Date:23/02/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/23/stories/2008022350370200.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

How the European pursuit of spices changed the world’s maps

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: In a coming together of science, art and social history, the National Centre for Biological Sciences-Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Bangalore, has organised an innovative exhibition, “Such Treasure and Rich Merchandise”, on its campus.

The exhibition, which is on till the end of March, provides fascinating glimpses into a little known chapter of the history of East-West interaction during the pre-colonial period, presenting botanical illustrations, prints, and maps from books published between 1543 and 1693, highlighting the importance of Indian botanical knowledge to the science and history of the period.

Until the middle of the 18th Century, botanical produce from India were important ingredients of European life as culinary additives, medicines and luxury items.

The search for shorter and direct sea routes to India to acquire these commodities was the driving force for the voyages of discovery that profoundly changed both the world’s maps, and its history.

East-West trade intensified after 1498 when Vasco da Gama arrived in Calicut to procure pepper and other natural products for Portugal.