User talk:John Hill/Archive02

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[edit] Physical features of Jats

Hi John Hill, NPOV should be maintained. There may be modifications as per that policy. But you have deleted Physical features section which I could not understand. When you describe an object you have to write as it is. If nose is long you have to write that. If they are strong in physique you have to write that. What is racial feature here in describing a group of people whom British called Martial Race. When it is a race you have to write that. Physical features is one of criteria to study a race. I think it may added to the article. burdak 05:38, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

Hi Shri Burdak: I am sorry I have to disagree with you. The previous section on "Physical Features" which I deleted had many things wrong with it and was anything but "neutral."
First of all, there is no agreed-on definition of the physical characteristics which make up the so-called "Aryan race". Several groups have made claim to being descended from the "original Aryans", including people from the region around Herat and neighbouring parts of Iran (ancient Aria) and some Germans, notably the Nazis. Now, I am sure you will agree that, in general, Heratis, Germans and Jats look very different from each other - so all three claims cannot be accepted and, without convincing proof available one way or the other, one must remain neutral.
No one really knows what are "pure Aryan features," or "pure Aryan characteristics" are. I am sure many Heratis and Germans would not agree with this way of describing Jats, and may even be offended. That is why it is so important to retain a "neutral point of view" NPOV.
And what exactly do "pure Aryan", "unmistakably Aryan", and "non-Aryan features" mean? Have a look at the Wikipedia articles on Aryan and Aryan Race.
Similarly, just because an old British report referred to the Jats as a "Martial Race" does not necessarily mean that the Jat were a racially distinct group. In fact, it is probably best interpreted that the Report either meant that they were a significant threat to the British or that they provided good troops for the British forces in India. The word "race" has been so misused over the years, and can imply so many different things, it is now almost meaningless unless very carefully defined by the author. See the Wikipedia article on race.
Further, there was a long quote from a Dr. Birereton (with no proper references given) which was extremely simplistic and full of generalizations. Worse, it was very insulting of Jat people. Comments such as: "Their intellectual facilities are not brilliant partaking more of shrewedness and cunning than ability" and "The Jat women are of very strong physique exceeding man in this respect proportionately speaking. They are not remarkable for personal beauty . . ." These are outrageous generalizations mainly demonstrating the prejudices of Dr. Birereton and have no place in a serious reference work. John Hill 14:34, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Image:Yarkand Governor's Guard.jpg

Coliseum the Cat
Coliseum the Cat

Hello John,

Thanks for posting this and lots of other good images to en.wikipedia. Somebody has just copied it to WIki Commons, so it could be more easily used elsewhere. Would you consider posting images in the future to Wiki Commons (commons.wikipedia.org) instead of en.wikipedia? (As long as an image can be posted under a free license, of course). It makes no difference as far as using the image in en.wikipedia is concerned, but this way they will be immediately accessible to editors in all languages' wikipedias (and potentially in other wiki projects), and will be visible in the context of wider categories that Wiki Commons has. Regards, --Vladimir (Vmenkov 08:40, 29 January 2007 (UTC))

John, it is absolutely the same syntax: e.g. [[Image:Coliseum-the-cat-0072.jpg|thumb|right|Coliseum the Cat]] picks my image from the commons just the same as if it were in en.wikipedia.com (where it is not). If the image exists in both places, then articles in the English wiki will pick the copy from the English wiki, and articles in other projects will pick it from the Commons. Cheers, --Vladimir (Vmenkov 07:23, 30 January 2007 (UTC))

[edit] Pyenzhangling

Hi, there. Thanks for all your Tibet-related edits and pictures. I saw your edits to Milarepa's Cave and I wonder if you have an opinion about Pyenzhangling Monastery, which is up for deletion. Cheers, Nat Krause(Talk!·What have I done?) 07:20, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] TRLV

Nice article. I'll do what I can to add to it, but it's good as it stands. Guettarda 13:48, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] awesome

I tagged Trinidad Regional Virus Laboratory with a stub tag yesterday. Thanks for expanding it and "un-stubbing" it. that really helps wikipedia out a lot. I would encourage you to keep working on it to make it better. For instance I would encourage you to you subject headings. check out WP:MOS for some guidlines. Thanks again. --Tainter 16:02, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Prostration (Buddhism) image

Hi John -

From your User page, it sounds like you've had an extraordinary life. Thanks so much for sharing your many amazing journeys and impressive knowledge on Wikipedia.

I see you recently added an image to the Prostration (Buddhism) article. First, I'd like to thank you for doing so. Your images (and I've looked over a few) are generally very colorful and lively and add visual excitement to articles.

In regards to the particular image added to Prostration (Buddhism) (Image:Pilgrims prostrating at Jokhang.JPG), I hope you don't mind but I moved the image down lower in the article. I did so only after a good deal of experimentation with different configurations and reviewing the text. The reason for not leaving the image as you inserted it is that the initial insertion forced the existing navigational template to start the article with a large area of blank space to the left of the transcluded template which, I hope you could see, was visually confusing. So the question became, should the template be moved or the image.

Ultimately, because the thrust of the article is meant to focus on daily prostration practices and the image showed a Tibetan-specific full prostration on a pilgrimage from a birds-eye (non-practitioner) view, I reluctantly decided to move the image to the Tibetan-specific section of the article where non-daily prostrations are alluded to.

This wasn't an easy choice for me and I'd be happy to discuss this further with you. Whether your inclined to discuss it further or not, I'd like to simply thank you again for your sharing your wonderful experiences and wisdom. Best regards, Larry Rosenfeld (talk) 10:01, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Thank you for your thoughtful understanding and kindness. In addition to your inspiring experiences and obvious intellect, you have a good heart. Best wishes, Larry Rosenfeld (talk) 15:45, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re: Reverted Archives

Dear John Hill, Thanks for the action of restoring the deleted content from Jat talk page. It is OK.burdak 02:36, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Yuezhi

I admit I don't know anything about the subject so I'm not good at referencing these articles. I'm copy editing a bunch of articles on Indian history for FA applications and so sometimes I try to upgrade the articles they link to so the FA application will stand a better chance. Also, sometimes I'm trying to understand enough to copy edit accurately. Maybe this is the wrong article anyhow -- I can't tell. The only book I have refers to Yueh-chi so the editor of the FA candidate maybe doesn't mean this article. An Asian tribe that invaded India? Sincerely, Mattisse 00:05, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm sorry for being so unclear in my message. FA is Feature Article, meaning it has gone through a review process and been designated as such. I do copy editing for a person who writes history of India articles. He is Indian so he has trouble understanding how little I know. We just finished Hoysala Empire and Vijayanagara Empire which are now Feature Articles. (See the little star in the corner?) And if an article is considered really good, it can be featured on the Wikipedia main page — a new one is featured there every day. It is Wikipedia's way of trying to inspire editors to upgrade their articles. I am working on Western Chalukyas now as well as several other articles having to do with Indian dynasties/kingdoms/empires and their architecture, literature, society and so on. I know very little about India's history so sometimes I get very confused about what the article is trying to say. Somehow I must have reached Yuezhi because I thought that was the name of a Central Asian tribe that invaded India. I apologise for adding an inaccurate link. I can't image doing so on an article that I know nothing about!
{I just looked at the article's history and what I added was a tag that said it needed intext references. Not that I'm defensive or anything!) {{nofootnote|article}} puts a banner across the top of your page. It looks like an interesting article and I will read it. Thanks for the message and for being interested! From looking at your user page, it seems like we have several things in common. Sincerely, Mattisse 01:56, 17 February 2007 (UTC)
P.S. Black Seminoles is a FA I notice! Mattisse 02:01, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] another FA

British African-Caribbean community - a completely original FA article by User:Zleitzen. We worked together on Fidel Castro until it became hopelessly political. Maybe it will calm down. Sincerely, Mattisse 04:52, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Songtsän Gampo

