text:
April 13

Pre-1600

 * 1111 – Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
 * 1204 – Constantinople falls to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, temporarily ending the Byzantine Empire.
 * 1455 – Thirteen Years' War: the beginning of the Battle for Kneiphof.

1601–1900

 * 1612 – Samurai Miyamoto Musashi defeats Sasaki Kojirō in a duel at Funajima island.
 * 1613 – Samuel Argall, having captured Pocahontas in Passapatanzy, Virginia, sets off with her to Jamestown with the intention of exchanging her for English prisoners held by her father.
 * 1699 – The Sikh religion is formalised as the Khalsa – the brotherhood of Warrior-Saints – by Guru Gobind Singh in northern India, in accordance with the Nanakshahi calendar.
 * 1742 – George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah makes its world premiere in Dublin, Ireland.
 * 1777 – American Revolutionary War: American forces are ambushed and defeated in the Battle of Bound Brook, New Jersey.
 * 1829 – The Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 gives Roman Catholics in the United Kingdom the right to vote and to sit in Parliament.
 * 1849 – Lajos Kossuth presents the Hungarian Declaration of Independence in a closed session of the National Assembly.
 * 1861 – American Civil War: Union forces surrender Fort Sumter to Confederate forces.
 * 1865 – American Civil War: Raleigh, North Carolina is occupied by Union forces.
 * 1870 – The New York City Metropolitan Museum of Art is founded.
 * 1873 – The Colfax massacre: More than 60 to 150 black men are murdered in Colfax, Louisiana, while surrendering to a mob of former Confederate soldiers and members of the Ku Klux Klan.

1901–present

 * 1909 – The 31 March Incident leads to the overthrow of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
 * 1919 – Jallianwala Bagh massacre: British Indian Army troops led by Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer kill approximately 379–1,000 unarmed demonstrators including men and women in Amritsar, India; and approximately 1,500 injured.
 * 1941 – A pact of neutrality between the USSR and Japan is signed.
 * 1943 – World War II: The discovery of mass graves of Polish prisoners of war killed by Soviet forces in the Katyń Forest Massacre is announced, causing a diplomatic rift between the Polish government-in-exile in London and the Soviet Union, which denies responsibility.
 * 1943  – The Jefferson Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., on the 200th anniversary of President Thomas Jefferson's birth.
 * 1945 – World War II: German troops kill more than 1,000 political and military prisoners in Gardelegen, Germany.
 * 1945  – World War II: Soviet and Bulgarian forces capture Vienna.
 * 1948 – In an ambush, 78 Jewish doctors, nurses and medical students from Hadassah Hospital, and a British soldier, are massacred by Arabs in Sheikh Jarrah. This event came to be known as the Hadassah medical convoy massacre.
 * 1953 – CIA director Allen Dulles launches the mind-control program Project MKUltra.
 * 1958 – American pianist Van Cliburn is awarded first prize at the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
 * 1960 – The United States launches Transit 1-B, the world's first satellite navigation system.
 * 1964 – At the Academy Awards, Sidney Poitier becomes the first African-American man to win the Best Actor award for the 1963 film Lilies of the Field.
 * 1970 – An oxygen tank aboard the Apollo 13 Service Module explodes, putting the crew in great danger and causing major damage to the Apollo command and service module (codenamed "Odyssey") while en route to the Moon.
 * 1972 – The Universal Postal Union decides to recognize the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate Chinese representative, effectively expelling the Republic of China administering Taiwan.
 * 1972  – Vietnam War: The Battle of An Lộc begins.
 * 1975 – An attack by the Phalangist resistance kills 26 militia members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, marking the start of the 15-year Lebanese Civil War.
 * 1976 – The United States Treasury Department reintroduces the two-dollar bill as a Federal Reserve Note on Thomas Jefferson's 233rd birthday as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration.
 * 1976  – Forty workers die in an explosion at the Lapua ammunition factory, the deadliest accidental disaster in modern history in Finland.
 * 1996 – Two women and four children are killed after Israeli helicopter fired rockets at an ambulance in Mansouri, Lebanon.
 * 1997 – Tiger Woods becomes the youngest golfer to win the Masters Tournament.
 * 2017 – The US drops the largest ever non-nuclear weapon on Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan.
 * 2023 – The house of Jack Teixeira was raided in an investigation into leaked Pentagon documents, where he was later arrested on the same day.
 * 2024 – Six people and the perpetrator are killed and twelve others injured in a mass stabbing at Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre in Sydney, Australia.

Pre-1600

 * 1229 – Louis II, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1294)
 * 1350 – Margaret III, Countess of Flanders (d. 1405)
 * 1506 – Peter Faber, French priest and theologian, co-founded the Society of Jesus (d. 1546)
 * 1519 – Catherine de' Medici, Italian-French wife of Henry II of France (d. 1589)
 * 1570 – Guy Fawkes, English soldier, member of the Gunpowder Plot (probable; d. 1606)
 * 1573 – Christina of Holstein-Gottorp (d. 1625)
 * 1593 – Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, English soldier and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (d. 1641)

1601–1900

 * 1618 – Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy, French author (d. 1693)
 * 1636 – Hendrik van Rheede, Dutch botanist (d. 1691)
 * 1648 – Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon, French mystic (d. 1717)
 * 1713 – Pierre Jélyotte, French tenor (d. 1797)
 * 1729 – Thomas Percy, Irish bishop and poet (d. 1811)
 * 1732 – Frederick North, Lord North, English politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (d. 1792)
 * 1735 – Isaac Low, American merchant and politician, founded the New York Chamber of Commerce (d. 1791)
 * 1743 – Thomas Jefferson, American lawyer and politician, 3rd President of the United States (d. 1826)
 * 1747 – Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans (d. 1793)
 * 1764 – Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr, French general and politician, French Minister of War (d. 1830)
 * 1769 – Thomas Lawrence, English painter and educator (d. 1830)
 * 1771 – Richard Trevithick, Cornish-English engineer and explorer (d. 1833)
 * 1780 – Alexander Mitchell, Irish engineer, invented the Screw-pile lighthouse (d. 1868)
 * 1784 – Friedrich Graf von Wrangel, Prussian field marshal (d. 1877)
 * 1787 – John Robertson, American lawyer and politician (d. 1873)
 * 1794 – Jean Pierre Flourens, French physiologist and academic (d. 1867)
 * 1802 – Leopold Fitzinger, Austrian zoologist and herpetologist (d. 1884)
 * 1808 – Antonio Meucci, Italian-American engineer (d. 1889)
 * 1810 – Félicien David, French composer (d. 1876)
 * 1824 – William Alexander, Irish archbishop, poet, and theologian (d. 1911)
 * 1825 – Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Irish-Canadian journalist and politician (d. 1868)
 * 1828 – Josephine Butler, English feminist and social reformer (d. 1906)
 * 1828  – Joseph Lightfoot, English bishop and theologian (d. 1889)
 * 1832 – Juan Montalvo, Ecuadorian author and diplomat (d. 1889)
 * 1841 – Louis-Ernest Barrias, French sculptor and academic (d. 1905)
 * 1850 – Arthur Matthew Weld Downing, Irish astronomer (d. 1917)
 * 1851 – Robert Abbe, American surgeon and radiologist (d. 1928)
 * 1851  – William Quan Judge, Irish occultist and theosophist (d. 1896)
 * 1852 – Frank Winfield Woolworth, American businessman, founded the F. W. Woolworth Company (d. 1919)
 * 1854 – Lucy Craft Laney, American founder of the Haines Normal and Industrial School, Augusta, Georgia (d. 1933)
 * 1860 – James Ensor, English-Belgian painter, an important influence on expressionism and surrealism (d. 1949)
 * 1866 – Butch Cassidy, American criminal (d. 1908)
 * 1872 – John Cameron, Scottish international footballer and manager (d. 1935)
 * 1872  – Alexander Roda Roda, Austrian-Croatian journalist and author (d. 1945)
 * 1873 – John W. Davis, American lawyer and politician, 14th United States Solicitor General (d. 1955)
 * 1875 – Ray Lyman Wilbur, American physician, academic, and politician, 31st United States Secretary of the Interior (d. 1949)
 * 1879 – Edward Bruce, American lawyer and painter (d. 1943)
 * 1879  – Oswald Bruce Cooper, American type designer, lettering artist, graphic designer, and educator (d. 1940)
 * 1880 – Charles Christie, Canadian-American businessman, co-founded the Christie Film Company (d. 1955)
 * 1885 – Vean Gregg, American baseball player (d. 1964)
 * 1885  – Juhan Kukk, Estonian politician, Head of State of Estonia (d. 1942)
 * 1885  – György Lukács, Hungarian philosopher and critic (d. 1971)
 * 1885  – Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy, Dutch politician (d. 1961)
 * 1887 – Gordon S. Fahrni, Canadian physician and golfer (d. 1995)
 * 1889 – Herbert Yardley, American cryptologist and author (d. 1958)
 * 1890 – Frank Murphy, American jurist and politician, 56th United States Attorney General (d. 1949)
 * 1890  – Dadasaheb Torne, Indian director and producer (d. 1960)
 * 1891 – Maurice Buckley, Australian sergeant, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 1921)
 * 1891  – Nella Larsen, Danish/African-American nurse, librarian, and author (d. 1964)
 * 1891  – Robert Scholl, German accountant and politician (d. 1973)
 * 1892 – Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet, English air marshal (d. 1984)
 * 1892  – Robert Watson-Watt, Scottish engineer, invented Radar (d. 1973)
 * 1894 – Arthur Fadden, Australian accountant and politician, 13th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1973)
 * 1894  – Joie Ray, American runner (d. 1978)
 * 1896 – Fred Barnett, English footballer (d. 1982)
 * 1897 – Werner Voss, German lieutenant and pilot (d. 1917)
 * 1899 – Alfred Mosher Butts, American architect and game designer, created Scrabble (d. 1993)
 * 1899  – Harold Osborn, American high jumper and decathlete (d. 1975)
 * 1900 – Sorcha Boru, American potter and ceramic sculptor (d. 2006)
 * 1900  – Pierre Molinier, French painter and photographer (d. 1976)

