Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
erage widely known in Syria (Aleppo). In
Istanbul and Rūmili coffee first appeared
in the reign of Sulaymān I (926/1520-
974/1566). In 962/1554 a man from
Aleppo and another from Damascus
opened the first coffee-houses (
ahweāne
)
in Istanbul. These soon attracted gentle-
men of leisure, wits and literary men
seeking distraction and amusement, who
spent the time over their coffee reading
or playing chess or backgammon, while
poets submitted their latest poems for the
verdict of their acquaintances. This new
institution was jokingly called also
mekteb-i
irfān
(school of knowledge). The coffee-
house met with such approval that it soon
attracted civil servants,
āīs
and profes-
sors also. Poets like Māmiya al-Rūmī and
later Belīī sang the praises of coffee, and
the opinion expressed in 928/1522 by
Sulaymān's court physician, Badr al-Dīn
al-ūūnī was not unfavourable. The cof-
fee-houses increased rapidly in number.
Among the servants of the upper classes
were
ahwei
, whose special task was the
preparation of coffee, and at the court
they were subordinate to a
ahweibaı
.
In religious circles, however, it was found
that the coffee-house was prejudicial to the
mosque, and the
ulamā
thought the cof-
fee-house even worse than the wine-room.
The preachers were specially eager for
the prohibition of coffee and the way was
paved for them by the
muftīs
(according to
d'Ohsson: Abu 'l-Suūd) with an opinion
that (roasted) coffee was to be considered as
carbonized and therefore forbidden. The
fact that current politics were discussed in
the coffee-houses, the government's acts
criticized and intrigues concocted, was
the principal cause for the intervention of
the authorities. Edicts issued in the reigns
of Murād III (982/1574-1003/1595) and
Amad I (1012/1613-1016/1617) were
not strictly enforced and still less obeyed.
The religious authorities met public opin-
ion by declaring coffee legal, if it had not
reached the degree of carbonization.
Murād IV 1032/1623-1049/1640)
issued a strict prohibition of coffee (and
tobacco). He had all the coffee-houses torn
down and many forfeited their lives for
the sake of coffee. Under Meemmed IV
(1058/1648-1099/1687), while the sale
of coffee in the streets was allowed, the
prohibition of coffee-houses was at first
renewed by the Grand Vizier Köprülü for
political reasons. This prohibition could
not possibly be kept in force permanently,
and later we even read of measures taken
by the government to lower the high price
of coffee. From Sulaymān's time a tax was
levied on coffee which was at a rate of
8 aspers per
oa
for Muslim buyers
and 10 for Christian; in 1109/1697
there was added an extra tax of 5 paras
the
oa
, which was called
bidat-i ahwe
,
for both.
The coffee tree flourishes in south-west-
ern Arabia and does best on the western
side of the Sarāt at a height of 1100 to
2200 m., where it finds in the depths of
the valleys and on the slopes a fertile,
moist soil and the uniform warm tem-
perature necessary for it. The plantations
on the slopes arranged in terraces, how-
ever, needed regular watering; in addi-
tion, the mist that rises in thick clouds
out of Tihāma brings them moisture. To
protect the trees from the heat of the sun
and from locusts they are surrounded by
shady trees like carob trees, tamarinds,
etc. The tree, which is raised from seed
(or propagated from layers), reaches a
height of 2 to 5 m. with a diameter of 5
to 6 cm. and yields berries in the fourth
year. It is an evergreen and throughout
the year bears both blossom and berries
in various stages of ripeness so that there
is really no fixed harvest-time. The main
harvest, however, varying with kind and
locality, usually falls in the months from
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