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A History of Agriculture in India v2.c72: Chapter 20. Quest for Spices

A History of Agriculture in India v2.c72

Language
English

Contents

Chapter 20. Quest for Spices

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PORTUGUESE ADVANCES IN NAVIGATION

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DISCOVERY OF THE NEW WORLD

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PORTUGUESE IN INDIA

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INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW WORLD PLANTS INTO INDIA BY THE PORTUGUESE

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A.D. 1498-1580

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THE confrontation of Christendom with Islam entered a new phase at the close of the fifteenth century. Mohammed II, Sultan of Turkey, took Constantinople on 29 May 1453, and this disposed of the last remnants of the Byzantine Empire. Bulgaria had already been conquered by the Turks much earlier, when they seized Sofia. Mohammed II completed the conquest of the Balkans by annexing Serbia and Greece. His successor Selim I defeated the Mamelukes and annexed Syria and Egypt in A.D. 1517. The conquest of Egypt by the Turks made them masters of trade routes from India, China and Africa. Now the Ottoman warships patrolled the whole of the Mediterranean. The Turks imposed heavy levies on Indian spices and other goods. Pepper, which came from Suez in ‘the ships of Mecca’, was sold in Cairo and Alexandria at very high prices. When the cost in India was equivalent to 2 or 3 cruzados a bale, there were occasions when the price in Egypt went up to 80 cruzados. To this were added the cost of transport to Italy, the customs duty in Venice and the profits of the importer. As a result, the Europeans had to pay extortionate prices for spices, particularly pepper, which not only made their food tasty, but was also used as a preservative for meat. Pepper was also used in wine and pastry. As the cultivaton of root-crops had not started, and no fodder crop could be grown in winter, the practice in northern Europe was to slaughter all surplus cattle at the advent of winter and to salt their meat. Among the vegetables, cabbages were in common use, as tomatoes and potatoes had yet to come. Sugar was a luxury and was used as a drug. Fruit-juices and honey were the only means of sweetening. To make the monotonous diet of dried meat and cabbages palatable, spices, such as pepper, cardamom, cloves and nutmeg, were essential. One can imagine the hardship suffered by the Europeans due to the levies of the Turks.

Portugal

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Affonso Henriques set up Portugal as a separate kingdom in A.D. 1140, and thereafter it was free of Spanish control. Its capital is Lisbon, a seaport situated on the right bank of the Tagus. Lisbon succeeded Coimbra as the capital of Portugal in A.D. 1260. Rising in white tiers on an amphitheatre of green hills, Lisbon has great scenic beauty.

Spain

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At the fall of Constantinople in A.D. 1453 to the Turks, the Iberian Peninsula was split up into five kingdoms, viz. Castile, Aragon, Navarre, Portugal and Granada. All the Christian Spain was united by the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon (A.D. 1479-1516) and Isabella of Castile. Thus came into existence the kingdom of Spain. In A.D. 1492, Ferdinand conquered Granada, the last foothold of the Arabs in western Europe.

Advances in Navigation by the Portuguese

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In the latter half of the fifteenth century, the Portuguese showed extraordinary vigour in navigation and exploration and became leaders in nautical astronomy. This was entirely due to the leadership of their king, the Infante, Prince Henry (A.D. 1394-1460), who is remembered as Henry the Navigator. In A.D. 1415, at the age of twenty-one, he captured the Arab City of Ceuta, thereby gaining a springboard for expeditions to Africa. He was a strong believer in the fable of Prester John, whose co-operation was thought to be necessary for the encirclement and ultimate annihilation of the Moslems. He had read Marco Polo’s Travels, and his imagination was fired by the account of Asian countries given by this indefatigable traveller.

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Prince Henry established an observatory and a school for navigation at Sagre. He summoned learned mathematicians, astronomers, cartographers, and navigators from all parts of Europe. He engaged the most famous cosmographer of the age, Jafuda Cresques, a Catalan Jew from Majorca. He also collected most daring captains and mariners he could find. Charts were made, and the working of the mariner’s compass was improved. He also realized that ships which were good enough for coastal trade were not suitable for sailing in open seas. He improved the caravel, and also the galleon, which carried batteries of cannon, and became a floating fortress.

