THE GRAPE VINE 



VITIS 



VINTIFERA 



Hindu Knowledge 



\Cf. Ind. Pharmacol., 1897, ii., 55 ; Waring, Bazar Med. Ind., 1897, 158 ; 

 Thorpe, Diet. Appl. Chem., 1898, i., 7-11 ; Blount and Bloxam, Chem. for Engin. 

 and Manuf., 1900, ii., 219-22 ; Blyth, Food Inspect, and Anal., 1903, 473-9 ; 

 Hosie, Rept. on Prov. Ssu'ch'uan, China, 1904, 20 ; Leach, Food fnspect. and 

 Anal., 1905, 609-27 ; Journ. Soc. Chem. Indust. (many articles) ; Tharmaceut. 

 Journ. ; Yearbook of Pharmacy, etc.] 



D.E.P., 



vi., pt. iv. 

 251-96. 

 Grape- 

 vine. 



Wild 

 Grapes. 



History. 



Spirit. 



Vine-leaf 

 Designs. 



Medicine. 



Raisins. 



VITIS, Linn. ; Fl. Br. Ind., i., 645-62 ; Planchon, DC., Monog. 

 Phaner., v., pt. ii., 321-414 ; King, Journ. As. Soc. Beng., 1897, Ixv., pt. 2, 

 108-14 ; Gamble, Man. Ind. Timbs., 189-91 ; Duthie, Fl. Upper Gang. 

 Plain, 1903, i., 170-5 ; Talbot, List Trees, etc., 1902, 99-104 ; Cooke, 

 Fl Pres. Bomb., 1902, i., 247-58 ; Brandis, Ind. Trees, 1906, 175-9 ; 

 AMPELID.E. A large genus of climbing shrubs to which the Grape-vine 

 belongs. The fruits of several of the wild species are edible (for example, 

 V. parvifolia, V. rugosa, and V. barbata), and it seems highly 

 probable that some of them may have contributed by hybridisation in 

 the production of the somewhat characteristic cultivated grapes of the 

 mountains and tablelands of India. 



V. vinifera, Linn. ; Semler, Trop. Agrik., 1892, iv., 8-186. The Vine 

 or Grape, angur, ddkh, buri, tanaur, newala, mdmre, gandeli, Idning, kwar, 

 kodi-mun-dirrip-pazham, draksha-pondu, buaangur, sabi-si ; raisins = 

 kismis, manakkd, zirishk, mitha, kurk uzum, kisumisuchettu, zabib, etc- 



The Grape Vine is said to be indigenous in the temperate regions of 

 Western Asia, Southern Europe, Algeria and Morocco (De Candolle). 

 According to the Flora of British India (i., 652) it is " perhaps wild in the 

 North- West Himalaya ; cultivated extensively in North- West India, rarely 

 in the Peninsula and Ceylon." Gamble (I.e. 190) says, " Has been intro- 

 duced and successfully cultivated in Kashmir and other parts of India." 

 Lawrence (Valley of Kashmir, 351) remarks that in the old days Kashmir 

 was famous for its grapes, but now, if a few vineyards at the mouth of 

 the Sind Valley be excluded, it is difficult to obtain a good dessert grape 

 in the country." " Everywhere one sees giant vines climbing up poplars 

 and other trees, but they are often wild, and their fruit is poor and 

 tasteless." 



History. Grapes have been known in India from a very remote period. In 

 Sanskrit works the best-known names for the fruit are drdkshd and mridvikd, 

 while a spirit distilled from grapes (maddhika) is distinguished from that from 

 sugar-cane, rice, barley, etc. As showing the antiquity of the knowledge in 

 grapes, Dutt mentions that they are alluded to by Charaka and Susruta. Prior 

 to the Muhammadan conquests of India we possess, however, no very precise 

 information as to the cultivation of the grape in India proper. 



Stein (Ancient Khotan, 1907, 448) tells us that while working in the ruins of 

 Kara-Dong (8th century), he came across a cupful of " large black currants 

 dried perfectly hard." In other passages (I.e. 253, 255) he invites consideration 

 of the fact that in one of the paintings of Dandan-TJiliq, instead of the conven- 

 tional fig-leaf, the vine-leaf had been substituted, and in still another passage 

 (I.e. 245) he draws attention to the frescoes of Dandan-Uiliq, which manifest 

 a vine-leaf and grape pattern. It is thus quite clear that the grape was well 

 known at these early times, just beyond the north-western frontier of India. 

 In The Bower Manuscript (Hoernle, transl., 1893-7), moreover, numerous refer- 

 ences are found to the use of raisins in various medicinal preparations. 



But the medicinal uses of the vine recorded in Hindu literature are mostly 

 concerned with the dried fruits or raisins and the spirit (maddhika}, so that it 

 is probable that prior to the Muhammadan conquests, both the fresh fruit 

 and the various forms of raisins were, as at the present day, imported from 

 across the northern frontier. Many writers (Hehn, Kulturpft. und Haust, 1894,. 

 65-94) have dwelt on the influence of the faith of Islam on vine-growing in the 



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