SESAME AND FLAX 291 



Triratna. 1 From the application of adhimuktdka it becomes self-evident 

 also that sesame-oil must be included in this series. The frequent 

 mention of this oil for sacred lamps is familiar to all readers of the 

 Buddhist Jataka. The above Sanskrit-Chinese Dictionary adds the 

 following comment: "This plant is in appearance like the 'great hemp* 

 (Cannabis sativa). It has red flowers and green leaves. Its seeds can 

 be made into oil; also they yield an aromatic. According to the Tsun 

 kin yin nie lun ? H 31 JR ffe, sesame (ku-$en) is originally charcoal, 

 and, while for a long time buried in the soil, will change into sesame. 

 In the western countries (India) it is customary in anointing the body 

 with fragrant oil to use first aromatic flowers and then to take sesame- 

 seeds. These are gathered and soaked till thoroughly bright; afterwards 

 they proceed to press the oil out of the sesame, which henceforth be- 

 comes fragrant." 



Of greater importance for our purpose is the antiquity of sesame in 

 Iran. According to Herodotus 2 , it was cultivated by the Chorasmians, 

 Hyrcanians, Parthians, Sarangians, and Thamanaeans. In Persia 

 sesame-oil was known at least from the time of the first Achaemenides. 3 

 G. WATT* even looks to Persia and Central Asia as the home of the 

 species; he suggests that it was probably first cultivated somewhere 

 between the Euphrates valley and Bukhara south to Afghanistan and 

 upper India, and was very likely diffused into India proper and the 

 Archipelago, before it found its way to Egypt and Europe. 



Sesamum indicum (var. subindiwswn Dl.) is cultivated in Russian 

 Turkistan and occupies there the first place among the oil-producing 

 plants. It thrives in the warmest parts of the valley of Fergana, and 

 does not go beyond an elevation of two thousand five hundred feet. 

 It is chiefly cultivated in the districts of Namanga and Andijan, though 

 not in large quantity. 5 Its Persian name is kunjut. 



While there is no doubt that this species was introduced into China 

 from Iranian regions, the time as to when this introduction took place 

 remains obscure. First, there is no historical and dependable record 

 of this event; second, the confusion brought about by the Chinese in 

 treating this subject is almost hopeless. Take the earliest notice of 

 hu ma cited by the Pen ts'ao and occurring in the Pie lu: "Hu ma is 

 also called ku-$en E 0. It grows on the rivers and in the marshes of 



1 Cf . EITEL, Handbook of Chinese Buddhism, p. 4. 



2 HI, 117. 



3 JORET, op. cit. t Vol. II, p. 71. Sesame is mentioned in Pahlavi literature 

 (above, p. 193). 



4 Gingelly or Sesame Oil, p. n (Handbooks of Commercial Products, No. 21). 



5 S. KORZINSKI, Vegetation of Turkistan (in Russian), p. 50. 



