Chapter 29—The Countries of South Asia

• Nationalism: Pride in one’s nation; the desire of a cultural group to rule themselves as a separate nation
• nonviolent resistance: the policy of opposing an enemy or oppressor by any means other than violence
• boycott: to refuse to purchase or use a product or service as an expression of disapproval
• partition: a division into separate parts
• reincarnation: the belief that the soul of a human being/animal goes through a series of births, deaths, + rebirths
• caste system: a social hierarchy in which a person possesses a distinct rank In society that is determined by birth
• charpoy: a wooden bed frame w/knotted string in place of a mattress
• sari: a brightly colored cloth, worn by many Indian women, that is draped over the body like a long dress
• purdah: the practice among Hindu + Muslim women of covering the face with a veil when outside the home
• joint family system: in India, the custom of housing all members of an extended family together
• cottage industry: a small-scale manufacturing operation using little tech., often located in/near people’s homes
• hydroelectric power: electricity that is generated by moving water
• irrigation: the watering of farmland w/water drawn from reservoirs/rivers
• embankment dam: a wall of soil + rock to hold back water
• buffer state: a country that separates 2 hostile countries
• malnutrition: disease caused by a lack of food or an unbalanced diet
• deforestation: the process of stripping the land of its trees

1. How did the British impact the Indian subcontinent?

• Ending slavery, improving schools, build a large railroad network
• Wanted to use India as a market for their own cheaper, machine-made textiles—imported raw cotton from India,
made it into clothes, + shipped the finished product back to India for salemillions of Indian textile workers lost
their jobs
• Gov. + army organized w/British officials in all of the positions of power
• Intro. English lang.
2. Describe Mohandas Gandhi’s role in India’s independence movement.
• Led India to independence—believed nonviolent resistance was most powerful weapon against British
• Won hearts of Indian people everywhere he went
• Boycotted British cloth—spinning wheel = symbol of nat. pride
• Nonviolent resistance dev. into mass movement—some used violence
• Gandhi + followers attracted support from other countries
• 1935—Britain gave into Indian + international pressures + est. provinces gov. entirely by Indians
3. How did religious conflict influence partitioning?
• Hindus + Muslims worked together towards independence
• As drew nearer to goal, both groups began to fear being ruled by the other
• Riots broke out in which 1000s of people died
• 1947—British + Indian leaders agreed the only solution was to partition
• Hindu = Republic of India, Muslim = Pakistan
4. How did partitioning lead to one of history’s greatest migrations?
• To avoid the rule of a majority religion to which they didn’t belong, Hindus moved to India + Muslims moved to
Pakistan
5. Create a venn diagram of East and West Pakistan.
• East
 Most residents Bengalis
 Language: Bengali, + literary tradition
 Agricultural
 Less economically dev… paid more taxes than W.
 Gained indp. from west
• West
 Belonged to several ethnic groups
  Language: Urdu
 Factories
 ½+ nat. budged spent here, where gov. was located
 Held most positions of power in gov. + military
• Both
 Separated by 1,100 miles
 Boundaries not based on physical geo., rather on the predominance of Islam
6. Use the cartogram on pg. 611.
a) What South Asian country has the largest population? The smallest population?
• India; Bhutan
b) How does India’s population compare to China’s?
• Almost same size, China may be a bit larger
7. How have migrations influenced cultural change and diversity in South Asia?
• Aryan migrations brought cultures aspects like Hinduism, Sanskrit, + caste system
8. How does migration cause cultural convergence? Cultural divergence?
• National + religious rivalries contribute to divergence
• Aryans migrated to South Asia—culture came into contact w/culture of other people
9. Describe Hinduism.
• Polytheistic—teaches the unity of all life
• Believe that every living thing has a spirit/soul, which comes from the Creator, Brahma
• Consider Ganges River to be holy—purity souls of ppl who bathe in it/drink its water
• Final goal of living things = unity w/Brahma—state of bliss w/out change/pain—go through reincarnation
10. Describe the caste system.
• Each caste has its own duties + obligations
• Brahmans—priests, teacher, + judges
• Kshatriyas—warriors
• Vaisyas—farmers + merchants
• Sudras—craft workers + laborers
• Untouchables/outcasts—streets sweepers, garbage collectors, + hide tanners
• Social relationships often confided within the same caste… untouchables have fewer educational + employment
opportunities
11. What other religions are found in India?
• Islam, Christianity, Sikhism (movement to combine Hinduism + Islam… not divided into castes), Jainsim (offshoot
of Hinduism, teaches that any kind of violence is wrong)
12. Where do most people live in India?
• 7/10 Indians live in villages + farm for a living
13. How is urbanization changing India?
• Modern tech. in villages—electricity, TV, movies
• Towns more pop. + lively that rural villages
• More opportunities for work + education in urban than rural areas
14. Describe India’s major cities.
• Mumbai (Bombay)—extreme crowding + poverty, country’s busiest port + financial center
• Chennai (Madras) and Kolkata (Calcutta)—major east coast centers of commerce + shipping industry
• New Delhi—capital + center of gov.
• Varanasi—1 of oldest cities built on banks of Ganges—holiest city in world, die w/in boundaries = no reincarnation
15. In what ways is India’s government attempting to raise the country’s standard of living?
• Advances in Farming—more land farmed, better farming methods, increased irrigation, + higher quality seeds, set
up cottage industries
• Expanded Industry—great adv. In computers + space research, placed satellites in orbit, consumer goods
growing
• Education—intensive gov. effortsalmost every village has a primary school
• Health Care—life exp. Increased, drilled 100s of deep, machine-made wells w/covers that reduce risk of
contaminationdiseases such as malaria + cholera less common
16. How does physical geography impact Pakistan?
• Hindu Kush—mts. have several passes, allowing transportation possible
• Khyber Pass allows movement bet. Peshawar in n.w. Pakistan + Kabul
 • Towering mountains keep cold air from C. Asia from penetrating the subcontinent during winterexcept at high
elevations, temp. in Pakistan = generally warm/hot
• Irrigation + Electricity
Indus River—contains most agricultural areas + hydroelectric power stations
Farmers must irrigate the land because of little annual rainfall
Tarbela Dam holds more water than any other embankment dam in world

