Chapter 16 Indian Ocean Societies
Ding/B/moo!
1. King Harsha permanently restored unified rule to most of India and sought to revive
imperial authority.
2. Mahmud of Ghazni had more of an interest plundering India’s wealth rather than ruling
India.
3. During the fourteenth century cities in southern India grew fast, partly due to
increasing agricultural productivity.
4. Dhows and junks enabled traders to leave behind the coastlines and sail the blue
waters of the Indian Ocean.
5. The caste system did not adjust to the migration of new people into Indian society, as
it segregated migrants.
6. By 1500, Muslims numbered about one-quarter of the subcontinent’s population.
7. In India as elsewhere, the most effective agents of conversion to Islam were Sufi
mystics.
Discussion Questions:
8. Create a Venn diagram (interlocking circles) comparing elements of Hinduism, Islam and
Buddhism. Be sure to find common ground!
9. Dig out your old chapter 12 study guide- find your “sketchy map of Indian Ocean
trade.” Now refine it-make it elegant and neat. As you read ch.16, note examples of
trade items and ideas/religions from India and their trading partners across to the
east and west. Using the map on the back, create a key for items/ideas/monsoon
winds/stuff and place these items on the map.
Target concepts: Harsha, Mahmud of Ghazni, Vijayanagar, Monsoon winds, dhows and
junks, Ellora temple, emporia, Axum, jati, Bhakti movement, Guru Kabir, Srivijaya, Angkor
and the Khmers