R respectively. In addition, the α7S, the α7 II, and the α7R II have the model numbers ILCE-7S, ILCE-7M2, and ILCE-7RM2. Sony's new model naming prefix strives to unify model names. "ILC" stands for Interchangeable Lens Camera, followed by an indicator of A-mount "A" or E-mount "E".


title: Sony α7

text: In 2014/2015, three new models became available forming the second generation of α7 series. They are the α7 II (ILCE-7M2), α7R II (ILCE-7RM2) and α7S II (ILCE-7SM2).


title: Sony α7

text: Sony continues to produce the first generation models α7 and α7S, even three years after the launch, only the α7 has been discontinued in April 2019.


title: Sony α7

text: The second generation common ground is the newer and improved body design as well as the world's first five-axis sensor-shift image stabilization system for a full-frame ILC. Sony claims that this can compensate a 4.5-stop equivalent of camera shake. In-body stabilization requires no special lens features, and mirrorless system cameras can typically accommodate lenses from any SLR system. As an upgrade of the α7, the α7 II has the same 50 Mbit XAVC-S codec as the α7S but lacks 4K video, and the five-axis stabilization is less effective in video mode than that used in the Olympus OM-D E-M1. However, the crop mode used in the α7 II does not incur "very much loss in image quality", unlike that of the Nikon D750.


title: Sony α7

text: The cameras received a positive reception from critics. DxOMark crowned the α7R as the highest ranking full-frame mirrorless camera, with a score of 95 (the same score as the Nikon D800, but one point behind the Nikon D800E). The α7 achieved a score of 90, higher than the Nikon Df and Nikon D4 professional DSLR cameras, as well as the Sony SLT-A99. "The Verge" rated the cameras 8.3 out of 10, commenting that "It might be a few years before we realize it, but when the DSLR is relegated to a niche status among specialty photographers and full-frame mirrorless cameras dominate the market, we'll have the α7's to thank as the cameras that started it all." EPhotozine which rated the α7 5 stars, meanwhile praised the α7 series' price point for making them "the cheapest full-frame digital cameras currently available" while being lighter and smaller than comparable cameras. It awarded the α7 "Camera of the Year." The α7R was awarded by Imaging Resource as the "Camera of the Year".


title: Sinqua Walls

text: Sinqua Walls (born April 6, 1985) is an American actor known for appearing in "Friday Night Lights", "The Secret Life of the American Teenager", and "American Soul".


title: Sinqua Walls

text: Originally from Louisiana, Sinqua moved to Marina del Rey, California, with his family and attended El Segundo High School. Walls became interested in acting as a child after watching "Radio Flyer". In 2007, he graduated from University of San Francisco, where he studied theatre and film. During college, Walls played on the San Francisco Dons men's basketball team.


title: Sinqua Walls

text: Walls played Boyd, a beta werewolf who was a formerly recurring character on the MTV drama series "Teen Wolf". He has also made appearances on "Pair of Kings", "Lincoln Heights", "Friday Night Lights", "Grey's Anatomy", "Blue Mountain State", "The Secret Life of the American Teenager", "Necessary Roughness", and on MTV's "Next".


title: Sinqua Walls

text: He starred in the 2011 horror feature "Shark Night 3D". Walls played a guest role on the second season of the ABC fantasy series "Once Upon a Time", as Sir Lancelot. He returned to the show during the fifth season as a guest star. He played the role of Shawn in the TV series "Power". On August 1, 2017, Walls was cast in Clint Eastwood's biopic "", about the thwarted 2015 Thalys train attack. The film premiered on February 9, 2018.


title: Sinqua Walls

text: Since 2019, Walls has portrayed Don Cornelius in BET's "American Soul", a fictionalized drama series based on Cornelius's long-running television dance show "Soul Train".


title: Kasol

text: Kasol is a hamlet in the Kullu district of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is situated in Parvati Valley, on the banks of the Parvati River, on the way between Bhuntar and Manikaran. It is located from Bhuntar and from Kullu town, the district headquarter, 3.5 km from Manikaran. Kasol is the Himalayan hotspot for backpackers and acts as a base for nearby treks to Malana and Kheerganga. It is called "Mini Israel of India" due to a high percentage of Israeli tourists here.


title: Kasol

text: Kasol has good weather for several months of the year and receives a fair amount of snowfall from late December to February.


title: Kasol

text: Kasol Music Festival is the biggest music festival which happens in Kasol on every New Year's Eve. People from around the world gather for this festival.


title: Destroyer escort

text: Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships.


title: Destroyer escort

text: Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by the British need in World War II for anti-submarine ships that could operate in open oceans at speeds of up to 20 knots. These "British Destroyer Escort"s were designed by the US for mass-production under Lend Lease as a less expensive alternative to fleet destroyers.


title: Destroyer escort

text: The Royal Navy and Commonwealth forces identified such warships as frigates, and that classification was widely accepted when the United States redesignated destroyer escorts as frigates (FF) in 1975. From circa 1954 until 1975 new-build US Navy ships designated as destroyer escorts (DE) were called ocean escorts. Similar types of warships in other navies of the time included the 46 diesel-engined "Kaibōkan" of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 10 "Kriegsmarine" F-class escort ships, and the two "Amiral Murgescu"-class vessels of the Romanian Navy.


title: Destroyer escort

text: Postwar destroyer escorts and frigates were larger than those produced during wartime, with increased anti-aircraft capability, but remained smaller and slower than postwar destroyers. As Cold War destroyer escorts became as large as wartime destroyers, the United States Navy converted some of their World War II destroyers to escort destroyers (DDE).


title: Destroyer escort

text: Full-sized destroyers must be able to steam as fast or faster than fast capital ships such as fleet carriers and cruisers. This typically requires a speed of (dependent upon the era and navy). They must carry torpedoes and a smaller caliber of cannon to use against enemy ships, as well as antisubmarine detection equipment and weapons.


