Tag: RELIGION

EP056 INDIA SERIES 03 THE AFGHAN FRONTIER

2024-03-30 age-of-victoria EMPIRE, EPISODES 0:59:24 1 Comment

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SHOWNOTES:

EP056 INDIA SERIES 03 THE AFGHAN FRONTIER

Introduction

    • I discuss enjoying Easter treats like nut-free eggs and binge-watching Shogun.

    • Shout out to Two Broads Cider on the west coast of the U.S.

    • Note about using some AI voice clips in the previous episode

    • Welcome to new Patreon supporter Sean Spada

Main Topic: The Borders of Victorian India and Afghanistan

    • Victorian Views on Borders/Imperialism

    • Importance of defined borders to nation-states vs. historical blended territories

    • Empires tended to use geographic features like rivers/mountains as borders

    • Motivations for expanding empire borders: security, resources, preventing rival expansion

    • Debate around British motivations – security concern vs. aggression

Geography of Afghanistan

    • Overview of Afghanistan’s mountainous terrain and extreme climate variations

    • Significance of the Hindu Kush mountain range and Khyber Pass

    • Historical importance as a crossroads along Silk Road trade routes
    • Challenges the terrain posed for military movement/supply lines
Main topic: Afghan culture

    • Predominantly Muslim, but rich cultural diversity beyond Taliban stereotypes

    • Alignment between conservative Victorian and Muslim values in some areas

    • Debate around female dress codes and varying interpretations

    • Primacy of tribal/kinship affiliations over national identity

    • Ethnic groups like Pushtuns and history of conflicts with groups like Sikhs

    • Afghan Border Security Concerns for Britain

Main topic: Preventing Russian expansion from Central Asia into India

    • Recent history of Afghan rulers invading India (Mughals)

    • Unease over Russian/French intrigues to court Afghan allies against Britain

Main topic: The Adventures of Sir Alexander Burnes

    • Early life and join the East India Company’s military

    • Daring diplomatic missions mapping rivers and intelligence gathering

    • Writing bestseller “Travels into Bokhara” about his experiences

Main topic: Burnes’ Afghan Mission (1836-1838)

    • Dispatched to Kabul to monitor Russian influence

    • Built relationships with Afghan leaders like Dost Mohammad Khan

    • Recommended installing Shah Shuja as British-friendly ruler

    • Laid groundwork for the disastrous First Anglo-Afghan War

    • Views dismissed by Sir William Macnaghten in favor of war hawks

Main topic: British Decision to Invade Afghanistan

    • Fears over Dost Mohammad allying with Russia/Persia against Britain

    • Failure to reach terms protecting British interests

    • Plan to depose Dost and reinstate former ruler Shah Shuja

    • Overconfident manifesto expecting quick regime change

    • Inability to concede to Dost’s demands over Peshawar and Sikh rivalry

    • Declaration of War!

If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com. The show also has a facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria. Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, it takes less time than making a coffee. You can also subscribe for free on most major podcast apps. To support the show on Patreon, either CLICK HERE or you can go to Patreon and search for Age of Victoria podcast or my name. Take care and bye for now.

EP050 DARWIN IN PARADISE

2023-03-31 age-of-victoria ADVENTURE & EXPLORATION, EPISODES, SCIENCE EPISODES 00:46:29 0 Comments

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This is episode four of series on Charles Darwin’s five-year journey aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin arrived in Tahiti in November 1835 and spent a month there. He was struck by the beauty of the island and its people, whom he described as “the finest race of savages in the world.” He was particularly impressed by their hospitality, noting that they were “good-tempered and cheerful, honest and obliging.” Darwin also observed the Tahitians’ social customs, such as their elaborate tattoos and their practice of polygamy.

Learn about his time on the island, the start of European colonisation, and the coming of Christianity. Conflict and conquest cast a shadow over Tahiti’s future. European contact with Tahiti had immense consequences for the Tahitians. It brought new technologies and goods, such as firearms and textiles, but it also introduced diseases such as smallpox, which decimated the population. See how European visitors and traders exploited the Tahitians, leading to conflict and resentment. There was also the immense impact of the London Missionary Society, and the spread of Christianity. Missionaries viewed Tahiti less as paradise, and more as a place of vice and paganism. 

Despite these challenges, the Tahitians maintained their distinct culture and way of life. Darwin’s visit to the island provided a glimpse into their world and contributed to his understanding of the diversity of human societies. In 1842, France claimed Tahiti as a protectorate, and in 1843, it established a naval base on the island. This led to a series of conflicts between the French and the Tahitians, culminating in the French Tahitian War in 1844. 

Darwin’s visit was a window into a vanishing world. Join me as we cover Darwin’s time in paradise and learn about the last decade of independent Tahiti before the arrival of the French in the 1840s. 

