This research is a historical investigation that explores a vital topic: the role of the individuals as rulers and leaders in shaping and developing national identity. In the fields of historical science and the philosophy of history, rulers and leaders—often regarded as heroes and central figures—have played decisive roles in shaping historical events and influencing the dimensions of their nations. Their influence has had a profound social impact, to the extent that it has become a defining element of the nation's identity.Despite the fact that Sultan Saladin is regarded as the father of an important national identity, he was also able to shape history during the period of the Crusades. Furthermore, as a significant symbol of Kurdish identity, he contributed to strengthening the existence and position of the Kurds in the context of Islamic and world history. His impact was such that the name, history, fame, and discussion of the Kurds as a nation became much more frequent in historical writings after his emergence, compared to before the emergence of this prominent Kurdish figure. The researcher uses a historical-analytical approach to explore the different dimensions of identity formation by Sultan Saladin for the Kurdish people as an important historical legacy, and examines how this legacy can be applied to support the present and future of the Kurdish nation.The research is organized into a preface, an introduction, two main chapters, conclusions, and a bibliography. The introduction outlines the concept of identity and national identity and provides a concise biography of Sultan Saladin. The first chapter explores Sultan Saladin’s role in shaping and advancing Kurdish national identity by examining his qualities as both a humanitarian and a ruler/leader, presented in two subsections. The second chapter, divided into two subsections, analyses his contribution to Kurdish national identity as a shaper of historical events and as a historical figure who enhanced the Kurdish presence and significance within Islamic and global historical discourse.

ABSTRACT During the Indian Freedom Struggle, a contemporary need existed to create an Indian narrative to counter imperialism and colonial historians. In this way, Indian historians were becoming part of the freedom movement. Gandhi actively participated in the freedom movement through political moves, but he also wanted to counter imperialism by establishing an educational institute like Gujarat Vidyapith. That is why in Gujarat Vidyapith the Puratattva Mandir was established to counter the imperialist consequences while offering the Indian perspective of looking at the past, which was also a critical concern of the Indian freedom struggle. The Puratattva Mandir members dedicated their understanding of history to Gandhi's concept of the nation. This was an attempt to fulfill the contemporary needs of the National Movement through historical writings. In this paper, an attempt will be made to critically examine the emerging national identity in the history of the members of Puratattva Mandir between 1920 and 1930.

Abstract Historians generate knowledge through the labour of composition – through the friction between interpretation and evidence that makes claims open to scrutiny and challenge. This essay argues that when composition is bypassed, that structure disappears. Generative AI raises this issue in urgent fashion. Current large language models produce what the essay terms ‘stochastic history’: prose that replicates the surface forms of historical explanation without enacting the disciplinary reasoning behind them. Such prose flattens temporal complexity into chronological adjacency, inherits narrative patterns without deliberating over them and reproduces hegemonic framings without the mechanisms – archival friction, peer contestation and historiographical consciousness – through which the discipline revises itself. Recent studies measuring AI's applicability to historical work capture transmissive tasks while remaining blind to the interpretive core; approaches that identify textual markers of historical thinking detect symptoms that can be simulated, not the compositional process producing them. The consequences extend beyond the profession. When stochastic history circulates in classrooms, policy research and public media, non‐specialists encounter pasts stripped of contingency and contestability – pasts that naturalize present arrangements rather than rendering them open to challenge. The defence of writing advanced here is methodological rather than nostalgic: It preserves the conditions under which historical claims can be scrutinized and revised.

Review: <i>The Historical Writing of the Mongol Invasions in Japan</i> , by Judith Vitale

Kirstie McClure’s writing took Walter Benjamin’s and Hannah Arendt’s respective attention to acts of reading and remembrance to new depths, and her writing has a great deal to say to historians, political philosophers, theorists, and literary critics about what it might mean to think and write the history of thinking in time. Thought, in McClure’s treatment, is enmeshed in materiality, textual and otherwise, and context is a far richer and more dynamic concept than it is often taken to be. Just so, a history of political thinking attuned to this dynamic is not just of historiographical interest. Those of us who hope for a renewal of democratic political energy need to spend more time thinking about thinking and reading into the history of what it means to read and think anew. McClure’s writing is not just a theory of the past, but a guide to its use.

