The medieval period in Indian history spans about 900 years from 600 - 1500 AD, beginning with the period of emperor Harsha and ending with the landing of Vasco da Gama and the Portuguese connection with India. During this period India has witnessed not only the rise and fall of empires of Harsha and Kanishka but also invasions and ruthless killings by invaders like Muhammed Ghasni and Muhammed Ghori. This period has produced many great writings such as Harshacharitha, Kadambari, Geet Govinda, Katha Sarithsagara, Chilappathikaram (Tamil), Krishna Gatha (Malayalam); Rajatharangini etc. Many foreign scholars and travelers visited India, the more famous ones were Hieun Thsiang (629 AD); Rabi Banjamin of Tudella (1159-1173); Ibn Batuta, (1343 AD); Nicolai Conti (1430 AD), etc. During the time spices were highly valued by people and atleast a few of them were intimately related to the socio – cultural history of people of those times.
In Banabhatta’s Kadambari (7th century AD) there was mention about the use of turmeric and saffron as coloring substances, and Harshacharitha of the same period mentions the use of cloves for making the breath fragrant, and turmeric for adorning the feet of ladies. Saffron is mentioned in many writings as used for imparting a beautiful color to maidens’ bodies, to make their body ‘shine with the gilded excellence of saffron’.
P.C. Ray in his History of Hindu Chemistry mentions that Rasayana, aged 18 years, laying down rules on administering medicines based on Ashtangahridayam, and he laid stress on tasting and recommended drugs such as myrobalans, ginger, pepper and liquorice.
Many of the major spices are from south India, and the literature of this region provides many details about the use of spice in the daily life of South Indian people. In ancient Tamil literature there are two works named after spices – the first is Thrikadugam (i.e. three spices), by Nalladhanar. The second one is Eladi (meaning cardamom etc.) by Karimedhareiyar. The most famous Tamil work of the age, ‘Shilappadikaram’ by Ilango Adigal, also mentions various spices on many occasions.
The medieval period also witnessed the visit of many famous travelers, and they left detailed accounts about the growing of spices and spices trade in India. Hiuen Thsiang (629 AD) recorded the occurrence of asafoetida in the present-day Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan. He also mentioned pomegranates and turmeric in his travelogue. Another Chinese traveler, ITsing, traveled in India from 671 – 695 AD. He mentioned about the agricultural products of Srivijaya (present day Sri Lanka, then an Indian colony) as: betel nuts, nutmegs, mace, cloves and camphor. Masudi of Baghdad (890 – 956 AD) mentioned nutmeg, cloves and sandalwood as Indian products. Alberuni (11th century AD) mentioned Malabar from where products like, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, sandalwood etc were carried to Irak (Iraq), Syria, Rum (Rome) and Europe. Al Idrisi (12th century) mentions pepper and cardamom as the valuable spices. Rabbi Benjamin of Tudella (1166 AD) has given a vivid description of the then famous spice market of Kollam (Quilon), then a port of great importance. Abul Feda (1273 – 1331 AD) refers to a city ‘coilon’ as the pepper country of Malabar. Marcopolo (1298 AD) had given detailed account of spices cultivation on the west coast. He stated that, “good ginger also grows here and is known by the name of Quilon ginger…. Pepper too grow in abundance throughout the country…”(Mahendru, 1982). He also mentions about the large ships that were used for the shipping of pepper. Friar Odoric (1322) wrote, “Quilon is at the extremity of pepper forests towards the south. Ginger is grown here, better than anywhere else in the world and in large quantities. Nicolai Conti visited Calicut (1430 AD) and described the City as the ‘spice emporium of the east’. He described Calicut as a maritime city, eight miles in circumference, a notable emporium for the whole India abounding in pepper, clove, ginger, cinnamon myrobalan and zedoary. He also described the advanced ship building technology prevalent in the hamlet of Beypore near Calicut. The Russian traveler Athanaseus Nitiken (1468–1474) wrote in his travelogue about Calicut.
“Calicut is a part of the whole Indian sea, which God forbid any craft to cross and whoever saw it will not go over is healthy. The country produces pepper, ginger, color plants (possibly turmeric and indigo), myrobalans, cloves, cinnamon, roots and every description of spices”.
By this time the supremacy of the oceanic trade of spices was securely with the Arabs. This supremacy that started centuries ago continued till the end of the 15th century, i.e. till the landing of Vasco da Gama. In fact, the long period of relatively peaceful trade relationships played a major role in shaping the culture of Kerala.
SPICES DURING MUGHAL, PORTUGUESE, FRENCH, DUTCH AND BRITISH TIMES ( EARLY MODERN INDIA)
It is generally considered that the history of modern India begins with the landing of Vasco da Gama. The history of spices in the early modern India saw the rise and fall of many foreign powers that reached India for monopolizing the trade, starting from Vasco da Gama. Gama was not the first Portuguese to reach India. Gama’s voyage was greatly aided by the travel of Pedro Covilhan (Coh-veel-yan), the master spy of Prince John the Navigator, who was determined to find a way of getting directly to India and the Far East to buy pepper for the European markets. Covilhan was sent out by Prince John to spy on the spice secrets of the Arabs. The master spy, who spoke fluent Arabic, was a master in astronomy, medicine, and geography. Disguised as a Moslem merchant he reached Alexandria, made friendship with Moslem traders and in their company reached Calicut in 1489. In Calicut (known as Kozhikode), Covilhan learned a great deal about the spice trade and how the sailors took advantage of the monsoon winds. Covilhan got back in 1490 and wrote a detailed report of his findings. Prince Henry and Vasco da Gama studied this report carefully. Much of the credit for Gama’s successful trip round the Cape of Good Hope in 1497-98 must be given to Covilhan (Lowis, 1964).
Vasco da Gama sailed in 1497 with three small ships from Lisbon, Purtugal. He rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and sailed along the African Coast north to Mozambique, Mombasa and Malindi. From Mozambique Gama captured an Indian, named Davana, who helped Gama to reach Malindi. The King of Malindi provided him with provisions and a pilot to guide him. Gama departed Malindi on April 24, 1498 and reached the West Coast of India in less than a month. On May 20, 1498 he anchored his ships at Kappad, a hamlet 15 km north of Calicut. That day was an uneventful day for the people of the region, but it was a landmark in the history of India, and the rest of the world, an event that signalled the beginning of the colonial era.
The king of Calicut (known as Zamorin) was not unfriendly to Gama, but did not grant him much favours mainly due to the pressure brought on him by the Muslim traders, who was holding the monopoly in spices trade. Gama stayed in Calicut for about six months and then returned with his ships loaded with spices like pepper and ginger. Subsequently King Emmanuel of Portugal organized a large expedition under the command of Pedro Alvarez Cabral. Cabral sailed on March 9, 1500 with 13 ships and 1500 men including 1200 soldiers. Instead of following Gama’s route, Cabral sailed southwest, eventually reaching the shores of Brazil and took possession of that land in the name of King Emmanuel of Portugal. Subsequently he sailed to India round the Cape of Good Hope and reached India. Having arrived at the Malabar Coast, Cabral visited Cannanore, Cochin and Calicut and established Portuguese trading centres in these places. Though the Hindu kings, who ruled these principalities, were tolerant and welcomed the Portuguese, the Muslim traders did not and they hated the Christian traders. What followed was bitter feud between the Portuguese and the Muslims and subsequently with the local kings also. Cabral began to capture Arab ships transporting spices and the relationship between Portuguese and Zamorin (the king of the small state of Kozhikode.) deteriorated. Subsequently Cabrol shifted his activities to Kochi (Cochin). The king of Kochi granted him all the rights to procure spices. Cabral returned to Portugal after establishing firmly a trading relationship with India.
Gama reached India a second time commanding an armada of 20 ships. He unleashed savage wars against the Arab traders. Gama got an alliance signed with the king of Kochi and the terms were:
• All pepper, cardamom and other spices must be sold to the Portuguese as a price to be fixed by the Captain Major and the Rajah.
• The Portuguese should be given the right to build factories and keeping garrisons in places where they wished and no one else should be allowed to do so.
Later the Portuguese also entered into an alliance with the Zamorin of Kozhikode (Calicut) by which they got the right to procure all spices, but in presence of Rajha’s clerks, and that ginger was to be purchased directly from the cultivators.
Gama strengthened the trading posts established by Cabral and later returned to Portugal with the fleet loaded with spices. Gama was later appointed Viceroy of India, and he came and settled down in Goa; but died soon at Cochin on Dec. 24, 1524. Dom Fransisco de Almeida, who assumed the title Viceroy of Cochin, Cannanore and Quilon, succeeded Gama. Subsequently the Viceroyalty changed to Alfonso de Albuquerque, who was appointed Governor. He captured Goa in 1510. He later sailed to Malacca and captured that land. With this the Portuguese became the masters of spices trade and the Arabs traders had to retreat from the scene once for all.
The Portuguese in due course started a policy of intimidation and threat, and the powerless local chieftains could not do anything against them. They compelled the people to cultivate every inch of land with pepper and ginger and spices began to flow to Europe. However the Portuguese increased the prices unreasonably. The soaring prices of pepper and other spices led to resentment against Portugal. As a result other European countries sought a means of breaking the monopoly of Portugal. The daring mariners were ready to take on the mission. Magallan sailed for Spain, Drake, Fenton, Cavendish and Lancaster for England and von Houtman for Holland (Parry, 1969). In the years that followed the Dutch reached India and they captured the Portuguese trading centers and the Portuguese influence declined. A vivid history of that period is presented in the book, Malabar and the Portuguese written by Panickker (1929)
When such activities were going on in the South West, the north was basking under the glory of the Moghul rule. Especially noteworthy was the period of Akbar (1556-1605), who ruled the north India for a long, glorious fifty years. During his time spices cultivation was promoted and because of this royal patronage, spices growing spread in most parts of north and northwest India. Mustard, onion, fenugreek, cumin, ajowan, poppy seed, saffron, coriander, fennel, ginger and long pepper were patronized and as a result the cultivation of these crops picked up. Much information is available on the use of spices in the writings of the period. Ain-I-Akbari by Abul-Fazl, Akbar’s Prime minister, provides details of a variety of dishes and the ingredients used in their preparations. Spices formed part of many of these dishes. The following examples (Table 6) may give an insight into the use of spices in those days.
In the same work we also come across the market rates of spices. It will be of interest to note the market prices of some of these spices during Akbar’s time (Table 7)
Infact black pepper was very rare and was not sold in the market, as it was reserved for the royal use. By that time saffron cultivation had picked up in Kashmir, producing about 400 maunds (I maund = 40 seers) of saffron, half of which belonged to the state. Emperor Jahangir was mainly responsible for the spread of saffron cultivation, and he wrote in detail the cultivation practices and harvesting of saffron in his memoirs.
However, the Mughals had no idea about the lucrative spices trade between the Malabar Coast and the Portuguese and other west European countries. The early Portuguese merchants were so much obsessed with pepper, and they took away numberless pepper vines, from the Malabar region for cultivation outside India, especially in the East Indies (present day Indonesia). When the Zamorin was appraised of this it seems that he commented “they can take away the pepper vines from us and not the thiruvathira nhattuvela* (* a particular period in June-July – Ashadh- when the star Thiruvathira is in prime, and the Malabar Coast experiences continuous rain, that is believed to be essential for good growth and yield of pepper). But, being a simpleton, he could not foresee the implications and was proved to be wrong. East Indies became a competitor for India soon in pepper production. With more systematic cultivation, the Portuguese and subsequently the Dutch could take the East Indies to the forefront of pepper producing countries. By the second half of the 16th century the Portuguese began exporting pepper, cardamom, cinnamon and ginger directly to Europe, almost every acre of the land capable of growing pepper and ginger was cultivated and the pepper trade passed on to the common man. But they could not continue for long, the Dutch had reached the Malabar Coast, trying to establish their power over the spices trade.
What followed was an era of European domination in Indian spice trade. This era coincided with the European colonization of the rest of the world. About this Collins and Lapierre (1976) writes in their classical book, Freedom at Midnight:
“Sometimes history’s most grandiose accomplishments have the most banal of origins. Great Britain was set on the road to the greatest colonial adventure for five miserable shillings. They represented the increase in price of a pound of pepper proclaimed by the Dutch privateers who controlled the spice trade”
Angered at such an unwarranted price hike, 24 merchants of the city of London met on the 24th of September 1599 AD, in an old building on Leaden Hall Street, and founded a modest trading firm with an initial capital of £72000, from 125 share holders. Thus started the British East India Company. Their ultimate motive was only profit. This enterprise expanded, transformed, and finally became the most noteworthy creation of the age of imperialism-the British Raj. On 31st December 1600 AD, Queen Elizebeth I granted the company the monopoly of the trade with the countries beyond the Cape of Good Hope.
The British had reached India on 24th August 1600 AD. A ship named Hector anchored in the little port of Surat, north of Bombay. The captain of the ship, William Hawkins, traveled inward, and finally reached the Mughal court. This first visitor from England was received with glamour by the Mughal emperor, who reigning over 70 million people, was the world’s richest and most powerful monarch of the time. Hawkins felt that before the splendour of Emperor Akbar, his own Queen appeared like the chieftain of a principality. Hawkins was made a member of the royal household and the emperor presented him with a welcome gift of the most beautiful girl in his harem, an Armenian Christian. Hawkins managed to get some trading rights in Surat area. From this modest beginning the English grew steadily and rapidly as the monopoly traders of spices and other commodities in the area north of Bombay.
By 1664 AD, the Portuguese were practically been driven out from Cochin and Cannanore by the Dutch, who then became the trading masters of the Malabar Coast. Thus ended the 160 years of Portuguese supremacy over spices trade.
The Portuguese introduced into India a number of new agricultural crops (cashew, tobacco, pineapple, etc) and also popularized the cultivation of spices. They introduced a more scientific cultivation of pepper and ginger and due to their patronage and compulsion the cultivation of these crops became popular and extensive (Menon, 1996).
The Dutch East India Company, formed in 1592, played an important role in organizing the early Dutch missions. In 1603 it sent an expedition led by Admiral Steven Van Der Hagen, who reached Calicut and concluded a treaty with Zamorin on November 11, 1604. This treaty gave the Dutch trading rights in spices. Similar treaties were revived in 1608 and 1610. However the Dutch became a power in the West Coast only with the capture of Cochin from Portuguese in 1663. Eventually the Dutch has installed Vira Kerala Varma as the king of Cochin. He in return entered into an agreement with the Dutch by which all the pepper and cinnamon produced in the country was to be delivered in the Dutch. The Dutch gradually expanded its influence to other areas such as Calicut and Cannanore. However Dutch expansion was prevented by the powerful King of Travancore, Marthanda Varma, who inflicted a crusting defeat on the Dutch in the War of Kolachal (present Kanyakumari district) in 1741. Marthanda Varma expanded his state to north reaching almost up to Cochin and shattering the Dutch dreams of expansion and they had to retreat from the scene of Kerala. Unfortunately for the Dutch, that was also the time when Hyder Ali broke into the scene. He ran through the country of Calicut and Cochin and these states fell to him even without an iota of resistance. The Dutch suffered much.
During the occupation of Dutch, they made a signal and lasting contribution to India in general and Kerala in particular. One of the Dutch Governors, Van Rheede, prepared and published a treatise of the economic plants of the Malabar Coast, Hortus Malabaricus (1678-1693) in 13 volumes. This is the first printed document on the plant wealth of India, and is regarded as a monumental work.
During all these years the British were silently and actively pursuing the trading of spices, expanding their influence gradually to Malabar Coast. This infiltration of the English people into the spices producing areas was systematic and clever. The story goes that the Rani of Attingal, (the Princess of Attingal, a small principality south of Trivandrum, which was famous for high quality pepper because of the traditional cultivar of this area, Kottanadan, which is still regarded as the best quality pepper cultivar grown in India), fell in love with an Englishman and that she used to shower gifts upon him. He very cleverly got an agreement signed by the Rani bestowing on the Company the monopoly of pepper trade. Following this the British built their first fortress in Angengo in a land donated by the Rani. The activities of the young officer angered the local chieftains, and they plotted against him and one day in 1721 when the officer was proceeding to meet the Rani with gifts, he was ambushed on the way and he along with his man were killed. The Angengo fortress was stormed by the people and the young wife of the officer escaped from the fortress with the help of another officer and the lady along with two other women were sent out in a boat to Madras. This was perhaps the first organized revolt against the British in Kerala (Menon, 1996). Actually the history of British domination of spices trade in those decades that followed was filled with intrigue, conspiracy, blood shed and of course with a dash of romance, feigned by the British for the sake of their convenience and benefits.
The European officers and travelers recorded the vegetation and cultivation of spices in very meticulous manner. Their writings are invaluable to understand the socio-political and cultural life of Indians in those days. Francis Buchanan has written such illuminating accounts that were published in 1807 as ‘A Journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar.’ We learn about the cultivation of capsicum, garlic, ginger, turmeric, black pepper, and cardamom from these accounts.
Linschoten in 1596 gave one of the earliest accounts of pepper growing. Further descriptions on the cultivation of pepper, ginger and cardamom are seen in the writings of Buchanan (1807) and Watts (1872). The method of cultivation of pepper was very simple and the same was prevalent in Kerala till the 1950’s and 60’s. Two or three cuttings-runner shoots, each about three feet, were planted on the north or the northeast side of support trees with the beginning of the “Thiruvathira njattuvela”. This is a time in June-July when the star Thiruvathira is in prime, and the days are marked by continuous rain. Changes in the pepper planting method occurred only in the second half of the last century, when the poly bag system of raising cuttings became prevalent.