It is normal practice in history to more ore less disregard hagiographic material that was compiled several centuries after the events described. It is not clear to my why this standard should be relaxed in Tibetan studies. While of course this material will contain some true material not found elsewhere it takes a lot of spade work to figure out what these nuggets of historicity are, and after all Wikipedia is not the place for orignal research. The Samye debates are a good example. No debate occured, and nothing occured at Samye. There was no winner and no loser, and Chinese style Buddhism (whatever that might be) was never surpressed in Tibet. Hoshan Mahayana was a real person, and was involved in scholarly discussion with his contemporaries. Some details e.g. the Nepali wife, are clearly made up, for starters her name Brkhuti (sp?) is the name of Avalokitesvara's second consort. Clearly someone thought along these lines -- Avalokitesvara is Songtsän Gampo, therefore Wencheng must be Tara and there must have been a second wife who was Nepalese named Brkhuti. Tibetologist 13:20, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

The Songtsän Gampo article is looking much better. The Yeshe de project is a disaster though, and should be avoided as a source, e.g. why say 'some Dunhuang documents' when you could say 'the Old Tibetan Chronicle'. Also, if you are looking for a translation of the Tang Annals Pelliot's version is regarded as being much more accurate than Bushell's. But I cant read Chinese so who am I to say. Tibetologist 10:23, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Thanks

Thank you very much. Much appreciated! Guettarda 12:39, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] More on Songtsän Gampo

First on transliteration. I think the important thing is to use a system. Most people now use the Wylie system, but because of ethnocentrism anglophones outside of academia just don't seem to tolerate Srong rtsan sgam po. The other systems such as library of congress are worse and involve mor diacritics. The only system I know of that looks palatable to English readers is Tournadre's system which is explained in the appendix of his text book 'Manuel of Standard tibetan' he writes Songtsän Gampo the vowels e and ä are different in Lhasa Tibetan just like in southern Germany. I use the Tournadre system whenever I am editing Wikipedia articles. All other spellings that one sees Songsten Gampo Songtsem Gampo etc. are not part of any system and are just some persons ad hoc attempt to transcribe the way he thinks it is pronounced. Of course only the IPA can record how things are pronounced, and then one must decide on which dialect and where.

I do have DTH (Bacot et al) and i also have the collected works of Richardson, and a lot of other stuff I could send you, alas those two files are both over 10MG, so they cannot be sent with Gmail which is the account I use to send big files. If you are realy interested I could snail mail you my collection of Tibetan secondary literature. A warning though DTH is desperately out of date. There are better translations available in Chinese which it sounds like you can read, but none in European languages, though hopefully one will be published in the next year or so, if the rumour mill can be trusted. A good bibliography of Old Tibetan stuff as well of the texts themselves is available from the Old Tibetan Documents Online Project which will come up if you google it. Best, Tibetologist 13:36, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Jat History group

John

The URL is

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JatHistory/

Ravi Chaudhary 21:51, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Songtsen v. Songstän v. Srong rtsan

If you moved the page to Srong rtsan sgam po it would be moved back and people would get very mad at you. I have tried that sort of thing for other pages. Moving it to Songtsän Gampo would probably be a good idea, and hopefully no one would object to. Tibetologist 01:31, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Once more on Songsten Gampo

Hi John, I object to a birthplace and the tradition that he ascended the throne at 13 being included in the main portion rather than in the 'legends' section. I realize they are appropriately qualified, but since no evidence exists for them it seems better to put them in the other section. Also, Nepal only existed as a country starting in the 18th century, I dont know what Stein says in his book, since my copy is not at hand, but I would perfer that part be more precisely worded. Tibetologist 07:47, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Nepal in the 9th century

Dear John, There are two issues around Nepal. One is that the word 'Nepal' traditionally refes only to the Kathmandu valley. It was after Prthvi Narayana Shah took over the countries neighboring his and moved his capital to Kathmandu that the modern state of Nepal was created. I think it is misleading to use a modern name in English implying contemporary geography and a historical continuity when refering to events in this early period.

Asise from that however, the location of the Nipuolo of the chinese is controversial. I think that Petech and Uray have written about this, but I cant remember exactly where. I think it is Petech who thinks that he proved that it refers to a place in contemporary Tibet. In any event, a lot of research has been done on Tibetan historical geography since Bushell. Tibetologist 23:11, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

REPLY
Thank you for your follow-up note. It has led me to check matters further in my collection of books on Tibet and related subjects and, I think, fairly convincingly resolved (that is - unless you can find substantial counter-arguments somewhere) this whole matter of Nipoluo = Nepal(?) and even has led to pretty well-established dates for the king the Tibetans are said to have put on the throne of Nipoluo.
First, I should say that I have been "quietly confident" all along that the "Nepalese" king mentioned in the Tangshu who was placed on his throne by the Tibetans, and is called, “Naling deva” in Bushell’s translation, was actually Narendradeva, a king of the Licchavi dynasty which ruled mainly in the Kathmandu valley and surrounds for hundreds of years. Now, the dating of Narendradeva’s reign has been fairly firmly fixed at circa 643- circa 679 from a series of inscriptions - and, as far as I know, there has been no serious questioning of these dates.
The fullest account that I have found of it all so far is in David Snellgrove’s Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists & Their Tibetan Successors, 2 Vols., Shambhala, Boston, 1987, Vol. II, pp. 369-372. (If you wish, I can scan and email these pages to you). Snellgrove also contains an English version of Lèvi’s French translation of the same passage on Nipoluo that I had previously quoted from Bushell, and he identifies the Nipoluo king as Narendradeva.
Gedun Choephel in The White Annals, Library of Tibetan Works & Archives, 1977, pp. 63-65, transcribes his name from ‘Scroll Ka’ as “Nariba” and his father as “Yusna Kug-te” and he discusses the relationship of these names to king Narendradeva and his father, which is given in the list below as: Bhi-ma-rjunadeva / Vis*n*ugupta, who reigned only briefly circa 640-641 until he was (according to the Tibetan accounts) usurped by a brother (or, at least, an uncle of Narendradeva).
For a list of the various Licchavi kings and their attributed dates, see: “A Kushan-period Sculpture from the reign of Jaya Varma-, A.D. 184/185. Kathmandu, Nepal.” by Kashinath Tamot and Ian Alsop © the authors and Asian Arts at: http://www.asianart.com/articles/jaya/kings.html
For a statue and inscription of a much earlier king from the Kathmandu Valley (and the names of the authors, etc), see: http://www.asianart.com/articles/jaya/index01_12.html

As soon as I can I will have another attempt at correcting and updating the article on Songtsen Gampo, and would appreciate any comments you might have then.

Cheers, John Hill 03:49, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] once more on Nepal

hi, This is getting interesting. It has been a couple years since I have worried about these details. The more you write the more I remember about it. We have the following equation ch. Nipoluo = Tib. Bal = En. Nepal. I know that Petech rejects this as well as the Naribaba = Narendradeva equation. I am still hunting down where he talks about it, but here is one thing I have found.

Petech, Luciano. “Glosse agli Annali di Tun-huang” Rivista degli Studi Orientali 42 241-279.

The translation from Italian is mine.

"Bal-po; summer residence of the minister: 675; summer residence of the king: 690, 695, 697, 699, 707-712, 718, 719, 722, 723. After the argument made by prof. Tucci it is by now pacifico that B, than in the modern language indicates Nepal, cannot have meant this in the Annals; and that above all because a Tibetan king could not recarsi to pass the summer in a relatively low and warm region. Bal-po is instead to be identified with the valley of Pa-Pu (b’uât puo), which following the Chinese was the residence of the Tibetan king together with Lhasa1 It is also identical to the lake Pa-pu (b’wat puo), the end point of a Chinese persons itinerary in Tibet2. Therefore it is probably to be sought in the zone of lake Palti or Yamdrok-tso. Bal-po contains the locality of Bri’u-tang, the summer residence of the king in 699 and the place of the summer meeting of the assembly in 725."

So Bal = Nepal, must be rejected. As a result, the equation Naribaba = Narendradeba also falls, since Naribaba was installed as kind of Bal, in the same text that Petech is discussing here. Tibetologist 09:30, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

I just found this later in the same article.


