Did You Know What to Look for When Visiting Space?
[ History ]
🛰 Many believe that the Great Wall of China is visible from space, but in reality, that’s a myth—the wall is way too small. What you can see from orbit, however, are the craters of open-pit mines and the cities that have sprung up around them in southern DRC, in Africa’s Copperbelt.
Three major cities have grown along the mines and pits of this region: Kolwezi, Lubumbashi (DRC), and Ndola (Zambia). The straight-line distance from Kolwezi to Lubumbashi is about 250 km, and another 180 km to Ndola.
🌟 The fact that all of this is clearly visible from space clashes somewhat with another fact: the region’s record as a global open-pit mines construction hub can be traced back to a single Belgian company—one that still exists today.
That company was Union Minière du Haut-Katanga (UMHK), founded in 1906 to mine copper in Congo. Over the decades, it extracted resources worth $5.5 billion (at mid-20th-century exchange rates), digging pits near Kolwezi, Likasi (Shinkolobwe mine), Kipushi and Lubumbashi (Ruashi, Etoile mines).
There were some positives—like building railways, later abandoned—but the company is best remembered in popular memory for financially backing the secessionist quasi-state of Katanga, which rebelled against Patrice Lumumba’s government in 1960.
Interestingly, the original plan—to support the secessionists and thus avoid nationalization by Lumumba’s leftist government—failed on three levels. First, Katanga lost the war and was dissolved in 1963. Then, its former leader, Moise Tshombe, who became prime minister of the entire Congo, nationalized some company’s shares in 1964.
🔫Finally, on December 31, 1966, General Mobutu, who had seized power, nationalized UMHK entirely.
Since then, UMHK in Congo has become the public company Gécamines, which still manages the state’s shares in mineral assets. Meanwhile, the company’s European office evolved into Umicore, which also deals in minerals—though, of course, it can no longer turn part of another country into a lunar landscape.
#History
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📌चन्द्रगुप्त विक्रमादित्य के अभिलेख #History
✍️ मथुरा स्तम्भ लेख — यह चन्द्रगुप्त द्वितीय का पहला अभिलेख है।
✍️ उदयगिरी गुहालेख — यह उदयगिरी का पहला गुहालेख है। इसे कनिंघम ने खोजा था।
✍️ साँची लेख — यह चन्द्रगुप्त द्वितीय के सेनापति आम्रकार्द्धव का है जोकि बौद्ध था और सुकुली क्षेत्र के निवासी उनदान का पुत्र था।
✍️ मेहरौली लौह स्तम्भलेख — सर्वप्रथम जेम्स प्रिंसेप ने इस लेख को प्रकाशित किया था। वर्तमान में यह दिल्ली के मेहरौली में कुतुबमीनार के पास है।
✍️ गढ़वा लेख — गुप्त संवत में चन्द्रगुप्त द्वितीय ने निर्गत किया था। इसमें चन्द्रगुप्त का नाम तो नहीं दिया गया है परन्तु उसकी उपाधियाँ परमभागवत एवं महाराजधिराज दी गयी हैं।
📌Inscriptions of Chandragupta Vikramaditya
✍️ Mathura Pillar Inscription — This is the first inscription of Chandragupta II.
✍️ Udaigiri cave inscriptions — This is the first inscription of Udaigiri. It was discovered by Cunningham.
✍️ Sanchi Inscription — It belongs to Amrakardhava, the commander of Chandragupta II, who was a Buddhist and was the son of Undan, a resident of the Sukuli region.
✍️ Mehrauli Iron Pillar — This inscription was first published by James Prinsep. Presently it is near Qutub Minar in Mehrauli, Delhi.
✍️ Garhwa Inscription — Chandragupta II issued in the Gupta era. In this, the name of Chandragupta is not given, but his titles have been given as Param Bhagwat and Maharajadhiraj.
📌शिलालेख – लघु शिलालेख में अशोक के व्यक्तिगत जीवन की जानकारी मिलती है #History
🚀लघु शिलालेख — 📍स्थान
🪴 रुपनाथ — मध्य प्रदेश के जबलपुर जिला
🪴 गुर्जरा — म.प्र. के दतियां जिले में
🪴 सहसाराम — बिहार के शाहाबाद जिले में
🪴 भाब्रू या बैराट — जयपुर जिले में (राजस्थान)
🪴 मास्की — कर्नाटक के रायचूर जिले में
🪴 ब्रह्मगिरी — मैसूर के चित्रदुर्ग जिले में
🪴 सिध्दपुर — कर्नाटक में
🪴 जटिंगरामेश्वर — कर्नाटक में
🪴 एर्रगुडी — आंध्र प्रदेश के कर्नूल जिले में
🪴 गोविमठ — मैसूर के कोपबल में
🪴 पालकिगुण्डु — कर्नाटक
🪴 राजुलमण्डगिरी — आंध्र प्रदेश के कर्नूल जिले में
🪴 अहरौरा — उ.प्र. के मिर्जापुर जिले में
🪴 सारोमारो — शहडौल, मध्य प्रदेश
🪴 नेत्तूर — मैसूर
🪴 उडेगोलन — बेल्लारी, कर्नाटक
🪴 पनगुडरिया — सिहोर, मध्य प्रदेश
🪴 सन्नाती — गुलबर्गा, कर्नाटक
📌Inscriptions - Minor Rock edicts provide information about Ashoka's personal life.
🚀Minor Rock Edict — 📍Location
🪴 Rupnatha — Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh
🪴 Gurjara — Datiya Districto of M.P.
🪴 Sahasram — In shahabad district of Bihar
🪴 Bhabru or bairat — In Jaipur district (Rajasthan)
🪴 Maski — In Raichur district of Karnataka
🪴 Brahmagiri — In Chitraduraga districto of Mysore
🪴 Siddhpur — Karnataka
🪴 Jatingrameshwar — Karnataka
🪴 Erragudi — Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh
🪴 Govimatha — Kopbal in Mysore
🪴 Palkigundu — Karnataka
🪴 Rajulmandagiri — Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh
🪴 Ahraura — Mirzapur district of U.P. scsgyan
🪴 Saromaro — Shahdol,M.P.
🪴 Nettur — Mysore
🪴 Udegolan — Bellary, Karnataka
🪴 Pangudaria — Sihor, Madhya Pradesh
🪴 Sannati — Gulbarga, Karnataka