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Muslim conquest of Persia

The Muslim conquest of Persia, also called the Muslim conquest of Iran, the Arab conquest of Persia, or the Arab conquest of Iran, was a major military campaign undertaken by the Rashidun Caliphate between 632 and 654. As part of the early Muslim conquests, which had begun under Muhammad in 622, it led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire and the eventual decline of Zoroastrianism, which had been predominant throughout Persia as the nation's official religion. The persecution of Zoroastrians by the early Muslims during and after this conflict prompted many of them to flee eastward to India, where they were granted refuge by various kings.

While Arabia was experiencing the rise of Islam in the 7th century, Persia was struggling with unprecedented levels of political, social, economic, and military weakness; the Sasanian army had greatly exhausted itself in the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628. Following the execution of Sasanian shah Khosrow II in 628, Persia's internal political stability began deteriorating at a rapid pace. Subsequently, ten new royal claimants were enthroned within the next four years. Shortly afterwards, Persia was further devastated by the Sasanian Interregnum, a large-scale civil war that began in 628 and resulted in the government's decentralization by 632.

Amidst Persia's turmoil, the first Rashidun invasion of Sasanian territory took place in 633, when the Rashidun army conquered parts of Asoristan, which was the Sasanians' political and economic centre in Mesopotamia. Later, the regional Rashidun army commander Khalid ibn al-Walid was transferred to oversee the Muslim conquest of the Levant, and as the Rashidun army became increasingly focused on the Byzantine Empire, the newly conquered Mesopotamian territories were retaken by the Sasanian army. The second Rashidun invasion began in 636, under Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, when a key victory at the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah permanently ended all Sasanian control to the west of modern-day Iran. For the next six years, the Zagros Mountains, a natural barrier, marked the political boundary between the Rashidun Caliphate and the Sasanian Empire. In 642, Umar ibn al-Khattab, eight years into his reign as Islam's second caliph, ordered a full-scale invasion of the rest of the Sasanian Empire. Directing the war from the city of Medina in Arabia, Umar's quick conquest of Persia in a series of coordinated and multi-pronged attacks became his greatest triumph, contributing to his reputation as a great military and political strategist. In 644, however, he was assassinated by the Persian craftsman Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz, who had been captured by Rashidun troops and brought to Arabia as a slave.

Some Iranian historians have defended their forebears by using Arab sources to illustrate that "contrary to the claims of some historians, Iranians, in fact, fought long and hard against the invading Arabs." By 651, most of the urban centres in Iranian lands, with the notable exception of the provinces along the Caspian Sea (i.e., in Tabaristan and Transoxiana), had come under Muslim domination. Many localities fought against the invaders; although the Rashidun army had established hegemony over most of the country, many cities rose in rebellion by killing their Arab governors or attacking their garrisons. Eventually, military reinforcements quashed the Iranian insurgencies and imposed complete control. The Islamization of Iran was gradual and incentivized in various ways over a period of centuries, though some Iranians never converted and there were widespread cases of Zoroastrian scriptures being burnt and Zoroastrian priests being executed, particularly in areas that experienced violent resistance. Islam had become Iran's predominant religion by the Late Middle Ages; the majority of Iranians were Sunni Muslims until the Safavids forcefully converted Iran to Shia Islam in the 18th century.

Historiography and recent scholarship
When Western academics first investigated the Muslim conquest of Persia, they relied solely on the accounts of the Armenian Christian bishop Sebeos, and accounts in Arabic written some time after the events they describe. The most significant work was probably that of Arthur Christensen, and his L’Iran sous les Sassanides, published in Copenhagen and Paris in 1944.

Recent scholarship has begun to question the traditional narrative: Parvaneh Pourshariati, in her Decline and Fall of the Sasanian Empire: The Sasanian-Parthian Confederacy and the Arab Conquest of Iran, published in 2008, provides both a detailed overview of the problematic nature of trying to establish exactly what happened, and a great deal of original research that questions fundamental facts of the traditional narrative, including the timeline and specific dates.

Pourshariati's central thesis is that contrary to what was commonly assumed, the Sassanian Empire was highly decentralized, and was in fact a "confederation" with the Parthians, who themselves retained a high level of independence. Despite their recent victories over the Byzantine Empire, the Parthians unexpectedly withdrew from the confederation, and the Sassanians were thus ill-prepared and ill-equipped to mount an effective and cohesive defense against the Muslim armies. Moreover, the powerful northern and eastern Parthian families, the kust-i khwarasan and kust-i adurbadagan, withdrew to their respective strongholds and made peace with the Arabs, refusing to fight alongside the Sassanians.

Another important theme of Pourshariati's study is a re-evaluation of the traditional timeline. Pourshariati argues that the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia "took place, not, as has been conventionally believed, in the years 632–634, after the accession of the last Sasanian king Yazdgerd III (632–651) to power, but in the period from 628 to 632." An important consequence of this change in timeline means that the Arab conquest started precisely when the Sassanians and Parthians were engaged in internecine warfare over succession to the Sassanian throne.

Sasanian Empire before the conquest
Since the 1st century BC, the border between the Roman (later Byzantine) and Parthian (later Sasanian) empires had been the Euphrates River. The border was constantly contested. Most battles, and thus most fortifications, were concentrated in the hilly regions of the north, as the vast Arabian or Syrian Desert (Roman Arabia) separated the rival empires in the south. The only dangers expected from the south were occasional raids by nomadic Arab tribesmen. Both empires therefore allied themselves with small, semi-independent Arab principalities, which served as buffer states and protected Byzantium and Persia from Bedouin attacks. The Byzantine clients were the Ghassanids; the Persian clients were the Lakhmids. The Ghassanids and Lakhmids feuded constantly, which kept them occupied, but that did not greatly affect the Byzantines or the Persians. In the 6th and 7th centuries, various factors destroyed the balance of power that had held for so many centuries.

The conflict with the Byzantines greatly contributed to its weakness, by draining Sassanid resources, leaving it a prime target for the Muslims.

Social problems
Sasanian society was divided into four classes: priests, warriors, secretaries, and commoners. The latter formed the bulk of the population, served as its sole tax base, and remained its poorest class.

At the climax of Khosrau II's ambitious Byzantine territory conquests in the Levant and much of Asia Minor, taxes rose dramatically, and most people could not pay. Years of Sassanid-Byzantine wars had ruined trade routes and industry, the population's main income sources. The existing Sassanid administrative structure proved inadequate when faced with the combined demands of a suddenly expanded empire, economy, and population. Rapid turnover of rulers and increasing provincial landholder (dehqan) power further diminished the Sasanians. Over a period of fourteen years and twelve successive kings, the Sassanid Empire weakened considerably, and the power of the central authority passed into the hands of its generals. Even when a strong king emerged following a series of coups, the Sassanids never completely recovered.

Revolt of the Arab client states (602)

The Byzantine clients, the Arab Ghassanids, converted to the Monophysite form of Christianity, which was regarded as heretical by the established Byzantine Eastern Orthodox Church. The Byzantines attempted to suppress the heresy, alienating the Ghassanids and sparking rebellions on their desert frontiers. The Lakhmids also revolted against the Persian king Khusrau II. Nu'man III (son of Al-Monder IV), the first Christian Lakhmid king, was deposed and killed by Khusrau II in 602, because of his attempt to throw off Persian suzerainty. After Khusrau's assassination in 628, the Persian Empire fractured and the Lakhmids were effectively semi-independent. It is now widely believed that the annexation of the Lakhmid kingdom was one of the main factors behind the fall of the Sasanian Empire and the subsequent Islamic conquest of Persia, as the Lakhmids agreed to act as spies for the Muslims after being defeated in the Battle of Hira by Khalid ibn al-Walid.

Byzantine–Sassanid War (602–628)
The Persian ruler Khosrau II (Parviz) defeated a dangerous rebellion within his own empire, Bahram Chobin's rebellion. He then turned his focus to his traditional Byzantine enemies, leading to the Byzantine-Sassanid War of 602–628. For a few years, he succeeded. From 612 to 622, he extended the Persian borders almost to the same extent that they were under the Achaemenid dynasty (550–330 BC), capturing Western states as far as Egypt, Palestine (the conquest of the latter being assisted by a Jewish army), and more.

The Byzantines regrouped and pushed back in 622 under Heraclius. Khosrau was defeated at the Battle of Nineveh in 627, and the Byzantines recaptured all of Syria and penetrated far into the Persian provinces of Mesopotamia. In 629, Khosrau's general Shahrbaraz agreed to peace, and the border between the two empires was once again the same as it had been in 602.

Plague of Sheroe
The Plague of Sheroe (627–628) was one of several epidemics that occurred in or close to Iran within two centuries after the first epidemic was brought by the Sasanian armies from its campaigns in Constantinople, Syria, and Armenia. It contributed to the fall of the Sasanian Empire.

Execution of Khosrau II
Khosrau II was executed in 628 and, as a result, there were numerous claimants to the throne; from 628 to 632 there were ten kings and queens of Persia. The last, Yazdegerd III, was a grandson of Khosrau II and was said to be a mere child aged 8 years.

Muhammad's Letter
After the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah in 628, Islamic tradition holds that Muhammad sent many letters to the princes, kings, and chiefs of the various tribes and kingdoms of the time, exhorting them to convert to Islam and bow to the order of God. These letters were carried by ambassadors to Persia, Byzantium, Ethiopia, Egypt, Yemen, and the city of Al-Hirah in Iraq on the same day. This assertion has been brought under scrutiny by some modern historians of Islam—notably Grimme and Caetani. Particularly in dispute is the assertion that Khosrau II received a letter from Muhammad, as the Sassanid court ceremony was notoriously intricate, and it is unlikely that a letter from what at the time was a minor regional power would have reached the hands of the Shahanshah.

With regards to Persia, Muslim histories further recount that at the beginning of the seventh year of migration, Muhammad appointed one of his officers, Abdullah Huzafah Sahmi Qarashi, to carry his letter to Khosrau II inviting him to convert:

There are differing accounts of the reaction of Khosrau II.

Military
Years of warfare between the Sasanians and the Byzantines, as well as the strain of the Khazar invasion of Transcaucasia, had exhausted the army. No effective ruler followed Khosrau II, causing chaos in society and problems in the provincial administration, until Yazdegerd III rose to power. All these factors undermined the strength of the Persian army. Yazdegerd III was merely 8 years old when he came to the throne and, lacking experience, did not try to rebuild the army. The Sasanian Empire was highly decentralized, and was in fact a "confederation" with the Parthians, who themselves retained a high level of independence. After the last Sasanian-Byzantine war, the Parthians wanted to withdraw from the confederation, and the Sasanians were thus ill-prepared and ill-equipped to mount an effective and cohesive defense against the Muslim armies. Moreover, the powerful northern and eastern Parthian families, the Kust-i Khwarasan and Kust-i Adurbadagan, withdrew to their respective strongholds and made peace with the Arabs, refusing to fight alongside the Sasanians.