title: Destroyer escort

text: A destroyer escort needed only to be able to maneuver relative to a slow convoy (which in World War II would travel at ), be able to defend against aircraft, and detect, pursue, and attack submarines. These lower requirements greatly reduce the size, cost, and crew required for the destroyer escort. Destroyer escorts were optimized for antisubmarine warfare, having a tighter turning radius and more specialized armament (such as the forward-firing Hedgehog mortar) than fleet destroyers. Their much slower speed was not a liability in this context, since sonar was useless at speeds over .


title: Destroyer escort

text: As an alternative to geared steam-turbine propulsion found in full-sized destroyers and larger warships, many US destroyer escorts of the World War II period had diesel-electric or turboelectric drive, in which the engine rooms functioned as power stations supplying current to electric motors sited close to the propellers. Electric drive was selected because it does not need gearboxes (which were heavily in demand for the fast fleet destroyers) to adjust engine speed to the much lower optimal speed for the propellers. The current from the engine room can be used equally well for other purposes, and after the war, many destroyer escorts were re-used as floating power stations for coastal cities in Latin America under programs funded by the World Bank.. ships were the exception to this and they used a geared diesel engine to drive the propellers directly. s used the typical boiler and geared turbine propulsion system.


title: Destroyer escort

text: The Tacoma-class patrol frigates (PF) had a greater range than the superficially similar destroyer escorts, but the US Navy viewed them as decidedly inferior in all other respects. The "Tacoma" class had a much larger turning circle than a destroyer escort, lacked sufficient ventilation for warm-weather operations – a reflection of their original British design and its emphasis on operations in the North Atlantic Ocean – and were criticized as far too hot below decks, and, because of the mercantile style of their hulls, had far less resistance to underwater explosions than ships built to naval standards like the destroyer escorts.


title: Destroyer escort

text: Destroyer escorts were also useful for coastal antisubmarine and radar picket ship duty. During World War II, seven destroyer escorts (DEs) were converted to radar picket destroyer escorts (DERs), supplementing radar picket destroyers. Although these were relegated to secondary roles after the war, in the mid-1950s, 12 more DEs were converted to DERs, serving as such until 1960–1965. Their mission was to extend the Distant Early Warning Line on both coasts, in conjunction with 16 s, which were converted Liberty ships.


title: Destroyer escort

text: During World War II, some 95 destroyer escorts were converted by the US to high-speed transports (APDs). This involved adding an extra deck which allowed space for about 10 officers and 150 men. Two large davits were also installed, one on either side of the ship, from which landing craft (LCVPs) could be launched.


title: Destroyer escort

text: The Lend-Lease Act was passed into law in the United States in March 1941, enabling the United Kingdom to procure merchant ships, warships, munitions, and other materiel from the US, to help with the war effort. This enabled the UK to commission the US to design, build, and supply an escort vessel that was suitable for antisubmarine warfare in deep open-ocean situations, which they did in June 1941. Captain E.L. Cochrane of the American Bureau of Shipping came up with a design which was known as the British destroyer escort (BDE). The BDE designation was retained by the first six destroyer escorts transferred to the United Kingdom (BDE 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, and 46); of the initial order of 50, these were the only ones the Royal Navy received, the rest being reclassified as destroyer escorts on 25 January 1943 and taken over by the United States Navy.


title: Destroyer escort

text: When the United States entered the war, and found they also required an antisubmarine warfare ship and that the destroyer escort fitted their needs perfectly, a system of rationing was put in place whereby out of every five destroyer escorts completed, four would be allocated to the U.S. Navy and one to the Royal Navy.


title: Destroyer escort

text: After World War II, new-build United States Navy destroyer escorts were referred to as ocean escorts, but retained the hull classification symbol DE. However, other navies, most notably those of NATO countries and the USSR, followed different naming conventions for this type of ship, which resulted in some confusion. To remedy this problem, the 1975 ship reclassification declared ocean escorts (and by extension, destroyer escorts) as frigates (FF). This brought the USN's nomenclature more in line with NATO, and made comparing ship types with the Soviet Union easier. As of 2006, no plans existed for future frigates for the US Navy. and the littoral combat ship (LCS) were the main ship types planned in this area. However, by 2017 the Navy had reversed course, and put out a Request For Proposals (RFP) for a new frigate class, temporarily designated FFG(X). One major problem with ship classification is whether to base it on a ship's role (such as escort or air defense), or on its size (such as displacement). One example of this ambiguity is the air-defense ship class, which is classified as cruiser, though it uses the same hull as the s.


title: Destroyer escort

text: 37 "Buckleys" listed here as "Buckleys" were converted to APDs after having been commissioned as destroyer escorts. All APDs listed in the table were completed as conversions. "Captains" were converted before commissioning as DEs.


title: Destroyer escort

text: hull numbers for WGT and FMR are still incomplete, price of $2,157 for Brown/WGT DE-423 is assumed to be a typo


title: Destroyer escort

text: The "Captain" class was a designation given to 78 frigates of the Royal Navy, constructed in the United States, launched in 1942–1943 and delivered to the United Kingdom under the provisions of the Lend-Lease agreement (under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945), they were drawn from two subclasses of the destroyer escort (originally British destroyer escort) classification: 32 from the "Evarts" subclass and 46 from the "Buckley" subclass. Upon reaching the UK, the ships were substantially modified by the Royal Navy, including removal of torpedo tubes, making them distinct from the US Navy destroyer escort ships.


title: Destroyer escort

text: "Captain"-class frigates acted in the roles of convoy escorts, antisubmarine warfare vessels, coastal forces control frigates and headquarters ships for the Normandy landings. During the course of World War II, this class participated in the sinking of at least 34 German submarines and a number of other hostile craft with 15 of the 78 "Captain"-class frigates being either sunk or written off as a constructive total loss.