1901–present

 * 1901 – Jacques Lacan, French psychiatrist and psychoanalyst (d. 1981)
 * 1901  – Alan Watt, Australian public servant and diplomat, Australian Ambassador to Japan (d. 1988)
 * 1902 – Philippe de Rothschild, French Grand Prix driver, playwright, and producer (d. 1988)
 * 1902  – Marguerite Henry, American author (d. 1997)
 * 1904 – David Robinson, English businessman and philanthropist (d. 1987)
 * 1905 – Rae Johnstone, Australian jockey (d. 1964)
 * 1906 – Samuel Beckett, Irish novelist, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1989)
 * 1906  – Bud Freeman, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1991)
 * 1907 – Harold Stassen, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Minnesota (d. 2001)
 * 1909 – Eudora Welty, American short story writer and novelist (d. 2001)
 * 1911 – Ico Hitrec, Croatian footballer and manager (d. 1946)
 * 1911  – Jean-Louis Lévesque, Canadian businessman and philanthropist (d. 1994)
 * 1911  – Nino Sanzogno, Italian conductor and composer (d. 1983)
 * 1913 – Dave Albritton, American high jumper and coach (d. 1994)
 * 1913  – Kermit Tyler, American lieutenant and pilot (d. 2010)
 * 1914 – Orhan Veli Kanık, Turkish poet and author (d. 1950)
 * 1916 – Phyllis Fraser, Welsh-American actress, journalist, and publisher, co-founded Beginner Books (d. 2006)
 * 1917 – Robert Orville Anderson, American businessman, founded Atlantic Richfield Oil Co. (d. 2007)
 * 1917  – Bill Clements, American soldier, engineer, and politician, 15th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense (d. 2011)
 * 1919 – Roland Gaucher, French journalist and politician (d. 2007)
 * 1919  – Howard Keel, American actor and singer (d. 2004)
 * 1919  – Madalyn Murray O'Hair, American activist, founded American Atheists (d. 1995)
 * 1920 – Roberto Calvi, Italian banker (d. 1982)
 * 1920  – Claude Cheysson, French lieutenant and politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2012)
 * 1920  – Liam Cosgrave, Irish lawyer and politician, 6th Taoiseach of Ireland (d. 2017)
 * 1920  – Theodore L. Thomas, American chemical engineer, Patent attorney and writer (d. 2005)
 * 1921  – Antonino Rocca, Italian-American wrestler (d. 1977)
 * 1922 – Heinz Baas, German footballer and manager (d. 1994)
 * 1922  – John Braine, English librarian and author (d. 1986)
 * 1922  – Julius Nyerere, Tanzanian politician and teacher, 1st President of Tanzania (d. 1999)
 * 1922  – Valve Pormeister, Estonian architect (d. 2002)
 * 1923 – Don Adams, American actor and director (d. 2005)
 * 1923  – A. H. Halsey, English sociologist and academic (d. 2014)
 * 1924 – John T. Biggers, American painter (d. 2001)
 * 1924  – Jack T. Chick, American author, illustrator, and publisher (d. 2016)
 * 1924  – Stanley Donen, American film director and choreographer (d. 2019)
 * 1926 – Ellie Lambeti, Greek actress (d. 1983)
 * 1926  – John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough, English businessman (d. 2014)
 * 1927 – Rosemary Haughton, English philosopher, theologian, and author
 * 1927  – Maurice Ronet, French actor and director (d. 1983)
 * 1928 – Alan Clark, English historian and politician, Minister of State for Trade (d. 1999)
 * 1928  – Gianni Marzotto, Italian racing driver and businessman (d. 2012)
 * 1929 – Marilynn Smith, American golfer (d. 2019)
 * 1931 – Anita Cerquetti, Italian soprano (d. 2014)
 * 1931  – Robert Enrico, French director and screenwriter (d. 2001)
 * 1931  – Dan Gurney, American race car driver and engineer (d. 2018)
 * 1931  – Jon Stone, American composer, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1997)
 * 1932 – Orlando Letelier, Chilean-American economist and politician, Chilean Minister of National Defense (d. 1976)
 * 1933 – Ben Nighthorse Campbell, American soldier and politician
 * 1934 – John Muckler, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager (d. 2021)
 * 1936 – Pierre Rosenberg, French historian and academic
 * 1937 – Col Joye, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1937  – Edward Fox, English actor
 * 1937  – Lanford Wilson, American playwright, co-founded the Circle Repertory Company (d. 2011)
 * 1938 – Klaus Lehnertz, German pole vaulter
 * 1938  – John Weston, English poet and diplomat
 * 1939 – Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
 * 1939  – Paul Sorvino, American actor and singer (d. 2022)
 * 1940 – Mike Beuttler, Egyptian-English racing driver (d. 1988)
 * 1940  – Lester Chambers, American singer and musician
 * 1940  – J. M. G. Le Clézio, Breton French-Mauritian author and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
 * 1940  – Vladimir Cosma, French composer, conductor and violinist
 * 1940  – Jim McNab, Scottish footballer (d. 2006)
 * 1940  – Max Mosley, English racing driver and engineer, co-founded March Engineering, former president of the FIA (d. 2021)
 * 1940  – Ruby Puryear Hearn, African-American biophysicist
 * 1941 – Michael Stuart Brown, American geneticist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
 * 1941  – Jean-Marc Reiser, French author and illustrator (d. 1983)
 * 1942 – Bill Conti, American composer and conductor
 * 1943 – Alan Jones, Australian rugby coach and radio host
 * 1943  – Tim Krabbé, Dutch journalist and author
 * 1943  – Philip Norman, English journalist, author, and playwright
 * 1944 – Susan Davis, Russian-American social worker and politician
 * 1945 – Judy Nunn, Australian actress and author
 * 1946 – Al Green, American singer-songwriter, producer, and pastor
 * 1947 – Rae Armantrout, American poet and academic
 * 1947  – Mike Chapman, Australian-English songwriter and producer
 * 1947  – Jean-Jacques Laffont, French economist and academic (d. 2004)
 * 1947  – Thanos Mikroutsikos, Greek composer and politician (d. 2019)
 * 1948 – Nam Hae-il, South Korean admiral
 * 1948  – Drago Jančar, Slovenian author and playwright
 * 1948  – Mikhail Shufutinsky, Soviet and Russian singer, actor, TV presenter
 * 1949 – Len Cook, New Zealand-English mathematician and statistician
 * 1949  – Frank Doran, Scottish lawyer and politician (d. 2017)
 * 1949  – Christopher Hitchens, English-American essayist, literary critic, and journalist (d. 2011)
 * 1950 – Ron Perlman, American actor
 * 1950  – Tommy Raudonikis, Australian rugby league player and coach (d. 2021)
 * 1950  – William Sadler, American actor
 * 1951 – Leszek Borysiewicz, Welsh immunologist and academic
 * 1951  – Peabo Bryson, American singer
 * 1951  – Peter Davison, English actor
 * 1951  – Max Weinberg, American musician and bandleader
 * 1952 – Gabrielle Gourdeau, Canadian writer (d. 2006)
 * 1952  – Jonjo O'Neill, Irish jockey and trainer
 * 1955 – Steve Camp, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1955  – Muwenda Mutebi II, current King of Buganda Kingdom
 * 1959 – John Middendorf, American mountain climber (d. 2024)
 * 1960 – Rudi Völler, German footballer and manager
 * 1963 – Garry Kasparov, Russian chess player and author
 * 1964 – Davis Love III, American golfer and sportscaster
 * 1965 – Patricio Pouchulu, Argentinian architect and educator
 * 1967 – Dana Barros, American basketball player and coach
 * 1967  – Michael Eisen, American biologist and academic
 * 1967  – Olga Tañón, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter
 * 1970 – Ricky Schroder, American actor
 * 1971 – Franck Esposito, French swimmer
 * 1971  – Danie Mellor, Australian painter and sculptor
 * 1971  – Bo Outlaw, American basketball player
 * 1972 – Aaron Lewis, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 * 1973 – Bokeem Woodbine, American actor
 * 1975 – Lou Bega, German singer
 * 1976 – Jonathan Brandis, American actor (d. 2003)
 * 1976  – Dan Campbell, American football player and coach
 * 1976  – Glenn Howerton, American actor
 * 1977 – Margus Tsahkna, Estonian lawyer and politician
 * 1978 – Carles Puyol, Spanish footballer
 * 1979 – Baron Davis, American basketball player
 * 1980 – Quentin Richardson, American basketball player
 * 1982 – Nellie McKay, British-American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress
 * 1982  – Ty Dolla Sign, American singer, songwriter, and musician
 * 1983 – Hunter Pence, American baseball player
 * 1986 – Lorenzo Cain, American baseball player
 * 1987 – John-Allison Weiss, American singer-songwriter
 * 1988 – Allison Williams, American actress and singer
 * 1989 – Josh Reynolds, Australian rugby league player
 * 1991 – Josh Gordon, American football player
 * 1992 – Jordan Silk, Australian cricketer
 * 1993 – Melvin Gordon, American football player
 * 1993  – Darrun Hilliard, American basketball player
 * 1994 – Kahraba, Egyptian footballer

Pre-1600

 * 548 – Lý Nam Đế, Vietnamese emperor (b. 503)
 * 585 – Hermenegild, Visigothic prince and saint
 * 799 – Paul the Deacon, Italian monk and historian (b. 720)
 * 814 – Krum, khan of the Bulgarian Khanate
 * 862 – Donald I, king of the Picts (b. 812)
 * 989 – Bardas Phokas, Byzantine general
 * 1035 – Herbert I, Count of Maine
 * 1093 – Vsevolod I of Kiev (b. 1030)
 * 1113 – Ida of Lorraine, saint and noblewoman (b. c. 1040)
 * 1138 – Simon I, Duke of Lorraine (b. 1076)
 * 1213 – Guy of Thouars, regent of Brittany
 * 1275 – Eleanor of England (b. 1215)
 * 1367 – John Tiptoft, 2nd Baron Tibetot (b. 1313)
 * 1592 – Bartolomeo Ammannati, Italian architect and sculptor (b. 1511)

