Editing Sugar (section)

=== Ancient world to Renaissance ===

[[File:Canaviais Sao Paulo 01 2008 06.jpg|thumb|[[Sugar cane]] plantation]]

==== Asia ====

Sugar has been produced in the [[Indian subcontinent]]<ref name="Moxham2002">{{cite book|author=Roy Moxham|title=The Great Hedge of India: The Search for the Living Barrier that Divided a People|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sVWItAEACAAJ|date=7 February 2002|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0-7867-0976-2}}</ref> for thousands of years. Sugarcane cultivation spread from there into China via the [[Khyber Pass]] and caravan routes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gordon |first=Stewart |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_4AAwAAQBAJ |title=When Asia was the World |publisher=Da Capo Press |year=2008 |page=12|isbn=978-0-306-81556-0 }}</ref> It was not plentiful or cheap in early times, and in most parts of the world, [[honey]] was more often used for sweetening.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Eteraf-Oskouei |first1=Tahereh |last2=Najafi |first2=Moslem |date=June 2013 |title=Traditional and Modern Uses of Natural Honey in Human Diseases: A Review |journal=  Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences|volume=16 |issue=6 |pages=731–742 |pmid=23997898 |pmc=3758027 }}</ref> Originally, people chewed raw sugarcane to extract its sweetness. Even after refined sugarcane became more widely available during the European colonial era,<ref>{{cite book | title=The Cambridge World History of Food | year=2000 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vr2qnK_QOuAC&dq=palm+sugar+southeast+history&pg=PA1162 | page=1162 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=9780521402156 | access-date=19 March 2023 | archive-date=15 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415074233/https://books.google.com/books?id=Vr2qnK_QOuAC&dq=palm+sugar+southeast+history&pg=PA1162 | url-status=live }}</ref> [[palm sugar]] was preferred in [[Java]] and other sugar producing parts of southeast Asia, and along with [[coconut sugar]], is still used locally to make desserts today.<ref>{{cite book |title=Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia from Angkor Wat to East Timor |year=2004 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QKgraWbb7yoC&dq=palm+sugar+southeast+history&pg=PA1257 |page=1257 |isbn=9781576077702 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=5 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230505134019/https://books.google.com/books?id=QKgraWbb7yoC&dq=palm+sugar+southeast+history&pg=PA1257 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Cooking Through History: A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Food with Menus and Recipes |date=2 December 2020 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_cUOEAAAQBAJ&dq=palm+sugar+southeast+history&pg=PA645 |page=645 |isbn=9781610694568 |access-date=19 March 2023 |archive-date=15 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415074233/https://books.google.com/books?id=_cUOEAAAQBAJ&dq=palm+sugar+southeast+history&pg=PA645 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Sugarcane is native of tropical areas such as the Indian subcontinent (South Asia) and Southeast Asia.<ref name="Moxham2002"/><ref name=Kiple/> Different species seem to have originated from different locations; ''[[Saccharum barberi]]'' originated in India, and ''[[Saccharum edule|S. edule]]'' and ''[[Saccharum officinarum|S. officinarum]]'' came from [[New Guinea]].<ref name=Kiple>{{cite book |url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/sugar.htm |title=World history of Food – Sugar |first=Kenneth F. |last=Kiple |author2=Kriemhild Conee Ornelas |name-list-style=amp |publisher=Cambridge University Press |access-date=9 January 2012 |archive-date=23 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123183317/http://www.cambridge.org/us/books/kiple/sugar.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Sharpe>{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnoleaflets.com//leaflets/sugar.htm |title=Sugar Cane: Past and Present |work=Illinois: Southern Illinois University |author=Sharpe, Peter |year=1998 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710203319/http://www.ethnoleaflets.com//leaflets/sugar.htm |archive-date=10 July 2011}}</ref> One of the earliest historical references to sugarcane is in Chinese manuscripts dating to the 8th century BCE, which state that the use of sugarcane originated in India.<ref name=gr1>{{cite book |title=Something about sugar: its history, growth, manufacture and distribution |first=George |last=Rolph |year=1873 |url=https://archive.org/details/somethingaboutsu00rolprich|location=San Francisco|publisher= J.J. Newbegin }}</ref>