Pourshariati argues that the Arab conquest of Mesopotamia "took place, not, as has been conventionally believed, in the years 632–634, after the accession of the last Sasanian king Yazdgerd III (632–651) to power, but in the period from 628 to 632." An important consequence of this change in timeline means that the Arab conquest started precisely when the Sasanians and Parthians were engaged in internecine warfare over who was to succeed the Sasanian throne.

When Arab squadrons made their first raids into Sasanian territory, Yazdegerd III did not consider them a threat, and he refused to send an army to encounter the invaders. When the main Arab army reached the Persian borders, Yazdegerd III procrastinated in dispatching an army against the Arabs. Even Rostam-e Farokhzad, who was both Eran Spahbod and Viceroy, did not see the Arabs as a threat. Without opposition, the Arabs had time to consolidate and fortify their positions.

When hostilities between the Sasanians and the Arabs finally began, the Persian army faced fundamental problems. While their heavy cavalry had proved effective against the Roman forces, it was too slow and regimented to act with full force against the agile and unpredictable lightly armed Arab cavalry and foot archers.

The Persian army had a few initial successes. War elephants temporarily stopped the Arab army, but when Arab veterans returned from the Syrian fronts where they had been fighting against Byzantine armies, they taught the Arab army how to deal with these beasts.

These factors contributed to the decisive Sassanid defeat at the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah. The Persians, who had only one generation before conquered Egypt and Asia Minor, lost decisive battles when nimble, lightly armed Arabs accustomed to skirmishes and desert warfare attacked them. The Arab squadrons defeated the Persian army in several more battles culminating in the Battle of Nahāvand, the last major battle of the Sassanids. The Sassanid dynasty came to an end with the death of Yazdegerd III in 651.

Rise of the Caliphate
Muhammad died in June 632, and Abu Bakr took the title of Caliph and political successor at Medina. Soon after Abu Bakr's succession, several Arab tribes revolted, in the Ridda Wars (Arabic for the Wars of Apostasy). The Ridda Wars preoccupied the Caliphate until March 633, and ended with the entirety of the Arab Peninsula under the authority of the Caliph at Medina.

Abu Bakr set in motion a historical trajectory (continued later by Umar and Uthman) that in a few decades led to one of the largest empires in history, beginning with a confrontation with the Sassanid Empire under the general Khalid ibn al-Walid.

First invasion (633)

After the Ridda wars, a tribal chief of northeastern Arabia, Al-Muthanna ibn Haritha, raided the Sasanian towns in Mesopotamia, actions that generated a considerable amount of booty was collected. Al-Muthanna ibn Haritha went to Medina to inform Abu Bakr about his success and was appointed commander of his people, after which he began to raid deeper into Mesopotamia. Using the mobility of his light cavalry, he could easily raid any town near the desert and disappear again into the desert, beyond the reach of the Sasanian army. Al-Muthanna's acts made Abu Bakr think about the expansion of the Rashidun Caliphate.

To ensure victory, Abu Bakr used a volunteer army and put his best general, Khalid ibn al-Walid, in command. After defeating the self-proclaimed prophet Musaylimah in the Battle of Yamama, Khalid was still at Al-Yamama when Abu Bakr ordered him to invade the Sasanian Empire. Making Al-Hirah the objective of Khalid, Abu Bakr sent reinforcements and ordered the tribal chiefs of northeastern Arabia, Al-Muthanna ibn Haritha, Mazhur bin Adi, Harmala and Sulma to operate under Khalid's command. Around the third week of March 633 (first week of Muharram 12th Hijrah) Khalid set out from Al-Yamama with an army of 10,000. The tribal chiefs, with 2,000 warriors each, joined him, swelling his ranks to 18,000. After entering Mesopotamia, he dispatched messages to every governor and deputy who ruled the provinces calling on them to either embrace Islam or pay tribute. Khalid did not receive any responses and continued with his tactical plans.

Khalid went on to win decisive victories in four consecutive battles: the Battle of Chains, fought in April; the Battle of River, fought in the third week of April; the Battle of Walaja the following month (where he successfully used a double envelopment manoeuvre), and the Battle of Ullais, fought in mid-May. The Persian court, already disturbed by internal problems, was thrown into chaos. In the last week of May, the important city of Al-Hirah fell to the Muslims. After resting his armies, in June, Khalid laid siege to the city of al-Anbar, which surrendered in July. Khalid then moved south, and conquered the city of Ayn al-Tamr in the last week of July. At this point, most of what is now Iraq was under Islamic control.

Khalid received a call for aid from northern Arabia at Dawmat al-Jandal, where another Muslim Arab general, Iyad ibn Ghanm, was trapped among the rebel tribes. Khalid went there and defeated the rebels in the Battle of Dawmat al-Jandal in the last week of August. Upon his return, he received news of the assembling of a large Persian army. He decided to defeat them all separately to avoid the risk of being defeated by a large unified Persian army. Four divisions of Persian and Christian Arab auxiliaries were present at Hanafiz, Zumiel, Sanni and Muzieh. Khalid divided his army into three units, and employed them in well-coordinated attacks against the Persians from three different sides at night, in the Battle of Muzayyah, then the Battle of Saniyy, and finally the Battle of Zumail, all during the month of November. These devastating defeats ended Persian control over Mesopotamia, and left the Persian capital Ctesiphon vulnerable. Before attacking Ctesiphon, Khalid decided to eliminate all Persian forces in the south and west. He accordingly marched against the border city of Firaz, where he defeated the combined forces of the Sasanian Persians, the Byzantines and Christian Arabs in December. This was the last battle in his conquest of Mesopotamia. While Khalid was on his way to attack Qadissiyah (a key fort en route to Ctesiphon), Abu Bakr ordered him to the Roman front in Syria to assume command there.

Battle of the Bridge
According to the will of Abu Bakr, Umar was to continue the conquest of Syria and Mesopotamia. On the northeastern borders of the Empire, in Mesopotamia, the situation was rapidly deteriorating. During Abu Bakr's era, Khalid ibn al-Walid had left Mesopotamia with half his army of 9000 soldiers to assume command in Syria, whereupon the Persians decided to take back their lost territory. The Muslim army was forced to leave the conquered areas and concentrate on the border. Umar immediately sent reinforcements to aid Muthanna ibn Haritha in Mesopotamia under the command of Abu Ubaid al-Thaqafi. At that time, a series of battles between the Persians and Arabs occurred in the region of Sawad, such as Namaraq, Kaskar and Baqusiatha, in which the Arabs managed to maintain their presence in the area. Later on, the Persians defeated Abu Ubaid in the Battle of the Bridge. Muthanna bin Haritha was later victorious in the Battle of Buwayb. In 635 Yazdgerd III sought an alliance with Emperor Heraclius of the Eastern Roman Empire, marrying the latter's daughter (or, by some traditions, his granddaughter) in order to seal the arrangement. While Heraclius prepared for a major offence in the Levant, Yazdegerd ordered the concentration of massive armies to push the Muslims out of Mesopotamia for good through a series of well-coordinated attacks on two fronts.

Battle of Qadisiyyah
Umar ordered his army to retreat to the Arabian border and began raising armies at Medina for another campaign into Mesopotamia. Owing to the critical situation, Umar wished to command the army personally, but the members of Majlis ash-Shura demurred, claiming that the two-front war required Umar's presence in Medina. Accordingly, Umar appointed Saad ibn Abi Waqqas, a respected senior officer, even though Saad was suffering from sciatica. Saad left Medina with his army in May 636 and arrived at Qadisiyyah in June.

While Heraclius launched his offensive in May 636, Yazdegerd was unable to muster his armies in time to provide the Byzantines with Persian support. Umar, allegedly aware of this alliance and not wanting to risk a battle with two great powers simultaneously, quickly reinforced the Muslim army at Yarmouk to engage and defeat the Byzantines. Meanwhile, he ordered Saad to enter into peace negotiations with Yazdegerd III and invite him to convert to Islam to prevent Persian forces from taking the field. Heraclius instructed his general Vahan not to engage in battle with the Muslims before receiving explicit orders. Fearing more Arab reinforcements, Vahan attacked the Muslim army in the Battle of Yarmouk in August 636, and was routed.

With the Byzantine threat ended, the Sasanian Empire was still a formidable power with vast manpower reserves, and the Arabs soon found themselves confronting a huge Persian army with troops drawn from every corner of the empire, including war elephants, and commanded by its foremost generals. Within three months, Saad defeated the Persian army in the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah, effectively ending Sasanian rule west of Persia proper. This victory is largely regarded as a decisive turning point in Islam's growth: with the bulk of Persian forces defeated, Saad with his companions later conquered Babylon (Battle of Babylon (636)), Kūthā, Sābāṭ (Valashabad) and Bahurasīr (Veh-Ardashir). Ctesiphon, the capital of the Sassanid Empire, fell in March 637 after a siege of three months.

Final campaign and conquest (636–638)
In December 636, Umar ordered Utbah ibn Ghazwan to head south to capture al-Ubulla (known as "port of Apologos" in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea) and Basra, in order to cut ties between the Persian garrison there and Ctesiphon. Utbah ibn Ghazwan arrived in April 637, and captured the region. The Persians withdrew to the Maysan region, which the Muslims seized later as well.

After the conquest of Ctesiphon, several detachments were immediately sent west to capture Circesium and Heet, both forts at the Byzantine border. Several fortified Persian armies were still active north-east of Ctesiphon at Jalawla and north of the Tigris at Tikrit and Mosul.

After withdrawal from Ctesiphon, the Persian armies gathered at Jalawla, a place of strategic importance due to routes leading from here to Mesopotamia, Khurasan and Azerbaijan. The Persian forces at Jalawla were commanded by Mihran. His deputy was Farrukhzad, a brother of Rustam, who had commanded the Persian forces at the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah. Umar decided to deal with Jalawla first, thereby clearing the way to the north, before taking any decisive action against Tikrit and Mosul. Umar appointed Hashim ibn Utbah to take Jalawla and Abdullah ibn Muta'am to conquer Tikrit and Mosul. In April 637, Hashim led 12,000 troops from Ctesiphon to win a victory over the Persians at the Battle of Jalawla. He then laid siege to Jalawla for seven months, ending in the city's capture. Then, Abdullah ibn Muta'am marched against Tikrit and captured the city with the help of Christians, after fierce resistance. He next sent an army to Mosul which surrendered on the condition of paying Jizya. With victory at Jalawla and occupation of the Tikrit-Mosul region, the whole of Mesopotamia was under Muslim control.

