Mango is the main fruit of Asia and this fruit has developed its own
importance all over the world.
Being an useful and delicious fruit, it was the part of culture and
religion since long time.
Besides its fine taste and good qualities, it is called as the king
of fruits.
Mango, Mangifera indica, is the natural fruit of India and
since long, it is the choicest fruit in India and abroad.
This fruit has been in cultivation in India sub-continent for well
over 4000 years and has been the favourite of the kings and commoners
because of its nutritive value, taste, attractive fragrance and health
promoting qualities and now it is recognized as one of the best fruits
in the world market.
Historical and philological facts bear that M. indica has been introduced
to the archipilogic regions of India from the mainland.
The mango is said to have originated in the Indo-Burma region (Decandolle,
1903; Popenoe, 1920; Vavilov, 1949-50).
On the basis of the presence of maximum number of allied species growing
in Malaysia, some workers are lead to believe that Malaysian region
is the original home of mango, as about 20 species are grown there.
Mango is undoubtedly under cultivation for more than 4000 years in
eastern India and Burma (Decandolle, 1904).
The mango had been introduced into certain islands of Asiatic archipelago
within the memory of living men.
The name common in Philippines ‘Manga’ shows a foreign origin.
Vavilov (1926) supported that mango originated in Indo-Myanmar region.
Hwen Sang, a Chinese traveller who visited India between 632-645
AD, was the first person to take mango to outside world.
Early in fifteenth century, pish voyagers, Muslim missionaries
and Portuguese carried mango to South East Asia and Philippines.
In the beginning of sixteenth century, Portuguese introduced mango
from Goa into South Africa and from Bombay to Egypt in 1825.
Mango was introduced into western hemisphere when it was first planted
in Brazil in 1700 and thereafter, it was introduced into West Indies
around 1740 (Chandler, 1958).
Hayes (1957) advocated that mango was being cultivated at the head
of the Persian Gulf by sixteenth century.
It was introduced in Philippines after 1600, in the Moluccas in 1865
and in the later part of eighteenth century (Burns and Prayag, 1921).
It is also reported that the mango was being grown in England under
glass house conditions as early as 1690 and trees at Kew were in fruiting
during 1818.
In Mexico, it was introduced before 1778 by the pish travellers
from the Philippines.
It was cultivated in Barbados in 1742 and in Jamaica in 1782.
According to Pope (1929), it was introduced in Hawaii between 1800
and 1820.
In 1809, it was carried from Mexico to Hawaii.
Mango was first planted in Florida and California in 1861 and 1880,
respectively.
Later in 1889, USDA introduced grafted Mulgoba variety from India
into Florida.
This genus Mangifera belongs to family Anacardiaceae,
originated in South-East Asia at an early date.
According to Mukherjee (1958), the natural spread of the genus is
limited to the Indo-Malaysian region, stretching from India to the Philippines
and New Guinea in the east.
There are 41 valid species of Mangifera which are distributed throughout
the world.
Mukherjee (1949) observed that this genus had its origin in the continental
region of Burma, Thailand, Indo-China and Malaysia peninsula.
The highest concentration of Mangifera species is reported to be in
the Malay peninsula followed by Sunda Islands and the eastern peninsula.
He further reported that occurrence of wild form of M. indica, allied
species M. sylvatica and M. coloneura, fossil leaf impressions of M.
pentandra and presence of numerous varieties in India indicates that
M. indica had originated in Indo-Burma region (Mukerjee, 1958).
A few other species M. foetida, M. caesia and M. odorata are confined
to Malaysian region.
The cultivar M. khasiana recorded earlier, is no longer traceable.
Presently, besides India, it is being cultivated in Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Burma, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, The
Fiji Islands, Tropical Australia, Egypt, Israel, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya,
Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Niger, Nigeria, Zaire, Madagascar, Mauritius,
the USA (Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico), Venezuela, Mexico, Brazil, Australia,
West Indies Islands and Combodia.
Nomenclature of Mango
Mango word comes from Malayalam, man-ka.
In Kerala, people call mango tree as ‘Ma’ or ‘Mavu’.
The first mention of mango (Manga) appeared in English in 1582 AD
in Lichefield’s translation of Castenheda’s conq. E. Indies (1.XVI :
42).
In India, the ripe and green fruits are referred as Amkeri (Hindi),
Mangai (Tamil), Mamidi kayi (Telugu, Mavin kayi (Kannada), Kancha ambu
(Oriya), Ambo (Marathi) Kachcha am (Bengali), Keri (Gujarat) and Pacha
Manga (Malayalam) Am (Hindi), Pachila Ambo (Oriya), Amba pikleta (Marathi).
Paka Aam (Bengali) and Amba (Kashmiri).
Mango has its name in different languages of the country and abroad.
The mango in Kannada language is called as Ma, Mam, Mavu, Amba, Mavina,
Rasal, Suka and Simavu; in Khand Maha; in Kodagu Mange; in Konkani Ambo;
in Malayalam Ma, Manga, Manna, Cutam Muchi, Amran; in Tamil Ma, Manti,
Mate, Kokku, Madi Malai, Mamagam, Mandi and Magasmaram; in Sindhi Amb
and Amu; in Urdu Amba; in Oriya Amba, Ambo, Boulo and Chulo; in Punjabi
Am, Amb and Mawashi; in Marathi Amb and Amba; in Gujarati Ambo, Amri
and Keri; in Bengali Aam and Ambra; in Hind Am and Amb; in Manupuri
Hainoes; in Assamese Am, Ghariam; in Telugu Mavi, Mamidi; in Kui Maha;
in Kurku Tatkha and Amba.
History
