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Peter Simon Pallas

Peter Simon Pallas FRS FRSE (22 September 1741 – 8 September 1811) was a Prussian zoologist, botanist, ethnographer, explorer, geographer, geologist, natural historian, and taxonomist. He studied natural sciences at various universities in early modern Germany and worked primarily in the Russian Empire between 1767 and 1810.

Life and work

Peter Simon Pallas was born in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, the son of Professor of Surgery Simon Pallas. He studied with private tutors and took an interest in natural history, later attending the University of Halle and the University of Göttingen. In 1760, he moved to the University of Leiden and passed his doctor's degree at the age of 19.

Pallas travelled throughout the Dutch Republic and to London, improving his medical and surgical knowledge. He then settled at The Hague, and his new system of animal classification was praised by Georges Cuvier. Pallas wrote Miscellanea Zoologica (1766), which included descriptions of several vertebrates new to science which he had discovered in the Dutch museum collections. A planned voyage to Southern Africa and the East Indies fell through when his father recalled him to Berlin. There, he began work on his Spicilegia Zoologica (1767–1780).

In 1767, Pallas was invited by Catherine II of Russia to become a professor at the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences and, between 1768 and 1774, he led an expedition to central Russian provinces, Povolzhye, Urals, West Siberia, Altay, and Transbaikal, collecting natural history specimens for the academy. He explored the Caspian Sea, the Ural and Altai Mountains, and the upper Amur River, reaching as far eastward as Lake Baikal. The regular reports which Pallas sent to St Petersburg were collected and published as Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des Russischen Reichs ("Journey through various provinces of the Russian Empire", 3 vols., 1771–1776). They covered a wide range of topics, including geology and mineralogy, ethnographic reports on the native Eurasian peoples and their indigenous religions, and descriptions of new plants and animals. In 1776, Pallas was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Pallas settled in St Petersburg, becoming a favourite of Catherine II and teaching natural history to the Grand Dukes Alexander and Constantine. He was provided with the plants collected by other naturalists to compile the Flora Rossica (1784–1815), a Russian flora, and started work on his Zoographica Rosso-Asiatica (1811–31), a zoography of Russia and Asia. He also published an account of Johann Anton Güldenstädt's travels in the Caucasus. The Empress bought Pallas's large natural history collection for 2,000 rubles, 500 more than his asking price, and allowed him to keep them for life. During this period, Pallas helped plan the Mulovsky expedition, which was cancelled in October 1787.

Between 1793 and 1794, Pallas led a second expedition to southern Russia, visiting the Crimea and the Black Sea. He was accompanied by his daughter (by his first wife who had died in 1782) and his new wife, an artist, servants, and a military escort. In February 1793, they travelled to Saratov and then downriver to Tsaritsyn. They explored the country to the east, and in August travelled along the banks of the Caspian Sea and into the Caucasus Mountains. In September, they travelled to the Crimea, wintering in Simferopol. Pallas spent early 1794 exploring to the southeast, and in July travelled up the valley of the Dnieper, arriving back in St Petersburg in September. Pallas gave his account of the journey in his P. S. Pallas Bemerkungen auf einer Reise in die Südlichen Statthalterschaften des Russischen Reichs (1799–1801). Catherine II gave him a large estate at Simferopol, where Pallas lived until the death of his second wife in 1810. He was then granted permission to leave Russia by Emperor Alexander, and returned to Berlin, where he died in the following year. His grave is preserved in the Protestant Friedhof I der Jerusalems- und Neuen Kirchengemeinde (Cemetery No. I of the congregations of Jerusalem's Church and New Church) in Berlin-Kreuzberg, south of Hallesches Tor.

In 1809 he became an associate member of the Royal Institute of the Netherlands.

Pallasite
In 1772, Pallas was shown a 680-kg lump of metal that had been found near Krasnoyarsk. Pallas arranged for it to be transported to St Petersburg. Subsequent analysis of the metal showed it to be a new type of stony-iron meteorite. This new type of meteorite was called pallasite after him; the meteorite itself is named Krasnojarsk or sometimes Pallas Iron (the name given to it by Ernst Chladni in 1794).

Commemorated
Several animals were described by Pallas, and his surname is included in their common names, including: Pallas's glass lizard, Pallas's viper, Pallas's cat, Pallas's long-tongued bat, Pallas's tube-nosed bat, Pallas's squirrel, Pallas's leaf warbler, Pallas's cormorant, Pallas's fish-eagle, Pallas's gull, Pallas's sandgrouse, Pallas's rosefinch, and Pallas's grasshopper warbler.

Also, he is honoured in the scientific names of animals described by others, including: the Dagestani tortoise (Testudo graeca pallasi), Pallas's pika (Ochotona pallasi), Pallas's reed bunting (Emberiza pallasi), the East Siberian grayling (Thymallus pallasii) and the Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii).

He was also honoured in the name of a plant genus, Petrosimonia which is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Amaranthaceae.

Streets in Berlin and Castrop-Rauxel are named Pallasstraße. Pallasovka, a city in Volgograd Oblast, is named after him, and his monument stands there.

An asteroid is named after him: 21087 Petsimpallas. A Belgian astronomer, Eric Elst chose the name "Sarapul 26851" for an asteroid because in Pallas's writings, he mentioned his liking of the city of Sarapul, Russia.

Pallas was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1791.

Works

 * Dissertatio inauguralis de infestis viventibus infra viventia (Leiden: Lugduni Batavorum, 1760).
 * Elenchus zoophytorum, sistens generum adumbrationes generaliores et specierum cognitarum succinctas descriptiones, cum selectis auctorum synonymis (The Hague: van Cleef, 1766).
 * Miscellanea zoologica, quibus novæ imprimis atque obscuræ animalum species describuntur et observationibus iconibusque illustrantur (The Hague, 1766).
 * Spicilegia zoologica (Berlin, 1767–1780).
 * Lyst der Plant-Dieren, bevattende de algemeene schetzen der geslachten en korte beschryvingen der bekende zoorten (Utrecht: van Paddenburg & van Schoonhoven, 1768).
 * De ossibus Sibiriae fossilibus, craniis praesertim Rhinocerotum atque Buffalorum, observationes (Novi Commentarii Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae, XIII, Saint Petersburg, 1768).
 * Naturgeschichte merkwürdiger Thiere (Berlin, 1769–1778).
 * Dierkundig mengelwerk, in het welke de nieuwe of nog duistere zoorten van dieren, door naauwkeurige afbeeldingen, beschryvingen en verhandelingen opgehelderd worden (Utrecht: van Paddenburg & van Schoonhoven, 1770).
 * Reise durch verschiedene Provinzen des Russischen Reichs (Saint Petersburg, 1771–1801).
 * Merkwürdigkeiten der Morduanen, Kasaken, Kalmücken, Kirgisen, Baschkiren etc., Frankfurt & Leipzig, 1773–1777, 3 vol.
 * Puteshestviye po raznym provintsiyam Rossiyskogo gosudarstva (Saint Petersburg, 1773–1788).
 * Flora Rossica (Saint Petersburg, 1774–1788, in 2 parts).
 * Sammlungen historischer Nachrichten über die mongolischen Völkerschaften. St. Petersburg, Frankfurt, Leipzig 1776–1801.
 * Observations sur la formation des montagnes et sur les changements arrivés au Globe, particulièrement à l'Empire de Russie (Acta Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae, Saint Petersburg, 1777).
 * Novae species Quadrupedum e Glirium ordine (Erlangen, 1778).
 * Mémoires sur la variation des animaux (Acta Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae, Saint Petersburg, 1780).
 * Katalog rasteniyam, nakhodyashchimsya v Moskve v sadu yego prevoskhoditel'stva deystvitel'snogo statskogo sovetnika i Imperatorskogo Vopitatel'nogo doma znamenitogo blagodetelya, Prokofiya Akinfiyevich Demidova, sochinyonnyy P. S. Pallasom, adademikom sankt-peterburgskim (Saint Petersburg, 1781).
 * Icones Insectorum praesertim Rossiae Sibiriaeque peculiarium (Erlangen, 1781–1806, in 4 issues).
 * Opisaniye rasteniy Rossiyskogo gosudarstva, s ikh izobrazheniyami (Saint Petersburg, 1786).
 * Sravnitel'nyye slovari vsekh yazykov i narechiy, sobrannyye desnitsey Vsevysochayshey osoby imperatritsy Yekateriny II (Saint Petersburg, 1787–1789, in 2 volumes).
 * Tableau physique et topographique de la Tauride (Nova Acta Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae, X, Saint Petersburg, 1792).
 * Kratkoye fizicheskoye i topograficheskoye opisaniye Tavricheskoy oblasti (Saint Petersburg, 1795).
 * Bemerkungen auf einer Reise in die südlichen Statthalterschaften des Rußischen Reichs in den Jahren 1793 und 1794 (Leipzig, 1799–1801)
 * Species Astragalorum descriptae et iconibus coloratis illustratae (Leipzig, 1800).
 * Travels through the southern provinces of the Russian Empire (London, 1802, in 2 volumes).
 * Illustrationes plantarum imperfecte vel nondum cognitarum (Leipzig, 1803).
 * Zoographia rosso-asiatica (Saint Petersburg, 1811, in 3 volumes).
 * Katalog rasteniyam, nakhodyashchimsya v Moskve v sadu yego prevoskhoditel'stva deystvitel'snogo statskogo sovetnika i Imperatorskogo Vopitatel'nogo doma znamenitogo blagodetelya, Prokofiya Akinfiyevich Demidova, sochinyonnyy P. S. Pallasom, adademikom sankt-peterburgskim (Saint Petersburg, 1781).
 * Icones Insectorum praesertim Rossiae Sibiriaeque peculiarium (Erlangen, 1781–1806, in 4 issues).
 * Opisaniye rasteniy Rossiyskogo gosudarstva, s ikh izobrazheniyami (Saint Petersburg, 1786).
 * Sravnitel'nyye slovari vsekh yazykov i narechiy, sobrannyye desnitsey Vsevysochayshey osoby imperatritsy Yekateriny II (Saint Petersburg, 1787–1789, in 2 volumes).
 * Tableau physique et topographique de la Tauride (Nova Acta Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae, X, Saint Petersburg, 1792).
 * Kratkoye fizicheskoye i topograficheskoye opisaniye Tavricheskoy oblasti (Saint Petersburg, 1795).
 * Bemerkungen auf einer Reise in die südlichen Statthalterschaften des Rußischen Reichs in den Jahren 1793 und 1794 (Leipzig, 1799–1801)
 * Species Astragalorum descriptae et iconibus coloratis illustratae (Leipzig, 1800).
 * Travels through the southern provinces of the Russian Empire (London, 1802, in 2 volumes).
 * Illustrationes plantarum imperfecte vel nondum cognitarum (Leipzig, 1803).
 * Zoographia rosso-asiatica (Saint Petersburg, 1811, in 3 volumes).

