Ceylon Cinnamon plant (Cinnamomum verum) comes from the Lauraceae family which is an endemic plant to Sri Lanka. Cassia cinnamon is produced in many countries, with Indonesia (C. burmannii), China (C. cassia, syn.C. aronaticum) and Vietnam (Cinnamomum loureiroi) being the major players.
The tale of this cinnamon begins from the glorious kingdom, Egypt. Although there is no proper Egyptian evidence, ancient stories make reference to the availability of cinnamon in 2000BC. Cinnamon was valued higher than gold and was only used by royals. Cinnamon was used as a perfuming agent in the embalming process and as a spice in cooking. The value given by Egyptians to cinnamon is well demonstrated by the story that emperor Nero using year’s stock of cinnamon to burn in the funeral of his second wife Pyre as atonement for his share on her death.
Soon after Egyptians, Romans and Greeks fell under the charm of cinnamon. In new markets also, cinnamon became one of the most expensive spices. Arabs dominated the spices trade in the European market. They transported cinnamon through Indian land mass which was labour intensive and time-consuming. The difficulty of getting to markets and the scarcity of the resource ended up cinnamon obtaining a mythical reverence throughout the annals of history.
Around this time Romanian named Mariner Hippalus discovered the Indian wind routes revealing a new part of the world. Romans broke the spice trade monopoly of Arabs. According to the records, it is not clear whether Romans were able to find the real source of cinnamon. From this point in e history, it is hard to say which type is being referred to, whether it is Ceylon or Cassia cinnamon. First evidence on Ceylon cinnamon comes into light in the thirteenth century.
Europeans who were experiencing the trade monopoly of Arabians, launched expeditions in search for the magical sources of cinnamon. After many failed attempts, miraculously in 1518 Portuguese found a small island in the Indian Ocean which was home for cinnamon. Up to this century, Portuguese were buying spices from Arabs. Removing the middleman from the equation, Portuguese started the direct trade of spices from Ceylon, Malabar Indian Coast, and Fareast coast.
After Arabs, Portuguese took over the trade monopoly over spices. Understanding the potential of Ceylon cinnamon trade, Portuguese became greedy for more profits and forced Sinhala kings to produce 11000kg of cinnamon bark annually. They brought strict regulations on cinnamon cultivators and peelers. The penalty for poor management and destruction of cinnamon cultivation was death.
Soon Ceylon cinnamon became one of the most valued spices which was a reason to attract other foreign invaders to the country. Following the trail of Portuguese, Dutch invaded Ceylon in 1658. Following Portuguese and Dutch, British took Ceylon under their flag in 1796.
When the power passed to British Dutch had ruled the country for more than 150 years and they had expanded the cinnamon cultivation and had developed infrastructure to facilitate the trade. Taking the advantage of the prevailing favorable environment, British brought a new transformation to Ceylon cinnamon trade. British supreme changed the direction of Ceylon cinnamon trade by canceling the prohibitive export duty. With this fresh change in the tax policy in 1843 cinnamon export quantity was nearly doubled to 375.000 Kg within next few years.
British had extensively focused on widening the cinnamon croplands. After nine years of British power Cinnamon cultivated lands had extended to 40,000 acres only within Ceylon. Due to the renowned success in the cinnamon trade, cinnamon had spreaded in other regions like Seychelles, Madagascar and the West Indies.
According to the ancient trade records in 1867 cinnamon quills and chips were exported amounting to 450,000 Kg. Cinnamon oil is not mentioned as a commodity in these records. However according to the price ordinance in Berlin (1574) and Frankfurt (1582) cinnamon oil had been exported from Ceylon. Although there is no clear evidence on this matter it seems that commencement of cinnamon oil distillation must have been initiated the Dutch.
End of the Second World War brought a new dawn of freedom upon the world. All the colonial countries under the British pledged for the freedom which they received subsequently. After the independence cinnamon became a major source of income for these countries.
Cinnamon and Sri Lanka people are connected with a tight bond for eternity. Cinnamon is a significant part of most of native cuisines and ayurvedic medicine. In the cast system of Sri Lanka which is based on the occupation system, cinnamon peelers are included. Although the cast system is outdated, today also the job proceeds by traditional cinnamon peelers in Sri Lanka. Yearlong sunshine in the country and the naturally fertilized soil makes a comfortable home for the best cinnamon in the world. Southern part of the country produces the golden cinnamon grades of cinnamon.
Ceylon cinnamon will able to keep coming generations also under its spell, as it had done for centuries.