Textbook Notes:

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BRIEF OUTLINE / 4 CLASS THEMES Chapter 8 SOUTH ASIA   DEFINING THE REALM 379 South Asia and the War on Terror 380 A Realm of Poverty 382 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY Physiographic Regions of South Asia 383 Northern Mountains 383 River Lowlands 384 Southern Plateaus 384 HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY The Human Sequence 384 Asoka's Mauryan Empire 385 The Power of Islam 386 The European Intrusion 387 colonial transformation partition CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY South Asia and the War on Terror 380 Twenty-First-Century Regional Flashpoints 389 Who Should Govern Kashmir? 400 Sri Lanka: South Asian Tragedy 420 ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY A Realm of Poverty 382 South Asia's Population Dilemma 390 Dynamics of Population Growth 391 Geography of Demography 392 REGIONS OF THE REALM 393 Pakistan: On South Asia's Western Flank 392 Gift of the Indus 394 forward capital Subregions of Pakistan 395 Livelihoods 398 Emerging Regional Power 399  India: Giant of the Realm 399 CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY States and Peoples 401 Regional Issue: Who should govern Kashmir? 400 India's Changing Map 404 Centrifugal Forces: From India to Hindustan? 406 Centripetal Forces 407 ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY Urbanization 408 Economic Geography 409 agriculture industrialization improving prospects India East and West 416 intervening opportunity Bangladesh: Challenges Old and New 417 The Mountainous North 418 Nepal Bhutan The Southern Islands 420 Maldives Sri Lanka: South Asian Tragedy 420

MAJOR GEOGRAPHIC QUALITIES OF THE REALM

• South Asia is clearly defined physiographically and is bounded by mountains, deserts, and ocean; the Indian peninsula is Eurasia's largest.
• South Asia is the world's second most poverty-filled realm (ranking just above Subsaharan Africa), with low average incomes, low levels of education, poorly balanced diets, and poor overall health. (see table G-1)
• With only 3 percent of the world's land area but 23 percent of its population, more than half of it engaged in subsistence farming, South Asia's economic prospects are bleak.
• Population growth rates in South Asian countries exceed the global average; India's population surpassed the 1 billion mark in 1999.
• The North Indian Plain, the lower basin of the Ganges River, contains the heart of the world's second largest population cluster.
• Despite encircling mountain barriers, invaders from ancient Greeks to later Muslims penetrated South Asia and complicated its cultural mosaic.
• British colonialism unified South Asia under a single flag, but the empire fragmented into several countries along cultural lines after Britain's withdrawal in 1947.
• Pakistan, South Asia's western region, lies on the flanks of two realms: largely Muslim North Africa/Southwest Asia and dominantly Hindu South Asia.
• India is the world's largest federation and most populous democracy, but its political achievements have not been matched by enlightened economic policies.
• Religion remains a powerful force in South Asia. Hinduism in India, Islam in Pakistan, and Buddhism in Sri Lanka all show tendencies toward fundamentalism and nationalism.
• Active and potential boundary problems involve internal areas (notably between India and Pakistan in Kashmir) as well as external locales (between India and China in the northern mountains).

DEFINING THE REALM

INTRODUCTION

• South Asia and the war on terror
  • The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan (1979-1989)
  • What are the Tribal Areas of western Pakistan?
  • The Taliban gets control of Afghanistan / al-Qaeda in Afghanistan
  • After 9-11-2001 the US invades Afghanistan and defeat (?) the Taliban

   

• A Realm of Poverty: South Asia
  • 1/5 of the world's population
  • 2/3 of the world's poorest residents
  • nearly 1/2 earn less than $1 a day
  • 1/2 of the children are malnourished and underweight, especially the girls

   

  • WHY?
    • 23 % of world's population on 3% of the world's land area
    • lacking natural resources
    • poor economic policies of government control of the economy slowed economic growth
    • cultural traditions

     

  • self-sufficient in food production due to the green revolution
  • BUT, still half of the children of the realm are hungry
  • due to politics, inefficiency, and corruption

