Did you know that Maize or Corn, a cereal grain originating in Souther Mexico about 10,000 years ago, now commonly grown through out the world, known in India as makka or bhutta, is depicted in stone sculpture form as seen in the Hindu temples of Central India from the 2nd century BCE in Ajanta Caves and during the Hoysala Dynasty reign (1100 to 1300 AD)?

Maize or Corn – Part 1, Historical perspective

 

Did you know that Maize or Corn, a cereal grain originating in Souther Mexico about 10,000 years ago, now commonly grown through out the world, known in India as makka or bhutta, is depicted in stone sculpture form as seen in the Hindu temples of Central India from the 2nd century BCE in Ajanta Caves and during the Hoysala Dynasty reign (1100 to 1300 AD)?

Maize or Corn, a cereal grain, originating in Southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago, and known as "Indian corn" primarily meaning maize (the staple grain of indigenous Americans), is the third most important crop after rice and wheat. Its English name, also called Mej has many Indian vernacular names such as: Yavanala in Sanskrit; Govina Jola, Mekke Jola in Kannada; Maakai or barajovar, in Hindi; Jolam in Malayalam; Makka Jolam in Tamil; and Mokka Jonna in Telugu. Its botanical name 'Zea mays' in the family of Poaceae.

Maize's ancient usage in India is evidenced in depictions in stone sculpture forms as seen in the Hindu temples of Central and Southern India from the 2nd century BCE in Ajanta Caves and during the Hoysala Dynasty reign (1100 to 1300 AD).

Hindu adventurers might have brought maize to India from indirect trade with the Middle East during the 3rd millennium BC; or they might have acquired maize plants from trade across the Pacific Ocean at a later date. When Alexander the Great invaded India in the 4th century BC and left the country leaving behind some of his camp followers and soldiers from Egypt and Turkey who had stock of maize seed corn with them, who then cultivated maize in the marginal areas of India and it was then known as the "barbarian grain". During the following centuries, maritime trade with Persia and Indonesia brought fresh supplies of seed corn to the shores of India. In 1494, Porutguese ships reaching Malabar coast were able to purchase cargoes of maize from Hindu farmers from the wharfs at Calicut. Among the hill tribes of Assam, maize was grown even before rice and stone sculptuers in Buddhist caves attests to this fact.  

An Ecologist of the University of Delhi quoted ancient texts traced the Hindu word for maize as makka Rama referring to the ancient word junhari and khundrus and Hanta as mentioned in the Ayurvedic medicinal texts. 

In India, Maize was intially regarded as a Portuguese import that transformed Hindu agriculture. But this theory was discounted as several centuries earlier plant sculptures on temples at Halebid, Mysore, Khajuraho and Somnath are undoubtedly varieties of maize as a sacred item. A Hindu goddess of fevers is called Juari Mata who was worshipped as goddess of fevers, as Juari (maize) was a medicinal plant used in treatment of fevers. In the 14th century, Hakim Diya, a physican, used a medicine which he called 'makka or bhutta' recognised as maize. In the 16th century during Emperor Akbar's time, maize known as Juhar-i was a royal garden fruit and a food item of the Moghul army.

Some Chinese sources claim that China is the homeland of maize; the ancient name was 'fan-me', meaning "wheat of the western barbarians". The Song dynasty ceramic mural of 11th century AD, depicts a maize ear - complete with a yellow cob and green husk leaves. By 1424, the Chinese Admiral Zheng He, actively promoted the development of farms that were devoted to meeting the needs of an international commerciala fleet.

- Narasipur Char