Zheng He
Zheng He (Cheng Ho) (Ma He) (Mǎ Sānbǎo) (Hajji Mahmud Shams) (1371–1433/1435), was a Hui Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who commanded voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, and East Africa, collectively referred to as the travels of "Eunuch Sanbao to the Western Ocean" or "Zheng He to the Western Ocean", from 1405 to 1433.
Zheng He was a Chinese eunuch who commanded a series of maritime expeditions through Southeast Asia to India and the east coast of Africa for the Yongle emperor (r.1402-1424) of the Ming dynasty in the first decades of the fifteenth century.
Zheng He was born and raised in a Muslim family in central Yunnan Province in southwestern China. Both his father and his grandfather were known by the title hajji, which was conferred upon Muslims who made the pilgrimage to Mecca. At least during his early years, he was raised as a Muslim and may have acquired some knowledge of Arabic.
In 1381, when his locality was brought under the control of the Ming dynasty, the general in charge of the occupying armies selected Zheng He and a number of other boys for palace service. He was castrated when he was about ten years old, taken to North China, and assigned to serve on the staff of Zhu Di (who later became the Yongle emperor). During this time, he gained considerable military experience because, for the most part, his duties entailed following Zhu Di on campaign.
Zheng He is described as being very tall and stout (seven feet tall with a girth of five feet by one account) and as having a loud voice and a commanding stare. He was thus physically suited for the rigors of warfare and proved himself capable in battle, first during campaigns against the Mongols between 1393 and 1397 and later during Zhu Di’s rebellion of 1399, when he played a key role in the defense of Beijing.
After Zhu Di ascended the throne in 1402, Zheng He became one of his most trusted aides. During the first years of the reign, he held important military commissions. In 1405, however, he was put in charge of a large-scale maritime expedition to Southeast Asia, and he continued to supervise such expeditions until his death in 1433.
It is not clear why the Yongle emperor decided to mount these costly maritime expeditions. Several reasons are usually put forth: that he was afraid the Jianwen emperor, whose throne he had usurped, might have escaped to Southeast Asia, and he wanted to find him; that he wanted to suppress piracy in Southeast Asian waters; and that he wanted to extend the hegemony of the Ming Empire to the shores of India and Arabia. While there is some truth in each of these reasons, it is likely that it was the last one, the desire to extend the limits of his empire, that kept the expeditions alive for more than two decades.
The Yongle emperor sought to re-establish a universal world empire on the model of the preceding Yuan dynasty. Whereas the Mongols had only had a land-based empire, the Yongle emperor wanted to establish a maritime empire as well. Zheng He’s expeditions were intended to extend the hegemony of the Ming empire throughout Southeast Asia and beyond by demonstrating that the Ming navy was formidable and not easily defeated and that the Ming emperor protected maritime trade and was not hostile toward Islam. It is important to note that Zheng He’s expeditions all carried Arabic speakers conscripted from mosques in China who served as translators, for Islamic merchants had by this time come to control most of the trade routes between China and Arabia.
The first expedition, in 1405, carried a crew of 27,000 and comprised a fleet of more than 60 large vessels (440 feet long) and 255 smaller ships. The principal goal of this and the next few expeditions was to make the sea routes between China and India safe for maritime trade. In a major battle near Sumatra, Zheng He destroyed the fleet of a powerful Chinese pirate who had been harassing ships in the Straits of Melaka. During the expedition of 1409 to 1411, which reached the Malabar coast of India, Chinese luxury goods were displayed in Ceylon and other commercial centers to promote trade with China.
The expedition of 1413 to 1415, however, which reached the Arabian Peninsula, had a distinctly diplomatic cast. From this point on the expeditions revolved around carrying tribute missions to and from China. The expedition of 1417 to 1419 returned the envoys who had arrived in 1415. The expedition of 1421 to 1422, which reached the east coast of Africa, returned with even greater numbers of envoys. However, almost immediately after the Yongle emperor’s death in 1424, influential officials at court began to protest that such voyages were too costly to continue, and the expeditions were suspended until 1431. Zheng He, already in his sixties, was unable to visit every country in person during the last expedition, in 1431 to 1433. He may in fact have died en route at Calicut early in 1433, but the details of his death remain obscure.