Thereafter, a Muslim force under Qa'qa marched in pursuit of the escaping Persians at Khaniqeen, 25 kilometres (15 mi) from Jalawla on the road to Iran, still under the command of Mihran. Qa'qa defeated the Persian forces in the Battle of Khaniqeen and captured the city. The Persians then withdrew to Hulwan. Qa'qa followed and laid siege to the city, which was captured in January 638. Qa'qa sought permission to operate deeper in Persia, but Umar rejected the proposal, writing in response:

Persian raids in Mesopotamia (638–641)
By February 638 there was a lull in the fighting on the Persian front. The Suwad, the Tigris valley, and the Euphrates valley were now under complete Muslim control. The Persians had withdrawn to Persia proper, east of the Zagros mountains. The Persians continued raiding Mesopotamia, which remained politically unstable. It seemed the Zagros range was the dividing line between the Rashidun Caliphate and the Sassanids. In the latter part of 638, Hormuzan, who was one of the seven great chiefs of Persia, and had commanded a corps at the Battle of Qadisiyyah, intensified his raids in Mesopotamia. Saad, on Umar's instructions, attacked Hormuzan, while Utbah ibn Ghazwan, aided by Nouman ibn Muqarin, attacked Ahvaz and forced Hormuzan into a peace treaty, under which Ahvaz would remain in Hormuzan's possession as a Muslim vassal state and would pay tribute. Hormuzan broke the treaty, leading Umar to send Abu Musa Ashaari, governor of Busra, to deal with him. After another defeat, Hormuzan signed another treaty on similar terms to the last. This peace also proved short-lived once Hormuzan was reinforced by fresh Persian troops sent by Emperor Yazdgerd III in late 640. The troops concentrated at Tuster, north of Ahvaz. Umar sent the Governor of Kufa, Ammar ibn Yasir, the governor of Busra, Abu Musa, and Nouman ibn Muqarin there, where Hormuzan was defeated, captured and sent to Umar in Medina. Hormuzan apparently converted to Islam and remained a useful adviser to Umar throughout the remainder of the Persian campaign. He is also believed to be the mastermind behind Umar's assassination in 644.

After the victory at Tustar, Abu Musa marched against the strategically important Susa in January 641, capturing it after a siege of a couple of months. Next, Abu Musa marched against Junde Sabur, the only place left of military importance in the Persian province of Khuzistan, which surrendered to the Muslims after a siege of a few weeks.

Battle of Nahavand (642)
After the conquest of Khuzistan, Umar wanted peace. Though considerably weakened, the image of the Persian Empire as a fearsome superpower still resonated in the minds of the newly-ascendant Arabs, and Umar was wary of unnecessary military engagement with it, preferring to leave the rump of the Persian Empire alone, commenting, "I wish there was a mountain of fire between us and the Persians, so that neither they could get to us, nor we to them." Persian pride was hurt by the Arab conquest, making the status quo intolerable. After the defeat of the Persian forces at the Battle of Jalula in 637, Yazdgerd III went to Rey and from there moved to Merv, where he set up his capital and directed his chiefs to conduct continuous raids in Mesopotamia. Within four years, Yazdgerd III felt powerful enough to challenge the Muslims again for control of Mesopotamia. Accordingly, he recruited 100,000 hardened veterans and young volunteers from all parts of Persia, under the command of Mardan Shah, which marched to Nahavand for the last titanic struggle with the Caliphate.

The Governor of Kufa, Ammar ibn Yasir, received intelligence of the Persian movements and concentration at Nahavand and reported them to Umar. Although Umar had expressed a desire for Mesopotamia to be his easternmost frontier, the concentration of the Persian army at Nahavand forced him to act. He now believed that as long as Persia proper remained under Sasanian rule, the raids into Mesopotamia would continue. Hudheifa ibn Al Yaman was appointed commander of the forces of Kufa, and was ordered to march to Nahavand. Abu Musa was to march to Nahavand from Busra, while Nouman ibn Muqarrin marched from Ctesiphon. Umar decided to personally take the army concentrated at Medina to Nahavand to assume overall command. The members of the Majlis al-Shura suggested that Umar should command the campaign from Medina, appointing an astute field commander for Nahavand. Umar acquiesced, appointing Mugheera ibn Shuba as commander of the forces concentrated at Medina, and Nouman ibn Muqarrin as commander-in-chief at Nahavand. The Muslim army first concentrated at Tazar, and then defeated the Persians at the Battle of Nahavand in December 642. Nouman died in the action, and, as per Umar's instructions, Hudheifa ibn Al Yaman became the new commander-in-chief. Thereafter, the Muslims captured the whole district of Hamadan, encountering only feeble resistance.

Conquest of Persia (642–651)
After several years, Caliph Umar adopted a new offensive policy, preparing to launch a full-scale invasion of what remained of the Sasanian Empire. The Battle of Nahavand was one of the most decisive battles in Islamic history and proved to be the key to Persia. After the devastating defeat at Nahavand, the last Sassanid emperor, Yazdegerd III, fled to different parts of Persia to raise a new army, with limited success, while Umar attempted to capture him.

Strategic planning for the conquest of Persia
Umar decided to strike the Persians immediately after their defeat at Nahavand, while he still possessed a psychological advantage. Umar had to decide which of three provinces to conquer first: Fars in the south, Azerbaijan in the north or Isfahan in the center. Umar chose Isfahan, as it was the heart of the Persian Empire and a conduit for supply and communications among the Sasanian garrisons, and its capture would isolate Fars and Azerbaijan from Khorasan, Yazdegerd's stronghold. After he had taken Fars and Isfahan, the next attacks would be simultaneously launched against Azerbaijan, the northwestern province, and Sistan, the easternmost province of the Persian Empire. The conquest of those provinces would leave Khorasan isolated and vulnerable, the last stage of the conquest of Sassanid Persia.

Preparations were complete by January 642. The success of the plan depended upon how effectively Umar could coordinate these attacks from Medina, about 1500 kilometers from Persia, and upon the skill of his field commanders. Umar adopted a different approach to the command structure. Instead of appointing a single field commander to press the campaign, Umar appointed several commanders, each assigned a different mission. Once a commander's mission ended, he would become an ordinary soldier under the new field commander for the latter's mission. The purpose of this strategy was to allow commanders to mix with their soldiers and to remind them that they are like everyone else: command is only given to the most competent, and, once the battle is over, the commander returns to his previous position.

On the eve of the campaign, Umar, in order to boost morale, decided to reinstall Khalid as field commander, four years after his dismissal. Khalid's reputation as the conqueror of the Eastern Roman provinces demoralized the Persian commanders, most of whom had already been defeated by him during his conquest of Mesopotamia in 633. Before Umar could issue the reappointment order, Khalid died in Emesa.

Throughout the Persian campaign, Umar even appointed the commanders of the wings, the center and the cavalry of the army. Umar strictly instructed his commanders to consult him before making any decisive move in Persia. All the commanders, before starting their assigned campaigns, were instructed to send a detailed report of the geography and terrain of the region and the positions of the Persian garrisons, forts, cities and troops. Umar then would send them a detailed plan of how he wanted the region to be captured. Only the tactical issues were left to the field commanders to tackle in accordance with the situation they faced at their fronts. Umar appointed the best available and well-reputed commanders for the campaign.

Conquest of Central Iran

In the wake of Khalid's demise, Umar appointed Abdullah ibn Uthman as commander of the Muslim forces for the invasion of Isfahan. From Nahavand, Nu'man ibn Muqaarin marched to Hamadan, and then proceeded 370 kilometres (230 mi) southeast to the city of Isfahan, defeating a Sasanian army there. The Sassanian commander, Shahrvaraz Jadhuyih, along with another Sasanian general, was killed during the battle. Nu'man, reinforced by fresh troops from Busra and Kufa under the command of Abu Musa Ashaari and Ahnaf ibn Qais, then besieged the city. The siege continued for a few months before the city surrendered.

In 651, Nu'aym ibn Muqaarin, Nu'man's brother, marched northeast to Rey, Iran, about 320 kilometres (200 mi) from Hamadan, and laid siege to the city, which surrendered after fierce resistance. Nu'aym then marched 240 kilometres (150 mi) northeast toward Qom, which was captured without much resistance. This represented the boundary of the Isfahan region. Further northeast was Khurasan, and southeast lay Sistan. Meanwhile, Hamadan and Rey had rebelled. Umar sent Nu'aym, whose brother Nu'man had recently died, to Hamadan to crush the rebellion and clear Isfahan's western frontier. Nu'aym recaptured Hamadan after a bloody battle, and then proceeded to Rey. There too the Persians resisted but were defeated outside the fort, and the Muslims recaptured the city. The Persian citizens sued for peace, agreeing to pay the Jizya. From Rey, Nu'aym moved north to Tabaristan, south of the Caspian Sea. The ruler of Tabaristan then signed a peace treaty with the Caliphate.

First Muslim invasion and the successful Sasanian counter-attack
The Muslim invasion of Fars began in 638/9, when the Rashidun governor of Bahrain, al-'Ala' ibn al-Hadrami, having defeated some rebellious Arab tribes, seized an island in the Persian Gulf. Although al-'Ala' and the rest of the Arabs had been ordered to not invade Fars or its surrounding islands, he and his men continued their raids into the province. Al-'Ala quickly prepared an army which he divided into three groups, one under al-Jarud ibn Mu'alla, the second under al-Sawwar ibn Hammam, and the third under Khulayd ibn al-Mundhir ibn Sawa.

When the first group entered Fars, it was quickly defeated and al-Jarud was killed. The same thing soon happened to the second group. Khulayd and the third group kept the defenders at bay, but were blocked from withdrawing to Bahrain by the Sasanians. Umar, having found out about al-'Ala's invasion of Fars, had him replaced with Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas as governor. Umar then ordered Utbah ibn Ghazwan to send reinforcements to Khulayd. Once the reinforcements arrived, Khulayd and some of his men managed to withdraw to Bahrain, while the rest withdrew to Basra.

