Northgate is a light rail and bus station in the Northgate neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the northern terminus of the 1 Line on Sound Transit's Link light rail system. The transit center, located adjacent to the Northgate Mall (now named Northgate Station), has four bus bays served by 22 routes. The station also has parking for 1,525 vehicles.

The transit center opened in June 1992 as a major hub for North Seattle buses and was prioritized as a light rail terminus during planning later in the decade. Construction on the light rail extension to Northgate began in 2012 and station construction began in 2017. The extension of the 1 Line, including Northgate station and a pedestrian bridge over Interstate 5, opened on October 2, 2021. Northgate will remain the northern terminus of the 1 Line until the Lynnwood Link extension is opened in 2024. It was once proposed as a bus rapid transit terminal and is an area with potential for additional transit-oriented development.

Location

Northgate station is located along the east side of 1st Avenue Northeast on the southwest side of the Northgate Station shopping mall in northern Seattle. It is directly east of Interstate 5 and the terminus of its reversible express lanes, which intersect 1st Avenue Northeast at Northeast 103rd Street. To the west of the freeway is the North Seattle College campus, connected via the John Lewis Memorial Bridge to the station's mezzanine level. The station and its parking lots are adjacent to medical clinics, offices, and the Thornton Place retail and housing complex. In 2013, the Puget Sound Regional Council estimated that the area within  of the station had a population of 5,453 residents and was home to 9,273 jobs.

History

Bus station

The Northgate Transit Center opened on June 6, 1992, at a cost of $15.8 million to construct. It was planned in 1978, as part of King County Metro's "MetroTRANSITion" program, becoming the last of eleven transit centers built under the plan. The Northgate area was historically served by the Blue Streak express bus to downtown Seattle from 1970 onward, using a park and ride on the north side of the mall (closed in 2008 and converted into Hubbard Homestead Park). Construction began in 1990 with the demolition of a Group Health clinic and relocation of a segment of Thornton Creek.

The transit center was sited adjacent to the mall and an access ramp to the Interstate 5 reversible express lanes. It consisted of six bus bays that served a reverse-direction street for buses with extra space for layovers and passing lanes. The passenger waiting area was covered by large white canvases held aloft by steel towers, designed by ZGF Architects. It featured several passenger amenities, including public restrooms, pay phones, an ORCA card vending machine, bicycle parking, and a baby changing station. Several sculptures at the transit center were designed by Cris Bruch and cost $50,000 to install as part of the agency's public art program.

The park and ride at the transit center initially consisted of 284 spaces in the west lot before it underwent two expansions. In 2001, the parking lot was expanded to 950 spaces after the $7.6 million purchase of  from Simon Property Group. The completion of the Thornton Creek development in April 2009 brought 350 additional parking spaces to be added to the transit center, mostly used to replace a 500-stall park and ride north of the mall. By 2016, Northgate Transit Center had over 1,000 total parking spaces that normally filled before 9 a.m. on weekdays.

Light rail planning and construction

The Northgate area had been considered in several rapid transit studies in the late 20th century as a suitable terminus or major station. The Northgate Link project was proposed as part of the "Sound Move" ballot measure in 1996, pending additional funding, but was deferred until the voter approval of the Sound Transit 2 package in 2008.

Construction of the Northgate extension began in 2012. Absher Construction was awarded a $174 million contract in August 2016 to build Northgate station and the elevated guideway leading to the tunnel portal. On January 13, 2017, Sound Transit broke ground on the station, beginning construction with the demolition of two parking lots. By July, installation of the station's support columns and platform-level girders were underway. Construction on the station was declared substantially complete in February 2021, shortly after powered testing of light rail vehicles had begun.

As part of the project, parking capacity at the transit center was reduced by spaces eliminated for the station and a new bus station to the west of the original one. A partially below-grade parking garage with 450 spaces was opened in November 2018 on the southwest corner of the Northgate Mall parking lot. A larger garage with up to 900 vehicles was proposed but rejected after outcry from community and neighborhood groups.

Northgate station and its adjoining pedestrian bridge to North Seattle College were opened on October 2, 2021, a day after the formal ribbon-cutting. Bus service was transferred to the new bus bays under the light rail station on the same day, including new routes serving Snohomish County on Sound Transit Express and Community Transit that debuted on October 4. The public restrooms at the station's mezzanine level were closed in mid-2022 due to vandalism and security incidents; they were replaced by portable toilets for a year while undergoing renovations.

Beyond the station, a  pocket track was built to the north for train storage and reversal, as well as accommodating a future light rail extension to Lynnwood Transit Center, planned to be completed in 2024. Sound Transit estimates that the station will have 15,000 daily boardings by 2030.

Station layout

Northgate station is located on the east side of 1st Avenue Northeast between 103rd and 100th streets on the southwest side of Northgate Mall. It consists of a single island platform elevated  above ground level with an intermediate mezzanine. The mezzanine has ticket vending machines and public restrooms and is connected to both the platform and entrances via stairs, escalators, and elevators. It has four entrances: Exit A, at the north end adjacent to the parking garage; Exit B, with two entrances leading to the bus bays at street level; and Exit C, which connects the mezzanine directly with the John Lewis Memorial Bridge, which crosses Interstate 5. At street level, Northgate station has a bicycle parking station, on-demand lockers, and free racks.

The station's four bus bays lie under the mezzanine and platform and run along 1st Avenue Northeast and a parallel access road to the east. The former bus platforms to the east of the station are now used for layovers. A designated pickup and drop-off area is located near the south entrance on the east side of the access road. Northgate station has a total of 1,525 parking stalls that are divided between four facilities: a four-level garage with 447 stalls, a surface lot with 448 stalls, a mall-owned garage with 280 stalls, and 350 stalls in the Thorton Place garage. The garages and lots include reserved parking for carpooling high-occupancy vehicles and other users with the use of a pre-registered permit. The upper level of the Sound Transit parking garage at the station and several nearby lots provide paid parking for the light rail station.

Northgate Station was designed by Hewitt Architects, a Seattle-based firm that also worked on Roosevelt station. The station features several pieces of public art that was funded by the "STart" program, which allocates a percent of construction costs for art. Seattle-based artist Mary Ann Peters created Darner's Prism, a set of painted glass murals depicting a green darner dragonfly, the official state insect of Washington, laid over representations of the nearby freeway noise and Thornton Creek. The larger mural spans  above the platform's west clerestory and a smaller companion is located in the north stairwell. Cris Bruch created two new sculptures for the station's plaza and north entrance to complement his earlier work at the original transit center. The plaza work is a  steel sculpture with nine "trunks" with clusters of aluminum "blossoms" that hang from their curved branches, while the north entrance has several polyhedrons mounted to the screen wall on the station's façade.

Pedestrian bridge

The John Lewis Memorial Bridge is an overpass for pedestrians and bicycles crossing Interstate 5, connecting the mezzanine of Northgate station to the North Seattle College campus and Licton Springs neighborhood. It opened alongside the light rail station on October 2, 2021, and was dedicated by city leaders. The bridge is  long, with a  main span over the freeway using a Vierendeel truss and a ramp connecting to a protected cycletrack at street level on 1st Avenue Northeast. It was officially named in honor of former U.S. Congressman John Lewis of Georgia by the Seattle City Council in August 2021 to recognize his civil rights activism amid criticism for not choosing a local namesake.

The bridge and its connection to the station were first proposed in 2007 by the city government and studied by King County in 2011. It was tentatively approved by Sound Transit in 2012 as a replacement for a larger parking garage, with the agency and the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) agreeing to each fund $5 million towards its construction, estimated to cost $20 million at the time. Several designs were considered, including a cable-stayed bridge, a tied-arch bridge, and an enclosed tube with hexagonal sections proposed by LMN Architects that was chosen by the city government in 2015. The tube design would require additional structural supports, including a steel deck under the walkway, raising the project's costs to over $60 million. The city applied for a $15 million grant from the federal government in 2015 that was rejected, but the project instead received funds from the state government and a local transportation levy passed in 2015.

The bridge project was put on hold in 2016 due to the rise in projected costs and a new design team was assembled by SDOT, to be led by VIA Architects. The simpler design, estimated to cost $37.5 million in 2017, replaced the enclosed design with an uncovered tied-arch bridge that would be  wide. The main Vierendeel truss span was originally planned to use a proprietary lighting system for the handrails until the initial bids were $8 million over the estimated budget, leading to a redesign. Construction on the bridge began in February 2020, with project costs estimated at $56 million. The prefabricated trusses were manufactured in Tacoma and trucked to the bridge site for assembly and installation, which was delayed to May 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Transit-oriented development

In anticipation of light rail construction, the area around Northgate Mall was identified by the city as an "urban village" in 1993, with heavy potential for transit-oriented development. In 2007, the city rezoned the Northgate area to support an increased height limit of .

In 2009, one of the mall's surface parking lots was converted into a mixed-use, transit-oriented development called "Thornton Place", with 109 condominiums, 278 apartments (including affordable units), a movie theater, and  of retail space. The complex, which also includes a community park and a daylit section of Thornton Creek, was heralded as one of Seattle's first true transit-oriented developments.

The city of Seattle published an "urban design framework" for the Northgate area in 2013, outlining a vision for the redevelopment of the neighborhood into an urban center, based on the 1993 urban village designation. The report focused on maximizing transit-oriented development around the transit center and light rail station by building mixed-use infill development in the surface parking lots south of the mall with open spaces and plazas. The draft "Seattle 2035" comprehensive plan, written in 2015, anticipates at least 1,600 residential units and 6,000 jobs to be added to the Northgate area by 2035. Simon Property Group announced a major redevelopment plan for Northgate Mall in 2018, proposing the addition of office space and 1,200 apartment units on the  site. The redevelopment also includes a hockey center that serves as the training facility for the Seattle Kraken, which opened in September 2021.

In 2019, the Seattle Housing Authority acquired Northgate Commons, a 1950s apartment complex on the north side of the mall, with the intent of redeveloping it into a mixed-income public housing complex. The agency announced plans in 2021 to build six new buildings on the site with 1,400 total apartment units that would include affordable housing.