Ginger cultivation was prevalent in many parts of India. Though Marco Polo (1280-90) and John of Montecorvino (1292), made references on ginger cultivation it was again Linschoten (1596) who gave an account of the cultivation practices of ginger. He states that it grew in many parts of India, but the best and the most exported grew on the coast of Malabar. The method of cultivation and preparation of dry ginger described by him was more or less the same as followed by growers even now. Ginger cultivation was prevalent from the Malabar Coast to the sub Himalayan and Himalayan regions upto an elevation of 4000-5000 ft. The best Cochin ginger, spoken so highly by the early travelers, were produced in the Cheranad (the Kingdom of Cheras, who ruled over the West coastal region of India, extending from the present day Thiruvalla (in Aleppey district) to Badagara in the north. The Chera Kingdom was bordered by the Ayi Kingdom in the South of Thiruvalla (extending to Kanyakumari) and the Ezhimala Kingdom in the North (from Badagara to Mangalore) (Menon, 1996). Buchanen (1807) during his travel recorded among many things the prevailing agricultural practices too. The cultivation practice prevalent in those days in the Malabar coast involved: land preparation through ploughing and harrowing and preparation of beds, of about 3 ft wide and 12 ft long. By the middle of May, ginger is planted in holes dug at one foot apart, and covering the bed with a thick layer of green leaves. This system remains essentially the same even now. Seed ginger was then stored heaping in sheds, covered with dried coconut leaves or grass.
In Bengal, the early cultivation practices included the following operations: Ploughing, leveling and laying of irrigation channels at 60-80 ft apart and sub channels connecting the main channel at 8-10 ft apart. Ginger pieces were placed in parallel rows between the sub-channels and covered with soil taken from between the rows. So eventually ridges and furrows appear in the field extending between the water channels. Oil cake is the manure used. The cost of cultivation was around Rs. 46 per bigha (1600 sq. yards), and the net profit the farmer gets was around Rs. 74 per bigha (Anon., 1886). The processing of ginger in Bengal was as follows: rhizomes were brushed with hand brush till free from all soil particles and dust and steeped overnight in lime water. Subsequently the rhizomes were rinsed in clear water and dried slowly over a brick oven in which a low flame was kept alive. Well-dried rhizomes were packed in jute bags and marketed (Anon., 1886).
Baden Powell, the legendary founder of Scout movement, had written about the processing of ginger prevalent in the 18-19th century in the Bombay province. The rhizomes were dried up by placing them in a basket suspended by a rope and shaking them for two hours every day for three days. Later on these were sun dried for eight days and again shaken in the basket and redried for 48 hours in the basket itself. This removed the scales and skins, making them suitable for marketing. In the Khandesh region of the erstwhile Bombay, there was an interesting method of preparing processed ginger. This included boiling the cleaned rhizomes in water, then steeping in limewater for a day or two and subsequently the rhizomes were buried in ground, mud-plastered cellar for fermentation for a few days. The fermented rhizomes were then taken out and dried in sun to produce a product called “Sonth” (Watt, 1872).
Cardamom was a minor forest produce collected from naturally growing plants, and its cultivation was a more recent event. The type of cardamom growing in those days is clear from the writings of the officers of British East India Company such as: “The owners of the gardens, early in the season came up from the low country east of the ghats, cut the wood and burn the creepers and other wise clear the soil for the growth of the plant as soon as the rain fall. They come back to gather cardamom when they ripen, about October or November” (Watt, 1872). Watt quote Ludlow, an assistant commissioner of forest, who described how the natives grow cardamom in small clearings in the forests in the Coorg (now the Coorg district of Karnataka) and mentioned that similar practices are followed in Wynad and Travancore hills (Present day Wynad and Idukki districts of Kerala). The King of Travancore declared cardamom a state property and patronized its cultivation in the Devikulam Taluk (present day Idukki district). This led to the rapid spread of cardamom cultivation in the 19th century in the hills of Kerala. The produce was brought to Aleppey, the port town and was auctioned. The best quality was referred as the ‘Aleppey Green’. The Arabs and Muslim traders were mainly responsible for the trading based at Aleppey.
There was an interesting bleaching method adopted for bleaching cardamom. The bleaching was done in a small hamlet, Haveri, near Dharwar; with the aid of water from a particular well, which was supposed to have the qualities of bleaching and improving the flavour of cardamom. The well belonged to a Lingayat priest. To the well water contained in a wide pan, a mixture of soap nut (Sapindus trifoliatus) and shikakai (Acacia concinna) powders were added (4 lbs of the former and ¼ lb of the latter for 5 gallons of water) and mixed. One basket of cardamom was put in this water and stirred vigorously for many minutes. This cardamom was then transferred to another pan containing one part of soap nut and one part of shikakai powder and seven parts of water. The cardamom was stirred and rubbed vigorously for many minute and then transferred to a basket. After water was drained of, the cardamom was spread out for drying. The bleaching operation was done mostly by women labourers. Harvested cardamom from the fields was transported to Haveri for bleaching (Buchanan, 1807, Watt, 1872).
Starching is another operation that was prevalent in the earlier days. The bleached cardamom, or even the unbleached cardamom was starched to give a whiter product. This operation was mainly carried out in the Sirsi area in north Kanara district. The starch is prepared by pounding together rice, wheat and country soap with buttermilk. The paste is dissolved in sufficient quantity of water and the solution is sprinkled over the cardamom and rubbed well so as to give a thin coating of starch over the cardamom (Buchanan, 1807; Watt, 1872).
The British East India Company had finally decided to start its own spice plantations. In 1767 AD the first spice estate in India was established at Anjarakkandy in North Malabr. This estate still exists in the Cannanore district of Kerala. Here, about 265acres were planted with cinnamon using the seed materials brought from Ceylon. Later the BEIC deputed Mr. Christopher Smith to Amboyana in Moluccas (in East Indies, present day Island of Moluca in Indonesia) to procure seedlings of clove and nutmeg. These consignments were planted in a few locations, but the plantings failed everywhere except in the hills of Travencore. Later the spices gardens of the BEIC were established in Courtellam, where cinnamon, clove and nutmeg were grown. The cinnamon cultivation failed and subsequently abandoned. However in the estate in the plains- Anjarakkandy-cinnamon was flourishing, and has an unbroken history to this date. The first cardamom plantations were established only in the beginning of the 19th century, that too as a subsidiary crop in coffee plantations.
This was the time when coffee plantations were fast catching up in the hills of Mysore. The coffee was introduced into the Bababudan hills in the Chikmagalur hills and later spread to the neighboring regions very fast. Coffee drinking also fast became a habit of the rich. Soon spices- especially pepper, cardamom and cloves, were introduced into the coffee growing areas and mixed plantations have started coming up in these regions as well as in the hills of Travencore and Madras.
There are also records showing the production, marketing and export of spices. During 1935-39, India produced 15010 tons of pepper, which constituted 18 per cent of the world production. The major producer (70%) was Indonesia (East Indies). Sarawak, Brazil and Ceylon together produced only 2500 tons. This was the situation when the Second World War broke out. Indonesia suffered the worst during the war. India was not affected by the war very much and pepper production increased unhindered and reached 31300 tons (80% of world production) during the post war years; while Indonesian production dipped to 2400 tons (6%).
Cardamom production was 900 tons in 1935-36, became 2674 tons in 1944-45. India exported 86.7 tons of cardamom in 1899-1900; the export rose to 480 tons in 1919-1920. It seems that between 1930-50 the overseas demand for Indian cardamom went up by 170%.
The production of chillies became very important during the British rule. The important chilly growing areas were Hyderabad State, Madras, Bombay, Madhya Pradesh, Mysore and Bihar provinces. Because of the high revenue, chillies became a crop of royal patronage and efforts were made to isolate varieties having higher yield and better quality. The Imperial Council of Agricultural Research at Pusa, in Bihar, started the research work on chillies in the 1930s and came out with a few improved lines in the subsequent years.
The British Government did not pay any attention to initiate research on other spices, though in search of which they reached India. It was left to the independent India to recognize the need for research back up in spices production and programmes were initiated to achieve this.
NEXT ISSUE:SPICES - SOCIOCULTURAL ASPECTS
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
SPICES IN ANCIENT INDIA
HISTORY OF SPICES IN INDIA
Spices in ancient India:
In India the most ancient recorded history is found in the Rig-Veda and the other Vedas. However, these records were not written, but were handed down from generation to generation without the loss of single syllabi through the medium of human memory, carefully cultivated for the purpose. Such a system was adopted probably because the ancient Indo – Aryans believed that except human mind everything else is perishable, and that the ancient vedic seers were convinced of the superiority of human mind over matter. Rig Veda is regarded as the oldest book of the entire world (Morris, 1963), the compilation period is generally regarded as from 6500 BC to 4700 BC.
Yajur Veda mentions the use of sesame and pipali (the long pepper of today, which was used probably by those people to add pungency and flavour to their food) and Atharva Veda prescribes the use of turmeric to charm away jaundice. Turmeric was called ‘hiranmayi’ as well as rajni and was prescribed for the treatment of leprosy (Griffth, 1916). During the compilation period of Atharva Veda, use of sesame had become very common and is mentioned repeatedly. Jeanine Auboyar in his classical work ‘Daily Life in Ancient India’ mentioned that the Vedic people practiced irrigated agriculture and that they grew rice, sugarcane and sesame. Ancient history tells us that a sect of ancient Aryans called ‘Panis’ migrated south and eventually reached the south west coast and settled down there. The intermingling of ‘Panis’ and the Dravidians of the South might have resulted in the gradual evolution of a mixed race in the West Coast. ‘Panis’ were expert ship builders and sea travelers and they migrated from there to the Middle East (Babylonia). It is believed that the Aryan crops including sesame reached the West Coast and the Middle East through the Panis.
