It was a common belief
that areca nut and the practice of Tambula chewing is native to India. However,
recent philological (based on linguistic studies) and archaeological evidence
casts doubt on this theory. However, the literary evidence continues to
support an Indian origin.
The earliest
archaeological evidence of areca nut use was found in “Spirit Cave” in
north-western Thailand. Radiocarbon dating of areca nuts found in those caves
confirmed that they belong to an era of 8776 to 7622 BCE (Before Common Era).
Linguistically, the widest range of words for ‘areca’ and ‘betel’ are found in
Indonesia, suggesting a possibility of origin in the region. Sireh, the most
widespread name for ‘betel’ in Malaysia, is not derived from either
Sanskrit/Pali or Indonesian roots, suggesting a possible independent
development in Malaysia. Chinese references go as far back as a second century
BCE. describing of Tambula chewing in Vietnam. By the T'ang period (618 - 907
CE), numerous Chinese references on the use and export of areca nut from the
Indonesian archipelago are available. The fact that the Chinese term for areca
nut since at least T'ang times was “pin-lang”. Perhaps this term was derived
from Malay “pinang” suggests that the area then dominated by Malay-speaking Sri
Vijaya (Ruling Sumatra, Malaya, western Borneo) was the major source of this
commodity.
A Chinese chronicle of the
first half of the sixth century (Book 54 of the History of the Liang Dynasty)
mention areca nut consumption in Indonesia. Persian descriptions of Tambula
chewing appeared in Indian literature of the eighth and ninth centuries. From
the tenth century onwards, literary sources provide plenty of evidence that
Tambula was widely used in the region. Champa (Vietnam) gave tribute to China
in the form of areca nuts in the tenth and eleventh centuries. The book purportedly
written at the end of the thirteenth century by king Ramkamhaeng, of the
Sukhothai Kingdom in Thailand, says ‘The people of this land of Sukhothai...
celebrate the Kathina (Buddhist festival celebrating the end of Monsoon rains)
ceremonies... with heaps of areca nuts”. The symbolical use of Tambula in
Cambodia, for example, can be traced to a legendary Prince Prah Thong who
marries a serpent princess. She gives the prince a Tambula as a pledge of her
trust, and since this time Tambula has been used in Cambodia to bond
relationships.
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