South Asia

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South Asia

• SSWG5d Describe the various ethnic and religious
  groups in the region and the effects of geography
  on their development and their major customs and
  traditions
• SSWG5f Explain the division of the Indian
  Subcontinent into India and Pakistan and the
  eventual creation of Bangladesh

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India

• India is the largest country in South Asia and
  has the most developed economy
• Indian culture is deeply influenced by religion
• Majority Hindu but also has a large Muslim
  population
• India is one of the oldest culture hearths

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Europeans Arrive

• In 1500s, French, Dutch, Portuguese build cloth,
  spice trades
• British East India Company controls Indian trade
  by 1757
• Establish direct rule in 1857
• Raj90-year period of direct British control,
  opposed by most Indians

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Mohandas Mahatma Gandhi

• Born in 1869, at age 13 married 14 year old Ba
• 1888 studied law in London and got a job in South
  Africa
• While in South Africa Gandhi witnessed and
  experienced a lot of Indian prejudice
• Gandhi first began using non violent protests
  against the South African government

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Independence Movement

• 1915 Gandhi moved back to India where many
  Indians had turned against British rule.
• Gandhi employed non-cooperation, non-violence and
  peaceful resistance as his "weapons" in the
  struggle against British
• Began a boycott of British goods
• Finally in 1947 India wins independence
• 1948 Gandhi is assassinated by a radical Muslim

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Partition and War

• 1947 partition creates Hindu India, Muslim East
  and West 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

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India Today

• 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

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Indias Economic Challenges

• India has large economy, but half its people live
  in poverty
• Two-thirds of people farm most farms are small
  with low crop yields
• Cotton textiles have long been a major product
• Mumbai (Bombay) is Indias most prosperous city
• a commercial center which produces metals,
  chemicals, electronics

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Life in India

• Diet is mostly vegetarian rice, legumes,
  flatbreads
• meat is eaten in curry dishes, but is limited by
  religious beliefs
• Sports include soccer, field hockey, cricket
• Large film industry in Mumbai

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Pakistan and Bangladesh

• Pakistan and Bangladesh are Muslim countries
  formed as a result of the partition of British
  India

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Struggling Economies

• Rapidly growing populations, low per capita
  income in both countries
• Subsistence Farming
• Climate hurts yields arid Pakistan, Bangladesh,
  stormy

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Islamic Culture

• Pakistans stricter Islamic law includes
  purdah-womens seclusion
• women have no contact with men not related, wear
  veils in public
• Bangladeshs religious practices are less strict

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Nepal and Bhutan

• Nepal and Bhutan are landlocked Himalayan kingdoms

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Geographic Isolation

• Mountain landscape isolates Nepal, Bhutan hard
  to reach, conquer
• China controlled Bhutan briefly in 18th century
• Both remained mostly independent, rarely visited
  by foreigners

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Today

• Today both are constitutional monarchies
• Bhutans king is supreme ruler, Nepals shares
  power with parliament
• Both countries are poor agricultural economies,
  but little farmland
• Most trade is with India
• Tourism growing

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