294 Sino-Iranica 



(Iranians and Indo-Aryans) possess an identical word for "hemp" (Avestan 

 bangha, Sanskrit bhanga), while the European languages have a distinct 

 designation, which is presumably a loan-word pointing to Finno-Ugrian 

 and Turkish; and, second, that there is a common Old-Turkish word 

 for "hemp" of the type kandir, which stands in some relation to the 

 Finno-Ugrian appellations. 1 It is most likely that the Scythians brought 

 hemp from Asia to Europe. 2 On the other hand, it is well known what 

 vital importance flax and linen claimed in the life of the Egyptians 

 and the classical peoples. 3 Flax is the typically European, hemp the 

 typically Asiatic textile. Surely Linum usitatissimum was known in 

 ancient Iran and India. It was and is still wild in the districts included 

 between the Persian Gulf, the Caspian Sea, and the Black Sea.* It 

 was probably introduced into India from Iran, but neither in India nor 

 in Iran wa6 the fibre ever used for garments: the plant was only culti- 

 vated as a source of linseed and linseed-oil. 5 Only a relatively modern 

 utilization of flax-fibres for weaving is known from a single locality in 

 Persia, — Kazirtin, in the province of Fars. This account dates from the 

 beginning of the fourteenth century, and the detailed description 

 given of the process testifies to its novelty and exceptional character. 6 

 This exception confirms the rule. The naturalization of Linum in China, 

 of course, is far earlier than the fourteenth century. As regards the 

 utilization of Linum, the Chinese fall in line with Iranians and Indo- 

 Aryans; and it is from Iranians that they received the plant. The 

 case is a clear index of the fact that the Chinese never were in direct 

 contact with the Mediterranean culture-area, and that even such culti- 

 [ vated plants of this area as reached them were not transmitted from 

 there directly, but solely through the medium of Iranians. The case 

 is further apt to illustrate how superficial, from the viewpoint of tech- 

 nical culture, the influence of the Greeks on the Orient must have 

 been since Alexander's campaign, as an industry like flax-weaving 

 was not promoted by them, although the material was offered there 

 by nature. 



For botanical reasons it is possible that Linum usitatissimum was 

 introduced into China from Fergana. There it is still cultivated, and 

 only for the exclusive purpose of obtaining oil from the seeds. 7 As has 



1 Z. Qombocz, Bulgarisch-turkische Lehnworter, p. 92. 



2 Cf. for the present, A. de Candolle, Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 148. 



* Pliny, xix, 1-3; H. Blumner, Technologie, Vol. I, 2d ed., p. 191. 



* A. de Candolle, Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 130. 



5 See the interesting discussion of Watt, Commercial Products of India, p. 721. 

 8 G. Le Strange, Description of the Province of Fars in Persia, p. 55. 

 7 S. Korzinski, Vegetation of Turkistan (in Russian), p. 51. 



