History of mango in India

Mango cultivation probably originated in India, and it was estimated that mango cultivation to have began at least 4000 years ago.

This fruit is intimately associated with the history of India agriculture and civilization and it enjoys a royal status in the country when compared to the other growing places. Ancient Sanskrit literature described the mango as ‘king of fruits'. Ayurvedic medicine recognizes mangoes as an aphrodisiac and in some ancient n texts it is written that the ripe mango increases sexual energy and stamina.

The first group of people to spill the beans and initiate trade of the fruit were peripatetic Buddhist monks four or five centuries BC. A mango tree is depicted in friezes on the stupa of Bharut, which was constructed around 100 BC.

Available records indicate that the soldiers of Alexandra the Great has come across grove in Indus Valley. 

Traders and monks from India possibly introduced superior elections of mango into South-east Asia: however, vegetative propagation was unknown in India until after the arrival of the Portuguese in Goa in the 15th century.

During Mughal time, Akbar the Great paid the greatest tribute to mango who established an orchard of one lakh mango trees, designated as ‘Lakh-Bagh’ in Darbhanga in erstwhile Bihar State.

The mango tree and fruit are referred in the travelogues of ancient travelers including Huan tsang, Ibn Hankal and Ibn Batuta of which the Chinese traveler Huan-tsang is the first one to bring mango to the notice of the outside world during 632-645 AD.
History of mango in India