There is a view that these migrants had sown the seeds of the Sumarian civilization. Hall (1960) says, “Long back the Sumarians were a branch of Dravidians. Extensive travel by sea, in very early times, can explain the possibility of colonizing the Mesopotanian valley on one side and Indian Archipelago on the other”. Humayun Kabir states that “The Indus civilization spread westwards from the Indian Basin till it reached the banks of Euphrates and Tigris around 3500 BC”. The ‘Panis’ were the medium through whom the merchandise and crops from the Indian basin (Sapta sindhu, the home land of the Indo-Aryans) reached the southern West Coast and from there to the Middle East. The various spices might have reached the Middle East through the above route.
Saffron is mentioned often in the ancient texts. This was indicated as an offering to a Brahmin guest by a householder and that the arghya should contain sesame among other things. Yajnavalkya Samhitha has reference on turmeric. Taitreya Samhitha names the ingredients to be poured in the sacrificial fire lit on the occasion of a marriage ceremony: “Perfumes like musk, saffron, agar, sandalwood, cardamom, nutmeg and mace, and the sweets to be used by the newly weds during their nuptial nights must have aphrodisiacs like musk and saffron, one gram each, mace and nutmeg two grams each, to be added to sweets made out of two pounds of butter fat” (Mahendru, 1982).
Spices were mentioned more frequently in the writings of the epic period, and hence they might have been in use more widely. The epic period stretches from 4000 BC to almost 2000 BC, or even up to 1400 BC according to certain estimates. Valmiki’s Ramayana mentioned spices used in the preparation of certain dishes. There were also references of turmeric used for the worship of Gauri (the goddess), for dyeing the sacred thread worn by the Brahmins and also for making kumkum (vermilion). It was common practices among people to put kumkum mark on the forehead as a sign of auspiciousness, but it was an indispensible item for all ladies to put on their forehead. The higher cast people often used saffron, while the others used turmeric powder mixed with lime. In the ‘Krishna Avtara’ legend mention has been made on the use of turmeric as a body unguent and of the saffron mark on the forehead for auspiciousness. Udhava, Krishna’s childhood friend, narrates how the Naga women get their golden complexion by the use of turmeric paste. There was also description how the lady attendants of Draupadi smears her body with turmeric paste before the royal bath prior to the Swayamvar ceremony. A kumkum mark on the forehead was unavoidable for all Aryan tribes. This kumkum was made by mixing turmeric and lime powder or limewater.
The movement of crops - including spices, in the ancient India cannot be charted out accurately. There are references in the Mahabharatha that kings from far off places (including Rome) coming to the Emperor Yudhishtira with precious gifts on the occasion of Rajasuya Yajna at Indraprastha. Such references indicate that the prewar kingdom of the Pandavas extended to overseas also. Seeds of various crops including spices might have been exchanged during those days. Many of our seed spices growing in India might have reached here in that way. However another hypothesis is the movement of various crops including spices together with or subsequently of the invasion of Alexander the Great. Subsequent to this invasion there were historical records indicating frequent movement of men and materials from India to the Macedonia and other Mediterranean region and from there to India.
The post epic period of Indian history stretches from almost 1500 BC to 600 BC. This was the period of the famous ancient physicians - Charaka and Susrutha. Charaka’s magnum opus, ‘Charaka Samhita’, has many references on the use of spices in medicine - such as asafoetida, pepper, sweet basil, cinnamon and myrrah. “Spices such as cloves and cardamom should be wrapped in betel leaves with betelnuts and chewed after meals to increase salivation and aid digestion. All foetid odours shall disappear as the breath becomes fragrant”. In Sushrutha’s classic, Sushruth Samhita, references are available on the use of spices in surgery. Rosengarten (1969) writes:
“Sushruth the elder recommended that the bed sheets of a patient as well as the side room where an operation was to be performed be fumigated with pungent vapours of white mustard, bedellium, and other aromatic plants to ward off malignant spirits; after the operation he recommended that a sesame poultice be applied to the wound- recommendations that may have foreshadowed the antiseptic theory of today”
Susrutha prescribed cardamom, ginger, black pepper, cumin and mustard as medicines to remove fat and to cure urinary complaints, pile and jaundice. A remedy for earache given by Susrutha and Charaka was application of oil boiled with ashes of black pepper.
Kanada, the exponent of the ancient atomic theory, classified tastes into six types: sweet, bitter, pungent, astringent, acid and saline and the examples provided included spices. Vatsyayana, the author of the art and science of lovemaking ‘Kamasutra’, also lived during the post-epic period. He advised the chewing of aromatic spices such as cardamom, cinnamon and clove to make the breath fragrant before lovemaking.
King Solomon and Hiram used to procure their supply of spices from Malabar Coast (West Coast of India between Goa and Kanyakumari was known as the Malabar Coast). Mostly Jews and Arabs controlled the trade, a fact mentioned in the Bible:
It is proved beyond doubt that the oriental merchandise of the days of King Hiram and King Solomon had its starting place in the sea ports of Dakhan: some of the most esteemed spices which were carried into Egypt by Midintish merchants and by the sons of patriarch Jacob had been cultivated in the spice gardens of Dakhan (Menon, 1995) (Here Dekhan stands for the entire South India).
This period (i.e post epic period) also witnessed Indian colonization in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and Far East islands of Java, Sumatra and eastern archipelago. The credit to this colonial expansion goes to Prince Vijaya who ruled the Gour country (the present Bengal and Bangladesh), the son of king Subahu of Sala (Magadha). Prince Vijaya reached Ceylon in around 700 BC and established his kingdom there. He also colonized Java, Sumatra and Eastern Archipelago. After this, Indian spices trade saw a boom because the rich cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg of Ceylon and Moluccas came under the sovereignty of Bengal kings. From India the spices were transported by land and sea to other countries.
The period of 600 BC to 500 AD was the golden millennium in the ancient Indian history. This period witnessed the lives of Gauthama the Buddha and Mahavira, and the rice and fall of two great empires, the Mourya’s and the Gupta’s. Kautilya’s ‘Arthasasthra’, Vaghabhatta’s Ashtangahridhayam; Nagarjuna’s editing of the work of Charaka and Sushrutha and publication of his Rasaratnakara, Thiruvalluvar’s Kural (regarded as the Tamil Veda), the classics of Varahamihira and Kalidasa etc. In Kautilya’s Arthasasthra there are many references on spices (Kautilya’s Arthasasthra, commentary by Ramasastry) such as the one given below.
“The function of a superintendent of stores was to collect taxes on the arrival of such notified commodities as acid - bearing fruits like pomegranate and tamarind and condiments like black pepper, long pepper, ginger, cumin seed, white mustard, coriander and Sigru (regarded as horseradish)”.
Another very interesting reference on spices found in Arthasasthra was when Kautilya specifies the duties of the superintendent of liquors and the quality of the six types of liquors (prasanna, medeka, asava, maireya, bijibandha, mahasura). All these liquors had spices as importanrt components; the spices mentioned were tejavati (Piper chaba), mango ginger (Curcuma amada), cinnamon bark, black pepper and long pepper. When the liquor was made for royal use large cardomom and dill were also added to make it more pleasant.
In the Buddist period also the use of spices like turmeric and saffron were common. Hastings (1955) records that the Swetamber Jains applies the auspicious saffron mark on their forehead and liquid saffron is applied at 14 different places of the main idol of their temples. In the Dharmasutras spices are mentioned profusely during marriage ceremonies. The marriage ceremony in those days consists of five parts. In the first part “Mandapam ceremony” the important ritual is ‘gatrahridra’, smearing the body with turmeric powder to generate sexual desires in the young couple.
During Ashoka’s period, he became the monarch of Kashmir as well. Kashmir was a meeting place of caravans from the plains of India and from the distant cities of central Asia, Tibet and China. Kashmir was also the place from where Indian spices reached the other Asian and west Asian countries by caravans. Vagabhatta, the author of Ashtangahridhayam, was presented with saffron bulbs by Nagi Takshaka, as reward for curing him of an eye disease. Vagabhatta planted the first saffron bulbs in the plateau of Pampur around 2nd century BC (Mahendru, 1982)
Ancient Kerala (the Malabar) was famous for her spices, and her name as the land of spices brought innumerable foreign traders from almost the 3rd or 2nd millennia BC. The Assyrians and Babylonians, whose civilization flourished in the 3rd to 2nd millennia BC in the ancient Sumarian (Mesopotamia or the present day Iraq) carried on an extensive trade in cardamom and cinnamon that came from the Malabar coast. These spices reached Greece, Rome and Egypt and were used by them to make perfumed oils and holy oils for anointing the dead. The Arabs and the Phoenicians were the early pioneers of spice trade. Most probably, the first long voyage to the Malabar Coast and other regions of the East might have been undertaken by the Arabs of the Oman and Persian Gulf and the first cinnamon and cardamom from the Malabar Coast might have found its way to the Middle East through the Arabs (Menon, 1979, 1996). It is also believed that there were commercial contacts between South India and North India even as early as the Indus Valley Civilization (3rd millennium BC) and that several items found their way from the South to the Indus Valley. A Caravan route (spice route) is known to have existed, connecting North West India, and the Middle East. Then it may not be wrong in assuming that there was as overland route from the Malabar coast to the North India to the Middle East; and that spices from the Malabar coast might have gone out along this route as well.
