The paper highlights the recent advances of computer-assisted manuscript transcription using Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) programs such as Transkribus. Numerous examples showing the capabilities of current HTR models with respect to different Slavic scripts and handwriting styles are presented and ways to use automatically transcribed sources for multiple purposes are discussed. We demonstrate that the transcription quality is stable throughout an entire document and that researchers can gauge the quality of their HTR transcription based on a limited number of pages. Afterwards, a calculation is conducted showing that the use of HTR as an instrument of pre-transcribing manuscripts and printings makes the overall process of transcribing significantly cheaper, thus making projects possible that could not be conducted without HTR technology due to financial reasons. The paper is concluded with an appeal to share training data and make ample use of these new advancements in HTR.
History of Eastern Europe, Slavic languages. Baltic languages. Albanian languages
The Kingdom of Poland and its Catholic Church were in trouble in the last years of Russian imperial rule. Three of the Church’s major problems, the Mariavites, the anticlerical weekly Zaranie, and the Macoch affair in the Jasna Góra sanctuary, are objects of deliberation in this article. These calamities accelerated a widescale process of secularization in the rural peasant population of Russian Poland. Questions are posed regarding the role of Russian imperial rule in the Kingdom in launching this secularization process. Other factors, such as rising levels of literacy and reading habits, could also have played a role. The text concentrates on the peasantry as the largest social group in the Kingdom, referencing ego documents (letters and memoirs) written by members of this social stratum as primary sources.
Мета статті – аналіз ситуації стосовно Олександрівського кургану, розташованого на березі річки Акаржа поблизу Чорного моря. Йдеться про «розкопки» унікальної пам’ятки, проведені В. Бейлекчі і В. Петренко у 1993 р., матеріали яких досі не опубліковані.
Наукова новизна полягає у введенні до наукового обігу матеріалів і низки картографічних джерел щодо історії дослідження Олександрівського кургану. Крім того, опубліковані дані про реконструкцію кургану у 2010 р. та результати шурфувань 2020 р., а також розглянуті перспективи публікації матеріалів «розкопок» 1993 р.
Висновки. Тема прав на матеріали Олександрівського кургану, яка дискутується в Україні, а більше у Республіці Молдова, є надуманою, оскільки вони належать винятково українській державі та зберігаються у фондах Інституту археології та Одеського археологічного музею Національної академії наук України. Що стосується прав керівника розкопок кургану, який мав на них «Відкритий лист», то він міг би отримати на обмежені часом авторські права на публікацію матеріалів, якби він виконав усі вимоги та правила, передбачені інструкцією до «Відкритого листа». Йдеться про обов’язкову здачу до «Польового комітету» при Інституту археології або до Одеського археологічного музею після закінчення робіт та опрацювання матеріалів: завіреного «Відкритого листа», звіту, щоденника польових робіт, креслень, негативів, довідки про передачу знахідок на державне зберігання й ін. Однак, нічого з цього В. Бейлекчі не зробив, тому він фактично в авторські права і не вступав. І навіть більше: він порушив ще одне зобов’язання прописане у всіх «Відкритих листах» ІА АНУ 1993 р.: «Передоручення робіт по цьому «Відкритому листу» іншій особі забороняється». Отже, виходячи зі сказаного, В.Г. Петренко ніяких прав на матеріали Олександрівського кургану не мав, але не мав і зобов’язань, через що будь-які підписані ним дозволи на користування цими матеріалами не коштують паперу, на якому написані.
Російське повномасштабне вторгнення в Україну змусило багатьох українців стати внутрішніми переселенцями, а частину з них – виїхати за кордон. Опинившись за межами України, молоде покоління соціалізується у суспільство тієї країни, в якій воно перебуває, саме тому перед освітніми закладами України стоїть завдання їх патріотичного виховання, навіть у дистанційному форматі.
У статті розкриваються особливості національно-патріотичного виховання молодого покоління української діаспори в країнах Європи. Акцентується увага на діяльності в них українських шкіл вихідного дня, в яких учні вивчають українську мову, літературу, історію, культуру, географію, природу тощо та беруть активну участь в організації й проведенні численних як державних, так і релігійних свят, таких як День Соборності України, День Незалежності України, День захисників і захисниць України, Різдво, Пасха, Зелені свята, День святого Миколая та ін. Автор пропонує різні форми, методи і засоби, які можуть бути використані із здобувачами освіти для здійснення їх національно-патріотичного виховання через інтеграційний підхід у навчальній та просвітницькій діяльності, що сприятиме формуванню в них почуття патріотизму й любові до Батьківщини, національної свідомості, гідності, становленню їхньої громадянської позиції.
