Question | Answer |
Himalaya Mountains | A mountain range in South Asia that includes Mount Everest, the world tallest mountain |
subcontinent | a lrage land mass that smaller than a continent |
alluvial plains | lands that are rich farmlands |
archipelago | island group |
atoll | low lying tops of submerged volcanoes, surrounded by coral reefs and shallolw lagoons |
monsoon | seasonal winds |
cyclone | a violent storm with fierce winds and heavy rain |
Hinduism | relegion of most Indians |
Ganges River | important water source to Indians, and a sacred river |
storm surge | high waters to low-lying areas |
estuary | an arm at the sea at the lower end of a river |
Mughal Empire | a state founded in the 15th century by a man named mutota and that extended throughout all of present day Zimbabwe except the eastern part |
raj | period of direct British control |
nonviolent resistance | a protest movement that does not use violence to achieve its goals |
land reform | a more balanced distribution of land among farmers than now exists |
Green Revolution | program increasing crop yields |
caste system | aryan systems of social classes |
Indus Valley Civilization | largest of the world's first civilizations |
partition | division of British India |
Kashmir | a region of norhtern India and Pakistan over which several destructive wars have been fought |
microcredit | a small loan available to poor entrepeneurs to help small businesses grow and raise lving standards |
entrepreneur | poor people who start and build a business |
Ramadan | An Islamaic practice of month-long fasting from sunup to sundown |
Constitutional Monarchy | a government in which the ruler's powers are limited by a constitution and the laws of a nation |
Sherpa | a person of the taliban ancestry in Nepal, who serves as the traditional mountain guide of the Mount Everest region |
Siddhartha Gautama | the founder of Buddhism and known as the Buddha, born in Southern Nepal in the sixth century B.C. |
mandala | in Tibetan Buddhism, a geometric design that symbolizes the universe and aids in meditation |
Sinhalese | an Indo-Aryan people who crossed the strait seperating India and Sri Lanka in the sixth century B.C. and who created and advanced civilization there, adopting Buddhism |
Tamils | a Dravidian Hindu, who arrived in Sri Lanka in the fourth century, settling in the north while the Sinhalese moved further south |
sultan | a ruler of Muslim country |
basic necessities | food, clothing, and shelter |
illeteracy | the inability to read or write |
summer monsoon | the season when winds blow from the southwest across the Indian Ocean toward South Asia, from June through September, eith winds stirring up powerful storms and causing severe flooding |
winter monsoon | the season when dry winds blow frmo the northeast across the Himalaya Mountains toward the sea from October through February, sometimes causing droughts |