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

• Physiographic Regions of South Asia

  Northern Mountains River Lowlands Southern Plateaus Question: a. On the blank Outline map OUTLINE AND LABEL the three physiographic regions of South Asia b. Briefly describe each physiographic region c. Discuss the role of PLATE TECTONICS in creating these physiographic regions

• Online Lecture

• Well-defined physiographically:
  • northern boundary
    • Himalayan Mountains.,
    • Karakoram Range,
    • Hindu Kush Mts.
  • eastern boundary
    • mountains and thick forests along Myanmar (Burma) border
  • southern boundary
    • Bay of Bengal
    • Indian Ocean
    • Arabian Sea
  • western boundary
    • a bit more open
  • deserts and mountains

   

  Question: Why is South Asia called a "physically well-defined realm" ?

   

  Plate Tectonics

   

• Monsoons
  • “To know India and her people, one has to know the monsoon.”
  • To the people of India the monsoons are a source of life.
  • DEFINITION: Seasonal reversal of winds
    • NOTE: this is not the definition that you may be used to
  • General onshore movement in summer
  • General offshore flow in winter
  • Very distinctive seasonal precipitation regime

  

  Question: Why does it rain in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu during the Dry Monsoons, but it does not rain there during the Wet Monsoons? Use the following concepts and features in your answers and label them on the map when appropriate Arabian Peninsula Arabian Sea Himalayas Sea of Bengal Western Ghats Tamil Nadu Thar Desert Ganges delta upper Ganges valley orographic rainfall rainshadow effect

 

• Potentially Negative Effects of Monsoons
  • Widespread flooding
  • Property damage
  • Destruction to agricultural lands
  • Damage to transportation infrastructure
  • Homelessness
  • Disease
  • Malnutrition
  • Serious injury
  • Death

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY - The Human Sequence

• CULTURE HEARTH: The Indus River and Ganges River

  Definition: A culture hearth is where an early culture emerged and developed Indus River Culture Hearth existed at same time as Mesopotamia, interacted with large cities decline Ganges River Aryan (speaking (Indo European) migrated into Ganges River valley about 3500 years ago organized isolated tribes Hinduism emerged from the beliefs and practices brought to India by the Indo-Europeans (Aryans). (6th century BC)

   

• Asoka's Mauryan Empire
  • first true empire in the realm
  • Asoka was the greatest leader
    • believer in Buddhism
    • Buddhism born of discontent with Hinduism
    • made the state religion of India in 3rd century BC
    • missionaries sent to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia spreading Buddhism
  • empire collapsed in the late second century AD

   

• The Power of Islam
  • Islam sweeps through realm in late10th century AD
  • Came from Persia (now Iran)
  • first to Indus River valley converting virtually everyone
  • then into western and southern India
  • less successful in India, converting about 1/8
  • Islam arrived by boat in the Ganges Delta (now Bangladesh) where nearly everyone was converted
  • the Dravidians of southern India resisted conversion to Islam

  Question: Today, what is the major religion of: Pakistan India Bangladesh Sri Lanka Maldives Nepal Bhutan

• The European Intrusion
  • the British East India Company controlled South Asia until 1857
  • The British South Asian Empire: Colonial Transformation
    • British government took over control from the East India Company in 1857
    • economy:
      • there already was considerable indigenous industrial development and trade
      • as a result of colonial policies local industries declined and India reverted to exporting raw materials
    • politics
      • difficulty unifying the realm
      • hundreds of near autonomous, feudal "native states"
    • benefits of colonization
      • transport system developed, especially railroads
      • irrigation canals
      • British settlements grew into cities limited modern industrialization
      • education
      • medicine
      • attempts at eliminating undesirable cultural characteristics
  • Partition
    • As independence approached ,the predominately Muslim areas in the west (now Pakistan) and the east (now Bangladesh) sought separation from predominately Hindu India
    • problem: Many Muslims lived in India and many Hindus lived in the west and east
    • India and Pakistan (consisting of what is today both Pakistan and Bangladesh) gain independence in 1947
    • Consequences:
      • massive migration (millions) followed as Hindus moved to India and Muslims moved to Pakistan
      • uncertainty over who would control Kashmir (predominately Muslim but ruled by Hindus)
• Twenty-First Century Regional Flashpoints
  • Causes of potential conflict:
    • the Islamic invasion of ancient Hindu society
    • the partition
    • the Cold War
    • current War on Terror
  • Current Conflicts:
    • Muslim minority in India
    • Sri Lanka's Hindu Tamil minority
    • Maoist rebels in Nepal
    • Kashmir (see below)

CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY

• A culturally fragmented realm
• great religious and linguistic diversity
• Religious patterns:

  Islam is predominant in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Hinduism is predominant in India. Sikhism thrives in northern India. Buddhism is predominant in Sri Lanka.

