TERM PAPER

ON
SEVEN WONDERS OF WORLD

THE TAJ MAHAL AGRA, INDIA

HISTORY

Though Agra's history is largely recognised wih Mughal Kingdom, but the place was established much before it and has linkages since Mahabharat period and Mahirshi Angira in 1000 BC. It is generally accepted that Sultan Sikandar Lod, the Ruler of the Delhi Sultanatefounded Agra in the year 1504. After the Sultan's death the city passed on to his son Sultan Ibrhm Lod. He ruled his Sultanate from Agra until he fell fighting to Bbar in the First battle of Panipat fought in 1526. In the year 1556, the great Hindu warrior Hemu Vikramaditya, also known as Samrat Hem Chander Vikramaditya, won Agra as the Prime Minister cum Chief of Army of Adil Shah of the Afghan Sr Dynasty. The commander of Humyn / Akbar's forces in Agra, Tardi Beg Khan, was so scared of Hemu that he retreated from the city without a fight. This was Hemu's 21st continuous win since 1554, and he later went on to conquer Delhi, having his coronation at Purn Qil'a in Delhi on 7 October 1556 and re-established the Hindu Kingdom and theVikramaditya Dynasty in North India. The golden age of the city began with the Mughals. It was known then as Akbarabd and remained the capital of the Mughal Empire under the Emperors Akbar, Jahngr and Shh Jahn. Shh Jahn later shifted his capital to Shhjahnabd in the year 1649. Agra, Main Street, c.1858

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA, CHINA

HISTORY

The earliest walls can date back to 2500 years ago. Originally the ducal states like Qin, Zhao, Yan, Chu, Wei, Qi and Han constructed the several walls to protect their territories from invasions of other kingdoms and normadic tribes during China's Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.). All these walls were finished between 685 -254 B.C. After the whole country was unified in 220 B.C. by the first Emperor Qin Shihuang, he ordered his general Meng Tian to recruit 300,000 labours to extend and connect the northern parts of these walls to keep away the invasion from Huns tribes. In history, the longest wall should be the Great Wall built in Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.), the total length exceeded more than 10,000 kilometers, from the east of Liaoning Province to Lop Nur in the southeastern portion of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to the recent investigations of China's Greal Wall experts. To strengthen the protection, Han emperors even ordered to build other two paralleled walls in the north of Yin Mountain. The Great Wall played a positive role at the moment in defensing the Han territory from the harassment of the Huns, which made part of Huns move to the West Aisa and Europe after they were defeated several times by Hans Army.

CHRIST REDEEMER RIO DE JANEIRO BRAZIL

HISTORY
A World Wonder On July 7, 2007, Christ the Redeemer was named one of the in a list compiled by the Swiss-based The New Open World Corporation.Leading corporate sponsors, including and , had lobbied to have the statue voted into the top seven.

This statue of Jesus stands some 38 meters tall, atop the Corcovado mountain overlooking Rio de Janeiro. Designed by Brazilian Heitor da Silva Costa and created by French sculptor Paul Landowski, it is one of the worlds bestknown monuments. The statue took five years to construct and was inaugurated on October 12, 1931. It has become a symbol of the city and of the warmth of the Brazilian people, who receive visitors with open arms

THE ROMAN COLOSSEUM ROME ITALY

HISTORY

This great amphitheater in the centre of Rome was built to give favors to successful legionnaires and to celebrate the glory of the Roman Empire. Its design concept still stands to this very day, and virtually every modern sports stadium some 2,000 years later still bears the irresistible imprint of the Colosseum's original design. Today, through films and history books, we are even more aware of the cruel fights and games that took place in this arena, all for the joy of the spectators.

MACHU PICCHU PERU

HISTORY

In the 15th century, the Incan Emperor Pachactec built a city in the clouds on the mountain known as Machu Picchu ("old mountain"). This extraordinary settlement lies halfway up the Andes Plateau, deep in the Amazon jungle and above the Urubamba River. It was probably abandoned by the Incas because of a smallpox outbreak and, after the Spanish defeated the Incan Empire, the city remained 'lost' for over three centuries. It was rediscovered by Hiram Bingham in 1911. Machu Picchu (Spanish pronunciation: [matu pitu], Quechua: Machu Pikchu [mtu pixtu], "Old Peak") is a pre-Columbian 15thcentury Inca site located 2,430 metres (7,970 ft) above sea level.[1][2] It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cusco and through which theUrubamba River flows. Most archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (14381472). Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is perhaps the most familiar icon of the Inca World.

PETRA JORDAN

HISTORY
Evidence suggests that settlements had begun in and around Petra in the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (15501292 BC). It is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna letters as Pel, Sela or Seir. Though the city was founded relatively late, a sanctuary existed there since very ancient times. Stations 19 through 26 of the stations list of Exodus are places associated with Petra.[8] This part of the country was Biblically assigned to the Horites, the predecessors of theEdomites.[9] The habits of the original natives may have influenced the Nabataean custom of burying the dead and offering worship in halfexcavated caves. Although Petra is usually identified with Sela which means a rock, the Biblical references[10] refer to it as "the cleft in the rock", referring to its entrance. The second book of Kings xiv. 7 seems to be more specific. In the parallel passage, however, Sela is understood to mean simply "the rock" (2 Chronicles xxv. 12, see LXX).

On the edge of the Arabian Desert, Petra was the glittering capital of the Nabataean empire of King Aretas IV (9 B.C. to 40 A.D.). Masters of water technology, the Nabataeans provided their city with great tunnel constructions and water chambers. A theater, modelled on Greek-Roman prototypes, had space for an audience of 4,000. Today, the Palace Tombs of Petra, with the 42meter-high Hellenistic temple facade on the El-Deir Monastery, are impressive examples of Middle Eastern culture.

THE PYRAMID ATCHICHEN ITZA MEXICO

HISTORY
Chichn Itz, the most famous Mayan temple city, served as the political and economic center of the Mayan civilization. Its various structures - the pyramid of Kukulkan, the Temple of Chac Mool, the Hall of the Thousand Pillars, and the Playing Field of the Prisoners can still be seen today and are demonstrative of an extraordinary commitment to architectural space and composition. The pyramid itself was the last, and arguably the greatest, of all Mayan temples.

Northern Yucatn is arid, and the rivers in the interior all run underground. There are two large, natural sink holes, called cenotes, that could have provided plentiful water year round at Chichen, making it attractive for settlement. Of the two cenotes, the "Cenote Sagrado" or Sacred Cenote(also variously known as the Sacred Well or Well of Sacrifice), is the most famous. According to post-Conquest sources (Maya and Spanish), pre-Columbian Maya sacrificed objects and human beings into the cenote as a form of worship to the Maya rain god Chaac. Edward Herbert Thompson dredged the Cenote Sagrado from 1904 to 1910, and recovered artifacts of gold, jade,pottery, and incense, as well as human remains.[8] A study of human remains taken from the Cenote Sagrado found that they had wounds consistent with human sacrifice