Talk:Baba Budan

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From the sources I have read, early commercial Arabica coffee cultivation was centered in Yemen with trade strictly controlled through the port of al-Makkha (Mocha). While the Kaffa region of modern day Ethiopia is thought to be the botanical origin for Coffea arabica, I have not come across any reference of a coffee trade in that area predating or contemporary to that of the early Arab trade.

Stewart Lee Allen (The Devil's Cup: Coffee, the Driving Force in History), Mark Pendergrast (Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World), and Antony Wild (Coffee: A Dark History) relate that legend attributes Baba Budan -- an Indian Sufi whose real name was Hazrat Shah Jamer Allah Mazarabi (Allen) -- with breaking the Arab monopoly over the coffee trade around 1600. Apparently, when on a pilgrimage to Mecca, he smuggled out seven live coffee beans, via Yemen (a transgression punishable by death at that time), back to India to plant in the mountains near Mysore. This is thought to be in the vicinity of Baba Budangiri where a Muslim and Hindu shrine is dedicated to him.

--66.48.183.254 06:16, 30 December 2005 (UTC) Rick Green

Edited the introduction by correcting the port Baba smuggled beans out of from Ethiopia to Mocha, Yemen. Mocha is the historically accepted port and I have found no evidence indicating that Baba Budan traveled to Ethiopia. --Mononosh 22:32, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

What is the specific problem with the term "smuggling" in this context? According to historical data, at the time Baba Budan visited Mocha export of coffee from the port was illegal or extremely restricted. This is why the term smuggling is used. The use of the term is not meant to tarnish or take away from the importance of Baba Budan's actions. --Mononosh 22:55, 16 December 2006 (UTC)