title: Destroyer escort

text: In the postwar period, all of the surviving "Captain"-class frigates except one (HMS "Hotham") were returned to the US Navy before the end of 1947 to reduce the amount payable under the provisions of the Lend-Lease agreement; the last such frigate was returned to United States custody in March 1956.


title: Destroyer escort

text: Six "Cannon"-class destroyer escorts were built for the Free French Navy. Although initially transferred under the Lend-Lease Act, these ships were permanently transferred under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program (MDAP).


title: Destroyer escort

text: Under the MDAP the destroyer escorts leased to the Free French were permanently transferred to the French Navy. In addition, the following navies also acquired DEs:


title: Mohammed Salisu

text: Mohammed Salisu Abdul Karim (born 17 April 1999) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Southampton and the Ghana national team.


title: Mohammed Salisu

text: Salisu started his senior career with Valladolid, featuring for the reserve side before making his first team debut in 2019. He made 34 appearances for the club before joining Southampton for a £10.9 million fee in 2020.


title: Mohammed Salisu

text: Born in Kumasi, Salisu started his career at his local youth club Kumasi Barcelona Babies before joining West African Football Academy in 2013. He left the latter for personal reasons in 2015, and then remained over a year without a club before impressing on a trial at the newly formed Nsawam branch of the African Talent Football Academy in March 2017. In October 2017, he joined Real Valladolid's youth setup.


title: Mohammed Salisu

text: Salisu made his senior debut with the reserves on 28 January 2018, starting in a 4–2 Segunda División B home loss against Coruxo. On 1 March, he extended his contract until 2021. He scored his first senior goal on 29 April, netting the equaliser in the 82nd minute of a 2–2 away draw against Racing Ferrol.


title: Mohammed Salisu

text: On 16 July 2018, Salisu was promoted to the senior Valladolid squad. He made his professional debut on 9 January 2019, starting in a 1–0 away loss against Getafe in that season's Copa del Rey. On 22 May 2019, Salisu extended his contract to keep him at the club until 2022.


title: Mohammed Salisu

text: He made his La Liga debut on 18 August, starting in a 2–1 away victory over Real Betis. After the departure of Fernando Calero to Espanyol, Salisu became a starter for the Castile and León side, partnering Kiko Olivas. On 26 October 2019, he scored his first professional goal by netting the second goal of a 2–0 home win against Eibar.


title: Mohammed Salisu

text: On 12 August 2020, Salisu joined Premier League club Southampton for a fee worth £10.9 million. The English club had triggered a buyout clause in the defender's contract with Salisu putting pen to paper on a four-year deal. Manager Ralph Hasenhüttl hailed his new signing, saying he was a future prospect who had all the qualities to come to the Premier League and help Southampton.


title: Mohammed Salisu

text: Salisu had yet to feature for Southampton three months after he had signed with Hasenhüttl providing an update in November 2020, stating:<nowiki>"</nowiki>There is still a way to go I think for being match fit, but I am very happy he's here. He's a long-term project and I am sure that he will play a lot of games for us.<nowiki>"</nowiki> Salisu made his Southampton debut on 11 February 2021, six months after signing for the club, playing the full 90 minutes and keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 FA Cup away victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers as Danny Ings and Stuart Armstrong scored a goal each to send Southampton through to the quarter-finals of the competition.


title: Mohammed Salisu

text: He made his Premier League debut three days later when he came on in the 72nd minute to replace the injured Kyle Walker-Peters, also against Wolverhampton Wanderers ending with a 2–1 loss at home. Salisu made his first Premier League start the following week in a 1–1 draw with Chelsea, putting in an impressive performance.


title: Mohammed Salisu

text: On 21 September 2021, Salisu scored his first professional goal for Southampton against Sheffield United in the EFL Cup which ended 2–2 at full time before Southampton advanced 4–2 on penalties. On 28 December 2021, Salisu gave away a penalty and got a red card after receiving his second booking for a foul on Son Heung-Min, with the game against Tottenham ending in a 1–1 draw.


title: Mohammed Salisu

text: In November 2019, Salisu received his first call-up to Ghana's senior squad, after being named by Kwesi Appiah in the squad for the 2021 African Cup of Nations qualifiers against South Africa and São Tomé and Príncipe. He withdrew from the squad citing injury problems. In 2020, after C.K. Akonnor was appointed as manager of the national team, according to media speculation he made attempts to reach him but his efforts proved futile as seemed Salisu was not interested in playing for the team. His family later came out with a statement to refute all the information within the public space that suggested his refusal to play for the national team. The statement read that <nowiki>" We further wish to state unequivocally that our son is a proud Ghanaian and very ready to represent Ghana at every level and time"</nowiki>. His elder brother later granted an interview on local radio station Angel FM talking about his brother's call up snub into the "Black Starlets", the Ghana U-17 team whilst he was playing in Ghana, due his inability to pay to be in the team and not because his performance was substandard.


title: Mohammed Salisu

text: In April 2021, during an interview with MozzartSport Kenya, Salisu stated that he would be proud to play for the national team, but also that he felt like it was not the right time for him to play, as he wanted to focus on his club career, instead. In July 2022, the president of the Ghana FA, Kurt Okraku, officially announced that Salisu had finally agreed to represent the Black Stars.


