HISTORY OF SUGARCANE AND SUGAR
Researchers have revealed that sugarcane originated in south pacific islands. The people of New Guinea were probably the first to domesticate sugarcane, sometime around 8,000 BC. Wild sugarcane also found in eastern and northern part of Africa. However the centre of origin of sugarcane may be India as the wild sugarcane with smallest number of chromosomes found in India.
The first literary evidence of sugar manufacture is in Sanskrit (1) language. Thus, the history of the sugarcane cultivation and sugar manufacture begins in India. “Ikshu” the term for sugarcane is found in “Ayurveda” the sacred book (1500 BC) of Hindu religion. The word “Ikshu” has no parallel word in any other Indo-Aryan language. This indicates that the Aryans come to know about the plant only after entering India. Proto-Australoids or Austrics who came in India before Nordic Aryans, Mongoloids and Dravidians, laid the foundation of Indian civilisation. They cultivated rice and vegetables and made sugar from sugarcane. In the “Institution of Manu” numerous passages clearly deal with sugar. According to Hindu mythology the sugarcane plant was originally created by the renowned hermit Vishwamitra to take the place of heavenly sweets in the temporary paradise organised by him for the sake of King Trishanku.
Fig. 1.2 Historical Cane crushing in North India 200 years back
Sugarcane grinding in India historical George Watt (2) says, “There is little room for doubt but that the world is indebted India for sugarcane. Botanical evidence is by no means backward in lending confirmation to the idea of India having been the original home of the sugarcane.
The process of manufacture of cane sugar granules from sugarcane juice had also been developed in India. Some 400 to 700 BC. In Sanskrit language Sharkara means crystallised sugar. All the words for sugar in Arabic, Persian, Greek, and Latin and in modern languages of India and Europe are originated from the Sanskrit word ‘Sharkara’. The word for sugar in Arabic ‘Kand’ is derived from Sanskrit khand (candy sugar). The English word candy is also derived from Kand or khand and in both languages it means sugar crystallised into large pieces. Charaka and Sushruta mentioned the word Guda in Sanskrit. Guda means a mass or a ball, which was applied to the thickening of the juice by boiling. Guda, Gula or Gur is commonly used for solid mass or raw sugar.
Koutilya - the guru and minister of Emperor Chandragupta, the founder of Maurya dynasty (300 BC), notices the sugarcane in the list of principal crops cultivated. However, he remarks sugarcane is the least profitable of crops. There are lot of references in Tamil sangam literatures like Purananuru, Ainkurunuru, Perumpaanaatruppadai, Paṭṭiṉappālai and Akananuru about cultivation of sugarcane, sugarcane juice extraction using machines, and sugar extraction in the Tamil regions of South India. It is mentioned in Purananuru that the sugar cane was brought to Tamil land from an unknown place during the Sangam period. In Purananuru and Ainkurunuru, sugarcane juice extraction with use of huge machineries was compared with the sound made by elephants and the smoke produced during the process of making of sugar was like clouds.
In 510 BC Darius, the Persian Emperor invaded the Indian sub-continent. He found that the people used a substance from a plant to sweeten their food. Until then the Persian people had used honey to sweeten food, and so they called sugar cane ‘the reed which gives honey without bees’.
In the fourth century AD, Alexander the Great conquered parts of Indian subcontinent and carried with him the ‘sacred reed’ sugarcane while returning from Punjab and the plant travelled to west.
Indian sailors carried sugar by various trade routes. During the reign of Harsha (r. 606–647) in North India travelling Buddhist monks brought sugar crystallization methods to China. Chinese documents confirm at least two missions to India, initiated in 647 AD, for obtaining technology for sugar-refining. China soon established its first sugarcane cultivation in the seventh century.[13] In South Asia, the Middle East and China, sugar became a staple of cooking and desserts.
Fig. 1.3 Historical - Cane crushing with vertical rollers driven by horse
In the Ain-e-Akbari (1590 AD) method of sugarcane cultivation and manufacture of all forms of sugar is described in details. The refined sugar in Hindi language is also called as ‘Chini’ as the technology of sugar refining seems to be developed in China and then diffused to India.