title: Peter Simon Pallas


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Wild Orchid (group)

Wild Orchid was an American girl group consisting of Stacy Ferguson, Stefanie Ridel, and Renee Sandstrom. Beginning under the name "NRG" in 1990, the group changed their name to Wild Orchid in 1992 and signed with RCA Records in 1994. The group released two albums, earning Billboard Music Awards nominations with their debut. In 2001, Ferguson left the group. Sandstrom and Ridel continued as a duo, releasing Wild Orchid's final album Hypnotic in 2003. In 2013, Us Weekly named the group number 18 of the 25 'Best Girl Groups of All Time'.

1990-96: Formation and "At Night I Pray"
Wild Orchid began in 1990 when former Kids Incorporated cast members Renee Sandstrom and Stacy Ferguson and their friend Stefanie Ridel decided to form an all-girl group based on their shared love of music and poetry, and they originally called themselves New Rhythm Generation, or NRG. Heather Holyoak soon joined the group and they began searching for a record contract. As they wrote their songs and recorded their first single, entitled "Get Crazy – Work It," the girls also began coming up with choreographies for their music.

In February 1991, NRG gave their first performance in a Los Angeles nightclub. Heather Holyoak returned to college, and was replaced by Micki Duran. In July 1991, NRG performed to a sold-out crowd at a BMI showcase. Their former manager claimed that he owned the rights to the group's name. By 1992, the group changed their name to Wild Orchid and hired Marta Marrero, mother of fellow Kids Incorporated alumna Martika, as their new manager.

Wild Orchid joined forces with several record labels including RCA, EMI, and Capitol, eventually signing with Sony Publishing and RCA Records in 1994. Ron Fair became the group’s A&R rep, eventually co-producing their first album. Duran left the group to work on the Nickelodeon TV show Roundhouse, leaving Wild Orchid as a trio. In 1995, Wild Orchid recorded the theme song for the NBC sitcom Hope & Gloria.

The group's first single "At Night I Pray" charted at number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 and on the R&B Singles charts at number 49 in November 1996. A music video directed by Marcus Nispel, known for his work with Janet Jackson, was in heavy rotation on MTV, BET and VH1.

1997-98: Wild Orchid
In March 1997, Wild Orchid released their self-titled debut album Wild Orchid. The largely self-written album sold nearly a million units worldwide (including 108,000 units in the U.S. according to SoundScan) and included the singles "Talk to Me", "At Night I Pray" and "Supernatural". "Talk to Me" received two Billboard Music Award nominations in the categories of Best clip and Best new artist clip.

Wild Orchid spent most of 1997 promoting their debut album, making appearances on various TV shows such as Oddville, MTV, The RuPaul Show, Vibe, Mad TV, Soul Train, and The Jenny Jones Show, in addition to a guest appearance on the UPN sitcom Goode Behavior. The group were frequent guest hosts on E!'s The Gossip Show. The trio toured as an opening act for 98 Degrees and 'N Sync across the U.S.

In May 1998, they released dance remixes of their songs "I Won't Play the Fool" and "Follow Me" (from their debut album) which were underground club hits. The "I Won't Play the Fool" remix landed on a Top 10 Dance Remixes Chart of 1998 in Billboard. That same month, they performed at "Divas Simply Singing", an annual AIDS benefit concert in Los Angeles hosted by Sheryl Lee Ralph.

In 1998, Wild Orchid were featured on the song "I Will Show You Mine” on the album Home Again from Dutch singer Rene Froger.

In 1999, the group filmed a pilot presentation as the stars of a television program called Sirens. In the vein of female-driven action programs like Xena: Warrior Princess and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, they portrayed crime fighting pop singers who were secretly mermaids. The pilot was not picked up to series.

1998-99: Oxygen and tours
In September 1998, they released their second album, Oxygen, which included the first and only single "Be Mine". The album sold 22,000 copies in the U.S. according to Billboard. The album release coincided with the group's stint as Guess spokespersons and models. They embarked on a brief promotional tour throughout the U.S., continued to host on E!'s The Gossip Show, and performed "Be Mine" on Donny and Marie.

That month, Wild Orchid debuted as hosts of the Fox Family Channel's Saturday morning show Great Pretenders, which featured chart hits lip-synched by young kids, while competing for prizes. This show lasted four seasons, from 1998 to 2001.

In February 1999, the group performed "Declaration" and "Come As You Are" at the fictional Peach Pit After Dark during the ninth season of the FOX primetime soap drama Beverly Hills, 90210 (episode titled "Beheading St. Valentine").

In summer 1999, they opened for Cher's "Do You Believe? Tour" alongside Cyndi Lauper, which toured at 52 cities across the U.S. and Canada. For a period in 1999, there were rumors of the group re-recording songs for a re-release of their Oxygen album, due to poor sales of the original version. A remixed version of their ballad "Come As You Are" was leaked onto the Internet, but a reworked Oxygen was never officially released.

In November 1999, the group appeared in the Macy's Annual Thanksgiving Parade where they sang a two-minute clip of their song "25 Days Of Christmas".

1999-2001: Fire and Ferguson's departure
Between 1999 and 2000, the group worked on their third album Fire, which included several tracks co-written and produced by JC Chasez of *NSYNC. The album was slated for an August 2000 release according to Billboard, however the release date was eventually pushed back to June 2001. The track "It's All Your Fault", which was slated to be on Fire, was featured in the 2000 film What Women Want, but was not included on the film soundtrack.

In May 2001, the group released the first single from their album Fire, called "Stuttering (Don't Say)", which reached #33 on the Billboard Top 40 Singles Sales chart, and had a concert special on MuchUSA called Shoutback on July 29, 2001. They also became models for Bongo Jeans. The group co-wrote the song "What's Good 4 the Goose", which appeared on pop group Eden's Crush debut album Popstars (2001). Wild Orchid went on a U.S. promotional tour for Fire between May and July 2001, where they performed mainly in clubs and small venues with other teen-pop acts.

The newer release date for Fire was shifted to June 5, 2001, then eventually June 19; however their record label RCA ultimately declined to release it. This event marked the beginning of the end of Wild Orchid as a trio. On July 19, 2001, the group performed their last concert together at Sea World in San Diego. On July 24, 2001, they filmed their final episode of Great Pretenders, and the show was cancelled ten days later upon the announcement that Fox Family Channel was merging with Disney-owned ABC.

In September 2001, the group was dropped from RCA, and Ferguson left Wild Orchid.

Between 2002 and 2003, Wild Orchid returned as a duo with Sandstrom and Ridel. Their album Hypnotic was released on the group's website in January 2003, and reportedly sold 5000 copies online. On September 26, 2006, Talk To Me: Hits, Rarities & Gems was released by Sony BMG Special Products. It is fundamentally a greatest-hits package, featuring previously released songs from Wild Orchid and Oxygen in addition to the only released single from Fire, "Stuttering (Don't Say)" and its B-side, "Lies".

Solo efforts
On May 28, 2001, Minneapolis-based radio station KDWB hosted a concert which featured both Wild Orchid and hip-hop group the Black Eyed Peas. It was during this event that Stacy Ferguson met will.i.am, spoke to him about producing her solo album, and exchanged phone numbers with him. In 2002, she joined the Black Eyed Peas under the stage name 'Fergie.'

Renee Sandstrom is now primarily a session singer for children's music. In 2004, she provided the singing voice for 'Princess Fiona' in the Shrek 2 special feature Far Far Away Idol. Her vocals have been featured on several Disney albums, including Mousercise (2007), Disney Cuties (2008), the Camp Rock soundtrack (2008), and Playhouse Disney Let's Dance (2010). In 2007, she sang with Ruben Martinez in "Just Like We Dreamed It", which was the theme song for the 15th anniversary of Disneyland Resort Paris. The song was released as a single exclusively in France on March 31, 2007. Sandstrom wrote the music for the song "On Penguin Pond", featured on the Volume One soundtrack for Jim Henson Company's Sid the Science Kid (2009).

Stefanie Ridel co-founded the Talent Bootcamp, in which she teaches young aspiring musical artists. Between 2004 and 2005, Ridel was the lead singer for the techno-dance duo '5th Element' with DJ Rain, and their album was released exclusively online on DJ Rain's website. Ridel's singing voice was heard on the Bratz: The Movie soundtrack (2007), in which she sang the lead on two songs and co-wrote and co-produced many others. Ridel is married to former Wild Orchid producer and Geffen Records president Ron Fair. They have four children together.