title: Mohammed Salisu

text: Salisu made his debut for Ghana on 23 September 2022, as a second-half substitute in a 3–0 friendly defeat against Brazil. On 17 November 2022, Salisu scored his first goal in a friendly against Switzerland, which Ghana won 2–0.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: The nation of Georgia ( "sakartvelo") was first unified as a kingdom under the Bagrationi dynasty by the King Bagrat III of Georgia in the early 11th century, arising from a number of predecessor states of the ancient kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia. The Kingdom of Georgia flourished during the 10th to 12th centuries under King David IV the Builder and Queen Tamar the Great, and fell to the Mongol invasion by 1243, and after a brief reunion under George V the Brilliant to the Timurid Empire. By 1490, Georgia was fragmented into a number of petty kingdoms and principalities, which throughout the Early Modern period struggled to maintain their autonomy against Ottoman and Iranian (Safavid, Afsharid, and Qajar) domination until Georgia was finally annexed by the Russian Empire in the 19th century. After a brief bid for independence with the Democratic Republic of Georgia of 1918–1921, Georgia was part of the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic from 1922 to 1936, and then formed the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic until the dissolution of the Soviet Union.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: The current republic of Georgia has been independent since 1991. The first president Zviad Gamsakhurdia stoked Georgian nationalism and vowed to assert Tbilisi's authority over Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Gamsakhurdia was deposed in a bloody coup d'état within the same year and the country became embroiled in a bitter civil war, which lasted until 1995. Supported by Russia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia achieved "de facto" independence from Georgia. The Rose Revolution forced Eduard Shevardnadze to resign in 2003. The new government under Mikheil Saakashvili prevented the secession of a third breakaway republic in the Adjara crisis of 2004, but the conflict with Abkhazia and South Ossetia led to the 2008 Russo–Georgian War and tensions with Russia remain unresolved.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: Evidence for the earliest occupation of the territory of present-day Georgia goes back to c. 1.8 million years ago, as evident from the excavations of Dmanisi in the south-eastern part of the country. This is the oldest evidence of humans anywhere in the world outside Africa. Later prehistoric remains (Acheulian, Mousterian and the Upper Palaeolithic) are known from numerous cave and open-air sites in Georgia. The earliest agricultural Neolithic occupation is dated sometime between 6000 and 5000 BC. known as the Shulaveri-Shomu culture, where people used local obsidian for tools, raised animals such as cattle and pigs, and grew crops, including grapes.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: Numerous excavations in tell settlements of the Shulaveri-Shomu type have been conducted since the 1960s.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: Early metallurgy started in Georgia during the 6th millennium BC, associated with the Shulaveri-Shomu culture. From the beginning of the 4th millennium, metals became used to larger extend in East Georgia and in the whole Transcaucasian region.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: In the 1970s, archaeological excavations revealed a number of ancient settlements that included houses with galleries, carbon-dated to the 5th millennium BC in the Imiris-gora region of Eastern Georgia. These dwellings were circular or oval in plan, a characteristic feature being the central pier and chimney. These features were used and further developed in building Georgian dwellings and houses of the 'Darbazi' type. In the Chalcolithic period of the fourth and third millennia BC, Georgia and eastern Asia Minor were home to the Kura-Araxes culture, giving way in the second millennium BC. to the Trialeti culture. Archaeological excavations have brought to light the remains of settlements at Beshtasheni and Ozni (4th–3rd millennium BC), and barrow burials (carbon dated to the 2nd millennium BC) in the province of Trialeti, at Tsalka (Eastern Georgia). Together, they testify to an advanced and well-developed culture of building and architecture.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: Diauehi, a tribal union of early-Georgians, first appear in written history in the 12th century BC. Archaeological finds and references in ancient sources reveal elements of early political and state formations characterized by advanced metallurgy and goldsmith techniques that date back to the 7th century BC and beyond. Between 2100 and 750 BC, the area survived the invasions by the Hittites, Urartians, Medes, Proto-Persians and Cimmerians. At the same period, the ethnic unity of Proto-Kartvelians broke up into several branches, among them Svans, Zans/Chans and East-Kartvelians. That finally led to the formation of modern Kartvelian languages: Georgian (originating from East Kartvelian vernaculars), Svan, Megrelian and Laz (the latter two originating from Zan dialects). By that time Svans were dominant in modern Svaneti and Abkhazia, Zans inhabited modern Georgian province of Samegrelo, while East-Kartvelians formed the majority in modern eastern Georgia. As a result of cultural and geographic delimitation, two core areas of future Georgian culture and statehood formed in western and eastern Georgia by the end of the 8th century BC. The first two Georgian states emerged in the west known as the Kingdom of Colchis and in the east as the Kingdom of Iberia.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: A second Georgian tribal union emerged in the 13th century BC on the Black Sea coast under the Kingdom of Colchis in western Georgia. The kingdom of Colchis, which existed from the 6th to the 1st centuries BC is regarded as the first early Georgian state formation and the term "Colchians" was used as the collective term for early Georgian-Kartvelian tribes such as Mingrelians, Lazs and Chans who populated the eastern coast of the Black Sea.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: The ancient Greeks knew of Colchis, and it featured in the Greek legend of Jason and the Argonauts, who travelled there in search of the Golden Fleece. Starting around 2000 BC, northwestern Colchis was inhabited by the Svan and Zan peoples of the Kartvelian tribes. Another important ethnic element of ancient Colchis were Greeks who between 1000 and 550 BC established many trading colonies in the coastal area, among them Naessus, Pityus, Dioscurias (modern Sukhumi), Guenos, Phasis (modern Poti), Apsaros, and Rhizos (modern Rize in Turkey). In the eastern part of Georgia there was a struggle for the leadership among the various Georgian confederations during the 6th–4th centuries BC, which was finally won by the Kartlian tribes from the region of Mtskheta. According to the Georgian tradition, the Kingdom of Kartli (known as Iberia in the Greek-Roman literature) was founded around 300 BC by Parnavaz I, the first ruler of the Parnavazid dynasty.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: Between 653 and 333 BC, both Colchis and Iberia survived successive invasions by the Iranian Median Empire. The case is different for the Achaemenid Persians however. According to Herodotus (3.97), Achaemenid power extended as far as the Caucasus mountains, but the Colchians are not included in his list of the twenty Persian satrapies. Nor are they referred to in the lists of Achaemenid lands (dahyāva) given in the Old Persian inscriptions of Darius and his successors. In Xenophon's Anabasis (7.8.25; probably an interpolation) the tribes of Colchis and East Pontus are referred to as independent (autónomoi). On the other hand, Herodotus mentioned both the Colchians and various Pontic tribes in his catalogue (7.78-79) of approximately fifty-seven peoples who participated in Xerxes’ expedition against Greece in 481-80 BC. As the "Encyclopaedia Iranica" states, it is thus probable that the Achaemenids never succeeded in asserting effective rule over Colchis, though local tribal leaders seem to have acknowledged some kind of Persian suzerainty. The "Encyclopaedia Iranica" further states, whereas the adjoining Pontic tribes of the nineteenth satrapy and the Armenians of the thirteenth are mentioned as having paid tribute to Persia, the Colchians and their Caucasian neighbors are not; they had, however, undertaken to send gifts (100 boys and 100 girls) every five years (Herodotus 3.97).