Second and last Muslim invasion
In c. 643, Uthman ibn Abi al-As seized Bishapur, which signed a peace treaty. In 644, al-'Ala' once again attacked Fars from Bahrain, reaching as far as Estakhr, until he was repulsed by the Persian governor (marzban) of Fars, Shahrag. Some time later, Uthman ibn Abi al-As managed to establish a military base at Tawwaj, and soon defeated and killed Shahrag near Rew-shahr. Persian convert to Islam, Hormoz ibn Hayyan al-'Abdi, was then sent by Uthman ibn Abi al-As to attack a fortress known as Senez on the coast of Fars. After the accession of Uthman ibn Affan as the new Rashidun Caliph on 11 November, the inhabitants of Bishapur, under the leadership of Shahrag's brother, declared independence, but were defeated. The Persian historian al-Baladhuri said this occurred in 646.

In 648, 'Abd-Allah ibn al-'Ash'ari forced the governor of Estakhr, Mahak, to surrender the city. Its citizens rebelled in 649/650 while its newly appointed governor, 'Abd-Allah ibn 'Amir, was trying to capture Gor. The military governor of Estakhr, 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ma'mar, was defeated and killed. In 650/651, Yazdegerd went there to plan an organized resistance against the Arabs, and, after some time, went to Gor. Estakhr put up a weak resistance and was soon sacked by the Arabs, who killed over 40,000 defenders. The Arabs then quickly seized Gor, Kazerun and Siraf, while Yazdegerd fled to Kerman. Muslim control of Fars remained shaky for a time, with several local rebellions following the conquest.

Conquest of Southeastern Persia (Kerman and Makran)

The expedition to Kerman, under Suhail ibn Adi, was sent at roughly the same time as the expeditions to Sistan and Azerbaijan. Suhail marched from Busra in 643; passing through Shiraz and Persepolis, he joined with other armies and then marched against Kerman, which was subdued after a pitched battle with the local garrisons.

Conquest of Sakastan

The Arabs were raiding Sakastan as early as Umar's caliphate. The first real invasion took place in 650, when Abd-Allah ibn Amir, having secured his position in Kerman, sent an army under Mujashi ibn Mas'ud there. After crossing the Dasht-i Lut desert, Mujashi ibn Mas'ud reached Sakastan, but suffered a heavy defeat and was forced to retreat.

One year later, Abd-Allah ibn Amir sent an army under Rabi ibn Ziyad Harithi to Sakastan. After some time, Rabi reached Zaliq, a Sakastani border town, where he forced the dehqan of the town to acknowledge Rashidun authority. He then did the same at the fortress of Karkuya, which had a famous fire temple mentioned in the Tarikh-i Sistan. He then seized more land in the province. Next, he besieged the provincial capital, Zrang, and, after a heavy battle outside the city, its governor, Aparviz, surrendered. When Aparviz went to Rabi ibn Ziyad to negotiate a treaty, he saw that Rabi was using the bodies of two dead soldiers as a chair. This horrified Aparviz, who, in order to spare the inhabitants of Sakastan from the Arabs, made peace with them in return for a heavy tribute of 1 million dirhams, including 1,000 slave boys (or girls) bearing 1,000 golden vessels. Rabi ibn Ziyad was then appointed governor of the province.

Eighteen months later, Rabi was summoned to Basra, and was replaced by 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura. The inhabitants of Sakastan used this opportunity to rebel, defeating the Muslim garrison at Zrang. When 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Samura reached Sakastan, he suppressed the rebellion and defeated the Zunbils of Zabulistan, seizing Bust and a few cities in Zabulistan.

Conquest of Iranian Azerbaijan

The conquest of Iranian Azerbaijan started in 651, part of a simultaneous attack launched against Kerman and Makran in the southeast (described above), against Sistan in the northeast and against Azerbaijan in the northwest. Hudheifa ibn Al Yaman was assigned Azerbaijan. Hudheifa marched from Rey in central Persia to Zanjan, a well-fortified Persian stronghold in the north. The Persians came out of the city and gave battle, but Hudheifa defeated them, captured the city, and those who sought peace were granted it on the usual jizya conditions. From Zanjan, Hudheifa marched to Ardabil which surrendered peacefully. Hudheifa then continued his march north along the western coast of the Caspian Sea and captured Bab al-Abwab by force. At this point Hudheifa was recalled by Uthman, to be replaced by Bukair ibn Abdullah and Utba ibn Farqad. They were sent to carry out a two-pronged attack against Azerbaijan: Bukair along the western coast of the Caspian Sea, and Uthba into the heart of Azerbaijan. On his way north Bukair was halted by a large Persian force under Isfandiyar, the son of Farrukhzad. A pitched battle was fought, after which Isfandiyar was defeated and captured. In return for his life, he agreed to surrender his estates in Azerbaijan and persuade others to submit to Muslim rule. Uthba ibn Farqad then defeated Bahram, brother of Isfandiyar. He too sued for peace. Azerbaijan then surrendered to Caliph Umar, agreeing to pay the annual jizya.

Conquest of Armenia

The Muslims had conquered Byzantine Armenia in 638–639. Armenia, remained in Persian hands, along with Khurasan. Umar refused to take any chances; he did not consider the Persians weak, which facilitated the speedy conquest of the Persian Empire. Again Umar sent simultaneous expeditions to the far north-east and north-west of the Persian Empire, one to Khurasan in late 643 and the other to Armenia. Bukair ibn Abdullah was ordered to capture Tiflis. From Bab, on the western coast of the Caspian Sea, Bukair continued his march north. Umar employed his traditional successful strategy of multi-pronged attacks. While Bukair was still kilometres away from Tiflis, Umar instructed him to divide his army into three corps. Umar appointed Habib ibn Muslaima to capture Tiflis, Abdulrehman to march north against the mountains and Hudheifa to march against the southern mountains. With the success of all three missions, the advance into Armenia came to an end with the death of Umar in November 644. By then almost the whole of the South Caucasus was captured.

Conquest of Khorasan

Khorasan was the second-largest province of the Sasanian Empire. It stretched from what is now northeastern Iran, northwestern Afghanistan and southern Turkmenistan. In 651 the conquest of Khurasan was assigned to Ahnaf ibn Qais. Ahnaf marched from Kufa and took a short and less frequented route via Rey and Nishapur. Rey was already in Muslim hands and Nishapur surrendered without resistance. From Nishapur, Ahnaf marched to Herat in western Afghanistan. Herat was a fortified town, and the resulting siege lasted for a few months before it surrendered, bringing the whole of southern Khorasan under Muslim control. Ahnaf then marched north directly to Merv, in present-day Turkmenistan. Merv was the capital of Khurasan and here Yazdegred III held his court. On hearing of the Muslim advance, Yazdegerd III left for Balkh. No resistance was offered at Merv, and the Muslims occupied the capital of Khurasan without a fight. Ahnaf stayed at Merv and waited for reinforcement from Kufa. Meanwhile, Yazdegerd had also gathered considerable power at Balkh and allied with the Turkic Khan of Farghana, who personally led the relief contingent. Umar ordered Ahnaf to break up the alliance. The Khan of Farghana, realizing that fighting against the Muslims might endanger his own kingdom, withdrew from the alliance and pulled back to Farghana. The remainder of Yazdegerd's army was defeated at the Battle of Oxus River and retreated across the Oxus to Transoxiana. Yazdegerd himself narrowly escaped to China.The Muslims had now reached the outermost frontiers of Persia. Beyond that lay the lands of the Turks and still further lay China. Ahnaf returned to Merv and sent a detailed report of his success to the anxiously-waiting Umar, and sought permission to cross the Oxus river and invade Transoxiana. Umar ordered Ahnaf to stand down and instead consolidate his power south of the Oxus.

Persian rebellion and reconquest
Umar was assassinated in November 644 by a Persian slave named Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz, after having refused to lift a tax imposed upon the latter. Soon after, Abu Lu'lu'a's was either executed or committed suicide. In retaliation, Ubayd Allah ibn Umar (one of Umar's sons) killed Abu Lu'lu'a's daughter, and declared his intention to kill all non-Arabs residing in Medina. Acting upon a claim that they had been seen conspiring with Abu Lu'lu'a while he was holding the murder weapon, Ubayd Allah killed Hurmuzān, an ex-Sasanian military officer who had been working for Umar as an adviser after his capture by the Muslims, and Jufayna, a Christian man from the city of Al-Hira in Iraq who had been taken to Medina to serve as a tutor. Just like Abu Lu'lu'a's assassination of Umar over something as trivial as a tax burden, Ubayd Allah's retaliatory killing of apparently random non-Arabs bears witness to the strong tensions that existed between Arabs and non-Arabs in the early Islamic caliphate.

Uthman ibn Affan (644–656) succeeded Umar as caliph. During his reign, almost the whole of the former Sassanid empire's territory rebelled from time to time, requiring him to send several military expeditions to crush the rebellions and recapture Persia and its vassal states. The main rebellions were in the Persian provinces of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Fars, Sistan (in 649), Khorasan (651), and Makran (650). Finally, in 651, Yazdegerd III, the last Sassanid emperor, was killed near Merv by a local miller for his purse, thus putting an end to both his dynasty and to organized Persian resistance. Meanwhile, Uthman's empire expanded beyond the borders of the Sasanian Empire, to Transoxiana, Baluchistan, and the Caucasus. For many decades to come, this was the easternmost limit of Muslim rule.

Persia under Muslim rule

According to Bernard Lewis:

Arab Muslims conquests have been variously seen in Iran: by some as a blessing, the advent of the true faith, the end of the age of ignorance and heathenism; by others as a humiliating national defeat, the conquest and subjugation of the country by foreign invaders. Both perceptions are of course valid, depending on one's angle of vision. Iran was Islamized, but it was not Arabized. Persians remained Persians. And after an interval of silence, Iran reemerged as a separate, different and distinctive element within Islam, eventually adding a new element even to Islam itself. Culturally, politically, and most remarkable of all even religiously, the Iranian contribution to this new Islamic civilization is of immense importance. The work of Iranians can be seen in every field of cultural endeavor, including Arabic poetry, to which poets of Iranian origin composing their poems in Arabic made a very significant contribution. In a sense, Iranian Islam is a second advent of Islam itself, a new Islam sometimes referred to as Islam-i Ajam. It was this Persian Islam, rather than the original Arab Islam, that was brought to new areas and new peoples: to the Turks, first in Central Asia and then in the Middle East in the country which came to be called Turkey, and of course to India. The Ottoman Turks brought a form of Iranian civilization to the walls of Vienna.

Administration

Under Umar and his immediate successors, the Arab conquerors attempted to maintain their political and cultural cohesion despite the attractions of the civilizations they had conquered. The Arabs initially settled in the garrison towns rather than on scattered estates.

The new non-Muslim subjects were protected by the state and known as dhimmi (protected), and were to pay a special tax, the jizya (tribute), which was calculated at varying individual rates, usually two dirhams for able-bodied men of military age, in return for exemption from military service. Women and children were exempted from the jizya. Mass conversions were neither desired nor allowed, at least in the first few centuries of Arab rule.