Studio albums

 * Wild Orchid (1997)
 * Oxygen (1998)
 * Fire (2001)
 * Hypnotic (2003)

Compilation albums

 * Talk to Me: Hits, Rarities & Gems (2006)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Wild Orchid (group)


text:
Wild Orchid

Wild Orchid may refer to:
 * Wild orchid, a noncultivated orchid
 * The Wild Orchid (book), a 1929 novel by the Norwegian author Sigrid Undset, winner of the 1928 Nobel Prize in Literature.
 * Wild Orchids (film), a 1929 MGM film starring Greta Garbo
 * Wild Orchid (film), a 1989 film starring Mickey Rourke and Carré Otis
 * Wild Orchid (band), a vocal trio that featured Stacy Ferguson, later of the Black Eyed Peas
 * Wild Orchid (album), the debut album by the band
 * Wild Orchids (album), a 2006 album by Steve Hackett

title: Wild Orchid


text:
Valle Crucis

Valle Crucis is a Latin phrase meaning "valley of the cross", and may refer to:

 * Valle Crucis Abbey, Wales, UK
 * Valle Crucis, North Carolina, US
 * Valle Crucis Episcopal Mission, North Carolina, US

title: Valle Crucis


text:
James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose

James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose (1612 – 21 May 1650) was a Scottish nobleman, poet, soldier and later viceroy and captain general of Scotland. Montrose initially joined the Covenanters in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, but subsequently supported King Charles I as the English Civil War developed. From 1644 to 1646, and again in 1650, he fought in the civil war in Scotland on behalf of the King. He is referred to as the Great Montrose.

Following his defeat and capture at the Battle of Carbisdale, Montrose was tried by the Scottish Parliament and sentenced to death by hanging, followed by beheading and quartering. After the Restoration, Charles II paid £802 sterling for a lavish funeral in 1661, when Montrose's reputation changed from traitor or martyr to a romantic hero and subject of works by Walter Scott and John Buchan. His spectacular victories, which took his opponents by surprise, are remembered in military history for their tactical brilliance.

Background and family
James Graham, Chief of Clan Graham, was the youngest of six children and the only son of John Graham, 4th Earl of Montrose, and Lady Margaret Ruthven. The exact date and place of his birth are unknown, but it was probably in mid-October. His maternal grandparents were William Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie, and Dorothea Stewart, a daughter of Henry Stewart, 1st Lord Methven and his second wife Janet Stewart, daughter of John Stewart, 2nd Earl of Atholl.

Montrose studied at age twelve at the college of Glasgow under William Forrett who later tutored his sons. At Glasgow, he read Xenophon and Seneca, and Tasso in translation. In the words of biographer John Buchan, his favourite book was a "splendid folio of the first edition" of History of the World by Walter Raleigh. Montrose became 5th Earl of Montrose by his father's death in 1626. He was then educated at Saint Salvator's College at the University of St Andrews.

At the age of seventeen, he married Magdalene Carnegie, who was the youngest of six daughters of David Carnegie (afterwards Earl of Southesk). They were parents of four sons, among them James Graham, 2nd Marquess of Montrose.

Montrose traveled extensively in Europe through France, Italy and the German principalities. He had a famous love-affair with Princess Louise Hollandine, daughter of the Elector Palatine and sister of Prince Rupert of the Rhine.

Covenanter to royalist

In 1638, after King Charles I had attempted to impose an Episcopalian version of the Book of Common Prayer upon the reluctant Scots, resistance spread throughout the country, eventually culminating in the Bishops' Wars. Montrose joined the party of resistance, and was for some time one of its most energetic champions. He had nothing puritanical in his nature, but he shared in the ill-feeling aroused by the political authority King Charles had given to the bishops. He signed the National Covenant, and was part of Alexander Leslie's army sent to suppress the opposition which arose around Aberdeen and in the country of the Gordons. Though often cited as commander of the expedition, the Aberdeen Council letter books are explicit that the troops entered Aberdeen "under the conduct of General Leslie" who remained in charge in the city until 12 April. Three times Montrose entered Aberdeen. On the second occasion, the leader of the Gordons, the Marquess of Huntly entered the city under a pass of safe conduct but ended up accompanying Montrose to Edinburgh, with his supporters saying as a prisoner and in breach of the pass, but Cowan is clear Huntly chose to go voluntarily, rather than as prisoner, noting "by giving out he had been forced to accompany Montrose he was neatly easing his own predicament and at the same time sparing Montrose a great deal of embarrassment". Spalding also supports that Huntly went voluntarily. Montrose was a leader of the delegation who subsequently met at Muchalls Castle to parley regarding the 1638 confrontation with the Bishop of Aberdeen. With the Earl Marischal he led a force of 9000 men across the Causey Mounth through the Portlethen Moss to attack Royalists at the Battle of the Brig of Dee. These events played a part in Charles I's decision to grant major concessions to the Covenanters.

In July 1639, after the signing of the Treaty of Berwick, Montrose was one of the Covenanting leaders who visited Charles. His change of mind, eventually leading to his support for the King, arose from his wish to get rid of the bishops without making Presbyterians masters of the state. His was essentially a layman's view of the situation. Taking no account of the real forces of the time, he aimed at an ideal form of society in which the clergy should confine themselves to their spiritual duties, and the King should uphold law and order. In the Scottish parliament which met in September, Montrose found himself opposed by Archibald Campbell, 1st Marquess of Argyll, who had gradually assumed leadership of the Presbyterian and national party, and of the estate of burgesses. Montrose, on the other hand, wished to bring the King's authority to bear upon parliament to defeat Argyll, and offered the King the support of a great number of nobles. He failed, because Charles could not even then consent to abandon the bishops, and because no Scottish party of any weight could be formed unless Presbyterianism were established as the ecclesiastical power in Scotland.

Rather than give way, Charles prepared in 1640 to invade Scotland. Montrose was of necessity driven to play something of a double game. In August 1640 he signed the Bond of Cumbernauld as a protest against the particular and direct practising of a few, in other words, against the ambition of Argyll. But he took his place amongst the defenders of his country, and in the same month displayed his gallantry in action at the forcing of the River Tyne at Newburn. On 27 May 1641 he was summoned before the Committee of Estates and charged with intrigues against Argyll, and on 11 June he was imprisoned by them in Edinburgh Castle. Charles visited Scotland to give his formal assent to the abolition of Episcopacy, and upon the King's return to England, Montrose shared in the amnesty tacitly accorded to all Charles's partisans.

Wars of the Three Kingdoms
The king signed a warrant for his Marquessate and appointed Montrose Lord Lieutenant of Scotland, both in 1644. A year later in 1645, the king commissioned him captain general. His military campaigns were fought quickly and used the element of surprise to overcome his opponents even when sometimes dauntingly outnumbered. At one point, Montrose dressed himself as the groom of the Earl of Leven and travelled away from Carlisle, and the eventual capture of his party, in disguise with "two followers, four sorry horses, little money and no baggage".

Highlanders had never before been known to combine, but Montrose knew that many of the West Highland clans, who were largely Catholic, detested Argyll and his Campbell clansmen, and none more so than the MacDonalds who with many of the other clans rallied to his summons. The Royalist allied Irish Confederates sent 2000 disciplined Irish soldiers led by Alasdair MacColla across the sea to assist him. The Irish proved to be formidable fighters.

In two campaigns, distinguished by rapidity of movement, he met and defeated his opponents in six battles. At Tippermuir and Aberdeen he routed Covenanting levies; at Inverlochy he crushed the Campbells, at Auldearn, Alford and Kilsyth his victories were obtained over well-led and disciplined armies.

The fiery enthusiasm of the Gordons and other clans often carried the day, but Montrose relied more upon the disciplined infantry from Ireland. His strategy at Inverlochy, and his tactics at Aberdeen, Auldearn and Kilsyth furnished models of the military art, but above all his daring and constancy marked him out as one of the great soldiers of his time. His career of victory was crowned by the great Battle of Kilsyth on 15 August 1645. Such was the extent of his military fame that King Louis XIV offered him the position of Marshal of France. Now Montrose found himself apparently master of Scotland. After Kilsyth, the king's secretary arrived with letters from Charles documenting that Montrose was lieutenant and captain general. He first conferred knighthood on Alasdair. Then he summoned a parliament to meet at Glasgow on 20 October, in which he no doubt hoped to reconcile loyal obedience to the King with the establishment of a non-political Presbyterian clergy. That parliament never met. Charles had been defeated at the Battle of Naseby on 14 June 1645, and Montrose had to come to his aid if there was to be still a king to proclaim. David Leslie, one of the best Scottish generals, was promptly dispatched against Montrose to anticipate the invasion. On 12 September he came upon Montrose, who had been deserted by his Highlanders and was guarded only by a little group of followers, at Philiphaugh. He won an easy victory. Montrose cut his way through to the Highlands; but he failed to organise an army. In September 1646 he embarked for Norway. Stories of his victories as documented in Latin by George Wishart reached the continent and he was offered an appointment as lieutenant-general in the French army, and the Emperor Ferdinand III awarded him the rank of field marshal, but Montrose remained devoted to the service of King Charles and so his son, Charles II.

