Elephants & Kings

Author: Thomas R. Trautmann
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022626453X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 389

Book Description
Because of their enormous size, elephants have long been irresistible for kings as symbols of their eminence. In early civilizations—such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, the Indus Civilization, and China—kings used elephants for royal sacrifice, spectacular hunts, public display of live captives, or the conspicuous consumption of ivory—all of them tending toward the elephant’s extinction. The kings of India, however, as Thomas R. Trautmann shows in this study, found a use for elephants that actually helped preserve their habitat and numbers in the wild: war. Trautmann traces the history of the war elephant in India and the spread of the institution to the west—where elephants took part in some of the greatest wars of antiquity—and Southeast Asia (but not China, significantly), a history that spans 3,000 years and a considerable part of the globe, from Spain to Java. He shows that because elephants eat such massive quantities of food, it was uneconomic to raise them from birth. Rather, in a unique form of domestication, Indian kings captured wild adults and trained them, one by one, through millennia. Kings were thus compelled to protect wild elephants from hunters and elephant forests from being cut down. By taking a wide-angle view of human-elephant relations, Trautmann throws into relief the structure of India’s environmental history and the reasons for the persistence of wild elephants in its forests.

Tell Them of Battles, Kings, and Elephants

Author: Mathias Énard
Publisher: New Directions Publishing
ISBN: 0811227057
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 152

Book Description
Michelangelo’s adventure in Constantinople, from the “mesmerizing” (New Yorker) and “masterful” (Washington Post) author of Compass In 1506, Michelangelo—a young but already renowned sculptor—is invited by the sultan of Constantinople to design a bridge over the Golden Horn. The sultan has offered, along with an enormous payment, the promise of immortality, since Leonardo da Vinci’s design was rejected: “You will surpass him in glory if you accept, for you will succeed where he has failed, and you will give the world a monument without equal.” Michelangelo, after some hesitation, flees Rome and an irritated Pope Julius II—whose commission he leaves unfinished—and arrives in Constantinople for this truly epic project. Once there, he explores the beauty and wonder of the Ottoman Empire, sketching and describing his impressions along the way, as he struggles to create what could be his greatest architectural masterwork. Tell Them of Battles, Kings, and Elephants—constructed from real historical fragments—is a thrilling page-turner about why stories are told, why bridges are built, and how seemingly unmatched fragments, seen from the opposite sides of civilization, can mirror one another.

The Land of the Elephant Kings

Author: Paul J. Kosmin
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674728823
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 440

Book Description
A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year The Seleucid Empire (311–64 BCE) was unlike anything the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern worlds had seen. Stretching from present-day Bulgaria to Tajikistan—the bulk of Alexander the Great’s Asian conquests—the kingdom encompassed a territory of remarkable ethnic, religious, and linguistic diversity; yet it did not include Macedonia, the ancestral homeland of the dynasty. The Land of the Elephant Kings investigates how the Seleucid kings, ruling over lands to which they had no historic claim, attempted to transform this territory into a coherent and meaningful space. “This engaging book appeals to the specialist and non-specialist alike. Kosmin has successfully brought together a number of disparate fields in a new and creative way that will cause a reevaluation of how the Seleucids have traditionally been studied.” —Jeffrey D. Lerner, American Historical Review “It is a useful and bright introduction to Seleucid ideology, history, and position in the ancient world.” —Jan P. Stronk, American Journal of Archaeology

17 Kings and 42 Elephants

Author: Margaret Mahy
Publisher: Dial Books
ISBN: 0803704585
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 33

Book Description
Seventeen kings and forty-two elephants romp with a variety of jungle animals during their journey through a wild, wet night. Suggested level: junior, primary.

Stalking the Elephant Kings

Author: Christopher Kremmer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Book Description

Elephants and Kings

Author: Thomas R. Trautmann
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022626436X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 389

Book Description
Retreat and persistence of elephants -- Elephants and Indian kingship -- War elephants -- Structures of use: caturaga, vihana, vyha -- Elephant knowledge -- The spread of the war elephant -- North India, South India, Sri Lanka -- The Near East, North Africa, Europe -- Southeast Asia -- After the war elephant -- Drawing the balance, looking ahead