17. Why is Afghanistan considered a buffer state?

• 1800s, Britain + Russia competed for influence—failed to conquer, + decided to leave Afghanistan alone
18. What happened in Afghanistan in the 1980s? 1990s?
• 1980s—Soviet troops marched in Afghanistan to help put down a revolt at the request of the Afghan gov.—mil’s
fled country, settling in refugee camps in Pakistan
• 1990s—Soviet withdrawalcivil war broke outTaliban (Muslim group) controlled most of nationextremist
Osama bin Laden led a terrorist organization called al Qaida”killing of Americans + their civilian + military allies
is a religious duty”… Sept. 11, 2001U.S. launched military attacks against Taliban + al-Qaidanew gov. soon
19. How does Bangladesh’s physical environment influence economic activities and impact the population?
• Good times—Warm temp, abundant water supply, fertile soil enable farmers to plant + harvest 3 crops/year
• Bad times—Raging rivers overflow, + fierce tropical storms sweep in from the bay of Bengal, submerging the land
in salt water
20. Explain how overpopulation challenges Bangladesh?
• 9th most populous country in world, w/about 131 million people
• Overpop. + natural hazards have combine to create another problem: hunger/malnutrition
• Few roads/bridges…most travel by boat along waterwaysw/out aid, can’t improve communications + trans.
systems
21. Create a venn diagram over Nepal and Bhutan.
• Nepal
o 90% Hindu
o Welcomes tourists to mountains
• Bhutan
o 75% Buddhist
o Discourages contact with tourists to preserve traditional culture
• Both
o Great range in altitude
o Southern lowlands hot and humid—monsoon rains pour down every summerTropical crops flourish
o Cooler areas people grown wheat, millet, + potatoes
o Ppl often celebrate festivals honored by both religious
22. Describe Sri Lanka’s changing environment and social unrest.
• Environmental Change
Climate is tropical, but made cooler by ocean breezes
o Once covered w/thick rain forest… 2/3 cut down for farming + dev.—scientists think that this deforestation
has helped change island’s weather + caused droughts
• Social Unrest
o Fights between Sinhalese + Tamils from religion and language
o Tamils = Hinduism, Sinhalese = Buddhism
23. Use the chart on pg.625, as well as your knowledge of social studies.
a) Which one of these countries has the greatest level of population density, and what is the density of that
country?
• Bangladesh—2,324 persons per square mile
b) Which one of these countries seems most likely to face problems with its existing infrastructure, and why?
• India has the highest total population (984,003,683), population density (799), pop. growth rate (1.71%)