La seconda interpretazione, già da me proposta altrove (192), si sosterebbe se Bal-po fosse il Nepal e Yu-sna-kug-ti e Na-ri-ba-ba fossero Visnugupta e Narendradeva della iscrizioni nepalesi. presenta tuttavia la difficoltà che questo sarebbe l'unico passo in tuti gli Annali in cui Bal-po indicherebbe il Neapl e non un distretto del tibet Centrale; in oltre i nomi nepalesi risulterebbero storpiati in maniera veramente eccessiva.

This still leaves us with the Nipuluo problem. But in any event if the equation goes into the Songtsän Gampo article it should have the caveat that Petech was not convinced. Tibetologist 09:46, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

HI mate love your Tibet pictures I love the place too although have never been! I was the one who added the interior sections to Potala and Tashilhunpo and created Shalu Monastery and Ramoche Temple. I have just added a lot of work on Lhasa which has imporved considerably. ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "I've been expecting you" 12:04, 6 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Jat people

Thanks for your kind message John.

The Jat page has a lot of bias and wild claims.

We need to work together to correct this.

Some fanatic users who may be suffering inferiority complexes are claiming ancient kingdoms as Jat kingdoms, which is wrong and unethical. Can you help me in this area?

You have done much good work so far especially on the Harshavardhana part, keep it up for the sake of article.--Rahpal 17:27, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Hola John

Hola John. Mi espanol es bastante bueno pero quiero aprender hablar con fluidez. Quisiera visitar todas de los paises del Mundo incluido Myanmar. Me gusta tambien fotografias! Hi how are you? I am just wondering how you know about my Spanish? You want me to write that article on SPanish wikipedia? I am very busy but I am sure I can briefly start it some time if you like. I am currently working on The Maltese Falcon (1941 film). What do you want done?

Yes I noticed the great Songsten Gampo page was a bit untidy and poor. It should be a great article. I have recently added the city box and history section to Lhasa a place I'd very much love to visit although quite different today from the 1940s! You are a very well travlled man I see! Saludos amigo ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "I've been expecting you" 12:03, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Don't be biased

Hi Dear John Hill, I have gone through your recent edits and notes. It seems there is some bias in your edits against Jats. Firstly you deleted reference of Jats in Mahavamsa simply because on the basis of the fact that you did not find it in Online edition of Mahavamsa, without going in to details of the printed book which had been referred. You deleted this content even from discussion page of Chandragupta Maurya, which was unwanted. Entries from discussion pages are not to be deleted. Secondly you mentioned that Swami Dayananda has not mentioned about Jats simply on the basis of Online Edition of Satyartha Prakash. Here it is to be made clear that in his book Satyartha Prakash he has mentioned about Jats specifically a story of Jatji and Popji in which he ridicules the orthodox philosophy of Brahmans and how Jatji rectified. He has also given chronology of Aryan rulers in Satyartha Prakash. Before deletion you should be fully sure. Thirdly you deleted Ancient Jat rulers section from Jat People article. I do not know what is your intention. The ancient rulers believed to be Jats have some references. We can give those references and can say that further research is needed to testimony the facts. But the deletion will loose these references and we will not reach to any conclusion. Lastly you deleted Jat reference to Krishna. Krishna was having 16000 wives and obviously his descendants are there in this world. If Jats have any ancestry linkages it will reduce his status. It is of academic interest to know the linkages. It is in Jats that there is a clan called Kasania or Krishnia meaning descendants of Krishna. You do not have counter evidences for deletion. You contributed minimum contents to this article on Jats but doing the deletion work regularly. When you do not have any content to contribute then how can you decide which content needs deletion lacking the facts when references are already there. The historians who have mentioned these linkages are not Jats only but from all castes of Indian society. So it is not the fact that only Jats are glorifying this community. The existence of more than 3000 clans in the Jat caste shows its social diversity and should be considered as a testimony that these have been rulers in ancient times. In India the social groups have been always aligned with the ruling people. Because of this fact we find many clans common in Jats, Rajputs and Gujars, as they have been rulers at different periods in history. I have also seen your comments on Raphal’s discussion page where you write as if to correct the Jat article is your motto. It is not in good taste. It appears that your discussion with Ravi Chaudhary has made you to be biased. I hope you will keep a balance and not delete Jat contents. Discussions are for the betterment of Wikipedia and not to damage its contents. burdak 10:41, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Reply to Shree Burdak - “history” versus “legend”

Dear Shree Burdak: It seems to me that we have had this discussion in various forms several times already and it is certainly getting to be very tiresome, repetitive and long-winded. I will try once more to make myself clear – but if these differences continue I will have to appeal for help from the Wikipedia Administrators. I apologise in advance for the length of my reply but you have raised a number of points and made a number of accusations.

What I have objected to on the Jat page have been the many and regular confusions between legendary material and well-documented historical events as well as unsupported, or misquoted (and even sometimes falsely supported or attributed) claims made by various writers.

Even worse, perhaps, have been the grossly inflated claims and frequent racist comments, showing that this page has been made the forum of some ruthless people with a very low regard for accuracy and truth.

As you are well aware, many other readers have also been complaining about these issues and there have been numerous arguments on these Talk pages about them – it is not just me as you seem to be implying.

This continuing bickering and re-editing is a huge waste of time. I suggest that the whole matter should be reported to Administrators to check the article and all the many references and maybe “lock it”, or restrict access to it after that process is completed.

However, as you specifically refer to edits I have made, I will take this opportunity to answer them (again) one by one, in the order in which you brought them up.

Point 1a: You have made the comment that I have: “deleted reference of Jats in Mahavamsa simply because on the basis of the fact that you did not find it in Online edition of Mahavamsa, without going in to details of the printed book which had been referred.”

As I did not have a copy of the book available, I did check the on-line version at: http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/editorsnote.html which claims to be the full scanned text of the first 37 chapters of Geiger’s book, which are, apparently, the only sections he referred to as the Mahavamsa. One can only assume that p. 27 of his printed book (which you refer to) must have been included in this scan – especially as it is claimed to be from the Mahavamsa. Just to be certain, though, I will try to obtain his book on inter-library loan and then check again and report back to this Talk Page. (This process will likely take several weeks as I live in a very remote region). In the meantime, if anyone has the book and could send me a scan of this page – please email it to me –with all the publishing details (my email address is available on my User Page).

Point 1b: You state that I “deleted this content even from discussion page of Chandragupta Maurya, which was unwanted.” This is completely untrue! I removed the so-called quote from the body of the main article – not the discussion page – have a look at the appropriate entries for 11 January 2007. Please stop distorting the truth and attacking me unfairly!

Point 1c: I have discussed in detail my reasons for my suspicions about this so-called quote from the Mahavamsa more than once. In fact I asked you as early as 4th November last year (see Archives of this Talk Page) to show proof that such a quote really exists – you have still to answer me.

Point 2. What do you have against on-line books? When a published book is properly scanned there should be the whole text of the original. I checked the whole text of the English translation of the Satyartha Prakash by Swami Dayananda, Sarasvati, Chiranjiva Bharadwaja, Published 1975, Sarvadeshik Arya, Pratinidhi Sabha, 732 pages, at: http://books.google.com/books?id=920AAAAAMAAJ&vid=OCLC05080824&dq=Dayananda+Sarasvati&q=Jat&pgis=1#search I have checked for keywords such as “Jat” (and all words beginning with these three letters including “Jatji”), as well as “Popji” and other key words – without any of them occurring in the text. If you can show how and where the so-called references you are interested in occur in the printed book but not the on-line version – please do so.

Point 3: You say I: “deleted Ancient Jat rulers section from Jat People article. I do not know what is your intention. The ancient rulers believed to be Jats have some references. We can give those references and can say that further research is needed to testimony the facts. But the deletion will loose these references and we will not reach to any conclusion.”

If you check the many notes I have made you will see that I have clearly pointed out that there is no general agreement amongst scholars on the family background of Kanishka, or the Mauryas, the evidence is extremely sparse and insufficient at the moment to prove anything. Just because someone makes a claim in print does not mean it is worthy of being included in the Wikipedia. For example: if someone published a book claiming Abraham, Adam, or Muhammad were Celts – should this be inserted in the Wikipedia as if it was worthy of consideration?

Point 4: You state: “. . . you deleted Jat reference to Krishna. Krishna was having 16000 wives and obviously his descendants are there in this world. If Jats have any ancestry linkages it will reduce his status. It is of academic interest to know the linkages. It is in Jats that there is a clan called Kasania or Krishnia meaning descendants of Krishna. You do not have counter evidences for deletion.”

I really don’t know how to answer this but, I can assure you that the vast majority of people in the world would find it rather hard to believe that Krishna had 16,000 wives. I am not critical of your religious beliefs – you are quite entitled to hold them – but please don’t expect other people to accept what you say as fact, even if it is found in some ancient scripture. If you discussed them as religious traditions and properly qualified them, I would have no argument with you – but that is not how they were presented.

If Krishna really had that many wives and died in 3102 BCE (as you have previously stated), he is very probably an ancestor of all of us – so why claim him specifically as a Jat? Why quote a Persian Muslim author who lived some four thousand years later as an authority on this subject? Furthermore, why quote someone (Alberuni) who claims he is descended from a Sudra woman if you are trying to prove he was a Jat? And, finally, if one wishes to quote from Alberuni about Krishna – should the story about Krishna’s partner (and mother?) came from a Jat family of “low Śûdra people” be included – not just the “sanitised” statement that Krishna “was a Jat.”

Point 5: I can see nothing wrong in deleting what I see as false or misleading information, legendary material presented as facts, and racially supremacist propaganda from any article (and I assure you I do the same on other pages I come across). I have had little to add to the more than ample coverage of Jats. I am well aware that “it is not the fact that only Jats are glorifying this community.” You will notice that there are huge portions of the article (in fact the majority of it) I have never questioned or discussed. There is no need for me, as you suggest, to add to the already very detailed accounts of Jat history – only to point out and/or remove questionable or falsified material.

In general, I have great admiration for Jat people and their history and am proud to have had many fine and close Jat friends. If I was a Jat I would be glad to tell the world of my ancestors’ background and history – and there would be no need at all for me to make up fanciful stories. But I would be very embarrassed and angry if I found members of my own people making false or unsubstantiated boastful claims.

In fact, I have frequently found myself facing up to “white” racists in many countries, and I believe it is my duty to speak up when this happens and not go along with it. Sometimes I have been able to reason people out of their hatreds, but I must admit that it has more often been quite ugly and frightening and I have been badly beaten for it more than once. I can’t say this has made my life easier or happier, but at least I can, after all these years, still look in the mirror and not despise myself for a coward on such issues.

Most large groups of people contain fanatic minorities who distort the past to suit their own ends, or to compensate for feelings of hurt or inferiority – especially people who have been colonised or ruled by others and had to face their scorn, and who then compensate by trying to assert their superiority over others. This is, however, a very dangerous game (just look at the horrific lessons of the last century in this regard). So, Shree Burdak, I become a very persistent critic when I see this developing and try to nip it in the bud. This is not to say that I will always be right, I am very likely to make mistakes on one or another point, but the large number of distorted statements on these pages in the past, and the many criticisms from other readers confirm that something has gone really wrong here and needs to be addressed seriously and with goodwill.

Finally, you claim I write on Raphal’s discussion page: “as if to correct the Jat article is your motto. It is not in good taste. . . . I hope you will keep a balance and not delete Jat contents. Discussions are for the betterment of Wikipedia and not to damage its contents.”

I can only answer that everything I have done has been done openly and in good faith in an attempt to improve what has seemed to me (and obviously to quite a few others) a badly flawed article. I will quote here what I said on Rahpal’s page for everyone to judge for themselves if I am guilty of what you accuse me of: “I like the way you have written the qualifications to the claims that have been made on the Jat People page about ancient Indian rulers being Jats. Hopefully this will satisfy everyone and bring this particular argument to an end.”

And on that note I will close this over-long reply.

Sincerely, John Hill 15:36, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Reply to Mr John Hill

Thanks Mr John Hill for your long reply. I have two points to reply urgently. Firstly Geiger’s book,referred to as the Mahavamsa. p. 27 of printed book was requested by me to verify because I do not have a copy of it. Since you are working on the subject kindly ensure from print book and let us know all. I am in too interior area to have access to a library right now. We will wait for your confirmation.

Second point to clarify about Satyarthprakash is that Arya Samaj Jamnagar (Read Vedas and Satyarthprakash on-line) is online but is not complete. I have with me a hindi copy of Satyarthprakash by Arsh Sahitya prachar trust. It has got the story I mentioned in Ch-11 on pages 234-36. It is in Hindi and is produced below -

सत्यार्थ प्रकाश में जाटजी और पोपजी की कहानी

एक जाट था । उसके घर में एक गाय बहुत अच्छी और बीस सेर दूध देने वाली थी । दूध उसका बड़ा स्वादिष्‍ट होता था । कभी-कभी पोपजी के मुख में भी पड़ता था । उसका पुरोहित यही ध्यान कर रहा था कि जब जाट का बुड्ढ़ा बाप मरने लगेगा तब इसी गाय का संकल्प करा लूंगा । कुछ दिन में दैवयोग से उसके बाप का मरण समय आया । जीभ बन्द हो गई और खाट से भूमि पर ले लिया अर्थात् प्राण छोड़ने का समय आ पहुंचा । उस समय जाट के इष्‍ट-मित्र और सम्बन्धी भी उपस्थित हुए थे । तब पोपजी पुकारा कि "यजमान ! अब तू इसके हाथ से गोदान करा ।" जाट १० रुपया निकाल कर पिता के हाथ में रखकर बोला - "पढ़ो संकल्प !" पोपजी बोला - "वाह-वाह ! क्या बाप बारम्बार मरता है ? इस समय तो साक्षात् गाय को लाओ, जो दूध देती हो, बुड्ढी न हो, सब प्रकार उत्तम हो । ऐसी गौ का दान करना चाहिये ।"

जाटजी - हमारे पास तो एक ही गाय है, उसके बिना हमारे लड़के-बालों का निर्वाह न हो सकेगा इसलिए उसको न दूंगा । लो २० रुपये का संकल्प पढ़ देओ ! और इन रुपयों से दूसरी दुधार गाय ले लेना ।

पोपजी - वाहजी वाह ! तुम अपने बाप से भी गाय को अधिक समझते हो ? क्या अपने बाप को वैतरणी नदी में डुबाकर दु:ख देना चाहते हो । तुम अच्छे सुपुत्र हुए ? तब तो पोपजी की ओर सब कुटुम्बी हो गये, क्योंकि उन सबको पहिले ही पोपजी ने बहका रक्खा था और उस समय भी इशारा कर दिया । सबने मिलकर हठ से उसी गाय का दान उसी पोपजी को दिला दिया । उस समय जाट कुछ भी न बोला । उसका पिता मर गया और पोपजी बच्छा सहित गाय और दोहने की बटलोही को ले अपने घर में गाय-बच्छे को बाँध बटलोही धर पुन: जाट के घर आया और मृतक के साथ श्मशानभूमि में जाकर दाहकर्म्म कराया । वहाँ भी कुछ-कुछ पोपलीला चलाई । पश्‍चात् दशगात्र सपिण्डी कराने आदि में भी उसको मूंडा । महाब्राह्मणों ने भी लूटा और भुक्खड़ों ने भी बहुत सा माल पेट में भरा अर्थात् जब सब क्रिया हो चुकी तब जाट ने जिस किसी के घर से दूध मांग-मूंग निर्वाह किया । चौदहवें दिन प्रात:-काल पोपजी के घर पहुँचा । देखा तो पोपजी गाय दुह, बटलोई भर, पोपजी की उठने की तैयारी थी । इतने में ही जाटजी पहुँचे । उसको देख पोपजी बोला, आइये ! यजमान बैठिये !


जाटजी - तुम भी पुरोहित जी इधर आओ ।

पोपजी - अच्छा दूध धर आऊँ ।

जाटजी - नहीं-नहीं, दूध की बटलोई इधर लाओ ।

पोपजी बिचारे जा बैठे और बटलोई सामने धर दी ।

जाटजी - तुम बड़े झूठे हो ।

पोपजी - क्या झूठ किया ?