The Kings of Angkor

Author: Mary Moriarty
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781507855300
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Among the country of Cambodia are the temples of Angkor Wat . The home of the ancient Khmer and their Mighty Kings. Once home to the proud Khmer who at one time ruled what is now present day, SE Asia. Anna Oldenburg came by invitation of a NGO group to help preserve the ancient temples. To work and find ways to save the majestic temples for others to enjoy. Anna had been around ancient temples and archeology all her life. She was a grand niece of one of the best known archeologist of the last century. So it was no surprise when Anna found archeology as her life's work. Landing in Cambodia she found not only her work but also a country that felt strangely familiar. Then there was her host Nurung... Governor of Siem Reap Province but also a prince and the man of her dreams. As long as she could remember she had dreams about Nurung and about the temples of Cambodia, yet they never made any sense until she arrived. When she started working on the temples she felt like she was walking paths she had, a long time ago, but how? She had never been to Cambodia in her life. Anna met Heng, younger cousin to Nurung in College. After months of the same classes, they go to Egypt to work and fall in love. Yet he disappears for lengths of time but always comes back like he only left for a few minutes but never has a good explanation. Then there is Nurung. He is always there, always watchful. Handsome beyond anything Anna could dream of... only she has dreamed of him all her life. These three are brought together not by coincidence but by destiny's call. They are part of a larger picture and they all must take part or possibly be destroyed forever. It's a race against time and making sure history as we know it doesn't get messed up or the present day may not turn out like we know it. Will Anna find out the meaning of her dreams? Who will she give herself to, Heng or Nurung? Will those back in time at the ancient temples of Angkor Wat find a way to destroy all she holds dear... even herself?

Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?

Author: Louis V. Gerstner
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0060523808
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 310

Book Description
Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? sums up Lou Gerstner's historic business achievement, bringing IBM back from the brink of insolvency to lead the computer business once again.Offering a unique case study drawn from decades of experience at some of America's top companies -- McKinsey, American Express, RJR Nabisco -- Gerstner's insights into management and leadership are applicable to any business, at any level. Ranging from strategy to public relations, from finance to organization, Gerstner reveals the lessons of a lifetime running highly successful companies.

How Animals Grieve

Author: Barbara J. King
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022604372X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 202

Book Description
“A touching and provocative exploration of the latest research on animal minds and animal emotions” from the renowned anthropologist and author (The Washington Post). Scientists have long cautioned against anthropomorphizing animals, arguing that it limits our ability to truly comprehend the lives of other creatures. Recently, however, things have begun to shift in the other direction, and anthropologist Barbara J. King is at the forefront of that movement, arguing strenuously that we can—and should—attend to animal emotions. With How Animals Grieve, she draws our attention to the specific case of grief, and relates story after story—from fieldsites, farms, homes, and more—of animals mourning lost companions, mates, or friends. King tells of elephants surrounding their matriarch as she weakens and dies, and, in the following days, attending to her corpse as if holding a vigil. A housecat loses her sister, from whom she’s never before been parted, and spends weeks pacing the apartment, wailing plaintively. A baboon loses her daughter to a predator and sinks into grief. In each case, King uses her anthropological training to interpret and try to explain what we see—to help us understand this animal grief properly, as something neither the same as nor wholly different from the human experience of loss. The resulting book is both daring and down-to-earth, strikingly ambitious even as it’s careful to acknowledge the limits of our understanding. Through the moving stories she chronicles and analyzes so beautifully, King brings us closer to the animals with whom we share a planet, and helps us see our own experiences, attachments, and emotions as part of a larger web of life, death, love, and loss.

Elephas Maximus

Author: Stephen Alter
Publisher: Penguin Books India
ISBN: 9780143031741
Category : Asiatic elephant
Languages : en
Pages : 358

Book Description
Vivid Portrait Of An Animal That Has Captured The Imagination Of Humans For Millennia Elephas Maximus, The Majestic Asian Elephant, Is Still Revered In Indian Religion And Culture. Yet, Unabated Ivory Poaching Conjures Up Fears Of A Future When Tuskless Males May Be All That Survive And Conservationists Are Fighting To Preserve Its Endangered Habitat As Settlements Expand. Fascinated By This Regal Animal And Its Unique Relationship With Humankind, Stephen Alter Travelled Extensively Across India To Explore Its Natural Home, And Its Place In History And Myth. Alter'S Search Takes Him From National Parks Where He Observes Elephants In The Wild To The Annual Sonepur Mela Where They Are Bought And Sold, To Kota Where They Once Played A Unique Role In Royal Festivals. He Charts The Elephant In Art, Religion, Folklore And The Everyday World Of India, Bringing To Life The Complex Past And Troubled Present Of This Majestic Creature While Offering Hope For Its Future.