The Earth and Its People: Chapter 13 Outline
Tropical Africa and Asia (1200 – 1500)
Ibn Battuta 1. Young Muslim scholar 2. Completed the pilgrimage to mecca 3. logged 75,000 miles of travel in 29 years 4. Powerful states and commercial systems were only made possible by local farmers, fishermen and pastoralists Tropical Lands and Peoples The Tropical Environment 1. Africa lies almost entirely within the tropics, as do southern Arabia, most of India and all of the Southeast Asian mainland and islands 2. In the lands around the Indian Ocean the rainy and dry seasons reflect the influence of alternating winds known as monsoons 3. The English word jungle comes from an Indian word for the tangled undergrowth in the tropical forests that once covered most of southern India 4. The Himalayas block cold air from moving south, giving northern India a more tropical environment then the latitude suggests Human Ecosystems 1. Mastering the tropics many different environments was a long and difficult struggle 2. In some environments it’s preferred to rely on wild food that they obtained by hunting, fishing, and gathering 3. Fishing was common along all the major lakes and rivers a well as in the oceans 4. Pastoralists consumed milk from their herds and traded hides and meat to neighboring farmers for grain and vegetables 5. By 1200 most Africans had been making their livelihood through agriculture for many centuries 6. Rice cultivation dominated in the fertile Ganges plain of northeast India, in mainland Southeast Asia, and in southern China. 7. By 1200 Bantu- speaking farmers had introduced grains and tubers from West Africa throughout the southern half of the continent 8. Coffee of the Ethiopian origin would shortly become a common drink in the Middle East
Water Systems and Irrigation 1. Switching fields was a common practice so that soil could regain fertility 2. Uneven distribution of rainfall during the year was a major problem to many Asian farmers 3. The Delhi
Ibn Battuta 1. Young Muslim scholar 2. Completed the pilgrimage to mecca 3. logged 75,000 miles of travel in 29 years 4. Powerful states and commercial systems were only made possible by local farmers, fishermen and pastoralists Tropical Lands and Peoples The Tropical Environment 1. Africa lies almost entirely within the tropics, as do southern Arabia, most of India and all of the Southeast Asian mainland and islands 2. In the lands around the Indian Ocean the rainy and dry seasons reflect the influence of alternating winds known as monsoons 3. The English word jungle comes from an Indian word for the tangled undergrowth in the tropical forests that once covered most of southern India 4. The Himalayas block cold air from moving south, giving northern India a more tropical environment then the latitude suggests Human Ecosystems 1. Mastering the tropics many different environments was a long and difficult struggle 2. In some environments it’s preferred to rely on wild food that they obtained by hunting, fishing, and gathering 3. Fishing was common along all the major lakes and rivers a well as in the oceans 4. Pastoralists consumed milk from their herds and traded hides and meat to neighboring farmers for grain and vegetables 5. By 1200 most Africans had been making their livelihood through agriculture for many centuries 6. Rice cultivation dominated in the fertile Ganges plain of northeast India, in mainland Southeast Asia, and in southern China. 7. By 1200 Bantu- speaking farmers had introduced grains and tubers from West Africa throughout the southern half of the continent 8. Coffee of the Ethiopian origin would shortly become a common drink in the Middle East
Water Systems and Irrigation 1. Switching fields was a common practice so that soil could regain fertility 2. Uneven distribution of rainfall during the year was a major problem to many Asian farmers 3. The Delhi