South Asia Notes

Unit 10- 3wks Test

Indian Subcontinent

• India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives

• called Indian Subcontinent because India dominates the region

• Though half the size of U.S., area has 1/5 of world’s people

• Natural barriers separate subcontinent from rest of Asia

• mountains form northern border, Indian Ocean surrounds rest

• Arabian Sea to west, Bay of Bengal to east

Himalaya Mountains

• 1,500-mile-long system of parallel ranges − include world’s tallest mountain—Mt. Everest

• form barrier between Indian subcontinent and China

• kingdoms of Nepal, Bhutan are also in these mountains

The Maldives

• Maldives is archipelago—island group—of 1,200 small islands

• stretch north to south for 500 miles off Indian coast, near equator

• Islands are atolls—low-lying tops of submerged volcanoes

• surrounded by coral reefs, shallow lagoons

• Total land area of Maldives is 115 square miles

• only 200 islands are inhabited

Tropical Climate

• Proximity to the Indian Ocean and the equator creates tropical climate in much of India.

Monsoons • seasonal winds that

affect entire region

• dry winds blow from northeast October–February

•moist ocean winds blow from southwest June–September

•moist winds bring heavy rainfall, especially in southwest, Ganges Delta

• unpredictable; cause hardship in lowlands of India, Bangladesh

Impact of the Monsoons

• Summer monsoons nourish rain forests, irrigate crops

• floodwaters bring rich sediment to soil, but can also damage crops

• Cyclones are common with summer monsoons called hurricanes in North America

• Cause flooding, widespread destruction

• 1970 Bangladesh cyclone killed 300,000

• Winter monsoon droughts turn lush lands into arid wastelands

Cyclone

• violent storm with fierce winds, heavy rain

• In Bangladesh low coastal region swamped by high waves

Rivers- Pollution

• Rivers play a central role in the lives of South Asians.

• Water pollution and flooding pose great challenges to South Asian countries.

Human Interaction

• Human interaction with the environment in South Asia has intensified environmental issues.

• Such as building on the river flood plains in the Himalaya

• Deforestation • And other activities,

destabilize slopes are responsible for loss of life.

Ganges • Ganges is the best-known

South Asian river

• it’s shorter than the Indus, Brahmaputra

• flows 1,500 miles from Himalayan glacier to Bay of Bengal

• drains area three times France; home to 350 million people

• Sacred home of the goddess Ganga

• Provides drinking and farming water, transportation

• Known as Gangamai—“Mother Ganges” becomes the Padma where it meets the Brahmaputra

Sacred River

• Hinduism is the religion of most Indians

• To Hindus, the Ganges River is the sacred home of the goddess Ganga

• Hindus believe waters have healing powers; temples line its banks

• pilgrims come to bathe, scatter ashes of dead

• at sacred site of Varanasi they gather daily for prayer, purification

• float baskets of flowers, burning candles on water

Polluted River

• Centuries of use have made Ganges most polluted river in world – sewage, industrial waste,

human bodies poison the water

• Users get stomach and intestinal diseases, hepatitis, typhoid, cholera

• In 1986, government plans sewage treatment plants, regulations

• Today few plants are operational, factories still dump waste

• Clean up will take time, money, a change in how people see river

Religions

• India- most are practicing Hindus

• Also home to Muslims, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs

India’s Independence

• India gains its independence from Britain in 1947

• Muslim Pakistan splits from Hindu India; violence, migrations result

• Constitution is created under first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru

• a democratic republic since 1950

• System has federation of states, strong central government, like U.S.

• parliamentary system, like U.K.

• India is mostly Hindu, but with large Muslim, Sikh, Tamil minorities

• Sikhs kill Gandhi’s daughter, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, 1984

• Tamils assassinate her son, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, 1991

Mohandas K. Gandhi

• Early and mid- 1900s, led India’s fight for independence

• Mohandas K. Gandhi. • Using nonviolent methods,

such as boycotting British product and staging peaceful demonstrations, Gandhi inspired the peoples of India to seek self-rule. He worked to end the rigid social system and promote local industry, such as spinning and weaving.

• Enduring prison and hunger strikes in the struggle for independence, Gandhi earned the name Mahatma or “Great Soul.”

Hinduism

• 80% of Indians are Hindu; complex Aryan religion includes many gods

• reincarnation—rebirth of the soul after death

• Original Aryan caste system of social classes:

• Brahmans—priests, scholars; Kshatriyas—rulers, warriors

• Vaisyas—farmers, merchants; Sudras—artisans, laborers

• Dalits (untouchables) are outside caste system—lowest status

• Dharma is a caste’s moral duty; only reincarnation changes caste

Partitioning of India and Pakistan

• Muslims in India fled to Pakistan

• Hindus in Pakistan fled to India • New political borders were

created to divide ethnic groups.

• 1947 partition creates Hindu India, Muslim Pakistan

• Hindu-Muslim violence killed one million people

• 10 million crossed borders: Hindus to India, Muslims to Pakistan

• Ethnic differences led to civil war between West and East Pakistan

• East Pakistan won independence in 1971, became Bangladesh

Flooding Zones

• Physical process responsible for creating flood zones are silt deposits along the major river systems create low lying areas that flood easily during snow melt and seasonal rains.

Bangladesh Floods

• Adapting to the extensive flooding is necessary

Kashmir

• Source of conflict among nations of South Asia because its people are predominantly Islamic, though controlled by India.