In the tradition of Indian medicine ([[Ayurveda|āyurveda]]), sugarcane is known by the name ''Ikṣu'', and sugarcane juice is known as ''Phāṇita''. Its varieties, synonyms and characteristics are defined in [[Nighantu|nighaṇṭus]] such as the Bhāvaprakāśa (1.6.23, group of sugarcanes).<ref>{{Cite book | last = Murthy | first = K.R. Srikantha | title = Bhāvaprakāśa of Bhāvamiśra, Vol. I | publisher = Chowkhamba Krishnadas Academy, Varanasi | year = 2016 | isbn=978-81-218-0000-6 | pages = 490–494 | edition = reprint 2016 | series = Krishnadas Ayurveda Series 45}}</ref>
Sugar remained relatively unimportant until around 350 AD when the Indians discovered methods of turning [[sugarcane juice]] into granulated crystals that were easier to store and transport. It was then considered as 'sweet spice' and Indian traders started trading sugar outside India.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Sugar - From Early Sugarcane Cultivation |url=https://www.sugarhistory.net/who-made-sugar/history-of-sugar/ |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=www.sugarhistory.net}}</ref> The Greek physician [[Pedanius Dioscorides]] attested to the method in his 1st century CE medical treatise ''[[De Materia Medica]]'': {{blockquote|There is a kind of coalesced honey called sakcharon [i.e. sugar] found in reeds in India and [[Arabia Felix|Eudaimon Arabia]] similar in consistency to salt and brittle enough to be broken between the teeth like salt,|author=Pedanius Dioscorides|title=Materia Medica|source=Book II<ref>Quoted from Book Two of Dioscorides' ''Materia Medica''. The book is downloadable from links at the Wikipedia [[Dioscorides]] page.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/de-materia-medica |title=de materia medica}}</ref>}}
In the local Indian language, these crystals were called ''khanda'' ([[Devanagari]]: खण्ड, {{IAST|Khaṇḍa}}), which is the source of the word ''candy''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sugarcane: Saccharum Officinarum |publisher=USAID, Govt of United States |year=2006 |page=7.1 |url=http://www.usaid.gov/locations/latin_america_caribbean/environment/docs/ag&environ/Sugarcane.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106015828/http://www.usaid.gov/locations/latin_america_caribbean/environment/docs/ag%26environ/Sugarcane.pdf |archive-date=6 November 2013 }}</ref> Indian sailors, who carried [[clarified butter]] and sugar as supplies, introduced knowledge of sugar along the various [[trade routes]] they travelled.<ref name="Adas">{{cite book |last=Adas |first=Michael |title=Agricultural and Pastoral Societies in Ancient and Classical History |date=2001 |publisher=Temple University Press |isbn=1-56639-832-0 |publication-place=Philadelphia |page=311}}</ref> Traveling Buddhist monks took sugar [[crystallization methods]] to China.<ref name="Kieschnick1">{{cite book | last=Kieschnick | first=John | title=The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture | publisher=Princeton University Press | publication-place=Princeton | date=2003-04-06 | isbn=0-691-09676-7}}</ref> During the reign of [[Harsha]] (r. 606–647) in [[North India]], Indian envoys in [[Tang dynasty|Tang China]] taught methods of cultivating sugarcane after [[Emperor Taizong of Tang]] (r. 626–649) made known his interest in sugar. China established its first sugarcane plantations in the seventh century.<ref name="sen 38 40">{{cite book | last=Sen | first=Tansen | title=Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600–1400 | publisher=University of Hawaii Press | publication-place=Honolulu (T.H.) | date=2003-01-01 | isbn=0-8248-2593-4 | pages=38–40}}</ref> Chinese documents confirm at least two missions to India, initiated in 647 CE, to obtain technology for sugar refining.<ref name="Kieschnick11">{{cite book | last=Kieschnick | first=John | title=The Impact of Buddhism on Chinese Material Culture | publisher=Princeton University Press | publication-place=Princeton | date=2003-04-06 | isbn=0-691-09676-7 | page=258}}</ref>

==== Europe ====

[[File:Trionfi di Cibele e Juno.jpg|thumb|Two elaborate sugar ''[[trionfo|triomfi]]'' of goddesses for a dinner given by the [[Earl of Castlemaine]], British ambassador in Rome, 1687]]