Umar is reported to have issued the following instructions about the protected people: "Make it easy for him, who can not pay tribute; help him who is weak, let them keep their titles, but do not give them our kuniyat [Arabic traditional nicknames or titles]." Umar's liberal policies were continued by at least his immediate successors. In his dying charge to Uthman, he is reported to have said, "I charge the caliph after me to be kind to the dhimmis, to keep their covenant, to protect them and not to burden them over their strength." As a matter of practicality, the jizya replaced the Sasanian poll taxes, which tended to be much higher than the jizya. In addition to the jizya, the old Sasanian land tax (known in Arabic as Kharaj) was also adopted. Umar is said to have occasionally set up commissions to survey tax burdens in order to ensure that they wouldn't be more than the land could bear. It is reported that Zoroastrians were subjected to humiliation and ridicule when paying the jizya in order to make them feel inferior.

At least under the Rashiduns and early Ummayads, the administrative system of the late Sasanian period was largely retained: a pyramidal system where each quarter of the state was divided into provinces, the provinces into districts, and the districts into sub-districts. Provinces were called ustan (Middle Persian ostan), and the districts shahrs, centered upon a district capital known as a shahristan. The subdistricts were called tasok in Middle Persian, which was adopted into Arabic as tassuj (plural tasasij).

Religion
Zoroastrians were made to pay an extra tax called jizya, or be killed, enslaved or imprisoned. Those paying jizya were subjected to insults and humiliation by the tax collectors. Zoroastrians who were captured as slaves in wars were given their freedom if they converted to Islam. While giving freedom of choice, the Arab conquerors designated privileges for those who converted to Islam. The conversion process was slow and uncompleted, stretching over many centuries, with a majority of Persians still following Zoroastrianism at the turn of the millennium.

Muslim leaders in their effort to win converts encouraged attendance at Muslim prayer with promises of money and allowed the Quran to be recited in Persian instead of Arabic so that it would be intelligible to all. Islam was readily accepted by Zoroastrians who were employed in industrial and artisan positions because, according to Zoroastrian dogma, such occupations that involved defiling fire made them impure. Moreover, Muslim missionaries did not encounter difficulty in explaining Islamic tenets to Zoroastrians, as there were many similarities between the faiths. According to Thomas Walker Arnold, the Persian would meet Ahura Mazda and Ahriman under the names of Allah and Iblis. In Afghanistan, Islam was spread due to Umayyad missionary efforts particularly under the reigns of Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik and Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz.

There were also large and thriving Christian and Jewish communities, along with smaller numbers of Buddhists and other groups. The population moved slowly and steadily toward Islam. The nobility and citizens converted first. Islam spread more slowly among the peasantry and the dihqans, or landed gentry. By the late 10th century, the majority of the Persians had become Muslim.

Until the 15th century, most Persian Muslims were Sunni Muslims. With the rise of the Safavids in the early 16th century and their forced conversion of Sunnis, Shi'a Islam came to dominate the land.

Language of Persia
During the Rashidun Caliphate, the official language of Persia (including Mesopotamia) remained Middle Persian (Pahlavi), just as the official languages of Syria and Egypt remained Greek and Coptic. During the Umayyad Caliphate, the Ummayads made Arabic the primary language of their subjected people throughout their empire, displacing their indigenous languages. Particularly, Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf (661–714) officially changed the administrative language of Iraq from Middle Persian (Pahlavi) to Arabic. Although an area from Iraq to Morocco speaks Arabic-based dialects to this day, Middle Persian proved to be much more enduring. Most of its structure and vocabulary survived, evolving into New Persian. Persian incorporated a certain amount of Arabic vocabulary, especially words pertaining to religion, and it switched from the Pahlavi scripts to a modified version of the Arabic alphabet. Today Persian is spoken officially in Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.

Urbanisation
The Arab conquest of Persia led to a period of extreme urbanisation in Iran, starting with the ascension of the Abbasid dynasty and ending in the 11th century CE. This was particularly true for the eastern parts of the country, for regions like Khorasan and Transoxiana. During this period, Iran saw the development of massive metropolises, some reaching population numbers of up to 200,000 people. This period of extreme urbanisation was followed in the late 11th and early 12th century by a collapse of the Iranian economy, which led to large scale emigrations of Iranians into Central Asia, India, the rest of the Middle East, and Anatolia. This catastrophe has been cited by some as reason for the Persian language becoming widespread throughout Central Asia and large parts of the Middle East.

title: Muslim conquest of Persia


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Induced coma

An induced coma –also known as a medically induced coma (MIC), barbiturate-induced coma, or drug-induced coma –is a temporary coma (a deep state of unconsciousness) brought on by a controlled dose of an anesthetic drug, often a barbiturate such as pentobarbital or thiopental. Other intravenous anesthetic drugs such as midazolam or propofol may be used.

Drug-induced comas are used to protect the brain during major neurosurgery, as a last line of treatment in certain cases of status epilepticus that have not responded to other treatments, and in refractory intracranial hypertension following traumatic brain injury.

Induced coma usually results in significant systemic adverse effects. The patient is likely to completely lose respiratory drive and require mechanical ventilation; gut motility is reduced; hypotension can complicate efforts to maintain cerebral perfusion pressure and often requires the use of vasopressor drugs. Hypokalemia often results. The completely immobile patient is at increased risk of bed sores as well as infection from catheters.

The presence of an endotracheal tube and mechanical ventilation alone are not indications of continuous sedation and coma. Only certain conditions such as intracranial hypertension, refractory status epilepticus, the inability to oxygenate with movement, et cetera justify the high risks of medically induced comas.

Brain disruption from sedation can lead to an eight times increased risk of the development of ICU delirium. This is associated with a doubled risk of mortality during hospital admission. For every one day of delirium, there is a 10% increased risk of death. Medically induced comas that achieve a RASS level of −4 or −5 are an independent predictor of death.

Although patients are not sleeping while sedated, they can experience hallucinations and delusions that are often graphic and traumatizing in nature. This can lead to post-ICU PTSD after hospital discharge. Patients that develop ICU delirium are at 120 times greater risk of long-term cognitive impairments.

Considering the high risks of medically induced comas, protocols such as the ABCDEF Bundle and PADIS guidelines have been developed to guide ICU teams to avoid unnecessary sedation and comas. ICU teams that master these protocols to keep patients as awake and mobile as possible are called "Awake and Walking ICUs". These are teams that only implement medically induced comas when the possible benefits of sedation outweigh the high risks during specific cases.

Survivors of prolonged medically induced comas are at high risk of suffering from post-ICU syndrome and may require extended physical, cognitive, and psychological rehabilitation.

Theory
Barbiturates reduce the metabolic rate of brain tissue, as well as the cerebral blood flow. With these reductions, the blood vessels in the brain narrow, resulting in a shrunken brain, and hence lower intracranial pressure. The hope is that, with the swelling relieved, the pressure decreases and some or all brain damage may be averted. Several studies have supported this theory by showing reduced mortality when treating refractory intracranial hypertension with a barbiturate coma.

About 60% of the glucose and oxygen used by the brain is meant for its electrical activity and the rest for all other activities such as metabolism. When barbiturates are given to brain injured patients for induced coma, they act by reducing the electrical activity of the brain, which reduces the metabolic and oxygen demand. Their action limits oxidative damage to lipid membranes and may scavenge free radicals. They also lead to reduced vasogenic edema, fatty acid release and intracellular calcium release.

The infusion dose rate of barbiturates is increased under monitoring by electroencephalography until burst suppression or cortical electrical silence (isoelectric "flatline") is attained. Once there is improvement in the patient's general condition, the barbiturates are withdrawn gradually and the patient regains consciousness.

Controversy exists over the benefits of using barbiturates to control intracranial hypertension. Some studies have found that barbiturate-induced coma can reduce intracranial hypertension but does not necessarily prevent brain damage. Furthermore, the reduction in intracranial hypertension may not be sustained. Some randomized trials have failed to demonstrate any survival or morbidity benefit of induced coma in diverse conditions such as neurosurgical operations, head trauma, intracranial aneurysm rupture, intracranial hemorrhage, ischemic stroke, and status epilepticus. If the patient survives, cognitive impairment may also follow recovery from the coma. Due to these risks, barbiturate-induced coma should be reserved for cases of refractory intracranial pressure elevation.

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

title: Induced coma


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Blaine Pardoe

Blaine Lee Pardoe is an American author and military historian, known primarily for writing the BattleTech and MechWarrior: Dark Age series of science fiction books.

Personal life
Pardoe was born in Newport News, Virginia, in 1962 and raised in Battle Creek, Michigan. He attended Central Michigan University, where he wrote for the school newspaper. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in business management, he worked for Michigan auto companies Ford, GM, and Chrysler. He began writing for sci-fi games and reference books and moved back to Virginia. Pardoe lives in Spotsylvania, Virginia.

Career
Pardoe designed the Domination role-playing game, which was published by StarChilde Publications in 1989. He was a writer for BattleTech's fiction. His best-known book in the MechWarrior: Dark Age line was Surrender Your Dreams. Hour of the Wolf, written by Pardoe, is Catalyst Game Lab's bestselling BattleTech novel. He contributed stories to the online pay-to-read fiction website Battlecorps.

Pardoe has been a guest speaker at the U.S. National Archives, the U.S. Navy Museum, the Smithsonian, the Mariner's Museum, and the New York Military Affairs Symposium. He won the Historical Society of Michigan's State History Award in 2011 and the Silver Medal from the Military Writer's Society of America the same year for his book Lost Eagles about Frederick Zinn of the Lafayette Flying Corps. His books have appeared on several bestseller lists, including the New York Times Murder and Mayhem list in October 2014, on Amazon.com, and in numerous newspapers.

On July 30, 2022, Catalyst Game Labs announced they were suspending publication of new works by Pardoe "primarily due to Mr. Pardoe’s online activities, which do not align with Catalyst’s publishing vision." In an article on the website American Greatness, Pardoe wrote: "I found myself canceled for voicing my conservative beliefs". Pardoe has been a regular contributor to American Thinker, PJ Media, American Greatness, Bizpac Review, and other conservative sites.

title: Blaine Pardoe


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Pakil

Pakil, officially the Municipality of Pakil, is a 5th class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 23,495 people.

Its land area consists of two non-contiguous parts, separated by Laguna de Bay.

Pakil borders Mabitac to the north, Pangil to the west, and Paete to the south. Pakil is 19 km from Santa Cruz, 106 km from Manila, and 67 km from Lucena.