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‘The Portuguese discoveries of the fifteenth century,’ remarks Trend, ‘were undertaken by methodical men, gifted with a cool, political intelligence and a lucid vision; precise in their view of the practical objectives, of which they had made an exact and detailed study. They had a far-reaching plan, prepared by men with an exceptional capacity for organization, and with nothing of the unconscious adventurousness attributed to them later. Every year ships went to Africa with orders to go as far south as they could without losing sight of the coast. The greatest obstacle was Cape Bojador, some way north of the Tropic of Cancer, and the subject of terrifying legends. There the land seemed to fall away in an immense curve, and there was a wide stretch of white spray, giving the idea that the ocean from there onwards was always on the boil from the torrid heat of the sun. This cape was passed in A.D. 1434, and the commercial exploration of the West African coast led to the colonization of the Atlantic islands: Madeira (A.D. 1420), the Azores (A.D. 1437) and Cape Verde Islands (A.D. 1446). Plans for the first expeditions were prepared by the group of pilots, mathematicians and cartographers whom "the Navigator" gathered round him. Under John II, the later voyages were worked out by other expert groups, including the cosmographer Martin Behaim of Nuremberg. The second half of the fifteenth century brought fresh discoveries, including the mouth of the Congo (A.D. 1485). Bartolomeu Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope (A.D. 1487) and Vasco da Gama finally reached the west coast of India in A.D. 1498.

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The Portuguese success in these maritime undertakings and adventures in navigation was due to science; and the science of the day, however rudimentary, had led to a series of technical improvements in ships and how to sail them.¹

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¹ Trend, J. B. *Portugal*, pp. 133, 134

Slave Trade

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One result of these ventures in navigation was the development of the slave trade. The Negroes of the African coast were captured in large numbers and brought to Lisbon. They were purchased by the owners of estates. It was thus that the neglected agriculture of southern Portugal revived. Later on Negro slaves were transported to the West Indies and southern States of the USA.

Discovery of the New World—A New Source of Plants

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Out of the Italian States, Venice had comparatively easy relations with the Turks. This was resented by Genoa, the rival of Venice. Genoese sailors and mariners, in search of employment and adventure, came to Spain and Portugal. Christopher Columbus, a Genoese, who had ideas of a new route to Asia, approached Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Helped by the merchants of Palos, Columbus got three ships, of which the biggest was *Santa Maria* of 100 tons burthen. Crossing the Atlantic, with eighty-eight men, Columbus struck Watling Island, one of the Bahamas, on 11 October 1492, and gave it the name San Salvador. As he thought he had reached India, he named the islands the West Indies, which, though wrong, has stuck. He brought cotton, strange birds and animals, and two painted Indians with him to Spain to be baptized.

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These discoveries opened up a new source of plants which enriched the agriculture of the Old World. Apart from maize, the New World had potato, sweet-potato, arrowroot, cassava (tapioca), beans, tomato, chillies, pumpkin, papaya, pineapple, guava, custard-apple, groundnut, cashewnut, tobacco, American cotton and rubber. It also had varieties of plums, red and white grapes, sunflower, squash, and sarsaparilla. Among the flowering annuals, it had morning-glory, nasturtium and marigolds.

Discovery of Brazil

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Now we describe the discovery and colonization of Brazil by the Portuguese. On 24 April 1500, Admiral Pedro Alvares Cabral, commanding the fleet, which King Emmanuel had ordered to India, on receiving the news of the successful voyage of Vasco da Gama, caught sight of an unknown country towards the west. After passing the Cape Verde Islands, he had been driven out to sea by a storm and had not expected to see land at all, so that the discovery, which proved of the greatest value to Portugal, was the result of chance, and not of deliberate exploration. With great difficulty he was able to find a harbour, to which he gave the name of Porto Segro or Safe Port. He landed and took possession of the new country in the name of the King of Portugal, and after erecting a cross, gave it the name of Santa Cruz, which remained its official name for many years. The popular name of Brazil was given to it later on after brazil-trees (*Guaiacum officinale*) which grow in that country and provide a red dye-wood. Two royal ships only for a long time were despatched to Brazil every year to take out and land there condemned convicts and women of bad character, and to bring back parrots and different varieties of wood, notably the brazil-wood.²

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² Stephens, H. M. Portugal, p. 224

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Throughout the sixteenth century, a steady stream of Portuguese emigrants made their way to Brazil, either on account of the favourable report of its climate and resources, which they received from their friends or relations already settled there, or in order to escape the misfortunes impending on their own country, and more especially the heavy hand of the Inquisition.

