South Asia has a long and fascinating history. The geographic term generally
includes the contemporary countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri
Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan. Afghanistan has some strong connections to
South Asia but is often considered as part of the Middle East because of its
equally strong connections to Iran and Central Asia. Some scholars include
Burma because it once was part of Great Britain's colonial empire in South
Asia, and others include Tibet because of its historical links with India over
the centuries. In this book we exclude Burma and Tibet and barely mention
Afghanistan and the Himalayan rim kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan; we pay
most attention to India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh (which together consti-
tuted India before 1947), and to Sri Lanka. Furthermore, most of our dis-
cussion pertains to India and Pakistan, because those countries have sent by
far the largest numbers of immigrants to the United States and most of the
available statistical material relates to them.

South Asia extends southward from the "Roof of the World": the great
mountain ranges of the Hindu Kush, the Karakoram, and the Himalayas,
which separate the Indian subcontinent from Central Asia and China. These
mountains present a formidable natural barrier to the north, and the great
Brahmaputra River and the mountains beyond it provide a natural frontier
to the east. Important trade and travel routes crossed these frontiers (in par-
ticular, the Silk Road from China to Europe), but most newcomers entered
India from the sea or through Afghanistan and the Khyber and Bolan passes.

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