240 Sino-Iranica 



ported from Pa-lai $L fft (*Bwat-lai) in southern India. Huan Tsan 1 

 enumerates grapes together with pears, crab-apples, peaches, and 

 apricots, 2 as the fruits which, from Kashmir on, are planted here and 

 there in India. The grape, accordingly, was by no means common in 

 India in his time (seventh century). 



The grape is not mentioned in Vedic literature, and Sanskrit draksa 

 I regard with Spiegel 3 as a loan-word. Viticulture never was extensive 

 or of any importance in Indian agriculture. Prior to the Moham- 

 medan conquest, we have little precise knowledge of the cultivation of 

 the vine, which was much fostered by Akbar. In modern times it is 

 only in Kashmir that it has been received with some measure of 

 success. 



Huan Tsan 4 states that there are several brands of alcoholic and 

 non-alcoholic beverages in India, differing according to the castes. 

 The Ksatriya indulge in grape and sugar-cane wine. The Vaigya take 

 rich wines fermented with yeast. The Buddhists and Brahmans partake 

 of a syrup of grapes or sugar-cane, which does not share the nature 

 of any wine. 5 In Jataka No. 183, grape-juice (muddikdpanam) of in- 

 toxicating properties is mentioned. 



Huan Yin 6 gives three Sanskrit words for various kinds of wine: — 



(1) 2<l II su-lo, *su5-la, Sanskrit surd, explained as rice-wine 

 MM. 7 



1 Ta T'an si yii ki, Ch. 2, p. 8. 



2 Not almond-tree, as erroneously translated by Julien (Memoires, Vol. I, 

 p. 92). Regarding peach and apricot, see below, p. 539. 



3 Arische Periode, p. 41. 



4 Ta T'an si yii ki, Ch. 2, p. 8 b. 



6 S. Julien (Memoires, Vol. I, p. 93) translates wrongly, "qui different tout a 

 fait du vin distilleV' Distilled wine was then unknown both to the Chinese and in 

 India, and the term is not in the text. "Distillation of wines" is surely not spoken 

 of in the Cukranlti, as conceived by B. K. Sakkar (The Sukraniti, p. 157; and Hindu 

 Sociology, p. 166). 



6 Yi Is'ie kin yin i, Ch. 24, p. 8 b. 



7 This definition is of some importance, for in Boehtlingk's Sanskrit Dictionary 

 the word is explained as meaning "a kind of beer in ancient times, subsequently, 

 however, in most cases brandy," which is certainly wrong. Thus also O. Schrader's 

 speculation (Sprachvergleichung, Vol. II, p. 256), connecting Finno-Ugrian sara, 

 sur, etc. ("beer") with this word, necessarily falls to the ground. Macdonell and 

 Keith (Vedic Index, Vol. II, p. 458) admit that "the exact nature of sura is not 

 certain, it may have been a strong spirit prepared from fermented grains and plants, 

 as Eggeling holds, or, as Whitney thought, a kind of beer or ale." It follows also 

 from Jataka No. 512 that sura was prepared from rice. In Cosmas' Christian 

 Topography (p. 362, ed. of Hakluyt Society) we have fayxooobpa ("coconut- 

 wine"); here sura means "wine," while the first element may be connected with 

 Arabic ranej or ranj ("coco-nut"). 



