Roth South Asia Test Review

The 3 bodies of water surrounding the Indian Subcontinent

Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal

8 countries and their capitals

Afghanistan (Kabul), Pakistan (Islamabad), India (New Delhi), Nepal (Kathmandu), Bangladesh (Daka), Bhutan (Thimphu), Sri Lanka (Colombo and Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte), Maldives (Malé)

Where are the Indus and Ganges rivers

Indus River is in Pakistan and the Ganges River is in India

Locations of physical features like the mountain ranges and Deccan Plateau

Hindu Kush Mountains are in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Great Indian Desert is in the Northwest side of India, Western Ghats are in the southernmost tip of India, Eastern Ghats are on the eastern edge of India, Deccan Plateau is in the middle of the southern end of India, Himalaya Mountains span the northern edge of India, Nepal, and Bhutan 

Two major religions, 2 small/minor religions, and one root religious tradition from the BCE time frame

Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, the Vedas texts for the vedic religion were sanskrit writings of oral stories that laid the groundwork for hinduism

Which two nations experienced major floods in 2022?

• India and Bangladesh

• 318 people died

• +4000 villages destroyed

• 9 million people displaced

• 166,000 hectares of ares destroyed

Who was the first European power to colonize pieces of South Asia?

Portugal

What Empire did the segment of Mongols in India transform into?

The Mughal Empire

What was the (Honorable) East India Company and which nation was it loyal to?

The East India Company was probably the most powerful corporation in history. At its height, it dominated global trade between Europe, South Asia and the Far East, fought numerous wars using its own army and navy, and conquered and colonised modern day India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Burma. The East India Company was loyal to Britain.

What three nations have Spheres of Influence over Kashmir?

Pakistan (northwest), India (central and southwest), and China (northeast)

What is the Line of Control?

The LOC is a 450 mile-long military control line which serves as a frontier slicing the disputed Indian and Pakistani governed parts of Kashmir into two. Both countries claim the region in full. The line is covered in most parts with heavy coils of barbed wire–a fence put in place by India–and dotted with Indi

Who is the president of India and what is the ideology behind the two parties he is a part of, with one being the Ruling Party of India?

The Prime minister of India is Narendra Modi and he has been in power since 2014. He is a part of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh which is a hindu nationalist and conservative right winged party, which was modeled and inspired by the italian fascist party. He is also a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party which is hindu nationalist and is the ruling political party, it has a neoliberal economy and it is socially conservative.

How many Farm Laws contributed to the mass protests in India between 2019-2021?

3

What was the Party from Italy called that the Ruling Party of India is modeled after?

The Italian Fascista Party

What does Syncretism mean in simplest terms?

The practice of combining different religious beliefs and various schools of thought (like monotheism/dualism/polytheism)

What is the name of the Head of State in Bhutan?

Dragon King

What form of government did Nepal have up until 2008, which was the last of its kind?

A true Monarchy

What was the name of the US/UK military operation launched into Afghanistan against Al-Qaeda targets in October 2001?

• Operation Enduring Freedom

• taliban tries to negotiate handing him over if evidence of his guilt was provided, US rejects attempts and doesn’t present evidence

What does Quagmire mean?

When used to describe an undesirable military situation where one is trying to find victory anywhere they can, quagmire is frequently found in reference to the involvement of the United States in Vietnam.

What nation was involved in a Quagmire in Afghanistan, akin to what the US suffered in Vietnam before their collapse in 1991 ?

The Soviet Union

Who were the Mujahideen?

Islamic warriors who were fighting the regime/soviet union or Afghanistan's government in the Afghanistan civil war

What neighboring country created the Taliban and then sent troops to help the Taliban take control of Afghanistan during the 1990s?

The taliban rose to power out of islamic madrasas in Pakistan

What was the economic system that India adopted in the 1990s?

Neoliberalism

What was India, particularly Bengal, in the process of doing prior to the East India Company conquering the nation and taking things back to the UK?

Bengal was in the process of Industrialicing which significantly contributed to manufacturing advances in the first industrial revolution

What is the buffer zone between India and China?

Nepal and Bhutan

What has Sri Lanka been able to do with their natural resources?

Forge steel using power from monsoon wind

Bangladesh geography and population

• 169.4 million people (26 million more people than Russia)

• 143,998 km^2 (about the size of Iowa)

• very high population density → which is why floods ruin it so easily

• looks like Lousiana on a map because both of them are sinking

• formerly known as East Pakistan

What country has the third largest Muslim majority in the world?

