Download Chapter 13 Identifications

Chapter 13 Key Terms
1. tropics: the equatorial regions of the world, are limited in latitude by the Tropic
of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately 23°26' (23.4°) N latitude,
and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at 23°26' (23.4°) S
latitude. The Tropics are also referred to as the tropical zone and the Torrid Zone
(see geographical zone). The Tropics includes all the areas on the Earth where the
sun reaches a point directly overhead at least once during the solar year. In the
temperate zones, north of the Tropic of Cancer and south of the Tropic of
Capricorn, the sun never reaches this zenith and is never directly overhead,
always passing south of it in the northern hemisphere and north of it in the
southern hemisphere.
2. monsoon: a seasonal prevailing wind that lasts for several months. The term was
first used in English in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and neighboring countries to
refer to the big seasonal winds blowing from the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea in
the southwest bringing heavy rainfall to the region. In hydrology, monsoon
rainfall is considered to be that which occurs in any region that receives the
majority of its rain during a particular season. This allows other regions of the
world such as North America, South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Australia and
East Asia to qualify as monsoon regions. In terms of total precipitation and total
area covered, the monsoons affecting the Indian subcontinent dwarf the North
American monsoon, and the South Asian monsoon affects a larger number of
people, owing to the high density of population in that part of the world.
3. Ibn Battuta: was a Moroccan Muslim Berber scholar and traveller who is known
for the account of his travels and excursions called the Rihla (Voyage). His
journeys lasted for a period of nearly thirty years and covered almost the entirety
of the known Islamic world and beyond, extending from North Africa, West
Africa, Southern Europe and Eastern Europe in the West, to the Middle East,
Indian subcontinent, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and China in the East, a
distance readily surpassing that of his predecessors and his near-contemporary
Marco Polo.
4. Delhi Sultanate: refers to the many Muslim states that ruled in India from 1206
to 1526. Several Turkic and Afghan dynasties ruled from Delhi: the Mamluk
dynasty (1206-90), the Khilji dynasty (1290-1320), the Tughlaq dynasty (13201413), the Sayyid dynasty (1414-51), and the Lodhi dynasty (1451-1526). In 1526
the Delhi Sultanate was absorbed by the emerging Mughal Empire.
5. Mali: officially the Republic of Mali (French: République du Mali), is a
landlocked nation in Western Africa. Mali is the seventh largest country in Africa,
bordering Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte
d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on
the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with an estimated population of
almost 12,000,000. Its capital is Bamako. Consisting of eight regions, Mali's
borders on the north reach deep into the middle of the Sahara, while the country's
southern region, where the majority of inhabitants live, features the Niger and
Senegal rivers. The country's economic structure centers around agriculture and
fishing. Some of Mali's natural resources include gold, uranium, and salt. Mali is
considered to be one of the poorest nations in the world. Present-day Mali was
once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade: the
Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire (from which Mali is named), and the Songhai
Empire. In the late 1800s, Mali fell under French control, becoming part of
French Sudan. Mali gained independence in 1959 with Senegal, as the Mali
Federation in 1959. A year later, the Mali Federation became the independent
nation of Mali in 1960. After a long period of one-party rule, a 1991 coup led to
the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic,
multi-party state.
6. Mansa Kankan Musa: was the tenth mansa or emperor of the Mali Empire
during its height in the 14th century. He ruled as mansa from 1312 to 1337. Musa
is most noted for his 1324 hajj to Mecca and his role as a benefactor of Islamic
scholarship.
7. Gujarat: is a state in western India. Gujarat borders Pakistan to the north west
and the state of Rajasthan to the north and northeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east,
Maharashtra and the Union territories of Diu, Daman, Dadra and Nagar Haveli to
the south. Historically, the North was known as Anarta, the Kathiawad peninsula,
"Saurastra", and the South as "Lata". Gujarat was also known as Pratichya and
Varuna. The Arabian Sea makes up the state's western coast. Its capital,
Gandhinagar is a planned city and is located near Ahmedabad, the commercial
center of Gujarat. Gujarat has an area of 75,686 sq mi (196,077 km²).
8. dhow: is a traditional Arab sailing vessel with one or more lateen sails. They are
primarily used along the coasts of the Arabian Peninsula, Pakistan, India, and East
Africa. Larger dhows have crews of approximately thirty, while smaller dhows
typically have crews of around twelve.
