The Pepper Trade

14th Century Painting, Harvesting of Pepper in Coilum (Quilon/Kollam) in Southern India. Source: Wikimedia Commons

"Worth its weight in gold" was not just a figurative expression when it came to pepper in history. It might be your standard table fixture today, but back in medieval times, black pepper was the height of luxury. Native to the Malabar coast of south west India, in the state known as Kerala today, black pepper was the most important spice in the world during this period. A pound of pepper could literally rival the value of a pound of gold. Arab mariners travelled to the Malabar coast to procure the lucrative pepper and other spices (such as cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, and many more) for many centuries, long before the arrival of Europeans. The Mappilah (Mappila, Moplah) muslims who live in Kerala today are the intermarried descendants of these Levantine traders.

Varieties of pepper. Source: By Chindukulkarni via Wikimedia Commons

It was not until 1498 that the Portuguese explorer Vasco De Gama landed in Calicut, one of the ports on the Malabar coast. De Gama was the first European to link Europe and Asia by sea. Access to the pepper trade and other spices was hugely lucrative, but brought the Portuguese in direct conflict with the Arab traders. De Gama's armadas had to navigate a colossal ocean journey, but their eventual European monopoly of the spice trade significantly bolstered the Portuguese empire.

Departure of fleet (Portuguese armada) from Lisbon harbour for Brazil the East Indies and America in 1592.
Source: By Theodore de Bry (Americae Tertia Pars) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

As the use of spice increased in Europe, ultimately, the Portuguese stranglehold over the spice trade resulted in a European battle to control the spice trade from the Malabar. De Gama's discovery of this new maritime trade route, ushered in a new age of European imperialism. The Portuguese in Malabar were later overthrown by the Dutch and then the British.

Pepper House Fort Kochi (Fort Cochin) a port in Kerala
Source: Ranjith Siji -  via Wikimedia Commons