History
The land from Punta Inuod to Guinabihan, Banilan is where the first settlers Gat Maitan and his wife Panumbalihan, and Gat Silayan Maginto and his wife Potongan first established themselves. After a series of raids by pirates and marauders, they moved to the present site of Poblacion, leaving behind Chief Maginoong Dalaga who ruled the place. This account explains why Pakil has two territories on the eastern and western sides of the lake. Gat Maitan and Gat Silayan are one of the borne-leaders from the ancient town of Malolos which was called by pre-colonial Chinese traders from Fujian as "Lihan" where Gats and Lacandolas abundantly reside along the shores of Manila Bay under the Kingdom of Tondo. Gat Silayan actually is one of the members of the ruling clan of Lihan whose names bearing prefix "gat" a royal title. Every member of the clan in Malolos called "Gat", and it became "Gatchalian", Gatmaitan, together with Lakandula and Gatbonton at the course of time

When the Spaniard Conquistador together with the Augustinians stationed at Bay came to the place in 1571, this colony was under the leadership of Gat Paquil, a descendant of Gat Maitan whose name was used to name the settlement as "Paquil", which remained during the whole Spanish Regime and early part of the American period. It was changed to "Pakil" by Executive Order No. 77 in 1927.

When the Franciscan missionaries came in 1578 Order of Friars Minor (OFM)  Pakil was attached to Paete in 1602 as its "visita". Padre Francisco Barajas, made efforts to separate this town from Paete, and Don Diego Jorge became the first Capitan Municipal or Gobernadorcillo on May 12, 1676, and finally Pakil was named as an independent town with the administration of "Capitan Municipal" at the helm of the local colonial government, the last of whom was Capitan Municipal Don Nicolas Regalado.

With the change of government from Spanish to American upon the total Occupation of the United States in the Philippines after the defeat of the Filipino Forces in the Philippine–American War of 1898–1900, the Americans had to reorganize the pattern of the Civil Government in the country in 1901. It was Bernardo Gonzales was appointed the first Municipal President (Presidente Municipal) under American Period until November 25, 1903. Upon this reorganization, the Public Law No. 1009, of the Philippine Commission, the town of Pakil was merged with Pangil in order to reduce the number of existing towns whereas the weak towns to be merged with the stable one for the stabilization of local economy due to the damages of the previous wars. After nineteen years, On October 1, 1927, by virtue of Executive Order No. 77, Pakil was re-established into town thus the Municipality of Pakil was restored.

Japanese occupation
The Japanese occupation of the Philippines (Filipino: Pananakop ng mga Hapones sa Pilipinas; Japanese: 日本のフィリピン占領; Hepburn: Nihon no Firipin Senryō) occurred between 1942 and 1945, when Imperial Japan occupied the Commonwealth of the Philippines during World War II.

The invasion of the Philippines started on 8 December 1941, ten hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. As at Pearl Harbor, American aircraft were severely damaged in the initial Japanese attack. Lacking air cover, the American Asiatic Fleet in the Philippines withdrew to Java on 12 December 1941. General Douglas MacArthur was ordered out, leaving his men at Corregidor on the night of 11 March 1942 for Australia, 4,000 km away. The 76,000 starving and sick American and Filipino defenders in Bataan surrendered on 9 April 1942, and were forced to endure the infamous Bataan Death March on which 7,000–10,000 died or were murdered. The 13,000 survivors on Corregidor surrendered on 6 May.

Japan occupied the Philippines for over three years, until the surrender of Japan. A highly effective guerilla campaign by Philippine resistance forces controlled sixty percent of the islands, mostly jungle and mountain areas. MacArthur supplied them by submarine, and sent reinforcements and officers. Filipinos remained loyal to the United States, partly because of the American guarantee of independence, and also because the Japanese had pressed large numbers of Filipinos into work details and even put young Filipino women into brothels.[1]

General MacArthur kept his promise to return to the Philippines on 20 October 1944. The landings on the island of Leyte were accompanied by a force of 700 vessels and 174,000 men. Through December 1944, the islands of Leyte and Mindoro were cleared of Japanese soldiers. During the campaign, the Imperial Japanese Army conducted a suicidal defense of the islands. Cities such as Manila were reduced to rubble. Around 500,000 Filipinos died during the Japanese Occupation Period.[2]

In 1942, the Japanese troops occupied in Pakil, Laguna and in 1945, the liberated from the Philippine Commonwealth forces under the Philippine Army and Philippine Constabulary entering in Pakil, Laguna with the local recognized guerrillas against the Japanese forces during the Second World War.

In 1954, the sitios known as Casa Real, Casinsin and Kabulusan were converted into barrios. Durado followed suit in 1957.

Barangays
Pakil is politically subdivided into 13 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Demographics
In the 2020 census, the population of Pakil, Laguna, was 23,495 people, with a density of undefined PD/km2.

Culture
Music was formally initiated in the town of Pakil by San Pedro Bautista (1586) the Guardian of the Franciscan order. He established the only Music Academy in the country. The school started with 400 children from towns along the Laguna Bay. These students started as church choir members and were taught how to make musical instruments out of locally available materials like bamboo, cans, wood and coconut shells. These kids were called “Tiple” and they trained other younger children to become members of the church choir.

The entire population became involved in teaching their youth to sing and play instruments. This tradition was handed down from generation to generation. The Adonay family influenced the spread of musical interest and helped form the first brass band in Pakil.

The elderly Tacio Celis helped train children to read musical notes and play instruments. Since then, many young musicians finished college on scholarships by playing for their school bands.

Currently Pakil Music Program is helping out young students to continue the rich musical heritage of the town. Pakil Music Program (PMP) is providing music education through note reading and instrument performances with the help of some retired musicians. The current executive director of the PMP is Mr. Roy Regalado.

St. Peter of Alcantara Parish
The St. Peter of Alcantara Parish, also the Diocesan Shrine of the Our Lady of Turumba is Pakil's Roman Catholic Church and home to the Our Lady of Sorrows de Turumba.

Our Lady of Turumba

Nuestra Señora de los Dolores de Turumba ("Our Lady of Sorrows of Turumba") is the name for a specific statue of the Virgin Mary as Our Lady of Sorrows, enshrined in Pakil.

Liceo de Pakil
Liceo de Pakil is a private sectarian Catholic high school originally established by the Maryknoll Fathers in 1956. At first, the school was named Maryknoll Fathers High School following the namesake of its leaders. When the Maryknoll Fathers had to go to their mission in Davao, they ceded the leadership to the Maryknoll Sisters who subsequently changed the school's name into Maryknoll High School. Upon the termination of the mission of the Maryknoll Sisters in 1972, Bishop Pedro N. Bantigue invited the Augustinian Recollect Sisters to administer the school. The name was changed again to Mary Immaculate Academy by the Augustinian Recollect Sisters. In 1982, the school's name was changed to Liceo De Pakil by the Diocese of San Pablo. The first batch to graduate under Liceo de Pakil was the batch of 1983 graduating class. In 1986, the administration of the school was passed on to the Missionary Catechists of St. Therese (MCST). Liceo De Pakil is currently under the administration of the MCST and the Diocese of San Pablo.

Notable personalities

 * Marcelo Adonay - major Philippine composer and church musician.
 * Danilo Echavaria Dalena - modern and contemporary painter.
 * Jun Regalado - one of the most prolific drummers in the Philippines.
 * Jeff Cagandahan – prominent Filipino intersex man and intersex human rights activist who first successfully petitioned the Philippine courts to change name and sex markers.

title: Pakil


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Talk:Le Jin

This article carries no clues as to what century this all happened. ;Bear 05:59, 2004 Dec 14 (UTC)

title: Talk:Le Jin


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Shiprock

Shiprock (, "rock with wings" or "winged rock" ) is a monadnock rising nearly 1583 ft above the high-desert plain of the Navajo Nation in San Juan County, New Mexico, United States. Its peak elevation is 7177 ft above sea level. It is 10.75 mi southwest of the town of Shiprock, which is named for the peak.

Governed by the Navajo Nation, the formation is in the Four Corners region and plays a significant role in Navajo religion, myth, and tradition. Shiprock is a point of interest for rock climbers and photographers and has been featured in several film productions and novels. It is the most prominent landmark in northwestern New Mexico. In 1975, Shiprock was designated a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.

Name
The Navajo name for the peak,, "rock with wings" or "winged rock", refers to the legend of the great bird that brought the Navajo from the north to their present lands. The name "Shiprock" or Shiprock Peak or Ship Rock derives from the peak's resemblance to an enormous 19th-century clipper ship. Americans first called the peak "The Needle", a name given to the topmost pinnacle by Captain J. F. McComb in 1860. United States Geological Survey maps indicate that the name "Ship Rock" dates from the 1870s.

Geology
Shiprock, an example of a volcanic neck, is composed of fractured volcanic breccia and black dikes of igneous rock called minette, a type of lamprophyre. It is the erosional remnant of the throat of a volcano, and the volcanic breccia formed in a diatreme. The rock probably was originally formed 2,500–3,000 feet (750–1,000 meters) below the Earth's surface, but it was exposed after millions of years of erosion. Wall-like sheets of minette, known as dikes, radiate away from the central formation. Radiometric age determinations of the minette establish that these volcanic rocks solidified about 27 million years ago. Shiprock is in the northeastern part of the Navajo volcanic field—a field that includes intrusions and flows of minette and other unusual igneous rocks that formed about 30 million years ago. Agathla (El Capitan) in Monument Valley is another prominent volcanic neck in this volcanic field.

Climbing history and legal status
The recorded first ascent was in 1939, by a Sierra Club party including David Brower, Raffi Bedayn, Bestor Robinson and John Dyer. This was the first climb in the United States to use expansion bolts for protection. Pitons were used for direct aid. This first ascent route is featured in the 1979 book Fifty Classic Climbs of North America.

Since then at least seven routes have been climbed on the peak, all of them of great technical difficulty. A modification of the original route is recorded as the easiest, and it is rated as Grade IV, YDS 5.9, A1. It was considered a great unsolved problem by the climbing community in the 1920s and 1930s. At that time there was a widespread rumor of a $1000 prize for climbing the peak, which inspired "dozens of attempts by the experienced and inexperienced alike".

The idea of climbing Shiprock is repugnant to many Navajo people. Climbing has been illegal since 1970. In spite of this, rock climbers continue to see Shiprock as an interesting place to climb.

Serious injuries to three climbers in March 1970 caused the Navajo Nation to ban rock climbing not only on Shiprock but all over the Navajo Nation on monoliths, spires and within tribal parks under the jurisdiction of Navajo Parks & Recreation. The Navajo Nation announced that the ban was "absolute, final and unconditional".

