in Telegu, it is Panchadara and chakkira. my understanding is that there is a greek account in Alexander's time that refers to the sugarcane as producing "honey without bees".
On Feb 8, 2008 8:35 AM, Ramjee Swaminathan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > :-) the rambler strikes again. Probable reason: too much sugar. > > On 2/7/08, Abhijit Menon-Sen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > <snip> > > > (but again, not in all languages - in Malayalam and Tamil, they are > > > respectively called charkarai and chakkara, AFAIK - there are also > > > cheenchakkari, chenjeeni etc in colloquial refs) . > > > > BTW, in Malayalam, cc sugar is usually called "pan[cha]sara". I've only > > heard the "charkarai" form used for gur or perhaps palm sugar. Is there > > a similar distinction in Tamil? > > > Thanks! I forgot this pansarai funda. We used to have Nair neighbours > and they used to tell us that from region to region there were > different and slightly varying references to sugar and that anyway > only after moving to Madras they even 'saw' white sugar! > > vella chakkarai - pounded and granulated gud/jaggery > panam-khandu - palm khand > panam-cheeni :-) - palm sugar > panai-vellam - palm jaggery > etc etc... > > > > There are some recorded instances of cc sugar being imported into > > > western india from china (during circa 1-200 ad) > > > > Fascinating. I did not know that. What route did it take? > > > When there were no wars in the NE, NW and N of India, there was very > little that was imported from china as there was no need to import > sugar as it was never an issue of scarcity then. During wars, however, > the sea routes were used (malacca straits, ceylon, round kanyakumari > and onwards to either musiri or kollam or n other ports near what are > now famous as Kanhoji Angre's (one of the greatest naval strategists > and admirals) port bastions. > > In any case, the shipments apparently werent huge or anything, White > crystalline sugar must have been a 'delicacy' considering everything > (my take) - the echoes of a similar context are found in paperback > 'pioneer' recap literature of North America, such as that of Laura > Ingalls Wilder. That white sugar be used for 'company' and as a status > symbol. > > > > * Om Prakash - Food and drinks in ancient India > > > > I think I'll try to find a copy of that. Speaking of which, I should go > > to the book fair in Delhi before it ends. > > > Good luck and warm regards: > > __r. > >