This clearly indicates the knowledge in sugar having conveyed from India. The culture of the sugarcane had been spread by the Arabs to northern Africa and south Europe. At the same time, that was being carried into Java and the Philippines by Chinese.
Commercial manufacture and refining developed during ninth and tenth century and the exportation of sugar was an important part of that century’s commerce.
The Crusaders brought sugar to France in the eleventh century. In 1420, the Portuguese had conveyed it from Sicily to Madeira and to St. Thomas Islands. The Spanish conveyed the cultivation to the Canary Islands in the fifteenth century. Columbus introduced sugarcane into Santo Domingo on his second voyage in 1494 and from there; it was carried to Cuba and other West Indian, central and south America. The Dutch first established sugar works in Brazil in 1580 but on being expelled from that country by Portuguese, they carried the art of sugar manufacture in 1655 to the West Indies. In 1656, Sugar was manufactured by English in Barbados in 1643 and in Jamaica in 1664. The cultivation in Louisiana dates from 1750.
By the end of the medieval period, sugar was known worldwide but was very expensive and was considered a "fine spice",In the year 1792, sugar rose by degrees to an enormous price in Great Britain. The East India Company was then called upon to lend their assistance to help in the lowering of the price of sugar. On 15 March 1792, his Majesty's Ministers to the British Parliament presented a report related to the production of refined sugar in British India. Lieutenant J. Paterson, of the Bengal establishment, reported that refined sugar could be produced in India more cheaply than in the West Indies. From 1800, technological improvements and New World sources began turning it into a cheaper bulk commodity.
Sugar refineries were built in Germany France and England in the sixteenth century but modern cane sugar refining dates from the early part of the 19th century in England. Until first half of the 20th century sugar was so costly that only noble families can use it. Miraculous curative power was supposed to be attributed in it.
Fig. 1.5 Historical - A small refinery in London
Historical picture of sugar manufacturing Although sugar was being manufactured in India from 300-600 BC, there was no established sugar industry. It is said that the first sugar plant in India was established by the French at Aska in Odessa in 1824. George Watt says, “ According to the statistical table of British India there are at present day (in 1889) 12 large and 81 small sugar factories with a capital of Rs. 28,26,000 and outturn valued Rs. 54,60,677. In Madras State (now Tamilnadu state) the Aska factory is located in the Ganjam district. Two factories owned by ‘Parry and Company’ at Nellikuppam and at Tirucennanallur both in the South Arcot district, the former of these gives employment to 560 and latter 169 persons. In Bombay state (now Maharashtra) there is but one refinery the works at the Pune. There is very large and established factory the Rosa mills in Shahjanpur. This is said to have capital of Rs.16, 00,000 and to give employment to 1015 persons. The outturn has been valued at Rs.10, 06,557. The factories and refineries in British India may be said to give employment to 4500 persons permanently and about 6,000 temporarily. The large works are refineries and they exist solely through having large contract of rum. The refining trade of India has felt keenly the effect of beet sugar competition. The small refineries who do not own rum distilleries have been ruined.”
Fig.1.5 Canesugar and Beetsugar production areas in the world
Now in 2018 in India there are 620 sugar factories and 20 refineries. Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamilnadu are main sugar producing states. Bannari Amman, Dwarikesh, Rajashri, Rana, Bajaj Hindustan, Balarampur, Andhra Sugars, Dhampur, Dharani Sugars, Shri Renuka Sugars, K K Birla group, Triveni, K M Sugar mills, Simbhaoli, Mawana, DCM Shriram are at present large groups. Renuka has two port based sugar refineries at Kandla and Haldia respectively of capacity 3000 TPD and 2000 TPD each.
References:
1 George Watt “A dictionary of economic products of India” vol. VI part II (published in 1898) p 29-40
2 ibid. P 29-40
3 ibid. p 29 4 ibid. p 320-322
BY D B JAMBHALE
Consulting Sugar Technologist, former technical advisor, vsi Pune,
Pune India.
Cane Fields in USA
D B Jambhale Consulting Sugar Technologist,
former technical adviser VSI Pune,