According to reports from the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department, which administers recreational activities on Navajo land, there have been false claims that the department allows rock climbing and cooperates with rock climbing organizations. A 2006 press release addressing Monument Valley, another area of monoliths within the Navajo Nation, states:

Reports of the Navajo Parks and Recreation Department allowing rock climbing are false. Yet several websites have postings on how to evade Navajo Nation regulations and proceed with dangerous and illegal rock climbs in [Monument Valley]. Even more serious than the possible physical harm illegal climbs could pose is the religious damage done to the Navajo people by these non-Navajo visitors.

The Monuments are sacred to the Navajo people and any human interaction (by Navajo or non-Navajo) is strictly off limits. Please abide by the humble religious requests of the Navajo people and do not climb the Monuments. 'Navajo law will be strictly enforced on this issue,' Parks Department Manager Ray Russell also added.

Permits are issued by the department to camp and hike in some areas, but not for sacred monuments such as Shiprock.

Religious and cultural significance
Shiprock and the surrounding land have religious and historical significance to the Navajo people. It is mentioned in many of their myths and legends. Foremost is the peak's role as the agent that brought the Navajo to the southwest. According to one legend, after being transported from another place, the Navajos lived on the monolith, "coming down only to plant their fields and get water." One day, the peak was struck by lightning, obliterating the trail and leaving only a sheer cliff, and stranding the women and children on top to starve. The presence of people on the peak is forbidden "for fear they might stir up the (ghosts), or rob their corpses."

Navajo legend puts the peak in a larger geographic context. Shiprock is said to be either a medicine pouch or a bow carried by the "Goods of Value Mountain", a large mythic male figure comprising several mountain features throughout the region. The Chuska Mountains comprise the body, Chuska Peak is the head, the Carrizo Mountains are the legs, and Beautiful Mountain is the feet.

Navajo legend has it that Bird Monsters nested on the peak and fed on human flesh. After Monster Slayer, elder of the Warrior Twins, destroyed at Red Mesa, he killed two adult Bird Monsters at Shiprock and changed two young ones into an eagle and an owl. The peak is mentioned in stories from the Enemy Side Ceremony and the Navajo Mountain Chant, and is associated with the Bead Chant and the Naayee'ee Ceremony.

title: Shiprock


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User talk:82.80.61.85

Hi; you may want to cut back on the number of articles you're adding those links to. Wikipedia is not merely a collection of external links, nor is it a vehicle for self-promotion. If you continue adding your links in such an unfocused and widespread manner, you risk having your edits construed as spam, at which point they will all be reverted (and you may be blocked from editing). -- Hadal 06:01, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

title: User talk:82.80.61.85


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List of people executed in Connecticut

This is a list of people executed in Connecticut, prior to the abolition of capital punishment in the state on April 25, 2012.

List
Notes:

 * 1) On this occasion, two executions took place.
 * 2) On this occasion, three executions took place.
 * 3) This is what the chart claimed in 2005, but contrary to popular belief, Adonijah Bailey was not the oldest person executed at age 79 in 1824; instead, he was tried and sentenced to death at age 80 in January 1825 for the murder of Jeremiah W. Pollock, and hanged himself on May 24, over 2 weeks before he was to be executed.  The title of the oldest person executed goes instead to Gershon Marx, hanged on May 18, 1905, for murder at age 73.
 * 4) James Savage, ed., John Winthrop, The History of New England from 1630 to 1649, Vol. 2, (Boston:Little, Brown, 1853), page 324. See also Goodheart, where there are 158 death penalty victims identified for Connecticut.
 * 5) Posthumously pardoned.

title: List of people executed in Connecticut


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Talk:Bandura

Disambiguation?
Possible candidate for disambiguation? A search for 'Bandura' will bring a person here if they meant 'Albert Bandura'.

Wording

 * Contemporary instruments have up to 64 strings tuned chromatically from C-a.

I don't know much about music, but is this clear? I don't know whether it means "from C to A", "From C major to A minor", or just "From C minor a". Nice photo, by the way. —Michael Z. 2005-05-2 23:11 Z

I second the motion to merge. You may read a bit of elucidation of KOBZA vs. BANDURA nomenclature at http://polyhymnion.org/torban RT

Merging Kobza and Bandura

 * Oppose. Kobza and Bandura are two different instrments. Difference is biggger than difference between violin and Double bass which are in two different articles. Radomil talk 30 June 2005 15:22 (UTC)
 * Oppose. Reading the two articles, it's clear that they are different instruments. Wesley 18:30, 15 November 2005 (UTC)
 * Oppose. They are different instruments, altough one term was used as a synonym. Bandurist (talk) 12:07, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Discussion
I second the motion to merge. You may read a bit of elucidation of KOBZA vs. BANDURA nomenclature at http://polyhymnion.org/torban Generally modern bandura (i.e. post 1900) are entirely ignorant of their instrument's actual history. RT

The impression I've always had is that a kobza is a more primitive instrument, or more primitive version of the same instrument, and has been replaced over time by the bandura. I also think that kobzar is the old name, but has become more-or-less interchangable with banduryst (i.e. recent kobzari mostly play the bandura). I'll see what I can find in my library. —Michael Z. 2005-06-30 17:40 Z

 * On Kobza vs Bandura: Michael's explanation seems to suggest that it is like fiddle and violin (Fiddle redirects to Violin in WP). I am no specialist, so I am just interpreting the explanation.

 * On Kobzar vs Banduryst (Bandurist), my feeling is that these are the words with different flavor. Banduryst is a musician, who plays Bandura. Kobzar, not only plays an instrument but is a particular character in Ukrainian ethnography. -Irpen June 30, 2005 17:51 (UTC)
 * A kobzar can be a lirnyk, bandurist or kobza player. What distinguishes him from players of these instruments is his professional training and his social status. Not all bandurists are kobzars, and not all kobza players are kobzars Bandurist (talk) 12:07, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

 * I should amend my comments. Kobzars and bandurists play the kobza and bandura, respectively.  The kobzars are also the representative characters of the Cossack bardic tradition, but I have seen them referred to as bandurists as well.

 * Regarding the instruments, Volodymyr Kubijovyč, Ukraine: A Concise Encyclopædia, vol. 1, p. 379 talks about folk instruments.

 * The kobza was the predecessor of the bandura. [...] The bandura is generally accepted as the more modern version of the kobza.

 * It describes both. Elsewhere, this volume refers to "kobza (lute)".  It also describes several other instruments.  I'll sit down and expand these articles, but it may not happen for a week or two.  —Michael Z. 2005-06-30 18:44 Z

Since they are different instruments, different physically as well as in style of play, I oppose the merge. If they were to be merged, it would have to be into some third article that included both, maybe something like Ukrainian folk musical instruments or something, that discussed these two instruments and probably others besides. Wesley 18:30, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

From a recent addition to Torban, it's implied that kobza-bandura is an old style of kobza, but that the modern bandura is a different instrument. The sources I have are a bit vague too vague on this. Anybody know? —Michael Z. 2005-11-15 21:07 Z

Mayby this will help You:
 * History of bandura
 * Three types of bandura
 * History of kobza
 * Radomil talk 12:02, 16 November 2005 (UTC)

There are definite differences between the different types of banduras and the different types kobzas. The main difference is that in the various kobzas the strings along the neck are pressed to the fingerboard although there do rarely exist banduras that have strings pressed to the neck.

Regarding the terminology of kobzar - Not all bandura or kobza players were kobzars. The term is specifically used as a label for itinerant blind village musicians irrespective of the fact that he played a bandura, kobza or lira and encompasses not just the instrument they played but the particular repertoire the performed and a host of other minutae. The court musicians of the Russian and Polish courts who played these instruments are not refered to as kobzars, nor were members of the Ukrainian Gentry such as Mazepa or Paliy who played the instruments refered to as kobzars. Contemporary conservatory trained musicians of the academic school find the term somewhat insulting because of it's connotations of poor musicianship.

These instruments has undersone significant development in the 20th century. Much of its history has been distorted in Soviet texts because of political expediancy. Soviet epitaphs are disappearing but few studies have been done reanalysising source materials, although this is gradually happening.

In more recent times there is a growing movement for playing on authentic folk versions of the instruments which is quickly growing. This movement unfortunately is not reflected in this article.

In the contemporary music scene there are 1) the authentic players (playing on instruments as authentic to the 19th century examples as possible) - with wooden pegs 20 or so diatonically tuned strings performing authentic repertoire. 2) the academic performers - playing on scientifically redesigned instruments having 64 strings or more with a harp-like mechanism and playing classical transcriptions and jazz works. 3) the pseudo-kobzars who play on contemporary academic instruments stylized music based on romantic perceptions of the authentic kobzars. This article seems to relate only to the third group.\ (V. Mishalow)

Presentation of photos?
Is the following a better presentation? Bobanni (talk) 06:46, 21 January 2008 (UTC)   Image:Bandura classical.jpg|A classical (starosvits'ka) bandura made by Serhiy Rad'ko (1982) Image:Lviv-1964.JPEG|Lviv concert bandura designed by V. Herasymenko (1963) Image:Horhul'.JPEG|Khotkevych's Kharkiv-style bandura made by V. Horhul (1928) Image:Bazhul-.JPEG|A Kharkiv-style bandura made by Fedir Deriazhny in Australia (1964) Image:Skilar-Kyiv-Khrakiv.JPEG|Kyiv-Kharkiv bandura made by Ivan Skliar - (1968) Image:HerasymenkoKharkiv5a.JPG|Herasymenko's Kyiv-Kharkiv bandura (2001) Image:Kar-orch-ban.jpeg|Picollo, Prima and Bass Kharkiv style banduras (1930) made by I. Kruhovyj

Bobanni (talk) 06:47, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

External links modified
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title: Talk:Bandura


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Fort Rouge (electoral district)

Fort Rouge (Fort-Rouge) is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 1957, and formally came into existence in the general election of 1958. The riding was eliminated in 1989, and re-established in 1999. It is located in the central section of the City of Winnipeg.

Fort Rouge is bordered on the east by St. Boniface, to the south by Fort Garry-Riverview, to the north by Logan, and to the west by River Heights. The actual Legislative Assembly of Manitoba building is located across the river from Fort Rouge.

The riding's population in 1996 was 20,364. In 1999, the average family income was $49,361, and the unemployment rate was 8.70%. 39.6% of Fort Rouge's residents are listed as low-income, the sixth-highest rate in the province. Almost 80% of occupied dwelling are rentals, and over 20% of households are single-parent families. Almost 25% of Fort Rouge's residents have a university degree—one of the highest rates in the province.