The understanding of history began to shift decisively in the eighteenth century and reached full institutional consolidation as an academic discipline in the nineteenth. Against this back- drop, this article explores how four semantic classes of verbs –communication, perception, desire, and aspectual verbs– are distributed and used in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century historiographical texts drawn from the History English Texts subcorpus of the Coruña Cor- pus of English Scientific Writing. The study pursues two main aims. First, it examines the frequency of these verb classes within historical discourse of the period. Second, it analyses their use from a gender perspective, asking whether male and female authors display com- parable or divergent patterns. The findings point to clear asymmetries: male authors employ these verbs more frequently and with greater semantic range, while the patterns observed in women’s writing shed light on their discursive positioning within historiography across the two centuries.

Writing history in general, and military historiography in particular, is not new in India; however, its modern form took shape with the consolidation of British rule, which introduced structured approaches to documenting and interpreting military affairs. This research study examines the evolution of military historiography in colonial India, offering a comprehensive overview from the eighteenth to the mid-twentieth century. It traces how narratives of warfare, armies, and state power developed during this period, highlighting the key phases, major contributors, and thematic shifts that shaped the discipline under colonial influence. The study also analyses how British administrators, military officials, and early Indian scholars framed military history to serve administrative, strategic, and intellectual purposes. By engaging with the available historical writings—the research identifies the major trends, methodological changes, and intellectual currents that influenced the writing of military history in colonial India. Through this examination, the study sheds light on how military historiography evolved as both a scholarly field and a reflection of the political and ideological priorities of the time.

The Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, imposed by British colonial authorities in India, was a draconian law that branded entire communities as “hereditary criminals,” enforcing systematic surveillance, forced settlement, and social ostracization. This paper provides a comprehensive examination of the Act’s origins, implementation, and enduring legacy. It begins by contextualizing the Act within India’s caste system, tracing how ancient religious codifications – from the Rigveda to the Manusmriti – established and justified a rigid hierarchy that colonial policies later exploited. We analyze the language and intent of the Act, illustrating how the British administration wielded it as an instrument to control nomadic and marginalized groups by presuming criminality by birth. The short-term impacts on Dalits (formerly “Untouchables”), Adivasis (indigenous tribes), and other minorities were severe: communities faced loss of land, curtailed freedoms, and state-sanctioned stigma, with an estimated thirteen million people across 127 communities directly affected by Independence. The Act’s long-term repercussions persisted well beyond its repeal in 1949, as independent India’s Habitual Offenders Act (1952) continued to profile and police these denotified tribes, entrenching cycles of poverty and prejudice. Crucially, this paper situates the Criminal Tribes Act in a comparative global context. Parallels are drawn to other systems of institutionalized oppression: the Jim Crow laws in the United States, which enforced a codified racial apartheid and denied African Americans basic rights; the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, whereby ~120,000 people (two-thirds U.S. citizens) were incarcerated without cause; and South Africa’s apartheid regime, which legally classified citizens by race to maintain white supremacy. These comparisons reveal common patterns of using the law to strip targeted groups of rights under the guise of “social order” or “national security.” The paper also examines modern surveillance measures – from preventive detention of Muslims under anti-terror laws to predictive policing technologies – arguing that the underlying logic of collective suspicion echoes the legacy of the 1871 Act in contemporary forms. Through extensive use of scholarly sources, including archival colonial reports and the writings of historians and anthropologists, as well as eyewitness accounts and recent news reports, we highlight how the narrative of “born criminals” created by the Act remains etched in societal attitudes. We incorporate historical data (caste-based census records, crime statistics) and present-day metrics (crime rates against Dalits, wealth and education disparities by caste) to visualize the enduring impact. Graphs and charts are used to illustrate trends such as the economic marginalization of Dalits and the racial disparities in incarceration that mirror caste inequalities. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that while the Criminal Tribes Act was repealed, its spirit survives in prejudices and legal practices worldwide. It calls for a critical re-examination of laws and social structures that continue to otherize and criminalize marginalized communities, advocating for reforms grounded in equality, restorative justice, and the protection of fundamental rights. The global legacy of the Criminal Tribes Act serves as a cautionary tale of how state power can perpetuate social stratification – and a reminder of the ongoing struggle to dismantle such oppressive systems.

This article investigates the origin and evolution of the name "Sabah" and its varying acceptance and use across the state's regions, with a focus on the differences between the east and west coasts. Through an analysis of historical records and recent scholarly discussions among Sabah academics, the study uncovers potential geopolitical implications arising from competing historical narratives, particularly in relation to the claims by the defunct Sulu Sultanate over eastern Sabah. The findings challenge prevailing theories and offer new insights into how the name "Sabah" has influenced regional identities and political discourse. Trouillot (1995) argues that the formation of alternative narratives often involves power dynamics and the deliberate selection of historical facts, which are frequently based on an overreliance on institutional sources from colonial and post-colonial eras. These narratives can either obscure or emphasize certain historical events to align with specific political agendas, leading to the emergence of multiple and potentially conflicting interpretations. This theoretical framework is particularly relevant to understanding the renaming of North Borneo to Sabah, a topic that has been underexplored but carries important implications for regional identity and geopolitical claims. The change from North Borneo to Sabah is a critical aspect of the region's history that has not been widely covered in historical writings, yet it is crucial in understanding Sabah's formation and identity. Therefore, this paper seeks to explore alternative perspectives, supported by historical documents, to challenge and expand upon the existing theories proposed by previous researchers.