Although the naval expeditions were discontinued after Zheng He’s death, the hegemony of the Ming emperor throughout Southeast Asia, at least as an arbiter of disputes and successions, remained unchallenged until the Portuguese arrived in the first years of the sixteenth century. In that respect at least, Zheng He did realize the Yongle emperor’s ambitions. Furthermore, the expeditions constituted the greatest feat of navigation undertaken in the world until that time. During the first several expeditions all of the major sea routes between China and the Islamic countries of the West were systematically explored and mapped. A vast amount of knowledge was added to the corpus of Chinese geography. Ma Huan, a Muslim interpreter who went on several of the expeditions, kept a record of about twenty places that he had visited. At least two other accounts were written by other members of the expeditions. Together these works comprise the only major accounts of travel in Asia from the fifteenth century and offer the most accurate and vivid picture of the region prior to the arrival of the Portuguese.
Cheng Ho see Zheng He
Ma He see Zheng He
Ma Sanbao see Zheng He
Hajji Mahmud Shams see Zheng He
Zheng He was a Chinese eunuch who commanded a series of maritime expeditions through Southeast Asia to India and the east coast of Africa for the Yongle emperor (r.1402-1424) of the Ming dynasty in the first decades of the fifteenth century.
Zheng He was born and raised in a Muslim family in central Yunnan Province in southwestern China. Both his father and his grandfather were known by the title hajji, which was conferred upon Muslims who made the pilgrimage to Mecca. At least during his early years, he was raised as a Muslim and may have acquired some knowledge of Arabic.
In 1381, when his locality was brought under the control of the Ming dynasty, the general in charge of the occupying armies selected Zheng He and a number of other boys for palace service. He was castrated when he was about ten years old, taken to North China, and assigned to serve on the staff of Zhu Di (who later became the Yongle emperor). During this time, he gained considerable military experience because, for the most part, his duties entailed following Zhu Di on campaign.
Zheng He is described as being very tall and stout (seven feet tall with a girth of five feet by one account) and as having a loud voice and a commanding stare. He was thus physically suited for the rigors of warfare and proved himself capable in battle, first during campaigns against the Mongols between 1393 and 1397 and later during Zhu Di’s rebellion of 1399, when he played a key role in the defense of Beijing.
After Zhu Di ascended the throne in 1402, Zheng He became one of his most trusted aides. During the first years of the reign, he held important military commissions. In 1405, however, he was put in charge of a large-scale maritime expedition to Southeast Asia, and he continued to supervise such expeditions until his death in 1433.
It is not clear why the Yongle emperor decided to mount these costly maritime expeditions. Several reasons are usually put forth: that he was afraid the Jianwen emperor, whose throne he had usurped, might have escaped to Southeast Asia, and he wanted to find him; that he wanted to suppress piracy in Southeast Asian waters; and that he wanted to extend the hegemony of the Ming Empire to the shores of India and Arabia. While there is some truth in each of these reasons, it is likely that it was the last one, the desire to extend the limits of his empire, that kept the expeditions alive for more than two decades.
The Yongle emperor sought to re-establish a universal world empire on the model of the preceding Yuan dynasty. Whereas the Mongols had only had a land-based empire, the Yongle emperor wanted to establish a maritime empire as well. Zheng He’s expeditions were intended to extend the hegemony of the Ming empire throughout Southeast Asia and beyond by demonstrating that the Ming navy was formidable and not easily defeated and that the Ming emperor protected maritime trade and was not hostile toward Islam. It is important to note that Zheng He’s expeditions all carried Arabic speakers conscripted from mosques in China who served as translators, for Islamic merchants had by this time come to control most of the trade routes between China and Arabia.
