A History of Agriculture in India v2.c77: Chapter 25. Fruits and Vegetables Grown in India During the Reign of Akbar
A History of Agriculture in India v2.c77
- Language
- English
Contents
- v2.c77.s1 Sweet Fruits — 2 parts
- v2.c77.s2 Sour Fruits — 4 parts
- v2.c77.s3 Dried Fruits — 4 parts
- v2.c77.s4 Water Plants — 19 parts
Chapter 25. Fruits and Vegetables Grown in India During the Reign of Akbar
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ABU-L-FAZL provides a detailed account of fruits grown in India during the reign of Akbar in the *Ain-i-Akbari*. ‘His Majesty looks upon fruits as one of the greatest gifts of the Creator, and pays much attention to them,’ states Abu-l-Fazl. ‘The horticulturists of Iran and Turan have, therefore, settled here, and the cultivation of trees is in a flourishing state.’
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‘Melons and grapes have become very plentiful and excellent; and water-melons, peaches, almonds, pistachios, pomegranates, etc., are everywhere to be found. Ever since the conquest of Kabul, Qandahar, and Kashmir, loads of fruit are imported; throughout the whole year the stores of the dealers are full, and the bazars well supplied. Musk-melons come in season, in Hindustan, in the months of February-March, and are plenty in March-April. They are delicious, tender, opening, sweet-smelling, especially the kinds called *nashpati*, *babashaykhi*, *alisheri*, *alcha*, *barg-i nay*, *dud-i chiragh*, etc. They continue in season for two months longer. In the beginning of August, they come from Kashmir, and before they are out of season plenty are brought from Kabul; during the month of November they are imported by the caravans from Badakhshan, and continue to be had during December. When they are in season in Zabulistan, good ones also are obtainable in the Punjab; and in Bhakkar and its vicinity they are plentiful in season, except during the forty cold days of winter. Various kinds of grapes are here to be had from May to July, whilst the markets are stocked with Kashmir grapes during August. Eight *sers* of grapes sell in Kashmir for one *dam*, and the cost of the transport is two rupees per *man*. The Kashmiris bring them on their backs in conical baskets. From September till *Urdibihist* grapes come from Kabul together with cherries, which his Majesty calls *shahalu*, seedless pomegranates, apples, pears, quinces, peaches, apricots, *girdalus*, and *aluchas*, etc., many of which fruits grow also in Hindustan. From Samarqand even they bring melons, pears and apples.
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‘Whenever his Majesty wishes to take wine, opium, or *kuknar*, the servants in charge place before him stands of fruits; he eats a little, but most is distributed. The fruits are marked according to their degree of excellence; melons of the first quality are marked with a line drawn round the top; those of the second, with two lines; and so on.
Sweet Fruits
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‘Mulberries and *gulars* are in season during spring; pine-apples, oranges, sugarcane, *bers*, *usiras*, *bholsaris*, *gumbhis*, *dephals* during winter; jackfruits, *tarkuls*, figs, melons, *lahsauras*, *karahris*, *mahuwas*, *tendus*, *pilus*, *barautas*, during summer; and mangoes, plantains, dates, *delas*, *gulas*, pomegranates, guavas, water-melons, *paniyalas*, *bangas*, *khirnis*, *piyars*, during the rains.
The Mango
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The Persians call this fruit *Naghzak*, as appears from a verse of Khusraw. This fruit is unrivalled in colour, smell, and taste; and some of the gourmets of Turan and Iran place it above musk-melons and grapes. In shape it resembles an apricot, or a quince, or a pear, or a melon, and weighs even one *ser* and upwards. There are green, yellow, red, variegated, sweet, and subacid mangoes. The tree looks well, especially when young; it is larger than a walnut-tree, and its leaves resemble those of the willow, but are larger. The new leaves appear soon after the fall of the old ones in autumn, and look green and yellow, orange, peach-coloured, and bright red. The flower, which opens in spring, resembles that of the vine, has a good smell, and looks very curious. About a month after the leaves have made their appearance, the fruit is sour, and is used for preserves and pickles. It improves the taste of *qalyas*, as long as the stone has not become hard. If a fruit gets injured whilst on the tree, its good smell will increase. Such mangoes are called *koyilas*. The fruit is generally taken down when unripe, and kept in a particular manner. Mangoes ripened in this manner are much finer. They mostly commence to ripen during summer, and are fit to be eaten during the rains; others commence in the rainy season, and are ripe in the beginning of winter; the latter are called *bhadiyya*. Some trees bloom and yield fruit the whole year; but this is rare. Others commence to ripen, although they look unripe; they must be quickly taken down, else the sweetness would produce worms. Mangoes are to be found everywhere in India, especially in Bengal, Gujarat, Malwa, Khandesh, and the Dekhan. They are rarer in the Panjab, where their cultivation has, however, increased since his Majesty made Lahore his capital. A young tree will bear fruit after four years. They put milk and treacle round about the tree, which makes the fruits sweeter. Some trees yield in one year a rich harvest, and less in the next one; others yield for one year no fruit at all. When many mangoes are eaten, digestion is assisted by drinking milk with the kernels of the mango stones. The kernels of old stones are subacid, and taste well; when two or three years old they are used as medicine. If a half-ripe mango, together with its stalk to a length of about two fingers, be taken from the tree, and the broken end of its stalk be closed with warm wax, and kept in butter, or honey, the fruit will retain its taste for two or three months, whilst the colour will remain even for a year.
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The jackfruit has the shape of a black-pudding, looks greenish, and is sometimes a yard (91.4 cm) long, and half a yard (45.7 cm) broad. When small, it resembles a water-melon. Its peel is full of thorns. It grows out of the branches, the trunk, and the roots. Those that grow below the ground are sweetest. On opening you see round clusters, so viscous that the fingers stick together when you take them out. The tree looks like a nut-tree, but is somewhat bigger and has larger leaves. The flower, like the fruit, has a good smell. The fruits are also taken down when unripe. They then apply lime, etc., when the fruits will get ripe.
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'The Plantain tree looks straight like a spear; the leaves come out of the trunk thick and soft, and resemble an unsewn plaited sleeve, but are much larger and wider. Out of the middle rises something looking like a spindle, of a lilac colour; this is the bud. The fruit consists of a cluster of seventy to eighty plantains. In shape they resemble small cucumbers; the peel is easily removed. As plantains are very heavy, you cannot eat many. There are various kinds of plantains. The plant is every year cut down, and a stump only is left of it; if this is not done, it will no longer bear fruit. The vulgar believe that the plantain tree yields camphor, but this is wrong; for the camphor tree, as shall be hereafter explained, is a different tree, although it has the same name. They also say that pearls originate in plantain trees—another statement upon which the light of truth does not shine.
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'The Mahuwa tree resembles the mango tree; its wood is used for building purposes. The fruit, which is also called Gilaunda, yields an intoxicating liquor.
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'The Bholsiri tree is large and handsome; the fruit has an orange colour, and resembles the jujube.
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'The Tarkul tree and its fruit resemble the coco-nut palm and its fruit. When the stalk of a new leaf comes out of a branch, they cut off its end and hang a vessel to it to receive the outflowing juice. The vessel fills twice or three times a day. The juice is called tari; when fresh it is sweet; when it is allowed to stand for some time it turns subacid and is inebriating.
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'The Paniyala fruit resembles the Zardalu, and its tree the lime tree; the leaves are like those of the willow. When unripe the fruit is green, and red when ripe.
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'The Gumbhi has a stem the branches of which are like creepers; its leaves and fruits, as those of the Kunar, come from below the roots.
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'The Tarri forms at the root; it grows mostly in the mountains, and weighs a man, more or less, when the creeper is a year old; and two, when two years old. It looks like a millstone. When older it grows larger according to the same proportion. Its leaves resemble those of the watermelon.
Sour Fruits
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'The Kamraks and the Narangis are in season during winter; the Ambilis, the Badhals, Mountain-grapes, the Phalsas, and the Labhiras during summer;
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and the Kaits, the Pakars, the Karnas, the Jamans, the Karaundas and the Jhan-bhiris during the rains.