9. Swahili Coast: refers to the coast or coastal area of East Africa inhabited by the
Swahili people, mainly Kenya, Tanzania, and north Mozambique. The term may
also include the islands such as Pate or Comoros which lie off the Swahili Coast.
10. Great Zimbabwe: or "stone buildings", is the name given to stone ruins spread
out over a 722 ha area within the modern-day country of Zimbabwe, which itself
is named after the ruins. It is near the town of Masvingo, which before majority
rule was called Fort Victoria. The word "Great" distinguishes the site from the
many hundred small ruins, known as Zimbabwes, spread across the Zimbabwe
highveld.
11. Aden: is a city in Yemen, 170 kilometers east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Aden's ancient,
natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a
peninsula, joined to the mainland by a low isthmus. This harbour, Front Bay, was
first used by the ancient Kingdom of Awsan between the 5th and 7th centuries
BC. The modern harbour is on the other side of the peninsula. Aden now has a
population of about 800,000 people.
12. Malacca: is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is
located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It
borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south. The
state's capital is Malacca Town. This historical city centre has been listed as a
prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO since 7 July 2008. Although Malacca
was once one of the oldest Malay sultanates, the state has no Sultan today.
Instead, the head of state is the Yang di-Pertua Negeri or Governor.
13. Urdu: is a Central Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to
the Indo-European family of languages. It is one of the two official languages, the
other being English, as well as the national language of Pakistan. As it is also
spoken in India to a smaller extent, it is one of the 23 official languages of India.
Its vocabulary developed under Persian, Arabic, and Turkic. Urdu was mainly
developed in Lucknow, India and began taking shape during the Delhi Sultanate
as well as Mughal Empire (1526–1858) in the Indian Subcontinent.
14. Timbuktu: is a city in Tombouctou Region, in the West African nation of Mali. It
was made prosperous by Mansa Musa, tenth mansa (emperor) of the Mali Empire.
It is home to the prestigious Sankore University and other madrasas, and was an
intellectual and spiritual capital and centre for the propagation of Islam
throughout Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries. Its three great mosques,
Djingareyber, Sankore and Sidi Yahya, recall Timbuktu's golden age. Although
continuously restored, these monuments are today under threat from
desertification. Timbuktu is primarily made of mud.
15. Abu Bakr: was an early person to convert to Islam and a senior companion
(Sahaba) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Throughout his life, Abu Bakr
remained a friend and confidante of Muhammad. Upon Muhammad's death he
became the first Muslim ruler (632–634), regarded in Sunni Islam as the first of
the Rashidun (righteously guided Caliphs). His caliphate lasted two years and
three months, during which time he consolidated the Muslim state. Upon the
death of Muhammad, some tribes rebelled, and in return he fought the Ridda wars
against these Arab tribes to establish Islamic rule over all of Arabia. He also
conquered the lands of Syria and Iraq.
16. Himalaya: meaning "abode of snow",is a mountain range in Asia, separating the
Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. By extension, it is also the name of
a massive mountain system that includes the Karakoram, the Hindu Kush, and
other, lesser, ranges that extend out from the Pamir Knot. The Himalayan
mountain system is the planets highest and home to the world's highest peaks, the
Eight-thousanders, which include Mount Everest and K2. To comprehend the
enormous scale of this mountain range consider that Aconcagua, in the Andes, at
6,962 m (22,841 ft), is the highest peak outside Asia, whereas the Himalayan
system includes over 100 mountains exceeding 7,200 metres (23,622 ft).
17. Deccan: also known as the Peninsular Plateau or the Great Peninsular Plateau, is
a large plateau in India, making up the majority of the southern part of the
country, ranging in elevation from 100 metres in the north to 1000 metres in the
south. It is located between three mountain ranges and extends over eight Indian
states. Its uplands make up a triangle nested within the familiar downwardpointing triangle of the Indian sub-continent's coastline. It encompasses a wide
range of habitats, covering most of central and southern India. The Western Ghats
form its western boundary, and the Eastern Ghats its eastern boundary. Each rises
from their respective nearby coastal plains and nearly meet at the southern tip of
India. These two ranges form the southward-pointing vertex of a triangle which
encompasses the plateau with the roughly west-south-west to east-north-east
running Satpura Range and Vindhya Range forming the third northern boundary
of the region. The northern ranges separate the plateau from the heavily populated
riverine plains of northern India. Large areas of the states of Maharashtra and
Karnataka and parts of Andhra Pradesh comprise the Deccan plateau.