1601–1900

 * 1605 – Boris Godunov, Tsar of Russia (b. 1551)
 * 1612 – Sasaki Kojirō, Japanese samurai (b. 1585)
 * 1635 – Fakhr-al-Din II, Ottoman prince (b. 1572)
 * 1638 – Henri, Duke of Rohan (b. 1579)
 * 1641 – Richard Montagu, English bishop (b. 1577)
 * 1695 – Jean de La Fontaine, French author and poet (b. 1621)
 * 1716 – Arthur Herbert, 1st Earl of Torrington, English admiral and politician (b. 1648)
 * 1722 – Charles Leslie, Irish priest and theologian (b. 1650)
 * 1793 – Pierre Gaspard Chaumette, French botanist, lawyer, and politician (b. 1763)
 * 1794 – Nicolas Chamfort, French playwright and poet (b. 1741)
 * 1826 – Franz Danzi, German cellist, composer, and conductor (b. 1763)
 * 1853 – Leopold Gmelin, German chemist and academic (b. 1788)
 * 1853  – James Iredell, Jr., American lawyer and politician, 23rd Governor of North Carolina (b. 1788)
 * 1855 – Henry De la Beche, English geologist and palaeontologist (b. 1796)
 * 1868 – Tewodros II of Ethiopia (b. 1818)
 * 1880 – Robert Fortune, Scottish botanist and author (b. 1813)
 * 1882 – Bruno Bauer, German historian and philosopher (b. 1809)
 * 1886 – John Humphrey Noyes, American religious leader, founded the Oneida Community (b. 1811)
 * 1890 – Samuel J. Randall, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 33rd Speaker of the United States House of Representatives (b. 1828)

1901–present

 * 1909 – Whitley Stokes, Anglo-Irish lawyer and scholar (b. 1830)
 * 1910 – William Quiller Orchardson, Scottish-English painter and educator (b. 1835)
 * 1911 – John McLane, Scottish-American politician, 50th Governor of New Hampshire (b. 1852)
 * 1911  – George Washington Glick, American lawyer and politician, 9th Governor of Kansas (b. 1827)
 * 1912 – Takuboku Ishikawa, Japanese poet and author (b. 1886)
 * 1917 – Diamond Jim Brady, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1856)
 * 1918 – Lavr Kornilov, Russian general (b. 1870)
 * 1927 – Georg Voigt, German politician, Mayor of Frankfurt (b. 1866)
 * 1936 – Konstantinos Demertzis, Greek politician 129th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1876)
 * 1938 – Grey Owl, English-Canadian environmentalist and author (b. 1888)
 * 1941 – Annie Jump Cannon, American astronomer and academic (b. 1863)
 * 1941  – William Twaits, Canadian soccer player (b. 1879)
 * 1942 – Henk Sneevliet, Dutch politician (b. 1883)
 * 1942  – Anton Uesson, Estonian engineer and politician, 17th Mayor of Tallinn (b. 1879)
 * 1944 – Cécile Chaminade, French pianist and composer (b. 1857)
 * 1945 – Ernst Cassirer, Polish-American philosopher and academic (b. 1874)
 * 1954 – Samuel Jones, American high jumper (b. 1880)
 * 1954  – Angus Lewis Macdonald, Canadian lawyer and politician, 12th Premier of Nova Scotia (b. 1890)
 * 1956 – Emil Nolde, Danish-German painter and educator (b. 1867)
 * 1959 – Eduard van Beinum, Dutch pianist, violinist, and conductor (b. 1901)
 * 1961 – John A. Bennett, American soldier (b. 1936)
 * 1962 – Culbert Olson, American lawyer and politician, 29th Governor of California (b. 1876)
 * 1964 – Kristian Krefting, Norwegian footballer and chemical engineer (b. 1891)
 * 1966 – Abdul Salam Arif, Iraqi colonel and politician, 2nd President of Iraq (b. 1921)
 * 1966  – Carlo Carrà, Italian painter (b. 1881)
 * 1966  – Georges Duhamel, French soldier and author (b. 1884)
 * 1967 – Nicole Berger, French actress (b. 1934)
 * 1969 – Alfred Karindi, Estonian pianist and composer (b. 1901)
 * 1971 – Michel Brière, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1949)
 * 1971  – Juhan Smuul, Estonian author, poet, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
 * 1975 – Larry Parks, American actor and singer (b. 1914)
 * 1975  – François Tombalbaye, Chadian soldier, academic, and politician, 1st President of Chad (b. 1918)
 * 1978 – Jack Chambers, Canadian painter and director (b. 1931)
 * 1978  – Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Nigerian educator and women's rights activist (b. 1900)
 * 1980 – Markus Höttinger, Austrian racing driver (b. 1956)
 * 1983 – Gerry Hitchens, English footballer (b. 1934)
 * 1983  – Theodore Stephanides, Greek physician, author, and poet (b. 1896)
 * 1984 – Ralph Kirkpatrick, American harpsichordist and musicologist (b. 1911)
 * 1988 – Jean Gascon, Canadian actor and director (b. 1920)
 * 1992 – Maurice Sauvé, Canadian economist and politician (b. 1923)
 * 1992  – Feza Gürsey, Turkish mathematician and physicist (b. 1921)
 * 1992  – Daniel Pollock, Australian actor (b. 1968)
 * 1993 – Wallace Stegner, American novelist, short story writer, and essayist (b. 1909)
 * 1996 – Leila Mackinlay, English author and educator (b. 1910)
 * 1997 – Bryant Bowles, American soldier and white supremacist, founded the National Association for the Advancement of White People (b. 1920)
 * 1997  – Alan Cooley, Australian public servant (b. 1920)
 * 1997  – Dorothy Frooks, American author and actress (b. 1896)
 * 1997  – Voldemar Väli, Estonian wrestler (b. 1903)
 * 1998 – Patrick de Gayardon, French skydiver and base jumper (b. 1960)
 * 1999 – Ortvin Sarapu, Estonian-New Zealand chess player and author (b. 1924)
 * 1999  – Willi Stoph, German engineer and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of East Germany (b. 1914)
 * 2000 – Giorgio Bassani, Italian author and poet (b. 1916)
 * 2000  – Frenchy Bordagaray, American baseball player and manager (b. 1910)
 * 2004 – Caron Keating, Northern Irish television host (b. 1962)
 * 2005 – Johnnie Johnson, American pianist and songwriter (b. 1924)
 * 2005  – Phillip Pavia, American painter and sculptor (b. 1912)
 * 2006 – Muriel Spark, Scottish novelist, poet, and critic (b. 1918)
 * 2008 – John Archibald Wheeler, American physicist and academic (b. 1911)
 * 2012 – Cecil Chaudhry, Pakistani pilot, academic, and activist (b. 1941)
 * 2012  – Shūichi Higurashi, Japanese illustrator (b. 1936)
 * 2013 – Stephen Dodgson, English composer and educator (b. 1924)
 * 2014 – Ernesto Laclau, Argentinian-Spanish philosopher and theorist (b. 1935)
 * 2014  – Michael Ruppert, American journalist and author (b. 1951)
 * 2015 – Eduardo Galeano, Uruguayan journalist and author (b. 1940)
 * 2015  – Günter Grass, German novelist, poet, playwright, and illustrator, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1927)
 * 2015  – Herb Trimpe, American author and illustrator (b. 1939)
 * 2017 – Dan Rooney, American football executive and former United States Ambassador to Ireland (b. 1932)
 * 2022 – Michel Bouquet, French stage and film actor (b. 1925)
 * 2022 – Gloria Parker, American musician and bandleader (b. 1921)
 * 2024 – Faith Ringgold, American artist and author (b. 1930)

Holidays and observances

 * Christian feast day:
 * Ida of Louvain
 * Margaret of Castello
 * April 13 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
 * Songkran
 * Songkran (Thailand)
 * Water-Sprinkling Festival
 * Vaisakhi (between 1902 and 2011)

title: April 13


text:
Amaranth

Amaranthus is a cosmopolitan group of more than 50 species which make up the genus of annual or short-lived perennial plants collectively known as amaranths. Some of the more well known names include "prostrate pigweed" and "love lies bleeding". Some amaranth species are cultivated as leaf vegetables, pseudocereals, and ornamental plants. Catkin-like cymes of densely packed flowers grow in summer or fall. Amaranth varies in flower, leaf, and stem color with a range of striking pigments from the spectrum of maroon to crimson and can grow longitudinally from 3 to 8 ft tall with a cylindrical, succulent, fibrous stem that is hollow with grooves and bracteoles when mature. There are approximately 75 species in the genus, 10 of which are dioecious and native to North America with the remaining 65 monoecious species endemic to every continent (except Antarctica) from tropical lowlands to the Himalayas. Members of this genus share many characteristics and uses with members of the closely related genus Celosia. Amaranth grain is collected from the genus. The leaves of some species are also eaten.

Names and etymology
Amaranthus comes from the name of this plant in Ancient Greek, ἀμάραντος, "amaranth, immortal", noun formed from the privative prefix ἀ-, "without", and the verb μαραίνω, "to consume, to exhaust" indeed, the amaranth has a reputation for not withering, with in particular its calice which remains persistent, and for this reason, represents a symbol of immortality. Some species are used in dry bouquets.

The form amaranthus (with H), comes from an erroneous association with the Greek etymon anthos (lat. -anthus) meaning flower, found in the name of many plants (agapanthus, for example).

Its denominations in the languages of the peoples cultivating it since ancient times in America are: huauhtli in Nahuatl, kiwicha, ataĉo in Quechua, tez o xtes in Maya, ahparie in purépecha, wa've in huichol (wixarika) or guegui in tarahumara (raramuri).