Montrose was to appear once more on the stage of Scottish history. In June 1649, eager to avenge the death of the King, he was restored by the exiled Charles II to the now nominal lieutenancy of Scotland. Charles, however, did not scruple soon afterwards to disavow his noblest supporter to become King on terms dictated by Argyll and his adherents. In March 1650 Montrose landed in Orkney to take command of a small force which he had sent on before him with George Hay, 3rd Earl of Kinnoull. Crossing to the mainland, he tried in vain to raise the clans, and on 27 April was surprised and routed at the Battle of Carbisdale in Ross-shire. His forces were defeated in battle but he escaped. After wandering for some time he was surrendered by Neil MacLeod of Assynt at Ardvreck Castle, to whose protection, in ignorance of MacLeod's political enmity, he had entrusted himself. He was brought a prisoner to Edinburgh, and on 20 May sentenced to death by the parliament. He was hanged on the 21st, with Wishart's laudatory biography of him around his neck. He protested to the last that he was in truth a Covenanter and a loyal subject. Grant states that the execution was overseen by the Edinburgh City Guard under command of Major Weir.

His head was removed and stood on the "prick on the highest stone" of the Old Tolbooth outside St Giles' Cathedral from 1650 until the beginning of 1661.

Shortly after Montrose's death the Scottish Argyll Government switched sides to support Charles II's attempt to regain the English throne, provided he was willing to impose the Solemn League and Covenant in England for a trial period at least. After the Restoration Montrose was officially rehabilitated in the public memory.

On 7 January 1661 Montrose's mangled torso was disinterred from the gallows ground on the Burgh Muir and carried under a velvet canopy to the Tolbooth, where his head was reverently removed from the spike, before the procession continued on its way to Holyrood Abbey. The diarist John Nicoll wrote the following eyewitness account of the event,

"[A guard of honour of four captains with their companies, all of them in] thair armes and displayit colouris, quha eftir a lang space marching up an doun the streitis, went out thaireftir to the Burrow mure quhair his corps wer bureyit, and quhair sundry nobles and gentrie his freindis and favorites, both hors and fute wer thair attending; and thair, in presence of sundry nobles, earls, lordis, barones and otheris convenit for the tyme, his graif [grave] was raisit, his body and bones taken out and wrappit up in curious clothes and put in a coffin, quhilk, under a canopy of rich velwet, wer careyit from the Burrow-mure to the Toun of Edinburgh; the nobles barones and gentrie on hors, the Toun of Edinburgh and many thousandis besyde, convoyit these corpis all along, the callouris [colours] fleying, drums towking [beating], trumpettis sounding, muskets cracking and cannones from the Castell roring; all of thame walking on until thai come to the Tolbuith of Edinburgh, frae the quhilke his heid wes very honorablie and with all dew respectis taken doun and put within the coffin under the cannopie with great acclamation and joy; all this tyme the trumpettis, the drumes, cannouns, gunes, the displayit cullouris geving honor to these deid corps. From thence all of thame, both hors and fute, convoyit these deid corps to the Abay Kirk of Halyrudhous quhair he is left inclosit in ane yll [aisle] until forder ordour be by his Majestie and Estaites of Parliament for the solempnitie of his Buriall."

Montrose's limbs were brought from the towns to which they had been sent (Glasgow, Perth, Stirling and Aberdeen) and placed in his coffin, as he lay in state at Holyrood. A splendid funeral was held in the church of St. Giles on 11 May 1661.

The torso of an executed person would have normally been given to friends or family; but Montrose was the subject of an excommunication, which was why it was originally buried in unconsecrated ground. In 1650 his niece, Lady Napier, had sent men by night to remove his heart. This relic she placed in a steel case made from his sword and placed the whole in a gold filigree box, which had been presented to her family by a Doge of Venice. The heart in its case was retained by the Napier family for several generations until lost amidst the confusion of the French Revolution.

Battle history
Montrose had successive victories at the Battle of Tippermuir, with the support of Alasdair MacColla and his Irish soldiers, the Battle of Aberdeen, the Battle of Inverlochy,  the Battle of Auldearn,  the Battle of Alford, and the Battle of Kilsyth, which was the largest battle of the conflict in Scotland. After several years of continuous victories, Montrose was finally defeated at the Battle of Philiphaugh on 13 September 1645 by the Covenanter army of David, Lord Newark, restoring the power of the Committee of Estates.

In March 1650 he captured Dunbeath Castle of the Clan Sinclair, who would later support him at Carbisdale. Montrose was defeated at the Battle of Carbisdale by the Munros, Rosses, Sutherlands and Colonel Archibald Strachan.

In fiction

 * A Legend of Montrose (1819) by Sir Walter Scott
 * John Splendid (1898) by Neil Munro
 * Witch Wood by John Buchan (1927)
 * And No Quarter by Maurice Walsh (1937)
 * The Bride (1939) and The Proud Servant (1949) by Margaret Irwin
 * The Young Montrose (1972) and Montrose:The Captain-General (1973) by Nigel Tranter
 * Graham came by Cleish (1973) by James L. Dow
 * Lady Magdalen (2003) by Robin Jenkins. Focuses primarily on Magdalen, Montrose's wife.

In poetry
In his 1751 poetry collection Ais-Eiridh na Sean Chánoin Albannaich ("The Resurrection of the Old Scottish Language"), which was the first published secular book in the history of Scottish Gaelic literature, the Jacobite war poet and military officer Alasdair Mac Mhaighstir Alasdair both translated into Gaelic and versified several famous statements made by Montrose expressing his loyalty to the House of Stuart during the English Civil War.

title: James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose


text:
Indrajit

Meghanada (मेघनाद, ), also referred to by his epithet Indrajita (lit. 'conqueror of Indra') , according to Hindu texts, was the eldest son of Ravana and the crown prince of Lanka, who conquered Indraloka (Heaven). He is regarded as one of the greatest warriors in Hindu texts. He is a major character mentioned in the Indian epic Ramayana. Meghanada is the central character in Bengali ballad Meghnad Badh Kavya. He played an active role in the great war between Rama and Ravana. He acquired many kinds of celestial weapons from his Guru Shukra. His most prominent feat is having defeated the devas in heaven. Using the Brahmastra, Indrajita killed 670 million vanaras in a single day; nearly exterminating the entirety of the vanara race. No warrior had ever achieved this statistical feat before in the Ramayana. He is the only warrior in the entire Ramayana to defeat both Rama and Lakshmana twice while they were both armed by making them unconscious in a battle with the help of astras and sorcery (once by using "Nagapashastra" and another time by using Brahmastra) and finally got killed by Lakshmana. He was said to be more powerful and superior warrior than his father Ravana by Brahma and Agastya.

Etymology
Indrajita had the special ability to fight from the sky, hidden behind the clouds. That is why both Rama and Lakshmana were defeated during the battle and were tied up by the snake. In Sanskrit, the literal translation of the name "Indrajita" (इन्द्रजित) is mentioned as the "Conqueror of Indra. He defeated Indra, the king of the devas, after which he came to be known as "Indrajita" (the conqueror of Indra). He is also known as Shakrajit, Ravani, Vasavajit, Varidanada, and Ghananada.

Early life

Indrajita was the eldest son of Ravana and his wife Mandodari. He was named Meghanada after his birth because his birth cry sounded like thunder. When Meghanada was going to be born, Ravana wished his son to be supreme so that no one in the world could defeat him. Ravana wanted his son to be the ultimate warrior and extremely knowledgeable. Ravana was a great astrologer. To make his son immortal, he commanded all the planets and constellations in such a position that would allow his son to be born the way he wanted. Because of Ravana's anger and power, all the planets and constellations feared him. All the planets were in the position as desired by Ravana at time of his son Meghanada's birth. All the planets aligned in such a way that they came in the 11th house of Meghanada's horoscope. However, Shani (Saturn) had disobeyed Ravana's orders and had settled in the 12th house of Meghanada's horoscope. Ravana became furious at this and blamed Shani. Due to the state of Shani, Meghanada had to die at the hands of Lakshmana in the war between Prince Rama and Ravana.

Meghanada was also an expert in magical warfare, sorcery and tantra. His wife is not mentioned in the original epic; however in later versions of the epic, Sulochana—the daughter of the King of the serpents Shesha Naga—is mentioned as his wife.

Brahma's boon
During the battle between the devas and Ravana, Indra, king of heavens accompanied by all other devas captured Ravana. To rescue his father, Meghanada grabbed Indra and held him by the waist. He dragged Indra to his celestial chariot and held him tightly around the waist. He brought Indra as a prisoner to the palace in Lanka. Meghanada kept Indra locked in his residence for years and tortured him physically and mentally. Ravana and Meghanada decided to kill Indra. At this juncture, Brahma intervened and asked Meghanada to free Indra. Meghanada obliged and was granted a chance to ask for a boon from Brahma. Meghanada asked for immortality, but Brahma remarked that absolute immortality is against the law of the nature. Instead, he was then granted another boon that after the completion of the Yagna (fire-worship) of his native goddess Prathyangira or the "Nikumbhila yagna" would be completed, he will get a celestial chariot, mounting on which, any enemy can't kill him in a war and become invulnerable. But Brahma also cautioned him that whosoever would destroy this yagna, would also kill him. Brahma was highly impressed by Meghanada's valor in this war and it was Brahma who coined him the name Indrajita ("the conqueror of Indra"). It is also believed that Meghanada was granted another boon by Brahma in which it was promised to him that he would only be killed by a common man who hadn't slept for 14 years continuously.

Role in battle
Meghanada was the greatest warrior on Ravana's side. He was a great archer and unsurpassed grand master in illusion warfare techniques.