• Hinduism
  • The world’s oldest religion
  • Culture hearth of the Indus River
  • Diffused south and east down the Ganges
  • Absorbed and eventually supplanted earlier native religions and customs
  • Not just a religion
  • An intricate web of religious, philosophical, social, economic, and artistic elements
  • No common creed
  • No single doctrine
  • No direct divine revelation
  • No rigid narrow moral code

   

  • Major tenets of Hinduism: Three main ideas are important in understanding the Hindu religion and the caste system
    • Reincarnation
      • Every living thing has a soul.
      • When a living thing dies, its soul moves into another living creature.
      • Souls are reborn in a newly created life.
    • Karma
      • Every action brings about certain results.
      • There is no escaping the consequences of one’s actions.
      • Good behavior is rewarded when the soul is reborn into a higher ranking living creature.
    • Dharma
      • A set of rules that must be followed by all living things if they wish to work their way up the ladder of reincarnation.
      • Each person’s dharma is different.

   

  • Three basic practices of Hinduism
    • Puja or worship
    • Cremation of the dead
    • Regulations of the caste system (see p. 406)

   

• Buddhism
  • Origins and spread of Buddhism
    • Siddhartha Gautama (563 - 483 BC)
    • Emperor Asoka (3rd Century BC)

     

  • Adherents objected to harsher features of Hinduism
  • Focuses on knowledge, especially self-knowledge
  • Elimination of worldly desires, determination not to hurt or kill people or animals

   

  • Four noble truths of Buddhism
    • Sorrow and suffering are part of all life.
    • People suffer because they desire things they cannot have.
    • The way to escape suffering is to end desire, to stop wanting, and to reach a stage of not wanting.
    • To end desire, follow the “middle path,” i.e., the path that avoids the extremes of too much pleasure and desire.

   

  • Eightfold path to the middle way of Buddhism
    1. Right understanding
    2. Right purpose
    3. Right speech
    4. Right conduct
    5. Right means of earning a living
    6. Right effort
    7. Right awareness
    8. Right meditation

   

  • Fall of Buddhism on the subcontinent
    • Hinduism - broad and tolerant, accepting many of the teachings of Buddha
    • Buddhists in India - willing to compromise with the beliefs and customs of Hinduism
    • Final blow - 8th century - arrival of Islam
    • Destroyed the great Buddhist monasteries
    • Burned libraries
    • Killed monks
    • Today - only 1 million Buddhists in India

   

• Religious contrasts

   

  • ISLAM
    • Monotheistic
    • No idols
    • One sacred book
    • Uniform dogma - 5 pillars
    • Intolerant (of other religions)
    • Eat beef / Sacrifice cows
    • Bury Dead
    • Social Equality (in theory)
    • Theocratic society

   

  • HINDUISM
    • Polytheistic
    • Many idols
    • Various sacred writings
    • Varying beliefs
    • Absorbed other religions
    • Venerate cows
    • Burn dead (& alive)
    • Caste separation
    • “State” of secondary importance

   

• Key cultural geography concepts applicable to the realm:
  • Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces (pp. 406-408)
  • Forward Capital
    • Islamabad
  • Irredentism
    • Muslim Pakistanis concern over fellow Muslims in Kashmir, India
    • Pathans (Or Pashtuns) Of Pakistan Related To Peoples Of Central Afghanistan
  • Federal System
    • Adopted by India in 1947
    • Provides regions and peoples with some autonomy and identity

   