जाटजी - कहो, तुमने गाय किसलिए ली थी ?

पोपजी - तुम्हारे पिता के वैतरणी नदी तरने के लिए ।

जाटजी - अच्छा तो तुमने वहाँ वैतरणी के किनारे पर गाय क्यों न पहुँचाई ? हम तो तुम्हारे भरोसे पर रहे और तुम अपने घर बाँध बैठे । न जाने मेरे बाप ने वैतरणी में कितने गोते खाये होंगे ?

पोपजी - नहीं-नहीं, वहाँ इस दान के पुण्य के प्रभाव से दूसरी गाय बनकर उसको उतार दिया होगा ।

जाटजी - वैतरणी नदी यहाँ से कितनी दूर और किधर की ओर है ?

पोपजी - अनुमान से कोई तीस करोड़ कोश दूर है । क्योंकि उञ्चास कोटि योजन पृथ्वी है और दक्षिण नैऋत दिशा में वैतरणी नदी है ।

जाटजी - इतनी दूर से तुम्हारी चिट्ठी वा तार का समाचार गया हो, उसका उत्तर आया हो कि वहाँ पुण्य की गाय बन गई, अमुक के पिता को पार उतार दिया, दिखलाओ ?

पोपजी - हमारे पास 'गरुड़पुराण' के लेख के बिना डाक वा तारवर्की दूसरा कोई नहीं ।

जाटजी - इस गरुड़पुराण को हम सच्चा कैसे मानें ?

पोपजी - जैसे हम सब मानते हैं ।

जाटजी - यह पुस्तक तुम्हारे पुरषाओं ने तुम्हारी जीविका के लिए बनाया है । क्योंकि पिता को बिना अपने पुत्रों के कोई प्रिय नहीं । जब मेरा पिता मेरे पास चिट्ठी-पत्री वा तार भेजेगा तभी मैं वैतरणी नदी के किनारे गाय पहुंचा दूंगा और उनको पार उतार, पुन: गाय को घर में ले आ दूध को मैं और मेरे लड़के-बाले पिया करेंगे, लाओ ! दूध की भरी हुई बटलोही, गाय, बछड़ा लेकर जाटजी अपने घर को चला ।

पोपजी - तुम दान देकर लेते हो, तुम्हारा सत्यानाश हो जायेगा ।

जाटजी - चुप रहो ! नहीं तो तेरह दिन लों दूध के बिना जितना दु:ख हमने पाया है, सब कसर निकाल दूंगा । तब पोपजी चुप रहे और जाटजी गाय-बछड़ा ले अपने घर पहुँचे ।

जब ऐसे ही जाटजी के से पुरुष हों तो पोपलीला संसार में न चले । Regards, burdak 17:17, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tibet

Yes I have travelled a bit I have been to Hawaii, Malaysia, THailand (James Bond island) as well , Singapore 4 times Bali and Lombok , Hong Kong but I would love to go to Tibet. One thing that would be ggreat would be to fly to Kathmandu in Nepal and do one of those ardous treks through the Himilayas to Lhasa. It would be amazing. So depsite the many places you have visited you still regard it as the most special place? ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "I've been expecting you" 18:24, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

Thankyou so much for your note. That REALLY helps! Your trip sounds so amzing!! i would love to be free to roam in a landrover or something and visit monasteries and sites well outside Lhasa which still not fully commericalized. I don't know what is it but I can't stop thinking about that place!! THailand was pretty amazing but it just looks incredible hopefully I can visit within a year. I have started a few stubs on lesser known Tibetan monasteries including a nunnery! - see Category:Buddhist monasteries in Tibet -maybe you have visited them? ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "I've been expecting you" 14:18, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Muru Ningba Monastery perhaps? ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "I've been expecting you" 14:20, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

You inspired me today check out Tibet article now. Improved or what? I have also kitted most of the Dalai Lamas with images!! ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "I've been expecting you" 18:25, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

I also started Economy of Tibet although it needs to be more neutralised and copy edited ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "I've been expecting you" 22:22, 10 March 2007 (UTC)

Hi John -I've propsed a New WikiProject Tibet to cordinate Tibetan article better -many are neglected by the CHinese project -ut seems to be winning support -care to join it - evne if you attatch your name to it it will help. Thanks ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "I've been expecting you" 20:22, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

Your friend the Tibetologist still doesn't reply. I consider it quite rude. And he has deleted all my work on Tibet and Lhasa. Surely there is some near factual evidence pre 15th century. Lhasa was not suddenly created in the 15th century. ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "Expecting you" "S.P.E.C.T.R.E" 14:33, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Thank you

Hi John, thank you for the star! As I admire your own content creation (especially on arcane subject of Central Asian history) I think I owe you one as well. Just let me look for the most appropriate one. Best regards. PHG 06:23, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Welcome to VandalProof!

Thank you for your interest in VandalProof, John Hill! You have now been added to the list of authorized users, so if you haven't already, simply download and install VandalProof from our main page. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or any other moderator, or you can post a message on the discussion page. Betacommand (talk • contribs • Bot) 03:58, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tanguts and Songstän Gampo

It was my impression that the Tanguts didnt really immerge as historical until around 900, so I am rather surprized to read that Songtsän Gampo fought with them. Cam this poiht be elaborated any further? Also, can we cut out some of the wierd spellings at the very begining, redirects exist in all those places anyhow? Tibetologist 05:29, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

Please help out the recently started Wikipedia:WikiProject Tibet which I proposed and got the green light by joining. It would great to gather some more people associated with Tibetan articles. Also could you speak to the Tibetologist he hasn't replied to me yet. THanks ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "I've been expecting you" 15:26, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

Great! PLeas see Talk:Songtsän Gampo. This is the tag for histrocial and religous issues in Tibet which are not related to China. THis is the first step I think. To connect them into ourrpoject ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "I've been expecting you" 12:23, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Re: A big thank you

No problem. I found it pretty funny what one little word can do. I've made it my goal (at least in the short-term; I don't know how long it will last) to patrol all anonymous edits to the Image namespace. Chances are I might see your vandal again. See you around maybe! BazookaJoe 16:54, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Chilies in kathmandu

Hi John,

That picture of the Chilies drying in Kathmandu: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Chillies_drying_in_Kathmandu.jpg

I was born and raised in Kathmandu. I am now based in New Zealand. That picture looks to be taken right outside my Grandparents house in Kathmandu.

Was that area by any chance Naradevi Kathmandu?

It'd be great to know where that picture in Kathmandu was taken.

Amazing coincidence if it is actually my grandparents house!!

Thanks,

Rob —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 125.236.193.225 (talk) 01:26, 28 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Reply to Chilies in Kathmandu

Hi Rob! Glad to hear about the picture, and to know it must bring back memories. I have to admit that, after all these years, I cannot be certain exactly where it was taken in Kathmandu but - if my memory is correct - it was in one of the side streets - just a block or two away from the main old centre of the city. Hope that is some help. Sorry I can't be more exact - but if your grandparents lived near there it probably is of their house. I hope so! Cheers and best wishes, John Hill 03:24, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Photo Franz Luthi Sepik River initiations 1975, 6.JPG

Dear John,

I work for a design agency in The Netherlands. We are currently working on an Annual Report for one of our clients. For this publication we would like to use Franz Luthi's photo "Sepik River initiations 1975, 6.JPG". I saw that you have been given permission to publish it on Wikipedia. Do you have any idea where I can acquire this photo in a bigger resolution/technical size (usable for printing) and where I can inquire about the copyrights?