First Day

On the first day of his battle with Rama's army, Indrajita was fast with his weapons. Angada jumped onto Indrajit's chariot and destroyed it while killing his horses and charioteer and defeated meghnad in battle. Immediately, Indrajit became invisible and went into the clouds, from where he attacked and swiftly wiped out the armies of Sugriva, calling on Rama and Lakshmana to come in a direct combat by his illusion tactics of sorcery, so he could avenge the deaths of his paternal uncle and his brothers. When Lakshmana appeared before him, he fought fiercely. Lord Shree Ram grievously wounded him using shabd-bhed arrows and Lord Lakshman was about to kill him using bramhastra but Lord Shree Ram resisted him from doing so citing that it's against the rules of warfare to attack an invisible opponent. Lord Shree Ram declared that he would end meghnad once and for all and meghnad predicting Lord Shree Ram's intentions, ran away from the battlefield. Meghnad used his most nefarious weapon Nagapasha (a trap made of a million snakes). Rama and Lakshmana, though able to counter the nagapasha, allowed themselves to be bound by it to respect the boon of Lord Bramha. They were rescued by Garuda on behest of Hanuman. Garuda was the paternal uncle of Jatayu and Sampati and the enemy of the serpents and also the flying vehicle of Vishnu, of whom Rama was the seventh avatar.

Second Day
When Indrajita discovered that both Rama and Lakshmana had been rescued by Garuda and were still alive, he was livid and vowed to kill at least one of the brothers on that day. When the battle started, he used all his force to cast a havoc on the armies of Sugriva. At this Lakshmana appeared before him and fought him fiercely. Indrajita used his supreme magical powers, darting across the clouds and skies like a bolt of lightning. He combined his skills of sorcery and illusion warfare, repeatedly vanishing and reappearing behind Lakshmana's back. He was invisible but his arrows hit Lakshmana. Still he wasn't able to match Lord Lakshmana and found him unbeatable. Indrajita used the Pranghatini Sakthi against Lakshmana from his behind, and upon being impaled Lakshmana fell unconscious, poised to die precisely at the following sunrise. His life was saved by Hanuman, who brought the whole mountain of Dronagiri from the Himalayas to Lanka overnight to find the remedy (the magical herb - Sanjivani) for the weapon used by Indrajita and cured him. Although there is false speculation that Rama fought, too. Dharma does not allow multiple warriors to fight against one and it was only Lakshmana who was injured because it is against moral duty to fight against an invisible warrior.

Third day

When Indrajita learned that Lakshmana had survived again, he went to his native deity's secret temple to perform the yagna that would make him a warrior who can't be killed by anyone. Vibhishana, Indrajita's paternal uncle who left Ravana to join Rama, learned of his nephew Indrajita's plans through his spies and alerted Rama. Lakshmana and Vibhisana took the opportunity to face Indrajita in the Yagnaagar. As the Valmiki Ramayana quotes, upon his Yagna being destroyed by the armies of Lakshmana and his treacherous plan failed, Indrajita became enraged and stormed out of the Temple Cave. Seeing his uncle Vibhishana at Lakshmana's side multiplied Indrajita's fury manyfold. He vowed to kill his uncle Vibhisana along with Lakshmana once and for all, letting loose the Yama-astra which he had been conserving for punishing Vibhishana's perceived treason. At this juncture, Lakshmana protected Vibhishana, countering the Yama-astra owing to an earlier warning by Kubera. He fought with Lord Lakshmana but was badly overpowered and wounded by him. Sensing his death, he released the ultimate weapons of the divine Trinity ( the Bramhastra of Lord Bramha, the Vaishnavastra of Lord Narayana, and the Pashupatastra of Lord Shiva). But to his surprise, all these weapons came back after saluting Lord Lakshmana. Indrajit realised that Lakshmana was not an ordinary human and had met the criteria to defeat Indrajita, i.e. blunder the yagna and not sleep for more than 14 years. Indrajita vanished briefly from the battlefield, returning to Ravana at the royal palace, and reported the developments, proposing that his father make peace with Rama as it's impossible to win over divine incarnations, Lord Shree Rama and Lord Lakshmana. Ravana, blinded with pride, was unrelenting and annoyed, claiming that Indrajita was a coward for having fled the battlefield. This accusation provoked Indrajita who briefly lost his temper, striking fear even at the mighty Ravana's heart before apologizing and clarifying to his father that his primary duty as a son was to serve his father's best interests and that even in the face of death, he would never abandon Ravana. Preparing to return to the battle and knowing that he indeed faced death at the hands of a heavenly incarnation, Indrajita said his last goodbyes to his parents and his wife. He returned to the battlefield and fought Lakshmana with all his skill at both illusion warfare and sorcery. The arrows of Indrajita refused to harm Lakshmana because Lakshmana was the incarnation of Shesha. Lakshmana slew Indrajita by beheading him with the Anjalikastra. It was possible only because of a curse given to Indrajita by Shesha for marrying his daughter without his permission. Shesha incarnated as Rama's brother Lakshmana, to kill Indrajita, didn't have any sleep for more than fourteen years during their exile so that he would be able to serve Rama and Sita efficiently and meet the criteria to kill Indrajita.

In popular culture

 * In the Tamil movie, 'Seetha Jananam or Vedavathi (1941), M.G. Ramachandran, played the Indrajita character.
 * Meghnada or Indrajita is the central character in Michael Madhusudan Dutt's Bengali epic poem, Meghnad Badh Kavya (English: The Slaying of Meghnada).
 * Vijay Arora portrayed the role of Indrajita in the legendary tv series Ramayan (1987 TV series).
 * Indrajita was played by Praphulla Pandey in the 2008 series Ramayan (TV series).
 * Vatsal Sheth played the character of Indrajita in the 2023 Bollywood movie Adipurush.

title: Indrajit


text:
Golden Hind

Golden Hind was a galleon captained by Francis Drake in his circumnavigation of the world between 1577 and 1580. She was originally known as Pelican, but Drake renamed her mid-voyage in 1578, in honour of his patron, Sir Christopher Hatton, whose crest was a golden hind (a female red deer). Hatton was one of the principal sponsors of Drake's world voyage. A full-sized, seaworthy reconstruction is in London, on the south bank of the Thames.

History
Queen Elizabeth I partly sponsored Sir Francis Drake as the leader of an expedition intended to pass around South America through the Strait of Magellan and to explore the coast that lay beyond. The queen's support was advantageous; Drake had official approval to benefit himself and the queen and cause the maximum damage to the Spaniards. This eventually culminated in the Anglo–Spanish War. Before setting sail, Drake met the queen face-to-face for the first time and she said to him, "We would gladly be revenged on the King of Spain for divers injuries that we have received."

The explicit object was to "find out places meet to have traffic." Drake, however, acted as a privateer, with unofficial support from Elizabeth. The design of the Golden Hind was based on the Spanish built nao Victoria, the first ship to circumnavigate the world, and is described as a "mid-16th-century warship during the transition from the carrack to the galleon," and measured about 120 tons. He first named his flagship Pelican, but renamed her Golden Hind on 20 August 1578 to honour his patron, Sir Christopher Hatton, whose family crest was a golden hind. He set sail in December 1577 with five small ships with a complement of 164 and reached the Brazilian coast in early 1578.

On 1 March 1579, now in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Ecuador, Golden Hind challenged and captured the Spanish galleon SPANISH SHIP Nuestra Señora de la Concepción. This galleon had the largest treasure captured to that date: over 360,000 pesos (equivalent to around £480m in 2017). The treasure took six days to transship and included 26 tons of silver, half a ton of gold, porcelain, jewellery, coins, and jewels.

On 26 September 1580, Francis Drake sailed his ship into Plymouth Harbour with 56 of the original crew of 80 left aboard. The ship was unloaded at Trematon Castle nearby, supervised by the Queen's guards. The final treasure also included six tons of cloves from the Spice Islands, at the time worth their weight in gold. Elizabeth herself went aboard Golden Hind, which was then permanently at Deptford on the south bank of the Thames, where she had requested it be placed on permanent display as the first 'museum ship'. There, she shrewdly asked the French ambassador to bestow a knighthood on Drake. Over half of the proceeds went to the crown - her share of the treasure came to at least £160,000: "enough to pay off her entire government debt and still have £40,000 left over to invest in a new trading company for the Levant. Her return, and that of other investors, was more than £47 for every £1 invested, or 4,700%."

After Drake's circumnavigation, Golden Hind was maintained for public exhibition at the dockyard at Deptford, London. The ship remained there from 1580 to around 1650, 45 years after Elizabeth had died, before the ship eventually rotted away and was broken up. In 1668, the keeper of the stores at Deptford, John Davies of Camberwell, had the best remaining timber of Golden Hind made into a chair now called the Drake Chair which was presented to the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford, where it remains (with a replica in the Great Hall, Buckland Abbey, Devon, Drake's home and now maintained by the National Trust).

A table, known as the cupboard, in the Middle Temple Hall, London is also reputed to have been made from the wood of Golden Hind. Upon the cupboard is placed the roll of members of Middle Temple, which new members sign when they are called to the Bar. The ship's lantern was hung in the vestibule of Middle Temple Hall, but was destroyed during the Second World War.

Essex
A replica of Golden Hind was constructed at Peter Pan's Playground (now Adventure Island adventure park), Southend-on-Sea, Essex. It was constructed in 1947 and opened in 1949 together with a waxworks. By 1992, attendances had dropped, and combined with rising maintenance costs with the need for a major renovation to the wooden structure caused its closure in 1997. The ship was replaced by a replica of Blackbeard's Queen Anne's Revenge, which was demolished in 2013.

Devon
A replica of Golden Hind has been permanently moored in the harbour of the sea port of Brixham in Devon (50.39667°N, -3.51278°W) since 1963 following its use in the TV series Sir Francis Drake, which was filmed in and around the bays of Torbay and Dartmouth. The replica ship used in the TV series cost the film studio £25,000 to construct. It had no rear gallery or gun deck and was a converted fishing boat. The ship sank in heavy seas whilst under tow in 1987 to Dartmouth for restoration and could not be saved. A second replica was completed in 1988 and stands in the harbour being visited by thousands of visitors annually. The current vessel based on a steel barge is not full size and could never sail.

