If potatoes, tomatoes, and chillies came sailing into India from the Americas after the Columbian Exchange, the brinjal (also called eggplant or aubergine) made exactly the opposite journey. It left India long before Columbus, travelling along ancient trade routes, charming cooks across the Old World, and becoming a staple in cuisines from the Middle East to Europe.
This is the story of a vegetable that India didn’t import — but exported.
A story older than pepper, older than rice trade, older even than many major world religions.
Let’s go back 2,000 years.
🍆 1. India: The Original Home of the Eggplant
Unlike the potato or tomato, whose arrival in India is a post-1500 event, the brinjal is indigenously Indian.
🧬 Botanical Evidence
Botanists agree that Solanum melongena originated in:
-
India
-
Bangladesh
-
Sri Lanka
-
Myanmar region
Wild progenitors like Solanum insanum still grow across peninsular India.
A fascinating 2016 phylogenetic study showed:
-
Three independent domestication centres
-
All connected back to India and Southeast Asia
-
With India being the oldest — dating back over 2,000 years
📜 2. Brinjal in Ancient Sanskrit Texts
Few vegetables appear so frequently in early Indian literature.
🌿 Sanskrit Names
-
Vṛntākā / Vṛntā — earliest attested
-
Bhantaki
-
Kantakī / Kanta-bādha (“the thorny one”)
-
Nilaphala (“blue fruit”)
🥣 Ayurvedic Mentions
The Sushruta Samhita and Charaka Samhita — medical texts from 400 BCE–200 CE — explicitly mention brinjals:
-
As a bitter vegetable
-
Warming in nature
-
Useful for balancing Vata and Kapha
-
Sometimes discouraged for those with “pitta disorders”
The fact that brinjal appears extensively in Ayurveda is itself strong evidence that the vegetable was deeply embedded in Indian diets long before international trade carried it elsewhere.
🏺 3. Archaeology: Seeds, Paintings & Ancient Kitchens
Archaeological remains of eggplant seeds have been found in:
-
Gujarat (200 BCE–300 CE)
-
Tamil Nadu Iron Age sites
-
Sri Lanka early historic sites
Ancient Tamil Sangam literature (300 BCE–300 CE) also references kathiri (brinjal), mostly in the context of agrarian life and village cuisine.
A Chola-era bronze labelled as “Nilaphalika” (likely brinjal) appears in temple catalogues from Tamil Nadu.
India wasn’t just eating brinjals — it was domesticating varieties, from round purple ones to long green ones, even in the early centuries CE.
🛣️ 4. The First Global Vegetable Exported From India
Potatoes → came from the Andes
Tomatoes → came from Mexico
Chillies → came from Mexico
Maize → came from the Americas
But brinjal?
It started here — and travelled outward.
🌏 The Silk Road & Indian Ocean Routes
Between 200 BCE and 500 CE, Indian traders connected:
-
Sri Lanka
-
Myanmar
-
Thailand
-
Indonesia
-
Burma-China corridor
-
West Asia / Persia
-
The bustling ports of Oman and Yemen
Brinjal seeds went along with:
-
Pepper
-
Cardamom
-
Cloves
-
Textiles
-
Elephants (!)
🥙 Middle Eastern Adoption
The earliest Arabic recipes containing eggplant appear in medieval cookbooks like:
-
Kitab al-Ṭabīkh (10th century)
-
Kitab al-Wusla ila al-Habib (13th century)
Arab botanists like Ibn al-Baitar describe eggplant as a plant “from the land of Hind (India).”
This is one of the clearest proofs of India’s role.
🇨🇳 5. Into China: The First Written Evidence
China’s earliest description of brinjal is from the Jin Dynasty (4th century CE) in agricultural treatises.
Chinese sources specifically say the plant was:
“Brought by merchants from the Southern Seas.”
Which, in Chinese historical context, means Indian Ocean traders — usually Indian or Southeast Asian.
China then developed its own varieties, like the slender lavender eggplants used in Sichuan cuisine today.
🇮🇹 6. Europe’s Initial Horror: “The Mad Apple”
Europe got the eggplant via Arabian intermediaries around the 9th–10th centuries.
But Europeans disliked it initially — and feared it.
Why?
Because eggplants belong to the nightshade family (with tobacco and deadly nightshade), early Europeans believed:
-
It caused insanity
-
Triggered fevers
-
Induced leprosy
-
Stirred lust
Thus the Italian name “Mela Insana” (mad apple).
Which later softened to melanzana.
In England it became “eggplant” because early varieties were small and white like eggs.
The irony?
A vegetable Indian farmers domesticated thousands of years earlier terrified medieval Europe.
🥘 7. The Vegetable India Never Stopped Innovating
While the world grew only a few types, India became a genetic hotspot:
-
30+ major landraces
-
Hundreds of regional varieties
-
Diversity in shape, colour, taste, bitterness, and seed density
🌍 India’s Most Beloved Brinjals
-
Udupi Mattu Gulla — grown originally from seeds given by Saint Madhvacharya
-
Kashmiri Round Bagan — essential for chokh vangun
-
Vankaya of Andhra — perfect for gutthi vankaya
-
Konkan’s white brinjal
-
Bengal’s green long brinjal used in shukto
-
Tamil Nadu’s varikatri used in sambar
Each has its own stories, rituals, festivals, and temple offerings.
🍽️ 8. The Modern Irony: India Imports What It Once Exported
With globalization and hybrid seeds, India now sometimes imports:
-
European hybrids
-
Chinese long varieties
-
Thai green varieties
The vegetable that once travelled out of India is now travelling back in — a full circle of culinary history.
🎯 9. Why This Story Matters
The brinjal’s journey challenges a common misconception:
“Indian cuisine was shaped mainly by foreign imports.”
Not true.
While potatoes and tomatoes arrived late, brinjal, cucumber, several gourds, turmeric, black pepper, and eggplant itself originated here and travelled outward.
Brinjal is an example of India as an ancient agricultural innovator, influencing food cultures across Asia, Africa, and the Mediterranean.
It's not just a vegetable — it’s a historical ambassador.
📌 Endnote: Further Reading (All Non-Link Citations)
-
N. Meyer et al. “Domestication of eggplant in India and Southeast Asia” (2016).
-
Ibn al-Baitar’s Compendium of Simple Medicaments and Foods (13th century).
-
Chinese agricultural treatises from the Fàn Shèngzhì Shū.
-
Achaya, K.T. Indian Food: A Historical Companion (classic reference).
-
Archaeological site reports from Tamil Nadu Early Historic Period.
No comments:
Post a Comment