[[Nearchus]], admiral of [[Alexander the Great]], knew of sugar during the year 325 BC because of his participation in [[Indian campaign of Alexander the Great#Sources|the campaign of India]] led by Alexander (''[[Arrian]], [[Anabasis Alexandri|Anabasis]]'').<ref>Jean Meyer, Histoire du sucre, ed. Desjonquières, 1989</ref><ref>Anabasis Alexandri, translated by E.J. Chinnock (1893)</ref> In addition to the Greek physician [[Pedanius Dioscorides]], the Roman [[Pliny the Elder]] also described sugar in his 1st century CE [[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]: "''Sugar is made in Arabia as well, but Indian sugar is better. It is a kind of honey found in cane, white as gum, and it crunches between the teeth. It comes in lumps the size of a hazelnut. Sugar is used only for medical purposes.''"<ref name=faas>{{cite book | last1=Faas | first1=P. | last2=Whiteside | first2=S. | title=Around the Roman Table: Food and Feasting in Ancient Rome | publisher=University of Chicago Press | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-226-23347-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YXGlAr17oekC&pg=PA149 | page=149}}</ref> [[Crusades|Crusaders]] brought sugar back to Europe after their campaigns in the [[Holy Land]], where they encountered caravans carrying "sweet salt". Early in the 12th century, the [[Republic of Venice]] acquired some villages near [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] and set up estates to produce sugar for export to Europe. It supplemented the use of honey, which had previously been the only available sweetener.<ref name="Ponting 2000 481">{{cite book |last=Ponting |first=Clive |author-link=Clive Ponting |title=World history: a new perspective |orig-year=2000 |year=2000 |publisher=Chatto & Windus |location=London |isbn=978-0-7011-6834-6 |page=481}}</ref> Crusade chronicler [[William of Tyre]], writing in the late 12th century, described sugar as "very necessary for the use and health of mankind".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Barber |first1=Malcolm |edition=2nd |title=The two cities: medieval Europe, 1050–1320 |year=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-17415-2 |page=14 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Kkm7cgT_xkC&pg=PA14}}</ref> In the 15th century, [[Venice]] was the chief sugar refining and distribution center in Europe.<ref name=gr1/>

There was a drastic change in the mid-15th century, when [[Madeira]] and the [[Canary Islands]] were settled from Europe and sugar introduced there.<ref>Strong, 195</ref><ref name="Manning-2006">{{Cite book|last=Manning|first=Patrick|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/745696019|title=Themes in West Africa's history|date=2006|publisher=Ohio University|others=Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku.|isbn=978-0-8214-4566-2|location=Athens|pages=102–103|chapter=Slavery & Slave Trade in West Africa 1450-1930|oclc=745696019|access-date=24 August 2020|archive-date=31 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031183147/https://www.worldcat.org/title/themes-in-west-africas-history/oclc/745696019|url-status=live}}</ref> After this an "all-consuming passion for sugar ... swept through society" as it became far more easily available, though initially still very expensive.<ref>Strong, 194</ref> By 1492, Madeira was producing over {{convert|3000000|lb|kg|order=flip}} of sugar annually.<ref>Frankopan, 200. "By the time Columbus set sail, Madeira alone was producing more than 3 million pounds in weight of sugar per year—albeit at the cost of what one scholar has described as early modern 'ecocide,' as forests were cleared and non-native animal species like rabbits and rats multiplied in such numbers that they were seen as a form of divine punishment."</ref> [[Genoa]], one of the centers of distribution, became known for candied fruit, while Venice specialized in pastries, sweets (candies), and [[sugar sculpture]]s. Sugar was considered to have "valuable medicinal properties" as a "warm" food under prevailing categories, being "helpful to the stomach, to cure cold diseases, and sooth lung complaints".<ref>Strong, 194–195, 195 quoted</ref>

A feast given in [[Tours]] in 1457 by [[Gaston IV, Count of Foix|Gaston de Foix]], which is "probably the best and most complete account we have of a late medieval banquet" includes the first mention of sugar sculptures, as the final food brought in was "a heraldic menagerie sculpted in sugar: lions, stags, monkeys ... each holding in paw or beak the arms of the [[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungarian king]]".<ref>Strong, 75</ref> Other recorded grand feasts in the decades following included similar pieces.<ref>Strong, 133–134, 195–197</ref> Originally the sculptures seem to have been eaten in the meal, but later they become merely table decorations, the most elaborate called ''[[trionfo|trionfi]]''. Several significant sculptors are known to have produced them; in some cases their preliminary drawings survive. Early ones were in brown sugar, partly [[casting|cast]] in molds, with the final touches carved. They continued to be used until at least the Coronation Banquet for [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom]] in 1903; among other sculptures every guest was given a sugar crown to take away.<ref>Strong, 309</ref>