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Brazil became a wealthy colony by the middle of the sixteenth century, with many well-populated and well-cultivated districts upon the sea coast, surrounding the ports and harbours, where prosperous towns had sprung up, e.g. Pernambuco, Tamacara, Ilheos, Porto Seguro, and St Vincent.

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The significance of Brazil to the Old World largely lies in the new plants which it contributed. The rubber plant, *Hevea brasiliensis*, originated in the tropical rain-forests of the Amazon Valley in Brazil. In A.D. 1876 its seeds were brought to Kew and from there were sent to Ceylon, Malaya and Java, which now supply most of the rubber, while the mother country Brazil supplies hardly two per cent of the world production. To India, Brazil gave two most beautiful ornamental plants, viz. *Jacaranda* mimosifolia, with violet-blue flowers, and *Solanum macranthum*, the brinjal-tree with purple and white flowers.

Portuguese in India

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Vasco da Gama, *A.D. 1498-1502*. The news of the discoveries of Columbus spurred the Portuguese to reach India by the South African route. King Emmanuel selected Vasco da Gama, a nobleman, to find a direct route to India via the Cape of Good Hope. He was assisted by two able captains, Paul da Gama and Nicolas Coelho. With four ships they sailed from the Harbour of Belem on 8 July 1497. At the mouth of the Quelimane River they first saw signs of civilized life, and a little later they came to Mozambique, where Arab ships lay loading in the harbour. The Muslim sheik of the place first gave the Portuguese a good reception, but on learning that they were Christians he changed his attitude and Gama had to leave the port in haste. At the next Muslim city, Mombasa, the whole expedition was nearly destroyed, but managed to escape and reach Malindi, a city in the present Kenya. Here the local sultan treated the Portuguese well. He visited their ships in person, and they spent eleven days in his port before venturing across the Indian Ocean to Hindustan.

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'When Vasco da Gama started the last stage of his voyage, the fleet was piloted by an Indian from Gujarat named Malemo Cana, who had been engaed at Malindi to guide the Portuguese to Calicut on the Malabar coast.'¹³

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¹³ Nowell, C. E. *A History of Portugal*, p. 71

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Vasco da Gama reached Calicut on 20 May 1498, after a voyage of nearly eleven months. There he met Zamorin, the Hindu Raja. When asked what he sought so far away from home, he replied that he came in search of spices and Christians. His religious ardour was such that he mistook an image of Kali for that of Virigin Mary, and paintings of Hindu gods for those of saints. The news of his arrival in India reached Portugal on his return from that country. After visiting Cochin and Cannanore, Vasco da Gama turned for home and reached Lisbon in late August 1499. The success of Vasco da Gama thrilled the Portuguese, and Camoen, their poet, celebrated his exploits in the *Lusiad*.

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When Vasco da Gama reached India, Sikander Lodi was the King of northern India; Ahmad Nizam Shah ruled Ahmadnagar and Yusaf Adil Shah was the King of Bijapur. The Portuguese were lucky to have established their commercial supremacy before Babur invaded India and established the Mughal Empire.

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In A.D. 1502, Vasco da Gama arrived for the second time on the Malabar coast with twenty ships, and after cannonading Calicut, and destroying all the shipping in the port, he strengthened the factories at Cochin and Cannanore and returned to Portugal.

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Albuquerque, A.D. 1506-1515. Albuquerque, the Portuguese Viceroy, conquered Malacca, the market-town for spices, in A.D. 1511. This firmly established the Portuguese mastery of the Indian ocean and also opened the way for expansion into the Pacific. Albuquerque developed Goa into a thriving metropolis. Camoens, the Portuguese poet, described Goa as the Babylon of the East as it had earned enough notoriety for its luxury and degeneracy. In A.D. 1515 Albuquerque occupied the island of Ormuz, in the Persian Gulf, and built a fortress there. Malabar, Malacca, and entrances to the sea in East Africa were already under their control. Thus the mastery of the Indian Ocean by the Portuguese was complete and effective, and their rivals, the Arabs, were at their mercy. No ship could sail in the Indian Ocean without a Portuguese carta (pass).

