Saffron and Turmeric 319 



yii-kin after every bath, with the intention of making it resemble the 

 "gold body" of a Buddha. 1 Certainly they did not smear their bodies 

 with "turmeric," 2 which is used only as a dye-stuff, but with saffron. 

 Annamese mothers rub the bodies of their infants with saffron-powder 

 as a tonic to their skin. 3 



The Ain-i Akbari, written 1597 in Persian by Abul Fazl 'Allami 

 (1 551-1602), gives detailed information on the saffron cultivation in 

 Kashmir, 4 from which the following extract may be quoted: "In the 

 village of Pampur, one of the dependencies of Vihl (in Kashmir) , there 

 are fields of saffron to the extent of ten or twelve thousand bighas, a 

 sight that would enchant the most fastidious. At the close of the 

 month of March and during all April, which is the season of cultivation, 

 the land is plowed up and rendered soft, and each portion is prepared 

 with the spade for planting, and the saffron bulbs are hard in the ground. 

 In a month's time they sprout, and at the close of September, it is at 

 its full growth, shooting up somewhat over a span. The stalk is white, 

 and when it has sprouted to the height of a finger, one bud after another 

 begins to flower till there are eight flowers. It has six lilac-tinted petals. 

 Usually among six filaments, three are yellow and three ruddy. The 

 last three yield the saffron. [There are three stamens and three stigmas 

 in each flower, the latter yielding the saffron.] When the flowers are 

 past, leaves appear upon the stalk. Once planted it will flower for six 

 years in succession. The first year, the yield is small : in the second as 

 thirty to ten. In the third year it reaches its highest point, and the 

 bulbs are dug up. If left in the same soil, they gradually deteriorate, 

 but if taken up, they may be profitably transplanted." 



The Emperor Jahangir was deeply impressed by the saffron planta- 

 tions of Kashmir, and left the following notes in his Memoirs: 6 — 



"As the saffron was in blossom, his Majesty left the city to go to 

 Pampur, which is the only place in Kashmir where it flourishes. Every 

 parterre, every field, was, as far as the eye could reach, covered with 

 flowers. The stem inclines toward the ground. The flower has five 

 petals of a violet color, and three stigmas producing saffron are found 

 within it, and that is the purest saffron. In an ordinary year, 400 



1 Lin wai tai ta, Ch. 2, p. 13. 



2 Hirth, Chau Ju-kua, p. 91. 



8 Perrot and Hurrier, Mat. m6d. et pharmacop£e sino-annamites, p. 94. 

 Cf. also Marco Polo's observation (Yule's edition, Vol. II, p. 286) that the faces 

 of stuffed monkeys on Java are daubed with saffron, in order to give them a manlike 

 appearance. 



4 Translation of H. Blochmann, Vol. I, p. 84; Vol. II, p. 357. 



6 H. M. Eluot, History of India as told by Its Own Historians, Vol. VI, p. 375 



