Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c26.s3.t2: Alcoholic Drinks

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c26.s3.t2

Language
English

Alcoholic Drinks

v1.c26.s3.t2.1

Usage of liquor : This may be reviewed as a preamble to reviewing the technology of production. The Harappans may even have drunk distilled liquor (as shown below). The *Ṛgveda*, while exalting *soma*, condemns the use of *surā*, a distilled liquor. In subsequent Vedic literature, Brahmins (and students in particular) are always rigorously prohibited from using liquor, while Kṣatriyas and Vaiśyas are permitted liquor made from honey, *mahuā* flowers and jaggery, but not spirits distilled from fermented flour (Prakash, Om, 1961, pp. 34-57). The Jataka tales suggest that drinking at feasts with friends was by no means uncommon, and that women and even hermits imbibed. Buddhist monks were not permitted wine except when ill. For Jain monks, the prohibition was strict; they could not even stay in a place where jars of wine were stored.

v1.c26.s3.t2.2

Drinking was common among Kṣatriyas. Sītā promises the Ganga a thousand jars of wine if members of the party return safe from exile (Sharma, 1971, pp. 232-242). After they do so, Rāma feeds her with his own hands with *maireya*, a spiced wine. Outside the public indulge in a drunken orgy, and even the atmosphere of Ayodhya was said to reek of wine (Sharma, 1971, pp 232-242). In the *Mahābhārata*, Kṛṣṇa enjoys drinking freely with Arjuna, and the Yadavas are killed in a drinking brawl. Even a virtuous lady, Sudeṣṇā, is shown as drunk on wine. Drinking scenes are depicted in sculpture in the Sanchi stupa (Sharma, 1971, pp. 232-242), in Kuṣāṇa temples at Mathura (Dayal, 1983, pp. 96-104) and in Calukyan temples at Pattadakal (Kamat, 1978, p. 170). The *nagaraka* (man of town) of the *Kāmasūtra* sips drinks from a *casaka* while nibbling at sweet bitter and acidic snacks (chalakdar, 1976, p.17). In Kālidasa’s plays (Pathak, 1978, p. 58) citizen and constable both indulge in drinks (*Śakuntalā*), and in *Raghuvamśa*, the whole of Raghu’s army drinks coconut wine, and an intoxicated *Irāvathī* is not able to move about properly.

v1.c26.s3.t2.3

Public taverns or drinking areas are frequently depicted, and are called *saundikas* and *panabhūmis*. In Mauryan times (Auboyer, 1965, p, 259) “every village had at least one tavern, identifiable by the flag that it flew. The towns contained many taverns, grouped in the same district but sufficiently spaced out to prevent their being side by side. They were often decorated and furnished in style, and contained several courtyards, rooms filled with seats and couches, and also counters where perfumes, flowers and garlands could be brought. It was a lucrative business, for the sale of fermented and alcoholic drinks continued throughout the day and well into the night. The customers ate salt with their drinks to encourage their thirst”. Moderation in use of liquor is urged, for example in the *Bṛhatsamhitā* (early 6th cent. AD) (Shastri, 1969, pp. 209- 216) and in the *Caraka Saṃhitā* (Chakraborty, 1923 p. 573), which opines: “A stimulant taken in proper dose increases the strength and weight of the body, but taken in excess it reduces the body weight”. Elsewhere Caraka recommends a little wine only when the digestion is at its best, such as in winter and spring, and diluted wine in the rainy season and summer (Sengupta, 1919, p. 12).

v1.c26.s3.t2.4

Before the Aryan advent into south India, drinking was free of taint and indulged in at all levels. Even woman drank, especially in the company of their lovers. Toddy was made by fermenting palmyra sap, and was drunk, as in *Manimekhalai* (6th cent. AD) by the poorer classes (*Kanakasabhai*, 1904, pp, 125-135). Poets wrote of sturdy sailors living a dangerous life, who were fond of strong liquor (Srinivasa Iyengar 1932, pp, 253- 300). Wine brewed from germinated grains in pots is mentioned more than once, and is drunk by soldiers, for example (*Rasanayagam*, 1926, pp, 130-160). Liquor shops in Madurai floated gay streamers (*Kanakasabhai*, 1904, pp. 125-135), and a piece of raw ginger chewed while drinking was recommended to the heavy imbiber as an antidote (Nilakantha Sastri, 1964, pp.77-80). Kings had access (*Rasanayagam*, 1926, pp. 130-180), at least during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD when trading with Rome was at its peak, to “cool and fragrant wine in golden cups, held by bright-bangled women”. Even after the spread of the Aryans, Brahmins are sometimes shown as drinking toddy without reproach (Krishna Ayyar, 1966, p. 31). Kapilar, the famous Brahmin poet of the Sangam epoch, speaks with relish about both drink and meat (Pillay, 1975, pp. 224).

