EARLY RECORDS <>K BOMBAY IN I '!;> 



INDIGOFERA 



History 



. ili- branches hard and of a woodie aubttance like unto broome. It 



usually -r-.'ui-th imt above a yard high, and with a atalko at the biggett (which 

 ; in- i hinl yoare) not much exceeding a man'* thurobe. The seed ia indud.-l 

 mull P. MIM I i-oddo about an inch I..M '. rnHomhling Fanigracum, save that it 

 is mr< I limit at i. .ill i U.IH, IIH if it had been cut off with a knife. It carryeth a 

 I Howcr hi..- i hut of Heart's-ease, the seed in rip" in November, and tli"n 

 I. Tin* horb onco sowne diirctli throe years, being cut every year in 

 . i anil Septcml>er after the rainos. That of one yeere ia tender and thereuf 

 is made Notee, \vhich is a. weighty reddish Nill sinking in water, not come to hi 

 perfection : that of the second yeere is rich, and called Cyeree, very lii/ht ai. 

 let c.ili.nr. swimming on the water : in tin- thinl \is-n- tin- hrl> 

 lining ati-l this \ill is called Catteld, being a weightie blackish Nill, the \\ornt 

 i.f tln< t hive. This 1 id-lie being cut the month aforesaid, is cast into a lone > 

 \\here it is pressed down with many stonen, and then tilled \\itli wat-r til! 



.-(I, i\hich so rcmainoth for certain dayes, till the substance of the herbe be 

 into tin- wutor. Then they let the water forth into another round cistern 

 iii the midst of which is another small cistern or center: this water being thun 

 drawn forth, they labour with great staves, like batter or white starch, and then 

 .t 1 1(>, scumming off the clear water on the toppe : then labouring it afresh, 

 and lot it settle again, drawing forth the clear water, doing this oft, till nothing 

 lut a thick stubstanco remaine : which they take forth and spread on cloth, to 

 dry in the sunne : and being a little hardened, they take it in their hands and 

 making small balls, lay them on the sand to dry (for any other thing would drink 

 up the colour), this is the cause of the sandy foot. So if rain fall, it loseth his 

 colour and glosse and is called Aliad. Some deceitfully will take of the herbe 

 .>fall three crops, and ateepe them altogether, hard to be discerned, very knavishly. 

 Four things are required in Nill : a pure graine, a violet colour, his glosse in the 

 Sunne, and that it be dry and light, so that swimming in the water, or burning 

 in the fire, it cast forth a pure light violet vapour, leaving a few ashes." 



Sir Thomas Roe (Embassy to the Court of the Great Mogul, 1016, i., 270) speaks 

 of the rise in price of Agra indigo and of the sales being effected under churls (or 

 fardles). The churl of Biana indigo has been computed as being equal to six 

 inaunds. Of the same year, Foster (E.I.G. Letters, iv., 241) records the following 

 curious passage: " Indigo is made thus. In the prime June they sow it, which 

 the rains bring up about the prime September : this they cut and it is called 

 Newly, and is a good sort. Next year it sprouts again in the prime August, 

 which they cut and is the best indigo, called Jerry. Two months after it sprouts 

 again, which they cut and thereof they make the worst sort ; and afterwards 

 they let it grow to seed and sow again. Being cut, they steep it 24 hours in a 

 cistern of water ; then they draw it into another cistern, where men beat it six 

 hours forcibly with their hands till it become blue, mixing therewith a little oil ; 

 then, having stood another day, they draw off the water and there resteth settled 

 at the bottom pure indigo (which some to falsify mix with dirt and sand) ; which 

 they dry by degrees, first in cloths till the water be sunk from it and it be curdled ; 

 afterwards they dry it in round gobbets." 



Here we have a distinct reference to the indigo plant having been grown for 

 two or three years without being uprooted or re-sown. H. A. Bailey of Etawah 

 describes the system that exists to-day in Shahabad, which in some respects 

 resembles the old method (E.I.G., I.e. iv., 356). This system has long since been 

 abandoned in the indigo districts proper, the change possibly denoting new stock, 

 when that system was unnecessary. The " Newty " crop is doubtless the "Notee " 

 of Finch, both words being probably derived from naudhd (the young plant) ; 

 and " Jerry " being the "Cyeree" of Finch, both words doubtless being derived 

 from jari, which would mean "sprouting from the root" (jar). With the change 

 in the system of cultivation both these terms have become disused and forgotten. 

 Mandelslo (Travels, in Oleariu.s, Hist. Muscovy, etc., 1638, 83-4) gives a most curious 

 acciiuiit of tlm cultivation and manufacture of indigo in Gujarat (Ahrncdii- 

 bad) which (as with Linschoten-'s account above) involves acceptance of belief 

 that the method of manufacture pursued was that known as the Dry-leaf. His 

 description of the fiower being like that of a thistle was either a mistake (the plant 

 being confused by Mandelslo with Carthamus) or the plant used at that time was 

 not Indigofera. The former seems the more plausible explanation. The passage 

 may be usefully quoted in full : " The best indico in the world comes from about 

 Amadabath from a village called Chirchees, whence^it derives the name. The 

 herb of which they 'make it is like that of yellow Parsnip, but'shorter, and r more 



665 



<,r., 4 f., r ] hra 



Tewm. 



Liquid. 



Hall* dried in' Uie 

 Sun. 



Roe's Account. 



Oil mixed with 

 Indigo. 



1 Ntwty " and 



' Jerry " Crops. 



i. ,r. 



M.i:-. !.!. ,'s 



