Geography

Introduction - Geography

By Examguru / 06 Oct, 2023 / Download PDF

Introduction - Geography

  • The word Geography was first used by a Greek scholar Eratosthenes (276-194 B.C.). The word Geography has been derived from two Greek words- Geo and Graphos, which jointly means the description of earth.
  • The primary level arrangement of this subject was done by the Greeks.
  • Eratosthenes was the first who tried to calculate the length of the equator and to calculate the circumference of the earth. Hence, he is considered as the Father of Geodesy and is called 'Father of Geography'. He wrote a geographical treatise, Geograyphica.
  • Hecataeus was a Greek author. His famous book is Ges Periodos meaning thereby the description of the Earth. Hipparchus was the first person who divided the circle into 360° on the basis of the Assyrian Mathematics. He invented Astrolab to determine the longitudes and latitudes.
  • Aristotle was the first thinker who wrote about the shape of the Earth as being spherical on the basis of sound reasoning.
  • Ptolemy was the most famoyus Roman scholar of cartography and general geography. It was Ptolemy's articles which inspired the geographers and researchers of the Great Ages of Discoveries (14th and 15th Century A.D.) to discover the Terra Incognita or the unknown Lands.
  • Roman geographer Strabo (64 B.C. - 36 A.D.) considered the Earth to be oblong.
  • Historia Naturalia is the famous book of Pliny (23-79 A.D.)
  • Thales was the first scholar who tried to measure the Earth.
  • Anaximander was the first to draw maps. He is regarded as the first cartoprapher.
  • Thales and Anaximander are considered as the Fathers of Mathematical Geography.
  • According to the Father of History, Herodotus, 'all history must be treated geographically and all geography must be treated historically'. He was the first scholar who tried to draw Meridians on the Map.
  • The period from 300 A.D. to 1200 A.D. is considered as the Dark Age in the Christian countries because during this period there were no important or revolutionary thoughts or discoveries.

Indians' Contribution in Geography

  • In the Rig Veda (the oldest text in the world) there is a description of stars. Although the Indian astrology started around 600 B.C. (The age of Buddha). Rig Veda also describes the five seasons in India.
  • The famous Indian geographer, Aryabhatta (born in 476 A.D.) told that the Earth is a spherical body and calculated its circumference as 24,835 miles, which is very close to the present calculation of 24,901 miles Aryabhattiyam is his famous book. The Hindi term for geography, 'Bhugol' was used for the first time in his book Surya Siddhanta.
  • Varah Mihir (505-587 A.D.) was the most famous geographer of India after Aryabhatta. He gave information about the Solar and Lunar eclipses. He has discussed about five concepts of Vaashist, Paitamah, Polas, Saur and Romac in his astrological treatise Panchasiddhantika.
  • Brahmagupta (598-665 A.D.) wrote Brahma Siddhanta and Khand Kavya. These two treatises were translated into Arabic during the reign of Caliph Harun-al-Rashid in Baghdad.
  • Bhaskaracharya (1114-1185 A.D.) wrote Siddhanta Shiromani and Karanakutuhal (Calculation of Astromocical Wonders). According to him, the Earth is spherical and attracts everything by its force of gravitation. 'Leelavati' and 'Bijaganit' are his famous books on mathematics.
  • India has been described as Jambu Dweep in Puranas The eastern coast of India had been called Maher* Mahendra in the ancient India.
  • The early Indian geographers held that the Prime Meridian passes through Ujjain.
  • To understand cosmology British scientist Higgs propagated the concept of God Particle in 1964 which was based on the 'Boson thery' of Satyendra Nath Bose of India.
  • An educational institute, Baitul Hikma, was established under the patronage of Caliph Harun-al-Rashid of Baghdad.
  • Arab geographer Al-Khwarizmi (813-883 A.D.) wrote a book named Sind Hind.
  • Caliph Al-Mamun (1813 A.D.) got Ptolemy's treatice translated into Arabic with the title Almagest.
  • Kitab-al-Ashkal was the first climatic atlas prepared by Al-Balakhi.
  • Al-Baruni wrote his famous book 'Kitab-al-Hind (Geography of India) in 1030 A.D. In the Arab world the 11th Century is termed as the Period of Al-Baruni The famous book of Al-Baruni, Al-Qanun-al-Masudi was written in the same style as Ptolemy's Almagest.
  • Arabs were the first to present a seasonal account of monsoon.
  • Marco Polo was a great trade-traveller of the 13th century, who trravelled for the first time from Mediterranean to the Pacific Ocean.
  • In 1498, a famous Protuguese traveller-sailor Vasco-da-Gama reached the Calicut port in India via Cape of Good Hope in the African continent, in this way discovered a new sea-route to India.
  • Christopher Columbus a resident of Geneva, discovered America, which was at that time given the name of New World. The New World, was named America after the name of Portuguese traveller Amerigo Vespucci.
  • The Portuguese traveller, Magellan went around the whole world in 1520 A.D.
  • The traveller-sailor of Holland, Tasman discovered Tasmania and travelled New Zealand.
  • The English sailor Capt. James Cook travelled round the Antarctica between 1772 and 1775, while Roald Amundsen discovered the South Pole in 1911. He also discovered the Hawaiian Islands.

The famous discoveries/inventions of the Renaissance period are:

  • Printing Press or Printing - about 1470 A.D.
  • The Solar System - Copernicus (1543 A.D.)
  • Telescope - Galileo (1609 A.D.)
  • Works on Astronomy – Keppler
  • Spheroid Shape of the Earth - Newton Verenius laid the foundation of the dichotomy of Systematic Geography and Regional Geography for the first time.
  • The German geographer Alexander Von Humboldt (1769-1859) wrote his famous book Cosmos. He had played a great role in the development of Cosmology. Humboldt was the first person who gave an idea to construct a canal across the Panama isthmus. Humboldt coined the terms Climatology and Permafrost in Geography. He was the first to depict the isotherms on the map. Due to such a great contribution, Humboldt is called the Father of Climatology, the Father of Modem Geography and the Father of Vegetation Geography.
  • As an independent subject for study, Geography got recognition in 19thcentury A.D.
  • In early 20thcentury Geography evolved as the study of the mutual relation between human and environment. There are two theories of it.
  • The German geographer Ratzel is considered as the Father of Political Geography and Human Geography. His famous book is Anthropogeography. In this book, his thoughts are identical with the Darwinian theory of evolution. Ratzel is also the father of Lebensraume concept (Lebensraume is the exact geographical region where different species evolve). In his Political Geography, he compared the state with the organism and held that expansion of boundary is a need to fulfil natural biological need.
  • French geographer Vidal-de-la-Blache was the founder of Possiblism. He is considered to be the real founder of the Human Geography.
  • The British geographer Mackinder gave the famous concept of political geography, 'The Heartland Theory'. In his famous book Democratic Ideals and Reality (1919), he told that- One who reigns in the Eastern Europe will control the heartland, one who reigns in heartland will be able to determine the circumference of the heartland and will have control over the continent, and one who reigns in the continent controls the whole world.
  • American geographer Carl Ortwin Sauer is considered the Father of Cultural Geography.
  • The British geographer, Herbertson, has divided the world into 15 Natural Regions on the basis of the mutual relation between physical features, climates and vegetation. Therefore, he is considered as the first person who studied the Natural Geography.

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