If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com. The show also has a facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria. Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, it takes less time than making a coffee. You can also subscribe for free on most major podcast apps. To support the show on Patreon, either CLICK HERE or you can go to Patreon and search for Age of Victoria podcast or my name. Take care and bye for now.

EP047 DARWIN BEGINS

2022-10-14 age-of-victoria ADVENTURE & EXPLORATION, EPISODES, SCIENCE EPISODES, SOCIAL HISTORY EPISODES 00:48:26 0 Comments

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Darwin, and his Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection; in this podcast we’ve covered the creation of the new settler Empire and the transition to the new energy form of coal & steam, then the railways, but Darwin had a bigger impact on civilisation than even those. This episode is the start of a series of episodes on Darwin and Evolution. It covers;

  • Intro, thank you’s and reviews.
  • The philosophy of mind & matter
  • Darwin’s dangerous idea
  • The young student
  • A trip to Wales
  • HMS Beagle; how to get a bad ship ready for adventure
  • Captain FitzRoy, a troubled man
  • Geology, physics and the age of the Earth
  • The journey begins.

If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com. The show also has a facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria. Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, it takes less time than making a coffee. You can also subscribe for free on most major podcast apps. To support the show on Patreon, either CLICK HERE or you can go to Patreon and search for Age of Victoria podcast or my name. Take care and bye for now.

EP044 SEX RELIGION AND WEDDING NIGHT BLUES – VICTORIA SEX PT2

2022-04-06 age-of-victoria EPISODES, SOCIAL HISTORY EPISODES 00:39:17 0 Comments

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Our dive under the covers continues. How did sex and religion come together in the Victorian era? How was the bible such an influence on men & women’s sexuality? Should a religious Victorian be having sex? Some evolutionary pitfalls, social problems and a couple of wedding nights to talk about.

This episode covers.

  • Intro & reviews.
  • The duties of Eve.
  • A morally ambiguous bible.
  • Seems risky.
  • Those teenager cave people.
  • Wars, unrest and shipping em off to the Empire.
  • Art and desexualisation.
  • Is she really a seamstress?
  • Queen Victoria enjoys herself…….
  • Ruskin and Effie do not.
  • On that bombshell, it’s good night from me.

If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com. The show also has a facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria. Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, it takes less time than making a coffee. You can also subscribe for free on most major podcast apps. To support the show on Patreon, either CLICK HERE you can go to Patreon and search for Age of Victoria podcast or my name. Take care and bye for now.

EP036 MEET THE PRISONERS

2021-04-18 age-of-victoria AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND, CRIME EPISODES, EPISODES, SOCIAL HISTORY EPISODES, Uncategorised 00:50:20 0 Comments

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At its heart, a prison is the people. But what kind of people ended up in the hellish Port Arthur Prison in Van Diemen’s Land? Was it really just for the worst of the worst? Or was it a machine that simple chewed people up indiscriminately. How can we begin to understand it. Join me to walk a mile or two in a convicts shoe. The episode covers

  • Intro & reviews.
  • The cultural melting pot
  • A philosophy of civilisation?
  • Who were they, these desperado’s?
  • What is a historical prison?
  • The site and the barracks; evidence of the past & imaginations.
  • Prisoners; working for their own good and other people’s greed.
  • The transportation of civilisation.
  • Christian salvation was built into the land.
  • Christianity & criminal justice.

If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com. The show also has a facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria. Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, it takes less time than making a coffee. You can also subscribe for free on most major podcast apps. If you want to support the show on patreon, CLICK HERE or you can go to Patreon and search for age of victoria podcast or my name. Take care and bye for now.

EP032 PHILOSOPHY OF EMPIRE – THE VALUE OF LIFE?

2020-09-04 age-of-victoria AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND, EMPIRE, EPISODES, SOCIAL HISTORY EPISODES 01:01:34 1 Comment

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To understand the past, sometimes we need to examine our values and subject them to philosophical analysis. The British Empire was a complex, varied entity that stretched across the world and changed over the centuries. How do we understand the mindset of those people in the C19th who created it, or lived in it? This episode is designed to get you thinking and analysing big questions and unpleasant moral problems. Ultimately the answers will be down to your judgements. Be warned some material is upsetting and contains references to genocide, racism, slavery, the holocaust, abortion and critiques of religion. I hope you find it stimulating.

Topics

  • Thank you’s to Patrons, and some listener reviews.

  • The complexity of Empire, and the settler empire.

  • How common were empires?

  • Are people innately warlike and violent?

  • Is life important; the need for philosophy.

  • Is life important; what would God do, and does that make it ok?

  • Is life important; building a moral framework for atheists.

  • The worst pub bore ever – drunken philosophy.

  • The economic value of life.

  • If your people are starving, is it immoral not to invade another country?

  • The right to liberty and freedom to do what you want except when you can’t.

  • Heuristics, mental shortcuts, and cognitive biases; how bad decision making affects empires.

