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Monsoon (n)
Seasonal
wind in South Asia, especially in the
Indian Ocean, blowing from the
southwest from April to October and
from northeast from October to April.
Very
rainy season that comes with the
southwest monsoon.
Early
Findings
The word monsoon has its origin
in the Arabic word mausim
meaning season. Though there is a lack
of agreement on a precise definition
of monsoon, the term is used to
describe seasonal wind which blows
with consistency and regularity during
a part of the year.
Several centuries ago, it was used by
sea-men to describe a system of
alternating winds over the Arabian
Sea. Around 40 A.D., a Greek merchant
mariner Hippalus discovered the full
power and velocity of the wind system
over the Indian Ocean. He observed
that, twice a year, these winds
reserved their direction. He found the
southwest monsoon (June-October) ideal
for his trip from Egypt to India and
the retreating monsoon (October-June)
ideal for his return journey. The
Arabs wee the first to discover and
take advantage of these wind systems
for trade purposes. They kept it a
secret until Hippalus stumbled on it.
Monsoons continued to dominate the
course of spice trade till the era of
steam ships.
Historical
Records
Indian monsoon finds its mention in
many ancient texts. One of the most
beautiful descriptions of the monsoon
can be found in Meghadoot - a
Sanskrit classic by Kalidas, a
lyrical Poet of the 6th century A.D.
In Meghdoot, the poet describes the
arrival of rains over Ujjain in MadhyaPradesh, on the first day of Asadha
(the 15th of June)
The verse in the Rig Veda carry
references to the rain-time. Fa
hsien, a Buddhist scholar from
China who visited India around 400 AD
wrote in his Record of Buddhist
Kingdoms about his encounter with
winter monsoon during a voyage along
the east coast of India. The 'Periplus
of the Erytharean Sea' written around
60 AD by an unknown Greek sailor also
describes the monsoon.
Forecasting
Since
time immemorial, man has been trying
to predict weather. Several references
in ancient Sanskrit literature reveal
that attempts were made even during
the pre historic period to forecast
weather on the basis of meteorological
conditions. The Brihat Samhita
(an encyclopedia of astronomy and
meteorology prevalent in ancient
India) complied by Varahamihira
around the 6th century AD indicates
that long range forecasting of monthly
rainfall was attempted on the basis of
clouds.
"The clouds that are formed in
the first half of Chaitra
(April) will yield water in the latter
half of Ashwin (September) and
those that are formed in the latter
half of Chaitra (April) will rain in
the first half of Karthika
(October)" - Couplets 9-12,
Chapter XXI, Brihat Samhita.
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