The origins of betel chewing are unknown but it is at least 2,000 years old. Although it has long been held that betel chewing is native to India, recent linguistic and archaeological evidence casts doubt on this theory. Only literary evidence continues to support an Indian origin. The word ‘betel’ was first used in the sixteenth century by the Portuguese. According to I.H. Burkill, it is probably a transliteration of the Malay word vetila (‘the mere leaf’) which is close in sound to ‘betel’. The word has undergone a series of spellings from ‘bettele’ to ‘betre’ to ‘betle’ and finally to ‘betel’. ‘Areca’ may have derived from the Malay word adakka (‘areca-nut’) or from adakeya , the Indian equivalent. The widest range of words for ‘areca’ and ‘betel’ has been found in Indonesia, which suggests it may be the original location where these words were spoken. In India, on the other hand, the lack of variety of words for ‘areca’ and ‘betel’ indicates a later date of origin for the plants in that area. Moreover, sireh , the most widespread name for betel in Malaysia, is not derived from Sanskrit, which suggests betel chewing might have developed independently in Malaysia. Based on linguistic evidence, therefore, the custom seems to be native to the Indonesian archipelago.The earliest archaeological evidence found so far is at Spirit Cave in north-western Thailand, where remains of Areca catechu, dating from 10,000 BC have been found. Similar finds have been reported at other early sites in Thailand such as Ban Chiang which dates to 3600 BC to AD 200-300. All finds, however, are from the cultivated plant; the absence of a wild species in the same area may suggest the custom originated elsewhere. The wild species has been found in Malaysia and adds archaeological support to the linguistic evidence of its origin in that area. Skeletons bearing evidence of betel chewing, dated to about 3000 BC, have also been found in the Duyong Cave in the Philippines. Compared with these finds, the earliest archaeological evidence for betel found in India is the early years of the present era, which is much later than other parts of the region. Literary sources, however, point to an Indian origin. A Pali text of 504 BC mentions betel. Chinese chronicles of the second century BC describe betel chewing in Vietnam. The next known reference is the Mandasor Silk Weaver’s Inscription from India of about AD 473. Areca-nut in Indonesia was mentioned in a Chinese chronicle of the first half of the sixth century (Book 54 of the History of the Liang Dynasty ). Persian descriptions of betel chewing appeared in Indian literature of the eighth and ninth centuries. From the tenth century onwards, literary sources provide plenty of evidence that betel 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 stele of King Ramkamhaeng, of the Sukhothai Kingdom in Thailand, purportedly written at the end of the thirteenth century, says ‘The people of this land of Sukhothai... celebrate the Kathin ceremonies... with heaps of areca nuts.’The earliest European reference to betel was made by Marco Polo in the thirteenth century, who noted that the people of India always have a quid in their mouths and that betel chewing ‘prevailed especially among the nobles and magnates and kings.’ Other early travellers, such as Ibn Batuta and Vasco Da Gama, also observed betel chewing in the East.In addition to material evidence, the oral traditions of South-East Asia give insight into the origins of betel. The symbolical use of betel in Cambodia, for example, can be traced to a legendary Prince Prah Thong who marries a serpent princess. She gives the prince a betel quid as a pledge of her trust, and since this time betel has been used in Cambodia to bond relationships.From these sources—linguistic, archaeological, literary, and oral—it seems likely that betel chewing was practised in South-East Asia in prehistoric times. From the beginning centuries of the common era its use spread throughout the region, and from the tenth century onwards, it appears betel has been used regularly. rooneyarchive.net/lectures/lec_betel_chewing_in_south-east_asia.htm
Posted on: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 03:25:20 +0000
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