Present day
Golden Hinde, a full-size reconstruction of the ship, was built by traditional methods in Appledore, Devon, and launched in 1973. Golden Hinde was the result of three years research and construction. Since then, she has travelled more than 140,000 miles (225,000 km). She sailed from Plymouth on her maiden voyage in late 1974, arriving on 8 May 1975 in San Francisco. In 1979, she sailed to Japan to make the miniseries  Shōgun, after which she returned to the UK having completed a circumnavigation. Between 1981 and 1984, she was berthed in England and was established as an educational museum. In 1984–85, she sailed around the British Isles and then crossed the Atlantic to St Thomas in the Caribbean. In 1986, she passed through the Panama Canal to sail on to Vancouver, where she was the main attraction in the Marine Plaza at Expo86. In 1987, she began a tour of US coastal cities, spending two years on the Pacific coast. In late 1988, she passed back through the Panama Canal to continue port visits on the Gulf and east coasts of the US. In 1992, she returned home to the UK and spent the next four years visiting ports in Europe. Since 1996, she has been berthed at St Mary Overie Dock, in Bankside, Southwark, London, where she is open to the public and hosts a range of educational programmes.

1920s
A replica of Golden Hind formed part of the children's playground at the 1924 British Empire Exhibition, on the recommendation of Agatha Christie.

title: Golden Hind


text:
Rao–Blackwell theorem

In statistics, the Rao–Blackwell theorem, sometimes referred to as the Rao–Blackwell–Kolmogorov theorem, is a result that characterizes the transformation of an arbitrarily crude estimator into an estimator that is optimal by the mean-squared-error criterion or any of a variety of similar criteria.

The Rao–Blackwell theorem states that if g(X) is any kind of estimator of a parameter θ, then the conditional expectation of g(X) given T(X), where T is a sufficient statistic, is typically a better estimator of θ, and is never worse. Sometimes one can very easily construct a very crude estimator g(X), and then evaluate that conditional expected value to get an estimator that is in various senses optimal.

The theorem is named after C.R. Rao and David Blackwell. The process of transforming an estimator using the Rao–Blackwell theorem can be referred to as Rao–Blackwellization. The transformed estimator is called the Rao–Blackwell estimator.

Definitions

 * An estimator δ(X) is an observable random variable (i.e. a statistic) used for estimating some unobservable quantity. For example, one may be unable to observe the average height of all male students at the University of X, but one may observe the heights of a random sample of 40 of them. The average height of those 40—the "sample average"—may be used as an estimator of the unobservable "population average".
 * A sufficient statistic T(X) is a statistic calculated from data X to estimate some parameter θ for which no other statistic which can be calculated from data X provides any additional information about θ. It is defined as an observable random variable such that the conditional probability distribution of all observable data X given T(X) does not depend on the unobservable parameter θ, such as the mean or standard deviation of the whole population from which the data X was taken. In the most frequently cited examples, the "unobservable" quantities are parameters that parametrize a known family of probability distributions according to which the data are distributed.
 * In other words, a sufficient statistic T(X) for a parameter θ is a statistic such that the conditional probability of the data X, given T(X), does not depend on the parameter θ.

 * A Rao–Blackwell estimator δ1(X) of an unobservable quantity θ is the conditional expected value E(δ(X) | T(X)) of some estimator δ(X) given a sufficient statistic T(X). Call δ(X) the "original estimator" and δ1(X) the "improved estimator".  It is important that the improved estimator be observable, i.e. that it does not depend on θ.  Generally, the conditional expected value of one function of these data given another function of these data does depend on θ, but the very definition of sufficiency given above entails that this one does not.
 * The mean squared error of an estimator is the expected value of the square of its deviation from the unobservable quantity being estimated of θ.

Mean-squared-error version
One case of Rao–Blackwell theorem states:

 * The mean squared error of the Rao–Blackwell estimator does not exceed that of the original estimator.

In other words,

 * $$\operatorname{E}((\delta_1(X)-\theta)^2)\leq

\operatorname{E}((\delta(X)-\theta)^2).$$

The essential tools of the proof besides the definition above are the law of total expectation and the fact that for any random variable Y, E(Y2) cannot be less than [E(Y)]2. That inequality is a case of Jensen's inequality, although it may also be shown to follow instantly from the frequently mentioned fact that

 * $$ 0 \leq \operatorname{Var}(Y) = \operatorname{E}((Y-\operatorname{E}(Y))^2) =

\operatorname{E}(Y^2)-(\operatorname{E}(Y))^2.$$

More precisely, the mean square error of the Rao-Blackwell estimator has the following decomposition

 * $$ \operatorname{E}[(\delta_1(X)-\theta)^2]=\operatorname{E}[(\delta(X)-\theta)^2]-\operatorname{E}[\operatorname{Var}(\delta(X)\mid T(X))]$$

Since $$\operatorname{E}[\operatorname{Var}(\delta(X)\mid T(X))]\ge 0$$, the Rao-Blackwell theorem immediately follows.

Convex loss generalization
The more general version of the Rao–Blackwell theorem speaks of the "expected loss" or risk function:

 * $$\operatorname{E}(L(\delta_1(X)))\leq \operatorname{E}(L(\delta(X)))$$

where the "loss function" L may be any convex function. If the loss function is twice-differentiable, as in the case for mean-squared-error, then we have the sharper inequality

 * $$\operatorname{E}(L(\delta(X)))-\operatorname{E}(L(\delta_1(X)))\ge \frac{1}{2}\operatorname{E}_T\left[\inf_x L''(x)\operatorname{Var}(\delta(X)\mid T)\right].$$

Properties
The improved estimator is unbiased if and only if the original estimator is unbiased, as may be seen at once by using the law of total expectation. The theorem holds regardless of whether biased or unbiased estimators are used.

The theorem seems very weak: it says only that the Rao–Blackwell estimator is no worse than the original estimator. In practice, however, the improvement is often enormous.

Example
Phone calls arrive at a switchboard according to a Poisson process at an average rate of λ per minute. This rate is not observable, but the numbers X1, ..., Xn of phone calls that arrived during n successive one-minute periods are observed. It is desired to estimate the probability e−λ that the next one-minute period passes with no phone calls.

An extremely crude estimator of the desired probability is

 * $$\delta_0=\left\{\begin{matrix}1 & \text{if}\ X_1=0, \\ 0 & \text{otherwise,}\end{matrix}\right.$$

i.e., it estimates this probability to be 1 if no phone calls arrived in the first minute and zero otherwise. Despite the apparent limitations of this estimator, the result given by its Rao–Blackwellization is a very good estimator.

The sum

 * $$ S_n = \sum_{i=1}^n X_{i} = X_1+\cdots+X_n$$

can be readily shown to be a sufficient statistic for λ, i.e., the conditional distribution of the data X1, ..., Xn, depends on λ only through this sum. Therefore, we find the Rao–Blackwell estimator

 * $$\delta_1=\operatorname{E}(\delta_0\mid S_n=s_n).$$

After doing some algebra we have

 * $$\begin{align}

\delta_1 &= \operatorname{E} \left (\mathbf{1}_{\{X_1=0\}} \Bigg| \sum_{i=1}^n X_{i} = s_n \right ) \\ &= P \left (X_{1}=0 \Bigg| \sum_{i=1}^n X_{i} = s_n \right ) \\ &= P \left (X_{1}=0, \sum_{i=2}^n X_{i} = s_n \right ) \times P \left (\sum_{i=1}^n X_{i} = s_n \right )^{-1} \\ &= e^{-\lambda}\frac{\left((n-1)\lambda\right)^{s_n}e^{-(n-1)\lambda}}{s_n!} \times \left (\frac{(n\lambda)^{s_n}e^{-n\lambda}}{s_n!} \right )^{-1} \\ &= \frac{\left((n-1)\lambda\right)^{s_n}e^{-n\lambda}}{s_n!} \times \frac{s_n!}{(n\lambda)^{s_n}e^{-n\lambda}} \\ &= \left(1-\frac{1}{n}\right)^{s_n} \end{align}$$

Since the average number of calls arriving during the first n minutes is nλ, one might not be surprised if this estimator has a fairly high probability (if n is big) of being close to

 * $$\left(1-{1 \over n}\right)^{n\lambda}\approx e^{-\lambda}.$$

So δ1 is clearly a very much improved estimator of that last quantity. In fact, since Sn is complete and δ0 is unbiased, δ1 is the unique minimum variance unbiased estimator by the Lehmann–Scheffé theorem.

Idempotence
Rao–Blackwellization is an idempotent operation. Using it to improve the already improved estimator does not obtain a further improvement, but merely returns as its output the same improved estimator.

Completeness and Lehmann–Scheffé minimum variance
If the conditioning statistic is both complete and sufficient, and the starting estimator is unbiased, then the Rao–Blackwell estimator is the unique "best unbiased estimator": see Lehmann–Scheffé theorem.