The Phoenicians were noted for their skill in navigation, and they were also prominent in the spice trade. About 1000 BC, King Solomon of Israel equipped a fleet of ships manned by the Phoenicians, and their fleet sailed to the East and “come to Ophir and fetched from thence gold”. Some Scholars have identified Ophir as Beypore in Kozhikode. In the closing centuries of the era before Christ, Kerala’s trade in spices assumed great prominence. Cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and pepper are the spices mentioned in the writings of Dioscorides (40-90 AD) in the Materia Medica, as possessing medicinal values. With Roman conquest of Egypt in the middle of the 1st Century BC, the Romans actively entered the filed of spice trade, and the Arab monopoly came to an end.
Antiochus IV (175 BC – 165 BC) is reported to have exhibited 800 tusks of Indian ivory and spices like cinnamon and nard on his triumph at Daphne in 166 BC. Indian spices were seen in the procession of Ptolemy Philladelphus (271 BC to 270 BC). The celebrated Materia Medica of Dioscorides (ca. 40 AD to 90 AD), a noted physician and military surgeon of Nero’s Roman army, mentions Greek equivalents of Indian spices as pippali- pepper, sringabera-ginger, kardama-cardamom, tila-sesamum etc. Diosorides in his ‘Herbal’ specifically mentions that kardamomum, Nardas (spikenard), melabathrum (cinnamon), Kastas (Calamus aromaticus, Acorus calamus) were imported from India for medicinal purpose. He also mentions other spices like aniseed, cumin, mustard, pepper, sesame and cinnamon. Hippocrates derives peperi (the Greek name for pepper) from the sanskrit ‘pippali’.
The discovery of the trade winds and monsoon by Hippalus in 45 AD helped Romans to reach the Malabar Coast of India and following this large-scale movement of spices took place. At the funeral of Sylla, 210 loads of spices were strewn upon the pyre. Nero (65AD) is reported to have burnt at the funeral of his most beloved wife, Poppaea, a full year supply of Indian cinnamon and cassia. Pliny laments on the drain of Roman gold into India in return for unproductive luxuries. He estimated that the Roman Empire paid out annually a hundred million sesterces (about £ 1087500) to India, China and Arabia for the purchase of luxuries, mainly spices (Menon, 1996). Pepper formed the bulk of the export from Kerala. The Romans valued it as highly as gold and silver, and hence the name ‘Yavana Priya’ was given to it.
The spice trade declined later during the period of Caracella (217 AD) as Roman prosperity was at a low ebb. However the trade picked up during the time of the Byzantine Empire and large quantities of spices, especially pepper, flowed into the warehouses of Byzantium. This continued till the fall of Byzantine Empire at the hands of the Alaric of Gothe (408 AD), and he took away as ransom 3000 pounds of Indian black pepper from the defeated Romans.
A geographer, Cosmos Indico Pleustes (535 AD) wrote the ‘Christian Topography’, in which he mentioned Mala (Malabar) as the chief seat of pepper trade and mentions the five pepper marts existed at Pandopatana, Nalopatana, Salopatana, Mangarath (probably Mangalore) and Parti, as well as more ports further north. Varahamihira made many references on spices, in his classic Brihadsamhita. For making an excellent toilet powder and a perfume for clothes; Varahamihira suggests taking cardomom, pounding into a fine powder and then mixing with equal quantities of musk and camphor. He indicates that one of the signs of a big (magnanimous) man is “his person smells like earth sprinkled with fresh rainwater or cassia or saffron or ichors of an elephant.” He even mentions spices in relation to astrological signs.
“If long pepper, black pepper, dried ginger, Cyprus grass, cumin seeds or dill seeds be seen or mentioned by a queriest, his thoughts will be about a woman’s fault, a man’s fault or loss of everything, or a son”. According to him nutmeg belong to the planet Venus. Nutmeg along with cardamom and pepper were indicated in the preparation of mothwash and perfumed tooth sticks. Innumerable such references are present in Varahamihira’s Samhita.
The Memoirs of Periplus is another notable publication, which dated back between BC 120 and AD 100 (Mukherjee, 1912). In this book Periplus describes the land of the origin of spices.
“To the south three great empires are mentioned: Tyndis, Muzris and Nelkynda, form where exported pepper, spices, pearls, ivory, fine silk and precious stones. Large Hindu ships were noticed off east Africa, Arabian and Persian ports, and Hindu settlements on the North coast of Secotra.”
It was during these times of free spice trade that Indian turmeric came into the hands of Greek and Roman women, who began anointing their fair figures with salves and pastes made out of turmeric and that it came to be valued as an agent of beauty care.
Jeanine Auboyar (undated) has written a classical book, “Daily life in India – from 2000 BC to 700 AD”. In this work Auboyar had made many references on the use of spices, including in veterinary medicines. He writes:
“The market in spices was equally lucrative. The most important of these were the various peppers (black pepper, long pepper, ball pepper) harvested for the most part along the cost of Malabar and exported chiefly to Alexandria for export to all the Mediterranean countries. The Arabs had long since secured for themselves a monopoly in the importation of India’s crop of ginger, which was transported in jars and served as a stomachachic and medicament. The same applied to cinnamon (camphor as well as cinnamon bark), whose resale was also in the hands of the Arabs. Cinnamon was considered a luxurious commodity and was used for many purposes – prophylactic for the protection of clothing against moths, for perfumery (incense) and for medicine. It was exported raw, the cinnamon barks and leaves packed separately. Cinnamon oil was used to perfume wines and also formed an ingredient in the sauce accompanying oysters in Rome. Cardamom produced in south India was also highly priced and expensive. Besides these, cloves and sesame were also exported along with other condiments”.
Auboyar also mentions that in the port of Muziri (the present day Kodungallur which was once a flourishing port) spices were exchanged for gold. In fact, “Roman ideas and arts traveled with the stream of Roman gold which flowed into the treasure chests of the Rajas in payment for silks, gums and spices of the Orient” (Anon, 1903). Auboyar gives interesting and picturesque details of the spice trade in India during those days. He also mentions that Brahmacharis (celebate students) were forbidden the use of salt and spices during fasting. The general food consisted of cooked rice, served with curd and three spices – cinnamon, cardamom and mace – all carefully ground on a flat stone. Meat dishes were spiced with chilly, pepper, cardamom, clove and cumin. Garlic and onion were forbidden, and those who wished to eat these spices had to do so outside the town.
Spices in ancient India:
In India the most ancient recorded history is found in the Rig-Veda and the other Vedas. However, these records were not written, but were handed down from generation to generation without the loss of single syllabi through the medium of human memory, carefully cultivated for the purpose. Such a system was adopted probably because the ancient Indo – Aryans believed that except human mind everything else is perishable, and that the ancient vedic seers were convinced of the superiority of human mind over matter. Rig Veda is regarded as the oldest book of the entire world (Morris, 1963), the compilation period is generally regarded as from 6500 BC to 4700 BC.
Yajur Veda mentions the use of sesame and pipali (the long pepper of today, which was used probably by those people to add pungency and flavour to their food) and Atharva Veda prescribes the use of turmeric to charm away jaundice. Turmeric was called ‘hiranmayi’ as well as rajni and was prescribed for the treatment of leprosy (Griffth, 1916). During the compilation period of Atharva Veda, use of sesame had become very common and is mentioned repeatedly. Jeanine Auboyar in his classical work ‘Daily Life in Ancient India’ mentioned that the Vedic people practiced irrigated agriculture and that they grew rice, sugarcane and sesame. Ancient history tells us that a sect of ancient Aryans called ‘Panis’ migrated south and eventually reached the south west coast and settled down there. The intermingling of ‘Panis’ and the Dravidians of the South might have resulted in the gradual evolution of a mixed race in the West Coast. ‘Panis’ were expert ship builders and sea travelers and they migrated from there to the Middle East (Babylonia). It is believed that the Aryan crops including sesame reached the West Coast and the Middle East through the Panis.
There is a view that these migrants had sown the seeds of the Sumarian civilization. Hall (1960) says, “Long back the Sumarians were a branch of Dravidians. Extensive travel by sea, in very early times, can explain the possibility of colonizing the Mesopotanian valley on one side and Indian Archipelago on the other”. Humayun Kabir states that “The Indus civilization spread westwards from the Indian Basin till it reached the banks of Euphrates and Tigris around 3500 BC”. The ‘Panis’ were the medium through whom the merchandise and crops from the Indian basin (Sapta sindhu, the home land of the Indo-Aryans) reached the southern West Coast and from there to the Middle East. The various spices might have reached the Middle East through the above route.
Saffron is mentioned often in the ancient texts. This was indicated as an offering to a Brahmin guest by a householder and that the arghya should contain sesame among other things. Yajnavalkya Samhitha has reference on turmeric. Taitreya Samhitha names the ingredients to be poured in the sacrificial fire lit on the occasion of a marriage ceremony: “Perfumes like musk, saffron, agar, sandalwood, cardamom, nutmeg and mace, and the sweets to be used by the newly weds during their nuptial nights must have aphrodisiacs like musk and saffron, one gram each, mace and nutmeg two grams each, to be added to sweets made out of two pounds of butter fat” (Mahendru, 1982).
