South
Asia
South
Asia
Learning Objectives
• Understand the unique climatological challenges
of this region, which include monsoons and
cyclones, and accompanying flooding
• Learn about the challenges and strategies of
feeding a large and growing population
• Become familiar with the physical, demographic,
cultural, political, and economic characteristics
of South Asia
• Understand the following concepts and models:
-Monsoon
-Green Revolution
-Caste system
-Hinduism
-Orographic rainfall
-Subcontinent
Introduction
• The Himalayan Mountains are in South Asia
• Called the Indian subcontinent
• India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives
• South Asia is the world’s second most populous
region
• The population is growing, raising concerns
about food production keeping pace
• South Asia was a British colony for several
centuries
• Since achieving in 1947, India and Pakistan have
been embroiled in conflict; both countries have
nuclear weapons
• This region is one of the world’s poorest
Creation of the Realm
Continental Drift
Environmental Issues in South Asia
(cont.)
• South Asia’s Monsoon Climates
• Monsoon: the distinct seasonal change of wind
direction; in South Asia
– Summer monsoon brings rain and flooding to
Bangladesh
– Winter monsoon is dry
• Orographic rainfall: precipitation from the
uplifting and cooling of moist winds; it occurs in
the Western Ghats and Himalayas
– Rain-shadow effect: the area of low rainfall found on
the leeward (or downwind side) of a mountain range
• Drier conditions in Pakistan
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.
• From an Arabic word meaning seasonal
reversal of winds
• General onshore movement in summer
• General offshore flow in winter
• Very distinctive seasonal precipitation regime
– Two monsoons – wet one & dry one
Seasons NOT defined
by temperature
patterns, but by
precipitation patterns
Seasonal shift in the
prevailing wind direction
Dry monsoon Wet monsoon
MONSOON RAINS
MAY BRING
DISASTEROUS
FLOODS TO
BANGLADESH
ESSENTIAL FOR
RICE
PRODUCTION.
HOWEVER…
Massive
Delta Region
• Brahmaputra Delta
Thousands of
tributaries and
distributaries that
can flood (only the
larger ones are
shown on the
map.)
• Ganges Delta
Rice is Dependant on the
Monsoons
POTENTIALLY NEGATIVE EFFECTS
OF MONSOONS
RESULTS OF CATASTROPHIC RAINFALL
•Widespread flooding
•Property damage
•Destruction to agricultural lands
•Damage to transportation infrastructure
•Homelessness
•Disease
•Malnutrition
•Serious injury
•Death
Population and Settlement: The
Demographic Dilemma
• India has more than 1 billion people
– Concern about producing enough food
• Pakistan has 145 million people
• Bangladesh has 133.5 million people
– Has one of the highest settlement densities in the world
Population Density
• POPULATION DENSITY (INDIA)
– People per square mile
World Average = 117/mi2
Pacific
Southeast
Asia
Southeast
Asia
East Asia
South
Asia
South
Asia
Subsaharan
Africa
Subsaharan
Africa
N.N.
Africa/S.W.
Asia
Africa/S.W.
Asia
South
America
South
America
36
865
82
52
53
176
Middle
America
Middle
America
Austral
Japan
Japan
North
America
North
America
Russia
Russia
Europe
Europe
0
Realm
315
341
7.6
874
42
22
265
200
400
600
800
People per square mile
1000
Population
Map of
South
Asia
Population and Settlement: The Demographic
Dilemma (cont.)
• Migration and the Settlement Landscape
• South Asia is one of the least urbanized regions of
the world
– Majority live in compact rural villages
– Rural-to-urban migration caused by agricultural changes
• Most settlement near fertile soils and dependable
water sources
• Agricultural Regions and Activities
• Agriculture has historically been unproductive
• Green Revolution: agricultural techniques based on
hybrid crop strains and heavy use of industrial
fertilizers and chemical pesticides
– Greatly increased agricultural yields in South Asia
– High social and cultural costs
Population and Settlement:
The Demographic Dilemma
(cont.)
–The Green Revolution
•Use of hybrid, high-yield seeds to
bolster production
–1970 to 1990s: India more than
doubled annual grain production
•Only more prosperous farmers could
afford to adopt seeds and use
mechanization
•Environmental problems from
dependency on chemical fertilizers
and pesticides
•Poorer farmers forced from their
lands
•Salinization in irrigated areas
Population and Settlement: The
Demographic Dilemma (cont.)
• Urban South Asia
• About 25% of the South Asian population resides in urban
areas
– Many live in bustees (sprawling squatter settlements)
– Mumbai (Bombay)
• Largest city in South Asia
• Financial, commercial, and industrial center
• Less-fortunate immigrants live in “hutments” – crude
shelters built on formerly busy sidewalks
– Delhi/New Delhi
• More than 11 million people
• India’s capital, has British colonial imprint
• Air pollution a problem
Mumbai (Bombay)
Boy begging from
motorists
Three ages in architecture:
colonial, modern, and precolonial.
