It was in India that Alexander first encountered sugar, cardamom, and rice. He also noted the Indians consumed a pudding made of rice, milk, sugar, and cardamom, what today we might call a ‘sweet rice’. One of his admirals, Nearchus, while sailing down the Indus river wrote to his amazement of “a reed in India that brings forth honey without the help of bees.” Perhaps this reference to honey indicates not simply the sweetness of the new found sugar but also to its color – that the Indians had not yet developed the process of creating clear white crystals. after the conquest of Persia and attempted invasion of India by Alexander the Great. The first written reference to sugar occurs in 325 B.C. They would subsequently become his first followers.

Seeing his emaciated body, and understanding him to be a holy man, the brothers felt compassion and gave him some sugarcane they were transporting to market. In one tradition, it is said that after attaining enlightenment, the first food the Buddha tasted was sugarcane provided by two brothers from Orissa named Tapassu and Bhallika. One holy man, Siddhartha Gautama, was known as being ‘born of sugarcane’ since his ancestry was traced through the Solar dynasty of Maharaj Ikshvaku (Sanskrit Ikshu meaning ‘sugarcane‘) and back to the first King Manu. Sugarcane juice was also used by holy men to provide strength during their austerities.

The disease would cause it to taste very bitter but in time would become sweet as the patient was cured. For those with jaundice, a disease producing yellowing of the eyes and skin, rock sugar was prescribed. These techniques were passed down to a select few, from master to apprentice.īut sugarcane was not simply a sweet, it was also used in medicine. The techniques involved heating and cooling, seeding, and agitation of the syrup to produce various qualities and refinement of the sugar. There it was known as ‘sharkara’ Sanskrit for gravel or grit. It was in India that the science of creating sugar rock crystals was first developed. Moving from island to island this sweet grass eventually made its way to India. It is believed the domestication of sugarcane was first carried out by the peoples of New Guinea over 10,000 years ago. But crystallized sugar, first invented in India, has a dark history, involving conquest, secret societies, and exploitation. We indulge in it, from sodas, cakes, and assorted candies, during times of sadness and times of celebration. Sugar – we all crave it, from children to adults.

Water and sugar story hinduism