The first expedition, in 1405, carried a crew of 27,000 and comprised a fleet of more than 60 large vessels (440 feet long) and 255 smaller ships. The principal goal of this and the next few expeditions was to make the sea routes between China and India safe for maritime trade. In a major battle near Sumatra, Zheng He destroyed the fleet of a powerful Chinese pirate who had been harassing ships in the Straits of Melaka. During the expedition of 1409 to 1411, which reached the Malabar coast of India, Chinese luxury goods were displayed in Ceylon and other commercial centers to promote trade with China.
The expedition of 1413 to 1415, however, which reached the Arabian Peninsula, had a distinctly diplomatic cast. From this point on the expeditions revolved around carrying tribute missions to and from China. The expedition of 1417 to 1419 returned the envoys who had arrived in 1415. The expedition of 1421 to 1422, which reached the east coast of Africa, returned with even greater numbers of envoys. However, almost immediately after the Yongle emperor’s death in 1424, influential officials at court began to protest that such voyages were too costly to continue, and the expeditions were suspended until 1431. Zheng He, already in his sixties, was unable to visit every country in person during the last expedition, in 1431 to 1433. He may in fact have died en route at Calicut early in 1433, but the details of his death remain obscure.
Although the naval expeditions were discontinued after Zheng He’s death, the hegemony of the Ming emperor throughout Southeast Asia, at least as an arbiter of disputes and successions, remained unchallenged until the Portuguese arrived in the first years of the sixteenth century. In that respect at least, Zheng He did realize the Yongle emperor’s ambitions. Furthermore, the expeditions constituted the greatest feat of navigation undertaken in the world until that time. During the first several expeditions all of the major sea routes between China and the Islamic countries of the West were systematically explored and mapped. A vast amount of knowledge was added to the corpus of Chinese geography. Ma Huan, a Muslim interpreter who went on several of the expeditions, kept a record of about twenty places that he had visited. At least two other accounts were written by other members of the expeditions. Together these works comprise the only major accounts of travel in Asia from the fifteenth century and offer the most accurate and vivid picture of the region prior to the arrival of the Portuguese.
Cheng Ho see Zheng He
Ma He see Zheng He
Ma Sanbao see Zheng He
Hajji Mahmud Shams see Zheng He
Zia-ul Haq
Zia-ul Haq (Mohammad Zia-ul Haq) (Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq) (b. August 12, 1924, Jullundur, Punjab [now in India] - d. August 17, 1988, near Bahāwalpur, Pakistan). Military leader who became president of Pakistan in 1978. Zia-ul Haq was born in the present Punjab Province of India. He received his army commission from the military academy, Dehra Dun, in 1945. During World War II, he saw action in Southeast Asia. In 1947, he joined the Pakistan Army and received additional military training in the United States. Between 1969 and 1971, on loan to Jordan, Zia directed action against Palestinian guerrillas and was decorated by King Hussain. Prime Minister Bhutto made him a full general and chief of staff of the Pakistan Army in 1976. In 1977, during the agitation of opposition parties against Bhutto’s handling of national elections, Zia proclaimed martial law, removed Bhutto from office, and promised to hold fresh elections. These elections were later cancelled and Zia declared the “islamization of Pakistan” as his first priority. In 1978, Zia became president of Pakistan but continued to govern under martial law. Without a popular mandate to rule, he has relied heavily on the external support of his regime by the United States and its Arab allies. In August 1983, the Movement for Restoration of Democracy, an alliance of banned political parties, launched a mass resistance to Zia’s regime that was crushed by military action.
Zia was commissioned in 1945 from the Royal Indian Military Academy in Dehra Dun and served with the British armored forces in Southeast Asia at the end of World War II. After 19 years spent in various staff and command appointments he was made an instructor at the Command and Staff College in Quetta. He successively commanded a regiment, brigade, division, and a corps during the period 1966–72. A major general from 1972, he was president of the military courts that tried several Army and Air Force officers alleged to have plotted against the government of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1972. Bhutto promoted him to lieutenant general in 1975 and made him Army chief of staff in 1976.