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Albuquerque encouraged his soldiers to marry Indian women and thus built up a loyal hybrid population. Soldiers were recruited from among these people. Though he was neutral towards the Hindus, he was intensely hostile to the Muslim Moplas, the progeny of the Arabs who had settled in Malabar and married Hindu women. They were the chief rivals of the Portuguese in maritime trade.

Portuguese Trade

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The Portuguese were able to deprive the Muslim traders of the Indian Ocean of a large share of the trade in Indian textiles and piece-goods, Persian and Arabian horses, gold and ivory from East Africa, as well as spices from Indonesia, Ceylon, and Malabar. Moreover, they extended their carrying trade into the China Sea, where Arab merchants had not penetrated since mediaeval times, save in insignificant numbers. Voyages between the principal ports in these areas (Macau-Nagasaki; Malacca-Siam; Ormuz-Goa, for example) were much shorter and easier than the long haul round the Cape of Good Hope. Money and goods invested in such "ventures" brought in both quicker and safer returns than did cargoes shipped to Europe. The comparative value of gold and silver in India, China, and Japan varied in a fluctuating ratio which enabled the Portuguese at Goa and Macau to make a handsome profit by acting as bullion-brokers trading in these precious metals.⁴

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⁴ Boxer, C. R. Portugal and Brazil, p. 222

Decline of the Portuguese

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The destruction of Vijayanagar in A.D. 1565 dealt a serious blow to the prosperity of Goa. Moreover, the route to India no longer could be kept secret. There were more energetic competitors, the Dutch and the British, soon on the scene, and they broke the monopoly of the Portuguese in South-East Asian commerce. The Union of Crowns of Spain and Portugal under Philip II in A.D. 1580 further closed the chapter of Portuguese expansion. The Dutch ousted the Portuguese from the East Indies and thus acquired control over the trade in spices. The English concentrated on Indian trade in cotton textiles. Poor natural resources and a small population also proved limiting factors for the Portuguese.

Introduction of New Crops by the Portuguese

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In the sixteenth century, the great century of plant introduction, American and African plants began to spread in India along the Portuguese sea routes, from Portugal to Brazil, round the Cape of Good Hope to Goa (A.D. 1510), Malacca (A.D. 1511), the Moluccas (A.D. 1512), Canton (A.D. 1515), and Macao (A.D. 1557). Apart from American plants, many plants were introduced into India from the Malay Archipelago and the East Indies.

Portuguese Botanists in India

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The Portuguese botanists who visited India in the sixteenth century were the first Europeans to describe Indian plants. Garcia da Orta's *Coloquios dos simples e Drogas e cousas medicineis da India* (A.D. 1563) includes descriptions of many Indian medicinal plants. Christophoras Acosta's *Aromaticum et medicametorum in Orientali Indian nascentium liber* and *Historia Natural Y moral de las Indias Scuilla* (Barcelona, A.D. 1591) are important works on medicinal plants of India.

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Garcia da Orta spent thirty years of his life in India, where he was physician to a series of Viceroys. He also went on scientific and exploring journeys about the Deccan, being often the welcome guest of the Sultan of Ahmednagar. He exchanged medical knowledge with Hindu, Arab, and Persian physicians, collected specimens and data, and learned the origins and properties of the native drugs.⁵

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⁵ Nowell, C. E. *A History of Portugal*, pp. 118, 119

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Now we will mention in detail some important crop, fruit and ornamental plants, which were introduced by the Portuguese.

Groundnut

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Groundnut (*Arachis hypogaea*) is probably a native of Brazil, from where it was introduced by the Portuguese into West Africa. From there it was introduced into India, China and Indonesia. Now it covers over 4.85 million hectares in India, with a pod yield of about three-and-a-half million tonnes. Groundnut is the main source of edible oil for Indians.

Tobacco

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Tobacco was introduced by the Portuguese into India during the closing years of the reign of Akbar. It seems that they first introduced it into Goa and then into Bijapur. Asad Beg, an officer of the court of Emperor, used to bring unusual articles to the Emperor. He gives a detailed account in his Wikaya how he presented tobacco to the Emperor.