This paper provides a detailed description of the literary and spiritual history of Odisha, along with the causes and circumstances for the development of spiritual writings from ancient times through the medieval period up to the modern period. By focusing on poetry that has remained the most popular writing style in bhakti literature, this paper discusses the works of women writers who have performed a significant role in the spiritual and cultural heritage of Odisha and their marginalisation in literary and cultural history over time. Further, it delves into the medieval era’s forgotten women poets and their works, including Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s arrival and how it affected women’s status in the society by focusing on the works of Madhavi Dasi (16th century CE), also known as Madhavi Devi or Madhavi Pattanayak, a major writer of the medieval era and the first recorded woman writer of Odisha. Through Madhavi Dasi, the study explores the marginalisation and vague literary historicization of women writers in literary history. In the context of modern literature, this paper will focus on the poetry of Kuntala Kumari Sabat (1901-38), Purnamasi Jani (b. 1944), and Adyasha Das (b. 1969), marking the contours of shifts and evolutions of women’s devotional writings in Odisha.

This article analyses the activities of the Hospitallers who got control over part of the Peloponnesos in the late-fourteenth century. In 1397, Despotes Theodore I Palaiologos of the Morea sold them Corinth on the condition that they organize the defense of the peninsula from Ottoman raids. Taking the Byzantine historical writings and Latin documentary material into account, this article examines the interactions between the Despotes of the Morea and the Order of Saint John, as well as the Hospitallers’ influence on the political situation in the region and the local population’s attitudes toward their new neighbors. In addition to its protective function, the Order initiated the negotiations on anti-Ottoman alliance. The author concludes that the Despotes’ agreement with the Hospitallers demonstrated the possibility of anti-Ottoman defensive alliances at the regional level. Its initial effectiveness was due to the coincidence of the current objectives of both parties, though later their interests diverged, which became the reason for the termination of the agreement in 1404. The Hospitallers’ attempts to ransom the Despotate of the Morea made the Byzantine population to turn against them, seeing the knights’ actions as a threat to their political independence. The Greeks’ experience of interacting with the Hospitallers in the Peloponnesos, despite their efforts to strengthen fortifications and ensure the military defense of the peninsula, convinced them of the unreliability of such alliances with the Latins.

This paper does Spotlights on Several Problems of Studying history of the crusades, such as animosity between the muslems and the crusaders, and its reflections in contemporary historical writings, the problem of Charisma and the absence of Women's role. So, it is very important to study these problems to form objective vision when we Study that vital epoch in history of relations between east and West in In the Middle Ages.

This study examines the role of website-based digital history writing in advancing the decolonization of history education within the Primary Teacher Education Program (PGSD). Grounded in a qualitative descriptive approach, the research involved 40 second-year PGSD students participating in a semester-long digital history project that emphasized local historical inquiry, archival research, and digital storytelling. Data were collected through participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and analysis of student-produced website content and reflective journals. The findings indicate that digital history projects facilitate the validation of local knowledge by enabling students to critically juxtapose colonial archives with oral and community-based sources. This process contributed to a significant transformation in students’ historical consciousness, shifting from traditional and exemplary orientations toward critical and genetic levels. Moreover, the integration of website media fostered digital literacy, ethical awareness, and reflective historical thinking, positioning students as active producers rather than passive consumers of historical narratives. Despite challenges related to digital inequality and ethical representation, the study demonstrates that digitalization, when aligned with decolonial pedagogy, offers a powerful framework for developing inclusive and contextually grounded history education. The findings underscore the potential of digital platforms to support epistemic justice and to prepare future elementary teachers to implement decolonized history learning in schools.