18. Ganges: is one of the major rivers of the Indian subcontinent, flowing east
through the Gangetic Plain of northern India into Bangladesh. The 2,510 km
(1,560 mi) river rises in the western Himalayas in the Uttarakhand state of India,
and drains into the Sunderbans delta in the Bay of Bengal. It has long been
considered a holy river by Hindus and worshiped as the goddess Ganga in
Hinduism. It has also been important historically: many former provincial or
imperial capitals (such as Patliputra, Kannauj, Kara, Allahabad, Murshidabad, and
Calcutta) have been located on its banks. Ganga and its tributaries drain a
1,000,000-square-kilometre (390,000 sq mi) fertile basin that supports one of the
world's highest density of humans. The average depth of the river is 52 feet (16
m), and the maximum depth is 100 feet (30 m).
19. Pygmy: is a member of any human group whose adult males grow to less than
150 cm (4 feet 11 inches) in average height or less than 155 cm. A member of a
slightly taller group is termed pygmoid. The best known pygmies are the Aka, Efé
and Mbuti of central Africa. There are also pygmies in Thailand, Malaysia,
Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Brazil and Bolivia. The Negritos
were the earliest inhabitants of Southeast Asia. The remains of at least 25
miniature humans, who lived between 1,000 and 3,000 years ago, were found on
the islands of Palau in Micronesia. The term "pygmy" is often considered
degrading. However, there is no single term to replace it that covers all African
pygmies. Many so called pygmies prefer instead to be referred to by the name of
their various ethnic groups, or names for various interrelated groups such as the
Aka (Mbenga), Baka, Mbuti, and Twa. The term Bayaka, the plural form of the
Aka/Yaka, is sometimes used in the Central African Republic to refer to all local
Pygmies.
20. Tuareg: are a nomadic pastoralist people. They are the principal inhabitants of
the Saharan interior of North Africa. They call themselves variously Kel
Tamasheq or Kel Tamajaq ("Speakers of Tamasheq"), Imuhagh, Imazaghan or
Imashaghen ("the Free people"), or Kel Tagelmust, i.e., "People of the Veil". The
name Tuareg was applied to them by early explorers and historians (since Leo
Africanus). The origin and meaning of the name Twareg has long been debated
with various etymologies advanced, although it would appear that Twārəg is
derived from the "broken plural" of Tārgi, a name whose former meaning was
"inhabitant of Targa" (the Tuareg name of the Libyan region commonly known as
Fezzan. Targa in Berber means "(drainage) channel", see Alojali et al. 2003: 656,
s.v. "Targa"). The Tuareg today are found mostly in West Africa. They were once
nomads throughout the Sahara. They have a little-used but ancient script known
as the tifinagh.
21. Fulani: are an ethnic group of people spread over many countries, predominantly
in West Africa, but found also in Central Africa and Sudanese North Africa. The
countries in Africa where they are present include Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea,
The Gambia, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau,
Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Niger, Chad, Togo, the Central African Republic,
Ghana, Liberia, and as far as Sudan in the east. Fulas are not a majority in every
country they live, but in Guinea they represent a plurality of the population
(largest single group).
22. Delhi: is the second-largest metropolis in India. Moreover, with over 17.3 million
residents, it is the sixth largest metropolis in the world by population. The name
Delhi is also often used to include the urban area outside the National Capital
Territory of Delhi or NCT, as well as to refer to New Delhi, the capital of India.
The NCT is a federally-administered union territory. Located on the banks of the
River Yamuna of India, Delhi has been continuously inhabited since at least the
6th century BC, according to archaeological evidence. After the rise of the Delhi
Sultanate, Delhi emerged as a major political, cultural and commercial city along
the trade routes between northwest India and the Indo-Gangetic plains. It is the
site of many ancient and medieval monuments, archaeological sites and remains.
In 1639, Mughal emperor Shahjahan built a new walled city in Delhi which
served as the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1649 to 1857. After the British
East India Company gained control of much of India during the 18th and 19th
centuries, Calcutta became the capital both under Company rule and under the
British Raj, until George V announced in 1911 that it was to move back to Delhi.
A new capital city, New Delhi, was built to the south of the old city during the
1920s. When India gained independence from British rule in 1947, New Delhi
was declared its capital and seat of government. As such, New Delhi houses
important offices of the federal government, including the Parliament of India.
Owing to the migration of people from across the country, Delhi has grown to be
a cosmopolitan metropolis. Its rapid development and urbanisation, coupled with
the relatively high average income of its population, has transformed Delhi.
