The Cucumber 301 



; ably be in India; and Watt 1 observes, "There seems to be no doubt 

 ■' that one at least of the original homes of the cucumber was in North 

 , India, and its cultivation can be traced to the most ancient classic times 

 of Asia." De Candolle 2 traces the home of the plant to northwestern 

 India. I am not yet convinced of the correctness of this theory, as the 

 historical evidence in favor of India, as usual in such cases, is weak; 3 

 and the cultivation of the cucumber in Egypt and among the Semites 

 is doubtless of ancient date. 4 At any rate, this Cucurbitacea belongs to 

 the Egypto- West-Asiatic culture-sphere, and is not indigenous to 

 China. There is, however, no trace of evidence for the gratuitous 

 speculation that its introduction is due to General Can K'ien. The 

 theory that it was transmitted from Iranian territory is probable, but 

 there is thus far no historical document to support it. The only trace 

 of evidence thereof appears from the attribute Hu. 



Abu Mansur mentions the cucumber under the name qittd, adding 

 the Arabic-Persian xiyar and kawanda in the language of Khorasan. 5 

 The word xiyar has been adopted into Osmanli and into Hindustani in 

 the form xird. Persian xdwuS or xawaS denotes a cucumber kept for 

 seed; it means literally "ox-eye" (gav-aS; Avestan a$i, Middle Persian 

 ai, Sanskrit ak$i, "eye"), corresponding to Sanskrit gavdk$i ("a kind 

 of cucumber"). A Pahlavi word for "cucumber" is vdtrah, which 

 developed into New Persian bddran, bdlah, or varan (Afghan bddran). 6 



1 Commercial Products of India, p. 439. In Sanskrit the cucumber is trapusa. 



* Op. til., p. 265. 



3 Such a positive assertion as that of de Candolle, that the cucumber was 

 cultivated in India for at least three thousand years, cannot be accepted by any 

 serious historian. 



* V. Loret, Flore pharaonique, p. 75; C. Joret, Plantes dans l'antiquitd, 

 Vol. I, p. 61. 



6 Achundow, AbujMansur, p. 106. 



6 This series is said to mean also "citron." The proper Persian word for the 

 latter fruit is turuttj (Afghan turanj, Balu& trunj). The origin of this word, as far 

 as I know, has not yet been correctly explained, not even by HObschmann (Armen . 

 Gram., p. 266). Vullers (Lexicon persico-latinum, Vol. I, p. 439) tentatively 

 suggests derivation from Sanskrit suranga, which is surely impossible. The real 

 source is presented by Sanskrit matulunga ("citron," Citrus medico). 