Introduction. The paper describes the deeds of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, a most revered deity of the Buddhist pantheon that personifies great compassion. Goals. The article attempts analyses of texts dedicated to the cult of Avalokiteśvara to describe his deeds as the patron of Tibet. Materials. The study investigates apocryphal texts and a number of Tibetan historical writings. The deeds of Avalokiteśvara (his incarnations) as the progenitor of the Tibetan people, patron of the Land of Snows, and the guardian of the Teaching are most fully represented in the collection of Terma-type texts titled ‘Mani Kambum’ which includes narratives of different genres relating to different historical periods. Section (cycle) One compiled of 36 sutras describes the deeds of Avalokiteśvara and the Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo (7th c. CE). Tibetan historical texts often contain a short version of the legend according to which the Tibetan descend from the Lord of Monkeys and the Demoness of Rocks, with a few references to the latter. An extended text of the legend constitutes Chapter 34 of Volume 1 of Oirat-language Mani Kambum (in Clear Script). Results. The article transliterates and translates (with comments) Chapter 34. The introduced translation is based on the Oirat-language manuscript from the Library of the Faculty of Asian and African Studies (St. Petersburg University, call no. Calm D 22).

This article examines the political situation in the Ili region during the 18th–19th centuries. From the latter half of the 18th century, the Ili area became part of the Qing Empire, where a new military and administrative system was established, emphasizing the region’s strategic importance. To secure the area, the Qing authorities deployed troops composed of various ethnic groups and enforced strict border and internal settlement policies. The main objective of the study is to explore the political, ethnic, and military-administrative history of the Ili region during the 18th–19th centuries and to reveal the influence and settlement process of the Kazakhs in this territory. Research Methods: Historical-chronological method – to systematize the socio-political history of the region by stages; source analysis – based on archival materials, Russian imperial statistical data, Qing court chronicles, and official records; comparative analysis – drawing upon the works of scholars from Kazakhstan, Russia, China, Europe, and the United States; archival and documentary methods – analysis of historical writings and records about the Ili region; statistical method – using census data to analyze the ethnic composition, the ratio of sedentary and nomadic populations, and the quantitative aspects of migration processes. Research Objectives : To describe the geopolitical situation of the Ili region; to specify the Qing Empire’s military and administrative structures in the area; to determine the causes and stages of Kazakh migration to the Ili valley (1830–1871); to outline the history, ethnic composition, and socio-political structure of the Ili Sultanate; to analyze the agreements between the Russian and Qing empires concerning the transfer and partition of the Ili territory. Research Results. The study traces the historical trajectory of the Ili region from the collapse of the Dzungar Khanate to the colonial policies of the Qing Empire. It reveals the formation, governance, and colonial practices of the Ili General Administration based on archival data. The political and ethnic dimensions of Kazakh and Kyrgyz migration to the Ili region are explored. The creation, population, and dissolution of the Ili Sultanate are systematized. The role and influence of the Kazakhs in the Ili region, particularly during the Ili uprising, are substantiated with documentary evidence. The political dynamics and territorial disputes between the Russian and Qing empires are clarified. The contributions of historical figures (Sauryk, Zheten, Balbai, Düräli) to the national liberation struggle are examined.

La constitution, la préservation et l’exploitation de sources nativement numériques impliquent, au-delà de leur documentation, une « redocumentarisation », qui consiste par exemple à produire des métadonnées supplémentaires conditionnant leur archivage et leur accessibilité ou à garder une trace des opérations nécessaires à la reconstruction des documents, au prix, parfois, de transformations. Ce patrimoine redocumentarisé requiert une très grande diversité d’opérations techniques, mises en œuvre par de nombreuses institutions et acteurs (bibliothèques et archives, initiatives militantes et participatives, acteurs privés et internationaux). Il soulève des enjeux d’accessibilité, de partage, de contextualisation et d’ouverture, qui influencent l’exploitation scientifique des archives nativement numériques. En s’appuyant principalement sur l’archivage du web et des réseaux sociaux numériques, mais aussi sur celui du code source, des CD-ROM et des courriers électroniques, l’article explore les logiques de documentation et de redocumentarisation ainsi que les pratiques et tensions qui y sont à l’œuvre. Celles-ci peuvent en effet être déterminantes pour les recherches en histoire et plus largement en sciences humaines et sociales, puisqu’elles les accompagnent et leur permettent davantage de contextualisation.

