ZHENG HE

As the second son in a Muslim family Zheng He did not have a peaceful childhood in Yunnan near Lake Dian, where he was born under the name of Ma He. A 300,000  men mongol army was sent to destroy Yunnan. His father was killed when little Ma He was only 11 years old. The Mongols made him an eunuch, which means they castrated him. He could not have kids, but this event very much affected his later career.
Later, he served a prince and they chose him because of the fact that he was castrated and eunuchs were not considered a threat because they could not rape women, they could not have children and therefore couldn't pass the power and knowledge on their offspring. The Eunuchs were given important roles and decisions.
He became a mariner, explorer, diplomat, and the admiral of the treasure fleet. The Treasure fleet made 7 voyages all under the command of Zheng He and all through the Indian Ocean. These expeditions were the largest the world had ever seen. They utilized about 30,000 men and 317 wooden ships. The biggest wooden ship ever built. They were 500 feet long and 150 feet wide. During the voyages the ships carried  over million tons of Chinese silk, ceramics, copper coins, etc., which were traded for tropical species, gemstones, textiles, and animals.

The fleet once sailed through the Malacca strip and an furious storms was raging outside, but Zheng He knew he is under divine protection and the fleet survived. On another voyage they met with the pirates. Some would think that he was scared but again he was smart enough to not panic and used his military power against them. The pirates were executed and the peace was restored.
After the seventh voyage the Chinese government stopped the voyages and isolated itself from the world. That was the end of the Treasure fleet.

However, Zheng He is still remembered in some countries. They still worship him in Indonesia. They consider him a peacemaker, a hero, and even a god. He is best remembered for his diplomacy. He even has his own temple. In Sri Lanka he is remembered as the " Man of War" because of the numerous ethnic conflicts he started when he came to trade goods for the famous Sri Lankan pepper. Zheng He is not known so much as for example Chris Columbus because the Imperial officials sought to eliminate memories of the voyages.

CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM

2 things that led to rise of each religion ?
empires that adapted to Christianity and  Islam
where?
who?
how?
just freakin examine the freakin religions

ALEXANDER THE GREAT

Early life:

• Alexander was born 356 B.C. in Pella the capital of Kingdom of Macedon
• He was the son of Phillip II the King of Macedon  and his fourth wife, Olympias, the daughter of Neoptolemus I, king of Epirus. Although Philip had seven or eight wives, Olympias was his principal wife for some time, likely a result of giving birth to Alexander. 
• When Alexander was 13, Phillip started looking for a tutor. In the end, Phillip chose Aristotle 
• Mieza was like a boarding school for Alexander and the children of Macedonian nobles, such as Ptolemy, Hephaistion, and Cassander. Many of these students would become his friends and future generals, and are often known as the 'Companions'. Aristotle taught Alexander and his companions about medicine, philosophy, morals, religion, logic, and art.
• At age 16, Alexander's education under Aristotle ended. Philip waged war against Byzantion, leaving Alexander in charge as regent and heir apparent.  During Philip's absence, the Thracian Maedi revolted against Macedonia. Alexander responded quickly, driving them from their territory. He colonized it with Greeks, and founded a city named Alexandropolis.

Accomplishments:

The supercool-empire of Alexander the Great

• Alexander the Great  had to continue winning and beating other empires in order to feel satisfied. Pothos is a longing, or desire for something more. Alexander kept going and going because he never felt fulfilled and he never felt content with what he had. He was tempted by everything that is unknown; he liked the risk. As a child, he was sort of an outsider to his family -- it is known that he considered Aristotle, his tutor, more of a father than his own father -- but he didn't want to go "home," he wanted fulfillment. He wanted to conquer the world to assimilate the culture, also.
  
• Alexander the Great conquered more than almost any other single man ever. He conquered Greece, "Asia"(The Middle East), Egypt, and even parts of India. The reason for this was because Persia once owned this land. Alexander had what you might call a vendetta against Persia. Persia tried to conquer Greece, and Alexander was a "Greek". Also, the Greeks (League of Corinth) wanted him to. 
  
• His main goal of his quest was to seek revenge against the Persians for the bad they did to Greece. 
  
  

Advanced Placement History: The Persian Empire vol. II @eldorado

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Advanced Placement History: The Persian Empire vol. I @eldorado

Advanced Placement History: The Persian Empire vol. I @eldorado: Who? Important people Where? How? -fromm north africa to asia -rivalry with greece -mega large empire Alexander the great was the ...

