India: History

The vine was probably introduced into north-west India from Persia during the Indus civilization in the 4th millennium bc, but wine may not have been made from its fruit for many centuries. The gradual invasion of Aryan tribes from central Asia during the 2nd millennium bc produced the Vedic period (c.2000–800 bc), a blossoming of culture in north west India. The Aryans enjoyed gambling, music, and intoxicating drink, and in the four Vedas, the world’s oldest religious texts, two drinks are mentioned: soma, a milky drink ceremoniously prepared immediately before a sacrifice and probably containing hallucinatory hemp; and sura, a potent secular drink made from either barley or paddy (rice) fermented with honey.