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'In Bijapur I had found some tobacco,' states Asad Beg. 'Never having seen the like in India, I brought some with me, and prepared a handsome pipe of jewel work. The stem, the finest to be procured at Achin, was three cubits in length, beautifully dried and coloured, both ends being adorned with jewels and enamel. I happened to come across a very handsome mouthpiece of Yaman cornelian, oval-shaped, which I set to the stem; the whole was very handsome. There was also a golden burner for lighting it, as a proper accompaniment. 'Adil Khan had given me a betel bag, of very superior workmanship; this I filled with fine tobacco, such that if one leaf be lit the whole will continue burning. I arranged all elegantly on a silver tray. I had a silver tube made to keep the stem in, and that too was covered with purple velvet.

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'His Majesty was enjoying himself, after receiving my presents, and asking me how I had collected so many strange things in so short a time, when his eye fell upon the tray with the pipe and its appurtenances; he expressed great surprise, and examined the tobacco, which was made up in pipefuls; he inquired what it was, and where I had got it. The Nawab Khan-i 'Azam replied: "This is tobacco, which is well known in Mecca and Medina, and this doctor has brought it as a medicine for Your Majesty. His Majesty looked at it, and ordered me to prepare and take him a pipeful. He began to smoke it, when his physician approached and forbade his doing so. But His Majesty was graciously pleased to say he must smoke a little to gratify me, and taking the mouthpiece into his sacred mouth, drew two or three breaths. The physician was in great trouble, and would not let him do more. He took two or three puffs. He then sent for his druggist, and asked what were its peculiar qualities. He replied that there was no mention of it in his books; but that it was a new invention, and the stems were imported from China, and the European doctors had written much in its praise. The first physician said, "In fact, this is an untried medicine, about which the doctors have written nothing. How can we describe to Your Majesty the qualities of such unknown things? It is not fitting that Your Majesty should try it." I said to the first physician, "The Europeans are not so foolish as not to know all about it; there are wise men among them who seldom err or commit mistakes. How can you, before you have tried a thing and found out all its qualities, pass a judgment on it that can be depended on by the physicians, kings, great men, and nobles? Things must be judged of according to their good or bad qualities, and the decision must be according to the facts of the case.” The physician replied, “We do not want to follow the Europeans, and adopt a custom which is not sanctioned by our own wise men, without trial.” I said, “It is a strange thing, for every custom in the world has been new at one time or other; from the days of Adam till now, they have gradually been invented. When a new thing is introduced among a people, and becomes well known in the world, every one adopts it; wise men and physicians should determine according to the good or bad qualities of a thing; the good qualities may not appear at once. Thus the China root, not known anciently, has been newly discovered, and is useful in many diseases.” When the Emperor heard me dispute and reason with the physician, he was astonished, and being much pleased, gave me his blessing, and then said to Khan-i ’Azam “Did you hear how wisely Asad spoke? Truly, we must not reject a thing that has been adopted by the wise men of other nations merely because we cannot find it in our books; or how shall we progress?” The physician was going to say more, when His Majesty stopped him and called for the priest. The priest ascribed many good qualities to it, but no one could persuade the physician; nevertheless, he was a good physician.

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‘As I had brought a large supply of tobacco and pipes, I sent some to several of the nobles, while others sent to ask for some; indeed, all, without exception, wanted some, and the practice was introduced. After that the merchants began to sell it, so the custom of smoking spread rapidly. His Majesty, however, did not adopt it.’⁶

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⁶ Asad Beg, *Wikaya*, in Elliot and Dowson, *The History of India* ..., Vol. VI, pp. 165-167

Potato

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The potato (*Solanum tuberosum*), a native of highlands of Chile and Peru, was imported into Europe between A.D. 1580 and 1585, first by the Spaniards and afterwards by the English at the time of Raleigh’s voyages to Virginia. It was introduced into India by the Portuguese in the seventeenth century. The first mention of potato in India occurs in Terry’s account of a banquet given by Asaf Khan to Sir Thomas Roe in A.D. 1615 at Ajmer. Now there are 400,000 hectares under potato cultivation in India.

