Catherine MendezHistory 5

GEOPOLITICS & HISTORY: MONSOON

Frankincense

• Frankincense is an aromatic resin obtained from trees. The resin is also known as olibanum.• Burning resin was used to

freshen family clothes, bless people, keep insects at bay, and treat the ill.• Sweetened funeral pyre in the

ancient world and used to freeze pharaohs.• Essential to the Roman,

Egyptian, Persian, and Syrian lifestyles as the basis for economic existence and for shipping routes.• Three thousand tons of resin

were exported annually to the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean.

Salt March (1930)

• The Salt March is the Indian independence movement, which has attained the status of a foundation myth.• Gandhi, joined by thousands, led

the Salt March in March of 1930 across Gujarat from the Sabarmati Ashram 241 miles south to Dandi on the Gulf of Cambay. • At Cambay, Gandhi, in

disobedience of British law, picked up a handful of salt, challenging the prohibition against the collection or sale of salt except by the colonial authorities.

Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC)

• BRAC is the world’s largest non-governmental development organization (NGO).• BRAC operates various programs

such as those in microfinance and education in over nine countries across Asia and Africa.• Besides its bounteous relief

work, BRAC operates dairy, poultry, and clothing businesses. • BRAC’s head offices, like those of

Grameen, occupy a skyscraper that constitutes some of Dhaka’s most expensive real estate.

Auliyas (Sufi Saints)

• Auliya is an Arabic word usually translated as friend, helper, supporter, or protector.• Sometime in the Middle Ages,

from across the Indian Ocean, came twelve auliyas, who preached Islam and helped establish the city.• The auliyas brought Islam to

Chittagong in Bangladesh.• Pir Badr Shah (on the right), auliya, carried with him an earthen lamp that spread light “on all sides far and near,” to ward off the darkness of evil and to help sailors.