v1.c26.s3.t2.5

*Production and types of liquor*: Though it is made clear, by contrasting it with *sura*, that *soma*, was not an alcoholic liquor but an exhilarant (Prakash, Om, 1961, pp. 7-33, Sell, 1933, *Notes* pp. 152-170), its elaborately ritualistic production technology can conveniently be noted here (Vesci, 1985, pp.215, 69, 32, Sen, 1978, Three plates). The material, brought from a mountainous area, was first washed, and then either crushed between grinding stones (*grāvan*), or pounded in a mortar and pestle (*ulukhala and musala*) using both hands, while sprinking water and sometimes squeezing the material to assist extraction. The *grāvan* stones were placed above four holes connected underground; the resounding echo of the grinding was poetically compared to the lowing of bulls. The liquid was filtered through a strainer of sheep’s wool (*pavitra*) held above specified jars or wooden tubs. The amber, shining liquid was mixed with curds, ghee, milk, water, honey or grains before being drunk by the priests and the person making the sacrifice.

v1.c26.s3.t2.6

Was liquor made in the Indus valley? Perhaps not just brewed, but even distilled. Using clay objects found at all Harappan sites, a distillation unit has been assembled (Mahdi Hassan, 1979, p. 264). On the mouth of a water pot was placed a well-fitting circular basin with a wide circular hole at the bottom. In this was cradled a smaller basin with holes in its base. Alcohol boiled in the lower pot rose through the holes; was condensed on the underside of a handled receptacle holding cold water that was placed above the assembly, and then fell into the annular space of the fitted basin. The only special vessel required was the small perforated basin; this has repeatedly been found in excavations without a satisfactory use having been ascribed to it.

v1.c26.s3.t2.7

The *Rgveda* describes *surā* as an intoxicating liquor distilled after fermenting barley or wild paddy, and it may have had a connection with the hated asuras. Later Vedic literature (Prakash, Om, 1961, pp. 7-33) has *kilala* (a sweetened drink made from fermented cereals), *masana* (a filtered rice gruel liquor) and *pariśruta* (a product of fermentation of flowers and certain grasses). Subsequently numerous products find mention. The *Rāmāyaṇa* has four (Sharma, 1971, pp, 232-242), Kautilya names 12, and Caraka makes mention of no less than 84 kinds of alcoholic liquor. In Table 2, these alcoholic beverages are listed roughly in the order in which they are mentioned in Sanskrit literature.

v1.c26.s3.t2.8

Table 2 — Liquors Listed in Approximately Historical Order

v1.c26.s3.t2.9

| *Surā* | The earliest-mentioned liquor made from barley or rice flour by fermentation, and perhaps used by the detested asuras. Later a generic word for a strong drink |
| *Māsara* | A fermented mixture of barley gruel, or rice gruel (*kanjika*), and spices, which was then filtered. Also perhaps Pre-Aryan |
| *Pariśutra* | Fermented flowers with added aromatic grasses |
| *Kilala* | Fermented, sweetened cereal-derived drink |
| *Kalika* | A kind of wine |
| *Avadatika* | A kind of wine, different from *kalikā* |
| *Maireya* | A liquor, probably distilled, flavoured with the tree bark of mesasringi (*Gymnema sylvestre*), with added guda (or sugar), pepper, triphala and spices |
| *Kaśāya* | A fermented extract of rice meal and flowers |
| *Madya* | A general term for a strong liquor |
| *Vāruni* | Distillate of fermented *mahuā* (*Madhuca indica*) flowers. Later also applied to the distilled ferment from dates and palm fruits, and perhaps for any strong drink |
| *Madīra :* | A general term for wine of high quality |
| *Prasanna* | Fermented rice flour, flavoured with spices, bark and . fruit, the name may be suggestive of the clarity of the drink |
| *Śidhu ;* | Fermented and distilled sugarcane juice with *dhātakī* flowers (*Woodfordia fruticosa*). The red flowers contributed colour, astringent tannins and an alcoholic ferment. Amlasidhu may have had added amla fruit (*Embilca officianalis*) |
| *Kādambari* | A distilled liquor based on ripe kadamba fruit (*Anthocephalus cadamba*) |
| *Tallaka* | Wine from palm fruit juice |
| *Jati* | Wine flavoured with jasmine flowers |
| *Khajurāsava* | Wine from dates |
| *Jambu-āsava* | Wine from the jambu fruit (*Syzygium cumini*) |
| *Medaka* | Wine made from rice and spices. The name may suggest the fattening property of the drink. |
| *Sahakarasurā* | Wine brewed form mango juice |
| *Mahāsurā* | Mango juice wine with a high proportion of fruit extract |
| *Rasottara* | Wine from molasses |
| *Kaula* | Wine from ber fruit (*Zizyphus species*) |
| *Śvetasura* | A clear palm drink achieved by adding *Kataśarkara* and licorice decoction |
| *Bijottara* | Palm fruit liquor of some special kind |