Description

Amaranth is a herbaceous plant or shrub that is either annual or perennial across the genus. Flowers vary interspecifically from the presence of 3 or 5 tepals and stamens, whereas a 7-porate pollen grain structure remains consistent across the family. Species across the genus contain concentric rings of vascular bundles, and fix carbon efficiently with a C4 photosynthetic pathway. Leaves are approximately 6.5 - 15 cm and of oval or elliptical shape that are either opposite or alternate across species, although most leaves are whole and simple with entire margins.

Amaranth has a primary root with deeper spreading secondary fibrous root structures. Inflorescences are in the form a large panicle that varies from terminal to axial, color, and sex. The tassel of fluorescence is either erect or bent and varies in width and length between species. Flowers are radially symmetric and either bisexual or unisexual with very small, bristly perianth and pointy bracts. Species in this genus are either monecious (e.g. A. hybridus,) or dioecious (e.g. A. palmeri). Fruits are in the form of capsules referred to as a unilocular pixdio that opens at maturity. The top (operculum) of the unilocular pixdio releases the urn that contains the seed. Seeds are circular form from 1 to 1.5 millimeters in diameter and range in color with a shiny, smooth seed coat. The panicle is harvested 200 days after cultivation with approximately 1,000 to 3,000 seeds harvested per gram.

Chemistry
Amaranth grain contains phytochemicals that are not defined as nutrients and may be antinutrient factors, such as polyphenols, saponins, tannins, and oxalates. These compounds are reduced in content and antinutrient effect by cooking.

Taxonomy
Amaranthus shows a wide variety of morphological diversity among and even within certain species. Amaranthus is part of the Amaranthaceae that is part of the larger grouping of the Carophyllales. Although the family (Amaranthaceae) is distinctive, the genus has few distinguishing characters among the 75 species present across six continents. This complicates taxonomy and Amaranthus has generally been considered among systematists as a "difficult" genus and to hybridize often.

In 1955, Sauer classified the genus into two subgenera, differentiating only between monoecious and dioecious species: Acnida (L.) Aellen ex K.R. Robertson and Amaranthus. Although this classification was widely accepted, further infrageneric classification was (and still is) needed to differentiate this widely diverse group. Mosyakin and Robertson 1996 later divided into three subgenera: Acnida, Amaranthus, and Albersia. The support for the addition of the subdivision Albersia because of its indehiscent fruits coupled with three elliptic to linear tepals to be exclusive characters to members of this subgenus. The classification of these groups are further supported with a combination of floral characters, reproductive strategies, geographic distribution, and molecular evidence.

The phylogenies of Amaranthus using maximum parsimony and Bayesian analysis of nuclear and chloroplast genes suggest five clades within the genus: Diecious / Pumilus, Hybris, Galapagos, Eurasian/ South African, Australian (ESA), ESA + South American.

Amaranthus includes three recognised subgenera and 75 species, although species numbers are questionable due to hybridisation and species concepts. Infrageneric classification focuses on inflorescence, flower characters and whether a species is monoecious/dioecious, as in the Sauer (1955) suggested classification. Bracteole morphology present on the stem is used for taxonomic classification of Amaranth. Wild species have longer bracteoles compared to cultivated species. A modified infrageneric classification of Amaranthus includes three subgenera: Acnida, Amaranthus, and Albersia, with the taxonomy further differentiated by sections within each of the subgenera.

There is near certainty that A. hypochondriacus is the common ancestor to the cultivated grain species, however the later series of domestication to follow remains unclear. There has been opposing hypotheses of a single as opposed to multiple domestication events of the three grain species. There is evidence of phylogenetic and geographical support for clear groupings that indicate separate domestication events in South America and Central America. A. hybridus may derive from South America, whereas A. caudatus, A. hypochondriacus, and A. quentiensis are native to Central and North America.

Species
Species include:

 * Amaranthus acanthochiton – greenstripe
 * Amaranthus acutilobus – a synonym of Amaranthus viridis
 * Amaranthus albus – white pigweed, tumble pigweed
 * Amaranthus anderssonii
 * Amaranthus arenicola – sandhill amaranth
 * Amaranthus australis – southern amaranth
 * Amaranthus bigelovii – Bigelow's amaranth
 * Amaranthus blitoides – mat amaranth, prostrate amaranth, prostrate pigweed
 * Amaranthus blitum – purple amaranth
 * Amaranthus brownii – Brown's amaranth
 * Amaranthus californicus – California amaranth, California pigweed
 * Amaranthus cannabinus – tidal-marsh amaranth
 * Amaranthus caudatus – love-lies-bleeding, pendant amaranth, tassel flower, quilete
 * Amaranthus chihuahuensis – Chihuahuan amaranth
 * Amaranthus crassipes – spreading amaranth
 * Amaranthus crispus – crispleaf amaranth
 * Amaranthus cruentus – purple amaranth, red amaranth, Mexican grain amaranth
 * Amaranthus deflexus – large-fruit amaranth
 * Amaranthus dubius – spleen amaranth, khada sag
 * Amaranthus fimbriatus – fringed amaranth, fringed pigweed
 * Amaranthus floridanus – Florida amaranth
 * Amaranthus furcatus
 * Amaranthus graecizans
 * Amaranthus grandiflorus
 * Amaranthus greggii – Gregg's amaranth
 * Amaranthus hybridus – smooth amaranth, smooth pigweed, red amaranth
 * Amaranthus hypochondriacus – Prince-of-Wales feather, prince's feather
 * Amaranthus interruptus – Australian amaranth
 * Amaranthus minimus
 * Amaranthus mitchellii
 * Amaranthus muricatus – African amaranth
 * Amaranthus obcordatus – Trans-Pecos amaranth
 * Amaranthus palmeri – Palmer's amaranth, Palmer pigweed, careless weed
 * Amaranthus polygonoides – tropical amaranth
 * Amaranthus powellii – green amaranth, Powell amaranth, Powell pigweed
 * Amaranthus pringlei – Pringle's amaranth
 * Amaranthus pumilus – seaside amaranth
 * Amaranthus quitensis - Mucronate Amaranth
 * Amaranthus retroflexus – red-root amaranth, redroot pigweed, common amaranth
 * Amaranthus saradhiana - purpal stem amaranth, green leaf amaranth
 * Amaranthus scleranthoides – variously Amaranthus sclerantoides
 * Amaranthus scleropoides – bone-bract amaranth
 * Amaranthus spinosus – spiny amaranth, prickly amaranth, thorny amaranth
 * Amaranthus standleyanus
 * Amaranthus thunbergii – Thunberg's amaranth
 * Amaranthus torreyi – Torrey's amaranth
 * Amaranthus tricolor – Joseph's-coat
 * Amaranthus tuberculatus – rough-fruit amaranth, tall waterhemp
 * Amaranthus viridis – slender amaranth, green amaranth
 * Amaranthus watsonii – Watson's amaranth
 * Amaranthus wrightii – Wright's amaranth

Etymology
"Amaranth" derives from Greek ἀμάραντος (amárantos), "unfading", with the Greek word for "flower", ἄνθος (ánthos), factoring into the word's development as amaranth, the unfading flower. Amarant is an archaic variant. The name was first applied to the related Celosia (Amaranthus and Celosia share long-lasting dried flowers), as Amaranthus plants were not yet known in Europe.

Ecology
Amaranth weed species have an extended period of germination, rapid growth, and high rates of seed production, and have been causing problems for farmers since the mid-1990s. This is partially due to the reduction in tillage, reduction in herbicidal use and the evolution of herbicidal resistance in several species where herbicides have been applied more often. The following 9 species of Amaranthus are considered invasive and noxious weeds in the U.S. and Canada: A. albus, A. blitoides, A. hybridus, A. palmeri, A. powellii, A. retroflexus, A. spinosus, A. tuberculatus, and A. viridis.

A new herbicide-resistant strain of A. palmeri has appeared; it is glyphosate-resistant and so cannot be killed by herbicides using the chemical. Also, this plant can survive in tough conditions. The species Amaranthus palmeri (Palmer amaranth) causes the greatest reduction in soybean yields and has the potential to reduce yields by 17-68% in field experiments. Palmer amaranth is among the "top five most troublesome weeds" in the southeast of the United States and has already evolved resistances to dinitroaniline herbicides and acetolactate synthase inhibitors. This makes the proper identification of Amaranthus species at the seedling stage essential for agriculturalists. Proper weed control needs to be applied before the species successfully colonizes in the crop field and causes significant yield reductions.

An evolutionary lineage of around 90 species within the genus has acquired the carbon fixation pathway, which increases their photosynthetic efficiency. This probably occurred in the Miocene.

Uses
All parts of the plant are considered edible, though some may have sharp spines that need to be removed before consumption. Amaranth is high in oxalates, but this may be partially offset by its high calcium content.

Nutrition
Uncooked amaranth grain by weight is 12% water, 65% carbohydrates (including 7% dietary fiber), 14% protein, and 7% fat (table). A 100 g reference serving of uncooked amaranth grain provides 371 kcal of food energy, and is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of protein, dietary fiber, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, folate, and several dietary minerals (table). Uncooked amaranth is particularly rich in manganese (159% DV), phosphorus (80% DV), magnesium (70% DV), iron (59% DV), and selenium (34% DV). Amaranth has a high oxalate content.

Cooking decreases its nutritional value substantially across all nutrients, with only dietary minerals remaining at moderate levels. Cooked amaranth leaves are a rich source of vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and manganese, with moderate levels of folate, iron, magnesium, and potassium. Amaranth does not contain gluten.

History
The native range of the genus is cosmopolitan. In pre-Hispanic times, amaranth was cultivated by the Aztec and their tributary communities in a quantity very similar to maize. Known to the Aztecs as huāuhtli, amaranth is thought to have represented up to 80% of their energy consumption before the Spanish conquest. Another important use of amaranth throughout Mesoamerica was in ritual drinks and foods. To this day, amaranth grains are toasted much like popcorn and mixed with honey, molasses, or chocolate to make a treat called alegría, meaning "joy" in Spanish.

While all species are believed to be native to the Americas, several have been cultivated and introduced to warm regions worldwide. Amaranth's cosmopolitan distribution makes it one of many plants providing evidence of pre-Columbian oceanic contact. The earliest archeological evidence for amaranth in the Old World was found in an excavation in Narhan, India, dated to 1000–800 BCE.

