1. The war made ancient Greece introduce Indian pepper and made ancient Rome crazy. So, where did pepper originate in ancient times? Pepper comes from the west coast of India, including Malabad area on the south coast of the west coast, and mainly produces black pepper. In the 4th century BC, pepper was sold to Greece by middlemen. As soon as it entered Greece, people immediately paid attention to it. In the 2nd century, there was a pepper street in Greece.
At the same time, pepper was introduced into ancient Rome, where pepper gained greater favor. Some people even blame pepper for the decline of the Western Roman Empire. It is said that it was pepper that made Roman men lose their masculinity and began to be "false mothers".
So, why did Indian pepper enter Europe? Mainly because of the introduction of war, especially the strength of the Persian Empire (553 BC-330 BC). After the expansion of ancient Greek power in the 8th century BC, many Hellenistic city-states were established in Asia Minor.
But with the rise of the Persian Empire, it began to rule Asia Minor in the late 6th century BC. As a result, the Greek city-states began to secretly support the Greek city-states of Asia Minor against the Iranian Empire. In 499 BC, Greek city-states launched an uprising. After suppressing the city-state uprising, Darius I wanted to attack Athens, the ancient Greek city-state.
In 490 BC, the Persian army was defeated by Athens in the marathon. In 480 BC, Xerxes I led 500,000 troops to attack Athens. Although Athens was burned down, the Greek city-state represented by Athens finally won.
In the centuries-long confrontation between ancient Greece and the Indian Empire, businessmen bought pepper from India and exported it to Greece regardless of the identity of the enemy.
2. Indian peppers came to China by the Sogdians.
When did Indian pepper first appear in China? If we look at the term "pepper", it should be Sima Biao, the secretary supervisor of the Western Jin Dynasty (266-3 16), who edited The Story of Continuing the Han Dynasty: Tianzhu produced nectar, pepper and black salt.
However, because "pepper" belongs to a kind of "spice", Indian spices include pepper, long pepper, stone dense, big pear and so on. Pepper originated in India, but was misunderstood as a Persian specialty in the Northern Dynasties.
For example, Biography of the Western Regions in Shu Wei: Persian Kingdom, Suri City (the capital is Suri City, which is now Ibbagh), and in the west of Mimi, the land of the ancient branch countries is flat, and gold, silver and stones are exported ... pepper, stone, pear, gall, salt green and orpiment.
As a result, pepper was introduced to China in the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty. At that time, Emperor Xian of Han Dynasty had a romantic experience in different places. Later, Zhou Shu's Biography of Foreign Regions, Sui Shu's Biography of Western Regions, History of the Northern Regions, and Xirong Biography of the Old Tang Dynasty, etc. They all mistake the peppers produced in India for Persian Empire or Arabian Empire.
The reason is simple, because Indian businessmen directly come to China to do business, but relatively few, and Indian goods mainly rely on middlemen. At first, Indian pepper entered China by land through Sogdian merchants, mainly from the western regions.
The Sogdians are a people in Central Asia, belonging to the East Iran branch of the Iranian language family. From the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, they were one of the main business gangs on the Silk Road in the Western Regions. The more famous name of the Sogdians is "Nine Surnames of Zhaowu". China's surnames such as Cao, An, Shi, Kang, Shi, Luo, Bai and Mi all bear traces of this ancient nation. The famous An Lushan, Shi Siming and Mi Fei in history are all Sogdians.
Concluding remarks
Whether Indian pepper is the origin of pepper is still controversial. Some people think that pepper first appeared in Cambodia and then entered the Indian mainland, and with the help of Iranian national businessmen, it went to the world through the Indian mainland. Whether in ancient or modern society, pepper is one of the main spices and seasonings for people all over the world.
At present, Vietnam has replaced India as the largest pepper producer. China has also become a big pepper producer. During the period of 1947, Indonesian big-leaf pepper was introduced to qionghai city, China. After 1950s, it was introduced to western Yunnan, Zhanjiang, southern Guangxi and Yunxiao County, Fujian.
By September 2008, the total output of pepper in China exceeded 30,000 tons, and its production area and output ranked sixth and fifth respectively in the world. At present, pepper has developed from a luxury spice in the Han and Tang Dynasties to a high-end consumer product after the Song Dynasty, and finally became a common commodity today. Communication and technology let Hu Shuli go to the world and improve the living standards of people all over the world.