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: At the end of the 4th century BC southern Iberia witnessed the invading armies of Alexander the Great, who established a vast Greco-Macedonian empire to the south of the Caucasus. Neither Iberia nor Colchis was incorporated into the empire of Alexander or any of the successor Hellenistic states of the Middle East. However, the culture of ancient Greece still had a considerable influence on the region, and Greek was widely spoken in the cities of Colchis. In Iberia Greek influence was less noticeable and Aramaic was widely spoken.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: Between the early 2nd century BC and the late 2nd century AD both Colchis and Iberia, together with the neighboring countries, became an arena of long and devastating conflicts between major and local powers such as Rome, Armenia and the short-lived Kingdom of Pontus.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: Pompey's campaign in 66-65 BC annexed Armenia and then he headed north along the Kura river and then west down the Rioni river to the Black Sea. In 189 BC, the rapidly growing Kingdom of Armenia took over more than half of Iberia, conquering the southern and southeastern provinces of Gogarene, Taokhia and Genyokhia, as well as some other territories. Between 120 and 63 BC, Armenia's ally Mithridate VI Eupator of Pontus conquered all of Colchis and incorporated it into his kingdom, embracing almost all of Asia Minor as well as the eastern and northern Black Sea coastal areas.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: This close association with Armenia brought upon the country an invasion (65 BC) by the Roman general Pompey, who was then at war with Mithradates VI of Pontus, and Armenia; but Rome did not establish her power permanently over Iberia. Nineteen years later (36 BC), the Romans again marched on Iberia forcing King Pharnavaz II to join their campaign against Caucasian Albania.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: During this time Armenia and Pontus were actively expanding at the expense of Rome, taking over its Eastern Mediterranean possessions. However, the success of the anti-Roman alliance did not last long. As a result of the Roman campaigns of Pompey and Lucullus from the west, and the Parthian invasion from the south, Armenia lost a significant part of its conquests by 65 BC, devolving into a Roman-Parthian dependency. At the same time, the Kingdom of Pontus was completely destroyed by the Romans and all its territory including Colchis were incorporated into the Roman Empire as her provinces.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: The former Kingdom of Colchis became the Roman province of Lazicum ruled by Roman legati. The following 600 years of Georgian history were marked by struggle between Rome and neighboring Persia (Iran) ruled subsequently by the Parthians and Sassanids who were fighting long wars against each other for the domination in Western Asia including Syria, Mesopotamia, Armenia, Albania, and Iberia.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: While the Georgian kingdom of Colchis was administered as a Roman province, Caucasian Iberia freely accepted the Roman Imperial protection. A stone inscription discovered at Mtskheta speaks of the 1st-century ruler Mihdrat I (AD 58–106) as "the friend of the Caesars" and the king "of the Roman-loving Iberians." Emperor Vespasian fortified the ancient Mtskheta site of Armazi for the Iberian kings in 75 AD.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: In the 2nd century AD, Iberia strengthened her position in the area, especially during the reign of King Pharsman II who achieved full independence from Rome and reconquered some of the previously lost territories from declining Armenia. In the early 3rd century, Rome had to give up Albania and most of Armenia to Sassanid Persia. The province of Lazicum was given a degree of autonomy that by the end of the century developed into full independence with the formation of a new Kingdom of Lazica-Egrisi on the territories of smaller principalities of the Zans, Svans, Apsyls, and Sanyghs. This new Western Georgian state survived more than 250 years until 562 when it was absorbed by the Byzantine Empire.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: In the 3rd century AD, the Lazi tribe came to dominate most of Colchis, establishing the kingdom of Lazica, locally known as Egrisi. Colchis was a scene of the protracted rivalry between the Eastern Roman/Byzantine and Sassanid empires, culminating in the Lazic War from 542 to 562.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: Iberia became a tributary of the Sasanian state during the reign of Shapur I (241–272). Relations between the two countries seem to have been friendly at first, as Iberia cooperated in Persian campaigns against Rome, and the Iberian king Amazasp III (260–265) was listed as a high dignitary of the Sasanian realm, not a vassal who had been subdued by force of arms. But the aggressive tendencies of the Sasanians were evident in their propagation of Zoroastrianism, which was probably established in Iberia between the 260s and 290s.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: However, in the Peace of Nisibis (298) while the Roman empire obtained control of Caucasian Iberia again as a vassal state and acknowledged the reign over all the Caucasian area, it recognized Mirian III, the first of the Chosroid dynasty, as king of Iberia.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: Before Christianization, the cult of Mithras and Zoroastrianism were commonly practiced in Iberia from the 1st century. The cult of Mithras, distinguished by its syncretic character and thus complementary to local cults, especially the cult of the Sun, gradually came to merge with ancient Georgian beliefs.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: The eastern Georgian Kingdom of Iberia became one of the first states in the world to convert to Christianity in 327, when the King of Iberia Mirian III established it as the official state religion. However, the date varies based on numerous accounts and historical documents, which indicate Iberia adopting Christianity as a state religion in 317, 319, 324, 330 etc. According to The Georgian Chronicles, St. Nino of Cappadocia converted Georgia to Christianity in 330 during the time of Constantine the Great. By the middle of the 4th century though, both Lazica (formerly the Kingdom of Colchis) and Iberia adopted Christianity as their official religion. This adoption of Christianity tied the kingdom to the Byzantine Empire, which exerted strong cultural influence over it.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: However, after the emperor Julian was slain during his failed campaign in Persia in 363, Rome ceded control of Iberia to Persia, and King Varaz-Bakur I (Asphagur) (363-365) became a Persian vassal, an outcome confirmed by the Peace of Acilisene in 387. However, a later ruler of Kartli, Pharsman IV (406-409), preserved his country's autonomy and ceased to pay tribute to Persia. Persia prevailed, and Sassanian kings began to appoint a viceroy ("pitiaxae"/"bidaxae") to keep watch on their vassal. They eventually made the office hereditary in the ruling house of Lower Kartli, thus inaugurating the Kartli "pitiaxate", which brought an extensive territory under its control. Although it remained a part of the kingdom of Kartli, its viceroys turned their domain into a center of Persian influence. Sasanian rulers put the Christianity of the Georgians to a severe test. They promoted the teachings of Zoroaster, and by the middle of the 5th century Zoroastrianism had become a second official religion in eastern Georgia alongside Christianity.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: During the 4th and most of the 5th centuries, Iberia (known also as the Kingdom of Kartli) was under Persian control. At the end of the 5th century though, Prince Vakhtang I Gorgasali orchestrated an anti-Persian uprising and restored Iberian statehood, proclaiming himself the King. After this, the armies of Vakhtang launched several campaigns against both Persia and the Byzantine Empire. However, his struggle for the independence and unity of the Georgian state did not have lasting success. After Vakhtang's death in 502, and the short reign of his son Dachi (502–514), Iberia was reincorporated into Persia as a province once again. The Kingdom of Iberia however was abolished in 580 AD by the Persian authorities at that time ruled by Hormizd IV (578-590), most precisely after the death of King Bakur III, and Iberia became now a Persian province ruled by a "marzpan" (governor). However this time the Iberian nobility were granted the privilege of electing the governors, who in Georgian were called "erismtavari". Georgian nobles urged the Byzantine emperor Maurice to revive the kingdom of Iberia in 582, but in 591 Byzantium and Persia decisively agreed to divide Iberia between them, with Tbilisi to be in Persian hands and Mtskheta to be under Byzantine control. By the late 7th century, the Byzantine-Persian rivalry for the Middle East had given way to Arab conquest of the region and subsequent invasions to ensure Arab hegemony in the Caucasus.