THE SOCIAL SYSTEM OF THE ARYANS

Origin of the caste system
According to socio-historical theory, the caste system began with the arrival of the Aryans in India. The Aryans arrived in India around 500 B. C. (some claim a much earlier date). The fair skinned Aryans arrived in India from south Europe and north Asia.


Varna
Varna refers to the categorization of the Hindu society by four castes, hypothesized by the Brahmins and their sacred texts.
Varna also means "color" in the Sanskrit language, which is ancient Indian
The four main varnas 

• the Brahmins: scholars, teachers, priests and sages.
• the Kshatriya: kings, soldiers, and rulers.
• the Vaishyas: merchants, cattle herders and agriculturists
• the Shudras: labourers, craftsmen and artisans.

• The fifth varna was that of the "Untouchables", who were the "junk" of the society. They did all the jobs that no one wanted to do, including hard labor and other dirty work. They were believed to be so full of germs, that you could get infected just by touching them, so nobody would ever want to come near them.

Jati

is the term used to denote clans, tribes, communities and sub-communities in India. It is a term used across religions. In Indian society each jāti typically has an association with a traditional job function or tribe, although religious beliefs or linguistic groupings define some jatis. In any given location in India 500 or more jatis may exist, although the exact composition will differ from district to district.

•  Rules of jati included that when you were born, you belonged to the same jati as your parents, and you could not  change that. You usually married people and only spent time with the people that belonged to the same jati as you. Some people became more loyal to their yati than to the government or their religion. You had to treat the people of a higher jati with great respect.
• If rules were broken, you were kicked out from your jati, and that meant you didn't belong anywhere. And it was very hard to function all alone because everyone looked on you if you were an outcast.
• Aryans believed that the caste system made it easier to govern society, as each jati had specific rules. With the caste system, everybody had a task, nobody was "jobless", so it was a great system to get people to do their work. Everybody worked to their full potentional, in the hope of improving their position and moving up one jati in society, which rarely happened to individuals, but more likely to a whole jati from group effort.

Unpanishads

The Upanishads  are philosophical texts considered to be an early source of Hindu religion. More than 200 are known, of which the first dozen or so, the oldest and most important, are variously referred to as the principal, main  or old Upanishads

Brahman

Brahman  is the one supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal universe. Brahman is sometimes referred to as the Absolute or Godhead which is the Divine Ground of all being. Brahman is conceived as personal, impersonal and supreme depending on the philosophical school.

• Samsara is a belief that when someone dies, they temporarily go to a heaven-like place, and are then reborn into a new existence.
• Karma is the specific existence that someone was reborn into. If you lived a pure life, you were reborn into a better life, for example into a higher jati. But if you lived in sin, you were reborn into a worse life.
• Moksha breaks the cycle of rebirth and lets your soul rest in a state of "dreamless sleep". To attain moksha, you had to lead an extremely simple, pleasure-free life, and meditate until you reached "enlightement".
• The Upanishads were often used to justify the inequality created by the caste system. They stated why one was born into a caste - because of the way one had lived their previous life.

Nov 12 · NCAA Feet: UNC vs. Michigan State – Carrier Classic Recap

College basketball fans were in for an amazing treat when #1 ranked UNC faced off against Michigan State atop an aircraft carrier in Coronado, California. Dubbed the Carrier Classic, this sporting event was a special way to honor the members of the Armed Forces on Veterans Day; the significance of the game seemed paltry to the true purpose of November 11th, as thousands of military veterans as well as President Barack Obama were in attendance, celebrating the remembrance of our nation’s most courageous individuals in a unique way.

Both UNC and Michigan State took the outdoor court wearing the Carrier Classic collection uniforms and sneakers, but also spotted were a number of notable sneakers that were clearly from the players’ own collections; The Air Jordan XI ‘Cool Grey’, Air Jordan V ‘Wolf Grey, Air Jordan XIII White/University Blue, Air Jordan 2011 UNC PE, and the Nike Zoom Kobe VI were spotted alongside the Zoom Hyperdunk 2011 and Air Jordan 8.0. Check out a full recap of the game and the awe-inspiring outdoor basketball court below and be sure to stick with Sneaker News for more NCAA Feet features as the college basketball season rolls on! via Yahoo!.