What Is the History of Saffron?
Ancient Romans used to perfume their baths with saffron. Court ladies of Henry VIII’s reign tinted their hair with saffron until the monarch forbade it; he feared a saffron shortage that might reach his own table. In the 1400′, German dealers who were caught adulterating saffron were burned at the stake. Iran and Kashmir are among regions where saffron was cultivated for the first time, and its cultivation development in other parts of the world is regarded as a consequence of wars and conquests by foreign armies. When Spain was conquered by the Muslims some Products cultivable in territories under Muslim influence were taken there for cultivation in about 961 AD. Saffron is mentioned in an English leech book, or healing manual of the 10th century but may have disappeared from Western Europe until reintroduced by the crusaders. Saffron is supposed to have been introduced into China by the Mongol invasion that took its bulbs from Iran. It is mentioned in the Chinese material media (Pun