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: In struggle against the Arab occupation, Bagrationi dynasty came to rule over Tao-Klarjeti and established "Kouropalatate" of Iberia as a nominal dependency under the Byzantine Empire. The restoration of the Georgian kingship begins in AD 888, when Adarnase IV took the title of "King of Iberians". However, the Bagrationi dynasty failed to maintain the integrity of their kingdom which was actually divided between the three branches of the family with the main branch retaining Tao and another controlling Klarjeti. At the end of the 10th century Curopalate David of Tao invaded the Earldom of Iberia (Kartli) and gave it to his foster-son Bagrat III and installed Gurgen as his regent, who was later crowned as "King of Kings of the Iberians" on the death of Bagrat the Simple (994). Through his fortunate bloodlines Bagrat was destined to sit upon two thrones. Furthermore, through his mother Gurandukht, sister of the childless Abkhazian king Theodosius III, Bagrat was a potential heir to the realm of Abkhazia. Three years later, after the death of Theodosius III, Bagrat III inherited the Abkhazian throne. In 1008, Gurgen died, and Bagrat succeeded him as "King of the Iberians", becoming thus the first King of a unified realm of Abkhazia and Iberia. After he had secured his patrimony, Bagrat proceeded to press a claim to the easternmost Georgian kingdom of Kakheti-Hereti and annexed it in or around 1010, after two years of fighting and aggressive diplomacy. Bagrat's reign, a period of uttermost importance in the history of Georgia, brought about the final victory of the Georgian Bagratids in the centuries-long power struggles. Anxious to create more stable and centralized monarchy, Bagrat eliminated or at least diminished the autonomy of the dynastic princes. In his eyes, the most possible internal danger came from the Klarjeti line of the Bagrationi. Although seem to have acknowledged Bagrat's authority, they continued to be styled as Kings, and Sovereigns of Klarjeti. To secure the succession to his son, George I, Bagrat lured his cousins, on pretext of a reconciliatory meeting, to the Panaskerti Castle, and threw them in prison in 1010. Bagrat's foreign policy was generally peaceful and the king successfully manoeuvred to avoid the conflicts with both the Byzantine and Muslim neighbours even though David's domains of Tao remained in the Byzantine and Tbilisi in the Arab hands.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: The major political and military event during George I’s reign, a war against the Byzantine Empire, had its roots back to the 990s, when the Georgian prince Curopalate David of Tao, following his abortive rebellion against Emperor Basil II, had to agree to cede his extensive possessions in Tao and the neighbouring lands to the emperor on his death. All the efforts by David’s stepson and George’s father, Bagrat III, to prevent these territories from being annexed to the empire went in vain. Young and ambitious, George launched a campaign to restore the Kuropalates’ succession to Georgia and occupied Tao in 1015–1016. Byzantines were at that time involved in a relentless war with the Bulgarian Empire, limiting their actions to the west. But as soon as Bulgaria was conquered, Basil II led his army against Georgia (1021). An exhausting war lasted for two years, and ended in a decisive Byzantine victory, forcing George to agree to a peace treaty, in which he had not only to abandon his claims to Tao, but to surrender several of his southwestern possessions to Basil, and to give his three-year-old son, Bagrat IV, as hostage.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: The young child Bagrat IV spent the next three years in the imperial capital of Constantinople and was released in 1025. After George I's death in 1027, Bagrat, aged eight, succeeded to the throne. By the time Bagrat IV became king, the Bagratids’ drive to complete the unification of all Georgian lands had gained irreversible momentum. The kings of Georgia sat at Kutaisi in western Georgia from which they ran all of what had been the Kingdom of Abkhazia and a greater portion of Iberia; Tao had been lost to the Byzantines while a Muslim emir remained in Tbilisi and the kings of Kakheti-Hereti obstinately defended their autonomy in easternmost Georgia. Furthermore, the loyalty of great nobles to the Georgian crown was far from stable. During Bagrat's minority, the regency had advanced the positions of the high nobility whose influence he subsequently tried to limit when he assumed full ruling powers. Simultaneously, the Georgian crown was confronted with two formidable external foes: the Byzantine Empire and the resurgent Seljuq Turks.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: The Seljuk threat prompted the Georgian and Byzantine governments to seek a closer cooperation. To secure the alliance, Bagrat's daughter Mart’a (Maria) married, at some point between 1066 and 1071, the Byzantine co-emperor Michael VII Ducas.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: The second half of the 11th century was marked by the strategically significant invasion of the Seljuq Turks, who by the end of the 1040s had succeeded in building a vast empire including most of Central Asia and Persia. The Seljuqs made their first appearances in Georgia in the 1060s, when the sultan Alp Arslan laid waste to the south-western provinces of the Georgian kingdom and reduced Kakheti. These intruders were part of the same wave of the Turkish movement which inflicted a crushing defeat on the Byzantine army at Manzikert in 1071. Although the Georgians were able to recover from Alp Arslan's invasion by securing the Tao (Theme of Iberia), a frontier region which had been a bone of contention between Georgia and the Byzantine Empire, the Byzantine withdrawal from Anatolia brought them in more direct contact with the Seljuqs. Following the 1073 devastation of Kartli by the Seljuk sultan Alp Arslan, George II successfully repelled an invasion. In 1076, the Seljuk sultan Malik Shah I surged into Georgia and reduced many settlements to ruins. Harassed by the massive Turkic influx, known in Georgian history as the Great Turkish Invasion, from 1079/80 onward, George was pressured into submitting to Malik-Shah to ensure a precious degree of peace at the price of an annual tribute.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: The struggle against the Seljuq invaders in Georgia was led by the young King David IV of the Bagrationi royal family, who inherited the throne in 1089 at the age of 16 after the abdication of his father George II Bagrationi. Soon after coming to power, David created the regular army and peasant militia in order to be able to resist Seljuq colonization of his country. The First Crusade (1096–1099) and the Crusaders' offensive against the Seljuq Turks in Anatolia and Syria favored David's successful campaigns in Georgia. By the end of 1099 David had stopped paying tribute to the Seljuqs and had liberated most of the Georgian lands, with the exception of Tbilisi and Hereti. In 1103 he reorganized the Georgian Orthodox Church and closely linked it with the state by appointing as Catholicos (Archbishop) a Crown Chancellor (Mtsihnobart Ukhutsesi) of Georgia. In 1103–1105 the Georgian army took over Hereti and made successful raids into still Seljuq-controlled Shirvan. Between 1110 and 1118 David took Lori, Samshvilde, Rustavi and other fortresses of lower Kartli and Tashiri, thus turning Tbilisi into an isolated Seljuq enclave.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: In 1118–1119, having considerable amounts of free, unsettled land as a result of the withdrawal of Turkish nomads, and desperately needing qualified manpower for the army, King David invited some 40,000 Kipchak warriors from North Caucasus to settle in Georgia with their families. In 1120 the ruler of Alania recognized himself as King David's vassal and afterwards sent thousands of Alans to cross the main Caucasus range into Georgia, where they settled in Kartli. The Georgian Royal army also welcomed mercenaries from Germany, Italy, and Scandinavia (all those westerners were defined in Georgia as "the Franks") as well as from Kievan Rus.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: In 1121, the Seljuq Sultan Mahmud declared Jihad on Georgia and sent a strong army under one of his famous generals Ilghazi to fight the Georgians. Although significantly outnumbered by the Turks, the Georgians managed to defeat the invaders at the Battle of Didgori, and in 1122 they took over Tbilisi, making it Georgia's capital. Three years later the Georgians conquered Shirvan. As a result, the mostly Christian-populated Ghishi-Kabala area in western Shirvan (a relic of the once prosperous Albanian Kingdom) was annexed by Georgia while the rest of already Islamicized Shirvan became Georgia's client-state. In the same year a large portion of Armenia was liberated by David's troops and fell into Georgian hands as well. Thus in 1124 David also became the King of Armenians, incorporating Northern Armenia into the lands of the Georgian Crown. In 1125 King David died, leaving Georgia with the status of a strong regional power. In Georgia, King David is called Agmashenebeli (English: the builder).