Fort Rouge has an immigrant population of 20%. Eight per cent of the riding's residents are aboriginal. The service sector accounts for 21% of Fort Rouge's industry, with a further 11% in social services.

The seat was held by the Progressive Conservatives from 1958 to 1973, and was a rare bastion of Liberal strength in the province from 1973 to 1981. Lloyd Axworthy was the riding's representative from 1973 to 1979; for a time, he was the only Liberal in the legislature. Roland Penner's election for the New Democratic Party in 1981, however, foretold of future NDP successes in the riding. Though Jim Carr would win the riding back for the Liberals in 1988, the seat would be broken into Crescentwood, Broadway and Osborne for the 1990 election. By the time the seat was reestablished in 1999, Crescentwood, Broadway and Osborne would all have NDP representatives, with Crescentwood MLA Tim Sale becoming the first MLA of the reestablished Fort Rouge. It has been continuously represented by the NDP since the riding was reestablished in 1999.

In the 2007, 2011 and 2016 provincial elections the Liberals were the main challengers to the NDP, though the party would continue to hold the seat with Jennifer Howard. In 2016, Liberal leader Rana Bokhari ran in Fort Rouge, losing to the NDP star candidate Wab Kinew. At the 2015 federal election, according to Elections Canada data, Fort Rouge voted heavily Liberal. In the 2019 and 2023 elections, the Progressive Conservatives finished second behind the NDP, with the Liberals falling behind Green candidate James Beddome in 2019.

The district is represented by NDP leader and Premier Wab Kinew.

title: Fort Rouge (electoral district)


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Bught

The Bught (Am Bucht) is an area of the Scottish city of Inverness. A "bught" is defined in the Dictionary of the Scots Language as follows "Bowcht, Bucht, n. Also: boucht; bowght, bought. [Flem. bocht, bucht, inclosure for swine, sheep, etc.] A sheep-fold; a milking fold for ewes."

It is situated between the River Ness and the Caledonian Canal in the west of the city. It is a recreational area and contains the sports ground Bught Park, Inverness Sports Centre & Aquadome, Inverness Ice Rink, Whin Park and the Ness Islands. There is also a caravan park and extensive playing fields in the area.

The sports fields are used as the home grounds for Inverness Blitz American football home games.

Due to the recreational nature of the area, there is very little housing and most people live in the nearby areas of Dalneigh and Ballifeary.

title: Bught


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M. A. Foster

Michael Anthony Foster (July 2, 1939 – November 14, 2020) was an American science fiction writer from Greensboro, North Carolina. He spent over sixteen years as a captain and Russian linguist in the United States Air Force.

"Ler" books
Foster wrote a loosely connected trilogy about an offshoot of humanity called the Ler: The Warriors of Dawn (1975), The Gameplayers of Zan (1977), and The Day of The Klesh (1979). The Gameplayers of Zan takes place much earlier than the others, on Earth, and details the Ler's departure from Earth; the other two books cover two separate human-Ler encounters on other planets. The "game" from the title of The Gameplayers of Zan is based on cellular automata, a more intricate version of Conway's Game of Life.

The Warriors of Dawn mostly concerns the relationship between a human man and a ler woman, and The Day of The Klesh represents the ler as a mostly inscrutable humanoid race. The Gameplayers of Zan, on the other hand, discusses the origins of the Ler as an engineered offshoot of humanity, and is as much about ler culture as their interactions with humanity. Most of the action in this book takes place in Unwharrie National Forest, North Carolina.

Ler reproduce infrequently, only becoming fertile at age thirty after a long adolescence: they experience two fertility periods, five years apart. Hence most ler females have only two children, but occasionally they have a third, and twins are not unknown.

Ler family structure is organized around a "braid," which they have designed to preserve maximum genetic diversity to offset their low initial population and small birth rate. A braid starts with two "fore-parents". They mate and produce the "elder outsibling". Then each of the fore-parents goes forth and brings back another ler of the appropriate gender, the "after-parents". The fore-parents each mate with an after-parent and produce the "insiblings", five years younger than the elder outsibling. Then the after-parents mate and produce the "younger outsibling", five years younger than the insiblings. The insiblings remain in the braid and become the fore-parents to the next generation; the outsiblings will leave to join other braids as after-parents. The rare surplus children tend to be given the responsibility of beginning completely new braids together. Alternation in the gender of children is enforced with pheromones. In rare cases, sometimes on purpose, two same-sex insiblings are born; the braid line ends there, as all four children must weave into other braids as after-parents.

Ler communicate mainly using a verbal language called Singlespeech. Each ler has a name consisting of three syllables, e.g. "Maellenkleth", though their intimates sometimes use shortened versions of the name. Various categories of objects always have names with the same numbers of syllables, e.g. stars have four-syllable names. As in the Chinese language, each Singlespeech syllable has four possible meanings, but unlike Chinese, Singlespeech is not a tonal language. Instead, each Singlespeech word has four "modes" corresponding to the four classical Greek elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water), with each mode having a symbolic meaning borrowed from the Divinatory tarot, and complex grammatical rules govern the allowed transitions from mode to mode. The meanings of Singlespeech words are therefore highly context-dependent, and careful attention must be paid to mode transitions during a conversation.

Elemental symbolism extends also to the meanings of ler personal names, but each individual keeps their "governing element" a secret; this latter custom complicates ler marriage negotiations, since each foreparent must choose the other foreparents' second (afterparent) mate, and the governing elements of each foreparent/afterparent mating must be complementary: Earth with Air, and Fire with Water.

There is also a less frequently used mode of communication called Multispeech, which uses all the available communication channels, verbal and nonverbal, to convey information in a much more detailed fashion than Singlespeech ever could.

After the completion of the Ler trilogy, Foster continued to work on the development and explication of Singlespeech, which he renamed Layaklan (which name back-translates to 'Understanding' in English). A substantial Layaklan-to-English lexicon and an outline of a corresponding English-to-Layaklan lexicon (both of which were written by Foster), accompanied by supporting articles concerning Layaklan, were available online but were subsequently lost.

The Morphodite Trilogy
This series consists of: The Morphodite (1981), Transformer (1983), and Preserver (1985). The title character is a reluctant assassin who can change forms, invariably alternating sex and decreasing in age as he/she does so. The stories themselves are centered on either a different planet or in space, with short segues that lead the reader from place to place.

In The Morphodite, we discover the initial character, Rael, as a fearsome assassin who has never been unleashed upon the world. He (as he/she then is) is caged in "The Mask Factory", and his captors fear him much more than any of their other creations. Rael is not a bioengineered assassin: he/she instead initiates Change through a form of meditation. The process of Change is similar to a small death without the "ever after" aspects of it, and is quite painful—not something Rael does lightly. Additionally, Change involves a forced decrease in age of 10 to 20 years, limiting the number of Changes possible in a short period of time. We discover why Rael is so feared shortly after "his" introduction--"he" has evolved a scientific method of predicting or divining the future. Most particularly, this art can identify the single person whose death would precipitate a societal change. That art is elaborated in Transformer, but in brief it is likened to a version of the I Ching that is both scientifically rigorous and orders of magnitude more complex. This divination tool is referred to as "the art" through the books. The Morphodite depicts Rael's unleashing on the unchanging world of Oerlikon and the changes he/she thereby unleashes upon it.

Oerlikon is an out-of-the way world that has gathered a group of people who desire to suppress change. In order to do so, they have a highly regimented society and the equivalent of a police state. This unchanging state is artificially enabled by an outside party that has stationed researchers throughout Oerlikon. Rael changes Oelikon by killing one of the observers using his/her assassin skills and his divination art. As the first domino begins to tumble, the observed suddenly become aware of the observers, and interrogations of captured observers lead society into a spiral of self-destruction. Rael then initiates Change and becomes Damistofina, a younger, female version of his then-current self. But Damistofina is eventually identified as the Morphodite and pursued, leading her to kill her pursuer and Change yet again, this time to Phaedrus, a yet-younger male. Eventually the upheaval grinds to a halt and Phaedrus gathers small groups of refugees to himself, becoming a sort of mind-healer. He does not go on to be king or gain immense power; instead, he is at peace.

In The Transformer, we resume where Phaedrus left off, content with his life, a few adopted children and a gather-woman. He is recognized as an adviser to the local ruler because of his efforts at providing peace. Unfortunately, there is more to the researchers than we originally supposed. Before Phaedrus was Rael, he was a woman named Jedily Tulily. Jedily was originally an observer who somehow displeased the Regents of Heliarctos and was dumped into The Mask Factory to be used up as a test subject. Upon discovering that Phaedrus still exists, they dispatch assassins to destroy him. Through a convenient quirk of fate, Phaedrus is summoned to the local ruler when the attempt occurs. His lover and adopted children are not so lucky. Initiating Change again, Phaedrus becomes Nazarine, a young woman who is barely out of her teens. Nazarine realizes both that she cannot Change again without becoming an infant and that the Regents (unknown to her at this point) won't stop trying to kill her.

Following back through her past, she recovers some of the documents from The Mask Factory that lets her determine that Jedily was an off-world observer. After making that connection, Nazarine travels to the only spaceport, intent on traveling off-planet. She purchases a ticket on a ship while the Regents' assassins follow closely behind. One of her companions is killed by an assassin but gives up her new name in the process. Faren Kiricky, a ship tech, and Dorje, a ship security officer, befriend Nazarine and help her to identify the assassins. After using her art of divination, Nazarine confronts the data processor of the assassin pair and convinces her that Nazarine already knows how to win. In despair, the data processor commits suicide. The killer of the assassin pair evades capture by entering the bowels of the ship. Nazarine and Faren track and finally confront him. Nazarine tells him that no matter what he does, his actions will actually destroy the Regents - and then she lets him go. Nazarine discloses what she is to Faren and asks Faren to take care of her. Faren agrees, and Nazarine initiates Change resulting in a male infant.

Others
Foster also wrote the standalone novel Waves (1980), and four novelettes collected in Owl Time (1985).

Foster wrote an occasional column for Acme Comics called Eyeless In Gaza.

Death
M. A. Foster died on November 14, 2020, at the age of 81.

Ler
The Book of the Ler (2006) collects the Ler trilogy
 * 1) The Warriors of Dawn (1975)
 * 2) The Gameplayers of Zan (1977)
 * 3) The Day of the Klesh (1979)

Transformer
The Transformer Trilogy (2006) collects the Transformer trilogy
 * 1) The Morphodite (1981)
 * 2) Transformer (1983)
 * 3) Preserver (1985)

Stand-alone novels

 * Waves (1980)

Collections

 * Owl Time (1985)

title: M. A. Foster