Modern Hotel
Lotus Temple
Red Fort Mosque (disused)
Parliament
Delhi street scene
Calcutta
Street scene
Jain temple
Modern Business District
Children on school bus
Outdoor market
Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A
Common Heritage Undermined by
Religious Rivalries
• Since its inception in 1948, India has been a secular state
– Growth of Hindu nationalism: movement promoting Hindu
values as essential and exclusive fabric of Indian society
– Tensions between Hindus and Muslims in India
– Tensions between fundamentalists and secularists in Pakistan
• Origins of South Asian Civilizations
• Indus Valley civilization established 5,000 years ago
• By 800 B.C., a new urban focus in Ganges Valley
– Hindu Civilization
• Hinduism: a complicated faith without a single, uniformly
accepted system of belief
• Sanskrit: sacred languages of Hinduism
• Caste system: strict division of Hindu society into ranked
hereditary groups
Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A Common
Heritage Undermined by Religious Rivalries
(cont.)
• Origins of South Asian Civilizations (cont.)
– The Caste System
• Regional variations, religious differences in
acceptance of caste system
• Caste: complex social order
» Castes include Brahmins, Kshatriyas,
Vaishyas, Sudras
» Scheduled castes or “untouchables” or dalits
Cultural Coherence and Diversity: A Common
Heritage Undermined by Religious Rivalries
(cont.)
• Contemporary Geographies of Religion
– Hinduism
• Major faith of India and Nepal
• Forms of worship differ by region
– Islam
• 400 million Muslims in the region, among the largest Muslim
communities in the world
– Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives are mostly Muslim
– In India, Muslims concentrated in the cities, in the north, the upper
and central Ganges plain, and in Kerala
– Sikhism
• Sikhism: faith incorporating elements of Hinduism and Islam
• Originated in Punjab in 1400s, still concentrated in Punjab
• Sikh men noted for work as soldiers and bodyguards
HINDUISM
• Not just a religion – an intricate web of
religious, philosophical, social, economic, &
artistic elements
• No common creed
• No single doctrine
• No direct divine revelation
• No rigid narrow moral code
• No leadership hierarchy
• Can be practiced on different levels of
spirituality – mainly an individual enterprise
• Has had the ability to absorb competing
religious ideologies – except for Islam
MONOTHEISM OR POLYTHEISM?
• BRAHMAN – the “Ultimate Reality” – something
like “The Force” of Star Wars –not a “personal”
god –impersonal force under girding all
• BRAHMA – the creator – & many incarnations
• VISHNU – the sustainer – & many incarnations
• SHIVA – the destroyer – & many incarnations
• CYCLES OF CREATION (somewhat like
reincarnation of the universe) – we’re in 4th cycle
• When reincarnation ceases, one becomes one
with Brahman
Shiva –
the
Destroyer
• Shivanataraja –
incarnation
as the king
of dancers
– very
common
symbol of
Shiva
Hindu Temple
MAJOR TENETS OF HINDUISM
• Four main ideas are important in
understanding the Hindu religion and
the caste system
– Reincarnation
– Karma
– Dharma
– Ahimsa
REINCARNATION
• Every living thing has a soul.
• When a living thing dies, its soul
moves into another living creature
(transmigration of souls).
• Souls are reborn in a newly created
human or animal life.
• This continues until the “ultimate
reality” is fully understood (one sees
the Atman is also Brahman)– then it
ceases
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.
• Karma is somewhat the result of one’s
approach to one’s 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.
This ties into the caste
system.
• Sometimes seen as
analogous to duty
• Each person’s dharma
is different.
DHARMA
•Seeing all life as
sacred – a part of a
“oneness”
•Results in the life
principle of nonviolence
•Supports the idea of
being in harmony with
nature
•A principle also found
in Jainism and
Buddhism
Ahimsa
THREE
BASIC
PRACTICES
•Puja or worship –
largely individual
practices
•Cremation of the
dead
•Regulations of the
caste system
•Siddhartha
Gautama (563 483 B.C.) –
founder
searching for
understanding of
suffering
•Emperor Asoka
(3rd Century
B.C.) Spread
Buddhism in India
ORIGINS AND
SPREAD OF
BUDDHISM
•Objected to harsher
features of Hinduism such
as the caste system
•Focuses on knowledge,
especially self-knowledge
•Enlightenment ends the
cycle of reincarnation
•Elimination of worldly
desires, determination not to
hurt or kill people or animals
BUDDHISM
FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS
• 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
•Right understanding
•Right purpose
•Right speech
•Right conduct
•Right means of
earning a living
•Right effort
•Right awareness
•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
ISLAM
Hindu/Muslim-practices/perceptions
•Hindus tend to be
vegetarians (ahimsa and
reincarnation beliefs
foster this)
•Cows are sacred animals
•Believe in reincarnation
•Brahman, if it is God, is
an impersonal one
•Follow caste system – no
social or religious mobility
within one lifetime
•Muslims see Hindus as
polytheistic infidels not to be
tolerated
•Muslims eat meat (cows) –
not pork
•Muslims are strict
monotheists
•Muslims believe in a
personal God
•Muslims reject the concept
of castes – equality of
believers
•Reject reincarnation
Religious
Geograph
y
of
South
Asia
(Fig. 12.16)
Geopolitical Framework: A Deeply Divided
Region
• South Asia Before and After Independence in 1947
• During the 1500s most of region was under the Mughal
Empire
– European merchants established coastal trading posts
• By 1700s the empire weakened and contending states
emerged
– The British Conquest
• British East India Company – a private organization acted
as an arm of the British government and monopolized
trade
– Exploited political chaos to stake empire
• Sepoy Mutiny (1856) led to South Asia being ruled
directly by the British
• Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh rulers retained their states under
British rule
South Asia Before and After Independence
in 1947 (cont.)
