Indian spices have an ancient history of many years. Cloves are mentioned in ancient Indian epics like the Ramayana.

To trade spices around the East African coast, Indonesian traders went to China, India, and Middle East. Arab traders facilitated easy routes between the Middle East and India. The Egyptian city of Alexandria became a major spice center because of its port facility.

With the arrival of spices from eastern spice producers to Western European consumers, the trade route of spices gradually changed from the land route to the sea route. European traders facilitated spice trade through the sea. It is no wonder that India has attracted the attention of the whole world due to its abundance of herbs and spices. From the Assyrians and Babylonians to the Arabs, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, British and Portuguese, they invaded India with a single goal: to benefit from the abundant natural resources and the origins of spices.

The first written records of Indian spices are found in the Rigveda (circa 6000 B. C.) and the Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. During the Vedik period, information was mainly passed on through verbal messages. Rigveda mentions many spices and Yajurveda also mentions black cumin.

Spices from China, Indonesia, India, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) were carried on the backs of donkeys and camels from one place to another. Arabs dominated the spice trade for about 5000 years until Europeans discovered the sea route to India.

Many sea voyages were made to discover a more beneficial method of acquiring spices. Ferdinand Magellan, Vasco da Gama and Christopher Columbus were one of them. After traveling through Africa in 1497 Ancient explorer Vasco da Gama discovered Kozhikode in 1498 on the southwest coast of India. He returned with nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, ginger and pepper. After he arrived on India's Malabar coast, a center of the spice trade, direct trade began with Europe and South-west Asia.

Most ancient spices cinnamon and black pepper became the basis of numerous trade relations with the Arabs and Romans - and eventually, among other valuable goods - with the Arabs. By year 1300, a pound of nutmeg was worth more than gold in Europe. Within a short time the Portuguese had seized control of the spice trade areas of the Persian Gulf, and established a near-monopoly on the Indian spice trade that was long overdue and extremely profitable for the Portuguese empire

In the past, only black pepper and salt were used for flavoring in the western countries. In the early days, the communication facility was insignificant, so very little quantity of Spices could be traded.

Therefore the Arab traders from the west tried to increase communication on a large scale by establishing the Silk Road. But it did not make much of a difference to the spice trade.

Silk road was the main route used for world trade in ancient times. This road was built along the banks of the Nile River. The reason for this was that the travelers and their accompanying camels and other animals should have adequate water facilities during the journey. At that time, camels and other animals were used to transport spices, and trading of Spices wasn't done as expected. During this period, that road became so famous, that robbers started robbing the traders from time to time, and later, the Ottoman Empire, Abdul Farak Empire, the Far Empire, and the Muslim Empire also started levying taxes. Therefore, the number of spices increased greatly, and use of spices became more common among rich people.

In order to increase the spice trade communication on a large scale, the Portuguese and Spanish traders searched for sea routes for communication. At that time these routes were called Vasco de Gama route and Columbus route. Due to these sea routes, faster spice trade, affordable prices, large quantity of spices began to be exported, so spices started reaching the homes of common people at affordable prices and the wonderful aroma of spices started to spread in the common families including the families of rich people.

Later the Portuguese captured Goa and built a port in the sea for exports and started exporting Spices from India to all over the world on a big scale. But traders from some countries were not ready to do business with the Portuguese, so the Portuguese imposed rules for the export trade in year 1510 to 1511 and started exporting Spices. Then they built Malakachi and Mortugil ports in Malay peninsula for the trade of spices and made arrangements with traders from China and Siam territory to improve trade in other countries.

In the same period traders from United Kingdom and Europe came to know from the Arab people about Spices so they began gathering more information about them. They realised that Seeds, fruits, roots, bark, flowers and other plants are grown on a large scale in India and they are used to add taste and colour to the vegetables. So they wanted to search for a faster sea route to import Spices from United Kingdom and Europe from India and the Portuguese began to export Spices from United Kingdom and Europe to all over the world.

After the Portuguese, the British did the trading of Spices from India up to year 1600 for which the British were paying taxes to the Portuguese. Later India became independent and the number of Indian traders began to increase. As manufacturers and traders of Spices, we take pride in the fact that from then until now, India has the largest share of 75% of manufacturing and exporting of Spices in the world.

Indian Spices have become means of economic and personal development.

Indian Spices have medicinal properties and that's why they are good for health. That's why they are considered good for digestion and necessary for various food recipes around the world. Some of the Spices have Anti-oxident properties and some have protective properties and they are used in Pickles and Chutneys.

We have been in the 3000 year old business of Spices in India for more than 25 years with quality testing production technology and using traditional and handmade method and certification to make the best spices in different flavors from Maharashtra and all over India.

In order to make the finest handmade Spices, we procure the best raw materials from reputed vendors in the respective field which preserves the aroma and flavor of our Spices over the years.

We are proud that Handmade Masale is a brand that has been instrumental in empowering women and providing them with a unique means of livelihood. Spices should be prepared by women, because of their love for cooking and passion for good taste. We provide employment to as many women as possible.

So next time you want authentic Spices that are tasty and handmade, ask for the Handmade Masale brand.