Spices have been closely associated with
cultural traditions, magic, preservation, medicine and embalming since early
human history. Around 7000 years ago and far before the Greek and Roman civilisations came into being, Indian spices were a key component of its
external trade with the lands of Mesopotamia, China, Sumeria, Egypt and Arabia
along with perfumes and textiles. The clove finds a mention in the Ramayana and
even in writings dating back to the Roman Empire in the 1st
century AD. Caravans of camels moved regularly from Calicut, Goa and the Orient
in ancient times to transport these spices to distant destinations including
Carthage, Alexandria and Rome. While these are readily available today, there was a time when people were ready to go to the extent of
risking their lives to gain access to Indian spices. From the Indian
perspective, it brought in traders and invaders alike - century after century.
Quality was a given but sourcing spices from India meant embarking on long and difficult sea voyages and
withstanding intense competition from other powerful empires eager to dominate
spice trade. Between the 7th and 15th centuries, Arab merchants supplied Indian
spices to the West, but took care to keep their source a closely
guarded secret. The Europeans took their ships on long expeditions in their
quest for the true origin of the spices that gave life to their food. As much
as these were in demand, spices were tremendously difficult to procure, which made them even more valuable than gold in that period. During
the Middle Ages, it has been said that a pound of ginger was worth a sheep; a
pound of mace was worth three sheep or half a cow and a sack of pepper was said
to be worth a man’s life! According to another estimate,
Western Europe imported around 1,000 tons of pepper and 1,000 tons of other
common spices annually during the late Middle Ages. These spices were
equivalent to the annual supply of grain for 1.5 million people in terms of value.
The demand for spices led to wars,
treaties and maritime discoveries. It is believed that the Parthian wars were
largely fought by the Romans to ensure that the trade route to India remained
open to them. In fact, they were also said to be a main factor behind the Crusades. They helped Western Europe regain access to the
spice and silk routes to India and China that had been lost after the decline
of the Western European empire. Ferdinand Magellan, Christopher Columbus and
Vasco da Gama were looking for a new route to Asia’s spice lands
when they ventured out on their historic expeditions.
While Columbus discovered America
instead, Vasco da Gama was successful in circumnavigating Africa for the first
time in history. This Portuguese expedition was led in particular
by the lure of pepper from India. After Vasco da Gama successfully discovered
the route to India via the Cape of Good Hope in 1498, Portugal gained a
monopoly on the spice trade that served it wonderfully for some time. During
the 16th century, over half of the revenues of the
Portuguese government came from Western African gold and Indian spices, with
the spices being more valuable than the gold. But it was not to last for long
and by the 1580s, Venice was increasing its pepper imports rapidly at the expense of Portugal. By the 17th century, trade came in the hands
of the Dutch, who held it zealously till the British took over. The struggle
between the Western European powers of France, Spain, Portugal, Great Britain
and Holland for control over the spice trade endured over three
centuries.
Today procuring spices is hardly as
difficult or perilous as it used to be but their allure remains intact. Curries
based on Indian spices are integral to cuisines in several countries
including UK, Germany, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa,
Trinidad & Tobago, Philippines, Fiji, Tonga and the Caribbean Islands. In
fact in 2001, the British Foreign Secretary declared chicken tikka as Britain’s national dish.
Pepper, ginger and turmeric from India
when mixed with cumin and coriander from the Arabs are now the base of several
dishes across South Asia. This has been spread globally by the British as curry
powder. In many ways, it can be said that spices were key in shaping
the course of global history.
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