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'The fruits of Hindustan are either sweet, or subacid, or sour; each kind is numerous. Some fruits also taste well when dry; others as above described are used when cooked.
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'Oranges have the colour of saffron, and the shape of quinces. They belong to the best fruits to be had in Hindustan. The tree resembles the lime tree; its flower has a weak but fine smell.
Dried Fruits
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'Dates, Walnuts, the Chiraunchis, and the Kaulgattas are in seasons during summer, and Coco-nuts, the Makhanas, and the Supyaris during winter.
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'The coco-nut is called by the Persians Jawz-i Hindi: the tree resembles the date tree, but is larger; its wood, however, looks better, and the leaves are larger. The tree bears fruit throughout the whole year; the fruits ripen in three months. They are also taken down when unripe and green and kept for some time. Their inside contains a cup full of milk-like juice, which tastes well, and is very often drunk in summer, mixed with sugar. When ripe, the fruit looks brown. The juice has now become solid, and gets black when mixed with butter; it is sweet and greasy. When eaten with pan-leaves, it makes the tongue soft and fresh. The shell is used for spoons, cups, and ghichaks (a kind of violin). There are nuts having four, three, two, and one, holes or eyes; each kind is said to possess certain qualities, the last being considered the best. Another kind is used for the preparation of an antidote against poison. The nuts weigh sometimes twelve sers and upwards. The bark of the tree is used for ropes; the large ropes used on ships are made of it.
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'Dates are called in Hindi Pind-khajur. The tree has a short stem, rising a little above the ground, and produces from four to five hundred fruits.
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'The Supyari, or betel nut, is called in Persian fufal. The tree is graceful and slender, like the cypress. The wind often bends it, so that its crown touches the ground; but it rises up again. There are various kinds. The fruit when eaten raw tastes somewhat like an almond, but gets hard when ripe. It is eaten with betel leaves.
Water Plants
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'The Singhara is a triangular fruit; its creeper grows in tanks, and the fruit is on the surface of the water. It is eaten raw or roasted.
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'The Salak grows in tanks under the earth. They go into the water and dig it up.
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'The Pindalu is reared on lattice work, and grows about two yards (1.83 m) high. Its leaf resembles the betel leaf; they dig up the root.
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‘The *Kaseru* grows in tanks. When the water gets low, they take it out of the ground and eat it, raw or boiled.
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‘The *Siyali* root is long and conical; the plant is a creeper, to whose root the fruit is attached.’¹
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Abu-l-Fazl mentions the names of eighteen vegetables and the seasons in which they were grown. He states, The *surans* and the *siyatis* are in season during summer; the *palwals*, gourds, the *tura*, the *is*, the *kachalus*, the *chachindas*, the *kanduris*, the *senbs*, the *peths*, the *karilas*, the *kakuras*, and the *singharas* during the rains; and carrots, the *salaks*, the *pindalus*, and the *kaserus* during winter. The *badinjans* are to be had throughout the year.¹ Some of the vegetables mentioned by Abu-l-Fazl, which are still grown in India, are shown in Figs. 37 and 38.
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¹ Abu-l-Fazl, *Ain-i-Akbari*, pp. 68-76
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FIG. 37. Some of the vegetables grown in the reign of Akbar, mentioned in the *Ain-i-Akbari*. i. *Surans*, Zamin-kand (*Amorphophallus campanulatus*), ii. *Kachalu* (*Colocasia esculenta*), iii. *Singhara* (*Trapa bispinosa*), iv. *Adrak*, ginger (*Zingiber officinale*), v. *Parval*, snake-gourd (*Trichosanthes anguina*)
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FIG. 38. Some of the vegetables grown in the reign of Akbar mentioned in the *Ain-i-Akbari* i. *Baingan*, eggplant (*Solanum melongena*), ii. *Karela*, bitter-gourd (*Momordica charantia*), iii. *Khira*, cucumber (*Cucumis sativus*), iv. *Kaddu*, pumpkin (*Cucurbita maxima*), v. *Petha* (*Benincasa hispida*), Note the absence of cabbages and cauliflowers, which were introduced by the British in the eighteenth century