Throughout the ages it has come about that the principal source of sugar for humanity is the sugar cane. Recent research shows that it originated in New Guinea and only later was it to be found further west in India and China.It was introduced to the West in 325 BC when the troops of Alexander the Great returned to Europe. From the Middle Ages till the Renaissance it was known in Europe due to the powerful influence of Venice...
Sugar travels
Throughout the ages it has come about that the principal source of sugar for humanity is the sugar cane. Recent research shows that it originated in New Guinea and only later was it to be found further west in India and China.It was introduced to the West in 325 BC when the troops of Alexander the Great returned to Europe. From the Middle Ages till the Renaissance it was known in Europe due to the powerful influence of Venice. Only later, after the discovery of America, were whole colonies devoted to its production. By the beginning of the 19th century sugar cane had at last completed a round-the-world trip which had taken 2000 years.
From India sugar cane reached Persia, and then spread throughout the Middle East till it reached the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. We find it in the mid 8th century near the Nile delta.
The racial mixing brought about by war and trade also led to the spread of sugar cane. The crusaders returning from the Holy Land brought sugar to France. We find it growing in Sicily in the 12th century, where it had been introduced by the Arabs. The formal cultivation of sugar cane is thought to have first started in Cyprus in about 1550 – in ancient times the island had been covered with cane planted by the Egyptians. But Sicily jealously guarded its right to sugar production.
Sugar at the heart of the Mauritian economy
By the mid-19th century, times had greatly changed since those heroic days when the boats of the Compagnie des Indes were supplied with barrels of rough alcohol by the inhabitants of the island. Now was the time for expansion of exports to new continents. Foreign investment, mainly from England, led to technological improvements in production such as the steam engine, vacuum “cooking” and centrifugation. The proliferation of sugar mills reached its peak in about 1853 when sugar was being exported by sea to Europe, India and Australia. Gradually it became clear that it would be much more economical to centralize sugar estates. The industry was consolidated in the early years of the 20th century and saw its most glorious moment at the time of the sugar boom in the twenties.
Throughout the ages it has come about that the principal source of sugar for humanity is the sugar cane. Recent research shows that it originated in New Guinea and only later was it to be found further west in India and China.It was introduced to the West in 325 BC when the troops of Alexander the Great returned to Europe. From the Middle Ages till the Renaissance it was known in Europe due to the powerful influence of Venice. Only later, after the discovery of America, were whole colonies devoted to its production. By the beginning of the 19th century sugar cane had at last completed a round-the-world trip which had taken 2000 years.
The racial mixing brought about by war and trade also led to the spread of sugar cane. The crusaders returning from the Holy Land brought sugar to France. We find it growing in Sicily in the 12th century, where it had been introduced by the Arabs. The formal cultivation of sugar cane is thought to have first started in Cyprus in about 1550 – in ancient times the island had been covered with cane planted by the Egyptians. But Sicily jealously guarded its right to sugar production.
Sugar at the heart of the Mauritian economy
By the mid-19th century, times had greatly changed since those heroic days when the boats of the Compagnie des Indes were supplied with barrels of rough alcohol by the inhabitants of the island. Now was the time for expansion of exports to new continents. Foreign investment, mainly from England, led to technological improvements in production such as the steam engine, vacuum “cooking” and centrifugation. The proliferation of sugar mills reached its peak in about 1853 when sugar was being exported by sea to Europe, India and Australia. Gradually it became clear that it would be much more economical to centralize sugar estates. The industry was consolidated in the early years of the 20th century and saw its most glorious moment at the time of the sugar boom in the twenties.