Services

Northgate is the northern terminus of the 1 Line, which travels south to Downtown Seattle, the Rainier Valley, and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. It is the eighteenth northbound station from Angle Lake, the southern terminus, and one stop north of Roosevelt. 1 Line trains serve Northgate station twenty hours a day on weekdays and Saturdays, from 5:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.; and eighteen hours on Sundays, from 6:00 a.m. to midnight. During regular weekday service, trains operate roughly every eight to ten minutes during rush hour and midday operation, respectively, with longer headways of fifteen minutes in the early morning and twenty minutes at night. During weekends, 1 Line trains arrive at Northgate station every ten minutes during midday hours and every fifteen minutes during mornings and evenings. The station is approximately 16 minutes from Westlake station in Downtown Seattle and 54 minutes from SeaTac/Airport station.

Bus routes

The station is also a major hub for buses in North Seattle with 22 routes operated by King County Metro, Sound Transit Express, and Community Transit. Northgate station has four bays for buses around the perimeter of the light rail station, with access from Exit B. King County Metro operates 13 routes that provide all-day connections to Ballard, Green Lake, Roosevelt, the University District, Lake City, Shoreline, and Mountlake Terrace. Several peak-only commuter routes provide further connections to First Hill, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, and northern Shoreline.

Four Sound Transit Express routes from Snohomish County terminate at Northgate station, having been truncated in October 2021 in lieu of continuing to Downtown Seattle. These routes provide all-day connections to Everett, Lynnwood, and Mountlake Terrace. Community Transit truncated its entire University District commuter network to Northgate station when it opened, providing peak-only service to Lynnwood, Edmonds, Mukilteo, Everett, and Marysville. Sound Transit previously operated express buses to Northgate from Everett on routes 505 and 506 from 2002 to 2003.

Bus rapid transit

Northgate Transit Center had been planned as the terminus of a bus rapid transit line under development by the Seattle Department of Transportation as part of the RapidRide+ program. The program was funded by the November 2015 "Move Seattle" levy and consisted of seven corridors throughout the city, including upgrades to Route 40 from Northgate to Ballard, Fremont, and Downtown Seattle. The Northgate–Fremont project was downgraded in 2018, replacing its bus rapid transit elements with smaller-scale improvements to transit speed and reliability set to be complete in 2024.

A second corridor, later named the RapidRide J Line, was originally scheduled to open in 2021 and planned to connect Northgate and Roosevelt to the University District, Eastlake and South Lake Union neighborhoods. The project was scaled back to terminate near U District station due to budget shortfalls resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a reduction in ridership and tax revenue, and completion was delayed to 2026.

References

External links

Transport infrastructure completed in 1992
1992 establishments in Washington (state)
Bus stations in Washington (state)
Link light rail stations in Seattle
King County Metro
Railway stations in the United States opened in 2021
Sound Transit Express
2021 establishments in Washington (state)


Call Girl the Musical is a musical conceived by Australian TV comedian and writer Tracy Harvey and Doug MacLeod, with musical arrangements from Jack Howard and direction from Bryce Ives.

Background

In 2004, Tracy Harvey started writing a sitcom about a customer contact centre. Script editor Doug MacLeod suggested that the material would make a good musical.

The show had a preview season in October 2008 at the Phoenix Theatre in Elwood directed by Bryce Ives and choreographed by Dave Harford.  The preview season starred Alan Fletcher from the Australian TV soap opera Neighbours, with cameo (voice) appearances from Steve Vizard and Australian TV legend Bert Newton.

After the preview season, the show was developed and a new season began in April 2009 at Chapel off Chapel, South Yarra. The 2009 season again featured Tracy Harvey as Jean Brown, with Jeremy Kewley replacing Alan Fletcher as male lead Frank McGee, and featured new voice-overs from Derek Guille.

Synopsis

It is a musical comedy set in a telephone call centre, following Jean Brown on her first day at work at "We Care Marketing", a dubious customer contact centre populated by flawed characters - including a money hungry man-eater, a wheeler dealer salesman, a vacuous brat and a desperate-to-prove-himself marketing executive with zero training. Despite her heartfelt reluctance to fleece customers and her sabotage from entrenched employees, Jean puts her best foot forward.

References

External links
 Official website

Australian musicals
2008 musicals


Chapters of the manga series  written by Kōji Kumeta was first serialized in the Japanese manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Magazine in 2005, published by Kodansha. It is a comedy about a teacher who takes all aspects of life, word and culture in the most negative light possible. It satirizes politics, media, and Japanese society. In 2007, the manga received the thirty-first Kodansha Manga Award in the shōnen category.

Thirty tankōbon volumes have been released in Japan. The series has been licensed for an English-language translation by Del Rey Manga, and the first volume was released in February 2009. As of April 2012, Del Rey and Kodansha Comics have released fourteen volumes in North America. Chapter 268 was not included in the bound volume collection of the manga, as it caused controversy due to similarities between its plot and a story in the 13th volume of Doraemon.

Volume list

Chapter not in tankōbon format
In the paper blog of volume 27, the author has stated that he suppressed the inclusion of chapter 268 even though permission was granted by Doraemon's author, Fujiko Fujio and its publisher, Shogakukan.
268.

References

External links

 Manga official website

Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei
Kōji Kumeta


The Bengal Sultanate (Middle Bengali: শাহী বাঙ্গালা Shahī Baṅgala, Classical Persian:  Saltanat-e-Bangālah) was a late medieval sultanate based in Bengal region between the 14th and 16th century. It was the dominant power of the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, with a network of mint towns spread across the region. The Bengal Sultanate had a circle of vassal states in the subcontinent, including parts of Odisha in the southwest, Arakan in the southeast, and Tripura in the east.

The Bengal Sultanate controlled large parts of the eastern Indian subcontinent during its five dynastic periods, reaching its peak under Hussain Shahi dynasty. Its raids and conquests reached Nepal in the north, Assam in the east, and Jaunpur and Varanasi in the west. It was reputed as a thriving trading nation and one of Asia's strongest states. Its decline began with an interregnum by the Suri Empire, followed by Mughal conquest and disintegration into petty kingdoms. The Bengal Sultanate was a Sunni Muslim monarchy with Bengali, Turco-Persian, Indo-Afghan and Abyssinian elites. The most prominent dynasties were the Ilyas Shahi, House of Ganesha and Hussain Shahi. The empire was known for its religious pluralism where non-Muslim communities co-existed peacefully. While Persian was used as the primary official, diplomatic and commercial language, it was under the Sultans that Bengali first received court recognition as an official language. The cities of the Bengal Sultanate are termed as Mint Towns where the historical taka was minted. These cities were adorned with stately medieval buildings. In 1500, the royal capital of Gaur was the fifth-most populous city in the world. Other notable cities included the initial royal capital of Pandua, the economic hub of Sonargaon, the Mosque City of Bagerhat, and the seaport and trading hub of Chittagong. The Bengal Sultanate was connected to states in Asia, Africa, the Indian Ocean, and Europe through maritime links and overland trade routes. The Bengal Sultanate was a major trading center on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. It attracted immigrants and traders from different parts of the world. Bengali ships and merchants traded across the region, including in Malacca, China, and the Maldives.

The Bengal Sultanate was described by contemporary European and Chinese visitors as a prosperous kingdom. Due to the abundance of goods in Bengal, the region was described as the "richest country to trade with". The Bengal Sultanate left a strong architectural legacy. Buildings from the period show foreign influences merged into a distinct Bengali style. The Bengal Sultanate was also the largest and most prestigious authority among the independent medieval Muslim-ruled states in the history of Bengal.

History

Background (13th and 14th centuries)
Bengal was gradually absorbed into the Delhi Sultanate during the 1200s. It began with Bakhtiar Khilji's conquest of Gauda between 1202 and 1204 during the reign of Muhammad of Ghor. This saw the beginning of the rise of Turko-Afghan's in India. Bakhityar Khalji served as a military general of the Ghurid ruler Muhammad of Ghor. He formed the Khalji dynasty of Bengal. After the assassination of Bakhtiar Khalji by his own officer Ali Mardan in 1206, Bengal was administered by various Maliks belonging to the Khalji tribe. (except a brief interregnum by Ali Mardan himself) until Delhi Sultan Iltutmish sent forces under his son, Nasir-ud-din Mahmud, to bring Bengal under the direct control of the Delhi Sultans. Iltutmish declared Bengal as a province of Delhi in 1225. The Delhi Sultans attempted to govern Bengal through appointed governors, however, Delhi could not succeed given the considerable overland distance with Bengal. Ambitious governors rebelled and ruled as independent rulers until being suppressed militarily by the Delhi Sultanate. However, there were capable rulers among the rebels, including Yuzbak Shah (1257), Tughral Khan (1271–1282), and Shamsuddin Firoz Shah (1301–1322). The latter achieved the Conquest of Sylhet and established a strong administration in eastern and south-western Bengal. In 1325, the Delhi Sultan Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq reorganized the province into three administrative regions, with Sonargaon ruling eastern Bengal; Gauda ruling northern Bengal; and Satgaon ruling southern Bengal. Even this arrangement broke down. By 1338, the three administrative regions had separatist Sultans, including Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah in Sonargaon; Alauddin Ali Shah in Gauda, and Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah in Satgaon. Fakhruddin conquered Chittagong in 1340 and was succeeded by his son Ikhtiyaruddin Ghazi Shah in 1349. Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah (or just Ilyas Shah) defeated Alauddin Ali Shah and secured control of Gauda. He then defeated Ikhtiyaruddin of Sonargaon. By 1352, Ilyas Shah emerged victorious among the Bengali triad.

Early Bengal Sultanate (14th and 15th centuries)

Ilyas Shah established his capital in Pandua. He unified the delta of Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers into the Sultanate of Bengal. Ilyas Shah waged wars and raids against several city-states and kingdoms in the eastern subcontinent. He conquered eastern Bengal and northern Bihar. He led the first Muslim army into Nepal, raided the Kathmandu Valley, and returned to Bengal with treasures. He controlled an area stretching from Assam in the east to Varanasi in the west. In 1353, Ilyas Shah was defeated by Delhi Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq in the Siege of Ekdala Fort during the Bengal Sultanate-Delhi Sultanate War. Bengal agreed to pay a tribute to the Delhi Sultan. Despite losing control of many conquered areas, Ilyas Shah remained in firm control of Bengal.

