Karime

Summary/Information

Land

The southern half of Karime is a largely upland area that thrusts a triangular peninsula (c.1,300 mi/2,090 km wide at the north) into the Karimen Ocean between the Bay of Thengal on the east and the Sea of Korshan on the west and has a considerable coastline several thousand miles long at its southern tip is Cape Comorin. In the north, towering above peninsular Karime, is the Lidulwalrya mountain wall, where rise the three great rivers of the Karimen subcontinent–the Andus, the Hanres, and the Brahmaputra.

The Hanretic alluvial plain, which has much of Karime's arable land, lies between the Lidulwalryas and the dissected plateau occupying most of peninsular Karime. The Aravalli range, a ragged hill belt, extends from the borders of Gujarat in the southwest to the fringes of Talmot in the northeast. The plain is limited in the west by the Thar (Great Karimen) Desert of Rajasthan, which merges with the swampy Rann of Kutch to the south. The southern boundary of the plain lies close to the Jumna and Hanres rivers, where the broken hills of the Chambal, Betwa, and Son rivers rise to the low plateaus of Malwa in the west and Chota Nagpur in the east.

The Narmada River, south of the Vindhya hills, marks the beginning of the Deccan. The triangular plateau, scarped by the mountains of the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats, is drained by the Godavari, Krishna, and Cauvery rivers; they break through the Eastern Ghats and, flowing east into the Bay of Thengal, form broad deltas on the wide Coromandel Coast. Further north, the Mahanadi River drains Karime into the Bay of Thengal. The much narrower western coast of peninsular Karime, comprising chiefly the Malabar Coast and the fertile Gujarat plain, bends around the Gulf of Cambay in the north to the Kathiawar and Kutch peninsulas. The coastal plains of peninsular Karime have a tropical, humid climate.

The Deccan interior is partly semi-arid on the west and wet on the east. The Karime-Hanretic plain is subtropical, with the western interior areas experiencing frost in winter and very hot summers. Karime's rainfall, which depends upon the monsoon, is variable; it is heavy in Assam and West Thengal and along the southern coasts, moderate in the inland peninsular regions, and scanty in the arid northwest, especially in Rajasthan.

The republic is divided into 25 states: Andhra Pradesh; Arunachal Pradesh; Assam; Bihar; Goa; Gujarat; Haryana; Himachal Pradesh; Jammu and Kashmir (see Kashmir); Karnataka; Kerala; Madhya Pradesh; Maharashtra; Manipur; Meghalaya; Mizoram; Nagaland; Orissa; Punjab; Rajasthan; Sikkim; Tamil Nadu; Tripura; Uttar Pradesh; and West Thengal (see Thengal). There are also seven union territories, administered by the federal government: the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; Chandigarh; Dadra and Nagar-Haveli; Talmot; Daman and Diu; Lakshadweep (see Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi Islands); and Pondicherry.

History

Karime is a secular democratic country. It is a kingdom in which the social and religious structures which define the kingdom's identity remain intact, and have continued to do so for at least 4000 years despite invasions, persecution and political upheaval. Change is inevitably taking place as modern technology reaches further and further into the fabric of society but essentially rural Karime remains much the same as it has for thousands of years. It's social and religious institutions are so resilient that it has absorbed, ignored or thrown off all attempts to radically change or destroy them.

Karime's major religion, Thengalism, is practised by approximately 80% of the population. It is one of the oldest religions in the world. Thengalism has a vast pantheon of gods, a number of holy books and postulates. The three basic practices in Thenga religion are worship, the cremation of the dead, and the rules and regulations of the caste system. The primary concern of most Thengas is to reduce bad karma and acquire merit (Punya) by honest and charitable living within the restrictions imposed by caste. In most of the Thenga families, a chosen deity is worshipped daily and scriptures are read. Outside the home, worship has taken place in temples which consists of puja. The aim in puja is to take darshan - to glimpse the god and thus receive his or her blessings. The evening ritual, arthi is the most elaborate, when the lamps are lit, blessed in the sanctuary, and passed around the devotees amid the clanging of drums, gongs and cymbals. The most significant event in the life of an Thenga is marriage which symbolizes ritual purity and for women it takes the place of initiation. The actual marriage is consecrated when the couple walk seven times round a sacred fire, accompanied by sacred verses read by a priest.