Spices were mentioned more frequently in the writings of the epic period, and hence they might have been in use more widely. The epic period stretches from 4000 BC to almost 2000 BC, or even up to 1400 BC according to certain estimates. Valmiki’s Ramayana mentioned spices used in the preparation of certain dishes. There were also references of turmeric used for the worship of Gauri (the goddess), for dyeing the sacred thread worn by the Brahmins and also for making kumkum (vermilion). It was common practices among people to put kumkum mark on the forehead as a sign of auspiciousness, but it was an indispensible item for all ladies to put on their forehead. The higher cast people often used saffron, while the others used turmeric powder mixed with lime. In the ‘Krishna Avtara’ legend mention has been made on the use of turmeric as a body unguent and of the saffron mark on the forehead for auspiciousness. Udhava, Krishna’s childhood friend, narrates how the Naga women get their golden complexion by the use of turmeric paste. There was also description how the lady attendants of Draupadi smears her body with turmeric paste before the royal bath prior to the Swayamvar ceremony. A kumkum mark on the forehead was unavoidable for all Aryan tribes. This kumkum was made by mixing turmeric and lime powder or limewater.
The movement of crops - including spices, in the ancient India cannot be charted out accurately. There are references in the Mahabharatha that kings from far off places (including Rome) coming to the Emperor Yudhishtira with precious gifts on the occasion of Rajasuya Yajna at Indraprastha. Such references indicate that the prewar kingdom of the Pandavas extended to overseas also. Seeds of various crops including spices might have been exchanged during those days. Many of our seed spices growing in India might have reached here in that way. However another hypothesis is the movement of various crops including spices together with or subsequently of the invasion of Alexander the Great. Subsequent to this invasion there were historical records indicating frequent movement of men and materials from India to the Macedonia and other Mediterranean region and from there to India.
The post epic period of Indian history stretches from almost 1500 BC to 600 BC. This was the period of the famous ancient physicians - Charaka and Susrutha. Charaka’s magnum opus, ‘Charaka Samhita’, has many references on the use of spices in medicine - such as asafoetida, pepper, sweet basil, cinnamon and myrrah. “Spices such as cloves and cardamom should be wrapped in betel leaves with betelnuts and chewed after meals to increase salivation and aid digestion. All foetid odours shall disappear as the breath becomes fragrant”. In Sushrutha’s classic, Sushruth Samhita, references are available on the use of spices in surgery. Rosengarten (1969) writes:
“Sushruth the elder recommended that the bed sheets of a patient as well as the side room where an operation was to be performed be fumigated with pungent vapours of white mustard, bedellium, and other aromatic plants to ward off malignant spirits; after the operation he recommended that a sesame poultice be applied to the wound- recommendations that may have foreshadowed the antiseptic theory of today”
Susrutha prescribed cardamom, ginger, black pepper, cumin and mustard as medicines to remove fat and to cure urinary complaints, pile and jaundice. A remedy for earache given by Susrutha and Charaka was application of oil boiled with ashes of black pepper.
Kanada, the exponent of the ancient atomic theory, classified tastes into six types: sweet, bitter, pungent, astringent, acid and saline and the examples provided included spices. Vatsyayana, the author of the art and science of lovemaking ‘Kamasutra’, also lived during the post-epic period. He advised the chewing of aromatic spices such as cardamom, cinnamon and clove to make the breath fragrant before lovemaking.
King Solomon and Hiram used to procure their supply of spices from Malabar Coast (West Coast of India between Goa and Kanyakumari was known as the Malabar Coast). Mostly Jews and Arabs controlled the trade, a fact mentioned in the Bible:
It is proved beyond doubt that the oriental merchandise of the days of King Hiram and King Solomon had its starting place in the sea ports of Dakhan: some of the most esteemed spices which were carried into Egypt by Midintish merchants and by the sons of patriarch Jacob had been cultivated in the spice gardens of Dakhan (Menon, 1995) (Here Dekhan stands for the entire South India).
This period (i.e post epic period) also witnessed Indian colonization in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and Far East islands of Java, Sumatra and eastern archipelago. The credit to this colonial expansion goes to Prince Vijaya who ruled the Gour country (the present Bengal and Bangladesh), the son of king Subahu of Sala (Magadha). Prince Vijaya reached Ceylon in around 700 BC and established his kingdom there. He also colonized Java, Sumatra and Eastern Archipelago. After this, Indian spices trade saw a boom because the rich cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg of Ceylon and Moluccas came under the sovereignty of Bengal kings. From India the spices were transported by land and sea to other countries.
The period of 600 BC to 500 AD was the golden millennium in the ancient Indian history. This period witnessed the lives of Gauthama the Buddha and Mahavira, and the rice and fall of two great empires, the Mourya’s and the Gupta’s. Kautilya’s ‘Arthasasthra’, Vaghabhatta’s Ashtangahridhayam; Nagarjuna’s editing of the work of Charaka and Sushrutha and publication of his Rasaratnakara, Thiruvalluvar’s Kural (regarded as the Tamil Veda), the classics of Varahamihira and Kalidasa etc. In Kautilya’s Arthasasthra there are many references on spices (Kautilya’s Arthasasthra, commentary by Ramasastry) such as the one given below.
“The function of a superintendent of stores was to collect taxes on the arrival of such notified commodities as acid - bearing fruits like pomegranate and tamarind and condiments like black pepper, long pepper, ginger, cumin seed, white mustard, coriander and Sigru (regarded as horseradish)”.
Another very interesting reference on spices found in Arthasasthra was when Kautilya specifies the duties of the superintendent of liquors and the quality of the six types of liquors (prasanna, medeka, asava, maireya, bijibandha, mahasura). All these liquors had spices as importanrt components; the spices mentioned were tejavati (Piper chaba), mango ginger (Curcuma amada), cinnamon bark, black pepper and long pepper. When the liquor was made for royal use large cardomom and dill were also added to make it more pleasant.
In the Buddist period also the use of spices like turmeric and saffron were common. Hastings (1955) records that the Swetamber Jains applies the auspicious saffron mark on their forehead and liquid saffron is applied at 14 different places of the main idol of their temples. In the Dharmasutras spices are mentioned profusely during marriage ceremonies. The marriage ceremony in those days consists of five parts. In the first part “Mandapam ceremony” the important ritual is ‘gatrahridra’, smearing the body with turmeric powder to generate sexual desires in the young couple.
During Ashoka’s period, he became the monarch of Kashmir as well. Kashmir was a meeting place of caravans from the plains of India and from the distant cities of central Asia, Tibet and China. Kashmir was also the place from where Indian spices reached the other Asian and west Asian countries by caravans. Vagabhatta, the author of Ashtangahridhayam, was presented with saffron bulbs by Nagi Takshaka, as reward for curing him of an eye disease. Vagabhatta planted the first saffron bulbs in the plateau of Pampur around 2nd century BC (Mahendru, 1982)
Ancient Kerala (the Malabar) was famous for her spices, and her name as the land of spices brought innumerable foreign traders from almost the 3rd or 2nd millennia BC. The Assyrians and Babylonians, whose civilization flourished in the 3rd to 2nd millennia BC in the ancient Sumarian (Mesopotamia or the present day Iraq) carried on an extensive trade in cardamom and cinnamon that came from the Malabar coast. These spices reached Greece, Rome and Egypt and were used by them to make perfumed oils and holy oils for anointing the dead. The Arabs and the Phoenicians were the early pioneers of spice trade. Most probably, the first long voyage to the Malabar Coast and other regions of the East might have been undertaken by the Arabs of the Oman and Persian Gulf and the first cinnamon and cardamom from the Malabar Coast might have found its way to the Middle East through the Arabs (Menon, 1979, 1996). It is also believed that there were commercial contacts between South India and North India even as early as the Indus Valley Civilization (3rd millennium BC) and that several items found their way from the South to the Indus Valley. A Caravan route (spice route) is known to have existed, connecting North West India, and the Middle East. Then it may not be wrong in assuming that there was as overland route from the Malabar coast to the North India to the Middle East; and that spices from the Malabar coast might have gone out along this route as well.
The Phoenicians were noted for their skill in navigation, and they were also prominent in the spice trade. About 1000 BC, King Solomon of Israel equipped a fleet of ships manned by the Phoenicians, and their fleet sailed to the East and “come to Ophir and fetched from thence gold”. Some Scholars have identified Ophir as Beypore in Kozhikode. In the closing centuries of the era before Christ, Kerala’s trade in spices assumed great prominence. Cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, turmeric and pepper are the spices mentioned in the writings of Dioscorides (40-90 AD) in the Materia Medica, as possessing medicinal values. With Roman conquest of Egypt in the middle of the 1st Century BC, the Romans actively entered the filed of spice trade, and the Arab monopoly came to an end.
Antiochus IV (175 BC – 165 BC) is reported to have exhibited 800 tusks of Indian ivory and spices like cinnamon and nard on his triumph at Daphne in 166 BC. Indian spices were seen in the procession of Ptolemy Philladelphus (271 BC to 270 BC). The celebrated Materia Medica of Dioscorides (ca. 40 AD to 90 AD), a noted physician and military surgeon of Nero’s Roman army, mentions Greek equivalents of Indian spices as pippali- pepper, sringabera-ginger, kardama-cardamom, tila-sesamum etc. Diosorides in his ‘Herbal’ specifically mentions that kardamomum, Nardas (spikenard), melabathrum (cinnamon), Kastas (Calamus aromaticus, Acorus calamus) were imported from India for medicinal purpose. He also mentions other spices like aniseed, cumin, mustard, pepper, sesame and cinnamon. Hippocrates derives peperi (the Greek name for pepper) from the sanskrit ‘pippali’.