Анотація. Дослідження розглядає глибинний аналіз етичних питань, що виникають у процесі взаємодії культур. Аналізується складність та важливість діалогу між різними культурними системами, зокрема, зосереджуючись на моральних аспектах, що формують ці взаємодії. Рефлексія на тематику моральності у діалозі культур підкреслює значення розуміння та поваги до етичних норм і цінностей різних культур. Актуальність теми етики взаємодії культур обумовлена висхідною глобалізацією та інтенсивними міжкультурними контактами, що вимагають пошуку нових етичних підходів для забезпечення гармонійної співпраці. У сучасному світі, де культура та ідентичність часто переплітаються й взаємодіють, важливо розробити етичні рамки, які сприятимуть справедливості та повазі в діалозі між різними культурними системами. Рефлексія про моральність у таких взаємодіях стає необхідною для запобігання конфліктам та підтримки рівноправного співіснування в умовах культурного різноманіття.
У дослідженні підкреслюється, що для ефективного діалогу необхідне взаємне визнання відмінностей та здатність до емпатії, що дозволяє зрозуміти прийняти іншу культуру. Автори звертають увагу на те, що культура не є статичною, а постійно розвивається через взаємодію з іншими системами, що вимагає етичної відповідальності від учасників діалогу. Особливу увагу приділено проблемам, які виникають через нерівність сил між культурами, а також наслідкам таких дисбалансів. Наголошується на важливості створення етичних рамок, які враховують цю асиметрію, забезпечуючи справедливість і рівноправність у міжкультурних відносинах. Увага приділяється також ризикам культурної апропріації, яка може призвести до викривлення ідей та практик інших культур.
Крім того, аналізуються механізмами подолання міжкультурних конфліктів, зокрема через пошук спільних етичних принципів, які можуть стати основою для продуктивного діалогу. Це передбачає, з одного боку, повагу до інших культурних традицій, а з іншого — готовність до критичного переосмислення власних етичних установок. На закінчення, автори роблять висновок, що етика міжкультурної взаємодії повинна враховувати складність культурних ідентичностей і прагнути до гармонійного співіснування різних культурних систем. Важливість цього процесу зростає в умовах глобалізації, коли взаємодія між культурами стає більш інтенсивною і потребує нових етичних підходів.
The article challenges the common view of the Yugoslav space as an area producing rather than receiving refugees by providing an overview of the main historiographic works dealing with refugees within and into the territories of the former Yugoslavia. It identifies two main conceptual foci that revolve around the understanding of refugees as either “national” or “international.” In the case of “national refugees,” scholars have frequently stressed the ex-istence of supposedly pre-existing ethnic ties between the refugees and the territories where they found refuge, but the scholarship also explores the entanglement of diverse population movements—both compulsory and voluntary—in the multinational areas that experienced a process of unmixing of peoples since the second half of the nineteenth century. On the contrary, historiography on “international refugees” displays a more prominent interest in the management of refugees by both state and non-state actors, including their spatial distri-bution. Furthermore, these scholars have addressed the relationship between the refugee flows from abroad and the country’s geopolitical constellation, demon¬strating how foreign policy shapes the reception of refugees, but also how refugee influx reframes international allegiances. While the so-called “Balkan route” has put the region in the international spotlight as an important avenue of transit, an overview of historical thinking related to refu-gees into and within the former Yugoslavia provides tools to reflect upon the way people on the move have been and are conceptualized.
1- Abstract
The arrival of Britain in India under the cover of the East India Company at the beginning of the 17th century led to the country’s gaining access to the legendary financial resources in the subcontinent. However, with the British presence in India, the Zoroastrian community of this country, known as the Parsis, also underwent a significant economic transformation. Evidence of the increase in the wealth of the Parsis after the establishment of the British East India Company in the subcontinent is that in the 19th and 20th centuries, with the capital possessed, they set up numerous and large factories in India. Were there any special relations in the economic and professional field between the Parsis of India and the company? This is the question that the present study seeks to answer. In this study, using related historical sources, including works about the Parsis of India as well as compilations about the beginning and implementation of the British East India Company, the reasons for the positive perception of the company leaders of the Parsis are examined using a descriptive-analytical approach. Then, by reviewing the professional life of the Parsis, in two important ports of Surat and Bombay, which were the main points of contact with the company’s employees, examples of the Parsis services to the British East India Company and the privileges donated to the Persis leaders by the British are recounted and analyzed. The results show that the Parsis cooperation with the British government representatives in India was not limited to economic fields and that the British also had the assistance of the Zoroastrian community in the political arena.