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: David Agmashenebeli's successors (Kings Demeter I, David V and George III) continued the policy of Georgia's expansion by subordinating most of the mountain clans and tribes of North Caucasia and further securing Georgian positions in Shirvan. However, the most glorious sovereign of Georgia of that period was Queen Tamar (David's great-granddaughter).


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: The reign of Queen Tamar represented the peak of Georgia's might in the whole history of the nation. In 1194–1204, Tamar's armies crushed new Turkish invasions from the south-east and south and launched several successful campaigns into Turkish-controlled Southern Armenia. As a result, most of Southern Armenia, including the cities of Karin, Erzinjan, Khelat, Muş and Van, came under Georgian control. Although it was not included in the lands of the Georgian Crown, and was left under the nominal rule of local Turkish Emirs and Sultans, Southern Armenia became a protectorate of the Kingdom of Georgia.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: The temporary fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1204 to the Crusaders left Georgia and Bulgarian Empire as the strongest Christian states in the whole East Mediterranean area. The same year Queen Tamar sent her troops to take over the former Byzantine Lazona and Paryadria with the cities of Atina, Riza, Trebizond, Kerasunt, Amysos, Cotyora, Heraclea and Sinopa. In 1205, the occupied territory was transformed into the Empire of Trebizond, which was dependent on Georgia. Tamar's relative Prince Alexios Komnenos was crowned as its Emperor. In the immediate years after, Georgian armies invaded northern Persia (modern day Iranian Azerbaijan) and took the cities of Marand, Tabriz (1208), Ardabil (1208), Zanjan, Khoy (1210), and Qazvin (1210), placing part of the conquered territory under a Georgian protectorate. This was the maximum territorial extent of Georgia throughout her history. Queen Tamar was addressed as "The Queen of Abkhazians, Kartvels, Rans, Kakhs and Armenians, Shirvan-Shakhine and Shakh-in-Shakhine, The Sovereign of the East and West". Georgian historians often refer to her as "Queen Tamar the Great".