The discovery of the trade winds and monsoon by Hippalus in 45 AD helped Romans to reach the Malabar Coast of India and following this large-scale movement of spices took place. At the funeral of Sylla, 210 loads of spices were strewn upon the pyre. Nero (65AD) is reported to have burnt at the funeral of his most beloved wife, Poppaea, a full year supply of Indian cinnamon and cassia. Pliny laments on the drain of Roman gold into India in return for unproductive luxuries. He estimated that the Roman Empire paid out annually a hundred million sesterces (about £ 1087500) to India, China and Arabia for the purchase of luxuries, mainly spices (Menon, 1996). Pepper formed the bulk of the export from Kerala. The Romans valued it as highly as gold and silver, and hence the name ‘Yavana Priya’ was given to it.
The spice trade declined later during the period of Caracella (217 AD) as Roman prosperity was at a low ebb. However the trade picked up during the time of the Byzantine Empire and large quantities of spices, especially pepper, flowed into the warehouses of Byzantium. This continued till the fall of Byzantine Empire at the hands of the Alaric of Gothe (408 AD), and he took away as ransom 3000 pounds of Indian black pepper from the defeated Romans.
A geographer, Cosmos Indico Pleustes (535 AD) wrote the ‘Christian Topography’, in which he mentioned Mala (Malabar) as the chief seat of pepper trade and mentions the five pepper marts existed at Pandopatana, Nalopatana, Salopatana, Mangarath (probably Mangalore) and Parti, as well as more ports further north. Varahamihira made many references on spices, in his classic Brihadsamhita. For making an excellent toilet powder and a perfume for clothes; Varahamihira suggests taking cardomom, pounding into a fine powder and then mixing with equal quantities of musk and camphor. He indicates that one of the signs of a big (magnanimous) man is “his person smells like earth sprinkled with fresh rainwater or cassia or saffron or ichors of an elephant.” He even mentions spices in relation to astrological signs.
“If long pepper, black pepper, dried ginger, Cyprus grass, cumin seeds or dill seeds be seen or mentioned by a queriest, his thoughts will be about a woman’s fault, a man’s fault or loss of everything, or a son”. According to him nutmeg belong to the planet Venus. Nutmeg along with cardamom and pepper were indicated in the preparation of mothwash and perfumed tooth sticks. Innumerable such references are present in Varahamihira’s Samhita.
The Memoirs of Periplus is another notable publication, which dated back between BC 120 and AD 100 (Mukherjee, 1912). In this book Periplus describes the land of the origin of spices.
“To the south three great empires are mentioned: Tyndis, Muzris and Nelkynda, form where exported pepper, spices, pearls, ivory, fine silk and precious stones. Large Hindu ships were noticed off east Africa, Arabian and Persian ports, and Hindu settlements on the North coast of Secotra.”
It was during these times of free spice trade that Indian turmeric came into the hands of Greek and Roman women, who began anointing their fair figures with salves and pastes made out of turmeric and that it came to be valued as an agent of beauty care.
Jeanine Auboyar (undated) has written a classical book, “Daily life in India – from 2000 BC to 700 AD”. In this work Auboyar had made many references on the use of spices, including in veterinary medicines. He writes:
“The market in spices was equally lucrative. The most important of these were the various peppers (black pepper, long pepper, ball pepper) harvested for the most part along the cost of Malabar and exported chiefly to Alexandria for export to all the Mediterranean countries. The Arabs had long since secured for themselves a monopoly in the importation of India’s crop of ginger, which was transported in jars and served as a stomachachic and medicament. The same applied to cinnamon (camphor as well as cinnamon bark), whose resale was also in the hands of the Arabs. Cinnamon was considered a luxurious commodity and was used for many purposes – prophylactic for the protection of clothing against moths, for perfumery (incense) and for medicine. It was exported raw, the cinnamon barks and leaves packed separately. Cinnamon oil was used to perfume wines and also formed an ingredient in the sauce accompanying oysters in Rome. Cardamom produced in south India was also highly priced and expensive. Besides these, cloves and sesame were also exported along with other condiments”.
Auboyar also mentions that in the port of Muziri (the present day Kodungallur which was once a flourishing port) spices were exchanged for gold. In fact, “Roman ideas and arts traveled with the stream of Roman gold which flowed into the treasure chests of the Rajas in payment for silks, gums and spices of the Orient” (Anon, 1903). Auboyar gives interesting and picturesque details of the spice trade in India during those days. He also mentions that Brahmacharis (celebate students) were forbidden the use of salt and spices during fasting. The general food consisted of cooked rice, served with curd and three spices – cinnamon, cardamom and mace – all carefully ground on a flat stone. Meat dishes were spiced with chilly, pepper, cardamom, clove and cumin. Garlic and onion were forbidden, and those who wished to eat these spices had to do so outside the town.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
P.N.Ravindran On Spices and Condiments.
WHAT ARE SPICES, CONDIMENTS AND SEASONINGS: CONFUSED TERMINOLOGY.
Spices, Condiments, Seasonings and Herbs: DEFENITIONS.
Spices:
The term ‘spice’ was derived originally from the Latin “species aromatacea”, meaning fruits of the earth. It was subsequently shortened to “species”, meaning a commodity of special value or distinction and subsequently to spices (Farrel, 1985). Classical authors of Europe in different times classified spices into four different categories such as:
Species Aromata - Those used for perfumes like cassia, cardamom, sweet marjoram and cinnamon.
Species Thumiamata - Those used for incense such as thyme, cinnamon, cassia and rosemary.
Species Condimenta - Those used for embalming or preservation, like cassia, cumin, cinnamon, anise, clove etc.
Species Theriaea - Those spices used for neutralizing poisons, such as anise, coriander, garlic, and oregano.
The ancient Greeks and Romans knew many of the herbs and spices that are used today. Their athletes used the oil for relieving muscle tension, ladies used them to perfume their baths, and the clergy used them in funeral rites for distinguished citizens.
In modern times also spices are variously defined. A dictionary definition is “an aromatic pungent vegetable substance such as cinnamon, clove etc; used to flavor food and beverages; that which gives zest or adds interest, an aromatic odor”. Parry (1969) defines spice as “dried plant products, which add flavor, relish or piquancy to food. Most are fragrant, aromatic and pungent. They consist of rhizomes, bark, leaves, fruit, seeds and other parts of plants”. In the code of federal regulations of food and drug administration of U.S., spice is defined in the following way:
“The term “spice” means any aromatic vegetable substance in the whole, broken or ground form, except for those substances, which have been traditionally regarded as foods, such as onion, garlic, and celery; whose significant function in food is seasoning rather than nutritional; that is true to name; and from which no portion of any volatile oil or other flavouring principles has been removed.”
The American Spice Trade Association (1980) defines spices as “All products typically found on the spice shelf today are properly called spices. This includes herbs and the items historically called spices as well as spicy seeds, blends and dehydrated vegetable seasonings”.
Farrell (1985) has combined the definitions of Parry and FDA and provided a functional definition for spices.
“Spice shall mean or to be applied to any dried, fragrant, aromatic or pungent, edible vegetable or plant substance, in the whole, broken or ground form, which contributes flavour; whose primary function in food is seasoning rather than nutrition, and which may contribute relish or piquancy to foods or beverages that is true to name, and from which no portion of any volatile oil or other flavoring principle has been purposely removed, or which no additive or spent spice has been added. Spices may be either the dried arilla, bark, buds, bulbs, flowers, fruit, leaves, rhizome, roots, seeds, stigmas and styles or the entire plant tops”.
Even such a comprehensive definition is partly defective or insufficient because only “dried” plant materials are included. There are quite a few spices that are used fresh (such as chillies, capsicum, ginger, curry leaf, celery leaves, coriander leaves etc.). The definition needs to be modified as: “spice shall mean or be applied to any fresh or dried -----------.” Instead of the above elaborate definition the present author prefers a simple one such as:
Spices are natural products of plant origin, used primarily for flavoring, seasoning or for adding pungency and flavour to foods and beverages.
Condiments:
Much confusion exists over the word condiment. In many publications spices and condiments are used interchangeably, while the others make no differentiation between them. But in the field of food technology a distinction is made between spices and condiments.
Condiments are defined as: “A condiment shall be a prepared food compound, containing one or more spices or spice extractives, which when added to a food after it has been served, enhances the flavor of food” (Farrel, 1985)
According to this definition, there are three important attributes for condiments:
1) They are compound food;
2) They contain one or more spices or spice extractives
3) They are used after the food has been served or prepared
Condiments can be of two types: simple and compound. Simple condiments include celery salt, garlic salt, onion salt, pepper salt etc. Compound condiments include products such as chilli sauce, chutney, horseradish sauce, meat sauce, mint sauce, prepared mustard, soya sauce, sweet and sour sauce, tomato catsup, etc.
Some of the condiments may have a dual role as seasonings as well. Spices scientists do not usually keep this distinction between spices and condiments, however it is important for the food technologist, and for the Chef, and it is always advisable to be precise.
