• Latest
Ceylon Cinnamon:  A Concise History

Ceylon Cinnamon: A Concise History

January 17, 2023
Ponniyin Selvan 1: Leveraging the Lure of History and the Power of Storytelling

Ponniyin Selvan 1: Leveraging the Lure of History and the Power of Storytelling

January 11, 2023
Rumination and Emotional Process

Rumination and Emotional Process

January 13, 2023
Segar Represents Sri Lanka in Asia Art Bienniale in Dhaka

Segar Represents Sri Lanka in Asia Art Bienniale in Dhaka

January 11, 2023
Good Conversations Start with Mlesna

Good Conversations Start with Mlesna

January 11, 2023
Exclusive Screening of ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ on its Global Premiere at KCC Multiplex

Exclusive Screening of ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ on its Global Premiere at KCC Multiplex

January 11, 2023
Humble Journey of Podi Hamuduruwo

Humble Journey of Podi Hamuduruwo

December 1, 2022
KCC: Kandy’s Marvel

KCC: Kandy’s Marvel

December 1, 2022
Sweet Dreams and Serene Night

Sweet Dreams and Serene Night

December 1, 2022
Lashings of Nelli Juice: Jaffna’s Inimitable Nectar of Life

Lashings of Nelli Juice: Jaffna’s Inimitable Nectar of Life

December 1, 2022
Sustainable Island Tourism from Tenerife to Just to the Maldives

Sustainable Island Tourism from Tenerife to Just to the Maldives

November 8, 2022
Kumaradas Maapaana Mudaliyar: The 10th Custodian of Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil

Kumaradas Maapaana Mudaliyar: The 10th Custodian of Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil

November 8, 2022
50 Hudson Yards Opens in New York

50 Hudson Yards Opens in New York

November 8, 2022
Retail
Monday, February 6, 2023
Subscription
Advertise
  • Home
  • Issues
    • 2022
      • January 2022
      • February 2022
      • March 2022
      • April 2022
      • May 2022
      • June 2022
      • July 2022
      • August 2022
      • September 2022
      • October 2022
      • November 2022
      • December 2022
      • January 2023
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Archive
  • Find Us on Magzter
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result

Ceylon Cinnamon: A Concise History

in General, October 2017
0 0
0
Wild cinnamon, Hortus Malabaricus, 1682

Words Richard Boyle

From time immemorial, cinnamon, the peeled inner bark of a tree, was one of the most coveted of spices. Arab traders in particular sailed to the Island in search of this spice, which grew wild in the Kandy jungles and kept its location secret. It is an endemic species – later given the apt botanical name Cinnamomum Zeylanicum – and considered the world’s finest. In the first century AD, a mere 350 grams of this cinnamon cost five kilos of silver.

Today it is given the same geographic identity by the trade, ‘Ceylon Cinnamon’ – its fine quality reflected in its grade – ‘True Cinnamon’. The bark is paper thin, brittle, yellowish brown in colour, and highly fragrant; far superior to common cinnamon varieties.

The Portuguese

The search for valuable cinnamon motivated the Portuguese to discover the route round the Cape of Good Hope to Ceylon in 1505. Their selection of Colombo as a trading post in preference to Trincomalee with its vast natural harbour was due to it being the centre of the cinnamon trade. The Portuguese began the first commercial cultivation of cinnamon by reorganising production and they became the first Europeans to trade in True Cinnamon.

The Dutch

Cinnamon peeling, Romeyn de Hooghe, 1682

True Cinnamon was precious enough for Portugal and Holland to fight to control its trade and in 1656 the Dutch seized the Island, by then the world’s largest cinnamon supplier. Such importance was reflected in the local coat-of-arms of the quasi-governmental Dutch East India Company: bales of cinnamon beside the forelegs of an elephant with a cinnamon branch in its trunk. During early Dutch times it was the wild cinnamon of independent Kandy that they focused on. But when the supply became undependable, cinnamon gardens were planted around Negombo, Colombo – the residential area of Cinnamon Gardens marks the site – Moratuwa, Beruwela, Galle and Matara.

Dutch VOC coat-of-arms with elephant and cinnamon

The British

Cinnamon peelers (WLH Skeen & Co)

After the British gained control of the Island from the Dutch in 1796, they continued the state monopoly of the cinnamon trade, which had been introduced by their predecessors. Cinnamon was then the only major export crop, which fetched £8 per pound in weight, in London. But Ceylon’s world monopoly of the cinnamon trade ended due to competition and the muddled policies of the British government. Instead, coffee, and later tea, eclipsed cinnamon, yet today Sri Lanka still provides a substantial share of the global market.

TweetShareShare

Search

No Result
View All Result

Recent News

Ponniyin Selvan 1: Leveraging the Lure of History and the Power of Storytelling

Ponniyin Selvan 1: Leveraging the Lure of History and the Power of Storytelling

Rumination and Emotional Process

Rumination and Emotional Process

Segar Represents Sri Lanka in Asia Art Bienniale in Dhaka

Segar Represents Sri Lanka in Asia Art Bienniale in Dhaka

Explore Sri Lanka

Explore Sri Lanka Online, the web edition of Sri Lanka’s leading monthly corporate publication. Founded in 1996, the magazine currently has a distribution of over 6,000 copies island-wide.

Recent News

  • Ponniyin Selvan 1: Leveraging the Lure of History and the Power of Storytelling
  • Rumination and Emotional Process
  • Segar Represents Sri Lanka in Asia Art Bienniale in Dhaka

Find Us

Explore Sri Lanka
20-2/1 Lauries Place Facing
R. A. De Mel Mawatha
Colombo 04
Sri Lanka.
(+94 11) 259 7991
(+94) 715 134 134
info@btoptions.com
btoptions.com

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 Explore Sri Lanka | Designed by Lithic Labs

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Issues
    • 2022
      • January 2022
      • February 2022
      • March 2022
      • April 2022
      • May 2022
      • June 2022
      • July 2022
      • August 2022
      • September 2022
      • October 2022
      • November 2022
      • December 2022
      • January 2023
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Archive
  • Find Us on Magzter

© 2022 Explore Sri Lanka | Designed by Lithic Labs

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In