Ilyas Shah founded the Ilyas Shahi dynasty which ruled Bengal for fifteen decades. His son and successor Sikandar Shah defeated Delhi Sultan Firuz Shah Tughluq during the second Siege of Ekdala Fort in 1359. A peace treaty was signed between Delhi and Bengal, with the former recognizing the independence of the latter. Firuz Shah Tughluq gave a golden crown estimated to be worth 80,000 taka to Sikandar Shah. The peace treaty ensured Bengal's independence for two centuries.

Sikandar Shah's reign lasted for three decades. The Adina Mosque was built during his reign. The mosque's design was based on the Great Mosque of Damascus- a style used during the introduction of Islam in new areas. During this time, much of the agricultural land was controlled by Hindu zamindars, which caused tensions with Muslim taluqdars.

Bengal became the eastern frontier kingdom among medieval Islamic states. In the 14th century, Islamic kingdoms stretched from Muslim Spain in the west to the Indian subcontinent in the east. The Islamic kingdoms had multiethnic elites. Persian and Arabic were used alongside local languages. Persian was used as a diplomatic and commercial language. Arabic was the liturgical language of the clergy. In Bengal, the Bengali language became a court language and was the main vernacular language under Muslim rule.

The third Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah began expanding Bengal's influence abroad. He began to send embassies to Ming China, which continued as a tradition during the reigns of his successors. Ghiyasuddin also sponsored construction projects in Arabia. He exchanged letters and poetry with the Persian poet Hafez. The Bengal Sultans pledged nominal allegiance to the Abbasid Caliphate in Cairo. The coins of the Bengal Sultans often bore the name of the contemporary Abbasid Caliph. Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah held his court in the central Bengali city of Sonargaon, in addition to Pandua. The travel accounts of Chinese envoys state that the Sultan lived in a palace near the river port of Sonargaon. The river port had shipping links to China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. In 1406, Ma Huan found Sonargaon as a large metropolis. Other Chinese envoys provided descriptions of a fortified walled city. Sonargaon was a center of Sufi education and Persian literature and Azam Shah even invited Hafez to settle there. The institutions founded by Abu Tawwama during the Delhi Sultanate were maintained by his successors in the Bengal Sultanate, including the Sufi preachers Ibrahim Danishmand, Saiyid Arif Billah Muhammad Kamel, Saiyid Muhammad Yusuf and others.

Rise of nativists (15th century)

During the early 15th century, the Ilyas Shahi rule was challenged by Raja Ganesha, a powerful Hindu landowner, who managed to place his son (a convert to Islam), Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah, on the throne. Jalaluddin had a relatively short-lived but significant reign, during which he helped an Arakanese king to achieve the Reconquest of Arakan. Jalaluddin established control over Fatehabad. Jalaluddin also promoted more native Bengali elements into the architecture and governance of the sultanate. Jalaluddin was initially loyal to the Abbasid Caliph but later declared himself as the Caliph in a sign of Bengali Muslim independence. The Ilyas Shahi dynasty was restored in 1432.

Nine kings ruled Bengal from Pandua over the course of ten decades. They built palaces, forts, bridges, mosques, and mausoleums. Chinese envoy Ma Huan described the city at the time in his travel accounts, which state that "the city walls are very imposing, the bazaars well-arranged, the shops side by side, the pillars in orderly rows, they are full of every kind of goods". Pandua was an export center for cloth and wine. At least six varieties of fine muslin and four types of wine were found in Pandua. High-quality paper was produced from the bark of Pandua's mulberry trees. Sultan Mahmud Shah of Bengal shifted the capital from Pandua to Gaur in 1450. One of the probable reasons behind the move was a change in the course of nearby rivers.

The reign of Mahmud Shah witnessed greater control over the Sundarbans. The governor of the Sundarbans, Khan Jahan Ali, built the mint town of Khalifatabad. Like many other officials, Khan Jahan had settled in Bengal after Timur's sack of Delhi. During the reign of Rukunuddin Barbak Shah, the Kingdom of Mrauk U conquered Chittagong. The late 1480s saw four usurper Sultans from the Abyssinian mercenary corps. Tensions between different Muslim communities often affected the sultanate.

Regional empire (15th and 16th centuries)
Alauddin Hussain Shah gained control of Bengal in 1494 when he was prime minister. Alauddin Husain Shah founded the Hussain Shahi dynasty which had Sayyid of Arab or Afghan origin. He brought end to a period of instability. As Sultan, Hussain Shah ruled until 1519. The dynasty he founded reigned until 1538. Muslims and Hindus jointly served in the royal administration during the Hussain Shahi dynasty. This era is often regarded as the golden age of the Bengal Sultanate, in which Bengali territory included areas of Arakan, Orissa, Tripura, and Assam. Under the order of Hussain Shah, Shah Ismail Ghazi commanded the Bengali forces in the Conquest of Kamata, conquering large parts of Assam. After overthrowing the Hindu Khen dynasty, Prince Danyal was appointed the governor of the new region. Hussain Shah also restored Bengali sovereignty in Chittagong and northern Arakan after the Bengal Sultanate–Kingdom of Mrauk U War of 1512–1516. Hussain Shah minted coins with the proclamation "conqueror of Kamrupa, Kamata, Jajnagar and Orissa". According to an inscription in Sonargaon from 1513, Hussain Shah annexed large parts of the Twipra Kingdom. The Pratapgarh Kingdom came under Bengali suzerainty. Hussain Shah also waged several campaigns against the Gajapati rulers of Orissa and secured control of northern Orissa. Hussain Shah extended Bengali territory in the west beyond Bihar, up to Saran in Jaunpur. The Sultan of Jaunpur took refuge in Bengal after an invasion by the Lodi dynasty of Delhi. The Delhi Sultan attacked Bengal in pursuit of the Jaunpur Sultan. Unable to make headway, the Delhi Sultan withdrew after concluding a peace treaty with Bengal.

Embassies from Portuguese India frequented Bengal after the landing of Vasco Da Gama in the principality of Calicut. Individual Portuguese merchants are recorded to have lived in the Bengal Sultanate's capital of Gaur. Portuguese politics played out in Gaur as a reflection of contradictions in contemporary Portugal. The Portuguese provided vivid descriptions of Gaur. They compared the affluence of Gaur with Lisbon. The city included a citadel, a royal palace and durbar, mosques, houses for the rich, and bustling bazaars. Portuguese historian Castenhada de Lopez described the houses of Gaur as being one-storeyed with ornamental floor tiles, courtyards, and gardens. Gaur was the center of regional politics. The Sultan of Bengal gave permission for establishing the Portuguese settlement in Chittagong. During the period of the Iberian Union, there was no official Portuguese sovereignty over Chittagong. The Portuguese trading post was dominated by pirates who allied with the Arakanese against Bengal.

Decline (16th century)
The absorption of Bengal into the Mughal Empire was a gradual process. It began with the defeat of Bengal forces under Sultan Nasiruddin Nasrat Shah by the first Mughal ruler Babur at the Battle of Ghaghra. The second Mughal ruler Humayun occupied the Bengal capital of Gaur during the invasion of Sher Shah Suri against both the Mughals and Bengal Sultans. Humayun later took refuge in the Safavid Empire in Persia. Sher Shah Suri succeeded in conquering Bengal and began renovating the Grand Trunk Road. The Suri government appointed successive governors to administer Bengal. The third governor Muhammad Khan Sur declared independence after the death of Islam Shah Suri. Muhammad Khan ended the interrupting period of Delhi's rule and re-established the Bengal Sultanate.

The Pashtun Karrani dynasty was the last ruling dynasty of the sultanate.  According to the Riyaz-us-Salatin, Sultan Sulaiman Khan Karrani shifted the capital from Gaur to Tanda in 1565. Sulaiman Khan Karrani annexed large parts of Orissa. During his reign, the Bengal Sultanate's territory extended from Koch Bihar in the north to Puri in the south and from the Son River in the west to the Brahmaputra River in the east. The Mughals became determined to bring an end to the expansionism of the Bengal Sultanate; while eager to absorb the Bengal region for its riches. The Battle of Tukaroi in Orissa saw Mughal forces led by Akbar overwhelm the Bengal Sultanate's forces led by the last Sultan Daud Khan Karrani, resulting in the Treaty of Cuttack. Mughal rule formally began with the Battle of Raj Mahal when the last reigning Sultan of Bengal was defeated by the forces of Akbar. The Mughal province of Bengal Subah was created. The eastern deltaic Bhati region remained outside of Mughal control until being absorbed in the early 17th century. The delta was controlled by a confederation of twelve aristocrats of the former sultanate, who became known as the Baro Bhuyans. Their leader was Isa Khan, a zamindar and a former nobleman of the sultanate through his mother Princess Syeda Momena Khatun. The confederation was made up of petty kingdoms. The Mughal government eventually suppressed the remnants of the sultanate in the Bhati area and brought all of Bengal under full Mughal control.

Administration

The Bengal Sultanate was an absolute monarchy, and took influence from Persianate traditions. Its revenue system was maintained in the Bengali language throughout the course of its history. The government employed both Muslims and Hindus, promoting a form of religious pluralism. In addition to the royal family and government body, the Sultan also relied on the support of the ulama (Islamic scholars).

The Sultanate was divided into administrative subdivisions such as arsa and iqlim, which were further divided into mahals, thanas and qasbas.

Mint towns

Mint towns consisted of royal and provincial capitals where taka coins were minted, thus developing the areas as important economic urban centres within the Sultanate. With the expansion of the empire, the number of mint towns increased gradually. The following is a partial listing of mint towns:

Vassal states
Vassal states were a number of tributary states and protectorates on the periphery of the Bengal Sultanate under the suzerainty of the Sultan of Bengal. Direct control was not established over these territories for various reasons. Vassal states had Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist rulers. The following illustrates the most notable vassal states.

