Georgi Stoikov Rakovski, a Great Son of Bulgaria and a Great Friend of India

Georgi Stoikov Rakovski, a Great Son of Bulgaria and a Great Friend of India
Author: Veselin Nikolov Traĭkov
Publisher: Northern Book Centre
Total Pages: 180
Release: 1987*
Genre: Bulgaria
ISBN: 9788185119281

A biographical sketch of Georgi Stoikov Rakovski who is widely known in Bulgaria as the founder of the organized Bulgarian National Liberation Movement. His activity is closely connected with the whole new stage in the history of the Bulgarian National Revival. This passionate and ardent revolutionary was a versatile personality; a poet, Downalist, historian, ethnographer, numismatist, diplomat, student of folklore, linguist. In addition to this, his efforts to establish unity and understanding among the Balkan nations made him one of the most outstanding politicians of the Balkans in the middle of the 19th century. Rakovski was the first in Europe to create a consciousness about Hindustan. Eversince 1857, the fountainhead of Indian studies in Eastern Europe he did significant work in Sanskrit literature, philosophy and folklore, ethnography and numismatics. A glowing tribute to Rakovski, the work explores what he left behind. A detailed study of his single-handed contribution in the field of Indology that can be a matter of pride for any cultural centre. This book is a biographical sketch of Georgi Stoikov Rakovski who firmly believed that the source of all the civilizations of the world is India. Though brought up in the tradition of Hellenic culture, he was drawn to the culture and literature of India. He translated a part of the Ramayana. It was as early as 1857 that he published in his newspaper a series of reports about the struggle of the Indian people, about their resistance to the oppresser. It’s as far back as 130 years he wrote in his paper “India must belong to the people of India and not to England, sooner or later, this must be so†. This book pays a glowing tribute to Rakovski and explores in detail his single handed contribution in the field of Indology and Balkan studies. It can be a matter of pride and research for any centre of Indology and Balkan studies. Reviews G. Mukerjee writes about Rakovski’s role in bringing home to his countrymen the great civilization of India and its struggle for freedom from the British. The book makes it clear that Bulgaria owes a great deal to his patriot. Pavanmeet Sethy, Patriot, New Delhi, 4 Oct., 1987. A book like this jointly authored by Veselin Traikov and G. Mukerjee, the noted Indian Scholar on Eastern Europe, is particularly welcome because it portrays objectively the life of Georgi Stoikov Rakovski, an extraordinary revolutionary who defied all resistance from the weilders of political power. It also describes important aspects of his ideas and ideals with which India came to be related quite deeply. ``... Rakovski’s researches were remarkable and one hopes there will be no dearth of scholars in this country to start again from where Rakovski left''. Biswajit Ray, Amrita Bazar Patrika, Calcutta, 2 August, 1987. This is a holy and precious book and I shall read it with great interest “this precious book will have a place of honour in our libarary.....†Devika Rani, Bangalore. ``I would like to assure you that the book is very interesting and useful and its publication will strengthen the bonds of friendship between India and Bulgarian People''. L. Darkim, Charge of Affairs a.i., Embassy of India, Sofia. ``Georgi Stoikov Rakovski was born in April 1821 in Kotel in a family of old revolutionary traditions and a spirit of independence. It was as early as 1857 that he published a series of reports about the struggles of the Indian people and their resistance to the British Oppressors. He wrote in his paper regarding the struggle of 1857, ``India must be free'' and ``India must belong to the people of India and not to England.'' Although he was brought up in the traditions of Hellenic Culture, he was drawn to the culture and literature of India. He translated a part of the Ramayana. Indeed, in the history of Indo-Bulgarian relations, the name of Georgi Stoikov Rakovski towers over all as one of the greatest friends of India. Indian antiquity, Indian culture and the people of India.'' Patriot, November 1, 1987, New Delhi.

Crown of Thorns

Crown of Thorns
Author: Stephane Groueff
Publisher: Madison Books
Total Pages: 438
Release: 1998-08-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1461730538

A fascinating biography of Bulgaria's tragic monarch, Boris III, based on private correspondence and extensive interviews with members of the Bulgarian royal family. The son of King Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Boris became king after the first World War. Noted for defying Hitler wishes for Bulgaria's Jews, the popular king died mysteriously in 1943 after a stormy meeting with Hitler.

The Voices of Medieval Bulgaria, Seventh-Fifteenth Century

The Voices of Medieval Bulgaria, Seventh-Fifteenth Century
Author: Kiril Petkov
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 592
Release: 2008-08-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 9047433750

This volume is the first comprehensive collection to gather together the records of the medieval Bulgarian centuries in English translation. Stone annals, works of religious instruction, anti-heretical treatises, apocrypha, royal charters, as well as numerous graffiti and marginal notes, shed abundant light onto a major cultural tradition of the European southeast from the seventh to the fifteenth century. Produced by Bulgarians of all walks of life, the evidence testifies, among other things, to the unique features of Bulgarian historical consciousness, political custom, and religious sensibility as well as the country’s conformity to the broad currents of medieval Europe’s cultural development and evolution. The volume furnishes a fundamental reading for all those interested in the historical destiny of the “other” Europe.

The Blinded State

The Blinded State
Author: Mitko B. Panov
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 476
Release: 2019-03-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 900439429X

This book is a revisionist account of Samuel’s State and the legendary struggle between Samuel Cometopoulos and Basil II (10th-11th century). It goes beyond the standard approach to the study of state formation, presenting an entirely new analytical framework which interrogates how contemporaries in the Balkans at different times, ranging from the Byzantine and Balkan elites of the medieval centuries to later voices in the early modern and modern periods, have represented Samuel’s polity in the service of their own political agendas and territorial aspirations towards Macedonia. The wide-ranging relationship between culture, identity and power are addressed, making use not just of Balkan literary and artistic traditions but on writings from across the Slavic world and western political and intellectual contexts. Demonstrating the conflicted legacy of the Samuel’s State in the Balkans, Mitko B. Panov questions established scholarly opinion and offers new interpretations that reconsider its place in Byzantine and Balkan history and imagination.