2- Introduction
The followers of Zoroastrianism have been known in India from past times as “Farsi” or “Parsi”. In fact, since the annexation of the western parts of India to the Achaemenid Empire, Iranians travelled to these areas. Also, Iranian Zoroastrians, especially their clerics, travelled to India before Islam to propagate this religion for business. But the issue of their migration to India after Islam is mainly based on a poetic story called "Qeṣṣe-ye Sanjān" composed in 1008 AH (1600 AD). The narrator of the story events has been a trusted Zoroastrian priest to Bahman Keyqubad, the story’s composer. Based on this source, after the Arab invasion of Khurasan during the conquest of Iran, the Zoroastrians of a village called Sanjan in north-eastern Iran took refuge in the nearby mountains and spent a hundred years there. Then, they travelled to the island of Hormuz and lived there for fifteen years. "Dib" on the southern shores of the Indus was their next destination, where they remained for nineteen years. Then, they moved to Gujarat and settled in an area that was reminiscent of the former land of Sanjan, where they also spent five hundred years. Therefore, this group of immigrants left India in the middle of the second century AH. The question is, how did the narrator get these exact time intervals?
The editor of Qesse in the introduction of the book indicates the existence of sufficient references to prove the truth of this story. One of the documents he presents is the narration of Baladhuri in "Futuh al-Buldan" in which the people of Kerman fled from the Arab army. But this narration is not applicable to the story of Sanjan. The narration of Baladhuri indicates the escape of a number of people of Kerman in the first half of the first century AH from the Arab army and their departure to Hormuz and the conflict with the Arabs on this island. Baladhuri's words in this regard end with this report: many people of Kerman fled by sea. The existence of many ambiguities in the story caused its rejection by some contemporary Zoroastrian scholars.
However, the story says the adventure of the Parsis refugees in which they asked the Hindu ruler of the region to stay in Gujarat, and he agreed to live there under certain conditions. Among his conditions was: In the language, domination, and clothing of women, the Hindu customs should be considered, and also the means of war should be avoided. Accordingly, the Parsis accorded themselves perfectly to the culture and customs of the environment; this point was probably one of the reasons for the British approach toward them. Karaka writes in this regard: “It is a characteristic of the Persis that they have behaved appropriately to other peoples, even though their beliefs and customs are different, and they have adjusted themselves to the conditions, although the conditions were not according to their desire”. Jonathan Duncan, the British ruler of Mumbai at the beginning of the 19th century, criticized Muslims in a conversation with Abdul Latif Shushtari, comparing them to the Parsis, who easily adapted themselves to the custom and culture of the superior people: “What is the reason that wherever the monarchy of the Muslim exists or a sect of Muslims resides, their work is on the harshness ... unlike other religions which are smooth and gentle?"
On the events of 986 AH / 1587 AD, Badayuni, the historian of the court of Jalaluddin Akbar has reported the presence of Zoroastrians from the city of Navsari in the Gujarat region in the court of this ruler and writes that this powerful ruler ordered that the fire always be kept lit in a certain place. The report shows that in the late 16th century, the city of Navsari near Surat was the main settlement of Zoroastrians in India and since the agricultural conditions of the region met their job and economic needs, they had not migrated to Surat. Although the Parsis lived in this port before the arrival of the Europeans, the increase in their number was closely related to the arrival of European companies in this city.
The endeavour of European countries to penetrate east by sea led the Portuguese Vasco da Gama to become the first European sailor to set foot on Indian soil. Nehru reminds us that this first step was taken after the end of the Muslim rule over Andalusia in 1492 AD. Perhaps from the view of the new Iberian rulers, this move was revenge to conquer the East and spread Christianity in the face of the spread of Islam in Spain. Wasn't that the Portuguese paid special attention to the spread of Christianity in the East, and their violence of the Muslim merchants whom they called the Moors (Spanish Muslims) was unexampled? It is said that the intensity of the Portuguese violence was due to the superiority of the Muslims in trade, while part of it must be attributed to their dissatisfaction with the long Muslim rule in southwestern Europe.
