History of Sugar

According to Collier Encyclopedia there are two different region of the world have been

suggested as the place of origin – the rich valleys of northeastern India and the Polynesian Island

of the South Pacific. Further most sugarcane is mentioned in the Institute of Manu and other

early Hindu sacred books.

Sugar, the word it self derive directly from Sanskrit sarkara (signifying gravel, grit, or

sugar); it appears centuries later as sukkar in Arabic, succarum in medieval Latin and suger in

Middle English.

From India sugarcane Cultivation Spread to China between 1800 to 1700 BC. This is

attested by several Chinese writers who reported the technique of boiling cane liquid to produce

crude type of sugar was barrowed from the people living in the Ganges Valley.

Probably the 1st reference of sugar in classical time dates from the invasion of India by

the armies of Alexander the Great. In 327 B.C. Nearchus, one of Alexander’s Officers, reported

that “In India there is said to be reed which yields honey without the help of the bees; also, that

yield an intoxicating drink (rum?) Even the plant does not bear fruit.” The Persian also barrowed

the use of sugar from India although at much later date and concentrated mainly upon developing

new method of sugar refining. By 700 A.D., Nestorian monks in the Euphrates region

successfully produced white sugar through the purifying action of ashes.

The Arab conquest, which swept from the Near East across Northern Africa and into

Spain from the seventh to ninth century, introduced sugar cultivation through the Mediterranean

basin. Several centuries later, Crusader returning to Europe from the Holy Land brought back

taste of Sugar.
 In 1506 Pedro de Atienza, transplanted cane in Sto. Domingo and finally reached the

New World. In the next 30 years cane cultivation reach the Caribbean, and became one of the

most valuable crop of the West Indies, popularly known “Sugar Islands” due to rising demand in

Northern Europe

As sugar cultivation continued to expand in the Caribbean, extending even as far as South

America continent, the industry demanded additional hand to gather the cane and work the

primitive machinery. In the 18th to 19th century at first, cane grinder were operated by oxen or

horses; gradually, in those areas favored by the trade winds, stone windmills were replace these

less effective method. Production on the whole, how ever remains simple. After crushing the raw

cane and purifying the resultant liquid with lime, clay or ashes, evaporation took place in

massive copper or iron pans directly over wood fires. Refinement consisted of melting the

crystal, boiling the mixture then recrystallizing the sugar particles.

The history of refined sugar derived from cane, between the year 1800 to 1960, was

relatively uneventful, save of the dramatic advancement which took place in cultivation method

of cane, it mechanical processing and the ultimate refraining of sugar.