Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Hamid Ansari, “Muslims in Nepal,” 

Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 2, nos. 2–3, (Win-

ter 1980–Summer 1981): 138–158; Mollica Dastider, 

Religious Minorities in Nepal: An Analysis of the State of 

Buddhists and Muslims in the Himalayan Kingdom (New 

Delhi: Nirala Publication, 1995); Marc Gaborieau, 

“Muslim Minorities in Nepal.” In The Crescent in the 

East: Islam in Asia Major edited by Raphael Israeli, 

79–101 (London: Curzon Press, 1982).

New Zealand

New Zealand, also called Aotearoa by the Maori, 

its original inhabitants, is an island nation in the 

South Pacific, separated from Australia by the 

Tasmanian Sea. It consists of two main islands and 

a number of smaller ones. Its land area is approxi-

mately 103,000 square miles, making it about the 

same size as Japan. It is home to some four mil-

lion people. The Maori people constitute about 14 

percent of the population. Their hegemony over 

Aotearoa was challenged early in the 19th cen-

tury by the arrival of the British. Europeans had 

become aware of New Zealand’s existence in the 

17th century and Captain James Cook (1728–79) 

had rediscovered it in 1769.

The Maori had originally settled Aotearoa in 

the 9th century 

c

.

e

. In 1642 Abel Tasman (ca. 

1603–59), a Dutch sea captain, named it New 

Zealand. Then Captain Cook surveyed the islands 

and produced an initial map. The establishment