ON THE CULTIVATION OF GRAPES IN DAULATABAD. 671 



ON THE CULTIVATION OF GRAPES IN DAULATABAD. 

 By Syed Siraj-ul-Hasan. 



The villages of the Aurangabad district, situated between 19° 54/ N. lat., 

 75° 0' 22" E. long., and 20° 32' 3" N. lat., 75° 0' 48" E. long., with an 

 altitude of 2,000 feet to 2,500 feet above the sea-level and with an average 

 rainfall of 30" and a comparatively mild climate, have long been famous 

 for the cultivation of a great variety of fruit. Fruit, especially that which 

 belongs to a more temperate climate, such as the Fig, the Mulberry, and 

 the Grape, attains a perfection within this area seldom acquired in 

 other parts of India under similar conditions. 



Of these places Daulatabad has long been famous for the cultivation of 

 several varieties of Grape-vine, first introduced in the reign of Mohammad 

 Tughlaq in 1338, when that monarch conceived the project of making 

 Daulatabad his capital, and forced the inhabitants of Delhi, on pain of 

 death, to migrate to Daulatabad with all their effects, even the trees that 

 grew in Delhi. The immigrants from Delhi included great numbers of 

 men from Central Asia and Kabul. Of these many understood Grape 

 cultivation, and the congenial climate of Daulatabad soon gave returns in 

 the shape of excellent crops, which had at the best been indifferent in 

 Delhi. A colony of gardeners from Northern India was soon established, 

 and it still exists under the name of Maliwara, a mile south of Daulatabad. 

 The great feature of the new capital of India was its vast gardens, and 

 there was hardly a mosque, a public inn, or a respectable private residence 

 which did not possess a vineyard. 



Another great stimulus to Grape cultivation was given by the Portuguese 

 Christian missions located at Aurangabad, which were liberally endowed 

 by the early Bijapur or Ahmadnagar kings in 1550. Their monasteries 

 grew both purple and white Grapes. Ibn Batutah, the Moorish traveller 

 who visited Daulatabad in 1430, and the French traveller Thevenot, who 

 made an extended tour in 1667, were much struck with the gardens that 

 met their eyes throughout the Sarkar of Daulatabad. Thevenot especially 

 notices the vineyards about Aurangabad and Daulatabad. 



In the middle of the seventeenth century, when Aurangzeb made 

 Aurangabad (formerly known as Kharki), eight miles east of Daulatabad, 

 his capital, the industry was so extensive that miles of land were under 

 Grape cultivation. This was no doubt due to the great demand for fruit 

 created by the presence of a vast Moghul army and the Imperial Court. 

 It was about this time that the black variety known as " Habshi " was 

 introduced by a Mohammedan doctor of theology, named Baba Shah 

 Musafir, from Persia. This variety was first cultivated in his garden, 

 known to this day as "Pandiri." This Grape soon acquired a world-wide 

 reputation for its excellence, and was in great demand all over India. 

 The Habshi Grape was produced in great abundance in the same garden 

 (which is still the property of the Shah Musafir family) until 1883, when 