Zia seized power from Bhutto in a bloodless coup on July 5, 1977, and became chief martial-law administrator while retaining his position as Army chief of staff. He assumed the presidency after Fazal Elahi Chaudhry resigned. Zia tightened his hold on the government after having the charismatic and still-popular Bhutto executed on charges of attempted murder in 1979. Zia suspended political parties in that year, banned labor strikes, imposed strict censorship on the press, and declared martial law in the country (nominally lifted in 1985). He responded to the Soviet Union’s invasion of neighboring Afghanistan in 1979 by embarking on a United States-financed military buildup. He also tried to broaden his base of support and worked for the Islamization of Pakistan’s political and cultural life. He died in an airplane crash.
Zia-ul-Haq died in a plane crash on August 17, 1988. After witnessing a United States M1 Abrams tank demonstration in Bahawalpur, Zia had left the small town in the Punjab province by C-130 Hercules aircraft. Shortly after a smooth take-off, the control tower lost contact with the aircraft. Witnesses who saw the plane in the air afterward claim it was flying erratically, then nosedived and exploded on impact. In addition to Zia, 31 others died in the plane crash, including Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Akhtar Abdur Rehman; a close associate of General Zia, Brigadier General Siddique Salik; the American Ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Raphael; and General Herbert M. Wassom, the head of the United States Military aid mission to Pakistan. Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the Senate Chairman announced Zia's death on radio and TV. The manner of his death gave rise to many conspiracy theories. There was speculation that the United States, India, the Soviet Union (in retaliation for United States-Pakistani supported attacks in Afghanistan) or an alliance of them and internal groups were behind the attack.
A board of inquiry was set up to investigate the crash. It concluded the most probable cause of the crash was a criminal act of sabotage perpetrated on the aircraft. It is also suggested that poisonous gases were released which incapacitated the passengers and crew, which would explain why no Mayday signal was given.
Zia's funeral was held on August 19, 1988 in Islamabad. Zia's body was buried in a small tomb outside the Faisal Mosque.
Mohammad Zia-ul Haq see Zia-ul Haq
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq see Zia-ul Haq
Zia-ul Haq (Mohammad Zia-ul Haq) (Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq) (b. August 12, 1924, Jullundur, Punjab [now in India] - d. August 17, 1988, near Bahāwalpur, Pakistan). Military leader who became president of Pakistan in 1978. Zia-ul Haq was born in the present Punjab Province of India. He received his army commission from the military academy, Dehra Dun, in 1945. During World War II, he saw action in Southeast Asia. In 1947, he joined the Pakistan Army and received additional military training in the United States. Between 1969 and 1971, on loan to Jordan, Zia directed action against Palestinian guerrillas and was decorated by King Hussain. Prime Minister Bhutto made him a full general and chief of staff of the Pakistan Army in 1976. In 1977, during the agitation of opposition parties against Bhutto’s handling of national elections, Zia proclaimed martial law, removed Bhutto from office, and promised to hold fresh elections. These elections were later cancelled and Zia declared the “islamization of Pakistan” as his first priority. In 1978, Zia became president of Pakistan but continued to govern under martial law. Without a popular mandate to rule, he has relied heavily on the external support of his regime by the United States and its Arab allies. In August 1983, the Movement for Restoration of Democracy, an alliance of banned political parties, launched a mass resistance to Zia’s regime that was crushed by military action.
Zia was commissioned in 1945 from the Royal Indian Military Academy in Dehra Dun and served with the British armored forces in Southeast Asia at the end of World War II. After 19 years spent in various staff and command appointments he was made an instructor at the Command and Staff College in Quetta. He successively commanded a regiment, brigade, division, and a corps during the period 1966–72. A major general from 1972, he was president of the military courts that tried several Army and Air Force officers alleged to have plotted against the government of Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1972. Bhutto promoted him to lieutenant general in 1975 and made him Army chief of staff in 1976.