An example of an improvable Rao–Blackwell improvement, when using a minimal sufficient statistic that is not complete, was provided by Galili and Meilijson in 2016. Let $$X_1, \ldots, X_n$$ be a random sample from a scale-uniform distribution $$X \sim U \left( (1-k) \theta, (1+k) \theta \right),$$ with unknown mean $$E[X]=\theta$$ and known design parameter $$k \in (0,1)$$. In the search for "best" possible unbiased estimators for $$\theta,$$ it is natural to consider $$X_1$$ as an initial (crude) unbiased estimator for $$\theta$$ and then try to improve it. Since $$X_1$$ is not a function of $$T = \left( X_{(1)}, X_{(n)} \right)$$, the minimal sufficient statistic for $$\theta$$ (where $$X_{(1)} = \min( X_i )$$ and $$X_{(n)} = \max( X_i )$$), it may be improved using the Rao–Blackwell theorem as follows:

 * $$\hat{\theta}_{RB}=E_{\theta} \left [X_1|X_{(1)}, X_{(n)} \right ]=\frac{X_{(1)}+X_{(n)}}{2}.$$

However, the following unbiased estimator can be shown to have lower variance:

 * $$\hat{\theta}_{LV} = \frac{1}{2 \left (k^2 \frac{n-1}{n+1}+1\right )} \left[ (1-k){{X}_{(1)}}+(1+k){{X}_{(n)}} \right].$$

And in fact, it could be even further improved when using the following estimator:

 * $$\hat{\theta}_{BAYES} =\frac{n+1}{n} \left[ 1-\frac{\frac{\left( \frac{1-k} \right)}{\left( \frac{1+k} \right)}-1}{{{\left[ \frac{\left( \frac{1-k} \right)}{\left( \frac{1+k} \right)} \right]}^{n+1}}-1} \right] \frac{X_{(n)}}{1+k}$$

The model is a scale model. Optimal equivariant estimators can then be derived for loss functions that are invariant.

title: Rao–Blackwell theorem


text:
Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway

Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway (北大阪急行電鉄) is a railway operator in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. Its sole line, officially named the Namboku Line (南北線), operates as a through-service extension of the Midōsuji Line of the Osaka Metro.

The Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway Company, Ltd. (北大阪急行電鉄株式会社), established on 11 December 1967, is 54% owned by Hankyu Corporation, a major component of the wider Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Kitakyu, as it is often abbreviated, also owns various commercial and residential properties along the line. It is not to be confused with an earlier railway company called Kita-Osaka Electric Railway which operated a section of the Hankyu Senri Line (between Awaji and Senriyama) and Hankyu Kyoto Main Line (between Jūsō and Awaji) from 1919 until 1928, when it was merged into Keihan Electric Railway.

Stations on the Kitakyu Namboku Line

 * Notes:

Former line

 * Kaijō Line (Senri-Chūō - Expo Main Gate Station)

Rolling stock
All Kita-Osaka Kyuko rolling stock are stored and maintained at Momoyamadai Depot.

 * 8000 series (since 1987)
 * 9000 series (since 28 April 2014)

Former rolling stock

 * 2000 series (from 1969 until 1993)
 * 7000/8000 series (from 1969 until 1970)

History
The line was opened on 24 February 1970, to connect the then northern terminus of the Midōsuji Line, Esaka, with the grounds of the 1970 World's Fair. The Expo link was closed on 14 September, and the line was redirected to the new underground terminal station of Senri-Chūō.

Takeo Miki, then Minister of International Trade and Industry, brokered the deal creating the railway as a joint venture between the City of Osaka and Hankyu Railway. Although the line was originally envisioned as a straightforward extension of the Midosuji Line, the city government was unable to independently complete the extension because it went beyond municipal boundaries, thus raising issues of expropriation and financing.

The temporary tracks between Senri-Chūō and the Expo Park were removed following the Expo, and the right-of-way repurposed as part of the Chugoku Expressway.

A plan to extend the line 2.5 km northward from Senri-Chuo to the city of Minoh was proposed in 1989. The Minoh municipal government exchanged a letter of confirmation with Hankyu and Kitakyu regarding studies of the extension in 2011, and the government of Osaka Prefecture joined a four-party memorandum of understanding in 2012.

On 19 January 2017, construction began on the extension of the line to Minō-Kayano, which will have one intermediate station at Minō-Semba-Handaimae. Completion of the extension was originally scheduled for 2020; in May 2019, the extension's scheduled opening date was delayed to 2023 because of construction problems. The scheduled opening of the extension was set for the end of 2023, but was later pushed back further to 23 March 2024.

title: Kita-Osaka Kyuko Railway


text:
Singles

Singles are people not in a committed relationship.

Singles may also refer to:

Film and television

 * Singles (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
 * Singles (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
 * Singles (2003 film), a South Korean film starring Jang Jin-young
 * S1ngles, a Greek TV series
 * Singles (TV series), a British sitcom produced from 1988 to 1991

Music

 * Single (music), a type of music release usually having only one to three songs
 * Singles is a frequent title for a compilation album
 * Singles (Alison Moyet album)
 * Singles (Deacon Blue album)
 * Singles (Future Islands album)
 * Singles (Jimmy Eat World album)
 * Singles (Luna Sea album) (1997)
 * Singles (Maroon 5 album) (2015)
 * Singles (New Order album)
 * Singles (Nirvana box set)
 * Singles: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack to the 1992 film
 * Singles (Red Krayola album) (2004)
 * Singles (Suede album)
 * "Singles" (The Long Blondes album), an album by The Long Blondes
 * Singles (The Smiths album)
 * Singles (Travis album)
 * Singles (Despina Vandi album)
 * Singles (The UA Years), an album by The Stranglers
 * The Singles (Corey Hart album)
 * Singles (Fishbone album)
 * Singles 1–12, an album by The Melvins
 * "Singles", a song by E-40 and Too $hort from History: Function Music
 * "Singles", a song by Ibeyi from their self-titled album

Gaming

 * Singles: Flirt Up Your Life, a video game by Rotobee
 * Singles (cards), individual trading cards sold at hobby stores

Sports

 * Men's singles or Women's singles in sports having one player per side, including;
 * tennis
 * badminton
 * pickleball
 * professional wrestling
 * squash
 * table tennis
 * match play in golf
 * Single skating, a figure skating discipline commonly known as "singles"
 * Single (baseball), when a batter reaches first base due to successful contact with the ball

Food and drink

 * Kenco Singles, a single-serve coffee brewing system
 * Kraft Singles, a brand of individually packaged cheese slices
 * Miniature (alcohol) - liquor bottles 50-60 mL

Other uses

 * Singles, Puy-de-Dôme, a commune of the Puy-de-Dôme département, France
 * United States one-dollar bills, particularly when requesting change from, or implicitly comparing to, larger denomination bills

title: Singles


text:
Talk:Expanding bullet

Movie reference
I have only seen the movie and have not read the novel, but I believe that in The Day of the Jackal they refer to mercury and glycerine as bywords for nitroglycerine and mercury fulminate, both explosive compounds, so I will take this piece out.

Should this page also not include the Dum Dum pop, or at least a link to its entry?

Dum Dum pops are a flavored candy put on a stick. they have been around since 1924. see here: http://www.dumdumpops.com/ for more information, including history.

go for it. vroman

Page moved
I have moved the page from Dum dum to Dum-dum. This makes the title consistent with the text. Axl 10:39, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

illegal combatants subject to summary execution?
The article states:
 * Illegally modified bullets found on a soldier would be evidence that the soldier was not following the conventions of land warfare, and he could be treated as an illegal combatant (subject to summary execution).

I do not believe that prisoners ever are subject to summary execution. Prisoners are supposed to be treated according to the Geneva Conventions by their captors. If doubt exists that they are entitled to being classified as a POW, then a "competent tribunal" is supposed to convene to make a determination about their status. I believe that, until that time, an execution, or even brutal treatment, constitutes a war crime.

I removed the reference to execution, and placed a link to unlawful combatant. 3mta3 06:19, 27 May 2005 (UTC)

You do not understand why an illegal combatant is not, by definintion, a POW. An illegal combatant forfeits all of the privledges accorded a prisoner of war. The intent of this was to limit, if not outright stop, warring parties from dressing their troops in enemy uniforms to gain an advantage on the battlefield. Most armies do cheat from time to time (Germans in U.S. uniforms during the Battle of the Bulge), but the idea is to strongly discourage this behaviour.

The presence of illegal combatants masquerading as civilians, hiding in mosques or churches, dressing as friendly troops, makes a mockery of the Geneva Convention, the law of land warfare, and make it all but impossible to correctly distinguish lawful combatants from innocent bystanders. It much more likely that civillians will be mis-identified and killed or wounded as a result. There is an exception in that militia or military units that do not have uniforms, but otherwise fight as military units and otherwise obey the law of armed conflict are lawful combatants (think of Confederates soldiers fighting without uniforms, but in ranks and under the Confederate flag).

If caught, long standing tradition holds that spies, sabatours, soldiers wearing the other sides uniforms etc. are illegal combatants and can be subject to summary justice, including execution. Looters commiting mayhem in an area under martial law can likewise be executed.Sorry, but if you are dressed in civilian attire, hide on the roof of a civilian home, take a few pot shots at soldiers, ditch your weapon in a gutter; you are an illegal combatant and have no reasonable expectation of POW status.