I hope to hear from you soon. You can also e-mail me on sander@dietwee.nl

Kind regards,

Sander Toth Dietwee Design & Communication Utrecht, The Netherlands

Toth dietwee 09:57, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Toth dietwee (talk • contribs) 09:53, 28 March 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Regarding photo of Sepik River Initiation

Thanks for your inquiry about the Sepik River initiation photo. I will contact Franz and ask him what he thinks. Unfortunately, if he cannot find the negatives (and I don't think he can), we will have to work with a scan of an old and faded photo. If Franz agrees I could send you a higher resolution scan and maybe you could do some editing to improve the faded colours? I will leave another note here as soon as I get an answer from Franz. Cheers, John Hill 11:36, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Thanks John. You see he wiped out all the pre 15th century info on lhasa even songsten gampo detail and jokang which I thought quite damaging to the article. I have reworded it now to say there is cinsiderable debate over the factual correctness of early lhasa history on much of what has been passed down the generations is word of mouth. I really think evne mentioning early myth even if it is not completely correct is better than nothing at all. I there any evidence to suggest that jokhang wasn't built before the 15th century and the involvement of gampo in Lhasa?? Sorry I found it a little odd he was wiped out from Lhasa history, I have still had no response from the Tibetolist despite my friendly advances on about five different occasions. I also siad that his considerable knowledge would be a great asset for WP tibet but nothing. Ah well. I hope you are well anyway. I se another member has joined the project!! All the best ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "Expecting you" "S.P.E.C.T.R.E" 11:49, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ai Khanoum

Hi John! I share your doubts on the foundation stone story, especially as it is something I have never heard of in any other material on Ai Khanoum. The article is from the BBC however, so I hope there is some reliable information somewhere. Best regards. PHG 04:45, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

Hi John! Thank you for the great info on Ai Khanoum. Even the BBC is not immune from spin I guess. Given the current situation at Ai Khanoum, the authenticity and origin of the objects is probably unsure as well. Congratulation for the research: who spoke about History being detective work? Best regards PHG 05:02, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Hi John! You're totally right on the quote. I wasn't sure myself how to handle it, and you're right we would need an agreement to release the statement. Best regards. PHG 18:21, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Silk Road

Hi John. I thought it was written somewhere that redirects should be avoided where possible. If Silk Route is a more appropriate term than Silk Road, would it not be better to rename the article to Silk Route, thereby still avoiding the use of redirects? Personally I have no preference either way. Sorry for any inconvenience caused. --Rebroad 13:31, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Monitor lizard intelligence

I swear I have monitor lizard watched, really, I do. However, I somehow missed your reply on the talk page, and just now responded. Please continue our conversation on the talk page. Enuja 03:41, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

Okay, I think I'm done for the day, living in North America and all. I've done some editing on the intelligence section and explained myself on the talk page. Enuja 05:12, 7 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Jat people

Hi there,

I know you have done good work on this page in terms of it's policing. Can I request you seek professional help from wikipedia for this as this page is getting ridiculous. I have every faith Burdak and his crew are trolling me even into this page and will no doubt make a reference to this on the Jat page.

But I am sad to see that a white gentleman is the only sane person trying to get at the truth of this community, whilst the extremist members of this community are themselves trying to destroy it with lies and legends trying to rival other races....even Nordics!

Good luck sir and thank you for keeping patience so far.

--Mein hoon don 12:03, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Your AMA Case

John,

The case you have filled lists a indefently blocked user. Is this a mistake by any chance? Æon Insanity Now! Give Back Our Membership! 04:12, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Oh Damn, sorry about that not you lol I ment to remove that as I had a better idea. I would recomend that you check out Editors Assistance (WP:ASSIST). I posted a link to your case on there project since you are after advice on what to do. Æon Insanity Now! Give Back Our Membership! 04:32, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Oh to answer your question, you left User:USERNAME on the case and that was what I was commenting on. Æon Insanity Now! Give Back Our Membership! 04:34, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Hope my advice helps. Cheers too. --Deryck C. 08:38, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Request status

Hello.

A week ago, you asked for assistance regarding Request for assistance with Dispute with the EAR program. Has the feedback you received help resolve the issue in question? --Aarktica 15:27, 18 April 2007 (UTC)

There are a few resources I would suggest when dealing with issues of bias-ridden or contentious editing:
  • WP:NPOV - In particular, the other resources section has a few tags which might be appropriate for this article.
  • WP:3RR and WP:AN/I - Depending on the level of contention, one of these forums might be next course of action.
Using talk pages — as you have been doing — is definitely a plus. However, I hope that these resources might be helpful to your efforts. --Aarktica 22:40, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tibet

HI John I have been working hard on Tibet articles the last few days -I've added locator maps and templates for all the counties of Tibet and have started nunerous articles including History of Exploration in Tibet. I also found a map of Lhasa and a great image of the great Gampo with his wives. Any ideas for expansion? ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "Expecting you" Contribs 21:26, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

HI John how are you?. I've started pages on Tibetan Festivals and the Sho Dun Festival but I don't have details of the dates or indeed the month it is held (I know it is summer). As you have clearly witnessed the festival in Lhasa seeing those great pictures could you please add the festival to the table and dates and also expand the Sho Dun article if you have any more personal knowledge of it. All the best ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "Expecting you" Contribs 18:25, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for editing the Tibetan festivals good work! - Today I've developed the Tibet article significantly - the article is now generally looking pretty good but I have to admit I hate the PRC section it is so poorly written and unconcise because of all the heavy handed interference from many different people. 1950-present is going to need a complete and I mean complete!!! rewrite and we must try to get some kind of protection from new users who are undermining it but they do have a right as much as anyone to edit. They seem to think it is a forum for Tibet's inclusion or exclusion in China. Then we need to think about condensing it a bit. The Tibetan National Anthem I started but I am concerned about the accuracy of the translation. Maybe Yibetan scrpit can be added, . Your images really make a massive difference I love you photography -fantastic!! Hope you are wel i await your response on the developments of the Tibet page ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "Expecting you" Contribs 14:20, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

THanks again for your kind words. I must admit I feel a little discouraged at the moment - User:Nat Krause -I looked forward to working with him several months ago beleiving he would be a pleasant person to be in contact with, but very surprisingly I seem unfortunately to be getting a lot of difficulty with him -purely criticism about all of my work. Ah never mind. I'd like to try to improve Songsten Gampo with you some time. Good luck with your work anyway . Regards ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "Expecting you" Contribs 20:57, 27 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Quotes

Hi John! I discovered that your work is repeatedly used as a reference in a book I recently purchased: "Les Saces" by Iaroslav Lebedynsky (French edition, ISBN 2877723372), one of the major authorities on Central Asian history. Congratulations! PHG 08:26, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

Hi John, drop me a message when your book comes out. I will surely be one of your first readers! Best regards. PHG 09:32, 19 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Aconite

I think the part about chemistry in the article about Aconite is not to be deleted, but only to be shortened and rearranged. It is, in any case, quite interesting. Please, consider making your edit less drastical. Aelwyn 14:22, 8 June 2007 (UTC)


[edit] John Hill, Stop personal attacks on Jat people

I would have appreciated you, John Hill, if you could add a single para to this article rather than personal attacks. You are bent upon deletion of content, you do not want to accept the other author's references of repute. You do not want to study the available literature being quoted by the authors. You do not want to join any jat history group. You do not believe in Indian Authors, however reputed they may be. I advise John Hill to have a break for few days, get books on Jat history study them and enhance this article. Otherwise it is assumed that you are having some racial bias in your mind and do not want this article to grow under the false holy intentions of improving Wikipedia. You invited various editors for help but found no substance in your arguments. I have doubt in my mind that you have certain theory in your mind but hesitant at present and want to bring on this page silently. Wikipedia would be enriched if using your Chinese and Buddhist knowledge, as you claim, you can expand the article on Jat people. There are historical evidences that most of the Jats were followers of Buddhism prior to 6th century. You are pretending to have no time but spending most of time in unproductive and personal arguments. Can you expand this article ? burdak 05:12, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Stop deleting Risley's classification of Indian Races table

Dear John Hill, you deleted Sir Herbert Risley's classification of Indian Races table based on his anthropological research of Asian races. I do not understand your motive to delete it. If you treat a well published study by an English authority of British India as Pseudo Science, who on earth can convince you. If you have better study with you provide here. Or simply you are here to find fault or personal attacks.

Your comment about a Hindi author of repute "taken second-hand from a book by one Atal Singh Khokhar" shows your approach towards Hindi authors. This is a racial discrimination. When something has to be quoted it has to be quoted as author writes and not as you or I wish. I would have appreciated you if before commenting you would have collected some material or read that book. You can comment it second hand without going through it!!