Because of its importance as a symbol of indigenous culture, its palatability, ease of cooking, and a protein that is particularly well-suited to human nutritional needs, interest in amaranth seeds (especially A. cruentus and A. hypochondriacus) revived in the 1970s. It was recovered in Mexico from wild varieties and is now commercially cultivated. It is a popular snack in Mexico, sometimes mixed with chocolate or puffed rice, and its use has spread to Europe and other parts of North America.

Seed
Several species are raised for amaranth "grain" in Asia and the Americas. Amaranth and its relative quinoa are considered pseudocereals because of their similarities to cereals in flavor and cooking. The spread of Amaranthus is of a joint effort of human expansion, adaptation, and fertilization strategies. Grain amaranth has been used for food by humans in several ways. The grain can be ground into a flour for use like other grain flours. It can be popped like popcorn, or flaked like oatmeal.

Seeds of Amaranth grain have been found in Antofagasta de la Sierra Department, Catamarca, Argentina in the southern Puna desert of the north of Argentina dating from 4,500 years ago, with evidence suggesting earlier use. Archeological evidence of seeds from A. hypochondriacus and A. cruentus found in a cave in Tehuacán, Mexico, suggests amaranth was part of Aztec civilization in the 1400s.

Ancient amaranth grains still used include the three species Amaranthus caudatus, A. cruentus, and A. hypochondriacus. Evidence from single-nucleotide polymorphisms and chromosome structure supports A. hypochondriacus as the common ancestor of the three grain species.

It has been proposed as an inexpensive native crop that could be cultivated by indigenous people in rural areas for several reasons:
 * A small amount of seed plants a large area (seeding rate 1 kg/ha).
 * Yields are high compared to the seeding rate: 1,000 kg or more per hectare.
 * It is easily harvested and easily processed, post harvest, as there are no hulls to remove.
 * Its seeds are a source of protein.
 * It has rich content of the dietary minerals, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.
 * In cooked and edible forms, amaranth retains adequate content of several dietary minerals.
 * It is easy to cook. Boil in water with twice the amount of water as grain by volume (or 2.4 times as much water by weight). Amaranth seed can also be popped one tablespoon at a time in a hot pan without oil, shaken every few seconds to avoid burning.
 * It grows fast and, in three cultivated species, the large seedheads can weigh up to 1 kg and contain a half-million small seeds.

In the United States, the amaranth crop is mostly used for seed production. Most amaranth in American food products starts as a ground flour, blended with wheat or other flours to create cereals, crackers, cookies, bread or other baked products. Despite utilization studies showing that amaranth can be blended with other flours at levels above 50% without affecting functional properties or taste, most commercial products use amaranth only as a minor portion of their ingredients despite them being marketed as "amaranth" products.

Leaves, roots, and stems

Amaranth species are cultivated and consumed as a leaf vegetable in many parts of the world. Four species of Amaranthus are documented as cultivated vegetables in eastern Asia: Amaranthus cruentus, Amaranthus blitum, Amaranthus dubius, and Amaranthus tricolor.

Asia
In Indonesia and Malaysia, leaf amaranth is called bayam (although the word has since been loaned to refer to spinach, in a different genus ). In the Philippines, the Ilocano word for the plant is kalunay; the Tagalog word for the plant is kilitis or kulitis.

In Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in India, it is called chaulai and is a popular red leafy vegetable (referred to in the class of vegetable preparations called laal saag). It is called chua in Kumaun area of Uttarakhand, where it is a popular red-green vegetable. In Karnataka in India, it is called harive soppu (ಹರಿವೆ ಸೊಪ್ಪು). It is used to prepare curries such as hulee, palya, majjigay-hulee, and so on. In Kerala, it is called cheera and is consumed by stir-frying the leaves with spices and red chili peppers to make a dish called cheera thoran. In Tamil Nadu, it is called mulaikkira and is regularly consumed as a favourite dish, where the greens are steamed and mashed with light seasoning of salt, red chili pepper, and cumin. It is called keerai masial. In the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and other Telugu speaking regions of the country, this leaf is called as "Thotakura" and is cooked as a standalone curry, added as a part of mix leafy vegetable curry or added in preparation of a popular dal called thotakura pappu (తోటకూర పప్పు) in (Telugu). In Maharashtra, it is called shravani maath and is available in both red and white colour. In Orissa, it is called khada saga, it is used to prepare saga bhaja, in which the leaf is fried with chili and onions. In West Bengal, the green variant is called Notey Shaak (নটে শাক) and the red variant is called Laal Shaak (লাল শাক).

In China, the leaves and stems are used as a stir-fry vegetable, or in soups. In Vietnam, it is called rau dền and is used to make soup. Two species are popular as edible vegetable in Vietnam: dền đỏ (Amaranthus tricolor) and dền cơm or dền trắng (Amaranthus viridis).

Africa
A traditional food plant in Africa, amaranth has the potential to improve nutrition, boost food security, foster rural development and support sustainable land care.

In Bantu regions of Uganda and western Kenya, it is known as doodo or litoto. It is also known among the Kalenjin as a drought crop (chepkerta). In Lingala (spoken in the Congo), it is known as lɛngalɛnga or bítɛkutɛku. In Nigeria, it is a common vegetable and goes with all Nigerian starch dishes. It is known in Yoruba as shoko, a short form of shokoyokoto (meaning "make the husband fat"), or arowo jeja (meaning "we have money left over for fish"). In Botswana, it is referred to as morug and cooked as a staple green vegetable.

Europe
In Greece, purple amaranth (Amaranthus blitum) is a popular dish called βλήτα, vlita or vleeta. It is boiled, then served with olive oil and lemon juice like a salad, sometimes alongside fried fish. Greeks stop harvesting the plant (which also grows wild) when it starts to bloom at the end of August.

Americas
In Brazil, green amaranth was, and to a degree still is, often considered an invasive species as all other species of amaranth (except the generally imported A. caudatus cultivar), though some have traditionally appreciated it as a leaf vegetable, under the names of caruru or bredo, which is consumed cooked, generally accompanying the staple food, rice and beans.

In the Caribbean, the leaves are called bhaji in Trinidad and callaloo in Jamaica, and are sautéed with onions, garlic, and tomatoes, or sometimes used in a soup called pepperpot soup.

Oil
Making up about 5% of the total fatty acids of amaranth, squalene is extracted as a vegetable-based alternative to the more expensive shark oil for use in dietary supplements and cosmetics.

Dyes
The flowers of the 'Hopi Red Dye' amaranth were used by the Hopi (a tribe in the western United States) as the source of a deep red dye. Also a synthetic dye was named "amaranth" for its similarity in color to the natural amaranth pigments known as betalains. This synthetic dye is also known as Red No. 2 in North America and E123 in the European Union.

Ornamentals

The genus also contains several well-known ornamental plants, such as Amaranthus caudatus (love-lies-bleeding), a vigorous, hardy annual with dark purplish flowers crowded in handsome drooping spikes. Another Indian annual, A. hypochondriacus (prince's feather), has deeply veined, lance-shaped leaves, purple on the under face, and deep crimson flowers densely packed on erect spikes.

Amaranths are recorded as food plants for some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth) species including the nutmeg moth and various case-bearer moths of the genus Coleophora: C. amaranthella, C. enchorda (feeds exclusively on Amaranthus), C. immortalis (feeds exclusively on Amaranthus), C. lineapulvella, and C. versurella (recorded on A. spinosus).

Culture
Diego Durán described the festivities for the Aztec god Huitzilopochtli. The Aztec month of Panquetzaliztli (7 December to 26 December) was dedicated to Huitzilopochtli. People decorated their homes and trees with paper flags; ritual races, processions, dances, songs, prayers, and finally human sacrifices were held. This was one of the more important Aztec festivals, and the people prepared for the whole month. They fasted or ate very little; a statue of the god was made out of amaranth seeds and honey, and at the end of the month, it was cut into small pieces so everybody could eat a piece of the god. After the Spanish conquest, cultivation of amaranth was outlawed, while some of the festivities were subsumed into the Christmas celebration.

Amaranth is associated with longevity and, poetically, with death and immortality. Amaranth garlands were used in the mourning of Achilles.

John Milton's Paradise Lost portrays a showy amaranth in the Garden of Eden, "remov'd from Heav'n" when it blossoms because the flowers "shade the fountain of life". He describes amaranth as "immortal" in reference to the flowers that generally do not wither and retain bright reddish tones of color, even when deceased; referred to in one species as "love-lies-bleeding."

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title: Amaranth


text:
Agapanthus africanus

Agapanthus africanus, or the African lily, is a flowering plant from the genus Agapanthus found only on rocky sandstone slopes of the winter rainfall fynbos from the Cape Peninsula to Swellendam. It is also known as the lily-of-the-Nile in spite of only occurring in South Africa.

Description
The plant is a rhizomatous evergreen geophyte from 25 to 70 cm in height. The leathery leaves are suberect and long and strap shaped. Flowers are broadly funnel-shaped, pale to deep blue, and thick-textured with a dark blue stripe running down the center of each petal. Paler flowers are more common in Agapanthus africanus walshii while Agapanthus africanus africanus flowers tend to be darker. The flowers grow in large clusters, with each flower being 25–40 mm long. This species flowers from November to April, particularly after fire. Peak flowering occurs from December to February.

Ecology
Pollination is by wind, bees and sunbirds and seed dispersal by the wind. Chacma baboons and buck sometimes eat the flower heads just as the first flowers begin to open. These plants are adapted to survive fire in the fynbos and resprout from thick, fleshy roots after fire has passed through the area.

Cultivation and use
Unlike the more common Agapanthus praecox, this species is less suitable as a garden plant as it is far more difficult to grow. A. africanus subsp. africanus may be grown in rockeries in a well drained, slightly acid sandy mix. They seem to be best when grown in shallow pots and will flower regularly if fed with a slow release fertiliser. A. africanus subsp. walshii is by far the most difficult Agapanthus to grow. It can only be grown as a container plant and will not survive if planted out. They require a very well-drained, sandy, acid mix with minimal watering in summer. Both subspecies require hot, dry summers, and winter rainfall climate. It will not tolerate extended freezing temperatures.