Amaranth

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Amaranth (*Amaranthus caudatus*) was introduced by the Portuguese into Malabar from Brazil. Now this colourful crop is grown along the whole length of the Himalayas from Kashmir to Bhutan and its orange and red plants lend a gay note to the mountains. Fig. 30 shows the crops introduced by the Portuguese.

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1

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2

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3

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4

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5

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FIG. 30. Crops introduced by the Portuguese into India. 1. Tobacco (*Nicotiana tabacum*); 2. Chillies (*Capsicum annuum*); 3. Potato (*Solanum tuberosum*); 4. Groundnut (*Arachis hypogaea*); 5. Amaranth (*Amaranthus caudatus*).

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1

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3

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4

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5

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FIG. 31. Fruit plants introduced by the Portuguese into India. 1. Chiku (Manilkara kauki; syn. Achras zapota); 2. Custard apple (Annona squamosa); 3. Pineapple (Ananas comosus); 4. Cashewnut (Anacardium occidentale); 5. Chiku, showing fruits.

Cashewnut

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Cashewnut (*Anacardium occidentale*) is a native of Brazil. Its red fruit, the so-called apple, is acrid and to it is appended the nut like a bud. It is certainly a Portuguese introduction into India. Its earliest mention is by Acosta (A.D. 1578), who found it in gardens in the City of Santa Cruz in the kingdom of Cochin. Now it covers over 120,000 hectares in the coastal districts of southern India, with a production of about 6,000 tonnes of nuts, the largest in the world. Production in Brazil, the home of the cashewnut tree, is much smaller.

Guava

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Guava (*Psidium guajava*), so rich in vitamin C, is the poor man's fruit in India. It grows wild in Brazil, Venezuela, Guiana, Peru, Central America and Mexico. It is also a Portuguese introduction into India, possibly from Brazil. Now it is widely grown in India.

Sharifa

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Annona squamosa (*sharifa*) or custard-apple, as it is called, was introduced by the Portuguese into India in the sixteenth century. It grows wild in the Deccan Plateau, but that does not mean that it is an indigenous Indian plant. Possibly it is an escape from a garden. By the early seventeenth century it had spread into the north, and Mundy, who reached Agra in A.D. 1632, saw its fruit bring sold in the bazar.

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Another cousin of the custard-apple is the bullock's-heart (*Annona cherimola*), a delicious fruit which grows in Karnataka and Bengal.

Chiku

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Chiku (*Manilkara kauki*; syn. *Archras zapota*) is a native of Mexico and its cultivation is spreading in India. Chiku is also a gift of the Portuguese to India.

Pineapple

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Pineapple (*Ananas comosus*) is indigenous to Brazil. The Portuguese introduced it into India in the middle of the sixteenth century. In A.D. 1578, Acosta mentioned that this fruit was grown profusely in western India. Abul Fazl states that it was regularly served at the table of Akbar, and the fruits came from the seaports in the possession of the Portuguese. Edward Terry, Chaplain to Sir Thomas Roe, the first British Ambassador to Jahangir, describes the taste of the fruit as ‘a most pleasing compound made of strawberries, claret-wine, rose-water, and sugar well tempered together.’ Manucci describes the pineapples grown in Bengal as large and fine. Pineapple is extensively grown in Assam and Bengal.

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Khafi Khan, who paid a visit to Goa, mentions the cultivation of pine-apples by the Portuguese.

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'In the 'Adil-Shahi Kokan, close to the sea, in the fine and famous fort of Goa, their governor resides; and there is a captain there who exercises full powers on the part of Portugal. They have also established some other ports and flourishing villages. Besides this, the Portuguese occupy the country from fourteen or fifteen *kos* south of Surat to the boundaries of the fort of Bombay, which belongs to the English, and to the borders of the territories of the Habshis, which is called the Nizam Shahi Kokan. In the rear of the hills of Baglana, and in strong positions, difficult to access, near the fort of Gulshanabad, they have built seven or eight other forts, small and great. Two of these, by name Daman and Basi, which they obtained by fraud from Sultan Bahadur of Gujarat, they have made very strong, and the villages around are flourishing. Their possessions measure in length about forty or fifty *kos*; but they are not more than a *kos* or a *kos* and a half in width. They cultivate the skirts of the hills, and grow the best products, such as sugarcane, pine-apples, and rice, and cocoa-nut trees, and betel-nut vines, in vast numbers, from which they derive a very large revenue.'⁷

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⁷ Khafi Khan, *Muntakhabu-l Lubab*, in Elliot and Dowson, *The History of India*..., Vol. VII, p. 345

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The fruit plants introduced by the Portuguese are shown in Fig. 31.