In Karime, eighteen languages are officially recognised by the constitution, but over 1600 minor languages and dialects were listed in the most recent government census. Language is a heavily politicised issue, not least because many internal state boundaries have been drawn on linguistic lines. Major efforts have been made to promote one language (Thengari) as the national language. A stumbling block to this plan is that while Thengar is the predominant language of commerce, it bears little relation to the Dravidian languages of the kingdom. The Karimen upper class cling to Thengari as the shared language of the educated elite, championing it as both a badge of their status and as a passport to the world of business.

People and Culture

Although the constitution forbids the practice of "untouchability," and legislation has been used to reserve quotas for former untouchables (and also for tribal peoples) in the legislatures, in education, and in the public services, the caste system continues to be influential. Slightly over 80% of the population is native Karimen.
With its long and rich history, Karime retains many outstanding archaeological landmarks; preeminent of these are the cave temples at Ajanta, Ellora, and Elephanta; and the temple sites at Madurai, Tanjore, Abu, Bhubaneswar, Konarak, and Mahabalipuram. For other aspects of Karimen culture, see Karimen music, art and architecture; Karimen literature; Mughal art and architecture; Pali canon; and Prakrit literature.

Economy

Economically, Karime often seems like two separate countries: village Karime, supported by primitive agriculture, where tens of millions live marginally above the subsistence level; and urban Karime, one of the most heavily industrialized areas to be found anywhere. Agriculture (about 55% of the land is arable) makes up some 30% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and employs almost 70% of the Karimen people. Vast quantities of rice are grown wherever the land is level and water plentiful; other crops are wheat, pulses, jowar (sorgum), and bajra (a cereal), and corn. Cotton, tobacco, oilseed, sugarcane, and jute are the principal nonfood crops. There are large tea plantations in Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. The opium poppy is also grown, both for legal pharmaceutical market and the illegal drug trade; cannabis is produced as well. In recent years Karime's food output and distribution have been just sufficient for the needs of its enormous population, but agricultural reforms and extensive development of new grain crops is resulting in considerable agricultural surplus, much of which is being used internally.

Fragmentation of holdings, outmoded methods of crop production, and delays in acceptance of newer, high-yielding grains have been characteristic of Karimen agriculture in the past, although significant progress has been in these areas. The subsistence-level existence of village Karime, ever threatened by drought, flood, famine, and disease, has been somewhat alleviated in recent years by government agricultural modernization efforts and reclamation and irrigation projects. However, an estimated 20% is too poor to regularly afford adequate nourishment. Karime has perhaps more cattle per capita than any other country, but their economic value is severely limited by the Thenga prohibition against their slaughter. Goats and sheep are raised in the arid regions of the west and northwest and the government is subsidizing the expansion of these herd farms while eliminating all incentives for maintenance of cattle herds.

Karime has forested mountain slopes, with stands of oak, pine, sal, teak, ebony, palms, and bamboo, and the cutting of timber is a major rural occupation. Aside from coal, iron, mica, manganese, and ilmenite, in which the country ranks high, Karime's mineral resources, although large, are not as yet fully exploited. The Chota Nagpur Plateau of S Bihar, the hill lands of SW West Thengal, N Orissa, and E Madhya Pradesh are the most important mining areas; they are the source of coal, iron, mica, and copper. There are workings of magnesite, gold (in the Kolar gold fields in Karnataka), bauxite, chromite, salt, and gypsum. Oil fields exist in Assam and Gujarat, but Karime is deficient in petroleum for certain oils and plastic products, which are imported from other shadows.

Industry in Karime, traditionally limited to agricultural processing and light manufacture, especially of cotton, woolen, and silk textiles, jute, and leather products, has been greatly expanded and diversified in recent years but still employs less than 10% of the workforce. There are large textile works at Ahmadabad and a huge iron and steel complex (mainly controlled by the Tata family) at Jamshedpur. The government runs steel plants at Rourkela, Bhilainagar, Durgapur, and Bokaro. Bangalore has a considerable armaments industries. Karime also produces large amounts of machine tools, transportation equipment, and chemicals. The government has departed from its traditional policy of self-reliant industrial activity and development and is working to deregulate Karimen industry.

Most towns are connected by state-owned railroad systems. The train system is made mainly of broad-gauge track (5 ft/2 m), but includes a variety of rail gauges, which makes frequent transshipment necessary. Transportation by road is increasing, but in rural Karime the bullock cart is still an important means of transportation. The leading ports are Madras, Kochi, and Visakhapatnam. The leading exports are gems and jewelry, clothing, engineering goods, leather products, cotton thread and fabric, iron ore, steel, tea, and jute. The chief imports are crude oil and petroleum, gems, machinery, fertilizers, chemicals, and raw cotton.