The name A. africanus has long been misapplied to A. praecox in horticultural use and publications across the world, and horticultural plants sold as A. africanus are actually hybrids or cultivars of A. praecox.

Extracts of A. africanus have been shown to have antifungal properties. Application of these extracts to the seeds of other plant species, including economically important species, has shown that it significantly reduces the severity of the impacts of certain pathogens. In the case of sorghum, this application was even found to perform better than Thiram, a commonly used fungicide when exposed to Sporisorium sorghi and S. cruentum. Similarly, it has found to induce resistance to rust leaf in wheat through increasing the activity of pathogenesis related proteins.

Conservation
While the species as a whole has not yet been assessed, A. africanus subsp. walshii is considered to be endangered by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). It is known only from a small area in the Elgin valley (less than five locations) and the population continues to decline. The largest subpopulation is threatened by unregulated informal settlement expansion. A proportion of the population is protected within the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve and is not threatened.

title: Agapanthus africanus


text:
Agamemnon

In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (Ἀγαμέμνων Agamémnōn) was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans during the Trojan War. He was the son (or grandson) of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Iphigenia, Iphianassa, Electra, Laodike, Orestes and Chrysothemis. Legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area. Agamemnon was killed upon his return from Troy by Clytemnestra, or in an older version of the story, by Clytemnestra's lover Aegisthus.

Etymology
His name in Greek, Ἀγαμέμνων, means "very steadfast", "unbowed" or "resolute". The word comes from *Ἀγαμέδμων (*Agamédmōn) from ἄγαν, "very much" and μέδομαι, "think on".

Description
In the account of Dares the Phrygian, Agamemnon was described as "...blond, large, and powerful. He was eloquent, wise, and noble, a man richly endowed."

Ancestry and early life
Agamemnon was a descendant of Pelops, son of Tantalus. According to the common story (as told in the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer), Agamemnon and his younger brother Menelaus were the sons of Atreus, king of Mycenae, and Aerope, daughter of the Cretan king Catreus. Grimal, s.v. Menelaus; Hard, pp. 355, 507 , 508 ; Collard and Cropp 2008a, p. 517; Gantz, p. 552; Parada, s.v. Agamemnon; Euripides, Helen 390–392 , Orestes 16 ; Hyginus, Fabulae 97 ; Apollodorus, E.3.12 ; Scholia on Iliad 1.7 (citing "Homer" = Hesiod Catalogue of Women fr. 137a Most) and Scholia on Tzetzes' Exegesis in Iliadem 1.122 (citing "Homer" = Hesiod Catalogue of Women fr. 137c Most). They are also the sons of Atreus, in the Iliad and Odyssey, see for example Iliad 11.131, Odyssey 4.462, although Aerope is not mentioned (see Gantz, p. 522). See also Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 4–5, (Atreus as father, no mention of mother); Hesiod Catalogue of Women fr. 138 Most [= fr. 195 MW], and Sophocles, Ajax 1295–1297  (Aerope as mother, no mention of father). However, according to another tradition, Agamemnon and Menelaus were the sons of Atreus' son Pleisthenes, with their mother being Aerope, Cleolla, or Eriphyle. In this tradition, Pleisthenes dies young, with Agamemnon and Menelaus being raised by Atreus. Hard, pp. 355, 508 ; Collard and Cropp 2008a, p. 517; Collard and Cropp 2008b, p. 79; Gantz, pp. 552–553; Parada, s.v. Agamemnon. For Aerope as mother see: Apollodorus, 3.2.2 ; Dictys Cretensis, 1.1 ; Scholia on Iliad 1.7 (citing "Hesiod" = Hesiod Catalogue of Women fr. 137a Most) and Scholia on Tzetzes' Exegesis in Iliadem 1.122 (citing "Hesiod" = Hesiod Catalogue of Women fr. 137c Most). For Cleolla, see Tzetzes, Exegesis in Iliadem 1.122 (citing "Hesiod, Aeschylus, and some others" = Hesiod Catalogue of Women fr. 137b Most). For Eriphyle see Gantz, p. 553 (citing Scholia on Euripides Orestes 4). Agamemnon had a sister Anaxibia (or Astyoche) who married Strophius, the son of Crisus. Agamemnon's father, Atreus, murdered the sons of his twin brother Thyestes and fed them to Thyestes after discovering Thyestes' adultery with his wife Aerope. Thyestes fathered Aegisthus with his own daughter, Pelopia, and this son vowed gruesome revenge on Atreus' children. Aegisthus murdered Atreus, restored Thyestes to the throne, and took possession of the throne of Mycenae and jointly ruled with his father. During this period, Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus took refuge with Tyndareus, King of Sparta. In Sparta, Agamemnon and Menelaus respectively married Tyndareus' daughters Clytemnestra and Helen. In some stories (such as Iphigenia at Aulis by Euripides) Clytemnestra was already married to Tantalus, and Agamemnon murders him and the couple's infant son before marrying Clytemnestra.

Agamemnon and Clytemnestra had four children: one son, Orestes, and three daughters, Iphigenia, Electra, and Chrysothemis. Menelaus succeeded Tyndareus in Sparta, while Agamemnon, with his brother's assistance, drove out Aegisthus and Thyestes to recover his father's kingdom. He extended his dominion by conquest and became the most powerful prince in Greece.

Agamemnon's family history had been tarnished by murder, incest, and treachery, consequences of the heinous crime perpetrated by his ancestor, Tantalus, and then of a curse placed upon Pelops, son of Tantalus, by Myrtilus, whom he had murdered. Thus misfortune hounded successive generations of the House of Atreus, until atoned by Orestes in a court of justice held jointly by humans and gods.

Sailing for Troy

Agamemnon gathers the reluctant Greek forces to sail for Troy. In order to recruit Odysseus, who is feigning madness so as to not have to go to war, Agamemnon sends Palamedes, who threatens to kill Odysseus' infant son Telemachus. Odysseus is forced to stop acting mad in order to save his son and joined the assembled Greek forces. Preparing to depart from Aulis, a port in Boeotia, Agamemnon's army incurs the wrath of the goddess Artemis, although the myths give various reasons for this. In Aeschylus' play Agamemnon, Artemis is angry for she predicts that so many young men will die at Troy, whereas in Sophocles' Electra, Agamemnon has slain an animal sacred to Artemis, and subsequently boasts that he is her equal in hunting. Misfortunes, including a plague and a lack of wind, prevent the army from sailing. Finally, the prophet Calchas announces that the wrath of the goddess can only be propitiated by the sacrifice of Agamemnon's daughter Iphigenia.

Classical dramatizations differ on how willing either father or daughter are to this fate; some include such trickery as claiming she was to be married to Achilles, but Agamemnon does eventually sacrifice Iphigenia. Her death appeases Artemis and the Greek army set out for Troy. Several alternatives to the human sacrifice have been presented in Greek mythology. Other sources, such as Iphigenia at Aulis, say that Agamemnon is prepared to kill his daughter but that Artemis accepts a deer in her place and whisks her away to Tauris in the Crimean Peninsula. However, this version is widely considered to be the work of an interpolator, and not Euripides himself. Hesiod says she became the goddess Hecate.

During the war, but before the events of the Iliad, Odysseus contrives a plan to get revenge on Palamedes for threatening his son's life. By forging a letter from Priam, king of the Trojans, and caching some gold in Palamedes tent, Odysseus has Palamedes accused of treason and Agamemnon orders him to be stoned to death.

The Iliad

The Iliad tells the story of the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles in the final year of the war. In Book One, following one of the Achaean Army's raids, Chryseis, daughter of Chryses, one of Apollo's priests, is taken as a war prize by Agamemnon. Chryses pleads with Agamemnon to free his daughter but meets with little success. Chryses then prays to Apollo for the safe return of his daughter. Apollo responds by unleashing a plague over the Achaean Army. The Prophet Calchas tells that the plague may be dispelled by returning Chryseis to her father. After bitterly berating Calchas for his painful prophecies, first forcing him to sacrifice his daughter and now to return his concubine, Agamemnon reluctantly agrees. However, Agamemnon demands a new prize from the army as compensation and seizes Achilles' prize, the beautiful captive Briseis. This creates deadly resentment between Achilles and Agamemnon, causing Achilles to withdraw from battle and refuse to fight.

Agamemnon is then visited in a dream by Zeus who tells him to rally his forces and attack the Trojans (in Book Two). After several days of fighting, including duels between Menelaus and Paris, and between Ajax and Hector, the Achaeans are pushed back to the fortifications around their ships. In Book Nine, Agamemnon, having realized Achilles's importance in winning the war, sends ambassadors begging for Achilles to return, offering him riches and the hand of his daughter in marriage. Achilles refuses, only being spurred back into action when Patroclus is killed in battle by Hector, eldest son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba. In Book Nineteen, Agamemnon, reconciled with Achilles, gives him the offered rewards for returning to the war. Achilles sets out to turn back the Trojans and to duel with Hector. After Hector's death, Agamemnon assists Achilles in performing Patroclus' funeral in Book Twenty-three. Agamemnon volunteers for the javelin throwing contest, one of the games being held in Patroclus' honor, but his skill with the javelin is so well known that Achilles awards him the prize without contest.

Although not the equal of Achilles in bravery, Agamemnon was a representative of "kingly authority". As commander-in-chief, he summoned the princes to the council and led the army in battle. His chief fault was his overwhelming haughtiness; an over-exalted opinion of his position that led him to insult Chryses and Achilles, thereby bringing great disaster upon the Greeks.