Arakan

In the southeast, Arakan was a prominent vassal of the Bengal Sultanate. In 1430, the Bengal Sultanate restored the Arakanese throne in Mrauk U after driving out Burmese invaders who came from Bagan. The Kingdom of Mrauk U paid tributes to the Sultan of Bengal for a sustained period, with the timeframe ranging between estimates of a century or a few decades. Arakanese rulers replicated the Sultan's governing techniques, including adopting the title of Shah and minting coins in Arabic and Bengali inscriptions. A close cultural and commercial relationship developed across the Bay of Bengal. Eventually, Arakan asserted its independence. The Kingdom of Mrauk U became a formidable coastal power.

Chandradwip
In southern Bengal, the island of Chandradwip hosted remnants of the pre-Islamic Hindu Deva dynasty. The kingdom was a vassal state of the Bengal Sultanate until the reign of the Hussain Shahi dynasty, when it was formally annexed by the sultanate.

Pratapgarh
In the northeastern Barak Valley, the ruler Bazid of the Pratapgarh Kingdom declared himself as a Sultan on par with the Sultan of Bengal. This invited the retribution of Alauddin Husain Shah, who dispatched Sarwar Khan to suppress the newly formed sultanate in Pratapgarh. Bazid was defeated and agreed to pay a tribute to the Sultan of Bengal. He was also made to relinquish his claims over Sylhet, which was under direct Sultanate rule.

Tripura
In the east, Tripura was vital to Bengal for the supply of gold, silver and other commodities. Tripura had coarse gold mines and mountain trade networks linked to the Far East. In 1464, the Sultan of Bengal helped Ratna Manikya I assume the Tripuri throne. Tripura was a prominent vassal of Bengal.

Orissa
In the southwest, Orissa was prominent in the military history of the Bengal Sultanate. The first Bengali Sultan Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah defeated the rulers of Orissa and extended his realm up to Chilika Lake. He raided Jajpur and Cuttack. Ilyas Shah returned to Bengal with plunders from Orissa, including 44 elephants. During the reign of Alauddin Hussain Shah, Orissa was a vassal state of Bengal. Northern Orissa was directly ruled by Bengal. During the Karrani dynasty, Orissa was the scene of the Battle of Tukaroi and the Treaty of Cuttack between the Mughals and Bengal Sultanate in 1575.

Military

The Sultans had a well-organised army, including cavalry, artillery, infantry and war elephants; and a navy. Due to the riverine geography and climate, it was not feasible to use cavalry throughout the year in Bengal. The cavalry was probably the weakest component of the Bengal Sultanate's army, as the horses had to be imported from foreign countries. The artillery was an important section. Portuguese historian João de Barros opined that the military supremacy of Bengal over Arakan and Tripura was due to its efficient artillery. The artillery used cannons and guns of various sizes. The paiks formed the vital part of the Bengal infantry during this period. There were occasions when the paiks also tackled political situations. The particular battle array of the foot-soldiers who used bows, arrows and guns attracted the attention of Babur.

War elephants played an important part in the Bengal army. Apart from carrying war materials, elephants were also used for the movement of the armed personnel. In riverine Bengal the usefulness of elephants, though very slow, could not be minimised. The navy was of prime necessity in riverine Bengal. In fact, the cavalry could ensure the hold over this country for a period of six months whereas the boats backed by the paiks could command supremacy over the other half of the year. Since the time of Iwaz Khalji, who first organised a naval force in Islamic Bengal, the war boats played an important role in the political affairs of the country. The chief of the admiralty had various responsibilities, including shipbuilding, river transport, to fit out strong boats for transporting war elephants; to recruit seamen; to patrol the rivers and to collect tolls at ghats. The efficiency of the navy eroded during the Hussain Shahi dynasty. The Sultans also built forts, including temporary mud walled forts.

Bengal–Delhi Wars

In 1353, the Sultan of Delhi attacked the newly formed Bengal Sultanate. After the siege of Ekdala Fort, Bengal agreed to pay a tribute to the Sultan of Delhi. In 1359, Delhi again invaded Bengal after the previous peace treaty collapsed. However, negotiations ultimately resulted in a new treaty in which Delhi recognized the independence of Bengal. The Bengal Sultans also received support from South Indian allies. During the 16th century, the Lodi dynasty of Delhi again attacked Bengal in pursuit of the Sultan of Jaunpur. The Lodis eventually agreed to a peace treaty with Bengal.

Bengal–Jaunpur War

The Jaunpur Sultanate attacked Bengal during the 15th century. With diplomatic help from Ming China and the Timurid ruler of Herat, Bengal fended off the Jaunpuri invasion.

Campaigns in Arakan and Assam

Arakan and the Brahmaputra Valley was often subjected to Bengali invasions. The Bengal Sultanate defeated Burmese forces in Arakan and restored Min Saw Mon as a vassal king in 1430. However, conflict later emerged between Arakan and Bengal based on the control of Chittagong. Arakan asserted its independence as a coastal power. Under Alauddin Husain Shah, Bengali sovereignty was restored in Chittagong and northern Arakan. However, the Arakanese persisted to fight over Chittagong, often allying with Portuguese pirates.

During Husain Shah's rule, Bengali control over Assam reached its zenith. Under the military command of Shah Ismail Ghazi, the Bengali army overthrew the Kamata Kingdom's Hindu Khen dynasty in 1498, extending the Sultanate as far as Hajo and preparing to advance towards central Assam. Assamese Bhuyans eventually overthrew the local administrations within a few years and restored local rule.

Sher Shah Suri's invasion

Bengal was overwhelmed during the pan-Indian invasion of Sher Shah Suri and became part of the Suri Empire. The invasion prompted the Mughal Empire to occupy parts of Bengal. Both the Mughals and Bengal Sultanate were overrun by the Suri forces. Bengal regained its independence after Suri governors rebelled and re-established the sultanate.

Bengal–Mughal Wars

The first Mughal emperor Babur turned his sights on Bengal after the Battle of Panipat in 1526. At the Battle of Ghaghra in 1529, Bengal reached a peace treaty with Babur. During the invasion of Sher Shah Suri, the second Mughal emperor Humayun occupied Gaur. The third Mughal emperor Akbar  launched a war against Bengal at the Battle of Tukaroi in 1575. Akbar finally defeated the last Sultan of Bengal at the Battle of Raj Mahal in 1576.

Economy

The economy of the Bengal Sultanate inherited earlier aspects of the Delhi Sultanate, including mint towns, a salaried bureaucracy and the jagirdar system of land ownership. The production of silver coins inscribed with the name of the Sultan of Bengal was a mark of Bengali sovereignty. Bengal was more successful in perpetuating purely silver coinage than Delhi and other contemporary Asian and European governments. There were three sources of silver. The first source was the leftover silver reserve of previous kingdoms. The second source was the tribute payments of subordinate kingdoms which were paid in silver bullion. The third source was during military campaigns when Bengali forces sacked neighboring states.

The apparent vibrancy of the Bengal economy in the beginning of the 15th century is attributed to the end of tribute payments to Delhi, which ceased after Bengali independence and stopped the outflow of wealth. Ma Huan's testimony of a flourishing shipbuilding industry was part of the evidence that Bengal enjoyed significant seaborne trade. The expansion of muslin production, sericulture and the emergence of several other crafts were indicated in Ma Huan's list of items exported from Bengal to China. Bengali shipping co-existed with Chinese shipping until the latter withdrew from the Indian Ocean in the mid-15th century. The testimony of European travelers such as Ludovico di Varthema, Duarte Barbosa and Tomé Pires attest to the presence of a large number of wealthy Bengali merchants and shipowners in Malacca. Historian Rila Mukherjee wrote that ports in Bengal may have been entrepots, importing goods and re-exporting them to China.

A vigorous riverine shipbuilding tradition existed in Bengal. The shipbuilding tradition is evidenced in the sultanate's naval campaigns in the Ganges delta. The trade between Bengal and the Maldives, based on rice and cowry shells, was probably done on Arab-style baghlah ships. Chinese accounts point to Bengali ships being prominent in Southeast Asian waters. A vessel from Bengal, probably owned by the Sultan of Bengal, could accommodate three tribute missions- from Bengal, Brunei and Sumatra- and was evidently the only vessel capable of such a task. Bengali ships were the largest vessels plying in those decades in Southeast Asian waters.

All large business transactions were done in terms of silver taka. Smaller purchases involved shell currency. One silver coin was worth 10,250 cowry shells. Bengal relied on shiploads of cowry shell imports from the Maldives. Due to the fertile land, there was an abundance of agricultural commodities, including bananas, jackfruits, pomegranate, sugarcane, and honey. Native crops included rice and sesame. Vegetables included ginger, mustard, onions, and garlic among others. There were four types of wines, including coconut, rice, tarry and kajang. Bengali streets were well provided with eating establishments, drinking houses and bathhouses. At least six varieties of fine muslin cloth existed. Silk fabrics were also abundant. Pearls, rugs and ghee were other important products. The finest variety of paper was made in Bengal from the bark of mulberry trees. The high quality of paper was compared with the lightweight white muslin cloth.

Europeans referred to Bengal as "the richest country to trade with". Bengal was the eastern pole of Islamic India. Like the Gujarat Sultanate in the western coast of India, Bengal in the east was open to the sea and accumulated profits from trade. Merchants from around the world traded in the Bay of Bengal. Cotton textile exports were a unique aspect of the Bengali economy. Marco Polo noted Bengal's prominence in the textile trade. In 1569, Venetian explorer Caesar Frederick wrote about how merchants from Pegu in Burma traded in silver and gold with Bengalis. Overland trade routes such as the Grand Trunk Road connected Bengal to northern India, Central Asia and the Middle East.

Foreign relations
The Bengal Sultanate had robust foreign relations. Records show that the Bengal Sultanate exchanged embassies with states in China, Europe, Africa, Central Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Diplomatic allies helped Bengal to fend off invasions from neighbouring kingdoms. For example, the Timurid ruler of Herat and the Ming emperor of China helped bring an end to the Bengal Sultanate–Jaunpur Sultanate War. Bengal was also active in regional diplomacy. For example, the ship of the Bengali embassy to China also transported the envoys of Brunei and Aceh (Sumatra) to China. Bengal gave consent to envoys from Portuguese India for setting up Portuguese trading posts in coastal areas. Other European visitors included Niccolo De Conti, Ludovico di Varthema and Caeser Fredrick from the Republic of Venice and Bologna.

