📘 Question (IAS Prelims 2025 | GS-I)

Consider the following fruits:

I. Papaya
II. Pineapple
III. Guava

How many of the above were introduced in India by the Portuguese in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries?

(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All the three
(d) None

---

✅ Correct Answer

(c) All the three

---

🎯 Theme of the Question

Modern India | Colonial contacts | Food history | Cultural exchange

---

🧠 Classroom Explanation

This question is rooted in the Columbian Exchange, the large-scale global transfer of crops, animals, and food cultures following European contact with the Americas.

In India, the Portuguese were the earliest European power to establish a sustained presence. UPSC tests whether aspirants can identify agents of transfer and correctly associate them with New World crops that later became part of everyday Indian life.

---

🚢 Portuguese as Agents of Agricultural Transfer

The Portuguese:

• Arrived in India in the late 15th century
• Acted as key intermediaries between the Americas, Africa, and Asia
• Introduced several New World crops, including:
  • Maize
  • Sweet potato
  • Capsicum (chillies)

Over time, these crops became deeply embedded in Indian agriculture and cuisine.

---

🍍 Pineapple

• Origin: The Americas, especially Brazil
• Introduction to India: By the Portuguese in the 16th century

Historical references:

• The Dutch traveller Linschoten (1580s) described pineapple cultivation in India
• Abul Fazl, in the Ain-i-Akbari (1590s), listed pineapple among sweet fruits grown in India
  • Referred to as Kathal-i-Safari (“jackfruit for travel”)
  • Praised for portability and taste

Initially a luxury fruit, pineapple became affordable as cultivation spread.

---

🍈 Papaya

• Origin: Central America
• Route to India: Via Southeast Asia, especially the Philippines and Malacca

Evidence:

• Described by Linschoten
• Not mentioned by Abul Fazl, indicating a later arrival in North India

In 1623, the Italian traveller Pietro Della Valle encountered papaya in Portuguese Daman, comparing it to European melons but noting its superior sweetness.

---

🍐 Guava

• Scientific name: Psidium guajava
• Origin: Central America
• Introduction: By Portuguese traders in the early 17th century

The fruit:

• Adapted rapidly to Indian climatic conditions
• Became widely cultivated and popular across regions

---

🧠 UPSC Elimination Logic

• Papaya → New World fruit → Portuguese → India ✅
• Pineapple → New World fruit → Portuguese → India ✅
• Guava → New World fruit → Portuguese → India ✅

👉 All three fruits were introduced by the Portuguese.

---

🧩 One-Line Ready Recall

New World fruits + Portuguese = Papaya, Pineapple, Guava (16th–17th centuries).

---

🧠 Prelims Strategy Insight

When New World crops appear → think Portuguese, not British

UPSC increasingly tests material culture and food history

Many “traditional” Indian foods are products of early globalisation