Although historical writings, anthropological accounts, and experimental studies document associations between psilocybin use and religion, no prospective experimental study has investigated how the effects of psilocybin are experienced and interpreted by religious clergy. This exploratory study evaluated the overall safety and the acute and enduring effects of psilocybin in clergy. Participants were psychedelic-naïve clergy from various major world religions. A randomized, parallel group, waitlist control design was used to assess the effects of two supported psilocybin sessions, with participants receiving 20 and then 20 or 30 mg/70 kg about 1 month later. Outcomes were compared between the Immediate Group (n = 13) and the Delayed Group (n = 16) at 6 months after screening using self-report measures. The effects of psilocybin were also assessed on session days and 4 and 16 months after the second psilocybin session in the 24 participants who completed both sessions. The primary outcome assessment at 6 months after screening showed that, compared with the delayed control group, participants who had received psilocybin reported significantly greater positive changes in their religious practices, attitudes about their religion, and effectiveness as a religious leader, as well as in their non-religious attitudes, moods, and behavior. Follow-up assessments showed that positive changes in religious and non-religious attitudes and behavior were sustained through 16 months after the second psilocybin session. At that time, participants rated at least one of their psilocybin experiences to be among the top five most spiritually significant (96%), profoundly sacred (92%), psychologically insightful (83%), and psychologically meaningful (79%) of their lives. Furthermore, 42% rated one of their experiences to be the single most profound of their lifetime. At 16-months follow-up, most (79%) strongly endorsed that the experiences had positive effects on their religious practices (e.g., prayer or meditation) and their daily sense of the sacred, and most (71%) reported positive changes in their appreciation of religious traditions other than their own. Although no serious adverse events were reported, 46% rated a psilocybin experience as among the top five most psychologically challenging of their lives. In this population of clergy, psilocybin administration was safe and increased multiple domains of overall psychological well-being including positive changes in religious attitudes and behavior as well as their vocation as a religious leader. The study was limited by a waitlist control design, homogenous sample, and the use of some unvalidated outcome measures. Further research with more rigorous control conditions and diverse samples is needed.

This paper examines the long-term economic development of Balangir from the Chauhan period to the early years after independence. Using historical writings, colonial records, settlement surveys, and economic reports, the study shows that although political authority changed from the Chauhans to the Marathas and later to the British, the basic structure of the economy remained rooted in agriculture and forest resources. Indigenous irrigation practices, caste-based production systems, and a mixed barter-and-currency economy helped sustain the region for centuries. More than seventy percent of the population continued to depend on agriculture even by the middle of the twentieth century. Major changes such as the shifting of the state headquarters in 1872, railway arrival in 1932, and post-1947 administrative reforms affected economic orientation but did not alter the core agrarian character. Limited irrigation, poor transport, and weak industrial investment slowed modernization. By 1956, Balangir stood in transition, showing institutional growth but still dominated by traditional economic structures.

In the nineteenth century, the tea gardens of Assam were one of the major commercial developments in colonial Assam. With the expansion of tea gardens, the demography of the province was changed as large numbers of immigrants were transported to the tea gardens mainly from eastern and central India. The Assam province, tea gardens and the history of diseases and medicines are deeply intertwined, but the intersection has not yet been explored much by the historians. Recent historical writings on tea plantations in colonial Assam have reflected more on the economic aspects than on the social history of diseases and medicines. In Assam, disease and high mortality among the tea garden workers during their journey was a common phenomenon in the nineteenth century that defamed the province among the recruits. This article sheds light on the conditions of the workers during the journey and also reflects the ‘political’ nature of cholera during the nineteenth and the early part of the twentieth centuries. It also demonstrates the aetiological contestation of the disease among the colonial bureaucrats, medical personnel and the planters that were shaped in consideration of the political and commercial interests, despite the crucial superiority of the ‘germ theory’.

This article analyses the policy of the Venetian Republic in the Morea (Peloponnese), considering its territorial acquisitions of Argos and Nafplio in the late fourteenth century, as well as in connection with the increased Ottoman threat in the region. The decrees of the Venetian Senate, as well as Byzantine and Latin historical writings, make it possible to examine the policy of the Republic not only in its new possessions, but also in the Peloponnese in general. The author concludes that during this period, in addition to meeting the needs of its colonies, the Republic was forced to intervene in political conflicts between its neighbours to maintain overall defence capability in the region. This was explained by military actions in the borderlands, which threatened not only with economic losses, but also called into question the future of these territories in the face of Ottoman invasions. The specificity of Venetian policy before 1397 consisted in the active use of diplomatic methods simultaneously with the strengthening of new territories. By appealing to the common interest of Christian rulers, it sought to form a strong alliance to resist the Ottomans. However, following the raid of Evrenos Bey and Yakub Pasha in 1397, Venice adopted a more restrained policy, focusing solely on its own interests and resources. In this situation, the newly acquired territories were finally assigned the role of a buffer to protect the colonies in the south of the Peloponnese. However, the Venetian Republic’s diplomatic efforts in the Morea during this period remained focused on achieving political stabilisation and conflict resolution in the Peloponnese. This was due to the fact that, in the face of evolving political dynamics, the Venetians could no longer maintain a neutral stance on local conflicts.