In the Islamic world, the sultanate pledged allegiance to the contemporary Abbasid Caliphate, which was at the time held by the Mamluk Sultan of Cairo. The Abbasid caliph was still considered to be the symbolic leader of Sunni Islam at the time, despite dwindling territory under direct caliphate rule. For the Bengali Sultans, relations with the caliphate provided legitimacy among the Muslim clergy. For example, the converted Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah received recognition from Al-Mu'tadid II, which strengthened Jalaluddin's legitimacy in the eyes of the clergy. Many coins minted by the Bengal Sultanate bore the names of both the Bengali Sultans and the Abbasid Caliphs.

Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah sponsored the construction of madrasas (Islamic theological schools) in the pilgrimage cities of Makkah and Madinah. The schools became known as the Ghiyasia Madrasa and Banjaliah Madrasa. Taqi al-Din al-Fasi, a contemporary Arab scholar, was a teacher at the madrasa in Makkah. The madrasa in Madinah was built at a place called Husn al-Atiq near the Prophet's Mosque. Several other Bengali Sultans also sponsored madrasas in the Hejaz.

In Africa, Sultan Ashraf Barsbay of Egypt sent the Bengali Sultan a robe of honour and a letter of recognition. There are also records of envoys from the East African city-state of Malindi being hosted in the Bengali court. Animals constituted a significant part of tributes in medieval courts. The East African envoys brought giraffes, which were also noticed by the Chinese envoys in Bengal. In Central Asia, there are records of contacts between Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah and Sultan Shahrukh Mirza of the Timurid Empire. In Southeast Asia, European accounts refer to the presence of a large number of Bengali merchants in the Malacca Sultanate. The merchants were wealthy shipowners. It is yet to be ascertained whether these merchants had a significant role in the Sultan's court. Ship-owning merchants were often royal envoys. Contacts between Bengal and the Bruneian Empire and the Sumatran Aceh Sultanate are recorded in Chinese accounts.

Within the subcontinent, Bengal had both tense and peaceful relations with the Delhi Sultanate and the Jaunpur Sultanate. The Delhi Sultanate initially received tributes from the Bengal Sultanate between 1353 and 1359. Tributes stopped after a war and peace treaty in 1359. Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam sent envoys to the neighboring Jaunpur Sultanate. He sent elephants as gifts to Sultan Malik Sarwar Khwajah-i-Jahan. The two sultanates fought a war between 1415 and 1420. The end of the war brought a long period of peace between the neighbouring states. In 1494, the Jaunpuri Sultan Hussain Shah Sharqi was given refuge in Bengal after being defeated by the Lodi dynasty of Delhi.

On the coastline of the Bay of Bengal, the Bengal Sultanate became influential in the control of Arakan. Min Saw Mon, a deposed Arakanese king, fled to Bengal after a Burmese invasion. With the support of Bengali forces led by a Pashtun general, he regained control of his country during the Reconquest of Arakan. The restored Arakanese realm became a vassal state of Bengal. A war with Arakan in 1459 led to the defeat of Bengali Sultan Rukunuddin Barbak Shah. The Arakanese developed an alliance with Portuguese Chittagong against Bengal. Despite achieving independence from the Sultans of Bengal, the Arakanese kings continued to fashion themselves after the Bengali Sultans by copying clothes, coins, titles and administrative techniques. Bengali Muslim influence on Arakan lasted for 350 years. In the Indian Ocean, the Bengal Sultanate was involved in trading with the Maldives where Bengali rice was exchanged for Maldivian shell currency.

Historians have focused on Bengal's relations with Ming China during the early 15th century. For example, Trade and Diplomacy in India-China Relations: A Study of Bengal During the Fifteenth Century chronicles the relationship between the Bengal Sultanate and Ming China. This relationship was also noted by Indian independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru in his book The Discovery of India. Political relations between China and the Indian subcontinent became nonexistent after the decline of Buddhism in India. In the 15th century, the Bengal Sultanate revived the subcontinent's relations with China through regular contacts. Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah began sending envoys to the Ming dynasty. He sent ambassadors in 1405, 1408 and 1409. Emperor Yongle of China responded by sending ambassadors to Bengal between 1405 and 1433, including members of the Treasure voyages fleet led by Admiral Zheng He. The exchange of embassies included the gift of an East African giraffe by Sultan Shihabuddin Bayazid Shah to the Chinese emperor in 1414. China also mediated an end to the Bengal-Jaunpur War after a request from Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah. Ming China considered Bengal to be "rich and civilized" and one of the strongest countries in the entire chain of contacts between China and Asian states during the 15th century. Sino-Bengali contacts was the main feature of relations between China and the Indian subcontinent during the 15th century.

Culture and society

The Bengali language was the most spoken language while Persian was an administrative and commercial language. Men wore white shirts, cotton fabrics of various colors, turbans, sarongs, lungis, dhutis, leather shoes, and belts to wrap their robes on the waist. Women wore cotton saris. Upper-class women wore gold jewelry. There were various classes of artisans, as well as physicians and fortune tellers. There was a class of musicians who would gather by the houses of the rich during dawn and play music; and they would be rewarded with wine, food and money during breakfast hours. Some men would have performances with a chained tiger. The Hindu minority did not eat beef. The streets and markets included bathing areas, eating and drinking places, and dessert shops. Betel nut was offered to guests. The population included royalty, aristocrats, natives and foreigners. Many of the rich built ships and went abroad for trade. Many were agriculturalists. Punishments for breaking the law included expulsion from the kingdom, as well as bamboo flogging.

Bengal received settlers from North India, the Middle East and Central Asia. They included Turks, Afghans, Persians and Arabs. An important migrant community were Persians. Many Persians in Bengal were teachers, lawyers, scholars and clerics. Mercenaries were widely imported for domestic, military and political service. One particular group of mercenaries were the Abyssinians.

Arts

Literature and painting

Muslim poets were writing in the Bengali language by the 15th century. By the turn of the 16th century, a vernacular literature based on concepts of Sufism and Islamic cosmology flourished in the region. Bengali Muslim mystic literature was one of the most original in Islamic India.

With Persian as an official language, Bengal witnessed an influx of Persian scholars, lawyers, teachers and clerics. It was the preferred language of the aristocracy and the Sufis. Thousands of Persian books and manuscripts were published in Bengal. The earliest Persian work compiled in Bengal was a translation of Amrtakunda from Sanskrit by Qadi Ruknu'd-Din Abu Hamid Muhammad bin Muhammad al-'Amidi of Samarqand, a famous Hanafi jurist and Sufi. During the reign of Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah, the city of Sonargaon became an important centre of Persian literature, with many publications of prose and poetry. The period is described as the "golden age of Persian literature in Bengal". Its stature is illustrated by the Sultan's own correspondence with the Persian poet Hafez. When the Sultan invited Hafez to complete an incomplete ghazal by the ruler, the renowned poet responded by acknowledging the grandeur of the king's court and the literary quality of Bengali-Persian poetry.

Manuscript paintings depict the fashion and architecture of the Bengal Sultanate. Persian manuscripts with paintings are a key artistic hallmark of the Bengal Sultanate. One of the best-known examples of this heritage is the Sharafnama published by Sultan Nusrat Shah in the middle of the 16th century. It includes epic poetry by Nizami Ganjavi about the conquests of Alexander the Great.

In the 15th century, the court scholar Nur Qutb Alam pioneered Bengali Muslim poetry by establishing the Dobhashi tradition, which saw poems written half in Persian and half in colloquial Bengali. The invocation tradition saw Islamic figures replacing the invocation of Hindu gods and goddesses in Bengali texts. The literary romantic tradition saw poems by Shah Muhammad Sagir on Yusuf and Zulaikha, as well as works of Bahram Khan and Sabirid Khan. The Dobhashi culture featured the use of Arabic and Persian words in Bengali texts to illustrate Muslim stories. Epic poetry included Nabibangsha by Syed Sultan, Janganama by Abdul Hakim and Rasul Bijay by Shah Barid. Sufi literature flourished with a dominant theme of cosmology. Bengali Muslim writers produced translations of numerous Arabic and Persian works, including the Thousand and One Nights and the Shahnameh.

Hindu poets from the period included Maladhar Basu, Bipradas Pipilai and Vijay Gupta.

Architecture

A majority of the Bengal Sultanate's mint towns and surviving structures are found in Bangladesh. These structures have been studied in the book Sultans and Mosques: The Early Muslim Architecture of Bangladesh by Perween Hasan, who completed her PhD at Harvard University and has taught Islamic history and culture at the University of Dhaka. The Indian state of West Bengal is home to two of the sultanate's former capitals Gaur and Pandua, as well as several notable structures including a watchtower, fortified walls and mausolea. The oldest mosque in the Indian state of Assam dates from the Bengal Sultanate. A 15th-century sultanate-era mosque lies in ruins and covered with vegetation in Myanmar's Rakhine State.

Urban architecture
Cities in the Bengal Sultanate had stately medieval architecture, particularly in the royal capitals of Gaur and Pandua. In 1500, the royal capital of Gaur had the fifth-largest urban population in the world after Beijing, Vijayanagara, Cairo and Canton. It had a population of 200,000 (at the time, the global population is estimated to have ranged between 400 and 500 million). The Portuguese historian Castenhada de Lopez described houses in Gaur as being one-storeyed with ornamental floor tiles, courtyards and gardens. The city had a citadel, durbar, watchtowers, canals, bridges, large gateways, and a city wall. The royal palace was divided into three compartments. The first compartment was the royal court. The second was the living quarter of the Sultan. The third was the harem. A high wall enclosed the palace. A moat surrounded the palace on three sides and was connected to the Ganges. The city of Pandua developed from a small hamlet into a military garrison. It included imperial mosques and mausolea. Urban architecture in the Bengal Sultanate was based on Arab, Bengali, Persian, Indo-Turkish, and Byzantine influences. A glimpse of houses in the Bengal Sultanate can be seen in the Iskandar Nama (Book of Alexander) published by Sultan Nusrat Shah. There were significant indigenous developments. The Bengal roofs began appearing in concrete forms during the 15th century. These roofs were later widely replicated in the Mughal Empire and the Rajput kingdoms of the northwestern Indian subcontinent.