 * To the unsigned poster above: If a person does not qualify for combatant status, they become subject to the criminal law applicable. That means they can be arrested, tried and sentenced, but Geneva Convention 4 prohibits punishment without due process. To confirm what 3mta3 said, it also provides that: "Should any doubt arise as to whether persons, having committed a belligerent act and having fallen into the hands of the enemy, belong to any of the categories enumerated in Article 4, such persons shall enjoy the protection of the present Convention until such time as their status has been determined by a competent tribunal." (Geneva Convention 4, http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/FULL/375?OpenDocument). It's quite true that there used to be a tradition of summary execution for violations of IHL, but that's no longer official policy in "civilized" armed forces. But I'm getting a teeny bit off-topic ;-) UrsusMaximus (talk) 13:12, 29 January 2011 (UTC)

 * May I also add that a combatant doesn't become an illegal combatant by using expanding bullets. It is a violation of the laws of war, and a person can be punished but Article 85 of the GC IV states that "Prisoners of war prosecuted under the laws of the Detaining Power for acts committed prior to capture shall retain, even if convicted, the benefits of the present Convention". Sjö (talk) 15:39, 29 January 2011 (UTC)

Is a merge desirable?
I can't help but remark that the matter of this page seems to be overlapping a lot with that of Hollow-point bullet. Would it not be desirable to cull the intersting parts of this page and make them into a section of the one I mentioned? If not, can somebody explain clearly how the expanding bullets are not a subset of hollow point ones (or the reverse, though as far as I can tell all expanding bullets have a hollow in the tip) --Svartalf (talk) 22:42, 25 March 2010 (UTC)

 * I think articles should be merged. This article is awkwardly positioned as a short subset of bullet, and superset of hollow point bullet and soft point bullet (which is similarly short, as well as partially overlapping).  The current article division is esoterically gangly for most readers.  I think the most logical organization would be to have hollow point bullet and soft point bullet merged into expanding bullet. ENeville (talk) 16:01, 13 May 2010 (UTC)

 * Oppose: Hollow point and soft point rounds are both notable enough to stand as their own articles. Faceless Enemy (talk) 05:39, 8 June 2010 (UTC)

 * Support Expanding bullets are are subtype of Hollow tip.-- Gilderien Talk|Contribs 20:15, 24 July 2011 (UTC)

 * You probably mean the other way around, don't you? There are many expanding bullets that are not hollow tip.Sjö (talk) 08:33, 25 July 2011 (UTC)
 * Oppose The two are different--Mike - Μολὼν λαβέ 13:46, 2 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Oppose As noted above, all bullets of this type are expanding bullets but there are many different versions.109.158.254.149 (talk) 18:46, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

German complaints to the Hague Convention
There's been a rumor ever since that the real motivation for the German complaints was that when they copied the bullet, its blunt shape caused frequent feedway stoppages in Maxim guns. Is this worthy of inclusion? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.41.40.21 (talk) 17:54, 27 September 2011 (UTC)

Any citation? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.215.5.255 (talk) 12:06, 2 December 2011 (UTC)

Taiwan

This section is barely intelligible English. A better translation from the original language is needed.

When 1947,Taiwan happen a massacre,which known as 228 incidence (Kanji:二二八事件)in this event,one Taiwan doctor show the evidence to the United States consulate, which him fought the national government using expanding bullet shooting at crowd,orignial this kind of bullet should banned in military use or conventional war.

Although the mission was ordered to recall the army post in mainland China, unable to verify the use of weapons, but in an interview in the February 28 Incident documentaries, more than the victims of widow and to assist emergency physicians have confirmed that the injured and dead bodies serious wounds torn, broken and other human tissue and ordinary bullet wound completely different situation

This weapon is enough to show why the international disabled, inhuman, cruel and bloody features.

Hague Convention of 1899, Declaration III
Declaration III expressly states that the ban on expanding bullets only applies to international warfare between states that have signed the convention, which should be mentioned in the article, along with what the article already says about international customary law and later reinterpretation of the threaty/declaration. Unfortunately the properly sourced (see reference with full text of Declaration III) text has now been twice removed by User:Sjö, with no valid reason for the removal. Thomas.W talk 13:03, 21 March 2016 (UTC)
 * Similar texts can be found in other treaties. That doesn't mean that parties that didn't sign the treaties are never bound by the rules in such treaties. Sometimes they are bound by those rules, which is why I referred to customary international law and jus cogens in my edit comment. As you can see in the section there is disagreement about the issue so per WP:NPOV Wikipedia should describe the standpoints and stay neutral. Saying in Wikipedia's voice that the declaration only applies to the signatories isn't NPOV.Sjö (talk) 13:11, 21 March 2016 (UTC)
 * Reporting what the original treaty says and what later reinterpretations are, is as neutral as it can possibly be, while redacting the original text and in effect only reporting the later reinterpretation is POV. Thomas.W talk 13:19, 21 March 2016 (UTC)
 * You misrepresent both your and my edits. As I see it, when you write "thus prohibiting the use of expanding bullets only in international warfare between countries that have signed it" it can only be taken to mean that the declaration only is binding for the signatories. And I did write about the US position. Anyway, I'm going to rewrite the section, hopefully to something we can agree on. Sjö (talk) 05:51, 22 March 2016 (UTC)
 * If you can find them, please add some reliable sources that oppose the Red Cross' position. So far, all I've found are blogs and other unsuitable sources. Sjö (talk) 07:09, 22 March 2016 (UTC)
 * The convention as signed was only binding for the signatories (and only in international warfare between two or more of them), since it was a treaty between a number of nations, not rules imposed on everyone by a few. The widening of the scope of it, to cover all countries and all situations, is a later reinterpretation of the treaty/declaration that has no legal basis, since sovereign nations are bound only by whatever bilateral/multinational treaties they sign (see Supranational law). Thomas.W talk 09:05, 22 March 2016 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure that supranational law applies here, but your assertion that treaties only bind the parties to them is not quite correct. Some or all of the regulations in a treaty can become a part of international law and so binding even for countries that didn't sign them. That's what Peremptory norm is about (redirected from jus cogens which I linked earlier) and is also mentioned in Customary international humanitarian law. And yes, peremptory norms necessarily are interpretations that are later than the treaties they are based on, but it doesn't mean that they are any less valid.
 * In the laws of war case law and custom is often as important as the text of the treaties themselves. An example is the Saint Petersburg Declaration of 1868 which by its wording prohibits the use of explosive bullets like the ones now accepted for use for anti-equipment purposes like in light AA guns and aircraft cannons. Sjö (talk) 06:54, 23 March 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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Reducing risk of overpenetration
I found this source in Swedish about a study that supports that expanding bullets do reduce the risk of overpenetration, but it would be preferable to have an English-language source in the "Function and use" section. Sjö (talk) 06:24, 1 March 2019 (UTC)

Translation...
Could we perhaps have a translation from German to English for that image of a sketch from, what I assume to be, a medical book or whatever. Here is a link to the image:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expanding_bullet#/media/File:Wundbalistik_DumDumGescho%C3%9F_001.jpg

Thanks! : )  ΤΕΡΡΑΣΙΔΙΩΣ (Ταλκ) 20:57, 25 November 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Expanding bullet


text:
Islamic Development Bank

The Islamic Development Bank (البنك الإسلامي للتنمية, abbreviated as IsDB) is a multilateral development finance institution that is focused on Islamic finance for infrastructure development and located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. There are 57 shareholding member states with the largest single shareholder being Saudi Arabia.

History
It was founded in 1973 by the Finance Ministers at the first Organisation of the Islamic Conference (now called the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) with the support of the King of Saudi Arabia at the time (Faisal), and began its activities on 3 April 1975.

On the 22 May 2013, IDB tripled its authorized capital to $150 billion to better serve Muslims in member and non-member countries. The Bank has received credit ratings of AAA from Standard & Poor's, Moody's, and Fitch. Saudi Arabia holds about one quarter of the bank's paid up capital. The IDB is an observer at the United Nations General Assembly.

Membership
The present membership of the Bank consists of 57 countries. The basic condition for membership is that the prospective member country should be a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), pay its contribution to the capital of the Bank and be willing to accept such terms and conditions as may be decided upon by the IDB Board of Governors. Ranked on the basis of paid-up capital (as of May 2024), major shareholders include:
 * 1) Saudi Arabia (22.5%)
 * 2) Libya (9.03%)
 * 3) Indonesia (7.94%)
 * 4) Iran (7.90%)
 * 5) Nigeria (7.33%)
 * 6) Qatar (6.87%)
 * 7) Egypt (6.77%)
 * 8) Kuwait (6.62%)
 * 9) United Arab Emirates (6.48%)
 * 10) Turkey (6.17%)

Structure
IDB has evolved into a group of five entities, consisting of Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI), Islamic Corporation for Development of the Private Sector (ICD), Islamic Corporation for Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) and International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).

Activities
IDB Group is engaged in a wide range of specialized and integrated activities such as:

 * Project financing in the public and private sectors;
 * Development assistance for poverty alleviation;
 * Technical assistance for capacity-building;
 * Economic and trade cooperation among member countries;
 * Trade financing;
 * SME financing;
 * Resource mobilization;
 * Direct equity investment in Islamic financial institutions;
 * Insurance and reinsurance coverage for investment and export credit;
 * Research and training programs in Islamic economics and banking;
 * Awqaf investment and financing;
 * Special assistance and scholarships for member countries and Muslim communities in non-member countries;
 * Emergency relief; and
 * Advisory services for public and private entities in member countries.

Projects and programs

 * The Gao Bridge in Mali: Until a few years ago, crossing the Niger River at Gao was done by a ferry that might or might not be operating. This hindered progress and discouraged trade. The Gao Bridge financed by the IDB connected the once isolated Gao Region in eastern Mali to the heartland.

Criticism
Dr. Ali had previously declared that IDB was in charge of the financing of al-Quds Intifada Fund and al-Aqsa Fund, both established during an Arab summit in Cairo in October 2000. According to the final communiqué of the summit, "Al-Quds Intifada Fund will have capital of 200 million dollars to be allocated for disbursement to the families of Palestinian martyrs fallen in the Intifada."

The United Arab Emirates listed Islamic Relief Worldwide as a terrorist organization in 2014. However, the British government undertook a national investigation into the matter at the request of the UAE government and the final report cleared the international charity. Neither the Islamic Development Bank nor the Islamic Relief Worldwide organization has ever been designated a terrorist entity or as an organization funding terrorism by the UN or the US government.

title: Islamic Development Bank