The spice trade: Selling the scents of luxury
How the worldwide craze for spices built empires and ushered in early globalisation. Joining Rajan Datar are Gary Paul Nabhan, Chris Nierstrasz and Anjum Anand.
The trade in spices goes back to ancient times: from the Frankincense trails that originated in the Dhofar Highlands in present day Yemen to the Queen of Sheba who travelled to Jerusalem with camels laden with spices. For centuries, spices have captured our imagination far more than any other commodities, and spice traders, from the Arab merchants to the European trading companies of the Age of Discovery, capitalised on the mystique of these luxurious aromatics to create a value chain that led to vast fortunes being made and Empires established. And this worldwide craze for spices played a great part in the rise of globalised trade and the birth of the Stock exchange and the capitalist system.
Joining Rajan Datar to discuss the Spice Trade is Professor Gary Paul Nabhan whose ancestors were Arab spice merchants and who鈥檚 the author of "Cumin, Camels, and Caravans: A Spice Odyssey", Dr Chris Nierstrasz, Lecturer in Global History at Erasmus University in Rotterdam and specialist on the United Dutch East India Company, and the TV Chef and Indian cookery writer Anjum Anand.
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Clip
-
How the chilli was smuggled out of the Americas
Duration: 02:03
Broadcasts
- Thu 21 Mar 2019 09:06GMT麻豆官网首页入口 World Service
- Fri 22 Mar 2019 00:06GMT麻豆官网首页入口 World Service
- Sat 23 Mar 2019 14:06GMT麻豆官网首页入口 World Service News Internet
- Sun 24 Mar 2019 15:06GMT麻豆官网首页入口 World Service except Americas and the Caribbean, East Asia & South Asia
- Mon 25 Mar 2019 04:06GMT麻豆官网首页入口 World Service except East and Southern Africa, Europe and the Middle East, News Internet & West and Central Africa
Featured in...
Luxuries and obsessions—The Forum
How the world's desires were fuelled
Do you think political or business leaders need to be charismatic? Or do you prefer highly competent but somewhat stern people?
Podcast
-
The Forum
The programme that explains the present by exploring the past