Mosque architecture
According to Perween Hasan in a book edited by Oleg Grabar, the mosques of the Bengal Sultanate have several common features, including pointed arches, multiple mihrabs, engaged corner towers, and terracotta and stone decoration. In particular, the art of the mihrab is meticulous and unique to Bengal's mosque architecture. Mosques were either rectangular and multi-domed or square and single-domed. The large number of mosques built during the Bengal Sultanate indicates the rapidity with which the local population converted to Islam. The period between 1450 and 1550 was an intensive mosque building era. These mosques dotted the countryside, ranged from small to medium sizes and were used for daily devotion. Ponds were often located beside a mosque. Arabic inscriptions in the mosques often include the name of the patron or builder. The most commonly cited verse from the Quran in inscriptions was Surah 72 (Al-Jinn). The buildings were made of brick or stone. The brick mosque with terracotta decoration represented a grand structure in the Bengal Sultanate. They were often the gift of a wealthy patron and the fruit of extraordinary effort, which would not be found in every Muslim neighborhood. Mosques were built across the length and breadth of the Bengal Sultanate. The highest concentration of mosques from the Bengal Sultanate can be found in the North Bengal regions of Bangladesh and Indian West Bengal. A mosque city developed near the southwestern Bengali Sundarbans forest as a result of the patronization of Governor Khan Jahan Ali. In 1985, UNESCO designated the city as a World Heritage Site. In central areas, the Pathrail Mosque in Faridpur is one of the best-preserved sultanate-era structures. In the northeast, the Shankarpasha Shahi Masjid in Sylhet is a well-preserved structure of the Bengal Sultanate. In the northeastern Indian state of Assam, the Panbari Mosque was built during the reign of Sultan Alauddin Hussain Shah. Other mosques can be found in coastal areas of West Bengal and parts of Bihar, such as the Sayed Jamaluddin Mosque. In the southeast, the Santikan Mosque (built in the 1430s) stands in ruins in Rakhine State (formerly Arakan) of Myanmar (formerly Burma).

Imperial mosques had an in-built throne for the Sultan. These thrones are termed as Badshah-e-Takht (King's Throne). The Sultans sat on the elevated throne and addressed his subjects below. The Sultans also administered justice and managed government affairs while sitting on these thrones. Mosques served as royal courts. Mosques across the Bengal Sultanate had these thrones. The Sultans traveled from one town to another and hosted royal court activities in mosques with a Badshah-e-Takht. The Badshah-e-Takht in Kusumba Mosque is heavily decorated with a small intrinsically designed mihrab. The Adina Mosque has one of the largest royal galleries in the Indian subcontinent.

Tomb architecture
Mausoleums of the Bengal Sultanate are an important architectural hallmark. Initially, sarcophagi were erected based on Iranian models, such as the Tomb of Cyrus. Sarcophagi would include mihrabs and arches resembling the architecture in Adina Mosque. For example, the tomb of Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah in Sonargaon has features similar to the architecture of Adina Mosque built by his father Sultan Sikandar Shah. An indigenous Islamic mausolea style developed with the Eklakhi Mausoleum, which is the royal tomb chamber of Sultan Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah. Other mausolea, such as the Tomb of Fateh Khan in Gaur, featured a Bengal roof.

Legacy
The architecture of the Bengal Sultanate has influenced modern architecture in Bangladesh. The sultanate era inspired the Baitur Rauf Mosque, which won the Aga Khan Award for Architecture in 2016.

List of dynasties
Ilyas Shahi dynasty (1342–1414)

House of Raja Ganesha (1414–1435)

Restored Ilyas Shahi dynasty (1435–1487)

Habshi rule (1487–1494)

Hussain Shahi dynasty (1494–1538)

Governors under Suri rule (1539–1554)

Muhammad Shahi dynasty (1554–1564)

Karrani dynasty (1564–1576)

Family Trees

Ilyas Shahi Dynasty (1342–1414)

Ganesha Dynasty (1414–1436)

Restored Ilyas Shahi Dynasty (1436–1487)

Habshi Rule (1487–1494)

Hussain Shahi Dynasty (1494–1538)

Muhammad Shahi Dynasty (1554–1564)

Karrani Dynasty (1564–1576)

See also

 Bengal Subah
 List of rulers of Bengal
 List of medieval great powers

Notes

References

Further reading

 Hussain, Syed Ejaz (2003). The Bengal Sultanate: Politics, Economy and Coins, A.D. 1205–1576. Manohar. .
 The Grammar of Sultanate Mosque in Bengal Architecture, Nujaba Binte Kabir (2012)

Former sultanates
Bay of Bengal
States and territories established in the 14th century
States and territories disestablished in the 1570s
Former empires


Luciana Curtis (born December 12, 1976) is a Brazilian model.   She was born in São Paulo to a Brazilian mother and an English father.  She has been in advertisements for the likes of: Arden B., Bebe, Bergdorf Goodman, Charlie Miller, Coccinelle, CoverGirl, Harrods, H&M, Victoria's Secret, L'Oréal, and two years contract with Revlon.  She began modeling at age 14.

She is married to photographer Henrique Gendre.

References

External links
Fashion Model Directory

1976 births
Living people
People from São Paulo
Brazilian female models
Brazilian people of English descent


USS George A. Johnson (DE-583) was a Rudderow-class destroyer escort serving with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. From 1946 to 1957, she was used as a Navy Reserve training ship. She was scrapped in 1966.

Namesake
George Alfred Johnson was born on 26 September 1922 in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on 28 January 1942. He served at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island and Marine Corps Base Quantico, before sailing for the Pacific in April 1942. Attached to the 1st Marine Raider Battalion, Private Johnson participated in the invasion of Tulagi, Solomon Islands on 7 August 1942. During mopping-up operations 2 days later, his squad came under rifle fire from a sniper's nest in a nearby cave. He rushed to the mouth of the cave and continued to throw in grenades until he was killed, allowing his squad to advance. He was posthumously awarded the Silver Star.

Construction and service
George A. Johnson was laid down by Bethlehem-Hingham Shipyard, Hingham, Massachusetts, 24 November 1943; launched 12 January 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Alfred R. Johnson, Private Johnson's mother; and commissioned 15 April 1944.

After shakedown off Bermuda, George A. Johnson departed New York 24 June 1944 to escort a convoy bound for Bizerte, Tunisia. Despite several encounters with German aircraft off the North African coast, the convoy reached Bizerte 14 July. She then returned to New York for exercises and upkeep before departing Norfolk 2 September and joining another Mediterranean-bound convoy. This time the ships steamed to Palermo, Sicily, arriving 23 September. She next joined a westbound convoy 28 September and arrived New York 17 October.

After preparing for duty in the Pacific, she departed New York 3 November and steamed via the Panama Canal to Hollandia, New Guinea, where she arrived 24 December. George A. Johnson escorted supply convoys from New Guinea to Allied bases in the Philippines. Departing Mois Woendi 4 January 1945, she joined cargo ships bound for Lingayen Gulf, Luzon. Four kamikaze planes attacked the convoy 12 January; but, under the cover of antiaircraft fire of George A. Johnson and other escorts, the entire convoy reached Lingayen Gulf the next day.

George A. Johnson engaged in patrol and convoy duties in the Philippines until 26 January 1945, when she supported landings at San Antonio, Luzon. After this operation, she resumed convoy escort duty out of Leyte Gulf, steaming to Ulithi, Hollandia, and Manus. Arriving Hollandia from Leyte Gulf 27 April, she remained there until August.

Returning to the Philippines after the Japanese surrender, George A. Johnson departed Manila 4 September for Jinsen, Korea, to join Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid in . The force then set course for the Yangtze River 15 September and on 19 September were the first American ships since 1941 to enter this river. Continuing to Shanghai, George A. Johnson and other units of the 7th Fleet aided in the reoccupation of Shanghai and establishment of the Yangtze Patrol.

Her war service completed, George A. Johnson departed for Okinawa 11 October. From there she steamed via Pearl Harbor to San Diego, arriving 5 November. She remained at San Diego and decommissioned 31 May 1946.

In August, however, she was assigned to the 12th Naval District as a training ship. She served out of commission in this capacity until 29 September 1950 when she was placed in commission in reserve as a training ship. Until late 1957 George A. Johnson trained reservists, making occasional cruises off the California coast. She decommissioned in September 1957 and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Mare Island, California. Her name was struck from the Navy Directory 1 November 1965 and she was sold for scrap.

While being towed to San Diego for scrapping on the night of 12/13 October 1966, the George A. Johnson broke free from her tow cable and ran aground at Sharp Park Beach, Pacifica, California.  After attempts to refloat her proved unsuccessful, she was cut up and scrapped onsite over a period of six months.

