India and World Historical persons 3

Zeb-un-nisa

Zeb-un-nisa One of the daughters of Aurangzeb, she was a very talented

lady, well read in Persian and Arabic, and was an expert calligraphist who

maintained a fine library of her own.

Zain-ul-Abidin

Zain-ul-Abidin The eighth Sultan of Kashmir (1420–1460), he is famous

for his religious toleration and patronage ofliterature. He had the

Mahabharata and Rajatarangini translated into Persian.

George Yule

Yule, George / George Yule One of those rare non-official English merchants who sympathised with the political aspirations of the Indians, he supported the

INC and presided over its fourth session held at Allahabad in 1888.

Yasomati

 Yasomati The queen of Prabhakaravardhana, the Pushyabhuti ruler of

Thanesvar, and mother of Harsha, she committed sati on the death of her

husband, as described by Bana in his Harshacharita.

Yajnavalkya

Yajnavalkya A famous ancient Hindu philosopher and sage, he is

associated by tradition with the renowned philosopher—king, Janaka of

Mithila.

William Wedderburn

Wedderburn, Sir William An English ICS officer of distinction, he took a

leading part in the Congress politics after his retirement. He attended the first

session of Congress and later presided over two Congress sessions in 1889

and 1910.

Viswas Rao

Viswas Rao The eldest son and prospective heir of Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao,

he was the nominal head of the Maratha army that was defeated by Ahmad

Shah Abdaliin the third battle of Panipat. He, along with his uncle (Sadasiva

Rao Bhao) who was the actual commander of the army, were killed in this

battle.

Vishnuvardhana Bittideva

Vishnuvardhana (or Bittideva) The Hoyasala king of Dwarasamudra

(1110–41), his reign is of great religious and cultural significance. He was

originally a Jaina, but came under the influence of Ramanuja and was

converted to Vaishnavism. It was after his conversion that he changed his

name from Bittideva to Vishnuvardhana. He promoted his new faith by the

construction of temples of unsurpassed magnificence some of which the best

example is the temple of Hoyasalesvara at Halebid.

Vijnesvara

Vijnesvara (Vijnanesvara) Vignaneshwara A celebrated Hindu lawyer and jurist, he belonged to the reign of Vikramanka (ad 1076–1126) of the Kalyani

Chalukyas. His work, the Mitaksara, is considered as one of the most

authoritative expositions of the Hindu law of succession.

Ustad Isa

Ustad Isa He was probably the architect who designed the Taj Mahal at

Agra and supervised its construction.

Upagupta

Upagupta A famous Buddhist monk, he is believed to have converted

Asoka to Buddhism. He is also said to have accompanied Asoka on a tour of

Buddhist holy places and pointed out to him the place of the nativity of

Buddha which came to be marked by the Rummindei Pillar Inscription of

Asoka. He is also referred to as Moggaliputta Tissa in the contemporary

Buddhist texts.

Urndut-ul-Umara

Urndut-ul-Umara The nawab of the Carnatic on whose death in 180 I

Lord Wellesley took over the administration of the Camatic on the ground

that Umdut was in treasonable correspondence with Tipu Sultan.

Uday Singh

Uday Singh, Rana The ruler of Mewar, he was the son and successor of

Rana Sanga and the father of Rana Pratap. When his capital, Chittor, fell to

Akbar, he built a new capital at Udaipur.

Tusaspa

Tusaspa The governor of Gujarat or Kathiawar diring the reign of Asoka,

he was a Persian in Mauryan service. He is credited with building conduits to

the famous Sudarsana lake built in the period of Chandragupta Maurya.

Tughril Khan

Tughril Khan A Turkish noble, he was appointed the governor of Bengal

by Balban. He revolted in 1278, but was suppressed and killed by the Sultan

after a three year campaign.

Tivara

Tivara One of the sons of Asoka, he was born to Asoka’s second queen,

Karuvaki. He is mentioned in one of the inscriptions of Asoka, but nothing

else is known about him.

Tansen

Tansen A famous musician, he was partronised by Akbar. His arrival at the

Mughal court was such a remarkable event that Akbar had it portrayed in

colours in 1562. Earlier he was patronised by Man Singh of Gwalior (Tomar

dynasty).

Satyendranath Tagore

Tagore, Satyendranath / Satyendranath TagoreThe first Indian to pass the ICS examination (1864), he was the second son of Devendranath Tagore and elder brother of Rabindranath Tagore.

Dwarakanath Tagore

Tagore, Dwarakanath / Dwarakanath TagoreFounder of the famous Tagore family of Jorasanko

in Calcutta, he earned a lot of money in business and started the Union Bank

which was the first Bengali venture in the banking line. He supported the

liberal movements of the day and was one of the earliest supporters of the

Brahmo Samaj.

Sathyendra Prasad Sinha

Sinha, Sir Satyendra Prasanna Born in Bengal and a lawyer by profession, he was the first Indian to be appointed as a governor (of Bihar and Orissa from 1920 to 24) by the British. He was also the First Indian to be appointed as a member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council (1909), and the only Indian to be honoured with a peerage. Taking to politics quite late in life, he presided over the Bombay Session (1915) of the INC.

Shams-i-Siraj Afif

Shams-i-Siraj Afif A famous historian as well as an officer during the

reign of Firoz Shah Tughluq, he was the author of Tarikh-i-Firozshahi.