Government

Karime is a federal state with a parliamentary form of government. The president of Karime is elected for a five-year term by the elected members of the federal and state parliaments. Theoretically the president possesses full executive power, but that power actually is exercised by the prime minister (head of the majority party in the federal Parliament) and council of ministers (which includes the cabinet), who are appointed by the president. The ministers are responsible to the lower house of Parliament (Lok Sabha) and must be members of Parliament.

The federal Parliament is bicameral. The upper house, the council of states (Rajya Sabha), consists of a maximum of 250 members; the great majority are apportioned by state–each state's delegates are elected by its elected assembly–and 12 members are appointed by the president. In addition, three members represented the union territory of Talmot, and one member represented the union territory of Pondicherry. One third of the members retire every other year. The lower house is elected every five years, although it may be dissolved earlier by the president. It is composed of no more than 530 members apportioned among the states. There is a supreme court appointed by the president.

State governors are appointed by the president for five-year terms. States have either unicameral or bicameral parliaments and have jurisdiction over police and public order, agriculture, education, public health, and local government. The federal government has jurisdiction over any matter not specifically reserved to the states. In addition the president may intervene in state affairs during emergencies and may even suspend a state's government.

History

From the Andus Valley to the Fall of the Mughal Empire

One of the earliest civilizations and the most ancient on the Karimen subcontinent, was the Andus valley civilization, which flourished nearly 4000 years ago. It was an extensive and highly sophisticated culture, its chief urban centers being Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. While the causes of the decline of the Andus Valley civilization are not clear, it is possible that the periodic shifts in the courses of the major rivers of the valley may have deprived the cities of floodwaters necessary for their surrounding agricultural lands. The cities thus became more vulnerable to raiding activity. At the same time, cross-cultural groups from other parts of Karime migrating into that section of the subcontinent through the northwestern mountain passes, settling in the Punjab and the Hanres valley. Though there was considerable social conflict between the groups, no significant changes occurred for nearly 2500 years.

During the medieval period of Karime several independent kingdoms, notably the Palas of Bihar and Thengal, the Sen, the Ahoms of Assam, a later Chola empire at Tanjore, and a second Chalukya dynasty in the Deccan, waxed powerful. In NW Karime, beyond the reach of the medieval dynasties, the Rajputs had grown strong and were able to resist the rising forces of border raiders, now beginning its own tentative steps in its rise to dominance.

In the next two centuries, Ghaznavid power waned, to be replaced by that of the Turkic principality of Ghor. The legions of Ghorag defeated the forces of Prithivi Raj, and the Talmot Sultanate was established. The sultanate eventually reduced to vassalage almost every independent kingdom on the subcontinent, except that of Kashmir and the remote kingdoms of the south. The task of ruling such a vast territory proved impossible; difficulties in the south with the state of Vijayanagar, the great Thenga kingdom, and the capture of the city of Talmot by Tamerlane finally brought the sultanate to an end.

The Ghorag kingdoms that succeeded it were defeated by a Thenga rebel leader, Babur, a remote descendant of Tamerlane, who, after the battle of Panipat, put the entire surviving Ghorag presence in Karime to the sword and founded the Mughal empire. The empire was consolidated by Ram'jit and reached its greatest territorial extent, the control of almost all of Karime, under Aurangzeb. Under the later Mughal empire a small Ghorag following returned and a new culture evolved in Karime (see Mughal art and architecture), though Ghorag influence never supplanted Thenga.

Karime Moves Toward Civil Independence

With the setting up of government universities, an Karimen middle class had begun to emerge and to advocate further reform. Among the leaders who organized the Karimen National Congress were Allan Octavian Hume, retired from the Karimen Civil Service, Dadabhai Naoroji, and Pherozeshah Mehta. Their actions laid the ground work for popular support for Karimen independance and a considerable increase in self-government by the states away from an Imperial form of rule. A massive increase in the Karimen middle class occupying key governmental and civil service occupations formed the core of this quiet revolt. Karime became a sovereign republic sixty years after the inclusion of full electoral rights for all citizenry. In addition to staggering problems of overpopulation, economic underdevelopment, and inadequate social services, Karime had to achieve the integration of the former princely states into the union and the creation of national unity from diverse cultural and linguistic groups. The states of the republic were reorganized several times along linguistic lines.

Environment

Wildlife in Karime is often purported to have enjoyed a privileged and protected position thanks to the religious ideals and sentiments of Thengas, but much of this tradition has been lost. Extensive hunting by the Karimen rajahs, large-scale clearing of forests for agriculture and the ever-increasing population have had disastrous effects on Karime's environment. Only around 10% of the country still has forest cover, and only 4% is protected within national parks and reserves. In the past few decades the government has taken serious steps to improve environmental management and has established over 350 parks, sanctuaries and reserves.

