The Colonial Past of the King of Mangoes

The mango is widely lauded as a flavorful tropical fruit that has fallen into favor by many different cultures. But how did it grow to be so familiar around the world? And how did the Alphonso mango become the gold standard for mango lovers everywhere? Today’s Daily Dose offers some insight into how the mango became the behemoth that is today, and it might just leave you parched for some sweet, sweet nectar.

— featuring reporting by Sohini Das Gupta

THE MANGO CRAZE ORIGINS

The Ideal Gift

It was 1937 and the British monarchy was gripped by a crisis. King Edward VIII had abdicated the throne to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson, and his brother George VI was to be crowned king. But the British Indian government decided it had a gift that could sweeten the occasion. 

The Rising Star

In April that year, The Times of India, the country’s oldest English-language newspaper still in circulation, reported that the government was set to ship mangoes to London for the coronation of King George VI. And not just any variety, but rising star Alphonso, now globally celebrated as the king of mangoes. “Elaborate arrangements have been made at Crawford Market to make the shipments successful,” a report in the newspaper read. And so sailed one king to meet another who was soon to be anointed, on a ship called the SS Ranchi, all the way from the booming port city of Bombay (now Mumbai) to London.

The Once and Future King

More than eight decades later, the redolent recall of the Alphonso remains unmatched, as does the broader frenzy of mango season every year in India. “Summer isn’t over till you can no longer find a single juicy mango in the market!” remarked my grandmother recently, celebrating a hard-won battle against COVID-19 with the last of this year’s loot. At 93, she doesn’t account for the fact that today, imported imposters of the Alphonso trickle in from the Southern Hemisphere even during the Indian winter! This, not counting the chemically enhanced phonies engineered to outlive the seasonal cut-off of monsoon. Still, fruit sellers would vouch for a ritualistic summer-end scramble, where bag-swinging uncles and aunties jostle to scoop up the final evidence of a bountiful season. 

The Royal Mango

Not long after the Alphonso traveled for King George VI’s crowning, it was shipped to London for the Queen’s coronation in 1953, according to The Guardian. Eventually a time-tested backdrop for international handshakes, it was called upon to sweeten diplomatic relations when Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Indian premier, visited American President John F. Kennedy in 1961. Whether or not there is merit to the genius of gifting good-looking tropical fruits as a token of political goodwill, it has been attempted often enough to give us the phrase “mango diplomacy. ”

A PASSION FOR MANGOES

A Mango for Everyone

There’s no arguing with facts: No matter what your age or era, mangoes, especially Indian ones, can stir up a great passion in people. We are talking lush, gold juice bombs, tongue-curling wild green ones and blushing pink stunners, sweet as nectar. There are over 1,000 varieties to pick from, made decadent by, but not limited to, the Alphonso. Such is their seduction that poets, designers, and ad gurus hankering for inspiration have turned to the fruit since olden times. Indo-Persian poet Amir Khusrau crowned mangoes “naghaza tarin mewa Hindustan” — “the fairest fruit of Hindustan,” as far back as the 14th century. Mirza Ghalib, the ultimate authority on Urdu poetry, was also an authority on mangoes, weaving entire ditties around their decadence. Nobel prize-winning Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore’s preoccupation with the fruit started with “aamer manjari”— tiny mango blossoms with the power to perfume a lover’s garden. 

Mainstream Appeal

All this data has in some ways been a giant leap for mankind, but “infobesity” can paralyze. Separating the signals from the noise can be transformative. Indeed, advances in data science and database technology have made it possible to unlock insights from these vast troves of data, creating opportunities for a wide range of industries. E-commerce platforms like Amazon, Alibaba and eBay use powerful algorithms to predict purchase preferences and make timely product recommendations with precision accuracy. Spotify can suggest artists, albums and songs by constantly analyzing what music you — and people like you — listen to. More than half of the programs watched by Netflix’s 214 million–plus users start with a system-generated recommendation. The list goes on. If you aren’t using big data, you have big problems.

Alphonso Meets Celebs

More recently, Victoria & Abdul star Ali Fazal sent hand-picked samples of the Alphonso to Judi Dench, who plays Queen Victoria. In the film, the actors appear in a scene where Ali’s character inspects a gift of mangoes that has arrived from India, only to find the fruit rotten.

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The Goan Answer

For Alphonso, the colonial connection goes further back. Nicknamed Hapus in India, the internationally coveted variety is believed to have emerged after the arrival of the Portuguese in India in the 15th century. Writer and mangophile Vivek Menezes reckons that the mango was developed in the western state of Goa, where Jesuit priests used existing mango trees to introduce the technique of grafting, already popular in Europe. Their labor bore fruits, more refined than ever. Peshwas and Mughal kings “were addicted” to these Goan mangoes and probably “imported enough grafts of the new varieties” for there to be versions of the Alphonso in other parts of the country. Jump ahead several centuries to the British Raj, and the exploding appeal of the Alphonso is far more traceable. 

The Traveling Mango

Dig a little and there seems to be something serendipitous about the Alphonso’s solo stardom. Indian food writer Vikram Doctor argues that its stardom comes from its superior shelf life, for being a “hardy traveler with thick skin,” unlike some equally fine Indian varieties. It also possibly benefited from being in the right place at the right time. “Remember that it was growing around Bombay, a premier city of South Asia with thriving trade relations,” Menezes adds, making a case for its special treatment in the same breath. “It is creamy and aromatic — a small piece of luxury you can probably afford no matter who you are, or where you’re located in the country.” Doctor’s heart, however, is reserved for the lemony, sweet Imam Pasand mango, grown in the state of Andhra Pradesh with little fanfare. 

Any Mango Will Do

That the more perishable regional varieties cannot travel too far works just fine for people like my grandmother. For it is not the last Alphonso, but the last Himsagar mango that she seeks in end-of-summer markets, a musky-sweet east Indian variety responsible for her toothless fangirling. As far as she is concerned, the world can keep its Alphonso. After all, everyone deserves some face time with the king.

Nothing But The Facts

While the Alphonso mango is the undisputed king among many mango lovers, there are over 500 varieties of mangoes that can be found around the world. However, of those 500 varieties, only six are readily available in the United States. In addition, only 3 states can grow mangoes, California, Hawaii, and Florida. Even though their growth is limited to a handful of states, the mango is readily available all year, making it a fantastic fruit to eat regardless of the season. Mangos also take a while to grow, with trees taking up to 6 years to bear fruit. So the next time you eat a mango, be sure to savor it.

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The Colonial Past of the King of Mangoes

The Colonial Past of the King of Mangoes

The Colonial Past of the King of Mangoes

The Colonial Past of the King of Mangoes

The Colonial Past of the King of Mangoes