Zia seized power from Bhutto in a bloodless coup on July 5, 1977, and became chief martial-law administrator while retaining his position as Army chief of staff. He assumed the presidency after Fazal Elahi Chaudhry resigned. Zia tightened his hold on the government after having the charismatic and still-popular Bhutto executed on charges of attempted murder in 1979. Zia suspended political parties in that year, banned labor strikes, imposed strict censorship on the press, and declared martial law in the country (nominally lifted in 1985). He responded to the Soviet Union’s invasion of neighboring Afghanistan in 1979 by embarking on a United States-financed military buildup. He also tried to broaden his base of support and worked for the Islamization of Pakistan’s political and cultural life. He died in an airplane crash.
Zia-ul-Haq died in a plane crash on August 17, 1988. After witnessing a United States M1 Abrams tank demonstration in Bahawalpur, Zia had left the small town in the Punjab province by C-130 Hercules aircraft. Shortly after a smooth take-off, the control tower lost contact with the aircraft. Witnesses who saw the plane in the air afterward claim it was flying erratically, then nosedived and exploded on impact. In addition to Zia, 31 others died in the plane crash, including Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Akhtar Abdur Rehman; a close associate of General Zia, Brigadier General Siddique Salik; the American Ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Raphael; and General Herbert M. Wassom, the head of the United States Military aid mission to Pakistan. Ghulam Ishaq Khan, the Senate Chairman announced Zia's death on radio and TV. The manner of his death gave rise to many conspiracy theories. There was speculation that the United States, India, the Soviet Union (in retaliation for United States-Pakistani supported attacks in Afghanistan) or an alliance of them and internal groups were behind the attack.
A board of inquiry was set up to investigate the crash. It concluded the most probable cause of the crash was a criminal act of sabotage perpetrated on the aircraft. It is also suggested that poisonous gases were released which incapacitated the passengers and crew, which would explain why no Mayday signal was given.
Zia's funeral was held on August 19, 1988 in Islamabad. Zia's body was buried in a small tomb outside the Faisal Mosque.
Mohammad Zia-ul Haq see Zia-ul Haq
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq see Zia-ul Haq
Zikrawayh ibn Mihrawayh
Zikrawayh ibn Mihrawayh (d. 907). Carmathian missionary. Having disposed of ‘Abdan, Zikrawayh conquered Kufa in 906 but had to return to the district of al-Qadisiyya. In the same year he fell upon the great pilgrim caravan returning from Mecca. In the next year, he was defeated by an ‘Abbasid commander.
Zikrawayh ibn Mihrawayh (d. 907). Carmathian missionary. Having disposed of ‘Abdan, Zikrawayh conquered Kufa in 906 but had to return to the district of al-Qadisiyya. In the same year he fell upon the great pilgrim caravan returning from Mecca. In the next year, he was defeated by an ‘Abbasid commander.
Zindiq
Zindiq (Zendiq) (Zendik). A Muslim heretic. Zindiq also refers to Manichaean or supporter of any other pre-Islamic Persian religion.
Zindīq is taken from Persian word Zendik which means free interpreter, free thinker, atheist or heretic. The word Zindiq is applied by Muslims to individuals whom are considered to hold views or follow practices that are contrary to central Islamic dogmas. Starting in medieval times, Muslims began to refer to Manichaeans, apostates, pagans, heretics, and those who antagonized Islam as Zindiqs, the charge being punishable by death. As of the late 8th century the Abbasid caliphs began to hunt down and exterminate freethinkers in large numbers, putting to death anyone on mere suspicion of being a Zindiq. In modern times, it is occasionally used to denote members of religions, sects or cults that originated in a Muslim society but are considered heretical or independent faiths by mainstream Muslims.