From the Europeans’ point of view, the port of Surat, in the south of Gujarat and on the bank of the navigable Tapi or Tapti River, about 30 km far from the Arabian Sea, was suitable for their ships to travel to India. The knowledge of European capitalists of the geographical location of Surat, which was connected with the Far East countries on the one hand and with the Iranian and Arab ports, on the other hand, encouraged them to build several factories in this port from the second decade of the 17th century. Also, the relative proximity of Surat to Deccan and Gujarat, the centers of cotton cultivation and production in India made the Europeans eager to build factories there. Then, the Portuguese, the Dutch, the French, and the British came to this port and each established a trading company in their own name. The location of Surat made this port the most commercially productive one in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries and was distinguished among Indian ports. This supremacy continued until the rise of Mumbai in the commercial arena, and then Surat was ignored.
Although the British East India Company arrival in Surat after Portugal managed to repel the enemy with military force, the French financial bankruptcy in Surat automatically led to their removal from the port. The company, which ostensibly bore the name of the company and was in fact the British government with shareholders (mainly military personnel), after a while, took over the country's political destiny in addition to monopolizing India's trade.
In this study, the reasons and methods of the East India Company's use of the Parsi society of India, as one of the tools to increase their influence in this land, as well as the type of cooperation of the Parsis with the British and its results for them are discussed. So far, no specific research has been done on this topic; however, numerous works related to the history of the Parsis, as well as writings related to the emergence and decline of the East India Company, contain scattered materials on the subject of this study. The manuscript of “Waqaye-i Hind” by Abdul Latif Shushtari at the beginning of the 19th century, which deals with the events in India, especially the island of Mumbai, has useful and relevant information in this regard. Shushtari, who was on behalf of the company, overseeing the affairs of Iranian businessmen in Mumbai, met daily with the island's Parsi leaders and recorded valuable notes of their relations with the company's leaders. The History of the Parsis, a work from the second half of the 19th century, also contains useful information on the subject of this article, due to the proximity of the author's era to the period of intimate relations between the Persians and the British. An article with the title Pyarsis and the British also contains notes on the relations between the Parsis and the East India Company which Hinnells published in 1978 in the journal of Kama Institute.
3- Materials and Methods
have been the main sources of the author for writing this descriptive-analytical article.
4- Discussion of Results and Conclusions
The British East India Company made its way to India later than Portugal, the Netherlands, and France in the early 17th century, but soon overtook European rivals and pursued its capitalist goals singly. In the meantime, the British needed the help of the natives of India to achieve their goals. People with abilities in business, sea voyages, knowledge of local products and facilities, knowledge of local leaders and celebrities, skills in intermediary in transactions and linguistics were among the characteristics of Parsis. On the other hand, the Zoroastrian community of India was eager to cooperate with the East India Company in order to be more successful in business, obtain various goods, and receive support during business trips. Although Parsis did not gain a high position in the company and even export goods directly to Europe, and the company's leaders viewed them as instrumental and a means of profit, in order to continue their cooperation, they were constantly provided with business opportunities and more income. The British acquisition of advanced technology in the textile industry, their progress in land and sea transportation, and entry into Asian markets, relying on the military in the 19th century, also had a positive impact on Parsis business. Their cooperation with the British for more than three centuries provided them with more wealth than they had imagined. The wealth they accumulated in the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century through various means, especially trade, was invested in the industry from the second half of this century. In the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, they held half of the managerial and regulatory positions of Mumbai factories. They owned India's first steel plant. Some of them violated some of the moral limitations of Zoroastrianism and followed the British way of life to earn more money. At this time, Britain was their homeland. But the Parsis’ dependence on British capitalists also caused them some harm. In the late 19th century, the center of India's foreign trade was moved from the west of India, the center of Parsis’ gathering and life, to the east by the heads of companies; thus Parsis’ role in trade diminished. Opium exports from India to China also declined. New industries entered the world of Indian industry in 1900, and Parsis paid less attention to these industries due to the continued focus on cotton and fabric production. Together, these factors halted the economic growth of Parsis in the second half of the 20th century compared to the previous century. The Parsis’ close and intimate relations with the British also caused them cultural damages such as the loss of religious identity which has been considered and protested by some followers of this religion.