You said on Jat people page "What total rubbish! What a total waste of all our time!" Is it in the right tone ? Who tells you to waste time. You have come to Wikipedia and this page on your own. Either add fruitful content to the article if you have with you or you can leave it. Every body can write here. How can you abuse them.

Wikipedia is not supposed to provide original research. I provide the references of reputed author and that is enough as a verifiable source. I am not accountable to you. You are behaving as an administrator which you are not. Before arguing gain some knowledge. Otherwise all your arguments are hollow.

Jats are ancient people and science has to be ancient to prove it. If not Aryan prove another theory. Who stops you. In anthropology or in Bio-Science it is not always 2+2=4. There is role of probability theory also.

The tone of your notes is that of threatening. You have nothing to add. You are all the time bent upon deleting. The reasoning of deletion is not convincing. You are deleting and vandalizing content and asking me to contact the administrators. On Indo-Aryan theory of Jats page you are putting dispute and bias tags regularly without giving the reasons. Point of dispute arises if you or some body puts other theory which discards it. I request to put the theory in your mind on its talk page so that we can reach to some point of consensus. Otherwise your acts amounts to vandalism. --burdak 04:29, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Behave calmly

Who says Shiva was jat? Where is written that Shiva was Jat? Authors who say some clan descended from Shiva is given at relevant reference in the article. Behave calmy? Don't get agitated.--burdak 05:12, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Your grandiose claims seem to be even worse than I thought

Did you or did someone else add the statement:

"Thus appearance of Jat name in Mahabharata along with Brahma shows that name of Jat is as antique as Brahma.[39] Mahabharata Anushasan Parva mentions in chapter 17 that one of the names of parmatma or parmeshwar is Jata (जट) as given shloka 86 as under in Devanagari and IAST:[40]
   महानखॊ महारॊमा महाकेशॊ महाजटः mahānakho mahāromā mahākeśo mahājaṭaḥ

   असपत्नः परसाथश च परत्ययॊ गिरिसाधनः asapatnaḥ prasādaś ca pratyayo girisādhanaḥ"
This statement would seem to be even worse than I originally thought. My memory failed me - I had forgotten that 'parmeshwar' or 'parmatma' not only refers to Shiva (of which he is often seen as a manifestation) but to the Godhead (Parmeshwar) with the three manifestations or trinity of deities who carry on the world - Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, perpetrator of life and Shiva (Mahesh), the purifier and perpetrator of good and destroyer of evil.
It would seem now that you are claiming the the God (Parmeshwar) - including Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva - were Jats! Is this so? John Hill 05:49, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

hi john

[edit] Proves antiquity of Jat

It has been written in Indian epics and proves the antiquity of the word Jat. It shows that Jat tribe was the oldest one and its name comes along with Brahma. Can you tell me How old is Brahma Mr John Hill? Now you need to study the Indian epics to understand it.--burdak 14:53, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

You have proved nothing, Mr. Burdak - you haven't even established that a reference to Jats exists in the Mahabharata which, in any case, is an epic poem of uncertain historicity. John Hill 07:29, 19 June 2007 (UTC)


Mr Hill

Mr Burdak asks you a relevant question.- How old is Brahma?.

If you can answer that, you can go to the the next step.

Any other answer, as you have given above, only clouds the issue. That continuous 'clouding' of issues by you, is exactly what one of the complaints against you is.

Now do answer:

How old is Brahma?

Ravi Chaudhary 21:12, 19 June 2007 (UTC)


 ****

Mr Hill writes:


" Mr. Burdak's question

I see you written on my talk page: ": Mr Hill


Ravi Chaudhary wrote on Mr hills user page:>

" Mr Burdak asks you a relevant question.- How old is Brahma?.

If you can answer that, you can go to the the next step.

Any other answer, as you have given above, only clouds the issue. That continuous 'clouding' of issues by you, is exactly what one of the complaints against you is.

Now do answer:

How old is Brahma?

Ravi Chaudhary 21:12, 19 June 2007 (UTC)"

John Hill Writes>>>> My answer is, Mr. Chaudhary, that this is not a relevant question - just a silly, childish attempt to annoy me. Mr. Burdak has not established that the age of Brahma has anything to do with Jats - so there is no point in taking the discussion any further. John Hill 23:08, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Resoponse to Mr hill>>>> Mr. Hill


Why is it that you refuse to read what is written?

I asked you ( on your page) to keep all discussion on your user page, and not post here.

Are your powers of focus that low?

Hencefoth keep all discussion on your page!

Ravi Chaudhary 04:04, 20 June 2007 (UTC)""

END

Mr. Hill

Your statements, as usual, lack any rational.

Your stating , somethig is irrelevant, does not make it so?

You Claim, you are a scholar on Indian History???????


Now answer,( if you can)

How old is Brhma?



Ravi Chaudhary`

[edit] False links on your user page

You have provided following URL links on your user page for your published works which are not in use and false

http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/hhshu/hou_han_shu.html and/or http://depts.washington.edu/uwch/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html I

Provide active links so that users can be enriched with your knowledge of history. --burdak 08:32, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing out the links to my books needed updating - the good folks at the University of Washington changed them slightly so the old ones no longer worked. Oh, and by the way, they weren't "false" links - just outdated ones. John Hill 22:57, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Tibetology Gallery

HI John. I have constructed a Tibetan gallery for the main article:

Monks at Sakya Monastery Gyantse Monks at Sera Yumbo Lhakang Drepung Monastery Yarlung Tsangpo Sera Monastery Former quarters of the Dalai Lama Thangka painting Litang Monastery Sho Dun Festival at Norbulingka Tibetan bowls and spoons Tibetan railway Ramoche Temple Takster in Amdo, birth place of the Dalai Lama Monk at Drepung Chogyal A Gau pendant Tibetan mask Buddha painted on a rock wall Om Mani Padme Hum Yangbajing Power station Milarepa Trisong Detsen Vajrasattva Sand Mandala Lake Manosovar Nomads near Namtso Monks at Drepung Prayer wheels in Barkhor, Lhasa ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "Expecting you" Contribs 12:16, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks John -well yours and Luciano's images have made it possible!!! Hey you look like your still getting grief over the Jat people article. I don't know what cloud our Mr Ravi is on below but one of the fundamental rules of wikipedia is that you don't need "academic qualifications and credentials" to be a great editor on wikipedia. I too have faced difficulty from prententious users (including Nat Krause our own project member) but I take the positive above the negative. Good luck editing and with your book - I hope its developing well. Regards ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "Expecting you" Contribs 09:27, 20 June 2007 (UTC)


== JOHN HILL'S QUALIFICATIONS ==

Could we suggest you stop putting your biased slanted points of view on the Jat pages?

None of the other editors, who post there, agree with you.

Your constant reverting exercises are, at the least, unbecoming!

Under the ‘claim/guise’ of a 'desire' to create ‘ balanced’ articles, all you appear to seek is, that the article must agree with your POV. If it does not, then you go in and willy- nilly make edits to push your biased POV.

For some reason it disturbs you that the history of the Jats shows that many famous ancient personages are Jats, and being ‘bugged’ by this, you make edits which only agree with your bias/POV.

When asked what your qualifications are as to Jat history, or for that matter any historical scholarship, you decline to provide details, and instead make personal attacks.

The questions about your academic qualifications and credentials will continue to surface, and all your screaming and shouting on the internet will not make them go away.

You are not going to be able to carry on doing this for ever!!!

If you wish to contribute to the study of Jat history, could one suggest you take a few months off, from making these frivolous edits, and study the subject instead.

Nothing more will go amiss in a few months, more than it already has.

The Jats have been around for over 5,000 years. They and their history are unlikely to go away soon.

Could I suggest also that you keep your responses in this thread on your user page only?That will provide continuity.

I will put on my watch list, so as not to miss your feedback.

With some cooperation from your side, we may succeed to bring some order into this matter


Ravi Chaudhary 21:04, 19 June 2007 (UTC)


Mr Hill continues to reply on places other than where the original thread is and makes accusatiosn that he is being threatened in the note above.His response is on the jat talk page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Jat_people


titled: " More questions and threats from Mr Chaudhary"

Response:

The issue is about a person in this case John Hill, making and reverting edits on the Jat page, and claiming to be an expert in their History.