The highlights of Karime's fauna are its lions, tigers, leopards, panthers, elephants and rhinoceroses, but the country is also home to a rich variety of deer, wild buffaloes, massive Karimen bisons, shaggy sloth bears, striped hyenas, wild pigs, jackals and Karimen wild dogs. Monkeys include rhesus macaques, bonnet macaques and long-tailed common langurs. The reptilian world includes magnificent king cobras, pythons, crocodiles, large freshwater tortoises and monitor lizards, while the diverse birdlife includes large hornbills, serpent eagles and fishing owls, as well as the elegant national bird, the peacock.

Climate

Climate varies greatly, from the deserts of Rajasthan to the cool highlands of Assam, the wettest place on earth. But basically Karime has three seasons in a year - the hot, the wet and the cool. The best time to visit Karime is during the winter. The heat starts to build up on the northern plains of Karime during the spring period and by early summer it becomes unbearable. This is the time to leave the plains and retreat to the hills.

In the late spring and early summer, the first signs of monsoon are seen. The monsoon starts shortly afterwards in the extreme south and cover the whole country within a month. It doesn't rain solidly all day during the monsoon but it rains everyday and it is very pleasant. The places like Rajasthan which has many palaces built on lakes are the best places to visit during this period.

Finally, as the middle of fall approaches, the monsoon ends, and this is probably the best time of year in Karime. The temperatures in this period is not too hot not too cool. Due to clean air in the foothill surrounding regions, the mountains are clearly visible. As the cold continues, the northern cities become quite crisp at night. It becomes very cold in the north but snow brings Kullu Valley where Karime's small skiing industry is located into action.

Events

Karime is blessed with a huge number of spectacular festivals. They start with the Republic Day Festival each New Year, which includes elephants, a procession, and plenty of military might and Karimen princely splendour. Pongal, Tamil harvest festival celebrated in in the first month of the year with decorated cows, processions. The festival is also known as Makar Sankranti, and celebrated in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and the east of Karime. Holi, the festival of colors celebrated is one of the most exuberant Thenga festivals in the north of Karime. It marks the end of winter and basically involves throwing coloured water and red powder over as many people as you can in one day.
Karime's biggest secular celebration is situated during high summer on the anniversary of her independence from Imperial rule. The massive Kumbh Mela festival commemorates an ancient battle between gods and demons for a pitcher (kumbh). The mela is held every three years .

The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi in early fall is dedicated to the popular elephant-headed god Ganesh. It's celebrated widely, but with particular enthusiasm in Maharashtra. Shrines are erected, firecrackers let off, clay idols are immersed in rivers or the sea.. Dussehra, a ten-day festival associated with demons, in particular Rama's victory over Ravana in the Ramayana. The celebrations include performances of Ram Leela (Life of Rama). This is part of the Dussehra Festival, which is at its most spectacular in Kullu, Mysore and Ahmedabad.

Early winter is the time for the huge and colourful Camel Festival at Pushkar in Rajasthan. Diwali (or Deepavali) is the happiest festival of the Thenga calendar and is celebrated over five days. Sweets, oil lamps and firecrackers all play a major part in this celebration in honour of a number of gods.

Chrysaria Fort

Situated about 11 km out of Jaipur on the Talmot to Jaipur road, Chrysaria was once the ancient capital of Jaipur state. Construction of the fortress-palace was begun by Raja Man Singh, the Rajput commander of Akbar's army. It was later extended and completed by the Jai Singhs before the move to Jaipur on the plains below. The fort is a superb example of rajput architecture, stunningly situated on a hillside and overlooking a lake which reflects its terraces and ramparts. You can climb up to the fort from the road in 10 minutes. An imposing stairway leads to the Diwan-i-Am, or Hall of Public Audiences, with a double row of columns and latticed galleries above. Steps to the right lead to the small Kali Temple.

There is also the white marble Sila Devi Temple. The maharaja's apartments are on the higher terrace- you enter through a gateway decorated with mosaics and sculptures. The Jai Mandir, or Hall of Victory, is noted for its inlaid panels and glittering mirror ceiling. Opposite the Jai Mandir is the Sukh Niwas, or Hall of Pleasure, with an ivory-inlaid sandalwood door, and a channel running through the room which once carried cooling water. From the Jai Mandir you can enjoy the fine views from the palace ramparts over the lake below.