Today Delhi is a major cultural, political, and commercial center of India.
23. Sri Lanka: is an island country in South Asia, located about 31 kilometres (19.3
mi) off the southern coast of India. It is home to around twenty million people.
Because of its location in the path of major sea routes, Sri Lanka is a strategic
naval link between West Asia and South East Asia, and has been a center of
Buddhist religion and culture from ancient times. Today, the country is a multireligious and multi-ethnic nation, with more than a quarter of the population
following faiths other than Buddhism, notably Hinduism, Christianity and Islam.
The Sinhalese community forms the majority of the population, with Tamils, who
are concentrated in the north and east of the island, forming the largest ethnic
minority. Other communities include Moors, Burghers, Kaffirs and the Malays.
Famous for the production and export of tea, coffee, coconuts and rubber, Sri
Lanka boasts a progressive and modern industrial economy and the highest per
capita income in South Asia. The natural beauty of Sri Lanka's tropical forests,
beaches and landscape, as well as its rich cultural heritage, make it a world
famous tourist destination. After over two thousand years of rule by local
kingdoms, parts of Sri Lanka were colonized by Portugal and the Netherlands
beginning in the 16th century, before the control of the entire country was ceded
to the British Empire in 1815. During World War II, Sri Lanka served as an
important base for Allied forces in the fight against the Japanese Empire. A
nationalist political movement arose in the country in the early 20th century with
the aim of obtaining political independence, which was eventually granted by the
British after peaceful negotiations in 1948.
24. Sinhalese: was a kingdom in the island Lanka, modern day Sri Lanka, mentioned
in the epic Mahabharata.
25. Angkor: is a name conventionally applied to the region of Cambodia serving as
the seat of the Khmer empire that flourished from approximately the ninth century
to the fifteenth century A.D. (The word "Angkor" itself is derived from the
Sanskrit "nagara," meaning "city.") More precisely, the Angkorian period may be
defined as the period from 802 A.D., when the Khmer Hindu monarch
Jayavarman II declared himself the "universal monarch" and "god-king" of
Cambodia, until 1431 A.D., when Thai invaders sacked the Khmer capital,
causing its population to migrate south to the area of Phnom Penh.
26. Ghana: is a country in West Africa. It borders Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) to the
west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the
south. The word Ghana means "Warrior King," and was the source of the name
"Guinea" (via French Guinoye) that is used to refer to the West African coast (as
in Gulf of Guinea). Ghana was inhabited in pre-colonial times by a number of
ancient kingdoms, including the Ga-Daŋmes on the eastern coast, inland Empire
of Ashanti and various Fante states along the coast and inland. Trade with
European states flourished after contact with the Portuguese in the 15th century,
and the British established a crown colony, Gold Coast, in 1874. Upon being the
first Sub-Saharan African nation to achieve independence from the United
Kingdom in 1957, the name Ghana was chosen for the new nation to reflect the
ancient Empire of Ghana that once extended throughout much of western Africa.
In the Ashanti language it is spelled Gaana.
27. Zambezi: is the fourth-longest river in Africa, and the largest flowing into the
Indian Ocean from Africa. The area of its basin is 1,390,000 km² (537,000
miles²),[1][2] slightly less than half that of the Nile. The 2,574 km- (1,600 mile-)
long river has its source in Zambia and flows through Angola, along the borders
of Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, to Mozambique, where it empties
into the Indian Ocean. The Zambezi's most spectacular feature is the beautiful
Victoria Falls, the world's largest waterfall. Other notable falls include the
Chavuma Falls at the border between Zambia and Angola, and Ngonye Falls, near
Sioma in Western Zambia. There are two main sources of hydroelectric power on
the river. These are the Kariba Dam, which provides power to Zambia and
Zimbabwe and the Cahora Bassa Dam in Mozambique which provides power to
South Africa. There is also a smaller power station at Victoria Falls.
28. Zimbabwe: is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the continent
of Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South
Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia to the northwest and
Mozambique to the east. The official language of Zimbabwe is English; however
the majority of the population speaks Shona, a Bantu language. Its other native
language, Sindebele, is spoken by the Matabele people.
29. Malinke: are a part of Mandé in Africa. Approximately 15,000,000 Malinké are
scattered throughout West Africa.
30. Takrur: was an ancient state of West Africa, which flourished roughly parallel to
the Ghana Empire.