• Conflict: Kashmir (p. 389, 396-397, 400)
  • high mountains (Karakoram Range)
  • in northwest India and northeast Pakistan; Surrounded by Pakistan, China, India, and Afghanistan
  • Independence & Partition
    • Jammu and Kashmir was one of the 562 "Native States" recognized by the British colonial administration
    • the maharajah (ruler) was Hindu, but most of the people were Muslim
    • at independence both India and Pakistan wanted Kashmir (Jammu and Kashmir)
    • Jammu & Kashmir faced with the choice of joining either Hindu India or Muslim Pakistan
    • Maharajah sought to remain autonomous and not be part of India or Pakistan
    • 1947 - Muslim uprising and Pakistani tribesmen invade
    • Maharaja flees to Delhi, India, and accedes to India
    • Indian troops deploy - Pakistani army join in the fight
    • After more than a year of fighting, January 1949 - U.N. Cease Fire draws a boundary (Line of Control) leaving most of Kashmir land and almost 4/5 of it population in India's hand
  • Since then, the territory has been the flashpoint for two of the three India-Pakistan wars: the first in 1947-8, the second in 1965.:
    • See BBC TIMELINE
  • India and Pakistan began peace talks that will cover the long-standing dispute over the territory of Kashmir in early 2004.
    • See: Q and A: Kashmir Dispute

    

• Conflict in Sri Lanka: Sinhalese vs. Tamils
  • Nations of Sri Lanka:
    • SINHALESE: 75% Buddhist, migrants, originally from northwest India, 2500 years ago, decedents now called Sinhalese, speak Sinhala language
    • TAMILS: 18% Hindu, migrated from southern India, Dravidian language, came to work on plantations in 19th century, called Tamils
  • Tamils demanded equal rights:
    • Education
    • Employment
    • Land ownership
    • Language and politics
  • 1978 sporadic violence started; 1983 full scale civil war ; demanding independence
  • Insurgent State
    • Tamils control the Jaffna peninsula and parts of northeaster Sri Lanka
    • LTTE - Liberation Tigers Of Tamil Eelam
  • BBC Timelines:
    • http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/51435.stm
    • http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/country_profiles/1166237.stm

    

    

   

ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

• See Table G-1 (pp. 35-41)

• South Asia is the world's second most poverty-filled realm (ranking just above Subsaharan Africa), with low average incomes, low levels of education, poorly balanced diets, and poor overall health. (see table G-1)
• With only 3 percent of the world's land area but 23 percent of its population, more than half of it engaged in subsistence farming, South Asia's economic prospects are bleak.
• Population growth rates in South Asian countries exceed the global average; India's population surpassed the 1 billion mark in 1999.

• For more on the economic geography of South Asia
  • India - see REGIONS OF THE REALM below
  • Pakistan - see REGIONS OF THE REALM below
  • Bangladesh - see REGIONS OF THE REALM below

   

• Population Geography (pp. 390-992)
  • What is demography: Study of population distribution, composition, rates of growth, and patterns of flow
  • Population distribution
    • dot maps
    • population cartogram
    • India has sparsly populated areas and densely populated river valleys
  • Population Density: the number of people who reside in an average unit area (see table G-1)
    • Arithmetic population density
      • definition: the averange number of people in a coutry per square mile or square kilometer
      • not very useful because it does not consider the quality of the land
    • Physiologic population density
      • definition: the number of people in a country per unit of land SUITABLE FOR FARMING OR GRAZING
      • compare figures for South Asian countries on Table G-1 (pp. 35-41)
  • Population Growth: Key Measures
    • Rate of natural increase or rate of natural population change
      • number of births minus number of deaths expressed as a percentage (table G-1) or per thousand in the population
    • Doubling time
      • From INTRODUCTION online lecture

      

    • ALMOST EVERYWHERE THE POPULATION GROWTH RATE IS DECLINING

     

  • Dynamics of population growth
    • South Asia's population growing faster than the world average
    • India's population growth
      • 3/4 of south Asia's population sives in India
      • Compare Gigure G-11 with table G-1: population growth tends to be higher in poorer countries
      • Demographic Transition Model (Diagram)

        

      Question: What happens to the POPULATION GROWTH RATE in each of the stages of the demographic transition model? A "population explosion" occurs in which stages? In which stage in India now?