v1.c26.s3.t2.10

| *Sambhariki* | : | -do- |
| *Divya* | : | A liquor flavoured with kadamba tree bark |
| *Asava* | : | A generic class of distilled liquors, named after the source; pushpa-, phala-, madhvika-, sarkara-, sura- and narikela-, perhaps later sweetened and flavoured |
| *Arista* | : | Wines of medical connotation, as the name (meaning absence of injury ) suggests |
| *Kohala* | : | Distilled liquor based on parched barley flour |
| *Kasya* | : | A strong intoxicant |

v1.c26.s3.t2.11

Apart from these, the nobility right from *Sūtra* times were able to import two wines which are repeatedly mentioned. One was *kapisayani* from Kapisi (now Kafiristan, north of Kabul), and the other was *harahuraka*, from a town Harahura in the Arghanbad valley. Both were famed for their wine, made from white grapes in the former city and black grapes in the latter (Goswami, 1979, p. 27). Excavations at Begram in the area have brought to light a complete and artistic distillation assembly in the shape of a jar from whose mouth emerged a pressing shaft topped by a conical filter (Goswami, 1979, p. 37).

v1.c26.s3.t2.12

The raw materials employed for brewing were quite varied. The *Rāmāyaṇa* mentions four *āsavas* derived from flowers, fruits, honey and sugarcane. Caraka’s 84 varieties are derived from nine sources. Sugar-rich materials used for fermentation were sugarcane juice, guda, molasses, honey, coconut water, sweet palmyra sap and *mahua* flowers, while fruits included the grape, mango, wood-apple (kapittha), date palm, ber, banana, apricot, jack-fruit, pomegranate, kadamba, bilva, rajadana (chironji) and madanaphala (*Mimusops elengi*). Flavouring materials included fragrant flowers like the *kadamba*, *patala*, *jati* and *dhātākī*, and spices such as *haridrā* (haldi), black pepper and elaichi. Astringent materials like the betelnut (*pugaphila*), and barks of trees like *mesaśṛngī*, *kapittha* and *kadamba* were also employed in making liquor.

v1.c26.s3.t2.13

The production system is only briefly described. Patanjali has *asuti* for distillery, *asavya* for the fermented mix, and *viniya* for the sediment left after distillation, while the vintner (and apparently also the seller) was a *saundika* (Puri, 1957, pp. 89-115). The *Viṣṇu Purāṇa* calls the manufacturer of wine *maireyaka* and the seller *somavikrayī* (Dayal, 1982, pp. 93-104), and the *Amarakośa* has *svedanī* for an alcoholic still (Deshmukh, 1981, pp. 99-110). The *Arthaśāstra* has recipes for preparing various liquors, but the very terse language that is used makes their interpretation very subjective (Konow, 1975, pp. 60-63; Kangle, 1986, II, pp. 154-156; Agrawala, 1940, p. 291). It would appear that five elements could be varied. First was the raw material, which could be sugarcane juice, jaggery, honey, treacle, various sweet fruits, and cereals like rice and barley. Next, the period of fermentation is stated, in one instance, as being one month, six months or a year. Thirdly, the absence or use of distillation is frequently left unspecifed, except sometimes by inference through use of the adjective “strong” for the liquor. Fourthly, the liquor was frequently doctored with a sweetening agent, or with substances with either a distinctive fragrance, like flowers, or a distinctive flavour, like spices and astringent barks; confusion arises because these same materials could be used even before fermentation, or added before distillation. Fifthly, there is the nature of the ferment itself. In one fairly clear statement in the *Arthaśāstra*, this is stated to consist of a *droṇa* or mashed *māsa* pulse, a third (or three parts, in another interpretation) of rice, and a *karṣa* portion of morata. But other ferments could be used, and one of these is a decoction made from a mixture of *meṣaśṛṅgī* bark and long and black pappers; since such an extract is also a typical flavouring agent, there is room for uncertainty. Incidentally, a spice mixture is even now used in Punjab to make the spongy fermented snack, *warri*.