Agamemnon was the commander-in-chief of the Greeks during the Trojan War. During the fighting, Agamemnon killed Antiphus and fifteen other Trojan soldiers, according to one source. In the Iliad itself, he is shown to slaughter hundreds more in Book Eleven during his aristea, loosely translated to "day of glory", which is the most similar to Achilles' aristea in Book Twenty-one. Even before his aristea, Agamemnon is considered to be one of the three best warriors on the Greek side, as proven when Hector challenges any champion of the Greek side to fight him in Book Seven, and Agamemnon (along with Diomedes and Ajax the Greater) is one of the three Hector most wishes to fight out of the nine strongest Greek warriors who volunteer.

End of the war

According to Sophocles's Ajax, after Achilles had fallen in battle, Agamemnon and Menelaus award Achilles' armor to Odysseus. This angers Ajax, who feels he is now the strongest among the Achaean warriors and so deserves the armor. Ajax considers killing them, but is driven to madness by Athena and instead slaughters the herdsmen and cattle that had not yet been divided as spoils of war. He then commits suicide in shame for his actions. As Ajax dies he curses the sons of Atreus (Agamemnon and Menelaus), along with the entire Achaean army. Agamemnon and Menelaus consider leaving Ajax's body to rot, denying him a proper burial, but are convinced otherwise by Odysseus and Ajax's half-brother Teucer. After the capture of Troy, Cassandra, the doomed prophetess and daughter of Priam, fell to Agamemnon's lot in the distribution of the prizes of war.

Return to Greece and death

After a stormy voyage, Agamemnon and Cassandra land in Argolis, or, in another version, are blown off course and land in Aegisthus's country. Clytemnestra, Agamemnon's wife, has taken Aegisthus, son of Thyestes, as a lover. When Agamemnon comes home he is slain by Aegisthus (in the oldest versions of the story) or by Clytemnestra. According to the accounts given by Pindar and the tragedians, Agamemnon is slain in a bath by his wife alone, after being ensnared by a blanket or a net thrown over him to prevent resistance. This is the case in Aeschylus's Oresteia.

In Homer's version of the story in the Odyssey, Aegisthus ambushes and kills Agamemnon in a feasting hall under the pretense of holding a feast in honor of Agamemnon's return home from Troy. Clytemnestra also kills Cassandra. Her motivations are her wrath at the sacrifice of Iphigenia (as in the Oresteia and Iphigenia at Aulis) and her jealousy of Cassandra and other war prizes taken by Agamemnon (as in the Odyssey and works by Ovid).

Aegisthus and Clytemnestra then rule Agamemnon's kingdom for a time, Aegisthus claiming his right of revenge for Atreus's crimes against Thyestes (Thyestes then crying out "thus perish all the race of Pleisthenes!", thus explaining Aegisthus' action as justified by his father's curse). Agamemnon's son Orestes later avenges his father's murder, with the help or encouragement of his sister Electra, by murdering Aegisthus and Clytemnestra (his own mother), thereby inciting the wrath of the Erinyes (English: the Furies), winged goddesses who track down wrongdoers with their hounds' noses and drive them to insanity.

The Curse of the House of Atreus
Agamemnon's family history is rife with misfortune, born from several curses contributing to the miasma around the family. The curse begins with Agamemnon's great-grandfather Tantalus, who is in Zeus's favor until he tries to feed his son Pelops to the gods in order to test their omniscience, as well as stealing some ambrosia and nectar. Tantalus is then banished to the underworld, where he stands in a pool of water that evaporates every time he reaches down to drink, and above him is a fruit tree whose branches are blown just out of reach by the wind whenever he reaches for the fruit. This begins the cursed house of Atreus, and his descendants would face similar or worse fates.

Later, using his relationship with Poseidon, Pelops convinces the god to grant him a chariot so he may beat Oenomaus, king of Pisa, in a race, and win the hand of his daughter Hippodamia. Myrtilus, who in some accounts helps Pelops win his chariot race, attempts to lie with Pelops's new bride Hippodamia. In anger, Pelops throws Myrtilus off a cliff, but not before Myrtilus curses Pelops and his entire line. Pelops and Hippodamia have many children, including Atreus and Thyestes, who are said to have murdered their half-brother Chrysippus. Pelops banishes Atreus and Thyestes to Mycanae, where Atreus becomes king. Thyestes later conspires with Atreus's wife, Aerope, to supplant Atreus, but they are unsuccessful. Atreus then kills Thyestes' son and cooks him into a meal which Thyestes eats, and afterwards Atreus taunts him with the hands and feet of his now dead son. Thyestes, on the advice of an oracle, then has a son with his own daughter Pelopia. Pelopia tries to expose the infant Aegisthus, but he is found by a shepherd and raised in the house of Atreus. When Aegisthus reaches adulthood Thyestes reveals the truth of his birth, and Aegithus then kills Atreus.

Atreus and Aerope have three children, Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Anaxibia. The continued miasma surrounding the house of Atreus expresses itself in several events throughout their lives. Agamemnon is forced to sacrifice his own daughter, Iphigenia, to appease the gods and allow the Greek forces to sail for Troy. When Agamemnon refuses to return Chryseis to her father Chryses, he brings plague upon the Greek camp. He is also later killed by his wife, Clytemnestra, who conspires with her new lover Aegisthus in revenge for the death of Iphigenia. Menelaus's wife, Helen of Troy, runs away with Paris, ultimately leading to the Trojan War. According to book 4 of the Odyssey, after the war his fleet is scattered by the gods to Egypt and Crete. When Menelaus finally returns home, his marriage with Helen is now strained and they produce no sons. Both Agamemnon and Menelaus are cursed by Ajax for not granting him Achilles's armor as he commits suicide.

Agamemnon and Clytemnestra have three remaining children, Electra, Orestes, and Chrysothemis. After growing to adulthood and being pressured by Electra, Orestes vows to avenge his father Agamemnon by killing his mother Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. After successfully doing so, he wanders the Greek countryside for many years constantly plagued by the Erinyes (Furies) for his sins. Finally, with the help of Athena and Apollo he is absolved of his crimes, dispersing the miasma, and the curse on house Atreus comes to an end.

Other stories
Athenaeus tells a tale of how Agamemnon mourns the loss of his friend or lover Argynnus, when he drowns in the Cephisus river. He buries him, honored with a tomb and a shrine to Aphrodite Argynnis. This episode is also found in Clement of Alexandria, in Stephen of Byzantium (Kopai and Argunnos), and in Propertius, III with minor variations. The fortunes of Agamemnon have formed the subject of numerous tragedies, ancient and modern, the most famous being the Oresteia of Aeschylus. In the legends of the Peloponnesus, Agamemnon was regarded as the highest type of a powerful monarch, and in Sparta he was worshipped under the title of Zeus Agamemnon. His tomb was pointed out among the ruins of Mycenae and at Amyclae.

In works of art, there is considerable resemblance between the representations of Zeus, king of the gods, and Agamemnon, king of men. He is generally depicted with a sceptre and diadem, conventional attributes of kings.

Agamemnon's mare is named Aetha. She is also one of two horses driven by Menelaus at the funeral games of Patroclus.

In Homer's Odyssey Agamemnon makes an appearance in the kingdom of Hades after his death. There, the former king meets Odysseus and explains just how he was murdered before he offers Odysseus a warning about the dangers of trusting a woman.

Agamemnon is a character in William Shakespeare's play Troilus and Cressida, set during the Trojan War.

In Frank Herbert's Dune, the House of Atreides trace themselves back to the House of Atreus. At a key point in Children of Dune, Alia Atreides, in a struggle with her ancestral memories, hears Agamemnon shouting "I, your ancestor Agamemnon, demand audience!"

General works

 * The Mask of Agamemnon, discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876, on display at National Archeological Museum of Athens, Athens
 * The Tomb of Agamemnon, by Louis Desprez, 1787, on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
 * Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, by Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, 1817, on display at the Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans, Orléans
 * Electra at the Tomb of Agamemnon, by Frederic Leighton, 1868, on display at Ferens Art Gallery, Kingston upon Hull
 * Agamemnon Killing Odios, anonymous, 1545, on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

With Iphigenia

 * Sacrifice of Iphigenia, by Arnold Houbraken, 1690–1700, on display at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
 * The Sacrifice of Iphigenia, by Charles de la Fosse, 1680, on display at the Palace of Versailles, Versailles
 * The Sacrifice of Iphigenia, by Gaetano Gandolfi, 1789, on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
 * Sacrificio di Ifigenia, by Pietro Testa, 1640
 * The Sacrifice of Iphigenia, by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, 1757, on display at the Villa Varmarana, Vicenza
 * Sacrifice of Iphigenia, by Jan Steen, 1671, on display at the Leiden Collection, New York
 * The Sacrifice of Iphigenia, by Sebastian Bourdon, 1653, on display at the Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans, Orléans

With Achilles

 * The Quarrel Between Agamemnon and Achilles, by Giovanni Battista Gaulli, 1695, on display at the Museé de l’Oise, Beauvais
 * The Anger of Achilles, by Jacques-Louis David, 1819, on display at Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth
 * The Wrath of Achilles, by Michel-Martin Drolling, 1810, on display at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris
 * Quarrel of Achilles and Agamemnon, by William Page, on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC

Portrayal in film and television

 * The 1924 film Helena by Karl Wüstenhagen
 * The 1956 film Helen of Troy by Robert Douglas
 * The 1961 film The Trojan Horse by Nerio Bernardi
 * The 1962 film The Fury of Achilles by Mario Petri
 * The 1962 film Electra by Theodoros Dimitriou
 * The 1968 TV miniseries The Odyssey by Rolf Boysen
 * The 1977 film Iphigenia by Kostas Kazakos
 * The 1981 film Time Bandits by Sean Connery
 * The 1994 TV series “Babylon 5” John Sheridan's previous command is the EAS Agamemnon.
 * The 1997 TV miniseries The Odyssey by Yorgo Voyagis
 * The 2003 TV miniseries Helen of Troy by Rufus Sewell
 * The 2004 film Troy by Brian Cox
 * The 2018 TV miniseries Troy: Fall of a City by Johnny Harris

title: Agamemnon


text:
Aga Khan I

Hasan Ali Shah (1804–1881), known as Aga Khan I, was the 46th imam of the Nizari Isma'ilis. He served as the governor of Kirman and a prominent leader in Iran and later in the Indian subcontinent. He was the first Nizari imam to hold the title Aga Khan.