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: The period between the early 12th and the early 13th centuries, and especially the era of Tamar the Great, can truly be considered as the golden age of Georgia. Besides the political and military achievements, it was marked by the development of Georgian culture, including architecture, literature, philosophy and sciences.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: In 1225 Jalal ad-Din Mingburnu, the ruler of Khwarezmian Empire, attacked Georgia, defeating its forces in the battle of Garni, and conquered Tbilisi., after which allegedly a hundred thousand citizens were put to death for not renouncing Christianity.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: In the 1220s, the South Caucasus and Asia Minor faced the invasion of the Mongols. In spite of fierce resistance by Georgian-Armenian forces and their allies, the whole area including most of Georgia, all Armenian lands and Central Anatolia eventually fell to the Mongols.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: In 1243, Queen Rusudan of Georgia signed a peace treaty with the Mongols in accordance with which Georgia lost her client-states, ceded western Shirvan, Nakhichevan and some other territories and agreed to pay tribute to the Mongols as well as to let them occupy and de facto rule more than half of the remaining territory. Although Mongol-occupied Tbilisi remained an official capital of the kingdom, the Queen refused to return there and stayed in Kutaisi until her death in 1245. In addition to all the above hardships, even the part of the kingdom that remained free of the Mongols started disintegrating: The Crown started losing control over the warlords of Samtskhe (southern provinces of Georgia) who established their own relations with the Mongols and by the year 1266 practically seceded from Georgia.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: The period between 1259 and 1330 was marked by the struggle of the Georgians against the Mongol Ilkhanate for full independence. The first anti-Mongol uprising started in 1259 under the leadership of King David Narin who in fact waged his war for almost thirty years. The Anti-Mongol strife went on under the Kings Demeter II (1270–1289) and David VIII (1293–1311). Finally, it was King George the Brilliant (1314–1346) who managed to play on the decline of the Ilkhanate, stopped paying tribute to the Mongols, restored the pre-1220 state borders of Georgia, and returned the Empire of Trebizond into Georgia's sphere of influence.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: In 1386–1403, the Kingdom of Georgia faced eight Turco-Mongolic invasions under the leadership of Tamerlane. Except in Abkhazia and Svaneti, the invasions devastated Georgia's economy, population, and urban centers.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: In the 15th century the whole area changed dramatically in all possible aspects: linguistic, cultural, political, etc. During that period the Kingdom of Georgia turned into an isolated, fractured Christian enclave, a relic of the faded East Roman epoch surrounded by a Muslim, predominantly Turco-Iranian world. During the three subsequent centuries, the Georgian rulers maintained their perilous autonomy as subjects under the Turkish Ottoman and Iranian Safavid, Afsharid, and Qajar domination, although sometimes serving as little more than puppets in the hands of their powerful suzerains.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: By the middle of the 15th century, most of Georgia's old neighbor-states disappeared from the map within less than a hundred years. The fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453 sealed the Black Sea and cut the remnants of Christian states of the area from Europe and the rest of the Christian world. Georgia remained connected to the West through contact with the Genoese colonies of the Crimea.


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: As a result of these changes, the Georgian Kingdom suffered economic and political decline and in the 1460s the kingdom fractured into several kingdoms and principalities:


title: History of Georgia (country)

text: By the late 15th century the Ottoman Empire was encroaching on the Georgian states from the west and in 1501 a new Muslim power, Safavid Iran, arose to the east. For the next few centuries, Georgia would become a battleground between these two great rival powers and the Georgian states would struggle to maintain their independence by various means. Ottoman and Safavid Iranian encroachments started for the Ottomans in the late 15th century, and for the Safavids in the earliest 16th century in which the latter managed to make eastern Georgia a vassal in 1500. In 1555, the Ottomans and the Safavids signed the Peace of Amasya following the Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–55), defining spheres of influence in Georgia, assigning Imereti in the west to the Turks and Kartli-Kakheti in the east to the Persians. The treaty however, was not in force for long as the Ottomans gained the upper hand and launched campaigns during the next Ottoman-Safavid war threatening to end the Persian domination in the region. The Safavid Persians reestablished their hegemony over all lost regions some two decades later including full hegemony over most of Georgia in the Ottoman–Safavid War (1603–18).