v1.c26.s3.t2.14

The actual recipes are therefore not unambiguous. *Praśannā* is made from twelve *āḍhakas* of flour with eight parts of water along with five *prasthas* of the ferment, to which could optimally be added the rind (another interpretation is bark) and fruit of *putraka* (alternative, *kramuka*). Medaka was made from half an *āḍhaka* of rice grains, one *droṇa* of water and three *prasthas* of ferment. An *āsava* in one reading employed one *tula* of woodapple fruit (*kapittha*), five *tulās* of treacle and a *prastha* of honey, all perhaps fermented together. In another, *āsava* is stated to be a mixture of “one *karṣa* each of cinnamon bark with *citraka*, *vilāṅgī* and *gajapippali*, and two *karṣas* each of *kramuka*, liquorice, *musta* and *lodhrā*; and one-tenth part of these is the formulation of the essence” which could mean that the larger quantities constituted the ferment, and the smaller the final flavouring. Maireya appears to have been a liquor disitilled from a spice-induced fermentation (a decoction of *meṣaśṛṅgī* bark, and two peppers); later the distillate was sweetened either using expensive honey or cheaper *guda* and *phanita* (Agrawala, 1949 p. 291), and flavoured with *triphala*, the well-known astringent ayurvedic mix of the chebulic myrobalan (*Terminalia Chebula*), the belleric myrobalan (*T.bellirica*) and the amla (*Emblica officianalis*). It was popular with royalty, and must have been an expensive drink.

v1.c26.s3.t2.15

Liquor in south India : Then as now, toddy was brewed in pots tied below incisions made in the spathes of palmyra palm fruits, to catch overnight the intensely sweet juice; this, by natural fermentation in the heat of the day, produced on alcoholic liquor with a strong odour. In the port town of Muziris, says the *Purāṇānūru* (Sreedhara Menon, 1979, pp. 121-126), “toddy flows like water”. The practice of smearing the pots with lime to prevent fermentation is also old, since such pots turn up in excavations. The sweetest toddy was claimed to be produced in Kuttanād (Krishna Ayyar, 1966, p 31), now in Kerala. *Arrack* or distilled strong liquor was also to be had, a favourite of sailors (Srinivasa Iyengar, 1932, pp. 253-300). Liquor was also brewed from paddy, from rice, and from germinated grains in pots, stated (*Rasanyagam*, 1926, pp. 130-160) to yield “after two days and two nights a high-flavoured wine”. The flavour of wine was stated to be improved by filling it in the hollows of stout bamboo stems, and burying them underground to mature (Srinivasa Iyengar, 1930, pp. 57-70). Toppi was the name of a home-brewed rice liquor (Ibid). Scented liquors were made for richer people by fermenting rice in the presence of fragrant flowers such as the *dhātakī* (Kanakasabhai, 1904, pp. 125-135). In mountain areas, wine was brewed from honey, and again matured underground before use . Italian wine was imported in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD for the use of royalty in characterisic two-handled amphorae; these have been found in large numbers at a Roman warehouse of the period excavated in Arikamedu near Pondicherry, with dregs of resinous material two thousand years old still adhering to the bottom. A favourite drink, especially of women, was munnir (“triple liquid”), a mixture of tender (perhaps unfermented) palmyra juice, sugarcane juice and coconut water (Sreedhara Menon, 1979, pp. 121-126; Nilakantha Sastri, 1964, pp. 77—80). As many as 60 pure Tamil names for liquor occur in the early literature, indicating its widespread use and popularity. Vendors of liquor were called tuvāsar, paduvar (padu is one name for liquor), palaiyār (pali is another), piliyar (pili is yet another) and saundiyār (clearly a Sanskrit borrowal) (Srinivasa Iyengar, 1930, pp. 57-70).

Linked texts (11)