The word Zendiq is now known to have derived from Middle Persian Pahlavi word of zandik or zendik, consisting of zand plus îk (attribution suffix in Pahlavi language) referring to those who resorted to interpretation in their understanding of Zoroastrian faith. Zand is derived from Avestan zanda found in two instances in Avesta whose root is unknown today. However, it has seemingly implied sinners such as bandits, thieves, enchanters, renegades and liars. A different, common view on the etymology of the term is that it alluded to "free interpretation" or "commentary" on the sacred texts, with the same root that occurs in the word Zand, referring to the commentary on the Avesta. The first recorded use of the word zandik is probably on the inscription in Naqsh-e Rajab attributed to Kartir, high-priest and advisor of Sassanid emperors Hormizd I, Bahram I and Bahram II, in which it explicitly denotes Manichaeans as "the ones with corrupted faith".
Some of the famous and alleged Zendiqs in Islamic history are:
* Abu Nawas
* Rhazes
* Mansour Al-Hallaj
* Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa
* Abu Shakir
* Abu Tammar Muttabib
* Abu Isa al-Warraq
* Ibn al-Rawandi
* Abul Ala'a al-Ma'ari
* Yazdan ibn Badhan
* Bashar ibn Burd
* Yazdanbakht
* Abdulkarim ibn abi Al-Ouja'
* Ali ibn Ubaydah Rihani
* Aban Abdulhamid Lahiqi
Zendiq see Zindiq
Zendik see Zindiq
Zandik see Zindiq
Atheist see Zindiq
Free Thinker see Zindiq
Heretic see Zindiq
Zindiq (Zendiq) (Zendik). A Muslim heretic. Zindiq also refers to Manichaean or supporter of any other pre-Islamic Persian religion.
Zindīq is taken from Persian word Zendik which means free interpreter, free thinker, atheist or heretic. The word Zindiq is applied by Muslims to individuals whom are considered to hold views or follow practices that are contrary to central Islamic dogmas. Starting in medieval times, Muslims began to refer to Manichaeans, apostates, pagans, heretics, and those who antagonized Islam as Zindiqs, the charge being punishable by death. As of the late 8th century the Abbasid caliphs began to hunt down and exterminate freethinkers in large numbers, putting to death anyone on mere suspicion of being a Zindiq. In modern times, it is occasionally used to denote members of religions, sects or cults that originated in a Muslim society but are considered heretical or independent faiths by mainstream Muslims.
The word Zendiq is now known to have derived from Middle Persian Pahlavi word of zandik or zendik, consisting of zand plus îk (attribution suffix in Pahlavi language) referring to those who resorted to interpretation in their understanding of Zoroastrian faith. Zand is derived from Avestan zanda found in two instances in Avesta whose root is unknown today. However, it has seemingly implied sinners such as bandits, thieves, enchanters, renegades and liars. A different, common view on the etymology of the term is that it alluded to "free interpretation" or "commentary" on the sacred texts, with the same root that occurs in the word Zand, referring to the commentary on the Avesta. The first recorded use of the word zandik is probably on the inscription in Naqsh-e Rajab attributed to Kartir, high-priest and advisor of Sassanid emperors Hormizd I, Bahram I and Bahram II, in which it explicitly denotes Manichaeans as "the ones with corrupted faith".
Some of the famous and alleged Zendiqs in Islamic history are:
* Abu Nawas
* Rhazes
* Mansour Al-Hallaj
* Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa
* Abu Shakir
* Abu Tammar Muttabib
* Abu Isa al-Warraq
* Ibn al-Rawandi
* Abul Ala'a al-Ma'ari
* Yazdan ibn Badhan
* Bashar ibn Burd
* Yazdanbakht
* Abdulkarim ibn abi Al-Ouja'
* Ali ibn Ubaydah Rihani
* Aban Abdulhamid Lahiqi
Zendiq see Zindiq
Zendik see Zindiq
Zandik see Zindiq
Atheist see Zindiq
Free Thinker see Zindiq
Heretic see Zindiq
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