Chillies

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No account of plants introduced by the Portuguese into India can be regarded as complete without mentioning chillies. They are the ornament of Indian gardens, and an insurance for domestic happiness. A good housewife must know their proper use. They flavour our *kormas*, *kababs*, *pulaos* and vegetables. They are the souls of our pickles and chutneys. To imagine that they are not Indian would be regarded as a sacrilege. They vary in size from a pea to a pear. The smaller their size, the sharper and more pungent they are. It is not without reason that the small ones are called atom bombs. The original home of *Capsicum annuum* is probably Brazil or Peru, and it was introduced by the Portuguese into India in the sixteenth century. India produces about 340,000 tonnes of chillies from about 6 million hectares. Andhra Pradesh in South India is well-known for its chillies, and the curries and pickles of Andhra Pradesh are the hottest in the world. If you eat their pickles and survive, it is an act of valour.

Agave and Allamanda

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For our gardens, the Portuguese gave us the agave and allamanda. *Agave americana*, or the century-plant, as it is called, has now become natura- [Figure: INDIA

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KABUL Peshawar Kandahar BALUCH AND PATHAN TRIBES (INDEPENDENT) R. Indus MULTAN R. Jhelum R. Chenab R. Ravi Sutlej KASHMIR Srinagar R. Chambal LAHORE Panipat DELHI OUDH R. Ganges R. Gagra Benares BIHAR Patna R. Brahmaputra R. Brahmaputra TATTA AGRA Jumne Gwalior AJMIR MALWA GUJARAT Diu Is. (Portuguese) Daman (Portuguese) Bassein (Portuguese) KHANDESH R. Narvada R. Tapti BERAR R. Godavari AHMADNAGAR BIDAR GOLCONDA R. Krishna Goa (Portuguese) BIJAPUR Mangalore Calicut Cochin Madura R. Kaveri POLYGAR Nellore ALLAHABAD INDEPENDENT AND BENGAL TRIBUTARY CHIEFS GONDWANA R. Mahanadi ORISSA AKBAR'S PROVINCES OUDH LAKSHADWEEP (INDIA) ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS (INDIA) THE MUGHAL EMPIRE IN 1605]

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FIG. 32. The Mughal Empire on the death of Akbar in 1605.

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lized throughout India. Its panicles of white flowers are highly ornamental, and its sword-like leaves protect our gardens. *Allamanda cathartica* is a climber with beautiful yellow flowers. It was introduced into India from Brazil.

The Technique of Grafting

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'The technique of grafting was also introduced into Indian horticulture about A.D. 1550 by the Portuguese. It was confined to Goa for about two centuries, and about A.D. 1790 spread into the rest of India.⁸

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⁸ Gode, P. K., *Studies in Indian Cultural History*, Vol. I

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It is surprising that the natives of an insignificant country, with poor natural resources, and whose only privilege was its situation on the Atlantic, could influence horticulture and agriculture in India and many other countries so significantly. Though it is not recognized, the greatest benefactors of India are the Portuguese, who, by their introduction of new crops and fruit plants, enriched the agriculture of India.

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Boxer, C. R. *Portugal and Brazil*, Oxford, 1953 De Candolle, A. D. *Origin of Cultivated Plants*, London, 1886 Gode, P. K. *Studies in Indian Cultural History*, Vol. I, Hoshiarpur, 1961 Mehra, K. R. Portuguese Introduction of Fruit Plants in India, *Indian Horticulture*, Vol. 10, 1965 Nowell, C. E. *A History of Portugal*, New York, 1952 Panikkar, K. M. *Asia and Western Dominance*, London, 1953 Randhawa, M. S. *Gardens Through the Ages*, Delhi, 1976 Smith, V. *The Oxford History of India*, New Delhi, 1976 Stephens, H. M. *The Story of the Nations (Portugal)*, London, 1891 Trend, J. B. *Portugal*, New York, 1957