Saffron and Turmeric 321 



effect that Madhyantika, the first apostle of Buddha's word in Kashmir, 

 planted the saffron there. 1 If nothing else, this shows at least that the 

 plant was regarded as an introduction. The share of the Persians in the 

 distribution of the product is vividly demonstrated by the Tibetan 

 word for "saffron, "kur-kum, gur-kum, gur-gum, whichis directly traceable 

 to Persian kurkum or karkatn, but not to Sanskrit kunkuma. 2 The 

 Tibetans carried the word to Mongolia, and it is still heard among the 

 Kalmuk on the Wolga. By some, the Persian word (Pahlavi kulkem) 

 is traced to Semitic, Assyrian karkutna, Hebrew karkom, Arabic kurkum; 

 while others regard the Semitic origin as doubtful. 3 It is beyond the 

 scope of this notice to deal with the history of saffron in the west and 

 Europe, on which so much has been written. 4 



From the preceding investigation it follows that the word yii-kin 

 & 4£, owing to its multiplicity of meaning, offers some difficulty to 

 the translator of Chinese texts. The general rule may be laid down that 

 yii-kin, whenever it hints at a plant or product of China, denotes a 

 species of Curcuma, but that, when used with reference to India, Indo- 

 China, and Iran, the greater probability is in favor of Crocus. The term 

 yii-kin hian ("yu-kin aromatic"), with reference to foreign countries, 

 almost invariably appears to refer to the latter plant, which indeed 

 served as an aromatic; while the same term, as will be seen below, with 

 reference to China, again denotes Curcuma. The question may now be 

 raised, What is the origin of the word yii-kin? And what was its original 

 meaning? In 1886 Hirth 5 identified yii-kin with Persian karkam 

 ("saffron"), and restated this opinion in 1911, 6 by falling back on an 

 ancient pronunciation *hat-kam. Phonetically this is not very con- 

 vincing, as the Chinese would hardly have employed an initial h for 



1 Schiefner, Taranatha, p. 13; cf. also J. Przyluski, Journal asiatique, 19 14 

 II. P- 537- 



* Voung Pao, 1916, p. 474. Cf. also Sogdian kurkumba and Tokharian kurkama. 



8 Horn, Grundriss der iranischen Philologie, Vol. I, pt. 2, p. 6. Besides kurkum, 

 there are Persian kdkbdn and kdftfa, which denote "saffron in the flower." Old 

 Armenian k'rk'um is regarded as a loan from Syriac kurkema (H^bschmann, Armen. 

 Gram., p. 320). 



* In regard to saffron among the Arabs, see Leclerc, Traite" des simples, 

 Vol. II, pp. 208-210. In general cf. J. Beckmann, Beytrage zur Geschichte der 

 Erfindungen, 1784, Vol. II, pp. 70-91 (also in English translation); FlCckiger and 

 Hanbury, Pharmacographia, pp. 663-669; A. de Candolle, Geographie botanique, 

 p. 857, and Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 166; Hehn, Kulturpflanzen (8th ed.), 

 pp. 264-270; Watt, Dictionary, Vol. II, p. 592; W. Heyd, Histoire du commerce du 

 levant, Vol. II, p. 668, etc. 



6 Journal China Branch Roy. As. Soc, Vol. XXI, p. 221. 



* Chau Ju-kua, p. 91. . 



