SPICES IN MEDIEVAL INDIA

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.

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