Bangladesh

Pakistan ancient civilization

• civilization complex

• a cradle of civilizations (the earliest civilizations that popped up)

• working pipes

• complex urban infrastructure

• Greek Bactria (possible Greek pantheon influencing idolization of the buddha/mixed Hindu and Greek mythology, a greek society thousands of miles away from Greece)

What is sikhism?

• sikh religion founded in this region

• equality, social justice, service to humanity, and tolerance for other religions

• attached in North America → islamaphobia

Afghanistan population

• humans have been there since at least 50,000 years ago

• home to over a dozen ethnic groups

• population of between 33-38 million people ( gap of 5 million people due to recent conflict)

• multi-lingual , official language Dari and Pashto

Afghanistan geography

• mountainous with certain regions of good farmlands

• landlocked, about the size of Texas

• extremely dry even with a lot of rivers and reservoirs

Afghanistan culture

• historically critical to silk road

• blend of Greek, Persian, and Indian cultures

• syncretist religious milieu (blend of multiple religions)

• monarchry but not independent

Afghanistan in WW1

• fought over by Russia during 19th century

• technically became a British Colony

• was neutral at first during WW1 before leader was assassinated →Hindu-German Conspiracy (plan to attack British Raj)

• moved towards building relationships with the soviet union and weimar germany after a war with britain in WW1

Afghanistan reforms in 1930s plus WW2 and Cold War

• major reforms throughout 1930s

• joined league of nations in 1934

• close relations with the axis powers up into WW2

• did not get involved in WW2 and didn’t pick a side in cold war → the US and soviets intervened economically and soviets invested more per capita

Afghanistan issues in 1970s

• bloodless coup in 1973 created an Islamic Republic

• bloody coup in 1978, people’s democratic party of Afghanistan took power

• fell into civil war in 1979

Afghanistan Civil War

• 1979

• mujahideen and Maoist guerrillas vs regime forces

• mujahideen backed by US and Pakistani intelligence agencies, the regime backed by soviets

• soviets lost faith int he regime, invade in 1979. new regime backed by soviet army. the US, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and China backing rebel groups

• turns into a quagmire

• soviets pull out and government collapses in 1991

Afghanistan in the 1990s

• warlord period until 1994 (no central authority)

• mujahideen commits major crimes against humanity during this time

• taliban rises to power out of islamic madrases in Pakistan

• taliban takes Kabul in 1996

Taliban negative effects on Kabul, Afghanistan

• 1996

• implements sharia law, subjects women, carries out mass killings, destroys villages and fertile lands

• opposition group called Northern Alliance resists the Taliban, Pakistan intervenes with thousands of troops to help the taliban

Osama Bin Laden and the United States

• osama bin laden and associates carry out the 9/11/2001 attacks

• US/UK launch Operation Enduring Freedom on October 7, 2001

• taliban wants evidence of his guilt in return for him but the US rejects this offer

• bin laden is finally assassinated in Pakistan in May 2011

Bhutan geography and rule/government

• landlocked and mountainous

• British buffer state

• passed between Indian, Chinese, and Mongolian Empires

• became unified under the Tibetan Lama Monarchy

• government form :constitutional monarchy

• Druk Gyalpo (dragon king) is the head of state

Bhutan and tourism

• tourism is a major industry but it is exploitive

• considered “low impact, high value”

• key reason for economy opening up in 1974

• known for bright and vibrant festivals

Bhutan conservation efforts and developing country

• only country in the world to be carbon-negative (3x the CO2 than it produces)

• 72% of county is forest

• banned smoking in the 1990s (stopped all tobacco sales by 2004 and it is the first country to be free of smokers)

• was closed off until the 1970s

• didn’t get internet or tv until 1999

• banned plastic bags in 1999

• no traffic lights

Bhutan renewable energy

• hydropower biggest export at 32.4% of total exports

• relies primarily on rivers, not dams (thanks to geography)

• government provides free solar panels to isolate communities

Nepal Overview

• population : 30.67 million people

• geography : 500 miles long, 120 miles wide

• gov style : federal democratic republic

• world’s last hindu monarchies up until 2008

• ancient critical point of the silk road

• birth place of the buddha

• had a unique civil war starting in 1996 and into the mid 2001

India population, people, and government

• 7th largest country by size

• might be world’s most populous country (3x north america)

