A History of Agriculture in India v2.c83.s4: Observation of Nicgolao Manucci on Fruits of India

A History of Agriculture in India v2.c83.s4

Language: English

Observation of Nicgolao Manucci on Fruits of India

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Niccolao Manucci, an Italian, left Venice in 1653 at the age of fourteen as a stowaway, and reached India in 1656 during the reign of Shah Jahan. He took service under Prince Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Shah Jahan. In his travelogue, *Storia Do Mogor*, Manucci has made some interesting observations on the fruits of India, viz. the mangoes of Goa, jack-fruit, the pine-apple, the coconut palm and the palmyra palm. Being a physician, he laid special stress on the medicinal qualities of different fruits. Manucci’s account of fruits is given below.

Mangoes

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‘As I have promised to speak of the fruits of India, chiefly of the mango and jack-fruit, I may mention that the best mangoes grow in the island of Goa,’ says Manucci. ‘They have special names, which are as follows: mangoes at *Niculao Affonso*, *Malaiasses* (? of Malacca), *Carreira branca* (white Carreira), *Carreira vermehla* (red Carreira) of *Conde*, of *Joani Parreira*, *Babia* (large and round), of *Araup*, of *Porta*, of *Secreta*, of *Mainato*, of *Our Lady*, of *Agua de Lupe*. These are again divided into varieties, with special colour, scent, and flavour. I have eaten many that had the taste of the peaches, plums, pears, and apples of Europe. The mango is a little bit heating and laxative, and however many you eat of them, with or without bread, you still desire to eat more, and they do you no harm. While still unripe they are added to dishes, to pasties, *et cetera*. The juice of the ripe fruit mixed with milk is drunk, and is sustaining. They also make the fruit into preserves, which are exported to various places; various kinds of pickles are also made, which keep good for two years, and the stones are employed in medicine. The tree on which the mango is grown is the size of a walnut-tree; the fruit grows in clusters, like plums in Europe.

The Jack-Fruit

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‘The jack-fruit I spoke of is of three kinds—*barca*, *papa*, and *pacheri* jack-fruit. These fruits are very large; some weigh eighty pounds (36.3 kg) or thereabouts. The tree is of the size of a walnut-tree. The fruit referred to grows on the trunk and the larger branches; some grow from the roots, and these are discovered by the earth being pushed up, also by the smell which the spot emits. This fruit has a green rind an inch (2.5 cm) in thickness with projections in the nature of thorns (Fig. 62). It is known to be ripe by the smell it emits. Inside it is full of seeds, somewhat about the size of pears; these are very sweet, and on opening them a juice issues sweet as honey, and in the middle are stones like the chestnuts of Europe. In these jack-fruit the seeds are sometimes white and sometimes red; some are hard, some are soft, and each variety has its special flavour.

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FIG. 62. The fruits of jack-fruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) are borne in clusters on the stem.

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'Of these seeds mixed with rice-flour they make a kind of fritters, which in India are called *paniara*. These, too, have their own flavour. When this fruit (the jack) is cut, a white liquid like bird-lime oozes from the rind, and sticking to the hand, it cannot be removed till it is anointed with oil.

The Pine-Apple

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'I must mention another fruit found in India called *ananas* (the pine-apple), which looks like a large pine-cone of Europe, and it has a corrugated rind. It is necessary to slice off this rind somewhat thickly to get rid of some natural depressions it has in it. The centre, when eaten, has a sweet, slightly acid, but very pleasant flavour. This fruit is heating and, if you leave a knife in it all night, the next day you will find it bitten into as if it had remained in *aqua fortis*. The distilled juice of this fruit is useful for dissolving stones in the kidneys and bladder, as I have found by experiment. The plant on which the fruit forms is a cubit in height; it grows up like an ear of corn, each plant yielding no more than one fruit. The leaves are a cubit in length and two fingers in breadth, with prickly edges. In no part of India have I seen them in such quantities as in Bengal, where they were large and fine (Fig. 57). The reason for this is that it is a low-lying and humid country.

The Coconut Palm

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'There can be no doubt that something curious can be written about a tree which generally grows in India near the sea. It is called palm-tree or coco-tree. This tree has many roots about the thickness of the little finger, and it grows to a great height but increases very slowly. When seven years have passed it begins to yield fruit; ordinarily it occupies a circumference of two cubits and three-quarters, there or therabouts, and it lives for a hundred years. At that age it grows to as much as ten arms' length; the stem is straight like the mast of a ship, with the branches or palm-leaves at the summit about two arms in length. The leaves are two cubits long, lying close to one another like organ-pipes, three inches in breadth. In the middle of the leaf is a rib, of which they make brooms, *et cetera*. They also make mats from the branches, and these serve as carpets to the natives of the country. They thatch houses with the leaves, and they are also used as decorations at festivals. Every month a new branch appears in the middle of the palm-tree, and the oldest one falls off. Each tree has about thirty branches, and amidst them comes out the flower, enclosed by nature in a shield about a cubit long, nearly ten inches (25.4 cm) in circumference, and coming to a sharp point (Fig. 63). When it has reached its proper size, the covering opens and the flower shows in the shape of brooms (Fig. 64). On each branch of the flower you see its fruit tuck on like buttons, and these, swelling until they are like nuts, are then called *coquinhos* (little coconut); they are used for many infantile complaints, such as diarrhoea and mouth-sores. When grown to the size of twenty-eight up to thirty inches (71 to 76 cm) round, and as much in length, they are called *lanha*. The nut is then full of a sweet water, a drink of which is very refreshing. It is used in inflammation of the liver, the kidneys, and the bladder, and increases urination. It is also good for excessive heat of the liver, pains in the bowels, or discharges of mucus or of blood; it also refreshes in the season of great heat.

The Palmyra Palm

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'There is another class of palm-tree which is called *palmeira brava* (the wild palm), which takes many years to grow. This tree produces fruit in the month of March, and the yield lasts up to August. Inside each fruit there are ordinarily three lumps of soft pith which are very refreshing. Eating them is useful in clearing the sight of those unable to see at night. In the same season it yields a liquid called *sura*, and it has the same effects as, and some resemblance to, the palm-tree juice already described. The spirits distilled from this palm-juice are the best. From the leaves they make fans, mats, sunshades, small baskets, and other curiosities. After the fruit has ripened the pith hardens, and the juice is drawn from the shell; leaving this for a few days in the sun, it becomes a sort of marmalade, eaten by many of the natives in place of bread. From all these palm-trees good returns are obtained.'⁵

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⁵ Manucci, Niccolao. *Storia Do Mogor or Mogul India*, Vol. III, pp. 180-187