  • Geography of Demography
    • WHERE in India is the population grawing the fastest? the slowest?
    • WHY THERE?

      NOTE: Geography studies WHERE and WHY THERE

      • federal system and differing policies of individual Indian States
      • differences in economic development among the States of India
      • Why is the population growth rates higher in Pakistan and Bangladesh than in India?
        • Cultural geography: the role of religion

   

REGIONS OF THE REALM

Regions

• Pakistan
• India
• Bangladesh
• The Mountainous North
• Islands

Pakistan

• officially called Islamic Republic Of Pakistan:
  • "one of the world's most theocratic states"
  • Sharia courts
• Population of 166.9 Million (one of world's 10 most populous states [countries])
• Second most populated Muslim country
• Islamic religion is an important centriptal force
• Centrifugal forces:
  • 77% Sunni Muslims; 16% Shia Minority
  • several major languages
• Forward Capital: capital moved from Karachi on the coast to Islamabad in the north near Kashmir
• Role in war on Terror
  • government support hte efforts of the United States
  • population tends to support militant Islamic parties and the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan
• has nuclear weapons

   

  Question: Why is Muslim Pakistan included in the South Asia Realm which includes many religions (Hinduism, Muslim, Buddhist) rather than in the North Africa and Southwest Asia Realm which is predominantly Muslim?

• Subregions:
  • Punjab
  • Sind
  • Baluchistan
  • North West Frontier

   

  • Punjab
    • core area
    • superimposed boundary (see chapter 10)
  • Sind
    • on coast
    • destination of migrants after partition
  • Baluchistan
    • arid southwestern Pakistan bordering Iran and Afghanistan
    • Shia Islam
  • North West Frontier
    • mountainous
    • borders Afghanistan
    • migrants from Afghanistan during Soviet occupation / example of IRREDENTISM
    • Tribal Areas
      • outside of the control of the central government
      • mountainous
      • anti-American
      • al-qaeda and Osama bin Laden ?

   

  ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY: Liveihoods (Pakistan)

  • 34% Urbanized
  • Low income economy
  • Economic liberalization (structural adjustment) began in 1990 to boost foreign and domestic private investment.
  • Cotton-based textile industry and rice exports (Green Revolution)
  • Supports a large military establishment - Emerging Regional Power
    • West and East Pakisatn and the 1971 war for independence for Bangladesh
    • nuclear weapons tested 

India: Giant of the Realm

• Encompasses 3/4s of South Asia's total area
• Population of 1.086 billion people
• Secular state

 

• CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY (States and Peoples and India's Changing Map)
  • World's most populaous democracy
  • A federation of 28 States plus some smaller units
  • Great cultural diversity: "a state of many nations"
  • 14 major and numerous minor languages (lingua Ffanca = English)
  • devolutionary pressure: demands by some minorities for their own State (3 new States created in 2000)
  • Muslim minority of 150 million
    • 13.4% of population
    • widely dispersed
    • rapid growth rate

   

  • Decide whether each of the following is a centripetal or centrifugal force in India: [see answers athe the bottom of page]
    • Hindu majority and Muslim minority
    • local rebellions
    • linguistic diversity
    • religious minorities
    • demands by some minorities for their own State
    • flexible State boundaries based on locations of country's cultural groups (nations with their own languages)
      • Nagaland
      • Sikh dominated State of Punjab
    • lingua franca of English
    • Hindu's caste system
    • Hindutna or "Hinduness" or Hindu nationalism
    • uniting power of Hinduism
    • democratic institutions
    • well developed communication and transportation systems (part of whih is a legacy of colonialism)
    • opposition to the British at independence
    • education system
    • stong leadership (Gandi, Nehru, others)

    Question: What is meant by "It [India] is a state of many nations." ?

     

    Question: List and briefly explain the CENTRIFUGAL forces and the CENTRIPETAL forces found in India

    Question: What is the difference between a "state" and a "State"? [small "s" vs. capital "S"] (see page 21, righthand column, about 1/2 the way down; "Although we often refer to the political entities on . . . . "

    Question: Where is the State of Tamil Nadu (figure 8-12)?

• ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY (India)
  • GNI of $2880 per person
  • 26% live below the poverty line
  • only 28% urbanized, but increasing

   

  • importance of agriculture
    • 70% of population farms
    • economy dependent on agriculture
    • A mixture of traditional village farming and modern agriculture
    • much of agrticulture is inefficient
    • unequal distribution of land

     

    • Comparison of precipitation and crop type (see maps below)
      • drier north west = wheat
      • wetter east = rice

• Industrialization
  • little industry at independence in 1947
  • Handicrafts, old and new branches of industry
  • Multitude of support services and nuclear power
  • Clothing industry
  • City of Bangalore in the south and the "Silicon Plateau" / several hundred software companies
  • recent rapid growth
  • India East and West

•  
  • Green Revolution
    • The successful development of higher yield, fast-growing varieties of rice and other cereals in developing countries
    • International research program -1960s
    • Focused on the food crises
    • Increased production per unit area aia:
      • miracle crops
      • new irrigation systems
      • intensive use of fertilizers

 

India's Great Cities

• Mumbai (Bombay)-
  • 18.3 Million
  • Achieved "primacy" based on its situation
• Kolkata (Calcutta)-
  • 14.3 Million
  • 500,000 Homeless
  • Former British Colonial Capital- 1772
  • Adversely Affected By Partition
• Delhi (New And Old)-
  • 15.3 Million
  • British And Indian Seat Of Government

   

Bangladesh

• Independent Since 1971
• Formerly East Pakistan
• about the size of Wisconsin
• 147.3 Million People
• 85% Muslim, 12% Hindu

 

• Natural Hazards - Cyclones
  • called hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean
  • called Typhoons in the Pacific Ocean
  • called Cyclones in the Indian Ocean

   

• Economic Development (Bangladesh)
  • population growth rate of 2.1; population doubling time = 69 years
  • Physiologic Density = 3,800/Sq. Mi.
  • Per Capita GNI = $1787
  • subsistence farming
  • only 23 % urbanized
  • Low levels of development
  • One of the world's poorest and least developed states
  • Economy is overwhelmingly agricultural
  • textile industry
  • Cultivation of rice is the single most important activity in the economy.

   

The Mountainous North

• Nepal
  • 25.9 million people
  • about the size of Illinois
  • Mt. Everest, world's tallest mountain
  • 80% Hindu (blended with Buddhism)
  • POOR
  • Maoist(communist) insurgency; failed state
• Bhutan
  • monarchy
  • POOR
  • Buddhism

The Southern Islands

Maldives

• >1,000 Islands
• <115 Sq. Mi. (300 Sq. Kilometers)
• highest elevation = 6 feet above sea level; could be severely affected by global warming and rising sea levels
• Population Of 300,000
• Dravidian and Sri Lanka sources
• Overwhelmingly Muslim (100%)
• Highest GNI in the realm based on Tourism

Sri Lanka

• Formerly Ceylon
• Independent Since 1948
• 20 million people (75% Buddhists)
• Plantation agriculture:
  • Tea
  • Rubber
  • Coconuts
• South
  • Majority of population
  • Called Sinhalese, speak Sinhala (Indo-European) language
  • desended from migrants from northwest India
  • Buddhists
• North
  • 18% of the population
  • Dravidians who came from southern India
  • Hindu religion
  • called Tamils, speak Tamil Language
  • brought to island by the British to work on the plantations
• Civil war between the Tamils and the Sinhalese (see "Conflict in Sri Lanka: Sinhalese vs. Tamils" above

• Hindu majority and Muslim minority G
• local rebellions G
• linguistic diversity G
• religious minorities G
• demands by some minorities for their own State G
• flexible State boundaries based on locations of country's cultural groups (nations with their own languages)T
  • Nagaland
  • Sikh dominated State of Punjab
• lingua franca of English T
• Hindu's caste system G
• Hindutna or "Hinduness" or Hindu nationalism G
• uniting power of Hinduism T
• democratic institutions T
• well developed communication and transportation systems (part of whih is a legacy of colonialism) T
• opposition to the British at independence T
• education system T

stong leadership (Gandi, Nehru, others) T