Seasonings:
“Seasonings are compounds containing one or more spices, or spice extractives, which when added to a food either during its manufacture or in its preparation, before it is served, enhances the natural flavour of the food and thereby increase its acceptance by the consumer” (Farrel 1985).
The cardinal difference between condiments and seasonings is that the former is added after the food is served; while seasonings are added before a food is ready for service (i.e. while preparing). Some compounds may be part of a seasoning mix at one time and a complete condiment at another time depending on when and how they are used. Some of the famous seasonings include Frank Furter seasonings, Bologna seasonings, Pork Sausage seasoning, Fish Chowder seasoning, Chicken-noodle soup seasoning etc. Seasoning has reached a very high level of sophistication and the taste of the tastiest dishes is the result of the seasoning technology employed in their preparation.
Herbs:
Herbs are variously defined. To a botanist, herbs are shortlived plants that die down at the end of the growing season or a non-woody plant that is an annual, biennial or perennial. In the culinary world, herbs mean plants used for flavouring, and medicinally they are plants used in the treatment of illnesses. However in the present context herbs can be defined as plant material (leaf, stem, flowering tops etc) of aromatic plants used to impart flavour, aroma and taste to foods, and some times with the addition of colour. Many herbs also possess medicinal properties, and the term medicinal herbs come to mean plants having medicinal properties and are used for that purpose. Many are also valuable ornamental plants. “Herbs have always been an important ingredient of domestic country gardens, where they were grown almost exclusively for their practical uses. It is only comparatively recently that the cottage gardens has been appreciated and become fashionable. Classic cottage garden herbs include the essential culinary species, perhaps with the addition of coriander, garlic and one or two specimens of southernwood or curry plant to brush in passing” (Clevely and Richmond, 1999). Until the regime of King George IV (1820-30) English monarchy appointed ‘Strewers of Herbs’ to precede them in procession and scatter dried aromatic herbs such as rosemary, thyme and rue on the street to ward off diseases. The appointment of these royal ‘strewing ladies’, as they were popularly known, was a legacy from the times of the medieval plagues, which were thought to be caused by foul air. Dried herbs and essential oils were incorporated into pot-pourri, snuff, fumigants and scented water, in the belief that fragrance would deter both infections and insects; and judges still carry posies of sweat herbs to shield themselves from the rest of humanity in the courtroom (Clevely and Richmond, 1999).
All the herbs used in flavouring are also classified as spices, and hence in the present chapter only the term ‘spice’ is used.
WHAT ARE SPICES, CONDIMENTS AND SEASONINGS: CONFUSED TERMINOLOGY.
Spices, Condiments, Seasonings and Herbs: DEFENITIONS.
Spices:
The term ‘spice’ was derived originally from the Latin “species aromatacea”, meaning fruits of the earth. It was subsequently shortened to “species”, meaning a commodity of special value or distinction and subsequently to spices (Farrel, 1985). Classical authors of Europe in different times classified spices into four different categories such as:
Species Aromata - Those used for perfumes like cassia, cardamom, sweet marjoram and cinnamon.
Species Thumiamata - Those used for incense such as thyme, cinnamon, cassia and rosemary.
Species Condimenta - Those used for embalming or preservation, like cassia, cumin, cinnamon, anise, clove etc.
Species Theriaea - Those spices used for neutralizing poisons, such as anise, coriander, garlic, and oregano.
The ancient Greeks and Romans knew many of the herbs and spices that are used today. Their athletes used the oil for relieving muscle tension, ladies used them to perfume their baths, and the clergy used them in funeral rites for distinguished citizens.
In modern times also spices are variously defined. A dictionary definition is “an aromatic pungent vegetable substance such as cinnamon, clove etc; used to flavor food and beverages; that which gives zest or adds interest, an aromatic odor”. Parry (1969) defines spice as “dried plant products, which add flavor, relish or piquancy to food. Most are fragrant, aromatic and pungent. They consist of rhizomes, bark, leaves, fruit, seeds and other parts of plants”. In the code of federal regulations of food and drug administration of U.S., spice is defined in the following way:
“The term “spice” means any aromatic vegetable substance in the whole, broken or ground form, except for those substances, which have been traditionally regarded as foods, such as onion, garlic, and celery; whose significant function in food is seasoning rather than nutritional; that is true to name; and from which no portion of any volatile oil or other flavouring principles has been removed.”
The American Spice Trade Association (1980) defines spices as “All products typically found on the spice shelf today are properly called spices. This includes herbs and the items historically called spices as well as spicy seeds, blends and dehydrated vegetable seasonings”.
Farrell (1985) has combined the definitions of Parry and FDA and provided a functional definition for spices.
“Spice shall mean or to be applied to any dried, fragrant, aromatic or pungent, edible vegetable or plant substance, in the whole, broken or ground form, which contributes flavour; whose primary function in food is seasoning rather than nutrition, and which may contribute relish or piquancy to foods or beverages that is true to name, and from which no portion of any volatile oil or other flavoring principle has been purposely removed, or which no additive or spent spice has been added. Spices may be either the dried arilla, bark, buds, bulbs, flowers, fruit, leaves, rhizome, roots, seeds, stigmas and styles or the entire plant tops”.
Even such a comprehensive definition is partly defective or insufficient because only “dried” plant materials are included. There are quite a few spices that are used fresh (such as chillies, capsicum, ginger, curry leaf, celery leaves, coriander leaves etc.). The definition needs to be modified as: “spice shall mean or be applied to any fresh or dried -----------.” Instead of the above elaborate definition the present author prefers a simple one such as:
Spices are natural products of plant origin, used primarily for flavoring, seasoning or for adding pungency and flavour to foods and beverages.
Condiments:
Much confusion exists over the word condiment. In many publications spices and condiments are used interchangeably, while the others make no differentiation between them. But in the field of food technology a distinction is made between spices and condiments.
Condiments are defined as: “A condiment shall be a prepared food compound, containing one or more spices or spice extractives, which when added to a food after it has been served, enhances the flavor of food” (Farrel, 1985)
According to this definition, there are three important attributes for condiments:
1) They are compound food;
2) They contain one or more spices or spice extractives
3) They are used after the food has been served or prepared
Condiments can be of two types: simple and compound. Simple condiments include celery salt, garlic salt, onion salt, pepper salt etc. Compound condiments include products such as chilli sauce, chutney, horseradish sauce, meat sauce, mint sauce, prepared mustard, soya sauce, sweet and sour sauce, tomato catsup, etc.
Some of the condiments may have a dual role as seasonings as well. Spices scientists do not usually keep this distinction between spices and condiments, however it is important for the food technologist, and for the Chef, and it is always advisable to be precise.
Seasonings:
“Seasonings are compounds containing one or more spices, or spice extractives, which when added to a food either during its manufacture or in its preparation, before it is served, enhances the natural flavour of the food and thereby increase its acceptance by the consumer” (Farrel 1985).
The cardinal difference between condiments and seasonings is that the former is added after the food is served; while seasonings are added before a food is ready for service (i.e. while preparing). Some compounds may be part of a seasoning mix at one time and a complete condiment at another time depending on when and how they are used. Some of the famous seasonings include Frank Furter seasonings, Bologna seasonings, Pork Sausage seasoning, Fish Chowder seasoning, Chicken-noodle soup seasoning etc. Seasoning has reached a very high level of sophistication and the taste of the tastiest dishes is the result of the seasoning technology employed in their preparation.
Herbs:
Herbs are variously defined. To a botanist, herbs are shortlived plants that die down at the end of the growing season or a non-woody plant that is an annual, biennial or perennial. In the culinary world, herbs mean plants used for flavouring, and medicinally they are plants used in the treatment of illnesses. However in the present context herbs can be defined as plant material (leaf, stem, flowering tops etc) of aromatic plants used to impart flavour, aroma and taste to foods, and some times with the addition of colour. Many herbs also possess medicinal properties, and the term medicinal herbs come to mean plants having medicinal properties and are used for that purpose. Many are also valuable ornamental plants. “Herbs have always been an important ingredient of domestic country gardens, where they were grown almost exclusively for their practical uses. It is only comparatively recently that the cottage gardens has been appreciated and become fashionable. Classic cottage garden herbs include the essential culinary species, perhaps with the addition of coriander, garlic and one or two specimens of southernwood or curry plant to brush in passing” (Clevely and Richmond, 1999). Until the regime of King George IV (1820-30) English monarchy appointed ‘Strewers of Herbs’ to precede them in procession and scatter dried aromatic herbs such as rosemary, thyme and rue on the street to ward off diseases. The appointment of these royal ‘strewing ladies’, as they were popularly known, was a legacy from the times of the medieval plagues, which were thought to be caused by foul air. Dried herbs and essential oils were incorporated into pot-pourri, snuff, fumigants and scented water, in the belief that fragrance would deter both infections and insects; and judges still carry posies of sweat herbs to shield themselves from the rest of humanity in the courtroom (Clevely and Richmond, 1999).
All the herbs used in flavouring are also classified as spices, and hence in the present chapter only the term ‘spice’ is used.
Extract from :
P.N. Ravindran et al (ed.)Advancements in Spices Research : History and Achievements of Spices research in India Since Indpendence. (2006)
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