His expertise is being questioned.

Why is that wrong?

He claims to be an expert, among other things, on Indian History. He claims to have acquired that expertise, in a three year stay in India as per his user page.

Is it unreasonable to ask:


Where specifically he acquired that expertise? Under whose scholarly guidance? In which Research Institution/University?

What languages he knows- reads, writes, or speaks, and where and when he acquired that skill?

If indeed he knows the languages, then he can be a valuable resource in reading, translating, and interpreting the mass of primary data that is now available.

Why does Mr. Hill consider these requests unreasonable?

Mr. Hill asks as to my academic qualifications, and then he will disclose his?

Fine:

I am a graduate of Delhi University, and have a B.Sc. (Hons) in Physics, 1968; I have an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, (1970). I qualified as Chartered Accountant in England ( 1978) and am a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, and in Ontario in Canada.

I know Hindi, English, some Punjabi...

More importantly I do NOT know any of the ancient languages - Sanskrit, Pali, Khraosti, or Brahmi or Chinese modern or ancient..

I am a member of Jat community, being myself Jat.

I have an amateur passion for history since my school days. I make no professional claims to expertise.

I founded a history discussion group on Jat history, and am one of the moderators. The group is dedicated to the study of Jat history, and the archiving of Jat history related material. Founded in 2002, it now has about 450 members.


The URL is

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JatHistory/

Membership in the group is open to all.

The archives are public. The files section required membership to access. Posting is restricted to members, to avoid posts which would up the list with personal attacks etc.

There are a number of online books and article in the files section.

Membership is open to all. Normal rules of courtesy apply.

The Wiki format, as others may have noted, does not support lengthy discussions, which can be followed with ease.One would have thought an off wiki group was a better place for detailed indepth discussions.

For the sake of completion, Mr. Hill was asked to join and discuss the issues about Jat history in the yahoo jathistory group, URL above, or it was suggested that he could create a discussion group, where the threads could have some continuity. Yahoo groups are free. He has refused .


One cannot help but wonder,as to his his reasons for not doing so. Could it be that other groups would not allow the accusatory and inflamatory 'language' that he uses?

We look forward to Mr. Hill sharing with us information about his academic qualifications and knowledge skill sets including languages known.


Ravi Chaudhary 21:05, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Moderation

Although I am not knowledgeable on the subject of Jats, and cannot argue on the validity of one point or another discussed in this page, I must say the generally aggressive tone and personal attacks do not reflect favourably on their authors. As far as I know, John Hill is a stellar Wikipedia contributor, who is highly knowledgeable on matters of Asian history. His work is used as reference in published scholarly material (for example he is referenced three times by Iaroslav Lebedynsky, in "Les Saces", Edition Errance, ISBN 2877723372, p146, p155, p251). For the sake of Wikipedia and the advancement of our work here I would generally recommend a much more civil and respectful tone between contributors, and more cautious and balanced arguments. PHG 05:18, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

I don't know the intricate details but Ravi you appear to be misguided in the fundamental rules of wikipedia. First you don't need "academic qualifications and credentials" to be a great editor on wikipedia this is one of our core belief systems - this is how the project has developed to extreme success. Second you have no right to tell people to stop editing wikipedia or to write in a way that appeals to you. While consensus is always very useful how dare you suggest JOhn Hill take several months off from editing wikipedia. Wikipedia needs as many contributors as possible and you should never discourage people from being a part of the project. PLease refrain from personal attacks on other users. While you may disagree with developments badgering other users e.g asking them questions to "test their legitimacy" is about as deluded from what wikipedia is about as you can get. I'm sure you have done some good work on wikipedia - please keep this up but please try to discuss any conflict over an issue (Jats) professionally in a way to attempt to improve the article rather than badgering other users to stop their work. I wish you no ill feelings at all but hope you will seriously listen to my words. All the best ♦ Sir Blofeld ♦ "Expecting you" Contribs 09:37, 20 June 2007 (UTC)


All we are asking is for Mr. Hill to study the subject, before diving in to make edits and changes!

Is that too much to ask?

If he takes some time (a few months) off, to study the subject, and there is a lot to study, what harm will be done?


Ravi Chaudhary 19:29, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ordos people

Hi John, I thought you'd like to check on this new article: Ordos people. Best regards. PHG 06:54, 21 June 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Rabies transmission

Hello Mr. Hill - I have a question that you may be able to answer.

I found a baby skunk at the side of the road in the middle of a thunderstorm and decided to rescue it.

I picked it up, brought it to my house, wrapped in up in towels, etc.

The following morning, I took it to an animal rehabilitation center, where it supposedly died later that day.

The folks at the clinic said it was "a very sick animal" and that it "was definitely suffering from a neurological virus."

They have sent the body to the state health department to determine if it was rabies. They advised me that if it was that I'm "in serious trouble."

However, the animal did not bite or scratch me or take any aggressive action of any kind. I did not, as far as I'm aware, come into contact with its saliva except on the tip of my pinky finger, off of which it sapped up a little pedialite fluid.

Do you think that infection is possible? I do have a paper cut on my index finger, but it's very mild (days old) and I don't think that this skunk's saliva got anywhere near it.

I'm of the mind that avoiding vaccines and such is a good thing - I really don't fully trust them. However, if there's a legitimate chance that I could have contracted the virus, I'll take them.

I have a feeling that the health department is going to tell me to get them either way - that's the nature of the CYA political system in New York.

Any advice you have would be much appreciated.

You can email me at justin@ssdp.org if you like. RadicalHarmony 21:32, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

Reply
Thanks for writing. You are right to be concerned and taking this matter seriously, as rabies is an extremely serious disease and, if symptoms start before the vaccine is administered, it is very unusual that anyone survives. However, I am really not the person who should be advising you on this matter. That said, here is my advice-
1. First, don't panic (the chances you have contracted rabies are probably quite small - but present). Get in touch with a doctor you can trust immediately and tell him or her all that you have told me.
2. Get the doctor to follow up immediately on the Health Department's testing of the dead animal to see if it has shown any signs of rabies.
3. If the animal was infected with rabies, make sure you get the vaccinations as quickly as possible - they are not nearly as unpleasant as the early ones were, and, as far as I know, are very safe.

That said, it is unlikely you have contacted rabies - especially if you washed your hands well with hot water and lots of soap immediately after contact (but even the slightest chance you might have had contact with the saliva of an infected animal would be reason enough to have the vaccinations). It seems the virus when in saliva can enter even very small breaks in the skin - it doesn't need a visible cut. And, believe me, rabies is truly an horrific illness.

So, in short, my advice is, get to a doctor you trust quickly and if (s)he suggests having the vaccine - do it.

Please let me know what happens as I will be worrying.

I send you my very, very best wishes and trust all will work out just fine. My thoughts will be with you. (Now, I will also send this letter to you via email). John Hill 23:00, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Mr John Hill first verify and then comment

Please first read the following article by a known historian Dr S.M. Yunus Jaffery of Delhi under the title:"The Jat in Shah Nama of Firdowsi", in the book - The Jats - Their Role and Contribution to the Socio-Economic Life and Polity of North and North West India, Vol.I, 2004. P. 37, Ed. by Dr Vir Singh, Publisher - M/S Originals (an imprint of low priced publications), A-6, Nimri commercial Centre, Near Ashok Vihar, Phase-IV, Delhi-110052, ISBN 81-88629-17-0.

I have clearly referred to Dr S.M. Yunus Jaffery what you are talking about.

Can't you change your style of personal allegations ?

I am really surprized about your way of commenting false without verifying ?

I am not producing my original article so that you blame for this or that. Please stop this kind of Vandalism. --burdak 12:10, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Taxila copper plate

Hello John! Would you by any chance happen to have access to the full translation of the Taxila copper plate inscription? I photographed the plate the other day at the British Museum, but I only have part of the text. I think the reference if Konow 1929, based on one of your works [1]. Best regards, PHG 14:46, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

Hi John! Thank you for your offer, I've sent you an e-mail. Best regards. PHG 18:44, 26 June 2007 (UTC)