Title: The Spice Route
Author: John Keay
Publisher: John
Murray, 2006 (First published 2005)
ISBN: 9780719561993
Pages: 286
Spices were always an alluring object for Europeans of every hue. They
wanted to add punch to their meals by liberally sprinkling those exotica, used
them as medicine and aphrodisiacs and also for worship of gods by smoking them as
incense. Human history was shaped in no mean measure by the ups and downs in
the quest for spices and to locate them in their native environment in the
remotest islands of Indonesia. John Keay tells the long tale of the pursuit of
spices spanning across three millennia which moulded the world as it is today.
The author is an English journalist and author specializing in popular histories
of India and the Far East, often with particular focus on their colonization
and exploration by Europeans. One of his earlier works, The Great Arc – The Dramatic Tale of How India was Mapped and Everest was Named’ was reviewed earlier in this blog. This book may also be read as
a sequel to the book Spice – the History of a Temptation by Jack Turner, which was also reviewed earlier in this
blog. While Turner specializes on the spices as such, Keay is more concerned
with the history surrounding their discovery and worldwide diffusion.
Even before written history came into vogue, spices arrived at the
tables of the Egyptians and Greeks. They came in a series of hauls across the
land and the sea. Nutmeg, mace and cloves grew only in the Moluccas island
chain of Indonesia, but they trotted half of the globe before ending up in
Europe. Several kingdoms presided over the spice routes. The decline in fortune
of a dynasty affected the trade and conversely, hiccups in trade told heavily
on the fortunes of ruling houses as well. The age old route for the spices from
the remote Indonesian islands was to transport it first through sea on to
Malacca. The produce changed ships at this hub. It then sailed on the Bay of
Bengal to reach Coromandel ports in India. An overland stretch now lay ahead.
Ports on the Malabar Coast then took on the task of loading the transit spices
on to Arabian vessels anchored in those ports. To the cargo is added pepper,
which was a homegrown variety. Cinnamon from Sri Lanka was also sometimes added
to the list. This fleet landed either at Aden on the Red Sea or in Hormuz in
the Persian Gulf. The former was then carried along the Red Sea, then by land
through the Nile, reaching Alexandria. The latter moved overland through much
of Syria and Turkey, ending up in Constantinople. European merchants then
completed the last leg. A change in this ancient shipping practice was effected
with Vasco da Gama’s finding a new lane around the Cape of Good Hope. Spices
could then be loaded into the same ship that carried it all the way to its
European markets. The book describes these routes in some detail and includes a
good narrative on the journey (periplus) of the Erythrean Sea that first
identified the monsoon winds which could be used as a trade wind from Arabia
that help ships to sail right across the Arabian Sea to reach Malabar ports.
We also read about an abortive
naval conquest on more peaceful lines in the Indian Ocean by Chinese sailors.
Admiral Cheng-ho made several voyages in the region and established contacts at
Malaya, Malabar and the African coast. He came as the representative of the Celestial
Empire and is thought to have created a maritime trading empire that
encompassed the whole of South Asia. This was in the 14th-15th
centuries. Had it flourished with a little more resolve from the Chinese side,
the Portuguese would have nothing but their effort to show off for their
perilous travel across half the planet. But surprisingly, after a few trips,
the Chinese quit the game and left the field ripe and vacant for the Europeans
to start a new leaf of conquest and colonization in world history.
The age of exploration began in
the Iberian Peninsula in late-15th century. Even before Columbus and
Vasco da Gama, Portuguese sailors had thoroughly explored Africa’s west coast
and rounded the Cape of Good Hope. Their avarice was exceeded only by their
unscrupulousness, since all they could find exportable from Africa were slaves!
Another dark chapter in the world’s social history thus began. Columbus sought
to reach the spice islands of Moluccas through a western route. This was
rational, as nobody had any idea that a very large continent interposed between
Europe and Asia on the western hemisphere. Besides, the distances were derived
from Ptolemy’s works that understated global dimensions. Columbus believed, or
rather made himself believe that he had landed somewhere in Asia which is near
to the source of spices. He collected a few samples in America that differed
vastly with the much popular Asian ones. Quite unexpectedly, the Chilli captured
the taste buds of Europe and Asia. Its cultivation soared so fast and wide that
who would now believe that Indian curry was devoid of chilli till just four and
half centuries ago?
The Portuguese could not hold on
to the empire established through da Gama and Albuquerque’s travels. They came
in search of ‘Christians and Spices’, but soon fell foul of the local kings and
Muslim traders. Wanton acts of inhuman cruelty and zealotry earned them the
antagonism of the natives. As long as their arms were powerful on the
battlefield, their suzerainty withstood. The world was divided neatly into two
by the pope, each of which is to be conquered by Portugal and Spain. As long as
Catholicism held sway in other parts of Europe, this arrangement held good. But
when the church split in two, with Protestants parting way under Martin Luther
and Calvin, Pope’s bulls became questionable. England and Netherlands, the new
protestant nations actively entered the fray and toppled Portuguese governors
in the Spice Islands.
The book also tells the story of
how spices lost their mystique and sheen. A part of the reason was the large
volume of the commodity transported to Europe in Dutch and English vessels.
Pepper soon fell to the dubious position as ballast for ships returning to
Europe. But a dramatic twist in public conception occurred after the
introduction of new stimulants like tea, coffee, sugar and tobacco. The British
spread tea cultivation beyond the confines of China. Likewise, the Spanish
introduced coffee to the New World, where it spread quickly. Sugar also found a
congenial home in the Caribbean islands. Added to ideal climate for growth to
sugarcane was the sweetener of slave labour to toil in the fields. The culinary
habits of the world underwent a sea change in the 18th century in
response to the new entrants. Spices quietly took a back seat amid all this
revolutionary change.
The text is presented in impeccably
fine language. In fact, it is a little too refined as to risk losing the
attention of more casual readers. Very few people can reach the end of the tome
without referring the dictionary a few times to clarify a point. The author is
concentrated solely on the spice routes and the navigators who plied them,
rather than looking into the uses for which spices were put to. Keay assumes a
decidedly Asian point of view in describing the history which feels like sticking
to the politically correct attitude. No doubt the conquistadores were
barbarous, but Keay portrays them always at a disadvantage in view of the
morally depraved act of conquering other peoples. The book includes some photographic
plates that lack any focus or consistency. It is more like being included to
satisfy the requirement of it in a book of this sort, rather than as a result
of the recognition of its real need. A very fine index elevates the book to one
helpful for further reference.
The book is highly recommended.
Rating: 3 Star
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