Early life and family
The Imam Hasan Ali Shah was born in 1804 in Kahak, Iran to Shah Khalil Allah III, the 45th Ismaili Imam, and Bibi Sarkara, the daughter of Muhammad Sadiq Mahallati (d. 1815), a poet and a Ni‘mat Allahi Sufi. Shah Khalil Allah moved to Yazd in 1815, probably out of concern for his Indian followers, who used to travel to Persia to see their Imam and for whom Yazd was a much closer and safer destination than Kahak. Meanwhile, his wife and children (Including Hasan Ali) continued to live in Kahak off the revenues obtained from the family holdings in the Mahallat (Maḥallāt) region. Two years later, in 1817, Shah Khalil Allah was killed in Yazd during a brawl between some of his followers and local shopkeepers. He was succeeded by his eldest son Hasan Ali Shah, also known as Muhammad Hasan, who became the 46th Imam.

While Khalil Allah resided in Yazd, his land holdings in Kahak were being managed by his son-in-law, Imani Khan Farahani, husband of his daughter Shah Bibi. After Khalil Allah's death, a conflict ensued between Imani Khan Farahani and the local Nizaris (followers of Imam Khalil Allah), as a result of which Khalil Allah's widow and children found themselves left unprovided for. The young Imam and his mother moved to Qumm, but their financial situation worsened. The dowager decided to go to the Qajar court in Tehran to obtain justice for her husband's death and was eventually successful. Those who had been involved in the Shah Khalil Allah's murder were punished. Not only that, but the Persian king Fath Ali Shah gave his own daughter, princess Sarv-i-Jahan Khanum, in marriage to the young Imam Hasan Ali Shah and provided a princely dowry in land holdings in the Mahallat region. King Fath Ali Shah also appointed Hasan Ali Shah as governor of Qumm and bestowed upon him the honorific of "Aga Khan". Thus did the title of "Aga Khan" enter the family. Hasan Ali Shah become known as Aga Khan Mahallati, and the title of Aga Khan was inherited by his successors. Aga Khan I's mother later moved to India where she died in 1851. Until Fath Ali Shah's death in 1834, the Imam Hasan Ali Shah enjoyed a quiet life and was held in high esteem at the Qajar court.

Governorship of Kerman
Soon after the accession of Muhammad Shah Qajar to the throne of his grandfather, Fath Ali Shah, the Imam Hasan Ali Shah was appointed governor of Kerman in 1835. At the time, Kerman was held by the rebellious sons of Shuja al-Saltana, a pretender to the Qajar throne. The area was also frequently raided by the Afghans. Hasan Ali Shah managed to restore order in Kerman, as well as in Bam and Narmashir, which were also held by rebellious groups. Hasan Ali Shah sent a report of his success to Tehran, but did not receive any material appreciation for his achievements. Despite the service he rendered to the Qajar government, Hasan Ali Shah was dismissed from the governorship of Kerman in 1837, less than two years after his arrival there, and was replaced by Firuz Mirza Nusrat al-Dawla, a younger brother of Muhammad Shah Qajar. Refusing to accept his dismissal, Hasan Ali Shah withdrew with his forces to the citadel at Bam. Along with his two brothers, he made preparations to resist the government forces that were sent against him. He was besieged at Bam for some fourteen months. When it was clear that continuing the resistance was of little use, Hasan Ali Shah sent one of his brothers to Shiraz in order to speak to the governor of Fars to intervene on his behalf and arrange for safe passage out of Kerman. With the governor having interceded, Hasan Ali Shah surrendered and emerged from the citadel of Bam only to be double-crossed. He was seized and his possessions were plundered by the government troops. Hasan Ali Shah and his dependents were sent to Kerman and remained as prisoners there for eight months. He was eventually allowed to go to Tehran near the end of 1838-39 where he was able to present his case before the Shah. The Shah pardoned him on the condition that he return peacefully to Mahallat. Hasan Ali Shah remained in Mahallat for about two years. He managed to gather an army in Mahallat which alarmed Muhammad Shah, who travelled to Delijan near Mahallat to determine the truth of the reports about Hasan Ali Shah. Hasan Ali Shah was on a hunting trip at the time, but he sent a messenger to request permission of the monarch to go to Mecca for the hajj pilgrimage. Permission was given, and Hasan Ali Shah's mother and a few relatives were sent to Najaf and other holy cities in Iraq in which the shrines of his ancestors, the Shiite Imams are found.

Prior to leaving Mahallat, Hasan Ali Shah equipped himself with letters appointing him to the governorship of Kerman. Accompanied by his brothers, nephews and other relatives, as well as many followers, he left for Yazd, where he intended to meet some of his local followers. Hasan Ali Shah sent the documents reinstating him to the position of governor of Kerman to Bahman Mirza Baha al-Dawla, the governor of Yazd. Bahman Mirza offered Hasan Ali Shah lodging in the city, but Hasan Ali Shah declined, indicating that he wished to visit his followers living around Yazd. Hajji Mirza Aqasi sent a messenger to Bahman Mirza to inform him of the spuriousness of Hasan Ali Shah's documents and a battle between Bahman Mīrzā and Hasan Ali Shah broke out in which Bahman Mirza was defeated. Other minor battles were won by Hasan Ali Shah before he arrived in Shahr-e Babak, which he intended to use as his base for capturing Kerman. At the time of his arrival in Shahr-e Babak, a formal local governor was engaged in a campaign to drive out the Afghans from the city's citadel, and Hasan Ali Shah joined him in forcing the Afghans to surrender.

Soon after March 1841, Hasan Ali Shah set out for Kerman. He managed to defeat a government force consisting of 4,000 men near Dashtab, and continued to win a number of victories before stopping at Bam for a time. Soon, a government force of 24,000 men forced Hasan Ali Shah to flee from Bam to Rigan on the border of Baluchistan, where he suffered a decisive defeat. Hasan Ali Shah decided to escape to Afghanistan, accompanied by his brothers and many soldiers and servants.

Afghanistan
Fleeing Iran, Hasan Ali Shah arrived in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 1841 – a town that had been occupied by an Anglo-Indian army in 1839 in the First Anglo-Afghan War. A close relationship developed between Hasan Ali Shah and the British, which coincided with the final years of the First Anglo-Afghan War (1838–1842). After his arrival, Hasan Ali Shah wrote to Sir William Macnaghten, discussing his plans to seize and govern Herat on behalf of the British. Although the proposal seemed to have been approved, the plans of the British were thwarted by the uprising of Dost Muhammad's son Muhammad Akbar Khan, who defeated and annihilated the British-Indian garrison at Gandamak on its retreat from Kabul in January 1842.

Sindh
Hasan Ali Shah soon proceeded to Sindh, where he rendered further services to the British. The British were able to annex Sindh and for his services, Hasan Ali Shah received an annual pension of £2,000 from General Charles James Napier, the British conqueror of Sindh with whom he had a good relationship.

Bombay
In October 1844, Hasan Ali Shah left Sindh for the city of Bombay in the Bombay Presidency, British India passing through Cutch and Kathiawar where he spent some time visiting the communities of his followers in the area. After arriving in Bombay in February 1846, the Persian government demanded his extradition from India. The British refused and only agreed to transfer Hasan Ali Shah's residence to Calcutta, where it would be harder for him to launch new attacks against the Persian government. The British also negotiated the safe return of Hasan Ali Shah to Persia, which was in accordance with his own wish. The government agreed to Hasan Ali Shah's return provided that he would avoid passing through Baluchistan and Kirman and that he was to settle peacefully in Mahallat. Hasan Ali Shah was eventually forced to leave for Calcutta in April 1847, where he remained until he received news of the death of Muhammad Shah Qajar. Hasan Ali Shah left for Bombay and the British attempted to obtain permission for his return to Persia. Although some of his lands were restored to the control of his relatives, his safe return could not be arranged, and Hasan Ali Shah was forced to remain a permanent resident of India. While in India, Hasan Ali Shah continued his close relationship with the British, and was even visited by the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII) when he was on a state visit to India. The British came to address Hasan Ali Shah as His Highness. Hasan Ali Shah received protection from the British government in British India as the spiritual head of an important Muslim community.

Khoja reassumption and dispute
The vast majority of his Khoja Ismaili followers in India welcomed him warmly, but some dissident members, sensing their loss of prestige with the arrival of the Imam, wished to maintain control over communal properties. Because of this, Hasan Ali Shah decided to secure a pledge of loyalty from the members of the community to himself and to the Ismaili form of Islam. Although most of the members of the community signed a document issued by Hasan Ali Shah summarizing the practices of the Ismailis, a group of dissenting Khojas surprisingly asserted that the community had always been Sunni. This group was outcast by the unanimous vote of all the Khojas assembled in Bombay. In 1866, these dissenters filed a suit in the Bombay High Court against Hasan Ali Shah, claiming that the Khojas had been Sunni Muslims from the very beginning. The case, commonly referred to as the Aga Khan Case, was heard by Sir Joseph Arnould. The hearing lasted several weeks, and included testimony from Hasan Ali Shah himself. After reviewing the history of the community, Justice Arnould gave a definitive and detailed judgement against the plaintiffs and in favour of Hasan Ali Shah and other defendants. The judgement was significant in that it legally established the status of the Khojas as a community referred to as Shia Nizari Ismailis, and of Hasan Ali Shah as the spiritual head of that community. Hasan Ali Shah's authority thereafter was not seriously challenged again.

Final years
Hasan Ali Shah spent his final years in Bombay with occasional visits to Pune. Maintaining the traditions of the Iranian nobility to which he belonged, he kept excellent stables and became a well-known figure at the Bombay racecourse. Hasan Ali Shah died after an imamate of sixty-four years in April 1881. He was buried in a specially built shrine at Hasanabad in the Mazagaon area of Bombay. He was survived by three sons and five daughters. Hasan Ali Shah was succeeded as Imam by his eldest son Aqa Ali Shah, who became Aga Khan II.

title: Aga Khan I