• capital : New Delhi (easy location for invaders)

• government style : federal republic (democratic parliamentary system)

• inhabited by humans since 55,000 years ago

• highly diverse genetic populations (2nd only to africa)

India early history and civilization

• settled life split from Indus Valley Civilization about 9000 years ago

• blended into indo-aryan and indo-european populations around 6500 years ago

• by 1200 BCE sanskirt is embraced

• between 1500-500 BCE vedic society and religions developed (vedas text laid groundwork for hinduism)

• by 400 BCE hinduism, buddism, and janism formalized social orders in the form of the Hindu Caste System

India Medieval / Mughal Era

• century islamic empires pushed in from the West starting in the 13th - 18th (early attempts in the 8th and 11th centuries stopped)

• mongols invade from the North around the 13th century

• mughal expansion 16th - 19th century

• world’s largest economy/manufacturing power during the mughal era

• proto-industralization in bengal → conquest by the East India Company de-industrialized the nation

India BRICS alliance

economic alliance of emerging economies

• total population : 3.21 billion

• $26.6 trillion total GDP

• starting in 2012 : $100 billion global development fund

• want global polar economic systems ( the decisions and stuff are shared between countries not just the US)

India nuclear state

• number of nuclear warheads : 156

• tensions with other nuclear powers (Pakistan - 165 nukes, China - 350 nukes)

India adopts new economic system

• neoliberalism

• major economic reforms in the 1990s : mass privatization, foreign investments, reckless industrializing with fossil fuels

• outcome : bigger GDP - mass inequality and social deprivation

India Modi

• 14th prime minister

• member of 2 major party’s in India

• hindu nationalist/fascits and conservative

Modi Democratic Backsliding

• citizenship amendment act (2019) and the three controversial farm laws (2020)

• mass public protests and outrage

• saw indian communist parties nearly revolt (marxist-leninist and maoist parties)

Kashmir disputed territory and nuclear risk

• created during 1947 partition of British raj but fought over until 1948 (wars in 1965, 1971, and 1999)

• Simla agreement in 1972 formally established the line of control between India and Pakistan

• 77% Muslim majority - would have been Pakistan’s sphere of influence, Punjab Region specifically

• India controls 55% of the land, 70% the population, has invested millions into infrastructure and development in the region

• spheres of control : northwest (Pakistan), central and southeast (India), northeast (China)

Kashmir : did jesus visit/ live here?

claims, supposedly according to Quran texts

• lost tribes of Israel migrated east to India and settled here

• because the tribes migrated here :

  1. jesus visited during the missing years of his youth

  2. jesus survived the crucifixion and lived out the rest of his life here

Name of the island chain south of India

Maldives

The name of the Mountains on the east side of Afghanistan

Hindu Kush

The tallest mountain on Earth’s surface

Mt Everest

The Great Thar Desert is located in which nation?

India

The bodies of water on the east and west of the Indian Subcontinent

Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea

What are the 3 completely landlocked countries in this unit?

Bhutan, Nepa, and Afghanistan

The Mongol Empire conquered which region of India in the 13th century?

Northern India

Greek-Bactria was an ancient empire that spanned across which two modern countries, northwest of India

Afghanistan and Pakistan

Which religion is India primarily?

Hindu

Which two countries have a muslim majority in them?

Pakistan and Bangladesh

What is the name of creator deity in Hinduism?

Brahmin

Which nation used to have a formal caste system?

India

What technology makes the Pakistani-Indian rivalry a potential disaster?

Nuclear Arms

Where were the Mujahideen fighters and Maoist guerrillas fighting (separately) the nation’s Regime forces?

Afghanistan

The ruling party of India and the second party connected to President Modi can be described as what ideology?

Hindu Fascist/Nationalist

What river did early civilizations in South Asia develop along?

Indus Valley

India is part of what international alliance

BRICS

What is the name of the lowest category in the Indian Caste system?

untouchables

How many new farm laws in India were passed in 2020 that sparked mass outrage?

3

What is the name of the Islamic school system that Pakistan trained Taliban fighters in?

Madrassas

What was the Taliban asking the US to do during the initial attacks in Afghanistan following 9/11/2001 that the Bush Admin kept rejecting?

show evidence that bin laden was guilty

While looking at the population of Afghanistan, what was the number difference between government’s census and the united nations census?

5 million