History (General) and history of Europe, History of Asia
This study investigated the critical success factors for the community management of rural water supplies in the Ohangwena Region, Namibia. Rural communities in Namibia receive water through the Community Based Management (CBM) strategy, which necessitates water governance decentralization, thereby enabling local communities to participate in the management of their water resources. In pursuance of this policy and philosophy, a large number of water point committees have been created nationally. At least half of the existing water points in rural areas in Namibia are faulty and dysfunctional, however, and the majority of people are still struggling to access clean water. The study endeavoured to examine key considerations that have a positive impact on the success of the management of the rural water supply in Namibia, using the Ohangwena Region as a case study. Qualitative and quantitative methods were used in the study. The findings from the study affirmed that governance, leadership attributes of the committee members, training and capacity building, level of community involvement, coordination and support are critical success factors for effective management of rural water supplies. Finally, a rural water management model was developed, which is anticipated to contribute towards improved management of rural water provision in the study area.
History of Africa, African languages and literature
The article presents the pioneering research conducted in Poland in the field of ethnoarchaeology just before and immediately after the Second World War. The use of this method was pioneered by W. Hołubowicz. The article shows how ethnoarchaeology spread to other research centres in later years. A novelty in the research was the search for solutions in ethnographic materials. It made it possible to study production techniques and ways of using products. Currently, it is used in studies about architecture, workshops, and various classes of monuments. Research on monuments allows us to determine the traces of production and use of items. The described method contributed significantly to the refinement of knowledge about the everyday life of ancient people.
Abulgasim Ahbara, Abulgasim Ahbara, Hussain Bahbahani
et al.
Variations in body weight and in the distribution of body fat are associated with feed availability, thermoregulation, and energy reserve. Ethiopia is characterized by distinct agro-ecological and human ethnic farmer diversity of ancient origin, which have impacted on the variation of its indigenous livestock. Here, we investigate autosomal genome-wide profiles of 11 Ethiopian indigenous sheep populations using the Illumina Ovine 50 K SNP BeadChip assay. Sheep from the Caribbean, Europe, Middle East, China, and western, northern and southern Africa were included to address globally, the genetic variation and history of Ethiopian populations. Population relationship and structure analysis separated Ethiopian indigenous fat-tail sheep from their North African and Middle Eastern counterparts. It indicates two main genetic backgrounds and supports two distinct genetic histories for African fat-tail sheep. Within Ethiopian sheep, our results show that the short fat-tail sheep do not represent a monophyletic group. Four genetic backgrounds are present in Ethiopian indigenous sheep but at different proportions among the fat-rump and the long fat-tail sheep from western and southern Ethiopia. The Ethiopian fat-rump sheep share a genetic background with Sudanese thin-tail sheep. Genome-wide selection signature analysis identified eight putative candidate regions spanning genes influencing growth traits and fat deposition (NPR2, HINT2, SPAG8, INSR), development of limbs and skeleton, and tail formation (ALX4, HOXB13, BMP4), embryonic development of tendons, bones and cartilages (EYA2, SULF2), regulation of body temperature (TRPM8), body weight and height variation (DIS3L2), control of lipogenesis and intracellular transport of long-chain fatty acids (FABP3), the occurrence and morphology of horns (RXFP2), and response to heat stress (DNAJC18). Our findings suggest that Ethiopian fat-tail sheep represent a uniquely admixed but distinct genepool that presents an important resource for understanding the genetic control of skeletal growth, fat metabolism and associated physiological processes.
У статті розглядаються передумови та наслідки каральної політики комуністичної влади в Одеській губернії на початку 1921 р. Причинами такої політики було невиконання плану продрозкладки та загальне невдоволення селян аграрною політикою цієї влади. Значне погіршення продовольчого забезпечення робітничого класу спровокувало поширення у його середовищі антикомуністичних настроїв. З метою подолання продовольчої кризи владою було організовано нову кампанію з вилучення збіжжя у селян. Передбачаючи спротив селянства, владою одночасно було вжито заходи для боротьби з політичним бандитизмом. Наслідком такої каральної політики стали чисельні жертви, частина імен яких стала відомою завдяки протоколам засідання колегії ОГНК.
LAUDATIO in honorem prof. Dr. dr., member of the Romanian Academy Ioan Aurel Pop occasion of conferring the honorary title Doctor Honoris Causa of the State Pedagogical University "Ion Creanga", May 7, 2015