  • The power and danger of othering.

  • Look him in the eyes as he dies.

  • Gengis Khan, and how to turn genocides into hero worship.

  • The dangers of anarchy, law and order.

  • Some impacts of Empires; feeding the hungry, and killing other people.

  • Final thoughts.

Thanks for your listening. I hope you enjoy. If you want to get in touch, I’d love to hear from you. You can email me at ageofvictoriapodcast@gmail.com, follow me on twitter @ageofvictoria, visit the website at www.ageofvictoriapodcast.com. The show also has a facebook page and group. Just search for Age of Victoria. Don’t forget to leave a review on iTunes, it takes less time than making a coffee. If you want to support the show on patreon, just click here, or you can go to Patreon and search for age of victoria podcast or my name.

Sources on Politics 1820s&1830s

2019-08-01 age-of-victoria SOURCES 0 Comments

Political history is always complicated; below are the main sources I’ve used for the politics episodes set in the 1820’s and 1830’s. You can always find plenty more, depending on your particular interests. Hopefully these are a useful starting point.

https://www.alistairlexden.org.uk/news/hanoverian-succession-and-downfall-tory-party-tercentenary-essay

http://www.victorianweb.org/history/emancipation2.html

https://history.blog.gov.uk/2012/01/01/the-institution-of-prime-minister/

https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/periods/hanoverians/ultra-tories-and-fall-wellington-government-1830

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/50994/220.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

http://www.irishidentity.com/stories/emancipation.htm

Napier, C “The War in Syria Vol 1” https://www.gutenberg.org/files/53498/53498-h/53498-h.htm

Best, Geoffrey. “The Scottish Victorian City.” Victorian Studies, vol. 11, no. 3, 1968, pp. 329–358. JSTOR,

Fraser, Derek. “Politics and the Victorian City.” Urban History Yearbook, [6], 1979, pp. 32–45.

Morris, J. “Victorian Values in Scotland and England” https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/sites/default/files/78p031.pdf

R.A. Schweitzer BRITISH CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION MOBILIZATION, PROTOTYPE OF REFORM? University of Michigan December 1980

O’Ferrall, Fergus. “’The Only Lever . . .’? The Catholic Priest in Irish Politics 1823-29.” Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, vol. 70, no. 280, 1981, pp. 308–324

Moriarty, Thomas F. “The Irish American Response to Catholic Emancipation.” The Catholic Historical Review, vol. 66, no. 3, 1980, pp. 353–373

Melissa Score, review of The Dawn of the Cheap Press in Victorian Britain: the End of the ‘Taxes on Knowledge’, 1849-1869https://reviews.history.ac.uk/review/1675

JENKINS, BRIAN. Era of Emancipation: British Government of Ireland, 1812-1830. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1988

Lingelbach, Anna Lane. “William Huskisson as President of the Board of Trade.” The American Historical Review, vol. 43, no. 4, 1938, pp. 759–774.

Sinha, Mrinalini. “Britishness, Clubbability, and the Colonial Public Sphere: The Genealogy of an Imperial Institution in Colonial India.” Journal of British Studies, vol. 40, no. 4, 2001, pp. 489–521.

Smyth, Jim, and Alan McKinlay. “Whigs, Tories and Scottish Legal Reform c. 1785-1832.” Crime, Histoire & Sociétés / Crime, History & Societies, vol. 15, no. 1, 2011, pp. 111–132.

Wasson, Ellis Archer. “The Great Whigs and Parliamentary Reform, 1809-1830.” Journal of British Studies, vol. 24, no. 4, 1985, pp. 434–464.

Phillips, John A., and Charles Wetherell. “The Great Reform Act of 1832 and the Political Modernization of England.” The American Historical Review, vol. 100, no. 2, 1995, pp. 411–436.

Tewari, Archana. “THE REFORM BILL (1832) AND THE ABLOLITION OF SLAVERY (1833): A CARIBBEAN LINK.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 73, 2012

Rubinstein Britain’s Century.

Kate Williams Becoming Queen.

Julie Baird Queen Victory

A N Wilson Queen Victoria

Letters of Queen Victoria (by herself).

EP021 Politics 101 The System in the 1820s/30s

2019-08-01 age-of-victoria EPISODES, POLITICS EPISODES 00:53:48 0 Comments

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Politics 101 is here. Every wondered if the Queen of England has any real power? Confused by your MP’s, PM’s and Lords Spiritual? Wondering how it all works in the UK if the Constitution isn’t written down? Unsure if Queen Victoria could just give out the orders? Today’s show breaks down the complex political system in the 1820’s & 1830’s to show you how it all fits together, and to give a glympse into the old world of politics as it stood on the last few years before Victoria became Queen, and the great reform act of 1832.

If you want to know how and why things worked the way they did in the UK, this show is for you because it gives you the framework and the start point to understand what went on, with whom, and why!

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