See also
List of destroyer escorts of the United States Navy

References

External links

 Photo gallery at Navsource.org

Rudderow-class destroyer escorts
1944 ships


Largs Bay may mean:

 Largs, Scotland, and its associated bay, Largs Bay
 Largs Bay, South Australia, a suburb, beach and jetty
 RFA Largs Bay (L3006), a ship


Richard Clayton may refer to:

 Richard Clayton (dean of Peterborough) (died 1612), English churchman and academic
 Richard Clayton (academic) (died 1676), academic and administrator at University College, Oxford
 Richard Clayton (Irish judge) (1702–1770), Member of Parliament for Wigan, 1747–1754
 Sir Richard Clayton, 1st Baronet (1745–1828), English translator
 Rice Richard Clayton (1798–1879), Member of Parliament for Aylesbury, 1841–1847
 Richard Clayton (clergyman) (1802-1856), English clergyman of Newcastle upon Tyne
 Richard Clayton (actor) (1915–2008), American actor
 Richard Clayton (Royal Navy officer) (1925–1984)

See also
Dick Clayton (disambiguation)
 Clayton Richard (born 1983), American baseball pitcher
 Clayton (disambiguation)


Western Bell is an album by American blues singer and guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps, released 2009. Unlike his previous albums, Western Bell is entirely instrumental. After five discs on Rykodisc and one for Rounder, Phelps joined Black Hen Music, a small independent record label founded in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Reception

Music critic Thom Jurek praised the release in his Allmusic review, writing "Phelps has, on Western Bell, offered listeners a complete synthesis of his musical vision as a guitarist... Phelps infuses his own music with such comfort, space, and gentleness in his playing that what comes out is his own inviting but subjective history of blues as it has evolved in his spirit... Western Bell is among the most unique acoustic guitar recordings out there today... Cryptic, hushed, confoundingly beautiful, this is a brilliant, deeply moving work by an artist who has created a new language on the acoustic guitar, culled from the discontinued speech fragments of American music's own mysterious past." Chris Jones of the BBC wrote: "... while Phelps' lyrical work may sometimes be a little too intense for its own good, you find yourself missing his rasp. Such technically dazzling stuff can often be hard to really love, and it is a little over-egged. But when it's properly balanced with the glow of familiar chord progressions as on the appropriately-named 12-string track, Hometown With Melody, it's simply wonderful. One for fans."

Steve Pick of No Depression praised the Phelps' change in direction, writing "... often exquisite, and always intriguing, that his commercial divergence is our gain... Western Bell may be something more for those who miss the late, great John Fahey, or who wish Leo Kottke would drop his microphone and just play. There is definitely a sense of connection to those prior masters of acoustic guitar with folk and modernist ideas."

PopMatters critic Alan Ranta praised the album within the small niche of solo guitar: "In a world adequately full of praise for the likes of Leo Kottke and John Fahey, surely there is room for Washington’s Kelly Joe Phelps. His eighth album of solo acoustic guitar improvisation should be enough to land him status in the company of legends, if he isn’t there already... there is something undeniably moving about Western Bell... Phelps speaks directly to your soul. If that isn’t the stuff of legends, I don’t know what is."

Track listing
All songs written by Kelly Joe Phelps.
"Western Bell" – 3:08
"Sovereign Wyoming" – 3:58
"Blowing Dust 40 Miles" – 4:46
"American Exchange Hotel" –  2:27
"Hometown with Melody" – 4:19
"Hattie's Hat" – 4:27
"The Jenny Spin" – 4:47
"Murdo" – 4:41
"East to Kansas" – 3:56
"Blue Daughter Tattoo" – 4:47
"Little Family" – 3:57

Personnel
Kelly Joe Phelps - 6 and 12-string guitars, lap steel guitar, bells
Production notes:
Produced and engineered by Kelly Joe Phelps
Cover photograph, graphics, and layout by Anthony Saint James

References

2009 albums
Kelly Joe Phelps albums


The International Lutheran Church (ILC) is the English-speaking congregation of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) which meets in the Lidetta section of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Although it follows the Lutheran confession and worship, ILC welcomes any Christian worshippers.

History
The first service for the International Lutheran Church was held on December 1, 1957 at the "fifth kilo" Mekane Yesus mother church. It was organized by Dr. Herbert G. Schaefer, the director of the American Lutheran Mission. Services were held on Sunday afternoons since the regular Amharic congregation met in the church building in the mornings. The ILC congregation was officially organized in May, 1958 with eleven adult members from the international community in Addis Ababa. Sunday School classes began in 1959.

In 1960 ILC became a member of the Wollo-Tigre Synod of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus. When the Addis Ababa congregations formed their own synod, ILC transferred its membership to the present Central Ethiopia Synod.

In 1961 the present site was purchased. The new church building was dedicated on December 1, 1963, six years after the first service. Rev. Leonard Flachman of ALM chaired the building committee and designed the furniture. Later the pastors’ offices and Sunday School rooms were added. A Day Care Center was built in 1980. Later, the rear of the sanctuary was expanded and more offices were added.

Leadership
The first pastors of ILC were missionaries of the American Lutheran Mission and served part-time, including Dr. Schaefer, Lowel Hesterman, Richard Jensen, Dennis Everson, Robert Avers and Loren Bliese. In the 1960s and early 1970s two volunteer retired pastors, Rev. Fredericks and Rev. Reitz from the USA, served for two years each. Rev. Paul Voltz from Radio Voice of the Gospel also served part-time. In the 1970s and 1980s Rev. Torgny Erling from Sweden, and Rev. Pekka Harne from Finland served basically full-time, and Rev. Johnny Bakke from Norway served part-time in the 1990s. Dr. Philip and Rene Johnson from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America served form 2000 until 2006 as the part-time pastoral team.  Dr. Peter and Patty Ford from the Reformed Church in America served as part-time pastors from 2006 until 2009. Rev. Ann Staal was ordained at ILC in 2010 through the EECMY, and then served as pastor through June 2012. In August 2012, Pastor Doug Steinke arrived with his family, and took on his ministry until 2014. Since that time ILC has had a pastoral team consisting of several pastors from various countries who share the pastoral duties of ILC. Currently there are 5 expatriates on the pastoral team.

EECMY includes Presbyterian Synods, and besides the Lutheran ministers, Reformed and Presbyterian missionaries have contributed to the ministry and fellowship of ILC. Much of the time, the worship services and work of the congregation have been carried out by volunteers from many denominations.

Amharic congregation
When the church was dedicated in 1963, an Ethiopian evangelist was hired by ILC, and the Amharic speaking Lidetta Mekane Yesus congregation was later organized. Sunday morning hours were divided between the two congregations. The Amharic congregation meets early on Sunday mornings. Other programs during the week are scheduled in cooperation with the two congregations' Councils. The expenses of the compound and utilities have also been shared. During the communist period the Lidetta Congregation outgrew ILC, and continues to carry on a very active ministry.

Membership and Governance
Membership is open to all Christian denominations, and associate membership is offered for those who want to retain their membership in their previous churches. The membership of ILC includes evangelical Christians from all over. The church welcomes visitors from all over the world every Sunday, including many from Scandinavia. The ILC is governed by an elected Church Council of nine members. Council members are elected for two-year terms and may serve unlimited terms. Council elections typically take place in March or April at the congregation's Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Budget and gifts
The expenses of the ILC are met entirely by gifts from members of the congregation and Sunday visitors. Besides support for the Addis Ababa Synod of EECMY, the budget of ILC has included support for many Christian organizations working in Ethiopia, such as Mekane Yesus Seminary scholarships, the Bible Society of Ethiopia, Win Souls for God, and Mother Theresa Orphanage.

Current services and programs
English-language services are held at 11 AM on Sunday morning. On most Sundays there is a Sunday School program for younger children, and a Bible Study class for older children. These classes depend on volunteers within the church. Holy Communion is celebrated the first Sunday of each month during the regular service, and one Sunday a month is a Family Service. Easter sunrise services, Christmas Eve candlelight services, evening worship during Lent, outings for youth, women and men, confirmation instruction, and evening Bible study programs have continued over the years.

Reunion of Lutheran Workers in Ethiopia
A reunion of Lutheran missionaries who served in Ethiopia from 1957 was held in Minneapolis, in June 2011.

See also
 P'ent'ay
 Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus

Notes

External links
  Church website
  https://web.archive.org/web/20070812131759/http://www.globalgoodnews.org/Churches_in_Ethiopia.htm

Lutheranism in Ethiopia
Churches in Ethiopia
Lutheran denominations
Churches in Addis Ababa


Bellair may refer to:

 Bellair, Missouri, unincorporated community
 Bellair, Florida, unincorporated community
 Bellair (New Bern, North Carolina), building in North Carolina
 Bellair (Virginia), building in Virginia
 Bellair, townland in County Antrim, Northern Ireland
 T. S. Bellair (1825–1893), Australian actor and publican

See also
Belleair, Florida
Bellaire (disambiguation)
Bellairs
Bel Air (disambiguation)
Belair (disambiguation)
Bel-Aire (disambiguation)


Fermín Salvochea y Álvarez (1 March 1842, in Cádiz – 27 September 1907, in Cádiz) was a mayor of the city of Cádiz and a president of the province of Cádiz. He was one of the main propagators of anarchist thought in that area in the late 19th century and is considered to be "perhaps the most beloved figure in the Spanish Anarchist movement of the 19th century".<ref name=bookchin>Bookchin, Murray (1998). The Spanish Anarchists. pp. 111-114</ref>

Ideologically, he was influenced by Bradlaugh, Owen and Paine, whose works he had studied during his stay in England, and Kropotkin, whom he read later. In Spain he had contact with anarchist thinkers and activists and members of the Bakuninist Alliance, including Anselmo Lorenzo, Pedro Vallina and .

Biography

He was born in the Plaza de las Viudas to a family originally from Navarre. His paternal grandfather had established himself in Cádiz after emigrating from Navarre, to engage in commerce. His mother, Pilar Alvarez, was the cousin of Juan Álvarez Mendizábal.

Following the traditions of the mercantile bourgeoisie of Cádiz to which the family belonged, when Salvochea was 15 his father sent him to England to become familiar with the ways of commerce. Fermín stayed in London and Liverpool for five years. But he was more devoted to studying the social problems of the time than the mercantile trade. He read the works of Owen, Paine and Berdlow.

Being the leader of the Canton of Cádiz at the end of Cantonal Revolution, he was captured by the troops of General Pavia in Seville, tried and sentenced to life imprisonment. He remained for several years in detention in Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera and Ceuta. After refusing the pardon that he was granted by the council of Cádiz in 1883, he escaped to Morocco. Disenchanted by politics and parliamentarianism, it was during his years in prison and in exile (after his escape which took him to France), when he firmly became an anarchist of the anarchist communism school.

Upon the death of Alfonso XII he was granted amnesty again and he returned to Cádiz, where he founded the newspaper El Socialismo, which published, among other items, the anarchist communist ideas of Kropotkin, thus introducing anarcho-communist thinking among the Spaniards.

During his life, he often renounced his heritage and family possessions and delivered it to the most needy. He lived in destitution and away from material luxury.

