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Asian Water Buffalo

Type Object Region South Asia Time c. -3000

The Asian water buffalo, a large draft animal originating in South Asia, became the core power of rice agriculture after millennia of domestication;…

Timeline

  1. c. -3000–500Indus River valley and Ganges Plain · Indian subcontinentArchaeological and genetic evidence indicates water buffalo were domesticated in South Asia, subsequently spreading to Southeast Asia and southern China along trade and migration routes.
  2. c. 800–1400Mekong and Red River deltas · IndochinaThe water buffalo became the standard draft animal for ploughing and puddling in Southeast Asian paddies, mutually reinforcing rice intensification.
  3. c. 1471–1480Paddy regions south of the Yangtze in China · ChinaDuring the Chenghua era of the Ming dynasty, water buffalo were widely used for ploughing and trampling fields in southern rice regions, forming, together with population growth and tax grain transport, a pillar of the agricultural economy.
  4. c. 1900Agricultural regions of South and Southeast Asia · IndiaAfter mechanization spread, water buffalo are still widely used by smallholders for ploughing and milk production, ranking among the top livestock worldwide in numbers raised.

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