– Independence and Partition
• By the 1920s political protestors called for independence
• Gandhi favored a unified state, while Muslim leaders
argued for a division
• Post World War II partitioning
– India, East and West Pakistan
– 1971: Bangladesh independence
India’s Political Development – effective
leaders in early years
Oldest continuously functioning democracy in Asia
Took a neutralist position in the Cold War
•Jawaharlal Nehru 19471964
•Lal Bahadur Shastri –
1964-1966
•Indira Gandhi 1966-1977
•1977- 1980 – Janata
Coalition (had defeated
Indira Gandhi)
•Indira Gandhi 1980-1984
-- Assassinated
•Rajiv Gandhi 1984 –
1989 – assassinated in
election of 1991
•Mid 1990s –corruption
and scandals
•1997 – K. R. Narayanan
(of the lowest caste)
•1998 – Atal Vajpayee –
Hindu Nationalist party
INDIA & PAKISTAN
(AT PARTITION)
Kashmir -disputed
India
West Pakistan
East Pakistan
(Bangladesh)
Geopolitical Framework: A Deeply
Divided Region (cont.)
• International and Global Geopolitics
• Cold war between India and Pakistan
– Nuclear capabilities of both countries
escalated tensions
– China allied with Pakistan (China-India border
conflict)
– Pakistani had supported Afghanistan’s Taliban
regime, now helps U.S.
Economic and Social Development: Burdened by
Poverty
• South Asian Poverty
• More than 300 million Indian citizens are below their
country’s poverty line, and Bangladesh is poorer
• Nepal and Bhutan are in worse condition
• India has a growing middle class, and an upper class
– About 100 million Indians afford modern consumer
goods
• Geographies of Economic Development
– The Himalayan Countries
• Rugged terrain and isolation in Nepal and Bhutan are a
disadvantage
• Bhutan has isolationist stance (tourists must spend
$165/day)
• Nepal’s tourism has resulted in environmental
degradation
Economic and Social Development: Burdened by
Poverty (cont.)
• Geographies of Economic Development
– Bangladesh
•
•
•
•
Poorest country in the region
Heavy reliance on production of commercial crops
Environmental degradation has contributed to poverty
Internationally competitive in textile and clothing
manufacturing
– Pakistan
• Inherited a reasonably well-developed urban
infrastructure
• Agriculture, cotton, textile industry are important
• Less dynamic economy and less potential for growth
• Burdened by high levels of defense spending
Economic and Social Development: Burdened by
Poverty (cont.)
• Geographies of Economic Development (cont.)
– Sri Lanka and the Maldives
• Sri Lanka: second-most highly developed economy in
region
– Exports of agricultural products (rubber and tea) and
textiles
– Civil war has undercut economic progress
• Maldives is most prosperous country in region, based on
GNI
– Small total economy
– India’s Lesser Developed Areas
• India’s economy dwarfs that of other South Asian
countries
• Prosperous west and poorer east
• Caste tensions exist in these areas
Economic and Social Development: Burdened by
Poverty (cont.)
• Globalization and India’s Economic Future
• South Asia is one of the world’s least globalized
regions
– Low foreign trade and low foreign direct
investment
– Economy based on private ownership combined
with government control of planning, resource
allocation, and certain heavy industrial sectors
» Led to low, slow-paced growth
– 1990s: liberalization of the economy, regulations
reduced
– Future economic policies remain uncertain
Economic and Social Development: Burdened by
Poverty (cont.)
• Social Development
• South Asia has low levels of health and education
– Punjab, Gujarat, Maharashtra on top; Bihar at the
bottom
– But literacy rates are high in the poor northeast
because of missionary education
– The Educated South
• Sri Lanka has high levels of social welfare
– Long life expectancy, low literacy rate
– Fertility rate reduced to near replacement levels
Economic and Social Development: Burdened by
Poverty (cont.)
• The Status of Women
• Both Hindu and Muslim traditions tend to limit
women
• In many regions of India, female literacy is far
lower than that of male literacy
• Gender imbalances as a result of “differential
neglect”
–In poorer families, boys tend to receive
better and more preferential treatment than
girls
• Social position of women is improving,
especially in the more prosperous parts of the
north
Conclusions
•Geopolitical tensions in South Asia cause
concern
•Nuclear rivalry between India and Pakistan
•Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka
•Religious strife between Hindus and Muslims
•Bangladesh draws foreign direct investment
and prospects for the future
•India may be perfectly positioned for
globalization