Back in Cádiz, his last work was a translation of Kropotkin's Fields, Factories and Workshops. He died on 28 September 1907, after falling from the table that was serving as his bed. His funeral was a great demonstration of popular grief with about fifty thousand people, mostly workmen from the Cádiz and Jerez areas, in attendance.

Legacy

Murray Bookchin describes Salvochea's life as spanning the early anarchist movement through the rise of anarcho-syndicalism.

The anarchist historian Manuel Buenacasa Tomeo called Salvochea "nuestro santo mayor''" - "our greatest saint". His image as a "saintly" figure is in contrast to some of the other elements in the anarchist movement like Paulí Pallàs who employed more terroristic tactics.

See also
Anarchism in Spain
List of mayors of Cádiz

Notes

References

Further reading

 Iñiguez, Miguel:  "Enciclopedia histórica del anarquismo español", Asociación Isaac Puente, Vitoria, 2008.

1842 births
1907 deaths
Politicians from Cádiz
Spanish anarchists
History of anarchism
Mayors of places in Andalusia
Cantonalism in Spain


Nikolay Sergeyevich Enikolopov (Enikolopyan) (; March 13, 1924, Stepanakert – January 22, 1993, Berlin) was an Armenian-Russian scientist, Doctor of Chemistry, professor, academic of Russian Academy of Sciences, director of the Institute of Synthetic polymers (Currently Nikolay Enikolopov Institute of Synthetic Polymers) of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 1980 he was awarded by the Lenin Prize.

In 1945 Enikolopov graduated from the Yerevan Polytechnic Institute. Since 1946 he worked at the Moscow Institute of Chemical Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, headed the laboratory of polymers. In 1982-1993 he headed also a department at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

References

1924 births
1993 deaths
Soviet Armenians
Russian chemists
Soviet chemists
20th-century chemists
People from Stepanakert
Polymer scientists and engineers
National Polytechnic University of Armenia alumni
Academic staff of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences
Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Recipients of the Lenin Prize
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples


Centenary Methodist Church may refer to:

Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church, South, St. Louis, MO, listed on the NRHP in Missouri
 Centenary Methodist Church (New Bern, North Carolina), listed on the NRHP in North Carolina
 Centenary Methodist Church (Rowland, North Carolina), listed on the NRHP in North Carolina
Centenary Methodist Church (Charleston, South Carolina), historic 1842 classical architecture church designed by Edward Brickell White
Centenary Methodist Church, York, former name of the main Methodist church in York in England


Lùnapop was an Italian pop rock music group active between 1999 and 2001.

Lùnapop released its lone full length Italian language album, ...Squérez?, in 1999. The album quickly became a commercial success, with the single "50 special", hitting the number one spot in the Italian charts in 1999, and ...Squérez? being the third-best selling album in Italy in 2000. The band won awards as Italy's best band, best album, and best newcomer in 2000.

Lùnapop was also nominated for a 2000 MTV Europe Music Awards, and won the 2000 Festivalbar award with their single "Qualcosa di grande".

Break up
Lùnapop split up in 2001. Lead singer Cesare Cremonini pursued a successful solo career. His Lùnapop bandmate, Nicola 'Ballo' Balestri, joined him in his new band, along with other musicians. Since going solo, Cremonini has released six solo studio albums: Bagus, Maggese, Il primo bacio sulla Luna, La teoria dei colori, Logico, and Possibili scenari. Solo hits include "Vieni a vedere perché", "Latin Lover", "Gongi-Boy", "Marmellata #25", "Dicono di me" and "Figlio di un re".
Alessandro De Simone, Gabriele Galassi and Andrea Capoti formed the band Liberpool in 2008. Their first single, "Sotto i portici", was released in 2009 and was followed by an album called LP.
Michele Giuliani retired from the music industry.

Members
Cesare Cremonini (born in Bologna, 27 March 1980) – vocals and piano
Andrea Capoti (Gallipoli, 3 July 1980) – percussion
Michele Giuliani (Bologna, 14 August 1980) – electric guitar
Alessandro de Simone (Bologna, 19 October 1980) – drums
Gabriele Galassi (Bologna, 27 January 1981) – acoustic guitar
Nicola "Ballo" Balestri (Bologna, 20 June 1982) – bass guitar

Discography

Albums
1999: ...Squérez?

Singles
1999: "50 special"
2000: "Un giorno migliore"
2000: "Qualcosa di grande"
2000: "Se ci sarai"
2001: "Resta con me"
2001: "Vorrei"

References

External links
Official website (in Italian)

Italian pop music groups
Musical groups established in 1999
Musical groups disestablished in 2002
Musical groups from Bologna
1999 establishments in Italy


Shirley Patricia Mallmann (born February 15, 1977) is a Brazilian model. She is considered the first Brazilian top model and is best known for her work with Jean Paul Gaultier, who immortalized her silhouette in his first perfume, "Classique" in a 2002 ad. Known for her unique runway walk, Mallmann was also featured on multiple covers of Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan among others worldwide. She was also named celebrity of the year by E! Entertainment in 1999.

Early life and career
Mallmann was born in Santa Clara do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul. She is of German-Brazilian descent. Besides her native Portuguese, Mallmann also speaks German, English and Italian.

Before becoming a model, she worked in a shoe factory in Rio Grande do Sul until the age of 18. In 1995, she moved to São Paulo with only R$300 in hand and a dream. Her first modeling job was in 1995 when she appeared on the cover of Brazilian Elle magazine.

Mallmann's international career began with the arrival of photographer Ellen von Unwerth in Brazil for Forum's 1996 winter campaign. Mallmann wasn't the main model in the campaign, but Von Unwerth turned her into the protagonist and nominated her for several jobs, such as the cover of the French Marie Claire with Patrick Demarchelier, the cover of the Italian Glamour magazine, and editorials for Harper's Bazaar and the Italian Vogue. Mallmann went to New York and returned to her country as a supermodel.

She appeared in the Pirelli Calendar photographed by Herb Ritts in June 1999, and was chosen by US TV channel E! as "Celebrity of the Year" in 1999.

In 2002, Mallmann starred in a commercial for Jean Paul Gaultier's perfume "Classique", who immortalized her silhouette in the bottle.

Her career includes runway for designers such as Valentino, Alexander McQueen, Oscar de la Renta, Alberta Ferretti, Bottega Veneta, Carolina Herrera, Christian Lacroix, Marc Jacobs, Prada, Chanel, Christian Dior, Miu Miu, Donna Karan, Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace, Hermés, Ann Demeulemeester, Givenchy, Ralph Lauren, Vivienne Westwood, Anna Sui, Betsey Johnson, Richard Tyler, Anna Molinari, Badgley Mischka, Bill Blass, Blumarine, Chloé, Cynthia Rowley, Dirk Bikkembergs, Ellen Tracy, Fendi, Gianfranco Ferré, Lanvin, Nina Ricci, Dirk Bikkembergs, Helmut Lang, Kenzo, Guy Laroche, Roberto Cavalli, Alexandre Herchcovitch, Emanuel Ungaro, John Galliano, Karl Lagerfeld, Krizia, Max Mara, Mila Schön, Catherine Malandrino, Ocimar Versolato, Salvatore Ferragamo, Sonia Rykiel, Thierry Mugler, Alessandro Dell'Acqua, Gai Mattiolo, Iceberg, Hervé Léger, Rifat Özbek, Rocco Barocco and Sportmax.

She did advertisements for Yves Saint Laurent, Chanel, Jean Paul Gautier, Dolce and Gabbana, Colcci, Emporio Armani, Lacoste, Alberta Ferreti, Guess?, Gianfranco Ferre, La Perla, Roberto Cavalli, Vivara, Marks & Spencer, Blumarine and Saks, as well as a 2001 appearance in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and the covers of multiple issues of Vogue, Elle  and Marie Claire around the world.

Mallmann holds the record for the most appearances on the cover of Brazilian magazine Donna, being featured in 8 covers between 1995 and 2013.

In 2012, Mallmann appeared in a tribute to the James Bond franchise in celebration of its 50th anniversary for the Brazilian Elle magazine. She starred in a video directed by Manuel Nogueira titled "Bond Girl Reloaded", where she dons looks from Alexandre Herchcovitch and Balmain, while battling armed villains, ending in a fiery explosion.

Personal life
Since 2002, Mallmann has been married to American hair stylist Zaiya Latt. They live in New York and have two sons, Axil, born in 2002, and Ziggy, born in 2008.

She is an ambassador of the international Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which protects marine animals and deals with them in case of spilled oil.

References

External links
Shirley Mallmann at the Fashion Model Directory
Shirley Mallmann on Models.com
Shirley Mallmann at the Fashion Encyclopedia
Shirley Mallmann on One Thousand Models
Vogue - Model Wall: Shirley Mallmann

1977 births
Living people
People from Rio Grande do Sul
Brazilian people of German descent
Brazilian female models
Brazilian environmentalists
Brazilian women environmentalists
Brazilian emigrants to the United States
Brazilian models of German descent


Lisa Schrage (born March 2, 1963) is a retired Canadian film and television actress. She is best known for her role as Mary Lou Maloney in the 1987 Canadian horror film Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II.

Life
She is married to Chilean Director Jorge Montesi.

Filmography
Young Again (1995) - Girl #1 (at disco)
China White (1989) - Anne Michaels
Food of the Gods II (1989) - Alex Reed
Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II (1987) - Mary Lou Maloney
Dreams Beyond Memory (1987) - Jennifer
The Amateur (1981) - Teenage Girl #1

Television
Assault on Death Mountain a.k.a. Shadow Warriors II: Hunt for the Death Merchant (1999) - Laura Berringer
Sweet Deception (1998) - Eva Newcomb
The Sentinel (1998) - 1 episode, Kelly Temple
Sweating Bullets a.k.a. "Tropical Heat" (1992) - 1 episode, Lisa McGrath
The Twilight Zone (1988) - 1 episode, Candy
Night Heat (1987-1988) - 3 episodes, Victoria / Ellen Kozak / Terry Garfield
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1988) - 1 episode, Kelly
Shades of Love: Indigo Autumn (1987) - Jill Jamieson (as Lisa Schrag)

References

External links

1956 births
Living people
Canadian film actresses
Canadian television actresses