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chinense Capsicum migration and things like the Ghost Pepper
- Thread starter AJ Drew
- Start date
mikeg, the Naga (male) and Nagi (female) are serpent like entities / deities in Hinduism, Bhuddhism, Janism, and Sikhism. The Mahabharata, a sacred text which I believe predates the Christian bible by hundreds of years, speaks of the Naga and Nagi. The head hunters of the Nagaland area have a tradition of cleaning their severed heads of flesh by boiling them with naga peppers. In some areas, the ghost pepper is called the naga / noga jolokia. Per many references, the naming of the pepper was due to its association with those same head hunters from Nagaland.
Here is the thing, one of the names for Ghost Pepper is Noga / Naga Jolokia. Most references say this is a reference to those head hunters that used them. So I guess it is possible the Brits introduced capsicum, crossed it to come up with Noga / Naga Jolokia and then handed them out to head hunters for experimentation, but I am thinking that is a bit of a stretch.
Here is the thing, one of the names for Ghost Pepper is Noga / Naga Jolokia. Most references say this is a reference to those head hunters that used them. So I guess it is possible the Brits introduced capsicum, crossed it to come up with Noga / Naga Jolokia and then handed them out to head hunters for experimentation, but I am thinking that is a bit of a stretch.
Thank you. The implication, then, seems to be that there was an established crop of a Capsicum frutescens peppers in Nagaland, it was crossed with British-introduced Capsicum chinense, and the Naga/Bhut pepper is the result....
I have doubts. I don't know how much earlier the C. frutescens variey was established in the area. Also, C. frutescens is usually much less hot than superhots. Further, C. frutescens is also introduced from South America, thus wouldn't have preceded the C. chinense introduction to the area by more than a century or two.
Could there have been some non-Capsicum source of pungent fruit that were used in the Nagaland peoples'ritual preparation of heads -- perhaps black pepper? The berries of black pepper are red, and the berries of some related species are elongate shapes -- resembling the typical fruit of C. frutescens. Any historical records that you have accessed may have data skewed by names like "pepper", which can refer to genus Piper (to which black pepper belongs), genus Capsicum, or other pungent fruit.
I lack sufficient info to offer conclusions, but these questions come to mind.
I have doubts. I don't know how much earlier the C. frutescens variey was established in the area. Also, C. frutescens is usually much less hot than superhots. Further, C. frutescens is also introduced from South America, thus wouldn't have preceded the C. chinense introduction to the area by more than a century or two.
Could there have been some non-Capsicum source of pungent fruit that were used in the Nagaland peoples'ritual preparation of heads -- perhaps black pepper? The berries of black pepper are red, and the berries of some related species are elongate shapes -- resembling the typical fruit of C. frutescens. Any historical records that you have accessed may have data skewed by names like "pepper", which can refer to genus Piper (to which black pepper belongs), genus Capsicum, or other pungent fruit.
I lack sufficient info to offer conclusions, but these questions come to mind.
I pondered the Naga use of chili in their rituals and customs and came to the conclusion that it is analagous with Cannabis and alcohol in other parts of the world. As an example - here in RSA the San (as we call them - being p.c. and all) or Bushmen (as they prefer to be called!) acquired cannabis regularly quite late - prob 1700's or so - through regular contact with European travellers/explorers. It became a part of their culture - because they were already using other psychotropics. It was therefore easily assimilated into their existing cultural paradigms. I agree with mikeg - the Naga were most likely using Piper (nigrum and probably longum as well) in their "exorcism" rituals. I have seen a culinary adventure programme with Gordon Ramsay where he visits Nagaland and they prepare a curry of sorts with wild pig and black pepper. It would seem that the chili was easily assimilated into their culture because there was already an analog: Piper. The culture and traditions are not as a result of Capsicum chinense but rather it became easily assimilated because there was already a practice of "heat" being used to burn away evil spirits. Add to this that the Morich looks like inverted flames and burns like all hell and you have a suped-up version of the original practice now in effect and their culture has evolved to accept this new, more fitting, bounty.
I looked that up a few posts ago... the genus Capsicum started in South America long after it separated from the other landmasses.... Peppers (genus Capsicum) originated in South America. Uh, maybe Central America (RobStar, any input appreciated here...)Ozzy2001 said:
... anyway, the progenitor of most cultivated peppers was either a lanky sparse tepin from Mexico (C. annuum) or maybe a woodland shrubby bush from the Amazon River Basin (Capsicums baccatum, chinense, or frutescens) or one of the upland (Peru/Bolivia) plants that was cultivated by the Moche people (Capsicum chinense), the Incas (Capsicum pubescens), or other folk, in other nearby locations. What you can be sure of is that it was small-fruited, fairly sharp/hot flavored, and red or yellow in color (maybe orange, but that's less likely).
I'm a layman, untrained in this stuff... RobStar, or other academically qualified members might clarify, and answer this excellent question better.
If I get some time this weekend I'll sit down and Google it. That sounds very interesting. With everything it's cool to see what it came from. Like trees. There are so many now but you know different phenotypes were born and were better suited to survive different environments.RobStar said: